Dear Readers...

I love all of you. :) I love that you all completely understand my addiction to Skyrim. My brother and I got together over the holidays, and I got him addicted, too. XD

I kind of want to make a Skyrim fic? But I probably won't.

Anyhooders.

My friend and I went on a drive today, and did nothing but talk about how wonderful Jack Johnson is. Do you agree?

I'm sorry for the long wait... AGAIN! This was the final show week for our musical, and I had no time for anything. Although, I did watch Return of the King, today. It makes me feel gross. Like, Boromir should be there. And the story shouldn't end. It should last forever.

Please review, and let me know your thoughts. :)

I don't own Lord of the Rings.


(Kristy)

Sigh...

I continued to stare at my food, since I had no one to talk to.

Breakfast was extremely at the moment, mostly because everyone I typically sit with was nonexistant. Sophie was still sleeping, as was Collin. No surprise there. Then you have Legolas and James, who had never re-appeared after they bolted into the woods the night before.

Ohh goodness. . . I have a feeling that today's going to be very interesting.

Of course, I should have told my own brother of my crush on Legolas. I don't know what I was thinking! The two are best friends...

Then again, Legolas is at fault for this, too.

Sigh... Maybe this whole thing just wasn't meant to work.

"Stinking camera..." Collin strolled up to the table, looking like he'd just rolled out of bed (which he probably did), and began to fiddle with his camera. "Bloody record button's stuck..." He banged it on the table a few times before smiling in triumph. "Aha! Got it!"

"Good morning to you, too, Collin."

My friend looked up at me with wide eyes, as though he'd just noticed I was there.

"Kristy, when'd you get here?"

Figures.

"I've been here for the past hour."

Collin laughed and rubbed his head. "Really? I must have hit my head harder than I thought. You see, I fell out of bed this morning and nailed my head on the end table. Not the best way to start the morning..."

I ran my hand through Collin's hair and noticed a big lump on the back of his head. "Dang, you must have hit it hard! Go have Aragorn check that out after you eat."

"Mmkay." He shrugged and laid his head down on the table. "So, what's new?"

"Oh, not much... Legolas and James are still missing, though. Have you seen them? "

"No, I can't say I have." Collin yawned and closed his eyes. "James is probably still chasing the poor chap. Your brother's stubborn as hell."

Greeeattt. Unfortunately, Collin has a point, and the two friends are probably still trying to kill each other. Well, James is trying to kill Legolas, but I wouldn't blame him if he tried to kill James. The man can be a prick, I have to admit.

"EEEEEPPPPPPPP!" Sophie's scream rang through the hall as she burst through the doors, a huge smile on her face. "WHERE IS HE?" Her eyes shifted to our table, and she bolted right for Collin. The poor man hardly had enough time to stand before our tiny friend ran face first into his chest.

"It's nice to see you, too?" Collin wrapped his arms around her gently as she struggled to squeeze the life out of him.

Sophie may be small, but she can give a mean hug.

"Iloveyou Iloveyou Iloveyou Iloveyou!" She went on and on, all the while squeezing our friend tighter and tighter.

Collin laughed and smiled. "Uhh, thanks?"

Sophie frowned and slapped him. "Don't act like you don't know why!"

"Well," Our friend chuckled and ran his and through his hair. "I am pretty cute."

Sophie slapped him once more befoe tugging on a chain around her neck. "No, you big terd! This is why!" She held out the chain to reveal a locket.

"Oh, hey!" Collin smiled and grabbed the locket. "I made this!"

Sophie smiled. "Chyeah, you did!" She fell into our friend and gave him another big hug. "You're the best friend ever!"

Wait a minute... Is that a blush I see, painting itself on Collin's pale skin? Awhh! I knew he was in love!

Now, if only he would realize that...

"You think you love me now, wait until you hear this..." Collin laughed. "I think that Gandalf's going to let you come with the fellowship..."

Sophie screamed at the top of her lungs and squeezed her best friend even tighter. "You're my hero."

A slight pang of disappointment surged through me; I didn't want her to leave! It's bad enough to know that James and Collin are risking their lives, I don't need Sophie risking hers, too. A small part of me hoped that Collin was wrong; that Gandalf would realize how silly of an idea it is.

"Are you two sure that's a good idea?" I asked, finally letting my worries get the best of me. "I mean... This won't be a walk in the park. There are real risks involved with this."

Sophie rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh come on, Kris! I'll be fine!"

Typical Sophie; the refusal to accept the truth. "How can you be sure? Have you already forgotten your little speedbump at Isengard back in October?"

Collin's eyes lost some of their sparkles, and an uncommon frown slowly grew upon his face.

Ohh goodness. Now I've done it.

"That was different!" Sophie protested, her forehead crinkling in frustration. "We'll have Gandalf this time, not to mention the others. We'll be fine..." She sighed, her protests not even convincing herself. "Aren't I right, Coll?"

Our friend sighed and rubbed the frustration from his face. "Heck, I don't know..."

Come one, Collin, I've almost got you to agree with me. Just say it...

He looked up at the ceiling and shrugged. "Eh, it's whatever."

"... It's whatever?" Death is whatever? Well, this is just fantastic.

"Yepp!" Collin grabbed an apple from my plate and munched on it. "If Sophie's dead, then that means one of two things. Either she annoyed us, and we pushed her off a cliff, or we were all too dead to defend her. Now, if we're all dead, then Sauron's got the ring. I'd rather her die than get sold of to be a sex slave to an orc."

"EXACTLY!" Sophie smiled and clapped Collin on the back. "You see, Collin cares!"

Oh my goodness... I give up on life.

"Ahem..."

We all turned to see Aragorn standing at the head of our table, looking quite irritated and disturbed.

"Mmmyessss?" Sophie looked up at him with her happy brown eyes, a warm smile on her face.

"I need to speak with you and Collin, if you don't mind."

"Well, go for it, sir!" Soph smiled. "Whatever you have to say, I can guarantee you Kristy will hear about it sooner or later."

So true. That girl has a terrible habit of blurting out whatever's on her mind.

The ranger looked ready to argue, but he probably realized that it was no use; arguing with Sophie was like punching a wall.

"Very well. It comes to my attention that you, Miss Sophie, intend on joining the fellowship to Gondor, is that correct?"

Sophie's eyes narrowed and she studied the ranger curiously. "Who told you, Gandalf?" With a nod from Aragorn, her eyes lit up. "Gandalf talked to you about it?"

"That must mean this is legit!" Collin jumped up from the table and pulled Sophie out of her chair. "Come on, Soph! We've got training to do!"

Aragorn held his arm out, stopping the two before they got too far. "Excuse me, but I'm not finished. Haven't you two thought of the dangers?"

"Ha!" Collin laughed, and gave his friend a pat on the back. "Oh, dear Aragorn. Of course we have!"

"Worst case scenario, I die!" Soph smiled brightly, as though she'd just figured out the solution to world peace. "And that's a heck of a lot more fun than being a sex slave to some orc for the rest of my days."

Aragorn's eyes widened as Collin and Sophie ran off, with not a care in the world.

"Are they serious?" He shook his head, his expression revealing pure doom.

I gave him a sympathetic smile and nodded. "I'm afraid so."

He rubbed his forehead tiredly, and walked away.

Poor man. The last thing he needs is that terrible duo on his hands. Although he clearly loves them both, I don't think anyone's sure about how they will act on this journey.

I don't think anyone's ready to find out.


(Sophie)

"Ow!" I cried out as Collin's wooden sword smacked my hand, leaving a painful, throbbing sting. "I give up!"

I can't tell you how many times I've gotten hurt trying to defend myself, and I'm not even going to try to count.

"Sophie, you can't give up, now!" Collin sighed and handed me my little wooden sword that had fallen to the ground. "We've only been at it for two hours!"

Yeah, two hours too long!

"Forget it! I'd rather die!" I fell back on a patch of grass and stared up at the sky. "Swordfighting is for pricks."

Gimli, who had fancied himself with watching my failed attempts at defense, chose this moment to throw himself into the ring. "You should test your skill with an axe!"

"At this point, I'm willing to try anything..." Heck, I'd defent myself with a carrot, if necessary.

Gimli hopped up and excitedly pulled out one of his smaller throwing axes. "Here, this will do. Be careful, this is no toy."

I grabbed the axe with confidence, but was a little stunned to find it difficult to carry. Goodness! For such a tiny axe, it sure was heavy.

"What the heck am I supposed to do with this?" I lifted it up, but struggled to keep it in the air.

"Yeh throw it, lassie!" Gimli laughed, and Collin snickered at my ignorance involving weapons.

Well, I'll show them!

With a big breath of air, I lifted the axe behind my head, and chucked it into the air. It went flying, and landed right inside of the library...

Whoops!

"I guess that I should have aimed it first, huh?" Of course you should have aimed it, you stupid girl!

Ohh Elrond's gonna be ticked. Not only have we managed to throw an axe straight through the library window, but we've done it twice.

"Quick!" Collin pushed me forward, towards the window. "Go get it before anyone sees!"

"Wait, why me?" I don't wanna die! "It's Gimli's axe!"

I turned to face the dwarf, but he was already gone. I thought that I could see his tiny form hiding behind a thick tree, but Collin gave me no time to confirm my suspicions.

"Get going!" He picked me up and threw me through the window.

When my feet touched the cool stone floor, I froze. No sound could be heard in the large library, but that doesn't mean that an elf isn't lurking in here somewhere... My eyes looked up to see the axe right in front of me- in the same exact shelf as last time.

Poop.

Quietly, I tried to pull the axe free of the shelf, but it just wouldn't budge.

Double poop.

Want to know what's even poopier? The familiar sound of footsteps was heading my way.

On the bright side of that statement, we can assume that it's not Elrond. Elves have a tendency to be completely silent. We can also hope that it's not Gandalf, because he also has a tendency to sneak up on people.

So, this leaves us with two possible candidates... Boromir and Aragorn.

I tugged harder and harder as the footsteps got closer and closer, but I was too late. Whoever it was, they had me in their sights.

"Sophie?"

To my heart's delight, it was Boromir. He was standing there, the most puzzled look on his face. That's understandable. I mean, how often do you wander in on a situation such as this?

Pretty often, if you want to live in my household. I can't tell you how many times Collin's gotten a butter knife stuck in Mom's kitchen wall. Boy, was that hard to explain... After the first five times, though, Mom just decided to go along with it. She even began to record the date of said stab wounds!

Anyways.

"Hey, how's it going?" I put on my most innocent smile and continued tugging on the axe.

Boromir eyed me, his eyebrow raised. "I am quite well, thank you..."

"Oh, great!" Tug.

Nothing.

"That's just great..." I sighed.

Boromir nodded, and continued to watch me for a moment. "Might I ask... What are you doing?"

"Huh, oh, me?" Dang it, he's on to me. "Oh, I'm just... You know... Just hanging around..."

He fought back a laugh, and moved forward a bit. "And what are you doing with that axe?"

"What axe?" Crap! I was hoping he'd ignore it! "Oh, you mean this axe? Well, funny story, really..."

"I can imagine."

Well, Mr. Smarty-Pants.

"You see, Gimli thought I'd make a great dwarven warrior. After all, I'm nearly short enough to be a dwarf." Maybe I am a dwarf?

Boromir chuckled, and raised a curious brow in my direction. "And why would you need to be a dwarven warrior?"

"Oh, you mean Gandalf didn't tell you?" I gave the axe another rough tug, and smiled as it began to loosen. "I'm gonna go live with the dwarves! Gimli and I are in love, you see, and we felt it appropriate that I go to live with my people."

"Your people?" The mighty warrior in front of me looked like he wanted to burst into flames.

Not really, that's all a lie. He just looked rather humored.

"Yes, my people." I sighed and rolled my eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Don't you know? I'm a dwarf!"

My lovely warrior friend took this time to laugh until his gut went sore. I can't say I blame him; I can't tell you how often I've inquired about Gimli's love life.

After his giggle fit, Boromir wiped eyes of some stray happy tears, and shook his head. "Really, Sophie, as much as I enjoy your eccentric stories, I really must know what you've been doing.

Sigh... "Well, if you must know, Gimli thought that this would be a good idea. Yeah, I wasn't lying about the dwarven warrior part. That stuff's legit."

Boromir frowned, and I just knew that a manly man speech was coming on. "Why do you wish to learn how to fight?"

"To defend myself, a-duh!" What, do I need a man for everything? Heck no.

"That is all well, but..." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "I am quite worried about your intentions."

Intentions? "What do you mean?"

If this is going to turn into the infamous Kristy-Legolas conversation, where my long-lost brother shows up and flips out on Boromir, I don't want to be a part of it. I still haven't seen James or Legolas, today.

Boromir sighed- not a good sign- and stared me down with concerned eyes. "Aragorn has informed me of your recent attempts at traveling with the Fellowship..."

"Ughh, not you, too!" I finally managed to rip the axe out of the shelf, and I chucked it out of the window. "Look, Kristy's given me enough crap about this... I understand that your world has not yet discovered woman's suffrage- let alone voting, in general- but in my world's I'm pretty hardcore. Did you get a thirty on your ACT's? No? Didn't think so!"

"What's an ACT?"

"Hell if I know! Something colleges do for fun. Anyways, what were we talking about?" My attention span went a little crazy.

Boromir shook the confusion from his mind and took a deep breath. "You want to travel with the Fellowship..."

Oh, yeah. "Look, I just want to get out of here, okay?" I'm positive that I'm not cut out for this One Ring business, and I don't plan on involving myself in it anymore than necessary. I just don't want to hang around in Rivendell while all of my friends go to some fiery volcano a thousand miles away.

Fortunately, Boromir did not argue; at least not right off the bat. He studied me for a moment, eyes searching for something. It was kind of like I was a giant book, and he was a drunk man trying to understand me. Finally, he sighed- something he seems to do a lot- and looked down to the ground.

"Do not think that I do not want you to come, because I do..."

Wait, what did he just say?

"Are you serious?"

He nodded. "Yes. I want you to come to Minas Tirith with me. This journey is dark, and it lacks hope. I do not want to be a part of it, and I don't believe that you're too fond of this business, either. Still, it must me done, and I will do all that I can to keep my homeland safe. If you are truely set on following the Fellowship- which I am sure you are- I would be honored if you would accompany me to Gondor. I can take care of you."

Eep! What the heck?

This is all happening so fast!

What the heck is up with my heart? I don't get it.

Okay, so I'm guessing that you're lost. Here, let me welcome you into the wonderful mind that is mine.

You see, Boromir gets my heart a'thumpin, and I kind of want to hug him and stare at him like a lovesick teenager. I've always liked the man, and it's escalated into something far more powerful than I expected. And here comes the but...

There's always a but...

My heart has been... Ill, lately. You know that feeling you get when you're happier than a Hobbit at an all-you-can-eat buffet, but then all of a sudden, your heart starts playing tricks on you. Then you're all like, 'knock it off, man, this isn't cool!" But your hearts a major jerk, so it doesn't listen, and it begins to keep secrets from you. That's when you're all, 'oh haylll no! (hayl=exciting pronunciation of hell)' So you decide to freaking rage on your heart, so you eat all of the artery-clogging food you can possibly find, but your heart is determined. It locks itself in its room, and refuses to come out until you take some meds, or at least eat some celery! You think meds are for wimps, so you bang on the door to your heart, screaming, but when you finally gain entrance, you realize that your heart climbed out the window on an impressive bed sheet rope.

Now, you've got heartburn, and an awol heart that won't tell you its secrets.

It's a lose lose situation, my friend. The heart is the Chuck Norris of emotions.

Anyways, my heart is just about as insane as I am. So, although Boromir made me happy like a Hobbit with a barrel full of pipeweed, my heart's a terd, and won't tell me what's missing.

What does one say in this situation?

"Gondor sounds fun."

Very intelligent, Sophie. Such a response really requires an advanced thinking level.

Boromir smiled at me with his pretty beard-covered smile. "You don't have to accept this as an engagement. I simply wish to look after you." He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and grinned. "You'd best go and retrieve your axe."

Poop.

Gimli's axe!

I bolted out the window and found the axe right where it should be; stuck in the bushes.

When I went to go retrieve it, I was pleasantly surprised.

Collin jumped out of the bushes and tackled me to the ground. "What took you so long? Did the Florgons get you?"

"Oh, yes! There were so many of them!" I cried out in mock despair. "We'll never make it out alive!"

Collin laughed and helped me to my feet. "Silly Sophie, you're such a terrible actress."

Gee... Thanks...

"Sophie!" Gandalf's merry voice rang out across the courtyard, and I looked up to see him standing with Elrond, not too far off. "Come here, dear girl!"

I hope they don't know about our recent axe incident...

Slowly, I made my way towards the old wizard, as Collin ran off to do who knows what.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, hoping that the answer was 'no.'

"Oh no, dear child." Gandalf smiled. "But, Elrond and I would like to speak to you of a most important matter..."

Oh my gosh... This is almost exactly how my mom started to give me the sex talk...


So, it's not exactly an important chapter. More will come soon, I promise! I already have the next chapter planned.

And don't worry; Sophie is not going to learn how to swordfight. I'm sick of self-insert characters that miraculously learn how to fight better than Aragorn in less than a month. This is why I've been training Collin and James for years. :) They know what they're doing.

As for Sophie, she will never learn.