*Chapter VII:
Dearest Diary,
'Tis now the thirteenth day since the Fellowship of the Ring left Rivendell. We have spent the past eleven nights hiking through the west side of the Misty Mountains and heading south toward Eregion. Now that I no longer have to carry my pack, I think that I am no longer keeping the rest of the Company behind schedule. We have made quite some progress through the Mountains these past few days and have reached Caradhras, which Master Gandalf told me was a Mountain of Moria for the vast Mines of Moria were partly beneath it. The Mines belong to the Dwarves, and Gimli has insisted more than once that it would be much quicker and less of a tussle to go through Moria than to scale the massive slopes of the Mountains. But Master Gandalf refused to go through the Mines unless he has no other choice. I know not of why this is, but I am certain he has his perfectly logical reasons.
Speaking of Gimli, I must admit that I am impressed with his stamina. He has managed to keep up with the rest of us just fine ever since he offered to carry my load. However, starting three days ago, it began to snow. Though it is quite natural for there to be snow so high up on the Mountains and in the middle of January, this snow is still exceptionally cold. At last, the Hobbits are starting to fall behind me, for the snow had piled up to almost bury them completely!
Just the other day, the Fellowship made an agreement to each carry a piece of wood but not to light a fire unless it is a choice between fire and death. How I truly wish to light mine now! But I do not wish to be the first to break, for I think that I must at least last longer than the Hobbits if I am to be taken seriously on this mission. It's been so terribly cold and windy outside that even Master Gandalf agreed to take a few more rests than we were supposed to.
I think these more frequent respites have actually been most useful for me. I spoke with Merry and Pippin not long ago while we were taking shelter in a small hollow on the side of the mountain, and I am happy to conclude that I like them very much. They are such light-hearted folk, and I find great comfort in having a simple little conversation with them. Though I do worry about them and what they will face on this journey. Master Gandalf has made it clear to me that the Journey of the One Ring is not to be taken lightly, but I deeply hope that Merry and Pippin will remain the way they are throughout it all. I would hate to see them in any other mood than their usual, happy selves.
I wonder how much longer our Company will have to stay in the Mountains. If this snowstorm keeps up, we'll all soon freeze to death. As Master Gandalf had said, it is far too risky to light a fire, for it would give out our location to anyone else who may be in the Mountains. What I would like to know is who would be all the way out here anyway? This place is practically a wasteland of frozen rain, black mountain sides, and no sign of life could be detected. Sometimes, the Hobbits cannot walk because the snow is too high for them. Whenever this happens, Aragorn and Boromir must carry the Hobbits on their backs.
Perhaps I shouldn't be so relaxed. About five days ago, before we encountered the snow, a large flock of black birds were flying around our camp, and we hid from them. Master Gandalf thinks that they were spies of the Enemy, and if that is true, then I must be more alert. Thank Elbereth, we had the common sense to take cover when those birds were near, but I haven't seen any trace of them for days. Surely, we had left them behind when we started climbing Caradhras?
Whatever the case, I only hope to get through the Misty Mountains soon. I wonder where we will go next after that. Will we follow the Great River or keep to the east side of the Mountains? How much longer will it be before we get to sleep in a real bed? Will the snow be stopping anytime soon? And if not, how will the Fellowship possibly make it to the other side of the Mountains? I fear the answer to these questions, which is something I'm not usually afraid of. I usually find excitement and happiness in knowing answers; this cold must be starting to numb my mind.
-Cress
With shaky hands, Cress closed her diary and stowed it back into her drawstring bag. She took a closer look at her fingers and saw that the tips of them were beginning to turn blue. It was very cold, and she pulled her thin layers of blankets closer to her body, trying to preserve as much of her body heat as possible.
It was dark in the little cave the Fellowship had found to sleep and rest in. The snow was still falling outside, and Cress sat on the hard floor of the hollow, breathing into her hands and rubbing them together once in a while.
Because Cress was an Elf, she had been given a relatively small amount of blankets, for she would naturally last longing in the cold weather than many of the other members of the Company. Though this was true, the elleth still suffered as she struggled to keep warm.
Legolas, who was also immortal, was pushed to the back of the blanket queue with Cress, and he had even less cover than the She-Elf since he was older.
Cress sighed sadly. She had hoped that writing a very long entry in her diary would bring some heat to her hands, but it didn't seem to help much. She turned to look at her companions that were scattered around on the floor of the cave, sleeping or pretending to be. They were still not allowed to light a fire, and the harsh wind whipping the snowflakes violently through the Mountains.
A part of the wind blew into the cave, and Cress shivered violently, clutching the edges of her blanket to her chest. Her cheeks were so numb that she attempted to bury her face in the blanket, but the small mantle wasn't big enough to cover both her head and her feet, which were also were starting to freeze.
After a few minutes of groping around with the blanket and attempting to deal with its ridiculous size, Cress gave a defeated huff and stopped with her useless fidgeting. She glanced around at her companions again, and her eyes landed on Legolas, who was resting near the opening of the cave so that he could warn the rest of the Fellowship if danger should suddenly approach.
Cress thought for a few seconds before pulling her blankets around her tightly and beginning to crawl stiffly over to where the other Elf was sitting. She saw that his eyes were open, staring out into the Mountains, but she assumed that he was simply in his waking meditative state again, so she didn't think twice before silently planting herself beside him. At first, she blinked a few times, unsure of why she decided to move from her original spot in the first place, but then she realized that she had been feeling rather lonely at the back of the cave by herself.
Cress bounced up and down on her knees, thinking. Then, she gazed at Legolas and timidly scooted closer to him for warmth.
At that moment, Legolas snapped him head back to look at her, and Cress started at the sudden movement for she had thought that the other Elf was asleep. "You're awake," she stuttered awkwardly. "I was just… um…"
"Couldn't sleep?" he supplied, cracking a small smile at the elleth's overreaction to his waking.
"Erm… well, I was cold, so I…" She trailed off, getting red in the face. "Nevermind. I'll just go back to sleep now. I'm so sorry." She made a move to get up and go back to her original spot so she that she could hide her burning cheeks, which was odd since only seconds ago they had been numb from the cold.
"There is nothing to forgive," Legolas answered, causing Cress to stop in her tracks. "I couldn't sleep either. The weather here is strange. It's almost as if the Mountains themselves are working against us, doing all they can to slow our progress."
Another blast of icy wind brought several large snowflakes into the cave, and Cress watched them land of the ground and slowly melt. Then she, in vain, wrapped herself even more tightly in her blankets and shivered uncontrollably. "Why do you stay near the mouth of the cave where it is the most exposed to the weather?" she asked the Mirkwood Prince, glancing at the small amount of protection from the wind he had. "Aren't you cold as well?"
"Only a little bit," Legolas admitted. "But I will be fine."
Cress dropped her gaze and sighed. Then, she sank back down beside the other Elf and said, "Seeing as we are both in need of some company and more blankets, let us be cold together. Everything is a little better when there is a friend to suffer through it with you," she preached.
Legolas smiled at her simple-mindedness. "Yes, that is true. But sometimes, one would wish for their friend be safe instead of sharing the pain with them. Would you not rather go further into the cave where it is warmer than stay out here with me?"
Cress thought for a moment about this and realized that Legolas had a point. "Perhaps I do wish to be where it is warmer, but I think that I would be lonely by myself. I like to have someone to talk to; it makes me feel somewhat comforted, even if the conversation has to do with something completely humble. And at this time, I think I could use some of that comfort; the situation of our Company is a grave one, and I do not think I can stand seeing nothing but snow any longer."
"From my reckoning, we are at Caradhras' knee and not anywhere near the top yet. Aye, I fear that the snowstorm will only grow worse the higher we climb. And the further we go, the harder it will be to backtrack if it is decided that we are to take another route across the Mountains in the end. Aragorn and Mithrandir have much to think about. Let us pray that their choices do not go astray"
"Master Gandalf knows what he is doing," Cress immediately retorted with sudden hostility. She was always ready to defend her Master if she senses the even smallest hint of doubt or question toward the old wizard. Sometimes, she thinks that she is being too sensitive and mistrustful toward anyone who didn't agree with Gandalf, but she couldn't help it. It had grown to be almost an instinct to get defensive and paranoid when someone shows the slightest sign of doubting her master.
There was a tense silence as Cress slowly vented out some of her abrupt irritation with Legolas. She wasn't sure why she had so sharply snapped at the Prince. At once she felt horrible for it, and wondered where the anger had come from.
"I am sorry," the elleth sighed at last. "I think it has grown to be a habit of mine to lash out at people who do not love my master as much as I do. I apologize for my ignorance; it is a flaw of mine to not accept other opinions willingly. Master Gandalf is the only person I will yield to."
"It is clear that you and Mithrandir have known each other for a long time?" asked Legolas, wisely choosing to steer the discussion away from the current situation and to the relationship between Cress and Gandalf, which appeared to be something that the She-Elf liked to talk about.
She answered enthusiastically, "Well, it really hasn't been that long; at least not to an Elf." Cress did some math in her head and continued, "I think it has been some eighty years since I met Master Gandalf. But in that time, I have learned more from him than I could have learned from anyone else in a hundred years. Master Gandalf is a wonderful teacher, really, and he has taught me so much about the world and the art of sorcery. Without him, I think I would still be in Lothlórien living with my mother and having a rather uninteresting life.
"I believe, since Elves are immortal, that life would be far too dull if there wasn't at least one adventure in it. It would be terrible to stay in your homeland for all eternity and not have anything exciting happen. This applies even more so to the mortal life-span. Men have such a short amount of time to do something to make their life satisfied while Elves can take their time with practically everything.
"Can you imagine being mortal, Legolas? Knowing that every minute you live is another step closer to death? That must be so very frightening, the thought of only being a dead body and not being able to see or hear or speak. And no one knows what death feels like or what happens after it. Things that are unpredictable are the scariest things, I suppose. Once in a while I would pity Men, but Master Gandalf always says that sometimes immortality is more painful than death. I don't quite comprehend how that works, but if Master Gandalf says so, then I am sure it is true. I am simply not old enough to understand it.
"Actually, I think I should be asking Aragorn or Boromir these questions instead of you, Legolas. They are mortal and should be able to give me more detailed and accurate answers. But thank you for listening anyway."
Cress stopped to take a breath after that long stream of words. She was pleasantly surprised that Legolas was still listening and did not interrupt her once during her expressing. It was hard for Cress to find someone who would pay attention to her every word, no matter how irrelevant or ridiculous the topic of conversation was. "I am impressed," she said to the Prince with a delighted smile.
Confused, Legolas did not realize how much it meant to Cress for him to simply sit and truly heed every word she spoke. He questioned her, "With what?"
"People don't normally have the patience to wait for me to finish my thoughts, as my thoughts are usually rather long and detailed, and I take a long time to express them. Master Gandalf is one of the few that has the attention span and my mother as well. Yesterday, I was telling Merry and Pippin about the history of the Elves, and they fell asleep. It's been so long since anyone else has been able to sit through one of my rants; I'm so happy!" Cress clasped her hands together and beamed like a child that had been given candy.
Legolas watched her with interest as she bounced on her heels childishly, looking at him with a new light in her eyes. Here was a girl whose thoughts go deeper than that of most, despite her innocent and care-free nature; so easily amused, but still aware of the meaning of the things that really matter. "I agree that the minds of mortals have a rather short attention span, but I do not find your musing dull," the Prince replied with newfound respect. "I will listen to you if you wish, whenever you may need someone to communicate your opinions and ideas to."
If it were possible, Cress' eyes grew even brighter at this. "Gwestodh[1]?" she asked, looking at him hopefully.
"Gweston[2]." Legolas nodded sincerely.
At that moment, Cress knew that the Mirkwood Prince had a good heart and was not someone who cheated or despaired easily. "De vilui[3]," the She-Elf answered. "You are very kind, Legolas. I hope we can be good friends." Cress then leaned back against the cave wall and rested her hands behind her head. Suddenly, she didn't feel so cold anymore.
"I share that same hope, for you are not like other Elves I know. There is something about you that I find different," Legolas said thoughtfully, as if he were trying to put his finger on it.
Cress raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, "I hope that is not a bad thing," the elleth replied, half worried and half wondering if it was a joke.
Legolas chuckled at her alertness to his comments. "Being strange is not exactly bad, at least not in my eyes," he said.
"Oh, okay then, good."
And they both fell silent after that. They listened to the whistling wind outside for a few minutes before Cress perked up, "Do you mind if I sing a song, Legolas. I can't say I am good at it, but it makes me happy. Most people don't like hearing me, so I hope you'll be alright with listening for a while?"
Legolas, who had never met an Elf that did not sing well, did not think twice before saying, "Go ahead."
However, as soon as Cress opened her mouth, the Mirkwood Prince wished he hadn't given her leave. Poor Legolas, being far too polite to tell the elleth to stop, had to endure two minutes of Cress' horrid singing before Pippin, Merry, and Gimli were roused from their sleep by the noise.
"What is that awful sound?" Pippin muttered as he rubbed his eyes and sat up.
"It sounds like a bird's being tortured," Gimli added, still half asleep and not realizing that Cress abruptly stopped and was now glaring daggers at him.
"You could have been a little less blunt with your criticism," Cress muttered, but ceased her squawking. She did not notice the look of relief on Legolas' face when someone had gotten her to stop. After glancing out of the mouth of the cave, the She-Elf quickly changed the subject, "It's almost time to get up anyway. Let us wake the others so that we may continue our journey."
When the rest of the Fellowship had been roused from their sleep, they ate a small meal and set out again. Miraculously, the snow had stopped falling, which was a great respite, but the thick blanket of white that covered the path they were using was still a problem, at least for the non-Elvish folk.
Cress and Legolas did not leave any prints in the snow, for they were of the Elven race, and therefore they found it much easier to walk the snow covered path.
Without the annoying weight of her pack to slow her down, Cress had been elevated from being the last in line to the first. She energetically pranced around at the front of the party, eagerly taking in her surroundings but still being careful not to go too far ahead on her own.
For the first time in days, the sun shined through the clouds in the sky, making the snow clad mountains hard to look at. Cress raced to the edge of a wide shelf that the Company was on and gazed out at the blinding white slopes of the Mountains. "It's soooooo pretty!" she cooed, standing on her toes and shielding her face from the rays of the sun with her hand. "You all must come and look at this!"
Legolas came, but the others were too busy trying to prow through the snow to pay any attention to the scenery.
Cress turned back to glance at them, frowning slightly at their lack of enthusiasm. She noticed that they were still so serious and grim when they should have had their spirits lifted when the snow had finally stopped falling. Also, the sun was shining, and who could possibly be so down-hearted at that?
After a moment of devious pondering, Cress cracked a small smile, bent down to the ground, took a handful of snow, and formed a snowball with it behind her back. Then, she innocently joined the Company again, but this time staying near the end of the line. As the Fellowship kept climbing Caradhras, the She-Elf secretly made two more snowballs after the first and held them behind her back so that none could see her plans to bring some amusement to the others.
Then, without warning, she hurled the snowballs at the three people who were closest to her; Legolas, Gimli, and Merry. She had been aiming for the back of their heads, but at the second Cress threw the snowballs, Gimli turned around, and a ball of frozen water hit him in the face instead.
The She-Elf gave a start and covered her mouth with her hands as she watched Gimli noisily and bewilderedly shake what remained of the snowball off of his face. At first, he wasn't sure what hit him, but he quickly figured it out when he saw the look on Cress' face.
Cress, who was trying very hard to keep a straight face, gazed over at Legolas and Merry who had also turned around after getting nailed by the elleth's expert throws. She couldn't stop herself from laughing when she their reactions.
Gimli seemed as if he was going to blow a gasket, but the specks of snow still stuck in his beard did not help him to look intimidating. Legolas and Merry also still had some chunks of white in their hair, but they didn't look nearly as angry as the Dwarf, just caught off guard. In fact, Merry was the first to start laughing with Cress, and he quickly grabbed a handful of snow from the ground and tossed it at the She-Elf.
Cress wasn't expecting this, and she shrieked as she was hit in the face too. After getting over her shock and wiping the leftover snow off her forehead, the Elf and the Hobbit mentally declared snowball war on each other.
And afterwards, things got chaotic.
As Cress hurled another snowball at Merry, the Hobbit jumped behind Gimli for cover, and once again the Dwarf got sacked in the face. Then, the son of Gloin could no longer stand and watch; he too joined the battle of the snowballs, possibly to get revenge. But soon, he was laughing along with his opponents for he also found amusement in the game.
Cress sent a snowball flying at Legolas, but the other Elf ducked just in time and the hit meant for him was taken by Boromir. The Man was unsure at first as to what was happening between the two Elves, a Dwarf, and a Hobbit, but he caught on quickly and gladly joined their fun.
He could throw quite hard and when one of his shots hit Merry, it knocked the little man off his feet, sending his scrambling to get up in the three feet deep snow. Just as Boromir was about to go for Gimli, Cress' expertly aimed shot caught him in the face instead.
"Must you always aim for people's faces?" he asked jokingly, redirecting his next snowball at her.
"Yes!" Cress replied cheekily. She made two snowballs to counter the one that Boromir was about to throw at her. But before their one-on-one showdown could start, Legolas interrupted it by chucking his own snowball at Boromir. The Human staggered a little, which made Cress' shots miss completely and land on the rest of the Hobbits' heads.
And at once, the Hobbits were flinging snow at each other as well. Now, the tiny snowball war of four had multiplied to an eight-on-eight battle. Most soon figured out that Cress' aim was one of the best, possibly from having already mastered knife-throwing. Aragorn and Gandalf watched from a distance at the playful skirmish with amused smiles. At one point, a stray snowball flew in the wizard's direction, shattering on the wide rim of his pointed hat.
At once, Cress had demanded to know what dared to aim for her Master Gandalf. After that, the snowball fight got much more intense, although the laughing never ceased.
"You all throw like little girls!" Cress taunted her opponents, having resorted to stuffing handfuls of snow down the back of their shirts. "Snowball fight like real men!"
Jeering was obviously a mistake, Cress quickly realized as the others gazed at each other meaningfully as if exchanging an agreement. It didn't take long for the She-Elf to comprehend that her opponents were forming an alliance against her. "N-no…" she tried to keep cool as they closed in around her with their snowballs ready. Laughing nervously, she slowly backed away from them, "It was only a joke, and this isn't fair!"
They paid no attention to her protests, and simultaneously flung their ammunition at her.
Cress exaggeratedly braced herself as she was pelted with snow. The impacts knocked her to the ground and she tried to get up, but slipping on the slippery ice and fell back down.
Gimli was laughing gleefully, "Ha! Revenge; it's taste is sweet!"
Under normal circumstances, Cress would have been quite angry with her friends for teaming up against her like that, but seeing the smiles all around on their faces, she quickly lost her anger and could only laugh it off and accept defeat. "I surrender!" she declared dramatically, holding her hands up. Then she flashed a sly grin. "Now for round two!"
Before anyone could react, the Elf whipped out her flute from her belt and waved it at the snow at her feet. At once, a dozen snowballs formed themselves and hovered in the air for a few seconds, and when Cress flicked her wrist, the white spheres shot at her "enemies".
Everyone was hit with at least one of Cress' magically enchanted snowballs, and the She-Elf jumped up and down in triumph. "Victory!" she cried with delight, and proceeded to spinning around in a cheesy happy-dance. Then, she fell off the edge of the cliff.
There was a dead silence as all laughing stopped and the rest of the Fellowship could only stare in utter disbelief at the spot where Cress had been standing, mouths hanging open in an "o". They had not realized how close to the ledge the She-Elf had been, and while she was doing her happy-dance, she must have slipped and fallen.
Everyone hastily scrambled up from the ground and rushed to where Cress was last seen. They looked over the edge of the cliff, and the ground below was so far down that they could not see it.
"Don't tell us we just lost our first companion?" Pippin squeaked, breathing slowly to try and calm himself.
Boromir nodded gravely, "I'm afraid no one can survive that fall, not even an Elf.
"What's even worse," Merry added shakily; "is that our first companion was lost while doing a victory-dance because she beat us all in a snowball fight."
Everyone seemed to realize how pathetic that sounded. A wave of dread washed over them as they thought about the almost comical way their companion had perished. "What are we to tell Gandalf?" Frodo asked, sinking to the ground in despair.
Gandalf and Aragorn walked up behind them at the moment, wondering why the snowball fight had ended so abruptly. "What happened here?" Aragorn demanded upon seeing the grim expressions on his friends' faces.
Merry sniffled slightly, "Cress… she…" he motioned to the cliff.
The Ranger and the wizard both looked over the edge and understood what the Hobbit was trying to say.
"Hiro hyn hîdh ab 'wanath [4]." Legolas breathed, bowing his head.
"De vilui, Legolas," answered a familiar voice. "However, I am not dead, but I appreciate the thought, really."
Everyone whipped around at those words, and Cress stood there behind them, looking a little drowsy but still very much alive. She yawned at them and blinked sleepily. "What are you all staring at?"
The rest of the Fellowship looked at her in amazement – well, except Gandalf who knew exactly how Cress survived the fall.
"Y-you fell!" Pippin stuttered. "Are you a ghost?"
"No…" Cress spoke as if she was really tired. "I am not a ghost; I am very much alive, actually. I'm just a bit tired after using that levitation enchantment…" She held up her flute as if that would explain everything and looked around at the confused faces of her friends, quite oblivious to their shock. "If none of you mind, I'll be taking a nap, now…"
Then, she slowly sank to the ground, closed her eyes, and curled up for sleep.
All was quiet for a while, and Merry actually tried to touch Cress' sleeping form to make sure that she was solid. But Gandalf had stopped him, saying, "Let her rest now, Master Meriadoc. She has been worn out after saving herself from the fall."
Noting the blank looks of the rest of the Fellowship, the wizard elaborated, "Cress used a levitation spell to stop her fall, and that is why she is still alive and with us. However, sorcery drains energy from the body, and so she must recharge. The quickest and most effective way to do that is to sleep. We can go no further today, at least not until Cress wakes up."
"I wouldn't want to go any further today," Sam said. He pointed up at the sky, "Look."
The sky had gone dark, and the sun was blotted out by thick clouds again. It seemed that a blizzard was coming after the brief respite, and it was going to be travel when the snow is falling so thick that you can't even see your hands in front of you.
"We must find shelter again," Gandalf advised. "Quickly!"
And with that, the Fellowship set out again. However, someone had to carry Cress for she refused to wake up. Aragorn and Boromir already had Merry and Pippin to bear, Frodo and Sam were too small, and Gandalf was practically an old man, so that only left Gimli or Legolas to carry the elleth. Gimli, however, made it clear that he was not going to bear Cress' burden and Cress herself. And this time, Cress was not awake to use reverse-psychology on him again.
And so it was decided that Legolas shall be the one to carry her. He had the least trouble in the snow and hardly had anything to do except keep watch as the rearguard.
As the snow started to fall again, the Fellowship of the Ring continued their climb up Caradhras with the wind whipping at their hair and massive snowflakes swirling in their faces.
A/N: Wow… this chapter took quite some time to write! Here we saw Cress use magic for the first time… to win a snowball fight! Gosh, I feel so nervous about those Legolas/Cress scenes, but I do hope they were alright. As I have mentioned before, I am not the best at romance scenes. Also, I'm sorry if some parts were confusing with how Cress got back after falling off the cliff ^_^
Anyways, someone suggested a snowball fight, so I hope the one I put in here was good enough! Oh, yes, and thanks for all the favorites and reviews. You guys are awesome, and I'll continue to put my all into these chapters for you. If you have a comment, as always, leave a review for me, won't you? Remember, reviews are the best way to get a writer to write faster and get more inspiration, which leads to more ideas, which leads to a better story. Thanks!
Next time: The Fellowship of the Ring must come to a decision about going through the Mines of Moria. Also, what will happen when Cress joins Pippin in throwing rocks into that lake in front of the mine doors…? Stay tuned!
[1] – "Do you promise?"
[2] – "I promise."
[3] – "Thank you."
[4] – "May she rest in peace."