Dawnstar and Friend

Eleanor’s POV
Galadriel, Celeborn, and Arwen were there for several weeks and we soon discovered that there was also the esteemed Haldir, who helped to teach us archery; though he found that archery really isn’t my strong point in the wonderful world of being dangerous. Ginny was better than me but, unsurprisingly, Miriel was by far the best of us. She of course had the advantages that she had been learning to use the weapons for rather longer, Legolas of Mirkwood was teaching her and she was a wood elf after all.
It turned out that all wood elves were taught the basics of archery and fighting with long knives in recognition of the dangers of the forest of Mirkwood.
***
After a week or so of their presence, most of which Galadriel spent in conference with Maedhren, we are called into talk with the prophetic pair.
Galadriel speaks first.
“While we have been here, we have rung more consistency out of the prophecies and I feel that we have reached the limit in finding what we are going to find for a little while.”
The pair look at each other before Galadriel carries on.
“It is clear that you soon will leave Rivendell and go off exploring the world. It is also clear that you will be linked with the Grey Company. Very little else is clear about what you will be doing in that time.”
Ginny puts her hand up, like they do in school and Galadriel nods at her to talk, wearing a rather amused expression.
“Did you find any pointer to when we would be leaving?”
Maedhren laughs.
“It was not very clear, but we are pretty sure that it is when King Thanduil decides to ignore his daughter’s advice and tries to retrieve her. Apart from anything else I would suggest leaving before he arrives for your own health; I doubt he is happy about Miriel running off.”
Galadriel’s lips twitches slightly, I think she finds this all rather amusing. She then takes back over the conversation.
“In light of this, Elrond is making arrangements for you to join the Grey Company, where you will finish your training in fighting, not to mention learn much else about surviving in the wild.”
I then decide it is about time I try and put when we are now in context to the Lord of the Rings.
“Who is Chief of the Dunadan now?”
Maedhren answers me.
“A young man named Arathorn, though there is a fair chance he will not be there when you go as his wife is pregnant and he is disinclined to leave her.”
Well that is pretty precise; I think Aragorn is in his late eighties during the Lord of the Rings. So we have eight or nine decade to run amuck round Middle Earth before all hell breaks out, literally.
***
That evening, we talk with Elrond and the twins about this.
Elrond explains to us that though the most senior of the Grey Company will know who we are, it was thought it would be best if it was not general knowledge and for us just to keep our hoods up generally. They would also give us new, male names to use while we are with the Grey Company.
Though none of us really relish the idea of camping for years on end, the ride from Mirkwood was hell enough, the idea of joining the Grey Company and exploring the world definite appeals to us, as long as we can come back to Rivendell and have a good bath on occasions.
***
It is several days later that we receive the cue to start packing.
The messenger who took Miriel’s letter arrived back, warning us that Thanduil is far more than not happy, and is making plans to come to Rivendell ASAP to drag his wayward daughter back, by the hair if necessary.
Elrond tells us that this means that we have a max of a month to get out, though thankfully we are going from Rivendell in the opposite direction from which Thanduil will be coming by.
We are each fitted out with good elfin weapons though they are simply made to ensure that we don’t stand out among the rangers of the north who we are joining. There is a set of long knives, a long sword, a bow and quiver and a dagger for each of us, plus any personalised weapons we want to take; in my case, a pair of dirks to slip down my boots and a small collection of throwing knives that Glorfindel has been teaching me how to use.
We all also carry some basic healing stuff that Elrond has insisted on teaching us to use (though Ginny has rather more, after all she is a medicine graduate), a change of clothes (only one? yuk), a weapons care kit, travel food, combs, a small amount of soap (we insisted), some money and that was about it. I also added to my pack a small sewing kit, which I was sure we would need at some point.
We also migrated some things from our old packs we had for camping like our compass (yes it still works in Middle Earth) and a few navigational tools, not to mention the dried meals which are so much more appetising than whey bread.
I get to carry the map of Middle Earth; largely because I am the one most likely to get lost (becoming an elf did not improve my sense of direction, which was aptly described once as ‘can’t find her way in a paper bag’).
We don’t tell the elf-lords, but we all also each pack a very light, easily compressible silk dress and accessories in case we need something posh and feminine at any point.
Two and a half weeks after we are told to pack, we are told to get our stuff and leave. The twins are escorting us to a village in the Angle, where we will meet Arathorn.
The reason for the sudden rush? Thanduil made better time than expected and has been spotted crossing the mountains.
Because Elrond feels it is better that the population in general doesn’t know we’re going until we are gone and that it is best they have no idea where we are going, we are leaving in the middle of the night.
Goodbye sleeping patterns, not that as recent university students we should worry about that.
After a sumptuous, but private leaving meal, we go to our rooms and grab a power nap each before pulling on leggings and tunics and the arming up then going to the main courtyard in the front of the last homely house which is now deserted as it is so late at night.
All our family, including Galadriel, Celeborn and Arwen are there to bid us farewell.
We hug kiss and whatever else them all before mounting up our horses, the elfin wonder variety that we took from Mirkwood, and ride away from the beautiful haven.
Hell I am going to miss that place.
We ride through the night and the next day until dusk with only small stops to water the horses and eat bits of fruit and whey bread.
That night we sleep on the same sort of blankets we slept on when we were running from Mirkwood. I don’t think Ginny or Miriel are impressed, but I am pretty sure that we will have to get used to it.
We ride few a few fortified villages in what the twins call the Angle, the land the Dunedan live in. As we travel, once we are a safe distance from Rivendell, the twins stop to show us tracking and other survival techniques we would need to know.
Eventually we reach a slightly larger village, town-sized round here I realise.
The twins lead us through the town to a larger house in the centre where we are met by a tall man with the classic dark hair, pale skin and grey eyes that all natural Dunedan apparently have. There is a vague resemblance to Elrond, but not much really.
He leads us inside and we are allowed to let our hoods down, which the twins have insisted we keep them up when we are near humans.
Then, through the door comes a rather heavily pregnant lady. She is very beautiful and radiant in her condition, obviously one of these women who are good with pregnancies. I doubt I would be like that somehow.
She is introduced as Gilraen and the man as Arathorn.
Gilraen then lets me try something I have wanted to try since Elrond told me how to do it.
I place my hand on her swollen abdomen and send my mind out and can sense the life of the child and much to my surprise I can also sense that the child is male. No prizes for guessing who he is.
We talk with them for a while when another man enters, who is introduced as Athabad and he is carrying a young boy who is called Halbarad. That name rings a bell, and I am sure that the image of Aragorn’s eventual second being really cute ruins his big bad ranger look that he will have in 80 or 90 years time.
As it is getting towards evening, Gilraen gets up to do dinner and I take one look at her state and insist that I do the dinner.
I make a dish my mother taught me that she invented while she was at university called mincemeat in gravy which is designed to make meat go as far as possible and is served with mashed potato. This is a great meal as it is easy to stretch and can be made with a while range of different ingredients.
When I serve it up to them, only Ginny fails to look surprised that I can actually cook.
That night us girls are put up on straw mattresses in the attic and this seems like luxury compared with the blankets that I have been sleeping on for the several previous nights.
I enjoy it as I am sure that this is the last time I will see any luxury. Oh well.
Ginny’s POV
We see quite a bit of Arwen and Celeborn over the next few days – they seem to have taken to coming with Erestor and I on our morning rides; Ellie and Miriel accompany us quite a lot too.
Another new elf is also with us; Haldir, who has come to teach us better skills with bows and arrows. I have to admit that I may have faked my inabilities here and there. Haldir, like Glorfindel, is rather hot, so any excuse to make him come over so he can put his hands around mine in order to help me get my position right. However, I do seem to catch on pretty quickly; even more so than Ellie. You would have thought that being an elf plus all her previous experience would have made Ellie a far better fighter than me.
Maybe it’s because I now have a chance to release my pent-up firey side (you wouldn’t think to look at me, but I can get quite angry at times). I also pulled Ellie aside one day and suggested that her lack of skill may have something to do with her pining for a certain elfin prince-ling – she just stuck her tongue out, trying to look haughty.
We don’t see much of Galadriel as she is always in ‘private talks’ with Maedhren. Miriel, Ellie, and I tried putting our ears to the door in order to hear what they were saying. None of us could hear anything. Maybe they’d enchanted the door or something to ensure their talks stayed ‘private’ – spoilsports.
Eventually, however, we are called in to see them. Galadriel begins,
“While we have been here, we have rung more consistency out of the prophecies and I feel that we have reached the limit in finding what we are going to find for a little while... It is clear that you soon will leave Rivendell and go off exploring the world. It is also clear that you will be linked with the Grey Company. Very little else is clear about what you will be doing in that time.”
I raise my hand to ask a question.
Hey, wouldn’t you if you were in the middle of a monumental discussion with a pair of ancient elf-seers? I like Galadriel a lot, but she still daunts me.
“Did you find any pointer to when we would be leaving?”
Maedhren wears a rather amused expression as he answers,
“It was not very clear, but we are pretty sure that it is when King Thanduil decides to ignore his daughter’s advice and tries to retrieve her. Apart from anything else I would suggest leaving before he arrives for your own health; I doubt he is happy about Miriel running off.”
We all smirk slightly, even Galadriel. It would appear that Thanduil’s tight-arsed reputation has spread far and wide. Galadriel composes herself before continuing,
“In light of this, Elrond is making arrangements for you to join the Grey Company, where you will finish your training in fighting, not to mention learn much else about surviving in the wild.”
Ellie then asks a question, which I have been wanting answered myself – it would after all be nice to know how we three fit into the grand scheme of things.
“Who is Chief of the Dunedan now?”
“A young man named Arathorn, though there is a fair chance he will not be there when you go as his wife is pregnant and he is disinclined to leave her.” Three guesses as to who the baby is.
***
Thanduil, it would seem, is not a very happy bunny and is apparently making swift plans to arrive in Rivendell in the not too distant future.
Given the fact that Ada practically threatened anyone against harming me when he announced his adoption of me, I don’t have much to fear from Thanduil’s anger, but I really don’t want to be around for the fireworks, and am thus glad when we begin real preparations to leave.
All three of us are kitted out with a rather good collection of weapons. I love the look on Ellie’s face when she sees the size of our long swords – it was as if all her dreams had come true. That girl has always had an unhealthy fondness for sharp pointy things, her words not mine.
Like Ellie, I also get some dirks for my boots, but Ada also gives me my own set of sharpened metal discs to throw at people’s necks. My aim isn’t that good with them yet, but I have set myself a goal: to be able to hit one of the main arteries in the neck – I’ve always wanted to see how far the blood spurts.
Elrond has also been teaching us basic healing – why me, I hear you ask. Well, I was taught to treat people with the aid of technology and modern medicine – Middle Earth isn’t exactly equipped with the same stuff. Perhaps to compensate for this, Elrond gives me a far larger healing kit as well as a hand-held herb guide (a girl can only remember so much).
The more feminine items I pack are my red silk-taffeta dress, a few pins for my hair, and my set of amethyst jewellery. For obvious reasons I don’t take my coronet, but I do decant some of my bathing, hair, and massage oils into smaller, sturdier bottles. We may be joining a band of rangers, but the Pope will recant his Catholicism before I pass up the chance for a proper bath.
***
It’s a couple of weeks later and we have just been quite unceremoniously told to get our stuff and leave. Apparently, Thanduil has made better time than expected and is even now crossing the mountains near Rivendell.
For our and no doubt everyone else’s safety, we are to leave without fanfare during the middle of the night.
When Ada hugs me goodbye, I can see in his eyes that he doesn’t really want me to go – it’s almost as if he’s silently pleading with me to back out at the last minute. He should know me better by now.
As we ride away from the palace, I turn back and see all our friends and family silhouetted against the moonlight. Simultaneously, they all raise their hands in a final farewell - I am going to miss that place.
The twins lead us on another all-night ride; admittedly, it’s not as bad as our ride from Mirkwood, but I still detest the sleeping arrangements. We also have to keep our hoods up as we ride through the Angle. Fair deal I suppose; two elfin princes riding flat out with three heavily armed ladies in men’s apparel isn’t the most inconspicuous of sights.
Eventually we reach a slightly larger village, which the twins ride through until they reach its centre and stop outside a large house. We are led inside by a pale-skinned, dark-haired man who instantly strides over to a heavily pregnant lady who has been standing in an inner doorway and insists she sits down.

The lady is Gilraen and the man is Arathorn.

I stare at Ellie and Miriel enviously as in turn, they each sense the life of the baby.

After a little while, another man enters; he’s carrying a young boy on his shoulders. The boy isn’t that old, certainly less than 10 years and he has a slightly chubby face. He stares at us out of large, round eyes. Everyone smiles at the boy; overwhelmed, he buries his face in his father’s leg. The man is introduced as Athabad, his son is called Halbarad.

When she hears this, Ellie’s smile widens – she looks like she has a laugh down inside her. I mean to ask her, but am distracted when Gilraen heaves herself up to cook dinner. Ellie takes one look at her and insists upon doing dinner herself.


Elladan and Elrohir look scandalised at this; of course, they’re used to Ellie being the princess and having everything done for her. I however, am not surprised; having spent the majority of the past year camping with Ellie in various places, I know she is just as capable in the kitchen as she is at fighting.

When she serves up, everyone but me seems surprised that she has made what is actually a rather nice meal.

That night Miriel, Ellie, and I sleep on warm straw mattresses up in the attic. None of us make the slightest complaint – think about our sleeping arrangements of the past few days.

Miriel and Ellie fall asleep quite quickly, but I get up when I hear their low, regular breathing. Using my blanket as a shawl, I creep down the stairs. The house is perfectly still. I open the front door and step out into the cool night air.

A full moon shines brightly down upon me as I clutch my blanket about my shoulders.

As much I as I love Rivendell, I can’t help feeling that this is the first time since arriving in Middle Earth that I have felt completely free. I smile as I think about the years of adventure lying ahead...