Lord Of The Rings Fan Fiction ❯ East Meets West ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

Author's Note- Forgot to put in a disclaimer. I don't own Tolkien's stuff. All made up characters are mine and belong to me only.

 

`…' Thoughts

“…” Chinese

“…” Elvish

 

Chapter One

 

Xue Hua felt something soft and furry tickling her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw that it was a baby rabbit that was peering curiously at her, its whiskers tickling her cheek. The rabbit was startled and hopped away when she sat up and looked around her. She noticed her twin swords lying next to her and gingerly reached for them and sheathed them by her sides.

 

She found herself sitting upon a bed of soft green grass with small yellow flowers blooming prettily everywhere. Not far from her was a large river with silver sparkling waters flowing smoothly downwards. At opposite end was a forest filled with trees that grew so high and thick branches covered with dark green leaves. She then remembered the incident with Huang Xie and her jumping off the cliff. Strangely, the sexual desire that plagued her relentlessly was gone.

 

“I didn't know that Hell is like this. I've always thought that it's supposed to be dark and sinister.” Xue Hua muttered softly to herself with a puzzled expression on her face. She got up and slowly walked towards the river and proceeded to wash her face and unbounded her hair to comb it with a silver comb she used to hold up the upper part of her long hair in place. It was then she noticed something odd about her face in her reflection. She frowned and looked again closely. Her once dark brown eyes had changed into clear amber with silver pupils and the tips of her ears were pointed. Other than that, she looked and remained her same old self.

 

“What is happening to me? First, I woke up in a weird place, alive and well when I am supposed to be dead; now I find my eyes and ears have changed their colour and shape. I must be hallucinating.” Xue Hua said out loud and pinched herself on the nose to see if she was dreaming. No, she was not.

 

She turned back to find herself facing the pointy end of an arrow aiming at her. The person aiming her with the dangerous weapon was a tall young man with long golden hair and piercing blue eyes. He was wearing a strange garment that was of a velvety brown and green material. Her eyes widened when she noticed that his ears were pointed like hers. The man was speaking sternly in a beautiful musical and lilting language which she did not understand.

 

“I'm sorry sir. I don't know what you are talking about. Do you know the Han language instead?” Xue Hua shook her head and said with a puzzled expression on her face.

 

Glorfindel stared at the young woman who stood in front of him. He had first seen her sleeping peacefully on the grass when he was scouting. He had been debating whether to wake her for it was dangerous to be out in these dark times with Sauron's influence and power growing stronger. Orcs were wandering about and killing and plundering villages and anyone they saw. However, when he saw the swords lying by her side, he became cautious for he knew not whether she was friend or foe. When the young woman awoke, she had a surprised expression on her face when she looked around her. He heard her muttering softly in a language that was foreign to him just as her appearance was.

 

He had approached her from behind silently with his arrow aiming at her in case she was not as harmless as she appeared to be. Just then she turned and was clearly shocked to see him and find herself at the end of the tip of his arrow.

 

“Who are you and where do you come from? What are your intentions here in Imladris?” Glorfindel asked sternly in Sindarin. The young woman shook her head indicating she did not understand him and talked back to him in her strange language. Her confusion was shown clearly in her amber eyes with its unusual silver irises. Her long dark hair was done in a very foreign style with the upper part being supported by a silver comb and two silver sticks. The rest of her hair was left flowing gracefully down her hips. He noticed that the tips of her ears were delicately pointed, a sign that she was an elf, a very foreign but exotic looking elf. She was wearing a dress that differed greatly from the women of Middle Earth. On the inside, she wore a long and flowing thin strapped purple dress with a white sash tied at her waist and a pair of white pants. On the outside, she wore a sheer mauve silken coat with long flowing sleeves that covered up to her wrists. She wore a pair of knee-length white boots. The colors of the clothing greatly complemented her ivory white skin.

 

Now both of them were in a predicament for none of them could understand each other. Glorfindel tried speaking to the young woman in Quenya, Sindar, Westron and other languages he knew. Xue Hua tried to talk back to him in Han and Mongolian. So far, they were unable to communicate successfully.

 

Glorfindel soon gave up trying to communicate with her. It was a hopeless task trying to understand the strange elleth's language. He then decided to make one last effort in communicating with her and introduced himself.

 

“Glorfindel.” He pointed to himself and repeated his name. The maiden frowned slightly before nodding her head in understanding. She then smiled shyly and gestured to herself.

 

“Xue Hua.” At last, they knew something of each other. Glorfindel had never heard of anyone with that kind of name in Middle Earth. Perhaps the maiden was indeed from a very distant land. Xue Hua kept on saying `Da Ming, Da Ming.' Glorfindel guessed that it was her country of origin.

 

`I'll have to bring her to Lord Elrond. Perhaps he could speak or maybe even know someone who knows her language and her country.' Glorfindel frowned as he assessed the situation. It was getting dark and it was better if both of them could leave this place before they encountered orcs. He whistled for his horse, Asfaloth and motioned for Xue Hua to follow him.

 

Xue Hua watched him motioning for her to follow him and pondered carefully. She realized that he meant her no harm and willingly allowed him to help her mount upon his horse and with him sitting behind her, holding her waist to prevent her from falling off. The man whispered to his horse in his language and the horse immediately galloped off.

Xue Hua was aware of the strange man's strong muscled arms gripping her waist tightly and caught a whiff of his masculine scent. Though she knew not his language but she felt safe with him. Though his stern demeanor reminded her of her teacher, yet his gentleness towards her was really a novelty for her. Not even her teacher and seniors had ever shown her such gentleness. They treated her like a little girl, and being typical male, they were quite gruff with her. Yet this stranger treated her kindly and gently as though she was something precious.

 

Glorfindel could not help but studied the young maiden in his arms during their journey back to Imladris. She was delicately boned; making her looked small and fragile, unlike any other elleths he knew who were tall and strong. She looked to be about seventeen years but he guessed being an elf, she might as well be way passed that age. He could feel the softness of her body against his with his arms wrapped around her slender waist. He smelt and inhaled deeply the sweet fragrant scent of lily from her long lustrous hair. He then shook himself and silently cursed at the reaction his body had at her scent and willed himself not to think of improper thoughts even though he wanted nothing more than to take the lovely maiden in his arms and kiss her senseless. Furthermore, he had always pride himself on being a gentleman and conducted himself well around the fairer genders of Imladris. He did not know why this particular maiden could arouse such improper thoughts in him even though it was their first meeting.

 

Xue Hua could feel the man's body stiffened slightly and looked up at him with dark curious eyes. Glorfindel merely smiled a small smile at her and instead urged Asfaloth to gallop faster. They reached the gates of Imladris just when the moon appeared in the dark sky in all her silvery glory. Xue Hua could hear melodious singing even though the words were foreign to her. She wondered who the singer was for never had she heard such sweet angelic voice. Not even the most popular songstress in Hang Zhou had such wonderful voice.

 

Glorfindel halted Asfaloth in front of the stables. He leapt down gracefully and extended his hand to help the maiden down from the horse. One of the grooms then led Asfaloth away while Glorfindel motioned for Xue Hua to follow him. The elf lord was surprised and pleased to see that his dear friend and lord of the Last Homely House in Imladris, Elrond Peredhel was waiting for them at the main entrance.

 

“Mae govannanmellonamin (Well met my friend.” Glorfindel greeted his old friend with a bow. The dark-haired elf lord smiled back at the golden elf lord and the foreign, nervous-looking elleth behind him. Elrond turn to his friend with a questioning look on his face.

 

“Who is the lovely maiden you brought home with you Glorfindel? Did you finally found yourself a bride at last?” Elrond teased gently. Glorfindel's bachelor status was a constant joke among his close friends.

 

“This is Lady Xue Hua. I found her on the banks of downstream River Bruinen. She does not know our language or any other language in Middle Earth and I do not understand hers as well. I was hoping if you or any other elf in Rivendell might recognize her language and identify where she is from.”

 

Xue Hua knew they were talking about her but paid no heed for she did not understand their odd but melodious language. She was instead marveled at the beauty of this new strange place Glorfindel had brought her here. She snapped put of her reverie when Glorfindel tapped her on the shoulder and called her name when he tried to get her attention.

 

“Lady Xue Hua, this is Lord Elrond.” Xue Hua looked confused so Glorfindel repeated Elrond's name until she repeated after him. Xue Hua then greeted Elrond by curtseying gracefully in the style of a traditional court lady at him for she sensed that Elrond was an important person. Both ellons were surprised by this manner of greeting but smiled warmly back at her. Elrond then greeted her with a polite kiss at the back of her hand. Xue Hua was shocked and slightly uncomfortable at the foreign gesture but smiled back politely. She surmised that it must be the custom greeting here in this strange land.

 

“Ahem, I'll have Erestor look through old scripts and files in the library for any mention of Lady Xue Hua's kindred and this so call Da Ming country she hails from. However, you two need to freshen up yourselves before dinner.” Elrond then called for two servants to come and show Glorfindel and Xue Hua to their respective rooms.