"But why can't we stay here Kiern? There are plenty of food and space for Mother and Father and us!" a young girl with long white hair and pink irises whined to her older brother. The beautiful headdress and white fur gown that lay upon her body, made her look to be some sort of angel. Her brother, Kiern the Stable, was the example of leadership throughout the secretive nation, the Jamilles. His face radiated courage and his voice scared away the biggest beasts. Contrary to his petite sister, his hair was black. People said that if you were to touch his hair, your hands were to turn the same deep black color, and would stay there until you lived no more.
"Tahala, you know the rules of our people. We stay together. One man leaves; the other men follow." Kiern knelt down to his young sister, so that he was looking straight into her eyes. His eyes were the same pink color that she had. His skin flawlessly tanned to the same caramel tint that she herself had. Suddenly, he lost the stern face and pulled her into his arms. She immediately start to sob quietly into his black fur tunic. He stroked her head, filling her heart with his love. But as quickly did he lose his tenseness, he picked her up and looked around in alarm.
"Kiern?" the little girl asked; her words muffled by his shirt.
"Stay silent." He snapped quietly. He had his own way of giving blunt commands that didn't sound rude. She obeyed his order with ease. With no prior knowledge, he growled. The vibrations of his tone scared her but she did not pull away from him. Instead she clung to him tighter. In what felt like eternity, they stayed completely still. All around them that once seem full of life, was now void of sound. Usually silence was welcomed by the Jamilles, but the silence that surrounded the clan of fifty males and females was one of dread.
In a split second, Kyeroff, Kiern and Tahala's father, went from standing to laying face forward in the dirt. Protruding from the back of his neck, was an arrow. Not just any old arrow, but one from an orc. The women cried and the men howled as the orc pack came into view. Kiern ran a short distance to a tree that had an empty hole in the trunk. Swiftly he tucked her into the tree.
"Change, and stay. May Holmere keep you safe, sister." And with that he transformed into a black lion and vanished. She as well, changed, but instead she changed into a small white lion cub.
She then waited.
And waited.
Her breath stopped, and a sad feeling fell upon her heart.
Her brother was dead.
Tahala woke with a start. The now grown lioness rose from her bed, and made her way to the garden. On the way there, elves stopped and bowed to her as if she were royal. She gave the occasional nod and grunt to show her acknowledgement. Noted that was all she could do, since lions don't speak. She had grown to like the people that lived in Rivendell. She showed much appreciation to their understanding to her being orphan cub. None however knew she was Jamille, which in its own is a blessing and a curse. Never would she be hunted but never would she be able to have a conversation. This deeply depressed her.
As she walked to her destination, she heard a group of men speaking to each other. One she recognized as Elrond, and another as Gandalf. She immediately perked up. It had been ages since she saw the old wizard and she intended to see him once more. Her movements began sly and stealthy as she stalked into the area. When she was about to playfully pounce onto her favorite person, a stout dwarf yelled out,
"Never trust an elf!"
And with that all the men stood up and yelled at the same time. The mass chaos confused the lioness. And then when a small hobbit tried to speak she got angry for the men not listening to him. She walked into view of the hobbit and Elrond. The hobbit stiffened in shock, no doubt to the view of the majestic creature. As if on cue, Elrond leaned over to the hobbit with the strangest grin and whispered,
"Cover your ears."
The hobbit did as he was told with a questioning look on his face. The lioness mentally grinned. Oh Holmere! She loved Elrond and his wicked ideas!
She snuck up behind the company, then she roared her mightiest roar. All the men, jumped and covered their ears. She looked at all of them with a glare. All of the men turned to see a white lion sitting with what looked to be a grin. Gandalf started to chuckle, which made most of the men stared at him in shock. He dared to laugh at a lion! Who could have just killed him! A man then pulled out a knife and started towards the lion. But, his wonderful staff was now positioned in front of him.
"No need, Master Elf. She is harmless." He spoke to the rest of the company. The lion crept closer to her friend and started nibbling on his grey robe, which made him swat at her nose. She sneezed. Then as if he was contagious, she started rubbing her nose with her paw.
A man with black hair, Aragorn, laughed, which in turn did not bode well with Tahala. She swiped at his leg which cause him to fall on his butt. She walked on him toward the hobbit who was trying desperately to hold in his laughter. When she turned to walk behind him, he froze. She sat down and put one of her paws on his shoulder.
In Frodo's head, he heard, Speak your words once more. Frodo then relaxed.
"I will take the ring to Mordor. Though I do not know the way." He timidly spoke.
"I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, for as long as it is yours to bear." Gandalf said to the young hobbit.
"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword." Aragorn bowed to Frodo. Tahala scoffed, well as much of a scoff that a lion can...
"You have my bow." said a very, very, very pretty Elf. (one guess and if it it wrong... GTFO)
"And my axe!" (guess, guess! :D)
"You carry the fate of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done." Boromir said. Tahala look him straight in the eyes, which was met with equal ferocity. A unnoticeable shiver went down her spine. He was quite handsome, but he had what look like a superiority complex.
"Hey! Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me!" Sam ran over by Frodo. Tahala jumped which made Aragorn chuckle a bit. She sneered at the ranger, which inevitably reminded him of his sore arse. She mentally smirked. 1: Tahala, 0: Aragorn
"No, indeed. It is hardly possible to separate you, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not." Elrond chuckled to Sam who in return just blushed. Tahala blinked. A secret council? Why was she not told of this? She felt a little disappointed, but not too much. She is after all, a lion.
After a few seconds, two other hobbits ran in which Tahala jumped behind Gandalf for 'protection'.
"We're coming, too!" Even Elrond jumped this time, so Tahala didn't feel too bad. Merry continued. "You'd have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us!"
"Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission... quest... thing." Pippin declared. Tahala fell over which startled both the elf and the dwarf. Once she saw the audience of her fit, she regain composure.
"That rules you out, Pippin." Merry grumbled. Then Elrond spoke,
"Ten companions. So be it-"
Gimli interrupted, "Ten?"
Tahala growled.
"You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring." Elrond declared.
"Great!" Pippin said. "Where are we going?"
Everyone stared at him. Well, excepted Tahala.
She was on the ground again...
Hope you enjoyed.
Please R&R! Tell me what you liked, what you don't like, and what you think I should write next!
XOXO Kissin'Nicki