Chapter Sixteen: Songs of Comfort
We seek the comfort of another. Someone to share and share the life we choose. Someone to help us through the never ending attempt to understand ourselves. And in the end, someone to comfort us along the way. -- Marlin Finch Lupus
The impending evening whipped many into action, preparing for the travel to Helm's Deep. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and now apparently Brhagdan and Rhiannon all had to be outfitted in some sort of protective gear. Even if it was in all likelihood Rhiannon would not be fighting. Apparently there were caves when in this fortresses known as Helm's Deep; and there Rhiannon would stay there. The gear was in case anything attacked them on the way. However, the mention of the caves sent an odd shiver down her spine; she was not sure if it was her own dislike of caves that caused this, or if it was her dislike doubled by that of Legolas. More than once he had made his dislike of caves known. Odd to Rhiannon, she thought the king of Mirkwood resided in a cave. Maybe there was just a difference between elven caves and other caves. Rhiannon's mindless rambling was stopped as she watched Gimli step out with his chain-mail shirt on. No one in the room tried to hide their amusement. The shirt fell beyond Gimli's feet, trailing to the floor. Even Gimli's eyes twinkled with laughter when he stated that the shirt was a tad long. He choose a helmet and a shield instead. The armor that Rhiannon wore, which was not much, was provided by Lady Eowyn, knowing which of the pieces they people of Rohan had would be most comfortable on a female.
After a ceremony in the Golden Hall, and the decision that Eowyn would stay in Edoras to rule over the people while the King and Eomer traveled to Helm's Deep; the group set out. Rhiannon had decided to ride with her brother, forgoing her own horse. She did not trust herself to ride in the dark at the fast pace she was almost positive they would take. Few words were spoken between the group, the Riders, members of the Fellowship, able- bodied men of Rohan, and finally Brhagdan and Rhiannon. For five hours they rode until it was finally decided it was time to make camp. For fear of what was out there, fires were not lit, trust and their own senses led them to places to lay down. Scouts were sent out ahead of them. Rhiannon uncertainly made her way to the ground, finding herself near Gimli.
"I do not understand horses, Mistress Rhiannon, why would one choose to fight while riding on one of them."
Rhiannon nodded her head, "I agree with you Master Dwarf. Walking, being on two legs, makes much more sense to me. Yet the horses allow us to go at the fast pace we require to reach Helm's Deep in time. I just don't truly understand why elves revere them so much."
As if understanding them, Arod, the horse of Legolas and Gimli, gave a snort. Rhiannon raised her hands up in defeat. "I apologize, Arod. Horses are great creatures and should be revered for all they do for us." Rhiannon swore that if the horse could, it would've rolled his eyes. Sudden musical laughter caused Rhiannon to whip her head around. Legolas stood above her, his bright eyes twinkling in the moonlight,
"You two are begging for the horses to throw you off. Horses are not the animals you want to anger, they can make your journey very difficult. You both should rest, the coming days will be very tiring. Sleep."
Rhiannon and Gimli both nodded and tried to get comfortable on the ground. Legolas found his way over to where Aragorn and Brhagdan sat talking. Interested in how the two knew each other. Aragorn truly did seem to have friends everywhere. Brhagdan looked up as Legolas approached,
"Is my sister sleeping?"
"She is at least lying down."
Brhagdan nodded, "Good. She'll need it." Brhagdan then continued to speak to Aragorn, in the tongue he had heard Rhiannon mutter only at certain times. He studied the brother of Rhiannon. They were very different in coloring, but their eyes were similar. Rhiannon may have spoken of her jealously of her brother's light-green eyes, but he found her dark-green eyes much more interesting. Compared to him they were both young, and yet he knew they had seen things he had yet to experience. The siblings reminded him of Aragorn. Brhagdan for being the well-traveled person he was, and Rhiannon for being a member of many different worlds. Never truly fitting in. He was curious as to how their people came into existence, and yet knew that now was not the time to share the history of their peoples.
Legolas glanced over to Rhiannon, studying her as she slept. He was concerned, something was wrong, she was not having a peaceful slumber. Legolas quickly made his way over to Rhiannon, alerting to Brhagdan and Aragorn that something inside Rhiannon's mind was causing her much unrest. Gimli dozed next to her, oblivious of what was warring within Rhiannon's mind. Legolas knelt next to her gently taking her into his arms, trying to wake her, lightly shaking her. She would not open her eyes. Legolas muttered a soft curse, and gripped her hands within his own. Hoping to awaken the connection between them. The feeling was immediate, that familiar sensation of receiving a blow to the stomach. Unlike the other times, nothing in Rhiannon's mind was clear, most likely due to her sleeping state. She did not sleep like elves, but not like humans, she was normally aware of her surroundings, but something within her mind was causing her to stay in that unconscious state. Since he could not understand anything within her mind, he broke the contact, quite unsure of what to do, and also not wanting to alert the whole camp that something was wrong with the female. He slightly leaned down to whisper into Rhiannon's ear soothing phrases of Sindarin, hoping to get her to calm down. Instead, Rhiannon woke-up. The vulnerability and sadness that shone in her eyes caused his heart to clench painfully within his chest. What had caused this? Earlier in the day she had been so playful, very much like a child. Now she appeared as if she would never smile again. Legolas was going to tell Brhagdan to come over when Rhiannon spoke, her voice rough,
"No, please, do not call him. It would cause him even more concern to see me like this."
Legolas looked down at her with concern, "What was in your mind? What caused you to react like that? You would not wake." Legolas ran one of his fingers across her forehead, then down her nose, causing the reaction he had hoped for, a smile graced Rhiannon's lips. The vulnerability still shone in her eyes, though. He did not know how to fix that. "Rhiannon what is wrong?"
She shook her head, "Nothing's wrong. My mind just decided it did not want me to have a restful sleep." Rhiannon paused, and then moved so as to get the majority of her body off Legolas' legs. She bit her lip, remembering all those times in Lorien when she craved to have someone comfort her. As a young child her father would always sing to her to get her to sleep. When she started receiving her visions, which is what she had just had, Brhagdan would sing her to sleep with silly songs about cats that could fly. She looked over to where her brother sat, talking with Aragorn. She realized that as she had grown older, her brother could no longer provide her with the comfort she needed. She looked up at Legolas who was studying every one of her movements. She lifted her hand up and brushed her knuckles across Legolas' right cheek. She then lightly tugged on one of his braids,
"Legolas, will you sing to me? Please?"
Legolas gave her a smile, "I will, but you will not understand the words."
Rhiannon smiled, "It does not matter. I just need to hear your voice." Legolas nodded and started to softly sing in that musical language, he lightly ran his hands through her hair and sang a hymn from his childhood over and over again until Rhiannon fell asleep. This time, no visions, no nightmares came to her. Her rest was peaceful.
************************
A/N: Ok, once again, Book Version of Two Towers. The " ''" means it comes right out of the books. If you do not want to know what happens in the story of Lord of the Rings after where Peter Jackson ended the Two Towers, then after this chapter you might not want to read anymore.
We seek the comfort of another. Someone to share and share the life we choose. Someone to help us through the never ending attempt to understand ourselves. And in the end, someone to comfort us along the way. -- Marlin Finch Lupus
The impending evening whipped many into action, preparing for the travel to Helm's Deep. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and now apparently Brhagdan and Rhiannon all had to be outfitted in some sort of protective gear. Even if it was in all likelihood Rhiannon would not be fighting. Apparently there were caves when in this fortresses known as Helm's Deep; and there Rhiannon would stay there. The gear was in case anything attacked them on the way. However, the mention of the caves sent an odd shiver down her spine; she was not sure if it was her own dislike of caves that caused this, or if it was her dislike doubled by that of Legolas. More than once he had made his dislike of caves known. Odd to Rhiannon, she thought the king of Mirkwood resided in a cave. Maybe there was just a difference between elven caves and other caves. Rhiannon's mindless rambling was stopped as she watched Gimli step out with his chain-mail shirt on. No one in the room tried to hide their amusement. The shirt fell beyond Gimli's feet, trailing to the floor. Even Gimli's eyes twinkled with laughter when he stated that the shirt was a tad long. He choose a helmet and a shield instead. The armor that Rhiannon wore, which was not much, was provided by Lady Eowyn, knowing which of the pieces they people of Rohan had would be most comfortable on a female.
After a ceremony in the Golden Hall, and the decision that Eowyn would stay in Edoras to rule over the people while the King and Eomer traveled to Helm's Deep; the group set out. Rhiannon had decided to ride with her brother, forgoing her own horse. She did not trust herself to ride in the dark at the fast pace she was almost positive they would take. Few words were spoken between the group, the Riders, members of the Fellowship, able- bodied men of Rohan, and finally Brhagdan and Rhiannon. For five hours they rode until it was finally decided it was time to make camp. For fear of what was out there, fires were not lit, trust and their own senses led them to places to lay down. Scouts were sent out ahead of them. Rhiannon uncertainly made her way to the ground, finding herself near Gimli.
"I do not understand horses, Mistress Rhiannon, why would one choose to fight while riding on one of them."
Rhiannon nodded her head, "I agree with you Master Dwarf. Walking, being on two legs, makes much more sense to me. Yet the horses allow us to go at the fast pace we require to reach Helm's Deep in time. I just don't truly understand why elves revere them so much."
As if understanding them, Arod, the horse of Legolas and Gimli, gave a snort. Rhiannon raised her hands up in defeat. "I apologize, Arod. Horses are great creatures and should be revered for all they do for us." Rhiannon swore that if the horse could, it would've rolled his eyes. Sudden musical laughter caused Rhiannon to whip her head around. Legolas stood above her, his bright eyes twinkling in the moonlight,
"You two are begging for the horses to throw you off. Horses are not the animals you want to anger, they can make your journey very difficult. You both should rest, the coming days will be very tiring. Sleep."
Rhiannon and Gimli both nodded and tried to get comfortable on the ground. Legolas found his way over to where Aragorn and Brhagdan sat talking. Interested in how the two knew each other. Aragorn truly did seem to have friends everywhere. Brhagdan looked up as Legolas approached,
"Is my sister sleeping?"
"She is at least lying down."
Brhagdan nodded, "Good. She'll need it." Brhagdan then continued to speak to Aragorn, in the tongue he had heard Rhiannon mutter only at certain times. He studied the brother of Rhiannon. They were very different in coloring, but their eyes were similar. Rhiannon may have spoken of her jealously of her brother's light-green eyes, but he found her dark-green eyes much more interesting. Compared to him they were both young, and yet he knew they had seen things he had yet to experience. The siblings reminded him of Aragorn. Brhagdan for being the well-traveled person he was, and Rhiannon for being a member of many different worlds. Never truly fitting in. He was curious as to how their people came into existence, and yet knew that now was not the time to share the history of their peoples.
Legolas glanced over to Rhiannon, studying her as she slept. He was concerned, something was wrong, she was not having a peaceful slumber. Legolas quickly made his way over to Rhiannon, alerting to Brhagdan and Aragorn that something inside Rhiannon's mind was causing her much unrest. Gimli dozed next to her, oblivious of what was warring within Rhiannon's mind. Legolas knelt next to her gently taking her into his arms, trying to wake her, lightly shaking her. She would not open her eyes. Legolas muttered a soft curse, and gripped her hands within his own. Hoping to awaken the connection between them. The feeling was immediate, that familiar sensation of receiving a blow to the stomach. Unlike the other times, nothing in Rhiannon's mind was clear, most likely due to her sleeping state. She did not sleep like elves, but not like humans, she was normally aware of her surroundings, but something within her mind was causing her to stay in that unconscious state. Since he could not understand anything within her mind, he broke the contact, quite unsure of what to do, and also not wanting to alert the whole camp that something was wrong with the female. He slightly leaned down to whisper into Rhiannon's ear soothing phrases of Sindarin, hoping to get her to calm down. Instead, Rhiannon woke-up. The vulnerability and sadness that shone in her eyes caused his heart to clench painfully within his chest. What had caused this? Earlier in the day she had been so playful, very much like a child. Now she appeared as if she would never smile again. Legolas was going to tell Brhagdan to come over when Rhiannon spoke, her voice rough,
"No, please, do not call him. It would cause him even more concern to see me like this."
Legolas looked down at her with concern, "What was in your mind? What caused you to react like that? You would not wake." Legolas ran one of his fingers across her forehead, then down her nose, causing the reaction he had hoped for, a smile graced Rhiannon's lips. The vulnerability still shone in her eyes, though. He did not know how to fix that. "Rhiannon what is wrong?"
She shook her head, "Nothing's wrong. My mind just decided it did not want me to have a restful sleep." Rhiannon paused, and then moved so as to get the majority of her body off Legolas' legs. She bit her lip, remembering all those times in Lorien when she craved to have someone comfort her. As a young child her father would always sing to her to get her to sleep. When she started receiving her visions, which is what she had just had, Brhagdan would sing her to sleep with silly songs about cats that could fly. She looked over to where her brother sat, talking with Aragorn. She realized that as she had grown older, her brother could no longer provide her with the comfort she needed. She looked up at Legolas who was studying every one of her movements. She lifted her hand up and brushed her knuckles across Legolas' right cheek. She then lightly tugged on one of his braids,
"Legolas, will you sing to me? Please?"
Legolas gave her a smile, "I will, but you will not understand the words."
Rhiannon smiled, "It does not matter. I just need to hear your voice." Legolas nodded and started to softly sing in that musical language, he lightly ran his hands through her hair and sang a hymn from his childhood over and over again until Rhiannon fell asleep. This time, no visions, no nightmares came to her. Her rest was peaceful.
************************
A/N: Ok, once again, Book Version of Two Towers. The " ''" means it comes right out of the books. If you do not want to know what happens in the story of Lord of the Rings after where Peter Jackson ended the Two Towers, then after this chapter you might not want to read anymore.