Are We Done Yet?
Chapter Ten
By the time the sun was up, Emily had already been awake for a couple of hours. Everyone was awake. They had had another big breakfast that morning. Everyone sat in silence. Emily forced herself to finish her entire plate. She didn't know how long it would be until she got another nice meal.
She was standing outside now. She had changed into her old clothes. Her feet were not happy with her for putting on the uncomfortable boots. Elrohir noticed her fidgeting and smiled.
"You still have those," he said, laughing. "They seem to be nearing the end of their usefulness. Perhaps after this is all over, I will give you a new pair."
"I'll hold you to it," Emily said, smiling. It put her mind somewhat at ease, thinking back to the days that she had spent in Rivendell before the quest had begun. She spent most of her time getting into trouble and exploring. She had become friends with some of the elves, and Elrohir had ended up giving this pair of boots to her.
They stood in silence for the next little while. Emily checked herself to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. Two knives tucked into her boots, and her sword at her side. She squirmed slightly uncomfortably at the quiver of arrows on her back. She hadn't used them in a while, but she figured the more firepower the better. Pulling back the string on the bow, Emily peered down the length of an imaginary arrow before letting it go.
"Out of practice already?" Elrohir asked, laughing.
"I didn't think so..." Emily said, pulling the string back once more.
"I am teasing you, Emily," he said, grinning even wider. "We are in the midst of terrible times; something must be done to keep out hearts light."
"We're gonna make it," Emily mumbled. She just felt too terrible letting her own friends believe they were going to their deaths.
"I admire your spirit," Elrohir said. His smile fell a bit, but he looked like he was doing his best to keep a strong face.
Emily sighed and decided to leave it alone. Let him believe it was just a good attitude. She'd probably just screw things up even more if she started talking about knowing the future.
Emily stared straight ahead of her as she rode. They had been going for hours. She was sore and tired, but did her best to keep her mouth shut. They were not stopping until sundown.
"How long until we get there?" Sparkle whined. "My legs hurt and I'm hungry, and I just want this to all be over so we can live happily ever after..."
"About a week I think," Emily replied.
"What? Are you serious?" Sparkle demanded. She frowned. "I am a fragile, beautiful flower. I am not built to do things like this."
"What do you mean do things like this?" Emily asked, laughing. "Just make sure you don't fall off. The ride there is the easy part."
"You're crazy," Sparkle said. "If this goes on much longer, I'm going to be sore all over. Which is not good considering it's just a matter of time until Legolas and I ar-"
"I don't want to hear it!" Emily shouted. She nudged her horse forward, away from Sparkle. She rode in silence until the sun began to disappear. The group came to a stop and suddenly everyone was busy tending to their horses, starting fires, or getting together a meal. Emily had been recruited to help with the meal, and someone had taken her horse to rake care of while she worked.
Chopping vegetables actually proved to be somewhat therapeutic. She was able to concentrate on this small task and forget everything else. For a few moments, all that there was to do in the world was her and her vegetables. The most important thing was making sure they were cut up properly. She started humming to herself as she worked.
"Um, excuse me..."
Emily turned around to see Sparkle standing behind her, an unhappy look on her face.
"Yes?" Emily asked, continuing to chop her vegetables. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm the only one around here who's supposed to be singing."
"Fine, then," Emily said. She continued chopping in silence. Sparkle didn't budge. "Can I help you?"
"I need to ask you something..." Sparkle said. She was shifting around nervously.
"What?" Emily asked, looking up.
"I really love Legolas," Sparkle said. "I mean, he's totally perfect. And I think I'm finally winning him over. Before this battle, I want us to, um... well, you know..."
"Gross," Emily said, returning her attention to her vegetables. "You are not old enough for that, and he is way too old for you."
"I am so old enough!" Sparkle yelled. "Besides, it's true love! Age doesn't matter in love. Maybe you'll discover that and learn about true love one day, Emily. But until then, that's just too bad for you. You threw away his love!"
"Look," Emily said. "You can believe whatever you want. But the truth of the matter is that he's just some crazy person being messed up by Mary-Sue. That's not the real him out there right now."
"My ears are burning," said girl called in a sing-song voice. Her hair was bright pink today.
"Go away..." Emily mumbled, still chopping her veggies.
"We were just talking," Sparkle said. "But maybe you could help me with something. I don't want to wait another, like, week to get there. That's way too long and this is way too tiring."
"We'll be there tomorrow," Mary-Sue said with a wave of her hand.
"Can you guys go talk about this crap somewhere else?" Emily quipped. "I'm trying to work here."
"She's just jealous," Mary-Sue said to Sparkle, ushering the girl away.
Finally left in silence, Emily picked up her last carrot. Just as she was finishing, she was interrupted again. Legolas stood in front of her, staring silently.
"Yes?" Emily asked, gathering up all of the vegetables and bringing them to a large pot. Legolas followed behind her. "What do you want? You can talk."
"It's about Sparkle," he said eventually. "I'm afraid I have been stringing her along in order to make you jealous. Now she expects that we will be together forever. I'm afraid that she wants me to... you know... be intimate with her..."
"You had better not!" Emily yelled. "That's my cousin, my underage cousin to be more precise, and as much as she makes me want to scream, do not lay a hand on her or I will make you pay. Are we clear?"
"Emily, I..."
"Are we clear?"
"Yes," he sighed. "It's just I'm so desperate for attention... I need you back in my life."
"Ugh," Emily huffed, rolling her eyes. "Leave me alone, I'm cooking our last hot meal for a while. You wouldn't want to get a tainted bowl, would you?"
Legolas frowned, but he wasn't alone. Emily was not too pleased about having to live off rations until they returned. She would never take having a stove and being able to cook for granted again. She vowed, once she got home, to cook wonderful meals every day.
The group ate in silence. The first to finish were tasked with starting the clean up. Emily was taking her time, enjoying the soup.
"So," she said to Haldir, who was sitting beside her. "How about them vegetables? Pretty nice, hm?"
"Very good," he said. "The greatest vegetables I have had in a long time."
"Haldir," Emily said. "I just- I wanted to say... thank you. You're like the family that I don't have here. Who knows what would have happened to me here without you? I don't. No matter what happens, I'll always be grateful, even if I was annoying."
"You have changed since I first met you," he said. "It is unfortunate, in a sense. You have grown. You are not the child that I met not too long ago. But, I do prefer when we are getting along."
"Don't worry, when this is all over, I'll do enough acting like a child to make you sick of me again." She grinned at him before gulping down the rest of her soup.
"Well," he said, smiling. "I am pleased to be considered part of your family. I have two brothers that I took care of, I'm sure I can manage you."
"Aright then," Emily said. She tucked her soup bowl back into her pack, and untied the bedroll that was attached. "I'll see you in the morning... bro."
Unfortunately, Emily had to sleep by Sparkle and Mary-Sue. As the only girls, they had been grouped together. Emily noticed her horse tied up close to where they would sleep, as well as Sparkle and Mary-Sue's horses, which seemed more like My Little Ponies. Emily couldn't really complain. She was exhausted from the riding today, and managed to tune out the girls' chatting and fall soundly asleep.
Emily woke to a start. Someone was shoving her. Acting before thinking, she sat up and swung at the offending person. She missed; they must have moved. It was still pitch black out, so she couldn't see them.
"What?" Emily asked, frowning. "It's way too early to be up."
"It's me," she heard Sparkle whisper. "Me and Mary-Sue are going to try to catch up to Frodo. She says I should be part of saving the world, so... Off we go, I guess! Tell Legolas I love him. Oh, and Mary-Sue says to tell you that she's too impatient to wait, so you'll be there tomorrow."
"Ugh," Emily grunted, lying back down and shutting her eyes. She wasn't awake enough yet to process what they were saying.
It seemed like she had only had her eyes closed for a few seconds before she was being woken up again. This time it was by the footsteps and general commotion that came with packing up camp. The sun had not even begun to come over the horizon, but already everyone was moving.
Emily muttered to herself as she tidied her bedroll. She tied it and her pack to her horse. Unsure of how much time she had, she reached into the pack and pulled out two apples. She fed one to the horse and kept the second for herself.
"Good?" she asked the animal, patting it gently on the neck. She seemed to be getting better with the animals. This one hadn't tried to bite her, at least.
"Where are the other girls?" Haldir asked. Emily jumped; she hadn't noticed him behind her. "The noisy ones," he added.
"They went, wait, and are you ready for this?" Emily asked. "They went to find Frodo."
"They will never find him," he said, shaking his head. "Not that they did much good here..."
"True that," Emily said, laughing. "They added a splash of colour to the campsite, I guess."
"Are you ready?" Haldir said, getting on his horse. Emily nodded and followed suit, though her actions were much less graceful. She finally straightened herself on the horse and they took off with the column of riders. They fell into place, riding beside Elladan and Elrohir.
As they rode, the sun got higher and higher in the sky. Emily could feel sweat dripping down her neck as it got hotter. Their surroundings became desolate, the grass turned to gravel and rocks, the trees became black and gnarled, and eventually there were none left. They saw no animals, save for their own horses. Besides their own murmurings, the only noise around them was the wind blowing. Emily kept her head tucked into her chest, trying to shield herself from the stinging wind.
They continued until they could make out the black gates in the distance. The sun was setting, and the sky was blood red. Emily shivered, suddenly cold.
"That was fast," Elrohir commented. "We were not due to arrive for another four days. What is this?"
"It's Sue magic," Emily replied. If he didn't understand, he made no indication of it. He just nodded and continued along his way.
They camped on The Dagorlad that night, the plains before the Black Gate where the Last Alliance took its stand. Dinner was dried rations. Emily had salted pork and cheese. They were both too strong for her taste, the cheese especially, it was very sharp. But she put a smile on her face and tried to tell herself that food was food and that was all.
But in reality that pizza craving she had earlier was back in full force. What she wouldn't give for a hot, greasy, tasty piece of pizza. Scratch that, she wanted the whole thing, not just a piece. Her mouth started watering as she thought about garlic bread and chicken wings and cheese sticks.
"Emily... Emily... Emily..."
She could almost hear it calling her name.
"Emily! Wake up!" Suddenly she felt a sharp pain across her face. She blinked, focusing back on the real world and stared up at Haldir, dumbfounded.
"Did you just slap me?" Emily jumped to her feet, seething.
"We are in dark lands. I feared your mind had been touched," he said by way of explanation.
"You just wanted to hit me," Emily said, sticking her tongue out at him.
"I barely touched you," he replied.
"Well... it was still a shock." Emily crossed her arms and huffed.
"Come," he said. "We should not be arguing on this night. Sit with us." He led her over to where Elladan and Elrohir were sitting, talking quietly amongst themselves. They joined them, and they talked amongst themselves. The elves told Emily stories about the history of Middle-earth and the elves. She listened intently, fascinated about the details that they were able to tell her. She didn't even know this much about her own world, and she said as much.
"Well," Elladan said, laughing. "When you have forever to read and study, you become rather proficient."
"True," Emily said smiling.
They talked for a while longer, and then decided to call it a night. Emily tried to snuggle into her bedroll, but she couldn't get comfortable. Eventually, she just passed out from exhaustion.
The next morning Emily, if not the whole camp, was awoken by loud shouting.
"I will do it!" Aragorn roared.
"No!" Legolas yelled back. "I want to!"
"I will be king, I get to be the leader and be the hero!"
"I'm much more attractive, I will do it!"
"Is this actually happening again?" Emily asked, shaking her head.
"Be quiet, Legolas! What have you done to help? Hm? I believe it was me that had this 'let's go to Mordor' idea, so I get to lead the charge!"
"Well I showed up, you should be thankful!" Legolas huffed and stomped away from him.
"Well," Emily said to herself. "That was interesting."
"Go speak to him," Haldir said. "He will listen to you. I will speak to Aragorn."
"You need to stop sneaking up on me," Emily said. She sighed and walked over to Legolas. He was mumbling to himself, kicking a rock around the ground.
"What are you all pissed about?" Emily asked.
"I should be leading us, not him!" Legolas shouted. "I'm the attractive one, I would look so much better at the front!"
"Is this honestly what this is about?" Emily asked.
"Oh, Emily, you are such a simple person, but still I love you so!" Legolas smiled and took her hand.
"Be quiet," Emily said, snatching her hand back. "You need to get over yourself and accept that Aragorn is in charge here. I'm sure one day you'll have your own thing that you'll be in charge of."
"Thank you," Legolas said, "for the heartfelt words."
"Ugh, don't mention it, seriously," Emily said, rolling her eyes. She looked over to where Haldir and Aragorn were talking. He seemed to have been able to lift the man's spirits and now Aragorn was making his way back towards the group, shouting orders.
Suddenly everyone was moving this way and that, trying to get into some sort of organized group.
"How does this work?" Emily asked, trying her best not to get in anyone's way.
"Stand here," Haldir said, pulling her into position beside him. Emily smiled and thanked him, though she would have preferred somewhere not so close to the front. Legolas pushed his way back to her side, so that she was between the two elves.
"Emily," he said, reaching to hold her hand. She smacked his hand away and crossed her arms, closing herself off from further advances.
Emily gulped, staring at the intimidating gate. She shifted uncomfortably. There were strange noises coming from the other side. Slowly, they opened and Aragorn rode forward. Gandalf (where had he come from? Emily asked herself) was with him, along with Elladan and Elrohir, and a couple of men that she didn't know. Legolas was beside her, mumbling.
"Just shut up," she whispered to him.
"Why?" Legolas asked. "He left me out! We should both be there up front, being heroic."
"When you get out of this craziness, you can go on all the adventures you want with him. And I'm more than happy to stay back here, thank you very much."
"Emily," Legolas said. "I..."
"Save it," Emily snapped back at him. "They're coming back."
"This is it, then," Haldir said. Emily looked over at him.
"This isn't it," Emily said. "I plan on being around to bother you for a long time to come."
Haldir smiled at her, and the two looked up to see Aragorn and his entourage shouting. Behind them, Emily could see enemies pouring out of the black gates. She wasn't the only one among them that was shifting uncomfortably. Then, Aragorn turned and charged back to the gates. His companions followed, leaving Emily and the small army behind them.
Wish a shout of their own, they charged. It was surreal. It was like her body was moving on its own. Again she found herself striking and killing, but she wasn't even thinking about it. All of her senses were working fine, but it was like her body was on autopilot. Before she could even think about the noise that she heard behind her, she had turned around and struck.
This continued for what seemed like an eternity. There were just more and more enemies. As soon as it seemed like they were dwindling down in numbers, another wave would emerge from the black gates.
Suddenly, the ground shook. Everyone, friends and foes alike, paused to re gain their bearing. The orcs looked around frantically before trying to run. Emily lashed out as viciously as she could, trying to prevent as many as she could from escaping.
"It is falling," Emily heard someone shout. They were echoed with more overjoyed calls.
The air was filled with cheering. Emily joined in, her voice hoarse and cracking, but she shouted along with them nonetheless. People were scrambling to get back on their horses, those that could find them that is. Many horses had been released, their riders not foreseeing any need for a ride home.
As the cheering quickly died down, Emily stopped and looked up. The ground felt uneasy and the sky was darkening with smoke. She was swaying back and forth on her feet. Her head was pounding and she felt exhausted. She took a couple steps, but couldn't keep her body going. She managed to get a shout out as she fell to the ground. She fell backwards, back flat on the ground. She was too numb to feel any pain, but she felt warmth on her back.
Next thing she knew she was being hauled to her feet. It was Haldir. He was yelling something that she didn't understand. Elladan showed up beside them with a horse, shouting back at Haldir, using more words that Emily didn't understand.
Elladan took her from Haldir as the latter got onto the horse. He reached down and the two managed to get her up sitting in front of Haldir.
"Thank you," she whispered. Unable to hold herself up any longer, Emily leaned backwards against him. He said something that she didn't understand, though it sounded lovely. The last thing she remembered was her eyes slowly drifting shut, listening to those words she didn't understand.
Emily's eyes flashed open, she was panting for breath. She couldn't remember what she had been dreaming about, but she was willing to bet it wasn't pleasant. Her hands were shaking and she was sweating. She took a few breaths, trying desperately to calm herself down. She sat up, placing a hand on her chest. It felt like there was a weight pressing down on her. She frantically pulled at the neckline of the loose, white garment that she was wearing.
Cloth was wrapped tightly around her chest. She pulled at it, trying to loosen it so that she could get a good, deep breath. Her hands began to shake even more violently. The room was dark and she could hardly see what she was doing, which only frustrated her more.
"Stop, stop," a female voice whispered. Strong, calloused hands took a hold of her wrists, pulling them away from the cloth. "You will ruin your bandages! Lie down! You must give your body time to heal."
"Where am I?" Emily asked. She couldn't see much in the dark room. "What happened to me? I thought I was ok?" Everything was blurry, she couldn't remember what exactly had happened after leaving the city to go face the dark forces.
"You are safe," the woman said, her voice taking on a much gentler tone. "We have looked at your arm, although that seems to be okay, and we tended to the cuts on your back. You have been sleeping for two days; your body needed rest, and lots of it!"
"My back?" Emily asked. "What happened to my back? I was fine, last I remember..."
"Your companions said that you hurt yourself as you fell. They are not deep scratches, but should stay covered in order to keep them clean. If you do not suffer an infection, you will be lucky and heal in no time." She slowly let go of Emily's hands, sighing. "You are one of the lucky ones, dear. Now, sleep tonight. The more you rest, the sooner you will be out of here."
"Thank you..." Emily said. "Do you know what happened to my cousin? There was another girl, she went to find Frodo, she's a blonde, younger than me. Is she okay?" Again, Emily found herself worrying about her cousin, no matter how annoying she was.
"I have not seen her, but there are many, many wounded. I will come see you if I hear anything of her."
"Thank you, but one last thing. Where am I? I'm sure not everyone who's in here on the mend gets their own private room, what makes me so special?" Emily couldn't see too well in the dark, but she could tell that she was alone. Aside from the woman she was speaking to and herself, there were no other sounds or movement in the room.
"There are guests in the city, and they have asked that we set you up in one of their rooms. Tomorrow, if you are well, you may walk about, but not alone, and not very far, you may not yet have the strength."
"Okay," Emily muttered quietly, trying to keep her eyes open. "Thank you." She tried for a few more moments, but she couldn't help herself from falling asleep.
Wow, finally the action is over! But don't think that that means the fun is over, too! There's still lots to come!
Thank you, as always, for taking the time to read! And thanks again to everyone who put this story on their favourites or alerts, and thanks to those who reviewed, you guys always make me smile :)