DO NOT SKIP ANY PART OF THIS CHAPTER!!! READ THROUGH THE ENTIRE THING AND
DO NOT SKIM!!! EVERY WORD IS IMPERATIVE!!! DON'T SKIP THE AUTHOR NOTE AT
THE END EITHER!!!
A bright light. She could see a bright light. Dear God, it was too bright out. Something roundish and misshapen blotted out a part of the sun, shielding her eyes.
"Thanks," she choked out, her voice raspy. As her eyes began to clear, she nearly screamed. It was an Orc. She jumped to her feet and away from the creature. She looked around desperately. Oh good, there was only one. She held her palms up before her, backing away slowly.
"Ah, haha, um, thanks a lot buddy, I'll just be on my way now, heh." With that she turned around and took off running. She could hear its footsteps behind her. 'SHIT!'
She ran around behind a rock, not seeing the hole that lay in wait. "GOD DAMNIT!!!" she cried as she fell down into the hole. This was not her day. Ah hell, day? It was not her year. She turned and looked up just as the Orc fell in after her. She rolled away from it so that it hit the ground instead of her. The creature shook itself and then stood, leering over her.
She reached for her back, ready to pull out her long knives. Her hands met only air. They had been left up there. Erin swore to herself. Well THAT was just her luck. She let out a yelp as the creature dove at her. She raised her hands up to defend herself, but was taken by surprise when it went limp and fell forward on her, knocking her to the ground.
It covered her body, making her nearly puke from its absolutely putrid smell. She herd murmuring above the hole. She tried to push the body off of her quickly so that she could get their attention and get out of this hole. She wiggled the body a bit, trying to get it off, the only problem was, when it came to pushing things straight with her arms only, she was a weakling.
She heard the voices get sharper. Someone said "It's still moving."
She felt the body jerk as what she guessed were arrows were shot into it. She tried to push it off again. More arrows hit it. One went so deep that it pierced all the was through and nearly got her in the arm. With new adrenaline, she rolled the creature off of her and looked up. There were about twenty Elves surrounding the hole, arrows pointed down at her.
She held up her hands, signifying that she had no weapons. "Um, heh, hi guys."
Erin rubbed the back of her neck as one of the Elves treated her wound. She turned to Haldir. "Hey, thanks for getting me out of that hole."
"I still do not understand why you are out here alone, it is very dangerous you know."
"Yeah I know, but it's kind of a long story."
"What are you and all these Elves doing out here anyway?"
"We are traveling to Helms Deep."
"Really? That's where I'm going!"
"No you are not," he said sternly.
"What? Why not?"
"It is far too dangerous for you. You may die."
"You might die too, but you're still going!"
"That is different."
"How?"
"We will be dropping you off at a nearby town as we travel." Erin crossed her arms stubbornly.
"You actually expect me to stay there?"
Haldir smiled devilishly at her.
"Hey!!! You can't do this!" Erin cried out to the Elves as they walked away. She stood tied to a pole in the middle of a town.
"We just did!" Haldir called back.
'I'm gonna kill him!!!!' Erin thought. 'I'll kill him!!!!'
Erin raised her bound hands up to her face and began to chew. This might take a while, but she would get out.
Erin smiled devilishly. 'Ha! They thought they could keep me here?' She reached up to her mouth and pulled another thread out as she walked. 'That really tasted bad.'
She followed the footsteps of the people that had gone to Helms Deep earlier since she couldn't see Elven foot prints. It had taken her hours, but she had gotten out of that. It was dark out and she guessed that the Elves had arrived at the wall hours ago. It was probably around midnight. She frowned, the battle had most likely already started. Erin began to jog, wanting to get there as soon as possible. She could see the wall now.
Indeed, the battle had already started. She ran as quietly as she could up to the back of the Uruk Hai. None of them were paying attention to what was behind them. They were all facing forward waiting to get to the wall. Erin looked ahead and saw ladders. If she could only get to them she could get up there and help everybody.
Until she could get up there she would just help them out down here. She pulled out her long knives and began cutting away, slowly moving up between them, getting closer to the front.
Aragorn cut down as many Uruk Hai as he could, never stopping to catch his breath. He wondered how long this battle would last and if, indeed they would all fail. He stopped killing the Uruk Hai for a moment as something caught his eye. There was a circle on the ground below where the Uruk Hai were falling. He looked more closely.
Someone was cutting them down left and right. His eyes could not see who it was from here. "Legolas!" he called.
Legolas appeared next to him. "What is it?"
"Who is that down there?"
Legolas looked to where Aragorn pointed. His eyes widened.
"It is Erin!" he cried, joy filling his voice. His face took on a serious look quickly. "She is down there in the middle of them all by herself!" Aragorn grabbed a rope that was nearby.
"Erin!" he yelled as loudly as he could. He saw her look in his direction. He threw the rope over the side. Erin ran for it, latching onto it quickly.
She climbed as quickly as she could up the rope. The guys both pulled her up as she climbed. She swung herself over the top ledge.
"What are you doing here?!" Legolas asked her.
"I figured that you guys could use some help!"
Legolas hugged her tightly. Erin's eyes almost bugged out as an Uruk Hai ran up to them.
"Legolas!" she yelled, pulling her hand away from him and stabbing the thing. Aragorn took care of the rest.
"I'll talk to you later. Now, where the hell is Haldir?"
Legolas pointed away from them. Erin stomped over to him. She used her knives to kill the Uruk Hai that got in her way. As she neared him he cried out and pointed behind her. She turned around and killed whatever was coming at her. With her back still turned to him she began to talk.
"Haldir! If we weren't" slash "in the middle of a battle" cut "I would kill you" roundhouse
"I was" stab "for" slash "your own good!" decapitate
"Oh please!" She cut one of the Uruk Hai's heads off. Erin looked around. Why were there so many of them up here. Her eyes fell upon the ladders. Duh. She ran over to one of them and pushed it off the ledge, sending all of the creatures on it sailing to the ground. She smiled triumphantly. This was all she had to do! She wondered what else would help them. She noticed that the archers would be able to kill a lot more creatures if they were able to focus on it. One archer would be able to kill as many as two people using swords.
Another idea struck her. She ran over to one of the archers and stood with her back facing his. He turned around to look at her curiously. "Just turn around and shoot them. Now you don't have to worry about any of them sneaking up behind you." The archer nodded and did as she said.
It seemed that the others were catching on quite quickly and soon all of the archers had one to two people standing at their back so that they didn't have to worry about being attacked, that way they could focus completely on shooting the Uruk Hai. Erin turned as she heard Aragorn screaming at Legolas.
"Shoot him!" he cried, pointing to a specific creature.
Erin looked down, her eyes growing wide. It was running towards the wall with a torch. She saw the edges of spiked balls sitting in a space at the foot of the wall. She knew what this was. They had made bombs! Erin was just to the side of where the main blast would be.
"Everyone get away from here!" she cried, but it was too late. She felt the explosion beneath the wall. She closed her eyes as it erupted beneath her. When she opened them again she was flying through the air. Erin saw everything, but it seemed to be in slow motion. She was flying through the air. She would die. She could not survive this impact.
As the thought that she would not survive dawned on her she felt her leg get warm. She looked down, her scar was glowing. It surrounded her with the black light. She was no longer falling, but floating. Erin looked to her left as an Elf fell with her. He watched her in awe even as he plummeted to his certain death. Erin didn't want him to die.
She reached her hand out to him, but she continued to float in the same place. 'Forward!' she thought, 'I need to go forward!' She felt herself moving forward. So that was it. She could will it. Her hand grasped the hand of the Elf, allowing him to float to the ground with her. As her feet touched the ground she released him. He stared at her for a moment before one of the Uruk Hai attacked, and both of their attention was brought elsewhere.
They were smack dab in the middle of all of the Uruk Hai. Erin looked up and saw the men and Elves retreating.
She watched as someone ran to Haldir, urging him to retreat. She watched as he was stabbed from behind. Time seemed to freeze. She screamed. "NO!" Erin slashed more furiously. All of this seemed so familiar to her. She was repeating history it seemed. She noticed that the Elf behind her was still alive. She could not transform because he was there. He would be killed too. She felt her leg throbbing.
It wanted to wake up, the power did. She fought it back. 'No,' she thought, 'I can save at least one Elf!'
Legoals watched in horror as Erin was left in the middle of the battle field, fighting for her life. "Legolas!" Aragorn called. "We must get into the keep!"
Legolas began to run towards Erin, but was halted by a hand. Slowly, he was dragged into the keep. He cried out after they shut the door. "Aragorn! What have you done? Erin is still out there! She will die!"
"If you had gone you would have died as well!"
"Better to die out there fighting to save her than in here abandoning her like a coward!" Legolas spoke mere inches away from Aragorn's face, his eyes wide with barely contained rage. "You have killed her! You are a coward!"
Aragorn felt the sting of his words, but held the door. Legolas may understand later.
Erin watched sadly as the doors were slammed shut. She was alone now. She turned around just as the Elf beside her was slain. She watched him fall. She wasn't able to save him. She was two feet away and she wasn't able to save him. Erin cried out, tears of frustration springing to her eyes.
Her leg throbbed, and this time she didn't try to hold it back. It glowed, sucking the light in. She floated off the ground. This time Ladhwen wasn't here to help her. She was completely alone. Slowly, like ink dropped into water, she felt understanding seep through her. She knew what she had to do. Tears still flowing, she crossed her arms in front of her chest, extending her pointer and pinky finger, pinning the rest of her fingers against the palm of her hand.
The scar stopped sucking in light and she felt her eyes go black. In a swift movement she extended her arms out to her sides, making a T with her body. Fire exploded from the ground below her in straight lines, looking like deep claw marks in the ground. It began to spiral away from her, creating a tornado of fire. Instead of stopping it she focused her energy, forcing it to spiral further out.
Screams of the dying invaded her ears. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to kill. But she had to. She focused her energy, sending it out further. Then she let it stop after it had extended about two hundred yard. Everything burned. She looked at her extended arms and pulled them back into a cross in front of her chest. The fire stopped as though water had been poured over it. She floated back to the ground, her hair fell back to her shoulders. She felt to the ground, unconscious.
Legolas continued to feel the hatred building inside of him. Slowly, sorrow was taking over. He would die. He knew he would. Erin was gone and he would die. He mounted his horse alongside the other men, ready to ride out. Gimli had gone to blow the horn. Everything was ready. They burst through the doors and rode out, killing Uruk Hai.
They looked up as Gandalf rode down the slope, a bright light extending from his staff which blinded the Uruk Hai. The creatures began to retreat, knowing that they were unable to win. Legolas tuned everything out as Gandalf spoke to Aragorn.
He looked at the fallen bodies. Erin was no where standing. So she had fallen. He felt tears come to his eyes. He looked up as he felt eyes watching him. It was Gandalf.
"What is it, legolas?" he asked kindly.
"She has fallen."
Aragorn looked at the ground, feeling immense sorrow.
"I have not fallen now could you please get off of me!" They heard a muffled voice cry. Legolas jumped off of the Uruk Hai body that he was standing on in surprise. It rolled over and Erin was revealed.
Legolas felt joy like none he had ever felt before. He scooped her off the ground and embraced her as though she would disappear if he didn't hold her there. Erin hugged him back. "It's ok! I'm fine other than a few bruises."
She pulled away from him. "Hold on a sec, I need to go get my knives, I dropped them."
"I'll get them," Legolas offered.
"No, that's fine. I will." Erin turned and walked off, searching the ground for her knives. Legolas turned back around, listening to Gandalf speak.
There was a scream. Everyone turned. Legolas felt his heart stop. It was Erin. She stood, her eyes wide in shock. Her long knives were held in each of her hands. A sword was protruding from her back. Behind her stood an Uruk Hai. Erin slid back on the sword until she hit the hilt. She creature smiled and pulled she sword out. Erin remain standing, her eyes still wide. Her mouth was open, but she was didn't speak. She stumbled forward. Everything seemed to move slowly.
Legolas jumped forward and cut the creature's head off.
Erin stumbled forward, the pain ripping through her back. She remembered all that she had been through to get this far. From the moment that she had come to this place she had felt at home. People had cared about her, and had loved her. She would miss it. She closed her eyes and thought about it all.
.....................................
A flash of something caught her eye. It wasn't dark, but infact it was light. Very light, like pale hair. It was walking silently through the woods. Then she heard very light hoofbeats and saw Aegnor following quietly behind the stranger. Was he stealing her horse?
.....................................
She smiled, that was when she had first seen Legolas.
.....................................
I promise I will not hurt you. Please do not be afraid of me." He held his hand out to her. She stared at it for a moment then placed her hand in his, and stepped out from behind the tree. She let go of his hand and put both of hers behind her back. He stared at his own hand for a moment.
"You're so cold. How long have you been out here?"
.....................................
The first time they touched.
.....................................
It was going to pass directly under the tree she was in, straight towards Legolas. The creature was staring at him, a look of pure hatred in its eyes.
Slowly the creature unsheathed a long, ugly sword and began to walk more quietly. This angered her. This foul looking creature was going to hurt her friend. How dare he?! She would never allow any harm to come to her friends. Because of her muteness, she had been trained to defend herself quite nicely. If anything happened to her she could not scream so she had to be able to take care of herself no matter what the situation was; and she would much rather harm come to herself than others. At least others that she cared about.
..................................... Time seemed to slow down as her eyes met its. They stared at one another for a moment, a look of hatred in its eyes equal to hers. Time returned to normal as Erin jumped up into the air, turned, and extended her leg out to the side. As she turned, her leg swung around and slammed into his jaw, effectively breaking its neck.
Legolas ran over just as a sharp crack was heard. He had seen the whole scene from the time she jumped out of the tree on. She had just killed an orc with her bare hands
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --.........
She ran down the hallway, nearly running into a few Elves, until she finally came to a small garden.
She walked into the middle of it and sat down. Here she could listen to everybody talking without being a nuisance. She quieted herself down and listened, watching people's mouths to see what shapes they were making. Then she stopped. They were speaking another language, one she had never heard before.
She sighed, this was going to take a lot longer than she had originally anticipated, but she could do it. She'd spent her whole life listening to other people talk, surely she would be able to figure out what they were saying eventually.
......................................
She still had a good hour before she was going to go exploring so she decided to stop by Legolas' room. She walked up to his door and knocked on it. There was no reply. She waited a moment and then slowly opened the door. His room looked different somehow. She stepped inside and walked around the corner.
Then she turned a deep shade of crimson. Well, she found an Elf. A naked one. One who definitely was NOT Legolas. That's why the room looked different; it wasn't his. She bowed an apology and ran out of the Elf's room.
.......................................
"I leave in two days."
Erin looked down. She would miss talking to him. What would she do for months without him? Legolas turned and looked down at her.
"Lle merna an teli ah amin?" You want to come with me?
Erin looked up at him. "Can I?"
"Lle mothron. Car lle iest an?" You may. Do you wish to?
Erin smiled. "Yes!" she nearly yelled with enthusiasm
....................................................
Erin ran through the trees, enjoying the smell of the forest. It was nearly a full moon now, so it was very bright out. She ran up to a tree and leaned up against the trunk, out of breath. She sat down and listened to the sounds of nocturnal birds and other such things, then she caught the sound of something else.
It was close. She froze. The sound stopped. It had sounded like footsteps coming towards her. She waited for a moment; still there was nothing. The animals had all stopped as well, as though they sensed something.
Before she knew what was happening something grabbed her and ripped her from her spot on the ground, throwing her into a tree. She struck the tree hard, knocking the wind out of her. She tried to focus on what was in front of her as she caught her breath.
......................................
They formed a circle around her, looking her up and down, then they all came at her at once. Thinking quickly, she ducked down and dove between two of them, rolling all the way up into a standing position. She turned and before they could react she had one in a head-lock, swiftly breaking its neck.
The other two turned and lunged at her. She jumped back and pulled her right hand down to her side, then shoving it upward, used the heel of her hand to break its nose. Erin turned just in time as the other one brought the handle of its sword down upon her. She was barely able to turn enough to make it hit her back instead of her head.
She fell to the ground, slightly dazed. The orc took this opportunity to thrust the blade of its sword down at her. She rolled over and jumped up to her feet. The bushes to her left were moving. She managed to land a punch just as three more orcs came through the bushes, and the one with the broken nose got its bearings.
....................................................
Acting quickly, she jumped down behind it and slit its throat, then jumped to the next closest one, stabbing it in the neck. She tried to pull the knife back out but it was too late, the other orcs had spotted her. Two of them ran at her at the same time, swinging their swords at her wildly.
She dodged one swing, then another, and another. They sent two slashes her way at the same time; she could only dodge one. She moved out of the way of the one head towards her neck and took the one in her leg. Her face twisted in pain as it cut deeply down the side of her left leg. There was only one problem, pain pissed her off.
.......................................
She couldn't speak. That was when she knew that she may not make it through this. Gathering the last of her strength, she grabbed the thing's hand, tore the sword from it, and before it could react she stabbed it straight through the heart. It released her hair and wobbled on its feet for a moment. Then before the other could move, she sliced through the side of the dead orc's body and used the momentum to swing it around, decapitating the last orc. Both of the bodies fell to the ground at the same time.
That had used the last of her strength. She stumbled around a bit, raising her hand up to her mouth as she coughed up some blood. She looked down at her hand as her vision blurred. She was bleeding badly. Her hand was covered in blood from her coughing. She wasn't going to make it back to the elves, and nobody knew where she was. Then everything went black.
.......................................
"Wake up! Do you understand me? Wake up! If you do not then you will die!"
Erin focused more on his face and tried to clear the have in her mind. As she became more alert she tried to sit up. She could hardly move. Legolas gently put some pressure on her shoulders.
"Do not try to sit up. You are badly wounded, I will carry you."
It was barely light out as the morning came. Legolas lifted her as gently as he could into his arms.
"AAAH!" Erin choked out in pain. She could speak now. She was unable to make a sound when she truly needed it. Even the lightest touch felt like a hammer, and her stomach was unbearable. She noticed, for the first time, that her dress was badly torn. She was no longer bleeding, but there was dried blood caked all over her leg.
....................................................
"Can she?" he said with an amused tone. "Still, I'm guessing that she was staying alive for something, but for what I do not know. Perhaps you may be able to find out at some point. Did you see her leg?"
"No. Why?"
"It has a strange mark on it," Esgalan mused. Legolas frowned a bit. "But never mind that, I must leave now, I have matters to attend to. You take care of that maiden Legolas. There is something special about that one. She is indeed a fighter, but she is more fragile than she seems. Just remember that. I will be on my way now," and with that Esgalan left, leaving Legolas to ponder what he had meant.
.....................................................
Erin looked through the rows of shelves, reading all of the titles of the books. "Brilraugiel, the life of Thintine's daughter," Erin muttered out loud. She continued reading through the titles of the different books until she came to one that caught her eye. She stopped and pulled it off the shelf.
"The tale of the Eleven. That sounds interesting." She opened the booked to the first page. Then the second, and the third. It was blank. She flipped all the way to the back of the book and looked down at the small scribing on the bottom of the page.
"Not yet written. Not yet written? Well that sucks! I wanted to read this one!" Erin pouted and put the book back in the shelf. She began to look through the books again. She finally came to the last shelf, not having found anything of interest when she stopped again.
"The story of Ladhwen. Hmm." She pulled the book from the shelf and opened it. She began to read the first page, which consisted of a bunch of formalities. She flipped a few pages in and began to read.
"..not much is know of Ladhwen. She was in Mirkwood to visit a friend. She arrived with one traveling companion. The two quickly befriended the prince. Her companion left, then shortly after, Ladhwen died. There was a rumor that Ladhwen had a romantic relationship with the prince, but nothing was ever proven, since the prince would not reveal anything."
........................................
Esgalan walked down the hallway and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud screeching noise, one that sounded as though it came from a dying orc.
"WHHHHHAAAAAATTTT?????!!!!! YOU CAN'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME YOU STUPID JERK!!!!"
Esgalan ran towards the noise, hoping that nobody was being killed. He ran into Erin's room and froze. She stood there, nearly naked, face bright red, ranting and raving, while trying to wrestle a dress on.
"Lady Erin are you okay? I heard a loud noise and was afraid that you were being attacked by a band of orcs."
She turned towards him eyes blazing. "No Esgalan! I am not being attacked! The stupid jerk left me here! He went to Rivendell without me!"
.......................................
"Could I borrow one of your long knives please?"
"Yes, you may." Legolas reached back and pulled out one of the knives, tossing it to her.
Erin looked on in horror as he exceedingly sharp object came flying towards her, handle first. She reached her hand out to grab it and closed her eyes, almost positive that somehow the thing would plant itself in her hand. She sighed with relief when she felt her fingers tighten around the handle. She smiled and thrust the hand holding the knife up in the air triumphantly.
Her face twisted into a shocked expression when she felt the knife slipping out of her hand and flying up into the air. She looked up and saw the thing spinning around, end over end, in the air; it was coming down far to her left. She leaned over to the left and stretched her hand out as far as she could, reaching for the bladed device.
"ACK!"
She fell, grabbed the knife while in the air, and landed in an undignified heap on the ground.
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Esgalan walked up beside Erin and ate some of his own food.
"You have your own food with you?" Erin asked.
"Yes I brought it with me."
"But I thought that you hadn't intended to travel with us." She gave him a suspicious look. "Interesting that you would bring food with you if you only expected to go back so soon."
"Yes, quite interesting."
....................................................
"SHIT!" she screamed as she realized that the creature was now a mere two feet behind them, almost able to reach out and grab her or Esgalan.
She kicked Aegnor in the sides, and once again he picked up the pace. She looked in front of them. Legolas, Glofindel, and Avarion were about thirty feet in front of them. Slowly, Aegnor seemed to pull farther away from the creature, until they were about eight feet in front of it. The creature let out that horrible screech that she had heard earlier. She clapped her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut in pain. Esgalan did the same.
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"Oh so you get the front do you?"
"Of course I do, I'm a lady."
"A lady are you? You certainly don't act like one."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said."
"I am incredibly lady-like."
"I am sure."
"You wanna fight scrawny Elf-man?"
"You call that acting like a lady?"
They all began to head off, Erin and Esgalan continuing their mock argument.
"Well at least I know how to fight."
"Are you suggesting that I don't?"
"That is exactly what I am suggesting."
"Oh. I was just checking." ........................................
"I did not believe you."
"Yeah sure ya didn't, that's why you're blushing so badly?"
"I am not blushing."
"Yeah, uh huh."
"You did not fool me."
"Okay." Erin gave him an I-don't-believe-you-but-I'm-going-to-give-you-this- look-to-make-you-feel-stupid look.
"Yeah well I still say you act like a man."
"I do not!"
"I am a perfect lady, a delicate flower, a-"
Erin was cut short as she was smacked in the head by a low branch.
"What were you going to say?" Esgalan asked, looking quite amused.
"Shut up Esgalan."
........................................
Erin looked up to his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, Legolas' head slowly drew closer to hers. She looked at his lips, then back up to his eyes, which were now focusing on hers. He slowly moved closer to her. She could feel his warm breath on her lips. She breathed deeply, shuddering a bit, anticipating the kiss.
CRACK!
Both of their heads snapped towards the bushes.
"Who is there?" Legolas called.
Slowly they saw three figures begin to rise from the bushes. There stood Glorfindel, Avarion, and Esgalan, sheepish looks on their faces.
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"How dare you speak to me in that manner."
"I will speak to you in any manner I please, I made an attempt to be nice to you, even though I could tell that you were prissy from a mile away, you were the one who insulted me first. I would have been perfectly happy to be nice to you." Erin didn't flinch at Arwen's burning gaze. "And if you are trying to intimidate me with that glare there is something I must alert you to, I am not easily intimidated, especially by little prissy women who think that they're better than everybody else, and put other people down to make themselves feel better!" Erin was now yelling. "So you can just bite me!"
Erin was raised up on her tip toes, to bring herself to Arwen's eye level, both of their eyes blazing. This seemed to be a fairly even match. Arwen raised her hand up and slapped Erin. Her head whipped around from the impact. Erin slowly turned her head back to Arwen, her eyes almost changing color with her anger. She raised her hand up to punch Arwen, but was stopped by Legolas running up to them.
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"Esgalan, buddy, you may want to speed up your descent!"
"Why?"
"Because I think that is the eagle whose eggs we just stole!"
Esgalan looked over in the sky, then his eyes widened. He sped up quite a bit. The eagle was close now. It would be upon them in a few moments and Esgalan still had at least twenty more feet to climb down. Then the eagle was there.
It swooped across Esgalan, causing him to lose his balance and fall into some bushes.
........................................
"Tell them to open them faster!"
"The gates don't open any faster!"
They stopped in front of the gated.
"Hurry!" she cried frantically. She looked behind them. Where was the eagle. Maybe they had lost it. She heard a screech and looked up, only to see a giant terd flying directly towards her head. It landed with a satisfying plop. Esgalan looked at her and laughed.
...........................................
"Erin?"
"Yes?"
"Why are they that yellow, brown color?"
"While they were fermenting the shells got thin, and the dirt tainted it, not to mention you can see the slight color of the yolks inside. Be very careful, the shells are REALLY thin and believe me, you do NOT want to get that stuff on you. If you do the smell won't come out for about a week."
He nodded cautiously, a look of fear on his face, and stood up.
.........................................
"Yup. Lift me up onto your shoulders."
"What? You never said anything about that!"
"SHHH! I know but I didn't know that her window was way up there. Come on, I'm not that heavy!"
"Fine!"
He laced his fingers together and lowered his hands, creating a step up for Erin. She placed her foot in it and carefully stood up, putting one foot on each of his shoulders at a time. Esgalan reached up and held her feet to his shoulders.
"Move forward a bit," she said. He began to move forward slowly, causing both of them to wobble from their unstable state.
Erin reached into the bag and pulled out one of the eggs that she had dug up just fifteen minutes earlier. She pulled out one of the eggs and launched it at Arwen's window. The thrust of her throw jerked her back a bit, causing her aim to be a little off, the egg splattered against the window sill. It was just enough to cause them to lose their balance completely, sending her and Esgalan toppling to the ground. They landed in the bushes with a loud thud.
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"Ready?" she asked. He nodded. They both raised their arms simultaneously, drawing them back, preparing to throw the eggs. Esgalan threw his first. Things seemed to move in slow motion as the egg flew in a perfect line toward the opening of her window. Just as it was a foot away they saw a figure move to the window. The egg connected solidly with Arwen's face.
The two pranksters got a horrified look on their face as Arwen stood there and slowly wiped the eggs from her eyes. Erin decided that one more egg couldn't hurt, so she drew back her arm, as Arwen opened her eyes, and threw the egg. It hit the bottom of the window, splattering up all over her.
Arwen screamed in rage and tried to wipe the stuff off of her. Esgalan turned to Erin. They stared at each other for a moment, then turned and bolted away from the crime scene.
...........................................
"What the hell is that smell?" Erin asked, sniffing the air a bit more before choking on the fumes, whatever was making the smell was getting closer. Then Arwen stormed into the room, a VERY pissed look on her face. She stormed straight up to Erin and pointed a finger at her.
"I know that YOU did this!!"
.........................................................
"It was you!" she heard a screech come from her left. She turned quickly and looked at Arwen.
"I recognize that throw. That is exactly what it looked like last night!"
Erin scratched the back of her head nervously. Arwen got a furious look in her eyes, then kicked her horse, driving him forward towards Erin.
"Aegnor!" Erin screamed. He ran up to her and she jumped up onto his back, turning him and telling him to run away from Arwen. She drove her horse forward at a full gallop in pursuit of Erin.
"Run Y'all!" she screamed with a thick, very fake, southern accent. "She's gone and lost her mind!"
.......................................................
"We're lost!"
"We are not lost!"
"Yes we are! I know I've seen this place before!"
"Of course you saw this place before. You came through here with Legolas a couple of months ago." Esgalan gave her a 'duh' look and began to move Aegnor forward again.
"Oh."
........................................
"Come back here!!!!"
Esgalan watched as Erin ran off into the forest after a squirrel.
"What an odd girl," he mumbled to himself as he continued to eat.
Erin grumbled to herself as she pulled the many branches and twigs out of her hair and clothes. "Stupid squirrel..just had to run through those thorns....then the bushes.....then the stream.....damn him..."
Erin reached up and rung some water out of her hair.
"You know, it probably was not the best idea to run after that squirrel through the thorns."
"Thank you Esgalan, I realized that now..." she said bitterly.
...........................................
"PIPPIN?!" she half screamed.
"ERIN?!" he half screamed back. Erin looked over to another being that was standing right next to Pippin. She prayed that it wasn't Legolas. She looked at the other figure.
"MERRY?!"
"ERIN?!" he said back, mirroring Pippin's look.
"What are you doing here?" they both asked in near unison.
"Um, nothing..I was just....yeah..."
............................................................................ ............................................................................ .................
As quietly as she could she walked up to the frying pan and pulled some sausage out, trying not to cry out or drop it as the things burned her. She put them in a cloth that she used to hold her other food and grabbed some biscuits, also putting them on the cloth and rolling it up.
She heard a sharp intake in breath and looked up sharply. There was the dwarf, staring at her. She froze, holding her breath. She stared at him, food still in the cloth which was gripped tightly in her hands. She picked up her right foot and stepped back slowly, leaning some of her weight onto that foot so that she could pick up the other, never breaking eye contact with him. She continued to slowly back away, until the dwarf began to turn to the others, then she turned and dove into the bushes, rolling down the hill a ways before standing and quickly began making her way back to Esgalan.
..........................................
Erin tried to clear her head as something in her path brought her frenzied descent to an immediate halt. Her head was spinning and her eyes couldn't focus. Slowly her senses came back to her and she looked up. Her eyes ran up along the blade of a sword, continuing up until it reached a face. At the other end of the offending sword stood Aragorn, looking at her with a very serious expression.
She stood slowly, holding up her hands to indicate that she held no weapon. She clenched her teeth as she stood, reaching her hands down to rub her sore butt. It appeared that Aragorn recognized her from somewhere but couldn't place her. "Who are you? What business have you in Moria?" he asked sternly. Erin looked at him sheepishly.
"Oh, nothing much. I just decided to go for a walk, ya know, restless and all." Erin smiled brightly, hoping that he would not realize her lie. He looked at her seriously. Erin flinched unconsciously as someone called her name.
..........................................
"Merry, it seems that our dear friend Erin got lucky last night!" Pippin said to Merry, none to quietly.
"It would seem to be that way, wouldn't it Pip?" The two Hobbits looked at each other, obviously proud of their performance. Erin leapt up from the ground and began to chase them around, a blush apparent on her face.
"Oh I am SO going to kill you guys!"
.....................................................
She stared at the eye, never blinking. Suddenly it snapped open, searching her soul. It was so close to her she could hardly bear it. It burned into her. The eye closed again, glowing blue and drawing back. Erin felt a little more relaxed now that its intense gaze was no longer focused on her. The eye moved closer again, making her nervous. Its glow changed, turning red. Her body felt strange. She could feel herself enveloped in the red glow.
It snapped open again, startling her. This time, when it opened it felt as though her entire body was ripping open, splitting in two. Her leg, the one with the scar, burned. She opened her mouth to scream, throwing her head back in pain, but no noise came out. Then the glow was gone, as well as her pain.
.........................................
"That is the scar."
"What scar?" Erin asked, more fear finding its way into her voice.
"The scar of my beloved that died many years ago." He looked up at her. His gazed seemed crushed, questioning, sad, and confused all at once. A look that she could not seem to answer no matter how hard she tried.
....................................................
"You do not seem to realize who you are. Why do you think that this world, which is so different from the one you came from, seems so familiar. Why do you think that you remember things that you have never experienced. It is because you are me."
Erin screamed in pain as another bout of pain grasped her. "Who are you. Tell me your name."
Erin could feel the presence smiling through her. "My name is Ladhwen." Erin's eyes widened more, as did everyone's in the fellowship. "I told you, I am you, you are me."
.....................................
Legolas froze when he saw Ladhwen. She walked towards him, stopping just in front of him. "Legolas," she said softly. "I am so sorry for all that I have put you through. I love you, I always did. I am sorry for my last words to you. I wish that I could have seen you one last time before I died, but now I can say goodbye now." Ladhwen leaned forward and kissed Legolas softly, pouring all of her love into that kiss. Legolas felt tears rising up in his eyes.
Ladhwen pulled back, her body seeming to fade. "Legolas, love Erin with all your heart. Do not be afraid. She is me, and I, her. I will not leave you again. She loves you. Do not be afraid."
Ladhwen faded, leaving only Erin standing there before Legolas, not sure what to do. She suddenly felt so small and insignificant before Legolas. He had loved Ladhwen so much. She was nothing.
........................................
"Shhhh. It's alright Erin."
"No it's not!" she cried out, her face pressed against his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears. "He will never be able to look at me again! He will never want to talk to me again!"
Esgalan rubbed her back. "That is not true, you know that. Deep down, you know that."
"Is that so? Then why are you here instead of him?"
......................................
Esgalan smiled at Erin's door. 'Well,' he thought. 'Erin's going to be happy in the morning!'
He walked off with a wicked smile on his face, anticipating all the teasing that he was going to give her and the blush that she would undoubtedly carry all day.
.....................................
"Oh Legolas, yes YES!!!" he called, clasping his hands together in front of him while rolling his eyes up towards the ceiling.
Erin's face turned a deep crimson. She reached out, grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a metal cup, and hurled it at the Elf. It collided with his face before he could dodge it, hitting him with a loud smack, then slowly slid down his face until it fell to the ground with a clatter. He shuffled out of the room, the smile now gone from his red face.
.....................................
"She will come for you."
"Who will?"
"Because you and I are the same, we have the same soul."
"Who will?!"
Erin felt a wind flowing towards her. The blackness began to swirl away like a thick smoke caught in a wind. Slowly, a path began to clear. Erin watched as a figure began to emerge from it. It was what Erin could only guess was Ladhwen. She was beautiful. Her arms hung next to her sides, pals facing outwards towards Erin. Ladhwen's hair swirled about her in the wind.
It was then that Erin noticed that Ladhwen's eyes were closed. No sooner had she thought it when they snapped open. Erin's hair came unbound and began to swirl as well, never coming before her eyes, only swirling behind her head. The wind began to blow fiercely. Her eyes were a solid white. Erin watched in awe.
.......................................
The whispers got louder.
"Don't scream......................... don't scream.............................. don't scream........................... don't scream................................. don't scream.................................. don't scream..................................." they whispered over and over again. One speaking from her right then fading, then one from her left, then behind her, each voice fading into the darkness. Erin felt a scream building up in her throat.
"Don't scream.......................... don't scream......................... don't scream..........................." the child-like voices whispered. Erin felt that she couldn't hold back a scream any longer. She looked into Ladhwen's eyes. Then Ladhwen's mouth moved.
"Don't scream," she said smoothly.
Erin shot up in bed, shaking.
..........................................
Merry turned to Pippin.
"How many did you eat?" Merry asked.
"................................ Four," Pippin said. They both turned to Erin. There was a long pause.
"Um................................ six.........................."
.........................................
"If their loved one dies, first they grieve, but if they truly loved that person then they begin to die. We call this process Morn Methed, the black end. First, they lose their mind. They cannot even realize what is going on around them. They recognize not even the faces of their friends or kin. They are kept in a room where they cannot get free, because they would kill any who got in their way. Once they get past a certain point they can never be brought back. Did you know that?"
Erin could barely speak. "No.... I didn't."
"So, you see, if you die, this will happen to Legolas."
"Why didn't he die when Ladhwen died?"
"No one can say. That has been a mystery among many of us, until now."
"Until now?"
"Yes, YOU kept him alive, or rather, Ladhwen. Somehow she knew that she would be reincarnated, so somehow, even after death, she was able to keep him alive. I fear what will become of Legolas when you diminish. But that will not be for several hundred years, will it not?" Galadriel asked, a knowing twinkle that bordered on a smile in her eyes.
...........................................
Gimli felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He looked up slowly. Erin was scowling at him. Aragorn shook his head, wondering about this girl. She sat with her arms crossed in front of her chest, her legs crossed one over the other, leaning out to the side to looked past him at the boats behind him.
Gimli watched as Erin mouthed the word 'revenge.' An image popped into his head. It was of Erin's friend. The one who had green hair. He turned back to Erin, his eyes wide.
She now held a bottle in her hands that she stroked with love, never taking her eyes off of him. He looked at the bottle, it was full of a green liquid. He could feel the sweat accumulating on his forehead. He turned to Legolas, who was in the same boat as him.
"Would she really?"
Legolas looked at the expression on Erin's face, making a decision immediately by her expression. He turned back to Gimli.
"I believe that she would."
...........................................
Erin could feel herself being lifted off the ground. Her eyes went solid black. The creatures watched closely, unsure of what to do. Was that fear behind their eyes? Erin's hair came unbound and flew up around her head, being blown almost straight up by the fierce wind. Her scar began to glow a brighter black as more light was sucked in. It continued to glow brighter until the black stopped. Her hands raised up to her chest, her arms crossed. Only her pointer and pinky fingers were extended, the rest were folded against her hand. She looked down at the creatures.
Her hands flew out to her side, point and pinky finger still extended, then a bright light ripped across the ground in straight lines away from her in a circle. She was surrounded by a wall of fire as it swirled around her. She could hear the thing's screams as they were burned.
She floated up out of the column of fire, looking down at them with solid black eyes.
.......................................
"I'm still going to get you back for that whole boat thing!"
He turned his head and looked at her, smiling. "I am looking forward to it!" he called back.
........................................
Erin remembered her last words to Esgalan.
........................................
"I'll see ya when I come back Esgalan! You had better be waiting for me!"
.........................................
But she would never come back. Erin felt her knees buckle. She fell to the ground. Legolas ran to her, catching her just before she hit the ground. He looked down at her pale face. She smiled up at him, her eyes watering. Then her body went limp. He looked to her scar, waiting for it to disappear so that he may have hope. He waited for it to be carried off in the wind, but it remained.
Legolas began to cry fiercely. "No! You cannot leave me again! Not again! Please! I promise I will never leave you side, just come back to me!" He held her tightly against him, pressing his cheek up against hers. Tears rolled down his cheeks. "Please Erin, do not leave me. DON'T LEAVE ME!!!!!!" he screamed, feeling himself become hollow.
And so Erin was no more.
Oh where oh where can my baby be The Lord took her away from me She's gone to heaven so I got to be good So I can see my baby when I leave this world I'll never forget the sound that night The painful scream that I heard last I held her close I kissed her our last kiss I found the love that I knew i have missed Well now she's gone even though I hold her tight I lost my love my life that night
Last kiss Remix
The scream. She had screamed. It was the end. The scream had awoken something. Something that should have never been awoken again. It was a plague that would disease the world. The Awakening has come, the Judge will appear.
A/N: Ok, before you all kill me. Yes, I know I killed Erin. There is a sequel though. Yes, read it and the tale of Eleven will be revealed, as long as more about Ladhwen and Luvair. What will become of Legolas now that Erin has died? Remember what happens to Elves when their loved one dies? Well, the beginning of the sequel should be out within a week. It will be called "In the End 2: The Price of Friendship." Or something like that. So PLEASE don't kill me!
A bright light. She could see a bright light. Dear God, it was too bright out. Something roundish and misshapen blotted out a part of the sun, shielding her eyes.
"Thanks," she choked out, her voice raspy. As her eyes began to clear, she nearly screamed. It was an Orc. She jumped to her feet and away from the creature. She looked around desperately. Oh good, there was only one. She held her palms up before her, backing away slowly.
"Ah, haha, um, thanks a lot buddy, I'll just be on my way now, heh." With that she turned around and took off running. She could hear its footsteps behind her. 'SHIT!'
She ran around behind a rock, not seeing the hole that lay in wait. "GOD DAMNIT!!!" she cried as she fell down into the hole. This was not her day. Ah hell, day? It was not her year. She turned and looked up just as the Orc fell in after her. She rolled away from it so that it hit the ground instead of her. The creature shook itself and then stood, leering over her.
She reached for her back, ready to pull out her long knives. Her hands met only air. They had been left up there. Erin swore to herself. Well THAT was just her luck. She let out a yelp as the creature dove at her. She raised her hands up to defend herself, but was taken by surprise when it went limp and fell forward on her, knocking her to the ground.
It covered her body, making her nearly puke from its absolutely putrid smell. She herd murmuring above the hole. She tried to push the body off of her quickly so that she could get their attention and get out of this hole. She wiggled the body a bit, trying to get it off, the only problem was, when it came to pushing things straight with her arms only, she was a weakling.
She heard the voices get sharper. Someone said "It's still moving."
She felt the body jerk as what she guessed were arrows were shot into it. She tried to push it off again. More arrows hit it. One went so deep that it pierced all the was through and nearly got her in the arm. With new adrenaline, she rolled the creature off of her and looked up. There were about twenty Elves surrounding the hole, arrows pointed down at her.
She held up her hands, signifying that she had no weapons. "Um, heh, hi guys."
Erin rubbed the back of her neck as one of the Elves treated her wound. She turned to Haldir. "Hey, thanks for getting me out of that hole."
"I still do not understand why you are out here alone, it is very dangerous you know."
"Yeah I know, but it's kind of a long story."
"What are you and all these Elves doing out here anyway?"
"We are traveling to Helms Deep."
"Really? That's where I'm going!"
"No you are not," he said sternly.
"What? Why not?"
"It is far too dangerous for you. You may die."
"You might die too, but you're still going!"
"That is different."
"How?"
"We will be dropping you off at a nearby town as we travel." Erin crossed her arms stubbornly.
"You actually expect me to stay there?"
Haldir smiled devilishly at her.
"Hey!!! You can't do this!" Erin cried out to the Elves as they walked away. She stood tied to a pole in the middle of a town.
"We just did!" Haldir called back.
'I'm gonna kill him!!!!' Erin thought. 'I'll kill him!!!!'
Erin raised her bound hands up to her face and began to chew. This might take a while, but she would get out.
Erin smiled devilishly. 'Ha! They thought they could keep me here?' She reached up to her mouth and pulled another thread out as she walked. 'That really tasted bad.'
She followed the footsteps of the people that had gone to Helms Deep earlier since she couldn't see Elven foot prints. It had taken her hours, but she had gotten out of that. It was dark out and she guessed that the Elves had arrived at the wall hours ago. It was probably around midnight. She frowned, the battle had most likely already started. Erin began to jog, wanting to get there as soon as possible. She could see the wall now.
Indeed, the battle had already started. She ran as quietly as she could up to the back of the Uruk Hai. None of them were paying attention to what was behind them. They were all facing forward waiting to get to the wall. Erin looked ahead and saw ladders. If she could only get to them she could get up there and help everybody.
Until she could get up there she would just help them out down here. She pulled out her long knives and began cutting away, slowly moving up between them, getting closer to the front.
Aragorn cut down as many Uruk Hai as he could, never stopping to catch his breath. He wondered how long this battle would last and if, indeed they would all fail. He stopped killing the Uruk Hai for a moment as something caught his eye. There was a circle on the ground below where the Uruk Hai were falling. He looked more closely.
Someone was cutting them down left and right. His eyes could not see who it was from here. "Legolas!" he called.
Legolas appeared next to him. "What is it?"
"Who is that down there?"
Legolas looked to where Aragorn pointed. His eyes widened.
"It is Erin!" he cried, joy filling his voice. His face took on a serious look quickly. "She is down there in the middle of them all by herself!" Aragorn grabbed a rope that was nearby.
"Erin!" he yelled as loudly as he could. He saw her look in his direction. He threw the rope over the side. Erin ran for it, latching onto it quickly.
She climbed as quickly as she could up the rope. The guys both pulled her up as she climbed. She swung herself over the top ledge.
"What are you doing here?!" Legolas asked her.
"I figured that you guys could use some help!"
Legolas hugged her tightly. Erin's eyes almost bugged out as an Uruk Hai ran up to them.
"Legolas!" she yelled, pulling her hand away from him and stabbing the thing. Aragorn took care of the rest.
"I'll talk to you later. Now, where the hell is Haldir?"
Legolas pointed away from them. Erin stomped over to him. She used her knives to kill the Uruk Hai that got in her way. As she neared him he cried out and pointed behind her. She turned around and killed whatever was coming at her. With her back still turned to him she began to talk.
"Haldir! If we weren't" slash "in the middle of a battle" cut "I would kill you" roundhouse
"I was" stab "for" slash "your own good!" decapitate
"Oh please!" She cut one of the Uruk Hai's heads off. Erin looked around. Why were there so many of them up here. Her eyes fell upon the ladders. Duh. She ran over to one of them and pushed it off the ledge, sending all of the creatures on it sailing to the ground. She smiled triumphantly. This was all she had to do! She wondered what else would help them. She noticed that the archers would be able to kill a lot more creatures if they were able to focus on it. One archer would be able to kill as many as two people using swords.
Another idea struck her. She ran over to one of the archers and stood with her back facing his. He turned around to look at her curiously. "Just turn around and shoot them. Now you don't have to worry about any of them sneaking up behind you." The archer nodded and did as she said.
It seemed that the others were catching on quite quickly and soon all of the archers had one to two people standing at their back so that they didn't have to worry about being attacked, that way they could focus completely on shooting the Uruk Hai. Erin turned as she heard Aragorn screaming at Legolas.
"Shoot him!" he cried, pointing to a specific creature.
Erin looked down, her eyes growing wide. It was running towards the wall with a torch. She saw the edges of spiked balls sitting in a space at the foot of the wall. She knew what this was. They had made bombs! Erin was just to the side of where the main blast would be.
"Everyone get away from here!" she cried, but it was too late. She felt the explosion beneath the wall. She closed her eyes as it erupted beneath her. When she opened them again she was flying through the air. Erin saw everything, but it seemed to be in slow motion. She was flying through the air. She would die. She could not survive this impact.
As the thought that she would not survive dawned on her she felt her leg get warm. She looked down, her scar was glowing. It surrounded her with the black light. She was no longer falling, but floating. Erin looked to her left as an Elf fell with her. He watched her in awe even as he plummeted to his certain death. Erin didn't want him to die.
She reached her hand out to him, but she continued to float in the same place. 'Forward!' she thought, 'I need to go forward!' She felt herself moving forward. So that was it. She could will it. Her hand grasped the hand of the Elf, allowing him to float to the ground with her. As her feet touched the ground she released him. He stared at her for a moment before one of the Uruk Hai attacked, and both of their attention was brought elsewhere.
They were smack dab in the middle of all of the Uruk Hai. Erin looked up and saw the men and Elves retreating.
She watched as someone ran to Haldir, urging him to retreat. She watched as he was stabbed from behind. Time seemed to freeze. She screamed. "NO!" Erin slashed more furiously. All of this seemed so familiar to her. She was repeating history it seemed. She noticed that the Elf behind her was still alive. She could not transform because he was there. He would be killed too. She felt her leg throbbing.
It wanted to wake up, the power did. She fought it back. 'No,' she thought, 'I can save at least one Elf!'
Legoals watched in horror as Erin was left in the middle of the battle field, fighting for her life. "Legolas!" Aragorn called. "We must get into the keep!"
Legolas began to run towards Erin, but was halted by a hand. Slowly, he was dragged into the keep. He cried out after they shut the door. "Aragorn! What have you done? Erin is still out there! She will die!"
"If you had gone you would have died as well!"
"Better to die out there fighting to save her than in here abandoning her like a coward!" Legolas spoke mere inches away from Aragorn's face, his eyes wide with barely contained rage. "You have killed her! You are a coward!"
Aragorn felt the sting of his words, but held the door. Legolas may understand later.
Erin watched sadly as the doors were slammed shut. She was alone now. She turned around just as the Elf beside her was slain. She watched him fall. She wasn't able to save him. She was two feet away and she wasn't able to save him. Erin cried out, tears of frustration springing to her eyes.
Her leg throbbed, and this time she didn't try to hold it back. It glowed, sucking the light in. She floated off the ground. This time Ladhwen wasn't here to help her. She was completely alone. Slowly, like ink dropped into water, she felt understanding seep through her. She knew what she had to do. Tears still flowing, she crossed her arms in front of her chest, extending her pointer and pinky finger, pinning the rest of her fingers against the palm of her hand.
The scar stopped sucking in light and she felt her eyes go black. In a swift movement she extended her arms out to her sides, making a T with her body. Fire exploded from the ground below her in straight lines, looking like deep claw marks in the ground. It began to spiral away from her, creating a tornado of fire. Instead of stopping it she focused her energy, forcing it to spiral further out.
Screams of the dying invaded her ears. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to kill. But she had to. She focused her energy, sending it out further. Then she let it stop after it had extended about two hundred yard. Everything burned. She looked at her extended arms and pulled them back into a cross in front of her chest. The fire stopped as though water had been poured over it. She floated back to the ground, her hair fell back to her shoulders. She felt to the ground, unconscious.
Legolas continued to feel the hatred building inside of him. Slowly, sorrow was taking over. He would die. He knew he would. Erin was gone and he would die. He mounted his horse alongside the other men, ready to ride out. Gimli had gone to blow the horn. Everything was ready. They burst through the doors and rode out, killing Uruk Hai.
They looked up as Gandalf rode down the slope, a bright light extending from his staff which blinded the Uruk Hai. The creatures began to retreat, knowing that they were unable to win. Legolas tuned everything out as Gandalf spoke to Aragorn.
He looked at the fallen bodies. Erin was no where standing. So she had fallen. He felt tears come to his eyes. He looked up as he felt eyes watching him. It was Gandalf.
"What is it, legolas?" he asked kindly.
"She has fallen."
Aragorn looked at the ground, feeling immense sorrow.
"I have not fallen now could you please get off of me!" They heard a muffled voice cry. Legolas jumped off of the Uruk Hai body that he was standing on in surprise. It rolled over and Erin was revealed.
Legolas felt joy like none he had ever felt before. He scooped her off the ground and embraced her as though she would disappear if he didn't hold her there. Erin hugged him back. "It's ok! I'm fine other than a few bruises."
She pulled away from him. "Hold on a sec, I need to go get my knives, I dropped them."
"I'll get them," Legolas offered.
"No, that's fine. I will." Erin turned and walked off, searching the ground for her knives. Legolas turned back around, listening to Gandalf speak.
There was a scream. Everyone turned. Legolas felt his heart stop. It was Erin. She stood, her eyes wide in shock. Her long knives were held in each of her hands. A sword was protruding from her back. Behind her stood an Uruk Hai. Erin slid back on the sword until she hit the hilt. She creature smiled and pulled she sword out. Erin remain standing, her eyes still wide. Her mouth was open, but she was didn't speak. She stumbled forward. Everything seemed to move slowly.
Legolas jumped forward and cut the creature's head off.
Erin stumbled forward, the pain ripping through her back. She remembered all that she had been through to get this far. From the moment that she had come to this place she had felt at home. People had cared about her, and had loved her. She would miss it. She closed her eyes and thought about it all.
.....................................
A flash of something caught her eye. It wasn't dark, but infact it was light. Very light, like pale hair. It was walking silently through the woods. Then she heard very light hoofbeats and saw Aegnor following quietly behind the stranger. Was he stealing her horse?
.....................................
She smiled, that was when she had first seen Legolas.
.....................................
I promise I will not hurt you. Please do not be afraid of me." He held his hand out to her. She stared at it for a moment then placed her hand in his, and stepped out from behind the tree. She let go of his hand and put both of hers behind her back. He stared at his own hand for a moment.
"You're so cold. How long have you been out here?"
.....................................
The first time they touched.
.....................................
It was going to pass directly under the tree she was in, straight towards Legolas. The creature was staring at him, a look of pure hatred in its eyes.
Slowly the creature unsheathed a long, ugly sword and began to walk more quietly. This angered her. This foul looking creature was going to hurt her friend. How dare he?! She would never allow any harm to come to her friends. Because of her muteness, she had been trained to defend herself quite nicely. If anything happened to her she could not scream so she had to be able to take care of herself no matter what the situation was; and she would much rather harm come to herself than others. At least others that she cared about.
..................................... Time seemed to slow down as her eyes met its. They stared at one another for a moment, a look of hatred in its eyes equal to hers. Time returned to normal as Erin jumped up into the air, turned, and extended her leg out to the side. As she turned, her leg swung around and slammed into his jaw, effectively breaking its neck.
Legolas ran over just as a sharp crack was heard. He had seen the whole scene from the time she jumped out of the tree on. She had just killed an orc with her bare hands
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --.........
She ran down the hallway, nearly running into a few Elves, until she finally came to a small garden.
She walked into the middle of it and sat down. Here she could listen to everybody talking without being a nuisance. She quieted herself down and listened, watching people's mouths to see what shapes they were making. Then she stopped. They were speaking another language, one she had never heard before.
She sighed, this was going to take a lot longer than she had originally anticipated, but she could do it. She'd spent her whole life listening to other people talk, surely she would be able to figure out what they were saying eventually.
......................................
She still had a good hour before she was going to go exploring so she decided to stop by Legolas' room. She walked up to his door and knocked on it. There was no reply. She waited a moment and then slowly opened the door. His room looked different somehow. She stepped inside and walked around the corner.
Then she turned a deep shade of crimson. Well, she found an Elf. A naked one. One who definitely was NOT Legolas. That's why the room looked different; it wasn't his. She bowed an apology and ran out of the Elf's room.
.......................................
"I leave in two days."
Erin looked down. She would miss talking to him. What would she do for months without him? Legolas turned and looked down at her.
"Lle merna an teli ah amin?" You want to come with me?
Erin looked up at him. "Can I?"
"Lle mothron. Car lle iest an?" You may. Do you wish to?
Erin smiled. "Yes!" she nearly yelled with enthusiasm
....................................................
Erin ran through the trees, enjoying the smell of the forest. It was nearly a full moon now, so it was very bright out. She ran up to a tree and leaned up against the trunk, out of breath. She sat down and listened to the sounds of nocturnal birds and other such things, then she caught the sound of something else.
It was close. She froze. The sound stopped. It had sounded like footsteps coming towards her. She waited for a moment; still there was nothing. The animals had all stopped as well, as though they sensed something.
Before she knew what was happening something grabbed her and ripped her from her spot on the ground, throwing her into a tree. She struck the tree hard, knocking the wind out of her. She tried to focus on what was in front of her as she caught her breath.
......................................
They formed a circle around her, looking her up and down, then they all came at her at once. Thinking quickly, she ducked down and dove between two of them, rolling all the way up into a standing position. She turned and before they could react she had one in a head-lock, swiftly breaking its neck.
The other two turned and lunged at her. She jumped back and pulled her right hand down to her side, then shoving it upward, used the heel of her hand to break its nose. Erin turned just in time as the other one brought the handle of its sword down upon her. She was barely able to turn enough to make it hit her back instead of her head.
She fell to the ground, slightly dazed. The orc took this opportunity to thrust the blade of its sword down at her. She rolled over and jumped up to her feet. The bushes to her left were moving. She managed to land a punch just as three more orcs came through the bushes, and the one with the broken nose got its bearings.
....................................................
Acting quickly, she jumped down behind it and slit its throat, then jumped to the next closest one, stabbing it in the neck. She tried to pull the knife back out but it was too late, the other orcs had spotted her. Two of them ran at her at the same time, swinging their swords at her wildly.
She dodged one swing, then another, and another. They sent two slashes her way at the same time; she could only dodge one. She moved out of the way of the one head towards her neck and took the one in her leg. Her face twisted in pain as it cut deeply down the side of her left leg. There was only one problem, pain pissed her off.
.......................................
She couldn't speak. That was when she knew that she may not make it through this. Gathering the last of her strength, she grabbed the thing's hand, tore the sword from it, and before it could react she stabbed it straight through the heart. It released her hair and wobbled on its feet for a moment. Then before the other could move, she sliced through the side of the dead orc's body and used the momentum to swing it around, decapitating the last orc. Both of the bodies fell to the ground at the same time.
That had used the last of her strength. She stumbled around a bit, raising her hand up to her mouth as she coughed up some blood. She looked down at her hand as her vision blurred. She was bleeding badly. Her hand was covered in blood from her coughing. She wasn't going to make it back to the elves, and nobody knew where she was. Then everything went black.
.......................................
"Wake up! Do you understand me? Wake up! If you do not then you will die!"
Erin focused more on his face and tried to clear the have in her mind. As she became more alert she tried to sit up. She could hardly move. Legolas gently put some pressure on her shoulders.
"Do not try to sit up. You are badly wounded, I will carry you."
It was barely light out as the morning came. Legolas lifted her as gently as he could into his arms.
"AAAH!" Erin choked out in pain. She could speak now. She was unable to make a sound when she truly needed it. Even the lightest touch felt like a hammer, and her stomach was unbearable. She noticed, for the first time, that her dress was badly torn. She was no longer bleeding, but there was dried blood caked all over her leg.
....................................................
"Can she?" he said with an amused tone. "Still, I'm guessing that she was staying alive for something, but for what I do not know. Perhaps you may be able to find out at some point. Did you see her leg?"
"No. Why?"
"It has a strange mark on it," Esgalan mused. Legolas frowned a bit. "But never mind that, I must leave now, I have matters to attend to. You take care of that maiden Legolas. There is something special about that one. She is indeed a fighter, but she is more fragile than she seems. Just remember that. I will be on my way now," and with that Esgalan left, leaving Legolas to ponder what he had meant.
.....................................................
Erin looked through the rows of shelves, reading all of the titles of the books. "Brilraugiel, the life of Thintine's daughter," Erin muttered out loud. She continued reading through the titles of the different books until she came to one that caught her eye. She stopped and pulled it off the shelf.
"The tale of the Eleven. That sounds interesting." She opened the booked to the first page. Then the second, and the third. It was blank. She flipped all the way to the back of the book and looked down at the small scribing on the bottom of the page.
"Not yet written. Not yet written? Well that sucks! I wanted to read this one!" Erin pouted and put the book back in the shelf. She began to look through the books again. She finally came to the last shelf, not having found anything of interest when she stopped again.
"The story of Ladhwen. Hmm." She pulled the book from the shelf and opened it. She began to read the first page, which consisted of a bunch of formalities. She flipped a few pages in and began to read.
"..not much is know of Ladhwen. She was in Mirkwood to visit a friend. She arrived with one traveling companion. The two quickly befriended the prince. Her companion left, then shortly after, Ladhwen died. There was a rumor that Ladhwen had a romantic relationship with the prince, but nothing was ever proven, since the prince would not reveal anything."
........................................
Esgalan walked down the hallway and nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud screeching noise, one that sounded as though it came from a dying orc.
"WHHHHHAAAAAATTTT?????!!!!! YOU CAN'T LEAVE WITHOUT ME YOU STUPID JERK!!!!"
Esgalan ran towards the noise, hoping that nobody was being killed. He ran into Erin's room and froze. She stood there, nearly naked, face bright red, ranting and raving, while trying to wrestle a dress on.
"Lady Erin are you okay? I heard a loud noise and was afraid that you were being attacked by a band of orcs."
She turned towards him eyes blazing. "No Esgalan! I am not being attacked! The stupid jerk left me here! He went to Rivendell without me!"
.......................................
"Could I borrow one of your long knives please?"
"Yes, you may." Legolas reached back and pulled out one of the knives, tossing it to her.
Erin looked on in horror as he exceedingly sharp object came flying towards her, handle first. She reached her hand out to grab it and closed her eyes, almost positive that somehow the thing would plant itself in her hand. She sighed with relief when she felt her fingers tighten around the handle. She smiled and thrust the hand holding the knife up in the air triumphantly.
Her face twisted into a shocked expression when she felt the knife slipping out of her hand and flying up into the air. She looked up and saw the thing spinning around, end over end, in the air; it was coming down far to her left. She leaned over to the left and stretched her hand out as far as she could, reaching for the bladed device.
"ACK!"
She fell, grabbed the knife while in the air, and landed in an undignified heap on the ground.
......................................
Esgalan walked up beside Erin and ate some of his own food.
"You have your own food with you?" Erin asked.
"Yes I brought it with me."
"But I thought that you hadn't intended to travel with us." She gave him a suspicious look. "Interesting that you would bring food with you if you only expected to go back so soon."
"Yes, quite interesting."
....................................................
"SHIT!" she screamed as she realized that the creature was now a mere two feet behind them, almost able to reach out and grab her or Esgalan.
She kicked Aegnor in the sides, and once again he picked up the pace. She looked in front of them. Legolas, Glofindel, and Avarion were about thirty feet in front of them. Slowly, Aegnor seemed to pull farther away from the creature, until they were about eight feet in front of it. The creature let out that horrible screech that she had heard earlier. She clapped her hands over her ears, squeezing her eyes shut in pain. Esgalan did the same.
.......................................
"Oh so you get the front do you?"
"Of course I do, I'm a lady."
"A lady are you? You certainly don't act like one."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Exactly what I said."
"I am incredibly lady-like."
"I am sure."
"You wanna fight scrawny Elf-man?"
"You call that acting like a lady?"
They all began to head off, Erin and Esgalan continuing their mock argument.
"Well at least I know how to fight."
"Are you suggesting that I don't?"
"That is exactly what I am suggesting."
"Oh. I was just checking." ........................................
"I did not believe you."
"Yeah sure ya didn't, that's why you're blushing so badly?"
"I am not blushing."
"Yeah, uh huh."
"You did not fool me."
"Okay." Erin gave him an I-don't-believe-you-but-I'm-going-to-give-you-this- look-to-make-you-feel-stupid look.
"Yeah well I still say you act like a man."
"I do not!"
"I am a perfect lady, a delicate flower, a-"
Erin was cut short as she was smacked in the head by a low branch.
"What were you going to say?" Esgalan asked, looking quite amused.
"Shut up Esgalan."
........................................
Erin looked up to his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment, Legolas' head slowly drew closer to hers. She looked at his lips, then back up to his eyes, which were now focusing on hers. He slowly moved closer to her. She could feel his warm breath on her lips. She breathed deeply, shuddering a bit, anticipating the kiss.
CRACK!
Both of their heads snapped towards the bushes.
"Who is there?" Legolas called.
Slowly they saw three figures begin to rise from the bushes. There stood Glorfindel, Avarion, and Esgalan, sheepish looks on their faces.
........................................................
"How dare you speak to me in that manner."
"I will speak to you in any manner I please, I made an attempt to be nice to you, even though I could tell that you were prissy from a mile away, you were the one who insulted me first. I would have been perfectly happy to be nice to you." Erin didn't flinch at Arwen's burning gaze. "And if you are trying to intimidate me with that glare there is something I must alert you to, I am not easily intimidated, especially by little prissy women who think that they're better than everybody else, and put other people down to make themselves feel better!" Erin was now yelling. "So you can just bite me!"
Erin was raised up on her tip toes, to bring herself to Arwen's eye level, both of their eyes blazing. This seemed to be a fairly even match. Arwen raised her hand up and slapped Erin. Her head whipped around from the impact. Erin slowly turned her head back to Arwen, her eyes almost changing color with her anger. She raised her hand up to punch Arwen, but was stopped by Legolas running up to them.
..........................................
"Esgalan, buddy, you may want to speed up your descent!"
"Why?"
"Because I think that is the eagle whose eggs we just stole!"
Esgalan looked over in the sky, then his eyes widened. He sped up quite a bit. The eagle was close now. It would be upon them in a few moments and Esgalan still had at least twenty more feet to climb down. Then the eagle was there.
It swooped across Esgalan, causing him to lose his balance and fall into some bushes.
........................................
"Tell them to open them faster!"
"The gates don't open any faster!"
They stopped in front of the gated.
"Hurry!" she cried frantically. She looked behind them. Where was the eagle. Maybe they had lost it. She heard a screech and looked up, only to see a giant terd flying directly towards her head. It landed with a satisfying plop. Esgalan looked at her and laughed.
...........................................
"Erin?"
"Yes?"
"Why are they that yellow, brown color?"
"While they were fermenting the shells got thin, and the dirt tainted it, not to mention you can see the slight color of the yolks inside. Be very careful, the shells are REALLY thin and believe me, you do NOT want to get that stuff on you. If you do the smell won't come out for about a week."
He nodded cautiously, a look of fear on his face, and stood up.
.........................................
"Yup. Lift me up onto your shoulders."
"What? You never said anything about that!"
"SHHH! I know but I didn't know that her window was way up there. Come on, I'm not that heavy!"
"Fine!"
He laced his fingers together and lowered his hands, creating a step up for Erin. She placed her foot in it and carefully stood up, putting one foot on each of his shoulders at a time. Esgalan reached up and held her feet to his shoulders.
"Move forward a bit," she said. He began to move forward slowly, causing both of them to wobble from their unstable state.
Erin reached into the bag and pulled out one of the eggs that she had dug up just fifteen minutes earlier. She pulled out one of the eggs and launched it at Arwen's window. The thrust of her throw jerked her back a bit, causing her aim to be a little off, the egg splattered against the window sill. It was just enough to cause them to lose their balance completely, sending her and Esgalan toppling to the ground. They landed in the bushes with a loud thud.
..........................................
"Ready?" she asked. He nodded. They both raised their arms simultaneously, drawing them back, preparing to throw the eggs. Esgalan threw his first. Things seemed to move in slow motion as the egg flew in a perfect line toward the opening of her window. Just as it was a foot away they saw a figure move to the window. The egg connected solidly with Arwen's face.
The two pranksters got a horrified look on their face as Arwen stood there and slowly wiped the eggs from her eyes. Erin decided that one more egg couldn't hurt, so she drew back her arm, as Arwen opened her eyes, and threw the egg. It hit the bottom of the window, splattering up all over her.
Arwen screamed in rage and tried to wipe the stuff off of her. Esgalan turned to Erin. They stared at each other for a moment, then turned and bolted away from the crime scene.
...........................................
"What the hell is that smell?" Erin asked, sniffing the air a bit more before choking on the fumes, whatever was making the smell was getting closer. Then Arwen stormed into the room, a VERY pissed look on her face. She stormed straight up to Erin and pointed a finger at her.
"I know that YOU did this!!"
.........................................................
"It was you!" she heard a screech come from her left. She turned quickly and looked at Arwen.
"I recognize that throw. That is exactly what it looked like last night!"
Erin scratched the back of her head nervously. Arwen got a furious look in her eyes, then kicked her horse, driving him forward towards Erin.
"Aegnor!" Erin screamed. He ran up to her and she jumped up onto his back, turning him and telling him to run away from Arwen. She drove her horse forward at a full gallop in pursuit of Erin.
"Run Y'all!" she screamed with a thick, very fake, southern accent. "She's gone and lost her mind!"
.......................................................
"We're lost!"
"We are not lost!"
"Yes we are! I know I've seen this place before!"
"Of course you saw this place before. You came through here with Legolas a couple of months ago." Esgalan gave her a 'duh' look and began to move Aegnor forward again.
"Oh."
........................................
"Come back here!!!!"
Esgalan watched as Erin ran off into the forest after a squirrel.
"What an odd girl," he mumbled to himself as he continued to eat.
Erin grumbled to herself as she pulled the many branches and twigs out of her hair and clothes. "Stupid squirrel..just had to run through those thorns....then the bushes.....then the stream.....damn him..."
Erin reached up and rung some water out of her hair.
"You know, it probably was not the best idea to run after that squirrel through the thorns."
"Thank you Esgalan, I realized that now..." she said bitterly.
...........................................
"PIPPIN?!" she half screamed.
"ERIN?!" he half screamed back. Erin looked over to another being that was standing right next to Pippin. She prayed that it wasn't Legolas. She looked at the other figure.
"MERRY?!"
"ERIN?!" he said back, mirroring Pippin's look.
"What are you doing here?" they both asked in near unison.
"Um, nothing..I was just....yeah..."
............................................................................ ............................................................................ .................
As quietly as she could she walked up to the frying pan and pulled some sausage out, trying not to cry out or drop it as the things burned her. She put them in a cloth that she used to hold her other food and grabbed some biscuits, also putting them on the cloth and rolling it up.
She heard a sharp intake in breath and looked up sharply. There was the dwarf, staring at her. She froze, holding her breath. She stared at him, food still in the cloth which was gripped tightly in her hands. She picked up her right foot and stepped back slowly, leaning some of her weight onto that foot so that she could pick up the other, never breaking eye contact with him. She continued to slowly back away, until the dwarf began to turn to the others, then she turned and dove into the bushes, rolling down the hill a ways before standing and quickly began making her way back to Esgalan.
..........................................
Erin tried to clear her head as something in her path brought her frenzied descent to an immediate halt. Her head was spinning and her eyes couldn't focus. Slowly her senses came back to her and she looked up. Her eyes ran up along the blade of a sword, continuing up until it reached a face. At the other end of the offending sword stood Aragorn, looking at her with a very serious expression.
She stood slowly, holding up her hands to indicate that she held no weapon. She clenched her teeth as she stood, reaching her hands down to rub her sore butt. It appeared that Aragorn recognized her from somewhere but couldn't place her. "Who are you? What business have you in Moria?" he asked sternly. Erin looked at him sheepishly.
"Oh, nothing much. I just decided to go for a walk, ya know, restless and all." Erin smiled brightly, hoping that he would not realize her lie. He looked at her seriously. Erin flinched unconsciously as someone called her name.
..........................................
"Merry, it seems that our dear friend Erin got lucky last night!" Pippin said to Merry, none to quietly.
"It would seem to be that way, wouldn't it Pip?" The two Hobbits looked at each other, obviously proud of their performance. Erin leapt up from the ground and began to chase them around, a blush apparent on her face.
"Oh I am SO going to kill you guys!"
.....................................................
She stared at the eye, never blinking. Suddenly it snapped open, searching her soul. It was so close to her she could hardly bear it. It burned into her. The eye closed again, glowing blue and drawing back. Erin felt a little more relaxed now that its intense gaze was no longer focused on her. The eye moved closer again, making her nervous. Its glow changed, turning red. Her body felt strange. She could feel herself enveloped in the red glow.
It snapped open again, startling her. This time, when it opened it felt as though her entire body was ripping open, splitting in two. Her leg, the one with the scar, burned. She opened her mouth to scream, throwing her head back in pain, but no noise came out. Then the glow was gone, as well as her pain.
.........................................
"That is the scar."
"What scar?" Erin asked, more fear finding its way into her voice.
"The scar of my beloved that died many years ago." He looked up at her. His gazed seemed crushed, questioning, sad, and confused all at once. A look that she could not seem to answer no matter how hard she tried.
....................................................
"You do not seem to realize who you are. Why do you think that this world, which is so different from the one you came from, seems so familiar. Why do you think that you remember things that you have never experienced. It is because you are me."
Erin screamed in pain as another bout of pain grasped her. "Who are you. Tell me your name."
Erin could feel the presence smiling through her. "My name is Ladhwen." Erin's eyes widened more, as did everyone's in the fellowship. "I told you, I am you, you are me."
.....................................
Legolas froze when he saw Ladhwen. She walked towards him, stopping just in front of him. "Legolas," she said softly. "I am so sorry for all that I have put you through. I love you, I always did. I am sorry for my last words to you. I wish that I could have seen you one last time before I died, but now I can say goodbye now." Ladhwen leaned forward and kissed Legolas softly, pouring all of her love into that kiss. Legolas felt tears rising up in his eyes.
Ladhwen pulled back, her body seeming to fade. "Legolas, love Erin with all your heart. Do not be afraid. She is me, and I, her. I will not leave you again. She loves you. Do not be afraid."
Ladhwen faded, leaving only Erin standing there before Legolas, not sure what to do. She suddenly felt so small and insignificant before Legolas. He had loved Ladhwen so much. She was nothing.
........................................
"Shhhh. It's alright Erin."
"No it's not!" she cried out, her face pressed against his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears. "He will never be able to look at me again! He will never want to talk to me again!"
Esgalan rubbed her back. "That is not true, you know that. Deep down, you know that."
"Is that so? Then why are you here instead of him?"
......................................
Esgalan smiled at Erin's door. 'Well,' he thought. 'Erin's going to be happy in the morning!'
He walked off with a wicked smile on his face, anticipating all the teasing that he was going to give her and the blush that she would undoubtedly carry all day.
.....................................
"Oh Legolas, yes YES!!!" he called, clasping his hands together in front of him while rolling his eyes up towards the ceiling.
Erin's face turned a deep crimson. She reached out, grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be a metal cup, and hurled it at the Elf. It collided with his face before he could dodge it, hitting him with a loud smack, then slowly slid down his face until it fell to the ground with a clatter. He shuffled out of the room, the smile now gone from his red face.
.....................................
"She will come for you."
"Who will?"
"Because you and I are the same, we have the same soul."
"Who will?!"
Erin felt a wind flowing towards her. The blackness began to swirl away like a thick smoke caught in a wind. Slowly, a path began to clear. Erin watched as a figure began to emerge from it. It was what Erin could only guess was Ladhwen. She was beautiful. Her arms hung next to her sides, pals facing outwards towards Erin. Ladhwen's hair swirled about her in the wind.
It was then that Erin noticed that Ladhwen's eyes were closed. No sooner had she thought it when they snapped open. Erin's hair came unbound and began to swirl as well, never coming before her eyes, only swirling behind her head. The wind began to blow fiercely. Her eyes were a solid white. Erin watched in awe.
.......................................
The whispers got louder.
"Don't scream......................... don't scream.............................. don't scream........................... don't scream................................. don't scream.................................. don't scream..................................." they whispered over and over again. One speaking from her right then fading, then one from her left, then behind her, each voice fading into the darkness. Erin felt a scream building up in her throat.
"Don't scream.......................... don't scream......................... don't scream..........................." the child-like voices whispered. Erin felt that she couldn't hold back a scream any longer. She looked into Ladhwen's eyes. Then Ladhwen's mouth moved.
"Don't scream," she said smoothly.
Erin shot up in bed, shaking.
..........................................
Merry turned to Pippin.
"How many did you eat?" Merry asked.
"................................ Four," Pippin said. They both turned to Erin. There was a long pause.
"Um................................ six.........................."
.........................................
"If their loved one dies, first they grieve, but if they truly loved that person then they begin to die. We call this process Morn Methed, the black end. First, they lose their mind. They cannot even realize what is going on around them. They recognize not even the faces of their friends or kin. They are kept in a room where they cannot get free, because they would kill any who got in their way. Once they get past a certain point they can never be brought back. Did you know that?"
Erin could barely speak. "No.... I didn't."
"So, you see, if you die, this will happen to Legolas."
"Why didn't he die when Ladhwen died?"
"No one can say. That has been a mystery among many of us, until now."
"Until now?"
"Yes, YOU kept him alive, or rather, Ladhwen. Somehow she knew that she would be reincarnated, so somehow, even after death, she was able to keep him alive. I fear what will become of Legolas when you diminish. But that will not be for several hundred years, will it not?" Galadriel asked, a knowing twinkle that bordered on a smile in her eyes.
...........................................
Gimli felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He looked up slowly. Erin was scowling at him. Aragorn shook his head, wondering about this girl. She sat with her arms crossed in front of her chest, her legs crossed one over the other, leaning out to the side to looked past him at the boats behind him.
Gimli watched as Erin mouthed the word 'revenge.' An image popped into his head. It was of Erin's friend. The one who had green hair. He turned back to Erin, his eyes wide.
She now held a bottle in her hands that she stroked with love, never taking her eyes off of him. He looked at the bottle, it was full of a green liquid. He could feel the sweat accumulating on his forehead. He turned to Legolas, who was in the same boat as him.
"Would she really?"
Legolas looked at the expression on Erin's face, making a decision immediately by her expression. He turned back to Gimli.
"I believe that she would."
...........................................
Erin could feel herself being lifted off the ground. Her eyes went solid black. The creatures watched closely, unsure of what to do. Was that fear behind their eyes? Erin's hair came unbound and flew up around her head, being blown almost straight up by the fierce wind. Her scar began to glow a brighter black as more light was sucked in. It continued to glow brighter until the black stopped. Her hands raised up to her chest, her arms crossed. Only her pointer and pinky fingers were extended, the rest were folded against her hand. She looked down at the creatures.
Her hands flew out to her side, point and pinky finger still extended, then a bright light ripped across the ground in straight lines away from her in a circle. She was surrounded by a wall of fire as it swirled around her. She could hear the thing's screams as they were burned.
She floated up out of the column of fire, looking down at them with solid black eyes.
.......................................
"I'm still going to get you back for that whole boat thing!"
He turned his head and looked at her, smiling. "I am looking forward to it!" he called back.
........................................
Erin remembered her last words to Esgalan.
........................................
"I'll see ya when I come back Esgalan! You had better be waiting for me!"
.........................................
But she would never come back. Erin felt her knees buckle. She fell to the ground. Legolas ran to her, catching her just before she hit the ground. He looked down at her pale face. She smiled up at him, her eyes watering. Then her body went limp. He looked to her scar, waiting for it to disappear so that he may have hope. He waited for it to be carried off in the wind, but it remained.
Legolas began to cry fiercely. "No! You cannot leave me again! Not again! Please! I promise I will never leave you side, just come back to me!" He held her tightly against him, pressing his cheek up against hers. Tears rolled down his cheeks. "Please Erin, do not leave me. DON'T LEAVE ME!!!!!!" he screamed, feeling himself become hollow.
And so Erin was no more.
Oh where oh where can my baby be The Lord took her away from me She's gone to heaven so I got to be good So I can see my baby when I leave this world I'll never forget the sound that night The painful scream that I heard last I held her close I kissed her our last kiss I found the love that I knew i have missed Well now she's gone even though I hold her tight I lost my love my life that night
Last kiss Remix
The scream. She had screamed. It was the end. The scream had awoken something. Something that should have never been awoken again. It was a plague that would disease the world. The Awakening has come, the Judge will appear.
A/N: Ok, before you all kill me. Yes, I know I killed Erin. There is a sequel though. Yes, read it and the tale of Eleven will be revealed, as long as more about Ladhwen and Luvair. What will become of Legolas now that Erin has died? Remember what happens to Elves when their loved one dies? Well, the beginning of the sequel should be out within a week. It will be called "In the End 2: The Price of Friendship." Or something like that. So PLEASE don't kill me!