~ Sightseeing in Middle-Earth ~
~ Disclaimer: ~
See previous chapters. My mind is currently to lazy to think up a new one for this chapter.
~ Chapter VII~
~ To Lothlorien and Snoring ~
We walked non-stop until late the next evening, hiding as best we could from the Orcs, eating as we went, and the taller ones carrying the hobbits when they got too tired to go on. For my part, my complaints had gone from an attempt to cheer everyone up to sincere. I could stay up 36 hours straight if I really wanted too, and had a good pound worth of sugar to help, but this walking very fast on very little food was not working. Boromir at one point offered to carry me, too, late in the night when I was looking extremely tired, but I knew I'd fall asleep the instant I stopped moving, so I refused. It didn't occur to me until later what an odd offer that was. It wouldn't be something common for someone in my world to offer, let alone someone in this world. But I was way too tired to think about it, and forgot about it as we headed on.
Finally, in the middle of the afternoon on the second day, we reached Lothlorien. Entering the forest, I suddenly felt refreshed, and the rest of the members of the Fellowship perked up, as well, though all for different reasons. I walked close to Merry and Pippin, now, near the middle of the group that was the Fellowship, and listened with amusement as Gimli warned the hobbits about Galadriel, then boasted about not being ensnared so easily. Then Haldir and the other elves popped up.
"The Dwarf breathes so loud we could have shot him in the dark." Haldir commented smugly.
"Haldir o Lórien. Henio aníron, boe ammen i dulu lîn. Boe ammen veriad lîn." Aragorn spoke up, stepping forward before Gimli could speak. Gimli spoke up, anyways, saying we should turn back.
"You have entered the realm of the Lady of the Wood. You cannot go back. Come. She is waiting." Haldir replied crisply, and he turned and headed off. We followed. Not like we had any choice, with all those Elves with bows and knives around us. We were lead through the forest, all of us except perhaps Aragorn giving up on remembering the way out after awhile, and finally we reached what amounted to an Elven city. We were led up into a tree, and I hugged the trunk and determinedly did not look down. A few of the elves in our escort noticed, and I swear I saw them snigger. I just kept going, and finally, we reached the top and entered into a reception area. Then, backlit with a light so bright it hurt my eyes, Celeborn and Galadriel appeared. When the light died down, Celeborn spoke.
"Nine that there are here, yet ten there were set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak with him." he said, after doing a head count.
"He has fallen into Shadow." Galadriel answered her husband as she looked at Aragorn, then she looked over us all. "The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail to the ruin of all." she added, and she looked at Boromir. Boromir, strangely, looked back without showing the least bit of nervousness, and a brief look of worry crossed Galadriel's face, mirrored by one on my own. Then Galadriel continued with her obscure advice, and told us to go rest. But as I left, Haldir snagged my arm.
"The Lady wishes to speak with you alone." he said.
"Lady Erin?" Boromir called up to me, turning and seeing that I wasn't following.
"I'll be down in a bit, Boromir." I said, and Haldir nodded before leading me off yet FARTHER up the tree. We came to another platform, and I stepped onto it to find Galadriel already waiting. As Haldir bowed to the queen and left, I absently wondered if she'd used magic to get here ahead of Haldir and I, or if there was a rope ladder hidden somewhere.
"Lady Erin." Galadriel said thoughtfully once Haldir was gone. "I have heard many things about you, from Gandalf and Elrond both."
"I didn't do anything." I said dryly. It figured they'd tell Galadriel, though.
"Oh?" Galadriel asked, arching an eyebrow elegantly at me. "Haven't you?" I looked at the Elf Queen strangely.
"Well, I've killed quite a few Orcs." I said.
"That is not what you have done that matters." Galadriel said, looking troubled.
"Then what have I done?" I asked.
"You have joined the Fellowship when you should not have." Galadriel said.
"Gandalf invited me." I said defensively.
"You should have refused." Galadriel said sternly. "You know this." I hesitated, then nodded. It was true, it had crossed my mind that my mere presence in the Fellowship would change things, but I had not thought it would make much difference. "And yet you still accepted." I shrugged.
"Elves are nice, seeing Middle-Earth is better." I said.
"This is no sightseeing trip you have undertaken! You should not treat this so lightly, Erin Cassidy Hean!" Galadriel warned sternly, and I blinked. How the hell did she know my full name? I hadn't told ANYONE any more then my first name. Then I mentally shrugged. She was a super-powerful Elf Queen with a ring of power who could read minds. Why SHOULDN'T she know my full name?
"Fine then, tell me what has changed and I will do my best to see that it is fixed." I said calmly.
"Boromir is not as strongly tempted by the ring as he should be." Galadriel replied, calm and serene once more. I blinked.
"Oooooh shitake mushrooms." I said, eyes widening as the consequences of Boromir not being tempted by the ring sunk in. "That's definitely a problem."
"Yes. One I may do nothing about. It is up to you, Lady Erin, to make sure events go as they should!" Galadriel informed me.
"Great. So I get to convince Boromir to try and take the ring from Frodo and then get himself killed." I grumbled sourly, and Galadriel looked at me in surprise before recovering.
"If that be the path that must be taken to keep the quest on its course, so be it." she said evenly. I sighed.
"I'll do my best." I said.
"I have faith that you will." Galadriel replied softly, and then Haldir appeared again, and I followed him off to where the rest of the Fellowship was already waiting. Sure enough, as we rested that night, I noticed that Boromir did not seem troubled in the least at being in Lothlorien, like he should have been. In fact, he was the first of us to fall asleep.
Did I mention Boromir snores? He doesn't sound normal when he does it, either...Legolas had to end out doing something to stop Boromir from snoring, though, as the Lorien Elves were starting to look pissed. We all laughed quietly about that for awhile, and then the lament for Gandalf began.
Elven music is hauntingly beautiful normally, and conveys such emotion when sung in the smooth and flowing Elven language it was written in. I've never been much moved by death - it never really hits me that the person is dead and gone, I guess - and besides that, Gandalf wasn't dead. Well, if he was, he wasn't staying dead for long. But this Elven lament made even me sadden, and it was all I could do to comfort Pippin as he blamed himself for Gandalf's fall.
It seemed that I, however, was to be the one that could not get any sleep in Lorien, instead of Boromir. What Galadriel had told me was troubling, and I didn't know how I could fix what my mere presence had changed, without knowing more about why Boromir wasn't as tempted by the ring as he should be. I sat by the hobbits until they all fell asleep, then wandered off. After awhile, the houses of the Elves, high in the trees, disappeared from sight, and I came upon a stream. I sat down next to it, then, and stared into the water as I thought about how I could put the quest back on its proper course.
I guess I fell asleep there, though I don't remember it. But next thing I knew, it was beginning to get light again, so I stood and headed back the way I'd come, hoping I didn't end out missing the Elves homes entirely. I hadn't gone too far, however, and soon the Elves tree homes were in sight. I wandered around for a good hour until I found the rest of the Fellowship, already up and eating.
"Ah, Lady Erin. We were just considering going out to look for you." Gimli greeted me as I walked up.
"I took a walk." I said with a shrug.
"A rather long walk." Aragorn commented. "You left last night."
"Ok, I took a walk and had a nap." I said, rolling my eyes.
"You will have plenty of time for more such walks." Legolas said. "We will be staying in Lothlorien for awhile to rest."
"Goody." I said, then grabbed a fruit from the collection of food and chomped into it. A few members of the Fellowship arched an eyebrow at my response. They had clearly expected me to make a comment about becoming bored. But the longer I had, the more chance that I'd be able to discover why the ring wasn't tempting Boromir - I hoped to god that it wasn't because the ring was tempting someone else - and fix it.
We finished breakfast in silence, and then Merry and Pippin announced that they were going to go exploring, and I went off with them. We were lost by noon hour, and the hobbits stomachs were grumbling, so we had to ask a passing elf how to get back to...where ever we were camped. The elf was amused when he realized we didn't know exactly where we were staying, other then within a five minute walk from Galadriel and Celeborn's tree. He managed to get us back there, however. Reaching the place, we thanked the elf, and he went off, and we inspected the site to discover that only Boromir was there.
"Gimli and Legolas went for a walk, as did Aragorn, as well as Frodo and Sam." Boromir explained when we asked him where everyone else was.
"Does everyone go for walks here?" I asked, amused.
"Apparently." Boromir replied with a shrug.
"Well, let's do something different then." I said cheerfully. "I don't think we've had a sword lesson since before Caradhas."
"We would have to find some place away from the Elven houses. I wouldn't want to disturb the peace of the Elves." Boromir said, and I couldn't help but snigger.
"You've already done that." Merry said, and he and Pippin started giggling uncontrollably.
"I have?" he asked, alarmed, glancing between the hobbits and I.
"You snore." I replied, grinning wickedly, and a look of absolute horror crossed Boromir's face.
"Not to worry, Boromir. I think the Elves were more amused then annoyed." Pippin said assuringly, getting over his giggles.
"At least Galadriel and Celeborn didn't hear." I commented dryly. Boromir seemed to find the idea of snoring so loudly Galadriel and Celeborn could hear even more horrifying, and his eyes widened. Well, I guess this fun had gone on long enough.
"It's nothing to worry about, Boromir. It was a small occurrence, and I'm sure the majority of Elves have already forgotten about it." I said soothingly, and Boromir seemed to relax. Then Merry's stomach growled, and we all looked at him as he grinned sheepishly before laughing and setting about making some lunch. Once we were done, we grabbed our swords and wandered off away from the Elves houses. Eventually, we figured we were far enough away, and set about practicing with our swords.
Somehow, Legolas and Gimli found us after awhile, and they got together with Boromir and decided to teach me how to deal with three attackers at once. WITHOUT informing me. Merry and Pippin were laughing their heads off as I took one look at the elf, dwarf and human and ran out the first opening I saw. Tossing my sword on the ground, I found a likely tree and scrambled up it. Gimli started laughing, And soon Boromir and Legolas joined him as I made a face at them.
"Well, now we've driven the student up a tree." Boromir said after awhile, a grin still on his face. "What shall we do?"
"We can teach her how to fight armed opponents on the ground from a tree unarmed." Legolas replied, grinning.
"That's not even possible." I protested.
"Oh? Isn't it?" Legolas said, raising an eyebrow.
"No, it's not." I said emphatically.
"It is." Legolas countered.
"Show me." I said. Legolas eyed me, then sheathed his knives and jumped smoothly up into a nearby tree.
"Very well. Get down and get your sword, and I will show you, Boromir and Gimli how one fights armed opponents from a tree when unarmed." Legolas said. I hesitated, wondering if the elf was using this as a way to get me down from the tree, but shrugged and jumped down. I grabbed my sword, and Legolas gave a count before proving to Boromir, Gimli and I that fighting armed opponents from a tree while unarmed was not only entirely possible, but extremely quick and easy, especially when one's an elf.
When we got back to the site where we were staying, Aragorn, Frodo and Sam didn't even ask why Gimli, Boromir and I had headaches, Merry and Pippin couldn't stop laughing, and Legolas looked extremely smug. They just shook their heads and offered us some supper.
~ Disclaimer: ~
See previous chapters. My mind is currently to lazy to think up a new one for this chapter.
~ Chapter VII~
~ To Lothlorien and Snoring ~
We walked non-stop until late the next evening, hiding as best we could from the Orcs, eating as we went, and the taller ones carrying the hobbits when they got too tired to go on. For my part, my complaints had gone from an attempt to cheer everyone up to sincere. I could stay up 36 hours straight if I really wanted too, and had a good pound worth of sugar to help, but this walking very fast on very little food was not working. Boromir at one point offered to carry me, too, late in the night when I was looking extremely tired, but I knew I'd fall asleep the instant I stopped moving, so I refused. It didn't occur to me until later what an odd offer that was. It wouldn't be something common for someone in my world to offer, let alone someone in this world. But I was way too tired to think about it, and forgot about it as we headed on.
Finally, in the middle of the afternoon on the second day, we reached Lothlorien. Entering the forest, I suddenly felt refreshed, and the rest of the members of the Fellowship perked up, as well, though all for different reasons. I walked close to Merry and Pippin, now, near the middle of the group that was the Fellowship, and listened with amusement as Gimli warned the hobbits about Galadriel, then boasted about not being ensnared so easily. Then Haldir and the other elves popped up.
"The Dwarf breathes so loud we could have shot him in the dark." Haldir commented smugly.
"Haldir o Lórien. Henio aníron, boe ammen i dulu lîn. Boe ammen veriad lîn." Aragorn spoke up, stepping forward before Gimli could speak. Gimli spoke up, anyways, saying we should turn back.
"You have entered the realm of the Lady of the Wood. You cannot go back. Come. She is waiting." Haldir replied crisply, and he turned and headed off. We followed. Not like we had any choice, with all those Elves with bows and knives around us. We were lead through the forest, all of us except perhaps Aragorn giving up on remembering the way out after awhile, and finally we reached what amounted to an Elven city. We were led up into a tree, and I hugged the trunk and determinedly did not look down. A few of the elves in our escort noticed, and I swear I saw them snigger. I just kept going, and finally, we reached the top and entered into a reception area. Then, backlit with a light so bright it hurt my eyes, Celeborn and Galadriel appeared. When the light died down, Celeborn spoke.
"Nine that there are here, yet ten there were set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much desire to speak with him." he said, after doing a head count.
"He has fallen into Shadow." Galadriel answered her husband as she looked at Aragorn, then she looked over us all. "The quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little, and it will fail to the ruin of all." she added, and she looked at Boromir. Boromir, strangely, looked back without showing the least bit of nervousness, and a brief look of worry crossed Galadriel's face, mirrored by one on my own. Then Galadriel continued with her obscure advice, and told us to go rest. But as I left, Haldir snagged my arm.
"The Lady wishes to speak with you alone." he said.
"Lady Erin?" Boromir called up to me, turning and seeing that I wasn't following.
"I'll be down in a bit, Boromir." I said, and Haldir nodded before leading me off yet FARTHER up the tree. We came to another platform, and I stepped onto it to find Galadriel already waiting. As Haldir bowed to the queen and left, I absently wondered if she'd used magic to get here ahead of Haldir and I, or if there was a rope ladder hidden somewhere.
"Lady Erin." Galadriel said thoughtfully once Haldir was gone. "I have heard many things about you, from Gandalf and Elrond both."
"I didn't do anything." I said dryly. It figured they'd tell Galadriel, though.
"Oh?" Galadriel asked, arching an eyebrow elegantly at me. "Haven't you?" I looked at the Elf Queen strangely.
"Well, I've killed quite a few Orcs." I said.
"That is not what you have done that matters." Galadriel said, looking troubled.
"Then what have I done?" I asked.
"You have joined the Fellowship when you should not have." Galadriel said.
"Gandalf invited me." I said defensively.
"You should have refused." Galadriel said sternly. "You know this." I hesitated, then nodded. It was true, it had crossed my mind that my mere presence in the Fellowship would change things, but I had not thought it would make much difference. "And yet you still accepted." I shrugged.
"Elves are nice, seeing Middle-Earth is better." I said.
"This is no sightseeing trip you have undertaken! You should not treat this so lightly, Erin Cassidy Hean!" Galadriel warned sternly, and I blinked. How the hell did she know my full name? I hadn't told ANYONE any more then my first name. Then I mentally shrugged. She was a super-powerful Elf Queen with a ring of power who could read minds. Why SHOULDN'T she know my full name?
"Fine then, tell me what has changed and I will do my best to see that it is fixed." I said calmly.
"Boromir is not as strongly tempted by the ring as he should be." Galadriel replied, calm and serene once more. I blinked.
"Oooooh shitake mushrooms." I said, eyes widening as the consequences of Boromir not being tempted by the ring sunk in. "That's definitely a problem."
"Yes. One I may do nothing about. It is up to you, Lady Erin, to make sure events go as they should!" Galadriel informed me.
"Great. So I get to convince Boromir to try and take the ring from Frodo and then get himself killed." I grumbled sourly, and Galadriel looked at me in surprise before recovering.
"If that be the path that must be taken to keep the quest on its course, so be it." she said evenly. I sighed.
"I'll do my best." I said.
"I have faith that you will." Galadriel replied softly, and then Haldir appeared again, and I followed him off to where the rest of the Fellowship was already waiting. Sure enough, as we rested that night, I noticed that Boromir did not seem troubled in the least at being in Lothlorien, like he should have been. In fact, he was the first of us to fall asleep.
Did I mention Boromir snores? He doesn't sound normal when he does it, either...Legolas had to end out doing something to stop Boromir from snoring, though, as the Lorien Elves were starting to look pissed. We all laughed quietly about that for awhile, and then the lament for Gandalf began.
Elven music is hauntingly beautiful normally, and conveys such emotion when sung in the smooth and flowing Elven language it was written in. I've never been much moved by death - it never really hits me that the person is dead and gone, I guess - and besides that, Gandalf wasn't dead. Well, if he was, he wasn't staying dead for long. But this Elven lament made even me sadden, and it was all I could do to comfort Pippin as he blamed himself for Gandalf's fall.
It seemed that I, however, was to be the one that could not get any sleep in Lorien, instead of Boromir. What Galadriel had told me was troubling, and I didn't know how I could fix what my mere presence had changed, without knowing more about why Boromir wasn't as tempted by the ring as he should be. I sat by the hobbits until they all fell asleep, then wandered off. After awhile, the houses of the Elves, high in the trees, disappeared from sight, and I came upon a stream. I sat down next to it, then, and stared into the water as I thought about how I could put the quest back on its proper course.
I guess I fell asleep there, though I don't remember it. But next thing I knew, it was beginning to get light again, so I stood and headed back the way I'd come, hoping I didn't end out missing the Elves homes entirely. I hadn't gone too far, however, and soon the Elves tree homes were in sight. I wandered around for a good hour until I found the rest of the Fellowship, already up and eating.
"Ah, Lady Erin. We were just considering going out to look for you." Gimli greeted me as I walked up.
"I took a walk." I said with a shrug.
"A rather long walk." Aragorn commented. "You left last night."
"Ok, I took a walk and had a nap." I said, rolling my eyes.
"You will have plenty of time for more such walks." Legolas said. "We will be staying in Lothlorien for awhile to rest."
"Goody." I said, then grabbed a fruit from the collection of food and chomped into it. A few members of the Fellowship arched an eyebrow at my response. They had clearly expected me to make a comment about becoming bored. But the longer I had, the more chance that I'd be able to discover why the ring wasn't tempting Boromir - I hoped to god that it wasn't because the ring was tempting someone else - and fix it.
We finished breakfast in silence, and then Merry and Pippin announced that they were going to go exploring, and I went off with them. We were lost by noon hour, and the hobbits stomachs were grumbling, so we had to ask a passing elf how to get back to...where ever we were camped. The elf was amused when he realized we didn't know exactly where we were staying, other then within a five minute walk from Galadriel and Celeborn's tree. He managed to get us back there, however. Reaching the place, we thanked the elf, and he went off, and we inspected the site to discover that only Boromir was there.
"Gimli and Legolas went for a walk, as did Aragorn, as well as Frodo and Sam." Boromir explained when we asked him where everyone else was.
"Does everyone go for walks here?" I asked, amused.
"Apparently." Boromir replied with a shrug.
"Well, let's do something different then." I said cheerfully. "I don't think we've had a sword lesson since before Caradhas."
"We would have to find some place away from the Elven houses. I wouldn't want to disturb the peace of the Elves." Boromir said, and I couldn't help but snigger.
"You've already done that." Merry said, and he and Pippin started giggling uncontrollably.
"I have?" he asked, alarmed, glancing between the hobbits and I.
"You snore." I replied, grinning wickedly, and a look of absolute horror crossed Boromir's face.
"Not to worry, Boromir. I think the Elves were more amused then annoyed." Pippin said assuringly, getting over his giggles.
"At least Galadriel and Celeborn didn't hear." I commented dryly. Boromir seemed to find the idea of snoring so loudly Galadriel and Celeborn could hear even more horrifying, and his eyes widened. Well, I guess this fun had gone on long enough.
"It's nothing to worry about, Boromir. It was a small occurrence, and I'm sure the majority of Elves have already forgotten about it." I said soothingly, and Boromir seemed to relax. Then Merry's stomach growled, and we all looked at him as he grinned sheepishly before laughing and setting about making some lunch. Once we were done, we grabbed our swords and wandered off away from the Elves houses. Eventually, we figured we were far enough away, and set about practicing with our swords.
Somehow, Legolas and Gimli found us after awhile, and they got together with Boromir and decided to teach me how to deal with three attackers at once. WITHOUT informing me. Merry and Pippin were laughing their heads off as I took one look at the elf, dwarf and human and ran out the first opening I saw. Tossing my sword on the ground, I found a likely tree and scrambled up it. Gimli started laughing, And soon Boromir and Legolas joined him as I made a face at them.
"Well, now we've driven the student up a tree." Boromir said after awhile, a grin still on his face. "What shall we do?"
"We can teach her how to fight armed opponents on the ground from a tree unarmed." Legolas replied, grinning.
"That's not even possible." I protested.
"Oh? Isn't it?" Legolas said, raising an eyebrow.
"No, it's not." I said emphatically.
"It is." Legolas countered.
"Show me." I said. Legolas eyed me, then sheathed his knives and jumped smoothly up into a nearby tree.
"Very well. Get down and get your sword, and I will show you, Boromir and Gimli how one fights armed opponents from a tree when unarmed." Legolas said. I hesitated, wondering if the elf was using this as a way to get me down from the tree, but shrugged and jumped down. I grabbed my sword, and Legolas gave a count before proving to Boromir, Gimli and I that fighting armed opponents from a tree while unarmed was not only entirely possible, but extremely quick and easy, especially when one's an elf.
When we got back to the site where we were staying, Aragorn, Frodo and Sam didn't even ask why Gimli, Boromir and I had headaches, Merry and Pippin couldn't stop laughing, and Legolas looked extremely smug. They just shook their heads and offered us some supper.