Days turned into weeks during their stay in Rivendell, and there was pressing concern in Lord Elrond's House on the issue of what to do with the One Ring. Noelle hadn't exactly given it much thought herself, as she figured people smarter than her would know what to do. What could they even do with the Ring, other than hide it from Sauron?
One morning though during breakfast, she and Gandalf were discussing this very topic. Apparently Elrond had called an emergency Council to be held later that day. Noelle's eyes widened in surprise at the suddenness of it all.
"Who's going to be there?" she asked.
"Myself, of course. Frodo too. And Legolas and several of the dwarves."
Noelle nodded, as she stabbed her fork into the dish of fruit salad she was eating. "Makes sense."
"I'd like for you to be there too."
Noelle looked up. "Me?"
"Yes. I believe you could offer some good insight. I assigned you to this mission in the first place, and you have been traveling with Frodo more than anyone except Sam."
Noelle shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't really want to go to the meeting. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was sitting through a council meeting listening to them all discuss things for hours on end. She had done that plenty enough as Obi-wan Kenobi's Padawan. But if Gandalf wanted her there, she really couldn't refuse him. That's what it was like when he was your former mentor/father figure/friend.
"Alright, I'll come, I guess. I'm not really sure what you think I'm going to be offering though," she said with a shrug.
"Always so unsure of yourself, aren't you?"
~~~~~~~
Noelle felt really out of place in this council, especially in a dress. Dresses always made her feel so unlike herself, even though she didn't look out of place. She, Gandalf and Frodo were basically the first ones to arrive, along with a few of the dwarves. Legolas also came in and sat next to Noelle, who was in between him and Gandalf.
"You seem a bit troubled," Legolas remarked.
It took her a second to realize he was talking to her, as Noelle saw Gandalf giving her the side-eye. She also gave him a look before responding to Legolas.
"No, I'm fine. I just get bored at these type of things."
"Tis an important matter," he pointed out.
"I know," Noelle nodded. Some more people began filing in next to the dwarves. One guy looked kind of important. He had ginger hair and beard, and his clothes spoke royalty.
"Who's that?" Noelle whispered to Gandalf.
"Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor."
"Why's he here?"
Gandalf snorted. "I don't know everything!"
"Don't you?" Noelle teased with a smile. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Str-Aragorn take a seat on the end of the semi-circle. Noelle still kept forgetting his real name was Aragorn. After calling him Strider for so long, it was hard to wrap her brain around.
The one dwarf who resembled Gloin (Noelle had found out that it was actually his son, Gimli) was muttering something about how long this was taking.
Finally, Lord Elrond took his place at the head of the council.
"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old, you have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-earth stands on the brink of destruction- none can escape it. You will unite, or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate. This one doom. Bring forth the Ring, Frodo." He extended his hand, gesturing to the stone platform in the middle of the courtyard.
Frodo stood up, crossed the room, and placed the Ring on the platform. Then he sat back down next to Gandalf.
Noelle closed her eyes, trying to ignore the whispering voices coming from the Ring. She felt Legolas' hand on her forearm. The guy Boromir interrupted the evil whispers plaguing her mind. He stood up.
"In a dream... I saw the eastern sky grow dark, but in the west a pale light lingered. A voice was crying..."
Noelle raised her eyebrows. Boromir had stood up, and slowly began meandering his way towards the Ring on the platform in the middle of the room. She noticed Elrond and Gandalf exchange a glance.
"...your doom is near at hand. Isildur's bane is found."
Boromir's hand was inches away from the Ring. Noelle started to stand too, ready to stop his hand with the Force if need be.
Suddenly the room darkened. Noelle felt an unseen force push her back in the stone seat next to Legolas.
"ASH NAZG DURBATULÛK, ASH NAZG GIMBATUL, ASH NAZG THRAKATULÛK, AGH BURZUM-ISHI KRIMPATUL."
The voice thundered throughout the Hidden Valley and all the Western world it seemed.
The darkness finally subsided, and Noelle and everybody else breathed a sigh of relief. Only to her horror, she realized the only person standing was Gandalf.
He had uttered those dark words. Noelle hadn't understood what they meant, but they gave her terrible pain.
"Never before has any voice uttered the words of that tongue in Imladris!" Elrond sounded like he was rebuking Gandalf, to which Noelle was glad. Frozen in her chair, she was still too shocked to speak.
"I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond," Gandalf said, not sounding sorry. "For the Black Speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the West! The Ring is altogether evil!" He glared pointedly at Boromir as he said this, then he sat back down next to Noelle and Frodo.
"Ah! It is a gift! A gift to the foes of Mordor! Why not use this Ring?"
Boromir clearly wasn't getting the message at all, Noelle mused as she shook her head quietly.
He stood back up. "Long has my father, the steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people, are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy! Let us use it against him!"
"You cannot wield it! None of us can!" Aragorn interrupted. "The One Ring answers to Sauron alone! It has no other Master!"
Boromir turned around. "And what would a ranger know of this matter?" he retorted.
Noelle could sense Legolas getting tense beside her, so she wasn't surprised when he shot up out of his seat to defend Aragorn, who was apparently a friend of his. "This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."
Aragorn pursed his lips. He clearly looked a little annoyed with Legolas. Noelle would have been too. Even though what Legolas had just done now reminded her of how she had behaved when Ahsoka was on trial by the Jedi Council. Noelle had exploded several times (probably disrespectfully) in front of the Council, and had almost gotten thrown out by Mace Windu.
Yeah, the good old days. Noelle almost missed them. She didn't miss the Jedi, but she did miss Obi-wan, Anakin, Ahsoka and Rex. She wished she knew if they were ok.
"... and heir to the throne of Gondor," Legolas was saying.
"Havo dad, Legolas," said an exasperated Aragorn, which meant "sit down."
"Yeah, sit down, Legolas," Noelle mumbled under her breath.
"Gondor has no king," Boromir spat. "Gondor needs no king." He plopped down back in his seat, clearly humiliated.
"Aragorn is right. We cannot use it." Gandalf broke the silence, but the tension was still hanging in the air. Noelle could sense it.
Elrond stood up and raised his voice. "You have only one choice: the Ring must be destroyed."
Noelle saw Boromir's face fall immediately. What she wanted to know was why had Elrond taken time out of their day to come here and talk about what to do with the Ring when he and Gandalf had already reached their decision.
"What are we waiting for?" The dwarf Gimli lept up out of his seat and slammed his axe on the stone tablet. "YAHHH!!!" Gimli went flying backwards into the air and fell flat on his back. Gloin was at his side immediately. "Gimli! Son! Are you alright, lad?" Poor Gimli's eyes were disoriented.
Noelle slightly stood a bit from her chair to get a glimpse of the Ring on the stone table, but all she saw were fragments of Gimli's shattered axe. The Ring hadn't received a scratch.
"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Gimli son of Gloin by any craft that we here possess. The Ring was made in the fires of Mount Doom. Only there can it be unmade. It must be taken deep into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm from whence it came. One of you must do this." Elrond's words hung in the air for a long, long moment, as if everyone was thinking "well I'm not doing it."
"One does not simply walk into Mordor," Boromir began. "Its Black gates are guarded by more than just Orcs. There is evil there that does not sleep, and the Great Eye is ever watchful. It is a barren wasteland riddled with fire and ash and dust. The very air you breathe is a poisonous fume, not with ten thousand men could you do this. It is folly-"
We get it Boromir!
"Have you heard nothing Lord Elrond just said?!" Legolas burst out. "The Ring must be destroyed!"
"And I suppose you think you're the one to do it!" Gimli jumped in.
"And if we fail, what then? What happens when Sauron takes back what is his?" Boromir yelled.
"I will be dead before I see the Ring in the hands of an Elf!" Gimli shot back. "Never trust an Elf!"
Noelle's mouth hung open. That had escalated quickly. Then she heard the whispers.
"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul..."
The Ring. It was influencing them. Even Gandalf was raging. Noelle felt the urge herself to start defending Elrond's decision, but she closed her eyes and tried to drown out the noisy background. She could sense Frodo's agitation beside her as well.
"I will take it!" The little hobbit's voice was lost in the backdrop of angry words. "I will take it!" He repeated louder this time.
The wizard, the elves, dwarves and men had finally recognized the voice of Frodo, who was watching them intently. "I will take the Ring to Mordor," he said softly. "Though I do not know the way."
Frodo, the young hobbit from the Shire, had just volunteered to take the Ring on the mission to the depths of hell. He was young, had a whole life ahead of him that he could be spending with his friends and family in the Shire, yet he had volunteered to do the impossible. Noelle couldn't forget that. Because she understood.
Noelle saw Gandalf's scowl soften, as she had seen him do with her as a child. She would ask a silly question, and Gandalf would snap and lose his patience with her, but after a few moments, he would feel bad and soften his tone.
That's how he looked now. He turned around to face Frodo. "I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, as long as it is yours to bear."
Before she even met Gandalf's eyes, Noelle got up from her seat and took her place at Gandalf's side. "As will I Frodo. We started this journey together, and I'm gonna see it to the end... I promise."
Aragorn also got up and crossed the room. He knelt down to Frodo's eye level. "If by my life or death, I can protect you. I will. You have my sword."
"And you have my bow," Legolas stepped next to Noelle.
"And my axe!" Gimli begrudgingly took his place next to Legolas.
Boromir quietly moved onto the stage. "You carry the fate of us all, little one. If this is indeed the will of the council, then Gondor will see it done."
"Hey!" came a voice from the bushes behind Noelle's seat. Sam came running under Aragorn's arm next to Frodo. "Mr. Frodo's not goin' anywhere without me!"
"No indeed, it is hardly possible to separate you, even he is summoned to a secret council and you are not," Lord Elrond pointed out amusedly.
"Oi! We're coming too!" came a cry from the hidden corner down the stairs from behind Elrond. Merry and Pippin. Should have guessed. Noelle knew from experience that they were next to impossible to get rid of. "You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us!"
"I don't think even that would work," Noelle commented.
"Anyway you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission, quest, thing," Pippin tried to say.
"Well that rules you out Pip," Merry retorted.
Noelle snickered at the annoyed look Pippin gave Merry. Both of them were most definitely not "people of intelligence."
Elrond stood facing the group of volunteers. "Ten companions," he observed. "So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring!"
"Great!" exclaimed Pippin. "Where are we going?"