Aravan {A Lord of the Rings Story}

T•W•O

T•W•O

The duo continued across the landscape for a very long time. The moon rose higher in the sky, casting a pale glow about them as they walked along. Each step they took resulted in a soft crunch from the breaking of leaves beneath their feet. Artanis, as she was now called, took notice of her clothing in this quiet time. Along with the cloak that Blue had just given her, she wore very thick and heavy shoes that laced up to her knees, and a long, dark dress that fell to her ankles and buttoned up her front. She was grateful that the clothing kept her warm, but also a tad bit irritated, for the heaviness of the clothing made it hard to walk, and even more difficult to keep up with Blue’s long strides. She kept to her own thoughts in this time. She no longer tried to force memories into her mind, but hoped that maybe if she stopped thinking about it, something would come to her. But it was very, very difficult to stop thinking about it.

Many more minutes dragged by. The moon finally rose to its peak, its light now more brilliant than it had been before. Artanis continued walking with her head up so that she might stare in awe at its beauty. She could vaguely remember the moon from when she was a child, but she could not believe how enchanting it was now. She almost forgot the sharp pain in the soles of her aching feet, and how her dress and shoes weighed her down as she walked. But she pulled out of her dream-like state when she accidentally bumped into Blue’s back.

She winced and rubbed her nose. Blue looked back at her, smiling an amused, kind smile.

‘Sorry,’ she muttered. ‘I was not paying attention.’

‘No harm done,’ he replied, turning back around and looking out. Artanis came up next to him. Before them was the sight of a small village. Artanis was able to see rows of buildings that curved along with the cobblestone road, small lights twinkling out of their windows.

‘What is that?’ she asked.

‘That is Bree,’ Blue answered. ‘We will rest there for the night.’

They began walking once more.

‘How much longer do you reckon it will take to arrive?’ Artanis asked.

‘An hour, probably.’

She nodded. She was excited to reach somewhere where she could rest her feet. She was by no means sleepy, but she had not walked in years and she was finding it rather tedious to have to do so much of it directly after waking up. Little did she know, Blue had considered this as well. He felt somewhat guilty for putting her through so much physical strain when it was obvious that she was not ready for it, but their situation was more dire than the state of her underdeveloped legs, and he decided to press onward.

Suddenly, Artanis felt something wet on the bridge of her nose. She stopped walking and went cross-eyed to look at it, and found a small droplet of water resting there. Another drop fell onto her hood, followed by more drops, and then more drops. Soon, she was surrounded by falling water. She looked around and sighed. Rain. She looked ahead and noticed that Blue was still walking along. She jogged to keep up with him.

The rain poured down on them as they continued their journey, soaking their clothes and creating mud beneath their feet. Artanis could feel the weight of her skirt grow larger as it got wet. It pulled her down until she was walking like a hunchback, with her spine bent forward at an uncomfortable angle. Her dark hair fell in wet tendrils around her thin face. She shivered as the piercing damp chill began to sink into her skin and creep into the core of her bones, making them stiff and difficult to move. Soon, it hurt to move at all.

‘Blue,’ she whimpered. ‘How much longer?’

Blue turned around and noticed her sorry state for the first time. A pang of guilt ripped through his chest, and he immediately went back to her. He lifted his cloak, which was miraculously drier than hers, and draped it across her shoulders. He stood tall as she clung to his arm and rested her head on his shoulder, allowing himself to become a support as they finished trekking across the last stretch of land before Bree.