A/N: This is a One-Shot for a good friend of mine (Saren) who has grown to love the ship Rumil/Wynter. So this is going to be a "Well what would've happened if she ended up in Lothorien instead of Brandywine River?" plot line. Also, if you like this, you should TOTALLY check out "I Didn't Ask For This" which is where my OC Wynter originally is from. Anywho~ Enjoy!
This is thoughts (which will have "" I thought) and what she's writing.
Everything was black. I heard the soft twittering of birds. Slowly, I gripped at something soft below me. The air smelled wet and full of life. Carefully, I opened one eye. The sunlight blinded me as I quickly closed my eye again.
"Where the hell am I," I thought while I was pushing myself up into a sitting position. Then I felt something. I don't know what I felt, but all I knew was that I wasn't alone. My eyes shot open as my heart started racing. The sharp tip of an arrow was aimed at me and I pushed myself back until my back hit a tree. My eyes followed the path that the arrow made up to whoever now held my life in their hands.
He had long blonde hair and striking blue eyes. There was a group of people who looked very similar to him, with different variations of his hair and eye color. Who were also holding arrows. The one who I deemed the most threatening at the moment began to speak… in gibberish. I stared up at him in confusion, trying to find something remotely familiar in his speech. When he finished, he noticed me looking confused. He then proceeded to talk again in English.
"Who are you and why are you trespassing into the forest of the Lady of the Light?"
I opened my mouth to start asking questions like 'Who are you' and 'Who is the Lady of the Light' and, in a secret little corner of my mind, 'Is she a unicorn?!'. Cue a happy face on that last question. The unexpected happened though. Nothing came out.
I tried to speak again, but not even a squeak was being made. Panic started to build inside of me.
"What if this crazy person is going to kill me because I can't answer him? I can't even explain to him that I can't answer him!"
"Not to mention this crazy person has pointy ears," a voice replied to me.
"P-Pointy… ears?"
I looked up, my eyes immediately going to his ears. They were extremely pointy. Both of his ears poked out through his hair. "Oh how did I miss that," I thought before things went black.
The first thing I heard was two people talking. At first the voices were far off, but when they became clear I heard a male voice say, "So you asked her a couple questions and she then started looking like she was lost in thought? Then after that she looked back up at you and then her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fainted?"
"Yes," said a familiar voice, "For the tenth time that is what happened."
The first voice let out a musical laugh. Soon a new voice joined in, "Why is the girl here though? Would it not have been easier to put her within the cells? You do not know if she is dangerous or not."
"I highly doubt that a young girl like her would be dangerous. She has no muscle to speak of. It would be impossible for her to best any of us and there were no weapons found on her. Just a pack and an odd metal item."
"My I-Pod! I totally forgot about it. I hope it isn't cracked again…"
"I know you're awake. You can open your eyes now."
Hesitantly I opened one eye. There was the crazy person who was holding the arrow to my head sitting at a table with two other males. They both looked similar to him. One of them was sitting across from him. His hair was tied back and his eyes were a bright blue. The other one was leaning against a shelf. He had stormy grey eyes and the bangs in his hair fell into his eyes at times. All three of them were looking at me. Reluctantly, I sat up in the comfy bed. For the next few minutes, they kept staring. I began playing with a loose thread on the blanket that was on top of me. After another minute or so, I looked up and awkwardly waved at them.
The one who I was most familiar with stood from his chair, "I'm going to inform the Lady that the girl has woken up. I will be back soon."
He left the room. There was a silence between the three of us that were left. If wasn't awkward, but it wasn't pleasant either. When the silence became too much for me, I got out of the bed that I was in. I started walking through the room looking for my backpack. Suddenly I felt someone behind me and I jumped, quickly turning around.
"What are you looking for," the one with the grey eyes asked. I opened my mouth to say 'I'm looking for my backpack' but nothing came out.
"Oh yeah… I can't talk."
Deciding to play everyone's favorite white faced, black lipped street performer, I began to move my hands so they were making the shape of my backpack. He didn't seem to understand. Rapidly scanning the room, I found a brown leather messenger bag near the table in the room. Walking towards it, I pointed to it.
"You are looking for your pack."
I nodded.
"Orophin, Do you know where her pack is."
The male with the tied back hair, Orophin, looked towards us, "I believe Haldir placed it under the bed."
I practically flew towards the bed. Lifting the sheets up from the side of the bed, I saw my bag. Smiling, I pulled it out looking it over. Its condition seemed okay, just a couple tears. I unzipped the turquoise bag and took out my I-Pod. The screen was terribly cracked. An uneasy feeling filled me as I cautiously pressed one of the buttons to turn it on. The screens stayed black.
Quickly, I kept pressing the button. "B-But… My music," I thought, crying on the inside. That was when the door opened again.
I turned my body slightly. There was a tall, beautiful woman with wavy blonde hair walking into the room. Orophin and the guy who helped me find my bag stood and bowed at the sight of the woman. She smiled at them and then her gaze met mine.
"What is your name child," I heard inside my head. My eyes widened.
"Did she just…"
The woman in front of me laughed softly, "Yes I did."
My mouth formed an "O" shape as she sat in front of me. "Now tell me, child, what is your name."
"My name is Wynter."
"Wynter," she repeated, "What a pretty name. How did you come to these parts?"
"I don't know," I thought, very aware that there were three people in this room who only saw this as a one-sided conversation, "I… I was with my brother, Edmund, and his friend. We wanted to go see the meteor shower and then I heard a voice. She told me to wish for my heart's desire and then I ended up here. Where exactly is here?"
"You are in Lothlórien."
"What continent is that on?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, there isn't a Lothlórien where I'm from. Or at least not to my knowledge. That means I'm on a different continent right?"
"You are in Middle-Earth my dear."
My body tensed, "S-Say that again?"
"You are in Middle-Earth. A world that is guarded by the Valar."
I gripped my arm tightly. Harshly, I pressed my nails into my skin, causing as much pain as I could to myself to be sure that one: I was dreaming, which I wasn't by the pain in my arm, and two: so I didn't faint again. I was in Ed and Haru's favorite movie trilogy. Crap.
Quickly, I tried to keep my breathing even so that I wouldn't start hyperventilating. I felt someone move beside me a lightly touch the hand that was digging into my skin. Looking up, I saw stormy grey eyes. He began removing my hand while whispering, "Don't do that. You'll hurt yourself."
Blushing, I pulled my hand out of his grip. Looking back up, I thought, "What's your name? And who are these guys here?"
She smiled at me and motioned for me to come to her. I stood in front of her and she turned me around. Pointing to the man who threatened she said, "He is Haldir."
Galadriel then pointed to Orophin. Before she could say his name, I quickly thought, "The grey eyed boy said his name, so I kind of know who he is."
She smiled and nodded then pointed to the one beside me, "Then this one is Rumil. He is the youngest of his brothers. Orophin, Haldir, Rumil, this is Wynter."
Rumil smiled at me, "That's a pretty name. Suits her well, I think."
I looked down, hoping to hide my blush. Suddenly I felt someone grab my hand and pull me up. My eyes met stormy-grey ones, "Well, why don't we show you around?"
Without waiting for a reply he pulled me out of the room. Once we were out of the door, he turned left, leaving me to see that we were high up in a tree. My breath caught in my throat for two reasons. One, it was gorgeous up here and Two; it was a really long way down. Rumil's grip on my hand never let up as he raced down the stairs, dragging me behind him. He took me from one tree or clearing to another in what I would say was record time. There was a bakery, a training field, a tailor shop, anything that you would think a regular town would have.
Finally he stopped at a stair case. I tried to catch my breath as he took a seat next to me on the stairs.
"So, what do you think?"
I was about to reply when I was reminded that I had no voice to use to speak to my kind acquaintance. Instead, I smiled gratefully at him, hoping that would convey my message. Before I could see his reaction, Haldir was walking towards us.
"So this is where you've gone," he sighed heavily before turning to Rumil, "That was very rude of you Rumil. You left the Lady's presence unexcused. She said that she still had some things to discuss with our new… guest."
Rumil grinned sheepishly up at his elder brother, "I am sorry, but I couldn't help myself. We haven't had a human here since… ever really. I find her fascinating."
"And how long shall that last until you move to your next toy?"
I frowned deeply at the thought. I didn't really mind being fascinating, but being called a toy, by someone who knew the handsome elf more than I did, unsettled me. A part of me was already growing to like Rumil, but now I felt somewhat hesitant. Instead of letting Rumil answer his question, Haldir turned to me.
"I shall escort you to Lady Galadriel. There, I believe, you shall discuss your living arrangements among other things."
I nodded standing to follow him when I felt a hand on my arm. Looking down to Rumil he smiled, giving a small wink, "When you are done with your talk, I shall take you to the dining hall, yes?"
A battle was being waged inside me. A great part of me wanted to go with him, but another, smarter part of me was saying no. Residing to a shrug, Rumil frowned slightly, his grip loosening. Taking this chance to start following Haldir, I pulled my arm out of his grip only to feel the pressure of his hand return. Turning me around to face him, his deep grey eyes bore into me.
"Do not take what my brother says to heart. It is his way of jesting."
I nodded to show him that I understood. I still wasn't going to completely trust it though. Feeling his hand let go and hearing it fall to his side, I quickly went to catch up with Haldir. While trying to catch up to the insanely fast elf, I couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was watching me.
My back rested comfortably on the tree behind me. I had been in Lothlórien for almost three months now. At first I was dying of boredom, not knowing what to do without the internet, or my I-Pod, or Doctor Who, or anything. After a week of lying in bed and counting and recounting how many rings were on the roof in my room, Galadriel saved me from the endless boredom.
She called me for an audience where she led me to a gigantic library. Pointing to a section that had books that I understood, she said I could come and go and take as many books as I wished. Smiling brightly, I gave her a quick hug before I ran off. That's where most of my time was spent besides at the room that Galadriel gave me to room in and the dining hall. There were times when Rumil would come and we would have conversations.
During one of our conversations, he was particularly displeased about the fact that I could not answer him with more than a nod, shrug, or a shake of my head. The next day, he brought me a small chalkboard which he called a slate, chalk, and a cloth to wipe it off with. Ever since that day, whether it had been out of gratefulness or some other emotion, I hadn't taken it off except for when I bathed.
My eyes scanned over the text in front of me. Currently I was reading about a young elleth, which apparently is a word for female elves, who fell in love and died. Sounds really depressing, I know, but the story itself was beautifully written, both story wise and the hand writing it was taken down in. I was taken out of the world my book brought me in by the sound of laughter to my left. Curiously lifting my head, I saw a sight that was becoming more and more common to see over the past few days. A sight that I found displeasing.
My eyes narrowed as I saw Rumil and two elleths walk down the path towards the clearing I was in. A smiled was plastered on the elf's face as the two surround him laughed. Pretending to be reading, I listened in on their conversation.
"Is it true that the Lady of the Light shall be holding a party for her new ward that she has taken under her wing," one of them asked, her voice taking a sweet, hinting tone to it.
"Yes, it is true Idril," Rumil replied.
"Have you an elleth that you are escorting," the other one asked, effectively cutting off the other one. I smiled slightly. Even after being in Middle Earth for this long, I have yet to find any real differences between the girls in my high school and Elven females when it comes to males. A sickly feeling was growing inside me though.
Then I heard Rumil's voice calmly say, "Not to any knowledge of mine," before he yelled out across the clearing, "Wynter!"
I lifted my head up, looking at the long haired blonde. He quickly bowed to the girls he was walking with. Once he turned his back, they gave me sour looks before heading off. Rumil squatted down in front of me.
"Hello," he called softly smiling brightly at me. Stiffly, I nodded. He slightly frowned.
Setting down my book, I took my small chalk board and wrote, "Wouldn't you have much preferred the company of your kin than mine? "
The elf's frowned deepened, "No. Why should I?"
Quickly erasing the writing, I started again, "You seemed to be enjoying yourself with your escorts."
He shook his head, "To be honest, it was beginning to feel slightly suffocating. Their only real conversation is dresses, balls, and ellons. Only two of those topics they choose to discuss with me."
"Only two of three my ass," I thought bitterly, "They were obviously trying to get you to ask them to the banquet Galadriel is holding."
"If it is as you say," I quickly scrawled across the board, flinching as the chalk screeched along it. Quickly dropping the white chalk, I grabbed my hand to steady the slight tremble that began. I hated chalk boards, that would never change, but for now, it was my only means of communication. I heard a quiet scoff as I looked back up to Rumil.
"Are you perhaps jealous?"
Scowling at the infuriating beauty in front of me, I snapped my book shut. Standing, I whacked him lightly upside the head, and turned to leave. Hearing panicked footsteps behind me, Rumil's voice continued, "I was only jesting. Please come back here."
Continuing my pace, I looked down at the book in my hands. Sighing slightly, I looked up, just barely stopping myself from running into the chest in front of me. Looking up, I glared into stormy eyes.
"You know, your eyes are looking especially grey today. There are hardly any green flakes in them."
Scowling up at the smooth talker, I tried to go around him, only to find he stepped where ever I tried to go. Finally having enough with his attitude, I place the green leather bound book into a pocket in my dress and quickly wrote something on my slate.
"If you have something to say, say it."
The dazzling ellon in front of me sighed as he looked down at me. A small smile played at his lips as he produced a stem holding several small, white flowers*. "I was hoping that you would allow me to be your escort for tonight."
Looking between the flower and the one holding it, I felt torn. A part of me didn't want to say yes, just out of spite. The part of me that won, though, was waiting for this chance and began jumping for joy. I took the flowers from out of his hand, and smiled, nodding in affirmation to him. The smile that broke out from him made my breath catch. My heart stopped beating for a split second before it began pounding.
Rumil bowed in front of me, his eyes never leaving mine, "Then I shall see you tonight."
Nodding, I turned to watch his retreating form run back up the path. Before he left my sight, he waved at me before disappearing around a corner. Quickly, I hurried back to my room, closing the door behind me. My body slowly slid down the wood, a smile plastered on my face. Looking to the flower, a feeling bloomed inside of me that told me that tonight would be just wonderful.
Once the moon rose and I was dressed in white with the help of two elleths who I had grown to like and vice-versa, we headed towards the place of the banquet. Lights were strewn about the tree tops as we entered a closed of area surrounded by intertwining branches. Lacey, white, clothed tables were set around the area. My eyes swept over every detail in awe until a light tap was on my shoulder.
I turned and spot Rumil holding out his hand to me. With my hands slightly trembling, I placed on in his as he pressed his lips against it. A part of me froze as, once again, his eyes never left mine. Smiling up at me, he took my arm and looped it with his. As he began walking, I looked down at my feet to hide my blush. I felt hot air blow against my ear as Rumil spoke softly, "I hope you know that you look beautiful tonight."
I felt as in my whole body was turned to fire. He led me to sit down on a bench by one of the tables. Quickly he murmured that he would be right back with something to drink and left. Using the moment of solitude, I gripped my hands together and began to breathe deeply. I wasn't used to this. Not dances, or 'banquet' which are both essentially the same thing here, but having a guy treating me like this. My lips formed a soft smile as I heard the beginnings of music start.
Looking up, hoping to catch sight of my escort, I found him. Dancing. With an elleth. My cloud nine high quickly evaporated as tears fogged up my vision. Of course he'd be dancing with an elleth. They're tall and slender. As they enter the room, they hold a graceful feel to their strides and talk like the soft blowing of the wind. Taking a deep breath, I spotted the opening closest to me. It was on the right and very few people were using it. Standing, I bent to pick up my skirts and ran.
My feet pounded hard on the steps and my tears fell silently. Why was I foolish enough to believe he willingly wanted me with him tonight? I mean, I trip whenever I don't pay attention to my footing, I'm not as tall as an elleth, and I'm a mute. We can't even hold any semblance of a decent conversation. So why would he ask me to this anyway? As a joke? Pity?
A scoff escaped my throat as I ended up at the tree where I was at earlier. Planting myself on a bench beside it, I placed my forehead on the rough bark, letting my tears drip down my face.
"Am I ever going to belong here? I just want to go home!"
I felt a soft hand touch my back. It rubbed in soothing circles as the last what my tears finished up. Turning my head slightly, I saw Rumil in my peripheral vision. Frowning, I looked back to the brown of the bark in front of me. The silence between us lasted for several minutes until I heard the blonde's voice ring out.
"I saw you running out-," he said as I took my chalk and began writing something, "- of the venue. It hurt that you did not tell me you were leaving."
Once he finished, I held out my board for him to read, "You were dancing with an elleth. I don't really blame you. It's your kin, you all fit together, belong together. I'm just the human standing in everyone's way."
He shook his head, "That is not true."
I wiped at my board, beginning to write something again until I felt a hand pull my wrist. Knowing it was futile, I tried tugging my wrist out of his grip. Giving up, I kept my gaze narrowed at the not yet complete sentence.
"I don't be-"
From beside me, I heard the stormy eyed ellon growl softly. Suddenly, I felt pressure on my chin as my face was forcefully turned to him. I felt his soft lips crash onto mine. My body froze, tears threatening to escape again. Finally giving in, I completely relaxed, letting my eyes fall closed. I felt Rumil's body scoot closer to mine as he placed my arm around his neck.
I just felt. I felt his lips against mine. I felt his hand lightly trace patterns on my side. I felt his long soft hair between my fingers as I soaked in everything. It was just him and me. Nothing else mattered.
His lips softly left mine, "Do not say you do not belong here, because as long as I still walk this earth, you will always have a place you belong."
And for once,
I believed him.
A/N: YES! IT'S FINALLY DONE! Saren, I truly hope it has lived up to your expectations. And for those of you who read my fanfiction this is based off of, are you okay with how corny that ending sounded? If so EPICNESS~ if not let me now. I might be able to tone it down. Might being the key word. Also this "*" is actually a flower called Yarrow and it means Eternal Love, which I thought would be befitting since they are elves. ANYWAY Review if you wish.
