Trapped

Chapter 8

Where was I...?

Oh... Lothlorien forest. What happened? I scanned my brain for answers. What happened during the forests?

I think Legolas- well, I- got a sword. No, it was a bow. A bow! Why couldn't I remember anything?

"Legolas?" I noticed Celeborn's concerned face.

"Am I..." I felt a flash of light, and understood. "Never mind, mellon." I turned around and walked away.

First of all, I needed to figure out what was happening. I'd start with myself.

I am Orlando. Orlando the actor. Orlando the husband, Orlando the father.

Legolas Greenleaf, son of-- no, I am not Legolas. I am Orlando.

I am the finest archer in Middle-Earth. NO.

I had two competing thoughts, and both felt right. Both felt normal.

Both of them were me, so how could I tell who I was?

"Frodo?" I spotted the Hobbit walking around a grove of trees. He turned to face me, and I was confused when he glared at me with hostility. His hand rustled in his pocket, and he ran away.

"Do not worry about the Hobbit, dear friend." A smooth voice caught my attention. Cate Blanchett-- well, Galadriel-- stepped from the light. Long golden hair cascaded to her waist, and her very step was elegance in itself.

Cate had found walking in the gown ridiculously difficult, and I recalled how we had taunted her in filming when she fell. Yet Galadriel stepped over the uneven forest floor with ease.

I shrugged it off. Elves.

"My Lady," I swept into a bow.

"From one royal to another. Such formality."

"Is that so wrong?" I raised an eyebrow, and she shook her head. It was mesmerizing. The first true Elf I'd met.

"I have seen your future. How strange you are," she mentioned.

"Oh?"

"Yes. A strange world, and strange people."

"When do you see this happening?" Hope crept into my voice. The sooner I left, the sooner I could get back to my life.

As Orlando, or as Legolas?

"I know not the times," Galadriel admitted. "That is for you to know. Look into the pool."

"What good will that do?" I snapped bitterly, regretting my harsh words as soon as they left my lips. The Lady of Light gave me a wounded look.

"I would hope that you would see something of use." She pricked her ears. "It seems I am needed elsewhere. Good day to you, Prince Legolas." She disappeared into the trees.

...

All out of curiosity, I crept closer to the basin. Near it was a silver pitcher. Oddly, water was already inside. When I studied it, the water appeared to have what I could only describe as lunar qualities. It shone like the moon.

I poured a little into the basin and peered inside. If only... oh, if only I hadn't looked.

____

NO VEREN, MELLON NIN!