An Unexpected Journey (Legolas)

1. The Beginning

Evanya sat in front of her father, nerves racing through her.  Almost all of her 2,580 years had been spent in Rivendell with her family, but after her mother, Celebrian, left these shores to go to the Undying Lands 260 years ago, things had not been the same.  Her father, Lord Elrond, missed her mother terribly, and that was the only reason she had stayed in Rivendell for so long after her mother left.  Evanya, in spite of her emptiness and longing for more, did not want to leave her father without his eldest daughter, his daughter that looked the most like his wife, while he was still missing her so much.

But it had been almost 300 years now and, though there was still sadness in her father's features, she would not feel like she was hurting him by leaving so soon after her mother had left.  So, now she found herself sitting in front of her father saying, "Ada, I want to see more of this world.  I hear tale of Dale and Erebor and want to see these things I have heard about.  I've never even so much as seen a dwarf."

She watched as a small crease formed between his eyebrows as he took in her words.  He examined her silently for a few moments before saying, "I understand that you want to see more of this world, but you can understand my hesitation at letting you travel that far."

Evanya bowed her head once, respecting her father's hesitation, then said, "I know, Ada. But you also know that I have learned well from Elladan and Elrohir.  They have trained me well, and I can take care of myself."

The crease formed between his eyebrows again as he closed his eyes and said, "I want to be selfish and keep you here, my daughter," then opened his eyes and looked at her as he smoothed his features then said, "but I can tell that your heart is discontent here."

She noted the sadness in his eyes as he said that and she felt guilty, so she contradicted, "It is not discontent here.  This is my home, it will always be my home.  I just long to see more of the world.  It is such a big world and the only things I know about it, I know from books and stories.  I want to see it for myself."

Her father brought his hands together and put them under his chin as he said, "I will not stop you.  I would just pray that you would send word to me of your journey and your adventures, and do not be overly confident.  Though the darkness that use to linger is no longer in this world, there are still dangers out in Middle Earth."

Evanya sent a grateful smile to her father, glad that he was not going to stop her, and excited that she was going to be able to experience more than the small corner of Middle Earth that she had been born in.

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It took a great deal of convincing,  but her father was letting her travel alone, which was what she wanted most.  Evanya did not want a large group with her, as she wanted this time to explore and learn more about who she was and what she wanted to do in this world.  The journey was long, but she was able to stay safe and arrived in the city of Dale in the year 2769.  She planned on spending several years in both Dale and Erebor before staying in Mirkwood for a few years, then journeying back home to Rivendell, hoping to make stops in Gondor and Rohan.  She even planned on taking the long way home and going through the Shire before returning to her father's house.  This was her first journey away from him, and she planned on taking advantage of it and seeing all of Middle Earth that she possibly could.

She directed her horse through the center of Dale, keeping her hood up and not drawing attention to herself.  The streets were so busy, colorful, and full of life, that no one was taking notice of her anyway.  The city of men was intriguing to her, but she first wanted to see the dwarf city of Erebor, to see if it was all that she had heard about in books.

As she stopped her horse on the top of a hill, her breath was taken away.  The outside of the dwarf city was more beautiful than she could have imagined.  Rivendell was her home, and she thought that the forests and trees there were beautiful, but this was a different sort of beauty.  The dwarves must have taken a great deal of effort to make this achievement, and that almost made it more beautiful, knowing that it was the result of their hands and not nature.  She urged her horse forward and began up the path that lead to Erebor's main entrance.