Ch 2
A Friend and a Song
When the Maia woke she saw that it was already mid-afternoon. She smiled as she lifted her staff of cypress wood and ran her fingers along the subtle runes. Her staff was part of her now, it would serve as a way for her to channel her power, making it stronger.
She rose from where she rested against the tree and sighed at the hunger in her belly. Feeding herself was going to be something that took getting used to. She busied herself gathering more bulrushes to eat and realized that she would not be able to stay in her field for long. She needed more substantial food. She decided to walk upstream and began to make her way along the river chewing her root as she went. She probably had about three hours of daylight left. She knew that civilizations often arose near water so she was bound to run into someone soon. She set off walking briskly, singing to herself as she went.
After a short while, she came to what looked to be a small footpath that wound along the riverside. It began as little more than an animal trail and slowly widened until it was a neat little dirt path. This discovery added some vigor to pace for she knew she would soon find people. She was both nervous and excited by the prospect of encountering other physical beings. What could she say to explain herself and her sudden appearance? She was not entirely sure how she was going to communicate with whomever she met. She knew all of the languages of middle earth, those used currently as well as those long forgotten, so that was not the aspect of communication that concerned her. What frightened her was the fear that she would have nothing to speak of. It is difficult to find a common ground with other people when your existence up until that point consisted of training under heavenly beings as a creature with no corporeal form.
She pushed those worries aside with the knowledge that worrying would do nothing to improve her situation and instead focused on the beauty that surrounded her. The water rushed by over stones polished smooth after enduring ages of the relentlessly rushing water. The tall trees that grew along the bank, willow, cypress, and alder reached their limbs to the sky; the sun peeking through their leaves dappled the ground in light.
Faintly on the breeze, she became aware of singing, a far off tune sung by a warbling tenor that slowly reached her ear. It was not long before she began to make out the words of the singers cheerful song.
Yo Ho, Hum do, Hum dummy dillo
Old Tom is off to fetch a prize for the river daughter.
A pearl, pure and freshly minted
That's the prize I have intended,
For my lovely river daughter.
Waterlilies blooms are sweet
But a rarer prize is what I seek.
Only the best for my lovely river daughter.
Suddenly around the corner appeared a smallish man with yellow boots and a blue jacket. He had a wild beard that tumbled to his chest and a weather beaten face. However, despite is apparent age he moved with great agility and his eyes held a youthful sparkle.
"Ho there," he exclaimed as he came to a halt before her. "Behold the freshly minted pearl and her newly crafted stick!" and with that he let out a deep belly laugh that rang across the valley and begged the Istari to join in. She did, adding her smooth warm laugh to his gruff loud one. They both laughed until tears leaked from their eyes and they had quite forgotten what they had been laughing about.
"Tom Bombadil at your service!" he said with a bow once they had collected themselves.
"It's a pleasure," responded the Istari in kind, "I am Myself, and I am at your service to be sure. I am afraid I have yet to acquire a name."
"Ah," responded the man seriously, "Names are important things, be sure you don't rush into one. In fact, you may acquire several. But, only take those names that fit you."
"Thank you for your wisdom good sir" she responded with a smile. She liked the little energetic man in front of her but he puzzled her greatly. He was old, ancient in fact. She knew he had been in existence perhaps even longer than she, but he was no elf. He was not a fellow Istari or any form of Maiar as far as she could tell. He was an enigma, but a kindly one and she would be glad to make him her first friend.
"Now," he said taking a step back to study her critically, "If I am going to take you to my Goldberry you must go wrapped. As all the best gifts are. It is typical of them to forget to send you with clothes."
The Istari looked down at herself and saw to her chagrin that she was in fact stark naked. She marveled that she hadn't noticed before. She supposed it hadn't been important. What was important was exploring this new world that she had been deposited in. Learning how her new body functioned and marveling in the sensations that assaulted it, allowing her mind to process the plethora of sensory information; sight, sound, touch, smell. Trivial matters such as clothing were the last thing on her mind. She had never had to consider clothes before. She had never had a body before.
It occurred to her that she should probably be embarrassed by her lack of clothes but she could think of no reason to be ashamed. She liked the body that she had been given and to be honest she didn't quite understand the necessity of clothing in the first place. At least not in such pleasant weather.
"Ah," said Tom with a grin, "I see that this is all quite new to you. You have much to learn about daughter and I will help where I may." With that, he removed his long blue coat and handed it to her. She pulled it on and fasted the buttons and buckles. The coat had fallen to his knees but she was taller than him so it fell about mid-thigh on her and the sleeves were to short but he must have deemed her suitably wrapped because he nodded his head in satisfaction.
"That will do for now," he smiled, "although I do not think that blue is your color."
"No, I should think not" she replied, "blue is the color belonging to two of my brothers."
"Ah, yes," He agreed and she marveled at his knowledge of such things, "your color my dear is as important a thing as your name, fear not we will find it in time."
"Now!" he laughed as he linked his arm in hers, "I will take you to my Goldberry and we shall have a dinner fit for kings."
She laughed as her stomach rumbled its assent and they set off together, skipping up the path letting their voices fill the air with song.
