The Protector in the Shadow
*Well, It's January 6th, and my day of rest. My schedule may not last long, but we will see, I'll more than likely will just upload the documents and simply upload the chapter to the story later. We'll just see how I feel! Now I'm just rambling…wow this is awkward. I hope you like this next chapter! Also, a few reviews back I saw someone comment about spell check. I'm more than sorry about that, but I'm just going to remind you all I can't edit in Word document. I write everything on my iPod. Again enjoy my squirrels, enjoy! I'm really excited about these stories I'm posting! BAH! Sorry lol again rambling. To the story, charge! - Ze*
Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR, but I've decided to be delusional and say I do. So suck it.
*Past*
*Present*
Chapter Sixteen: Alive
When she woke the next morning, she suddenly felt extremely loved. Though it wasn't exactly the same, and if she dare say much more awkward, she enjoyed waking that morning just the same. It was long before dawn in the forest, the angelic glow did not stop her from being able to see. She stared lightly from her position on the bed rolls that were lain out side by side to make it more comfortable. Merry and Pippin claimed one of her sides as their body pillows, Pippin under her arm, and Merry clinging to her waist, mirroring Frodo and Sam on her other side. Though it hurt her sides at the amount of pressure they were applying she did not care. The only creatures she wanted acceptance from had accepted her with ease.
Her body wiggled from beneath the creatures that slept soundly. She was trying to make an escape so she could make it back to her flat above the trees. Her grandmother would give her the metal tongue lashing of the century if she was not back soon. She was just about to give up before Aragorn who had woken up and been watching her for quite some time with a slightly amused expression on his face slowly walked over and knelt down before her trapped form.
Arm by arm he gently removed the hobbits from the woman, so carefully none of them even twitched at the notion. His breathing was as careful as the work he preformed, after he moved the hobbits he would gently lift them and move them to their bed roll, covering them with wool blankets that they had. It took almost a half an hour before the hobbits were nestled under their blankets. Aragorn offered a hand to Ava with a small lazy smile pulling her gently to her feet before stepping back. They said nothing, but exchanged sheepish expressions before she started toward the stairs.
"Lord Aragorn," she started, turning lightly on the balls of her toes the wind that picked up, tossing her hair lightly around her made Lyavain shiver, but she hid this from the king. Aragorn turned to look over his shoulder at that moment in time; "please bid my apologies to the Halflings for me?" she was asking more than requesting. It felt odd speaking to him alone, but it wasn't odd in a bad way it simply left her with a tingling sensations she did not understand, "and thank you very much for your help…" her voice clearly trailing off, she had wanted to say more but she did not know if now was the proper time to say it. She would engage in conversation later, simply now did not seem as a good time.
She would prepare breakfast with the others after returning to her flat, perhaps after breakfast would be a good time. The Fellowship would not stay long in Lothlórien, this she knew for a fact, most of them cared far too much to let the beautiful place be endangered by their long stay. She had heard whispers from Haldir on how the borders had in fact been attacked just the night before, though she said nothing to the fellowship and advised Haldir to do the same. If they knew Lyavain would not have enough time to fully heal.
Lyavain cooked loudly with the help of others, her bright voice was cheery in spite of herself. Songs escaped the women as they cooked and served the men who sat waiting patiently at the tables for the food to be finished. Everyone, including the Fellowship seemed overly pleased when the food came out, the Fellowship was simply glad to be eating real, loads of food after living on practically nothing for such a long time. She took a seat beside Aragorn, offering a soft smile to the king before another soft one to Frodo, who looked quite upset with where she had sat. She knew he would give her an ear full later, but honestly she was in such a good mood, she simply felt the need to pass it on to the group. Tired she was of being the only one in high spirits. She had known Gandalf far longer than the others yet here she sat, happy, excited, and lively as ever.
She ate while chatting lightly with the fellowship, before she noticed Haldir staring intently at Boromir, who was too focused on Ava to notice this. At first Lyavain was confused, looking between the two, but soon she felt uncomfortable, more uncomfortable then she had for a long while. Her heart hammered in her chest as she finally felt so confused she stood, and without another word she made an abrupt departure. Walking swiftly from the hall, her grey dress flowing like shadows behind her. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding in her chest; she had felt such a malice coming from Boromir she couldn't even be in the same location as he anymore.
She jumped when she felt a light hand on her shoulder; she looked down and noticed Frodo looking quite worried at her. She couldn't stop herself from spinning and knelling before him, pulling him into her form in a tight silent embrace. Her body soon shook with sobs, never before had she cried in the presence of another. Only ever keeping her pain and sorrows to her own being. She didn't even know why she cried, she only held lightly onto Frodo's small form. She only heard him whisper calming words as he stroked her hair awkwardly. He clearly had not been expecting such a thing to happen, yet he adapted quickly to the feeling of her tears staining his deep blue vest, his soft heart broke with every tear.
"Shhhh. Calm down Lyavain, calm down. Everything will be fine." Frodo cooed lightly his hand gently going through her silk like hair. "No harm will come to you, I swear it." Frodo could promise all he liked, but he knew that may not be true, he knew that he could say whatever he like and it would only be feeding sweet words that were far from the truth.
"I am sorry Frodo," she said suddenly with a sudden pause and a whimper, "I don't know what's come over me, but I cannot stop weeping. I feel as though my heart as been run through with an Elven blade." She said quietly looking up into Frodo's eyes. They knew the love they held for each other was nothing more than the love of a family member. Though they weren't quite sure who the oldest would be if it were siblings. Frodo smiled lightly ruffling her already defiled hair with his soft fingers.
By the time they had parted she had found Haldir had been searching for her desperately. Her cheeks were stained with tears, which Haldir found to be almost pathetic, with the help of Frodo he carefully lead Ava to the pool of water nearby to wash her face. They joked quietly with one another, attempting to lighten the mood in any way that they could. It seemed to be working, even when they returned to the hallow with Frodo she was calmed under Boromir's angry gaze which held such anger and contempt. She was bombarded by questions from the hobbits. Questions she either ignored or answered with a plastic smile on her face.
For some reason her gaze always fell on Aragorn, their eyes would lock and they would both look away, knowing that they had been caught by the other. She felt highly embarrassed; no beast of the wood, or Elven princess would do such a thing. She was beginning to feel self conscious around the entire Fellowship, though most had accepted her with open arms, she was beginning to feel much more then comfort from a few of the men. She felt awkward and soon wished her bones would allow her to transform into her more comfortable state. Where she could hide away her feelings from showing on her face, she could be closer to the creatures, and sleep more comfortably. That state where she ignored lofty glances from the men, and the soft expressions of fondness that crossed their faces. She loved being able to converse easily with the men, not switching thoughts, or worrying about showing them something they should not see. She loved being able to touch, and embrace the small Halflings more than anything. She loved feeding and tending to the creatures around her.
Her body moved lightly stepping solemnly her quiet expression was lost. She had seen the future Frodo had witnessed in the mirror the night before. She was almost as terrified as the hobbit himself. Such a horrid future and a wild pressure to be put on the already doubtful hobbit. Sure, for the others Frodo had stayed optimistic, but he could rarely pass and pretend to be calm around Lyavain. Whenever he needed to speak to anyone she was there, though she knew that when he asked her, she would obey him. Not because he commanded her, but because it's what a friend would do. The sweet breath of the forest always took her breath away, and even though her mind was lost deep in thought she still wondered familiar paths. Wondering deeper and deeper into the green-gold forest, and farther away from Lothlórien.
Had she not been distracted she would have heard soft pads of footsteps echoing from behind her, she would have felt the malice come from the creature that was trailing her just out of her range of sense. She would have started to run, run back to comfort or at least back to the part of the Fellowship that accepted her. She had brought weapons with her, simply for the sake of her grandmother's sanity. Little did she know how much that simple act of caring on her part would save her in the future.
She sat quietly after finally reaching her desired location. Her body was relaxed in the presence of the wilderness she once called home. She had brought her soiled dirty azure dress with her to the hidden stream to watch, and she soon realized that someone was fallowing her. She felt a light snarl threaten to escape her lips, but she bit it back, pretending she didn't know anyone was there. It wasn't until she felt them practically lingering over her did she snarl ripping out an Elven knife and spinning her leg behind her. Listening as the person fell with a grunt and a curse, but before they could stand she had a knife at their throat. Her enlarged canine teeth bore at her attacker who easily pushed her off of him.
"I knew you would snap, Boromir the betrayer." She hissed crudely lifting her knife to block his raised sword. She had over three thousand years over him to train and perfect the art of knife play. She blocked and moved violently, the deadly grace was almost hypnotizing their blades clashed quickly and with frightening precision. It was her on the ground, she found her pale dress dirtied by the moist ground. She was straddled by Boromir who raised his blade to strike.
She closed her eyes, a prayer escaped her body, to the Valar, to her mother, and a blessing to Aragorn. Her lungs opened up suddenly, a blood curdling scream erupted from her chest, and she hadn't even realized what she had screamed until she opened her eyes to see Boromir gaping at the man that now had him by the collar of his cloak. Even if she hadn't screamed for him he would have come, and he would have protected her. When her rescuer came to her aid, and Legolas finally calmed Boromir, the man finally turned to look at her. His expression worried and afraid she had been hurt. The only thing on her body that was injured was a small scratch on her cheek, if anything Boromir was much worse off. She had screamed not for the king of men, but for Aragorn, the graceful gentle Ranger from the north.
They stared at one another for a few moments, step by step Aragorn drew closer. He reached down gently taking both arms in his hands before pulling her up to stand with a soft smile. Lyavain must have looked utterly shocked, her appearance must have been horrid. She felt horrid, even if she didn't look it. "I will always come to your rescue, Lyavain." He said quietly, something showed in her eyes that she could not see, though the soft promise had caused her to look down, a blush gracing her childish cheek.
Frodo came toward her next, pulling her into an embrace she could not escape. She hadn't realized until now how close to death she had came, or how badly it had frightened her. It was terrible that she, fearless wolf of Lothlórien had been frightened by a human. But she hadn't been thinking on that. She had been thinking on how to survive, her beastly instincts had taken over, and all other thought had vanished from her mind.
"Frodo, I'm frightened," she admitted into his neck almost silently. Her eyes were wide with shock as she admitted this, she had not even been afraid of the Balrog, only confused. But she had honestly been afraid of Boromir, and it was a whole new feeling for her, "what if he would have killed me?" She questioned, horrified that she might have failed her fellowship.
What if he would have killed her?
*SO! I've finally landed on a schedule! Every other day I'll post on each story, one chapter updates. So, tomorrow (the 9th) I'll update The Lost Fawn, and the 10th I'll update this story. I think it'll be easier that way for me, because updating two or more chapters a day is pretty tough because of my current situation in life right now! If I update more that's fine. But I just wanted you to know that it'll be at least one chapter a story, TLF on odd days, TPINS on even days. Don't forget to vote on the poll for my other story! R&R if you are a cool kid! Bless your face! - Ze*