Chapter 11- Missing the Fellowship
About a week later, I was having trouble sleeping, but I was pretty aware of the domesetic dangers of going outside for some air, even in a haven like Imaldris. So I lay in bed, trying not to move and disturb Ainaelda. My mind was blank; I just could not hold on to rational thought. I lay there, glassy-eyed and silent. Everything about me was asleep except my mind.
"Kat?" Ainaelda was awake too? I could have sworn she was asleep. "Katty, are you awake?" she whispered. I was about to turn and tell her I was, but I stopped when she started speaking again. "Good. It's easier to talk to you like this. Katty, that day at the Council, the Ring spoke to me." I snapped my eyes shut quickly. Trying not to breathe, I lay as still as I possibly could. I wanted to hear this. It had spoken to her too? Weird… "I'm glad we learned the language of Mordor. Remember how I said it was pointless, and that we'd never need to know this? I'm glad you talked me into it. You know what it said? It was really spooky; the voice was all creepy, and it said: You want to go home. That's it. That's all it said. Nothing else. You want to go home. And I do. But how did it know that? Magic ring of power or not, it could not have known that. But I don't want to go home as badly as I did then.
"Will it tempt me? Will I follow Boromir's fate? It's so scary… I want to go and make sure I'm stronger than that. At the same time, though, I'm scared that I won't be able to. I'm glad you're coming too. You won't be sucked in by it, because you are so incredibly cool like that. It's one of the reasons your my friend. I mean, you always just take things in stride. Because, I mean, if I learned that you kissed Aragorn, I so totally would not have been as cool about it as you were. You're awesome.
"Thanks for listening. I missed you, you know. I didn't want to admit it; pride's a funny thing, don't you think?" With that, she turned over. Within five minutes, her steady breathing told me she was asleep. I swung my legs out and hopped off the bed. That was it; perilous or not, I needed to get outside.
I walked around, careful to keep track of landmarks to lead me back. I had wrapped myself in a lilac robe, but the night was already warm. I rounded a corner, more concerned with remembering the angel-like statue for future reference than where I was going. Which turned out to be a shame, because I smacked right into Elrond.
My eyes widened, but I curtsied anyway. I didn't really know how to do a curtsy, but I get points for trying, right? He looked at me, clearly not happy with what he saw. It was sort of this 'How can I kill you and make it look like an accident?' look. I didn't want him angry with me; like Aragorn, he was pretty scary when he was angry, and now that I didn't have adrenaline in me, I was thoroughly cowed.
"Please, my Lord…should I call you my Lord?" He looked a touch annoyed me, but I couldn't really balme him; we duked it out in the middle of the Council, and not even very well. It must have been revolting to a warrior like him.
"Lord Elrond will suffice, thank you." Well, even if he said it in a tone of voice that indicated that nothing would make him happier than to see me dropped into Mount Doom, he still TRIED to be a gentleman.
"Okay…Lord Elrond. I want to apologize for the Council. If you had any idea what Ainaelda and I had gone through before this…but you don't, and our behavior was uncalled for. I'm sorry for that. I can only hope that you can forgive us." He gave me a side long look for a moment. Then,
"I suppose that you were only acting your age. I often forget that even we Elves have our undignified moments. Though why Aragorn thought you fit to join, or why I allowed them to talk me into it is beyond my understanding. It is good of you to apologize, and I would be churlish to refuse." I curtsied again. Churlish? Hm, I should look that up, if I ever got home.
"Thank you. Good evening." He nodded and continued walking. Then he turned, as if he remembered something.
"Oh, Lady Vinyaduriel, I would not suggest wandering around at night any further than you already have. Things are dangerous nowadays." Then he continued walking as if nothing had happened. I took his advice and headed back to our room. Slowly, but I did.
Well, since we had two months of leisure time, and healing time for our various bruises and scrapes, we were able to pack very thoroughly, and could scout out any items we had a deficit of.
"Hey, Ainaelda, when are we gonna leave?" She gave me this 'duh' look.
"Come on, I know you know when they're leaving."
"I do, I just wondered when we're leaving."
"Oh. Right. Well, I figure we start a little early, then head 'em off. They leave at dusk, so we'll just rest up real quick. This is going to be the event of a lifetime, my friend." I had to agree. I dressed for travel and jumped into the bed. It didn't make sense to get into my pj's just to change out of them an hour later. It was hard to nap, I was too excited. Too…excited…to sleep…
I had just closed my eyes, it seemed, when Ainaelda yanked me out of bed onto the floor.
"Whassat?" I asked very intelligently, still half asleep. She pulled me on my feet and shoved my knapsack at me, clearly in a state of panic.
"Get dressed. Hurry! They left without us." Well, needless to say, THAT woke me up. I dropped my pack and rummaged through the closet, trying to find traveling clothes.
"We're idiots, you know that? We knew perfectly well when they were leaving, and we slept through it like kindergarteners at nap time. What time is it?"
"Sheesh, I don't know. I guess we'll have to learn how to tell it by the sun or moon, or whatever. But it can't be much later than eight or so."
"Any idea what exact time they left?"
"Dusk? I dunno, sixish?"
"Crap." I yanked the belt that held a "borrowed" dagger on it around my waist and fastened it tight. Then, I was set to go. Wait, no I wasn't. I dropped a bowstring in this little fanny pack deal on the belt and pulled out an unstrung bow that would serve as a walking stick at the same time.
"Wait," said Ainaelda, "try and string it. It would be a little set back if, when we got to the mines, that we found out that we can't string the stupid thing." That made sense. I pulled the string out, then stared at it dubiously. The staff was limber, sort of, but what if she was right? I looped the string over the end closest to me, then, working quickly, because it really isn't in an orc's nature to wait while someone strings their bow, I bent the bow and pulled it over the other end. Hey. That was pretty easy! "Now try and draw it. But don't put an arrow to it just yet." Ah, Ainaelda. Always the voice of sense. At least, she was before we got dunked in this weird place. Holding my breath, I gripped the string between my left thumb and pointer finger and pulled. It came back without complaint. Ainaelda grinned. "I'm impressed. Now unstring it and let's get out of here."
"Sounds like a plan to me." I unstrung it, because even a beginner archer knows that if you leave a wooden bow strung it'll warp the wood, and I officially proclaimed myself ready. Ainaelda had no bow, but a dagger, like me, and a rapier that I don't even want to know how she obtained. Her father was a professional fencer and encouraged his children to try it as well. Her sister didn't, because, you know, it might wreck her manicure or something, but Ainaelda was all too willing to learn. And learn she did. We looked at each other. This was it. Moment of Truth. We could turn back now, and just stay safe in Rivendell. But hey, where's the fun in that? We walked out.
About a week later, I was having trouble sleeping, but I was pretty aware of the domesetic dangers of going outside for some air, even in a haven like Imaldris. So I lay in bed, trying not to move and disturb Ainaelda. My mind was blank; I just could not hold on to rational thought. I lay there, glassy-eyed and silent. Everything about me was asleep except my mind.
"Kat?" Ainaelda was awake too? I could have sworn she was asleep. "Katty, are you awake?" she whispered. I was about to turn and tell her I was, but I stopped when she started speaking again. "Good. It's easier to talk to you like this. Katty, that day at the Council, the Ring spoke to me." I snapped my eyes shut quickly. Trying not to breathe, I lay as still as I possibly could. I wanted to hear this. It had spoken to her too? Weird… "I'm glad we learned the language of Mordor. Remember how I said it was pointless, and that we'd never need to know this? I'm glad you talked me into it. You know what it said? It was really spooky; the voice was all creepy, and it said: You want to go home. That's it. That's all it said. Nothing else. You want to go home. And I do. But how did it know that? Magic ring of power or not, it could not have known that. But I don't want to go home as badly as I did then.
"Will it tempt me? Will I follow Boromir's fate? It's so scary… I want to go and make sure I'm stronger than that. At the same time, though, I'm scared that I won't be able to. I'm glad you're coming too. You won't be sucked in by it, because you are so incredibly cool like that. It's one of the reasons your my friend. I mean, you always just take things in stride. Because, I mean, if I learned that you kissed Aragorn, I so totally would not have been as cool about it as you were. You're awesome.
"Thanks for listening. I missed you, you know. I didn't want to admit it; pride's a funny thing, don't you think?" With that, she turned over. Within five minutes, her steady breathing told me she was asleep. I swung my legs out and hopped off the bed. That was it; perilous or not, I needed to get outside.
I walked around, careful to keep track of landmarks to lead me back. I had wrapped myself in a lilac robe, but the night was already warm. I rounded a corner, more concerned with remembering the angel-like statue for future reference than where I was going. Which turned out to be a shame, because I smacked right into Elrond.
My eyes widened, but I curtsied anyway. I didn't really know how to do a curtsy, but I get points for trying, right? He looked at me, clearly not happy with what he saw. It was sort of this 'How can I kill you and make it look like an accident?' look. I didn't want him angry with me; like Aragorn, he was pretty scary when he was angry, and now that I didn't have adrenaline in me, I was thoroughly cowed.
"Please, my Lord…should I call you my Lord?" He looked a touch annoyed me, but I couldn't really balme him; we duked it out in the middle of the Council, and not even very well. It must have been revolting to a warrior like him.
"Lord Elrond will suffice, thank you." Well, even if he said it in a tone of voice that indicated that nothing would make him happier than to see me dropped into Mount Doom, he still TRIED to be a gentleman.
"Okay…Lord Elrond. I want to apologize for the Council. If you had any idea what Ainaelda and I had gone through before this…but you don't, and our behavior was uncalled for. I'm sorry for that. I can only hope that you can forgive us." He gave me a side long look for a moment. Then,
"I suppose that you were only acting your age. I often forget that even we Elves have our undignified moments. Though why Aragorn thought you fit to join, or why I allowed them to talk me into it is beyond my understanding. It is good of you to apologize, and I would be churlish to refuse." I curtsied again. Churlish? Hm, I should look that up, if I ever got home.
"Thank you. Good evening." He nodded and continued walking. Then he turned, as if he remembered something.
"Oh, Lady Vinyaduriel, I would not suggest wandering around at night any further than you already have. Things are dangerous nowadays." Then he continued walking as if nothing had happened. I took his advice and headed back to our room. Slowly, but I did.
Well, since we had two months of leisure time, and healing time for our various bruises and scrapes, we were able to pack very thoroughly, and could scout out any items we had a deficit of.
"Hey, Ainaelda, when are we gonna leave?" She gave me this 'duh' look.
"Come on, I know you know when they're leaving."
"I do, I just wondered when we're leaving."
"Oh. Right. Well, I figure we start a little early, then head 'em off. They leave at dusk, so we'll just rest up real quick. This is going to be the event of a lifetime, my friend." I had to agree. I dressed for travel and jumped into the bed. It didn't make sense to get into my pj's just to change out of them an hour later. It was hard to nap, I was too excited. Too…excited…to sleep…
I had just closed my eyes, it seemed, when Ainaelda yanked me out of bed onto the floor.
"Whassat?" I asked very intelligently, still half asleep. She pulled me on my feet and shoved my knapsack at me, clearly in a state of panic.
"Get dressed. Hurry! They left without us." Well, needless to say, THAT woke me up. I dropped my pack and rummaged through the closet, trying to find traveling clothes.
"We're idiots, you know that? We knew perfectly well when they were leaving, and we slept through it like kindergarteners at nap time. What time is it?"
"Sheesh, I don't know. I guess we'll have to learn how to tell it by the sun or moon, or whatever. But it can't be much later than eight or so."
"Any idea what exact time they left?"
"Dusk? I dunno, sixish?"
"Crap." I yanked the belt that held a "borrowed" dagger on it around my waist and fastened it tight. Then, I was set to go. Wait, no I wasn't. I dropped a bowstring in this little fanny pack deal on the belt and pulled out an unstrung bow that would serve as a walking stick at the same time.
"Wait," said Ainaelda, "try and string it. It would be a little set back if, when we got to the mines, that we found out that we can't string the stupid thing." That made sense. I pulled the string out, then stared at it dubiously. The staff was limber, sort of, but what if she was right? I looped the string over the end closest to me, then, working quickly, because it really isn't in an orc's nature to wait while someone strings their bow, I bent the bow and pulled it over the other end. Hey. That was pretty easy! "Now try and draw it. But don't put an arrow to it just yet." Ah, Ainaelda. Always the voice of sense. At least, she was before we got dunked in this weird place. Holding my breath, I gripped the string between my left thumb and pointer finger and pulled. It came back without complaint. Ainaelda grinned. "I'm impressed. Now unstring it and let's get out of here."
"Sounds like a plan to me." I unstrung it, because even a beginner archer knows that if you leave a wooden bow strung it'll warp the wood, and I officially proclaimed myself ready. Ainaelda had no bow, but a dagger, like me, and a rapier that I don't even want to know how she obtained. Her father was a professional fencer and encouraged his children to try it as well. Her sister didn't, because, you know, it might wreck her manicure or something, but Ainaelda was all too willing to learn. And learn she did. We looked at each other. This was it. Moment of Truth. We could turn back now, and just stay safe in Rivendell. But hey, where's the fun in that? We walked out.