To Become a Ranger
Chapter 17
Down the River of Anduin
The next couple of weeks had been relaxing and fitful yet by the end of it everyone had felt that they could no longer stall and that there rest period had finally come to an end. The Dinner had gone according to plan and nothing other that some rowdy hobbits with ale and tobacco to mix it up (courtesy of Merry and Pippin of course). Alyssa and Aragorn had gotten some time alone to them selves and had settled their differences eventually becoming closer than ever before. Boromir had drilled some survival tactics into the hobbits thick skulls and Legolas's and Gimli's daily fighting turning into friendly banter and jabbing at each other's species.
Eventually the Fellowship was slowly packing their bags and bed rolls in the early morn just before they set out on their new journey across the many leagues that led to Mordor on boat and foot. Alyssa turned when she saw Haldir approach their little camp that they had become to call home. He had become a dear yet distant friend letting few into his icy barriers.
"Come." He stated to the company. "The Lady awaits you for her final farewell." He then turned and led them away to the river bank where four boats where awaiting them. The boats where tied to the roots of an old Malorn tree which extended into the water making a makeshift dock.
Some Elves helped to prepare for the departure of the Fellowship. Legolas, among them, started shifting some parcels into a boat provided by the Galadhrim. He held up a thin wafer for Merry and Pippin to see, as they sat in a boat next to him.
"Lembas! Elvish Way-bread. One small bite is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man." He stated proudly he then turned and walked up on shore leaving the hobbits buy them selves.
Merry turned to Pippin. "How many did you eat?" he asked
"Four." He answer before letting out a large belch making Alyssa raise an eye brow at them.
They then quickly decided who would go in which boat and with what luggage. In the first boat Aragorn and Frodo would ride with some of the food supplied plus their own baggage; the second boat would carry Boromir, Merry and Pippin, no luggage would go in that boat for it was already heavy enough plus the fact that Merry and Pippin would eat any and all the food that was in it. The third boat would hold Legolas and Gimli it also would hold none but the twos luggage which wasn't much and some Lembas bread that the elves had supplied for them. In the fourth boat Alyssa and Sam would ride, carrying the most luggage and food as it would be the lightest and the swiftest.
After they had loaded the boats Haldir then told them to climb into their boats and let themselves be carried along the river until they came to a river bank where they will find several elves waiting for them there they will stop and fast with the lady before leaving the shores of Lothlorien forever.
"Good bye my friends and my no evil ever find you." He finally said before bowing to them. He then turned and walked briskly away not looking back.
Alyssa then pushed off from the roots with her paddle and slowly followed Aragorn and Frodo down stream. Naught five minutes latter they came to a part in the river where the banks where low and the grass was green. Alyssa looked about herself figuring this would be where the Lady Galadriel would be waiting for them. She quickly found her standing silently beside a large Malorn tree dressed in the purest white making her shine out like a star. Alyssa quickly pulled a shore beside the Lady who beckoned them all to follow her to a small clearing where a table was set up with fruit and fresh bread and honey waiting to be eaten.
Celeborn stood up and greeted them warmly asking them to join him and his wife for breakfast. To Alyssa it all seem to surreal to be true but either way her stomach had control of her legs at the moment and directed her over to the table where the Hobbits where already seated and dug in, much more politely then the Halflings of course.
Eventually all the pleasantries had come to an end and it was now time to leave, the very real possibility that they could never see the great leaves of the Malorns or the great city in the trees ever again present on all their minds making them all vary silent.
"Never before have we clad strangers in the garb of our own people. May these cloaks help shield you from unfriendly eyes." Stated Celeborn as nine elves came up to them and each drapes a grey shimmering cloak over each of their shoulders. He then bows to them in far well and turns to Aragorn to converse with him about the road they are to be taking.
Some Elves help prepare for the departure of the Fellowship. Legolas, among them, starts shifting some parcels into a boat provided by the Galadhrim. He holds up a thin wafer for Merry and Pippin to see, as they sit in a boat next to him.
"Every league you travel south, the danger will increase. Mordor Orcs now hold the eastern shore of the Anduin." Celeborn told Aragorn as they slowly walked away from the rest of the fellowship.
As the Elf Lord spoke, the Fellowship climbed into the boats. Sam stepped into the boat almost tipping it and quickly tried to steady himself, as though he were unused to boats. Legolas helped Gimli onboard earning only a growl form the frustrated Dwarf who clearly liked to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground. Meanwhile, Aragorn and Celeborn wandered through the heavy mist and sunlight, in deep conversation.
"Nor will you find safety on the western bank. Strange creatures bearing the mark of the White Hand have been seen on our borders." Celeborn spoke urgently. "Seldom do Orcs journey in the open, under the sun, yet these have done so!"
The two paused. Aragorn looked down unsure if he was ready to lead this quest now that Gandalf was gone. Celeborn held a dagger before him. Aragorn raised a suspicious eyebrow at it but took it, and unsheathed it; its blade glinted in the pale morning light making it all the more lethal.
"Le aphadar aen. (You are being followed)" was all Celeborn said warningly.
Aragorn nodded. "I know, the creature has been following us since Moria I hope to lose it on the river."
Celeborn nodded before turning around and started to head back towards the boats. "By river you have the chance of outrunning the enemy to the Falls of Rauros. After that it will be hide and seek from there. Good Luck Aragorn son of Arathorn."
Aragorn nodded at him before climbing into a boat behind Frodo, then he Pushed away and they where off.
As the boats move further downstream, Legolas's eyes stare distantly. He smiles, remembering.
"My gift for you, Legolas, is a bow of the Galadhrim, worthy of the skill of our woodland kin." Stated Galadriel handing him a magnificent bow and a sling of arrows with two daggers tucked into the sides.
Galadriel smiles, and turned to Merry and Pippin. "These are the daggers of the Noldorin. They have already seen service in war. Do not fear, young Peregrin Took. You will find your courage."
The Hobbits remember the meeting as they sail downriver. Sam also recalls the Lady's gift to him.
"And for you, Samwise Gamgee: Elven rope, made of hithlain."
"Thank you, my lady." He looks sidelong at the blades held by Merry and Pippin, and then looks up hopefully. "Have you run out of those nice, shiny daggers?"
The Lady of the Galadhrim just smiled, and turned to the next Fellowship member in line. It is Gimli, who diverts his eyes downwards. Galadriel speaks, her golden hair shining beneath the poignant blues and whites and greens of the forest.
"And what gift would a Dwarf ask of the Elves?" she asked kindly.
Gimli grunted before clearing his throat and gruffly stating, "Nothing." Then a change comes over him; he looks up. "Except to look upon the Lady of the Galadhrim one last time, for she is fairer than all the jewels beneath the earth."
Galadriel laughed her joyful voice flowing like a small babbling brook on a hot summer's day. She smiled at the Dwarf. He turns to walk away, then halts and turns back.
"Actually, there was one thing -- ah, agh, that's quite impossible. Stupid to ask."
Gimli sits in his boat with Legolas, a far away look in his eyes, a faint smile upon his face. From another boat, Aragorn glances towards them, then away. He too is remembering the farewell on the shores of Lothlorien.
Galadriel stands before Aragorn and places her hand on Aragorn's heart. "I have nothing greater to give, than the gift you already bear." She said. "Lead her on her journey Aragorn for she will get lost and when she dose, direct her on the correct path."
She looked into Aragorn's eyes, with both sorrow and joy dancing in her own. "Dan…ú-'eveditham, Elessar. (We shall not meet again, Elessar)"
Frodo sits in his boat with Aragorn. He hears the echo of her voice in his mind. Galadriel hands him a crystalline vessel shaped like a teardrop, filled with clear water and a shining light.
"Farewell, Frodo Baggins. I give you the light of Earendil, our most beloved star." She said handing him the precious jewel. She then leaned in and kissed him on the forehead.
Back in the boat, Frodo looks at the glass in his hand, and glances up at the shore. The Lady stands there, her right arm upraised, her hand adorned with her ring Nenya. A golden band is upon her forehead and a white cloak is over her head and about her shoulders. She speaks to him, silently, as he passes by.
"May it be a light for you, in dark places, when all other lights go out."
Alyssa looked at the lady who was on the shore remembering her own gift.
The Lady came up to her. "You hold a burden to rid the world of the foulest creatures ever created. A great burden carried along with the knowledge that you will never be able to go back to where you where born. And for that I give you Silver Wing," Celeborn came up to them with a white and black speckled hawk perched on a gauntlet on his arm.
"I believe you have already met, he is a dear and loyal friend of mine take care of him. Let him comfort you when the going gets to rough, Alyssa Howald."
Alyssa carefully held out her left arm where her own gauntlet was and let the bird hop on to it before thanking the lady quietly. She did indeed recognize the bird as the same one who had distracted the giant spider during her test in Rivendell. Now that she thought of it she felt that it was such along time ago instead on mere months ago, it almost felt like an eternity. Alyssa then looked up into the sky and watched the hawk swoop around in the above them glinting like a silver jewel in the sunlight. She smiled slightly to herself before directing her attention back to the swift river her strokes getting deeper and deeper as they carefully made there way onto the next adventure.
----------------
Aragorn looked around himself as they where passing swiftly buy the barren landscape on the shores of the Anduin. They needed a place to stop and soon or they wouldn't be able to see where they where going and could go strait into some rapids again like they had done they day before.
It had been three days since they had left Lothlorien and he was already thoroughly sick of water. Alyssa seamed to be enjoying her self though which seemed to grate on the Dwarves nerves who 'hated water more than horse back', he had told them adamantly the first night they had camped along side the river.
The first day had been uneventful just a lot of grumbling. They second day had been more eventful then he would have liked, as they had run into some unforgiving rapids that had would have capsized Gimli's and Legolas's boat if it hadn't been for Boromir's quick reflexes.
That night all of them had been too exhausted to even talk let alone barely build a small fire.
Today though had to be the most boring out of it all. Nothing absolutely nothing had happened, not even a fish had been spotted.
Suddenly he heard Alyssa shout out and turned to see her pointing at a small beach secluded buy underbrush around it just a head of them on the west bank.
He nodded at her and started to steer his boat towards it. They quickly hit bottom so he jumped out quickly followed buy every one else and dragged the canoe up onto the bank so it wouldn't be carried away buy the current with out them.
They quickly settled in and got a small fire going before eating a little and in the Hobbits case dropping off to sleep.
Gimli sat back next to Legolas and sighed fingering his pipe that he kept on him in case he ever came across some pipe weed.
"I have taken my worst wound at this parting, having looked my last upon that which is fairest. Haugh, henceforth I will call nothing fair unless it be her gift to me."
"What was it?" Asked Legolas curiously looking at him.
"I asked her for one hair from her golden head. She gave me three." Gimli declared grinning fondly in memory patting his pocket securely.
"And what, will you do with three strands of the Lady's hair?" Legolas asked skeptically.
"I will craft it through the middle of the finest most beautiful piece of Diamond ever crafted and pass it down through my children and so on."
"Yes." said Legolas smiling slightly. "That will surly be a sight to see Gimli son of Golin, as it will glow with a beauty never to be matched here in Middle Earth again."
Boromir looked out from behind a large rock; silvery webs of lights reverberating from the water. He looked worriedly at a log floating in the river. Small hands clutch it, and the top of a head is barely visible over the log's edge, where eyes glint softly.
"Gollum. He has tracked us since Moria." stated Aragorn softly coming up behind the young Steward.
"Golllllluum…" a voice rattled out in the dark.
"I had hoped we would lose him on the river. But he's too clever a waterman." Aragorn continued.
"And if he alerts the enemy to our whereabouts it will make the crossing even more dangerous." said Boromir gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.
"He wont." Said Alyssa quietly also coming up beside him. When she got two quizeld looks she continued. "He wants the Ring for himself, not for the enemy. He has already been at their mercy once and he's two clever to do it again, if anything we should be more worried about the Orcs on the other side as I can guarantee that we have not gone unnoticed by them."
Boromir sighed and sat down his back now against the rock facing his two companions. "Minas Tirith is the safer road. You know it, I know it. From there we can regroup…strike out for Mordor from a place of strength." He said quietly as to not alert the rest.
"There is no strength in Gondor that can avail us." Aragorn said softly.
"You were quick enough to trust the Elves. Have you so little faith in your own people? Yes, there is weakness. There is frailty. But there is courage also, and honor to be found in Men. But you will not see that." Aragorn turns away, but Boromir jumps up and grabs his arm turning him. "You are afraid! All your life, you have hidden in the shadows!" Boromir cried his voice raising. "Scared of who you are, of what you are." Boromir releases Aragorn, who turns away.
"That is enough." said Alyssa her eyes burning with a secret fire.
Aragorn turns back suddenly. "I will not lead the Ring within a hundred leagues of your city." He said forcefully before striding angrily away into the darkness.
Alyssa spun on Boromir. "You listen to me and you listen to me good." She said jabbing at the air in front of him angrily with her finger her other hand on her hip. "I will not tolerate this fighting. This is exactly what the Dark Lord wants, to split us apart with anger and hatred. So here's a suggestion, keep your opinions to your self before you ruin all that we have strived for." She gave him a last glare before walking away and plopping her self down on a small boulder at the waters edge to keep a look out for the night.
Alyssa sighed to her self as she stroked Silver Wing who had come down from the sky to comfort her. 'This was going to be a long night.'
AN: Well that's chapter 17 hope you all liked it. Sorry for the long wait but school got away with me and I needed to find another beta reader which I did so, big thanks to Eagle's Daughter. And also thanks to all those who replyed to my authors note.
Tootles, Lyssa.