Kyuketsen
By SariaSubi-kun
SariaSubi: Whoo! Review on my first chapter. That is the rarest occurrence to me in all my teenage years. Wow…anyways, I just made myself watch the Two Towers twice, and I'm going to start reading the book series now, so now I can actually understand what I'm talking about. But then again, I worked my buttooski off to try to find information about Forlindon. All the places in the story that I mention, unless I say so, are real. It's just I make up some of the people. For the city outside of Mirkwood: there may be one, there might not be. I just thought of that out of the blue. But besides that, all the locations mentioned so far are real.
Feedback: saria@linkinpark.com or a review
Anotil – a-no-till
Atril – ah-treel (this is not a name. It is a command for come, or come here)
Nerodethul – neh-roe-deh-thool
Atosir – ah-toe-seer
Anare – ah-nah-ray
Alexial – (although I think we can all say this, it's a-lecks-see-uhl)
Ulathil – oo-lah-thill
Kyudaiil – kyoo-dye-ill
Gaeh – guy-eh (this isn't a name either. It is a command for go, or leave now)
Chapter 2
The older elf had a grim look on his face, his hand rested at the hilt of his sword. He looked down at only the dirt ground, trying to keep as quiet as possible. The army marched forward, and the central town in the Gondor lands came into view.
"Ah, damnit," he heard a displeased voice from next to him, "we're too close. The people see us, and look! They're frightened already!" He nodded, not lifting his head. Everyone everywhere they went were afraid when they saw the Kyuketsen army.
"Halt!" shouted the young voice of the army's captain, a bit further back from him. He was a human, around the age of twenty-two. The boy's name was Anotil. He held a good, strong hold over the army, and was third in command. He always stayed close by to him, and their leader, the greatest of them all.
"We are to fall back fifty feet!" commanded Anotil, his young blue eyes taking a serious reserve. "Over there, by the rocks. On the edge of the woods, go on. Move men!" The rest of the men sighed and groaned, but they turned and moved back, farther away from the city.
Anotil came over to him. "Sir, I've followed my orders. Our general told the two of us to stay here. What should we do now?"
His dark eyes wandered over every roof and wall in the city, the mountains behind them mirrored in the brown pools. He let out a calmed breath, and turned to the younger soldier, laying his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Wait, Anotil. We wait for further orders."
Aragorn, along with just about everyone standing at the castle doors, wore a face of utter disbelief.
"Hah!" Gimli scoffed, "they are moving back. Do you think they are afraid?" He grinned triumphantly and started swinging his ax around. "Yeah, that shows ye. Never mess with Aragorn, king or Gondor."
Aragorn didn't smile this time at Gimli's humor. "Why would they move back?" he said in a low voice, turning his face to Legolas.
Legolas didn't know what to do or say. "Should we send a messenger and ask for their leader?"
"Wait if they stay," Aragorn held his hand in front of Legolas to stop him from moving. "Do you see that? Two remain in front. They are settling at the edge of the woods."
"By the rocks."
"Very peculiar," Aragorn stroked his chin, thinking of what to do. He lifted his head and nodded. "Legolas, you are right. You there!" he pointed to a nearby soldier. "Take another soldier with you, and ask for the leader and any others necessary. Tell them I wish to speak with them." The guard nodded at his king's serious manner, and grabbed another guard before scurrying off to the stables to get themselves horses.
Aragorn, with Legolas and Gimli, looked over the plain. The king shook his head and sighed. Very peculiar indeed.
He and Anotil waited for the rest of the army to move back to the assigned location, and they watched as two riders came their way.
"Here they come," Anotil spoke, readying his horse. He held tight to his own reins, and he watched with his dark eyes as the messengers approached them.
"You men," the soldier said from his mount, "the king requires your presence. Take anyone necessary with you." The messenger looked at him. "Are you the leader of this army?"
Anotil shook his head. The other rider frowned. "Where is your leader, then?"
He turned around, and pointed, his cloak falling off his arm. "Over there, resting on the rocks." The messengers looked to the rocks behind Anotil, but they didn't see a soldier resting. They saw a soldier sleeping. His cloak's hood was over his face, but his head was tilted down so, it was obvious he was asleep.
The messengers twisted their faces in disappointment. "That fellow is your leader?"
Anotil nodded. "I'll get our leader for you." He turned and rushed over to the rocks, and shook the figure's shoulders.
The messengers, however, noticed the other man standing in front of them. They looked down at the older elf.
"Are you an important head of this army?"
He looked up at them with stern and serious eyes. After a long pause, he spoke, "Yes," and said nothing more.
Anotil rushed over with the other soldier, the hood still over his face. He looked up at the riders, his eyes still hidden under the shadow of the hood. His cloak was rough, and it looked very worn and rough, and it had clearly lost all its color. He wasn't very tall, but taller than Anotil. He stood tall and looked at the messengers.
His voice was soft. "You sirs require me?"
The messengers nodded. "The king wishes to meet with you."
The fellow lowered his head and rubbed his chin, as if he was in deep thought. Anotil and the elf leaned in towards him, both their hands going to his shoulders. They both whispered something to him, and then he nodded. After he nodded, they pulled away.
He looked at the riders again. "Wait a moment. Please let us retrieve our horses, for it is a long walk, and we will fall behind you." He turned around, back towards the army, and found a pack of horses. He whistled, and three heads perked up. It was a white stallion, and two brown mares.
"Atril, Hotaru!" he called, and one of the mares darted forward in a steady gallop as the others just trotted after him. The mare reached him, and he smiled, petting the horse tenderly. The three men mounted, and they nodded to the messengers. The riders turned their horses round, and they started to head for the city. Anotil and the elf followed in suit, but the leader looked back on his army. He smiled reassuringly and waved, before turning to follow the others.
The messengers and the men climbed the steps before the castle. The guards nodded the messengers in, but they held their hands out to halt the other men.
"We cannot let you in the castle armed, men," the guard said to them. Anotil and the elf started to remove what they had on them, which was just daggers and the quiver and bow the elf held. The guard stopped at the young man.
"And you, lad."
His reserve did not change. "I am not armed, guards. I will have my companions, you, and the king himself pat me down, but you won't find any weapon."
The lead guard looked at him strangely, but he spoke again. "Please remove your hood, sir."
He tilted his chin up. "I save my identity for the king."
The guard again raised his eyebrows at the strangeness of the fellow, but he eventually stepped aside to let them pass before they walked in after the three. But the party did not walk far, for right before they could enter the main hall, Legolas stood in their way.
He looked at the guards. "I will take it from here." They bowed slightly to him and walked back to their posts, their faces wearing relief. Legolas looked intently at the three before him. Anotil stood, his expression not completely calm. He stayed very close to his leader, who was barely showing any emotion. The elf looked straight back at Legolas, his dark brown eyes stern and unmoving. Legolas looked at the one in the middle. "Are you the leader?"
"Yes, my lord," he responded, and again under the hood, Legolas could only see his lips form the words.
He looked tentatively at him. "You are to remove your hood soon. You will be before the king momentarily." He turned his back to them and motioned with his hand. "Follow me."
The four walked through the dim halls, lit by torches. Those who passed them stopped and observed the strangers, struck by just their appearance, and the atmosphere they brought with them. Tall they stood, and the cloaked and hooded leader in the middle, drawing curious eyes and much attention.
They reached the main hall, where, at the throne, Gimli and Aragorn stood, a few guards off to the sides of the hall, clutching their swords just in case. The three soldiers stopped in the middle of the room, and Legolas walked ahead, and turned to face them as well when he was by Gimli's side.
Aragorn stepped down from where he stood and looked long and hard at the strangers. The one in the middle with his hoop draped over his face caught his attention immediately. But he didn't bring up the subject. Yet.
"Soldiers," he started towards the center of the room, "may I ask why you are here, first of all?"
Anotil took a deep breath. "We are a small army, my lord. We come here to Gondor to merely set up camp outside your city's gates. We wish no disturbance, nor do we wish to bother anyone. If your majesty will allow it, we would like to camp outside your walls without any commotion and be allowed to visit the city for supplies regularly without drawing alarm. We already know that we have drawn attention."
Aragorn nodded. There was no real problem with them just camping out. But…"Does your army have any objective, my friends?"
Anotil tensed hesitantly. "Erm…yes, we do…um…"
The elf stepped in. "We are being followed by a band of combined orcs and oracai. My king, you may have thought to have defeated them in the War for Middle Earth, but you did not. There is a band that looks to kill, and our army has taken the privilege to fight them. But we have evaded them and look for a place to set camp until we must move again."
Aragorn looked at him peculiarly. "Don't you think that if they are after you, even though you say you have evaded them, that it is a danger to the innocents here that if they find you, they attack?"
"Our soldiers are well trained and we have scouts on every yonderfield. If we even see the slightest of black, we will move and be gone as if we were never here."
Aragorn sighed. "Do you have any more evidence to prove to me that this band really exists?"
The elf tensed, his long brown hair falling off his shoulders as he took in a sharp breath, but the young lad in the middle of them stepped forward.
"I have evidence, my lord."
All faces in the room turned to the hooded stranger. Anotil and the elf stepped back from him and looked at him in small astonishment, as if they had not expected him to speak, as if they would be doing the talking for him.
The stranger raised his hands lifted his rough hood off his head and it fell to his shoulders, the leader's face finally revealed.
In fact, it wasn't a young lad, not even a man at all. It was a young girl. She had long hair, like that of the elf's next to her. It was blonde like Legolas', but unlike his style, hers was in thin cornrows up to the middle of her scalp. The top half parted and gathered in a tie, then the rest of it fell down to her shoulder blades, the ends of her hair with streaks of dark black. Her face was extremely young compared to the elf's beside her, and she looked not much younger than Anotil.
She sighed. "My lord, this is Anotil, son of Nerodethul, and Ryuernet of Mirkwood, son of Atosir." She stepped forward and looked straight at Aragorn, noticing Legolas and Gimli behind him. "They are my most trusted companions, and I would trust any life in their hands. They are the most skilled soldiers of my army and the most loyal a person could have by their side."
Aragorn, and seemingly everyone else in the hall, was astonished. He choked a bit. "Your army, milady?"
She nodded, her eyes serious and piercing. "My army. I am Hashineya, daughter of Tarleon, leader of the Kyuketsen army of Forlindon."
The soldiers and guards in the room stepped back, murmuring to each other words of shock and surprise. Gimli came forward. "I thought the Kyuketsen army was but a myth! And to know now it really exists!"
Legolas shook his head. "But the Green Elves inhabit Forlindon. You look no older than a child," he then pointed at Ryuernet, "he's from Mirkwood, which is the other end of Middle Earth, and he's a man, not an elf."
His words hit a spot with her. She let out a slow breath. "My lord, I am not an elf either. My mother was a woman, a mortal, just like any other woman in this city. And, may I add without being too rude, I am not a child. I am nineteen, so you know, and although I am the youngest person in this room, you should watch your words when you call someone a child.
"And to add to what you said, sir, I know very well that the Green Elves resided in Forlindon. But ten years ago, when my people arrived there, there was no one. Nothing. We wouldn't be here if there was someone already there."
Aragorn said softly. "Pray tell us why you arrived in Forlindon in the first place?"
Hashineya exhaled deeply and nodded. "It is a long story."
"My mother was a mortal and my father an elf. We lived in a small town outside the woods of Mirkwood. My father, a descendant of Andoltos, the founder of our community, married a young she-elf named Alexial in his travels. He seemed young, when in fact he was a few hundred years old. But that did not stop Alexial from marrying him and bearing him three girls, each a few decades apart in birth: Artemis, Mildred, and Anare. After a few more centuries, long after Alexial had died, my sisters, with full immortality, only looked like young women. My father met another woman whom he fell in love with a woman named Nianerve. That was my mother. After a few years of marriage, my mother bore me. She died after giving birth.
"Ryuernet was even older than my father. He had faced punishment in Mirkwood for stealing, and was accused of plotting to kill the royal family, even though he was innocent (he was framed, you see). He had stolen things, but only food and a bit of money. Some weapons and such, maybe. He was banished from Mirkwood by Thranduil." She looked with a bit of hatred towards Legolas, as if she already knew that Thranduil was his father. "He came to our town, and found a great acceptance from my father, who did not seem to care about his record. Ryuernet swore loyalty to my father and promised to protect his heirs and family." Aragorn looked towards Ryuernet. The tall elf had his eyes narrowed, never leaving from his stern expression that he couldn't seem to break. His eyes implied that there was no question that his leader was telling the truth and that there should be no question about it. The king of men decided to avoid the strange elf's eyes and looked at Hashineya again.
She continued. "Ryuernet has been my protector since my birth. He is undoubtedly the most loyal person I have and ever will meet. Our town was filled with people of all sorts: men, elves, half-elves mostly, for they were the children of the elves and mortals that lived there, and even random dwarves came and went. When I was nine years old, our town was attacked by a heard of orcs. We had no time to ride into Mirkwood and seek help, for it was pitch black and the attack had come unexpected. My father…" her voice clipped short, "my father…was slaughtered as he fought off the orcs that had come to kill me and my sisters. My sisters had already, however, ridden off into Mirkwood, and I believe they are still there, for they are immortal. They had left me behind to die in the attack. I do not think they liked me very much, especially since we had different mothers, and my mother was the one who was human.
"But besides that point, the attack. Yes, it was horrible. There was chaos everywhere. Ryuernet and some other elders tried to gather as many people as possible. Then…we just ran. We ran and ran. One of the elves with us made the water rise in one of the streams we went over and that delayed the orcs. By the time the water lowered, our scent was gone, and so were we. We ran into Rohan, but continued north from there. We entered Eriador, went around the Shire (we couldn't draw the attention of the Hobbits) and we went through the River Lune. We were hoping that the elves in Forlindon, which was as north was we could go, would help us. But there was a green, empty land. It was like the elves of Forlindon had vanished without a trace. We found a few villages, but they were either burnt or abandoned. Alone we had to start a new town, a new world.
"After a few years, it was successful. I was thirteen, and now the leader of our colony by my father's death. Many visitors laughed at us, at me, but my people knew I had the knowledge to lead them. I was my father's daughter, and I would prosper.
"And now," Hashineya lifted her head high, the strands of blonde and black-streaked hair falling from the edges of her face, "it is reasonable to question our army, our objective, the mere purpose of it all. On the eve of my fourteenth birthday, a young man, a scout, rode into our capital, Ulathil, and told us about an army of orcs and oracai combined that had escaped from Eisengard. They were heading north. It was then the Kyuketsen army was born.
"The name Kyuketsen came from many influences. I have heard that style of names from an island far away they call Orient. But I also named it after my great-grandfather, who was also a cousin of some sort to Anotil's family. His name was…"
"Kyudaiil," Anotil interrupted.
Hashineya nodded. "Kyudaiil, yes. The scout who had told us about the army of oracai was Anotil. I took men from my colony, which had quite grown to a large state at the time, I took men from other lands, all who were willing to fight. But I kept my enlistment discreet. I did it myself, with the help of Ryuernet and Anotil of course. I do everything that concerns this army with my own hands.
"Anyways, I started training them, combing the fighting of elves and men alike, and even maneuvers of battle I spent years drawing up myself. Battle had always fascinated me. But many of the men that enlisted thought they were only under my rule, and that Ryuernet was their leader.
"'No,' he told them, 'this woman here is your leader. Bow before the Lady Hasinea, leader of Ulathil and all of Forlindon!' It took a while to accept the fact that a female teenager was the leader of wise elves, powerful men, and that this female teenager could lead them all to victory against the perils of evil and the dark spawn of Eisengard. Our army wasn't very large, but the quality of my men was predominant over the quantity. With roughly 1400 men, we said our goodbyes to Ulathil, to Forlindon. We left some soldiers behind to guard the colony, and I left a trusted relative, Denman, son of Geroden, in charge. He was a right-hand man to my father, right beside Ryuernet. But I would rather have Ryuernet by my side.
"We trained and fought. Our army was so small, yet so great, when only three men would die in battle, we would all mourn them and give each of them their own respective burial. The Kyuketsen army has never left the dead, because those good men risked their lives for our good, and it would be disrespectful to leave them to rot in the ground, for later years and generations to trample what once was a great warrior, a great man, into the dirt to be dirt forever. It would be horrid to have their blood stain the earth forever and have their souls forever haunting the forsaken battle field of their end. I know every name of my soldiers, and when they die, the image of their faces never leaves my mind.
"Lord Aragorn, king of men, you know me now. You know my purpose, and you know my past. I assure you now, if I was a traitor, an enemy," she smiled, "that would be one hell of a history to make up off the top of my mind."
For the first time since the strangers' entrance into the palace, Aragorn smiled, laughing quietly. He looked up at her, this time with welcome eyes. "Milady, you are welcome to stay here as long as you want."
Anotil grinned, and Hashineya's eyes lit up, and she turned around and hugged Anotil. But she remembered her manners and bowed to Aragorn. Ryuernet said nothing, but his expression lightened a little.
The guards in the room lowered their hands from the hilts of their swords and let out a sigh of relief. Hashineya ginned and bowed again. "My lord, is there anything else you require from me?"
Aragorn pondered a little, rubbing his scratchy chin. "In fact," he said, "there is. Would you mind joining us for dinner?"
At the table, Gimli and Legolas sat on one side of the table, and the three Kyuketsen leaders on the other. Hashineya was in the middle, fiddling with the bread that was before her. She drew a few eyes as she childishly ripped off the crust and put it on the edge of her plate.
Gimli adjusted himself in his seat. "Now, milady. Tell me, are these orcs fierce? I mean, big, scary?"
Aragorn came to the table and smiled as he sat down beside Legolas. "Gimli thinks the bigger the better."
"And they are!" he declared, "Why, you remember at Helms Deep! They kept on comin' but I slashed them down, one by one!"
Hashineya grinned. "Oh, yes. They are large, black, and ugly as all hell. They look like they went to the fires but they were spat back out. An ugly band of—" Ryuernet coughed, signaling for Hashineya not to ramble on. It was clear that although she claimed she was very mature, the nineteen years of her age clearly showed.
She shook her head as her soup was placed before her. "We just came from the Dead Marshes. Ugly bog, believe me. It seemed like night all the time, and our whole army didn't sleep once through our travels through there. We thought we had the orcs cornered, but they are black and so was the sky, so it was fortunate we were able to get out."
Anotil showed a small grin coming onto his face. "If I remember, Hashineya, you fell asleep on your horse."
Her eyes widened. "Me! I, the leader, falling asleep! My, I should have left you back with the soldiers, Ano!" she exclaimed, but her tone was playful. The room had a lighter air to it. It was the way this young girl acted that lifted the seriousness from the room. The only place it stayed was in Ryuernet's deep eyes.
Legolas spoke up. "Sir, how long ago were you banished from Mirkwood?"
Ryuernet stopped eating. He dropped his spoon and glared at Legolas. He immediately regretted asking the question.
But Hashineya didn't seem to notice. "Oh, long ago. Thousands and thousands of years. Maybe…um…four?"
Anotil laughed. "Yes, Hashineya. Thousands!"
"Hey!" she playfully nudged him.
Ryuernet, this time, spoke. "Son of Thranduil, I can assure you that you weren't born when I was falsely accused and banished by your father. Yes, I should have received punishment for robbery, if only it was known it was too feed my family."
A silence filled the room. Everyone stopped eating, but Ryuernet didn't let his fierce look drop. He gritted his teeth, bending the spoon in his hand. Hashineya noticed it this time, and, thinking of no other way to solve this, she kicked Ryuernet in the shin.
He cursed, his hand flying to his leg, but Hashineya hmphed. "Well, my lord, I feel we need to leave now." She stood and bowed, then looked at Anotil and Ryuernet. "Gaeh," she growled, and the two nodded and left the room.
"I apologize for Ryuernet's behavior, but I did not want to mention in front of him that he hated Mirkwood to begin with." She sighed and held her head in her hand. "This is all very embarrassing. But, the man is who he is." She bent over, lifted her soup bowl, and gulped the whole thing down. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "Thank you very much, Lord Aragorn. I must leave now, but the soup was delicious!"
She stalked angrily down the street, her nasty demeanor making people step out of her way when she passed. She found Ryuernet and Anotil waiting by a local tavern.
"My lady, the men are—"
"Shut up, Anotil," she growled, then faced Ryuernet, "I hope you don't mind, Ryuernet, to keep your damned grudges to yourself! Legolas has done nothing to you. You want to blame Thranduil, then blame him! But don't make whatever weak trust we have with them weaken even more."
Her angry eyes glared up at Ryuernet. For a moment, the elf wanted badly to slap her, send her to the dirt. He clenched his hands tightly, making the leather of his gloves crack. He grit his teeth hard and let out a sharp breath.
"Yes, my lady," he bowed.