Erisedilla has nothing to say as of now. She may talk in the future. I talk about the future a lot, though, so I'll shut up.
DISCLAIMER: Yes, such a big story with so many original characters,
we need one of these. LOTR is Tolkien's. HP is Rowling's. Andalaito, Elgaer,
Erwrath are ours. More original characters coming, more disclaimers coming.
~Skies of Different Hues~
The dawn climbed slowly in Rivendell. Legolas found himself thankful for this as he entered the city, riding upon a black and white horse he had come to call Elion. Elion was obidient beneath his slender body, obeyed every soft command he whispered to her. The Elf rode free of rein and saddle, speaking softly when he wished a new action from the horse. She trotted leisurely, now, as Legolas found no reason to hurry. The Elven warrior found himself relaxing into a state of comfortable rest, and though his eyes scanned the glory of the scene around him, he paid no attention to it as he slipped into a tender state of mind.
Elrond, with piercing eyes, saw the warrior on horseback long before he crossed the city's borders. He smiled, and smiles rarely crossed his serious features. Two boys danced on the balcony below him, one with the longer hair and blue eyes of the Elf, the other with short hair and brown eyes, results of his father, a human. They were twins, left in the care of Elrond when their mother passed away of grief. Elrond had respected their mother, Arwen, and though he never was good with children, he found himself becoming known as "father" to the boys.
The long, hard years without their mother's presence seemed to have no effect on the boys' life at all. Niether had ever really known their mother, and their human father, Aragorn, had never been to Rivendell to see them. Elrond was their father, as far as they were concerned, and though they heard otherwise, they believed in Elrond's paternity.
Elrond sighed, finding in his heart affection for the boys, and a little pain in his stomach when he thought of saying good bye. He was leaving them in good hands, Legolas's care, and he trust Legolas with his own life, but saying good bye to the boys he had grown to love over the years was going to be hard on him. It was only for a trip, a trip into manhood, he called it. Legolas had lived through many travels, seen places almost no Elf dreamed of, and if one Elf was going to take his adopted sons across the sea, it would be the son of Thranduil.
One of the twins, Elgaer, grabbed his brother's shoulder, pointed to the cliffs. " Look!" he cried, Elven blue eyes watching a silhouette cross under the waterfall. He could see it was Legolas, he had seen the Elven warrior before when the Council of Elrond gathered, and had bonded with him, as if the son of Thranduil was an uncle. His brother, Andalaito, could not see as far as he, for he had inherited their father's human features, the only Elven part of him seen on the outside being his ears were slightly pointed.
" What is it?" Andalaito asked, shading his chocolate brown eyes from the early sun. He squinted, once again envying his brother's enhanced senses.
A broad smile placed itself on Elgaer's face.
" It's Legolas!" He faced his brother. The excitement reached his eyes,
making them sparkle like water in the falls.
" Atar Elrond told us he was coming!"
Andalaito looked back out at the cliffs. He did not remember his father saying anything about Legolas Greenleaf visiting Rivendell, and he knew nothing of a Council gathering. " What's he here for?"
" I don't know," Elgaer answered. Abruptly, he took his twin's hand, pulled him towards the palace. " Come, we have to meet him!"
Andalaito allowed himself to be pulled by Elgaer. He understood his brother's excitement about Legolas's arrival, understood the relationship his brother and the Elf warrior shared, but could not get Elgaer to understand that he didn't share the same bond.
Elion made a swift movement, almost a buck, as she passed under the waterfall. Legolas was brought from his restful state by her reaction to the falls' cool mist. A silent laugh made his eyes twinkle, and he welcomed the mist, let it caress his face. He was a wood Elf, but the water always seemed to please him.
He saw Elrond waiting for him within moments. The smile the old Elf wore surprised Legolas, as he had never seen Elrond smile, and he was almost afraid as he approached him and dismounted.
" It's good to see you," Elrond said, stepping up to the warrior. " It's been a while."
Legolas nodded with a brief grin. " Are there others besides the boys and myself?" he asked.
" Only a select few. This quest cannot be wasted away with ameteurs."
Legolas looked over Elrond's shoulder, eyes catching two young Elves racing towards them. " What do you call your sons?"
Elrond chuckled lightly. " This will be a learning experience for them, my boy."
" Yes," Elgaer panted as he appeared at his father's side. " Atar said it was to be a quest to manhood."
" I suppose it will be," Legolas replied. He then looked behind him at his horse. " Elion will stay here while we are gone?"
Elrond nodded and smoothly gestured towards a row of stalls, almost each occupied with a horse. " She will be taken care of, there's no need for you to worry."
" Thank you," the warrior said, bowing lightly, just enough to be noticable.
Elgaer was only slightly shocked at Legolas's
action. He had always held the highest of respect for the Mirkwood Elf,
and had never dreamed he would bow to anyone. Then again, he told himself,
he had been overlooking his father, and while Legolas was a prince, his
father was a king, and that made all the difference.
Legolas was amazed at how young the boys kept themselves looking. Though they were just now passing to one hunderd, they held the face of a young human with only twenty years. Elgaer somehow looked younger than his twin, though he was the mortal one of the two. He would lead a long life, that was known, but it would be cut short around a thousand years. His brother, Andalaito, was the immortal, and though he would someday die, it would be well beyond the life of Elgaer.
Watching them made Legolas recall his two thousand years alive. He did not show signs of aging in the slightest, but he could feel his heart growing older slowly, with each passing year. Often times, he wondered if his life would be cut short of the Elf life, for he had witnessed the death of mortal friends, and that made his heart old and wise, and for and Elf, death came when a heart was ready to die.
A soft knock at his door brought him from his thoughts. " Enter," he said, grabbing a grey leather shirt and pulling it on.
The stone door opened slowly, revealing Elgaer. Legolas smiled as the young Elf entered and made himself comfortable on the bed.
" Do you know what's for dinner this evening?" the boy asked.
Legolas shook his head. Food. The boys' minds were always on food. " Do you?"
Elgaer sighed. " I hope it's food from the gardens. We never eat from the gardens."
" There's a reason for that, lad." Legolas unrolled the long sleeves of his shirt carefully.
" What is it?" Elgaer's eyes shined with curiousity, the way young eyes always did.
Legolas laughed heartidly. " Do you bother your father with such questions?"
" He's too busy." Elgaer watched the Elf warrior finish straightening the leather shirt. " You should wear the sleeveless one," he offered, refering to the silky gowns the Elves of Rivendell wore.
" You don't think it's too casual?" Legolas turned around to face Elgaer. " I'm not used to dressing so formally."
" You could dress as a warrior," Elgaer suggested.
Legolas had to laugh again. " This will be a quest to manhood for you, I'm afraid." He sighed and turned, reached into the wood closet, withdrew a long, white, sleeveless gown.
" Father started having warrior clothes made for me just a few days ago," Elgaer said, jumping off the bed. " He said it's time I started dressing as the warrior I'm going to be."
Legolas slowly slipped on the gown. " Do you want to be a warrior?"
Elgaer hesitated in answering the question, choosing the answer with truth. " No.....this sounds stupid....at least, Andalaito thinks so....I want to be a sailor."
" Risk the open waves?" Legolas shook his head in amusement.
Elgaer nodded happily. " I had a dream about it last night. I was an ocean hero."
" What of Andalaito, what's he want to do with his life?"
Elgaer fell quiet, knowing the answer would most likely shock the Elf prince. " He doesn't know. He's immortal, and says he's got his entire life to figure it out."
Legolas coughed, then turned around to face the
young Elf again. " Yes, he does have his entire life, but you tell him
that his years will fly by faster than he can imagine." He knew it himself
all too well.
The food was a sight to behold, Legolas had to admit. As Elgaer had hoped, it had come from one of the many gardens of Rivendell, and every bite Legolas let sit in his mouth, savoring each taste. In his long ride from his home city of Mirkwood, he had missed the great cuisine of his people, and had forgotten in his absence from Rivendell of the quality the cooks put into the meal. He stayed on the vegetarian side, though the smell of seasoned meat beckoned to him. As his days wore on, he found himself eating more and more plants; he had seen too much blood and too many carcasses to fully enjoy a good morsel of meat.
" Are you sure you won't have a bit?" Elgaer asked, trying very hard to politely put a small chunk of meat dripping with juice in his mouth.
Legolas shook his head. " No thanks."
Elgaer shook his head. He never knew why his hero never really took to meat, it was one of Rivendell's best foods, but he left the Elven warrior to his tastes. With Legolas not eating the steaks, Elgaer found more for himself.
Andalaito watched his brother bury himself in piles of steaks and bird thighs. He, like Legolas, perferred to stay away from meat of any kind. Andalaito had a reason different than Legolas's, though. He found himself bonding with animals, and couldn't stand the thought of ever killing one just to be eaten.
Elrond ate slowly and little, the oncoming good bye nagging at him. In his mind he knew his sons would be in the best of hands, but in his heart, he found it hard to actually say good bye to them. What of the winds of the western sea? Could they not carry a ship far off course, mangle a sheep, lay the victims neatly on a reef? Shaking his head, the Elf Lord tried to rid the images of his sons' floating bodies, drifting forever in an endless blue.
" Legolas is a good sailor," he reminded himself. Legolas was by far the best Elf for the ocean as far as Elrond knew. The warrior would keep his boys safe, tackle any storm that should threaten their journey, and above all, put the boys' lives before his own. This thought didn't help much, either, because should the young Elves return safely to Rivendell, a great warrior, a great legend, a great prince, and a great friend could be lost. Elrond didn't think he would be able to bear the burden if such a death should fall in time, and he guessed he would wither away in grief, as Arwen had.
" You've called us here, Lord Elrond," an Elf warrior spoke up, drawing Elrond from his thoughts of misery. " Called us here on an important request, and yet you sit silent."
Elrond shook away the images of death and nodded his apology. " It won't be long, now, before you're all on your way to a restless sea. There are many of you, and you will all be sent with only a few others in one direction."
" He's going to split us up?" Andalaito whispered across the table at his brother. Perhaps he didn't show his bond with his twin very well, but it was there, bound tight, and the immortal Elf couldn't think of anything that would hurt him more.
Elgaer shook his head, trying to convince himself that he and Andalaito would be aboard the same ship. " We'll be on the same ship, I'm sure."
" This quest must not fail, which is why I've chosen the best of you, along with my sons, to embark on this journey." Elrond cleared his throat and stood, as an Elf Lord was expected to do. " Rivendell, I'm afraid to admit, is dying. Slowly dying, fading away like the ashes of my atar. There is a stop to this disaster," he added quickly at the rise of panic amoung the guests. " So has the Dwarf Corin said in a letter he wrote me. He told me that word our peril has reached his ears below the surface, and was quick in realizing that an elixer found a thousand years ago by his grandfathers, useless to Dwarfs and cast into the sea, could help us relieve the many deaths that have plagued this city."
An Elf who answered to the name Alkani, stood. " How will we find it if it has been cast into the sea? We do not know where the Dwarves of a thousand years past traveled. And if we could know, the ocean moves, and the elixer will not be where it was thrown."
Elrond nodded in recognition. " This was taken
to mind, which is why I've pulled together all of you." He spread his arms
to indicate every being the room. Most were Elves, though a few humans
were scattered about the long tables, as well as a few Dwarfs and a Hobbit
or two. " With your combined efforts, I'm sure that even the lost elixer
stone can be found. It will save my people, comrades. What you will be
doing will bring honor to you, as you will have helped the Elf city Rivendell.
I assure you Rivendell will never forget you, should you or should you
not succeed." He gracefully sank into his seat. " You will leave as the
sun rises. Each of you has been assigned a ship. Remember that your mates
are your family, your ship is your home. Maar mart."
" Legolas!"
Legolas stopped in his tracks at the brisk voice, turned slowly. An Elf, not much younger than he, approached him at a quick sprint.
" My name is Erwrath," the Elf said breathlessly, holding his hand out to the Mirkwood Elf. " I've been assigned to the same ship as you."
A simple smile crawled onto Legolas's face. " Are you a decent sailor?"
" Sadly, no, this is only my first voyage. Lord Elrond wants me to be around the boys." Erwrath fidgeted nervously at the flicker of light in Legolas's ocean blue eyes. " I'm sure," he added hastily, " that it's not because he doesn't trust you. You are a well-known legend around here, Legolas, and Lord Elrond holds you in the highest respect. But, he said he wanted an Elf to return with the ship, should you and the boys become seperated."
" Born out of his own fear and love," Legolas whispered to himself. The pang of jealousy that had come over him left, as now he realized that should one boy venture off, the other would follow, and he, in turn, would follow behind him, because of protective instincts born with him. " Don't sound as if you've brought an offense to me, I assure you that you haven't. It's Elrond's duty as a father to be over-protective of his sons."
Erwrath smiled, relieved. Had he offended the warrior in any way, he knew both Rivendell and Mirkwood would not be very pleased with him. " You've traveled before this. Tell me, what's it like?"
" You may ache and groan after a few days, but the sights you see will be worth all the pain in the world." Legolas sighed. " Yet dangers plague you backward and forward. We're Elves, though, so no danger can easily overcome us. It's any non-Elven sailor aboard that I'm worried about."
A look of almost pure confusion passed over Erwrath's
countenance. Legolas chuckled lightly and placed one slender hand on the
younger Elf's shoulder in an almost brotherly fashion. " You needn't worry,
it won't be difficult."
Andalaito found that he could not sleep as darkness overtook his large quarters. He was comfortable enough, laying on a bed of feathers and silk, handwoven by Elven maids. Above him an enchanted ceiling mimicked the stars, although the sky outside was cloudy and hazy. There was a place of solitude in the stars for him, a constellation that would be known as Andalaito one day, but he was yet to find it. His brother, Elgaer, had found his long ago. Elgaer had always been a star gazer, actually looking for pictures in the stars. Andalaito, like his brother, found pleasure in the heavens, but didn't look for pictures or messages, as the first of the Elves dictated. He found more pleasure in just watching them than looking at them.
Elgaer's quaters were just across a hallway with a cold stone floor, and the door was shut. The Elf-human found himself sleeping soundly, despite the pit in his stomach that grew with each passing hour. This pit was of excitement, he knew, something boys have. He wasn't to be a boy anymore, though. He was to be a man, because this was a journy into manhood, as well as a taste of the world beyond Rivendell for him. A smile stayed on his face as he slept.
Night passed quickly for those who slept, lingered just a touch too long for those who didn't. The sun at last began to peek over the horizon, whispering new promises of daylight, then shut out quickly by heavy clouds. Andalaito, heart now heavy with lack of rest, was the first to dress in the rough, leather outfit that was the traditional warrior uniform amoung the Elves of Rivendell. It was he who had to shake his brother awake. It was Elgaer who shook Legolas awake.
Elrond stood waiting, almost with tears in his eyes. The clouds had picked this day to cry for him, the rain the covered his face could hide the silent tears that fell. He watched with brown eyes his boys, the children he had learned to love and care for, as they loaded their small packs onto their ship, accompanied by Legolas, clad in his own city's uniform.
The ship loomed above Andalaito. His eyes scanned the massive planks that made up the beauty, the rain washed over it, coating it with the luck Elrond had wished them the night before.
" Elrond...." His father's name softly escaped his father's lips. Legolas was oblivious to it, yet Elgaer heard the name as if he had been standing next to his twin when it was spoken.
" We'll be back," the fair Elf-human whispered into Andalaito's ear, " and Elrond will still be here."
Andalaito shook his head. " You don't understand, Elgaer. I'm not like you, I don't live for the sea." He sighed heavily and looked down at the small bag he was carrying aboard. " I live for home."
Elgaer rested his hand on his brother's shoulder. " I understand, brother. More than you know." His eyes glanced over his shoulder at his father, now speaking with Legolas. He did not allow Andalaito to know, but he was beginning to wonder if he'd ever see the Elf Lord again.
" You're in charge," Elrond told Legolas.
Legolas nodded, lifted his quiver of bows above his head, slipped them smoothly over his shoulders. " Who will I be commanding?" he asked.
" Andalaito and Elgaer, of course." Elrond sighed and looked to the black sky, trying to remember the crew of the ship. " There'll be another Elf...Erwrath, I believe....and a Dwarf." His eyes fell back on Legolas and he smiled. " You know him."
Legolas closed his eyes. " Gimli?" he asked in a whisper.
Elrond nodded. " Try to get along this time, my lad." He pulled his hand away, stood tall, eyes resting on the Elf warrior in front of him. Despite his two thousand years, Legolas kept his features young and strong, and Elrond had begun to feel age come upon him.
Legolas strapped in a knife to his back, nodded courtly to the Elf Lord Elrond. " In a few years, then?"
A few years. It would be a few years before the fair Elf ever set foot in Rivendell again, a few years before Andalaito and Elgaer would see their father again. Holding back the tears the rain offered to hide, Elrond pulled Legolas into an embrace, a brotherly embrace. Legolas returned the hug, hoping to hold on for just a moment longer to the Elven world he had been raised in.
" Legolas!"
Elrond pulled away from Legolas.
" Erwrath....I suggest you get to know him." He looked away from the fair Elf.
Legolas nodded briskly. " Will do, sir."
" Take good care of the boys for me." Elrond's voice was choked.
" I promise they will return alive and well. And as men." Legolas gave the Elf Lord a small salute, turned, and leaped upon the ship, not using the ramp provided. His leap was gracefull, and he landed on the rim with perfect balance before dropping the few feet to the deck. Not a sound did he make.
Elgaer stood at the bow of the ship, leaning over the side. Waves slapped the bottom of the boat like hands, the foam kept Elgaer mesmerized. Andalaito shook his head when he saw his brother's eager form watching the water.
Andalaito kept his eyes on shore, where his father stood, emotion crossing his face as it never had before. His good byes had been said already, there was no point in dragging out the pain of leaving. Everyone knew this was for the best, for the benefit of Rivendell, for the benefit of himself.
Legolas helped a small Dwarf aboard, who Andalaito guessed to be the Dwarf Gimli he had heard his father talking about. The Elf warrior and Dwarf miner shared a quick hug, as old friends do, before Legolas yelled for Erwrath to set the ship out to the western sea.
Elgaer's heart beat loudly in his chest as the
ship began to glide flawlessly, being carried through the river's waters,
carrying them ever closer to the one thing that Elgaer found that he lived
for. The ocean.
ATAR- father
MAAR MART- good luck
A/N: Hope it wasn't too boring. This is always in the workings. *gulp* Review? Please?
~Seroci and Erisedilla (Serodilla)