Disclaimer: I do not own LOTR.
A/N: Thank you to all who favourited or followed, you guys rock.
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Chapter 9: The Journey.
If someone asked me which time of the journey was the hardest, I'll probably answer "The misty mountains". The days we passed through the mountains were probably hell for me. Near the coast, in California, the temperature had never been this cold. The more we went up, the colder it became. At first, I had thought that only peaks were covered with snow but I couldn't have been more wrong. The whole of the mountains was covered with snow, the wispy clouds and the cold biting winds were unbearable.
We had walked the whole week, my feet were supposed to be sore but due to the knee length sheets of snow, they were number than chafed. My clothes were not warm enough for this weather. I had incessantly wrapped myself in the cloak to keep just a little bit of warmth about me. When I couldn't bear enough, I had asked Èohere for an extra shirt. He had given me a scarf to wrap around my face to protect myself from frostbite. The water from the snow was constantly seeping into my leather boots. Even my leggings were soaked up to my knees. I had been continuously shivering. Èohere in an attempt to keep a little warm had driven us to walk all day, only stopping to rest a few hours. Don't even get me started on the way we slept. It wasn't possible to sleep without getting soaked throughout. When we were exceptionally lucky we would come across a few rocks which were not buried under the snow. The food, which was just some old beef jerky, was always cold. Even the water was almost frozen in our bottles.
We had walked for weeks. I didn't keep the count but Èohere told me that it was almost six weeks that took us to pass through the range. six weeks of constant trudging through the freezing winds and cold sheets. In between those days, I had my first sword fighting lesson with Èohere. He had wanted to teach me just as we started our trek through the mountains. I had stalled him for a few days by saying that I will start learning when I get adjusted to my surroundings. Sometimes I had curbed him by totally turning around the conversation or even sometimes pretending that I couldn't hear him due to the winds. Pretty pathetic excuses, but my mind was still not accepting the fact that I might have to kill someone. After successful stalling for eight days, Èohere had had enough. I was munching on the last bit of my jerky when he had dragged me by my wrist to the small area where the snow wasn't that deep.
"What are you doing?" I tried to shake off his arm but the grip was too firm. Halting, he took out his sword and extended it towards me. I took a long look at the sword. Smiling sheepishly, I moved back a few steps.
"Ummm Èohere... I think that it i-" I started but was interrupted by him.
"Miss Lane," he said, his tone hard and gaze cutting "do you want to die? There is no way you can survive, while still wanting to find your answers, in this world, if you don't learn."
"I-" He cut me off again.
"Believe me, Miss Lane, I would never want a woman to learn this, but I do not have a choice when it comes to you. You said you shall find your answers at all costs and I think that to do this you shall have to go about a lot. There won't always be people around to protect you."
I stared at him for a moment. Looking at his cutting gaze, I sharply turned away my eyes.
"I know," I said "but killing living beings was not- is not something I think I can do. It is non-moral." I stopped him by raising my hand when he opened his mouth to say something. "I mean, in my world, we seldom have to protect ourselves. This whole war or whatever," I waved my hands to validate my point "it isn't something we do." I was glad to see even a little bit of understanding dawning in his eyes.
"Still Miss Lane," he said, "you are not in your world anymore, if you want to live the way you want to, you have to do what you deem impossible." I chewed on my bottom lip, playing with his words in my mind.
"But Miss Lane," he said, a slightly rueful smile playing on his lips "you are truly kind if you think to kill those monsters non-moral."
I stared at his sword for a moment. Inhaling sharply, I extended my arm and took hold of the hilt. I drew the sword and spontaneously oomph-ed due to the weight. My wrist bent downward and the sword edge met with the rocks. How was I supposed to fight with this when I couldn't even hold it up? Honestly...
I adjusted my weight on my feet and prepared myself for the long lesson ahead.
"...no, do not strain your back. Keep your weight divided on your feet, otherwise, it shall decrease your efficiency." Èohere stood in front of me wielding a long knife. Due to the fact that we only had one sword, Èohere had taken the dagger. I had asked him if it was alright for him and that he won't get hurt but he had only laughed it off. I thought that my concern was validated, even if he doesn't get hurt due to a well-placed attack he might get hurt due to some sort of blunder I was sure I'd make. Like the sword could legit fly out of my hand and slash him across the face. I exhaled once more, shifting my weight across my left leg. Again we clashed swords. It was already my fourth week of learning sword fighting. The first day was more embarrassing than any had ever been in my life. I had spent almost half of the practice trying to find the proper way to hold up my sword continuously. Due to its extreme weight, it always slipped down after a few moments. It had taken me more than two weeks to get the hang of the basics. I knew I wasn't suited for this but due to necessity, I had no other choice. Now Èohere was teaching me the best ways to place an attack without taking up too much stamina. I wasn't exactly sure how would I do if I had to fight against a skilled swordsman but I was pretty sure I could defend myself against one or two orcs. My attack power was still extremely low, I just didn't have enough muscle, but I had learned a lot of sneaky defence techniques in the last week to keep myself alive for a while.
I ducked another swing of Èohere's dagger. Shifting my weight towards the left I swung a little towards him and placed an attack on his left arm. He moved back just in time. With a fine movement, he captured my sword and threw it towards the right. A fleeting moment later, I felt the cold sharpness of the dagger pressing lightly against my neck. Looking up my eyes met with Èohere's. He held my startled gaze with his serious one and then moved back a few steps. He took hold of the sword and placed it in its sheath. The first time Èohere had placed a knife on my neck, I had hyperventilated. It had taken me more than thirty minutes to shake off the feeling of dread. This was just too real for me. Learning attacks, slashing, killing... But now, I tried not to give it much thought. Èohere was right, I could either learn this and survive or I could shy away from it all and count the days to my death
"I think it is enough for today Miss Lane." I collapsed on my makeshift bed before he even finished the sentence. We had walked the in the day and practised during the afternoon and night for the past so many weeks. One plus point was the fact that I was too tired to be even affected by the cold wetness of the snow. I adjusted myself in the bed and looked up towards the sky. Even the constellations were different from home. I stared at the crescent moon for a wee while. The only thing that was similar to home was the moon. In my travels, the thing that had comforted me the most was this sight of familiarity. I continued to stare at it, reviewing all the past three months of my life. The last thing I remembered before falling into a tired sleep was the dark reflection of the shiny light on Èohere's face, lost in thought and surrounded by smoke it was.
We trekked for weeks on end. The scenery changed from the cold white blanket to the dark colours of the rocks and gradually to the brown soil and greens. After almost six weeks the mountains were behind us. Èohere had taken the path that went around the Lorien. We walked for days on the brown plains until we reached the river emerging from the mountains. Crossing it was a troublesome affair. Last time when we had crossed the Mitheithel I was on Barnaby. Its height had contributed to my comfort. I had raised my legs a little above than the foot point and Barnaby had easily ventured across the cold water. But now we had to wade through the river ourselves. It took us almost half an hour to cross it. This river was coming straight from the heights of the misty mountains thus the water was extremely cold. My legs were numb and shaking by the time we reached the other end. My pants and the bottoms of my shirt were soaked in the water. I had asked Èohere if we could stop and change the clothing but he had raised a brow and said that it was the first of many to come.
In the coming days, we passed through the Nimrodel and ventured towards the east of Lórien and away from Fangorn. We walked for two weeks before reaching another but the considerably smaller river, Limlight.
I shook my left foot a little in a lost attempt to reduce the ache that seemed to be rooted in my whole body for the past two months. We had just finished our sword fighting lesson for the day and we're currently setting up the place for our rest. Limlight was only some paces away from our spot. We could've crossed it today but Èohere had insisted that we rest a little more today and continue at the dusk. I had learnt long ago not to question his decisions. I was a mere newbie in Middle-Earth whereas he was a ranger who was extremely aware of the dangers that prevailed here.
I looked around for a moment. The shine of the half moon was illuminating the ground in a silvery hue. Èohere was busy cooking the game on the flickering flame. He sat on a bulging rock near the flame and for once he wasn't smoking himself to his death.
I stretched my arms and back in another lost attempt to calm my tense muscles. What would I do for a fine massage right now...
I moved towards the flame. Taking hold of rock I dragged it near the opposite end of the flame and sat down groaning. Èohere looked up at my face with a half smile before continuing his cooking. It took us forty minutes to be done with the eating and cleaning the place. I went to the river to clean myself up before sleep. I was just setting my bed when Èohere motioned me over to the flame. Slightly surprised I sat on the rock I previously occupied. I directed my questioning gaze towards him.
"It is nothing of importance, Miss Lane," he said, "I thought that it will be sound if we talked for a moment before resting."
I was astonished, to say the least. It wasn't like we didn't speak at all. I was sure that we were more than mere travelling companions. Almost friends, to say. But Èohere seldom wanted to chat, when he did it was only for a moment and even then only asking something he found disturbing or that he was curious about. I smiled slightly, trying to mask my surprised expression under a polite one.
"Hmmm..." I prompted him to continue.
"Nothing really, Miss." I gave a slight laugh. I realised just now that he had been calling me 'Miss Lane' all along. Had it been someone back home the Miss part wouldn't even have started and even if it did, it would've taken only a few hours to drop such honorifics. And here...
"You can drop the Miss, you know."
He looked startled at my abrupt request. "What did you say, Miss Lane?" He sounded unsure. Maybe he thought he hadn't heard me right. Was this request too much according to their standards?
"I mean... we've known each other for almost half a year now and I always call you by your first name." I chewed on my bottom lip, trying to find a way to make him understand without sounding too awkward. "Back home- in my world, people do not usually use such honorifics, especially if you know a person if the person's almost like a friend..." I trailed off seeing his sceptical expression.
"Do women usually befriend men in your world?" I nodded, shifting slightly on the rock. How can people be so closed minded here in Middle-Earth? From what I knew Èohere was extremely open-minded according to their standards. What was I supposed to do if I meet someone who would not even entertain the idea of women outside of their homes... I took out my water bottle and took a large gulp, in efforts to cool off. I was partially embarrassed but the more we talked about my world the more irritated I became due to Èohere's sometimes blatant refusal to accept such things. I was glad that he had accepted the fact that I was to travel with a stranger man and even wearing pants. He had even accepted my will to learn the sword. What if I had encountered another person who would have been scandalized at my pant wearing, sword fighting self... I shuddered at the thought.
"It is truly strange," Èohere continued "but Miss Lane, was your husband not affected that you had male friends?" I spontaneously choked on the water I was drinking. I coughed heavily. After a few long minutes of spluttering like a dying fish, I settled down.
"My husband!?" I croaked. "but I'm still in my twenties." Then I remembered that it was middle earth and people got married in their teens here.
"People do not marry so early in my home," I said, my tone more irritated than I wanted it to be, "you only marry when you find some person you want to share your life with."
Èohere looked at me for a long moment and I stared back at him, not willing to back down. If he had some problem with how I lived my life then it wasn't my headache, but I wasn't exactly going to just sit still and take his scepticism about my culture. He gave a slight smirk at my conspicuous irritation. Raising his arms slightly to show defeat he said in a laughing tone. "I cannot say a thing about your home, Miss Lane, as I said before, it is all just too strange."
"Just drop the Miss." I rolled my eyes. Did he have a multiple personality syndrome or something? One moment he was being cynical about my answers and the next he was laughing it all off like he wasn't even startled in the first place. Was too much weed finally getting to his head.
"As you wish Mi- Lanette." I gave a small laugh at his discomfort. "Fine fine, you can use Lanette if you like."
We sat in comfortable silence for a moment.
"Do you have some family in Rohan?" I asked Èohere a moment later purely curious. His face darkened for a moment. "I mean... aside from your birth family."
"Are you asking if I am married, ...Lanette?"
"I might be," I replied smirking.
"No Mi- Lanette I do not have a family in Rohan." "Aaah" I replied shortly. A moment later he asked himself, "What about you ..Lanette, do you have a family?". I gave him a woeful smile. "I do actually," my tone soft, the memories passing through my mind in a bright haze, "there are four of us-three now if you exclude me." His questioning gaze prompted me to speak further. "There is my father, who always loves talking about his favourite sport but he dots too much on his two daughters, then there's my mother and I can honestly say that her roasted chicken is one of the best I've ever had, she likes to nag, a lot, but now I only miss that nagging." I gave a dry laugh. Èohere was listening attentively, maybe he was making the image, in his mind, of a family he always wanted but never had. "and then I have my sister, she's two years younger than me, last time I asked she had her dream job as an architect," I drew in a breath, "we fight- used to fight a lot, she always seems to be wearing my clothes and using my jewellery." I chucked weakly. I looked at Èohere again. "Honestly I can talk about them all day but I might get too emotional if I do."
Èohere still looked curious but took my answer as a cue to close the topic of my family.
"What about your friends, if you do not mind me asking Mi- Lanette."
I chewed again on my lip, formulating an intro in my mind.
"I have many people I know, colleagues and such, but I have three best friends, four if you include me in our group. It's Nathan, he's also a healer like I am, we've known each other since elementary school," realising belatedly that I was using English in my speech, I cast an apologetic look towards Èohere and continued, making a silent note not to make such mistake again "we have known each other since we were four years old ...almost, and then there is Julia, she's my best friend, we're that sort of friends who are like sisters in all but blood," Thinking about Julia drifted my thoughts again to my home, I was her Bff and yet I was here when she was supposed to get married in a few months and to none other than my third bestie, Ethan. "and then there is Ethan, he is an architect too, a person who designs the buildings, and he's sort of my sister's role model." Èohere nodded in understanding.
"You seem to have a good family...and friends." I smiled at that, I knew I was lucky to have them all surrounding me. It was also the reason why it hurt so much. Wanting desperately to not delve too deep into my memories, I wasn't sure if I won't cry, I diverted the topic before Èohere could say anything else.
"What do you do for a living?" I blurted out. It wasn't just an attempt to change the topic but I was purely curious. I had travelled with him for so many months and yet I did not know what he did. He looked up from the flame, his expression changed for a moment, but it was too quick for me to decipher what he was feeling.
"I am in the Riddermark, the force of Rohan, but I prefer travelling the world than to stay confined and protect a single place." I nodded to show I understood. He looked a bit surprised at my acceptance but he had to get used to it. I wasn't going to judge what he did, if I didn't like something happening to me I must not do it to someone else, right? Not like it was something worth judging anyone for. What if he wanted to travel than settling down. 'Maybe people in Middle-Earth do not like this idea' I mused mockingly.
My thoughts were disrupted by my own yawn. I stood up and stretched. It was late already and we were supposed to be moving by dusk. I had better sleep or I would regret it later. Saying a sleepy goodbye to Èohere I went towards my bed cloth. I laid on it and before I knew it I was out.
I was shaken awake a little before the dusk by Èohere. After refreshing myself by the riverside, I moved back towards our camp. We had last night's leftovers for breakfast. After that, we cleaned the area and assembled our things. The sun was just rising in an array of orange and pink hues when we started on our way. Crossing the Limlight was an agonising affair. If there was something I hated the most, it was getting my clothes soaked and it seemed that the mother nature was trying to get me over this peeve. Honestly, if I see another river, I'm just dropping Èohere here and taking the far western road.
We waded through the river. After that Èohere did not even wait for a moment before continuing down the road. We walked for almost an hour before Èohere stopped. We were standing on a small grassy hill and there were endless plains before us. The sun was up in all its glory but still, there was a slight chill in the air indicating the early morning. I looked at Èohere startled. I wasn't sure why he had stopped. I won't lie, the view from this small hill was beautiful, if you saw it like that. Endless plains of green grass with the golden rays of sun illuminating the dew. but it wasn't that beautiful for him to stop and stare forever. The view was more breath-taking when we were descending the mountains near the Celebrant.
"Èohere..." I called out his name, maybe he was reminiscing some sort of memories...
He looked at me and gave his trademark smirk, the only difference was that this time his eyes sparkled faintly, maybe in amusement, I wasn't sure.
"Welcome, Miss Lanette, to Rohan, the home of the horse-lords."
'Ah,' I mused, giving him a bright smile in return. It wasn't amusement that caused his eyes to shine... it was pride.
To be continued...
A/N: Review if you like the chapter or if you see some mistake.