Hi guys!

Now we'll see what's going to happen after Gandalf's scolding. Let's see Kitty's reaction and let's not forget what will happen in Edoras because let's remember that Theoden King was under the clutches of Saruman. What will Kitty's role be?

Before starting I want to thank Celridel for her help :)

Waiting for your reviews guys, they're the utmost important!

Chapter 21: In Edoras

For the rest of the night, Kitty sat hugging her knees, thinking about what Gandalf had told her.

At first her reaction had been one of fury! How could the wizard have dared to be so cruel to her! To be so unkind? What could he understand her situation if he was 'Gandalf', he was an Istar, revered among the Elves, Men and even Maiar! What could he understand, then, about the situation of being a mutant and all that it entailed? Until then, Boromir had been the only one who had been able to understand or rather be honest enough to accept his inability to understand what it was and what it meant to be mutant on Earth.

However, little by little and after much mourning, anger fury and frustration of Kitty gave way to reflection. If it was true what Gandalf had said about each of the members of the Fellowship, then in truth she had done nothing, absolutely nothing to gain a place among them. If she could tell the fact that she had saved Pippin and killed the cave-troll in Moria, but beyond that-what had she done? The answer was simple and painful: nothing. By accepting this answer, she was surprised at herself. She had never been that kind of person! She had always lived up to the situation, had always sought to have an active role even if that was painful or difficult or, as she had told Boromir, to take the path of the 'brave'. Nice thing was she gave her advice and was not able to follow them herself!

The Professor had taught her to be strong. She had even seen it in Lady Galadriel's Mirror! The Professor had told her that her mission as X-Men was to always help with her mutant abilities. It might not always be mutants or humans, but there was always someone to help. Logan had said the same thing to her. And here she was, she had spent it crying and forgetting what she had been taught since she joined the X-Men team.

Gandalf was right and so was Lady Galadriel, she had to earn the right to survive and to live in Middle-Earth. It was the same on Earth, only in the realm where she was currently, she had to help.

She remembered the words of Lady Galadriel: 'Do not look behind Katherine Anne Pryde, because the one who looks back, stumbles for he does not see the obstacles ahead.' Kitty could not imagine in any way to forget and stop being an X-Men, but what she could do was to put aside her past and fight alongside those people, as a kind of alliance: an X-Men called Shadowcat allied with the Fellowship of the Ring. Yes, that she would do.

It was dawn. Everyone was ready to go. Gimli, true to his custom, grunted and cursed under the expectation of riding on horseback for hours.

Hearing a quick step, they turned. It was Kitty. Her face showed clear traces of having wept for a long time, her eyes still red, but a new light was in them. She raised her head and looked at them. "Let's go!"

The journey to Edoras was quiet. Each was wrapped in their own thoughts. Aragorn, for his part, was troubled by what he had heard. Marrow? Another mutant? And why had Gandalf told Kitty that he, as an Istar was ashamed to consider her as a descendant of Istari? And from what Gandalf had said, it seemed that Lady Galadriel well knew this situation. He did not understand. And he liked to know the people with he dealt with perfectly well more and more in these days.

Several hours later they watched the city from afar, and paused for a moment.

"Edoras and the Golden Hall of Meduseld. There dwells Théoden, King of Rohan, whose mind is overthrown. Saruman's hold over King Théoden is now very strong." said Gandalf softly.

"Kitty." continued Gandalf. "Put this on. It will be necessary to pass unnoticed." He handed a large cloak with a hood. Surprised, Kitty took it. "Thanks, but I have one from Lothlórien."

"But it does not cover all your clothes, and we need no questions."

Kitty sighed. It didn't seem this, so she decided for once obey without complaining.

As they approached the Golden City, there seemed a shroud of gloom that hung upon the place.

Following Aragorn's gaze, Kitty saw a woman standing on a balcony. She was dressed in white, and her hair was gold. She looked beautiful, stern and cold, but her face seemed heartbroken.

Gimli looked up and muttered. "You'll find more cheer in a graveyard."

They dismounted and climbed the stairs to the hall, but they were stopped by guards. The one who appeared to be captain said. "I cannot allow you before Théoden King so armed, Gandalf Greyhame. By order of… Gríma Wormtongue." he added with a grimace of disgust.

Gandalf turned toward his companions and nodded, and hesitantly they laid down their weapons. "Your staff." said the captain of the guard.

"Oh, no! Would you part an old man from his walking stick?" answered Gandalf.

"A staff in the hand of a wizard may be more than a prop for aid." said Hamà uncertainly. "But you may pass with it. What of the girl?"

"She is my companion." said Legolas coolly. "Let her in."

Kitty bowed her head with a polite smile. The man shook his head with a heavy sigh. "You seem honest folk. Enter."

The great doors swung open, and they entered the hall.

When Kitty looked around the throne room, she felt uncomfortable. That strange feeling was creeping up her spine again. She looked round the room once more, and find the source of the awful sensation. It was the King.

He looked so old! His skin was white as a leper's, his face and eyes lifeless, so that he seemed more ghost than man.

By his side crouched a younger man, paler, black eyes and dark, greasy hair. "The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden King." said Gandalf quietly.

The young woman noticed that the guards followed them very closely.

"He is not welcome." whispered the man in black to the King.

"Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow?" croaked the Theoden in response.

"A just question, my liege." said the man in black, and rose and said in a loud voice. . "Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Lathspell I name him. And Ill new is in ill guest, they say!"

"Be silent! Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth." cried Gandalf, a great power in his voice so that the man shrunk back. "I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!" And saying this, he rose his staff.

"His staff! I told you to take the wizard's staff!" cried the man in black

As if it has been an order of the king himself, the guard immediately attacked to Gandalf but Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli and even Kitty stopped and fought back. She did not use her ability, but she knew hand to hand combat with her training from Wolverine.

Gandalf approached to the king. "Théoden, son of Théngel, too long have you sat in the shadows!" he cried.

Grima tried to run back towards the king but Gimli knocked him down and put a foot on his chest. "I would stay still if I were you." growled the Dwarf.

"Harken to me! I release you from the spell!" said Gandalf.

The king laughed with a chilling laugh. "You have no power here, Gandalf 'The Gray'."

At hearing this, Gandalf threw aside his cloak, and a white light shone around him, so that the King shrank back in this throne.

"I will draw you, Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound." continued Gandalf, facing the King and pointing his staff to Théoden, who started to writhe in his throne.

Kitty winced. Legolas took her hand and squeezed it gently. Kitty, in response, squeezed his hand tightly, as if afraid the Elf would let go.

The king again spoke but this time his voice was not his own. "If I go… Théoden dies."

"You did not kill me. You will not kill him!" answered Gandalf.

"Rohan is mine! The mutant is mine!"

Legolas stepped in front of Kitty. At that moment, the maiden in white, who had come in through the door, dashed to her uncle. Aragorn seized her, whispering for her to wait. Kitty shivered, terrified, squeezing Legolas's hand harder.

"Be gone!" thundered Gandalf pointing with his white staff towards the king who finally flew back.

The maid wrenched herself from Aragorn's grasp, and rushed towards the King, supporting him. He was not old now, he seemed younger. His eyes were clear, his hair and beard gold. "I know your face… Éowyn…sister-daughter." he said slowly, and then turned to the wizard in surprise. "Gandalf?

"Breathe the free air again, my friend." said Gandalf warmly.

"Dark have been my dreams of late." murmured Theoden slowly.

"Your fingers would remember their old strength better if they grasped your sword." said the wizard, with a knowing look.

The captain of the guard, Hama, unbuckled his own sword for his scabbard, and bowing, brought it to his King. Theoden unsheathed it, and then his gaze turned to Grima, who was groveling on the floor, still under Gimli's iron foot.

Grima rolled down the stairs, out of the hall followed by Théoden, whose sword was drawn. "Your leech craft would have had me crawling on all fours like a beast!" shouted the King.

"Send me not from your side!" pleaded Grima, whining on the stone.

But the king did not seem hear. He raised his sword and would have killed him if Aragorn hadn't stopped him. "No my lord, no my lord!" he said "Let him go. Enough blood has been spilt on his account."

Aragorn held out his hand to Grima instead of accepting it, spat on it and dashed off. Aragorn turned to Théoden and said in loud voice: "Hail, Théoden King!"

The crowd that has gathered to see what was happening echoed this cry, kneeling before their King.

Théoden turned to Gandalf. "Where is Théodred? Where is my son?" he asked.

The funerals had been full of grief, especially Éowyn's lament. Kitty didn't remember such ceremony so full of sorrow. She couldn't help but feel sadness for the Princess and even less she couldn't help but remember her friends and the terrible situation in their home realm. A few tears had rolled down her cheeks while Éowyn sang. Legolas had taken his hand gently in hers.

Gandalf and Théoden were in front of the tomb where Théodred's body was. The air blew soft but carried with it a song of sorrow and grief. For a long time the wizard and the king had been there in silence.

"Simblemyn, ever has it grown on the tombs of my forebears. Now it shall cover the grave of my son." said the King suddenly. "Alas, that these evil days should be mine! The young perish and the old linger. That I should live to see the last days of my house!" He paused "No parent should have to bury their child" he said in a broken voice.

"He was strong in life. His spirit will find its way to the halls of your fathers." answered Gandalf as a way of consolation "Be thou well, go thou, Théodred, go thou." he added with a soft whisper

There was a silence only broken by the heartbreaking cries of the king. "What did Saruman mean, Gandalf?" he asked suddenly, his voice thick. "I remember vaguely he said something about a woman, about a… 'mutant'.." the king added unsure of the word. He looked at the wizard, frowning.

Gandalf said nothing. Before he could answer he saw a horse come galloping. On it sat two children, both pale and weak.

"This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash." said Gandalf to the King. "All the more potent for he is driven mad by the fear of Sauron." He paused "Ride out and meet him head on. Draw him away from your women and children. You must fight." he added sternly.

Seeing that Théoden didn't answer, Aragorn said: "You have two thousand good men ridding north as we speak. Éomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king."

Théoden stood up from his throne with a thoughtful expression in his royal features. "They will be three hundred leagues from here by now! Éomer cannot help us." he said "I know what is that you want of me, but I would not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war." he ended firmly

Gimli looked to the king and then to Aragorn and Gandalf. The king's idea was foolish.

"Open war is upon you, whether would risk it or not. said Aragorn softly.

Théoden looked to Aragorn and faced him angrily. "When last I looked, Théoden, not Aragorn, was king of Rohan." he answered harshly.

Gimli looked to Aragorn who just looked to the king, not defiantly, not mockingly, just staring at him.

"Besides, you want me to go and attack Saruman… and what about those… 'mutants'?" he added after a moment "You said, Gandalf that there could be more mutants besides this woman… Katherine Anne Pryde!"

Gimli and Aragorn looked each other alarmed.

"What about if those 'mutants' attack us? We would not have a chance of life! No weapon can stop them!"

"But thos one can help us." said Gandalf quietly. "This Katherine Anne Pryde can fight against them."

"She is one against many. And how can we trust her?"

"She has fought beside us." said Gandalf "And she has even been made prisoner for this reason. You can trust her."

Théoden looked at Gandalf and then to Aragorn. "No matter what you say, I will not risk my people again, not for what a Ranger says."

"Then what is the king's decision?" asked Gandalf.

Kitty was sitting on the bed in the room she had been assigned as a guest. Fortunately, coming as a companion with someone has important as Gandalf had its privileges, among them was the fact of having a bedroom of her own.

She was exhausted, even after having bathed and slept for a few hours. Though her body was at rest, her mind was whirling at a frantic pace, and she was brought from her thoughts by a sharp knock.

"Come in." she said, looking up.

Legolas closed the door softly behind. Kitty smiled, and he approached slowly. Kitty put the photograph on her lap aside, and this did not go unnoticed by Legolas. "I came to see how you were doing." he said gently. "I sensed that you were very…..grieved at the funeral."

Kitty smiled slightly, and then sighed. "Yes, it was very sad. The grief of the Princess reminded me of many things."

"But you also afraid, when Gandalf released the King."

Kitty nodded. "Yes, I was afraid. It was too close to what had happened to me some time ago."

Legolas wondered what had happened to her. Had anyone also taken possession of her body? Had she been under a spell like the one Saruman had had Théoden? He did not dare ask, however.

There was an awkward silence during which Legolas could not help but stare at the picture that Kitty had placed beside her. The girl noticed it and after a few moments of indecision, made a gesture for him to sit and took up the picture.

Legolas moved closer and sat on the edge of the bed. Seeing this, Kitty passed the object to him.

"Is it a ... painting?" He asked curiously as he saw the quality of the image "Th artist is excellent."

Kitty chuckled. "No." she replied "It's a photograph."

"Pho ... pho ... photophag?" He repeated uncertainly.

Kitty smiled. "Pho-to-graph." she said slowly the word "Is ... a kind of painting of my home-realm. It is used to portray people with the highest fidelity and quality possible "

Legolas slowly nodded and looked closely. It was a group of 12 people, almost all of them quite young, who were there standing and almost all smiling. Behind it was a large garden that stretched almost as far as the eye could see.

"They are my friends ... or ... they were my friends." whispered Kitty. "They were the X-men team."

Legolas turned sharply. She was sharing something extremely precious to her! This meant more than all the mithril in Moria to him. Kitty moved closer to him and showed him each of the characters. "Look." she began, pointing at each person. "She was Marie. The X-Men called her 'Rogue' and she had the ability, with just a touch, to remove your powers and your personal information. He was Bobby, also known as 'Iceman'. As his codename says, he could freeze things by just touching them and even covering his entire body with ice. The one here is Kurt, we called him 'Nightcrawler'. Here you see his normal appearance, but he actually had blue skin, yellow eyes, a pointed tail and black hair, and he could teleport from one side to the other, and the only thing that it showed that it had been in a place was a slight dark blue cloud. The one here is Jean, at one time we knew her as 'Phoenix'. She was one of the most powerful and had telekinesis and telepathy as mutant abilities. "

"What is ... te-le-ki-ne-sis and te-le-pa-thy?" Asked Legolas slowly.

"Telepathy is the mutant ability to speak directly in the mind of another person ... something like Lady Galadriel can do." Kitty explained. "Telekinesis is the mutant ability that allows the person to move objects with the mind without even needing to touch them"

Legolas looked at her in astonishment. What kind of powers were those who even looked like one of them to the Lady of the Light?

"The one here is Scott, we called him 'Cyclops' because he could shoot laser beams from his eyes. The one here is Betsy and we knew her as 'Psylocke'. She had the ability to create shields and swords with her mind. This one that you see with wings is Warren and he had the codename of 'Angel'. Obviously, you will realize that he could fly. Look, you once asked me who Ororo was. She was Ororo and her codename was 'Storm' because she could control the weather."

Legolas looked closely at the image of the so-called Ororo or 'Storm'. She was a woman of exotic beauty, dark skin and strange white hair, crystal blue eyes, features unlike any he had seen in his long life, with kind gesture and gaze.

"And him?" He asked, pointing to a sturdy man with rather disheveled black hair, a hard look and a frown. Dressed in just a plain black shirt and light blue jeans.

"He? He was Logan or 'Wolverine'." murmured Kitty. "He was the one who taught me to fight with sword and hand to hand combat." She sighed. "You know? He was a lot like Boromir because they both had a strong temper, they were not the personification of politeness, but they had a good heart, not to mention that both were innate warriors =."

"And what skill did he have?"

"Logan had three claws in each hand. When he closed his fists three adamantium claws came out, which is something like the mithril of my home-realm. In addition he had his senses keen and could regenerate of any wound although it was mortal in a matter of seconds."

Legolas looked at her in astonishment. That mutant must have been invincible and immortal! He looked closely at Kitty. The young woman was sad and her eyes filled with tears. It was obvious that she had loved Logan, and if Boromir had resembled him then it was sensible why Kitty had become attached to the nobleman of Gondor.

"And who is he?" He asked after a moment, pointing to a man about 40 years old, bald, dressed more elegantly than the others, sitting on a chair with wheels.

Kitty smiled sadly. "He was Professor Charles Xavier. He founded the X-Men and he founded the school for 'Gifted Youngsters' as well as the Mansion X." Kitty sighed. "he was the most powerful telepath in the world, he could talk to any person, even though that person was on the other side of the world. He could even see the future and he was a great friend ... he was like my father when my biological father died." she added with a whisper

Legolas stared at the photograph for a moment, then handed it back to her. He understood Kitty better now, and knew all those she had mentioned in the midst of her fever.

Decidedly, those people were very powerful, so much so that they could compete with any of the great Elves, so it was understandable why the normal people feared them and yet, in that photograph they looked like normal people.

He turned to Kitty, who had put the photograph in her pack and was silent. Though her eyes were low, the Elf saw tears, and once more he sensed in his heart again that wave of deep sadness and also something more ... something that he had not felt until then, but which indicated to him what he should be of doing and saying.

He gently raised her chin, forcing her to look him straight in the eye. "Kitty." he began, letting his heart guide him. "I ... I know I'm not Boromir, I know I'll never be, I know ... Boromir will always have a special place in your memories and in your heart, but ... he breathed deeply" I beg you to give me the opportunity to earn your trust. I do not want to just be the person who was charged with protecting you, helping you and being by your side, no, I want to be your friend ... I want ... I want you to trust me as well as you did with Boromir and Logan and the Professor Charles Xavier."

Kitty studied him closely, weighing his words. Legolas' eyes shown such affection and such hope that it was impossible not to be touched. Kitty smiled. "My trust and my friendship?" she whispered "That's… a thing."

"Please, Kitty, give me that opportunity." the Elf told her again. "I assure you, I do not care how much time it takes or how difficult it is, I'm going to fight to get it because it is worth it."

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