Author's note: Why hello! You've come to read my fic I see! I really
hope you enjoy it, and don't worry; it's not a shamelessly blatant Mary Sue-
at least not yet! If it steers in that horrible direction-God forbid-I'll
do my utmost best to make it something worthwhile. My muse is very
uncooperative, you see, always popping up when I don't have the time to
write things down so just hope that my muse won't resort to
anything.desperate.yes, let's all hope for your sake, and my sanity.
Anyways, please review 'cause I'd really like to know what you think! Now
that's all said: Onward to the unknown!
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I get it: I don't own anything except for my own characters-not that they're worth much anyways.everything belongs to Tolkein.
***Oh yeah, and "Amme" = "mommy"
I knelt beside her as she moaned in her pain. The red liquid that seeped from the wound on her side was flowing freely still-strange, for she usually healed so fast. Her head was tilted to the side and her eyes stared unseeingly at something in the distance.
"Amme?" I said shaking her shoulder gently. I wondered if she had fallen asleep with her eyes open. I shook her again, half expecting her to turn and glare at me sharply for disturbing her in her sleep. But she didn't do that. I decided that she was just ignoring me like she did whenever I became weary or stubbornly impatient. So I just sat there, waiting for her to finally get up and tell me to hurry back to camp saying, "The lady of Lothlorien does not appreciate delay!"
"Irima," the voice was too deep to be my mother's. I turned my head back to see who it was. It was one of the guards who accompanied us on our journey to see the Lady of the Light. He looked past me and I saw his eyes roam over my mother's body. I scowled at him and at the strange look that was on his face. What did it mean?
"Ellir?" I asked suddenly. His gaze then drifted back to me and his face became expressionless once more.
"We must away little one."
"Away? Do you not see that Amme is still resting?" I looked at him crossly as if it were the most natural thing for my mother to be lying on the ground with blood seeping from her wounds. He didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked at me with pity on his face but I was perplexed by it. I didn't know what pity was. He picked me up in his arms and started to walk away, leaving my mother's still form lying on a leaf-strewn path-forever held in a frozen sleep. I resisted of course, not knowing the real gravity of the situation. I threatened him with death, and I used my father's title, my mother's title, and my own title as their sole heir. But Ellir would not relent. He only stopped when we reached the clearing where out camp was set up. The place was clearly a mess with our things littered all over the place. But the strangest things were the thick white cords that were strewn upon the high branches of the surrounding trees that floated about like eerie white curtains. As Ellir spoke to the other members of our party in an unexpectedly solemn tone, a piece of the strange white substance hung tauntingly over my head. It danced in the slight breeze like a scarf, evading my impossibly small hands and fingers. When I caught the end between my fingers, I grimaced when I realized that the silky white film was actually thick and elastic.
"Ellir!" Came an alarmed cry. The said elf then looked up at me just in time to catch me wiping my hands on the back of his immaculate blue tunic. I smiled guiltily before looking down sheepishly when they did not smile back. I mumbled an apology then, unwilling to look into his face, which I convinced myself, would be twisted in rage. And as my chest burned from holding back the onslaught of tears that were threatening release, I tried to remember that I was angry with him for leaving Amme there all alone. I wondered how she would react when she would wake in the middle of a dark forest, abandoned by her companions. She would be angry, no doubt. "Why didn't you wake me?" She would question angrily. I could see her face now, red with unsuppressed rage.
"I'll take her," offered the same guard who had cried out to warn Ellir of my sticky white hands. Ellir only sighed, and I looked up and saw that he was not angry. His face was blank but his eyes shone with unspoken sadness. I wondered why, then, before I was taken from him and crushed against Elvean. He was stronger than Ellir, I noticed from the way he held me, or maybe just less gentle.
"Amme's still in the forest." I said knowingly as I looked pointedly past Elvean's shoulder at Ellir. The soft urgent whisperings of my companions suddenly ceased and I could feel their eyes dart to me instantly after my comment.
"Is that so, little one?" Elvean said slowly. I nodded before continuing.
"She was sleeping but Ellir would not wake her then." I smiled wickedly before adding, " I think he is afraid of her." But no one laughed as I had expected them to. Nor did my target look the least bit chagrined.
"We should fetch her then." Came the careful answer. I nodded vigorously but stopped when Elvean bid me to stay at the camp. But I relented, figuring that I would at least be eliminated from blame. I did remind them after all.
Elvean arrived with my mother in his arms, wrapped purposely in his cloak to hide her from my eyes. I ran to them, Ellir at my heels, but as soon as I raised my arms up to pull away the hood that covered my mother's face, the elf immediately pinned my arms down to my sides. I looked questioningly at him, annoyed at his action and ready to protest, but Elvean quickly shushed me saying,
"Hush, little one, she is sleeping." I pulled away then, aware that I could be the next object of my mother's wrath if I dare wake her. Ellir, I knew was in enough trouble already, trying to leave my mother and all; I did not want to be next. Elvean gently placed my mother atop his horse before mounting behind her. I wanted to ask why he did not let her ride on her own but I quickly decided that it was not worth the effort now that I was suddenly tired. I yawned openly as Ellir mounted his horse with me in his arms. It was nearly evening and according to my company, we should have arrived at Lothlorien hours ago if it weren't for some certain "delay." I didn't know what they meant by "delay" but the way they said it warned me not to press them now for answers. I noticed as we rode that we were missing two of our previous companions. I asked Ellir about it but he didn't seem to hear me. My other companions were not so forthcoming in answers either so I just gave up and leaned in further into Ellir and let myself drift into off sleep.
"Caras Galadhon, Irima." Ellir said, gently shaking me as I lay in his arms. Everywhere there were great white branches, surrounding us in intricately twisting curves like a magnificent cage. It was stunning in all its incongruity yet I could not help feeling as if we were approaching something great and foreboding-as if we were insects curiously drawn to the dangerous beauty of a spider web. But I nearly cried out when I noticed that we were only treading on the narrow branches of the great tree cage. We were teetering over perilous heights!
"Ellir!" I said urgently as I took one last look over his arm at the dizzying heights we were traveling upon before burying my head in his shoulder. He only responded by stroking my back soothingly and I dug my head into his chest. As we continued, I prayed to Illuvatar the way that Amme always made me whenever something grievous enough to unsettle her happened. I prayed that Ellir would not slip and plunge us head first into our doom; I prayed that Ellir would not drop me, and I prayed the same for Elvean and Amme. But I did not worry for the others. I don't know why, but I immediately trusted that their steps were sure. Or perhaps it's only because they were not carrying anyone of great importance to me. When we stopped I clutched his tunic fearfully, curious, but too scared to ask why we had stopped.
"We have arrived, little one." At that I cautiously peeked over his arms and after seeing a floor-opposed to a measly branch-I decided that we were safe. Ellir put me down and I looked up just in time to see light-blinding and pure-descend down a staircase that I thought must have had a million steps. The woman, I saw first. She was radiant and her aura was so beautiful and powerful that it frightened me. I had never been in the presence of such power before!
From the corner of my eye I saw Elvean. Strange, he wasn't carrying Amme anymore. Did she wake during our journey to Caras Galadhon? I looked around at our company, clutching Ellir's thigh as my eyes darted searchingly for a curtain of light brown hair that glinted silver over piercing grey eyes, a pointed nose, and a sharp determined jaw. But I did not find it. When I turned back to the staircase, I found that the lady was staring straight at me. Everything surrounding the couple was white from their pale faces to their immaculate robes. Everything was pale and wan in the light, all except for their eyes. They stared straight at me, their combined penetrating blue stares crashing violently with the cold grey defiance of mine. I wondered briefly what Amme would want me to do, but I looked around me and she wasn't there. I was lost for a moment and when my gaze fell back to the lord and lady's, it faltered. I stared stupidly at my feet and I dared not look up even when they spoke.
"What do you fear child?" Came the strange voice. It was definitely a woman's, but whose? I searched for my mother again, not caring that it was obvious to the Lord and Lady of Lothlorien that I was not listening. But the voice came again, "What is it you fear? Is it your mother's passing?" The words did not even register as I looked at the Lady of Lothlorien. It was her voice! But.but how was that possible? She was speaking to our company!
"I fear nothing," I told myself. I knew it was a lie but I didn't care-I forced myself to believe it. But once my eyes were caught in the strong gaze of the Lady of the Light, I knew it wasn't true. There was that strange look again. It was the same one Ellir gave me when Amme and I were still in the woods. I didn't understand it. What did that look mean? It was sad-sadness and understanding-confusing, I thought. Irritating even! I had never known that look in my life. I had never received pity, nor felt it for any, nor had I ever reason to. I never really cared for things I didn't understand, especially at that moment.
Suddenly a look of understanding sparked on the lady's face. She turned to her lord by her side and a knowing look passed between them. Then their eyes fell upon me once again.
"So this is the child-queen, heir of Taurindo," the lord spoke aloud. "Irima." I bowed to them as my teachers taught me, to show respect. But apparently, my display of submission did not satisfy them enough for they only continued to stare at me with the same intensity as before. Again, my thoughts drifted to my mother and what she would have me to do in this certain situation. And before the whole question formed in my mind, it shot from my lips on its own accord.
"Where is Amme?" I looked up questioningly at Ellir and then Elvean. Then, I looked at all the members of our company before looking back at the lord and lady of Lothlorien. They all looked at me again with that look I hated because I couldn't understand. Pity, pity, pity, they thought. Poor girl doesn't know her mother's dead.
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah, I get it: I don't own anything except for my own characters-not that they're worth much anyways.everything belongs to Tolkein.
***Oh yeah, and "Amme" = "mommy"
I knelt beside her as she moaned in her pain. The red liquid that seeped from the wound on her side was flowing freely still-strange, for she usually healed so fast. Her head was tilted to the side and her eyes stared unseeingly at something in the distance.
"Amme?" I said shaking her shoulder gently. I wondered if she had fallen asleep with her eyes open. I shook her again, half expecting her to turn and glare at me sharply for disturbing her in her sleep. But she didn't do that. I decided that she was just ignoring me like she did whenever I became weary or stubbornly impatient. So I just sat there, waiting for her to finally get up and tell me to hurry back to camp saying, "The lady of Lothlorien does not appreciate delay!"
"Irima," the voice was too deep to be my mother's. I turned my head back to see who it was. It was one of the guards who accompanied us on our journey to see the Lady of the Light. He looked past me and I saw his eyes roam over my mother's body. I scowled at him and at the strange look that was on his face. What did it mean?
"Ellir?" I asked suddenly. His gaze then drifted back to me and his face became expressionless once more.
"We must away little one."
"Away? Do you not see that Amme is still resting?" I looked at him crossly as if it were the most natural thing for my mother to be lying on the ground with blood seeping from her wounds. He didn't answer right away. Instead, he looked at me with pity on his face but I was perplexed by it. I didn't know what pity was. He picked me up in his arms and started to walk away, leaving my mother's still form lying on a leaf-strewn path-forever held in a frozen sleep. I resisted of course, not knowing the real gravity of the situation. I threatened him with death, and I used my father's title, my mother's title, and my own title as their sole heir. But Ellir would not relent. He only stopped when we reached the clearing where out camp was set up. The place was clearly a mess with our things littered all over the place. But the strangest things were the thick white cords that were strewn upon the high branches of the surrounding trees that floated about like eerie white curtains. As Ellir spoke to the other members of our party in an unexpectedly solemn tone, a piece of the strange white substance hung tauntingly over my head. It danced in the slight breeze like a scarf, evading my impossibly small hands and fingers. When I caught the end between my fingers, I grimaced when I realized that the silky white film was actually thick and elastic.
"Ellir!" Came an alarmed cry. The said elf then looked up at me just in time to catch me wiping my hands on the back of his immaculate blue tunic. I smiled guiltily before looking down sheepishly when they did not smile back. I mumbled an apology then, unwilling to look into his face, which I convinced myself, would be twisted in rage. And as my chest burned from holding back the onslaught of tears that were threatening release, I tried to remember that I was angry with him for leaving Amme there all alone. I wondered how she would react when she would wake in the middle of a dark forest, abandoned by her companions. She would be angry, no doubt. "Why didn't you wake me?" She would question angrily. I could see her face now, red with unsuppressed rage.
"I'll take her," offered the same guard who had cried out to warn Ellir of my sticky white hands. Ellir only sighed, and I looked up and saw that he was not angry. His face was blank but his eyes shone with unspoken sadness. I wondered why, then, before I was taken from him and crushed against Elvean. He was stronger than Ellir, I noticed from the way he held me, or maybe just less gentle.
"Amme's still in the forest." I said knowingly as I looked pointedly past Elvean's shoulder at Ellir. The soft urgent whisperings of my companions suddenly ceased and I could feel their eyes dart to me instantly after my comment.
"Is that so, little one?" Elvean said slowly. I nodded before continuing.
"She was sleeping but Ellir would not wake her then." I smiled wickedly before adding, " I think he is afraid of her." But no one laughed as I had expected them to. Nor did my target look the least bit chagrined.
"We should fetch her then." Came the careful answer. I nodded vigorously but stopped when Elvean bid me to stay at the camp. But I relented, figuring that I would at least be eliminated from blame. I did remind them after all.
Elvean arrived with my mother in his arms, wrapped purposely in his cloak to hide her from my eyes. I ran to them, Ellir at my heels, but as soon as I raised my arms up to pull away the hood that covered my mother's face, the elf immediately pinned my arms down to my sides. I looked questioningly at him, annoyed at his action and ready to protest, but Elvean quickly shushed me saying,
"Hush, little one, she is sleeping." I pulled away then, aware that I could be the next object of my mother's wrath if I dare wake her. Ellir, I knew was in enough trouble already, trying to leave my mother and all; I did not want to be next. Elvean gently placed my mother atop his horse before mounting behind her. I wanted to ask why he did not let her ride on her own but I quickly decided that it was not worth the effort now that I was suddenly tired. I yawned openly as Ellir mounted his horse with me in his arms. It was nearly evening and according to my company, we should have arrived at Lothlorien hours ago if it weren't for some certain "delay." I didn't know what they meant by "delay" but the way they said it warned me not to press them now for answers. I noticed as we rode that we were missing two of our previous companions. I asked Ellir about it but he didn't seem to hear me. My other companions were not so forthcoming in answers either so I just gave up and leaned in further into Ellir and let myself drift into off sleep.
"Caras Galadhon, Irima." Ellir said, gently shaking me as I lay in his arms. Everywhere there were great white branches, surrounding us in intricately twisting curves like a magnificent cage. It was stunning in all its incongruity yet I could not help feeling as if we were approaching something great and foreboding-as if we were insects curiously drawn to the dangerous beauty of a spider web. But I nearly cried out when I noticed that we were only treading on the narrow branches of the great tree cage. We were teetering over perilous heights!
"Ellir!" I said urgently as I took one last look over his arm at the dizzying heights we were traveling upon before burying my head in his shoulder. He only responded by stroking my back soothingly and I dug my head into his chest. As we continued, I prayed to Illuvatar the way that Amme always made me whenever something grievous enough to unsettle her happened. I prayed that Ellir would not slip and plunge us head first into our doom; I prayed that Ellir would not drop me, and I prayed the same for Elvean and Amme. But I did not worry for the others. I don't know why, but I immediately trusted that their steps were sure. Or perhaps it's only because they were not carrying anyone of great importance to me. When we stopped I clutched his tunic fearfully, curious, but too scared to ask why we had stopped.
"We have arrived, little one." At that I cautiously peeked over his arms and after seeing a floor-opposed to a measly branch-I decided that we were safe. Ellir put me down and I looked up just in time to see light-blinding and pure-descend down a staircase that I thought must have had a million steps. The woman, I saw first. She was radiant and her aura was so beautiful and powerful that it frightened me. I had never been in the presence of such power before!
From the corner of my eye I saw Elvean. Strange, he wasn't carrying Amme anymore. Did she wake during our journey to Caras Galadhon? I looked around at our company, clutching Ellir's thigh as my eyes darted searchingly for a curtain of light brown hair that glinted silver over piercing grey eyes, a pointed nose, and a sharp determined jaw. But I did not find it. When I turned back to the staircase, I found that the lady was staring straight at me. Everything surrounding the couple was white from their pale faces to their immaculate robes. Everything was pale and wan in the light, all except for their eyes. They stared straight at me, their combined penetrating blue stares crashing violently with the cold grey defiance of mine. I wondered briefly what Amme would want me to do, but I looked around me and she wasn't there. I was lost for a moment and when my gaze fell back to the lord and lady's, it faltered. I stared stupidly at my feet and I dared not look up even when they spoke.
"What do you fear child?" Came the strange voice. It was definitely a woman's, but whose? I searched for my mother again, not caring that it was obvious to the Lord and Lady of Lothlorien that I was not listening. But the voice came again, "What is it you fear? Is it your mother's passing?" The words did not even register as I looked at the Lady of Lothlorien. It was her voice! But.but how was that possible? She was speaking to our company!
"I fear nothing," I told myself. I knew it was a lie but I didn't care-I forced myself to believe it. But once my eyes were caught in the strong gaze of the Lady of the Light, I knew it wasn't true. There was that strange look again. It was the same one Ellir gave me when Amme and I were still in the woods. I didn't understand it. What did that look mean? It was sad-sadness and understanding-confusing, I thought. Irritating even! I had never known that look in my life. I had never received pity, nor felt it for any, nor had I ever reason to. I never really cared for things I didn't understand, especially at that moment.
Suddenly a look of understanding sparked on the lady's face. She turned to her lord by her side and a knowing look passed between them. Then their eyes fell upon me once again.
"So this is the child-queen, heir of Taurindo," the lord spoke aloud. "Irima." I bowed to them as my teachers taught me, to show respect. But apparently, my display of submission did not satisfy them enough for they only continued to stare at me with the same intensity as before. Again, my thoughts drifted to my mother and what she would have me to do in this certain situation. And before the whole question formed in my mind, it shot from my lips on its own accord.
"Where is Amme?" I looked up questioningly at Ellir and then Elvean. Then, I looked at all the members of our company before looking back at the lord and lady of Lothlorien. They all looked at me again with that look I hated because I couldn't understand. Pity, pity, pity, they thought. Poor girl doesn't know her mother's dead.