AN: Another day, another chapter. As for the whole thing with my skin, it turned out to be Poison Ivy. Go figure it'd be the one thing that I hate having most. Just a note to yall, I'm using the Extended version of FotR for this part f the story. Don't worry, I won't leave you out when i start on the next movie. Speaking of which, I think (if I remember correctly) I'm almost done with the first movie. Also, the reason why Frodo was paying such close attention to Spider in the last chapter is because I realized I hadn't explained her looks... stupid of me I know. I thought rather than stick with my hair color (bloody red) I'd give her something odd, but not too odd. Anyways, as always, enjoy.
AN2: Almost forgot, Wolfie, don't kill me. I try to get them out as fast as my ADD brain and schedule will let me. Other times I just kinda forget. I will defiantly try to get the chapters out faster without killing myself.
The Spider of Fangorn
Chapter Seven: Spidersilk Peace
Spider's sleep was fitful and full of nightmares. She could clearly see Gandalf's death, though not where it had really happened. She normally only napped, as she was apt to sleep for hours more then she should. But for some reason she was unable to wake herself up. She was finally able to pry her eyes open and blinked at the bright light of day. She saw none of her friends, yet she could clearly scent Legolas. He must have placed me in the most convenient bed... his. Another scent came to her. Spider looked up from the ground only see Haldir standing not far away.
She dipped her head in greeting to him. "Good morning, Lady Spider. Lady Galadrial asked me to bring you to her when you awoke."
Spider looked at him for a moment, then stood and walked to his side. "Then we should not keep her wait." She followed Haldir through Lothlorien, lost in the beauty yet keeping an eye on Haldir.
"I do not mean to be intrusive, but may I ask you a question?" Haldir was looking at Spider, waiting for an answer.
"Is that not already a question?" Spider smiled, it didn't reach her eyes. Haldir gave her a cold look that told her he was serious. "Yes Haldir, But do not take it personally if I decide not to answer."
"Fair enough. Why did you barrel into danger the way you did? You had to have known that we could have killed you had I not been curious." Haldir was genuinely curious, she could see it in his eyes. Spider also knew that the elf let her see it.
Spider let out a weary sigh. "Haldir, before I joined the Fellowship I was friendless. Gandalf may have sent me away, but he did not understand my actions. I forgive him for his quick judgment. I had to know what had happened to him. Do you understand?"
Haldir looked thoughtful a moment. "Yes and yet no," he replied. "But that does not mean I do not understand your reasoning. He was your friend and you have every right to know what happened to him. It was not an easy death, but I believe he would have rather died that way than sit by idle as his friends died."
Spider merely nodded. He understood. There were many reasons behind why she had chosen to help destroy the ring. She still found it odd that no one had questioned her about how she knew of the meeting in Rivendell. Crow was strange in her ways and had told Spider about the council meeting. Crow was an odd cat indeed.
Soon they arrived in a beautiful glade. In the center was a pedestal. The center was carved out and a silver bowl occupied the space. Spider grimaced, it had to have some sort of magical purpose. Spider didn't care much for magic.
"I shall part ways with you here. Lady Galadriel will be with you shortly." With that Haldir turned and left, leaving Spider to her own devices until the Lady Elf arrived.
Spider's gaze was caught by the gleaming bowl. She honestly wanted nothing to do with it, but she was curious of the craftsmanship. She stepped closer and examined the filigree around its edges. It had intertwining vines and leaves etched into its surface. Unfortunately, it looked as though it had black water in it and she couldn't examine the bottom of the bowl.
As she looked closer, images began to form on it's surface. Spider saw many things she didn't like, but the final message from it's depths made her scream in sadness. She could clearly see Crow standing in the ruins of her village. The old cat had tears running down her cheeks and bodies were scattered around her- all were cats she knew. Suddenly, as if coming from the mists of creation, Eagle appeared behind the old cat.
"So, you knew of my plans the whole time. Even before I knew of them." Eagle stated, rather than asked.
"Yes." Was Crow's simple reply.
"That's why you tried so hard to keep Spider alive. You wanted her to stop me." Another malice filled statement.
"If I had not, no cat would have survived this attack. We are lucky it was only ones that followed you that died here today. " A slight smirk, "At least there are enough cats left to rebuild this tribe."
"You have someone in mind to take over leadership." Eagle had no need for questions. When he found out that the village had been deserted, he knew who to blame.
"Yes, and despite what you are thinking, it is not Spider. She will never rejoin this Tribe. i have foreseen it. I have sent word to the one that will rule this Tribe until its finale, peaceful days. You are not the one." Crow smiled. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and she fell to the ground, smile still in place.
Spider screamed. It was a scream mixed with yowling cry of a broken cat. She fell to her knees. Something told her this had already come to pass. The woman who was like a second mother to her was dead. Tears ran unchecked down her face.
"What did you see?" The voice was soft and Spider didn't bother to move. She knew it was Lady Galadriel.
"Death," Spider croaked, her voice clogged with unshed tears. "I saw the death of only cat outside of my family that ever cared about me."
"Fate is a cruel thing, Spider Silver Paws. It will serve you well to remember that. You have a long journey ahead of you and not everyone will live to say they are heroes of Middle Earth. I do not know who will fall, but I know it will happen. Does this sadden you?"
Again, Spider didn't bother to move. She meant to disrespect to the Lady Elf, but she couldn't move. Her whole body was frozen and she felt sick. "Yes," She whispered.
Lady Galadriel's gaze softened at the answer. She gave a wane smile. "Tell me what you saw."
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Spider returned to were her friends had made camp on the outer edges of the city. She found another elf waiting there to lead her to dinner. She now understood that she had arrived in the Elvin city very early in the morning and had woke late in the afternoon- just three hours before it was time for the evening meal.
Spider followed the silent elf through the city to the dining area, where she found her friends already eating. She couldn't help but smile at her small friends' veracious appetites. She proceeded to get her own food and wandered over to where the Fellowship sat.
"In all my days, I have never gazed upon such starved creatures," she said with a smile that, again, did not reach her eyes.
Pippin choked. Sam spit out his drink. Frodo's head snapped up. Aragorn and the others simply smiled and laughed at the poor hobbits, whom were the only ones that been caught off guard by the cat's statement.
"So, she finally wakes from her deep slumber," Aragorn laughed, patting Pippin on the back as he coughed.
The corners of Spider's mouth twitch, "Lady Galadriel sent for me as soon as I awoke. If not for her summons I would have arrived before now." Her smile fell. "I fear things are only to become harder from here."
Frodo's eyes widened. "Are you not to continue on with us?" He honestly wanted his newest friend to finish the journey with them. She had her quirks, but so did all the others.
"I assure you, ezien. I will continue what begun in Rivendell." Spider smiled again and waited for the inevitable question to what she had said.
Gimli gave Spider a blank look. "What does 'essy in' mean?"
Spider laughed. "It's 'Ezz-ee-in', ezien Gimli. It means 'dear friend' in my native language. I don speak it often as the Nacatl have grown to use Westron more than anything."
"So, we are you dear friends, then?" Frodo asked. Spider gave gave him a sad smile.
"Frodo, you are my only friends." A single tear slipped unbidden down the cat's cheek.
"So it has happened. Your friend Crow has died with the trees." Aragorn made it both a statement and a question, unsure of what had become of the old cat Spider spoke so fondly of.
"No," Spider's mouth twisted into a frown. "She was murdered by Eagle. He stabbed her in the back with a dagger." The fellowship looked on as the cat's sadness turned into two emotions they had never witnessed in the young cat before- anger and rage. "I'll kill him. I'll take from him what he stole from her. The right to live." Spider flashed them a frighteningly feral smile. "She knew what would happen to the tribe before he even knew that the ring had resurfaced. Crow sent me to do what others of my tribe would be too afraid of- to defy the Chief of the Wild Nacatl. I do not know who she intended to be the new leader of my Tribe, but she's already sent word to them. My they live long and die free."
Spider had calmed back down by the time she finished speaking. Aragorn smiled at her determination. "Should your people ever require it, I offer my help to rebuild your people's village and honor."
Spider smiled. A real smile this time. "I'm not sure if it would be welcome, but should I ever return and find that they need help, I'll send for you. Prienlas, ezien." This time they didn't need to ask what she had said, they understood she was saying 'Thank you'.
The rest of the meal passed as uneventful and soon they returned to their camp at the edge of the city.
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Each member of the Fellowship sat on their respective 'bed', save Spider who sat on a tree root sharpening her sword.
"Spider," Legolas hesitated a moment.
"Yes?" Spider was going over Crow's death in her mind, replaying it again and again.
"May I ask you something about your race?" He asked, unsure if she would willingly answer his questions.
Spider smiled, knowing they were bound to get curious one day. "Yes. Don't worry, I have no problem answering your questions Legolas."
Legolas smiled. "Could you tell us a bit about how the Tribes work. I imagine there are or were more than just your's."
"Hm," Spider thought about about it a moment. "Well, we have our race as a whole, then Clans which are made up of different Tribes. Each Tribe is made up of several families and the families are made up of Bloodlines. All Tribes of a certain Clan share the same name, but in each Clan there is one Tribe that governs over the others. The ruling Tribe is the only one called by the Clan's name. Like I come from the Wild Clan and likewise I come from the Ruling Tribe, which is called the Wild Nacatl. In our clan we had the Sun Wild that lived only in the treetops. The Water Wild that lived on the banks of the Entwash and the Rock Wild that lived where the mountains meet the forest. You see each Clan is made up of four Tribes."
Spider stopped to make sure they were following what she was telling them. "We shared borders with the Cloud and Grass Clans. The Cloud Clan worked much the same way as ours, with one difference. The cloud were scholars, while the Wild are Hunters. Each Clan had a trade they shared with all the others. The Cloud shared weather predictions and such, while we traded skins, furs and dried meats. The Grass Clan which were made up of the Grass Nacatl, the Blade Grass, the Oak Grass, and Hollow Grass Tribes were horse breeders on the plains of Rohan. The Stone Clan were miners and were made up of the Stone Nacatl, Gold Stone, Jewel Stone, and Metal Stone Tribes. The Flame Clan were metalworkers and blacksmiths. They were made up of the Flame Nacatl, Blade Flame, Jewel Flame, and Iron Flame Tribes. I can't name all of the Clans, but do you understand the Clans, Tribes, and their individual trades?"
Spider received nods and grunts in replay. "The Bloodlines are rather difficult to explain. The most I really understand is the the Family Bloodline follows the only the Male members of the family. I would be considered a Cloud cat, as that was the Clan my father was from. His Bloodline is the Razadios. Razadios being the general word for both male and female silver furred cats. It means Silver Paws. Razadia being female, Razadius being male, and Razadios being all Silver Paws both male and female. Thats the best I can do to explain it."
"And you said before that your Tribe was ruled by a Chieftain. My question is, what is the role of the Priestess?" Aragorn asked. Spider had lost the Hobbits long ago in her explanation, but the other members had followed along fine.
Spider thought about her answer carefully to give them the best answer. "The Priestess divines the future of the Clan. She is also the Healer and teacher. I guess you could say that the Priestess is something akin to a Wizard, but no where near as powerful."
Gimli decided it was his turn to ask Spider a question, but Boromir was faster. "What is the meaning behind the metal ring in your lip and the way your ears are stretched?"
Spider smiled, she seemed to be in the habit of doing it every time a question was asked. "Well, the ring is a coming of age custom. On me, however, it is misplaced as it is a male custom. I was rared as one of the male members of the Tribe since I have no brothers and my father was banished. It was done as a means of disrespect, but I see it as an accomplishment. To me it meant I was to go through training not only as a hunter, but as a warrior. My ears were meant the same way, being only a male custom. Each one is a trial I passed becoming who I am now."
"It would seem," said a grinning Aragorn. "That it is nearly impossible to insult you."
Spider laughed. "I learned long ago that it was pointless to let them think that I cared for their obsession with insults. I'm proud of who I am. It means I didn't let them drag my down with them in their fall from grace."
"Alright," said Aragorn. "I think it's time to get some sleep. We can talk more tomorrow."
Ok guys, I managed to find the inspiration to write this chapter. I was having a really hard time with it. As it is now really early in the morning (or really late at night... not sure what you would call 4am when you haven't been to sleep yet) and I am really fuckn' tired. I hope to have chapter 8 up soon... or at least half way done soon. The next one will be out by or before Halloween. Review and it'll get done faster.
