Looks in at fanfic and tries to run off, only to be pushed back in Eh… hello. Been a while hm? nervous laughter I'm really sorry, truly I am. I thought that school would have slowed down there at the end, but I think it only got worse. There was homework and crap pretty much up till last Friday when we had our first final. Then I had to study and all that crap… you understand right? But to try and make it up, I worked on this huge chapter like all week. After studying for finals of course. I just got out of school Wednesday! But now that I'm free and because they story is getting fun to write again, expect more timely updates. Okay? Forgive me? I've been up till like 2 in the morning the last couple nights working on it! puppy eyes… and hey, I'm the FROTU, come on

Okay, reviews, you spiffy people you. May you never be attacked by camel spiders.

Carmen: Ah… weeeell, actually not much happens around the water. Other stuff happens though. Heh.

AAAClub: Please don't send your mini Balrog on me. That I should think would impair my ability to write the fanfic and that would make it take a long time to update. I am sorry this took so long though.

AzureDragoness: Ugh… I would have told her to shove the poetry, but that might not be good for my grade would it? I mean, the thing wasn't that bad… okay it was… but I handled it. I got to be spiffy and write a poem about Thu though snickers insanely in a corner and then comes back completely composed That's interesting about your spatula. I still think my scoop could take you on though! Actually I have no idea how you would have a fight with a spatula and ice cream scoop.

Ruler-of-Da-World: Well Sauron's like always up to something, so what's new? Monty Python rocks! We got to watch a bit of it after our Latin final. Heavens I was glad for that… I mean, it was followed by two hours of ALGEBRA TWO!! DUN DUN DUN!! That was ugly.

Oompa Loompa blah blah…: You are full of bakunka. Bloo!

Feagliniel: The irony of a skunk being called flower. And you know, love is what the world needs now. realizes that that caffeine is finally kicking in Mueheh. Dark corners are very nice, but dangerous you know. Oh, and you'll get to see all of Sauron's people skills here. Muah. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the chapter and the actually semi-serious scene that occurs, this is not a gut laughing chapter. …I used to destroy crayons. Does that make me a bad person?

Black Thundr44: Oh yeah, subtle as it comes. …Or maybe he just doesn't give a crap around Haldir if he's being subtle or not…?

Pherhyandoiel: Glad you enjoyed. I hope you enjoy this one too.

XNemesis: Yup yup Osse! Happy dances are nice. Gets the blood flowing and all that. …ONE BLEEDING COMMA? Come on now! If you haven't realized it by now, I write these chapters in the wee hours, normally when my rational brain has shut down and left only the voices who also double as muses. However these voices know nothing about proper syntax or punctuation. Therefore I wouldn't be surprised that when I look at this chapter tomorrow that I'll find numerous mistakes. But I'm past caring really. MUAHAHA! So, yeah.

Kit Cloudkicker: Oh they do, don't they?

Ahhhhhhh… yeah. I had something I was going to say but I don't know now. …This chapter is like 25 pages long. So be happy and stuff. Sorry if it isn't a hoot, but it is supposed to be sorta bringing around a lot of the plot things for later, so it couldn't be helped. There you have it!

:::::

Haldir was up before Sauron the next morning. Not that it had really been anything of a choice; Haldir hadn't slept at all the night before.

After having dozed off lightly a couple of times, he finally had just given up somewhere in the very early morning. Staring at the ceiling had not been amusing in any sort of way, so he figured that he could at least try to do something productive.

Thus he had dragged his sorry, not to mention very tired, behind out of bed and got changed quickly before trudging downstairs.

And there he had been for the last few hours.

Finally however he heard feet upon the stairs and picked his head up off the table. A moment later Sauron appeared around the corner, coming into the kitchen with an expression amazingly scowl-less. That was until he noticed that Haldir was there and his face instantly dropped into its usual appearance. "What are you doing down here already?" he asked. "I'm always the first one up."

"I couldn't sleep," Haldir drawled out.

Sauron raised a brow. "And in saying that you couldn't sleep, does this mean that you just couldn't fall back to sleep and so got up or that you didn't go to sleep at all?"

"None. At all."

"Well, that would explain why you look like the living-dead," Sauron reasoned.

Haldir groaned. "Is it really that bad?"

Sauron considered him for a moment. "No, not really. But it does look like you didn't sleep at all."

"Ugh," Haldir mumbled, pulling his hands down his face. "I'm not fit to see a maia today."

At this Sauron frowned even more, taking on a very indignant stance. "And just what am I then, hm?"

Haldir looked up at him sleepily and shrugged. "You don't count."

"I do too count! You didn't even see the ocean until we were sailing from Mandos to here, so why would Osse matter to you at all?"

"How do you know that I never saw the ocean?" Haldir asked.

"Because I could tell."

"And how could you tell?"

"I might have sorted through your thoughts a bit while we were walking here from the docks after we got out of Mandos."

"What?!" Haldir cried, just awake enough to be shocked at this new revelation.

"I was bored. They wouldn't let me talk," Sauron said as though it was some type of defense that would actually work.

"Why did you do that to me though? Why not one of the others?"

"I never said that I didn't dig into their thoughts a bit too, did I?" He paused for a second and looked behind him as though to make sure that nobody else was about - which of course there wasn't - then said, "Let me tell you, Elhith has done some pretty bad stuff, considering who he always appears to be."

"Don't tell me! That's not fair! You don't go snooping around in people's thoughts!"

"Well you don't, obviously. I haven't been able to do that for over a year now, ever since they took away any power I had that would give me an advantage over you."

"It's clear why they did that though. Nobody should do stuff like that, it just isn't right!"

Sauron raised a brow. "…You do realize that 'right' isn't really a word that has ever mattered much to me, don't you?"

Haldir sighed. "So you know that I hadn't seen the ocean. I'm guessing that you didn't just pick up stupid things like that."

There was a long pause.

"Okay, what are you getting at?" Sauron asked finally. "I know you're tired, but just say what you mean and don't beat around the bush."

"How much dirt did you dig up," Haldir said, figuring that it was a terse enough answer.

After a nod, Sauron answered. "Enough to give me things to blackmail you about for a good while. I was a bit surprised; you were worse than I ever would have given you credit for. At least until you got that sister. Then you went all noble and boring."

"That's… nice to know," Haldir said.

"Anyways, why would Osse count as a maia when he's always around the sea and so you have no reason to think he counts, and yet when you were alive in Middle Earth I would have been a threat and yet I don't count."

"You just don't."

"You doesn't answer my question though!"

"I don't think you'd like the answer, so I'm keeping it to myself."

Sauron narrowed his eyes. "Why wouldn't I like the answer?"

"Because I just don't think you would," Haldir replied as he heaved himself up out of the chair.

"Tell me."

"No."

"Come on, why does he count and I don't?"

Haldir shook his head as he made his way out of the kitchen. Now that Sauron was up he figured that he'd get ready the rest of the way so that they could leave soon and get this whole thing over with.

Sauron however followed him up. "I want to know."

"And I don't want to tell you," Haldir droned.

"Why not?"

"I already told you that."

"But that wasn't any sort of explanation. It doesn't count."

"Of course it does. Now see, we're even- you think something counts that I don't think counts, and I think something counts that you don't think counts. Can you drop it?"

"Not really. Come on, just say it."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Meh," Haldir said, deciding just to stop talking as he went into his room and shut the door in Sauron's face.

Haldir heard Sauron make a sound of frustration from outside the door, but ignored it. He sat on his bed and began to braid his hair back in silence, his mind completely blank from his lack of rest.

Then he heard Sauron speak, although his voice was slightly muffled by the door. "Just say it, you sissy little elf. Why don't I count?"

Haldir didn't reply. Being called a sissy elf did not bother him especially.

"Do you just think that I will get mad at what you say and hammer you into a bloody pulp in a corner or something?"

Contemplating the suggestion for a minute, Haldir figured that it was probably pretty close to the truth.

"Oh, so you are admitting that I could completely beat you up?"

Haldir dropped his braid. It was finished anyways. Slowly he got up off the bed and went to the door, opening it to a very annoyed Sauron. Looking at him, Haldir could think of nothing he would rather do than punch him square in the nose.

Even with how tired he was, the rational part of his mind piped up that it would be better to suppress that desire as he really had no idea whether Sauron could beat him into a bloody pulp in a corner or not.

Today it wouldn't even be a contest though as simply walking had been a fight unto itself.

"You do not count because you cannot do anything besides what I can do. So you're not special. Happy now?"

Having said all that he was going to, he closed the door again.

"Not especially," Sauron replied quietly through the door after a moment.

Haldir did not really take any mind to what Sauron had said though until he heard a thud against the wall.

He paused in mid-step and turned back, opening the door after a moment and peaking into the hall. Sauron had his head resting against it, which Haldir supposed would explain the bang he heard a moment before. What didn't get explained was why he had done it.

"What was that for?" Haldir instantly asked.

"You're right."

Haldir didn't know if he had heard correctly. "Come again?"

"You're right," Sauron repeated, walking down the hall. "I don't count."

At this point it was hard to tell if this was really a good thing. Normally there wouldn't be any question, but Haldir had a feeling that perhaps it wasn't as good as he would have thought.

"Why are you giving in so easily? Even on the rare occasion that you thought I was right you still argued just for the sake of arguing."

Sauron shrugged.

Now Haldir decided that this really wasn't a good thing. He could sense this whole brooding air coming off Sauron in waves. And letting him go off into his own little world for long amounts of time was definitely never anything positive.

So basically it came to choosing the less of two evils. Either he could get away with not having to go see Osse for a reason that he was sure was less than good, or he could risk whatever things Sauron would get into by being left to his own devices.

Sadly, he figured that going and seeing Osse would probably be better. At least then there was a chance that whatever Sauron's plans were would be ruined before they ever were really made.

"What are you planning on doing now?"

"I don't know."

"Changed your mind about seeing Osse then?"

There was a moment of silence and Sauron paused. "I don't think it'd do any good," he said slowly.

"Why?"

"Because nothing I do works out anyways."

"That's true. You are a pretty poor planner."

Although he would not have admitted it, Haldir did not believe that Sauron was actually bad at planning things out. He just thought that perhaps if he said that that Sauron might get into one of those "well I'll show you" sort of moods.

Sauron did turn to him at his words. "I'm a poor planner?" he asked slowly.

"Apparently. I mean, if you were organized, they would probably work better wouldn't they?"

And that was all that it took.

"I am organized!" he said, crossing his arms. "You have no idea how much having things messed up bothers me."

"Well it can't be much as you went around with messed up hair."

"Will you just get off the hair? Jeez, seriously. That's completely irrelevant to the topic. My plans fail because of oversights."

"Which occur because you don't think the whole thing through."

"No! It's because things which I hadn't taken into consideration come up."

"They were things that you probably should have taken into consideration."

"I doubt that you would have if you had been in those situations."

"If you say so."

Sauron looked just a bit cross. "Okay, fine. We're going to see Osse, and if my plan does not work it isn't because I failed to notice an issue which could ruin it. It's because some things are just out of my control at the moment and there was not anything I could do about it."

With that he stormed down the stairs, Haldir right behind him. It was probably the first time he had actually been pleased that Sauron had gotten mad about something. Hopefully be the last too.

When they got down, Sauron instantly went towards the door, but Haldir stopped him. "You can't just go rushing out like that," Haldir piped up.

"Why not?" Sauron griped.

"Just hold up a second."

Haldir dashed into the kitchen quickly and pulled the small box of money out from one of the cupboards. Not wanting to take the time to count it, he just grabbed a handful and shoved it in a pocket before hurrying back to the door.

"So do you have any idea where you are going?" he finally asked as he turned the corner to the entryway.

Sauron's hand hovered over the handle of the door for a second, but then turned it. "No. At least, not yet."

"Oh great," Haldir said, trying to remind himself that this would probably be better than the alternative.

They went down the streets towards the main road in silence. At that time there was almost nobody out, just a few scattered people every once and a while. As Haldir yawned, he figured that everybody must just be acting sanely and were still asleep at that hour.

After walking for a while, they finally they came to the edge of Valmar. One last gate stood in front of them. Seeing this, Haldir was suddenly hit with a thought.

"We're going to the docks first, aren't we?"

Sauron nodded. "Yes, I figured that it would be the best place to start."

Haldir stopped in the road, thinking. It took Sauron a moment to realize that he wasn't following anymore, but when he did he stopped too. "What?"

"It will take a couple hours to get there and then a couple more to get back," he thought aloud.

"Yes, more than likely. Now come on."

Haldir did not listen and continued to muse quietly. "Who knows how long it will take us to find him from there."

Sighing, Sauron walked back towards him. "What are you getting at?"

"I think," Haldir began slowly, "that we should get horses."

"Ugh! No!" Sauron instantly exclaimed, cringing. "Why ever would I do that?"

"I don't want to have to stay somewhere else over night, and I don't want to be walking in the dark. Therefore, we need to get there quicker than we would on foot, and the only way to do that would be to ride horses."

"I hate horses though," Sauron complained.

"You know, you are not making a very good case for yourself with having things planned out by having a snag in the plan like half an hour in."

"Well I had planned on you being able to walk at night. See, that you won't or can't or whatever is out of my control. There isn't anything that I can do about that."

"Okay, so now you have a problem and there is only one way to fix it."

After giving a very unhappy frown, Sauron conceded. "Fine."

They backtracked a bit and with very little search found a stable. Sauron stayed outside while Haldir went in and bargained a bit with the owner. Within a minute they had settled a deal and the elf had led Haldir back out to get the horses.

Sauron had fallen into step behind Haldir silently. The owner pointed them to the stable, where another person had shown them which horses they would have. While there was something that the hand needed to see to at the moment, he said that if they needed any help that he would be around the corner.

With that Haldir and Sauron were left in the stable before the pens of their horses.

Haldir instantly went in and led his horse out. On the other hand, Sauron stood staring at his like it was some evil obstacle that he was not sure how to get around.

"Come on, get over it. We won't be riding for eight hours straight so you have no reason to be freaking out."

Sauron didn't move, but answered. "I'm not freaking out. I just don't like it. Stupid horse."

The horse just stared back at him.

"The horse never did anything to you. You should just be grateful that for some reason it hasn't picked up on your evil soul and decided that it doesn't like you."

Sauron shot him a look but did not reply.

"Just get it and let's go before I decide that this whole thing is pointless," Haldir said exasperatedly.

Reluctantly Sauron opened the gate. "It doesn't have a saddle," he pointed out, looking back over his shoulder at Haldir.

"No, normally we don't ride them that way," Haldir replied, leading his horse out of the stable.

"Great," Sauron muttered as he grabbed the reigns and led the horse out too.

Haldir smirked as he mounted. "Remember, if I can do it, that means that you can too."

Considering that for a moment, Sauron shrugged. "If you say so."

Haldir held back a laugh as Sauron made his slightly less than graceful - yet still a bit more than Haldir thought it would have been - mount. After clutching to the reins for a moment, he seemed to relax a bit and looked at Haldir.

Figuring that he expected him to do something, Haldir spoke. "What? You're the leader. I'm just coming along because I don't have a choice."

Sauron muttered something to himself quietly and nudged the horse forward, Haldir not far behind.

All things considered, Haldir enjoyed the ride very much. It was sunny yet not hot, which wasn't much of a surprise as the temperature there seemed as though it never really changed. Everything was, as always, in its perpetual state of spring, and considering that Haldir had not truly left the limits of Valmar for a year, he found that he liked it very much. What it was like in the open and the woods had become a distant memory, and it was pleasant to experience it again.

Sauron didn't speak a word the whole time, seeming quite content to focus on keeping himself on the horse. That Haldir found to be an additional comfort. Having to bicker the whole way would have just completely ruined the scenery.

It was likely an hour or so before noon when Haldir could finally hear the sounds of gulls. His ears pricked a bit at the noise, but he brushed off the effects immediately. As he was quite happy with his present situation… or at least he had been for nearly the last year… he didn't really want to feel the need to go and sit by the sea for hours on end and all that stuff.

Sauron's expression was steadily turning more sour as they went and the sounds of the ocean became clearer and more numerous. Again Haldir couldn't help but wonder exactly what it was that he was up to. Might have been a good thing to implore a bit into the subject before they had left.

Finally the trees broke apart and they saw the haven spread before them. Now at midday it was very busy, small boats flitting across the bay while larger ones slowly came to port. Haldir was a bit surprised that looking at it now he could not recall anything about it. He knew that he had been there, and remembered walking the docks, but it didn't seem as though it had truly happened.

Maybe it was because his brain had had to process a lot the day they had arrived.

As they went further, Haldir shook free of his thoughts. "Now where?" he asked, looking at the expansive city and harborage laying before them.

"I already told you that I don't know," Sauron remarked automatically.

"Then what are we going to do?"

"Look for things."

"Such as?"

Sauron shook his head slightly. "Well, what things would you look for if you were searching for a maia who loves water?"

"…Water…" Haldir said slowly.

"Besides the obvious!" Sauron exclaimed.

"Um…" How was he supposed to know?

With a sigh which more or less implied that Haldir was hopeless, Sauron explained. "We're probably going to be looking right on the water front. We're also probably going to be looking at a building that is larger than most and has many people around it. Agreed?"

"…Sure," Haldir replied. Again, how was he supposed to know?

There was no answer to this, and so Haldir decided to be quiet. He'd just let Sauron do the work and figure out where they needed to go and he'd just go off into his own thoughts. If Sauron just ended up getting lost… then he might pay a bit more attention. Not that his attention would really help in that area.

So they went through the city, slowly making their way towards the shore. It was there, when they had gotten close to the docks, that Haldir had an epiphany.

"We should ask one of the shipwrights, or a sailor," he said suddenly.

"Yes, that would probably be a good idea."

There was a pause, and when Sauron did not appear to have any inclination of actually going and asking anybody, Haldir piped up again. "Well?"

"Well what?" Sauron asked, looking back at him momentarily.

"Aren't you going to ask?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's not something I do."

"…You've asked me stuff before."

"That's different. I can ask people I know things, occasionally, but I don't go and ask strangers questions."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to get into it."

"Why not?"

"And you say I'm immature!" Sauron looking back at him again with an expression of amazement. "'Why not?' 'Why not?' 'Why not?'" he mocked, raising his voice to an annoyingly high pitch. "It's like playing twenty questions or something… only you're always asking the same one."

"Jeez, testy," Haldir replied, quite untouched. Although to tell the truth it had been slightly amusing to listen to Sauron do a falsetto.

"I don't ask random people questions because I do not know enough of their character to believe or discredit what they say."

"So does that mean you trust me?" Haldir replied sarcastically. "I'm so touched. It's like a bonding moment."

"Oh please," Sauron muttered. "I just have been able to figure out enough of your mannerisms and nature to have a good idea of what I can accept or not. With other people I haven't had the opportunity."

"You are much too paranoid," Haldir said sadly. "It's like you think the whole world is out to get you."

Unfortunately, he only realized the truth of his words after he had said them. He never really had been one to think overly much before he spoke.

As expected, Sauron gave him a look.

"Okay, so the whole world would be out to get you if they knew who you were. But the thing is that they do not know who you really are, and therefore they can't be after you. They don't have any reason to. That is unless you give them one."

"Do you ever consider what you are going to say before you spout it off to the world?"

"Not really."

"I didn't think so. That being the case, just be quite and look."

"I still don't know what I'm looking for."

"Then just be quite and pretend that you are looking. Let me concentrate at least."

"Alright."

The narrow roads got busier as they went, and Haldir figured that they had better find a stable to leave the horses in as the roads didn't really seem to be made with the thought of having horses in them. When they came to a small corral, Haldir made the suggestion to Sauron, whose quick acceptance of it made it obvious that he still wasn't comfortable being high in the saddle.

Again he bargained and within minutes the horses were in the corral with a few others. Haldir felt pretty proud of himself and all of these negotiation he had handled all in one day. Granted, the people had been pretty willing to make a deal, but still. He hadn't done so for many years.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" Haldir asked Sauron when they started walking again.

"I'm not going to talk too soon. Ask me when we get back."

Well, even if he hadn't said that it was not bad, he hadn't said it had been, so that counted for something.

They made their way through the crowds, finally coming to a road that ran along the edge of the city and the sea. Considering that they couldn't get any closer to the ocean than that, it seemed like a pretty good place to start.

At least it had for the first hour and a half.

A little after noon Haldir's stomach had complained enough that he thought it necessary to eat something. While Sauron had begged to differ, Haldir told him that if they didn't get something to eat and rethink their plan that he would just turn right around and head back home. That had seemed to be a good enough reason.

Thus they were now sitting in the corner of an inn, Haldir snarfing down the meal in front of him while Sauron picked slowly at his. Apparently he hadn't truly gotten into the eating thing yet. In the last couple weeks he had at least eaten one meal a day, usually two. It seemed that he just ate when the thought entered his mind or when he couldn't ignore the fact that he was hungry. While he was still a lot thinner than he probably should have been, it wasn't quite to the 'disturbingly' so level anymore.

"So," Haldir said between mouthfuls, "what do we do now?"

"The road hasn't ended yet. We still have a ways we can go on it," Sauron replied as he chased peas around his plate with a fork.

After watching what he was doing for a minute and then shaking his head sadly at the reinforcement of his believe that Sauron hadn't really matured at all, Haldir spoke again. "The road is getting old. I just want to know where we have to go and go there and get it done."

"We've gone over this I believe."

"Do you want me to ask then?"

"No."

Haldir frowned, pushing his plate away thoughtfully. A moment later a woman came over and picked up his plate, but before she left he cleared his throat. She looked back at him. "If we were looking for Osse, where should we go?"

She smiled. "You're very close. Just follow the road along for another ten minutes or so, and then there will be one that branches off to the left. He's down that one."

"Thank you."

With a quick nod, she hurried off again.

"Well, that was easy enough," Haldir said smiling.

Sauron, of course, was not smiling at all. "You just had to ask didn't you?"

"Well, it's not like we aren't going that way anyways. Now I know that we're not just walking around hopelessly."

"Couldn't leave well enough alone."

"Come on, don't be so glum. It's not going to do us any harm at all." He looked at Sauron's half-eaten meal. "You done?"

"I suppose."

"Good. Let's go then."

He quickly counted out the coins for their meals and they set out once more.

As the lady had said, after about ten minutes they found a road leading off the main one. While there had been others branching off, they had always been on the right side, going more inland. This was the first Haldir could remember seeing on the left.

They turned down the lane, passing between the buildings on either side to find that the road quickly became a bridge over the water to a small island not far out.

Haldir of course had no worries about this and continued to walk, glad that they wouldn't have to be searching anymore. Sauron, on the other hand, did not look nearly as comfortable, which was understandable and even expected. So when Haldir knew that Sauron was not a step or two behind him anymore, he did not stop but just called over his shoulder. "Come on, we're just about there."

Sauron did catch up, but walked cautiously along the middle, looking down onto the water that was lapping softly at the bridge.

After watching him for a second, Haldir sighed. "I have no idea what you think you're going to get done here considering that you can't even comfortably walk on a bridge."

"I'll be fine."

Haldir just rolled his eyes.

Not long after that they reached the other end, stopping before a tall silver gate. Two elves were standing just inside it and considered Haldir and Sauron, their faces completely expressionless. "What do you want?" the one on the left asked.

"We're here to see Osse," Sauron replied.

"What business do you have with him?"

"That will be between Osse and myself."

"Well then, what are your names?"

"This is Haldir, and I am…" For a moment he paused, but then in a strained voice continued. "…Iaewur. However that name won't mean anything to him."

"Then why do you not give us a name that will mean something?"

"I cannot say it."

The two elves exchanged glances, turning back to them with faces a bit more cold than they had been a moment before. "Why do you think that he will see you if you will not tell your business or your proper name?"

"If I could speak to him for a moment, he would know who I was."

Again the elves looked at each other, but then the one who had spoken the whole time nodded and the other opened the gate. "I will take you in, but you have but a minute. If he does not recognize you, then you will have to leave."

Sauron went in without replying, Haldir right behind him. One elf stayed behind, watching the gate, while the other led Sauron and Haldir forward.

A few yards away from the gate, the bridge ended. There was a high arch cut right into the rock of the island, which ended after a couple feet.

Once on the other side of the arch, Haldir found himself looking in on the most impressive building he had ever seen. There were pillars of white marble holding up the lofty roof, which really hardly seemed to be a roof at all considering all of the openings in it. Though these sea birds flew in and out, their cries slightly drowned out by the sound of water rushing and falling all around them. The openings also seemed to be the only way that light entered the dim hall as there was not a torch to be seen anywhere. That also made sense -- the large floor in front of them was more than half covered with pools while fountains could be spotted anywhere he looked. The place was just about literally swimming.

Sauron glanced about everything, a small grimace crossing his face. Again Haldir wondered why he was just about torturing himself and coming to that place. True, he thought that it was beautiful, but he knew that Sauron didn't think so.

As they walked along, Haldir noticed that there were also tons of people there, walking about the pools or sitting beside them, talking softly to one another.

Apparently Sauron noticed also. "There are so many people here, why would it be so odd for us to come also?" he asked the elf who was leading them.

"These people have a reason to be here that is known, or are of the Teleri." He looked back at Sauron for a moment, seeming to sum him up. "And somehow I doubt that you are of the Teleri. My guess would be Noldorin."

Sauron looked about to snap something back, but bit his lip. Haldir was actually quite impressed.

They turned down a small hallway to the side, coming to the door at the end. The elf knocked on the door. "My Lord?" he said.

"Yes?" a voice answered from inside.

"There are two elves here to see you."

Haldir glanced over at Sauron, who looked both perturbed and indignant. It had always been obvious that Sauron was not in any way, shape, or form happy about having to be on the same level as Haldir. On the few occasions when the fact that he did blend in so well with the rest of them had been brought up he had always been on the verge of flipping out. Since that had happened twice in the last few minutes, Haldir thought that he'd be in a really nasty mood. However, to Haldir's surprise, he quickly cleared his face of his glower and took on an almost pleasant expression.

Considering that Haldir hadn't been around him when he was that way much and since now he couldn't figure out why he would be doing so, it was a bit creepy really.

"Let them in."

The elf pulled open the door and motioned them in and then following in himself.

The room they were in now was not very wide but tall, a bit darker than the large area they had first came into since the ceiling was so high. There were some scattered chairs and tables and shelves filled with seashells and other various things. Haldir was instantly drawn to them as he had never seen anything like them before, but he restrained himself and followed behind Sauron towards the figure at the other side of the room.

Finally they were just a few feet away and stopped. The man, who could be no other than Osse, had extremely pale hair that almost seemed tinged with green in the dim light. He appeared to have his attention pretty focused on whatever he was doing. So they stood there.

It had been a couple rather uncomfortable moments when Sauron's patience seemed to run out. "Osse, I haven't all day here."

The elf looked at Sauron with a sort of shocked anger, however Sauron didn't seem to notice at all. He was looking down at Osse, tapping his foot slightly.

At his voice Osse paused as though trying to place it. Then suddenly he looked up.

"Well?" Sauron pressed.

Osse stared at him for a moment, unmoving. After simply sitting like that for a moment, he looked at the elf and nodded towards the door. Apparently even more shocked than he had been, the elf bowed and left, shutting the door behind him.

"What?" Osse said, almost to himself, curiosity shining out of his teal eyes.

"What?" Sauron repeated. "What sort of a response was that?"

Osse frowned thoughtfully. "I didn't think you were allowed to come out here."

"I'm not, unless Haldir comes along too," Sauron answered, taking a step to the side so that Osse could see Haldir.

Haldir smiled meekly.

"Silvan?" Osse asked, smiling slowly.

Haldir nodded.

"And how do you find the sea?"

Sauron took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Really, can this wait for another time perhaps?" he said, bringing Osse's attention back to him.

"Why have you come here? It's common knowledge that you have not been overly fond of the sea for many years now," Osse said coolly.

"You are awfully quick to come to conclusions," Sauron answered.

They both looked at each other for a moment, and then Osse leaned back in his chair. "Have a seat," he said, gesturing to some of the chairs around them.

Haldir silently did so, sitting in the chair closest to where he had stood. Sauron, on the other hand, opted for one nearer to Osse.

"Again, what brings you here?"

"I just wanted to talk, that's all."

Osse raised a brow. "To talk you say? You know, you can listen to the sound of your own voice wherever it is that you dwell now just as well as you can here."

Even with this remark, Sauron's expression remained unchanged. Haldir found it interesting that Sauron really could keep from scowling for so long.

"Talking to one's self is not nearly as satisfying as speaking to another though, don't you think?"

"Then you don't you talk to the elf, Haldir didn't you say?"

Both of them looked over at Haldir, which just about made him have a squirm fest. While he could handle Sauron's piercing gaze now, both he and Osse staring at him at once was a bit too much. It was rather uncomfortable to say the least.

Sauron looked away first, turning back to Osse. "But he does not understand everything as we understand it. He is of the Firstborn. We, on the other hand, are ainur. Yes, I could speak to him, but why would I wish to when there are those of the same order as myself living so near, whose thoughts are easier to identify with?"

Haldir was a bit surprised to notice that there was something very different about Sauron's voice now as he spoke. At first it had not been very apparent, but the more he listened the more he noticed it. There was a very subtle change to it, something that made it almost pleasant to listen to, as odd as the thought was for Haldir to get his mind around.

Osse did not answer. Sauron too leaned back, a flicker of a smile upon his face. "Is it really that strange that I should seek you out so that I may speak with you?" he prodded, the alluring undertone of his voice a bit stronger.

Slowly Osse replied. "I suppose not."

Haldir watched and listened silently, a bit amazed at how the conversation was unfolding. Already the cold demeanor that Osse had displayed was melting. And they had only been there a few minutes. He became a bit uneasy about what this could portend.

"And of all our people, who else should I wish to see besides you?"

For a second a spark of the distance Osse had shown moments ago resurfaced. "Ah, but why would you want to see me? Should not one of Aule's people be more fitting than I?"

Sauron did not look fazed in the least. "Perhaps in what hobbies we are more inclined to participate in we are different, that is correct. However in our ambitions are we truly so?" he said to soothe the momentary setback.

Osse seemed to consider his words, looking off distantly into the room.

"At a time did we not serve the same Vala?" Osse shot him a startled look, but Sauron pressed on. "Yes, you repented that decision perhaps, but it does not change the fact that at a time you made it and thought it the proper choice. We are very similar in that we both were after the same thing."

"But it was not for us," Osse protested weakly.

"No, perhaps not." Sauron stood up and walked around a bit, picking up some of the things from the shelves and looking at them. The last of these he held for a moment and turned back towards the room, looking at it carefully, running a finger along its intricate metalwork. "On a time did I not make this?" he asked.

While he seemed a bit surprised by the abrupt change of subject, he nodded. "Yes, in Almaren."

"I remember." Sauron slowly held it up to the dim light, turning it around to inspect all of the sides. His look was distant, obviously in the past. "It was the first shell that you had found," he said suddenly. "You wanted something around it to protect it, to ensure that it would not be broken as it was very fragile. Most of us were busy aiding Aule with the Lamps and so it would have been unlikely that any would be able to do so. But you asked me, and although I had work that I probably should have seen to, well… I'd always been the rebellious sort hadn't I?" He looked over at Osse and grinned.

Osse nodded again. "From the beginning almost."

"So I did as you requested." He softly set the shell back upon the shelf and sat down once more. "I am surprised that you still have it."

"As you said, it was the first shell that I had found. It was important."

"Yes, but it had also been worked upon by me, and not long after that I joined with the enemy."

To this statement Osse made no reply.

"Yet, perhaps…" Sauron said slowly, carefully observing Osse's posture and expression, "Perhaps rebellion is not always such a bad thing. That can be seen from this, can it not?"

"True, it was beneficial once. But then you rebelled to the point that no good could come from it."

"Yes, that is true. I was blinded by my desire for power and my wish to order things in a way that I thought would be most advantageous to all. Now I can see where I went wrong with that however."

Upon processing this last statement, Haldir instantly knew it was a lie. Sauron had not repented his ways in the least. There was no way that he thought what he had done was wrong. Knowing this, Haldir would have said something, only that beguiling tone in Sauron's voice had completely dissolved his ability to do so.

Even as Haldir came to his conclusion, Sauron glanced over at him, his face still appearing very sincere. However there was a momentary glint in his eyes that reinforced everything that Haldir had just thought.

Of course his attention did not remain on Haldir long. He turned back to Osse. "In the time I've been here, I have been able to think back on many things. Through this I have learned that I was mistaken in many of the beliefs I had. However I have no hope that any would believe me on this, and so I came to you. You are the only other here who had similar beliefs as me, even though long ago. You understand what I thought and why I thought it."

"What are you asking?" Osse inquired, his expression very grim.

"I'm asking you to help me regain my standings so that I can be as I was. You have no idea how humiliating it is to be degraded as I have by this, to be no more than of the Moriquendi."

Osse grinned slightly. "I can guess."

"Maybe, but I doubt that you would get close."

Now Osse was silent, evidently thinking very deeply about what had just been requested of him. Again Haldir wished that he could bring up the fact that Sauron was continuing his string of lies, but again he found himself incapable.

Yet just at that moment, when Osse seemed about to reply, there was knock on the door. "Come in," Osse said.

"I heard that two people called on you much earlier this afternoon," a female voice floated in from the shadows of the doorway. "I just came to see if there was anything I could --"

Her words abruptly stopped as she came further in the room and looked at the figures seated there. First she glanced at Haldir, then Osse, and lastly Sauron, who seemed to be the real reason for her sudden silence.

Sauron stood up and actually bowed slightly. "Uinen, you're as beautiful as ever," he said suavely.

It was one of the few things that Sauron had said that Haldir agreed upon, although he had no idea why Sauron would have ever voiced such a thing. Haldir thought that she was probably the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Well, except for perhaps Galadriel, but that was probably getting into just personal feelings there.

Uinen's face flushed at Sauron's comment, however by the way she held herself she was also quite angry. "What are you doing here?" she asked frostily.

"Visiting," Sauron answered.

"I would say please but as I don't think it means much to you, will you leave?"

"Why do you want me to go? I haven't done anything," he said, feigning innocence.

"I want you to leave, now," she said, and even though she did so softly and calmly, everything about her voice exuded authority.

"I-"

"Now."

Sauron looked at her for a moment more, and then nodded. "As you wish," he said, walking towards the door.

After digesting the scene before him, Haldir quickly got up and made to follow. Sauron was already at the door by this time, and had paused next to Uinen. Apparently he was talking to her, but since it was in such a soft whisper he couldn't even hear the words.

However then Sauron leaned back, smiling devilishly. Uinen just stared at him almost horrorstruck, and then slapped him hard across the face.

Osse must have gotten up at the same time that Haldir had and so was at his left when this occurred. Both of them stopped right where they were.

Sauron had his eyes squeezed shut and a hand against his jaw. Slowly he squinted one eye open and turned to look at Uinen.

She pointed dangerously at him and then spoke in that same deadly-quiet voice. "Don't you ever bring that up again, or so help me…"

And with that she promptly turned around and left the room.

Haldir could not help but glance over as Osse for a moment. He seemed to know that Haldir was looking at him and turned his way, shrugging.

By now Sauron was standing straightly again and no longer squinting, although his hand was still rubbing his jaw. "Well," he said slowly, "I suppose we had ought to go."

"Yes, I think that would be best," Osse answered, seeming to decide that he didn't want to know what had caused Uinen to act the way she had.

Sauron immediately left the room, walking swiftly down the hall. When he did so, Haldir began to follow, but Osse stopped him for a second. "Haldir?" he said, seeming to both be wondering if he had the right name and trying to get his attention.

"Yes?" Haldir said, pausing.

"Expect company soon."

Haldir frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Your family, they are making their way over the sea. They will be here in a day or two."

Still staring at him, Haldir tried to figure out what he was saying. And then it dawned on him. "My family? Here?"

Osse smiled slightly. "Yes. Expect them." He looked down the hall at the receding form of Sauron. "I would go now if you are supposed to be around him all the time."

Haldir looked down the hall and then nodded his head. "Thank you."

Osse just smiled again and then shut the door as Haldir hurried to catch up with Sauron.

By the time he did Sauron was already at the end of the arch. Haldir, in an amazing show of intelligence, was able to keep from asking as to what Sauron had said to Uinen. Yet, since he was terribly curious, it didn't mean that he would never ask. He'd just wait a bit.

Sauron marched out the gate without acknowledging the elves at all, so Haldir did so instead. Afterwards he wished he hadn't, as they had just glared suspiciously at him.

So they walked across the bridge to the road and then back to the corral. Haldir was glad that Sauron seemed to have a good memory for directions and that sort of thing. If it had been up to him, they probably would have ended up everywhere but the place they wanted to get to.

Sauron did not make any fuss at all when they got their horses and simply mounted and went off. While he had not said a word or given Haldir any death glares, it was obvious that he was peeved. Taking into consideration what had happened the last time he had made his presence known when Sauron had been mad, Haldir decided that he'd just tag along and be quiet for a while.

While the ride there had just been quiet, the ride back was disturbingly silent. Haldir felt terribly uncomfortable with it but did not have the nerve to speak. That was, until Sauron brought the whole thing up himself.

First he had smirked a bit, and then seemed about ready to laugh. However then he had glanced at Haldir and stifled it. "Well, that was interesting," he stated.

"Pardon?" Haldir asked. Interesting was not what he had thought he would say. Given a hundred guessed, interesting would not have been any of the words he'd suppose Sauron would say.

"I didn't think I'd even get as far as I did. I believe he would have actually spoken on my behalf before the Valar. Fancy that."

"So that was your whole grand scheme?" Haldir reflected on it for a moment, and then nodded. "I must say, it was pretty decent all things considered."

"You think so? It wasn't my best, just a sort of desperation attempt. If only Uinen had stayed out a bit longer, I could have had it." He frowned now about this, but then smiled again. "Good thing that I didn't have my hopes up on it at all. I always get things stolen away from me right when everything seems to be going my way. This wasn't any exception!"

Well, he was taking it a lot better than Haldir would have thought he would. Letting him have his space for a while had really paid off. Haldir put it in his mind for something to remember.

Since he seemed to be in a somewhat talkative mood, Haldir decided to take advantage of it. "How did you do that?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well when we first got there Osse wasn't really that happy to have you as company, but then at the end, as you said, he seemed about ready to grant your request. It was crazy sitting there listening to you, you're voice…" Haldir searched for the word but couldn't find it. "…You're voice just got different. It was strange."

"One of the tricks you learn when a major business of yours is sucking up to people and manipulating them to your purposes. Eloquent speaking becomes very important in that, as well as having a persuasive voice. I've had a lot of time to hone the skills."

"It was creepy."

Sauron shrugged. "To you, yes, I bet it was. Nothing I could have really done about that though, unless I was trying to trip you up in the whole thing too. That just would have taken too much energy though."

"Hm." Haldir rubbed the back of his neck thoughtful for a second, and then continued. "And what did you say to Uinen that made her… slap you and all," he asked quietly.

At this Sauron smiled even wider. It was so strange that the whole affair seemed to amuse him so much now, even when his attempt had failed. Maybe for once he was looking on the bright side of things and decided that the fact that he had gotten close counted a bit. "I just brought up something from long long ago that she probably didn't want to recall."

Haldir cocked an eyebrow. "Which would be…?"

Continuing to smile, Sauron rubbed his cheek, which even now still had a bright red mark across it. "Well you know, there was a time when I was considerably popular among my peers. During that I had once helped her with something, and afterwards she believed that she fancied me a bit."

Haldir blinked a couple of times, unable to believe that what he had just heard could really mean what he thought it meant. "No," he said, still unable to grasp it.

"Yes," Sauron mocked back at him. "See, she only thought she did. I knew she really didn't because it was painfully obvious to everybody that it'd be Osse and her in the end. Yet I couldn't really get it through her head for a while. Of course it went through her head when I left and became all 'evil' and stuff."

"Wow," was about all Haldir really felt he could say.

"So since she had come and bashed in on our party, I decided to remind her of that, which, as you saw, wasn't taken very well. From her standpoint, I mean, how embarrassing would that be? To have for a short time been overly fond of somebody who became a dark lord." At this point he came so close to laughing that he snorted once in his effort to keep from doing so.

Haldir just shook his head and tried to ignore the fact that he probably had the most deranged person in Arda riding a horse next to him.

:::::

Well…? Decent maybe?