A/N: Hey, guess what! I had another baby! He's precious and beautiful, and I'm just in love with him. =) I've also had no time to do ANYTHING because between him and his 13 month old brother, I spend all my days rocking babies. I'm okay with that, but it's also sort of killing my writer self. I've found myself staying up waaaay too late the past couple of nights to get this chapter out. That's okay, though. Sleep is overrated.
In this installment, two things are going to happen. We're going to get some more info on that relationship I hinted at between Legolas and Starkaven's queen Daiel. Somewhat because I want to introduce her more before she joins us later on in the story...and also because I just love this little romance Legolas and Daiel had back in the day & I'm very much looking forward to rekindling it later when she makes her entrance. Sorry, not sorry if that's not your cup of tea. =D The fluff will be over soon, I promise...for now...I chose to talk about it with the maturity of a bunch of high school boys, and I'm actually quite pleased with the moment of fluff. Hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it. haha! The second part isn't as fun, but it's necessary, I feel. It will catapult us into the next arc.
As always, reviews are appreciated!
Enjoy!
~#*ITS*#~
"Tell us a story, Shadow!" Pippin urged.
The journey down the river had been long and tedious, but ultimately uneventful. Many nights had been spent around the camp fire just like this one. They had heard stories of old, stories of home, and once in a while, a story of the unknown. Shadow always provided the latter, and needless to say, those were the favorite to most everyone in the company.
"Another one?" Shadow laughed. "Don't you think it's someone else's turn?"
"We've heard everything there is to know about the Shire," Merry groaned. "Dwarves and Elves are fascinating and all, but your stories are something we can't hear just every day...no offense."
With the last statement, Merry looked sheepishly in the direction of Legolas and Gimli. They both shook their heads.
"Trust me, my little friend," Legolas chuckled. "I think we all share your sentiment."
There was a moment of laughing followed by a moment of silence while Shadow thought. The mood on the journey southward had been solemn if not depressed for the most part. Some of the stories shared around the fires had not helped to lighten the atmosphere as they only left everyone yearning for home and brighter days.
A thought dawned on the Jedi as his eyes fell on Legolas. He knew of the Elf's feelings for the Lady Daiel. He sensed the desire to ask about her in Legolas's aura. He also knew how mortified the quiet Elf would be if he were outed... Mischief burned from deep inside Shadow as a grin spread across his hidden face. Perhaps a good chuckle at their friend's expense was just what the company needed to brighten their spirits, if only for a moment.
"Instead of a story...Legolas," there was an air of innocent evil in Shadow's tone. "You've been meaning to ask me something."
The Elf's eyes grew wide, and his face turned scarlet.
"W-whatever do you mean?" he stammered.
"Oh ho!" Aragorn chortled. "Something has caused our elegant friend's tongue to falter! Come now, Legolas! Ask your question!"
"No, no," Legolas tried in vain to compose himself. "It's not important, really."
"Is that why you've been trying to ask for the last week?" Shadow smirked beneath his hood.
Legolas paused, frowning in protest but defeated.
"Alright," he sighed. "You're enjoying this far too much, though."
He fidgeted with his bow.
"You said that the armies of Starkaven would be joining us in battle..."
"Yes...?" Shadow's amusement was brimming.
"Will the lady Daiel be joining us as well...?" Legolas's voice was soft.
"She will," Shadow nodded.
A myriad of emotions ran across the Elf's face when he looked up at Shadow. The Jedi saw joy, followed by fear, followed by worry, followed by something Shadow couldn't quite interpret.
"Alright," Gimli adjusted his position to better face Legolas. "Now YOU have to explain the rainbow that just vomited on your face."
"I-" Legolas stammered, unable to formulate an answer.
"From what I saw," Frodo spoke up, "you're happy she's coming, but you're afraid of meeting her too. You're worried about her coming to the battlefield, and you're embarrassed that you just showed us all of that."
"You're very perceptive, Master Ringbearer." Legolas smiled sheepishly. "But you have one thing wrong...I'm not afraid of meeting her."
"Of what, then, boy?" Gimli prodded unapologetically.
"That she won't feel the same way he does when they meet AGAIN," Shadow answered for him.
"Legolas?" Aragorn frowned at his old friend. "You know the queen?"
"Knew," Legolas corrected, his gaze lost to some far distant memory. "We used to be...involved...but we were only children. Daiel and her twin brother, Shea, often came with their people on trade ventures and with their father to meet with my father when we were very young. I'm not sure why, but as we grew older, their visits became fewer and fewer until one day she didn't come with the trade caravan, and eventually, the Elves from the Havens stopped coming to Middle Earth altogether. My heart was always tortured to watch her return home...perhaps I should have just gone with her. I let duty get in the way of the greatest happiness I have ever known, though, and I haven't seen her in over a thousand years."
"I told you before she hasn't changed," Shadow smiled behind the darkness.
Legolas, too, smiled warmly, still wandering in his own mind.
"What's she like?" Pippin questioned Shadow. "After meeting the Lady Galadriel, I couldn't imagine there being two that fair in the world."
"She is kind," Legolas, completely drowning in memory now, answered in Shadow's place. "She is gentle as the dew on a spring morning. She is just and fair to anyone she meets..." His voice dropped low. "She is graceful - her every movement like the moonlight dancing through the trees at midnight. And beautiful...like nothing I have to make a comparison. Even the word is meaningless against her..."
There was a moment of silence.
...before everyone in the company burst out laughing. Legolas started as though being woken from a deep sleep.
"You've certainly got it bad, my friend," Gimli gasped through his laughter.
"Good for you!" Aragorn cheered. "Though why have you hidden this from me?"
"I never thought I'd be given the chance to see her again," Legolas laughed with them. "No sense in bringing up ancient history."
"She sounds like she could've stepped straight out of the lines of a song," Pippin said very seriously, almost to himself. The company stopped laughing and turned to look at him.
"She could have," Legolas smiled again.
"And that should be your opening line when you see her again," Shadow clapped Legolas heartily on the back and stood, still laughing quietly. "I'll take first watch. We'd best start out early tomorrow, and rest is a commodity we shouldn't waste."
"What does she look like?" Pippin continued, unable to drop the subject just yet. "She's a sea Elf, right? Does she look like that Elflord that was at the council?"
"She does," Sam's voice was unexpected. He sat with a slight frown on his face as though trying to recall a distant memory. "Shea, her twin brother, looks very much like Galdor, but he's not as big built."
"Sam, how do you know this?" Frodo questioned.
"They're in Shadow's head," Sam answered as though talking about the weather. "The Lady, though. She's got the silver hair and pale skin, but her eyes are different. As strikin' as the ones on Lord Galdor 'n the others, but green - not blue."
"He's right," Legolas smiled fondly. "She's breathtakingly beautiful. I've not laid eyes on one so fair before or since."
"If she is half as fair as you claim," Gimli chuckled, "we won't have to fight Sauron's armies at all! The forces of Mordor will be stunned into quiet submission simply by seeing her!"
"You laugh, but you'll see when you meet her," Legolas laughed himself.
They carried on for a few moments more until one by one, they each went off to sleep. An hour had passed, though, and Pippin still lay awake, staring at the night sky. He listened to the sounds of the river, the night birds that filled the trees above them, and the soft, steady humming from where Shadow continued to keep watch. He, too, had something to ask the Jedi, but his concern was not one for open conversation. Perhaps, just as he'd known Legolas's trivial question, Shadow had sensed the gravity of what the Hobbit needed to know.
"Shadow?" Pippin had barely registered getting up from his bed and joining the dark man.
"Yes, Peregrin?" Shadow's voice was low.
"There's...something I need to talk to you about," Pippin hesitated.
Shadow looked over to where Boromir slept fitfully. He, then, turned back to Pippin attentively.
"It is now safe to discuss your concerns, little one," he said gently. "What would you like to know?"
"You know already, don't you?" a small smile pulled at the corner of Pippin's mouth.
"I have an idea," Shadow nodded. "I don't make a habit of invading the minds of my friends, however. I have only read the aura you project. I'll need you to tell me the specifics."
"Well, you know it's Mister Boromir," Pippin said after a moment's pause. Shadow nodded. "He's been actin' strange lately. He mutters to himself all the time in the boat with Merry and me...too low for us to understand, but it seems like he's angry. He gets a queer gleam in his eyes when he gets a look at Frodo too. Makes Merry and me all sorts of uncomfortable...is he alright?"
Shadow drew in a long breath and held it for a moment while he thought of a decent answer.
"I would love to tell you now that all is well, but I cannot justify lying to you," Shadow looked down at his hands where they rested between his long legs. "I will tell you that everything will be alright."
The hooded head swiveled to face the downcast Hobbit. Pippin raised his eyes to look into Shadow's face. Shadow continued.
"The Rings of Power are terrible creations. They are a heavy burden to any who possess them. The One Ring that Frodo carries is the most powerful of them all. The rest must bow to it. It is folly to think that those around it would not be effected by its pull. It draws the weakest hearts first. Even as strong as he is, the weakest heart in the Fellowship belongs to Boromir. I, of course, have known that it would take him, but if it is now evident to the rest of you, the Ring's hold on him is growing strong indeed."
"What should we do?" Pippin's voice shook with fear.
"Nothing," Shadow shook his head. "He should pose no danger to you as you do not possess the One Ring. For now, he poses no danger to Frodo either. Should he reach that point, I will know, and I will intervene. If it eases your heart, though, you and Merry are welcome to join me in my boat. We can transfer more of the baggage to Boromir's, and I will simply tell him that I have grown tired of riding alone the entire journey. If he is as far gone as you say, it is doubtful that he will notice anything is amiss."
"I'd like that very much, Mister Shadow," Pippin smiled sadly. "Do you think he'll be able to hold out for the rest of the journey to destroy the Ring?"
"I don't," Shadow said simply. "We will just have to be certain that he stays to his original plan of leaving the Fellowship in Minas Tirith. He should return to himself once the Ring is far enough away."
Shadow knew full well that they wouldn't reach Minas Tirith before the Ring was no longer a problem Boromir needed to endure. He had every intention of fighting and saving Boromir's life, but he doubted that he would be able to prevent the breaking of the Fellowship from Frodo and Sam. There was no sense in worrying Pippin further, however. If Shadow's intentions came to fruition, the only difference in the plan Pippin knew would be that Frodo and Sam would leave them before they reached Minas Tirith.
Pippin nodded and was silent for a moment before speaking again.
"Thank you, Mister Shadow," he yawned finally. "I think we'll take you up on that offer to join your boat."
"We'll make that change in the morning," Shadow patted Pippin's shoulder affectionately. "For now, you should get some sleep. Only one of us needs to stay awake for the watch to be sufficient."
Pippin nodded before shuffling back to his blankets. Shadow began his soft humming again, using the Force to quiet the young Hobbit's racing stream of consciousness.
Everything will be alright was the last thought to cross Pippin's mind before he slid into the most restful sleep he'd experienced since stepping foot out of the Shire what seemed like forever ago...