Chapter Seventeen: Mortality Bites
Two days of traveling over rough terrain later, they reached Imladris. The Misty Mountains loomed high and imposing to their right, and the young women felt awed to have passed successfully over them. The breeze that gently enveloped them was warm and redolent with fragrances. While not as perfectly lush as the Golden Wood, the land began to visibly brighten and lose the shadowy pallor of the mountains. They could hear the sound of water rushing some distance ahead, which Elladan cheerfully described as the river Bruinen.
After the tense initial meeting, Arwen's brothers had relaxed somewhat, curiosity overcoming suspicion. As they set out on their first day traveling with the elves of Imladris, Elladan requested that they tell the tale of their journey from Lothlórien. Arwen and Buffy nominated Willow to do the honors. The witch was a natural storyteller, and soon the twins fell silent, caught up in her words. Until she got to the part with the wargs, that is.
"Wargs?" Elrohir interrupted in disbelief. The brothers wore matching expressions of concern.
"Are you certain?" Elladan asked, turning to Arwen.
She nodded solemnly. "Ai, they were wargs. It is the first time I have ever seen one, but they matched your tales of them perfectly."
"Big, furry, wolf-like, with crazy-glowy eyes," Willow described, and the twins were shocked into silence. After a shared glance between the three women, she continued the story. Elladan and Elrohir were impressed. If the tale was true, these three had taken on fifteen wargs and won.
Elladan turned to Buffy. "Lady Aarion, that was a most impressive battle strategy," he said admiringly, eyes shining.
Buffy shrugged awkwardly and waved off his compliment. "You can skip the title. I'm not a Lady." She gestured to her dirty, travel-mussed appearance and the weapons slung across her back. "I've never had time to be," she added quietly.
Elladan looked confused and Arwen laughed. "You looked quite lady-like at Caras Galadhon in your gown."
"Are you forgetting the stake I strapped to my thigh?"
"Come on, Ri," Willow cajoled. "You were killer in your prom dress, remember?"
"Killer being the operative term," she sighed.
"You can be a Lady without fancy gowns," Elrohir put in. "It is a matter of virtue."
Buffy blanched. "Virtue? Yeah, I don't have any of that, either."
"Why don't you think you're virtuous?" Willow teased.
"Hello? Are we remembering my two vampire relationships? The second of which was dearly lacking a safe word?" she whispered furiously to her friend, pulling her further away from their companions. "Plus, don't you have to be of noble birth or a virgin or something? Pre-marital sex with multiple partners, half of whom weren't even human, doesn't rank me high on the virtue scale." She heard a loud choking sound behind her and whirled around to see the bright red faces of the twins. Elrohir just looked shocked, while Elladan was clearly fighting a losing battle with his laughter.
"Elven hearing," Arwen offered from beside them with a smirk.
"I rest my case," Buffy concluded. "No titles necessary."
"That goes for me too," Willow added, trying to rescue her friend.
Elladan spoke up, smiling kindly at Buffy. "What happened after you destroyed the wargs?"
"Right! Well, that was when the scary stuff started," Willow responded cheerily.
"More frightening than wargs?" Both brothers focused intently on the young witch again.
"Yep. Some new kind of nasty. Or maybe old? We're calling it Beastie of Nonspecific Origin." They just stared, so Willow turned to Buffy. "You saw it all up close and personal. You tell," she instructed.
Buffy took a deep breath, calming her nerves. It had been a while since a baddie had made her feel such abject fear. "I'll tell you this much," she murmured. "It could have gone either way." Willow and Arwen shivered visibly at her words.
"What did it look like?" Elrohir's voice was hushed and respectful.
"Enormous," she replied. "Six feet tall, maybe nine feet long." The twins gasped. "Sorta cat-like. Had a foot-long pair of fangs, claws in dire need of a pedicure, and a tail strong enough to break ribs." She instinctively wrapped her arms around her midsection.
"And you defeated this thing?"
"She was incredible." Arwen took over and told the story from her perspective on the sidelines. When she finished, all eyes were on Buffy.
After a long period of silence, Elrohir spoke. "I would not believe such a tale if it were not told by my sister. What ARE you?" he asked suddenly.
"Harsh," Willow interjected, grabbing Buffy's hand in her own protectively.
"I apologize," he retracted instantly. "I am simply thrown. I know of none who could single-handedly defeat a beast such as you described, save possibly Glorfindel."
Buffy sighed and pulled off her cloak to reveal the sleeveless tunic beneath. Holding out her arm, she showed them the scarred puncture wounds from the beast's fangs in her shoulder.
Elladan stepped up and probed them gently with his fingers. Looking up at her, he exclaimed, "These scars are surely a year old!"
The young women exchanged a look with Arwen, who nodded slightly. After ensuring that the rest of their party was well ahead of them, scouting the area, Buffy spoke. "Taserë and I are from another dimension. Supposedly, there's big time trouble coming up, and we were sent here to help." She paused to let them absorb this, and then continued. "In my world, I was known as the Slayer." She briefly described the nature of her calling.
"But wait," Elrohir protested. "One dies, the next one is called? It seems cruel to make you fight alone, knowing that only your death will bring more aid."
Buffy smiled grimly. "Never much liked that part, myself."
"But hey, you're the longest-lived slayer in history," Willow comforted.
"How can that be?" Elladan asked. "You look barely over twenty. Unless slayers are immortal like the Eldar?"
"A big 'no' to the immortality. I was called when I was fifteen. Slayers aren't meant to live longer than a few years."
Elrohir turned to Willow. "And you? Are you also bound to this horrid legacy?"
"No no," she replied. "I met Aarion when I was young and painfully shy. She was so nice and friendly to me, even though she didn't have to be, and then there was the life saving... After that, I forced her to let me help. That's how I realized my gift for magick."
Buffy and Willow shared a glance, and came to a silent agreement to leave their newfound powers out of the conversation. "Listen, mum's the word on this stuff," Buffy said seriously. The brothers looked at her blankly, and Willow stifled a giggle. "Right. Um, don't tell anyone?" They both nodded their understanding.
"You will tell Adar about this beast?" asked Elrohir.
"Definitely."
By the time they reached the borders of Imladris, an easy camaraderie had developed among them. The twins shared tales of their battles with orcs and goblins in exchange for tales of the Scooby gang's various exploits. Arwen felt lighter and less worried about her reunion with Lord Elrond. Having gained new friendships, along with re-forging her bonds with her brothers, she felt stronger than when she'd left Imladris. And ready to form a new relationship with her father as equals. She shivered a little in anticipation, and Buffy looked sharply back at her.
"You're gonna do great, Wen," she said calmly, causing the twins to watch their exchange in interest. They moved in swiftly and flanked their sister, arms draped around her shoulders. Buffy smiled at them and nodded in approval.
"Ri's always right, you know," Willow added, and then mischievously smacked Buffy on the ass with the flat of her palm. "Tag, you're it." Then, she took off running.
Buffy shrieked and sprinted into the trees after her, yelling, "You're toast, Witch! You can't run away from the Slayer."
Lord Elrond's children stared after the young women, bemused. "Who ARE they?" Elrohir asked.
Arwen smiled. "They are my friends."
"It is unfortunate that Aarion is not immortal," Elladan mentioned, a gleam in his eye, and Arwen reached out to smack him. He jumped nimbly out of reach and leered at her. "What, I am not good enough for your friend?"
She giggled and ruffled his dark hair affectionately. "You are, of course, good enough. However, I do not think she would be interested."
"Why not?" he demanded indignantly.
Elrohir interrupted smoothly. "What does it matter, brother? She is not immortal."
"Perhaps I care not," he replied.
"Elbereth!" Arwen exclaimed, all mirth vanished. "Then you would sign your death warrant."
"How so?"
"You would watch her die, knowing that you would have to live forever after without her? You know how it is with us. The grief would destroy you."
"That is not the only option," Elladan commented calmly.
Arwen froze and stared at him in shock. "Forsaking our immortality is not a blessing," she began in a low, forceful tone. "It is a curse that we who are Peredhil are given such a choice. You would be sundered from your family forever?"
"You are saying that you would never consider it?" he rejoined.
"Ai, never," she said firmly, gripping his arm tightly.
Elladan smiled gently at her and she loosened her hold. "Sister, do not take this so seriously. I have no plans to fall in love with a mortal. I was merely saying that it is a shame that Aarion is such, for she is beautiful, brave and strong --- how could I not notice?"
Arwen had a strange expression on her face. "Ai, it is a shame," she agreed too quickly.
The twins stopped to watch her carefully. "Arwen?" Elrohir questioned. "They are mortal, correct?"
She winced. "Not in the strictest sense," she muttered, borrowing a phrase Willow liked to use when flustered.
"WHAT?" they both cried in unison.
Arwen sighed. "It is not my place to tell you of this. Besides," she turned to Elladan with a grin, "I still do not think Aarion would return your affections."
"How do you know this?" he asked belligerently. She nodded off into the forest where the sounds of feminine laughter echoed around them. They paused to listen, elegant heads tilted, elven eyes distant. Elladan smiled at the strangeness of Arwen's new companions. Their joy was infectious. Possibly not mortal? But how? They were clearly not elves. A quick glance at his sister told him that she would not be more forthcoming. And what did their antics have to do with the topic at hand? He turned back to Arwen, confused. "What has their play to do with it?"
"She has other interests," was the simple reply.
Elladan frowned at her cryptic words. "Has she pledged herself to another?"
"Not as of yet, but likely soon," Arwen smirked knowingly, sliding her eyes from the forest to her brother.
"From her homeland?" he asked, pressing for details.
"You could say that," she said coolly.
"Is he a warrior?"
Arwen spoke carefully. "The one that holds her interest is a warrior, indeed."
Elladan was frustrated. His sister's infuriatingly vague answers were only serving to make him more interested in Aarion rather than less. What started as a casual expression of curiosity about the beautiful warrior had now become a dogged pursuit of the truth. In addition, he had clearly upset Arwen by mentioning the Choice of the Peredhil. She had taken the discussion too seriously. He sighed.
Elrohir chose that moment to speak, clearly amused. "Why do you not just tell us who this warrior is," he suggested, and then snickered at his brother's impatience.
Arwen made a fluid gesture towards her friends again in response, but said nothing. It was clear that she was enjoying this moment immensely, and both twins reflected that her sneakiness had blossomed over the decades to rival theirs. As one, they sidled up to her menacingly, but she only smiled and murmured. "The answer is there for you to see."
"But it is only Aarion and Taserë…" Elladan protested, and then broke off suddenly. "Nay, that cannot be what you mean." He stared off into the forest, and then looked back at Arwen in askance. She nodded, and Elrohir snorted loudly prompting a glare from his flustered brother. "Surely she is not…they are not…"
"Ai, I have seen all the signs. They yet deny it."
"I do not believe it," Elladan protested. "How certain are you?"
Arwen smiled. "Very certain," she replied confidently.
Elrohir snorted again and then addressed his sister, an idea forming in his mind. "Certain enough to make a small wager?" he asked innocently.
The elleth arched a graceful brow. "On what terms?"
"They must admit to being in love for you to win. If they do not within three month's time, we win. That is how long we plan to stay in Imladris."
She thought quickly, and then nodded. "Agreed. If I win, you and Elladan must travel to Mirkwood and free all the prisoners from King Thranduil's dungeon." They gulped.
The twins communicated silently for a brief moment, gauging their odds. Having come to a conclusion, Elladan smiled sweetly at his sister. "That is a most ingenious prize. I will have to see if I can think of an appropriate one to match." It was Arwen's turn to gulp. Suddenly, his gray eyes lit up and he grinned evilly. "Perfect," he murmured, thinking back to their earlier conversation. "If we win," he announced aloud, "You must tell Adar that you have fallen in love with Estel and wish to forfeit your life's grace."
Arwen gasped. "That is unthinkable! You would have me torture him so?"
"No less than we shall be tortured by Thranduil? He is not a forgiving lord. We will probably wind up in his dungeons ourselves," Elrohir pointed out calmly. "You need only convince him for one week. Then you may tell him the truth."
She sighed, wondering what she'd gotten herself into. However, thinking back over the year she'd spent with the couple in question, she was absolutely certain she would win. It did not really matter how horrible their prize was. "The three months begin when we arrive in Imladris," she said by way of agreement.
At that moment, Buffy and Willow returned to the party in high spirits. Stepping into place beside Arwen, they didn't miss the frank and calculating glances of her brothers. When they looked to the elleth, perplexed, she merely shrugged and then let her eyes rove over their appearance, taking in their flushed faces and easy smiles. Buffy stared at the three siblings, feeling uneasy. "What?" she asked.