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Arya sighed, rubbing her hands over her eyes and groaned slightly once more. Then she jumped off the edge of the bed and quickly showered in the cold water that had been provided for her to wake her body up. It had been warm first thing in the morning but it had sat for too long and so the water was now cool.
With a soft towel around her torso she picked up her clothes and looked at a full body mirror they had installed in her room.

Her scars were now a more prominent silver against her skin since it had tanned and her muscles were still as prominent as ever, a result of the strenuous training she had gone through back home with her father and the elves of Du Weldenvarden.
Arya traced the scar that crossed her stomach given to her by a shadow called Úmar had given her on one of her trips with Eragon and smiled at the thought of her father.

Dropping the towel completely, she threw her clothes on and even stashed two daggers in her boots just in case as well as her sword which she would never part from.
It had been a gift from her father Eragon and had been made from the melted metal of his master's old sword which they had managed to find after years of searching for it after his death. She had named it Echo because of the ringing echoes it made when it is struck. Arya had even found a way to amplify the vibration enough to burst someone's ear, something which she rarely does.

Legolas and Strider had been walking down the corridor when they saw the woman exit her room and close the door. Without a single sound they followed her until she found herself before the broken blade. She grazed it with her fingers and tested the edge.

-Bjartr stál (Bright steel)- they heard her whisper. Arya pulled out Echo from its scabbard, the blade not making a single sound as its metal left the leather cover, and held it with one hand by its hilt. With the other she raised the hilt piece of the broken blade and compared both.

Strider and Legolas noted the similarity in the making of the blades. The light caught it at the same angles and they both gave off a feeling of strength and power.

-This blade is beautiful do you not think so Strider?- the ranger flinched slightly as Arya turned to look at him, her eyes piercing through him as she placed the blade with care back on its place.
-But it is broken my lady- Strider approached her, Legolas not too far behind him. Arya shot the elf a glance and chuckled a bit at his answer.
-And can something broken not be mended?- she said. She waited for him to think before speaking her thoughts -though I do not believe it could be forged with the same materials which would also make the reforging harder.
-And why not Lady?- the elf spoke for the first time, curious.

-My own sword is made of the same rare metal as this one is, although with a larger concentration of it- Arya flicked the blade of her sword with her fingernail making it give out a high pitch that echoed all around the chamber -The metal used for it is called bjartr stál, bright steel, named so by the high älfakyn, the very elves that discovered it the night they watched the stars rain across the night sky. The story says that one of the stars fell to the ground from the sky, and that when it was cracked open, they found a metal stronger, more flexible and more durable that any other metal in the world- Strider and Legolas watched Arya handle her sword gently as she slid it back into the scabbard at her hip -Only very few times have these stars fallen and the metal was only used for certain people. This one had only a small amount of bjartr stál, but it would still be impossible to reforge it unless you have the materials for it- she looked up at the man with a small smile -unfortunately, in the centuries I have lived I have not once seen a star fall. The only ones that have been known to fall were those two, and since the last, there has yet to be another fallen star.

Strider nodded his head and they both watched her leave, something suddenly highlighting itself in her speech.

-Legolas- his elven friend turned to him -did she not just say she has lived centuries?- realisation dawned on his face. The human had in fact stated so.
When she had first laid eyes upon her, he had immediately felt drawn to her, curious of her origins.

Arya spent the entirety of her morning after that with Arwen as she had asked the elleth to teach her sindarin. Arya now understood it perfectly but had a bit of difficulty speaking it. An elven maid came to the ladies and told Arya that Elrond was calling for those who would be present in the meeting of that afternoon.

-Well I surely cannot go looking like this- she took Arwen's hand -would you help me my friend?

Arwen agreed and they rushed back to Arya's room. The elleth had soon clad her in and elegant pale blue dress with long sleeves that flared open at the elbow the light color of the fabric accentuated her tan skin and reddish hair. The fabric of the skirt reached her ankles so she could move more easily and was tied at the waist with a gold lace string.

Arwen told her friend she would do her hair and, after some struggling, she managed to convince her to do two small braids with the hair at the sides of her head that went around and were pulled together at the back of her head to form another braid

After Arwen was done she let Arya observe herself in the mirror one last time before leading her out the door of her room and to the courtyard.

Elrond and Gandalf were already there waiting. There was a pedestal in the middle of the space and chairs had been placed around it. The lord of Rivendell and the wizard welcomed Arya as she sat down on one of the chairs.

Strider came in with Legolas and the rest of the Mirkwood elves that had accompanied him. Behind them came a pair of dwarves and a man with shoulder length hair and a horn hanging at his side.

They all took their respective seats not noticing the lady and the meeting begun as Elrond stood forward.

The man that had come the other day alongside the elves and dwarves gave her an annoyed look before sitting in his chair.

-Strangers from distant lands, friends of old. You have been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor- Elrond started -Middle-Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall- he looked at each of them keeping it a little longer on Arya -Each race is bound to this fate — this one doom- he gestured to the pedestal -bring forth the Ring, Frodo.

Frodo rises and lays the Ring on the pedestal with a nervous glance at Arya. She nodded in encouragement.

-So it is true...

Frodo returns to his seat beside Gandalf. He seems relieved. The members of the Council stare at the Ring, mesmerised by it. It appears to start whispering to each of them in turn. Arya watches all of their expressions one by one, but when the Ring turns the whispering to her it feels a strong wall come up around the lady's mind.

-In a dream, I saw the eastern sky grow dark. But in the West a pale light lingered. A voice was crying: 'Your doom is near at hand.'- Boromir stands up and aproaches the pedestal as Arya still tries to keep her walls up around her -Isildur's Bane is found.

Boromir reaches out towards the Ring and Gandalf and Elrond exchange concerned looks. Boromir's fingers hover above the Ring.

Just as he lowers his hand a bit more, Elrond leaps up to stop him.

-Boromir!

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