Lúthien placed the reed raft on the bank of the river. She placed the supplies on top. Slipping off her shoes and placing them on top, as well, she slipped the raft into the water. Gilleth followed her in and they began their swim towards the northern shore. Lúthien held on to the raft and Gilleth's saddle as they swam through the coursing river. She could not deny Gilleth's awesome strength as she broke through the currents. She was an amazing horse, and they reached the shore with out any incident. They hadn't been swept down stream very far, either. Lúthien sometimes could not believe the resilient strength Gilleth possessed. Lúthien gripped the earth as she pushed the raft on land. Gilleth pulled herself out of the river with no real effort. If it were not for Gilleth, Lúthien would have been swept down river for miles. It was not hard to tell that she was a weak swimmer. In still water where the ground was only a few feet away at any given point, she was fine. When it came to deep moving waters, like that of a river, Lúthien could not hold her own.
She clambered on land and sighed in relief, her wet clothes clinging to her slender body. Laying on the grass in the late midday sun, she smiled up at Gilleth.
"You have saved my life more times this day than I could ever hope to repay in a lifetime. I would be lost with out you, my naked friend."
Gilleth nickered again, and Lúthien flopped her head back onto the grass. She closed her eyes, wanting very much to soak in the sun. Her body was fatigued and her mind was weary. The absence of sleep last night played havoc on her. The sun shimmered off her body, now very defined under her wet clothes. Her wet and mussed braid laid off to her side. Wisps of wet hair hung about her face, some clinging to her cheeks. Her slender neck lead down to narrow shoulders and delicate looking arms. Her rounded breasts were humble, though not small. Her petit waist arched into her cambering hips. Her hips were the only part of her that was not thin. They were wide and rounded. 'Perfect for bearing children.' her mother had said. Her long, shapely legs extended to tiny feet and cute little toes. Said toes wiggled in the tickle of the breeze. She was petite, but her body was lithe and slim, almost unnaturally so.
She opened her eyes with a sigh. "Though the idea of falling asleep here and now does sound appealing, there are still things to be done."
With that, she pushed herself to her feet. She walked to the makeshift raft and rummaged through the supplies. She pulled out the horse supplies. Her body was weary from lack of sleep, but she ignored it as she took Gilleth to the water's edge and began to groom her thoroughly. She talked to Gilleth about anything that came to mind. She mentioned her parents, the orcs she had killed, the journey they had made already and the journey ahead, her dream and the reason they were journeying to Rivendel, and about what would happen when things went back to normal, if ever. Gilleth had been a good listener, as always. She honestly seemed to understand whatever Lúthien said. Lúthien sometimes forgot Gilleth was a horse, talking to her as if she was another person. She certainly had a lot more respect for Gilleth than she did for a lot of people. Humans killed things for petty reasons, even other people. It was almost as if it was human nature to destroy. Lúthien could never understand human corruption, no matter how she tried. She supposed she never would.
Lúthien had finished talking by the time Gilleth was thoroughly groomed. Gilleth rested in the grass as Lúthien brushed her mane and tail in silence. Even after her tail and mane were smooth and knot free, she continued to brush. It was therapeutic for both of them, and it helped to sooth their spirits. The afternoon was half over by the time Lúthien stopped. She hadn't eaten all day, but she wasn't very hungry at the moment. The sun was warm, the breeze was fair, and the sound of rushing water made her weary body and mind cloudy with peace. The sun's rays played over her skin, warming her like a feather-light blanket. Lúthien crawled over and laid down against Gilleth's side. Gilleth regarded her serenely as she drifted off to sleep. Gilleth watched over her as the girl slumbered in contentment.
It was a few hours later when Lúthien awoke to the feeling of falling. She awoke with a start, flailing her arms as if to catch herself. A moment later, she realized she was sitting on solid earth. She realized Gilleth, who she had been leaning against in sleep, had stood up, causing her to wake with the sensation of falling. Lúthien eyed Gilleth in annoyance as she stood grazing a few feet away.
"You could have warned me."
Gilleth nickered, grass hanging from her mouth.
"Someday, my friend, I will do horrible things to you in your sleep."
Gilleth's nickering turned into merry throat noises, showing that Gilleth found this all very funny.
"I kid you not, my friend. I will do heinous things to you."
Gilleth's throat noises exploded into whinnies and snorts of merriment as she began prancing circles around Lúthien.
"Do not mock me!" Lúthien cried indignantly, standing with her fists against her hips. Gilleth continued. "You are a miserable friend!" Lúthien laughed. Gilleth stopped, forgive the pun, horsing around and trotted to Lúthien. She gave her a friendly nudge before pulling her ears back and snorting, implying that Lúthien smelled. "I do not stink! I do not know how I could love such a mean creature!" Lúthien said, folding her arms across her chest and turning her back to Gilleth. Gilleth let out a whicker. Lúthien turned her head, smiling. "Of course I love you. You are my best friend." Lúthien looked down at herself. "And as such, you are also entitled to a fair amount of blunt honesty. I am not my cleanest." Gilleth snorted in agreement. "I will bathe if you stand watch." Lúthien said, heading towards the water's edge.
Gilleth bobbed her head before walking to stand watch near where Lúthien began to undress. She stripped off her torn and dirty dress. Tossing it to the ground, she reached for the tie in her hair and pulled it out. Unbraiding her hair, she slipped into the water. She shivered in the chilled water, beginning to rinse her body and hair.
"What I would not give for soap." She sighed, trying to rinse all the oil from her hair. "I should strongly consider making some before I reach Rivendel." She commented to the vigilant Gilleth. "I'll be in the presence of elves. I should be well groomed."
Her stomach fluttered. All her life she had heard wonderful things about elves. Now she would be amongst hundreds. The thought frightened and excited her. What if they did not approve of her? What if she made a fool of herself? Her stomach began to twist in apprehension.
"Gilleth, what do you think the elves will be like? Do you remember anything about them?" Gilleth made various throat noises. "You are right. Though, I can not help but be nervous."
Lúthien climbed out of the river, her knee-length brown hair plastered to her back. She began to wring out her hair bit by bit. She left it down to dry in the sun for the few hours that were left. Walking to the supplies further from the bank, she pulled a fairly large cloth from the travel bag, drying herself and her hair. When her body was sufficiently dry, and the cloth sufficiently wet, she took out one of her mother's dresses. Draping the cloth on Gilleth's saddle next to the travel bag, Lúthien slipped into her mother's dress, with some effort. Her mother was a thin woman, almost too thin to seem healthy. Edel's clothes were almost Lúthien's size, if not a bit tight. It was a light brown dress with lighter brown trim. It made Lúthien's porcelain skin look even paler and accentuated her every curve. Lúthien fussed with it for a bit. It was fine around the waist, though a little tight around her chest. The worse part was it was too tight around her hips. It pressed uncomfortably against her sides.
With a final, frustrated tug, she left the dress alone and walked to the few personal items she had. Reaching into the travel bag, she pulled out a few vegetables and a fruit. Munching on them in nonchalance, she laid out the wet cloth she had used to dry herself with. Once it was dry, that would become her bed. A smile crept across her face as she thought of how versatile a simple piece of cloth could be. Lúthien began to get a sense of something coming. Gilleth, ever alert, whinnied in irritation. Lúthien noticed her agitated posture and followed the sense of danger across the river. She did not see anything, though assumed it was the orcs that had been trailing her for the past 2 days.. She watched for a time, but saw nothing. The wind was blowing from the south, and Lúthien realize Gilleth hadn't seen anything, but rather smelled it.
Lúthien was beginning to get a better understand and grasp of her ability to sense danger. She found that if she focused, she could pin point the source of the danger. She followed her sense as it grew stronger. Lúthien thought for a moment. Before, she could tell how close danger was and know by instinct when it was too close. If she could harness those instincts, she could tell the exact distance of danger. It would be a good ability to have, especially since she did not know how long these days of dark creatures would last. That thought sent shivers through her. What if things never went back to the way they were? What if all days would consist of fighting and fleeing for her life?
She forced the thought from her mind, focusing on her sense of danger. The source was certainly closer. Minding her sense, she turned her attention to other matters, like making soap. The day would be over in a matter of little more than an hour, two if she was lucky. She knew what plants grew on the other side of the Gwathlo. Hopefully, the same plants grew on this side. There was no reason for them not to. With that, she began her search. The first plant she came upon and collected was a strange looking weed. Its stem grew and split at various odd angles from bulbous growths. Its leaves were pointed, a glossy dark sage color on top, and rough underneath where the leaf was a light shade of jade. She unsheathed her father's sword and cut a few of the plants from near the base.
She mused how she had come to depend on, become comfortable with, and even begin to like this sword. It was fairly light and comfortable in her hand once she had gotten used to it. She sent a thanks and a prayer to her parents, wherever they were. Her attention returned back to the river. Her senses told her that the riders were fairly close. She may even be able to see them in a short while. Of course, they'd have to cross the river to reach her. That would mean she would have more than enough time to escape should it come to that. Even with Gilleth, the swim was arduous, and it had taken a considerable amount of time to cross it. She returned her attention to gathering the ingredients she'd need to make her soaps. She smiled, noticing a tree not too far away. Beneath it grew her favorite type flower. She loved to smell its sweet scent, which she could never seem to get enough of. She would love nothing more than to make her soap with them. Walking forward, she knelt down and began to pluck them from the ground. They were tiny, white bells, growing from sturdy green stems. Breathing in their scent, she sighed dreamily.
When she was young, she had fallen in love with their scent, and had asked her mother to make soaps from their flowers. She had loved the smell so much that she had planted them all through her garden. When they would bloom, she collected as much as she dared, and made plenty of soaps and even perfume. Many people had come to associate her with the wonderful fragrance of those tiny lilies. Opening her eyes, she felt much more at peace. The scent of those flowers always reminded her of her home, her childhood, and happier days. Holding the flowers delicately, she walked back to where Gilleth stood near the travel sac. She was on edge, obviously unnerved by the approaching riders. Lúthien patted Gilleth soothingly as she tucked the bulbous weed stems and fragrant lilies into the bag.
"I know they're coming, my friend. Do not worry. We will be well on our way before they ever make it across the river."
Gilleth visibly relaxed somewhat, returning to her grazing, though still a bit on her guard. The smell of those beasts made some deeper instinct react. The smell of those beasts were that of predators, things that would prey upon her. Lúthien's senses flared, and she turned to look over the river. The riders came into view. Lúthien began to saddle Gilleth. She watched them reach the bank of the river, further west from where she and Gilleth stood. It was almost the exact place where she and Gilleth had rested before crossing the Gwathlo. They had not yet spotted her and Gilleth.
She regarded them coolly as she continued preparing Gilleth. They were less in number than before. She couldn't have killed that many, could she have? No. Even if every one she had injured had died, they would still not be that few in number. Perhaps they had split up for some reason. She wondered about what reasons they would have for parting company as they finally took notice of her and Gilleth. With raised, angry voices they raced towards her on the opposite bank. They shouted insults and threats at her. She regarded them casually, knowing the situation was in her favor, and showing it. She turned her back to them, attaching the travel sac to Gilleth's saddle with deliberate slowness. Fully insulted by her lack of concern for their presence, their tirade of insults and threats increased.
One of the riders charged the river, spurring his beast faster. The beast raced forward, snarling with malice until it was almost to the river. With a suddenness that surprised both Lúthien and the rider, the beast stopped, tearing its claws into the earth. The surprised rider was ejected from his perch atop the snarling creature and sent headlong, splashing into the river. The rider surfaced slightly down river, spitting and sputtering as he swam, most ungracefully, back to shore. Lúthien watched this all with great amusement. Perhaps the situation was more in her favor than she realized. Those creatures they rode could not swim, or at least had a strong aversion to water. Lúthien smiled with mischief.
"It seems your beast feels you have a great need for a bath."
Lúthien's mocking voice carried over to the party of riders on the other side. She knew it was arrogant, but she could find no reason to deny herself this bit of haughty ridicule. The other riders seemed to find Lúthien's mockery entertaining, several of them laughing at the their soaked comrade. The drenched rider was thoroughly enraged.
"You, elf, will die a painful death. I will see to it!" He shouted in anger
"After your tumble into the river, I fear I may die of laughter." She retorted.
The wet rider's companions roared with laughter. The wet rider growled in angry frustration, snatching a bow and arrow from one of the laughing riders.
"I will make you pay for those words, elf!" He said, nocking the arrow and taking aim.
He let fly the arrow. Lúthien watched as it missed her completely.
"Your aim seems a bit off, my wet friend. Perhaps you hit your head when you were sent so ungracefully into the river."
Fuming in anger, he let out a growling yell of his hatred for her. His fellows seemed to find his situation quite amusing. Snatching a few more arrows, he fitted them one by one onto his bow. Each time he missed, though his last shot had been quite close. Lúthien called out across the river once more.
"Perhaps you should give up before you waste all your arrows."
By now, even his comrades had begun making jokes at his expense. Lúthien surmised that either he was very inexperienced, or not liked particularly well by the others. Some had even begun to look irritated by him. Maybe it was his attitude that bothered them, or the fact that he truly was wasting so many arrows. Shooting Lúthien a cold glare, he let fly another arrow. This time it was sent straight towards her. With out giving thought to action, she pulled her father's sword from its sheath and blocked the arrow's path. It hit the sword and was sent hurdling to the ground from the force of its own momentum. Lúthien sighed in relief. By Valar she was lucky!
"It seems your aim has improved." She called out to him. He looked angry that she had not been injured. "Though, you might want to give up for today. You'll waste all your arrows trying to hit me at night."
It was true. Dusk had fallen and night was coming upon them all. The orc prepared to fire another arrow before an older looking orc stopped him.
"Stop wasting all the arrows, Ishkrut! What'll you do when you run out of arrows, throw our swords at her? You're an idiotic of an orc! We can't kill her with out weapons!" The older orc reprimanded.
Lúthien smiled with amused satisfaction as Ishkrut continued to get chewed out by the older orc. Lúthien frowned slightly. So they were orcs? She had never heard of such a creature. She looked back across the river and considered her options. It was growing dark rapidly, now. Night would be fully upon her in mere minutes. She really didn't want to ride all night again. She hadn't gotten enough sleep during the day to achieve such a thing. She was honestly tired. She decided she would sleep there, even though the orcs were so close. If they tried to cross the river she'd sense it or Gilleth would wake her.
The sense of danger changed, and she immediately looked across the river. At first she thought her eyes were deceiving her in the fading daylight. They were leaving? This was a curious turn of events. Why would they be leaving? Though her eyes began to fail her as they grew farther away, her sense of them did not. They were traveling, with haste, to the east. She wondered what reason they had for leaving so suddenly. Pondering on this, she slipped Gilleth's bridle and saddle off. Though she had a feeling they were up to something, she stuck with her decision to spend the night there. The orcs were growing steadily farther away and she felt more at ease. Even if they were up to something, she would sense their return. She hoped she was wrong about them being up to something. She wanted so much for a decent night's sleep.
Cerulean Sage
"Fourth chapter. Wahoo. I don't think there's too much to explain about this chapter, except that soap did exist in the old days. They actually did make it out of flowers and stuff. They had perfume, too, but not like we do today. I figured 'why the heck not'. The flower I was describing is Lilies of the Valley. I love, love, love their scent, so I made Lúthien feel the same way. You'd have to be crazy not to love the way they smell. Tiger Lilies also have a very similar smell. If you've ever smelled either flower, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Oh, and I also made a picture. It has a side profile of Lúthien Arwen and everyone's favorite Fellowship elf. I really like the way it came out, though I had slight difficulties with my scanner. Nothing too big. Also, to the disappointment of some, you can't see Legolas's ears. Is that grammatically correct? Legolas's? I know it is, but it sounds so funny to say aloud. I made it completely by hand with pen. Though, I did make some slight alterations on the computer. The hardest parts were Lúthien's eyes, Legolas's eyebrows, and his profile. I did a decent job with his profile, but had to use a picture of him for reference to make sure everything was proportionate.
Since it's near impossible to include a URL address in the story, just ask me and I'll send it to you.
Last but most certainly not least. I want to issue a huge thank you to AmberRose. She was a wonderful help to me. She went above and beyond the call of duty, and went through a great deal of time and effort to help me out. I am extremely grateful to her and would like everyone to know what a wonderful person she is to have helped me the way she did. Thank you, AmberRose. You are very much appreciated."