The Unexpected Guest
DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything.
1.
The Website
Katy never thought she'd get into the world of fanfiction writing. It had all started in June 2011, when she had picked up a random book – which happened to be The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien. Ten minutes later, she was completely and utterly in love with the book. Of course, for Katy, falling in love with the book meant she had to look it up online first chance she got.
Somehow, she ended up on the websites Tolkien Gateway, Encyclopedia of Arda, Wikipedia, and Lord of the Rings Wiki. And then, she clicked on the main fanfiction website.
After that, there was no going back. The first step was getting an account so she could leave reviews, and maybe favourite some stories to read whenever she wanted. Having read some stories on FanFiction, Katy was amazed at how much research had gone into them – and even more astonished when she read some of the volumes of The History of Middle-Earth. It was like a treasure-trove of information just waiting to be enjoyed – or horribly abused. Katy just didn't count on story ideas entering her own head.
One day, Katy had a brilliant idea for a story – and she couldn't find her History of Middle-Earth volumes. She had wanted to read the section called 'Laws and Customs of the Eldar' just to get some details just right; so instead of patiently hunting for the book, she sat down at her laptop and typed 'noldorin elves' into Google. The search mostly yielded a history of the Noldorin Elves – which was good, but not exactly what Katy wanted.
She sighed, and was about to click out of Google. I should have just looked for that book.
And that was when she noticed the website. She frowned and leaned closer, staring at the screen.
Does that actually say 'Order a Noldorin Elf'?
Well, clicking on the link couldn't do any harm, could it?
Place your order at ! XD We have every single Noldorin Elf you can think of!
Katy was faced with a range of names in elegant, white type on a royal blue background. They were in alphabetical order; and every single elf that could be classified as Noldor (or at least had Noldorin blood) was on the list. As Katy scrolled down the list, she spotted Angrod, Galadriel, Fingolfin, Finarfin, Turgon, Caranthir and Finrod among the names. She clicked on 'Fingolfin'.
Fingolfin: Strong-willed, brave, passionate and wise. Order now!
This isn't a plastic model. It's a plush toy. …Wait. Plush toys of Silmarillion characters? Haven't I seen something like this before?
Katy shrugged, and dismissed the thought. She continued to browse the website. Some of the toys seemed to come with a buy-one-get-one-free deal. The sons of Fëanor couldn't be ordered individually; Maglor in particular apparently had to be accompanied by one of his brothers.
Why? Don't they want to let him out of their sight, or something?
When Katy clicked on 'Fëanor', she was greeted with the words: Fëanor is temporarily unavailable. We apologise for the inconvenience. It seemed to be a funny way of saying that the toy was out of stock.
'Gil-galad' was the next to be investigated. In Katy's mind, he was one of Tolkien's greatest enigmas. The Elvenking was clearly a very important figure; he ruled longer than any of his predecessors did on Middle-Earth and was a valuable ally for several Númenorean kings. Yet Tolkien gave very few hints as to Gil-galad's personality – apart from the fact that he was clever enough to see right through Annatar (a.k.a. Sauron), and wielded an amazing weapon.
Either that, or he was an amazing warrior.
The toy was dressed in a small blue robe, with the Elvenking's heraldic emblem on the front. Aeglos not included, the writing to the side said.
Oh, why not? Katy clicked on Order now! She expected to be directed to a page where she could get details about payment; instead, a small box blinked into view.
Thank you for placing your order! The delivery will arrive at your address.
"I…Hey, I didn't…I didn't give my address." Katy looked at the screen, completely stunned. "I didn't even pay for it! What a joke." In complete disgust, she clicked out of the box and left the website. "How long is the delivery supposed to take, anyway? Two hundred years?"
It was probably just a prank website anyway. She hoped her laptop hadn't obtained any viruses. A tiny bell in her mind jingled a warning…but she ignored it.
Hope you enjoyed it so far! I am going to write that prequel/sequel to 'Song of the Waves' and 'Unnumbered Tears' - but inspiration hasn't struck just yet.
A big thank-you to Maglor Makalaure for giving me the idea for the Noldorin Elves website!