Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Lord of the Rings. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi and J.R.R. Tolkien, respectively.
Chapter 2: On the Road.
Dawn broke while they were still within sight of Edoras. The Great West Road still ran ran from Edoras to Emyn Arnen in Ithilien, with few difficult passages, though it would be many days journey to reach the destination.
For a time, they walked in silence. Usagi could think of little to say, and it seemed that Hotaru was of a similar disposition to Ami. They were naturally quiet people, so as to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. But Usagi was resolved to engage a conversation when they stopped to take rest.
That opportunity soon presented itself, for neither Usagi, nor Ami had taken much rest before their journey began and they were in need of a pause. They rested in the shade of a small hillock. Usagi pulled out her waterskin and drank a mouthful.
"Well, Lady Holbytla. Since our paths seem to have become entwined, perhaps now would be a good time to tell us your story, while we rest our weary feet." She said amiably. The hobbit looked up from rummaging around in her pack and smiled.
"Please, you need not refer to me as 'Lady'. I am not a lady, merely a humble hobbit from a humble home."
"Very well, what shall I call you then?"
"Just Hotaru will be fine, my lady."
"Hotaru. Then you must return the favour and call me Usagi. How do you come to be here?"
"It is a very long story. I could not tell it to you in one sitting. It will be better to tell you as we walk. That way, we can break the silence that seems to have overtaken us."
"Indeed. I bow to your wisdom then." They sat for a short time in the shade, but it was not long before the urgency that Setsuna had shooed them off reasserted itself, and they continued on their way.
They walked a few paces along the road before Usagi broached the subject again.
"So then, Hotaru. We are walking once more. Will you now share with us the tale of how you come to be here?"
"To tell the truth I'm not quite sure how I come to be here, it all happened in such a hurry that most of it has not made itself clear in my head. But I will tell you what I can. It all began early this past spring when I was tending to my gardens. I have a small plot of my own, you know. I grow potatoes and carrots and tomatoes, we get a pretty good harvest these days. Anyway, I'm working all quiet like in my garden and this tall one came up behind me and surprises me.
'You are Hotaru Brandybuck, are you not?' She says to me, and I looked up at her, I had to sheild my eyes I did, she was so tall. But I answered yes, and she looked at me with such a look on her face that I can barely even begin to describe it. She looked sort of sad, but at the same time, she was almost amazed, you know. Like she ain't never seen a Hobbit before.
'Would it be possible to speak with you a moment?' She says, and I put down my weeding shovel and frowned.
'Well, maybe, but if I might ask, who exactly are you?'
'I am called Setsuna. This is really quite important.' She told me. She looked like she was in a hurry, or was scared or something, so I said alright she can talk to me for a while, I could make her some tea if she liked. I did not know that she was going to be talking me into leaving my home on some strange trip."
"Were you not suspicious of such a person, appearing suddenly with no explanation of herself?" Usagi asked. Hotaru shook her head.
"Truth be told, I was not. My father has told my siblings and I many wonderful stories of his adventures with the Wizard Gandalf, and of his time with your people, Lady Usagi. Setsuna did not appear to be so evil as all his tales of evil Men had told, and she wore a hat like the one of Gandalf's my father told us about. Perhaps if I had not been in such awe of those stories as a child, I would not be here now. But here is where I am, and I must go on with this task."
"What happened after you offered the tea?" Usagi asked.
"I led her over to the house, I did offer tea and we couldn't very well drink it outside
now, could we? I let her in, for a moment I was afraid she wouldn't fit in the house, she was so tall! But she did, and we made ourselves comfortable at my table.
'Well Miss Setsuna, what can I do you for?'
It was a while before she spoke to me again, like she was gathering up her thoughts. When she did say something, there was urgency and fear in her voice. It made me listen all the more carefully.
'You are needed in the world of Men. There is an urgent task that must be completed.'
'What sort of task would there be for a simple Hobbit, in the world of Men?' I scoffed, as a poured the tea.
'You have great power. I have felt it. Sure you too have seen what you can do by now.' I dropped my teacup, I was that surprised. No one, not even my father, knew of the things that I have done. My father was the only one who would have understood the most. You see my lady, ever since I was quite young, I have been able to heal, or destroy. It is some sort of old magic that I do not understand. A touch of my hand will make vegetables grow, or wither and die. It took a long time to control it, and it still gets out of hand.
'So then, you are aware of what you are capable of doing.' She said to me.
'My lady Setsuna. You cannot be aware of what it is that you are asking of me.'
'I am aware, my dear little Hobbit. Possibly more than you are.'
She looked at me then, with this sort of pity, like she was looking into my very soul, and seeing everything that could possibly happen. It was disturbing, that was.
'I cannot tell you everything now, Hotaru. But will you trust me enough at least, and come with me?' She asked me. I thought, this could be an adventure. No Hobbit has had an adventure since before I was born. Then I thought, it will be dangerous. Something is going to happen that I cannot stop. I still do not know why I agreed, but I did.
'Well, I suppose I could. There is still some garden work to be done, but I can ask one of my brothers to look after it.' I said to her.
'Good. Pack a bag, we must go at once.' She cried, and she jumped out of her seat so fast, she almost hit her head on my ceiling, she did." Hotaru finished on a laugh.
"Did she not tell you any more of her story whilst you traveled?" Ami asked her.
"Not in so many words. She just talked a lot about ancient times. See, apparently in the First Age, while things were still being settled, before all these kingdoms came to be, there was a lot of petty squabbling about who lived where and who could do what with the land. There was a race of elves living here and there, and they say that it were those elves who created all the other races of elves that live today. Of course, there were dwarves and men settling in places, and the Ents and Entwives looking after everything. So the Wizard folk, together with everyone else, decided to make everything peaceful by making these fabulous treasures for members of each fighting race to carry. That way they could keep the peace. Combined, these treasures had powers that one wizard alone could wield. All of these treasure were lost when Sauron came to power. One of them he was able to have buried somewhere, and the others were hidden from him. They have not been found."
"What were they, these Treasures of the First Age?"
"She said that the lost treasures were a sword, a mirror, a scythe and a crystal. The crystal was the most powerful of them all, and it could only be found after the others had been discovered." Hotaru said. "I think that perhaps our mission is to find these treasures."
Ami and Usagi thought for some time.
"A wizard would not delve into a story that had no bearing on the task at hand. I stands to reason that finding these treasures is at least part of our task." Ami mused.
"Only part of our task? What would the other part be?" Usagi wondered. Ami shook her head, there was no way that any of them could know. But she did have a theory.
"The treasures must be needed for
something important if it is this urgent that they be found. It is
obvious that they are objects that are not to be taken lightly.
Perhaps we will need to find those who can use them as well."
Usagi thought about this.
"Then perhaps the adventure of a lifetime lies before us. I suppose we shall see what we see, when we reach our journey's end."