We've been traveling for about a week, and I am tired and bored. I've even
stopped singing, impossible as that may seem. I just want to get through
what I know is coming and into Lothlorien. I plod along beside Boromir. At
least I've been keeping up, and the exercise is doing me good, I tell
myself fiercely. Exercise good, chocolate BAD! Oh Chocolate . . . Until you
don't have something you don't realize how much you miss it. I could have
had it everyday back home, but did I? Nooooo. And coffee, dear god how I
miss coffee. The herbal teas that Sam makes just don't compare.
"We stop here today." Aragorn announces as he comes to a halt in a clearing. Dawn sun just breaking through the interlacing branches. I can hear water running near by. Water? Maybe I can have a wash for the first time since we left Imladris. The Fellowship starts to set up camp. I drop my stuff, then rummage in my pack for my spare set of clothes. Soap? Is there soap? Bless the twins, there is!
"Do you need me to do anything Aragorn?" I ask him as I straighten up, holding my things.
"No, I don't think so. The Hobbits said that they would get firewood, and Sam is looking after Bill." He answers me quietly.
"Coolies. I'm going to check out the possibilities of having a wash." I saunter over to the line of trees behind which I can hear water. Once I'm out of sight, I start to strip down, folding my clothes carefully and placing them on the ground. Taking the soap, I step carefully into the cool water. With a nostalgic twinge for the baths in Imladris, I start to bathe. The water's good and deep, so once I've finished washing, I play around a little. I throw the soap up onto the riverbank so it doesn't get lost. I'll probably never get another one out here. I dive down to the bottom of the water and hold onto a tree root, letting the current pull at me, but not move me. I open my eyes and stare into the gradually lightening water. The sun must be coming up. I push upwards against the riverbed and leap out of the water, spraying crystal droplets into the sun. I swim lazily over to where I left my clothes and spread my hair out so it'll dry, while I stay in the water.
I feel like singing now, especially because I'm all clean. What to sing, what to sing? Wrong Impression, by Natalie Imbruglia, another Aussie girl! "Calling out, calling out, Haven't you wondered, Why I'm always alone, When you're in my dreams . . ." Good song, good melody. I raise my voice for the chorus, "Didn't want to leave you, With the wrong impression, Didn't want to leave you, With my last confession of love, Wasn't trying to pull you in the wrong direction. . ." I sing on for a bit, then let my voice fade out and just listen to the water.
I float, eyes closed, hands sculling slightly. I almost drift off to sleep, the calm encompasses me and I descend into a trance-like state. I ignore my body, the cold, the waves lapping at my neck, the stiffness of my back. Patterns form behind my eyelids and I watch them drowsily. Lines, shapes, oh the colors. . . Then they start to form, solidify, melt, change. . . An eye! An eye wreathed in flame and it looks, searches for me! It sees me! I writhe under its pitiless gaze, pinned, transfixed. I open my eyes screaming, panting as if I've been running and I have, running in my mind away from the eye and what it knows. Sobbing, I scramble out of the water, snatching at my clothes. I jam my legs into my pants and throw my shirt over my head. Boromir bursts out of the trees, sword drawn. Legolas and Aragorn follow him a moment later. "Boromir!" My voice cracks on a sob. "It saw me, dear god, it saw me!" I run over to him and shaking hide myself in his embrace. I cannot close my eyes, it will find me again.
"What saw you?" He asks, confused. Legolas sighs, I bet he thinks that I am just a silly girl, screaming over nothing.
"The eye, the eye that watches all! Wreathed in flame, it looks for us and it burns, burns with hate!" My words trip over one another. "He knows, he saw me and now he knows!" I stumble back from Boromir, eyes burning with tears. "Sauron saw me, you fools! He knows that I exist and he wants me. You don't understand." I trip and sit down heavily on the forest floor. I pound weakly on the ground with my fist. "How could you anyway? You'd have to see it to understand." I rise and jam my feet into my boots. I lace them up, then do up my shirt. Pushing past the shocked Boromir, I run back to the campsite. I grab my pack and my bow, and then run into the forest. Legs pounding the earth, lungs straining, eyes burning. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I chant to myself, using the syllables to time myself as I run.
Branches whip at my face, and I welcome the pain. It centers me in my body. I blink away the tears and keep running until I can run no more and collapse onto the earth. I gasp for breath, my harsh pants disturbing the peace of the forest. I breathe in a shuddering sigh, then rise to my feet. Which way? Not the way I came, that's for certain sure! I shiver as the wind rips through my clothing to the damp body underneath. Time to go, but quickly and quietly. My head jerks up as I hear a twig snap and I turn, drawing my sword with a fluid movement. Legolas steps out of the trees, arms spread to show he carries no weapon.
"Cat?"
"What? You won't believe me, how could you?" I ask bitterly. "Best thing for me to do is quietly disappear. He's looking for me now, however you discount the danger. And perhaps, he knows about Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship now." I take a few steps backwards, my arms holding the sword steady. "Just let me go, Legolas." Tears start to overflow my eyes as my lip trembles. "I want to go home, Legolas." I let the sword fall with a thud into the ground and grasping the hilt, slide down till I'm sitting and start to weep.
"Oh, child." Legolas doesn't ask questions, just takes my hands from the sword and hugs me while I cry.
Booohhhoooo!! What a sad scene. I can feel my eyes prickling with tears. I'm really evil, aren't I? Isn't Legolas just a sweetie? He's a nice Elf after all!
"We stop here today." Aragorn announces as he comes to a halt in a clearing. Dawn sun just breaking through the interlacing branches. I can hear water running near by. Water? Maybe I can have a wash for the first time since we left Imladris. The Fellowship starts to set up camp. I drop my stuff, then rummage in my pack for my spare set of clothes. Soap? Is there soap? Bless the twins, there is!
"Do you need me to do anything Aragorn?" I ask him as I straighten up, holding my things.
"No, I don't think so. The Hobbits said that they would get firewood, and Sam is looking after Bill." He answers me quietly.
"Coolies. I'm going to check out the possibilities of having a wash." I saunter over to the line of trees behind which I can hear water. Once I'm out of sight, I start to strip down, folding my clothes carefully and placing them on the ground. Taking the soap, I step carefully into the cool water. With a nostalgic twinge for the baths in Imladris, I start to bathe. The water's good and deep, so once I've finished washing, I play around a little. I throw the soap up onto the riverbank so it doesn't get lost. I'll probably never get another one out here. I dive down to the bottom of the water and hold onto a tree root, letting the current pull at me, but not move me. I open my eyes and stare into the gradually lightening water. The sun must be coming up. I push upwards against the riverbed and leap out of the water, spraying crystal droplets into the sun. I swim lazily over to where I left my clothes and spread my hair out so it'll dry, while I stay in the water.
I feel like singing now, especially because I'm all clean. What to sing, what to sing? Wrong Impression, by Natalie Imbruglia, another Aussie girl! "Calling out, calling out, Haven't you wondered, Why I'm always alone, When you're in my dreams . . ." Good song, good melody. I raise my voice for the chorus, "Didn't want to leave you, With the wrong impression, Didn't want to leave you, With my last confession of love, Wasn't trying to pull you in the wrong direction. . ." I sing on for a bit, then let my voice fade out and just listen to the water.
I float, eyes closed, hands sculling slightly. I almost drift off to sleep, the calm encompasses me and I descend into a trance-like state. I ignore my body, the cold, the waves lapping at my neck, the stiffness of my back. Patterns form behind my eyelids and I watch them drowsily. Lines, shapes, oh the colors. . . Then they start to form, solidify, melt, change. . . An eye! An eye wreathed in flame and it looks, searches for me! It sees me! I writhe under its pitiless gaze, pinned, transfixed. I open my eyes screaming, panting as if I've been running and I have, running in my mind away from the eye and what it knows. Sobbing, I scramble out of the water, snatching at my clothes. I jam my legs into my pants and throw my shirt over my head. Boromir bursts out of the trees, sword drawn. Legolas and Aragorn follow him a moment later. "Boromir!" My voice cracks on a sob. "It saw me, dear god, it saw me!" I run over to him and shaking hide myself in his embrace. I cannot close my eyes, it will find me again.
"What saw you?" He asks, confused. Legolas sighs, I bet he thinks that I am just a silly girl, screaming over nothing.
"The eye, the eye that watches all! Wreathed in flame, it looks for us and it burns, burns with hate!" My words trip over one another. "He knows, he saw me and now he knows!" I stumble back from Boromir, eyes burning with tears. "Sauron saw me, you fools! He knows that I exist and he wants me. You don't understand." I trip and sit down heavily on the forest floor. I pound weakly on the ground with my fist. "How could you anyway? You'd have to see it to understand." I rise and jam my feet into my boots. I lace them up, then do up my shirt. Pushing past the shocked Boromir, I run back to the campsite. I grab my pack and my bow, and then run into the forest. Legs pounding the earth, lungs straining, eyes burning. Stupid, stupid, stupid! I chant to myself, using the syllables to time myself as I run.
Branches whip at my face, and I welcome the pain. It centers me in my body. I blink away the tears and keep running until I can run no more and collapse onto the earth. I gasp for breath, my harsh pants disturbing the peace of the forest. I breathe in a shuddering sigh, then rise to my feet. Which way? Not the way I came, that's for certain sure! I shiver as the wind rips through my clothing to the damp body underneath. Time to go, but quickly and quietly. My head jerks up as I hear a twig snap and I turn, drawing my sword with a fluid movement. Legolas steps out of the trees, arms spread to show he carries no weapon.
"Cat?"
"What? You won't believe me, how could you?" I ask bitterly. "Best thing for me to do is quietly disappear. He's looking for me now, however you discount the danger. And perhaps, he knows about Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship now." I take a few steps backwards, my arms holding the sword steady. "Just let me go, Legolas." Tears start to overflow my eyes as my lip trembles. "I want to go home, Legolas." I let the sword fall with a thud into the ground and grasping the hilt, slide down till I'm sitting and start to weep.
"Oh, child." Legolas doesn't ask questions, just takes my hands from the sword and hugs me while I cry.
Booohhhoooo!! What a sad scene. I can feel my eyes prickling with tears. I'm really evil, aren't I? Isn't Legolas just a sweetie? He's a nice Elf after all!