CHAPTER SIX – TO THE EDGE OF THIS WORLD
""His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all. Evil things did not come into that valley."
In Rivendell...
Rory had found himself sat a table with elvish lords and rabbit food. Bilbo had been right, Rivendell was a homely place, there were plenty of things to do and Rory was not exactly bored, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was even further from home than he was before he left Bag End.
Rivendell was a place of such beauty; the sky seemed a brighter blue, and the elves. They were something else. They were as merry as the hobbits and as beautiful as the shining stars. Rory couldn't help but feel he was slightly out of place amongst them.
"Rory. That is your name?" Elrond spoke carefully, his eyebrows raising.
"Yes, I'm Rory. Rory Humphrey Andrews,"
"It's nice to meet you Rory," The elf lord spoke. "Tell me again of how you came to be here?"
"I died, or at least I think I did," Rory shrugged. "Me and my sister. We were on a cliff, and there was a...bout of bad weather, and we...sort of fell off,"
"Interesting, and you are sure there is no way you could have survived the fall?" Elrond continued, trying desperately to find holes in Rory's, honest, albeit unlikely story.
"No m'lord. It was a sheer drop to hard ground below,"
"It is not often I speak these words Rory, but I am utterly clueless." Elrond sighed. "If you wish for my opinion, I will tell you, do not to question the things that are given for free. It appears by some miracle you have been given a second chance,"
"Do you think my sister will have been given a second chance too?" Rory questioned.
"I could not tell you," Elrond spoke, "And if by some mere chance she too has been given the gift of a second chance, she could be anywhere, from Mordor to Gondor,"
"I won't stop looking for her," Rory spoke with a determined edge in his tone. "If I have to walk from here to the edge of this world, I will."
"I admire your determination young Rory," Elrond smiled, "Your sister is very lucky to have such a good brother."
"Aye, she is indeed," Rory grunted.
For the first time in his life, Rory was in a library. This library, was however much different to the one back home in Edinburgh. It was full, and the shelves strangely empty. Two elves caught sight of him. Tall, dark-haired, grey-eyed. Identical. Elladan and Elrohir.
The pair had quickly become Rory's good friends during his stay. They were curious beings and had sat for hours listening to Rory speak of his home. In exchange for Rory's stories, they had taught him how to use the sword that hung from his belt.
"Rory!" One of them grinned. Rory could never tell which was which. "Just the mortal we were looking for,"
"Elladan, Elrohir," Rory sighed.
"We didn't think you were the reading sort Rory?" Elladan eyed his friend up carefully. "But then again, we don't know you all that well..."
"I'm not the reading sort," Rory answered. "Not usually, I actually came looking for some maps. I'm going to be leaving soon, only I don't know where I'm going to leave to,"
"Leaving? Already?" Elrohir sighed, "It has only been a few months!"
"Where I come from a few months is a long time. Besides, I need to make a move now. Rivendell is a beautiful place, but without my sister it is not my home,"
"Well... "Elladan cast his brother a careful glance, his brother nodded glumly. "I suppose we could come with you,"
"What? I couldn't ask you to do that!" Rory exclaimed, "I mean...Kyle is not your sister. She is mine to find, my burden to bare,"
"Well, look at it like this Rory. We have come to see you as a brother, and if Kyle is your sister, she is ours as well." Elrohir explained. "We want to help you Rory. Besides, we were never...averse to a bit of adventure. What do you say? Will you take us?"
"I don't know,"
"It's fine if you don't want us. I suppose you're perfectly capable of defending yourself against hundreds of orcs, goblins, wargs..." Elladan recited,
"Fine, Fine. You can come," Rory sighed. "Just the three of us."
"It'll be fun," Elrohir grinned, "Orc-slaying with our favourite mortal, what could go wrong?"
The mortal in question took a deep breath whilst biting his tongue to restrain himself from saying "A lot". "So, where to then?" Rory asked,
"We could go to Mirkwood," Elladan suggested, "It has been long since we have seen Legolas. It's as good a place as any to start looking for Kyle. The wood elves hear a lot you know,"
"Yes 'Dan, but don't you remember that Rory is petrified of spiders?" Elrohir snorted, "Don't you remember when he had us dispose of a simple house spider for him? Can you imagine what he'd be like faced with a spider from Mirkwood,"
"I suppose not," Elladan sighed. "How about Rohan, there's lots of mortals there. Rory would feel at home amongst them,"
"Rohan it is,"
The Road to Rohan was long and Elladan and Elrohir were dangerous company. It wasn't that they attracted danger, it was that they sought it out. The prospect of an orc fight excited them.
During Rory's stay in Rivendell he had heard the story of what had happened to their mother in the dens of orcs. Rory could only blame that incident for the savages the twins had become. It was as though with every orc they killed; it brought them closer to their mother. Part of Rory understood their suffering, and their need for revenge.
"It grows dark," Elladan spoke, drawing his horse to a halt, "I think it is time for us to rest,"
"Yes," Elrohir sighed, dismounting his horse and staring around at the area. "It is an ideal place to stop. No orcs shall find us here,"
"Don't sound so disappointed," Rory grunted flying from his horse and withdrawing his travel pack. "But it is a good place to stop, I can see the stars from here." Elladan smiled looking up at the sky himself. "You know, I used to be able to name all the stars in the sky back home. But now, the stars are as foreign to me as the lands under them,"
"You shall grow familiar my friend," The twins spoke in unison. "In time, you will look upon this world as your home,"
"There is a saying where I come from. That home, is where the heart is," Rory sighed, "This will not be my home, until my heart is here, and right now, it is with my family, and they are further from me than I will ever reach,"