CHAPTER 34 - The Memory Remains
Six horses galloped through the cold lands of Eriador heading north, having left the eastward road leading to the Grey Havens. The elven riders were silent as they rode, occasionally looking back as if they were scared that they were being followed. Here and there, large, mossy boulders stuck out of the earth in the wild, hilly grasslands that they were travelling over. No paths marked the way, only instinct and the sun, though, after living all their lives in a dark and dingy forest, the sun proved to be little help. As the sun began to set in the west, setting the sky a flame with bright colours, the blonde elf pulled his horse to a stop. The other five copied him, and they dismounted.
"How far do you think we have gone?" asked Legolas, looking back over the lands they had travelled across. His eldest brother also looked back and tossed his dark hair over his shoulder.
"Far enough, I think. We will rest here tonight."
The brothers let the horses graze and regain their lost energy, as the princes themselves set up their camp. The fire that they made flickered in the growing darkness, reminding them of the torches that hung on the walls in the home they left behind them, far back in Mirkwood. The stars began to twinkle and shine. Rising over the sky, the silver moon lit up the sky and the land and created dim shadows over the earth here and there; a lonely tree, a shrub, the princes. Somewhere, are nightingale began to sing.
Legolas looked around at their horses. The magnificent creatures had stayed close to their owners, not straying far at all. They had no need.
"I think we ought to let them go," he said, as much to himself as to his brothers. Nilwethion looked up, and then walked over to his younger sibling. He nibbled a piece of lembas.
"Why do you say that?"
With their backs to the fire, the two princes observed the horses for a moment.
"We are going to find death. There is no need for them to die needlessly. Besides, if we are being followed, it will be harder to find us if we are on foot."
Nilwethion considered this, and then nodded sadly.
"I suppose you are right," he decided. He called his brothers, and told them Legolas' suggestion. One by one, the other four princes agreed, looking sorrowfully at the horses. Legolas got up and walked to his horse. The horse looked back at him with big, brown eyes. It was almost as if the horse knew what was coming. The young elf smiled ruefully.
"I am sorry, old friend, but you have to leave us now. Find your way back to Imladris. They will treat you well there."
The powerful creature snorted and tossed its main, but turned away and galloped off the way it had come, this time without its rider. It was quickly followed by its five companions.
Turning back to the burning campfire as the suns final rays dipped down below the horizon, the princes were plunged in to night. As one by one the princes sang laments to Middle Earth, the haunting songs drifted through the air of Eriador, reaching the ears of all the creatures who lived there.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
From the east, the sky began to shine as the sun probed its delicate fingers through the sky, lighting up the cold, frosty earth. A thin layer of harsh ice covered the hard earth, crunching under the feet of the Mirkwood elves as they made their way northwards, following the tracks of their princes. Being tugged along with them, Lindir miserably watched the sun rising, partly hidden behind misty clouds which had risen overnight.
The elves slowed down from their run to a fast walk, giving them the chance to take a few mouthfuls of lembas. Silnan offered a piece to Lindir, who looked at it doubtfully before nibbling at the edges. The young elf kept looking at Silnan nervously. Silnan sighed and stopped, pulling Lindir to a stop with him. The captain looked his prisoner up and down, and then shook his head apologetically.
"I suppose I ought to apologize, young one," he said. Lindir stopped nibbling at the lembas, and stared at his captor, wondering if he was hearing correctly. Silnan carried on talking.
"I acted in anger and hatred. You were not in Mirkwood when it all happened, so you do not deserve to be dragged along behind us like this. I apologize for threatening to kill you. Now go. Run off quickly before I become angry again and change my mind."
The proud warrior gave Lindir a small push, just to show he meant it. Looking nervously around at the Mirkwood elves for one last time, turned, and then fled as if he was being chased by wild wargs. The elves watched him disappear in to the distance, and then began to run northwards again.
"Why did you do that?" asked Lachion, running alongside his companion.
"He slowed us down," was all the answer he got.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas watched the sun as it rose. In the distance to the north, he could see small, dark peaks rising out of the ground like the jaws of a wolf. They were coming closer to Angmar, with every step they took. His heart gave a flutter, like the wings of a dove attempting to fly for the first time. Before Angmar, however, there was a river they would have to find a way to cross. Perhaps, thought Legolas, they would not need to go all the way to Angmar. Perhaps they would only need to get to the river, and then drown.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In her room, Culkemen sulked. She was not locked up - the Imladris elves had seen no need. They doubted that she would be able to leave without being noticed. The room was open, similar to the one that Legolas had stayed in, and dead, Autumn leaves flew in across the floor from the glassless windows. Had the stay been under different circumstances, Culkemen would have liked the room. As it was, she hated every inch of it, and she longed for the dark, closeness of Mirkwood where her young daughter was.
Striding across backwards and forwards across the room, she tried to think of how to escape, each idea becoming more and more desperate. She wrung her hands hopelessly, and then flopped down on to the bed with a sigh. She missed her daughter Sulin dreadfully, and could not stop thinking about the young elfling. She turned over and let the salty tears that had welled up in her eyes flow down her cheeks, muffled by the soft, white blankets. A sound behind her shocked her. She turned over on to her back and reached for her blades, before she realized that they had been taken away from her. Helpless, Culkemen sat up on the bed and looked at the two elves standing before her.
Arwen and Aliela. Culkemen glared at them.
Sweeping across the room, Arwen glared back. Aliela, however, hovered by the door, watching the corridor to make sure they were not being watched.
"I will say this once, captain," began Arwen, "We are getting you out of Imladris. I do not want you here, and Aliela wants to see Legolas again. You are going to swap clothes with me, and then you will pretend to be me until you get safely over the boarders. Understand?"
Standing up, Culkemen looked at Arwen with shock.
"Why are you helping me?"
Arwen nodded her head towards Aliela, who was still watching the corridor. She began to strip off her garments for Culkemen to wear.
"Partly for Aliela," she said, "But partly because I miss Lindir. That is one of the conditions to letting you go, by the way. You must send Lindir strait back to us."
Taking her own tunic and leggings off, Culkemen nodded soberly. She would miss Lindir, but not as much as she missed Sulin. Right now, the captain would do anything to get back to Mirkwood again, including pretending to be the daughter of two of the people she hated most in the whole of Arda. Slowly, she realized that this meant she would be giving up her uniform. Reluctantly, she paused as Arwen handed her the black sleeves with the red skirt and sleeves. She was not given the time to change her mind, however, as Arwen had pulled the leggings on to her own slim, pale skinned legs, and was now pulling the tunic over her head. Giving in, Culkemen pulled the hated dress over her head.
Arwen picked up the hairbrush that had been lying on the stone desk, and pulled it through Culkemen's hair, styling it in a way identical to her own.
"You are lucky you have dark hair and look similar to me," commented the beautiful elf, "Or we would have been at a loss as to how to get you away!"
Very soon, Culkemen looked as Arwen-like as she could, and was walking smoothly through Imladris, her arm linked with Aliela - another of the elves she hated. As much as she wanted to pull her arm free and run as fast as she could away from Imladris, shouting curses as she went, it was not a thing Arwen would ever do, so she was forced to restrain herself.
"Wait here," muttered Aliela at last, "I will fetch two horses."
"why can I not come to the stables?" protested Culkemen.
"Glorfindel spends much of his time there. You would be spotted." That seemed to be the end of the short argument, so Culkemen was forced to sit on a curved, stone bench pretending to be lost in thought until Aliela returned. The last words Arwen had begged to her kept running through her mind as Culkemen smelt the freshness of the breeze whistling past her.
"Please, bring me back Lindir."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
With frustration, Legolas sat down and pulled the boot off his foot. Nuryävié and Astaler watched him with confused interest. The youngest of the six elves turned his boot upside down and shook it.
"Legolas," said Nuryävié, "I hate to ask. . . but what on Arda are you doing?"
The blonde looked up and grinned sheepishly.
"I have a stone in my boot," he replied, sounding slightly embarrassed. He eventually shook the pebble out of his boot and stood up to put his boot back on, but then changed his mind.
"The grass feels so lovely under foot!" he exclaimed, and then pulled the other boot off. Oroweth shook his head.
"You are insane, Legolas!"
The young prince smiled sweetly at his elder brother and gave a mock bow. His green tunic had a few grass stains on it, and his long, flowing cloak was covered with crumples and creases. Oroweth shook his fair head again, this time returning the grin. For the sake of it, he pulled his black boots off his feet, just to see if Legolas was right.
"You see? Am I not right? It feels. . . free. Remember, we used to run around Mirkwood with bare feet and naneth despaired at us! The amount of times adar got angry at us for doing that. . ." Legolas realized who he was talking about, and his new found high spirits fell with his smile. Slowly, he tugged his boots back on to his feet. So did Oroweth.
After a dragged out silence, Nilwethion suddenly announced, "I miss adar, and I miss Mirkwood."
The others nodded with agreement.
"Do you remember when we pushed you in to the enchanted stream last summer, Nuryävié?" asked Legolas, his features lighting up with a happiness from a resurfaced memory, long forgotten. Nuryävié glared.
"I remember being told about it," he growled, "Do you remember when Astaler, Oroweth and I hid in the trees and pelted you with acorns for revenge?"
It was now Astaler's to remember one of the many happy memories of Mirkwood.
"Oh, and do you remember the telling off adar gave us for that? He said we behaved like silly little elflings, and thus deserved to be punished like them, and then sending us to face the corner?"
The small group dissolved in laughter.
"That was so funny! That was one of the few times I think I have ever seen Silnan laugh!"
"We never lived it down though," Astaler thought out loud. He was remembering the mocking voices of his friends outside the family for weeks afterwards, even the months later when the three princes had thought, and hoped, that the incident had been forgotten about.
Through all of this, as usual, Thellind had not spoken a single word, but his face had slowly lit up with a new hope. Gathering up every ounce of hope he had in him, the silent elf pointed westwards towards where the Misty Mountains lay in the distance, and beyond them, Mirkwood. His brothers looked at him.
"Yes Thellind, that is where Mirkwood is. . ." Legolas told his brother slowly. Thellind rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"You. . . you want to go back?"
Slowly, nervously, Thellind nodded. Legolas looked apologetically in to Thellind's sorrowful eyes.
"We all want to go back, Thellind, but we cannot. They hate us. Mirkwood hates us. Adar hates us. They hate us for what we did - for what Urshak and his orcs made us do. You do want to see naneth and Calensil and Hollinethir. . . and Neldoreth. . . do you not?"
Again, Thellind nodded. He looked down at the grassy floor beneath his feet, and the small white flowers hidden among the grassy blades trying to survive in the winter-like frosts. The six elves carried on their journey north, travelling slowly, now in silence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The warriors searching more and more desperately for their princes had not stopped their long trek northwards for hours. For a while now, there had been almost no sign of them. Even Silnan, previously so full of burning anger and hatred, had begun to give up hope that they would ever find the six princes.
That was when they were hit by a stroke of amazing luck.
Or rather, a stroke of amazing luck ran up to them. The unexpected luck came in the form of six large, proud horses galloping southwards over the hilly plains, keeping closely together. There was no sign of their riders, which dismayed Silnan and Lachion somewhat, but the fact that the princes horses had ridden found them in the middle of the wilderness was comforting. A light in the growing darkness of hope.
As the horses came up to the elves of their homeland, the six powerful horses slowed down, and came to a halt. They whinnied and tossed their heads, their fabulous manes shaking like a flag in a gale.
Slowly, Silnan approached one. He stroked it, and then mounted it. The horse gave no sign of wanting the elf off its back, so slowly, cautiously, Lachion and four more of the warriors under his command mounted the other steeds. The latter of the two captains turned to his warriors who were still on foot.
"We must ride ahead now, before any arm comes to our princes," he informed them, "Ennyntaur, you are in command until we find each other again."
Ennyntaur, an unusually tall warrior with bright golden locks flowing down his back, high cheek bones and blue eyes, nodded his head, his pale fist clutched tightly around his spear. The elves watched as their two captains and four companions galloped off over the hilly downs.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
From the sky, a small bird watched two brown horses galloping eastward, away from Imladris, home of Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian. The blackbird, looking down from its lofty view at the two fleeing elf maids with interest. It was not every day elves were trying to get away from the sanctuary. Eventually, as the two elves crossed the fords of Bruinen - to the north, not the east or west, the bird noted - it lost interest.
Culkemen and Aliela had escaped, although there was nothing holding Aliela to Imladris in the first place, and they rode north as fast as they could to find either the warriors or the princes.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Before anybody even asks, no, Arwen and Lindir are not in love. They are just very good friends, and Arwen wants her friend back. Arwen is possibly a little OOC in the way she was acting again, but it is very difficult writing Arwen. I'm never sure if I should write her how she is in the books or how she is in the movies, so she comes out very strangely. Many apologies if you don't like the way she turned out.
Look! The princes made an appearance again! Fun!
Final note, it's my birthday on Thursday! Yay! Lots of fun and hyperness and. . . and I have a maths exam. Oh joy. Yes, that was very heavy sarcasm.
PERSONAL REPLY THINGY
LARVLE ~ I'm so glad you liked it, even without the princes.
KISTUNE ~ Thanks very much. I update every Sunday.
DRAGONFLY ~ Yup, Silnan definitely did go a little mad. I'm trying to redeem him at the moment. Is it working?
ELVENROCKER ~ Bad luck is something that happens to get in between you and what you are trying to get. So, if the princes are looking for death, bad luck is something that prevents them from being able to die. The biggest tragedy of this story was when I killed dear, dear Imlammthien and Calensil and Hollinethir. It was. . . difficult, writing that bit, to say the least.
MELLAITHWEN-ELVENMAIDEN ~ Lindir isn't really a little elfling. He's just a little immature when it comes to anything other than his music, and even then he sometimes thinks or acts younger than he really is. This makes other people treat him as though he is a lot younger. Two weeks and four days until Xmas now!
MOONMIST ~ Don't worry about them, they're fine for the moment. Things will get quite angsty for them (and everyone involved, come to think of it) in the next chapter.
LAINFAER ~ Wow, thanks a lot! I'm so glad to know I'm improving.
SARA ~ Well if you think about it, there was no other way they could really get rid of the twins. You're right, Culkemen is really spunky to dare to call Elrond a liar to his face!
ORODRUIN ~ Ah, but they had just killed all the enemies in the area, remember? So far as they knew, the Mirkwood warriors were still back in Mirkwood, so there was nothing that could have hurt the twins. Well, Elladan and Elrohir can act quite bratty, occasionally. Everyone does. I don't blame Silnan for being nasty. We all have our faults, and his is his anger.
COOLIO02 ~ Culkemen, stuck? Nah, not her. She doesn't like being kept prisoner. Most of the twists and turns in this story were never planned, you know. They just. . . happened.
ELROHIR LOVER ~ Thankyou very much. I update on Sundays.
NESSA ~ A couple of days ago? How long does it take to read? It isn't really all that long, is it? Like I said to Elrohir Lover and Kistune, I update every Sunday.
Six horses galloped through the cold lands of Eriador heading north, having left the eastward road leading to the Grey Havens. The elven riders were silent as they rode, occasionally looking back as if they were scared that they were being followed. Here and there, large, mossy boulders stuck out of the earth in the wild, hilly grasslands that they were travelling over. No paths marked the way, only instinct and the sun, though, after living all their lives in a dark and dingy forest, the sun proved to be little help. As the sun began to set in the west, setting the sky a flame with bright colours, the blonde elf pulled his horse to a stop. The other five copied him, and they dismounted.
"How far do you think we have gone?" asked Legolas, looking back over the lands they had travelled across. His eldest brother also looked back and tossed his dark hair over his shoulder.
"Far enough, I think. We will rest here tonight."
The brothers let the horses graze and regain their lost energy, as the princes themselves set up their camp. The fire that they made flickered in the growing darkness, reminding them of the torches that hung on the walls in the home they left behind them, far back in Mirkwood. The stars began to twinkle and shine. Rising over the sky, the silver moon lit up the sky and the land and created dim shadows over the earth here and there; a lonely tree, a shrub, the princes. Somewhere, are nightingale began to sing.
Legolas looked around at their horses. The magnificent creatures had stayed close to their owners, not straying far at all. They had no need.
"I think we ought to let them go," he said, as much to himself as to his brothers. Nilwethion looked up, and then walked over to his younger sibling. He nibbled a piece of lembas.
"Why do you say that?"
With their backs to the fire, the two princes observed the horses for a moment.
"We are going to find death. There is no need for them to die needlessly. Besides, if we are being followed, it will be harder to find us if we are on foot."
Nilwethion considered this, and then nodded sadly.
"I suppose you are right," he decided. He called his brothers, and told them Legolas' suggestion. One by one, the other four princes agreed, looking sorrowfully at the horses. Legolas got up and walked to his horse. The horse looked back at him with big, brown eyes. It was almost as if the horse knew what was coming. The young elf smiled ruefully.
"I am sorry, old friend, but you have to leave us now. Find your way back to Imladris. They will treat you well there."
The powerful creature snorted and tossed its main, but turned away and galloped off the way it had come, this time without its rider. It was quickly followed by its five companions.
Turning back to the burning campfire as the suns final rays dipped down below the horizon, the princes were plunged in to night. As one by one the princes sang laments to Middle Earth, the haunting songs drifted through the air of Eriador, reaching the ears of all the creatures who lived there.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
From the east, the sky began to shine as the sun probed its delicate fingers through the sky, lighting up the cold, frosty earth. A thin layer of harsh ice covered the hard earth, crunching under the feet of the Mirkwood elves as they made their way northwards, following the tracks of their princes. Being tugged along with them, Lindir miserably watched the sun rising, partly hidden behind misty clouds which had risen overnight.
The elves slowed down from their run to a fast walk, giving them the chance to take a few mouthfuls of lembas. Silnan offered a piece to Lindir, who looked at it doubtfully before nibbling at the edges. The young elf kept looking at Silnan nervously. Silnan sighed and stopped, pulling Lindir to a stop with him. The captain looked his prisoner up and down, and then shook his head apologetically.
"I suppose I ought to apologize, young one," he said. Lindir stopped nibbling at the lembas, and stared at his captor, wondering if he was hearing correctly. Silnan carried on talking.
"I acted in anger and hatred. You were not in Mirkwood when it all happened, so you do not deserve to be dragged along behind us like this. I apologize for threatening to kill you. Now go. Run off quickly before I become angry again and change my mind."
The proud warrior gave Lindir a small push, just to show he meant it. Looking nervously around at the Mirkwood elves for one last time, turned, and then fled as if he was being chased by wild wargs. The elves watched him disappear in to the distance, and then began to run northwards again.
"Why did you do that?" asked Lachion, running alongside his companion.
"He slowed us down," was all the answer he got.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas watched the sun as it rose. In the distance to the north, he could see small, dark peaks rising out of the ground like the jaws of a wolf. They were coming closer to Angmar, with every step they took. His heart gave a flutter, like the wings of a dove attempting to fly for the first time. Before Angmar, however, there was a river they would have to find a way to cross. Perhaps, thought Legolas, they would not need to go all the way to Angmar. Perhaps they would only need to get to the river, and then drown.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
In her room, Culkemen sulked. She was not locked up - the Imladris elves had seen no need. They doubted that she would be able to leave without being noticed. The room was open, similar to the one that Legolas had stayed in, and dead, Autumn leaves flew in across the floor from the glassless windows. Had the stay been under different circumstances, Culkemen would have liked the room. As it was, she hated every inch of it, and she longed for the dark, closeness of Mirkwood where her young daughter was.
Striding across backwards and forwards across the room, she tried to think of how to escape, each idea becoming more and more desperate. She wrung her hands hopelessly, and then flopped down on to the bed with a sigh. She missed her daughter Sulin dreadfully, and could not stop thinking about the young elfling. She turned over and let the salty tears that had welled up in her eyes flow down her cheeks, muffled by the soft, white blankets. A sound behind her shocked her. She turned over on to her back and reached for her blades, before she realized that they had been taken away from her. Helpless, Culkemen sat up on the bed and looked at the two elves standing before her.
Arwen and Aliela. Culkemen glared at them.
Sweeping across the room, Arwen glared back. Aliela, however, hovered by the door, watching the corridor to make sure they were not being watched.
"I will say this once, captain," began Arwen, "We are getting you out of Imladris. I do not want you here, and Aliela wants to see Legolas again. You are going to swap clothes with me, and then you will pretend to be me until you get safely over the boarders. Understand?"
Standing up, Culkemen looked at Arwen with shock.
"Why are you helping me?"
Arwen nodded her head towards Aliela, who was still watching the corridor. She began to strip off her garments for Culkemen to wear.
"Partly for Aliela," she said, "But partly because I miss Lindir. That is one of the conditions to letting you go, by the way. You must send Lindir strait back to us."
Taking her own tunic and leggings off, Culkemen nodded soberly. She would miss Lindir, but not as much as she missed Sulin. Right now, the captain would do anything to get back to Mirkwood again, including pretending to be the daughter of two of the people she hated most in the whole of Arda. Slowly, she realized that this meant she would be giving up her uniform. Reluctantly, she paused as Arwen handed her the black sleeves with the red skirt and sleeves. She was not given the time to change her mind, however, as Arwen had pulled the leggings on to her own slim, pale skinned legs, and was now pulling the tunic over her head. Giving in, Culkemen pulled the hated dress over her head.
Arwen picked up the hairbrush that had been lying on the stone desk, and pulled it through Culkemen's hair, styling it in a way identical to her own.
"You are lucky you have dark hair and look similar to me," commented the beautiful elf, "Or we would have been at a loss as to how to get you away!"
Very soon, Culkemen looked as Arwen-like as she could, and was walking smoothly through Imladris, her arm linked with Aliela - another of the elves she hated. As much as she wanted to pull her arm free and run as fast as she could away from Imladris, shouting curses as she went, it was not a thing Arwen would ever do, so she was forced to restrain herself.
"Wait here," muttered Aliela at last, "I will fetch two horses."
"why can I not come to the stables?" protested Culkemen.
"Glorfindel spends much of his time there. You would be spotted." That seemed to be the end of the short argument, so Culkemen was forced to sit on a curved, stone bench pretending to be lost in thought until Aliela returned. The last words Arwen had begged to her kept running through her mind as Culkemen smelt the freshness of the breeze whistling past her.
"Please, bring me back Lindir."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
With frustration, Legolas sat down and pulled the boot off his foot. Nuryävié and Astaler watched him with confused interest. The youngest of the six elves turned his boot upside down and shook it.
"Legolas," said Nuryävié, "I hate to ask. . . but what on Arda are you doing?"
The blonde looked up and grinned sheepishly.
"I have a stone in my boot," he replied, sounding slightly embarrassed. He eventually shook the pebble out of his boot and stood up to put his boot back on, but then changed his mind.
"The grass feels so lovely under foot!" he exclaimed, and then pulled the other boot off. Oroweth shook his head.
"You are insane, Legolas!"
The young prince smiled sweetly at his elder brother and gave a mock bow. His green tunic had a few grass stains on it, and his long, flowing cloak was covered with crumples and creases. Oroweth shook his fair head again, this time returning the grin. For the sake of it, he pulled his black boots off his feet, just to see if Legolas was right.
"You see? Am I not right? It feels. . . free. Remember, we used to run around Mirkwood with bare feet and naneth despaired at us! The amount of times adar got angry at us for doing that. . ." Legolas realized who he was talking about, and his new found high spirits fell with his smile. Slowly, he tugged his boots back on to his feet. So did Oroweth.
After a dragged out silence, Nilwethion suddenly announced, "I miss adar, and I miss Mirkwood."
The others nodded with agreement.
"Do you remember when we pushed you in to the enchanted stream last summer, Nuryävié?" asked Legolas, his features lighting up with a happiness from a resurfaced memory, long forgotten. Nuryävié glared.
"I remember being told about it," he growled, "Do you remember when Astaler, Oroweth and I hid in the trees and pelted you with acorns for revenge?"
It was now Astaler's to remember one of the many happy memories of Mirkwood.
"Oh, and do you remember the telling off adar gave us for that? He said we behaved like silly little elflings, and thus deserved to be punished like them, and then sending us to face the corner?"
The small group dissolved in laughter.
"That was so funny! That was one of the few times I think I have ever seen Silnan laugh!"
"We never lived it down though," Astaler thought out loud. He was remembering the mocking voices of his friends outside the family for weeks afterwards, even the months later when the three princes had thought, and hoped, that the incident had been forgotten about.
Through all of this, as usual, Thellind had not spoken a single word, but his face had slowly lit up with a new hope. Gathering up every ounce of hope he had in him, the silent elf pointed westwards towards where the Misty Mountains lay in the distance, and beyond them, Mirkwood. His brothers looked at him.
"Yes Thellind, that is where Mirkwood is. . ." Legolas told his brother slowly. Thellind rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"You. . . you want to go back?"
Slowly, nervously, Thellind nodded. Legolas looked apologetically in to Thellind's sorrowful eyes.
"We all want to go back, Thellind, but we cannot. They hate us. Mirkwood hates us. Adar hates us. They hate us for what we did - for what Urshak and his orcs made us do. You do want to see naneth and Calensil and Hollinethir. . . and Neldoreth. . . do you not?"
Again, Thellind nodded. He looked down at the grassy floor beneath his feet, and the small white flowers hidden among the grassy blades trying to survive in the winter-like frosts. The six elves carried on their journey north, travelling slowly, now in silence.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The warriors searching more and more desperately for their princes had not stopped their long trek northwards for hours. For a while now, there had been almost no sign of them. Even Silnan, previously so full of burning anger and hatred, had begun to give up hope that they would ever find the six princes.
That was when they were hit by a stroke of amazing luck.
Or rather, a stroke of amazing luck ran up to them. The unexpected luck came in the form of six large, proud horses galloping southwards over the hilly plains, keeping closely together. There was no sign of their riders, which dismayed Silnan and Lachion somewhat, but the fact that the princes horses had ridden found them in the middle of the wilderness was comforting. A light in the growing darkness of hope.
As the horses came up to the elves of their homeland, the six powerful horses slowed down, and came to a halt. They whinnied and tossed their heads, their fabulous manes shaking like a flag in a gale.
Slowly, Silnan approached one. He stroked it, and then mounted it. The horse gave no sign of wanting the elf off its back, so slowly, cautiously, Lachion and four more of the warriors under his command mounted the other steeds. The latter of the two captains turned to his warriors who were still on foot.
"We must ride ahead now, before any arm comes to our princes," he informed them, "Ennyntaur, you are in command until we find each other again."
Ennyntaur, an unusually tall warrior with bright golden locks flowing down his back, high cheek bones and blue eyes, nodded his head, his pale fist clutched tightly around his spear. The elves watched as their two captains and four companions galloped off over the hilly downs.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
From the sky, a small bird watched two brown horses galloping eastward, away from Imladris, home of Lord Elrond and Lady Celebrian. The blackbird, looking down from its lofty view at the two fleeing elf maids with interest. It was not every day elves were trying to get away from the sanctuary. Eventually, as the two elves crossed the fords of Bruinen - to the north, not the east or west, the bird noted - it lost interest.
Culkemen and Aliela had escaped, although there was nothing holding Aliela to Imladris in the first place, and they rode north as fast as they could to find either the warriors or the princes.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Before anybody even asks, no, Arwen and Lindir are not in love. They are just very good friends, and Arwen wants her friend back. Arwen is possibly a little OOC in the way she was acting again, but it is very difficult writing Arwen. I'm never sure if I should write her how she is in the books or how she is in the movies, so she comes out very strangely. Many apologies if you don't like the way she turned out.
Look! The princes made an appearance again! Fun!
Final note, it's my birthday on Thursday! Yay! Lots of fun and hyperness and. . . and I have a maths exam. Oh joy. Yes, that was very heavy sarcasm.
PERSONAL REPLY THINGY
LARVLE ~ I'm so glad you liked it, even without the princes.
KISTUNE ~ Thanks very much. I update every Sunday.
DRAGONFLY ~ Yup, Silnan definitely did go a little mad. I'm trying to redeem him at the moment. Is it working?
ELVENROCKER ~ Bad luck is something that happens to get in between you and what you are trying to get. So, if the princes are looking for death, bad luck is something that prevents them from being able to die. The biggest tragedy of this story was when I killed dear, dear Imlammthien and Calensil and Hollinethir. It was. . . difficult, writing that bit, to say the least.
MELLAITHWEN-ELVENMAIDEN ~ Lindir isn't really a little elfling. He's just a little immature when it comes to anything other than his music, and even then he sometimes thinks or acts younger than he really is. This makes other people treat him as though he is a lot younger. Two weeks and four days until Xmas now!
MOONMIST ~ Don't worry about them, they're fine for the moment. Things will get quite angsty for them (and everyone involved, come to think of it) in the next chapter.
LAINFAER ~ Wow, thanks a lot! I'm so glad to know I'm improving.
SARA ~ Well if you think about it, there was no other way they could really get rid of the twins. You're right, Culkemen is really spunky to dare to call Elrond a liar to his face!
ORODRUIN ~ Ah, but they had just killed all the enemies in the area, remember? So far as they knew, the Mirkwood warriors were still back in Mirkwood, so there was nothing that could have hurt the twins. Well, Elladan and Elrohir can act quite bratty, occasionally. Everyone does. I don't blame Silnan for being nasty. We all have our faults, and his is his anger.
COOLIO02 ~ Culkemen, stuck? Nah, not her. She doesn't like being kept prisoner. Most of the twists and turns in this story were never planned, you know. They just. . . happened.
ELROHIR LOVER ~ Thankyou very much. I update on Sundays.
NESSA ~ A couple of days ago? How long does it take to read? It isn't really all that long, is it? Like I said to Elrohir Lover and Kistune, I update every Sunday.