THEY continued on their trail as fast as they could with heavy load and one horse. Felina had done the liberty to carry all their necessities with her telekenesis making them suspend in the air. Frodo laid limp on the horse getting paler and weaker every minute barely holding on. They've said words to encourage him constantly but he was fading fast.
They jogged hastily day and night. There was no time to waste. Frodo was knocking on death's doorstep. Lou's head was doing no better. She's positive it has an infection now. She crappily wrapped a cloth around her head to keep pressure on it and stop it from bleeding but it seemed to be doing more harm than good. Her head thumped and thumped every breath and every little move she made. Still she trudged on like a strong warrior knowing she had survived the wound of bullets and being stabbed by the sharpest knives mutiple times. This couldn't be anything she can't handle.
They tread on the forest path. Their bodies feeling heavy, their breaths becoming more ragged. Strider took the lead up front and Felina stayed at the back to make sure no one lagged behind. She spares Lou a worried look. The Stark notices it and shakes her head at the blonde but them immediately regrets it for the bolt of pain that resonated in her brain. She winced slightly and put a hand on her forehead.
"I really think you should clean that wound Lou. It doesn't look so good" Felina said worriedly.
"And I think we shouldn't waste any time. Let's get a move on now" Lou snapped back, the pain in her head adding to the irritation.
Felina was about to protest when Frodo let out a groan of pain. Strider immediately stops the horse in an abrupt motion and gently sets the frail Hobbit on the ground. They crowded around him but Strider said to give him a little space to breathe. Felina went by his side and placed a hand on his forehead to feel it was cold as death.
Felina grimaced. "He's icy cold and fading fast"
"Can you do anything?" Sam worriedly asks.
The half-elf then sighs. "I can do a few spells but I don't know for how much longer I can hold him" she then turns to Strider. "We need athelas. I'm sure you could find some quick" she said in an urged manner.
Strider nodded and wastes no time. He runs off leaving the four Hobbits and two women behind. Felina whispered words of Elvish to Frodo and it calms him down a bit but he continues to cry in pain. She searches her mind for any and every Elvish and non-Elvish spell she might know. In the past year she had gotten Elvish hands down thanks to her half-elf.
The four Hobbits shuffle about helpless not knowing what to do. This was beyond their knowledge and experience. From all their years in the Shire, they haven't experienced anything like it.
Lou sits down, suddenly feeling dizzy. The pain in her head has become worse. She ran and ran with it for 3 days now. Every little thing she did felt like it was making a crack on her skull. Even blinking was pretty bad. She felt like her brain was being squeezed down by the Hulk.
She gives a little groan of pain but immediately muffles it by putting a hand on her mouth. She didnt want them to worry for her. Frodo was going through worse. They had to focus on him. She may only suffer from concussion. Frodo was falling into the pit of death. They could hardly pull him back up.
Suddenly Strider comes back with athelas in his hand and an elleth. She had pale skin, and chocolate wavy hair and light blue eyes. In the darkess, she glowed like an angel under the dim moonlight. She was a figure of beauty and grace. Felina and Lou recognize her as the elleth had visited Lothorien once.
"Arwen" Felina said merely nodding to her in greeting. She sighed promptly. "I'm glad you could come to help"
"You couldn't have come earlier though?" Lou lightly teased. Her head hurt like hell and she was doing what every Stark knew best. Using humor to cope.
Arwen merely brushed her statement off. "Wonderful to see you again Felina and Lou although this is not the reunion I intended"
The elleth then kneels down beside Frodo along with Strider. She whispers words of Elvish to him prompting him to hold on and come back to the light.
"Who is she?" Merry asked.
"She's an elf" Sam answered noticing her pointy ears. They gaped with the usual amazement Hobbits have with Elves.
"He's fading" Arwen whispered worriedly. Frodo gasped in pain as Strider puts the athelas over his stab wound. He jolts a bit and his now ghastly pale eyes are wide open. "He's not going to last. We must get him to my father"
They picked Frodo from the ground and placed him on Arwen's white horse. They now converse about who should ride with Frodo to Rivendelle in hushed Elvish. The Hobbits listen in confusion.
"What are they saying?" Pippin asks Lou still seated on the ground unlike everyone who was stading up. She merely shrugs. "I don't know Elvish"
"But I thought you studied with Felina" Pippin further questioned.
"Yes she did and she sucked" Felina said smiling mischievously at her friend. Lou chuckled a bit amidst the pain she felt. Her head thumped like a big loud 10 feet speaker now. She was starting to see black spots and her eyelids felt heavy.
Arwen ended up being the one to bring Frodo to Rivendelle promising to send horses to the rest. She left hastily telling her horse to ride fast. And ride fast the horse did. Sam looked to Strider in disbelief.
"What are you doing?!" He shrieked. "The Wraiths are still out there!"
Strider sighed a bit before facing the confused and aghast Hobbits. "Arwen is a fast rider. Once she crosses the river, the magic of her people will protect her. You need not worry for her or Frodo, Master Gamgee" he reassured.
It was at this moment that Lou's body fell limp to the pain that she endured for three days straight. She was knocked out well.
"Lou!" Felina gasped as she and the rest rushed to her side. Felina tried shaking her awake but to no avail.
"No lady Lou not you too miss" Merry cried in worry.
Strider checked her wound. It looked nasty. All the dried blood became sticky, the wound all over was black and blue and new dark blood came gushing through the jagged cut on her forehead.
"It is infected. Why hasn't she said anything?" Strider said his brows furrowing in worry.
Felina groaned and held her head in her hands in an exapserated motion. "Because she is Lou Stark and she is stubborn and stupid"
"What do we do now?" Pippin asks, his voice slightly quivering.
"We must clean her wound and changed her bandages. By now her wound is infected and would need proper treatment from Rivendelle" Strider says immediately going to work as gently as possible removng the cloth Lou wrapped around her head. He took his water and poured it over the wound making sure Lou doesn't get too wet. He gently caressed her head and her hair letting the cool liquid flow and cleanse the wound.
It looked a bit more decent now, with the dried blood removed. Felina handed him a piece if clean cloth and he used it to dry her head. He then reaches for another cloth and wraps it around her head applying enough pressure to keep it from bleeding but just enough that it wouldn't hurt.
Felina watches his every move like an eagle. She still did not trust him despite having spent the past fews days with him. It takes a high price to win Felina's trust. It is hard to gain but oh so easy to lose. The very few who have gained her trust are rare and special. She kept his gaze at him, watching him closely. He was so gentle in handling her dear friend. He held her as if she was the most fragile glass, as if she would break with a mere gust of wind. He caressed her hair as if she was the most precious diamond, about to be whisked away from the world. Felina stared at his eyes which were fixated at Lou.
There in the pool of blue, Felina could sense something strange and unexplainable. She narrowed her eyes at him. She smelt something suspicious, yet strangely, it wasn't anything threatening or frightening.
Seeing how he seemed to care for the friend she held as dearly as a sister, Strider had won a small part of her trust. It wasn't a lot but it was enough. If push comes to shove Felina still wouldn't trust him as of now. He still had so much to prove to her and so many questions to answer.
Strider snapped her out of her suspicious and speculating thoughts. "We must journey on to Rivendelle. The horses Arwen sent would find us"
He carries Lou to the horse and set her there gingerly. Wasting no time, they made their way to Rivendelle. They walked on forest trails and a few rocky paths. They never stopped to sleep but only to catch a small breather. Their breaks were for the Hobbits. It was their first time out of the Shire after all and they weren't used to all the long distance walks and traveling yet. Just as dawn was about to break, the horses Arwen sent has come to them as promised. She sent one horse and two ponies, considering the Hobbits. Merry and Pippin shared a pony, whilst Sam had a pony to himself but he also burdened the beast with a bit of their loads. Felina still carried most of them with her telekinesis. Aragorn had a horse to himself and Felina rode with Lou, making sure her unconscious friend doesn't fall off.
It was well into the morning when they arrived in Rivendelle. Lord Elrond, Lindir, and Arwen were there to greet them. Rivendelle was absolutely stunning. It was a place of elegance and wonder. It was a place where the streams of the water never stopped flowing, where the branches of the trees swayed with the wind, where the birds never stopped singing their symphonies. It was a place of safety and of peace.
The Hobbits looked around them in awe and gasped in glee. "Never in all my years have I seen anything like this" Sam whispered to himself in wonder.
"It is indeed beautiful" Merry agreed with him. Pippin was too dumbfound to even speak. The architecture of the Elves were also quite spectacular. It was usually the Dwarves that were regarded to have wonderful skills in building and crafting, but the skill of the Elves were not to be underestimated. Their white and gold buildings and cottages stood tall and proud even after thousands of years and will continue to for many lifetimes. Lou said their architecture was almost like that of the Greeks except, well, it was more Elvish.
Speaking of Lou, the group of travelers unmounted from their horses and their ponies. Felina suspended Lou in mid air. Upon seeing a limp body, Lord Elrond, Lindir, and Arwen immediately rushed to their help.
"What happened to her?" Lindir asked examining her wound.
"She got hit pretty hard in the head. I think she might even have a concussion" Felina answered.
"Let me take her. I will bring her to the healing room" Lindir said. Felina nodded. She had visited Rivendelle before and the ellon had her trust. Lindir took Lou and went off.
"You must be weary my dear friends" Elrond said looking them over. Their appearance was haggard from their journey. They could definitely use a bath and a nap. A very long peaceful nap.
"Weary is an understatement" Pippin spoke up. Lord Elrond and Arwen smiled.
"Come. Let us show you to your rooms" Arwen says as she lead the way.
The Hobbits didn't want to be separated so they shared one big room together. Felina, Lou and Strider have been regarded as regular visitors of Rivendelle although they somehow never encountered each other in their visits. It was either Felina and Lou were there but Strider wasn't or Strider was there and they weren't.
Felina entered her room. It still looked the same from when she left and it looked well kept. She went into the rest room and ran herself a bath in the big circular tub that was almost like a mini pool that was 2 feet deep. Soon the bubbles rose in the tub like one big cloud. She took off her clothes and drenched herself in warm water that smelt like a strange flower that was unknown to her. She covered herself in the bubbles and washed and cleaned herself. The tub had seats in it so she partly sat down and let her feet flow up. She rest her arms and head up the edges of the tub and sighed in relief. She felt relaxed after a long journey. She loved the feeling of the warm water and the soft bubbles covering her body. The water was also a bit of like an ocean and it rocked her body gently as if she was in a rocking chair. All her fatigue and stress had been relieved and she felt relaxed and safe enough that she soon fell asleep in the tub.