War of the Ring

[Pip]

Revion gritted his teeth against the onslaught of emotion that came up as he recalled his dream. He also felt tears begin to run silently down his cheeks when Raenambar asked this question. He had never felt so betrayed before in his life. Raenambar had been his best and only friend and to know what he now knew and what he was about to do was almost more than he could bear. He shook his head to clear it. He needed to stay focused if he was to win this fight.
"I know what you've done. You were a servant of the enemy. You led their forces. You took the lives of your own people. You killed my parents." The last statement was nearly inaudible, even to elven ears.
"On your feet," he repeated, "I will not fight an unarmed foe without due warning ."

[Tuinor]

Raenambar heard the words of his friend and recalled the dream he had just awoken from.
"Is that really what happened?" he wondered to himself. He stared up at his friend, who seemed determined to fight. He didn't want to fight him, but he could see no other option. Revion needed to calm down, but that wouldn't happen without a fight. Raenambar consented and hoped that the end result would not be one of them dying. Glancing down, he saw his two swords laying on the ground. Reaching for the white blade, he took it in his right hand. Even as he did, he heard once again the voice in his head.
"Put down your sword, brother."
He grabbed hold of the black blade.
"I cannot, I will not let anyone stand in my way!"
As the last words rang out in his mind Raenambar felt a sharp pain in his heart, as if some memory long forgotten was beginning to surface.
"Why now?" he wondered as he stood to face his friend.
He lifted his blades into a defensive posture and he said softly, "Come, my friend, if you must."

[Pip]

Revion could stand it no longer and threw himself at Raenambar in a rather reckless fashion with a loud shout.

[Tuinor]

Raenambar instinctively knocked aside Revion's attack, allowing his friend's momentum to carry him down to the ground. However, Raenambar felt his stomach twist in knots at the hatred in Revion's cry, and it seemed that the shout had done more damage than the staff ever could have.

[Pip]

When he hit the ground Revion blinked for a moment before rapidly regaining his feet. The knock had jarred him enough to realize that he was letting his emotions control him which was dangerous. He focused on what he was doing, this time attacking Raenambar with an onslaught of more accurate blows. However, the beginning ferociy of his attack had used mup more engery than the elf had aniticipated and his strength was beginning to wan. REvion knew that he would have to finish it first or he would loose, which he also knew was not an option.

[Tuinor]

Raenambar thought quickly to himself as he parried blow after blow from his desperate opponent. He had to end this. Slowly he prepared for a counter, timing each of Revion's constant blows. He withdrew his right arm from the fight and focused on parrying with his left; however, Raenambar began to sense a strange feeling coming over him, as if every blow was knocking loose something in his mind. He chose to ignore it, and forced all his concentration into the counter-strike he had perpared with his right hand. Suddenly, the opening he had waited for appeared as Revion threw too much force into a blow, desperately trying to finish the fight. Raenambar gritted his teeth and loosed his counter-attack; his black blade swung around from behind him as he guided the flat of the blade to the side of Revion's head. In an instant Revion found himself on the ground looking up at the point of Raenambar's black blade, his consiousness wavering.
"Yield, my friend," Raenambar pleaded, but before Revion could reply, the older elf's body became limp and fell to the ground as the strange feeling within him finaly errupted, burrying him in darkness.

[YayGollum]

Easily the most resistant to magic, Nandreeson was the first to wake up. He heard his companions breathing as if they were still asleep but opened an eye a slit when he heard the elves fighting. He snickered to himself and watched until he heard Gladeo stirring into wakefulness. He yawned and rubbed his eyes and sat up and looked around confusedly. "Hey, boss? What's going on?" Gladeo growled with helpless frustration and confusion at whatever must have happened to them, but when he saw the elves fighting, he made sure to scramble quickly over, only belatedly checking behind him for help from Guy, who was snoring loudly. He approached the combatants hesitantly with a dagger held out with a bit of a waver. "Fellows, fellows! Calm yourselves! Ah, Guy? We might have had the misfortune of stumbling upon an ancient elvish fued?"

[Pip]

Revion payed Gladeo no heed as he tried to break up the two. When Raenambar had outmanuvered him for a moment Revion fear he had lost the fight. But when the elder elf had fallen unconcious REvion had seen his chance. Pushing Gladeo out of the way he drew his daggar and prepared to bring it down through Raenambar's heart. But as he raised the knife the crystal around his neck flashed in a bright pulshing light for a few moments, stunning the elf. His nervless fingers dropped the knife and he slumped to the ground, his unfocused eyes staring straight ahead.

[YayGollum]

More blinded by anger at being pushed so casually aside, Gladeo wasn't overly affected by the light as he roughly grabbed Revion's wrists. Since the elf slumped down, though, and seemed to be dazed for some reason, though, he loosened his grip a bit and grated a sigh of frustration. Sharply ---> "Nandreeson! Hold the other one."

Nandreeson shrugged lazily and eventually shuffled over to stand over Raenembar and perch his hands on the guy's shoulders. When he saw Guy standing back up ---> "Here, Guy! Take these two and stick them in the wagon! We'll knock some sense into them later, I suspect!" He tossed a wink and Gladeo and smiled as he kicked the elf over a bit. Gladeo frowned at Nandreeson's lack of grace but nodded to the half-troll and handed the elf over to the big guy, who held both easily and gently.

Gladeo, as Guy placed the elves in the back of the wagon ---> "I have never seen an elf, Nandreeson, and I would rather not earn their ire. What enmity might you hold for them, I wonder?" Nandreeson merely sauntered after Guy and hopped into the wagon, where he grabbed their wrists in a manner exaggerating the way that Gladeo had. "Nah, not me, boss. Just following your lead!" Gladeo grunted, realizing that the little guy was merely warning him to keep his temper in check.

Guy made sure that the ropes weren't tied especially tight, that the weapons were stowed away in one of their many trunks, then grabbed the poles in the front to continue pulling the wagon towards its destination, attempting to figure out what had happened to the elves all the while.

[orithil]

Dirith was riding through fangorn by himself memories or when he was still human seemed to flicker back for some reason he did not seem to be as 'taken over' as the rest he was able to think for himself and act more human.
He knew that the other Nazgul were under saurons complete control and was at a loss at why he was not, all the same his days as a great lord of the west were over and he was a servant of darkness but maybe just maybe he could use this independants of his to futher himself in the ranks of the dark lord maybe even so far as to become lord of the nazgul...or maybe even....over throw the dark lord..

[Pip]

Revion came to his sense slowly as the after effects of the crystal's light began to wear off. He blinked a few times and the first thing he noticed when he came to was his pounding headache. He tried to rup a hand against his head to try and dispell it and realized that his hands were tied behind him. They weren't cruelly tight, in fact they felt that with a little bit of effort he could slip out of them. However, his head hurt so bad that he didn't feel like using that effort, and even if he had decided to get free, he didn't think he'd be up for a sprint to escape his surroundings. Spekaing of surroundings, he had noticed that he was no longer on the forest floor but in a wagon of some kind, he wondered if the wagon belonged to the group they were with. The young elf turned slightly and saw Raenambar bound in the same fashion as him lying next to him. Revion let his head rest against the floor and thought back through the past day, the strange dream he had had and the fight that it had led to.
"What is going on?" he though silently.

[Tuinor]

The first two things Raenambar noticed of his surrounding were the darkness and the stone. There was almost no light where ever he was, and the ground he could tell was a large, flat stone. He realized that he was standing, and in his hands he held a very heavy sword. He could hear something dripping on the ground in front of him, but he couldn't see what it was. An unfamiliar feeling within him told him he didn't need to see; that his senses could outmatch any opponent who faced him here. He wondered why he would need to fight. All of a sudden a dull red light illuminated the room in which he stood, and Raenambar realized he was underground. He found that he had been standing in a dead end, but his focuse wasn't on his surroundings anymore. He whirled around to face the one who had brought light into the chamber, yet he almost gasped when he saw him. An elf, almost identical to himself, walked into the room slowly, looking about and shaking his head remorsefully.
"So, you finally came, brother," said the figure.
"Brother? I don't know you! Where am I?" Raenambar shouted.
"You don't remember?" the elf asked. He looked straight into Raenambar's eyes and seemed to find the answer himself, "So you don't."
"Who are you?" Raenambar asked.
The figure smiled kindly back at Raenambar and said, "I am your brother, Turetan."
The name seemed to cut straight into Raenambar's heart, and he felt as though he would weep.
"Are you sad, my brother?" the elf asked.
"Yes," Raenambar replied, "but I don't know why. Where are we?"
"This place," said Turetan, "was the last place we saw each other."
"Here? Why?" Raenambar asked.
"Becuase it was in this room that you killed me."
His heart jolted within him and Raenambar felt tears welling up in his eyes, "I don't even know you..."
"Yet you weep for me?" asked Turetan.
"Why did I kill you?" Raenambar asked.
Turetan smiled, "It doesn't matter. I forgave you, remember?"
"No," Raenambar said as he fought back tears.
"But you still carry it," he said.
"Still carry what?" Raenambar barely managed to ask.
"The sword I made for you," Turetan replied, "the one with the white blade."
Raenambar felt the heavy sword in his hands and looked down at it.
"Don't look at it," Turetan said but it was too late. Raenambar suddenly understood what had made the dripping sound earlier. Red blood ran off of a long grey blade. Raenambar felt he would gag.
"Thi- this isn't the white blade," he said.
"No," Turetan replied, "That is the greatsword I forged for you when we were still in Valinor. Do you remember?"
"No," Raenambar said. Then, looking up at Turetan he asked, "is this your blood on my blade?"
"No, it is not," Turetan replied sadly.
"Then whose..." Raenambar was silenced as he began to look around. He was socked at the sight of nearly a dozen dwarfen figures lying dead on the ground all around him.
"My brother!" Raenambar asked, unable to take his gaze away from the carnage, "Why am I here?"
"Because you are sorry," Turetan reminded, and with the words something awoke in Raenambar. Like another person inside of him it was, and Raenambar felt as though he was meeting this someone for the first time. He felt the consciousness explore his as he explored it. Slowly the two mingled and found that they fit around each other, like night and day. Raenambar's eyes opened to a new reality, and he spoke out, but his voice was strangely different. It was deeper, more sure of itself, and it spoke with a great sense of pride and pain.
"I am Turthalion,"
Raenambar blinked and looked over at Turetan. He asked in his normal voice, "Well, aren't I?"
"Yes, brother," Turetan replied, "you are."
"Oh, Turetan," Raenambar cried uncontrollably, "you were right! I am sorry! I am so sorry!"
Raenambar, overcome with sorrow, coupled to his knees and becan to sob. As he cried it seemed that his tears washed away the dream, and slowly he awoke to being within the wagon.

[Pip]

Revion heard movement and what sounded like sobbing and turned over to see that Raenambar had woken up. Even though he still felt betrayed and angry, he was also curious as to what happened to make Raenambar pass out the way he did and asked,
"What happened?"

[Tuinor]

"What happened?" asked a voice as Raenambar awoke.
"Who are you?" asked Raenambar in a deeper tone than Revion had ever heard him use.

[Pip]

Revion was slightly taken aback by the question and the voice it was asked in. Nevertheless, he answered.
"I'm REvion remember? I've been travelling with you." Puzzled, he then asked
"Who are you?

[Tuinor]

"My name is Turthalion," said Raenambar, "Don't be alarmed, Revion. I am still Raenambar as well. I'm having trouble putting my memories back together, and there is still such a great gap to be filled, but I remember you now, my friend."
Raenambar tried to move and found that he could not. He glanced around at his surroundings and asked, "Where are we?"

[Pip]

Revion paused for a moment, processing the information before answering.
"My best guess is the wagon of that group we met with in the forest when that giant attacked. I do not know what they want exactly." He frowned slightly as something that Rae-Turthalion had said just now.
"Why do you call me 'friend'"?

[Tuinor]

"We are, aren't we?" Raenambar asked in a voice much more like to his own. His thoughts swirled as to why they wouldn't be. So many memories told him of the friendship they had. Why, then, would they not be friends? What could have happened?

[Pip]

Revion blinked back tears that threatened to form at this. Were they still friends? Was what he saw even real? If not where had it come from and if so why had he seen it? At a loss he shooks his head.
"I don't know, I don't know what's real or true anymore. I saw you. I saw you kill elves, so you have nothing to hide anymore if you were trying to trick me. And if you never were, what then did I see?"

[Tuinor]

"I did kill Elves," the deep voice of Turthalion replied, "I slew Elves and Men and Dwarves and Orcs. I killed any who stood in my way, and even now I bear the burden of my sins. I killed my own brother. My twin! The only living relative I had left. I came to this world to avenge my fallen father, and I ended up destroying what was left of my family. Revenge drove me to destroy all I had. Why couldn't I see that?"
Raenambar looked over at his friend, saw the tears in his eyes and the pain behind them. He shook his head and said, "My friend, don't hold on to the pain. It is a poison. Let it go. Whether true or not, the past is past. We cannot change it. Let it go."