A/N: Quarter finals! Ahhhhh! They will be the death of my muse. Suffice
to say, I don't know when I'll be able to update next. Chapter 5 is in the
works, but not quite done. (Maybe I'll have to kidnap one of the school's
computers..hmmm...) Tee hee!
ALSO: I'm going by book time, so yes, events will change and take longer. Get over it! Plus, for those of you who have not read the book, Bilbo and Aragorn write poems together while at Rivedell
Disclaimer: What is a disclaimer? I think it has something to do with not claiming that I own Legolas, but that may just be me.(rambles on for a while.. a long while.)
*Looks innocent* What?
*Whack!*
OUCH!!
Bloody muse..*rubs her head and gives her muse a dirty look*
Oh, fine! Have it your way! I don't own Legolas, Okay?!! Can't a girl write a simple story?
sheesh.
Chapter 4
Still shaking her head, Cera left the council room. That fool halfling was going to be handful on a trip like this, (Pippen, not Frodo). She had meant it when she had said she would protect Frodo, but one look from Lord Elrond had been almost enough to make her regret doing so. She nearly tossed her head. She was not a child anymore, no matter what those blasted elves thought! She could take care of herself! And she would take out any bloody fool of an elf that told her otherwise. Her features took a grim cast, and she headed upstairs to think about the mess she had landed herself in.
**********
As Legolas exited the council chamber, he saw the woman walking up to the second floor. He was about to follow her to find out who she was, but Gandalf had already stopped her and the two of them looked as though they would be talking for a while. He turned around and saw Lord Elrond watching him. Legolas looked at him for a moment, turned, and headed towards his own rooms.
Elrond sighed. One wrong move and the elf-prince of Mirkwood would be finding himself burdened with a world of trouble.
**********
Cera felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned. Gandalf smiled. "How does my smartest pupil end up on a quest to save Middle Earth?" he asked. Cera gave him one of her rare smirks. "Well, you did say I was too young to put down roots and that I should get out more." Gandalf shook his head.
"I can see that catching up will take a while," he responded, " Shall we go someplace where we can sit down?"
They entered her rooms and Gandalf took the chair by the fire. Cera frowned at him and pulled the chair in from the balcony, and sat down across from him. Gandalf stared into the flames for a moment and began to speak. "I'm getting old, Cerenna, and I do not know how much longer my presence will be an influence upon the world." He paused a minute, and Cera could nearly count the centuries that were written on his face.
"We have been betrayed by my master, Saruman the White."
Cera looked at him in shock, and then again questioningly.
"Yes," he went on, "I'm afraid he knows all about the ring and the one who bears it. He is now a servant of the Dark Lord, Sauron, and will do anything in his power to retrieve the ring."
"But how.?" Cera began, startled to the core of her being, and then stopped. The one time she had met him, was when she had been taken to Orthanc for testing to see if she could do magic. She remembered him as a tall man, with white hair and a tall white staff. He had only been slightly sinister, and that, she had assumed, was eccentricity from the many years of toil that he had seen. "He had seemed very wise, and interested in only learning what he could from the world around him, not destroy it. What will you do?" she finished.
"Do? I must do only what I had originally set out to do: destroy the one ring, though without Saruman's aid, it will be undoubtedly a more arduous task," he replied.
"How long do we have?" Cera whispered.
"Until the leaves begin fall."
**********
3 days later
Through the woods ahead of him, Legolas could hear an odd tune being sung, counter-pointed by odd thuds that came in threes. The song would be sung and then: thud, thud, thud! It would continue, but there would be a full line sung before the "thuds" would come again. He followed it to a small clearing, and was instantly intrigued. The clearing was carefully maintained, with no stray sticks or brush upon the ground, and on one side of it, sat a large rock. Propped up next to it, were a bow and quiver, a staff, and a case with two elven-made daggers in it. But what drew his attention the most was the slight figure that stood twirling three short knives in her hands.
Singing her song, she punctuated the beat by throwing her knives at three circles inscribed on an old, long rotten, tree-trunk. Once they struck the tree, she would walk over, remove them, and return to her spot on the other side of the clearing. All of this would be done in time for the next line of her song, which, he noticed, had no words.
Pulling the knives out one last time, she wrapped up her song, and put them away. She paused for a moment, and pulled out her white daggers. She tied a white cloth around her eyes, and stood in the center of the clearing. Moving into a crouch position, she began to glide and whirl from position to position, as though she were fighting a fierce opponent.
Legolas saw his chance. Edging closer, he pulled out his daggers, nearly identical to hers, and crept into the open space.
**********
Still engrossed in her practice, Cera barely felt the two new blades come in contact with hers. Whirling around, she backed off a step and carefully took a test swing at the air in front of her. Steel met steel with a sharp clang and she immediately went through a rapid series of thrusts. Every blow was blocked, and she felt a movement in the air to her left. Quickly, she brought her own blade up to block the unseen strike, and parried it aside. She struck out, and immediately began to defend again, feeling only the air currents and the slight whistling sound her opponent's blades made. After a long round of fencing, she felt the cool caress of the flat side of a blade slide against her neck. Cautiously, she slid the side of her blade down her opponent's and made a rough guess as to their height. She smiled.
Legolas rested his blade against her neck, smiling slightly. Then she did something unusual. She took her blade and ran it down his to the hilt. She smiled and went through a blinding series of movements. Legolas blinked. Her blade was now resting by his neck, and he watched in astonishment as a small lock of his hair fell to the forest floor.
He immediately sheathed his blades, and backed off until her blade was no longer in danger of piercing his skin.
Feeling his movement, Cera lowered her blade and let it fall to the ground. Reaching behind her head, she quickly untied her blindfold. And stared.
"Oh! .I. It. It's you," she dragged out. She faltered for a moment, realizing what his being there meant. *How much had he seen?* she wondered. "How did you get here? Did anyone see you?" she asked frantically.
Legolas heard the edge of panic creep into her voice and hastened to reassure her. "I was lead here by a beautiful song. I doubt anyone followed me, for I was already deep in the forest when I heard it." Seeing her hesitant look, he went on.
"We have not had yet the opportunity to meet. I am Legolas, son of Thranduil, who is King in the elven halls of Mirkwood Forest." He bowed and extended his hand.
Cera lifted an eyebrow. "Cerenna, daughter of Arinn. My past is my own," she replied guardedly and took his hand. "What are you doing here?"
"I was merely curious as to who was singing. When I saw you practicing, I thought I could be of help, for I also use Noldorian blades." He unsheathed one of his white-handled daggers and handed it to her. Cera examined it closely. It was flawless except for a small nick at the end of the blade. Seeing her find it, Legolas explained. "I was scouting for dwarven hunting parties, many years ago, and one of the dwarves had mithril chain around his neck." She glanced at him, and shook her head slightly.
"One would think that elven blades would be better cared for, my Lord."
He furrowed his eyebrows, and replied, "I would think for having them for over 25 centuries that they in remarkably well condition." Noticing her decidedly lack of surprise over his age, he went on. "Please, call me Legolas, for I assume that we will be traveling together for a while, and will get know each other very well." He glanced down at her daggers. "May I?"
She raised her eyebrow again. "But of course. Legolas."
He winced slightly at her tone as she picked her blades up off the ground and handed one to him. Under the pretense of inspecting her blade, he studied her as well. There was an elvish quality about her that he could not pin down. It was though she had born human, but brought up elven. She watched him warily; her other blade held at ready near her side.
He twirled it in his fingers, and handed it back to her. "Very fine craftsmanship. It is a blade that has seen much use, despite its young age."
"I am pleased it meets your standards, my lord, if not your age." Cera replied loftily, a trifle smug. Legolas shook his head, not knowing how to take her comment.
"My lady, I mean you no ill will, and my comments were not meant to be offensive."
"No offense taken, I just don't like being surprised." She paused for a second to brush the hair out of her eyes. "If I am to call you simply Legolas, then you would do well to call me Cera."
"Agreed. Do you live here in Imladris?"
"Well, I guess so. I haven't gone anywhere else in a few years. I travel with Gandalf sometimes, though not much since we heard that Sauron was gaining power in the south." Counting back, she tallied how long it had been since she first met Lord Elrond. " I've lived in this area for more than ten years." She bent down and began putting her things together.
*Ah, that explains much.* Legolas thought as she watched her. "That explains why you move and fight much like my kindred." She glanced at him with a disbelieving look on her face. "I highly doubt that," she replied, picking up her staff. Cera gazed at the sky for a moment, and then said, "Looks like midday. Would you care to have lunch with me? I hear Bilbo and Aragorn have a new round of poems to tell."
"I would be honored to," he replied, *then, perhaps, I can learn more about why you are here.*
She moved off, and he followed all the while wondering what the secret that clearing held that she guarded so closely.
~*~
Well? I know, its weird way to have them meet, but what else could I do?
*looks innocent*
Anyways, for those of you with dirty minds, *cough, cough, moony, cough*, (excuse me there ), that last bit had no bad connotation to it at all! None! Also, this will be the sappiest, and I use that term loosely, chapter I will write in a while.
Oh well, ho hum,
Don't forget to review!
ALSO: I'm going by book time, so yes, events will change and take longer. Get over it! Plus, for those of you who have not read the book, Bilbo and Aragorn write poems together while at Rivedell
Disclaimer: What is a disclaimer? I think it has something to do with not claiming that I own Legolas, but that may just be me.(rambles on for a while.. a long while.)
*Looks innocent* What?
*Whack!*
OUCH!!
Bloody muse..*rubs her head and gives her muse a dirty look*
Oh, fine! Have it your way! I don't own Legolas, Okay?!! Can't a girl write a simple story?
sheesh.
Chapter 4
Still shaking her head, Cera left the council room. That fool halfling was going to be handful on a trip like this, (Pippen, not Frodo). She had meant it when she had said she would protect Frodo, but one look from Lord Elrond had been almost enough to make her regret doing so. She nearly tossed her head. She was not a child anymore, no matter what those blasted elves thought! She could take care of herself! And she would take out any bloody fool of an elf that told her otherwise. Her features took a grim cast, and she headed upstairs to think about the mess she had landed herself in.
**********
As Legolas exited the council chamber, he saw the woman walking up to the second floor. He was about to follow her to find out who she was, but Gandalf had already stopped her and the two of them looked as though they would be talking for a while. He turned around and saw Lord Elrond watching him. Legolas looked at him for a moment, turned, and headed towards his own rooms.
Elrond sighed. One wrong move and the elf-prince of Mirkwood would be finding himself burdened with a world of trouble.
**********
Cera felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned. Gandalf smiled. "How does my smartest pupil end up on a quest to save Middle Earth?" he asked. Cera gave him one of her rare smirks. "Well, you did say I was too young to put down roots and that I should get out more." Gandalf shook his head.
"I can see that catching up will take a while," he responded, " Shall we go someplace where we can sit down?"
They entered her rooms and Gandalf took the chair by the fire. Cera frowned at him and pulled the chair in from the balcony, and sat down across from him. Gandalf stared into the flames for a moment and began to speak. "I'm getting old, Cerenna, and I do not know how much longer my presence will be an influence upon the world." He paused a minute, and Cera could nearly count the centuries that were written on his face.
"We have been betrayed by my master, Saruman the White."
Cera looked at him in shock, and then again questioningly.
"Yes," he went on, "I'm afraid he knows all about the ring and the one who bears it. He is now a servant of the Dark Lord, Sauron, and will do anything in his power to retrieve the ring."
"But how.?" Cera began, startled to the core of her being, and then stopped. The one time she had met him, was when she had been taken to Orthanc for testing to see if she could do magic. She remembered him as a tall man, with white hair and a tall white staff. He had only been slightly sinister, and that, she had assumed, was eccentricity from the many years of toil that he had seen. "He had seemed very wise, and interested in only learning what he could from the world around him, not destroy it. What will you do?" she finished.
"Do? I must do only what I had originally set out to do: destroy the one ring, though without Saruman's aid, it will be undoubtedly a more arduous task," he replied.
"How long do we have?" Cera whispered.
"Until the leaves begin fall."
**********
3 days later
Through the woods ahead of him, Legolas could hear an odd tune being sung, counter-pointed by odd thuds that came in threes. The song would be sung and then: thud, thud, thud! It would continue, but there would be a full line sung before the "thuds" would come again. He followed it to a small clearing, and was instantly intrigued. The clearing was carefully maintained, with no stray sticks or brush upon the ground, and on one side of it, sat a large rock. Propped up next to it, were a bow and quiver, a staff, and a case with two elven-made daggers in it. But what drew his attention the most was the slight figure that stood twirling three short knives in her hands.
Singing her song, she punctuated the beat by throwing her knives at three circles inscribed on an old, long rotten, tree-trunk. Once they struck the tree, she would walk over, remove them, and return to her spot on the other side of the clearing. All of this would be done in time for the next line of her song, which, he noticed, had no words.
Pulling the knives out one last time, she wrapped up her song, and put them away. She paused for a moment, and pulled out her white daggers. She tied a white cloth around her eyes, and stood in the center of the clearing. Moving into a crouch position, she began to glide and whirl from position to position, as though she were fighting a fierce opponent.
Legolas saw his chance. Edging closer, he pulled out his daggers, nearly identical to hers, and crept into the open space.
**********
Still engrossed in her practice, Cera barely felt the two new blades come in contact with hers. Whirling around, she backed off a step and carefully took a test swing at the air in front of her. Steel met steel with a sharp clang and she immediately went through a rapid series of thrusts. Every blow was blocked, and she felt a movement in the air to her left. Quickly, she brought her own blade up to block the unseen strike, and parried it aside. She struck out, and immediately began to defend again, feeling only the air currents and the slight whistling sound her opponent's blades made. After a long round of fencing, she felt the cool caress of the flat side of a blade slide against her neck. Cautiously, she slid the side of her blade down her opponent's and made a rough guess as to their height. She smiled.
Legolas rested his blade against her neck, smiling slightly. Then she did something unusual. She took her blade and ran it down his to the hilt. She smiled and went through a blinding series of movements. Legolas blinked. Her blade was now resting by his neck, and he watched in astonishment as a small lock of his hair fell to the forest floor.
He immediately sheathed his blades, and backed off until her blade was no longer in danger of piercing his skin.
Feeling his movement, Cera lowered her blade and let it fall to the ground. Reaching behind her head, she quickly untied her blindfold. And stared.
"Oh! .I. It. It's you," she dragged out. She faltered for a moment, realizing what his being there meant. *How much had he seen?* she wondered. "How did you get here? Did anyone see you?" she asked frantically.
Legolas heard the edge of panic creep into her voice and hastened to reassure her. "I was lead here by a beautiful song. I doubt anyone followed me, for I was already deep in the forest when I heard it." Seeing her hesitant look, he went on.
"We have not had yet the opportunity to meet. I am Legolas, son of Thranduil, who is King in the elven halls of Mirkwood Forest." He bowed and extended his hand.
Cera lifted an eyebrow. "Cerenna, daughter of Arinn. My past is my own," she replied guardedly and took his hand. "What are you doing here?"
"I was merely curious as to who was singing. When I saw you practicing, I thought I could be of help, for I also use Noldorian blades." He unsheathed one of his white-handled daggers and handed it to her. Cera examined it closely. It was flawless except for a small nick at the end of the blade. Seeing her find it, Legolas explained. "I was scouting for dwarven hunting parties, many years ago, and one of the dwarves had mithril chain around his neck." She glanced at him, and shook her head slightly.
"One would think that elven blades would be better cared for, my Lord."
He furrowed his eyebrows, and replied, "I would think for having them for over 25 centuries that they in remarkably well condition." Noticing her decidedly lack of surprise over his age, he went on. "Please, call me Legolas, for I assume that we will be traveling together for a while, and will get know each other very well." He glanced down at her daggers. "May I?"
She raised her eyebrow again. "But of course. Legolas."
He winced slightly at her tone as she picked her blades up off the ground and handed one to him. Under the pretense of inspecting her blade, he studied her as well. There was an elvish quality about her that he could not pin down. It was though she had born human, but brought up elven. She watched him warily; her other blade held at ready near her side.
He twirled it in his fingers, and handed it back to her. "Very fine craftsmanship. It is a blade that has seen much use, despite its young age."
"I am pleased it meets your standards, my lord, if not your age." Cera replied loftily, a trifle smug. Legolas shook his head, not knowing how to take her comment.
"My lady, I mean you no ill will, and my comments were not meant to be offensive."
"No offense taken, I just don't like being surprised." She paused for a second to brush the hair out of her eyes. "If I am to call you simply Legolas, then you would do well to call me Cera."
"Agreed. Do you live here in Imladris?"
"Well, I guess so. I haven't gone anywhere else in a few years. I travel with Gandalf sometimes, though not much since we heard that Sauron was gaining power in the south." Counting back, she tallied how long it had been since she first met Lord Elrond. " I've lived in this area for more than ten years." She bent down and began putting her things together.
*Ah, that explains much.* Legolas thought as she watched her. "That explains why you move and fight much like my kindred." She glanced at him with a disbelieving look on her face. "I highly doubt that," she replied, picking up her staff. Cera gazed at the sky for a moment, and then said, "Looks like midday. Would you care to have lunch with me? I hear Bilbo and Aragorn have a new round of poems to tell."
"I would be honored to," he replied, *then, perhaps, I can learn more about why you are here.*
She moved off, and he followed all the while wondering what the secret that clearing held that she guarded so closely.
~*~
Well? I know, its weird way to have them meet, but what else could I do?
*looks innocent*
Anyways, for those of you with dirty minds, *cough, cough, moony, cough*, (excuse me there ), that last bit had no bad connotation to it at all! None! Also, this will be the sappiest, and I use that term loosely, chapter I will write in a while.
Oh well, ho hum,
Don't forget to review!