~ Sightseeing in Middle-Earth ~
~ Quote: ~
"My obsession has been fed, you are all safe.
At least until 'The Two Towers' comes out on video." - Me ^.^
~ Disclaimer: ~
You'd think after 19 chapters, I wouldn't need this. So I'll just say 'See previous chapters' and leave it at that.
~ Chapter XX~
~ More Conversations on the Way to Mordor ~
The armies assembled out on the Pelennor fields the next day. They made an impressive sight, all decked out for war, but a gloom hung over them. Just a few days before they had been laughing and full of joy at their victory - now they were silent and grim. I wished then, more then ever, that I could've stood up and told them everything would be alright - that they'd succeed. I've never seen men - or women - or elves - with so little hope. It was as if Sauron had already defeated them, and they were marching off to be his slaves.
I do pity the captains of the armies. They stood up or rode tall at the front of their armies, radiating courage, hope and every other virtue of the heroes in stories, never daring to let any see the doubt that I knew was within them all. They had no idea if they were going to their death - Haldir had hints from me that they would succeed, but when going to what is considered certain death, hints do not always ease the mind. So even Haldir looked grim as he rallied his men.
I had left the city early that morning. A messenger had come early in the morning, saying that Boromir wished to see me at the healing hall. But I did not wish to see him. His words from the night before still hurt, and I admit, I am one to hold a grudge. At least for a day or two. Then I normally forgive the person. But I wasn't going to be here in a day or two, so Boromir would have to wait until I came back to talk to me. Otherwise, I have no clue what I would say. He could end out canned very easily if I talked to him while still mad.
I was one of the first ones stirring on the fields, I was up so early. The elves, of course, were almost always up and about - or maybe asleep. I couldn't tell, half the time. It's really hard to tell if an Elf is sleeping or just staring out into space, lost in thought. I'm sure it would be easier to tell if I spent more time around Elves - but, well, my contact with Elves until recently had been limited.
I roamed about the fields, randomly walking up to tents and looking at banners. The guards looked at me strangely, and I'd just smile at them and wander off to another tent. I found the horses, too, and had a great time oooing and aahing. Especially when Shadowfax - who had been ambling by, cropping grass - had the grace to come over to me, looking for treats.
"Sorry Shadowfax, I don't have anything." I said softly to the great horse as he snuffled at my hands. Shadowfax snorted and trotted away, then went back to cropping grass. I grinned. I had a feeling that horse had been an endless source of amusement for the children of Rohan when he had been a foal. It was shortly after my encounter with Shadowfax that Gandalf found me.
"Lady Erin, you're up and about early." he commented, walking alongside me as I wandered. I shrugged in reply. Gandalf was nice, but explaining love-life problems to him? Not gonna happen. When he saw I wasn't going to say anything, he spoke again.
"Legolas made an interesting comment about you last night. Out of hearing of the rest of the captains, thankfully." Gandalf said, and looked at me with that piercing look of his - the imitation Galadriel one. "He mentioned that you knew the course of the quest." I remained silent, hoping Gandalf would find some reason of his own for Legolas knowing that. Silently, I decided that Legolas had earned himself a whack - or at least another attempt at tickling.
"I need to know what you've told him, Erin." Gandalf said sternly, stepping in front of me. I shrugged, then told him what I'd said.
"And it wasn't just him that I told. Merry, Pippin, Gimli and Boromir were there, as well." I replied. Gandalf nodded.
"It is not the best of stories, but it is the best one for having been thought up on the spot. Though it would have been nice if you had consulted me first." Gandalf said.
"There was no way I could have. They were asking about my home, I couldn't exactly say 'excuse me, I have to go ask Gandalf where I'm from'." I said sarcastically. Gandalf smiled slightly.
"No indeed." he said. "But no serious harm is done. Now come, let us go find some food - and tell Aragorn and Haldir of your story, so they do not say something that causes it to be called into question." I followed happily - my stomach was ready to start growling for food any moment now. We ended up in the tent where we'd eaten and planned the night before. Aragorn was already there, looking over some maps, and looked up absently when we entered. His focus quickly shifted, however, when he saw me.
"Lady Erin." he said, and I eyed him warily. Him greeting me before Gandalf was not only unheard of, it was not a good sign. "There have been messengers from Minas Tirith looking for you."
"Indeed. Which was why I was out gaping at the horses." I said promptly.
"They say to tell you that Lord Boromir wishes to see you." Aragorn continued.
"Mm-hm. That's nice." I said in an I-really-don't-care tone of voice. Aragorn looked at me intently for a moment, then turned to Gandalf and finally greeting the old wizard, dropping the subject. A messenger was then sent to find Haldir, while another was sent to find food. Both came at roughly the same time, and we ate quietly, each to their own thoughts.
When the meal ended, Gandalf brought up the story I'd told to the rest of the Fellowship, and I had to tell it all over again for Aragorn and Haldir. After a short discussion over that, in which Aragorn and Haldir asked me a few questions, the discussion started to turn towards my REAL home. I really didn't want to discuss that, so I steered the conversation away from it, and soon I was sitting back in my chair, listening, the Elf, wizard and man before me completely caught up in their own conversation. I think only Haldir noticed when I rose and slipped out of the tent.
The troops, by this time, had begun to assemble on the field. I would have loved to watch them assemble from up in the Citadel, but I had the nasty feeling that if I entered Minas Tirith before leaving, I wouldn't get out without talking to Boromir. Which, as afore said, could be disastrous. So I found the highest spot I could without getting too close to the city and sat there, watching, occasionally muttering things about Boromir being stupid.
I saw Aragorn, Haldir and Gandalf exit the tent they were in a short while after I sat down, and then the other captains began to appear as well, and then the organization of the army began in ernest. Somehow, Legolas and Gimli found me and joined me just about the time things were starting to look semi-organized on the field. There were still gaps in the ranks, where men had overslept, or were off getting their sword or spear sharpened at the last minute. But on the whole, the armies were ready. Legolas and Gimli just sat and watched for a moment, then Legolas cocked his head to one side, as if listening.
"Aragorn is looking for us." he said suddenly, standing gracefully, and Gimli and I stood, as well, though with much less grace and an added stretch on my part. We followed the Elf, who obviously had an idea of where he was going, and soon we ended up by the horses, where Aragorn was mounted up on his horse, talking to Gandalf, who was on Shadowfax. The great stallion snorted at me when he saw me, bringing Aragorn and Gandalf's attention to us.
Apparently it was time for us to mount up, as well, and two horses were brought forward - Arod and Rosai, I noted. Legolas and Gimli leaped/clambered onto Arod, and I quickly mounted Rosai. Then Aragorn and Gandalf motioned for us to follow, and set off toward that front of the ranks of men. There Pippin greeted us cheerily, and I spent the rest of the morning in the company of the hobbit, talking about just about everything under the sun, while Aragorn, Gandalf and all the other captains went about gravely inspecting the troops, making sure everybody was ready.
Then trumpets were blowing, and Pippin and I urged our horses forward. We rode up beside Legolas and Gimli, who were in turn beside Aragorn. Beyond Aragorn was Gandalf, and on the other side of the wizard, the other captains rode - Elladan, Elrohir, Haldir, Prince Thaden, Prince Imrahil, and the newly-crowned King Eomer. The formation stayed that way until we reached Osgiliath at noon. Then Legolas and Gimli traded places with Haldir, and Legolas and his brother struck up a conversation about something - presumably dwarves, considering the looks Thaden was shooting at Gimli.
Haldir, for his part, was silent, and I took the opportunity to poke him in the side, figuring a whack would not look to good to the troops. To my surprise, the Elf made a funny noise and almost fell off his horse. I looked at him strangely, and when Haldir had himself steady on his horse again and glared at me, I grinned, realizing what had happened. Haldir was ticklish.
"What was that for?" Haldir asked grumpily.
"Oh, various things." I said, still grinning. Haldir shot me a withering look, pulling his greater age into effect and managing to remind me of Gandalf for a moment. With that not getting an answer, he decided to try a different track.
"I must compliment you on skillfully turning the conversation away from your real home this morning." he said, and I stopped smiling immediately. It was my turn to glare, and Haldir just smiled sweetly back at me. There was an obvious choice here - talk about my home, or tell him why I'd poked him. Just to thwart him, I decided to talk about my home.
"Well obviously it didn't work that well, if you noticed." I said. "And if you say it's due to Elvish abilities, you're getting another poke." Haldir put on a face of mock horror, then went serious again.
"I won't then. I'm sure Mithrandir and Lord Aragorn noticed, as well." he said. "But now that I have you alone, I'm going to continue that line of the conversation. You have been fairly quiet about your home - you barely talk of it. Why?"
"Because I hate it there." I replied simply. Haldir looked at me, shocked.
"How can you hate your home?" he asked.
"For that, I'll have to explain about my world some. It could take awhile." I answered.
"We have nothing to do but talk while we ride." Haldir said, waving his hand vaguely at the land in front of us.
"Not necessarily. We could go around poking random people and see if they make funny noises, too." I said innocently, and Haldir glared at me.
"The sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish." he said pointedly, and with a sigh, I started to explain to him about my home, starting with how our world was set up.
I explained that our world had grown over such a large space, and had so many people and so few resources, that sometimes it was not always easy to get what you needed for your family, and about how laws prevented us from simply leaving someplace, heading out into the 'wilds' - what little of them were left - and starting our own home from scratch. With that said, I moved on to explain how our cities were set up, and a bit about our economy. Haldir, throughout it all, looked completely enthralled, absorbing the information. Occasionally he asked questions about something he didn't understand, and then I'd have to backtrack and tell him about something.
I finished telling him about my world just before we stopped for the day. We were at the crossroads, and as we stopped, heralds blew on their trumpets, declaring the Lords of Gondor had returned, among other things, and Haldir was quickly drawn into a debate with the captains. Legolas and Gimli came back as the captains discussion started, both looking slightly peeved.
"Have a nice talk with your brother?" I asked Legolas mildly. The Elf simply shook his head, his lips pressed together in annoyance.
"He is the most arrogant and rude elf I have ever met! It is from Elves such as him that we Dwarves draw our dislike of the Elven kind, and with good reason!" Gimli exploded. I grinned.
"Didn't you say the same thing about Legolas awhile back?" I asked, pondering. I was pretty sure the dwarf had said something along those lines back when the Fellowship had left Rivendell, but my memory that far back was a little spotty - so much had happened, my brain was having a hay day remembering it all. Gimli and Legolas, however, apparently did remember it, as Gimli half-sulked and Legolas's mouth twitched into a smile. Then we were setting up camp, and I spent the rest of the evening in conversation with Pippin, Gimli and Legolas.
The next morning, we waited for the men on foot - who had been left behind - to catch up. That took almost an entire day, and during it all, the captains were in urgent debate. To my surprise, Gandalf didn't come looking for hints as to where they should go, and instead seemed to argue vehemently for one point. Then we set off again on the next day, and come afternoon, Haldir switched places with Legolas and Gimli again.
"Out conversation the other day was slightly interrupted." Haldir commented after we greeted each other.
"Conversation? It was more like 'Erin Tells All About Her Home'." I said with a half smile, and Haldir nodded, smiling ruefully.
"And yet, with all your talking, you never got to what I'd asked about in the first place." he commented, and I made a face.
"No, I didn't." I said. I paused, and went silent, frowning as I tried to decide how to tell Haldir about my home. He was silent, letting me think, but was obviously waiting for me to speak, because as soon as I started talking, I had his complete attention. I started off telling him about where I lived - bad part of a city. Then I told him about my dad and mom, and how they could never hold a job for long, and then branched out from that onto their personalities and how they behaved. Haldir got more and more horrified as I went on. By the time I got to my brother, his eyes were wide and it looked like all the blood had drained out of his face.
"And now you can see why I hate my home." I said quietly when I finished, and Haldir nodded silently.
"I can indeed. No one should be allowed to live in that manner." he said. I snorted.
"Gee, tell that to the governments of my world, willya? Maybe they'll listen to an Elf...though I doubt it." I said, then adopted a nasal tone before continuing. "'Someone who's several hundred times my age is telling me that I'm doing something wrong? What do they know, anyways? THEY haven't run a country, and even if they had, every countries different and what works in one won't necessarily work in another.'" Haldir chuckled, and I grinned. The conversation turned light from there, interrupted occasionally by the trumpets and heralds declaring that the Lords of Gondor had come. Later in the day, that changed to 'the King Elessar has come', and to my amusement, Aragorn took on a grouchy, annoyed look - which was generally aimed in Gandalf's direction - every time the heralds announced it.
The rest of the army, however, did not share my light spirit. Even Haldir seemed to struggle to be cheerful after awhile, and soon he didn't even bother trying. Everyone was downcast and sad, and I longed to tell them that everything would be alright, that Sauron would be destroyed and Middle-Earth could rebuild itself. Every day, the urge got stronger, while the hearts of the army fell deeper, and soon it became a daily struggle not to run up to the captains or a random soldier and tell them everything would be alright. The days passed, and finally we came to the point where almost a thousand of the men stopped and refused to go on.
Aragorn told them to go, telling them they could go retake Cair Andros from the enemy instead, and some of the men took courage and decided to stay, but a good number of them left. At this point, sitting not to far from Aragorn, I had to practically clamp my hand over my mouth to stop from telling them how the battle at the Black Gates would turn out and that they had no reason to despair. But I knew they were needed at Cair Andros, and besides that, it wouldn't do to say that, without any doubt, Sauron would be defeated so close to Mordor, where he could easily hear. But then we moved on, and two days later, we came to the black Gates of Mordor.
One thing the movies had trouble in portraying - and always will have trouble with, I think - is the size of some of the larger things. The Argonath were done well. The Dwarf city in Moria had needed a little help. And the black gates of Moria needed mucho grando help. They were HUGE. They seemed almost as if the were part of the cliffs surrounding the place, they were so high, so thick - and so impenetrable. I stayed close to Aragorn as he arrayed the army as best he could, and all the time, I kept glancing over my shoulder at the gate and shaking my head. Engineers and architects from my world would have a hay-day with that gate, picking it apart and seeing what made it work.
When the captains gathered, preparing to go challenge Sauron to come out, I shook my thoughts of the Black Gate out on my mind and concentrated on what was happening around me. We went forward, I near the back, and the heralds stood out and sent their voices up over the battlements of Mordor.
"Come forth! Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Justice shall be done upon him. For wrongfully he has made war upon Gondor and wrested its lands. Therefore the King of Gondor demands that he should atone for his evils, and depart then for ever. Come forth!" they cried, and in the silence that followed - we waited.
~ Quote: ~
"My obsession has been fed, you are all safe.
At least until 'The Two Towers' comes out on video." - Me ^.^
~ Disclaimer: ~
You'd think after 19 chapters, I wouldn't need this. So I'll just say 'See previous chapters' and leave it at that.
~ Chapter XX~
~ More Conversations on the Way to Mordor ~
The armies assembled out on the Pelennor fields the next day. They made an impressive sight, all decked out for war, but a gloom hung over them. Just a few days before they had been laughing and full of joy at their victory - now they were silent and grim. I wished then, more then ever, that I could've stood up and told them everything would be alright - that they'd succeed. I've never seen men - or women - or elves - with so little hope. It was as if Sauron had already defeated them, and they were marching off to be his slaves.
I do pity the captains of the armies. They stood up or rode tall at the front of their armies, radiating courage, hope and every other virtue of the heroes in stories, never daring to let any see the doubt that I knew was within them all. They had no idea if they were going to their death - Haldir had hints from me that they would succeed, but when going to what is considered certain death, hints do not always ease the mind. So even Haldir looked grim as he rallied his men.
I had left the city early that morning. A messenger had come early in the morning, saying that Boromir wished to see me at the healing hall. But I did not wish to see him. His words from the night before still hurt, and I admit, I am one to hold a grudge. At least for a day or two. Then I normally forgive the person. But I wasn't going to be here in a day or two, so Boromir would have to wait until I came back to talk to me. Otherwise, I have no clue what I would say. He could end out canned very easily if I talked to him while still mad.
I was one of the first ones stirring on the fields, I was up so early. The elves, of course, were almost always up and about - or maybe asleep. I couldn't tell, half the time. It's really hard to tell if an Elf is sleeping or just staring out into space, lost in thought. I'm sure it would be easier to tell if I spent more time around Elves - but, well, my contact with Elves until recently had been limited.
I roamed about the fields, randomly walking up to tents and looking at banners. The guards looked at me strangely, and I'd just smile at them and wander off to another tent. I found the horses, too, and had a great time oooing and aahing. Especially when Shadowfax - who had been ambling by, cropping grass - had the grace to come over to me, looking for treats.
"Sorry Shadowfax, I don't have anything." I said softly to the great horse as he snuffled at my hands. Shadowfax snorted and trotted away, then went back to cropping grass. I grinned. I had a feeling that horse had been an endless source of amusement for the children of Rohan when he had been a foal. It was shortly after my encounter with Shadowfax that Gandalf found me.
"Lady Erin, you're up and about early." he commented, walking alongside me as I wandered. I shrugged in reply. Gandalf was nice, but explaining love-life problems to him? Not gonna happen. When he saw I wasn't going to say anything, he spoke again.
"Legolas made an interesting comment about you last night. Out of hearing of the rest of the captains, thankfully." Gandalf said, and looked at me with that piercing look of his - the imitation Galadriel one. "He mentioned that you knew the course of the quest." I remained silent, hoping Gandalf would find some reason of his own for Legolas knowing that. Silently, I decided that Legolas had earned himself a whack - or at least another attempt at tickling.
"I need to know what you've told him, Erin." Gandalf said sternly, stepping in front of me. I shrugged, then told him what I'd said.
"And it wasn't just him that I told. Merry, Pippin, Gimli and Boromir were there, as well." I replied. Gandalf nodded.
"It is not the best of stories, but it is the best one for having been thought up on the spot. Though it would have been nice if you had consulted me first." Gandalf said.
"There was no way I could have. They were asking about my home, I couldn't exactly say 'excuse me, I have to go ask Gandalf where I'm from'." I said sarcastically. Gandalf smiled slightly.
"No indeed." he said. "But no serious harm is done. Now come, let us go find some food - and tell Aragorn and Haldir of your story, so they do not say something that causes it to be called into question." I followed happily - my stomach was ready to start growling for food any moment now. We ended up in the tent where we'd eaten and planned the night before. Aragorn was already there, looking over some maps, and looked up absently when we entered. His focus quickly shifted, however, when he saw me.
"Lady Erin." he said, and I eyed him warily. Him greeting me before Gandalf was not only unheard of, it was not a good sign. "There have been messengers from Minas Tirith looking for you."
"Indeed. Which was why I was out gaping at the horses." I said promptly.
"They say to tell you that Lord Boromir wishes to see you." Aragorn continued.
"Mm-hm. That's nice." I said in an I-really-don't-care tone of voice. Aragorn looked at me intently for a moment, then turned to Gandalf and finally greeting the old wizard, dropping the subject. A messenger was then sent to find Haldir, while another was sent to find food. Both came at roughly the same time, and we ate quietly, each to their own thoughts.
When the meal ended, Gandalf brought up the story I'd told to the rest of the Fellowship, and I had to tell it all over again for Aragorn and Haldir. After a short discussion over that, in which Aragorn and Haldir asked me a few questions, the discussion started to turn towards my REAL home. I really didn't want to discuss that, so I steered the conversation away from it, and soon I was sitting back in my chair, listening, the Elf, wizard and man before me completely caught up in their own conversation. I think only Haldir noticed when I rose and slipped out of the tent.
The troops, by this time, had begun to assemble on the field. I would have loved to watch them assemble from up in the Citadel, but I had the nasty feeling that if I entered Minas Tirith before leaving, I wouldn't get out without talking to Boromir. Which, as afore said, could be disastrous. So I found the highest spot I could without getting too close to the city and sat there, watching, occasionally muttering things about Boromir being stupid.
I saw Aragorn, Haldir and Gandalf exit the tent they were in a short while after I sat down, and then the other captains began to appear as well, and then the organization of the army began in ernest. Somehow, Legolas and Gimli found me and joined me just about the time things were starting to look semi-organized on the field. There were still gaps in the ranks, where men had overslept, or were off getting their sword or spear sharpened at the last minute. But on the whole, the armies were ready. Legolas and Gimli just sat and watched for a moment, then Legolas cocked his head to one side, as if listening.
"Aragorn is looking for us." he said suddenly, standing gracefully, and Gimli and I stood, as well, though with much less grace and an added stretch on my part. We followed the Elf, who obviously had an idea of where he was going, and soon we ended up by the horses, where Aragorn was mounted up on his horse, talking to Gandalf, who was on Shadowfax. The great stallion snorted at me when he saw me, bringing Aragorn and Gandalf's attention to us.
Apparently it was time for us to mount up, as well, and two horses were brought forward - Arod and Rosai, I noted. Legolas and Gimli leaped/clambered onto Arod, and I quickly mounted Rosai. Then Aragorn and Gandalf motioned for us to follow, and set off toward that front of the ranks of men. There Pippin greeted us cheerily, and I spent the rest of the morning in the company of the hobbit, talking about just about everything under the sun, while Aragorn, Gandalf and all the other captains went about gravely inspecting the troops, making sure everybody was ready.
Then trumpets were blowing, and Pippin and I urged our horses forward. We rode up beside Legolas and Gimli, who were in turn beside Aragorn. Beyond Aragorn was Gandalf, and on the other side of the wizard, the other captains rode - Elladan, Elrohir, Haldir, Prince Thaden, Prince Imrahil, and the newly-crowned King Eomer. The formation stayed that way until we reached Osgiliath at noon. Then Legolas and Gimli traded places with Haldir, and Legolas and his brother struck up a conversation about something - presumably dwarves, considering the looks Thaden was shooting at Gimli.
Haldir, for his part, was silent, and I took the opportunity to poke him in the side, figuring a whack would not look to good to the troops. To my surprise, the Elf made a funny noise and almost fell off his horse. I looked at him strangely, and when Haldir had himself steady on his horse again and glared at me, I grinned, realizing what had happened. Haldir was ticklish.
"What was that for?" Haldir asked grumpily.
"Oh, various things." I said, still grinning. Haldir shot me a withering look, pulling his greater age into effect and managing to remind me of Gandalf for a moment. With that not getting an answer, he decided to try a different track.
"I must compliment you on skillfully turning the conversation away from your real home this morning." he said, and I stopped smiling immediately. It was my turn to glare, and Haldir just smiled sweetly back at me. There was an obvious choice here - talk about my home, or tell him why I'd poked him. Just to thwart him, I decided to talk about my home.
"Well obviously it didn't work that well, if you noticed." I said. "And if you say it's due to Elvish abilities, you're getting another poke." Haldir put on a face of mock horror, then went serious again.
"I won't then. I'm sure Mithrandir and Lord Aragorn noticed, as well." he said. "But now that I have you alone, I'm going to continue that line of the conversation. You have been fairly quiet about your home - you barely talk of it. Why?"
"Because I hate it there." I replied simply. Haldir looked at me, shocked.
"How can you hate your home?" he asked.
"For that, I'll have to explain about my world some. It could take awhile." I answered.
"We have nothing to do but talk while we ride." Haldir said, waving his hand vaguely at the land in front of us.
"Not necessarily. We could go around poking random people and see if they make funny noises, too." I said innocently, and Haldir glared at me.
"The sooner you start, the sooner you'll finish." he said pointedly, and with a sigh, I started to explain to him about my home, starting with how our world was set up.
I explained that our world had grown over such a large space, and had so many people and so few resources, that sometimes it was not always easy to get what you needed for your family, and about how laws prevented us from simply leaving someplace, heading out into the 'wilds' - what little of them were left - and starting our own home from scratch. With that said, I moved on to explain how our cities were set up, and a bit about our economy. Haldir, throughout it all, looked completely enthralled, absorbing the information. Occasionally he asked questions about something he didn't understand, and then I'd have to backtrack and tell him about something.
I finished telling him about my world just before we stopped for the day. We were at the crossroads, and as we stopped, heralds blew on their trumpets, declaring the Lords of Gondor had returned, among other things, and Haldir was quickly drawn into a debate with the captains. Legolas and Gimli came back as the captains discussion started, both looking slightly peeved.
"Have a nice talk with your brother?" I asked Legolas mildly. The Elf simply shook his head, his lips pressed together in annoyance.
"He is the most arrogant and rude elf I have ever met! It is from Elves such as him that we Dwarves draw our dislike of the Elven kind, and with good reason!" Gimli exploded. I grinned.
"Didn't you say the same thing about Legolas awhile back?" I asked, pondering. I was pretty sure the dwarf had said something along those lines back when the Fellowship had left Rivendell, but my memory that far back was a little spotty - so much had happened, my brain was having a hay day remembering it all. Gimli and Legolas, however, apparently did remember it, as Gimli half-sulked and Legolas's mouth twitched into a smile. Then we were setting up camp, and I spent the rest of the evening in conversation with Pippin, Gimli and Legolas.
The next morning, we waited for the men on foot - who had been left behind - to catch up. That took almost an entire day, and during it all, the captains were in urgent debate. To my surprise, Gandalf didn't come looking for hints as to where they should go, and instead seemed to argue vehemently for one point. Then we set off again on the next day, and come afternoon, Haldir switched places with Legolas and Gimli again.
"Out conversation the other day was slightly interrupted." Haldir commented after we greeted each other.
"Conversation? It was more like 'Erin Tells All About Her Home'." I said with a half smile, and Haldir nodded, smiling ruefully.
"And yet, with all your talking, you never got to what I'd asked about in the first place." he commented, and I made a face.
"No, I didn't." I said. I paused, and went silent, frowning as I tried to decide how to tell Haldir about my home. He was silent, letting me think, but was obviously waiting for me to speak, because as soon as I started talking, I had his complete attention. I started off telling him about where I lived - bad part of a city. Then I told him about my dad and mom, and how they could never hold a job for long, and then branched out from that onto their personalities and how they behaved. Haldir got more and more horrified as I went on. By the time I got to my brother, his eyes were wide and it looked like all the blood had drained out of his face.
"And now you can see why I hate my home." I said quietly when I finished, and Haldir nodded silently.
"I can indeed. No one should be allowed to live in that manner." he said. I snorted.
"Gee, tell that to the governments of my world, willya? Maybe they'll listen to an Elf...though I doubt it." I said, then adopted a nasal tone before continuing. "'Someone who's several hundred times my age is telling me that I'm doing something wrong? What do they know, anyways? THEY haven't run a country, and even if they had, every countries different and what works in one won't necessarily work in another.'" Haldir chuckled, and I grinned. The conversation turned light from there, interrupted occasionally by the trumpets and heralds declaring that the Lords of Gondor had come. Later in the day, that changed to 'the King Elessar has come', and to my amusement, Aragorn took on a grouchy, annoyed look - which was generally aimed in Gandalf's direction - every time the heralds announced it.
The rest of the army, however, did not share my light spirit. Even Haldir seemed to struggle to be cheerful after awhile, and soon he didn't even bother trying. Everyone was downcast and sad, and I longed to tell them that everything would be alright, that Sauron would be destroyed and Middle-Earth could rebuild itself. Every day, the urge got stronger, while the hearts of the army fell deeper, and soon it became a daily struggle not to run up to the captains or a random soldier and tell them everything would be alright. The days passed, and finally we came to the point where almost a thousand of the men stopped and refused to go on.
Aragorn told them to go, telling them they could go retake Cair Andros from the enemy instead, and some of the men took courage and decided to stay, but a good number of them left. At this point, sitting not to far from Aragorn, I had to practically clamp my hand over my mouth to stop from telling them how the battle at the Black Gates would turn out and that they had no reason to despair. But I knew they were needed at Cair Andros, and besides that, it wouldn't do to say that, without any doubt, Sauron would be defeated so close to Mordor, where he could easily hear. But then we moved on, and two days later, we came to the black Gates of Mordor.
One thing the movies had trouble in portraying - and always will have trouble with, I think - is the size of some of the larger things. The Argonath were done well. The Dwarf city in Moria had needed a little help. And the black gates of Moria needed mucho grando help. They were HUGE. They seemed almost as if the were part of the cliffs surrounding the place, they were so high, so thick - and so impenetrable. I stayed close to Aragorn as he arrayed the army as best he could, and all the time, I kept glancing over my shoulder at the gate and shaking my head. Engineers and architects from my world would have a hay-day with that gate, picking it apart and seeing what made it work.
When the captains gathered, preparing to go challenge Sauron to come out, I shook my thoughts of the Black Gate out on my mind and concentrated on what was happening around me. We went forward, I near the back, and the heralds stood out and sent their voices up over the battlements of Mordor.
"Come forth! Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Justice shall be done upon him. For wrongfully he has made war upon Gondor and wrested its lands. Therefore the King of Gondor demands that he should atone for his evils, and depart then for ever. Come forth!" they cried, and in the silence that followed - we waited.