╔═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══╗
𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑭𝑰𝑭𝑻𝑬𝑬𝑵
❝ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒔 ❞
╚═══ -ˋˏ *.·:·.⟐.·:·.* ˎˊ- ═══╝
VERA SIGHS GRUMPILY AT THE NUZZLING pony before her, staring straight ahead with a blank face, while her hand lazily brushes its fur. She is completely unattentive of her surroundings. Her eyes droop, and she swears she's going to drop on the floor of the hard ground. If an orc were to appear and kill Vera right there, she wouldn't even notice.
Just like she didn't notice the approaching form of a certain Elven Prince. They didn't really end on good terms last night but Legolas was never one to hold grudges...Vera was, though. He realized that he wasn't even offended by her words, but more amused. She has quite the tongue on her and her personality is definitely different from any woman he has ever met. Legolas watches as she brushes the pony absentmindedly, finding himself enthralled by the calm task she does. Vera soon realizes that the Pointy-Eared Prince is standing behind her but refrains from speaking, instead grumbling quietly to herself about elf princes and stupid buffoons and marriage proposals.
"You know, I can hear you right?" Legolas decides to make the first move, asking her, his eyebrows raised and his foot against the wall nonchalantly. Vera stops her task, her eyes widening as she realizes.
Resuming her task as if she knew all along, she lies, "Yes, of course, I do. I am not dull." Legolas smirks, knowing fully well that she was lying, but doesn't point her out on it.
"I did not say you were," Legolas replies, pushing himself off the wall and casually walking towards the girl. Her dress brushed against his legs as he nears her, his front-facing her back with a few centimeters in between them. Vera's breath hitches in her throat at the close distance — or lack thereof — they had. This elf prince is becoming too confusing.
"Yes, but..." Vera trails off, empty of words. Grumbling, she looks away from Legolas' smirk and continues to pat the horse. "Shut up."
Legolas reaches up from behind her, taking her hand in his. Gently grabbing the brush from her, he sets it down at the table next to them. Vera's words get caught in her throat as she tries to protest, only to stop herself once she realizes how close he is to her. "You hide something, Vera Roman, and I intend to find it out," he leans into her, whispering down her neck with a tender promise.
Then, he pulls back, exiting the stables with the agile legs of an elf as if nothing happened. Vera stares after him in disbelief before turning back to the pony and grumbling in annoyance. "Stupid elf," she mutters, adjusting the straddle and the mountain of bags on the poor mammal.
She remembers her first horse and briefly wonders where the majestic creature has run off. Her bag, consisting of a rather large satchel, only held items she thought is necessary for the journey ahead. While she wanted to carry many significant items with her, she knows she can't considering the limited amount of space on the pony.
So, before going to sleep, she packs away two dresses of hers — that would be appropriate for battle and walking — some food for the quest given by Lord Elrond, and the white-gemmed jewel she had found back at sea; she had brought it with her to land, finding herself quite attached to the jewel for no reason at all, other than the appeal to the eye.
Other than the items in her satchel, she also has a pouch — the same one she used to keep the necklace in weeks ago — strapped around her chest. It rests at her side, only containing water and other small items that may come in handy during the distance of Mordor and Rivendell.
Along with that purse, Vera wore her weapons with pride; two small daggers strapped by her side, a long sword — gifted to her by Elrond and Marella (something that the two both worked on after receiving word from one another.) — sheathed by the purse and her bow and arrows at her back. Vera isn't as talented with the bow and arrows as she is with her daggers but finds herself carrying it anyway, mainly because her brother and Corin both needed her to be protected.
Admittedly, if her weapons were to be discarded, Vera's main appearance wouldn't be suitable for the journey ahead. The long, black dress that reaches her feet — which was clad in heeled boots — would cause nothing but distraction. Even her hair, which would normally be held back, is free with the wind and cascading in waves, a gold crown sitting atop her head. Overall, Vera looked like she belonged to the castle, like a princess who wasn't meant to join a quest.
However, those who think this have underestimated her logic. Traditionally, warriors — most of which are women — of the sea don't fight in tunics or leggings, finding it all too masculine and common for their feminist tastes. So, whenever they do fight on land, they normally take the appearance of a noblewoman. Apart from that reason, they found it quite useful; many would underestimate the woman who wears a dress to battle, going after her as the easiest target before meeting their death at the hands of a woman of the sea.
Most who didn't know the ways of the Ocean wouldn't understand just how important women played a role in their lands. Having grown up with such strong women around her, it was only natural that Vera followed in that footstep, especially because her royal blood only ensured the promise of strength. Vera was practically trained to fight in a dress.
Covering the mountain of weapons around her, a black cloak is placed on her shoulders, held together by the crest of their kingdom: a golden trident. And with that, Vera sets out of the stable with the pony and to the meeting point of the Fellowship. As she made her way towards the entryway of Imladris — the same entryway that she had entered weeks ago — Vera finds herself gripping onto the pony's straddle.
Most of the Fellowship already awaits, making light conversations amongst themselves. Boromir and Legolas both stand apart from everyone else, inspecting their weapons in solitary. Gandalf stands with the dwarf Vera recognizes as Gimli, appearing to be talking about the weather and future forecasts that would come about in their mission. Finally, her eyes land on three familiar Hobbit friends of hers.
A bright smile appears on her face as they catch sight of her, standing up clumsily to greet the Princess. "Princess Vera," Merry greets, "why, don't you look...beautiful?"
Vera chuckles at his statement, giving him a kiss on the cheek in passing — she missed the bright, red glow on them as she did so — and handing the pony off to Sam, who whispers to it fondly. "Thank you, Master Brandybuck," she tips her head. "Where's Frodo and Aragorn?"
"Frodo is talking to Lord Elrond about certain matters," Boromir cuts into their conversation, letting the four's eyes land on him. "Aragorn is off somewhere. The real question is, what are you doing here?"
Vera raises an eyebrow. Is this man serious? "Pardon?"
"Well, you are a woman," explains Boromir, waving his hands at her body to prove his point. The 'uh oh' coming from Merry brings everyone else's attention to the pair, watching intently as the Hobbits around Vera slowly move away in fear while the princess smiles innocently at the arrogant man. He doesn't seem fazed by the glitter in her eye and he continues, "You cannot certainly be allowed to come, dressed like that, especially! And, you are, apparently, a princess. You would not possibly know anything of war or orcs, I don't see why you should be here."
During his excellent explanation as to why Vera didn't need to come at all, simply because she was a woman, the many members of the Fellowship who didn't know Vera as well as the three Hobbits, eye the reaction from the girl. She stays calm, keeping a cool expression on her face as she simply stares at Boromir with no hint of emotion.
In fact, all Vera did let out from her mask is an angelic smile, as if Boromir's words were musings about a newfound hope. For a while, Gimli wonders if she's mad. But everything changes as Vera takes a step towards the suddenly nervous man. "Boromir of Gondor, am I to understand that you are suggesting that I shan't accompany you and the Fellowship to the journey to destroy the ring that threatens every corner of Middle-Earth, simply for the main reason of my gender? Because I am a woman?"
He nods slowly.
Vera pretends to understand, only taking several more steps so she is face-to-face and staring at the overconfident arse in front of her. "You may not know anything of me, or who I rule, or where I am from. But you must know one thing, all of you, actually...I am more dangerous than any orc or evil you have met out there. I am capable of doing many things simply by the wave of my hand. Keep that in mind, my Lord, for it may deem you well." Her words slip out of her mouth like poison, rotting the minds of everyone who heard her with question, all looking at the petite girl in front of them who wore her crown like a sword.
Vera walks away from the man, her temper threatening to be unleashed, and walks to the courtyard where Aragorn and Arwen dwell. The couple both catch sight of Vera, before Aragorn disappears to join the Fellowship and Arwen comes forth to give her sister a farewell. "Vera."
"Arwen," she humbly greets back, giving her a long hug. Vera takes the moment to calm her angered mind and revels in the collected nature of her best friend. "I'm going to miss you."
"As am I," Arwen whispers back. "Le i vellon nín n'uir, nethig nín. I am happy to be able to call you my friend, and one day, I hope we will see each other another time to call each other Sister." Vera nearly goddamned cried at that sentence, burying her head further into Arwen's shoulder, laughing through teary eyes.
"I told myself I would not cry," she complains, "but you just had to be sentimental!" They share a laugh. "I am glad to be able to call you my Sister, Arwen Undomíel. Until we meet again."
Aragorn raises an eyebrow as Vera approaches the group, his eyes glancing at her questioningly after seeing the water in them. "Oh, shut up," she scolds. "My eyes are sweating, and your beloved is quite the melancholy one." Aragorn laughs quietly, deciding not to mention to her that eyes don't sweat and she indeed was crying.
He leans down to whisper in her ear, "Why is Boromir looking at you like that? Did you do something to offend him?"
"Excuse me?" Vera replies sharply. "I didn't do anything! The man doesn't know how to respect women, I just thought it would be best for him to aware. No harm would come to anyone because of a little lesson about the importance of women, Aragorn. In fact, many people in the world may need it, and what I like to call common sense considering half of the people I've met seem to lack it thoroughly."
Aragon chuckles. "Hopefully, I do not make that list."
Vera doesn't falter. "Sometimes you do." She ignores the offended look Aragorn gives her and focuses her green eyes on the creatures walking towards the rest of the Fellowship. She immediately recognizes the man in the robes as Lord Elrond and the Hobbit, Frodo standing beside him. They seemed to be deep in conversation but their eyes land straight ahead of them.
"Do not be too upset. You love her, and she loves you. She will do anything for you and I'm sure you will do anything for her. Hold onto that because when you are at your weakest, you will want to live on for her. And for food, but you get the point."
Aragorn smiles. "I will keep that in mind, Lady Vera, but I am more offended by your insult rather than in need of advice."
"Well, you are probably going to get more of that from me over the next few...months," Vera admits brightly, giving her friend an enthusiastic grin. Aragorn grimaces.
"Dear Eru, help us all."
"Indeed," a voice behind them agrees, bringing Vera's attention to the amused face of Elrond. A genuine smile builds itself on her face as Frodo stands next to them, obviously meaning that their conversation is done. "You all carry so much on your shoulders. I can only hope that you will survive this, as should you," he addresses the Fellowship.
"Well, you are an optimist," Vera mutters, ignoring the looks thrown in her direction.
Gandalf chooses not to listen to Vera's words and responds to Elrond with confidence. "You have my thanks, Lord Elrond. I assure you that we will do the deed as discussed. Middle Earth shall no longer linger in the darkness. We will be ready."
Neptune smirks. "Forgive me, Gandalf, but I think he was talking about Lady Vera's incessant need to make a comment about everything. You can only trust that the Valar keeps you alive after hearing the words come from her mouth," he jokes playfully, earning himself an appalled and offended glare from Vera.
"My own brother...against me?" She whispers in mock shock. "How offending! Bi—"
"Language!" Elrond interrupts, giving Vera a scolding glance to which she responds with a grumble. "The ring-bearer is setting out on a Quest of Mount Doom. On you who travel with him, no oath nor bond is laid to go further than you will. Farewell. Hold to your purpose. May the blessing of elves and man and all free folk go with you."
"See! Now that is a lot better than the 'you are all going to die' speech," Vera praises happily, giving Lord Elrond one last smile and a nod of acknowledgment that ran deep. Despite her playful words, Elrond could see the fear and sadness in her eyes; she is going to leave the first place she has grown fond of ever since she has left the waters. It's grown to be a second home to her and she's connected with many people in Imladris. It hurt her to know that she would be leaving Arwen and Elrond behind but the promise of returning back to them and seeing them soon brought her determination and hope.
Elrond didn't need Vera to say anything more. He desperately wished to give her a hug but knows he must withhold himself from doing so. In spite of this, Elrond merely gives her a gentle nod and a fond smile before they let their eyes disconnect and her back face him.
"The fellowship awaits the ring-bearer," Gandalf announces.
And with that, the Fellowship leaves Imladris. The question of them ever returning lingers in the air as the elves of Rivendell stare after them in hope, trusting them to restore the peace and faith of Middle Earth. Vera finds her footsteps weighing heavier as she leaves, thinking of the situation quite similar to the first time she left her home and the ocean. Heavy, dull, and somber. It isn't any different from the feeling of her leaving Rivendell, the same place in which she created more memories and learned so much, starting an experience of her own.
Elrond watches her go sadly. The last of his wife and the fleeting experience that he had with his daughter is long gone, ripped away from him by the hands of fate once again.
And so, it begins.
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author's note;
ayee so the journey starts now and they'll be entering the quest!! how exciting hehehe
share some love 👊🏻
author's note; translations
Le i vellon nín n'uir, nethig nîn :: forever you are my friend, my sister