Author's Note: To all those people who actually read this (two by my
counting) I, Raven, am sorry this is so late. Editations take a long time
in my world. A special "arigatou gozaimasu" to Heidi, Bethany, and Zina
for giving feedback on the prologue and first half of this chapter. I
never thought I'd capture so many peoples' attention before actually
posting this. Of course, I can't take all the credit... Also, an EXTRA
special thanx to Araancaiel for the review... of only MORE people would do
that, maybe we would write more and not have second thoughts on this whole
thing *glare at, if any, silent readers*... Nextly, I hate Mary-Sue, her
sister, and her brother... (all of whom Leo is unfamiliar with) I will try
my best never to turn this into a Mary-Sue or Betty-Sue (with luck Leo will
keep her character human as well). This is also not a full-out Legolas
romance fic (because Leo wouldn't let me). We find those kind of scary,
anyway... Anywho, on with the fic. (And no, Leo does *not* rule my life!)
Okay... uh-huh... here it is... Chapter I. *crickets chirp* Yeah, I thought so.
Disclaimer: Neither of us owns them. You must be nuts to think we do.
***
To Sink or Swim
Chapter I
For the past year, after the destruction of the Ring, the Fellowship reunited had taken to hunting the remaining Orcs plaguing Middle-Earth. Having heard news of a supposed Orc's nest located near the now mostly- abandoned city of Rivendell, the Fellowship had set off from Gondor, past the ruins of Isengard in Rohan, through the wilds of Edenwaith, then cut northwest across the corner of the Shire, and were now heading due east for Rivendell.
Our story begins as the Fellowship is heading through the forest near Rivendell. Suddenly Legolas spotted a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. Then it was gone. He shook his head. Bad time for his eyes to be playing tricks on him. He walked on another few paces, then stopped. There it was again, that unmistakable bright blue color. Squinting, he looked in the direction of the river.
By now the others had noticed Legolas's hesitation.
"Legolas, what's wrong?" Frodo questioned.
"Do you see that?" Legolas pointed to the distant patch of color.
"See what?" Aragorn had now joined them.
Legolas squinted harder, sure he could make out something more to that blotch of blue. With a sudden gasp, he took off through the trees faster than an arrow shot by his own hand.
"Legolas!" Aragorn called sharply.
"Where are you going?!" Sam cried.
Legolas didn't respond, simply kept on through the trees. The others darted after him, Aragorn leading, then Gandalf, then the Hobbits all in a little bunch, and finally, Gimli, puffing and panting to keep up.
Presently Legolas reached the river's edge; he had lost sight of the blueness. Behind him he could hear the others shouting and crashing through the underbrush. His eyes darted swiftly over the churning waters, as if trying to peel off the layers of darkness.
There it was! That blue, it had to be. In one swift motion he kicked off his boots and dove into the freezing blackness.
Aragorn reached the river's edge at the same instant that Legolas went under. His curse was cut off as he suddenly saw what the Elf was swimming for.
"What's...he...doing...?" panted Merry as he finally caught up to Aragorn. Pippin nodded, also attempting to catch his breath.
Before Aragorn could answer, Frodo suddenly cried, "There's someone in the river!"
"...Aside from Legolas?" Pippin quipped.
Frodo nodded silently, eyes glued to the water before them.
***
Legolas's hands had gone numb some moments after entering the water. He ducked his head under the water again, positive the person in blue had been dragged down by the undertow. Even though his eyes were as wide as he could possibly make them, both the chill and darkness of the water obscured his vision. At that moment he barely felt through the numbness of his hand the soft texture of wet cloth. Willing his joints to move from their frozen state, he grabbed a handful of the material, jerking it toward himself. It was a person. He'd been right. Hooking his right arm painfully around the figure's waist, he fought his way to the surface again.
The world was a spinning blur, for Legolas could not wipe the water from his eyes, having the figure under one arm and attempting to swim with the other. Suddenly something splashed into the water in front of him, splattering his face and hindering his vision even more. His free hand struck the knot of the rope that had been thrown to him. He grabbed a tight hold of it, knowing at the same time that he couldn't pull himself in one-handed. The thrower of the rope seemed to realize this, as in an instant Legolas could feel the extra slack tighten as he was slowly towed back in.
His knees scraped the sandy river bottom. Not able to muster the strength it took to stand up, he simply let himself be hauled onto his feet roughly by his right arm. It took a moment for the world to stop spinning, as it seemed to him. The joints in his arm seemed to creak in protest as he lowered the limp figure to the ground. Finally able to clear the river water from his eyes, he caught his first glimpse of who he had rescued.
It was a girl, very slender, whose hair at that moment seemed a dark brown, but Legolas knew it the shade was probably a dirty blonde. The girl was dressed in a long, bright blue dress that reached down to her ankles. A dark green apron-like overskirt was tied just under her bustline, and over all this was a vest-like jacket that became more like a cape as it reached farther down her back. One of the long sleeves on her dress had been torn off at the shoulder.
"Is... is she dead?" Frodo ventured hesitantly.
[She can't be dead,] Legolas insisted mentally, [Not after all I went through to save her!]
"She doesn't seem to be breathing," Aragorn commented, leaning over the girl's still form.
All at once Legolas shoved Aragorn roughly away from the girl, ignoring the indignant objection he received.
Placing his hands on the girl's chest just below her collarbone, he pressed rapidly: one, two, three, four, five. Then he tilted the girl's head back; plugging her nose with his thumb and forefinger, he blew into her mouth, then listened for any sign of a breath, even faint. None.
[You *can't* die!] his mind screamed. He repeated the process again, and again, each time to no response from the girl. The others simply watched in silence, none of them having the heart to tell him to just give it up; she was dead.
Suddenly the girl's body convulsed. She turned her head to the side and coughed, again and again, seemingly buckets of water cascading from her mouth.
After a long moment, she turned her head up to look at her rescuer. Her eyes were a dark, lazy green that matched the color of her overskirt.
"Who...are you? You look... awfully familiar..." she muttered, squinting at Legolas. Just then, her eyes grew wide. "Jenora! Where's Jenora?!" she cried, sitting bolt upright, then doubling over in pain, clutching her side.
"Are you all right?" questioned Gandalf as Legolas eased the girl back down to the ground.
"Yeah, I'm fine... but we have to find Jenora!" the girl insisted.
"Who?" Pippin piped. The girl's eyes seemed to bulge at the sight of him.
"She's... she's my friend-we both fell into the river, please tell me you found her, too!"
Legolas shook his head slowly. "You were the only one I saw,"
"But-but I know she fell in also... She has brown hair, down to here-" she gestured to her shoulder, "-it's wavy. She's wearing a green dress, white blouse with sleeves that poof out, like, this far-" again, she gestured, "- and a brown sort of corset over the blouse..." she trailed off as Legolas shook his head repeatedly.
"Then... she's...gone? She can't be... Jenora!" two terms of drama class suddenly kicking in, the girl grabbed hold of Legolas's sleeve and began to sob loudly into it. "Jen-or-aaaa......!" she wailed. Legolas looked pleadingly at the others for help.
Frodo nodded. "We'll go look for her,"
"She might have been washed farther downstream," added Aragorn. "We'll start our search there. But first, what is your name?"
"Huh?" she pulled her face from Legolas's sleeve. As soon as she'd done this, he stepped away from her. "Oh. My name. My name is Gabriella Zimona O'Brien. Well, Gabi for short. But who are you? If I didn't *know* better, I'd say you were the Fellowship of the Ring..."
"How did you know that?!" Frodo cried. Gabi blinked.
"You're kidding me, right? Please tell me you're joking..."
Everyone shook their heads. It was then that she came to the sudden realization exactly who it was that had saved her from the river, and was also a safe distance away from her. She gave Legolas an apologetic look. "So then... I'm in Middle-Earth? For real?"
"Yes, but come. We must find your friend." Gandalf said. The others nodded.
Aragorn offered a hand to help Gabi to her feet. As Gabi straightened up, she suddenly cringed, once again clutching at her side.
"Are you all right?" Aragorn asked. Gabi simply gave him a sharp look.
"Of course I'm all right. It's not like I'm made of glass, you know! Ow!" she cringed again. "Okay, maybe just a little bruised, that's all..."
"A little?" Aragorn asked with a small grin. He looked at the others. "You go on ahead, I'll need to examine Lady Gabriella for any serious injuries."
"WHAT?!" Gabi cried, as the others trudged off down the river. She turned an icy glare towards Aragorn. "Don't even think about touching me."
***
Gimli grinned as he trudged along the riverbank. Behind him he could hear Lady Gabriella shouting in some unknown language, and by the inflection of her voice he could guess she wasn't saying anything nice.
A few minutes passed, and presently his foot struck something lying near an overturned log. He looked down to see two haversacks, one of black leather, the other of buckskin. The one made of buckskin had fringes along the bottom edge. He picked them both up, examining them closely. At that moment, Gabriella stomped up behind him, snatching the black leather bag from his hand.
"Get your hands off my backpack!" she shouted indignantly. "Thank you for finding it, but it's private property!" Then she gasped, seeing the other bag. "Th-that's Jenora's!"
"So we're on the right track," Aragorn commented as he walked past. Gabriella gave him a cold look.
"Then let's go." she said curtly, stalking off ahead of him.
"What's wrong with her?" Gimli asked Aragorn quietly.
"I had to bandage her ribs," Aragorn responded. Gimli suppressed a smile.
***
There was nothing on Merry and Pippin's section of the river. Just rocks, rocks, then some weeds, more rocks, and a little farther in-water. Then there was the occasional rotting log, but no brown-haired, green-clad girl anywhere.
"Merry, look at this rock I found!" shouted Pippin, holding up a large stone.
"It looks just like all the others, Pip..."
"No, it's sort of shaped like an apple. Which reminds me... Merry, I'm hungry!"
"Ugh..." Merry sighed, shaking his head.
*** "Do you see anything, Gandalf?" Frodo inquired.
Gandalf shook his head. "Nothing, Frodo,"
"Gandalf?"
"Yes, Frodo?"
"Where do you think Gabriella and her friend came from?" Frodo asked, looking across the river.
"I don't know."
*** Aragorn had taken the lead, and was now far down the river from where Gabriella had been rescued from the rapids. He was approaching a bend in the river when suddenly he spotted a human form draped over a log. The form's green dress was ripped and splotched with mud and... was that blood? He quickened his pace. This had to be Jenora.
"You found her!" came Gabriella's voice. The lanky girl who'd been so fierce toward him only a few moments before was now sprinting past him.
"Don't move her!" Aragorn called as Gabriella knelt down near Jenora's body. "She could have broken something."
"Oh... r-right," was Gabriella's response as she backed off a little. Suddenly Legolas appeared from behind a nearby tree.
"You found her?" he questioned, then stopped short. "Gabriella," he said slowly, "is your friend a Hobbit?!"
Indeed the figure on the log did look almost the right size to be a Hobbit. Any thought of that possibility was suddenly forgotten as the figure snapped her head into an upright position, fixing Legolas with a fiery look. "Are you calling me short, Pretty Boy?!"
Legolas looked terrified, as the girl's face-which was already twisted in anger-was streaked with blood from a cut just above her left eyebrow. Aragorn only sighed with the comment, "At least her neck's not broken", and Gabriella simply flung herself and Jenora, hugging the blood-streaked girl fiercely.
"Jen! Jen, I thought you'd drowned!"
Jenora pushed Gabriella roughly away. "This is all your fault, you know!" her voice suddenly went into a squeaky imitation of her friend's. "Oh, let's cross the river on this rotting log to see what's on the other side! Think Ramen noodles, Jen. HA!" she pointed a shaking finger to the cut above her eyebrow. "Look what your half-baked idea got me! And what's worse, you got some messed up actors from the Festival...to..."
It seemed Jenora had finally noticed Aragorn leaning against a tree, patiently waiting for her to finish her lecture, and Legolas who had already had his ego stomped on twice that day.
"Is our Renaissance Festival hiring new recruits, or are we..." she trailed off, eyes wide, as Frodo and Gandalf now made their way to their section of the river. "Oh...my...gosh..."
"Oh, you found her!" Frodo sighed. "We were getting worried-"
"Frodo! Frodo Baggins!" Jenora suddenly squeaked, jumping to her feet.
To say the least, Frodo looked suddenly quite terrified, and backed behind Gandalf.
"Jen, you're scaring him!" Gabi said harshly, switching from concern to anger in one fell swoop.
Jen blinked, then looked down at her dress, which was quite tattered and thoroughly muddy, and splotched with blood from shallow cuts along her arms and legs. She could guess her hair didn't look much better; she reached a hand up to feel masses of dripping tangles. Her fingers came away coated with more blood from the cut above her eyebrow. She sighed loudly, holding up her hands to show she bore no weapons.
"It's okay-I'm unarmed," she said cautiously. Frodo hesitantly stepped out from behind Gandalf.
Gabi smiled. What Bethany and Theresa had always said about Jen was true- she could easily pass for a tall Hobbit any day. In fact, by as much as she could tell, Jen was only a few inches taller than Frodo.
Gabi was suddenly jerked out of her thoughtful state as Frodo muttered, "She knows my name,"
Before Jen could say anything stupid, Gabi started off an explanation she'd been thinking of since she arrived.
"Where we come from-Jen and I, that is-you, the... Fellowship, I mean, is kind of, well... famous," her voice struck a squeaking note at the end of "famous" that reminded Jen of what a horrible liar Gabi was.
Meanwhile, Gabi's ears had suddenly turned a vivid red, her equivalent to a blush. She clapped her hands over her ears, the red starting to show in her face now, too. Aragorn simply looked on calmly, while Legolas suppressed a smile. This girl may be insane, but at least she was entertaining at the same time.
Frodo just looked confused. "Famous? What do you mean?"
Jen shot Gabi a "let me handle this" look. "She means, we've read all about all of your adventures before we got here,"
"But who would have written about us?" Legolas questioned. "And where exactly *do* you come from?"
Jen hesitated. "Away," she said finally.
"*Far* away," Gabi muttered.
***
Jen inspected the contents of her pack critically. The zipper, which had been faulty in the first place, had broken on its trip down the river, meaning her normal clothes and sneakers were lost forever, leaving her in a tattered dress and soggy, squelching boots. Other things, luckily, had been stored in extra little pockets, and had remained unharmed. The river water had rendered her flashlight useless of course, and under the current circumstances her extra batteries weren't of much help either. But among the other things that had been saved were her hairbrush, toothbrush, a half- empty box of tick-tacks, her math textbook (unfortunately, although still wet), three chocolate-chip granola bars, her plastic container of waterproof matches, sunscreen, bug repellent, an umbrella ("You got the whole tent packed in there?" Gabi put in), a plastic bag of Cream Savers, two packets of Ramen instant noodles, her large, heavy duty Swiss Army knife, and last but not least... A whole bag of mini-Reeses Peanutbutter Cups. Jen held the bag close to her chest with a grin. Chocolate. Her one love aside from Ramen. And that lip balm that made your lips go numb. [I wonder if Gabi brought any of that?] she thought momentarily.
Jen suddenly noticed the Fellowship giving her strange looks, and she slowly released the bag of Reeses. After a moment's silence, the others went back to whatever conversations they'd been having before her strange behavior began. All except Pippin, who leaned in close and examined the Reeses bag as if it were something quite unusual, which it was, in his case, for I'm sure none of the Fellowship had ever heard of plastic or tin foil before.
"What are those?" he inquired, reaching out to poke at the bag. Jen snatched it back up and held it close again.
"They're mine," she half-growled. Pippin looked startled.
"Jenora Kathryn," Gabi scolded from her seat next to Frodo, "be nice..."
Jen glowered. "They're candy... um, sweets. Okay?" she told the Hobbit finally.
"Sweets?" came Merry's voice from the other side of her. Jen scooted backward a bit in an attempt to get away from the troublesome duo.
"Well, Jen?" came Gabi's expectant voice. "Aren't you going to share with them?"
Jen looked half horrified, half insulted. "But they're *my* Reeses; I spent three bucks on this bag!"
Gabi kept from telling her friend that she'd clearly been ripped off. Pippin simply put on his best sad-puppy face. Jen glared at him.
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pleeease?
"No!"
"Pleeeeeeease???"
"No!!!"
"Pleeeeeeeeeease????"
There was a long pause. "Oh, fine... All right! Just to make you stop doing that... quivery-thing with your lower lip..." Jen tore open the top of the bag and handed Pippin a Reeses. Gabi made a noise in her throat. Jen reluctantly handed one of the tiny chocolates to Merry, too.
After a moment of fumbling with the wrapper, and another moment spent *examining* the wrapper, Pippin popped the whole Reeses into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Merry watched Pippin silently, as though wondering if Jen had done anything to the chocolate to make it deadly. He certainly wouldn't put it past her.
Pippin's eyes went wide. "Mmmmph! Mmph!" he said gesturing wildly at his mouth.
Merry looked horrified. "I think he's going to be sick!"
Pippin swallowed hard. "That was good! It was delicious! It was... can I have another one?"
"No!"
"Please?!"
"NO!"
Meanwhile, Merry was busy with the wrapper of his Reeses. Who knew, maybe Jenora wasn't as evil as she seemed? Finally, rolling the tinfoil wrapper into a tiny ball which he slipped into his pocket, he bit into the Reeses. Pippin was right; it wasn't that bad.
"PLEASE?!"
"I said, NO!"
"Please??????!!!!!"
"NO!!!"
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."
***
Will Pippin run out of breath before the next chapter? Will Merry decide whether or not Jenora's a homicidal maniac bent on world domination? Will Legolas stop being stepped on? Will Gabi get over her anger towards Aragorn? Where can I find some urple paint? And WHO THE HECK thought Unicorns exist in Middle-Earth?! I don't know. Do you?
Leo: Say hello to my teddy-bear, Lij! *holds up teddy-bear for the world to see*
Raven: Erm... we named it that cuz it's the same color as Elijah Wood's eyes... *grabs Lij and runs*
Leo: My teddy-bear... *sniffle*
Please review; it's that little button in the corner down there. See it? Good. Click it.
~Raven and Leo~
Okay... uh-huh... here it is... Chapter I. *crickets chirp* Yeah, I thought so.
Disclaimer: Neither of us owns them. You must be nuts to think we do.
***
To Sink or Swim
Chapter I
For the past year, after the destruction of the Ring, the Fellowship reunited had taken to hunting the remaining Orcs plaguing Middle-Earth. Having heard news of a supposed Orc's nest located near the now mostly- abandoned city of Rivendell, the Fellowship had set off from Gondor, past the ruins of Isengard in Rohan, through the wilds of Edenwaith, then cut northwest across the corner of the Shire, and were now heading due east for Rivendell.
Our story begins as the Fellowship is heading through the forest near Rivendell. Suddenly Legolas spotted a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. Then it was gone. He shook his head. Bad time for his eyes to be playing tricks on him. He walked on another few paces, then stopped. There it was again, that unmistakable bright blue color. Squinting, he looked in the direction of the river.
By now the others had noticed Legolas's hesitation.
"Legolas, what's wrong?" Frodo questioned.
"Do you see that?" Legolas pointed to the distant patch of color.
"See what?" Aragorn had now joined them.
Legolas squinted harder, sure he could make out something more to that blotch of blue. With a sudden gasp, he took off through the trees faster than an arrow shot by his own hand.
"Legolas!" Aragorn called sharply.
"Where are you going?!" Sam cried.
Legolas didn't respond, simply kept on through the trees. The others darted after him, Aragorn leading, then Gandalf, then the Hobbits all in a little bunch, and finally, Gimli, puffing and panting to keep up.
Presently Legolas reached the river's edge; he had lost sight of the blueness. Behind him he could hear the others shouting and crashing through the underbrush. His eyes darted swiftly over the churning waters, as if trying to peel off the layers of darkness.
There it was! That blue, it had to be. In one swift motion he kicked off his boots and dove into the freezing blackness.
Aragorn reached the river's edge at the same instant that Legolas went under. His curse was cut off as he suddenly saw what the Elf was swimming for.
"What's...he...doing...?" panted Merry as he finally caught up to Aragorn. Pippin nodded, also attempting to catch his breath.
Before Aragorn could answer, Frodo suddenly cried, "There's someone in the river!"
"...Aside from Legolas?" Pippin quipped.
Frodo nodded silently, eyes glued to the water before them.
***
Legolas's hands had gone numb some moments after entering the water. He ducked his head under the water again, positive the person in blue had been dragged down by the undertow. Even though his eyes were as wide as he could possibly make them, both the chill and darkness of the water obscured his vision. At that moment he barely felt through the numbness of his hand the soft texture of wet cloth. Willing his joints to move from their frozen state, he grabbed a handful of the material, jerking it toward himself. It was a person. He'd been right. Hooking his right arm painfully around the figure's waist, he fought his way to the surface again.
The world was a spinning blur, for Legolas could not wipe the water from his eyes, having the figure under one arm and attempting to swim with the other. Suddenly something splashed into the water in front of him, splattering his face and hindering his vision even more. His free hand struck the knot of the rope that had been thrown to him. He grabbed a tight hold of it, knowing at the same time that he couldn't pull himself in one-handed. The thrower of the rope seemed to realize this, as in an instant Legolas could feel the extra slack tighten as he was slowly towed back in.
His knees scraped the sandy river bottom. Not able to muster the strength it took to stand up, he simply let himself be hauled onto his feet roughly by his right arm. It took a moment for the world to stop spinning, as it seemed to him. The joints in his arm seemed to creak in protest as he lowered the limp figure to the ground. Finally able to clear the river water from his eyes, he caught his first glimpse of who he had rescued.
It was a girl, very slender, whose hair at that moment seemed a dark brown, but Legolas knew it the shade was probably a dirty blonde. The girl was dressed in a long, bright blue dress that reached down to her ankles. A dark green apron-like overskirt was tied just under her bustline, and over all this was a vest-like jacket that became more like a cape as it reached farther down her back. One of the long sleeves on her dress had been torn off at the shoulder.
"Is... is she dead?" Frodo ventured hesitantly.
[She can't be dead,] Legolas insisted mentally, [Not after all I went through to save her!]
"She doesn't seem to be breathing," Aragorn commented, leaning over the girl's still form.
All at once Legolas shoved Aragorn roughly away from the girl, ignoring the indignant objection he received.
Placing his hands on the girl's chest just below her collarbone, he pressed rapidly: one, two, three, four, five. Then he tilted the girl's head back; plugging her nose with his thumb and forefinger, he blew into her mouth, then listened for any sign of a breath, even faint. None.
[You *can't* die!] his mind screamed. He repeated the process again, and again, each time to no response from the girl. The others simply watched in silence, none of them having the heart to tell him to just give it up; she was dead.
Suddenly the girl's body convulsed. She turned her head to the side and coughed, again and again, seemingly buckets of water cascading from her mouth.
After a long moment, she turned her head up to look at her rescuer. Her eyes were a dark, lazy green that matched the color of her overskirt.
"Who...are you? You look... awfully familiar..." she muttered, squinting at Legolas. Just then, her eyes grew wide. "Jenora! Where's Jenora?!" she cried, sitting bolt upright, then doubling over in pain, clutching her side.
"Are you all right?" questioned Gandalf as Legolas eased the girl back down to the ground.
"Yeah, I'm fine... but we have to find Jenora!" the girl insisted.
"Who?" Pippin piped. The girl's eyes seemed to bulge at the sight of him.
"She's... she's my friend-we both fell into the river, please tell me you found her, too!"
Legolas shook his head slowly. "You were the only one I saw,"
"But-but I know she fell in also... She has brown hair, down to here-" she gestured to her shoulder, "-it's wavy. She's wearing a green dress, white blouse with sleeves that poof out, like, this far-" again, she gestured, "- and a brown sort of corset over the blouse..." she trailed off as Legolas shook his head repeatedly.
"Then... she's...gone? She can't be... Jenora!" two terms of drama class suddenly kicking in, the girl grabbed hold of Legolas's sleeve and began to sob loudly into it. "Jen-or-aaaa......!" she wailed. Legolas looked pleadingly at the others for help.
Frodo nodded. "We'll go look for her,"
"She might have been washed farther downstream," added Aragorn. "We'll start our search there. But first, what is your name?"
"Huh?" she pulled her face from Legolas's sleeve. As soon as she'd done this, he stepped away from her. "Oh. My name. My name is Gabriella Zimona O'Brien. Well, Gabi for short. But who are you? If I didn't *know* better, I'd say you were the Fellowship of the Ring..."
"How did you know that?!" Frodo cried. Gabi blinked.
"You're kidding me, right? Please tell me you're joking..."
Everyone shook their heads. It was then that she came to the sudden realization exactly who it was that had saved her from the river, and was also a safe distance away from her. She gave Legolas an apologetic look. "So then... I'm in Middle-Earth? For real?"
"Yes, but come. We must find your friend." Gandalf said. The others nodded.
Aragorn offered a hand to help Gabi to her feet. As Gabi straightened up, she suddenly cringed, once again clutching at her side.
"Are you all right?" Aragorn asked. Gabi simply gave him a sharp look.
"Of course I'm all right. It's not like I'm made of glass, you know! Ow!" she cringed again. "Okay, maybe just a little bruised, that's all..."
"A little?" Aragorn asked with a small grin. He looked at the others. "You go on ahead, I'll need to examine Lady Gabriella for any serious injuries."
"WHAT?!" Gabi cried, as the others trudged off down the river. She turned an icy glare towards Aragorn. "Don't even think about touching me."
***
Gimli grinned as he trudged along the riverbank. Behind him he could hear Lady Gabriella shouting in some unknown language, and by the inflection of her voice he could guess she wasn't saying anything nice.
A few minutes passed, and presently his foot struck something lying near an overturned log. He looked down to see two haversacks, one of black leather, the other of buckskin. The one made of buckskin had fringes along the bottom edge. He picked them both up, examining them closely. At that moment, Gabriella stomped up behind him, snatching the black leather bag from his hand.
"Get your hands off my backpack!" she shouted indignantly. "Thank you for finding it, but it's private property!" Then she gasped, seeing the other bag. "Th-that's Jenora's!"
"So we're on the right track," Aragorn commented as he walked past. Gabriella gave him a cold look.
"Then let's go." she said curtly, stalking off ahead of him.
"What's wrong with her?" Gimli asked Aragorn quietly.
"I had to bandage her ribs," Aragorn responded. Gimli suppressed a smile.
***
There was nothing on Merry and Pippin's section of the river. Just rocks, rocks, then some weeds, more rocks, and a little farther in-water. Then there was the occasional rotting log, but no brown-haired, green-clad girl anywhere.
"Merry, look at this rock I found!" shouted Pippin, holding up a large stone.
"It looks just like all the others, Pip..."
"No, it's sort of shaped like an apple. Which reminds me... Merry, I'm hungry!"
"Ugh..." Merry sighed, shaking his head.
*** "Do you see anything, Gandalf?" Frodo inquired.
Gandalf shook his head. "Nothing, Frodo,"
"Gandalf?"
"Yes, Frodo?"
"Where do you think Gabriella and her friend came from?" Frodo asked, looking across the river.
"I don't know."
*** Aragorn had taken the lead, and was now far down the river from where Gabriella had been rescued from the rapids. He was approaching a bend in the river when suddenly he spotted a human form draped over a log. The form's green dress was ripped and splotched with mud and... was that blood? He quickened his pace. This had to be Jenora.
"You found her!" came Gabriella's voice. The lanky girl who'd been so fierce toward him only a few moments before was now sprinting past him.
"Don't move her!" Aragorn called as Gabriella knelt down near Jenora's body. "She could have broken something."
"Oh... r-right," was Gabriella's response as she backed off a little. Suddenly Legolas appeared from behind a nearby tree.
"You found her?" he questioned, then stopped short. "Gabriella," he said slowly, "is your friend a Hobbit?!"
Indeed the figure on the log did look almost the right size to be a Hobbit. Any thought of that possibility was suddenly forgotten as the figure snapped her head into an upright position, fixing Legolas with a fiery look. "Are you calling me short, Pretty Boy?!"
Legolas looked terrified, as the girl's face-which was already twisted in anger-was streaked with blood from a cut just above her left eyebrow. Aragorn only sighed with the comment, "At least her neck's not broken", and Gabriella simply flung herself and Jenora, hugging the blood-streaked girl fiercely.
"Jen! Jen, I thought you'd drowned!"
Jenora pushed Gabriella roughly away. "This is all your fault, you know!" her voice suddenly went into a squeaky imitation of her friend's. "Oh, let's cross the river on this rotting log to see what's on the other side! Think Ramen noodles, Jen. HA!" she pointed a shaking finger to the cut above her eyebrow. "Look what your half-baked idea got me! And what's worse, you got some messed up actors from the Festival...to..."
It seemed Jenora had finally noticed Aragorn leaning against a tree, patiently waiting for her to finish her lecture, and Legolas who had already had his ego stomped on twice that day.
"Is our Renaissance Festival hiring new recruits, or are we..." she trailed off, eyes wide, as Frodo and Gandalf now made their way to their section of the river. "Oh...my...gosh..."
"Oh, you found her!" Frodo sighed. "We were getting worried-"
"Frodo! Frodo Baggins!" Jenora suddenly squeaked, jumping to her feet.
To say the least, Frodo looked suddenly quite terrified, and backed behind Gandalf.
"Jen, you're scaring him!" Gabi said harshly, switching from concern to anger in one fell swoop.
Jen blinked, then looked down at her dress, which was quite tattered and thoroughly muddy, and splotched with blood from shallow cuts along her arms and legs. She could guess her hair didn't look much better; she reached a hand up to feel masses of dripping tangles. Her fingers came away coated with more blood from the cut above her eyebrow. She sighed loudly, holding up her hands to show she bore no weapons.
"It's okay-I'm unarmed," she said cautiously. Frodo hesitantly stepped out from behind Gandalf.
Gabi smiled. What Bethany and Theresa had always said about Jen was true- she could easily pass for a tall Hobbit any day. In fact, by as much as she could tell, Jen was only a few inches taller than Frodo.
Gabi was suddenly jerked out of her thoughtful state as Frodo muttered, "She knows my name,"
Before Jen could say anything stupid, Gabi started off an explanation she'd been thinking of since she arrived.
"Where we come from-Jen and I, that is-you, the... Fellowship, I mean, is kind of, well... famous," her voice struck a squeaking note at the end of "famous" that reminded Jen of what a horrible liar Gabi was.
Meanwhile, Gabi's ears had suddenly turned a vivid red, her equivalent to a blush. She clapped her hands over her ears, the red starting to show in her face now, too. Aragorn simply looked on calmly, while Legolas suppressed a smile. This girl may be insane, but at least she was entertaining at the same time.
Frodo just looked confused. "Famous? What do you mean?"
Jen shot Gabi a "let me handle this" look. "She means, we've read all about all of your adventures before we got here,"
"But who would have written about us?" Legolas questioned. "And where exactly *do* you come from?"
Jen hesitated. "Away," she said finally.
"*Far* away," Gabi muttered.
***
Jen inspected the contents of her pack critically. The zipper, which had been faulty in the first place, had broken on its trip down the river, meaning her normal clothes and sneakers were lost forever, leaving her in a tattered dress and soggy, squelching boots. Other things, luckily, had been stored in extra little pockets, and had remained unharmed. The river water had rendered her flashlight useless of course, and under the current circumstances her extra batteries weren't of much help either. But among the other things that had been saved were her hairbrush, toothbrush, a half- empty box of tick-tacks, her math textbook (unfortunately, although still wet), three chocolate-chip granola bars, her plastic container of waterproof matches, sunscreen, bug repellent, an umbrella ("You got the whole tent packed in there?" Gabi put in), a plastic bag of Cream Savers, two packets of Ramen instant noodles, her large, heavy duty Swiss Army knife, and last but not least... A whole bag of mini-Reeses Peanutbutter Cups. Jen held the bag close to her chest with a grin. Chocolate. Her one love aside from Ramen. And that lip balm that made your lips go numb. [I wonder if Gabi brought any of that?] she thought momentarily.
Jen suddenly noticed the Fellowship giving her strange looks, and she slowly released the bag of Reeses. After a moment's silence, the others went back to whatever conversations they'd been having before her strange behavior began. All except Pippin, who leaned in close and examined the Reeses bag as if it were something quite unusual, which it was, in his case, for I'm sure none of the Fellowship had ever heard of plastic or tin foil before.
"What are those?" he inquired, reaching out to poke at the bag. Jen snatched it back up and held it close again.
"They're mine," she half-growled. Pippin looked startled.
"Jenora Kathryn," Gabi scolded from her seat next to Frodo, "be nice..."
Jen glowered. "They're candy... um, sweets. Okay?" she told the Hobbit finally.
"Sweets?" came Merry's voice from the other side of her. Jen scooted backward a bit in an attempt to get away from the troublesome duo.
"Well, Jen?" came Gabi's expectant voice. "Aren't you going to share with them?"
Jen looked half horrified, half insulted. "But they're *my* Reeses; I spent three bucks on this bag!"
Gabi kept from telling her friend that she'd clearly been ripped off. Pippin simply put on his best sad-puppy face. Jen glared at him.
"No."
"Please?"
"No."
"Pleeease?
"No!"
"Pleeeeeeease???"
"No!!!"
"Pleeeeeeeeeease????"
There was a long pause. "Oh, fine... All right! Just to make you stop doing that... quivery-thing with your lower lip..." Jen tore open the top of the bag and handed Pippin a Reeses. Gabi made a noise in her throat. Jen reluctantly handed one of the tiny chocolates to Merry, too.
After a moment of fumbling with the wrapper, and another moment spent *examining* the wrapper, Pippin popped the whole Reeses into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. Merry watched Pippin silently, as though wondering if Jen had done anything to the chocolate to make it deadly. He certainly wouldn't put it past her.
Pippin's eyes went wide. "Mmmmph! Mmph!" he said gesturing wildly at his mouth.
Merry looked horrified. "I think he's going to be sick!"
Pippin swallowed hard. "That was good! It was delicious! It was... can I have another one?"
"No!"
"Please?!"
"NO!"
Meanwhile, Merry was busy with the wrapper of his Reeses. Who knew, maybe Jenora wasn't as evil as she seemed? Finally, rolling the tinfoil wrapper into a tiny ball which he slipped into his pocket, he bit into the Reeses. Pippin was right; it wasn't that bad.
"PLEASE?!"
"I said, NO!"
"Please??????!!!!!"
"NO!!!"
"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."
***
Will Pippin run out of breath before the next chapter? Will Merry decide whether or not Jenora's a homicidal maniac bent on world domination? Will Legolas stop being stepped on? Will Gabi get over her anger towards Aragorn? Where can I find some urple paint? And WHO THE HECK thought Unicorns exist in Middle-Earth?! I don't know. Do you?
Leo: Say hello to my teddy-bear, Lij! *holds up teddy-bear for the world to see*
Raven: Erm... we named it that cuz it's the same color as Elijah Wood's eyes... *grabs Lij and runs*
Leo: My teddy-bear... *sniffle*
Please review; it's that little button in the corner down there. See it? Good. Click it.
~Raven and Leo~