The Trail of Life.
By Peachblossom luver and Mutt of Lothlorien.
A/n- ok. This is what happens when you eat too much sugar, and watch too much Monty Python, and then go for a walk in the forest. Yeah. Be warned. Reviews make our world go 'round.
This chapter is dedicated to Big Frank, one of the rescued horses we have (had) at our farm. He was a racehorse, and he died three days ago, during a thunderstorm. He was only four years old.
**************************
Amber woke to the sound of birds singing. Smiling, she slowly sat up. Swinging out of the large bed, she went to her saddlebags, and grabbed a clean pair of underwear and a fresh shirt.
Turning, she heard a knock at the door.
"Milady? It is nearly noon. And I have come to help you to get ready. Your sister is still not awake, and she's to meet the Lady at 4'o clock. The Rivendel party shall be arriving at about 4:45 - 5 o'clock. What shall I do?" The maid asked.
"Just leave her. She needs all the sleep she can get. Crystal get next to none when she's at home anyway." As she was saying this, Amber was trying to drag her brush through her hair.
"Here milady. Let me." Amber complied, and she sat down, the elf maid brushing her strawberry blonde hair out.
"My name is Eliane (Ell-e-ahn), if you need anything, please, do not hesitate to call for me."
After a few more minuets of fiddling, Eliane had pulled Amber's hair into a quick braid.
"The Lady has told me to inform you that you have the entire day free. Your only job is to find a place to keep your horses in."
Curtsying, Eliane existed the room.
Smiling, Amber grabbed her saddlebags, and went outside to find the horses.
Groaning, Crystal opened her eyes to slits. Quickly she squeezed them back together. The light. Evil it was. Waking her this early.
She felt a presence. There was someone freaking in her room.
"It's too early to be up, so therefore, what are you doing in my room?" she asked groggily, and partially incoherent.
The blonde she-elf looked back at her charge. "I am your maid, along with your sister. My name is Eliane. I have come to help you get ready for your meeting with the Lady, and for the Rivendel party.
And, for your information, it is almost one o'clock. It is definitely NOT too early in the morning." Eliane replied.
Crystal was now wide-awake. "1? I've never slept in that late! Why didn't you wake me up? I wasted most of the day!" Eliane smiled softly.
"Your sister told me to let you rest."
"Well. That was thoughtful of her. I wonder wh- WAIT! So she can go spend time with Haldir without me interrupting. Why the little conniving vixen. I think I've influenced her."
To say the least, Eliane was a bit taken aback with Crystal's outburst.
"Well, if it pleases my lady, I am here to help you. Now, please take your seat here, so I may do your hair."
While she was brushing out the dark auburn hair, Eliane spoke to Crystal.
"Well. At least your hair is long enough I can do something decent with it. Your sister's hair is so short!"
Chris nearly burst out laughing at this. Her sister always thought it too long. She couldn't understand how Crystal could have her hair so long, especially with all the things she had to do with the horses. Anyway, Amber could do plenty with her hair.
Eliane had twisted two strands back from her face, and was now braiding them down the center.
When that was finished, Crystal quickly got up and went to her saddlebags. Grabbing her clothes, she quickly changed into jeans. As she was pulling on her tee shirt, Eliane turned around, and shrieked at her.
"You cannot possible wear THAT to a meeting with the lady! See these lovely dresses? This is what you are to wear."
At the last comment, Crystal hurried her dressing. She now had shirt, jeans, and socks on. She was scrambling for her boots.
Eliane made a last attempt, and grabbed for the boots, swinging the dress.
"I am sorry, milady, but you cannot wear those things. It is inappropriate."
Crystal threw her an annoyed glance. "Let's get this straight. I DON'T WEAR DRESSES. Amber's the one that will TOLERATE it, but I won't. Does it look like I give a damn about proper? Keep the dress away from me."
So saying so, she made a lunge for the boots, effectively grabbing them by the laces.
Dashing out of the room, she paused to put one boot on, and continued running.
Eliane let out a silent scream of frustration. The lady had warned her. Oh, she had warned her about this one. But did she listen? No.
Making her way down the hall, she saw crystal hopping on foot, trying to put her other boot on. It would have been hysterical if she weren't the one chasing her.
Running down steps, they came to a landing, where there was a door to the left. Making a quick decision, Crystal flung the door open, and hesitated, looking back.
Eliane was almost there, so she sucked up her fears, and crossed the thin bridge. Safely on the other side, she continued her mad rush down the stairs. Finally she reached the ground.
Pausing for a millisecond or four, she looked back. Eliane was almost upon her.
Damn. Those elves were fast.
Blindly running, she heard shouts. Running down a couple of steps, she stopped suddenly. She had run into the most beautiful clearing she had ever seen, and in the middle was a birdbath.
She sighed and stood there. She had lost that maid. Good.
There were surprised voices a few yards over, and Crystal whirled around.
Damn! The maid was there, with a few other elves and men she had never seen before. And they were looking at her, and headed straight towards her.
Eliane started forward towards Chris, with the dress in one of her hands. The girl started to jog backwards, and she felt something hit the small of her back.
"Keep that damned dress away from me!"
Before she could react, the thing toppled over with a huge crash. There were several horrified gasps from the people in front of her.
Taking this time to run over to a tree, she jumped as high as she could, swinging up into the lower branches of one of the Melorn trees.
Eliane followed. This caused Chris to pause for a moment before swinging higher up onto a higher branch.
"Won't you just give the hell up already? I'm not going to wear the fucking dress."
Eliane didn't reply. She only climbed up higher.
"You think I like this? You could just act like a mature adult and wear the thing. Milady." She added the last part spitefully. Typical elves- so damn arrogant.
"NO!" she had reached about halfway up the tree, and hid in-between a few branches. Thank God that she was skinny.
"Keep that dress away from me. I have steel toed boots, and I know how to use 'em." She heard chuckles from below.
"Here's an Idea- how about you go and help Amber. I'm she'd appreciate it a lot more."
Crystal was pissed. To say the least. "I'm warning you Eliane. Don't make me do something I'll regret."
"Oh, don't worry Milady. I don't think that you would do anything."
In response, Crystal chucked one of her boots at her. She heard an infuriated shriek, and saw a dress fall the many feet down to to the floor, where it landed in front of one of the blonde elves there.
"Bitch goes boom! Booya!" was her victory cheer.
There were three elves that could no longer hold in their laughter. Two dark haired elves, and the blonde one were on the ground holding their sides.
Eliane's head popped in front of her. "Found you."
Crystal panicked. She started to swing down, and grab another branch, lower down. She did this, and glanced up, finding that Eliane was faster that human. Well. That was expected. They weren't human were they now?
Dropping the last eight feet, she landed next to one of the dark haired elves.
"Aw, shut up already." When she went to dash past, she found her path blocked by another presence. It was a regal looking dark haired elf.
"You cannot pass here."
Grinning evilly, Crystal let out a dramatic yell of "No! Not the *gasp* shrubbery!"
(Sorry guys. Couldn't resist. Personal joke. Ash- I'm crying right now. Teehee. rolls on floor)
Confused the elf paused. Faking to the left, she dashed past him on the right-
And climbed up another tree. Galadriel glared. "I hope you understand that you have ruined my meeting, and my mirror, and the arrival of the Rivendel guests. Young lady, if you were my child, you would be dead."
"Well. I'm not am I?" Adrenalin had made her quite bold. "People should know not to try and force me into dresses. I hate them."
Eliane was NOT happy- to say the least. "You know quite well that I did not force you into that dress. You're the one that ran. And threw that boot at me. And made a humungous scene."
With a huff, Galadriel turned on her heel, and walked out of the clearing. "Thank the Valar that your sister is so much more grown up."
Throwing a glare at her, Eliane followed her Lady. The man who looked quite rugged gave her a quick smile, and the rest of them followed. When the two dark elves that had laughed at her looked up, she gasped.
"You're twins!" she exclaimed. They raised their eyebrows.
"Is it so bad that we're twins?" the one on the left asked.
"No. I'm a twin. My sister Amber and I aren't identical though."
"I would like to meet this Amber." The one on the right said.
"Well. You will. I think that we're supposed to have this tell all session on how we got here."
She hadn't noticed that the blonde elf had stayed behind when all the others had left. Crystal let out a sigh.
"Somebody hates me up there!" she muttered to the sky.
"Now, why would that be?" came a voice somewhere near her.
Crystal jumped. "Because of those damn maids and dresses. And the fact that I'm in another world. I told her to keep that dress away from me, but did she listen? NO. She had to come and chase me. And now I look like a complete bitch and I'm going to be turned into a frog or something in my sleep.."
She stopped her rambling when the elf came to sit next to her on the huge branch. This had to be the most gorgeous being that she had ever encountered. Wait. They were all gorgeous. Damn elves.
That had to be her second motto. Ah, well. Life sucks.
"Oh. I doubt that the Lady will do that, just stay out of her way for a while. You're from another world? And you're a twin? Interesting. By the way, I am Glorifindel."
Smiling, Crystal held out her hand. "And I'm the infamous Crystal. The one that causes all the trouble."
So they stayed in Galadriel's garden, talking the night away, while the others cooled off.
Amber headed up to her talan. There she saw an infuriated Galadriel.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
The Lady of the woods looked fit to murder. "Your sister." Was all she said?
"Oh."
"Come. We need to go to this meeting. And tell that sister of yours, she had better not be in my sight for the next couple of days."
Amber shook her head, and was slightly worried. This was not good.
They walked to the meeting in silence.
A/n- tell me what you think! Do ya hate me? Anyways. Review!
By Peachblossom luver and Mutt of Lothlorien.
A/n- ok. This is what happens when you eat too much sugar, and watch too much Monty Python, and then go for a walk in the forest. Yeah. Be warned. Reviews make our world go 'round.
This chapter is dedicated to Big Frank, one of the rescued horses we have (had) at our farm. He was a racehorse, and he died three days ago, during a thunderstorm. He was only four years old.
**************************
Amber woke to the sound of birds singing. Smiling, she slowly sat up. Swinging out of the large bed, she went to her saddlebags, and grabbed a clean pair of underwear and a fresh shirt.
Turning, she heard a knock at the door.
"Milady? It is nearly noon. And I have come to help you to get ready. Your sister is still not awake, and she's to meet the Lady at 4'o clock. The Rivendel party shall be arriving at about 4:45 - 5 o'clock. What shall I do?" The maid asked.
"Just leave her. She needs all the sleep she can get. Crystal get next to none when she's at home anyway." As she was saying this, Amber was trying to drag her brush through her hair.
"Here milady. Let me." Amber complied, and she sat down, the elf maid brushing her strawberry blonde hair out.
"My name is Eliane (Ell-e-ahn), if you need anything, please, do not hesitate to call for me."
After a few more minuets of fiddling, Eliane had pulled Amber's hair into a quick braid.
"The Lady has told me to inform you that you have the entire day free. Your only job is to find a place to keep your horses in."
Curtsying, Eliane existed the room.
Smiling, Amber grabbed her saddlebags, and went outside to find the horses.
Groaning, Crystal opened her eyes to slits. Quickly she squeezed them back together. The light. Evil it was. Waking her this early.
She felt a presence. There was someone freaking in her room.
"It's too early to be up, so therefore, what are you doing in my room?" she asked groggily, and partially incoherent.
The blonde she-elf looked back at her charge. "I am your maid, along with your sister. My name is Eliane. I have come to help you get ready for your meeting with the Lady, and for the Rivendel party.
And, for your information, it is almost one o'clock. It is definitely NOT too early in the morning." Eliane replied.
Crystal was now wide-awake. "1? I've never slept in that late! Why didn't you wake me up? I wasted most of the day!" Eliane smiled softly.
"Your sister told me to let you rest."
"Well. That was thoughtful of her. I wonder wh- WAIT! So she can go spend time with Haldir without me interrupting. Why the little conniving vixen. I think I've influenced her."
To say the least, Eliane was a bit taken aback with Crystal's outburst.
"Well, if it pleases my lady, I am here to help you. Now, please take your seat here, so I may do your hair."
While she was brushing out the dark auburn hair, Eliane spoke to Crystal.
"Well. At least your hair is long enough I can do something decent with it. Your sister's hair is so short!"
Chris nearly burst out laughing at this. Her sister always thought it too long. She couldn't understand how Crystal could have her hair so long, especially with all the things she had to do with the horses. Anyway, Amber could do plenty with her hair.
Eliane had twisted two strands back from her face, and was now braiding them down the center.
When that was finished, Crystal quickly got up and went to her saddlebags. Grabbing her clothes, she quickly changed into jeans. As she was pulling on her tee shirt, Eliane turned around, and shrieked at her.
"You cannot possible wear THAT to a meeting with the lady! See these lovely dresses? This is what you are to wear."
At the last comment, Crystal hurried her dressing. She now had shirt, jeans, and socks on. She was scrambling for her boots.
Eliane made a last attempt, and grabbed for the boots, swinging the dress.
"I am sorry, milady, but you cannot wear those things. It is inappropriate."
Crystal threw her an annoyed glance. "Let's get this straight. I DON'T WEAR DRESSES. Amber's the one that will TOLERATE it, but I won't. Does it look like I give a damn about proper? Keep the dress away from me."
So saying so, she made a lunge for the boots, effectively grabbing them by the laces.
Dashing out of the room, she paused to put one boot on, and continued running.
Eliane let out a silent scream of frustration. The lady had warned her. Oh, she had warned her about this one. But did she listen? No.
Making her way down the hall, she saw crystal hopping on foot, trying to put her other boot on. It would have been hysterical if she weren't the one chasing her.
Running down steps, they came to a landing, where there was a door to the left. Making a quick decision, Crystal flung the door open, and hesitated, looking back.
Eliane was almost there, so she sucked up her fears, and crossed the thin bridge. Safely on the other side, she continued her mad rush down the stairs. Finally she reached the ground.
Pausing for a millisecond or four, she looked back. Eliane was almost upon her.
Damn. Those elves were fast.
Blindly running, she heard shouts. Running down a couple of steps, she stopped suddenly. She had run into the most beautiful clearing she had ever seen, and in the middle was a birdbath.
She sighed and stood there. She had lost that maid. Good.
There were surprised voices a few yards over, and Crystal whirled around.
Damn! The maid was there, with a few other elves and men she had never seen before. And they were looking at her, and headed straight towards her.
Eliane started forward towards Chris, with the dress in one of her hands. The girl started to jog backwards, and she felt something hit the small of her back.
"Keep that damned dress away from me!"
Before she could react, the thing toppled over with a huge crash. There were several horrified gasps from the people in front of her.
Taking this time to run over to a tree, she jumped as high as she could, swinging up into the lower branches of one of the Melorn trees.
Eliane followed. This caused Chris to pause for a moment before swinging higher up onto a higher branch.
"Won't you just give the hell up already? I'm not going to wear the fucking dress."
Eliane didn't reply. She only climbed up higher.
"You think I like this? You could just act like a mature adult and wear the thing. Milady." She added the last part spitefully. Typical elves- so damn arrogant.
"NO!" she had reached about halfway up the tree, and hid in-between a few branches. Thank God that she was skinny.
"Keep that dress away from me. I have steel toed boots, and I know how to use 'em." She heard chuckles from below.
"Here's an Idea- how about you go and help Amber. I'm she'd appreciate it a lot more."
Crystal was pissed. To say the least. "I'm warning you Eliane. Don't make me do something I'll regret."
"Oh, don't worry Milady. I don't think that you would do anything."
In response, Crystal chucked one of her boots at her. She heard an infuriated shriek, and saw a dress fall the many feet down to to the floor, where it landed in front of one of the blonde elves there.
"Bitch goes boom! Booya!" was her victory cheer.
There were three elves that could no longer hold in their laughter. Two dark haired elves, and the blonde one were on the ground holding their sides.
Eliane's head popped in front of her. "Found you."
Crystal panicked. She started to swing down, and grab another branch, lower down. She did this, and glanced up, finding that Eliane was faster that human. Well. That was expected. They weren't human were they now?
Dropping the last eight feet, she landed next to one of the dark haired elves.
"Aw, shut up already." When she went to dash past, she found her path blocked by another presence. It was a regal looking dark haired elf.
"You cannot pass here."
Grinning evilly, Crystal let out a dramatic yell of "No! Not the *gasp* shrubbery!"
(Sorry guys. Couldn't resist. Personal joke. Ash- I'm crying right now. Teehee. rolls on floor)
Confused the elf paused. Faking to the left, she dashed past him on the right-
And climbed up another tree. Galadriel glared. "I hope you understand that you have ruined my meeting, and my mirror, and the arrival of the Rivendel guests. Young lady, if you were my child, you would be dead."
"Well. I'm not am I?" Adrenalin had made her quite bold. "People should know not to try and force me into dresses. I hate them."
Eliane was NOT happy- to say the least. "You know quite well that I did not force you into that dress. You're the one that ran. And threw that boot at me. And made a humungous scene."
With a huff, Galadriel turned on her heel, and walked out of the clearing. "Thank the Valar that your sister is so much more grown up."
Throwing a glare at her, Eliane followed her Lady. The man who looked quite rugged gave her a quick smile, and the rest of them followed. When the two dark elves that had laughed at her looked up, she gasped.
"You're twins!" she exclaimed. They raised their eyebrows.
"Is it so bad that we're twins?" the one on the left asked.
"No. I'm a twin. My sister Amber and I aren't identical though."
"I would like to meet this Amber." The one on the right said.
"Well. You will. I think that we're supposed to have this tell all session on how we got here."
She hadn't noticed that the blonde elf had stayed behind when all the others had left. Crystal let out a sigh.
"Somebody hates me up there!" she muttered to the sky.
"Now, why would that be?" came a voice somewhere near her.
Crystal jumped. "Because of those damn maids and dresses. And the fact that I'm in another world. I told her to keep that dress away from me, but did she listen? NO. She had to come and chase me. And now I look like a complete bitch and I'm going to be turned into a frog or something in my sleep.."
She stopped her rambling when the elf came to sit next to her on the huge branch. This had to be the most gorgeous being that she had ever encountered. Wait. They were all gorgeous. Damn elves.
That had to be her second motto. Ah, well. Life sucks.
"Oh. I doubt that the Lady will do that, just stay out of her way for a while. You're from another world? And you're a twin? Interesting. By the way, I am Glorifindel."
Smiling, Crystal held out her hand. "And I'm the infamous Crystal. The one that causes all the trouble."
So they stayed in Galadriel's garden, talking the night away, while the others cooled off.
Amber headed up to her talan. There she saw an infuriated Galadriel.
"What's the matter?" she asked.
The Lady of the woods looked fit to murder. "Your sister." Was all she said?
"Oh."
"Come. We need to go to this meeting. And tell that sister of yours, she had better not be in my sight for the next couple of days."
Amber shook her head, and was slightly worried. This was not good.
They walked to the meeting in silence.
A/n- tell me what you think! Do ya hate me? Anyways. Review!