Disclaimer: Everything you recognise is Tolkiens, Catherine is mine.
A.N. Woohoo! Another chapter written And this is a long one considering that I don't write such long chapters. . . So enjoy!
~. . .~ means talking in elfish
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It's all in the soul
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Chapter 7: A matter of trust
______________________
It was only a soft breeze, flowing through the night with lit stars. So many stars were gracing the sky, uncountable much. Such precious light it gave, as the waning moon held the tides to her. No clouds could obscure this fairylike picture. Why would those little wisps wish to hide such beauty?
The trees bathed in the starlight, leaves rustling in the soft breeze. The golden leaves seemed to shine silver. The sounds they make were a caress to ones ear, should they pick it up. A gentle whisper that would embrace you if it could.
Elrond had a frown on his face as he thought. He could clearly see the beauty that surrounded him. He could also hear the soft sounds from nature passing by. He was troubled. He was worried. Earlier that evening, Legolas had spoken to him. It appeared that his twin daggers were missing. He clearly remembered putting them on his nightstand, yet they were gone when he woke up. Legolas was quite distressed over the fact that his daggers were gone. Elrond had promised him he would tell his servants to look for them, but as of yet they were unfound.
Then there was still the subject of his daughter. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed as if there was a distance between them. It was also normal, considering that she did not truly know him. But the fact still hurt him. Had he not sat by her every night, reading, talking, or just being there? He had to find a way to close the gap between them. But how? He sighted. He would think on his problems not today, but tomorrow. Now, he needed to sleep.
****************************
Legolas was not happy. Someone had taken his daggers. No, not taken. He believed them to be stolen. He had immediately set out to find Lord Elrond and told him about his missing daggers. Lord Elrond had promised him he would search for them. The thought of his daggers made him sad. They had been a gift, a proof he had become a warrior in the eyes of his father. And now that proof was gone.
He calmly walked to one of the gardens, intent on letting his frustrations out. The site that greeted him cheered him up a bit. The gardens in Imladris were always a sight to behold. How pretty the flowers were, even in the dark night. Legolas chose a tree close to his guestroom to climb in. He stood at its base, and skillfully made his way up to one of the greater and higher branches. He would sit there staring at the stars that seemed to reflect his own feelings. His mind began wondering.
He began wondering about the strange elf he had saved earlier that day. What was her name again ? Oh yes, Catherine. It truly was a strange name. The strangest one he had ever heard. How come he had never seen her before ? Was she from Lothlorien ? Or perhaps she lived in one of the settlings a bit outside Imladris ? He didn't know. All he knew was that he wished to get to know her better.
****************************
Cat stood, to her feeling, in the middle of nowhere. She could see the trees surrounding her, but she had no idea where she was. She only knew that behind her was Rivendell, and that she could hear a river flowing in front of her. She had run for hours and hours, not stopping to look back. She had been a bit amazed at that. Otherwise she never could run for such a long time. She was getting tired, but she didn't want to stop just yet. It had already been dark for a few hours, but that didn't bother her. The stars shone brightly enough. The stars had amazed her also. There were so many, and they were so bright . . .
She held up her head, trying to hear in which direction the water was, before walking in that direction. She was close to it, she was certain of that. So she walked. And while she walked she took the dagger to inspect it more closely. She could easily see that it was a very fine dagger. It weighted almost nothing, Could she see a sort of writing on them? She wasn't sure, but then again, it didn't really matter. She put the dagger away again, next to its twin.
The water was further away than she had thought, so she decided to stop there. She didn't want to sleep on the ground, afraid that she would be easily spotted by not so friendly beings. After a few clumsy tries she managed to climb into a tree. Seating herself on a great branch, she promptly fell asleep.
****************************
Elrond awake as the first rays of the sun hit his face. He felt rested and ready to face his problems again. He would go see . . . Catherine, asking her to join breakfast. After that he was planning to spend some time with her, to get to know her better. With a relieved heart he went to her room. Things would go better today ! He knocked on the door of her room, expecting her to answer. But respons would not come. Elrond frowned. He started to get a bad feeling about this. He slowly opened the door, not wanting to startle his daughter. His frown changed in a look of worry when he saw that her bed was not slept in.
He quickly went to the dining hall, hoping she would be there. He saw Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir sitting there, just as Lord Glorfindel. But he did not see Catherine.
~Has any of you seen Catherine?~ He asked worriedly.
~No ada, is she not in her room?~ Arwen responded.
~No, I already looked there. Her bed was not slept in tonight. Where could she be?~ Elrond saw that they did not know. He even asked a few servants if they had seen her, but they replied in negative. She had simply vanished.
Elrond rounded his guards up and told them to search for her. He himself also mounted a horse to look for her. Unknown to him he took the same path she had taken. He rode for several hours when he found her tracks. He swiftly followed them.
****************************
Catherine woke up from an unrestful sleep. A branch was not an ideal sleeping place! She tried to get the knots out of her shoulders, but couldn't do it because of her balancing trouble. Sitting still on a branch was easy, but moving ? No, moving would lead to falling. She looked down before she slowly climbed out of the tree. She found herself to be really thirsty, so she once again walked in the direction of the running water. She soon arrived at the river, where she kneeled down and drank greedly of the water. She was cursing herself, for she had forgotten to bring food with her. But she felt she couldn't go back now. She surely would be missed by now ! She quickly but carefully crossed the river, and resumed her way away from Imladris.
After walking for awhile she noticed that the forest seemed different, more quietly. It made her feel wary. She took out the daggers, gripping them hard. Something was amiss here. She could almost feel it, taste it. Then she heard it. Several footstaps coming her way. She looked for a place to hide, but it was too late. They had also heard her. It were those ugly, filthy creatures again. What had Elrond called them ? Orcs ! There were five of them, all armed with a sword.
Catherine gulped as she became as white as a sheet. She did the only thing that made any sense to her. She turned around to run and screamed. She ran back to the river, but she could hear the orcs coming after her. Suddenly she spotted something in the distance. Were it other orcs ? She hesitated for a moment, and looked behind her. The orcs were closeby ! Then she abruptly tripped. She tried to get up, but an orc had taken hold of her leg. She tried to scramble away.
The sound of hooves came closer, and suddenly the grip on her leg was released. She looked behind her, and saw Elrond standing there, unarmed. He had knocked the orc away with a branch. She saw how the other orcs closed in on him. She distrusted the man, but she couldn't just watch him get killed, could she ? No, she couldn't. She quickly stood up and ran to his side.
« Here, take these ! » She urged. Elrond looked at the daggers and took them. He faced the orcs again and began fighting them. To Catherine it seemed like poetry in motion. He wielded the daggers with great experience. The orcs raised there swords and tried to slash him, but they only got themselves killed. The fight was soon over.
Elrond looked over at the bodies. There were too many orcs too close to Rivendell. He frowned when he turned to face Catherine. She had run away. And he dared to bet that the daggers belonged to Legolas, so she had stolen to. He saw Catherine pale and withdraw when he looked at her.
« What were you thinking, running away from the safety of Imladris ! » he said angrily. Catherine just looked at him. He started to walk to her, but stopped when he noticed that she backed away. His frown became more pronounced. « Why do you back away ? »
Catherine looked at the frown that marred his face. The doubts came back. Was he to be trusted or not ? He just saved her life. . .He at least deserved an answer, however reluctant she was to give one. « I don't know you. »
« I am your father. » was calmly spoken by Elrond.
Catherine forced back her insecurety and her tears. « No, your not.» she whispered.
Elrond was shocked to hear that. « I /am/ your father ! You were conceived by me and birthed by Celebrian ! »
A dam broke inside of Catherine. She could no longer hold back her fear and doubts. Tears streamed from her eyes. « You are not my father ! I had a father ! You are just a stranger, someone I don't know. For all I know you could be someone evil, a murderer or something like that ! And what about my mother, huh ? » She backed away from him again, as he took a step towards her. « Stay back ! Don't come near me ! »
Elrond stood still again. But not for long. In one swift movement he was behind her and took her arms, keeping them across her chest. She screamed. « No ! Let me go ! Get your hands of me ! Please, let me go ! » She started sobbing again. « I want to go home ! I don't want to be here. Why am I here ? Why ? Tell me fucking why ! I don't belong here, you bastards ! I. Don't. Belong. Here ! Take. Me. Back. HOME ! »
Elrond continued to hold her, even as she sobbed hystericaly, even as she lost strenght in her legs. He murmed comforting nonsense words in a desperate attempt to calm her down and sooth her feelings. After a long while he felt her calm down a bit, but she remained tense and distrusting. He turned her around in his arms so he could looke into her arms Then he started talking.
« I want you to listen to me, and don't interrupt me untill I'm done. I /am/ your father by blood. But you are right, we do not know each other and it saddens me deeply. But your claim that I would be evil hurt me. I am not evil, rest asure of that ! About your mother. . . » He sighed. He still did not like to talk about Celebrian. « She. . . got hurt and decided many years ago to sail to the West. She could not handle living here anymore. I don't know why you are here, I only know that you were supposed to be here from birth on, not only in body, but also in mind. And I hope you can make Imladris your home. With me. And Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir. I want us to get to know each other. I want us to be a family.»
Catherine murmered something to herself. « I'm so stupid. . . » Of course Elrond had heard her. « Why do you call yourself stupid ? »
« I wanted to confront you, but I was. . . too afraid. I still am. I don't know you. I can't tell how you are going to react. I was afraid you would react badly. I should have known better ! »
Elrond gently lifted her chin up so he looked her in the eyes. « Perhaps, but I understand. I hope you can trust me now. » Catherine nodded. She trusted him now. No more doubts. Well, not big ones anyway. He had proven himself not to be a bad guy.
Suddenly Elrond smiled a tiny smile. « Now I have a question for you. How did you get these daggers ? »
Catherine blushed and looked at her feet before answering. « I took them from the nightstand. The elf was sleeping, and I didn't want to leave unarmed. . . »
Elrond just shook his head as he motioned her to sit on his horse. They rode back to Imladris, in a silence that was few times interrupted by a questione from one of them. And so slowly a conversation started, and trust got a chance to grow.
*
*
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Please review
*
*
*
A.N. Woohoo! Another chapter written And this is a long one considering that I don't write such long chapters. . . So enjoy!
~. . .~ means talking in elfish
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It's all in the soul
----------------------
Chapter 7: A matter of trust
______________________
It was only a soft breeze, flowing through the night with lit stars. So many stars were gracing the sky, uncountable much. Such precious light it gave, as the waning moon held the tides to her. No clouds could obscure this fairylike picture. Why would those little wisps wish to hide such beauty?
The trees bathed in the starlight, leaves rustling in the soft breeze. The golden leaves seemed to shine silver. The sounds they make were a caress to ones ear, should they pick it up. A gentle whisper that would embrace you if it could.
Elrond had a frown on his face as he thought. He could clearly see the beauty that surrounded him. He could also hear the soft sounds from nature passing by. He was troubled. He was worried. Earlier that evening, Legolas had spoken to him. It appeared that his twin daggers were missing. He clearly remembered putting them on his nightstand, yet they were gone when he woke up. Legolas was quite distressed over the fact that his daggers were gone. Elrond had promised him he would tell his servants to look for them, but as of yet they were unfound.
Then there was still the subject of his daughter. The more he thought about it, the more it seemed as if there was a distance between them. It was also normal, considering that she did not truly know him. But the fact still hurt him. Had he not sat by her every night, reading, talking, or just being there? He had to find a way to close the gap between them. But how? He sighted. He would think on his problems not today, but tomorrow. Now, he needed to sleep.
****************************
Legolas was not happy. Someone had taken his daggers. No, not taken. He believed them to be stolen. He had immediately set out to find Lord Elrond and told him about his missing daggers. Lord Elrond had promised him he would search for them. The thought of his daggers made him sad. They had been a gift, a proof he had become a warrior in the eyes of his father. And now that proof was gone.
He calmly walked to one of the gardens, intent on letting his frustrations out. The site that greeted him cheered him up a bit. The gardens in Imladris were always a sight to behold. How pretty the flowers were, even in the dark night. Legolas chose a tree close to his guestroom to climb in. He stood at its base, and skillfully made his way up to one of the greater and higher branches. He would sit there staring at the stars that seemed to reflect his own feelings. His mind began wondering.
He began wondering about the strange elf he had saved earlier that day. What was her name again ? Oh yes, Catherine. It truly was a strange name. The strangest one he had ever heard. How come he had never seen her before ? Was she from Lothlorien ? Or perhaps she lived in one of the settlings a bit outside Imladris ? He didn't know. All he knew was that he wished to get to know her better.
****************************
Cat stood, to her feeling, in the middle of nowhere. She could see the trees surrounding her, but she had no idea where she was. She only knew that behind her was Rivendell, and that she could hear a river flowing in front of her. She had run for hours and hours, not stopping to look back. She had been a bit amazed at that. Otherwise she never could run for such a long time. She was getting tired, but she didn't want to stop just yet. It had already been dark for a few hours, but that didn't bother her. The stars shone brightly enough. The stars had amazed her also. There were so many, and they were so bright . . .
She held up her head, trying to hear in which direction the water was, before walking in that direction. She was close to it, she was certain of that. So she walked. And while she walked she took the dagger to inspect it more closely. She could easily see that it was a very fine dagger. It weighted almost nothing, Could she see a sort of writing on them? She wasn't sure, but then again, it didn't really matter. She put the dagger away again, next to its twin.
The water was further away than she had thought, so she decided to stop there. She didn't want to sleep on the ground, afraid that she would be easily spotted by not so friendly beings. After a few clumsy tries she managed to climb into a tree. Seating herself on a great branch, she promptly fell asleep.
****************************
Elrond awake as the first rays of the sun hit his face. He felt rested and ready to face his problems again. He would go see . . . Catherine, asking her to join breakfast. After that he was planning to spend some time with her, to get to know her better. With a relieved heart he went to her room. Things would go better today ! He knocked on the door of her room, expecting her to answer. But respons would not come. Elrond frowned. He started to get a bad feeling about this. He slowly opened the door, not wanting to startle his daughter. His frown changed in a look of worry when he saw that her bed was not slept in.
He quickly went to the dining hall, hoping she would be there. He saw Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir sitting there, just as Lord Glorfindel. But he did not see Catherine.
~Has any of you seen Catherine?~ He asked worriedly.
~No ada, is she not in her room?~ Arwen responded.
~No, I already looked there. Her bed was not slept in tonight. Where could she be?~ Elrond saw that they did not know. He even asked a few servants if they had seen her, but they replied in negative. She had simply vanished.
Elrond rounded his guards up and told them to search for her. He himself also mounted a horse to look for her. Unknown to him he took the same path she had taken. He rode for several hours when he found her tracks. He swiftly followed them.
****************************
Catherine woke up from an unrestful sleep. A branch was not an ideal sleeping place! She tried to get the knots out of her shoulders, but couldn't do it because of her balancing trouble. Sitting still on a branch was easy, but moving ? No, moving would lead to falling. She looked down before she slowly climbed out of the tree. She found herself to be really thirsty, so she once again walked in the direction of the running water. She soon arrived at the river, where she kneeled down and drank greedly of the water. She was cursing herself, for she had forgotten to bring food with her. But she felt she couldn't go back now. She surely would be missed by now ! She quickly but carefully crossed the river, and resumed her way away from Imladris.
After walking for awhile she noticed that the forest seemed different, more quietly. It made her feel wary. She took out the daggers, gripping them hard. Something was amiss here. She could almost feel it, taste it. Then she heard it. Several footstaps coming her way. She looked for a place to hide, but it was too late. They had also heard her. It were those ugly, filthy creatures again. What had Elrond called them ? Orcs ! There were five of them, all armed with a sword.
Catherine gulped as she became as white as a sheet. She did the only thing that made any sense to her. She turned around to run and screamed. She ran back to the river, but she could hear the orcs coming after her. Suddenly she spotted something in the distance. Were it other orcs ? She hesitated for a moment, and looked behind her. The orcs were closeby ! Then she abruptly tripped. She tried to get up, but an orc had taken hold of her leg. She tried to scramble away.
The sound of hooves came closer, and suddenly the grip on her leg was released. She looked behind her, and saw Elrond standing there, unarmed. He had knocked the orc away with a branch. She saw how the other orcs closed in on him. She distrusted the man, but she couldn't just watch him get killed, could she ? No, she couldn't. She quickly stood up and ran to his side.
« Here, take these ! » She urged. Elrond looked at the daggers and took them. He faced the orcs again and began fighting them. To Catherine it seemed like poetry in motion. He wielded the daggers with great experience. The orcs raised there swords and tried to slash him, but they only got themselves killed. The fight was soon over.
Elrond looked over at the bodies. There were too many orcs too close to Rivendell. He frowned when he turned to face Catherine. She had run away. And he dared to bet that the daggers belonged to Legolas, so she had stolen to. He saw Catherine pale and withdraw when he looked at her.
« What were you thinking, running away from the safety of Imladris ! » he said angrily. Catherine just looked at him. He started to walk to her, but stopped when he noticed that she backed away. His frown became more pronounced. « Why do you back away ? »
Catherine looked at the frown that marred his face. The doubts came back. Was he to be trusted or not ? He just saved her life. . .He at least deserved an answer, however reluctant she was to give one. « I don't know you. »
« I am your father. » was calmly spoken by Elrond.
Catherine forced back her insecurety and her tears. « No, your not.» she whispered.
Elrond was shocked to hear that. « I /am/ your father ! You were conceived by me and birthed by Celebrian ! »
A dam broke inside of Catherine. She could no longer hold back her fear and doubts. Tears streamed from her eyes. « You are not my father ! I had a father ! You are just a stranger, someone I don't know. For all I know you could be someone evil, a murderer or something like that ! And what about my mother, huh ? » She backed away from him again, as he took a step towards her. « Stay back ! Don't come near me ! »
Elrond stood still again. But not for long. In one swift movement he was behind her and took her arms, keeping them across her chest. She screamed. « No ! Let me go ! Get your hands of me ! Please, let me go ! » She started sobbing again. « I want to go home ! I don't want to be here. Why am I here ? Why ? Tell me fucking why ! I don't belong here, you bastards ! I. Don't. Belong. Here ! Take. Me. Back. HOME ! »
Elrond continued to hold her, even as she sobbed hystericaly, even as she lost strenght in her legs. He murmed comforting nonsense words in a desperate attempt to calm her down and sooth her feelings. After a long while he felt her calm down a bit, but she remained tense and distrusting. He turned her around in his arms so he could looke into her arms Then he started talking.
« I want you to listen to me, and don't interrupt me untill I'm done. I /am/ your father by blood. But you are right, we do not know each other and it saddens me deeply. But your claim that I would be evil hurt me. I am not evil, rest asure of that ! About your mother. . . » He sighed. He still did not like to talk about Celebrian. « She. . . got hurt and decided many years ago to sail to the West. She could not handle living here anymore. I don't know why you are here, I only know that you were supposed to be here from birth on, not only in body, but also in mind. And I hope you can make Imladris your home. With me. And Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir. I want us to get to know each other. I want us to be a family.»
Catherine murmered something to herself. « I'm so stupid. . . » Of course Elrond had heard her. « Why do you call yourself stupid ? »
« I wanted to confront you, but I was. . . too afraid. I still am. I don't know you. I can't tell how you are going to react. I was afraid you would react badly. I should have known better ! »
Elrond gently lifted her chin up so he looked her in the eyes. « Perhaps, but I understand. I hope you can trust me now. » Catherine nodded. She trusted him now. No more doubts. Well, not big ones anyway. He had proven himself not to be a bad guy.
Suddenly Elrond smiled a tiny smile. « Now I have a question for you. How did you get these daggers ? »
Catherine blushed and looked at her feet before answering. « I took them from the nightstand. The elf was sleeping, and I didn't want to leave unarmed. . . »
Elrond just shook his head as he motioned her to sit on his horse. They rode back to Imladris, in a silence that was few times interrupted by a questione from one of them. And so slowly a conversation started, and trust got a chance to grow.
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*
Please review
*
*
*