-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
Gil-Galad: Crimson Starlight does not own anything, nor does she claim to own anything.
Círdan: *walking in out of - quite literally - nowhere* Manwë is annoyed with you, Gil-Galad.
CS: *stares at Círdan*
Gil-Galad: Me? Why?
Círdan: Oh, hmm, I don't know. Maybe because you let yourself be bribed onto the author's side?
Gil-Galad: ...but...how did he find out?
Círdan: Just because he can't talk or make any sort of physical appearance in a disclaimer doesn't mean he can't listen in.
Gil-Galad: *censored swearing*
Círdan: *looks impressed, then notices CS watching him* Uh, can I help you?
CS: Can I touch your beard?
Círdan: ...I suppose?
CS: YAY! *touches Círdan's beard, grins like and idiot, and then glomps onto Círdan* BEARDED ELF!
Círdan: Uh...
Gil-Galad: *smirk*
-62: Mirror-
We had a very pleasant supper with the Fellowship, and probably would have stayed quite late into the night, but shortly after we finished eating, I saw Sam and Frodo wander off, and another tidbit from Tolkien's books surfaced in my memory. I gave Kari a nudge and nodded in the two hobbits direction.
"Creepy Lady's mirror time." I said quietly in English.
"Shall we follow?" she asked in the same language and at the same volume. I gave a brief nod, and then returned to the conversation so that our exchange wouldn't be noticed. Kari and I waited a short while, until we saw Galadriel moving in the distance, and then excused ourselves to go for a walk. Glorfindel tried to follow, but we firmly told him it was girl talk and if he came he'd either be teased to death or spontaneously combust from embarrassment. Glorfindel, not knowing what 'spontaneously combusting' was, but rightly guessing that it was bad, decide that the conversation was just fine at the Fellowship's pavilion and stayed as we headed off.
"D'you know where her mirror is?" I asked Kari once we were out of earshot, and she nodded.
"Elrohir showed me once when I expressed a curiosity." she said, and led us straight to it. The hollow that the mirror was located in was perfect for Kari and I to lie on the edge of and watch the goings on, and that is just what we did. I'm pretty sure that one wasn't supposed to spy on people looking into the mirror, but then, Galadriel probably knew the moment we arrived, though she didn't show it.
So Kari and I lay and listened as Galadriel, Frodo and Sam went through the whole mirror thing - something that was quite amusing to us up out of the hollow, since we couldn't see into the mirror, or really hear much, and it honestly looked like the hobbits were freaking out after looking into a birdbath. Then came the part that earned Creepy Lady her nickname. Kari and I, involuntarily, shrunk back as we watched it, and when she returned to normal, we turned to each other with no little amazement.
"So much creepier and cooler in person." I muttered to Kari.
"You can say that again." Kari replied.
"So mu-" Kari whacked me, and I grinned impishly at her before returning to the scene in the hollow. Sam was talking, and things seemed to be wrapping up - indeed, even as we watched, Galadriel suggested that they leave, and Frodo and Sam climbed up the stairs out of the hollow. Once they were gone, my suspicion about Galadriel knowing we were there was proved correct as she turned and looked right up at Kari and me. We stood up, Kari sheepishly, me grinning unrepentedly.
"Y'know, if I was in your position, I think I would've taken the Ring just to get rid of me." I commented.
"Which is why you are not in my position." Galadriel replied smoothly. "Come down here." Kari and I glanced at each other, considered running, then shrugged and made our way down to Galadriel. When we reached the bottom, we stood and waited for Galadriel to speak again, but for several minutes she just looked at us intently.
"I would offer you the chance to look into the mirror, but I do not think it wise. Nor do I think you would accept if I did." she said finally.
"Darn tooting straight." I replied cheerfully. There was another moment of silence as Galadriel looked at us thoughtfully.
"Are you two still intending to leave shortly after the Fellowship?" she asked finally. Kari and I nodded. "Where do you intend to go?" Kari and I looked at each other for a moment, having not discussed this before, and the same quick thoughts went through our head - Saruman made any part of Rohan a write-off, and Dol Amroth was close to the sea, and neither of us wanted to see if the sea called strongly to us just yet. And Sauron would shortly make any part of Gondor except Minas Tirith a write-off. Which left -
"Minas Tirith." we said as one, turning back to Galadriel. Galadriel nodded, though I could see her hesitation.
"And you are taking Lord Glorfindel with you?" she asked. I nodded. "Have you thought out a route or made any preparations yet?" Kari and I looked at each other again.
"No." Kari replied honestly, shrugging, as she turned back to Galadriel.
"I see." Galadriel said with amusement. "I think you had best begin, do you not?"
"Oh, probably. But it's just so hard to get anything started around here. It always seems like there'll be time later for it." I said, waving a hand through the air absently. "I think Tolkien once described Lothlórien as a place where time seemed immaterial or something like that? Or maybe it was someone else. Whoever it was and however they put it, they were right." Galadriel let out a little laugh.
"I shall take that as a compliment." she said. "Seek out Celeborn tomorrow morning to begin planning for your journey." Kari and I nodded, then Galadriel bid us a polite farewell, and glided up out of the hollow. We were silent for a moment after she left, and then I turned to Kari and arched an eyebrow.
"It's no wonder she didn't take the Ring to get rid of us - she was planning on encouraging us to leave by ourselves." I said, and Kari laughed.
"Let's go get some sleep." Kari said, still grinning slightly from her laughter. "We have four days of whirlwind preparations ahead of us, and if I know my grandmother-in-law, she will make use of every single one of them to make sure we never, ever come back." It was my turn to laugh, and we set off up into the upper parts of Caras Galadhon, and towards our flets, in good spirits.
The next morning, Kari and I met in the kitchens for breakfast, and then dragged Glorfindel with us as we went looking for Celeborn. We found him rather quickly in - surprise surprise - his study, looking over some maps. He gave us a welcoming smile when we entered.
"Galadriel told me to expect you this morning." Celeborn said. "I assume this is to be about the journey you are planning on taking?" Kari and I nodded.
"We have literally made absolutely NO preparations." I said with a grin.
"Neither has the Fellowship." Celeborn said dryly.
"Ah yes, the lovely effect of Lothlórien." I said with a smile. "But, we will make this simple. We want to get to Minas Tirith as fast as possible." Celeborn arched an eyebrow.
"Minas Tirith?" he said.
"Trust us; by the time Sauron's armies get there, it will be the safest place outside of the Elven realms." Kari said with amusement.
"Then I suggest you follow, at least for the first part, the same path the Fellowship is going to take - south along the Anduin." Celeborn said. Kari and I looked at each other.
"Nuh-uh." we said as one, looking back at Celeborn. He arched an eyebrow again.
"If we were going to be more than a day behind them, maybe." I said with a shrug. "But a day is far too close for my comfort. And I really don't want to spend any more time in Rohan than possible."
"Orcses are nasty, yes." Kari said emphatically. Glorfindel and Celeborn looked amused.
"Very well. I suppose you could follow the Misty Mountains down. It takes you close to Isengard, but it also only skirts -"
"How close to Isengard?" I interrupted. Celeborn pointed our path out on the map, then Isengard. I frowned lightly, and then pulled Glorfindel off to the side, out of Celeborn hearing. "How long would it take for an army to march from Isengard to Helm's Deep in Rohan?" Glorfindel blinked, looking at me in momentary surprise, and then frowned lightly.
"Two or three days?" he said.
"Cut that in half for Uruks, and you get a day or so. Hmm." I walked over to the map and looked down at it thoughtfully. I was mentally doing calculations. "When would we pass Isengard?"
"That depends on the pace you set, and if you take horses. Sometime before March 5th?" Celeborn guessed, glancing at Glorfindel, who nodded slightly.
"And we would reach Minas Tirith on...?" I asked.
"Around the 20th." Glorfindel replied. Kari and I glanced at each other.
"Is that not a little...late?" Kari asked with a frown, and I nodded, then looked at Celeborn and Glorfindel, who were looking confused and curious.
"We need to be IN Minas Tirith by the 14th, preferably before. And I would really really REALLY like to pass by Isengard on the 2nd." I said.
"Why...never mind." Glorfindel said, shaking his head. "With horses, we could most likely make it to Isengard on the 2nd, but to Minas Tirith by the 14th might be a stretch."
"If there was a way to get boats to the Entwash, you could cross from Lothlórien to Fangorn, and then go down the river." Celeborn said thoughtfully.
"Which would take us smack through Rohan." I said with a sigh.
"But won't the nasty orcses all be at..." Kari let the sentence trail off, not wanting to finish.
"I don't know." I said with a frown. "Damn, this is proving more difficult than I thought."
"Maybe you should stay here." Celeborn said blandly.
"No. It's going to get REALLY boring here in just over a month, and anyways, I think Galadriel would kill us." I said with a small smirk.
"Then stop giving half-hints about what lies in the future and pick a path. There are only three that will get you to Minas Tirith." Glorfindel said with a sigh.
"What do you think, Kari?" I asked, turning to her. "Shall we take the risk that all the nasty orcses are off being hugged by trees, and that all the Rohirrim are too busy with the shadow to stop us?"
"Personally, I don't see why we shouldn't follow the Fellowship." Kari said with a shrug.
"Stinkyness." I said, making a face.
"Oh. Right." Kari said, also wrinkling her nose. "Let's got to Fangorn, and then follow the Entwash down. We can cross before the Mouths of the Entwash, and then make a beeline for Minas Tirith from there."
"That geographically possible, dudes?" I asked Celeborn and Glorfindel. They looked confused at the term 'dudes', but understood the question, and both nodded.
"I suggest we avoid going through the Druadan Forest, however." Glorfindel said.
"Cool with me." I said with a nod. "That'll be our path, then."
"And may the Valar protect us." Kari muttered. I grinned at her.
"Come on now, you knew the risks when you agreed to go!" I said.
"Yeah, but I did not realize it was going to be so tight!" she complained.
"Now you have, so you had best go prepare." Celeborn said sternly. "And speak of how your journey shall be 'tight' only in your own flets."
"Hint taken, Kel." I said with an impish grin. He shot me a withering look. "Come on, Glory, I'm about to wear out my welcome." I said, and grabbed Glorfindel's arm and pulled him out of the study with me. Kari was not far behind.
We went first to the kitchens, and once we'd told the cooks how much food we'd need, we set off to determine what sort of things we'd need to bring with us. I was pretty much set, since I'd only brought things I needed with me from Minas Tirith - and Glorfindel had done the same when coming from Rivendell - but Kari needed a little help. Merry and Pippin showed up while we were packing, and wanted to know what we were doing. They stuck around for awhile after that, but seemed to decide that we weren't being much fun, and left. Boromir and Aragorn appeared later in the evening, after we had supper and were just finishing Kari's packing, demanding to know if we were insane.
"Of course." I replied calmly, and Kari nodded sagely in agreement. The two Men spent the evening trying to dissuade us from leaving Lothlórien, and finally I told them that if they didn't give it up, we'd say we wouldn't go and then just leave once they left, anyways. They gave up, though they weren't happy about it. At any rate, they didn't have any more time to insist, as they left the next day and had preparations of their own to make. Though they tried their hardest to convince us not to go even as we walked with them to the boats they were to take down the Anduin.
"The lands are not safe to travel anymore, Asira!" Boromir pleaded. "Though I respect Lord Glorfindel's skill with a blade, Lady Kari's with a bow, and your vastly improved skills with your own weapon, they shall not save you against superior numbers!"
"We do not know the numbers of the Orc bands that may be out roaming between here and Minas Tirith. Why do you think we take boats?" Aragorn put in.
"Aragorn, Boromir, me buds," I said finally with exasperation, "I KNOW what I'm doing. So does Kari. We know exactly what's out there. Yes, we're afraid we're going to run into a large band we can't handle, but quite frankly, Lothlórien won't be all that safe much longer. You guys stirred up a rather big hornets nest when you went through Moria, and Dol Guldur is just about smack dab across the Anduin from here. All across Middle-Earth a storm is brewing, and you two, out of everyone here, should take it as a compliment that Kari and I want to be in Minas Tirith when it breaks." Boromir and Aragorn had the grace to look somewhat abashed, and didn't mention Kari's and my intended journey again.
So, with that topic out of the way, Boromir and I were able to enjoy our last morning in Lothlórien together, and spent the time annoying our guide - Haldir - or just generally being insane with random other people. Glorfindel joined in, to some extent, though the closer we got to the border, the tenser he got, even once I caught him alone for a second and reassured him that there would be no attack.
Finally, however, we reached the boats, and it was time for the Fellowship to actually go.
I said goodbye to the hobbits first, telling them to stand strong and remember that the bigger world could always use a piece of the Shire - either to cheer it up or to remind it of what it was fighting back the Shadow for. They seemed a little surprised that I could be so wise, and I grinned at them momentarily, before calmly going and bidding 'Nancy' goodbye. Once he was in the boat with Gimli and a little ways from shore, I called out to him,
"Oh, Legolas - 'Nancy' is a girl's name!" I dashed away from the spray of water that came my way and grinned impishly at the Mirkwood prince. Then I headed, finally, for Boromir and Aragorn where they stood on the shore, their glances in the hobbits direction showed, and a few over-heard phrases told, what their slowly-becoming-heated discussion was about. I rolled my eyes and walked up to them.
"Boromir, you must look after Merry and Pippin for me." I declared, and Boromir sighed.
"Of course, Asira." he said with a smile. Aragorn looked a little triumphant, but I suspected Boromir was still going to argue, so I decided a little distraction was needed.
"Good." I said with a nod. "Now, where's your shield?"
"Over there." Boromir said with a sigh, pointing to one of the boats. I grinned, somewhat evilly I'm sure, and dashed over and grabbed it. I saw Boromir's eyes widen as he realized I hadn't just been doing my normal check-up of and reminder about his shield. I hid the shield behind my back as best I could and merrily skipped over to where Haldir was watching the proceedings with a critical eye. I heard Boromir call after me, but I ignored him, smiling sweetly at Haldir as he spotted me approaching and arched an eyebrow at me.
Haldir is, of course, extremely fast and agile, with excellent reflexes - but Boromir has a rather large shield. So while Haldir reacted quickly enough to move before I could whack him, he simply didn't have the TIME to move far enough out of the way. He let out a loud yelp as the shield connected with his backside, causing everyone's attention to suddenly be riveted on him. He straightened stiffly, and I saw his hands twitch with the effort not to rub his backside as he glared at me. Then he stalked off into the forest as I returned Boromir's shield to him with a smirk.
"Let this be a lesson to you in the many uses of a shield." I said to Boromir. "Do not leave it behind." Boromir shook his head, looking as if he didn't know whether to laugh or to groan.
"I shall not." he said.
"Promise?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. Boromir arched an eyebrow.
"I promise I shall not leave my shield behind." he said.
"Even if you're only going to get fire wood?" I pressed, and Boromir gave an exasperated sigh.
"Even if I'm only going to get fire wood!" he agreed, and I nodded in satisfaction.
"Very well then." I said, and then abruptly threw my arms around him in a giant hug. "Take care of yourself." I said softly in his ear. Boromir seemed a little surprised by my actions, but returned the hug, replying that he would, indeed, take care of himself.
"I shall see you in Minas Tirith." he said solemnly when he drew away.
"Only if you keep your promise and take your shield with you everywhere!" I said with a scowl. Boromir once again looked surprised at my vehemence, but nodded.
"Farwell until we meet again." he said, bowing slightly to me. I returned the bow with on of my own - much to Boromir's amusement - and Boromir turned and went over to the boats. Only once he reached them did he realize that Aragorn had already gotten into the boat with Frodo and Sam, leaving him with only one option - the boat with Merry and Pippin. He shot me an amusement, resigned look as I grinned at him, then got in and after a few moments of piddling around in the boat, pushed off out into the current.
I joined the Elves standing on the shore soberly waving goodbye to the Fellowship, my grin quickly fading as the seriousness of the occasion sunk in. My memory of the end of the Fellowship of the Ring movie played over and over in my mind as I stood on the shore long after the other Elves had begun to disperse, waving at the boats until their inhabitants became too indistinct to see the occasional answering wave - which were mostly from the hobbits.
A depression was beginning to settle on me as I realized that this was the last time I would see Boromir, and I stood and watched as the boats faded into the grey horizon, finding myself unable to move, or even think much beyond what I was seeing. Looking back on it now, I'm pretty sure that was a defense mechanism kicking in to stop me from running after the boats prophesizing Boromir's death and the rest of the course of the quest at the top of my lungs.
Glorfindel had left with the majority of the Elves, and Kari had stayed only a little longer, so I was alone as it actually did begin to sink in that Boromir would die. I'd known it before, yes, but I'd always put off the actual realization that my time with him was limited, because - well, he was here now and there was no use mourning him while he was here. But now that he was gone, and I knew that, if the quest went as it should, I would never see him again.
I would never see his smile, so boyish and cheerful, never hear him laugh or tell a bawdy joke he'd picked up from one of his men. Never watch him squirm uncomfortably at a formal dinner, never again hold back laughter as he told his father a most outrageous tale, only to be believed. Never again would I have the extreme satisfaction of being able to claim the honour of only one of two people who were ever able to sneak up on him, never use that skill in tandem with Faramir's duplicate one to scare the usually fearless and unsurprisable Captain of Gondor out of his wits. Never again would the citizens of Minas Tirith welcome their champion home, never again would Faramir be able to speak to his brother. Never again would Boromir, son of Denethor, see the white towers and walls of Minas Tirith. Never.
I felt tears pricking at my eyes, and had the strongest urge to sing, but nothing I knew how to sing matched my sorrow for intensity, and I'm not a good spur-of-the-moment musician. Nor had I ever been one to sing or cry in front of strangers - and while the banks had emptied somewhat, some Elves still remained who were tending to other boats. So I turned into the woods and started walking. I didn't care where I went, as long as it was private. I wanted solitude to mourn one of only two Men that I had let myself grow truly close to over the past 800 years.
----To be continued...with the chapter most of my reviewers will probably hate me for!----
(And that picture of Glorfindel and Rachel, hopefully!)
-Authors Note:-
Ugh...soooo...tired...I think I caught a cold up in the rockies. And even if I didn't, my mom's back from her vacation now and annoyed with me for 'not doing my schoolwork'. It's her own fault for putting 'clean closet' on my list of schoolwork to do, though. *ahem* Anyways. Enough complaining about my mom...
As per usual, I love all you reviewers. It honestly brightens up my day when I get on the computer and find reviews from you people - and it's equally sad when I check and find no reviews at all. So, don't be afraid or shy to review - I don't bite. Maybe glow a little, being starlight and all, but not bite...even back when I was Gecko of the Year, I didn't bite. Mostly because Gecko's don't have teeth, but hey...and can you tell how tired I am from how I'm rambling on? I'm just going to go now...see y'all again on Sunday...
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
Gil-Galad: Crimson Starlight does not own anything, nor does she claim to own anything.
Círdan: *walking in out of - quite literally - nowhere* Manwë is annoyed with you, Gil-Galad.
CS: *stares at Círdan*
Gil-Galad: Me? Why?
Círdan: Oh, hmm, I don't know. Maybe because you let yourself be bribed onto the author's side?
Gil-Galad: ...but...how did he find out?
Círdan: Just because he can't talk or make any sort of physical appearance in a disclaimer doesn't mean he can't listen in.
Gil-Galad: *censored swearing*
Círdan: *looks impressed, then notices CS watching him* Uh, can I help you?
CS: Can I touch your beard?
Círdan: ...I suppose?
CS: YAY! *touches Círdan's beard, grins like and idiot, and then glomps onto Círdan* BEARDED ELF!
Círdan: Uh...
Gil-Galad: *smirk*
-62: Mirror-
We had a very pleasant supper with the Fellowship, and probably would have stayed quite late into the night, but shortly after we finished eating, I saw Sam and Frodo wander off, and another tidbit from Tolkien's books surfaced in my memory. I gave Kari a nudge and nodded in the two hobbits direction.
"Creepy Lady's mirror time." I said quietly in English.
"Shall we follow?" she asked in the same language and at the same volume. I gave a brief nod, and then returned to the conversation so that our exchange wouldn't be noticed. Kari and I waited a short while, until we saw Galadriel moving in the distance, and then excused ourselves to go for a walk. Glorfindel tried to follow, but we firmly told him it was girl talk and if he came he'd either be teased to death or spontaneously combust from embarrassment. Glorfindel, not knowing what 'spontaneously combusting' was, but rightly guessing that it was bad, decide that the conversation was just fine at the Fellowship's pavilion and stayed as we headed off.
"D'you know where her mirror is?" I asked Kari once we were out of earshot, and she nodded.
"Elrohir showed me once when I expressed a curiosity." she said, and led us straight to it. The hollow that the mirror was located in was perfect for Kari and I to lie on the edge of and watch the goings on, and that is just what we did. I'm pretty sure that one wasn't supposed to spy on people looking into the mirror, but then, Galadriel probably knew the moment we arrived, though she didn't show it.
So Kari and I lay and listened as Galadriel, Frodo and Sam went through the whole mirror thing - something that was quite amusing to us up out of the hollow, since we couldn't see into the mirror, or really hear much, and it honestly looked like the hobbits were freaking out after looking into a birdbath. Then came the part that earned Creepy Lady her nickname. Kari and I, involuntarily, shrunk back as we watched it, and when she returned to normal, we turned to each other with no little amazement.
"So much creepier and cooler in person." I muttered to Kari.
"You can say that again." Kari replied.
"So mu-" Kari whacked me, and I grinned impishly at her before returning to the scene in the hollow. Sam was talking, and things seemed to be wrapping up - indeed, even as we watched, Galadriel suggested that they leave, and Frodo and Sam climbed up the stairs out of the hollow. Once they were gone, my suspicion about Galadriel knowing we were there was proved correct as she turned and looked right up at Kari and me. We stood up, Kari sheepishly, me grinning unrepentedly.
"Y'know, if I was in your position, I think I would've taken the Ring just to get rid of me." I commented.
"Which is why you are not in my position." Galadriel replied smoothly. "Come down here." Kari and I glanced at each other, considered running, then shrugged and made our way down to Galadriel. When we reached the bottom, we stood and waited for Galadriel to speak again, but for several minutes she just looked at us intently.
"I would offer you the chance to look into the mirror, but I do not think it wise. Nor do I think you would accept if I did." she said finally.
"Darn tooting straight." I replied cheerfully. There was another moment of silence as Galadriel looked at us thoughtfully.
"Are you two still intending to leave shortly after the Fellowship?" she asked finally. Kari and I nodded. "Where do you intend to go?" Kari and I looked at each other for a moment, having not discussed this before, and the same quick thoughts went through our head - Saruman made any part of Rohan a write-off, and Dol Amroth was close to the sea, and neither of us wanted to see if the sea called strongly to us just yet. And Sauron would shortly make any part of Gondor except Minas Tirith a write-off. Which left -
"Minas Tirith." we said as one, turning back to Galadriel. Galadriel nodded, though I could see her hesitation.
"And you are taking Lord Glorfindel with you?" she asked. I nodded. "Have you thought out a route or made any preparations yet?" Kari and I looked at each other again.
"No." Kari replied honestly, shrugging, as she turned back to Galadriel.
"I see." Galadriel said with amusement. "I think you had best begin, do you not?"
"Oh, probably. But it's just so hard to get anything started around here. It always seems like there'll be time later for it." I said, waving a hand through the air absently. "I think Tolkien once described Lothlórien as a place where time seemed immaterial or something like that? Or maybe it was someone else. Whoever it was and however they put it, they were right." Galadriel let out a little laugh.
"I shall take that as a compliment." she said. "Seek out Celeborn tomorrow morning to begin planning for your journey." Kari and I nodded, then Galadriel bid us a polite farewell, and glided up out of the hollow. We were silent for a moment after she left, and then I turned to Kari and arched an eyebrow.
"It's no wonder she didn't take the Ring to get rid of us - she was planning on encouraging us to leave by ourselves." I said, and Kari laughed.
"Let's go get some sleep." Kari said, still grinning slightly from her laughter. "We have four days of whirlwind preparations ahead of us, and if I know my grandmother-in-law, she will make use of every single one of them to make sure we never, ever come back." It was my turn to laugh, and we set off up into the upper parts of Caras Galadhon, and towards our flets, in good spirits.
The next morning, Kari and I met in the kitchens for breakfast, and then dragged Glorfindel with us as we went looking for Celeborn. We found him rather quickly in - surprise surprise - his study, looking over some maps. He gave us a welcoming smile when we entered.
"Galadriel told me to expect you this morning." Celeborn said. "I assume this is to be about the journey you are planning on taking?" Kari and I nodded.
"We have literally made absolutely NO preparations." I said with a grin.
"Neither has the Fellowship." Celeborn said dryly.
"Ah yes, the lovely effect of Lothlórien." I said with a smile. "But, we will make this simple. We want to get to Minas Tirith as fast as possible." Celeborn arched an eyebrow.
"Minas Tirith?" he said.
"Trust us; by the time Sauron's armies get there, it will be the safest place outside of the Elven realms." Kari said with amusement.
"Then I suggest you follow, at least for the first part, the same path the Fellowship is going to take - south along the Anduin." Celeborn said. Kari and I looked at each other.
"Nuh-uh." we said as one, looking back at Celeborn. He arched an eyebrow again.
"If we were going to be more than a day behind them, maybe." I said with a shrug. "But a day is far too close for my comfort. And I really don't want to spend any more time in Rohan than possible."
"Orcses are nasty, yes." Kari said emphatically. Glorfindel and Celeborn looked amused.
"Very well. I suppose you could follow the Misty Mountains down. It takes you close to Isengard, but it also only skirts -"
"How close to Isengard?" I interrupted. Celeborn pointed our path out on the map, then Isengard. I frowned lightly, and then pulled Glorfindel off to the side, out of Celeborn hearing. "How long would it take for an army to march from Isengard to Helm's Deep in Rohan?" Glorfindel blinked, looking at me in momentary surprise, and then frowned lightly.
"Two or three days?" he said.
"Cut that in half for Uruks, and you get a day or so. Hmm." I walked over to the map and looked down at it thoughtfully. I was mentally doing calculations. "When would we pass Isengard?"
"That depends on the pace you set, and if you take horses. Sometime before March 5th?" Celeborn guessed, glancing at Glorfindel, who nodded slightly.
"And we would reach Minas Tirith on...?" I asked.
"Around the 20th." Glorfindel replied. Kari and I glanced at each other.
"Is that not a little...late?" Kari asked with a frown, and I nodded, then looked at Celeborn and Glorfindel, who were looking confused and curious.
"We need to be IN Minas Tirith by the 14th, preferably before. And I would really really REALLY like to pass by Isengard on the 2nd." I said.
"Why...never mind." Glorfindel said, shaking his head. "With horses, we could most likely make it to Isengard on the 2nd, but to Minas Tirith by the 14th might be a stretch."
"If there was a way to get boats to the Entwash, you could cross from Lothlórien to Fangorn, and then go down the river." Celeborn said thoughtfully.
"Which would take us smack through Rohan." I said with a sigh.
"But won't the nasty orcses all be at..." Kari let the sentence trail off, not wanting to finish.
"I don't know." I said with a frown. "Damn, this is proving more difficult than I thought."
"Maybe you should stay here." Celeborn said blandly.
"No. It's going to get REALLY boring here in just over a month, and anyways, I think Galadriel would kill us." I said with a small smirk.
"Then stop giving half-hints about what lies in the future and pick a path. There are only three that will get you to Minas Tirith." Glorfindel said with a sigh.
"What do you think, Kari?" I asked, turning to her. "Shall we take the risk that all the nasty orcses are off being hugged by trees, and that all the Rohirrim are too busy with the shadow to stop us?"
"Personally, I don't see why we shouldn't follow the Fellowship." Kari said with a shrug.
"Stinkyness." I said, making a face.
"Oh. Right." Kari said, also wrinkling her nose. "Let's got to Fangorn, and then follow the Entwash down. We can cross before the Mouths of the Entwash, and then make a beeline for Minas Tirith from there."
"That geographically possible, dudes?" I asked Celeborn and Glorfindel. They looked confused at the term 'dudes', but understood the question, and both nodded.
"I suggest we avoid going through the Druadan Forest, however." Glorfindel said.
"Cool with me." I said with a nod. "That'll be our path, then."
"And may the Valar protect us." Kari muttered. I grinned at her.
"Come on now, you knew the risks when you agreed to go!" I said.
"Yeah, but I did not realize it was going to be so tight!" she complained.
"Now you have, so you had best go prepare." Celeborn said sternly. "And speak of how your journey shall be 'tight' only in your own flets."
"Hint taken, Kel." I said with an impish grin. He shot me a withering look. "Come on, Glory, I'm about to wear out my welcome." I said, and grabbed Glorfindel's arm and pulled him out of the study with me. Kari was not far behind.
We went first to the kitchens, and once we'd told the cooks how much food we'd need, we set off to determine what sort of things we'd need to bring with us. I was pretty much set, since I'd only brought things I needed with me from Minas Tirith - and Glorfindel had done the same when coming from Rivendell - but Kari needed a little help. Merry and Pippin showed up while we were packing, and wanted to know what we were doing. They stuck around for awhile after that, but seemed to decide that we weren't being much fun, and left. Boromir and Aragorn appeared later in the evening, after we had supper and were just finishing Kari's packing, demanding to know if we were insane.
"Of course." I replied calmly, and Kari nodded sagely in agreement. The two Men spent the evening trying to dissuade us from leaving Lothlórien, and finally I told them that if they didn't give it up, we'd say we wouldn't go and then just leave once they left, anyways. They gave up, though they weren't happy about it. At any rate, they didn't have any more time to insist, as they left the next day and had preparations of their own to make. Though they tried their hardest to convince us not to go even as we walked with them to the boats they were to take down the Anduin.
"The lands are not safe to travel anymore, Asira!" Boromir pleaded. "Though I respect Lord Glorfindel's skill with a blade, Lady Kari's with a bow, and your vastly improved skills with your own weapon, they shall not save you against superior numbers!"
"We do not know the numbers of the Orc bands that may be out roaming between here and Minas Tirith. Why do you think we take boats?" Aragorn put in.
"Aragorn, Boromir, me buds," I said finally with exasperation, "I KNOW what I'm doing. So does Kari. We know exactly what's out there. Yes, we're afraid we're going to run into a large band we can't handle, but quite frankly, Lothlórien won't be all that safe much longer. You guys stirred up a rather big hornets nest when you went through Moria, and Dol Guldur is just about smack dab across the Anduin from here. All across Middle-Earth a storm is brewing, and you two, out of everyone here, should take it as a compliment that Kari and I want to be in Minas Tirith when it breaks." Boromir and Aragorn had the grace to look somewhat abashed, and didn't mention Kari's and my intended journey again.
So, with that topic out of the way, Boromir and I were able to enjoy our last morning in Lothlórien together, and spent the time annoying our guide - Haldir - or just generally being insane with random other people. Glorfindel joined in, to some extent, though the closer we got to the border, the tenser he got, even once I caught him alone for a second and reassured him that there would be no attack.
Finally, however, we reached the boats, and it was time for the Fellowship to actually go.
I said goodbye to the hobbits first, telling them to stand strong and remember that the bigger world could always use a piece of the Shire - either to cheer it up or to remind it of what it was fighting back the Shadow for. They seemed a little surprised that I could be so wise, and I grinned at them momentarily, before calmly going and bidding 'Nancy' goodbye. Once he was in the boat with Gimli and a little ways from shore, I called out to him,
"Oh, Legolas - 'Nancy' is a girl's name!" I dashed away from the spray of water that came my way and grinned impishly at the Mirkwood prince. Then I headed, finally, for Boromir and Aragorn where they stood on the shore, their glances in the hobbits direction showed, and a few over-heard phrases told, what their slowly-becoming-heated discussion was about. I rolled my eyes and walked up to them.
"Boromir, you must look after Merry and Pippin for me." I declared, and Boromir sighed.
"Of course, Asira." he said with a smile. Aragorn looked a little triumphant, but I suspected Boromir was still going to argue, so I decided a little distraction was needed.
"Good." I said with a nod. "Now, where's your shield?"
"Over there." Boromir said with a sigh, pointing to one of the boats. I grinned, somewhat evilly I'm sure, and dashed over and grabbed it. I saw Boromir's eyes widen as he realized I hadn't just been doing my normal check-up of and reminder about his shield. I hid the shield behind my back as best I could and merrily skipped over to where Haldir was watching the proceedings with a critical eye. I heard Boromir call after me, but I ignored him, smiling sweetly at Haldir as he spotted me approaching and arched an eyebrow at me.
Haldir is, of course, extremely fast and agile, with excellent reflexes - but Boromir has a rather large shield. So while Haldir reacted quickly enough to move before I could whack him, he simply didn't have the TIME to move far enough out of the way. He let out a loud yelp as the shield connected with his backside, causing everyone's attention to suddenly be riveted on him. He straightened stiffly, and I saw his hands twitch with the effort not to rub his backside as he glared at me. Then he stalked off into the forest as I returned Boromir's shield to him with a smirk.
"Let this be a lesson to you in the many uses of a shield." I said to Boromir. "Do not leave it behind." Boromir shook his head, looking as if he didn't know whether to laugh or to groan.
"I shall not." he said.
"Promise?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. Boromir arched an eyebrow.
"I promise I shall not leave my shield behind." he said.
"Even if you're only going to get fire wood?" I pressed, and Boromir gave an exasperated sigh.
"Even if I'm only going to get fire wood!" he agreed, and I nodded in satisfaction.
"Very well then." I said, and then abruptly threw my arms around him in a giant hug. "Take care of yourself." I said softly in his ear. Boromir seemed a little surprised by my actions, but returned the hug, replying that he would, indeed, take care of himself.
"I shall see you in Minas Tirith." he said solemnly when he drew away.
"Only if you keep your promise and take your shield with you everywhere!" I said with a scowl. Boromir once again looked surprised at my vehemence, but nodded.
"Farwell until we meet again." he said, bowing slightly to me. I returned the bow with on of my own - much to Boromir's amusement - and Boromir turned and went over to the boats. Only once he reached them did he realize that Aragorn had already gotten into the boat with Frodo and Sam, leaving him with only one option - the boat with Merry and Pippin. He shot me an amusement, resigned look as I grinned at him, then got in and after a few moments of piddling around in the boat, pushed off out into the current.
I joined the Elves standing on the shore soberly waving goodbye to the Fellowship, my grin quickly fading as the seriousness of the occasion sunk in. My memory of the end of the Fellowship of the Ring movie played over and over in my mind as I stood on the shore long after the other Elves had begun to disperse, waving at the boats until their inhabitants became too indistinct to see the occasional answering wave - which were mostly from the hobbits.
A depression was beginning to settle on me as I realized that this was the last time I would see Boromir, and I stood and watched as the boats faded into the grey horizon, finding myself unable to move, or even think much beyond what I was seeing. Looking back on it now, I'm pretty sure that was a defense mechanism kicking in to stop me from running after the boats prophesizing Boromir's death and the rest of the course of the quest at the top of my lungs.
Glorfindel had left with the majority of the Elves, and Kari had stayed only a little longer, so I was alone as it actually did begin to sink in that Boromir would die. I'd known it before, yes, but I'd always put off the actual realization that my time with him was limited, because - well, he was here now and there was no use mourning him while he was here. But now that he was gone, and I knew that, if the quest went as it should, I would never see him again.
I would never see his smile, so boyish and cheerful, never hear him laugh or tell a bawdy joke he'd picked up from one of his men. Never watch him squirm uncomfortably at a formal dinner, never again hold back laughter as he told his father a most outrageous tale, only to be believed. Never again would I have the extreme satisfaction of being able to claim the honour of only one of two people who were ever able to sneak up on him, never use that skill in tandem with Faramir's duplicate one to scare the usually fearless and unsurprisable Captain of Gondor out of his wits. Never again would the citizens of Minas Tirith welcome their champion home, never again would Faramir be able to speak to his brother. Never again would Boromir, son of Denethor, see the white towers and walls of Minas Tirith. Never.
I felt tears pricking at my eyes, and had the strongest urge to sing, but nothing I knew how to sing matched my sorrow for intensity, and I'm not a good spur-of-the-moment musician. Nor had I ever been one to sing or cry in front of strangers - and while the banks had emptied somewhat, some Elves still remained who were tending to other boats. So I turned into the woods and started walking. I didn't care where I went, as long as it was private. I wanted solitude to mourn one of only two Men that I had let myself grow truly close to over the past 800 years.
----To be continued...with the chapter most of my reviewers will probably hate me for!----
(And that picture of Glorfindel and Rachel, hopefully!)
-Authors Note:-
Ugh...soooo...tired...I think I caught a cold up in the rockies. And even if I didn't, my mom's back from her vacation now and annoyed with me for 'not doing my schoolwork'. It's her own fault for putting 'clean closet' on my list of schoolwork to do, though. *ahem* Anyways. Enough complaining about my mom...
As per usual, I love all you reviewers. It honestly brightens up my day when I get on the computer and find reviews from you people - and it's equally sad when I check and find no reviews at all. So, don't be afraid or shy to review - I don't bite. Maybe glow a little, being starlight and all, but not bite...even back when I was Gecko of the Year, I didn't bite. Mostly because Gecko's don't have teeth, but hey...and can you tell how tired I am from how I'm rambling on? I'm just going to go now...see y'all again on Sunday...
~Crimson Starlight