I hope I'm not boring u all to death! Still no adventure here yet.
It was a solemn group that gathered around the stone table at one corner of Rivendell's big garden. The Council of Elrond was about to begin.
Gandalf and the newly healed hobbit, Frodo, had just taken their seats on Legolas's right hand side. Commander Jaden sat beside his prince, frowning slightly at the group of dwarves a little farther to their left.
The band of dwarves, lead by Gloin, their chief, had arrived yesterday at Elrond's call. To Legolas's absolute delight, Gimli had also come along. The dwarf had taken one look at the elf prince before he snorted. "Somehow I'm not surprised to see you here. Never going to miss this kind of excitement, would you?"
And of course, included in the group was Tarang, the same dwarf who had kidnapped Legolas over a hundred years ago. They had left that incident behind them, but that didn't mean they had become the best of friends. As grouchy as ever, Tarang sniffed in disdain when he glared at Legolas, saying nary a word.
"Why so quiet, Tarang? No greetings for me?" Legolas intentionally provoked him amid Gimli's suppressed grins. Tarang's only answer was sending another round of murderous glares before he spun on his heels and followed his fellow comrades.
"I guess not," Legolas sighed.
Gimli broke into laughter. "Don't despair so, Legolas. His pride is still hurting after you knocked him on his ass that day!"
Legolas smiled at the memory, and looked up towards Gimli who was sitting beside his father. The dwarf grinned back at him, as if they were sharing a big secret between them.
At least one friend of mine is still talking to me, Legolas thought. He glanced at Aragorn who sat next to Boromir, a son to the Steward of Gondor, who had also arrived yesterday. Legolas was a little jealous to know that the two men had instantly bonded at their very first meeting. Looked like Aragorn found the presence of his own kind more pleasant than the elf prince.
Ever since Aragorn's big explosion three days ago, the ranger never spoke to him. He was still very angry and disappointed at Legolas's action in freeing Gollum. There's nothing that Legolas could do about it because every time he tried to talk to Aragorn, the man would turn away and ignore him.
Even the twins were giving him the cold shoulder. They now sat on each side of Elrond, for once being very serious and quiet. As one of the counselors of Elrond's household, Glorfindel was also there, sitting beside one of the twins, looking every inch the golden warrior that he was.
Elrond stared at everyone present in the council, and then he stood up and began to speak. The ever courteous host, he addressed his guests and formally welcomed them all. In return, they all listened intently as Elrond started to speak of the Dark Lord Sauron and the evil power of the One Ring. Not all of them knew the whole story of the ring, so this perked them as they began to realize the imminent disaster if the Ring fell back into the dark force's grasp.
Legolas, who had heard the story hundreds of times from his father, listened with half an ear. He was more aware of Frodo sitting next to him…and the disturbing presence of the Ring in the hobbit's coat pocket. The hobbit still looked a little pale but his health had returned; Elrond's famous draught had done its work, no doubt. But Legolas could sense his restlessness and anxiety. The effort of carrying the ring had already become a great burden to him; so powerful the Ring was even as a tiny little thing.
The Mirkwood prince saw how the hobbit fidgeted, touching his coat pocket now and again to ensure the ring was still there, looking at Gandalf for assurance of some kind before turning his attention back to Elrond who was still relating that fateful day when Isildur had failed to destroy the ring.
What a monstrous responsibility for one tiny hobbit to be ordained as the Ring Bearer, Legolas thought in admiration. He had suffered already. The Ring is trying to consume him, yet he is still fighting it.
Legolas came back to full awareness when, suddenly, Elrond asked Frodo to bring forth the ring for every one present to see. A hush fell over the group as Frodo stood up to step forward and placed the ring on the middle of the stone table.
They all stared. Someone gasped. Boromir's jaw dropped while Gimli's eyes bulged. Everyone was so silent that they could almost hear the sound of the falling leaves hitting the ground. It went on for quite a long moment…then everyone began to speak at once.
"The Ring is already here?" Gimli cried out.
"How could this be?" Boromir had jumped out of his chair, staring hard at the ring. "When was it found?"
Gloin had already begun telling them of the shadow of disquiet that had fallen upon his people. Only now he found out what had caused it. Tarang then jumped in by blaming the elves for letting it happen by letting the hobbits kept the ring.
Angered by those words, Jaden stood up and towered over Tarang. "That's preposterous! You don't know what you're talking about! We just found out about this ourselves!"
"Such lame excuses!" Tarang shouted back.
The twins also added to the fray. "Tarang, you are always such a jerk!" Elrohir countered.
"Yes. Sit down and let's decide on how to destroy The Ring," Elladan said.
"What?" Boromir cried out. "Why must we destroy it if it could help us defeat Sauron?"
"Because destroying it is the only way to defeat him. Nothing else will," said Aragorn quietly.
Boromir began to protest loudly, saying the great shame it was for the powerful ring to be unused. Gandalf then pointed out that if they used the Ring, the Ring would use the user instead.
Tarang still couldn't stop blaming the elves for letting all this to happen, and then he started to curse the stupidity of men for their weakness. "If Isildur had destroyed it the first chance he got, this would not happen! Coward and sissy, that's what he was! Just like every man is!"
"What did you say?" Boromir glowered at the cocky dwarf. Aragorn clenched his fists, wishing to put his fingers around Tarang's throat and squeeze it for insulting his forefather like that.
As Boromir advanced towards Tarang, the others gathered around them to hold the two back from each other before bloody fisticuffs could occur. During all this, Frodo had sunk deeply into his seat, trying to be invisible as he stared in horror at the loud chaos in front of him. Elrond only looked on in silence, thoughtful and calculating. Gandalf was shaking his head as he told the group to knock it off but they didn't listen.
Legolas had had enough. He stood up, walked towards the table and picked up the Ring.
Everyone fell into silence once more. They watched in astonishment as the Mirkwood prince walked back towards Frodo and put the Ring onto the hobbit's palm. "Keep this safe, mister Frodo, for you are the only one who is brave enough to take this burden."
Glancing at the others, Legolas continued, "I only hope they all stop behaving childishly and quickly think of some way to end your misery."
The whole group had the grace to look at one another guiltily, feeling quite ashamed of themselves for their behavior just now. How could they actually forget about the hobbit's obvious pain and desperation?
Legolas turned to Elrond. "I wished to be excused, my lord. The company of the ring is distressing me. Whatever you decide in this council, I'll fully agree."
Elrond nodded, giving his assent. With that, the Mirkwood prince turned around and left the council.
In silence, they all watched as Legolas walked away and disappeared into the palace. Elrond was smiling as he saw the stunned expression on their faces. Gandalf winked back at the Rivendell lord, knowing that Legolas's words had finally registered some senses into the others. "He is right, you know. We all have behaved childishly."
"Well…" Gloin cleared his throat nervously. "I think so too."
"So, what do you suggest we do now?" Boromir asked.
"First of all, I want every one to settle back into their seats," Elrond ordered. "Then we'll decide what to do with The Ring."
TBC…