~ Sightseeing in Middle-Earth ~
~ Disclaimer: ~
Erin's mine. The rest are not.
~ Chapter IV~
~ Boromir, the Council of Elrond, and Aftermath ~
The next day, Gandalf arrived in Rivendell. There was a great commotion, and Bilbo, Merry and Pippin made sure I got to meet him. He was a lot like he'd been in the movies and books, and I liked him instantly. For his part, Gandalf seemed to enjoy quizzing me up about where I'd come from, though I didn't mention anything about the Lord of the Rings books or movies to him. That would just be too confusing to explain, not to mention I didn't know what the repercusions might be for admitting I knew the future down to the words spoken at some points. Despite that, we had lots of long talks over the next three days as Frodo recovered. Elrond, for his part, seemed perfectly happy to let Gandalf deal with me.
When I wasn't talking with Gandalf, I was usually with the hobbits, getting lost. We had great fun making a nuisance of ourselves, asking every Elf we saw where we were and how to get back to the eating hall from there. I think Merry was the only one who actually remembered any of the answers. I know it took Gandalf an entire evening to teach me how to get in-between my rooms, the hobbits rooms, his own room, and the dining hall without getting lost.
It was on my fourth night in Rivendell that, as I was getting ready to go to bed, I looked out and saw Boromir ride up. He dismounted, and several Elves came up to greet him. He was just disappearing inside the main door, when he turned around, looked up, and saw me watching him. I ducked away from the window, blushing slightly. Spying on a Lord of Gondor? Not a good idea. Getting caught at it? Even worse idea.
But I couldn't help anything, so I just snuffed out my lights and crawled into bed, instead of going off to pester Gandalf about the new arrival. When I woke up the next morning, Gandalf was at my door, knocking.
"What?" I asked groggily through the door.
"There is going to be a council this afternoon, and I would like you to come to it." Gandalf said back through the door. I nearly choked. Even half asleep, it didn't take a genius to realize what council he was talking about.
"Have you asked Elrond about this?" I asked, getting over my surprise.
"He will let you come." Gandalf replied, not really answering my question.
"Fine then, come get me when it's going to start." I said.
"Very well. Be ready." Gandalf said.
"I take it you're implying I should wear a dress?" I asked dryly.
"Yes." was Gandalf's reply, and then came the sound of him leaving. I stayed in bed for a few more moments, but discovered that being invited to the infamous Council of Elrond is not conductive to going to sleep. So I got up and dressed - in breeches and a tunic, I wasn't going to wear the dress for the entire day - and wandered off to find Pippin and Merry. They'd disappeared, however, and Frodo and Bilbo were busy talking, so I went back to my room after managing to get an elf to find me some food.
Once in my room, I stared around, bored, for a moment, before hearing a horses whinny outside in the courtyard. I went over and looked out, and there in the courtyard, arriving, was the party of Elves from Mirkwood. Which meant - you guessed it - Legolas. This time I disappeared before the new arrivals saw me, but not before I had a good drool over Legolas. You think he looks good in the movie? Try seeing him in real life. Yummy.
About a half an hour later, about the time I was slowly pulling my thoughts away from the Hotness That Is Legolas, the dwarves arrived. I watched them arrive, too, for the heck of it, and tried to guess who was Glóin, Gimli's father. Dwarves have this annoying tendency to look alike, however, and I still hadn't figured it out by the time the Dwarves had disappeared into the house.
Around noon, right after I changed into my dress in preparation for the Council, Merry and Pippin showed up at my door, looking extraordinarily pleased with themselves. They promptly announced that they'd managed to find the kitchens. I laughed at that.
"And I suppose you managed to stuff yourselves so full you won't be able to eat lunch?" I asked, amused, but Merry and Pippin's faces fell instead of brightening.
"The Elves wouldn't let us eat anything." Merry said somberly.
"Even though they were complaining about having to cook more food then normal." Pippin added.
"Well, people have been arriving all morning." I said matter-of-factly. "Of course they'll be worried about not having the right amount of food prepared."
"People have been arriving all morning, have they?" Merry asked, curious now. "What sorts of people?"
"Oh, a party of Elves from Mirkwood, and some Dwarves from the Lonely Mountain." I answered dismissively. "And a Lord of Gondor arrived last night." Merry and Pippin's eyes widened and I listed each new arrival.
"More Elves? And some Dwarves, like from Bilbo's stories?" Merry asked, delighted.
"Several of the Dwarves that arrived were IN Bilbo's stories." I said with a smile. "But I'm sure you'll be able to talk to the Dwarves and Bilbo about it later. Right now, lunch is ready."
"Right! To the dining hall, then!" Pippin said, looking determined, and we set off. We got there fairly quickly, and were some of the first to arrive. The very first, of course, were the Dwarves, who were already having some ale while talking quietly amongst themselves, staring about themselves at the Elves suspiciously. Several of the Dwarves looked up when we entered, and one or two instantly smiled when they saw the hobbits. Greetings ensued, and Merry and Pippin got to introduce themselves to some of the Dwarves that Bilbo had gone on his adventure with so many years ago. I hung back, letting the short people enjoy themselves without having a someone tall - relatively speaking, of course - looming over them.
So I got to watch everyone else arrive in the dining hall. The Mirkwood Elf company was next to arrive, though sans Legolas, unfortunately. Frodo, Sam and Bilbo showed up a while later, and joined Merry and Pippin with the Dwarves. Then the Rivendell elves started to wander in, and after awhile, Boromir appeared, and then came Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen, Aragorn, and Legolas. Once they arrived, the food began to arrive, too, and lunch began. It was an easy lunch, but eventually, Elrond got up and left, and after awhile, so did Gandalf. After that, the various people who were going to the council got up and left, as well. Since Gandalf had asked me to come, I figured I'd better go, as well, and tagged along after the Dwarves as they went to the council.
I met Gandalf coming to get me as I entered the area where the council was going to be, and I discovered that I was to have one of those seats that you could barely see in the background behind Elrond in the movie. I shrugged when Gandalf showed it to me. It was better then Sam, Merry and Pippin's spots, that was for sure.
I thought the council was going to be exciting, but on the whole, for me, it was rather boring until the end. There was a great more talking then they showed in the movie, and more then I could remember reading in the book, and by the time they got to the interesting part at the end, with the Ring being shown and the Fellowship being chosen, I was bored out of my skull. Which was probably what prompted me to speak up just before Elrond announced the Fellowship.
"Be aware that this is no easy quest you undertake. Most of you will not reach it's end." I said simply, my voice falling in the suddenly silent council. All heads snapped towards me. Elrond, already annoyed by Merry, Pippin and Sam appearing, seemed even more annoyed to find me there. It suddenly occurred to me that there might be a reason why Gandalf had seated me BEHIND Elrond. I mentally shrugged. He asked me to come, he could deal with me talking.
"And how do you know this, Lady?" Boromir was the first to speak up.
"My secret." I said flatly. With the way Elrond looked at me, I guessed Merenmir had told him about the time I'd used that line before. Gandalf looked at me thoughtfully.
"Perhaps the Lady Erin would like to come along with us so she could give us more such wise advice." he said, and I opened my mouth to flat out refuse, but it suddenly occurred to me how boring it would be, just hanging around in Rivendell, waiting for the Fellowship to go do it's thing.
"If you think I should, I will come." I said, nodding my head at Gandalf. Risking a glance at Elrond, I realized he looked about ready to explode. Boromir, for some reason, looked extremely happy that I was coming. Merry and Pippin did, too, but I knew their reason for it. Not knowing Boromir's reason just made me more edgier around him. I was already going to be edgy enough around him, since I knew he was going to die.
"Then come and join us." Gandalf said, motioning to me, and I stood up and joined the nine already standing around Frodo.
"Ten companions. So be it! You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring." Elrond announced, looking resigned.
"Great. Where are we going again?" Pippin asked, and I resisted the urge to start laughing as every just looked at him. The council slowly drifted away, then. A few of the people who had come with members of the newly formed Fellowship came over to talk to that member of the Fellowship, but eventually, it was just the Fellowship and Elrond. I stayed back and talked to Merry and Pippin while Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Elrond discussed our route. Boromir was off in his own little world, Frodo and Sam were sitting side by side, talking, and Gimli was busy eyeing Legolas suspiciously.
Eventually, the discussion on our route ended. Gandalf immediately came over to me and said he'd like to talk to me alone. So I followed as he left the council area. He ended out leading me to his rooms, and we went in. He stirred up the fire and lit his pipe before speaking.
"Elrond told me that you knew of Aragorn and the three hobbits arrival without being told." Gandalf's voice was quiet, and he didn't look at me, but I felt as if I was being interrogated none the less.
"I saw them arrive in my explorations around the house." I said. I didn't want to lie to Gandalf, but I didn't exactly want to tell him I knew everything that was going to happen, either.
"Indeed." Gandalf said, looking at me and raising an eyebrow. "Yet how could you have discovered that most of the Fellowship will not reach the end of their quest?" Silence reigned as I scrambled for an excuse. I came up with nothing but the truth.
"This world, this quest, to it's bitter end, is all told in a book in my world." I said finally with a sigh.
"Which you have read." Gandalf said thoughtfully.
"Twice." I confirmed.
"So you know the path this quest will take." Gandalf commented.
"Down to the very words that will be spoken, at some points." I admitted. "Though that may change now that I'm officially in the Fellowship. Though not too much, I hope." I frowned slightly. "It really wasn't a good idea to ask me along, Gandalf. It changes the quest, might even cause it to fail. Besides that, I can't fight, and knowing how to fight will be a necessity on this trip."
"If it was not a good idea, why then did you accept?" Gandalf asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You asked me to come." I said flatly, hoping Gandalf wouldn't catch my second lie to him.
"Well. We cannot very well remove you from the Fellowship now. Merry and Pippin would not be pleased." Gandalf said. "But who knows. Perhaps your joining the Fellowship will help the quest along."
"Perhaps." I said, shrugging.
"Do tell me if the quest strays to far from what the books in your world say should be happening, though." Gandalf said.
"Um..." I paused. "Can we tell Aragorn about this, too?" I asked, looking at the fire to avoid Gandalf's eyes.
"If you think we should, yes. Though may I ask why?" Gandalf asked curiously.
"Well...you're going to run into a troublesome little demon and have to leave the Fellowship for awhile." I replied, choosing my words carefully.
"Ah." Gandalf said, and I was glad that he pressed it no further, though the tone of his voice indicated that he wanted to. So Gandalf went to his door and snagged a passing Elf and asked them to tell Aragorn to come see him. Gandalf and I talked while we waited for his message to reach Aragorn, considering how much to tell Aragorn, among other things, such as how I should let Gandalf know that something was not going right. Finally, there was a knock on the door. It was Aragorn. Gandalf invited him in, and pulled up another chair. Which I hadn't noticed was even in the room. It probably wasn't in the room before Aragorn showed up, either. We are talking about a wizard here.
"Aragorn, there is something about the Lady Erin that you must know." Gandalf began. Aragorn, clearly curious, didn't comment, but simply listened as Gandalf explained that I was from another world, where the quest was a book which I had read, and therefore, that I knew how the quest would go.
"This is all very interesting, and indeed handy to know, Gandalf, but, if I may ask, why are you telling me this?" Aragorn asked when Gandalf was finished.
"Gandalf wants me to let him know when the quest goes too far off track from what the books in my world say it should be like. Thing is, Gandalf...well, he's not going to be with the Fellowship for the entire quest." I answered for Gandalf.
"And I will?" Aragorn asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I never said anything about you." I replied brightly. Aragorn shook his head slightly in amusement at my answer.
"And how is the Lady Erin supposed to inform us that the quest is going astray from what she knows without the others of the Fellowship discovering where she comes from and what she knows?" Aragorn asked.
"We will simply have to accept that whenever the Lady Erin asks to talk to us privately, there is certain need for it." Gandalf replied simply. Aragorn nodded, and we talked for a short while longer before Aragorn excused himself. A short while later, it was time for dinner.
~ Disclaimer: ~
Erin's mine. The rest are not.
~ Chapter IV~
~ Boromir, the Council of Elrond, and Aftermath ~
The next day, Gandalf arrived in Rivendell. There was a great commotion, and Bilbo, Merry and Pippin made sure I got to meet him. He was a lot like he'd been in the movies and books, and I liked him instantly. For his part, Gandalf seemed to enjoy quizzing me up about where I'd come from, though I didn't mention anything about the Lord of the Rings books or movies to him. That would just be too confusing to explain, not to mention I didn't know what the repercusions might be for admitting I knew the future down to the words spoken at some points. Despite that, we had lots of long talks over the next three days as Frodo recovered. Elrond, for his part, seemed perfectly happy to let Gandalf deal with me.
When I wasn't talking with Gandalf, I was usually with the hobbits, getting lost. We had great fun making a nuisance of ourselves, asking every Elf we saw where we were and how to get back to the eating hall from there. I think Merry was the only one who actually remembered any of the answers. I know it took Gandalf an entire evening to teach me how to get in-between my rooms, the hobbits rooms, his own room, and the dining hall without getting lost.
It was on my fourth night in Rivendell that, as I was getting ready to go to bed, I looked out and saw Boromir ride up. He dismounted, and several Elves came up to greet him. He was just disappearing inside the main door, when he turned around, looked up, and saw me watching him. I ducked away from the window, blushing slightly. Spying on a Lord of Gondor? Not a good idea. Getting caught at it? Even worse idea.
But I couldn't help anything, so I just snuffed out my lights and crawled into bed, instead of going off to pester Gandalf about the new arrival. When I woke up the next morning, Gandalf was at my door, knocking.
"What?" I asked groggily through the door.
"There is going to be a council this afternoon, and I would like you to come to it." Gandalf said back through the door. I nearly choked. Even half asleep, it didn't take a genius to realize what council he was talking about.
"Have you asked Elrond about this?" I asked, getting over my surprise.
"He will let you come." Gandalf replied, not really answering my question.
"Fine then, come get me when it's going to start." I said.
"Very well. Be ready." Gandalf said.
"I take it you're implying I should wear a dress?" I asked dryly.
"Yes." was Gandalf's reply, and then came the sound of him leaving. I stayed in bed for a few more moments, but discovered that being invited to the infamous Council of Elrond is not conductive to going to sleep. So I got up and dressed - in breeches and a tunic, I wasn't going to wear the dress for the entire day - and wandered off to find Pippin and Merry. They'd disappeared, however, and Frodo and Bilbo were busy talking, so I went back to my room after managing to get an elf to find me some food.
Once in my room, I stared around, bored, for a moment, before hearing a horses whinny outside in the courtyard. I went over and looked out, and there in the courtyard, arriving, was the party of Elves from Mirkwood. Which meant - you guessed it - Legolas. This time I disappeared before the new arrivals saw me, but not before I had a good drool over Legolas. You think he looks good in the movie? Try seeing him in real life. Yummy.
About a half an hour later, about the time I was slowly pulling my thoughts away from the Hotness That Is Legolas, the dwarves arrived. I watched them arrive, too, for the heck of it, and tried to guess who was Glóin, Gimli's father. Dwarves have this annoying tendency to look alike, however, and I still hadn't figured it out by the time the Dwarves had disappeared into the house.
Around noon, right after I changed into my dress in preparation for the Council, Merry and Pippin showed up at my door, looking extraordinarily pleased with themselves. They promptly announced that they'd managed to find the kitchens. I laughed at that.
"And I suppose you managed to stuff yourselves so full you won't be able to eat lunch?" I asked, amused, but Merry and Pippin's faces fell instead of brightening.
"The Elves wouldn't let us eat anything." Merry said somberly.
"Even though they were complaining about having to cook more food then normal." Pippin added.
"Well, people have been arriving all morning." I said matter-of-factly. "Of course they'll be worried about not having the right amount of food prepared."
"People have been arriving all morning, have they?" Merry asked, curious now. "What sorts of people?"
"Oh, a party of Elves from Mirkwood, and some Dwarves from the Lonely Mountain." I answered dismissively. "And a Lord of Gondor arrived last night." Merry and Pippin's eyes widened and I listed each new arrival.
"More Elves? And some Dwarves, like from Bilbo's stories?" Merry asked, delighted.
"Several of the Dwarves that arrived were IN Bilbo's stories." I said with a smile. "But I'm sure you'll be able to talk to the Dwarves and Bilbo about it later. Right now, lunch is ready."
"Right! To the dining hall, then!" Pippin said, looking determined, and we set off. We got there fairly quickly, and were some of the first to arrive. The very first, of course, were the Dwarves, who were already having some ale while talking quietly amongst themselves, staring about themselves at the Elves suspiciously. Several of the Dwarves looked up when we entered, and one or two instantly smiled when they saw the hobbits. Greetings ensued, and Merry and Pippin got to introduce themselves to some of the Dwarves that Bilbo had gone on his adventure with so many years ago. I hung back, letting the short people enjoy themselves without having a someone tall - relatively speaking, of course - looming over them.
So I got to watch everyone else arrive in the dining hall. The Mirkwood Elf company was next to arrive, though sans Legolas, unfortunately. Frodo, Sam and Bilbo showed up a while later, and joined Merry and Pippin with the Dwarves. Then the Rivendell elves started to wander in, and after awhile, Boromir appeared, and then came Gandalf, Elrond, Arwen, Aragorn, and Legolas. Once they arrived, the food began to arrive, too, and lunch began. It was an easy lunch, but eventually, Elrond got up and left, and after awhile, so did Gandalf. After that, the various people who were going to the council got up and left, as well. Since Gandalf had asked me to come, I figured I'd better go, as well, and tagged along after the Dwarves as they went to the council.
I met Gandalf coming to get me as I entered the area where the council was going to be, and I discovered that I was to have one of those seats that you could barely see in the background behind Elrond in the movie. I shrugged when Gandalf showed it to me. It was better then Sam, Merry and Pippin's spots, that was for sure.
I thought the council was going to be exciting, but on the whole, for me, it was rather boring until the end. There was a great more talking then they showed in the movie, and more then I could remember reading in the book, and by the time they got to the interesting part at the end, with the Ring being shown and the Fellowship being chosen, I was bored out of my skull. Which was probably what prompted me to speak up just before Elrond announced the Fellowship.
"Be aware that this is no easy quest you undertake. Most of you will not reach it's end." I said simply, my voice falling in the suddenly silent council. All heads snapped towards me. Elrond, already annoyed by Merry, Pippin and Sam appearing, seemed even more annoyed to find me there. It suddenly occurred to me that there might be a reason why Gandalf had seated me BEHIND Elrond. I mentally shrugged. He asked me to come, he could deal with me talking.
"And how do you know this, Lady?" Boromir was the first to speak up.
"My secret." I said flatly. With the way Elrond looked at me, I guessed Merenmir had told him about the time I'd used that line before. Gandalf looked at me thoughtfully.
"Perhaps the Lady Erin would like to come along with us so she could give us more such wise advice." he said, and I opened my mouth to flat out refuse, but it suddenly occurred to me how boring it would be, just hanging around in Rivendell, waiting for the Fellowship to go do it's thing.
"If you think I should, I will come." I said, nodding my head at Gandalf. Risking a glance at Elrond, I realized he looked about ready to explode. Boromir, for some reason, looked extremely happy that I was coming. Merry and Pippin did, too, but I knew their reason for it. Not knowing Boromir's reason just made me more edgier around him. I was already going to be edgy enough around him, since I knew he was going to die.
"Then come and join us." Gandalf said, motioning to me, and I stood up and joined the nine already standing around Frodo.
"Ten companions. So be it! You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring." Elrond announced, looking resigned.
"Great. Where are we going again?" Pippin asked, and I resisted the urge to start laughing as every just looked at him. The council slowly drifted away, then. A few of the people who had come with members of the newly formed Fellowship came over to talk to that member of the Fellowship, but eventually, it was just the Fellowship and Elrond. I stayed back and talked to Merry and Pippin while Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Elrond discussed our route. Boromir was off in his own little world, Frodo and Sam were sitting side by side, talking, and Gimli was busy eyeing Legolas suspiciously.
Eventually, the discussion on our route ended. Gandalf immediately came over to me and said he'd like to talk to me alone. So I followed as he left the council area. He ended out leading me to his rooms, and we went in. He stirred up the fire and lit his pipe before speaking.
"Elrond told me that you knew of Aragorn and the three hobbits arrival without being told." Gandalf's voice was quiet, and he didn't look at me, but I felt as if I was being interrogated none the less.
"I saw them arrive in my explorations around the house." I said. I didn't want to lie to Gandalf, but I didn't exactly want to tell him I knew everything that was going to happen, either.
"Indeed." Gandalf said, looking at me and raising an eyebrow. "Yet how could you have discovered that most of the Fellowship will not reach the end of their quest?" Silence reigned as I scrambled for an excuse. I came up with nothing but the truth.
"This world, this quest, to it's bitter end, is all told in a book in my world." I said finally with a sigh.
"Which you have read." Gandalf said thoughtfully.
"Twice." I confirmed.
"So you know the path this quest will take." Gandalf commented.
"Down to the very words that will be spoken, at some points." I admitted. "Though that may change now that I'm officially in the Fellowship. Though not too much, I hope." I frowned slightly. "It really wasn't a good idea to ask me along, Gandalf. It changes the quest, might even cause it to fail. Besides that, I can't fight, and knowing how to fight will be a necessity on this trip."
"If it was not a good idea, why then did you accept?" Gandalf asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You asked me to come." I said flatly, hoping Gandalf wouldn't catch my second lie to him.
"Well. We cannot very well remove you from the Fellowship now. Merry and Pippin would not be pleased." Gandalf said. "But who knows. Perhaps your joining the Fellowship will help the quest along."
"Perhaps." I said, shrugging.
"Do tell me if the quest strays to far from what the books in your world say should be happening, though." Gandalf said.
"Um..." I paused. "Can we tell Aragorn about this, too?" I asked, looking at the fire to avoid Gandalf's eyes.
"If you think we should, yes. Though may I ask why?" Gandalf asked curiously.
"Well...you're going to run into a troublesome little demon and have to leave the Fellowship for awhile." I replied, choosing my words carefully.
"Ah." Gandalf said, and I was glad that he pressed it no further, though the tone of his voice indicated that he wanted to. So Gandalf went to his door and snagged a passing Elf and asked them to tell Aragorn to come see him. Gandalf and I talked while we waited for his message to reach Aragorn, considering how much to tell Aragorn, among other things, such as how I should let Gandalf know that something was not going right. Finally, there was a knock on the door. It was Aragorn. Gandalf invited him in, and pulled up another chair. Which I hadn't noticed was even in the room. It probably wasn't in the room before Aragorn showed up, either. We are talking about a wizard here.
"Aragorn, there is something about the Lady Erin that you must know." Gandalf began. Aragorn, clearly curious, didn't comment, but simply listened as Gandalf explained that I was from another world, where the quest was a book which I had read, and therefore, that I knew how the quest would go.
"This is all very interesting, and indeed handy to know, Gandalf, but, if I may ask, why are you telling me this?" Aragorn asked when Gandalf was finished.
"Gandalf wants me to let him know when the quest goes too far off track from what the books in my world say it should be like. Thing is, Gandalf...well, he's not going to be with the Fellowship for the entire quest." I answered for Gandalf.
"And I will?" Aragorn asked, arching an eyebrow.
"I never said anything about you." I replied brightly. Aragorn shook his head slightly in amusement at my answer.
"And how is the Lady Erin supposed to inform us that the quest is going astray from what she knows without the others of the Fellowship discovering where she comes from and what she knows?" Aragorn asked.
"We will simply have to accept that whenever the Lady Erin asks to talk to us privately, there is certain need for it." Gandalf replied simply. Aragorn nodded, and we talked for a short while longer before Aragorn excused himself. A short while later, it was time for dinner.