The 6th Istari
Chapter 11: Healing and Departure
Note: I may have gotten some facts wrong, and if I did, and you notice, please tell me and I will try to change it asap.
Thoughts are in Italics. Thoughts spoken to each other are "in italics". If they are speaking in elvish, *elvish*, if dwarvish, dwarvish, if they are speaking normally, "It will be normal."
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Curunir's body was racked with sobs as he lay on the ground. Mithrandir stood over his friend, tears streaming down his face, but no sound came from his lips. Mithrandir stared at the immense darkness, seeing it, and yet not seeing it. Suddenly a column of light burst forth with a sound like a thunderclap; the light poured form the center of the darkness, it burst through the top of the dark cloud and shone up into the pale blue sky. Curunir's head jerked back as he snapped his head up to look at the light pouring forth from the gloomy shadows. Mithrandir's tears stopped and his mouth opened slightly in an expression of bewilderment.
"What the-" But Mithrandirs' thought was cut off by "LOOK! More light! She's okay!" Curunir was instantly upright and upon his feet. More columns of light had broken through, they were all different sizes, but hey all grew. As more light broke through and what had already gotten though grew, the darkness slowly dwindled into a few splotches and with a final roar the bit of darkness left roared upward into a whirlwind. The wind whipped at Curunir and Mithrandir, but the two staying firmly on the ground. They looked into the now bright cloud and saw Twe floating in the middle of it. Her arms were out, her back arched slightly and her eyes closed; but she was peaceful and happy, they could see that on her expression.
Then she slowly drifted down to the ground, still in the middle of the cloud of light. Once there she seemed to suck all of the light in the cloud into her. All of that clear, bright, life-giving, and clarifying, rainbow-hued, white light was slowly diffused into her body. She seemed to shine brighter than the sun once all was sucked in, but she seemed to dim and dim until Curunir and Mithrandir could look at her again. But she was different now, it was as if she had matured 100 years and now understood many things. She walked towards them, her garment still switching colors, but the gray, ashy color was slowly switching to a bright white. When she reached them she simply said, "You must now name me and my rank I think."
Curunir and Mithrandir looked at each other, only an Istari would know that, and she had gone through the rite of passage, she had conquered the evil within herself, how after the evil had seized her they did not know, but she had survived. The two debated for a time with in the confines of a closely locked in conversation. Finally Curunir stepped forward and said "You will be called Karena in the undying lands, but since you are currently in the elvish lands we will give you an elvish name, Neffanwen, "maiden on this side of the cloud", because you have conquered the evil within you and are on this side of the darkness now. But where you go you shall now take upon you the name given to you by the inhabitants, what they call you, you shall answer too." Then Mithrandir stepped forward next to Curunir and said, "You will be of the purple order, the order that Feathalion was to be the head of. I do not think that she would have disagreed to you heading up the order that she wanted to found. The purple is the order of the Maiden Warriors, kind, yet firm with justice, never let the purity of truth be at risk. There are now 6 orders, from the highest to the lowest they are: The order of the White, Grey, Red and Purple are equal, then blue, and then brown. The White is for the strong scholars; Curunir is the head of that. Grey is for the traveler and the wanderer, the helping hand that goes where need is, I, Olorin head that. Red is for the Warrior Man, the father and the husband, the protector of all, Beltiane is the founder there. Purple is the Maiden Warrior, the guardian of justice and truth, the lioness, the hunter and the mother. Leufijn is the leader of the Blue; the order of peace, tranquility, and kindness to all, even the enemies. Brown's founder is Yearsa, brown stand by the animals and the earth; they want the elements and the creatures to live and prosper by them. Live in your order and bring light to troubled minds and help to the oppressed. May Iluvater help us all."
"I thank you, but it is now time for you to go. But before you go I must give you some messages." She turned to Mith, her odd eyes seemed to stare through him, "Take courage, there is a way through all things, do not fear them. There will always be a way through, no matter how small it is or hard to find, there will always be a way." She then turned to Curunir, "For you, you must watch your ambitions, you can go many places and do many things, be careful. What you are ambitious for can be helpful or harmful, always be wary."
She shook her head and came back, "It is time for you to leave," she pointed between them to the area behind them. All the dead and knocked out creatures were gone and in the center of the clearing behind them was a doorway. It was simple, yet elegant in it's curves and smoothness. The door was in the middle with nothing leading to it or from it. Mithrandir and Curunir looked from it to the girl again. Curunir looked at the stunning commander of the purple order and wondered, Who is she now? Tiwena, Neffanwen, Karena? That is the problem with taking the name of the inhabitants I never know which name to call an Istari. May as well stick with elvish since we're in the Green Wood, "Will you recover Neffanwen?" Curunir asked the girl before he turned back towards the door and followed Mithrandir's back. But no answer came except a gentle "Go."
So he left, keeping his eyes on Mithrandir's back he realized, This is going to take a lot out of us, getting here, staying for as long as we have, and fighting, we'll be dead on our feet. Tehn he was through the door and suddenly in his body, he was looking down on Neffanwen through his body's eyes and feeling very drained. Mithrandir spoke into the silent room, "*This girl is t be called Neffanwen is elvish, she is the head of the purple order, the order of the Maiden Warriors, the guardians of justice and truth, the lionesses, the hunters and the mothers. She is an Istari, treat her as one.*" "*We will.*" chorused the witnesses, Thranduil, Legolas, and another dark haired elf maiden.
But Mithrandir didn't have time to focus on the witnesses because he was sinking down to the floor, his legs could not support him and he collapsed. But in the split second between falling and hitting the floor, and string of power flowed from Neffanwen to himself and Curunir. Their pale faces regained the pink of life and their bodies stopped trembling from weakness. Neffanwen's face was brighter than when they had entered her mind but paler than when they had come out; she had taken some of the energy she so desperately needed and given it to her helpers.
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Curunir had sunk to the floor and was pressing a hand to his chest, the new energy surging through his body, rejuvenating his tired and strained body. A gasp came out of his mouth and a hot cup of willow bark tea was pressed into his hands. "Drink." Came the simple order. He willingly obeyed. Legolas could see that he was doing fine with drinking the tea and once Curunir had finished, Legolas helped him up.
"*My body is really stiff, how long where we standing there?*" Curunir asked him. "*Several hours, we wondered how long it would take you.*"
Thranduil and Legolas helped Curunir and Mithrandir upright and move towards their bedrooms. The two collapsed, and right before Mithrandir was fell asleep Curunir asked him "Mith, what happened in there?" With that Mith jerked awake to answer Cur.
"She is half wizard and half elf. So she passed the final, she became an Istari. What more is there?" Mith wondered where this was going. "Well, I didn't really think about their being more Istari here besides us 5, I guess I just thought it would e us 5 and no more; I never thought about what if we had kids. So she is Natar and Nimrodel's kid, huh? That would make her what, 16?" Now Mith could see where this was going. "Cur, she is a wizard and an elf, she'll live a long time, I doubt that age matters much to her. Does that relieve your fears? Can I sleep now? It's been a long day." He got a hurt feeling form Curunir and a "Yes." Then Mith dropped off to sleep; a smile across his face.
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Curunir had just woken up when a servant came in with a breakfast tray. Curunir seemed to inhale the eggs, toast, jam, milk, cake, and pancakes. He had gotten up and dressed in some clean white robes that had been laid out for him.
He walked out and into the garden where he had talked to Mithrandir the day before. He was staring at a rose bush and was tracing the leaf of one white rose when someone called to him, "Curunir, Curunir, I have a message for you."
Arwen Undomiel was walking up to him. She was wearing a gown of white and silver blue. Her dark hair blew in the breeze as she walked up to him. She held out a rolled up piece of parchment in her hand.
Curunir took the parchment, noted that the seal was Elrond's and broke the seal. He opened up the letter and read:
*Istari Curunir,
I know you are most interested in trying to find out the ways of ring making in your search to unravel the mystery of how Sauron crafted his. I have just found some old tomes on the subject and thought you might like to know. As Arwen was bored, I gave her the task of trying to find you; not an easy one I'm sure and I hope she comes back not bored. I hope all is going well and may the Valar look down upon you with pleasure and may Iluvater bless us. Lord Elrond*
Curunir looked up at Arwen and grinned. She made a face at him, he only grinned harder. "*This is what I get for saying one day that I was bored, a month long search for you,*" she told him. The two turned and walked companionably off in the garden, the two had always been good friends since Curunir had tried to seduce her and she had given him a lesson he would never forget. Nevertheless he had been chaste ever since.
"*Tell me what is going on in Imladris,*" Curunir prompted her and they talked for a good hour on the people they knew and the additions and repairs going on, the news she had heard and all the tidbits of gossip she could think of, they spent the rest of the morning just talking about this and that.
Finally, near noon Arwen finally said, "*She is on you mind isn't she?*" Arwen didn't need to specify who "she" was, they both knew. "*Yes,*" was his quiet reply, his arms were behind his head and he lay on his back on a field of grass, Arwen sat at the foot of a tree nearby making a crown of dandelions. "*I don't know why I can't get her out of my mind, maybe I just need to get away, go somewhere, a change of scenery or something.*"
"*Come back with me, it has been a while since you have visited my home, people may not remember you,*" her eyes twinkled as he opened his mouth to argue and then closed it and pursed it in anger. But finally the smile it had been hiding broke forth and he laughed his deep silky laugh, she chuckled with him and finished her crown.
With a furry of shirts she stood up and shouted, "*To the best!*" and she flung the crown high and far. In seconds she was after it and Curunir was right on her heels. The two stopped as the crown fell and floated down a stream. Arwen laughed and made two, one for each of them.
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The next day, right after daybreak, Mithrandir waved good-bye to the two retreating figures on horseback as they galloped away through the Greenwoods. They would travel through the Red Horn Pass to Imladris. He then turned and retreated to the library, there was a good book he saw there a whil ago and it would be nice to read it while he was waiting for the others to come round.
He had just settled himself down with the book when the young man walked through he library's doors, Rapheal, that was his name. Mithrandir looked up form his book at the man and stared at him as Raph walked towards him.
Raph got nervous under the black haired man's stare. He looked to be about Raph's age if not for the knowledge in the eyes that would only come from age, and the gray and white streaks in the hair. Rpah approached him and nervously put his hands behind his back and asked in halting elvish, "*You.are. Mithrandir?*" Mithrandir gazed at him and finally replied "*Why?*" The boy gave a sigh and tried to puzzle out a reply in elvish. "*Elves.say..talk...to.. Mithrandir.*" He managed to get out, "* he..help ..me and ..sister.*" Mithrandir narrowed his eyes at Rapheal, "*I am he,*" Raph looked relieved. "* you..speak ..languages?*" he asked, clearly trying to switch to a language he could speak fluently. "Yes, is that better?" Mithrandir asked in the Common tongue. "Yes, that is much better," Raph said with a sigh.
"Than you should have asked sooner, many people know many languages, it comes in handy, since your with the wood elves, I would suggest you learn Sindarin better. But what sis the elves say to you?" "I'm not sure, something about a Mithrandir and a Curunir helping my sister, and about you teaching something."
Mithrandir raised his eyebrows and asked, "You two are twins correct?" "Yes, identical down to freckles." Raph confirmed.
"Hmmmmm.. Your sister was in a critical condition, most of it I can't explain and what I can explain I'm not sure if I can tell you or if you'd understand. But she is better now, and an Istari, a wizard, I will be training her." Raph's eyes narrowed slightly, "But you look to be a bit older than me, and you are an Istari? What is an Istari or a wizard? What do you do?"
"Well, a long story for another time, right now I must look into you, for I need to see something about you." Mithrandir stood and up, and the two stared eye-to-eye; they were the exact same height. Mtihrandir put his fingers on Raph's temples and concentrated.
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When Mith came out of Raph, he was reeling. He wavered in the air, and Raph's hand shot out and caught hold of his arm. With Raph's help Mith lowered himself into a chair. "What is it?" Raph knelt in front of Mith, "I felt something and sensed something moving things in my mind, and memories came up that I hadn't thought about in a long time, what did you do, what did you find out?"
Mith looked wildly at Raph and laughed hoarsely, "My, what a day this has been! First I meet a half wizard half elf, with a sprinkling of men's blood in her, and I witness her become an Istar, and then I meet her brother who is man with a sprinkling of elf and wizard in him!" He threw up his arms and laughed, "Valar, what else do you have in store for me today?"
Raph started to shy away form this man who he was beginning to think was mad, when Mithrandir's hand shot out this time and caught Raph's arm. His face had gone serious and his eyes were not laughing, "Raphael, you have some wizard and elf blood in you, I don't know what all you can do with it or how far you can go, but you can become an Istar to some degree. But since your blood is mainly of men, you are mortal. Your sister's blood is mainly Wizard and Elf, she is immortal practically, but she will die eventually, though very slowly."
Raph looked stunned; and for a good reason. He had just been told his twin sister was practically immortal and a wizard and he was mortal and had some wizarding abilities. He stepped back and mumbled something about fresh air and almost scampered away. Mithrandir smiled sadly, but he knew in his heart that telling Raphael the whole truth was the only way; Raphael needed to accept this, because from what Mithrandir knew of his sister, she wasn't going to take this lying down.
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Curunir woke up with the sun streaming in his window. He gingerly got up and put his hand to his pounding head. "Uhhhh." the noise came out guttural and raspy. The sound also grated on his tender throat. He slowly turned his head to the side and saw the jugs on the floor beside his bed. He remembered getting the wine from the elves kitchen. Elves did not get drunk easily so their wine was especially strong, and the deafening pounding attested to the strength of the wine.
His eyes suddenly caught sight of some elven slippers. He froze. He slowly turned his head upwards and gazed at the elvish lady who sat in a chair opposite him with her arms crossed and a patient and waiting expression on her face.
It was Arwen. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mithrandir was walking through the many gardens at Arlasmar, or "Royal leaf home" as the elves called Thranduil's palace. At one place he found Raphael sitting crossed legged under a tree, his sword was across his knees and a book lay open on the sword. But Raphael was staring into the brook that trickled thorough.
Mith stopped a ways away form the boy as mearly stood there and said nothing.
"What do you want" Raph said without turning around; he wasn't exactly welcoming, but that was understandable.
Mithrandir stepped forward and said, "Raphael there are some things I should probably tell you." And he did. He told Raph some things about the Istari, who they were where they came form, the final challenge, that final leap of faith. And he told them about heir names.
"Raphael, I named your sister Neffanwen because that means "maiden on this side of the cloud", because she has conquered the evil within her and is on this side of the darkness within herself now. Since I named her, I will now name you."
Mithrandir looked down at what lay on Raphael's lap and thought about what he found in his mind and said, "Macarparma" which means "Swordsman of the books" from your love of books and swords.
Macarparma looked up and a tear streamed down his check. It was the first time he looked back at Mithrandir during his whole talk. Mith was surprised, Why does he cry? For the loss of one way of life? That he can never go back to that old and familiar route? But Macarparma offered no explanation.
So Mith lay his hand on his shoulder, gave it a squeeze, stood up abruptly and left.
Raphael or Macarparma stayed there all night, thinking about what had happened and what he was going to do now. And in the morning he still was sure but he was read to face the world.
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"Well?" Arwen finally asked after the two stared at each other for 5 minutes.
"Ou oh i," Curunir offered helpfully, his words slurred by his thick mouth and tongue and pounding head.
"What? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you though that load of rubbish in your mouth," Arwen said scathingly and leaned forward towards Curunir, "Cur, what's wrong?" her forehead wrinkled in worry, "I know you were losing it over that half elf girl, but was it really that bad?" she searched his face for some answer to the doubts and worries that nagged at her as she offered him a bottle of water.
"You know why," Curunir clarified after he had slugged down half of the bottle,
"I can't get her out of my mind," Curunir drew himself into the corner of his bead, drew his knees up to his cheat and put his head to his knees; his arms sticking straight out resting on his knees.
Arwen's gaze turned to pity for her friend and she finally said, "Come on, you have to do something besides just sit here. Get up and I'll show you to the new smith that just came in. You know all about smithy, but you have never done it, maybe it will help. You had better be up, bathed, and be dressed when I come back with your breakfast."
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And in the days and months that followed, whenever the haunting images of Neffanwen burned into his mind, he went to the smithy. He buried himself there, making more intricate things and learning to pour some of his power into them as elves did to make their magic rings, swords and other magical objects.
But what haunted him was that she would never really know who it was that helped her. They saw her clearly enough, but she only saw two essences, maybe as balls of energy or as two blank people, no distinguishing features. She didn't even know he existed while he could never forget for one second that she was out there.
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Ohhh. don't you feel sorry for him? Heck, I do, and I'm the one writing it! Well, maybe it's because I AM trying to write it and can't put down the whole story as it is in my head. R/r PLEASE!
~Kit ;)
Chapter 11: Healing and Departure
Note: I may have gotten some facts wrong, and if I did, and you notice, please tell me and I will try to change it asap.
Thoughts are in Italics. Thoughts spoken to each other are "in italics". If they are speaking in elvish, *elvish*, if dwarvish, dwarvish, if they are speaking normally, "It will be normal."
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Curunir's body was racked with sobs as he lay on the ground. Mithrandir stood over his friend, tears streaming down his face, but no sound came from his lips. Mithrandir stared at the immense darkness, seeing it, and yet not seeing it. Suddenly a column of light burst forth with a sound like a thunderclap; the light poured form the center of the darkness, it burst through the top of the dark cloud and shone up into the pale blue sky. Curunir's head jerked back as he snapped his head up to look at the light pouring forth from the gloomy shadows. Mithrandir's tears stopped and his mouth opened slightly in an expression of bewilderment.
"What the-" But Mithrandirs' thought was cut off by "LOOK! More light! She's okay!" Curunir was instantly upright and upon his feet. More columns of light had broken through, they were all different sizes, but hey all grew. As more light broke through and what had already gotten though grew, the darkness slowly dwindled into a few splotches and with a final roar the bit of darkness left roared upward into a whirlwind. The wind whipped at Curunir and Mithrandir, but the two staying firmly on the ground. They looked into the now bright cloud and saw Twe floating in the middle of it. Her arms were out, her back arched slightly and her eyes closed; but she was peaceful and happy, they could see that on her expression.
Then she slowly drifted down to the ground, still in the middle of the cloud of light. Once there she seemed to suck all of the light in the cloud into her. All of that clear, bright, life-giving, and clarifying, rainbow-hued, white light was slowly diffused into her body. She seemed to shine brighter than the sun once all was sucked in, but she seemed to dim and dim until Curunir and Mithrandir could look at her again. But she was different now, it was as if she had matured 100 years and now understood many things. She walked towards them, her garment still switching colors, but the gray, ashy color was slowly switching to a bright white. When she reached them she simply said, "You must now name me and my rank I think."
Curunir and Mithrandir looked at each other, only an Istari would know that, and she had gone through the rite of passage, she had conquered the evil within herself, how after the evil had seized her they did not know, but she had survived. The two debated for a time with in the confines of a closely locked in conversation. Finally Curunir stepped forward and said "You will be called Karena in the undying lands, but since you are currently in the elvish lands we will give you an elvish name, Neffanwen, "maiden on this side of the cloud", because you have conquered the evil within you and are on this side of the darkness now. But where you go you shall now take upon you the name given to you by the inhabitants, what they call you, you shall answer too." Then Mithrandir stepped forward next to Curunir and said, "You will be of the purple order, the order that Feathalion was to be the head of. I do not think that she would have disagreed to you heading up the order that she wanted to found. The purple is the order of the Maiden Warriors, kind, yet firm with justice, never let the purity of truth be at risk. There are now 6 orders, from the highest to the lowest they are: The order of the White, Grey, Red and Purple are equal, then blue, and then brown. The White is for the strong scholars; Curunir is the head of that. Grey is for the traveler and the wanderer, the helping hand that goes where need is, I, Olorin head that. Red is for the Warrior Man, the father and the husband, the protector of all, Beltiane is the founder there. Purple is the Maiden Warrior, the guardian of justice and truth, the lioness, the hunter and the mother. Leufijn is the leader of the Blue; the order of peace, tranquility, and kindness to all, even the enemies. Brown's founder is Yearsa, brown stand by the animals and the earth; they want the elements and the creatures to live and prosper by them. Live in your order and bring light to troubled minds and help to the oppressed. May Iluvater help us all."
"I thank you, but it is now time for you to go. But before you go I must give you some messages." She turned to Mith, her odd eyes seemed to stare through him, "Take courage, there is a way through all things, do not fear them. There will always be a way through, no matter how small it is or hard to find, there will always be a way." She then turned to Curunir, "For you, you must watch your ambitions, you can go many places and do many things, be careful. What you are ambitious for can be helpful or harmful, always be wary."
She shook her head and came back, "It is time for you to leave," she pointed between them to the area behind them. All the dead and knocked out creatures were gone and in the center of the clearing behind them was a doorway. It was simple, yet elegant in it's curves and smoothness. The door was in the middle with nothing leading to it or from it. Mithrandir and Curunir looked from it to the girl again. Curunir looked at the stunning commander of the purple order and wondered, Who is she now? Tiwena, Neffanwen, Karena? That is the problem with taking the name of the inhabitants I never know which name to call an Istari. May as well stick with elvish since we're in the Green Wood, "Will you recover Neffanwen?" Curunir asked the girl before he turned back towards the door and followed Mithrandir's back. But no answer came except a gentle "Go."
So he left, keeping his eyes on Mithrandir's back he realized, This is going to take a lot out of us, getting here, staying for as long as we have, and fighting, we'll be dead on our feet. Tehn he was through the door and suddenly in his body, he was looking down on Neffanwen through his body's eyes and feeling very drained. Mithrandir spoke into the silent room, "*This girl is t be called Neffanwen is elvish, she is the head of the purple order, the order of the Maiden Warriors, the guardians of justice and truth, the lionesses, the hunters and the mothers. She is an Istari, treat her as one.*" "*We will.*" chorused the witnesses, Thranduil, Legolas, and another dark haired elf maiden.
But Mithrandir didn't have time to focus on the witnesses because he was sinking down to the floor, his legs could not support him and he collapsed. But in the split second between falling and hitting the floor, and string of power flowed from Neffanwen to himself and Curunir. Their pale faces regained the pink of life and their bodies stopped trembling from weakness. Neffanwen's face was brighter than when they had entered her mind but paler than when they had come out; she had taken some of the energy she so desperately needed and given it to her helpers.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Curunir had sunk to the floor and was pressing a hand to his chest, the new energy surging through his body, rejuvenating his tired and strained body. A gasp came out of his mouth and a hot cup of willow bark tea was pressed into his hands. "Drink." Came the simple order. He willingly obeyed. Legolas could see that he was doing fine with drinking the tea and once Curunir had finished, Legolas helped him up.
"*My body is really stiff, how long where we standing there?*" Curunir asked him. "*Several hours, we wondered how long it would take you.*"
Thranduil and Legolas helped Curunir and Mithrandir upright and move towards their bedrooms. The two collapsed, and right before Mithrandir was fell asleep Curunir asked him "Mith, what happened in there?" With that Mith jerked awake to answer Cur.
"She is half wizard and half elf. So she passed the final, she became an Istari. What more is there?" Mith wondered where this was going. "Well, I didn't really think about their being more Istari here besides us 5, I guess I just thought it would e us 5 and no more; I never thought about what if we had kids. So she is Natar and Nimrodel's kid, huh? That would make her what, 16?" Now Mith could see where this was going. "Cur, she is a wizard and an elf, she'll live a long time, I doubt that age matters much to her. Does that relieve your fears? Can I sleep now? It's been a long day." He got a hurt feeling form Curunir and a "Yes." Then Mith dropped off to sleep; a smile across his face.
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Curunir had just woken up when a servant came in with a breakfast tray. Curunir seemed to inhale the eggs, toast, jam, milk, cake, and pancakes. He had gotten up and dressed in some clean white robes that had been laid out for him.
He walked out and into the garden where he had talked to Mithrandir the day before. He was staring at a rose bush and was tracing the leaf of one white rose when someone called to him, "Curunir, Curunir, I have a message for you."
Arwen Undomiel was walking up to him. She was wearing a gown of white and silver blue. Her dark hair blew in the breeze as she walked up to him. She held out a rolled up piece of parchment in her hand.
Curunir took the parchment, noted that the seal was Elrond's and broke the seal. He opened up the letter and read:
*Istari Curunir,
I know you are most interested in trying to find out the ways of ring making in your search to unravel the mystery of how Sauron crafted his. I have just found some old tomes on the subject and thought you might like to know. As Arwen was bored, I gave her the task of trying to find you; not an easy one I'm sure and I hope she comes back not bored. I hope all is going well and may the Valar look down upon you with pleasure and may Iluvater bless us. Lord Elrond*
Curunir looked up at Arwen and grinned. She made a face at him, he only grinned harder. "*This is what I get for saying one day that I was bored, a month long search for you,*" she told him. The two turned and walked companionably off in the garden, the two had always been good friends since Curunir had tried to seduce her and she had given him a lesson he would never forget. Nevertheless he had been chaste ever since.
"*Tell me what is going on in Imladris,*" Curunir prompted her and they talked for a good hour on the people they knew and the additions and repairs going on, the news she had heard and all the tidbits of gossip she could think of, they spent the rest of the morning just talking about this and that.
Finally, near noon Arwen finally said, "*She is on you mind isn't she?*" Arwen didn't need to specify who "she" was, they both knew. "*Yes,*" was his quiet reply, his arms were behind his head and he lay on his back on a field of grass, Arwen sat at the foot of a tree nearby making a crown of dandelions. "*I don't know why I can't get her out of my mind, maybe I just need to get away, go somewhere, a change of scenery or something.*"
"*Come back with me, it has been a while since you have visited my home, people may not remember you,*" her eyes twinkled as he opened his mouth to argue and then closed it and pursed it in anger. But finally the smile it had been hiding broke forth and he laughed his deep silky laugh, she chuckled with him and finished her crown.
With a furry of shirts she stood up and shouted, "*To the best!*" and she flung the crown high and far. In seconds she was after it and Curunir was right on her heels. The two stopped as the crown fell and floated down a stream. Arwen laughed and made two, one for each of them.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next day, right after daybreak, Mithrandir waved good-bye to the two retreating figures on horseback as they galloped away through the Greenwoods. They would travel through the Red Horn Pass to Imladris. He then turned and retreated to the library, there was a good book he saw there a whil ago and it would be nice to read it while he was waiting for the others to come round.
He had just settled himself down with the book when the young man walked through he library's doors, Rapheal, that was his name. Mithrandir looked up form his book at the man and stared at him as Raph walked towards him.
Raph got nervous under the black haired man's stare. He looked to be about Raph's age if not for the knowledge in the eyes that would only come from age, and the gray and white streaks in the hair. Rpah approached him and nervously put his hands behind his back and asked in halting elvish, "*You.are. Mithrandir?*" Mithrandir gazed at him and finally replied "*Why?*" The boy gave a sigh and tried to puzzle out a reply in elvish. "*Elves.say..talk...to.. Mithrandir.*" He managed to get out, "* he..help ..me and ..sister.*" Mithrandir narrowed his eyes at Rapheal, "*I am he,*" Raph looked relieved. "* you..speak ..languages?*" he asked, clearly trying to switch to a language he could speak fluently. "Yes, is that better?" Mithrandir asked in the Common tongue. "Yes, that is much better," Raph said with a sigh.
"Than you should have asked sooner, many people know many languages, it comes in handy, since your with the wood elves, I would suggest you learn Sindarin better. But what sis the elves say to you?" "I'm not sure, something about a Mithrandir and a Curunir helping my sister, and about you teaching something."
Mithrandir raised his eyebrows and asked, "You two are twins correct?" "Yes, identical down to freckles." Raph confirmed.
"Hmmmmm.. Your sister was in a critical condition, most of it I can't explain and what I can explain I'm not sure if I can tell you or if you'd understand. But she is better now, and an Istari, a wizard, I will be training her." Raph's eyes narrowed slightly, "But you look to be a bit older than me, and you are an Istari? What is an Istari or a wizard? What do you do?"
"Well, a long story for another time, right now I must look into you, for I need to see something about you." Mithrandir stood and up, and the two stared eye-to-eye; they were the exact same height. Mtihrandir put his fingers on Raph's temples and concentrated.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
When Mith came out of Raph, he was reeling. He wavered in the air, and Raph's hand shot out and caught hold of his arm. With Raph's help Mith lowered himself into a chair. "What is it?" Raph knelt in front of Mith, "I felt something and sensed something moving things in my mind, and memories came up that I hadn't thought about in a long time, what did you do, what did you find out?"
Mith looked wildly at Raph and laughed hoarsely, "My, what a day this has been! First I meet a half wizard half elf, with a sprinkling of men's blood in her, and I witness her become an Istar, and then I meet her brother who is man with a sprinkling of elf and wizard in him!" He threw up his arms and laughed, "Valar, what else do you have in store for me today?"
Raph started to shy away form this man who he was beginning to think was mad, when Mithrandir's hand shot out this time and caught Raph's arm. His face had gone serious and his eyes were not laughing, "Raphael, you have some wizard and elf blood in you, I don't know what all you can do with it or how far you can go, but you can become an Istar to some degree. But since your blood is mainly of men, you are mortal. Your sister's blood is mainly Wizard and Elf, she is immortal practically, but she will die eventually, though very slowly."
Raph looked stunned; and for a good reason. He had just been told his twin sister was practically immortal and a wizard and he was mortal and had some wizarding abilities. He stepped back and mumbled something about fresh air and almost scampered away. Mithrandir smiled sadly, but he knew in his heart that telling Raphael the whole truth was the only way; Raphael needed to accept this, because from what Mithrandir knew of his sister, she wasn't going to take this lying down.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Curunir woke up with the sun streaming in his window. He gingerly got up and put his hand to his pounding head. "Uhhhh." the noise came out guttural and raspy. The sound also grated on his tender throat. He slowly turned his head to the side and saw the jugs on the floor beside his bed. He remembered getting the wine from the elves kitchen. Elves did not get drunk easily so their wine was especially strong, and the deafening pounding attested to the strength of the wine.
His eyes suddenly caught sight of some elven slippers. He froze. He slowly turned his head upwards and gazed at the elvish lady who sat in a chair opposite him with her arms crossed and a patient and waiting expression on her face.
It was Arwen. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mithrandir was walking through the many gardens at Arlasmar, or "Royal leaf home" as the elves called Thranduil's palace. At one place he found Raphael sitting crossed legged under a tree, his sword was across his knees and a book lay open on the sword. But Raphael was staring into the brook that trickled thorough.
Mith stopped a ways away form the boy as mearly stood there and said nothing.
"What do you want" Raph said without turning around; he wasn't exactly welcoming, but that was understandable.
Mithrandir stepped forward and said, "Raphael there are some things I should probably tell you." And he did. He told Raph some things about the Istari, who they were where they came form, the final challenge, that final leap of faith. And he told them about heir names.
"Raphael, I named your sister Neffanwen because that means "maiden on this side of the cloud", because she has conquered the evil within her and is on this side of the darkness within herself now. Since I named her, I will now name you."
Mithrandir looked down at what lay on Raphael's lap and thought about what he found in his mind and said, "Macarparma" which means "Swordsman of the books" from your love of books and swords.
Macarparma looked up and a tear streamed down his check. It was the first time he looked back at Mithrandir during his whole talk. Mith was surprised, Why does he cry? For the loss of one way of life? That he can never go back to that old and familiar route? But Macarparma offered no explanation.
So Mith lay his hand on his shoulder, gave it a squeeze, stood up abruptly and left.
Raphael or Macarparma stayed there all night, thinking about what had happened and what he was going to do now. And in the morning he still was sure but he was read to face the world.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Well?" Arwen finally asked after the two stared at each other for 5 minutes.
"Ou oh i," Curunir offered helpfully, his words slurred by his thick mouth and tongue and pounding head.
"What? I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you though that load of rubbish in your mouth," Arwen said scathingly and leaned forward towards Curunir, "Cur, what's wrong?" her forehead wrinkled in worry, "I know you were losing it over that half elf girl, but was it really that bad?" she searched his face for some answer to the doubts and worries that nagged at her as she offered him a bottle of water.
"You know why," Curunir clarified after he had slugged down half of the bottle,
"I can't get her out of my mind," Curunir drew himself into the corner of his bead, drew his knees up to his cheat and put his head to his knees; his arms sticking straight out resting on his knees.
Arwen's gaze turned to pity for her friend and she finally said, "Come on, you have to do something besides just sit here. Get up and I'll show you to the new smith that just came in. You know all about smithy, but you have never done it, maybe it will help. You had better be up, bathed, and be dressed when I come back with your breakfast."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
And in the days and months that followed, whenever the haunting images of Neffanwen burned into his mind, he went to the smithy. He buried himself there, making more intricate things and learning to pour some of his power into them as elves did to make their magic rings, swords and other magical objects.
But what haunted him was that she would never really know who it was that helped her. They saw her clearly enough, but she only saw two essences, maybe as balls of energy or as two blank people, no distinguishing features. She didn't even know he existed while he could never forget for one second that she was out there.
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Ohhh. don't you feel sorry for him? Heck, I do, and I'm the one writing it! Well, maybe it's because I AM trying to write it and can't put down the whole story as it is in my head. R/r PLEASE!
~Kit ;)