III
she blinked for a moment and examined through her keen sight what
creature was that standing before her. it was short in height with curly
hair wearing what she believed as an elven cloak. the creature had broad
hairy feet, and a tummy so big it looked like it just ate a whole chicken.
" hullo", said the creature, both scared and amazed. imogen did not stir at
all, she gazed upon the creature confusedly, but she still did not put her
arrow down. " do not move if you wish to be alive." that was all imogen
could think of saying for the creature though looking harmless, was
unfamiliar to her and she wouldn't want to be so sure of not shooting at
it. "er... I.. I do not wish to fight.. see?" the creature which looked
like a young boy to imogen held both his hands up, counting on his luck
that the she-elf would not release the arrow. "tell me what you are and
what business brings you to this lands?" imogen said having a stern look on
her face. "Peregrin! Peregrin Took at your service, but some call me
pippin, or even pip, and I am a hobbit! a halfling to you I suppose, and I
came way upnorth from the Shire, and my business here is.. er.. um..that I
can not tell, my companions will end my life if I do" the hobbit was now
speaking merrily as if not bothered by the arrow pointing directly at him.
imogen was now more confused, her eyebrows arched as her head tilted
slightly to the left. so this was what she was sensing a while ago, an
unfamiliar but friendly aura. "a halfling? the shire? what are you playing
with me? do not lie to me, short creature, for you are in a very dangerous
situation." imogen said with a hard stare. the halfling returned his scared
face and gulped loudly, he knew that the she-elf wasn't bluffing and saw
that she held the bow even tighter as she spoke. pippin opened his mouth to
speak but before he could say something, one of his companions, the dwarf
Gimli, yelled from behind. "Huhr! an assailant! do not move pippin, I will
finish this one off!" the dwarf swung both of his axes directly at imogen
but she was too swift and got away from the aiming weapons. imogen did a
stunning cartwheel in the air to miss the hit, but the tree behind her got
the hack. she heard the tree's cry in pain when the weapon hit it, it must
have been wounded seriously, trees don't like axes, for they know that this
weapon could cut them down and bring an end to their existence. by this
imogen was infuriated, she made her way towards the dwarf by somersaulting
graciously, when she was just about 2 paces away from gimli, she
impulsively drew out her sword and rested it on his neck. " I would smite
you in a thousand slimy pieces, master dwarf, if you would not apologize to
that tree you have wounded..." imogen said breathing deeply. gimli, stood
stunned at the she elf's fighting abilities, pippin smiled weakly for he
had never seen gimli looked so amazed before. the dwarf finally found his
tounge when pippin snorted loudly, he did not want the halfling to think
that he was a wuss. "apologize? how can I apologize to a tree? perhaps
you've lost your sanity, silly elf!" gimli said boisterously. imogen's
eyes raged in anger, her eyebrows arched vehemently as her hand gripped the
sword tighter. "you speak ill of things you know naught of! foolish dwarf.i
would only excuse your shameful existence if you do what I say!". as she
was speaking, she sensed something drawing near the place where the three
of them stood, she took her stare away from the dwarf and looked around,
imogen was right, something was indeed approaching them; the most unusual
company met her keen eyes, three halflings, two men (one of which she
perceived as a ranger), and one of her kindred. a male elf clad in green
armor got her attention, by her keen eyes she knew that this elf had blue
eyes, with golden hair and fair skin. there was a quiver of arrows
stringing from his back, and he held a bow in his left hand. imogen had
never met a pure kindred before, and upon seeing this elf she believed that
indeed the elves are the fairest of creatures. the company was running
towards them, all had weapons in their hands save the elf who did not look
alarmed at all. they halted when they were just a few paces away from
imogen and the dwarf. all confused eyes were transfixed on imogen, the
ranger gripped his undrawn sword from beneath his cloak, the other man was
prepared to fight, he had his sword and shield ready, the hobbits stood
perplexed, but they had their swords ready as well. only the elf made to
sign to assail, he was looking intently at imogen, being a kindred he never
wished to harm her at all. from the elf's eyes imogen was a picture of pure
beauty, he could tell that there is great magic to her being, he could not
understand it though, but he knew that there is something to this she-elf
that is not of the usual. there was a soft blow of the wind, and imogen's
hair slightly moved away from her neck, revealing both her pendant and
birthmark to the 8. the ranger Aragorn's eyes widened, the pendant looked
familiar to him. "I see you have got company." imogen said returning her
emerald eyes to the dwarf. pippin spoke with a frail voice as he walked to
his companions with weak knees. "I told you I was not lying. I said I have
got companions, I was going to explain further but Gimli here arrived and
attacked you." pippin now stood with his companions but was still staring
at imogen, never had he seen a she-elf so fair before that could do amazing
backflips and somersaults, with a very deadly aim of the arrow to add.
true, arwen evenstar and the lady galadriel caught his eyes for their
astounding beauty, but this elf caught not only his eyes but his breath as
well. he doubted that neither arwen or galadriel could do what she did
awhile ago with the orcs and how she got away from gimli's aim. "pippin!
did I not tell you not to leave the company? none of you should wander
alone, and you know that! you know that very well! now see what trouble you
have taken our friend Gimli into." aragon said scowlding the halfling. and
then he looked down at the orcs lying dead on the ground, each had an arrow
protruding from their foreheads in an ugly menacing manner, aragorn smiled
inwardly and thought that this she-elf could really kick ass. " I did not
wander around!" pippin's voice was so loud that the other hobbits jerked
and finally took their eyes away from imogen. the ranger gave pippin a
sarcastic look that sort of said "right you nasty halfling." pippin's face
contorted with disagreement. "I did not! I was attending to a personal call
of nature when all these ugly orcs sprang up from nowhere! what am I to do?
ofcourse I ran to save my life when all of you are too busy satisfying your
tummies with lembas and all that sort! I hid behind that tree and then this
fair lady came and killed them all!" the halfling yelled protestingly, he
barely paused for breath and returned his eyes to imogen, with a gulp and
now a calm voice he said, "for added reference, she actually saved my
life". realisation dawned on pippin's face. imogen actually saved him, and
he had not thanked her for that, well not yet. "foolish halfling! I saw her
aiming at you and now you claim that she saved your life? Huhr! It is I who
saved you from death, you halfwit hobbit!" the dwarf shook his skulky head
in protest. imogen was growing impatient with the dwarf's boisterousness.
"I was not going to shoot the halfling for any reason." she answered calmly
to the dwarf's insistence. "unlike you, master dwarf, for you have not yet
done what I ask of you, I can cut off your head, beard and all, this very
moment." Boromir, the other man besides the ranger aragon, laughed weakly,
he seemed to be enjoying the moment. he withdrew his sword and sat upon the
huge rock nearby, merely spectating the scene. pippin, along with the two
other hobbits, followed boromir and sat beside him. one hobbit remained
standing though, the ring bearer, frodo baggins of the shire. like the elf,
the halfling did not untangle his eyes away from imogen, and her pendant.
he felt the ring grow a bit heavier, so he gave it a look, the ring was
hanging as pendant to his silver necklace. his eyes flickered as he saw the
rings inscriptions ablaze. with eyesbrows furrowed he turned to look at
imogen, he was indeed confused. "could this she-elf be an adherent of
sauron? why would she slay all these orcs if she is? and nay! she is
beautiful, I saw this glow before when arwen evenstar had rescued me in
Bruinen. I do not understand.." the ringbearer's thoughts rambled.
at the same time, aragorn was surprised of imogen's bravery, she did
not have a look of fear at all when she meets his eyes. he said at lenght,
"my lady, we do not want to engage in any fight. I offer you our sincerest
apologies if any of us had troubled you in any way, please. Please hold
your anger, as my eyes tell me, none of us had hurt you, would you not do
in return? aragon was now desirious, he knows that this she-elf was not at
all fooling them and he does not want gimli's life to be in jeopardy.
gimli, still standing stunned before imogen, once again disagreed from his
companion's statement. "aragorn! do not let the looks fool you, this lady
is perilous, I say that you would have to attack her now!" imogen's eyes
averted from the dwarf to the ranger. she noticed at once that he also bore
an elfin made silver pendant, with the same gems but different
inscriptions. to her eyes, it shone like the way hers does when she looks
at it, and for a moment, she rested her gaze from the light emitted from
it. finally she returned to herself, and returned her eyes to the dwarf.
"nay. I believe not. the dwarf was not keen enough to hit me, but I say
that he owes an apology to the oak tree behind me, for it was the one who
suffered from the hack." "would you listen to this silliness! a dwarf
apologize to a tree? I would rather go back to the mines of moria! huhr!
lady, could you put some sense to what you ask of me to do? I hit a tree,
and so what? it was a good thing you got away from my axe, if you did not
do that horrible stunt! there was no harm done you see.." the dwarf was cut
short when the elf abruptly but calmly spoke, "do what she says gimli".
quietly the elf Legolas walked to the oak tree behind imogen, he removed
the weapons from it's bark, and whispered something to it in elvish. imogen
knew that the elf had apologized to the oak, but she was not contented, she
wanted gimli to do the task. the dwarf shook his head and loudly sighed.
"alright, alright! let us end this foolishness!" grumpily he walked towards
the oak while muttering obscenities. he reached the oak and looked at his
companions before he spoke. Aragorn looked like he was chewing his tounge,
blocking the urge to smile.; boromir and the 3 halflings wore sheepish
smirks on their faces. the ringbearer was in a wide smile, and the fair
face of legolas the elf showed amusement. "huhr! alright then! so what am I
supposed to say? I do not know their language, that is if they have one!"
imogen had her sword withdrawn, but loaded her bow with an arrow aiming
directly at the dwarf's forehead. contrary to what we believe, imogen does
not really plan to harm any of the company including the dwarf, she was
just making him see what his mistakes are. "speak to it in the common
tounge, she will understand it. now tell her your apologies." gimli sighed,
looked at the tree, and spoke to it at lenght "very well! alright... tree,
I apologize for hitting you, but for reference, my weapons were not for
you, it is for that horrible she-elf that harrassed my friend pippin!
forgive me again!" boromir and the hobbits laughed out loud, aragorn could
not hold his tounge anymore and burst out in a wide smile, legolas patted
gimli's back. imogen put her bow down, with an eyebrow arched she told the
dwarf, "thats more like it, I hope you've learned your lesson, master
dwarf, hurt no living thing in middle earth for all possess lives." she put
her arrow back to her quiver and looked at the company once again. they
were all staring at her again but this time, no one had a weapon in hand.
she realised that she was going to be out of arrows so she turned to the
dead orcs, pulling back the arrows from each of their foreheads. "now
that's disgusting..." merry the hobbit noted. imogen did not pay attention
and said nothing. legolas heart was pounding for heaven knows why. he
wanted to know this she-elf, for she was amazing, she uses both the sword
and the bow and was rather good at it, she is fearless, she cares for
nature and.. and she was breathtakingly beautiful. he would not let this
moment pass without him knowing her. he quietly walked to imogen, with the
softest voice he asked " wanya mammen, nin heri? "(
imogen looked up to face the elf. he indeed had the bluest eyes. "
wherever I am headed you have no business of it." she remarked coldly,
pulling the last arrow from the last orc. legolas smiled at her courage. "I
believe so, alright if you would not tell me where are you going, can I
atleast know your name or from what realm you came from?" he was not used
to be spoken to by a kindred like the way imogen did because he was a
prince in the realm of the wood elves in mirkwood, and all conversed with
him in respect. but either way imogen chooses to speak to him, rudely or
nicely, he did not care. "those arrows are from dol amroth, am I not
mistaken?" aragon had jogged to them both, including himself from the
elves' conversation. "yes, they are from dol amroth, but I am not from
there. I just stopped by to take heed of the prince's..." imogen suddenly
held her tounge from saying more, she did not wish to give the company any
clue regarding her quest. imogen turned her back at them and called on
asphodel. "Imrahil, the prince of belfalas, how is he?" aragorn asked
casually as if imogen was a long time friend. legolas also knew the prince
though he had not yet met him, all he knows is that the prince also had
some elven blood within and and he dwells in the tower of dol amroth, a
realm near the seas. " how is it that you know of the prince? are you a man
of the south?" imogen was startled, she turned her head and looked intently
at aragorn, examining his stature.
" I could say that I am." aragorn reponded with a nod. imogen was
enlightened upon knowing that the ranger was from gondor, for that land is
like home to her. now she looked at legolas, wondering if he is from
lothlorien. "who are you and what are you doing in this lands?" she asked
the both of them. legolas gave a weak smile and said "i'm afraid I asked
you that question first." boromir was not saying a word, he just stayed
there sitting upon a rock while the halflings made their way towards the
elf and the ranger. gimli is irritated, he did not move from his place
since he had apologized to the tree. asphodel galloped quitely from behind
the thick woods, and the company's eyes widened upon seeing her. imogen
faced both the elf and the ranger, but she was actually looking down at the
halflings. they were fun to look at, to imogen's eyes they were like
children, and they reminded her of the little boys of harnen, those of whom
she had taught to use the bow and arrow with. pippin chuckled upon imogen's
gaze. " it's good to see you not aiming anyone of us!" he told imogen. "and
it's good to see you not in a pale face, pippin. I believe that is your
name." she responded with a smile. her heart sensed that the halflings were
harmless and so she decided to be friendly to them, after all they have not
said anything ill about her, unlike the dwarf. imogen knelt before the
halflings to take a closer look, the creatures greatly amused her. "are you
sure you're not going to hit us?" merry the hobbit asked humourously. " I
give you my word. I am truly sorry about what happened a while ago, pippin,
it was just that you suddenly appeared and I thought of you as an orc."
imogen apologized sincerely. the ringbearer's doubts about imogen melted,
he saw that this elf was pure and there was just no way she could be
sauron's servant. "now, pippin will you introduce me to your mirthful
friends here?" she asked while blinking at the hobbit. "how can I my fair
lady, for you haven't told me your name?" pippin noted as a matter of
factly. legolas and aragorn looked at each other and were quite ashamed of
themselves for neither of their charms worked on imogen, the halflings got
the fair lady's attention. "oh, haven't I? very well then I will tell you
my name. I am imogen northiam, daughter of amaranth, lord of harnen, the
land beside the river, at the south of gondor" as she spoke she looked up
to legolas, so that he would know that she was also responding to his
question a while ago. aragorn was confused, harnen was a realm of men, and
amaranth and his wife were human as far as he knows, how come their
daughter was elven? he held his thoughts to his own and decided that he
would ask her some other time in fear that he would ruin the fair lady's
good mood if he did ask right away. "lady imogen! your name is as fair as
your face!" samwise the halfling remarked. this made imogen's cheeks
heighten in color, making a contrast on her even skin. legolas was indeed
captured by this she-elf's beauty and overall being. he was totally blown
away upon seeing imogen's dazzling smile. he was wearing a dreamy smile
when aragorn gave him a nudge from the side. " falling in love so soon,
master elf?" he asked legolas in a chuckling whisper. with a serene smile
legolas answered " ay! I reckon so my friend." " I just hope she won't
stand in the way of the fellowship, master elf, we both know that we have
not yet come to the end of our quest." legolas suddenly went back to
reality, of course the quest was not yet through, and he was quite ashamed
of himself of thinking of other things rather than the safety of the
ringbearer. he gulped and looked at the ranger "of course, I know that very
well aragorn."
imogen was now conversing merrily with the haflings, she had grown a
liking to them for they are talkative creatures, but she had noticed that
one of them was quite silent compared to the three. "why do you not speak,
silent one?" she asked, "are you still afraid of me? pray tell me your
name." she turned her eyes to Frodo. the halfling was comfortable with
imogen so he spoke hastily, "I am frodo baggins of the shire." imogen's
heart pounced as she remembered from what the willow had told her that he
is the ringbearer. she tried hard not to show any sign of agitation and
offensement, she hid it from her smile. "frodo, what a nice name, and lo!
you have amazing eyes!" it was true that frodo's eyes were beautiful, but
with it came deep fear from what he bears now with him. imogen felt pity
towards the halfling and she hoped to tell him right away that everything
will be fine, but of course she did not say a word about the ring because
she did not wish to startle them all. frodo smiled and said in return, "not
as amazing as yours believe me." imogen leapt up and ruffled frodo's curly
hair. "halflings are amazing creatures!" she said turning to look at
aragorn and legolas. " I do think that you do not wish to assail anyone of
us now." aragorn said. imogen walked to them and shook her head. " I know
of your quest" she said in a whisper, "and I feel nothing but pity for the
ringbearer..." she continued, tilting her head in the direction of frodo's
position. aragorn and legolas' eyes widened, confusion conjured their
faces. "pray tell us how you know of this?" asked aragorn with furrowed
brows. "I have my sources.." she calmly answered. "you are not being fair
my lady, you know of our fellowship, but you would not tell us anything of
your journey.." legolas noted. imogen looked at her kindred directly in the
eyes, his blue eyes matched her deep green orbs, both of them got lost in
an instant. she was about to say something but had forgotten all about it
when she met his gaze. legolas for the life of him, could not muster his
thoughts and failed to say anything, it was like their eyes were having
some sort of understanding. both snapped back to reality when aragorn
forced a cough. "I reckon that we should get back in the campsite, master
elf, I believe that we still have some matters to attend to." said aragorn
walking to the hobbits. legolas' jaws were clamped shut as he looked
irritatably at aragorn. imogen's turned to look at the ground and sighed in
embarrassment. pippin and merry ran towards imogen and pleaded with her to
stay with them even for a night. legolas was delighted by the persuasion
the hobbits were doing, of course he wanted imogen to stay. aragorn did not
hinder them, for he also was curious about the she-elf, the pendant she
wore, her birthmark, and why on earth she stayed in harnen. he also thought
that since the fellowship had lost gandalf, imogen could perhaps fill his
place and be one among the fellowship. he believed that her skills would be
great help, her talent in archery really gives legolas' a real run for his
money, that is of course if imogen decides to take the place, and according
to what she said, she indeed pities the ringbearer. " oh, of course my
heart bids me to stay, but understand that I also have some pressing
matters to attend to..' imogen told the hobbits sadly. "you have not told
us where you are headed, the roads are dangerous these days, I say that it
is not very safe for you to travel alone." aragorn said. imogen looked at
asphodel and sighed, "yes I know that the roads are perilous, but I do not
fear it. I am heading lothlorien, can you tell me how far the land is from
here?" she turned to look at legolas, but slightly avoiding his eyes, for
they might get lost again. "lorien is 3 days away from here, we are
standing now in amon-hen, but nay! I could not allow you to journey alone,
there are wraiths out there, the nazgul, they are in search of us, but we
are not running away from them, we just want the ringbearers safety
assured." legolas explained. "wraiths? sauron's adherents. but I need to go
to lothlorien to see the lady galadriel, prince imrahil advised me to do
so." imogen looked at aragorn for help. "I believe imrahil would advise you
to halt your journey for a while. the nazgul are perilous creatures, they
are neither living or dead, and I deem they would do evil to your quest, as
what they generally do." aragorn responded to imogen. "I do not fear them."
she said courageously. "but.. but my lady, you have not seen those fearful
creatures! please , please stay with us even for a day or two... maybe then
the wraiths will be offguard and some will be returning to mordor.but not
now, not now, they are roving the fields of celenbrant, and there's no
other way you could get to lorien but through those fields." merry pleaded.
as merry spoke, frodo walked towards where they stood. "my lady, please
heed our advise, those wraiths will not stop unless they have found what
they are looking for, when they do find us, then maybe you could depart at
once, only then will the fields of celebrant be safe, for it will be
unharmed and free of the nazgul." imogen's heart sank upon the pleading of
the halflings. why do they care so much? they have only met for short a
time, what could their concerns bring? she bent her self down to frodo, and
whispered to him in his thoughts. imogen, like the lady galadriel could
converse with creatures in thought, she usually does this if she wishes to
address a message to someone secretly. frodo eyes came into contact with
imogen's. and for a short while imogen spoke to his mind, "frodo of the
shire, I see your eyes and I see you suffer, ringbearer, I know what peril
awaits your quest, and the burden you carry burns my heart, I long only to
see you safe..." frodo was surprised to know that imogen is knowledged
about the quest for the ring, but he did not hold her wisdom against his
heart. "then stay with me..stay with us, the fellowship is need of your
help, that is if you will be willing to accept what I ask of you." the rest
of the company was silent but watchful of them both. legolas knew that they
were conversing in thought and he wished to know whatever it is they are
talking about. imogen smiled upon the halfling's plea of her joining the
fellowship. "to say that I do not wish to accompany you in your quest would
be such a lie. but, I also have a quest of my own, I beg you to understand
me, dear halfling, for I can not go on with my journey knowing that I have
added to your sorrows." she caressed the hobbit's cheeks down to his chin
and forced a comforting smile. frodo did not look considerate, he snapped
back in though, "my lady, I ask of you to stay and join the us for the sake
of your own good. please do not think that I am including you in the
fellowship sorely for the cause of the ring, or the ringbearer. I ask of
you to stay so that the fellowship could somehow protect you.. I say this
and I'll say this once again, there is great peril outthere where you are
headed, and I do not wish to live knowing that I have let you do something
we both know is the wrong thing." imogen was surprised at the halflings
insistense. he could somehow be right, journeying alone would really be
riskful, but she had taken risks all her life, why would she let him ruin
her plans now? she again gave a weak smile, and thought to her self that
indeed he made sense, now is the time not to be selfish, she could help the
fellowship with their quest and at the same time, the fellowship could aid
her of her own search of fate. she bowed her head lower and spoke outloud,
"very well, I heed your counsel, I will stay. my bow and my sword will be
of help to your fellowship as long as time allows me to journey with you."
asphodel gave a neigh of dissapproval, she wanted to journey alone. the
company was delighted of her decision, even boromir who had jogged to them
while frodo and imogen were conversing had approved of her stay. but there
was one who seemed to be appalled of what he heard, gimli the dwarf placed
his hand over his head in horror of the thought that the she-elf who kicked
his butt a while ago was actually going to stay with them. the elf legolas
could not be much happier, he wanted to shake frodo's hand for a job very
well done, inspiration would be a great help for the fellowship, so he
thought. imogen's plans were completely rambled, but the halfling plea
seemed to melt her heart and it gave her plans away just like that. maybe
because imogen had always had a heart of a protector, she was always called
for help and this time once again, that calling made a complete turn to
imogen's life. how could she not aid this fellowship, if their quest was to
save all of middle earth?
( where are you headed my lady?