Title: "Moira Revealed"
Author: LegolasLover2003 aka Ashley
Category: Book - "Lord of the Rings"
Genre: Drama/Fantasy
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to "The Lord of the Rings". I just adore it to pieces! Characters from the Real World are actual people however. You may NOT use them. Sorry.
NOTE: This is Part III (3) of the Fate Quartet. It already consists of Part I (Flashes of Light, Rulers of Fate) and Part II (A Destined Journey). Reading those stories first will ensure that you understand this one. Please, no flames. I know this would be classified as a Mary-Sue but, like I said back in the day, I wanted to have fun with merging book and movie and seeing just how someone from the real world... might have been able to influence the events of this literary masterpiece. Thank you!
The Lord of the Rings:
The Fate Quartet - Volume III:
Moira Revealed
Chapter 6:
A Blushing Dwarf and A Hug For One Thought Lost
Sometimes, I wonder to myself if what I'm doing is right. After all, I don't exactly belong here...
But then I see a white wizard standing there before me instead of a grey, and am reminded that without holding Legolas back...
There would be no Gandalf the White.
And that, as the wizard would say, is an encouraging thought.
Well no not that there wouldn't be a Gandalf the White but that I held the Elf back and... oh confusticate it all! You know what I mean!
Laters!
-Nil
Opening the door, Nil smiled at Legolas, who was patiently waiting just outside for her. That is to say... she smiled until she realized that there was a Dwarf there as well... a Dwarf that seemed to be blushing.
"Gimli?"
For a second the stout warrior looked away then returned his attention to her. "It's nice to see you're doing well, my lady."
Ashley's brown gaze went to the Elf, then back to the Dwarf... then that gaze widened and she groaned. "Oh no... he didn't..." Kneeling down, the woman focused on Gimli. "Please tell me you didn't..."
The Dwarf's wince was enough to confirm it and Nil stood, putting a hand to her head and feeling very very 'prudish' now. Legolas... however... was laughing... and she promptly turned her gaze onto him. "You... you knew! Oh god and that means he heard what you said to me and..." by now Ashley was as red as a tomato in embarrassment. "Aragorn's never going to let me live this down..."
"To be fair," Gimli spoke up, pointing at Legolas. "He didn't close the door and he didn't exactly say anything when he went running off from the main hall. I was worried so..." but he stopped when he realized this certainly was not making things better. "If it helps. Least now I'm positive I can tell the difference between a beautiful human lass and a pretty pointy-eared Elvish princeling."
For a second, Legolas thought Nil's sharp tongue would certainly bite into the Dwarf... but to his surprise, the woman burst into laughter so hard that she literally grabbed the archer to keep from falling over. Tears in her eyes, Ashley calmed down eventually and put a hand on Gimli's shoulder. "Glad you were worried, master Dwarf." she said with a smile before leaning closer to him and whispering, JUST loud enough for Legolas to hear. "Also glad to know someone else thinks the Elf's pretty."
Blue eyes caught her as did two strong hands, around the waist. "Do not make me start a new battle." the prince whispered, to which Nil quickly held up her hands in surrender. A tickle fight was the last thing she needed right now... because the archer would easily win.
Gimli grumbled something about never understanding men and Elves before tromping back off down the hall.
Smiling, Ashley turned to Legolas since they were now, seemingly, alone. She looked up at him for a few seconds, unable to hide how happy she was right now. Sure, Middle-earth was falling apart around her... but right now, she'd take on an army of Orcs to see those blue eyes staring back at her.
The Elf's fingers brushed over Nil's shoulder, inspecting the stitching of her jerkin. "I still feel like this is a dream and I shall wake up on the plains of Rohan chasing Hobbits." he spoke before smiling and taking the woman's hand in his own, leading her down the hall. "Your weapons, I suspect, are with Hama. I..."
"Did Aragorn put up a fuss at the door?" she asked suddenly. When the Elf nodded yes, a slight weight left her shoulders.
Movie Aragorn didn't care. Book Aragorn though... but wait... Aragorn wasn't carrying Anduril here, in this world yet. Why then, would he have cared if Hama took his weapons? Yet in the book, the Ranger would've been fighting with Anduril since they set out from Rivendell...
The weight on her shoulders returned and this small tiny detail did serve to upset her some. This merging of book and movie was starting to make her head spin and she half expected to find that damn Grima skulking about, even though she knew that the man would've been on his way to Isengard already.
Legolas seemed to sense this change in her and he stopped, "Are you unwell?" he asked, blue eyes searching.
"Fine..." Nil replied, glancing up at him with a half smile. "Well... kind of fine... I can't explain it really, Legolas. It's... I mean you know I know things but I know two versions of almost everything and trying to figure out which direction we're all heading into is really becoming a head ache..."
At this, the prince laughed softly, taking the woman's arm in his own as they walked their way back to the main hall. "I think... you think too much." he teased. "For the moment, we are in no danger."
"Oh? Did you not see smoke rising from the west?" Ashley asked with one raised eyebrow.
When the archer just stared back at her, the woman continued. "Exactly. You should've, and yet you shouldn't've... and I can't exactly explain it but it's important and I need to speak with Theoden as soon as possible."
Sighing slightly, Legolas nodded. "Then you shall speak with the King of the Golden Hall... though I must warn you that he is none too happy with Aragorn right now."
For a moment the woman just wanted to face palm herself. "When last I checked, Theoden... not Aragorn... was king of Rohan..." she whispered... a whisper that garnered a chuckle from the Elf at her side. Ashley had to resist the urge to nudge him in the ribs however, for they entered the main hall... and a LOT of eyes were suddenly on her.
Bypassing the stare of Theoden and his guard... even ignoring Aragorn's surprise and smile, half hidden behind his pipe... Nil pulled away from Legolas and dashed forward across the hall, quick as she could.
"Gandalf!" the woman laughed, wrapping her arms around the wizard in a warm hug. Truth be told she had never had too much fondness for the wizard, least ways not like other denizens of Middle-earth... but him dying on her watch... it had been hard... and harder still when those she counted among friends did not understand why, if she knew, she let the Istar fall.
A smile was on the wizard's face as Nil pulled back. "I must thank you. I believe I was meant to be what I am now... and I feel I have you to thank for seeing it come to pass." Gandalf placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "You have done much good, Nileregwen... though I fear we may need your knowledge here this day."
Ashley sighed slightly, "I figured as much... to be honest, Gandalf... well... I tried to change what I shouldn't have and nothing bad happened."
"You got shot with an arrow." Legolas put in, glancing to the woman. "I would call that bad."
"AND you knocked me from my horse..." came another voice.
Nil's eyes went wide and she turned around quickly, looking up into the visage of the Third Marshal of the Mark. "E... Eomer... I um... uh... you're not banished or imprisoned?"
The man rose one eyebrow, glancing to his liege who sat upon his throne not far away. "I was... until recently... no thanks to Grima Wormtongue." for a moment the man regarded the woman with wary skepticism. "How did you fall from the sky?"
"She came from another world, of course." spoke Gandalf, walking around Nil and heading towards Theoden himself. "And you, my lord, would do well to listen to her words."
The King of Rohan regarded Ashley for a long time... a time which Nil felt his eyes as well as those of Eomer on her... and she couldn't help glancing back to Legolas and Aragorn for a bit of help. No aid came from them however.
"Well I... the um..."
"Get on with it." Eomer spoke, thinking this a foolish notion in the first place.
Ashley glared at him for a moment, putting her hands on her hips.
"The Westfold is burning. Servants of Saruman, Orcs and Uruk-hai are ravaging the lands of Rohan. They will send an army. They..." her brown eyes glanced to Aragorn and mentally she whispered an apology for stealing what should be the man's later words. "They do not come to destroy Rohan's crops and villages... they come to destroy it's people... down to the last child." before Theoden could respond, the woman stepped forward past Gandalf and continued. "You must fight them, my lord. Not just out of a spirit of vengeance for the death of Theodred... but because it is the right thing to do. The ONLY thing that can save them from the white hand of Saruman... is to take the people to Helm's Deep."
Aragorn stood, striding forward quickly and looking at the woman as if she had lost her mind, "Rohan must fight yes but Helm's Deep is a dead end! There is no walking out of that ravine once Saruman's hordes descend! You can not possibly..." but a hand on the Ranger's arm stopped him. His grey eyes caught the gaze of the Elven prince beside him... "Nileregwen... are you certain?"
"I am, Aragorn." Ashley quickly replied, looking back at him for but a moment. "Edoras must be evacuated and everything and everyone sent to Helm's Deep. I know it may seem like a ridiculous idea but..."
"But it is the course of action I would have given whether or not you spoke, mi'lady." Theoden replied, standing from his seat. "I take counsel where I find it in those I trust... and while you seem strange to my eyes, both in manner of dress and speech, for you seem more akin to an Elf than a mortal... what you say is what my heart has already concluded. However..." the king glanced at his nephew. "I would have you first explain how you came to knock Eomer from his horse."
Ashley blinked in surprise. "Well I uh... I hadn't expected you to actually take my words to heart, Theoden King but... that does make my telling easier. I fell from the sky because I came here from another world. A world where I know what will happen to this Middle-earth... and I have been on a journey to put the evils here to rest. Though... please, if you will, forget that I am here when you speak of what we are to do in tales and songs... I am changing your history."
"Sometimes I worry you are becoming too much like a wizard, Ashley." the Ranger spoke with a smile and when the woman looked to him in confusion, that smile grew. "You speak in riddles."
Gandalf and Legolas both began to laugh at this, and even Gimli took a pause in his meal to chuckle. For his part, Eomer sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, still not convinced in the least but willing to put up with the strange happenings around him. After all, a woman falling from the sky was hardly any stranger than an Elf and a Dwarf traveling with a man and a wizard over the plains of Rohan...
To Be Continued...
Preview of the Next Chapter:
3 Paths... well technically 2 paths about now because 2 of them are converging into 1 path but... 3 Ultimate Destinies... 3... oh who am I kidding, you know the story!
When Nil realizes that Eowyn is cooking... yeah... it's totally time for a new chef before someone poisons the future King of Gondor. The race toward Helm's Deep begins, but Ashley fears what may happen on the road. Will Aragorn take a 'little tumble off the cliff'? Or will they arrive safely without Legolas thinking that once again the woman at his side has let someone dear to him perish?
Find out next time in chapter 7 of...
"Moira Revealed"
Author's Note:
-Since I really don't remember ever going into detail as to what Nil was wearing in the fellowship... now you know!
- Recently I have wondered what it would be like to write this story while tipsy or slightly buzzed... and the fact that it's lasted this long with me perfectly sane... is a frightening thought...
- BTW, as a Muse Moment's Note... I realized both Paris and Legolas are princes... and archers... so I had to get a little more creative in their titles. Orlando... princes... archers... that's not a coincidence at all... -deadpan-
Muse Moments:
"MAKE IT STOP!"
Nil, believe it or not, is hiding behind Legolas, clutching his arms with her face buried in his back. The Elf of course, is not quite certain what it is she wants stopped...
"Nil, I..."
"MAKE HIM STOP TALKING!"
Legolas blinked, glancing to the television. "I thought you enjoyed Doctor McCoy, especially since he is being portrayed by the very man who played Eomer. Are you not a Karl Urban fan girl?"
"I thought she was... after all she's been giddy about that "Almost Human" tv show for weeks now." Paris spoke up, his dark eyes glued to the tv as they watched 'Star Trek: Into Darkness'.
"MAKE KHAN STOP TALKING!"
Again the Mirkwood prince blinked, "Whatever for? I thought you liked accents, Nil."
"I do..." Nil replied, peeking out at the tv from behind the Elf. "But... I keep hearing Smaug in my head..."
At this the Elven archer laughed, "Your walls are not shaking so fear not, Nileregwen. That is not Smaug the Terrible you hear but Khan. Can you not tell them apart?"
Glaring up at the prince, Nil pointed to the tv. "Half of what Benedict Cumberbatch says as Khan is in a deep voice and I keep thinking about Smaug! Or would you rather I think of the Necromancer instead?"
"Ah..." Legolas paled a bit, not liking that thought at all. "I would rather not... for while Smaug is a fierce-some foe... I hold more dread of Dol Guldur than Erebor."
Nil nodded, "Exactly!"
"But you still think Khan's hott..." Paris said innocently from the bed...
A few seconds later, the Trojan prince was bashed upside the head by a pillow.