The Garden of Broken Souls

(Chapters 1-4 Revised at posting of 5)

Disclaimer: I came up with the plot and theory (Of the Necromancer changing the behavior of the elves, who were part of the wood he corrupted). But now, I own… nothing! Anything that should be mine belongs to the Tolkien estate. My gift to them.

A/N: Moo. I made it- eh? Two months! For this chapter, you have my writing teacher, Mrs. J, to thank. She allows us to free write if we follow certain requirements.

Anise POV

I awoke to one of the most pleasant sounds I had ever heard. The sound of … a bird?

No. It was too deep to be a bird, even though it sounds just as lovely. If not more.

The sound was so much more vocal. But I’d never heard anything like it, so I assumed immediately it was one of those majestic flightful creatures Shannon: 'Like a Penguin!' Petra: 'You fool.'. It was of a deep, dark, melancholy tune and it was one with everything around me.

I stretched my eyes open (although instantly it seemed I hadn’t). This is where we were, I remembered now. Meh. My thoughts went back to the music, and it surprised me- I had not realized it sooner, when it could only obviously have been my traveling companion, the elf-dude. The elf-prince. The Legolas.

Now, insane as it sounds, I deeply wanted to start walking, as I wanted deeply to have someone to talk to. Was he be someone who would listen? How was I going to get his attention? The stupid elves, always stuck in big, stupid evil trees. I was beginning to hate these trees, always ready to shade out their brothers and sisters, reaching and wanting and lusting for the Sun. Gradually their greed would kill their lower branches, kill themselves.

Now wasn’t that how it always worked out?

But wait, Legolas- ‘Prince’ Legolas, I mean- said it was the fault of the Everdark. That stupid, spineless, nefarious Everdark who needed me, for some absurd reason… I seethed. Just who did he think he was! Sauron? Oh, God, that’s right. Oh, GodohGodohGodohGod. I spazzed. Why, though?

Was I special? Do I have some sort of… power? I did come here, didn’t I?

Anyway, I placed my hands where the first branch grew. Although the elf-dude’s singing had lowered to but a gentle hum. How dare he, it was so dark down here- selfish fool. Not really, actually. The music made no sense, really- it was in a different language entirely. I don’t mean it wasn’t err, Westron, it wasn’t even Elvish. The meaning was in a different language. Impossible to translate into anything you could understand.

I shouted up to him, “Prince Legolas?”

Legolas POV

A small leather sack in my hand, and a song in my mind, I climbed to the top of a tree, leaving the young woman behind to sleep peacefully. As I reached the top, a cool breath of air hit my face and I could see the black butterflies all around me, basking in the early sun.

And then I called them to me, in a sort of cross between a whisper and a song, their language… something entirely unique, and impossible to describe.

Seeing such a magical sight such as this, so quiet and fantastical, allowed me to tune out most of my senses, although I was conscious enough to sense danger. The butterflies were drawn to the call, as if it were a fire. It saddened me; they would be lost to one. I thanked them for their willingness to help me. I caught two of them in my bag, thinking through my experiment.

From there my musings drifted to the South, where the shadows multiplied and continued to grow.

How could I tell the Lady Anise my suspicions as to why the Necromancer needed her? She certainly had the right to know, but was I the person to tell her? I couldn’t. Not now… and yet she would have to know eventually.

I snatched a third out of the air, dropped it into the sack, and ceased my song, when I felt that she was at the base of the tree, and sure enough, the young woman’s voice drifted up through the dark branches.

Anise POV

“I’m up here,” Legolas answered me.

“I can tell that… do you mind if I go up as well? The darkness down here, it’s overwhelming,” I begged.

“Of course not- It would be incredibly cruel of me otherwise. I’m sorry I did not wake you, but I wanted to let you rest.”

Muttering a reply of “S’okay,” although I doubted he could understand the slang, I placed my foot in the v of the tree’s first branch, and proceeded to climb. The branches became thinner and thinner, dangerously thin even, and yet, I was too embarrassed to ask for help. This caused me to hug what was left of the trunk, and shinny up it with my feet, very, very slowly.

I finally reached the top, and felt the sudden urge to go down.

"Ahh! It burns!" I squeaked, as I slapped my hand over my eyes. I peeked out from between my fingers, and noticed Legolas trying to contain his laughter. "That's no very nice." I accused.

He raised his eyebrows apologetically, and his gaze shifted to the south. Then he pointed where the trees were growing more spindly, the leaves darker, closer to some mountains, with bare precipices.

"Dol Guldor lies somewhere beyond those mountains," he informed me. "Let us hope our paths never cross there."

I nodded solemnly. And looked back towards the direction we had come from. The sun was rising, and it was crowned in all sorts of colours. Bright kumquat orange, strawberry red, blood red, Caribbean turquoise, and all the colours in between. Silhouetted against the dawn were black moths, or butterflies. Suddenly, from the back of my mind, I recalled something from The Hobbit, although here, I suppose it would be There and Back Again. I felt a slight twist in my stomach, were these the same ones Bilbo was goingto see? These 'black emperors'?

In the light again, looking at the sunrise and the butterflies, and the deep pool of green around me, I realized this is how Mirkwood must have been once. Greenwood the Great. The scene I was witnessing now was but a memory of a dream, and it was slipping away as the shadow grew. It was almost lost completely. But... wait. It hasn't not been lost yet. The reason it was saved was because the White Council, they drove the Necromancer away.

Who had told them of him? What if it was Legolas... and... me?

I nearly fell out of the tree with the weight of my epiphany, but luckily, I kept my hold.

"What were you doing up here in the first place?" I asked the elf. He shrugged, and began to climb down the tree.

"You'll see, soon enough."

“Legolas? What was it like before the Necromancer?” I asked in the midst of our walking.

“Life was gold and green, and there were many animals throughout the wood. Numerous hunts and celebrations took place not far off this path, and the kingdom was much larger… nearly all was peaceful, except for the War of Jewels, with the dwarves, although my birth was after it.” he enunciated the word ‘dwarves’ with quite a bit of spite. I found this amusing, considering his future.

Oh cool! I can tell the future!

Legolas proceeded to ask me about what life where I had come from. Admittedly, it was very difficult for me to answer.

“There is no way you would believe anything I said,” I tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

“I believed your testimony, did I not?”

“Umm, maybe?”

“You accuse me of being untrusting,” he said, mimicking being offended.

“Well, umm… what do you want to know?”

“Anything, everything. You are going to me by traveling companion for a month, maybe. How is either of us supposed to feel comfortable with a stranger for so long?”

He had a point… man this guy was good with words. So I began, as I found conversation lightened up everything. “Well, I’m eighteen years old, so I’m a Senior… eh, never mind. I lived with my alone with my father… and I liked to read, write, and swim. I don’t know what else to tell you without confusing you,” I finished lamely, even though I had a feeling I was going to end up explaining Franklin and Einstein experiments.

After a long day of walking, and explaining the concept of binary code, we sat down, not to start again until the next morning, for a dinner of –surprise- lembas bread, and a few scraps of dried fruit. Joy.

In a moment though, the elf-dude stood up again, and instructed me to wait, while he went into the woods for a short time. What was he up to?

As soon as he left, I was surprised to find myself feeling lonely, in a big, empty wood. He had been such a lovely person to talk to, and I had to admit it was fun to be the smarter in some subjects than someone… 200 times your age? Was it possible to be able to converse with someone that much older than you? I didn’t like perplexing myself with impossibilities, but they came up anyhow.

Quite a while later, I felt Legolas come back. Not heard, felt. He dropped some things on the side of the path. “Watch,” he said, and I crept closer.

And then I saw a flame, illuminating his hand. He sat back, and dropped it on what appeared to be some tinder. I was completely confused. I thought you couldn’t make fires here. But I stayed silent, as he built it up. Only when it became big enough (the size of a small campfire) that it drew insects to us, I spoke up.

“Eh, Prince Legolas? We’re getting spiders.”

He simply gave me an unreadable look, and took out the small pouch I had seem him with earlier in the canopy. He emptied out two of the black emperor butterflies, they lay dead in his hand. With a sort of gentle sorrow, he tossed them into the fire, and the smoke began to smell slightly different. It didn’t smell unpleasant, but it was strong, and rather bitter. A few seconds later, I noticed some of the large yellow insect eyes disappearing.

Legolas grinned.

“The Moriwilwarin are so numerous because they have developed a tendency to taste awful to spiders, and other insects that would otherwise eat them. I had hoped burning them would have the same effect. And,” he gestured to the eyeless trees, “it seems I was right.”

“Cool.” I said. That was pretty interesting. “But why are the called Moriwilwarin?”

“In your tongue, it would mean ‘black butterfly’.”

How creative.

“Now it’s your turn- what do you mean by ‘cool’? The fire is warm.”

I loved this. “Interesting,” I explained.

GemmaniGirl: Thanks! I hope you like this one too.