Faulkner: I got my first flame from Winterfox. It kept me nice and warm
during the two days of rain we had over the week. Thanks!
Pinky: It helped heat up the whole house, it was so long!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Galadriel watched all the events from her mirror, sighing at the pain that she saw in the young human.
"Do you lose faith in me so quickly?" Galadriel murmured to herself. "Hope can do so much, if you just believe." The Lady of Light shook her head and turned away from the things that her mirror showed her.
She walked back to her talan and looked over Caras Galadhon, Lorien, her home in Middle-Earth. Her thoughts continually strayed to the one hope that Middle-Earth had for survival, and the one hope that a certain human girl had.
"What did you see?" Lord Celeborn appeared beside his wife and put a hand on her shoulder.
"She will not believe. Her heart is too sorrow filled and she cannot find the light." Galadriel replied with a sigh.
He gave her shoulder a small squeeze and looked out over the forest that they ruled. His heart was torn between staying in Lothlorien and leaving for Valinor. They were both beautiful, and both were places that he yearned to stay in.
"We should send a few elves to bring her back. She will not make it here, with her grief and wounds taking their toll on her strength." Galadriel said.
"Yes. It is the best we can do for her at this time. I will send three on horse. We need to get to her before it is too late." The elf-lord kissed his wife on the cheek and sent a messenger for the marchwarden.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------
Ratchet felt weak. She had long ago cried the last of her tears and now just felt empty and weak. Already she wanted to stop and just curl up and die, and join Boromir. What was life, when you couldn't be happy?
All day she walked through the lightly wooded area around the Falls of Rauros. Around nightfall she reached the end of the hilly area and found grassy plains. Ratchet only stopped to rest and ate very little. She followed the along the great river Anduin, just as Legolas said.
But one day she stopped traveling.
Something had snapped inside of her, and she decided it didn't matter. She didn't care if she lived or died. All she wanted was for all the pain to go away.
Ratchet pulled out a blanket and laid it down on the ground near the Anduin. She laid down and covered herself up with her cloak and closed her eyes. She didn't know how long she had been traveling, and didn't care.
The lone girl fell into a deep and uneasy sleep. Her wounds had become infected, and her fever had not been taken care of, or even noticed.
And that was how the small group of elves found her.
Haldir and two others had been riding hard and keeping near the Anduin, eyes always on the lookout for Ratchet. Haldir had been the one to first notice the small lump. He had almost galloped right past it, the only thing that had alerted him was a small moan and that the lump started to shake.
He called their progress to a halt and dismounted. The elf quietly approached the lump and gently touched it. It moaned again and kept shaking. He turned it over and saw that it was an elvish cloak that had concealed her.
The Captain gasped at the change that Ratchet had made over such a short time.
Ratchet had become skinny, her eyes haunted and dark circles under them. She was deathly pale, except for the unnatural flush to her skin that showed she had a fever.
He yelled over his shoulder at the two elves and they dismounted to take a look at her wounds. Haldir was no healer, and he knew it. He was thankful that he had the forsight to bring one.
The healer tsked tsked over her wounds and quickly set about cleaning them properly. He explained that the fever had already taken a strong hold on her and only Galadriel had the power to dispel it. The best they could do was care for her wounds and hold the fever back as best they could.
Haldir carefully picked her up and mounted his horse. He told one of the other elves to grab her pack, and he set off for Lorien, full sprint.
They only stopped to let the horses eat and rest. The rest of the time they were traveling.
But even when they reached the borders of the wood, Haldir's worry did not leave. Ratchet's condition had slowly deteriorated. The fever gave her chills and she was constantly shaking. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, and she would whisper nonsense. The only thing she reacted to was touch.
The Lady Galadriel was ready and waiting in the healing hall for Ratchet. Haldir set her on a bed and Galadriel sent him off to rest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------
The next day Ratchet's fever was gone, but her wounds still needed time to heal. All week, Ratchet slept in the healing hall without waking once.
When she did wake, it was nighttime and Haldir was visiting.
At the time, he was talking to a healer about her condition.
"When will she wake up?" he asked.
"When she feels ready to. I have told you again and again that only she knows when she will wake up." the healer said. "I suggest you go home Captain. You need rest yourself."
"You are dismissed." Haldir nodded to the healer and turned to look at Ratchet. He was surprised to see her eyes open and staring at him.
"Ratchet?" he said, incredulous.
Ratchet licked her pale lips and swallowed. "Yeah?"
Haldir grinned and sat in a chair next to her bed. Then took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It is good to see you awake."
Ratchet looked around her and frowned slightly. "Where am I? How long have I been asleep?"
"You are in Lorien. You've been asleep for a little over a week." he answered.
"Where's - " and she stopped. The recent events hit her, and made her feel dizzy. She closed her eyes and waited for it to pass. Then slowly sat up and looked around her again. Her hand strayed to the sun pendant and gripped it.
Ratchet pulled off the covers and stood.
"You shouldn't -" Haldir started.
"I need to get some fresh air Haldir." She looked down at her injured leg and got the ghost of a smile. "Damn. The same leg the orcs in Moria shot. Son of a monkey." Shaking her head, she limped over to the window and scanned the city in the forest.
It all looked the same as the last time she had been there. Everything was glowing with an inner light, even the elves seemed to glow.
"Nothings changed. It's as if time doesn't work here." she whispered to herself. Her eyes glazed over as her thoughts drifted.
"There are clean clothes on the table for you. I'll have some food sent up, you must be hungry." Haldir said. He was watching her carefully from the bedside. She nodded, but didn't move.
Haldir left silently and found a messenger to get a tray of food from the kitchens. When he returned, this time with food, Ratchet was in the clean pair of pants and shirt, but standing at the window again. He set the tray down on the table and walked over to her side. She didn't show any sign that she knew he was there and kept staring unseeingly.
"I brought some food."
Ratchet didn't even blink. "I'm not hungry."
"You need to eat. You've been sleeping for at least a week and only you know how long before that you hadn't had something good in your stomach." he reasoned.
Ratchet stepped away from the window and sat at the table. Then slowly started to eat. Haldir pulled out a chair and sat down and watched her eat. She seemed detached from everything around her, and it was scaring him. Lady Galadriel had told him of Boromir's fate, and he hated the man for putting Ratchet in so much.
What is it enough that she had been in this kind of pain before? And now she had to face it all over again.
When she finished she pushed the tray away and stared off into space. They sat in silence, until a messenger entered and bowed.
"Captain, Lord Celeborn wishes to speak to you about the battle preparations."
Haldir glanced at Ratchet, who was now staring intently at the messenger.
"Thank you. Please tell the Lord that I will be there shortly." The messenger bowed and left.
"Battle preparations?" Ratchet was now staring at Haldir.
"Yes. Battle preparations. We are going to aid in the fight against the traitor Saruman. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Haldir stood to leave, and studied Ratchet for a few moments. She seemed to have slipped back into her reverie. "Good day." and the elf nodded and left.
She sat at the table most of the day, discussing the strange turn of events. Occasionally she would get up and pace, then sit back down still as a statue.
When Haldir returned with a tray of supper, Ratchet was standing by the window again. He set the tray down on the table and sat down. He was about to speak, but Ratchet beat him to it.
"I'm coming." she whispered.
"What?" Haldir wondered what she meant.
"I'm coming." she said a little louder.
"Coming where?"
"I'm going to Helms Deep with you guys."
"No. It will be too dangerous." he immediatly shot it down.
"Oh. And you call the quest to destroy the One Ring safe?" Ratchet turned and faced him.
"No. But.... but you're still healing." Haldir didn't want her in any more battles. He wanted her safely in Lothlorien. And on the other hand, she was unstable. The one she loved had just died, and he had a feeling that she was in denial.
"By the time we're leaving i'll be all healed and rested. And if you try to leave without me, i'll steal a horse and follow. If you let me go, at least i'll be near some elves. I'm not gonna stay here and die of boredom. Don't make me resort to blackmail." and she stared him down.
Haldir scowled and thought about it. He wouldn't put it past her to steal a horse and follow them. Her and the Hobbits had gotten into some trouble while they had been staying there. Though he didn't know what blackmail was, it didn't sound like a good thing.
He sighed and grumbled to himself. He knew he was going to regret his decision.
"Fine. You can come on two conditions. One, you follow my orders. You are a soldier, and are supposed to follow my commands. Two, that the Lord and Lady say that you are allowed to go."
Ratchet nodded in agreement to the terms and sat down at the table and ate all the food on the tray. Haldir could already see a good change in her since he had found her in the wilds. Her skin was a healthier color and the circles under her eyes were fading.
"I will talk to the Lord and Lady tonight, and we will see what they say in the morning." Haldir said. "Quel undome." (Good evening.)
Ratchet nodded and changed into the nightgown after Haldir left. She stared out the window for a while before climbing into the big bed to sleep. A tear fell as she thought about how Boromir would have reacted to hearing about her going into a major battle.
The sun pendant glowed faintly and felt warm against her skin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Faulkner: ::sigh:: I'm so stressed out. Wars broken out and my close cousin Robert is out in Kuwait. Right in the thick of it. And he had just got out of basic too.
Pinky: War sucks.
Faulkner: Yeah, my dad knows it! He's a veteran of WW2, the Gulf War, and Desert Storm. He said it was pretty rough out there.
Pinky: It helped heat up the whole house, it was so long!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Galadriel watched all the events from her mirror, sighing at the pain that she saw in the young human.
"Do you lose faith in me so quickly?" Galadriel murmured to herself. "Hope can do so much, if you just believe." The Lady of Light shook her head and turned away from the things that her mirror showed her.
She walked back to her talan and looked over Caras Galadhon, Lorien, her home in Middle-Earth. Her thoughts continually strayed to the one hope that Middle-Earth had for survival, and the one hope that a certain human girl had.
"What did you see?" Lord Celeborn appeared beside his wife and put a hand on her shoulder.
"She will not believe. Her heart is too sorrow filled and she cannot find the light." Galadriel replied with a sigh.
He gave her shoulder a small squeeze and looked out over the forest that they ruled. His heart was torn between staying in Lothlorien and leaving for Valinor. They were both beautiful, and both were places that he yearned to stay in.
"We should send a few elves to bring her back. She will not make it here, with her grief and wounds taking their toll on her strength." Galadriel said.
"Yes. It is the best we can do for her at this time. I will send three on horse. We need to get to her before it is too late." The elf-lord kissed his wife on the cheek and sent a messenger for the marchwarden.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------
Ratchet felt weak. She had long ago cried the last of her tears and now just felt empty and weak. Already she wanted to stop and just curl up and die, and join Boromir. What was life, when you couldn't be happy?
All day she walked through the lightly wooded area around the Falls of Rauros. Around nightfall she reached the end of the hilly area and found grassy plains. Ratchet only stopped to rest and ate very little. She followed the along the great river Anduin, just as Legolas said.
But one day she stopped traveling.
Something had snapped inside of her, and she decided it didn't matter. She didn't care if she lived or died. All she wanted was for all the pain to go away.
Ratchet pulled out a blanket and laid it down on the ground near the Anduin. She laid down and covered herself up with her cloak and closed her eyes. She didn't know how long she had been traveling, and didn't care.
The lone girl fell into a deep and uneasy sleep. Her wounds had become infected, and her fever had not been taken care of, or even noticed.
And that was how the small group of elves found her.
Haldir and two others had been riding hard and keeping near the Anduin, eyes always on the lookout for Ratchet. Haldir had been the one to first notice the small lump. He had almost galloped right past it, the only thing that had alerted him was a small moan and that the lump started to shake.
He called their progress to a halt and dismounted. The elf quietly approached the lump and gently touched it. It moaned again and kept shaking. He turned it over and saw that it was an elvish cloak that had concealed her.
The Captain gasped at the change that Ratchet had made over such a short time.
Ratchet had become skinny, her eyes haunted and dark circles under them. She was deathly pale, except for the unnatural flush to her skin that showed she had a fever.
He yelled over his shoulder at the two elves and they dismounted to take a look at her wounds. Haldir was no healer, and he knew it. He was thankful that he had the forsight to bring one.
The healer tsked tsked over her wounds and quickly set about cleaning them properly. He explained that the fever had already taken a strong hold on her and only Galadriel had the power to dispel it. The best they could do was care for her wounds and hold the fever back as best they could.
Haldir carefully picked her up and mounted his horse. He told one of the other elves to grab her pack, and he set off for Lorien, full sprint.
They only stopped to let the horses eat and rest. The rest of the time they were traveling.
But even when they reached the borders of the wood, Haldir's worry did not leave. Ratchet's condition had slowly deteriorated. The fever gave her chills and she was constantly shaking. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, and she would whisper nonsense. The only thing she reacted to was touch.
The Lady Galadriel was ready and waiting in the healing hall for Ratchet. Haldir set her on a bed and Galadriel sent him off to rest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------
The next day Ratchet's fever was gone, but her wounds still needed time to heal. All week, Ratchet slept in the healing hall without waking once.
When she did wake, it was nighttime and Haldir was visiting.
At the time, he was talking to a healer about her condition.
"When will she wake up?" he asked.
"When she feels ready to. I have told you again and again that only she knows when she will wake up." the healer said. "I suggest you go home Captain. You need rest yourself."
"You are dismissed." Haldir nodded to the healer and turned to look at Ratchet. He was surprised to see her eyes open and staring at him.
"Ratchet?" he said, incredulous.
Ratchet licked her pale lips and swallowed. "Yeah?"
Haldir grinned and sat in a chair next to her bed. Then took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "It is good to see you awake."
Ratchet looked around her and frowned slightly. "Where am I? How long have I been asleep?"
"You are in Lorien. You've been asleep for a little over a week." he answered.
"Where's - " and she stopped. The recent events hit her, and made her feel dizzy. She closed her eyes and waited for it to pass. Then slowly sat up and looked around her again. Her hand strayed to the sun pendant and gripped it.
Ratchet pulled off the covers and stood.
"You shouldn't -" Haldir started.
"I need to get some fresh air Haldir." She looked down at her injured leg and got the ghost of a smile. "Damn. The same leg the orcs in Moria shot. Son of a monkey." Shaking her head, she limped over to the window and scanned the city in the forest.
It all looked the same as the last time she had been there. Everything was glowing with an inner light, even the elves seemed to glow.
"Nothings changed. It's as if time doesn't work here." she whispered to herself. Her eyes glazed over as her thoughts drifted.
"There are clean clothes on the table for you. I'll have some food sent up, you must be hungry." Haldir said. He was watching her carefully from the bedside. She nodded, but didn't move.
Haldir left silently and found a messenger to get a tray of food from the kitchens. When he returned, this time with food, Ratchet was in the clean pair of pants and shirt, but standing at the window again. He set the tray down on the table and walked over to her side. She didn't show any sign that she knew he was there and kept staring unseeingly.
"I brought some food."
Ratchet didn't even blink. "I'm not hungry."
"You need to eat. You've been sleeping for at least a week and only you know how long before that you hadn't had something good in your stomach." he reasoned.
Ratchet stepped away from the window and sat at the table. Then slowly started to eat. Haldir pulled out a chair and sat down and watched her eat. She seemed detached from everything around her, and it was scaring him. Lady Galadriel had told him of Boromir's fate, and he hated the man for putting Ratchet in so much.
What is it enough that she had been in this kind of pain before? And now she had to face it all over again.
When she finished she pushed the tray away and stared off into space. They sat in silence, until a messenger entered and bowed.
"Captain, Lord Celeborn wishes to speak to you about the battle preparations."
Haldir glanced at Ratchet, who was now staring intently at the messenger.
"Thank you. Please tell the Lord that I will be there shortly." The messenger bowed and left.
"Battle preparations?" Ratchet was now staring at Haldir.
"Yes. Battle preparations. We are going to aid in the fight against the traitor Saruman. Now, if you'll excuse me..." Haldir stood to leave, and studied Ratchet for a few moments. She seemed to have slipped back into her reverie. "Good day." and the elf nodded and left.
She sat at the table most of the day, discussing the strange turn of events. Occasionally she would get up and pace, then sit back down still as a statue.
When Haldir returned with a tray of supper, Ratchet was standing by the window again. He set the tray down on the table and sat down. He was about to speak, but Ratchet beat him to it.
"I'm coming." she whispered.
"What?" Haldir wondered what she meant.
"I'm coming." she said a little louder.
"Coming where?"
"I'm going to Helms Deep with you guys."
"No. It will be too dangerous." he immediatly shot it down.
"Oh. And you call the quest to destroy the One Ring safe?" Ratchet turned and faced him.
"No. But.... but you're still healing." Haldir didn't want her in any more battles. He wanted her safely in Lothlorien. And on the other hand, she was unstable. The one she loved had just died, and he had a feeling that she was in denial.
"By the time we're leaving i'll be all healed and rested. And if you try to leave without me, i'll steal a horse and follow. If you let me go, at least i'll be near some elves. I'm not gonna stay here and die of boredom. Don't make me resort to blackmail." and she stared him down.
Haldir scowled and thought about it. He wouldn't put it past her to steal a horse and follow them. Her and the Hobbits had gotten into some trouble while they had been staying there. Though he didn't know what blackmail was, it didn't sound like a good thing.
He sighed and grumbled to himself. He knew he was going to regret his decision.
"Fine. You can come on two conditions. One, you follow my orders. You are a soldier, and are supposed to follow my commands. Two, that the Lord and Lady say that you are allowed to go."
Ratchet nodded in agreement to the terms and sat down at the table and ate all the food on the tray. Haldir could already see a good change in her since he had found her in the wilds. Her skin was a healthier color and the circles under her eyes were fading.
"I will talk to the Lord and Lady tonight, and we will see what they say in the morning." Haldir said. "Quel undome." (Good evening.)
Ratchet nodded and changed into the nightgown after Haldir left. She stared out the window for a while before climbing into the big bed to sleep. A tear fell as she thought about how Boromir would have reacted to hearing about her going into a major battle.
The sun pendant glowed faintly and felt warm against her skin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Faulkner: ::sigh:: I'm so stressed out. Wars broken out and my close cousin Robert is out in Kuwait. Right in the thick of it. And he had just got out of basic too.
Pinky: War sucks.
Faulkner: Yeah, my dad knows it! He's a veteran of WW2, the Gulf War, and Desert Storm. He said it was pretty rough out there.