Chapter Seven: Guinea Pigs and Axes
As much as I hated admitting it, the Elf was right; Ariavasiel left me alone for the rest of the time. Legolas himself however wasn't so lucky. She followed him around and seemed to pop up in the least expectable places. Even though she wasn't doing it to me, it gets really annoying when you're holding a bow and someone scares the life out of you so you drop it. I speak from experience. Around that time I began thinking of how to make a fangirl-detector. Maybe if I had one of those, I would be able to save myself from Elves like Ariavasiel.
My idea was forced to wait though, because now my archery was to the point I could actually use it if I had to. Though he still made me practice that, Legolas was now showing me a few moves I could do easily with a knife if I somehow couldn't use my bow.
For three weeks we had already stayed in Lothlórien. Sure, this was a week or two. I had a feeling Aragorn was putting off leaving for as long as he could. Can't say I blame him. When you had all the pleasures of civilization, you never learn to really appreciate food, heating, air- conditioning...you get the idea. Lothlórien had all of those things ready whenever I wanted them. It was a nice change.
Four days after the third week in the Golden Wood, Emily came running down the path to where I was sitting, glaring up at Legolas. He'd just been showing me a defensive move with the knife and then challenged me to a mock battle. I accepted much to my own surprise. What kind of idiot would take on an Elf with about 3,000 years more experience than you? I was obviously that idiot. Only five minutes later I was on the ground with him standing over me, smirking. Now I was sitting next to him, poking him every so often as feeble pay back.
I heard pounding footsteps coming toward us. My head jerked up to see who was coming. Emily skidded to a halt in front of me. I blinked in surprise and watched as she teetered on her toes, catching her balance. She straitened up, panting, an excited expression on her face. "KATIE!!! You'll never guess what happened! YOU HAVE TO COME SEE THIS!!" she just about screamed in my face. I pulled my head back.
"You need a tic tac or something..." I commented and stayed seated. "What does the little grasshopper want to show her master this time?"
"Katie! Would you just follow me?!" she cried and started to pulled me up. I decided, just to annoy her, I would resist.
"First tell me why. Second tell me why the why happened. Third tell me why the why the why happened. Fourth tell me what in God's name did you eat that made your breath smell so bad?" I said calmly, with only the faintest trace of a smile on my face. Beside me, Legolas snickered and Emily kicked his foot irritably.
"I am not answering the last question, but I will answer the first. JACK AND KIRBY ARE HERE!!" she said loudly. That last five words caught my attention. Jack and Kirby were her two dogs. Why the heck would they be here?
"Now, Fubble Bubble, calm down. You've obviously been hallucinating again. What did I tell you about the wine, now, Emily?" Emily stomped her foot in frustrated and practically dragged me along behind her. Legolas slowly stretched and stood, taking his own little time in following me.
"HELP ME YOU PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR AN ELF! I mustn't give in...I can't...I won't...I will not make Emmy Lou happy!" I yelled and struggled against Emily. Legolas only lazily walked behind us, whistling a little.
"Would you quit acting like an idiot?" Emily said, glaring at me.
"I can't. I was born an idiot." She didn't reply, but only shoved me further up the path. Finally we came to the base of a large tree in which two dogs were sitting. Legolas raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong with that? They're two dogs..." he said and trailed off, looking at Emily expectantly. One of the dogs, the one that was almost all white with a few large tan-ish splotches on his coat, bounded toward Emily. He began to dance around her knees, yipping playfully. I stared.
"Why does that thing look like Jack?" I asked finally.
"Hmmm...," she said and mocked a gasp. "Wait! What if...it really is Jack!?" She had on a look of pure annoyance and I could only crouch down to look at the dogs more closely. They certainly looked like Jack and Kirby. The other one, all brown in color, came trotting over to me and immediately began to lick my face. I sat back and turned my gaze to Emily.
"Now will you answer why the why the why happened?"
"I don't know. But I guess the Fellowship just gained three new members," she replied.
"Three? I see only two creatures," Legolas said.
"Yeah. Did you forget how to count, Emily?"
"No! Mo is here!" she said with an indignant tone and pulled a black lump of fur out of a clump of weeds.
"Hey! Mo-as joined the party!" I cried and made a grab for the guinea pig in her hands. She shielded the little creature from me and I glared at her. Legolas knelt down next to up, looking from the two dogs to Mo in Emily's hands. He shook his head.
"I don't know why I'm surprised," he said. "I should be able to expect anything when it comes to you two."
"Is that an insult? Emily, I think Pointy Ears just insulted us!" I said and reached over to mess up his blond hair. I was rewarded with a scowl. That cocky Elf deserved it though...
************
Aragorn called us together one day. I had a bad feeling that we'd be leaving Lothlórien soon. My suspicion was confirmed as soon as he spoke.
"I have decided that we have over done our stay here. We must continue on this quest that we have begun. Long has the thoughts of leaving the Golden Wood lay in my mind; I'm afraid now is the time to leave." Here he stopped, and silence over took the rest of the Company.
"I have no objection to that at all. However, I have a request," Boromir finally said, breaking the silence. "I wish to leave these two lunatics here. They have only been a nuisance since we left Rivendell." I felt myself start to boil up. Legolas glared at Boromir and crossed his arms defiantly.
"I refuse to leave Katie here. No matter if she or Emily have not been of any use in this journey, I feel they will both play a part in the danger to come," he said, looking at Boromir squarely. "If you had ever thought to talk to either of them, you'd find a real being under all the-the random- ness." The Man seemed to back down a little, but not much.
"And what makes you think that, Master Elf? What good are either of them?" he shot back furiously. "Can they do anything at all even? They're children, and girls at that! Girls can't-" Before Legolas could answer, I interrupted.
"Just look here you over grown excuse for a human. There's this little thing called feminism in the world where I come from. It's when women are equal to men," I half yelled at him. "There's women enlisted in the armed forces everywhere. So if you start acting like a flipping guy who goes around saying 'Men are the superior gender' I'll knock your teeth out. UNDERSTAND YOU PATHETIC WORM?"
"Just look here you-" Boromir began but was, once again, cut off, this time by Aragorn.
"Have you all forgotten what Lord Elrond named us? The Fellowship of the Ring. And that we will stay. No one shall stay behind, even if they are insane lunatics," he said, looking from Boromir (who was steadily scowling at Legolas and I) to Legolas (who was returning the Man's scowling with dark looks) to me (who was glaring daggers at Boromir).
Despite my angry outburst, I was a little surprised in Legolas. Hey, sure, I knew he didn't hate me. But really, I didn't expect him to actually be my friend. 'Maybe he's been poisoned,' I thought reasonably. 'Maybe it made him go insane...Or wait...that might just be me. Hey, he even actually sounded like a modern person and not some guy out of a Old Ye England movie. It's definitely me.' Emily smiled sweetly at Boromir and stuck her tongue out.
"We leave tomorrow at noon. I have requested that Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn grant us boats. We will go up the Anduin River," Aragorn began again. "I suggest you all rest as much as you can; the trek ahead will not be an easy one." The hobbits and Gimli slowly wandered off to do their own thing. Boromir stayed to converse with Aragorn, probably to argue more. Emily, who didn't want to stay and listen to Boromir, followed Legolas and I.
"Are there really women who take up arms in your world?" Legolas asked suddenly.
"Sure. It's really pretty cool...They don't have to wear dresses either," I replied.
"Are they all like that?"
"No, only people like Katie who believe every female who wears a dress or the color pink is a Barbie," Emily said and I poked the back of her head. Legolas looked at us oddly for a moment, but didn't comment, out of experience I guessed.
"Do you miss it?" he asked instead.
"Miss what?"
"Where you came from."
"Not particularly. Oh, I suppose we'll have to go back someday, but the more I think about it I really don't want to," was my only reply.
"You're weird Katie. Don't you miss Andy and your mom and dad and everyone else?" Emily scolded me.
"Not really...I just miss Coke. And pizza. But it's not like we're staying here forever, Emily. Eventually someone's going to come along and tell us they know how to get us back and we have to leave." Emily rolled her eyes at me and muttered something like "how'd I get stuck with you" under her breath. I only grinned.
"Would you really not leave me here?" I asked Legolas suddenly. He thought for a moment and I scowled, knowing he was taking his merry little time on purpose.
"Of course not. As much as I wish it," he said with a mocking grin. He shielded himself from my hand which was flying up to slap the back of his head.
"Sure. That's what they all say," Emily said suspiciously. "Then boom! You find yourself in the smelly kiddy tubes at McDonalds in front of a kid who's hurling his lunch."
"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked and raised my eyebrow.
"Nothing. But I felt like saying it," she replied smartly. Legolas sighed.
"Not asking," he said, mostly to himself, and I smirked.
"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, Everybody's-" I was chanting. Emily grabbed her sword and hit me with the blunt edge of it gently.
"No you don't!" she cried and stuffed a handkerchief into my open mouth. I glared at her.
"Hey, you're the one who eats the hankies, not me!" I said and shoulder my bag. She followed me toward the river bank where the rest of the Fellowship and several Elves were gathered. I hopped into a boat with Legolas and stared at the oar he handed me.
"What am I supposed to do with that?" I asked finally.
"Well, rowing is always a good idea. After all, oars don't make very good weapons," he replied and shoved it into my hands. I glared and him.
"Fine, make the small weak child work. It's not going to be my fault though if I 'accidentally' run us into Boromir's boat," I declared stubbornly and he grinned.
"I have no problem with that," the Elf murmured.
Soon we were steadily rowing away from the shore in the light Elven boats. I managed not to run into anyone, though I dearly wished I could. Gimli had joined us in the boat and at the moment he was speaking to Legolas about something I didn't care about. I looked over to my left where Aragorn, Sam, Frodo, and Emily were rowing some feet away from us. Emily has managed to convince Aragorn to let Jack and Kirby come along. It took her forever, but he finally gave it. Why he did that was beyond me, but I guess it was just Emily. She can be very...forceful when she wants to be. Trust me. I speak from experience.
On my right was Boromir and Merry and Pippin. I shot him a glare, which he returned faintly. Hope he runs into a rock. Stupid fat Man...
Before we could even leave the river and enter the Anduin, a large swan boat drifted toward us. Galadriel and Celeborn were sitting in it. Aragorn and Galadriel spoke shortly in Elvish, then he followed the two Elves back to shore. He told us that we could dine one last time with the Lord and Lady of Lothlórien. Legolas steered us back with the other two boats until we gentle bumped onto the back. I scrambled out of the boat and jogged over to catch up with Legolas.
For at least and hour we stayed and ate, until I grew bored and Emily and I strolled off to do something. Two Elven archers who were standing nearby ushered us back, though, saying Galadriel wished to speak to everyone before we left. We grudgingly went back and I tossed myself down next to Legolas.
"Why are people here so pushy?" I asked him sulkily while sending glares at the two Elves who had sent us back.
"That's a matter of opinion," he said with a slight smile. "It depends on whether you are an innocent traveler or an insane mortal."
"What's that supposed to mean, Elf Boy?" I said with an irritated look. His hand moved up to his knives, a scary looking smile on his face. "Please don't kill me." With that I scooted off to annoy Emily and Aragorn. As I was about to ask another stupid question, Lady Galadriel called for attention. All eyes turned toward her...well, except mine.
"Though you leave Lothlórien now," Galadriel began. "Lord Celeborn and I wish you to accept these gifts, for you to remember your time here." With that, she began giving her tokens to the Fellowship. With a bored sigh I started to poke Emily in the back of the head whenever I could find time to. With one eye I watched Emily; with the other I watched Galadriel. To Aragorn she gave an intricately designed sword sheath, along with a shiny green brooch. To Legolas she gave a Galadrim bow. To Boromir went a belt of gold; and Merry and Pippin likewise, with silver belts. Gimli requested three strands of her hair, which she gave to him. I half expected her to send us on her way then, but she sought Emily and I both out from the back of our little party. I gave her a dark look, but she only smiled.
"Lady Emily," she said, looking first at Emily.
"Lady Galadriel," she replied, smiling only a little. I snorted (with laughter you idiot reader, not like a pig...you people really do have messed up minds) and she shot me a look of annoyance before turning back to the Elven woman before her.
"I believe that you will find this useful, since your teacher has failed to present you with an item such as this," she said and revealed a beautiful sword sheath. It was a very carefully designed object; green gems adorning it in several place, silver lines swirling around it. Emily gave a little bow with her head and clasped the sheath to her belt. I finally turned to look at Galadriel. "You, Lady Katie-Katie, are a much more difficult person to figure out. What is it that would please you?" she asked me with a delicate smile. If it wasn't for her wise old stuff, I would have sworn she was just like Ariavasiel.
"Well..." I said, thinking of what would be the most obnoxious thing to say. Legolas kneaded me in the back warningly and I "accidentally" stepped back onto his foot. Before I could reply she drew something out from behind her. How she did that I don't know. Maybe Elves can make stuff appear just like that...Who knows. She held it in front of her, and my breath caught in my throat. I was careful not to show any sign of excitement though.
"This is a book of our language," she said softly and I took the thick book from her. It was only slightly heavy, which surprised me because it was pretty big. "It has every word ever spoken in Elvish." I only muttered a thank you, but look at her with larger gratitude than my words. She nodded her head only slightly, a smile playing on her lips. I stationed myself back between Emily and Legolas, looking down at the treasure I held in my hands.
"I bid you all farewell. Remember that as long as you have faith in your Company, somehow your quest shall succeed," she said now, addressing the whole Fellowship now. She said no more than this, and we slowly filed back into the little boats the Elves had granted us.
For hours we went up the Great River. My legs began to cramp and I was getting tired and hungry. Legolas finally let me row though. As I took the oar from him, an all together too innocent expression on, I began to move our boat. I wasn't as fast as the Elf, but I wasn't slow either. I knew that he hadn't guessed my plan yet, because he was leaning back a little, staring up at the sky. Now was my chance to cause chaos.
Slowly, I began to veer the boat to the right, gently at first but slowly gaining speed. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Legolas was silently watching me, his face expressionless. I quickly looked away and put the boat back on course. Stupid Elf. He just HAS to watch me every five seconds. For twenty minutes I rowed in silence, careful not to look suspicious. Finally when I looked back, I saw he was dosing quietly. Tee hee. Elf Boy has to sleep some time. I made sure Gimli was staring in the other direction when I started to paddle over to the right. I tried to look as innocent as possible, which wasn't easy because there was a mischievous grin plastered onto my face. Pay back time kids.
Quickly, I rammed the boat into Boromir's, not very hard but enough to through him off guard. Legolas, too, was thrown away and he was looking about wonderingly, giving Gimli a questioning look. I immediately put on a horrified expression.
"Oh my God! Boromir, I'm SO SORRY! Please forgive me," I pretended to plead. "I swear it was accidental!"
"Just-just leave me alone," he gasped and regained his composure. I smirked inwardly and straitened out our boat. Legolas tapped me on the shoulder and I handed over the oar.
"Next time do it when I'm not sleeping, if you don't mind," he grumbled and I put on a sweet smile. "And stop doing that. You remind me of that horror in Lothlórien." Just to get on his nerves I smiled again. He picked the oar out of the water and made a motion toward me like he was hitting something. I quickly turned around and looked to my left at Emily.
It looked like Frodo was making friends with Kirby...the dog was sitting in his lap, panting happily. Aragorn looked slightly irritated, since Sam was trying to get Mo away from Emily. Emily finally slapped Sam and the hobbit backed off. She put Mo in her shirt pocket and shot Sam a death glare, which he returned. I thought I heard he say to him, "On Katie's unworthy hide, I swear you will not kill Mo!" She is such an ungrateful balloon head sometimes.
Soon we pulled onto shore for a rest. We weren't quite there yet, according to Aragorn, but almost. With a weary sigh I threw myself onto the ground and laid back. Emily's shape loomed over me. She thrusted something into my face.
"What do you want?" I mumbled and sat up.
"You have to hold onto Mo for me. Sam keeps trying to eat him," she stated and handed me the furry creature.
"Why hello Mo-as. You must be wanting to take an adventure into the cooking pot," I said and started to scoot over to the VERY small fire Gimli was making. I swear that dwarf can't camp worth a penny. Then again, neither can I. Emily was about to object.
"I was kidding, Emily, God!" I exclaimed and tucked Mo into the crook of my arm. "But only until we get there."
"Get where?"
"I dunno. To those big statues Aragorn was talking about."
"Oh...okay," she said and stalked off. I look at the guinea pig in my hands and tucked him into a little flap on the outside of my bag. I wasn't going to carry him around all day. Then I crouched next to Gimli.
"You know, I don't really know why you bother even trying to start one of those. It's only going to start working RIGHT when we leave and then-"
"Did I ask for your comment, girl?" he grunted angrily and I smiled.
"Yes," was all I could reply before he swung his ax. I ducked and edged away from the murderous demon. Lord, what kind of person swings an ax around like that? He could take someone's head off. I'm sure he didn't want to behead me...or did he?
Sorry if it took little Katie so long to update. I made this thing SEVEN PAGES LONG though on MS Word. So no killing Katie...Arg...MUST HURRY!! SCHOOL IS COMING!!! Bye ya'll. Can't update soon, I'm leaving for the weekend. Toodles ya'll!! Thanks for the reviews, sry I can't address them personally.
As much as I hated admitting it, the Elf was right; Ariavasiel left me alone for the rest of the time. Legolas himself however wasn't so lucky. She followed him around and seemed to pop up in the least expectable places. Even though she wasn't doing it to me, it gets really annoying when you're holding a bow and someone scares the life out of you so you drop it. I speak from experience. Around that time I began thinking of how to make a fangirl-detector. Maybe if I had one of those, I would be able to save myself from Elves like Ariavasiel.
My idea was forced to wait though, because now my archery was to the point I could actually use it if I had to. Though he still made me practice that, Legolas was now showing me a few moves I could do easily with a knife if I somehow couldn't use my bow.
For three weeks we had already stayed in Lothlórien. Sure, this was a week or two. I had a feeling Aragorn was putting off leaving for as long as he could. Can't say I blame him. When you had all the pleasures of civilization, you never learn to really appreciate food, heating, air- conditioning...you get the idea. Lothlórien had all of those things ready whenever I wanted them. It was a nice change.
Four days after the third week in the Golden Wood, Emily came running down the path to where I was sitting, glaring up at Legolas. He'd just been showing me a defensive move with the knife and then challenged me to a mock battle. I accepted much to my own surprise. What kind of idiot would take on an Elf with about 3,000 years more experience than you? I was obviously that idiot. Only five minutes later I was on the ground with him standing over me, smirking. Now I was sitting next to him, poking him every so often as feeble pay back.
I heard pounding footsteps coming toward us. My head jerked up to see who was coming. Emily skidded to a halt in front of me. I blinked in surprise and watched as she teetered on her toes, catching her balance. She straitened up, panting, an excited expression on her face. "KATIE!!! You'll never guess what happened! YOU HAVE TO COME SEE THIS!!" she just about screamed in my face. I pulled my head back.
"You need a tic tac or something..." I commented and stayed seated. "What does the little grasshopper want to show her master this time?"
"Katie! Would you just follow me?!" she cried and started to pulled me up. I decided, just to annoy her, I would resist.
"First tell me why. Second tell me why the why happened. Third tell me why the why the why happened. Fourth tell me what in God's name did you eat that made your breath smell so bad?" I said calmly, with only the faintest trace of a smile on my face. Beside me, Legolas snickered and Emily kicked his foot irritably.
"I am not answering the last question, but I will answer the first. JACK AND KIRBY ARE HERE!!" she said loudly. That last five words caught my attention. Jack and Kirby were her two dogs. Why the heck would they be here?
"Now, Fubble Bubble, calm down. You've obviously been hallucinating again. What did I tell you about the wine, now, Emily?" Emily stomped her foot in frustrated and practically dragged me along behind her. Legolas slowly stretched and stood, taking his own little time in following me.
"HELP ME YOU PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR AN ELF! I mustn't give in...I can't...I won't...I will not make Emmy Lou happy!" I yelled and struggled against Emily. Legolas only lazily walked behind us, whistling a little.
"Would you quit acting like an idiot?" Emily said, glaring at me.
"I can't. I was born an idiot." She didn't reply, but only shoved me further up the path. Finally we came to the base of a large tree in which two dogs were sitting. Legolas raised an eyebrow.
"What's wrong with that? They're two dogs..." he said and trailed off, looking at Emily expectantly. One of the dogs, the one that was almost all white with a few large tan-ish splotches on his coat, bounded toward Emily. He began to dance around her knees, yipping playfully. I stared.
"Why does that thing look like Jack?" I asked finally.
"Hmmm...," she said and mocked a gasp. "Wait! What if...it really is Jack!?" She had on a look of pure annoyance and I could only crouch down to look at the dogs more closely. They certainly looked like Jack and Kirby. The other one, all brown in color, came trotting over to me and immediately began to lick my face. I sat back and turned my gaze to Emily.
"Now will you answer why the why the why happened?"
"I don't know. But I guess the Fellowship just gained three new members," she replied.
"Three? I see only two creatures," Legolas said.
"Yeah. Did you forget how to count, Emily?"
"No! Mo is here!" she said with an indignant tone and pulled a black lump of fur out of a clump of weeds.
"Hey! Mo-as joined the party!" I cried and made a grab for the guinea pig in her hands. She shielded the little creature from me and I glared at her. Legolas knelt down next to up, looking from the two dogs to Mo in Emily's hands. He shook his head.
"I don't know why I'm surprised," he said. "I should be able to expect anything when it comes to you two."
"Is that an insult? Emily, I think Pointy Ears just insulted us!" I said and reached over to mess up his blond hair. I was rewarded with a scowl. That cocky Elf deserved it though...
************
Aragorn called us together one day. I had a bad feeling that we'd be leaving Lothlórien soon. My suspicion was confirmed as soon as he spoke.
"I have decided that we have over done our stay here. We must continue on this quest that we have begun. Long has the thoughts of leaving the Golden Wood lay in my mind; I'm afraid now is the time to leave." Here he stopped, and silence over took the rest of the Company.
"I have no objection to that at all. However, I have a request," Boromir finally said, breaking the silence. "I wish to leave these two lunatics here. They have only been a nuisance since we left Rivendell." I felt myself start to boil up. Legolas glared at Boromir and crossed his arms defiantly.
"I refuse to leave Katie here. No matter if she or Emily have not been of any use in this journey, I feel they will both play a part in the danger to come," he said, looking at Boromir squarely. "If you had ever thought to talk to either of them, you'd find a real being under all the-the random- ness." The Man seemed to back down a little, but not much.
"And what makes you think that, Master Elf? What good are either of them?" he shot back furiously. "Can they do anything at all even? They're children, and girls at that! Girls can't-" Before Legolas could answer, I interrupted.
"Just look here you over grown excuse for a human. There's this little thing called feminism in the world where I come from. It's when women are equal to men," I half yelled at him. "There's women enlisted in the armed forces everywhere. So if you start acting like a flipping guy who goes around saying 'Men are the superior gender' I'll knock your teeth out. UNDERSTAND YOU PATHETIC WORM?"
"Just look here you-" Boromir began but was, once again, cut off, this time by Aragorn.
"Have you all forgotten what Lord Elrond named us? The Fellowship of the Ring. And that we will stay. No one shall stay behind, even if they are insane lunatics," he said, looking from Boromir (who was steadily scowling at Legolas and I) to Legolas (who was returning the Man's scowling with dark looks) to me (who was glaring daggers at Boromir).
Despite my angry outburst, I was a little surprised in Legolas. Hey, sure, I knew he didn't hate me. But really, I didn't expect him to actually be my friend. 'Maybe he's been poisoned,' I thought reasonably. 'Maybe it made him go insane...Or wait...that might just be me. Hey, he even actually sounded like a modern person and not some guy out of a Old Ye England movie. It's definitely me.' Emily smiled sweetly at Boromir and stuck her tongue out.
"We leave tomorrow at noon. I have requested that Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn grant us boats. We will go up the Anduin River," Aragorn began again. "I suggest you all rest as much as you can; the trek ahead will not be an easy one." The hobbits and Gimli slowly wandered off to do their own thing. Boromir stayed to converse with Aragorn, probably to argue more. Emily, who didn't want to stay and listen to Boromir, followed Legolas and I.
"Are there really women who take up arms in your world?" Legolas asked suddenly.
"Sure. It's really pretty cool...They don't have to wear dresses either," I replied.
"Are they all like that?"
"No, only people like Katie who believe every female who wears a dress or the color pink is a Barbie," Emily said and I poked the back of her head. Legolas looked at us oddly for a moment, but didn't comment, out of experience I guessed.
"Do you miss it?" he asked instead.
"Miss what?"
"Where you came from."
"Not particularly. Oh, I suppose we'll have to go back someday, but the more I think about it I really don't want to," was my only reply.
"You're weird Katie. Don't you miss Andy and your mom and dad and everyone else?" Emily scolded me.
"Not really...I just miss Coke. And pizza. But it's not like we're staying here forever, Emily. Eventually someone's going to come along and tell us they know how to get us back and we have to leave." Emily rolled her eyes at me and muttered something like "how'd I get stuck with you" under her breath. I only grinned.
"Would you really not leave me here?" I asked Legolas suddenly. He thought for a moment and I scowled, knowing he was taking his merry little time on purpose.
"Of course not. As much as I wish it," he said with a mocking grin. He shielded himself from my hand which was flying up to slap the back of his head.
"Sure. That's what they all say," Emily said suspiciously. "Then boom! You find yourself in the smelly kiddy tubes at McDonalds in front of a kid who's hurling his lunch."
"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked and raised my eyebrow.
"Nothing. But I felt like saying it," she replied smartly. Legolas sighed.
"Not asking," he said, mostly to himself, and I smirked.
"I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves, Everybody's-" I was chanting. Emily grabbed her sword and hit me with the blunt edge of it gently.
"No you don't!" she cried and stuffed a handkerchief into my open mouth. I glared at her.
"Hey, you're the one who eats the hankies, not me!" I said and shoulder my bag. She followed me toward the river bank where the rest of the Fellowship and several Elves were gathered. I hopped into a boat with Legolas and stared at the oar he handed me.
"What am I supposed to do with that?" I asked finally.
"Well, rowing is always a good idea. After all, oars don't make very good weapons," he replied and shoved it into my hands. I glared and him.
"Fine, make the small weak child work. It's not going to be my fault though if I 'accidentally' run us into Boromir's boat," I declared stubbornly and he grinned.
"I have no problem with that," the Elf murmured.
Soon we were steadily rowing away from the shore in the light Elven boats. I managed not to run into anyone, though I dearly wished I could. Gimli had joined us in the boat and at the moment he was speaking to Legolas about something I didn't care about. I looked over to my left where Aragorn, Sam, Frodo, and Emily were rowing some feet away from us. Emily has managed to convince Aragorn to let Jack and Kirby come along. It took her forever, but he finally gave it. Why he did that was beyond me, but I guess it was just Emily. She can be very...forceful when she wants to be. Trust me. I speak from experience.
On my right was Boromir and Merry and Pippin. I shot him a glare, which he returned faintly. Hope he runs into a rock. Stupid fat Man...
Before we could even leave the river and enter the Anduin, a large swan boat drifted toward us. Galadriel and Celeborn were sitting in it. Aragorn and Galadriel spoke shortly in Elvish, then he followed the two Elves back to shore. He told us that we could dine one last time with the Lord and Lady of Lothlórien. Legolas steered us back with the other two boats until we gentle bumped onto the back. I scrambled out of the boat and jogged over to catch up with Legolas.
For at least and hour we stayed and ate, until I grew bored and Emily and I strolled off to do something. Two Elven archers who were standing nearby ushered us back, though, saying Galadriel wished to speak to everyone before we left. We grudgingly went back and I tossed myself down next to Legolas.
"Why are people here so pushy?" I asked him sulkily while sending glares at the two Elves who had sent us back.
"That's a matter of opinion," he said with a slight smile. "It depends on whether you are an innocent traveler or an insane mortal."
"What's that supposed to mean, Elf Boy?" I said with an irritated look. His hand moved up to his knives, a scary looking smile on his face. "Please don't kill me." With that I scooted off to annoy Emily and Aragorn. As I was about to ask another stupid question, Lady Galadriel called for attention. All eyes turned toward her...well, except mine.
"Though you leave Lothlórien now," Galadriel began. "Lord Celeborn and I wish you to accept these gifts, for you to remember your time here." With that, she began giving her tokens to the Fellowship. With a bored sigh I started to poke Emily in the back of the head whenever I could find time to. With one eye I watched Emily; with the other I watched Galadriel. To Aragorn she gave an intricately designed sword sheath, along with a shiny green brooch. To Legolas she gave a Galadrim bow. To Boromir went a belt of gold; and Merry and Pippin likewise, with silver belts. Gimli requested three strands of her hair, which she gave to him. I half expected her to send us on her way then, but she sought Emily and I both out from the back of our little party. I gave her a dark look, but she only smiled.
"Lady Emily," she said, looking first at Emily.
"Lady Galadriel," she replied, smiling only a little. I snorted (with laughter you idiot reader, not like a pig...you people really do have messed up minds) and she shot me a look of annoyance before turning back to the Elven woman before her.
"I believe that you will find this useful, since your teacher has failed to present you with an item such as this," she said and revealed a beautiful sword sheath. It was a very carefully designed object; green gems adorning it in several place, silver lines swirling around it. Emily gave a little bow with her head and clasped the sheath to her belt. I finally turned to look at Galadriel. "You, Lady Katie-Katie, are a much more difficult person to figure out. What is it that would please you?" she asked me with a delicate smile. If it wasn't for her wise old stuff, I would have sworn she was just like Ariavasiel.
"Well..." I said, thinking of what would be the most obnoxious thing to say. Legolas kneaded me in the back warningly and I "accidentally" stepped back onto his foot. Before I could reply she drew something out from behind her. How she did that I don't know. Maybe Elves can make stuff appear just like that...Who knows. She held it in front of her, and my breath caught in my throat. I was careful not to show any sign of excitement though.
"This is a book of our language," she said softly and I took the thick book from her. It was only slightly heavy, which surprised me because it was pretty big. "It has every word ever spoken in Elvish." I only muttered a thank you, but look at her with larger gratitude than my words. She nodded her head only slightly, a smile playing on her lips. I stationed myself back between Emily and Legolas, looking down at the treasure I held in my hands.
"I bid you all farewell. Remember that as long as you have faith in your Company, somehow your quest shall succeed," she said now, addressing the whole Fellowship now. She said no more than this, and we slowly filed back into the little boats the Elves had granted us.
For hours we went up the Great River. My legs began to cramp and I was getting tired and hungry. Legolas finally let me row though. As I took the oar from him, an all together too innocent expression on, I began to move our boat. I wasn't as fast as the Elf, but I wasn't slow either. I knew that he hadn't guessed my plan yet, because he was leaning back a little, staring up at the sky. Now was my chance to cause chaos.
Slowly, I began to veer the boat to the right, gently at first but slowly gaining speed. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Legolas was silently watching me, his face expressionless. I quickly looked away and put the boat back on course. Stupid Elf. He just HAS to watch me every five seconds. For twenty minutes I rowed in silence, careful not to look suspicious. Finally when I looked back, I saw he was dosing quietly. Tee hee. Elf Boy has to sleep some time. I made sure Gimli was staring in the other direction when I started to paddle over to the right. I tried to look as innocent as possible, which wasn't easy because there was a mischievous grin plastered onto my face. Pay back time kids.
Quickly, I rammed the boat into Boromir's, not very hard but enough to through him off guard. Legolas, too, was thrown away and he was looking about wonderingly, giving Gimli a questioning look. I immediately put on a horrified expression.
"Oh my God! Boromir, I'm SO SORRY! Please forgive me," I pretended to plead. "I swear it was accidental!"
"Just-just leave me alone," he gasped and regained his composure. I smirked inwardly and straitened out our boat. Legolas tapped me on the shoulder and I handed over the oar.
"Next time do it when I'm not sleeping, if you don't mind," he grumbled and I put on a sweet smile. "And stop doing that. You remind me of that horror in Lothlórien." Just to get on his nerves I smiled again. He picked the oar out of the water and made a motion toward me like he was hitting something. I quickly turned around and looked to my left at Emily.
It looked like Frodo was making friends with Kirby...the dog was sitting in his lap, panting happily. Aragorn looked slightly irritated, since Sam was trying to get Mo away from Emily. Emily finally slapped Sam and the hobbit backed off. She put Mo in her shirt pocket and shot Sam a death glare, which he returned. I thought I heard he say to him, "On Katie's unworthy hide, I swear you will not kill Mo!" She is such an ungrateful balloon head sometimes.
Soon we pulled onto shore for a rest. We weren't quite there yet, according to Aragorn, but almost. With a weary sigh I threw myself onto the ground and laid back. Emily's shape loomed over me. She thrusted something into my face.
"What do you want?" I mumbled and sat up.
"You have to hold onto Mo for me. Sam keeps trying to eat him," she stated and handed me the furry creature.
"Why hello Mo-as. You must be wanting to take an adventure into the cooking pot," I said and started to scoot over to the VERY small fire Gimli was making. I swear that dwarf can't camp worth a penny. Then again, neither can I. Emily was about to object.
"I was kidding, Emily, God!" I exclaimed and tucked Mo into the crook of my arm. "But only until we get there."
"Get where?"
"I dunno. To those big statues Aragorn was talking about."
"Oh...okay," she said and stalked off. I look at the guinea pig in my hands and tucked him into a little flap on the outside of my bag. I wasn't going to carry him around all day. Then I crouched next to Gimli.
"You know, I don't really know why you bother even trying to start one of those. It's only going to start working RIGHT when we leave and then-"
"Did I ask for your comment, girl?" he grunted angrily and I smiled.
"Yes," was all I could reply before he swung his ax. I ducked and edged away from the murderous demon. Lord, what kind of person swings an ax around like that? He could take someone's head off. I'm sure he didn't want to behead me...or did he?
Sorry if it took little Katie so long to update. I made this thing SEVEN PAGES LONG though on MS Word. So no killing Katie...Arg...MUST HURRY!! SCHOOL IS COMING!!! Bye ya'll. Can't update soon, I'm leaving for the weekend. Toodles ya'll!! Thanks for the reviews, sry I can't address them personally.