A/n: Hey! Me again... sorry for this chapter being late! I had to refer back to the novels to find out some details.. enjoy!
A Sunset Love
Chapter 11: A run into trouble
After three more days in Lothlorien, the fellowship was prepared to leave. They were all given Lothlorien cloaks, woven by Galadriel herself. Rope, and a sturdy supply of lembas assured that they would be able to journey for many a mile. Frodo received the light of a star, to light his way in a great darkness. No doubt where that would lead him. Sam, who loved gardening, received a wooden box from Galadriel with soil blessed by the Lady of the Golden Wood. Merry and Pippin received small silver belts with silver flower clasps, as did Boromir except his was gold and silver, and of course, larger. Legolas received a new bow and a quiver of arrows. Aragorn received a sheath for his sword that would prevent it from ever breaking. Gimli, however, had only requested a strand of Galadriel's hair. When Galadriel asked Mithdelothwen what she would require for the trip, Mithdelothwen shook her head.
"My Lady, you've already been too kind to me." But Galadriel have her a small smile.
"I'm sure there must be something you would need on the journey." Mithdelothwen thought for a moment. She wouldn't need a new bow, as Loriá and Lothlorien style bows were very similar. She had a new quiver of arrows already, from home. Then, an idea came to her.
"You're right, Lady Galadriel. I have been trained to use a sword, yet I do not yield one of my own." Galadriel nodded.
"Very well." Galadriel nodded to some elves, who brought a selection of swords to Mithdelothwen. "Choose, and do not worry of dulling the blade, for they will always remain sharp." She said.
Mithdelothwen looked at the five swords presented to her. The first one looked very much like Frodo's, an orc detector. Another was long and slim like Aragorn's and Boromir's. The next resembled an axe of sorts, but Mithdelothwen had no interest in hacking her enemy into pieces. The last two swords were a pair. They resembled Legolas' knives, but were a little longer. She picked them up to test their weight, twirling it with her wrist. They were incredibly light and thin, but unmistakably strong and sharp. Satisfied, she nodded to Galadriel.
"Well chosen." Galadriel smiled, and gave them all her blessing on a safe and successful journey. Mithdelothwen looked at her new knives, seeing how they seemed to glow with a light of their own. She decided to name her knives Edlënay, which meant 'bright and beautiful'. She kept one by her side, and the other in her quiver with the arrows.
Galadriel had also been so kind as to provide them with boats to journey on the Andurin. Frodo, Sam and Aragorn were in boat, Merry, Pippin and Boromir were in another. Legolas, Gimli and Mithdelothwen were in the last one. Gimli sat in between Legolas and Mithdelothwen saying,
"Just to remind you, this is not a love cruise. I don't care if you're in love or not, we need all of your elven ears and eyes to attention!" he huffed, and Legolas rolled his eyes. Mithdelothwen smiled tightly.
"Actually, Gimli, I was going to let you and Legolas sit in front anyway. After all, I'm just his 'responsibility', and you are an equal to him." She glared in Legolas and Aragorn's direction. She was still a little angry about the conversation three days ago. It just made her feel like she was a burden.
Well, we'll see about that... when one of them is seriously hurt, they'll suddenly be glad the she-elf was tagging along.. Mithdelothwen thought dejectedly. She didn't noticed that Gimli was looking at her pityingly, sorry that he had said anything. He looked to Legolas, who was pretty much in the same mood as Mithdelothwen, frowning slightly. Gimli just sighed heavily... love, especially elven love... was such a fickle thing.
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Soon, they rowed the boats up to a shore and took a rest. Mithdelothwen was pacing about, uncertain about the area they were in. Little did she know, Aragorn and Legolas felt the same. Since the boat ride, Mithdelothwen had only spoken one word answers, even to the hobbits.
After some debating, Gimli decided to talk to Legolas.
"Why don't you apologize, or try to speak with her?" He asked, referring to his cold shoulder with Mithdelothwen. Legolas sighed.
"As you will have most likely noticed, she's not exactly willing to hear anything from me yet. I'll have to let her cool down, somewhat." Legolas answered tiredly, watching Mithdelothwen pace in circles. Finally, Aragorn couldn't take it.
"Would you stop pacing?! It's making me nervous!" He accidentally snapped. Gimli and Legolas looked at Aragorn, slightly surprised. Mithdelothwen stopped suddenly, in her surprise, and as Aragorn tried to hastily apologize, brushed past Legolas. As she walked past, Legolas could hear her muttering,
"he must still be upset about the snails." And Legolas had to smile, remembering what he'd done. But he did feel sorry for Mithdelothwen- everyone just seemed to be picking on her because she was a female.
Including myself... He thought ashamed. He then got up to talk to Mithdelothwen, weather she wanted to hear him or not.
Mithdelothwen sat by herself, close by the boats.
"Well, splendid situation you've gotten yourself into. You're on a lovely picnic by yourself, with everyone mad at your but 4 hobbits and a human." she thought miserably, resting her chin in one hand, poking at the sand with the other hand. She was so wrapped up in her dejected, angry and sad thoughts that she didn't notice Legolas come beside her. He was looking at her concerned for about five minutes before she realized she was being watched. She looked up at him for a second with sad eyes, then looked back at the ground.
"You know, you could've been shot by orcs if you weren't paying attention." he tried. But that comment seemed to do more harm than good.
"Thank you for pointing out yet another fault I have besides being female, sir elf." She mumbled angrily, turning her back to him. Legolas cursed himself in his mind, but wasn't going to give up yet.
"If you're wondering why you are my 'responsibility', as would call it, it's because I'm worried about you." Legolas quietly stated.
"So you don't think I can take care of myself, is that it?" Mithdelothwen asked cryptically.
"it's not like you've proven that you could." Legolas mumbled, forgetting that she could hear him. But once he heard her gasp in hurt and surprise, she realized his blunder. He looked up and saw her staring at him is disbelief. He wanted to shoot himself for causing her the pain that was evident in her eyes.
"Mithdelothwen, I..." Legolas fumbled for words, but a tear leaked out of her eye as she angrily stood up and ran off into the woods. Legolas cursed under his breath. Normally, he was not one to stumble.. but she was different. She made him feel like he was falling apart at the seams. Gimli walked over to Legolas while the hobbits watched Mithdelothwen storm off. Aragorn made no move to stop her. Either he thought she would be fine or didn't care.
"I take it your conversation did not go well..." Gimli observed. Legolas stood up frustrated.
"Aragorn, why did you yell at Mithdelothwen in the first place?" Legolas snapped. Aragorn looked up at him, irritated.
"PAcing around is very nerve wracking, and annoying. We stopped here to rest, and she wasn't helping." He answered. "It's not my fault you can't seem to say apologies very well." he added. Legolas was about to say something about Aragorn's feeble apology to Mithdelothwen, but Boromir cut in.
"Alright, everyone calm down. Getting into fights isn't going to help, especially since we're the last hope for Middle-Earth." he explained logically. Legolas gave an angry stare to Aragorn before sitting down near the hobbits. Something didn't feel right, but there was nothing he could do about it.
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Mithdelothwen stomped around in the forest until she finally collapsed beneath a large oak tree. She couldn't believe what she'd heard.
It's not like you've proven that you could. Legolas' words repeated in her mind, and felt like daggers stabbing her heart. Legolas. The one she trusted the most, had uttered those cruel words. She could feel the hot tears in her eyes that threatened to fall, but she refused to let them.
"No... I'm going to prove them wrong. I am not going to cry anymore... not anything or anyone." She declared to herself, her eyes burning with renewed strength. She was heading back when she heard something. Her eyes settled on Frodo and Boromir, quite some distance away.
"You don't have to do this, Frodo. There are other ways." Boromir's voice coaxed.
What is he doing? Mithdelothwen wondered suspiciously, coming closer. Surely... he wasn't trying to take the one ring.. was he? Mithdelothwen had always thought Boromir to be quite kind. She couldn't imagine him trying to take the ring. But, Mithdelothwen felt she should keep an eye on him. She saw Boromir lunge at Frodo and was ready to help when suddenly Frodo disappeared. She blinked her eyes and squinted. Surely enough... Frodo was gone. She decided to head back to where the others were and warn them of Boromir's actions.
When she came back, she then remembered she was 'angry' at the pretty much all of them, and didn't say anything. But Aragorn called her over to him. When she stood in front of him, her face held no emotion.
"I want to apologize for my rude words earlier." Aragorn sighed, hoping that she wasn't too angry. Mithdelothwen cocked her head to the side.
"Which ones? The ones from today, or three days ago?" She asked. Aragorn looked down at the ground, feeling rather ashamed, something he didn't feel too often.
"both." Mithdelothwen let the tiniest smile crack in.
"Although... you know, those words really hurt. Already I was in a bit of a row with Legolas." She admitted, sitting down, opposite to him. Aragorn frowned every so slightly.
"What are you two fighting over anyway? You two seemed very much in love a few days ago." Mithdelothwen closed her eyes for a bit, re-opening them to answer.
"Before, it was about your words earlier. But just moments ago, he said something I may not be able to forgive him for." Mithdelothwen answered, seeing Legolas and Gimli talking by the shore.
"You'd think he'd know when a she-elf is offended." She mused, but Aragorn picked it up.
"Why would you say that?" Mithdelothwen looked up surprised.
"Well... you can't be implying that Legolas has never had a girlfriend before, are you?" Aragorn just looked at her.
"You-.. you mean, he's never had a 'relationship' before?" Aragorn chuckled slightly.
"Just to make things fair, is Legolas your first relationship?" Mithdelothwen looked at the ground, blushing slightly.
"yes..." she said barely audible.
"And so I point your statement back at you: 'You'd think she'd know when an elf is worried for his loved one.'." Aragorn pointed out. Mithdelothwen sighed and bit her lip as she looked in Legolas' direction. She saw Gimli trying to push Legolas in Mithdelothwen's direction. Clearly, the dwarf had been trying to give Legolas love advice. Without warning, she suddenly jumped up and hugged Aragorn lightly.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"For what?" Aragorn asked, a little caught off guard from her sudden hug.
"For knocking some sense into me." She answered, walking towards Legolas.
As Legolas saw Mithdelothwen walk towards him, he felt a bit more nervous. What is he messed up his words again? He didn't need to worry about that, for when Mithdelothwen came close enough, she threw her arms around him. Legolas, who was relieved and surprised, put his arms around her, glad to see she wasn't going to try to kill him. After a moment, she pulled away to look into his eyes. Legolas had never known eyes top be so descriptive, but her eyes told everything. Before, after he'd uttered those terrible words, her eyes showed her soul literally bleeding and full of hurt. But now, her eyes just showed her happiness.
"My love.. I am terribly sorry for what I said.. I honestly didn't mean it." He immediately said.
"Maybe.. you were right. But still, I need not to be worried for like a piece of glass." She answered slowly. "But.. I think I need to apologize to you more than you need to me." She sighed.
"It was wrong of me to keep accusing you of something you didn't do.. you were just worried about me. I am sorry." She said, smiling afterwards. Legolas felt a large weight being lifted from his heart. In response to her words, Legolas kissed her passionately, showing that he indeed accepted her apology. When they broke the kiss for air, suddenly they felt an evil presence within the air. The immediately looked at each other in alarm, all senses alert. Then they heard Aragorn call,
"Orcs!"
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A/n: Iikes.. I'm so sorry for this chapter being late! -.-... But, here is it! I have a cool scene ready for chapter 12! :) Stay tuned, Read and Review!! *^^* ~Feathers of the wind~ 08.11.02
