Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any of the original LoTR characters. They belong
to that wonderful magnanimous genius Tolkien. This story is fictional and
I'm not taking any money for it so please, no one sue me. Entertainment
purposes ONLY!
Chapter 4- "In which they start their adventure"
They got the car and the Johnson's minivan packed away and headed to the woods. The first day of traveling went normally. Everyone laughed and joked and sang out of tune to the radio. When they finally got there the girls fell into typical young people laziness and decided to chill on the couch.
Niari and Shiana were in the sitting room of the cabin drinking hot chocolate with their feet propped up on their suitcases (that had yet to be unpacked) imagining the gorgeous guys that would ask them out once they got to graduate school, because they had decided that college men were just high school boys on a superiority trip, when Ni-ni's parents came in the room and sat down next to the two girls.
Niari we need to talk to you Shiana said to her daughter in a voice that was almost a whisper. Shiana put down her mug of cocoa. I'll leave you all alone then she said and got up to leave.
"No Shiana," Zani said. "You can hear this too, I think it will be good for Niari to have you here with her."
So Shiana sat back down and she and Niari looked at each other and then back to Niari's parents. Niari thought that her parents suddenly looked old. They weren't of course. They were both about 45 years old, but they looked suddenly weary and small to her and her heart ached for them at whatever could have made them so sad.
"Niari little one," her mother said taking her hands. "Your father and I love you so much. You are our daughter and nothing that will ever change that." Her mothers voice was soft yet firm but she could hear it trembling.
Niari nodded slowly, not saying anything. She wanted to say 'of course mom, I'm your daughter, what are you getting at?' She wanted to slap her moms hands away and tell her to spit it out she was scaring her. She wanted most of all to hug her parents and make everything go back to normal, because she knew somehow that everything in her life was about to change. Instead, she just nodded allowing her mom to continue.
"It is because you are now of age that we are telling you this. It has weighed on our minds since your twentieth birthday." Holding her daughter's gaze firmly she continued.
"You are our daughter Niari, but I did not give birth to you."
What!
"We loved you and cared for you and I even suckled you but I did not conceive you. In fact Niari love, you are not human. You are an elf."
Niari barely heard Shiana gasp beside her. She barely felt her father take her other hand. Seconds crept by slowly.
"What the heck are they talking about" she thought? "An elf! That's insane, of course I'm human, and of course you gave birth to me mom." The only thing that kept her from calling her parents crazy right then and storming out of the room was the little voice inside her that said "Crazy are they, you've known all along, haven't you?" She pushed that voice inside of her down though, and opened her mouth to tell her parents just what she thought of their little joke when her father placed something her hand he was holding. It was heavy and the cloth holding the bundle was silk, or at least she thought it was silk. Niari had never touched such soft silk before.
She looked over at Shiana who was just staring with a weird "Don't look at me! I haven't got a clue," expression on her face. Obviously no help there so she turned back to the bundle. It was laced up and she began opening it with shaking fingers. Niari couldn't help but gasp at its contents. She pulled out a sheathed knife. Not just any knife, the most beautiful knife she had ever held. And Niari knew a lot about knives from her life-long fascination with everything medieval and her training in the martial arts. It looked like the hilt was made of platinum with precious jewels all around it. But the weapon was way to light to be made of what she thought. The sheath was made of some kind of thick leather with painted figures woven into it in a lovely pattern that she felt she could stare at forever and not understand the story behind. Gulping down the lump in her throat she slowly pulled the knife from its sheath and felt herself, gasp for the second time that day. The steel before her was so silver as to be almost blue. It felt much lighter in her hands then it looked like it should. It had characters written dead center on it and was shaped like a thick arrow. Niari didn't know how she knew but she knew that she had not uncovered all of the contents of her bundle and reached in it again. Her finger curled around a small round object and she pulled it out. It was a ring. Not just any ring. A small blue ring that looked like it was made of shiny blue gold. It was plain other than its translucent nature. The brief thought flashed through her mind that whoever made these things was probably obsessed with the color blue when the ring started glowing.
"Nendar, daughter come home. It is time, come home."
Niari would have dropped the ring but she felt almost numb. Now the damn thing was talking to her. Great, she could just imagine how all of this would affect school. "Uh professor, I was wondering if I could be excused from classes for a while. You see my parents gave me this weird blue ring that speaks and it told me to go home. Yes I know it sounds odd. Oh and by the way, I just found out I'm not human so maybe I could put in for one of those foreign student scholarships. Do they grant those to elves?"
Before she could really finish her thoughts she sensed her hand moving to place the ring on her finger. She could feel herself doing it but didn't know how to stop herself. She could feel her brain hammering away. "Oh God help me. What am I doing? I can't stop. Mom, help me! Dad make it stop. What is going on? And why the heck can't I move my own hands?!" Too late, she barely felt Shiana reach out and grab her before the ring was on her finger and then there was that voice again from the ring saying-
"Welcome home daughter." And the next thing she knew she was falling in a tangled heap with her best friend Shiana right on top of her.
Chapter 4- "In which they start their adventure"
They got the car and the Johnson's minivan packed away and headed to the woods. The first day of traveling went normally. Everyone laughed and joked and sang out of tune to the radio. When they finally got there the girls fell into typical young people laziness and decided to chill on the couch.
Niari and Shiana were in the sitting room of the cabin drinking hot chocolate with their feet propped up on their suitcases (that had yet to be unpacked) imagining the gorgeous guys that would ask them out once they got to graduate school, because they had decided that college men were just high school boys on a superiority trip, when Ni-ni's parents came in the room and sat down next to the two girls.
Niari we need to talk to you Shiana said to her daughter in a voice that was almost a whisper. Shiana put down her mug of cocoa. I'll leave you all alone then she said and got up to leave.
"No Shiana," Zani said. "You can hear this too, I think it will be good for Niari to have you here with her."
So Shiana sat back down and she and Niari looked at each other and then back to Niari's parents. Niari thought that her parents suddenly looked old. They weren't of course. They were both about 45 years old, but they looked suddenly weary and small to her and her heart ached for them at whatever could have made them so sad.
"Niari little one," her mother said taking her hands. "Your father and I love you so much. You are our daughter and nothing that will ever change that." Her mothers voice was soft yet firm but she could hear it trembling.
Niari nodded slowly, not saying anything. She wanted to say 'of course mom, I'm your daughter, what are you getting at?' She wanted to slap her moms hands away and tell her to spit it out she was scaring her. She wanted most of all to hug her parents and make everything go back to normal, because she knew somehow that everything in her life was about to change. Instead, she just nodded allowing her mom to continue.
"It is because you are now of age that we are telling you this. It has weighed on our minds since your twentieth birthday." Holding her daughter's gaze firmly she continued.
"You are our daughter Niari, but I did not give birth to you."
What!
"We loved you and cared for you and I even suckled you but I did not conceive you. In fact Niari love, you are not human. You are an elf."
Niari barely heard Shiana gasp beside her. She barely felt her father take her other hand. Seconds crept by slowly.
"What the heck are they talking about" she thought? "An elf! That's insane, of course I'm human, and of course you gave birth to me mom." The only thing that kept her from calling her parents crazy right then and storming out of the room was the little voice inside her that said "Crazy are they, you've known all along, haven't you?" She pushed that voice inside of her down though, and opened her mouth to tell her parents just what she thought of their little joke when her father placed something her hand he was holding. It was heavy and the cloth holding the bundle was silk, or at least she thought it was silk. Niari had never touched such soft silk before.
She looked over at Shiana who was just staring with a weird "Don't look at me! I haven't got a clue," expression on her face. Obviously no help there so she turned back to the bundle. It was laced up and she began opening it with shaking fingers. Niari couldn't help but gasp at its contents. She pulled out a sheathed knife. Not just any knife, the most beautiful knife she had ever held. And Niari knew a lot about knives from her life-long fascination with everything medieval and her training in the martial arts. It looked like the hilt was made of platinum with precious jewels all around it. But the weapon was way to light to be made of what she thought. The sheath was made of some kind of thick leather with painted figures woven into it in a lovely pattern that she felt she could stare at forever and not understand the story behind. Gulping down the lump in her throat she slowly pulled the knife from its sheath and felt herself, gasp for the second time that day. The steel before her was so silver as to be almost blue. It felt much lighter in her hands then it looked like it should. It had characters written dead center on it and was shaped like a thick arrow. Niari didn't know how she knew but she knew that she had not uncovered all of the contents of her bundle and reached in it again. Her finger curled around a small round object and she pulled it out. It was a ring. Not just any ring. A small blue ring that looked like it was made of shiny blue gold. It was plain other than its translucent nature. The brief thought flashed through her mind that whoever made these things was probably obsessed with the color blue when the ring started glowing.
"Nendar, daughter come home. It is time, come home."
Niari would have dropped the ring but she felt almost numb. Now the damn thing was talking to her. Great, she could just imagine how all of this would affect school. "Uh professor, I was wondering if I could be excused from classes for a while. You see my parents gave me this weird blue ring that speaks and it told me to go home. Yes I know it sounds odd. Oh and by the way, I just found out I'm not human so maybe I could put in for one of those foreign student scholarships. Do they grant those to elves?"
Before she could really finish her thoughts she sensed her hand moving to place the ring on her finger. She could feel herself doing it but didn't know how to stop herself. She could feel her brain hammering away. "Oh God help me. What am I doing? I can't stop. Mom, help me! Dad make it stop. What is going on? And why the heck can't I move my own hands?!" Too late, she barely felt Shiana reach out and grab her before the ring was on her finger and then there was that voice again from the ring saying-
"Welcome home daughter." And the next thing she knew she was falling in a tangled heap with her best friend Shiana right on top of her.