Late that night, as many were asleep, Rin threw together clothing and food into a pack. She braided her straight hair, tying it with a leather thong. The brown haired elf wore a simple cotton forest green dress. Slinging the pack onto her back, she slinked out of the room she had been given. Rivendell was quiet. Rin spotted some elves walking around, singing, humming, or thinking. She made sure to stay out of sight.
Rin found some horses in the pasture and found Fortel. She rubbed her hand over his nose and he whuffed into her hand.
"I can't take you away from Meleth." Rin sighed, seeing Fortel's love standing behind him. She looked around and saw that another black mare had come up behind her, sniffing. "Who are you now?" She asked, raising a hand up. The mare sniffed.
"She is named Kinlir." Rin jumped a foot into the air and looked at the owner of the voice. Lenwe stood there, petting a horse's mane. "She is Meleth's older sister."
"She seems to like me." Rin muttered. She jumped as Lenwe's hand cupped her face. He turned her head sharply, and Rin realized that he noticed her ears. She pulled her face away from his hand and stepped back.
"When did that happen?" Lenwe asked. Rin could see the shock in his face.
"When we were on our way here." She muttered, scuffing her foot. "Could you just…leave me to think?" She asked, looking up at Lenwe through her lashes, hoping that she didn't look or sound guilty. Lenwe cocked his head to the side. "Please. I wish to gather my thoughts." Rin cringed, wishing that she could speak normally.
"As you wish, my lady. Shall I take your bag back to your rooms?" Rin cursed internally. She should have known that she couldn't hide her pack so easily.
"No. I can handle it myself." Lenwe stared for several seconds before bowing and walking away. 'He knows.' Rin sighed, watching the blonde elf. 'He knows that I'm leaving. I will miss him. I feel that he would be a good friend.' Once she could no longer see Lenwe, she pulled herself onto Kinlir. "You know, your name is very much similar to Kirlin. I wonder if that was on purpose." She whispered to the mare, who gave a low wicker and started away from the herd. Even without a saddle or reins, Kinlir knew where Rin wanted to go, and that she wanted to leave quietly.
Almost two weeks later, Rin arrived at a town. She hadn't seen a single soul since leaving Rivendell, which surprised her greatly. In Japan, people were clustered together. Here you could travel for weeks and not see another person. Kinlir took no direction from Rin, wandering wherever she would. Rin trusted the horse, who probably knew the land better than she did.
"What is such a great elf such as yourself doin' 'ere?" Rin looked down from the black mare to a woman, shucking corn on her doorstep. Rin smiled and bowed.
"I'm on a mission. I'm going to start an army." She said, pleased with herself. However, the woman on the stoop only looked at her like she was crazy. "I want to show men what women can do. Therefore, I want to recruit women, train them up, you know, like Robin Hood, and show men that women are powerful."
"Pardon, milady, but tis a hopeless task that you are set upon." Rin looked at a man who had walked up. He wore plain clothes, but she could see a sword at his hip, and chainmail peeking out from under his shirt.
"And what, pray tell, makes it hopeless?" She asked.
"Women are not fighters. They are homemakers, babywatchers." The man said. Rin saw the woman scurry off into her house.
"Would you wish for a demonstration?" Rin asked, holding up her bow. The man burst into laughter and Rin tilted her head, lifting her chin. She didn't realize how sexist this world was. She thought that her being an elf would cause the humans to take her seriously, but her race didn't seem to help her plan. She looked around for a target that would impress the man. She saw a baker about two blocks away, holding a tray over his head. It was a small, moving target, but Rin was confident that she could hit one of the loaves of bread. "You dare laugh at one of the fair folk?" She asked. If she was going to be an elf, she was going to milk it.
Keeping her breath steady, she readied an arrow, took several seconds to aim, and released. She held her breath, watching her arrow as it flew through the air, cleanly flying through a loaf. Though it wasn't the one she had aimed for, it was still enough to stop the man from laughing.
"Still think women are just homemakers and babywatchers?" Rin asked coldly.
"Just 'acause you can shoot well don't mean women ought to take up arms." The man growled. "Quit this foolishness and leave this town. None of our women will join you." Rin's eyes narrowed, but she saw several women looking at her through their windows. She smirked and turned Kinlir around, walking her slowly out of the town.
Rin stopped Kinlir about five miles out of town, in a small grove of trees. She threw a bedroll onto the ground, despite her lack of need for sleep. Kinlir wandered around, munching on the grass that grew along the earth. Rin brushed out her hair, still unused to the straightness. She had liked her curly hair, even though her mom would never let her tie it back.
"Why would Adeline put such a spell on me? She obviously is afraid that I was going to seduce Legolas and Lenwe. These changes would make me more attractive to them." She pondered. "Besides, Legolas is too anti-woman, and Lenwe is more like a puppy with a new toy." She laughed. She heard a noise coming closer, and Rin put her brush down, a smile on her lips.
"Are yew the elf making a woman army?" A voice asked as a young woman, younger than thirty, but definitely in her twenties by Rin's guessing.
"And what skill do you offer?"
"I protected my father's flock with a sling as a youth. But I am alone now. My fiancé, father, and brother have all fallen to vagabonds on the trade routes." The girl said. She had her black hair tied in a braid down her back. "I have been living off the kindness of the townsfolk, but I wish to make my own fortune." Rin smiled. Her plan had worked.
Five months later, and Rin had collected a handful of women, ranging from sixteen to thirty-two in age. They had created a base camp in the foothills of the Misty Mountains. They had almost daily practice fighting against the goblins that inhabited the mountain tunnels. Rin didn't know, but they had picked the exact spot where thirteen dwarves and a hobbit had entered the mountains many years before. After five months, they had several crude buildings constructed. Everyone pulled their own weight, helping in the garden, helping with the hunting, and helping with the cleaning.
One of Rin's diamonds in the rough was another elf, who had also hailed from the Greenwood's realm. She helped to train the women in multiple types of weapons. Her reasoning for leaving the woodland realm was because once she-elves were considered warriors, until Kirlin's betrayal, which lead Prince Legolas to ban all women from fighting. Her name was Yesal, and she was a master at the sword.
Another one of the women who had joined Rin was a human named Charlotte Smith. Her father had been a blacksmith and had taught Charlotte the basics of weapon smithing before he had abandoned her family for another woman in a neighboring village. She was the one in charge of crafting the weapons for Rin's women.
The others were a mixture of tailors, farmers, and other such professions that were not as handy in Rin's venture. They were all stubborn and willing to learn, which Rin was appreciative of, especially since they were mocked daily whenever a group of travellers happened upon their base.
Their life was simple. Everyone woke up early in the morning for archery practice, which was followed by breakfast. After eating, they would split into smaller groups to practice different weapons. When weapon practice was done, they'd do their daily chores. This helped to keep their base growing bigger and better, which Rin was also appreciative of, due to the almost daily appearances of new recruits. By the end of April, her sixth month in Middle Earth, she had accrued sixty-eight women. After chores, they'd eat dinner, having lunch when they could grab it, and then there'd be an evening sword lesson before bed.
"Good work today, ladies!" Rin called over dinner. "Tonight we shall cancel evening sword practice in lieu of free time. You all deserve it." Her women started to cheer. She smiled and held up her hand. "I would like to meet with my five captains when meal time has concluded." Her five captains nodded solemnly.
They met in the headquarters of the building. They sat around a heavy wooden table, where all of their documents were spread out. Rin sat at the head of the table, a letter in front of her seat.
"What news have reached us, Rin?" Yesal asked, throwing her black hair over her shoulder.
"Gondor has called to Rohan for help. I think the final battle has arrived. Our numbers are not as great as I had hoped, but our women are all strong and able. I think it is time to march and fight. This will be a historical battle. All who fight will be remembered."
"Could we make it in time?" Charlotte asked.
"We will have to ride hard, but I am sure that we shall make it before the battle concludes. We would have to leave tomorrow, no later than noon." Her five captains looked pensive. "I wish for your thoughts before we make preparations."
"Some of our ladies will have to stay behind." A redheaded woman of thirty years spoke up.
"I agree, Winona." Rin said. "Those who joined us this week shall be ordered to stay behind and keep the base in order. I do want one of you to stay with them to keep up their training."
"I shall stay behind with our newest recruits." Winona said. Rin figured she would be the one to volunteer. She was the newest captain, only receiving the post after their latest skirmish against the goblins of the Misty Mountains.
"Very good. So I take it that we are in agreement that we shall march against the orcs of Mordor?" Rin asked, making eye contact with all five of her captains.
"We shall march." They said in unison.
The next morning was a flurry of activity as fifty-five of their horses were saddled and packs were put together. Several women whose fathers were bakers quickly made food that would last on the road. Charlotte and the ten younger girls she had taken on as apprentices went over all of the weapons, making sure they were all sound.
Rin oversaw the activity from a spot on the ramparts. Kinlir was saddled and ready, tied to a post at the gate below Rin. The elf was proud of her ladies, but a pit grew in her belly. Sure, the fights against the goblins were swift and only ever resulted in injury, but this was an actual battle. She was sure that there would be death, but this is what she had set out to do. Create an army of women that can show the world that women aren't just homemakers. But she didn't want to lose any of her women.
"We must fight. Otherwise what were these past five months for?" She whispered to herself. She started down the stairs as everyone started to fall in line. "Let's move out!" She roared, leaping nimbly onto Kinlir's back. Rin took a deep breath as she rode through the gates and up the path towards the mountain.
