Yes, oh yes, I completed my goal. Sorta. But it's all good. I'll try to get a chapter out before we get off for Christmas break, but I don't know if I will be able to. We'll see.
Unfortunately, it's a bit late, so I won't be able to do make as long reviewer responses. But I love you guys!
Mesozonic Flower: I don't know if I got around to responding to your review last time or not. Soo… yes. He just has a horrible time of it. Most of them do in some way, actually…
XNemesis: I'm sure Haldir would have killed him if he could get away with it. Oo, a cookie? And a smoothie? Rock on! Can't go wrong with those two. Unless it… okay, never mind.
The grammar nazi: I don't know what Sauron is thinking. I don't think he's sure himself either! You know, the English language really is stupid. Bleh. Glad you liked the chappie!
Ruler-of-Da-World: That kinda does sound like something Sam would say now that I think about it. Ha… and yes, Sauron would respond in a positive manner to that. Freak. Oh, the chappie caused yelling? Well then… okay, I can't think of a response to that.
Crow: /waves hand/ Horrid in a wonderful way... Well, I do what I can. /smile/
Midnight Proc: Well, yeah, it's not THAT creepy considering things I could think up… but… I still thought it was pretty… eh heh heh…
Kingmaker: Yes, I figured that archery would be nice for him. But yes… I don't think he would be able to keep that job too long, alas. Pushing buttons is fun. Haven't gotten that art down yet… dash. I'll get there someday! Ah… it's always so weird to do stuff from Sauron's POV. Odd bakunka. I'm very happy I'm able to keep the characterization believable… that makes me oh so happay!
JadedFire: Dialogue is so fun though! Wahaha.. But I know what you mean. Well I'm glad that the kissing scene turned out. Caused a bit of brain bruising on my side… but mayhaps that is just me. Probably, I wouldn't be surprised if it was such.
Black Thunder44: I dunno, you'll just have to read and see if he caves or not, won't you? /wink/
Lady Golodwen: Ello dearie. I'd hope you would laugh a lot, of course. Heh… yeah… I think it would be a fine line for which way Lalaith would go: the mortified way, or the highly ticked off way.
AzureDragoness: Wow! Well… I think it would be fair to say that you liked it! Haaha… well, I'm afraid this chappie might be a bit of a let down, however, just wait for the next. If it has everything in it that I plan, it should be veeery interesting… /evil grin/
Well well, here you go you all! Enjoy… hopefully.
I:I:I:I:I
When Haldir woke up, he had no idea what was going on. Above him was his sister's face, her expression both of concern and perhaps slight embarrassment. It had taken him a minute to get even that, as his eyes were being rather rude and not focusing properly. But, soon enough, her form had become clear, the rest of the room falling into step and refining to their proper outlines as well.
It seemed that he was in his room. For a while, Haldir could not understand why. That and Lalaith's expression both puzzled him. What had happened?
His eyes roamed the room as his mind did the same in search of a satisfactory answer. Perhaps, he thought, one of those things might resurface a twinkling of the events that must have occurred which were presently evading him.
The nightstand, the door, the chest, Lalaith, the window, the rug, Sauron…
Sauron.
In an instant, it all crashed back to him. He felt his face drain of color as he recalled that horrendous scene. It was repulsive! He couldn't believe that it had happened! It couldn't have; it was too much. Yet, by the cocky smirk that Sauron wore, Haldir knew that it must have.
So, almost as quickly as the blood had left his face, it surged back as anger replaced his shocked disgust. Oh, Sauron had crossed the line this time. He had stepped across it on a couple instances, but this was just jumping over it completely.
There was, however, nothing he could do about it… at the moment at least. Lalaith was sitting there, one hand upon his arm. She needed to go.
Haldir sat up, rubbing the spot on his head that hurt from his fall. As he did so, he chastised himself for having fainted. Sure, it had been bad, but fainting? Definitely didn't do anything for his case of indifference to the whole charade. Didn't help at all.
Once he was sitting up, ignoring Sauron all the while, Haldir looked at Lalaith. "Excuse us," he began, the distant, commanding tone he used to order the guards that had been under his authority permeating his voice. "I want to have a talk with Iaewur alone."
Lalaith apparently had the sense to recognize that the use of that voice did not imply a cheery conversation. "Please, Haldir, don't be mad," she said quietly, almost pleadingly. "He didn't do anything… he isn't at fault; I kissed him as well-"
"I know!" Haldir hissed, pulling his arm out of her grasp as he tried to keep himself from bellowing or anything of the like. The silly girl didn't have any idea what she was doing, and when Haldir had tried to tell her, she had not listened. Haldir scowled at her as she got up and left the room silently, figuring that she would get hers if the truth were ever to come out.
The door closed with a click, Haldir turning to look at Sauron immediately. That stupid stupid stupid stupid…. There just weren't words to describe what he was. His name alone could act to fit everything.
Of course, Sauron did not look upset in the least. He looked pretty chipper in fact, more likely than not because of what he could probably guess Haldir to be feeling.
The last thing Haldir wanted to do was sit in the same room with Sauron, but at the moment there weren't any other options. "You went too far," he said finally, crossing his arms.
"Does that mean you've given up?" Sauron asked a bit hopefully, not at all put out by Haldir's tone or posture.
For a second, Haldir had to wonder about it. Did he? It was going too far, and the only thing he could do to get Sauron to stop would be giving in.
"How'd I get up here?" he asked, his mind trying to keep itself from having to admit defeat by going off on some random tangent.
Sauron raised a brow, obviously curious about this change of topic, but did not push Haldir. "I carried you."
Haldir frowned. "Why."
"Because I figured it'd make Lalaith upset if I didn't."
"… Why did I have to be moved at all?"
"Lalaith didn't want to leave you on the floor."
"Why all the way up here then?"
"That's what she said to do," Sauron replied with a shrug.
"Taking orders from a little elf maid now?" Haldir spat. "That must be a new low."
If the statement annoyed Sauron, he did not let it show. He just continued to stare at Haldir blankly while he spoke.
"I'd rather that she had just let me stay on the floor. Better than having filth like you get anywhere near me."
Sauron just smiled faintly. "Try not to let your bitterness seep so much into your voice," he advised, shifting his position a little. "And I'll have you know, I have very good personal hygiene. No need to call me filth."
"You know I didn't mean it in that manner."
"I suppose," Sauron said with a shrug. "I was all for just letting you lay in your heap of unconsciousness in the hall, but, as I said, Lalaith was planning otherwise." He considered his hands for a moment before going on and popping his knuckles, looking back up at Haldir. "So, we come back to the question. Do you give in?"
Haldir looked away, leaning his elbows against his knees. He felt sick knowing that he would give in. It was just getting to be too much. If he didn't just let it go and take Sauron to see Frodo, there was probably a danger that Lalaith would be hurt… and Haldir could not stand the thought. At least, with Frodo, he could intervene a bit. There was still hope for that. With the present situation, there wasn't.
"I hate you," Haldir stated, almost without realizing it.
This time Sauron gave off a small laugh. "You and probably ninety-nine point five percent of the population of Arda. Not like it's anything that makes you special."
Haldir just glared at him. "It's a pity that you can't just die and stay dead."
"Could very well say the same for you, elf," Sauron retorted. "Now, we can go off on how everybody loathes me and despised my existence, but that would not be on subject. And I want this done. Do you give in?"
Haldir sighed. "Yes."
Sauron's smile became slightly more genuine. "Yes, you give in?"
Haldir nodded.
"Tomorrow you will take me to Eressea?"
Again, he nodded, moving his head just enough that it was noticeable.
"Very good," Sauron said happily. "I shall leave your precious little sister alone then and uphold my end."
As Sauron went to the door, Haldir just had enough wit to say, "I thought you didn't uphold bargains."
Sauron paused for a moment, hand just resting over the handle. "This is one of those bargains where it's pleasant to have the person give in from two angles."
With that, he opened the door and stepped out, leaving Haldir both relieved and yet a whole lot more stressed.
Haldir did not talk to anybody about what was going on. The only thing he did to prevent his family from sending out a search party or anything of the like was to write a brief note explaining his lie that Sauron and he had been needed immediately for reasons Haldir was not at liberty to disclose. Reading the note over again, he felt that it was very transparent, but figured that, given the apparent intelligence level of everybody lately, it would be enough.
Later that night, Sauron had come back to fine tune the plan for the next day. He had made it up all by himself, as Haldir did not want to have anything to do with the whole thing. All he did was merely listen so that he knew what would go on.
Sauron had shown his disgustingly analytical side once again, retrieving maps (probably from Elhith's room) and writing down all manners of things that he thought were important.
So, in the end, it was decided that a similar course as the one they had taken to see Osse would be used for the land part of the trip. Then, once they arrived there, they would find a ferry or something to Eressea. After that they would find Frodo, have a 'talk' with him, and then find a tavern or some place to stay the night. The morning after that, they would do the reverse and come back home.
Haldir figured it would require substantial funds to get the horses and the ferry passage and the board and food. Extremely grudgingly, he pulled out a majority of the coins in their small coffer and then tucked them in with his luggage.
Everything was packed up and ready the night before. Haldir's pack was laying under his bed in fact, hidden from sight incase somebody wanted to come in. The whole thing felt a bit wrong in the way it was being kept out of the light completely, but Haldir, along with not wanting to have to simply explain what was going on, did not want to have to answer questions as well.
By the time everything was set, it was late evening, and Haldir just figured that it would be easier to go to bed. So, with an unhappy sigh, he had crawled into his pajamas and then into bed.
The night, of course, did not seem nearly long enough. It was still dark out when he woke up from having his shoulder shook.
Sadly, it was one of those nights when his blankets seemed disgustingly soft and were just the right warmth. The last thing he wanted to do was get out from under those covers.
At first, he gave an unhappy grunt, wiggling down further into his comfy sheets. Sauron seriously did not seem to understand the concept of sleep. It was likely that he didn't even sleep himself. There was no way that he could understand its merits and yet get up so easily.
For a moment, Haldir had been left alone, and he slowly smiled into his pillow. Maybe he would get a little bit more time.
Yet, just as he thought it, he was shook twice as hard, enough that his head rolled around on the pillow. "Wake up sunshine!" Sauron whispered cheerfully.
Haldir groaned, opening one eye to look up at Sauron sullenly. "Don't ever call me that again," he whispered, his voice still a bit crackly from sleep.
"I won't unless there is a situation where you need to get up and, for whatever reason, don't want to play." He released Haldir's shoulder and, from the soft sound of his feet followed by a different noise that suspiciously sounded like something being pulled across the floor, must have gotten Haldir's pack from under the bed. "Come along now; we need to leave before anybody gets up."
With a sigh, Haldir slipped out of bed, stretching his arms and yawning. As awful as it felt, he could tell that he was waking up. Scratching his head, he looked over at Sauron, who was standing with his arms folded across his chest on the other side of the black room. "Plan on giving me some privacy?" he drawled before yawning again.
Sauron rolled his eyes but left the room, closing the door behind him.
After a short pause, Haldir got up and stumbled over to the chest on the opposite side of the room, where he had laid out his clothes for the day. While he lacked some of his usual coordination, he was able to yank his clothes on without any mishaps. Lacking both a mirror and light by which to see a mirror, he simply ran his fingers through his hair a couple times, hoping that it didn't look too bad. He knew that, without being able to pull it back some way like he normally did, it would be bothering him come that evening.
He picked up his pack, slinging it over his shoulder, and then opened the door. Sauron was leaning against the wall to his right, his own pack sitting on the floor in front of him. "Ready then?" he asked at Haldir's appearance.
"Physically, yes," Haldir replied. "In every other manner, no."
"Good enough," Sauron said, leaning down and grabbing his stuff. He smiled at Haldir as he started to make his way down the hall. "Finally getting out of this house for a respectable amount of time."
Haldir did not respond, but instead just followed Sauron down the stairs and out of the house.
The trip was pretty similar. They stopped at the same place to get their horses. Sauron again complained about having to ride a horse while consenting that they needed to do so anyways. Most of the trip to the docks, in turn, was pretty quiet. Haldir was in a very irritable mood, so it was good that Sauron was not one to randomly strike up conversations. Again, Haldir had gone along with something he shouldn't have, but really had not had any other choice about. He was immensely frustrated with himself.
They had arrived at the docks at about sunrise, due to having left so early. Sauron figured that it was a good time to arrive and that, if they found a ferry, they would not have to wait long for it to leave for Eressea.
Once their horses were safely corralled, they went down to the shore, scanning the piers. "I suppose you're going to say that we should ask," Sauron said.
"That's what I would recommend," Haldir replied, nodding.
"Fine. You ask somebody."
Haldir looked over at him sidelong. "Do I look like your little minion to you? Go ask yourself."
Sauron frowned slightly. "I don't like people."
"Wow, thanks for that revelation." Haldir shifted the pack on his back slightly. "It doesn't make any difference to me if you ask or not."
"I know." Sauron gave a sigh, then shook his head. Without any further pause, he walked forward from the alley they were in to the large street before them, stopping the first person he came upon.
Haldir could not catch what he said, but he could understand the gestures the elf made. Apparently directions to where they could find a ferry were being given. The only positive thingthat Haldir could see in that was that it had been fast.
Watching the expressions of the two, Haldir noted Sauron's fall abruptly. For a moment he was curious about it, but then decided that he didn't want to be and ignored it.
Not a moment later, Sauron looked over at Haldir and motioned for him to come down to the street. Yet, no sooner had Sauron done so then he began to sprint across the street to the docks.
Haldir, of course, became baffled at this. Why was Sauron running? He pondered it while hurrying to catch up, figuring that he might as well go with the flow at the moment and ask questions later.
Once Haldir caught up, Sauron started to go faster. "What is going on?" Haldir asked, trying to keep up while avoiding collisions with crates or tripping over rope.
"I found a ferry."
Haldir blinked. "Okay. Why all this running?"
"Because it's supposed to leave in about five minutes."
"Oh," was Haldir's reply.
For the next minute or so, they wove their way around, passing boats of various sizes. Haldir was amazed that Sauron was able to remember directions in such a way. If it had been up to him, they wouldn't have stood a chance.
Finally, they came to a dead end. Ahead of them was a fair-sized ship, that, at the moment, was having the ropes which kept it near the pier wound off. It was about to leave.
"Wait!" Sauron called, effectively getting the attention of the two elves on the dock.
One of the two replied. "Wait? The anchor is up and everything. It's too late now."
"Please," Sauron implored, and at any other time Haldir would have bugged him about it, "just give us the chance to get on?"
The two elves looked at each other, and then yelled at one of the sailors on the ship. In a conversation that seemed to consist mostly of monosyllabic words, the consensus was brought back that they could board.
"However, we can't put up the gangway again," one elf said apologetically. "You'll have to just walk across the rope."
Haldir felt rather indifferent to the condition. Any elf could do something like that; it was just a bit more of a hassle. However, Haldir was rather used to it. The bridges he had crossed had, more often than not, consisted only of a rope.
Sauron, however, looked very nauseous at the thought. Haldir was able to figure out why with very little thought. The lapping of the waves below them spoke of what it was that Sauron was unsettled about.
Probably didn't help that he wasn't one of the most coordinated people Haldir had known.
There wasn't anything else they could do about it, however.
Since he had a feeling that Sauron wouldn't take the initiative on this instance, Haldir went up to the rope, balanced against a barrel to his right for a second, and then walked the twenty or so feet to the ship.
Hoping over the rail, he looked back. "Come on, it isn't very hard," he said, not in encouragement but because he wanted Sauron to stop being a wimp about it and just cross the stupid rope.
Sauron hesitated a second, but then slowly walked to the rope. He looked up at Haldir, frowning and shaking his head slightly in a manner that clearly said "I have a feeling that this isn't such a good idea."
To his credit, he did do it. Sure, he looked really uncomfortable, holding his arms out a bit from his sides for balance, but, amazingly, he got across.
Haldir had, unconsciously of course, reached out a hand to help him up over the rail. Not surprisingly, considering the circumstance, Sauron has taken it and allowed Haldir to help him up.
As soon as Sauron was over, he let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. It looked like every muscle in his body simultaneously relaxed, and he learned back against the rail, his eyes still shut.
Haldir couldn't help but cross his arms. "The big bad Dark Lord of Middle-earth scared about a bit of water," he whispered in order to keep anybody else from hearing.
Nothing about Sauron's countenance revealed his reaction to Haldir's words. "Everyone is scared of something," he said evenly, his eyes remaining closed.
"Most are just afraid of something a bit more alarming than water. You know, you really are much less frightening once a person gets to know you a bit more."
A flicker of a smile pulled at the corners of Sauron's mouth. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at Haldir, a highly unsettling glint to them. "You are very much mistaken if you think you know me."
"I'm not quite that disillusioned," Haldir said, tipping his nose in the air. "I just mean that I know things about you that really put the damper on that whole 'imposing evil' junk."
Sauron didn't say anything. Instead, he slid down the rail so that he was sitting on the deck, his knees under his chin. "Go pay for our passage," he said simply, wrapping his arms around his legs.
Haldir raised a brow, but figured that he might as well. He just wished that he had been able to have done so without Sauron having brought it up first. It made it seem like he was just listening to him.
After a moment, Haldir found the captain and paid for the trip. The cost was pleasantly lower than his expectations, therefore his mood was appeased somewhat. Figuring that he might be able to save time, he also arranged to return with them the following day. The captain said that they made the trip about twice a day, in the morning and mid-afternoon, so whatever worked for Haldir would be fine. Haldir was planning on the earlier of the two. The sooner they got back home, the better.
Once that task was done, he went back over to where Sauron was seated, figuring that he didn't really have much else he could do.
Sauron was staring off across the water at the sunrise, an unreadable expression on his face. Initially, Haldir figured that he must be considering what sort of things he was going to do to that poor unsuspecting hobbit. His opinion changed a bit when Sauron spoke.
"The sun is very bright," he said, a thoughtful tone to his voice that Haldir hadn't ever encountered before.
Haldir frowned. "Yeah… it is," he agreed, confused about what the purpose of that had been.
"I remember the first light…" Sauron said quietly.
Well, this was a bit odd. Haldir wasn't sure how to respond, or if he should, or what. It was the very essence of awkward, at least on his part. Slowly, he sat down next to Sauron, looking out at the sun as well.
"I suppose I should give Varda credit," he mused. "It was something so different from what we knew, or thought we knew. It all was, for that matter. Like sight, where before there had only been sound…" He tilted his head to the side slightly, the smallest of a frown upon his lips.
It was clear to Haldir that a lot of things were passing through Sauron's head at the moment. It was also clear to him that such was an occasion where there was no need to speak. And he was thankful for that, because he had no idea what he would say if he had to.
It was really strange though, having Sauron off in his own world simply pondering and not brooding. Edged on creepy, to be completely honest.
For the most part, they were silent. It was only once they got near Eressea that Sauron broke out of his reverie.
"So, how do you suppose we find this little halfling?" he asked finally, back to his usual tone, meaning that, no matter what he said, his voice had a way of making it seem haughty.
"I don't know. Ask around I guess."
Sauron shook his head. "I'm sure you can come up with something better than that. Come on, think now."
"I thought you believed that I am not capable of thinking," Haldir retorted, throwing words Sauron had said many times before back in his face.
"Touché," Sauron said, nodding. "Yes, that is so. But I guess I'll just give the benefit of the doubt for the moment."
Haldir shook his head. "I don't know any other way that you could find him. Besides," he went on, "I'm sure most of the people were aware of his arrival, and therefore have some inkling as to where he could be found."
"Fine," Sauron sighed irritably.
There was a pause.
"What are you going to do when we find him?" Haldir asked, leery of the answer.
"I told you, I just want to have a chat with him," Sauron said innocently, which was almost more damning than if he had said something awful.
"That's transparent," Haldir mumbled.
"I don't know what you're implying." Sauron said, feigning indignation. "Would I lie to you?"
Haldir stared at him, slowly raising one brow. "Yes."
He nodded. "Yes, yes I would."
"So, what are you going to do?"
"That is for time to tell."
"No, I think that is for you to tell. What is it?"
"A chat! Honestly, how many times do I have to say it before it gets pounded through your thick skull?"
"For lies, an undefined amount," Haldir said, but was not able to continue due to their arrival at the docks of Eressea.
Within a short space of time, the ship was anchored, the gangway put in place, and everybody ready to get off. There was a handful of other people besides Haldir and Sauron who had used the trip to Eressea, which was actually primarily for the transportation of goods, as a ferry, and these were already waiting to disembark.
The small group had gotten off by the time Haldir and Sauron arrived on that side of the boat, and they were able to get off without waiting. "So," Sauron said once they were on dry land, "where do we start?"
It was a good question. Unfortunately, there wasn't any clear answer.
"By getting breakfast," Haldir finally decided.
"…What?!" Sauron asked, looking over at him with a puzzled expression.
"I'm hungry," Haldir said, and the growl from his stomach backed up his words. "I need something to eat. Besides, I'm sure that there would be people at wherever it is we go that might know something about the locale of Mr. Baggins."
Sauron scoffed. "You eruhini, just about having to plan your whole day around your stomachs."
"Unlike you, who would unwittingly waste away if food wasn't around to remind you that you need to eat," Haldir snipped back.
Sauron glanced down at his thin frame, and then shrugged. "Haven't wasted away yet."
"No, and assuming that you want to keep it that way, you need to eat just like me. And I'm hungry, so let's go eat."
Although he shook his head, Sauron agreed that they could get something to eat. Haldir, happy that his food would soon be available to pacify his hunger, asked one of the sailors from the ship as to a place where they could get something to eat.
Within the course of the next half hour, they found the place they had been directed to, got their meals, and had eaten them (or picked at it, in Sauron's case), and found out where Frodo was living. For the amount of time, Haldir thought they had been pretty successful.
However, that also meant that they had come to the part of the trip that Haldir was not looking forward.
As they walked along the white stone road towards the area that Frodo was living, Haldir could feel his spirits sinking with every step he took. Sauron, on the other hand, was becoming a bit more animated. This, however, was not a good thing. It wasn't something where, while Haldir became unhappy, Sauron became pleased. His face had an appearance was a sort of grim triumph that hinted to 'you may have gotten me, but now I'm going to get you' kind of thing. Which, unfortunately, seemed very likely.
Finally, it seemed that they had found the place. The elf they had spoken to had said that Frodo was living in a small house joined to a larger estate, something that was apparently very odd and would stick out. Which it did.
They both stood in the road for a moment looking at the house, Haldir apprehensive, and Sauron… probably something that Haldir didn't really want to know.
Due to Haldir's reluctance about the whole affair, it was obviously Sauron who made the first move towards the house. When he noticed that Haldir wasn't walking, he turned and looked at him with what was probably the creepiest expression Haldir had ever seen. While he was smiling, his eyes were so full of malice that Haldir could only fleetingly compare it to the two times Sauron had lost his cool a bit, but even then it did not match up. This was deeper. And while it made sense, it was still highly unsettling. For a second, Haldir did not in any way have to use his imagination in placing the person in front of him as the Lord of the Rings. "Well, coming?" he asked.
Haldir, even more freaked out and displeased than he had been a moment for, slowly went forward. "What have I done?" he asked himself.
I:I:I:I:I
Well… there you go guys. Hopefully that will tide you over until next time!!