The travel to Rivendell was particularly rushed because Samwise was entirely concerned about Frodo despite Strider and I insisting that he was going to be okay and that the elves in Rivendell would take wonderful care of him and that we'd be there soon. The conversations also drifted to the antics that Merry and Pippin would get into in the Shire, which were incredibly amusing as Strider and I found it hard not to let forth a chuckle or two at some of their tales. And when the hobbits were too busy chattering amongst themselves, I would pace myself with Strider, conversing mostly about the landscape and possible routes to take.
Our entrance into the absolutely luscious community that is Rivendell was more annoying than anything. Naturally we were stopped and interrogated for our 'reasons for going to Rivendell' and I allowed Strider to do the talking as he spoke smoothly in elvish to the guards. I, too, knew elvish, but I was not completely certain I wanted to reveal it to the group yet. However, as we entered upon Rivendell, it was very apparent that Strider had been here before as the few elves we ran into shot him glances of recognition. This was probably where he learned elvish, I determined, versus my learning it from mainly the Mirkwood region.
After Samwise was dropped off into Frodo's room and there were numerous greetings to Gandalf who decided to appear, cryptically as it were. Then we were allowed to go into each of our separate rooms, in which I immediately closed the door, kicking my boots off and removing all of my weaponry. I eyed the bed wearily, contemplating whether or not I could spare the time for a nap, however I could not think of a way in which my presence would be necessary for the next few hours except for at dinner this evening, so I collapsed into the bed, not even crawling under the blankets and drifting off into a deep slumber.
I was awoken several hours later by an elf maiden who asked if I wished to bathe or needed help getting ready for dinner, and I sleepily snarled, "Go away!" bidding her out and slipping back into sleep. I have no idea why I was so exhausted, but I was and this bed was the perfect place to catch up on some of my lost sleep I had gathered through the years. The next time my green eyes opened was I had this unnerving feeling that I was being watched. I turned my head to where it felt like the source of the staring was coming from to see Strider looming in the corner, seated on one of the chairs.
"What are you doing in here?" I questioned, a bit drowsy still as I covered my mouth with my hand as I yawned before rubbing my sleepy eyes.
"You missed dinner," he informed me, "And Lord Elrond and Gandalf have summoned our presence."
I sat up with a start, mumbling about needing to bathe as an elf maiden sheepishly walked into my room from the bath area, announcing she had just drawn me a bath, "Convenient," I grumbled, before shooing Strider out.
"Will you be able to find us?" he questioned, and I hadn't fully heard his question, just my automatic agreement before closing the door behind him. The elf maiden smiled at me, her slick black hair was long and straight, her dress a powder blue color.
"Should I bring you fresh clothing?" she asked, and I nodded, "A gown?"
I frowned, "Preferably not…something…similar to what I'm wearing now?" I asked, and she eyed my elvish leggings (which was something many of the male elven soldiers wore) and my tunic (also a male clothing item) before dashing off as I stripped and sunk down into the tub. My tense muscles relaxed in the hot bath, steam almost pouring off of it. I really didn't have time to relax though as I began scrubbing away at the dirt, dried blood, and various other debris that had taken homage on my skin revealing the pale and weathered skin that I was accustomed to. Soon, I began working on my hair, wincing as I brushed upon the small scab of my cut on my head until I had scraped it right off.
I grabbed my towel, drying my body quickly and forcing on the navy colored leggings and the white tunic that the maiden had brought me, and noticed she also included a navy belt, which I also tied above my hips. Towel drying my unruly dark hair the best I could, I forced it into a knot on my head, not even bothering to comb or braid it first. I was in much too much of a hurry to even think about it. I then frantically began to look around, trying to find where my boots had wandered off to, before deciding that bare foot wasn't that terrible and left my room, only to almost run directly into Strider.
"I said I would catch up," I said firmly, and he just shrugged. I rolled my eyes as he led me to Lord Elrond's study. Mentally, I was thanking the ranger for waiting for me because as we walked, I realized I had no idea how to get anywhere in this place. In fact, I would be lucky to find my way back to my room when this was all finished.
After knocking and entering, the two of us bowed, Strider instantly apologizing, "Sorry for the delay, but the Lady was still asleep."
I sheepishly smiled a bit, before mumbling a soft, "Sorry."
"It is no problem," Gandalf stated with a hearty chuckle, "The Lady needs to sleep sometimes. It's wonderful to see you again, Cinder."
"As it is to see you," I murmured.
"And Aragorn!" the wizard boomed, "It has been much too long." Both Strider and Gandalf shared a friendly embrace and I blinked, my confusion not going unnoticed by the elf that had remained silent up to this point. It then dawned on me that Strider's real name must be Aragorn, or else I just missed some really confusing alias meeting in my extremely long nap.
"Lady Cinder, I welcome you to Rivendell and the house of Elrond," the elf finally stated, and I bowed in response.
"It is my pleasure," I mumbled, before the elf lord continued.
"Aragorn, as always, it is a pleasure for you as well."
It was then that I figured that the pleasant welcomes and greetings were over, as a serious facial expression washed over Gandalf's face and Elrond himself seemed to grow more expressionless.
"Now is the matter of what brought you both here," the elf proclaimed and I shifted my feet uncomfortably beneath me. The tension in the room had grown remarkably higher than I had anticipated which was just making me feel more and more uncomfortable in the passing moments.
"There will be a council held in about a week's time and there will be many representatives from across the lands," Lord Elrond began to explain, and I had to bite my tongue to stop my questions from bubbling out, "The council is to decide what is to be done about the Ring of Power, and as such we need representatives from the North."
"And it seems that you two are our best options for that," Gandalf finished.
"Of course, we will represent the North," Strider agreed, and I scowled a bit, before nodding in agreement. I could answer things myself, though I found myself currently very tongue tied. Elves always made me nervous. Or maybe it was that I was in the presence of so many people that I did not know well.
"Well, that is all that is needed of you for right now. Enjoy your stay here in Rivendell," Elrond said, though the last statement had seemed more directed towards me. He then concluded, "This meeting is dismissed."
We both shuffled out of Lord Elrond's study and began making our way down the halls, my stare fell upon my bare feet before I asked, "Is your real name Aragorn?"
"Yes," he said shortly, "It seems I was unable to keep my identity hidden from you for long."
"Indeed," I nodded, "At least you don't have a completely odd name like my own."
"What is yours?"
"I can't tell you that," I murmured, "Not right now at least."
"Someday though?" he questioned, his blue eyes bearing into mine and making gooseflesh ripple down my spine.
"Perhaps," I mumbled nervously, "You sound like Merry and Pippin. I made a similar promise to them as well."
Aragorn remained silent, and I absentmindedly wondered if I was still to call him Strider all the time or not, but decided that it didn't really matter whether or not I did because soon enough everyone would know that was his name, at least of my traveling companions anyway.
"So are you going to go explore?" I asked quietly, curious as well. His shaking his head surprised me.
"I have other business to attend to," he muttered before breaking abruptly away from me and wandering off in a different direction, causing me to stop walking and glare off after him.
"See you around then, I guess," I grumbled before continuing my walk. I wasn't entirely sure where I was wandering off to though, but even in the evening as the sun was setting against the night, the entire city or town, or whatever I felt like labeling it was so surreal and gorgeous. It had its own glow which was just simply fascinating.
By some stroke of a miracle, I think I had stumbled upon my sector of the buildings that I was calling my own room and when I figured out I was right, I excitedly hopped onto the bed, though I found myself not feeling tired at all. With a sigh, I decided to stand out upon the balcony, gazing out at the incredible view I had of the glowing world. The pink and purple sky changed into a bright blue one as the hours progressed and my staring continued.
"You should be asleep," Aragorn stated, breaking me away from my thoughts.
"Not tired," I grumbled, "And shouldn't you be asleep?"
"Not tired either," a silence settled over us as we both took to staring out over Rivendell before he finally spoke up, "So you've never been here?"
"I have before it's just been…quite some time," I explained, "I don't remember much of it."
Aragorn nodded in understanding and the two of us continued our staring out into the night in silence. And the silence was all too calming.