Valae sat grumpily on a marble bench in a beautiful courtyard of flowers with a lovely crystal fountain beside her. Despite this beauty, Valae was still upset. She could not practice sword fighting, as her right arm was bandaged and held straight with a stick for the bones to mend properly. Also, she was bruised and in pain all the time, no matter how much medicine Lord Elrond gave her. Also, she was grumpy, because she hadn't gotten one moment with Strider. He was either with that woman, who she was introduced to as Arwen, daughter of Lord Elrond, or he was talking to other people who were of far more importance, or he simply claimed he wanted to be by himself and think. It was absolutely preposterous. So here Valae sat, alone and upset about stupid little things that meant to little.
"Frodo's awake, if you want to see him."
Valae jumped at the sound of Strider's voice behind her.
"A ranger should not be so easily caught off guard," Strider scolded, his expression solemn and serious.
"As ever," Valae snapped, brushing past him. She heard him sigh, but she didn't care. She was going to see Frodo.
As expected, Sam and Gandalf were already at Valae's side. She'd met Gandalf a couple of times, and she liked the old wizard just fine. She also saw Lord Elrond was in the room with Frodo.
"Hey," Valae smiled at him and hugged him with her left arm.
"Hurt?" Frodo asked, gesturing to her arm.
"Maybe a little," she replied, scrunching her face slightly. She glanced at Lord Elrond, who simply shook his head in distaste.
Valae left so Frodo could get dressed and wander around Rivendell a bit. So instead, she went to her own room and sat for a while. She'd needed rest, as Elrond kept telling her, and there was little to do in Rivendell, but she wasn't tired. She'd thought she would be excited to be here, in Rivendell, again, but Strider and these injuries had ruined her mood.
The sound of hooves interrupted her thoughts and she walked to her window to glance down at the gate. A group of people rode in on horses. There were a couple of men, dwarves, and, of course, elves.
But one elf caught her eye. His hair was an extraordinary blonde, almost white. His face was pale, though carefully structured. A quiver of arrows and a bow were strapped to his back and he wore a long silver cape that glistened in the sun, clearly showing it was magical. His gray eyes skimmed over the palace carefully and excitedly. Then, he seemed to look in Valae's direction. Their eyes locked, her deep brown ones with his gray ones, and Valae was shocked to see him smile. She backed away from the window, just as one of the Elvin maids came in.
"They are calling a meeting in the courtyard. Lord Elrond has summoned you as well," she explained. Valae nodded and grabbed her sword and cape from the bed. She slipped the sword onto her waist and tied her cape around her neck, hiding her leather gear beneath its shadows.
"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old…" Lord Elrond began. "You've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-earth stands on the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate. This one doom."
Valae sat still in her seat, her head low. She peeked up through her thick lashes at the men who'd come. They were from Gondor, she knew. The red-haired one was Boromir, a nobel. She knew they were staring at her as well. She glanced at the Elves, who kept their attention on Lord Elrond, and her gaze kept falling upon the one she'd noticed from before. And the dwarves, they were all stout and looking grumpy as they usually did.
"Bring forth the Ring, Frodo," Lord Elrond gestured to the small hobbit. He glanced around nervously, and Valae shot him an encouraging look. He nodded ever-so-slightly, and placed the Ring on a pedestal in the center of the courtyard.
There was a small uproar of whispering and chattering as everyone took their time to take in the reality of such a thing. All eyes were fixed on the Ring.
"The doom of Man," someone muttered.
"It is a gift," Boromir protested. "A gift to the foes of Mordor! Why not use this Ring? Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people, are your lands kept safe!"
Boromir was walking around the pedestal now, glaring into each of our eyes. He was bold, Valae had to admit. But a fool.
"Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy! Let us use it against him!"
"You cannot wield it! None of us can!" Valae shouted without thinking. She immediately regretted it as Boromir, and the others, turned to look at her strangely.
"She's right," Strider butted in. "The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master."
"And what would two mere rangers know of this matter?" Boromir spat at us, but mostly Strider.
"This is no mere Ranger," said the elf who Valae had been eyeing. He stood and shot Boromir a hard look. Valae did not understand. What as the elf talking about? She glanced at Strider. His brows furrowed as he closed his eyes and sighed.
"He is Aragorn. Son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance," the Elf said, staring straight into Boromir's eyes. Then, he glanced at Valae. It was clear he knew nothing of her. But they no longer seemed interested in her anymore anyways. They all stared at Strider. Valae did as well, not even bothering to hide the disbelief on her face. All these years, and she never knew anything?
"Aragorn," Boromir babbled, also stuck in a state of disbelief. "This…is Isildur's heir?"
Aragorn simply stared at Boromir, clearly giving him a look that said this was no joke. Yet despite such confidence, Valae could detect a bit of shame in Strider's posture. She wondered again.
"And heir to the throne of Gondor," the Elf added. Valae switched her attention to him. Who was this Elf? She'd never seen him before. But before he could say more, Strider put a hand up to silence him.
"Sit down, Legolas," Strider said in Elvin. Valae took in his name. Legolas. The Elf made no move to sit, as he glared at Boromir. The red-haired noble only glared back at him.
"Gondor has no king," Boromir spat. Then, he turned to Strider. "Gondor needs no king." Strider only gave him a hard look as he passed.
"Aragorn and Valae are right. We can not use it," Gandalf suddenly broke in, reminding us of our true purpose here.
"You have only one choice. The Ring must be destroyed," Lord Elrond added. Everyone grew quiet. Suddenly, a dwarf stood and raised his ax.
"Then what are we waiting for?" he yelled as he brought the ax down on the Ring. Valae flinched at the crashing sound of metal on metal. The ax exploded into pieces, throwing the rash dwarf onto his back.
"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Glóin, by any craft that we here possess," Lord Elrond explained as some fellow dwarves helped the one named Gimli stand. "The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade."
Everyone stared at the Elf Lord. He stood, staring at each of us, and continued. "It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm in which it came. One of you, must do this."
Everyone grew quiet again. Valae glanced at the others to find complete horror on their faces. Some, though, held confusion.
"One does not simply walk into Mordor," Boromir said, staring at all of us as if we were fools. He explained in detail the horrors of what could be found there. "Not with ten-thousand men could you do this. It is folly."
Valae almost jumped as Legolas jumped up from his chair once again, to combat Boromir's words.
"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has just said? The Ring must be destroyed!" Legolas shouted, staring at all of us.
"And I suppose you think you are the one to do it!" Gimli, the dwarf, combated. Legolas turned to glare at the Elf.
"And if we fail, what then? What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?" Boromir countered.
"I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an Elf!" Gimli screamed, jumping up from his chair. Valae jumped up as well.
"That can be arranged! Then you can be the one to carry it, oh noble dwarf!" Valae shouted sarcastically. Everyone began yelling and arguing, but Valae could still hear the dwarf shouting at her.
"Ah, girly! What are you even doing here? You are nothing but a mere child!" the dwarf shouted at her.
"A mere child who could put you down in your place!" Valae shouted at him. He glared at her, and she met it with her own.
"Are you challenging me?" the dwarf asked threateningly.
"I will take it!"
Frodo's voice stopped Valae from answering the rash dwarf. She turned to him, a shocked expression on her face. He only swallowed and said again.
"I will take it."
Everyone grew quiet as they turned to stare at the hobbit. His eyes were afraid, though his expression did not defy his words.
"I will take the Ring to Mordor," Frodo said again. "Though, I do not know the way."
"I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear," Gandalf said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
Valae sighed and walked over to Frodo. She took his small hands in her own.
"As will I," she said, smiling at him. "Frodo."
"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will," Strider suddenly said, from behind her. "You have my sword."
"And you have my bow," Legolas stated, coming to Frodo's side as well.
"And my ax," Gimli stated, smirking underneath his large beard. He glared at Legolas and Valae, both of whom simply glared back at him. Then, they glanced at each other, and Valae had to smile, thinking it was quite ironic. The elf himself smiled back.
"You carry the fate of us all, little one," Boromir said, before walking over towards Frodo as well. "If this is indeed the will of the Council, Gondor will see it done."
"Here!"
Everyone jumped as Sam ran in, pushing through the crowd to be at Frodo's side.
"Frodo's not going anywhere without me!"
Lord Elrond mumbled something about the two being inseparable, when both Merry and Pippin run in as well.
"We're going too!" they both yelled, running to Frodo. Pippin said something about himself being intelligent and Merry laughed at him, saying he hardly counted as 'intelligent'.
"Ten companions," Lord Elrond said, smiling. "So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."
Valae smiled at the sound of it. She put a hand on Merry and Pippin's shoulder. Her smile dropped and she shuddered as she realized what the ten would go through on this quest. She sighed.
