Disclaimer: I you think LOTR is mine; my cousin is a very good therapist that can help you.
Author notes: fanfiction.net hates me, so I couldn't check if I had any reviews on the last two chapters I posted; but please R&R, for those nice little lines you write, make me happy all day.
English is my second language so I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes made on this story. Elvish is the way I believe it to be, most likely mistaken. Quotes are taken from the book…and… uh…I love to get reviews?
Master in Deceiving
By Yours Truly
"Well met indeed, my friends," he said in a soft voice. "I wish to speak to you. Will you come down or shall I come up?" Without waiting for an answer he began to climb.
The elf with wide blue eyes stared at the old man, without moving a muscle. Apparently frozen on the spot.
"Now!" said Gimli. "Stop him, Legolas"
{Cannot…this is…who is…my bow?}
"Did I not say that I wished to speak to you?" said the old man. "Put away that bow, Master Elf!"
{Nay…why did I dropped my weapons…I need them…defense…I must defend them…old man…who is…what is happening?}
The man seemed to look at him for a moment, but Legolas could not see his eyes, shadowed by his hood, as they were. The ancient gaze, however, seemed to burn a hole right through him, burning him, making him dizzy…holding him still.
{Answers…please…answers…I will not fight, I will not…just…why am I alone, again?}
"And you, Master Dwarf, pray take your hand from your axe-haft, till I am up! You will not need such arguments."
Gimli started and then stood still as stone, close to Legolas. The elf barely noticed; his whole being focused on the form of the man in front them. His heart was speeding, his breathing was silent, yet too fast for an elf, and his every muscle seemed made of stone. He looked like a marble statue, touched barely by some inner light of his own, which was being shadowed by a larger form, looming over his frame.
It was an invisible form over him and it was drowning him. Yet the old man saw this, knowing more than the three friends in front of him, he knew there was even closer danger than the ones they awaited to face.
"Well met, I say again!" said the old man, coming towards them. When he was a few feet away, he stood, stooping over his staff, with his head thrust forward, peering at them from under his hood. "And what may you be doing in these parts? An Elf, a Man, and a Dwarf, all clad in elvish fashion. No doubt there is a tale worth hearing behind it all. Such things are not often seen here." His knowing gaze traveled into each of the faces before him, resting finally on Aragorn, when he spoke.
But Legolas heard nothing, his mind whirling while his body stood frozen.
{Answers}
{Murderer}
{Correct all your wrongs}
{Boromir son of Denethor}
{A threat in the wind}
{Voice of the rings}
{The pull of need}
{The pull of power}
{The ambition}
{The necessity}
{Whatever is the matter?}
{Fire}
{The gate}
{Is coming}
{Fly, you fools!}
{Ai! Ai!}
{A Balrog! A Balrog is come!}
{You cannot pass}
{Elendil! Gondor!}
{Fly! Run! Must get out, must leave, a Balrog, fire, fire}
{Anno i cunn, anno i cunn, anno i cunn, anno i cunn} (Give the prince)
{i beleg pen} (The great one)
{Anno i beleg pen, anno i callon, ae al i talt cunn} (Give the great one, give the hero, if not the insecure prince)
"Well, well, maybe I can give you some news about that. But why are we standing? Your errand, you see, is no longer as urgent as you thought. Let us sit down and be more at ease." The old man was saying, when focus returned into Legolas. He suddenly could move again while the ancient one sat down in low flat stone.
{Well, well}
{What is this?}
{Cannot be}
{Not possible}
{Elbereth…not possible…}
{Anno i beleg pen} (Give the great one)
With a shout in the midst of his internal struggle, Legolas aimed and shot an arrow to the sky, with all his ability, willing his body to do something that he was capable of controlling. The arrow flew high into the air, vanishing in a flash of flame.
{Flame…}
{A Balrog has come!}
"Mithrandir!" He cried, unbelieving voice, face a mask of unhidden shock and hidden fear "Mithrandir!"
"Well met, I say to you again. Legolas!" said the old man gently, seeing the obvious, as well as the hidden. Having seen on previous nights the effect that circumstances had had on the young elf.
Legolas, as well as the other stared openly at him. . Between wonder, joy, and fear they stood and found no words to say.
At last Aragorn stirred, his eyes shinning, his heart light as the shadow of the doubt finally left him.
Legolas did nothing the others did not. Now the ranger could be certain of it.
"Gandalf!" he said. "Beyond all hope you return to us in our need! What veil was over my sight? Gandalf!" Gimli said nothing, hut sank to his knees, shading his eyes.
"Gandalf," the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. "Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf."
"Yes, you may still call me Gandalf," he said, and the voice was the voice of their old friend and guide. "Get up, my good Gimli! No blame to you, and no harm done to me." Grey eyes turned to the blond elf, yet his gaze went unnoticed.
{Fly, you fools!}
{Gone}
{Returned}
{Not the same}
{Never the same}
{Who is he?}
{What is this?}
"Indeed my friends, none of you have any weapon that could hurt me. Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide has turned."
{Meet again, after mortals have died and immortals have surrounded}
{Mithrandir …estel gwannant taen io, henia, dae ned nîn muin meldir, ha car al cuinar ab gûr} (Gandalf… hope died long ago, understand, shadow of my dear friend, it does not live after death)
Past scenes flashed behind closed eyes as the words being spoken sounded blurred to him, and his body began working, once more, on its own accord.
****
'Mithrandir fern' (Mithrandir is dead) Legolas managed to say, before his voice failed him and his tears fell faster.
Haldir placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, whispering softly 'Ha thiai be caeda' (it seems like a lie). Legolas merely nodded
****
{It was a lie}
{Liar}
{Suffering}
{Grief}
{All false}
****
In darkness so intense, it drowned; he could discern a shape moving. He could see a shape fighting another figure…a much larger figure. And then he saw the shape take form, and the darkness part to let it shine through.
Mithrandir dressed in white stood there, smiling at him.
****
"Yes, I am white now," said Gandalf now, turning to look at Legolas for a fleeting moment…the elf felt…cornered…by that intense gaze "Indeed I…"
{Murderer}
{Right all your wrongs}
{You murdered Mithrandir}
{Never the same}
{Back from the darkness, returned from mortal death…never the same}
"The eagle!" Legolas heard himself saying, as he stared to the many images in his mind. "I have seen an eagle high and far off: the last time was three days ago, above the Emyn Muil."
Legolas focused once more, when he saw Gandalf staring at him strangely, as if he noticed that Legolas had not spoken, even as he answered his words. "Yes," said Gandalf, "that was Gwaihir the Windlord, who rescued me from Orthanc. I sent him before me to watch the River and gather tidings. His sight is keen, but he cannot see all that passes under hill and tree. Some things he has seen, and others I have seen myself."
When ancient eyes searched the old blue ones that betrayed a youthful face, he found not his friend in there. But only a blank stare met his.
"Not alone," said Legolas, interrupting Gandalf. "We think that Sam went with him." And this time, Aragorn turned to face his friend, for his voice sounded hollow, once more.
"Did he!" said Gandalf, and there was a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face, even as he looked into endless pools of iced grief. "Did he indeed? It is news to me, yet it does not surprise me. Good! Very good! You lighten my heart. You must tell me more. Now sit by me and tell me the tale of your journey."
The companions sat on the ground at his feet, and Aragorn took up the tale. For a long while Gandalf said nothing, and he asked no questions. His hands were spread upon his knees, and his eyes were closed.
{Right all your wrongs} His elven voice rang clear in the midst of confusion.
{What wrongs?} Another voice suddenly came, and asked with a strong will that he no longer possessed.
{Death... upon you} His voice said, speaking on its own, for those were not his thoughts.
{How can it be? Immortal beings do not fear death, nor does death chases after them, for Eru did not planned it this way}
{Who speaks…?} His voice said again, but this was him, voice weaker, tired…almost lost.
{The truth. The one you need to hear}
{Who speaks? Aragorn?}
{Trusts you, is worried for you}
{Gimli?}
{Searches for your friendship}
{Father?}
{Is proud of his son, more than ever before}
{Boromir?}
{Thought of you as his brother in arms}
{…Mithrandir?}
{Lives}
{Pretty Lies}
{Is all you've heard since Moria, my young friend} Mithrandir's voice kept whispering kept fighting with his own voice…the voice he had fighting until he could no more.
Struggling to escape it, his eyes focused, and he ignored confused lines of thought.
"You have not said all that you know or guess, Aragorn my friend," he said quietly, giving the man a knowing look; that Legolas noticed uneasily. "Poor Boromir! I could not see what happened to him. It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior, and a lord of men…"
{Poor Boromir, indeed, killed by his 'brother in arms'}
{Nay, young elf. Killed by dangers beyond anyone's control. Or do you believe yourself of such power?}
{I believe myself of such destruction}
"…And he does not know of the quarrel between his servants and the Orcs of Mordor; nor does he know of the Winged Messenger."
"The Winged Messenger!" cried Legolas suddenly, wide eyes once again focused. "I shot at him with the bow of Galadriel above Sarn Gebir, and I felled him from the sky. He filled us all with fear. What new terror is this?"
"One that you cannot slay with arrows," said Gandalf in a gentle tone. "You only slew his steed. It was a good deed;" he gave him a small smile and Legolas turned away from it, feeling unworthy of seeing his friend smile once more "…but the Rider was soon horsed again. For he was a Nazgûl, one of the Nine, who ride now upon winged steeds…"
{Not even archery can protect you, now, and what else can you do, little prince?}
{He can save his friends}
{Oh, can he, now? How, if he cannot help himself?}
{Legolas can fight, as he was…}
{…And no longer is, and no longer will}
{Speaks who? Who is so sure of it … that has been torturing me?}
{Yourself} {The shadow}
{Fight…it sounds like too much}
{For you} {'Tis not you}
{Mithrandir returns from a battle I did not fought to fight with me on a battle mine alone}
{Weak} {Not alone yours, you have made it so}
{Boromir…Boromir and Mithrandir and the...}
"But the hobbits!" Legolas broke in. "We have come far to seek them, and you seem to know where they are. Where are they now?"
"With Treebeard and the Ents," said Gandalf, still looking at the elf.
{Failed them}
{Could do nothing more, young elf. What else, other than your best?}
{Everything I had}
{And fade yourself?}
{Aye}
"…I thought they were only a memory of ancient days, if indeed they were ever more than a legend of Rohan." Aragorn was saying and Legolas startled back into the present.
"A legend of Rohan!" cried Legolas. "Nay, every Elf in Wilderland has sung songs of the old Onodrim and their long sorrow. Yet even among us they are only a memory. If I were to meet one still walking in this world, then indeed I should feel young again! But Treebeard: that is only a rendering of Fangorn into the Common Speech; yet you seem to speak of a person. Who is this Treebeard?"
{Who is this Treebeard?}
{Where are the hobbits?}
{Where did you go Mithrandir?}
{Why am I the only one who heard Moria speak?}
{Are you really my friend? Are you really back?}
{Never the same}
{Are you never going to be the same?}
"Ah! Now you are asking much," said Gandalf to him, and Legolas startled, looked into his eyes. "The little that I know of his long slow story would make a tale for which we have no time now. Treebeard is Fangorn, the guardian of the forest; he is the oldest of the Ents, the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth. I hope indeed, Legolas, that you may yet meet him…"
{Anything to make the shadow leave you, young elf}
{Shadow?}
"…A thing is about to happen which has not happened since the Elder Days: the Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong."
"What will they do?" asked Legolas in astonishment.
"I do not know," said Gandalf. "I do not think they know themselves. I wonder."
{Failure}
And Legolas fought, but with strength weakened by shock and weariness of earlier inner battles, he soon felt himself falling, and falling…'till something outside called his attention, and he regained sudden control.
"Then are we not to see the merry young hobbits again?" said Legolas, saddened beyond words at the mere thought of such a failure.
"I did not say so," Gandalf calmly. "Who knows? Have patience. Go where you must go, and hope! To Edoras! I go thither also."
{Where must I go?}
{Back to Moria}
{How is that, if my friend has returned?}
{Has he?}
{He stands before my very…}
{Does he?}
"To Legolas she sent this word:
Legolas Greenleaf long under tree
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more."
{You are doomed}
{You are dead}
{You are useless, now}
{You are to die}
{Death has not given up on you}
{In Mandos Halls the Valar shall wait for you, for punishment you shall receive}
{I wish to…to…}
{To die, for you wish has already been made}
"Then she sent me no message?" said Gimli and bent his head.
"Dark are her words," said Legolas, "and little do they mean to those that receive them."
{Little more than confirm night terrors}
"That is no comfort," said Gimli.
"What then?" said Legolas "Would you have her speak openly to you of your death?"
{You would, little prince}
{Nay! I…}
{…You would have her speak of it, for your wish shall be granted. Death shall come}
And somehow, the idea did not sound as appealing as it did, once before. But it sounded much closer.
To be continued.
Wow, this was long...once again, I hope not to have disappointed anyone.
Author notes: fanfiction.net hates me, so I couldn't check if I had any reviews on the last two chapters I posted; but please R&R, for those nice little lines you write, make me happy all day.
English is my second language so I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes made on this story. Elvish is the way I believe it to be, most likely mistaken. Quotes are taken from the book…and… uh…I love to get reviews?
Master in Deceiving
By Yours Truly
"Well met indeed, my friends," he said in a soft voice. "I wish to speak to you. Will you come down or shall I come up?" Without waiting for an answer he began to climb.
The elf with wide blue eyes stared at the old man, without moving a muscle. Apparently frozen on the spot.
"Now!" said Gimli. "Stop him, Legolas"
{Cannot…this is…who is…my bow?}
"Did I not say that I wished to speak to you?" said the old man. "Put away that bow, Master Elf!"
{Nay…why did I dropped my weapons…I need them…defense…I must defend them…old man…who is…what is happening?}
The man seemed to look at him for a moment, but Legolas could not see his eyes, shadowed by his hood, as they were. The ancient gaze, however, seemed to burn a hole right through him, burning him, making him dizzy…holding him still.
{Answers…please…answers…I will not fight, I will not…just…why am I alone, again?}
"And you, Master Dwarf, pray take your hand from your axe-haft, till I am up! You will not need such arguments."
Gimli started and then stood still as stone, close to Legolas. The elf barely noticed; his whole being focused on the form of the man in front them. His heart was speeding, his breathing was silent, yet too fast for an elf, and his every muscle seemed made of stone. He looked like a marble statue, touched barely by some inner light of his own, which was being shadowed by a larger form, looming over his frame.
It was an invisible form over him and it was drowning him. Yet the old man saw this, knowing more than the three friends in front of him, he knew there was even closer danger than the ones they awaited to face.
"Well met, I say again!" said the old man, coming towards them. When he was a few feet away, he stood, stooping over his staff, with his head thrust forward, peering at them from under his hood. "And what may you be doing in these parts? An Elf, a Man, and a Dwarf, all clad in elvish fashion. No doubt there is a tale worth hearing behind it all. Such things are not often seen here." His knowing gaze traveled into each of the faces before him, resting finally on Aragorn, when he spoke.
But Legolas heard nothing, his mind whirling while his body stood frozen.
{Answers}
{Murderer}
{Correct all your wrongs}
{Boromir son of Denethor}
{A threat in the wind}
{Voice of the rings}
{The pull of need}
{The pull of power}
{The ambition}
{The necessity}
{Whatever is the matter?}
{Fire}
{The gate}
{Is coming}
{Fly, you fools!}
{Ai! Ai!}
{A Balrog! A Balrog is come!}
{You cannot pass}
{Elendil! Gondor!}
{Fly! Run! Must get out, must leave, a Balrog, fire, fire}
{Anno i cunn, anno i cunn, anno i cunn, anno i cunn} (Give the prince)
{i beleg pen} (The great one)
{Anno i beleg pen, anno i callon, ae al i talt cunn} (Give the great one, give the hero, if not the insecure prince)
"Well, well, maybe I can give you some news about that. But why are we standing? Your errand, you see, is no longer as urgent as you thought. Let us sit down and be more at ease." The old man was saying, when focus returned into Legolas. He suddenly could move again while the ancient one sat down in low flat stone.
{Well, well}
{What is this?}
{Cannot be}
{Not possible}
{Elbereth…not possible…}
{Anno i beleg pen} (Give the great one)
With a shout in the midst of his internal struggle, Legolas aimed and shot an arrow to the sky, with all his ability, willing his body to do something that he was capable of controlling. The arrow flew high into the air, vanishing in a flash of flame.
{Flame…}
{A Balrog has come!}
"Mithrandir!" He cried, unbelieving voice, face a mask of unhidden shock and hidden fear "Mithrandir!"
"Well met, I say to you again. Legolas!" said the old man gently, seeing the obvious, as well as the hidden. Having seen on previous nights the effect that circumstances had had on the young elf.
Legolas, as well as the other stared openly at him. . Between wonder, joy, and fear they stood and found no words to say.
At last Aragorn stirred, his eyes shinning, his heart light as the shadow of the doubt finally left him.
Legolas did nothing the others did not. Now the ranger could be certain of it.
"Gandalf!" he said. "Beyond all hope you return to us in our need! What veil was over my sight? Gandalf!" Gimli said nothing, hut sank to his knees, shading his eyes.
"Gandalf," the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. "Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf."
"Yes, you may still call me Gandalf," he said, and the voice was the voice of their old friend and guide. "Get up, my good Gimli! No blame to you, and no harm done to me." Grey eyes turned to the blond elf, yet his gaze went unnoticed.
{Fly, you fools!}
{Gone}
{Returned}
{Not the same}
{Never the same}
{Who is he?}
{What is this?}
"Indeed my friends, none of you have any weapon that could hurt me. Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide has turned."
{Meet again, after mortals have died and immortals have surrounded}
{Mithrandir …estel gwannant taen io, henia, dae ned nîn muin meldir, ha car al cuinar ab gûr} (Gandalf… hope died long ago, understand, shadow of my dear friend, it does not live after death)
Past scenes flashed behind closed eyes as the words being spoken sounded blurred to him, and his body began working, once more, on its own accord.
****
'Mithrandir fern' (Mithrandir is dead) Legolas managed to say, before his voice failed him and his tears fell faster.
Haldir placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, whispering softly 'Ha thiai be caeda' (it seems like a lie). Legolas merely nodded
****
{It was a lie}
{Liar}
{Suffering}
{Grief}
{All false}
****
In darkness so intense, it drowned; he could discern a shape moving. He could see a shape fighting another figure…a much larger figure. And then he saw the shape take form, and the darkness part to let it shine through.
Mithrandir dressed in white stood there, smiling at him.
****
"Yes, I am white now," said Gandalf now, turning to look at Legolas for a fleeting moment…the elf felt…cornered…by that intense gaze "Indeed I…"
{Murderer}
{Right all your wrongs}
{You murdered Mithrandir}
{Never the same}
{Back from the darkness, returned from mortal death…never the same}
"The eagle!" Legolas heard himself saying, as he stared to the many images in his mind. "I have seen an eagle high and far off: the last time was three days ago, above the Emyn Muil."
Legolas focused once more, when he saw Gandalf staring at him strangely, as if he noticed that Legolas had not spoken, even as he answered his words. "Yes," said Gandalf, "that was Gwaihir the Windlord, who rescued me from Orthanc. I sent him before me to watch the River and gather tidings. His sight is keen, but he cannot see all that passes under hill and tree. Some things he has seen, and others I have seen myself."
When ancient eyes searched the old blue ones that betrayed a youthful face, he found not his friend in there. But only a blank stare met his.
"Not alone," said Legolas, interrupting Gandalf. "We think that Sam went with him." And this time, Aragorn turned to face his friend, for his voice sounded hollow, once more.
"Did he!" said Gandalf, and there was a gleam in his eye and a smile on his face, even as he looked into endless pools of iced grief. "Did he indeed? It is news to me, yet it does not surprise me. Good! Very good! You lighten my heart. You must tell me more. Now sit by me and tell me the tale of your journey."
The companions sat on the ground at his feet, and Aragorn took up the tale. For a long while Gandalf said nothing, and he asked no questions. His hands were spread upon his knees, and his eyes were closed.
{Right all your wrongs} His elven voice rang clear in the midst of confusion.
{What wrongs?} Another voice suddenly came, and asked with a strong will that he no longer possessed.
{Death... upon you} His voice said, speaking on its own, for those were not his thoughts.
{How can it be? Immortal beings do not fear death, nor does death chases after them, for Eru did not planned it this way}
{Who speaks…?} His voice said again, but this was him, voice weaker, tired…almost lost.
{The truth. The one you need to hear}
{Who speaks? Aragorn?}
{Trusts you, is worried for you}
{Gimli?}
{Searches for your friendship}
{Father?}
{Is proud of his son, more than ever before}
{Boromir?}
{Thought of you as his brother in arms}
{…Mithrandir?}
{Lives}
{Pretty Lies}
{Is all you've heard since Moria, my young friend} Mithrandir's voice kept whispering kept fighting with his own voice…the voice he had fighting until he could no more.
Struggling to escape it, his eyes focused, and he ignored confused lines of thought.
"You have not said all that you know or guess, Aragorn my friend," he said quietly, giving the man a knowing look; that Legolas noticed uneasily. "Poor Boromir! I could not see what happened to him. It was a sore trial for such a man: a warrior, and a lord of men…"
{Poor Boromir, indeed, killed by his 'brother in arms'}
{Nay, young elf. Killed by dangers beyond anyone's control. Or do you believe yourself of such power?}
{I believe myself of such destruction}
"…And he does not know of the quarrel between his servants and the Orcs of Mordor; nor does he know of the Winged Messenger."
"The Winged Messenger!" cried Legolas suddenly, wide eyes once again focused. "I shot at him with the bow of Galadriel above Sarn Gebir, and I felled him from the sky. He filled us all with fear. What new terror is this?"
"One that you cannot slay with arrows," said Gandalf in a gentle tone. "You only slew his steed. It was a good deed;" he gave him a small smile and Legolas turned away from it, feeling unworthy of seeing his friend smile once more "…but the Rider was soon horsed again. For he was a Nazgûl, one of the Nine, who ride now upon winged steeds…"
{Not even archery can protect you, now, and what else can you do, little prince?}
{He can save his friends}
{Oh, can he, now? How, if he cannot help himself?}
{Legolas can fight, as he was…}
{…And no longer is, and no longer will}
{Speaks who? Who is so sure of it … that has been torturing me?}
{Yourself} {The shadow}
{Fight…it sounds like too much}
{For you} {'Tis not you}
{Mithrandir returns from a battle I did not fought to fight with me on a battle mine alone}
{Weak} {Not alone yours, you have made it so}
{Boromir…Boromir and Mithrandir and the...}
"But the hobbits!" Legolas broke in. "We have come far to seek them, and you seem to know where they are. Where are they now?"
"With Treebeard and the Ents," said Gandalf, still looking at the elf.
{Failed them}
{Could do nothing more, young elf. What else, other than your best?}
{Everything I had}
{And fade yourself?}
{Aye}
"…I thought they were only a memory of ancient days, if indeed they were ever more than a legend of Rohan." Aragorn was saying and Legolas startled back into the present.
"A legend of Rohan!" cried Legolas. "Nay, every Elf in Wilderland has sung songs of the old Onodrim and their long sorrow. Yet even among us they are only a memory. If I were to meet one still walking in this world, then indeed I should feel young again! But Treebeard: that is only a rendering of Fangorn into the Common Speech; yet you seem to speak of a person. Who is this Treebeard?"
{Who is this Treebeard?}
{Where are the hobbits?}
{Where did you go Mithrandir?}
{Why am I the only one who heard Moria speak?}
{Are you really my friend? Are you really back?}
{Never the same}
{Are you never going to be the same?}
"Ah! Now you are asking much," said Gandalf to him, and Legolas startled, looked into his eyes. "The little that I know of his long slow story would make a tale for which we have no time now. Treebeard is Fangorn, the guardian of the forest; he is the oldest of the Ents, the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth. I hope indeed, Legolas, that you may yet meet him…"
{Anything to make the shadow leave you, young elf}
{Shadow?}
"…A thing is about to happen which has not happened since the Elder Days: the Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong."
"What will they do?" asked Legolas in astonishment.
"I do not know," said Gandalf. "I do not think they know themselves. I wonder."
{Failure}
And Legolas fought, but with strength weakened by shock and weariness of earlier inner battles, he soon felt himself falling, and falling…'till something outside called his attention, and he regained sudden control.
"Then are we not to see the merry young hobbits again?" said Legolas, saddened beyond words at the mere thought of such a failure.
"I did not say so," Gandalf calmly. "Who knows? Have patience. Go where you must go, and hope! To Edoras! I go thither also."
{Where must I go?}
{Back to Moria}
{How is that, if my friend has returned?}
{Has he?}
{He stands before my very…}
{Does he?}
"To Legolas she sent this word:
Legolas Greenleaf long under tree
In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!
If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,
Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more."
{You are doomed}
{You are dead}
{You are useless, now}
{You are to die}
{Death has not given up on you}
{In Mandos Halls the Valar shall wait for you, for punishment you shall receive}
{I wish to…to…}
{To die, for you wish has already been made}
"Then she sent me no message?" said Gimli and bent his head.
"Dark are her words," said Legolas, "and little do they mean to those that receive them."
{Little more than confirm night terrors}
"That is no comfort," said Gimli.
"What then?" said Legolas "Would you have her speak openly to you of your death?"
{You would, little prince}
{Nay! I…}
{…You would have her speak of it, for your wish shall be granted. Death shall come}
And somehow, the idea did not sound as appealing as it did, once before. But it sounded much closer.
To be continued.
Wow, this was long...once again, I hope not to have disappointed anyone.