By Verbosity
The four Hobbits made their way from the porch toward the feast hall, Sam leading the way, while Merry and Pippin walked beside Frodo and chattered away about Rivendell, the elves, and all they had seen since arriving. Frodo listened with half an ear as he gazed around at the house, not yet having had the time to see much of it, and looked for any elves that happened to cross paths with them. He still harbored within a desire to see more of this wondrous and mysterious people. Thought that desire now wrestled with growing longing to return home and see the fields and woods of the Shire once again.
Turning his attention back toward the conversation he realized the topic had shifted again, and that his friend were speaking of the mysterious woman who, he was told, had helped Arwen and himself.
Merry was saying, "…and then Pippin told her she sounded like Gandalf."
"I suppose she does a little at that." Sam mused from up ahead of them. "But only her accent." he hastened to add. "Her voice doesn't sound like his of course."
"I would dearly like the chance to meet her." Frodo said. "Gandalf told me how she stopped the Ring-wraiths and defended Arwen and myself."
"You already have met her, dear cousin." Merry said grinning. "You however were not in a condition to greet her at either time."
"Either time?" Frodo questioned, looking curious.
"She came to check on you with Merry and me one day." Pippin answered. "I think she wanted to help with your wound, but she said something about not being able to get a clear reading on what was causing the problem, and that without that she though she might do more harm than good."
They passed through a doorway, moving from a hallway to what seemed to be an antechamber to a large hall. The muted buzz of voices could be heard from beyond the double doors leading to it.
Stopping, Frodo looked at Pippin for a moment, and shook his head a little bemused. "Is she a healer then, as well a warrior?"
The other three Hobbits glanced at one another, and then Sam spoke up, looking thoughtful, "Well, I guess she is both those things, but…well, she's a little like the elves, Mr. Frodo. I mean, most of the time you can't really call them just one thing or another, they are all a whole lot of things all together, if you take my meaning."
Frodo nodded, "I believe I do Sam."
"Gandalf has become quite fond of her." Sam said. "It's easy to understand why, if you talk to her for a while." His expression was earnest. "I really do like her Mr. Frodo, she was very kind when she came to visit you." He looked pensive for a moment. "Though, I can't put together what I've seen of her with what she did to those awful Black Riders. She's a bit mysterious."
"I asked Gandalf about her, the day after we first arrived," Pippin chimed in. "He's been spending a lot of time with her, so have Strider and Lady Arwen, but Gandalf has spent the most. When I talked to him that morning he told me about this lady, and what had happened at the ford. I almost couldn't believe him. Later that afternoon, after I saw her for the first time, I went back to talk to him. She was just like Gandalf said. She doesn't act like most of the other big-folk either, Gandalf said that's because she's not one of the big-folk, well not any of the kinds we know, and that if I wanted to know more I should stop pestering him and ask her."
"She doesn't look quite like the big-folk in Bree." Sam said. "Her skin is a different color and her face is different. But, stars! Mr. Frodo. She is beautiful."
Frodo smiled at the awed note in Sam's voice. His friends seemed quite taken with this stranger. It…His thought cut off as someone stepped through the door they had entered by.
It was a woman, one of the big-folk, but not like any of them that he had ever seen. Her hair, a dark brown shade, was cut off just above her shoulders and the candlelight from the wall sconces reflected of her faintly bronze skin. Her features were different from anyone he had met before, and lent her a rather exotic air.
Her two brown eyes examined Frodo for a moment then came to rest on Sam. Her slight smile grew wider. "Why thank you Sam.," she said to the now furiously blushing Hobbit. "I've rarely had such an honest compliment." Her voice was pleasant alto.
Pippin was right, Frodo thought. She does accent her words just like Gandalf.
Her smile became a little impish as she turned her head to look at Merry and Pippin, "I hope the rest of you have been saying nice things as well."
"Absolutely."
"Certainly."
Merry and Pippin's responses were jaunty as they returned her grin.
Shaking her head, still smiling, she turned back to Frodo. Her eyes rested on him, and the smile still played about the corners of her mouth as she said, "I'm glad to see that you're feeling better."
"Oh!" Sam blurted out. "I'm sorry Mr. Frodo. You haven't been properly introduced yet. This is Lady Andromeda. Lady Andromeda, this is Frodo Baggins."
Merry, grinning, leaned toward Sam and said in whisper clearly meant to carry, "I think he had that figured out Sam."
"I know. It's just a question of courtesy, they should be properly introduced and all."
Frodo, smiling fondly at Sam, turned back to Andromeda his expression growing serious again and said, "I want to thank you for…" he trailed off as she put up a hand to stop him.
"You don't need to thank me, I've had people thanking me up the wazoo. I just did what I thought was right." She smiled a little ruefully. "I'm glad I could help."
Wazoo? Frodo thought. His face showed a bit of confusion as he said, "Very well, but you still have my thanks."
Pippin, looking at his face said, "Don't worry Frodo," his grin grew wider. "No one else understands some of the words she uses either."
Andromeda inclined her head toward the door into the feast hall. "Shall we go in?" she said.
At that moment Frodo's stomach gave a low growl. As Frodo blushed, Andromeda gave a startled laugh, and the Hobbits found themselves smiling, for it was a clear happy sound.
"I'll take that as a yes," she said. Stepping forward and taking Frodo's arm, she gently led him toward the doors. "Just between us, I don't really know what that word means either. I just got it from a friend of mine with a very colorful vocabulary."
* * *
Andromeda gazed around the hall, taking in the well underway feast. The hall was filled with folk: mostly Elves, but also Dwarves, and of course Hobbits. The long table she sat at was situated on the dais. At the end of the table sat Elrond, to one side of him was Glorfindel, and to the other side sat Gandalf. At the middle of the table, against the wall and under a canopy, Arwen was seated.
When Andromeda had entered the room she had been uncertain as to where she was supposed to sit, but one of the Elves had come and guided both her and the Hobbits to their seats, and she had found herself in the seat next to that of Arwen. Across and slightly down the table she could see Frodo deep in conversation with a richly dressed, white bearded dwarf. At a side table close to the dais she could see Sam, Merry and Pippin all sitting together and, from the look of it, steadily consuming all of the food on the table.
"Amazing, is it not?" the elf to her right, the opposite side from Arwen, said. "The little ones can consume amounts of food seemingly without regard to their size. If memory serves, they commonly partake of six meals a day." He was one of the elder Elves to whom Aragorn had taken her to hear the old tales.
She looked at him a moment then looked back at the Hobbits and muttered, "Wow, that's more than Harper will eat on a binge."
She conversed with the elf for some time before she picked up her name being mentioned in conversation between Frodo and the dwarf. A Human, or even an Elf would not have picked it up through the noise and distance, and Andromeda had been carefully trying not to eavesdrop on conversations all over the room. After all it paid to be courteous to your hosts. Her name, however, drew her attention to Frodo's conversation. Andromeda's audio receptors were sensitive enough to pick up every sound in the room, and her processors were quite capable of sorting it all, so when her name was said, hearing what was said after was almost involuntary.
"Then it is true. This lady Andromeda slew one of the Black Riders," the dwarf stated. He shook his head. "Hardly can I credit such a thing to woman of the Kind of Man, and yet…it is."
"From what I understand she is not of the race of Man at all," Frodo said. "But something else entirely."
"Indeed." The dwarf stroked his beard absently with a hand as he glanced over at Andromeda, who was still conversing with the Elf next to her, and unbeknownst to him listening at the same time.
Multitasking is a wonderful thing, Andromeda thought.
The dwarf looked back to Frodo and asked, "Is it known from where she has come?"
"I don't know, perhaps Gandalf does, he has spent the most time with her," Frodo answered. "We could ask her."
The dwarf nodded, "Perhaps at a latter time."
Andromeda stopped listening soon after this, as their talk turned to other matters. After some time the feast came to an end. Elrond and Arwen rose from the table and went down the hall. People began to follow them and Andromeda sat for a moment wondering where to go. Motion at her side drew her attention, and looking, she found Gandalf standing at her side looking down at her. His grey hair gleamed faintly in the candlelight and as he smiled at her there was a twinkle in his eye.
"We go now to the Hall of Fire to listen to songs and tales. You will hear many of them; for the Elves have been long upon Middle-Earth." He offered his arm to her as she rose. "Let us make haste and catch up with Frodo."
* * *
Sitting near Gandalf on a stool with her back against one of the pillars Andromeda looked over the gathering. From an avatar on a Commonwealth starship to an avatar sitting in a hall with Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, and a Wizard, Andromeda thought. It seemed surreal. She glanced at Gandalf again. A wizard. I can't explain him. She chuckled as a though occurred to her. Of course I can't explain Trance either.
Hearing her laugh, he turned toward her. The firelight threw dancing shadows over his face as he raised an inquiring eyebrow.
Smiling at him she shook her head and said, "Just thinking about how strange this all seems."
His eyes were understanding as he replied, "Thrust so suddenly from one place to another, it is no wonder you feel so."
"No," she said. "It's more than that." She looked around and her voice trailed off, once again struck by a sense of the foreignness of this place, and how alone it made her.
Gandalf gazed at her silently for a few moments and his voice was kind when he spoke, "Was it so very different, where you were?"
She turned her head back to meet the old wizard's eyes, and was struck by the quiet affection in them. Staring at him, she suddenly realized how much she had come to care for him in the short time she had known him. Maybe it was the fact of her situation: stranded in this world, without anything familiar to her. Perhaps it was his kindness, gentle sense of humor, his wisdom, or the way he always seemed to make the day lighter. Whatever the reasons, she did care, deeply.
Turning her thoughts back to his question, she sighed. "You have no idea."
Rising an eyebrow he replied, "Perhaps, but my own origins were very different from this as well." Reaching out her put a hand on her forearm and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Give it time. Either a way will present itself for you to return, or you will come to be a part of this place." His air was encouraging. "In the meantime live, do your best at that, the rest is not for you to decide. In the end, it will all come right."
She stared silently at him for some moments, hearing the certainty in his voice, and was about to speak when she heard several people moving toward them. Gandalf's gaze shifted at the same moment to look at those approaching.
Turning, she saw two of the dwarves she had seen at the feast approaching. The old white bearded dwarf from the feast made his way through the room toward Gandalf and herself. A younger red bearded dwarf, his beard untouched by any gray, strode beside him as they made their way purposefully forward.
The two dwarves stopped directly before Gandalf and bowed to him, their beards nearly sweeping the floor.
"Greetings Gandalf," said the elder dwarf as he returned to the vertical position.
Gandalf inclined his head in greeting saying, "Well met Gloin. I had wondered when you seek me out."
"My apologies for nor finding you sooner, I have been sent from my kinsman Dain for urgent business with Lord Elrond. Else I would have come to you before now."
Gandalf nodded and said, "Yes I know. I think you will have your questions answered to your satisfaction tomorrow, or at least a start thereon."
Gloin seemed surprised. "Then you know what has transpired?"
"Indeed, that and much more." Gandalf's face was grave. Then he shook himself as if throwing off a sudden darkness. "But enough! This is neither the time nor place to speak of such matters, and I am forgetting my manners." He brought one hand up to indicate Andromeda. "This is the Lady Andromeda. Lady, this is Gloin and his son Gimli of the Lonely Mountain."
Both dwarves bowed low to her. "Gloin and Gimli at your service Lady."
Andromeda gave a polite response as the dwarves straightened up, their eyes studied her, lively with curiosity.
"We have heard a great many people speak about you since we arrived lady, but few seem to know much of you," said Gloin, giving his curiosity voice.
"There are many things I could say, but would not know how to explain properly to you Gloin." She gave a little shrug as she considered her words. From what she had seen, the dwarves seemed to value forthrightness. "And to be blunt, I'm not sure how much most would understand. My home was very different."
"You hail from a far land then?" The young dwarf Gimli spoke up.
Andromeda gave a short bark of laughter. "You could say that. Though I don't really know if it's far or near. Not knowing where, here, is."
The dwarf's puzzled glance traveled from her to Gandalf.
"She was brought here against her will by an unknown force." Gandalf said, answering their unspoken questions. "And," he continued, his gaze turning sympathetically to Andromeda. "None here know of whence she came or have the knowledge and power to return her to her home."
The old dwarf's gaze was filled with sympathy as he looked again at Andromeda. "I too know what it is to be unable to return home. If there is aught I may do to help, do not hesitate to call upon me, for a friend of Gandalf's is ever welcome."
There was a sudden pause in the music that had been going on in other parts of the room, and as all turned to look, an elf rose to his feet and stood before to assemblage.
Lindar, Andromeda believed, was his name.
"Honored guests, many songs have been sung tonight, and many more yet to follow. I would now tell a tale in honor of some of those guests who have traveled from afar. I will tell the tale of Aulë and the creation of the Dwarves," and he began to speak.
Both of the dwarfs sat on nearby stools, and the younger leaned toward her and said, "Now you will hear a tale worth the telling, perhaps not as well as a dwarf would tell, but the elves remember well enough."
Listening as the tale unfolded, Andromeda heard of the creation of the dwarven fathers. Of how Aulë grew impatient in waiting for the awakening of the Firstborn and sought to create a people as he had perceived them to be. How Illuvatar would not suffer any to displace his firstborn children and Aulë was moved to destroy what he had created, and of how Illuvatar took pity upon his grief and imbued his work with life and spirit. And Aulë took them away to the deep places of the world to be awakened when the time was right.
Andromeda sat quietly in thought after the tale had finished. She found her eyes drifting to the nearby dwarves. They are organics, but in a sense they're the closest things to me that this world seems to have. They weren't created artificially, but if the tale has any element of truth their ancestors were…
"Lady Andromeda, you seem very quiet suddenly." Gandalf's voice gently intruded on her thoughts. "Has something disturbed you?"
She turned her head to look at him and stared back searchingly into his concerned blue eyes. Can I trust them with the truth? They're technology level is primitive so they wouldn't understand most explanations I could give…if that story is any indication they won't react too badly…and the character of those I have met so far seems to indicate there would not be too much of a problem…still, I am alien to anything they know… I'll just have to be careful in explaining: a bit at a time, and no more until I know they can handle the next part.
"No, nothing has disturbed me," she shrugged, " it's just that the story has a theme familiar to me."
"Oh," Gandalf looked searchingly at her. "Something from your homeland?"
A number of persons nearby in the room became more attentive to the conversation between the lady and the old wizard, eager to learn more of this mysterious guest.
"You might say that. The story bears some similarities to my own origins." Here's to hoping, she thought. She noticed she now had the attention of both of the dwarves.
Gloin stroked his beard as he looked at her. "The people that you were born to have a similar story of their beginning Lady?" He asked.
She smiled at him. "No, I mean my origins, I wasn't born; I was created."
