Mysterious Fate
By Cormak
Disclaimer: The original characters from Lord of the Rings belong to their respective owners. New characters belong to me, especially Kaitlyn. This story was written for fan enjoyment and not profit.
Reviews are always welcome. I especially like constructive criticism. Flames are not welcome and will be ignored. Any additional author's notes may be found at the end of each chapter I post.
Special thanks to my beta Scattered Logic for listening to ideas and helping me to figure out where this story was going.
Chapter 8: Rocks rolling and fading fear…
Kaitlyn fought to keep herself from growing distracted during her lesson with Aragorn the following morning. She pushed the promise she had made the night before into the far reaches of her mind and tried to concentrate on the task at hand.
Aragorn continued to push her hard and it was obvious that he expected great things from her. When he did not receive them he made her perform maneuvers over and over again until he was satisfied.
Her lesson with Legolas had been canceled for the afternoon as the Elf was off with his own people.
Kaitlyn felt shoved aside but she tried not to view it that way. Legolas was among his people and it wasn't right for her to get upset over the fact that he would rather visit with them than train her.
She spent her afternoon resting and digging through her bag.
"Oi! Where have her eyes gone?"
Kaitlyn bolted straight up, awakening immediately at the cry. Merry and Pippin were crouched beside her and Pippin looked horrified.
"What?" she asked, sleep still clinging to her voice.
"Your eyes have gone missing! And I can see myself in the black depths that have taken over." Pippin looked frantically at Merry. "Do you think that Sauron has taken over her?"
She laughed as she realized that he was talking about his inability to see her eyes behind her sunglasses. She removed the glasses. "My eyes are right here. I'm just wearing my sunglasses."
"Sunglasses?" Merry asked.
"Yes. They're similar to regular glasses that someone would use to read."
At their confused expressions she asked, "You do have those don't you?"
"Are you referring to spectacles?" Merry asked.
She nodded. "Yes! These are like spectacles except that the glass is tinted instead of clear. They protect my eyes from the sun."
"You can look at the sun with those on?" Merry was astounded.
"Not exactly, it's not good for your eyes to look at the sun, but this gets rid of the bright glare. When I was lying here earlier the sun was shinning down through the leaves and in my face so I put them on. I must have fallen asleep and the sun has moved on. I don't really need them now." She folded the glasses and put them in her bag.
"Sunglasses." Merry said. "What else do you have in that bag of yours?"
"I have my CD player. Of course, my batteries are going to die any time now."
"Cede Player?" Pippin asked.
"CD as in compact disc. It's a shiny plastic disc that has music on it or comp…" she allowed her voice to trail off realizing that they had no idea what a computer file was. She reached into her bag and pulled out her player. "You put these black things over your ears and you can listen to music." She held the headphones out to Pippin who backed away. "They won't hurt you."
"How can you listen to music? Is there some sort of small creature that sings for you in that thing?" Merry inquired peering at the portable player.
Kaitlyn laughed out loud. "No, the music which was sung by a person like me or you was recorded onto a CD. You put it in this device and it plays that music back to you." She put the headphones on and put the volume up loud enough so that the hobbits could hear it. Then she shut it off. "Do you want to listen?"
Merry nodded even though he was obviously uncomfortable. Kaitlyn gently slipped the headphones over his ears and turned the music on low.
Merry listened for a bit, his eyes sometimes widening. "THIS IS STRANGE MUSIC, BUT I LIKE IT!" he yelled after a short while.
Kaitlyn laughed and Pippin looked confused. "Why in the name of the Shire is he yelling? We're standing right in front of him."
"It's because the music is loud. Do you want to listen, Pippin?"
The hobbit appeared to be in thought and then he nodded slowly.
Kaitlyn removed the earphones from Merry's ears. "Okay, time to let Pippin have a turn."
"Oh, do we have to? I was enjoying the strange music. There are instruments that I have never heard before. One sounded very whiney but I enjoyed it."
"That's electric guitar. You'd probably like rock and roll if you were from my world."
Merry's brows drew low over his eyes. "You have the sound of rocks rolling to listen to? That's peculiar."
Kaitlyn laughed. "No, silly. Never mind." She positioned the earphones over Pippin's ears and watched a similar reaction in him. Soon the hobbit was tapping one of his large hairy feet to the beat of the music.
"I LIKE THIS!" Pippin yelled.
"Why is he yelling?" Merry asked and Kaitlyn laughed.
The rest of the afternoon was spent listening to music and learning about rock and roll.
Dinner came far too quickly and Kaitlyn was sad to let the afternoon go. She had thoroughly enjoyed her time with the hobbits and they seemed to feel the same way. They tried to explain the CD Player to Gimli, Frodo, Sam and Aragorn who all were confused.
Kaitlyn laughed as the hobbits hummed one of the songs from her CD. She was so busy laughing and watching them that she had not noticed that Legolas had taken a seat beside her.
"What are the hobbits doing?" he asked, smiling warmly.
Kaitlyn turned to face him looking startled. "When did you get back?" she asked and realized that she sounded incredibly rude.
"A few moments ago." He glanced at the hobbits who were singing and now dancing.
Kaitlyn laughed as she watched them. "I let them listen to my CD Player this afternoon."
Legolas looked confused.
Kaitlyn reached for her bag and took out the contraption. "It's a device that plays music. Would you like to listen?"
He nodded and she noticed the look of curiosity on his face as she brought the headphones over his ears. He tensed as the soft material touched his ears. He jumped and his eyes widened as loud strange music filled his head.
Kaitlyn thought he looked frightened as well as pained and she immediately shut the player off. "Are you okay?"
The elf took the headphones off quickly, acting as if they were going to bite him or something. His head was ringing with the strange sounds.
"Legolas?"
"I do not like that device. It hurts my ears."
Kaitlyn frowned. Here she was trying to help and reach out a little hoping to ease the tension between them and she had worsened it.
"I'm sorry." She quickly put the player away in her bag and looked away from him.
Legolas noticed that she looked tense and he felt foolish for how he had acted, even though the device had startled him beyond belief. He felt like a child who had startled at a loud clap of thunder.
"It is all right. The sound was too loud for my ears that is all."
"I'm sorry. I forgot that elves have super hearing."
He nodded and changed the subject. "I saw you train with Aragorn this morning. You have come a long way in a short length of time."
"Uh, thanks." She stared at him for a moment and realized that he seemed to be complimenting her honestly. "You really think that I've come a long way?"
"Aye," he told her, smiling warmly.
Kaitlyn gazed carefully at Legolas and realized that he was wearing his quiver. A question that had been nagging her for days surfaced in her mind. "You said a few days ago that you've had years to practice archery. How many exactly?"
Legolas grinned. "I received my first bow from my parents when I was a lad. I was 12."
"So how many years? Like 15 or so?" He didn't look too old. Perhaps 25 or 30 the oldest.
Legolas smiled warmly. "2, 919."
Kaitlyn's eyes widened and her mouth dropped. "Uh, did you just say 2,000?"
"Aye and nine hundred and nineteen." Legolas told her.
"Good grief. Just how old are you?"
"I'm 2, 931."
'That…that's unbelievable." She shook a finger at him. "You're joking aren't you? Any minute you're going to start laughing at me and tell me I'm a gullible human. Ah…You're trying to pull the wool over my eyes."
"Nay, I have no wool to pull over your eyes." His gaze was one of pure confusion and Kaitlyn ended up laughing instead of him.
"It's a human expression."
"Forgive me. I am not familiar with it."
"It's okay. You're really 2,931?"
"'Tis my true age."
"Geez, you're ancient."
He laughed and the sound delightful to hear. "I may seem ancient to a mortal but I am young compared to many elves. We are immortal after all."
"You're immortal? As in you can't die?"
"Elves can die in a sense. We cease to exist on this earth if we are slain or we can die of a broken heart. But even when our body ceases to exist here, our spirit dwells in the Halls of Mandos for all time."
"The halls of Mandos? Is that your heaven?"
"It is a heaven. To be reunited with the Valar Lord is a wonderful thing."
She nodded even though she didn't understand. Her eyes caught Boromir's who was sitting across the camp watching she and Legolas with interest.
"Still pretending to be a warrior?" he asked harshly and then he laughed.
She ignored Boromir as difficult as that was for her. She refused to stoop to his level. She glanced at Legolas. "If you'd please excuse me, Legolas. I'm going to take a bath."
"You have not eaten," he noted with concern.
"I seem to have lost my appetite." She said casting a look at Boromir and then she left.
Kaitlyn sat off by herself later that night. She felt refreshed after a hot bath and a change of clothes. She had changed into her own things, preferring her sweatshirt and loose fitting pants to the silky nightgown provided by the elves.
There was something comforting about her own clothing.
She didn't know what Boromir's problem had been but she had felt angry at his words. He always seemed to be taunting her. She sighed and let things lie for now.
She sat sketching late into the night. She had a few candles around her and she worked on sketches of things in her world while they were still fresh in her memory.
But each time she tried to sketch, her mind would wander. She thought of home, of this strange New World and her last thoughts always seemed to settle on Legolas.
The elf had been kind to her and they had even spoken at dinner. She had startled him with her CD player but he hadn't been damaged by the event. The tenseness had ebbed and they had talked about his age and she had learned he was immortal.
Immortality was unknown to her people and as enticing as living forever sounded, it seemed lonely to her. She wondered if elves ever felt the same.
"It is very late and you had a long day. You should be resting."
She jumped at the sound of the voice and her heart began to pound in her chest as the object of her thoughts entered the light. She quickly closed her book, drawing it to her chest. Her eyes were wide.
"I did not mean to intrude." Legolas told her and he started to back away.
Kaitlyn would have let him go if it weren't for the expression on his face. She suddenly realized that she was hurting him with the startled way she was acting and it made her feel awful.
It took her several moments to find her voice. "N-no. It's okay. You're not intruding. I just didn't expect anyone else to be awake."
He smiled warmly. "Elves require less rest than humans. I saw the candle light."
She nodded, realizing that he had come to investigate. She watched as he stood there for a moment and she saw this as an opportunity to continue to get past her fears.
"You…you can join me, um, if you'd like," she offered quietly.
His brows rose in surprise and for a moment he thought that he had heard things incorrectly. But then he saw her gesturing to the ground beside her.
He nodded in acceptance before she changed her mind and sat himself cross-legged on the grass, careful to keep his distance. As the light touched upon him, Kaitlyn noticed that he was wearing a silver tunic, his green leggings and his boots. He had also brought a small tray of food left over from dinner.
"I thought that you might be hungry," he explained as he set the tray down in front of her.
She smiled at his concern, noticing the various fruits and vegetables and reached for a few grapes. "Thank you."
He nodded and a tense silence followed as she ate and he gazed at her.
"I apologize that I was unable to give you your lesson today." He told her when the silence became too long for him. "I was invited to visit one of my father's friends and thought it rude to decline."
"That's all right. I used the time off to rest and I hung out with Gimli and the hobbits."
He nodded. "You have done well with your archery as of late," he told her softly.
"Thank you, although I don't see much of an improvement. I still miss the target." She laughed nervously.
"Your improvement may be slow, but I see it. Soon you will be a fine archer."
"Thank you and I hope so." She glanced down into her lap and his eyes followed her gaze.
"The others say that you are an artist and a very good one."
She laughed. "Gimli must have said that. He really liked the sketch I did of him." She smiled as she thought of the dwarf and his enthusiasm. "In fact, he's still ranting about it."
"Indeed. Gimli spoke very highly of you."
Her brows furrowed and she gazed directly into his eyes for the first time that night. "Why don't you and Gimli get along?"
"Dwarves and Elves do not co-exist very well. There are many difference between our races."
Kaitlyn nodded. "And neither of you can forget the past and create a new future? I don't know very much about this world but from what I've gathered, this group has some sort of a mission. Aragorn is intent on everyone getting along."
"Aye. There is a greater cause and for that Gimli and I tolerate each other."
"What is it that you are all looking for? What is the quest?"
"It is not my place to tell you," he told her apologetically.
Kaitlyn frowned. "Everyone keeps saying that. They can't tell me or I'll learn the answers soon enough. I'm tired of hearing that."
Legolas lowered his head, his blond hair spilling down his shoulders. "Forgive me, but it is for your own protection."
Kaitlyn sighed. He wasn't going to tell her either. "Yeah, because too much information is dangerous. I've heard that one before." She began to scribble nervously with her pencil on the cover of her sketchbook.
A tense silence fell between them again.
Kaitlyn glanced up at him and noticed that he was staring at her. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she bit her lower lip deciding it was now or never. "I'm really sorry about how I've been acting lately. I'm not usually like this. All tense and rude and well…you know."
Legolas nodded.
"In fact, I'd like to start over," she told him and she extended her hand toward him. "My name's Kaitlyn Westerly."
Legolas was clearly confused but he slowly reached for her hand.
Right away she noticed how incredibly soft his skin was, especially for someone who was an archer. She shook his hand a few times and then released it.
Legolas smiled realizing that it was a gesture of greeting. She wished to start anew. "I am pleased to meet you, Kaitlyn Westerly." He put his hand to his chest and bowed his head before extending his arm toward her in the greeting that Kaitlyn had seen Aragorn and Haldir use. "I am Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil."
She smiled and tried to imitate the greeting.
"And you're from Mirkwood, correct?"
Legolas nodded. "How did you know?" He suddenly wondered if she knew his title as well.
"Aragorn told me. I asked him if you were from Lothlorien but he said Mirkwood. What's your home like?"
Legolas smiled sadly. "It was once a beautiful great forest with tall green trees that reached for the sky. But the evil magic has turned much of it dark and frightening. It is east of the Misty Mountains."
"Is it far from here?"
"It is many days from Lorien, on the other side of the Anduin River."
"Do you live in the trees like the Lorien Elves do?"
"Nay. My home is in a wooded hillside beside a river. Carefully protected, it has extensive caverns with twisting passageways. It is too enclosed for my tastes. I however, prefer the trees and the sky." He smiled.
She smiled in return. "Do you have family there?"
"Aye. My father lives there." He saw the question in her eyes and answered it before she had a chance to ask. "I am an only child and my mother died when I was young."
"I'm so sorry."
"She is with the Valar." He smiled sadly.
"The Valar? You mentioned them earlier."
"Aye, they are the Great ones, the Rulers of Arda, the Lords of the West. They tend to my mother's soul and spirit in the Halls of Mandos."
"Your heaven."
He nodded. "I hope that she finds peace there," he added faintly.
Kaitlyn tried to smile. "I'm sure she does."
"What is your world like?" He asked, attempting to push thoughts of his mother away. She had died many centuries ago but the loss of her was still very painful for him.
She sat back against the tree she was sitting in front of. "It's really different than this. It's overcrowded. It's really fast paced and there is a lot of technology."
"Ah, such as the machinery you told Gimli about. The…car and the loud device?"
She smiled. "Yes. There are a lot of cars and loud devices."
"What do cars look like?" His blue eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Kaitlyn opened her sketchbook and flipped to a blank page. "Here, I'll show you." She quickly sketched an image of a small four-door sedan.
Legolas moved closer and watched her draw.
"You sit here to operate it." She told him, pointing with her pencil to the driver's side. "It's run by gasoline and a battery that's charged with electricity."
"Lightning?"
"Yeah, sorta like lightning. My people have found a way to harness it and use it as an energy source."
"Intriguing."
"It is pretty amazing. Of course don't ask me how to put them together. I just know how to use it."
"What other tech…tech nol ogy-" he stumbled over the word.
"What other technology do we have?"
"Aye." He nodded eagerly.
"Well, we have planes. They're like giant metal birds that carry us from place to place. You can travel hundreds of miles in only a few hours."
"A bird made of metal?" The Mirkwood elf pictured a metal raven in his mind and grew confused.
Kaitlyn quickly sketched a crude plane. "It's not literally a bird, but it was designed like a bird. It has wings and a tail. It's run by similar power that runs cars."
Legolas nodded but it was obvious that he clearly didn't understand.
"It's okay. It's pretty complicated anyhow. We'll just say that my world is a very different place than here." She flipped to the front page of her sketchbook and started to show him some of her drawings. "I was telling Gimli about this. It's called ice-skating. It's a sport or just plain fun. You put these shoes on that have metal blades on the bottom." She drew a rough sketch of an ice skate. "When you put the shoes on you can glide around on the ice. It's a lot of fun."
Legolas smiled. "An interesting source of enjoyment. Do you excel at this?"
Kaitlyn laughed. "Not really. I'm actually pretty damn clumsy. I usually end up skating on my bottom more than on my feet. And this…" she flipped the page. "These are some buildings that I drew while I was on a field trip way back in college."
"Buildings? College?"
"Buildings are sort of like houses in a way. They're really tall. Taller than trees and people live or work in them. And college is where young adults go to learn. It prepares them for the adult world."
He nodded. "What are those?" he asked pointing at one of her sketches.
"Those are street lights. They're sort of like candles that don't go out. Well, not until you flip the switch or the bulb blows out."
"I do not understand."
She frowned realizing that this was way over his head. "I'm sorry. I can show you some things you would know about." She flipped to a page with sketches of trees, squirrels and birds."
"It is a forest." He smiled.
"Yeah, I used to love to go walking in the woods when I had time off from work. I'd always bring my sketchbook with me."
"May I look?"
She hesitated a moment but decided this was no big deal. She nodded and handed him the book, watching as he lingered carefully over each sketch.
He smiled. "These are oak trees."
She grinned. "That's right."
He turned the page and was delighted to see sketches of his companions. "These are the hobbits."
She nodded and noticed that even though he was nearly 3,000 years old, he had a childlike essence about him. She found it fascinating.
"It looks just like them and Aragorn." He pointed to the image of The Ranger. "That is remarkable. It looks exactly like Aragorn."
He flipped through the remaining pages that were filled with images of his friends as well as places in Lothlorien. When he turned to the pages with sketches of him, he stopped and looked at them for a long time.
For a moment, Kaitlyn thought that he hated them or that he was disturbed by them but then he smiled warmly at her.
"No one has ever sketched me before. I even remember what I was thinking when you drew these. You've drawn my quiver to perfection and my bow as well. The detail in my clothing is amazing. These are very good," he told her, glancing up to peer into her face. "Thank you for sharing them with me."
She blushed and looked down. "You're welcome."
He realized her embarrassment and closed the book, handing it to her. She took it and put it in her bag.
"I am afraid that my curiosity has kept you from sleeping. Aragorn will not be forgiving with his lessons tomorrow. You should rest."
She nodded. "That's probably a good idea."
"I could escort you." He offered.
She nodded and put her backpack on before she rose and followed him to camp. It was a very short walk and ended before it had any real chance of beginning.
"Good night, Kaitlyn Westerly." Legolas bid her with a warm and caring smile.
She gave a shy smile, hardly believing that she had once been afraid of this elf. "Good night, Legolas Greenleaf."
The two went their separate ways, oblivious to the fact that Aragorn sat in the shadows smoking his pipe.
To be continued…
earth_guide: Thank you. That was an incredibly nice thing to say. I really enjoy taking something that has been done before and trying to spice it up a little. I'm glad that I seem to be succeeding for the mean time. Thanks for your review.
ACE: I love the elves as well though I think that if I met them I might have a similar reaction to Kaitlyn. They're beautiful and skilled and perfect and she doesn't know how to deal with that. But she's coming around.
XP-DarkAngel: Yeah, I'd probably react in a similar way myself. Their perfection is a little unnerving! Hop you enjoyed the chapter.
SilverPhoenix101: Wow, thank you for all the reviews that you left me for each chapter. I'm so pleased that you are enjoying the story. I've updated finally so no straight jackets!
MOCHi MOCHi: Thanks for you review. I'm glad that you are enjoying the story.
YueMichiruNaragisawaMiko: (Gosh that's a name and a half to type! LOL) Yes, Kaitlyn is finally getting over her fears. She's realizing that Legolas isn't so bad and neither are his kind. And yes, in time she will be kicking butt : )
Thank you again to those who have reviews via e-mail.