Chapter Twenty Three: The Ring Goes South
Written in story form by Carithawen
Webposter's notes: This is written from the roleplaying that we did, but written in story form by me.
After some time of travelling from Rivendell, the fellowship had stopped to rest for lunch on a stony hill overlooking the mountains. Gandalf sat, deep in thought, smoking his pipe. Next to him sat Gimli, and a little ways off stood Legolas keeping a lookout. Halien sat on a rock near Frodo and Sam watching Boromir give sword lessons to Merry and Pippin.
Boromir was working first with Merry, "One, two, five, good! Very good!" Then he began to spar with Pippin.
Aragorn sat watching, smoking his pipe. "Move your feet!" he instructed from his seat.
Elfindel, who was dressed once again in her forest-colored travel outfit, sat near him.
Pippin sparred well, and Merry noticed, "You look good Pippin."
He grinned, "Thanks!" His glance then fell on Elfindel, who grinned warmly back at him, and, as a result, he felt butterflies in his stomach. Boromir noticed his unawareness to his lesson, and followed his gaze to the Elf sitting next to Aragorn. Elfindel looked at him, her eyes slightly narrowing. Halien kept her gaze on the blond elf who seemed to be keeping a look out. He felt her gaze on him, and turned to smile. She turned pink and turned the other way to face the Sam instead. She mentally kicked herself in the head for acting foolish.
Gimli was in conversation with Gandalf, neither glancing towards anyone.
Meanwhile, Merry noticed this nonverbal battle between the Man and Elfindel, feeling somewhat defensive for the Elf maiden; he whispered to Pippin, "I bet she could take him."
Boromir heard the young hobbit's words, but didn't turn to them. Instead he thought of how this would give him a chance to publicly humiliate her... to take his revenge on the humility that she caused him. He spoke teasingly to her, "Did you hear that, Elf? Your hobbit friends think you are a better wielder than I!"
Elfindel glanced at the hobbits, her tense look fading as the hobbits only nodded eagerly.
Aragorn looked at her, "Carithawen, do not let him torment you..."
She placed a hand comfortingly on his shoulder, "Think not of it Elessar, for he will do no further."
With that she stood and walked towards Boromir. Merry and Pippin backed up slightly as Elfindel approached Boromir. She slowly unsheathed Anduras, the blade ringing as it was brought out of its sheath.
Pippin was starting to doubt this, worrying about Elfindel's well-being. Merry, on the other hand, rubbed his hands together, "Oooh, this is gonna be good!"
Halien watched the conflict happening a couple of yards from her. She smiled inwardly knowing that Elfindel was a very strong fighter. She came down a couple of rocks to watch it more closely. As she got comfortable, she felt someone coming to sit next to her. Halien's head turned and she found Legolas sitting down next to her. His pink lips curved into a small smile.
He looked questioningly at her, "May I join you?"
Her heart picked an uncanny pace, and she stammered as she answered, "Um... I... uh.. don't see why not." She rolled her eyes, frustrated by her actions. The elf mistook it as a sign of annoyance towards him, and he sat down dejectedly.
Boromir readied his sword, his eyes on Elfindel as she brought the blade to vertically rest against her temple, as if blessing it. Elfindel glanced once more at Boromir, who has his sword ready as well. "It is interesting that you have challenged a woman to fight against you, Steward... Are you afraid?" Elfindel said with a mocking tone.
Halien laughed lightly and looked to Legolas who smiled and looked on.
Boromir smirked inwardly as they began to circle, "A Man of Gondor is never afraid, mind you."
"Interesting... Then would it infuriate you if I inform you that I am not going to strike first?"
Boromir's eyes narrowed, "Then you leave me no choice--" And with this, he charged forward, Elfindel spinning out of the way. Boromir turned around confused, "Why aren't you striking?
Elfindel glanced back at him, "Are you Stewards all the same?
Boromir raised his sword, bringing it down quickly and firmly on top of her. Pippin closed his eyes in fear, and did not see the spark made when their blades touched. Boromir backed up, swinging at her side, but Elfindel was quick to block it, their blades ringing loudly. His strikes became faster, and so did her blocks, their blades ringing everywhere. Boromir yelled warningly and swung at her legs; but Elfindel was too quick for him. She jumped up and somersaulted sideways over him, landing behind him in a crouch. She gripped the Anduras at her side. Pippin gasped as Boromir turned around; the anger obvious in the man's face. Aragorn watched, his mouth slightly open, for he never knew that Elfindel was this agile and cunning. Boromir charged at her once more while Elfindel was still crouched, facing the opposite direction.
Pippin cried out to warn her, "Elfindel!"
Boromir brought his sword down---but Elfindel spun around, still in a crouch, bringing her sword up under his firmly; the strength of it created a large spark which sent white smoke into the air, and knocked Boromir backwards onto the ground. Elfindel stood up, walking over to tower over him, placing the tip of the Anduras' blade against his neck. Everyone was wide-eyed looking on to see what she would do. Boromir cursed silently under his breath as Elfindel sheathed Anduras, offering him a hand to get up. But he didn't take it, and instead got up by himself.
She smirked, "Good game..." Then she looked at Pippin, who still had his eyes clenched shut. Merry was still aghast and Aragorn smirked slightly, but friendly as he looked over at Elfindel, who comforted Pippin. He glaced at Legolas, who also smirked, turning his attention to the other Elf maiden. Halien had watched the whole fight, on the edge of the rock which she sat on. She smiled, as they finished knowing all along that Elfindel would win. She stood up pleased, and started to make her way back to Gandalf.
Legolas watched her as she walked towards the old wizard. She was one of the most beautiful maidens he had ever laid eyes upon, perhaps even the most beautiful.
Halien sat herself on a rock someway away from Gandalf. She sighed heavily, and placed her face in the palm of her hands.
"Are you fatigued?"
She looked up annoyed at the question, "Of course I'm not tired!"
Legolas looked at her puzzled and somewhat hurt, "I did not mean to offend you. It was merely a question."
A loud sigh escaped her lips once more, and she turned her head to face the landscape to the side. A dreamy look came on to her face as she remembered how much she missed the falls in Rivendell.
"Do you miss your home?"
She nodded slowly to herself, and pushed some of her hair behind her ears. He came and sat next to her pointing out to the distance.
"See that over there?"
She looked puzzled for a second before answering, "Yes, what about it?"
"Wait and see."
Her forest green eyes saw nothing but a patch of tall grass next to a small hole in the ground. She continued to look, but saw nothing.
"Legolas, what I---"
"Look now."
Glancing back, she saw some movement in the grass. A gasp escaped her lips, but Legolas urged her to look on. She leaned her head forward, just as a small rabbit appeared out of the grass. She laughed in delight, and pointed gleefully.
"Keep looking."
She watched on as the small white rabbit scrunched up it's nose and went back into the grass. Then it returned with a small family of three more small rabbits. She watched in love as they scurried along the plains. A big smile appeared on her face, and she turned to say something to Legolas.When she turned she found that his face was about half an inch away. Her eyes dissolved into his, and the warmth breath that escaped his lips caressed her gently. His nose lightly brushed hers.
His voice came in a whisper only for her to hear, "What I'm trying to show you, Halien is that beauty comes in many forms. You should not only bind yourself to the beauty of Rivendell for splendor can be found in many places."
Her heart commanded her to do something, which she did not know. She found herself leaning in closer to his lips. Her mind was blank and would not hold her back. Her eyes fluttered closed, just as his did as well. But before their lips actually touched, Sam's voice caught her attention bringing her back out of her dream state.
"What is that?" he said in a worried tone
Halien pulled away and stood up abruptly, forgetting about Legolas. She turned to Sam not knowing what he was talking about. Then she gazed off into the distance to see a black unnatural cloud moving their way. Her brow furrowed in concern.
Gimli glanced up at a black blur in the sky, "Nothing! It's just a wisp of cloud!"
Legolas ran past her, to a rock that was on the far side. His eyes looked intently at the cloud. Boromir observed it worried as well, " It's moving fast... against the wind."
Legolas' Elven eyes reached far and wide, and he called back to the fellowship, "Crebain from Dunland!"
With that came Aragorn's orders, "HIDE!"
Before she had a chance to react, Legolas grabbed Halien and brought her down covering her. She looked at him startled with wide eyes, but understood his abrupt actions. Using a branch from a nearby shrub he covered their faces. He placed a strong arm across her bringing her in further under the shrub. The rest of the fellowship hid under and behind rocks as the Crebain passed overhead with their squawking, quickly leaving as they did coming. Legolas removed his arm from her, and stood up offering her a hand for her to get up. Not taking it she stood up, and brushed herself off before heading back towards the rest of the group.
Most of them had come out of their hiding places, and now Gandalf stood, "Spies of Saruman! The passage to the south is being watched. We must take the Pass of Caradhras." Halien's stomach did a flip, and she gulped. She had a really bad feeling about what was next.