~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Of Sam & Elves:  The First Encounter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Summary: When the hobbits are stalked by the Black Riders, the nightmare becomes a dream for Sam.  His most saught after wish is finally granted.  To meet Elves.  He wasn't however expecting to be given a mission by them as well.  (Gildor Inglorian & Company)

Rated: G 

Posted:  February 6, 2004; Re-posted: February 7, 2004

Editted:  February 7, 2004; February 14, 2004

Author: Stephie P. a.k.a. TheSilentSenshi 

Contact:  thesilentsenshi@Hotmail.com

Archive:  Sure, just tell me first so I know where it is.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately I can't claim any of the lovely elves as mine, no matter how much I wish I could.  Alas, a genius by the name of Tolkien has beat me to it.  So, I'm just borrowing them for a little while.  I'll return them when I'm through, in relatively worn, but good condition. 

Notes:  This little fic has been wriggling around in my mind for awhile now.  It will be the first in a (probably 3 or 4 part) series, where Sam gets aquainted with elves.  The second will be a story with some Rivendell Elves (I'll give you kudo's if you can guess who.  Hint: they didn't appear in the movies, much to my disappointment) and the third will be with my very own dear Mirkwood prince and adorable Greenleaf.  I was also toying with the idea of something in Lothlorien, maybe with Haldir & bros.  And I may even have more, it's up in the air, so feel free to tell me what you'd like to see in the future.  No slash though.  Just the innocent curiosity of a hobbit towards a race he admires.  |^_^|   This first one is when he, Frodo, and Pippin (in the books they hadn't met up with Merry yet) meet Gildor Inglorian.  If you are only familiar with movie-verse, think the scene where they see the elves passing in the extended version of the first film.  In the movie they didn't stop to talk to them like they did in the book.  Oh and if anything sounds familiar, I stole several lines from Tolkien for this chapter, tweaking them a bit to suit my needs.  Why change something already perfectly well done.  I just added more of what's going on with Sam.  The second part will break from the set story and we will get to see Sam's time with the Elves.  In the books we only see Frodo's first hand.  Phew, yeah, so that's it.  Hope you enjoy.  If you do tell me so that I can finish writing the second part.  It's mostly in my head, but not written out yet.  Feel free to add any suggestions as well.  Oh and be kind, this is my first time dabbling with Tolkien's lovable characters, and I hope I do them justice.

Extra note:  Thanks to Firniswin for pointing out that Gildor had blonde hair.  It's been awhile since I saw the extended version and somehow I totally missed that in the books.  I'll try and fix it if I have time, but... well that's a lot of changing.  Heh heh.  Oh well, maybe I'll chalk it off to artistic license.  Other people have made way bigger changes to the story line than hair color.  |^_^| 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 1:  Greetings

Sam stood still, fear coursing through every part of his body as he watched Frodo edge nearer to the shadowy figure, investigating.  A Black Rider, thought Sam with a visible shudder.  He knew not what manner of creature they were, nor where they came from, but he could easily say it was the most frightening thing he'd ever encountered.  Oh he'd heard stories and tales of all manner of creatures, both dark and light.  Most he'd gotten from Bilbo, of course.  But no story had he heard describing anywhere near so terrifying a thing as the Black Riders.  The shadow creatures told to children to frighten them while they sleep paled in comparison.  It was no mere nightmare, that was tracking them, however.  In fact, it seemed to be made from nightmares itself, combined together to create a solid and solely evil being.  A thing of shadow and darkness.

But suddenly the Rider vanished back into the very shadow from which it had come.  Sam stood, puzzled for a moment, before he heard the reason for the dark creatures hasty retreat.  Voices could be heard on the air, filling the forest with soothing peace.  Beautiful voices filled with laughter and song.  Suddenly, Sam was light of heart, the fear diminishing completely, though he knew not why.  His fear was rapidly replaced by abundant joy when he at last realized what the voices were.  Or more specifically, who they belonged to.

"Elves!" he exclaimed in unabashed delight.  "Elves, sir!"  He would have burst out of the trees and dashed off towards the voices, if Frodo and Pippin had not pulled him back.

He vaguely heard Frodo explain something about the Elves wandering habits.  Normally, Sam would have paid extreme attention to what he was saying, for he loved to learn all he could of the Fair Folk.  However, at this time, he was too preoccupied with his excitement at finally being able to meet some of the race he so admired, that not even the lure of additional information on said race could pull him from his elated stupor.  And the melodic rhythm of the song washed over him in the most pleasant of ways, blocking out the few senses he had remaining.

"What about the Elves?" he said ignoring most of Frodo's detailed explanation.  "Can't we go and see them?"  His eyes were alight with unrestrained joy and expectancy as he tentatively posed his question. 

"Listen!  They are coming this way," said Frodo, smiling at his friend.  "We have only to wait."  Sam sighed lightly at the delay, but his sadness didn't last long, for the singing steadily drew nearer, and no one could possibly feel sad when listening to such sweet and merry voices.  Sam listened intently to Frodo's hesitant translation of the beautiful Elvish tune being sung.  He didn't completely comprehend the meaning of the words, even translated as they were, but that, of course, hardly mattered.  After all it was Elvish, and Sam loved all things Elvish.

The song ended, leaving Sam somewhat disappointed.  He wished it could have lasted forever.  Or at least a bit longer than it had.  Frodo suddenly distracted him from his musings with an exclamation. 

"These are High-Elves!  They spoke the name of Elbereth!" said Frodo in amazement.  "Few of that Fair Folk are ever seen in the Shire.  Not many now remain in Middle-Earth, east of the Great Sea.  This is indeed a strange chance!"  Though Sam didn't quite know the difference between High-Elves and other Elves nor who this Elbereth was, he remained quiet, realizing it wasn't a prime time to ask.  Perhaps later, he thought to himself.

Sam, along with his fellow hobbits, remained crouched in the shadows waiting anxiously for the first sight of the approaching Eldar.  He had to squelch the urge to run out right then and there in greeting, hoping for a glimpse of what he so longed to see.  But Frodo was more familiar with the ways of the Elves, and if he said they should wait quietly, then Sam grudgingly agreed to his advice.  Mister Frodo always knew what was best to do.  Or at least, that's how it seemed to his loyal friend and gardener, Samwise.  So, if Frodo said to wait, then Sam would wait.  Though his anxious twitching easily gave away his nervous excitement. 

After what seemed to Sam an intolerable amount of time, the fair beings turned round the bend and appeared, at last on the hobbits path.  Sam gasped, for never in his life before had he seen a more beautiful sight.

They passed slowly, and the hobbits could see the starlight glimmering on their hair and in their eyes.  They bore no lights, yet as they walked a shimmer, like the light of the moon above the rim of hills before it rises, seemed to fall about their feet.  They were now silent, and as the last Elf passed he turned and looked towards the hobbits and laughed, shouting a greeting to Frodo. 

A conversation ensued, during which Sam remained silent, peering at the Elves from behind the safety of Frodo's back.  It wasn't that he was frightened, so much as overwhelmed and did not know quite what to do with himself.  He was also still in such awe of the light filled beings around him that he had easily been distracted from the conversation being held.  Instead, he took the time to study the Elves before him.  They were dressed in flowing white and silver gowns and robes that accentuated their lithe forms.  Their pale skin glowed in the moonlight, and their hair was haloed in light.  Most of the Elves hair was darker blacks contrasting with their pale skin, a sure sign of their Noldor decent, though there were a few with lighter hair as well.  This surprised Sam because he had mistakenly believed that being creatures of light, all elves had light colored hair.  A simple mistake, for sure, but Sam felt a little foolish at the notion now thinking back on it.  Sam's attention was briefly diverted back to the talk at hand when he heard Frodo ask, "And how do you know my name?"

Sam glanced at the Elves who replied, their words confusing him even further.  "We know many things," they said rather cryptically.  "We have seen you often before with Bilbo, though you may not have seen us."  With Bilbo? thought Sam.  How could they have entered so close to his beloved Shire without anyone noticing such sparkling and radiant creatures?  But, they are Elves, he told himself, remembering old Bilbo's stories.  Elves were even better at hiding their presence from watchful eyes than a hobbit, or so he had been told.  And that's saying much.

"Who are you, and who is your lord?" asked Frodo.

"I am Gildor," answered their leader, the Elf who had first hailed him.  Sam's attention focused on him as he continued.  The Elf's dark hair flowed gently down his shoulders and his knowledgeable gray eyes bore into each of the hobbits in turn, before returning to rest finally on Frodo.  "Gildor Inglorion of the House of Finrod.  We are Exiles, and most of our kindred have long ago departed and we too are now only tarrying here a while, ere we return over the Great Sea.  But some of our kinsfolk dwell still in peace in Rivendell."  As he spoke, an inexplicable sorrow bore down on Sam as though his heart was hurting.  It saddened him greatly to know that the Fair Folk were leaving these lands for other shores far off.  He was once again lost in thought, missing another large bulk of the conversation, catching only random snippets.  He was surprised to learn, and more than a little jealous that Frodo knew so much of their language.  Why hadn't he ever taught me? thought Sam sadly.

He was finally brought out from his daze by a sudden poke in his ribs.  Startled, he quickly glanced at the source, which happened to be Frodo.  Apparently, unknown to Sam, the conversation had ended and it had been decided that the hobbits would spend the rest of the evening in the comfortable company of the Elves.  Sam nearly fainted, from a combination of exhaustion, relief, and excitement, but a strong arm appeared out of nowhere and held him up firmly.  Glancing up he saw the smiling face of Gildor.  Sam smiled back tentatively, his round cheeks pinkening in slight embarrassment. 

"Come, Samwise, else you'll fall behind.  We must walk on a ways yet, and mustn't tarry."  He said kindly.

Sam's eyes widened.  "But how did…"  Gildor waved his question away and lifted a finger to his lips, a twinkle in his eye.  Without another word, he strode forward to converse lightly with some of the elves under his command in their native tongue, leaving a surprised and somewhat disconcerted hobbit in his wake.

~End Part 1~

TBC…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Background Notes:  (My assumption was wrong… *Shrug*  See note at the top)  I'm assuming that, being a Noldor Elf himself, most of the elves traveling with Gildor are also of Noldor blood line.  And it's stated that the Noldor are known to have black/dark hair and gray eyes.  So no, I didn't make that up.  It was in a book/guide on Middle Earth.  (Noldor Elves are Rivendell Elves, so think Elrond).  Also, Eldar is basically another term for High-Elves.  I just like the sound of it, so wanted to use it.  Probably won't be the last time, either.

If I'm mistaken in anything feel free to let me know.  I don't claim to be an expert on Tolkien, though I do try to research a bit before writing to make the story more interesting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kinda short, but I wanted to get what I have written this far up and posted.  The next part should be up soon, within the next few weeks, sooner if encouraged |^_~|, depending on schools demands.  College is stressful,  ^_^  I also haven't had time to spell-check or beta this yet, so be lenient.  It's 2 a.m.  As always suggestions are welcome and reviews appreciated.  Oh and don't worry, Sam won't remain in a stupor for too much longer.  He was just overwhelmed.  ^__^

~*~Stephie P.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~