Celebrian sees her husband and new daughter approaching, and says.
"Elrond, Kagome it is time for the ceremony. We must go quickly; My mother is waiting." Celebrian
"We are coming my love." Elrond
Kagome nods her agreement, and follows after Lord Elrond. When they arrive at the destination Kagome sees two unknown elves, and a goblet sitting on the crystal pedestal next to them. The Lady elf looks at the three of them, and says.
"Come and face the adoption trial." Galadriel
They walk up to the pedestal, and look to Galadriel for further instructions. Galadriel looks on her daughter and son-in-law saying.
"Stand across from each other on either side of the pedestal, take the knives, cut the palm of your hands, and fill the goblet with your blood." Galadriel
Elrond and Celebrian do as they are told. When they are finished Galadriel uses her ring with the power, and blessing of the Valar to enchant the blood so that it absorb into the body instead of flowing into the stomach; It will also make the one who drinks it the offspring the ones to whom the blood belongs. Galadriel looks at Kagome, and says.
"Come forward child, and receive your new linage and name." Galadriel
Kagome being to emotional to say anything simply does as she is instructed. She stands in front of the pedestal, and looks at her new parents touched beyond words that they are willing to do this for her. Elrond and Celebrian pick up the goblet, and say.
"Take, drink, and from this day forward you will be our daughter Raven." Elrond and Celebrian
Kagome nods, takes the goblet, and drinks the contents. As soon as the last drop is consumed Kagome becomes dizzy, and then blacks out. Her parents catch her before she hits the cavern floor. They take her to her room, and put her to bed.
Raven wakes up, looks around, and the first thing she notices is that she is in her room. She gets up, moves towards her closet, but stops short when she passes her mirror. Raven gazes at herself, but does not recognize the person looking back at her. She looks so vastly different than she did before the ceremony. Upon closer inspection her basic form is unchanged, but there are many differences that she quickly notices. The pupils of her eyes are no longer slit though they retain their yellow coloring. Her markings are gone, and her claws are rounded off like fingernails. Raven looks around her room, and notices that her pelt is sitting on the chair near the closet. Raven turns her inspection inward, and sighs in relief when her beast presents itself. Raven takes her freshly washed robes, heads to the adjoining bathing room for for a nice hot bath.
An hour later Raven walks into her bedroom wearing her robes. She puts her pelt on her shoulder, and leaves her rooms with the intention of going to the training grounds to determine how or if her powers have been changed by the ceremony. When she arrives at her destination all of the guards in the area stop what they are doing, and stare at her. One of the bolder guards steps forward saying.
"What brings you to the training grounds Lady Raven?" guard
"The same as you training." Raven
The guard nods to her clearly embarrassed by his own ignorance. Raven returns gesture, and walks over to a secluded area of the grounds to conduct her test. Going through basic exercises she notices some change to her power. Though not in strength, intensity, or quantity. The only thing that is different about her power is that now it possesses a very distinct elven quality to it. The guards who had resumed their drills feel the sudden appearance of power in the air, and look for the source. Their eyes land on Lady Raven who seems to be staring at nothing and everything. They conclude that the tremendous amount of raw power has to be coming from her. The guards also notice the markings on her cheeks, wrists, and forehead. They watch her until the power vanishes taking note that the markings leave her face as well. Raven decides to test her powers in battle, walks over to the rack, and takes a bow picking up a quiver of arrows at the same time. Raven heads over to the shooting range, and positions herself in front of the farthest target. She nocks an arrow aims, and shoots watching as it destroys the target with ease due to the amount of power contained within. The guards watching her notice that the markings once again appear on Lady Ravens face while she is shooting her arrow. Opting not to destroy the rest of the targets Raven puts the weapons back in their place, and returns to her practice area. She looks at the guards who are staring at her, and says.
"Do you have something I can practice physical attacks on without worrying about it being destroyed in the process?" Raven
The guards all walk over with body length polls, and set them up in the standard pattern around Raven. She uses her poison whip to destroy all the polls, but for the sake of those watching does it much slower than she usually would. Once again the onlookers notice the markings appear the Lady's face while she is using the weapon she materialized out of the venom dripping from her hand. Raven surveys what the damage is, and is satisfied that her powers are still behave as they should. Raven then turns, and leaves the training grounds with a smile on her face.
Raven knows that there is one more thing that she must do before anything else. She must inform her pack of the changes wrought by the adoption ceremony. They will know that she is still their alpha and protector, but they will be shocked none the less. While Raven is lost in thought she arrives at her packs den site. She looks around, and sees her pack emerge from their dens. One of them comes up to her, and says.
"Who are you, and why do you smell so familiar?" warg 1
"I am your alpha." Raven
"Then why do you look so different then you did before you left." warg 2
"The adoption ceremony changed me into an elf." Raven
"You are an elf now?" warg 3
"Yes though I retain some of my previous traits; I am now an elf. Is that a problem?" Raven
"No you are still the alpha who has given us a life of peace and plenty." warg 4
The wargs look at one another, and come to a mutual conclusion saying.
"We and all the generations after us will provide you with companionship for as long as you will have us." warg 5
"This news makes my heart glad." Raven
"It is our pleasure." warg 6
As the conversation is winding down someone comes up behind them, and says.
"Father wants to see you in his study immediately." ?
"I am coming presently Arwen." Raven
"Alpha are you going to introduce us to your friend?" warg 7
"This is my sister Arwen." Raven
"Pleased to meet you Lady Arwen." warg 8
Raven turns to Arwen, and translates saying.
"The warg said: Pleased to meet you Lady Arwen." Raven
"Like wise friend of my little sister." Arwen
Raven turns to the wargs, and translates saying.
"Arwen said: Like wise friend of my little sister." Raven
The wargs nod, and return to their activities. The elves turn, and leave in the direction of Rivendell.
Raven walks into her fathers study, and sees him sitting at his desk doing paperwork. He notices her, and says.
"Raven come sit down; There is something very important that we must discuss before anymore time passes." Elrond
"What is it father?" Raven
"It is time for me to teach you the language of elves." Elrond
"Yes father." Raven
"You have accepted us as your family already?" Elrond
"While I miss my original family, and will for many years to come. It would dishonorable not to mention mean to turn away from the family who love me, and have taken me in even though I am a stranger. I am also very lonely as well." Raven
"I understand. You needent be lonely anymore. You have a family now." Elrond
"Thank you for everything." Raven
"You are most welcome." Elrond
Elrond then begins her lesson in Sindarin.
Raven is a very fast learner, and masters the spoken language by the time they finish the lesson late into the night. Lord Elrond ends the lesson, and they go to bed after a long tiring day. The sun rises announcing that morning has come. Raven gets out of bed, goes over to her closet, and picks out one of the four beautiful dresses that Arwen had made for her. She goes about her morning routine, and emerges dressed and ready for the day from the bathing room. Raven picks up her pelt, puts it on her shoulder, leaves the room, and heads in the direction of the dinning hall.
Before to long Ravens peaceful days begin to flow into the other, and before she knows it two years have passed. Lord Elrond walks up to Raven, and says.
"I am going on a trip to visit a friend of mine in the Greenwood. I would be pleased if you would come with me, but only if you want to." Elrond
"I would love to father. It sounds like it could be fun, and I will get to see more of the world." Raven
"Excellent we leave at dawn tomorrow. Be ready to leave by then." Elrond
"Yes father." Raven
Raven leaves the library, and heads off to her rooms to prepare for the up coming journey. When she arrives at her rooms Raven takes out her traveling clothes, and sets them on the chair to be worn tomorrow. Next she takes out a satchel, and fills it with the things that she might need. Like the first four dresses Arwen got her, her night gown, the book she was reading, and a few other miscellaneous items. With her bag is packed Raven heads to the armory to select the weapons she will be taking on the trip. Upon entering the armory Raven begins to peruse the various weapons available. One by one each of the weapons are rejected until she comes upon the wrack the holds her weapons. All that is left that is left is for her to select which of the weapons that will be taken. Raven settles on bringing Tenseiga and her bow that does not possess a name. Raven picks them up off the wrack, and walks out of the armory with a smile on her face.
It has taken eight days to reach the Greenwood, because Raven obeyed her father when he told her to ride a horse. They ride through the forest gate, and make good time to the gate of the palace. The guards immediately recognize Lord Elrond, and open the gate for his party to enter the palace with one of them running to inform the King. A servant approaches the party, and leads them to the throne room where they will be greeted by King Thranduil. Once in the room they see Thranduil on his throne looking very imposing, but elegant all at the same time. He looks them over, and says.
"Welcome Lord Elrond of Rivendell, and who is this elfling with you?" Thranduil
"This is my daughter Raven. Raven This is Elvenking Thranduil." Elrond
"It is a pleasure to meet you King Thranduil ." Raven
"You as well young Raven." Thranduil
"We are honored by your warm welcome Thranduil." Elrond
King Thranduil nods, and says.
"I have had rooms prepared a maid will escort you to refresh yourselves." Thranduil
Nodding their acquiescence Lord Elrond and Raven follow the maid out of the throne room.
The maid that showed them to their rooms informed them of the up coming welcome dinner this evening. As Raven was in her rooms preparing for dinner she couldn't help, but be nervous. She has been told that the elves of Greenwood the Great are less wise and more dangerous. So far the elves that she has come in contact with have nothing but kind to her. All she can do is be her usual friendly, kind, respectful, and polite self.
Lord Elrond and Raven arrive in the dinning hall, and the dinner starts without incident. Everything seems to be going smoothly when one of the guards on duty comes up to the King, and says.
"A large pack of orcs has been spotted dangerously close to our borders My Lord." guard
"Take a hunting party, and kill them all. Leave none of them alive. Is that clear?" Thranduil
"Yes My Lord." guard
"May I go with them King Thranduil?" Raven
Thranduil looks to Elrond, and gets a nod of approval from his friend so he says.
"You may." Thranduil
"Thank you." Raven
Raven is out the door before he has a chance to respond, and a fond smile graces his face. He looks to the guard who has yet to leave, and says.
"Take Lady Raven with you. See to it that her weapons are returned before the party leaves. Understood?" Thranduil
"Yes My Lord." guard
The guard turns, and leaves in the direction he saw Lady Raven leave in. Thranduil turns to his long time friend, and says.
"What was that all about?" Thranduil
"My youngest is just as battle hungry as her brothers." Elrond
"Oh?" Thranduil
"She takes every opportunity she can to accompany my hunting parties as possible. Some times I wonder how she manages to retain her Lady like manner. I wish she would spend more time with Arwen and Celebrian than she does with Elladan and Elrohir." Elrond
"Well she certainly would get into less trouble that way, but can you really say that she would be just as happy?" Thranduil
"No my friend I cannot. As much as she likes spending time with her mother and sister she enjoys protecting what is good and fair more." Elrond
"You see allowing your daughter to do what makes her happy is the right thing. Just make sure you are there to treat her wounds, and tell her how proud you are of her when she returns." Thranduil
"You are right my friend. Thank you for your advise. This is why I count you among the wise of middle earth." Elrond
"Be that as it may. I still refuse to join the White Counsel. I have enough worries of my own without involving myself in other peoples problems." Thranduil
"I still say that the counsel is in sore need of your wisdom." Elrond
"Maybe, but I am loathe to involve myself with wizards. However if you or Galadriel ever need me I shall be there." Thranduil
"I shall keep that in mind when times become dire." Elrond
"Good. Tell me what do your sons think of their sister constantly putting herself in danger?" Thranduil
"They are fine with it because it means that they get to monopolize more of Ravens time." Elrond
"Oh?" Thranduil
"The jealous looks on their faces when Raven spends all her time with Arwen and Celebrian is unmistakable." Elrond
Thranduil laughs at that, and continues on with his meal like nothing happened. In the back of his mind though he can't help but worry if the Lady will be alright. He knows that his long time friend loves his children to much to send them into something they cannot handle, but still the thought of a Lady of such a refined manner going in battle is unsettling. She is so young too. No more than a hundred if he has to guess. The very thought of sending children into battle sends a chill up his spine, and causes dread to pool in his stomach. What is this world coming to if the young cannot even retain the innocence of youth, but are required to cover their hands with blood at such a young age.