Chapter 7 Unexpected Company
"My goodness look at her. Completely passed out." Elladan looked down at the sprawled out form of Amara on the floor in her room.
"Aye. Completely sopping drunk by the smell of her," I concluded with my brother wrinkling my nose. "And how did she get into such a state, Legolas?" In unison, we looked to the blonde elf now bustling about making a tea for her that would cure said "hangover". He added in more contents to her cup and stirred some more, having made a small apothecary on her table by the window.
"That would be because she had seven glasses of Dorwinion wine. How on earth she was able to walk all the way back here is a mystery to me."
Elladan and I looked at one another. She certainly was our sister. No mortal could down seven glasses of Miruvor and live to tell about it, our elvish blood was still good and alive in her. By looking at her it appeared she did not get very far. Only one of her shoes was untied while the other was still laced and she was still fully dressed in her clothes. I shook my head at her pitiful state.
"Oh sister of mine whatever shall we do?" I inwardly chuckled.
"The bucket Elrohir?"
"Aye the bucket."
It was water straight from the falls of Rivendell and certainly the coldest we had. It would certainly become one of the most wettest wake up calls she would ever have in her life. We picked up the bucket and readied our aim.
"3..2..1" We chucked the water on her, drowning her instantly to the bone. She flailed around coming to life, coughing and sputtering from the cold invasion.
"WHAT THE FUCK?! JESUS CHRIST WHAT THE FUCK?!" she screeched out, looking around wildly till her eyes landing on us.
"Oh God you two..I should've known." she groaned.
"At least you are lucky we did not throw you in the river. I had the unfortunate experience of that myself before." I re-accounted.
She ran her fingers through her hair, rubbing her head.
"God I have the worst headache ever. I am never drinking that wine again!"
"I do not doubt it," Legolas peered down over her, still stirring her drink, "that is why I have made you something for it." With some effort she sat up, cradling her sore head and took the readied drink from his hands. Not even bothering to smell or even look at the contents of the cup she started to down it, but about three gulps in she pulled it away from her mouth and made a grimace. I wasn't sure if she was going to yell more obscenities or vomit by the look f her scrunched up face.
"What is this?! It..tastes like...ass." she handed the drink back to him and shakily got up.
"It is bitter but it will help soon. Especially since you tried to defy logic and have seven glasses of wine. Then again I have been in your shoes before though not as drunk. Over a year, ago after the battle of Helms Deep, Rohan threw a celebratory gathering. How on earth I found myself in a drinking competition with a dwarf I will never know. I do believe I had around sixteen tankards of ale when I started to feel a slight tingly sensation in my fingers. As soon as I said that Gimli promptly passed out and I won."
Her brows came together and she looked towards Legolas utterly confused.
"You had sixteen tankards of ale? That's..what...a tankard is about twenty ounces times sixteen..three..three hundred and twenty ounces? You had three hundred and twenty ounces of beer?! Jesus Christ Legolas what was your blood alcohol level? I'm surprised you didn't die from alcohol poisoning!"
All three of us laughed.
"Sixteen tankards of ale is nothing for us elves. It is in our make up that we have strong resilience to potent drink." Elladan said.
"But where did he put it all?" She let out in a harsh whisper towards us.
"Ugh! Let me get out of these damn clothes before I freeze to death." She gave my brother and I a cold glare and muttered something about bakas and Legolas being a pissing racehorse under her breath, went to the washroom and closed the door.
Despite her strange ways it was refreshing to have a little sister back in the house again. Arwen has almost been married for a year now. Even though a year is nothing in the life of an elf, it had been oddly uncomfortable and drawn out. Someone we have known for over 2,000 years was all of sudden not with us and never would be again. The circumstances with Amara were very different since my brother and I did not get a chance to meet her when she was born or even know of her existence till weeks ago. We held no bond with her as family but little by little she was growing on us. I saw some of our father in her with her fiery attitude and the gentleness of our mother. Yet she seemed to be harboring mischievous thoughts with her sideways glances that could only belong to my brother and I. And she held the determination of our sister Arwen. She was a beautiful mix of all of us. Now, she was returning to us a young woman that was blossoming. It had been a rejoicing moment when she came home, but sometimes I wondered if she missed the world she had lived in for so long to want to go back? Did she have someone there that missed her? A family? The thought made me tense up. I wanted to shield her and protect her, just like a brother should, make her feel at home in her true home. Deep down inside the life of the Eldar was in a dormant state within her and would continue to be if she did not become part of of elvish culture. At least till Gandalf returned. There had to be some way to make her learn, make her see, something to awaken her. She needed to be elvenized.
From the corner of my eye I could see Elladan give me a knowing look, as though he could read and sense my very thoughts. And like looking in a mirror we both smiled. We had a plan.
—
"For the evening news tonight it has been a month since the disappearance of Amara McCullough, a junior at Cedar Coast High School. She was last seen on a camping trip over Spring Break with her friends at the Olympic National Forest…" the woman droned on with the report.
Stirring her noodles around aimlessly in her bowl Jocelyn watched the 6 o'clock evening news from the outdated TV mounted on a corner stand on the wall. The aromatic air of ramen broth fill the small Japanese restaurant mixing her emotions of comfort food and the loss of her friend.
"Are we going to sit here and act like this is not the most weirdest thing we've ever done? After all we did help her disappear." she pulled her eyes from the TV and to her boyfriend Nick, tossing her frizzy dirty blonde hair to one side.
"While the cops breathe down our bloody necks every fucking waking minute of the day. Especially that perv Sheriff McCullough. Oh yea not weird at all. We did her a favor getting her out of here. All we have to do is keep our mouths shut about it." he chewed at his lip piercing, a sure sign that he was on edge.
"I'm sure she's ok and all. If what happened that night was meant to be then it was meant to be. Who knows she's probably already found her family and happy. We just have to stay positive." she ran a hand over his leg.
"But..I just left her there in the middle of that god forsaken forest. I saw her face for a split second before I vanished and she was so hurt. We didn't even let her say fucking goodbye to us. I just did what Ashley said and..." he shook his head at looked away, dark tasseled hair falling in his face hiding his true feelings.
Jocelyn all but dropped her chopsticks in her ramen bowl at his confession. He was never the serious type and had a odd way of showing feelings. It was in the small things but in those small things it was what mattered most. His dark exterior was often overshadowed by a soft interior that he kept hidden away from only certain circle of people: his friends. He never talked about his own family and by he dressed and acted one could only guess it was not from a very inviting home. It was how Amara and Nick were most alike, almost brother and sister. Ever since the night they had let Amara go Nick was having a tough time coping, like he had betrayed his own family, his own blood. And it was eating at him.
"I have never heard you call Ashley, Ashley. You always call her china doll." Jocelyn conveyed worry.
Yea..well.." he picked absentmindedly on the seam of his black pants "she's Japanese not Chinese."
"Babe..now you're starting to scare me. What's wrong?"
Turning back to her he intertwined his hand in hers.
"I went back..I went back to the spot where I dropped off pixie stick. It couldn't have been no more than 5..maybe 10 minutes later. I felt horrible doing that to her. Just dropping her off like some fucking abandoned puppy. I couldn't do that. But it was too late. She was gone. I went looking for her and I couldn't find her nowhere. It's like she..like she's gone from the face of the earth. And I think she really is."
"Babe.." She kissed him softly on the lips looking deep into his dark brown eyes.
"No slobbering over each other in the restaurant you rabbits. Those are the rules." Ashley exaggerated as she came to the table and refilled their drinks. The only one not effected by this whole Houdini act was the one who orchestrated it, her. After Amara had left she had went back to her everyday routine of going to school and working in her parents restaurant. She acted as though none of this bothered her like it did the others.
Nick rolled his eyes and looked back to Ashley.
"What's your take on all of this? You've been secretive ever since we came back from our trip. I swear its that Asian magic crap you and grandmother do." His voice came barked, pointing a finger at her.
"Secretive? Me? Oh no surely not." she smiled mischievously. "What kind of secret would I be keeping?"
—-
"My lord, a message has come. It's from the elves I think." Darin, the page hand, puffed out in a hurry.
Gimli's head did not even budge from looking up from his bookwork of accounting. Ever since he had been made Lord of the Glittering Caves he had been extra busy in the newly organized colony and making a living off of selling gems and stone work to neighboring kingdoms. Right now he was in the process of finishing up the new gates of Gondor and he was sure they would be the grandest that anyone would ever see. Also it was making him a quite a good profit.
"Gahh, blistering elves! Think they can call on me to get my finest gems for their hoard. If it is from that elf king up north then burn the thing!" he gruffed out and scratched even harder at his work.
"I don't think so. The seal is different. It has leaves and arrows on it. It came by an owl."
Gimli looked up from his work that was sprawled out on his desk in the most confused look he could muster. There before him was a small barn owl that screeched out at the sudden movement. Gimli flinched at the bird then blew at it in great puffs, trying to make it fly off his desk, but the owl did not move.
"Gahh stupid thing, what feather brained pointy earred twit sends a letter by owl?," he swiped the letter out of Darin's hand "Always talking to trees and animals like it's some wee child's fairy tale story. Next they will be prancing around on my doorstep."
Upon inspecting the letter's wax seal his heart warmed up and eyes got wide. It was none other that the seal of the Woodland prince, his best friend, Legolas. He let out a hearty laugh, broke the seal, and opened it. It had been many months since he had heard from Legolas and he was starting to get worried. He has last heard from him before winter had just set in and all this time he thought perhaps he finally moved back home since his health was not so well. But it did not appear so.
Greetings my short stout friend,
Forgive me for sending you this message at a time that I know you are busy. I hope the gates of Gondor is proving to be a worthy project for you. I was hoping you could help me. By some twist of fate that this happened to me I come to find myself in charge of a young mortal woman that I shall say is very otherworldly. I came across her by accident in Rivendell and she is in search of her parents that gave her away seventeen years ago and all she has of them is a necklace. I have scoured books after books trying to find the origins of this necklace but have found no luck. I am almost positive that it was made here in Middle Earth. The chain I am convinced is mithril though rosy champagne colored in appearance. The only gem it has is a single stone that is colorless, clear, has many facets and seems to have its own aura if you hold it in the light just the right way. I thought perhaps you may have some records of who possibly made the necklace and who it was made for. As far as I can see it is of dwarvish make but elvish design. Any information will be most helpful.
Your elf friend, Legolas
"A necklace? Why do I have a sinking feeling of past experiences?" he pondered in thought. All the elves and dwarves knew of the story of the ancient elf King Thingol and his necklace and how it turned into a bloody battle for priceless gems. Also all the elves and dwarves knew of the story of King Thranduil and his white gems of pure starlight and how he never gave the dwarves their rightful pay. Once again it became a battle for not only homeland and rights but rightful ownership. However, Thranduil in the end got back his necklace that once belonged to his late wife. Now here it was again, only Legolas this time, inquiring about a necklace that sounded like it possessed a priceless gem itself. Did he really want to get into this mess? He knew Legolas would never do such a thing and he wanted to help him in any way he could. But why did he get the feeling that the situation should be left well enough alone?
The owl screeched again making him jump out of his skin.
"Hush, before ye become fried chicken for my supper!" he trust a finger at the owl to intimidate it and looked over the letter once more.
"By my blazing beard this blasted elf will be the death of me. Darin, send word to get gem records from Erebor."
—
"Mmmai?"
"No Mae. Mae Govannen. Go..van..nen"
"Go van in?"
"No..ah Elladan help me!" Elrohir looked dejectedly to his twin.
"Do not look at me I have already tried with her." he took a bite out of his apple, casually strolling about the gazebo they had occupied to descend elvish lessons upon me.
"You are no help. Legolas? Oh for pity sake Legolas get your head out of that old book and help me."
Legolas straightened up in his seat, draping a lanky leg over the other, peering over another volume of a guard scheduling round.
"This was your idea Elrohir not mine." Legolas smirked at him, concentrating back towards his reading.
This had been their new project and whatever possessed Elrohir to suddenly decide to teach me Sindarin was beyond me. It was his theory that I needed to learn so I could understand my studies that I was going to start in 3 days. My argument was why did I need to learn when they could speak English or Common as they called it. However, this was not a suitable excuse for him as he was persistent that I learn. In some ways I too did find it interesting but nostalgic at the same time. It wasn't so long ago I was learning Japanese when I once lived with Ashley. Now it was almost deja vu. This family had sheltered me into their home. Clothed me, fed me, healed me and now I was learning their language.
"Perhaps I can be of service?" an elderly man's voice came from the entrance of the gazebo. The twins bickering stopped abruptly to look at their unexpected visitor. A short, white haired, shoeless man dressed in just a button down shirt and a silver blue vest along with capris pants stood before us. His small stature was supported by a walking stick that acted as a cane for him. The most striking feature of him was his large hairy feet.
"Pardon my intrusion. I couldn't help but overhear your lessons. Going poorly I might add. One thing you tall folk, who already know the language, don't understand is that it is quite different when you are not the doing the learning. You have lived forever and a day that I believe you have quite forgotten when you were once children learning from your studies. Now shoo..shoo. Get along now and let me help the star lady." the little man hobbled over on his cane scuffling along the way over to me. I couldn't help but notice that he too had pointy ears but larger and wider. Maybe an elf midget?
"Oh come now Bilbo do not hurt Elrohir's feelings too much" Legolas chuckled.
Elrohir scooted over on the bench giving Bilbo some room to sit and sliding Legolas a death glare. Bilbo hopped himself up on the bench resting his hands on his cane.
"So sorry we haven't been introduced yet dear star lady. I so much wanted to get out of my cubby hole and see you, but unfortunately my old age has caught up with me I'm afraid. You are certainly the talk of Rivendell. Oh my where are my manners, I am Bilbo Baggins of Bag Inn of the Shire. At your service."
I was still shocked for a moment at the size of him, but curious of what he was. I could tell he was no elf or race of men, especially by the looks of his feet. Needless to say he was adorable and reminded me of my elderly patients back home. He just had that grandpa charm to him.
"Nice to meet you Bilbo. You don't have to call me star lady. My name is Amara. Though I must say I didn't think there were dwarves living here." I smiled at him. He let out a deep laugh, slapping his knee with the others busting out in laughter as well. I looked towards Elrohir, Elladan and Legolas for what I had said to cause the outburst, but it was useless. They were in a fit of giggles. A blush crept up on my cheeks, now embarrassed.
"Good job Amara. You meet a dwarf for the first time and embarrass your ass."
"Oh my," wiping a tear that had escaped from his eye from laughing so hard "I haven't been mistaken for a dwarf in nearly 60 years! The last one was a fire breathing dragon. Oh no silly girl, I'm a hobbit."
My eyes got wide and my jaw slacked a little from his words.
"A dragon?! A fucking fire breathing flying lizard from the seventh circle of hell?! What kind of fucking world am I in?!"
"Child don't be alarmed he was the last of his kind and certainly dead in the bottom of a lake."
"Oh…," my voice croaked out, "that's good." nodding more to myself than his answer. The elves snickered as Bilbo tried to shoo them away.
"Now my dear where were we? Oh yes. Saying hello."
—
After a tedious lesson, a bit of cakes, tea, and endless hours of story telling from Bilbo, Amara called it quits. I could tell she was soaking up all she could learn of this world and Bilbo was willing to tell her anything she wanted to know. The old hobbit was a master story teller and from what I had heard was writing a book about his tales to the Lonely Mountain and the quest to Erebor. No doubt it would be a much read tale once completed. Even I was a little curious about reading a bit of it myself.
The sun had long since set and the stars were shining bright, glistening the sky. I never knew I would meet such woman from an unknown world from those faraway stars. So far away yet beautiful and numerous in the dark sea of the sky, which one was her world? I could tell she was eager to learn more about this one, but I often saw her unseen feelings. Loneliness, homesickness, longing. It hit close to me and I could not stand to see her suffer so. That was why I had a surprise for her.
We were both walking to the healing ward having parted from the twins hours ago. Before we could reach the door I grabbed her hand, making her stop. Shifting towards me with a confused look I led her to the staircase.
"What is it Legolas?" she asked.
"A surprise."
Her face lit up in a smile and trailed behind me up the stairs and around to the third floor. Leading her back to our tower room I stopped and looked back to her, taking in her eagerness.
"Close your eyes."
She did as asked and I opened the door leading her inside.
"One moment."
I had tried to recreate what she had told me of her world. I had found plush large feathered mattresses and laid them upon the floor covering them with fur blankets and pillows. I had added a bookshelf to wall on the farthest end and had filled it with books of health and medicine. Something I was sure she would enjoy. To add lighting to the room I had scattered candles here and there. Even on little trays on either side of the make shift foo ton along with her time stopper. Hopefully this would feel more like home away from home. Oddly I had felt nervous showing her, thinking me strange for doing this. But as she had said she was my friend. I wasn't just her guardian and I needed to take care of her and her well being. Guiding her inside I brought her to the center of the room.
"Alright...open them."
She opened them and her eyes sparkled in astonishment as a gasp left her lips.
"What?!," she looked around with a smile growing wide, "Legolas did you do this?"
I nodded my smile matching hers.
"Oh my god this is..this is amazing." I could see her eyes glisten with threatening tears and trying hard to fight them back, chewing her bottom lip.
"I know that you have been homesick and I know this has been quite a culture shock from the beginning, but I want you to feel at peace here. Whenever you are happy, angry, frustrated or lonely you can come here and be at home. Although..I am not sure if I got the foo-ton right."
"Legolas..it's perfect!" she breathed out and embraced me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I held her close to me enough to smell the lavender and lemongrass from her hair. It was such a calming scent no doubt from Lady Celebrian's soaps.
She pulled away and peered up at me with her large expressive eyes. Such eyes. So wild and exotic that I had never seen such before. They were as green as the forests of my homeland, but a gold ring seemed to circle around spidering away from her dark pupils.
"Like sunlight through the trees."
"Thank you so much. You didn't have to do this." her words were no more than a whisper.
"I wanted to. For you."
Turning towards the foo-ton she let out a little squeak and nose dived in, curling up in the fur blankets
"Oh my god Legolas this is so comfy! Get in!"
"In?" my voice faltered. Instantly my joy turned into nervousness. Was she mad?!
"What's wrong?"
"I can not get in..with you..I have never..I..it is immoral." I could feel my cheeks and ears get hot from my apparent blundering which she found amusing.
"Oh you are so gutter brained! I don't mean like that. Just to lay here with me. There is nothing wrong with that. Pretend we are both together side by side sitting on a bench."
"A bench. Together. Nothing wrong with that. There is nothing intimate about that. We are friends. Although she is a very attractive elleth..er woman. I do not view her like that. It is fine." I tried to coach myself into granting her request.
"You sure about that because your body seems to have a different answer." My thoughts retaliated
"She is just a woman."
Slipping off my boots I laid down beside her, covering myself expertly with one of the fur blankets to cover my obvious male bodily reaction.
"See that wasn't so hard. And look at the view!"
"View?" I turned to her suddenly afraid she had seen.
"Yes out the window. It's the perfect view of the full moon. Isn't it beautiful?" Looking before me out the bay window the moonlight shined down upon us.
The first night she had come to Middle Earth it was a full moon. Surely it could not have been a month already. Gazing back towards her, the light caught all of her features. Her hair was fanned out about her and the angles of her face were softened. Her arched brows were dark against her pale skin and a small dimple graced her cheek from her smile. Her slim neck descended down a valley to the notches of her greeting collar bones disappearing down into her shirt to lands unknown to me. Small things I seemed to have missed before.
"Beautiful indeed."