Fangorn Forest, S.R. 1442

She liked to wander around in the woods. More so now that she was older. She found it much more comforting. She could leave her sorrows here. She rested for a moment in her walking. Settling down on the grassy turf, she watched the river flow by, its dark waters shimmering with light as small rays of sunlight shone through the thick branches above. All in all the forest wasn't what she would call 'friendly' but it certainly wasn't hostile, more sleepy than anything, if one could call a forest that.

She lay out, savoring the small amount of sun while she could. She had been exploring the woods for quite a while now and it had seemed so much more…enclosed before. Though she had not minded too much. It fitted her. She was not particularly looking forward to the return trip back to Gondor. Her trip to Rohan had been more successful and King Éomer of the Mark had been more than helpful to provide her with the right information.

It had been for a new book Vërtainir had been working on lately that focused on the history and geography of Rohan instead of Gondor or Arnor in the north. Éomer had been more than happy to oblige her. It had taken shorter time than had been allotted for and with the free time she had wandered until she had come here, north of Edoras.

She rather liked it. Yes, she did not feel very safe here but content enough she supposed. She felt herself grin dryly at such an absurd thought. She was much more practical than that. Or at least she liked to believe herself to be, though often she wondered if she was really as logical as she liked to believe.

Sighing, she sat up from her resting position, mulling over in her head whether or not she should go on or return back to Edoras. It likely would take her at least a two or three day ride to get back to Edoras.

To her sudden surprise she thought she heard a strange rustling sound coming from nearby. Turning in the direction of the sound, she saw nothing but trees with long dusty foliage. Feeling vaguely unsettled, she decided that she would be best off returning back to Edoras as soon as possible. These woods were fine in their own right, yet she had a feeling she wouldn't want to be here if the woods began to get…a little testy.

She felt as though the trees were watching her, with silent eyes.

Shrugging away her strange unease, she rose. Though instinctively she knew it wasn't really unease…it was more the feeling when you have accidentally intruded on another's private space.

Feeling a strange impulse come over her, she waved solemnly to the tall towering trees, saying,

'I'm sorry I didn't have enough time to spend here. I know a few others who might appreciate you.'

Turning to leave she heard a strange noise, almost like a rustling but not quite, a noise she had never heard before.

'Ho, hum, hoom, what's this here?'

Turning slowly around Kiearâ felt her eyes widen in shock. Before her stood what looked almost like a tree, yet with a vaguely man-like expression towering many feet above her. His skin, if that's what it was, seemed to be made of bark, smooth yet rough from the ages and around his face she assumed it was, was what she took to be beard after a fashion, with the roots around the end of his face appearing twiggy while as it progressed it grew mossier, falling away from his face.

Not sure what to make of this…odd…creature…she noticed for the first time the eyes of this peculiar creature.

They reminded her of water, deep and cool and calm. There was stillness beneath these rich eyes that bored down on her. Like a…wall behind the clear water, with secrets and knowledge deeper than any underground mountain river or lake. Yet she felt that there was an incredible strength behind those eyes…that if those waters were roused they would break upon rocks like glass. But at the same time there was a very earthy look to those clear eyes…this was a creature of the earth, of the stone of the earth. There was a light in the eyes as though taking in what was happening now, but there was still that great standing wall behind… there was so much depth there, she couldn't put it into words…there was such sorrow and long years hidden in those eyes, yet there was such awareness in them, shining through.

She felt herself smile at those eyes. There was something beautiful about them that brought tears to her eyes, something closer and deeper to the earth than even the Elves, something closer to Mankind than Elves…something they could reach out for and treasure while the Elves were only a fading dream. She felt suddenly, rather passionately, that she did not want to lose these creatures, they were too important for that…

To her surprise she felt tears spring unbidden to her own eyes though she could never have explained why.

'Hoom, here, hum, hoom, what's this?' It sounded vaguely concerned whatever it was.

She smiled again, loosely up at it. As she felt those eyes continuing to watch her she realized with a start whom those eyes belonged to.

'Treebeard?' she asked hesitantly, feeling strangely shy almost, around such a remarkable creature.

'Hoom, hm, yes that's my name. Where have you heard that little one?'

He peered curiously down at her as she answered him, his eyes taking on an odd light as she told him.

'My…Pippin told me about you once. He tried to tell me about you and the other Ents. I never understood what he was talking about…until now.'

As she looked up at him she was stunned to see a strange look of what might have passed for pain for her own people.

'Treebeard?'

'Hm…ho, yes you know Pippin then, hm?'

She diverted her eyes, feeling unsure of her response.

'Well yes…'

'But…hoom, hum…there's more to it.'

Startled, she nodded, forgetting for the moment her previous thoughts of heading back to Edoras as soon as possible. She felt oddly that she could, or more should than anything else, tell this age-old creature her small little story.

Sighing she murmured, sitting back down upon the grass, staring off into the distant path of the winding river, 'Yes…I first met him in Gondor…over twenty years ago.'

She was silent, not sure how to continue. Treebeard didn't say anything, just seemed to be waiting for her to go on. She would have chuckled to herself if she had felt the need, for here she was unsure how to begin and he was waiting for here. Somehow she found it incredibly amusing. And strangely touching.

She sighed again.

'I met him again later while I was in Arnor, around Bree…'

§

Treebeard was an excellent listener Kiearâ had decided. He only commented sometimes and seemed fairly interested in what she had to say about Pippin and her and their children. Every so often, he would ask for clarification which sometimes lead to a rather out of order chronology of the events.

Looking up Kiearâ, noticed that the forest had grown darker, a slight shadow covering the weathered branches like cloaks, which she assumed meant that the sun had set and the night was spreading out it's dark rays to cover the earth.

'Hoom…whatever became of that son of yours? He sounds as hasty a woodpecker.'

Kiearâ grinned at the phrase though she didn't quite understand what Treebeard meant.

'Kelleghêr?' She sighed absently. 'I haven't seen him for a few months now. He had a…disagreement with Aragorn and left Gondor.'

'Hm?'

Kiearâ smiled weakly up at him.

'Kell never liked the fact Aragorn got in the way of Pippin and me being together.'

The Ent looked thoughtful, his deep eyes appearing to delve into that wall behind them, with a far away look.

'I can understand why…though perhaps for different reasons.' Then turning back to Kiearâ's sitting form, his eyes turned back out, to the present, becoming again lighted with the alertness she had first seen.

'Though we Ents do not really become involved in…hoom, hm, the affairs of Men. Still…' his eyes looked sad for a moment, 'those two little Hobbits they called themselves…I'm sorry to hear it…hoom…you would have made him happy.'

'I hope I did.' She murmured softly.

'Eh? Hoom, hum, I think you did.'

Startled, she glanced up at him and his eyes seemed to have softened slightly. There was the strangest look his old eyes, something sad, but sad for her and himself as well, something he had lost, something that had meant as much to him as Pippin meant to her. How odd that such simple pain could wound so deeply…how much she wanted to take away the pain this creature, this Ent, had.

'But we were so happy together. I wouldn't be the person I am now without him. Even for the small time we had I still treasure it…and somehow…' she was quiet a moment, 'when I look back on those few memories I can't really be sad…because I think I know he wouldn't want that…'

Treebeard nodded slightly in acknowledgement.

'That's quite a lot to say coming from such a supposed hasty creature.'

She grinned up at him, more sincere this time. She had the oddest feeling that there was something in those few words that meant something, something deeper to her that she realized. She shook it off returning her attention back to the huge Ent before her.

Treebeard still appeared troubled by something.

'This son of yours and Pippin's…hoom…hm, he had a falling out did you say?'

She nodded.

'Once Kell turned old enough where he could speak to Aragorn without interference because of his young age, he did just that.' She sighed. 'He always tried to get Aragorn to do something for us. I don't know why he was so passionate about it. I always tried to make him understand that I had no regrets about any of it…'

'None?'

She shrugged. 'Well, not none I suppose…but who can live without regrets.'

'Hoom, that's very true…' Again his eyes grew thoughtful, more inward, as though her words had struck a deep memory inside him. Though perhaps not that deep, seeing as how much it meant to him.

Absently she said, 'Even the Elves have regrets. No living thing can be without regret really, because there are always choices to make and you never know which one you may regret.'

'Hm, yes, one never does…'

'Treebeard?'

'Hm.'

'Where are all the other Ents? The younger Ents?'

His eyes grew sad and far away, and she knew somehow that the pain he had was due to the answer to this seemingly simple question. She knew something had happened to cause him pain, to cause him his own mournful regrets. She felt her heart go out to him, wanting to help him somehow…

'There are none and we are beginning to fade because of it. I am the oldest and there have been so few of us for so long…so few…' he answered softly, his eyes dark and wallowing in some untold long-ago emotion.

'But you can't fade away!' Her voice broke with a sudden passionate emotion as she struggled to contain the tears that had begun to sting her eyes.

Her forceful yell had startled Treebeard. Looking as though he was scolding a young child, he reprimanded her gently, 'There is nothing anyone can do to change it.' His eyes grew sad, with a weary gleam in those clear water eyes, as he continued, 'We Ents, we made a choice as you said, which we will regret I believe.'

'But you and your kind are worth more than that!'

He gave her a penetrating glance.

'The Elves are fading away too, yet you do not seem to be yelling for them to stop.'

'But that's different Treebeard. They are leaving Middle-Earth of their free will…you…you are just going to fade away from mortal memory and cease to be…' She felt her eyes filling with unbidden tears, her heart breaking at the thought of losing him and his kind.

Yes the Elves were beautiful and wondrous, but their age had passed…they could find their place across the sea…the Ents were of Middle-Earth. They couldn't leave it. And Men needed these giant shepherds…they needed them more than she could explain. Men needed their patience and their wisdom. Men needed them to remind them of what they had and what they should hold on to. How could humanity lose this?

It hurt her, made her want to cry, yet the tears would not come, except partially to water her eyes.

His eyes were thoughtful again.

'Perhaps…' and he sighed, a deep sound, vibrating like the bowls of the earth. Whatever it was he had thought he did not say, and Kiearâ never had the chance to ask.

Turning his eyes to the sky the old Ent watched the growing dark black-blue sky overhead as though thinking of something. Kiearâ turned her eyes skyward, watching the sky through the leaves. A sudden gush of wind blew through the branches creating a small gap in the thick trees. She saw a single star, shining brightly through the gap, like a silent luminous light, white fire glistening in the inky dark.

For a single moment a strange feeling over came her, though it was so sudden she almost thought she had imagined it. She was struck by the beauty of it and felt somewhere in her a sense of contentment grow, filled with a sense of security, burning like a guiding light in her darkness. Something unusually profound that struck at a cord in her soul…something that called out for desire and passion, a call to these shining dreams she saw, all ablaze in the single white star. There was hope in it, a small hope, a tiny promise that these beautiful things would never really be lost, that though they may fade for a time, the feelings would never fade and perhaps they would come again, these forgotten times of long-off beauty.

But it was more than beauty…it was something so fragile, so real, so close to every living thing. The idea of creation, of feelings, of hope, those things were so integrated into the souls of creatures that they sometimes didn't realize what they were capable of. It struck her suddenly that there were things deeper and older and higher than the moments that were being lived right now. And that these precious moments were always continuing, like a radiant white tunnel, going on forever, stretching through the emotions of those who lived and loved and died. There was something that was worth protecting…something that was worth believing in.

But the thoughts were fleeting and in a moment the breeze had gone and the branches had returned to their place, blocking the star from her gaze. She never truly remembered these thoughts or even the strange feelings of serenity and devotion that they had given her. For the moment she felt her limbs biting in the cold.

Rising from her seat on the now grey turf, she turned to the silent figure of Treebeard and said, 'I suppose I had better head back to Edoras now.' She looked back toward the direction leading out of the forest the way she had come. 'I have a ways to travel tonight.'

Treebeard nodded solemnly. He didn't say anything, but she felt instinctively that he really had somehow appreciated her words with him, however short it may have been. That strangely made her smile though as many things this night she never could have said why.

Without a word, Kiearâ turned silently to go, heading back the way she had come. As she went back along what had served as her previous path, she thought that she heard Treebeard murmuring softly to himself, though she could not make out the words and later she wondered if it had just been the wind rustling through the sleepy trees like an unremembered dream…