Eternal Life, Eternal Pain

IV. First True Encounter

~*~*~

Look out new world here we come
Brave, intrepid and then some
Pioneers of maximum
Audacity whose resumes
Show that we are just the team
To live where others merely dream
Building up a head of steam
On the trail we blaze


~*~*~

Legolas woke up the next morning to find Arwen already awake. He sat up and saw her sitting near where Aragorn lay snoring softly still. She sat there, brushing the tangles out of her hair, softly singing:

"Little angel
In my arms
Stay with me
Where it's warm
Shores of sleep
They come near
While in my arms
No need to fear..."

She stopped when she noticed Legolas watching her. Arwen smiled and said, "That's a lullaby I used to sing to Alli when she was a tiny infant I could still hold in my arms. Sometimes, she asks me to sing it for her again." She signed. "Allianie. My little angel... that is what it means, you know, Legolas. 'Little angel.'"

"And that she is, Arwen. Alli..."

"Is someone talking about my little girl?" Aragorn asked sleepily. He yawned and rubbed his eyes as he tried to sit up. "Eh?"

Legolas nodded. Arwen sighed. "I miss her. My darling baby." She smiled softly. "Both of them. Eldarion... he was just learning how to walk. At least, I know they are safe with my father."

Aragorn nodded but said nothing.

He and Arwen sat in silence, pondering what their children might be doing at that moment, until the sounds of Gimli waking up broke it.

"Whahag..." Gimli managed to get out.

"Gimli?" Legolas inquired. "What is it?"

"Ahc okl..." he muttered incoherently. Gimli's eyes were beginning to droop... but before he could fall back asleep, Arwen reached over and shook him gently and said in a soft voice, "Gimli, Gimli, wake up. We must begin our travels for today soon." But Gimli merely shook off her arm, causing ARwen to make a face of displeasure. "Gimli!" she said a bit louder now.

Before she said more, Aragorn held her shoulders to stop her. "Don't wake up Gimli..." he tried to warn her.

But Arwen stubbornly refused to heed her husband's words. "Wake up Gimli," she said softly yet menacingly.

Immediately, Gimli jolted up and started to growl, "WHAT IS IT? WHY WON'T YOU JUST LET ME SLEEP WOMAN?"

Normally, either Aragorn or Legolas would have backed off, but not Arwen. She yelled back, (which, Aragorn noted she only did when she was truly irritated or angry) "BECAUSE WE ARE HERE FOR A PURPOSE THAT IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR SLEEP! NOW GATHER UP YOUR BELONGINGS AND GET READY TO START!" Arwen huffed a bit, and then she walked over to where her and Aragorn's things lay, gathering them up. Gimli sat there, a bit dazed and surprised at what had just transpired before it really could sink in.

"Did she just yell at me?" Gimli demanded.

Legolas smiled. "Yes, I must say... she does have nerve."

Gimli could only mutter darkly, "Yeh... too much never..."

"She's Aragorn's wife," Legolas replied simply.

"HEY!"

~*~*~

Changing legend into fact
We shall ride into history
Turning myth into truth
We shall surely gaze
On the sweet unfolding
Of an antique mystery
All will be revealed
On the trail we blaze

~*~*~

Soon they were off. Arwen's face was a bit flushed from all the shouting she had done earlier. ARagorn and Legolas, sensing Arwen's anger remained silent. Gimli, however, was muttering under his breath. Abruptly, he stopped, and there was silence. Arwen swirled around, her braids fly behind her, and snapped, "What is it now?!"

Gimli asked, though rather meekly, "Where are we going?"

Arwen stopped walking. "What?" she asked almost confused.

"Where - are - we - going?" Gimli asked slowly, and a bit more pointedly.

"Well, to stop Sauron's threat..."

"yes, but how? I mean, where?"

Arwen sighed. She looked over to Aragorn, who merely shrugged, and Legolas, who suddenly seemed very interested in his bow. She took those gestures as "I-don't-knows" from the two, and so she answered Gimli with her own, firm declaration: "Wherever the orcs are, there we shall be too, until we find their source and wipe out all threat to the innocent lives out there!"

Legolas put aside his bow and nodded in agreement, and Aragorn looked admiringly at his wife. "Now, why didn't I think of that?" he wondered out loud softly.

Her answer seemed to satisfy Gimli. "All right then." He looked at Arwen a bit uncomfortably. "Arwen, I believe I do owe you an apology for this morning when..."

"It's all right, Gimli. I was a bit out of line earlier today as well. Your words are forgotten."

"Yes," Gimli said, "but that does not mean I should have done what I did, say what I said. If you please, Arwen... do accept my apology."

Arwen smiled and said in her usual sweet demeanor, "Only if you accept mine."

Aragorn jumped in saying, "So is this behind us now? Can we continue on without any more bickering?"

Legolas laughed. "I doubt it highly Aragorn, with the four of us, stubborn as we are. But I suppose, one can hope..."

The four laughed as they continued trekking into the woods, this time more happily, and all feeling considerably lighter in their hearts. Legolas grinned broadly, something he rarely did, but now, he was out doing what he enjoyed most - in the forest amongst the trees, with his friends, hunting and killing orcs, being the warrior he was, out in the fresh air... How can I ever marry? thought Legolas. If I were ever to give in to my father and have a wife, I'd only be bound to her and forced to stay at home. I could never do that...

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft rustle of leaves he heard to his right. Legolas stopped. Leaves rustling? he wondered. But there is no wind!

"On your guard!" he yelled out the moment his quick mind could register both what he heard and saw. As he did, an arrow shot in his direction which Legolas just managed to dodge, whipping his body around, his blonde hair flying. The arrow hit a tree with a twang, drawing Aragorn's attention. He jerked out his sword, and Gimli took his ax. Arwen took out her own blade, softly saying something to herself. Then she said but one thing to Aragorn: "Guard your back!" And the four with their weapons went off to fight.

There weren't many orcs, nor where they very strong, Aragorn noticed. Slashing his sword, he killed two with one blow. That was almost too easy... Aragorn thought.

A few yards away, Gimli was thinking the same thing. His ax easily destroyed orc after orc; however, he refused to let his mind wander from the issue at hand, the true warrior he was.

Legolas stood behind the cover of leaves, shooting down the orcs, one by one with his deadly aim. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed seven orcs circling and surrounding Arwen. "Arwen!" he cried out. Immediately, he directed his bow at them and shot down three in succession. Aragorn had also noticed his wife in danger and cut down two. The other two Arwen could manage herself.

Gimli took the last remaining himself. Seing there were no more, Gimli declared, "All gone."

Legolas nodded, as did Aragorn, who slowly said, "Did you notice... the orcs... they were considerably weaker than we we last saw them a few years ago..."

"And I thought it was just me being stronger," Gimli muttered.

There was soft giggling, and Aragorn turned his attention to Arwen. I supposed you'd like to take credit for that?"

"Ah," Arwen said, her laughter subsiding a bit, "well, a little, I suppose." Seeing the look on Aragorn's face, she added, "We are still close to my home. Besides, I doubt these orcs were very strong to begin with. They couldn't even travel in light. NOtice how they stayed in the shade."

Legolas seconded that. "Now that you mention it, Arwen I did notice that."

"What I fear," Arwen said continuing, "is that the orcs will be created stronger, and that these were merely tests."

Gimli made a face. "Women. You worry too much."

Arwen laughed. "Sometimes, it's better to be worried and prepared, than not at all."

~*~*~

Paradise is close at hand
Shangri-la the promised land
Seventh heaven on demand
Quite unusual nowadays
Virgin vistas, undefiled
Minds and bodies running wild
In the man behold the child
On the trail we blaze

~*~*~

Night was beginning to fall... The four were growing weary. "Perhaps," Gimli said, "it is time to stop for the night."

Aragorn replied, "Perhaps you are right, Gimli."

"Here seems good," Arwen said, falling down upon the ground she was standing. Aragorn laughed and followed suit. "Yes, here does seem good," Arwen added. "Very good," she said, yawning.

"Food!" Gimli said. "Dinner!"

"Is that all you ever think about, Gimli?" Arwen asked, a bit disgusted.

"No, I also think about wine and killin' orcs!"

What could the four do but laugh at that?

~*~*~

The trail we blaze
Is a road uncharted
Through terra incognita to a golden shrine
No place for the traveler
To be faint-hearted
We are part of the sumptuous grand design

~*~*~

Again, the four are being watched, as they continuously are...

"Why don't you turn back?" she asks. "Turn back... please... spare yourselves the pain, the heartache. Turn back," she whispers... "Turn back while you still can... Oh to be brave and valiant! To be loyal as you are... think of yourselves for once... turn back..."

Her whispering cannot be heard but anybody but herself. She sighs; her words are said in futility.


A/N: Credits to Elton John for the song "The Trail We Blaze." Credits to J. R. R. Tolkien for the characters. Credit to ME for the story! =) Anyway, how'd you guys like it? Good? Review if it is. Bad? Review if it is... Tell me what you think of it.

*Thank you to my reviewers... y'all so sweet.