BWHAHAHA!!! A DAY FOR THIS CHAPTER! ONLY A DAY! Me ish so excited, and you are too, ne? Hehe! Ah, well, read, enjoy, and HAVE A COOKIE!! *throws readers and reviewers cookies* COOKIES FOR EVERYONE!! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAAA- AHA-AHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!!

~Hoshiko

Farewell to Greenwood the Great

They stayed their two weeks after their meeting. Through out these two weeks, they would only meet for meals, becoming too enthralled in their own doings to talk together much. The hobbits had braved going through the Dwarven part of the mines, and Param and Terry would even go up to a Dwarf, ask his (or her) name, how old they were, and how much gold they had mined recently. The Dwarf normally told them all the information they asked, and would proudly show of a belt or necklace of jewels that they had created. The two hobbits would often oo and ah, then quickly say good-bye and go off to the next interesting dwarf they saw. It was their way of saying 'hello, we've never seen this many dwarves before, how much richer are you than the last one we asked?' They only stopped when Froin got them by the ears and dragged them off to another part of the Mines.

'Do not ask so many questions!' she said; slightly scoding, though she was smiling. 'They will get suspicious of robberies!' She then set them off, and they smiled contently at each other. She shook her head and chuckled to herself, looking at the axes in a cart. 'I am in need of a better axe… there is a dreadful notch from the last battle.' she said to herself, and browsed through them. The cart owner kept a sharp eye on her, and every time she looked up, she smiled at him. It wasn't that he did not trust her, but a Dwarf is very protective of his treasures. She eventually picked a silver-coated iron, double-sided axe, swung it around for a minute, and smiled contently at herself. It was the perfect size and weight.

'I will take this one, how much does it cost?'

'Thirty silver pieces.'

'Twenty-five.'

'Twenty-eight.'

'Twenty six and a copper piece.'

'Deal.' He said, and she handed him the money. She had hoped they would find a good mine some where, and had brought her money sack. Looking at it more closely, she found it had been made in the Iron Hills, and had a fine oak handle. Set in the handle was a frosty-white jewel, which complemented the silver plating nicely, and she smiled at herself. It was a fine axe. She put it in her belt, and went on her way.

Relnik and Dweller used most of their times to stay in the Elven half of the mines, Relnik spending hours in the canopy of the trees, speaking with other elves. It had been a long while sense he could freely speak Sindarin, except with Dweller, but she rarely did so around the others. He was still entranced by the fact that it was possible that there was a forest under a mountain, and he would spend his days looking at the roots and digging through the soil with the toe of his boot, trying to see how low it went. He never reached the stone floor, though, so he would stop almost immediately, lest someone see him.

Dweller spent much of her time with Ondril and Brom, who also tended to stay in the elvish side. She was getting increasingly worried about Ondril, even though he would sleep and eat fine here. She knew what had happened to the Ring Bearer of the First Fellowship about this time of the journey, and she tried to make sure he was not going to that extent as long as he was in her care. He showed no signs of it, though, so she left him to do his own things, going herself to the Dwarvish side of the mines.

Teredon, on the other hand, would distance himself from Ondril, keeping his eyes away from the hobbit, and would not speak to him. He had done this slightly before, but this is the most Ondril had seen him do it. The Baggins could not think of why he was doing so, either, and all he knew was that the Gondorian started after Ondril had seen him sneak off in the night. The man was proud, yes, but he would also show a great deal of pain. He tried not to show it, and normally succeeded, but something about this place was more unsettling to him than the others.

They spent the two weeks in this fashion, and when it was time to go, Dweller announced it the night before.

'We will leave tomorrow morning, but before we do so, the Lord and Lady would like a word with us.' She said, and they all slept that night. The thought of going back out in the wild frightened Ondril quite a bit and the next morning he awoke slightly pale. Brom looked at him worriedly, and offered him a plate of food.

'It's all right, Mr. Frodo.' He said quietly, so the others couldn't hear him, 'We'll be safe for two more days, it'll take that long to go through the mines on the ferry.' Dweller had told them that they would be traveling on the underwater stream, being ferried by the elves to the doors of the edge of the mountain. Ondril took the plate, smiling weakly, eating only half the food. Brom shook his head, and took the plate back when he was finished. He had started not eating again.

When they were done with breakfast, they cleaned up their camp, packed all their things, and followed Dweller to the edge of the river that flowed through this part of the mines. There the Lord and Lady of the wood, along with eight other elves met them. All of them were fair and tall, wearing light colors.

'In honour of times passed, we would like to present you all with gifts.' Calalim said, and motioned them all in front of him. The eight other elves stepped forward, and put on all their shoulders gray-green cloaks of strong elvish material. 'I first would like to give these, made of the same material given to those of the original Fellowship. It saved them from the biting chill of the wind and rain, and from other things.' He finished, and Nimril stepped forward, going to the first in line, Dweller.

'Aradraen of the Dunedain. It seems you are appointed the new leader.' She said in Sindarin, and Aradraen bowed. 'Be careful, for foes are not far behind, and your future lies ahead. You know of your path, and you know what you must become. Do not let a hardened heart and mistrust in your fellow men take you away from your destiny.' She said, and Aradraen looked down. 'Your bravery and skills in combat and leadership are unquestionable, so there is no thought in my mind against giving you this.' She said, and put in front of the young Dunedain a sword, shimmering in the light.

'The Sword that was Lost…' Aradraen breathed, and Nimril nodded.

'Yes, it has been a long time sense it has been put to use. It traveled to Rivendell with your mother, and your father gave it to us when she died. He knew this time would come, weather it was to his liking or not, so he sent it to us, saying that he wanted you to have it when you were ready. I believe you are ready.' She said, and presented the sword to her. Nimril was right, the sword, whose ancient name was Elendil, had been lost to the country of Gondor for many years. It was because Aradraen's mother had brought it with her when she was forced into exile, and it had stayed in Rivendell, then Greenwood after her death. It was a great surprise to Aradraen that it still existed. Nimril then went to the next person, who was Relnik.

'Do you know what Lady Galadriel gave to Legolas of Mirkwood when he was in the same position?' she asked him, and he bowed.

'Yes I do, Milady. She gave him the finest bow that a the Lorien elves could make.'

'You are very correct.' She said with a smile, and put in his hands a bow. 'So shall I do for you. This bow was saved from the depths of Lothlorien, and it is the finest that we have found. It has been preserved to perfect condition, and I give it, now, to you.' She said, and he looked at it with awe.

'I am not worthy, thank you Milady.' He said with the deepest bow he could muster. She smiled even more brightly, and moved on to the next person, Froin.

'I must say,' she said, though her voice lost none of its brightness, 'I was at a loss as what to give to you. For though we live side-by-side with the dwarves, their desires still seem to be a mystery to us.' She said, and Froin shrugged.

'Ah, well Milady, I have bought what I wanted,' she patted her new axe, 'and your hospitality, kindness, and location was all the gift I needed. It was enough.' She said, and bowed.

'But we cannot set you off with out anything.' Nimril said, and from around her neck she took off a necklace, made of Mithril, set with an Ice blue stone. The elves called it their Star-stone, and it was the rarest in the world. Froin took one look at it and shook her head.

'Oh, no, ma'am.'

'Yes, it is the sign of the unity that exists amongst us here in Greenwood Mountains.' She said, and put it in Froin's palm.

'I do not know if I'm fit to wear it. Even though my beauty is famous,' she said, stroking her beard and Nimril laughed at the joke, 'yours is far more superior. Thank you.' She said with a smile, and bowed low.

'And for you,' Nimril said, going to Teredon, 'your gift, along with two others comes also from Rivendell. I believe it has been missing it's home for a great deal of time.' She said, and pulled from her robes a great horn tipped with silver. His eyes widen like saucers as he took the horn from her hand.

'The Horn of Gondor…' he said, in as much awe as Aradraen had when she was given her sword. 'How is it possible? It was sent off with Boromir over the waterfall!' he said, and she smiled.

'In the War of the Ring, Lord Relnohen was a wanderer, searching for Rivendell. One day, while getting a drink of water from a stream, he found this horn, broken in two, but luckily both halves were in tact. It seemed to have washed up on shore, and from what he did not know. When he arrived in Imladris, Lord Elrond had already left, but his son's still resided there. They recognized it immediately as it's true identity. Too far from where he found it, he put it in the spot that once held Elendil, starting his shrine to the great warrior Boromir, and eventually, the War itself. He sent it here when he learned that you were going to be an accompaniment on the journey, and I had it fixed.' She said, and as he inspected it, he saw that a strip of silver, melted into the cracks that had fallen to it had fixed it. He bowed low, grasping it tightly in his hand.

'I thank you, dearly, Milady, may the sun always shine under the mountains.' He said, and she nodded approvingly.

'For years Lord Relnohen has awaited the time for these to find proper owners.' She said, and brought out two knives, giving them to Terry and Param. 'I believe you know that the swords you carry were once carried by Pippin and Merry, and you know how they came into Imladris.' She said, glancing at Aradraen, 'and so were these. They have seen many battles, and have come in handy to them many a time when they were in use. I give them to you now.' She said, and they bowed. Param took his partially out of its sheath, looking at it in sad wonder.

'And I have seen you looking at the trees, and how they grew so well underground.' She said to Brom, who looked up shyly. His face was rather red, even through her blue glow.

'Y-yes, I have, Milady.' He said, and she smiled.

'And do you know what Samwise the Brave was given on his departure from Lorien?' she asked, and a look in her eyes told him she knew who he was.

'Yes I do, ma'am. If I remember rightly, she gave him the finest elven rope and a box of Lorien soil from her beautiful garden.' He said, and she nodded.

'And the same I give to you, Mr. Gardener,' she said, placing in his hands rope and a box, filled with soil. 'It is the secret of our forest here, and how it grows under such odd conditions. Use it well.' She said, and he went red all the way to his ears, and mumbled something hidden from the rest, though she seemed to know and she smiled.

'Now, the Stone Bearer.' She said, turning to Ondril. 'I have only this.' She pulled out a phial, but this time it did not appear empty. Instead, it was filled with a crystal clear liquid, that looked like water. 'It is not, though,' She said, reading his thoughts, 'it is a liquid with many uses. You may find these uses as you go on your way, but I will not tell them to you now. You will discover them when needed.' Now Calalim stepped next to his wife and motioned towards the ferries that were waiting for them.

'We have packed for you our waybread, for it helped Frodo and Sam along their journey when all food sources were gone. We hope it will help you as it helped them.' He said, and all bowed.

'May your journey take you to friendlier paths than the ones that had been laid out for the others. I bid you fond farewell from Greenwood, and a glad return. Good bye!' Nimril said, and they turned, stepping onto the ferries and sailing down the river. They passed through the opening of the stone wall, and out into the middle of the mines. Here the actual mining occurred, and on each side there were dwarves mining precious metals and gems.

They passed through this continually for the next two days, until they could see an end to the river, or rather, a bend in the river. Before this bend, the elves steered the ferries back on shore, stopping in front of a large door.

'This door will lead you out of the forest, and on your way. The lembas have been put in your packs already, and if you have everything, you are set to leave.' The elf, who happened to be the same one who had lead them through the mines to the four Lords of the Mountain, said and put two hands on the door. It opened immediately, and he bowed his head, and waited until they had all stepped through to close the door.

The immediate burst of sunlight seemed to blind them all as they walked through to a field, and it took a minute for their eyes to adjust.

'I would much prefer it if it was just as dim out here as in there.' Terry muttered to himself, and Relnik shook his head.

'No, you do not, for if it was, it would mean war would be coming soon.' He said and Terry nodded grimly, looking at the knife in its sheath.

'We will follow the edge of Mirkwood until we get to the southern end of it. From there we will go west, following the Anduin, and down to Mordor.' She said, and Ondril's face went paler.

'Mordor!' Brom muttered to himself, 'last place we want to go, and it is the first place we're headed!'