Very quick A/N, then on to the story. This story is a crossover, so
obviously AU. It doesn't;t take place at any particular time in the story,
as far as the FR. side. As it's AU, several things will be out of sequence
as far as the FR. side of the story. Bear with me. As far as LOTR goes,
it takes place around two years after the War of the Ring, so while the
Elves have begun to leave Arda, Frodo, Same, Galadriel, Elrond, Gandalf
(etc., etc.) haven't left yet. Also, I don't have a beta-reader, and would
gladly accept one, as well as any feedback you could give or errors you
could point out. Flames are accepted, but PLEASE give a reason. All drow
used in this (if any) is taken from wherever I can find it in FR., and if
any of you can find a good site for it, tell me. I've got several Quenya
and Sindarin sites bookmarked. As far as LOTR goes, I read the books in
third grade (I'm in eighth now) and have read almost all of them,
(including The Lost Tales, Tales of Beleriand, Adventures of Tom Bombadil,
The War Of The Ring, the Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales... you get the
idea.) When I was writing this, the plot seemed a bit sketchy, again, I
don't have a beta yet, so please suffer through it. Any help is ALWAYS
appreciated.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own LOTR, don't own FR., though I wish I did. However, I do own a fanart picture of Drizzt I drew (the only good picture of a person, fictional or otherwise, I've ever drawn, and it took me three months to get it right,)
***
Most wouldn't have noticed the change, so subtle was it. The light seemed slightly different, the bird song changed ever so slightly. Drizzt's heightened sense picked up these subtle changes, as well as one more more obvious one. At least, it was more obvious to Drizzt. This forest they were in- that they hadn't been in perhaps thirty seconds ago- heavily emanated magic.
Drizzt glanced at Bruenor, to see if he had noticed as well. He hadn't.
"What's wrong, Elf?" Or perhaps he had. Drizzt hadn't known this Dwarf could sense magic. Bruenor easily read the look of surprise on Drizzt's face, and elaborated, "Yer hands are grippin'' yer scimitars too durn hard fer nothin'' to be wrong."
"We're not where we were."
"What do ye mean? Stop talkin' in riddles, Elf."
Drizzt laughed, "Magic. It's everywhere here. Not much there."
"Magic," Bruenor grumbled under his breath, "Ye never can trust it."
Drizzt didn't miss that, "Well, let's hope you trust a certain magical panther, as I'm calling her. We're in a forest of dark magic. We need to counter that weight. Besides, she has practice traveling between realms." Drizzt quickly tossed the figurine to the forest floor, and summoned up Guenwhyvar, the spirit panther of the Astral Plane. The great black panther flattened her ears and growled, hearing what even Drizzt's keen senses had until now missed.
"Elves," Drizzt breathed, melting into the trees, and quickly recalling Guenwhyvar, knowing that , hopefully, these Elves would be as wise as the ones in Silverymoon, and leaving Bruenor seemingly alone. Of course, he wasn't, and Drizzt would never desert Bruenor, but both the friends knew that Elves wouldn't take kindly to a drow in their realm, and while Elves felt no love for Dwarves, Bruenor had very realistic images of his ability to hide from these Elves. The footsteps were so close now that even Bruenor could hear them, and he instinctively tightened his grip on his ax handle, though he knew that Drizzt was right behind him.
A tall, blonde Elf stepped out of the foliage, bow raised, "What business does a Dwarf have in the realm of Mirkwood."
"Give me yer name, Elf, and I'll give ye mine."
The Elf laughed inwardly, and felt a brief wave of nostalgia. The last Dwarf he had known had said something of the same, in a vaguely similar situation. Out loud he said, "Legolas Greenleaf."
"Bruenor Battlehammer," Bruenor gave a curt nod. The bow was dropped, but Bruenor knew very well that it would only take an instant for the Elf to draw one of the many weapons sheathed at his hip or one of the swords at his back.
"Not since the Necromancer was at large and Smaug presided over the Lonely Mountain has a dwarf passed unescorted into the realm of Mirkwood."
"Well, I'll just be leaven yer woods, then. If any choice on the matter were mine, I'd never have come here in the first place."
Drizzt winced. Darn Bruenor and his stubborn pride.
Legolas' eyes narrowed dangerously, "That last unescorted Dwarf spent a fair amount of time in ad- in King Thranduil's dungeons."
Drizzt braced himself for what was coming, "Aye, but it wouldn't be very diplomatic to keep the Eighth King of Mithril Hall in yer dungeons, would it?"
"The last dwarf to come through here unescorted was the rightful King under the Mountain. He is dead."
Drizzt decided that this had gone far enough. He stepped out into the open, cowl up. His graceful strides revealed his Elven heritage, but the cwol hid the second half. His scimitars leapt from their sheaths, "Bruenor Battlehammer did not come unescorted."
"Perhaps. However, I meant an Elf of the Mirkwood realm, and you are obviously not. Sheath your weapons. True that you must come before King Thranduil; you must face the law of his woods now, but Gimli would never forgive me if I were so much as nick your friend."
Drizzt did so, knowing that he could draw them faster then thought, if needed, "You speak the name as though I should know it."
"Come now!" Legolas said in mock outrage, "The bards have told many a tale of Gimli son of Glóin of the Fellowship!"
Drizzt shook his head.
"Well, I shall have to tell Gimli of this! His head needs some deflating as of late!"
Legolas raised his bow, and fired off a shot into the air. Not long after, a loud crashing sound came through the underbrush. Drizzt glanced at Bruenor, and shrugged, "I have never heard an Elf make this much noise."
"An Elf?" Legolas grinned, "Don't insult me," He turned back toward the underbrush, "Gimli! You make as much noise as a heard of stampeding Mûmakil!"
"I'm comin', I'm comin' Elf! I'd tell you to hold yer horses, but you bloody Elves don't use reigns." Came a very obviously Dwarfish voice, soon followed by an obviously Dwarfish body.
Gimli stormed into the clearing, muttering a variety of Dwarfish curses, and stopped, suddenly, when he saw Bruenor. He quickly composed himself, looking vaguely embarrassed, "Well met. Hope the Elf hasn't given ye too much trouble."
Legolas shot Gimli a look, "Hardly. I couldn't have concentrated to battle even if I wanted to, so full were my ears with the sound of your footsteps. I could barely hear the trees! Well, Gimli of Stomps-A-Lot, let me introduce you to Bruenor Battlehammer, King of Mithril Hall, and... I'm afraid I never caught your name."
Drizzt cautiously lowered his cowl, bracing himself for the stranger's reaction, "Drizzt Do'Urden."
Legolas blinked twice, but to his credit, managed to hide his surprise, "You're a drow."
"A what?" Gimli sputtered. Bruenor, mistaking his confusion for outrage, tightened his grip on his ax, "A drow, and the noblest person ye could wish to meet, so hold yer tongue!"
Gimli blinked, sudden comprehension donning on his face, "No... what's a drow?"
Legolas sighed, and shrugged, "Please forgive my Dwarvish friend's ignorance. Drow have only been heard of in these parts in legend, and I doubt even Lord Elrond has seen one in his many years."
"Of course. I must admit I was slightly worried. My people- if you can call them people- don't exactly have the best reputations. Please forgive us if we have offended any of your customs- I am afraid we are strangers to these lands."
"No harm has been done- though I will still have to take you before my fa- my King. I hope you will suffer yourself to be bound. I am not in a position to disobey the King's orders."
Bruenor looked about to protest, but Drizzt lay a hand on his shoulder, and gave Bruenor a warning glance. Sometimes he could be just as stubborn as Wulfgar, their barbarian friend. Drizzt, obediently held out his hands behind him, which Legolas loosely bound.
"No hard feelings, I hope?"
Drizzt shook his head and gave Bruenor a warning glance.
Bruenor obliged, though grudgingly, "I can keep me axe, right?"
Legolas laughed, "I have tried parting a Dwarf from his axe before, and it is not an experience I wish to repeat."
Drizzt heard soft footsteps in the woods, but didn't mention it, assuming it to be another Elf.
Gimli chuckled evilly, "If Aragorn hadn't been there to pull me off yeh..."
"Then you would still be in the Houses of Healing, friend Gimli."
"Ah, ye underestimate Aragorn's healing ability."
"Nay, I doubt Legolas would ever underestimate MY ability to heal, for he has relied on it more times then he would like to admit. If anything, you underestimate his battle skills." A tall man, Aragorn, Drizzt guessed, stepped from the bushes.
"Oh, Dina, (Shut up) Aragorn... Aragorn? What are you doing here?"
Aragorn shrugged.
"You are needed in Gondor! Aragorn, you're the King! You can't just leave every time you feel like it! I should know."
"That never stopped you. Besides, Faramir and Arwen can handle it."
"What about Eldarion? You know he idolizes you."
"Arwen can take care of my son."
"But you're the KING!"
Drizzt watched the exchange with interest. A king! There was more to THIS elf than met the eye. Realizing that he wouldn't get any other clear facts out of the conversation (which Gimli was watching with amusement) he cleared his throat, "It would be appreciated if we could just get this over with?"
"Oh! Right... well, let's go then... and Aragorn, the drow is Drizzt Do'Urden, and the Dwarf is Bruenor Battlehammer, Eighth King of Mithril Hall. This is Aragorn King of Gondor."
Drizzt nodded his head respectively, but Aragorn smiled and shook his head, "Please, no formalities. I get enough of that from my advisors," Aragorn paused, studying Bruenor, "oh, and Bruenor... Don't worry- every person who's not an Elf has been through the hand binding- even me, and I was raised by them."
"Until Thranduil allows you passage, you must stay with one of us at all times. The wood-elves don't take kindly to dwarves." Legolas warned.
"Aye, but ye do. There's Gimli."
"True, but this Dwarf has is smitten with the Elvish lady Gala..."
Gimli pointedly cleared his throat, "Right, so Elf, ye've gone soft, is what yer saying."
Legolas fixed Gimli with the same deadly glare he had used on Bruenor before, turned it on Aragorn when he burst out laughing, looking none too pleased.
"I am sorry, my friend, I could not help it. You really have been spending too much time around my brothers to have picked up such a glare. Don't you look at me like that! You know I've been on the receiving end of the infamous Elvish glare a few too many times for it to have any affect."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Okay, bad ending, I know, but I'm anxious to get this posted.
DISCLAIMER: Don't own LOTR, don't own FR., though I wish I did. However, I do own a fanart picture of Drizzt I drew (the only good picture of a person, fictional or otherwise, I've ever drawn, and it took me three months to get it right,)
***
Most wouldn't have noticed the change, so subtle was it. The light seemed slightly different, the bird song changed ever so slightly. Drizzt's heightened sense picked up these subtle changes, as well as one more more obvious one. At least, it was more obvious to Drizzt. This forest they were in- that they hadn't been in perhaps thirty seconds ago- heavily emanated magic.
Drizzt glanced at Bruenor, to see if he had noticed as well. He hadn't.
"What's wrong, Elf?" Or perhaps he had. Drizzt hadn't known this Dwarf could sense magic. Bruenor easily read the look of surprise on Drizzt's face, and elaborated, "Yer hands are grippin'' yer scimitars too durn hard fer nothin'' to be wrong."
"We're not where we were."
"What do ye mean? Stop talkin' in riddles, Elf."
Drizzt laughed, "Magic. It's everywhere here. Not much there."
"Magic," Bruenor grumbled under his breath, "Ye never can trust it."
Drizzt didn't miss that, "Well, let's hope you trust a certain magical panther, as I'm calling her. We're in a forest of dark magic. We need to counter that weight. Besides, she has practice traveling between realms." Drizzt quickly tossed the figurine to the forest floor, and summoned up Guenwhyvar, the spirit panther of the Astral Plane. The great black panther flattened her ears and growled, hearing what even Drizzt's keen senses had until now missed.
"Elves," Drizzt breathed, melting into the trees, and quickly recalling Guenwhyvar, knowing that , hopefully, these Elves would be as wise as the ones in Silverymoon, and leaving Bruenor seemingly alone. Of course, he wasn't, and Drizzt would never desert Bruenor, but both the friends knew that Elves wouldn't take kindly to a drow in their realm, and while Elves felt no love for Dwarves, Bruenor had very realistic images of his ability to hide from these Elves. The footsteps were so close now that even Bruenor could hear them, and he instinctively tightened his grip on his ax handle, though he knew that Drizzt was right behind him.
A tall, blonde Elf stepped out of the foliage, bow raised, "What business does a Dwarf have in the realm of Mirkwood."
"Give me yer name, Elf, and I'll give ye mine."
The Elf laughed inwardly, and felt a brief wave of nostalgia. The last Dwarf he had known had said something of the same, in a vaguely similar situation. Out loud he said, "Legolas Greenleaf."
"Bruenor Battlehammer," Bruenor gave a curt nod. The bow was dropped, but Bruenor knew very well that it would only take an instant for the Elf to draw one of the many weapons sheathed at his hip or one of the swords at his back.
"Not since the Necromancer was at large and Smaug presided over the Lonely Mountain has a dwarf passed unescorted into the realm of Mirkwood."
"Well, I'll just be leaven yer woods, then. If any choice on the matter were mine, I'd never have come here in the first place."
Drizzt winced. Darn Bruenor and his stubborn pride.
Legolas' eyes narrowed dangerously, "That last unescorted Dwarf spent a fair amount of time in ad- in King Thranduil's dungeons."
Drizzt braced himself for what was coming, "Aye, but it wouldn't be very diplomatic to keep the Eighth King of Mithril Hall in yer dungeons, would it?"
"The last dwarf to come through here unescorted was the rightful King under the Mountain. He is dead."
Drizzt decided that this had gone far enough. He stepped out into the open, cowl up. His graceful strides revealed his Elven heritage, but the cwol hid the second half. His scimitars leapt from their sheaths, "Bruenor Battlehammer did not come unescorted."
"Perhaps. However, I meant an Elf of the Mirkwood realm, and you are obviously not. Sheath your weapons. True that you must come before King Thranduil; you must face the law of his woods now, but Gimli would never forgive me if I were so much as nick your friend."
Drizzt did so, knowing that he could draw them faster then thought, if needed, "You speak the name as though I should know it."
"Come now!" Legolas said in mock outrage, "The bards have told many a tale of Gimli son of Glóin of the Fellowship!"
Drizzt shook his head.
"Well, I shall have to tell Gimli of this! His head needs some deflating as of late!"
Legolas raised his bow, and fired off a shot into the air. Not long after, a loud crashing sound came through the underbrush. Drizzt glanced at Bruenor, and shrugged, "I have never heard an Elf make this much noise."
"An Elf?" Legolas grinned, "Don't insult me," He turned back toward the underbrush, "Gimli! You make as much noise as a heard of stampeding Mûmakil!"
"I'm comin', I'm comin' Elf! I'd tell you to hold yer horses, but you bloody Elves don't use reigns." Came a very obviously Dwarfish voice, soon followed by an obviously Dwarfish body.
Gimli stormed into the clearing, muttering a variety of Dwarfish curses, and stopped, suddenly, when he saw Bruenor. He quickly composed himself, looking vaguely embarrassed, "Well met. Hope the Elf hasn't given ye too much trouble."
Legolas shot Gimli a look, "Hardly. I couldn't have concentrated to battle even if I wanted to, so full were my ears with the sound of your footsteps. I could barely hear the trees! Well, Gimli of Stomps-A-Lot, let me introduce you to Bruenor Battlehammer, King of Mithril Hall, and... I'm afraid I never caught your name."
Drizzt cautiously lowered his cowl, bracing himself for the stranger's reaction, "Drizzt Do'Urden."
Legolas blinked twice, but to his credit, managed to hide his surprise, "You're a drow."
"A what?" Gimli sputtered. Bruenor, mistaking his confusion for outrage, tightened his grip on his ax, "A drow, and the noblest person ye could wish to meet, so hold yer tongue!"
Gimli blinked, sudden comprehension donning on his face, "No... what's a drow?"
Legolas sighed, and shrugged, "Please forgive my Dwarvish friend's ignorance. Drow have only been heard of in these parts in legend, and I doubt even Lord Elrond has seen one in his many years."
"Of course. I must admit I was slightly worried. My people- if you can call them people- don't exactly have the best reputations. Please forgive us if we have offended any of your customs- I am afraid we are strangers to these lands."
"No harm has been done- though I will still have to take you before my fa- my King. I hope you will suffer yourself to be bound. I am not in a position to disobey the King's orders."
Bruenor looked about to protest, but Drizzt lay a hand on his shoulder, and gave Bruenor a warning glance. Sometimes he could be just as stubborn as Wulfgar, their barbarian friend. Drizzt, obediently held out his hands behind him, which Legolas loosely bound.
"No hard feelings, I hope?"
Drizzt shook his head and gave Bruenor a warning glance.
Bruenor obliged, though grudgingly, "I can keep me axe, right?"
Legolas laughed, "I have tried parting a Dwarf from his axe before, and it is not an experience I wish to repeat."
Drizzt heard soft footsteps in the woods, but didn't mention it, assuming it to be another Elf.
Gimli chuckled evilly, "If Aragorn hadn't been there to pull me off yeh..."
"Then you would still be in the Houses of Healing, friend Gimli."
"Ah, ye underestimate Aragorn's healing ability."
"Nay, I doubt Legolas would ever underestimate MY ability to heal, for he has relied on it more times then he would like to admit. If anything, you underestimate his battle skills." A tall man, Aragorn, Drizzt guessed, stepped from the bushes.
"Oh, Dina, (Shut up) Aragorn... Aragorn? What are you doing here?"
Aragorn shrugged.
"You are needed in Gondor! Aragorn, you're the King! You can't just leave every time you feel like it! I should know."
"That never stopped you. Besides, Faramir and Arwen can handle it."
"What about Eldarion? You know he idolizes you."
"Arwen can take care of my son."
"But you're the KING!"
Drizzt watched the exchange with interest. A king! There was more to THIS elf than met the eye. Realizing that he wouldn't get any other clear facts out of the conversation (which Gimli was watching with amusement) he cleared his throat, "It would be appreciated if we could just get this over with?"
"Oh! Right... well, let's go then... and Aragorn, the drow is Drizzt Do'Urden, and the Dwarf is Bruenor Battlehammer, Eighth King of Mithril Hall. This is Aragorn King of Gondor."
Drizzt nodded his head respectively, but Aragorn smiled and shook his head, "Please, no formalities. I get enough of that from my advisors," Aragorn paused, studying Bruenor, "oh, and Bruenor... Don't worry- every person who's not an Elf has been through the hand binding- even me, and I was raised by them."
"Until Thranduil allows you passage, you must stay with one of us at all times. The wood-elves don't take kindly to dwarves." Legolas warned.
"Aye, but ye do. There's Gimli."
"True, but this Dwarf has is smitten with the Elvish lady Gala..."
Gimli pointedly cleared his throat, "Right, so Elf, ye've gone soft, is what yer saying."
Legolas fixed Gimli with the same deadly glare he had used on Bruenor before, turned it on Aragorn when he burst out laughing, looking none too pleased.
"I am sorry, my friend, I could not help it. You really have been spending too much time around my brothers to have picked up such a glare. Don't you look at me like that! You know I've been on the receiving end of the infamous Elvish glare a few too many times for it to have any affect."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Okay, bad ending, I know, but I'm anxious to get this posted.