Chapter 4

Corrected by Christine C.

[Virginia's POV]



When I entered the room the sight before me only made me nervous though I didn't show it. I looked around and noticed everyone seemed sad somehow. They had grim expressions on their faces.



Sitting in a chair, beside an occupied bed was an old man, Gandalf, and the occupant of the bed was a man. The man looked slightly like a hobbit since he had very curly hair. I noticed that I was right. He was a hobbit. The lump under his covers was his body, a very short and small body. He looked deadly pale and his breathing was slow. It seemed that he wasn't getting the amount of air he needed. There were some pieces of cloth folded neatly on a chair, they were stained with blood.



Then I noticed that beside him, standing beside the bed, was the hobbit I had seen run in the room. He was clutching the other hobbit's hand and silent tears were streaming down his face.



I looked to Strider questioningly but he only shook his head slightly. I started looking around the room again and snapped out of my trance by a hand that had touched my upper arm slightly. It was Maren. She motioned me to another man standing in the room who was also looking at the hobbit in the bed. He had black eyes and long black hair that reached past his shoulders. He was wearing a crown but it looked more like a tiara. I mentally giggled but then I thought 'This must be Lord Elrond' and it made all my nervousness come back.



He, that is to say Lord Elrond, turned to me and said, "Welcome to the elven city of Rivendell, I am Lord Elrond. I'm sure you are looking for explanation as to why you are here, I will give you one shortly," Then he looked to Strider and said, "Estel, he's not out of danger yet. Arwen will be coming shortly to watch him while I'm talking to our guest. I'll explain everything to you later. If anything happens to Frodo that my daughter cannot handle, call me, you know where to find me, though I prefer not to be disturbed."



]I was itching to ask Lord Elrond questions as to why he brought me here, but decided against it . It would only make a fool out of myself and make me appear childish. I want to give these people the exact opposite impression.



I gave a small wave towards Merry and Pippin. I would have waved to Strider too but he had gone off to talk to the old man (Virginia's going to call Gandalf 'old man').



I walked out of the room after Lord Elrond with Maren behind me.

When we were outside Maren turned around and walked away. I started to ask her where she was going but Lord Elrond spoke to me, "I have forgotten my manners, what is your name young lady?" he asked.



"Virginia," I answered and gave a small bow.



"Well, Lady Virginia I am sure you are seeking answers as to why you're here.."



I interrupted him, "Yes, why am I here?" 'Great bluntness Gin, now you are doing exactly what you didn't want to do, appear like a little child who wants her mommy'



He fell a step beside me and said, "I would prefer to discuss this in private."



"Well then lead the way," 'Fast,' I thought.



He was now in front of me walking at a fast pace, as if he had read my mind. I noticed that everyone here had pointy ears except the old man, Strider, and I.

Every elf that we passed gave a small bow towards Lord Elrond and a nod to me. I answered by giving a nod back. These people sure had good manners.



Then we reached a door. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen, considering that everything was beautiful here, but the point is, the door had many carvings of leaves and vine, it was certainly breathtaking.



Lord Elrond opened the door and held it for me. I entered the room and my mouth fell open in amazement. The room was the biggest library I had seen in my life, all of the books were beautifully bound and it was a truly immaculate place. Hermione would have gone nuts here.



He, Lord Elrond, started walking toward another door. The view seemed to be hidden by a bookshelf. I entered after him and saw that it was another library. The room was in a circular shape with bookshelves that reached the ceiling. There were two wooden ladders on each side. In the middle of the room there was a desk of oak and two chairs on the opposite side. Lord Elrond sat behind the desk and said, "Please take a seat," and so I did.



"The old man told me you sent a prayer to the Valar for a warrior to come to your aid, but instead of that warrior I was sent…" I began.



"Indeed, that is correct Lady Virginia, and that old man's name is Gandalf," said Lord Elrond in a scolding tone.



"Gandalf, old man, same thing, and maybe this Valar of yours must have made a mistake by bringing me here," I said, these people were getting on my nerves.



"My lady, the Valar hardly make mistakes, I do not think you being here is one," He said, clearly trying to ignore my disrespect toward the old man; his problem, not mine.



"Gandalf told me you had some type of wand and also that you attended a school of magic, you are a witch I presume?"

'Oh that's just dandy, now he wants me to do magic. Well he wants magic, he'll get magic!!!'



"Yes, I am a witch, would you like a demonstration?" 'If he didn't notice the sarcasm there, well then he's just plain stupid'



"Yes please, if it isn't of any inconvenience."



'Inconvenience? Never. Stupid elf!'



I pointed my wand towards the chair beside me and muttered, "Locomotor Mortis."



A soon as the words were out of my mouth the chair sprang up and its legs stuck to each other, causing the chair to fall and break.



Lord Elrond's face turned from interest into anger.

"I assume you know how to fix that" he said with obvious sarcasm.



'Great, I'm getting on his nerves!! Haha!! '

"As a matter of fact, I can, Finite Incantetum." The chair was back to normal, except it was still broken so I muttered, 'Reparo"and it was fixed in a 'jiffy'.

Lord Elrond said a small thank you and a court nod.



"Well let's get back on track, we were a little sidetracked there, you asked for the reason to you being here?" Before letting me answer he continued on, "Well, these are hard times for middle earth, it started…"



(A/N: I'm too lazy to write the whole history of the Lord Sauron, but suffice it to say Lord Elrond explained everything to Virginia, from Isildur to Frodo, from Sauron to Gondor, everything!)

Hours had passed since Lord Elrond had started talk about the history of Middle-Earth and Sauron. It was so much information and was taking a while to sink in. I'm not as angry with Lord Elrond as I was before. Now I understand all of the reasons why I'm here, and I find myself more and more curious about elfs, and hobbits. I kind of feel guilty about this but I kind of feel glad about being here.



"Lady Virginia," Lord Elrond's voice snapped me out of my reverie, "You now must understand our need for allies. Saruman has betrayed us," Lord Elrond said staring intently towards me; his pierce gaze seemed to penetrate my thoughts.



"Yes, I do understand, but Lord Elrond, you must know, in my world there is also a Dark Lord and I have not been of any use in fighting him. I have actually been one of his victims in the past and I haven't completed my education yet, how could I be of any help to you?" I said. I really wanted to help but I just didn't see how I could.



"Lady Virginia, you have magic, and I'm sure in the magic school you went to they taught spells for self defense or did they not?"



"Yes they did, but I'm not sure they are powerful enough..." I said and looked down at my feet.



"Lady Virginia, if it would make you a bit more self – confident, I could ask someone to teach you swordsmanship, or even how to use a bow and arrow. Maybe then you'll re-consider about aiding us?" I immediately looked up, it would be very interesting to learn how to fight physically. Maybe I would be able to help these people after all.



"All right, Lord Elrond, I will accept your offer."