Disclaimer: I own a copy of the first movie, a few copies of the book
(which I still have not read), and a Legolas poster. That is as close as
I'll ever be to owning LotR.
To Elektra12: Thank you.
To Arwennicole: Deal. And I thank you.
To all the other readers and reviewers, thank you all. And read Arwennicole's PotC stuff. It's really good.
And a special thanks to Psycho Elf for helping me out with the Elvish. Read her stuff too. ______________________________________________________________________
As they ran, Valora felt dizzy again. She tried to ignore it and keep moving. But the images were there, whether she wanted them or not. She saw Gandalf again. This time, he appeared to be talking to a moth.
Now I know I must be losing it, she thought.
The images changed. In what appeared to be a large cavern, she saw those same creatures she had seen last night. Some were burning the trees that had been ripped from the ground. Others were working hard, making weapons and armor. What really bothered her was when she saw something stirring in the mud and filth. The creatures cleared away some of the filth to reveal yet more strange and extremely ugly creatures. These ones scared her even more than the others.
Throughout the whole thing, she had kept moving. It seemed that she got a little less dizzy every time this happened. But she didn't care at the moment. All she cared about was what was going to happen to Frodo. This is all my fault, she thought. I couldn't protect him. I couldn't even scream for Strider when I should have. It's all my fault.
They stopped after a time in a small clearing. Valora didn't want to stop here for two reasons. One, they needed to get Frodo to the Elves. Two, there were three big, creepy looking statues in the spot they had stopped in. But Frodo was now unconscious and they were all out of breath.
Frodo opened his eyes, which had gone a strange color.
"Look, Frodo," said Sam, sounding as if he was trying to be enthusiastic. "It's Mr. Bilbo's trolls."
Oh. So that's what those are, thought Valora.
Frodo didn't respond. He did, however, make a sound that was scarily similar to the Wraiths.
"Mr. Frodo?" Sam felt his forehead. "He's going cold."
"Is he going to die?" Pippin asked Strider.
Strider turned to look at them. "He is passing into the Shadow World. He'll soon become a Wraith, like them."
A Wraith screeched in the distance. But it wasn't distant enough for them.
"They're close," whispered Merry.
"Sam," called Strider. Sam went to him. "Do you know the Athelas plant?"
"Athelas?"
He tried another name for the same plant. "Kingsfoil?"
He nodded. "Kingsfoil. Aye, it's a weed."
"It may help to slow the poisoning." He handed Sam a torch. "Hurry." He and Sam both went into the forest.
"Don't be gone too long," called Valora fearfully from where she sat next to Frodo.
In the woods, the two split up. Strider knelt down and looked closely at a plant. He sighed with relief. It was the right one. He set his torch down and took out his dagger to cut some of it.
He felt a blade against his throat. Strider stopped cold.
"What's this? A Ranger caught off his guard?" asked a female voice. She sounded somewhat amused.
Strider relaxed. He knew that voice very well. At any other time, he might have found this amusing as well, but not right now. He turned to look at the weilder of the sword.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Frodo turned his head to see a bright light coming towards him. Within the light he could see a white horse and rider. They stopped and the rider dismounted. It was a beautiful Elf-maiden dressed in white. She came forward and got on her knees beside him.
"Frodo," she said. "Im Arwen. Telin le thaed." I am Arwen. I've come to help you. "Lasto beth nîn... Tolo dan nan galad." Hear my voice... come back to the light.
The others didn't see Arwen the same way Frodo did. They saw her in a dark colored dress, not white.
Aragorn moved around her and knelt down as well. He ripped off a piece of the Athelas and began chewing on it.
"Who is she?" asked Merry quietly, as if the others would know.
"She's an elf," said Sam.
"He's fading," said Arwen in a soft, yet urgent voice. She pushed aside Frodo's cloak and clothing to expose the wound and allow Strider to apply the Athelas he had been chewing. Frodo let out a strangled gasp. "He's not going to last. We must get him to my father."
Strider tossed down the rest of the plant. He gently picked Frodo up and carried him over to Arwen's horse.
"I've been looking for you for two days," she continued as she followed Strider, ignoring Merry's question of where she was taking him. "There are five Wraiths behind you. Where the other four are, I do not know."
Strider placed Frodo in the saddle and turned to Arwen. "Dartho guin perian. Rych le ad tolthathon." Stay with the Hobbits. I'll send horses back for you.
Arwen shook her head. "Hon mabathon. Rochon ellint im," she argued. I'm the faster rider. I'll take him.
He shook his head, fearful for her safety. "Andelu i ven." The road is too dangerous.
"What are they saying?" asked Pippin.
"How the hell should I know?" snapped Valora.
"Frodo fîr," she told him seriously. Frodo is dying. "Ae athradon i hir, tur gwaith nin beriatha hon." If I can get him across the river, the power of my people will protect him. Seeing the still hesitant look on his face, she assured, "I do not fear them." She gave him a small smile.
Valora frowned slightly. She couldn't see the Elf too well because Strider was blocking the view. However, she could see the Elf well enough to see the way that she looked at Strider. And the way Strider sounded when he spoke his next words just convinced her of her guess even more. If she had seen Strider take Arwen's hand for a moment and the way he was looking back at her, she would have had all the proof that she needed.
"Be iest lîn," he said, returning the soft smile. As you wish. He helped her mount the horse behind Frodo. "Arwen, ride hard. Don't look back."
She gave a slight nod. Then she leaned forward and whispered to the horse, "Noro lim, Asfaloth, noro lim!" Ride on, Asfaloth, ride on! The horse immediately went forward.
The others could hardly believe it.
"What are you doing?" demanded Sam, sounding a bit angry. "Those Wraiths are still out there!"
Strider was well aware of that. That was why he remained watching Arwen ride off rather than answering Sam's question.
"Sam," said Valora, trying to hide the fact that she was just as scared as he was, "if she can get him to Rivendell faster than we can, then that's his only chance."
Sam rounded on her. "Or a chance less than he had," he snapped. "What happens if the Wraiths catch her?"
Valora was surprised. Apparently, her temper was rubbing off on Sam. She had never seen him snap at anyone like that before. "And what happens if we can't get him to Rivendell in time?" she countered, forcing her own temper into check, which wasn't easy in her distressed state. "He'll die, Sam. At least this way, there's more of a chance that he'll get help."
"Enough," said Strider, finally turning away from the direction Arwen had gone in. "We must hurry and follow them to Rivendell."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Several days later, they arrived in Rivendell. The journey had been a tense and strained one. They were all wondering if Frodo would survive.
The journey had been especially bad for Valora and Strider. He was worried about Arwen and Frodo. She had been plagued by more visions. This time of Frodo and Arwen. She had seen them trying to outrun the Wraiths. There had been seven Wraiths this time. Luckily, Arwen had made it across the river and called upon the river to help her. It had washed away the Wraiths. But Frodo was still in bad shape. She hadn't seen anything else of them.
There had also been another vision of Gandalf. Once again, it was on top of a tower. The other wizard was again trying to force him to join with Sauron. Still, Gandalf refused. He had leapt from the tower, only to be caught and carried off on the back of a giant eagle.
Valora wasn't sure if these visions were real or not, but was beginning to think that anything was possible. After all, she was here, wasn't she?
When they arrived, the group had immediately sought word on Frodo. To their immense relief, he and Arwen had arrived safely. Frodo would be all right, but was still very weak and had remained asleep for quite some time now. If it had taken Arwen even a few more hours to get Frodo to her father, Lord Elrond, he would have been beyond help.
Lord Elrond had them shown to rooms, ignoring their protests that they wanted to see Frodo. In spite of themselves, they had all fallen asleep only minutes after being shown to their rooms.
The next day, Frodo was still asleep. However, they did recieve a pleasant surprise. Gandalf was here in Rivendell.
Valora was especially relieved. She really needed to speak with him about the images she kept seeing. Unfortunately, she couldn't really find much time to speak with him. He spent a lot of time sitting in Frodo's room. That in itself wasn't a problem, since Frodo had yet to fully regain conciousness, but Sam was always in there. She didn't want him, or anyone else, to know about what was happening to her. She didn't have the heart to kick Sam out of the room either, he was so worried about Frodo. But she had told Gandalf that she needed to speak with him about something privately when they got a chance.
Today, she wasn't in Frodo's room. Gandalf had kicked both her and Sam out for a few hours so they could get some rest. Sam had gone to his room to take a nap, but Valora, knowing she would never get to sleep, had been visiting with Lord Elrond in his library. He was very kind to her and answered any questions she had about Elves or the history of Middle-Earth. He had even been kind enough to explain to her exactly who Isildur was and how the Ring had survived all these years, to the best of his knowledge, that is. He didn't know all the details, since the Ring had been lost for so long.
They were on their way to check on Frodo. As they walked down the hall, they found Sam just leaving his room. When all three arrived at Frodo's room, Sam was the first one inside. "Frodo!" he cried in surprise. He was instantly at Frodo's side and grabbed his hand. "Bless you, you're awake!"
Valora smiled broadly as she sat at the edge of the bed. "Hey. How are you feeling?"
"Sam and Valora have hardly left your side," said Gandalf with a smile.
"We were that worried about you, weren't we Mr. Gandalf?" asked Sam.
"By the skills of Lord Elrond, you are beginning to mend," said Gandalf.
Valora looked up at the Elf and smiled at him, gratitude shining in her eyes.
"Welcome to Rivendell, Frodo Baggins," said Elrond kindly.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Valora had hoped to speak with Gandalf after Frodo was up and about, but Elrond had wished to speak with him. She was disappointed and quite frustrated, but hadn't voiced any complaints. She decided to use the opportunity speak with Arwen again, as she had done several times in the past few days. Arwen, it turned out, was a very likeable person. And very good-natured. She had even answered Valora's very hesitant question about her relationship with Strider. As it turned out, her guess about them being involved was correct.
This time, she asked her about what had happened on the way to Rivendell. Had she and Frodo encountered the Wraiths? Yes, they had. The details Arwen gave her were identical to what Valora has seen. The odd thing was, it seemed to have happened at about the same time that the vision had come. So, she had seen it while it happened.
Soon after Valora and Arwen had spoken, people began to arrive. They both watched from a balcony. Valora couldn't see them very well, but she could see that they were all of different races. A Man on horseback, a group of Dwarves and even a group of Elves.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. The only reason so many different peoples would be here was to discuss something important that would effect them all somehow. The Ring.
"Do you think your father would be done speaking to Gandalf by now?" Valora asked.
"I do not know," said Arwen. "You may wait outside of my father's study if you wish."
Valora nodded. "I'll see you later."
Arwen nodded to her.
"Oh, um, where would your father's study be again?" asked Valora, sheepishly turning back to Arwen. "I always get lost in this place."
Arwen smiled amusedly.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
When Gandalf emerged from Elrond's study, he found Valora waiting for him next to the door.
"Finally," she said, standing up from where she had been sitting in a lotus position with her back against the wall.
"You wished to speak with me, Valora?"
She gave him a forced, if somewhat sarcastic, smile. "What was your first clue?"
"What is it you wish to talk about?"
"Well..." she began. This was going to take a while.
She told him first about the vision she'd had of the Black Rider back at Bag End. Then about the vision of Arwen being pursued as she had brought Frodo here to Rivendell and how it had turned out to be true. As she told him, they walked through the halls of Elrond's house. He listened intently, frowning as she told him details. "Gandalf, I need to know. What happened to you? Why didn't you meet us in Bree?"
"I was held captive for a time."
She sighed resignedly. "By the head of your order. Sarumon. The man in white robes and with a long white beard and hair," she stated.
Gandalf looked at her incredulously. He hadn't told her Sarumon's name or what he looked like. So, how had she known?
"And you escaped," she continued, "with the help of a moth and a giant bird of prey."
He was silent for a moment. "How did you know that?"
"I saw it," she whispered.
"Is there anything else you have seen?"
Hesitantly, she nodded. There was one other thing she had seen.
"What is it that you saw?"
"It was... I don't know what it was," she admitted. "Back at the Prancing Pony. When Frodo accidentally put on the Ring. It looked like... an eye. Only, it was made of flames."
Gandalf stopped when she described what she had seen. She had seen the Eye. How? Was she a seer? Most importantly, why had she seen a vision of the Eye? Or any of these other visions, for that matter?
"Ah, Gandalf."
They looked up. Lord Elrond was approaching, followed by several other Elves. Valora had never seen them before. Gandalf acknowledged Elrond with a slight nod of his head. Valora bowed her head respectfully. It was enough for Elrond, who nodded and smiled slightly to acknowledge her presence.
"Gandalf, the others have arrived. They shall rest tonight, and our Council shall take place tomorrow afternoon."
As Gandalf and Elrond spoke, Valora felt compelled to get a better look at the new Elves. All of them had long blonde hair. They held themselves proudly as they watched the exchange between Gandalf and Elrond. One looked younger than the others. And he was staring at her with a hint of curiosity. His skin was milky looking and flawless, as was common for the Elves. He was quite handsome. For a moment, she looked right into his eyes. They pierced into her like none had ever done before. She wasn't used to such a feeling, nor did she enjoy it. She turned her head slightly and lowered her eyes. Still, she felt his gaze. After another moment, she felt rather than saw him look away from her.
"Come, my friends," said Elrond, bringing her back to her senses. They left.
Valora had to resist the urge to watch them, or, more specifically, to watch the unknown Elf leave. Rather, once they had passed, she turned to Gandalf. "Gandalf, who was that?" she asked very quietly. "The younger Elf." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw said Elf turn and look at them out the corner of his own eye.
"His name is Legolas. He is of the Elves of Mirkwood."
"Ah."
"Why do you desire to know?" He looked slightly amused.
She frowned. "Don't look at me like that. I was just curious. He was staring at me funny. It made me feel... strange."
"Handsome young Elves often have that effect on young girls."
She gave him a withering look and walked off. Gandalf chuckled quietly to himself. He wondered if she had any idea that Legolas had probably heard every word they had just said.
__________________________________________________________________
Just so you know, Valora was telling the truth about her reasons for asking about Legolas. Don't you find it a little disconcerting to have someone just stand there and stare at you? And don't worry, we will eventually find out the reason for Valora's visions. Just not yet.
To Elektra12: Thank you.
To Arwennicole: Deal. And I thank you.
To all the other readers and reviewers, thank you all. And read Arwennicole's PotC stuff. It's really good.
And a special thanks to Psycho Elf for helping me out with the Elvish. Read her stuff too. ______________________________________________________________________
As they ran, Valora felt dizzy again. She tried to ignore it and keep moving. But the images were there, whether she wanted them or not. She saw Gandalf again. This time, he appeared to be talking to a moth.
Now I know I must be losing it, she thought.
The images changed. In what appeared to be a large cavern, she saw those same creatures she had seen last night. Some were burning the trees that had been ripped from the ground. Others were working hard, making weapons and armor. What really bothered her was when she saw something stirring in the mud and filth. The creatures cleared away some of the filth to reveal yet more strange and extremely ugly creatures. These ones scared her even more than the others.
Throughout the whole thing, she had kept moving. It seemed that she got a little less dizzy every time this happened. But she didn't care at the moment. All she cared about was what was going to happen to Frodo. This is all my fault, she thought. I couldn't protect him. I couldn't even scream for Strider when I should have. It's all my fault.
They stopped after a time in a small clearing. Valora didn't want to stop here for two reasons. One, they needed to get Frodo to the Elves. Two, there were three big, creepy looking statues in the spot they had stopped in. But Frodo was now unconscious and they were all out of breath.
Frodo opened his eyes, which had gone a strange color.
"Look, Frodo," said Sam, sounding as if he was trying to be enthusiastic. "It's Mr. Bilbo's trolls."
Oh. So that's what those are, thought Valora.
Frodo didn't respond. He did, however, make a sound that was scarily similar to the Wraiths.
"Mr. Frodo?" Sam felt his forehead. "He's going cold."
"Is he going to die?" Pippin asked Strider.
Strider turned to look at them. "He is passing into the Shadow World. He'll soon become a Wraith, like them."
A Wraith screeched in the distance. But it wasn't distant enough for them.
"They're close," whispered Merry.
"Sam," called Strider. Sam went to him. "Do you know the Athelas plant?"
"Athelas?"
He tried another name for the same plant. "Kingsfoil?"
He nodded. "Kingsfoil. Aye, it's a weed."
"It may help to slow the poisoning." He handed Sam a torch. "Hurry." He and Sam both went into the forest.
"Don't be gone too long," called Valora fearfully from where she sat next to Frodo.
In the woods, the two split up. Strider knelt down and looked closely at a plant. He sighed with relief. It was the right one. He set his torch down and took out his dagger to cut some of it.
He felt a blade against his throat. Strider stopped cold.
"What's this? A Ranger caught off his guard?" asked a female voice. She sounded somewhat amused.
Strider relaxed. He knew that voice very well. At any other time, he might have found this amusing as well, but not right now. He turned to look at the weilder of the sword.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Frodo turned his head to see a bright light coming towards him. Within the light he could see a white horse and rider. They stopped and the rider dismounted. It was a beautiful Elf-maiden dressed in white. She came forward and got on her knees beside him.
"Frodo," she said. "Im Arwen. Telin le thaed." I am Arwen. I've come to help you. "Lasto beth nîn... Tolo dan nan galad." Hear my voice... come back to the light.
The others didn't see Arwen the same way Frodo did. They saw her in a dark colored dress, not white.
Aragorn moved around her and knelt down as well. He ripped off a piece of the Athelas and began chewing on it.
"Who is she?" asked Merry quietly, as if the others would know.
"She's an elf," said Sam.
"He's fading," said Arwen in a soft, yet urgent voice. She pushed aside Frodo's cloak and clothing to expose the wound and allow Strider to apply the Athelas he had been chewing. Frodo let out a strangled gasp. "He's not going to last. We must get him to my father."
Strider tossed down the rest of the plant. He gently picked Frodo up and carried him over to Arwen's horse.
"I've been looking for you for two days," she continued as she followed Strider, ignoring Merry's question of where she was taking him. "There are five Wraiths behind you. Where the other four are, I do not know."
Strider placed Frodo in the saddle and turned to Arwen. "Dartho guin perian. Rych le ad tolthathon." Stay with the Hobbits. I'll send horses back for you.
Arwen shook her head. "Hon mabathon. Rochon ellint im," she argued. I'm the faster rider. I'll take him.
He shook his head, fearful for her safety. "Andelu i ven." The road is too dangerous.
"What are they saying?" asked Pippin.
"How the hell should I know?" snapped Valora.
"Frodo fîr," she told him seriously. Frodo is dying. "Ae athradon i hir, tur gwaith nin beriatha hon." If I can get him across the river, the power of my people will protect him. Seeing the still hesitant look on his face, she assured, "I do not fear them." She gave him a small smile.
Valora frowned slightly. She couldn't see the Elf too well because Strider was blocking the view. However, she could see the Elf well enough to see the way that she looked at Strider. And the way Strider sounded when he spoke his next words just convinced her of her guess even more. If she had seen Strider take Arwen's hand for a moment and the way he was looking back at her, she would have had all the proof that she needed.
"Be iest lîn," he said, returning the soft smile. As you wish. He helped her mount the horse behind Frodo. "Arwen, ride hard. Don't look back."
She gave a slight nod. Then she leaned forward and whispered to the horse, "Noro lim, Asfaloth, noro lim!" Ride on, Asfaloth, ride on! The horse immediately went forward.
The others could hardly believe it.
"What are you doing?" demanded Sam, sounding a bit angry. "Those Wraiths are still out there!"
Strider was well aware of that. That was why he remained watching Arwen ride off rather than answering Sam's question.
"Sam," said Valora, trying to hide the fact that she was just as scared as he was, "if she can get him to Rivendell faster than we can, then that's his only chance."
Sam rounded on her. "Or a chance less than he had," he snapped. "What happens if the Wraiths catch her?"
Valora was surprised. Apparently, her temper was rubbing off on Sam. She had never seen him snap at anyone like that before. "And what happens if we can't get him to Rivendell in time?" she countered, forcing her own temper into check, which wasn't easy in her distressed state. "He'll die, Sam. At least this way, there's more of a chance that he'll get help."
"Enough," said Strider, finally turning away from the direction Arwen had gone in. "We must hurry and follow them to Rivendell."
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Several days later, they arrived in Rivendell. The journey had been a tense and strained one. They were all wondering if Frodo would survive.
The journey had been especially bad for Valora and Strider. He was worried about Arwen and Frodo. She had been plagued by more visions. This time of Frodo and Arwen. She had seen them trying to outrun the Wraiths. There had been seven Wraiths this time. Luckily, Arwen had made it across the river and called upon the river to help her. It had washed away the Wraiths. But Frodo was still in bad shape. She hadn't seen anything else of them.
There had also been another vision of Gandalf. Once again, it was on top of a tower. The other wizard was again trying to force him to join with Sauron. Still, Gandalf refused. He had leapt from the tower, only to be caught and carried off on the back of a giant eagle.
Valora wasn't sure if these visions were real or not, but was beginning to think that anything was possible. After all, she was here, wasn't she?
When they arrived, the group had immediately sought word on Frodo. To their immense relief, he and Arwen had arrived safely. Frodo would be all right, but was still very weak and had remained asleep for quite some time now. If it had taken Arwen even a few more hours to get Frodo to her father, Lord Elrond, he would have been beyond help.
Lord Elrond had them shown to rooms, ignoring their protests that they wanted to see Frodo. In spite of themselves, they had all fallen asleep only minutes after being shown to their rooms.
The next day, Frodo was still asleep. However, they did recieve a pleasant surprise. Gandalf was here in Rivendell.
Valora was especially relieved. She really needed to speak with him about the images she kept seeing. Unfortunately, she couldn't really find much time to speak with him. He spent a lot of time sitting in Frodo's room. That in itself wasn't a problem, since Frodo had yet to fully regain conciousness, but Sam was always in there. She didn't want him, or anyone else, to know about what was happening to her. She didn't have the heart to kick Sam out of the room either, he was so worried about Frodo. But she had told Gandalf that she needed to speak with him about something privately when they got a chance.
Today, she wasn't in Frodo's room. Gandalf had kicked both her and Sam out for a few hours so they could get some rest. Sam had gone to his room to take a nap, but Valora, knowing she would never get to sleep, had been visiting with Lord Elrond in his library. He was very kind to her and answered any questions she had about Elves or the history of Middle-Earth. He had even been kind enough to explain to her exactly who Isildur was and how the Ring had survived all these years, to the best of his knowledge, that is. He didn't know all the details, since the Ring had been lost for so long.
They were on their way to check on Frodo. As they walked down the hall, they found Sam just leaving his room. When all three arrived at Frodo's room, Sam was the first one inside. "Frodo!" he cried in surprise. He was instantly at Frodo's side and grabbed his hand. "Bless you, you're awake!"
Valora smiled broadly as she sat at the edge of the bed. "Hey. How are you feeling?"
"Sam and Valora have hardly left your side," said Gandalf with a smile.
"We were that worried about you, weren't we Mr. Gandalf?" asked Sam.
"By the skills of Lord Elrond, you are beginning to mend," said Gandalf.
Valora looked up at the Elf and smiled at him, gratitude shining in her eyes.
"Welcome to Rivendell, Frodo Baggins," said Elrond kindly.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Valora had hoped to speak with Gandalf after Frodo was up and about, but Elrond had wished to speak with him. She was disappointed and quite frustrated, but hadn't voiced any complaints. She decided to use the opportunity speak with Arwen again, as she had done several times in the past few days. Arwen, it turned out, was a very likeable person. And very good-natured. She had even answered Valora's very hesitant question about her relationship with Strider. As it turned out, her guess about them being involved was correct.
This time, she asked her about what had happened on the way to Rivendell. Had she and Frodo encountered the Wraiths? Yes, they had. The details Arwen gave her were identical to what Valora has seen. The odd thing was, it seemed to have happened at about the same time that the vision had come. So, she had seen it while it happened.
Soon after Valora and Arwen had spoken, people began to arrive. They both watched from a balcony. Valora couldn't see them very well, but she could see that they were all of different races. A Man on horseback, a group of Dwarves and even a group of Elves.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on. The only reason so many different peoples would be here was to discuss something important that would effect them all somehow. The Ring.
"Do you think your father would be done speaking to Gandalf by now?" Valora asked.
"I do not know," said Arwen. "You may wait outside of my father's study if you wish."
Valora nodded. "I'll see you later."
Arwen nodded to her.
"Oh, um, where would your father's study be again?" asked Valora, sheepishly turning back to Arwen. "I always get lost in this place."
Arwen smiled amusedly.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
When Gandalf emerged from Elrond's study, he found Valora waiting for him next to the door.
"Finally," she said, standing up from where she had been sitting in a lotus position with her back against the wall.
"You wished to speak with me, Valora?"
She gave him a forced, if somewhat sarcastic, smile. "What was your first clue?"
"What is it you wish to talk about?"
"Well..." she began. This was going to take a while.
She told him first about the vision she'd had of the Black Rider back at Bag End. Then about the vision of Arwen being pursued as she had brought Frodo here to Rivendell and how it had turned out to be true. As she told him, they walked through the halls of Elrond's house. He listened intently, frowning as she told him details. "Gandalf, I need to know. What happened to you? Why didn't you meet us in Bree?"
"I was held captive for a time."
She sighed resignedly. "By the head of your order. Sarumon. The man in white robes and with a long white beard and hair," she stated.
Gandalf looked at her incredulously. He hadn't told her Sarumon's name or what he looked like. So, how had she known?
"And you escaped," she continued, "with the help of a moth and a giant bird of prey."
He was silent for a moment. "How did you know that?"
"I saw it," she whispered.
"Is there anything else you have seen?"
Hesitantly, she nodded. There was one other thing she had seen.
"What is it that you saw?"
"It was... I don't know what it was," she admitted. "Back at the Prancing Pony. When Frodo accidentally put on the Ring. It looked like... an eye. Only, it was made of flames."
Gandalf stopped when she described what she had seen. She had seen the Eye. How? Was she a seer? Most importantly, why had she seen a vision of the Eye? Or any of these other visions, for that matter?
"Ah, Gandalf."
They looked up. Lord Elrond was approaching, followed by several other Elves. Valora had never seen them before. Gandalf acknowledged Elrond with a slight nod of his head. Valora bowed her head respectfully. It was enough for Elrond, who nodded and smiled slightly to acknowledge her presence.
"Gandalf, the others have arrived. They shall rest tonight, and our Council shall take place tomorrow afternoon."
As Gandalf and Elrond spoke, Valora felt compelled to get a better look at the new Elves. All of them had long blonde hair. They held themselves proudly as they watched the exchange between Gandalf and Elrond. One looked younger than the others. And he was staring at her with a hint of curiosity. His skin was milky looking and flawless, as was common for the Elves. He was quite handsome. For a moment, she looked right into his eyes. They pierced into her like none had ever done before. She wasn't used to such a feeling, nor did she enjoy it. She turned her head slightly and lowered her eyes. Still, she felt his gaze. After another moment, she felt rather than saw him look away from her.
"Come, my friends," said Elrond, bringing her back to her senses. They left.
Valora had to resist the urge to watch them, or, more specifically, to watch the unknown Elf leave. Rather, once they had passed, she turned to Gandalf. "Gandalf, who was that?" she asked very quietly. "The younger Elf." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw said Elf turn and look at them out the corner of his own eye.
"His name is Legolas. He is of the Elves of Mirkwood."
"Ah."
"Why do you desire to know?" He looked slightly amused.
She frowned. "Don't look at me like that. I was just curious. He was staring at me funny. It made me feel... strange."
"Handsome young Elves often have that effect on young girls."
She gave him a withering look and walked off. Gandalf chuckled quietly to himself. He wondered if she had any idea that Legolas had probably heard every word they had just said.
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Just so you know, Valora was telling the truth about her reasons for asking about Legolas. Don't you find it a little disconcerting to have someone just stand there and stare at you? And don't worry, we will eventually find out the reason for Valora's visions. Just not yet.