A/N: ::answering machine message:: Hi, I'm not home right now, but I don't own the Lord of the Rings. Please leave your name and number if you're J.R.R. Tolkien.

Hey look!! I have more reviews! Y'know what reviews are good for? Making me want to write more of my story. Hehe!

Thanks ZChan, Shirinar, loony, Nathronoelei for reviewing my story! Hey, this is funny…some of the people reading my story wants Rogue to hook up with Legolas, some others want her to hook up with Boromir, and the others don't care. Who will win? ::wicked grin:: I should make her hook up with Gimli just to make all you guys upset. I mean, come on, who doesn't like short, rough looking guys?

That was a joke! A joke I tell you! But seriously, the person who (if any) that gets in a relationship with Rogue is going to remain a secret until later. Hehe! Yes, that does mean that I'm 90% sure of the outcome.

Thanks everybody for liking my character! And even more thanks for saying it gives you 'un-mary-suish feelings'. I'm trying to make her as believable as possible…and hopefully she is anything but perfect. Actually she has a lot of problems… ::grin:: Also, thanks for saying everybody was in character. I was worrying that I might have made Legolas, Boromir, and Aragorn a bit out of character…

" Sai'an" and "Ra'si" are a form of Elvish, although a different type (dialect). The dialect of Elvish that these words come from is much rougher than 'normal' Elvish. The other various Elvish words (I have a lot in my poems if you didn't notice) are from the typical Elvish language and are free-flowing. I made up all of these words myself, along with their meanings. For the " i yéta an minë nat selma anta nyérë" in Chapter Ten, I did some research for those words. I got them off of several sites, and I can't for the life of me remember all of them. You might want to go to a search engine and search for "Elvish Words" or "Elvish translator"…that's what I did. Yes, it took a while to get the right sites, but I was able to get a pretty good Elvish sentence, eh?

Also, I need to say that the saying on Rogue's bow ("The seeking for one thing will find another.") is actually an Irish Proverb and I did not make it up. Now, on with the story!

Chapter 11: Elithir

Ah! See the stars shine upon us

Suÿen,

I have seen it myself

Äonyé

The mysteries of the Moon

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The next day, Gandalf pushed the group hard. Once the day broke over the horizon, like usual, all the Company was awake and eating breakfast. They ate quickly, knowing they must not waste their time. Cloaks and extra garments were put on, since everyone knew that they would be traveling in the snow for a while.

The sun wasn't even at high noon when the group reached the snow on the mountains. From there on, their walking grew slower and more tedious. Legolas, along with Rogue, had no problem with the snow, but everybody else could not walk on snow. There was minimal talking, since that was a waste of energy and heat. Rogue, especially, spoke nothing to anybody, except for maybe 'Come on, we can't stay here all day' or a 'Don't think about the snow, it only makes it worse' as they first started out. She seemed to have forgotten all about the previous evening, although it was still vivid in her mind.

The sky was a brilliant light blue, with only one or two clouds in the sky. The sun pierced through the blue like an arrow of fire, yet it provided little warmth. The snow was piled high on the mountains, and the slightest noise could start an avalanche. And so, after they started getting fairly high on the mountain, there was no talking. The poor hobbits wanted to stop and rest, but Gandalf plowed on, stopping only a few minutes for a lunch.

Rogue, for one, was happy about the no talking. It gave her even more of a reason to hide her emotions, lest something in the mountain air make her want to say them again. The presence in her mind was ever there, but the voice came no longer, and she was glad for it. While she thought about the previous day's events, she kept all her senses awake. Yesterday, when she hadn't been listening, or watching, Saroshder could have decided to make his move right then and there, the Company would of fallen, and she would have been the cause.

You might still cause the Company to fall during this journey, Rogue thought. The thought was always with her, ever since she knew she would have to join the Fellowship. It was something she refused to think of, yet it was still there in the black crevices of her mind, never letting her forget.

And so the Company traveled like this for several days. There was no talking, no fires, no comfort. Just snow all around them and the hope that they would be at the end of their mountain journey soon. That, of course, was impossible. They had been traveling only a few days, and anyone in their right mind knew it took much longer than that to climb the mountain. In fact, they weren't even that close to the top yet.

Around noon of the second day through the snow, the Company passed the place where they were forced to turn back on their first journey. As they walked through the place, Rogue could feel dread emitting from all of the Fellowship; memories of how they made the terrible choice of going into Moria. Moria. And suddenly, the only thing that Rogue could think about was how they must not enter the Mines of Moria, even though she wished to believe the dwarves were keeping the Mines safe. Thankfully, nothing happened at the place, and the Company passed through unharmed.

It was now the third day, and the sun was starting to sink low in the sky. There was only an hour of walking time left, and then the temperatures would drop to colder degrees. It was at this moment that Gandalf stopped for seemingly no reason and looked ahead. Following his lead, the rest looked to see what had caught the leader's attention. A village, or was it a city?, stood several hundred feet in front of them. Stone walls surrounded all of it, allowing only the wooden roofs of the tallest buildings to be seen. A gate stood, facing the Company. It was built out of a heavy wood, and the metal on it showed it was heavily locked. The walls and gate were weathered by the years, and held a slight welcoming appearance, instead of the non-welcoming one that most stone walls and wooden gates gave off.

The Company had long since passed the threat of an avalanche, and the clearing was extremely peaceful and held no hint of danger. Merry spoke up in an awed voice. "A city in the mountains?"

Aragorn nodded. "That is the city of Elithir. I've been there only twice, and both times being when I was traveling before our journey with the Ring."

Legolas seemed to be confused about finding this mountain-city. "How is it that I have never heard of this city?"

"The travelers which come here tend not to be the normal traveler looking only for a good rest,"

Rogue had moved up to stand next to Gandalf, looking intently at Elithir. "Elithir. The Mountain-City. Long has it been since I have been here…" She breathed, directing her statement only to herself. Turning around she walked back to where she had stood in line, with her horse still beside her. "That city that we stand before is, as Aragorn has said, Elithir. It is one of the more unknown cities…"

Gimli's gruff voice spoke up. "It's name is Elvish…is it, then, an Elvish city?"

She shook her head. "No, yet there might be an elf or two in the city. The founder, so I was told, was an Elf, and so gave it an Elvish name. It is, however, unusual because of one thing. The people who dwell in this city mingle together…although it is mostly Men, there are a few Elves, and sometimes, although I have seen it only once myself, Dwarves living at this city."

"And are there no Hobbits?" Pippin asked indignantly.

Rogue laughed her cold, sarcastic laugh. "No, that one I have never seen. But I am sure they will allow you to live there if you wish, Master Peregrin."

Frodo looked at Rogue. "How do you know so much about this city, may I ask?"

She thought a moment, thinking whether it would be better if she didn't tell them. But the city was not important enough to lie about. "That city is where I spent my childhood."

That came as a shock to everyone in the group, and they all looked at her a bit wide-eyed. Except for Boromir. "Well, now we know we shouldn't stop there."

"Perhaps if we stop there, they could send you to sit in one of their dank dungeons for a night," Rogue replied.

"If I were in a dungeon, then believe me, you would be too, for I would swear to the stars that you worked with me…in whatever they were to charge me with."

"We shall go to the Elithir and at least spend the night there. We shall see if we need to spend more time," Gandalf declared loudly.

Rogue walked out of line, holding her horse's reigns, and ended up next to Gandalf. "Let me talk…they know me, and I can get us into the city quicker. I am sure they are as skittish as they have always been, especially since this is winter."

Without listening to whether or not Gandalf agreed with her, she pulled the hood of the black cloak, over her head. She walked ahead of Gandalf, holding the reigns of her horse in her right hand. Knowing that Rogue was right when she said 'they know me', no one voiced their worries of having her lead the group. As she started to walk toward the gate, the Company followed the black figure. She looked quite formidable dressed fully in black, with her horse to match. The silver of her daggers and her sword glittered in the sunlight, the only things to seem to have color on Rogue. Her hood cast an eerie shadow on her face, letting only enough light upon it as to be able to see her face vaguely.

Looking up as she walked, light gray clouds could be seen forming. Their appearance spoke of snow falling soon, and Rogue saw their good luck. "It seems as though we made it to Elithir just in time. Snow will be falling soon. We might have to stay more than one night depending on whether the snow falls badly or not." Something in her voice told the group that their stay would not depend just on how much snow fell, but something else as well. Whatever it was, they were most certain that Rogue would at least hint at it later on.

"Strider, are the people here very friendly?" Asked Sam.

Aragorn had to think about that before answering. "The people of the town are friendly from what I have seen. But there are always several travelers staying here, and they do not seem to be the best to make conversation with."

"Hmm…yes, I'd advise you not to talk to the travelers if you can help it. But, that's only my advice. You may talk to them if you wish…." Rogue added in. "Tomorrow, if you cannot find me, don't worry about it too much. There are a few things I need to see to while we're here…"

"Who would be worried if we couldn't find you?" Boromir replied.

And then the Company stood before the large gate the lead into Elithir. Rogue swallowed her retort to Boromir, and instead reached out and banged loudly with the regal brass knocker on the wooden door. The gate was quite strange indeed, for it was not normal to find a gate decorated as if it were the entrance to a home.

A young voice answered the knock, a young boy to be exact. He seemed to be no more than 14 years of age, and was apprenticing for the job of gatekeeper, no doubt. Although the voice was recognizably male, it was a bit more high-pitched…like that of a boy that had not gone through puberty yet. "Who goes there?"

"Open the gate," Rogue demanded.

Silence. And then a peep window, which was built into the wooden door, slid open slightly. The pair of young eyes that looked out was obviously that of the young boy. He hesitantly looked around at the group, his eye growing wide when he noticed the black-cloaked girl with a black horse standing at the front of the group. The window slammed shut, and then the Company could hear the young boy looking for his Master.

"Master Farinheild! Master Farinheild! Master Farinheild…" The boy's voice was now filled with nervousness and even a hint of fear.

A gruff, old, male voice answered the boy. "What 'tis the matter, Noshim?"

"A…a lady is at the gate."

"I have told thee what to do. Find the traveler's name, and then know their business for coming to Elithir. It's a simple as that."

"But…"

"But nothing! Now tell me, who is at the gate? I can tell from how thee talk that thee know."

There was a moment of silence as the boy tried to calm his nerves, and then his voice came back. " 'Tis the Lady Ranger…."