The Gravewalker

Wake me up!

Talion groaned and pressed his hand to side. No blood. He died again, didn't he? Of course he did. He distinctly remembered being wounded after another fight with the candidate for the position of warchief. Another day of protecting his dimwitted servant. Ugh. He crouched and felt around. Wait a minute. This wasn't the forge tower. He opened his eyes. Of course, he closed them a split second later. So much light! It was as if the sun had some sort of grudge. Covering his face, he slowly reopened his eyelids. Blinking once, twice, he lowered his arms.

Oh.

He was in a forest. The air was clean and he could hear the live teeming in the place. It was everywhere, it didn't matter that he couldn't see it. He could sense it. Then, tingling. Of course, Celebrimbor. If anyone should know what happened, it would be him. His vision was overlapped with the wraith world.

"Celebrimbor? Mind explaining?" He asked, filled to the brim with the unpleasant feeling of dread. The wraith materialized in front of him, looking at the forest, not at Talion.

"Of course." His rough, yet elegant voice answered. "It's been a while since I've last been here, however..." Through the link they shared, he could feel the elation he felt. "It's... Rivendell. I can't believe I am here, in all honesty."

"This is Rivendell? How can you tell?" Talion asked, full of disbelief and joy.

"Small things, small details that create a larger picture. You probably wouldn't understand if I'd tell it otherwise." He turned around and gave the ranger a bear hug. When he pulled back shock briefly passed across his face. "This isn't good."

"What isn't good?" Talion inquired, dread hitting him full force once more. The creator of the rings shook his head, after which he gestured towards a small stream the Gravewalker didn't notice earlier. It is strange, Talion thought, why didn't I notice it earlier? My senses are getting dull. Why though? "I have a question for you."

The ranger waited for a reply, knowing that Celebrimbor would answer, despite him looking lost in thought. He always did. Made him feel special, since from what he knew the elf would answer only him when thinking. Not even Celebrimbor's wife could achieve such a feat.

"Hmm? Oh yes, go on."

Talion hesitated, before answering, "Is the fact that my senses are duller than they were earlier connected whatever you want me to see in the stream? Is there something wrong with me?"

"Wait, what did you just say? Your senses are weaker? But, that would mean..."

"I think we both know what that means." The ex-captain said.

"That'd be... No." The deceased elf cleared his throat. "In any case, it is pretty likely. So, synchronization is a priority at the moment. Then... "He paused,"Well, see for yourself."

Talion P.O.V
I walked slowly, but steadily towards the small stream. Celebrimbor walked behind me, seemingly calm and collected. He wasn't, though. I knew him to well and even if I didn't, I would be able to sense his nervousness via link. He was feeling... Sympathetic? How strange.

Step by step I was closer to the small stream, with Celebrimbor walking behind me, his fingers twitching involuntarily in small movements almost unnoticeable to the human eye. I knelt in front of it, pushing back long locks of hair behind my ear. Wait, long hair? I didn't remember having hair going past my shoulders. Frantically, I stared at the water reflection. I noticed... Hair. Sweeping my hair over my shoulder, I looked once more.

No.

Dear Illuvatar, no.

I'm a... Woman! I'm still tall, in fact a bit taller then I was as a male. What a terrifying thought. I have long hair, reaching just bellow my breasts. Oh eru, I have breasts. I'm still tall with broad shoulders, but I have the hips to make me look a bit more slender than I had before.

A strand of hair fell in my face so I promptly placed it back where it should be, behind my ear. Brushing my fingers over the tip of the ear, I noticed something unusual. I have pointy ears. To be honest, I'm not even surprised. After the sex change revelation, I don't think I can be shocked by something. Still, what would Ioreth think... Eh, she would probably be ok with it. It would be my father in law that wouldn't be fine with it. I stood up, bracing myself on a tree.

Big mistake.

White light engulfed me and so did the pain. I gritted my teeth and held in any noises. Celebrimbor squeezed my shoulder.

The memory was surprisingly short. It showed Celebrimbor running through the forest holding a bow and three arrows in his hand, two gingerly held by his teeth. I couldn't tell his age. Before I knew it, the memory ended.

"Are there any others surprises I should know about? Any more memories?" The wraith thought about my questions.

"Well, I'll try to warn you, if that's fine with you. Just don't touch anything that looks old, like the arrow on the tree."

I looked up from my half-crouching, half-standing position. Sure enough an arrow was embedded in the tree. It was covered by moss and vines, but there's no way a person can mistake it for anything else.

"How's the synchronization going? What do we do now?" I asked the elf. He pondered my question for a moment.

"Well, we're almost back to full strength after that memory. As to our next course of action..." He paused and pondered a bit more, "modify your clothes first, then we head to the meet with the elves."

"Why do you refer to your kin as 'the elves' as if you weren't one yourself? On a side note, I have to show you something." Celebrimbor inclined his head.

"Oh, I haven't noticed. Probably a feature of the synchronization. What is it that you want to show me?"

"It might have to do with us merging and synchronizing."I showed him my ears. He inhaled sharply.

"One thing at a time. We will have to deal with this later, now..."

He was cut of by an arrow whizzing past my face. I managed to dodge it, thankfully. Barely though. Split second later and I would be dead. Again. But I digress.

"Halt!" An elf demanded. Judging by his voice, probably a male. "Who goes there!"

Well, this one is going to be hard to explain.