Okay, this one is considerably longer. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Lord of the Rings. It all belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien and the movie producers. I only own Amaris and any character outside Middle Earth.
Number 10: Night Discoveries
They had been traveling for nearly two weeks and were resting for the night in a small wooded area. "Only a small fire tonight young hobbits. We cannot risk too much light." Aragorn told them. Merry and Pippin sighed because they wouldn't get any hot food this night. The night breeze was chilly and the trees didn't block any of it. Amaris undid her bedroll as Sam made a small fire. Her body was tired, her legs ached, and she desperately wanted a bath but knew it was impossible. She sat down and Aragorn came over to her. "How do you fare?" She looked up at him and smiled.
"I am fine just tired. I'm going to get some sleep. When it's my turn for watch, please wake me." She removed her pack and laid down on her bedroll. Aragorn sighed.
"You have not eaten since this morning. You need food to keep your strength." He kneeled before her with concern on his face. She smiled at him for his concern.
"Aragorn, there is no need to worry. I will be fine. I need to rest is all. When I wake for my watch I'll eat something, I promise." He smiles at her and nods his head. Amaris lays down and Aragorn sits near the fire by Legolas. Legolas looks over at Amaris then at Aragorn.
"She is not going to eat?" Legolas asked.
"No, she is too tired. She said she'll eat when she wakes for her watch." Legolas nods his head and looks back at Amaris. He sees that she shivered as she laid there. He took his blanket and brought it over to her. He draped it over her body and she looked up at him and smiled.
"Thank you Legolas." He nodded his head at her and smiled.
"You're welcome. Get some rest. Your watch is after mine and I will be sure to wake you." She nodded her head and laid back down and closed her eyes. He had the third watch and when he took his he would take hers as well, after all she required more rest then he did and he didn't want anything to happen to her.
After Amaris fell asleep she began to have strange dreams.
Dream:
She found herself on the street where she was hit back home. She can't hear anything it's just images. She watches herself cross the street and then be hit by the car, even watching the events unfold before her she still can't figure out where the car came from. She sees the man come running and stand over her motionless body. She stands there unable to move and she feels tears run down her cheeks. Movement in the right catches her eye. She looks up and sees Sofia come running from her house on the corner. Sofia covers her mouth with her hands and runs over to Amaris' body. She sees her scream and yell at the man who looks confused and scared. Sofia feels Amaris' neck for a pulse and her face goes white and shakes her head. Suddenly an ambulance appears and the paramedics come rushing out. They check her vitals and find none. They start to perform CPR to no avail. They look at Sofia and shake their heads. Sofia begins to cry and one of the paramedics takes her in their arms while she cries. Police officers arrive next and take the man away as Amaris' dead body is taken by the coroner.
Next she finds herself in a forest, but not one she has seen before. The trees are tall and there is a mystical glow around them. Lothlorien. She thinks as she walks through the trees. She stops when she sees someone standing before her. It is a she-elf with golden hair and piercing blue eyes wearing a flowing white gown. Amaris smiles at the she-elf knowing who she is. "Lady Galadriel?" Amaris asks. The she-elf smiles and nods her head slowly.
"You have seen what has become of your old self have you not my child?" Galadriel asks as she approaches Amaris. Amaris looks to the soft grass before her and nods.
"I have." Galadriel lifts Amaris' chin with her finger so the young woman looks into her eyes.
"Do not despair little one. You were meant to come here and you are more than you appear to be in this world. Changes will take place soon and great darkness will overcome you for a time but once that darkness has passed a great light will shine upon you." Amaris furrowed her brow at the White Lady.
"Changes? What kind of changes milady?" Galadriel smiles.
"I cannot tell you but you will very soon find out. Now rest young one. You have a long and tiresome journey ahead of you." She smiles and slowly begins to fade away and darkness surrounds Amaris as the forest fades as well.
Amaris wakes with a start. She looks around the moonlit campsite to see Frodo tossing and turning and everyone else with the exception of Legolas asleep. She looks around and spots the elf not far in the distance. She stands from her bedroll and quietly makes her way to the elf who is looking at the stars. She puts her hand on his shoulder when suddenly she finds herself pinned to the ground with one of his long knives at her throat.
"Legolas!" she exclaims in a whisper and he quickly draws back sheathing his knife in its holster. Amaris brings her hand to her throat and Legolas quickly grabs her by the waist lifting her to her feet. He was surprised by how light she was.
"Amaris! Are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't hear you approach." Amaris holds up her hand to stop him.
"I'm alright Legolas. I'm not hurt. I never thought you could sneak up on an elf." Amaris said with a smile and Legolas furrows his brow at her.
"You can't unless you're another elf," he says lifting her chin to see if he cut her at all. He curses himself when he sees a small cut on her throat. "I've cut you." Amaris looks at her hand and sees only a little bit of blood on the palm of her hand. She looks back at Legolas and shakes her head.
"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt. I'll clean it up when they wake." She smiles at the look on his face. "Don't worry if they ask I'll say I did it in the forest when I went for some privacy." She smiles at him as she gently pushes his left shoulder. He smiles back at her. "Were you not going to wake me for my watch?" He looks at her and shakes his head.
"You need more rest than I do. I enjoy the quiet while I can." Amaris frowns.
"Oh, would you like me to leave you be then?" She asked as she went to get up from the ground.
"No. Please stay." She looks back at him and smiles.
"Alright." There is a brief silence between the two but it's a good silence. Amaris wants to talk about her dream with someone and she took this opportunity to talk about it. "Legolas, may I discuss something with you? I mean, without distracting you from your watch of course." Legolas turns to her and smiles.
"You may and you won't be a distraction. I am well aware of what's going on around us." She nodded and looked up at the sky.
"I had a strange dream." She paused debating whether or not she could tell him about how she came to be in Middle Earth but decided against it. She'll just tell him about Lady Galadriel. After all, he had become one of her best friends next to Aragorn but he still didn't know where she came from with the exception of what he heard when she spoke with Merry and Pippin. She sighed and looked at her hands. "I met the Lady of the Wood." She looked at Legolas whose eyes were wide.
"Lady Galadriel?" Amaris nodded.
"Yes. She came to me in my dream. She spoke with me and told me that changes would occur and that I would fall under great darkness for some time and then once the darkness passes a great light will shine upon me." She looked away from Legolas and he looked upon her with great concern in his eyes. She looked back at him and sighed. "I don't know what she meant and I'm afraid Legolas." She turned from him and looked up to the stars.
"Don't be afraid. The Lady told you that the darkness would pass and if she said it would, it will. Believe her." She looked back at him and he had a slight smile playing at his lips. She smiled back and nodded.
"Thank you Legolas I guess I just needed to hear some sort of reassurance." He smiled and nodded his head at her. She wanted to believe him but she couldn't. She worried still and turned away from him to try and push her fear away. She looked at the horizon when she noticed the colors of dawn approaching. "The sun is rising."
Legolas didn't take his gaze from the woman next to him. Something was changing in her and he could feel it but what was changing he didn't know. He watched her as the first rays of light made their way across her fair face. He smiled as she closed her eyes to take in the warmth of the light. He studied her as if taking her into memory. Her dark brown hair tied away from her face with loose strands falling around her face which was a lovely contrast to her light skin. She slowly opened her eyes to watch the sun fully rise and smiled. The light of the morning made her deep green eyes seem to sparkle. They reminded him of the forests of his home before the shadow made them dark. He could look into her eyes and feel at home. She looked at him and caught him looking at her. "Mani naa ta?" Amaris asked with a smile. (What is it?)
"Nothing, mellonamin. The others are waking. We should join them." He stood and held out his hand to her. She nodded and took it. He helped her from the ground and he looked into her eyes for a moment. Amaris took her hand from his snapping him out of his daydream. She felt uncomfortable by the way he was looking at her. Only one other ever looked at her that way and she never wanted anyone to look at her like that again. "Forgive me. Your eyes are the color of the forests of my home and they remind me of them." Amaris nodded her head. (My friend)
"It's alright. I was always told when I was little that my eyes reminded people of the trees and the fields back home." She turned around and quickly made back for camp leaving Legolas with a confused look on his face. She entered the camp to see Gandalf sitting up smoking his pipe. He smiled when he saw her.
"Good morning Amaris." She looked at him and nodded. He could see something was troubling her. "What bothers you?" She motioned for him to follow her out of the camp when Legolas came back in. They exited the camp with Legolas watching with a furrowed brow wondering what was going on.
"Gandalf, I had a strange dream last night. I told some of it to Legolas and he told me not to worry, but I still worry even though I told him I was fine." She flops herself down on the grass looking up at Gandalf. "While I sat with him I tried to push the worry away as the sun rose in the sky, but I couldn't."
"What was your dream about?" He asked as he sat down on nearby fallen log. Amaris sighed and untied her hair causing it to fall down her shoulders. She looked up at Gandalf and he was smiling at her to comfort her.
"I saw my death. I saw that I died on the street before anyone arrived to help me and that my best friend saw me lying dead on the road." He nodded as Amaris continued. "There is more. After I watched my body being taken away, I found myself in Lothlorien and Lady Galadriel came to me." His eyebrows raised and he looked intently at her.
"What did she say to you?"
"She knew I saw what had happened to me back home. She told me that I was meant to come here and that I was more than I appear to be in this world. She also said that changes were going to occur soon and that great darkness will come over me." Gandalf stood and walked over to her kneeling before her placing a hand on her shoulder. "She told me that once the darkness passes a 'great light will shine upon me.' Legolas told me not to be afraid but I am Gandalf. I don't know what to do! What if it happens when the fellowship needs me the most? What if we're not in a safe area and I cause danger for all of you? Maybe I should turn back and go to Rivendell, I don't want to be the cause of the fellowship failing or someone getting hurt. I couldn't live with myself if I did." Tears began to fall from her eyes. The comfort she felt here was slowly slipping away and all she wanted to do was go back home. She wanted to get away from the darkness that Lady Galadriel told her would come upon her and she wanted to get away from the looks Legolas gave her. She felt herself lose her composure and she no longer controlled her actions. She began to sob uncontrollably and Gandalf took her into his arms. He rubbed her back to sooth her as her body shook with her tears. She slowly calmed and Gandalf spoke to her.
"Child, you will not go back to Rivendell alone. You are part of this fellowship and you will stay with the fellowship. When the darkness takes you, you will not be a burden to anyone. We will watch over you the way we do Frodo that I promise you." Amaris pulled away from him and looked up at him with tear stained cheeks and her eyes read from crying.
"Gandalf, you couldn't possibly d-" She couldn't finish because Gandalf held up his hand to stop her.
"We will Amaris and there is nothing you can say or do to stop us from doing so. None of us want to lose you and we will do all we can to make sure of that." He stood and held out his hand for the woman. She took it and he helped her from the ground. They walked back to camp in silence. Amaris kept her hair down to hide her red eyes. When they arrived back to camp everyone was up and packing their bedrolls and other materials. Legolas told Aragorn how odd Amaris was acting and when he spotted the wizard and her returning he went to them.
"Amaris what is wrong?" Gandalf looked at him and answered for the woman who moved from them and to her bedroll and pack.
"She saw her death from her world and the Lady of the Wood came to her in her dream." Aragorn quickly looked from the wizard to Amaris who was sliding on her pack on her back keeping her eyes on the floor and her hair in her face, something she never did before. "She told her that changes were going to happen to her and darkness would overcome her but when it passed a light would shine on her." Aragorn looked back at the wizard.
"Darkness? What kind of darkness?" Gandalf shook his head.
"That I do not know but I swore to her we would be there for her and watch over her. She suggested that she travel back to Rivendell alone so the fellowship would not be in danger. I told her that she would not." Aragorn nodded his head.
"She will not. Since my watch is Frodo, I will tell Legolas to watch over Amaris." Gandalf nodded.
"It would probably be best to have Legolas watch over her. With his senses he could watch her better." Aragorn nodded.
"I'll go talk to him." Aragorn walked over to Legolas and put his hand on his shoulder and motioned for him to step away with him. Aragorn looked back at Amaris who had pulled her hair back and was splashing water on her face. Merry and Pippin went over to her and she smiled as if she was perfectly fine. He turned back to Legolas who was looking at him concerned. "Legolas, I need you to watch over Amaris, but don't let her know you're doing it. Gandalf and I fear for her."
"From what the White Lady told her?" Aragorn furrowed his brow at him.
"How did you know?" Legolas looked to Amaris who had yet to even acknowledge him since they talked earlier.
"She came to me before the sun rose and told me that Lady Galadriel spoke to her." Aragorn nodded.
"Yes, that is why we fear." Legolas nodded and looked back at his friend.
"I will watch over her." Aragorn smiled and put his hand on his shoulder and Legolas did the same. They broke apart and finished packing. They all ate a light breakfast except for Amaris. She couldn't eat, she was too upset to even think of food.
"Lady Amaris, you must eat something. You will grow weak if you don't," Sam told Amaris as she sat waiting patiently for everyone to finish. He held some fruit out to her but she declined.
"Really, Sam, I'm fine. My stomach is too upset to eat. At our next stop I'll eat or snack on something along the way. I just can't right now." Sam sighed and walked back over to Frodo who looked at Amaris with concern written on his face. Aragorn looked at her and sighed.
Soon they were packed and back on their path to Mordor.
