Chapter 4: Return to Middle Earth (Legolas & Co.)

By the time the elves could finally leave Valinor, nearly ten months had passed since Angharad's disappearance. The shipwright had built their new vessel with all possible speed, but some things simply could not be done any faster. The anxious parents had done their best to keep heart while they waited, (although Lossrilleth had gone to the Halls of Mandos every week to see if her daughter's body had died and her spirit returned).

The families of the travelers gathered on the beach to say their final farewells. Legolas and Lossrilleth thanked his sister again and bid goodbye to his mother and brothers. Lossrilleth gave her gratitude to Elrond, Celebrian, Galadriel, and Celeborn, who all gave her their fervent blessings. Gandalf, too, wished the couple goodbye (regretfully – he had been on their last quest and greatly wished he was traveling with them), telling them to take courage.

Thranduil had spoken to all his other children in the days before the departure, now focusing on his bond-mate. They had been separated before, and now the cruel ocean would again stand between them for however long this journey took. They held each other tightly, hearts hammering in protest at the thought of parting again.

"I will return, meleth nin," he promised quietly, holding her dear face with his hands while he tried to memorize this last moment together.

"I know you will," she said bravely. "Take care of our son and that precious girl of his. My heart will mourn your absence, but I am glad they are in your capable hands." The ancient couple shared a kiss as sweet as any young lovers ever could. Then, Thranduil took his belongings and boarded the small ship that would sail him once more to Middle Earth.

Legolas watched this parting with sadness of his own, and fear. He had been so young when his mother died that he did not even remember her by the time they met again in Valinor some thousands of years later. His childhood had been dominated by the pain of his sundering from his mother's fёa and his father's suffering from the absence of his mate while their beautiful Greenwood darkened under the shadow of Dol Guldur.

And when Thranduil had finally arrived in Valinor, he had been transformed. With the weight of ruling a kingdom lifted from him and with his beloved in his arms again, for the first time in his memory Legolas had witnessed his father experience joy. At his best, his father was an unparalleled warrior, a confident leader, and prudent. He could be a powerful protector and guide to them in the search to save Angharad. But there was a side to Thranduil that Legolas's mother, siblings, and spouse had never seen. Legolas feared that if their journey took too long, Thranduil's bitter arrogance would fill him again. He prayed it would not be so – for his father's sake and for their own.

Lossrilleth knew what bothered her husband, for he had already spoken to her about his worries. "We will care for your father," she whispered to him as they walked towards the ship. "I promise it to you. We will make sure he is not alone in this."

Legolas sighed, saying, "It did not seem to help when I, or any of the many people who loved him in Mirkwood, tried to care for him in the past."

Lossrilleth paused their march across the beach and embraced her husband fiercely, wishing she could go back three thousand years and hold the little boy who had lost both his mother and his father in one brutal act of violence.

"That should not have been your burden to bear. You were only a child. Nothing is the same as it was then. I will help you both this time in any way I can," she promised. In her own pack, she secretly had a favor for Thranduil from Legolas's mother. The two ellith had spoken privately already about similar worries, coming up with what plans they could to give warmth to Thranduil when it would be needed.

The three elves watched from the bow of their small ship, their families shrinking in the distance until the door to the Straight Road opened before them, then shut and the sunlit scene vanished. Legolas and Thranduil had experienced the utterly silent white corridor of the Straight Road before, although the falling sensation was new.

With dread Thranduil once again felt that which he had lived with for many thousands of years – the silence in his soul when his mate's music was reduced to nothing but a whisper. Lossrilleth was alarmed but watched her companions simply holding on and waiting and took her cues from them. She could only imagine her poor daughter in this eerie place alone, causing her broken heart to bleed anew. Legolas mirrored back her sadness and sent his care to her, but it was difficult to move safely on the dropping ship. As he had known it would be, the wait was over soon.

The ship slid into the waters of the Sundering Seas, the sounds of waves and wind returning. It was nighttime and the sky was clear with a bright gibbous moon overhead. Legolas and Lossrilleth immediately searched for their connection with their daughter, trying to pour their love and want of her into their connection to reawaken it. But there was nothing. Lossrilleth dropped to her knees and wept. They had all known that this slim hope was the only real way that they might find the child quickly. Instead, there was nothing before them but the empty oceans and the wide, wide world of Middle Earth. She was somewhere in it. Legolas gave his father a look filled with pain and resignation, shaking his head 'no', as he helped his wife regain her feet.

"This is a disappointment, but we knew it was likely," Thranduil said, calling on all his experience as a commander to find words to rouse the younger elves in his care to the task at hand. "Now we must follow our plan to search for Angharad. We will not cease until she is found. By the will of the Valar and Eru, who have decreed this mission for us, we shall find her."

The old Elvenking took a small velvet satchel on a string out of his shirt. "She is our whole purpose as we face again the perils of mankind and Middle Earth, and she is our whole heart. I keep her close to mine. May it give us all strength." He showed the younger elves its contents: a white pebble, an acorn, and a string from the child's first attempt at spinning that she had presented proudly to her grandfather. Legolas nodded, letting Thranduil's resolve bolster his own. It was easy to fall back into following his father – his king for most of his life.

Thranduil watched Lossrilleth set her jaw against another wave of sorrow and look towards the heavens. He was worried about his daughter-in-law's fortitude after her near collapse in Elrond's library. At first he thought she was praying, but then she spoke.

"The stars aren't where they should be according to the charts we studied." She broke open her pack and took out a reference chart for the constellations of Middle Earth. Both ellyn were relieved to see the lady focusing on the next task – navigation – rather than falling into another fit of tears.

She continued, "Even considering changes for the seasons, I don't think we're anywhere near the Grey Havens. We're too far South. Could the entrance to the Straight Road shift?" she asked the older elves.

Legolas looked at the charts and the stars with her and had to agree. "I think she's right, Adar. Could the Straight Road shift? This looks more like Southern Gondor to me."

Thranduil considered the evidence before them. "I honestly do not know. But I think we should follow the tide from here. If it has shifted, we must hope it shifted for Angharad's arrival as well, and she was traveling without sail. Let us rest in turns so we can keep watch overboard for any signs of her passing."

All agreed that was a solid a plan as any. Lossrilleth, who had been raised in a democracy, suddenly had an appreciation for how fantastic a monarchy might feel if it was headed by a wise and decisive ruler. As she was sent off to take the first rest, she felt incredibly grateful for Thranduil's experience and his commanding presence.

With Lossrilleth resting safely below deck in the single tiny cabin their ship boasted, Legolas approached his father, resting his arms against the ship's railing.

"We should watch on different sides," Thranduil said to his son.

"I know, Adar, but I would speak with you a little," Legolas replied. "I am sorry that you are parted with my mother again. It has been good to see you happy in Valinor. I know you never wanted to return here."

Thranduil thought Legolas looked withdrawn and nervous; it made him sad. "I will see them again. I know why I am here. That strengthens my heart," the old king replied.

"Yes, for Angharad," Legolas said. "Your love for each other has always brought us all joy."

Thranduil considered his eldest child quietly. It had taken him many years, but he had to come to understand that he had failed his son in important ways after his mother's death. Thranduil stood beside Legolas at the ship's rail and put his hand on his son's shoulder, clasping it firmly.

"And for you, ion nin, I am also here for you." Legolas was surprised by this unusual display of warmth from his proud father, but returned the gesture gratefully, feeling touched.

In the hammock below, Lossrilleth held both hands over her heart, praying for them both – if the love lost between father and son might have some measure of healing on this journey, perhaps some good could be gained out of this tragedy yet.

Two days and nights passed with the elves watching the swells carefully. The immensity of the ocean overwhelmed Lossrilleth. Her little girl, on that little boat, would have been so vulnerable out here. Then the elves came upon a pod of dolphins that approached their ship with excitement. The joyful leaps and squeaks of the animals made Lossrilleth smile despite herself and she sent them a blessing.

The dolphins exploded from the water in glee – much more than any animal she had ever seen respond to the magic of the elves before. One dolphin, followed closely by her calf, repeatedly came close to the ship's hull, trying to leap up towards Lossrilleth. Following an intuition, Lossrilleth jumped into the waves, to her companion's dismay. She swam alongside the dolphin mother, touching the rubbery skin. It was difficult to read the mind of an animal, as they did not have thoughts, but rather impressions and episodic memories. The dolphin recognized elven magic and had a memory of a calf in distress that the pod had helped.

"Hanon le, you noble creature!" Lossrilleth said, sending her love and gratitude to the mother dolphin. "Where is she?" she asked, sending an impression of separation and longing for her young. The dolphins whistled and shrieked in excitement, leaping and starting to take off purposefully towards the East.

"Help me up!" Lossrilleth shouted to Legolas. "They have seen her. Follow them!" Legolas threw her a rope and she climbed up the hull. Thranduil was already unfurling their single sail and preparing to tack east after the dolphins.

The dolphins led them within view of a small harbor leading up to a town on a hill, swimming right up to the docks where, from a distance, the elves could see a lone woman throw them a few small fish. They did not dare go into the harbor, though, for they would certainly attract attention, as they had been forbidden to do. Instead, they followed the coastline, looking for a wild place where they could land unnoticed.

Legolas and Thranduil were both surprised and disturbed to see how far humanity had spread. Unlike their own time, where the forests dominated the world still, now one town had barely ended before the next one began.

"They are everywhere!" Legolas cried. "How much of the coast can they cover?"

Thranduil studied his daughter-in-law's muted reaction. "This does not surprise you, does it, Lossrilleth?" he asked.

She shook her head, tight lipped. She was afraid to say too much – the Valar had been clear they would kill her on the spot if she revealed forbidden information or tried to interfere in the course of history. Legolas felt along their bond, trying to interpret his love's stony resignation.

Thranduil said, "Can you tell where they might be along your timeline?"

"No," she replied. "We haven't seen enough yet. I feared this. Your plan to stay deep in the woods while we search may not work. We will have to find another way to avoid notice."

"Look there!" Legolas cried, pointing to a break in the tree line. Below a coastal road that did not look too heavily traveled, there appeared to be a shielded cove that cut into the rocky coast. It would be difficult to get to in their ship, but they thought it should be possible. With great care they managed to get their ship into the hidden place, where they left it anchored and tied up the sail, not knowing how long it would sit there. Then the elves scaled the steep sides of the cove – they hoped it was not used by anyone else, given how inaccessible it would be to humans.

Twilight deepened around them by the time they reached the road, which was empty. The elves walked beside the road in the trees that flanked it, following the path that would bring them to the town the dolphins had shown them. As the town grew closer, the sounds of human life reached their sharp ears. Eventually the trees petered out, giving way to street after street of simple thatched houses leading up to a squat stone manor overlooking the ocean. The elves stopped, kneeling in the brush and taking stock of the scene before them.

Lossrilleth was trying to come up with a scheme that would allow them to talk to people without violating their instructions. She looked down at the traveling clothes she wore, unsure if they would be conspicuous in this human village. She had to assume they would be. While Legolas and Thranduil were still planning on fulfilling this mission by keeping out of humans' way, she was increasingly thinking they would need to hide in plain sight.

Farther up the street, a clothesline flapped in the evening breeze, forgotten in the dark. She darted to it before either elf-man could stop her, grabbing a rough wool dress and a scarf before rushing back to her companions.

"What are you doing?" Legolas asked her, feeling alarmed. His wife was usually cautious, it wasn't like her to take risks like this.

"I want to get a look at them while it's dark and they can't see well," Lossrilleth said to her companions. She appeared before them again in the lumpy human dress, her head wrapped in the brown scarf so neither her ears nor her white hair showed.

She closed her eyes for a minute, thinking back to her faded memories of her own first, human life. She transformed before them as she adjusted her posture – rounding her spine, collapsing her shoulders, and letting her head drop to look at the ground. Legolas was amazed at how much that did to hide her elvishness, but he still feared for her.

"You should not go, let one of us. I have seen what men do sometimes to women wandering alone at night," he said urgently.

Lossrilleth shook her head strongly. "Like I would let them," she said, flashing the knife she had concealed in her sleeve. "Women are invisible if people don't think they're beautiful," she said.

"But you are beautiful!" Legolas hissed at her, but she was already off.

Heading into the town, she grabbed a large basket with two straps from another yard, throwing several rocks into it to make it look heavy. Bent over under her 'load' she proceeded carefully, letting one heel drag as she walked and occasionally clearing her throat wetly and coughing. Legolas watched her go with fear, not daring to follow without a disguise of his own. He looked at his father in disbelief, but the corner of Thranduil's mouth was quirked in a dark smile. He had feared that Lossrilleth would be a burden on this journey, but now he thought it might not be so.

"She is finding her courage for your daughter's sake," he his son. "I think her knowledge is going to prove invaluable to us. She may be right. Who would look twice at her, bent over and hacking like she is diseased?"