Experiences a Mirror Cannot Capture {Saerwen}

[galadriel]

Galadriel had been consulting her mirror for the better part of the day. She watched the Fellowship mostly. But another image kept presenting itself to her. That of a young elven girl, who seemed to be headed towards Lothlorien. Her protection wards had already detected this girl's presence within the forest. Her Ring, Nenya, whose magic made those barriers, seemed to thrum with energy when someone passed through them.

Galadriel knew she would welcome this girl with open arms, but she must be wary of all travelers, even elves, in these troubled times. But Galadriel also wished for someone to tell her of the goings on outside her realms that her mirror could not see. Sometimes you had to actually experience these events to explain them more accurately than the mirror could.

So now Galadriel stood on her balcony, using her amazing elven eyes to watch the path into the Galadhrim that this girl would most likely take. She had warned her scouts not to harm her but still to be wary.

[saerwen]

It had been quite some time since Saerwen had last visited Lothlorien, and she felt a slight bit of unease at returning there. Saerwen wasn't like most elves. She didn't stick with her own kind. She actually rarely lingered in any of the elven realms. Her main reason for that being that most disapproved of her way of life. Saerwen preferred to avoid dealing with that. Instead she wandered all over Middle Earth in search of something to do, or some task that she might be rewarded for. Nothing she did came without a price. Her purpose was to do whatever task was given no matter what side it came from. Some people found that to be double crossing and wrong, but Saerwen called it business. Whoever paid better got the service. And that was all there was to it. Saerwen had no qualms about working with Sauron's orcs or the nazgul. Well, that was a bit of a lie. It did still hurt her heart at the thought of her dead beloved, but she knew that times had changed, and if she wanted to lead a decent existence, she had to deal with both good and evil beings.

Because of such behavior, she knew that many of the elves would not appreciate her presence. Saerwen knew that her younger self would never have approved of a person like her in the past either. There was no excuse for betraying one's own kind, even if it is to make a living. Therefore, she did her best to avoid visiting any of the elven kingdoms. However, Saerwen had felt a longing to be amongst the trees again, in a nice elven land where they were treated properly and with respect. No matter how far she had strayed from the right path, she would always hold a love for nature, and the forests of Lothlorien, Mirkwood, and all other places in Middle Earth. For that reason, the rogue elf chose to return to Lothlorien. That, and she hoped for some fresh supplies and maybe to discover what it was that was going on lately anyway. something was stirring, but what it was, Saerwen was unsure of. All she knew was that she wanted to know more. The elf successfully got past Haldir and the other elves who questioned her purpose for being there before she found herself in the beautiful place known as Lothlorien.

Saerwen paced along the trees for some time, before she found that she was wandering towards none other than the Galadriel, the lady of light. The dark-haired elf approached the elder elf and bowed once she knew that the woman saw her. It felt like the right thing to do in that situation. "My lady Galadriel, it is an honor to see you again," she spoke in elvish, smiling politely as she straightened up again to face her.