Disclaimer: I own none of the material written by Tolkien or Peter Jackson.
A/N: My brother gave me a good tip... well, he gave me a tip anyway. "If you read your book out loud and certain parts sound like Yoda is talking, you probably got your grammar mixed up." Does that even make sense? No? Okay... Anyway! Please ReViEw! And if you have time, tell me your favorite chapter so far! It helps me know what to add more of!
Many thanks to...
LilactheDryad (Er... Because I am so awful to that poor figment of my imagination? Lol! To bad about the apples though... you really should try them sometime! I think they're really good, but then again, my definition of good is different from some people!)
People ask me why it is so hard to love, and I ask them why it is so hard to keep a promise.
—Unknown Author
For the fifth time that week, I find myself hobbling back to the fellowship's glade.
"How did it go?"
One would expect that question to be sarcastic by now, but as it is Merry asking, I can definitely say that he is truly sympathetic.
"Brutal. What else?', I mumbled as I threw myself down onto my resting couch.
"I don't see why you have to—', the hobbit began before he was cut off.
"Do not encourage her in that matter, master hobbit. The lass is under orders from the Lady Galadriel not to put a stop to those lessons."
"Gimli, has anyone ever told you that your crush on my grandmother is incredibly weird?"
The dwarf, of course, had no idea what a crush was, but between his spluttering and Boromir's chuckling, there is a pretty good chance that he guessed.
At least I got him to shut up.
Haldir calmly strolled into the clearing and glanced around until his eyes landed on my face.
"Ah! There you are, Lady Rielásse! I was gone for two minutes and you disappear!"
I scowled at the marchwarden, only to be rewarded by a cheeky grin.
"Run away again, did you?', Aragorn inquired as his eyes twinkled with laughter. I glowered at him before turning back to the 'search party'.
"Come now, milady! Training awaits!', Haldir gave a mock bow and motioned to the training fields.
"Humph. If you truly considered me a lady you wouldn't toss me into the dust.', I replied under my breath.
"And if you paid more attention to what you are taught, I would have no reason to do so in the first place."
"You could be a little more compassionate.', I retorted as I gingerly rubbed my elbow where a blue bruise had begun to form. The marks disappeared almost as soon as they appeared, but that did not stop them from being sore.
"An orc would have no compassion.', Haldir sternly stated.
"Does that make you an orc?', Pippin innocently interjected, giving me a wink as he did so.
"Careful, Pip. He might make you train as well."
At Merry's suggestion the youngest of the hobbits blanched and quickly made himself scarce while Haldir dragged me off again.
"That was barely any better, but it was still an improvement. Once more."
Haldir was on defense, which left me on offense. I repeated the succession of movements he had just shown me, only to have him grab my leg and flip me onto the grass.
"You are off balance. When you begin to turn pull your left leg closer to your body."
Another repeat of the motions had Haldir shaking his head as I once more failed and landed in the dirt.
"I do not know how I have any patience left with you trying it so often."
There is a difference between patience and tolerance. Patience is a virtue that comes from your heart. Tolerance is the fact that if you murder me Galadriel would go ballistic.
I frowned as he continued to speak.
"We will continue this tomorrow. Practice for another ten minutes; I have an important matter to attend to." He quickly sheathed his sword and left the training fields, much to my relief.
I unceremoniously plopped back onto the ground in a heap.
"Bloody elf."
My muscles were in knots, and I suddenly remembered what I would have done back home to help release the tension.
"Crap!', I wailed. "This whole week would have been better if I had just stretched in the first place!"
The stress was quickly unraveling as I worked my way through a warm-up, and I slowly exhaled as I slipped into a front split.
"That looks rather painful. Even for an elf."
"Not as painful as what Haldir puts me through.', I remarked as I eased out of the stretch and slowly turned to see my grandfather wincing at my exercises. "It helps ease some of the strain.', I said as an explanation.
"Where did you learn such practices?', he questioned curiously.
"I took— er, make that learned— ballet back home. It was a type of dance and we would warm up this way." I executed another split, my legs branching out to the side this time.
"Did you enjoy it?"
"Hmm?' I replied calmly as I readjusted to bring one foot over my head, forming a perfect example of the scorpion position.
"Was it something you enjoyed?', he repeated.
"Sometimes. At other times it was simply a distraction." I left him to guess what I had meant.
"Your mavwen told me everything." I let my leg drop back to the ground and he took my hand in his to lead me to a bench that sat nearby. Setting me by his side and not letting go of my hand, he tenderly used his fingers to rub circles into my palm.
"You are afraid to love, and yet you cannot help yourself. And that frightens you, penneth."
I suddenly found that the ground was very interesting at that moment. Daerada took my chin and turned it carefully towards him so that I was looking him in the eyes. They sparkled with intense empathy, and I swallowed nervously.
"Why?"
All of the emotions that were in his grey eyes traveled to his mellow voice. I choked as tears began to fill my eyes, and he lightly brushed the ones that escaped off of my face.
"Because—', I swallowed past the thick lump in my throat. "Because everyone I love gets taken away."
"They still live in your heart, little one. And they always will if you keep their memories alive."
The Lord of Caras Galadhon gathered me into his arms and gently held me as I wept into his warmth.
"Why must it be so hard to love, daerada?', I cried.
"Because love must be strong enough in all things. Love is something that must be fought for with all of our being. If it is not worth such an effort, it is not love."
Celeborn began to sing softly, cradling me in his arms. His voice was like the gentle surf of the ocean at the beginning of dawn, and with that soothing lilt carrying to my ears, I slowly began to fall into a deep and restful sleep as the sun set behind the treetops of Lothlórien.
"Today I am going to try a different tactic."
Why do I have the feeling that I will not like this one bit? Well duh, Riley! It's Haldir we are talking about.
"I have spoken to Lords Legolas and Celeborn about your training, and we have decided that we shall help you develop your own unique fighting style based on the talents you already have. Therefore we shall be instituting this 'ballet' Celeborn spoke of..."
I froze at that last part.
"What did daerada tell you?"
"He spoke of a certain form of dance that somehow increases your flexibility and balance. He thought that perhaps by combining your interest in the subject with your training, it would increase your skill in battle."
The tone of Haldir's voice proved that he thought that that was a ridiculous notion, but I almost grinned when I thought of how much easier fighting would be when using the movements that had been drilled into me at dance class. Haldir actually reminded me of my ballet instructor, and I was suddenly envisioning the marchwarden in a tutu and leotard. Hysterical giggles bubbled out of me, and I clamped a hand over my mouth.
"I would rather not teach anything pertaining to dancing,' he spat as he listened to me laugh. "So you shall be relying on what you already know. We shall engage in a mock fight and see what needs attention after that."
He drew the blunt twin knives that were used for practice, motioning for me to do the same.
"Um... Haldir?"
"Yes, Rielásse?" If we had been anywhere else he would have addressed me as Lady Rielásse, but the formalities were dropped once we entered the fighting grounds. Haldir was beginning to grow impatient as he hefted his matching blades and glared at me.
"Is this one of those duels where we both fight honorably, or where you turn barbaric and expect me to fight according to the rules?"
He rolled his eyes and deepened his grimace.
"You may use any means possible to try and defeat me. I certainly shall do the same to you."
I wrinkled my nose.
"There is no try, only do."
"No strange voices today, please. I am ready, Rielásse."
"Ready are you? What know you of ready, hm? You must unlearn what you have learned." I waggled my eyebrows at him.
Haldir did say that rule number one was to confuse your enemy. What better way than to creep him out than with Yoda impersonations? Although I suppose that in this world Yoda would most likely be considered another Gollum... Agh! Bad thought! Bad thought!
Haldir took my momentary delusions as a chance to put himself on the offensive, quickly conducting a move engineered to disarm me. He failed in that though; I saw and responded to him too swiftly for him to succeed.
Block, parry, strike, dodge. Block, parry, strike, dodge.
The same pattern repeated itself several times. Neither of us came close to disarming each other, but neither were we too far from that goal.
The bout went on for another few minutes before I finally saw the opening I needed. Keeping my muscles loose until impact so as to increase the force of the collision, I swung my leg out in a hitch kick to push Haldir back before going into a layout to narrowly miss his blade as it swung towards me. The marchwarden lost his balance and was soon on his back in the dirt. When he slowly sat up, he found my blade at his throat.
Ha! My layout actually laid Haldir out! Oh geez!
"How's that for knocking 'em dead?', I asked as I prodded his ribs with the dull knife. He squirmed uncomfortably.
"I give!', he raised his hands in defeat.
"Nope! You have to say 'uncle' first.', I countered as I poked him a few times more.
"That is utterly ridiculous! I already said 'I give', and I refuse to be humiliated in this way."
I cocked my eyebrow.
I'm getting good at this 'elvish expression' thingy.
"First of all, my beating you is utterly ridiculous. And second of all, according to the fact that I beat you, you should already be past the point of being humiliated. Besides, I could always tell Rúmil and Orophin that you're ticklish." I gave him several more jabs to prove my point.
"Fine.', he growled. "Uncle."
I whipped the knives back into their sheaths and offered Haldir a hand up. He pushed it aside and rose on his own, brushing off a few slivers of grass before stalking off.
"Rather harsh don't you think?"
I whirled around and beamed at Celeborn.
"You are an absolute genius! How did you ever come up with the idea that I would be better at fighting if dance was incorporated with it?"
He gave a nonchalant shrug.
"I do not know, but your mavwen says that you may discontinue these lessons if you wish. She informed me that you have proven yourself worthy by disarming our marchwarden."
"How did she know that?"
I think I just proved my teachers wrong. There is such a thing as a stupid question. The woman is psychic for heaven's sake!
"Even I could sense Haldir's tension, it was so palpable. Elves can feel very strong emotion in their comrades. In fact, one of the guards in Haldir's patrol sensed his frustration and thought that the woods were under attack!" Celeborn shook his head in disbelief at the notion.
"He's really that mad?"
"Oh no, penneth. He is furious." Celeborn laughed. "His expression when he stormed out of here..." He shook his head once more before leading me to the talan where I had first met my grandparents.
"Faelas shall be here in a moment to help you refresh yourself before supper." He placed a kiss on my brow before leaving to find his wife.
"My brother is livid." Faelas entered the room and I instantly remembered that this was Haldir's sister. She was grinning at me, and I grinned right back.
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
Her smile widened.
Good then.
Third Person Point of View...
"The time grows nearer, meleth. We must let her go."
"My heart tells me so, but the love I hold for her rebels against such thoughts."
Two elves were standing side by side in the treetops of Lothlórien, gazing at the golden leaves of the mallorn trees as they danced in the breeze.
"She reminds you of our daughter."
Celeborn sighed and turned to his wife.
"Yes. And I fear for her as I feared for Celebrían. Galadriel, that foul race that nearly destroyed our daughter are closer to our home than they have ever been before. What if Rielásse's fate is the same? To be taken and tortured? Poisoned and broken? When I think such things I cannot fathom letting her go. And yet, I know I must. If this is why she is afraid to love— because she has had to relinquish that love so often..."
Galadriel laid a hand on her husband's shoulder.
"She has come to this world for a reason, and we must not hinder that purpose." She cupped his hand and dropped something into his palm. He glanced down in surprise.
"What is this?" He picked up the strange pendant and studied it, turning it over carefully. A rune was imprinted in the metal and he jerked his head up to look at Galadriel.
"Varda.', he whispered as he recognized the symbol. "Why do you show this to me? And why is the craftsmanship of the Valar in middle earth?"
"To reassure you. When your granddaughter entered this world she was wearing this. There is more than our worries and love watching over Rielásse, meleth." She dropped her hand and left Celeborn to his thoughts.
He opened his clasped hand to look at the necklace again.
"Elbereth, Queen of Stars, brought my granddaughter to this world. How strange." He lifted his eyes to the stars that were created by that certain Vala. His focus centered on the star most loved by the elves, and his face eased into a humorous smile.
"And what an odd thing that her other daerada should be a star in the sky. Eärendil, my friend, I hope you watch over her on her journey."
And into the wee hours of the morning the Lord of Lórien watched his old friend sail across the sky, the silmaril on the brow of Elrond's father creating the star that gave hope to so many.
A/N: Ta da! Another chapter for you guys! Hope you enjoy it! And let's hope I can get Riley to leave Lothlórien in the next chapter!
—Sweet Dixie