On the third day the group arrived at the river Anduin. Anna had trouble pronouncing the name correctly and made the everyone laugh when she called it Andy wine.
"I sometimes wonder, Anna if you are not a tall hobbit," laughed Rumil
His joke of course went right over Anna's head, but she smiled because Rumil was smiling. Anna felt a little better. She was, however, still sweaty and dusty from the road, so it was only natural when she heard the river that she would ask, "Will we have time to clean up a little when we reach the river?"
Anna had no delusions about a long leisurely swim , the river was obviously too large and swift for that, but she hoping for at least a quick wade to clean the dust off and refresh her tired limbs.
When Haldir answered, "Some of us will be continuing on by boat, while the rest of us ride south.," Anna 's whole face lit up. The thought of being out of the saddle again was a great relief. It was then Anna noticed perhaps the last person she wanted to see, and her heart sank. Standing in the bow of the boat was Thranduil. She was torn in two. Yes, she wanted to be off the dusty road and out of saddle, but not if it meant having to deal with a king who seemed to get his exercise by jumping to the wrong conclusions.
Galadriel, Celeborn and Legolas went to the boat while Anna did her best to hide behind Haldir and stay out of the king's line of vision.
Haldir could feel the mixture of fear and dislike coming off Anna in waves; he could almost reach out and touch them. At that moment, one of the sea birds that flew overhead chose to give the king a small gift which hit him squarely on the head. Anna being already very nervous felt a surprised bark of a laugh escape her lips before she could control it. The king and the others turned toward the sound and Haldir coughed loudly to cover for Anna, hoping that Thranduil would not notice her.
"Are you well enough to be riding Haldir?" Thranduil called over to him as he cleaned bird dropping from his hair.
"I believe I shall be much better when I am away from the cries of the sea birds,"he responded. This was not exactly a falsehood, Haldir thought to himself He would indeed feel much better when Anna was safely away from the shore and the king.
Thranduil responded,"I too shall be glad to see these birds behind us."
Celeborn, who found the entire situation amusing, added "It seems you have already seen one too many bird behinds."
Galadriel frowned at her husband and gave him an unobtrusive elbow in the gut which made him grunt and shoot her his most innocent 'I couldn't help myself ' look.
After feeding and watering the horses, and having a small snack, Haldir and his group pushed on south by land while Thranduil and his people took the boats south. Legolas had chosen to remain with Galadriel and Celeborn, a choice his father was quite obviously displeased with but said little about.
As they continued south the air grew heavy and smoky. The wind was strong and from the north, but occasionally it would shift, carrying with it the stench of death. They passed several small groups of the enemy. Some put up a token fight, others ran screaming in fear, but none were any match for Haldir and the other elves. This went on the entirety of the journey south, until finally they reached the fields of Cormallen.
As the others entered the field, Anna could see that a great battle had been fought there. As far as the mortal eye could see were tents of every different color, men with long blonde hair and bright armour could be seen everywhere, while here and there Anna caught sight of an occasional elf, but what drew her attention most was the small group of people who had first sent her with the elves. Many thoughts ran through Anna's head for seeing the people who had rescued her from Old Beardy made her heart jump. Anna and Haldir dismounted, and Anna felt as though she were walking like a b-movie western cowboy. She had been on the horse so long that she wondered if she would be able to walk properly without having to impose on the elven healer again. There were the twins, Elrohir and Elladan; Gimli the short, bearded red-head; Eomer, the handsome leader of the horsemen, and Legolas' friend Aragorn. Gandalf was also present, as were Peregrin and Merry.
She could speak their language now enough to make herself understood, and since this seemed to be a victory celebration, perhaps now at last they would be able to find a way to help her get home. Home, the mere thought of the word almost brought tears to her eyes. Anna had made many good friends here, but nothing could take the place of family. Gimli came running over to them to tease Legolas and speak with the others, so Anna decided to take the opportunity to tease Legolas also.
"Well met Gimli". Anna said in Sindarin.
"I see you have learned something useful in the time you spent with the elves." replied Gimli. "It is good to see you my lady, but what has happened to your hair?"
Anna blushed a little, but decided to make a joke of it answering him. "The journey here was so swift and I bounced so badly on the horse that my hair is still on the road, but I am sure it will catch up to where it used to be eventually."
Gimli laughed.Then Legolas having heard this, said something to Gimli in a language she could not understand. Gimli looked slightly embarrassed and said to Anna, "I'm sorry my lady I did not realize you had been so ill. May I hope you are feeling better now since you are able to joke about it?"
"I am feeling much better and now that I am able to speak a language we both understand I wanted to thank you for how kind you were to me when we first met."
Now Gimli's blush deepened and he mumbled," T'was nothing my lady."
At this point the twins came over to the group.
Elladan asked. "Are you two entertaining this nice adaneth with stories of my exploits?"
And Ellrohir cut in before she could answer, "No they are of course telling her of my exploits instead."
This made Anna laugh loudly and she was just about to answer when Haldir came up behind her and startled her. Anna gasped turned and, without thinking, out slipped one of those curse words she had learned on her way to Lothlorien.
This made Gimli laugh and Elladan ask, "Is this what you have been teaching her Haldir?"
Haldir responded. "Take care Elladan or the lady will name you tur-keiy, which is a bird from her homeland and also a mild insult if I understand correctly."
"The word is Turkey." Anna corrected then added, "It is a type of wild fowl, but I don't wish to be accused of turning this conversation to the wild and the foul"
The elves who could not resist puns, even bad ones, joined in kind.
Elladan said,"Oh have no fear lady; we do not mind such flights of conversation."
And Elrohir added,"oh yes, we are used to dealing with flighty conversations and flighty women."
Celeborn, having heard most of this exchange, could not resist adding his own contribution by telling the twins about Thranduil and the seagull's little gift to him.Then lady Galadriel joined them and said, "Celeborn don't be such a goose. " By then Peregrin had joined them and said, "all this talk of birds is making me hungry!"
Anna's stomach chose this moment to rumble and Haldir said."I believe Anna agrees."
This made them all laugh heartily again while peregrin said,"then come with me, my lady. I know where we can both get tea and rolls and some cheese and fruits."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.