Alarain enjoyed her days at Rivendell, though never feeling like she truly belonged. She spent a lot of her time with the hobbits, but mostly with Aragorn, and even Legolas. Speaking with Gandalf a few times, Alarain began to trust him and look to him for information.
She hardly saw Brenir anymore, for he had taken a liking the the hobbits and them to him. He spent most of his time running around, disturbing the elves with Merry and Pippin. She also met Arwen, and they became quite good friends as well, often spending time together in the gardens or the library.
One especially bright morning, she was talking a walk through the gardens, when Arwen came looking for her. "I thought I might find you here." she said, coming around a corner.
Alarain looked up and smiled in greeting. "Where else would I be?" she asked. They both knew she spent most of her time wandering among the flowers and trees.
"Come. My father wishes to speak with you." Arwen continued. "He says it is about some information you have for him."
Understanding that the time had come for her to explain what happened to her during her time in Isengard, Alarain followed her friend back to Lord Elrond's study.
Arwen opened the door and lead her in before taking her leave. Alarain looked around the room, noticing that Elrond was not the only one there. Gandalf and Aragorn were also present. Lord Elrond greeted her and beckoned her to sit. The woman slowly made her way over and sat down, feeling somewhat like she was being scrutinized.
Gandalf gave her a reassuring smile and spoke. "I'm sure you know why you have been summoned here Alarain."
She nodded and glanced at Aragorn. He offered no comfort, but only watched her with expressionless eyes. Turning back to Lord Elrond, she waited for him to speak.
"Alarain." he began. "Aragorn has informed us of your stay in Saruman's tower, and we have waited until you are thoroughly recovered before speaking to you about it." Leaning forward in his chair across the desk, he said, "I think you should know that you are not the only one here who was kept as his prisoner."
She glanced around the room at both Aragorn and Gandalf, eyes showing her confusion.
"I too was delayed in Saruman's fortress." Gandalf spoke up. "That is why I was not able to meet our dear hobbit friends at Bree."
Alarain gaped at him in amazement. That monster captured Gandalf too!
"I escaped, with some assistance, and came here straight away." he continued.
Lord Elrond spoke again. "Please, if you would, tell us what Isengard looked like at the time you were there."
She took a deep breath before speaking. "It looked how it always had, though there seemed to be a constant cloud of evil that hung over the place. I spotted no animals anywhere close to the walls, and there were few birds calling either." Looking nervously at the floor, her hands had balled into fists and her knuckles were turning white as she remembered all that she had seen there. "Orcs had made small camps throughout the forest on the inside of the walls, and some of the trees were slowly dying." she finished before sitting there in silence, wishing she could leave. Looking up into their faces, the elf lord in front of her looked troubled, Gandalf seemed to be deep in thought, and Aragorn was staring angrily at the floor.
"It seems that he turned against us quite a while ago." Lord Elrond said darkly.
Gandalf muttered something to himself before turning back to the others occupying the room. He noticed Alarain's pained expression and spoke, "I think you can go now Alarain. Aragorn, please escort her out if you will.
Aragorn, distracted out of his trance, stood and lead her to the door. Alarain was lost as to why he had looked so angry, but didn't pester him about it. They wandered among the halls until Alarain had no idea where they were, and she expressed this.
"Oh. Sorry." was all he said before he turned around and lead her back through to the gardens.
Not being able to stand it any longer, Alarain asked, "Is something wrong?"
He didn't answer. After she repeated the question, he turned to her. "I was just thinking about... what Saruman did to you, that's all." He kept walking and she trotted after him, her dress making it hard to run properly.
"Why?" she asked when she reached his shoulder.
He ignored her, so she gave up and they lapsed into silence.
"Will you teach me how to use a sword?" she tried, knowing that would get a reaction out of him.
He stopped and stared down at her. "No."
"Why not?" she asked, glad that he was actually talking.
"Because you don't need to know." he said before walking off again.
Catching up, she scowled. "It's because I'm a woman, isn't it?"
"N... no..." he stuttered, obviously trying to to offend her.
"I should know how to defend myself at least. Who knows when I might run into some bloodthirsty orcs! What would I do? Yell 'HELLO! COME KILL ME PLEASE!' across to them?"
"Alright!" he gave in. "But I'll only teach you defensive moves. Nothing more." he said stubbornly.
Throwing him a huge smile, she flounced off to find her sword, all the while grinning from her victory.
A short while later, she had changed into her old ranger style clothes, them being more comfortable to fight in, and was facing Aragorn in a small field. She had refused to learn in the practice arena, not wanting to be laughed at for her pitiful attempts.
"Don't look in my eyes." Aragorn instructed. "They could be lying."
She sent him silly look, wondering how eyes could lie, and focused on his torso. He tried a few simple attacks, and she clumsily blocked them, all the while trying not to trip as well. He faked a swing to the right and his sword came around on her left only to stop just inches from her neck. He stepped back and faced her again. This time, she saw the bluff and blocked to the left. Nodding, he continued with his attacks. After only a few minutes of this, Alarain was tiring.
"Alright." he said. "That's enough for today."
She nodded and lowered her sword. Out of nowhere, clapping sounded from the forest, and Legolas stepped out with a smirk.
Walking over, he said, "Very good Alarain. Though I think swordplay is not your thing."
She glared at him. "Were you there the whole time?" she asked with annoyance.
His smile told her yes. Picking up a stone she sent it flying towards him, and if he had not caught it, it would have hit him square in the nose.
He raised his eyebrows. "Maybe your strength is more in projectiles." he observed. "Would you like me to teach you how to use a bow?"
Aragorn cut in then. "Oh no, don't encourage her Legolas."
Alarain sent him a glare. "I'd love that." she replied to Legolas.
He smiled before turning to the ranger. "I actually came to find you, Aragorn. You've been summoned by Lord Elrond." he said, gesturing for Aragorn to accompany him.
Alarain walked with them as far as her room, and saying farewell, she put her sword away. Not wanting to be left out, she decided to try out her sneaking skills. Quietly exiting her room, she trailed her friends down the hallway. Her feet made hardly a sound on the floor and she followed them with ease. They walked some ways, passing through many halls before making their way through the garden. She stayed out of hearing range, but still kept them in sight.
They soon came to a beautiful round balcony, and walking up the steps, joined many others there as well. Chairs lined half the edge and Lord Elrond sat in a larger seat at the head of the council. Hoping not to be discovered, Alarain crouched in the bushes to the side of the balcony. Gaze wandering, she realized that were people there not of the elven race. A few men sat across from the elves, and some short, long bearded beings that she assumed were dwarves, sat between the men and elves. Alarain then spotted Gandalf sitting second to the end on the elf side with... Frodo? She saw Aragorn and Legolas take seats with their respective races and turned her eyes to Lord Elrond.
Standing, he spoke. "Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor."
Alarain's eyes widened at the name, and he continued. "Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction and none can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall."
No one moved.
"Each race is bound to this fate. This one doom." he said ominously. "Bring forth the Ring, Frodo." he said, gesturing to a podium that sat in the middle.
She had never persisted in knowing what the hobbit carried, but now she was intrigued. All eyes were on Frodo as he got to his feet slowly and made his way to the middle. Taking a small golden ring out of his pocket, he placed it on the platform, almost as if he didn't want to. He then turned and sat back down in his chair, sighing with relief. Alarain however, did not notice this, for she could not take her eyes off the thing sitting on the podium. She swore she could almost hear it calling to her, telling her to take it. Fighting the urge to run out and snatch it up, she tore her eyes away.
A man sitting very close to her hiding spot slowly stood up, and started talking gibberish about a dream as he made his way across the balcony to the Ring. She stared at him as he reached down to touch it, wondering if anyone would stop him.
"Boromir!" Elrond suddenly snapped, shooting to his feet, and the man's hand shot back.
Almost at the same time, Gandalf began shouting in a terrifying language. "Ash nazg durbatulûk!" The sky began to grow dark as he continued. "Ash nazg gimbatul!" The elves all closed their eyes as if in pain, and Boromir backed up to his chair and sat down, eyes wide with fear. "Ash nazg thrakatulûk!" Alarain's own head began to pound and her heart was racing. "Agh burzum-ishi krimpatul!" She was relieved when the wizard finished and the sky cleared. The sunlight streamed down again as if it never happened.
Lord Elrond recovered from his headache and spoke in a very angry tone to Gandalf. "Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris." he said, glaring at the wizard.
"I do not ask your pardon Master Elrond," Gandalf said as the elf lord sat down again. "for the Black Speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the west!" He then turned his angry gaze to the man called Boromir. "The Ring is altogether evil." he said, before going to sit down.
Boromir was not fazed however, and standing again, went on. "It is a gift." he began. "A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this ring?" he continued, looking around at the many faces. "Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay." He was seemingly trying to convince everyone to give it to him as he walked around. "By the blood of our people, are you lands kept safe." Proving her theory right, he continued, saying, "Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy! Let us use it against him!"
"You cannot wield it. None of us can." came a voice from across the balcony. Alarain, as well as Boromir turned to see that it was Aragorn who had spoken. "The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master." he said, trying to get the man in front of him to understand.
Boromir only scoffed and asked mockingly, "And what would a ranger know of this matter?"
"This is no mere ranger." Legolas suddenly spoke up. "He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."
Boromir's mouth dropped open slightly as he turned back to Aragorn. Very confused, Alarain waited to see if anything would be explained. Did he lie about who he is again?
"Aragorn? This is Isildur's heir?" Boromir asked, not really expecting an answer.
Who?
Legolas spoke again, clarifying things for her. "And heir to the throne of Gondor." Alarain's eyes widened and her mouth fell open. KING? And I was worried about how to treat Legolas!
Aragorn then said something to Legolas in what sounded like elvish, looking as if he didn't really enjoy all the attention.
Boromir was still looking a little dumbstruck, but then his face turned menacing. "Gondor has no king." Walking back to his seat, he eyed Aragorn fiercely. "Gondor needs no king." Sitting down, he continued to glare at the poor ranger.
Gandalf suddenly, and thankfully, changed the subject back to the one at hand. "Aragorn is right. We cannot use it."
Standing, Lord Elrond eyed the circle. "You have only one choice." He then said in a low voice, "The Ring must be destroyed."
A dwarf sitting just right of her bush stood and yelled, "Well, what are we waiting for!" Grabbing his axe, he jumped forward and smashed it into the Ring. He flew back onto the ground as if a great force had pushed him, and when everyone looked back at the podium, they saw that the Ring was seemingly untouched with shards of the dwarf's axe lying around it.
"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli, son of Gloin, by any craft that we here possess." Lord Elrond said with a slightly amused look gracing his features as he watched the dwarf. His expression then turned serious as he stared at the small golden circle. "The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom, only there can it be unmade." He looked around at all the faces and continued. "It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you," he paused. "must do this."
Silence followed, and Alarain hardly breathed, until Boromir spoke up again. "One does not simply walk into Mordor. It's black gates are guarded by more than just orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep." The hair on the back of Alarain's neck started to stand up as he carried on. "And the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland, riddled with fire and ash and dust. The very air you breath is a poisonous fume. Not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly." he finished.
Legolas shot up. "Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond has said? The Ring must be destroyed!"
He was suddenly interrupted by the dwarf called Gimli. "And I suppose you think you're the one to do it!" he mocked, and Legolas annoyingly turned his gaze to the dwarf.
Boromir too stood up. "And if we fail, what then? What happens when Sauron takes back what is his!" he yelled.
"I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an elf!" Gimli shouted, springing to his feet.
Alarain looked over at Aragorn to see what he thought of all this, but he only rolled his eyes in exasperation.
With that, all the elves present also stood, and started bickering with the dwarves. Soon, all except Aragorn, Frodo, and Lord Elrond were up and arguing.
A small voice yelled over the others. When no one heard, it yelled again, louder this time. "I will take it!"
All arguing stopped and everyone turned to find that it was Frodo who had spoken. "I will take the Ring to Mordor." he said loudly. He was met with silence. "Though, I do not know the way." he said after a moment in a small, nervous voice.
Gandalf walked to stand behind him saying, "I will help you bare this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bare." as he did so.
Aragorn stood and kneeling in front of him, said, "If by my life or death, I can protect you, I will. You have my sword." He also moved to stand behind Frodo.
Legolas, as well as the dwarf, Gimli, and the man, Boromir, also gave their help and stood with the others.
A bush far to her right rustled, and Sam ran out to Frodo's side. "Hey! Mister Frodo's not going anywhere without me!" he said, crossing his arms stubbornly.
Lord Elrond sighed and said with an amused look, "No, indeed. It is hardly possible to separate you two, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not."
"Oi! We're coming too!" Merry yelled as he and Pippin ran out from behind some pillars. "You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us." he threatened.
"Anyway," Pippin continued. "you need people of intelligence on this sort of... mission... quest... thing."
"Well that rules you out Pip." Merry teased.
"Nine companions. So be it." Elrond agreed. "You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."
Pippin smiled with satisfaction. "Great! Where are we going?"
They're all leaving...