The rest of the night, watches were set as the others tried to get some
sleep. In the late morning, it was Legolas's turn to watch. His ears
picked up on movements near the hobbits but wondered if they were not just
creatures indigenous to the area.
A hand reached for Sam's pack but it was only when his pots clanked that Legolas turned and shot an arrow at the intruder. A girl's yelp woke the rest up. Legolas, Aragorn and Boromir chased after the sound and cam e back with the creature who called off the wolf last night. She had one of Sam's pots on her head. She tripped and landed hard on her knees.
'I would have been able to get away if the elf didn't shoot at me.' Her pride seemed more hurt than the arm she was holding with her other hand.
'Hey, that's mine,' Sam cried. He scurried back to his pack and instead of two pots he found a bag of nuts inside one of his pots. Oirebian had already stood up to keep the pot from the hobbit's reach.
'Who are you? Why did you stay here?' Gimli demanded, his ax in his hands while Aragorn drew his sword as well.
'The question is: who are you? The wolves hunt you, the crebain track you, you wander in zigzags and draw your weapons against a mere maiden,' she retorted. 'How do you know of the crebain?' Aragorn asked suspiciously.
'And of the sorcery,' Gandalf asked.
'You understand the Black Speech,' she said, as if she were tricked. 'I have been following you since Hollin,' she admitted. 'When you went up Cardhras, I stayed at the foot of the mountain. I caught sight of a blue and green spark and flame in the distant snow.' The seriousness melted from Gandalf as he laughed and remembered telling the others he had written in the skies "Gandalf is here." 'And then, I heard my master's voice upon the wind-'
'You're master?' Aragorn interrupted.
'The white wizard. But I am not his servant any longer.' She grew defensive and acted like she was trying to take back her words. 'I abandoned my master long ago.'
'Sit down,' Aragorn commanded, harsher than the hobbits ever herd his speak. Orebian sat down abruptly, pulled down by the sheer power in his voice as Aragorn took Gandalf aside.
She played with the anklets on her bare feet. Her skin was tanned and rough-hewn, from her feet all the way to her ring-decked hands. Some fingers had two ring son them. The fingers ran through the light brown unruly hair on her head. It seemed like she couldn't sit still as she took a twig out from her hair which didn't do much considering she had plenty of other leaves and petals still caught.
She looked at the hobbits, who were eyeing her strangely. She attempted a smile and scared them off. All except Frodo, who wasn't even moved. He stared at her passively, sometimes looking at her, sometimes past her.
'You are different from your friends,' she said, as if her mind was far away. 'Some.responsibility has made you.different.'
"The enemy had many spies. Bird, beasts." Frodo remembered the warning Gandalf had given him before they parted. He even remembered what he had told Merry when they followed Aragorn. "I would think a servant of the enemy would look fairer and fell fouler.' Beyond her tangle of hair and serious expression, her green eyes sparkled with some unconstraint light. Though, the feeling he got from her was not foul but strange. As if he had spied on something that was not to be seen or touched.
'If we tied her up, we would be sure she wouldn't report back to the enemy,' the girl heard Aragorn say to Gandalf.
'What?!?' She jumped to her feet, crossing to Aragorn. 'You can't leave me to die. You tie me up, you are feeding me to all the black creatures who hate me!'
'And why, pray tell, would some hate you?' Aragorn asked.
'Aragorn, lower your suspicions. She is nut a maiden, as she said before,' Boromir said while the rest of the Company joined the conversation.
'She is no mere maiden,' Aragorn said softly but still stern. He reached a hand toward her and she instinctively jerked away. He gave her a stern look, convincing her to stay still as he brushed away the lock of hair covering her elven ear. 'She is lucky she is not yet an orc.'
'What new sights are these?' Legolas breathed upon seeing the elven ear. She covered her ear with her hair as Aragorn went on.
'She is in league with Saruman, Gandalf. We cannot have her-'
'I am in no such league. I live by myself and I owe my allegiance to no one.' She made the last point clear speaking slowly and loud.
'Where do you love and who are you?' Merry asked, annoyed with not even knowing what to call her.
'She is Oirebian. She wanders al Middle Earth, never staying in one place. All the elves know of her and how she has forsaken society,' Legolas explained, moving to stand next to her. 'She stays hidden from all eyes; never being seen and only heard by the rustle of leaves and the jangling of her charms.' At this, Legolas touched one of the many bracelets around her wrists.
During the story, the hobbits imagined what they would catch of her. A glimpse of her bare feet along a branch, a chance sighting of a hand steadying itself on the trunk of a tree, a brief look at the back of her hair as she ran off.
'Aye, we have our own name for the same legend. Wanderlust we call her,' Boromir said, turning to the others. 'If you are touched by her, you will never satisfy the need to wander.' There was no fear in being touched by her because she was no where to be seen. Suddenly, she was in front of Legolas, hanging upside-down from a branch. 'Why do they call me Oirebian? What does it mean?'
'Legolas,' Gandalf said warningly, also telling him to get her down before she could get away.
'Well, first of all we thought you were human and.' She squinted at the elf. 'You are the ever lonely maiden. Gandalf was afraid you would dislike the name.'
'Well, I don't like it too much now,' she said.
'You don't know elvish then,' Legolas said.
The girl shook her head. 'I only know a little of the language.'
'Why don't you come down and explain yourself,' Gandalf coaxed the she-elf but she just pursed her lips and kept talking to Legolas.
'Tell the wizard,' spitting out the word wizard as if it tasted foul, 'I will do whatever I want---Ahhh!' She fell down off the branch and rolled on the ground. She had an expression on her face as if she couldn't understand why she was on the ground. She got up as quickly as possible. She too one look at the crowd around her and bolted. She took one step before Aragorn grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him. She pushed off him but stayed, rubbing the arm that was pulled. 'For what reason did you have to do that?'
'Can you tell us what you call yourself?' Gandalf asked before Aragorn could explain their suspicions.
'I don't call myself anything. I have no need to get my own attention.' When she realized the joke wasn't going over well, she decided to give them a break. 'I have many names among the other folk. Some call me the Giver, others the Thief. I have also heard Oirebian by the elves.' She looked at Legolas and then pointed behind her. 'Recently, I have stayed in Hollin.'
'Holly,' Gimli said to himself. Realizing he had said it out loud he grunted and looked back at the girl.
Knowing how the dwarves' culture was kept mostly secret, she continued. 'Before that, I was wandering for many miles. It was then that I met my master.' She paused as if bad memories plagued that time in her life. 'The very first name I can remember is Anna.'
'With the elves?' Legolas asked.
'No, among the humans in the Barrow-Downs. It must have a background with the elves though I can not remember that far back.'
'Do you see this Gandalf? She plays with our hearts and our legends. Now she pretends to be the woman in the Dunedain stories form when the Barr- Downs were more than graves,' Aragorn said. The girl shut her eyes at the mention of the graves.
'I think we need to continue discussing,' Gandalf said as he led Aragorn further off.
A hand reached for Sam's pack but it was only when his pots clanked that Legolas turned and shot an arrow at the intruder. A girl's yelp woke the rest up. Legolas, Aragorn and Boromir chased after the sound and cam e back with the creature who called off the wolf last night. She had one of Sam's pots on her head. She tripped and landed hard on her knees.
'I would have been able to get away if the elf didn't shoot at me.' Her pride seemed more hurt than the arm she was holding with her other hand.
'Hey, that's mine,' Sam cried. He scurried back to his pack and instead of two pots he found a bag of nuts inside one of his pots. Oirebian had already stood up to keep the pot from the hobbit's reach.
'Who are you? Why did you stay here?' Gimli demanded, his ax in his hands while Aragorn drew his sword as well.
'The question is: who are you? The wolves hunt you, the crebain track you, you wander in zigzags and draw your weapons against a mere maiden,' she retorted. 'How do you know of the crebain?' Aragorn asked suspiciously.
'And of the sorcery,' Gandalf asked.
'You understand the Black Speech,' she said, as if she were tricked. 'I have been following you since Hollin,' she admitted. 'When you went up Cardhras, I stayed at the foot of the mountain. I caught sight of a blue and green spark and flame in the distant snow.' The seriousness melted from Gandalf as he laughed and remembered telling the others he had written in the skies "Gandalf is here." 'And then, I heard my master's voice upon the wind-'
'You're master?' Aragorn interrupted.
'The white wizard. But I am not his servant any longer.' She grew defensive and acted like she was trying to take back her words. 'I abandoned my master long ago.'
'Sit down,' Aragorn commanded, harsher than the hobbits ever herd his speak. Orebian sat down abruptly, pulled down by the sheer power in his voice as Aragorn took Gandalf aside.
She played with the anklets on her bare feet. Her skin was tanned and rough-hewn, from her feet all the way to her ring-decked hands. Some fingers had two ring son them. The fingers ran through the light brown unruly hair on her head. It seemed like she couldn't sit still as she took a twig out from her hair which didn't do much considering she had plenty of other leaves and petals still caught.
She looked at the hobbits, who were eyeing her strangely. She attempted a smile and scared them off. All except Frodo, who wasn't even moved. He stared at her passively, sometimes looking at her, sometimes past her.
'You are different from your friends,' she said, as if her mind was far away. 'Some.responsibility has made you.different.'
"The enemy had many spies. Bird, beasts." Frodo remembered the warning Gandalf had given him before they parted. He even remembered what he had told Merry when they followed Aragorn. "I would think a servant of the enemy would look fairer and fell fouler.' Beyond her tangle of hair and serious expression, her green eyes sparkled with some unconstraint light. Though, the feeling he got from her was not foul but strange. As if he had spied on something that was not to be seen or touched.
'If we tied her up, we would be sure she wouldn't report back to the enemy,' the girl heard Aragorn say to Gandalf.
'What?!?' She jumped to her feet, crossing to Aragorn. 'You can't leave me to die. You tie me up, you are feeding me to all the black creatures who hate me!'
'And why, pray tell, would some hate you?' Aragorn asked.
'Aragorn, lower your suspicions. She is nut a maiden, as she said before,' Boromir said while the rest of the Company joined the conversation.
'She is no mere maiden,' Aragorn said softly but still stern. He reached a hand toward her and she instinctively jerked away. He gave her a stern look, convincing her to stay still as he brushed away the lock of hair covering her elven ear. 'She is lucky she is not yet an orc.'
'What new sights are these?' Legolas breathed upon seeing the elven ear. She covered her ear with her hair as Aragorn went on.
'She is in league with Saruman, Gandalf. We cannot have her-'
'I am in no such league. I live by myself and I owe my allegiance to no one.' She made the last point clear speaking slowly and loud.
'Where do you love and who are you?' Merry asked, annoyed with not even knowing what to call her.
'She is Oirebian. She wanders al Middle Earth, never staying in one place. All the elves know of her and how she has forsaken society,' Legolas explained, moving to stand next to her. 'She stays hidden from all eyes; never being seen and only heard by the rustle of leaves and the jangling of her charms.' At this, Legolas touched one of the many bracelets around her wrists.
During the story, the hobbits imagined what they would catch of her. A glimpse of her bare feet along a branch, a chance sighting of a hand steadying itself on the trunk of a tree, a brief look at the back of her hair as she ran off.
'Aye, we have our own name for the same legend. Wanderlust we call her,' Boromir said, turning to the others. 'If you are touched by her, you will never satisfy the need to wander.' There was no fear in being touched by her because she was no where to be seen. Suddenly, she was in front of Legolas, hanging upside-down from a branch. 'Why do they call me Oirebian? What does it mean?'
'Legolas,' Gandalf said warningly, also telling him to get her down before she could get away.
'Well, first of all we thought you were human and.' She squinted at the elf. 'You are the ever lonely maiden. Gandalf was afraid you would dislike the name.'
'Well, I don't like it too much now,' she said.
'You don't know elvish then,' Legolas said.
The girl shook her head. 'I only know a little of the language.'
'Why don't you come down and explain yourself,' Gandalf coaxed the she-elf but she just pursed her lips and kept talking to Legolas.
'Tell the wizard,' spitting out the word wizard as if it tasted foul, 'I will do whatever I want---Ahhh!' She fell down off the branch and rolled on the ground. She had an expression on her face as if she couldn't understand why she was on the ground. She got up as quickly as possible. She too one look at the crowd around her and bolted. She took one step before Aragorn grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him. She pushed off him but stayed, rubbing the arm that was pulled. 'For what reason did you have to do that?'
'Can you tell us what you call yourself?' Gandalf asked before Aragorn could explain their suspicions.
'I don't call myself anything. I have no need to get my own attention.' When she realized the joke wasn't going over well, she decided to give them a break. 'I have many names among the other folk. Some call me the Giver, others the Thief. I have also heard Oirebian by the elves.' She looked at Legolas and then pointed behind her. 'Recently, I have stayed in Hollin.'
'Holly,' Gimli said to himself. Realizing he had said it out loud he grunted and looked back at the girl.
Knowing how the dwarves' culture was kept mostly secret, she continued. 'Before that, I was wandering for many miles. It was then that I met my master.' She paused as if bad memories plagued that time in her life. 'The very first name I can remember is Anna.'
'With the elves?' Legolas asked.
'No, among the humans in the Barrow-Downs. It must have a background with the elves though I can not remember that far back.'
'Do you see this Gandalf? She plays with our hearts and our legends. Now she pretends to be the woman in the Dunedain stories form when the Barr- Downs were more than graves,' Aragorn said. The girl shut her eyes at the mention of the graves.
'I think we need to continue discussing,' Gandalf said as he led Aragorn further off.