Post by The Pilot on Sept 14, 2007 12:41:35 GMT -5
“All right,” Narthas said once they were back in the relative privacy of their room. The elf sat down on the edge of his bed and motioned for Lauren to sit across from him on her own bed. “I’ve got a plan.”
The girl nodded. “Go.”
“We’re going to need to split up. No no, just for a little while. You see, we’ve spent all of this time thinking about what’s been going on, and haven’t given any thought to your future as a citizen of Gondor.”
Lauren narrowed her eyes at the elf. “Oh, hell no. There is no way that I’m going to sit back and dick around while everyone else concerns themselves with this situation. I’m not going to pretend like nothing’s happening.” She folded her arms defiantly.
Narthas held his hands up and shook his head. “No, no, that’s not what I’m saying at all. I need you. We all need you. Your knowledge of these other fandoms is an incredibly important asset that we can’t afford to just shoo away. No, you‘re definitely going to play a good role in all of this.” He lowered his defenses and adjusted his sitting position on the bed. “Now then. You,” --he gestured to her here-- “Are going to live with Faramir for the time being.”
Lauren blinked and her mouth parted. “Live… with Faramir? And Eowyn?”
“…for the time being,” he finished for her. “I’m going to be honest. You need a place to live near the city. I’ve got homes in Lorien and Dol Amroth, but both of those are three days away at best. Minas Tirith is our home base, and you need to be here.”
“What… where are you going to be then?”
Narthas sighed. “I will most likely be abroad. If we can anticipate any battles, or if we have missions planned, then I will let you know one way or another.”
“We? Who’s we?”
“Myself, the Autobots, and a few allies that Fen has gone to enlist.”
“So Fen’s gone? Back to wherever it is that he came from?”
Narthas nodded. “That’s correct.”
“Did he leave after you talked to him last night?” The girl knitted her brows and studied the elf sitting in front of her.
He gazed at her sidelong, as though she was saying something suspicious. “Why… do you ask?”
“He didn’t take a ship out, did he?”
Narthas finally caught onto her subtle accusation, and abruptly stood up in response, making wild gestures at her. “He ASKED me to do it! It would save so much time, energy, and resources in the end, not to mention keep his project running smoothly and secretly!”
“I knew it!” the girl spat at him. She jumped up and stared fiercely into his fiery green eyes. “Goddamn it, Narthas! You lied to me! You fucking lied through your teeth! How in the hell are we going to be able to work as a team to defeat these guys if you can’t be honest about anything!” She threw her hands up and stormed away from him to take a few moment’s refuge on the other side of the room. Unfortunately, the elf followed her.
“I knew you were going to do this, regardless of when I chose to tell you!” he snarled at her. “In fact, you should be THANKING me for having Morithil do it if you truly care about the purity of this Middle-earth. Aikanaro ar’ agar.” He uttered the last words like an obscene curse.
Lauren turned around to see the angriest Narthas she’d ever seen before. With a few deep, loud breaths, she lowered her voice. “I know all of that. I know that portal kept whatever it is that he’s dong up there secret. But you know what? It’s not the fact that you opened a second rift that pisses me off. It’s that you didn’t tell me about it.” She stared at him and after the last word left her mouth, Lauren saw him falter. His eyes softened before he closed them, and his threatening posture slackened. He heaved a great sigh.
“You’re right… you’re right. I should have told you. I’m terribly sorry.”
Lauren studied him for a moment before giving one last sigh herself. She retreated back to the beds, took a seat, and Narthas sat next to her. “You gotta be able to be honest with me, dude. I mean, we are connected at the brain and all that. I only know everything about you from the third age back.” The two sat in silence, staring at their feet, until Lauren spoke again. “You never told me about the conversation you had with Fen.”
“Oh, right,” the elf said. “Because it had been months since I met with him last, during that time he found out about the Sith alliance with an array of despicable creatures. So my information about the robots was old news. However, he discovered that the Mithril, in its purest form, is a potent energy source that the Decepticons are really starting to appreciate. He also got word through local gossip that the Sith had mines to the north, in the Iron Hills. Unfortunately, those sources were depleted after only a few weeks, and so it was abandoned. Where they are now, we can only guess. A pretty good guess would be that they’re sending scouts southward in search of more veins…” he pondered his own words for a moment, before an ‘aha’ moment presented itself. “That’s it!”
Lauren jumped. “What?”
“These shadows in the woods are scouting for mining locations in the foothills.”
“But why those foothills?” She studied his pensive face, seeing that he was pulling up his intensely detailed and accurate mental map of the world.
“Think about that entire area. That portion of the mountains is where Edoras and Gondor are closest.”
“So they are trying to get as close as they can to Rohan’s capital without actually getting near at all since that region of the mountains is impassible as far as anyone can tell.”
“Right. And what is so special about Edoras? Why are they showing so much interest in it?”
“There can’t be a vein under the plains. The geology isn’t right for things like that. What else is close to that town that would be of interest? Helm’s Deep?”
Narthas began to pace. He went back and forth several times in silence before speaking again. “Alright… alright. What’s in Helm’s Deep that they would like?”
Lauren knew there was something else there, but her memory failed her. “I don’t remember.”
“Glittering Caves,” the elf said, punctuating the statement with an index finger.
“There’s a vein in the mountains?”
“It’s all connected. Gondor’s foothills are closer to Rohan’s foothills than you think. They could mine either side.”
“But why an attempt on Eomer’s life? Why care about Rohan at all if they can dig in peace over here?”
“Because the caves had the mine dug out for them already. It would save time and labor.”
“Alright, but what does that have to do with the King?”
Narthas paused. “A successful assassination would leave the throne open for rule by another. A new king means new ideas. New laws. New restrictions.”
“A new king means forbidding anyone to get near Helm’s Deep because of a secret mining operation inside that he plans on using to help fuel an alien war.”
“Bingo.”
“Fortunately, none of that happened, and the alien criminal is probably dead now. So they don’t feel that a second attempt would be the wisest thing to do, and so they just looked past Edoras for now and are setting their sights on Gondor’s half of the White Mountains.”
“You’re smarter than you look.”
“Oh, shut up. So what do we do now?”
The elf stopped pacing and folded his arms across his chest. “Today, you ride out to seek Faramir in Ithilien. I go find the Autobots in the Greywood, let them refuel, discuss with them what we have done here, then head west with two of them. I want one of them to remain here with you just in case anything happens to us. In two days, I want you to come back to the city and go to The Underground--”
“The Underground?”
“It’s Fen’s club. Aptly named, I know. I’ll write down directions for you. Anyways. In two days, return, go to the club. I’ll meet you back there for further instruction. Got it?”
The girl nodded. “I think so. How are you so sure that Faramir will take me in, though?”
“He will. Tell him you’re a friend of mine.”
Another silence passed between them, though the air in the room was far from dead. In fact, it was charged with an incredible energy and anxiousness, tinged with a small hint of wanderlust, and projections of what great or terrible things awaited them, hidden behind the mists of the future.
“Should we leave?”
Narthas nodded. “We should.”
The girl nodded. “Go.”
“We’re going to need to split up. No no, just for a little while. You see, we’ve spent all of this time thinking about what’s been going on, and haven’t given any thought to your future as a citizen of Gondor.”
Lauren narrowed her eyes at the elf. “Oh, hell no. There is no way that I’m going to sit back and dick around while everyone else concerns themselves with this situation. I’m not going to pretend like nothing’s happening.” She folded her arms defiantly.
Narthas held his hands up and shook his head. “No, no, that’s not what I’m saying at all. I need you. We all need you. Your knowledge of these other fandoms is an incredibly important asset that we can’t afford to just shoo away. No, you‘re definitely going to play a good role in all of this.” He lowered his defenses and adjusted his sitting position on the bed. “Now then. You,” --he gestured to her here-- “Are going to live with Faramir for the time being.”
Lauren blinked and her mouth parted. “Live… with Faramir? And Eowyn?”
“…for the time being,” he finished for her. “I’m going to be honest. You need a place to live near the city. I’ve got homes in Lorien and Dol Amroth, but both of those are three days away at best. Minas Tirith is our home base, and you need to be here.”
“What… where are you going to be then?”
Narthas sighed. “I will most likely be abroad. If we can anticipate any battles, or if we have missions planned, then I will let you know one way or another.”
“We? Who’s we?”
“Myself, the Autobots, and a few allies that Fen has gone to enlist.”
“So Fen’s gone? Back to wherever it is that he came from?”
Narthas nodded. “That’s correct.”
“Did he leave after you talked to him last night?” The girl knitted her brows and studied the elf sitting in front of her.
He gazed at her sidelong, as though she was saying something suspicious. “Why… do you ask?”
“He didn’t take a ship out, did he?”
Narthas finally caught onto her subtle accusation, and abruptly stood up in response, making wild gestures at her. “He ASKED me to do it! It would save so much time, energy, and resources in the end, not to mention keep his project running smoothly and secretly!”
“I knew it!” the girl spat at him. She jumped up and stared fiercely into his fiery green eyes. “Goddamn it, Narthas! You lied to me! You fucking lied through your teeth! How in the hell are we going to be able to work as a team to defeat these guys if you can’t be honest about anything!” She threw her hands up and stormed away from him to take a few moment’s refuge on the other side of the room. Unfortunately, the elf followed her.
“I knew you were going to do this, regardless of when I chose to tell you!” he snarled at her. “In fact, you should be THANKING me for having Morithil do it if you truly care about the purity of this Middle-earth. Aikanaro ar’ agar.” He uttered the last words like an obscene curse.
Lauren turned around to see the angriest Narthas she’d ever seen before. With a few deep, loud breaths, she lowered her voice. “I know all of that. I know that portal kept whatever it is that he’s dong up there secret. But you know what? It’s not the fact that you opened a second rift that pisses me off. It’s that you didn’t tell me about it.” She stared at him and after the last word left her mouth, Lauren saw him falter. His eyes softened before he closed them, and his threatening posture slackened. He heaved a great sigh.
“You’re right… you’re right. I should have told you. I’m terribly sorry.”
Lauren studied him for a moment before giving one last sigh herself. She retreated back to the beds, took a seat, and Narthas sat next to her. “You gotta be able to be honest with me, dude. I mean, we are connected at the brain and all that. I only know everything about you from the third age back.” The two sat in silence, staring at their feet, until Lauren spoke again. “You never told me about the conversation you had with Fen.”
“Oh, right,” the elf said. “Because it had been months since I met with him last, during that time he found out about the Sith alliance with an array of despicable creatures. So my information about the robots was old news. However, he discovered that the Mithril, in its purest form, is a potent energy source that the Decepticons are really starting to appreciate. He also got word through local gossip that the Sith had mines to the north, in the Iron Hills. Unfortunately, those sources were depleted after only a few weeks, and so it was abandoned. Where they are now, we can only guess. A pretty good guess would be that they’re sending scouts southward in search of more veins…” he pondered his own words for a moment, before an ‘aha’ moment presented itself. “That’s it!”
Lauren jumped. “What?”
“These shadows in the woods are scouting for mining locations in the foothills.”
“But why those foothills?” She studied his pensive face, seeing that he was pulling up his intensely detailed and accurate mental map of the world.
“Think about that entire area. That portion of the mountains is where Edoras and Gondor are closest.”
“So they are trying to get as close as they can to Rohan’s capital without actually getting near at all since that region of the mountains is impassible as far as anyone can tell.”
“Right. And what is so special about Edoras? Why are they showing so much interest in it?”
“There can’t be a vein under the plains. The geology isn’t right for things like that. What else is close to that town that would be of interest? Helm’s Deep?”
Narthas began to pace. He went back and forth several times in silence before speaking again. “Alright… alright. What’s in Helm’s Deep that they would like?”
Lauren knew there was something else there, but her memory failed her. “I don’t remember.”
“Glittering Caves,” the elf said, punctuating the statement with an index finger.
“There’s a vein in the mountains?”
“It’s all connected. Gondor’s foothills are closer to Rohan’s foothills than you think. They could mine either side.”
“But why an attempt on Eomer’s life? Why care about Rohan at all if they can dig in peace over here?”
“Because the caves had the mine dug out for them already. It would save time and labor.”
“Alright, but what does that have to do with the King?”
Narthas paused. “A successful assassination would leave the throne open for rule by another. A new king means new ideas. New laws. New restrictions.”
“A new king means forbidding anyone to get near Helm’s Deep because of a secret mining operation inside that he plans on using to help fuel an alien war.”
“Bingo.”
“Fortunately, none of that happened, and the alien criminal is probably dead now. So they don’t feel that a second attempt would be the wisest thing to do, and so they just looked past Edoras for now and are setting their sights on Gondor’s half of the White Mountains.”
“You’re smarter than you look.”
“Oh, shut up. So what do we do now?”
The elf stopped pacing and folded his arms across his chest. “Today, you ride out to seek Faramir in Ithilien. I go find the Autobots in the Greywood, let them refuel, discuss with them what we have done here, then head west with two of them. I want one of them to remain here with you just in case anything happens to us. In two days, I want you to come back to the city and go to The Underground--”
“The Underground?”
“It’s Fen’s club. Aptly named, I know. I’ll write down directions for you. Anyways. In two days, return, go to the club. I’ll meet you back there for further instruction. Got it?”
The girl nodded. “I think so. How are you so sure that Faramir will take me in, though?”
“He will. Tell him you’re a friend of mine.”
Another silence passed between them, though the air in the room was far from dead. In fact, it was charged with an incredible energy and anxiousness, tinged with a small hint of wanderlust, and projections of what great or terrible things awaited them, hidden behind the mists of the future.
“Should we leave?”
Narthas nodded. “We should.”
