Disclaimer: I dont own LotR...i wish i did. I am not making any money off of this, dont sue me!!!
a/n: mildly a LotR fic, but only in using a few places and one character, enjoy! ^_^
The Beginning
*A thin-framed elven woman sat quietly in a small cottage, in a rocking chair, cradling a baby. There was another woman in the kitchen, cooking something and wafting delicious smells around the house. At the time, all was calm. This peace was suddenly shattered when several large orcs wearing the traditional attire of an elf-hating group in which they obviously belonged. They could be recognized by their black masks, concealing their eyes but leaving the rest of their face bare. They also wore an ensemble of robes in deep bloodred with a black widow spider in black upon their breast. The terrorists of middle earth. The elf-woman stood up, setting her baby down, and proclaimed "Halt! What is your business in my home? If you have no valid answer, I bid you leave now!"
The leader of them coolly replied "Our business is to rid Middle-Earth of scum like you...and we intend to do just that!" the last part he yelled and charged her with his sword. The other woman was powerless to stop them, for two other members of the group had seized her and held her back. The man that had charged the other woman had reached his target and plunged his sword deeply into her left shoulder. The pierced skin surrounding the wound had turned black at the edges. The blade that had committed the crime was also black, a sign of evil.
(Note: It was a morgul-blade. It was perhaps a special blade, for, unlike other blades, it would dissolve when anything pure had touched it. Naturally, it vanished when it pierced the young woman. It was different from the other morgul-blades that had been found over the years, this one was forged by the hand of Sauron himself. It had great power and the damage it could wreak was unimaginable. Sauron passed away when the one ring was cast into the fires of Orodruin, so he would never be able to wield the morgul blade again. Perhaps the remainder of the Uruk -Hai had seized out of the wreckage of Barad-dur, the dark tower....)
(a/n: back to the story!)
From the wound, blood was pouring out, the poor wounded maiden lay sprawled, unconscious, over her baby, which in her last ounce of strength, she had tried to protect before passing out from the loss of blood. The orcs and man, seemingly satisfied with the damage they had caused, hit the other woman over the head, and she fell to the ground, unconscious. They then destroyed many of their property and left. Luckily, the letter-carrier of the village had come to bring the news, and found both of the women and called for the healer of their town. The "cooking maiden" was revived and the wounded mother was healed to the best condition she could be by that point. The wound was closed and left no mark, save the long hideous black scar along it. Most say that the evil never truly left it....*
'This nightmare!' thought Laurefinwen, a young elvish girl, as she was jerked awake by this reaccurance.
Unbeknownst to most, Glorfindel, The brave army captain of Gondolin, was married before he set off with the armies. His betrothed was named Earel. Also Unbeknownst to most, before he left, she bore to him a daughter, Laurefinwen. He was only around long enough to name her, after himself, and as to the color of her raiment. (the name 'Glorfindel' means golden-haired and the name 'Laurefinwen' means golden-haired maiden) Then his duties to Gondolin called. Sadly he was killed somewhere in this, on the dreadful pass, Cirith Thoronath, Eagles Cleft. A narrow pass wound its way cautiously around, on the right side, a precipe, and on the left, a deep abyss. Glorfindel valiantly dueled with a balrog when his party was ambushed by orcs. Both Glorfindel and balrog fell to their ruin into the crevice. when Earel found out about his death, she grieved deeply. She had loved him so passionately that she wished to die for him. For many days, she neither slept, nor ate, and the only time she came out of her room was to tend to the baby. Soon after the untimely passing of Glorfindel, when she was caring for Laurefinwen, the orcs came. She indeed was the maiden wounded, and Laurefinwen was the baby. The other woman mentioned, though she didn't look it was very old, and was Laurefinwen's grandmother, Aldaloth. They never called her that, to them, she was grandmama. This vision wasn't actually a nightmare, but a flashback. Of course, Laurefinwen didn't remember any of this, as she was a child when this happened, but grandmama had told her many a story, as did her mother when she inquired about her scar.
As to the rest of her growing up, it had been quick and rewarding. Her childhood fled fast, and at the age of 70.(I heard that '70' is the elvish equivalent to our '18') Laurefinwen had almost grown enough to posses the body she would inhabit till the end of time, as elves never age. Her hair was golden upon her brow (hence her name), and flowing like a river past her shoulders. Her skin was milky her eyes clear blue, and her hands dainty and nimble. She was tall in stature, and not undeveloped, as she had reached her coming of age at 70. She was not only skilled in most forms of women-craft, she was graceful, and very perceptive in the feelings of others and matters of the heart. Her flaws in these manners were one, her inability to sew. She was a horrible seamstress, and had no desire to learn better. Two, she was a notoriously bad-mouthed elf. she usually remembered to keep it to a minimum when she was around superiors, who included just about everyone other than her friends and other people her age, she also didn't consider people in her family superiors to her.
(where were we...?)
Even more, if possible, she was skilled in manly affairs, such as archery, combat, and riding. She was the best horse rider in all Belegsir, he village. She could beat anyone that dared to challenge her. She could also wield both elven blades and bow as well as any man, or elf. She, of course, had to learn these in secret from whoever would teach her, for it was considered scornful for a woman to learn something generally meant for a male. She mostly learned from trusted warriors. The warriors of Belegsir were some of the fiercest of Middle-Earth. Of these strong, disciplined elves, some were kind enough to teach their techniques, even though Laurefinwen was a female. The especially helpful were her friends, two elf-men, Feathalion and Gaerelen. They both are tall, strong, and handsome. Gaerelen had short blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Feathalion, on the other hand, was completely different, he had long black hair and intense green eyes. Both were first class soldiers of Belegsir. After her lessons with her mother, Laurefinwen was planning to meet them by the Linduin, the singing river. It was strong and swift, hence their cities name, meaning mighty river. They were working on archery today. Long before, Laurefinwen had the village bowsmith craft her an elegant and strong bow. It was made of holly, long and supple; it had beautiful intricate designs of flowers and leaves carved into it. Feathalion and Gaerelen had shown her how to make arrows long before, which she had became quite good at, and soon began to carve the same designs that were on her bow into each of her arrows.
Time seemed to drag on as Earel kept trying in vain to teach Laurefinwen how to stitch. Finally, after a long lesson, complete with much groaning from Laurefinwen, Earel said "Oh, this is hopeless! I suppose we can leave it here for today...." she then heaved a sigh and put down her needles.
"Yes!" Laurefinwen happily hissed through her teeth, her face brightening. she quickly ran to her room to collect her materials needed for archery and hastily shoved them in her bag. By the look of the sun, she was already late. She then ran out the door, with a hurried "Be back later, bye mom!" to Earel who in return called
"Aren't you going to help me clean up!?" This was to no avail, as Laurefinwen was already out the door and running down the street. Earel began to clear the cluttered table.
Laurefinwen dashed down her secret path through the beautiful wood she lived by, not stopping to enjoy the loveliness of what lay all around her. Running at top speed, she quickly reached the Linduin. She found Gaerelen and Feathalion waiting for her with their bows. They had set up targets on trees in varying heights and distances. When Laurefinwen arrived, Feathalion flashed her a bright smile and Gaerelen said
"Well, well, look who decided to join us!" of course he was teasing, and while he said it, he sent her a wink. He came walking up to meet her while Feathalion shyly hung back and started taking an arrow out of his quiver.
"Today, we will work on accuracy of aim in all distances and heights." Feathalion said in his calm voice.
"Yeah, so lets get down to business!" said Gaerelen in a mockingly serious tone of voice.
"As if you would ever be serious!" Laurefinwen laughed, each knew the other was joking as their eyes met an they both grinned. Laurefinwen, eager to begin, took out her bow and quiver and carried both into the area in front of the targeted trees. She fitted an arrow into her bow, aimed, and let it sail through the air and come to rest with a thud in the center of the first target, which was about the standard target height and distance away. Feeling cocky and acting as if this was normal, she notched her second arrow, and lined up with her second target, one far away. she aimed, and fired. The arrow soared past the target and hit another tree, slightly to the left! Feathalion frowned and Gaerelen started laughing. While Gaerelen was rolling on the ground in fits of giggles, Feathalion walked over to where Laurefinwen was standing, her face burning with embarrassment, and gently told her
"If you start slightly to the left of your target, you should resist the urge to pull to the left, as most right-handed peoples tend to do."
(a/n: I have no idea if this is actually what happens, I was guessing! Just flow with it, and if there are any archers out there, don't flame me, I don't know anything!!! ach, also, if there happen to be any archers out there, correct me if i'm wrong, please)
Wrinkling her brow, perhaps not so cocky this time, Laurefinwen fitted another arrow on to her bow. She did as Feathalion said and sure enough, the arrow hit the target. It wasn't in the center, but she was improving! She glanced excitedly over at Feathalion, who gave a small smile. Gaerelen had seen this and was possibly jealous, so he came over and said "Okay, Laurefinwen, we have to work on your long-distance aiming." he proceeded to lay his hands lightly on top of hers, on her bow, and proceeded to guide it to where it should be to hit her target. She released her arrow, and it planted itself in the heart of the bullseye. She squealed with excitement and beamed at Gaerelen, who whispered something in her ear, it was illegible, but whatever it was made Laurefinwen blush and giggle. Feathalion just turned away with an odd look on his face. After that, he was quite reserved, while as Gaerelen was his normal buoyant self. They spent the remainder of the time practicing, Laurefinwen getting better and better. In the middle of their practice, a group of twittering she-elves passed by, giggling. You could hear audible whispers of insulting nature, directed at Laurefinwen. Laurefinwen shot them a sour look and cursed them aloud. She didn't even bother to control herself. She proceeded to ignore them and keep shooting. When the girls had reached them, they walked over to where Gaerelen was standing with an arrow pulled tight, ready to fire. Ruffling their skirts, several of them sidled up to him and said, simultaneously
"Hi, Gaerelen!" in their stupid flirty voices. Upon hearing this, Gaerelen's concentration was shattered, however, he still let his arrow fly. He had jerked off course and the arrow sailed somewhere to the left of him. As he was saying "Well hello ladies!-" he was cut of by a piercing scream. The scream was followed by Laurefinwen's voice saying "Ow! Shit!" when he turned around, he saw the sleeve of her dress had been torn and her arm was bleeding. He gasped and ran over to where Laurefinwen was sitting with Feathalion kneeling beside her. Laurefinwen grimaced in pain, Gaerelen's stray arrow had grazed her arm. She angrily turned to Gaerelen when he arrived and yelled "What the hell were you doing!? You and your stupid girlfriends!" with this, she reassured Feathalion that she would be okay, and gave a hurried thanks, and stormed off into the forest. She angrily stomped through the woods on her secret path, still fuming, and clutching her arm. Both elf-men stood by the banks of the Linduin, and realized that Laurefinwen had left her beautiful bow and quiver lying in the grass. They didn't know what else to do, so they took down the targets, picked up Laurefinwen's things, and started towards her house. Laurefinwen had arrived home, dirty, angry, and bleeding. When she walked in, her mothers reaction was instantaneous. "Good heavens! What happened!?" said Earel in distress, rushing to her daughters side. "Fell." Laurefinwen quickly grunted a lie. "Oh, darling, lets get you cleaned up!" said Earel, going motherly and escorting Laurefinwen to the washroom. After her wound was cleaned and dressed, there came a knock at the door. Earel answered it with Laurefinwen peering over her shoulder. There in the doorway stood Gaerelen and Feathalion. They all stood here for a moment, unclear of what to say, until Gaerelen, spotting Laurefinwen, said "Laure, you forgot your bow...and these" he said, picking up her quiver and bow. "Its Laurefinwen to you! ...And thanks!" she said, snatching her things roughly away and giving him a stony look. She then proceeded to sit by the fire, next to Grandmama. Her mother quickly thanked them a little confusedly and closed the door. Walking over to Laurefinwen, she said "You fell, huh?" with a skeptical look and cocking an eyebrow. "Meep." Laurefinwen said, looking guilty and sinking in her chair. This was the beginning of a long argument/lecture in which Laurefinwen had been forced to tell of where she really had been for the past few hours. She also had to explain about the bow, the arrows, and who were these "strange men" showing up in our doorway. Then there was some yelling done by Earel about ladylike manners and such. When she was done, she sent Laurefinwen in exile to her room. Grounded. a/n: well, that was it, please review, I need opinions!!!
a/n: mildly a LotR fic, but only in using a few places and one character, enjoy! ^_^
The Beginning
*A thin-framed elven woman sat quietly in a small cottage, in a rocking chair, cradling a baby. There was another woman in the kitchen, cooking something and wafting delicious smells around the house. At the time, all was calm. This peace was suddenly shattered when several large orcs wearing the traditional attire of an elf-hating group in which they obviously belonged. They could be recognized by their black masks, concealing their eyes but leaving the rest of their face bare. They also wore an ensemble of robes in deep bloodred with a black widow spider in black upon their breast. The terrorists of middle earth. The elf-woman stood up, setting her baby down, and proclaimed "Halt! What is your business in my home? If you have no valid answer, I bid you leave now!"
The leader of them coolly replied "Our business is to rid Middle-Earth of scum like you...and we intend to do just that!" the last part he yelled and charged her with his sword. The other woman was powerless to stop them, for two other members of the group had seized her and held her back. The man that had charged the other woman had reached his target and plunged his sword deeply into her left shoulder. The pierced skin surrounding the wound had turned black at the edges. The blade that had committed the crime was also black, a sign of evil.
(Note: It was a morgul-blade. It was perhaps a special blade, for, unlike other blades, it would dissolve when anything pure had touched it. Naturally, it vanished when it pierced the young woman. It was different from the other morgul-blades that had been found over the years, this one was forged by the hand of Sauron himself. It had great power and the damage it could wreak was unimaginable. Sauron passed away when the one ring was cast into the fires of Orodruin, so he would never be able to wield the morgul blade again. Perhaps the remainder of the Uruk -Hai had seized out of the wreckage of Barad-dur, the dark tower....)
(a/n: back to the story!)
From the wound, blood was pouring out, the poor wounded maiden lay sprawled, unconscious, over her baby, which in her last ounce of strength, she had tried to protect before passing out from the loss of blood. The orcs and man, seemingly satisfied with the damage they had caused, hit the other woman over the head, and she fell to the ground, unconscious. They then destroyed many of their property and left. Luckily, the letter-carrier of the village had come to bring the news, and found both of the women and called for the healer of their town. The "cooking maiden" was revived and the wounded mother was healed to the best condition she could be by that point. The wound was closed and left no mark, save the long hideous black scar along it. Most say that the evil never truly left it....*
'This nightmare!' thought Laurefinwen, a young elvish girl, as she was jerked awake by this reaccurance.
Unbeknownst to most, Glorfindel, The brave army captain of Gondolin, was married before he set off with the armies. His betrothed was named Earel. Also Unbeknownst to most, before he left, she bore to him a daughter, Laurefinwen. He was only around long enough to name her, after himself, and as to the color of her raiment. (the name 'Glorfindel' means golden-haired and the name 'Laurefinwen' means golden-haired maiden) Then his duties to Gondolin called. Sadly he was killed somewhere in this, on the dreadful pass, Cirith Thoronath, Eagles Cleft. A narrow pass wound its way cautiously around, on the right side, a precipe, and on the left, a deep abyss. Glorfindel valiantly dueled with a balrog when his party was ambushed by orcs. Both Glorfindel and balrog fell to their ruin into the crevice. when Earel found out about his death, she grieved deeply. She had loved him so passionately that she wished to die for him. For many days, she neither slept, nor ate, and the only time she came out of her room was to tend to the baby. Soon after the untimely passing of Glorfindel, when she was caring for Laurefinwen, the orcs came. She indeed was the maiden wounded, and Laurefinwen was the baby. The other woman mentioned, though she didn't look it was very old, and was Laurefinwen's grandmother, Aldaloth. They never called her that, to them, she was grandmama. This vision wasn't actually a nightmare, but a flashback. Of course, Laurefinwen didn't remember any of this, as she was a child when this happened, but grandmama had told her many a story, as did her mother when she inquired about her scar.
As to the rest of her growing up, it had been quick and rewarding. Her childhood fled fast, and at the age of 70.(I heard that '70' is the elvish equivalent to our '18') Laurefinwen had almost grown enough to posses the body she would inhabit till the end of time, as elves never age. Her hair was golden upon her brow (hence her name), and flowing like a river past her shoulders. Her skin was milky her eyes clear blue, and her hands dainty and nimble. She was tall in stature, and not undeveloped, as she had reached her coming of age at 70. She was not only skilled in most forms of women-craft, she was graceful, and very perceptive in the feelings of others and matters of the heart. Her flaws in these manners were one, her inability to sew. She was a horrible seamstress, and had no desire to learn better. Two, she was a notoriously bad-mouthed elf. she usually remembered to keep it to a minimum when she was around superiors, who included just about everyone other than her friends and other people her age, she also didn't consider people in her family superiors to her.
(where were we...?)
Even more, if possible, she was skilled in manly affairs, such as archery, combat, and riding. She was the best horse rider in all Belegsir, he village. She could beat anyone that dared to challenge her. She could also wield both elven blades and bow as well as any man, or elf. She, of course, had to learn these in secret from whoever would teach her, for it was considered scornful for a woman to learn something generally meant for a male. She mostly learned from trusted warriors. The warriors of Belegsir were some of the fiercest of Middle-Earth. Of these strong, disciplined elves, some were kind enough to teach their techniques, even though Laurefinwen was a female. The especially helpful were her friends, two elf-men, Feathalion and Gaerelen. They both are tall, strong, and handsome. Gaerelen had short blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Feathalion, on the other hand, was completely different, he had long black hair and intense green eyes. Both were first class soldiers of Belegsir. After her lessons with her mother, Laurefinwen was planning to meet them by the Linduin, the singing river. It was strong and swift, hence their cities name, meaning mighty river. They were working on archery today. Long before, Laurefinwen had the village bowsmith craft her an elegant and strong bow. It was made of holly, long and supple; it had beautiful intricate designs of flowers and leaves carved into it. Feathalion and Gaerelen had shown her how to make arrows long before, which she had became quite good at, and soon began to carve the same designs that were on her bow into each of her arrows.
Time seemed to drag on as Earel kept trying in vain to teach Laurefinwen how to stitch. Finally, after a long lesson, complete with much groaning from Laurefinwen, Earel said "Oh, this is hopeless! I suppose we can leave it here for today...." she then heaved a sigh and put down her needles.
"Yes!" Laurefinwen happily hissed through her teeth, her face brightening. she quickly ran to her room to collect her materials needed for archery and hastily shoved them in her bag. By the look of the sun, she was already late. She then ran out the door, with a hurried "Be back later, bye mom!" to Earel who in return called
"Aren't you going to help me clean up!?" This was to no avail, as Laurefinwen was already out the door and running down the street. Earel began to clear the cluttered table.
Laurefinwen dashed down her secret path through the beautiful wood she lived by, not stopping to enjoy the loveliness of what lay all around her. Running at top speed, she quickly reached the Linduin. She found Gaerelen and Feathalion waiting for her with their bows. They had set up targets on trees in varying heights and distances. When Laurefinwen arrived, Feathalion flashed her a bright smile and Gaerelen said
"Well, well, look who decided to join us!" of course he was teasing, and while he said it, he sent her a wink. He came walking up to meet her while Feathalion shyly hung back and started taking an arrow out of his quiver.
"Today, we will work on accuracy of aim in all distances and heights." Feathalion said in his calm voice.
"Yeah, so lets get down to business!" said Gaerelen in a mockingly serious tone of voice.
"As if you would ever be serious!" Laurefinwen laughed, each knew the other was joking as their eyes met an they both grinned. Laurefinwen, eager to begin, took out her bow and quiver and carried both into the area in front of the targeted trees. She fitted an arrow into her bow, aimed, and let it sail through the air and come to rest with a thud in the center of the first target, which was about the standard target height and distance away. Feeling cocky and acting as if this was normal, she notched her second arrow, and lined up with her second target, one far away. she aimed, and fired. The arrow soared past the target and hit another tree, slightly to the left! Feathalion frowned and Gaerelen started laughing. While Gaerelen was rolling on the ground in fits of giggles, Feathalion walked over to where Laurefinwen was standing, her face burning with embarrassment, and gently told her
"If you start slightly to the left of your target, you should resist the urge to pull to the left, as most right-handed peoples tend to do."
(a/n: I have no idea if this is actually what happens, I was guessing! Just flow with it, and if there are any archers out there, don't flame me, I don't know anything!!! ach, also, if there happen to be any archers out there, correct me if i'm wrong, please)
Wrinkling her brow, perhaps not so cocky this time, Laurefinwen fitted another arrow on to her bow. She did as Feathalion said and sure enough, the arrow hit the target. It wasn't in the center, but she was improving! She glanced excitedly over at Feathalion, who gave a small smile. Gaerelen had seen this and was possibly jealous, so he came over and said "Okay, Laurefinwen, we have to work on your long-distance aiming." he proceeded to lay his hands lightly on top of hers, on her bow, and proceeded to guide it to where it should be to hit her target. She released her arrow, and it planted itself in the heart of the bullseye. She squealed with excitement and beamed at Gaerelen, who whispered something in her ear, it was illegible, but whatever it was made Laurefinwen blush and giggle. Feathalion just turned away with an odd look on his face. After that, he was quite reserved, while as Gaerelen was his normal buoyant self. They spent the remainder of the time practicing, Laurefinwen getting better and better. In the middle of their practice, a group of twittering she-elves passed by, giggling. You could hear audible whispers of insulting nature, directed at Laurefinwen. Laurefinwen shot them a sour look and cursed them aloud. She didn't even bother to control herself. She proceeded to ignore them and keep shooting. When the girls had reached them, they walked over to where Gaerelen was standing with an arrow pulled tight, ready to fire. Ruffling their skirts, several of them sidled up to him and said, simultaneously
"Hi, Gaerelen!" in their stupid flirty voices. Upon hearing this, Gaerelen's concentration was shattered, however, he still let his arrow fly. He had jerked off course and the arrow sailed somewhere to the left of him. As he was saying "Well hello ladies!-" he was cut of by a piercing scream. The scream was followed by Laurefinwen's voice saying "Ow! Shit!" when he turned around, he saw the sleeve of her dress had been torn and her arm was bleeding. He gasped and ran over to where Laurefinwen was sitting with Feathalion kneeling beside her. Laurefinwen grimaced in pain, Gaerelen's stray arrow had grazed her arm. She angrily turned to Gaerelen when he arrived and yelled "What the hell were you doing!? You and your stupid girlfriends!" with this, she reassured Feathalion that she would be okay, and gave a hurried thanks, and stormed off into the forest. She angrily stomped through the woods on her secret path, still fuming, and clutching her arm. Both elf-men stood by the banks of the Linduin, and realized that Laurefinwen had left her beautiful bow and quiver lying in the grass. They didn't know what else to do, so they took down the targets, picked up Laurefinwen's things, and started towards her house. Laurefinwen had arrived home, dirty, angry, and bleeding. When she walked in, her mothers reaction was instantaneous. "Good heavens! What happened!?" said Earel in distress, rushing to her daughters side. "Fell." Laurefinwen quickly grunted a lie. "Oh, darling, lets get you cleaned up!" said Earel, going motherly and escorting Laurefinwen to the washroom. After her wound was cleaned and dressed, there came a knock at the door. Earel answered it with Laurefinwen peering over her shoulder. There in the doorway stood Gaerelen and Feathalion. They all stood here for a moment, unclear of what to say, until Gaerelen, spotting Laurefinwen, said "Laure, you forgot your bow...and these" he said, picking up her quiver and bow. "Its Laurefinwen to you! ...And thanks!" she said, snatching her things roughly away and giving him a stony look. She then proceeded to sit by the fire, next to Grandmama. Her mother quickly thanked them a little confusedly and closed the door. Walking over to Laurefinwen, she said "You fell, huh?" with a skeptical look and cocking an eyebrow. "Meep." Laurefinwen said, looking guilty and sinking in her chair. This was the beginning of a long argument/lecture in which Laurefinwen had been forced to tell of where she really had been for the past few hours. She also had to explain about the bow, the arrows, and who were these "strange men" showing up in our doorway. Then there was some yelling done by Earel about ladylike manners and such. When she was done, she sent Laurefinwen in exile to her room. Grounded. a/n: well, that was it, please review, I need opinions!!!