Chapter 12: Welcome
[General POV]
There is very little entertainment in this world, let alone at night. At most, it would just be getting drunk in taverns and staying up late at night drinking.
Therefore, the competition between Aldril and Kili excited the group of dwarves, who laughed and cheered for Kili to beat the pretentious human.
The dwarves were a bit angry with Aldril for his arrogance in claiming to be the best archer in all of Middle-earth and claiming that Kili could not compare to him.
Certainly, dwarves are short-tempered and, at the same time, simple. These characteristics also mean that, as long as you don't offend them in a serious way, they are still willing to be reasonable.
Their simplicity was demonstrated by putting aside their anger at the excitement of the competition and reasonableness by understanding that Aldril did not offend them in any way.
As the group moved forward, the dwarves began to place their bets on who would win between Aldril and Kili. Because the dwarves knew Kili best, most of the bets were in his favor.
"You haven't bet yet, Balin, don't you trust Kili?" asked Fíli, as he was a bit puzzled at Balin's silence on who he would bet on. He was sure he would bet on Kili, but he was surprised to hear Balin's words.
"Didn't you hear what Gandalf said? The boy is an adventurer, and to be one you need to be very strong, Fíli. Over the years there have been very few who call themselves adventurers, and every one of them was an extraordinary person. The most famous adventurer is a woman named Tindómiel, daughter of Elros, the first king of Númenor."
"In Erebor we had several books that told what that woman was capable of, and seeing her confident attitude, her claim to be an adventurer, the boy left a good impression on me. That's why my bet goes for Aldril."
"Come on, Bali, there was no need for all that tale," said Fíli, dizzy before Balin's peroration. For him, reading was not very important; he preferred his combat practice, so it always bored him to talk to Balin, since he prolonged the conversations unnecessarily.
But even though most dwarves are bored with reading, that doesn't stop them from appreciating knowledge. Listening to everything Balin said, some dwarves bet in favor of Aldril, among them Glóin, Barin and Bofur.
Disgusted to see that they did not bet on Kili, Fili turned to Gandalf and Bilbo.
"So you two, who will you bet on?" at Fili's question, Gandalf pulled out a bag of money.
"My money's on Aldril," Gandalf said, receiving the bag. Figli looked at Bilbo.
"I won't bet on anyone, I don't have any money at the moment" he said.
Shrugging his shoulders Fíli joined the other dwarves, and they put the bets together.
Almost everyone bet, with the exception of Thorin. It wasn't that he disliked betting, it was just that he took this confrontation very seriously and didn't want to make it look like a simple gambling game.
As the dwarves gathered the money bags, Aldril looked at Balin and with shining eyes spoke.
"Mr. Balin, if you don't mind, after the competition, I would love to hear about Tindómiel's adventures."
Listening to what Aldril said, Balin nodded with a smile, he always enjoyed talking about all the knowledge he had learned.
Seeing Balin's nod, Aldril looked at Kili "So how do you want to compete?"
Looking up to see Aldril, Kili said, "We can make an arrow shot at the trees and see who can hit the most arrows in the same place."
At that moment, the sound of birds suddenly came from the forest. Aldril's eyes lit up, he turned to look at Kili and immediately said, "What if we better compete by hunting birds? The night adds more difficulty."
After hearing this, Kili immediately looked towards the dark forest, confidently nodded, "I agree! Then whoever kills the most birds is the one who will win!"
Hearing how they will compete, all the dwarves cheered with laughter and support for the two.
"Come on Kili, you can do it!"
"Come on Aldril, I bet on you, don't let me down!"
"Come on Kili, make Glóin regret not betting on you!"
Aldril and Kili couldn't agree on who would go first. They each took the bows and arrows from their backs and aimed at the birds that, even though it was night, were still flying through the forest.
Because the tail feathers of the arrows of the two were different, it would be very easy to distinguish whose arrow was whose.
The sky was dark, the moonlight very briefly illuminated the dark night, the stars were shining in the sky. At this moment, Aldril and Kili stretched their bows with calm expressions.
The group of dwarves behind remained silent, fearful that making noise would throw them both out of focus.
They were so close to each other that they could hear each other's breathing. Since it was a competition, the two tried to be as careful as possible. Suddenly, a bird song was heard, and at that moment an arrow shot out.
"Shis" "Thwack!"
The first bird fell. Kili was shocked, as he had barely drawn his bow when Aldril had already fired. Most impressively, Aldril was able to calculate the trajectory.
Before Kili could react, Aldril fired three shots in a row very quickly.
"Shis" "Shis" "Shis" "Shis."
The sound of three birds falling was heard in the silent night. Behind, the dwarves looked at Aldril with a different look. They could not even see the birds, and Aldril had already killed four. This left them very impressed.
Aldril's demonstration of skill was normal; his bow skill is level two. That shows how capable the original Aldril was.
The fact that he could shoot easily in the dark was because he could see clearly in the dark. At first he thought it was a mutation, but when he discovered he was in Middle Earth he attributed it to an inherited ability.
He didn't know who his parents were, but he thanked them for inheriting his skill with the bow and his clarity in seeing at night.
The sound of arrows being shot rang out for a while. Kili, a little nervously, began to shoot. He was nervous because his "uncle" the dwarf king Thorin was present, and he could feel his gaze.
After a while, seeing that they ran out of arrows, Thorin concluded the contest.
"Dwalin, Nori, Óri, go count the bird carcasses." At Thorin's command, the aforementioned dwarves hurried into the forest.
Aldril did not distrust that the dwarves would cheat. Gandalf had already told him a little of what the dwarves were like, and had mentioned that they were honorable when competed or gambled with, so they would not cheat.
It wasn't long before the dwarves returned with arrows and some dead birds. Seeing the dwarves approaching, Thorin spoke.
"So, how did it go?"
With a somewhat frustrated look on his face, Dwalin said, "All in all, 20 dead birds on Aldril's side and only 6 on Kili's side."
Hearing what Dwalin said, Kili lowered his head. He approached Thorin and in a low voice said, "I lost, sorry Thorin, Aldril's archery skills are better than mine."
Patting him on the shoulder, Thorin spoke with a smile, "Don't worry Kili, I'm not upset."
After comforting Kili, he approached Aldril and in a calm voice, but at the same time full of expectation, he spoke, "A bet is a bet, welcome to the team, Mr. Aldril."
Noticing that Thorin was looking at him differently, Aldril gave a cordial bow "It will be a pleasure to assist you on your journey, your highness."
Satisfied at Aldril's attitude, Thorin extended his hand and the two shook hands.
"Let's go back, I haven't had supper yet and I'm starving," said Thorin turning around, and all the others followed him to Bilbo's house, while they divided the amount won from the bets.
As they walked back, Aldril approached Kili, who was a little sad at his loss.
"You're not bad with a bow, you're much better than all the people I've come across."
"You don't need to console me Aldril, I'm not sad, you just beat me because it's nighttime, so you have to compete again."
Faced with Aldril's friendly behavior, Kili realized that he was nice, he is one of those people who have a very good vibe and with whom it is very easy to form a friendship.
Giving him a pat on the shoulder, Aldril smiled at him "Rest assured we will compete again."
Watching out of the corner of his eye as Aldril and Kili began to get along, Thorin nodded to himself. Someone who can get along with dwarves in such a short time speaks well of his person.
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