I know this sounds stupid but *flinch* I got the chapter names wrong. So
THIS is Many Meetings and Chapter Nine was SUPPOSED to be Towers of Gondor.
So I'll go fix that now, and you can read.
Btw, you guys are AWFUL reviewers, if it wasn't for bride_of_arty(lister)() you would NOT have gotten this chapter, because she was my ONLY reviewer so far for Chapter Nine. (grumbles) Pooper scoopers.
*
Chapter Ten: Many Meetings
Tessa and Jennie stood in the doorway of the House of Healing, flabbergasted. The sunlight poured in through the intricately carved roof, illuminating each bed. They were filled with tall burly men, while nurses ran back and forth with primitive medicines. One, however, they were avoiding; a bed that seemed to be occupied by an adolescent boy. Another sat on a stool nearby, stroking the limp hand and talking animatedly, even though the patient was obviously unconscious.
The cousins knew him all too well.
Now that the MOMENT had come, however, they were hesitant. "He looks like Billy Boyd," Tessa whispered, "but more real. Jennie, I'm scared."
The other grasped her hand and pulled her forward. Artemis and Alison lounged in the doorway, watching as the two stumbled up to Merry and Pippin.
"Um, hi?"
Pippin looked up, his face tight with anxiety for his friend. Tessa tried not to squeal, but did anyway as Jennie stepped backward onto her toe.
"Tessa Ita'istar at your service," she said, and being unsure as of whether to bow she dipped her head.
"At yours and your family's." Pippin did not seem to approve of her "head- dip." "Why have you come to see me?"
"Long story," Jennie replied. "Jennie Megiltura at your service."
"At yours and your family's. Peregrin Took. Most people call me Pippin."
Tessa scowled, furious that her cousin had gotten a warmer response. She regretted her "head-dip"; what an undignified thing to do at the MOMENT, the moment when she first MET a HOBBIT!
Artemis snickered from his position in the doorway, guessing her thoughts.
Tessa immediately tried to gain ground over her cousin. "Merry is very sick, isn't he," she remarked, looking down at the still figure whose icy hand lay open on the coverlet. Pippin stiffened at her words. "How brave of him to stab a Nazgul. I'm sure I would never measure up to that."
He relaxed at her praise. "How do you know him?"
"Long story," Jennie repeated, drawing the hobbit's attention. A smile flickered around her lips as she gained further ground over her cousin. Tessa scowled again, but Pippin turned back to her. "Have you been here long?"
"No," the cousin retorted. It was Jennie's turn to scowl as Tessa detailed the Riders of Rohan. "These towers are majestic, but I think I prefer the Shire overall."
"The Shire!" Pippin's attention left Merry wholly as he leaned forward eagerly. "You've been there? Have you hobbit blood?"
"No," Tessa said regretfully to the latter question. "And yes, the Shire is beautiful." She began to detail it, and gave Pippin a walk-through of Bag End, to which he listened as hungrily as if he had never seen it.
"The memories are all too dim," he said sadly. "You both must help me remember. O the Shire! O dearest Shire! Whitest water, merry fire; and of friends you never tire." he recited, half to himself.
"The Withywindle, and the Party Tree," Jennie murmured. She gave a start and shook her head. "No, the Party Tree was cut down." She flinched and Tessa covered her mouth hastily.
"It was?" Pippin looked incredulous.
She groaned. "That, again, is a long story."
Pippin looked thoughtful and stared into the distance. Jennie looked over at Tessa. "Do you think we could do any worse with this?"
"I bet you could," Artemis drawled, sitting down next to them. He looked down at Merry and blanched. "Guy needs a haircut," he remarked quietly. "And some medical care."
"Yeah, Aragorn should come in to save him about now."
"Not until Pippin goes to get him." Tessa crossed her arms.
"That's not how it goes!"
"Yes it is!"
"No it's not!"
"Huh?" Pippin snapped out of it. "I'm sorry. I was distracted." He flashed an apologetic grin.
Tessa jumped in before Artemis or Jennie could stop her. "Merry is fatally ill. I have seen these wounds before -"
"Oh whatEVER!" Jennie scowled. Tessa ignored her.
"- and at this point only Aragorn heir to Isildur could save him.'
"Strider?" The hobbit looked down at Merry with fear in his eyes. Jennie wanted to say There's gullible written on the ceiling - just to see his reaction - and couldn't resist.
"What?" The hobbit looked up.
Tessa shot Jennie a ha-ha look. "Never mind. Aragorn needs to be found before both Eowyn and Meriadoc die, Pippin!" She immediately looked around to see if she could spot Eowyn, having only just remembered her. She couldn't. Oh well.
Without further ado, the hobbit sped from the room.
Tessa smiled primly. "You see? I just saved a life."
"Oh whatEVER!" Jennie scowled again, feeling envious. Then she grinned. "Maybe I'll save Frodo."
Tessa grinned back and put on a Pippin face. " 'I'm sorry. I was distracted.' Ha! I just bet he was!"
Jennie was laughing. "Did - you see - his face when I told - him there was - gullible on the ceiling?" Tessa started laughing too.
Suddenly they both realized the room was silent and shut up. All the nurses of Gondor looked at them with frightened/disgusted faces.
Tessa smiled weakly at them. "Do you know where we can get something to eat?"
Jennie started laughing again. Artemis hid behind the sickbed to avoid the stricken stares of both doctor and patient.
"This," he grumbled to himself, "is going to be a loooong day."
And that was when his cell phone rang.
He fished it from his bathroom pocket, flinching at the sound, which would appear so alien to these primitive peoples. Artemis snapped it open and held it gingerly to his ear. What if it bombed or something in this non-electric environment?
"FOWL!" roared an all-too-familiar voice. He groaned.
"Commander Root, sir."
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"
"Tell him that's the third time I've heard that phrase today," Tessa moaned, and crawled under the bed. Artemis grinned at her.
"I'M WAITING, FOWL," the voice bellowed, sending the boy's ears into intense, immeasurable pain.
"Actually, sir," Artemis said, stressing the last word ever so slightly to create another satisfying explosion from the other end, "Tessa did it."
"And who is this blockhead?" Root's voice was dangerous.
"Tell him to lower his voice," Tessa said from under the bed. "I can hear every word he says about me."
Artemis stuck his head under the bed frame to look at her. "I doubt he cares."
"I don't," said Root loudly. "Let me talk to this Mud Girl."
"Hey!" Tessa yelled from under the bed. "That's RACISM!"
* Back underground Julius Root rubbed his temples. Foaly smirked at him. "Don't you just love family time?"
"I'm going to strangle those cousins."
"Is that nice, Julius?"
"Foaly, I'm going to."
*
Artemis listened to the threat with half-closed eyes. Suddenly his eyebrows went up. "I say, Commander, that's a bit strong."
Root ignored him. "Are you going to let me talk to her?"
"For the sake of my eardrums," Tessa confided to Jennie, "I hope he doesn't."
Artemis extended the cell phone. She took it gingerly.
A moment later she said something rude and hung up. The mastermind blinked as she gingerly handed the cell phone back. "I think I'm going deaf."
About that time they realized the whole of the House of Healing was staring at them, and Aragorn and Pippin were in the doorway.
*
Alison had fled the scene a little while ago. She wandered down the winding hallway, and stopped a passing servant to ask where the bathroom was. The maid handed her a chamber pot and left.
She took it by the handle, holding it away from her. It stunk.
"Ewwwwww."
Alison felt her bladder begin to swell as the pressure within rose several degrees. Completely grossed out, Alison stepped into a closet nearby and.
((A/N Okay, so maybe some of us DON'T grow out of our bathroom humor.))
*
Aragorn was busily trying to cure Merry, Pippin standing anxiously nearby. The cousins had shut up a few minutes ago; the threat of not attending supper that night was more than enough to make them be quiet. The Elfstone looked up at the Master of Healing.
"Do you have the athelas plant?"
He bowed, smiling primly. "I will go and look in our storage closets."
(Dun dun dun dun)
*
Alison covered her mess with an odd sort of weed stocked in abundance in the closet. It had beautiful white flowers all over it and was fragrant enough to. cover the smell. She had just started to pull up her pants when the closet door swung open to reveal a startled stocky man.
"Don't you KNOCK?" she shrieked.
The Master of Healing scuttled away to inform Aragorn there was no athelas in the house at all. That wasn't occupying the chamber pot at any rate.
Alison followed furiously, trailing a sprig of white flowers from the waistline of her jeans.
*
Please review! I know this chapter is a little pitiful but hey. *I* found it amusing. You sort of have to know Alison to get the humor. And haven't any of you ever wondered WHY there wasn't any athelas in the House of Healing? So anyway. REVIEW!
Btw, you guys are AWFUL reviewers, if it wasn't for bride_of_arty(lister)() you would NOT have gotten this chapter, because she was my ONLY reviewer so far for Chapter Nine. (grumbles) Pooper scoopers.
*
Chapter Ten: Many Meetings
Tessa and Jennie stood in the doorway of the House of Healing, flabbergasted. The sunlight poured in through the intricately carved roof, illuminating each bed. They were filled with tall burly men, while nurses ran back and forth with primitive medicines. One, however, they were avoiding; a bed that seemed to be occupied by an adolescent boy. Another sat on a stool nearby, stroking the limp hand and talking animatedly, even though the patient was obviously unconscious.
The cousins knew him all too well.
Now that the MOMENT had come, however, they were hesitant. "He looks like Billy Boyd," Tessa whispered, "but more real. Jennie, I'm scared."
The other grasped her hand and pulled her forward. Artemis and Alison lounged in the doorway, watching as the two stumbled up to Merry and Pippin.
"Um, hi?"
Pippin looked up, his face tight with anxiety for his friend. Tessa tried not to squeal, but did anyway as Jennie stepped backward onto her toe.
"Tessa Ita'istar at your service," she said, and being unsure as of whether to bow she dipped her head.
"At yours and your family's." Pippin did not seem to approve of her "head- dip." "Why have you come to see me?"
"Long story," Jennie replied. "Jennie Megiltura at your service."
"At yours and your family's. Peregrin Took. Most people call me Pippin."
Tessa scowled, furious that her cousin had gotten a warmer response. She regretted her "head-dip"; what an undignified thing to do at the MOMENT, the moment when she first MET a HOBBIT!
Artemis snickered from his position in the doorway, guessing her thoughts.
Tessa immediately tried to gain ground over her cousin. "Merry is very sick, isn't he," she remarked, looking down at the still figure whose icy hand lay open on the coverlet. Pippin stiffened at her words. "How brave of him to stab a Nazgul. I'm sure I would never measure up to that."
He relaxed at her praise. "How do you know him?"
"Long story," Jennie repeated, drawing the hobbit's attention. A smile flickered around her lips as she gained further ground over her cousin. Tessa scowled again, but Pippin turned back to her. "Have you been here long?"
"No," the cousin retorted. It was Jennie's turn to scowl as Tessa detailed the Riders of Rohan. "These towers are majestic, but I think I prefer the Shire overall."
"The Shire!" Pippin's attention left Merry wholly as he leaned forward eagerly. "You've been there? Have you hobbit blood?"
"No," Tessa said regretfully to the latter question. "And yes, the Shire is beautiful." She began to detail it, and gave Pippin a walk-through of Bag End, to which he listened as hungrily as if he had never seen it.
"The memories are all too dim," he said sadly. "You both must help me remember. O the Shire! O dearest Shire! Whitest water, merry fire; and of friends you never tire." he recited, half to himself.
"The Withywindle, and the Party Tree," Jennie murmured. She gave a start and shook her head. "No, the Party Tree was cut down." She flinched and Tessa covered her mouth hastily.
"It was?" Pippin looked incredulous.
She groaned. "That, again, is a long story."
Pippin looked thoughtful and stared into the distance. Jennie looked over at Tessa. "Do you think we could do any worse with this?"
"I bet you could," Artemis drawled, sitting down next to them. He looked down at Merry and blanched. "Guy needs a haircut," he remarked quietly. "And some medical care."
"Yeah, Aragorn should come in to save him about now."
"Not until Pippin goes to get him." Tessa crossed her arms.
"That's not how it goes!"
"Yes it is!"
"No it's not!"
"Huh?" Pippin snapped out of it. "I'm sorry. I was distracted." He flashed an apologetic grin.
Tessa jumped in before Artemis or Jennie could stop her. "Merry is fatally ill. I have seen these wounds before -"
"Oh whatEVER!" Jennie scowled. Tessa ignored her.
"- and at this point only Aragorn heir to Isildur could save him.'
"Strider?" The hobbit looked down at Merry with fear in his eyes. Jennie wanted to say There's gullible written on the ceiling - just to see his reaction - and couldn't resist.
"What?" The hobbit looked up.
Tessa shot Jennie a ha-ha look. "Never mind. Aragorn needs to be found before both Eowyn and Meriadoc die, Pippin!" She immediately looked around to see if she could spot Eowyn, having only just remembered her. She couldn't. Oh well.
Without further ado, the hobbit sped from the room.
Tessa smiled primly. "You see? I just saved a life."
"Oh whatEVER!" Jennie scowled again, feeling envious. Then she grinned. "Maybe I'll save Frodo."
Tessa grinned back and put on a Pippin face. " 'I'm sorry. I was distracted.' Ha! I just bet he was!"
Jennie was laughing. "Did - you see - his face when I told - him there was - gullible on the ceiling?" Tessa started laughing too.
Suddenly they both realized the room was silent and shut up. All the nurses of Gondor looked at them with frightened/disgusted faces.
Tessa smiled weakly at them. "Do you know where we can get something to eat?"
Jennie started laughing again. Artemis hid behind the sickbed to avoid the stricken stares of both doctor and patient.
"This," he grumbled to himself, "is going to be a loooong day."
And that was when his cell phone rang.
He fished it from his bathroom pocket, flinching at the sound, which would appear so alien to these primitive peoples. Artemis snapped it open and held it gingerly to his ear. What if it bombed or something in this non-electric environment?
"FOWL!" roared an all-too-familiar voice. He groaned.
"Commander Root, sir."
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"
"Tell him that's the third time I've heard that phrase today," Tessa moaned, and crawled under the bed. Artemis grinned at her.
"I'M WAITING, FOWL," the voice bellowed, sending the boy's ears into intense, immeasurable pain.
"Actually, sir," Artemis said, stressing the last word ever so slightly to create another satisfying explosion from the other end, "Tessa did it."
"And who is this blockhead?" Root's voice was dangerous.
"Tell him to lower his voice," Tessa said from under the bed. "I can hear every word he says about me."
Artemis stuck his head under the bed frame to look at her. "I doubt he cares."
"I don't," said Root loudly. "Let me talk to this Mud Girl."
"Hey!" Tessa yelled from under the bed. "That's RACISM!"
* Back underground Julius Root rubbed his temples. Foaly smirked at him. "Don't you just love family time?"
"I'm going to strangle those cousins."
"Is that nice, Julius?"
"Foaly, I'm going to."
*
Artemis listened to the threat with half-closed eyes. Suddenly his eyebrows went up. "I say, Commander, that's a bit strong."
Root ignored him. "Are you going to let me talk to her?"
"For the sake of my eardrums," Tessa confided to Jennie, "I hope he doesn't."
Artemis extended the cell phone. She took it gingerly.
A moment later she said something rude and hung up. The mastermind blinked as she gingerly handed the cell phone back. "I think I'm going deaf."
About that time they realized the whole of the House of Healing was staring at them, and Aragorn and Pippin were in the doorway.
*
Alison had fled the scene a little while ago. She wandered down the winding hallway, and stopped a passing servant to ask where the bathroom was. The maid handed her a chamber pot and left.
She took it by the handle, holding it away from her. It stunk.
"Ewwwwww."
Alison felt her bladder begin to swell as the pressure within rose several degrees. Completely grossed out, Alison stepped into a closet nearby and.
((A/N Okay, so maybe some of us DON'T grow out of our bathroom humor.))
*
Aragorn was busily trying to cure Merry, Pippin standing anxiously nearby. The cousins had shut up a few minutes ago; the threat of not attending supper that night was more than enough to make them be quiet. The Elfstone looked up at the Master of Healing.
"Do you have the athelas plant?"
He bowed, smiling primly. "I will go and look in our storage closets."
(Dun dun dun dun)
*
Alison covered her mess with an odd sort of weed stocked in abundance in the closet. It had beautiful white flowers all over it and was fragrant enough to. cover the smell. She had just started to pull up her pants when the closet door swung open to reveal a startled stocky man.
"Don't you KNOCK?" she shrieked.
The Master of Healing scuttled away to inform Aragorn there was no athelas in the house at all. That wasn't occupying the chamber pot at any rate.
Alison followed furiously, trailing a sprig of white flowers from the waistline of her jeans.
*
Please review! I know this chapter is a little pitiful but hey. *I* found it amusing. You sort of have to know Alison to get the humor. And haven't any of you ever wondered WHY there wasn't any athelas in the House of Healing? So anyway. REVIEW!