[Airerûthiel]

Torfitien could not sleep; she had spent the best part of the night tossing and turning. Her intuition, which was unusually strong even for an Elf of Lórien, told her that evil no longer slept in Middle-earth. Sighing heavily, she rose from her bed and dressed in a simple blue and silver gown. Normally she would not have chosen to wear this, but it was all she had left. Torfithien had never liked wearing dresses, even as a small girl - maybe that was due to the fact that she had grown up with no mother, maybe it was because she felt as though her personality and inner desire for adventure was restricted by wearing gowns.

Her dreams had been troubled with visions of Celebrian being captured, hurt, maybe even killed. This set a bitter taste in the mouth of one who had known Elrond's wife since she was young, and she had been looking forward to her visit to the Golden Wood; many long years had passed since the two friends had seen or spoken with one another.

Torfithien allowed herself a wry smile at her use of the word 'friends'. While everyone referred to herself and the daughter of the Lord and Lady of the Wood that way, the two of them refused to acknowledge the relationship between them as such. But they had a strong bond nonetheless, and were as close as sisters.

She turned her thoughts away from these evil things that plagued her mind at such an hour, when all she wanted to do was dream away her cares and allow herself some well-deserved rest before morning came once more. As she stared out from the edge of her talan into the moonlit night, she dimly heard a strange sound - it came from the direction of the long-forgotten mines of Moria, a day's journey from her home in Lothlórien.

Intrigued as to what it was, she put on her fine grey cloak and crept down the long silver rope-ladder as silently as possible, being incredibly careful not to disturb any of her fellow Elves. She was walking to Caras Galadhron, where she hoped to find brief peace of mind and allow her restless mind to become calm once more, when suddenly she collided with a male Elven warrior who was clearly in a rush to get somewhere.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Torfithien asked, wary of this stranger. She did not trust others easily, particularly those she had never met. Her dark blue eyes met the grey ones of the male Elf, refusing to blink as she gave him a piercing stare.

"I am Glil-Ganduil, and I was part of the group escorting the Lady Celebrian to this very wood to visit her kin," he replied. "We have been attacked by Orcs. All others who were with the Lady are slain or scattered, but she..." He struggled to speak, finding no words to convey his seemingly turbulent emotions. "She has been captured. They took her into the mines. I believe she still lives, but whether that is true I know not. I wish to inform the Lady Galadriel of what has happened, but I seem to have lost my way. Would you be so kind as to show me the true path?"

A horribly bitter taste settled in Torfithien's mouth as the harsh reality of her friend's plight set in. She was in complete shock, letting Glil-Ganduil's words wash over her like the ocean over pebbles on a beach. All she caught was a request to give Elrond the message about his wife.

"Of course I will do this for you," she said. "When would you like me to leave?"

"As soon as possible, Lady Torfithien," replied Glil-Ganduil. When met with the surprised look on the female Elf's face, he replied, "The Lady Celebrian spoke highly of you on our journey. I remember she was eager to see you once again. She has missed you over these years you have spent apart." A small smile played on his lips as he looked at her.

Torfithien's heart was suddenly filled with gladness at this news of her childhood companion. Trying as hard as she could to show her still considerable concern, which dominated her emotions at that moment, she said to the messenger, "If you give me a boon, I shall return the favour. Caras Galadhron is not too far from here. I shall escort you there and request that you have permission to speak with Galadriel and Celeborn as soon as possible. In return, you must tell them that I have gone west to give your message to Elrond."

Glil-Ganduil nodded as the two began to walk in the direction of Caras Galadhron. "I will grant you that boon, Torfithien," he said. "But you must realise that, much as they love the Lady Celebrian and respect your position as her oldest friend, they will never allow you to do anything that may involve battle and conflict, purely because you are female."

Torfithien merely shrugged her shoulders. "Well, Glil-Ganduil, as much as I despise myself for going against the words of the Lord and Lady, I feel it is only my duty to honour my bond with the Lady Celebrian and help her in her hour of need. After all is said and done, she is still my friend, and friends are for nothing if not for each other to rely on when they are needed."

"Very well, though it is to your own folly should you fail in your task," replied the male Elf. "You may take my horse - Randir waits for a rider in a nearby glade."

After going back to collect some essential supplies for the journey and change into a tunic and trousers that had previously belonged to her brother, Torfithien thanked Glil-Ganduil for his generosity and set off on the west road to the Last Homely House. She rode long and hard for nigh on twelve days, through both day and night. Finally, after a long night of non-stop galloping under a full moon, which brought an extremely heavy fatigue to both herself and her horse, they reached Imladris.

"Not much further now, Randir my friend," said Torfithien as she dismounted. "We have nearly come to our destiny." And with that, she began the walk down to the House of Elrond. A small party of Elves were waiting for her, almost as though her coming had been expected.

"Welcome to Rivendell, Torfithien of Lórien!" the tallest one said (this was a thin distinction) as he bowed low. "We have heard from the Lady of the Golden Wood that you were bringing news of the Lady Celebrian, but alas! your message is untimely. Only a few hours ago another messenger arrived with news of the attack upon the party travelling to your home."

Torfithien's heart sank with the realisation that she would now have to face the long ride back to Lothlórien with nothing to show for her journey. "My thanks to you," she said, turning away as she began to walk back down the path towards where Randir waited for her. She had not gone more than around twenty paces when she heard someone calling to her.

"Wait!" The Elf turned to see the one who had greeted her standing behind her. "You are a representative of Lothlórien, and a friend to the Lady Celebrian, are you not?" For once, Torfithien merely nodded as opposed to correcting her definition of the connection between herself and Celebrian. "Elrond has seen you and requests that you at least attend the council being held. You are a little late, but I suppose that we can overlook that small mishap."

Torfithien nodded her gratitude and began to walk through Rivendell to the council-place. The Last Homely House was beautiful beyond belief - she could hardly believe how wonderfully calming and splendid the place was. Eventually the road through the garden-like grounds of Elrond's House led her to the circular council-place, where various others were seated already.

[ February 26, 2003: Message edited by: Airerûthiel ]