*Disclaimer* I don't...oh whatthehell. I own nothing. NOTHING! What more do you people want from me???
A/N: I know things are going a little slow right now... but the action picks up, I promise!
Chapter 9- Always keep your courage up
She woke up in her room for the first time. Nice as Linka's house was, nothing could compare to being in her room, the one she had decorated herself, the one that was so especially...her. It was airy and open, with lacy balcony and style that was trademark Elf workmanship. Her bed was nice and big, with soft, fluffy comforters in her preferred color, lavender. In fact, her whole room was lavender. The walls, the furniture, the decorations, everything. She loved this particular shade, because it was so rare in Mirkwood. Everything here was brown and green, with red and orange flowers in the blooming season. In Lothlorién, it was golden and green. But never purple. It was such a calming color. Since it was the first thing she saw, it always gave her a feeling of unequal contentment. Damita bustled in, as usual, with morning greetings.
"Oh, Rosellyn, you have no idea how happy I am to have you home again! Breakfast's ready; Meira and Eleria are downstairs, bursting their wrist guards to see you again." Meira and Eleria were Damita's children. Damita's husband had been killed in one of the early skirmishes with the Riders, the same one that proved fatal for Rosellyn's mother. When Rellyn Stillwater died, Damita had immediately, without being asked, volunteered to take her last remaining child into her care.
"Wait, Dam, don't leave just yet. I want to ask you something." Puzzled, Damita sat down on the bedside next to her.
"Well, what's on your mind, sweetie?" She fidgeted with her covers while she spoke, unconsciously betraying her anxiety over the question. She reached under her pillow and pulled out two small, old-looking pictures in exquistely wrought frames.
"Is this what Kel and Ellis looked like?" Damita sighed, as she always did when the subject of Rose's family came up. Nevertheless, she took the two pictures and examined them. Then, after a long perusing, she returned them.
"More or less. Your mother was always a very good artist, had a knack for capturing minute details that caused the picture to come alive. But this was done after they left, and came back for a short visit, then left again. If she'd had them right in front of her, they'd be much more-" Rose shot upright, scaring the poor woman.
"My brother and sister, they came back?!" Damita looked furious with herself for blurting out that little morsel.
"I didn't mean to tell you that until you were older. Yes, but you wouldn't remember. You were young, only 500 or so. Your father left soon after you were born. Kel was 900, Ellis just over his 1000th year. He didn't give much of an explanation that I heard; I always wondered, though, that if he did what most suspected and left to spite your mother, why he didn't take you as well. Granted, you were only 3 years or so, but you were a beautiful baby, even back then. Oh yes, the pictures. Well, Kel was never this solemn; couldn't keep a straight face if her life depended on it! Always laughing, Kel was. Her hair was longer than that, almost as long as yours is now. As for Ellis, this is a pretty good depiction of him, except that she could never find the right color for his hair, so she settled on this. It had a touch more red in it, darker, too. And his eyes always changed with his moods. Here, they're dark and black, much like your little friend Legolas. That means he's sad. I think she always secretly hoped that Kel and Ellis had been taken against their will, that they had wanted to stay with their mother, in their home."
"But you said that they left...Wouldn't that mean that they left, you know..." Damita nodded sadly.
"Indeed. When your father left, he raised them in Lothlorién. If you ever see Lorién, you'll indeed see why anyone raised there would be eager to get back...even if they are Mirkwood Elves..." Her voice got extremely quiet as she voiced her last thought. Then, apparently composed, she straightened up and jumped off the subject as quickly as a young Elfling off a platform. "Well, come along. Meira wants to hear all about the...skirmish...last night." Damita wasn't an Elf fond of the fighting arts, just like her youngest, Eleria. Meira, however, loved archery and knife tricks, even if she was dismal at them. Rose promised to teach her, but she wasn't very good at teaching, not like Legolas, or Tracie. One session with Tracie, and Meira turned out a lot better than a month of lessons with Rose. Oh well. She threw on a sky blue robe over her battle-stained clothes that no one had changed since last night, to preserve little Eleria, who was quite delicate about these sort of things, and walked down the stairs, past the little decorative waterfall and into the kitchen. Eleria was peering over her mother's shoulder, helping her clean some dishes, and Meira was at the table, still eating, her feet dangling about six inches off the ground as she sat at her chair. She jumped down at her approach, however, and threw her arms around her, shrieking aloud.
"Rosie! Rosie's awake! Come on, sit down, Mommy made some really good lembas for breakfast. They've got berries on them, just like you like them!" She examined the food Dam piled on her plate, relieved to see that they weren't the 'journey lembas', but just snack type ones. They didn't give you the extreme energy boost that the journey ones did, but they were certainly tasty. And she did like them with fruit. She talked to Meira about everything she asked, and ate between sentences, until Dam finally snapped her dish towel at her and said to go clean her room and leave the breakfast room in peace. Sullenly, she obeyed, but perked up at the promise of knife lessons later on, but only if her room was spotless. With a squeak of excitement, Meira ran off, as only little Elves can do. Eleria and Dam soon followed, leaving Rosellyn to herself. She savored the quiet as she ate her breakfast. When she was done, she gave Dam a break and rinsed off her own plate. Then she went upstairs to change and examine her shoulder.
It wasn't serious; thanks to her Elven healing powers, it was almost gone, as were her other wounds, leaving only trace scars. She looked at her clothes, which were completely ruined through knife slashes and blood, and burned them promptly. Then she changed into new ones. As she did, Della suddenly popped up. ~Wish we had those lembas things where I come from. Those are really good!~ Rose gave a half-smile as she pulled a brush through her hair. -Maybe, but if they were your diet for days on end, you wouldn't be so fond of them.- Della sounded skeptical. ~You would know from experience?~ She twisted her lips ruefully and fought the brush through a snarl. -Well...no. But the twins went to visit their uncle in Rivendell, and they said it got old very quickly.- That seemed to satisfy Della. It was odd; her normally chatty friend was being deceptively quiet today. -Is everything all right?- she asked. -You seem so...distant.- The reply she got back was not very convincing. ~What? Oh...I'm fine. Really.~ Since it was obvious she would get no more, she dropped the subject and walked outside. She stood on the balcony, looking down at the steps, which were still soaked in blood, though the bodies had been removed. How much of that was hers? How much was Legolas's, or Elven at all? How much was from the Riders? Sighing, she went back into the kitchen and wet some rags. Then she climbed down and began scrubbing. Halfway through, she got a surprise visit from Tracie, who also bore wet rags.
"Thought I'd help you," she said. "Legolas and Forest would come, but Forest is doing some chores for mom, and Legolas...well, I happened to overhear..."
"Tracie, I keep telling you: eavesdropping is going to get you in trouble." Tracie grinned disarmingly, the perfect picture of innocence.
"Eavesdropping is such a harsh word! Besides, if I didn't listen around, how would I hear anything? Anyway, the war hero is grounded, and evidently he realized that this time mommy Greenleaf meant it, because there's no breakout plan in the works."
"How did you hear that?"
"From him, of course. I snuck up to his window, because I knew you'd want to know. I'm supposed to bring back a detailed report, so..." She squinted at her friend, pretending to evaluate her from head to toe. "Yes, I'd say, female, Elf, brown hair, green eyes, pointed ears, tall, evidently has a crush on a certain Elf, dare I say it, his name is-" Rosellyn's shove sent her sprawling.
"All right, ha ha, very funny. Tell him that all I got was a little nick on the shoulder, and it's almost gone. Now, you want to help, then help." After about five minutes, Tracie was hopping up and down again.
"Oh, I almost forgot! This is from Forest and me, a sort of get well-slash-congratulations present." She fished around in her pocket and brought out a leaf-shaped hair-pin. Glowing with pleasure, Rosellyn fixed it in her hair, then took her hands away for Tracie to admire it. "There, that looks nice. Matches your eyes nicely. This is from me, just because it was a bad attempt at a birthday present from Forest. Don't worry, he knows I'm giving it to you." Out came another hair-pin, this one shaped like a multi-colored butterfly. "This one suits your coloring better than it does mine, so here you go."
"Thanks! These are really great trinkets. I will have the best looking hair among all the cleaning Elves." Tracie laughed as well, and they continued scrubbing, chatting about pointless but entertaining topics. Finally, when it was all done, Meira jumped down, demanding her knife lesson. Tracie departed, but not before whispering in Rosellyn's ear the significance of the hair-pin.
"It's a green leaf. Just to remind you to keep up your courage." Touched by the thoughtfulness of it, amused by the connection, and frustrated at this thing that was obviously going to follow her for the rest of her life, she set off up to Meira's room to deliver the promised lesson.
TBC, of course, but I can't promise that it'll be anytime soon. May mayn't, as the case may be...
A/N: I know things are going a little slow right now... but the action picks up, I promise!
Chapter 9- Always keep your courage up
She woke up in her room for the first time. Nice as Linka's house was, nothing could compare to being in her room, the one she had decorated herself, the one that was so especially...her. It was airy and open, with lacy balcony and style that was trademark Elf workmanship. Her bed was nice and big, with soft, fluffy comforters in her preferred color, lavender. In fact, her whole room was lavender. The walls, the furniture, the decorations, everything. She loved this particular shade, because it was so rare in Mirkwood. Everything here was brown and green, with red and orange flowers in the blooming season. In Lothlorién, it was golden and green. But never purple. It was such a calming color. Since it was the first thing she saw, it always gave her a feeling of unequal contentment. Damita bustled in, as usual, with morning greetings.
"Oh, Rosellyn, you have no idea how happy I am to have you home again! Breakfast's ready; Meira and Eleria are downstairs, bursting their wrist guards to see you again." Meira and Eleria were Damita's children. Damita's husband had been killed in one of the early skirmishes with the Riders, the same one that proved fatal for Rosellyn's mother. When Rellyn Stillwater died, Damita had immediately, without being asked, volunteered to take her last remaining child into her care.
"Wait, Dam, don't leave just yet. I want to ask you something." Puzzled, Damita sat down on the bedside next to her.
"Well, what's on your mind, sweetie?" She fidgeted with her covers while she spoke, unconsciously betraying her anxiety over the question. She reached under her pillow and pulled out two small, old-looking pictures in exquistely wrought frames.
"Is this what Kel and Ellis looked like?" Damita sighed, as she always did when the subject of Rose's family came up. Nevertheless, she took the two pictures and examined them. Then, after a long perusing, she returned them.
"More or less. Your mother was always a very good artist, had a knack for capturing minute details that caused the picture to come alive. But this was done after they left, and came back for a short visit, then left again. If she'd had them right in front of her, they'd be much more-" Rose shot upright, scaring the poor woman.
"My brother and sister, they came back?!" Damita looked furious with herself for blurting out that little morsel.
"I didn't mean to tell you that until you were older. Yes, but you wouldn't remember. You were young, only 500 or so. Your father left soon after you were born. Kel was 900, Ellis just over his 1000th year. He didn't give much of an explanation that I heard; I always wondered, though, that if he did what most suspected and left to spite your mother, why he didn't take you as well. Granted, you were only 3 years or so, but you were a beautiful baby, even back then. Oh yes, the pictures. Well, Kel was never this solemn; couldn't keep a straight face if her life depended on it! Always laughing, Kel was. Her hair was longer than that, almost as long as yours is now. As for Ellis, this is a pretty good depiction of him, except that she could never find the right color for his hair, so she settled on this. It had a touch more red in it, darker, too. And his eyes always changed with his moods. Here, they're dark and black, much like your little friend Legolas. That means he's sad. I think she always secretly hoped that Kel and Ellis had been taken against their will, that they had wanted to stay with their mother, in their home."
"But you said that they left...Wouldn't that mean that they left, you know..." Damita nodded sadly.
"Indeed. When your father left, he raised them in Lothlorién. If you ever see Lorién, you'll indeed see why anyone raised there would be eager to get back...even if they are Mirkwood Elves..." Her voice got extremely quiet as she voiced her last thought. Then, apparently composed, she straightened up and jumped off the subject as quickly as a young Elfling off a platform. "Well, come along. Meira wants to hear all about the...skirmish...last night." Damita wasn't an Elf fond of the fighting arts, just like her youngest, Eleria. Meira, however, loved archery and knife tricks, even if she was dismal at them. Rose promised to teach her, but she wasn't very good at teaching, not like Legolas, or Tracie. One session with Tracie, and Meira turned out a lot better than a month of lessons with Rose. Oh well. She threw on a sky blue robe over her battle-stained clothes that no one had changed since last night, to preserve little Eleria, who was quite delicate about these sort of things, and walked down the stairs, past the little decorative waterfall and into the kitchen. Eleria was peering over her mother's shoulder, helping her clean some dishes, and Meira was at the table, still eating, her feet dangling about six inches off the ground as she sat at her chair. She jumped down at her approach, however, and threw her arms around her, shrieking aloud.
"Rosie! Rosie's awake! Come on, sit down, Mommy made some really good lembas for breakfast. They've got berries on them, just like you like them!" She examined the food Dam piled on her plate, relieved to see that they weren't the 'journey lembas', but just snack type ones. They didn't give you the extreme energy boost that the journey ones did, but they were certainly tasty. And she did like them with fruit. She talked to Meira about everything she asked, and ate between sentences, until Dam finally snapped her dish towel at her and said to go clean her room and leave the breakfast room in peace. Sullenly, she obeyed, but perked up at the promise of knife lessons later on, but only if her room was spotless. With a squeak of excitement, Meira ran off, as only little Elves can do. Eleria and Dam soon followed, leaving Rosellyn to herself. She savored the quiet as she ate her breakfast. When she was done, she gave Dam a break and rinsed off her own plate. Then she went upstairs to change and examine her shoulder.
It wasn't serious; thanks to her Elven healing powers, it was almost gone, as were her other wounds, leaving only trace scars. She looked at her clothes, which were completely ruined through knife slashes and blood, and burned them promptly. Then she changed into new ones. As she did, Della suddenly popped up. ~Wish we had those lembas things where I come from. Those are really good!~ Rose gave a half-smile as she pulled a brush through her hair. -Maybe, but if they were your diet for days on end, you wouldn't be so fond of them.- Della sounded skeptical. ~You would know from experience?~ She twisted her lips ruefully and fought the brush through a snarl. -Well...no. But the twins went to visit their uncle in Rivendell, and they said it got old very quickly.- That seemed to satisfy Della. It was odd; her normally chatty friend was being deceptively quiet today. -Is everything all right?- she asked. -You seem so...distant.- The reply she got back was not very convincing. ~What? Oh...I'm fine. Really.~ Since it was obvious she would get no more, she dropped the subject and walked outside. She stood on the balcony, looking down at the steps, which were still soaked in blood, though the bodies had been removed. How much of that was hers? How much was Legolas's, or Elven at all? How much was from the Riders? Sighing, she went back into the kitchen and wet some rags. Then she climbed down and began scrubbing. Halfway through, she got a surprise visit from Tracie, who also bore wet rags.
"Thought I'd help you," she said. "Legolas and Forest would come, but Forest is doing some chores for mom, and Legolas...well, I happened to overhear..."
"Tracie, I keep telling you: eavesdropping is going to get you in trouble." Tracie grinned disarmingly, the perfect picture of innocence.
"Eavesdropping is such a harsh word! Besides, if I didn't listen around, how would I hear anything? Anyway, the war hero is grounded, and evidently he realized that this time mommy Greenleaf meant it, because there's no breakout plan in the works."
"How did you hear that?"
"From him, of course. I snuck up to his window, because I knew you'd want to know. I'm supposed to bring back a detailed report, so..." She squinted at her friend, pretending to evaluate her from head to toe. "Yes, I'd say, female, Elf, brown hair, green eyes, pointed ears, tall, evidently has a crush on a certain Elf, dare I say it, his name is-" Rosellyn's shove sent her sprawling.
"All right, ha ha, very funny. Tell him that all I got was a little nick on the shoulder, and it's almost gone. Now, you want to help, then help." After about five minutes, Tracie was hopping up and down again.
"Oh, I almost forgot! This is from Forest and me, a sort of get well-slash-congratulations present." She fished around in her pocket and brought out a leaf-shaped hair-pin. Glowing with pleasure, Rosellyn fixed it in her hair, then took her hands away for Tracie to admire it. "There, that looks nice. Matches your eyes nicely. This is from me, just because it was a bad attempt at a birthday present from Forest. Don't worry, he knows I'm giving it to you." Out came another hair-pin, this one shaped like a multi-colored butterfly. "This one suits your coloring better than it does mine, so here you go."
"Thanks! These are really great trinkets. I will have the best looking hair among all the cleaning Elves." Tracie laughed as well, and they continued scrubbing, chatting about pointless but entertaining topics. Finally, when it was all done, Meira jumped down, demanding her knife lesson. Tracie departed, but not before whispering in Rosellyn's ear the significance of the hair-pin.
"It's a green leaf. Just to remind you to keep up your courage." Touched by the thoughtfulness of it, amused by the connection, and frustrated at this thing that was obviously going to follow her for the rest of her life, she set off up to Meira's room to deliver the promised lesson.
TBC, of course, but I can't promise that it'll be anytime soon. May mayn't, as the case may be...