Intro: Hello everyone. It is great to be here. This story is basically a LOTR/Warhammer crossover; where the fellowship meets my character, who is a very unorthodox (by their standards) elf. Hope you enjoy this, I shall try to make the chapters as long as possible on the account that I won't be here for the month of July…but I will return as soon as possible! Please review my story…they always help make the updates go faster and better.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the lord of the rings; I do not own the Warhammer world, except my character. And I do not own any other recognizable characters from either game or book.
Warning: The Warhammer world has a tendency to be very violent, so I'm just warning you now, don't read it if you don't like violence. Other then that…
Chapter 1: Into the old world
A cold wind was blowing. For the nine walking across that land at that time it was absolutely miserable. Four hobbits, two men, a dwarf, an elf, and a wizard all walked along in single file, doing what they could to keep warm against the biting wind. Legolas, the elf, had little trouble with the cold; the wind had little affect on his immortal flesh. It was the others he feared for.
Aragorn was used to the cold, and though it brought him some discomfort, he was able to ignore it with relative ease. Boromir had lived his life in the shadow of a mountain, he knew the cold, he was no stranger to it; it did not trouble him. The Isatri, Gandalf, the wizard had little trouble with the cold as well.
It was the hobbits who suffered the most. The cold wind did not suffer their presence, nipping at their bare feet, stinging their eyes, and pulling at their cloaks.
"Will this dreadful wind never cease?" Sam, the golden-haired hobbit grumbled, rubbing his arms and stamping his feet.
"Have no fear, young hobbit, for this weather shall not be the bane of us, horrible though it may be, nay, we shall soon make camp and have a hot meal and good rest." Gimli, the dwarf, said. He was not troubled too much by the cold, and if he was he didn't show it.
Aragorn, who was in front of Gimli, smiled; he hoped that that would be the case. He, himself, wasn't opposed to that idea. He looked to the left, where Legolas was standing, looking out to the horizon. He wondered what the elf had seen, for he looked in deep concentration…or concern.
Aragorn walked out of the line towards the brown haired elf (yes I know in the movies he is blond, but after seeing a brown-haired version of him in the LOTR Musical I found that I preferred it. It seemed to fit better anyway.) Legolas turned to look at Aragorn, and then pointed out in the distance towards the east.
"What is it you see, mellon nin? I have not the eyes you have." Aragorn said quietly in Sindarin, not wanting the others to hear just yet.
"There is something to the east, I can barely make out its shape, but it looks to me to be very large." Legolas frowned slightly. "I can not place it with a name, but something tells me that it is not something we would want to encounter."
Aragorn nodded slightly, "What would you recommend?" He asked.
"We have to find some cover…we are too exposed out here in the open. Whatever it is, it can probably see us."
Aragorn nodded at this, and then walked over to Gandalf to relay this news. Legolas, meanwhile, watched this 'creature' and for the longest moment it was there. Then it just suddenly vanished. Legolas blinked in surprise, but did not cry out, instead he called Aragorn over.
"It has vanished." Legolas said crisply. "I was watching it, and it just disappeared." He looked to Aragorn with concern in his blue eyes.
Aragorn was uncertain, he himself hadn't seen the creature, but Legolas seemed to feel that it had been there, and he trusted the elf's judgment completely.
"Let us head for that small forest over there. It should offer us protection for a little while at least." Aragorn said nodding in the direction of a seemingly small forest.
Legolas nodded, and instantly walked off in the direction of the forest, pausing just long enough for the fellowship to catch up.
"I don't see why we have to go all the way down there." Merry said to Pippin. "I mean, it just means that we have to do more walking." He sighed.
"Well, it is preferable then to stay up here and freeze to death, at least in there we shall be warmer, and have protection from the wind." Frodo said, trying to lift the other hobbit's spirits.
Merry grunted good naturedly, but did not say anything more. Frodo was right, and he wasn't about to argue. They entered the forest silently, none daring to speak. There was something oppressive about the place. Even Legolas seemed on edge and un-nerved. Boromir came round a tree, suddenly coming face to face with a half-decomposed human, nailed by the throat to the tree.
Boromir gasped sharply, falling back several paces and bumping into Aragorn in the process. The ranger looked at Boromir, and then at the corpse, his brow furrowing with disgust and more then a little worry. What would do that? Or rather, who would do that? Legolas was already scanning the trees frantically, he felt eyes watching them from every direction and none of them were friendly.
"Perhaps we should get out of here." Boromir said, "It would seem that we are not welcome."
The rest of the fellowship agreed and turned to leave, but the path they had come through was gone; replaced by dense forest and thicket. The forest was devoid of bird call, every rustle of the leaves made the fellowship jump at least a foot in the air. They were being watched…by what or whom they did not know.
The fellowship walked in the direction they had originally been heading on, the forest seemed to be closing in, constraining them, choking them; Legolas feared the malice that it bore for their company. Only Gandalf appeared to be calm.
Legolas stopped for a moment; he could have sworn that he had heard something. There it was again, a note that was just on the edge of hearing, deep and resonating in the forest deep. Gandalf looking in the direction it had come from.
"Shall we investigate this sound or not?" Boromir asked no one in particular, he was still rather shaken.
"I think that that would be wise, and perhaps we can find some answers as to why we are trapped here." Gandalf said gravely.
The fellowship now walked towards the sound. The bushes seemed to grab at them as if trying to halt their steps. Only Legolas seemed not as affected.
"Blast it, elf!" Gimli said after a particularly nasty scratch from a thorn bush, "Why don't you just tell the bushes to leave the rest of us alone!"
Legolas looked at him, "I am not commanding the trees away from me; they do so by themselves. I can not change that."
After many scratches, and stubbed toes (the roots had something against them to) they suddenly found themselves on the edge of a clearing. In this clearing was a pool, crystal clear and shimmering magically. A water fall cascaded into the pool, creating a rainbow where the sun light hit the mist. In this pool was a woman.
She was tall and slender, like a willow-wisp, her red hair was long, plastered to her nude flesh, covering the majority of her deceivingly delicate form. She had intricate tattoos lacing her arms and back, and even a little on her face. She seemed not to notice them, and Legolas thought that odd because she was elven.
Boromir looked away briefly and saw another elf approaching the one in the pool. He ducked down lower behind the bush. The new elf in question was far more intimidating then any he had met previously, or seen for that matter. The elf was tall, around 6'5, slender but well-muscled, he had black hair and the palest flesh he had ever seen. Tattoos riddled his upper torso, the elf had neglected to wear a shirt, and he had a huge long sword across his back and another at his hip.
The female elf turned and looked at the newcomer, she did not seem to be self-conscious for she made no move to cover herself, letting her hair do it for her. They spoke in a language that none, not even Legolas and Gandalf, recognized.
"Kharania, are you still here?" Taneth asked.
"Yes I am, and unless it is important, I plan to stay here for a long while yet." Kharania said flicking a lock of wet hair out of her eyes.
"Well, then I'm sorry that you fun will have to be cut short, we have received word that beast men have entered the forest near to here. Night Hawk is already gathering the other war-dancers." Taneth grinned in anticipation, his features appearing almost feral.
Kharania's eyes lit up at the word 'beast men' as a war dancer they lived to rid their forest home of chaos, they enjoyed the thrill of battle so much so that the other elves dwelling there feared them. And the War dancers knew and encouraged that
Pippin, meanwhile, had risen to his feet to get a better view of the two elves, he was curious. Aragorn noticed this and tried to pull him down back under the cover of the bushes, he did not recognize these elves, nor was he inclined to immediately trust them for they had a 'darker' feel about them. Not evil, but something akin to it; maliciousness perhaps. Pippin fell back with a muffled shout of shock and surprise. Aragorn and the rest of the fellowship tensed.
00000
Taneth glanced around quickly, determining where the shout had come from. He had drawn both of his swords, holing them easily at his sides. Kharania walked out of the water, her bare feet making no mark on the grass. She stooped and picked up her spear, which she had hidden within easy reach in some tall grass. Both elves looked to where the fellowship lay hidden, concealed by the bushes.
Gandalf looked to the others, and then walked out of the bushes, the two elves tensed further, lifting their weapons ever so slightly.
"Peace, my good elves," The wizard said; neither of the elves moved an inch.
"Who are you? Why have you intruded in these lands?" The male asked.
"I am sorry, but I do not understand the language you speak, does one of you know the common tongue, perhaps?" Gandalf asked calmly.
The two elves looked to each other, neither speaking for a moment. The male lowered his weapons slightly, but still kept them out, and nodded.
"I understand the language fairly well." His voice was accented slightly, and his tone of voice was one of that who was confident, but cautious. "Who are you? And why do your companions still hide in the bushes?" He said quickly, to Gandalf he sounded almost angry.
Gandalf smiled slightly, and beckoned to the fellowship up in the bushes, he felt that he had to give these elves some reason to trust them. They were wild, and probably dangerous, he could sense that they held no regard for the fellowship, but they did not attack right away because of Gandalf himself.
"I am Gandalf the grey; this is Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck. Perrigrin Took, and Frodo Baggins of the Shire." He pointed to each in turn, and then he motioned to the others, "Strider, a ranger from the north, Boromir of Gondor, Legolas prince of Mirkwood, and Gimli son of Gloin."
The elves had remained impassive through the hobbit's introduction, hobbits generally were thieves, but it was nothing that the two couldn't handle. Through the humans introductions, they had become a little more tense, humans often tried to cut down their forest home, they were insignificant, and neither war dancer cared for them. However they remained calm and composed, which was hard for them at the moment. Both eyed Legolas suspiciously, perhaps he was akin to their high elven kin who sailed the oceans and coasts. Or worse…perhaps he was one of the Duruchii, the cruel dark elves that inhabited the North. Whatever race, he was not one of them, and he was a threat until proven otherwise. When Gimli was introduced they became agitated. The Dwarves held the 'Great Book of Grudges' and many entries were of the elves. Dwarves cared not for the first kin, and did whatever was in their power to redeem those grudges.
"Kharah, cloth yourself and then come back. This matter must be resolved before the beast men can be dealt with."
"You are quite right, I will go then, and return quickly. Keep them here, and don't let them out of your site." The two spoke quickly to each other in the language they had spoken in previously, the female nodded, and quickly went away into the dense undergrowth.
"She will return shortly." The male said, "I am called Taneth, my companion is Kharah. If you wish to find your way out of the forest, I would suggest that you follow us." The one named Kharah returned, now clothed in simple breeches, a sash tied about her waist, and a top that covered only her chest, revealing her stomach. Her hair was tied up in a braid with what looked like a gold wire.
"Wait, what about the man we saw hanging on the tree back there?" Boromir asked, "What happened to him?"
The two elves looked at each other. "Which human does he mean? There are many on the borders." Taneth asked.
"Who knows, just give them the truth, they should know that we are not to be trifled with. We are not the soft elves our cousins are." Kharah said quickly to Taneth, who nodded.
"That man was an intruder; the Wild Hunt took care of him." He shrugged his shoulders as if it didn't matter.
"What? They would do such a thing?" Boromir asked.
"Of course, the forest does not generally tolerate strangers. Why you aren't dead right now I do not know. But it must be for some reason." He tilted his head slightly, looking vaguely like a cat.
"It does not bother you that he was killed?" Aragorn sternly asked as the elves started to walk away.
"We have killed many humans in our time; one more does not make a difference to us." Taneth said and walked on ahead, Kharah just in front of him.
End notes: Like it? Hate it? Please review.