Chapter 6
Mizore Takeda – And your cards show…Another chapter! (Just for you!)
Cretha Loesing: Thanks so much for your review. This is actually my first attempt and it feels great to have such positive feedback. I hope that my story continues as to your liking! Sorry, but this chapter does not have sarcasm in it. That is more of an Ava-Legolas thing. The other elves actually behave in Ava's presence…
Green Magic Pixie: Like (thumbs-up)
Disclaimer: I own a bottle of rum, a compass and a sword. (Yes, I actually do own a sword) but still nothing from LOTR.
Ava was slowly stumbling through the wood in search for some berries or fruit to eat.
Whoa… what is in this stuff? She thought and looked down at the flask of Miruvor in her hand. A high hick-up escaped from her lips and Ava giggled. Since when do I giggle? I hate it when girls giggle. She scolded herself. She shook her head and stumbled in the process.
"McDonalds, McDonalds, Kentucky Fry chicken and a Pizza hut…"
Shit, I'm sooo hungry.
Ava gave another stagger when her foot caught on a root.
Oh, this is useless. I'm just going to die of hunger here in this forest.
No! she mentally shrieked I cannot die. The world depends on me!
And with that gloomy thought, Ava flopped down on the ground and placed her chin in her hand.
I am so screwed….no Earth is so screwed. When I get hold of William he will wish he'd never been born! How am I supposed to find one human in the whole of Middle-Earth?
"Hick"
And I will kill Legolas as well…for...for not getting me food!
"Hick"
Ava sighed and picked up a rock and flung it into the darkness. Wow, I'm doing a lot of rock-throwing in one day…
A soft rustling sound to her left caught her attention. Leaves and twigs snapping. In horror movies it is always leaves and twigs snapping, Ava rolled her eyes. Pressing her back against one of the trees, she fumbled to unsheathe her knife from its place on her hip. She was relieved to know that it did not get lost when she took that dive into the blasted river. The long knife glinted silver as some of the moon's rays filter through the leaves above. Ava strained her hears to hear for any other noises, but her head swam of all the Miruvor.
Was Lorien a safe place to wander? Don't really think orcs could get this far into the wood, but there still was other predatory animals lurking in the shadows; she thought. Ugh, I'm screwed anyways…might as well get a good fight in. Not that I can actually fight…sigh
She drunkenly got up and braced herself for whatever was to come. She was just about to cry out when a gentle voice called from the dark space between the trees in front of her.
"No need for any weapons, Lady Ava"
Ava lowered her blade and watched as Vadinar stepped into a patch of light, palms raised forward in an unthreatening way. Another dark haired elf followed close by and Ava recognised him as one of the faces she saw earlier that day. One of the un-named faces.
"Oh, good! I was horribly lost!" she slurred. Dammit, I am not drunk!
"Word was sent out that you never reached our Lady. When Haldir returned with only your horse and there was no sign of you or Legolas, Lord Celebron summoned a search party. After recounting earlier today's argument between the Mirkwood elf and you, we feared that you might have killed each other along the way" Ava smiled at the light jest remarked at the end. "Luckily with all that noise you made, we were able to find you quite effortlessly" Vadinar smiled and glanced down at the flagon. His grin grew. Humans…
Vadinar gave a short pause while taking another step closer "But my heart is glad to see you safe and – "
He was about to say unharmed, but the deep cut on Ava's forehead was suddenly visible in the moonlight. A long mark from her hair-line to the tip of her right eyebrow was visible on her forehead.
Ava saw the direction of his gaze and gave a slight shrug "It's nothing serious. I've had worse injuries than this one"
"What happened, why are you sloshed and where might my friend, Legolas, be?" He asked and a frown creased his beautiful face.
"I do not know where Legolas is. He left about an hour ago and I have not seen him since. I got hungry and went to look for something to eat" Ava explained she gave a light stumble to her right and Vadinar steadied her before she could do more harm to herself.
Vadinar scowled at how careless Legolas was to leave a woman alone on the wood.
"And how did you manage to be injured like that?" Vadinar asked again and bent closer to examine the cut. He could already see that someone has cleaned and tended to it. Probably Legolas.
Ava felt his cool breath on her face and blinked at the closeness of the elf.
"I fell into the river and then woke up a couple of hours later in a makeshift camp Legolas set up."
"Yes, we saw the fire and Legolas' cloak on the ground, but there was no sign of either of you. We split up into groups of two and went into different directions in search of you"
Vadinar slightly turned his head back and gave a small nod.
The other elf that lingered in the back gave a low owlish call and Ava diverted her gaze to him.
"Landir is just signalling the other group that we have found you. We should be on our way. I have a horse close by and if we leave now we can reach the palace just before daybreak. " Vadinar explained when he saw Ava's distraction.
"What about Legolas?"
"I'm going to ask Landir to stay at your camp and await his arrival. Come, let us depart"
Ava followed Vadinar through the thicket of the wood. He placed a slender hand at the base of her elbow and steadied her when she occasionally stumbled in the dark. She could hear the low murmur of the elven voices next to her and was wondering what they were saying. Her stomach gave another low rumble and she rolled her eyes at the sound. Will she ever get food into her empty stomach again?
"So why were you drinking so much of the Miruvor?"
Ava blushed and looked down at her feet "I only had like four sips, I think?"
"Ah, yes. You humans can't quite stomach the elven mead" he laughed at Ava's mortified expression. "At least it made you forget the pain of your wound"
Absentmindedly Ava fingered the cut on her head. She never really thought of the pain until now. There was only a low throbbing pulse to indicate that something was wrong. Oh, this is going to hurt like hell in the morning….
"So you don't get drunk from this stuff?"
"Elves hardly ever get drunk…we will need to consume a lot of drink to even start feeling slightly affected, well except for our red wine, of course. That could make any elf merry…"
"Oh…" even a sour face Legolas? Ava could not help but thought.
As they approached Vadinar's horse Landir set of at a quick silent pace back to the camp. His footsteps made no sound as he sprinted across the forest floor.
Vadinar help Ava onto the white steed. Having no saddle or straps plus being a bit intoxicated she was struggling to get onto its back. Vadinar gave a low chuckle when Ava clutched with all fours at the horse's back before setting herself into a sitting position. The top button of her blouse came loose, giving Vadinar an appreciated view at the top curves of her breasts. He was nothing but charmed when it came to a woman's body. Elf or not. He lightly jumped on the horse as well and positioned himself in front of Ava.
"Hold on to me" he instructed. Ava shyly grasped the sides of his body and bunched his cloak in her hands. She was extremely close to him and she could feel the heat radiating from beneath his cloak.
"No" Vadinar took her hands in his and pried them loose. He then folded them across his waist so that her arms encircled him. Ava could feel the soft material from his tunic and briefly wondered how proper this was in elven custom? Vadinar made no indication of noticing her inappropriate clothing like Legolas did. Maybe Vadinar was not as old fashioned as Legolas was.
"If it is more comfortable for you, feel free to lay your head on my back. This is roughly going to be a three hour ride and I believe you might be a bit weary from this long day"
At the mention of this, Ava suddenly realised that she was indeed very tired. She thanked Vadinar and pressed the uninjured side of her face against his back. She closed her eyes and relished in the feeling of the cool night air flowing over her face as the horse sped off into the darkness.
The wind sang in her ears and the smell of the elf and the wood quickly drowned her senses and lulled her to sleep.
When Legolas returned to camp, he saw Landir sitting on the tree log idly flipping a small white stone in his hand. It was the little pebble that Ava threw at him earlier. He knew it to be that one, because it was the only white stone in the clearing.
Ava was missing and he frowned slightly at this. Where did that woman run off to now?
"Na man awn?Ava?" his voice sounded weary.
"Vadinar, Prince "
Legolas scowled at the title and shot Landir a disproving glare. Instead of voicing his thoughts he just nodded once and went to pick up his cloak. Ava carelessly left it there in a heap on the ground and with one hand he lightly brushed some of the dirt from it. Cleary a woman without manners, he silently thought. A sparkle on the ground distracted him from his cleaning process and he bent down to retrieve the object. It was Ava's ring. It was a simple silver band, twisted into what looked like braided silver at the sides. It the middle was a strange round black stone. Legolas frowned at the jewel. He could have sworn that he noticed a similar ring with a yellow stone on Ava's hand earlier. Maybe this is a different one? He pocketed the band and turned to Landir.
"Are we needed at one of the stations or are we heading back?" Legolas asked in the common language. He remembered now that Landir wanted to learn it fluently and would rather have elves convers with him in it more regularly.
"The message was for you to return to the palace. I will be resuming my post" with that Landir cast the little stone at Legolas' direction and turned to leave. Legolas absentmindedly caught the pebble and pocketed it along with the ring.
He doused the fire and cleared all traces of them from the camp. Call it paranoid or elven tradition, but they preferred not to leave their mark for onlookers to discover. It was especially a habit he learned with being a prince. "Cover your traces everywhere you go" his bodyguard and trainer used to say when he was still little elfling. Legolas sometimes missed his old life and he wish he could return, but to face his father after what he's done…
It would take another couple of thousand years before he could forgive him for it.
Legolas blinked to focus his eyes. It's been two weeks since he last slept and he was becoming weary. He's been so busy patrolling with the sentries that he hardly ever slept. His hand patted down to where his flask usually was, but it came in contact with nothing.
He made a disapproving face at the discovery and realisation.
Ava.
Ava sluggishly woke with something tickling her nose. She gave a small groan and shifted her face, but the tickling just got worse. She just wanted to sleep a little more. She slowly opened her eyes and was met with strands of pale blond hair covering her face. With a start she jerked back and loosened her hands from the stiff position it was in. She was sitting on a horse, snuggling against a man's back…no wait…an elf's back. Slowly the memories started filtering back. The encounter with the elves, the fall down the river, the cut on her head, Vadinar, Haldir and Legolas…. She made a face at the last name. Her head gave a strange pound…oh and the Miruvor.
"You are awake" came the velvety voice from Vadinar. Ava stifled a small yawn and rubbed her eyes with one hand. Pale light was filtering through the trees, casting the woods into a soft glow. The dull throbbing seemed to increase with every second she was awake. She groaned and lifted a hand to her head.
"Yes, for how long was I asleep?" she rolled her neck from side to side to loosen the stiff kinks. She only then noticed that they were standing still.
"You've slept the entire journey. We just arrived at the gates" and as if to amplify his statement Ava heard the welcoming voice of Haldir spoke.
"Welcome, Lady Ava to the City of Lorien!"
She craned her neck past the shoulders of Vadinar and was amazed by what she saw. Golden leafed trees as big as skyscrapers loomed up into the sky. The soft glow from the morning sun glittered on the leaves, sparkling like tiny diamonds from a King's crown. Tallens covered the tree tops with intricate bridges connected from tree to tree. The grounds were covered with tiny white, blue and yellow flowers accentuated by soft green grass. Elves wandered through the untamed garden on cobble stone paths. A large stone fountain stood in the middle of the clearing. A big statue of a fair elven maid with a golden ball cradled in her hand was in the centre of the fountain. In the distance Ava saw paths that led deeper into the tree city.
"It's beautiful" Ava breathed and felt the tremors of Vadinar's chuckle go through his body.
"Yes, Lady Ava, but you should have seen this place when it was still in all its glory. A sight that would never leave the memories of your mind! Lorien the fair!"
"I can hardly think there could be anything more beautiful than Lorien." Ava said, still in awe. She did not even notice that Haldir came and stood next to her. The little gold flower still in his button hole.
"Beauty can only be compared to the holder's own view and not be equated by the opinion of someone else. Therefore I agree in Lorien's splendour, but I have seen beauty as equally, if not more, striking"
Ava glanced down and watched Haldir as he gave her his hand. The way he was watching her, made her blush and she shyly placed her hand in his. Haldir helped Ava from the horse and walked them round to face Vadinar.
"Farewell, Lady Ava. I am needed at the Easter Border. Haldir will escort you to Lady Galadriel."
"Thank you, Vadinar." Ava gave a small smile. It was quite tiring to be passed on from one elf to other so often. From Elior, to Legolas, Legolas to Haldir, Haldir back to Legolas, then Vadinar and back to Haldir. All in such a short time. A flicker of a thought flipped through her and she briefly wondered where Legolas was. She gave an internal shrug and gave Vadinar her full attention again.
"I will return in a fortnight and then I will tell you all about fair Lorien, spare that there is still something left to converse after Haldir got hold of you!" Vadinar offered.
Haldir gave a musical laughter and Ava could not help but smile at the sound. His face lit up handsomely and Ava stared shamelessly.
"My dear friend! Your vocabulary is much too inadequate to explain half of our woods splendour! Do you honestly think I will let her be punished by your unintelligent burbling?
"Ha! You may have the talent of words and flattery, but my skill in other… more worthy departments, have proven enough to gain victory where it matters! As you already know…."
He gave a knowing smirk and Haldir narrowed his eyes, but the smile never faded.
Ava had a strange feeling that this type of friendly bickering between the two elves was normal behaviour.
"Well, fortunate am I to have the pleasure of having time with Lady Ava for two weeks without you pestering her with your presence" Haldir gave a small wave with his long hand as if to shoo Vadinar away.
"It was a pleasure to meet you, Lady Ava and I would love to converse a bit more on this matter, but duty calls! Please don't be too bored with Haldir's lack of excitement"
He turned his stead and before he galloped away he gave Haldir a meaningful grin.
"Ta gwithár, mellon!"
Elvish Translation:
Na man awn – Where did she go?
Ta gwithár, mellon – The game is on, my friend!
Yeah, so smooth Vadinar to the rescue!
And drunk Ava? Damn, only one night in Lorien and already drunk! Talk about improper! Such a rude girl!
Anyway, thanks so much for reading! You are awesome! And if I had a magic wand I would let you all get your dream dates.
Mmmm… who would you wish to have one date with? A secret crush? Your teacher? Maybe your boss or a friend? A celebrity? Or a fictional character? Let me know! (Sorry, but Legolas is off limits ...he is all mine)
If you like, please review. It is nice to know somebody is reading my work and appreciate it.
Take care!
Love,
The Poet!