When Two Worlds Collided

The Arrival

All was well in Rivendell. Birds were chirping. The wind was rustling in the branches. Thranduil sighed and continued watching his son Legolas on his patrol. He made it a habit to keep an eye on the boy, and keep him out of trouble as much as possible. Despite what his son might think, Thranduil was quite fond of him and couldn't bear to see yet another of his beloved ones taken from him. It was still too soon, after... No. He would not speak of it. It might always be too soon, always too close. He saw traces of her every day, in the way Legolas ran, in the tilt of his head, in the way he nocked his bow.

Suddenly Legolas stopped. He turned his head towards the south, listening. Looking. Thranduil squinted, but between the trees and the tears that blurred his vision whenever he was thinking of her, he couldn't make out what it was his son was looking at.

Legolas's eyebrows scrunched up, worried or unsure, Thranduil thought. He kept looking up warily at the sky as he moved south along the borders of Rivendell's forests. The elven king knew something was amiss, but didn't dare ask the blond what he saw, for fear of the prince's anger and his wanting to keep the tentative peace between them. Legolas was still mad over his mother's death, and refused to speak to his father. He hated how Thranduil acted as if she never existed, as if love was nothing and didn't matter at all. Deep down he knew it was his father's way of coping with pain, ignoring it, but Legolas refused to accept that.

Legolas stopped, quite suddenly, and ran further south, to the very edges of the forest. Thranduil kept up easily, being an immortal elf. His face had wrinkles in it, but he still had a youthful look and white blond straight hair, which he kept partially braided like his son and most of the other Rivendell elves. He didn't know where Legolas was going, or what the young elf prince had seen, but this was his kingdom, and he had to keep the peace. If Legolas had seen something possibly dangerous to himself and the other races of Middle Earth, it was Thranduil's job as elven king to make sure it was kept under control.

Legolas angled his tapered ears even further south, and that's when Thranduil heard it. A faint hum, a buzzing noise was coming, getting louder and louder as it came closer. A minute passed. The sound grew stronger. Legolas and Thranduil both stood silently, quiet as only elves can, as it approached. More time passed. Soon it had been nearly a half hour and the strange noise coming from the southern skies was deafening.

Then they saw it. A metallic round object, nearly the same shade as the crown on Thranduil's head. It had strange cylindrical objects protruding from its sides, with what appeared to be some sort of strange flame burning out of them, propelling the squished silver sphere forwards. The slender elves watched in awe and curiosity at this odd object that was made of metal, but flew like a bird and had flames and unusual noises. It was unlike any feat of magic Thranduil had ever seen in his life, which was quite long. Legolas, being a bit younger, obviously had never experienced this.

The...thing...kept flying closer and closer. Legolas ran further now, and Thranduil knew where he was headed. A half league east was a huge, open meadow, large enough for this gargantuan metal bird to land. Thranduil didn't doubt his son, but right now he was unsure of his judgement. They didn't know what this thing was that flew the skies of Middle Earth but was clearly from far away. If it was harmful and wished the elves evil... Thranduil shuddered at the thought. His people had recently had to deal with an Orc invasion, and many were lost, including...someone Thranduil was quite fond of.

Nevertheless, Thranduil followed Legolas to the field of grass and wheat, flowers and stalks, staying in the tree line. Legolas ran into the field, waving his arms around and cutting circles in the waist high plants. The origin of all this confusion and noise circled several times before gently lowering down into the flat plain Legolas had chosen for it.

Landing now, the could see the massiveness of its size. It was larger than any transport Middle Earth had ever seen. Its silver sides, while not quite as shiny and pure as the simple twisted crown upon the elven king's head, were covered with tiny blinking lights, much like fireflies. However, these lights were colored, bright garish colors the elves avoided, as did much of Middle Earth.

Then, slowly, smoothly, an opening on the side of the mysterious object began to fall, revealing what-who-was in its interior.