"You've wandered rather far... Haldir will be furious," a light and musical voice chimed from somewhere to Cassidy's right. In an instant she turned, wand held aloft in warning as she scanned the treeline.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
"Easy," the voice sounded closer and then a slim figure emerged from the brush. She was an elf, an elf with dark hair and fair skin. For a moment, Cassidy was transfixed as the elf was likely the most beautiful creature that she had ever seen, fairer somehow than all the veela she had met before. "I am Arwen, granddaughter of Lady Galadriel, daughter of Lord Elrond of Imaldris."
"You're her granddaughter?" Cassidy couldn't help but gape slightly. Although both shared an extreme, nearly uncomfortable, level of beauty, Arwen's midnight black hair and grey eyes were complete opposites to Galadriel's golden locks and crystal eyes.
Instead of being offended at Cassidy's tone however, Arwen merely laughed.
"Ah, I see that you have noticed my Adar's Noldor ancestry. It seems that his blood won out," she smiled lightly and walked closer, unafraid of Cassidy's wand.
"Why are you following me?" Cassidy asked in elvish this time, testing if it would throw her off or surprise her.
"I was merely curious," she shrugged as she spoke, not perturbed at all by Cassidy's language skills. "I know that it was Haldir who was set to guide you, and you seemed to have purposely abandoned him."
"Did I? Ooops." You could hear the sarcasm thick in Cassidy's voice.
"I should lecture you not to do so..." a mischievous smirk crossed Arwen's lips. "But, I must admit that Grandfather assigned him as my guard when I first arrived in Lothlorien... and I cannot count the number of times I slipped from him. Still... he will be worried."
"He shouldn't make it so easy then." Once again, Arwen laughed at Cassidy's words and she found the sound of Arwen's laughter to be nearly infectious.
"Perhaps he should not. We women are far more resourceful than the males often believe."
This words seemed to be the perfect peacemaking terms as Cassidy felt tension slipping from her form. Years of training taught her to quickly measure the make of a being. She could sense no darkness in this elf. After a quick glance over of Arwen, Cassidy deemed her rather safe. She was only wearing a light, close fitting dress with draping sleeves. On her head was a thin circlet, much like Galadriel's, but she walked barefoot and had no apparent weapons. With caution ever in her mind, Cassidy slowly lowered her wand.
"I don't believe we were ever introduced," she switched her voice to an easy candor. "I'm Cassidy Oleander, witch and... not from around here."
"Yes, I've heard of you and your plight... I am sorry."
Cassidy shrugged in response. She was doing her best to ignore it
"What's past is prologue..." she smiled at the thought of the muggle author she was so fond of. "I don't think that saying has ever been more relevant than now."
"Wise words indeed," the two had fallen into step beside each other, between Cassidy's spelled boots and Arwen's elven grace, there was not a sound where their feet fell. "Where are you going?"
"Will you try to stop me?"
"Only if you plan on marching straight to Mordor... however seeing as you travel North, I doubt such to be your plan. Where do you travel?" There was genuine curiosity in Arwen's voice and Cassidy's weakness was always curiosity.
"I'm not sure. My whole life- whole world is gone. I need to explore and learn more about this one before I make any choices."
"A wise decision indeed... but can't you learn in Lothlorien?"
"Perhaps... if there were not a meddlesome wizard who reminds me too much of one I know- knew before."
"Ah, yes Gandalf," Arwen smiled gently. The birds in the tress were singing and Cassidy could not recall a time in the past few years when she had felt as at ease around a stranger. "He means well... he is just frightened. He was sent to Middle Earth to protect it and, though he will not admit it, he is frightened of failing. My Grandmother however would never force you to fight against your will."
"No, but she would cajole me with sweet words, promises, and guilt."
Arwen fell silent, though did not protest Cassidy's statement.
"Will I hear from you again?"
Cassidy paused in thought. She could feel the faint glow of elvish power fading and knew that very soon she would be stepping out of he bounds of the magical realm. She turned to Arwen and took one last look at the beautiful elf maiden who could have easily been older than Dumbledore.
"I would like to say that my intentions are to find some lonely cabin where I can study the creatures and magic of this world in eternal solitude, but I suspect that such an idyllic life is merely a fantasy. If luck from my past life followed me here... then I suppose that trouble will find me and who knows what will occur."
"Then please, accept this gift to aide your passage," Arwen whistled gently and a beautiful mare bearing a thin saddle and bitless bridle approached. She was dappled grey and her wide brown eyes stared into Cassidy's soul. "I suppose you can ride?"
"Well if I can ride a thestral then I think that I can manage," she smiled, allowing the mare to sniff her hand curiously.
"Her name is Gwedal, wind foot. May she carry you forward to greater fortunes than your past." Arwen paused in thought for a moment more. Then, she reached into a pouch tied across her own belt and pulled forth a necklace with a green leaf pendant. "This is the symbol of Lothlorien. Wherever you go, elvenkind will know you to be a friend."
Arwen stepped back, hand to over her heart as she bowed. Cassidy returned the gesture before tucking the necklace into her pocket and mounting Gwedal who nickered in delight as they walked off together. The day was passing quickly, and the sun was still high in the sky when Cassidy decided to eat her lunch while traveling. She reached into the saddle bags that had been tied to Gwedal, pondering as she did how Arwen had planned this, and pleasantly found several small sacks of dried meats, berries, and hard cheeses carefully wrapped up. There was also a flask with a tiny note tied to it, instructing her to add just a few drops to her water skin to aide in healing and strength.
She tucked all the items away into the safety of her pouch and nibbled on a hunk of cheese and handful of dried berries as she rode. Gwedal was a wonderfully accepting horse, far gentler than a thestral and more obedient than a hypogriff. The horse certainly had a mind of her own, but she took no problem with Cassidy picking their route or asking her to speed up or slow down.
As she rode, she dug out the necklace that was given to her, turning it over in her palm she found the jewel leaf to perfectly resemble the leaves of the Mallorn trees surrounding them. The necklace was a masterful craft and Cassidy could feel the slightest hints of magical residue clinging to it, like someone had once used a spark of magic in creating the leaf's impossible sparkle. Satisfied that it was not cursed or otherwise burdened with other magic, Cassidy clasped the necklace gently around her throat and allowed for the pendant to fall beneath her shirt.
Oh how she wished that she could've lingered for a bit longer in the elven realm. An entirely new species, an anomaly compared to her experiences with elves. They lived for centuries, moved with magical grace, and were an incredibly complex society. If only they had not been in the process of recruiting for a war, she would've been content to stay and study their society for quite some time.
Nevertheless, she continued on her journey.
Cassidy had spent the majority of her adolescents in dormitories. During the school year, she attended Hogwarts and lived with he other Ravenclaws, during winter holidays she had a brief respite at her Aunt and Uncle's house, and during the summer she lived in the dormitories of Mahoutokoro as she studied with their dueling team. She was constantly surrounded by people who oftentimes made an extra effort to smother her. While she loved them and appreciated their efforts to lessen the loss of her parents, it could be overwhelming at times.
For the first time in her recent memory, she was truly alone.
It was just her and Gwedal, wandering the wilds, camping beneath the stars, and cooking her food on an open fire. The horse was an amicable companion, never complaining or getting bored as Cassidy rambled on and on over her latest discovery. And boy did she have a lot of discoveries.
Middle Earth was a treasure trove of new plants and creatures. She catalogued no fewer than two dozen species that she had never seen before in her life. On top of that, she had few problems with muggles. The majority that she did see appeared to be of the rougher lot- men with scraggly beards and bearing overly large swords. They seemed to be the sort that one would imagine in a fairytale as highway men and rouges. Deciding that it was in her best interest to avoid them, a simple notice-me-not charm was all it took to keep them away. She didn't even need Harry's invisibility cloak.
This beautiful and peaceful way of living, traveling on the open road and cataloging her findings like New Scamander, one of her personal heroes, did was a delight. The joys she experienced while traveling allowed for her to push aside memories of the war; dreamless sleep potions also helping in a similar manner.
It was perfect... and of course... it wasn't meant to last.
On one particular night, the sun happened to fall from the sky a bit faster than Cassidy predicted. Of course, this could have had something to do with her engrossment in observing a mating display between two "Crickadees" as she had named the large, magical insects about the same size and bearing the same song as chickadees. It was actually Gwedal who reminded her that they should get moving with a gentle nudge to her shoulder.
Cassidy reluctantly complied with the horse and hopped astride her back, intent on riding a but further to the base of a small hill that she had spotted the day before. She figured that such would give her a bit more shelter as the bit of tarp that she was constantly transfiguring into a tent was beginning to wear thin due to the heavy handed magic she was placing on it.
The night was rather warm and the sky was sparkling as if it were filled with diamonds. The sounds of the night were ticking away with chirps and hoots of all sorts of creatures, some so very new to Cassidy.
As she neared however, she heard a rather loud commotion. Curiosity overtaking any sense of self preservation, she wandered closer, confident that her notice-me-not charm would keep her safe.
At the base of the very hill that she was intending on camping at was a small campsite already set up, a cheery fire with a rabbit half roasted was situated next to a neatly laid out bedroll. It would've been an idyllic scene had it not been for the fourteen brutish creatures slowly circling a man bearing a sword.
Cassidy repressed the urge to shudder as she stared at the massive, hulking creatures. While she was certainly not one to judge a book by its cover, she could feel the vileness coming off those creatures. They were not merely ugly of visage, but hints of dark magic could be felt in them. Bulging muscles, tallow gray skin, and crude weapons of clubs and rusted spears made Cassidy assume that they were some stunted relative of trolls.
The man who they were circling however appeared to be an average muggle. He held his sword loosely in his grip and had his eyes constantly scanning the creatures. He held himself with the ease of a tried warrior- every muscle relaxed and yet tense at the same moment.
Now in her time wandering Middle Earth, Cassidy witnessed her fair share of violence. Men, especially of the more primitive variety, inevitably fought with men. She had ample evidence that the phrase "honor among thieves" was mute and that that roving bandits constantly picked fights with other roving bandits. However, this man didn't seem like any roving bandit. His bearing was too proud- not the stuck up Slytherin "pure blood" proud, but the stupidly brave Gryffindor "I do what's right" proud.
Most strange about that man however, was despite the fact that her charm seemed to be working perfectly on the creatures who completely missed her rather close presence, the man spotted her.
Grey eyes locked onto hers and she knew instantly that somehow, she had been spotted.
Before she could flee, Cassidy was drawn into the intensity of the man's gaze. However, instead of shouting for help, instead of drawing the attention of the creatures to her in order to get them off of him, the man flicked his eyes to the side. Confusion spread through Cassidy and must have been evident on her face as the man then subtly and sharply jerked his chin upwards.
He's telling me to run, it finally clicked in Cassidy's mind.
This man, this man who she had never met before... he saw through her charm and instead of requesting help, was telling her to flee. He wanted for her to be safe and he knew that the creatures, increasing in their snarling and inching closer to him, were going to kill him. Despite that, he was telling her to leave and save herself.
With that act of courage, Cassidy's mind was made up. She could worry about obliviating the man later.
Drawing forth her wand from her sleeve holster, Cassidy murmured pointed it tip at the nearest creature and let out a familiar and almost soothing spell.
"Stupefy," she cried out, watching with satisfaction as the creature froze in place and the man stared at her in mild shock.
Her satisfaction soon diminished as the creature seemed to shake off her spell far quicker than it should have. She immediately went into full attack mode, breathing deeply and centering herself.
"Impedimenta," her wand flickered with life as she moved to protect her immediate area. "Confringo, confringo," she cast the blasting charm left and right, satisfied by the way the creatures' weapons bursted into flames, quickly consuming the hulking beasts holding them. From the corner of her eye, she could see the man slashing at the beasts with his sword, spilling black blood and taking down more than she honestly expected a muggle to be capable of.
In a matter of minutes, all the creatures were dead. A foul stench filled the air and Cassidy mournfully realized that by killing all of the creatures, she had no living subject left to study. With a rather put out sigh, she turned to face the muggle who she would now have to obliviate.
When she faced him however, he was not white faced or quaking as she expected, but instead seemed rather calm- almost curious. Before she had a chance to lift her wand, he spoke.
"Are you a wizard?"
"Witch."
"Do you know Gandalf?"
... Cassidy froze. If this man knew Gandalf... then he was no ordinary muggle.
"I'll take your hesitancy as a yes," his voice became less suspicious and adopted a warmer air. "I understand that he can have that effect on people. I'm called Strider. And you are?"
"Cassidy. And what kind of name is Strider?"
He man chuckled and wiped both his sword and hands on the grass, rolled up his bedroll, retrieved his dinner, hefted a sack onto his back, and kicked out the fire.
"Lumos," she casted a small ball of light at the end of her wand.
"Well that seems handy," he chuckled lightly as he rose and walked slowly towards Cassidy. "I don't know about you, but I hold no intention of sleeping amidst the orc carcasses. Would you care to join me in finding a new campsite?"
Part of Cassidy knew that this was a bad idea, that if he was a friend of Gandalf, then that meant that he was likely every bit as much trouble as the old wizard. But, despite her best instincts, Cassidy was also incredibly curious. Plus, despite her joys in solitude, several weeks with only a horse for companionship did get a bit lonely. In the end, she determined that she still had the advantage of magic. If the muggle tried anything, she was more than prepared to handle it.
"Alright, but since I saved your life, you're sharing that rabbit."
"Sounds fair enough," he said with a nod of his head as the pair walked on until they could no longer smell the orcs.
The man, Strider, immediately set about setting up the pre-gathered firewood from his last campsite which Cassidy easily lit. He then set up his bedroll whilst Cassidy pulled out her own, determining it best that she didn't transfigure the tarp needlessly as there was very little wind to chill her. Once those tasks were done and the rabbit was once gain roasting over the fire, there was nothing more to hide behind.
Strider sat across the fire from her as his face turned serious.
"So, what is a witch doing wandering the Anduin at night?"