In case you're wondering what Amelia really looks like, I've drawn her and added her to my deviant art. The link is in my profile ! But bear in mind that I'm no good at drawing, so don't be surprised.
I'm glad to see people adding my story to their favorites and alerts, so thank you so much ! It's really encouraging :) Enjoy chapter four ! And don't forget, advice is always welcome.
The next few days went by fairly quickly. I spent a faire amount of time with the four Hobbits, laughing and making fun of each other. I also went off on a lot of walks by myself, in the forest that surrounded Rivendell. I missed travelling, and I couldn't wait for the Fellowship to leave, but there was yet another three weeks to wait.
I had been meeting up with either Gandalf or Elrond once a day, and they had been teaching me about Middle-Earth, about it's history, geography, people's and politics. I found the variation truly interesting, and I swallowed everything up happily. I loved to learn things. I also told them what I had told Aragorn, about my home land and my family. They were also very interested, especially Gandalf, who always had questions, not all ones I knew the answer to.
A dance was being held one night. Though exited about the festivities, I couldn't help but be nervous. I even had to ask Frodo what was custom to be worn at these sort of things, for back at home it was custom for some of the women to wear very short and revealing dresses. I found a deep red dress in my room the eve of the dance, and I couldn't help but wonder how it got there. " For tomorrow. Enjoy yourself, G. " Said a small note that was underneath it. I'd have to thank Gandalf the next time I saw him.
I only found the dance by following my ears, as I was still getting lost in the maze of Rivendell, even after nearly a week. As I entered, I noticed that most people present were Elves. In a corner, I saw a few Dwarves drinking ale, and I recognized Gimli. I saw Boromir brooding on his own in another corner of the room. I walked around, feeling very lonely. I was looking for Merry and Pippin, but stumbled across Aragorn, looking very solemn indeed.
" Is something the matter ? " I asked him, unsure of the politeness of my question. I hadn't seen him since the night after the council, by the waterfall, but I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut once I knew people.
" It is of no importance. " He said, staring off into the crowd. I followed his gaze, and noticed he was watching an tall, dark haired Elf dancing. It was the elf that came to us in the forest, and took Frodo away. Arwen was it ? She was dancing with another Elf, and they looked rather intimate. I put my hand on Aragorn's shoulder, understanding. He looked up, surprised at how quickly I grasped the situation, but not daring to voice his feelings.
" Have you seen any of the hobbits ? " I asked, feeling rather bored. He was kind, but he was not in a joyful mood and I fully intended to have fun that night. Aragorn nodded to the corner near the ale, where the dwarves were. I walked over there, and found them dancing on a table behind a wall of Elves. As soon as they saw me, Merry handed me a pint of ale, and invited me to join them. Seeing my drink, Gimli turned to me.
" Fine ale is no drink for a woman, my lady ! " He boosted, whipping his beard clean.
" Then I am no woman, as I have been drinking this stuff since I was five, master dwarf ! " I laughed, raising my pint to him and taking a large swig. It was sweeter than what we had back home, but not as strong. My lands were renowned for making strong ale, so as to keep us warm in the icy winters. The dwarf laughed as well, and we drunk together.
I ended up spending a good few hours dancing with the hobbits, much to Gimli's amusement. He enjoyed the Hobbit's festivity, as did I, and was amazed at how uncommon I was. At one point he told me my drinking capacity almost equaled that of the dwarves, emphasizing on the word "almost". Soon after, he was so drunk his speaking made no sense. I decided that was my queue to get some air. As I found my way to the door, under protest from the hobbits, I bumped into Aragorn again, who was speaking to the blond Elf who was to come with us to Mordor. The two were in deep Elvish conversation, and only stopped to ask if I was enjoying myself, to which I only grinned. Legolas, was the elf's name.
The rest of the night, I danced more and more, and when I stopped, getting dizzy from all the turning, I noticed almost everyone was watching me. I smiled nervously, wondering if they were staring in admiration or amusement. I had had too much alcohol, and my senses were rather muffled. I decided to leave the dance, and go to bed. Or rather, have a hot bath, and then sleep. I smiled dreamily to myself as I imagined the heat of the water, oblivious to the fact Aragorn was walking beside me until he laughed. I jumped, and looked at him accusingly.
" Don't do that. " I moaned, causing him to laugh even more.
" You are quite something my lady. Here, " he said, handing me a shoe, " you lost this back there. "
I took it, and examined it. Yes, yes that was my shoe. I blinked. Did I have three of them ? How many feet did I have ? I looked up to Aragorn, who was turning to leave. " Hey " I said, " Do... Why was everyone staring at me like that ? "
He took a moment before answering. " Never before has anyone danced like that here before. " He said.
" Like what ? "
" Like an almost obscene seductress, beautiful and captivating. " He said, at which my eyes widened. " Where did you learn to dance like that ? " He asked, to which I shrugged. I was drunk. He laughed and I made my way to my room, and fell asleep fully dressed, not even under the covers.
In the next three weeks, I often spoke to Gimli at meal times, and I think you can say we became friends. The hobbits were just as lively as ever, and my friendship with Merry and Pippin grew, as it did with Gandalf. I spoke to Aragorn now and again, but he always seemed very reserved and thoughtful, and never did I dare ask him why. I never saw Legolas, but that was probably because I had a hard time differentiating Elves. They all looked the same to me. And as for Boromir... Well, I avoided him as much as he was avoiding me.
The day we left, I was up before dawn. I was back in my own clothes, having washed them clean of dry mud and blood. I had bought a new, dark green cape for better camouflage, and had had my weapons and gauntlets polished and they were all shiny. I loved shiny weapons ! I had packed my backpacks with food, a few maps, basic medicine and a few things to wash with. I shrugged, not knowing what else to take. I stood there blankly for some time, trying to think of what I had forgotten.
" Lady Amelia, " called a voice from the door, making me jump, " the Fellowship is gathering. Come. " I turned to see blond hair flying out the door.
I made my way outside, and walked to the edge of Rivendell, where I found everyone except Aragorn, and noticed small crowd of Elves had gathered to see us off. Aragorn arrived as I stood behind Frodo, receiving huge smiles from Merry and Pippin. Lord Elrond then spoke a few words to encourage us on our journey, and Frodo lead us into the forest. I turned to look back at Rivendell one last time, and as my gaze met Elrond's, he smiled at me, and nodded.
So that was it, we were finally off ! I could barely retain my excitement as we left the forest and huge valleys and hills lay before us, I couldn't help but run up to Gandalf laughing. He shook his head in amusement, and I ran further in front of the Fellowship. The sun was shining, I was travelling in clean clothes, and I had a huge adventure in front of me. My spirits were as high as could be, and nothing would bring me down. Not even when I overheard Boromir insulting me behind my back, but Gimli stood up for me. I knew I'd have to talk to Boromir at some point, to at least calm the tension, but at that moment I did not care. Gandalf had to call me back to the group several times, as my feet lead me astray, often in a completely wrong direction. But I just came back, literally bouncing around like a little girl. As we stopped for some food on the top of a rocky hill, I went to stand on the edge of it. Legolas followed me for a lookout.
" See anything ? " I asked, as I looked out also, more for the pleasure than an actual scan. He shook his head. " Are all Elves reserved and quiet, or are you just special ? " I asked suddenly. He turned to look at me, and found nothing but a grin.
" Are all women from your land crazy, or are you just special ? " He answered back, raising his eyebrows with a smirk. I burst out laughing and ran off when I smelt food. I grabbed the slice of meat halfway between Merry's plate and mouth, and stuffed it in mine, licking my lips. As I sat down, he elbowed me in a friendly way, and I saw Aragorn roll his eyes. I looked around for Gandalf, and he was sitting alone, smoking. I gazed at him until a full plate of meat was placed on my lap. Merry took some of it, "in compensation".
The next few days were more or less the same. The sun still shone, and I was still happy. Legolas did not seem bothered by my presence any longer, and we were actually on speaking terms. He never spoke much, but I suppose some people are like that. In fact I am like that with most people. And then with others I do not know when to stop.
One day, after lunch, Boromir decided to teach the hobbits basic swordsmanship which was a good idea really, if we were going up against Sauron himself, they at least needed to know how to defend themselves. But Frodo and Sam decided not to participate, which seemed stupid to me, especially for Frodo. He was the most important person there, and yet he didn't have a clue. I didn't voice my thoughts, but threw Frodo a disappointed look, to which he just shrugged and looked away. I rolled my eyes as I sat on a log next to Aragorn to watch Merry and Pippin take on Boromir. They started off with the very basics, and I was surprised to see how good Boromir was. He was encouraging, careful, and very... Fatherly, almost. Aragorn and I shouted out a few pointers to the hobbits, which they carefully listened to. That was, until Pippin hurt his fingers, dropping his sword and waving his hand around. " Ah ! " He said, like a little boy. Boromir panicked, and Pippin kicked him, and the two hobbits jumped on him, pinning him to the floor like two children would attack their father during play time. I burst out laughing, and encouraged them. Boromir was also laughing his head off as the hobbits tried to immobilize him. Aragorn decided to join in, and tried to pull them off, but the hobbits were to fast for him as they grabbed his legs, and Aragorn was flat on his back. I continued to encourage the hobbits, until everyone seemed to look towards a fast moving black cloud. Panic seemed to be rising, yet I didn't understand. Were black clouds really that unusual in Middle-Earth ?
Legolas then shouted something out, about them being spies ? Aragorn told us to his so I did so, under some bushes. Nowhere else to hide anyway. I was still confused as I looked around at everyone curled up on the floor behind rocks and under bushes. It all seemed rather silly to me, until the cloud arrived and turned out to be a flock of birds. It explained a bit of what was happening but, why on earth were we hiding from birds ? What were they going to do, poo on us ?
Once they had past, we all came out, and Gandalf announced that the Gap of Rohan, which we were headed for, was being watched, so we had to cross the mountains up at Cahadras. We picked up all our things, and set off. I thought Aragorn was behind me, so I asked him what those birds were and why we were scared of them. But it was Boromir's voice that answered, and I turned to see he was the only one left as the others had started off.
" They are called the Radagast my lady, and they are some of Saruman's spies. We're not scared of them, but they are spying on the gap of Rohan. " He said, as we set off after the others together. I nodded in understanding, but couldn't think of what to answer. I felt so awkward. " I heard you come from far north Amelia, and have never been to Middle-Earth before. " He said, looking over to me. Again, I only nodded, still not knowing what to answer. I felt so anti-social, but I really did not know what to answer him, and I hated myself for it. " Are all women warriors in your lands ? " He asked.
" Are all men warriors in Gondor ? " I replied. " It's not uncommon for women to fight. I suppose women are just considered less fragile than in Middle-Earth, and we can defend ourselves rather than rely on our husband or brothers. It's been like that for centuries. " I shrugged as he took in the information. " I'm not just pretending. " I added.
After a moment, he sighed. " I am sorry for being so hostile towards you. I guess I have more trouble accepting your differences than the others. You are unusual, and I was brought up to be wary of that. I hope you will forgive me. " He said, stopping, and bowing slightly with his hand on his heart.
The only thought I could conjure at that moment was " Awwww ". I smiled, a true smile, and bowed my head in return. " I understand. I also apologize for my behavior, I just saw you as a big-headed, narrow-minded idiot. But I now see I misjudged you, as you have shown yourself to be responsible, kind and sincere. " I said.
Boromir laughed, and we jogged to catch up with the rest of the fellowship. All's well that ends well I suppose ! I looked up to the mountain path we were headed for, and grinned. Snow ! I couldn't wait.