Of Gold in Silver Seas
AU: Hello once again! It seems I've gotten some more reviews. I apologize to "fool of a took", yes, I know, this story is a bit confusing, but all will be unravelled sooner or later. I'm also thinking of doing a history of Rai, just to clear things up for anyone who wants to know where she came from and so on. Oh, and there was supposed to be a dream sequence in the last chapter, but due to my screwy computer, it got messed up. It was supposed to be in italics, but I don't know how to do them. Anyway, there should be two or three more chapters to go and then I'm moving back to my other fic, Light in the Darkness, for a while.
Disclaimer: I went and stole the LOTR characters. Now they're all MINE. But don't worry, I'll share ^_^ But yes, I do own LOTR.
Rai, Pippin, Merry and Sam: Uh, no you don't
Me: I don't? *runs off sobbing*
-Ignis Aqua-
Chapter five, in which Rai finds the meaning to her nightmare.but can she be I time to stop a catastrophe? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~**~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rai woke once again to fid herself drenched in, not sweat this time, but dew. She rubbed her crimson eyes and looked up at the sky. It was a sky of dust. Dawn was not anywhere on the horizon.
The wizard sniffed the air. "Rain," she thought. The scent of rain was heavy on the wind and approaching fast. But it was not a dangerous rain. It would be something calm and warming. A fine day to be out and working some magic, despite the absence of the sun.
She rolled over and scanned her surroundings. The hobbits were still there, resting peacefully. She wondered if they knew they had been there all night.
Rai rose steadily and brushed herself off. She shook her long hair of dew, purposely letting it fall on the hobbits.
The youngest one, who was closest to her, began to stir, and Rai could see his eyelids began to flutter open. The other one did the same, but Sam remained immobile.
Rai, trying to suppress a smile, reached for her staff which she had lain against the tree. She grabbed it and gently nudged Sam in the side. He stirred and opened an eye and murmured something inaudible.
"Oi," Merry muttered from behind her. "What time is it?"
"Not even time for breakfast yet," Rai answered cheerily. "But come, let's see what we can find deeper in these woods. Perhaps something sweet from a tree."
Pippin and Merry looked at each other. It escaped them completely how she could be in such a good mood at this time. On top of that fact, they didn't even now exactly what time it was. But, feeling uplifted by her presence, they followed, along with Sam, without question.
They wandered through the woods aimlessly, occasionally stopping at Rai's nagging to marvel at some tree, on which she would grow the reddest apples they had ever seen. Not long after they had left thy were in a merry mood and ready to go anywhere.
Merry, suddenly feeling thirsty despite the juicy fruit (*no pun intended to bubblegum^_^*) stopped where he was. The others took notice and turned to face him. An idea suddenly came to him and it showed in his features.
"What is it?" the wizard asked.
Merry hesitated and thought for a moment.
"I have an idea."
"Well, out with it already!" Pippin demanded impatiently.
"Well," Merry said, a hint of excitement in his voice "I've heard stories . err, rumours, about a waterfall around these parts. Deep in the forest. Something tropical-like. A creek that flows into a stream that turns into a rushing river that falls over rocks into a big pool. I think I might know the way."
The three of them just stared. Merry shifted uncomfortably, thinking he'd said something wrong. Then, a mischievous smile crept over Rai's features.
"Well then, Master Meriadoc, lead on."
Merry grinned and scampered ahead of them. Soon, he was leading them down a narrow path that had obviously been walked on before. He expertly took turns and forks in the road, leading them deeper into the forest. The clouds above began to recede, but not before giving them one or two warm showers.
Pippin, now thoroughly soaked with sweat and rain, raised an eyebrow at Merry. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"
"Fear not, Master Took, well be there soon enough."
Pippin rolled his eyes at Merry's teasing tone and muttered something inaudible under his breath. Rai nudged him cheerily and he looked at her. She met his eyes and something struck. She was frozen for a moment, and her eyes widened as she looked at his face, so familiar, so familiar but from where she couldn't quite place. He watched her eyes, his filling with confusion, but she broke the haunting stare and shook her head, smiling slightly. Then she turned away, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind.
She continued to walk, a little out of stride, the meaningless chatter of the hobbits reaching her ears but not registering in her brain. She knew she had seen something then, in those aqua eyes filled only with what could be child-like innocence. Something had struck her speechless, and not many things did that.
She hardly noticed when the hobbits had stopped, nearly crashing into a tree. Startled out of her dark thoughts, she looked up. This was no ordinary tree. Instead of the dark emerald leaves, these were a radiant spring green, littered with pink flowers, and they were *enormous*. The leaves were as big as Rai's head.
She looked up at them, utterly mystified, for the first time in her life. She had never seen anything like this.
The hobbits were as shocked as Rai, if not more. They didn't even know something like this existed. It was totally against the flatland fir-tree characteristics of the Shire. Nothing like this grew in the North.
In the centre of the little oasis was a glittering pool of crystal clear water. And cascading over it was a marvellous waterfall.
It was beautiful. The four of them were frozen with wonder, their eyes greedily taking in everything.
Rai was the first to tear her eyes away from the scene. Spurred by some deep childhood curiosity, she drew up some energy from within her and muttered a few words. Suddenly, she was springing away from the hobbits as if she could fly. She leaped over the water from rock to rock as if the rocks were rubber. She even landed *on* the water, making the smallest ripple like she weighed nothing.
Rai had never felt anything like this before. She leaped back onto a rock, and from there flew up to a ledge on the waterfall. She sprung from ledge to ledge as if they were steps, and finally reached the top of the waterfall.
The hobbits watched her with amazement. Eager to follow, the scrambled over the rock with ease and found their way up the slope. Rai didn't even need to help them.
They found her at the top, looking over the scene. The huddled close and just stood there, letting the wind blow ever which way. The sun had come out, and it shined on the little oasis, making the water sparkle like diamonds.
The wizard, energized to her fullest, carefully slid down the edge and went through the waterfall, landing n a cave. The others were left dumbfounded for a moment but soon found that there was footing *under* the curtain of water, and followed.
Pippin, being the curious hobbit that he was, wandered to the edge. He ran his hand under the waterfall, eyes sparkling with wonder. He didn't notice as he floated closer to the edge of the pounding falls.
The others gazed deep into the cave, but did not go near the entrance. The hobbits were uneasy with it, so Rai stayed well away from it as well.
Then an idea came to her. She thought of a spell that would strengthen the water, a weather-workers spell that she had been told of but forbidden to learn or use. Apparently it caused great marvels in the sky and the user had control of the weather from then on until the spell wore off. Of course, she had read it over many times, and knew it by heart. Now, thinking her power was great enough, she decided to try it. She raised her staff and began the chant.
"Ergo,
oceanus, maritimus,
ergo
opacare, matutinus,
ergo
septentrio, meridies,
ergo
occidens et orientis,
ergo
oceanus, maritimus,
opacare, matutinus,
septentrio, meridies,
occidens et orientis,
ergo
terra, stella,
hiems et aestas,
ergo
autumnus et
tempus vernum,
ergo
radius solis
et umbra,
ignis, aqua
caelum, luna,
terra, stella,
hierns et aestas,
autumnus et
tempus vernum..."
As she finished the chant, a bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens above and cracked loudly, spilling flames and embers into the forest. Trees were caught on fire, but the pouring rain that came after put most of the embers out.
Except for one.
The ember rose and became a flame, and the flame expanded into wings. A creature rose from the ashes, a crimson figure alight with flame, crimson like Rai's eyes. She saw it then; the monster from her dreams. It looked at her with its piercing eyes . *her* eyes. It had her eyes. Then it rose into the air and flew at them.
Te hobbits looked at it wide eyed, frozen with fear. Rai grabbed them and shoved them further back into the cave. Then she saw her mistake.
*Pippin!*
The young hobbit was paralysed with fear. He stood at the edge, staring unmoving into the eyes of the oncoming behemoth.
Rai leaped forward, away from the other hobbits, in Pippin's direction. She reached him just as the firebird reached out its talons. The water seemed on fire for a moment as the beast swivelled, turning away, and came back once again. Rai stood next to Pippin, staff in front of her. The creature came around and lunged them. This time, she was ready. The waved her staff like a sword at the beast. It shrieked and spit flame, which made Rai back away in fear.
That was her mistake.
As soon as she had backed away, it swooped and the ledge and crashed into head on. The rock formation shook.
"NO!!!"
The ground under Pippin's feet began to crumble. He tried to back away, but found he couldn't move. The rock finally gave way. The firebird shrieked triumphantly as the hobbit began to fall into the flaming pit below.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~~*~~*~*~~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~**~
I'm sorry this chapter's so short, and I know, I know, I left you hanging, but HA! I'm already working on the next chapter, so I won't leave you hanging for too long. And if you're wondering, Ignis Aqua is roughly translated in celtic to "fire, water". And if you're THAT curious and you want to know what the song means (trust me, the English version is really cool and creepy) just ask and I'll translate it for you.
AU: Hello once again! It seems I've gotten some more reviews. I apologize to "fool of a took", yes, I know, this story is a bit confusing, but all will be unravelled sooner or later. I'm also thinking of doing a history of Rai, just to clear things up for anyone who wants to know where she came from and so on. Oh, and there was supposed to be a dream sequence in the last chapter, but due to my screwy computer, it got messed up. It was supposed to be in italics, but I don't know how to do them. Anyway, there should be two or three more chapters to go and then I'm moving back to my other fic, Light in the Darkness, for a while.
Disclaimer: I went and stole the LOTR characters. Now they're all MINE. But don't worry, I'll share ^_^ But yes, I do own LOTR.
Rai, Pippin, Merry and Sam: Uh, no you don't
Me: I don't? *runs off sobbing*
-Ignis Aqua-
Chapter five, in which Rai finds the meaning to her nightmare.but can she be I time to stop a catastrophe? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~**~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rai woke once again to fid herself drenched in, not sweat this time, but dew. She rubbed her crimson eyes and looked up at the sky. It was a sky of dust. Dawn was not anywhere on the horizon.
The wizard sniffed the air. "Rain," she thought. The scent of rain was heavy on the wind and approaching fast. But it was not a dangerous rain. It would be something calm and warming. A fine day to be out and working some magic, despite the absence of the sun.
She rolled over and scanned her surroundings. The hobbits were still there, resting peacefully. She wondered if they knew they had been there all night.
Rai rose steadily and brushed herself off. She shook her long hair of dew, purposely letting it fall on the hobbits.
The youngest one, who was closest to her, began to stir, and Rai could see his eyelids began to flutter open. The other one did the same, but Sam remained immobile.
Rai, trying to suppress a smile, reached for her staff which she had lain against the tree. She grabbed it and gently nudged Sam in the side. He stirred and opened an eye and murmured something inaudible.
"Oi," Merry muttered from behind her. "What time is it?"
"Not even time for breakfast yet," Rai answered cheerily. "But come, let's see what we can find deeper in these woods. Perhaps something sweet from a tree."
Pippin and Merry looked at each other. It escaped them completely how she could be in such a good mood at this time. On top of that fact, they didn't even now exactly what time it was. But, feeling uplifted by her presence, they followed, along with Sam, without question.
They wandered through the woods aimlessly, occasionally stopping at Rai's nagging to marvel at some tree, on which she would grow the reddest apples they had ever seen. Not long after they had left thy were in a merry mood and ready to go anywhere.
Merry, suddenly feeling thirsty despite the juicy fruit (*no pun intended to bubblegum^_^*) stopped where he was. The others took notice and turned to face him. An idea suddenly came to him and it showed in his features.
"What is it?" the wizard asked.
Merry hesitated and thought for a moment.
"I have an idea."
"Well, out with it already!" Pippin demanded impatiently.
"Well," Merry said, a hint of excitement in his voice "I've heard stories . err, rumours, about a waterfall around these parts. Deep in the forest. Something tropical-like. A creek that flows into a stream that turns into a rushing river that falls over rocks into a big pool. I think I might know the way."
The three of them just stared. Merry shifted uncomfortably, thinking he'd said something wrong. Then, a mischievous smile crept over Rai's features.
"Well then, Master Meriadoc, lead on."
Merry grinned and scampered ahead of them. Soon, he was leading them down a narrow path that had obviously been walked on before. He expertly took turns and forks in the road, leading them deeper into the forest. The clouds above began to recede, but not before giving them one or two warm showers.
Pippin, now thoroughly soaked with sweat and rain, raised an eyebrow at Merry. "Are you sure you know where you're going?"
"Fear not, Master Took, well be there soon enough."
Pippin rolled his eyes at Merry's teasing tone and muttered something inaudible under his breath. Rai nudged him cheerily and he looked at her. She met his eyes and something struck. She was frozen for a moment, and her eyes widened as she looked at his face, so familiar, so familiar but from where she couldn't quite place. He watched her eyes, his filling with confusion, but she broke the haunting stare and shook her head, smiling slightly. Then she turned away, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind.
She continued to walk, a little out of stride, the meaningless chatter of the hobbits reaching her ears but not registering in her brain. She knew she had seen something then, in those aqua eyes filled only with what could be child-like innocence. Something had struck her speechless, and not many things did that.
She hardly noticed when the hobbits had stopped, nearly crashing into a tree. Startled out of her dark thoughts, she looked up. This was no ordinary tree. Instead of the dark emerald leaves, these were a radiant spring green, littered with pink flowers, and they were *enormous*. The leaves were as big as Rai's head.
She looked up at them, utterly mystified, for the first time in her life. She had never seen anything like this.
The hobbits were as shocked as Rai, if not more. They didn't even know something like this existed. It was totally against the flatland fir-tree characteristics of the Shire. Nothing like this grew in the North.
In the centre of the little oasis was a glittering pool of crystal clear water. And cascading over it was a marvellous waterfall.
It was beautiful. The four of them were frozen with wonder, their eyes greedily taking in everything.
Rai was the first to tear her eyes away from the scene. Spurred by some deep childhood curiosity, she drew up some energy from within her and muttered a few words. Suddenly, she was springing away from the hobbits as if she could fly. She leaped over the water from rock to rock as if the rocks were rubber. She even landed *on* the water, making the smallest ripple like she weighed nothing.
Rai had never felt anything like this before. She leaped back onto a rock, and from there flew up to a ledge on the waterfall. She sprung from ledge to ledge as if they were steps, and finally reached the top of the waterfall.
The hobbits watched her with amazement. Eager to follow, the scrambled over the rock with ease and found their way up the slope. Rai didn't even need to help them.
They found her at the top, looking over the scene. The huddled close and just stood there, letting the wind blow ever which way. The sun had come out, and it shined on the little oasis, making the water sparkle like diamonds.
The wizard, energized to her fullest, carefully slid down the edge and went through the waterfall, landing n a cave. The others were left dumbfounded for a moment but soon found that there was footing *under* the curtain of water, and followed.
Pippin, being the curious hobbit that he was, wandered to the edge. He ran his hand under the waterfall, eyes sparkling with wonder. He didn't notice as he floated closer to the edge of the pounding falls.
The others gazed deep into the cave, but did not go near the entrance. The hobbits were uneasy with it, so Rai stayed well away from it as well.
Then an idea came to her. She thought of a spell that would strengthen the water, a weather-workers spell that she had been told of but forbidden to learn or use. Apparently it caused great marvels in the sky and the user had control of the weather from then on until the spell wore off. Of course, she had read it over many times, and knew it by heart. Now, thinking her power was great enough, she decided to try it. She raised her staff and began the chant.
"Ergo,
oceanus, maritimus,
ergo
opacare, matutinus,
ergo
septentrio, meridies,
ergo
occidens et orientis,
ergo
oceanus, maritimus,
opacare, matutinus,
septentrio, meridies,
occidens et orientis,
ergo
terra, stella,
hiems et aestas,
ergo
autumnus et
tempus vernum,
ergo
radius solis
et umbra,
ignis, aqua
caelum, luna,
terra, stella,
hierns et aestas,
autumnus et
tempus vernum..."
As she finished the chant, a bolt of lightning struck down from the heavens above and cracked loudly, spilling flames and embers into the forest. Trees were caught on fire, but the pouring rain that came after put most of the embers out.
Except for one.
The ember rose and became a flame, and the flame expanded into wings. A creature rose from the ashes, a crimson figure alight with flame, crimson like Rai's eyes. She saw it then; the monster from her dreams. It looked at her with its piercing eyes . *her* eyes. It had her eyes. Then it rose into the air and flew at them.
Te hobbits looked at it wide eyed, frozen with fear. Rai grabbed them and shoved them further back into the cave. Then she saw her mistake.
*Pippin!*
The young hobbit was paralysed with fear. He stood at the edge, staring unmoving into the eyes of the oncoming behemoth.
Rai leaped forward, away from the other hobbits, in Pippin's direction. She reached him just as the firebird reached out its talons. The water seemed on fire for a moment as the beast swivelled, turning away, and came back once again. Rai stood next to Pippin, staff in front of her. The creature came around and lunged them. This time, she was ready. The waved her staff like a sword at the beast. It shrieked and spit flame, which made Rai back away in fear.
That was her mistake.
As soon as she had backed away, it swooped and the ledge and crashed into head on. The rock formation shook.
"NO!!!"
The ground under Pippin's feet began to crumble. He tried to back away, but found he couldn't move. The rock finally gave way. The firebird shrieked triumphantly as the hobbit began to fall into the flaming pit below.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~~*~~*~*~~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~**~
I'm sorry this chapter's so short, and I know, I know, I left you hanging, but HA! I'm already working on the next chapter, so I won't leave you hanging for too long. And if you're wondering, Ignis Aqua is roughly translated in celtic to "fire, water". And if you're THAT curious and you want to know what the song means (trust me, the English version is really cool and creepy) just ask and I'll translate it for you.