Author's Note: crickets chirp as author hides in hole Well, what can I say except I'm sorry? Now that summer is here, I'm working my behind off to see if I can't finish this before my inspiration runs out! I'd normally comment on you (the reader's) comments but all I can say about updating is…I'M SORRY! For your enjoyment, a twelve page chapter!

Disclaimer: Saruman scratched up the disclaimer with his nails.

Chapter Eleven: Journey

By Dameon

It took a day or two before I could get my shoulder and chest muscles to stop throbbing in pain, but after that, flying came to me naturally, like it was something I had done forever and a day.

My shoulders hurt to the point that sometimes I wished I didn't have wings, but these feelings never lasted very long. Everything changed after I gained my ability to fly. In sword lessons, my wings now folded tightly against my back when I wished them to, and my balance improved and so did my agility.

I once scared Glorfindel pretty bad, about two weeks after my first fling attempt. Strategically waiting for the High Elf to walk down the hall to dinner, I pretended to lose my footing and fall off the edge of the hall way, which was a good fifty feet from the ground.

Unknown to poor Glorfindel, I unfurled my wings and flew under the hall way arch to the other side, waiting for my cue. Meanwhile, I heard a loud yell of "ALAGI!" from Glorfindel as he rushed to the side, and I flew up behind him on the other side.

"Yeah?" I asked innocently.

Glorfindel jumped at least a foot into the air, as pale as an Elf could go, eyes wide with worry. Needless to say, he was not as amused as I was.

"ALAGI! Never, NEVER, do that again! You could have misguessed the distance!"

I walked away from that incident determined to never do that again to Glorfindel, if only for the sake of my poor ringing ears. Glorfindel wasn't the last person I did that trick to, and more elves laughed at it after the initial shock. Eventually word spread around and I couldn't perform my stunt anymore.

My sword play got better, as Megiltura grudgingly commented. Once my wings could be free and move at will, they actually helped me gain a sense of balance and I found that I could perform the darting and sliding footwork better and faster with help from my wings.

It took me three weeks before I could fly without tiring after ten minutes and I soared above even the oldest trees. The days started to get more interesting as I found enjoyment in flying. It didn't take long for my strength to come back as I flew more.

I loved to fly along the Bruinen River, especially just as the sun was setting or rising. The sight was a multitude of sparkles off the small waves in the Bruinen, a sight that Eressëa claimed was spoken of often in Rivendell poetry.

As much as I loved Rivendell, I started to find myself bored. Nature is an awesome thing, but I'm a firm believer in the theory that there can be such thing as to much nature. Elves are very nice, but they don't like to play outside or play games. They were too dignified. I didn't tell anyone about my boredom, but everyday started to drag on and I found myself with nothing to do for hours on end.

My life changed forever about the fifth week after my first flying attempt. As I landed neatly in the courtyard, I found Elrond, Elrohir, Elladan, Arwen, and Glorfindel standing loosely together.

"Alagi, do you recall your desire to repay the elves here for healing your wing and arm?" Elrond asked bluntly.

"Yeah, anything," I said, somewhat struck by his straightforwardness.

"If I asked you were asked to perform a potentially dangerous task, would you still be willing to help?" Glorfindel asked.

I couldn't think of what would be dangerous about any of the tasks the elves would ask of me, so I shrugged, smiled, and said, "Yes, I'd still be willing to help. Why do ya ask?"

My answer was obviously what they wanted to hear, as Elrohir and Elladan glanced at each other and grinned. Elladan was the one who spoke. "Ready to take a trip, Alagi?"

Elrond led the group to a group of benches and discussed what he wanted me to do. "Alagi, there are three Elven cities: Rivendell, Mirkwood, and Lothlorien. Despite the great endurance of Elves, messages between the three cities have always taken days. Now that the world is changing, the need for delivering messages in a faster manner will be crucial."

"Horses can only go so fast before they tire," Arwen added.

Elladan and Elrohir nodded as Elrond continued. "Your wings enable you to propel yourself through the air. As you are smaller than a horse and rider, I am guessing that you can go faster. What I ask of you is to deliver messages between the three Elven cities, and potentially any other cities."

I shifted as a thought occurred. "But-"

"Of course, there will be the uncalculated risks," Glorfindel interrupted. "Winds shift, bad weather, potentially even Mordor servants."

"But-"

"Mordor has few enemies in the sky, and Alagi is bigger than the few birds Sauron has for his eyes and ears," Arwen said, more to Glorfindel than me.

"But I don't know how to get to any of these places!" I said before Glorfindel could speak. "This sounds exciting, I'll gladly help, but I need to know where I'm going before I can go anywhere!"

"That's where we come in," Elrohir grinned.

"Elrohir and I will be accompanying you to Mirkwood," Elladan said. "We'll take you by horseback, and from there, you can practice getting home."

"You won't be coming back to Rivendell?" I asked.

The twins glanced at each other, then Elrohir answered. "I'm afraid not."

"If you listen to Elrohir and Elladan, you will be more than capable to return to Rivendell on your own," Elrond intervened. "The journey is longer than the short flights you have taken, but this will significantly help you regain strength."

I bit my lip and thought for a moment. "Great."

"If you are uncomfortable doing this, then we wish you not to," Arwen said softly.

"It's not that," I shook my head. "I'm just wondering how I'll stay on a horse with these large wings!" The elves laughed, and I smiled, excited about finally going to see the places I had only been told about.

"We leave in two days!" Elladan smiled.

When I reported to Megiltura that afternoon, his brow was creased and a frown was plastered on his face as he put wood into the fire. "I see the urgency behind the action, but you are not ready."

The remark bristled me inside, but I hid it and asked, "Ready for what?"

Megiltura was quiet, only answering after he loudly shut the metal doors to the fire and turned to me. "You are venturing to the wood king's realm. The forest of Mirkwood is a dangerous place, young Alagi, filled with numerous traps for the naïve and foolhardy. Your sword skills have improved, but not nearly enough to face some of the dangers of Mirkwood."

I didn't know what to say, so I half shrugged and waited for Megiltura to finish. He stared at me, but shook his head to himself and told me to get my sword. The lesson was harder and went much faster to. As I walked away, I wasn't sure if I could remember everything he had said.

"Do not come tomorrow, but report to me the morning you leave," Megiltura ordered, before turning and disappearing into his shed.

I walked up to the main halls slowly, my arms starting to go hurt from straining to block and parry correctly. I couldn't help but wonder if Megiltura though I was naïve and foolhardy.

I know very little about where I'm going, so I guess I'm naïve. But I don't think I'm foolhardy. I wouldn't do anything knowingly that was stupid.

I met Arwen in the halls, and she took me to get measured for riding clothes. I didn't see the need for more clothing, but when I tried to argue, Arwen shook her head. "These are for protection against the cold."

"But I don't get as cold as normal people!" I protested.

"Don't worry, Alagi," Arwen said, and that was the end of it. I was shooed out of the dressmaking room and I tried once again to get to my room.

Glorfindel intercepted me to take me to the library and there I received the whole history of the Mirkwood Elven kingdom, much of which I promptly forgot. After two hours of that, I finally got to my room. A breeze had blown through, sending my drawings into every corner of the room.

As I picked up the papers, the one of the man with blue hair and three metal claws coming from each hand stopped me. Somehow his face seemed so familiar. I couldn't place where he was familiar from, but it was like I could almost hear him saying, "Tough luck." It was like I could almost hear an actual voice in my head!

I shook my head and put the rest of the papers aside. Sitting on my bed, I put the paper in front of me and stared at it. My mind started to drift, thinking about what could be so dangerous in Mirkwood forest when a memory I didn't know I had came back to me.

Flashback

"Well, ain't that some tough luck," the blue haired man said, sipping something from a mug. "Looks like there won't be any outdoor picnic today 'Ro."

A beautiful, dark skinned woman with long white hair glanced at me. "You can stop making those sandwiches." She turned back to the blue haired man. "I thought as much, Logan. I don't want to tamper with this particular storm cell, seeing as how we could use some rain."

Logan nodded. "Sounds fine Ororo. You know more 'bout it than me."

End Flashback

I came back to reality much faster this time, and smiling. This man had a name! So did that woman! I frantically scribbled down what I could remember of the woman and then added the name Logan to the blue-haired man's picture.

But what were his claws for? Was he a mutant like me? And what did Ororo mean when she said she didn't want to tamper with that storm? No one can control the weather. I glanced outside and guessed that it was almost dinner time, so I casually made my way there via flying.

Lanner was the only one of the three at dinner that day. As I slid into the open seat next to him, I asked, "Do Voronwer and Eressëa have guard duty tonight?"

"Yes, late duty at that," Lanner nodded.

"What about you?"

Lanner grinned. "Luck stopped by for a visit. So, Eressëa says you like the Bruinen."

"Yeah, it's pretty," I nodded. "Could you pass that, uh…whatever it is?"

"The stew?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Did Eressëa tell you about the Bruinen?" Lanner went on.

"Yeah, he said that it is written about in Elvish poetry, here at Rivendell."

"Not just that, it also has the power to flood when something evil attempts to cross it."

I looked over at Lanner. "The river floods by itself?"

"Well, Lord Elrond or one of the high Elven lords has to tell it to, but yes, it will," Lanner assured.

"Tell the river to flood?" I was confused. "You can't control nature!"

"Most can't, some can," Lanner said, his eyes sparkling at my confusion.

The next day was much longer than the previous one. I went to visit Bilbo and I found him in the garden, writing of course. He smiled when I sat down next to him and he politely closed his book.

"I'm leaving for Mirkwood tomorrow!" I smiled. "Can you believe it?"

"I wondered if Elrond would go through with his plan," Bilbo said.

"His plan?"

"When he originally took you in, he wondered if you were originally a messenger," Bilbo explained. "If so, he was hoping that you would be willing to carry messages for him."

"I don't know if I was ever a messenger," I shrugged. "It's just, I'm finally going to get out and see something new besides Rivendell!"

Bilbo smiled. "The joys of adventuring. You'll be going with someone, right?"

"Elladan and Elrohir," I nodded.

Bilbo sighed softly. "Good. I remember my travels through Mirkwood, when the Elves weren't as friendly."

I didn't have anything to say to that, so I asked, "Any tips for going into Mirkwood?"

"Don't sleep alone in the forest," Bilbo said gravely.

With that chilling piece of advice, I said my good byes and left, a chill still running up my spine. Elladan caught up with me as I left Megiltura and ushered me away without letting me change my clothes.

Elrohir was waiting for us at the Rivendell stables, holding the reins to three horses. Two horses were white and identical down to the cream colored manes. The third horse was brown with black feet and a white stripe down the nose. Only the brown horse had a saddle.

"Ready for some horseback riding?" Elrohir grinned.

I'm sure those horseback riding lessons are still an object of humor to all of Rivendell. The horse didn't spook until I was two feet away, then the horse reared and Elrohir had to hang on to the reins and quiet the horse before I could approach it again.

"Don't worry, Brownleaf is a wonderful horse," Elrohir apologized.

After the horse got used to me, Elladan helped me up. My wings bothered me so I made the mistake of shifting them, which meant spreading them out slightly. The horse freaked, bucked, and naturally I was left back on the ground on my butt.

I had to wait for Elladan and Elrohir to stop laughing before I could try again. Eventually I found a happy median with the horse, and the wings were no longer a trouble for the moment. When the horse started walking, both of us were uncomfortable, and when Elladan wanted me to try to get the horse to jog, I just stared at him blankly.

"Just squeeze your legs. Harder, harder-"

The horse bolted.

"NOT THAT HARD!"

As if being bucked off wasn't bad, when the horse went running, I became off balance. Instinct made me try to balance with my wings again, but the horse was running so fast that my wings billowed out. I felt myself falling out of the saddle as my wings caught air and the next thing I knew, I was viewing the world upside down, my right boot caught in the stirrup. My wings constricted against my back and I saw stars as my head hit the ground before the horse stopped.

I saw Elladan and Elrohir staring down at me a moment later, concerned looks on their faces. The helped me out of the mess and onto my feet, watching my movements attentively.

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Really!" I protested as Elladan insisted on me sitting for a few minutes.

"That was a rather...impressive fall," Elrohir said, not quite managing to keep a straight face.

"Yeah, it hurt," I muttered as Elladan started snickering. The two Elves were soon laughing their heads off, and I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, laugh at the hurt one." This caused their laughter to dim slightly, and feeling guilty, I cried indignantly, "I'm just giving you a hard time!"

This prompted two identical grins from the twins and we resumed the lessons. By twilight I was riding Brownleaf satisfactorily enough for the two Elves, and we went in for dinner. Instead of sitting at the lower end of the table, with the guards and servants not on duty, Elladan steered me to the upper end, where I sat next to Elrohir and Lindir, the latter having brought a map to the table.

"Now, remember to address King Thranduil as 'your majesty' or 'your highness'," Lindir reminded me.

I nodded, getting tired of hearing about being on my best behavior and using my best manners. Arwen noticed as she said something in Elvish and a quick conversation in Elvish stopped the talking.

Dinner ended with little for me to talk about, as most of the conversation was in Elvish and seemed to be about a humorous event as everyone kept laughing. Walking back to my room, I was wondering exactly what Mirkwood looked like when it hit me. I can't describe it exactly, and I don't know what 'it' was, but suddenly, there seemed to be some pressure in my head, and it felt as if something was trying to get into my brain. I swiveled around but no one was behind me. Fear stirred in my heart as I looked around to find a lack of anyone or anything near me.

Then 'it' stopped and I was left alone with my beating heart and a slight ringing in my ears. Holy crap what was that? Another look around confirmed that the hall was still deserted of life. It was like, like, water was trying to get into my head, except there wasn't any water OR even anything or any person around me.

I decided to blame the incident on blood rushing to my head, but since the lie didn't even sit well with me I decided Elrond didn't need to know what happened. Actually, no one needed to know, because I still wanted to go to Mirkwood, and I didn't want anyone thinking I was to weak to go.

The next morning we set out. It was nearing the end of fall, and as the days started to get colder, the morning moisture started to freeze. Like most every morning for the past week, there was a heavy fog on the ground, thick enough to where I stuck my hand in on experimentation and found that I could barely see its outline.

I had to run to see Megiltura, having almost forgotten about seeing him until Arwen asked if I had. I found the sword master staring pensively into the fog, and seeing the look of intense concentration on his face, I let him finish his thought.

With a blink, Megiltura looked up and nodded his head in the only greeting I would get from him. He disappeared into the shed and came out with the practice sword in a bundle. "Bind it to your saddle tightly."

This instruction confused me. "Shouldn't I put it on my waist?"

I evidently said the wrong thing, as Megiltura's steel grey eyes narrowed. "I have told you what to do. Now will you follow my instructions or not?"

There was silence as I met his gaze, before I dropped my eyes to the ground. "I will follow your instructions." I left Megiltura with a sour taste in my mouth and stomach.

Only Elrond, Arwen, and Glorfindel were there to see us off, the rest of the house being asleep or having already said their goodbyes.

"Be safe, and travel well," Glorfindel gave us a solemn nod.

Arwen hugged each of us, lingering on the twins as they whispered something to her. She nodded, gave them each a kiss on the cheek, and stepped back as Elrond came forward. The Elven lord spoke with the twins in Elvish and much to my surprise, because I rarely saw Elrond touch people unnecessarily, gave them both a hug.

Elrond turned to me and with his mouth in a straight line, said, "Mind what Elrohir and Elladan say, Alagi. And memorize the way carefully. You will need that knowledge in the future."

The disquieting somberness of the situation made me uneasy to say anything except, "Yes, Master Elrond."

Elrond stepped back. "May you be protected."

With that, we were off! Elrohir and Elladan didn't say anything for a long time, giving me a chance to study the changing landscape. We left Rivendell's waterfalls, trees, and greenery into forest land. Ahead of us, the mountains loomed ominously, but glancing at Elladan and Elrohir, horses side-by-side in front of me, I didn't feel any fear at all.

By midday were deep in the woods. Trees spread their leafy, antique branches over us, some leaves already having completed their color transformation and some still somewhat green. Looking over head, the sight of a patchwork of green and gold was both beautiful and fascination. Sounds of song burst in spots regularly overhead, and if I was fast enough, I could catch a flutter of brown and black among the branches.

Elladan decided to stop when we reached a small stream. I followed his example and filled my water bottle as he took out a map and glanced at it briefly. Elrohir went over, pointed, then the two nodded and rolled up the map.

"Let's eat something," Elladan announced, more for my benefit, and I gratefully pulled a piece of cheese out of my saddle bag.

We ate in silence, and though I longed to talk, Elladan kept unrolling the map and looking at it, biting his lower lip. It was twilight by the time we had started up the mountain trail, and as there was a full moon rising, Elladan, the leader of the group, decided to keep going. The horses didn't seem to mind, though after the first stumble of my horse, we got off and led them.

By the time the moon had reached its highest point, I was rubbing my eyes in effort to keep awake. Misplacing a step, I almost tripped, sending a small shower of pebbles back down the trail, which had started to get steeper.

"Alagi?" Elrohir's voice startled me from the lack of human created noise all day. The Elf pulled back his hood as he turned around, and it was eerie to see the Elf's normally light tan skin shining a ghostly, silvery white. "Alagi, are you ok?"

Stifling a yawn, I nodded and managed to croak a, "Yeah, I'm ok." Secretely, I was wondering if we were going to sleep anytime tonight.

"We'll stop for rest when the moon starts to set," Elrohir said quietly. "Will you last that long?"

Not wanting to disappoint, I nodded, and waited a moment after Elrohir had turned around before yawning and stretching my arms, hoping the brief respite would convince me to stay awake.

"Elrohir, these are the Misty Mountains, right?" I asked a few minutes later, a part of Bilbo's stories coming back to my mind.

"Yes," Elrohir called back. "Alagi, we must proceed silently for awhile longer."

"Sorry," I half-whispered back. Brownleaf let out a snort as I accidentally jerked too hard on her reins, and I stroked her muzzle in apology.

Bilbo was attacked by goblins in these mountains. I thought that they would be long gone though, destroyed in the big war. Yet if they're still around, wouldn't we be invading their territory? But you can't own a whole mountain range…no, Elladan and Elrohir know what they're doing.

I didn't want to think anymore about goblins, especially as I felt goose bumps appear all over my body from remembering Bilbo's stories. Urging Brownleaf along, I scooted up closer to Elrohir and walked nearer to the tall brown mare.

By the time the moon was setting, I was barely able to think of anything except walking forward. The trail had grown almost to steep for horses, but Elladan and Elrohir seemed to have traveled this trail before, as they knew the right shortcuts and side paths that allowed the horses to proceed safely.

Almost running into Elrohir, Elladan came around with his horse in tow. "We will stop here. The moon is setting and there is still an hour or two before morning."

Elrohir and I nodded then helped get the horses tied and their leads staked into the path. Fumbling to tie the knot into the stake as Elrohir started a fire, Elladan appeared behind me, silent as a shadow, and helped.

"You've done well, Alagi," Elladan said quietly, handing me a cloak from a saddlebag. "Sleep now. We'll wake you when it is time to go."

"Thanks Elladan," I nodded, blinking my eyes quickly to stay awake. I settled near the fire, where Elrohir and Elladan were munching on some bread and whispering in Elvish. Settling gratefully against the rocks, I closed my eyes…

I was sitting on a large boulder, wiping away sweat as I looked back down the steep trail. It was sunny outside and I was with a large group of people. "Why do we have to climb?"

An older man in his late twenties a little farther ahead of me turned and laughed. "Self-discipline!"

I groaned. "You're starting to sound like Wolverine, Bobby!"

"Not quite," Bobby shook his head. "Wolverine would say: 'Treat it like it was a real situation, kid. Ya gotta' be able to survive no matter the terrain!'"

I was laughing before Bobby had finished. His expression had looked and sounded exactly like Logan! Bobby joined in my laughter and gave me hand up.

"Come on, we're almost at the top!" Bobby smiled at me. "Besides, we got to show old SLOWPOKE Rhaine that we can beat her up this mountain!"

"I heard that Bobby!" someone farther down the trail yelled.

"Then stop flirting with Sam and get your rear in gear!" Bobby shouted back, more flirtatious than actually challenging.

I felt a pressure outside of my mind again, and this time the thing seemed to invade halfway into my brain. I thought I heard someone saying something that sounded like 'Angel', but I struggled to pull away from the presence and-

I woke up with a jump to realize that it was light outside. The sun wasn't halfway yet and the fire had been put up. Rubbing sleep out of my eyes, I looked over at Elladan and Elrohir. Both were awake and standing near the horses, talking in English about a river of some kind…

Standing, I grimaced as I found out exactly what five plus hours in a saddle did to you. Fixing the cloak over my wings, I walked towards the twins unsteadily, trying to appear pose and not in pain.

My act didn't work, as Elladan wasn't fast enough to conceal his grin as I came over. "Good morning Alagi! Sleep well?"

I nodded, catching Elrohir's attempt to hide his grin as well. "Yes, thank you. But I'm kind of sore…" The twins looked at each other and tried to hide grins. I rolled my eyes. "All right, all right! I haven't ridden horses as often as you, ok?"

Getting some food out of my saddle bag, I turned back to the twins. "Where will we end up today?"

Partly to my surprise, Elladan showed my on the map. "We will finish taking the High Pass out of the mountains and over the Old Ford. We will then travel along the Langflood River where the Rhimdoth joins. Then, we will take this Elven road to the Enchanted River. We'll follow the Enchanted River up to the Forest River, cross at the Forest River, and proceed to Thranduil's Halls."

I nodded, and squinted to see the tiny words on the map. "Gotcha." We still had a ways to go.