Many Meetings - A Night to Remember

Katara's first day in Rivendell had been a wonderful one. There had been a few misunderstandings upon their arrival at the council that she and her friends had interrupted. The doubts directed towards them had been for good reason, she thought. From what Aang had told them before they had left their own world, she had expected to arrive in a much darker place, something very different from the magical realm they had ended up in. Knowing somewhat about the circumstances of Middle Earth and what dangers they could expect during the quest that lay ahead, Katara realised how lucky they had been. Not just because all the misunderstandings had been cleared, but mostly because they had arrived in the right place at the right time. Aang probably didn't even know of the existence of Rivendell. He hadn't intended to arrive there, so had ending up in Rivendell been a coincidence? Was there a bigger power at work? Whatever it was, she counted herself and her friends extremely lucky and hoped the same luck would last during their journey.

She had spent the afternoon exploring Rivendell. Katara got to meet Frodo and his uncle Bilbo, which she thought was a nice experience. Even though she was new to Middle Earth and the story of the Ring, one thing she could recognise like no one else was what Frodo was going through. The burden the Ring brought about, that weight of the world Frodo had to carry as the Ringbearer… She recognised in Frodo what she had so often seen in Aang. And this was exactly why she was taking Frodo with her on her way back to their room so he could have some time with Aang and the rest of her friends. She thought it would do him good to get to know his companions better before the start of their journey.

On their way to the room, Katara and Frodo had run into Suki and Sam. Suki had apparently thought of the same for Sam. Sam had been so immersed in their journey preparations, so she wanted to get him out of that for a while and have him interact with some of their team members. Suki thought it was quite a coincidence that they had run into Katara and Frodo of all people, as she felt that Sam had a lot of traits similar to Katara. Suki expected that Katara and Sam would get along nicely and understand each other really well.

"You're walking a bit more steadily than you did before. Your shoulder seems to be recovering quite fast, Mr. Frodo," Sam noticed.

"Not on its own, Sam," Frodo replied with an appreciative smile. Only Sam would notice something like this. "Lady Katara has healing powers," he continued. "The wound is not fully gone, but her healing has improved it."

Sam's eyes widened in pleasant surprise. "You have healing powers?" he asked Katara in an overly excited manner, causing the Waterbender to giggle in reply. "How does it work? Do you use plants? Or is it more like the power of the Elves… the way Lord Elrond healed Mr. Frodo?" Sam of course had never left Frodo's side while he was unconscious after their run in with the Ringwraiths. He had gained quite a bit of insight in the Elves' ways of healing.

"I heal others with my Waterbending. Through water I can restore the energy flow in a person's body to a certain extent," Katara explained. "I don't use anything else. Just water." She was quite intrigued to learn that the Elves had healing powers as well. She was hoping to be able to learn a few things from them to improve her own skill. She made a mental note to ask Lord Elrond about this when she'd meet him again.

"So do you Hobbits live here in Rivendell?" Suki asked.

"No, m'lady," Sam replied. "We're from the Shire. That's where all the Hobbits live. Rivendell is a realm of Elves. They also call it the Last Homely House."

"Why the Last Homely House?" Suki then asked, slightly concerned. "Aren't there other places in Middle Earth that are as beautiful and welcoming as Rivendell?"

"Oh, no, it's not the Last Homely House in that sense," Sam answered. "It's just the most perfect Homely House. Whether you like food or sleep or storytelling or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all, Rivendell is perfect."

"Even more so if you have a great liking for the Elves, the way you do, Sam," Frodo added.

"Most definitely so, Mr. Frodo," Sam replied.

"That is why my uncle Bilbo came to stay in Rivendell. He wanted to spend the rest of his time here, to finish his book. Rivendell was the perfect place to do so," Frodo said, his mind drifting to the adventurous stories he grew up hearing. Now it was his turn to set out on an adventure of his own.

"What is your uncle writing about?" Katara asked.

"He had a journey of his own with a company of Dwarves. He is writing about all of his adventures," Frodo told them.

"Mr. Bilbo Baggins' stories are quite remarkable! On our way to Rivendell we ran into the three trolls that he had outsmarted during their adventure. They had turned to stone!" Sam told excitedly.

"Wow, that's quite a story! You should tell us everything!" Suki exclaimed.

"Yes! And you should tell us all about your world! I bet you have some wonderful stories to share about your adventures," Sam said.

Katara and Suki eyed each other. They sure had quite the journey during their quest.

"Maybe we can do a campfire and share all kinds of stories during the feast!" Suki suggested.

"That sounds exciting! We should suggest that tonight," Katara added.

Frodo smiled. He loved listening to Bilbo's stories and he was sure this would be an interesting night with a lot of adventurous tales. "I'm already looking forward to it."

They had almost reached the room that served as temporary accommodation for the members of Team Avatar. They could see some familiar figures in the distance. Aragorn was in front, behind him were Zuko and Legolas. Aragorn raised a hand as a greeting gesture to them when he recognised them, then headed in a different direction as he was going somewhere else. Zuko and Legolas seemed to be coming toward the room as well.

All of a sudden, the sound of an explosion came from their room, followed by a rock coming out of one of the walls, creating a giant hole which caught all of their attention.

ooooo

"It's not getting away from us this time," Sokka whispered as he readied his boomerang to strike at a dear that he and the Dwarf had been hunting for some time now. Gimli stood right behind him. The Dwarf was only slightly shorter than the ponytailed teen. That was a little weird for Sokka. The Dwarf was obviously much older than he was, but he had to get used to the fact that Middle Earth inhabited creatures that only had a maximum height of either half or three quarters of his own height that wasn't caused by some sort of disability that affected their growth. Looking down on the Dwarf seemed a little odd. But it somehow reminded him of looking at Toph. She and the Dwarf did have quite a few things in common.

"Argh, just let me at him!" Gimli said in a heavy breath.

Sokka had insisted that it was his turn to try and catch the dear after several failed attempts of Gimli. "You tried twice and it got away both times!" Sokka snapped. "No offense, grumpy Dwarf. I trust you on your strength and bravery, but when it comes to hunting an animal, you are way too noisy," Sokka said as soft as he could in an effort not to startle the dear.

"Too noisy?!" Gimli snapped back in a voice that was a lot louder than a whisper. "Too noisy, you say! Do not underestimate the hunting skills of a Dwarf, young man. We Dwarves are natural hunters."

They both turned to look at the dear, only to find that it had run off. Again.

Sokka let out a heavy sigh. "See, that's what I meant."

"Just wait and watch," Gimli stated and marched in the direction where they had last seen the dear.

"Great," Sokka mumbled to himself. "And as you keep trying we keep getting further and further away from Rivendell." They had crossed a river, which he had considered a point from where they shouldn't have gone any further. He was starting to get a little worried now. He was way too unfamiliar with the place to be getting lost there. And the sun would be setting soon. "This idea was so much easier in my head. Leave it to a Dwarf to make things more complicated." Sokka could really understand what Legolas meant before and why it would be challenging to solve the feud between the Elves and the Dwarves. Dwarves were too proud and way too stubborn. And he could definitely understand what possibly led to the enmity in the first place. He looked back to the direction of Rivendell, where they had come from, hoping that they'd find their way back.

"Hey, Gimli! Come on let me try next," Sokka said as he went after Gimli and caught up with him. "I didn't mean what I said earlier about you being too noisy. And you're as light as a feather," he added. Only then did he really notice how much armour Gimli was actually wearing. "How do you even move in such a heavy armour?" Sokka asked.

Gimli ignored Sokka's question. "You plan to catch a dear with that… thing? It's not even sharp," he said, referring to Sokka's weapon. "You don't stand a chance with this toy. Leave it to my axe."

"This. Is Boomerang. Boomerang never lets me down," Sokka said, seriously offended by Gimli's remark. "Just let me demonstrate how it works and you'll… see…" Sokka trailed off as he stopped dead in his steps to a sight he did not expect.

A growl came from one of them. Another one had a vicious smile on his face. They were all armed. And they were a lot uglier in real life than the way Aang had described them before. As if this wasn't enough bad news, they looked hungry.

"Looks like we found ourselves some snacks," one of them spoke with a crude voice. Five others stood next to him, laughing.

Sokka's gut churned. He and the Dwarf were standing face to face with six huge, dark, fierce and utterly ugly Orcs.

ooooo

The sound of the explosion left all of them, Katara, Suki, Frodo, Sam, Zuko, Aragorn and Legolas frozen for a second. Katara, Suki and Zuko had an idea as to what could have been going on in the room. Toph was back for sure. However, the last time Toph pulled a stunt like this, was when they were in Ba Sing Se, the version of the city they loathed at the time and they had been keen on breaking some rules back then. The sound of the explosion gave even more reason to worry to Aragorn, Legolas, Frodo and Sam, to whom a sound like this in a place like Rivendell seemed quite severe.

They all rushed towards the room. Aragorn, who hadn't actually planned on stopping by their room, reached first, followed by Katara, Suki, Frodo and Sam. Zuko and Legolas reached after. Just when Aragorn entered, a colourful sparkling butterfly flew towards his nose before it gracefully disappeared in thin air. This was followed by roaring laughter of Aang, Toph, Merry and Pippin. Aang and Pippin were actually rolling on the floor from laughter. It took a while to process for them what was going on, but they understood that it wasn't as severe as they had expected the situation to be.

"Uh… I think somebody forgot to mention to us that the feast has been moved to our room," Suki said.

"Oh, no, it hasn't," Pippin answered, sitting up straight. "But that is actually a great idea! All we have to do is ask them to serve us the food here. If they could also get us some pipe weed and ale, it would perfect!"

"It's quite the spectacle," Merry started. "It'd make for a nice show during the feast."

"What exactly would make for a nice show during the feast?" Zuko asked.

"Only the best thing imaginable!" Pippin answered, his voice still filled with excitement.

"So why does our room look like there's been an avalanche?" Katara asked. "We haven't even spent a single night in here and the place is a wreck. Our house in Ba Sing Se was in much better state when we left the place, and we hated the city at the time! We're guests here. What message does this give to our hosts?"

"Don't ask me," Toph said, raising her hands in denial. "It was their idea."

"Aren't those Gandalf's fireworks?" Frodo asked. The items they had been using for their mischief looked very familiar to the Hobbit.

At that moment they heard Gandalf's voice from outside the room, "What is going on in here?!" The Wizard stormed in. "I didn't give you my fireworks so you could blast the walls out of the rooms in Rivendell," he bellowed. Only then did Gandalf really take in the state of the room. "Good gracious. What have you been doing?"

Aang grinned sheepishly at the Wizard who didn't seem too pleased at that moment. "I can explain," Aang said in a semi-apologetic way, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't worry about the walls, old fella," Toph told the Wizard. "I can fix those in no time when we're done. The more interesting question is what we've been doing."

"So I had a run in with Mr. Gandalf a while ago," Aang started to explain. "And as you may have guessed by now, he has some really cool fireworks. They're different from the ones that are used in our world. I asked if I could have some to try something for the feast tonight. And what I had in mind worked."

"Add to that the curiosity of two Hobbits trying to understand how my seeing through Earthbending works, and you get yourself a whooshy, rocky fireworks show," Toph added.

"It turned out even better than I thought. It became a fusion of Middle Earth Wizarding fireworks and Bending," Aang said. "With Lord Elrond's permission, we can perform it tonight!"

"It will be brilliant!" Pippin exclaimed. "Even better than the dragon at Bilbo's birthday party!"

"Woah!" an excited Sam reacted. "It can't be better than Gandalf's fireworks! His rockets are the finest the world has ever seen."

"They still are, Sam," Merry confirmed. "The bending powers of our new friends have only been added to it. Here, look at this." Merry handed Sam a small idol that resembled him. "Toph made me this with her Earthbending. She has an even bigger plan for tonight."

"She made this?" Sam asked in surprise. "But isn't she…"

"Blind? Yes, I know," Merry finished. "The things they can all do are amazing!"

Gandalf raised his eyebrows in amusement at what was happening. He had to admit he was starting to get very curious about what they were up to exactly. He first thought that Hobbits were the only ones full of unexpected surprises, but they were in for a lot more than met the eyes with these new arrivals.

"Right," Zuko said, not entirely convinced. "What happened to our 'no bending yet' policy?"

"That was before the people of Middle Earth knew who we are. Now they know us and we're part of the same team," Aang answered cheerfully.

Zuko shook his head in reply. For somebody as powerful and important as Aang, he could really be an immature goofy kid at times.

"And Blobbermir will have his demonstration this way," Toph casually added.

"Blobbermir?" Aragorn asked, frowning. He knew all too well that she was referring to Boromir as he had been the one to be so adamant about having the newcomers demonstrate their skills, but she had remembered the name incorrectly. "You must be meaning-," he started before Zuko completed his sentence.

"Boromir. That's her name for Boromir."

Aragorn chuckled.

"Just now we were also thinking of having a campfire and share stories of both worlds and the different adventures everybody has had," Frodo mentioned.

"Yes," Suki said. "We can start the feast with your show and end it with the campfire," she suggested.

"That sounds like a fine idea," Gandalf said, clearly in a better mood than he had been when he had gotten to the room.

"Don't forget the food," Pippin reminded them, causing all the Hobbits and the ones familiar with the ways of the Hobbits to laugh. Aragorn was reminded of how particular Pippin had been about his meals. The Hobbit had requested a second breakfast on their way to Rivendell. The journey was going to be an interesting one for the Hobbits.

"Of course," Gandalf said. "The food will be there."

"Speaking of food," Katara started. "Where's our number one food lover? Has anybody seen him?" she asked. Sokka had gone in search of food. Everybody else had returned after exploring the place, only he hadn't made it back yet.

"To whom are you referring, lady Katara?" Aragorn asked.

"My brother Sokka."

"Your brother learned of the enmity between the Elves and the Dwarves when he met Gimli," Legolas, who so far had been watching the scene in silence, said. "He had a plan to make the Dwarf feel more at home in this house of Elves. He had requested me to show him the way to the kitchen. Where he went afterward, I do not know."

"Pippin?" Merry called.

"What?" Pippin asked in reply.

"What is that you're sitting on?"

Pippin looked around him confusedly. "What? What is it?" he asked again.

"Pippin! You have to get up," Merry said with a slight tone of annoyance at Pippin's foolishness.

"Oh." As the younger Hobbit got up, they saw a sheet of paper on the floor. Pippin picked it up. "That's a funny drawing. What do you think it looks like?" he asked, showing it to Merry.

"Here, let me see that," Suki said, taking the sheet of paper from Pippin. "It's a note from Sokka and Gimli."

"You can actually read that?" Pippin asked.

"That's our style of writing," Katara answered, slightly amused at the way Pippin had reacted to their language. "What does the note say, Suki?"

Turning the note and her head to properly decipher the handwriting, she read, "Need meat. Gone hunting. We'll be back in time for the feast."

"I don't know who this Sokka is, but I like him already!" Pippin exclaimed. The Hobbit had been in Rivendell for some time now. While he liked the food that was served in the realm of the Elves, he did miss the meat.

Gandalf shook his head whispering, "Hobbits."

"That can't be good," Zuko said.

"Why, what do you mean?" Suki asked.

"Well," Zuko started. "The last time Sokka left a message exactly like this he and I had actually gone to break in and out of Fire Nation prison to rescue his dad and you, remember? Chances are he may be up to something else."

"He did go out to look for food when we all went exploring," Toph stated.

"Toph has a point," Aang said. "Legolas mentioned that he was looking for the kitchen. Knowing Sokka, if he didn't find any meat there, he may have actually gone out to hunt."

Katara turned to Aragorn. "If they went for hunting, is it possible that they're still within the borders of Rivendell? Lord Elrond had mentioned that we had to stay here until the Elf scouts returned with news. Is it safe for them to be out there on their own?" she asked.

"If they haven't crossed the river Bruinen and if they return before nightfall, they will be safe," Aragorn mentioned.

"Dwarves dislike Elvish food and they have a strong taste for meat. Your brother Sokka found the right solution to make Gimli feel more at home in Rivendell," Gandalf said. "However, it was risky of them to leave this place. Let us hope they make it back to the valley before sunset."

Katara shared a concerned look with Aang. "Sokka knows better than to run headlong into danger without making a plan. He knows we're too unfamiliar with this place. It was stupid of him to go out like that."

"Like you said, he will have made a plan, Katara," Aang replied. "If he did the things that he did during our own mission, he'll be fine on a hunting trip. And he has Gimli with him, so I don't think we have a reason to worry. Gimli must know what can be expected out there."

Legolas turned to Aragorn, and in the Elvish language that he, Aragorn, Gandalf and to some extent Frodo could understand, he spoke, "It was foolish of Gimli to go out."

"He will be able to protect the boy. Gimli is strong and brave," Aragorn said in the same language.

"And reckless," Legolas added. "I fear the Dwarf's stubbornness will lead them both to harm."

"Then let us go out and find them."

"Is everything okay?" Suki asked them.

"Shed you worries about your friend and brother. Dwarves can be stubborn, but they are dedicated companions and fierce friends. He will not let anything happen to Sokka," Aragorn answered. "Let us all assemble in the main hall. After informing Lord Elrond of the situation, we will go out and look for Sokka and Gimli."

ooooo

"Oh man…" Sokka stuttered as he was gripped with fear. The water tribe warrior found himself retreating slowly as the Orcs had started to approach them while observing them intently. "Uh… Gimli, I think it's time to leave."

The Dwarf, however, stood adamant, ready for a fight. Much to Sokka's dismay, Gimli even looked excited about fighting these Orcs.

"Why don't you come a bit closer so my axe can paint these grounds red with your blood," Gimli said.

"Gimli! Don't provoke them!" Sokka exclaimed. "We gotta go!"

"Go?" one of the Orcs said. "Nobody is going from here."

"First you will tell us what you know about any secret meetings," another one of the Orcs said.

"And then we will feast on your flesh," another one said. "How long has it been since we ate one of them Dwarves?"

"Too long," said another Orc. "And this one has an interesting scent," he said, sniffing the air in order to smell him properly. "He'll make for a tasty bite."

This was a little too much for Sokka. Sure, he'd had run ins with enemies that were bigger than him before. But standing face to face with enemies that had plans to eat him after the fight was a whole different story. He imagined one of the Orcs taking a bite out of him as he fought them. The thought made him shudder. He didn't want to stick around too long to find out what the Orcs had in mind for their menu. He wanted to get away from there as soon as possible. But it didn't look like Gimli shared a similar idea of how to deal with the situation.

"Gimli? Can we go, please?"

"Take out your weapon!" Gimli ordered. "We're fighting them head on!" he yelled as he ran forward to attack.

Sokka gazed in Gimli's direction and blinked twice at the familiarity of those words. "If Toph were a guy she'd look a lot like you," he said to himself.

One Orc running toward him snapped him out of his thought. Without any time to think or proper planning, Sokka did the first thing that came to mind. He threw his boomerang. It went far away in the air. The different Orcs and Gimli looked at Sokka for a second, confused at why he would do something so stupid instead of properly attacking or defending himself.

"This is no time to play with toys. Fight!" Gimli shouted.

The Orc that was after Sokka resumed its attack. Sokka screamed as he ran for it, unsheathing his dad's sword from his belt. "Try not to panic, try not to panic," he told himself as he was frantically searching for ways to outsmart the Orc that was chasing him.

He looked back for a fraction of a second, then hid behind a tree. Gimli had just killed an Orc and was surrounded by the four other Orcs. The Orc that was after him would catch up with him in no time. "What do I do, what do I do?" he said inwardly. He then closed his eyes and remembered his master Piandao. Opening his eyes, he found some courage that managed to calm him a little bit.

Sokka tried to look at the Orc from where he was standing. It seemed to have lost Sokka. A small smile formed when he saw that his usual trick was about to bear fruit again. Boomerang was on its way back. It hit the Orc that was chasing him on the back of its head, causing the Orc to get disoriented and distracted. The Orc was trying to figure out what had happened to him exactly. And Sokka considered that his cue. It was now or never. He either had to kill the Orc or be killed and consumed by it.

He made his way toward the Orc as swiftly and as quietly as he could. He reached the Orc just as it bent down to pick up Sokka's boomerang to examine it. At that very moment, Sokka stabbed the Orc in the back with his father's sword. He felt a surge of confidence going through him. He looked up to find that Gimli had killed the second Orc and was now fighting the two remaining Orcs on his own. He threw his boomerang again, hitting one of the two Orcs' head. The distraction it created helped Gimli to finish the job immediately and kill both Orcs with only two strikes of his axe.

Gimli looked back at Sokka. "He he he he," he laughed. Sokka grinned back.

ooooo

Lord Elrond's expression was stern when Aragorn explained to him that Sokka and Gimli had gone out. He remained silent, as if in deep thought. The members of the Fellowship, the different people that had come for the Council and the Elves of Rivendell's household were all present.

Katara was a little worried that Elrond was disappointed with Sokka's action. It had been a rather irresponsible action of her brother. But more than that she was starting to get more and more worried about Sokka. The look on Elrond's face gave her no consolation.

"Relax, Katara," Aang, who was standing next to her, whispered. He could tell that she was starting to get worried. "He'll be fine. We don't know that they're in trouble. All this is just a precaution." Aang glanced at the rest of his friends. Toph and Zuko seemed confident that the situation would be resolved. Suki, however, looked a little nervous as well.

At that time, a host of Elf scouts entered the room, grabbing the attention of all. Two Elves were in front, they were followed by about a dozen other Elves.

Elrond rose from his seat. "Elladan, Elrohir," he addressed both of his sons who had been in charge.

Elladan and Elrohir both made a respectful gesture to their father before Elladan started to give him a report. "We came across three different groups of Orcs. Each group consisted of about five or six Orcs. We found them near the river."

The Elf Lord frowned. "Any news of the Nine?"

The Elven twin brothers shared a look. "There were signs of a horse near each of the groups we encountered. We saw one of the Nine in the distance after we'd slain the last of the Orcs. It simply took off afterward. We have reason to believe that each of the Orc groups was under the command of one of the Dark Riders."

A new concern dawned on Elrond's face.

"Wait.. what are the Nine?" Toph interrupted.

"They're the Nazgûl or Ringwraiths," Aragorn started to explain. "They were once great kings of men. Sauron gave each of them a ring of power. It corrupted them. Now they are slaves of Sauron, neither living nor dead. Frodo was stabbed by one of them. They're hunting us to find the One Ring and return it to their master."

Katara was really worried now. She had sensed only a little bit of their energy when she tried to heal Frodo. And it was dark. Now there were nine of them looking for the Ring, and Sokka and Gimli were out there by themselves. What if they had run into another of the Orc scout groups, or worse, a Ringwraith?

Aang stepped forward. "We need to find Sokka and Gimli."

Aragorn addressed the sons of Elrond. "Gimli and one of our new guests have gone out. Did you find any tracks that may have been left by them?"

"No, we did not," Elladan answered.

"Then we will go out and look for them," a determined Aragorn spoke. "Elladan, tell me everything about where you have searched so far. We will go into the remaining directions."

Boromir joined the discussion. "We should go in different groups."

Aragorn nodded in agreement. "Elladan, you take a small host of Elves, Elrohir, you do the same."

Both Elves agreed with a single nod.

"Legolas and Boromir will join me in a third group," he then said.

"Wait," Katara said. "We're coming with you."

There was a moment of silence at her comment. Aragorn and Elrond shared a look.

"I think that would be unwise," Aragorn said.

"We're one team now. We should do this together," Aang said.

"Yes," Suki agreed. "We can't just wait here for you to return and do nothing while our friend is out there."

"We'll find them a lot faster if we go together," Zuko added.

"And we can kick some more Orc butts on the way," Toph said.

"I do not doubt your skills," Aragorn said. "But if the Orcs and the Dark Riders see you, the enemy will know of you and your abilities. Keeping your presence in Middle Earth and your powers a secret for as long as we can will work to our advantage."

"Aragorn is right," Lord Elrond said. "We can't draw their attention to your arrival in Middle Earth."

Aang was reminded of the time when the world thought he had died and when he had to hide his identity. Katara and Toph were reminded of it as well. They both knew how much Aang hated it at the time.

"As much as I dislike staying here doing nothing while Sokka's out there, I think Aragorn and Lord Elrond are right," Katara said, mostly to Aang.

Aang didn't reply.

"Aang? What are you thinking?" Katara asked him.

"Everything is connected," Aang whispered to himself. He looked up to the entire assembly. "I have another way of locating Sokka and Gimli without having to leave this place."

Without speaking another word or waiting for any form of approval of the people present, Aang sat down in his meditating pose. He joined his fists and closed his eyes as he concentrated on his friend Sokka. Seconds later, his arrow tattoos and his eyes started to glow in the usual magical blue color they turned in whenever he entered the Avatar State or Spirit World.

The people of Middle Earth were completely awestruck by what was happening in front of them. The Fellowship members who had witnessed Aang's childish and mischievous side with the fireworks only moments ago were especially surprised to see this almost divine state of the same boy. Boromir's eyes widened in utter amazement as he had never expected to see something like this from a child. Zuko was sure he saw a hint of regret in Boromir's demeanour for having caused such a scene about joining children to the Fellowship during the council. He hoped the guy would behave from that moment onwards. Katara and Suki, felt a great relief at Aang's solution. Katara knew that this way it wouldn't take long to find them and make sure that they were alright.

Aang was out of his body. He focused on his friend and as soon as he sensed Sokka, he flew off to find him, leaving Rivendell. He passed a river, which he assumed was the one Aragorn had been talking about before and where the Elf scouts had found the different Orc groups. Right now he was hoping Sokka and Gimli hadn't run into some kind of danger on their hunting trip.

His spirit suddenly lowered to ground level and he was brought in front of Sokka and Gimli. It did look like they had run into trouble, but they had managed to take care of it. The two were surrounded by dead Orcs and by the victorious and proud looks on their faces, Aang could tell that they had been the ones to have defeated them.

"I didn't know a tool this small could be so effective," Gimli said, praising Sokka's boomerang.

"I told you," Sokka proudly proclaimed. "Boomerang never lets me down." He put his sword back in its sheath and picked up his boomerang. "It's dark already. We should head back to Rivendell. The feast will have started by now. We only didn't get what we came here for. I had hoped we'd catch some meat for tonight. It'd make for a better menu for the feast and give you a reason to show up there at all."

"A Dwarf never says no to a feast, whatever the food," Gimli stated as he started to walk back into the direction of where they had.

Sokka stared at the Dwarf. "You're kidding, right?"

Aang, who was present in spirit, had to laugh at that.

The Dwarf didn't reply.

"So all he needed to cheer up was a bunch of monsters to kill?" Sokka shrugged and followed after Gimli. It was a little weird, but he could understand it. Fighting Fire Nation soldiers and winning from them used to give him a certain kick back in the days of the war. One couldn't exactly compare a Fire Nation soldier to an Orc, but he felt that he'd be able to understand the Dwarf somewhat, despite his stubbornness and rough behaviour.

"What is that?" the Dwarf asked all of a sudden.

Sokka looked at whatever Gimli was pointing at and recognised it as the light streak that usually represented Aang's spirit when he was out of his body. "I think that's Aang."

Aang smiled to himself in relief. He started to make his way back to Rivendell so they could follow him.

"Aang? The boy who is the Avatar?" Gimli asked.

"Yes, Aang's spirit. I think it's leading us back to Rivendell. Let's follow it," Sokka said. They both followed after Aang's spirit.

It took a while for them to reach back to Rivendell and it was only then that Sokka realised how far they had actually ventured away. After what felt like hours they finally reached the valley. Aang's spirit led them towards the main hall. Gimli and Sokka stood in front of the closed doors and watched Aang's spirit enter the hall through the doors. Gimli and Sokka shared a look before they pushed the doors open and entered the main hall.

The people of Middle Earth's attention was caught by a streak of light entering the room and then back into Aang's body. Aang's eyes and tattoos returned to their normal colour as he awoke from his meditative state. Aang stood up and turned towards the doors of the main hall that opened at that time, revealing Sokka and Gimli.

Gimli and Sokka entered the main hall. When he saw that everybody was present there, staring at them as they walked in, Sokka felt a bit ashamed about what they had done.

Most of the people stood in silence, still trying to process the fact that Aang had just left his body and entered back in as if it was the easiest thing to do.

"Sokka, you're okay!" Katara exclaimed with immense relief. She ran over to her brother and hugged him.

"You had us all worried, Sokka. We're glad you came back safely," Suki said.

"So how was your field trip?" Zuko asked.

"Yeah, did you find any meat this time?" Toph added suggestively.

Sokka immediately understood what the two of them were referring to. "Not exactly the kind of meat we expected to find," he said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

Lord Elrond stood up and addressed them. "Tell us everything that happened."

"Lord Elrond," Sokka started. He got down on his knees and bent his head before the Elf Lord. "I understand that my choice to go out with Gimli was a very bold action. It wasn't my intention to venture too far or lead us to danger. I apologise for all the inconvenience caused."

"A bold action it was indeed," Elrond replied. "But what matters now is that you both returned safely. Did you encounter anything strange or unusual during your trip?"

Sokka shared a look with Gimli. "We ran into six Orcs. We managed to take care of them. That's all," Sokka answered.

"Gimli, was there any sign of a Ringwraith nearby?" Elrond then asked.

Sokka looked a little confused as he didn't quite understand what he meant by a Ringwraith.

The Dwarf shook his head. "No."

"You two were lucky that you only ran into a handful of Orcs tonight," Elrond spoke. "Tonight we learned that Orcs under the command of the Dark Riders and perhaps other dark creatures are nearby. They can sense that something is going on and they are trying to close in on Rivendell. This means that the Ring cannot stay here much longer, but also that we must find the right moment for the Fellowship to depart from Rivendell with the Ring to not risk getting caught by the enemy. Tomorrow at dawn our Elf scouts shall go out again to track the movements of our enemies after which we shall develop a strategy. But tonight we honour our new guests from another world and the forming of the Fellowship."

At that moment a host of Elves entered with food and drinks, changing the whole atmosphere of the assembly right away.

Sokka was instantly reminded of his hunger. Right now it didn't matter to him what he ate, as long as there was food. He desperately needed something to eat.

The people present took seats at the tables that the Elves were now serving food upon. The members of the Fellowship all went to sit at the same table. Boromir was the last to join the table. There was a short awkward moment, as they all, including Boromir, knew that they had started on the wrong foot during the council.

"May I join you at this table?" Boromir asked.

"Of course," Aang answered.

"I realise I being a little too harsh before," Boromir admitted. "I hope we can get past that and start over."

"Let's drink to that!" Pippin exclaimed, which was a wonderful way to remove all awkwardness and have everybody laugh.

Aragorn gave Boromir a pat on the shoulder, showing that he appreciated the fact that Boromir was opening up to their new guests and the decision to join them to the Fellowship.

"What do you think? Does he mean it?" Zuko asked Toph.

"I can't make out if he's lying, so let's hope he does mean it," she answered.

Zuko decided to rest their case of Boromir, or Blobbermir as Toph had named him, for now until they were given another reason to doubt him.

Right then, a lady Elf entered the room. There was something about her beauty and grace that showered a certain magic upon everybody.

Katara found herself staring at her. "She is beautiful. Who is she?"

"It is the lady Arwen," Sam answered. "She is Lord Elrond's daughter."

Lady Arwen sat next to her father and twin brothers. Katara noticed that she glanced their way. For a moment she thought that Arwen had caught her staring at her, but then realised that wasn't the case. Being reminded through that that it was probably rude to keep staring, she went back to eating her food, hoping that she'd get the chance to speak to lady Arwen before they had to leave from Rivendell.

After some time Gandalf raised from his seat, causing all the rumours to fall silent and everybody to get ready to listen to whatever Gandalf was about to say.

"As you all know, we have some new guests in our midst who have come to join us in our cause. From what I've heard and seen so far, their powers are quite incredible. If I'm not mistaken, some of our Benders have been trying to set up a show for us all to enjoy. I'm quite curious to see what they have come up with," Gandalf said. He looked at Aang and raised his eyebrows, passing on the word to him.

All this was of course news to Sokka. "A show? What are you guys up to?"

A smile formed on Toph's lips. "You'll see."

Aang got up from his seat and went to the front of the hall. Taking his stance, he used his Earthbending to create a stage where he was standing.

"Is this going to be about you benders showing off your skills to all the non benders here?" Sokka asked his sister.

"No, I'm not even part of it," Katara answered to her own defense. "But if I'm not mistaken, all Aang's trying to do is have some fun with everybody."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Aang proudly announced. "I present to you the Bending Show of Middle Earth Wizarding Fireworks!"

Everybody applauded and cheered as Aang spoke and started the show. He had prepared several different items for it. Aang had started by using his Firebending to start Gandalf's butterfly fireworks, the same one Aragorn had run into a while ago. Using his bending he multiplied the colourful butterflies that appeared and directed them to fly towards the different people in the audience. Once close to their faces, Aang used his bending to make them either gracefully disappear in thin air, or have them fly off.

"Wow, where did he learn to do that?" Sokka asked.

"With a little inspiration from that Firebending magician we ran into once, I guess. He has always wanted to learn those tricks. He's using Gandalf's fireworks and added his Firebending to it," Katara answered.

"Impressive. I like it," Sokka said.

Aang's next item included fireworks that turned into little Goblins and Orcs. This was combined with Toph's Earthbending. She'd demonstrate how she could see with her bending by bending and aiming rocks at the fiery creatures to 'defeat' them. Another item involved another of Gandalf's firework editions of Smaug, the dragon. For this Aang requested Zuko to perform the Dancing Dragon form with him while the dragon was up. Zuko wasn't really in the mood for it, but did as Aang requested him anyway not to ruin the experience. It ended with him having the dragon fly around before he used his Firebending to turn the giant dragon into a cute and tiny dragon. Like this he had many other items with the fireworks. The crowd kept cheering and applauding with everything they performed. After the fireworks show, Aang and Katara performed a Waterbending form together.

Toph went up the stage for the final item. "So, some people have been trying to understand how my seeing works. I can 'see' everything through my Earthbending. In fact, I had seen all of Rivendell the moment we had arrived here. And this is just to show you what Rivendell looks like to me," she said as she interlocked her fingers and cracked her knuckles to get ready for what she was about to do. She took a firm stance, stepped forward and stretched her arms upward with a powerful push. As she did, a miniature rock version of Rivendell of about her own height appeared.

The audience was completely taken back by what she'd just done.

"Aang, a few enhancements, please?" she asked.

"Coming right up!"

Using his Waterbending, Aang added the waterfalls of Rivendell to Toph's version of the valley, concluding the act with some ongoing tiny fireworks above the miniature Rivendell.

Everybody stood up and applauded to their performance. People came up close to observe what the blind Earthbender had created. She had thought of every little detail. Her mini Rivendell included every house, every tree… even all the people present had been added to it.

The night ended with everybody sitting around Toph's version of Rivendell, sharing adventurous stories of Middle Earth's history and some exciting tales of the members of Team Avatar while Aang kept the little fireworks going.

This was truly a night to remember.

ooooo

Earlier that night when Aang had entered the spirit world, the people at the assembly had been so mesmerised by what was happening, that nobody had noticed that at that very same time inside Frodo's breast pocket, the markings of the One Ring had started to glow as well. Aang's trip to the spirit world had been successful, as he had found Sokka and Gimli in no time. But they hadn't considered one thing before Aang's spirit temporarily left his body. The Nine Dark Riders were neither living nor dead. They were evil spirits. And they could sense any spirit in the spirit world. Including Aang's.

The Nine had sensed a new but extremely powerful spirit nearby. They had sensed the Ring calling out to them at that very same time as well. And in that moment, they knew that the answer to their master's victory lay with the one whom this powerful spirit belonged to.

Very little did the people in Rivendell know that while they were celebrating the arrival of their new guests and the forming of the Fellowship, the Dark Riders had already left the posts they had initally taken before to keep track of their movements.

The Nine had taken a new mission upon themselves now. And that was to inform their master of this new arrival in Middle Earth.

ooooo

To Be Continued...