Disclaimer: I own Entling. Nothing else *despair*.
A/N: This chapter is mainly exposition and 'character development', such as it is. I'm a pretty pathetic writer when it comes to dialogue, actually. And anything else. But please be kind. I'm only seventeen, and pretty new to the writing game...
Also, I just want to say that this chapter is for you, Woman of the Dunedain, and Pennhothwen. Thanks for supporting me. I'm going through a pretty hard time, self-esteem wise, and it's nice to know you're appreciated ;-) I tried to hurry this along for you, even though I'm mad busy lately...
And, of course, to my lovely lovely beta-reader...PENNHOTHWEN! My everlasting gratitude and deepest love forever :-)
Eldarion awoke as the sun rose over the treetops, staining them a deep emerald as the golden rays poured over the earth, warming it; as I watched him, I felt as though something had happened that morning beyond sight, for I could feel the contentment of the trees as they soaked in the sun, feel the grass pushing its way through the earth, feel the day lilies open their faces to the sky.
And then I looked down at Eldarion, and suddenly these thoughts were driven from my mind. He stretched, disheveled from sleep, and stood with the fluid, boneless movements of a cat. My heart gave a half-painful flutter, and I wondered why he had such a hold upon me.
"We have traveled many leagues, in fewer days," Eldarion told me, his dark eyes level with mine. "Truly, you walk with the stride of the Onodrim you were named for! Indeed, sore pressed have I been to keep beside you. But this is your quest, lady; where do we go now?"
I looked west, towards the mountains; but suddenly, in a flash, a vision came to me: a vision of an endless sea, crashing ever with a melancholy music, the memory of ancient song played on horns of white shell...
I collected myself with difficulty, and turned back to Eldarion. "We will head west, over the Gap of Rohan, towards the Sea."
"To the lands of the Ei'ryn? Those, I have heard tell, are but barren waste...but you guide me. I am naught but your protector."
We set off west, our pace slow and measured as the tides I had imagined for that perplexing moment.
"Eldarion..." I ventured, unsure why I even felt compelled to ask. "Why did you...why did you decided to accompany me on my quest?"
He looked at me, his face unreadable, his eyes wide and dark. "In truth, Entling, I am unsure," he admitted. "But I can remember one thing: I dreamed, the night before I met you. I dreamed of a tall woman, her beauty surpassing all I had ever seen, even surpassing that of my mother; and she is talked of all across the lands as the most beautiful Middle-Earth has ever seen. And the woman spoke long to me, of a quest I was to help with; much of it is lost to my memory now, and perhaps it was merely the stuff of dreams. Yet it compelled me, and I remember she spoke to me of her daughter, whom I would meet soon enough. And I ask you, Entling: was she your mother?"
"Yes," I told him. "She is my mother, though she abandoned me long ago...even now she visits me of a time, in my dreams only." I did not want to tell him of the meeting I had had with my mother only a few hours before, nor what she had mentioned about him.
He looked at me as though he expected more, but when none was forthcoming he turned away again. We walked long in silence before he turned to me again, and it seemed his eyes were overbright.
"Speak truth to me, Entling. Where does your quest take us, and what do we seek?"
And
then it seemed a voice spoke in my head, echoing from a time long past. I
will call her Entling. Entling for the hope and the burden she will bear,
Entling for the chance of return.
"Know
you of the tale of the Entwives?"
"The Lost Ones? Aye."
"It is my task to seek them."
He started back, staring as if at one mad. "But they have been lost for years beyond number! Why not go to seek the Valar beyond the Sea, or the Great Jewels? It seems to me that there is as much chance of finding them!"
I watched him calmly, meeting his gaze. "Think you that Eldarion son of Aragorn is the only one who acts upon his dreams? There is a reason I was called Entling!"
He looked down, as if unsure what to say to that. My heart softened slightly, and I reached out my hand to his. "I know not why I was chosen for this task; but this is my fate, and I must follow it wherever I may. I have dreamed that the Lost Ones lie beyond the Mountains, and so I will follow my dreams. I was once taught that nothing happens by chance, and I believe it to be so."
"It was not chance I was chosen to be your companion..." he said, his voice strange. I looked into his face, but I could not read his expression.
I am beginning to find humans baffling, I thought.
As do we- it is true, Tree-Child, came a voice unwanted in my head. I looked up hurriedly, only to find the willow before me was shaking its branches smugly. I sighed, and shook my head. Can I have no peace, even within the confines of my mind?
No, Thalionornwen, came the voice again. That is not your fate.
Thalionornwen...? I seemed to have more names than I had known.
"Entling? Are you...all right?" Eldarion asked, sounding concerned.
"Yes," I said distractedly. "The tree..."
"What of these trees? They seem to talk to you, and it is by their fruit that you live! I understand not what sorcery is this. Are you a Shepherd of Trees, then, sent in human form to torment me? You are like to nothing I have knowledge of, save for something my father spoke of once, about the Lady of the Golden Wood."
"I have a gift, with trees, and plants; we understand each other. I know not of the Lady of the Golden Wood, but I do know that to speak with plants is as natural for me as to speak with you."
He sighed. "There is much I do not understand about you, Entling. But there is much about myself that I do not understand as well. I know little enough, indeed; sometimes I fear my father has chosen an unworthy successor."
"Not unworthy, Eldarion. Never unworthy." I smiled at him, and he took my hand. Silently we continued our journey, and yet the silence seemed to speak louder than a thousand empty words...
