XX- The White Wizard
"You fell!" Aragorn breathed into the bright light, astounded at the sight of the old wizard.
Gandalf smiled knowingly, "Through fire and water." He agreed.
Mirren watched from her position knelt on the floor in front of him as the wizard's eyes disappeared in memory,
"From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak... I fought with the Balrog of Morgoth. Until at last, I threw down my enemy...and smote his ruin upon the mountainside." The wizard explained, "Darkness took me and I strayed out of thought and time. Stars wheeled overhead...and every day was as long as a life age of the Earth. But it was not the end. I felt life in me again." Gently, his eyes refocused on the beauty of the forest, and Mirren who smiled with understanding as she stood, "I've been sent back, until my task is done."
"Gandalf!" Aragorn spoke, unbelieving.
"Gandalf?" The wizard asked, puzzled. "Ah! Yes. That was what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey…That was my name!"
"Gandalf!" Gimli repeated, joy singing in his voice.
"I am Gandalf the White." The wizard explained, gathering his cloak in his arm. "And I come back to you now…in this time of need."
What remained of the Fellowship trailed after the wizard as they retraced their steps through the forest. Mirren stuck to the old man's heels, still overwhelmed by his presence and the reality of her foresight. For so long she had found it difficult to trust in her powers, for so long she had struggled to face the visions that flashed through her mind. To comprehend and interpret their meanings; to determine whether they would be fact or fictions of her own creation. She was amazed to see the fruition of her dream.
"My lady... you knew I would return." Gandalf mused, a wry smile adorning his face as he beheld the beautiful elf.
"Yes…" Mirren briefly avoided Legolas' gaze as he looked at her, surprised. But then thought it better to meet the challenge, if it was one, head on. She looked towards the ellon and not the wizard as she replied, "I had a dream in Lorien, but I wasn't sure it could be true until the Lady Galadriel told me not to speak of it on the morning of our departure."
"Ah yes…" The wizard breathed, his mouth open as if he was remembering something great. After a moments pause he smiled and continued to question the elleth.
"Tell me, my lady, have you seen anything of Rohan?"
Mirren thought for a moment, she had not dreamt like that since Lothlorien. Her last vision had been the mist-dream, the images of Legolas at a prow of a boat. She tried not to think of that and answered,
"No…Should I have done?"
"No, no my dear," Gandalf, who wasn't Gandalf and yet was so clearly Gandalf, hummed. "Your foresight is like a winding path that is marked over many hills. At some point on your journey you can see both where you have been and where you will go... At some points you will see neither."
Mirren felt Legolas fall into step next to her and saw his small smile and thought perhaps that he did not feel badly towards her as he once had in Lorien.
"Sometimes, one can't help it if the path splits and you meet a cross-road. Some things are certain, but most things are not as you are well aware." Gandalf continued, throwing a grey cloak over his white dress robes, dulling the light they had been bathed in since his arrival.
His words were alike to the warnings of Arwen, so many moons ago and Mirren's thoughts drifted to the children of Elrond for a brief time as they hurried through Fangorn.
"One stage of your journey is over." The wizard announced, "Another begins. We must travel to Edoras with all speed."
"Edoras?" Gimli asked, Legolas had placed himself once again at the rear of their group, so the dwarf walked just one step behind her. "That is no short distance!"
"We hear of trouble in Rohan." Aragorn explained Gandalf, "It goes ill with the king."
"Yes… and it will not easily be cured." Gandalf thought aloud.
"Then we have run all this way for nothing? Are we to leave those poor Hobbits here...in this horrid, dark, dank tree-infested-?" Around them, the trees shuddered, and groans started in the belly of the forest, testing the dwarf and his words. Mirren smiled as Gimli back-tracked carefully, "-I mean, charming...quite charming forest."
At the head of their group, Gandalf stopped, turning to face the dwarf swiftly. "It was more than chance that bought Merry and Pippin to Fangorn, Gimli son of Gloin. A great power has been sleeping here for many years. The coming of the Hobbit's will be like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains."
"In one thing you have not changed, dear friend." Aragorn muttered into Gandalf's ear. "You still speak in riddles." The pair laughed and Mirren was thankful for the sound. The last few days had been costly for all of them. To be smiling once again was a relief.
"Something is about to happen that has not happened since the darker days," Gandalf continued turning back to Gimli and the elves. "The Ents are going to wake up, and find that they are strong."
Could that really be true? Ents returning to the Forests of Middle-Earth? Mirren wondered in fascination, trailing her soft fingertips down the ancient bark of a nearby tree. It hummed with life beneath her palm and she felt its growing strength. She knew Fangorn was protected by a strong power, but not one such as that.
"Strong!?" Gimli breathed loudly, as always. "Oh! That's good."
From the tone of his voice the group knew he meant the opposite.
"Stop your fretting, Master Dwarf." Gandalf silenced his mutterings, "Merry and Pippin are quite safe. In fact, they are much safer in than you are about to be."
As they moved on once more Mirren could still hear Gimli muttering behind her and his words left a small smile on her face, "…This Gandalf's more grumpy than the old one."
Her smile brightened when she realised he might not be wrong.
Leaving Fangorn behind them Legolas breathed deeply as the dense trees opened out onto the familiar plains of Rohan. He had felt at ease in the forest, and yet the arrival of Gandalf had made him eager to continue their quest and find a purpose to their travelling that would bring them closer to helping Frodo and Sam as they ventured the wilds alone. He knew Mirren felt the same and stood closely by her as the old wizard summoned Arod and Hausfel as if they had always been at his beck and call.
As Arod nibbled at his shoulder lovingly, the woodland Prince trailed a hand between the horse's eyes in a soft rub and watched as Gandalf looked carefully once more into the plains.
The wizard stepped forward and whistled clearly two long and high notes. The sounds were strong and carved through the light breeze effortlessly. They were swiftly joined by the soft neighs of a white horse and Legolas sighed deeply, his eyes blown wide by the beauty of the creature before him.
"That is one of the Mearas...unless my eyes are cheated by some spell." He murmured. Beside him Mirren's jaw dropped in awe.
The horse trotted up to them happily. Gandalf stretched his fingers across the beast's forehead and willingly scratched, bowing his own head in greeting as the colt did the same. "Shadowfax!" Gandalf gushed proudly, "He is the lord of all horses…and has been my friend through many dangers."
Moving swiftly, Gandalf mounted Shadowfax with ease and looked back at his friends with happy but determined eyes. Like always, the wizard was full of surprises. Legolas was glad that not much had changed except his robes and the obvious power he now wielded.
"We will ride faster if I go with Aragorn." Mirren suggested. As she turned, she gripped his hand softly and squeezed it with something Legolas wanted to read as reluctance. Hesitantly, he had to agree. He and Mirren were the lightest, and thus their weight would be best separated so all of the horses could take equal loads.
As she let go of his hand, she lifted it to Arod and gave the beast a quick scratch, murmuring something in the horse's ear before looking to the ranger.
"My Lady," Aragorn offered and the elleth graciously took his hand and jumped onto Hausfel behind him, hooking a loose arm around her friend's waist.
Looking towards the dwarf, Legolas saw Gimli frown and watched as he huffed at the thought of mounting the tall horse. With care, the woodland elf lifted his friend onto Arod's saddle and easily jumped up in front of him, remembering briefly, the softness of Mirren riding in front of him the day before. Pushing those thoughts aside, he pushed Arod on, tightening his grip on the reigns as they began to ride at great speed towards Edoras.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, the fleeting colours of dusk began to fade away. Watching Aragorn start a small fire, the Daughter of the Sea sighed and looked West. Orange and pink hues sang brilliantly over the plains, dusting everything the last light of the day touched with a confident gold as the five travelers set up camp for the night. The ride had been long and uncomfortable for the she-elf who was used to riding bareback on Benin (who knew her every thought and movement), and Gimli, who distrusted the tall moving beasts and knew that Legolas would much rather be riding alongside the soft-skinned elleth who travelled with them.
As Gimli had said in the forest, the way to Edoras was indeed 'No short distance' but the group had covered at least half of the leagues that would carry them there that afternoon, leaving them all exhausted but fulfilled.
It was no surprise when Gimli began snoring before the fire was even lit.
Still Mirren rolled her eyes, loosening the ties of her pack to grab some Lembas and a comb so that she could redo the braids in her hair before she slept.
"Do you mind If I join you?"
The woodland prince appeared in front of her once he had had enough of watching the horizon and all she could do was nod as he sat leaning against the large boulder beside her.
For a while, the pair sat in silence, enjoying the crackling fire and the smooth tones of Gandalf and Aragorn talking away from the camp, the sound of their conversation rising and falling as the light wind blew their words in different directions.
"I am glad Mithrandir has returned." Legolas stated, plucking a broken arrow from his quiver and thumbing the broken fletching as he spoke.
The elleth hummed, but her thoughts were not occupied by the return of Gandalf.
"I am sorry I did not tell you of my dream." She apologised lightly, knowing he would hear. "Galadriel said it would best be left unspoken but I did want to tell you-"
"There is nothing to forgive, Mirren." Legolas hummed, expecting nothing of her despite all she felt she owed him.
Legolas skillfully fixed his arrow and twirled it in his hand before reaching for another.
Mirren sighed, dragging her eyes away from the horizon and settling them on the blond elf beside her. She tried not to think of the almost kiss (If it was even an almost kiss? Was it? She didn't know…. Could she ask him? No... least that thought was easy enough) and instead spluttered out another thing that had been tumbling around in her swirling thoughts.
"I had another dream in Lorien-"
The ellon's eyes widened, not expecting to be told anymore; knowing the confusion she felt when her foresight muddled her thoughts.
"You don't need to tell me-"
"I want to, Legolas." Mirren stopped him, "I hardly know what it means, if it means anything at all."
The ellon nodded, and Mirren tried to remember the contents of the mist dream by the river. "We were stood at the prow of a boat, you were talking… but I could not hear. Passing us by, great slabs of white stone were falling into the river and burning on the banks. I did not know then, but I fear they were the fires of Mordor's armies, and the white stones that of The White City: Minas Tirith."
For a while Legolas pondered her dream and Mirren pulled her cloak tightly around her shoulders, bringing her legs close to her chest as she awaited his thoughts.
"Since the fall of Boromir, I have both feared and hoped that our path may take us to the White City." Legolas' gaze stretched to look at Aragorn whose back pointed towards them, "Our fates are tied to his, we both pledged this long ago."
"Yes." Mirren knew as much but it felt better to hear him say it again. Turning, she spotted the glint of the silver brooch she'd given him, pinned high on his left shoulder and thought to reach out her hand and touch it. She wanted to say, In my dream, you wore this as you do now, but thought better of it, thinking that she had revealed enough to set her mind at ease for a while. Thus, while resisting the urge, she yawned widely and was shocked at herself, clamping a hand over her mouth.
"I had not realised I was so tired." She mused, letting her body sag a bit against the harsh stone face behind her. The last time she had truly slept, she noted, had been in Lorien. After her last talk with Legolas under the stars and the heights of the Mallorn trees. The rock dug into her back behind her and she shifted uncomfortably.
Seeing her struggle, Legolas shuffled also, "Here." He ordered lightly, "Lay your head in my lap, it's softer than stone and firmer than grass."
The elleth froze. This certainly wasn't going to help her deny her feelings for this elf. She caught the thought and pondered it. Feelings? She asked herself again, stopping when she realised she'd been leaning somewhere in between the rock and Legolas' lap for too long. Slowly, she shuffled herself so that her head lay above his knees. Moving slightly, Legolas tried to untense his legs and realised too late that his hands had come to rest amongst the curls of her hair.
"Don't." She murmured as he started to pull his hand away, realising what he was doing. "I'm comfortable like this." Slowly, Legolas thread his fingers back into the tangles of her braids. Mindlessly, he began to unthread them, gently plaiting them back together so that the dark expanse of her hair lay more evenly and in smooth waves instead of knotted curls.
Forgetting to overthink whilst his hands wove delicate patterns across her hair, the elleth shivered slightly everytime Legolas' fingertips grazed her pointed ears. Mirren eventually felt more rested than she had even in Lorien and let her eyes flutter closed, grateful that only Legolas could see the faint blush on her face as she slept.
A/N: Thanks for the ongoing support guys, i'm loving the reviews you guys are writing and they're really inspiring me to write! More chapters on the way soon! x