(A/N hello, I've just got back from my Nan's and you are so privileged
because the first thing I've done since I got back is to write this chapter
for you. Also my brother's friends, barring one who doesn't count as he's
quiet, have gone so I can actually concentrate.)
Aragorn blinked, and then he raised his hands slowly, lifting his head so that the elves could see who he was.
"Peace Rúmil" he said, in their native tongue, recognising the elf at the front.
Slowly the elves lowered their bows and Rúmil, after peering at the man in front of him smiled,
"Aragorn, we have not seen you for a while, what brings you to Lorien? And why did you not come to the city instead of camping in the trees like an intruder?"
"Well I haven't really come to Lorien for a visit, I've been tracking someone for quite a while now, and yesterday the tracks led to the bottom of this tree and then disappeared, I was at a loss and decided to wait and see if morning would throw a new light on things."
"What is this creature you have been tracking?" asked Rúmil seriously, "We may have seen it, not many things can get into this wood without our notice"
"It was the creature Gollum, a small black being, it is almost a miniature version of a human, only years of bearing evil has made him twisted and almost unrecognisable"
The elves considered this for a few minutes and then one of them said softly said something to Rúmil who nodded and turned back to the ranger and said.
"According to Herendil, a few months ago now a creature of that description was seen along the borders near the Anduin, the sentries there shot at it, but by some luck he managed to dodge them. He dived into the river and swam down towards the borders of the forest. The elves followed him and saw him climb out of the river onto the eastern shores once he had past out from under the borders. As he did not seem to have done any harm the guards did not bother trying to catch it. Does this sound like your quarry?"
"It does" Aragorn said sighing, it sounded like Gollum was making his way to Mordor and Aragorn did not especially wish to go there.
"Will you not come to the city, if only for a day or two, you look weary and could rest there?"
Aragorn turned to face the direction of Caras Galadhon; he could just smell the sweet scent of Niphredil and Elanor wafting on the breeze. His heart urged him to go, it was almost certain that Arwen would be there, but then he sighed once more and turned to face the direction of the Anduin.
"I cannot, I must make haste, do you have any food with you that I could have, I am running short of supplies?"
The elves searched their packs and quickly came up with a handful of five or six packets of lembas. After handing them over another elf, Aiwendil, handed over a small bottle. Aragorn looked at it curiously before taking of the lid and sniffing it. He grinned suddenly and turned to the elf.
"Hannon lle Aiwendil, Tanya farnuva" (Thank you Aiwendil, that will suffice) Inside the bottle was around a gallon of Lothlorien's spiced wine. Aragorn was always remembered in Lorien by the fact that when he had first visited the city his brother had 'accidentally' given Aragorn a bit too much of it. The result was one very drunk ranger staggering round the forest, and some of the things he did he doubted would ever be forgotten by the elves. And since they were immortal that meant they were going to be remembered for ever.
As if to prove this Rúmil, who had caught the scent of the wine smiled at the human and said.
"Just don't walk into any hunting traps this time and end up hanging upside down all night. There might not be anyone to rescue you from any orc bands that happen to be roaming the area this time."
Aragorn just groaned, he would never live that down.
"I will try my hardest to resist the temptation to almost get myself killed. It'll be hard but I'm sure I'll manage it somehow."
After thanking the elves once more for their kindness, he bade them farewell and started out once more, taking a quick swig of the wine when he thought that he was out of sight of the elves. A soft snicker from somewhere above him spoiled that theory and he muttered under his breath.
"Prissy elves"
The soft response from above him of
"Scummy human" finished that conversation and chuckling lightly he carried on his way.
Unlike in the Dimrill Dale, when he had wanted to leave as quickly as possible, he walked leisurely under the trees, enjoying the feel of the sun shining down through the trees as he went. He didn't encounter many more elves, or at least he didn't see or hear any. Of course that didn't mean that there weren't any there, it meant that if there were they didn't want to be seen. That suited the human fine as he was quite content to walk on his own.
Several hours later when he reached the Anduin he finally saw another elf when the sentinels guarding the borders stepped forward.
"Creoso, mellonamin, (welcome my friend) Rúmil sent word that you would be coming, one of the guards here saw where the creature you are tracking got out of the river, he will lead you to it" the elf speaking was Orophin, the brother of Rúmil and Haldir.
"Hannon lle, where is Haldir today, he is normally with one of you but I have not seen him yet"
At this the elves started snickering lightly and Orophin solemnly replied.
"Alas, several days ago he decided it would be a good idea to attempt to trick the Lady Arwen, sadly for him she found out about the trick and turned the trick around, he ended up with a broken nose and a fractured wrist, the Lady Galadriel deemed it wise for him to stay in the city for a few days. Aragorn chuckled appreciatively at the tale and then an elf stepped forward.
"I will now take you to where the creature went, we would normally cross the river by a rope bridge but we will go by boat now."
Gratefully the Dúnedan climbed into the boat and after calling farewell to the other elves he took up a paddle and they crossed the river. They reached the other side in minutes and the elf leapt nimbly out of the boat, followed more slowly by Aragorn. The elf, whose name was Aldarin, led the man down the river side until they came to a bend in the river and the Mallorn trees ended and were replaced by the ordinary trees of the woods. They had left Lorien now. Suddenly Aldarin pointed to the ground.
"There, see those tracks, that is where the creature went, you can smell his foul scent here as well."
"You may be able to smell it but I cant" said Aragorn, grinning as he stooped down to examine the prints. "I can however see his tracks, these are indeed those of my prey, thank you for your help."
"Lle creoso, quel marth (You are welcome, good luck) I hope you find what you are searching for"
"Namarie" Aragorn called as he ran off on the trail once more.
(A/N, well there you have today's chapter, I can know say that I own some characters, that's really good, I've never owned characters before. I've always had to borrow them. But now I own three elves. In case you are wondering what their names mean it is written below.
Aldarin- well Aldarion means son of trees, but that sounded to much like Eldarion, the name of Aragorn's son so I kept Alder, which I think means trees and then just added in on the end to make more long and elvish sounding.
Aiwendil- Lover of Birds
Herendil- Fortune Friend. I thought this one was quite appropriate, fortunately for Aragorn he had seen Gollum so that was a bit of fortune on Aragorn's part.
Anyway like I said this is the end GOODBYE. (Slips on ring and vanishes in a flash of green light supplied by your friendly neighbourhood Maiar. No not Tom Bombadil or Goldberry, the other friendly neighbourhood Maiar. You know Gandalf.) Ok Namarieâº)
Aragorn blinked, and then he raised his hands slowly, lifting his head so that the elves could see who he was.
"Peace Rúmil" he said, in their native tongue, recognising the elf at the front.
Slowly the elves lowered their bows and Rúmil, after peering at the man in front of him smiled,
"Aragorn, we have not seen you for a while, what brings you to Lorien? And why did you not come to the city instead of camping in the trees like an intruder?"
"Well I haven't really come to Lorien for a visit, I've been tracking someone for quite a while now, and yesterday the tracks led to the bottom of this tree and then disappeared, I was at a loss and decided to wait and see if morning would throw a new light on things."
"What is this creature you have been tracking?" asked Rúmil seriously, "We may have seen it, not many things can get into this wood without our notice"
"It was the creature Gollum, a small black being, it is almost a miniature version of a human, only years of bearing evil has made him twisted and almost unrecognisable"
The elves considered this for a few minutes and then one of them said softly said something to Rúmil who nodded and turned back to the ranger and said.
"According to Herendil, a few months ago now a creature of that description was seen along the borders near the Anduin, the sentries there shot at it, but by some luck he managed to dodge them. He dived into the river and swam down towards the borders of the forest. The elves followed him and saw him climb out of the river onto the eastern shores once he had past out from under the borders. As he did not seem to have done any harm the guards did not bother trying to catch it. Does this sound like your quarry?"
"It does" Aragorn said sighing, it sounded like Gollum was making his way to Mordor and Aragorn did not especially wish to go there.
"Will you not come to the city, if only for a day or two, you look weary and could rest there?"
Aragorn turned to face the direction of Caras Galadhon; he could just smell the sweet scent of Niphredil and Elanor wafting on the breeze. His heart urged him to go, it was almost certain that Arwen would be there, but then he sighed once more and turned to face the direction of the Anduin.
"I cannot, I must make haste, do you have any food with you that I could have, I am running short of supplies?"
The elves searched their packs and quickly came up with a handful of five or six packets of lembas. After handing them over another elf, Aiwendil, handed over a small bottle. Aragorn looked at it curiously before taking of the lid and sniffing it. He grinned suddenly and turned to the elf.
"Hannon lle Aiwendil, Tanya farnuva" (Thank you Aiwendil, that will suffice) Inside the bottle was around a gallon of Lothlorien's spiced wine. Aragorn was always remembered in Lorien by the fact that when he had first visited the city his brother had 'accidentally' given Aragorn a bit too much of it. The result was one very drunk ranger staggering round the forest, and some of the things he did he doubted would ever be forgotten by the elves. And since they were immortal that meant they were going to be remembered for ever.
As if to prove this Rúmil, who had caught the scent of the wine smiled at the human and said.
"Just don't walk into any hunting traps this time and end up hanging upside down all night. There might not be anyone to rescue you from any orc bands that happen to be roaming the area this time."
Aragorn just groaned, he would never live that down.
"I will try my hardest to resist the temptation to almost get myself killed. It'll be hard but I'm sure I'll manage it somehow."
After thanking the elves once more for their kindness, he bade them farewell and started out once more, taking a quick swig of the wine when he thought that he was out of sight of the elves. A soft snicker from somewhere above him spoiled that theory and he muttered under his breath.
"Prissy elves"
The soft response from above him of
"Scummy human" finished that conversation and chuckling lightly he carried on his way.
Unlike in the Dimrill Dale, when he had wanted to leave as quickly as possible, he walked leisurely under the trees, enjoying the feel of the sun shining down through the trees as he went. He didn't encounter many more elves, or at least he didn't see or hear any. Of course that didn't mean that there weren't any there, it meant that if there were they didn't want to be seen. That suited the human fine as he was quite content to walk on his own.
Several hours later when he reached the Anduin he finally saw another elf when the sentinels guarding the borders stepped forward.
"Creoso, mellonamin, (welcome my friend) Rúmil sent word that you would be coming, one of the guards here saw where the creature you are tracking got out of the river, he will lead you to it" the elf speaking was Orophin, the brother of Rúmil and Haldir.
"Hannon lle, where is Haldir today, he is normally with one of you but I have not seen him yet"
At this the elves started snickering lightly and Orophin solemnly replied.
"Alas, several days ago he decided it would be a good idea to attempt to trick the Lady Arwen, sadly for him she found out about the trick and turned the trick around, he ended up with a broken nose and a fractured wrist, the Lady Galadriel deemed it wise for him to stay in the city for a few days. Aragorn chuckled appreciatively at the tale and then an elf stepped forward.
"I will now take you to where the creature went, we would normally cross the river by a rope bridge but we will go by boat now."
Gratefully the Dúnedan climbed into the boat and after calling farewell to the other elves he took up a paddle and they crossed the river. They reached the other side in minutes and the elf leapt nimbly out of the boat, followed more slowly by Aragorn. The elf, whose name was Aldarin, led the man down the river side until they came to a bend in the river and the Mallorn trees ended and were replaced by the ordinary trees of the woods. They had left Lorien now. Suddenly Aldarin pointed to the ground.
"There, see those tracks, that is where the creature went, you can smell his foul scent here as well."
"You may be able to smell it but I cant" said Aragorn, grinning as he stooped down to examine the prints. "I can however see his tracks, these are indeed those of my prey, thank you for your help."
"Lle creoso, quel marth (You are welcome, good luck) I hope you find what you are searching for"
"Namarie" Aragorn called as he ran off on the trail once more.
(A/N, well there you have today's chapter, I can know say that I own some characters, that's really good, I've never owned characters before. I've always had to borrow them. But now I own three elves. In case you are wondering what their names mean it is written below.
Aldarin- well Aldarion means son of trees, but that sounded to much like Eldarion, the name of Aragorn's son so I kept Alder, which I think means trees and then just added in on the end to make more long and elvish sounding.
Aiwendil- Lover of Birds
Herendil- Fortune Friend. I thought this one was quite appropriate, fortunately for Aragorn he had seen Gollum so that was a bit of fortune on Aragorn's part.
Anyway like I said this is the end GOODBYE. (Slips on ring and vanishes in a flash of green light supplied by your friendly neighbourhood Maiar. No not Tom Bombadil or Goldberry, the other friendly neighbourhood Maiar. You know Gandalf.) Ok Namarieâº)
