Arigato itoko-chan for sending me the dvd's! I'll see you soon!
-Chapter 4-
"You say that this was to make her happy, but are you even aware of what happens if she dies before Cosmos awakens?"
Serenity paused, true surprise shone through her eyes "Nani?"
*~*
She smiled lazily as she stretched out on her bed and yawned. How she loved the feel of her soft bed and blankets.
Wait.
Bed?
Blankets?
Her eyes opened as she sat up on her own bed, enclosed in a small hut supported by a talan. The memories of the night before rushing back to her as the remnants of her slumber left her mind. Being here only meant that her message was delivered successfully, but what of the outsiders? Were they still safe?
She winced, oh and how her head hurt!
"Those spells can take a lot out of you" she muttered as she pushed aside her blankets and swung her legs around to the edge of her bed. She yawned again, resisting the urge to fall back into her bed, and rubbed her eyes with her hands.
"That maybe, but they are what helped you and the others last night" a male voice commented a short distance from her.
She looked up, "So they are safe then, my lord?"
Celeborn nodded, "They are, and on their way here now. I wanted you to meet them before they arrived, and deliver a message for me."
Eruwen stood, brushing some lose hair away from her face, slightly flinching as the pain in her head returned "And that is?"
"That the dwarf and his companions are free to walk through our forests as they please"
Eruwen paused, shock appearing in her features "Y-you cannot be serious! He is a dwarf!"
Celeborn nodded his head "I am fully aware of what he is, and I know he means no harm to our forests." his voice was firm, as if daring her to test his word. He knew that she, like every other resident of Lothlórien (himself included) did not trust the dwarfs, and would rather face a horde of orcs rather than let one of them roam freely in their forests. But, Elrond had clearly stated that he meant no harm to them, so they might as well show some courtesy to the dwarf.
"Very well" she said, her voice barely audible. She felt like she should argue, but from that tone, and the ever so slowly fading pain in her head, she wasn't up to it.
Elrond turned to leave, pausing for a moment "You need not worry. He can be trusted."
She watched as he left, and sighed. 'I suppose that I must learn to be more open to outsiders, though I have known no others than the elves' she thought as she spied some clothes on a neat pile on the ground 'Especially since I am not elf myself.'
Picking up a grey colored shirt, she looked at it for a moment to confirm it was hers, and proceeded to change her clothes 'but my teachers made dwarfs seem like such a horrible peoples'
As she finished changing, she tied the strings of her cloak around her neck and slung her quiver over her back 'But I guess even they could be wrong about outsiders'. She pulled her hair back into a simple ponytail, a few free strands framing her face.
Eruwen left her small room, lightly striding down the steps towards the end of the city 'And those hobbits were nice enough, so I guess that all outsiders can't be all that bad'
She stopped, and looked out towards the same direction she had gone the morning before to meet Haldir. The golden blooms of elanor catching the afternoon's light, all seeming to glow with a light of their own. 'And who would want to destroy a place such as this?'. Smiling, she starting walking to where they were suppose to be
"A wonderful day to make my own judgments and new friends."
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"Alas for the folly of these days! Here all are enemies of the one enemy, and yet I must walk blind, while the sun is merry in the woodlands under leaves of gold!" cried Legolas as he walked blindfolded like the rest of the company.
They had been walking for several hours now, and it was perhaps close to mid afternoon since they had started.
"A folly it may seem" said Halidir as they walked on "Indeed in nothing is the power of the dark lord more clearly shown in the estrangement that divides all that still oppose him. Yet so little faith and trust do we find now in the world beyond Lothlórien, unless maybe in Rivendell..." he drifted off as he peered out into the forest. "Stop for a moment, if you please" he said holding out him arm
The company came to an abrupt stop, the four hobbits in the front running into each other.
"Hey OW! Watch it Pippin! I swear, you're getting clumsier with ever passing day!"
"What? But I'm over here!"
"Then who.."
"Sorry Merry"
"Oh. It's alright then Frodo."
"What? Here you were, ready to blame me and everything, and all you say to Frodo is 'It's all fine and well'?, Well, that show's-"
"What is it?" Sam asked, cutting off Pippin's ranting as he nervously as he clung on to his master's cloak in front of him "Orcs?"
"Hush now" Aragon whispered, straining to hear whatever he could.
Silence settled over all of them, the wind rushing through the trees all that they could hear.
Well, other than the elves that is. Both Haldir and Legolas could hear something moving through the forest.
"Who or what is it?" Legolas asked, fighting the urge to pull off the cover on his eyes.
"You need not worry" came Haldir's reply as the footsteps neared them
"Haldir!" a soft voice called, before the small woman came into view.
"What are you doing here Eruwen?" asked a surprised Haldir "I would have thought that you would have stayed in the city"
Eruwen shook her head, causing a few more strands of hair to fall from their place "I come bearing a message from the Lord and Lady of Galadhrim" she announced as she stepped toward the company.
"You are all allowed to walk free within our forests. Even the dwarf Gimli" she said as she motioned Haldir to remove the blindfold from the dwarf's eyes. "It seems that the Lady knows who and what is each member of your company" she continued, removing the blind folds first from the hobbits eyes.
"My pardon!" Haldir said as he removed the cover from Gimli's eyes and bowed "Look on us now with friendly eyes!"
Eruwen laughed as she moved onto the next person, she looked up and sighed. Curse her height, or lack thereof.
"Good elf" she said quietly in the Elvish-tongue, "Would you be so kind as to lower your head slightly?"
Legolas, remembering the short elf from the previous night did as asked, not wanting to be rude and remove the blindfold himself.
He felt soft hands brush past his cheeks and a light touch untying the cloth that bound his eyes. As the material fell from his face, he looked up to see the being that freed him from his blindness, right into the bright blue eyes that belonged to Eruwen. His breath caught as a memory stirred deep within his mind.
'Her eyes'
Eruwen flushed lightly as his eyes caught her own, but she brushed it off and laughed as she stepped away. She noticed as Haldir removed the last blindfold, and she looked upon them all.
"Welcome!" she said joyfully "Be happy, for you are a group of privileged few who live to lay eyes on the forests of Lothlórien!"
The company looked on in shock at the woman in front of them.
Her smile dropped from her face, as she looked at the dumbfounded expressions that confronted her. "What is it?" she asked, afraid that she had done something wrong.
No one dared to speak for a moment, before one brave hobbit couldn't contain his puzzlement any longer.
"Y-you're human!" came Merry's reply
"Excuse us for our rudeness," Aragorn said before the hobbit could continue "Except, we all thought that you were an elf."
She laughed again, the musical sound echoing through the forest "I'm afraid to disappoint you" she said as her arms crossed in front of her "But I'm very much human, though I'm told I have the mind of an elf"
"I see, but how is it that you came to be here?"
"Ah, that is a story for another time." She answered, "However, I must now bring you to the city of Lórien to see the Lord and Lady of this forest." Eruwen continued, motioning them all to follow her through the trees of Lothlórien.
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The sun was sinking behind the mountains, the early evening sky slowly taking over the day's light. The Company came to a halt as Eruwen stopped and turned to them.
"Welcome to Caras Galadhon!" she said, allowing them all to rest for a moment.
The fading light seemed to flare up once more, falling on the city that they saw before them. It was filled with mallorn trees taller than any they had seen in this land. In their many tiered branches and amid their ever moving leaves countless lights were gleaming green gold and silver.
She continued walking along a paved path of white stone, all of them following behind.
For a time they walked along this path mostly in silence, save for the few hobbits.
"This is more elvish than anything I've ever heard of. I feel as if I were inside a song" said Sam as he looked around in awe
Eruwen smiled as she glanced back at the hobbit behind her "A song?" she asked "Would you liked to entertain us while we walk with a song?"
Sam flushed, furiously shaking his head "No thank you. I'm afraid that if I sing, I'd ruin the wonderful dream I'm in right now."
She giggled as she glanced to her side at the blond haired elf "And what of you good elf? Would you like to regale us with a song?"
Legolas looked at her for what seemed to be the 100th time since they first met up with her. He couldn't fight down that feeling that he had met her from before...
But from where?
"No lady. I'm afraid I have no song for an occasion such as this"
"Ah, so no one in this company will entertain our ears with a song? Not even you Haldir?" she said, looking at her long time friend
He smiled, shaking his head.
Eruwen signed, turning her eyes towards the sky as she began to hum. Slowly and softly she began to sing, her eyes still turned towards the sky. Her song had no words, but it did not seem to matter as the melody drove them on, enticing them with every note that she sang. Her voice echoed through the woods, sounding as if this nameless melody was part of the earth that they walked upon.
That drove them on, making the long journey along the borders of the city to the gates less strenuous, their past worries melting away with the sounds that left her mouth. As they neared the gates, she suddenly spun around, her arms held outwards, the melody and the last fading light of the day seeming to envelop her as she crossed a great white bridge and stopped as they reached the other side. She looked at the sky once more, her arms held close to her body and her hands clutched together as if in prayer. She took a deep breath, and looked back down at the company as they gathered at the end. Eruwen laughed as she bowed to them, her eyes filled with pleasure and cheeks flushed from the cold.
The fellowship seemed surprised that they had already reached their destination, none of them had even noticed the long distance that they had all traveled.
"That was wonderful Lady Eruwen" Legolas commented, still trying to recall where he had seen her before.
'Her eyes' his mind said again 'Those beautiful eyes...' He just didn't understand what it was about her...
Eruwen smiled at him, and shook her head "I am no lady, it is just Eruwen, good elf."
Legolas opened his mouth to tell her to call him by his own name, but was cut off as she turned to watch the doors open (done by Haldir) in front of them.
"The lord and lady await within" Haldir said, motioning them to go through the gates.
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They all sat before the great elves Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel high in a mallorn tree, the wide talan like the deck of a great ship. The walls of the chamber were green and silver in color, and the chairs in which the lord and lady were seated on were located beneath the bole of the tree, side by side. The lord and lady were clad fully in white, and the hair of the lady was deep gold in color while the Lord's was silver.
When all the guests were seated before his chair, the lord looked at all of them again, "Here there are eight," he said "But nine were sent out-or so said the messages. Maybe there was a change in counsel that we have not yet heard."
"Nay, there was no change in counsel" said the lady, speaking for the first time "The one you know as Gandalf the Grey was sent out with the company, but he did not pass the borders of this land."
Eruwen gasped, her eyes widening at the news. Mithrandir? He was suppose to be here with this strange company?
"Alas!" said Aragorn "Gandalf the Grey fell into the shadow. He remains in Moria and did not escape"
At this news, all the elves along with Eruwen in the hall gave a cry of grief and amazement.
"Tell us the now the full tale!" Celeborn demanded amidst the cries
Then Aragorn recounted all that had happened since the pass of Caradhras, and into the days that followed; and he spoke of Balin and his book and the fight in the chamber of Mazarbul, and the fire and the narrow bridge and the coming of the terror..."
As he recalled all these events, Eruwen could feel the grip on her heart tighten. It was like, no, it was exactly like her dream. The dream the very day before this was supposed to have happened. She saw it with her own eyes, the death of her dear old friend.
Galadriel watched Eruwen, clearly seeing the pain etched into her features. She had not forgotten the dream that day. This girl that she had raised like her own daughter, the girl that both she and Mithrandir suspected held some secret power...
These facts only confirmed that suspicion.
"An evil of the Ancient world it seemed, such as I have not seen before," said Aragorn. "It was both a shadow and flame, strong and terrible."
"It was-"
"It was a Balrog of Morgoth" said Eruwen, surprising everyone in the chamber.
Legolas looked at the girl that had interrupted him, surprised like everyone else at her knowledge of the monster that had attacked them. Her face was turned towards the floor with her golden hair obstructing his view of her face. He could see her hands tightly gripping her knees, shaking slightly.
"A Balrog" she said again, her voice hoarse as she choked back her tears "It was..." She closed her eyes, fighting back the vivid images that assaulted her mind again "He fell, as the bridge crumbled beneath the Balrog. But it's whip of flames held onto him tightly, unwilling to release him from their grip." She shuttered, the horrible sound of that monster's cry ringing in her ears.
The company looked on at shock as the girl described the events that Aragorn had not yet recited. How could she have known this?
She brought up her hands, wiping away the tears that had fallen from her face. She sniffed, and looked up at her Lord and Lady, their faces as calm like they always were.
He could see her face now, her eyes were filled with unbound sorrow that filled his heart with compassion for this woman. And with these thoughts, something in the back of his mind stirred…
Something that he just didn't understand.
"Forgive me" she said quietly. Only sparing a glance to the people that surrounded her, she shakily got up and slowly walked from the hall- leaving behind a shocked audience of elves, humans, hobbits, and one dwarf.
-End chapter 4-
Ah hah, sorry for taking to long to get this out! I'm so busy busy busy!
Anyways, please review?
Reviews are always good motivators.