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Ch. 1
The ceiling of my room spun around and around. I was still suffering from more than just my wounds. Though the Rivendell healers had done all they could, and Elrond stayed by my side, it was all up to me now. I reviewed the events, painful to handle, each one of them, especially the happy times. For I would never see them again
I first strode into Rivendell valiantly on my horse, and as I stepped onto the ground. I truly felt at home. Elrond had been like a second father to me, and even now he welcomed me with a warm smile on his face.
'Rosalia Irenez! Long have the seasons been since I have looked upon your face, my child!' Elrond said as we embraced.
'Elrond! I have missed you too, my friend. Tell me why I am here! Besides to see you of course.' I chuckled with my old companion. I was but a young elf, and Elrond one of the ancient, and despite the difference in age, we had always tried to spend time together. I had come on his request, though I knew not why. It was said by the messenger that he did not know, Elrond had not told him, for there were spies everywhere, and the message could be intercepted. Elrond smiled, and led me into his wonderful palace.
Rivendell had always amazed me, though it now held a hostile air about it. We walked out on to a balcony with a lovely view of Rivendell. The whole city bloomed.
'I have asked you here to embark upon a mission, Rosalia,' He said, as he leaned on the balcony rail. 'You are aware that the One Ring has been found,' he said, knowing I had not been aware. My mouth went dry.
'Surely this cannot be The One Ring, the Ring of Power?' I did not want this to be true. He nodded slowly as I let this sink in. The One Ring. The Ring forged by the dark lord Sauron, who had almost destroyed Middle Earth long ago. The finding of the Ring meant that, that he
'And of course, you know that this means Sauron is still alive.' I leaned against the railing for support. I was shocked. No, this could not be! The hands of Isildur had destroyed Sauron long ago, and if he were still alive, this would mean great war, and slaughter
'We have here the Ring, and its thus far bearer, Frodo Baggins. He has had a long and tiring journey from his Shire, and has held out tremendously against the Rings Power-'
'The Ring is here?!' I cried. Why was it here? Elrond knew all too well that wherever the Ring would go, it would leave a path of destruction in its wake. For the Ring wanted to return to the hand of its master
'Yes, and that is why you are here,' my stomach lurched when he said that. Please dont say it, dont say what I fear you will, I pleaded silently in my mind.
'We ask that you accompany the Ring to be destroyed.' I nearly fainted there. That meant that we would have to travel into Mordor. Imagine your worst nightmare, times ten, and Mordor is a hundred times worse. None could survive with its poisonous air, poisonous land, and poisonous water. But the never resting evil that lurks in every shadow is what I was a bit more concerned about.
'Elrond, this is madness! You know how impossible this is! You cannot ask me to do this, friend' I pleaded with him. He just gazed out at Rivendell. I could see the love for it in his eyes.
'I am well aware of these facts, my child. I know the hardships. But I tell you standing here now as a sensible elf like your self that it can be done. I would not ask this of you if I did not know it could.' This seemed to settle the matter. I was still scared, but Elrond knew all too well that I would never back down from such a challenge.
'Elrond, I cannot accept defeat, and would that I could just walk away from these things and not be ashamed. The journey I shall take, and Frodo has my bow as an oath.' Elrond smiled and chuckled at me.
'Young Rosalia, you have indeed grown. You are a brave young elf, though I hope your bravery and inability to back down will not end up killing you and others.' He led me onto another large balcony, where a very serious meeting was taking place. All looked up at Elrond and I as soon as the door was shut. I took my seat between a dwarf and another elf. I was aware of who the dwarf was, it was Gimli, son of Gloin. I knew not what the other elfs name was.
'This is the Rosalia Irenez, and she represents her people from the north on this journey. She has just arrived, so we must fill her in on what we have been talking about.' He turned around to glare at the others, who obviously seemed a bit flustered that a female elf was going on this journey with them. Of course, these big, tough men (that was a sarcastic remark, mind you) would never accept me into their little group probably but I would not mind. I had never really been in need of friends.
The elf beside me stood up, and spoke.
'Here, we have been discussing the details of the Rings journey. Frodo has already offered to remain the ring-bearer, and we know that it must be destroyed in the fire of Mount Doom, from whence it came forth. We are the eight other companions to accompany the Ring, and we are the Fellowship of the Ring all together.' He then sat down again, and I let my mind digest these things he had said. The fellowship of the Ring, yes that would be a worthy title for a journey of such importance
'This is the dwarf Gimli, son of Gloin,' I heard Elrond say, and I snapped back into reality. Gimli stood briefly, nodded, and sat back down. The same thing occurred throughout them all, Gimli, Legolas (the elf who had previously spoken), Aragorn the human man, Merry Pippin and Sam, who were all hobbits and friends and servants of Frodo. There was Gandalf, whom I already knew, and then there was Frodo. He looked weary, as though he were carrying a great weight on his chest, which, I reminded myself, he was. The Ring itself is small, but it can feel like a mountain upon ones soul. I found this out later, much to my regret. So thus we became, The Fellowship of the Ring.
Ch. 2
I had no sleep that night. It had been decided during the Council of the Ring that we were to leave the next day. I stared at the ceiling in my chamber for hours, it seemed. I then got up to look at the moon. I walked out onto the balcony and looked around sleeping Rivendell. I did not wish to leave.
The moon was dancing its joyful dance across the sky, and I stood there, leaning upon the banister looking at it, and smiling. The moon was a very important part of my peoples culture. It was the subject of many a song and dance in my culture. I sighed, and started back into the room, when I heard a faint voice. It was an Elvin voice, that was to be sure, and I looked around for its source. I found it in the balcony next to mine. It was the elf from the meeting, Legolas. He was singing a song known to me; it was a song of the moon.
Nay upon the land you shine
With silver eye and silver hair
But to the ones that feel despair
You greet and meet them in the sky.
The One to make them,
The One to break them,
The One to think the thoughts,
And forsake them.
Oh fair goddess dancing
Mine eyes do deceive
Wonders you work within the Dark
To set the Light free.
Once a being always true
Of fair hair and light eye were you
Long ago, before deceived
Of thoughts that never were conceived.
Banished to the sky, with spite
Luna shines, the light of dark night,
To befriend none but her kin, the stars,
And vanish when the suns in sight.
Legolas was about to finish the song, when he shook his head and turned in doors. I finished the song of Luna, the moonchild.
When none came to see
Where poor Luna lay,
Her sorrow filled the sky with clouds,
Which washed the earth away.
Then she came upon her love,
The one with whom she would remain,
Luna, in love with night sky,
Her happiness stopped the rain.
I sighed, and went inside, unaware that Legolas had been standing still in the shadows on his balcony, listening to my song.
The next day dawned, and I slept on, unawares. Never had I slept longer than sunrise, but I did that day. When I awoke, I saw, much to my horror, the sun shining brightly.
'Cursed am I! I have already kept us at least an hour!' I jumped out of bed, and dressed with a speed that would give credit to any elf, though it was ill timed. I raced down to the kitchens, and hurriedly ate a bit of leftover breakfast, grabbed my gear, and ran down to the ford, where we were to begin our journey. I rounded the bend to see only Elrond holding my horse, alone.
'Elrond,' I yelled, as I ran up to him. 'Elrond, where are the others? Tell me dear friend that they have not left me behind? What is this madness? Why would no one wake me?' Elrond shook his head and sighed.
'Rosalia, as you have no doubt observed already, the other companions do not wish to have a lady with them on a journey such as this. They have indeed left, about a half an hour ago.' I jumped on the horse, and looked down my nose at him.
'They shall indeed have to try harder than that to lose me.' And with that I galloped off, looking back at Elrond, who was waving and smiling sadly. A single tear streamed down my cheek. I did not know if I would ever see him again.
I rode for about an hour, for they were obviously moving swiftly. They were nothing to match my horse, however. Strong and swift as the northern wind, she was. I called her, in the translated tongue, Storm, for she was grayish white, like a cloud, and with her rode the chill wind, pushing her to greater speeds. Soon, as I took a turn on the path, I spotted them. They were resting by a stream, for they had obviously been riding for longer than I. As soon as they saw me, they stood up, and guiltily shuffled their feet around. I rode directly up to the dwarf. He stared down at the ground, while I glared at him with my icy eyes. Everyone says I have eyes deep blue like a pool of ice water, where one could easily drown and be smothered by the freezing pierce of my glare. But still I gave them my most threatening one, hoping for the worst. Aragorn and Gandalf were not present at that moment, so I had to do with unleashing my wrath upon the smaller travelers, the dwarf, the elf, and three of the four hobbits, whom cowered behind a tree. Frodo was obviously where I wasnt, conveniently.
'Gimli son of Gloin! What is the meaning of this?! Or did you forget that I too am a member of this Fellowship? The outrage it is! To be left behind, without a word! Shameful, indeed. Why? That is all I ask of you, and I beg you to answer, for the answer is wreathed in shadow for me. Why?' I looked around all the others. Only Legolas was looking back at me, and with a defiant and bold look on his face too.
'I shall tell thee why. We are a Company of the Ring. We are not here to baby-sit young female elves when they are away from their fathers.' The insult stung like a whip. But that did not mean my tongue was rendered useless.
'And what of thou, bold Legolas? You cannot be more than five years older than me, and I find that I would be more fit than you to remain a part of this Fellowship, indeed!' I was still on my horse, and in being so, I was above everyone else, but Legolas seemed to rise up and loom down on me.
'Cursed are you and your people to the north! Thaur! How can you women be the beasts of all, when you are as weak as can be!' I then yelled back at him in our own language, telling him that he was an insecure little brat, basically. It was then that Gandalf and Aragorn returned, and Frodo following. I angrily jumped off my horse, and she trotted away to graze on the grass. Gandalf the Grey seemed to recognize that I was about to go into a rage, and he sat down on a stump, and beckoned me to sit on a stump beside him. I stood, instead, next to him, bending low so I could look at his face. He looked back at me almost nonchalantly.
'I am glad to see that you have caught up with us, Rosalia. Its about time, I was wondering if you were going to come at all. That is why I made us rest here, you know. Of course, all were in favor of leaving a lady behind, for we felt it would not be proper for you to have to live a life of war.' He then lit his pipe and started smoking. I glared straight into his eyes.
No one, will ever assume that I am not at least twice the warrior all of you are. And with that, I walked away. I could not remain there while we were resting. I had to walk! I thought to myself as I did. Oh, how I loathed them all! I walked down the stream a ways, and I could here their voices lingering down the water.
'We should not have left her, as I told you before, the wrath within her is obviously very vengeful,' I heard Gandalf say.
'She is a girl, and I doubt that any of us would have the time to watch a mere child.' Legolas, of course. Here was the one other elf on this journey, and instead of us getting along, we are the worst off of everyone!
'Indeed, she is young, as are you, young warrior. I can see that she has the skill to be on this journey, and maybe even save some of our lives. Though I hope she will be able to keep her own first.'
The last statement made by Aragorn made me swell with pride. Then, I remembered I would be journeying with these filthy, rough men. They had neither silence or observation skills as friends to them, well, maybe the elf. Oh it was just as well, all the more for me to go along. I walked back to the camp, and stood there with my arms folded, glaring about at anyone who dared meet my eyes. Legolas was trying to ignore my presence, by making his horse ready.
'Have we decided then?' I said softly. Gandalf nodded, and waved me to my horse. I walked over with my head held high, and I flung my hair back as I set upon my horse with pride. I trotted around impatiently, waiting for everyone to climb upon their own horse. Or, in the hobbits cases, two to each horse. Legolas strode past me upon his light brown horse, which seemed to be ignoring my own Storm as his owner was treating me. So, I was accepted into this group of crude men. Well, at least they werent leaving me behind.
Part 2... |
