Fan Fiction ❯ Fate of the Fires ❯ Rain ( Chapter 16 )

Fate of the Fires

Part XVI: Rain

Lady Mars

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Legolas leaned on the railing, watching the rain fall. It had been raining all day and the elf had been watching it rain for a good portion of the day.

"He's not going to attack me, is he?" Legolas sat up and turned to see Pippin standing in the hallway. Legolas looked under the bench he was sitting on then back to Pippin.

"No. Macabre moves for nothing less than food or fighting. You'll be fine; this dog would sleep through the apocalypse as long as I'm not fighting in it." Pippin sighed and walked up to the elf. The pair stared at each other for a moment, before Legolas broke the silence again. "Are you going to stand there and stare at me all day or are you going to sit down and join me?"

"Oh. Sorry." Pippin crawled up onto the bench and Legolas turned back to the rain. "Legolas, I don't mean to intrude or anything, but why have you been sitting here watching it rain all day?"

"Because my mother once told me to embrace the small things in life for once you get wrapped up in some quest, you forget very quickly what it is like to live."

"So you're watching it rain?"

"That and I'm waiting for it to stop."

"Why are you waiting for it to stop?"

"Something else my mother showed me. But it has to stop raining first."

"Ok. I don't understand, but it kind of makes sense."

"If you are patient my hobbit friend, you will find out." The pair sat quietly again for a few moments.

"Is there any other reason why you're sitting here, all by yourself?"

"I'm thinking, like I always do when it rains."

"You always think when it rains?"

"If I can find a quiet spot to do it and watch it rain, yes."

"Oh, then maybe I should be leaving…" The hobbit went to get off the bench.

"No, it's ok. I don't mind a little company every once in a while. It makes the experience a bit more pleasurable if I have someone to talk with."

"Oh. Is there any reason you like rain?"

"I guess you can blame my mother for that one. She always complained that it didn't rain enough in Mirkwood."

"It didn't rain enough?"

"She was a sea elf; she was used to it raining at least twice in one week not like the twice a month we got in Mirkwood. So every time it would rain, she would sit on her balcony watching it fall for hours. I usually joined her."

"Do you miss her?"

"Dearly. It's not like I don't miss my father and brothers, I do miss them, but my mother is the oldest wound so it seems to hurt the most. My father always told me that I was so much like my mother, I guess that's because I'm a primary archer."

"But I thought all elves were archers."

"We are, but some are swordsmen or have some other talent over archery. My mother, being a sea elf, had a fond liking of what her people called 'true archery.' Most Sylvan or High elves use archery for hunting and sport while the sea elves used it for practical purposes. That kind of thing never settled well with my father."

"Why didn't it sit well with him?"

"Because he and mother would constantly fight over it. My three older brothers, Karnil who was twenty years older than me, by your standards, Thalion who was twelve years older, and Belthil who was eight years older, had all been trained as swordsmen and my father wanted me to be one too. My mother didn't like it that way. She swore that the gifts of her people would not be lost in the house of Mirkwood." Legolas chuckled. "They always used to have this argument around meal time, which would always spill into the meal. They night the decided had to be the best argument they had ever had." The elf leaned forward, placing his weight onto the railing. "My mother, being a sea elf, had the power to manipulate water, much like Lord Elrond, but she could do it without the aid of a ring. It's a trait all sea elves have. The argument had been going as it always did, but the air was a bit thicker that night. I could tell something was up because Karnil kept shifting his gaze between mother and father and the argument had been more heated than usual. We had barely started the meal when my mother shouted, 'Damn it Thranduil!' She never cursed. 'If I have to flood this entire palace to have my way, I shall do it!' Now father, being the typical man he was, called her bluff. He said, 'Fine Ciele, do it.' And well, she did. We didn't think anything of it that was until it reached the bottom of our chairs. That wasn't exactly a good situation for me because, at the time, I was still short. So Karnil, being noble at the time, swung me up onto his shoulder as the water continued to rise. By the time father caved, I thought we were all going to drown. It was a relief to see the water flood out of the room. I really wish father would have thought about us when he called her bluff. Poor Belthil almost drowned. But at least they stopped picking on me once mother was done with her training and she was nice enough to let father train me as a secondary swordsman. Well, he actually taught me to fight with knives; I've never been fond of swords. Not as sleek as knives."

"Oh, that would explain. Did you get along with your brothers?"

"At times, yes. Most often when I got hurt."

"Why when you got hurt?"

"Mostly because it was someone else's doing and it reminded them that I, along with them, was vulnerable."

"What do you mean?"

"They saw weakness and they didn't like weakness; it scared them, so the always seemed to be nicer when I was hurt."

"Oh. Did it happen often?"

"No, but when it did, all hell broke loose."

"What do you mean?" Legolas sighed, trying to come up with a good example.

"Ok, the first hunting trip I went on, I was left alone and unarmed in the woods. The hunting party I had gone with wasn't too fond of me, like most of the children of the town; I was too quiet for their liking. So when we went out, they took it upon themselves to desert me. That isn't a good thing in the woods of Mirkwood because you will get attacked by a spider."

"And what's so bad about that?"

"They're about dwarf height and can bring a grown elf to his knees with one blow."

"Oh, that is bad."

"It was. I was armed with my knives, but during the fight, they got knocked out of my reach. But at least I had gotten enough of a blow on the beast to get it to leave. But, unfortunately, I had been wounded in the fight and found my right arm useless. So I was lost, alone, wounded, and unarmed in a forest full of hungry spiders in the dark."

"That isn't good."

"No it wasn't. But fate was with me that day. Karnil had left three days prior on his own hunting expedition and I had ended up on the outskirts of what would be their camp. When I heard them coming, I thought the spider had returned with others, so I went for my knives, or I tried to. I made enough noise to freak out the camp; they thought I was a spider, so they went looking for the source. Karnil found me in the brush. Just from him calling my name I could tell he was worried. I was never more relieved to see him. I spent the night with his camp and in the morning Karnil made the declaration of 'I have to return my brother to the palace. It is in your discretion to stay here or come with me.' He would have made a great leader; they all followed him back to the palace. My mother was awfully startled when he came storming through the doors and dumped my limp body into her arms and stormed off again. Thalion told me the next morning that Karnil had found my hunting party and walked up and socked Eltion, the leader of the group. He then proceeded to spend the rest of the night by my bed side; he wanted to make sure I was all right before he would allow himself to fall asleep. He had fallen asleep in a chair next to the fire when I woke up. Now, as if to really try his strength, after he woke up, Giliath wanted to speak to him. Giliath was Eltion's older brother and Karnil's best friend and was not happy at the actions that had happened the night before. He wanted to know why Karnil had belted his little brother. Karnil calmly replied, 'I have a brother who is unable to leave his room for the next three weeks and has a chance of falling ill because of the spider venom unless we find out what attacked him. I have lost almost an entire night of sleep making sure that he would live through the night. I am tired, hungry, dirty, and very irate. Anything that possibly could be taken the wrong way will be taken that way. I am not afraid to get physical. I punched your brother last night for the simple fact that it is his fault that my brother and I are this way. Is there anything you would like to add before I leave and try to reassemble my life?' Giliath could do nothing less than stare at my brother; no one had ever answered a question in that manor. Karnil then turned on his heel and left."

"What did Giliath have to say?"

"Well, he came and apologized to me for his brother's actions and said it would never happen again. That wasn't much of an assurance for me, so the next hunting trip I went on was with Karnil and his troop. I was the only one to make a kill. No one else saw the deer until it fell. And they couldn't believe that I had killed it without them seeing it. They were all impressed, mostly because it was the second time I had been hunting."

"Wow. That's pretty impressive. What did your brothers think of the quest?"

"They didn't like it; it worried my father more than anyone else. He worried every single night that I was gone and nearly crushed every bone in my body when I returned. He was so glad to see me come home, alive, well, and in one piece. I don't think those four have been more of a captive audience in their entire lives."

"They enjoyed the story?"

"Oh yes, they enjoyed every single moment. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to explain what a hobbit was. They'd never seen one, so they had no idea what I was talking about. All of them, completely and utterly confused. It was pretty funny. I've never seen them so flabbergasted in my whole life. I wanted to laugh at them while I'm trying to describe what you all looked like." Legolas stifled a laugh. "The only other time I had seen them this confused was when we were trying to figure out how Belthil got on the roof and how we were going to get him down."

"An elf? Stuck on the roof?" Pippin started snickering.

"I'm serious. He got stuck on our roof. Had the whole palace in a tizzy. We had every idea bouncing off of each other's heads. He had gotten stuck by the branch of the tree broke beneath him and he plummeted onto the roof. He almost fell THROUGH the roof. That really would have been disastrous."

"He wasn't very graceful, was he?"

"Belthil? Never. The boy was as graceful as a rock. And he couldn't find his way out of a lighted hallway either, but we loved him anyway. And they say all elves are graceful; all those who say that have never seen Belthil in action. ON the battlefield he was one of the best; nothing got past his keen eye, but in life, he was a lummox. It was really quite funny at times. He was such a klutz; he would make you look graceful."

"That much of a klutz?"

"Yes, that much of a klutz. But when it came to the ladies, he was the best out of the trio, not that they couldn't hold their own."

"And what about you?"

"Hmm? Me? The ladies avoided me like an orc. Ask Aragorn, he'll tell you how naturally repulsive I was. They avoided me like I was death himself. But, the only satisfaction I got out of that was the fact that irony played in my favor."

"Irony?"

"The one woman my brothers desired ever so much would never pay them a shard of her attention."

"And that would be…?"

"Adhil."

"Adhil?"

"Yes, as in my mentor, Adhil. Despite being a few years younger than my father, she drew the attentions of every elf when she entered the room, but she only had eyes for me."

"Why?"

"She knew my potential. And the only way that she was going to get to said potential was to break down my barriers, which, at the time, was easier said than done. Aragorn had broken down some of them, but not enough for her to do any good. It took years before I finally let her in."

"Do you miss her too?"

"Yes. She was a mother too me after my mother died. She would never replace my mother; no one is capable of doing that. My mother was one of a kind and she can not be replaced." A small silence loomed; Pippin dared to ask the question, but he wasn't sure how the elf would respond.

"How… how did you loose her?" The hobbit asked timidly. Legolas sighed.

"She died protecting me. We were ambushed by orcs in the woods and she told me to go ahead. My head told me to go, but my heart told me to stay. I went, despite the anguish that wracked my body. I awaited her arrival at the edge of the forest and she did return, she returned long enough to die in my arms." Legolas took a deep breath, trying to control his emotions. "I felt so miserable; she had died protecting me, the one no one cared for, and I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye. I think the rage that spawned from my brother's reaction was worse than her death. Thalion hated me for months. He blamed me for it all." Legolas sniffled. "If I could have been the one who died that day, it would have been that way. Everyone would be better off if it had ended that way." The elf let the tears flow uninhibited. Pippin wrapped his small arms around his friend's larger form, trying to bring some sort of reassurance to the grieving elf.

"Don't say that," the hobbit whispered. "Don't say that Legolas. It wouldn't be the same. Who else in the land of all elves would put up with four unknowing hobbits on the most dangerous of quests? Who else would have lead Aragorn through the dismay of the lands of Rohan? Who else would take time out of a daunting quest to teach me and Merry how to arch? Who else would have tormented Elladan and Elrohir with, of all things, fruit for picking on his best friend and then proceed to get into a mud fight with four unruly hobbits? And then who would turn around and admit to starting a food fight to keep us and Aragorn out of trouble? You are one of a kind my dear elfin friend. It wouldn't be the same without you. You're so much a part of us all, you're family. We would be lost without you." Legolas sat up and looked down to the smiling face of Pippin. He smiled weakly back at the hobbit. Even though it was strained, the smile was genuine. Legolas rubbed the remaining tears from his eyes and sighed.

"You're right. It wouldn't be the same without me. Thank you Pippin. Thank you for making me see the error of my thoughts." Pippin smiled.

"You're welcome. I'm always willing to help a friend." The pair sat in silence until Legolas realized something.

"It stopped raining." Pippin looked out over the wet grass.

"So it did."

"Well then, we must be going." Legolas slowly rose.

"Going? Where?"

"You wanted to know why I wait for it to stop raining, so I am now going to show you." The elf began walking away. "Are you coming or not?" Pippin snapped out of his daze and ran to catch up with the elf.

* * *

Pippin was running to keep up with the elf's fast pace. It seemed like Legolas was getting them lost in the woods, but Pippin trusted the other's instincts and continued to follow him. The hobbit came to and abrupt halt when he plowed into Legolas; the elf had stopped unexpectedly.

"Ah. Found it." Pippin stared up at the elf, confused. "You wonder why I watch the rain, this is why." Legolas pushed back a thicket of branches to reveal a cluster of bright orange flowers. The plants gave off a sweet aroma, much like that of honey, but much stronger. "By normal standards, these plants are considered weeds, but that is because no one waits long enough to see their true beauty. It takes vast amounts of rain to get them to bloom, but when they do, it is well worth it." Pippin stood in awe; these were the most exquisite flowers he had ever seen. "My mother turned me on to their beauty. They're much more common in Mirkwood, but they do grow around here in random patches."

"Wow. I've never seen anything like this before."

"Most haven't. Here." The elf leaned forward and snapped a bloom from the rest of the plant and handed it to Pippin.

"Oh, I couldn't."

"Take it. As long as you give it fresh water everyday, it will fill your room with its enchanting aroma until the next rain comes." Pippin took the flower from the elf.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, but we must be going again, it looks like more rain is on the way." Pippin nodded and followed the elf back to the palace.

* * *

Pippin gently placed the glass holding the flower on his nightstand. The pair hadn't made it back in time and ended up getting soaked. It didn't seem to phase the elf much; he seemed to have the sun back in his life. Pippin smiled as the flower's sweet aroma filled the room. It reminded him of the fields of wildflowers back at the Shire, but it reminded him more of the afternoon he had spent with Legolas and Merry learning how to arch. The task had been daunting and the elf had gotten flustered, but in the end. The pair had learned that good things can come out of failure; they had gotten the elf to loosen up some that day and had learned the wonders of the wildflowers of the elfin woods.

"Where did you get that from?" Pippin turned to see Frodo enter the room. "It smells delightful." Pippin smiled.

"I got it from embracing the small things in life."

* * *