"The Wanderers"
By: Tsuki no Lomelinde
Disclaimer: Can't I pretend they belong to me? No? Oh well… thought I'd ask...
Any mistakes found after the careful editing of my most wonderful beta Deana, are completely my fault.
Summary: Legolas and Laliath have disappeared, and with the ever-growing darkness approaching,
the others are more then a little worried
Chapter 8: And so it begins…..
~And they were known as The Wanderers
For they never remained in one place
They knew that they were born for one purpose
And one purpose alone,
Children of light
In darkness despair
Guardians for all eternity
Fight on
Dawn will soon arise
And with it shall come joyous exclamations
The darkness will fall, gone forever
And with it the saviors
The trees will wail in sorrow
For the children they loved will never awake…~
The Prophesy of Lights
"The Book of Remembrance"
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Aragorn burst into the room with Thranduil, Elladan, and Elrohir on his heels.
Elrond looked up, and beckoned them into the room. The King of Mirkwood made his way to his son's bedside, and sat on the edge while the twins, Aragorn, and Shoran sat on various pieces of furniture and the two Dwarves remained standing.
Laliath nodded to Thranduil, and continued with his words.
"As I was saying, a long time ago—a long time even in the view of the elves—Manwe and Varda bore three children; they graced the world in the form of the Eldar, and remained that way. They were curious, and desired to learn about everything…not just about the confines of Valinor, but of Middle Earth also. When they came of age, the three desired to leave and wander Middle Earth. Manwe gave them permission, for he loved his children, but to leave they had to have a purpose in Middle Earth. He gave each of them a task; the eldest would be Guardian of the Sun, and would wander, bringing laughter to all that he met. The second would be Guardian of the Moon, and as the moon heralded messages in its depths, so would she, as a messenger to all who needed her. The third and youngest would be Guardian of the stars of Middle Earth, and his task would be to protect the land, to be a light to all who were lost or in danger.
And so the three went forth, and learned all that they could about Middle Earth. Generations of men passed, and the three became weary of the sorrows and destruction that they saw. The Guardian of the Sun finally became overwhelmed by it and went to Manwe. 'Father,' he said, 'I have grown weary of the loneliness of this world, I am forlorn, for I bring laughter to all, but there is no one to bring laughter to me. I can not return to Valinor, for even that will hold no joy for me.'
Manwe looked upon the child and said, 'Then I shall give you a companion. My brother Aule has created a race1; from them you shall receive someone to give you joy.' And so it was done, a companion was given. The child agreed and left.
Time passed, and soon the second child grew weary of Middle Earth, so, the Guardian of the Moon went to Manwe. 'Father,' she said, 'I grow weary of this world, for all of the sorrowful messages that I am made to carry. Yes there is joy in some of them, but not enough to lift my heart.'
Manwe looked at his child; 'I cannot give you a companion, for who could keep up with your pace? But I can give you rest. Whenever your heart grows weary of this world, you may pass to the West, to the Lands of the Undying. But you must return when you are needed to carry the messages.' The child agreed, and left.
"Time passed, and soon the third child grew weary of Middle Earth and went to Manwe. 'Father,' he said. 'I grow weary of this world, for I am sorely grieved. I cannot protect all, for if the hand of fate is on them, I can do nothing to save them.' Manwe nodded, hearing the words of wisdom from the child. 'Alas,' he said, 'I do not know what I can give you. I cannot send you to the West, for your sister is there, and I have no companion to give to you.' The child hung his head in sorrow.
'Perhaps I can be of some service,' Mandos said, for he had come into Manwe's chambers, and it was such a rare occurrence that Manwe listened to his brother.
'When you grow weary of your duty, and your heart is grieved, you shall fade away, only to be reborn again. You will have no memory of the past life, and your soul and strength will be renewed.'
The child agreed, and so it came to pass."
Everyone started at Laliath, fascinated at the story.
"And the point of that tale was…?" Elladan asked.
Laliath arched a delicate eyebrow. "The point?" he parroted. "The point was to inform you that the three are all together again on Middle Earth."
"You are one of them, aren't you, unless I am mistaken?"
Laliath nodded. "You are correct. Coran is my companion."
"I remember reading the tale in the 'Book of Remembrance', said Elrond. "If you are the one with the companion, then the maiden is the messenger…but who is the last?"
A quiet voice spoke up. "I am."
They all turned to Legolas, who was sitting up in his bed.
"No… no it can not be so!" Thranduil said, whirling to face Laliath, "He is my son!" There was a mix of anger and fear in the king's face.
Laliath refused to meet Thranduil's eyes.
"Ada," Legolas said. "It is true; I am the last, and I am prepared to face my destiny."
"But I am not ready to let you face it!" Thranduil said, sorrowfully.
Legolas didn't answer.
The others stood in silence, trying to absorb all that they had heard.
Gimli was confused. What did this all mean?
Legolas turned from his unrelenting father, to Lord Elrond.
"Please," he begged in a feeble whisper. "I must, the darkness will only continue to grow."
Elrond was saved from answering by the sound of the city's warning bell being rung. They all jumped up and groped for their weapons. Only Legolas remained where he was, still looking imploringly at Elrond.
Shoran pulled the door open and stopped a guard who was running down the hall. "What is happening?"
"A dark army marches towards us from the South, my prince!" The guard replied. "They should reach us in about a day and a half!"
"Assemble our army and be ready to march in one hour's time!" Shoran told him, and went back into the room, knowing that his order would be followed.
"What is happening?" Thranduil asked upon seeing his son.
"A dark army marches on us from the south; I have taken the liberty of preparing the army."
Thranduil nodded. "We all must begin to prepare." The King of Mirkwood began delegating tasks, and everyone ran to do his bidding. Only Legolas and Laliath remained.
"I know what must be done," Legolas said to the other elf. "And I am prepared to do it."
Laliath smiled slightly at the young prince. "I am glad that you feel so confident. Alas, I fear that I am not as valiant as you, but we will do what we must. That is, we will as soon as Lomelinde decides to grace us with her presence."
Legolas merely nodded, not even bothering to smile at the other elf's attempt of humor. Legolas suddenly saw a glimmer in the corner of his eye, and turned to face it. The glimmer quickly grew and solidified into the form of a young maiden.
"Ah, Lomelinde! We were just speaking of you!" Laliath said, his voice light.
The maiden arched a delicate eyebrow. "I am sure you were," she replied. "We must leave now. I have done my best to warn Shyla of what is to come, but we can only hope that the message is heeded."
She and Laliath stood beside the bed and hauled Legolas to his feet, where he leaned heavily on the two elves.
"We must move quickly, they will return soon, and we must be gone by then," said Laliath.
Lomelinde and Laliath supported Legolas as the three made their way to the door.
"Wait!" Legolas suddenly said. "I need to leave them a note. They have to know that I did this of my own free will. I…I can't leave without saying goodbye."
Laliath nodded, and they set Legolas down in a nearby chair. Lomelinde handed him a piece of paper, ink, and a quill.
Quickly, Legolas began to write. Within a few moments he finished writing, and folded the paper. Lomelinde and Laliath helped him to his feet, and the three fled, undetected, from the palace.
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Gimli made his way through the halls, towards Legolas' room. He had a funny feeling that something big was going to happen, something that was going to involve those foolish elves: Legolas and Laliath. As he pushed open the bedroom door, surprise was quickly etched in his bearded face as he found the room empty. He noticed a piece of paper sitting on the table and picked it up, his eyes quickly scanning the page.
"Ai!" he exclaimed, suddenly turning on his heel—as much as his heavy armor would allow him to, anyway—and ran out of the room with the note clutched in his hand. He ran searching for Aragorn, Thranduil, or even Elrond.
Instead, he found Elladan and Elrohir. "Legolas and Laliath are gone!" he yelled.
The twin's heads shot up as one. "What?"
"They're gone! That crazy elf must have taken him!" Gimli fumed.
"Are you sure?" Elladan asked, staring hard at the Dwarf.
"Positive!" Gimli replied.
"We must inform everyone!" Elrohir said to his twin.
Elladan nodded, and the two took off before Gimli could say anything else. Quickly, the dwarf jogged after them.
Aragorn, Elrond, Coran, and Thranduil were poring over maps, in an attempt to fortify the woodland realm. They were startled when the twins, closely followed by Gimli, burst into the room.
"Ada!" The twins cried as soon as they had cleared the doorway. "Laliath and Legolas are gone!"
"Legolas left a note, to say goodbye!" Gimli continued.
"What?!" Thranduil roared, whirling to face Coran. "What have you done with my son!?"
Coran blinked, not even flinching as Thranduil yelled at him. The dwarf looked sad and Thranduil saw this, quickly quieting down.
"They have a task that must be completed; the fate of all of Middle Earth rests on them. Laliath is my friend and companion, you are not the only one to feel sorrow, but that is the task set before them. We cannot stay fate's hand! They were born to fight this evil, and to die."
There was stunned silence; Aragorn felt a horrible cold feeling flow through his body, as memories of the dream came unbidden to his mind.
Aragorn turned to the open window. "Please be all right…don't let my nightmare become truth!"
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A sniveling creature approached the dark man sitting in an equally dark tent. "My Lord, we will arrive in Mirkwood by dawn."
"Good," the man replied. "Soon those meddling lights will be dead, and I will destroy Middle Earth and recreate it in my image! Make sure that you destroy the Prince of Mirkwood and anyone who tries to protect him."
"Yes my Lord," the creature simpered, and fled.
The Dark Lord let out a long evil laugh. One that had even his most devoted servant shuddering with fear.
At the very heart of Mirkwood, three elves shinvered as a cold feeling suddenly swept over them.
"He nears," the maiden whispered.
"We will stop him, Lomelinde," the blonde elf said, in an attempt to reassure not only himself and the elf maiden, but also the elf that they were supporting, the one who remained silent.
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1. Aule, one of the Valar, created the Dwarves; it is written in the Book of Lost Tales Part I.
A/N: Okay, I know it's not as long as I promised, but I'm trying, I'm having some writer's block on this story. I need reviews!!!! Lots and lots of reviews!!! They help me to know that people are actually reading this story, and how they like it. At this point I'd be willing to accept flames! Okay, I feel better now. ^_^ So see that little button at the bottom of your screen? You do? Good! SEND ME REVIEWS!!!!!!! Pretty please? ^_^