Preparations for the journey were made very quickly. Aragorn, after a meeting with the lords of Gondor and the dunedain of the north where he explained the gravity of the situation and why the crowning ceremony had to wait, left in charge of Prince Imrahill of Dol Amroth the pending matters of the kingdom. King Eomer did the same with Hama, while Thorin sent a message to his cousin dain.
At the shores of the anduin, while the other members of the "new" fellowship stared with admiration the beautiful swan like ship, Gandalf was explaining
"The travel by sea lasts two weeks, more than enough to teach you about what you are to encounter beyond the sea"
He approached Aragorn, who was alone at the moment, and whispered "I hope this is a good decision" he stared a moment at Faramir and added "I don't know if they ate all ready for such a journey"
Aragorn's eyes filled with compassion as he watched Faramir "He needs to leave this city for a while Gandalf, it still brings him painful memories. He may have healed physically, but his soul still carries deep wounds"
Gandalf smiled as he stared at them all "Not just him…perhaps we all need this, and maybe the wound that the witch king gave Frodo can be completely healed in Valinor"
Once they boarded the ship, Dwalin asked "where is the crew?"
Gandalf Laughed and replied "No need for crew master dwarf. This ship was made by Ulmo, lord of the waters. Sea currents and Manwe's wind will be enough to carry us.
The ship was big enough that each member of the company had their own room. There was also enough space for the horses and ponies.
As they traveled, each day they gathered to talk of their old adventures, their homes and listen to Gandalf as he taught them of what awaited them.
On the 13th day, as most of them were having lunch, they all heard a scream. It was Gimli's, who was still outside on the deck.
As they stood and were about to run outside, the door suddenly opened and Gimli, pale as a ghost, entered the room
" T..T..THE S.. SUN HAS DISAPPEARED"
"What?" both merry and Pippin exclaimed, but Gandalf's voice brought calm.
"Calm down my friends….it seems we have trespassed the portal that divides Valinor from the rest of Arda. The sun and the moon are not needed here for the light of the two trees shines all over the land. Remember what I taught you before. Here a day last 12 hours, 5 hours of what you might call night when the soft silvery light of Telperion covers the earth, 5 hours of "day" when Laurelin, the golden tree, emits its light and 2 hours when the light of the trees mingle.
When they came out, all of them immediately noticed that despite the sun was gone, a soft golden light that didn't emit the suffocating heat of the sun, shined
"Not just the sun" Aragorn commented stunned " there is something that feels different…I can feel it in the very air we breathe"
Eowyn, who was just as stunned as everyone, commented "You are right my love…even the colors in the sky and the sea look different…They seem more bright and vivid"
Gandalf laughed " This is like traveling to the old days, when Arda was still young and Mogoth's corruption was not spread" he stared at Faramir and Thorin and added "With the exception of what we carry inside, here sadness and despair have never existed"
Gandalf looked into the horizon and saw the outlines of a land, still too far to distinguish the details. He couldn't help but smile. Finally, after thousands of years of wandering in the wide world, he was back.
Aragorn, who also possessed a great sight thanks to his numenorean heritage, also saw this and commented
"It won't be long before we reach land…I retire to my room to prepare" he said calmly, hiding the excitement he felt.
They all followed his example, wanting to be ready for this new adventure. Only Gandalf, who was wearing his grey clothes and hat, remained on the deck, his sight still on the shores.
A few hours later, when Laurelin light began to fade and the silvery light of Telperion gained strength, they were all again on the deck, their eyes fixed on white shores, and beyond, a far green country
Gandalf smiled when he saw Aragorn was wearing his old ranger clothing. When he noticed, he smiled back and said
"We are together again on a new adventure, old friend. And what better than these old rags to face the unknown in the wild".
Gandalf noticed that he wasn't the only one who thought the same. Gone were the ceremonial clothing as all the traveling companion now were ready for a long journey.
Faramir, no longer dressed as the steward but now in full ranger of ithilien garb, a bow in his hand. The five hobbits and 5 dwarves wore typical traveling clothes of their races. Eomer had put his rohirrim armor.
A sense of nostalgia filled Bilbo, not long ago he had left his home and the shire for the first time in his life accompanied by 13th dwarves and a wizard on a quest to defeat a dragon and reclaim a kingdom. That experience had changed him. Now, on the verge of a very different adventure, accompanied by fourteen companion like before, only that this time it was 5 dwarves, 1 wizard, 4 hobbits like himself and 4 humans.
"I wonder if there are dragons here" he joked. Kili laughed as he also remembered the adventure. He briefly remembered his brother File and wished that his brother was with him once again.
Gandalf noticed that Eowyn was examining her sword and said to her
"We are not going to a war, weapons are not needed here"
Eowyn smiled sadly at him and answered "You may be right" then she pointed at the sword the wizard carried and added as she sheathed the sword "Still nothing wrong being prepared"
Gandalf understood perfectly well her words for all of them, with the exception of the hobbits, had lived a life forged in the heat of battles and war
"So no reception committee" Eomer said with a little sarcasm, to which Gandalf replied.
Teleri elves live in this region of valinor, however their great cities of alqualonde and Avallone are further north. I don't want to receive too much attention so we will travel to the residency of the valar in the less transited routes
What they ignored was that the ship was being observed by three pairs of eyes filled with curiosity from a nearby wood
The youngest of the group, an ellette with Long blond hair and blue eyes that denoted her Vanyar heritage, was the first to speak.
"I didn't know Telerin ships came this far south"
"That ship was not made by the teleri" replied Nellas, a sindar elf of the kingdom of Elwe Thingol
"True" added the third maiden, a sindar elf with long dark hair who possessed an extraordinary beauty "our Telerin kin don't build ships like that. I believe it's one of Ulmo's"
"How do you know this?" asked the blond elf, her eyes still fixed on the ship
"Uncle Olwe had taught me everything about ship building when I have visited his kingdom, I know how to distinguish them"
When the ship reached the shore, their surprise intensified when they finally saw the "crew".
Ariel, the youngest daughter of the high king Ingwe of the Vanyar, couldn't hide her excitement. Being just 1500 years old, just a teenager in the eyes of her people, she wanted to leave the forest and meet these strangers
"What are they?" she asked to no one in particular "They are not elves and I have never seen a maiar or a Valar adopt such an strange appearance"
Nellas replied as she moved a streak of black hair from her eyes to take a better look "I really don't know, I have never seen anything like them in my life"
Luthien, whose mother was one the maiar added "with the exception of the one who wears grey clothing, the rest are not one of the Valar or the mair" she seemed doubtful for what she was about to say but continued
"That ship came from the east…they must be Illuvatar's second children"
At the mention of this, the eyes of the Vanyar opened in surprise.
"The second children..b..but I thought they were only a myth, just like the lands in the east"
Nellas replied
"You know very well that the eldest of our people came from the east. Most of us were born in Valinor but the awakening of our people was in those lands most of us think are only legends or madeup story of our elders…and apparently the second sons are neither a myth"
Both Luthien and Nellas smiled when they noticed the excitement the youngest daughter of the supreme king of all elves felt
"Didn't you say, not long ago, how bored you were that your father sent you to these woods under out tutelage?"
In truth they both felt as excited as Ariel to see something completely new in valinor, but didn't show it
Once they mounted their horses and ponies the strange group began to advance towards the wood, and as the got closer the Elves could better see their unusual factions.
The group was led by the maiar who had adopted the aspect of an old men. Elves stopped aging when they were around 2.500 years and had the appearance of early to mid 20's, so the aspect of Gandalf was very strange to them.
Behind him were five small creatures with curly hair. At first they thought they were children, but as they got closer, the elves noticed with surprise that all of them were adults
"They are so cute" Nellas said, then they all noticed as the one with darker hair closed his eyes and grimaced as if in pain, his hand touching his shoulder.
After the hobbits rode five creatures that although not as small as the hobbit, they were still much shorter than any elf. Some of them wore very long beards and one of them stared at his surroundings with suspicion. He had a proud yet noble look.
After them was a young woman with long blond hair and a face paler than any elf, at his side was a men with dark hair and a noble look, despite his ranger clothing.
The group was closed by two men, one of them with long blond hair and rough aspect. He carried in his right hand a lance. The other men had light brown hair and eyes filled with sadness, as if a great pain filled his soul. This didn't go unnoticed to the elves, who had never known something akin to suffering or tragedy.
"Let's follow them" Luthien said as she moved silently thought the trees