Connected

A/N: Here we have Talion, Eltariel, and Talion's drake, and Talion and Eltariel have different opinions on how to approach the One Ring situation. Suffice it to say neither of them wins seeing as how they're shot down over Udun. They can't even get out of Mordor without finding trouble. *sighs and shakes head* Also, I wanted a mounted beast companion for Talion that he didn't have to dominate, hence my affection for the unnamed female drake here. :)

Talion had made preparations for leaving Mordor prior to Eltariel's rescue. Not only had he mapped out their course on their way to the Shire, a land far northwest, but he had even figured out where their's and the company's paths would cross. The Ford of Bruinen, though he didn't know how he knew, was where he and Eltariel would make their presence known to the company. When Eltariel had asked him how he knew where he was going and what to look for, he hesitantly revealed part of Shelob's vision to her. She was, understandably, wary, and was not for one second satisfied with what she was hearing. The several hours between their departure from Nurnen and the present moment hadn't helped. As the sun began its descent, Eltariel stewed more and more in her thoughts until she could no longer hold her tongue. Sitting atop Talion's drake, their argument was awkward but no less heated than usual, both facing front and holding onto scales and spikes as wind whipped and threatened to unseat them with a strong gust.

"A direct approach is foolish, Talion. You would reveal us to potentially hostile beings and leave us vulnerable to the Nazgul's attacks? No. We need to plan our approach carefully, reveal ourselves when the opportunity presents itself." He looked back at her as he responded.

"And when, exactly, will that be? No. Approaching them and making our intentions clear up front is the best way to gain their trust, not hiding in the shadows and stalking them like prey."

"Because you're plenty experienced with that," she drawled sarcastically. He glowered at her before getting to his feet and planting them firmly into his drake's back. She protested with a screech, and Talion patted her scales in apology as he rounded on Eltariel.

"I will not give the bearer of the One Ring any reason to think us enemies! If he decides we are a threat, what do you think he and his allies will do? Elves, men, dwarves, it matters not. I will not allow your horrible decisions to hinder us on this quest."

"Hinder us?" she questioned, eyes narrowed as she glared up at him. "Keep us safe, you mean? Keep us from recklessly charging into dangerous matters that don't concern us?"

"You agreed to accompany me," he reminded her lowly.

"To track down the Nazgul, as was my mission, and to make sure you don't join them—

"I won't—

"So you say, but you've said it yourself: the ring claws at your conscience every waking moment with promises of Middle-Earth at your fingertips. What's to say being in close proximity with the One Ring won't make it worse?"

"Is our entire journey going to consist of you telling me you will never trust me?" Talion snapped, irked.

"Until you admit that we need to take a safer approach to this "quest" of yours, then yes!"

"We will never be safe so long as the Rings of Power and the Nazgul exist," he told her. Before she could get another word in there was an ear-splitting shriek as a molten rock collided with the drake, sending Eltariel and Talion tumbling to the ground, the drake spiraling through the air and disappearing over the Black Gate, smoke coming from her hide. Reluctantly, Talion grabbed Eltariel as the ground rushed up to meet them, feeling his dark magic absorb most of the impact from the fall. He landed heavily on his feet, an arm around Eltariel while his other reached for Urfael. She quickly disentangled herself from Talion as the two faced quite the gathering of orcs, and a fiery graug that seemed intent on either crushing or burning the two of them alive.

"Manswine!" one of the orcs shouted over the excited roars of the others around him. "Think you get to leave Mordor without a little goodbye from yours truly? Well, think again! Don't tell me you were just gonna fly by and forget about us Uruks down here?"

"You will regret delaying me, Narug," Talion growled, hands glowing emerald, a black haze beginning to surround him. "And it will be the last mistake you ever make." With inhuman speed Talion shadow struck a handful of orcs, a few of which rose again with glowing green eyes and unintelligible growls, before he found himself on top of the graug, a hand pressed to its massive head as he willed it to obey him. With a mighty roar, the creature fell under his control, and he turned it towards his old rival with fiery red-orange eyes. With little more than a thought the graug charged after Narug, and as Talion leapt off the graug he caught a stunned Eltariel's arm and sprinted in the opposite direction, towards the Black Gate, allowing a small smile at the shrill scream that sounded behind them. When she got her bearings back she wrenched her arm from his grasp, free-running beside him, surprised that it was she who was having a hard time keeping up with him. She observed his slowly fading red-orange eyes with unease, the way he winced and clenched the hand with Isildur's Ring, which seemed to eerily glow as he did so.

As they reached the Black Gate, Eltariel purposefully fell behind to watch Talion as he slaughtered and dominated his way through the small army of orcs that guarded the entrance to Mordor. His attacks flowed seamlessly, flawlessly, and in no time he had cleared a path to the top of the gate. She caught up to him as he stood frozen in the place where he had defeated the Black Hand of Sauron, perhaps reliving a few unpleasant memories. The hand that held the ring was clenched tightly in a fist as Talion trembled, darkness clouding his vision.

We shall be sealed together in death!

Talion, my heart. We will be together soon. Forever.

The Black Hand of Sauron is dead. The Hither Shore is calling us.

The time has come for a new ring.

A familiar roar in the distance brought Talion out of his dark memories, and he shook the last of them away as he turned to face Eltariel. "We should go to her, then we must continue on." His eyes were distant, she noticed. Perhaps hers would be too if she had to relive the sad fates of those she cared about… If she could remember anyone she cared about… Not waiting for a response, Talion easily leapt down from the top of the gate while Eltariel climbed down as quickly as she could. Once they were both back on the ground, Eltariel followed Talion, who quickly made it to the side of his injured drake, voice gentle.

"Easy there, girl. You're alright." He tenderly felt around the area of the graug's earlier attack, which had caught her side and a lower part of her wing. It didn't look too serious, but it looked painful enough to keep her grounded for the time being. The drake huffed at his tone, but gently headbutted his armor nonetheless, drawing a small laugh out of Talion. "Rest, and find us when your strength returns," he told her softly. She drew back with sharp aquamarine eyes, a soft rumbling in her throat, before then looking to Eltariel with almost a glare of warning. Eltariel met the drake's stare in both confusion and wonder before looking back to Talion, who had just summoned two caragors, one dire and one normal, with a wave of his hand and the flash of his ring. The caragors stopped a careful distance from the drake, who paid them no mind. Mounting the caragors, the two rode away from Mordor at a brisk pace, heading towards the Dead Marshes.

"We should go around. As much as I hate traveling in the open, the Dead Marshes are not a place I would like to sleep for the night."

"Sleep?" Talion asked, suddenly hyper aware of himself.

"Yes, Talion, the action that allows those of us who are alive to regain much needed energy," she snapped. Talion tried to remember when the last time he'd settled down to sleep was, when the last time he truly needed to sleep was. How long had it been? Decades? Had to be. "When it becomes too dark to see we should settle for the night, and continue on when dawn is upon us."

"And I assume you'd like me to keep watch for the night?"

"If you'd like the same courtesy while you rest, then yes."

"I… I don't sleep anymore. I don't need it." Talion didn't understand the weight of those words until he heard them aloud, until they came out of his mouth, and he'd realized that he'd lost another part of himself.

He knew that he hadn't been completely human since before his death. With Celebrimbor, he had been part wraith, banished from death and, therefore. His basic needs had remained the same at first, but over time the need for food and rest became less and less until he could go weeks without either. Granted, he still regularly ate and slept, so that he at least felt normal, but he didn't really need it. The last time he'd voluntarily sat down for a meal and caught a few hours of sleep had been before Isildur's ring, before the betrayal, before the last stronghold fell under his control. Really thinking about how long it had been since he'd done something so simply human and normal had him glancing down at the ring, which seemed to mock his inner turmoil. Eltariel watched Talion's reaction to his own words and almost felt pity for him. Of course the Nazgul didn't need sleep, but Talion wasn't one of them yet. Surely, she had thought, he needed sleep just as other mortals did? Apparently not, and while she didn't like the thought of only Talion watching her back it was safer than sleeping unguarded.

"Well, how fortunate of us then," she stated. The conversation trailed off after that, the air awkward and hostile between the two of them. Talion truly wondered how they managed to meet the company without ripping the other's throat out or leaving the other for dead. When the caragors tired, dragging their powerful legs along the ground, and Eltariel struggled to keep her eyes open they stopped for the night. As Eltariel settled down the caragors settled down around her protectively with Talion closing the gap they left, effectively blocking her from view and creating a barrier around her. With a nod in silent thanks she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, followed swiftly by the caragors.

Talion laid back himself, glancing up at the stars. Folding one arm underneath his head as his other hand played absentmindedly with the New Ring hanging around his neck, he sighed. This was going to be a long night.

XxX

Celebrimbor felt his consciousness return as he squinted against the light around him, harsh to his eyes after all the time he'd spent trapped. Odd. His heated battles with Sauron were usually just the two of them locked inside a dark, endless nothingness, vying for control, the air heated with hatred and stifling with contempt. But here and now light beckoned him awake, and a comforting warmth embraced him as he stood.

Similarly, a little ways away and out of Celebrimbor's peripheral vision, Talion was yawning awake, feeling more like himself than he'd felt in a long, long time. Slowly sitting up and rubbing sleep out of his eyes, he looked around at the beautiful landscape around him, welcoming the sun's warm rays. Trees and greenery framed by mountains in the background and a river rushing nearby made Talion feel much more comfortable being in such a strange place.

Celebrimbor got to his feet and observed the forest-like area around him in wonder, his breath catching in his throat as his eyes fell on Talion, who met his gaze shortly after. Talion quickly leapt to his feet, radiating shock and hopefulness. "C-Celebrimbor?" he asked in disbelief. The two made their way towards each other, not stopping until they were locked in a tight embrace, Talion burying his face in Celebrimbor's hair.

"Talion? What…? How are we… Here?" They just barely pulled away from the other, Celebrimbor still in Talion's grasp.

"I don't know, but I won't question it. We're both here, together… Alive, even."

"Alive?" Talion raised a hand to sweep a few of Celebrimbor's ebony locks of hair in front of his face with a gentle smile and bright eyes. Quickly looking down at himself, Celebrimbor saw that he was no longer the wraith he knew he had become, but the elven lord he had been in his lifetime, his blue and silver battle armor gleaming in the sunlight, skin the color of cream, hair as dark as the night. Looking back to Talion, who looked more like the man he'd first met after his death, guardian armor of red and silver, free of any dark influence. A relieved laugh escaped Celebrimbor as the information sunk in. He felt a pair of hands cup his face, and he was once again met Talion's eyes. His gaze seemed almost reverent now, as if he wasn't quite sure if he was allowed to look upon such a sight.

"You're even more beautiful than I imagined," he told him softly. Celebrimbor flushed in surprise at the statement, reaching up to grasp Talion's wrists, attempting to lower his hand.

"I hardly think I deserve such praise from you, Talion," he replied sadly. Talion sighed, resisting Celebrimbor and keeping his hands exactly where they were.

"What's done is done and I harbor no ill will towards you," he insisted, "I never will." Celebrimbor averted his eyes.

"I'm not deserving of your loyalty either," he whispered. Talion drew his gaze back as he gently stroked Celebrimbor's cheek with his thumb. He brought their foreheads together, and the two rested there with their eyes closed for a few moments, just enjoying the closeness.

"You are deserving of everything and more," Talion protested quietly. "You have lost everything: your home, your family, even a part of yourself. All you ever wanted was a way to make things right and a way to make the bastard who ruined your life pay for his crimes. You may not have gone about it the right way, but you thought only of your family, of the people of Middle-Earth who would be slaughtered or enslaved should Sauron rise to power again. You thought of them and you made it your goal to defeat Sauron and restore order and light to every place he dared touch."

"But that does not justify my actions," Celebrimbor argued.

"I'm not saying it did, but you never intended to rule over Middle-Earth as Sauron did, not without the ring's influence." At the mention of the New Ring, Celebrimbor opened his eyes, which were drawn towards the chain that hung around Talion's neck. On it, he saw the ring, looking just as marvelous as when they'd first crafted it in Mount Doom. Carefully, he reached up and held it, turning it over in his fingers.

"You kept it? Even after everything that happened because of it?" Talion opened his eyes and drew back a bit, also looking at the ring.

"A part of our souls lie within it. It… It is a way to keep you close, no matter how far away from Mordor I might be." Celebrimbor looked to him in awe. "And it reminds me that I'm still human, that I'm not completely lost yet."

"You will never be one of them, Talion," he insisted, letting go of the ring. "You are stronger than they ever were."

"I don't know if I still believe that," Talion whispered.

"Well I do, and I always will." It was then that the light around them seemed to begin fading. Celebrimbor seemed resigned, almost as if he expected it to happen, but Talion looked around in alarm, hands reaching for a sword that wasn't there. He looked back to Celebrimbor, unwilling to let him go again.

"I'm not leaving you," he insisted.

"You cannot sleep forever, Talion, and neither can I. The ring is what brought us back together, however briefly. I'm sure it can do it again." Talion swayed on his feet, his vision beginning to fade.

"Hora ni," he pleaded in Quenya, hoping that Celebrimbor understood his weak voice.

As he felt himself falling, vision failing him, he heard a whispered, "Illume, melda," in response.

XxX

Talion woke with a groan, gingerly sitting up with a hand to his head, the other clutching the ring glowing and burning around his neck. Looking down, he saw the elvish script carved into it glowing a fierce blue, a surprising warmth emanating from it until it faded, returning to its normal state. So then the dream had happened? His conversation with Celebrimbor, so close and yet so far away from him. If he closed his eyes and concentrated, he could still feel the warmth from Celebrimbor's body, the silkiness of his hair, the brightness of his sapphire eyes…

"What was that about not needing sleep?" he heard from not too far away, dropping the ring back out of sight, Talion turned to see a smirking Eltariel gathering up her things, the caragors lifting their heads groggily at her voice. Talion chose to ignore the comment, getting to his feet and stretching before gently rousing his dire caragor, which let out a sleepy rumble in response as it stood.

"As much as I hate to agree with you, traveling the Dead Marshes is not something I'd like to do. Though I don't like the idea of traveling in such an exposed area, it would not do to get lost in such a grim, unknown place."

"Finally you're starting to make sense," Eltariel replied, mounting her caragor with renewed energy. "Shall we?" Talion mounted his caragor with a nod to her, and they set off, choosing to veer around the Dead Marshes as they continued northeast.

Closing A/N: This is short, but I didn't know what else to add to it really. I'm surprised I'm actually updated fairly quickly on a fic. That doesn't usually happen. Also, as far as geography goes, I'm consulting the map at the beginning of my copy of The Two Towers. I'm trying to work out how fast and how far they can travel realistically. Also, I just remembered after finishing this that Frodo waited to travel after he was given the One Ring. So. Timelines. How fast would caragors travel in comparison to horses? Should they travel along the river while they're on the ground? How long would it take them to get to Rivendell from right outside of Mordor? Would anyone happen to have a reasonable guess?