The main reason I wrote of Alasse's inspiration to help people outside of Mirkwood came from meeting Aragorn, is because I wanted her to feel called to do it long before the BOTFA. It had been burning in her mind and heart for a long time. And when she chose to leave Mirkwood, and follow Legolas, she knew it was time. I didn't want it to look like she just decided to leave her dad just because they had a disagreement! No, I wanted it to be so much more than that.
The first two days' journey from Gondor back to Mirkwood or rather Eryn Lasgalen as it was now called, the Wood of Greenleaves, were easy travel. But the afternoon of the third day, the Elven party touched on rougher country, journeying into the mountains. The terrain was ominous and required keen eyesight and sharp hearing, lest one of the horses stumble over the edge of a cliff.
"This feels so awkward. Journeying on a trek like this..." Legolas stated.
"Without Gimli, or...Aragorn." Alasse finished with a sigh. The two siblings were standing at the cliff's edge, gazing up at the vast sky of stars painted so delicately in the heavens.
"Ai." Legolas nodded.
Alasse had been asking Elrond many questions about healing: which herbs worked better for fever-reducing, the unfamiliar ailments to the race of men, how to know when to stitch up a cut or just bandage it and let it heal on its own, treatment for a head wound out in the wilderness, symptoms of internal bleeding. The list went on and on. Elrond was very surprised, but pleased to answer her questions though she often asked several at a time.
It was dark and the company of elves had stopped for the night, the guards remaining on alert for any danger. Legolas had ventured off to scan the roads up ahead. Thranduil had insisted he take some troops with him. Currently, Thranduil was sitting near the campfire, drinking his wine and looking very bored. Elrond quickly shuffled over to him. The great Elven lord looked as if he was actually sneaking! Thranduil arched his dark, bushy eyebrows. "Something pursuing you, mellon-nin?" He chuckled.
"No offense intended, my friend. But I was trying to escape another prolonged student interrogation from your daughter!" Elrond told him wide-eyed, sitting next to him. Thranduil couldn't hide his amusement.
"That bad, is it?"
"Ai. She is very eager to learn." Elrond stated. "And I do not deny that she will surely be a blessing to those under her with her new intended endeavor. But, even an experienced healer such as myself can endure only so much prattle!"
"Here." Thranduil said, offering him a glass of wine.
"Hannon le." Elrond accepted it. "You still haven't told Alasse the real reason, have you?"
"I will, when the time is right!" Thranduil growled in his throat.
"And do you expect she will understand the motive behind it all?" Elrond pressed further. "And how will she respond when she learns that you hid it from her?"
"I will explain in the strongest terms that it was for her good." Thranduil said defensively. "You are the healer on this trip, not my counselor! Do not confuse the significant difference between the two." He huffed, taking a luscious gulp of wine.
"As you wish, my friend. But it would probably be in the best interest of all concerned, for you to tell the truth sooner rather than later." Elrond suggested as lightly as he could.
"That's my business!" Thranduil glared at the elf lord of Imladris who simply drank some more wine.
"Ai. But it must be quite the burden for you to bear, wanting to explain everything, but being afraid to express it."
"Enough!" Thranduil barked.
"What are you two arguing about?" Alasse asked sternly as she appeared, standing there glaring at them with her fists on her hips.
"Alasse..." Thranduil paled. Had she heard what they'd been debating on? "What are you doing over here? I thought you were keeping an eye out for your brother!"
"I was. But as I was on my way to find some more Lembas bread, I heard a spat and it wasn't the campfire crackling." Alasse said stiffly. Elrond said nothing, but waited to see how the Elven king would respond. "Is everything alright?" Alasse asked.
"Ai, penneth." Elrond nodded.
"Lord Elrond and I were just tugging on a difference of opinion regarding the fate of certain elves in my charge." Thranduil said. "I only want what is best for them. Truly, I do." He said almost pleadingly.
"But your actions may not be observed as such, depending on the circumstances." Elrond pointed out, giving Thranduil a warning look.
"Father's people understand. Well, most of the time." Alasse said. "Not that I always agree with him. I don't. But, I'm sure Ada is doing his best the only way he sees as best."
"I hope so, young one." Elrond said.
"What exactly were you arguing about?" Alasse crossed her arms, waiting for an answer.
"Nothing for you to worry about, meleth-nin." Thranduil smiled. "We were merely having a minor disagreement."
"Mmm-hmm." Alasse arched a suspicious eyebrow, looking very much like her older brother when he was being skeptical. "Well, you just see that it does not blow into something bigger!" She warned them.
"Shouldn't Legolas be returning by now?" Thranduil tried to change the subject.
He's doing it again! Alasse thought. I swear, even elflings caught in mischief are not as evasive as my father! Unbelievable. She ventured away to keep a lookout for Legolas.
Thranduil ignored Elrond's piercing glare. "Don't say it!" Thranduil hissed under his breath.
"Only take into consideration, leaving the truth idle may bring damaging, unforeseen consequences." Elrond said then went silent. Thranduil clenched his glass of wine.
