~ Sightseeing in Middle-Earth ~
~ Disclaimer: ~
See last few chapters.
~ Chapter V~
~ Rivendell and Caradhas ~
I don't think anyone who's watched the movie of the Fellowship of the Ring ever really grasped this concept, but I was sure made to - the Fellowship stayed in Rivendell an entire TWO MONTHS after being formed. I joined the Fellowship so I wouldn't be bored waiting around in Rivendell. Guess what I was doing now I was in the Fellowship? That's right, waiting around in Rivendell, bored.
Oh, I had some great talks, got to know the other members of the Fellowship a little better. But really, it was nothing you didn't see in the movie. It's not like they were going to open up to me - I WAS of the opposite sex, after all. Though it did take the newly arrived - Boromir, Legolas and Gimli - awhile to get over the fact that I dressed in male Elven clothes. And after the initial adrenaline rush of deciding to go on this quest had worn off, some of the members of the Fellowship - even the hobbits for a bit - wondered at the wisdom of bringing me along. Especially after they found out I couldn't fight.
But Gandalf quickly fixed that by convincing Aragorn and Boromir to teach me how to use a sword, and Legolas to teach me how to use a bow. I knew a little of archery, since I'd done some back home. And I was just as horrible at it in Middle-Earth with an Elven bow as I was at home with a mass-produced bow. Within a week, the archery lessons had been dropped. Legolas commented something to the effect of I being the one person he'd run into that he couldn't see a chance in hell of teaching how to shoot.
The sword lessons went better, however. Boromir did most of the teaching, as Aragorn was usually off traipsing around with Arwen. Not that it was any problem. Boromir was a great teacher, and had incredible patience. Though he had a little trouble with my concept of 'if the sword doesn't work, kicking and punching will'. There was certainly great interest from the Elven healers as to how he'd managed to get a black eye while teaching me how to use a sword.
"We leave in two days." Gandalf announced finally as he came into the courtyard. It was a generally boring afternoon, and the rest of the Fellowship - even Aragorn - had decided to come watch Boromir and I sword fighting. I was actually getting pretty good. I could 'kill' him once or twice, now - after he started to tire. Currently, though, I had just been finished being 'killed' when Gandalf made his announcement.
"Finally." I said from the ground.
"It is strange that you seem so eager to rush on a quest of such great danger." Boromir remarked as he helped me up.
"There's only one thing more dangerous then danger - boredom." I replied matter-of-factly.
"You will not be bored anymore, Lady Erin." Gandalf said gravely. "As of now, the preparations for the journey begin. It will be long, so we have much to prepare."
The next two days were the most hectic I've ever lived through. Everyone was doing five things at once, and forgetting two other things. Honestly, I couldn't figure out why Gandalf hadn't set us to preparing for the journey earlier. But eventually, the day for the Fellowship to set out had come. There wasn't a big teary goodbye or anything - Elrond just said goodbye to us, Arwen said goodbye to Aragorn, and we left. The Elves we passed almost ignored us as we went past.
"Why the heck aren't we riding?" I mumbled to myself a day later, scrambling up another steep incline. I was near the back of the line of climbers - right in front of Boromir, who was at the back, to be exact.
"We could not get ponies for the hobbits, and the horses would not be able to go where we are going." Aragorn's reply came from ahead of me, and I glared at his back. I swear, he'd picked up Elven hearing, hanging around Arwen so long. He was always hearing things that had been said so quietly that other humans closer to whoever had said it hadn't heard it.
"Well, couldn't we have at least started out with some, and then let them loose, later?" I asked.
"We have Bill." was Aragorn's reply.
"If you are tired, I'm sure Gandalf will stop for a rest." Boromir said helpfully from behind.
"Me? Tired? Never. I'm the Energizer Bunnies cousin." I replied sarcastically. Sarcasm always confused anyone in Middle-Earth, especially when combined with references to home, so that effectively killed the conversation.
The next two weeks were much the same, with us walking, and being bored. Boromir decided to help the hobbits learn how to use their swords a few days in, and Aragorn decided to take over teaching me how to fight. He, being a ranger, fought very differently then Boromir, and had no problem getting used to my unique 'sword, fist and boot' fighting style, as Boromir called it.
I'd just finished practicing with Aragorn, and Boromir had started a lesson with Merry and Pippin, when a familiar scene began. Watching, I saw Boromir accidentally nick Pippin with his sword. Pippin, incensed, resorted to my fighting method and gave Boromir a solid kick in the shin. No sooner had that happened then Legolas ran off to the side of our camp site, looking out on the horizon, interupting an argument Gimli and Gandalf seemed to be having. Casually, I grabbed my backpack and moved it over to a bush, then stayed nearby as the scene unfolded.
I was already hidden by the time Aragorn told everyone to hide. I stayed hidden and watched as the birds flew around us. It seemed like there was no end to them, but finally, they were gone.
"The spies of Saruman. Our passage south is being watched." Gandalf said once the birds were gone and we began to creep out of hiding again. "We must take the pass of Caradhas." Out of Gandalf's sight, I made a face, and Boromir, the only one to see it, smiled, amused. The Fellowship had already learned I didn't like cold, and that was probably the reason Boromir thought I was making a face. But I didn't object openly. After all, we had to go there. So we went off to Caradhas.
It turned out that I was standing behind Frodo when he took his tumble down the mountain, and thus was the one to catch him.
"You OK, Frodo?" I asked, setting the hobbit on his feet. In response, Frodo felt at his neck and started looking about franticly.
"The ring!" he said to me. "The chain I had it on - it fell off!" I glanced up the mountain just as Boromir turned to see what was the matter. Frodo, seeing the ring a few feet from Boromir, scrambled up and picked it back up before Boromir even noticed it was there. Frodo glanced at Boromir, then started trudging up the mountain again. Boromir shrugged, having no clue what had just gone on, and continued after the hobbit just as Aragorn came up beside me.
"Is there a reason you have stopped?" Aragorn asked me, when he saw I wasn't moving.
"Yes, my feet have frozen to the ground." I said cheerfully, and proceeded to run up to the front of the line of the Fellowship as it trudged along so I could talk to Merry and Pippin. Boromir not picking up the ring worried me, but he hadn't in the book, so I didn't bother telling Gandalf. As I walked beside Merry and Pippin and talked to them, the path gradually narrowed, and soon there was only room for single-file. The snow gradually got deeper, and Aragorn finally suggested that they carry the hobbits. The hobbits decided this would be a very good idea indeed, and Aragorn scooped up Sam and Frodo, leaving Merry and Pippin to Boromir. Legolas, to everybody's annoyance, was nancing about on top of the snow. I'm not joking when I said everybody. I caught Gandalf shooting evil looks at the Elf prince one time as he ran by the wizard.
"Stay close to the cliff face." I warned the Fellowship during one of out brief rests. "You never know when an avalanche will happen." A few of the members of the Fellowship nodded, and then Gandalf announced our rest was at an end, and we all dragged ourselves to our feet so we could continue. I, however, was beginning to lag horribly. It was extremely cold, and I couldn't feel my toes, fingers, or the lower halves of my legs and arms. Elven clothes are nice, but they're not exactly warm. Which made me extremely happy, if surprised, when a large cloak suddenly dropped around my shoulders during our next stop. I looked up to find Boromir, missing his big warm cloak.
"You looked cold." he said with a half smile.
"I was." I answered. "But won't you be cold without it?"
"My clothes were made for winter traveling. Elven clothes, however comfortable, are never made for winter traveling." Boromir replied.
"They have never had the need to be." Legolas commented from a few feet away.
"Somebody should make some, anyways." I said emphatically, which got a chuckle from several members of the Fellowship.
"You shall have to bring it up with the Elven tailors once our quest is done." Gandalf said. "For now, we must continue." Everybody groaned, but we readied ourselves, and Boromir and Aragorn picked up the hobbits again, and we set off. Boromir's cloak was really quite warm, and by the time we reached the dead end, only my toes were cold. Then Legolas nanced by, and yelled something about 'on the air'. Which, besides making me giggle, caused me to immediately squish myself against the cliff face. Snow fell, Gandalf had his little long-distance battle with Saruman, then LOTS of snow fell.
Ever been in an avalanche before? No? Well, imagine someone dumping a large pile of blankets on you, covering all of you. Now take away the warmth and the oxygen. That's what it was like. So, understandably, I got just a little frantic while digging myself out.
"We must get off the mountain!" Boromir called. "Make for the Gap of Rohan! Or take the west road to my city!" Aragorn countered that the Gap of Rohan was too close to Isengard, Gimli put in his opinion, and finally Gandalf told Frodo to decide.
"We will go through the mines." Frodo said, and I flopped my head into my hands and made a face. I would've been worried if Frodo HADN'T chosen Moria, but I still wasn't liking the idea of going through the mines. It would be my first real taste of the danger that would prove to be so abundant on the quest.
"So be it." came Gandalf's response to Frodo's decision, and we set about digging ourselves out of the snow.
~ Disclaimer: ~
See last few chapters.
~ Chapter V~
~ Rivendell and Caradhas ~
I don't think anyone who's watched the movie of the Fellowship of the Ring ever really grasped this concept, but I was sure made to - the Fellowship stayed in Rivendell an entire TWO MONTHS after being formed. I joined the Fellowship so I wouldn't be bored waiting around in Rivendell. Guess what I was doing now I was in the Fellowship? That's right, waiting around in Rivendell, bored.
Oh, I had some great talks, got to know the other members of the Fellowship a little better. But really, it was nothing you didn't see in the movie. It's not like they were going to open up to me - I WAS of the opposite sex, after all. Though it did take the newly arrived - Boromir, Legolas and Gimli - awhile to get over the fact that I dressed in male Elven clothes. And after the initial adrenaline rush of deciding to go on this quest had worn off, some of the members of the Fellowship - even the hobbits for a bit - wondered at the wisdom of bringing me along. Especially after they found out I couldn't fight.
But Gandalf quickly fixed that by convincing Aragorn and Boromir to teach me how to use a sword, and Legolas to teach me how to use a bow. I knew a little of archery, since I'd done some back home. And I was just as horrible at it in Middle-Earth with an Elven bow as I was at home with a mass-produced bow. Within a week, the archery lessons had been dropped. Legolas commented something to the effect of I being the one person he'd run into that he couldn't see a chance in hell of teaching how to shoot.
The sword lessons went better, however. Boromir did most of the teaching, as Aragorn was usually off traipsing around with Arwen. Not that it was any problem. Boromir was a great teacher, and had incredible patience. Though he had a little trouble with my concept of 'if the sword doesn't work, kicking and punching will'. There was certainly great interest from the Elven healers as to how he'd managed to get a black eye while teaching me how to use a sword.
"We leave in two days." Gandalf announced finally as he came into the courtyard. It was a generally boring afternoon, and the rest of the Fellowship - even Aragorn - had decided to come watch Boromir and I sword fighting. I was actually getting pretty good. I could 'kill' him once or twice, now - after he started to tire. Currently, though, I had just been finished being 'killed' when Gandalf made his announcement.
"Finally." I said from the ground.
"It is strange that you seem so eager to rush on a quest of such great danger." Boromir remarked as he helped me up.
"There's only one thing more dangerous then danger - boredom." I replied matter-of-factly.
"You will not be bored anymore, Lady Erin." Gandalf said gravely. "As of now, the preparations for the journey begin. It will be long, so we have much to prepare."
The next two days were the most hectic I've ever lived through. Everyone was doing five things at once, and forgetting two other things. Honestly, I couldn't figure out why Gandalf hadn't set us to preparing for the journey earlier. But eventually, the day for the Fellowship to set out had come. There wasn't a big teary goodbye or anything - Elrond just said goodbye to us, Arwen said goodbye to Aragorn, and we left. The Elves we passed almost ignored us as we went past.
"Why the heck aren't we riding?" I mumbled to myself a day later, scrambling up another steep incline. I was near the back of the line of climbers - right in front of Boromir, who was at the back, to be exact.
"We could not get ponies for the hobbits, and the horses would not be able to go where we are going." Aragorn's reply came from ahead of me, and I glared at his back. I swear, he'd picked up Elven hearing, hanging around Arwen so long. He was always hearing things that had been said so quietly that other humans closer to whoever had said it hadn't heard it.
"Well, couldn't we have at least started out with some, and then let them loose, later?" I asked.
"We have Bill." was Aragorn's reply.
"If you are tired, I'm sure Gandalf will stop for a rest." Boromir said helpfully from behind.
"Me? Tired? Never. I'm the Energizer Bunnies cousin." I replied sarcastically. Sarcasm always confused anyone in Middle-Earth, especially when combined with references to home, so that effectively killed the conversation.
The next two weeks were much the same, with us walking, and being bored. Boromir decided to help the hobbits learn how to use their swords a few days in, and Aragorn decided to take over teaching me how to fight. He, being a ranger, fought very differently then Boromir, and had no problem getting used to my unique 'sword, fist and boot' fighting style, as Boromir called it.
I'd just finished practicing with Aragorn, and Boromir had started a lesson with Merry and Pippin, when a familiar scene began. Watching, I saw Boromir accidentally nick Pippin with his sword. Pippin, incensed, resorted to my fighting method and gave Boromir a solid kick in the shin. No sooner had that happened then Legolas ran off to the side of our camp site, looking out on the horizon, interupting an argument Gimli and Gandalf seemed to be having. Casually, I grabbed my backpack and moved it over to a bush, then stayed nearby as the scene unfolded.
I was already hidden by the time Aragorn told everyone to hide. I stayed hidden and watched as the birds flew around us. It seemed like there was no end to them, but finally, they were gone.
"The spies of Saruman. Our passage south is being watched." Gandalf said once the birds were gone and we began to creep out of hiding again. "We must take the pass of Caradhas." Out of Gandalf's sight, I made a face, and Boromir, the only one to see it, smiled, amused. The Fellowship had already learned I didn't like cold, and that was probably the reason Boromir thought I was making a face. But I didn't object openly. After all, we had to go there. So we went off to Caradhas.
It turned out that I was standing behind Frodo when he took his tumble down the mountain, and thus was the one to catch him.
"You OK, Frodo?" I asked, setting the hobbit on his feet. In response, Frodo felt at his neck and started looking about franticly.
"The ring!" he said to me. "The chain I had it on - it fell off!" I glanced up the mountain just as Boromir turned to see what was the matter. Frodo, seeing the ring a few feet from Boromir, scrambled up and picked it back up before Boromir even noticed it was there. Frodo glanced at Boromir, then started trudging up the mountain again. Boromir shrugged, having no clue what had just gone on, and continued after the hobbit just as Aragorn came up beside me.
"Is there a reason you have stopped?" Aragorn asked me, when he saw I wasn't moving.
"Yes, my feet have frozen to the ground." I said cheerfully, and proceeded to run up to the front of the line of the Fellowship as it trudged along so I could talk to Merry and Pippin. Boromir not picking up the ring worried me, but he hadn't in the book, so I didn't bother telling Gandalf. As I walked beside Merry and Pippin and talked to them, the path gradually narrowed, and soon there was only room for single-file. The snow gradually got deeper, and Aragorn finally suggested that they carry the hobbits. The hobbits decided this would be a very good idea indeed, and Aragorn scooped up Sam and Frodo, leaving Merry and Pippin to Boromir. Legolas, to everybody's annoyance, was nancing about on top of the snow. I'm not joking when I said everybody. I caught Gandalf shooting evil looks at the Elf prince one time as he ran by the wizard.
"Stay close to the cliff face." I warned the Fellowship during one of out brief rests. "You never know when an avalanche will happen." A few of the members of the Fellowship nodded, and then Gandalf announced our rest was at an end, and we all dragged ourselves to our feet so we could continue. I, however, was beginning to lag horribly. It was extremely cold, and I couldn't feel my toes, fingers, or the lower halves of my legs and arms. Elven clothes are nice, but they're not exactly warm. Which made me extremely happy, if surprised, when a large cloak suddenly dropped around my shoulders during our next stop. I looked up to find Boromir, missing his big warm cloak.
"You looked cold." he said with a half smile.
"I was." I answered. "But won't you be cold without it?"
"My clothes were made for winter traveling. Elven clothes, however comfortable, are never made for winter traveling." Boromir replied.
"They have never had the need to be." Legolas commented from a few feet away.
"Somebody should make some, anyways." I said emphatically, which got a chuckle from several members of the Fellowship.
"You shall have to bring it up with the Elven tailors once our quest is done." Gandalf said. "For now, we must continue." Everybody groaned, but we readied ourselves, and Boromir and Aragorn picked up the hobbits again, and we set off. Boromir's cloak was really quite warm, and by the time we reached the dead end, only my toes were cold. Then Legolas nanced by, and yelled something about 'on the air'. Which, besides making me giggle, caused me to immediately squish myself against the cliff face. Snow fell, Gandalf had his little long-distance battle with Saruman, then LOTS of snow fell.
Ever been in an avalanche before? No? Well, imagine someone dumping a large pile of blankets on you, covering all of you. Now take away the warmth and the oxygen. That's what it was like. So, understandably, I got just a little frantic while digging myself out.
"We must get off the mountain!" Boromir called. "Make for the Gap of Rohan! Or take the west road to my city!" Aragorn countered that the Gap of Rohan was too close to Isengard, Gimli put in his opinion, and finally Gandalf told Frodo to decide.
"We will go through the mines." Frodo said, and I flopped my head into my hands and made a face. I would've been worried if Frodo HADN'T chosen Moria, but I still wasn't liking the idea of going through the mines. It would be my first real taste of the danger that would prove to be so abundant on the quest.
"So be it." came Gandalf's response to Frodo's decision, and we set about digging ourselves out of the snow.