Disclaimer: I don't own ANY of the LOTR characters. Legolas is my husband, but he's not my posession.
Claimer: I own the character of Kienariel and all of the songs in all languages that I ever write! It is my own language, but I can't tell you what it is now because it gives away everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wind shrieked about the mountain, howling and hurling rocks from the heights with cracks like the gnashing of teeth. The fellowship was struggling up the pass of Caradhras – and the mountain was proving itself as a deadly adversary.
Sam stopped to catch his breath and looked up, dismayed, at the swirling, snow-heavy clouds which churned, tattering on the Red Horn's rough head.
"I don't like this at all." He panted "Snow's all right on a fine morning, but I like to be in bed when it's falling. I wish this lot would go off to Hobbiton! Folk might welcome it there."
Aragorn and Legolas led in front, scouting out a trail the rest of the fellowship could follow. After came Gandalf, snow resting in small drifts on his hat and eyebrows. Boromir then came, trying to kick aside snow with his boots for the comfort of the hobbits, and Gimli, who, stout dwarf that he was, was grumbling in the cold. Frodo was following Gimli, trying to look brave and stern as the important Ringbearer. Sam led Bill on behind his master. Merry had his hands scrunched up inside his many layers of shirts and every now and then he would reach out piteously to try and grab Bill's tail. Pippen was struggling in the rear, aided by Kienariel, who was nearly as cold as he.
"Wait!" she called up ahead
The rest of the company turned back to look at her. She had her hand on Pippen's shoulder, but was half supporting, half leaning on the short hobbit. She was a light shade of blue, akin to the shade seen high in the mountains. She stood out amongst the pure white flurries like a patch of sky showing through a roof of cloud.
"Lady Kienariel! Are you alright?" said Frodo, terrified.
She looked confused, and tilted her head to the side.
"Do I not look it?" she asked, puzzled, "I feel cold, but I am good." She said, smiling, blue lips pulling back to reveal teeth almost as white as the snow.
If this was meant to comfort the rest of the company it failed utterly in its purpose. Frodo nodded, unable to speak. Kienariel studied the frightened faces before her with a fear growing inside her. She looked down at her arm as it rested on Pippen's shoulder and she looked for a moment as if she would scream. Perhaps she mastered herself or perhaps she never would have screamed at all, but she stood in the snow, unmoving. Disquieted by the blue woman behind before them, the rest of the company turned and their tired feet were reinvigorated by a sort of disgust and fright. Kienariel, whom Pippen had left to struggle on by himself, was soon left far in the back and, as the snow fell thicker from the boiling, angry clouds, she was eventually lost to sight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And with those words a bright fire leapt up from the structure of branches.
"If there are any to see, then I at least am revealed to them," Gandalf said, pulling back his staff from the growing fire. "I have written 'Gandalf is here' in signs that all can read from Rivendell to the mouths of Anduin."
This may have been so, but the hearts of the weary fellowship were lifted by the merry crackle and light of the playing flames, despite the danger. They stood about it in a ring, slowly warming as the wild wind shrieked at being so defeated. Pippen looked up from his study of the fire. He looked about the circle of contented faces with a look of growing worry on his face.
"Where's Kienariel?" he asked urgently.
It was now realized that she hadn't been seen or spoken to since before the snow had begun to fall in earnest, since they all had stared at her so.
Boromir, Aragorn and Legolas, being the largest, were sent back down the trail they had just come up. All three were barely able to see a yard in front of them. Even Legolas' keen Elven eyes failed him in the harsh snow fall, to say nothing of the Men behind him. They had stumbled down the slope some ten yards when Legolas, who had been leading the trio down the hill in the hopes that his eyes would be sharper than Aragorn's, saw Kienariel sitting on an edge that overlooked a sharp turn in the trail which wound around from where she sat to below where she kicked her legs contentedly in the knife-sharp wind. She seemed less blue than she had been, but her skin had instead taken on an almost transparent look, as if her blood was water that had frozen. She was wearing no more layers of clothing than she had an hour ago and sections of her hair were frozen into icy strands. She must have been sitting there for some time, because snow had piled up in her lap, although she had obviously been pushing it off every now and again. She looked up at Legolas as Aragorn came up behind him.
"You two are alright?" she asked, concerned.
They were left speechless. Had they not come down to rescue her from freezing to death while she was too stubborn or cold to come up to the fire? Yet here she was, and not only was she not in trouble, she thought they might be in trouble! Aragorn nodded in response to her question and Legolas merely shut his mouth.
"Good." She said simply, and went back to her calm vigil over the cliff edge, still kicking her legs.
They stayed that way for a while, Legolas and Aragorn staring at Kienariel as she smiled peacefully at the storm that hurled itself against the ledge where she sat. So it was that Boromir, who had dropped back behind the other two to clear the path back to the fire for their return, at last found the three of them. He stared, and then leaned close to Aragorn to whisper "Is she well?" Aragorn silently nodded again. Boromir leaned forward and tapped Kienariel on her opaque arm.
"Lady, will you not come back with us to the camp?" he asked.
She turned, face expressionless, to stare into his face. Once again there was unbroken silence but for the wind moaning and hissing in their ears.
"If that will stop you all from staring, yes." Kienariel said at last.
It was if a spell was lifted with those words, Aragorn and Legolas looked away from the blue girl on the ledge and Boromir took his finger from her arm.
The four hobbits cheered as the four returned from the dark of the storm.
"Where were you?" Pippen asked Kienariel, smiling with relief.
Kienariel chuckled; impressed by the warm welcome she was receiving. "Behind. I had stopped about the same time as you did and-" She broke off, staring behind Pippen with confusion in her face. Pippen turned around to see what she was looking at, but he saw nothing strange. The fire was crackling pleasantly and Gimli was warming his hands directly opposite from them.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, curious.
Aragorn and Gandalf turned about from their conversation to see what was happening. Legolas also turned, anxiously wondering what the strange maid was doing – now. Kienariel was staring at the fire, mouth open. She said nothing but stepped closer, left hand outstretched as if to touch it, and there was no sound but the fire and the wind. Slowly she stretched out her arm towards the flames. She seemed about to touch the flames when she brought her hand back with a jerk.
"Aie! Huar!" she said loudly, waving her hand to cool it off and stepping back from the fire. All now turned to see what the matter was, but few noticed, save those with sharper eyes, that her hand had turned a golden colour where it had been burned. Within moments she stepped back towards the ring around the fire, all blue again.
"I'm sorry." She sighed, and lapsed into silence.
Once again the only sound was the fire and the wind and all fell to thinking. Every now and then someone would look up and about the circle of faces held close about the fire, and then would look down again. Gandalf was thinking of the path they had yet to take across the mountains, Aragorn was resting with his heart in Rivendell, Sam was thinking about the garden in Bag End and hoping no frost would kill the flowers, Legolas was wandering through his father's halls in Mirkwood. Yet all gradually became aware of a singing voice. It was singing softly, softer than the flames' crackling, which was almost drowned itself in the roar of the wind. Snatches of words they heard, but gradually they were heard clearer and louder. The tune was sad, lonely and bewildered. The words were slowly half sung, half chanted and they brought a longing to the listener for something they could not grasp. Frodo found that he could remember them as well as all the songs in Elvish that he had ever heard. Frodo wrote them down later not as they sounded, but as was dictated to him:
"…Flyener, flyener! Shere hesh! Shere bledvad!
E wyener lyyeny kesh lori jeroi ne the!
Ber eer hesh kesh me meyl teg ne?
Ne do teg meyl, do teg meyl.
Do zettam kesh do teg meyl,
Wyener thava mukel ner fine…"
The voice became quiet again, and the words could not be heard. Legolas alone of the fellowship looked up to see Kienariel staring over the fire into the night. He noted that her skin was back to what he assumed to be her natural skin colour. Soon the song became louder again, and this time in the common speech:
"And how can you wander when you would be there?
And how can you sing when your voice would sing elsewhere?
Return to your heart, and tell it of your love.
Return to at least get your heart back!"
There she stopped, and looked up and met Legolas' eyes. She blinked, forehead creasing, and looked down. The wind, which had seemed to cease to make noise, howled once more.
"Sorry." She said again, to no one in particular.
"That was beautiful." Said Sam, "I should like to learn that!"
"Yes!" agreed Merry
"You liked it?" Kienariel asked in obvious disbelief
"It was sad." Said Frodo quietly, "But I did indeed like it."
"What language was that?" asked Gandalf.
Kienariel blushed. "Allow me to tell you that later, will you?" She asked, truly hoping they would and cursing herself for her stupidity in singing. It was bad enough that she had looked like she had turned to ice in the cold, but now the singing? How could she have possibly been so pathetically careless? "Please, please let me tell later!" she prayed in her mind.
"Very well, as you wish." Gandalf said, smiling fatherly. Kienariel smiled back, feeling a hint of "In your own time." in the wizard's words.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yay! That's it! A treasure chest of gold each to Legolas and Gandalf for being INTELLIGENT!
Claimer: I own the character of Kienariel and all of the songs in all languages that I ever write! It is my own language, but I can't tell you what it is now because it gives away everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The wind shrieked about the mountain, howling and hurling rocks from the heights with cracks like the gnashing of teeth. The fellowship was struggling up the pass of Caradhras – and the mountain was proving itself as a deadly adversary.
Sam stopped to catch his breath and looked up, dismayed, at the swirling, snow-heavy clouds which churned, tattering on the Red Horn's rough head.
"I don't like this at all." He panted "Snow's all right on a fine morning, but I like to be in bed when it's falling. I wish this lot would go off to Hobbiton! Folk might welcome it there."
Aragorn and Legolas led in front, scouting out a trail the rest of the fellowship could follow. After came Gandalf, snow resting in small drifts on his hat and eyebrows. Boromir then came, trying to kick aside snow with his boots for the comfort of the hobbits, and Gimli, who, stout dwarf that he was, was grumbling in the cold. Frodo was following Gimli, trying to look brave and stern as the important Ringbearer. Sam led Bill on behind his master. Merry had his hands scrunched up inside his many layers of shirts and every now and then he would reach out piteously to try and grab Bill's tail. Pippen was struggling in the rear, aided by Kienariel, who was nearly as cold as he.
"Wait!" she called up ahead
The rest of the company turned back to look at her. She had her hand on Pippen's shoulder, but was half supporting, half leaning on the short hobbit. She was a light shade of blue, akin to the shade seen high in the mountains. She stood out amongst the pure white flurries like a patch of sky showing through a roof of cloud.
"Lady Kienariel! Are you alright?" said Frodo, terrified.
She looked confused, and tilted her head to the side.
"Do I not look it?" she asked, puzzled, "I feel cold, but I am good." She said, smiling, blue lips pulling back to reveal teeth almost as white as the snow.
If this was meant to comfort the rest of the company it failed utterly in its purpose. Frodo nodded, unable to speak. Kienariel studied the frightened faces before her with a fear growing inside her. She looked down at her arm as it rested on Pippen's shoulder and she looked for a moment as if she would scream. Perhaps she mastered herself or perhaps she never would have screamed at all, but she stood in the snow, unmoving. Disquieted by the blue woman behind before them, the rest of the company turned and their tired feet were reinvigorated by a sort of disgust and fright. Kienariel, whom Pippen had left to struggle on by himself, was soon left far in the back and, as the snow fell thicker from the boiling, angry clouds, she was eventually lost to sight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And with those words a bright fire leapt up from the structure of branches.
"If there are any to see, then I at least am revealed to them," Gandalf said, pulling back his staff from the growing fire. "I have written 'Gandalf is here' in signs that all can read from Rivendell to the mouths of Anduin."
This may have been so, but the hearts of the weary fellowship were lifted by the merry crackle and light of the playing flames, despite the danger. They stood about it in a ring, slowly warming as the wild wind shrieked at being so defeated. Pippen looked up from his study of the fire. He looked about the circle of contented faces with a look of growing worry on his face.
"Where's Kienariel?" he asked urgently.
It was now realized that she hadn't been seen or spoken to since before the snow had begun to fall in earnest, since they all had stared at her so.
Boromir, Aragorn and Legolas, being the largest, were sent back down the trail they had just come up. All three were barely able to see a yard in front of them. Even Legolas' keen Elven eyes failed him in the harsh snow fall, to say nothing of the Men behind him. They had stumbled down the slope some ten yards when Legolas, who had been leading the trio down the hill in the hopes that his eyes would be sharper than Aragorn's, saw Kienariel sitting on an edge that overlooked a sharp turn in the trail which wound around from where she sat to below where she kicked her legs contentedly in the knife-sharp wind. She seemed less blue than she had been, but her skin had instead taken on an almost transparent look, as if her blood was water that had frozen. She was wearing no more layers of clothing than she had an hour ago and sections of her hair were frozen into icy strands. She must have been sitting there for some time, because snow had piled up in her lap, although she had obviously been pushing it off every now and again. She looked up at Legolas as Aragorn came up behind him.
"You two are alright?" she asked, concerned.
They were left speechless. Had they not come down to rescue her from freezing to death while she was too stubborn or cold to come up to the fire? Yet here she was, and not only was she not in trouble, she thought they might be in trouble! Aragorn nodded in response to her question and Legolas merely shut his mouth.
"Good." She said simply, and went back to her calm vigil over the cliff edge, still kicking her legs.
They stayed that way for a while, Legolas and Aragorn staring at Kienariel as she smiled peacefully at the storm that hurled itself against the ledge where she sat. So it was that Boromir, who had dropped back behind the other two to clear the path back to the fire for their return, at last found the three of them. He stared, and then leaned close to Aragorn to whisper "Is she well?" Aragorn silently nodded again. Boromir leaned forward and tapped Kienariel on her opaque arm.
"Lady, will you not come back with us to the camp?" he asked.
She turned, face expressionless, to stare into his face. Once again there was unbroken silence but for the wind moaning and hissing in their ears.
"If that will stop you all from staring, yes." Kienariel said at last.
It was if a spell was lifted with those words, Aragorn and Legolas looked away from the blue girl on the ledge and Boromir took his finger from her arm.
The four hobbits cheered as the four returned from the dark of the storm.
"Where were you?" Pippen asked Kienariel, smiling with relief.
Kienariel chuckled; impressed by the warm welcome she was receiving. "Behind. I had stopped about the same time as you did and-" She broke off, staring behind Pippen with confusion in her face. Pippen turned around to see what she was looking at, but he saw nothing strange. The fire was crackling pleasantly and Gimli was warming his hands directly opposite from them.
"What are you looking at?" he asked, curious.
Aragorn and Gandalf turned about from their conversation to see what was happening. Legolas also turned, anxiously wondering what the strange maid was doing – now. Kienariel was staring at the fire, mouth open. She said nothing but stepped closer, left hand outstretched as if to touch it, and there was no sound but the fire and the wind. Slowly she stretched out her arm towards the flames. She seemed about to touch the flames when she brought her hand back with a jerk.
"Aie! Huar!" she said loudly, waving her hand to cool it off and stepping back from the fire. All now turned to see what the matter was, but few noticed, save those with sharper eyes, that her hand had turned a golden colour where it had been burned. Within moments she stepped back towards the ring around the fire, all blue again.
"I'm sorry." She sighed, and lapsed into silence.
Once again the only sound was the fire and the wind and all fell to thinking. Every now and then someone would look up and about the circle of faces held close about the fire, and then would look down again. Gandalf was thinking of the path they had yet to take across the mountains, Aragorn was resting with his heart in Rivendell, Sam was thinking about the garden in Bag End and hoping no frost would kill the flowers, Legolas was wandering through his father's halls in Mirkwood. Yet all gradually became aware of a singing voice. It was singing softly, softer than the flames' crackling, which was almost drowned itself in the roar of the wind. Snatches of words they heard, but gradually they were heard clearer and louder. The tune was sad, lonely and bewildered. The words were slowly half sung, half chanted and they brought a longing to the listener for something they could not grasp. Frodo found that he could remember them as well as all the songs in Elvish that he had ever heard. Frodo wrote them down later not as they sounded, but as was dictated to him:
"…Flyener, flyener! Shere hesh! Shere bledvad!
E wyener lyyeny kesh lori jeroi ne the!
Ber eer hesh kesh me meyl teg ne?
Ne do teg meyl, do teg meyl.
Do zettam kesh do teg meyl,
Wyener thava mukel ner fine…"
The voice became quiet again, and the words could not be heard. Legolas alone of the fellowship looked up to see Kienariel staring over the fire into the night. He noted that her skin was back to what he assumed to be her natural skin colour. Soon the song became louder again, and this time in the common speech:
"And how can you wander when you would be there?
And how can you sing when your voice would sing elsewhere?
Return to your heart, and tell it of your love.
Return to at least get your heart back!"
There she stopped, and looked up and met Legolas' eyes. She blinked, forehead creasing, and looked down. The wind, which had seemed to cease to make noise, howled once more.
"Sorry." She said again, to no one in particular.
"That was beautiful." Said Sam, "I should like to learn that!"
"Yes!" agreed Merry
"You liked it?" Kienariel asked in obvious disbelief
"It was sad." Said Frodo quietly, "But I did indeed like it."
"What language was that?" asked Gandalf.
Kienariel blushed. "Allow me to tell you that later, will you?" She asked, truly hoping they would and cursing herself for her stupidity in singing. It was bad enough that she had looked like she had turned to ice in the cold, but now the singing? How could she have possibly been so pathetically careless? "Please, please let me tell later!" she prayed in her mind.
"Very well, as you wish." Gandalf said, smiling fatherly. Kienariel smiled back, feeling a hint of "In your own time." in the wizard's words.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Yay! That's it! A treasure chest of gold each to Legolas and Gandalf for being INTELLIGENT!