A/N - I'm BACK!!! That was a very, very long time to go without updating!
Wow! 50 reviews! I am very impressed! This chapter is dedicated to Legolasina for being great and putting me on her favourites list, to Ailsa Joy for being my 50th reviewer and asking if I wanted to be in her fic, and also to Audrey and Tigerlily for being my mates and kicking some Josh Hartnett a**! LOOK OUT FOR YOUR CAMEOS!!!!!
Chapter 13 - Unlucky for some....
The stadium was empty, an eerie silence filling the space, only to be replaced with the echoing of pounding feet. The clouds drifted away from the moon, casting a strange blue light on the tracks, and revealing a small figure jogging slowly around the circumference. The clouds returned and all was dark. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Merry woke at about 3am to be confronted with an empty bed next to his. Frodo lay sleeping peacefully on the other side of the vacant bed, and Pippin was snoring gently on Merry's other side - but Sam was nowhere to be seen. Merry waited for him to return, assuming that he had got up to get a glass of water or simply to relieve himself. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Twenty three minutes. The hobbit did not return.
Knowing that he would probably regret this decision in a few moments Merry clambered out of his own warm bed, grabbed a jacket, and left the environment that had become home to him whilst the hobbits were in the Olympic village. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sam heard the creak of the gate at the entrance to the stadium, but he ignored it. He also ignored the tiredness that was coursing through his form as he continued to jog. So getting up at 2.30am to train for his big race hadn't been the best idea he'd ever had, but he didn't want to make a fool of himself when everyone was expecting so much of him. Especially Rosie, for she, as well as his baby daughter Elanor, would be attending the Olympics to watch him run. And this time, he thought, it was for real - not just a hobbit race. He had something to prove, that diminutive size does not count for anything: especially in athletics. His heart thumping, he sped up and began to sprint.
Once he had stepped into the cold night air, Merry considered where his friend may have gone. Not to the inn, that was for certain, as he wouldn't want to risk anything before his big race. His big race. Merry paused and rubbed his hands together to ward off the cold. He would be training.
3.03 am. Not usually a time when halflings are awake. Merry crept through the passage that formed the entrance to the arena, listening for the once steady pounding of hobbit feet on the track. Nothing. He walked into the shaft of moonlight that had cast itself on the ground and surveyed the now illuminated stadium. Sam was there all right. There asleep on the track.
"Sam!" hissed Merry. "Sam! Wake up - the race is about to start!"
"WHAT?!" cried Sam as he bolted upright. "Hey......." he added when he saw that it was still dark and the stadium was empty. "What did you wake me up for?"
"Sam, I hardly think that the Olympic stadium is the best place for a nap."
"I wasn't sleeping.... I was....." he looked over at Merry who was laughing incredulously. "I was running."
"Was that in the little dream you were having down there?"
"NO! I got up, to train, and then I ran."
"And then you fell asleep...."
"Well, yes.... but, I was practising before so I don't make a ninnyhammer of myself in front of Mr Frodo, and the Gaffer, and Rose, and little Leaner, and Lord Elrond, and Legolas and Gandalf...." Sam laughed nervously, "...if you take my meaning Mr Merry."
Merry didn't answer. He knew there was a reason why he wasn't a night person.
Sam shrugged and followed his retreating friend back to get some sleep.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The day of the race dawned damp and grey. A gloom seemed to be hung about the Olympic village, repressing the spirits of even the happiest hobbit. Visibility in Gondor was poor, and this much rain and low cloud hadn't been seen there since......... well, since before they began writing things down.
This pleased Sam immensely. What with the Shire being further north than Gondor and all, the hobbits were used to the rain, and so gave Sam an advantage in the race. Well, that was his theory - whether it would work was another matter.
Other events to take place that day were the elven poise race (running an obstacle course with a book balanced on your head), the egg and spoon race of the men of Rohan and Gondor, the final of the hobbits piggyback race, and something to do with the shortest time in which you could chant your full name - which, of course, was an ent only event! Unfortunately for you, the wonderful reader, we will not be visiting that event because entish is a very long and complicated language, and is difficult to spell! The event lasted all day anyway....
The elven poise event, however, is a completely different thing altogether....
Naturally Legolas was participating, as were Haldir, Elladen and Elrohir, Arwen, Glorfindel, Figwit and some of the kin alike to Haldir: Maikasiwëiel, Mallainiel, Sindathangien, Firnnovion, Menewathiel, Aradurion and Telepathradiel*. Ordinarily, this would not have been the most interesting event to take place, as elves have a knack of getting things right and looking good, but we must take into account the mudslide that now filled the arena. Oh yes. Elves, books, BIG obstacles, and mud. Lots of it!
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Legolas was in the backstage area, waiting for the call for the start of the race. He wasn't nervous this time: why should he be? After all, he had won every race he had participated in so far in the Olympics. But this one, he thought, as he adjusted his oldest tunic, was different. There was no nervousness, but there was fear. Fear he would make the biggest idiot imaginable out of himself and be unable to face anyone in Middle Earth ever again. The mud was the cause of this but, he reasoned, attempting to calm himself down and regain some of the poise necessary to win the elven poise race, the worst that could happen was that none of the fangirls would like him anymore. That was never a bad thing.
Legolas smiled and edged away from Firnnovion, who had been slowly sliding herself towards him as he had been thinking......
In the end, Legolas needn't have worried. Yes, there was mud, but there were also other elves who would struggle with this. Arwen (yes this is one for all you Arwen bashers) was this elf. As she mounted the slippery seesaw, her book wobbled and fell into the quagmire. This wouldn't have been too much of a disaster in itself if Glorfindel hadn't chosen that particular moment to attempt the seesaw himself. I'll just say that a muddy, mad, messy Arwen isn't a pretty sight. She lost the race, but gained some revenge when she ensured that Glorfindel got disqualified for misconduct. Well she is the King's wife.....
The winner, however, was the elf named Telepathradiel who, despite being caked in brown, sticky mud, was overjoyed at beating Legolas (who came a very disgruntled third, behind Elrohir. He fell on his backside during the running part see...). Arwen, however, was not amused at this and, feeling that she would have won had it not been for the foul play directed at her, started a mud fight. Extremely becoming for a several thousand year old elf and her peers!
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The mud fight was broken off at noon, and the elves and assorted other Middle Earth beings, including a certain two troublesome hobbits, were escorted out of the stadium so that it could be cleared as well as possible for the big race of the day: Sam's race. For yes, the free for all 100m race was still to occur - even in the mudslide.
After much scrubbing and mopping by the stray fangirls who had decided to try and catch a glimpse of Legolas and Figwit in the shower (no not together), the arena was finally clean enough for the race to begin.
Sam joined his fellow competitors at the starting line and surveyed the crowd for signs of his friends and family. He smiled as he spotted their banners amongst the seemingly endless sea of Legolas ones, and then blushed when he realised that his companions were actually seated with Aragorn in the judging box. The 'Samwise Gamgee Fangirls Association' had come out in force!
"Are you ready?" called the announcer man. The runners nodded grimly. After all, this race came with the highest regarded accolade of them all..... Not to mention the proceeds from the bet Merry and Pippin had made with the Bree hobbits all that time ago!
"On your marks...." said the announcer as he switched his megaphone on. Sam braced himself.
"Get set...." he thought of how proud Rosie would be if he won this.
"GO!"
Sam cast his eyes to the still slippery ground and ran as he had never run before.
"GO SAM GO!!!!" called many of the crowd. Sam lifted his head in shock, and noted that he was nowhere near the winner. Blood pounding in his heart and throughout his small body, he accelerated as much as he could, forcing himself to move faster. He was in third now. That was enough for him, third place, he expected no more.
Sam was beginning to feel dizzy now, but he was in the last 10 metres or so, and in near site of the finish line. He put on a final burst of speed and thanked Eru that he had trained that morning. The others had stopped running, the stadium had gone blurry, and he collapsed in a heap on the track. One final thought went through his head as he succumbed to the blackness caused by the over exertion: I failed them.
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A few seconds later, a crowd had converged around Sam. The exhausted hobbit opened his eyes to see the smiling throng. The tannoy system announced the results. Sam didn't even bother listening, he wasn't in the final three......
"And, the winner of the free for all 100m race in the first Official Olympics of Middle Earth is........... Samwise Gamgee."
Sam's mouth fell open with shock.
The stadium erupted with cheers.
Such a noise had never been heard in Middle Earth.
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A/N - Awwwwwwwwww....... that was my favourite chapter to write! Sam won!
* The translations (created using the MiddleEarth name generator on barrowdowns.com):
Maikasiwëiel - Michelle
Mallainiel - Audrey
Sindathangien - Anna
Firnnovion - Amy (which I believe is Legolasina's real name)
Menewathiel - Rachel
Aradurion - Chris
Telepathradiel - Ailsa
Well, as you may have heard, I plan on finishing this story after 15 chapters! If you have anything you would like in before then, or have noticed any loose ends within this story that have yet to be tied up, then please let me know!
I thank you all once again for the fantastic support and friendship from everyone :)
Please review!!!!!!!
Rachel xxx