Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings but if I did.....drool........Legolas.......hot elf...drool.....Elrond.....argh!!!! Elrond get out of my fantasy!!!!! All the new characters are my own creations with a few suggestions from my friend (Gilraen) thrown in.
A/n: Ok, this chapter is entirely my own creation as it's not in the film and Tigerlily isn't Tolkien's. It will tell us more about her. It'll explain why Tigerlily went to Bree. I've also been on a name generator and using the names of my fave actors and singers (Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Tom Felton, Brad Pitt, Daniel Radcliffe and Justin Timberlake in that order) I have come up with names for Tigerlily's brothers. This is quite a long chapter.
Chapter 3
Peaceful times
Tigerlily ran towards her eldest brother. Pimpernel, although twenty years older was very close to his sister. She laughed as he swept her up into his arms; she was seventeen years old. He was grown up and married with a two sons; but came to see his family whenever he could. She hugged her brother and smiled. She thought her life was perfect. She had been walking along the Isen River when she spotted Pimpernel and her second-eldest brother Milo. As she hugged Milo, she heard a twig snap and a low growl. Her brother dropped her in surprise. Both he and Pimpernel reached for their swords. An orc stumbled out of the bushes. Milo rushed forward and stabbed the orc through the neck.
"An orc?" said Pimpernel, "I thought they kept away from civilization?"
"Something is wrong," said Milo, "Come on." Milo, Pimpernel and Tigerlily headed over a small ridge. On the other side was a sight that would haunt Tigerlily for years to come; a camp of about five hundred orcs. Tigerlily had only ever seen pictures of orcs before. Their stench was terrible. Her brothers had described it to her when they had returned from trips with Strider. It was ten times worse than Tigerlily had imagined. She was violently sick. What was most disturbing were the heads. Human heads on spikes, their eyes open.
"This is sick," said Milo, "What are they doing here?"
"I don't know," replied Pimpernel. Both of them turned and looked at Tigerlily.
"What? Oh, no, mama said you weren't to use me as a spy anymore," said Tigerlily in protest.
Five minutes later, Tigerlily was hiding and listening to the orcs.
'How come I'm always the spy?' she thought.
"Now when do we attack?" an Orc asked a large creature that looked like an orc but was far too tall. (A/n: An Uruk-Hai)
"Tonight dusk, them farmers won't know what's hit 'em," said the creature, "Don't forget to find the kid. It's a girl about seventeen..." Tigerlily's foot slipped and a twig snapped beneath it.
"Oh no," she breathed. The large creature reached out and pulled Tigerlily out of her hiding place.
"Well, well what do we have here?" he asked.
"It's one of them farmer's daughters," spat an orc.
"What's your name girlie?" asked the creature.
"Why do you want to know that?" asked the orc
"I know the name of the one we're looking for," said the orc, "Now what's your name?"
"Tigerlily," replied Tigerlily.
"Tigerlily what?" said the creature, shaking her.
"Leave her alone!" shouted Milo. He and Pimpernel lunged at the monster that had their sister, swords at the ready. The creature let go of Tigerlily. She ran and hid behind them.
"So, you're Tigerlily Solaris?" said the Uruk-Hai (I got bored calling him 'the creature') Milo and Pimpernel looked confused.
"How'd you know that?" asked Milo.
"It's the star on your pendant," said the Uruk-Hai, "The Solaris family wears a wooden pendant with a star on it." He pointed at the pendant around Milo's neck. Everyone in the Solaris family wore one even Tigerlily.
"Looks like you're the one we've been looking for," said the Uruk-Hai.
"Why? Why do you want me?" asked Tigerlily
"Haven't your parents ever told you that..." the Uruk-Hai's words were cut short by Pimpernel cutting off his head.
"Let's get out of here!" yelled Milo. He grabbed Tigerlily's hand and started running, Pimpernel followed. The orcs were furious at their leader's murder and were swearing revenge. Milo and Pimpernel carried on running, ignoring Tigerlily's pleas for them to explain the Uruk-Hai's words.
They soon reached home. They dragged Tigerlily into the house and slammed the door shut.
"What's going on?" demanded Strider who was sat at the kitchen table.
"Orcs by the Isen River," said Pimpernel, "Mama, Papa, I need a word." His mother and father followed him into the next room. Tigerlily had no idea what was being said but it obviously had something to do with her as Milo had whispered into the ears of Strider and her other brothers, Fosco, Togo, Till and Olo.
Her mother and father came out looking very pale.
"Strider," said Meryn, "I need you to take Tigerlily as far away from here as possible before tonight."
"I'll take her to Bree, you have family there," said Strider.
"Papa, what is going on?" asked Tigerlily.
"You're too young to understand," said Meryn, "We'll explain it to you someday."
"Mama," said Tigerlily, turning to her mother.
"Your father is right, Tigerlily," said her mother, "You wouldn't understand. Now, come child, we must prepare for your departure."
As the sun set, Tigerlily left her village for the first time in her life. She turned back to look at it for one last time. A scream reached her ears. The orcs were attacking. She saw Milo rush at an orc but the orc was quicker and struck Milo in his stomach. As Milo fell to the ground, Tigerlily cried, "Nooooo!"
Tigerlily awoke from her nightmare in Rivendell. That terrible night had been nine years ago. She never found out if Milo was alright. She had been left in Bree with her grandparents and they refused to tell her what the Uruk-Hai had meant. She calmed herself. That dream had haunted her for so long yet it still scared her. It was sunrise and had been three days since the council, since she had joined the Fellowship. She was wearing silver pyjamas and her hair was hung loose around her face. Her room faced out onto the river. The curtains and bedclothes were a dark green colour with gold lacing. She got out of bed and went onto her balcony. She heard a soft voice singing. She looked around and saw only Legolas the elf, sitting beneath a tree. His lips were moving so it was obviously him.
The leaves were long, the grass was green,
The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,
And in the glade a light was seen
Of stars in shadow shimmering
Tinúviel was dancing there
To music of a pipe unseen,
And light of stars was in her hair,
And in her raiment glimmering.
Tigerlily knew this song very well and sang the second verse when Legolas stopped.
There Beren came from mountains cold,
And lost he wandered under leaves,
And where the Elven-river rolled
He walked alone and sorrowing.
He peered between the hemlock-leaves
And saw in wonder flowers of gold
Upon her mantle and her sleeves,
And her hair like shadow following.
Legolas looked up and saw Tigerlily stood on her balcony, her eyes looking at the sunrise. Other than Aragorn, he had never heard a human sing the song of Beren and Lúthien.
"Good morning my lady," he said, when she had finished. He had to admit she had a lovely voice. Tigerlily looked at him.
"What wakes you at such an hour? All humans I have met prefer to sleep half the day," said Legolas. He had intended it as a joke about Aragorn; unfortunately Tigerlily did not see it that way.
"What wakes me is none of your concern; it might well have been your singing that brought me from my slumber. Humans are not lazy; we just require more than elves when it comes to sleeping," she said and stormed off.
'What was that about?' thought Legolas. Tigerlily herself was confused by her outburst; she was by nature a placid person unless threatened. Legolas had not threatened her in anyway, no elf ever had. Except Elladen, one of Elrond's sons, but that was just a playful threat when she first ever came Rivendell. She had told him she thought he was stupid, he had threatened to throw her in the river. It had actually ended in her throwing him in the river. She was brought from her thoughts by the Hobbits coming into her room.
"Good morning Tigerlily," said Pippin, a smile on his face.
"What are you four doing awake?" asked Tigerlily
"Well, Legolas was sent to get you but that was half an hour ago," said Merry.
"Oh, he was sat under the tree a few minutes ago," said Tigerlily.
"Yes, I apologize for that," said Legolas, who had now appeared at the door, "It must have slipped my mind." Tigerlily's cheeks flushed red when she saw him.
"I'm sorry for what I said, I don't know why I reacted like that," said Tigerlily.
"There is nothing to forgive my lady," said Legolas.
"Why were you sent to find me?" asked Tigerlily
"Aragorn thinks we need to practice in case we should be attacked by orcs," said Legolas.
"Oh, would you excuse me?" said Tigerlily
"Why?" Pippin asked as the others left the room.
"I'm not going to change with you watching, am I?" said Tigerlily.
"Are you?" said Pippin, hopefully. Legolas walked back in and dragged Pippin out by the collar. He shut the door behind him. Tigerlily started to take off her pyjamas. She froze when she heard a whisper from outside the door.
"Hobbits!" she yelled.
"Ok, ok, we won't look through the keyhole," came Pippin's voice. Tigerlily opened her drawers and put on clean underwear. She then put on her clothes. She wore brown trousers, a white shirt and a brown sleeveless tunic. She opened the door and stepped out. Legolas was leaning against the opposite wall, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. He looked at Tigerlily.
"Sword?" he said, helpfully.
"Oh, right!" said Tigerlily, she went back into her room and found her sword. She fastened it around her waist as she came out.
"Ok, let's go," she said. Legolas led the way down to near the river where Gandalf, Aragorn, Boromir and Gimli were.
"Well, it's about time," said Gimli, "What kept you?"
"Legolas forgot what he was supposed to do," said Sam.
"Reminds me of a certain someone," said Aragorn, looking at Tigerlily.
"Shall we begin?" said Tigerlily.
"Ok, I think you should try your luck against Boromir," said Aragorn.
"Scared I'll beat you?" said Tigerlily.
"No," said Aragorn as Boromir drew his sword. Tigerlily drew hers.
"You're going down Boromir!" said Tigerlily. Her sword clashed with his. She was very quick on her feet but her hands were not fast enough to avoid Boromir parting her from her sword.
"You need to work on your speed, little one," said Boromir, "what are you going to do now?"
"I might just...push you in the river!" said Tigerlily, she rushed forward and pushed Boromir into the river. He disappeared beneath the surface.
"That's for calling my people peasants," said Tigerlily as Boromir resurfaced. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her into the river and under the surface. The rest rushed over to the bank. Aragorn looked worried; he knew that Tigerlily couldn't swim well. She resurfaced and he grabbed her by the collar. She put one hand on his shoulder. Too late did he realize what she was going to do. Using her weight, she pulled Aragorn into the water with her. The Hobbits looked at each other and shrugged. They took a running jump and ended up landing on Tigerlily, Aragorn and Boromir as they resurfaced.
"What are you playing at?" demanded Gandalf.
"Oh, you're such a spoilsport Gandalf," said Tigerlily, splashing some water at the three left standing on the bank, "Come on! Are you scared of the water or something?"
"No, a dwarf is scared of nothing," said Gimli, "Especially water."
"Well, why don't you come in? Are you chicken?" said Tigerlily. The dwarf was silent. Tigerlily began to impersonate a chicken. The Hobbits and Boromir copied her; Aragorn gave them warning looks.
"Alright, I'm coming in," said Gimli. He jumped in causing a huge splash. He resurfaced with a worried look on his face.
"What's wrong?" asked Tigerlily.
"I just remembered I can't swim," he said. Tigerlily pushed Gimli to the bank. Legolas walked over and offered his hand to the dwarf.
"I've also remembered that I can lie like there's no tomorrow," said Gimli, laughing. He grabbed the elf's hand and pulled him into the water. Legolas resurfaced with the dwarf still laughing at him. Legolas lunged at Gimli who moved out the way and Legolas instead got Tigerlily. He pulled her beneath the surface. He saw her eyes screw up to keep out the water and her hair was flying out. He let her go and they came back to the surface. Tigerlily's hair was plastered to her head and had turned dark brown and her eyes were sparkling.
Half an hour later...
Elrond was surprised to find nine of the Fellowship dripping wet, sat on the bank of the river.
"What happened?" he demanded
"Tigerlily pushed me in the river," said Boromir.
"Then he pulled me in," said Tigerlily
"Then she pulled me in," said Aragorn
"Then we jumped in," chorused the hobbits
"She taunted me till I jumped in," said Gimli
"And he pulled me in," said Legolas.
"I don't believe this," said Elrond.
A few days later, Tigerlily was walking around Rivendell, admiring the beauty of this place. She liked Rivendell but she preferred the open fields of Enedwaith where she could run to her hearts content. Here she was confined by the walls of the valley. She heard a gentle humming from nearby. Legolas was lying beneath a tree. His fair face was looking up at the clouds.
"Hello Tigerlily," said Legolas, "Yes, I heard you coming. You're light on your feet for a human."
"Oh, sorry to disturb you," said Tigerlily.
"You did nothing of the sort."
"Are you looking for shapes in the clouds?" asked Tigerlily
"What?" said Legolas, looking at Tigerlily.
"It's a child's game from home, we'd look at the clouds and try to find ones that look like things," said Tigerlily. Legolas looked up at the sky.
"That one there looks like a star," he said. Tigerlily sat beside the elf and looked up.
"So it is!" said Tigerlily. She spent the rest of the day with Legolas finding shapes in the clouds.
"That one looks like Gimli," said Tigerlily, late in the afternoon.
"No, it's far too tall," said Legolas. They both laughed. Tigerlily looked at Legolas. He held her gaze with his blue eyes. Tigerlily couldn't deny that she was attracted to him. He was kind, funny and beautiful. His hand stroked her cheek. Legolas too was attracted to Tigerlily. She was strong, beautiful and intelligent as well as having a sense of humor. His head came closer to hers. With only seconds to spare, Tigerlily realized what was happening. She pushed Legolas away from her. When he felt her hands push him away, Legolas opened his eyes. Tigerlily was looking at the ground.
"What is wrong?" he asked.
"I can't...," said Tigerlily, "I won't deny that I am attracted to you. But you are an Elf and I am a human. It would only end in heartbreak. And there are things about myself even I don't know. I'm sorry." Tigerlily got up and ran away. Legolas leaned back against the tree. Now he wanted her more than he had before. He had dreamt about her ever since the council. He had come so close and she had pushed him away. He thought back to yesterday. He remembered seeing her eyes sparkle as she laughed at the Hobbits and how her shirt had clung to her slim figure when it was wet, showing her curves. What was it that she didn't know about herself?
He was still thinking about this question when he walked into Aragorn.
"Sorry," he said
"You seem distracted, mellon-nîn," said Aragorn.
"I was speaking to Tigerlily earlier," said Legolas as he walked beside Aragorn, "And ..."
"You tried to kiss her," said Aragorn.
"How'd you know?" said Legolas.
"Pippin saw you," replied Aragorn, "He's taken quite a fancy to Tigerlily so he wasn't pleased when he saw you together."
"Well, she said there are things about herself that she didn't know," said Legolas, "It was that which puzzled me." He looked at Aragorn. He could see a secret hiding in Aragorn's eyes; he knew something.
"Can I trust you with a secret?" asked Aragorn stopping suddenly.
"Yes," said Legolas.
"You must tell no one especially Tigerlily," said Aragorn. Legolas nodded.
"Tigerlily is mortal at the moment but come her twenty-seventh birthday she will have an immortal life," said Aragorn.
"What?" said Legolas, this was making no sense.
"On the day of Tigerlily's birth, the eighth day of March, the year two-thousand, nine-hundred and ninety-two of the third age, all the planets aligned. Something that happens only every hundred millennia. If Tigerlily had been born a second earlier or a second later she wouldn't have any chance of an immortal life. But as it happens Tigerlily was born at the exact moment of the alignment, so when she reaches the age of twenty-seven, she will no longer know sickness or pestilence. She would be immortal. You cannot tell her this. It's her father's duty to tell her. I only know this because I was there when she was born," said Aragorn.
"A solar-blessed child?" said Legolas, "I thought they were myth?"
"No, they are real just incredibly rare. It's just coincidence that her last name is Solaris," said Aragorn.
"This is unbelievable," said Legolas, "I thought she meant she didn't know what she wanted from her life. Wait! If she didn't know about this then what does she mean by not knowing things about herself?"
"She has an idea. A Uruk-Hai nearly told her once," said Aragorn.
"A Uruk-Hai? How would a Uruk-Hai know?" asked Legolas
"It was probably working for Saruman. He knew that Tigerlily was a solar-blessed child. It was on that day, we discovered that the enemy wanted her," said Aragorn
"Why would they want her?" asked Legolas
"She's still human. If the enemy were to catch her, Sauron would put into her what he put into the Ring. His cruelty, his malice and his will to dominate all life. That way, even if he was destroyed, Tigerlily would continue what he had started," said Aragorn
"He'd use her as a successor," said Legolas.
"Yes, that is why I took her to Bree. Her family and I discovered the enemy's plan and stalled it by taking her to a place the enemy knew nothing of," explained Aragorn.
"The Shire," said Legolas. Aragorn nodded.
"You must tell her nothing of this," warned Aragorn, "It would just worry her. She blames herself for her village being attacked and struggles to sleep as it is. What she needs is a friend whom has no secrets from her, or so she would think."
"What are you suggesting?" said Legolas.
"As she doesn't want you as a lover, maybe she would want you as a friend. Don't go talk to her now, wait until tomorrow when she has had time to think over what she feels and reach her own decision," said Aragorn
"I will take your advice," said Legolas, he turned to leave, "I'll watch out for Pippin as well."
"You better. The only more dangerous thing than a Hobbit in love is a hungry one," Aragorn joked. Legolas laughed and went on his way. He found Gandalf with the Hobbits in the library. Pippin glared at him as he entered. Legolas raised one eyebrow at Pippin.
"Isn't she a bit tall for you?" said Legolas.
"Isn't she a bit mortal for you?" said Pippin. Gandalf, Frodo, Sam and Merry stared at the two. They had no idea what the two were talking about.
"At least I can see past Tigerlily's waist," said Legolas before he left. Everyone turned to look at Pippin.
"Do I detect a hint of rivalry?" asked Merry.
That night, Legolas found he was unable to sleep. His thoughts kept straying to Tigerlily and how close he had come to kissing her. In Mirkwood, no maiden had ever rejected him. The maidens there were different. They would shriek at the first sign of a mouse, never quite understood his jokes or even understood a word he said when he talked about Archery. His father had told him what a maiden should be like but he found himself liking Tigerlily more than those maidens. He slipped into uneasy dreams. He dreamt of the day he had ended up in the river. But this time it was just him and Tigerlily. He dreamt of her shirt going see-through. He pulled her up onto the bank where the hot sun was beating down. He pulled her to her feet but she slipped and fell into his arms. Her hazel eyes looked up at him. They were sparkling with the water. Her hands slipped round his neck and she pulled herself up on to her feet. Even through her clothes he could feel her body heat. The closeness of her body made him want to hold her close forever. Her face came closer to his. He closed his eyes as their lips met. Her lips were cold from the water. He felt his hands slide from her waist to the top of her tunic and being to undo the fastening. Suddenly something icy cold and wet hit him in the face. Legolas awoke from his dream with a jump. Standing next to his bed, was Gandalf holding a jug.
"Good morning master Elf," he said, "I thought it was only teenage humans who slept till nearly noon on a beautiful day. Aragorn asked me to tell you that Tigerlily is near the archery field. Does that mean anything to you?"
"Yes," said Legolas, sitting up.
"Very well then," said Gandalf and he left; he had better things to do than question an elf. Legolas quickly got up and dressed. He half-ran to the archery field. Tigerlily was there, practicing swinging her sword but falling over a lot. Legolas knew what the problem was.
"You need to widen your stance," he said. Tigerlily turned her head to look at him. She felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked at his eyes. They were the same intense blue as ever.
"Excuse me?" she said. Legolas smiled. He went up to her and stood next to her so her back was against his chest. He felt a shiver run down her spine as he touched her. He used his foot to separate hers so they were shoulder-width apart.
"Also your swings aren't very smooth," he said. He didn't know much about sword-fighting but was willing to offer any advice he had. He put his arms around Tigerlily and covered her hands with his.
"Like this," he said. He helped her swing the sword, which he felt was far too big for her, in one smooth movement.
"You don't stop and then start again. You keep it in one smooth movement," he said.
"Thank you," said Tigerlily.
"I wanted to apologise for what I did yesterday. It was stupid to try to kiss you," he said. Tigerlily regretted stopping him yesterday, she had spent the night tossing and turning trying to get thoughts of him out of her head.
"Are you any good at archery?" he asked.
"No, Strider I mean Aragorn, never had much time to teach me and my parents didn't want me to learn to fight anyway," said Tigerlily.
"Explains your terrible swing," said Legolas.
"Do you want to match Boromir and get a punch in the face?" said Tigerlily.
"Forgive me, Tigerlily," said Legolas, "I didn't mean to insult you."
"There is nothing to forgive, you are right. I'm not much good with a sword," said Tigerlily.
"I think it may be too big for you," he said. Tigerlily looked at him. His face was just centimeters from hers. Legolas realised how close he was to her, he could feel her against him from her back down. He released her hands and stepped away.
"Sorry, I was too close," he said. He realised that Tigerlily hadn't said anything.
"Tigerlily?" he said. He looked closely at her; he could see silent tears falling down her face.
"Tigerlily, what is wrong?" he asked.
"You are the first person to give me anything even close to a hug for years," sobbed Tigerlily.
"What about..." he started
"Aragorn?" finished Tigerlily, "He hadn't much time for me after he took me away from Enedwaith. He was always off looking for something named Gollum or doing something with the Dúnedain." More tears fell from her eyes. Legolas turned her to face him and took the sword from her. He threw it on the ground and drew her into his arms. For the first time in years, Tigerlily didn't feel unwanted. She wound her arms around Legolas' neck and pulled herself even closer. Legolas willed his body not to react while she was so close. It was hard. She was so close he could feel her heartbeat and her hair was rubbing against his face.
"Ever since Aragorn took me from home, I've felt like a burden, like I was just in the way," sobbed Tigerlily.
"You would never be a burden to me," said Legolas, "You would always be wanted...as a friend I could trust." There he had done it. He had suggested they be friends.
"Thank you, I just know you would be a good friend," said Tigerlily. Legolas gave her a friendly squeeze. His control of his body was tested when she gently nuzzled his neck with her head. He turned his head and gently kissed her hair. He caught a whiff of her scent. It was like a summer breeze, light and airy. Legolas let go of her and Tigerlily stepped away.
"Sorry about that. I don't usually cry," she said embarrassed.
"It's no problem," said Legolas, "I will always be here for you as a friend."
"Thank you," she said.
"Now what do you say we work on that swing of yours or do you want me to teach you to use a bow and arrow," said Legolas. Tigerlily laughed at him for being so nice.
Ohhh!! Chemistry!! So does Tigerlily want Legolas as a friend or does she want more??
Well, we're leaving Rivendell next chapter.