Author Notes: Hello again! Aren't you all so impressed with my updating skills? (cough, cough). Hugs to crazycatluver and prophet-song.
Chapter 6: Firelight Whispers
"Excuse me, could you show me where the stables are?" Raven asked a passing elf. He pointed her in the right direction, but she could tell he didn't like her new dress sense; if he reacted like that, she dreaded to think how the Fellowship would. Nevertheless, she nodded her thanks and made her way to the direction he had shown her.
After finally navigating the labyrinth of passageways, Raven made it to a large, ornate wooden building that was the Rivendell stables. "Right, so I'm looking for a horse. That should be easy, there's only like fifty!" Raven wandered past the stalls, trying to recognise the difference between them, "Okay people, well horses, apparently I'm working on a tight schedule here, so it would be really great if the one that's supposed to have a temper as bad as me would make themselves known." No answer; the horses all just looked at her in a very patronising way.
As Raven walked past the stalls, the Eye suddenly grew warm, making Raven stop. As there was no occupant in the left stall, she turned to the right, coming face to face with a pure white horse. Raven knew that horses supposedly couldn't be white, that they were always grey, but this horse had to be an exception to that rule. The horse's mane reminded her a lot of Shadowfax's, but she knew that this horse wasn't him. "Err…hi. I'm Raven, are you the one that's meant to be coming with me?" The horse tossed her head in a fashion that could have been taken for a nod, "Good enough for me."
Raven opened the stall and walked in. Now that she could see the whole horse, she found that it was not entirely white. On her left flank, there was a bizarre black splodge. It was mainly of a black circular shape, but from it spread eight tendrils of black fur. Raven lightly touched the strange mark, and then looked into the horse's eye that had turned to look at her, "Your name is Spider, isn't it?" Again, the horse tossed her head, and then nuzzled her nose into the crook of Raven's arm.
Throughout this, Raven had been smiling, but then she noticed that two very key pieces of equipment were missing, the saddle and bridle; her face fell immediately. "Please tell me I'm not gonna be riding you bareback."
Raven could have sworn Spider was laughing at her, so she glared at her new companion. Spider then had the decency to look slightly ashamed and then took pity on Raven. The horse twisted her neck and poked Raven's boots with her nose. "Are you saying that because of these boots I can magically ride you? I may be in Middle Earth, but I am not stupid." At that point, Raven could have sworn Spider rolled her eyes.
The horse reached forwards and rested her nose on Raven's forehead. The Eye warmed once more, then began to get even hotter, and hotter and… "Alright! I get the point! Trust the damn horse! The horse is wise!" Raven had pulled away and was now glaring daggers at Spider, "If I fall off, you are so fired."
Raven placed two hands on Spider's back and bent her knees. In one fluid movement, Raven found herself on Spider, "Well that was different." Spider then began to walk forward, "Oi! Quit it! Stop! Halt! Cease moving!" Raven entwined her fingers into Spider's mane but the intolerable horse refused to listen and carried on out of the stable, "Okay, now you're just doing it to spite me. I never agreed to moving." However, to her surprise, her boots seemed to make her legs grip onto Spider, and so the pair trotted off to the gates of Rivendell, although to be fair, Raven had no idea where they were going.
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The pair made it to the gates just in time to catch Elrond's farewell speech, "The Ringbearer is setting out on the Quest of Mount Doom. On you who travel with him no oath nor bond is laid, to go further than you will. Farewell. Hold to your purpose. May the blessings of Elves and Men and all free folk go with you." Elrond spread his arms and the Fellowship acknowledged him.
Gandalf then spoke up, "The Fellowship awaits the Ringbearer."
Seeing that they were about to leave, Raven made herself known, "Really? And there was me thinking you were waiting for me."
The looks on the faces of the 'wiser' members of the Fellowship and Elrond were priceless. Frodo on the other hand looked very pleased to see her, "Raven! Gandalf told me you had decided not to come. I am glad you are joining us."
"Did he?" Raven shot a very unladylike look at Gandalf, "There must have been a slight miscommunication along the line. Anyway, I think we should get going, don't you?"
Spider obediently walked forward and the rest of the Fellowship turned as Frodo began walking. She was stopped, however by Aragorn, "I told you, you are not coming, I cannot protect you."
Raven leaned sideways so that only Aragorn could hear her, "I'm coming whether you like it or not. I can protect myself far better than the Hobbits and you'll need all the help you can get. Besides, I've got a horse; you can hardly get rid of me." Smiling sweetly, Raven and Spider levelled with Sam and Bill; the Fellowship had departed.
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The Fellowship had been travelling all day, and now the sun was setting. Finally Gandalf called those wonderful words, "Alright, we'll set up camp for the night here."
Raven dismounted and left Spider with Bill, leaving threatening words of warning about waking her up in the middle of the night without reason; she had no doubt that horse was full of a hidden malice. Boromir lit a low fire because as they were in a small dip in the ground, it couldn't be seen. A small stew was cooked up by Aragorn which was shared around equally, although somehow Merry and Pippin still seemed to get a much larger portion; Sam was a bit more reserved and only ate a slightly larger portion. As the Fellowship began to settle down, Aragorn and Legolas took first watch. It was then that Raven realised that Frodo had only pretended to eat; a small bowl was hidden in a patch of weeds which she discovered as she was putting out the fire. Sighing, Raven filled a new bowl from the still warm pot and walked over to Frodo, who was sitting hunched up, wrapped in his cloak to the back of the group. Sitting down beside him, Raven handed Frodo the bowl, "You know, I can't protect you if you starve to death. Eat the stew, it's not that bad."
"Thank you for your concern, but I'm not hungry."
"Don't make me threaten you with force feeding…"
"Alright," Frodo smiled weakly and began to eat, "I'm just nervous. I get the feeling that I shouldn't be here."
"Don't let what they said at the Council sway you, you're meant for this."
A small sound came over to them and Spider's head appeared on the other side of Frodo. He smiled and leaned against the horse's neck, stroking her, "What's her name?"
"Spider, although you shouldn't encourage her, I know she's here just to annoy me."
"She's beautiful," said Frodo softly. He leaned more as he stared off into space.
Sensing Frodo's discontent, Raven continued, "I promise I won't desert you; as long as me and Spider are here, that Ring is gonna fry."
Frodo smiled, "Thank you for supporting me at the Council."
"You're welcome, but I've been meaning to ask you, why did you let me come along? I thought this whole place had a sexist vibe going on, but you weren't like them."
"I knew you would help me. This is going to sound mad, but when I was younger, I caught a very bad fever. It must have been about eighteen years ago now. While I was ill, I received the strangest dreams. One of these dreams contained a beautiful woman. She wore clothes a lot like the ones you did at the Council and told me something I have never understood until recently. She said that one day, I would be involved in a great task and that, when that day came, I must trust only a few people. One of the people she told me to trust was a girl who would bear a necklace exactly like the one you wear. She told me this girl would help me. When I recovered from the fever, I thought myself foolish, but as soon as I saw you, I knew that the girl she spoke of was you."
"I was born eighteen years ago. Obviously, Frodo Baggins, our fates have been decided for quite a while, even though both of us have only recently come into possession of the Ring and the necklace."
Spider snorted and looked pointedly at Raven; Frodo's eyes were drooping. "I would suggest, Frodo, that you get some sleep, we've been travelling all day."
Taking the empty bowl from the Hobbit, both she and Spider helped lie the now sleeping Frodo down and cover him up. Spider then returned to Bill while Raven moved to return the bowl to the fireside. She determinedly avoided looking at Gandalf; his habit of sleeping with his eyes open just freaked her out. As she stood, staring at the remaining fire embers, Aragorn approached her, "That was a good thing you just did for Frodo. He has been worrying since the Council and Sam has said he has not been eating much."
"Can you blame him? He didn't exactly get the warmest of receptions when he volunteered."
"I know. I apologise for my actions earlier, Raven. Perhaps you are more capable than I first thought."
Raven snorted, and then lowered her voice so as not to wake anybody, "Thanks, I guess. That's one more member of the Fellowship on my side; five out of nine isn't too bad I s'pose."
"Legolas and Gimli do not think ill of you and Gandalf will come around, I am sure; he is very wise. As to Boromir, I believe he is still holding a grudge from the Council, but I believe he too will warm to you in time." Aragorn turned and placed a hand on Raven's shoulder, "You are truly a member of the Fellowship now Raven. Now, I would advise you also to get some sleep, it would not do for you to fall asleep on that horse of yours tomorrow; I'm sure she would not appreciate it. You do not have watch tonight, so I bid you Goodnight."
"G'night Aragorn, though personally, I firmly believe that horse can get over it if I fall asleep, she won the last round and I am determined to win the next."
As he watched Raven settle down, Aragorn shook his head with a crooked smile and returned to his post; she was indeed a strange one.
To Be Continued…
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Author Notes: Please review people! You know you want to! Please! Just press the button below! I'm desperate here! I'd love it if it was one word long!
