Alright, I'm back! I succeeded in my novel, after working my a** off all month, but I've finally returned. I was going to try to update a little sooner, but I've been rather sick lately, so yeah. Here I am, please excuse any inconsistencies, I haven't touched this thang since Oct. XD
Sunlight poured down from the heavens, bathing the last homely house in divinely beautiful glory.
We had paused here, at the end of the woods, catching our breath, gazing at the amazing elven wonderland.
I sucked in a sharp breath of air, freezing in my tracks, eyes growing huge.
Now, here is the sad thing: I don't have really good eyesight.
To me, the last homely house was a blur of light, beauty, shiny surfaces, seemingly endless staircases.
Maybe that made it more beautiful.
"This is Rivendell, huh. I've always wanted to see elves..." Sam breathed, walking forward as if in a trance, forgetting, for a moment, about Frodo and tearing my father to shreds.
"Do you smell that, Merry? Rivenwhatever smells delicious." Pippin sighed, dragging his cousin behind him as he tore towards the beautiful smells wafting through the air.
"Come along, Thurin, we must catch up with them." Thorongil chuckled, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, leading me after them.
"Will Frodo be alright?"
"Yes, now he will be. Master Elrond shall take good care of him."
"Have you ever met Master Elrond?"
Thorongil started to say something, but stopped himself hurriedly, managing to choke in the process.
"You all right?"
"Of course. What I was going to say was that I, er, yes, I do know him, an old acquaintance."
"Alright. Oh dear, Merry and Pippin are getting out of sight, should I go reel them back in?" I asked concernedly as the two hobbits tore over the fields, crying out over all the delicious foods they detected.
My father hesitated for a second, thinking.
"Yes, please do, go on after them, but-"
The tail end of his reply was lost as I whooped with joy, reinvigorated by the fresh autumn air as I tore off behind them, sprint-skipping.
"-try to act like a masculine ranger-oh, never mind. Ah, how beautiful it all looks this time of year..." Thorongil murmured to himself as his brisk walk slowed to a slow, almost lethargic speed as he surveyed everything, all the while murmuring over how lovely it all was, how nice those new mums looked growing in a field, and how dastardly someone named Glorfindel looked in magenta.
I completely ignored my father's warning about appearing 'masculine'.
No, for once in my life, I felt safe. I felt free.
I felt like nothing could touch me here, nothing...
I felt laughter bubble up, honest-to-goodness, childish laughter.
The last time I had laughed like that, I had been with Esgalnoron.
I froze.
My foot fell to the ground instead of continuing the jubilant skip.
As I stood there, frozen, a numb pain filling my chest, a breeze blew over me.
My hair fairly billowed around me, whipping across my face.
The silvery bead flashed before my eyes along with great wisps of dark hair.
Esgalnoron.
I hadn't thought about him at all the last day or so, I'd been so scared, and just now I had been so wrapped up in the beauty and the peace of Rivendell.
It all shattered around me when I thought of Esgalnoron.
I would see him again.
I would.
I would.
I needed to see him so badly, life was so unfair.
Why?
Why should anyone have to endure this?
I wanted Esgalnoron to be there, lingering right there, by that fine gate I could see.
I wanted him to happen to turn around, glance my way.
I wanted our eyes to catch.
I wanted to exchange our casual, nervous smiles.
Somehow, that would be enough, I just needed to catch his eyes. To toss him a smile.
I could fight orcs. I could climb mountains. I could swim rivers. Thorongil had told me once, when I was a little girl, struggling with walking, struggling to do the simplest of tasks, he had told me I could do anything if I tried hard enough. He had said that's what had brought him this far, the knowledge that nothing is ever truly impossible. No matter what it felt like, I could do anything, that's what he had told me. That's what I had held in my heart all the days of my life after that. It had gotten me so far, but all of a sudden, it seemed worthless.
I may be able to climb mountains, but I couldn't have Esgalnoron, not yet, anyway.
It was out of my power, and that made me furious.
Suddenly, Rivendell didn't seem so beautiful anymore.
"What's the matter, my crazy ranger daughter?" My father asked lightly, his face bright, like his smile. This place obviously made him incredibly happy.
I plastered a weak smile onto my face.
"Nothing. I am only a bit, um, in shock at how amazing this is."
Usually if I said something that ridiculous my father would have raised his eyebrows, and an interrogation would have begun.
But not today.
He simply nodded dreamily, eyes fixed on the lovely house, the valley, the trees, the fields, the bridges.
And he walked on, me following reluctantly behind.
::
"Estel! Ah, we have been waiting! We have missed you greatly, welcome back." The elf tried to seem dignified, but he was obviously finding it impossible, he appeared so pleased to see someone named Estel.
I realized as my father embraced the elf, that he must be the Estel the elf was speaking of.
I was greatly confused.
"Estel, who's this? Halbarad? No no, much much too short. No matter, you and your friend look very tired, hungry, and quite dirty, ugh, wouldn't want whatever's on your tunic there on the nice carpets...Anyway, Estel, I will show you and your companion your rooms. Would you prefer together or separate?"
"Together." Thorongil replied quickly before following the strange elf who was apparently mistaking him for someone else down the ornate halls, trying to keep whatever was on his tunic off the carpet.
"Here is your room, Estel, I would give you your old room of course, but it would not be enough space for two rangers. I assume you're old enough to fix your own bath by now?" The elf raised his eyebrows, gesturing to a fine door that supposedly led to our room.
Thorongil chuckled.
"We will be fine. Hannon le, Lindir. Would you bring us a new change of clothes?"
"Certainly." Lindir smirked, eyeing my father and my garments with disdain.
Once Lindir had disappeared down the hall, Thorongil turned the knob, swinging open the door.
The room was truly a fine one. Large and comfortable, it was furnished with two beds, several cozy looking chairs, a nice-looking rug, a vanity, a chest, a small table, and lots of interesting carvings, paintings, and windows.
"Take as much time as you need to bathe-"
"Who's Estel, Da?"
Thorongil flinched, turning away, suddenly busying himself with inspecting a book perched on the windowsill.
"Father!"
"It is not important, Thurin, my name to the elves is Estel, just like my name to the townsfolk is Strider, and my name to the Rohirrim and Gondorians is Thorongil. It is no matter, don't think on it."
"But that elf knew you, Da, he spoke to you like you were a little child who spent most of your time running under his feet."
My father froze, and I knew I'd struck close to the truth.
"Well?"
"He's a very old acquaintance of mine, like Master Elrond. Now hurry up and bathe, Lindir will have some robes for you shortly, and you need to find Merry and Pippin, I have a feeling they're up to some enormous shenanigans."
"I have a feeling that your feeling is right. But, father, it is unclear, here should I be a man or a woman?"
Thorongil frowned as he began stripping off the many layers of soiled clothes covering him, me following suit.
"Well, I don't know, Thurin. Here people wear robes, no cloaks and hoods as they go about everyday life. It seems as if it would be pointless to try to hide your very long, it would just get you into deeper trouble. Yes, shed your disguise, Thurin. But, please, try to act stately, like a lady. For instance, the dress hem never strays above the ankles-"
"What?! How am I supposed to walk?" I shrieked incredulously, pausing in the middle of stripping off my under-under-tunic(believe me, you need as many tunics as you can get in the deep woods).
"Thurin, do finish taking that tunic off and hurry along and clean yourself up. And please come out soon afterward so that I may brush your hair, make you look really nice..." Thorongil sighed, shooing me off towards the tub of steaming water in an adjoined room next to ours, forcing me to get clean for the first time in...ever...
Wow, there was something my father wasn't telling me.
When we had both finally finished bathing, and were dressed in our ridiculous new robes(I almost killed myself several times while trying to climb into them), Thorongil sat me down at the vanity and began to brush my hair.
"Ow...please stop...ow...ow ow ow...OW, BY THE VALAR!"
"Thurin, please, it can't be that bad, I'm just trying to make you look respectable! And don't scream like that, you're what, 30? 31? You're too old for this!" He growled, placing one large hand on my shoulder, holding me down as he attacked another rat's-nest.
Finally, after much colorful language, the tedious process of rescuing a bead of mine as it rolled away, and then restringing it again, I was allowed to rise, and promptly pushed my father onto the seat of doom.
As I tried to brush his hair(it was the hardest thing I thought I had ever had to do), he tried to distract himself by staring into the mirror.
At an utterly random moment, he cried:
"By Eru himself, is that white hair?!"
It scared me so badly I almost impaled his head with the brush.
"What was that for!?"
"I'm sorry, but look at that...there are white hairs in my beard..."
"Uh, yeah. So?"
"There are white hairs in my beard!"
It occurred to me that my father didn't look at his reflection too often. Neither did I, we lived in the woods.
Of course he wouldn't have noticed the little white hairs speckling his facial hair.
"How embarrassing! It was here all the time! But I look so old!" He cried in horror, pawing at his face frantically.
"Da, you are kind of old-"
"I'm middle-aged, Thurin! I'm in my prime!"
"I would say a little past your prime, but whatever."
"What are we going to do about it?"
"There are only about five, but I don't know, hmm, if you could find a way to pull them out..."
Five minutes later Lindir opened the door to this sight:
On one of the beds lay my father on his back, eyes scrunched tightly together as I was crouched on top of him, trying to pull out the white hairs in his beard as he winced painfully.
"Uh...I probably should have knocked..." The elf fumbled nervously, closing the door hurriedly behind him.
"Wait!" My father sprung up from the bed, cheeks bright red with embarrassment.
He swung open the door.
"Sorry about that, my friend was just, um-"
"Pulling the white hairs out of his beard." I supplied helpfully, waving brightly at Lindir from the bed.
Lindir's eyebrows shot up.
My father rested his head painfully in one hand.
"Anyway.." he groaned, trying to recover his self-esteem, "what did you come to tell us?"
"That your Adar wants to see you in the hall outside of the halfling's room, he want's to converse with and greet you while the halfling sleeps."
"Will Frodo be alright?"
"I do not know, you will have to ask Master Elrond himself that." Lindir smiled awkwardly before hurrying away.
"Do they show terribly?" Thorongil whispered self-consciously to me as he prepared to hurry out.
"Not too much. But wait, Da, Lindir called Master Elrond your Adar? What? Doesn't Adar mean 'father' in elvish?"
Thorongil sighed.
"Thurin, you have learned your lessons in elvish far too well. Yes, it does mean father."
"Master Elrond is your father? What? You do not look like an elf to me!"
"Thurin, I can't explain now-"
"Da, you never have time to explain anything!"
A still, uncomfortable silence hung over the room after my outburst.
"Thurin, when I was young he took me in, he raised me, he adopted me, like I did for you. It's funny, I was about your age. He named me Estel, and he is as much a father to me as I am to you. So please, do try not to embarrass me in front of my family." Thorongil, or should I say, Estel explained nervously, putting a paternal hand on my shoulder.
"Oh. Oh. You grew up here? How amazing! But, why did you never tell me?" I sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder as well, smiling as the shock wore off.
"Well, I'd best be going to speak with my father, and you must go and police Merry and Pippin." He decided quickly, ignoring my last question.
"Alright. But, Father?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you. For making time, for telling me at least a little bit."
I smiled as he hurried away, off to find his foster-father.
Would that make Master Elrond my foster-grandfather?
Wow.
Now, off to find Merry and Pippin in this huge maze of elven beauty.
I had my work cut out for me.
::::::::::::::
I arrived just in time.
"Merry and Pippin! You are in so much trouble!" I growled, grabbing the closest hobbit, who happened to be Merry, by the ear before going after Pippin.
Rivendell was very large and, naturally, had several kitchens.
Merry and Pippin had discovered one of these and, while my father and I were busy making ourselves clean, had been raiding and cooking.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" I scolded, trying to catch Pippin while holding a struggling Merry, several elves peeping in curiously before recoiling quickly in horror at the sight of their wrecked kitchens.
"Why, oh mother?" Pippin giggled.
Apparently, they'd gotten ahold of not only the elves' food, but also the elves' liquor.
"What about your dear cousin Frodo? Have you even checked to if he's alright?" I sighed in exasperation, finally catching the nimble trickster by the collar.
At the name Frodo, Pippin's face grew suddenly very solemn.
"Of course we have, Fey. We wanted the food, naturally, but we first went and checked on Frodo. Master Elrond is healing him, it will take some time, meanwhile, he told us to make ourselves comfortable."
A huge, maniacal grin spread across Pippin's face.
"And so we did."
I buried my face in my hands.
These two had made an enormous mess.
Food and wine was spilled everywhere, the doors to all the shelves were hanging open.
"It looks like a great battle happened here." I sighed, surveying the expensive looking damage without hope.
"Oh no, no battle, we were just familiarizing ourselves with these fine elves' larders. A very agreeable task, I assure you." Merry smiled brightly, popping an entire tea-cake into his mouth, whole.
"I will never understand you hobbits..." I sighed in despair as I led them away from the damage, trying not to lift my hem above my ankles, still getting used to the fact that my breasts were no longer bound so tightly, which was rather bothersome. Being a woman was hard sometimes, men were easier.
"And I will never understand you men." Merry replied, Pippin nodding his head ferociously in agreement.
"You know," naughty little Pippin ventured cautiously as we strode through the immense expanse of Rivendell, marveling at the beautiful buildings all around us, "you look very nice in that dress, and your hair, what happened to your hair before? It finally looks like real hair...if Esgalnowhat'sit was here, it would be so terribly romantic." Pippin sighed tragically, fingering the material of my robes gingerly in his hands.
"Stop that." I growled, snatching it away from him, angrily wishing Esgalnoron really was here.
Rivendell was so nice.
We ventured outside, wandering through the beautiful scenery, murmuring to each other over how wonderful it all was, in between Pippin and Merry eating supposedly "edible" flowers, much to the elves' horror.
As we walked I noticed several elves sprawled out in a great, sunny field.
Esgalnoron loved lying in the sun.
Esgalnoron loved good weather.
Esgalnoron loved being free of serious, weighty troubles.
Esgalnoron loved big, open, pretty scenic places.
Esgalnoron would also probably love all these beautiful walls just waiting to be covered in bright, lovely murals.
As we wandered through the sheer beauty of Rivendell, I silently made a vow to myself to someday take Esgalnoron here.
Someday, I promised myself, Esgalnoron and I would be here together, without a care in the world. Someday we could sit among these lovely gardens together and laugh about things, talk about things in that way we had.
Someday the world would be at peace.
Someday all of this might happen. And I would fight to make my wishes come true.
Alright, you're welcome that I updated at all with my writing-fried brain, by Eru, I just wrote a novel in a month! Anyway...What will happen next? Will Thurin and Esgalnoron every see each other again? What sorts of mischief will Merry and Pippin cause around Rivendell? Will any elves be harmed in the making of this mischief? And what about Thorongil's past? He's still got a whole lot to tell Thurin, and I have a feeling it won't be pretty when she finds out...har har...
Will everyone survive the ordeals I'll put them through? Stick around to find out!
PLEASE REVIEW, A REVIEW WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. :)
You all are awesome, I love you guys, Hannon le,
~Thurin