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Interrupted Journeys: Part 3 Journeys Begin by elliska	6 Review(s)
Jay of Lasgalen	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 5/1/2005
Oh dear - this sounds very, very bad. Poor Legolas, poor Thranduil, poor Lindomiel :( I dread to think what they'll find. Jay :( Author Reply: Hi Jay! Yes, this is bad. I don't think Thranduil is going to like the sight that greets him when they finally catch up to the men either. And Legolas has had a very frightening day--a very difficult one for so young a child to process. Which isn't going to make life easier for Thranduil. Glad to hear from you! :) The next chapter should be up tonight or tomorrow night. Looks like I won't have to work late Monday. Famous last words... :)

Brazgirl	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 4/30/2005
Gosh Elliska! I read it so fast and so anxious and suddely I faced your A/N!!! A cliff!!! You mean... I bet it was the creepy elves' idea!!! Anyway... you definetly know how to hold a reader in a chapter! That was a thrilling one! Poor children! They are so young and already witnessed someone die! I will mark their lives... at least we know Legolas will be a warrior.The women were brave, especially Amoneth. She was so quick in action. And Lindomiel acted so much with motherly instinct... I could only wonder what happened with them. They have husbands (gorgeous guys, I dare to say!) to look for them and bring them safe home. I think the way you wrote Legolas and Galithil's reaction during and after the attack was very, very good, especially when Fengel went to take them. And when they refused to lose hold of their fathers. Sad scene, very well done!!! The whole action was broken for me when Amglaur told Thranduil to bring his daughter home!!! That was remarkable! Great ending, despite of the cliffie... of course!!! Looking foward for the next chapter! Author Reply: I really did not mean for this to be a cliffie--I didn't notice the chapter was 35 pages long. But maybe a cliffie is good. Evil grin Sorry. Yes, we will blame the creepy elves. :) I'm glad this made you read fast. Yes, I think this event will have an impact on the children. That is really why Fengel was important. I think Legolas would have a lot of trouble becoming Fellowship Legolas if this was his first impression of Men with nothing to balance it. But even so, watching someone attack your mother and kill your friend (surely the little elflings think of the guards as friends) would have a big impact. Poor things. Lindomiel and Amoneth are brave. Amoneth lived in the south for almost 2000 years so I think that she has seen a few battles and even fought to defend her village. She has some skill. And even Lindomiel, who I see as much more sheltered, isn't going to roll over and give up--especially when Legolas's safety is at stake. I'm glad you liked Legolas and Galithil's reactions. I can't imagine how horrified they must have been and I had trouble writing everyone's emotions here without going over the top. Glad you liked it and you will not have to wait long for the next one. I won't make it a week. Definitely by Wednesday.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 4/30/2005
Too long to post in one!!!!! No!!! This is torture. Such a lovely start - picking flowers and finding woad - playing in the ravine - the ordinary joyful life of naneths with small elflings (and a couple of guards, of course). I can just see proud little Legolas protecting the plant for his daernaneth through all the trauma. I hope it grows well for him - even though he will probably never feel totally at ease with blue dyes. But the tension and the attack - Amoneth and Lindomiel are like tigresses in defence of their young. (See, ellyth need training too - you never know when you are going to need the skill of using a sword.) Thank goodness Legolas and Galithil ran in the end - and had the sense to take refuge somewhere too small for the men to get in and grab them. And Fengel - well at least not all men are bad. He was very kind and reassuring to two highly traumatised elflings. (I loved him sending the guard to find the right phrases, and his irritation when the man forgot the key one!) Conuion is right that there is no point in rushing off headlong without knowing where to go, or without enough force to be of help, but what a ride! I hope against hope that they manage to reach Lindomiel and Amoneth in time to rescue them - but I'm afraid they aren't. I'm very impressed with Amglaur for coaxing the elflings into going home with him - but he is not going to be impressed if Thranduil fails to retrieve Lindomiel. But then, neither is Thranduil. And Legolas might never comb his hair again. This is so good and so tense - more, please. Soon. I'm already in mourning. Author Reply: I swear it really was too long. I have the whole story in one big word doc and I cut out the parts and paste them in here as I go. Usually I am good about noticing when something is too long/short but this was and I missed it--it was 35 pages long! Sorry. Legolas was just a pleased with himself as he could be over that plant and his happiness was just crushed. Funny you said that about blue. In the original version, it was a green dye plant that he found and I actually changed it because I figured he isn't going to look back on this plant/color with fondness. :) Yes, anyone who tries to hurt the children are going to pay a high price if they have to go through Lindomiel and Amoneth to do it. Keep your comment about ellyth being trained in mind when you read the next chapter. I think poor Legolas needed to see a decent Man after a situation like this or he would have had a lot more difficulty dealing with men in the future. And Fengel is a good sort. I could feel his frustration at not being able to help the elflings and that guard forgetting the most important part was the last straw. I wouldn't be surprised if Fengel made an effort to learn Elvish after that. :) As frustrating as it was, Thranduil did need to wait for his guards and make a plan but I bet he was going nutz! And Amglaur was a good daeradar here--it must have about killed him to trust Thranduil to this but he knew the children needed family, not guards. I know it's mean, but I'm glad this came off as tense. I can never tell. :)

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 4/30/2005
The flower gathering certainly turned nasty in a hurry. Legolas was so pleased to have charge of the plant. And then the innocence of the trip was ruptured by the sound of arrows. Very scary for me, much less for those involved! At least Fengel makes a nice balance to the evil men. You can see the complicated nature of the race. I love the way he ordered his man to go ask how to get the children out -- his voice cheerful but his face fierce. You're scaring me here. Author Reply: Yes, it did, didn't it. I felt sorry for Legolas (duh!). He was just so pleased with himself over that plant and that just didn't last long. I think this would be just horrifying. When I was a kid, my parents didn't let me watch those slasher movies that were popular (ex Halloween etc). So when I was 14 or so, I went with a date to see one without telling my parents. Never did that again. I about died--I literally was so horrified by it that I sat there the whole time with my fingers over my eyes and in my ears. And that was a movie. This was real from Legolas's POV. I think he needed Fengel as a balance to that or he would have been as bad with Men as Engwe is with Dwarves for the rest of his life. And I do like showing how difficult Men must have been for the Woodland Realm. They live so close and they are just so variable. I am so pleased with details people are mentioning in the reviews. I can see poor worried, frustrated Fengel, trying not to scare these poor children any further while trying to make it clear to his guard that he'd better obey. Fengel was in a tough spot. I'm glad you liked it and as mean as it sounds, I'm glad it was scary. I wasn't sure it was. That's always so hard to tell. :)

French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 4/30/2005
Figuring that something would happen to Lindomiel was kind of a no-brainer. But Amoneth, too! Both the lovely ladies at once! Striking a double blow to the royal extended family, and removing the possibility of Aradunnon as a shoulder for Thranduil to cry on. (He will need a shoulder to cry on. We know this.) I liked the little details in this chapter. Lindomiel's warning about the plant, the way she becomes so hyper-alert during the battle, noticing every little thing, the fact that the Men can't tell which lady is the Queen and grab both, Fengel discovering the kids and having to ask what the words are to calm them (and then the guard doesn't remember one of the phrases!), the way that Thranduil tries to find out from the kids what happened, and the fact that Legolas still has that woad plant in his tiny little hand. That last detail reminds me of a children's book called Hiroshima no pika, in which a little girl named Mii discovers, four days after the atomic bomb drops on Hiroshima, that she's stil holding her red chopsticks because her fingers have spasmed so tightly around them. I did not know that woad had yellow flowers. You learn something new every day. Author Reply: I'm glad you liked it! :) As we've discussed before, I find these battle/fight scenes very hard to write. Focusing on their impact on people is easier and that was kind of an obvious thing to do in this chapter--who wouldn't be going nuts when their children were in danger. And poor Fengel was very worried and Very Frustrated when he found the children. I can see something like that happening though. Poor guard--it's hard to remember all that slippery foreign language. You know, now that you mention it, I think I have heard that Hiroshima no pika story somewhere. I remember that and thinking how horrible that would be. (Well duh). It is a sad little detail though. Yeah, woad has yellow flowers. Here is a really good link on it, if you want to see them blooming: http://my.net-link.net/~rowan/crafts/woad/woadpage.html. It's right on the front page. One of the things I like most about this fandom is that I actually learn a lot of cool stuff being involved with it and then I get to talk about it with really interesting people. :) As for you first paragraph--I will say nothing yet, but I will next time. :)

The Karenator	Reviewed Chapter: 12 on 4/30/2005
Oh my goodness! What an exciting chapter. This does not look good for Lindomiel and Amoneth. The poor guards. They didn't have a chance. I thought when Lindomiel told the children to run that the men heard her, of course, and would search for the kids. But they weren't the target. Thank goodness. If the men had been a little brighter, they'd have gone out of their way to capture the king's son and nephew, but I imagine they were in a hurry to make tracks before an Elven patrol showed up. Take what you've got and disappear. Poor kids. They were terrified. I was as frustrated as Thranduil with wanting him to get on the road. Of course, he had to find out what he could about where Lindomiel and Amoneth were, but it must have been driving him crazy to wait on guards and information. When he took off, he must have been riding like the wind. An observant wind looking for clues. I was mightily impressed with your knowledge of dyes and plants. Quite interesting. Lord Fengel was great with the children. I think you said earlier that he has children. His gentle tone was very kind and caring. I loved the exchange between him and his guard as he instructed the guard to go find out how to tell the children in Elvish to come out. Fengel turned his head and scowled at the guard. “Well, ‘I will not hurt you’ was the important part, was it not? They know I want them to come out,” he said with some irritation. Great lines! The Elvish guard was certainly helpful in reassuring the little ones. Poor kids. Of course, I was thrilled to see Thranduil and Aradunnon find the kids. I wanted to hug Thranduil too. I knew the little guys were not going to be happy when Thranduil sent them home and Ada didn't go too. I can imagine how hard it was for Amglaur to give up the search for his daughter, but he obviously saw that Legolas and Galithil were not going to go peacefully with a guard. Amglaur made a hard choice, but he put the kids' welfare above his own needs. He might turn out to be a decent guy after all. He had to trust Thranduil. That must have just about killed him. And little Legolas still clutching the crushed plant. Oh my.... I'm not sure that it's fair to leave us hanging for another week until we see the next chapter. Is there anything you'd like that I might could use for a little leverage? Very good chapter, Elliska. You had me on the edge of my seat. Wonderful! Karen Author Reply: I'm glad it came off as exciting. I was not sure it would. :) Unless I make a change to it, you will hear a little in the next chapter about the men looking for the children. In my mind, they did look for them. They just couldn't get them. Nasty men. But you're right--at some point you've got to take what you've got and run before you get caught. Yes, Fengel has a son and daughter--both very infants. And of course he got to know Legolas and the others a bit, so he cares for them too. I am sure he is imagining how he would feel in this situation and his heart is just breaking. He is truly a good example of Men. And Legolas needs to see that now. I'm glad you liked their little language barrier. I can see something like that happening and it would be just infuriating. Poor Fengel. :) I just cannot imagine how relieved Thranduil and Aradunnon must have been to at least see the children safe and I found that hard to adequately express without making it over-the-top. But that was a boost for them. I agree it must have about killed Amglaur to take the children home but he knew they needed family and not guards right then. He's a pretty good guy underneath. I like the dye stuff. I have tried making some natural dyes for dresses I use in reenactment societies. I've never tried woad though (I'm lazy--I just buy indigo). Woad is supposed to be hard to process into a dye. And I'm glad you liked Legolas with his little plant. Nana said it was important, so he hung on to it. :) I do intend to put that next chapter up much sooner than next weekend. Possibly tomorrow but definitely by Wednesday. I swear I didn't intend to make this a cliffhanger but the chapter was 35 pages long. How I never noticed that, I don't know. And this was the best place to cut it. Sorry. :)

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