Saturday, December 25, 2010

Anarawen- I

It started out as a fan-fiction. I wrote this one back in 2003 after highschool while waiting for university entrance. I found it back while I was digging old books on my bookshelf. I made some minor editions to the old version. It gave me strange nostalgia & a sense of belonging. It made me realize that I don't write or draw anymore. I have lost some parts of myself along the way, from where I started till today. I need myself back and I need all my passions and 'will'
back into motion. It made me realize how I need to feel alive again.Though I do not regret or repent the things I have chosen to do, I do have to admit that some choices made me feel like I have sacrificed some parts of myself. So, this is to remind and resuscitate some parts of me that could hopefully be revived.

I don't know whether I should be continuing this piece of love story to its ending.. A little advice would be warmly welcomed..

With love,
Su H Cho

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Chapter One: The unexpected stranger



Under the silence of a wondrous winter evening, the white forest, with sparkles of snow coloring the leaves and branches which were once very green and colorful by the beauty of the blossoms, slept quietly. It seemed to have no visitors at all under the wild cold, but there was one.



Aldermund sheltered his keen elfin eyes from the falling snow with his right hand to get a better view of the surrounding. As he wandered around in this forest again today, after the great battle of middle-earth against Sauron, his heart beat faster and he felt home again. Through years of peace and serenity lived middle-earth, and after their ignorance it was evident that great evil had once again been awaken to seek power over the lands. His long journey started with accompanying one of his brothers, Legolas, to Rivandell for fellowship meeting and afterwards, he stayed on in Rivendell waiting for the battle summon. He looked around and whispered to himself;


“nothing has ch…”.


Suddenly his whisper stopped for he saw a figure lying at a distance. He approached fast but with the silence of an elf and caution of a warrior for he had no wish to get any surprises. As he got near, he found the figure to be a girl, lying unconscious under a tree, barely breathing. He glanced upon the stranger’s face.


“She’s quite young. What is a human doing alone in this forest afar from civilization at such a time?”


He thought to himself with a bit of confusion, but he had no time to wonder. Aldermund picked the unexpected guest up and walked quietly leaving no footprints behind to find a shelter as the weak human needed immediate care. After a few minutes of searching, Aldermund found a small cottage. He walked towards it and knocked the door but no one replied. So, he opened the door himself and got into the cottage as he had not the time to waste in the snow for the girl could die of cold.



Inside, only a bed with hay over it and a rounded wood block at the end of it was found as furniture. The cottage must have been left by someone long ago for it looked quite messy. It could have been a shelter during the great battle. Aldermund took the poor girl onto the bed to make her comfortable. He searched around the cottage and found some dry wood left near the fire place. After a short while, the cottage got warmer and there was light by the fire he made. Aldermund placed the girl beside the fire place and put his green elfin coat on her as the cold outside was seeping in. The girl was awake but still wasn't fully aware of what was happening around her. She seemed to be very weak. Aldermund looked around the small cottage for something useful and he found a jar and a cracked cup covered with hay. Aldermund took the jar & cup and got out of the cottage to make them clean enough to use. He filled up the jar with snow and got back into the house to melt it in the fire as they needed water. He took some lembus bread that was left under his green coat out and crushed them into slight pieces. He put the pieces into the boiling water in the jar & it soon became a soup.


"Lembus bread soup?....... It's better than nothing."


Aldermund told himself and helped the girl drink it because she was too weak even to get herself upright.Aldermund looked at the girl and decided to wait there until she got better.



Chapter Two: "I must save her.."



Aldermund woke up when he heard some murmuring from the girl. He waited so long that he fell asleep sitting beside the girl with his eyes opened. Elves have the ability to sleep with the eyes opened. He found out soon enough that the girl hadn't gotten better. In fact, she even got worse.

"Impossible.. She has no wounds nor suffering. This could not be natural. She must be under
a spell..."
Aldermund looked at the young girl and he felt pity and sorrow for she was very young to die even for a human.

"It could not be such an absurdity to save a being, especially one that is too young to die.."

He told himself while pulling up the girl who had found her foolish way into such a forest under the horrific weather.

"What grace has given me, let it pass through her, let her be spared.."

Aldermund whispered holding the girl in his arms along with a kiss on the forehead. For the first time, he noticed the innocence on the girl's face. As he was holding her, he could hear the heartbeat of the girl. The girl winced as if she had some disturbing pain and as he was glancing upon her face, he felt a strange feeling passing through him. He had never been this close to a lady before, not a human, not an elf, not any, not ever.

It was a strange emotion, almost as gentle as kinship yet not quite the same, and it shook him from the roots to realize that it was his kind elfin heart that was starting to betray him. Yet he had never felt this betrayal before, not even with the fairest ladies of his kind.