The Elven Gates [CONTINUING!!]

Chapter Twenty One

A/N the thing in the media section is the dress I kinda imagined Losseiriel in... Also, I'm going to keep calling "Tierra" Losseiriel bc that's what everyone in Middle Earth knows her as, but when I say Tierra I mean Tierra Of The Earthean Realms.

We rowed on for what seemed like hours until we finally reached a decent shore. From what the movies could tell, (as of late, fate and the plot were getting closer and closer,) we would have spent a night here and continued on the next day. I helped Merry and Pip out of the little boat, throwing them each a sack of food, and then pulled our boat up to shore. I opened my mouth to say something to Legolas, but he saw me coming and quickly turned away, busying himself with some unneeded task.

Everyone had gotten settled in. A fire was being built, food was being cooked, and we were basically at leisure. I sat down next to Losseiriel on a log a little ways away from the group, and she smiled and scooted closer to me.

"So..." I clasped my hands and rested them on my knees, "What have I missed?" She raised an eyebrow and then spoke.

"Well, after you fell in, people were cheering and stuff, but then we saw you flailing around and getting sucked into the falls. You went over and into that pool thing, and I dove in after you. You had passed out and I only saw a glimpse of you before we both disappeared. Gala-apple woke me up here in Lothlorien, and kept talking about this prophecy and princesses and stuff. As you can tell, I wasn't really paying attention..."

"That much is to be expected," I laughed, rolling my eyes as a joke and sighing.

"But last night she said she wanted to teach me about being 'a princess', which I found very boring, and she put all these visions in my head and stuff, really creepy," Losseiriel paused, seeming jokingly disturbed, "Anyway, she said that she's using this magic thing to connect with my mind, and soon I'll fit in with the normal elleth [elf girl] population!" She clapped and seemed really excited, and I was happy for her but still didn't get why she was so happy about this herself. She had always been a headstrong, independent soul who beat her own path.

"So, basically she's brainwashing you until you're a completely different person?" I asked, worried and confused at the same time. She nodded.

"I guess."

"Will you remember, me? Or the Earthean Realms? Or anything?" I was worked up now, and she just shrugged casually, "And you're completely okay with this? I mean, you don't think there's any way you're going back home?"

"She said it would be better for me to spend the rest of my life here, that I shouldn't get attached to the old world because I'll probably never go back." Her voice changed tone between her old self and some sweet, melodic thing that seemed strange to me. She twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers and inspected the hem of her sleeve, things Tierra would never have done.

I opened my mouth to say something else, but I heard a crash in the woods. Leaves poofed and branches cracked, and a small squeak was heard from a few meters past the river bank. I looked over to Boromir and nodded to him, we were going to investigate.

I quickly grabbed my bow from the boat and tiptoed to the treeline. I could still hear leaves rustling, and it sounded like multiple pairs of feet were shuffling about. It seemed like they were getting closer, and I noticed that Boromir had drawn his sword, so I knocked an arrow and barely pulled back on the bowstring. After a few more footfalls, I rushed over to whatever was rustling around and quickly released my arrow.

Three elf lords ceased their giggling circle and turned to face me.

"NOOOOO NO NO NO!" Elrond cried, grabbing a lock of his hair and waving it around, "I'LL NEVER BE SYMMETRICAL AGAIN!" It was then that I realized my poorly aimed shot had cut a chunk of his hair short. Celeborn patted his shoulder and tried to comfort him while Thranduil backed away in horror.