Guardians of the Spirits
Tobi is a good boy
I do not LOTR or the works of JRR Tolkien
TWO
Olorin set foot onto the boat, the waves crashing underneath it. For the first time, he felt chill wind across his face. His companions, emissaries like him, did not surprise him. Despite their new forms as old men, he could easily distinguish them each.
There was Curumo, whom he had no great love for, but deeply respected, as he was both courageous and wise. Aiwendil, who often spoke about his love for the small creatures of Arda, was petting a seagull idly with a finger. The other two, Alatar and Pallado, he did not know, so he offered them a courteous greeting.
"Ah, Olorin," Curumo nodded, "We may finally set out on our journey." He turned, about to give the order to the ship hands, but a clear voice rang out from the docks.
"Wait! My Lords!" An elleth, dressed in the heraldry of Turgon, ran down the platform towards the awaiting ship. She came to the stern and bowed. "There is another who wishes to travel with you!"
Curumo's thick black eyebrows rose at that, "There were only to be three at first, and then there are now five, for which the journey was set!"
"My Lord, I apologise, but he-he said it was most urgent-that-he must go on this ship-"
Curumo sighed and turned to Alatar and Pallado. "Will the ship be able to carry one more passenger?"
Alatar touched the side of the ship with a hand, "I think she'll be quite glad of another passenger. She's eager for the trip."
"Very well, tell him that he may come."
The elleth bowed and then blushed, "Well, My Lord…" She turned away from Curumo and waved down the platform. An elf, dressed in a plain dark grey cloak walked down the pathway. A hood covered his head, so Olorin could not tell who the elf was. A plain sword hung at his belt, weapons having been banned in the Valinor since the kinslaying.
The elf shook hands with the elleth, thanking her politely, and swung himself into the boat.
The four maia turned to look at the newcomer, Curumo glaring.
"You wish to come with us, elf?"
"I must, My Lord, Curumo," the elf replied.
"And will our new companion not name himself to us?"
The elf pulled down his hood, revealing gleaming, golden hair that was worn in an interwoven braid, and mismatched eyes: one deep green and the other the shade of freshly formed ice. "I was-" the elf stopped himself, "I am called Glorfindel."
Olorin remembered then: there was word in Valinor, especially in Turgon's camp, that two elves had died defeating balrogs: Ecthelion and Glorfindel. This must have been Glorfindel, then. He felt a wave of sympathy for the elf, for when their souls returned, many found it hard to deal with their pasts and how they died.
The sails filled with wind, called down by Pallado, and the ship began to move gently forward into the Great Sea.
Over the weeks that they sailed, for even Alatar and Pallado could not circumvent the storms that raged on the waters, the elf rarely spoke, but he was kind. He helped Aiwendil with the birds, cleaning their feathers with him, happy to just sit and listen as Aiwendil described in great detail the inner workings of animals. Alatar and Pallado were greatful that the youthful elf could climb the mainmast and work the lines and rigs to their requests. Curumo, while surely, eventually would grumble that Glorfindel was a hard worker. But Curumo's great annoyance was that Glorfindel refused to answer who had sent him with them.
"Was it your King, Turgon?"
"No, my Lord," replied the elf, working a fishing line that would catch fish t Aiwendil's specifications.
"Was it another elf who convinced you?"
"No, my Lord," the elf would say, and proceed to climb the foremast.
Olorin eventually grew tired of watching the poor elf be pestered with questions and he suggested to Curumo that this was the case. "Is it not strange though?"
Olorin looked at the elf, with his mismatched eyes and golden hair, and thought of his kindess and patience with them all. He shook his head. "No. Perhaps that he felt that he must come, Curumo. That this was his duty. There is nothing to question him about. He wants to come, that is all."
Curumo begrudgingly nodded, but his clever eyes always watched the elf.
One day the wind whipped up cold and chill. Olorin's teeth chattered. It was an exhilarating yet frightening experience.
"Do mortals teeth always chatter when it is this cold?" He asked Glorfindel.
Glorfindel laughed, removing his cloak and wrapping it tightly around Olorin. He was bare armed, wearing only a dark tunic with a black sash around his waist. "I did not know many mortals, Olorin, but yes, I think they do."
Olorin gazed at Glorfindel. "I think I may guess at who sent you-worry not! Nienna is to whom I serve. And the Lady takes care that I watch over those who have come back from Mandos."
Glorfindel's mismatched eyes stared at him a moment. "Yes, I believed that you may have figured it out as soon as I set foot on this ship. I do not know how long I tarried in Mandos's halls. But he has given me a duty, which I must fulfil."
Olorin patted Glorfindel with a hand. "I understand. I did not want this, yet, it is my duty, so I must serve."
From atop, Aiwendil's birds cawed. "Land! The Birds say there is land ahead!"
"We will look out for each other, you and I," Olorin said, and offered his hand. Glorfindel grinned and took it. "Yes, I believe this is what your Lady and my Lord planned."
"Who knows the plans of the great ones. We are but a small part."