Wild | Aragorn | On Hiatus

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

She was in a bed. It was soft, and comfortable, and there seemed to be a light breeze. There was birdsong filtering in from somewhere and it was very peaceful. Maybe she could just stay here.

The pain in her side caused her eyes to fly open.

The room was fairly dim, and there was a door, an open one, that went outside. It was white and silver, and smelled faintly of chamomile.

“How’re you feeling?”

Nínimiel shrieked, sat bolt upright and was out of the bed and backed right up against the wall opposite the voice, by the exterior door. It was here she noticed another door, and a very beautiful elleth sat at the bedside. Her eyes told her she was safe, and a part of her could see that the… extremely tall elleth - like wow she was so tall - was no threat but she didn’t feel safe.

“Av-'osto. Careful, you are only just healing. ” It was in her head. The voice. Was in. Her head! Nínimiel did not feel safe at all, even if the very tall and very beautiful queen of an elleth was safe, Nínimiel would not see it. She needed Aragorn and Legolas and the Hobbits and the others, then she would be safe.

And she was out the door, but faced with a spiralling stair. She knew she was not well enough to make it down there, but she wasn’t going to take her chances back in there.

There was no question. The banister was her way down, balancing on it, she raced down it as she spiraled round and round a silver trunk, her hands growing warm.

The elleth stumbled a little when she hit the ground, and found herself being stared at by a number of shocked elves.

But that didn't matter to her, not right now, she needed to find them

She must have looked well and truly wild, but how she appeared was not in the forefront of her mind.

Her movements were frantic, and she looked everywhere for signs of her companions. Nínimiel rushed down pathways, over lawns, almost through flower beds - though she leapt over them to avoid stepping on any plants.

And all the while she felt like the elleth from before knew where she was, or at least where she was headed.

Nínimiel ran for what felt like hours on sore and blistered feet, and the movement sent searing pain through her side. She was shattered, and needed to stop, but her legs would not, her desperate need to find some familiarity far outweighed that which told her to stop.

She went past another tree before skidding to a halt.

The elleth had very nearly run past her friends. At some point she must have stopped really looking for them.

Turning on her heel through 90° or so, she ran at the rest of the Fellowship with tears streaming down her face. Nínimiel was sure her side was bleeding again but she didn't care. Not now.

Aragorn was facing away from her but turned when he noticed those facing him start looking through him. His eyes widened as Nínimiel flew at him, wrapping both her arms and her legs around him as she cried into his shoulder. Her arms pinned his to his sides so all he could do was stand awkwardly as she sobbed into him.

She didn't try to talk until the ranger eventually managed to coax her down and he asked what was wrong as he stretched. All that came was a torrent of incoherent ramblings, accompanied by shaking hands trying to wipe away tears.

Her breathing began to even out as Aragorn breathed with her, and Pippin came and hugged her, quickly followed by Merry and Sam.

But still she could not form a sentence.

"I-I-I...I s-saw… Nana...nana! N-Nana…left...and...and-and...I s-saw...and th-that lady w-wh...en...scared me...n-not safe."

She suddenly shrieked, and cowered, the voice in her head once more.

"Snow! You're bleeding! Your dress!"

Dress? Oh. She was wearing a dress. She hadn't even noticed until Sam cried out about her bleeding. It was silky smooth and pale green, except for the dark red stain that was blossoming from her side.

She twisted to look at her side, a mistake clearly, as she cried out. But none had the time to ask her if she was alright, as she was yelping and hiding behind Aragorn upon the arrival of Galadriel and a few of her handmaidens, as well as one of the healers.

Nínimiel hands gripped the back of Aragorn's cloak as she peered round him and hissed.

The healer noticed her side and rushed forward, but stopped short when he heard her hissing.

"I need to check your stitches, I think you've torn them."

She shook her head forcefully.

"But Snow, you're bleeding, it could get horribly infected. You've gotta let him see."

But she would not budge. Aragorn turned to face her again, forcing her to let go of his cloak. He had a stern look in his eye, and his voice came out just as stern.

"You're not doing this again. Let him look -"

"No!"

She argued back and forth with Aragorn, and Legolas and the others would chip in every now and then - obviously with Aragorn, as they wanted to ensure Nínimiel was alright. All the while, the Lady Galadriel had a kind smile on her face, watching the elleth and the ranger bicker like children - or rather, the elleth bicker like a child and the ranger try to calmly tell her why she was wrong.

After too long, Aragorn gave in and said he'd do it. The healer grumbled a fair bit but reluctantly gave Aragorn the small basket of supplies he had.

He took Nínimiel a little away from the camp, for a little privacy, and had to ask her to lift up her skirt so that he could unwrap her bandages and check the stitching. It was awkward, and progress was slow, but eventually the bandage was off and Nínimiel had managed to snap half her stitches so Aragorn had to redo them and listen to the elleth curse him every time he pulled the needle.

He bathed her wound a little before and after restitching, then applied a salve, and wrapped it up again.

"Thank you," she whispered, scared to break the silence that had descended over them. He responded with a soft nod and then he helped her up from where she'd lay, and the pair returned to the camp, and she gravitated towards the hobbits, leaving Aragorn to seek out Legolas.

"You knew her before all of this, do you know what she may have seen or remembered involving her mother?"

The ellon shook his head,

"No, I remember her always being around, I think she's a little older than me. My father never talked about where she was before we found her - "

"Wait, you found her?"

Another nod.

Legolas explained how a patrol had gone out one day and returned with a child, Nínimiel. He told Aragorn about how he was sure that his father knew, as he treated Nínimiel almost as a second child, but that Legolas himself had never been told. And he remembered how every time anyone asked about her parents her eyes would go far away, her brows crease as if she were trying to remember something, before she shook her head and either walked away or changed the conversation.
Aragorn watched Nínimiel smiling and laughing with the hobbits as if nothing was wrong, and he wondered if they'd ever even begin to understand her.

_

Yes I am back, though I am afraid not for long. I am a victim of the cursed writer's block with this project, and so have decided to publish my chapter bank so that those of you who read my little story have a bit more to read.

Translations

Av-'osto - Do not be afraid
Nana - mother, mummy, mum, mama, ma, take your pick.