A Note: I do not own anything to do with Lord of the Rings---they belong to those running the Tolkien estate, and anything to do with New Line Cinema and anyone else affiliated with the movie trilogy. Tari and Colin are my own creations, you want to use them, just let me know, I'm pretty flexible. I am not making any money from this (as is well shown by my bank account at the moment, unfortunately); I'm just an obsessed fan who decided to try my hand at it, after reading the works of many others. Hope you like it, and review it for me please! Also thought up some part of the plot for much later in the story that will include Eomer, but look for that later on. Enjoy! Also, a big thanks to a new reviewer, Crecy. Glad you liked it, I do find that I manage a few funnies when I can...doesn't hurt to have a little comic relief with your drama/action/adventure/romance/etc, etc. Hope you like the next one, and please, everybody, leave me a quick note! As far as I know I do accept anonymous reviews too...somebody tell me if I don't ok?
Chapter 8
Tari followed Aragorn to the armoury to get the equipment she would need for the quest on which they were about to embark. She walked into the huge room full of weapons and gear and stood completely in awe. "Wow! I have never seen so many swords and bows in my entire life! This is completely overwhelming!" Aragorn looked back at her and smiled. Without saying a word, he chose a sword and a bow and handed both to her. "This sword is called Gwathrist, or Shadow Cleaver, in the common tongue. It was once created for Lady Celebrian, Arwen's mother. I'm not sure if you know of what happened to her, but she sailed into the Undying Lands before she ever had the chance to learn to use it. It seems appropriate to give this to you now." Tari nodded, awe still written clearly on her face as she inspected the blood red scabbard and the garnet-encrusted hilt set in what looked like silver, but was most likely mithril. She looked up at Aragorn and faintly whispered, "Yes, I do know what happened to Lady Celebrian. That's why I wonder if another sword would be a better choice. I'm sure Lord Elrond and his children would be loathe to part with such a keepsake of their mother." Aragorn heard her whispers, and his features seemed to soften, clearly moved by Tari's compassion and thoughtful gesture as she tried to hand the sword back to him. He smiled lightly, pushing it back into her hands. "Nay, my lady, it was Lord Elrond's idea. He could never bear to look at it after she took the ships to Valinor, and Elrohir and Elladan have been urging him to give it away. It was Arwen herself that suggested giving her mother's sword to you. She seemed to think you would like it." Tears welled up in Tari's eyes as she accepted the sword and scabbard. She was moved that Arwen would allow her mother's sword to be given to her. "Arwen and I discussed colours earlier when picking out my dress for the Council, and I told her that this red was my favourite. It was so incredibly kind of her to want to give this to me! I must thank her somehow." Aragorn smiled dreamily and said, "Yes, Arwen has always been so incredibly gracious and thoughtful. Its one of the many reasons why I love her." Tari smiled inwardly and somewhat sadly. She was torn between what she knew was to come in Aragorn's future and how she felt, seeing how great he was but knowing that she would never get to find out if her feelings were real. She all of a sudden had a great understanding of how Eowyn was going to be feeling in the not-so-distant future.
Aragorn turned away abruptly to grab a deep red quiver full of arrows. It was the same red as her scabbard. He turned again, waking her from her trance as he handed the quiver to her. "Also from Lady Celebrian's collection." he stated. Tari nodded as she slung the quiver over her shoulder to join her bow. Matching armguards were given next. After that, Aragorn looked for chain mail, as she would need it for the journey. Giving Tari a quick glance of assessment, he turned back to the chain mail hanging on the wall. After a few minutes of searching, he reached up for one set and pulled it off the wall. Tari looked at it warily, unsure of herself all of a sudden. "How do I put that on?" she asked hesitatingly, eyeing the seamless garb of tiny metal rings. It looked much like the one Frodo wore, but it was larger and had a hood. Aragorn smiled. "Don't worry," he said, "it takes a little bit of time to get used to, but soon it will feel like a second skin. No come over here and I'll help you put it on." Tari seemed to glide slowly over to him, slightly self-conscious. Aragorn removed her bow, quiver, and sword and set them all down lightly on a nearby table. "Lift up your arms over your head." He commanded, and Tari immediately complied. Aragorn slipped the metal onto her arms, and it slunk over her head and down her upper body to end at her mid thighs. "Okay, this is lighter than it looks, and easy to put on. Now what?" Tari asked him, expecting that this little dress up session was not yet over. He held out a leather vest that was as long as the chain mail shirt she wore. It had a belt that tied around the waist and was the same red as her quiver, armguards, and scabbard. She slipped the vest on and Aragorn slid the scabbard onto her belt and tied the belt in a knot in front of her. Finally, he handed her the matching red leather boots and bid her take off the pink mules she currently wore so that she could try them on. "Oh, wow! They are a perfect fit, and they feel simply wonderful!" she ran a hand down the side of one boot, delighted in the quality and feel of the butter-like smooth texture. Finally, she slung the quiver and bow over her shoulder.
"Ok, how do I look? Do I look like a warrior now?" Tari asked with a smile on her face. Aragorn laughed lightly, replying, "well, you would look a little more intimidating if you weren't wearing that pink dress!" Tari rolled her eyes, laughing. "Yeah, I suppose I'm not very forbidding in the dress, huh? But putting on this chain mail over these sleeves feels really strange, let me tell you! We just don't wear sleeves like these where I come from. They look great, but they're really not all that practical." Aragorn laughed again as he took her hand and lead her out of the room. "Wait!" she exclaimed, "I have to get my shoes!" she picked the mules up off the table and took Aragorn's offered arm as they stepped out of the armoury.
"Before we begin, I suggest getting out of the dress and into something more comfortable and suitable for combat." Aragorn said with a smirk. Tari shot him a look of disbelief. "But it took forever to get all this on!" she protested, a hint of a whine coming out in her voice despite her efforts to stop it. Aragorn chuckled in amusement. "well, unless you plan on sleeping in all this getup every night we're away, you'll have to get used to it. Besides, this will give you a chance to practice getting all of it off quickly." He replied with a grin. Tari tried to keep herself from focusing on the double entendre get your mind out of the gutter, Tari! She shook her head in annoyance, disgusted with her sick and twisted mind. "alright, fine!" she huffed, her annoyance clearly recognizable. She tore the belt of the vest open and unbuttoned it, taking it off her shoulders and handing it to him with a short, "here!" Then, she took off the chain mail off as if it was the sweatshirt she had ended up wearing to Imladris and tossed it to him. Next came the boots, tossing each one at his feet after replacing the bare foot with a rose mule. Picking up her weapons, she bid him follow her with the rest of her military gear. Aragorn rolled his eyes and shook his head, trying to hide the victorious grin threatening to appear on his highly amused face. He picked up her boots and greeted her with an exaggerated, "Yes, my lady, your wish is my command! Your human coat rack is here to do your bidding!" Tari shot him another dirty look as she swat at his arm, missing as he shifted gracefully away from the less-than-vicious attack. They then headed toward Tari's room so that she could change.
A/N: Gwathrist comes from combining 2 Sindarin words from the index of Tolkien's "The Silmarillion". 'Gwath' means shadow and '-ris' or '-rist' is a suffix meaning cleaver.
