DISCLAIMER: Everybody but Candace and Manda belongs to Tolkien. I don't see why you would think Merry and Pippin belong to me... I wish, though... cute lil buggers.
Manda and Candy were both awakened by sharp kicks in their sides. Candy got up quickly enough, but Manda lagged a little. Her ankle was swollen to almost two times it usual size, probably because all of the extra stress on it. Merry helped her up before the orcs could lash at her with the whips. Pippin was pulled up to his feet from his hair by an impatient orc. Candy, upon seeing this, tried to tackle the orc, despite its being a good deal bigger than her. All she got out of it was a very powerful punch to the stomach.
Candy fell to the ground into a heap, wheezing. The orc picked her up by the hair, in the same style it had pulled up Pippin.
Pippin yelled out loud and started kicking valiantly at the orcs shins. The orc snarled in anger and smacked him away with just a flick of its large, gnarled paw that served as a hand.
The lead orc walked up to them, growling. "If you don't straighten up and quit fighting you'll wish you were already dead. Pick up those bags and get ready to move, you insufferable dung beetles. If you take just one look at those magic books I'll slay you with my own hand."
Candy sneered at the orc in anger. "What the hell do you mean by magic books? Like I already said, they're not magic books. Did you just stop listening or something?!"
Manda, Pippin, and Merry all looked fearfully at the lead orc. It bared it ugly yellow fangs at them. A nearby orc said, in a leisurely, bored tone, "Of course they're magic. It tells how to conjure lightning storms and fires that would burn an orc to cinders." The orc was obviously talking about the chapters on electricity and chemistry.
Manda straightened up suddenly. "That's right you ugly queer. And I've memorized that little spell on lightning storms. You piss me off again and I'll zap you good, stupid excuse for a monkey!" As she said that Candy, Merry, and Pippin all looked at her shock. Candy sniggered a bit and said quietly, "You go, girl."
Merry and Pippin just stared at her like she had cracked under the pressure and gone insane.
"What did you call me?" snarled the orc ominously.
"You heard me! I could do any of those spells if I just had the mind to!" said Manda defiantly.
"Then why haven't you?" said the orc as it leaned down to where Manda could feel its hot breath on her face. "Why haven't you done these spells to escape?"
"Uh...I, well..." stammered Manda. Obviously this orc was a smart one. Well, he was the leader.
The leader orc sneered and started to walk off, but came rushing back and punched Manda in the head. The force sent her tumbling to the ground. Candy screamed and started wrestling the orcs that blocked her to get to Manda. Merry dropped to his knees beside her and tried to make her speak. "Manda! Manda, can you hear me?" cried the hobbit frantically, tears his clouding vision. He hadn't known her that long, but being together in a traumatic situation would bring any two beings together better than several weeks of leisurely friendship.
A nearby orc laughed out loud and dragged Merry away. He was still yelling Manda's name. Pippin stared at her, pity and horror mingling in his expression. He too tried to get to her but another orc got to him before he even got close. Candy was still fighting tooth and nail but was soon gasping for breath as the orc who was holding her drew back a fist and punched her in the stomach, knocking all the breath out of her. It went black before her eyes, accompanied by sudden red spots.
Pippin started yelling at the orc, trying to make it stop squeezing Candy as tightly as it was. It was preventing her from breathing properly, if at all.
"Enough!" snarled the lead orc. "Carry the fraud sorceresses and the halflings. They've already caused enough commotion. We need to get to Isengard before the horse boys come down on us. The Riders may have already heard their crying."
The four were quickly picked up and toted while the orcs ran along at full speed, not sparing a backward glance. Manda came to her sense later in the night.
Now not only her ankle hurt but her head ached unbearably along with it. Merry was too far behind to see how she was. Candy was still trying to recover her breath, and Pippin was further ahead. Hope seemed to have died. They would have been safer if the orcs were still a little frightened of their `magic.' Now they would surely be killed, after they were questioned about their own world, and maybe even tortured unnecessarily. Besides that, they would all die sooner or later.
The orc company ran all night and the next day until about deepening dusk. They were near a very large looking forest, finding themselves thrown back onto the ground, piled together like a heap of unwanted rag dolls. The orcs all gathered in a group and started conversing in their own broken tongue.
Merry lifted his head gently and looked at Manda's face. It was pale and thin. She was conscious but still in pain.
"Pssst." hissed Pippin. "Merry, have you got a plan?"
Merry looked at him incredulously. "No." He murmured. "I've been too worried about Manda and Candy to worry about escaping."
"Me too," said Pippin. "But before the dropped down on us I had snuck away and threw down my cloak brooch."
"Now Strider will still come." Said Merry excitedly.
"But we can't wait for that. Don't worry, it's alright. An orc fell on me a while back and I cut my bonds on his knife. Now they're on only for show."
"Perfect! But what about the orcs seeing us get away? Four people plus two of them without elven cloaks to hide them are going to stand out a bit. They'll be spotted before-" Merry yelped slightly as a passing orc kicked him casually in the side.
"Be quiet or I'll slit your throat." It growled. All of the sudden it turned its head sharply to look at the huddled group. A frantic orc had just scrambled up to them. It was saying breathlessly, "The riders! It was one of the northern orcs, the fool, who got us caught. They've already killed many of the Uruk-hai." As he finished, the shrill neighing of a horse could be heard in the distance. The orcs all got up, grabbed their weapons, and crashed through the tallish grass, following the sound of metal on metal.
One of the orcs, Grishnakh as he was called, leaned over them. He glared down angrily, then snatched them all by the arm or by their clothes and dragged them away from the general base camp. He started searching them almost immediatly. "Alright, where is it? Where are you hiding it?" snapped Grishnakh.
"Where's what?" cried Manda, finally pulling her senses into place. Candy was rolled onto her side. One of Grishnakh's grubby paws groped her chest, necessarily on accident.
"HEY!" she screamed. "Watch what you're grabbing and GET OUT OF MY WAY!" With this she had enough strength from anger, and since her legs were untied, she kicked the ugly orc straight in her drooling jaw. The orc was thrown onto his back with a howl of rage, and as he clambered to his feet and arrow shot his straight the his head, easily breaking his skull. They could see it protruding out of the its left eye. Manda was staring at it, her mouth open as if in a silent scream. Candy was staring at Grishnakh's lifeless body, a look of grim triumph lacing her solemn face.
Pippin and Merry had already begun to untie their bonds. "Come on now." Warned Pippin, starting on Manda's feet.
"Ow!" whimpered Manda. Her ankle still hurt like crap. Merry had gotten Candy's hands untied and was starting to crawl away. "We need to find cover so they won't see us." He whispered. Yells and roars could be heard in the distance. All four crawled to a small copse, standing alone a few dozen yards from the rest of the forest. Loud howls were nearby, and they all huddled together under Merry and Pippin's elven cloaks.
Eventually the harsh screams of the orcs ceased, only to be replaced with the acrid scent of burning flesh and smoke. From their position in the trees they could see the outlines of men on horseback before some huge bonfire.
"Should would go and meet them?" Manda questioned tentatively.
"No. They might take us for orcs." Said Pippin. "Here now. Have some lembas; then we'll have enough strength to make for the forest." Pippin produced a small leafy wrapped packet, containing what looked like small flat cakes. Merry handed some to Manda and Candy.
"What are they?" asked Candy, sniffing one.
"Lembas. The elves gave these to us. Don't dawdle. Eat so we can get out of here."
"Elves?" said Candy to Manda, who had raised her eyebrows. "Uh huh, sure." She shoved the cake into her mouth. She was shocked at how much better she felt. It seemed to spread a glow all through her.
"Alright then, let's go. Manda, can you walk on your ankle?" asked Merry.
"I can try." Manda answered. She got to her feet gingerly, stifling a cry. "Ah, nope... can't." She grumbled.
Candy sighed heavily and looked at Manda mischievously.
"Well, I guess today's my lucky day."
"What are you talking about?" asked Manda irritably.
"Well, I get to carry you around all day. Who wouldn't just die for the opportunity?" Candy said sarcastically.
The mismatched crew walked into the forest stumbling, trying to get as far away from the carnage as they could. Merry and Pippin were in the lead with Candy somewhat lagging behind because of Manda's weight, carrying her piggy back.
"Gosh dang you're heavy! Can we please take a rest real quick?" she whined. "Manda is really heavy. You try carrying this tub of lard around."
Manda slapped her playfully in the head. "Oh shut up! I can't help it! Besides, you're the only one here who actually can carry me."
Merry turned around at this and walked back to where Candy was. "I'll take her for a turn. She isn't big at all. Manda had been lying on me for some time when the orcs first got the both of you, and I couldn't feel a thing."
"That was probably because Manda was cutting off all your circulation. Of course you wouldn't feel a thing!" said Candy quickly. Manda poked her in the side causing Candy to squeal and fall to the ground. Manda shrieked out loud as she landed on her ankle.
"You freakin' idiot!" she screamed.
"Hey! It was your fault retard, so boo-hoo!"
Merry came over and picked Manda up and adjusted her to where she was in a piggy-back ride position a lot like when Candy was carrying her. Just that it looked a little odd, but not much since Manda was already pretty short herself. She was blushing bright red. She kinda liked this. Nothing gross, but it was kinda neat how he was a guy and everything, and that he could carry her when he was like, a foot shorter than her.
"Well!" said Candy getting to her feet. "Isn't this just the perfect Kodak moment! Where is a camera when you need one?" With a mockingly cute smile she turned and made small kissing sounds.
Merry was blushing a deep crimson when she walked to where Pippin was, and thankfully, stopped making those noises.
"Don't listen to her." Said Manda in a hushed tone. "She's just kidding us, but don't worry. We'll get her back."
Merry turned his head as best he could to look at her. She too was still pink, but had a knowing smile on her face. Manda was going to get her back. Candy could be scared pretty easily if she didn't expect anything.
It was a little bit of a surprise to Manda that Merry could carry her. She'd always thought she must weigh a ton; she didn't check the scales much. He was carrying her like she *wasn't* just over a foot taller than him. More like she was a lot shorter. It was a pretty funny sight, what with her arms around his shoulders and her chin on one of them, tilted at an odd angle, and her legs hooked at the knee by his elbows. No wonder Candy had made fun of them.
They walked on for some time. At one point Manda tilted her head a little and whispered into Merry's ear, "Hey, Merry... sneak up behind Candy, quietly."
"Why?" asked Merry, somewhat more loudly than Manda.
"Shh! Keep you voice down. Just sneak up on her, and I'm gonna grab her and scare her, to get her back."
Merry nodded a little uneasily and started to creep closer to Candy and Pippin, who were talking animatedly about something or other. It was difficult to follow, since the subject was bouncing around like mad.
As soon as Merry was close enough Manda stretched out a hand and grabbed Candy's side, digging in her fingers and tickling her. Candy jerked away and screamed, her shriek splitting the air, and jumped into Pippin. They both went crashing into the spindly brush and thrashed around until the could both get back up again.
Candy glared at Manda with a look that said quite plainly, `You're gonna die.' Pippin was looking between the two of them nervously. Candy's look was defintely not pleasant. Manda and Merry were laughing uproariously, Manda pointing at Candy weakly then dropping her arm to hang over Merry. She was laughing too hard to use her muscles. ((J&W: I'm sure you've been like that before.))
Candy gave them an evil look and turned on her heel. She grabbed Pippin by his cloak and started dragging him off into the forest. Merry followed, still chuckling to himself. Manda had fallen into a silent, weak giggles, burying her face on his shoulder.
It seemed like they walked on for a long time after that. The forest was starting to get oppressing, squeezing in on all sides. The air seemed stagnant somehow, like it hadn't stirred for years. The lack of light was unnerving as well. By now Merry was getting tired, and Manda's weight was starting to get to him. His back was hurting a little and his elbows felt bruised. He was sure Manda was asleep.
Pippin gave Merry a sidelong glance, appraising his situation. "I think," he began loudly, then his voice shrinking under the trees, "That we all need a nice rest."
Merry nodded gravely. He could really use some sleep. Candy looked around, then just sat down where she stood. "Alright then." Candy said, raising her voice against the deepening darkness of the forest. "Here is as good place as any, I think. I'm going to go to sleep now, and if any of you wake me up while I get my beauty rest you're going to pay for it." With that she flopped down onto the sparse grass and, by all respects, she looked asleep almost immediately.
Her three companions stared at her blankly for a few moments, then Pippin shrugged and sat down near her. Merry eased Manda to the ground, then helped her to sit down. Then, looking a little embarrassed, moved away and sat down a bit apart from them. They all silently shifted around, Pippin and Manda eventually laying down while Merry stayed upright. Then Manda started giggling again. She curled up into a ball, shaking with only partly suppressed giggles.
"What is it?" Pippin asked quietly. "What's so funny? You're not hysterical are you?"
"Eehee... No, no... I have this really great joke. What do you get when you put a snail on a ship?"
Merry and Pippin traded confused glances. "I don't know." Pippin finally admitted.
"A SNAILOR!" she burst out, rolling into a new fit of unsuppressed euphoria. From where Candy lay come soft sniggers, which soon became gales of laughter, quickly joining Manda's.
"Where did you get that from?" Merry asked nervously.
"Spongebob Squarepants." Candy managed to choke out from her place on the ground. "That show rules..."
They were laughing like mad, and Merry and Pippin didn't really know why. Despite that, they were soon taken up by it and joined them. The forest seemed to being ringing with the laughter, and the hobbits felt much better for it. It was very comforting to laugh without a care in the world, especially when, to their keen ears, it was the merriment of a girl's laugh.
Eventually they calmed down, all smiling and looking very satisfied. Almost immediately they heard Candy's soft snoring. A heavy sleeper, it would seem. They didn't say any more to each other, but it was understood that Merry would be on watch until it was somebody else's turn. Pippin and Manda slowly fell into a deep, easy rests. In time the lethargy swept over Merry too, but he refused to go to sleep until his watch was over. The heavy stifling of the trees crept back with it.
Manda was awakened in the night by Pippin.
"I would have woken up Candy," he whispered apologetically, "but she wouldn't pay me any mind. I'm sorry to wake you, especially since your ankle is probably hurting."
Manda nodded in the dark, even though the gesture was probably lost to Pip. "It's perfectly fine." She answered in as pleasant a tone as she could manage. She was tired. "I need some time to think anyway." Pippin apologized again, and she reassured him again. He stayed up with her a while, but the forest soon lulled him to sleep and left Manda alone to think.
In the black forest, she looked over the situation. She was with a pair of midgets, who had been kidnapped by nasty monsters that they called orcs. The orcs had captured Candy and herself, though how the two of them had gotten there was still a mystery. Before then, she remembered lots of noise and math, but that seemed so long ago. She wondered if she would see home again. She actually missed it a little... Candy probably wasn't. She was from an abusive family, and was always looking for an excuse to get away from them.
Any way, they were in a spooky forest with tons of big spooky trees and spooky bugs and spooky noises and spooky rustling noises and spooky... creaking noises? What was with all of the noises?! She was losing her train of thought. What was doing all of the rustling? She looked around nervously, but she couldn't see much. There was a faint groaning, as of wood under strain, and a whispering noise of leaves that sounded like it ought to be words. She looked up at the faint moonlight, and saw the limbs of the trees moving very distinctly. This wasn't the wind moving them. Suddenly there was a whistling noise and then dirt flying up from her right side, and more creaking. Something shifted through the dirt, and she briefly saw a long crooked branch raising back into the air. It had tried to hit her!
She yelped out loud, and Pippin immediately jerked awake beside her. "What is it?!" he gasped. This woke Merry, who asked a similar question; "What's going on?" The trees were creaking and straining very loudly now, making it sound like an angry mob was everywhere. Manda screamed bloody murder when another whip-like limb or root slashed again, this time on her left, narrowly missing Pippin and Merry. Candy groaned where she lay.
"I won't fall fer it again... you can't fool me, go to sleeeeep..."
"This is NOT A JOKE!" shrieked Manda, who lurched halfway to her feet and scrambled to Candy, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. "The trees are trying to kill us! Get up, please get up!"
A long low humming started abruptly, then got louder, soon seeming to vibrate through the dirt beneath them. Candy was awake now, staring around frantically. The humming increased even more, until they could feel it in their chests, reminiscent of a loud movie theater. The trees grew immediately quiet, and after a few tense, shaken minutes the humming stopped and the bone wrenching silence stole back. They sat there, shivering and gasping for breath and trying to recover from the terror of the trees. You just didn't expect trees to start trying to do you in.
Wendy: What'd ya think? I KNOW this took forever to put up, but it's there now and Jade and I feel much better. We've been planning the rest of the plot, which is partly why it took so long, and partly because the science fair took up some of our time. Chapter 4 will hopefully be up faster than chapter 3 was. *nodnod* Review, please! It makes us feel all tingly ^_^ And please don't take that the wrong way... *looks up nervously.*
Manda and Candy were both awakened by sharp kicks in their sides. Candy got up quickly enough, but Manda lagged a little. Her ankle was swollen to almost two times it usual size, probably because all of the extra stress on it. Merry helped her up before the orcs could lash at her with the whips. Pippin was pulled up to his feet from his hair by an impatient orc. Candy, upon seeing this, tried to tackle the orc, despite its being a good deal bigger than her. All she got out of it was a very powerful punch to the stomach.
Candy fell to the ground into a heap, wheezing. The orc picked her up by the hair, in the same style it had pulled up Pippin.
Pippin yelled out loud and started kicking valiantly at the orcs shins. The orc snarled in anger and smacked him away with just a flick of its large, gnarled paw that served as a hand.
The lead orc walked up to them, growling. "If you don't straighten up and quit fighting you'll wish you were already dead. Pick up those bags and get ready to move, you insufferable dung beetles. If you take just one look at those magic books I'll slay you with my own hand."
Candy sneered at the orc in anger. "What the hell do you mean by magic books? Like I already said, they're not magic books. Did you just stop listening or something?!"
Manda, Pippin, and Merry all looked fearfully at the lead orc. It bared it ugly yellow fangs at them. A nearby orc said, in a leisurely, bored tone, "Of course they're magic. It tells how to conjure lightning storms and fires that would burn an orc to cinders." The orc was obviously talking about the chapters on electricity and chemistry.
Manda straightened up suddenly. "That's right you ugly queer. And I've memorized that little spell on lightning storms. You piss me off again and I'll zap you good, stupid excuse for a monkey!" As she said that Candy, Merry, and Pippin all looked at her shock. Candy sniggered a bit and said quietly, "You go, girl."
Merry and Pippin just stared at her like she had cracked under the pressure and gone insane.
"What did you call me?" snarled the orc ominously.
"You heard me! I could do any of those spells if I just had the mind to!" said Manda defiantly.
"Then why haven't you?" said the orc as it leaned down to where Manda could feel its hot breath on her face. "Why haven't you done these spells to escape?"
"Uh...I, well..." stammered Manda. Obviously this orc was a smart one. Well, he was the leader.
The leader orc sneered and started to walk off, but came rushing back and punched Manda in the head. The force sent her tumbling to the ground. Candy screamed and started wrestling the orcs that blocked her to get to Manda. Merry dropped to his knees beside her and tried to make her speak. "Manda! Manda, can you hear me?" cried the hobbit frantically, tears his clouding vision. He hadn't known her that long, but being together in a traumatic situation would bring any two beings together better than several weeks of leisurely friendship.
A nearby orc laughed out loud and dragged Merry away. He was still yelling Manda's name. Pippin stared at her, pity and horror mingling in his expression. He too tried to get to her but another orc got to him before he even got close. Candy was still fighting tooth and nail but was soon gasping for breath as the orc who was holding her drew back a fist and punched her in the stomach, knocking all the breath out of her. It went black before her eyes, accompanied by sudden red spots.
Pippin started yelling at the orc, trying to make it stop squeezing Candy as tightly as it was. It was preventing her from breathing properly, if at all.
"Enough!" snarled the lead orc. "Carry the fraud sorceresses and the halflings. They've already caused enough commotion. We need to get to Isengard before the horse boys come down on us. The Riders may have already heard their crying."
The four were quickly picked up and toted while the orcs ran along at full speed, not sparing a backward glance. Manda came to her sense later in the night.
Now not only her ankle hurt but her head ached unbearably along with it. Merry was too far behind to see how she was. Candy was still trying to recover her breath, and Pippin was further ahead. Hope seemed to have died. They would have been safer if the orcs were still a little frightened of their `magic.' Now they would surely be killed, after they were questioned about their own world, and maybe even tortured unnecessarily. Besides that, they would all die sooner or later.
The orc company ran all night and the next day until about deepening dusk. They were near a very large looking forest, finding themselves thrown back onto the ground, piled together like a heap of unwanted rag dolls. The orcs all gathered in a group and started conversing in their own broken tongue.
Merry lifted his head gently and looked at Manda's face. It was pale and thin. She was conscious but still in pain.
"Pssst." hissed Pippin. "Merry, have you got a plan?"
Merry looked at him incredulously. "No." He murmured. "I've been too worried about Manda and Candy to worry about escaping."
"Me too," said Pippin. "But before the dropped down on us I had snuck away and threw down my cloak brooch."
"Now Strider will still come." Said Merry excitedly.
"But we can't wait for that. Don't worry, it's alright. An orc fell on me a while back and I cut my bonds on his knife. Now they're on only for show."
"Perfect! But what about the orcs seeing us get away? Four people plus two of them without elven cloaks to hide them are going to stand out a bit. They'll be spotted before-" Merry yelped slightly as a passing orc kicked him casually in the side.
"Be quiet or I'll slit your throat." It growled. All of the sudden it turned its head sharply to look at the huddled group. A frantic orc had just scrambled up to them. It was saying breathlessly, "The riders! It was one of the northern orcs, the fool, who got us caught. They've already killed many of the Uruk-hai." As he finished, the shrill neighing of a horse could be heard in the distance. The orcs all got up, grabbed their weapons, and crashed through the tallish grass, following the sound of metal on metal.
One of the orcs, Grishnakh as he was called, leaned over them. He glared down angrily, then snatched them all by the arm or by their clothes and dragged them away from the general base camp. He started searching them almost immediatly. "Alright, where is it? Where are you hiding it?" snapped Grishnakh.
"Where's what?" cried Manda, finally pulling her senses into place. Candy was rolled onto her side. One of Grishnakh's grubby paws groped her chest, necessarily on accident.
"HEY!" she screamed. "Watch what you're grabbing and GET OUT OF MY WAY!" With this she had enough strength from anger, and since her legs were untied, she kicked the ugly orc straight in her drooling jaw. The orc was thrown onto his back with a howl of rage, and as he clambered to his feet and arrow shot his straight the his head, easily breaking his skull. They could see it protruding out of the its left eye. Manda was staring at it, her mouth open as if in a silent scream. Candy was staring at Grishnakh's lifeless body, a look of grim triumph lacing her solemn face.
Pippin and Merry had already begun to untie their bonds. "Come on now." Warned Pippin, starting on Manda's feet.
"Ow!" whimpered Manda. Her ankle still hurt like crap. Merry had gotten Candy's hands untied and was starting to crawl away. "We need to find cover so they won't see us." He whispered. Yells and roars could be heard in the distance. All four crawled to a small copse, standing alone a few dozen yards from the rest of the forest. Loud howls were nearby, and they all huddled together under Merry and Pippin's elven cloaks.
Eventually the harsh screams of the orcs ceased, only to be replaced with the acrid scent of burning flesh and smoke. From their position in the trees they could see the outlines of men on horseback before some huge bonfire.
"Should would go and meet them?" Manda questioned tentatively.
"No. They might take us for orcs." Said Pippin. "Here now. Have some lembas; then we'll have enough strength to make for the forest." Pippin produced a small leafy wrapped packet, containing what looked like small flat cakes. Merry handed some to Manda and Candy.
"What are they?" asked Candy, sniffing one.
"Lembas. The elves gave these to us. Don't dawdle. Eat so we can get out of here."
"Elves?" said Candy to Manda, who had raised her eyebrows. "Uh huh, sure." She shoved the cake into her mouth. She was shocked at how much better she felt. It seemed to spread a glow all through her.
"Alright then, let's go. Manda, can you walk on your ankle?" asked Merry.
"I can try." Manda answered. She got to her feet gingerly, stifling a cry. "Ah, nope... can't." She grumbled.
Candy sighed heavily and looked at Manda mischievously.
"Well, I guess today's my lucky day."
"What are you talking about?" asked Manda irritably.
"Well, I get to carry you around all day. Who wouldn't just die for the opportunity?" Candy said sarcastically.
The mismatched crew walked into the forest stumbling, trying to get as far away from the carnage as they could. Merry and Pippin were in the lead with Candy somewhat lagging behind because of Manda's weight, carrying her piggy back.
"Gosh dang you're heavy! Can we please take a rest real quick?" she whined. "Manda is really heavy. You try carrying this tub of lard around."
Manda slapped her playfully in the head. "Oh shut up! I can't help it! Besides, you're the only one here who actually can carry me."
Merry turned around at this and walked back to where Candy was. "I'll take her for a turn. She isn't big at all. Manda had been lying on me for some time when the orcs first got the both of you, and I couldn't feel a thing."
"That was probably because Manda was cutting off all your circulation. Of course you wouldn't feel a thing!" said Candy quickly. Manda poked her in the side causing Candy to squeal and fall to the ground. Manda shrieked out loud as she landed on her ankle.
"You freakin' idiot!" she screamed.
"Hey! It was your fault retard, so boo-hoo!"
Merry came over and picked Manda up and adjusted her to where she was in a piggy-back ride position a lot like when Candy was carrying her. Just that it looked a little odd, but not much since Manda was already pretty short herself. She was blushing bright red. She kinda liked this. Nothing gross, but it was kinda neat how he was a guy and everything, and that he could carry her when he was like, a foot shorter than her.
"Well!" said Candy getting to her feet. "Isn't this just the perfect Kodak moment! Where is a camera when you need one?" With a mockingly cute smile she turned and made small kissing sounds.
Merry was blushing a deep crimson when she walked to where Pippin was, and thankfully, stopped making those noises.
"Don't listen to her." Said Manda in a hushed tone. "She's just kidding us, but don't worry. We'll get her back."
Merry turned his head as best he could to look at her. She too was still pink, but had a knowing smile on her face. Manda was going to get her back. Candy could be scared pretty easily if she didn't expect anything.
It was a little bit of a surprise to Manda that Merry could carry her. She'd always thought she must weigh a ton; she didn't check the scales much. He was carrying her like she *wasn't* just over a foot taller than him. More like she was a lot shorter. It was a pretty funny sight, what with her arms around his shoulders and her chin on one of them, tilted at an odd angle, and her legs hooked at the knee by his elbows. No wonder Candy had made fun of them.
They walked on for some time. At one point Manda tilted her head a little and whispered into Merry's ear, "Hey, Merry... sneak up behind Candy, quietly."
"Why?" asked Merry, somewhat more loudly than Manda.
"Shh! Keep you voice down. Just sneak up on her, and I'm gonna grab her and scare her, to get her back."
Merry nodded a little uneasily and started to creep closer to Candy and Pippin, who were talking animatedly about something or other. It was difficult to follow, since the subject was bouncing around like mad.
As soon as Merry was close enough Manda stretched out a hand and grabbed Candy's side, digging in her fingers and tickling her. Candy jerked away and screamed, her shriek splitting the air, and jumped into Pippin. They both went crashing into the spindly brush and thrashed around until the could both get back up again.
Candy glared at Manda with a look that said quite plainly, `You're gonna die.' Pippin was looking between the two of them nervously. Candy's look was defintely not pleasant. Manda and Merry were laughing uproariously, Manda pointing at Candy weakly then dropping her arm to hang over Merry. She was laughing too hard to use her muscles. ((J&W: I'm sure you've been like that before.))
Candy gave them an evil look and turned on her heel. She grabbed Pippin by his cloak and started dragging him off into the forest. Merry followed, still chuckling to himself. Manda had fallen into a silent, weak giggles, burying her face on his shoulder.
It seemed like they walked on for a long time after that. The forest was starting to get oppressing, squeezing in on all sides. The air seemed stagnant somehow, like it hadn't stirred for years. The lack of light was unnerving as well. By now Merry was getting tired, and Manda's weight was starting to get to him. His back was hurting a little and his elbows felt bruised. He was sure Manda was asleep.
Pippin gave Merry a sidelong glance, appraising his situation. "I think," he began loudly, then his voice shrinking under the trees, "That we all need a nice rest."
Merry nodded gravely. He could really use some sleep. Candy looked around, then just sat down where she stood. "Alright then." Candy said, raising her voice against the deepening darkness of the forest. "Here is as good place as any, I think. I'm going to go to sleep now, and if any of you wake me up while I get my beauty rest you're going to pay for it." With that she flopped down onto the sparse grass and, by all respects, she looked asleep almost immediately.
Her three companions stared at her blankly for a few moments, then Pippin shrugged and sat down near her. Merry eased Manda to the ground, then helped her to sit down. Then, looking a little embarrassed, moved away and sat down a bit apart from them. They all silently shifted around, Pippin and Manda eventually laying down while Merry stayed upright. Then Manda started giggling again. She curled up into a ball, shaking with only partly suppressed giggles.
"What is it?" Pippin asked quietly. "What's so funny? You're not hysterical are you?"
"Eehee... No, no... I have this really great joke. What do you get when you put a snail on a ship?"
Merry and Pippin traded confused glances. "I don't know." Pippin finally admitted.
"A SNAILOR!" she burst out, rolling into a new fit of unsuppressed euphoria. From where Candy lay come soft sniggers, which soon became gales of laughter, quickly joining Manda's.
"Where did you get that from?" Merry asked nervously.
"Spongebob Squarepants." Candy managed to choke out from her place on the ground. "That show rules..."
They were laughing like mad, and Merry and Pippin didn't really know why. Despite that, they were soon taken up by it and joined them. The forest seemed to being ringing with the laughter, and the hobbits felt much better for it. It was very comforting to laugh without a care in the world, especially when, to their keen ears, it was the merriment of a girl's laugh.
Eventually they calmed down, all smiling and looking very satisfied. Almost immediately they heard Candy's soft snoring. A heavy sleeper, it would seem. They didn't say any more to each other, but it was understood that Merry would be on watch until it was somebody else's turn. Pippin and Manda slowly fell into a deep, easy rests. In time the lethargy swept over Merry too, but he refused to go to sleep until his watch was over. The heavy stifling of the trees crept back with it.
Manda was awakened in the night by Pippin.
"I would have woken up Candy," he whispered apologetically, "but she wouldn't pay me any mind. I'm sorry to wake you, especially since your ankle is probably hurting."
Manda nodded in the dark, even though the gesture was probably lost to Pip. "It's perfectly fine." She answered in as pleasant a tone as she could manage. She was tired. "I need some time to think anyway." Pippin apologized again, and she reassured him again. He stayed up with her a while, but the forest soon lulled him to sleep and left Manda alone to think.
In the black forest, she looked over the situation. She was with a pair of midgets, who had been kidnapped by nasty monsters that they called orcs. The orcs had captured Candy and herself, though how the two of them had gotten there was still a mystery. Before then, she remembered lots of noise and math, but that seemed so long ago. She wondered if she would see home again. She actually missed it a little... Candy probably wasn't. She was from an abusive family, and was always looking for an excuse to get away from them.
Any way, they were in a spooky forest with tons of big spooky trees and spooky bugs and spooky noises and spooky rustling noises and spooky... creaking noises? What was with all of the noises?! She was losing her train of thought. What was doing all of the rustling? She looked around nervously, but she couldn't see much. There was a faint groaning, as of wood under strain, and a whispering noise of leaves that sounded like it ought to be words. She looked up at the faint moonlight, and saw the limbs of the trees moving very distinctly. This wasn't the wind moving them. Suddenly there was a whistling noise and then dirt flying up from her right side, and more creaking. Something shifted through the dirt, and she briefly saw a long crooked branch raising back into the air. It had tried to hit her!
She yelped out loud, and Pippin immediately jerked awake beside her. "What is it?!" he gasped. This woke Merry, who asked a similar question; "What's going on?" The trees were creaking and straining very loudly now, making it sound like an angry mob was everywhere. Manda screamed bloody murder when another whip-like limb or root slashed again, this time on her left, narrowly missing Pippin and Merry. Candy groaned where she lay.
"I won't fall fer it again... you can't fool me, go to sleeeeep..."
"This is NOT A JOKE!" shrieked Manda, who lurched halfway to her feet and scrambled to Candy, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. "The trees are trying to kill us! Get up, please get up!"
A long low humming started abruptly, then got louder, soon seeming to vibrate through the dirt beneath them. Candy was awake now, staring around frantically. The humming increased even more, until they could feel it in their chests, reminiscent of a loud movie theater. The trees grew immediately quiet, and after a few tense, shaken minutes the humming stopped and the bone wrenching silence stole back. They sat there, shivering and gasping for breath and trying to recover from the terror of the trees. You just didn't expect trees to start trying to do you in.
Wendy: What'd ya think? I KNOW this took forever to put up, but it's there now and Jade and I feel much better. We've been planning the rest of the plot, which is partly why it took so long, and partly because the science fair took up some of our time. Chapter 4 will hopefully be up faster than chapter 3 was. *nodnod* Review, please! It makes us feel all tingly ^_^ And please don't take that the wrong way... *looks up nervously.*