You know something, I love this chapter.. Thing are getting REALLY good.
Example; THE PLOT BEGINS AT LAST! Lol! Well actually, the plot sort of
already HAS begun, but see, NOW the Quest begins.
AND, on top of that, we meet LEGOLAS! YAY!
So yeah. Read! AND REVIEW!
*
Chapter Eleven: A Healing and a Quest
Tessa and Jennie watched as Aragorn crushed the leaves of the athelas under Merry's nose. Alison, flushing embarrassedly, fished around in her pant cuffs for another few sprigs to hand to this "raggedy cute guy" as she later put in her journal. But that's another story entirely.
Aragorn took the flowers from her and began crushing them too. Alison watched him with Arwen rapture.
Jennie sniggered.
"Love is in the air." she warbled quietly.
Alison shut her up with a murderous glare.
Tessa grew bored of the rowdy fight that followed, and had begun humming stanzas of LOTR to herself. " 'When the cold of winter comes, starless night will follow da-ay."
Everyone in the room froze at the music, color fading rapidly from the fantasy creations. She shut up.
The motion returned to the House of Healing. "This just keeps getting better and better," she said to herself, smiling as she began to devise a way to freeze Frodo long enough to kiss him.
Jennie looked askance at her cousin, who was muttering things like "I've never tried to kiss something and hum at the same time. I wonder if it's hard?" She practiced for a moment on her knuckles and sighed. "It is. Dangit!"
Artemis was laughing hysterically. Hardly the picture of a criminal mastermind.
"You shut up," Tessa said to him. "Even if you don't think Frodo's cute, you might take notes for, say, Arwen."
Aragorn looked up with murder written all over his face. "What did you say?"
The girl paled. "Eh? Um, what? I wasn't, I mean, you, well." She backed away and muttered in Jennie's ear, "Boy. I'm glad FRODO doesn't have a lover. It could get bloody, huh?"
Artemis edged away from Aragorn, who was glaring daggers at him. "Hi there."
The heir of Gondor drew his sword. "This is the sword that was broken! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!"
Merry chose this opportune moment to recover.
"Oh God," Jennie murmured as, through the flashes of one-sided swordplay, she caught the terrified glances of two hobbits. Merry and Pippin looked positively mystified. Artemis ducked under their sickbed to avoid Aragon's whistling sword, and the hobbits were very nearly decapitated.
Alison laid a consoling hand on the Elessar's arm. "Airy, dear, it's okay."
Jennie laughed so hard she hurt her throat. "Did you just call him AIRY?! OMG!"
Eowyn took this opportune moment to recover.
*
"Geez," remarked Tessa, nursing a sprained wrist that had been numbed by athelas, "I never knew crushes on book characters could be so BLOODY. Did you see how they froze when I hummed LOTR again? That gave me such great ideas."
It was half-an-hour later, and the four (Artemis, Alison, Jennie, and Tessa) were walking away from the House of Healing with relief. Jennie sported a bloody nose, Artemis was limping slightly, and Alison had black/blue marks around her eyes from where Eowyn had socked her.
She muttered some inappropriate language as she hobbled along; "evil possessed shieldmaiden, trying to decapitate me with the eep eep mop." ((A/N The particular word that she used at that moment was too obscene to put into a PG/13 fic just so you know. yeah.))
Jennie ignored her and looked to the East, where swirling masses of ominous black cloud lay thick and foul. Noise of war could be heard from far-off, signaling the end of a battle.
Tessa nudged Ally with her good arm. "Jolly good Arwen wasn't there, eh, my dearest Airy Fan?" She snickered at the pun.
Artemis scowled at them and rubbed his leg, flinching at the needles of pain that shot up his leg. "If Holly could see me now." he grumbled.
A voice interrupted them. "I was sent to inform the people of Gondor that Theoden has fallen. Bear the tidings, children."
"Excellent," said Tessa before she remembered to shut up, "things are moving along nicely then."
"Are you in league with Saruman, then, to be glad at such news?" The voice showed cold disapproval.
"No," Jennie said to Legolas, "she's just a blockhead."
She froze.
Tessa froze.
Alison froze.
All three girls turned and looked at the fair-haired elf who stood casually behind them, dark brows arched, hair blown in wisps by the wind, arms loose at his slender body, arrows gleaming over his shoulder.
"A Elbereth," Tessa whispered.
The slightest, barest hint of amusement played over his lips.
The three smiled back warmly, cued by that small flicker. "Hi," they breathed in exact unison. "My name is, um, my name. our names. are."
Despite obvious effort, a broader grin appeared on his face, but he turned away to spare them further embarrassment and spoke to the air. "I have been requested by Gandalf the White to search for four young ones by names of Alison, Artemis, Jennifer and Tessa. Does that help you recall your fair titles?" Laughter was in his voice, but the girls were far too intoxicated by his reality to notice or care.
"Um." Jennie was aware she sounded like an imbecile, but ignored it. "Yeah. That's us."
"Oh? Follow me."
"Oh God. Not more torture," Tessa moaned softly to herself. First Pippin, then Aragorn, now this. If Frodo appeared, she would disintegrate.
" 'Legolas Greenleaf long under tree, In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.'" Jennie's eyes were big as saucers.
Legolas turned sharply. "Who are you to know of this prophecy?"
"We, uh, wewe. We see the future," Tessa babbled. "That's why, when, when you died Theoden said, uh, I mean said Theoden died, I didn't, we um, wewe."
Artemis buried his face in his hands and told himself he wanted to go home. Badly.
*
Fifteen minutes later, a Legolas with a headache led the four into a Gondor styled room, where an exhausted, sweaty, blood-streaked Gandalf looked at them. His white robes were untouched by the fray of war, but his hands were mangled by the careless sweep of an enemy sword, and his eyes held the look of someone who has walked through the fires of hell.
"Well."
This inadequate word, awkward coming from the throat of a Maiar, expressed worlds to the four.
"It wasn't MY fault," Jennie said hastily, before he could frame someone.
Gandalf gave her such a world-weary look that she shut up. This was a Gandalf she had never seen in the movies; the realness of fire, death and destruction, mingled with the lifeblood of Middle-Earth, etched into those eyes; centuries of pain carved into that ancient face.
Tessa's throat caught; a whimper that everyone heard. But her voice was steady. "It was me."
"I know. I know what you have done and I know that you can not erase it. Look at you!" His voice held unimaginable scorn. "Clothed like rag dolls, knees bare, robes thick and clumsy. Maybe my eyes deceive me. Perhaps you are a vision sent to torment me."
Artemis scowled furiously.
"But." Gandalf softened. "You are real people from your own time, normal in that age no doubt."
Alison snickered as the other three purpled.
"And we may find you invaluable in the war of the ring."
Tessa cast a shy glance at Legolas, who stared fixedly ahead. He wasn't going through that again, oh no. "Perhaps," she said, to herself more than to the others.
Gandalf leaned forward in his chair. His voice was so firm, it might have been solid granite. "I am the White Rider. I was slain by fire and born again in ice, beneath the sky that will never cease to exist. My road goes ever on. And you, you might be priceless. All our hopes right now are on the shoulders of two little hobbits out there somewhere in the wild. We do not know if they are dead or alive."
Tessa swayed a little.
"Middle Earth is failing. Its citizens are leaving these shores and the ones who remain will fall to the fate of the Ring." He frowned at their sudden excitement. "I see you know of this. Then you also know who bears it?" He hesitated and spoke almost to himself. "Is he dead? Is he alive?
"You may aid us. Who knows, four from another world. could bear the fate of all. And from what I know of you." his gaze fell on Artemis ".you have the right to bear this fate."
Artemis blushed.
"I do not know if you have been told, but Aragorn rode to war a few days ago. in the paths of the dead. The Last Debate has been held."
"Wow," Jennie whispered to Tessa, "the time period all this took in the Return of the King is getting screwed up more every few minutes."
"No kidding."
Gandalf took a long, slow, exasperated breath. It was a breath the cousins knew well; their teachers used it constantly at them when they were being "disruptive", as they called it. "When we ride to the Black Gate in an hour, we need you to come with us and slip away during the battle, to aid Frodo and Sam. I think you already know of them. Will you help us? We will hold the gates long enough to let you get away. I know this seems sudden, but the choice is yours now. And only yours."
*
(drumroll) Dun Dun Dun Dun. GIMMIE REVIEWS OR YOU GET NOTHING!
AND, on top of that, we meet LEGOLAS! YAY!
So yeah. Read! AND REVIEW!
*
Chapter Eleven: A Healing and a Quest
Tessa and Jennie watched as Aragorn crushed the leaves of the athelas under Merry's nose. Alison, flushing embarrassedly, fished around in her pant cuffs for another few sprigs to hand to this "raggedy cute guy" as she later put in her journal. But that's another story entirely.
Aragorn took the flowers from her and began crushing them too. Alison watched him with Arwen rapture.
Jennie sniggered.
"Love is in the air." she warbled quietly.
Alison shut her up with a murderous glare.
Tessa grew bored of the rowdy fight that followed, and had begun humming stanzas of LOTR to herself. " 'When the cold of winter comes, starless night will follow da-ay."
Everyone in the room froze at the music, color fading rapidly from the fantasy creations. She shut up.
The motion returned to the House of Healing. "This just keeps getting better and better," she said to herself, smiling as she began to devise a way to freeze Frodo long enough to kiss him.
Jennie looked askance at her cousin, who was muttering things like "I've never tried to kiss something and hum at the same time. I wonder if it's hard?" She practiced for a moment on her knuckles and sighed. "It is. Dangit!"
Artemis was laughing hysterically. Hardly the picture of a criminal mastermind.
"You shut up," Tessa said to him. "Even if you don't think Frodo's cute, you might take notes for, say, Arwen."
Aragorn looked up with murder written all over his face. "What did you say?"
The girl paled. "Eh? Um, what? I wasn't, I mean, you, well." She backed away and muttered in Jennie's ear, "Boy. I'm glad FRODO doesn't have a lover. It could get bloody, huh?"
Artemis edged away from Aragorn, who was glaring daggers at him. "Hi there."
The heir of Gondor drew his sword. "This is the sword that was broken! Will you aid me or thwart me? Choose swiftly!"
Merry chose this opportune moment to recover.
"Oh God," Jennie murmured as, through the flashes of one-sided swordplay, she caught the terrified glances of two hobbits. Merry and Pippin looked positively mystified. Artemis ducked under their sickbed to avoid Aragon's whistling sword, and the hobbits were very nearly decapitated.
Alison laid a consoling hand on the Elessar's arm. "Airy, dear, it's okay."
Jennie laughed so hard she hurt her throat. "Did you just call him AIRY?! OMG!"
Eowyn took this opportune moment to recover.
*
"Geez," remarked Tessa, nursing a sprained wrist that had been numbed by athelas, "I never knew crushes on book characters could be so BLOODY. Did you see how they froze when I hummed LOTR again? That gave me such great ideas."
It was half-an-hour later, and the four (Artemis, Alison, Jennie, and Tessa) were walking away from the House of Healing with relief. Jennie sported a bloody nose, Artemis was limping slightly, and Alison had black/blue marks around her eyes from where Eowyn had socked her.
She muttered some inappropriate language as she hobbled along; "evil possessed shieldmaiden, trying to decapitate me with the eep eep mop." ((A/N The particular word that she used at that moment was too obscene to put into a PG/13 fic just so you know. yeah.))
Jennie ignored her and looked to the East, where swirling masses of ominous black cloud lay thick and foul. Noise of war could be heard from far-off, signaling the end of a battle.
Tessa nudged Ally with her good arm. "Jolly good Arwen wasn't there, eh, my dearest Airy Fan?" She snickered at the pun.
Artemis scowled at them and rubbed his leg, flinching at the needles of pain that shot up his leg. "If Holly could see me now." he grumbled.
A voice interrupted them. "I was sent to inform the people of Gondor that Theoden has fallen. Bear the tidings, children."
"Excellent," said Tessa before she remembered to shut up, "things are moving along nicely then."
"Are you in league with Saruman, then, to be glad at such news?" The voice showed cold disapproval.
"No," Jennie said to Legolas, "she's just a blockhead."
She froze.
Tessa froze.
Alison froze.
All three girls turned and looked at the fair-haired elf who stood casually behind them, dark brows arched, hair blown in wisps by the wind, arms loose at his slender body, arrows gleaming over his shoulder.
"A Elbereth," Tessa whispered.
The slightest, barest hint of amusement played over his lips.
The three smiled back warmly, cued by that small flicker. "Hi," they breathed in exact unison. "My name is, um, my name. our names. are."
Despite obvious effort, a broader grin appeared on his face, but he turned away to spare them further embarrassment and spoke to the air. "I have been requested by Gandalf the White to search for four young ones by names of Alison, Artemis, Jennifer and Tessa. Does that help you recall your fair titles?" Laughter was in his voice, but the girls were far too intoxicated by his reality to notice or care.
"Um." Jennie was aware she sounded like an imbecile, but ignored it. "Yeah. That's us."
"Oh? Follow me."
"Oh God. Not more torture," Tessa moaned softly to herself. First Pippin, then Aragorn, now this. If Frodo appeared, she would disintegrate.
" 'Legolas Greenleaf long under tree, In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea! If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore, thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more.'" Jennie's eyes were big as saucers.
Legolas turned sharply. "Who are you to know of this prophecy?"
"We, uh, wewe. We see the future," Tessa babbled. "That's why, when, when you died Theoden said, uh, I mean said Theoden died, I didn't, we um, wewe."
Artemis buried his face in his hands and told himself he wanted to go home. Badly.
*
Fifteen minutes later, a Legolas with a headache led the four into a Gondor styled room, where an exhausted, sweaty, blood-streaked Gandalf looked at them. His white robes were untouched by the fray of war, but his hands were mangled by the careless sweep of an enemy sword, and his eyes held the look of someone who has walked through the fires of hell.
"Well."
This inadequate word, awkward coming from the throat of a Maiar, expressed worlds to the four.
"It wasn't MY fault," Jennie said hastily, before he could frame someone.
Gandalf gave her such a world-weary look that she shut up. This was a Gandalf she had never seen in the movies; the realness of fire, death and destruction, mingled with the lifeblood of Middle-Earth, etched into those eyes; centuries of pain carved into that ancient face.
Tessa's throat caught; a whimper that everyone heard. But her voice was steady. "It was me."
"I know. I know what you have done and I know that you can not erase it. Look at you!" His voice held unimaginable scorn. "Clothed like rag dolls, knees bare, robes thick and clumsy. Maybe my eyes deceive me. Perhaps you are a vision sent to torment me."
Artemis scowled furiously.
"But." Gandalf softened. "You are real people from your own time, normal in that age no doubt."
Alison snickered as the other three purpled.
"And we may find you invaluable in the war of the ring."
Tessa cast a shy glance at Legolas, who stared fixedly ahead. He wasn't going through that again, oh no. "Perhaps," she said, to herself more than to the others.
Gandalf leaned forward in his chair. His voice was so firm, it might have been solid granite. "I am the White Rider. I was slain by fire and born again in ice, beneath the sky that will never cease to exist. My road goes ever on. And you, you might be priceless. All our hopes right now are on the shoulders of two little hobbits out there somewhere in the wild. We do not know if they are dead or alive."
Tessa swayed a little.
"Middle Earth is failing. Its citizens are leaving these shores and the ones who remain will fall to the fate of the Ring." He frowned at their sudden excitement. "I see you know of this. Then you also know who bears it?" He hesitated and spoke almost to himself. "Is he dead? Is he alive?
"You may aid us. Who knows, four from another world. could bear the fate of all. And from what I know of you." his gaze fell on Artemis ".you have the right to bear this fate."
Artemis blushed.
"I do not know if you have been told, but Aragorn rode to war a few days ago. in the paths of the dead. The Last Debate has been held."
"Wow," Jennie whispered to Tessa, "the time period all this took in the Return of the King is getting screwed up more every few minutes."
"No kidding."
Gandalf took a long, slow, exasperated breath. It was a breath the cousins knew well; their teachers used it constantly at them when they were being "disruptive", as they called it. "When we ride to the Black Gate in an hour, we need you to come with us and slip away during the battle, to aid Frodo and Sam. I think you already know of them. Will you help us? We will hold the gates long enough to let you get away. I know this seems sudden, but the choice is yours now. And only yours."
*
(drumroll) Dun Dun Dun Dun. GIMMIE REVIEWS OR YOU GET NOTHING!