Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Lord of the Rings.
A Shinobi of Middle-Earth
Chapter 7: Under the trees
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Spirits/Ents talking"
"Spirits/Ents thinking"
(Location: the Fellowship)
They made good time in getting down from the East Gate of Moria and into the fields that stood outside the woods. They did not stop there. They could not stop. They had to keep moving so they could find safety.
But as soon as they walked into the woods of Lothlórien, they did not feel safe. In fact, all they felt was silence. They could hear the woods all around them and they could see it, hearing the sounds of the animals that lived go about their lives and seeing the leaves fall off of the trees. But that was it. Anything just did not seem to be there.
Aragorn and Legolas led the way while Sasuke and Boromir took to the back. The blood from Sasuke's wound had turned dry and crusty, but the pain was still there. Even when he looked at the wound, he could tell that it would scar. He did not earn that scar, but he did deserve it. Gandalf had been right there and he couldn't save him. "Now is not the time for that," he silently berated himself. "You must help the others find safety."
"Stay close, young hobbits!" Gimli told the hobbits, as the five of them were the middle of the traveling group. The dwarf had his axe out and ready to use, but for what they didn't know. "They say that a great sorceress lives in these words. An Elf-witch of terrible power," he said to them, walking forward carefully. "All who look upon her fall under her spell and are never seen again."
Sasuke, who had heard those words, couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You'd best hope Legolas didn't hear that, Gimli," he thought to himself. It didn't look like the elf had heard the dwarf. He was still up at the front, following Aragorn in the path the Ranger made.
Unbeknownst to the shinobi and the dwarf, Frodo heard a voice in his head. "Frodo," it whispered his name. He looked around, trying to see where the voice was coming from but could see nothing. It was like a ghost or spirit in the wind. Then the voice spoke again and when it did, he saw a brief vision of blue eyes looking directly at him. "Your coming to us is as the footsteps of doom. You bring great evil here, Ringbearer!"
"Mr. Frodo?" Sam said to him, bringing him back to where he was. He didn't say anything to his gardener; he couldn't find any words to say. All he could do was keep walking forward.
"Well, here's one dwarf she won't ensnare so easily," Gimli declared. "I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox!" It was at that moment, two drawn arrows were pointed at his face, making him stop in his tracks. "Oh!"
He wasn't the only one. Elves with bows drawn and arrows nocked appeared out of nowhere. Everyone, even Sasuke, was surprised by their appearance (Legolas had his own bow drawn and nocked). If he had been alone, the shinobi would've tried to have gotten away, either by smoke bombs or grabbing one of the elves as a shield. But he didn't have any smoke bombs anymore and he couldn't leave the Fellowship alone with them.
"The dwarf breathes so loud, we could've shot him in the dark," one of the elves boasted as he walked forward towards Aragorn. It was obvious that he was the captain of the group.
The dwarf in question growled at those words, but that earned him the arrows getting closer to his face. "Aragorn, these woods are perilous!" he told the Ranger. "We should go back!"
"You have entered the realm of the Lady of the Wood," the elf captain said to Gimli. "You cannot go back." He looked at the rest of the elves with him. "Keep them under close guard," he ordered them.
They lowered their bows, but they still had arrows nocked. The Fellowship was forced to follow the captain as he led them deeper into the woods. They did where they were going and for the hobbits, that was a familiar but still uneasy feeling.
They walked all through the rest of the day and well into the night. When it came time to rest, they were led up onto a series of platforms in the trees, which they would learn were called flets. By that time, the attitude to them seemed to have changed somewhat. Aragorn, Legolas, Boromir, and Gimli stood before the elf captain, who spoke to Aragorn and Legolas in Elvish, (which they would later translate for the rest of the Fellowship). "Mae govannen, Legolas Thranduilion (Welcome Legolas, son of Thranduil)," he said to Legolas, briefly placing a hand on his heart.
"Govannas vîn gwennen le, Haldir o Lórien (Our Fellowship stands in your debt, Haldir of Lórien)," Legolas said in reply.
He looked past Boromir and at the other man there. "A, Aragorn in Dúnedain istannen le ammen (Oh, Aragorn of the Dúnedain, you are known to us)," he said in greeting.
"Haldir," Aragorn returned the greeting.
"So much for the legendary courtesy of the Elves," Gimli grumbled. Once he had stepped onto the flet, he had taken his helmet off. "Speak words we can all understand!" he practically ordered Haldir.
The elf captain merely turned his gaze onto him. "We have not had dealings with the Dwarves since the Dark Days."
"And do you know what this Dwarf says to that?" He spat something in Dwarfish that nobody wanted to or would translate.
But before any of the elves could do anything in response, a hand flew out and struck the dwarf hard on the head. "Baka," Sasuke said as he pulled his hand away. "Courtesy must been given as well as received." He wasn't even looking at the rest of the people there; he was looking out at the woods.
"Lad, you don't even know what I said!"
"I didn't need to. I could hear enough in your tone of voice," he said, turning around.
Haldir's eyes widened slightly when he saw the raven-haired man. "Hello again, Crabandir," he said in greeting.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the elf captain. "I know you, don't I? From seven years ago." He fell silent as he tried to remember. "Were you the one I had to literally pull out of an ambush?"
"No, that was my brother. You saved him and yet, you did not stay to fight off the orcs."
"I was tracking a different orc band that had taken children with them and had a three day lead on me."
It was a good enough of an answer for the elves, for said nothing else about it. In fact, the subject was completely changed. "You are wounded," Haldir noted, looking at his right hand.
"An arrow pierced it," he answered.
"And you have not tended to it."
"We didn't have the time. We were running for our lives and to safety."
He looked to one of the elves under his command. "Tend to his wound," he ordered. If the elf had a problem with the order, he did not say. Instead, he went straight over to Sasuke and began to do as he was ordered.
Haldir's gaze went past the hobbits as this happened and he stopped when his eyes met Frodo's. "You bring great evil with you," he told the hobbit with a coldness in his voice. He turned back to look at Aragorn. "You can go no further!"
He walked away and Aragorn went after him, silently telling the Fellowship to wait before walking away. The two of them started to speak rapidly, but quietly in Elvish while the others waited. Frodo sat on the platform in silence, looking around at the rest of the Fellowship. To his sadness, none of them held his gaze long.
"Gandalf's death was not in vain," Boromir told the hobbit from where he sat across from him, thinking that his silence was in sorrow (and perhaps it was). "Nor would he have you give up hope. You carry a heavy burden, Frodo. Don't carry the weight of the dead."
Sasuke was nearby with a freshly bandaged hand. When he heard those words, he had to restrain himself from snorting in derision. "For some of us, Boromir, we have no choice in carrying the dead," he thought to himself, thinking of his clan (and his brother).
The hushed voices stopped and Haldir came back to them. "You will follow me," he told all of them. They stood up and followed him through the trees, always walking on the flets. They did not ask where they were going or how long they would be walking in fear that he would just leave them there, alone in a strange place to most of them.
After what seem like an hour or three to them, they finally stopped on a flet that almost looked the same as all the others, with the only difference being an actual roof over their hands. "You will rest here for the night," Haldir told them.
He left them alone with a few guards to keep watch and they began to settle in. No one said anything as they made themselves comfortable. The silence was broken when Gimli saw a harp nearby, went over to it, picked it up, and began tuning it. "What are you doing, Gimli?" Legolas asked him. The elves who kept watch paid closer attention to him.
"Playing a dwarf song of lamentation," he answered, still tuning the harp. "Gandalf deserves that much." Once he was done tuning, he began to play it and sing.
(Start I See Fire)
Oh, misty eye of the mountain below
Keep careful watch of my brother's souls
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke
Keep watching over Durin's sons
If this is to end in fire
Then we should all burn together
Watch the flames climb high into the night
Calling out father oh stand by and we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on
The mountain side high
And if we should die tonight
We should all die together
Raise a glass of wine for the last time
Calling out father oh
Prepare as we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on
The mountain side
Desolation comes upon the sky
Now I see fire
Inside the mountain
I see fire
Burning the trees
And I see fire
Hollowing souls
I see fire
Blood in the breeze
And I hope that you'll remember me
Oh, should my people fall then
Surely I'll do the same
Confined in mountain halls
We got too close to the flame
Calling out father oh
Hold fast and we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on
The mountain side
Desolation comes upon the sky
Now I see fire
Inside the mountains
I see fire
Burning the trees
And I see fire
Hollowing souls
I see fire
Blood in the breeze
And I hope that you'll remember me
And if the night is burning
I will cover my eyes
For if the dark returns then
My brothers will die
And as the sky is falling down
It crashed into this lonely town
And with that shadow upon the ground
I hear my people screaming out
And I see fire
Inside the mountains
I see fire
Burning the trees
I see fire
Hollowing souls
I see fire
Blood in the breeze
I see fire (fire)
Oh, you know I saw a city burning out
And I see fire (fire)
Feel the heat upon my skin
And I see fire (fire)
Uhhhhhhhhh
And I see fire
Burn auburn on the mountain side
(End I See Fire)
Everyone who had heard him sing was stunned to hear it. They did not think that he would have such a clear voice. But it was more than that. It was the song he sung. "That…was beautiful, Gimli," Merry told him. "Whoever wrote that should be praised for creating such a song."
"When I return, I'll be sure to pass on your words to Bombur," he replied as he set the harp down. "He wrote it in honor to Thorin Oakenshield after the Battle of the Five Armies."
"Bombur?" repeated Legolas with a small look of concentration, remembering the dwarf in question. "You mean the fattest dwarf of Thorin's Company?"
"Say what you will about his weight and eating habits, but that dwarf has the skill and soul of a musician. It's only a pity he did not use it more." His face fell a little. "And I know it isn't exactly right for Gandalf, but I could think of no other way to sing for him."
No one said anything against him, no one could. The grief of losing Gandalf was still there. Not even the elves that lived in the woods said anything against him and the song he had played and sang. The rest of the night was spent in silence, for the Fellowship fell asleep and dreamed. But they all dreamed the same dream: Gandalf falling again and again.
The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Haldir came for them again. They descended from the flet and walked along the forest floor. It was a walk in silence with elves to their front and their back and took the better part of the day. Had sorrow not plagued them, they might've seen the beauty of the woods around them much more than they did now.
They finally stopped when they crested a hill and saw the land beneath them. Before, just beyond the valley created by the hill it was on and the hill they stood on, were great trees place so close together, it was almost hard to see where one ended and another began. "Caras Galadhon, the heart of Elvendom on Earth, realm of the Lord Celeborn and of Galadriel, Lady of Light," Haldir said as he looked upon it, a breath of wonder in his voice.
When they went down the hill, went across the valley, and entered the place, Sasuke could only look around and admit to one thing. "This is what a true village in the leaves should look like." For this place was built into the trees, not just surrounding them. If the Shodaime Hokage could see this place, would he be inspired or jealous?
They were led to a staircase that spiraled upwards into one of the largest trees there. So long was their climb that even as they climbed, the light of the sun outside the woods set and the day turned into night. And they still climbed. After a climb that lasted a long time for the Fellowship, they came out of the staircase to see a hall nestled in thick tree branches.
Haldir led them into the hall, to a platform that was before a staircase. As they waited, a glowing light at the top of the stairs began to brightened, getting their attention. Two elves, clothed in silver and white, slowly and gracefully descended down the stairs, holding each other's hands. They were Celeborn and Galadriel, who ruled Lothlórien.
"The Enemy knows you have entered here," Celeborn told them as he and Galadriel stood before them. "What hope you had in secrecy is now gone." He looked at each one of them more closely. "Eight that are here, yet ten set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf? For I much desire to speak with him. I can no longer see him from afar."
"Gandalf the Grey did not pass the borders of this land," Galadriel spoke softly, yet the Fellowship could hear her easily enough. "He has fallen into shadow."
No one said a word, at first. It was all they could do to keep eye contact with her (some of them could not do it). It was Legolas who broke the silence and confessed. "He was taken by both Shadow and Flame. A Balrog of Morgoth, for we went needlessly into the net of Moria," he told the two of them, surprising them.
Gimli's face fell when he listened to those words. It had been his suggestion that they go through Moria. He had thought it would be safe. How wrong he was. "Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life," Galadriel told Legolas. "We do not yet know his full purpose." Her eyes went over to the dwarf in the Fellowship. "Do not let the great emptiness of Khazad-dûm fill your heart, Gimli, son of Glóin," She said to him. "For the world has grown full of peril.
"And in all lands, love is now mingled with grief." Her eyes turned to look at Boromir. The man from Gondor and the elf of Lothlórien stared into each other's eyes. But he could not hold her gaze and he looked away with a gasp of breath.
"What now becomes of this Fellowship?" Celeborn asked. "Without Gandalf, all hope is lost."
"The quest stands on the edge of a knife," his wife said to the Fellowship. "Stray but a little and it will fail to the ruin of all." She looked at them all, seeing the troubles in their eyes. "Yet, hope remains while the Company is true. Do not let your hearts be troubled. Go now and rest, for you are weary with sorrow and much toil."
While she spoke, her eyes went over to Frodo and he heard her voice in his head. "Welcome, Frodo of the Shire, one who has seen the Eye!" To his credit, he did nothing to show he had heard it.
"That may be," Celeborn said. "But as I said, eight that are here, yet ten set out from Rivendell. You are missing one more. Where is the stranger to Middle-Earth? Where is Crabandir?"
Surprised by this question, the Fellowship looked around and did not see Sasuke standing with them. "But, he was standing right here," Sam protested, pointing at a spot next to him. "He was here beside me."
If they had looked over the edge of the platform, they would've found him. He was the other side, plastered against it, looking straight down to the ground. "Do not be troubled, my love," he heard Galadriel say. "Crabandir is with the Fellowship and will not abandon them so easily." That was what she said aloud. What she said in his head was different. "You do not need to fear me, Sasuke, son of Fugaku, heir to the Uchiha clan. I know you from before."
"Get out of my mind," he practically ordered her. The faint presence that he felt inside his mind when she spoke disappeared. While he felt some relief, it was not complete. It wasn't her ability to speak inside his mind that made him plaster his back against the other side of the platform to hide from her. It was her eyes. He had seen those kinds of eyes before.
Once they had met their host, they were escorted back down to the ground and to an area large enough for them to camp comfortably and sleep under a large pavilion next to a water fountain. All around them, as they finished preparing the camp, the woods echoed with the sound of sorrowful voices. "A lament for Gandalf," Legolas declared as he listened to the voices.
Those who were still awake looked up at the trees, as if the voices were there. "Why do they say about him?" Merry asked the elf.
"I have not the heart to tell you," he said in reply. "For me, the grief is still too near."
"You're not the only one," Sasuke said shortly from he sat on the ground against a tree branch. He could still the old man hanging off the ruined bridge, trying to reach out and take his hand.
"I bet they don't mention his fireworks," Sam commented to Merry from where he knelt on the ground, trying to lay his bedding. "There should be a verse about them." He stood up and began to sing.
The finest rockets ever seen:
they burst in stars of blue and green.
or after thunder silver showers
came falling like a rain of flowers
"Oh, that doesn't do them justice by a long shot," he admitted after that one verse, sitting back down. No one really said a word after that.
Some of them had noticed that Aragorn and Boromir were off to the side and talking with one another, but what they spoke of was none of their concern, especially Sasuke. Not wanting to see Gandalf's face before he fell again, the shinobi tried to get comfortable and fell asleep.
He found himself laying on the riverbank of that oh-so-familiar valley. His entire world was nothing but pain and yet, it seemed like a faraway thing. He knew that there was a rock digging into his back, but it did not bother him. He was exhausted and yet not tired at all. All these things and more were what told him that he was dreaming of an old memory.
The sound of someone wading through water filled his ears and he looked to the river to see the closet thing he had to a best friend and rival stand beside him. "Well, Naruto, congratulations. You've finally beaten me," he said.
The blonde said nothing, so he did. "So what will you do now? Will you kill me? Will you take me back to the village so I can stand trial for what I've done? Or will you bring me back and hope that the Hokage will forgive me and allow me to join the village again?"
"You know that probably won't happen, Sasuke," his friend said back, still standing.
"I know. You will kill me." It wasn't a question as it was a simple stating of the fact. "I doubt that many in the village will mourn my passing, probably just Sakura and a few die-hard Fangirls."
There was a small scowl on the blonde's face. "Did you just call Sakura a Fangirl?"
He couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. "I said Sakura and a few die-hard Fangirls," he repeated himself. "Sakura is a kunoichi, now more than ever. There is a bit of difference, like the fact that she could and would punch those Fangirls into next year."
"Yeah, she can do that. I would know well enough." They shared a small chuckle at that, remembering better days.
But it wouldn't last. "It's past time this ended, Naruto. Just kill me." He took a breath and closed his eyes. "I am ready."
He waited in his personal darkness for the killing strike, for it to finally end. But instead, all he heard from Naruto was one word. "No."
He opened his eyes again. "What?"
"I said no." He reached down and pulled Sasuke up onto his feet. "I'm not going to kill you, Sasuke."
"You have to."
"No, I don't. You're my friend, Sasuke," he declared, clasping his other hand on his friend's shoulder. "Why would I want to kill my best friend?"
"It's not a matter of 'want to', but 'have to'. I am a criminal, Naruto. You can't just sweep that under the rug and pretend that it never existed."
"I'm not going to do that either."
"Then what are you going to do to me?" He couldn't help but ask the question with curiosity in his voice (as well as a small amount of fire).
"I won't do anything to you, Sasuke." He removed his hands. "But you will leave."
It was almost like he had spoken in a different language. "Leave?"
The blonde nodded. "I'm giving you this one chance to leave the Elemental Nations, for your own safety. Leave now so you can live. You know that the others won't be so merciful." He turned around and walked back across the river. "Goodbye, Sasuke."
He said nothing; he just followed the course of the river.
He came awake with no failing out of his sleep or shouting in panic, surprise, or fear. In fact, he opened his eyes silently and stood up from where he laid in silence. This wouldn't be the first time he had this dream since coming to Middle-Earth and he knew what followed afterwards.
He would follow the river until it emptied out into the sea. He did not know what country that had been in and he did not care. All he had cared about was that no one knew who he was there and that there was an Akatsuki hideout in there. He patched his wounds there and rested for a day.
As he rested, he was tempted to ignore what Naruto had all but ordered him to do and stay in the Elemental Nations. But he also knew that what the blonde had said was true, the other villages (and even Konoha probably) wouldn't hesitate to hunt him down. So the next day, after grabbing enough supplies to last him for a while and grabbing a cloak of the Akatsuki and a straw hat, he went down to the docks.
He was lucky in the fact that the first ship that he went to was in fact sailing out that day. He got himself passage and was in a comfortable bunk when the ship left the harbor and headed for Middle-Earth (though he didn't know that yet). It was on that ship that Sasuke figured out that when Naruto had grabbed his hand and clasped his shoulder, he sealed the power given to him by the Rikudō Sennin.
The ship made port in what he later knew as they Grey Havens, but he didn't stay there long enough for people to see him (which was why he only found out about Elves later). Once he was out and in the wilds, he decided to wander.
And even though he wandered, that dream still came to him. Sometimes, he briefly wondered why that was. But those moments were fleeting and he didn't pay them much heed. He was gone from the Elemental Nations and it wasn't likely he would return.
He looked around and saw that the rest of the Fellowship was still sleeping. The only exception was Frodo, for he wasn't there. "Where did that hobbit get off to?" he asked himself before leaving to find out. He was able to go look mostly due to the fact that he could never go back to sleep after having that dream.
He wandered away from the area where the Fellowship slept and into Lothlórien itself. The voices were still singing and because there was no one else around, it made them feel even more haunting. At night, the woods could not have been more different from Konoha. The nightlife in Konoha was loud, boisterous, and full of good things for friends who want to hang out. Here, there was no nightlife and it gave the place an ethereal quality that was also somewhat chilling.
As he wandered, he couldn't help but think of that dream. What unnerved him about it every time he had it was not how he was so close to death and yet was given life or the choice Naruto made. No, what unnerved him the most was the look he had seen in the blonde's eyes as he had spoken. No matter how many times he had tried to mentally erase it, that damn look still kept appearing in his mind. It was the look that said, "No matter what you do or what people will say of you, you're still my best friend and I believe in you."
How many times had he let that idiot blonde down with his belief? And yet, he stills believes in him? It was like Kami was playing a bad joke with him and he didn't it funny. But still, he could always see those eyes and when he did, he felt…afraid.
The sound of footsteps that weren't his own walking on the grass snapped him out of his thoughts and back into the woods where he was. Frodo was walking his way with a slightly scared look on his face. For some reason he couldn't figure out, he hid himself and let the hobbit pass by.
"Why did I just do that?" he asked himself as he pulled himself out of the hiding spot. He didn't know and it irked him. Another set of footsteps, sounding incredibly light, echoed through the silence of Lothlórien. He turned to see Galadriel walking away from him, casting a look back at him.
Not fully knowing why, he followed her. He didn't run to catch up with her; he instead kept his distance and always made sure that she was within eyesight. His following her led him to a wall of rocks that, at first appearance, had no entrance. But as he followed and saw how she entered, he realized that it was only a matter of perception. Once he changed that perception (by stepping to the left), he could see the entrance and entered it.
The passage beyond led to something that surprised him a lot: a rock garden. He hadn't seen one in ten years. What's more, this garden was beautifully done. No amateur had made it. The flow in the rocks was subtle and changed course before you even recognized that it had. The plants in and around the garden were the perfect choice for it. Whoever had done this was very talented and had good taste.
She was standing at the edge of the garden, looking at it all. When he stepped forward, she turned to him and smiled gently. "Welcome, Uchiha Sasuke," she greeted him in perfect Elemental.
He was a little surprised by hearing that speech. "How do you know the language of the Elemental Nations?" he demanded, replying in the same tongue.
"You taught it to me, a long time ago."
"I've never met you until tonight."
"But you have. As I said, I know you from before."
"What does that even mean? I don't know you!" He looked away from and stared intently at the garden. "And stop looking at me with those eyes; you have no right to do so."
"What right would that be?" There was no hostility in her voice from being told what to do. She sounded just as serene and calm as before. In fact, there was a small note of curiosity in her voice.
But he didn't answer her. Instead, he turned his gaze upward to the tree. "What exactly is the point you're trying to make here, Kami?" he asked aloud, not caring that there was another person with him. "You send me Naruto when he was a kid in the form of Pippin, then you send me my friendship in the form of Gimli and Legolas, and now you send me his trust in me in the form of her? When is this sick joke of yours going to end!?" he demanded, the clasp he had over his emotions breaking ever so slightly.
He got no answer from above. But he did get one from Galadriel. "Whatever the One has decided to grant you, it is never a joke."
He turned to look at her. "It certainly feels like that to me." He looked away again. She still had that look in her eyes. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?"
"I cannot enjoy the company of an old friend?" she asked him, that note of curiosity still there.
"I already told you, I've never met you."
"And I have told you twice before, I know you from before." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her smile. "It is good to see you again, Indra."
He went still at those words. Truth be told, he shouldn't have be surprised by her words. If the Lord of Rivendell had known his ancestor, why wouldn't she? But there was still one thing to question. "How do you know I am him?" he asked, finally looking at her (but still avoiding the eyes).
"You carry yourself in the same manner he did: quiet, yet proud. And there is also the obvious." She gestured to his left arm. "You carry the same mark." A slight frown appeared on her face. "But I have never seen it covered so."
He shifted slightly, he wasn't sure why. "It was sealed," he said shortly. "How well did you know him?"
The frown disappeared and a slightly sad smile formed on her lips. "If I had been a younger elf and not married when I met him, I would've gladly become mortal for him."
"So, that well," he thought to himself. It also explained why she had that look in her eyes. In a sense, she did have the right (but that didn't mean he liked it). "Is there a particular reason why we are talking here, in a rock garden?" He gestured to the garden to emphasize his point.
"He taught me how to make one and this was the result. Do you like it?"
"It's well done, from what I can tell." He wasn't a gardener. That had been Naruto (which came as a surprise to him and Sakura found out about that fact and the little greenhouse he had). "But that's not why you led me here."
"No, it is not." She looked him in the eyes and he found that he could not look away. "Do you know why you carry that mark and why you have followed the footsteps of your ancestors to this land?"
Of course he knew why he carried the mark of a dark moon on his hand. "It was given to me by the Rikudō Sennin, Indra's father. As for following my ancestors, I just took the ship that was sailing away from the Elemental Nations. There was no following."
"So you would believe, but you are here. As for your being given it, that is not so. Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo merely activated it inside of you."
"That's impossible. He carried both and gave them both away." He remembered what happened in that meeting quite clearly.
"Perhaps, the beginning of the tale would be a better place to explain."
He couldn't help but snort at that. "I know what happened at the beginning. The question is: do you?"
She only smiled and shook her head slightly. "No, the question is: what do you think is the beginning?"
"The Rikudō Sennin and his brother defeated their mother and sealed her chakra and her body away in different forms. The chakra into him and the body was made into the moon."
"That is where you are wrong. The moon had existed long before the battle. Tilion, the Maia who was given charge of the moon, knew them well and had agreed to place the body inside the moon. But this is not the beginning I speak of. I speak of the beginning of their mother, the one you know as Ōtsutsuki Kaguya." She looked like she was trying to find something in his eyes. "Did you ever wonder where she had come from?"
"No. All I ever needed to know was how mad and dangerous she was," he answered.
"Then let me tell you of her so that you may understand what happened."
He was silent for a moment. "…Fine," he finally answered.
"It began in the end days of the First Age, where the first Dark Lord was all but victorious in his conquest of Middle-Earth. One day, a woman was found at the steps leading to his fortress of Angband. Thinking of Lúthien and Beren and believing that another had come to take the remaining Silmarils from, he went to the steps to attack. But he discovered that the woman there was not of the Elves but rather Men. And she had not come to steal the Silmarils, for she was heavy with child and had been trying to seek safety but knew she would not find it.
"The Dark Lord found her on the steps, crying as she looked up at the stars. He demanded to know why she was crying. 'I am sad and scared,' she answered. 'I will not see the next sunrise and my child will not see its first.'
"'If that is your sadness, what is your fear' he demanded.
"'I am dying, but I do not know what is beyond death. I have no wish to take my child with me into that unknown abyss.'
"The Dark Lord was unconcerned by these words. 'Such is the Gift of Men.'
"'But such a gift should not be given to a babe just born.' She gasped in pain as she began to give birth. Her labor was long and hard, for she had no one to help her and the Dark Lord did not know what to do. But when she was done, she held a child in her arms, a daughter. 'Please, if you can, save her,' she begged.
"'Do you know who I am?' he asked with poisonous amusement in his voice.
"She nodded. 'Yes, you are Morgoth, the Dark Lord who threatens all.'
"'Then why ask me to save your child when I could easily kill both of you right now?'
"'Who else can I ask at this moment? If it means that my child will live a long life instead of dying soon after being born, I will gladly ask for your help.' With those last words, the woman died.
"The Dark Lord look down at the dead woman and the child she held in her grasp. He took the child from her and held it in his great hand. It was a weakly child who did not have the strength to cry out anymore. But in its eyes, there was nothing but curiosity and trust for him, even though the rest of the world shunned and hated him. In a moment of compassion he hadn't had since he turned from Eru, he imparted some of his essence onto her.
"She survived it, her black hair turning red, and became much more healthier. He named her Bariel, for the color of her hair, and took her back into Angband to rise as his daughter. For forty years he raised her, teaching her about life and its choices. She proved to be an apt student and learned well. But when the tides turned against him in the War of Wrath, he sent her away."
She went silent, which prompted him to speak. "And then what happened?"
Before she answered, a scream pierced the night. They both turned to the entrance of the garden where the scream had come from. Galadriel left first and he followed after her. Their quick pace led to them a group of elves encircling something. "My lady, I'm sorry," one of the elves said when he saw the Lady of Light approach. "He broke himself free again."
"It is alright, I will speak to him," she said, walking forward into the circle. Sasuke followed so he could a good look at what was going on. What he saw was a youngish-looking elf (it was a little hard to tell sometimes) on the ground rocking back and forth with his hands covering his head. "Hinnoron, it is alright. The Tainted is not here."
"He was calling me," the elf on the ground muttered as he rocked. "He was calling me. I could hear him; I could hear him calling out for me to come."
"Did you break free so you could to him?" Her tone was gentle, but there was an audible not of disappointment in it as well.
"No!" he shouted, rocking faster than before. "No! I broke free so I could run away from him, I promise! If I stayed, he would've come. I had to run away! I'm sorry."
She smiled and stopped his rocking with her hands. "I'm glad to hear that from you. You are amongst friends, Hinnoron. Stand on your own two feet."
She removed her hands and stepped. After a moment, the elf on the ground stood up and looked at the crowd surrounding him. When Sasuke saw the elf standing before him, his eyes widened in shock and surprise. With no warning to anyone else, he walked out of the crowd, towards the elf, and grabbed him by the chin to look more closely at him. What he saw was still there even when he looked more closely. "That shouldn't be possible!" he declared, but it was still there.
The Fellowship came awake in the morning, finding that food had been set out for them. No one said a word as they ate, but they had all noticed the same thing: where was Sasuke? The person in question soon appeared in the camp. "Where have you been, lad?" Gimli asked him.
"Around," he said shortly before looking at the Ranger amongst them. "Aragorn, we're going to stay here a while. Two weeks, a month at the most."
That got a surprise out of everyone there. "Why are we doing that?" Pippin asked.
"So I can give him a quick study on how to be a shinobi." He pointed his thumb at the elf who stood behind and to the side of him. So focused had the Fellowship been on him that they didn't realize the elf was there until he was pointed out. The elf looked young, not quite a child but not quite an adult. His hair was shorter than other elves and its ends were black as a raven.
"Who is he?" Legolas asked, looking at the other elf. Even though he had never seen him before, there was something familiar about him. The elf prince just couldn't place it.
"The elves here call him Hinnoron and he is the son of Madara. As of now, he is my student."
The entire Fellowship was stunned into silence at those words, for they could not believe it. "Durin's Beard!" swore Gimli, still stunned.
End
Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews you've sent me.
Odds are that some of you are going to be annoyed that I put in a song, but we are talking about the Lord of the Rings here. Songs and poems are practically everywhere there. And don't tell me that song wasn't appropriate, it was.
Kaguya's history and what happened with her sons will be explained later on in the story. I thought it was a nice twist to have her be raised by Morgoth. It's certainly something you wouldn't have seen coming.
Don't start bugging me about what happened after Sasuke said it wasn't possible or who the Tainted is (although, those of you who played the strategy game will know), it will be explained in the next chapter.
I'll see you all next chapter!
