Chapter 3: Beginning
The morning mist had already burned off, making for a light-hearted start to their journey. Luna and Legolas rode side by side, talking, laughing, and playing. They meandered eastward on the Road of Mirkwood, pausing occasionally to stretch cramped legs or eat a small meal. The sun was low on the western horizon when they arrived on the foothills of the Misty Mountains.
"See that?" Legolas pointed to some lights in a valley. "That's Rivendell. I wonder why all of the lights are on, because they usually aren't on at night except for a celebration..."
Luna snickered. "Scaring you must have addled you wits! Four months ago tonight was Aragorn and Arwen's wedding."
Legolas had a horrified look on his face, then smoothed it out in a smile.
"You forgot, didn't you," said Luna. "So you don't have a four-month gift. No matter, I can make one."
Luna started to pick grass and flowers, then started weaving them together. In a few minutes, she had a small piece of tightly woven cloth.
"My mother taught me this while she drilled the month-gift into my head. 'Four-month gift is a handmade blanket large enough for the husband and wife to sleep under.'"
All the while, she was plucking flowers and grass and weaving them together. "By the way," she started, "How tall are they?"
"Hmm. Aragorn is somewhat taller than I am, and I believe that Arwen is a handspan or so shorter than I."
Luna knelt down beside him. She started putting her hands out, one on top of the other.
"What are you doing?" Legolas asked.
"Measuring you. I need to know how tall you are to find how tall they are!" She had reached his stomach. "21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26..." she counted. "27!"
Legolas put his own hand over hers. "And a half," he added.
Luna nodded. "And a half. So Arwen is 26 and a half handspans tall, and Aragorn is about… Thirty handspans tall. Right?"
Legolas nodded. "Yes, that sounds about right."
Luna had gone back to making the blanket, muttering various measurements and occasionally taking measurements from Legolas. By late afternoon, she had finished a large portion of the blanket. She stretched and looked up. "Anything to eat?" she asked.
Legolas dug through the saddlebags. He held up some leaf-wrapped packages. "Only lembas and water."
"Didn't you pack more food than that?"
"Not in your haste to leave!"
"Maybe we can get more real food in Rivendell, but I guess this'll do for tonight We'll get there tomorrow, right?"
"Sometime around midday, I'm guessing."
Luna unwrapped one of the lembas packages and bit into it. "I like this, but if I ate it from home to Rivendell to the Shire to home, I would be heartily sick of it if we didn't acquire more food."
"That and we'd be out of food," Legolas added.
"And didn't you do that when you traveled with Aragorn, and Gimli?"
"Yes, I suppose I did… Though by then, we had almost run out of lembas, as well."
Luna had broken her piece in half and handed half to him. He nodded his thanks and ate it. He dug through the saddlebags once again, this time looking for his bedroll. He held up a blanket. "Is this yours or mine?" he asked.
Luna was also digging through the other saddlebags. "I don't know. I can't find mine. That one's probably yours. I don't think I'll need a bedroll tonight, anyway." In the fading light, Luna saw Legolas open his mouth as if to protest her decision. "If you really want me to sleep on a bedroll tonight, then we'll share yours. No, don't give it to me! We'll share."
Luna set the saddlebags aside and began to clear out a place for a fire.
"Luna?" Legolas asked. "What happened to your father?"
"I never really knew him. Only what my mother told me."
"Will you tell me?"
"I guess so. If you really want to know…"