Crossover fic: here we go!
Hi there :)
Since LJ is not quite cooperative today, I'm gonna make a separate entry to thank you, guys...
Some notes in case somebody who didn't read LOTR books reads this story:
- Mithrandir is Gandalf's elvish name;
- Estel is Aragorn's elvish name;
- Peredhil and Half-Elf are ways people sometimes refer to Elrond;
- Maiar are very powerful beings. Gandalf is a Maiar; Saruman, Sauron and the Balrog are corrupted Maiar.
Now, here goes the story:
Ratings, time periods, main characters - the same as the previous entries.
“A Maiar? This young man?” Elrond raised an eyebrow. “How can this be?”
Mithrandir shook his head.
“I do not know, my friend. What I know is that he shouldn’t be here. He is incomplete. An infant.”
The Half-Elf stared at the unconscious boy. It was quite difficult to believe. He had sensed something unusual… not human in the child but it was faint, barely perceptible.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
The wizard stood up, having recovered his usual brisk manners.
“He is under a protective spell now. Will you take care of him for a while, Elrond?”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m looking for answers!” and, with that, Mithrandir left the room like a whirlwind. He didn’t leave Rivendell immediately, though. Before doing that, he talked to Estel.
“That boy is a Maiar?” the Ranger snorted incredulously. That boy?
“I saw it in his mind. It was pretty confused but I could grasp something deep inside… He is still an infant. He has not awaken to his powers yet.” Mithrandir put his hand on the younger man’s shoulder and squeezed lightly, as if to physically emphasize the importance of what he was saying. “Son of Arathorn, can you imagine what the Enemy could do with an infant Maiar totally helpless in his hands?”
Estel gaped as the words sank in. The old wizard nodded gravely.
“Balrog!” the Ranger whispered.
“Worse, my young friend. This little one, the Enemy would be able to bend to his will in ways he never would with a grown up Maiar. He would give the Enemy a power no one in Middle Earth can match.”
“Valar! So those orcs… were taking him to the Enemy!”
“That is very probable. You saved him - and our land - from a terrible fate, Estel.”
The Ranger shook his head, gray eyes narrowed in concern.
“But it is not over, is it? I can see you worry… you fear that the Enemy will try to retrieve his prey, don’t you?”
“That is why I’m leaving, my friend. I must gather information. And you, Estel, will protect that boy while I’m away!”
CHAPTER TWO
In which we see whatever happened to Han Solo and Chewbacca
The road was narrow and bumpy and there were rocks, dry leaves, small animals walking around. It had probably been abandoned for years. No chance to find a ride here…
Chewbacca turned to his friend, who was wobbling some meters behind, leaning on a stick. The bandages on his head and on his right leg had some blood spots but they were dry. Yes, Han was definitely better - a miracle, considering they had lost the medikit and had nothing but water and some rags to treat the wounds.
Chewie sighed. He had warned them. The very first time the Princess told them about Qellesta the Wookie had a bad feeling about it. Nobody listened to him, though.
“Yavin is not safe anymore. We have to find a place to set our base and Qellesta is perfect! The atmosphere is a kind of a natural energy field which makes scanning impossible. They would never find us there.” Leia had said. “I know it’s dangerous - nobody had never set foot in that place. But the Alliance needs a new base.”
And, as expected, young Luke immediately offered to go and investigate planet Qellesta. And, as expected, Han cursed, protested, yelled… and followed Luke. And, of course, Chewbacca couldn’t let those two fools face danger all by themselves.
So, off they went. Things were going smoothly at first - the trip to Qellesta was surprisingly uneventful. Chewie was starting to wonder if his instincts had been wrong, when a destroyer jumped off hyperspace almost on their lap.
There was no way to run - the Falcon was fast but the destroyer was too close for comfort. They had to hide in Qellesta’s thick and dangerous atmosphere.
As soon as they entered the atmosphere the sensors and com systems stopped working.
“This damn planet is draining our energy.” Han said as he fought to control the ship. “We can’t stay here.”
“But if we go back to space the destroyer will get us!” argued Luke.
“We’ll land, then. We can’t go to space without sensors anyway…” the Corellian bit his lip. “Hang on, guys. This is going to be a little uncomfortable.”
As they started to descent, the computer shut down. Minutes later the motors failed. When they were close to land even the emergency systems had stopped working.
The Falcon literally fell in a river (*)and slid on the water spectacularly until it somehow stopped on the shore.
It was not a bad landing considering the conditions of the ship. Chewbacca and Luke had had only a few cuts and scratches. It was bad luck that Han’s seat belt snapped right at the moment of the impact. The Corellian was violently thrown to the back of the cabin, hurting his head and leg.
“C’mon, furface. Stop looking at me this way, ya getting on my nerves.”
Chewbacca pointed at his friend and growled in a warning tone.
“Yeah, yeah, I know I don’t look good.” Han grumbled. “What the hell did you expect after all that happened?”
The Wookie shook his head and remained silent. He patiently waited until Han got closer before continuing to walk.
“Hope the Falcon’s camouflage will hold until we get back…” the Corellian waved distractedly to Chewie’s soft barks. “I know, I know it’s the tenth time I say that. And no, we’re not gonna stop and wait for rescue. Luke’s in trouble, I’m sure, and we gotta try and find him before it’s too late.”
There were more soft barks in response to that and Han snorted.
“Trust him? He’s a farmboy, green as one can be, unarmed in a strange world. What chance does he have in this darn planet? Hells, I don’t even know if we have a chance… Crazy little twitch… I bet he told you he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself and that he would be back with help in a few hours, didn’t he? I bet the kid thought it would be easy, just like we were in a civilized place… Chewie, he’s been away for weeks, for the Goddess sake, he must be in trouble!”
Suddenly Chewbacca stopped and started to sniff and look around suspiciously.
“What? What’s going on, buddy?” Han stopped too, and his hand reached for the blaster out of habit. There was no blaster - in fact, one of the first odd things they realized soon after the landing was that all the batteries were totally discharged, including the ones in the blasters and the emergency equipment.
The Wookie found a narrow trail in the bushes and walked into it. After a moment of hesitation and some cursing Han followed suit.
They hadn’t walked for long when they heard very familiar noises: screams, howlings, cracking of bones. It was a fight, and a pretty violent one. They went ahead cautiously until they reached a clearing, and there it was.
“Damn if they aren’t the creepiest creatures I’ve ever seen!” Han mumbled as he watched the fight with wide eyes.
They were humanoids, but neither the Corellian nor his friend could determine their race. The faces were greenish, and some of them had an eye misplaced or a mouth contorted in almost impossible angles. They were mounting big, furry four-legged creatures with huge and deadly pointy teeth, attacking one single victim. Well, maybe it wasn’t quite right to call him victim, since he seemed to be too serene and in control for that.
It was a tall young man, with long blond hair, dressed in green and brown. He was fighting with two blades, blocking and responding the attacks with impecable ability. At some moments it seemed to be an aura of white light around him.
And then, Han saw it: one of the creepy guys coming from behind, to catch the young fighter unawares. The Corellian jumped from the bushes.
“Hey! Behind you!” he yelled. And, to his dismay, all the creepy guys turned to him. “Ah, hells! I can’t believe I did this…”
One of the creatures howled and attacked Han. He threw the stick he was using as a makeshift cane right into the creature’s mouth. Chewie came to the rescue with the fury of a berserk Rancor, his powerful fists beating the attackers with bone-breaking strenght.
It took some moments for Legolas Greenleaf to understand what was happening. He blinked, dumbfolded, at the unexpected spectacle: a man and a beast fighting orcs with bare hands!
“What are you doing there, daydreaming?” Han yelled at him. “We’re saving your damn life, how about helping a little?”
The Elf didn’t understand a word, but the yelling started him from the confusion and he ran to fight the orcs.
(*) in case you're curious: the river is the Anduin and the road Han and Chewie took is the Old Forest Road. If you are familiar with Tolkien you'll see that unfortunately they are going the opposite way Luke went.