Another chapter finished! i haven't properly edited it yet, but I will come back to it when I have the time.
Thank you to those who review! I love hearing all of your ideas and opinions. Keep them coming! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with LOTR. I only own my house and myself...Kate owns herself.
...
After a (semi) nutritious dinner of pasta, we decided to play a good old game of 40/40 home...with a slight twist. Yes, it may be designed for children, but who doesn't love that game? Especially in the dark as it is now.
On Kate's team we had Gimli, Legolas, Frodo and Sam. We couldn't convince Gandalf to play, unfortunately. It was a shame really; I would have paid a good deal of money to see that. Anyway, on my team there was Aragorn, Boromir, Merry and Pippin.
"Right, so the aim of the game. Do you see that huge Apple tree in the middle of the Garden?" I asked, pointing to the rather obvious tree that stood tall and strong. They all nodded, thank goodness. "That is our base. Basically, the other team will count to forty, and we have to run away. As soon as they have finished counting to forty, they will try to find us. The aim of the game is to get three orange flags stuck into the ground at the base of the tree. We will have one flag each and we have to rely on stealth and sheer ninja-ness to get there. However, if our flags are taken from us, we are basically dead, so if more than two of us die, we are royally screwed."
They all looked confused at the last bit. I shook my head, making a mental note to explain it to them later.
"Never mind. Do you understand the basics?"
"Yes." They all chorused back.
"Good. Now, I have a plan. Merry and Pippin should have two flags each, as they are quick and silent on their feet. I will have one to use both for distraction and because I have played the game before. Boromir and Aragorn, you run around being as loud and as noticeable as possible. Distract the other team, as they will be led to believe you have the flags"
"That is rather a good idea; however, don't you think that, as I am the tallest, I should have one? I could use my height to our advantage. Or...you could sit on my shoulders and I could run across, we would be much taller than the others, so they would be unable to reach the flag" Boromir asked.
"I could kneel on your shoulders, if you want" I offered, remembering doing the same thing with my older brother, James, one time.
"So it is settled. Merry, Pippin, do you understand?" Aragorn asked, looking to the two hobbits.
"Oh, yes. Be quick and quiet. We can do that!" Pippin said loudly. I rolled my eyes at the contradiction.
"Great, may the better team *cough* ours *cough* win!" I said happily, before standing from the table we were sat out and retreating to the tree, where the other team had just appeared.
"Let the games commence!" Kate said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Game on.
"On three" Kate said as her team turned into the tree, their hands covering their eyes.
"Three!" I shouted, before sprinting into the house, my team scattering out around me. I ran through the French double doors and into the dining room, before going out into the huge hallway and through the kitchen/breakfast room, a big open space with an island to run around if necessary. I sprinted through one of the doors leading to the outside patio, followed by the huge pond area at the front of my house. Rounding the corner, I gasped and dived behind a hedge as I heard someone coming, only to relax when I saw it was Boromir.
"Psst...Boromir!" I called in a hushed whisper.
"Emma? Where are you?" he asked, before jumping as I poked my head out from behind the bush.
"Here" I said, waving my hand around. He sighed in relief, before crouching down next to me. "Are we still using the original plan?" I asked. He nodded and bent down. Scooping up a handful of sticks for later, I held my breath as I kneeled on his shoulders, before squeaking as he rose swiftly, causing the ground to recede by a long way. Jeez.
"Right...hold on" I said, before ungracefully clinging hold of his shirt whilst I shifted into a more comfortable position. A few minutes and lots of muffled swearing later I was kneeling, admittedly wobbly, on his shoulders, the flag safely in my grasp.
"Forward!" I said with satisfaction, my hands clasped securely in his, acting as balancing posts. I squeaked as he started off at a jog.
"Slower" I hissed, sighing as he slowed it to a walk. Ent pace. This may take a while.
He made his way around the house, keeping to the side of the house as it protected our now huge frame. I watched in satisfaction as Aragorn darted by, helpfully distracting Kate who was standing guard of the tree.
"Run" I squeaked. "Run!"
Hell that man ran. Cries were heard from all around, followed by the sound of footsteps across the gravel behind us. Looking around, I saw that we already had two flags under the tree, those genius hobbits...or hobbit.
I turned my head and saw Kate running just behind Boromir. I reached down, struggling to keep my balance, and took a stick out of my pocket, before chucking it at her. She slowed considerably as it hit her in the head. I smirked, before gasping as poor Boromir was knocked to the ground suddenly by that annoyingly quiet elf. I knew he should have been on our team!
I rolled as I made impact with the ground, before pulling myself up and sprinting forward, not really caring who was around me.
"RUN EMMA, RUN!" I heard four males shout at me. No prizes for guessing who.
"Aggghhh!" I shouted, almost running into the tree in my enthusiasm. I stabbed the flag into the ground, just as Kate smashed into me from behind, knocking me to the floor. I cheered, even as the breath was knocked out of my body, tears running down my face from laughing so hard. There was nothing remotely funny about the situation, but I'm just in one of those moods.
"And that is how it's done!" I shouted, before pulling my four team members into a hug. I could tell I startled all of them, but who cares?
"Oh shut up! We could still beat you! Though, I have to admire the whole kneeling on the shoulders thing, none of us stood a chance of reaching that flag. It was only Legolas' sheer elf stealth that allowed us to do anything"
"Haha, elf stealth" I muttered under my breath. Kate shot me an amused look, before plucking the flags out of the ground and distributing them to her team.
"RUN" Kate shouted, before we all began that seriously boring count to forty.
Once we got there, the others shot off, leaving me standing alone at the tree.
"Well. I guess that concludes negotiations. I'll guard the tree then" I uttered to myself, before standing just a metre away from it. What I didn't count on was for Gimli to shoot out from behind my car and sprint to the tree, all before I had even turned. I guess he was right, dwarves really are natural sprinters.
I snorted as I heard a girlish scream, before Aragorn appeared around the corner with a very smug expression and a very flustered Kate slung over his shoulder. Well, she finally achieved her dream, just in a less than dignified manner.
"Emma behind you!" Aragorn shouted. I turned just in time to see a flash of blonde go past. I sprinted after it, not realising how far away from the tree I had drifted. I pushed myself into a flat out sprint, so fast that I almost fell over my own feet, before leaping on the elf, which was a mere metre away from the tree.
"Oh no you don't!" I said, clinging to his back and making a grab for the flag. Legolas' snatched it away from my grasp and I frowned, before smiling as I covered his eyes, blocking his view of anything altogether. I gasped as his arms wrapped around my waist as he spun around so I was facing him, before gripping me under my arms and spinning me around, forcing me to unhook my legs from around his waist in order to stay upright. He put me down on the grass and began to turn away, a look of victory on his face as he neared the tree, flag still in hand. Big mistake. I launched myself at him; he fell over in shock as I kicked him in the back of his knees. He landed on his stomach and I sat on his back, I held his arms in a wrist lock around his back and grinned, waving the flag around in the air.
"I win!" I shouted.
Legolas just rolled underneath me, a half smile playing on his face. His eyes bore into mine, freezing me in place. He pushed up onto his elbows and my breath caught in my throat. Then someone (annoyingly) cleared their throat and I pulled back sharp. I looked to my friends. Kate just looked at me with one eyebrow raised. I scowled and pushed myself up, Legolas rising to his feet beside me, brushing the mud off his jeans.
"I'm...going to have a shower" I murmured, I felt myself blushing and silently cursed myself for it. This is more than a little awkward.
...
I will probably focus more on Kate and Aragorn in the future...Yes? No? I think their is quite a lot to say about the relationship between them, and Kate is properly fan-girling over him right now. Seriously, she is sitting next to me watching the extended edition of ROTK right now. This is what happens whenever she comes to stay. Every time. I love her though.