Axe you a question (Elentari, Gimli and Boromir)

Gimli had been waiting for the wizards and the lord Elf to come to a decision as to when they should leave. Not only that but they were depending on them to tell them what the final decision was regarding the Ring itself. That was playing across his mind but the fact of the matter was that he was he had bigger things on his mind.

Like the witch woman having the axe of thorin Oakenshield!

Thorin had had an almost legendary hostility towards anybody who wasn't a dwarf and yet this human wizard ended up with his legendary weapon? That made no sense to Gimli and hence why it was such an amazing mystery to discover. He waited outside her rooms, wanting to be the first person to talk to her when she left the room.

He looked down at his own axe a little bit forlornly.

The axe was broken in dozens of pieces and none of them big enough to help remake the axe head itself. His attack on the ring hadn't done any damage to the ring but it had shattered his axe. He would have it reforged, and blessed by Elentari if she was willing to do so for him.

Boromir, like Gimli, had some questions to ask of Elentari and he would have the answers that he sought. For example, he wanted to know how it was that she had taken out a Nazgul long enough to take it's flying mount for her own? He wanted to know how it was possible for he and his men to do so. He wanted to be able to use the enemy's weapon against them; even if Elentari said that it couldn't be taught, he would have his people protected no matter the cost god damn it!

He chuckled a little bit to himself as he picked up the legendary sword by the sword stand behind Gimli.

The sword itself was still sharp but it had obviously been out of luck for the longest of times. No one had felt the desire to reforge it so it laid there, a dusty old relic of an age that was long since past. But even so, it was still a powerful sword.

Shaking his head a little bit, he sat down by Gimli on the bench outside of her temporary lodgings. But maybe they should run away on a boat for a bit. He and the lovely witch of course. That the dwarf could stay on the land and complain as he spirited her away.

Elentari was pleased with the decision that they had made. They would leave Rivendell in a few days time after they had gathered the needed supplies, rested and trained the Hobbits a little bit. After all their skills with a blade were non-existent and they were going to need them as they would come up against foes and their companions would not be able to defend them from them.

Swooping out of the room, her leather boots soundlessly treading the ground, she was not surprised to see both Gimli and Boromir outside of her door, they both had things they wanted to ask her after all, and those things they had to ask were things she was all too willing to talk about. Being in the company of people again had done wonders for her, she was ready to converse with more, and form new allies.

As Gandalf told them about the arrangements, then promptly left with Elrond to go and tell the others, Elentari cocked an eyebrow and leant against one of the white stone pillars by the benches that the men were waiting by. It was rather endearing she thought that they were waiting to speak with her, instead of just finding her after they were done.

"I presume you both want to talk to me about something?" she asked with a playful smirk dancing across her lips, her gaze moving from Boromir to Gimli "And I believe that I can guess what it is you are going to ask me. You will be happy to hear that I have no qualms about answering these questions so...why don't you take it in turns or something?"

Continuing to lean nochelantly against the pillar, Elentari let her gaze linger on each man, before switching to the other, and then back again.

"Don't take too much time about it, I have my own errands to run." she stated, wagging her finger in the air to indicate the passing of the seconds.

When Elentari was at last released from the hold of the boring meeting, Gimli grinned a little bit behind his beard and bowed his head to her slightly as he stood up. He had to speak to her about something important and he'd be damned before he let Boromir, a human, ask his questions before him. Moving closer, he shot Boromir a look that told the man to stay out of the discussion,

"Aye, I wanted to ask you about the axe that you carry with you." he told her, gesturing towards the axe she was carrying almost lazily, "You carry with you the chief axe of Thorin Oakenshield, king of the Dwarves since the defeat of the dragon in the Lonely Dragon."

He blinked a little bit before sighing a little bit,

"I don't want to think you got this by using you magic on people's minds." he admitted, "But the fact remains that you have the power to take it from any dwarf who was tasked with it's protection then... I must ask if you got it through honourable means and if so, what makes this thing so proper. I need to know that it was a true sale before I cast judgement onto you."

He shuffled from foot to foot a little bit nervously,

"I don't want to seem rude but I have to know."

Boromir was more than a little bit annoyed that the dwarf had managed to approach Elentari first but to be honest he too was a little bit curious about how she had come to possess the axe. Thorin Oakenshield was a person so famous that even humans were told stories about his exploits, especially those that fought against orcs and dragons and the like. To those peoples, Oakenshield was a hero in the stories and a hero in real life too.

He was the one who parents in Gondor spoke of when they had to explain what it meant to sacrifice yourself for the good of your people. After all, stories said that Thorin died fighting the orcs and goblins of the misty mountains. That was something that the people of Gondor could respect. It was actually kind of an honour for even Boromir to be told about how Elentari came to possess his axe. It would give him something to add to the stories back home.

He scoffed a little bit at Gimli's badly worded question. To be honest he couldn't blame the half-man for being nervous around Elentari. She was a beautiful woman after all and they all knew that she was powerful beyond her years,

"I believe what he's trying to ask is how you got the Axe." he joked a little bit, getting some grinding teeth from Gimli that was actually audible in the air around them, "And he needs to file his teeth down too if that noise is any indication. After you're done trying to figure out what he's saying, I'd like to have a word with you though."

Elentari was a little surprised that it was the dwarf that managed to ask the question he wanted to first, she was certain that it would be the man to step forwards and assert himself in the situation to get the answers that he so desired. However she was more than happy to answer the dwarves question as well, it was she assumed, more interesting and pleasant than the question she would be asked by Boromir she was sure if what she thought he would ask was indeed correct.

Raising an eyebrow at what Gimli said, Elentari couldn't help but smile gently at him, he was nervous that much she could tell. His question could be offensive if she had decided to take offense to the idea that she used her powers in order to obtain the axe, instead of some other form of merit that was far more likely. It was indeed the latter that was how she had gotten the axe.

As Boromir stepped forwards, and reinforced what Gimli had said, Elentari was glad she had gotten it right, to be honest she had a hard time understanding the dwarf, speech at the best of times were not one of the strong suits of dwarves, so when nervous she was certain that it would be harder to understand them. Humming softly she ran her hand through her hair.

"Of course I will speak with you once Gimli has finished, but please do not feel the need to abstain from the conversation for my sake there is nothing I will say that I would have a problem with someone else hearing." Elentari admitted with a bright smile "It will make a far more interesting task for you than waiting around for me to be finished, don't you agree?"

Turning her smile to Gimli, she took the axe from her back and held it out for him to hold if he so wished it, it was a strong and heavy axe but she was certain that he would manage to take its weight without the slightest difficulty, his axe was rather like it after all, although this ones handle was made of wood rather than being made of metal.

"You have every right to ask what you do, Gimli Son of Gloin, however I did get this axe by proper means, it was bequeathed to me by Thorin Oakenshield before he died, I aided him on many occasions before they began their adventure to the Lonely Mountain anew, and, on the way I also gave their group some help in the right direction. It is the kindness before the journey however, that made him so grateful to leave to be this fine weapon."

Gimli was mortified that he had had to be corrected and his speech clarified by Boromir. He was a proud dwarf lord! Why was his messages having to be redirected by some human upstart who's only claim to fame seemed to be killing many orcs? Admittedly that was a worthy claim to fame for dwarves and their allies but still! Gimli was a Lord and this man was naught but an heir to a stewardship. He would never be a lord, let alone the king that his father fancied himself as.

Of course his attention was snapped back to Elentari when she turned to face him and smiled at him. Damn she was hauntingly beautiful when she smiled like that He coughed a little bit to try and cover it up in the end,

"I'm sure he is just as excited to hear about the last adventure of Thorin Oarkenshield and his legendary weapons. I hear that even human children get read the dwarf stories." he told her with a little bit, smirking at Boromir, "I suppose they don't have many good ones by themselves. They had to steal our stories, our shanties and our skills in order to be any good at anything."

When she held out the axe for him to take he gasped a little bit and resisted the urge to simply snatch it out of her hands and have it as his own forever. But he was stronger than that! He had resisted the call of the damned Ring rather well after all, He accepted the axe reverently and held it gently in his hands,

"So you were the one the stories speak of?" he asked with an excited little grin, "You were the softly spoken angel that whispered into his dreams and gave him strength to journey on,,,, I always thought that part was an attitution to the story too..."

Boromir could tell that Gimli didn't much appreciate him teasing Elentari and himself. Of course Boromir wasn't really annoying Elentari, he was just annoying Gimli and having a lot of fun while doing so. The little half-man had cut ahead of him to ask his question damn it so now he was going to be as annoying as possible to the dwarf. He disliked being second at anything, purely for the principle of the thing more than anything else.

However, he would be lying if he said that he hadn't heard all about this from the children's stories. For some reason, no matter how bloody, dwarf stories work well with human children. It was kind of like their brains worked in a similar way or something,

"I have to admit that I've always wanted to know why Thorin wasn't able to fight off the armies of the goblins and the orcs." he admitted a little bit sheepishly, "In the story books he was nearly invincible when he had his axe and his oak shield."

Of course he knew that was the childish version speaking. No matter the weapons, no matter the shield, warriors died one day and they all hoped to do it by the sword, in defense of their people. He was sure he recalled Thorin dying like that. But he found it hard to believe he would have fallen in battle if she was by his side. When Gimli mentioned the angel in the dreams it clicked,

"Ah! So you were the fabled angel of Oak-shield! I'm glad to see that you had such a prominant role in the events despite not being there." he grinned a little bit and nodded to her, "My younger cousins would always want to play as you when we played 'Oak-shield and the dragon' as children."

Elentari had not thought too deeply about Thorin Oakensheild for a long long time because the wounds that she had were still fresh, she still stung every time she thought about his death. Although they had not been lovers, they were the fastest of friends despite what others might have said about his surly attitude, it had most definitely not been the case where she was concerned. She had seen him from a low point, right up to the very peak of his excellence, and she was proud to have been one of the catalysts for that change.

As Gimli took the axe from her, she watched the Dwarf handle it, he seemed to be doing so in such a gentle manner that she had to smile softly down at him as he tested the weight, and looked at the detail on the axe. It was a beautiful and deadly weapon, and Elentari was glad to have been given the ability to continue to use it against her own foes.

"Myself and Thorin Oakensheild were very dear to one another, although I was beginning to head into my exile, I was keen to ensure that he was able to complete his quest. I enabled him to find fellow dwarves to accompany him, and, as I could not be seen by other members of the Wizard Council, I enlisted Gandalf to help him on his quest to the Lonely Mountain. Giving him strength and power through his dreams, was the least I could do." she explained, as she continued to stare at the axe that Gimli was holding.

Of course, the way that Thorin had described her to his friends, and also in some of the writings he had himself written, made it seem like he admired her in more than one manner. Of course, for a dwarf he had been rather attractive himself, perhaps, if things had been different. Her eyes cast downwards as unwelcome tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. Almost immediately however, she extinguished the emotion.

"In the face of so many foes even the most experienced of fighters might fall, you yourself might learn that one day Boromir." Elentari retorted softly "Simply because he fell does not limit his strength, power, or dedication to freeing the Lonely Mountain once more."

Raising her eyebrow, Elentari couldn't help but smile widely, as she held her hand out to take the axe back from Gimli, she didn't like it being from her person for such a long length of time. She did not yet know Gimli well enough to trust him with the axe, to trust him not to take it, Dwarves after all were motivated by greed and a desire for objects, Thorin too had shared that burden.

"They wanted to play me hmm?" she asked teasingly "Well I hope that they did me justice or I might just have to be offended."

Gimli had no idea that the weapon that had made Dwarves throughout the ages since dream of becoming legendary heroes themselves. He himself had thought long and hard about finding the shield of Thorin Oakenshield and wielding it for the sake of all Dwarves, just as he had done. After all, it was because of Thorin that they had regained the treasures of the Lonely Mountain from the terrible beast that had taken hold of the kingdom.

When she told them that she was very dear to Thorin, that she was the one who had helped him so greatly on his quest, he gawped at her for a moment,

"Are you sure you're not a dwarf? I would marry you in a heartbeat!" he declared in admiration as he gently stroked the axe, "You've kept it in such a marvellous condition too! Thorin would have been proud of the care you've taken in keeping his axe!"

Gimli felt his chest swell with pride at being a dwarf. Thorin had been a dwarf and it was Thorin who had led the side of the righteous at the battle of the Five Armies! It was Thorin who gave his life for the lives of dwarves and all free peoples,

"He is truly a legendary dwarf!" he agreed, "Perhaps the greatest dwarf ever to have lived! Songs have been song about him for decades and for decades more shall they be sung!"

When she held her hand out to take the axe back from him, Gimli thought about keeping the axe from her. Surely it would be better in the hands of a dwarf? But a second later he squashed that thought. It didn't matter who possessed it, as long as Thorin would have approved. And he couldn't think of anyone he'd approve more of than Elentari. He handed the axe back to her gently, as if he was passing a small child back to it's mother,

"A true beauty..." he whispered, "I am honoured to have been allowed to handle it."

For some reason, Boromir felt a strange chill run through his entire body when she warned him about even the most experienced of fighters falling in battle. Of course he knew that already but the way she said it seemed to resonate with him. Like a part of him expected to die, and die soon, by the hands of numerous enemies. It would be a death worthy of song he was sure but he would just as well rather not die if he was entirely honest with himself. He swallowed thickly.

It was an idea made all the more potent by the fact that they were aligning themselves firmly against Mordor, a powerful and evil foe to be sure. He nodded a little bit,

"It is a lesson I am sure to learn in the future." he admitted with a little bit of fear still in his heart. He shook his head a little bit and found his resolve again, "But I shall try my best to ensure that I don't have to learn that lesson the hardest of ways."

Seeing that she had taken his comments about the childish playing well, he chuckled a little bit and shook his head slightly,

"I'm afraid neither of my cousins was beautiful enough to play you very well now that I see you with my own eyes." he told her with a small smirk, "And they certainly didn't capture your inner fire... or mount-habbits."

Gimli's line of questioning seemed to be all done so Boromir decided that now would be a good chance for her to answer his question. He paused for a moment before launching into it,

"You arrived on a fellbeast and spoke of fighting Nazgul in the meeting. I must ask you..." he bit his lip a little bit, "It is five days ride from Gondor to here, do you have news of my beloved city and it's people?"

Elentari couldn't help but laugh out loud when Gimli told her that if she was a dwarf he would marry her in a heartbeat, she found herself drawing closer to the surly and rather sweet dwarf in these few moments of conversation. It might be said that she had a rather soft spot for Dwarves, it could be seen in her history of dealings with creatures, although, it was hardly her fault most evil could be found in the dark and the deep mines of the Dwarves. Nor was it her fault they needed aid in being rid of them.

"I am quite certain I am not a dwarf, although, I could shift to be one." Elentari teased with a wink as she took the axe and placed it back in it's holdster on her back, taking pride of place there "Should I think it would be worth the hassle of such an action, Dwarf Lord."

The admiration in Gimli's voice when he spoke of Thorin was welcome to her, she always enjoyed people speaking about him in terms such as that, he was a brave and strong man, worthy of all the praise that came his way. Even in death his name was not forgotten, Elentari had made sure that was the case. Her old friend would not go from the memory of this earth for many years to come.

"And I am honoured, that you gave it back to me so freely. Never fear, I will continue to keep it in a good condition, I just as much as you wish for his songs to keep being sung." she commented with a small bow.

A little laugh escaped Elentari's mouth when she heard that the cousins didn't capture her riding habits well enough, this was what she thought that Boromir was going to ask her about. It was clear that the man was desperate to save and protect his home town and his family that he held so dear to him, but it was impossible for men to learn to ride Fell Beasts. They responded to magic and magic alone.

"I am certain that they did not think of it, who ever heard of an angel flying on the back of a Fell Beast instead of flying with their own wings, I certainly have not?" she remarked with an amused twinkle in her eye.

When he asked her about his city, she was all too happy to reply to him, she had heard news of Gondor, but it is nothing that Boromir would be happy to hear about;

"Indeed, I do have news. The borders of Osgiliath hold, but they will not hold for long, the Orcs are amassing, looking to form an army, it is thought that either Rohan, or Gondor will be their first point of attack. Let us hope it is not the latter, or either in fact." she stated with a comforting smile "I am not sure whether to trust the source from which this news comes any longer."

Gimli was sure that he was blushing a little bit when she said that she could shift her shape to become a dwarf. It was a rather interesting line of thought he had to admit and he couldn't help but think on what reasons she would have to become a dwarf. The first one that popped to mind was so that she could marry him and that led his mind to some rather dirty minded places. Hence why he was sure he was blushing a little bit. But thankfully his beard masked any such reaction for him. He couldn't handle the idea of being embarrassed in such a way in front of the Angel of Thorin's Song! He coughed a little bit,

"Well I think I'd like to see that some time if you feel the need to ever become a dwarf." he admitted with a little blush, "It can be fun to be a dwarf, as I'm sure you've found a few times... and it would give you a chance to use the axe just like Thorin..."

When she said that she was honoured that he gave it back so freely, he just grinned a little bit. So she knew that it had been hard for him to just hand back a sacred artefact of his people to her. She wasn't one of his people but she had proven herself to be worthy of the respect given to the mightiest of Dwarven Lords in their mighty halls of stone and gold,

"You do the race of men and the order of Wizards proud." he told her formally, giving her a dwarven bow, "You continue to honour the memory of a fallen Son of Durin. I salute you for that Elentari The Black."

The talk about the childhood of men was a little bit strange to Gimli. When he was but a whelp he was mining for ore and gems with his family; he had no time for playing. And once he was old enough he had begun to learn the way of the axe; still no time for playing. But the way they were both speaking of it made it sound like an awful lot of fun.

Hearing the information about the massing Orcs, Gimli grunted a little bit,

"Damned orcs are always wanting more..." he muttered darkly, "And they'll be fiercer now that Sauron is beginning to grow in power again."

Boromir had to admit that it was nice to see that Gimli was going to return the axe to Elentari. He knew of many who would not have done the same. He liked to think that he would have done the same as the dwarf but he was honestly rather unsure considering how much he had heard about the axe. But in the end he was sure he'd give it back for no other reason than he had never really thought to use an axe of that size before and so was likely to be more of a hindrance than a help while using it.

The subject of his childhood was forgotten the moment she mentioned having information on the fate of Gondor. His attention was undivided and it was her's utterly. His home was in danger! The very thought alone made Boromir want to dash to his horse and make his way back to his lands as fast as was possible for him to travel. He gritted his teeth and his fist clenched,

"My home is under siege and the council would have me destroy an object powerful enough to aid us if it could only be controlled. I..." he looked down and his body shook a little bit, "I know it can't be controlled by men but I just don't want to see my people dying anymore..."

Taking a deep breath, the strategist in him took control and he analysed the situation as he understood it for a few moments,

"Rohan will be attacked first." he decided after a while, "They are a scattered people already. If their king is killed then it will be over for that kingdom."

Elentari could see the distress on Boromir's face and she was sure that if she was in the same situation as him she would feel the exact same way. There was nothing to be done however, Boromir was needed in the Fellowship and she wanted to be able to tell him to snap out of it, that the quicker they got to Mordor the quicker this evil wouldn't threaten his lands any more.

This harsh reply from her was quashed however when she saw just how upset he was about this, such words were not going to be received well, even if they were the truth.

"The ring cannot be controlled by any being, not even by myself or Gandalf..." she whispered softly "The only thing that can be done to stop the threat against your land is to destroy the ring, and to destroy it faster than they can destroy us."

With that she placed her fingers under Boromir's chin and tilted it so that he was looking up at her, she wanted to bring him comfort, bring his mood back to happiness instead of this pain and anguish. But pain and anguish seemed to be the only emotions that people had in common these days, very few were happy, especially in the race of men, when more of their kin died every day.

"Nobody wants to see such death to the land and those they love, it is not weakness to admit it." she smiled comfortingly "The Fellowship works to stop the deaths of people in not only Gondor but the whole of Middle Earth, we need you, and through the Fellowship, you aid your own people, do not allow guilt to harm your mind."