Hello again and welcome to my demented and silly little story. I haven't
updated in a while but I was in Ireland for a week and then right after my
granddad caught pneumonia and my family has been going mad. During it all I
didn't really think about this story. So sorry!
Reviews have been few and far between (meaning I haven't had any for the last chapter, get your asses in gear people and review), so I'm going to skip this part.
I don't own Lord of the rings and don't flame me for this story, my toasters broken and I'll just use them to make toast. The little paragraph at the start is the first verse of Evanescence's song Bring me to life so I don't own that either.
Chapter 4- The Beginning of it all
"How can you see into my eyes?
Like open doors,
leading you down into my core,
where I've become so numb.
Without a soul,
my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold.
Until you find it there and lead it back home . . ."
Eledhel had collapsed to her knees and had stayed there for several minutes. How could she have not heard him arrive in the clearing and how long had he been standing there? He might have come into the clearing when she was meditating; either that or her senses had suddenly left her to fend for herself. She mentally shook herself, stood up and gripped the trunk of the tree beside her. She looked up into its branches and without thinking she jumped and grabbed the lowest branch.
She swung herself up into the higher branches and settled herself in between a branch and the trunk of the tree. She cast out her senses and followed Legolas' progress towards the main part of the city and the guest quarters. She didn't usually mind people watching her train, but him standing there . . . it just made her feel more aware of herself and almost worried about what he thought of her skills. That was a first; she had never cared what others thought of her as a fighter.
When she became a guard, no one actually guessed that she had started training until the summer games several years later. The games were what decided the rank of each soldier. She came sixth in the last twelve and with tradition, the warriors were only unmasked when they either were defeated or got to the end of the games, and the last twelve.
She remembered that day like it was yesterday . . . the last twelve were told to stand in a line, depending on how long their final fight had lasted. Eledhel was sixth in the row. While she had been commanded by her mother to completely dull her magic to the point where it was dormant inside her she couldn't resist casting her senses out to try and find out who else had qualified. Haldir was the first in line, which was to be expected. The others weren't very surprising until she sensed the last person in the line. Maeglóm. He had actually got in. She had seen the last fight and was astonished to find that the winner was he. She had been seeing him for just over the last two years but she had never sensed the power that she saw in that last fight.
Looking back she realised that she was blinded by her love for him. The fact that he had became a Wood captain when he was incapable of striking his teacher and trainer when she had hit hers down repeatedly should have told her that he was incapable of getting to the third round, let alone the sixth.
He had already began seeing that girl . . . the girl was one of the Lady's lower scholars and had a small amount magick to her name. With her magick and the schooling that she had received in her two months under the Lady's instruction, she stole a book and made a potion for strength, which he drank straight away without asking any questions. The spell binding the potion didn't have a time limit so his strength would last until either the spellcrafter or the person who it is directed at dies or when the spell is removed by force by a true mage. If she had known about the potion before he left she could have removed it.
Two people removed the masks on the warrior's faces, one starting at each end. It was Maeglóm and Haldir who were unmasked first and were rewarded with shouts and cheers of congratulations. Eledhel and the man standing beside her were the two last to be revealed. Once her hood was down and her mask was off she blinked in the light because with the absence of her hood she was no longer shaded from the sun. It was then she noticed the silence and the fact that every pair of eyes in the area was fixed on her.
She looked at the ground and then suddenly sensed Haldir in front of her. She raised her head hesitantly, not wanting to see his face. When she did she saw him smiling. He swept her into an embrace and laughed. She was completely surprised at what he said next. "I knew you could do it kid. I knew it."
Suddenly, it was almost as if Haldir had released something because everyone began cheering, clapping and stamping their feet at once. It was all happening too fast for Eledhel, one moment she was standing in the clearing and the next all the new Wood captains were whisked off to a celebratory feast. After the celebrations, the acknowledgement of the new Wood captains and the new patrols set out Eledhel finally was allowed to leave the great hall.
She decided to walk through the gardens that extended to the edge of the city and before she knew it Maeglóm was walking beside her. She turned to look at him and he smiled his mischievous little smile that always seemed to melt her heart, he suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her down one of the lesser-used paths that they passed. She didn't know where he was taking her until they arrived at one of the sandbanks of the river Nimrodel. Maeglóm quickly pulled her down with him to the warm sand. He just held her against his chest and then after a couple of minutes tilted her chin up and just kissed her. He stopped soon after and stared at her directly in the eyes. He then told her the real reason he had took her here. He asked her to marry him.
That was what happened on the day she became a Captain. Why was she thinking about that anyway? It was the past, it can't be changed but she would never forget it.
Jumping down and landing in a crouch on the crunchy, leaf strewn floor of the Archery copse she quickly gathered herself together and prepared herself for the discussion with Beleg. Some of the new recruits had their own idea of what a Wood captain should be, and a woman wasn't one of them. She usually had to put on some sort of show to either impress them or bring them down a few notches. It was no surprise to her to find that the ones that really made a fuss had their views imposed on them by their fathers who were usually of a lower rank that her.
She stood and glanced about her. The twilight had deepened since she had seen Legolas and the clearing was very dark now that she was on the ground again. She must have been in that tree for a long time. She would have to go find Beleg to talk with him; he was probably talking to one of the young woman in the kitchens. Then after . . . bed, finally.
***
True to her thoughts Beleg was in the kitchens but was talking to Haldir who looked very haggard and worried. He gave her a quick nod and then departed without a word. Now what was wrong with him? She wondered. Well, it was none of her business until his child arrived because his wife, Nessa had requested that she was present as midwife as she was one of the best healers in the wood.
She pulled herself out of her thoughts long enough to discuss the utterly mundane happenings of the patrols and the recruits. Beleg had been hoping that his little brother would be recruited into the same patrol as him, with any luck, he wouldn't. Eledhel had heard that he was a really cheeky lad and wasn't looking forward to meeting him, if she did.
After assuring him that yes, she did have the bows and that all he had to get were the arrows and staves from the woodcrafter the next morning she excused herself as he finally began to look at the girl that Eledhel had noticed about five minutes ago who was making eyes at him from the table near them. She got up and the girl immediately took her place. Well . . . at least everyone else was enjoying the romantic side of their life. She wouldn't have to worry about Beleg; he could look after himself. Even though he felt a little insecure about his parents.
She made her way up to the balcony half way up the great tree and stood there in the soft light that the various small lamp emitted. She leaned on the rail and glanced over the city and the lights in the various dwellings while going over the various thoughts in her mind. She stood there for a good few minutes, just mulling over the thoughts at the front of her mind, not even bothering to go further back, because she knew that when she did she would probably start to cry despite her calm appearance.
Legolas had noticed this. She was just standing there staring into nothing and with an unexpected surge of empathy he received a sense of the utter loss and pain that she was feeling. Eledhel received the same from him, though his was less intense and mostly concerned with his mother's weakened state. I was then that she sensed him and her back arched as she leaned forward on the rail, her shoulders hunched as she leaned hard, not looking at him.
He just stood there and stared at her. He then decided to say something. "I . . . I never knew you would be . . . in so much pain."
Eledhel had fixed her eyes on the distant forest floor. When she spoke her voice was a distant whisper. "You weren't supposed to. No one was. Not even my parents, even though my mother does have some idea of what I'm feeling she doesn't know completely what is in my heart."
"I'm sorry, I have no right to know about you." He murmured hesitantly. "I know nothing about you."
She brought he eyes up to his. "Wrong. You now know more about me that anyone else. Now, what I want to know is how that happened. It is your mother that has the minor empathy powers?"
He touched her shoulder and turned her towards him. "My mother? She was a healer. I don't know . . ." there was a slight quiver in his voice as he spoke the next sentence. "What do you know about my mother?"
"Do you think that you received all of my emotions and I received nothing from you?" she paused. "You sensed my pain and my loss and I sensed your worry about her. She is a strong person and seems to have a power of some sort. So I guessed empathic. It would make sense with her being a healer. You would need to understand." She caught the look in his eyes. "I know, trust me."
"Yes. Thank you. Nobody seems to understand. I'm enjoying my stay here because I'm away from the Palace. My father is becoming even more stressed over my mother's illness. Which means more is being expected of me. Its nice to be away for a while." He looked over at and frowned as she had a surprised expression on her face. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"Its just the fact that I have always wanted to leave this place. All I do is learn, teach, work, train and fight. I would love to leave here." She glanced at his hand, still on her shoulder and then brushed it away. "I would love to come and visit Mirkwood, to see at least one of the other two great Elven cities. I have never seen Rivendell and would never wish to. Though I'm told it is a beautiful place. That is why I volunteered to take the warriors."
"Should I walk you to your room? You should get some sleep." He then hastily added, "not that you look like you need sleep. Tomorrow is an eventful day for both of us."
"No, thank you for offering all the same Prince. I have something to do first."
"Call me Legolas. All I want I that you are at full strength tomorrow. I do not want to inflict some irreversible damage." He turned and began to depart from the large balcony.
She gave a small mirthless laugh. "No one has been able to do any physical damage to me for the last five hundred years. Don't worry Prince, I won't be."
"My name is Legolas. And we'll see what happens tomorrow. You should know that you couldn't completely predict what will happen in the future."
"True, very true. But we will see." She turned to him and called, as he was about to leave up the flight of stairs. "Please do not tell anyone."
He gave a curt nod and then finally departed. He would keep what she felt to himself.
She waited until she was sure he was away and then headed down the steps to ground level. As she looked into the murky shadows she called up a light spell and soon held a white ball in her hands. She needed to use her mother's mirror more than ever now and it was better to use this clearing, as it was a place of power. If she really needed to she could use anywhere she wished but if she did it sapped at her powers. She could use any of the four elements, but water was the best.
***
So . . . what do you think of the latest chapter? Review and tell me!
Remember: I don't like flames, but I like toast!
Reviews have been few and far between (meaning I haven't had any for the last chapter, get your asses in gear people and review), so I'm going to skip this part.
I don't own Lord of the rings and don't flame me for this story, my toasters broken and I'll just use them to make toast. The little paragraph at the start is the first verse of Evanescence's song Bring me to life so I don't own that either.
Chapter 4- The Beginning of it all
"How can you see into my eyes?
Like open doors,
leading you down into my core,
where I've become so numb.
Without a soul,
my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold.
Until you find it there and lead it back home . . ."
Eledhel had collapsed to her knees and had stayed there for several minutes. How could she have not heard him arrive in the clearing and how long had he been standing there? He might have come into the clearing when she was meditating; either that or her senses had suddenly left her to fend for herself. She mentally shook herself, stood up and gripped the trunk of the tree beside her. She looked up into its branches and without thinking she jumped and grabbed the lowest branch.
She swung herself up into the higher branches and settled herself in between a branch and the trunk of the tree. She cast out her senses and followed Legolas' progress towards the main part of the city and the guest quarters. She didn't usually mind people watching her train, but him standing there . . . it just made her feel more aware of herself and almost worried about what he thought of her skills. That was a first; she had never cared what others thought of her as a fighter.
When she became a guard, no one actually guessed that she had started training until the summer games several years later. The games were what decided the rank of each soldier. She came sixth in the last twelve and with tradition, the warriors were only unmasked when they either were defeated or got to the end of the games, and the last twelve.
She remembered that day like it was yesterday . . . the last twelve were told to stand in a line, depending on how long their final fight had lasted. Eledhel was sixth in the row. While she had been commanded by her mother to completely dull her magic to the point where it was dormant inside her she couldn't resist casting her senses out to try and find out who else had qualified. Haldir was the first in line, which was to be expected. The others weren't very surprising until she sensed the last person in the line. Maeglóm. He had actually got in. She had seen the last fight and was astonished to find that the winner was he. She had been seeing him for just over the last two years but she had never sensed the power that she saw in that last fight.
Looking back she realised that she was blinded by her love for him. The fact that he had became a Wood captain when he was incapable of striking his teacher and trainer when she had hit hers down repeatedly should have told her that he was incapable of getting to the third round, let alone the sixth.
He had already began seeing that girl . . . the girl was one of the Lady's lower scholars and had a small amount magick to her name. With her magick and the schooling that she had received in her two months under the Lady's instruction, she stole a book and made a potion for strength, which he drank straight away without asking any questions. The spell binding the potion didn't have a time limit so his strength would last until either the spellcrafter or the person who it is directed at dies or when the spell is removed by force by a true mage. If she had known about the potion before he left she could have removed it.
Two people removed the masks on the warrior's faces, one starting at each end. It was Maeglóm and Haldir who were unmasked first and were rewarded with shouts and cheers of congratulations. Eledhel and the man standing beside her were the two last to be revealed. Once her hood was down and her mask was off she blinked in the light because with the absence of her hood she was no longer shaded from the sun. It was then she noticed the silence and the fact that every pair of eyes in the area was fixed on her.
She looked at the ground and then suddenly sensed Haldir in front of her. She raised her head hesitantly, not wanting to see his face. When she did she saw him smiling. He swept her into an embrace and laughed. She was completely surprised at what he said next. "I knew you could do it kid. I knew it."
Suddenly, it was almost as if Haldir had released something because everyone began cheering, clapping and stamping their feet at once. It was all happening too fast for Eledhel, one moment she was standing in the clearing and the next all the new Wood captains were whisked off to a celebratory feast. After the celebrations, the acknowledgement of the new Wood captains and the new patrols set out Eledhel finally was allowed to leave the great hall.
She decided to walk through the gardens that extended to the edge of the city and before she knew it Maeglóm was walking beside her. She turned to look at him and he smiled his mischievous little smile that always seemed to melt her heart, he suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her down one of the lesser-used paths that they passed. She didn't know where he was taking her until they arrived at one of the sandbanks of the river Nimrodel. Maeglóm quickly pulled her down with him to the warm sand. He just held her against his chest and then after a couple of minutes tilted her chin up and just kissed her. He stopped soon after and stared at her directly in the eyes. He then told her the real reason he had took her here. He asked her to marry him.
That was what happened on the day she became a Captain. Why was she thinking about that anyway? It was the past, it can't be changed but she would never forget it.
Jumping down and landing in a crouch on the crunchy, leaf strewn floor of the Archery copse she quickly gathered herself together and prepared herself for the discussion with Beleg. Some of the new recruits had their own idea of what a Wood captain should be, and a woman wasn't one of them. She usually had to put on some sort of show to either impress them or bring them down a few notches. It was no surprise to her to find that the ones that really made a fuss had their views imposed on them by their fathers who were usually of a lower rank that her.
She stood and glanced about her. The twilight had deepened since she had seen Legolas and the clearing was very dark now that she was on the ground again. She must have been in that tree for a long time. She would have to go find Beleg to talk with him; he was probably talking to one of the young woman in the kitchens. Then after . . . bed, finally.
***
True to her thoughts Beleg was in the kitchens but was talking to Haldir who looked very haggard and worried. He gave her a quick nod and then departed without a word. Now what was wrong with him? She wondered. Well, it was none of her business until his child arrived because his wife, Nessa had requested that she was present as midwife as she was one of the best healers in the wood.
She pulled herself out of her thoughts long enough to discuss the utterly mundane happenings of the patrols and the recruits. Beleg had been hoping that his little brother would be recruited into the same patrol as him, with any luck, he wouldn't. Eledhel had heard that he was a really cheeky lad and wasn't looking forward to meeting him, if she did.
After assuring him that yes, she did have the bows and that all he had to get were the arrows and staves from the woodcrafter the next morning she excused herself as he finally began to look at the girl that Eledhel had noticed about five minutes ago who was making eyes at him from the table near them. She got up and the girl immediately took her place. Well . . . at least everyone else was enjoying the romantic side of their life. She wouldn't have to worry about Beleg; he could look after himself. Even though he felt a little insecure about his parents.
She made her way up to the balcony half way up the great tree and stood there in the soft light that the various small lamp emitted. She leaned on the rail and glanced over the city and the lights in the various dwellings while going over the various thoughts in her mind. She stood there for a good few minutes, just mulling over the thoughts at the front of her mind, not even bothering to go further back, because she knew that when she did she would probably start to cry despite her calm appearance.
Legolas had noticed this. She was just standing there staring into nothing and with an unexpected surge of empathy he received a sense of the utter loss and pain that she was feeling. Eledhel received the same from him, though his was less intense and mostly concerned with his mother's weakened state. I was then that she sensed him and her back arched as she leaned forward on the rail, her shoulders hunched as she leaned hard, not looking at him.
He just stood there and stared at her. He then decided to say something. "I . . . I never knew you would be . . . in so much pain."
Eledhel had fixed her eyes on the distant forest floor. When she spoke her voice was a distant whisper. "You weren't supposed to. No one was. Not even my parents, even though my mother does have some idea of what I'm feeling she doesn't know completely what is in my heart."
"I'm sorry, I have no right to know about you." He murmured hesitantly. "I know nothing about you."
She brought he eyes up to his. "Wrong. You now know more about me that anyone else. Now, what I want to know is how that happened. It is your mother that has the minor empathy powers?"
He touched her shoulder and turned her towards him. "My mother? She was a healer. I don't know . . ." there was a slight quiver in his voice as he spoke the next sentence. "What do you know about my mother?"
"Do you think that you received all of my emotions and I received nothing from you?" she paused. "You sensed my pain and my loss and I sensed your worry about her. She is a strong person and seems to have a power of some sort. So I guessed empathic. It would make sense with her being a healer. You would need to understand." She caught the look in his eyes. "I know, trust me."
"Yes. Thank you. Nobody seems to understand. I'm enjoying my stay here because I'm away from the Palace. My father is becoming even more stressed over my mother's illness. Which means more is being expected of me. Its nice to be away for a while." He looked over at and frowned as she had a surprised expression on her face. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"Its just the fact that I have always wanted to leave this place. All I do is learn, teach, work, train and fight. I would love to leave here." She glanced at his hand, still on her shoulder and then brushed it away. "I would love to come and visit Mirkwood, to see at least one of the other two great Elven cities. I have never seen Rivendell and would never wish to. Though I'm told it is a beautiful place. That is why I volunteered to take the warriors."
"Should I walk you to your room? You should get some sleep." He then hastily added, "not that you look like you need sleep. Tomorrow is an eventful day for both of us."
"No, thank you for offering all the same Prince. I have something to do first."
"Call me Legolas. All I want I that you are at full strength tomorrow. I do not want to inflict some irreversible damage." He turned and began to depart from the large balcony.
She gave a small mirthless laugh. "No one has been able to do any physical damage to me for the last five hundred years. Don't worry Prince, I won't be."
"My name is Legolas. And we'll see what happens tomorrow. You should know that you couldn't completely predict what will happen in the future."
"True, very true. But we will see." She turned to him and called, as he was about to leave up the flight of stairs. "Please do not tell anyone."
He gave a curt nod and then finally departed. He would keep what she felt to himself.
She waited until she was sure he was away and then headed down the steps to ground level. As she looked into the murky shadows she called up a light spell and soon held a white ball in her hands. She needed to use her mother's mirror more than ever now and it was better to use this clearing, as it was a place of power. If she really needed to she could use anywhere she wished but if she did it sapped at her powers. She could use any of the four elements, but water was the best.
***
So . . . what do you think of the latest chapter? Review and tell me!
Remember: I don't like flames, but I like toast!
