Chapter 3: Another Mystery
Some mornings, it's just not worth chewing through the leather straps.
- Emo Philips
With the rising of the sun, a beautiful and fragrant spring morning was blossoming in the valley where the Last Homely Home sat cradled in the valley of Imladris. The sun was shinning down into the valley and reflecting off of the many waterfalls that fell and flowed through Rivendell. The valley was lush and green with flowers blossoming here and there in meticulously kept gardens. Songbirds harmoniously sung out their joy in simply pleasure for the warm and peaceful spring day.
Down in the Last Homely Home Elrond Perendhil, Lord of Imladris, was heading to breakfast. His fine, soft blue robes making a gentle swishing sound as he walked down the hall. It had been a fine and productive morning already. He had arisen early and had already chopped and ground many different types of herbs to replenish the supplies of the ones kept in the healing wing. Especially, the ones used to keep out infection, take the soreness out of wounds, and the ones that helped people to sleep. With sons like his there was always a need for such things to be kept in ready supply. Elrond was enjoying the peace and tranquility of the early morning and his quiet time alone. Estel was traveling in the north with prince Legolas and Elladan and Elrohir had been unusually quiet of late. In Elrond's mind he knew that this peace wouldn't last very long and he was determined to enjoy it. He also knew his sons and knew that no good would come out of either of the two situations. He knew of Aragorn and Legolas' luck and with a frown darkly wondered which one it would be this time. He had raised Estel as one of his own sons and he was rather found of the young prince of Mirkwood. Well, mayhap they will both make it back in one piece this time, he thought hopefully. That, he stated to himself, at least will not be for a while. He was not expecting them back for at least another three weeks. A month, he corrected himself, it takes a little longer for the injured to travel. Why did I let them go? He wondered as he always did every time the two of them set foot outside his door together. But, then again, at least they have always returned in one shape or another.
Elrond's train of thought was abruptly broken as he came up to the door leading into the banquet hall, intent on opening it and going in, when instead he almost got bowled over from the door as it suddenly came crashing open. Only his quick and battle tested reflexes saved him from a collision that would have surely broken his nose as he jerked back towards the wall and out of the door's path and into the path of the poor stand that was just innocently sitting there. Missing the door, but colliding with the stand the Lord of Rivendell, the stand, and the stand's contents landed on the floor in a heap.
Elrohir should have known better than to have simple walked out of his room this morning. Could life ever be that easy as to simply walk out your own door and go to breakfast peacefully? In this house, of course not, he thought bitterly. Now most of his upper torso was pink, pink, of all colors! Couldn't Elladan have at least gotten him with something a little less feminine? Still, he was not surprised, he should have known it wouldn't be that easy after he had arranged for all of Elladan's breeches to accidentally get replaced with female ones. I am going to drown him in the Bruinen! Elrohir simmered. So it was that when Elrohir came crashing through the door in search of his twin, dreaming of holding Elladan's head underwater, he noticed that he had almost flattened someone on the other side. He looked down about to apologize to one of the servants and froze in horror and just stood there transfixed with his mouth agape as he realized whom it was. His father, of all of the horrible luck, he had almost run over his father. By the Valar, what is it with doors out to get me this morning? Elrohir wondered desperately.
Elrond looked up to see his youngest elven son standing there with his mouth wide open and, in spite of the situation and him being sprawled on the floor along with the table, he almost laughed at the look of horror on his son's young face. The fact that he was pink did not help matters. Why his son was pink, he did not even want to know.
"Adar, are you alright?"
"Pray tell me, ionamin, why you were charging through the door as if a pack of hungry wargs was right behind you?" Elrond asked with as much dignity as he could while trying to untangle himself from the stand. my son
As he was doing this he heard soft laughter coming down the hallway opposite the door. As he looked up, he was just about to tell Elladan that although he was nearly three thousand years old he was not too old to be thrown over his father's knee, but stopped when he saw Glorfindel instead. My friend indeed, he thought with a smirk.
"You seem to be enjoying this," Elrond stated as he smoothed down his robes.
"Yes, mellon nin, I admit I am. It is not everyday that one can stroll through the Last Homely Home and get to see its Lord knocked on his backside. I see that your children have now gone from trying to kill each other to trying to kill you as well?" responded the fair-haired elf with a smile as he helped brush his friend off.
"No, my friend, I think I was just caught in Elrohir's path as he was going to find his brother. Am I right, my son?" Elrond asked as he looked over at Elrohir with stern eyes.
He could easily guess Elrohir's destination from how fast he had been going and the fact that he was going anywhere around the house looking like a sunburned elf with blotchy coral hair.
"I was just, I mean, I was going to..." Elrohir fumbled.
At the moment Elrohir was desperately wishing he could be anywhere else right now as he cast his eyes to the floor. A pack of wargs suddenly did not look so bad right now and he wished they were chasing him anywhere but here. He had not meant to bowl over his father and knew that he could have hurt someone flinging the door open so forcefully. What made it worse was that Glorfindel had seen the whole thing. Elladan and Estel will never let me live this down, he thought with a mental sigh. He stood there waiting for his father to punish him as Illuvitor had done to the Nolder.
Elrond looked over at his son struggling for words and his heart reached out to him at the honest regret he saw in his eyes before he lowered them to the floor. He knew that although his son could have broken his nose he was not angry with him. Even after close to three thousand years he still could not help but see Elladan and Elrohir as anything but children in these situations. He looked over at Glorfindel and saw amusement dancing in his bright blue eyes. Yes, he thought, he is enjoying this, and why not? Had he come across Glorfindel sprawled on the floor he would have found it quite amusing as well. He then remembered the look on his son's pink face when he realized whom he had run into and to his surprise started to laugh.
Elrohir did not know what his father was going to say, but the last thing he expected was for him to laugh. When this happened Elrohir looked up wide-eyed at his father and wondered if he had smacked his father in the head with the door after all. This only made Elrond laugh all the harder, and along with his merriment, Glorfindel joined in as well. Elrond clearly saw confusion enter his son's eyes tinged with a little bit of worry as well.
"It is all right, my son, no harm was done. Why don't you go back to your room and wash whatever this is," he said gesturing with his hand toward his son's torso, "off?"
"Ays, ada. Are you sure you are well?" asked Elrohir with concern still in his eyes.
He could not believe it was this simple.
"I am fine, now go, and when you're done you can come back here and straighten this mess up."
"Ays, adar", Elrohir responded and with that he headed back the way he had come, but at a much more modest pace this time.
"Ah, don't elflings bring excitement into the home?"
Elrond huffed as he looked over at his former friend and continued on the way to his original destination of obtaining breakfast. The golden elf followed him though the door and beyond smiling all the way. They sat down together and partook in a conversation as they ate. As the meal progressed Glorfindel noticed that his friend had started to occasionally rub his temples and now he sat with his right hand touching his forehead. Glorfindel stopped in mid sentence, not really caring for conversation anymore, and asked his friend what was wrong. He had known Elrond for countless years and he could tell something was straining Elrond.
"There has been a pressure slowly building in my head since we sat down here and I fear it is a warning of something to come."
"Do you know what it is or who it may be?"
Elrond did not know what it was a warning for, but he remembered his thoughts from earlier today about his sons, and unless his two twins were attempting drown each other right now, he had a good idea of whom it was about. Yes, he thought for the second time that day, which one will it be this time?
In the early morning hours far to the north Nadina was approaching the base of very familiar mountains. As she approached the spot from the night before she noticed to her dismay that neither the elf nor the human had moved from where she had last seen them. As she came upon them she went directly over to the elf. He was still lying in the same position as she came about and hovered directly over him. Out of the barely perceptible mist a familiar feminine face formed inches above the side of the elf's face. In the light of day she could see that the elf was still breathing. Long ago when she still had a solid body she had rather enjoyed beautiful things; everything from men to gowns to jewelry. Her love for material pleasures had been her greatest weakness and her eventual downfall. Her sister had seen to that. Curse that infuriating, nosy, good for nothing witch, she thought bitterly. A slight moan from the side brought her back to reality. She left her position over the elf and took up a new one over the human. He was lying on the ground face up with one arm over his chest. Well, she corrected herself, at least he had rolled over in his sleep. The human beneath her moaned again and it appeared as if he would awaken soon. Eager to have them both conscious so she could gather information she innocently decided to help him recover his wits. A delicate spectral arm formed out of the translucent mist and its hand came down to touch the young man's chest. Nadina chuckled to herself as she did this for she knew quite well that when her ghostly body came into contact with a living being it caused immense cold.
The first thing Aragorn was aware of was pain. Dull and throbbing pain had started to intrude into his blissful nothingness. He at first ignored it in hopes that it would just go away. But as time went on the pain became more noticeable; it threatened to push its way to the front of his awareness. Slowly the pain began to fill his whole being and this disturbance prompted his mind to make an attempt to come back to reality. As his mind swirled out of the void of unconsciousness thoughts began to come to him. What had happened to him to cause this irritating pain that he felt? What could he have possible gotten himself into this time to hurt himself so? Thoughts of traveling north came back to him and he knew that Legolas was traveling with him. He remembered trying to find shelter from the biting wind.
Speaking of coldness, Aragorn now noticed that he was cold. Had they not found shelter? No, it is not the wind, for the coldness lies only in my chest. The cold was becoming so intense that breathing was starting to become difficult. Fear started to swell up in Aragorn as the unknown coldness grew inside him. He lifted his arms to his chest to try and push whatever it was making him cold away. This movement brought his awareness careening back into reality and his eyes snapped open. When he opened his eyes the first thing he noticed was that it was daylight. The second thing he noticed was that the daylight hitting his eyes made his head ache. Along with the rest of me, he thought. And the third thing he noticed, was that the terrifying coldness was now gone. Or had it ever really been there? As his mind began to slowly function he was not sure if he had really felt anything or if it was all just a dream. He did know that he felt bruised and battered everywhere. No wonder, a mountain falling on you will do that, he thought dryly. Falling... the troll and him falling, a troll, Legolas! His mind screamed at him. Aragorn bolted up into a sitting position and immediately regretted it as pain flared in his head and dark spots played across his vision. Wincing, Aragorn brought his hand up to his head and felt a lump that had formed on the back of his head and was relieved when he didn't feel any dried blood. Well, at least I landed on the hardest part of me; he thought He also noticed that, besides feeling like his body had been used for an anvil, nothing felt broken. Besides my skull, he thought dryly. He scanned the area with his eyes and found no evidence of the troll but as he continued to look around his gray eyes came to rest on a familiar form.
"Legolas," he yelled as he tried to stand.
He stood up rather shakily and clumsily made his way over to his friend. He gratefully sunk down to the ground next to the elf and gently turned him over. After brushing the elf's golden hair out of his face he noticed that there was dried blood on his forehead, which stemmed from a cut that ran alone the side of the elf's head. Aragorn examined it closer and to his relieve found that the wound was not too severe. He then proceeded to check over the rest of his friend's body. Legolas' left side was bruised from his shoulder down to his waist. Aragorn could have shouted out with joy when he discovered his friend's injuries were not as bad as he had originally feared. The worst of the injuries were a few cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder. Neither of which were life threatening, but combined with all the bruising, would be very painful and sore. Aragorn figured the best time to reset Legolas' shoulder would be now. Hopefully, his friend was beyond feeling it at the moment. He gently picked up the elf's left arm, brought it into position, and with a swift and sure movement popped it back into place. To his relief Legolas didn't cry out or wake. He then set about wrapping Legolas' ribs firmly and washing the blood off of his face. Normally the elf was not so receptive to his administrations and he was rather appreciating of how easily he could tend to his friend now without complaint. After he had foreseen to his friend, Aragorn began to look over himself more closely. His earlier assessment had been right and he found nothing broken. He was scratched and bruised from his close little interlude with the side of the mountain, but nothing serious. The only major injury he had received was the painful bump on the head.
The ranger stood up to inspect the area and try to see what became of troll and why the both of them weren't dead when he heard a faint gasp come from Legolas. He bent down next to his friend and was alarmed to see that lines of pain were etched on his fair features where a minute ago he had lain peacefully.
"Legolas? Can you hear me?" he called gently to his friend.
Blackness.
That was all that he knew and this was where he wanted to be.
Then, from somewhere deep down inside him, images almost began to form.
They were there on the edge of his awareness. So close he could feel them, but at the same time so far away. He wanted to see them and to touch them, but they were just so far away.
Why couldn't he see them, for they were obviously meant for him to see?
He willed them to come closer and to his relief they seemed to come. He was looking at a string of blurry images. They were veiled and distorted and he could still not tell what they were. He willed them to come a little closer… and closer they came. He saw one of them come into focus and he latched onto it. It was an image of a house. A house stood on the edge of a forest and in front of it was a valley. The valley was full of tall grass and the woods behind were lush and dense. The house was a small one and made of stone. Just looking at this scene gave him an overwhelming feeling of comfort, although he did not know why. Was this a memory?
No, it could not be, he did not recognize this place and yet it seemed so familiar to him. As he observed this place a woman came out of the house. She appeared to be going about doing some sort of work. She had on a simple blue dress and had her hair tied back by a simple blue ribbon. Her simple attire did not take away from her in the least, though. Her hair was long, dark, and quite full as it shined with just a hint of red in the afternoon sun. Her features were delicate and lovely and she walked around humming a merry tune. As he observed the woman he thought of two things, one, she was very pretty, and two, he did not want to leave this place. Then the woman seemed to feel his presence and turned to gaze at him. It was then he noticed her eyes as she stared at him. They were large dark eyes that seemed to be made of molten liquid. They drew him in with their alluring gaze and he found himself getting lost inside their liquid depths. The comforting scene started to melt around him and he became afraid for he did not wish it to go. He called out in dismay for it to come back, but it would not.
Still those eyes were there and he sunk deeper. He was afraid he would get lost in the deep pools and never return. Suddenly, he felt an overwhelming sadness wash over him and he could not tell from whence it came. It was then he realized that the liquid brown eyes in his mind were full of sorrow. It made his heart break to see such sadness in eyes so grand. Then just as suddenly as they had come the large dark eyes vanished into nothingness. He cried out again as he realized he was now left alone in this empty void. Fear gripped at his being and he frantically searched for the woman he had just seen. Where did she go? Was he to be doomed to wonder here alone forever? As his search became more frantic he suddenly thought he heard a voice. He stopped and listened. Yes, there it was gain. It sounded as if it was coming from far away, but hope flared in his heart as he realized he might not be alone after all. The voice floated down to him and suddenly he understood it.
"Legolas, are you awake? Can you hear me?"
Yes I can, he tried to scream. Maybe that is her? Has she come back for me? Legolas willed his mind to focus on the voice and draw nearer to it. He desperately wanted to see her again and find out why she was so sad. With a great burst of will Legolas' mind shot back into wakefulness and he opened his eyes.
"Mani marte?" Legolas cried as he opened his eyes and was dismayed to find she was not there.
"What?" Aragorn asked as he looked down at Legolas and saw despair in his friend's confused eyes.
"Manke autre?" shouted Legolas as he looked all around him
"Who?" the ranger tried to ask.
Legolas was obviously in distress and Aragorn had no idea why. He was beginning to get worried, as his friend didn't seem to notice him. He placed a hand on both sides of Legolas' face and forced the elf to look at him.
"Legolas, listen to my voice. Do you understand me?" he asked in a calm and steady manner that he did not feel inside.
Legolas looked Aragorn in the eyes and recognition dawned in them as he realized it was Aragorn who he had heard calling to him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his still frantically beating heart. This helped immensely and his mind cleared a little. Legolas opened is eyes to see worry still lingering in Aragorn's eyes and he clasped his friend's forearms reassuring.
"I am sorry my friend, you surprised me." Legolas tried to say reassuringly.
"Mani marte?" the ranger asked as he sat back. what happened
What did happen? Legolas asked himself. He closed his eyes again in an attempt to bring her face back to his memory, but it was of no use, her image was already fading. He had seen a woman and her dwelling in a dream. Which was odd since elves usually did not have uncontrolled dreams. He did remember her sad dark eyes, though. I don't think I will ever forget those. Speaking of remembering, he wondered, why am I lying on the ground in the first place? Legolas opened his eyes and looked back up into Aragorn's gray ones. The fray orbs were much calmer, but all of the worry had not left them. Legolas attempted to sit up until pain shot down his left side and he collapsed back down to the grown with a gasp. Ays, tanya awra, Legolas thought dryly. yes, that hurt
"Here, let me help you," said the ranger as he gently pulled Legolas into a sitting position.
"Thank you," Legolas replied with an appreciative smile.
"Do you remember what happened?"
"I remember approaching the mountains and then I thought I heard something. After that everything is unclear."
Legolas tried to think back to what happened. He forced his mind to go back over the events, which considering it was morning, had to have taken place the night before. He remembered hearing something that sounded like rocks scrapping, and then… and then what? As he concentrated images of a large rock flying toward Aragorn came back to him. He remembered pushing him out of the way and then feeling intense pain.
"A rock came out of nowhere toward you and I tried to push you out of the way. Considering I can barely move my left arm I would guess that I was struck instead?"
"Yes, mellon nin, you were. I thank you for your quick reflexes, you saved my life. The rock was thrown by a snow troll."
"Ai! You faced down a troll by yourself? Are you mad? Are you hurt?"
"Yes, probably, and no my friend," the ranger replied all at once.
"I have to admit that I did not slay the troll. We were fighting at the base of the mountain and the ground gave way beneath us. I got hit on the head on the way down and blacked out and I feared that neither of us would ever wake again. When I woke I found you as I had last seen you, but I did not see the troll. I admit, I am at a loss to explain what has happened. I have not yet had the opportunity to inspect the area for signs of what occurred last night."
"You said you blacked out? Is you head well? Or at least as well as it was before?"
"It will be fine," said Aragorn as he laughed.
"I will just have to live with a headache for a little while. Your protectiveness over me has earned you the greater of the injuries this time I am afraid. You have three cracked ribs and your shoulder was dislocated. As you can see I tended these while you where out. They should heal nicely, but I am afraid they will be very sore for a while."
"Thank you again, my friend. As you know elves heal quickly. I fear it will be my aim that has suffered the most."
"I would advise you from using you bow for a while. If you do you may risk permanently hurting your shoulder."
"Now who is being protective, Estel?" laughed Legolas.
"Do not worry, I will be careful."
Aragorn and Legolas spent the whole day thoroughly checking the area and not a single clue could be found to explain the unexpected disappearance of the troll.
"I do not understand. A hungry troll does not just abandon its prey."
"I agree, but I can not find tracks of any kind," stated the weary ranger.
"I think this mystery sounds too much like the one we were presented with before we left Imladris," Legolas said sourly.
"I am inclined to agree with you. Our next question is, do we continue on? We were only supposed to go to the border of Angmar and not beyond."
"That is true, but I think more answers are needed here. Why did this creature, if that is what it is, not kill us as well? Or if the troll left us alone at its bidding, why then, were we left here?"
"I do not know, my friend," Aragorn answered as he rubbed his tired eyes.
Legolas was thoroughly flustered with the complete of lack of clues. Being a wood elf he knew that everything left tracks if one knew how to find them. Granted, animals that fly do not, but even they have to land sometime. If some sort of foul winged beast had attacked the troll there should have been signs of a fight. It was plain to see where the troll had landed after it fell, but after that, there was nothing else. And he seriously doubted that the troll had just sprouted wings and flown away. His temper was starting to get the best of him and he knew it. His shoulder had not stopped throbbing since he had started to move around, which also put pressure on his bruised ribs and side, making it hard to breathe. And to top it all off the sense of uneasiness he had felt the night before was back. With all this combined, Legolas was one miserable elf. He gently lowered himself down to the ground while he waited for Aragorn to make up his mind. He knew his friend very well and knew that in the end they would continue north. Aragorn could not leave a situation so completely at loss with no idea what was going on. He just had to wait for Aragorn to come to that conclusion himself, so he patiently waited. Legolas found that sitting down did indeed help a little, but only a little. He closed his eyes as he sat there and soaked in the feeling of warmth the sun provided. The sun would start to go down soon and he enjoyed the last little bit of its rays. As he sat there waiting he remembered what he had said to Aragorn yesterday, was it only yesterday, that maybe they should have never left Rivendell. When he had said it he only meant it as a joke, but now he started to see the good sense in the statement after all. The fates must be laughing at us right now, he thought. Where they cursed to never make it back to Rivendell, at least just once, where one or both of them were not in need of tending by Lord Elrond.
Triggered by the warmth of the sun an image suddenly came to Legolas. The image of a house with the sun shinning down on it came. He had almost forgotten about that. He remembered he had seen a woman with sad eyes in his dream. He could not recall her face anymore, but he knew he had seen her and that she was quite lovely. He found it odd to be sitting there contemplating how beautiful a mortal woman was. If he was to dream of a woman, why was it a human girl and not an elf maid? One more mystery to add to the ever increasing pile, he thought dryly.
Aragorn sighed mentally. There were just too many unanswered questions to deal with. By all rights Legolas and he should not be standing here having this conversation. But what course of action to take now? They were not technically supposed to go into Angmar. But, then again, his father had not specifically told them not to go into Angmar. And the border was only half a day away. But, then again, they had not even made it to the border without getting hurt. Father would not be pleased, he thought. Legolas was right, though, they needed more answers. He did not need elvish senses to tell that something fell was lurking about this place.
Were they fit for travel anymore, though? Legolas had taken quite a battering and he worried for the elf as he looked over at his friend to see him actually sitting down on the grass with his eyes closed. His friend looked paler that usual and from the firm set of his jaw Aragorn could tell he was frustrated. He himself was becoming frustrated and, he admitted to himself, he did not feel that great either. His body was stiff and scratched all over and his head wouldn't stop pounding behind his eyes. He was also aware of how weary he felt at that moment. With another mental sigh a thought came to Aragorn and he remembered a conversation he had with his father back in Rivendell when Elrond had started to notice a pattern developing. "Uuma ma' ten' rashwe, ta tuluva," Elrond had told him. And old elvish saying that meant, don't look for trouble, it will come to you, and he was right. Aragorn sighed out load this time. He turned around and looked with tired gray eyes at his miserable friend sitting there in the grass and made up his mind. When he spoke his voice sounded unsure even to his own ears.
"We will continue north in the morning."