22. Balance

"Do not be trapped by the need to achieve anything. This way, you achieve everything."
-Hayt, the ghola -Dune Series-Frank Herbert

Old Forest February 26/ 26 Coire 2982 III Age

Five and a half years!

Five and a half years!

If she could throttle Narya she would have and not felt at all guilty about it.

She'd lost five and a half years to a ring that liked to play cryptic.

How ironic.

But not really.

She'd spent all day talking with Gandalf about her time asleep. Both about what she had experienced and about what was going on with her family.

Evidently things were not all good at home.

Narya's little test was causing more problems than it should have solved. At least for her at the moment. She still had no clue how to use Narya. Which was bad enough, but now she had to not only figure it out before the apocalypse came and she had to keep it a secret from everyone but her parents, Elrond, and Gandalf.

Oh yeah cause she did the secret keeping oh so well.

Stupid ring.

Gandalf pointed out to her that no one would recognize the ring on her finger now that it had changed shape and while that was nice, it still didn't make sense until he pointed out that the ring had bound itself to her.

Which meant that she was stuck with a beautiful ring that had special powers that she didn't know how to use and seemed to have a very screwed up personality.

Some one out there hated her she decided.

Apparently though Gandalf couldn't even feel the Narya anymore though. And since he was a wizard they both doubted anyone else would be able to feel her either. Narya was bound to her now and from what Gandalf explained meant that they were sort of like one being. Which apparently meant that Narya could hide behind the slayer inside and no one knew she was there.

Very creepy.

Very annoying.

But it would hopefully keep her from being hunted down until she figured out how to use her new annoying accessory.

Now all she had to do was figure out what to do with herself. Gandalf apparently didn't expect her to stay and she knew her family was probably not too happy. She didn't even want to think about Aragorn. He would most likely never forgive her.

Buffy sighed and thought about it some more. She knew her naneth would be able to tell that she was alright and would contact her when she thought that enough time had passed for things to fully sink in.

That left the rest of the family to deal with.

Looking out into the moonlit forest she decided to check in with the one family member that could handle everyone from her generation such as it was.

Concentrating she called out with her mind like her ada had taught her.

"Arwen."

"Buffy?"

"Mae, nae saian luume." Buffy replied (Yes, it had been too long.)

"Are you well?"

"Yeah I am. Just a little annoyed that I've been gone for so long."

"Where have you been? We have known you live but we could not feel any more."

"I'd like to tell you but I can't. I'm fine though. I just wanted all of you to know I'm alright. I'm sure the gwenyn have been driving you crazy."

"No more than before. But they are not the ones I worry over. Estel has been most upset about your departure and absence."

"I figured as much." Buffy replied with a touch of sarcasm.

"Do you love him still?' Arwen quiried.

"I do. But it is just too complicated, especially now. I was given a mission to make sure he becomes King and I will not fail at it. But if he becomes King of Gondor and still wants me that means that I will have to become Queen. I don't want to be a queen Arwen." Buffy explained.

"Then you shall spend forever alone, thel mell, for both your adar and mine have decreed that you shall marry none but a King. And you know you must bend to the will of your adar in this." (dear sister)

"Lle lakwenien?" (Your kidding?) almost yelled in her mind.

"I am not. You are a princess and the Wilwarin of our people. You and I will never be allowed to wed one who is not worthy."

Buffy's mind reeled at this. Stupid rules! She knew there were consequences to her adoption but this one was a kicker. She never planned on getting married anyway but still. A king? Talk about expectations. Between Arwen and her meddling and the two meddling adar's of the family she was never gonna have any kind of peace.

"There goes my love life." Buffy commented.

"Not true. Estel loves you still but he is angry and worried for your safety. What would you have me tell him to ease his mind?"

Buffy thought about it for a moment. She couldn't go back to Rivendell until she knew for certain that she could keep Narya from flaring up on her. Making a decision she replied.

"I still have much to do in the world of men before I can come home. Tell Aragorn that I am well and that he still has my love but nothing more. Give the gwenyn my love and speak to Legolas for me. Tell them all I miss them and as soon as I am able I will see them again."

Be iest lîn. Amin mella lle thel neth. Namárië." Arwen said. (As you wish. I love you little sister. Goodbye)

"Namárië " Buffy replied and then Arwen was gone. (Goodbye)

Buffy looked out into the forest once more. She really only had one option available. She would go back to being a ranger for a while until she felt any type of pull otherwise or until she was sure that Narya wasn't going to do something strange like explode. Sighing as she stood she began to make her way back inside to speak with Gandalf and Tom. She liked it here but Tom was the strangest man she had ever met. He reminded her a combination of Drusilla and the potentials tweaking on mass amounts of caffeine. Defiantly not something she could handle.

Opening the door to the house she went inside to tell them both that she would be leaving in the morning..

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Outskirts of Rohan June 8/18 Laire 2982 III Age

Buffy wasn't quite sure why she had decided to go southeast after leaving the Old Forest except to avoid anyone she knew but here she was. She'd been traveling for the last three months solid attempting to learn to control Narya and had gotten no where. Apparently the ring had decided to keep to herself. She wasn't sure why she thought of the thing as female or even alive but after spending so much time together it seemed that the ring had taken on its own identity.

And it wasn't cooperating at all.

So in the mean time Buffy was hunting orcs as she traveled. Now she was on the outskirts of Rohan finally and loved it. The fields were full of wild flowers and the warm sun kept her in a good mood no matter how irritated at her new ring she was.

She decided she had a few options as to what she could do with herself until she gained some form of control. The first option was to continue to roam here in the south but that could lead to a lot more trouble than it was worth if she managed to get on the bad side of the Rohirrim. The second option was to go to Edoras and see what it lead to. Shield Maidens were rare but they were respected in Rohan if they could prove themselves. And Buffy knew she could. The final option was to go back to Minas Tirith. But it wasn't really something Buffy wanted to do. The White City was too close to Mordor for her comfort at the moment. The chances of someone or something figuring out about Narya were too high.

So the question had become whether to play nice and be around people or not to play nice had have an entire company from the Mark try and kill her if they thought she was evil.

Buffy still wasn't sure even now as she turned Beriadan in the direction of Endoras. She would try and play nice but in the last thirty five years since she'd arrived in Arda she'd only spent about an year and a half living among humans in close quarters. The Rangers were different, they were Rangers. They were much more like the Eldar in some ways. Quiet, controlled, and dangerous. Buffy understood them pretty well. And they never asked her questions that she didn't want to answer. That the gwenyn accepted her was enough.

But being around people, normal people, again was going to take some time to adjust to she figured. They would ask questions and as much as she hated people questioning her she would deal with it.

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The Gates of Edoras Rohan June 20/30 Laire 2982 III Age

It was six years to the day since she had last seen Aragorn when Buffy arrived at the gates of Edoras. She knew before she arrived that her appearance would cause her to be held up.

She wore the clothes of a Ranger, the very same ones that had spent over five years in her pack as she slept. Clad in her dark brown leather pants and coat with well worn boots and riding gloves and a deep green over tunic, she looked every inch the Ranger even without her very conspicuous weapons.

She had carefully wrapped and hidden her knives in her pack though she had opted to keep the rest. Knives in either boot as well as her hip were compliments to her sword, bow and quiver.

The guards of the gate stopped her as she had expected they would. Rangers were rare enough this far south but a female Ranger was unheard of. Pulling up Beriadan after the guards motioned her to stop she waited.

"What business do you have here?" the first guard asked. It was almost dark and Buffy was tired. She had really hoped to put this off until morning.

"I come to speak to the Lord of Mark and ask him permission to live among his people. If he does not wish it I will gather what supplies I need and return to Minas Tirith." Buffy replied. She hoped that by saying that she came from the White City that she could avoid a few questions.

The guard considered her for a few moments and then spoke. "Very well. Wait here. One will come to see you to Theoden King."

Buffy sat atop Beriadan with only a little apprehension Within twenty minutes she was being lead to Meduseld.

Climbing off of Beriadan she handed the reins to a stable hand who looked on the stallion with no small amount of appreciation. Beriadan was an elven horse and though they did not know that he was still impressive by any standards. Seemingly huge for Buffy's small frame he was such a dark brown as to almost appear black with a white star in the center of his forehead. Fast and temperamental, like every horse Buffy had ever claimed, he refused to allow few but her on him. Buffy loved him and amazingly enough despite his occasional attitude problem she knew he loved her too.

Buffy followed the soldier who had come to lead her up the stairs and into the hall of the Theoden King. He sat at the far end of the hall waiting for her to approach. He appeared to be older than her with blonde hair and strong bearing. He watched her approach carefully she noted and couldn't help but smile to herself. He was young but he apparently wasn't stupid and that was a good sign.

Stopping a good distance from the throne she bowed to him and then settled into a stance of deceptive relaxation.

"Your name my lady and what brings you to Edoras?"

Buffy had thought about what to call herself and had decided on a name that no one in this world would recognize. Almost thanking Willow for all those years of having to listen to her ramble about magic she spoke.

"My name is Rhiannon and I come to seek permission to join the Rohirrim and serve."

Theoden looked at her for a moment as though he might laugh. But he didn't instead his eyes turned calculating and mischievous. "Very well Lady Rhiannon. You will be tested after you answer my questions."

Buffy smiled. Fighting she could do. Questions might take a little creative ommitance but that wasn't as hard as out right lying. "As you wish Theoden King."

"You come from Minas Tirith?"

"No. I come from the north but I have lived in the White City." Buffy replied honestly.

"You are a Ranger then?" he asked her.

"I have been trained as a Ranger." Buffy stated. She had been trained as a Ranger so that wasn't a lie either.

"And why do you wish to serve?"

"I grow tired of being alone." That wasn't really a lie. She was tired of being alone. Without anyone save Beriadan to keep her company she was a bit lonely.

"Very well. Hama." Theoden said and motioned for both herself and for his personal guards to ready to fight.

Buffy stepped further into the open area of the hall and took up a fighting stance as she drew her sword. If they wanted to test her so be it.

Beating up morons was always fun.

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"Death comes for us all. We can only choose how to face it when it comes."
-Aviendha of the Nine Valleys sept of the Taardad Aiel-Wheel of Time Series- Robert Jordan

Meduseld Edoras Rohan January 14/55 Hivre 2988 III Age

In six years Buffy had come to love Rohan. The first three years she had spent riding with the Rohirrim and with them she had learned much. Now she was a much better rider than before and it was apparent that Beriadan appreciated it.

Now she was the personal guard of the Queen. Elfhild was a stubborn woman and had taken to Buffy instantly. They had become great friends and when, after an orc attack had nearly ended her life as she was out riding, Theoden had ordered her a personal guard. Elfhild would have none but Buffy and despite missing the open fields of Rohan she had complied happily.

Buffy looked over at the queen of Rohan and couldn't help but smile. Elfhild was very pregnant and not in the best of moods. Theoden was gone to Helm's Deep to inspect the fortress and because of her size Elfhild was stuck here in Endoras and with her Buffy.

It was cold and miserable outside and Buffy for one was happy to be out of the winter weather.

Cold was still not her thing even after all these years.

Buffy sat looking into the fire as Elfhild worked in a piece of clothing for her very soon to be born child. Buffy and babies were not something that mixed and after having to be around Elfhild for the entirety of her pregnancy Buffy had decided that she never never never wanted kids.

Not that she would ever have a chance anyway. Narya had not done anything obvious since she had awoken. She healed a tad bit faster than before and she noticed that when she became angry the ring would glow faintly but that was it. It seemed as if Narya slept. Which was both a reassurance and an annoyance. If Narya was content to not get out of hand then that meant that Buffy had a chance of controlling her but taking so long to even show her a bit of what she was in for was making her twitchy.

Buffy was dragged out of her reverie by a high pitched scream from close by her. She whipped around to see Elfhild holding her stomach and crying out in pain as blood began to appear at the hem of her gown.

"Oh Eru" Buffy exclaimed as she went over to the other woman.

"Raewyn! Get help. The queen is going to lose her child" Buffy yelled as one of the queen's maidens came running into the room. The girl turned and ran for help even as Buffy decided to take some action into her own hands and picked up the queen. Making for the doors and the queen's chambers with a speed that no human could match.

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It could have been minutes or hours that Elfild had been in the bed holding Buffy's hand as the healer attempted to save her and the child. Buffy was trained in basic healing and even she knew that their chances of survival were slim.

Buffy loved Elfhild, she was like Dawn in a lot of ways and to see her laying in her own blood as she slowly died attempting to bring a new life into the world that would never draw breath hurt Buffy more than anything she had ever felt.

Elfhild was screaming again as the healer tried to pull the child from it her. The old woman had large hands and Buffy knew that their size coupled with the size of the child was doing more damage than good.

Her anger finally broke as the woman pulled away for another towel to soak up the blood and she grabbed the old woman by the scruff of the neck and yanked here twards the door. The woman was yelling and protesting the entire time but Buffy couldn't hear her. All she knew was that she had to do something for her friend and part of that was getting this woman out of the room.

She flung open the doors and tossed the woman out into the hall without a word and then shut the door and locked it. She didn't have much time. While she was the queen's body gaurd it was still the queen in the room dying of childbirth.

Buffy strode across the room and washed her hands quickly. She knew she was saying comforting words to Elfhild but she didn't register what she was saying. She came to the end of the bed and surveyed the scene. The child''s head was visible but unmoving as blood pooled on the bed.

Taking initative she looked up into her firned's eyes and for a moment they locked. Elfhild's blonde hair was stuck to her face with sweat and her blue eyes full of pain and understanding.

"Save my child Rhiannon. Save my child." she said and then her head rolled back.

Buffy swallowed her fear and slipped her hands down.

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After what seemed like ages Buffy pulled the child free. It wasn't breathing and Buffy felt herself fill with more emotion than she had ever felt. She didn't even notice Narya begin to glow through the blood until her vision began to blur and she felt the small child begin to cry.

Shaking her head she looked down at the small child wiggling in her arms. She had saved him. Narya had saved him. She looked up at Elfhild and her heart constricted. Elfhild's blue eyes stared upward at the ceiling, devoid of life.

Careful of the baby she grabbed a cloth and wrapped him in it before turning to her friend and letting out a shuddering cry.

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