Disclaimer: Not mine. Except for Elessi.

Chapter Two: Explorations And Revelations

Elessi´s body made a hard contact with the ground beneath her after she literally appeared out of thin air.

„Ow," she groaned as she slowly stood up, massaging her head. Suddenly, she froze when she spotted an arrow aiming directly at her face. What the...?

„Man eneth lín?" asked a voice to whom the arrow belonged. Elessi was jerked out of her thoughts and looked at whoever who spoke. It was a tall, handsome, fair-haired man with a severe-looking countenance who had ... pointy ears??

„Who are you?" he snapped at her when she didn´t respond.

„That is none of your business!" Elessi snapped back as hotly as the man (?) in front of her did. No, he couldn´t be a man – they had no pointy ears .. or had they? But hey, she was in a different world!

„How dare you–" he suddenly stopped as if he were hit. Elessi looked at him in confusion. What made her look the same way he did was a voice she heard in her head.

´Fear not, child. He will not harm you, only take you to me. Do not worry, I shall explain everything when we meet.. Welcome, daughter from the another world..´

„Follow me, the Lady of the Wood requests your presence in Caras Galadhon," he said coldly, still eyeing her suspiciously.

Not feeling up to have an arrow sticking out from her body, Elessi complied as the other men (or what they were) lowered their bows.

They walked in silence which enabled her to think about her arrival – the last thing she remembered was that she was at Yuuko´s shop having her wish granted. Furrowing her brow, Elessi tried to recall what her wish actually was. Well, since the strange woman´s voice greeted her as a daughter from another world, she had to really travel to another dimension. But what startled Elessi was that her memory of Yuuko´s place abruptly ended.

„The more I know you, the more you astound me. Very well. I shall send you to another world."

Then, there was a flash of blinding light.

No farewell, nothing. But that´s typical Yuuko! The eccentric person, an unfathomable walking enigma, Elessi reasoned logically.

She had seen Yuuko many times to part with her friends in such a swift manner. She never acted overly emotional. Save the times she got drunk. Finding it to be the best reason why she so quickly left her own world, Elessi shrugged that thought off.

What actually startled her was some kind of emptiness she felt in herself. Not that she lacked some appendage. No, she felt it mentally – was she spiritually worn out of the travel or was it because of the loss of her abilities? She knew not...

oOoOoOo

When they reached the so-called Caras Galadhon, Elessi could only watch in awe – the woods and everything in them had a strange spirit.. something ethereal filled with.. magic. Magic that was almost tangible. Guessing that the Lady she was being led to was the voice she heard – belonging to the Lady of the Wood, how the annoying one called her. They climbed up a tall tree while Elessi watched the scenery in fascination. They came to stand on a larger platform. At the end of it were stairs leading probably to another level.

Remembering to close her mouth, she noticed that the others quickly disappeared except for the annoying one. She was about to marvel why it was only him who remained when he suddenly bowed. Wondering why, Elessi followed his gaze which landed on an incredibly beautiful woman who literally shone in her white dress.

„Welcome," she spoke slowly, her blue eyes connecting with the startling green ones Elessi had. She then dismissed the man who bowed once again and disappeared in a blink of an eye.

„Elen síla lumenn´ omentielvo," she spoke again, apparently in the language in which the man talked to her too.

„Who are you?" Elessi asked, gathering her wits.

„I, dear child, am Galadriel, the Lady of the Golden Wood."

Noticing the confused stare Elessi sent her, she smiled mysteriously. „You are a traveller from another world, are you not?"

„I am," she replied, never breaking the gaze between them. The Lady smiled again.

I don´t think it is common to see people appearing out of thin air, Elessi thought to herself dryly.

„It is not," Galadriel spoke. Elessi looked at her and the more she heard, the more intrigued she got. Was she a Legilimens? A witch perhaps? Human or not?

„One question at a time," the Lady of the Wood smiled again. „Now perhaps, you would like to know where you are?"

Elessi could only nod.

„You are now in Middle-Earth, in the woods of Lothlórien and in its heart – Caras Galadhon."

„This world.. It´s name is Middle-Earth?" Elessi asked. Galadriel nodded in response. Elessi snorted. Of all the places she could travel to, she ended in a world having a part of its name as the world where she came from.

„You´re not human..?" Elessi resumed her ´interrogation´.

„No, I am an Elf."

„Elf? What is the difference between those two races?"

Galadriel laughed. „You are quite curious, but you will know all in due time. Now, take your rest for you are weary. Tonight, you shall sleep.."

With that, Elessi had been escorted to a room by a she-Elf (did they have differences when it came to genders? Like humans had man and woman? Honestly, she-Elf sounded so.. weird) and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the soft pillow.

oOoOoOo

The next day was a day filled with excitement mingled with anticipation. Later, Elessi had found out a little she wanted to know. She had so many questions in her mind and it was a rather long talk, but Galadriel seemed to be very, very, very patient and answered Elessi´s every question. She found herself quite an interest among the Elves – they had been informed of her origin and circumstances, under which she came here – to explore other world, the wish she had been carrying in her heart for so long. At least that´s what she remembered telling her friends back at home.

Right at the moment, Elessi was sitting alone in her room, gazing out of the window. She had surrendered to her thoughts and was having a hard time to sort them. There were so many of them. Elessi was eager to learn the culture, lifestyle, history and many other things. When it came to knowledge, she was a person who thirsted for it. To tell the truth, she had devoted her whole life to knowledge – to learn as many things as possible, how to do this and that..

Elessi laughed quietly at herself, standing up and headed to the door.

Galadriel had told her that whenever she had a need to talk to someone, she was welcome to do so. Also, she had to admit that she was more than ecstastic when it came to discovering the mysteries of the new world. And that was the reason why the annoying Elf (whose name was Haldir as she later found out) and his two brothers were avoiding her – they had the opportunity to experience the assault of tireless questions. While Haldir managed to get rid of her in a smart and not-so-subtle manner, his brothers, who had more feeling than the latter, managed to answer all her questions with forced patience.

Skipping, Elessi made her way towards the place where she knew the two Elves would be.

oOoOoOo

„Rúmil! Hide! She´s coming!" hissed Orophin while he climbed a tree. His brother quickly followed his actions. Moments later, they could see the fiery hair of their pursuer – they had spotted Lady Elessi.

Elessi let out a sigh of frustration. They had fled again! She knew they weren´t happy when she came to ask them a few questions. Well, not few, quite a number of them, but nonetheless, she knew they weren´t very pleased even if they hid it well.

Shaking her head, Elessi decided to visit the Lady of the Wood again. The wise Elleth seemed to understand her better than any others.

Elessi made her way to the place where she first met Lady Galadriel, humming a song quietly. The Lady herself was walking straightly towards her.

„I wish to show you something," Galadriel told her plainly. Turning around, she glided away from Elessi who had to jog to catch up on her. The Lady of the Wood might´ve walked gracefully and slowly, yet she was far ahead from Elessi due to the long strides she kept making.

Slowly, Galadriel descended the stairs leading to a clearing where a silver basin embedded in stone stood, Elessi walking a respectable distance behind her.

„This is the Mirror," Galadriel explained. „It shows many things – things that were, things that are and some of them that have not yet come to pass."

Elessi watched her in silence as she filled the silver ewer with water and then moved to stand next to the basin, expectant look in her eyes.

„Will you look into the Mirror?" Galadriel asked Elessi, her eyes having an eerie look.

The woman eyed her suspiciously, an internal battle going on in her mind. Should she dare to look into it? Was it safe?

Too eager, Elessi tuned out the warnings her consciousness had been giving her and nodded her head. A slow smile crept over the Elleth´s face as she began to empty the ewer, the liquid spilling into the basin.

„Come and have a look," she spoke, motioning her to stand next to the basin.

Slowly, Elessi walked up to the silver basin, curiously peering over it. For a moment, she saw her own reflection, then it was quickly replaced by a picture of a strange place. It looked like a haven – the place was surrounded by nature and by its looks, it gave Elessi a feeling of safety and peace. Wondering where this place was, she continued to watch the picture.

Instead of the place appeared a semi-circle of chairs along with one separate. Those, who sat in the semi-circle seemed to come from many lands because of their countenance and physique – Elessi had been told that except for Elves and Men, there were also another occupants of Middle-Earth, such as Dwarves, Istari (much to Elessi´s surprise, there were only five wizards in the Middle-Earth), Hobbits and to the obvious dismay of the Elves, creatures called Orcs and another ones called Goblins. Then, she had been told of Valars and Maiars – their gods and the gods´ lower forms who served them as helpers and aides.

What startled Elessi was that she was in the picture too, sitting on a chair in the semi-circle, next to a dark-haired Man. Furrowing her brow, she looked up at Galadriel who was observing her intently. Then, she lowered her gaze back to the Mirror, as if bidding Elessi to watch. She did so, returning her stare to the picture that was still displayed on the surface of the liquid. As if on cue, the image changed again – now, there was a group of ten travellers walking on plains, a snowy mountain ahead of them. Then, the image disappeared, the liquid now fully clear, devoid of any visions or what those pictures were.

Elessi looked at the Lady of the Wood questioningly. Knowing her question, Galadriel bore her gaze into Elessi´s.

„It is what may come to pass if you agree to join the Fellowship and attend the Council in Rivendell."

„Fellowship? Of what?" Elessi asked stupidly, the questions buzzing in her head like some kind of annoying insect.

„You shall find out all in due time. But you have to answer a question at first; Are you or are you not willing to attend the Council in Rivendell?" Galadriel asked her, never breaking the gaze between them.

Hello there! I´d like to thank (again) for those two reviews I got and I hope I´ll be fortunate to have some more of them. I´d be very grateful if you, dear readers, would drop at least just a few lines - I´ll respond to you just to say thanks.

By the way, this story is going to be movie-based because I haven´t read the books (please, don´t gawk) - I tried to, say, a year or two ago but I simply couldn´t read them - I´ve found it hard to get through the descriptions of the environment in which the Fellowship travelled. Recently, I started reading Silmarillion (now that perhaps I´m older, I do enjoy the book ..finally --) but I´ve got loads of work at school so... . If there are some mishaps, I´m sorry.