AFTER riding for a whole day, they stopped by an abandoned tower for rest. There was not a soul but them for miles and with Gandalf around, they felt safer. They got a fire going and tied the horses to nearby columns. They luckily had a few more rations to spare. They laid their few things which they had with them on the run. They made themselves as comfortable as possible and rested from a long day of riding.
Soon, they needed more wood to keep the fire going through the night. Felina volunteered to go. Since she had powers of telekinesis, she argued she could get the job done faster. She was turning to leave when Legolas called after her "Wait! I will go with you. None of us should wander off alone"
Felina merely nodded. Legolas took his bow and arrow and they went to the woods nearby to get their needed wood. Neither of them were lifting a finger really. Felina's mind was doing all the work, levitating a bunch of wood behind her.
It was silent and neither of them spoke. The full moon provided a bit of light and so did Felina's flash light. An owl hooting, crickets cricketing, the fallen leaves rustling under their footsteps and their breaths were all to be heard. No one really initiated conversation. Though Legolas was waiting for Felina to speak first. He figured that was never going to happen so he started conversation instead.
"We are friends now correct?" Legolas asked. Felina shot him a small smile. "Yes we are Legolas" she replied.
"I have noticed that we are friends but barely know anything of each other. So Felina, tell me something about yourself"
Felina gave a small laugh. Tell him about her? Where to begin?
"Well, if you must know Legolas, my full name is Felina Niter. My father was Arthur Niter and my mother is the Lady Galadriel"
"What's your favorite color?"
She gave Legolas an incredulous look. "Really?" She asked. Legolas nodded with a smile.
"Well I have none. I don't really care enough to have a favorite color to be honest"
"Favorite flower?"
"Carnations and Castilleja. Dad used to have a garden of them along with Bluebonnets"
"When were you born? And where did you grow up?"
"I was born June 19. I don't remember my mother caring for me as a babe in Middle Earth, but I do remember growing up in Texas located South of the USA. The country where I'm from. I had a quiet childhood being homeschooled by my Dad and my mother figure, his friend Ylustris. I grew up in a farm"
Legolas gave her a bewildered look. "You did?"
Felina gave a small laugh. "As surprising that may seem to you, yes I did"
"Tell me about your childhood and your life so far"
"Well, I grew up in a cabin in the forested mountains with no other soul for miles and only the animals as my friends and my Dad and Ylustris for company. They taught me all I needed to know including horseback riding, how to fight and use a weapon so I didn't get to go to school and interact with others my age. Because of this, when it came to socializing with other people, I wasn't really the best at it"
"Later, when I was a teen we moved to New York because of Dad and Ylustris' work in the military. They finally decided to send me to a highschool and after that, I went to college to study crime investigation. I finished my schooling at 18 and then trained to join the army much to my father's protest. Women in the army were a rarity. In fact there were almost none at all so other men weren't really too happy about that. Despite it all, I came through and became a military spy. I fought in two bloody wars in our history. World Wars 1 and 2. After WW2 I stepped down from the army and founded SHIELD becoming a spy and master assassin until present day, joining the Avengers and getting lost into different worlds" Felina finished with a smile. Legolas chuckled at her
Felina inspected some more wood and added it to the floating pile as she and Legolas continue through the outline of the forest not straying too far.
"And you Legolas? Tell me about you"
"Well, I am Legolas. My father is King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm. It is he who taught me archery when I was younger but he soon got too busy to teach me. Still I trained hard. I wanted to make him proud"
"And you are an amazing archer Legolas. Your hard work paid off" Felina complimented with a smile. Legolas smiled back at her.
"Thank you Felina"
"So what's your favorite color?" Felina copied him with a playful smiles. Legolas notices this and gives a small laugh.
"Green" he answered. Felina shrugged. She felt it was kind of obvious.
"Hobbies? Other than archery of course"
"Well horseback riding"
"What's your father like?" Felina asks.
Legolas shrugged. "He is a bit strict. He expects a lot from me as a Prince. He expects me to do my duties and be loyal to the kingdom. He's usually cold and stoic, even more than you were when we first met"
Felina gave him a pointed look remembering how they met the first time. Legolas immediately rephrased his sentence with wide eyes. "I meant when we were introduced by Gandalf"
Felina nods in understanding. She then began to question, how is it that his father can be distant to his own son? "Cold and stoic? But you're his son" she asked. Felina doesn't really understand that kind of father-child relationship since she was always a papa's girl.
Legolas gave a small sigh. "He can be a bit distant and I understand. Mirkwood used to be Greenwood but now it's not the same. The forest isn't the same paradise of nature it used to be. Now it is dark and gloomy and infested with giant spiders. As King he has a lot of important matters to attend to. Still I know he loves me in his own way, he is my father"
Felina shuffled a bit silently. The conversation somewhat took a sad turn. She asks a different question in an attempt to lighten then mood.
"And your mother? What is she like?"
Legolas' face falls and Felina immediately notices it. "I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me" she winced. She just made it worse.
Legolas shook his head with a small smile. "No its alright. My mother died a few years after I was born. She was killed in an Orc attack. There is no grave. No memory. They haven't even found her body. People say its been devoured. My father wouldn't speak of her. I believe it pains him too much for words. There has been a lot of controversial talk around the topic of her and my father"
"How so?" Felina asks tilting her head a bit to the side.
"Well she wasn't exactly a royal. From the most I could gather from people, my mother was one of the maids. She and my father married in secret and had me in secret as well"
Felina's eyes widened. "That's......" she couldn't find the right words and remained silent.
Legolas merely nodded in reply. "I know"
"Well how did the entire thing come into light then?"
"My father had a bit of a public outburst. My mother went mysteriously missing for a week, it was the week she died of the attack, and he asked for a search for her. Grandfather really wondered why he cared so much about a missing maid and the truth was revealed. This caused a various amount of rumors and gossips in the kingdom. It was considered a bit of a scandal" Legolas sighed dejectedly. "No matter what they say, I'm sure my mother was an amazing woman, that she made my father happy, and I miss her"
Legolas face is sad and he looks down at the ground. Felina sees this and hesitates. She was pretty mediocre at comforting but she tries the best she could. She simply places a hand on Legolas' bicep. They stare into each other's eyes. Silver meeting light blue. Suddenly all seemed silent and came to a stop.
Legolas stared at her beautiful enthralling face. She looked like she was sculpted by the Valar themselves. A figure of deadly beauty and grace. Her silver eyes shined and twinkled in the moonlight and her wavy golden hair framed her face perfectly. He could feel himself itching to lean into her soft looking pink lips and he started to get closer placing his hands on her waist pulling her in. He was about ready to lean in when she spoke.
"Forget what other people say. Their words are nothing unless you make them something. Don't let it get to you. And wherever your mother is, I'm sure she loves you and misses you dearly Legolas. I can tell, she would be proud of who you are now. You are brave and a good fighter. You're also one of the kindest people I know" she placed her hands on his elbows backing off a bit seeing they were a bit too in each other's personal space.
Felina didn't understand what was happening or why Legolas was holding her that way. She didn't know if she was imagining it, but it felt like was moving in too before she pulled away. She even hesitated.
He was like a magnet drawing her in. She couldn't help but be drawn to him. There was something in the way he spoke to her. Something in the way he would touch her like she was fragile glass. Something in the way he cared for her. There was just something in his beautiful blue eyes since the moment she first saw them.
But she can't understand what or why. She felt like she could trust him with anything and everything. And Felina rarely to never thought that. What made him so special?
Felina stepped away from his embrace and looked at the pile of wood that was floating behind her. "This should be enough don't you think?" She asked him. Legolas just nodded in reply. He knew he saw something in Felina's eyes when they were holding each other but he can't fully comprehend what it was.
As they walked back to camp, Felina continued to ask him questions about himself. His life as a Prince in Mirkwood. His friends there which weren't that much since he was usually busy with his royal duties. Legolas noticed she kept the conversation away from her and more on him. If she did talk about herself it wasn't really about her but about the other people in her world.
He figured there were yet some things Felina wasn't ready to tell him. He wonders if anyone even really ever receives her full trust. She gives it little by little and not fully. Legolas understood now that it was just her way of protecting herself. A defense mechanism.
They returned back to camp and food was ready. There was a bit of meat that Aragorn and Lou hunted together, a little lembas bread, and few skins of water left. When they arrive back at camp, Lou was the first to notice. She raised her hands in the air.
"Finally!" She said. "What took you guys so long?" She asks giving Felina a suggestive look. Felina just rolls her eyes at this as she sets the wood down. Lou took some and threw it into the fire to continue fueling it. Lou offered Felina some of the meat.
"Here" she said. "The lembas is about to run out"
Felina nodded at Lou in thanks, took the meat and ate it with no hesitation. Legolas looked at her bewildered. She saw the look he was giving her and understood.
"I'm still half human in case you forget Legolas. I still do prefer vegetables though" Felina said. To that, Legolas only nodded his head. Felina was usually so elflike that most usually forget half of her is still human.
"Since you are half human, does that mean you can choose between mortality and immortality lass?" Gimli asked.
Felina nodded her head. "Yes that is correct Gimli. But I left the path of mortality a long time ago. I have chosen immortality"
Legolas let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Her being half elf he just assumed right away she was immortal. He wouldn't know how to react if she was actually mortal all this time.
THE next morning, they started to ride out early. They had a short breakfast of the left over meat from last night and ate the last of the lembas bread along with the last few gulps of water. They expected to be arriving at Edoras by mid to late afternoon that day so they weren't that worried of their short supply.
They rode with all speed, Gandalf with his great white horse Shadowfax in the lead. They started riding even before the sun had risen and now the sun was catching up behind them. They took no stops or breaks. Fortunately, they hadn't encountered anything foul on their way either. Gandalf had taken to wearing a grey cloak over his white robes. They could sense the Wizard was up to something and had a plan ready in mind.
Soon they arrived upon the walls of Rohan. The city was built on top of a rocky mountain along its ridge. The city was built on the slanting slope of the mountain but not too steep for it to be dangerous. On the very top near the hanging edge of a cliff was the palace where the royals lived. Their structures were built from strong wood and stone.
At the city gates, their flags were dancing in the air. One flag in particular fell down at the feet of their horses. It looked tattered, old and uncared for and had the symbol of a white horse. Aragorn and Lou stared at the flag momentarily then glanced at each other.
"Edoras and the Golden Hall of Meduseld. There dwells Theoden, King of Rohan, whose mind is overthrown. Saruman's hold over King Theoden is now very strong. Be careful what you say. Do not look for welcome here" Gandalf told them before the gates opened and they entered the city.
The townspeople looked gloomy and sad. They seemed miserable. They stared at their group warily, wandering what an odd pack of foreigners were doing on their land. They feared they had come to make things worse than they already were.
From afar was the palace, elevated on slightly higher ground and more stable stone. There were stone steps leading to its entrance. On top of the stone steps were guards watching vigilantly armed with spears similar to those Eomer and his men had. On top of the steps was a blonde woman dressed in white. She saw the strangers coming from afar and narrowed her eyes at them. Aragorn and Lou spotted her. In a blink she was suddenly gone. The couple exchanged looks.
The city, despite being quite beautiful and close to the heavens atop the mountains, was laced with misery and sorrow. Everyone they passed through was wearing black. The color of mourning.
"You'll find more cheer in a graveyard" Gimli muttered to his companions and they couldn't agree more.