Author's Note: After seeing The Return of the King I got a burst of inspiration to write on this story! Hopefully it will last more then one chapter, but hey, I have the soundtrack to the movie, so it's all good. Hope you all had a good Christmas, Hanukah, or whatever you celebrate! Here's my present to all of my fans, this chapter.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. I found out that Alagiaiel, Alagi's full name, does not mean anything that I know of in Elvish. I typed in angel in a random Elvish translator and it spat that back out at me. Of course, when I typed in angel a few days later, the name had change. But for the sake of the story, let's pretend that Alagiaiel means something, shall we?

Lady Fae : Thanks for updating! I really like this story! Hope you update soon!

hahazinsanity*: yay! an update! i've been waiting for a while! *wink* glad i was patient. hope to see the next one soon!

Thank you for your reviews! I hope to update more often, but I can't make any promises.

A Watcher: Fwe! Yay! You updated! ^_^ This story is really well written, and I love all the characterization on Alagi. It's good that she met Gandalf. Maybe he can help her regain her memory?

Thank you! I believe that characterization is extremely important to install first thing so that you get a feel for a character, so I'm glad to know that I have been doing a good job in developing Alagi's character so far. It makes the changes in that character's personality so much more interesting. As for Gandalf…well, read on.

saiyan-girl-cheetah: You're alive!! That's so great! I was thinking that it was a shame that this story died but now your back so it's great! I hope that what ever happened was settled for you
Well about the story... I wonder when Eressëa will tell Alagi about how it was he who shot the arrow? and what Elrond will say to her drawing... Questions questions.
Great to have you back!
Check ya later CAtz!

Eressëa does seem to be taking his time with that small detail. But of course, Alagi has almost forgotten the incident, so why bring it up? Elrond and the drawing, that will come later, so be patient. Thanks for the review!

Disclaimer: Gollum ate the disclaimer.

Chapter Seven: Sword

By Dameon

Gandalf was gone when I woke up the next morning. I did find Bilbo though, hobbling up from the main entrance. Arwen was right behind him.

"Alagi, good morning! I was just seeing Gandalf off," Bilbo greeted.

"Is it that early?" I yawned. "Still looks pretty dark out to me."

"That is because the storm is still hanging over us," Arwen replied. She smiled at me, and I smiled back.

"Where's Aragorn?" I asked as the three of us made our way to the dining hall.

"He left late last night," Arwen said, giving me a sad smile.

"Oh," was all I managed to say.

"Did you finish your drawing?" Bilbo asked me.

"Yup, just need to finish some smaller details," I shrugged. "Get a lot done on your book?"

"Yes, yes, but there is always so much more that needs to be written!" Bilbo sighed. He brightened up immediately though. "What are your plans for today Alagi?"

I shrugged. "Don't know."

Arwen came into the conversation at this point. "Alagi, how would you like to learn how to speak the Elvish language?"

"Really?" I asked, excited at the thought of learning to speak to Eressëa and Glorfindel in their language. "That would be sweet!"

Arwen looked slightly puzzled, and I explained the use of 'sweet' to her. "It means that would be fun, or good."

"I am glad you find it pleasing," Arwen smiled. "We can start after breakfast."

Breakfast consisted of fruit, cheese, and bread, with water or spiced wine. Though I don't like spiced wine as well as most people, I sipped a little of it because it does help wake you up. After a leisurely breakfast, I followed Arwen to the library, where we took an almost unoccupied corner, armed with quills, paper, a few books, and some candles.

We started with the basics, writing the alphabet. That was easy until I had to do it by memory. Luckily, Arwen was patient, and she helped me when I got stuck. After I could write a few of the letters memorized, we started on pronunciation.

The alphabet was easy, but when Arwen started me on some words, it only took five minutes before we had our section of the library empty. It was utterly humiliating, but Arwen didn't comment, though I did notice her flinch once at a particularly bad pronunciation of 'Amin aaye tuulo', 'I hail from'.

By lunch, I was over the embarrassment and was actually quite pleased with the progress I had made.

"We will work every day from breakfast to lunch," Arwen said. "You did well Alagi. I think you will be quite good at learning the language after today."

I went to see Elrond after lunch, who told me news that I was quite pleased about. "Alagi, next week we will see if your wing will allow you to fly."

I must have had a gigantic smile plastered on my face because Elrond smiled at the sight of me. He turned quite serious though.

"Alagi, I have arraigned for you to start sword lessons with Megiltura, starting late this afternoon," Elrond told me, his face quite serious as if this was incredibly important.

"Any reason for the sword lessons?" I ventured asking.

Elrond, who had turned to put some medicines away, paused, then turned to me and with a face of only seriousness, said, "For self defense."

I didn't dare ask any more questions after that look, and I left quietly. I had enough time to put a few of the finishing touches on my drawing before I went off to the weaponry. The weaponry was located by the furnace, where swords are mended and made. The furnace, one of many, nearest to the weaponry was to the right of a small, shallow cave that had been specially made with a door and shelves for the weapons. I could see sunlight in the cave and figured that there must be a window inside that I just couldn't see at the moment. The walk down the steep path was perilous for someone as clumsy as me, and I remember almost tripping but catching myself on an overhanging branch from a nearby tree.

There were only two elves at the weaponry, one somewhat shorter and with his or her hair in a bun. The one with his or her hair tied up was dressed in dark gray clothing with lines of lighter gray running through the clothes, giving the effect that the clothing was criss-crossed in gray. On the left shoulder a sword was embroidered in white with a ring of bark and leaves circling around it.

"The sword has been repaired and is awaiting your inspection Megiltura," the taller elf reported.

The shorter elf, Megiltura, nodded. "Thank you. I shall inspect it later this evening. At the moment, I must fulfill a task given to me."

The other elf nodded and left silently, not even crunching the gravel beneath his or her feet. Megiltura did not look over at me, but instead turned to the cave and disappeared inside.

Not knowing what to do, I stood where I was until the elf called to me from inside the cave, "If you do not come in, Alagiaiel, I will not be able to fit you with a sword and today's lesson will accomplish nothing."

I smiled and reddened at the remark, and stepped into the cool cave. A hole on the far side of the cave let in light, the strong wooden shutters to the small window swung out to their fullest. Swords glittered on the wall, sunlight glinting off the runes carved into the blades. Each sword was strapped into place from wooden beams running across the longest side of the cave.

Megiltura did not look up as I came in but continued to examine swords strapped into their holders. He took one sword off and held it out from himself, then put it back onto the wall. For the first time, Megiltura turned and looked at me.

"'Quel re*, Alagiaiel. You may call me by my title, Megiltura." I nodded confirmation and he continued, never smiling. "I have been instructed to teach you how to fight with a blade, and I intend to do that. You must be willing to work hard and remember what I teach you as I have a limited amount of time to teach you to be proficient with a sword."

I didn't know what to say, but as there was a silence, I felt the need to say something. "I will try hard, Megiltura. Thank you for teaching my to fight."

The Swordmaster had turned back to the wall of blades, but he gave me a quick look after I finished speaking. "To fight, no. First you must learn how to defend." He took down a sword, looked at me, then held out the sword from himself, testing something.

I couldn't help but ask, "Can I ask why you do that?" At a look saying, 'what?' from the Swordmaster, I elaborated, "I mean, when you hold the sword out from you, why do you do that?"

"I am testing the balance of the blade," Megiltura explained.

Megiltura had a much different voice compared to other elves, such as Lindir and Glorfindel. His voice was much sterner and much faster. When Glorfindel talked, his voice was slower and told you how patient he was. When Megiltura talked, his voice was faster and had a sterner edge to it.

After a few minutes of my elvish mentor examining swords, he took a long, curved blade off the shelf had held the handle out to me.

"Hold this sword out from your body," Megiltura instructed me.

I grasped the brown and tan handle and dropped the tip of the sword to the floor because of its weight. Megiltura took the blade sword away before I did anything else.

"To heavy," the Swordmaster commented as he put the sword away with amazing speed and care. He pulled a short, curved, almost dagger length sword with a plain black handle from the wall and gave it to me.

The short sword was about as long as my forearm, from my elbow to the bottom of my palm. This sword I did not drop, but when Megiltura had me slash the air with it, he took it away as well. "A longer blade will counter balance your wings better and a give you a more powerful swing," Megiltura stated.

He did not put the short sword away thought, but instead set it on the rock counter where sheaths and other accessories were carefully placed. The third sword he pulled out was the most beautiful of the three. It was about two finger length longer then the second and had deep, red wine colored leather wrapped on the handle. The blade of the sword was in an almost hourglass shape, the top having a slight bulge, narrowing, then curving out to meet the handle. The runes upon the blade outlined the edges of the blade, never losing the uniformity of the letter rune size.

Silently, Megiltura held the beautiful sword out to me, and I hesitated. The Swordmaster noticed, and asked, "Why do you hesitate?"

"It is so beautiful, it doesn't seem right for me to hold," I confessed.

"This is an old sword of a high elven lord, who outgrew it," Megiltura told me. He gestured to the short sword. "That is the blade of a deceased nikerym, captain, of Rivendell. Each blade has a story to tell, and each has a name."

Megiltura took back the red handled sword and ran one of his bare hands over the runes. "This sword was nothing but a practice sword, made to fit the owner's requests of an hourglass shape, red handle, and the runes outlining the blade shape." The Swordmaster grew silent for a moment, then silently held the handle of that magnificent sword out to me.

I took the handle and lifted the sword, having no trouble at all. Upon Megiltura's command, I swung the sword and found that the sword moved fluidly and exactly where I swung it. Granted my swings weren't very good because of my clumsiness and due to the fact that I had never swung or used a sword before.

"Quen, good," Megiltura nodded as he watched me. "Stop. You shall use that sword for practice."

"So, I won't be keeping this sword?" I asked, somewhat disappointed. It truly was a beautiful sword.

"You must earn a sword," Megiltura said sternly, giving me a hard gaze. "It will take much work to earn a sword of your own."

"Then I will try," I replied, my grip on the sword tightening.

Megiltura looked me in the eyes for a minute, then nodded. "You will try, and I will try to teach you as best as I can." He moved to me and took the sword away. "You will get no where with a sword if you cannot hold it correctly. Now, you are dominant with your right hand, correct? The your sword will go in you right hand in this grip…"

Later that evening, after the sun had started to sink, I left the weaponry with orders to remember what I had learned and to return tomorrow at the same time. My right arm hurt from the hours of holding the sword. But after all the practice in holding the sword correctly and some basic drills in swinging the sword, I started to feel excited and was looking forward to learning to use that beautiful red handled sword.

*good day