"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Panted Pippin as Merry helped him
to climb over an overhang in the cliff face.
"Ask him!" Merry puffed back, indicating the back that faced them. Aragorn had barely said a word all day. He ran from rock to rock, looking for something...but no one knew what. He had apparently abandoned Eldarion to Anánia's care, and now she struggled up the cliff face with the help of Legolas and Gimli. Astor soared overhead, sometimes taking the child in his own arms to allow Anánia to use both hands to climb freely.
Gimli climbed up on to the rock that Merry and Pippin sat on, all dignity now forgotten he lay face down and panting on the floor. From a little way above them Legolas stared at the rocks around them, and Anánia leant against a rock, nursing a disgruntled Eldarion. Further down Frodo and Sam climbed wearily, memories of their climb into Mordor flooding back to them.
"Stop this senseless struggle Aragorn." Gandalf shouted. "Can't you see that whilst you could search for hours more, the rest of them are tired?" He shaded his eyes from the midday sun and stared up towards Aragorn. "Let them rest."
"No, I can go on." Gimli struggled to his feet. He was only knocked down again as Astor alighted from the skies beside him, his great wings clipping Gimli round the head. "Thanks!" Gimli moaned, struggling to his feet again.
"It is senseless to continue in this heat." Astor said. "The air is thin up here, and whilst I am used to thin air, the others are certainly not."
Aragorn jumped down and surveyed the exhausted group. "But we must keep searching, we cannot just give up!" He pleaded.
"We will keep searching." Legolas promised. "We will find Lady Arwen and perform the enchantment. But we cannot continue in this midday heat, it is far too dangerous."
"Every moment we waste is a moment when Arwen slips further into the shadows!" Aragorn said angrily, striding over to Legolas and facing him.
"And every step we take may lead us closer to our own deaths!" Legolas said angrily. "Or have you forgotten Aragorn? We, all of us, are risking our lives on this quest. Be thankful of our help and let us rest!"
"I told you before you didn't have to come!" Aragorn spat. "Go home then. Go home to your marble palaces and silent servants. Go home and rule beside your father. Take your woman with you!" He said angrily as Anánia came and stood beside Aragorn. "But do not stand in front of me and tell me that I must stop searching for my loved one." He took a breath and looked at the two elves, with Gandalf standing silently behind them, and said in a calculated tone. "Do not stand before me, united in your love, and expect me not to feel jealousy tear at my heartstrings and make me yearn for my own true love."
"Then the problem here is not we, but you!" Legolas whispered in elven, but Aragorn heard. He looked at Legolas, his face full of wrath and yet deep and burning sorrow.
"I know full well that my actions killed Arwen." He said. "Do you not think that time and time again I tell myself I should have been with her, should have found better doctors to nurse her, should not have allowed her to become mortal for my sake?" He asked bitterly. "Every night I blame myself, and every morning I am no less to blame. I know that I am the cause of this problem. Why else would I be so intent on finding a solution?"
"Then maybe you should not have made Arwen pregnant." Gandalf said, stepping forward. The hobbits looked on in shock, this was totally unlike Gandalf. "Or maybe all of this Eldarion's fault!"
"I have already established that he is not to blame." Aragorn said hollowly.
"Then maybe this is Arwen's fault. She should not have died in the first place!" Gandalf said in a cold voice. Aragorn stiffened and drew his sword from its sheath.
"Do not provoke me Gandalf." He said.
Gandalf angrily waved his staff, forcing Anduril out of Aragorn's hand and into his own. "Your mind is engulfed in the fire of your self-hate." He said through gritted teeth, his face forming a menacing frown. "Or you would know better than to draw your sword against me, son of Arathorn. And you would know that we could stand here debating who is to blame for Arwen's death until we ourselves are mere ashes."
"Please think Aragorn." Legolas said. "Gandalf is right. Sense dictates that we should work together. If we continue in this way it will only damage our health. I am an elf, and able to travel tirelessly. But please consider the others. The hobbits...Gimli..." Gimli murmured a protest, not liking to be described as weak.
"Legolas is right." Anánia said. "It would be stupid to come all this way and then lose someone from our party. You wouldn't want to risk Eldarion's health, would you?" She asked Aragorn. She had hit a nerve. Instinctively, Aragorn took Eldarion into his arms and cradled him tenderly. Looking upwards at the immense mountain above them he sighed deeply.
"We shall rest until midday is over." He concluded. "But then I at least must continue, with or without all of you."
"We shall be beside you, my friend." Gandalf promised, putting on hand on Aragorn's shoulder and handing his sword back to him.
They rested on the plateau for perhaps an hour or more. Finally, they began to prepare to set off. As they began their climb, Merry ventured a question none had yet asked.
"Aragorn, what exactly are we looking for?" He asked. "I mean, this cave. Gandalf said that you can only find it if you are looking for it, but we don't know exactly what we are looking for, so what if we miss it?"
Aragorn stopped and looked at Merry in surprise. He tried to answer, but could not find the words at first. Gandalf cut in. "We are looking for anything elven in origin." He explained. "As the enchantment to release Arwen is elven, then the directions to the cave will be too. Which means that this cave will be very difficult to find, luckily we have two elves with us, which will give us an advantage." He smiled at Legolas and Anánia. "And it is likely that Aragorn will be drawn to the place almost magically, knowing that Arwen is nearby."
Pippin sighed. "Then there is little we can do to help." He said.
"Of course you can help!" Gandalf scolded. "Remember our quest to destroy the ring? Your task was unclear until you lead the orcs away from Frodo, and went on to help to destroy Isenguard. Do not tell me that your presence is pointless Peregrin Took!"
They climbed and searched all day, but to no avail. As the sun finally set and darkness shrouded them, Gandalf had to order a halt. Reluctantly, Aragorn agreed, but sat a little way off from the campfire, constantly searching the surrounding area for something that he did not know.
They ate a small meal in silence. It was a somber group that settled down for the night, and still Aragorn sat a little way off. He did not sleep, his eyes only glanced now and again to Eldarion, sleeping peacefully beside his nursemaid. Aragorn looked up at the sky in surprise as the moon pierced the clouds. The clouds suddenly seemed to magically disappear from the night sky. As Aragorn looked up at the sky, he noticed one star, brighter than all the rest. And as he looked, the star seemed to get closer. In fact all the other stars seemed to be moving too. They were moving across the night sky at great speeds, swooping in large circles.
Aragorn looked around to see if anyone else was watching this, but everyone was asleep. He looked up again and nearly cried out in shock. The stars had stopped moving and had formed a picture in the sky.
"Arwen?" Aragorn gasped. The stars had arranged themselves into the smiling face of his love. The vision only seemed to smile. The bright star Aragorn had noticed before had also joined the pattern, hanging around 'Arwen's neck' just like her evenstar pendant.
"Aragorn..." A voice on the air seemed to whisper. The wind seemed to touch him gently, stroking his hair and drawing a tear from his eye.
"Arwen!" He cried out, jumping up. But even as he did the stars were moving again and the vision was fading. "I tried to find you!" He pleaded, jumping up and running up the mountain, following her. "I truly did. And I learned to love our son. I need you back!" He tripped on a stone and fell, cursing. When he looked up again the vision was gone, but the bright star still shone. And it was getting brighter...falling towards him.
He watched it intently as it hit the ground a few feet from him. A bright light filled the sky, and Aragorn closed his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded by the light.
When he opened his eyes again he was sitting near the campfire. He closed his eyes in anguish. It had all been a dream, he had fallen asleep and dreamt it all. He could have kicked himself. He stood up and stretched, when something caught his eye.
A glint.
A glimmer in the rocks just a few feet to the west.
Something shining in the exact spot where the star had fallen.
"Arwen!" He cried out. This time everyone heard him. They sat up in shock, woken from their own dreams and saw Aragorn scrambling over the rocks and away from them.
"What is the fool doing?" Gandalf cried, standing up and running after Aragorn, beckoning for the others to follow. They did so, picking up their back packs out of instinct as they left, for fear that Aragorn would lead them on a wild goose chase and get them lost.
Aragorn crawled over the last rock and found himself looking into a small pool of water in the rocks, barely the size of a soup dish. Something lay glittering at the bottom of the pool. Eagerly he reached his hand in and clasped his fingers around some hard and cold. He pulled his hand out slowly, as the others came to a halt behind him.
Slowly, his hand shaking from anticipation, Aragorn opened his fingers. There, inside his palm, lay Arwen's evenstar pendant, glinting and glimmering in the moonlight.
Those behind him gasped. Legolas strode forward and looked at the pendant in disbelief.
"But Arwen was wearing that pendant when we gave her body to the great sea." He whispered. He turned to the others in confusion and suddenly his eyes filled with an unknown emotion. "Can you see it?" He asked.
The others looked at each other, confused and a little bit scared. But Legolas could see that Anánia could see what he could too. She was looking around in awe, her eyes glittering in a light that was not cast by the moon.
"See what exactly?" Astor asked suspiciously.
"The elven writing." Anánia gasped. Then she looked at them excitedly. "It is in an old language, so old I cannot understand it. It gleams like diamonds in the rocks. Can you not see it?"
They shook their heads, looking around. Everything looked perfectly normal, the only light coming from the moon overhead. Suddenly it dawned on Gandalf. He drew from his backpack a small piece of chalk and handed it to Legolas. "Write down what you see." He said excitedly.
Legolas did as he was told, whilst Anánia checked that what he wrote down was correct. Aragorn carried on staring at the pendant in disbelief. When Legolas finished he stood back and looked at the chalk writing on the ground. "That is it." He said. "The same words are repeated all over the place, written on the rocks and reading in that direction." He pointed upwards and slightly to their right.
Gandalf pushed him aside and read the writing. He straightened up and looked at them all, a sparkle in his eye.
"These are words in an old dialect of elven." He said triumphantly. "And they read as follows...
The one you seek is not far away, Yet you cannot find her by the light of day. But follow these words and you shall find, The place where the deceased are left behind.
We have found her!"
AN – Hi everybody, I'm back. I had a really good holiday, just got back about ten minutes ago, so I'm uploading this rally quickly before I have to do any unpacking (and also before some of you come out to tar and feather me for not uploading quickly enough). I will do my response to reviewers when I can, but at the moment I'm "revising" for my English Final on Monday! Argh! So read and review please and I will respond as soon as I can!
"Ask him!" Merry puffed back, indicating the back that faced them. Aragorn had barely said a word all day. He ran from rock to rock, looking for something...but no one knew what. He had apparently abandoned Eldarion to Anánia's care, and now she struggled up the cliff face with the help of Legolas and Gimli. Astor soared overhead, sometimes taking the child in his own arms to allow Anánia to use both hands to climb freely.
Gimli climbed up on to the rock that Merry and Pippin sat on, all dignity now forgotten he lay face down and panting on the floor. From a little way above them Legolas stared at the rocks around them, and Anánia leant against a rock, nursing a disgruntled Eldarion. Further down Frodo and Sam climbed wearily, memories of their climb into Mordor flooding back to them.
"Stop this senseless struggle Aragorn." Gandalf shouted. "Can't you see that whilst you could search for hours more, the rest of them are tired?" He shaded his eyes from the midday sun and stared up towards Aragorn. "Let them rest."
"No, I can go on." Gimli struggled to his feet. He was only knocked down again as Astor alighted from the skies beside him, his great wings clipping Gimli round the head. "Thanks!" Gimli moaned, struggling to his feet again.
"It is senseless to continue in this heat." Astor said. "The air is thin up here, and whilst I am used to thin air, the others are certainly not."
Aragorn jumped down and surveyed the exhausted group. "But we must keep searching, we cannot just give up!" He pleaded.
"We will keep searching." Legolas promised. "We will find Lady Arwen and perform the enchantment. But we cannot continue in this midday heat, it is far too dangerous."
"Every moment we waste is a moment when Arwen slips further into the shadows!" Aragorn said angrily, striding over to Legolas and facing him.
"And every step we take may lead us closer to our own deaths!" Legolas said angrily. "Or have you forgotten Aragorn? We, all of us, are risking our lives on this quest. Be thankful of our help and let us rest!"
"I told you before you didn't have to come!" Aragorn spat. "Go home then. Go home to your marble palaces and silent servants. Go home and rule beside your father. Take your woman with you!" He said angrily as Anánia came and stood beside Aragorn. "But do not stand in front of me and tell me that I must stop searching for my loved one." He took a breath and looked at the two elves, with Gandalf standing silently behind them, and said in a calculated tone. "Do not stand before me, united in your love, and expect me not to feel jealousy tear at my heartstrings and make me yearn for my own true love."
"Then the problem here is not we, but you!" Legolas whispered in elven, but Aragorn heard. He looked at Legolas, his face full of wrath and yet deep and burning sorrow.
"I know full well that my actions killed Arwen." He said. "Do you not think that time and time again I tell myself I should have been with her, should have found better doctors to nurse her, should not have allowed her to become mortal for my sake?" He asked bitterly. "Every night I blame myself, and every morning I am no less to blame. I know that I am the cause of this problem. Why else would I be so intent on finding a solution?"
"Then maybe you should not have made Arwen pregnant." Gandalf said, stepping forward. The hobbits looked on in shock, this was totally unlike Gandalf. "Or maybe all of this Eldarion's fault!"
"I have already established that he is not to blame." Aragorn said hollowly.
"Then maybe this is Arwen's fault. She should not have died in the first place!" Gandalf said in a cold voice. Aragorn stiffened and drew his sword from its sheath.
"Do not provoke me Gandalf." He said.
Gandalf angrily waved his staff, forcing Anduril out of Aragorn's hand and into his own. "Your mind is engulfed in the fire of your self-hate." He said through gritted teeth, his face forming a menacing frown. "Or you would know better than to draw your sword against me, son of Arathorn. And you would know that we could stand here debating who is to blame for Arwen's death until we ourselves are mere ashes."
"Please think Aragorn." Legolas said. "Gandalf is right. Sense dictates that we should work together. If we continue in this way it will only damage our health. I am an elf, and able to travel tirelessly. But please consider the others. The hobbits...Gimli..." Gimli murmured a protest, not liking to be described as weak.
"Legolas is right." Anánia said. "It would be stupid to come all this way and then lose someone from our party. You wouldn't want to risk Eldarion's health, would you?" She asked Aragorn. She had hit a nerve. Instinctively, Aragorn took Eldarion into his arms and cradled him tenderly. Looking upwards at the immense mountain above them he sighed deeply.
"We shall rest until midday is over." He concluded. "But then I at least must continue, with or without all of you."
"We shall be beside you, my friend." Gandalf promised, putting on hand on Aragorn's shoulder and handing his sword back to him.
They rested on the plateau for perhaps an hour or more. Finally, they began to prepare to set off. As they began their climb, Merry ventured a question none had yet asked.
"Aragorn, what exactly are we looking for?" He asked. "I mean, this cave. Gandalf said that you can only find it if you are looking for it, but we don't know exactly what we are looking for, so what if we miss it?"
Aragorn stopped and looked at Merry in surprise. He tried to answer, but could not find the words at first. Gandalf cut in. "We are looking for anything elven in origin." He explained. "As the enchantment to release Arwen is elven, then the directions to the cave will be too. Which means that this cave will be very difficult to find, luckily we have two elves with us, which will give us an advantage." He smiled at Legolas and Anánia. "And it is likely that Aragorn will be drawn to the place almost magically, knowing that Arwen is nearby."
Pippin sighed. "Then there is little we can do to help." He said.
"Of course you can help!" Gandalf scolded. "Remember our quest to destroy the ring? Your task was unclear until you lead the orcs away from Frodo, and went on to help to destroy Isenguard. Do not tell me that your presence is pointless Peregrin Took!"
They climbed and searched all day, but to no avail. As the sun finally set and darkness shrouded them, Gandalf had to order a halt. Reluctantly, Aragorn agreed, but sat a little way off from the campfire, constantly searching the surrounding area for something that he did not know.
They ate a small meal in silence. It was a somber group that settled down for the night, and still Aragorn sat a little way off. He did not sleep, his eyes only glanced now and again to Eldarion, sleeping peacefully beside his nursemaid. Aragorn looked up at the sky in surprise as the moon pierced the clouds. The clouds suddenly seemed to magically disappear from the night sky. As Aragorn looked up at the sky, he noticed one star, brighter than all the rest. And as he looked, the star seemed to get closer. In fact all the other stars seemed to be moving too. They were moving across the night sky at great speeds, swooping in large circles.
Aragorn looked around to see if anyone else was watching this, but everyone was asleep. He looked up again and nearly cried out in shock. The stars had stopped moving and had formed a picture in the sky.
"Arwen?" Aragorn gasped. The stars had arranged themselves into the smiling face of his love. The vision only seemed to smile. The bright star Aragorn had noticed before had also joined the pattern, hanging around 'Arwen's neck' just like her evenstar pendant.
"Aragorn..." A voice on the air seemed to whisper. The wind seemed to touch him gently, stroking his hair and drawing a tear from his eye.
"Arwen!" He cried out, jumping up. But even as he did the stars were moving again and the vision was fading. "I tried to find you!" He pleaded, jumping up and running up the mountain, following her. "I truly did. And I learned to love our son. I need you back!" He tripped on a stone and fell, cursing. When he looked up again the vision was gone, but the bright star still shone. And it was getting brighter...falling towards him.
He watched it intently as it hit the ground a few feet from him. A bright light filled the sky, and Aragorn closed his eyes to prevent himself from being blinded by the light.
When he opened his eyes again he was sitting near the campfire. He closed his eyes in anguish. It had all been a dream, he had fallen asleep and dreamt it all. He could have kicked himself. He stood up and stretched, when something caught his eye.
A glint.
A glimmer in the rocks just a few feet to the west.
Something shining in the exact spot where the star had fallen.
"Arwen!" He cried out. This time everyone heard him. They sat up in shock, woken from their own dreams and saw Aragorn scrambling over the rocks and away from them.
"What is the fool doing?" Gandalf cried, standing up and running after Aragorn, beckoning for the others to follow. They did so, picking up their back packs out of instinct as they left, for fear that Aragorn would lead them on a wild goose chase and get them lost.
Aragorn crawled over the last rock and found himself looking into a small pool of water in the rocks, barely the size of a soup dish. Something lay glittering at the bottom of the pool. Eagerly he reached his hand in and clasped his fingers around some hard and cold. He pulled his hand out slowly, as the others came to a halt behind him.
Slowly, his hand shaking from anticipation, Aragorn opened his fingers. There, inside his palm, lay Arwen's evenstar pendant, glinting and glimmering in the moonlight.
Those behind him gasped. Legolas strode forward and looked at the pendant in disbelief.
"But Arwen was wearing that pendant when we gave her body to the great sea." He whispered. He turned to the others in confusion and suddenly his eyes filled with an unknown emotion. "Can you see it?" He asked.
The others looked at each other, confused and a little bit scared. But Legolas could see that Anánia could see what he could too. She was looking around in awe, her eyes glittering in a light that was not cast by the moon.
"See what exactly?" Astor asked suspiciously.
"The elven writing." Anánia gasped. Then she looked at them excitedly. "It is in an old language, so old I cannot understand it. It gleams like diamonds in the rocks. Can you not see it?"
They shook their heads, looking around. Everything looked perfectly normal, the only light coming from the moon overhead. Suddenly it dawned on Gandalf. He drew from his backpack a small piece of chalk and handed it to Legolas. "Write down what you see." He said excitedly.
Legolas did as he was told, whilst Anánia checked that what he wrote down was correct. Aragorn carried on staring at the pendant in disbelief. When Legolas finished he stood back and looked at the chalk writing on the ground. "That is it." He said. "The same words are repeated all over the place, written on the rocks and reading in that direction." He pointed upwards and slightly to their right.
Gandalf pushed him aside and read the writing. He straightened up and looked at them all, a sparkle in his eye.
"These are words in an old dialect of elven." He said triumphantly. "And they read as follows...
The one you seek is not far away, Yet you cannot find her by the light of day. But follow these words and you shall find, The place where the deceased are left behind.
We have found her!"
AN – Hi everybody, I'm back. I had a really good holiday, just got back about ten minutes ago, so I'm uploading this rally quickly before I have to do any unpacking (and also before some of you come out to tar and feather me for not uploading quickly enough). I will do my response to reviewers when I can, but at the moment I'm "revising" for my English Final on Monday! Argh! So read and review please and I will respond as soon as I can!