Taureliloomea: A Many Shadowed Forest
The forest was quiet except for the whispers of the trees. The wind smelled like dying vegetation and hibernating animals. Fall was in the air; winter was impatiently ticking the months, days, and hours. The pungent wind could not penetrate the thick foliage above to disturb the air below. All was calm and peaceful. Well, perhaps not all…
Jun Dae blinked. The tree blinked back. A cold chill of fear swept into his heart and stole his breath away. He gripped the rough bark of the tree's stout trunk all the tighter. His knees were weak and trembling. The tree calmly watched Jun Dae collapse onto the wide, sturdy oak branch. The boy remained very still.
"Ruuumba-roooomba-tum. Taruumba-romorooo…" the tree murmured slowly, seemingly to himself. The boy did not move. The tree gave him an amused stare and waited. The boy still did not move.
"Ralarum-arunnn. I am afraid," the tree paused and took in a deep breath. "That the little hobbit has died of fright." The comment was directed to the tree next to Jun Dae. One large, brown eye opened slowly and deliberately. The second opened just as thoughtfully as the first and they both swiveled sideways towards the unconscious boy. The newly awakened tree was quiet. When he finally spoke the forest jumped in surprise.
"Hobbit?" the second tree murmured. "This is no hobbit…it is a little man."
Once again silence took its toll. The two trees sat in silence, contemplating the oblivious Korean.
"Rarumbaboom-room…How can you tell the difference, Fangorn? They are so similar…"
The first tree waited for a response from his elder. Then he waited some more. It seemed to him that his fellow tree had fallen back into the slumber he had recently awoken from. This did not daunt him and he waited some more. Finally his patience paid off.
"The feet."
The first tree peered curiously at the boy's feet. They were black and lumpy. His dark eyes were filled with alarm as he cried: "The little man is dead! Look at his roots, they are terribly discolored…"
"Murummm-bara-rara. Dead? No. Not dead. Vamuuraaaa…Don't be hasty, Bregalad," the elder tree, Fangorn according to his companion, admonished slowly. Bregalad sighed slowly while rumbling with the strange words of his tongue. "What should we do with him?"
Fangorn looked at him calmly.
"That is not my decision," he told the younger tree. They were silent for several moments. This time it was neither of them that broke the silence, but instead, the boy groaned. Two pairs of thoughtful, deep eyes were directed to the stirring form of Jun Dae. One pair of frightened, young eyes peered back. All three were silent.
"Trees don't talk," Jun Dae muttered to himself for comfort.
"They may not talk to you," Bregalad rumbled, watching the boy stiffen. "But does that mean they do not have voices?"
The boy eyed Bregalad warily. "Who are you? What am I doing here? Where is here? Have you seen my frie…" Jun Dae was cut off by the deep, rumbling laughter emitting from the larger tree, the tree he had not heard speak yet. The boy stopped and gaped at the trees.
"Perhaps I was mistaken. A hobbit he might yet be, for such hastiness rivals even your own, Bregalad," the larger of the trees laughed. Jun Dae assumed that the smaller, more slender tree's name was Bregalad from this comment forth. Bregalad laughed as well and Jun Dae just sat in partial astonishment, partial annoyance. He was lost, alone (i.e. not in vicinity of human beings), hungry, tired, on the verge of wetting his pants out of fright; great, now even the trees were laughing at him.
"Excuse me," he heard his voice sound harsh and irritable against the rich laughter. "Could you get me down?"
If he could have spared one of his trembling legs, he would have kicked himself. The two trees stared at him calmly. Then they turned and stared at each other; Jun Dae could have sworn that they must have been using telepathy. He waited impatiently while they gazed at both him and each other. He would have passed the time by fidgeting, but he didn't dare move. He sat still and quiet and frightened by the silence while they stared.
"Why don't you," the boy jumped at the sudden noise. "Get down the same way you got up?" Bregalad finished. Jun Dae stared at him in disbelief. The larger tree murmured what sounded like an African tribal chant to the speaker and they both smiled. The boy shook his head in frustration.
"I don't know how I got up here…I…I…" he struggled for the words. "I thought you knew…"
The two trees pierced him with their deep eyes. In them, he could see many years of wisdom, knowledge, and experience in their depths. He felt very foolish and childish all of a sudden; his sixteen years were nothing more than a blink of the eye to them. The confusion and scant details added to his embarrassment and frustration. Heart racing and blood pounding, he watched his only links to this world converse quietly. The larger of the two took one step toward the tree, and one step was all it took before he was directly across from Jun Dae. He lifted up one gnarled, many-fingered hand to the boy. Jun Dae hesitantly stepped toward the tree and waited to see what would happen to him next.
"What is your name, little man?"
"My name's Jun Dae Chang."
"Do you know who I am, Jun Dae Chang?"
"No."
"Do you want to know who I am?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Jun Dae could feel the coarse hand encircle him. Soon he was flying through the air, the parcel of a walking, talking tree. His breathing was shallow and he closed his eyes tight. He could feel the tree begin to move forward and he opened his eyes in alarm.
"Hey! Where are we going?"
"We, Jun Dae Chang? You are going to meet the Ents…Bregalad and I are going to meet with lulalarumaaaa-loronnn-tuluuur-nar, or in your tongue, Ally of the Forest…" the tree trailed off into more rumblings of the strange language. They walked in silence, save the singing of the two trees, which came and went sporadically. During one of the moments in which neither of the two was singing Jun Dae found the opportunity to ask the one question that had been worrying him.
"So, uh, what exactly is an Ent?"
The two trees could only laugh.
**A/n: Just in case you are wondering, Fangorn is the Elvish for Treebeard and Bregalad is the Elvish for Quickbeam…not telling who the Ally of the Forest is yet (I know, cheesy, but I couldn't come up with anything better ;) Please Review!!! You be my friend forever if you review!!!**