The Fellowship of the Ring remained at Rivendell to prepare for the long journey that lay ahead of them. Half of the company stayed dutiful to mapping out their routes and plans whilst keeping in mind of where orcs roamed the strongest. There had been scouting missions to ensure that the creatures of utmost darkness had left these lands. The knowledge that Saruman the White had betrayed his friends was heavy blow yet the allies remained strong and tactful. It was a tedious task due to the White Wizard's power and connection with the Dark Lord that enhanced the strength of orcs. There has been tales told of recent times and recollections of what occurred before that affected the times now. The other half of the Fellowship remained in merry spirits whilst they recover their strength and appreciated full bellies and cozy beddings. The hobbits were a merry bunch to enjoy company, as many of the other races discovered, due to their appreciation for good food and music. It was not difficult to befriend any of the hobbits.

"Shall you be certain to join this with the knowledge of what lays ahead?"

Every day that had passed in the duration of the two months there was tremendous doubt and uncertainty that Nienna Ancalime should join the Fellowship of the Ring. Many persons cautiously asked the woman several questions to obtain information of her joining. Some of which had received the hint to leave her decisions to herself whilst others remain doubtful. People ignored the fact of her being a wizard's daughter, a magic wielder, and focussed on the fact that she is a woman. The sexism grinded heavily on her nerves each day that passed. Women were house tenders and mothers of children. The feminine gender was to be protected due to their lack of strength and weak emotions. Hesitation and pitiful glances were sent her way which they received either a glare or a mysterious smirk that radiated great confidence.

It was during the stay at Rivendell that Nienna Ancalime was determined more than ever to prove that women were just as strong as men.

The morning of the departure date was immensely busy due to saying farewells and gathering their belongings for the journey. People rushed around before dawn to ensure that the Fellowship possessed everything they required. It was similar to a beehive with the amount of busy people rushing around with orders dancing around. The pony that would be travelling with the bunch had given them a difficult time in the morning due to his groggy and stubborn state. With coaxing from elvish words and apples for bribery, the pony finally heeded Samwise Gamgee's orders.

"My answer is the same as it was from the beginning until this very moment, Nieven." It was times such as these repetitive moments that Nienna needed to constantly remind herself to keep her patience and temper under control, otherwise there may be another incident of accidental magic. Many of the elves were none too pleased to find their beautifully crafted mirror was shattered from Nienna's accidental loss of control.

"Aye, but there is no harm is asking." Nieven said with a tone of concern and impatience. His violet eyes watched Nienna hustle around the room to ensure she possessed everything in her bag. Her dark ponytail swung gracefully as her every movement before falling to a stop below her ribcage as she examined her appearance in the mirror. The knowledge of being in the Wild with a company of males reminded her that there was no need to fuss over her image yet the urges were impossible to ignore.

Nienna glared at her companion in annoyance, barely able to keep her temper in control, before grabbing her light bag and tying her cloak around her body. The royal blue gave her an image of a complete descendant of a Blue Wizard with her staff in her left hand.

"The only harm you will receive is a hit from yours truly due to how annoying you are being."

Nieven rolled his eyes at the bluntness from the woman before stalking after her out of her designated room. His long legs easily caught up with her quickened pace. The hallways glowed a soft purple due to the sun about to rise in an hour. It made the halls seem filled with longing and hidden sadness; a reflection of the emotions of the Fellowship's departure to Mordor.

"All I want you to is to consider what you are going to be losing by departing and what you can gain if you stay, Nienna." His tone of convincing did little to move the stubborn woman as she continued to walk swiftly down the eery hallways of Rivendell. The stubbornness she possessed was quite remarkably similar to the dwarves.

"There is nothing to gain if I stay. There is something to gain if I do leave. Do you know what it is of what I speak of?" Nienna asked rhetorically as she glanced up at the man who stared hard at her as is she was a complex labyrinth. Huffing out in exasperation, "The survival of Middle Earth!"

"This journey is perilous and highly improbable of success, don't you realize?" Shaking his head angrily, Nieven adjusted his grip on his staff to distract himself of the lack of control he possessed currently. Eyes were fixed between staring intensely at the decorative halls and down at this infuriating woman at his side.

"There is always a chance of success. You must hope for it."

Nieven rolled his eyes and thought of her as childish, "That is a fool's thought. You and I both know that you will not succeed. Why is it that you continue through with this? Is it an act of proving yourself? For glory? For respect?"

"You must not be serious, Nieven." Taking full offence from his words, Nienna glared at him to cover the pain from his words and lack of support, "This is not for either of those! I am fulfilling my destined role as a Guardian of Middle Earth— something you should be doing as well!"

"How can you guard Middle Earth when you perish on this quest?" Nieven asked incredulously as they crossed over a gentle stream on a beautiful bridge. The path led to the eastern gate of Rivendell where the Fellowship was to gather to depart before dawn. Time was closing in on the departure date as the sun rose closer to the horizon.

"I am guarding Middle Earth on this quest!" Her temper and patience were hanging by a thin strand that threatened to break lose, "By the love of the Valar, why must you be persistently annoying?"

"Annoying? I am trying to save your life! Why must you be so infuriating?" Nieven called out exasperated with wide eyes with a hand thrusted forwards with his staff. He halted his walk before a set of long stairs leading out into the courtyard. His eyes narrowed down at the stubborn woman and murmured angrily, "Our uncles would be ashamed of how you are behaving. They are the only reasonable ones around these parts."

In an instant, Nienna whipped around with an angry spark flaring in her violet eyes as she hissed lowly, "Reasonable?! You and I both know that Uncle Saruman betrayed us the moment he sided with the darkness! Uncle Radagast has not been found for a long time. Uncle Gandalf is the only reasonable one now!"

"He is not reasonable if he believes that following a hobbit into the depths of Mordor will rid Middle Earth from the darkness. He smokes weed made by foolish hobbits on a daily basis and Radagast smokes shrooms far too much. Uncle Saruman has been the only reasonable one, Nienna."

Nienna halted her movements with widened eyes as the dawn of realization hit her, "...You're on the side of darkness."

"Nay, you are wrong!" Nieven shouted loudly as if those words stung him physically and gripped her elbow tightly to prove his point, "I am on logic's side, which is the side of Saruman the White."

"He betrayed us!"

"He would do no such thing! How can you say such a thing about our own Uncle? Long since has he been logical and thoughtful for he is the most powerful of our council. He is not a White Wizard for naught." An undertone of denial laced in his voice as he sounded that he was convincing himself. His eyes were wide as his head shook slowly. His hands wrung themselves on his staff and his jaw clenched and unclenched.

"Long since you have followed in his footsteps that you have become blind of whom you follow now." A grave tone captured her tone as her anger was rekindled at the strength of his grip on her.

"You have fallen from the rightful path, Nienna. There is still time to redeem yourself to the Valar." His tone was husky from his own denial and shook her elbow in an attempt to convince the woman from leaving. Thoughts of doubt have turned into mind of its own inside of his head which caused blindness to what lay before him.

"Nay, I shall not! I do not favour being blind from the colours of the world. A world consisting of solely black and white is not desirable. The moment I stopped following him is the moment I seen colour in the world, Nieven! The world is going to fade into a world of black and white and I will not allow that to happen!" Nienna snarled out rightfully as she ripped her arm out of his hurtful grip. Her dark ponytail swirled around her from the movements with her eyes wild from her belief.

"Why have you stopped following him?" Nieven demanded with his own anger flaring at the stubbornness she possessed. His jaw was clenched at her defiance of everything that was before her in a small belief of hope.

"Something has changed within me. Through I am done by being a pawn of his game when there is no benefits in the end for me. It is not within me to be a mindless fool. Too long have I been following the simplicity of white while I could be embracing the blue I was born to wear. Unlike you, I know who I am and what I was born to do." A strong tension surrounded the two of them as icy barriers broke the connection they once possessed. Separation of the two was something they once thought was unimaginable; now it was something they had expected to come.

"I am not a mindless fool! A mindless fool would go into the depths of Mordor! Why must you embrace defiance when you can embrace the order of your fate?" Nieven had not hoped to be snarling at Nienna when he initiated this conservation which ultimately ended up an icy argument.

"There is a time when a person must defy whatever hold them back from their instincts. It's time for you to defy the greater powers as I have. Accepting limits is not what we have been raised to do, Nieven! We are wizards, not simple folk!" Her voice was strong as she stepped down the stairs slowly whilst maintaining their eye contact. Nienna held herself proudly as she drew the conclusion that every person has their own beliefs. It does not mean it should hold others back from following their instincts.

"You are being delusional by what these strange people are telling you to believe! We must stick together for we are at our strongest peaks of power. Nienna, you cannot leave!"

A proud smirk pulled at her face which caused unease to flow through Nieven.

"Nay, I am not delusional. You cannot constrict me furthermore from doing my duty and my instinctual actions. See for yourself of the darkness consuming Saruman and what the common good of the people, then you may allow me to say the famous words of, 'I told you so'. If you care to find me after you take the sword out of your arse to apologize, look to the eastern sky towards Mordor!"

Her footsteps were light as she began descending down the stairs. Behind her was Nieven left surrounded of an overwhelming rage and sorrow that he instinctively iced over. His violet eyes watched his twin sister walk away from his side with an elegant swish of her royal blue cloak with a sneer upon his face.

Nienna had turned around to face her brother one last time with a smug smirk gracing her delicate features and her chin jutted upwards.

"Farewell, Nieven Ancalime. I do hope you get your sword out of your arse, you should get it looked at by dear old uncle."

Lord Elrond cleared his throat politely to interrupt the two and watched in amusement as realization dawned to Nienna that people were listening in their conversation. His twin sons smirked in amusement behind him near their beloved sister who hid a smile behind her dark hair. Each of the elves had listened to Nienna's heated saucy words due to their enhanced hearing. It had only dawned to her at that moment and a bashful smile crossed her lips before moving to stand near Gandalf.

"This is my last word," Lord Elrond began in a low voice as he observed each of the members of the Fellowship carefully, "The Ring Bearer shall set out on his quest to Mount Doom. One him alone is any charge laid; neither to cast away the Ring, nor to deliver it to any servant of the Enemy nor indeed to let any handle it, save members of the Company and the Council, and only then it gravest need. The others go with him as free companions, to help him on his way. You may tarry, or come back, or turn aside into other paths, as chance allows. The further you go, the less easy it will be to withdraw; yet no oath or bond is laid on you to go further than you will. For you do not yet know the strength of your hearts, and you cannot foresee what each may, set upon the road."

Lord Elrond gave a heart felt blessing from the elves, men, and all free folk in these lands. It was heart lifting to here such kind words before the sorrowful departure. There was knowledge to majority of the people that this was a fool's hope to attend such a journey. It was hope that made people piece themselves together in the darkest of times. Hope was needed to guide people and bring them together as friends and allies. It kindled warmth in the Fellowship's chests as they each smiles and said their respective farewells. It was then that the quest to Mount Doom reached the beginning.

Gandalf had taken the lead on the rocky western paths with Aragorn behind for his strong knowledge of these lands. It gave the Fellowship a sense of security of knowing that the Ranger could map these lands out in the dark with grace. The four hobbits and Gimli stuck together due to being on already friendly relations. Boromir eyed the sole woman with disloyalty and doubt lingering in his gaze from their exchanged words at the council. It lead to her rolling her eyes and falling back to the rear of the group. The elf, Legolas, watched the exchange with curiosity before motioning Nienna to walk ahead of him. It was his duty to be the eyes and ears of the Fellowship.

Tension of unfamiliarity among the members was ultimately awkward and rough for the first week.

Friends stuck to each other's sides as they quietly talked amongst themselves. From the moment of waking each other to the time to rest was an awkward affair. It was found that some of the hobbits were quite the morning persons while the woman and the dwarf were certainly not. Stubborn refusal to awaken was something that these two shared that made the others sigh in exasperation. Sunshine tried to break through the thick clouds of unfriendliness. Feisty was the dwarf and the woman and easy going was the Hobbits while the others remained a happy medium or ultimately quiet. Legolas and Aragorn had no quarrels with any particular part of the journey and remained ever dutiful to the company.

Icy winds and skies of grey for several days made each day seem tedious. The days were repetitive from the growling of the hobbits' stomachs to the biting winds as the Fellowship made their way to the western mountains to avoid being seen by any of the enemy's spies. In an efforts to make the days less dreary, the hobbits made it their goal to befriend the quiet woman. All of the members had taken notice that the woman only spoke to Gandalf in low tones that even the enhanced hearing of Aragorn and Legolas could not hear. Nienna Ancalime barely uttered a word to any of the members and kept her blue hood up and acted as a barrier from the outside world.

"Hullo!" Pippin, one of the four hobbits, greeted her merrily despite the bitter weather than dampened the mood and souls. His blond curls bounced with every lively step he took and bright green eyes looked warmly up at her.

"Good morning, gentlemen." Soft were her words as Nienna tilted her head in acknowledgement of Pippin and Merry. The mid afternoon sun was still clouded over at they continued to trek at the foothill of the great western mountains. Winds still blew sharply at the Fellowship, urging them to pull tighter at their cloaks.

"How are you on this fine morning, my lady?" With utmost respect with friendly jesting laced in his tone, Merry grinned heartily at the woman.

Nienna raised a brow at this fellow before a small smirk flittered across her face an indicated to the skies, "With beautiful weather that shines down upon our journey, it quite lightens my mood to a utmost cheery one!"

Snickers erupted throughout the hobbits and dwarf whom were near to listen in their conversation, and those with enhanced hearing smiled in amusement under their hoods. Sarcasm was heavily laced in her false cheery tone that made the day slightly lighter.

"I am pleased to hear that you are feeling cheery then, my lady." Merry grinned in amusement and exchanged a bright grin with Pippin. He watched as a small smile graced her features and tried her best to suppress it. It enlightened the hobbits to finally see her interacting with them and seen the small smile that lit her entire face up.

"We have been wondering, Lady Nienna," Pippin asked with a short glance at Merry and decided that he had been patient far too long, "Are you really a wizard?"

The violet eyes stared down at the young hobbit incredulously due to his blunt question. Nienna raised a hand to stop Merry's shoving at Pippin for his rudeness. Silence then ensued the three companions. Both of the hobbits were then confused at the suppressed grin on her face underneath her hood. It was a strange sight to see Nienna in such a bright mood yet it was a pleasant strange rather than unpleasant.

"If I were not a wizard then I would be carrying this staff for naught." Nienna exclaimed as she held her staff in clear view of the hobbits. Eyes were wide as they gazed upon the particular staff. The staff itself was a dark magohany with a large blue gem perched at the top of the staff with thin strips of wood clinging to the sides acting as vines.

"Wow! So you can do magic then?" Excitement radiated from Pippin as he nearly bounced on his large feet.

Nienna smiled slightly at the young Hobbit and nodded, "The magic that Gandalf possess' is the same that runs through my veins. I am sure you had noticed from your hiding spots at the council meeting that my staff glows. It is the magic within me that is shown in my staff."

"Can you show us, please?" Merry asked politely whilst excitement grew within him after sending her a bashful smile at the mentioning of their hiding spots.

"Perhaps during our next break, gentlemen."

Frodo, who had been keenly listening to the conversation, turned around to face the interesting woman. The depths of his sky blue eyes were nearly breath taking and his shyness made him resemble a young teenager. Frodo then asked shyly, "May I ask who that man you were arguing with, my lady? I noticed that he also held a staff in his hand like yours."

Frodo Baggins regretted asking the moment he seen storms of anger gathering in her eyes and staff beginning to glow.

"Please forget that, my lady. I-I shouldn't have pried."

A wave of guilt swelled within her at sight of the nervous and regretful hobbit. In a moment, the staff stopped glowing and Nienna exhaled lightly with a smile, "No need to apologize, Master Frodo. That man that you seen in the council was Nieven Ancalime, son of Alatar the Blue. My brother."

It was not very surprising to the hobbits upon finding this out, the two wizards did look very similar.

"How many years separate the two of you?" Merry asked with eyes swirling of curiosity and wonder from this woman.

Nienna titled her head with a small smile, "We are twins, Master Merry."

"Wow! What's it like having a twin?!" Pippin exclaimed in pure wonder with eyes swimming in interest. He nearly tripped over a jutting rock by his lack of attention to the path if it wasn't for Nienna who grasped his shoulders carefully to steady him.

"Careful now, Master Pippin." Nienna cautioned before assisting the three Hobbits on a particularly high rock that elevated from the rest of the path, "Having a twin, hm? It gets rather annoying because people always conjoin us together as one person rather than two individuals. Not to mention, he insists that we do things together and that he is always right because he is the older twin. We always have arguments and fights but every sibling goes through such things. If one looks on the brighter light of this, you could see that there is always someone you may fall to and there is a special connection between us."

The Fellowship kept an open ear to this interesting conversation at hand as the softer pitched tone of her voice was nearly musical after listening to bitter winds for the past few days. The topic of conversation had piqued their interest yet they remained silent ahead of the speakers.

"What do you mean special connection?"

Nienna hummed thoughtfully and glanced at the small patch of blue that peaked through the shades of grey, "A myth has been said that twins have a special bond when they could speak to each other with their minds. May I ask that you keep in mind that it is truly just a myth. However gentlemen, Nieven and I do share a special bond that makes us unique than other twins. Due to the fact that there is magic flowing through our veins, our bond is stronger than others. We do sense great emotions and feel a lesser extent of pain from the other. It's...difficult to describe, I apologize."

The three hobbits nodded their heads in acknowledgement of her words and soaked in this new information. At each word she spoke the more intriguing she was to them. It made their minds race with new questions springing upwards and raced to have dominance. Eventually it made their heads hurt from the many thoughts and averted the conversation to their own family relations. It was then that Nienna realized how serious hobbits take family histories. It was nearly as important as food was to the creatures. One must be knowledgeable of their own family history and their neighbours family histories. It gave a sense of comfort knowing whom you were acquainted to or spoke to.

The conversation then turned to how different the world was than what they imagined it to be. When Nienna questioned it, she nearly bursted into laughter at their emphasis of size difference yet she stifled it under her cloak for politeness. The hobbits went into depth of how they imagined it to how larger folk must lift them onto chairs to the height of where the doorknobs were. They recalled how many times they had accidentally hit their heads off of table edges and how many times larger folk had accidentally knocked them over. It made Nienna trace back to her childhood days when she was their size but it was many years prior that it was fuzzy to remember. Instead she attempted to sympathize with the small creatures.

Aragorn had finally called out that they would halt for the day— it made the hobbits nearly cry in relief. It reminded the others of the little journeying the small creatures have done in their lifetimes and decided to lighten their days slightly.

Nienna felt strong sympathy for the small folk after their conversation due to realizing their innocence and took after Pippin and Merry's task of collecting firewood. Aragorn had finally allowed for a fire after days of eating cold food and shivering in the winds. Eyes of the males traced the woman in concern that the task was too taxing on her or that she may endanger herself. All Nienna did was roll her eyes and stalked off to collect firewood all while grumbling at the little faith they held for her. With a swish of her blue cloak she returned with an impressive armload of wood for the fire, which Samwise was pleased to see.

When Samwise readied to start the fire, Nienna held her hand up to stop him and glanced at the other hobbits pointedly, "Young hobbits, I do believe that I said that I would show you some magic earlier."

It wasn't only the hobbits who watched with keen interest. Aragorn and Legolas both paused their watch of the mountains to look over their shoulders at the woman who crouched beside the place for the fire. Boromir and Gimli watched at the corners of their eyes with slight unease at a woman possessing magic— it was not natural for a woman to do so. Gandalf all but shook his head at his niece's showing off.

Nienna smiled playfully and showed them her empty and cold palm before clenching her slender hand tightly. When it opened there was a small flame floating above her palm. The hobbits gasped in pure amazement and only served the spark her ego slightly. Nienna smiled to herself before flicking the flame into the pile of carefully placed firewood. The fire gradually grew large enough for warmth and for Samwise to cook dinner for the Fellowship.

"That was incredible, Lady Nienna!"

Nienna tilted her head in acknowledgment of Merry's words and she stood to her feet, "It was just something small to show you. If it was anything else, I am certain my uncle would throw a fit."

The hobbits snickered at the wink she threw at Gandalf who only huffed at her teasing. He rolled his blue eyes at her in annoyance and returned to cleaning out his long wooden pipe while perched against a large boulder.

"I will certainly not throw, as you say, a fit."

"Oh lighten up, Uncle. I was only teasing you." Nienna light heartedly scolded him as she moved to sit beside her beloved uncle. At this moment of rest and relaxation from the bitter winds, her hood finally was pulled from her head and she was relieved to feel fresh hair against her exposed head.

"Better has been your mood as of late." Gandalf noted, ignoring her teasing comment for the time being, whilst still cleaning out his pipe. After the long tiring day of uneven grounds and winds that pushed against them, all he wanted to do was enjoy his pipe near the fire.

"What do you mean?" She inquired carefully.

"For days there was endless thick clouds that made the Fellowship constantly wear their cloaks tightly. Many hours ago there was a patch of clear blue skies that the clouds opened up. Wasn't it refreshing to see the skies again, dear?"

Riddles and similarities are what this particular wizard specializes in. Any person who is acquainted with the Grey Wizard would be aware that this is how he chooses to answer. One must be constantly using their minds in the presence of this wizard. Nienna Ancalime was no exception to this and had been ever accustomed to this. Her violet eyes watched his momentarily before gazing into the fire silently as she mulled over his words. The flames danced in a reflection of her own spark that was merrier as of late.

Thoughts of clouds were put aside and were replaced with thoughts of her brother.

The hobbits had unintentionally swayed her position regarding her brother due to the fact that it allowed light to shine on his stance— even it is was a small ray of light. Nieven Ancalime may be hard headed for logic and order with a knack for grinding on his sister's nerves, yet he had always been there for her. The argument that they had only served to show light upon their position. Denial against stubborn hope. Order against freedom. Day and night. Each opposition clashed harshly with the other with no victorious side nor defeated side.

"The North may be a cold and bitter place with harshness that requires a warm fire every night, while the South is a warm and fiery place that requires a cooling breeze. If one walks between the two, one would find a happy moderate climate with the coldness and hotness intermingling." Words danced off his tongue and surprised the woman to no end. His words had found the center of her jungle of thoughts with ease. Gandalf watched the woman blink at the hidden message of his words before she turned away to face the fire. Emotions were void from her face as she allowed herself to embrace the fire and silently embrace his advice.

Samwise had handed out bowls of warm chicken soup that warmed the insides of all the members. With the the fire and the delicious soup, their insides and outsides were content with warmth that they have been deprived of for the past few days. It lifted their dampened spirits as merry conversations started amongst the Fellowship.


Here is the second chapter of this story. I was inspired by Wicked's song 'Defying Gravity' for Nienna and Nieven's argument if anyone was wondering, all credits go to that wonderful play. I would like to thank the wonderful people who had already reviewed, certainly made my evening!

Reviewing is a wonderful device to hear feedback from the readers, so please do so! :)