Summary: Months after the Blight was ended, two Grey Wardens and Leliana are mysteriously thrown into Middle Earth where they are introduced to a culture and world so similar, yet so different than their own. Soon, a situation rises where Grey Wardens are needed and the group is forced to postpone their plans of finding a way back home. Back in Ferelden, Alistair receives word of his friends' disappearance and, with his advisor's disapproval, takes matters into his own hands; completely willing to do anything he can to find them and bring them back.
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, Dragon Age, or anything related to them. They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and Bioware, respectively.
Bittersweet Kismet
Prologue: "Goodbye Ferelden, Hello Middle Earth"
Leaves from tall thick trees softly fell to the moist moss covered ground of a forest, littering it with colors of yellow, gold, and brown. Hardly any sounds permeated the tranquility of the place; no chirping of birds, no gusts of wind, no cries of wildlife. The place seemed uninhabited and untouched; one hidden piece of nature that remained unexplored and secret. Despite the thick silence that was the norm within its depths, the area did not feel as foreboding as a cave nor did it seem as safe as someone's backyard garden. Its beauty, however, was unmistakable and especially accentuated by the golden rays of sunlight shining through the canopy of trees.
On one particular afternoon, when the sun was barely starting to fall from the sky, soft distant voices echoed throughout the forest. Gradually, they increased in volume, the voices seemingly coming closer and closer despite the absence of their source. Along with the strange sounds, gusts of wind slowly began to pass through the northern border of the woods; swirling and twisting in one concentrated area. Faster and faster did they blow and twirl until a swirling vortex of leaves, wind, and crackling energy formed in the middle of a clearing near four trees with a thick pile of moss growing at their base. Screams could be heard coming from the center which grew louder and louder as light and wind pushed through, until three bodies were flung out one right after the other. They became silent the moment they hit the ground. Not long after, they began to move and slowly crawl apart from the pile they had created.
"That…" the woman redhead began, untangling her limbs from the other two with a groan, "was not very pleasant." She rolled to the side to relieve her back of the uncomfortable sensation of having her quiver of arrows pressing against her and tightened her hold on her bow, making sure that she had not lost it. Luckily she hadn't unsheathed her daggers so they were still safely strapped to her sides.
"At least," the one who first came tumbling out replied with a cough, spitting out some small leaves and dirt that had gotten into her mouth, "you were on top, Leliana." Carefully pulling her left arm out from under her, the young woman turned to glare at the one still lying on her legs, keeping them immobilized, before using her arms to pull herself out from under the latter. Once free, she began to push her disheveled long black hair away from her face, and dust off what dirt and leaves she could from her blue Tevinter robes.
"Yeah, but I wish she wasn't so heavy though." The third woman commented as she was sprawled on her back, her short dark brown hair covered in debris and sweat, unaware of her friend's narrowed eyes fixed upon her. The redhead scoffed indignantly at the comment before forcefully swatting at the woman's arm. "Ow! Hey! I was just saying that being sandwiched between you guys isn't any better!"
Choosing to ignore her, the redhead, known as Leliana, stood up and looked over to the other woman. "Are you alright, Minari?"
"Besides having hideous dirt and leaf covered hair," Minari began with a sigh, running her fingers through her dark tresses, "I'm fine; nothing broken or anything."
Leliana nodded in response before looking around their surroundings.
Finally getting up from the ground, Aryius, or Ary as her friends called her, shook her head furiously in an attempt to get any loose leaves and twigs out of her hair. Once she stopped, she began to slightly wobble, feeling faintly lightheaded before turning to Leliana. The redhead was obviously avoiding making eye contact.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine too," Aryius commented sarcastically with a slight glare. "Thanks for asking."
"This is very strange," Leliana said in confusion, brows furrowed, clearly still ignoring the other woman's words. "How did we end up in a forest? The last place I remember being at was a dirt road surrounded by boulders and darkspawn."
The other two girls surveyed the area as well and realized that Leliana was right. Rather than being on a road with bodies of freshly slain darkspawn littering the ground, – minus that abnormal emissary conjurer that managed to escape – they were in a beautiful quiet forest surrounded by trees, moss, and leaves. It didn't add up. Furthermore, the forest they were in was not one they recognized or been through before. There were plants and trees there that none of them had ever seen during their travels. One type of tree in particular stuck out from all the rest because of its smooth grey-silver bark and golden leaves. Maybe they somehow ended up in the Brecilian Forest and they were just in a part of it that they never had seen before?
"You think we're in the Brecilian Forest, Leli?" the elven mage asked after she picked up her staff from the ground.
"I'm not sure, 'Nari," the rouge-archer replied uncertainly with a shrug.
Picking up her fallen swords and placing them back in their sheaths on her back, Aryius took charge. "Well, there's no use in standing here trying to figure out where we are. Let's find a way out of this forest first then look for a road."
Nodding in agreement, Leliana and Minari followed Aryius's lead and began to walk through the forest. After the events that transpired only days before, their once comfortable silent traveling was now quickly becoming tense and awkward, mostly on Minari's part being that she was the middle person. To keep her mind off the situation, she chose to occupy herself with their strange surroundings. As they continued on their way, Aryius and Minari couldn't help but gradually hear the soft echoing of a voice among the trees. Suddenly on alert, brown and grey eyes darted around the area in search of the source but to no avail. It sounded as if someone was trying to talk to them, but was too far away to make any sense. The voice, however, was strangely comforting in a way, albeit somewhat eerie.
Not fifteen minutes after beginning their exploration, however, rope ladders suddenly fell from the trees around them and with them came several figures in robes. The women instinctively held their weapons out and stood back-to-back in a triangle, prepared to attack if necessary. They were not alone any longer. Surveying the people before her, Minari noticed three things about them: first, was that they all dressed and looked similar to each other; second, was that they were all elves; and lastly, was that they were all archers who had their arrows aimed at their faces. They wore long gray hooded cloaks, had a fair complexion with crystal clear blue eyes like the sky, and had beautifully long blonde hair that cascaded down their backs. Not to mention they were really tall for elves.
'Are these Dalish elves?' she wondered. 'But… why do they look so different from the other clans we've met? Granted, we've only ever encountered one, but still…'
"You have trespassed into the realm of The Lady of the Wood," spoke one of the elves as he stepped forward, his weapons still on his back. He seemed to be the commander of the others. "What is your business here?"
'The Lady of the Wood? What, did The Lady of the Forest suddenly decide to get a name change?' Aryius thought with a snort, trying to keep herself from grinning. "Well, sorry for the inconvenience," she spoke sarcastically, face completely calm even when faced with a dozen archers standing barely a foot away ready to fire. "But we were just passing by looking for a way to get back on the road. So," she gestured with one of her swords for him and the archer beside him to move. "If you would be so kind as to step aside, we'll be on our way." Relaxing her defensive position and expecting for either one to move aside, Aryius took a step forward only to be forced back by an arrowhead staring right at her nose. They obviously weren't planning on moving.
"Ary…" Leliana warned softly in a whisper, keeping her eyes and arrow on the archers before her.
The man who spoke to them first began talking again but this time in a language that they did not understand. Although they were elves, Minari and Aryius did not know how to speak Dalish, if that was what indeed he was speaking to them in. The former had lived in the Circle Tower ever since she could remember while the latter lived in Denerim's alienage all her life until recruitment into the Grey Wardens. Neither place used the Dalish language. He stopped and looked at both elven women, as if waiting for an answer. They merely stared at him with confusion.
"Um, we are sorry," Minari apologized uncertainly, glancing at the elf as she kept most of her attention on the arrows aimed at her. She still managed to speak relatively calmly enough even though her heart was beating faster than usual as adrenaline coursed through her veins, muscles tense and ready to fight if need be. "We are elves, but we do not speak Dalish."
"Dale-ish?" He gave them a strange look; the word felt strange on his tongue. "I do not understand what language that is which you speak of." Now it was his turn to look bewildered. "Do you not know Elvish when spoken to you?" He was answered with silence and continued looks of confusion, which he found utterly strange. Did not all elves know at least some form of Elvish? Sindarin was the most common form of it; surely they knew how to speak that at least?
Beats of silence passed until the man gestured for the other elves to lower their weapons. He then turned around but before he walked away said, "Come. You shall speak with The Lady."
Judging by how the elven archers remained in their positions behind them, they were not allowed to decline the invitation. Lowering their defensive positions and hesitantly putting their weapons away – grudgingly on Aryius's part – the bard and Wardens began to follow the elves deeper into the woods.
"Who are you and who is this 'Lady' that you speak of?" Leliana questioned as they followed along a steep path of green grass. "I have never heard of a 'Lady of the Wood' before. Is that what you call the keeper of your clan?"
She was answered with nothing but the sounds of footsteps padding softly on grass and dirt.
Minari followed behind Aryius, who, for once, was keeping silent. Her eyes wandered around the forest in awe while her ears listened to her friend trying to get some answers from the elven group's leader. The strange forest they were in was certainly amazing; she had to admit that much. Of all the time they spent in the Brecilian Forest looking for those werewolves and Witherfang, not once did they find a cluster of trees and grass as beautiful, full of life, and as ethereal as the place they were currently in. If her senses were not mistaken, there certainly was a degree of magic within that wooden realm. It truly was a sight to behold and she wanted to absorb it all.
After her third attempt at getting some answers, only to receive nothing in response every time, Leliana sighed and continued to walk silently, humming a tune every now and then. It was best to keep conversations between her and her Warden friends private, in case their captors decided to use information they acquired against them.
"I am Haldir, marchwarden of the northern borders of Lothlórien," the elf, known as Haldir, finally answered after several moments of silent walking, as he spared a glance behind him. That was unexpected. All three women turned to him the moment he spoke. "As for your other queries, they will have to wait until your audience with the Lord and Lady."
Nothing more was spoken of after that until the group came to a hill that overlooked a valley of even more trees, but these increased in height and width the deeper they went. Further in the distance stood a cluster of giant trees that already looked larger than the ones they had already seen, even from afar. Standing together like they were, it looked like a small cocoon of wood and leaves, the orange glow of the setting sun shining on them from the West. Stars littered the sky and a full moon shone up above by the time their group arrived to the cluster of trees, which Haldir informed them was Caras Galadhon, realm of elven lords Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. Leliana and the Wardens became even more puzzled, unaware that there was a clan of Dalish elves who had lords instead of a keeper. Just what kind of clan were these elves in?
This is my first attempt at a crossover story so hopefully it's decent enough to be an enjoyable read.
I apologize in advance if any of the character seem out of character. I am doing my best to get all the characterizations right but I'm only human! There will be some Elvish (Sindarin) in here. I did my best to research but, again, I'm only human so if there are mistakes, kindly point them out to me along with a reference as to how you know you are right, and I shall fix them as soon as possible. I'll warn you all now, I'm horrible with deadlines and updates will probably be sporadic but I will do my best to update in a timely manner.
Check out my profile for more information on the story in general, our PCs, pairings, etc.! If you have any other questions feel free to write it in your review. Reviews would be nice to receive, especially since it's my birthday today. ;) Hehe