Okay, a small note- from now on to avoid confusion all ósanwe speech will be put in asterisks* just to let you know. ;) Thank you as always for faves, follows, and reviews, and I hope you like this chapter! If you haven't already, please go check out the poll on my profile...
Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own so you don't sue. All I own at the moment is Ciaran and Eruanna. I don't even own Glorfindel's clothes. Shame, really.
Chapter 6
It was done. He had spent the late hours of the night and early morning creating it, and it was finally done. His plans were outlined. The time was set. He would do it. No going back.
"Ciaran? Are you alright?" He turned around at the voice to see Halbarad frowning at him. He smiled.
"I'm fine, Halbarad. Just thinking." He replied.
"Alright then. Come on, we should go break fast." So they went, and all thoughts of it were shoved to the back of his mind until later.
Eruanna sat in her normal chair, nibbling on a piece of fruit as always. Glorfindel sat next to her, speaking with Erestor on something or another. Her eyes wandered across the halls, landing here and there and lingering on certain figures.
Aragorn. Arwen. Legolas especially. Gimli and Glóin. The hobbits. Samwise Gamgee glanced around and happened to meet her eyes. A pang went through her. He was important. He was special. She could feel it, and even as the hobbit ducked his head shyly and blushed, a shiver of premonition ran through her. In recognition, the blue ring that hung from her neck vibrated and grew warm.
She was interrupted in her musings as someone scooped her up and sat down in her chair, setting her down on their lap. She stared up at a smiling Elrohir with a squeak.
"Good morning, penneth. Are you well?" He asked. She nodded and smiled, hugging him cheerily. He chuckled and returned it.
"Good. Now, what are your plans today?" He queried, tapping her nose.
She shrugged. *I have some things to do.* Was her noncommittal answer. He raised an eyebrow but didn't press.
"I see. Well then-" and he began to speak of his plans for the day. A gaze bored into her, and her eyes immediately flicked to meet it. It was Ciaran. She touched his mind and he received her tendrils of thought readily.
*Will you be ready to meet me today, lady?* He asked politely.
She gazed at him keenly, sensing that there was something else behind that comment; a two-faced statement. *Yes. Where?* She queried.
*The deserted sparring room in the basement.* Was his answer.
*Very well. Time?* She agreed.
*Will noon be fitting?'*He offered.
She gave him a tiny nod and he inclined his head in return. A pang of premonition ran through her. Whatever he had planned, she was meant to do it. She was meant to learn, she could feel it. The connection broke, and she turned back to the conversation at hand.
Somehow, she knew that after this, her life would never be the same.
LOTRLOTRLOTR
Eruanna had managed to make excuses not be be at this place or another so that she could 'spend time with Ciaran.' So it was noon when she slipped away quietly to make her way to the basement, making sure that no one saw or followed her.
The basement was an old, musty place that the elves never went down to any longer. In the second age it had been used as a place to train warriors secretly, but it was not used any longer, and had long since been deserted. Only old weapons were stored there, as well as myriads of crates with discarded items.
There were no elflings to wander down there and explore any longer, and neither were there any others who would care to go there. It was a place fraught with too many old, painful, dark memories to be comfortable.
As she made her way down the cracked stairs, however, she wondered what Ciaran wanted to teach her that would merit the use of such a place. She peered around the corner to see Ciaran waiting, back turned to the door and hands clasped. He turned his profile to the door, and a smile made its way across his face.
"Welcome, my lady. Come." He offered, turning and holding out his hand. She stood there framed in the dim doorway for a moment, looking at him; and then slowly walked forwards and took his hand.
He sat down and she did the same, both looking at each other keenly. Finally Ciaran spoke. "Lady Eruanna, before I begin I would like to ask you an important question." He paused.
Eruanna nodded, feeling an inkling of what was coming next. "I wish to do more than teach you to defend yourself." His gaze left her face and he hesitated. Then he forced himself to go on.
"You knew from the very beginning what I am. Yet you accepted me despite that, and respected my secrecy. I told myself that I would never train anyone in my ways. I could not condemn someone to such a life. No matter what secrets of my trade I knew, however valuable, I did not want to share them. They would die along with me." Ciaran paused, finding himself unable to look away from the piercing eyes of the elfling in front of him.
He spoke more slowly now. "But lately I feel as though I was meant to do this. If you would find it pleasing, I will train you in my ways. All that I know I will teach you. But I will warn you, my lady, it will not be easy. You will learn things that will be disturbing. You must never tell a soul of what you know. Of course, some will inevitably have to know, but it is not to be passed about freely. Your training must be kept secret. Even from him whom you love most." His eyes became daggers at that point, digging into her very soul and reading what was there.
Eruanna felt something well inside of her with those words. She did not flinch from his gaze. She knew what this meant. She could use her knowledge that he would teach her to have revenge on the filth she hated, to become a menace and a fear to her enemies, to loose herself in the thought of vengeance-
She almost unconsciously stood, and Ciaran found the blood draining from his face at the look in her eyes. It was as though she had suddenly become something terrible and fearsome; a spirit of wrath and revenge. Then the image abruptly left and the elfling was once more in front of him.
*You see.* She said with a sad smile. *You saw what I could become with your knowledge. A great and terrible menace to both free-folk and the enemy, born of past grievances and darkness. But I have passed my test. I shall remain Eruanna, sister of Lord Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower.*
Then she paused, eyes seeing through him to the past and things beyond mortal comprehension. *I will learn from you. I will take your knowledge and I will keep it for myself. It will remain a secret for the ages, and it shall fade from human knowledge with you; but as for Elven kind, only one shall ever know all of it, and it will only be used for the sake of good.*
Her eyes focused on him once more and she knelt, holding out her hands to him and head bent. He clasped her hands in his own. *This do I promise in the sight of the Valar, that I wilt learn under thy guidance and I shall promise to be thy student in all thine ways as long as the time is appointed. Thou shalt be mine master, and I shall be thine apprentice in thine crafts. I shall be thine daughter-of-heart and thou shalt be mine father-of-heart for as long as I am under thine guidance. Valar valuvar.* She said the last in a whisper, and it was done.
Something clicked, and both Ciaran and Eruanna found themselves in an entirely new plane of existence with each other. It was as though Ciaran was suddenly aware of her more then he had been before, and she was attuned to him and could taste the very words that he said.
"And such is the bond of master and apprentice." Ciaran whispered, voice strained. Eruanna quickly accustomed herself to it, but he was far more slow to cope.
*My apologies, master. I should have realized that you would find it difficult to accustom yourself to the bond.* She apologized as she helped him sit back comfortably.
He shook his head. "I have been on your end before, but never this end..." Was his slightly dazed answer. Then his mind suddenly registered the past minute.
"Why? I would have been happy only to teach you-" He almost panicked.
*Master! It is alright. I need to learn properly. And I feel- I feel that higher hands have guided us to such an end.* Eruanna mused thoughtfully, making him pause at the frisson of awe that ran through his whole frame and was echoed in her voice.
Then he sighed. "Then it is done. I must take leave of the ranger's guild. Lord Aragorn will more than understand if I tell him that I have an apprentice. He is aware of my occupation and I was never really a full ranger in any case because of that fact. I suppose we both knew that his day would come sooner or later." He added almost wearily.
Eruanna hung her head. *Just as I always realized that my life would never be what I wanted.* She said quietly, voice resigned. His head snapped to her.
"I knew that, somehow." He replied thoughtfully. "I knew that as soon as I asked you would accept, and that dreams would be shattered. Which is why I hesitated. I do not like to do this to you, one who should never have had to go through such a thing." He stood and helped her up as well.
*I know, master. But you forget I am far older than you, if not in body then in mind.* She replied. They stood there, Ciaran staring down at her thoughtfully as she looked up at him respectfully as is protocol for an apprentice.
He stirred himself. "I have come to think of it, and I will teach you many things; but also I will ask you to teach me things that I would wish to learn of you. For even in all apprenticeships the master always learns something new from an apprentice." He said solemnly, and for the first time, she smiled.
*Yes master. When shall we begin?* She asked eagerly. He smiled in reply.
"Right now. And to begin, I will teach you the basics first; how to attune yourself to many planes of existence at once and also switch between them as quickly as a nut falls from a tree to the ground." He paused and looked at the torch on the wall.
"Everyday we will meet here for three hours. Is that manageable?" He asked the elfling, who nodded.
*I will make a way, master. It is easy.* She replied with a smile. He nodded.
"Good. Let us sit." He began their first lesson.
"Tell me, Eruanna, did you know that there is more than one plane of existence?" He asked her.
Her eyes became pained. *I live in both seen and unseen realms, master.* She replied quietly. He started.
"How? I know that many of the ancient elves can see in both, but how can you exist in both?" He asked, baffled.
She frowned. *Look at me, master. Tell me what you see.* She replied. He looked at her carefully, and indeed he could see. Her skin had a slight translucence that he had not noticed before.
*You have heard my story. In Dol Guldur.* She pulled up her sleeve, and he shuddered to see the mark that glowed red in the torchlight and ringed with black. *Because of it, I live in both realms. It is a side effect of the darkness.* She explained with a sad smile.
"I see. Then I have no need to teach you of either one. You know very well already how to use mind shields and blocks. There are also mind labyrinths, you know this, do you not?" He raised an eyebrow and she grinned at him this time.
*I have made many in my leisure time in Angband, master; many of which even you would cringe to attempt.* She replied with a sort of grim, bitter-sweet satisfaction. He gave her a startled glance but otherwise said nothing.
"Good then. And also I assume you know how to listen to many things that others do not know how; I know you know how to speak with nature and listen to their whisperings." He gave her an ironic smile as she giggled.
"And also you are aware of how to sense presences by their aura and distinguish between light and dark. Very good. Those are the first essentials of your training." He informed her as she nodded seriously.
"Those things you already know. This is good. We have not much time to spend, and that you are aware of these things makes it easier for both of us. Now I wish to teach you of 'magic,' as we men call it." He said dryly. She snickered.
*Oh yes, master, we elves are not to be trusted for our elven magic, are we?* She sniggered, and he joined her.
"'It is not magic!' Says the elves, 'it is merely what abilities we are given from when we are born!'" He sniffed mockingly. "Simple gifts indeed." He snorted, causing Eruanna to outright laugh at him.
"Yes, well, let us begin." He chortled after a moment, and she sobered.
*Then teach me how to use this better, master.* And she handed him the ring that she carried on her neck. He took it, surprised, and looked at her.
She smiled. *It is a ring of manipulation, strength depending upon the strength of the feä of the wielder. It's name is Lûth, and I am its bearer.* She said.
The simple silver band had two small, rich green elf stones flanking a large, single aquamarine in the center. He turned it over. "It is a good start to magic lessons then, isn't it." He said wryly, making her lips twitch.
*Yes master.* Was her only reply, though.
"Tell me, what can you already do with it?" He asked, handing it back to her.
*I can use it to manipulate things and beings. Nature and people.* She offered. *But I need to learn to control it better. I become too weak.* She added.
"Then that is where we will start. I will teach you to slowly learn to control it and use as little effort as possible." He replied.
And so Eruanna's training began. By the time that their three hours were up, she was well on her way to becoming a member of the guild of the Sereg'wethrin.
Ciaran knew that in his lifetime he would never take another apprentice after her, but he was not disappointed. He knew that she would be the greatest of his guild, though no man would ever know it. And despite that he would never receive recognition for his skills, he was more than happy that his legacy would live on, albeit unknown, through the one most suited to the profession that he would ever know.
LOTRLOTRLOTR
"Ah, there you are, seler! Where have you been?" Glorfindel asked as Eruanna staggered into their room, yawning from the strain of lessons and effort, not to mention the repercussions of the new apprentice bond.
*With friends.* Was her vague reply, before stumbling into bed and conking out to a satisfied slumber. Glorfindel sighed and shook his head amusedly, tucking the blankets around her fondly as she sighed and snuggled into his hands with a small smile.
He stroked her hair for a while, just watching her in peaceful slumber. Then he stood and went to the window, thinking over the past few days. It had already been a week and a half since the council had taken place, and they were still waiting for riders to come in with news so that the fellowship could leave in relative safety.
The word 'safety' being used extremely loosely.
There was no safety for the fellowship, not as long as Frodo had the Ring. He knew it, and it made him feel pity for the hobbit and the burden that he had to bear.
But hopefully, they would succeed in their mission, and then he could go back to the West to forge a life with his sister in the courts of Lord Finarfin his adopted father and his Gwador Finrod.
Even as he thought about it, a deep longing for his Gwador, his Ada, and his Ammë Eärwen welled in his heart. He wanted to see them again. He lost himself in his memories, particularly one...
He was on the shores of Tol Eresseä, about to board the ship that would carry him back to Arda and his duty that lie there. He had been reluctant that day, to leave.
"Do not worry, Gwador, I will be waiting for you when you return. And we will have good times together again, causing the Valar to hate us." Finrod laughed as he hugged him. Glorfindel grinned despite himself, and lord Manwë and Nàmo nearby snorted.
Amarië hugged him. "We will miss you, Glorfindel. Even me." She winked, making him chuckle at the wife of Finrod.
"Oh? I think there's a compliment somewhere in there... If I look hard enough." He dead-panned.
King of the Noldor, Arafinwë, Finarfin, sighed and rolled his eyes as he hugged his adopted son. "I will never forget the day that you came into our lives, yondo, when Findárato came running into my council meeting waving the envelope and shouting that you were being released." He chuckled. "We will be waiting for your return most eagerly." He said softly, and Glorfindel smiled.
"Hannon lle, Ada. I will come back, and make you proud." He declared.
"And I?" Eärendil stood on the shore as well, a wry smile on his lips. Glorfindel bowed as the lord that he had died defending wrapped him in a hug.
"Of course. My lord." He replied quietly.
Eärendil chuckled. "Take good care of my son, Glorfindel." He winked, and the ellon smiled slyly.
"I'll try, but you know your bloodline, lord... They tend to be rather stubborn..." Glorfindel snickered as he danced away from the swat and into his Naneth Eärwen's arms.
"Be good, Glorfindel, yondo. And you come back safely!" She fussed, straightening his robes. His lips twitched as Finrod attempted not to laugh.
"Yes Naneth." He replied meekly, making Arafinwë smother a snort. Eärwen didn't notice.
"Remember, apprentice mine, Thorondur will tell Gwaihir of you. If ever you need his help it shall be yours in time of need." Manwë spoke for the first time, and Glorfindel bowed.
"Thank you, master." He replied, and lord Nàmo spoke last.
"Be careful, Glorfindel. If your sorry feä ever clutters my doorstep again I will most certainly not be happy." He said in sepulchral tones, making every elf within hearing distance cringe.
But Glorfindel only laughed. "Yes my lord. I will be sure not to find myself there again, and if I do I will personally find a way back into my body and kill myself, and then put my 'sorry feä' on a pike in front of the doors as a warning to others not to be so foolish." He laughed, causing the rest to join him, even Nàmo.
"Good." Sador sniffed, and then hugged him. "Be safe, Gwador." Alassiel his wife echoed the sentiment.
"Be safe, Gwador." And with one last bow, he had boarded the ship. Tol Eresseä had faded into the horizon, blending with the sky and water until he could no longer even distinguish between the two. And Olòrin had led him below decks where he had finally cried, despite knowing that he would see them all again.
Glorfindel came back to with a sigh, sitting in a chair and attempting to get to some paperwork done. But it was no use. For the rest of the day he sat there in his chair, reminiscing upon the past and out of habit twisting the ring on his finger gifted from lord Aulë on his begetting day all those years ago, when he had first been Reborn.
LOTRLOTRLOTR
"It seems as though things have been set into motion, has it?" Manwë said with an amused smile. Irmo chuckled.
"He shall come soon enough." Was his only observation. Nàmo sighed.
"And I was just getting comfortable..." He moaned, as the rest laughed along with him.
"You mean we are getting far too complacent in his absence." Varda teased.
Aulë chuckled. "Indeed. Yavanna, are they ready?" He asked his spouse, who smiled mysteriously.
"We shall see how they receive her, won't we?" She replied quizzically.
"I hope the time comes soon. Then Finrod will stop moping around whenever he comes to Lòrien." Irmo muttered.
Nàmo snickered. "And then I can finally release Ecthelion." He groaned, causing the Valar to roar in laughter.
"What did he do this time?" Estë asked, giggling.
Sigh. "He fell into the water fountain and decided to take a bath." Nàmo replied, causing another burst of amusement.
"Atto help us all when he, Glorfindel, Finrod, and Sador are released on poor Aman. There shall be new scars to deal with." Vairë sighed, and all the Valar groaned at the thought.
"Coming back to more pressing matters, I did not expect Atto to take such a direct hand in this particular affair with our little elfling." Manwë finally said gravely.
"True enough." Tulkas agreed, sounding intrigued. "She is the perfect candidate for the guild." He noted professionally.
There was almost a somber silence for a moment at the observation.
"Unfortunately." Nienna sighed heavily.
"I still do not understand what purpose that has here in Aman." Irmo muttered.
"Oh, but I do." Nàmo's voice was so dark that even Manwë shuddered. "Oh yes, I do indeed, and I see that it will contribute greatly to the healing of Valinor in the years to come." He smiled, and the rest turned to thinking of the foul deeds of Melkor and the disruption of the Sèrë Valaron.
Mibs Shadow: thank you! I'm so glad to hear that I have made an OC that has captured your attention. As to your question, she is still frozen in time. She cannot grow as long as her inner light is surpressed.
Kmartz95: yep. ;) oh yes, we shall see...
Peregrin Took the Falcon: oh good. I'm also usually annoys by them unless they're meant for humor specifically. Thank you! And don't forget to go read the first book!
WoodElfJedi: yes. *Smirks* she is. I think I might make a separate story on him. Not too sure, though. And of course, great minds think alike. ;) hehe, of course you rubbed off on me! Or is it vice versa-? 0_0 And yes, now that I think about it it does sound like the burning of Westfold... Errm, I'm trying to grind out this chapter for SitCTE but I'm stuck... But I'll get there eventually. Hehe.
FandomFangirl100: I know, it's so hard to believe! Errm, you mean out of the earthquake areas? It's going okay. Although there have been some reports that there may be another one coming. But I'm not too sure.
Kiki 272002: thank you so much! Glad you liked it. ;)
7doom: you're probably right. I think I'll put it in here somewhere... Because now you've got a picture of Glorfindel's face stuck in my head...
Jesus' girl 4ever: thanks! XD yes, probably he will...
Gwestiel: *snickers* glad you liked it... Im sure that the others feel the same... Yes, she will. Your way of putting it made me laugh my head off. Thank you!
Guest: yes sir/ma'am!
chasing sunlight: thank you. ;)