-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: *singing* I own nothing nothing, I own nothing all day long, I own absolutely nothing now you know my nothing song!
Glorfindel: That was surprisingly good.
CS: Eh, learned it from a friend. Probably got the lyrics wrong, too.
Glorfindel: Can't you just take a compliment?
CS: Not from you, no...
Glorfindel: Why not?
CS: Because you're a fictional character who I am currently controlling. Ergo, any compliment you give me is basically like me complimenting myself, and I am quite sure that isn't too good for ones mental health.
Glorfindel: ...
Rachel: Just nod and agree.
Glorfindel: *nods and agrees*
-13: Leaving-
I didn't go to sleep when I went to my room. In fact, I didn't do anything even close to sleeping. Instead, I changed into the still-dirty pair of trousers and tunic that I had 'borrowed' from Elladan. I rolled up the dress I'd just changed out of, then dug around in the wardrobe until I found something closely resembling a scarf and wrapped it around my head, hiding the tips of my ears. Glancing in the mirror, I was satisfied that no one without special knowledge of Elvish features was going to know for sure that I was an Elf unless I told them, and then I quietly went out into the main room. Careful not to make a noise to disturb Kari, I pulled out the writing materials that I'd used earlier that day and pulled a new sheet of parchment towards me. Pausing in thought, I hesitated only a few moments before writing down a note - in runes, and in the language Kari and I had made up. I smiled as I wrote it, then when finished, I put it upside down on the table and took a last look around the room before slipping out into the halls.
I hesitated once I was out in the hall, not entirely sure of where to go, but then I caught a whiff of food, and I used Gandalf's advice to Merry and followed my nose down to the kitchen. Once there, I was delighted to find it empty, the cook's all retired for the night, and I snooped around for only a short while before finding a collection of buns - freshly baked, too. I grabbed a nearby cloth that was presumably a drying towel and wrapped several buns in it, careful not to take too much, lest the absence be noted. I then searched around for some dried meats, fruits, and maybe some cheese. Surprisingly, I found all three objects, and snitched as much as I dared. Finally, I grabbed a few fresh fruits that were sitting on one of the counters, and left the kitchen for the halls of Rivendell.
Somehow, by the miracle of determination, I managed to find my way out of the buildings of Rivendell and onto the actual grounds. I was pleased to discover that the moon had set, and there was light cloud cover, so the night was just about as dark as you could wish for. Satisfied that my plan was going along nicely, I followed the roads and paths until I came to the paddock where I had left Liltalen earlier that day. I approached the fence and whistled quietly to Liltalen, only mildly surprised when he came right away.
"Hey boy." I said softly, patting his nose. He nickered at me, nudging my shoulder, and I smiled. "Listen, I need you to do me a big favour, Liltalen. I need you to jump the fence." Liltalen showed no sign of understanding, but he looked at me curiously as I moved away from the fence, beckoning for him to follow. He looked down at the fence, then up at me in annoyance. I beckoned for him to come again. He looked at the fence again and snorted.
"Come on, Liltalen, the fence isn't THAT high. It should be no problem for you to just jump over it!" I said. Liltalen snorted again, then turned and disappeared into the darkness. I hesitated, then cautiously moved back to the fence and peered into the field, unable to spot Liltalen even with my new Elvish vision. Then, out in the field, I heard the sound of a horse galloping, and Liltalen entered my vision again. I barely had time to move out of the way before he leaped over the fence and landed smoothly on the other side. Snorting and tossing his head, he trotted over to me.
"Good boy!" I said cheerfully, and realizing one of the fruits I'd snagged from the kitchen was an apple, I handed it to him in thanks. When he was done munching on the apple, I headed off towards the stables, Liltalen following. It wasn't until I reached the stables and saw a light on inside that I realized what a problem getting tack for Liltalen really was going to be - apparently there was always a stable hand up, to receive visitors no matter the hour, and Rivendell had little tack, so any that went missing would be immediately missed. I hesitated, then looked at Liltalen and shrugged.
"Hey, if I'm going to be a Mary-Sue, I might as well put it to good use and ride you bareback." I said softly to him. Liltalen nuzzled me, and I smiled as I turned towards the entrance to Rivendell.
There were guards standing at the gates, looking alert, but as I crept closer, I realized with a stifled giggle that the guard's eyes were glazed over in Elvish sleep. I grinned. Some things are universal. Beckoning for Liltalen to follow, I made a swift dash out of the gates, and the stallion trotted along surprisingly noiselessly behind me. No voice called out to me when I reached other side of the gates, and I smiled happily in relief.
I turned my attention to the bridge that was now in front of me, my way out of Rivendell. I stepped onto it and made it to the middle quickly, then stopped and unrolled the dress I had brought with me. It really was a nice dress I mused as I looked at it. It was a shame to ruin it. But it couldn't be helped.
Carefully and as quietly as I could, I tore some small bits of cloth off the dress and dropped them on top of rocks or in slow moving side pools of the river. Not enough to make it look like my dress had been shredded, but a good amount. Then I tore a few other strips off the dress, and dropped what remained of the dress into a swift-moving part of the stream.
I finished crossing the bridge, then, and followed the path beyond it up out of the valley. I then left the path and walked north - upstream from the bridge - along the top edge of the valley, until I reached a section where it was almost a sheer drop down to the river that I'd dropped my dress into. Peering over the edge, I dropped the few remaining pieces of my dress over, and was satisfied to see at least one piece snag on a branch on the way down. Now came the hard part.
I whistled to Liltalen, calling him over, and, while standing on the very edge of the cliff, I mounted Liltalen - backwards. Not in the sense that I was now sitting on him backwards, but where you normally mount a horse while facing it, I left my back to the stallion and reached behind me to grab his mane and get a good grip on his back, then made the biggest jump I'd ever made, and pulled myself onto his back. I grinned wickedly down as where my footprints - facing the cliff - were now visible in the sparse dirt covering the rock of the cliff. Then I wound my hands tightly into Liltalen's mane, and kicked him into a gallop, heading west, towards Bree, or whatever other town I might find.
---
Kari woke slowly the next morning, grumpy and unhappy. She, for the first time since arriving in Rivendell, had had nightmares last night. Most of them involved pain and death of some sort, not too mention creepy journeys in the dark. Her mood was not improved any by the remembrance of her and Rachel's fight the night before, and it was with great reluctance that she pulled herself out of bed and got dressed, heading for the main room where Rachel was sure to be if she was awake.
Rachel was, however, nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a sheet of parchment resting on the table, and the writing supplies sitting nearby, as if someone was preparing to write something. Curious, Kari wandered over to the table and casually picked up the paper, wondering if Rachel had left another note. It was blank, though. Wondering if Rachel had decided to make it a little harder on her, Kari sniffed the paper to see if Rachel had written in lemon juice - the poor mans invisible ink. There was nothing, however - except a strong smell of ink. Curious, Kari turned the parchment over, and blinked in surprise as she looked at the runes on the other side.
Well. Kari didn't read runes - and neither did Rachel - so why was this here? Now intrigued, Kari determined that the best course of action was to find someone who COULD read runes and have them translate the message for her. So she set out of the room and headed for Elrohir's room, figuring that was the best place to start. She met Elrohir halfway there, and handed him the note, explaining that she didn't read runes and asking him what it said. Elrohir frowned as he took the note, scanning it quickly.
"This is gibberish." he said finally. "Those runes that I can read make no sense."
"Really?" Kari asked, peering at the note. "Might it be some form of runes you don't know?"
"Possibly." Elrohir said with a frown. "Maybe father will be able to read them." With that, the two set off for Elrond's study. Elrond was there when they arrived, and they quickly explained about the strange note and how neither Elrohir nor Kari understood any of it. Elrond frowned lightly and took the note, scanning in carefully.
"I agree, Elrohir, it is gibberish." he said after awhile, frowning thoughtfully. "But it is familiar gibberish."
"Oh? You have seen these runes before?" Elrohir asked curiously. Elrond nodded, putting the note down.
"Once, a long time ago. Your mother and I were out riding in the woods one time and we stopped for a rest - stop snickering. When we went to go again, we spotted some paper on the ground, and when we picked it up, we found strange runes written on it." he said. "I believe I have the paper somewhere around here..." Elrond started rifling through one of his drawers, and after several minutes, pulled out a piece of paper with a triumphant smile. "Ah, here it is." Kari paled as she saw the paper. It had quite obviously been torn out of a notebook, and the writing on it - the runes - were very familiar. Suddenly, a memory surfaced in Kari's mind, and she realized where the runes were from.
"Damn my memories slow!" Kari suddenly complained.
"What?" Elrohir asked curiously, looking at Kari, but she'd already picked up her note again and was studying it.
"I thought so. I DO know these runes. Rachel and I got really bored one time while we were traveling and decided to make up our own language." Kari said. "These are the runes we made up to write the language out."
"You made up your own language." Elrond said flatly, eyebrows raised.
"Very bored, slightly insane." Kari said with a roll of her eyes. "This first word is 'faw', and after that is...'shi mai'. Then 'sayza baek dafum', and it's signed 'Paerrul Ssao'."
"So...what does that mean?" Elrohir asked.
"I have no idea." Kari said with a frown. "I've forgotten most of the language; I haven't used it in so long. 'Sayza' means friend, though. And since this is Rachel and my's language, and 'paerrul' means night, I'd wager that 'Paerrul Ssao' is 'Night Star'. Baek and mai seem very familiar, too..."
"Perhaps looking at this other paper would help you translate the rest?" Elrond asked, holding out the other sheet of writing to Kari.
"Hmm, possibly. Let's see..." Kari pulled an empty sheet of parchment towards her, snagged Elrond's quill, and started translating, saying the words out loud as she went. "Hatr...fssarr'l beil...moet Elven-Glorf'l..." Kari stopped suddenly, her eyes going wide as she realized suddenly what she was translating.
"What is it?" Elrohir asked.
"I don't need to translate any more of this." she said softly.
"Oh, have you remembered more about your language?" Elrond asked curiously.
"No, but I know what this says." Kari replied.
"What does it say?" Elrond asked, ever curious. Kari hesitated for a moment, then closed her eyes and recited from memory,
"Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for mortal men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
"Rachel and I translated that into our language a long time ago. How you and Lady CelebrÃan came across it is beyond me, however." Kari finished softly. Elrond and Elrohir just looked at Kari, dumbfounded.
"The prophecy of the ring? How on Arda did the two of you hear of that in your travels?" Elrond asked.
"It matters not." Kari said dismissively, turning back to the note. "The point is, that has refreshed my memory enough that I can translate some of this note...'Something, something, not, friend of mine. Night Star.' Shi...Shi...Me! 'Something me not, friend of mine.'" Kari frowned thoughtfully, drumming her fingers on Elrond's desk as she tried to remember the last word. "'Faw' must have been one of the later words we made. I can remember making it, but never using it, or what it means..." At that point, any further thought was interrupted by the door slamming open and Elladan dashing in, his face pale.
"Elladan? What is the matter?" Elrond asked, worried, rising from behind his desk.
"It's...Liltalen. Rachel's stallion. He got out during the night." Elladan said, gasping for breath.
"So? Go catch him." Elrohir said, annoyed.
"I was going to do just that, but when I followed his tracks, I ended out on top of the bridge, and..." Elladan paused, and then slowly held out his right hand, which was wrapped tightly around something. "I saw this in the water." Curious, Elrond held out his hand, and Elladan dropped what he was holding into his father's hand. Elrond's eyebrows shot up as he looked at what he was holding.
"A piece of fabric?" he asked.
"A piece of a dress. The dress Rachel was wearing last night." Elladan said softly. Everyone in the room stared at Elladan in shock.
"You must be mistaken, Elladan." Elrohir said after a while. "You can't be sure that this is a piece of Rachel's dress. What on Arda would it be doing in the river?"
"There are cliffs north of Rivendell." Elladan said quietly, remembering Rachel's comment to Elrohir the day before when she had told him she didn't care about being proper.
"Forget." Kari said suddenly, her eyes wide as saucers. Everyone looked at her. "'Faw' means forget. Rachel's note reads 'forget me not, friend of mine.'" Silence reigned.
"Let us go to the bridge and see what more we can find before we...assume anything." Elrond said, carefully avoiding saying the word 'jump'. The other three elves in the room nodded, all looking slightly dazed. Seeing none of them were about to lead the way, Elrond took the lead and strode out of his study, his sons and Kari following quietly and quickly behind. On his way down the hallway, Elrond spotted a familiar head of golden hair disappearing around a corner in front of him, and he called out to its owner.
"Glorfindel!" The Elf-lord's head appeared around the corner, and he looked at Elrond curiously.
"Yes Lord Elrond?" he asked.
"Come." Elrond commanded. Glorfindel looked at those already following Elrond, shrugged, and headed over and fell into step with the Lord of Rivendell.
"What is going on?" Glorfindel asked curiously. "Your three lost puppies look like they've seen a death."
"They haven't, though the quite possibly could have seen the evidence of one." Elrond replied briskly.
"What?!" Glorfindel exclaimed in surprise.
"Kari found a note in her room this morning from Rachel reading 'forget me not, friend of mine'. When Elladan went to see Narore this morning before breakfast like he usually does, he discovered that Liltalen was missing. He went to track down the stallion, and found a piece of the dress Rachel was wearing last night in the river." Elrond explained. Glorfindel paled.
"What would part of her dress be doing in the river?" the Elf-lord asked, unwilling to make the obvious connections.
"As Elladan pointed out, there are cliffs north of here." Elrond said softly, so that the three behind him couldn't hear. "And Rachel seemed quite disturbed about something last night - I walked her back to her room, and she ended out having a fight with Kari, I believe. When Elrohir and I left, Kari and Rachel said that they were fine, but I think that was only true for Kari."
"Rachel would not, though...I mean..." Glorfindel was looking very disturbed at what all this was pointing to, and Elrond felt sorry for the Elf. Glorfindel and Rachel seemed to have been getting along wonderfully yesterday - Arwen had even told him that Glorfindel had let Rachel shorten his name to 'Glory', something he hadn't heard of anyone being able to do - and if this all truly led to the obvious conclusion, it would be a hard blow to Glorfindel. He had never handled death easily since returning from his own death. Elrond suddenly regretted calling out to Glorfindel, but then realized that he would have found out sooner or later.
"The west bridge." Elladan said, speaking for the first time since the study to direct his father towards where he'd found the fabric as they stepped outside. Nodding, Elrond headed in the direction of the bridge, and they soon reached it. Looking down into the river, Elrond spotted another strip of fabric on a rock in the center of the water and sighed.
"See if you can find her horses tracks on the other side of the bridge." he said. Elladan, Elrohir and Glorfindel nodded, and all three quickly set to work.
"Here they are." Elladan said, recognizing the hoof prints from earlier. With the prints identified, the three trackers followed them quickly into the forest and north along the cliffs. So intent were they on their task, they barely noticed where they were going - Elrond and Kari did, though. Straight towards the cliffs. And, suddenly, all three tracking Elves stopped, staring at a point on the ground not far from the cliffs.
"What is it?" Kari asked nervously.
"Footprints." Elrohir choked out. "Somebody jumped from here." And with that announcement, Kari did the only sensible thing she could do - she fainted.
----To be continued...with 42.87% more prancing ponies!----
(And tiredness...guh, stupid tiredness)
-Authors Note:-
Yes, alright, the language thingy wasn't really needed and just makes a corny and Mary-Sue addition to the plot. But I've been wanting to put that language into a story or fanfic for...a long time. And if you're wondering, yes, the language is actually real. My friend and I made/are making it up. (the dictionary's currently 6 pages long...)
Anywho, I apologize for the long time between updates, I really have no excuse except laziness. And schoolwork. But schoolwork isn't really an excuse. (mostly because I use everything else as an excuse to get away from doing schoolwork)
Once again, thank-you to all my lovely reviewers. You all get cookies made by Glorfindel. Your choice whether you want to risk eating them or not...Especially if you're also an Aragorn fan, since Arwen helped him bake them.
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
CS: *singing* I own nothing nothing, I own nothing all day long, I own absolutely nothing now you know my nothing song!
Glorfindel: That was surprisingly good.
CS: Eh, learned it from a friend. Probably got the lyrics wrong, too.
Glorfindel: Can't you just take a compliment?
CS: Not from you, no...
Glorfindel: Why not?
CS: Because you're a fictional character who I am currently controlling. Ergo, any compliment you give me is basically like me complimenting myself, and I am quite sure that isn't too good for ones mental health.
Glorfindel: ...
Rachel: Just nod and agree.
Glorfindel: *nods and agrees*
-13: Leaving-
I didn't go to sleep when I went to my room. In fact, I didn't do anything even close to sleeping. Instead, I changed into the still-dirty pair of trousers and tunic that I had 'borrowed' from Elladan. I rolled up the dress I'd just changed out of, then dug around in the wardrobe until I found something closely resembling a scarf and wrapped it around my head, hiding the tips of my ears. Glancing in the mirror, I was satisfied that no one without special knowledge of Elvish features was going to know for sure that I was an Elf unless I told them, and then I quietly went out into the main room. Careful not to make a noise to disturb Kari, I pulled out the writing materials that I'd used earlier that day and pulled a new sheet of parchment towards me. Pausing in thought, I hesitated only a few moments before writing down a note - in runes, and in the language Kari and I had made up. I smiled as I wrote it, then when finished, I put it upside down on the table and took a last look around the room before slipping out into the halls.
I hesitated once I was out in the hall, not entirely sure of where to go, but then I caught a whiff of food, and I used Gandalf's advice to Merry and followed my nose down to the kitchen. Once there, I was delighted to find it empty, the cook's all retired for the night, and I snooped around for only a short while before finding a collection of buns - freshly baked, too. I grabbed a nearby cloth that was presumably a drying towel and wrapped several buns in it, careful not to take too much, lest the absence be noted. I then searched around for some dried meats, fruits, and maybe some cheese. Surprisingly, I found all three objects, and snitched as much as I dared. Finally, I grabbed a few fresh fruits that were sitting on one of the counters, and left the kitchen for the halls of Rivendell.
Somehow, by the miracle of determination, I managed to find my way out of the buildings of Rivendell and onto the actual grounds. I was pleased to discover that the moon had set, and there was light cloud cover, so the night was just about as dark as you could wish for. Satisfied that my plan was going along nicely, I followed the roads and paths until I came to the paddock where I had left Liltalen earlier that day. I approached the fence and whistled quietly to Liltalen, only mildly surprised when he came right away.
"Hey boy." I said softly, patting his nose. He nickered at me, nudging my shoulder, and I smiled. "Listen, I need you to do me a big favour, Liltalen. I need you to jump the fence." Liltalen showed no sign of understanding, but he looked at me curiously as I moved away from the fence, beckoning for him to follow. He looked down at the fence, then up at me in annoyance. I beckoned for him to come again. He looked at the fence again and snorted.
"Come on, Liltalen, the fence isn't THAT high. It should be no problem for you to just jump over it!" I said. Liltalen snorted again, then turned and disappeared into the darkness. I hesitated, then cautiously moved back to the fence and peered into the field, unable to spot Liltalen even with my new Elvish vision. Then, out in the field, I heard the sound of a horse galloping, and Liltalen entered my vision again. I barely had time to move out of the way before he leaped over the fence and landed smoothly on the other side. Snorting and tossing his head, he trotted over to me.
"Good boy!" I said cheerfully, and realizing one of the fruits I'd snagged from the kitchen was an apple, I handed it to him in thanks. When he was done munching on the apple, I headed off towards the stables, Liltalen following. It wasn't until I reached the stables and saw a light on inside that I realized what a problem getting tack for Liltalen really was going to be - apparently there was always a stable hand up, to receive visitors no matter the hour, and Rivendell had little tack, so any that went missing would be immediately missed. I hesitated, then looked at Liltalen and shrugged.
"Hey, if I'm going to be a Mary-Sue, I might as well put it to good use and ride you bareback." I said softly to him. Liltalen nuzzled me, and I smiled as I turned towards the entrance to Rivendell.
There were guards standing at the gates, looking alert, but as I crept closer, I realized with a stifled giggle that the guard's eyes were glazed over in Elvish sleep. I grinned. Some things are universal. Beckoning for Liltalen to follow, I made a swift dash out of the gates, and the stallion trotted along surprisingly noiselessly behind me. No voice called out to me when I reached other side of the gates, and I smiled happily in relief.
I turned my attention to the bridge that was now in front of me, my way out of Rivendell. I stepped onto it and made it to the middle quickly, then stopped and unrolled the dress I had brought with me. It really was a nice dress I mused as I looked at it. It was a shame to ruin it. But it couldn't be helped.
Carefully and as quietly as I could, I tore some small bits of cloth off the dress and dropped them on top of rocks or in slow moving side pools of the river. Not enough to make it look like my dress had been shredded, but a good amount. Then I tore a few other strips off the dress, and dropped what remained of the dress into a swift-moving part of the stream.
I finished crossing the bridge, then, and followed the path beyond it up out of the valley. I then left the path and walked north - upstream from the bridge - along the top edge of the valley, until I reached a section where it was almost a sheer drop down to the river that I'd dropped my dress into. Peering over the edge, I dropped the few remaining pieces of my dress over, and was satisfied to see at least one piece snag on a branch on the way down. Now came the hard part.
I whistled to Liltalen, calling him over, and, while standing on the very edge of the cliff, I mounted Liltalen - backwards. Not in the sense that I was now sitting on him backwards, but where you normally mount a horse while facing it, I left my back to the stallion and reached behind me to grab his mane and get a good grip on his back, then made the biggest jump I'd ever made, and pulled myself onto his back. I grinned wickedly down as where my footprints - facing the cliff - were now visible in the sparse dirt covering the rock of the cliff. Then I wound my hands tightly into Liltalen's mane, and kicked him into a gallop, heading west, towards Bree, or whatever other town I might find.
---
Kari woke slowly the next morning, grumpy and unhappy. She, for the first time since arriving in Rivendell, had had nightmares last night. Most of them involved pain and death of some sort, not too mention creepy journeys in the dark. Her mood was not improved any by the remembrance of her and Rachel's fight the night before, and it was with great reluctance that she pulled herself out of bed and got dressed, heading for the main room where Rachel was sure to be if she was awake.
Rachel was, however, nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a sheet of parchment resting on the table, and the writing supplies sitting nearby, as if someone was preparing to write something. Curious, Kari wandered over to the table and casually picked up the paper, wondering if Rachel had left another note. It was blank, though. Wondering if Rachel had decided to make it a little harder on her, Kari sniffed the paper to see if Rachel had written in lemon juice - the poor mans invisible ink. There was nothing, however - except a strong smell of ink. Curious, Kari turned the parchment over, and blinked in surprise as she looked at the runes on the other side.
Well. Kari didn't read runes - and neither did Rachel - so why was this here? Now intrigued, Kari determined that the best course of action was to find someone who COULD read runes and have them translate the message for her. So she set out of the room and headed for Elrohir's room, figuring that was the best place to start. She met Elrohir halfway there, and handed him the note, explaining that she didn't read runes and asking him what it said. Elrohir frowned as he took the note, scanning it quickly.
"This is gibberish." he said finally. "Those runes that I can read make no sense."
"Really?" Kari asked, peering at the note. "Might it be some form of runes you don't know?"
"Possibly." Elrohir said with a frown. "Maybe father will be able to read them." With that, the two set off for Elrond's study. Elrond was there when they arrived, and they quickly explained about the strange note and how neither Elrohir nor Kari understood any of it. Elrond frowned lightly and took the note, scanning in carefully.
"I agree, Elrohir, it is gibberish." he said after awhile, frowning thoughtfully. "But it is familiar gibberish."
"Oh? You have seen these runes before?" Elrohir asked curiously. Elrond nodded, putting the note down.
"Once, a long time ago. Your mother and I were out riding in the woods one time and we stopped for a rest - stop snickering. When we went to go again, we spotted some paper on the ground, and when we picked it up, we found strange runes written on it." he said. "I believe I have the paper somewhere around here..." Elrond started rifling through one of his drawers, and after several minutes, pulled out a piece of paper with a triumphant smile. "Ah, here it is." Kari paled as she saw the paper. It had quite obviously been torn out of a notebook, and the writing on it - the runes - were very familiar. Suddenly, a memory surfaced in Kari's mind, and she realized where the runes were from.
"Damn my memories slow!" Kari suddenly complained.
"What?" Elrohir asked curiously, looking at Kari, but she'd already picked up her note again and was studying it.
"I thought so. I DO know these runes. Rachel and I got really bored one time while we were traveling and decided to make up our own language." Kari said. "These are the runes we made up to write the language out."
"You made up your own language." Elrond said flatly, eyebrows raised.
"Very bored, slightly insane." Kari said with a roll of her eyes. "This first word is 'faw', and after that is...'shi mai'. Then 'sayza baek dafum', and it's signed 'Paerrul Ssao'."
"So...what does that mean?" Elrohir asked.
"I have no idea." Kari said with a frown. "I've forgotten most of the language; I haven't used it in so long. 'Sayza' means friend, though. And since this is Rachel and my's language, and 'paerrul' means night, I'd wager that 'Paerrul Ssao' is 'Night Star'. Baek and mai seem very familiar, too..."
"Perhaps looking at this other paper would help you translate the rest?" Elrond asked, holding out the other sheet of writing to Kari.
"Hmm, possibly. Let's see..." Kari pulled an empty sheet of parchment towards her, snagged Elrond's quill, and started translating, saying the words out loud as she went. "Hatr...fssarr'l beil...moet Elven-Glorf'l..." Kari stopped suddenly, her eyes going wide as she realized suddenly what she was translating.
"What is it?" Elrohir asked.
"I don't need to translate any more of this." she said softly.
"Oh, have you remembered more about your language?" Elrond asked curiously.
"No, but I know what this says." Kari replied.
"What does it say?" Elrond asked, ever curious. Kari hesitated for a moment, then closed her eyes and recited from memory,
"Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for mortal men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
"Rachel and I translated that into our language a long time ago. How you and Lady CelebrÃan came across it is beyond me, however." Kari finished softly. Elrond and Elrohir just looked at Kari, dumbfounded.
"The prophecy of the ring? How on Arda did the two of you hear of that in your travels?" Elrond asked.
"It matters not." Kari said dismissively, turning back to the note. "The point is, that has refreshed my memory enough that I can translate some of this note...'Something, something, not, friend of mine. Night Star.' Shi...Shi...Me! 'Something me not, friend of mine.'" Kari frowned thoughtfully, drumming her fingers on Elrond's desk as she tried to remember the last word. "'Faw' must have been one of the later words we made. I can remember making it, but never using it, or what it means..." At that point, any further thought was interrupted by the door slamming open and Elladan dashing in, his face pale.
"Elladan? What is the matter?" Elrond asked, worried, rising from behind his desk.
"It's...Liltalen. Rachel's stallion. He got out during the night." Elladan said, gasping for breath.
"So? Go catch him." Elrohir said, annoyed.
"I was going to do just that, but when I followed his tracks, I ended out on top of the bridge, and..." Elladan paused, and then slowly held out his right hand, which was wrapped tightly around something. "I saw this in the water." Curious, Elrond held out his hand, and Elladan dropped what he was holding into his father's hand. Elrond's eyebrows shot up as he looked at what he was holding.
"A piece of fabric?" he asked.
"A piece of a dress. The dress Rachel was wearing last night." Elladan said softly. Everyone in the room stared at Elladan in shock.
"You must be mistaken, Elladan." Elrohir said after a while. "You can't be sure that this is a piece of Rachel's dress. What on Arda would it be doing in the river?"
"There are cliffs north of Rivendell." Elladan said quietly, remembering Rachel's comment to Elrohir the day before when she had told him she didn't care about being proper.
"Forget." Kari said suddenly, her eyes wide as saucers. Everyone looked at her. "'Faw' means forget. Rachel's note reads 'forget me not, friend of mine.'" Silence reigned.
"Let us go to the bridge and see what more we can find before we...assume anything." Elrond said, carefully avoiding saying the word 'jump'. The other three elves in the room nodded, all looking slightly dazed. Seeing none of them were about to lead the way, Elrond took the lead and strode out of his study, his sons and Kari following quietly and quickly behind. On his way down the hallway, Elrond spotted a familiar head of golden hair disappearing around a corner in front of him, and he called out to its owner.
"Glorfindel!" The Elf-lord's head appeared around the corner, and he looked at Elrond curiously.
"Yes Lord Elrond?" he asked.
"Come." Elrond commanded. Glorfindel looked at those already following Elrond, shrugged, and headed over and fell into step with the Lord of Rivendell.
"What is going on?" Glorfindel asked curiously. "Your three lost puppies look like they've seen a death."
"They haven't, though the quite possibly could have seen the evidence of one." Elrond replied briskly.
"What?!" Glorfindel exclaimed in surprise.
"Kari found a note in her room this morning from Rachel reading 'forget me not, friend of mine'. When Elladan went to see Narore this morning before breakfast like he usually does, he discovered that Liltalen was missing. He went to track down the stallion, and found a piece of the dress Rachel was wearing last night in the river." Elrond explained. Glorfindel paled.
"What would part of her dress be doing in the river?" the Elf-lord asked, unwilling to make the obvious connections.
"As Elladan pointed out, there are cliffs north of here." Elrond said softly, so that the three behind him couldn't hear. "And Rachel seemed quite disturbed about something last night - I walked her back to her room, and she ended out having a fight with Kari, I believe. When Elrohir and I left, Kari and Rachel said that they were fine, but I think that was only true for Kari."
"Rachel would not, though...I mean..." Glorfindel was looking very disturbed at what all this was pointing to, and Elrond felt sorry for the Elf. Glorfindel and Rachel seemed to have been getting along wonderfully yesterday - Arwen had even told him that Glorfindel had let Rachel shorten his name to 'Glory', something he hadn't heard of anyone being able to do - and if this all truly led to the obvious conclusion, it would be a hard blow to Glorfindel. He had never handled death easily since returning from his own death. Elrond suddenly regretted calling out to Glorfindel, but then realized that he would have found out sooner or later.
"The west bridge." Elladan said, speaking for the first time since the study to direct his father towards where he'd found the fabric as they stepped outside. Nodding, Elrond headed in the direction of the bridge, and they soon reached it. Looking down into the river, Elrond spotted another strip of fabric on a rock in the center of the water and sighed.
"See if you can find her horses tracks on the other side of the bridge." he said. Elladan, Elrohir and Glorfindel nodded, and all three quickly set to work.
"Here they are." Elladan said, recognizing the hoof prints from earlier. With the prints identified, the three trackers followed them quickly into the forest and north along the cliffs. So intent were they on their task, they barely noticed where they were going - Elrond and Kari did, though. Straight towards the cliffs. And, suddenly, all three tracking Elves stopped, staring at a point on the ground not far from the cliffs.
"What is it?" Kari asked nervously.
"Footprints." Elrohir choked out. "Somebody jumped from here." And with that announcement, Kari did the only sensible thing she could do - she fainted.
----To be continued...with 42.87% more prancing ponies!----
(And tiredness...guh, stupid tiredness)
-Authors Note:-
Yes, alright, the language thingy wasn't really needed and just makes a corny and Mary-Sue addition to the plot. But I've been wanting to put that language into a story or fanfic for...a long time. And if you're wondering, yes, the language is actually real. My friend and I made/are making it up. (the dictionary's currently 6 pages long...)
Anywho, I apologize for the long time between updates, I really have no excuse except laziness. And schoolwork. But schoolwork isn't really an excuse. (mostly because I use everything else as an excuse to get away from doing schoolwork)
Once again, thank-you to all my lovely reviewers. You all get cookies made by Glorfindel. Your choice whether you want to risk eating them or not...Especially if you're also an Aragorn fan, since Arwen helped him bake them.
~Crimson Starlight