Hello, everybody! Run away while you still can... ;)
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings. This goes for all of the chapters.
Warning: You really should see all three Extended Edition versions of Lord of the Rings before you read this because 1. THEY ARE GREAT and 2. the story will make more sense if you know who Frodo is. :) The story is mainly based off of the books, but if you've seen the movies, you'll be okay.
This story has many original characters. Call Meliwen a Mary Sue if you wish, but PLEASE tell me WHY think you that. As always, all comments, suggestions, questions, random remarks (those are my favorites! :) ) and reviews are welcome!
IMPORTANT: NOTHING IN CHAPTER ONE CHANGED! I just wanted to re-post to I could change a few things with the story. Chapter two will be up soon. (yeah right!)
Chapter One: Decisions
If a weary traveler were to visit the beautiful Imladris, he would be at peace. Imladris was always open to anyone who stopped by, and the elves tried to make everyone feel welcome and safe.
However, some of the elves themselves were not at peace.
Lord Gil-galad of Imladris had been pacing in the library for the last four hours, pondering on what to do. It was late at night, but he had to give an answer by dawn...
"I need to make a decision tonight!" He sighed, and began to walk up and down the library again. Occasionally, his lips would mutter a simple prayer: "Give me knowledge. Give me strength. Give me courage."
Gil-galad sat down at his desk, and began to re-read the message he had received that evening. It had been a quiet, relaxing night.
"We should have known something was wrong," Gil-galad said to himself.
The elves sighed with relief as the final orc was destroyed.
"Elrond, search nearby for any other orcs. We will go back to Imladris with the wounded."
Elrond nodded. He was surprised; the fight had been quick. The orcs outnumbered the elves, but the elves had no trouble defeating the enemy. He figured it was just luck.
Gil-galad thought otherwise. He and Glorfindel looked at each other for a moment, each knowing what the other was thinking.
"That was easy... too easy," Glorfindel muttered.
"Are you complaining?" Gil-galad's young advisor, Erestor, asked.
Glorfindel ignored his friend's sharp remark. He looked all around him, searching for something. "Where are they?" he said to himself.
"Our scouts said there were many more," Gil-galad said. "Where did they go?"
There was a moment of silence.
"It's quiet," Erestor remarked.
"Too quiet," Glorfindel said, his eyes narrowing.
"It can never be 'too quiet'," Erestor remarked. All the same, he reached for his sword.
"Elrond will tell us if he finds anything," Gil-galad said. "We need to return."
Later in the afternoon, Elrond returned.
"None."
Gil-galad nodded. 'We'll just have to wait to see where they are,' he thought.
After a few hours, the elves forgot about the missing orcs. They had gone their separate ways: Erestor was reading an outrageously large book titled "Dwarves" after his arm was bandaged, Glorfindel was annoying him about the book, and Elrond was saying something about Galadriel's daughter to Alphiel, a healer. Gil-galad had decided to get some rest--he had done something to his ribs, and it hurt a lot.
Gil-galad was almost asleep when somebody knocked on his door. "Come in!" Alphiel walked in with a serious expression on her face. He groaned. "Can it wait until tomorrow?"
"No, my lord. I think you should come downstairs immediately."
"Alphiel, what is it?"
She didn't respond; she already was halfway down the stairs.
Gil-galad felt like someone was beating him over the head with a rock as he walked down the stairs. 'I need more sleep,' he thought. All of his feelings of self-pity were suddenly forgotten, though.
A young soldier from Gondor sat in a chair. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow.
"He says he will not move until he speaks with you," Alphiel said. "I don't know how badly he is hurt..."
Gil-galad walked over to the soldier.
"What is it you have to say to me?" he asked.
"My lord... I have a message from Gondor. It is URGENT that you respond by dawn tomorrow."
"How were you hurt?"
"Our party was attacked by orcs. My captain told me to run to Rivendell, and give you this." He handed the elf lord the message, then with a shuttering sigh, he closed his eyes forever.
"Read it," Erestor said, walking over to Gil-galad.
Glorfindel glared at him for disturbing the peace. The soldier wasn't simply... a soldier, he was a person. A person who lost his life for a cause. And as much as he wanted to know what that cause was, he paused for a moment.
Gil-galad was silently reading it. His eyes widened as he read it. Without an explanation, he walked back to his room.
And this was where he was now. He considered talking to Elrond, Erestor, and Glorfindel, but he already knew what they would say.
A knock on the door brought Gil-galad out of his thoughts. "Come in."
"It is a wonder you haven't put a hole in the floor with your pacing."
"What makes you think I was pacing, Alphiel?"
"I could see your shadow outside. What is troubling you?"
Weary, Gil-galad sat down. "Gondor calls for aid."
Alphiel sighed. "Will you help them?"
"If Gondor needs help, things are worse that we expected."
"You expected this.You knew Sauron was becoming stronger.You just hopedyou were wrong."
"True."
"I think you should help Gondor. If we do not, they will surely perish. We have the power to at least assist them. They are not strong enough to fight alone."
"But neither are we." Gil-galad turned to face her. "Sauron is simply too strong."
"Think about it this way," Alphiel said quietly. "If we stay, we will lose our lives. If the enemy has victory over Gondor, he will move west, destroying all in its path. We will die when Sauron's army come to Imladris."
"Nay, that is not true. The enemy will want revenge over… certain things. Death is too merciful for the Dark Lord." Gil-galad glanced down at the ring he was wearing.
"Are the rumors true?"
"What rumors?"
"That He has a 'Master Ring'?"
"I believe so."
"Can we win?"
"No. Not a chance."
"There is always hope. We will either fall in Mordor or in Imladris."
"We could sail West."
Alphiel threw him a dark look. "And what would Men do?
"Maybe it is time for them to fight on their own."
Alphiel sighed. "It is a dangerous gamble. But we can either lose our lives staying here, or lose our lives fighting. The choice is yours, but as for me, I'll be fighting alongside Gondor."
"I think we should fight; trying to convincemy more peacefulcompanions to fight will be a great challenge. And even if we do get soldiers, we cannot have victory against Sauron."
"At least we shall go down fighting," Alphiel commented dryly. "But remember this: the decision is yours. The reason my husband does not give advice is because advice is one of the most dangerous things you can give. Let this choice be yours."
The elf lord sighed. "I will give this more thought."
Alphiel took her cue to leave. "Good night, my lord."
"Good night, Alphiel."
Alphiel stopped when she was almost out of the door. "Oh, and Gil-galad?" she said with a smile.
"Yes?"
"If you do go, good luck telling Glorfindel."
Glorfindel laughed. Hard.
"You. Must. Be. Joking."
"No, Glorfindel, I am serious."
Glorfindel was still smiling. "You cannot be serious."
"I am."
'Glorfindel's not intelligent enough toaccept thathe is going to die!' Erestor thought dryly, mentally rolling eyes. Realizing nobody else was going to say it, he asked, "Have you taken complete leave of your senses?"
"It is the only logical solution."
Gil-galad had decided he would rather tell his friends sooner than later that they were going to war. They took it surprisingly well. Erestor questioned Gil-galad's sanity, Elrond nodded his head, and Glorfindel laughed.
"Marching on the Black Gate!?!" Erestor exclaimed. Although he knew Gil-galad was not joking, he wondered if his lord knew what he was doing.
"What else would you have me do?" Gil-galad snapped. Not only was the decision weighing heavily on him, he hadn't had much sleep. He was not in the mood to receive a lecture.
"What possibly possessed you to aid Gondor?" Glorfindel asked, finally grasping what his lord was saying.
"If we stay here, we will die," Elrond said.
"The enemy is not pleased with Imladris," Erestor said. "We will have to suffer great consequences if Sauron gains power. We must be careful."
"So you would rather die in a suicidal attempt to stop Him instead of staying in Imladris?"
"Yes," Gil-galad said. "It has been decided. We leave in two days time."
Erestor quickly walked to his room. He desperately wanted to talk to his wife. He heard Glorfindel mutter under his breath something that sounded like, "I'm going to cut off all of his hair when we return."
Erestor wondered if they would return. He had always been very, very realistic, and never sugar-coated anything. He knew he was going to die unless the Valar were feeling very generous. He, too, wondered who could possibly make Gil-galad go to Mordor.
He wasn't too thrilled when he found that someone was his wife.
"What do you mean, you talked to Gil-galad?!"
"I talked to him. I told him what I thought."
"And that would be…?"
"That he should help them," Alphiel calmly said.
Erestor put his head in his hands. "You do realize that you sent us to our death!?"
"Erestor… Sauron is much stronger than we had originally thought. If we do not fight him, the first place he would want to destroy would be Imladris! There is hope that we can will this battle."
"Not much!" Erestor shot back. "You don't know what you go us into."
"Erestor, I have something that you will never be able to understand: hope! This must be a victory! It cannot be a defeat; life as we know it will disappear."
"Alphiel, it is entirely possible that this will be a defeat. It is extremely likely that this will be a defeat. Why will you not understand that?"
"Maybe I do understand that. But I know your strength in battle. I know you will succeed. I know this will be a victory."
"Curse you and your child-like innocence and hope!" he said smiling, kissing her forehead.
"That's why you married me," she reminded him. "You will return. At least, you had better return. Because if you don't, I'll tell Glorfindel what happened to his hairbrush last summer."
Erestor gasped. "You wouldn't."
"Watch me."
Gil-galad walked through Imladris's garden, admiring their beauty. He thought about his decision, and somehow, he knew it was for the best. They would succeed; he just knew it.
Because the fate of all would be decided by that victory... or defeat...
A/N: Please review. Please tell me what you think (especially on my interpretation of Glorfy, Erestor, Elrond, and Gil-galad).
Have a GREAT day!
Malara :)