The boat swayed from side to side on the strong current, leading them away from the Elven city and back out into the wilds that seemed to press on them from the shore.
The boats were sturdy enough and the seats were more comfortable than they looked which was good for they still had a lot of distance to cover.
Her grandmother had come to see them off downstream, standing on the edge of the bank like a silent sentry, watching them depart as the boats slid effortlessly through the clear water beneath them.
Arwen hoped this was not the last time she would see Galadriels face, solemn and beautiful. However, in case it was, she took extra effort to remember each detail of her as best she could. She kept looking back at her figure in white until they rounded an outcrop of trees and she could see her no more.
Dipping the oar into the cool water she helped to steer the front of the boat away from the shallows, pointing it towards the path that Aragorns boat was taking down the centre of the river. Legolas then paddled from the back, getting the power going to steer it against the current. Behind them Boromir was doing the same, shouting at Pippin to paddle from the other side of the boat away from the shore until he eventually got the hang of it.
" I have taken my worst wound at this parting, having looked my last upon that which is fairest" Gimli said suddenly out of the silence causing Arwen to turn in her seat to look at him. His face was lowered towards his pack that sat in his lap, as he let out a small grunt of a laugh before continuing.
" Henceforth I will call nothing fair unless it be her gift to me".
"Ah so you did get a gift, is that where you sneaked off to before we left" Arwen joked hoping to raise his spirits as he seemed so downhearted.
"What was it?" Legolas questioned from behind the dwarf trying to look over his shoulder and down towards the pack trying to catch a glimpse of the gift.
" I asked her for one hair from her golden head... she gave me three" he said looking up with a sad smile.
Arwen turned back around facing out front once more, something stirred in her too, a sadness sweeping over her. Had her Grandmother granted him more than he had asked because she feared they would not return, to grant a dying mans last wish.
No, she tried to persuade herself, she gave more because she could never show him enough gratitude for the quest they were embarking upon.
A fish splashed loudly in the water beside her, breaking her from her thoughts, she was only able to glimpse it for moment before it dived back down below.
Their surroundings were awe inspiring, the lush green of the trees, the clear blue waters and the rugged terrain of the canyon that ran parallel to the river.
Still she found no comfort from the beauty, and she found herself on more than one occasion fixating on a point just behind the treeline where she was sure she had seen something moving.
Probably just a deer she thought to herself, however a few times she asked Legolas if he saw anything just to be sure. Each time he came back with the same answer.
They were making good progress, the current flowing in their favour meant that they were not forced to constantly paddle and most of the time they allowed themselves to drift, whilst only steering the way.
They ate a lunch of lembas and a few pieces of fruit whilst still in the boats and it was only once the sun began to lower behind the cliffs beside them , that Aragorn signalled to a small island that sat in the middle of the river.
It was not much but it was enough room for them to stretch out and find a space to sleep or rest.
The waters would be perilous to navigate by night, stones, rocks or shallows would remain unseen until they struck them, so although they would all have liked to have kept going, this was the safer alternative.
As they slid up the gravelly bank she jumped out of the front of her boat , splashing down into the now cold but shallow water. Following Aragorns lead as he had come to the shore before them ,she then tied the boat tether around a small tree stump that was close-by.
It was lucky that she had changed her worn boots to an older pair she had found in her room in Lothlorien that had hardly ever been used. Otherwise her boots would definitely have been leaking again.
Once Boromirs boat was secured the hobbits moved off with their packs to find a place to set out their sleeping rolls. The others however stood around the boats, looking out to the way they had just come.
"We made good time, we should reach the Falls of Rauros by noon tomorrow" Aragorn said, pushing back a piece of stray hair that fluttered in the wind.
"And where do we head after that?" Gimli asked , kicking at some loose stones on the shoreline so that they ran down the verge and splashed into the water. It reminded her of the pool outside Moria and the inky black of the waters there, they still haunted her and the thought of the waters being disturbed made it worse.
"From the Falls we head towards Emyn Muil and approach Mordor from the North" Aragorn answered, taking off one of his leather gloves and stretching his hand that was clearly in discomfort from rowing.
Boromir stirred beside her, beginning to open his mouth like he was going to say something but then he closed it again and turned away to follow the hobbits who had laid their things on the brow of the islands centre.
Legolas caught her eye in a cautious glance, it seemed that he too had noticed it .
"Should we make a fire?" Gimli questioned the remaining three.
"We are not that far off of the bank, I think we should not draw any unwanted attention if we can help it" Legolas said leaning into the boat to retrieve his bow and quiver.
As he lifted it, his eyes still lit up to look upon the gift and he held it delicately in his hands like it would shatter if he held it too tight. He left them to perch atop a boulder so that he had a better view of what lie around them, he would most likely stay there until night was done, a guardian to watch over the others while they slept.
"Well we should eat and get an early night, ready to beat the dawn in the morning, I for one am quite exhausted" Gimli said as he walked up the slight incline to the hobbits and Boromir.
"Well that is rather surprising seeing as he did none of the work" Arwen whispered to Aragorn with a smile, now that it was only them remaining.
"Well you know , sitting on your behind all day is tiring work" he laughed, lacing his ungloved fingers through hers.
"How did you find today?" he asked her ,his blue eyes still shimmering even in the low light.
"Better than I expected, although I miss Lothlorien and it's comforts already " she said , her thumb rubbing circles around the back of is hand " Somehow it feels like it will be the last time I look upon it" she finished sadly, looking up to the moon that now crept up above the trees in full glory.
"I hope for all of us that is not the case" he said quietly, drawing her closer to him till she fell snugly into the the side of his body and he draped his arm around her shoulders, her own arm reaching round his back.
"I kept thinking I saw something on the shore, behind the treeline. Legolas could not see it though, perhaps my anxiety is making me mad" she confided, captivated by how the moonlight caught the ripples on the current.
"You aren't the only one and there is something following us, although I doubt it was him you saw on the shore" Aragorn said.
"Him? who is following us?" She asked leaning away from him slightly, perplexed on why he had not mentioned it before.
"Gollum" was all he replied.
"Gollum!" she repeated " You mean the creature that Gandalf spoke of?"
"Yes, he was the one that was following us when we came out of Moria, I was hoping he would have become disinterested with us once when we spent so long in Lothlorien, but he has been tracking us once again since we left" he explained.
"Is he dangerous?" she asked.
"More to himself than to us" he assured her "Try not to worry about it Melamin"
He pulled her closer again kissing her lightly on her brow.
"Why did you not tell me sooner?" she asked him, slightly hurt that he had kept something of this magnitude from her.
"I was hoping it...he would just disappear. I did not want to worry you unnecessarily" he said, his eyes filled with truth.
"You should have still told me even if it did. In the future if anything, and I mean anything is untoward then I would like you to let me know. At the very least just so you do not carry the burden of that knowledge alone, alright?" She asked him, although she felt slightly guilty at demanding it as he was only trying to spare her fear.
"As you wish my lady" he agreed smiling one of his smiles he kept just for her.
" If a fly so much as looks at me in the wrong way, you shall be the first to know" he joked.
"Stop mocking me" she chuckled as she tried to feign being upset.
"Like I would dare!" he said as he bent down to kiss her lips quickly.
"Come on, we should probably get something to eat" he suggested leading her by the hand back up the hill.
"Yeah probably" she said "and before Pippin and Merry eat all the Lembas in one sitting".
She was not tired. Her body felt fully replenished from the stay in Lothlorien and it had not been diminished by their day of relatively easy travel.
The Hobbits and Gimli were all fast asleep, some of them snoring lightly but she found the sound comforting in the otherwise silent night.
They had all seemed in relatively good spirits as they ate, mostly talking about the sights they had seen that day. Reminiscing over the beauty of Lothlorien and the gifts they had been bestowed upon their leaving.
But they had slipped into a light sleep before long, twisting and turning as they tried to make themselves comfortable on the hard ground.
Within the small crop of tightly packed trees that were situated here, all twisted and fighting with one another for the light, she could hardly hear the rushing of the river beyond.
Aragorn and Boromir had left the circle a while back exiting through the trees on the opposite side of the island to where the boats were moored, they would probably stay there for a while to make sure all was well.
She had picked at some Lembas and a few slices of an apple but she was already full. Her stomach seemed to churn at the thought of eating anything else.
Standing quietly from where she was sat and trying her best not to wake those who were sleeping, she gathered up some Lembas, an apple and a plum and wrapped them in a cloth before heading out of the trees back towards the boats.
Legolas was still sat where they had left him, looking out across the river, the moonlight making his blonde hair look almost ethereal.
His head darted towards her as soon as she stepped out of the tree line. His face relaxing once he saw it was her.
"I thought you might be hungry" she said, lifting up the package of cloth so that he would see it.
"Thank you" he said with a smile putting his hand down to take it from her.
"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked him, the cool breeze drifting over her skin in a sweet caress.
"Of course not" he answered lowering his hand once more so that she could use it to help lift her up beside him.
"Anything prowling about in the dark?" she asked once she found a comfortable position.
" A badger, a fox and a few birds, I think we could take them though" he laughed, opening the parcel of food and pulling off a small piece of Lembas.
"I don't know about that, some of those badgers are pretty big" she said putting her hands behind her on the rough stone and leaning back.
"Are the others asleep?" he asked.
"The hobbits and Gimli are, Aragorn and Boromir went to the other side to keep watch" Arwen replied, scanning along the treeline for anything out of the ordinary.
"No doubt for some heated conversation regarding the route that we are to take" he said, his finger playing with the fletching on one of the arrows in his quiver.
" I figured that was what he was going to disagree with earlier" she agreed.
" I would imagine Aragorn is getting quite an earful of how we should be headed to Gondor right now" he mused.
" I just hope that Boromir isn't proved right. Or that he does not resent the rest of us should something horrible befall us where we are headed" she admitted.
" Well he may gloat for just a little, but I suppose he would be entitled" he continued, picking off some more lembas and putting it into his mouth.
They did not talk much for the rest of their vigil, apart from to clarify whether or not either of them had seen something moving in the dense forest on the shore.
They did not need to speak, that was one of the benefits of having been friends for as long as they had. A companionship that ran deeper than mere words.
She allowed herself to relax a little, sitting still she was able to calm her nerves slightly , not worried about where their path would lead them next. She leant against his shoulder to support herself.
As the sun began its ascent somewhere far away below the line of the canyon, tingeing the sky with a warm red hue, her fears resurfaced too. She could hear the others putting away their supplies into packs, the sound of Sams pans clanging together as he bundled them away. The thought of continuing on into the unknown frightened her, yet she knew that the boats awaited to take them there none-the-less.