Yay for reviews! Please keep them coming you guys. So, I hope everyone is liking this whole new plot twist. I read it in some other story on here like a year ago and it kind of stuck with me. I thought maybe it added a little more reality to the story. And if you are the person I borrowed this idea from, I AM VERY SORRY FOR NOT GIVING YOU CREDIT BUT I DON'T REMEMBER THE TITLE OF YOUR STORY. So that is my little disclaimer. That and the fact I do not own Lord of the Rings. Continue reading, guys!
"It's not fair," Lisa snapped for what seemed like the tenth time. I rolled my eyes.
"Look, it's not that bad-"
Lisa cut me off. "Off course it's that bad! We either die or we're prisoners to the stupid elves! How is it not that bad?"
I flicked a small pebble across the ground, accidentally hitting one of the guards in the back. He turned to look at me, but I quickly pretended to be asleep. "Gee," I mumbled, eyes still closed, "Being held prisoner in a huge castle with lots of hot elves. Damn you, Elrond."
I felt Lisa's eyes burning a hole in my back. "Oh, you're funny. You're absolutely hysterical."
"You know, I try. I really do." Kelly giggled behind me. When I told her what Lisa and I were talking about, she hadn't seemed too worried. But then again, I hadn't thought she would. Kelly liked being pampered and taken care of, even if she did miss home.
Lisa was a different story entirely. She hated people fussing over her. And she hated it more when they tried to tell her what to do. So naturally, she was even more set against the idea of going back to Rivendell than ever.
I rolled over onto my other side to see my friends. "Really now, Lisa," Kelly lectured, "And what else are you going to do after this is over and there is no way to get back?"
Lisa's voice came out hard and steely. "There is a way to get back, you idiot. We just haven't found it yet. I will get back home, with or without the help of 'Miss Attitude' over there. Ow!" she screeched. I realized Kelly had just kicked her in the shoulder.
"Don't get snappy with me," Kelly hissed. Lisa stood up and stepped so close to Kelly that the red-head was almost towering over her. I saw Aragorn stand up, ready to break up another fight, but jumped up before he could intervene.
"Okay, cool it, you two! Now is not the time or place." I made sure to keep my tone low and even so we wouldn't wake up anyone else. My best friends stuck their tongues out at each other, and stalked off in opposite directions, leaving me by myself. I sighed dejectedly and went to go join the guys again. "Stupid friends," I muttered, plopping down next to Gimli. The dwarf smiled at me in greeting, but I just frowned and sighed deeply, jerking my head in the directions of Kelly and Lisa. He just shrugged as if to say what can ya do?
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"Are we positive that she can not understand what we are saying?" Legolas murmured to the man next to him. Eomer glanced at the girl. She was definitely watching their every move, almost as if she knew they were talking about her.
"I think so," he said slowly, still locking onto Lady Lena's dark gaze. She glowered between all of them, her tiny upturned nose scrunched with concentration. Aragorn shook his head slowly.
"It is almost scary how she automatically knows we are talking about her." The men had all been making a sincere effort not to glance once in her direction, but soon gave up when they saw her watching. The glare she gave was almost accusing.
Legolas sighed. "Because she loathes when we do not tell her our plans." Aragorn's voice was laced with the same guilt.
"Yes, well. If she knew then she would not go. At least before, we did not have a language barrier. As it is, this just makes her being here even more dangerous. And we can not subject her innocent friends t o a quest they had no part in, and could possibly die in." Gimli stroked his beard and sighed. Red blonde curls bounced as Lena turned in outrage to Gimli. She had not known he was part of their conversation.
Gimli tried to shift away from her. "So that is it? The lasses go back to Rivendell?" Although this was meant for the whole company, everyone turned to watch Legolas, including Lena.
The elf's head was bowed, his face in his hands. "Please, Estel," he groaned, "Please make the decision. You know I can not." Aragorn didn't say anything. "She is still looking at me?" Again, Aragorn made no answer. He didn't need to. Anybody could have felt the fear, anger and betrayal being directed at Legolas.
And she does not even understand why, he mused.
"Detholalle," he whispered, getting impatient. Legolas finally uncovered his face.
Eomer did not think Elves aged. Of course, they got older. Eomer knew that. But he always thought of Elves as always youthful, always radiant. At the moment, the Prince Legolas looked none of those things. Eomer had heard it said that the Prince was well over a thousand years old, maybe even closer to two thousand. Eomer could certainly believe it now. Lines suddenly creased the smooth pale skin, and his eyes were dim.
So he cares for the girl, Eomer realized. He was surprised. The two annoyed each other half to death. It was a miracle that they both had lasted the day. Also, the girl was little more than a child, not yet fit to be courted, much less by someone of the Prince's stature. It was an odd match, indeed.
And yet, he felt that he should have seen it before. Lady Lena smirked, and then purposely strode away into the darkness. She wasn't far enough away that Eomer couldn't see the glint of her hair. Her head whipped around frantically, searching for something.
"What in the world…" he muttered. Finally, they all heard her shriek. She came bounding back into the small circle of friends, dragging with her the other little blonde girl. Lady Lena's face was triumphant. Legolas shook his head firmly.
"Go away," he commanded, "You will know in the morning." Morning. That is when they would be sending the girls back to Rivendell, along with two of the best guards that his uncle could spare. Eomer raised an eyebrow. None of the young ladies would appreciate this.
Lady Lena's friend translated this. Her face flushed bright red, the fury carved into her features. She almost looked intimidating. Kicking a patch of dirt angrily in Legolas' direction, she yelled something at him and pointed at her friend. Legolas barely glanced at her, keeping his eyes trained on the friend.
"Kelly, tell Lena that we are not telling any of you anything. This is none of your concern." Lady Kelly frowned and tapped her chin. Her blue eyes were narrowed at the group before her, as if trying to decipher what this might mean for them.
Slowly, she shook her head. "I think you should let us know what's going on." The men all looked at each other uneasily. They had counted on Lady Kelly to be the most easily led astray, but her face was now lit with curiosity. There was no getting rid of either one of them, and even Eomer knew that if the other girl were to appear this would become more of a problem. Finally, Aragorn raised a finger and shook it at Lady Kelly.
"Kelly, we are entrusting you with this information. Do not let it slip to neither Lena nor Lisa." He shuddered visibly. "Especially not Lisa." The girl bounced up and down and clapped excitedly.
She grinned at the entire company. "Okay, what is it?" she demanded, ignoring Lady Lena's attempts to make her translate. She took Lady Lena's former seat next to Gimli, leaving the girl to look on with shock that nobody would talk to her.
Aragorn sighed. "You leave in the morning. Each of you will get a horse and a guard to lead you back to Rivendell, where you will stay until I can return for you." Lady Kelly beamed and tossed back her blonde hair, the firelight turning it nearly white.
"So we get to go back to a palace with beds and warm clothes and food that doesn't suck?" Eomer cleared his throat and glared. She shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry. I know she is your sister and she is trying very hard, but she makes a better warrior than a cook." Eomer laughed.
"She makes a better warrior than anything she does or could do," he agreed. He liked Lady Kelly. She was a kind girl, and the three companions spoke quite highly of her. She treated all of his people with warmth and respect.
Gimli started. "Maybe Lena should stay. After all, her knowledge of the battle would be quite useful." Kelly raised her hand slightly.
"Look you guys. I am not trying to put Lena down or anything. I am not saying she wouldn't help you guys out a lot. But fact of the matter is, she hasn't read the books in years, and the movies are not very reliable, which is basically most of what she remembers." Legolas glanced over at Lena, who was sulking some feet away from the group, sending them all a withering look.
"You are saying that her information might be confused?" Lady Kelly remained silent, staring into the flames of the small fire, conflicted as to how to answer the question.
Finally, "I'm saying you guys don't need to rely on her knowledge of all of this as much as you would think."
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Funny. I didn't remember falling asleep. I just remember glaring at Legolas and…
"Hey!" I shrieked, jumping to my feet and looking around for someone to yell at. Of course, I managed to find Legolas first, who was loading bags on to a large brown horse with white spots on it's flank. "You!" I poked him hard in the shoulder. He turned and stared blankly at me. I frowned and shook my head.
"Don't give me that look! Why were you talking about me last night?" I demanded. I just raised his eyebrows and continued tying the stuff to the horse. "Why are you putting my stuff on there? Why isn't it on the pack mule?" I asked in confusion. It was true. My bags from the car were on there, and my pillow and blanket. Kelly and Lisa were also gathering their possessions some feet away, Lisa looking very put out about something. "What's going on?" I asked in a small voice.
I was so utterly confused. When Legolas wouldn't answer me, dashed over to Kelly, knocking over four people in the process. I finally reached both of my friends, holding my bruising elbow and panting heavily.
"What's going on?" I asked. Kelly started to answer, but Lisa cut her off.
"Your stupid friends are sending us to Rivendell." She gave an exasperated sigh when I didn't react. "Like, today. In about twenty minutes."
At first I was in complete shock. And then I could feel the tears starting. I hated getting mad. I always cried when I got really mad.
How dare they! Did they all really think they could send me on this quest, and then just take me out when I actually began to care about fighting for Middle Earth and being with my friends! Just when I was reunited with the guys, they were going to tell me I had to leave again? Before the tears could fall, I grabbed Kelly's arm.
"Where are we going?" she shrieked as I began to drag her across the field. I ignored the question.
"Who did it? Who gave the orders to take us back?" I yelled at her, turning to see her face. She flushed scarlet and mumbled something under her breath. I stopped and let go of her arm. "Excuse you?"
"Oh, well. Look at that view. This is such a beautiful area, you know."
"Kelly!"
"All right, fine! Just, don't be mad at him, okay?" I glared at her and took a menacing step forward.
"Mad at who?" I growled. Before she could stop herself, Kelly's gaze flickered to something off to her right. I turned to see Legolas, making his way over to Aragorn. I turned back to Kelly, whose eyes were as wide as quarters now.
She put a hand on my shoulder. "Now, Lena. Don't do anything rash. Just listen to me for a second!" I tuned her out as I grabbed her arm again and marched up to Legolas. His icy blue eyes were filled with guilt when he saw the look on my face.
"I'm not going, and you cant make me," I stated. Kelly translated. Legolas looked like he wished he were talking to anybody but me at the moment. He made a short reply.
"He says that you either go, or you will be stranded here in the middle of Rohirrim territory with nothing but the clothes on your back." My mouth dropped open.
"You wouldn't!"
"He would."
Legolas and I stared stubbornly at each other, until Lisa rode up next to us on the demon horse from the day before, seat behind a younger guard that I remembered seeing during Theoden's semi-exorcism. He said something, and then gestured to both something behind him. I turned to see two more horses behind him, each with a guard already seated on it. I recognized the brown one with my luggage on it.
Panic suddenly seized me when Kelly jumped up onto the third horse, with the help of her guard. "Come one, Lena," Lisa yelled, obviously irritated. I grabbed Legolas' arm and tried to make him look at me.
"Okay, please, I promise," I begged, "I will never annoy you again! I wont even look in your direction if that's what you want! Please, just don't send me away!" Kelly hesitated, then quietly translated all of this to the rest of the company. I couldn't even hear it though. I focused solely on Legolas. His gaze locked on mine, and I momentarily wondered why I had forgotten his eyes were so beautiful. He looked so sad, so resigned, and I knew that there was no way he would change his mind. They were all set on us going back to Rivendell, and nothing was going to stop them from achieving this. Sniffling slightly, I backed away from him and ran to Aragorn. I hugged him as hard as I could, and felt him kiss me on the forehead.
"I'll tell Arwen you said hello, and that you miss her, because I know you do." Behind me, Kelly translated. I tried my best to return his smile, then bent to hug Gimli.
The dwarf's bushy beard scratched against my cheek and he mumbled something. "He said he's going to miss you," Kelly said. Gimli sighed sadly and patted my hand. I grinned at him.
"It's your job to keep an eye on these guys for me, okay?" I joked, pointing to Aragorn and Legolas, "Make sure they aren't getting too frisky." Kelly burst out laughing and translated to Gimli. He chuckled and his blue eyes shone. The guys glared at me, but I pretended not to see. Eomer started to kiss my hand when I turned to him, but I snatched my hand away and wrapped my arms around his neck in a bear hug. I whispered a quick thank you, which he returned.
The last person to say good bye to was Legolas. I fidgeted slightly, unable to actually look him in the eye, because I didn't know whether to tell him to suck it for making me leave, or to cry. I felt the full weight of everyone's eyes on us, and I attempted to laugh nervously. God, this was awkward! I had no idea what to say.
"So," I began, "You pretty much suck, you know? And you are a total asshole, because if you would have stood up for me then I wouldn't be leaving." Kelly paused.
"That's what you wanted me to tell him?" I turned to look at her. She had both hands on her hips, and even Lisa looked a little angry. I stuck my tongue out at her.
"I'm not done, okay? I'm not good at dramatic speeches. So just say it!" Kelly rolled her eyes and repeated it to Legolas. His cheeks turned red and he started to walk away, but I put a hand on his shoulder, which was not an easy feat considering how tall he was. He looked at me and crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for me to continue. I shuffled my feet slowly.
"But the thing is, you're my asshole. And I'm going to miss you so freaking much, it's not even funny. Please just hurry to get this whole quest over with and come back to Rivendell, because I will be going crazy without you there. And I know I drive you up the wall, but just remember that one of us will be counting the days until all of this is over. Got it?"
Kelly had been translating as I was talking, and by this point, Legolas looked somewhere between offended and completely surprised. I couldn't hear anything other than the sounds of people getting up and getting ready to start moving again.
"Dude," Lisa yelled, "Say something! She's leaving in like two seconds!" Legolas glared at her and yelled something back.
"He says he's working on it!" Kelly yelled back. Legolas shuffled his feet slightly, and then winced as if someone had pinched him. He tilted his chin and pulled back his shoulders. Without saying a word, he bowed, kissed my hand, and then walked away. Everyone stared at his retreating back, and my mouth dropped open.
"What the fuck?" I screeched, spinning around to look at my friends, who were just as shocked as I was. "No way. That is not it. He will say goodbye the right way even if it kills him!" I stomped off after him. He hadn't gotten very far, so I didn't have to rush to keep up with him. Before I said anything, he turned to face me.
"Give me a fucking hug!" I demanded. He raised one eyebrow and I smacked him in the chest. "I said give me a hug!" He still didn't answer, so I held out my arms, hoping that he would get the hint.
According to Kelly, what Legolas did next cause Lisa to fall off of her horse, dragging her guard down with her. Instead of giving me the hug that I waited her, he grabbed both of his arms and pressed his lips against mine. Surprisingly, it felt nice. I heard the gasps behind me, but they didn't even register until after he broke away from me. With one last smile, he walked away. My lips still tingled and I didn't know what to do. The elf was lost in the crowd of bustling people.
Feeling completely numb, I slowly walked back to the horses. Gimli was almost rolling in laughter, pointing at Lisa who was now on the ground in a very awkward position with her guard. Eomer's eyes were almost bugging out of his head, and Kelly seemed almost as dazed as I felt. Aragorn was the only semi-calm one, and even he didn't seem to believe what he had just seen.
There was a very awkward silence before I finally cleared my throat and said, "Uh. So…did anyone else see that?" Kelly just nodded mutely. "Well, okay then. So I guess we are leaving now?" At first, nobody moved. And then our group slowly started getting ready again. I was helped onto a horse, and we all waved goodbye to each other. I looked at Gimli and Aragorn and Eomer, and I felt a lump in my throat. I knew that I would see them all again eventually, but I was just going to miss them all so much.
As we rode away, I looked around, kind of desperate for a last look at Legolas. I caught a little glimpse of him, standing with Aragorn, but he never turned around.
