Disclaimer: If I owned them, I do not know if I would let them out of my sight. Let alone would I be writing this lovely sad story.
'common tongue'
"Elvish"
PS- There is a flashback in this chapter. Don't worry, this one is happier.
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Estel stared at the large tree in front of them. It appeared to be a lilac bush, only tree like. Like a lilac bush it had low branches, some growing mere inches above the soft, rich earth. It had blossoms upon the thick branches like a lilac bush as well. But those branches must be a foot to two feet thick Estel thought to himself. And I have never seen a lilac like that one before. He glanced at his father only to see that he was not alone in his amazement.
"So why have you brought us here to see this tree?" Legolas asked their guides. No answer came from the foster siblings and when Legolas turned he found they were no longer standing next to them.
"It looks like we are back to where we started." Legolas said with a sigh. "At least this time we are not in the middle of a barren wasteland."
"I would have thought that you would feel right at home here Legolas." Estel said with a cheeky grin. "All of these trees must be calling to you."
With a swoop of his hand Estel gestured to all of the multiple kinds of trees that surrounded the place to make his point. Elrond could not help but smile at his son's teasing of the prince.
"Indeed these trees are calling to me Estel, but this one in particular calls the loudest." Legolas said with a curt nod to the tree in front of them. "I think that we should move away from here. This place seems to be a place of enchantment."
"Are you fearful that I will cast a spell upon you, son of Thranduil? Or have you developed a fear of strange trees?" A voice came from the bush tree in front of them.
The trio glanced at one another and then slowly approached the tree. "I only fear those in a hostile and unfamiliar land." Legolas said carefully as the three of them surrounded the tree. They only found that the person speaking must be with in the tree for none of them met the speaker around the tree.
"And those who hide within the trees I would expect." The voice came once more from inside the tree. There was a ring of laughter in the tone of the voice. "But then again, your people often used the trees for patrolling. At least they did last time I had the pleasure of being in Middle Earth."
"Would you show your face, Lady of the White City of the Dead? I would like to meet the person of whom I am indebt to." Estel said with a soft voice to the tree itself. There was a soft rustle of leaves and a woman stepped out of the blossoming tree.
She was dressed in a pale green dress with her long hair bound in a single braid that almost touched the ground. The twenty so looking girl had a kind face graced with a gentle smile. In her hand she carried a set of clippers to trim the tree.
"Of course son of Elrond, I will do as you request. Though it is not I of whom you are in debt. If you are indebt to anyone at all it would be to the people of this city, not I." The dark blond haired maiden replied but she cocked her head to the side.
"I cannot help but wonder though why you look so melancholy children of Arda? Is something amiss?" Her concerned eyes looked into each of their eyes. She straightened her head to looked at them directly.
"What has not gone amiss since two days after we arrived in the Valinor. Estel was dragged to this forsaken land..." Legolas said. His eyes glowered and his lips were set in a hard, thin line.
"Forsaken land?" The fair maiden asked eyebrow cocked in good natured questioning. "My land is not a forsaken place, or should I say His who is' land."
Elrond eyes narrowed as he tried to follow the woman's thought pattern. He felt as if he should know what it was that she spoke, that the answer rushed through his veins. As in a dream the answer eluded him leading him in a chase through his gained knowledge.
Legolas just gave her a look of incomprehension. Estel looked to the elven friend, not comprehending why he misunderstood her allusion. To his father he could not help but understand why. Estel couldn't help gracing the elven lord with a smile.
"This is Illuvatar's land?" Estel questioned when his father and brother in arms stared at the Lady blankly. Elrond and Legolas turned their gaze to Estel, eyes wide with confusion. In Elrond's eyes through a fragment of the puzzle was falling into place.
"That is correct Estel." The maiden said with a small grin as she began to trim the dead and dried flowers off of the tree's outside. "This is his land. How the world was suppose to be before Melkor, excuse me, Morgorth ruined it."
"What of the barren lands outside these gates? If this is the land that you say it is then why is there such an evil land out there?" Elrond finally asked the maiden with one of his eyebrows raised.
To Legolas and Estel's amazement the girl was not even fazed by the look. She answered his question with a patient and kind look a mother would give a child when explaining something over his head. "It was not only the Valinor and Arda that suffered when Mel... Morgoth ruined the Valar's work. Though it is not solely his work alone and it is not permanent damage that has been done."
"What do you mean by that?" Legolas snapped at the maiden's treatment of Lord Elrond. Have we not been through enough without being patronized by a spoiled...
"I highly suggest you do not finish that sentence Legolas Greenleaf. I have been around a lot longer then even Lady Galadriel and her ancestors have been. Before that even." The maiden said with a sigh, her face was drawn. Her smile was faded, one may even say tired.
"As for what I mean is that Morgoth was not able to wholly damage this place; although he did try with all of his might to do just that. No, he only managed to inflict minor damage. He placed fear into the hearts of those who would dwell here first. That caused the barren lands you see around this place."
She turned back to her ceaseless work, for every time she cut away at a dead branch another appeared elsewhere.
Elrond racked his brains searching for the elusive answer, as his son looked on at the woman with awe. Estel turned to his father and tapped him on his shoulder. Elrond jumped slightly and looked over at his son. Then he shook his head, turning back to face the maiden. The woman felt the elven lord's gaze on her back and looked over her shoulder at him.
She smiled at Elrond and Estel, and placed a hand on Elrond's arm. "Do not strain yourself to find the answer to what I speak of. You will remember and have your answer if you let go."
"If I go through the unknown, I will find hope." Elrond whispered softly to himself. The maiden nodded slowly and turned back to her work.
"Who helped to cause the rest of the damage?" Estel asked in a quiet voice as he fiddled with his hands.
"Everyone." The maiden said without turning around, her voice choked for a moment. "Valar, Elves, Men.... The names and divisions do not matter; all that mattered was the fear that sprang from ignorance."
"So you would blame the elves for causing this?" Legolas said with horror. "Who are you to blame us?"
"I am blame no one, I am pointing out where things went sour. You cannot blame men alone, for they were children when Melkor came." At the trio's sharp intake of breath she turned to look at them with hard eyes. "Aye I say Melkor, for that is how he was known in my time. I am not afraid to say that name, for by giving him more alias his power grows."
"But as I was saying," The maiden turned back to her work on her tree. "The Hildor (the aftercomers), though I loath to use that word for what it implies, had no guidance as the Edhel did. None of the Valar came to them."
"We would not be able to understand, so why would it even matter?" Estel asked softly.
The maiden laughed and her eyes shone with light. "Why do men love the water Estel? Some do not like it, but they respect it. Ulmo at least tried out of love. For that he earned the Hildors' admiration."
"They are neither blameless nor are the ones to blame. As are the Edhel, for you had knewledge but you still feared the unknown. Association taints gifts." She breathed in deeply and clipped a dead branch off of the tree. It fell with a soft swoosh.
Seeing Legolas bristle once more, she held up her hand to silence him. "But I do not blame you for not even Manwe was able to completely understand Eru's plan. Youth holds old age, as those who are old are still young."
"But who are you? If you have been around for so long, you must have a name." Elrond asked softly, he had taken his son's hand during the woman's speech. She speaks like Mithrandir on a good day. All riddles with hidden meanings and comfort behind them.
"I have many names Elrond, and will one day have more. Eru called me Minyanna though, for I came first."
'First gift.' Estel translated out loud to himself. "Then that means that you are..."
"Nay, I am not she." The woman said with a smile. "What appears to come first is last as what appears to be last comes first. For every beginning there was an ending."
"And for every ending there was a beginning." Estel said with a grin. He glanced over at his friend who looked puzzled yet comforted; if only a little.
"Then who are you?" Elrond asked not comprehending her words for a moment. Then blinking he looked at her with hard eyes. "Amarth...?"
The woman gave a beautiful smile and nodded. "Amarth, though I believe in Sindarin that means fate."
"So you are fate?" Legolas asked calmly. This woman, Minyanna can not be fate, fate would not blame others.
'Nay I am not fate Legolas if that is what you worry about." Legolas looked up quickly at the woman. "Your emotions sometimes do play upon your face Legolas."
"Which brings me to the point, what is it that you wish of me?" Minyanna asked in her quiet way.
"We wish to go home Lady Minyanna." Estel said respectfully. "We need to go back to our families. But the child we met earlier said that we could not go home until Ada answered the question correctly."
"Cuivie." Minyanna said with a sigh. "I am sorry for her reaction if she caused you any offense. She knows nothing of the ways of the world. But she is right, you do have answer the question to get home. Do you have an answer?"
Elrond nodded, stepping away from his son. Legolas and Estel turned and gave each other encouraging smiles.
"I understand now that one must go through the unknown to be able fully appreciate what has been given to him." Elrond answered in a quiet dignified voice.
The lady nodded. "That is a good answer Lord Elrond. It is well thought out and one I have waited countless ages to hear from you."
Elrond and Legolas breathed out a sigh of relief. Estel stayed quiet. All that really mattered to him was that his father was all right.
"But unfortunately it is not the answer to the question."
"What?" Elrond exclaimed. Legolas cringed slight and Estel closed his eyes. Slowly he reopened them and walked over to the place where Elrond stood next to Minyanna.
"It is all right Ada. It is all right, we will get back home one day, we will. We will find a way to get home to Amme, the twins and Arwen." Estel told his father, giving him a hug. "We will. All that matters is that we are in this together."
Legolas went over to the father and son, lending his shoulder and his strength. Minyanna just stared at the display with her head cocked.
"Who and what are you Elrond?" Her gaze pierced him as she turned her solemn eyes upon the elven lord.
"What?" Estel asked the woman, giving her a hard look. Elrond dried the tears that had gathered in his eyes.
"Who and what are you Elrond? Is that not the question you asked yourself so many times?" Minyanna asked in a soft voice. "You remember the others asking your brother and you which kindred you wanted to belong to, but they never did ask you who you were, did they?"
Estel looked puzzled and Elrond just stared at the woman as if he was trying to figure out if she was really there are not. Legolas just blinked widely.
"H...how did you know that?" Elrond asked in a quiet voice.
The woman laughed. "I know that because it is the question that everyone asks themselves at some point in time. For some it takes years or entire lifetimes to figure out who and "what" they are."
At Estel she smiled, "Others know what they and who they are in their hearts from the earliest of ages because of the guidance of their families."
Turning back to Elrond, their eyes met and Elrond was staring back at a memory.
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"I eneth lin Estel Elrondion. Man eneth lin?" Estel said proudly to the girl who had been captured in a similar fashion to him. He pointed at himself and then indicated to the girl to tell her name. They had finally been rescued by his family, he was going home soon.
'I am sorry I do not speak your language.' The girl said in a soft voice. 'But you are Estel Elrondion? What does your name mean?'
Estel could not believe that this girl did not understand his language. Slowly and with a heavy accent Estel repeated what he had just said in common tongue.
"My name is Estel, son of Elrond. What is your name?'
The girl smiled at him and shook her head. 'I am nobody of any importance.'
'Do you not have a name?' Estel raised his eyebrows but gave the girl a smile so as to not frighten her.
'I have one but it matters not.' Seeing Estel opening his mouth to say it did matter, she returned his smile. 'In my culture one does not give their names out to strangers. It is believed to diminish the person.'
'Then what should I call you?' Estel said as his lip quirked upward. The girl rolled her eyes, then smiled again.
She looked thoughtful for a moment. 'You can call me Inanna. It does not fit me but it is a name for you to call me by.'
Estel smiled gently once more at this human. She was not horrible like the other ones. 'Come and let my father look over your wounds.'
The girl shook her head violately, 'Nay I cannot. I must return home now, I do not want my brother to have to come and look for me.'
'But you are injured!" Estel exclaimed to the young woman, the girl had turned her back to him though. Estel saw his father walking over to them and motioned him to come over quickly.
Elrond rushed over. "Hurry Ada, she is injured! But she insists that she has to get home before they have to come looking for her.
Elrond took off after the girl, knowing that Galadriel and Celeborn would look after Estel. The girl had dashed between the trees but was only a far enough away that she and Elrond could no longer be seen by the other elves.
Elrond finally caught up with her and turned her around. Pale green eyes met his and he was looking at the very maiden who had pointed him in the right way to find his son. But that had been in a village almost a day away. Estel had said that the girl child had been with them for a least day and a half. Elrond had only seen the maiden earlier this morning.
The girl broke away from him, running and limping away, but Elrond was too stunned to follow. As he watched her run away, he also watched a faint mist swallow her figure whole. Then the girl and the mist disappeared.
Elrond stared into the empty space where the child had once stood. That could not have just happened. I must be imagining things.
When Elrond returned back to the diabolic camp, his young son started to bombard him with questions. "Ada where is Inanna? You did not find her."
Elrond looked at his little son, hurt that his new friend was gone without receiving any help. 'I think her brother found her tithen pen and is taking her home to be treated. Inanna was her name?'
The elven lord wanted to distract his son from the pain as he lifted up the child's blood stained shirt to see what was beneath it.
Estel laughed and winced in pain at his father's attempt to make him speak the vile common tongue while examining his wounds. . He would humor him just this once. 'Nay, her culture does not allow for her true name to be given out to strangers. I think she picked that name out of thin air.'
Elrond was almost sick at the sight of his child's back. Estel looked up at his father. 'It was a lot worse before Inanna came; she took a lot of blows too. I think because she was new they attacked her more.'
Elrond nodded, he was just thankful to the maiden who had pointed the small family in the right direction and the child who had protected his son from further harm. From having his spine ripped apart....
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Elrond looked over at his son to check that he had not dreamt everything of this future up. Estel looked over at his father and his eyes held a haunted look. He remembers too. One day I will have to tell him how we found him that night. One day.
Then the elven lord turned to face the Lady of the Land Beyond the World. "Yes I believe I can answer that question."
Elrond paused for a second, glancing at his son and the prince once more. "I am the Lord of Imaldris, the herald of Gil Galad, Son of two of the greatest houses of elves, Husband to Celebrian, Grandchild of Luthien and Idril."
Legolas smiled gently at Elrond's speech of his ancestry. Estel looked down slightly only to feel his father's hand in his own once more. "But I am also of the three houses of Edain, twin of Elros, father of Elladan and Elrohir, Arwen and Estel. I am regent to the edain, as well as the father of the greatest king Arda has seen in many millennia. "
Estel ducked his head once more at his father's misplaced compliments. His father and uncle were among the greatest, not he.
The woman smiled and nodded, but her hand raised for him to continue. "I am Elrond Peredhil. Half elf and half man, apart of both worlds but alone in either one." Estel raised his head and looked his father straight in the eyes. He had never realized that his father felt at times misplaced as well. Elrond smiled gently at his son and squeezed tight the man's hand within his own.
Legolas just stared at the maiden in front of them. She bowed her head and placed down her cutting utensil. Legolas could not help but feel the air grow heavier in the wake of the action. "Well answered."
Was her only response then she went to clap the dirt off of her hands. But ear piercing scream stilled her hands....
TBC.....
siegle: You are quite welcome. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter just as much.
Elven Kitten: Ah... writer's block it is the most evil of all things. I hope yours soon passes. Until then I hope you have enjoyed this chapter!! Navaer!
MoonFire 1: blushes and drops her head Thank you so very much for the compliment! I hope you have enjoyed this chapter as much as the rest of the story. Thank you again!!! :)
trustingfriendship: Their extended family is quite interesting, so I will agree with you. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter although it has none of that family in it. Poor Elros and Elrond, I didn't realize until I had written that chapter that their places were actually switched. (Not very good for the one writing this story, but I digress.) Again I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and thank you very much for your review!! ;)
grumpy: It was good to see two important figures of their own family history. I do believe both Legolas and Estel were in awe, they just are probably on sensory overload. As for the little girl, I will let you try and guess who she is for now...
radbooks: Thanks for your comments! I loved hearing them. I think the group was glad to see Luthien and even melancholy Turin after all they have been through. I know I would! ;) I am glad you like how I portrayed the choices of Elrond and Elros, I was a little nervous how that would be perceived. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and will like the rest as well.
A/N: Okay I did not get them out yet. I have one more chapter until I break my promise to that. I intend not to break it. As for all of you wondering who the little girl is you will find out soon. I hope all of you have enjoyed this chapter!! Thanks to all of you who have read this story, although you may not have reviewed. May you have enjoyed it. Until next time.
PS- Reviews do speed up my typing abilities!! pleads from her knees