Eärlindë Galathil

By: Writes with Block

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Disclaimer:

Aragorn: *walks out* *looks around* There's no one here.

Jo: *still hiding* Keep looking.

Aragorn: *sigh* No one is here. What are you afraid of anyway?

Jo: Its been almost a month since I've update. Someone might try to hurt me.

Aragorn: No one is going to hurt you. *ducks rotten fruit* They'll just throw stuff.

Jo: It hurts when it hits you.

Legolas: It is your own fault.

Jo: Did I tell you I've been thinking about writing a death fic?

Legolas: *walks away whistling*

Aragorn: Just write the chapter.

Jo: Fine.

Merry: Still not hers.

Pip: Where's the Ramen?

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Chapter Nine

Lessien picked her way through the rubble, following Aragorn who walked with a weary stride. A cloth was wrapped tightly around the wolf girl's mouth and nose, tied tightly at the nape of her neck. The stench of Orc's blood and the sharp, lingering scent of that strange explosion stuck her nose and made her face ache. Her discomfort was forgotten however as she watched Aragorn with worried eyes.

The scent of elf's blood, something she had never smelled in her entire life, lingered on his skin and clothing. The nice smelling elf, Haldir, had died and Aragorn had spoken little since. Exhaustion and grief cloaked the man and Lessien couldn't help but twitch her sensitive nose in displeasure. She could think of nothing to alleviate his pain, she was not used to dealing with other's emotions, and searched desperately for something to lift his spirits.

"Lord Aragorn," she called as he paused next to the body of yet another dead Ridder folk. "The rains are returning. You should retire inside the fort."

Aragorn looked up, almost as if he were surprised to see her, and nodded his head gently. "Yes. Let us go inside."

Lessien trotted at his side, crawling on all fours as she most often did, her ears drooping against her skull. The air was pregnant with the scent of death and the cloth around her mouth did little to keep the smell at bay. Entering the fort was a relief, even if it stunk of blood and sickness. It was better than the death outside.

Aragorn sat down in the chair Lessien brought to him and she sat at his heels, her ears perked for any orders.

"Thank you Lessien," he said, smiling down wanly at her and scratching one of her ears. He sank back into the chair with an almost silent sigh.

"I'll get you something to drink Lord Aragorn," the wolf girl whispered, conscious that he was almost asleep. She filled a cup with fresh water and by the time she brought it to him he was asleep. She set the cup down on the floor and sat at his side.

Lessien watched his sleeping face quietly for a long moment. He seemed relaxed now and less full of grief. She licked a smear of blood off the back of his right hand and he shifted in his sleep. Not wanting to wake him, she leaned her head against his leg, wrapping her tail around his ankle.

"Sleep well Lord Aragorn," she whispered and sank back against his leg, waiting until he would awaken.

Her keen eyes watched the injured Rohan warriors move about the fortress. For once they were full of silence, as Lessien had often wish, but she found no comfort in the quiet. In fact the silence hurt her ears more than the noise had. She flattened her ears against her skull.

"Are you all right lass?"

Lessien looked up. It was the dwarf. She smelled him even long before he approached her. He smelled of soil, a scent she greatly enjoyed, and rock, a scent she was very used to. The dwarf seemed very at home here in the Deep among the rocks and tunnels.

"Did you hear me lass?"

Lessien nodded gently. "Lord Aragorn is asleep," she warned in a soft whisper.

"And I doubt the whole of Mordor could wake him," Gimli replied gruffly. "But I asked about you. Children are not meant for war." Lessien shrugged and remained silent. "Come. We're going to eat. He will be fine on his own for a few minutes," Gimli chuckled when Lessien looked up at Aragorn. "He is only sleeping."

Lessien nodded and slowly, reluctantly, left Aragorn's side. She crawled behind Gimli quietly. Her tail was tucked behind her legs and her ears flat against her skull. They joined Legolas, who was all ready eating.

"So how many did you get, pointy ear?" Gimli asked, a chuckled in his gruff voice.

"Forty-two," Legolas answered.

"42. A respectable number for a young elvish princling like yourself. I myself am sitting pretty on 43."

"Is your count accurate Master Dwarf."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"Certainly not," Legolas chuckled. "I was merely thinking you might have been mistaken."

"I assure you, princling, that I am not."

"Where is Haldir?"

Companionable banter faded away as Legolas and Gimli looked up at Lessien who was sitting tensed in her seat, her meal untouched.

"Unfortunately Haldir has died," Legolas answered, clearly uncomfortable with his choice of words but unable to find any others.

"And a sad thing that," Gimli added sincerely.

"But where is he?"

"His body is being taken back to Lothlorien as we speak," Legolas answered.

"I know where his body is but where is he?" Lessien asked, her voice annoyed and tense.

"His...spirit, you mean?" Gimli asked.

"Yes if that is what he is. His body is empty, I saw it, so he must have gone somewhere."

Legolas found himself stumbling for words. Never had he been asked such a question and he could tell that Lessien would settle for nothing less than all the truth he knew. "He has gone better places than this. A place where there is no death or sickness or war."

"Where is it then? I wish to speak with him some more."

"It is to the land of the dead he as gone lass," Gimli answered. "You will not see him again. Not for as long as you live."

Lessien pondered this for a moment, her fangs bitting into her lower lip. "Do elves and men go to the same place? Is there only one dead place?"

"I suppose," Legolas answered, unsure of the truth.

"Then, if he must be gone, at least he did not have to go alone. All those Ridder folks went with him and the other elves that died as well. I have seen many dead things but never men or elves."

Legolas suddenly found himself wishing that Lessien was not honor bound to Aragorn. She was a child, a young child who knew nothing of war and the death that would come with it.

'She should not be here,' he thought, his eyes clouding with despair. 'She should be no where near this. This is no place for someone so very young and innocent.'

"I'll make sure Lord Aragorn doesn't go to that dead place," Lessien said, her voice full of surety. " "I won't let him leave." And with that she stuck her face in her bowl and started to eat with a soft growl.

Neither Legolas nor Gimli had the heart to tell her that it was not her decision to make and that if it were going to happen, if Aragorn were fated to die, there was no way she could stop it.

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Lookit! I redid this chapter and I really, really like it. So a thousand times better than it was the first time. I think I'm going to write the next chapter today too. Why am I so inspired? Because I got my tickets for Return of the King yesterday. They are in my room, hidden for safe keeping. The first thing I did this morning was check on them. How on earth (or middle earth) am I going to last six days? *sighs* I WANNA GO RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

*deep breath* I'm better. Next week is going to be a great week. Return of the King is on the 17th, my b-day is on the 17th, and I get paid on the 18th. Happy birthday to me!!!! I hope you like this revised chapter and I did a bunch of editing on the other chapters as well.

Read and review please!! Thank you!!!