Dancing Lessons With the Muscially Challenged For the Musically Keen

The sun shone as Luna and Elenwe were talking about a random subjuct on their to the dining hall for breakfast. "I thought that it was 'No findings Elven-folk have Of Amroth ever more.'" said Elenwe as they walked around the corner. Luna shook her head,

"No, but that's close. It goes: 'No tidings Elven-folk have heard Of Amroth ever more.'" Corrected Luna,

"Long have the decades been since I once set foot in sweet Lorien." said Elenwe, giggling in verse.

"You've been to Lorien?" asked Luna, a little surprised.

"Yeah-- not long enough for a real visit or anything-- and that was when I was around 120..." They turned a corner and saw that a few elves and Erestor were putting up a few flags and banners made of a fine blueish-silver.

"Fair morning, Ladies..." said Erestor glanceing at them a moment, "I'll expect no fooling around near the poles or kitchens while we are setting things up." he said half joking, half warning. Luna held up her hand as they walked by,

"Of course not, dear Erestor. Of course not." she said with a glint of laughter in her eye.

"Hmn!" he uttered from his throat jokingly and continued to work on the flags. The girls rounded another corner and Elenwe turned to Luna,

"What are they doing?"

"They're getting ready for the feastival... just a tad early, if I say so..."

"Feastival? What feastival?" Elenwe asked, unknown to the customs of Rivendell.

"The Feastival of the Elves!" said Luna with a smile. They entered the dining chamber and sat along with everyone else, while Luna continued to tell a little about the feastival.

"You do not know of the Feastival of the Elves here in Rivendell?" asked Elrond curiously looking at Elenwe.

"Well, I gather it's a celebreation of elven culture......" she said, "But aside from that... what you do and how you do it is unkown to me... I don't really know much about elven culture when it comes to the Ar." They looked at her,

"What do you mean the 'Outside'?" asked Kerowyn.

"Hm? Oh, 'Outside' (or 'Ar') refers to the outside world. The drow are a little secluded, if you haven't noticed." responed Elenwe. Lindir nodded,

"No kidding." Elenwe glanced at Lindir then continued,

"So what is there?" Sanarium took a sip of tea then cleared her throat,

"Well... there's a great deal of old myth, poetry and song from Rivendell and of Lorien (with a few from Mirkwood) ...Not to mention the dancing-" Iodhil cut her off, "Ah! The Dancing! It really is quite beautiful..." Searyn and the twins nodded in response. Legolas put his hand to his chin in rememberance, "I believe it's the feastival with the most dancing..."

"The dances most expected are the ones of Lorien's Autumn and Rivendell's Spring." said Elrond.

"Not to mention the Tale of Earendil!" said Kerowyn, "Ah! That one's so beautiful! I love that dance!" Luna chuckled, "But of course it won't be the Feastival of Elves without Glorfindel's retelling of his fight against the Balrog." Glorfindel smirked,

"You used to love when I told that story!" Elenwe blinked rapidly,

"What?! Glorfindel?! Balrog?! As in The Balrog Slayer?!" she asked astonished.

"Oh, yeah. I thought we told you, Elenwe. Glorfy did that." said Kerowyn. Elenwe practically jumped out of her seat in excitement,

"REALLY?!!! Everybody in my town even heard about that!! The couragous elf who destroyed a Balrog single handedly!!!" Elenwe's eyes lighted up brightly and she gazed at Glorfindel wide eyed. "You've gotta tell me everything!!!" she said. Glorfindel chuckled hardly,

"It seems that some still jump at the chance to hear the story!" he laughed. Luna shook her head,

"Jeez, Elenwe... Have you always been so... battle hungry?" Elenwe turned to Luna and smiled,

"Ha! There are three things that I cannot live without and those are: 1. Battle 2. Music/Dance and 3. The Night!" Luna shook her head again.

"Perhaps Glorfindel can tell you of his adventure later. For now, let us continue to speak of the feastival... You say you love music and dance, Elenwe? Then you should be sure to join in." Elrond said. Elenwe smiled at Elrond,

"That sounds great!" She seemed to wilt suddenly at rememberance, "But... I don't know any of your dances..." she said saddly.

"Really? Not one?" said Lindir making matters worse. Kerowyn poked Lindir.

"Well... there's enough time to learn..." said Iodhil, "I could teach you." Legolas coughed and took his cup of tea away. "What?" said Iodhil.

"You teach her...? Ha!" said Legolas chuckling to himself.

"What's wrong with that?" asked Elenwe, "Is he a bad dancer?" Legolas laughed,

"Well, no, but... let's just say teaching someone to dance is different than dancing..." Iodhil glared at his brother,

"I'm sure you'd do no better."

"I did not offer." said Legolas raiseing his eyebrows at Iodhil. Elenwe smirked,

"That's alright. It won't matter. I'll pick it up--I'm not some novice at danceing, you know." She turned to Iodhil. "I'd be very thankful if you'd teach me... however I'm not sure what I can do for you in return." Iodhil picked up an eyebrow and looked at her,

"Why would you need to repay me?" he asked. Elenwe looked back at him, confused,

"Why wouldn't I?" Everyone at the table exchanged glances, it seemed that the very forgein drow culture was popping up again. Elenwe looked at them all, "What?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iodhil stood in the middle of a courtyard near the Last Homely House. Leaves of lime and pine floated down to the ground in the windless air. Elenwe hopped down the steps of the path looking as happy as a child with candy. Taking one last great hop, Elenwe landed in front of Iodhil. "Have fun listening to Glorfindel?" asked Iodhil. Elenwe gave a large smile,

"Ha! Are you kidding? It was glorious!!" Elenwe pretended there was a sword in her hand and peried and plunged. "I can't wait to heard it all again at the feastival!! Glorfindel must be absolutely ashtonishing on the battlefeild!" She spun on her heel and ran into Iodhil.

"Ha ha! Well... shall we get started?" asked Iodhil.

"Sure."

"Okay. I'm going to teach you the dance of Rivendell's Spring first. At the begining we start out to the side of each other, facing in opposite directions like this." Iodhil positioned himself according to Elenwe's direction. "Once the music starts we put our hands up as so." Iodhil raised his right hand, the one nearest Elenwe as she did the same. They layed their hands together gently and Iodhil lifted her arm. "Tighten your elbow a bit more. Okay, now... next we begin to slowly walk in a circle without looking away from your partner." Iodhil continued and showed her the five following moves. "Alright. Now, let's see how much you remember and if I need to slow down... Let's try it from the beginging." They resetted their positions and began again. Elenwe executed each move perfectly. "Good, wow. Your really a natural!" said Iodhil in praise.

"I said I wasn't a novice." responed Elenwe smirking back at him. Iodhil continued to break down the various dances into steps as well as used Kerowyn in examples. After, they would repeatedly reherse the different dances together.

"...One, two, three--and don't forget the turn--One, two, three..." said Iodhil in rythm. Elenwe turned right on cue but almost bumped into Iodhil while returning. "Whoa! Okay, that was really good." Elenwe puffed out her exhale in exastperation,

"And that was a bad lie. When I don't forget the turn I run into you!" she said angerly crossing her arms. Iodhil scrated the back of his head,

"Yeah... so this part needs some work... but I think we should call it a day. We're both tired and your frustration isn't going to help any..." he said stareing down at Elenwe's foot, which was tapping up and down rapidly.

"Fine" Elenwe put her hands on her hips and took a deep breath. Iodhil took a drink of the water Kerowyn had brought them before. Elenwe began to hum and mutter the lyrics to a familiar song. Iodhil straitened and stared at her,

"Isn't that the story of Nimrodel?" Elenwe turned to him in surprise,

"Yeah... Luna's been teaching me a lot of poems and songs from Rivendell, Lorien and even one from Mirkwood..." Iodhil blinked in amazement, Elenwe didn't waste anytime in trying to learn all she could of the arts of the "Ar". Elenwe picked up her own water, "Nevermind that. You still have yet to tell me of something I can do to make up for all the time and effort you're exhausting on my ignerance!" she said.

"But I seriously can't thin of anything!" protested Iodhil. "Unless it were more pranks on Legolas...." Elenwe's eyebrows lowered,

"But, I was going to do that anyway! ...Not to mention doing so on your behalf is kind of wimpy..." Iodhil shrugged his shoulders,

"I guess I can always think of it tomarrow..." Elenwe ran up the steps to find Luna for more lessons,

"You'd better!" A look of distress mared Iodhil's fair face,

"Can't we just say that I owe you?" he shouted after her. He smirked as he leaned back on a bit of railing, looking at the hallway Elenwe had ran down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The feastival was drawing nearer and an invisable mist of anticipantion cloated all of Rivendell. Elenwe had drained Luna's memory banks with her constant questions of poems and songs (As with Glorfindel an his fighting techinques). However she was repayed with Kerowyn's persistent question: What kind of dress will you wear? The twins had been witness to the frey as they were helping to put up decorations. Elenwe had come walking rapidly around the corner with hands over her ears, practically knocking them off their ladder. Kerowyn soon rushed after, "Of course if you don't have one, you can use one of mine. What color? Chesnut? Pine?" Elenwe then began to run and almost went crashing into the healing wing.

Now was the day of the feastival and the last minutes of preperation had most of the elven city buzzing. Luna was now witness when Elenwe had to ignore the last of Kerowyn's joke ("Aubern? Cream?") as Lindir, the twins, and Glorfindel fixed various placement problems. Elrond conversed with Erestor of certain plates and songs, but then all was ready and the feastival began. Music exploded into the air and various elves cryed out. Elenwe, Luna and Kerowyn walked down the steps towards the large congrigation of elves,

"I still wish you had worn a dress!" said Keroywn teasinly, as she looked at Elenwe's --still-- very perculiar attire.

"Yeah, yeah... Come on let's join the first dance!" said Elenwe as she took hold of Luna's arm pulled her into the crowd. All three girls joined in along with various other members of their group. In the middle of the second dance Elenwe turned to change partners as the dance called for. To her surprise she came face to face with Legolas,

"I see you were not kidding when you said you were a fast learner." he said. Elenwe smirked at him jokingly,

"Or your brother's not as bad of a teacher as you thought?" she said.

"Maybe..." he responded. They turned and exchanged partners once again. Legolas ended up with Meahan and Elenwe with Searyn. Elenwe blinked in shock,

"Searyn. You're dancing?" Searyn nodded his head,

"Arn't I?" Elenwe faked a smile,

"Yes, well, I mean. I didn't realize you took an interest in dancing..." Searyn's expression did not shift,

"Sanarium insisted that I do." Elenwe's smile became even harder to fake,

"Oh...okay..." The dance ended and Elenwe sat next to everyone else. Luna noticed her look of confusion,

"What's with you?" She turned to her,

"It's just, I never pinned Searyn as a guy who would dance, or well, involve himself. Ya know?...." Luna looked at her curisouly,

"He isn't."

"Uhh--"

"But Sanarium asked him to."

"Ahhh. Nevermind." Elrond stood and cleared his throat, he spoke in elvish,

"Now Luna of Nilmar, last of the Moon elves shall preform a dance of her culture with Elrohir." Luna and Elrohir stood up and walked to the center of the clearing. They readied for the dance and the lovely music began to flow about them. Their flowing movements and the grace of the dance entralled Elenwe, she leaned in to Iodhil,

"How come you didn't teach me this dance?" she asked. Iodhil leaned in and whispered back,

"Because I don't know it... only Luna and the twins know the dances or songs of the Moon elves..." Elenwe made a mental note to beg Luna for every bit of info she had, that Elenwe herself did not already possess of the Moon elf arts. Being Drow their two races were close allies, but ever since the large fall in the Moon elves population so many years ago, all real communication was cut off. Come to think of it... Why hadn't she asked already? Luna and Elrohir ended their dance, bowed and took their seats again. Luna looked at Elenwe,

"Enjoy it?" Elenwe smiled at her friend,

"Are you kidding? That was awesome!" Elrond stood once more and spoke in elvish,

"This night we have danced, sung and spoke of the elves of Rivendell... of Lorien, of Mirkwood... and even had one dance of the Moon Elves... But I wonder if our resident Drow elf will sing us a song of her people?" Everyone turned to Elenwe and her expression turned to that of surprise,

"Me?"

"Yes. It's seems fitting that you share at least one song with us... this is the Feastival of the Elves after all. I would have you dance, but you lack a knowledgeable partner." Elenwe felt every pair of eyes on her, waiting for a yes. Everyone at her table began to urge her on.

"Oh, sing, Elenwe!" said Keroywn.

"Yeah... come on, we did a dance of the Moon Elves." said Luna.

"No, I don't think--" Iodhil cut off her protest,

"Do it in favor of the dancing lessons!" he said smirking. Elenwe starred at him with anger and depression,

"But- But- But- Can't you pick something else?"

"No." he said folding his arms. Elenwe hung her head in defeat, she then stood and said,

"Of course." in elvish. Elenwe walked to the minstrels and whispered somthing to them, they layed down their instruments and watched as she then walked to the center of everyone. "This is the song of a Drow maiden who lost her lover..." Elenwe closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath in elvish. She chanted over and over for a moment, but none could hear her as she became deep in the verse. A sudden gust of wind traveled around her in a cyclone and then to the instruments. Flutes, fiddles, harps and other small musical devices began to hover slightly in the air and play a sweet melody of their own accord. Everyone was taken back by the spell she had casted, but then once more they repeated their action as Elenwe began to sing:

You don't remember me but I remember you.

I lie awake and try so hard not to think of you.

But who can decide what they dream? And dream I do.

I believe in you. I'll give up everything just to find you.

I have to be with you.

To live. To breath. You're taking over me.

Have you forgotten all I know and all we had?

You saw me mourning my love for you and touched my hand.

I knew you loved me then.

I believe in you. I'll give up everything just to find you.

I have to be with you.

To live. To breath. You're taking over me.

I look in the mirror and see your face.

If I look deep enough

So many things inside that are just like you

are taking over.

The instruments settled gently back into the laps of the minstrels and Elenwe took a deep breath as she looked at the crowd who were in awe. She gave a little bow as various elves began to praise her and comment on the song. Elenwe walked over and sat back down quickly, she turned to Iodhil, "Satisphied?" Iodhil nodded, his tongue still stuck in his throat.

"You are quite the songbird." said Glorfindel. Elenwe smiled,

"Thanks... In fact 'Dulinde*' was a nickname I was given back home." Elenwe picked up her tea and took a sip. (*Night Singer)

"Nickname?" said Glorfindel, "Ah! I have not yet given you one of my nicknames... let's see, I shall call you... Dark Princess!" Elenwe almost choaked,

"What?!" Kerowyn laughed,

"Don't worry, he calls everyone something like that... He calls me 'Wood Princess' and Luna 'Moon Princess'..." Elenwe breathed a small sigh of relief,

"Oh, well I guess it's not that bad..." she said to herself in relief. She hoped he wouldn't use it frequently if at all. The twins chuckled and the merriment continued on through the night. Numerous dances and songs were performed and joy filled the feastival. With sun up still some hours away, the feastival ended and most elves found refuge and rest in their chambers. But Elenwe remained in the clearing, there she hummed the tunes and danced about with an invisable partner. She had begged Luna to stay up and begin teaching her music of the Moon elves, but she had refused, infusing a threat within the refusal. Reluctantly Elenwe listened to her, but couldn't believe that Luna was eshausted already. But of course most formalties exhausted Luna and the dozens of dances Elenwe forced her to join in made her all the more tired.

As Elenwe continued to spin about in her daze of melody, Iodhil walked by and caught sight of her. He stopped and watched her, smiling at the child like opposesstions she posessed. He when walked out to meet her. Elenwe, with her eyes closed, did not see him and as she spun, she ran right into him. Iodhil caught her by the arms.

"Iodhil?....What are you doing still awake?"

"Just enjoying the fresh air and quiet after a noisy feastival.... But I see you here dancing alone and find it incomplete." Elenwe raised her eyebrows and a smile came to her face.

"Are you asking me to dance?" she said. Iodhil took her hand and stepped back.

"If you would give me the pleasure." he said formally.

"Then I should except... for the pleasure will be mine." she returned, curtzing in jest. They began a gracful dance which they had rehearsed many times in haste, but now they enjoyed the silent merriment. But as they continued to the end, Elenwe broke off and took Iodhil by the hands, and jonted around in a circle in laughter. Iodhil threw aside the formal dance and joined in with Elenwe's random one, laughing. And so they danced under the night sky in mirth til Iodhil retired and Elenwe began to star gaze late into the night.