Author Notes: Okay, I apologise for the massive delay, but I'm now on holiday and I am fresh from a back-to-back extended version marathon of LOTR sleepover. Thanks again to Prophet-Song for the reviews! I will try and update soon.
Bold italics are the 'thoughts' of Raven.
Chapter 4: The Council of Elrond
Raven padded out of the garden in search of the Council. She hurried through the maze that was Rivendell until she paused for breath, looking around for an elf to ask directions. That was until she saw two sneaky little hobbits whispering to each other going off in a purposeful direction; Merry and Pippin. Smirking to herself, she silently followed them, her bare feet making no sound.
The two hobbits sneaked off round a corner, but Raven had seen the Council gathering and sitting down. Walking purposefully over to Elrond, causing many a confused look in regards to her clothing to go her way, Raven turned so her back to the Council and whispered to Elrond, "Will you let me attend the Council? I want to make sure the out come is what it should be." It was almost true.
Elrond nodded, although he looked like he wanted to ask her where she had been. A dark haired elf produced another chair and Raven sat down on Frodo's right. Butterflies started bouncing off the insides of Raven's stomach and she had to clasp her hands together to stop them shaking; this was it.
Elrond rose from his feet and began, "Strangers from distant lands, friends of old. You have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate-this one doom." Raven watched as he turned to Frodo, "Bring forth the Ring, Frodo."
Tentatively, Frodo rose and placed the ring on the pedestal. Looking extremely relieved, he turned and retreated to his seat in between Gandalf and Raven. Raven turned expectantly towards Boromir as he began, "So it is true…" Raven felt her necklace grow warm against her chest, as if it was angered by his speaking. Boromir rose and addressed the whole Council, "In a dream, I saw the eastern sky grow dark. But in the West a pale light lingered. A voice was crying: Your doom is near at hand. Isildur's Bane is found…Isildur's Bane…" Boromir reached towards it.
It all happened so suddenly, Elrond yelled to Boromir then Gandalf started speaking in a horrible tongue. The air darkened and the words vibrated through the souls of all that were present: "Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul." Inside Raven's head a small voice whispered the translation: "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them."
The voice made Raven freeze. Where had it come from? Then she touched the Raven's Eye and knew; it was still warm. The events of the Council played on as Raven listened to the Eye, it was telling her some strange rhyme, although for what reason Raven could only fathom. It then repeated her mother's words, "Some things do not make it to paper, and even less make it to film." Frowning, Raven turned her sight outwards once more to catch Frodo standing up and calling over the arguing crowd, "I will take it! I will take it!" The Council all turned in disbelief, while Raven watched silently, being the only one still sitting down. Frodo continued, "I will take the Ring to Mordor, though I do not know the way."
Now, it must be said that even though Raven was not one of those people that knew the film off by heart, she did know what should have happened next, and it was definitely not what followed. Boromir was the first to speak up, "Do not be a fool Halfling; this is a matter for the wiser races, not naïve children such as your race."
Then Gandalf, of all people, joined in, "Boromir is right Frodo, you should not concern yourself with these matters."
Murmurs of agreement washed around the other Council members. Raven really felt for Frodo then; there he was, standing in front of a bunch of scary people twice the size of him, offering a solution to their problem, the right solution at that and now they were ganging up on him! The Eye burned for a second, and Raven knew she would have to intervene.
In one swift movement, Raven was on her feet and took the position where Gandalf should have stood had he been co-operative with the film. Placing both of her hands on each of Frodo's shoulders, she gave them a comforting squeeze, took a deep breath and turned defiantly toward the wizard and stated loudly, "With all due respect Gandalf, Boromir is an Arse."
That got an immediate reaction, mainly of outrage, but Raven didn't really care, for she had achieved both of her goals; she had got Elrond's attention and Frodo's shoulders had relaxed. Raising her voice over the babble, she repeated the rhyme that the Eye had told her:
"Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand."
Raven waited for her words to sink in to her audience before continuing, "That was the dream right Boromir? Well, I think you missed the key point there, although I can hardly blame you. You, of course, would pick up on 'Isildur's Bane', being so self absorbed in your wiser race as you are. The key line in it is, in fact, 'The Halfling forth shall stand'. So unless you are all standing on each others' shoulders, I think that the only one here that classes as a Halfling is Frodo and to me it looks as if he is standing forth. Trust me when I say, this rhyme is not kidding, he is the only one here that comes close to doing what you want to do." Throwing one last dirty look at the tempted Boromir, who seemed to be now calming down to his normal self (the one that Raven could feel at least some compassion towards), she turned towards Elrond.
"Is this truly as it must be Lady Rachel?" It was Gandalf.
Giving herself a slight mental shake, for she had gotten so used to the name Raven, she had almost forgotten her old name, she nodded. She then took that opportunity to move to the side of Elrond so that everyone else could have their 'You have my' moment.
After Merry and Pippin had joined the Fellowship, Elrond was about to announce them as The Nine, and then Raven stepped forward, causing him to pause. She knelt in front of Frodo and spoke clearly, "I don't think we've been introduced. My name is Raven." Elrond and Gandalf exchanged looks at this new fact, "Although it probably doesn't mean much, I also offer you my protection. I promise that I'll help you get to Mordor, whatever happens to this Fellowship"
Raven could sense the other members of the Fellowship silently object, except maybe the other Hobbits. Frodo looked straight into her eyes and smiled, "I would be honoured if you would join us to make a company of ten."
Lord Elrond begrudgingly continued his announcement, "Ten companions…So be it! You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!"
Mentally, Raven counted down, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…. "Great! Where are we going?"
000000000000
The Council had dispersed and Raven was on her way back to the garden. Footsteps then sounded behind her and she turned, expecting to meet this Falcon her mother was sending, instead she turned to meet face to face with Elrond, Gandalf and Aragorn, all of whom looked extremely pissed off. Biting her lip, Raven smiled and greeted them, "Hi, so…I was meaning to ask you, when do we leave?"
Gandalf answered, "The Fellowship of Nine will be leaving in a week; nine members to go against the Nine Ringwraiths. Even if there were to be a tenth member, which is not possible, it would not be a woman who would need to be protected every step of the way."
"Okay, firstly, as Ringbearer, it's Frodo's choice who gets to join him on this lovely outing, secondly, I prefer to think of myself as a young adult, I'm way too immature to be classed as a woman, and thirdly, if you guys are so number conscious, think of me as the tenth member that will match Sauron." Okay, so the last one was pushing it a bit, but she needed to make them let her come along.
Raising an eyebrow at her bizarre reasoning, Elrond put forward his argument, "That may be, but how are we to be sure that you do not wish our Quest ill. You disappear for a few days and you tell Frodo that your name is Raven, not Rachel as you told me. I get the feeling that you are deceiving us all."
"I went away for a bit and had a few revelations on why apparently I'm here. One of those was my name. I'm sorry if you guys don't trust me, but Frodo does, so I guess I'm coming along."
Finally, Aragorn put forward his very final argument, "You are not coming. You do not know how to fight, and I doubt you would be able to keep up. I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to come along, knowing that it will be the death of you."
"My skill matches that of the Hobbits. I promise you, I will come with you whether you like it or not." Having the last word, Raven turned on her heel and stalked off in search of Falcon, leaving three very shocked people behind her.
"Well, that was different," stated Aragorn.
"Indeed Estel, it would seem we have a very unique person on our hands. Come, I wish to speak with Frodo some more." Elrond and Aragorn turned, leaving Gandalf staring after Raven.
Frowning, Gandalf muttered to himself, "The garb that she wears cannot be a coincidence, but the Lady said that her race was never seen. Raven cannot be one of them, as the Lady's son is; he is the only one of his kind to exist to our eyes, now she is dead."
To Be Continued…
