Author's note: No reviews yet, but I can live with that, seeing as how I
only put it up a few hours ago. Anyway, this is my second chapter, but my
first officially long one. So I'll shut up now. Enjoy!! Oh yeah, and sorry
the quenyan words aren't in italic but I still don't know how to fix this.
Whenever I put a word in Italic ff.net always screws it up! And if you want
to know any of the elvish used in this chapter or others, just ask in a
review!!
Pictures: Yes, I'm doing pictures with this story!!!! If you wanna see the pics, all you have to do is go here: http://ca.geocities.com/pippin_took12/ pippinsphotopage.html Its two very cute pics of Rai (im telling you, im a good drawer) and some other ones, including some of the hobbits and one funny one of Legolas (I don't know if that ones up yet..) but be kind enough to check 'em out if your not going to read the story!!!
Disclaimer: Nope, still nobody but Rai. Oh yeah, and that crazy elf girl (kidding, she's not crazy, she's just a little . excited . )
Sunrai mounted her horse and looked into the foggy distance. It had been sunny not long ago, but there was a grey fog beginning to crawl over the northern lands. She decided she better ride fast if she was get tot her destination before it became too dense to navigate.
"Asca, Silpion, asca," Rai commanded, urging her grey-white stallion Silpion northward. Her horse began to gallop obediently, occasionally stopping to catch its bearings. Silpion was a very fast horse, a Rohan-bred steed used as a war-stallion in Gondor before it passed to Rai. It had been named after the Eldest Tree, the silver one.
Rai's thoughts wandered as they rode through the mist. She drifted away from herself so much that it was only too late when he realized Silpion had stopped. He was lost.
Rai looked around, calm but worried. Silpion knew his way around and was very well trained. For him to get lost was most unusual. He moved from side to side and whined nervously.
Rai leant forward and tried to whisper words of comfort in his ear, but he would not hear of it. He began to gallop back and forth on the spot. This disturbed Rai even more. He was always very obedient and did whatever she said. There was obviously something wrong for him to be like this. The only way to get him under control was to cast a spell.
Rai summoned up her energy and closed her eyes. She pulled on Silpion's reigns tightly. "N'tess uuvanimo," she whispered, then said it again louder.
Silpion abruptly stopped moving and quieted down. The charm she had used was a hold charm, a binding charm which she had learnt a long time ago. She could hold any beast or man still for as long as she wanted.
That alone took up a lot of her energy. In addition to the charms she had used back in the forest she was already getting tired. She didn't know if she had the strength to clear the fog.
As a young girl one of the first things she had been trained in was the art of being a weatherworker, a wizard or witch with the ability to control the weather and manipulate it to their will.
Now as she tried to think of a spell fit for the situation, she didn't notice as the fog began to spread out and pale spots of grass appeared, and the sky appeared above her while the heavy mist dissolved.
She finally noticed, and confused, she looked around quickly, waiting to see some sign that would give away her position. What she didn't expect was a grey figure begin to take shape in front of her eyes. The figure began to move forward, shrouded in haze. The shadow went from grey and suddenly to brilliant white. Rai took off her hat and bowed her head.
"Hodoer," she murmured in elvish. "Master Gandalf."
Gandalf smiled as he watched his apprentice dismount her horse and lower her head respectively. He approached her and spoke.
"Vedui'" Gandalf said, and Rai raised her head.
"Greetings," she responded.
Gandalf looked back in the direction she had come from. "Have you given Lothlorien some new art for it's collection?"
Rai blushed slightly. She often went to the Golden Wood to perfect her craft. "Yes," she mumbled.
Gandalf nodded. "Well that fog was quite unexpected, wasn't it? Come, Shadowfax is waiting. We are bound for Rivendell."
Rai felt her heart leap with excitement. She had been to Rivendell a lot lately, but it was still a marvel to her. She would wander along the halls aimlessly, finding rooms and corridors she had never seen before, or practice archery outside with the elves or help them grow things, even show off her techniques to the younger ones. But at the moment what she really needed was a good rest and something to eat.
She climbed onto Silpion and rode forward to meet Shadowfax. The two horses were obviously glad to see each other and be in free clear air. The neighed anxiously.
Gandalf mounted his steed and they set off. Shadowfax was considerably faster than Silpion, but they kept pace side by side and rode forward keeping parallel to the Misty Mountains on the western side. Finally when it was time, they veered eastward and past the Ford of Bruinen to the great elvin home.
They passed freely through the forest and rode up to the stables. They dismounted their horses and as Gandalf proceeded upstairs, Rai took the Rohirrim steeds to be fed and watered.
As walked into the stables and began to tend to the beasts, she thought she heard footsteps behind. They were hardly audible on the hay, and they were not the heavy footsteps of a human but the light as a feather tip toes of an elf.
Rai kept her back to the shadow and summoned her staff into her hand. She often kept her staff as a pendant around her neck, but when she needed it to perform great magic she could summon it with one quick word.
Now that she had it in her hand she whipped around with unnatural speed and grace and with perfect aim brought the pointed tip of her staff to the intruders throat. She nearly dropped it when she realized who it was.
"Le.Legolas." she stuttered, staring wide-eyes at the Prince of Mirkwood. She didn't really know him and had only met him on a few occasions, but was greatly fascinated with the elf and his skill in archery. He had once given her a lesson and she had been overwhelmed by his talent. Then again, he had had hundreds of years of practice.
He put the tip of his finger gently on the staff and lowered it away from his throat. "I'm sorry if I took you by surprise.well, actually, you took me by surprise.but I was wondering if you wanted to walk along outside."
"Oh." Rai thought for a moment. No one had asked anything of her upstairs and she didn't feel like running around the halls with the young ones, so she gratefully accepted his offer and they walked down to the river.
"Wait for me!!" A voice came floating down from the hill and a young elf maiden clad in the green and brown of Mirkwood came running toward them. Rai raised an eyebrow and Legolas smiled.
The she-elf reached them and stopped abruptly, leaning over and trying to catch her breath. "I've been looking for you everywhere," she said to Legolas, giving him a dirty look. "Are you avoiding me?"
Legolas laughed. "No.should I be?" They laughed at that and the elf brushed it off. Then Legolas turned to Rai.
"Rai, this is an old friend of mine from Mirkwood, Nevnarien. She is travelling with me at the moment. Nevnarien, this is whom I spoke to you about, Mithrandir's apprentice, Mithithil, or Sunrai."
Rai laughed. "I have many names, Legolas of Mirkwood, but Rai is good enough." She turned to Nevnarien. "Mae govannen, arwen en amin." Nevnarien smiled. "You're not bad. It is a pleasure to meet you too, my lady istar."
"Come now," Legolas interrupted, "Let's go around to the clearing and see how well your archery skills have improved, Rai."
"Ascarer," Nevnarien muttered.
"Hey those are some pretty bad elvish words you're using there, my friend," Rai commented, and they all laughed.
They made their way through the winding paths out into a beautiful sparkling clearing similar to the one Rai had been wandering through in Lothlorien. It was already decorated with vines and flowers from Rai's previous visits and other flora the elves had planted.
There were stumps and circles of wood standing upright along the edge of the trees. There were already bows and a few quivers full of arrows. Rai picked one up and selected a long wooden bow crafted with the elegance of the Lothlorien elve's technique and ornately decorated. She tested the string and nodded.
Nevnarien and Legolas each selected their own. Then they formed a row facing the targets and began.
Legolas shot first with perfect hand-eye coordination and skill, resulting in a bull's-eye. Nevnarien did the same. She turned and looked down to Rai. She smirked.
Rai's heart filled resentment toward this proud elf who had so confidently challenged her. What did she know of Rai's skill? Rai could outshoot her any day.
Rai smiled back mischievously, accepting the challenge. She selected the finest arrow she could find and inserted it in her bow. She drew back and took careful aim, keeping both her eyes open. Then she released.
The bow whizzed though the air at amazing speeds, but the elve's eyes still followed it with careful precision. Legolas gasped and Nevnarien caught her breath.
Rai had not aimed for her own target, but for Nevnarien's. The arrow had hit the target bang in the middle, slicing clean through Nevnariens arrow. The pieces fell away.
Legolas turned to Rai, a look of amazement on his face. Nevanrien looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You shoot well, Dinaer. We will meet again on the field." With that the proud elf turned around and walked away.
Legolas watched her go, then turned to Rai. "Please excuse her, she doesn't losing very well."
"I see that," Rai said, looking to the trees. "Silent one? Is that supposed to be an insult or something?"
Legolas chuckled. "Probably according to her. Come, let us go back to the stables and saddle our horses. You are to depart westward into Eriador with Master Gandalf before dusk and I am to accompany you to the border of our lands."
Rai looked sullen for a moment. "He's leaving, isn't he?" she asked quietly.
Legolas didn't say anything, but looked down and shrugged. "I'm not certain."
Rai suddenly looked straightforward at him, her eyes sparkling with tears. "Do you know what happened when we met?"
Legolas nodded. "I have heard the tale before."
Rai shuddered, tears trickling down her cheeks. "After everything was lain to waste, after everything was burned, everyone chased away, he came, and he began to fix it. And then he found me and.and." She paused. "And he took me in and told me I would be Sunrai. 'I want to be like you, Gandalf,' I told him. He laughed at me, but happily. 'Ah, my young friend, you are not like me, not yet. When the toils and disasters and tragedies, along with the joyousness of life take their toll upon, when you truly experience them, when you are worn and battered and Grey, then you will be like me. But for now, you are clear and pure, not yet scratched or wasted. You are Silver. You are Sunrai the Silver.'" Rai lowered her head.
Legolas, filled with pity and sadness for this young and abandoned being, this human who was not completely human, this wizard, walked over and put an arm around her shoulder. "It's alright, my friend."
Rai wiped her face and shrugged him off gently. "Let's go back," she whispered.
They turned and slowly walked through the shimmering woods towards Rivendell.
Authors endnote: Cute, huh? I really wanted to put this chapter up for the picture's sake so I could get them up too. Anywayz, please review, I'm dying for reviews, PLEASE!!! Next chapter coming soon ^_^
Pictures: Yes, I'm doing pictures with this story!!!! If you wanna see the pics, all you have to do is go here: http://ca.geocities.com/pippin_took12/ pippinsphotopage.html Its two very cute pics of Rai (im telling you, im a good drawer) and some other ones, including some of the hobbits and one funny one of Legolas (I don't know if that ones up yet..) but be kind enough to check 'em out if your not going to read the story!!!
Disclaimer: Nope, still nobody but Rai. Oh yeah, and that crazy elf girl (kidding, she's not crazy, she's just a little . excited . )
Sunrai mounted her horse and looked into the foggy distance. It had been sunny not long ago, but there was a grey fog beginning to crawl over the northern lands. She decided she better ride fast if she was get tot her destination before it became too dense to navigate.
"Asca, Silpion, asca," Rai commanded, urging her grey-white stallion Silpion northward. Her horse began to gallop obediently, occasionally stopping to catch its bearings. Silpion was a very fast horse, a Rohan-bred steed used as a war-stallion in Gondor before it passed to Rai. It had been named after the Eldest Tree, the silver one.
Rai's thoughts wandered as they rode through the mist. She drifted away from herself so much that it was only too late when he realized Silpion had stopped. He was lost.
Rai looked around, calm but worried. Silpion knew his way around and was very well trained. For him to get lost was most unusual. He moved from side to side and whined nervously.
Rai leant forward and tried to whisper words of comfort in his ear, but he would not hear of it. He began to gallop back and forth on the spot. This disturbed Rai even more. He was always very obedient and did whatever she said. There was obviously something wrong for him to be like this. The only way to get him under control was to cast a spell.
Rai summoned up her energy and closed her eyes. She pulled on Silpion's reigns tightly. "N'tess uuvanimo," she whispered, then said it again louder.
Silpion abruptly stopped moving and quieted down. The charm she had used was a hold charm, a binding charm which she had learnt a long time ago. She could hold any beast or man still for as long as she wanted.
That alone took up a lot of her energy. In addition to the charms she had used back in the forest she was already getting tired. She didn't know if she had the strength to clear the fog.
As a young girl one of the first things she had been trained in was the art of being a weatherworker, a wizard or witch with the ability to control the weather and manipulate it to their will.
Now as she tried to think of a spell fit for the situation, she didn't notice as the fog began to spread out and pale spots of grass appeared, and the sky appeared above her while the heavy mist dissolved.
She finally noticed, and confused, she looked around quickly, waiting to see some sign that would give away her position. What she didn't expect was a grey figure begin to take shape in front of her eyes. The figure began to move forward, shrouded in haze. The shadow went from grey and suddenly to brilliant white. Rai took off her hat and bowed her head.
"Hodoer," she murmured in elvish. "Master Gandalf."
Gandalf smiled as he watched his apprentice dismount her horse and lower her head respectively. He approached her and spoke.
"Vedui'" Gandalf said, and Rai raised her head.
"Greetings," she responded.
Gandalf looked back in the direction she had come from. "Have you given Lothlorien some new art for it's collection?"
Rai blushed slightly. She often went to the Golden Wood to perfect her craft. "Yes," she mumbled.
Gandalf nodded. "Well that fog was quite unexpected, wasn't it? Come, Shadowfax is waiting. We are bound for Rivendell."
Rai felt her heart leap with excitement. She had been to Rivendell a lot lately, but it was still a marvel to her. She would wander along the halls aimlessly, finding rooms and corridors she had never seen before, or practice archery outside with the elves or help them grow things, even show off her techniques to the younger ones. But at the moment what she really needed was a good rest and something to eat.
She climbed onto Silpion and rode forward to meet Shadowfax. The two horses were obviously glad to see each other and be in free clear air. The neighed anxiously.
Gandalf mounted his steed and they set off. Shadowfax was considerably faster than Silpion, but they kept pace side by side and rode forward keeping parallel to the Misty Mountains on the western side. Finally when it was time, they veered eastward and past the Ford of Bruinen to the great elvin home.
They passed freely through the forest and rode up to the stables. They dismounted their horses and as Gandalf proceeded upstairs, Rai took the Rohirrim steeds to be fed and watered.
As walked into the stables and began to tend to the beasts, she thought she heard footsteps behind. They were hardly audible on the hay, and they were not the heavy footsteps of a human but the light as a feather tip toes of an elf.
Rai kept her back to the shadow and summoned her staff into her hand. She often kept her staff as a pendant around her neck, but when she needed it to perform great magic she could summon it with one quick word.
Now that she had it in her hand she whipped around with unnatural speed and grace and with perfect aim brought the pointed tip of her staff to the intruders throat. She nearly dropped it when she realized who it was.
"Le.Legolas." she stuttered, staring wide-eyes at the Prince of Mirkwood. She didn't really know him and had only met him on a few occasions, but was greatly fascinated with the elf and his skill in archery. He had once given her a lesson and she had been overwhelmed by his talent. Then again, he had had hundreds of years of practice.
He put the tip of his finger gently on the staff and lowered it away from his throat. "I'm sorry if I took you by surprise.well, actually, you took me by surprise.but I was wondering if you wanted to walk along outside."
"Oh." Rai thought for a moment. No one had asked anything of her upstairs and she didn't feel like running around the halls with the young ones, so she gratefully accepted his offer and they walked down to the river.
"Wait for me!!" A voice came floating down from the hill and a young elf maiden clad in the green and brown of Mirkwood came running toward them. Rai raised an eyebrow and Legolas smiled.
The she-elf reached them and stopped abruptly, leaning over and trying to catch her breath. "I've been looking for you everywhere," she said to Legolas, giving him a dirty look. "Are you avoiding me?"
Legolas laughed. "No.should I be?" They laughed at that and the elf brushed it off. Then Legolas turned to Rai.
"Rai, this is an old friend of mine from Mirkwood, Nevnarien. She is travelling with me at the moment. Nevnarien, this is whom I spoke to you about, Mithrandir's apprentice, Mithithil, or Sunrai."
Rai laughed. "I have many names, Legolas of Mirkwood, but Rai is good enough." She turned to Nevnarien. "Mae govannen, arwen en amin." Nevnarien smiled. "You're not bad. It is a pleasure to meet you too, my lady istar."
"Come now," Legolas interrupted, "Let's go around to the clearing and see how well your archery skills have improved, Rai."
"Ascarer," Nevnarien muttered.
"Hey those are some pretty bad elvish words you're using there, my friend," Rai commented, and they all laughed.
They made their way through the winding paths out into a beautiful sparkling clearing similar to the one Rai had been wandering through in Lothlorien. It was already decorated with vines and flowers from Rai's previous visits and other flora the elves had planted.
There were stumps and circles of wood standing upright along the edge of the trees. There were already bows and a few quivers full of arrows. Rai picked one up and selected a long wooden bow crafted with the elegance of the Lothlorien elve's technique and ornately decorated. She tested the string and nodded.
Nevnarien and Legolas each selected their own. Then they formed a row facing the targets and began.
Legolas shot first with perfect hand-eye coordination and skill, resulting in a bull's-eye. Nevnarien did the same. She turned and looked down to Rai. She smirked.
Rai's heart filled resentment toward this proud elf who had so confidently challenged her. What did she know of Rai's skill? Rai could outshoot her any day.
Rai smiled back mischievously, accepting the challenge. She selected the finest arrow she could find and inserted it in her bow. She drew back and took careful aim, keeping both her eyes open. Then she released.
The bow whizzed though the air at amazing speeds, but the elve's eyes still followed it with careful precision. Legolas gasped and Nevnarien caught her breath.
Rai had not aimed for her own target, but for Nevnarien's. The arrow had hit the target bang in the middle, slicing clean through Nevnariens arrow. The pieces fell away.
Legolas turned to Rai, a look of amazement on his face. Nevanrien looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You shoot well, Dinaer. We will meet again on the field." With that the proud elf turned around and walked away.
Legolas watched her go, then turned to Rai. "Please excuse her, she doesn't losing very well."
"I see that," Rai said, looking to the trees. "Silent one? Is that supposed to be an insult or something?"
Legolas chuckled. "Probably according to her. Come, let us go back to the stables and saddle our horses. You are to depart westward into Eriador with Master Gandalf before dusk and I am to accompany you to the border of our lands."
Rai looked sullen for a moment. "He's leaving, isn't he?" she asked quietly.
Legolas didn't say anything, but looked down and shrugged. "I'm not certain."
Rai suddenly looked straightforward at him, her eyes sparkling with tears. "Do you know what happened when we met?"
Legolas nodded. "I have heard the tale before."
Rai shuddered, tears trickling down her cheeks. "After everything was lain to waste, after everything was burned, everyone chased away, he came, and he began to fix it. And then he found me and.and." She paused. "And he took me in and told me I would be Sunrai. 'I want to be like you, Gandalf,' I told him. He laughed at me, but happily. 'Ah, my young friend, you are not like me, not yet. When the toils and disasters and tragedies, along with the joyousness of life take their toll upon, when you truly experience them, when you are worn and battered and Grey, then you will be like me. But for now, you are clear and pure, not yet scratched or wasted. You are Silver. You are Sunrai the Silver.'" Rai lowered her head.
Legolas, filled with pity and sadness for this young and abandoned being, this human who was not completely human, this wizard, walked over and put an arm around her shoulder. "It's alright, my friend."
Rai wiped her face and shrugged him off gently. "Let's go back," she whispered.
They turned and slowly walked through the shimmering woods towards Rivendell.
Authors endnote: Cute, huh? I really wanted to put this chapter up for the picture's sake so I could get them up too. Anywayz, please review, I'm dying for reviews, PLEASE!!! Next chapter coming soon ^_^