A Trip to the Zoo
Chapter Ten - A trip to the zoo
They were all slightly surprised when the young boy suddenly appeared in front of them. None of them were really sure if they could summon him.
Lauren took note of the boy's dark curly hair, slightly pointed ears and grey eyes. She smiled at the look of confusion on his face. This had to be Eldarion. He looked too much like Aragorn to be anyone else.
"Ada? Nana? Legolas? What are you doing in my dream?" He looked over at Lauren. "And who are you?"
Aragorn smiled at his son. "Do you remember us telling you that I have been visiting a friend in my dreams at night?" When Eldarion nodded, Aragorn gestured toward Lauren. "This is the friend I was visiting. Her name is Lauren. She wanted to meet you, so we brought you here."
Eldarion turned to look at Lauren in curiosity. "How do you know my Ada? And how are we all sharing the same dream?"
Lauren grinned at his curious nature. It was the same with all kids. They wanted to know everything. She thought it was a bit of a shame that most people grew out of that stage. "Well, I'm a relative of yours; a distant…cousin," she finished. "I don't really understand it myself, but I think that because we have a common bloodline, we can see each other in dreams."
"Are you of the Dúnedain, then?" he asked, studying her intently.
Lauren looked up in question at Aragorn. She had managed to keep up with most of the 'family history' lesson she had gotten earlier, but she wasn't quite sure what the word meant, or how to answer the question.
Aragorn answered for her. "She is a distant descendant of the Númenoreans, just like you and I are, Eldarion. But she is from a land much further away. They do not think of themselves as Dúnedain. She wanted to show us some of her land, and thought you would enjoy seeing it."
"What does she want to show us?" Eldarion asked in curiosity, looking back and forth between his parents and Lauren.
"It is called a zoo," Lauren explained. "It has a lot of animals from different places around the world. My niece and nephew love visiting all the animals, and I thought you might like it as well."
He thought for a moment. "Very well, I would like to see this…zoo."
Lauren grinned to herself. That had sounded very regal, almost a command.
"Eldarion, how do you ask for something?" Arwen scolded gently.
Eldarion looked back to Lauren. "Please?"
"Of course," Lauren said. "In this place, we can travel from one place to another with only a thought. You may want to hold on to your parent's hands for this. The change in scenery can be quite disorienting the first time."
Aragorn reached out his hand and Eldarion took it, eager to see what was going to happen.
Lauren closed her eyes and thought of her favorite zoo. She tried to make the change more gradual out of the desire not to startle Eldarion, and the Crater Lake National Park faded as the entrance to a zoo formed in front of them.
Eldarion looked around in fascination while the landscape changed. Lauren led them through the entrance and took a moment to decide where to start. She thought it might be good to show them some familiar creatures before seeing the more exotic ones. She led them to the bear habitat. When they arrived at the brown bear exhibit, she leaned on the railing and looked down at the view below them. The enclosed area was created so that the bears would feel at home. There were trees, rocky ledges, and a pool for the bears to swim in to cool off. The others stopped beside her and looked over the railing.
"Those are brown bears," Eldarion said, pointing.
"Yes, they are," Lauren answered.
"Can they get to us?" Eldarion asked. He had been told to stay as far away from bears as he could when he was out in the forest. Bears could be very dangerous.
"No," Lauren said, pointing out the steep wall around the enclosure. "They can't climb those walls." She looked down at one of the bears attempting to sleep in the sun. Two bear cubs were climbing and crawling all over it.
Lauren chuckled to herself as the bear put a paw up over its eyes. "I know," she said to it sympathetically. "All you want to do is get a nice nap in the sun, and your kids want to play. That's the way it always is, isn't it? Sometimes you just have to wonder where they get all that energy." The bear huffed loudly in agreement and rolled over, dislodging the cubs before stretching out and closing its eyes once more, ignoring the cubs as they came back and resumed climbing on the bear. It opened its eyes and looked at the people at the railing as it sighed once more. Lauren laughed at the look in the bear's eyes. "Well, what do you want us to do about it? I don't think you'd be too happy if we volunteered to baby-sit."
The others were all watching Lauren in curiosity. Legolas voiced the question they all had. "You talk to the animals?"
Lauren gave him a sheepish grin. "Yeah, it's a habit of mine. I talk to my pets, and when I come to the zoo, I tend to talk to the other animals."
"Do they talk back to you?" Eldarion asked in curiosity. He had watched the exchange between her and the bear, and it certainly looked like the bear was responding to her.
"No," Lauren answered. "I just look at the body language of the animal and try to figure out what they're thinking. I play a game with my niece and nephew when we visit the zoo and we try to speak for the animals. Sometimes I think we get pretty close to what they are actually thinking or feeling."
Legolas did not doubt it. It seemed that Lauren had a close connection to the animals. Closer than most humans, anyway.
After the brown bears, Lauren took them to see a variety of other bears, including a couple of panda bears. Arwen was quite taken with their coloring. Lauren remarked that she had once had a stuffed panda bear that slept in her bed when she was little. She then took them to see the monkeys, and they all laughed at Eldarion's wide-eyed fascination with the animals. Actually, Lauren noted, they all seemed somewhat surprised by them. She guessed they had never seen any kind of monkey before and showed them all the different varieties that the zoo had. The next stop was the wolf enclosure. They had a large fenced off wooded area to roam in, and the visitors did not have access to the fence, but had to go into an area with a large piece of tinted glass between the enclosure and the visitors. Those who wanted to look at the wolves had to look through the glass, but the wolves could not see them. Lauren took them into the specified enclosure and grinned when Aragorn and Legolas looked at the wolves in what seemed to be readiness for combat.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Don't you like wolves? I have to say that they're one of my favorite animals." She trailed a hand over the glass as if she were trying to reach out and pet the wolves on the other side.
Aragorn shuddered involuntarily at being so close to the animals. It seemed like the animals were within arm's reach. "No, they are not my favorite animal. I have had to fight too many hungry wolves in my life to be comfortable with seeing them this close."
"You fought wolves?" Lauren asked suddenly, straightening up and looking at him with a horrified expression. "They're such beautiful animals, how could you do that?"
Aragorn raised his eyebrows at her and gestured toward the enclosure to indicate the wolves. "They attacked me, Lauren. What would you have had me do? Let them eat me?"
She shook her head and relaxed her tense posture. "No, of course not. You did the only thing you could. But I just love wolves. They're such noble creatures. Did you know that wolves mate for life? You have to admire that quality. It's something too many humans don't seem capable of." The last line was spoken nearly under her breath, obviously not meant to be overheard.
Aragorn frowned slightly at the tone in her voice. There was something there, something she wasn't telling them. Deciding he would not push her at the moment, he continued on as if he had not heard her last statement. "So, you admire the wolves?"
"Yes," she paused in thought. "You know, for some reason, I seem to be drawn to the predatory animals, the wolves, jaguars, tigers, all the big cats. I wonder what that says about my personality?" She shook her head at herself and then led them to the big cat section of the zoo. She wanted to linger at the enclosures that held the lions, tigers, jaguars, mountain lions, bobcats, and various other felines. "I guess I'm more of a cat person," she mused. "They're just so beautiful and graceful, it almost makes you forget how dangerous they can be."
After the cat areas, they went to see the giraffes, elephants, kangaroos, and rhinos. Aragorn and Legolas told the others about seeing the giant mumakil, which were much larger versions of the elephants she showed them. They decided not to mention the part where they were forced to kill the great beasts in battle to save their own people. Lauren showed them a variety of birds and reptiles. Legolas was rather curious about the penguins, while Eldarion was quite fascinated with the snakes, as most little boys were. Lauren took them through an aquarium that was attached to the zoo, and they spent a great deal of time looking at the fish, sharks, dolphins, and turtles on display. After what seemed hours of walking around, Lauren led them to a picnic table near a small playground. "So, what do you think?" she asked.
"I like it here!" Eldarion burst out. He looked over at the playground equipment. "Is that to play on?"
Lauren nodded, a smile on her face. "You want to go play on them with me?"
"May I?" Eldarion asked Aragorn and Arwen. They nodded their approval, and Eldarion darted off toward the playground with Lauren in tow.
Lauren showed him how to use the slides, swings, see-saws, and other playground equipment. He had to try everything in sight, and Lauren gladly joined him. At one point, Legolas walked over to see what they were doing. He looked up to where the two were perched on the top of a jungle gym. "You seem to be quite energetic today," he said to Lauren. He had seen her excited about things before, but though rest seemed a foreign concept to her, he had never seen her quite so…frenetic, either.
She grinned down at him. "Sugar rush. You three should never have let me eat that many sweets. It tends to make me a bit hyper."
Legolas shook his head and went back to sit at the table with the others. It was only a few moments before Lauren came over to join them, leaving Eldarion to play happily on the playground.
"So, what did you three think of the zoo?" she asked.
Shaking his head, Legolas answered. "I know the reasons that your zoos exist, and I can see the enjoyment that people could take from them, but it still pains me to see so many animals in captivity, relying on humans for their every need. The predators that you so admire are no longer able to hunt. Their spirits are broken from being kept in such close quarters. No matter how much effort is put into recreating their natural environments, they are not able to live their lives as they are intended to."
Lauren sighed. "I knew you would probably have issues with that. I often have similar thoughts when I visit the zoo. I love animals and you're right, they don't belong in captivity. But zoos do serve a purpose. While the animals cannot live life as they are intended to, they are not in danger here. Many of the animals you have seen here would be in danger of being hunted by humans, even the protected species are in danger of poachers. Without zoos and other protective measures by humans, many of these species would be in danger of being hunted out of existence." She sighed at the thought. Though she knew people were doing their best to preserve the lives of the animals, she also felt much like Legolas; that zoos were an unnatural setting that stunted the animals' lives. That was just one of the many things that was wrong with the world. She tried to bring the subject around to something a little cheerier before the subject completely depressed her. "So, what did you think of the variety of animals? I could tell that none of you had seen the majority of animals here."
"There were many animals that we have never seen," Aragorn agreed, amenable to the idea of changing the tone of the conversation. "And I found the variety of animals that exist elsewhere in the world to be quite incredible."
"Where were the ketrals?" Legolas' question seemed to come out of nowhere.
Lauren looked blankly at him. "What's a ketral?"
Legolas was horrified. "You mean ketrals no longer exist?"
"I don't know," Lauren said. "We may just call them something else. What do they look like?"
Lauren looked quickly down as she felt a paw on her leg. "Well, hello," she said in surprise. An unusual creature was sitting at her feet. It had a vaguely feline face with big dark eyes and overly large ears, short legs ending in flat paws, a long body and a long thick tail. Its body was covered with fur in varying shades of brown.
"That is a ketral," Legolas said smugly as she looked at it in confusion.
She reached down and picked up the small animal, holding it carefully in her lap, not knowing how it would react. The creature rubbed its head against her hand and started purring. "Oh, aren't you just the cutest thing," she cooed to it once she realized that it was tame and very friendly. She stroked her hand down the sleek body and the purring grew louder. Lauren looked up at the others with a smile.
"It likes you," Legolas commented with a smile.
"It reminds me of my cats," Lauren replied, petting the ketral just as she would one of her own pets. She looked over at Legolas. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I've never seen an animal like this before. I don't think they exist anymore."
Legolas' face fell at the thought that his beloved pets were apparently going to die out long before Lauren's time.
Lauren looked at the animal in her lap, then back to Legolas. "There is a solution, here. Take them with you when you go to Valinor. Just because they don't exist on Earth doesn't mean that they don't exist anywhere."
Aragorn grinned over at Legolas. "Thranduil will undoubtedly love to hear that you plan to bring your ketrals to Valinor."
Legolas grimaced. "I do not share your enthusiasm at the prospect of telling him, mellon-nín. How many times has father threatened to hand them over to the cooks?" At Lauren's horrified look, he hastened to explain. "My father was only jesting. He may become annoyed with my pets, but he would never harm them."
"That's a relief," Lauren said, stroking her hand unconsciously down the ketral's body. It really was a very gentle creature. She liked the thought that it would continue to live and thrive somewhere else.
Aragorn watched Eldarion playing by himself on the playground. "Lauren, why do you not have other people here? You have rarely shown us what your world is truly like. Even when you bring aspects of your world here for us to see, you do not show us all of it. I do not think that you would have been able to visit a zoo like this and have it be completely empty of all other people."
Biting her lip, Lauren thought about how to reply to that. She finally decided to be truthful. "Honestly, I didn't want to overwhelm any of you. My world is quite different than yours, and I didn't want to expose you to it."
"I would like to see your world as it is," Aragorn insisted. "I want to know what your life is like, and I cannot do that only seeing a piece here and there."
"You didn't like my music," Lauren started to say before Aragorn interrupted her.
"And because I did not like your music, I cannot see your world?" Aragorn asked in confusion. "That does not make sense, Lauren."
"It might if you let me finish my thought," Lauren chided gently. Aragorn gave a wry smile, and gestured for her to continue. "My world is much like my music," Lauren said. "It is very fast-paced, loud and bound to seem harsh to you. I truly only wanted to spare you from being overwhelmed."
"And if I am willing to take the risk?" Aragorn asked. "Will you show us what your life is like?"
Lauren looked at Aragorn, then over to Legolas. "I can, but it's not only your choice to make. From what you've told me, my world will be much more chaotic and difficult to handle for an elf than a human. Are you willing to experience my world, Legolas?"
Legolas had to think about it for a moment. He had been taken aback by much that she had already shown them. And if she had been trying to spare them the worst of her world, he truly did not know if he wanted to see it. But he had never backed down from a challenge in his life, and this seemed to be just another challenge. "I will also take the risk," he said.
"Arwen?" Lauren asked, shifting her attention to the woman in the group.
"I would also like to see your world for myself," she said. "Though we may not wish to bring Eldarion along."
Lauren nodded. "OK, then. Tomorrow, I'll show you what my everyday life is like. I think our time is probably up for tonight."
Aragorn thought about it for a moment. "We seem to have been here for much longer than a normal night. Why have I not awoken yet?"
Lauren shrugged. "The only thing that's different about tonight is that you brought Arwen and Eldarion to join you. Would that have anything to do with it?"
"It might," Aragorn mused. "Arwen has been the one to wake me from this world. Perhaps without her help, I cannot leave?" He looked between Arwen and Lauren as he tried to figure out what was happening.
The thought that the others were now trapped here panicked Lauren. "You have to be able to wake up. Should I try to kick you out like I threatened yesterday?" The last thing she wanted to do was bring harm to the others who were only trying to help her.
"Wait," Arwen said, gesturing for Lauren to remain calm. "I believe I can leave here whenever I wish. Legolas may also have that ability. I will return and wake Aragorn from his sleep." She stood and faced Lauren, who stood along with Legolas and Aragorn. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Lauren. I have greatly enjoyed our time together."
"So have I," Lauren said, smiling. Once she got past her initial embarrassment, she had come to feel comfortable with Arwen, as if she had known her for years.
Arwen called Eldarion over from the playground. "It is time to wake up and begin our day, ion-nín. Say farewell to Lauren for now."
"Farewell, Lauren," Eldarion said formally, bowing his head slightly. He turned to look up at Arwen. "Can I come back later and play some more? I like this place."
"We will see," Arwen said noncommittally. She held Eldarion's hand and they faded quickly from sight.
"It looks like she was able to leave as she said," Lauren said with a sigh of relief. "I guess this is goodbye for another night."
"So it would seem," Aragorn said as he and Legolas also began to fade. "And tomorrow, we will wish to see what your life is truly like."
"Then that is what you will see," Lauren said, nodding toward their vanishing forms.
When they had faded away completely, Lauren looked down in surprise at the ketral in her lap. "Well, it seems they left me with some company." She looked around for something to do. "They really should not have given me all that sugar. I'm still hyper. What can I do now?" She gazed down at the ketral. "Any ideas?"
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Aragorn opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. His sleeping chambers were much more crowded than most mornings. Faramir, Eowyn, Gimli, and his chief healer were all looking anxiously at him. Arwen was sitting beside him in the bed looking somewhat bemused by the crowd. The others gave a sigh of relief when he sat up and looked back at them. "What are you doing in my bedchamber?" he asked.
It was Faramir who answered. He and Eowyn had arrived two days ago to make a report on the progress in Ithilien and stayed for a visit. "We could not awaken you, my lord. It was long past time for the morning meal, and we grew worried when Eowyn and I were the only ones at the table."
"Where was Gimli?" Aragorn asked, knowing that Gimli, at least, had not joined them in the dream world. As a dwarf, and no relation to Lauren, there would be no way for him to find his way there.
"Trying to wake that stubborn elf," Gimli growled gesturing toward the doorway to indicate where Legolas' room was.
At that moment, as if on cue, Legolas entered the room with Eldarion in tow. The others relaxed upon seeing them awake and unharmed.
Faramir picked up the tale again as Eldarion jumped up on the bed to sit beside his father and Legolas went to stand beside Gimli. "We were walking down the hallway to your chambers when we heard Gimli's voice coming from Legolas' chambers. He was cursing at the stubbornness of elves. This was not unusual, but there came no reply from Legolas. That struck us as strange, and we entered the chamber to find Gimli doing his best to wake Legolas from his dreams. The fact that he was unable to do so seemed to worry him. We asked him why Legolas would not wake. He told us to ask you. We left Legolas' chambers and made our way here, only to find both you and Arwen asleep and unmoving as well. No matter what we tried, you would not waken. Someone noticed that Eldarion had not been seen this morning, and we had someone check his rooms only to find him in the same condition. I sent for the healer because I was afraid that someone had managed to poison the entire royal family under my very nose. The healer was unable to find signs of injury or poison, however."
Aragorn held up a hand to stop Faramir's recitation. He looked out the window, and saw from the bright daylight that it was no longer morning. "How long were we asleep?"
Faramir shook his head. "It has been several hours since we came looking for you."
Aragorn looked at Arwen. "We may not be able to have you return to visit Lauren. You seem to be my anchor to this world. Without you here to wake me, I do not seem to know when to return."
Arwen shook her head. After meeting Lauren, she did not want to be kept from visiting her. "Nay, we only need to keep a closer watch on the time. As we demonstrated, I can return at will and wake you."
"My lord?" Faramir questioned. It seemed that Aragorn and Arwen knew exactly what was behind their unnatural sleep. "I believe we need to talk." He was not about to let the king keep secrets from him, the Steward, whose responsibility it was to keep the king safe and able to rule his kingdom.
Aragorn waved the healer out of the room and gestured for the others to wait in the adjoining room while he and Arwen dressed for the day. He was not looking forward to this conversation with Faramir. Faramir took his responsibilities and duties to Aragorn far too seriously. Aragorn had a feeling that Faramir would be no happier with this situation than Gimli.
They were all slightly surprised when the young boy suddenly appeared in front of them. None of them were really sure if they could summon him.
Lauren took note of the boy's dark curly hair, slightly pointed ears and grey eyes. She smiled at the look of confusion on his face. This had to be Eldarion. He looked too much like Aragorn to be anyone else.
"Ada? Nana? Legolas? What are you doing in my dream?" He looked over at Lauren. "And who are you?"
Aragorn smiled at his son. "Do you remember us telling you that I have been visiting a friend in my dreams at night?" When Eldarion nodded, Aragorn gestured toward Lauren. "This is the friend I was visiting. Her name is Lauren. She wanted to meet you, so we brought you here."
Eldarion turned to look at Lauren in curiosity. "How do you know my Ada? And how are we all sharing the same dream?"
Lauren grinned at his curious nature. It was the same with all kids. They wanted to know everything. She thought it was a bit of a shame that most people grew out of that stage. "Well, I'm a relative of yours; a distant…cousin," she finished. "I don't really understand it myself, but I think that because we have a common bloodline, we can see each other in dreams."
"Are you of the Dúnedain, then?" he asked, studying her intently.
Lauren looked up in question at Aragorn. She had managed to keep up with most of the 'family history' lesson she had gotten earlier, but she wasn't quite sure what the word meant, or how to answer the question.
Aragorn answered for her. "She is a distant descendant of the Númenoreans, just like you and I are, Eldarion. But she is from a land much further away. They do not think of themselves as Dúnedain. She wanted to show us some of her land, and thought you would enjoy seeing it."
"What does she want to show us?" Eldarion asked in curiosity, looking back and forth between his parents and Lauren.
"It is called a zoo," Lauren explained. "It has a lot of animals from different places around the world. My niece and nephew love visiting all the animals, and I thought you might like it as well."
He thought for a moment. "Very well, I would like to see this…zoo."
Lauren grinned to herself. That had sounded very regal, almost a command.
"Eldarion, how do you ask for something?" Arwen scolded gently.
Eldarion looked back to Lauren. "Please?"
"Of course," Lauren said. "In this place, we can travel from one place to another with only a thought. You may want to hold on to your parent's hands for this. The change in scenery can be quite disorienting the first time."
Aragorn reached out his hand and Eldarion took it, eager to see what was going to happen.
Lauren closed her eyes and thought of her favorite zoo. She tried to make the change more gradual out of the desire not to startle Eldarion, and the Crater Lake National Park faded as the entrance to a zoo formed in front of them.
Eldarion looked around in fascination while the landscape changed. Lauren led them through the entrance and took a moment to decide where to start. She thought it might be good to show them some familiar creatures before seeing the more exotic ones. She led them to the bear habitat. When they arrived at the brown bear exhibit, she leaned on the railing and looked down at the view below them. The enclosed area was created so that the bears would feel at home. There were trees, rocky ledges, and a pool for the bears to swim in to cool off. The others stopped beside her and looked over the railing.
"Those are brown bears," Eldarion said, pointing.
"Yes, they are," Lauren answered.
"Can they get to us?" Eldarion asked. He had been told to stay as far away from bears as he could when he was out in the forest. Bears could be very dangerous.
"No," Lauren said, pointing out the steep wall around the enclosure. "They can't climb those walls." She looked down at one of the bears attempting to sleep in the sun. Two bear cubs were climbing and crawling all over it.
Lauren chuckled to herself as the bear put a paw up over its eyes. "I know," she said to it sympathetically. "All you want to do is get a nice nap in the sun, and your kids want to play. That's the way it always is, isn't it? Sometimes you just have to wonder where they get all that energy." The bear huffed loudly in agreement and rolled over, dislodging the cubs before stretching out and closing its eyes once more, ignoring the cubs as they came back and resumed climbing on the bear. It opened its eyes and looked at the people at the railing as it sighed once more. Lauren laughed at the look in the bear's eyes. "Well, what do you want us to do about it? I don't think you'd be too happy if we volunteered to baby-sit."
The others were all watching Lauren in curiosity. Legolas voiced the question they all had. "You talk to the animals?"
Lauren gave him a sheepish grin. "Yeah, it's a habit of mine. I talk to my pets, and when I come to the zoo, I tend to talk to the other animals."
"Do they talk back to you?" Eldarion asked in curiosity. He had watched the exchange between her and the bear, and it certainly looked like the bear was responding to her.
"No," Lauren answered. "I just look at the body language of the animal and try to figure out what they're thinking. I play a game with my niece and nephew when we visit the zoo and we try to speak for the animals. Sometimes I think we get pretty close to what they are actually thinking or feeling."
Legolas did not doubt it. It seemed that Lauren had a close connection to the animals. Closer than most humans, anyway.
After the brown bears, Lauren took them to see a variety of other bears, including a couple of panda bears. Arwen was quite taken with their coloring. Lauren remarked that she had once had a stuffed panda bear that slept in her bed when she was little. She then took them to see the monkeys, and they all laughed at Eldarion's wide-eyed fascination with the animals. Actually, Lauren noted, they all seemed somewhat surprised by them. She guessed they had never seen any kind of monkey before and showed them all the different varieties that the zoo had. The next stop was the wolf enclosure. They had a large fenced off wooded area to roam in, and the visitors did not have access to the fence, but had to go into an area with a large piece of tinted glass between the enclosure and the visitors. Those who wanted to look at the wolves had to look through the glass, but the wolves could not see them. Lauren took them into the specified enclosure and grinned when Aragorn and Legolas looked at the wolves in what seemed to be readiness for combat.
"What's wrong?" she asked. "Don't you like wolves? I have to say that they're one of my favorite animals." She trailed a hand over the glass as if she were trying to reach out and pet the wolves on the other side.
Aragorn shuddered involuntarily at being so close to the animals. It seemed like the animals were within arm's reach. "No, they are not my favorite animal. I have had to fight too many hungry wolves in my life to be comfortable with seeing them this close."
"You fought wolves?" Lauren asked suddenly, straightening up and looking at him with a horrified expression. "They're such beautiful animals, how could you do that?"
Aragorn raised his eyebrows at her and gestured toward the enclosure to indicate the wolves. "They attacked me, Lauren. What would you have had me do? Let them eat me?"
She shook her head and relaxed her tense posture. "No, of course not. You did the only thing you could. But I just love wolves. They're such noble creatures. Did you know that wolves mate for life? You have to admire that quality. It's something too many humans don't seem capable of." The last line was spoken nearly under her breath, obviously not meant to be overheard.
Aragorn frowned slightly at the tone in her voice. There was something there, something she wasn't telling them. Deciding he would not push her at the moment, he continued on as if he had not heard her last statement. "So, you admire the wolves?"
"Yes," she paused in thought. "You know, for some reason, I seem to be drawn to the predatory animals, the wolves, jaguars, tigers, all the big cats. I wonder what that says about my personality?" She shook her head at herself and then led them to the big cat section of the zoo. She wanted to linger at the enclosures that held the lions, tigers, jaguars, mountain lions, bobcats, and various other felines. "I guess I'm more of a cat person," she mused. "They're just so beautiful and graceful, it almost makes you forget how dangerous they can be."
After the cat areas, they went to see the giraffes, elephants, kangaroos, and rhinos. Aragorn and Legolas told the others about seeing the giant mumakil, which were much larger versions of the elephants she showed them. They decided not to mention the part where they were forced to kill the great beasts in battle to save their own people. Lauren showed them a variety of birds and reptiles. Legolas was rather curious about the penguins, while Eldarion was quite fascinated with the snakes, as most little boys were. Lauren took them through an aquarium that was attached to the zoo, and they spent a great deal of time looking at the fish, sharks, dolphins, and turtles on display. After what seemed hours of walking around, Lauren led them to a picnic table near a small playground. "So, what do you think?" she asked.
"I like it here!" Eldarion burst out. He looked over at the playground equipment. "Is that to play on?"
Lauren nodded, a smile on her face. "You want to go play on them with me?"
"May I?" Eldarion asked Aragorn and Arwen. They nodded their approval, and Eldarion darted off toward the playground with Lauren in tow.
Lauren showed him how to use the slides, swings, see-saws, and other playground equipment. He had to try everything in sight, and Lauren gladly joined him. At one point, Legolas walked over to see what they were doing. He looked up to where the two were perched on the top of a jungle gym. "You seem to be quite energetic today," he said to Lauren. He had seen her excited about things before, but though rest seemed a foreign concept to her, he had never seen her quite so…frenetic, either.
She grinned down at him. "Sugar rush. You three should never have let me eat that many sweets. It tends to make me a bit hyper."
Legolas shook his head and went back to sit at the table with the others. It was only a few moments before Lauren came over to join them, leaving Eldarion to play happily on the playground.
"So, what did you three think of the zoo?" she asked.
Shaking his head, Legolas answered. "I know the reasons that your zoos exist, and I can see the enjoyment that people could take from them, but it still pains me to see so many animals in captivity, relying on humans for their every need. The predators that you so admire are no longer able to hunt. Their spirits are broken from being kept in such close quarters. No matter how much effort is put into recreating their natural environments, they are not able to live their lives as they are intended to."
Lauren sighed. "I knew you would probably have issues with that. I often have similar thoughts when I visit the zoo. I love animals and you're right, they don't belong in captivity. But zoos do serve a purpose. While the animals cannot live life as they are intended to, they are not in danger here. Many of the animals you have seen here would be in danger of being hunted by humans, even the protected species are in danger of poachers. Without zoos and other protective measures by humans, many of these species would be in danger of being hunted out of existence." She sighed at the thought. Though she knew people were doing their best to preserve the lives of the animals, she also felt much like Legolas; that zoos were an unnatural setting that stunted the animals' lives. That was just one of the many things that was wrong with the world. She tried to bring the subject around to something a little cheerier before the subject completely depressed her. "So, what did you think of the variety of animals? I could tell that none of you had seen the majority of animals here."
"There were many animals that we have never seen," Aragorn agreed, amenable to the idea of changing the tone of the conversation. "And I found the variety of animals that exist elsewhere in the world to be quite incredible."
"Where were the ketrals?" Legolas' question seemed to come out of nowhere.
Lauren looked blankly at him. "What's a ketral?"
Legolas was horrified. "You mean ketrals no longer exist?"
"I don't know," Lauren said. "We may just call them something else. What do they look like?"
Lauren looked quickly down as she felt a paw on her leg. "Well, hello," she said in surprise. An unusual creature was sitting at her feet. It had a vaguely feline face with big dark eyes and overly large ears, short legs ending in flat paws, a long body and a long thick tail. Its body was covered with fur in varying shades of brown.
"That is a ketral," Legolas said smugly as she looked at it in confusion.
She reached down and picked up the small animal, holding it carefully in her lap, not knowing how it would react. The creature rubbed its head against her hand and started purring. "Oh, aren't you just the cutest thing," she cooed to it once she realized that it was tame and very friendly. She stroked her hand down the sleek body and the purring grew louder. Lauren looked up at the others with a smile.
"It likes you," Legolas commented with a smile.
"It reminds me of my cats," Lauren replied, petting the ketral just as she would one of her own pets. She looked over at Legolas. "I don't know how to tell you this, but I've never seen an animal like this before. I don't think they exist anymore."
Legolas' face fell at the thought that his beloved pets were apparently going to die out long before Lauren's time.
Lauren looked at the animal in her lap, then back to Legolas. "There is a solution, here. Take them with you when you go to Valinor. Just because they don't exist on Earth doesn't mean that they don't exist anywhere."
Aragorn grinned over at Legolas. "Thranduil will undoubtedly love to hear that you plan to bring your ketrals to Valinor."
Legolas grimaced. "I do not share your enthusiasm at the prospect of telling him, mellon-nín. How many times has father threatened to hand them over to the cooks?" At Lauren's horrified look, he hastened to explain. "My father was only jesting. He may become annoyed with my pets, but he would never harm them."
"That's a relief," Lauren said, stroking her hand unconsciously down the ketral's body. It really was a very gentle creature. She liked the thought that it would continue to live and thrive somewhere else.
Aragorn watched Eldarion playing by himself on the playground. "Lauren, why do you not have other people here? You have rarely shown us what your world is truly like. Even when you bring aspects of your world here for us to see, you do not show us all of it. I do not think that you would have been able to visit a zoo like this and have it be completely empty of all other people."
Biting her lip, Lauren thought about how to reply to that. She finally decided to be truthful. "Honestly, I didn't want to overwhelm any of you. My world is quite different than yours, and I didn't want to expose you to it."
"I would like to see your world as it is," Aragorn insisted. "I want to know what your life is like, and I cannot do that only seeing a piece here and there."
"You didn't like my music," Lauren started to say before Aragorn interrupted her.
"And because I did not like your music, I cannot see your world?" Aragorn asked in confusion. "That does not make sense, Lauren."
"It might if you let me finish my thought," Lauren chided gently. Aragorn gave a wry smile, and gestured for her to continue. "My world is much like my music," Lauren said. "It is very fast-paced, loud and bound to seem harsh to you. I truly only wanted to spare you from being overwhelmed."
"And if I am willing to take the risk?" Aragorn asked. "Will you show us what your life is like?"
Lauren looked at Aragorn, then over to Legolas. "I can, but it's not only your choice to make. From what you've told me, my world will be much more chaotic and difficult to handle for an elf than a human. Are you willing to experience my world, Legolas?"
Legolas had to think about it for a moment. He had been taken aback by much that she had already shown them. And if she had been trying to spare them the worst of her world, he truly did not know if he wanted to see it. But he had never backed down from a challenge in his life, and this seemed to be just another challenge. "I will also take the risk," he said.
"Arwen?" Lauren asked, shifting her attention to the woman in the group.
"I would also like to see your world for myself," she said. "Though we may not wish to bring Eldarion along."
Lauren nodded. "OK, then. Tomorrow, I'll show you what my everyday life is like. I think our time is probably up for tonight."
Aragorn thought about it for a moment. "We seem to have been here for much longer than a normal night. Why have I not awoken yet?"
Lauren shrugged. "The only thing that's different about tonight is that you brought Arwen and Eldarion to join you. Would that have anything to do with it?"
"It might," Aragorn mused. "Arwen has been the one to wake me from this world. Perhaps without her help, I cannot leave?" He looked between Arwen and Lauren as he tried to figure out what was happening.
The thought that the others were now trapped here panicked Lauren. "You have to be able to wake up. Should I try to kick you out like I threatened yesterday?" The last thing she wanted to do was bring harm to the others who were only trying to help her.
"Wait," Arwen said, gesturing for Lauren to remain calm. "I believe I can leave here whenever I wish. Legolas may also have that ability. I will return and wake Aragorn from his sleep." She stood and faced Lauren, who stood along with Legolas and Aragorn. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Lauren. I have greatly enjoyed our time together."
"So have I," Lauren said, smiling. Once she got past her initial embarrassment, she had come to feel comfortable with Arwen, as if she had known her for years.
Arwen called Eldarion over from the playground. "It is time to wake up and begin our day, ion-nín. Say farewell to Lauren for now."
"Farewell, Lauren," Eldarion said formally, bowing his head slightly. He turned to look up at Arwen. "Can I come back later and play some more? I like this place."
"We will see," Arwen said noncommittally. She held Eldarion's hand and they faded quickly from sight.
"It looks like she was able to leave as she said," Lauren said with a sigh of relief. "I guess this is goodbye for another night."
"So it would seem," Aragorn said as he and Legolas also began to fade. "And tomorrow, we will wish to see what your life is truly like."
"Then that is what you will see," Lauren said, nodding toward their vanishing forms.
When they had faded away completely, Lauren looked down in surprise at the ketral in her lap. "Well, it seems they left me with some company." She looked around for something to do. "They really should not have given me all that sugar. I'm still hyper. What can I do now?" She gazed down at the ketral. "Any ideas?"
------------------
Aragorn opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. His sleeping chambers were much more crowded than most mornings. Faramir, Eowyn, Gimli, and his chief healer were all looking anxiously at him. Arwen was sitting beside him in the bed looking somewhat bemused by the crowd. The others gave a sigh of relief when he sat up and looked back at them. "What are you doing in my bedchamber?" he asked.
It was Faramir who answered. He and Eowyn had arrived two days ago to make a report on the progress in Ithilien and stayed for a visit. "We could not awaken you, my lord. It was long past time for the morning meal, and we grew worried when Eowyn and I were the only ones at the table."
"Where was Gimli?" Aragorn asked, knowing that Gimli, at least, had not joined them in the dream world. As a dwarf, and no relation to Lauren, there would be no way for him to find his way there.
"Trying to wake that stubborn elf," Gimli growled gesturing toward the doorway to indicate where Legolas' room was.
At that moment, as if on cue, Legolas entered the room with Eldarion in tow. The others relaxed upon seeing them awake and unharmed.
Faramir picked up the tale again as Eldarion jumped up on the bed to sit beside his father and Legolas went to stand beside Gimli. "We were walking down the hallway to your chambers when we heard Gimli's voice coming from Legolas' chambers. He was cursing at the stubbornness of elves. This was not unusual, but there came no reply from Legolas. That struck us as strange, and we entered the chamber to find Gimli doing his best to wake Legolas from his dreams. The fact that he was unable to do so seemed to worry him. We asked him why Legolas would not wake. He told us to ask you. We left Legolas' chambers and made our way here, only to find both you and Arwen asleep and unmoving as well. No matter what we tried, you would not waken. Someone noticed that Eldarion had not been seen this morning, and we had someone check his rooms only to find him in the same condition. I sent for the healer because I was afraid that someone had managed to poison the entire royal family under my very nose. The healer was unable to find signs of injury or poison, however."
Aragorn held up a hand to stop Faramir's recitation. He looked out the window, and saw from the bright daylight that it was no longer morning. "How long were we asleep?"
Faramir shook his head. "It has been several hours since we came looking for you."
Aragorn looked at Arwen. "We may not be able to have you return to visit Lauren. You seem to be my anchor to this world. Without you here to wake me, I do not seem to know when to return."
Arwen shook her head. After meeting Lauren, she did not want to be kept from visiting her. "Nay, we only need to keep a closer watch on the time. As we demonstrated, I can return at will and wake you."
"My lord?" Faramir questioned. It seemed that Aragorn and Arwen knew exactly what was behind their unnatural sleep. "I believe we need to talk." He was not about to let the king keep secrets from him, the Steward, whose responsibility it was to keep the king safe and able to rule his kingdom.
Aragorn waved the healer out of the room and gestured for the others to wait in the adjoining room while he and Arwen dressed for the day. He was not looking forward to this conversation with Faramir. Faramir took his responsibilities and duties to Aragorn far too seriously. Aragorn had a feeling that Faramir would be no happier with this situation than Gimli.
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