Lord Of The Rings Fan Fiction ❯ Soulmates ❯ Hobbits and Entwives ( Chapter 7 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

"Excuse me, sir; do you know where we could find Meriadoc Brandybuck or Peregrin Took?" Legolas asked politely for the seventh time.

The Hobbit stared at him for a minute then switched his eyes to the two Dwarves beside him. He swallowed nervously, but for the first time Legolas actually got instructions. They hurried to the place the Hobbit had called Brandybuck Hall and knocked on the door. They got more stares as Legolas asked the question again. Two hours later, Legolas threw his hands in the air.

"Oh I give up!" he called in Sindarin, stomping his foot and spinning away. The three odd travelers had taken six steps away from the door when there were two loud cries.

"Legolas!"

"Gimli!"

"Merry! Pippin!" Legolas said, feeling relieved. "There you are. Getting answers out of these Hobbits is one of the most difficult things I have ever done."

"Sorry about that," Pippin said with a chuckle. "Hobbits aren't very amicable to strangers. Not until they're used to them. And Elves and Dwarves are indeed very strange to us."

"Well, we came to invite you two and Samwise on another adventure," Gimli said.

"And who is this Dwarf?" Merry asked, smiling at Glóin.

"This is my father Glóin," Gimli replied.

"Greetings Glóin," Pippin said politely. "It is grand to meet such an esteemed Dwarf."

"I have heard much about you. But which of you is which?" the older Dwarf said.

"I am Meriadoc Brandybuck," Merry said with a bow. "But everybody just calls me Merry."

"And I am Peregrin Took," Pippin said, mirroring his cousin. "But I'm called Pippin."

"At your service," Glóin said, bowing as well.

"Now, what say you, Hobbits?" Legolas asked. "Will you join us?"

"Join such a wondrous band?" Pippin asked, grinning with his cousin.

"Come on, Pip!" Merry exclaimed. "We're getting fat and lazy here!"

"Indeed. You're so big you would crush me!"

They laughed and agreed. Legolas clapped his hands together joyously.

"Good. Now to get Samwise."

"You know you can just call him Sam right?" Merry asked as he began walking.

"Yes, but I like Samwise much better," Legolas replied.

They all smiled at that and traveled swiftly to Sam's house. Legolas walked up to the gate and was about to open it when he heard a crash inside the house. He froze and gestured for the others to do the same.

"What's wrong, fundel?" Glóin asked.

"Quiet," Legolas hissed.

"—and all your stories are absolutely ridiculous!" a female voice said.

"Come now Rosie, they're important to meh."

"You live in a world of fantasy, filling the children's heads with Elves and wars and magic. They don't need that! They need to become proper Hobbits, and they won't do that with you here. Mayhap you should just go and live with the Elves! "

"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't Rosie! All the Elves are gone! Besides, I love you, and the children."

Legolas heard Rosie snort. "One remains here, you said so yourself."

"But Legolas is with the Dwarves!"

"Go and join them then." There was a pause and a sigh. "Samwise, I can't do this anymore. I want a divorce."

"Rosie! No!"

"Go tend to your gardens Sam. Just go."

There was the sound of footsteps and the door opened. Out walked Sam, looking more miserable than any of them had ever seen. He looked up halfway to the gate and his expression morphed into one of shock.

"What are you doing here?" he gasped.

"I've come to invite you on another adventure," Legolas said then paused. "How's Rosie, Samwise?"

Sam's face twisted back into an expression of sorrow and pain. "Let's not talk about that right now. Let's take a walk into the forest."

They let Sam lead the way to the forest and they walked through the trees in silence. Legolas frowned.

"Samwise, where are the Entwives?"

"What?" The Hobbit turned around and looked confused.

"There are Entwives here."

"Where?" Sam asked.

Legolas pressed his ear against a tree and closed his eyes. Two minutes later he walked forward and led them to an old looking tree. He gently knocked on the wood and waited. Slowly two eyes opened on the bark and the tree stretched.

"Hello, Moon Elf," a female voice said.

"Greetings, onod," Legolas said politely then frowned. "Moon Elf?"

"Yes. You are no Sun Elf. Your eyes glitter with moonlight."

Legolas blushed. "I don't understand, onod."

"You are of the race of the Moon Elves. Of the descendants of Ithil."

"I have never heard of such a race."

"They were killed long ago by Orcs. You and Erestor are the only ones left of their true descendants. Though there are those who were born into the world as one half of a whole."

"Twins? Twins are Moon Elves?"

"Only one of the pair."

Legolas turned to Gimli, who shrugged.

"Onod," Merry said politely. "Why do you not travel to the other Ents?"

"They live still?"

"Yes," Pippin said immediately. "Fangorn forest is where they dwell."

"What is your name, Moon Elf?"

"My name is Legolas Greenleaf."

"Your name is indeed Legolas, but you are also called Silverleaf after your mother."

"You know me?" Legolas asked breathlessly.

"Yes. You are son of King Mormerilon and Queen Celeblessel, rulers of the Moon Elves who dwelt in Fangorn Forest in the Years of the Trees."

"So you are an Elf," Glóin said.

"Great one," Legolas begged desperately. "How old am I?"

"You were born five thousand seven hundred and fifty-four years ago," she said. "But you were in hibernation from the second day of your life to a point I do not know."

"I am almost ninety-four years old according to what I remember."

"Then that is how long you have been awake."

Legolas' face flushed and a smile broke out on his face. "I'm older than my ada! Or whatever Thranduil is to me. But why was I in hibernation, and where was I kept?"

"Please young one, Fangorn can answer your questions more easily than I. He is the one who saved you in your mother's womb."

Dizziness suddenly engulfed the Elf and he sat down hard. Sam was suddenly in his lap, pressing his hand against the pale forehead. He looked worried.

"Legolas, ya've turned two different colors. Are ya feelin' all right?"

"No. The Ents know what I need to know. When can we leave for Fangorn?"

"I'd have to talk to Rosie about it," Sam said, looking away from Legolas.

What Legolas said next proved beyond doubt that he'd spent way too much time with blunt, tactless Dwarves.

"I'd say from the sound of it she wants you to leave anyway."

As Sam blushed and looked upset, Legolas slapped his hands over his mouth.

"Oh, Sam, forgive me! I didn't mean that. I've spent too much time with Dwarves. I—"

"No, Legolas, you're right. She doesn't want me anymore. All we do is argue. She thinks I'm too much like the Elves I tell the children about. I believe she really hates me," Sam whispered, sitting down in the Elf's lap and placing his face in his hands.

"She wants a…" Legolas didn't dare say the next word. Only Men and Hobbits did it.

"Divorce," Sam's voice was barely audible and everybody but Legolas gasped.

"No! Sam, she can't!" Merry exclaimed, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"She can and she does," Sam said, sniffling.

Pippin placed a hand on Sam's other shoulder and said slowly and thoughtfully, "Maybe some time away will help the situation?"

Sam suddenly looked up, tears staining his cheeks, but hope was in his eyes. "Maybe you're right. I'll talk to Rosie about it tonight. Now come to my house. We'll have supper in an hour or two."

Everybody started walking toward town again. Everybody except for Legolas.

"Glóin, Gimli," Legolas said softly, and they stopped, turning around to look at him. The Elf continued, "Now that I'm thinking like an Elf again, mayhap it would be a good idea for us to stay here and not exacerbate the situation between Samwise and his wife. We are, as Pippin said, strangers to these Hobbits, and it is not wise to impose ourselves on them. They are not Bilbo or Frodo."

The Dwarves glanced at each other and nodded.

"You three go have a nice dinner. We'll catch something here in the wood," Gimli said, shooing them away.

"If you're sure," Sam said, though he looked relieved.

"We're sure, young one," Glóin answered.

The Hobbits walked off and Legolas went off to hunt. He caught two fat rabbits and the Dwarves insisted on cooking them so Legolas walked back the short way to the Entwife.

"What is your name, fair one?" he asked in Elvish, and she opened her eyes again.

"Fimbrethil," she replied.

"You are Treebeard's mate."

"Yes."

Legolas sat and talked with her for a short time then shuffled his feet and looked down as he asked, "May I climb you?"

"You may."

Legolas scaled her easily and sat in the topmost branches, feeling very pleased. He always loved climbing trees. It made him feel right at home. Besides, their whispers were louder in the middle of their height than at the top or bottom. He stood up to get a better view and accidentally snapped off a small branch. Fimbrethil shivered.

"Oh! My deepest apologies, onod!" Legolas said instantly.

"It is all right, dear one," she said then paused. "Legolas?"

"Yes?"

"Taste it."

"Taste what?" he asked, confused then looked at the branch. Golden sap was dripping out of it. He blushed. "No thank you, onod. Sap does not taste good."

"You lie."

"Well, it's not supposed to taste good," Legolas admitted.

"But?"

"But I've always like it. It's comforting. But my ada…I mean Thranduil punished me when he caught me so I don't eat it anymore."

"Come now. Thranduil is not here."

Legolas shyly stuck his tongue out and lapped up the golden liquid. A thrill ran down his body at the delicious taste. The next thing he knew, he was sucking out the honey-colored substance. When he paused and apologized, Fimbrethil told him she didn't mind, so he continued to drink it. He lay down on the branch he had been sitting on and held the snapped branch to his lips as he suckled. He had been at it for five minutes when he heard a throat clear. Legolas released the branch as his face flamed.

"Gimli! What, er, what are you doing here?"

"I have come to tell you that dinner is ready. What were you just doing?"

"Lying here," Legolas said evasively.

"Being difficult? Fine, Master Elf. What were you doing with that branch in your mouth?"

"Nothing."

"He was drinking sap," Fimbrethil said calmly as Legolas climbed down.

"Why would he drink sap? That stuff is disgusting," Gimli said, wrinkling his nose.

Legolas landed on the ground and looked sheepish. "I sort of, well, like it. A lot. I don't know why though. Elves have the same outlook on tree sap as you do. It's pretty, but it's not appetizing. To them."

"You like it because you are part tree."

There was nothing but silence as both Elf and Dwarf stared at the Entwife. Legolas stirred first.

"I'm what?"

"You are part tree. It was the only way to save you. Treebeard is one of your fathers. Mormerilon is the other."

"That's not physically possible, in more ways than one," Gimli stated.

"Sure it is, if you..."

They rejoined Glóin seven minutes later, not looking at each other. Gimli swallowed and told his father what the Entwife had just said. They all ate their dinner slowly.

"I am glad I'm not female," Legolas finally said. "To have a branch in there for any length of time must have been horrible."

"But it saved your life," Glóin said with a nod.

"True. And for that I am grateful to my mother and to Treebeard. I must thank him when we get there."

"For now, let us finish our dinner then sleep," Gimli said.

"Agreed."