Even though the people around her had suffered great loss their compassion for others was greater still. Before Anna and the elves left to head north the small group had been given a few horses, some provisions and the opportunity to rest and bathe. A tall blonde woman with flowing hair had even found Anna a couple of old home spun dresses with some patched blouses to go under them and a patched wool cloak. The bath consisted of water heated in a cauldron and poured into a wooden barrel, but after so long without one, anything felt better than nothing. The soap was like borax and smelt different from anything she was used to. There was no shampoo, so she scrubbed her hair with soap lather. For the first time in days she felt clean, warm and well fed so it was no surprise that she slept like a log that night.
The next day Anna felt sore muscles in places she had not realized she had them. Her body ached and she wanted nothing more than to remain under the warm blankets. Unfortunately the leader of the group had other ideas and after a light meal of some vegetable soup and an unleavened bread they called lembas, the litter which carried Haldir was strapped travois style to the back of one of the horses and they set out. Anna was offered a horse to ride but decided to walk for a while as she'd had enough time on horseback to last her a lifetime. Anna had begun to accept that wherever she was, it certainly was not Kansas. The language these people spoke was merely the beginning of their strangeness. It was not just their unusual beauty or their pointed ears either. The swords they carried were long and had she not seen them stop now and then to sharpen them, she would have thought they were ceremonial, for they were elaborately decorated with scrollwork and writing of some sort. What she could see of the writing looked like Greek or Arabic, with fancy curves and angles that reminded her nothing of the English alphabet she was used to. Even the bows, quivers and arrows they used did not look like anything she had seen in the sports stores back home. Above all, Anna had never seen so many drop dead gorgeous guys in her life and was beginning to wonder if she was just developing a fetish for Europeans with blonde hair and musical accents. These guys were all tall, muscular with large eyes, moist, inviting lips and tight rear ends. All of them seemed to have somewhat pointed ears. Somehow even their body language was strange and it took a while to grow comfortable around them.
The nights, unfortunately, were freezing. Orophin and the others did not seem to notice the cold. Anna, on the other hand, shivered violently the first night until Orophin had her lay her bedroll closer to the fire and threw an extra cloak over her. She wrapped up mummy style and prayed fervently that she wouldn't get pneumonia. The next morning when she woke she found herself lying with her back tucked spoon fashion next to Orophin. She blushed but Orophin just smiled and wished her a good morning and someone brought her some food.
On the second morning, her curiosity and her blisters began to get the better of her. Anna's shoes were made of light canvas and not meant to hold up to the rigors of hiking miles a day through underbrush. During a water break, she plopped down and removed her shoes to check the damage. Her open bleeding blisters were killing her, but she was too proud to admit that she couldn't go on in this condition.
Fortunately Orophin, spared her from admitting it. He gazed at her sores wide eyed for a second or two, said something the tone of which sounded very much like, "you should have let me know" and before she could move or utter a sound, he had one of her feet in his hands. Anna felt a heat move through her body where he touched her and at first assumed it was merely that his hands were much warmer and more comfortable than she had expected. When his eyes met hers once more and he reached for her other foot, she realized that the pain in the first foot was gone and, what was more, the blisters seemed to have calloused over and begun to heal so that she could walk on them again. Anna was so stunned she asked him point blank in her own language, forgetting for a moment he couldn't understand,
"How did you do that?"
His only response was to smile shake his head and pat her on the top of her head. Anna smiled, a bit embarrassed that she had momentarily lapsed into babbling, then called after him as he began to walk away.
"Orophin, thank you."
Orophin look somewhat confused, so Anna repeated the phrase trying to explain with gestures. Suddenly Orophin's face got the look of someone who has just made a brilliant discovery and repeated as near as he was able,
"Thamk dhu." Then said slowly and clearly "Lle Hanon."
Anna, smiling brightly, had learned yet another phrase and repeated it.
" Lle Hanon, Orophin."
Orophin then found her a spare pair of boots, of course somewhat too large, but he solved that problem by stuffing some soft moss into the toes then lining them with some strips of cloth. It was not the best pair of hand me down shoes that she'd had, but they were a whole lot better than her boat shoes had been.
Anna remained close to Haldir and tried her best to help when she could. It was damp and very cold. Anna thought Haldir should never be exposed to the elements, but they had been traveling for days with no sign of civilization in sight and so Haldir was brought as close to the fire as possible, water was heated in a pot and Orophin did his best to give him a sponge bath. Once Anna realized what he was doing she grabbed a second dry cloth and started in washing and drying Haldir's other side, covering each part after she finished. Orophin smiled and surprised Anna by telling her
"Thamk dhu."
Lle Hanon became Anna's new favorite phrase. She felt a little silly, but as she did not know how long she would be with these folk, she thought it best to immerse herself in their language. After that first day, whenever they stopped for food water or rest, Anna would point to something and ask Orophin to tell her what it was called. Once Orophin figured out what it was she wanted, her language lessons started in earnest. A few things were rather straightforward. Yes was still signified by a nod of the head, no by a shake. More often than not “no” was spoken vehemently and accompanied not only by a shake of the head, but also a restraining hand. This would have offended Anna's sense of independence if she did not continually remind herself that these people were at war. She found that if she thought a moment about what it was they did not want her to do, and then put it in the light of possible ambush from enemies, their precautions began to make sense. It took weeks of cross-country travel before the group reached what they seemed to consider civilization. There were not enough horses for everyone so they took turns riding, although with some on foot and Haldir on a travois it was slow going. During this time Anna learned a few basic phrases in their tongue, including the fact that they called themselves edhel, though Anna was not certain if this was their species or their nationality.
That first week passed quickly. The group made camp when they came to a place they considered somewhat defensible and when it was obvious Anna and Haldir were exhausted. Haldir continued to slip in and out of consciousness and while they spoke too quickly to catch a sense of what they were saying, by their tones and the look in their eyes Anna knew they were all deeply worried. They ate, trying to feed Haldir also in his moments of semi-lucidity. It rather amazed Anna that these people had nothing that she could identify as medical equipment. She had seen one of their company collecting herbs- at least she assumed that what he had been doing, though she could not yet be entirely sure that he was their doctor. The only defined role she could figure out was that Orophin was in charge.
Orophin turned out to be a real sweetheart in fact. It did not escape Anna's notice that she was the only female in the group, but whenever she had to use the bathroom, give her self a sponge bathe or change her clothes, she was given privacy. At least she thought she was. The guys did not overreact as Legolas had, but she occasionally got the strange feeling that she was being watched. She never saw anyone actually spying on her while she bathed or changed, but she could not shake the paranoid feeling that there was someone watching. By the time she arrived in Lothlorien, she had a fair vocabulary, which included what she assumed were a few naughty words judging by the reactions she got when she used them, and the fact that they did not want her to repeat those particular phrases.
When they came to the edge of a large wood Orophin explained as best he could that he must now blindfold her. If he had tried to do so before they spent a week together in the bush, she might have been totally freaked out by the thought. But, having begun to accept the need for stealth, secrecy and being on one's guard, she figured it was just par for the course. No strangers allowed to see where the main home base was etc. Anna accepted the blindfold with a poise she had not realized she possessed. Being hefted into a boat with someone behind her and carried across what she could hear was running water took a bit more to stand, but she had decided somewhere along their trip that she trusted Orophin. He was after all bigger, stronger, and more capable of surviving out in the wild than she. If the elves had wanted her dead, they could have killed her before now. Instead, they had trusted a complete stranger in an obvious time of war, so who was she to kick and scream over a few logical precautions? Once they were deep into the wood the blindfold was removed. Anna stared in awe. Before her were the beauties of the Central American jungle and the majesty of the Olympic rain forest and the grandeur of the giant redwoods all rolled into one. She just stood there letting her eyes adjust and drinking in all the beauty around her.
"Wow" escaped her lips.
It was the only way one could greet such splendor. Ororphin did not recognize the word, but he obviously knew what she was feeling because it was written in her face and demeanor.
He smiled slowly and nodded his head repeating,
"Wow."
Anna would have loved to stay there staring for a while but Orophin had other ideas. He guided her to a large tree with a winding stair circling it, disappearing into the canopy above. With Anna in tow, he started up the stair at a rather quick pace, but slowed when he realized she was having a problem with the height. Anna was visibly frightened and shaking, but also determined to face her fear. After all, if Orophin could do it so could she! Little did she know that facing her fear of heights was only the beginning of the challenges she would face in the Golden Wood.
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.