Haha! I return, ready to rock and roll . . . or should I say . . . shock?
~+*Argy-bargy-Silverwing*+~
-Penny-
We had been running for days, barely stopping to sleep or rest, in pursuit of the Uruk-hai who hardly needed to stop.
Aragorn bent low, putting his ears to the ground, listening for which direction the rumbles of trampling feet came from. Gimli kept up the rear; I ran alongside Legolas, my new elfin features helping me to keep near the front with ease. Vast improvement, considering I hate long-distance running with a passion.
I knew what would be coming next, and I kept scanning the distance, until one morning, closing to midday, I saw them. Aragorn's senses seemed to note the disruption in the landscape, and he looked around. He stopped and frowned.
"Legolas, what do your elf-eyes see?" He asked. Legolas squinted, focusing on the group. "About 100 riders, two horses are being towed along, without riders."
We all jumped down from the hilltop we had been standing on, and Aragorn motioned for us to hide ourselves behind a large boulder. We did so and waited. The roar of thundering hooves drew closer, and soon enough they poured between the rocks like a boiling bubbling liquid. When they had passed, Aragorn stepped out, and shouted to them. "Riders of Rohan! What news from the mark?" Most of what he said was drowned out against the stampede, but as we grouped, they circled us. Many spears pointed towards us. I gulped and looked towards Legolas.
"Surely, Riders, you would not hold a lady at blade-point."
"She may be just as dangerous as you. Don't make the mistake of thinking we haven't seen her daggers."
I just rolled my eyes and looked around us. My thoughts drifted to Hillary. I hope my cheeky little hobbit friend was all right. I'd be seeing her soon enough, after the battle at Helm's Deep.
Anyway, to cut a long story short after I came back to reality, as the riders told us the story of the massacre the night before. My friends went very quiet, thinking our little companions had had no chance! But I knew better!!! Right now, they were probably sitting pretty atop a walking tree . . . I'm sorry, I meant Ent.
They offered us the horses, whose previous owners had unfortunately died. Legolas and Argorn hopped up as the Riders of Rohan galloped away, after wishing us well. Legolas motioned for me to join him in his saddle.
"I think you should take Gimli, love. He's never ridden before, and you're a gentler rider. I can cope with Aragorn's but Gimli may not be able to." He agreed with a smile. Aragorn looked a little miffed, but I hopped up behind him.
We rode for a long time. Legolas and I whispered words of encouragement to the brave horses, who carried our weight.
We soon reached the edge of the forest. My nose stung with the smell of burning flesh and I looked anywhere but the grotesque site of a head on a pole. The others walked towards the smoking heap of ashes and found the dagger sheaths of Merry and Pippin. They all looked as if they'd been deflated. Legolas sent a single prayer to help them on their way, and I saw tears in his eyes.
I walked over and held him in an embrace, which he returned. I planted a kiss on his tear-streaked face. "They're in a safe place." I whispered in our language. It was at that point when Aragorn noticed something. He was muttering to himself, following a trail. He lifted up ropes next to a discarded axe. He looked up, his gaze falling upon the trees.
"The forest! They went into the forest!" He cried, drawing his sword and marching forward. Legolas glanced at me with an eyebrow raised before we followed Aragorn into the woods.
It was definitely an extremely pissed off mood here. Trees were groaning and muttering to themselves as we entered. Legolas, being prince of Mirkwood, obviously could understand trees perfectly. He told us the forest was old, and very angry, but that the white wizard approached.
This evoked fear into our group. "Don't look at him, he may put us under some spell." Someone muttered, as the men gripped their weapons tightly. I could feel a pure presence approaching us; music seemed to ring in my ears. I felt very relaxed and I smiled.
"NOW!" Aragorn roared. Legolas fired an arrow. Bright light flashed as it rebounded off a white shield of power. Gimli's axe had a similar effect, as Argorn's sword burned red hot in his hands, causing him to drop it. They shielded their eyes from the startling shine, coming off the tall figure.
Finally it faded, and before us stood Gandalf. Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli stood in complete awe, their faces almost returning the light. I walked forward and embraced Gandalf. I knew he thought I was a promiscuous nymphomaniac, but I was so glad to have him back. To my surprise he chuckled and gave me a squeeze.
Not before long, we had walked through Fangorn and were coming to the open hilly fields where the long grass swayed in the warm breeze, filling my sinuses with the smell of summer and good omens. Gandalf started to whistle. The sound was haunting, yet beautiful and was soon accompanied by a shrill whinny.
"That is one of the mareas unless my eyes are cheated by some spell. . ." Legolas muttered beside me.
"Shadowfax, the king of all horses, he has been my companion for many an age . . ." Gandalf told us, stroking the beautiful stallion's mane.
We all jumped onto our steeds and made our way across the plains. Soon, a town atop a hill surrounded by wooden walls came into sight. I couldn't remember the name, but I looked up in wonder at the majestic flags bearing a white horse. One had fallen and flapped along the windswept ground, giving the illusion that it was galloping.
We rode up through the town. People gave us extremely cold glares. Under the influence of Grima Wormtongue, no doubt. We reached the steps going up the golden hall. I giggled, this would be so fun.
Three men stepped forward. They asked for our weapons. They took Legolas' bow, Aragorn's sword and bow, and Gimli's axe, much to his reluctance. They approached me, and I flipped my daggers with a growl. They jumped slightly and blinked, I handed them over with a cheeky grin. They moved to Gandalf and asked for his staff. He hesitated.
'Say it,' I urged in my mind. But for some reason he didn't and was about to hand it over. I quickly stepped in. "Surely, gentlemen, you would not deprive an old man of his walking stick?" I said with a gentle smile.
They nodded, and let us pass. "Well done she-elf." Gandalf whispered to me. I grinned and pretended I was helping him to walk in. We entered the hall. Many people stood watching, sitting at long tables or just standing aimlessly. Grima Wormtongue was even uglier in the flesh. Absolutely hideous and almost dripping with slime. He stared at me with searching, ice blue eyes, almost like he was undressing me with them. Bloody pervert.
As we approached, Gandalf called out to King Theodin, who was beneath the magic cloak, giving him the appearance of a dying old man. "The welcome in this hall is somewhat cold of late, King Theodin of Rohan." Wormtongue was whispering something, and Theodin wheezed quietly. "Why should I. . . welcome. . . you, Gandalf. . . Stormcrow?" He looked at Grima for approval.
"A just question, my liege." Grima whispered.
"Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth!" Gandalf growled, producing his beautifully carved staff.
Grima slithered backwards, looking around the hall with bulging eyes, hissing, "I told you to take his STAFF!"
"Yeah, well, you weren't counting on me were you, Buster?" I said, as guards tried to swarm around me and my companions, who we easily knocked out or kicked to the floor. The pale face framed with lank, dark hair turned towards me, the pale eyes locking with mine for a brief moment. I ignored it, and punched a man running past me. Gimli pushed Wormtongue to the floor, putting his foot upon his chest and leaning down to his face. "I'd stay still if I were you."
Gandalf then tried a simple spell he would have used as a grey wizard, trying to release the king from his possessed nature. Theodin's pale, pasty face creased. His pale opal eyes, clouded over and almost devoid of colour glared at us as he began to laugh. It wheezed, hacked, almost coughed a sickening rattle like gravel sliding over stone. 'Smoker's cough!' Was exactly what passed through my mind. "You have no power here, Gandalf the grey!"
Gandalf threw off his cloak, revealing the dazzling white of his robes. His staff shot forward, aiming at the figure slumped in the throne.
Gandalf was angry. I great aura of energy swept around and from him, knocking back the force holding the King captive.
"I shall draw you Saruman, like poison is drawn form a wound."
"Rohan is mine!"
Gandalf roared and there was a great surge power. Suddenly he just stopped, and like dust slowly being blown from the cover of a rediscovered book, old age swept away from Theodin. His eyes grew brighter, his hair fairer, his skin smoothed out and gained a rosy glow. His posture restored itself and increased his height, grace and kingliness. He gazed around in awe. . .
BANG. The doors to the hall were crashed open as Grima Wormtongue slipped and squirmed, tumbling and scrabbling away desperately from the point of the King of Rohan's blade.
"I have always served you master! I have always –."
"SILENCE!" Roared the King, advancing and kicking Grima down the stairs, before following, ready for the kill. Aragorn had to hold him back. Wormtongue swept to his feet, wiping away blood from the corner of his mouth. "It was that she-elf! She allowed the staff into the hall! It put a mad curse upon you my Lord!"
"This She-elf has a name, Rocky!" I shouted, stepping forward. "It's Penelope Fiona Mary Cecilia, and don't you forget it!"
"Oh I will not . . ." He cackled smoothly. "As much as your beauty could pierce the very heart of any creature, you shall dearly pay for this. . ."
"Will a piece of gold do? I don't have much time for negotiations!" I said loudly and haughtily. Theodin struggled again, his blade restless in his hand; keen for a killing blow "Your witchcraft would have had me on all fours like an ANIMAL!" Grima's eyes pondered this with a shock, and he whipped around with a snarl, screaming to the gathering crowd, "Get out of my way!"
He escaped on a horse, setting course for Isengard.
~*~*~
Saruman ran a long finger across the large bruise on his forehead shaped like the mount of Gandalf's staff. How could Gandalf have transformed so suddenly, without warning? Who was this elf girl?
She was strong, she had somehow known, and assisted in the smuggling of the staff.
He could not possess her, could not take over her mind and rack her body, not under the protection and increased wariness of her friends.
"But, I could stir something up . . ."
~*~*~
I yawned and stretched; looking around the room I was in. It was early morning and we had to move on to Helm's Deep today, because King Theodin had ordered it. Legolas was still asleep beside me, lying on his side with his back facing me. I lay back down and hugged him tightly, planting a kiss on his cheek before getting up and dressing.
I walked down some corridors before opening a door into the great hall. Gimli was already up and making his way through a bowl of odd-looking fruit. I grabbed something vaguely resembling an apple and began to eat. Gimli glared at me.
"Sorry Gims, I'm really hungry."
" . . . What? What is Gims?"
"Your new name." I said brightly. He grinned. "She-elf, I can trust you. Could you hold my horse while I ride, I have not ridden alone before, I know Legolas would want to stay to the front to keep watch instead of riding with me."
"Why of course Gimli." I beamed.
Later, I found myself in this exact position. Eowyn had joined us and walked on the other side of the horse while Gimli told us about dwarf women. We were in utter hysterics, and I wished more than anything that Hillary could be here to share the joke. When Aragorn added the bit about dwarf women being unidentifiable because of their beards I almost fell over.
" . . . . . and they think that dwarves just spring out of the ground!!" Gimli laughed. "Which of course is ridiculous." I caught Eowyn's eye and we almost collapsed. Gimli's horse suddenly bolted and he flew gracefully to the ground. We ran after him, and as we helped him up, I saw Eowyn staring at Aragorn, her face almost glowing. I felt pity for her then, she had fallen for him, but he was already taken, which was obvious, as he did not return her sparkling look of joy. I looked up ahead. Legolas was looking at me, his eyes were shadowed, and his face grim. He turned away.
Neither did he join us as we slept that night. My heart felt like it had nestled in the pit of my stomach.
The next day we continued walking. I still hadn't had Legolas less than a hundred metres from me. I was starting to feel lonely, although I was crowded by people, so I ran up ahead with him. He was very quiet. Two horsemen passed us.
"What is wrong, Legolas?" I questioned. He blinked and turned his head ever so slightly away. "Legolas?"
"Nothing, I do not feel very well, that is all."
I kept quiet for several moments. Then I remembered, thanks to a sudden heat from the necklaces I wore. "Legolas, wargs are near, I can smell them, quick, they are on the attack!" I added as a sudden whinny of panic sprang up from a horse we couldn't see and a snarling sound followed by a man's scream pierced the murmurs of the crowd.
Legolas ran from me. I followed, cresting the hill and suddenly seeing one. Legolas fired an arrow and it rolled over. "Time for a little bit of magic!" I said, calling upon energy from Farore's crystal. A jet of green light shot from my fingers and vines sprang out of the ground, wrapping the hyena-cross-wolf to the cold stone. I laughed crazily, as more wargs came over the hill. Perfect for target practise!
"Penny! Get away from here!"
"Don't be ridiculous honey!" I giggled, freezing one to a rock.
"Get away! You are still mortal yet!"
"Legolas, Elves can still die by blade or arrow! I'm working on it." Din's Fire coated another's fur as it yelped in pain.
"A mortal wound would sap away your life, go back to the wagons." The wargs were getting close. I threw down my arms, sending a dusting of razor sharp icicles towards them. "Legolas, I must fight, because I can."
"Fine." Was all he said, whipping up to join Gimli upon a horse. He had said one word, but it stung me like a needle. Fire shot like a whip, coiling around a goblin atop a warg and turning him to ash, which blew away.
Our fighters and the warg riders suddenly collided. I had to be extra careful. I wrapped several wargs to the ground using vines. Froze one solid, and burnt the rest who crossed my path. Finally none others were in range, without me having to harm one of our own. I watched, seeing if Legolas was all right.
Finally, their number diminished and all was quiet, though I remembered, not without the after taste of loss. Aragorn would return again, but he had taken a fall and most thought he was dead. Slowly everyone trudged back past me. I saw Gimli, but I was waiting for Legolas. I looked along the line of men. He was not there. Panic rose. Where was he?
I turned, to see him some distance to the left of everyone else, making his way to the usual spot ahead of the group. I ran to join him. "Legolas! Wait!"
He did not even turn, respond or flinch. "Legolas!" I cried louder. Again, I was ignored. I eventually gained on him. "Legolas!" I said again breathlessly. He halted beside a rock and turned. His face was thunderous.
"Legolas! Legolas! Legolas! You cry out and you cry out, I do not answer, is it not clear to see I do not want to answer you!" He hissed. I gasped and frowned quizzically, my mouth opening in shock.
"If you do not listen to me, why should I listen to you? You deliberately disobeyed me, you could have been killed."
"Yes, but I wasn't, I kept away!"
"You shouldn't have fought. What if you drew attention to yourself? They knew there was a magic user, I had to stop the ones heading straight for you."
"Thank you very much for your concern, but look! I'm fine."
"Because I was worried about you, I could not stop the one that took Aragorn!"
"Aragorn . . . will be alright!" I said, stopping myself from giving away the story.
"Aragorn is dead! Like all humans eventually die! Even when they are half elf, half human, they die. You . . ." his eyes seemed to burn a hole through me, my eyes were filling with tears as realisation dawned. "You, I'll be expected to marry you after this, take you as my wife. You will die, after about one twentieth of how long I have lived. You will leave this world and me."
"Legolas! I will soon be an elf, a proper elf, then I will live and be immortal."
"What if you do not? I cannot take that chance. I would rather be rid of you myself, than death to it for me!"
"Why hurt yourself now? Why cannot we at least enjoy it while it can last. . . .?"
"So you can get me in deeper? Make me love you and then-. ."
"What? Make you love me? But I thought. . ." My throat seemed so tight.
"You thought wrong." His lips curled and twisted into a cruel smile. "I do not love you."
"So. . ." I said, my voice deepening with the constriction of my larynx, "what was it all before? What was it all we started in Hyrule?"
"It was nothing." He whispered. An icy, numbing feeling swept through my veins. "It was nothing, it meant nothing, I felt nothing."
"I, I. . . . .I . . . .Legolas? What are you saying? What's happened to you?"
"It's over." He said, his face as emotionless as stone. He turned and began to walk away. The last part of me that had not been filled up with the shadow now sweeping over my emotions like a virus, flared out with my last words to him.
"You can't end what never began." I said hard and steadily.
The darkness that had hovered over him all through this conversation seemed to lift slightly as he turned and looked at me. Suddenly seeming shocked at what he'd done.
"I'm. . . Sorry." He said, avoiding my gaze and turning once again, as quickly as he could. I took a deep breath, like one trying to suck in oxygen before being taken under water. Sadness overwhelmed me. I felt heavy; one tear trickled down my right cheek, followed by one on my left. I backed against the boulder, clamping my hand over my mouth. A sob escaped my lips and I squeezed my eyelids together, trying to prevent the river of despair. I failed as racking echoes of my cries rang around me and I sank to the ground, hugging my knees, trying to hide from the pain. I could barely breathe properly. The two people I wanted more than anything were Link and Hillary. And they were the two people who were farthest away from me.
~*~*~*~*~*~
WHAT IS HE DOING!?!?! You might ask. ARGENTIUM, ARE YOU OFF YOUR ROCKER? You may say. ARGENTIUM'S GONE MAD! Indeed I have. More surprises from me, next time! Kisses!!
Review or that warg will come and bite your behind! Legolas will make that red sun rising, fall on your head and Penny will attack you with an icicle, a fireball and leaf. . . .yes! The lethal leaf of Lothlorien! WAAAHAHAHAH!!! In other words, just leave a review. . . . . .