A/N: Finally I got to writing this. I've been swamped with all sorts of
stuff, but this idea just STUCK! I hope you like it. Please review. I do
not own anything Tolkien made here.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Mayhem By the Sea
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- That night, after that extremely embarrassing incident, I learned my troubles were just beginning. It all began while at dinner that evening. Everybody was there, except for the one person I was planning to skin alive when I laid my eyes on him.
"How long will you be here, brother?" I heard Éowyn ask Éomer as I and the other attendants were filling up the cups.
"About two or three months at the most" the King of Rohan answered.
"I'm going to have to return to Dol Amroth pretty soon. Perhaps your majesties, and the Steward would like to visit along with your families of course" Imrahil announced.
The King and Queen of Gondor locked eyes. It seemed as if somehow, one could perceive the other's mind. Finally Aragorn spoke. "My queen and I would be delighted" he said.
"We'll go" Lothíriel chimed in before Éomer could say anything. Now all eyes were on the Prince and the Princess of Ithilien. Before either Faramir or Éowyn could say a word, Beregond came rushing in out of breath.
"Your majesty! Masters Legolas and Gimli, along with the Queen's brothers and Masters Peregrin and Meriadoc have arrived" he announced, and I thought he was going asphyxiate on the spot since he was so hot and flushed. Aragorn got up to tell him what to do, leaving the rest of us in silent delight.
"I didn't know they'd be coming" Faramir said in wonder. After a short time, the newcomers followed Aragorn back in the hall. After the usual greetings, courtesies, and teasing, everybody was seated back at the table.
"So how have things been for you, Elladan?" Arwen asked her older brother.
"Rivendell just isn't the same without you and Estel causing a racket here and there" the elf answered. After Imrahil told them of his impending departure, a light suddenly came in Merry's eyes.
"Did you say we can go to Dol Amroth?" the hobbit asked.
"I did. It is fine with me, "the Prince replied.
"What do you say?" Pippin asked his companions.
"I want to see the sea, but I won't go over it yet" Legolas said.
"If it means adventure, then I'm all for it" Elrohir agreed.
"Hmph! If it means sailing then I'm unsure about it" Gimli muttered.
"Quite on the contrary, because in fact because we'll be going on horseback. Unless the ladies here believe otherwise" Imrahil said.
"I think my children and I can manage" Éowyn smiled. I knew she was going to take this as a challenge.
"What do you say?" Elrohir asked his companions. They all nodded, even Gimli, though the dwarf seemed to be rather reluctant.
"Éowyn, are you quite sure about this?" Faramir asked his wife.
"I don't want you to miss all the fun. Besides, when was the last time you went there?" Éowyn said.
"Will two days be enough time to ready yourselves?" Imrahil asked.
"That will do" Aragorn answered.
I felt like fainting, and I almost choked on my own glass of wine. It looked like my troubles were just beginning. Unless of course, some things were made possible however that was becoming unlikely.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
"Couldn't have you or Faramir asked Beregond to come?" I asked Éowyn two days later as she locked the door of the house. It was twilight; the sun hadn't risen yet over the hills of Emyn Arnen, but we had to be on our way. I was holding Elboron, and my shirt was already stained with drool. Faramir had taken Eäriel and had gone ahead to Minas Tirith an hour ago to see to some matters.
"Bergil is going to his grandfather's house to spend time with his cousins and Beregond is busy training two newcomers to the White Company. You know that" Éowyn replied as she yanked the key out of the keyhole.
"How about Elaniwel?" I pressed on.
"The Warden is still training her. She cannot leave the Houses until next month at the very least" Éowyn said as we began walking down the paths. "I think you might like a change of scenery,"
We walked in silence for the rest of the way, till we arrived in Minas Tirith and went slowly up to the gate. When we arrived, the sky was pink, orange and gold, and our party was gathering by the wall.
I handed Elboron to his mother and went to take a look at who was coming. Aside from those aforementioned, Elfhelm the Marshal was joining us, without a doubt as a traveling companion to Éomer. It was good to see an old friend coming along. Just when I was about to get back to Faramir and Éowyn, I saw the one person I did not want to see.
"Tonigil? What are you doing here?" I gasped and my jaw nearly fell to the ground at the sight of him.
"King Elessar asked me to accompany him and his family" he told me sheepishly.
"This has to be a bad dream" I blurted.
"It sure isn't Niliwen" he said confidently.
"Are you two going or what?" I heard Pippin call. I ran as fast as I could from Tonigil and rejoined the group. This was the very reason why I wanted to play sick today!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Remind me again to douse myself in the fountain and catch a chill before any major expedition. On the second day of our ride, this is what transpired.
"I'll take care of Elboron" Faramir told me one afternoon during a rest stop as I tried to keep the infant from eating anything he saw.
"Are you sure? He bit me several times" I said as I handed the child over. The Steward looked at me in amusement.
"He can't help it if it he's got his mother's spirit" he pointed out.
"You were the one who whispered poetry in her ear" I retorted as I went off to get some privacy. This trip was getting crazy, what with the sons of Elrond and Legolas singing snatches of old and new lays. Pippin and Merry had mild hangovers from the pints that they'd drunk the previous night, but this did little to ensure stealth in the party.
"If we make good time, we can get to Dol Amroth by tomorrow night" Imrahil informed us as we all mounted our steeds again.
"That would involve traveling at night at the rate we're going" Lothíriel said.
"Then in two days" Imrahil said resignedly.
"In the meantime, we can go have some fun" Pippin said as he spurred his pony on to catch up with us. I knew someone should've allowed the hobbits to share horses with others in the group. When Pippin wasn't lagging behind, Merry was getting lost in the woods.
"What's with all the gloom around here? Why don't we have some laughter?" Gimli suggested. It was good to see he wanted to laugh. He'd been in a bad mood for a good part of the day since he had to be tied to his horse.
"The sound of wind does not matter, as long as I could hear your laughter" Tonigil said and he winked at me. I thought I was going to fall off my horse.
Next thing I knew though, I was on my back, looking straight up into Arwen's face.
"Are you alright?" she asked me concernedly. I managed to nod as I got up, with twigs and leaves all over my clothing.
"Next time, we should tie Niliwen to the horse" Legolas joked. I shot him a dirty glare, which only made the elf convulse in laughter all the more, causing him to slip off his own mount.
"Make that three days" Faramir laughed as he watched the elf jump back on his horse.
"You've fallen off your horse at least once haven't you?" Éowyn asked him.
"Ten times actually" Imrahil piped up. Faramir turned crimson at this.
"I can't believe you kept count, father" Lothíriel giggled.
"I have a pretty good memory, even at my age" Imrahil said.
"That was a pretty amusing rhyme, Master Tonigil" Merry told my worst enemy.
"It helps when you have the best inspirations" Tonigil said.
"Don't any of you have any poetry? The woods here are fair indeed and they should be of adequate inspiration" Pippin begged.
"Not as fair as the forests of Ithilien" Legolas said wistfully.
"The glades of Ithilien so wild yet so fair, pale beside the lady with golden hair" Faramir recited all of a sudden.
Éowyn laughed to herself at this sudden display of affection. I was almost about to fall off my horse again, this time from laughing.
"I know you recite poetry to her, but not in public for the Valar's sake!" I managed to say.
"They've done worse, I heard" Arwen said. I almost squirmed in my saddle since I knew what she was alluding to. The day that Faramir had proposed to Éowyn as they stood on the walls of Minas Tirith, I had to endure the sight of them kissing. Blast that my window faced the walls! Admittedly though, it was a bit sweet. Must stop fantasizing!
"Did I ever tell any of you what exactly Éomer did when I told him about my engagement?" Éowyn said wickedly.
"It seems you and Faramir get pleasure out of this sort of thing" Éomer sighed.
"I have never heard your version of the story," Lothíriel said.
"Well, it was the day after the coronation at Minas Tirith, and I had woken up early. I went out to the garden, as had been my practice for sometime. Faramir was there, and we talked, till Éomer caught us together," Éowyn said.
"Anyway, his eyes widened and his mouth just hung open. The next thing I knew, he'd casually joined us, until he noticed that Faramir had my hand in his. Well, he jumped to conclusions, but he was awfully right on target. The next thing I knew, Éomer was yelling in Rohirric about how fast things had gone, about how un-courtly our behavior had been, and stuff like that. It was rather scary at first, till in his yelling he slipped into a nice huge puddle of mud"
Some of us had begun to laugh pretty hard at the idea of Éomer dirtying himself in that manner. I was wondering whether another rest stop was inevitable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Two days later, we arrived in Dol Amroth with the rising of the sun. The dawn had turned the castle and the sea golden. It was a perfect picture, sort of reminding me of tales of Numenor and Valinor.
As we walked up to the gates, I felt the cool sea breeze blow. I made a mental note to go for a dip later, as the water looked particularly wholesome, especially near the cliffs.
"Umm, Niliwen" Elfhelm said to me as we entered.
"What?" I asked curtly.
"Do you know how to speak Elvish?" he asked.
"Sir, here in Dol Amroth, as my lord Faramir tells me, they speak the Common tongue here mostly. Though many here know the elven-tongue, the former is used more often in conversation" I said, trying to sound informed.
"The stable boys were just asking" he said as he rejoined King Éomer. I knew then that I still had a reputation in Edoras.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Hours later, at about nine or so in the morning, I simply told Éowyn I was going out. I didn't tell her though I was planning to go to the cliffs and take a look at what was there.
Though I was wearing a thick cotton chemise and set of drawers, the water felt cold as I jumped in. I swam quickly to the side of the cliffs, where the water was particularly deep. I had been splashing and exploring for a while then I caught sight of Tonigil frantically waving at me from the top of the cliff.
"What?" I called to him. He began pointing behind me crazily and he seemed to be yelling something. Thinking it was one of his usual pranks, I swam on, till I turned around and saw a huge black fin sticking out of the water!
Screaming, I swam to shore and ran up to the castle, all dripping wet. Unfortunately, I crashed right into Faramir, Éowyn, Éomer and Lothíriel, who were coming back from the old study.
"Blazes, woman! What has gotten into you?" Éomer bellowed.
"T-t-there's-s a-a s-shark!" I trembled.
Faramir and Lothíriel looked like they were going to laugh. "Seriously!" I said.
"No Niliwen, it's just that nobody ever told you. The water near the cliffs is off-limits during autumn. By the way, nice undergarments" Lothíriel said. I wanted Mandos to whisk me away there and then.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
When I finally got enough courage to face them again, I found everybody sitting out on the beach, at a safe distance from the edge of the cliff. I sat at the edge of the group, till Éowyn motioned for me to join them.
"You were sitting too close to the edge" she told me as I came up.
I shrugged, looking at where I'd once sat. "I don't want to face that shark again. By the way, how did you know about the shark?" I asked Faramir.
"Do you really want to know?" Imrahil said.
Faramir laughed shamefacedly. "The tale is hardly more delicate than that of the Lady of Ithilien" he said.
"It must also be worth hearing if the recollection can make you laugh" Éowyn said. "Consider it as practice for the times when you'll be telling our children some tales"
Faramir took a deep breath and began his story.
"I was a child of about four summers when my father allowed my mother to bring Boromir and me to Dol Amroth for a month. My brother was about nine years of age , so my mother, who had already begun to sicken then, told him to watch me for a few hours or so while she rested after our downriver journey,"
"As my brother and I walked, we espied a spring chicken that had gotten loose from the coop. Boromir lured the chicken with some corn he'd found on the ship, and upon catching the fowl, he handed it to me. I followed him out to the cliff, and we stood at the very edge," Faramir said, glancing to the cliff, as if he could somehow still see his brother standing there. I guess Faramir could, because I could also somehow picture it.
Éowyn reached for his hand. "Do continue" she asked.
"Very well then. So we stood there, and he wondered aloud how deep it was. He meant it as a joke, he explained years later, that I should toss the bird over" Faramir continued.
"You didn't!" I gasped. Faramir shook his head.
"I did, and the chicken was halfway down, when suddenly something leaped in the air. Boromir yelled and I was too shocked to even scream. The chicken for some reason heard us, or saw whatever it was that came out of the water and began flapping frantically. I don't know how it did it, but it flew upwards, effectively dodging the behemoth"
"'Shark!' my brother called. I paid him no heed. I was just watching the monster as if I was expecting the wave that engulfed Numenor to swallow it up. The next thing I knew, the chicken had flown straight at me and was on the verge of pecking my eyes out. It might've if Boromir did not intervene. By then, the servant who worked at the poultry yard had noticed that one chicken was missing and had come out to investigate,"
"He began to yell at us in Elvish, asking what we, the Steward's sons, were doing stealing chickens. He was yelling loud enough to wake up everybody, and before we knew it, grandfather and mother came out of the castle. They were amused when they found out. But I can't say the same for my father" Faramir concluded with a rather wry smile.
Silence reigned over all of us. I for one was stunned. The thought that Faramir had done something that crazy as a child was hard to believe. I knew Éowyn and Éomer shared a peculiar sense of humor. The disturbing part though was that Faramir's sense of humor was also along the same lines.
I looked at Tonigil and he smiled at me. I realized I owed my life to that idiot. Either that or I'd be shark bait.
"Any more stories?" Pippin asked. It looked like it was going to be a LONG vacation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Haha! I hoped you liked it. Well, if you give me any ideas in your reviews for stories that Niliwen can mention in her next entry, I'd be glad to include them. Just say who's going to narrate okay? I'll take care of the rest. Wish me luck in my school play this Thursday! Send a review! Namarie for now.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Mayhem By the Sea
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------- That night, after that extremely embarrassing incident, I learned my troubles were just beginning. It all began while at dinner that evening. Everybody was there, except for the one person I was planning to skin alive when I laid my eyes on him.
"How long will you be here, brother?" I heard Éowyn ask Éomer as I and the other attendants were filling up the cups.
"About two or three months at the most" the King of Rohan answered.
"I'm going to have to return to Dol Amroth pretty soon. Perhaps your majesties, and the Steward would like to visit along with your families of course" Imrahil announced.
The King and Queen of Gondor locked eyes. It seemed as if somehow, one could perceive the other's mind. Finally Aragorn spoke. "My queen and I would be delighted" he said.
"We'll go" Lothíriel chimed in before Éomer could say anything. Now all eyes were on the Prince and the Princess of Ithilien. Before either Faramir or Éowyn could say a word, Beregond came rushing in out of breath.
"Your majesty! Masters Legolas and Gimli, along with the Queen's brothers and Masters Peregrin and Meriadoc have arrived" he announced, and I thought he was going asphyxiate on the spot since he was so hot and flushed. Aragorn got up to tell him what to do, leaving the rest of us in silent delight.
"I didn't know they'd be coming" Faramir said in wonder. After a short time, the newcomers followed Aragorn back in the hall. After the usual greetings, courtesies, and teasing, everybody was seated back at the table.
"So how have things been for you, Elladan?" Arwen asked her older brother.
"Rivendell just isn't the same without you and Estel causing a racket here and there" the elf answered. After Imrahil told them of his impending departure, a light suddenly came in Merry's eyes.
"Did you say we can go to Dol Amroth?" the hobbit asked.
"I did. It is fine with me, "the Prince replied.
"What do you say?" Pippin asked his companions.
"I want to see the sea, but I won't go over it yet" Legolas said.
"If it means adventure, then I'm all for it" Elrohir agreed.
"Hmph! If it means sailing then I'm unsure about it" Gimli muttered.
"Quite on the contrary, because in fact because we'll be going on horseback. Unless the ladies here believe otherwise" Imrahil said.
"I think my children and I can manage" Éowyn smiled. I knew she was going to take this as a challenge.
"What do you say?" Elrohir asked his companions. They all nodded, even Gimli, though the dwarf seemed to be rather reluctant.
"Éowyn, are you quite sure about this?" Faramir asked his wife.
"I don't want you to miss all the fun. Besides, when was the last time you went there?" Éowyn said.
"Will two days be enough time to ready yourselves?" Imrahil asked.
"That will do" Aragorn answered.
I felt like fainting, and I almost choked on my own glass of wine. It looked like my troubles were just beginning. Unless of course, some things were made possible however that was becoming unlikely.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
"Couldn't have you or Faramir asked Beregond to come?" I asked Éowyn two days later as she locked the door of the house. It was twilight; the sun hadn't risen yet over the hills of Emyn Arnen, but we had to be on our way. I was holding Elboron, and my shirt was already stained with drool. Faramir had taken Eäriel and had gone ahead to Minas Tirith an hour ago to see to some matters.
"Bergil is going to his grandfather's house to spend time with his cousins and Beregond is busy training two newcomers to the White Company. You know that" Éowyn replied as she yanked the key out of the keyhole.
"How about Elaniwel?" I pressed on.
"The Warden is still training her. She cannot leave the Houses until next month at the very least" Éowyn said as we began walking down the paths. "I think you might like a change of scenery,"
We walked in silence for the rest of the way, till we arrived in Minas Tirith and went slowly up to the gate. When we arrived, the sky was pink, orange and gold, and our party was gathering by the wall.
I handed Elboron to his mother and went to take a look at who was coming. Aside from those aforementioned, Elfhelm the Marshal was joining us, without a doubt as a traveling companion to Éomer. It was good to see an old friend coming along. Just when I was about to get back to Faramir and Éowyn, I saw the one person I did not want to see.
"Tonigil? What are you doing here?" I gasped and my jaw nearly fell to the ground at the sight of him.
"King Elessar asked me to accompany him and his family" he told me sheepishly.
"This has to be a bad dream" I blurted.
"It sure isn't Niliwen" he said confidently.
"Are you two going or what?" I heard Pippin call. I ran as fast as I could from Tonigil and rejoined the group. This was the very reason why I wanted to play sick today!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Remind me again to douse myself in the fountain and catch a chill before any major expedition. On the second day of our ride, this is what transpired.
"I'll take care of Elboron" Faramir told me one afternoon during a rest stop as I tried to keep the infant from eating anything he saw.
"Are you sure? He bit me several times" I said as I handed the child over. The Steward looked at me in amusement.
"He can't help it if it he's got his mother's spirit" he pointed out.
"You were the one who whispered poetry in her ear" I retorted as I went off to get some privacy. This trip was getting crazy, what with the sons of Elrond and Legolas singing snatches of old and new lays. Pippin and Merry had mild hangovers from the pints that they'd drunk the previous night, but this did little to ensure stealth in the party.
"If we make good time, we can get to Dol Amroth by tomorrow night" Imrahil informed us as we all mounted our steeds again.
"That would involve traveling at night at the rate we're going" Lothíriel said.
"Then in two days" Imrahil said resignedly.
"In the meantime, we can go have some fun" Pippin said as he spurred his pony on to catch up with us. I knew someone should've allowed the hobbits to share horses with others in the group. When Pippin wasn't lagging behind, Merry was getting lost in the woods.
"What's with all the gloom around here? Why don't we have some laughter?" Gimli suggested. It was good to see he wanted to laugh. He'd been in a bad mood for a good part of the day since he had to be tied to his horse.
"The sound of wind does not matter, as long as I could hear your laughter" Tonigil said and he winked at me. I thought I was going to fall off my horse.
Next thing I knew though, I was on my back, looking straight up into Arwen's face.
"Are you alright?" she asked me concernedly. I managed to nod as I got up, with twigs and leaves all over my clothing.
"Next time, we should tie Niliwen to the horse" Legolas joked. I shot him a dirty glare, which only made the elf convulse in laughter all the more, causing him to slip off his own mount.
"Make that three days" Faramir laughed as he watched the elf jump back on his horse.
"You've fallen off your horse at least once haven't you?" Éowyn asked him.
"Ten times actually" Imrahil piped up. Faramir turned crimson at this.
"I can't believe you kept count, father" Lothíriel giggled.
"I have a pretty good memory, even at my age" Imrahil said.
"That was a pretty amusing rhyme, Master Tonigil" Merry told my worst enemy.
"It helps when you have the best inspirations" Tonigil said.
"Don't any of you have any poetry? The woods here are fair indeed and they should be of adequate inspiration" Pippin begged.
"Not as fair as the forests of Ithilien" Legolas said wistfully.
"The glades of Ithilien so wild yet so fair, pale beside the lady with golden hair" Faramir recited all of a sudden.
Éowyn laughed to herself at this sudden display of affection. I was almost about to fall off my horse again, this time from laughing.
"I know you recite poetry to her, but not in public for the Valar's sake!" I managed to say.
"They've done worse, I heard" Arwen said. I almost squirmed in my saddle since I knew what she was alluding to. The day that Faramir had proposed to Éowyn as they stood on the walls of Minas Tirith, I had to endure the sight of them kissing. Blast that my window faced the walls! Admittedly though, it was a bit sweet. Must stop fantasizing!
"Did I ever tell any of you what exactly Éomer did when I told him about my engagement?" Éowyn said wickedly.
"It seems you and Faramir get pleasure out of this sort of thing" Éomer sighed.
"I have never heard your version of the story," Lothíriel said.
"Well, it was the day after the coronation at Minas Tirith, and I had woken up early. I went out to the garden, as had been my practice for sometime. Faramir was there, and we talked, till Éomer caught us together," Éowyn said.
"Anyway, his eyes widened and his mouth just hung open. The next thing I knew, he'd casually joined us, until he noticed that Faramir had my hand in his. Well, he jumped to conclusions, but he was awfully right on target. The next thing I knew, Éomer was yelling in Rohirric about how fast things had gone, about how un-courtly our behavior had been, and stuff like that. It was rather scary at first, till in his yelling he slipped into a nice huge puddle of mud"
Some of us had begun to laugh pretty hard at the idea of Éomer dirtying himself in that manner. I was wondering whether another rest stop was inevitable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Two days later, we arrived in Dol Amroth with the rising of the sun. The dawn had turned the castle and the sea golden. It was a perfect picture, sort of reminding me of tales of Numenor and Valinor.
As we walked up to the gates, I felt the cool sea breeze blow. I made a mental note to go for a dip later, as the water looked particularly wholesome, especially near the cliffs.
"Umm, Niliwen" Elfhelm said to me as we entered.
"What?" I asked curtly.
"Do you know how to speak Elvish?" he asked.
"Sir, here in Dol Amroth, as my lord Faramir tells me, they speak the Common tongue here mostly. Though many here know the elven-tongue, the former is used more often in conversation" I said, trying to sound informed.
"The stable boys were just asking" he said as he rejoined King Éomer. I knew then that I still had a reputation in Edoras.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Hours later, at about nine or so in the morning, I simply told Éowyn I was going out. I didn't tell her though I was planning to go to the cliffs and take a look at what was there.
Though I was wearing a thick cotton chemise and set of drawers, the water felt cold as I jumped in. I swam quickly to the side of the cliffs, where the water was particularly deep. I had been splashing and exploring for a while then I caught sight of Tonigil frantically waving at me from the top of the cliff.
"What?" I called to him. He began pointing behind me crazily and he seemed to be yelling something. Thinking it was one of his usual pranks, I swam on, till I turned around and saw a huge black fin sticking out of the water!
Screaming, I swam to shore and ran up to the castle, all dripping wet. Unfortunately, I crashed right into Faramir, Éowyn, Éomer and Lothíriel, who were coming back from the old study.
"Blazes, woman! What has gotten into you?" Éomer bellowed.
"T-t-there's-s a-a s-shark!" I trembled.
Faramir and Lothíriel looked like they were going to laugh. "Seriously!" I said.
"No Niliwen, it's just that nobody ever told you. The water near the cliffs is off-limits during autumn. By the way, nice undergarments" Lothíriel said. I wanted Mandos to whisk me away there and then.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
When I finally got enough courage to face them again, I found everybody sitting out on the beach, at a safe distance from the edge of the cliff. I sat at the edge of the group, till Éowyn motioned for me to join them.
"You were sitting too close to the edge" she told me as I came up.
I shrugged, looking at where I'd once sat. "I don't want to face that shark again. By the way, how did you know about the shark?" I asked Faramir.
"Do you really want to know?" Imrahil said.
Faramir laughed shamefacedly. "The tale is hardly more delicate than that of the Lady of Ithilien" he said.
"It must also be worth hearing if the recollection can make you laugh" Éowyn said. "Consider it as practice for the times when you'll be telling our children some tales"
Faramir took a deep breath and began his story.
"I was a child of about four summers when my father allowed my mother to bring Boromir and me to Dol Amroth for a month. My brother was about nine years of age , so my mother, who had already begun to sicken then, told him to watch me for a few hours or so while she rested after our downriver journey,"
"As my brother and I walked, we espied a spring chicken that had gotten loose from the coop. Boromir lured the chicken with some corn he'd found on the ship, and upon catching the fowl, he handed it to me. I followed him out to the cliff, and we stood at the very edge," Faramir said, glancing to the cliff, as if he could somehow still see his brother standing there. I guess Faramir could, because I could also somehow picture it.
Éowyn reached for his hand. "Do continue" she asked.
"Very well then. So we stood there, and he wondered aloud how deep it was. He meant it as a joke, he explained years later, that I should toss the bird over" Faramir continued.
"You didn't!" I gasped. Faramir shook his head.
"I did, and the chicken was halfway down, when suddenly something leaped in the air. Boromir yelled and I was too shocked to even scream. The chicken for some reason heard us, or saw whatever it was that came out of the water and began flapping frantically. I don't know how it did it, but it flew upwards, effectively dodging the behemoth"
"'Shark!' my brother called. I paid him no heed. I was just watching the monster as if I was expecting the wave that engulfed Numenor to swallow it up. The next thing I knew, the chicken had flown straight at me and was on the verge of pecking my eyes out. It might've if Boromir did not intervene. By then, the servant who worked at the poultry yard had noticed that one chicken was missing and had come out to investigate,"
"He began to yell at us in Elvish, asking what we, the Steward's sons, were doing stealing chickens. He was yelling loud enough to wake up everybody, and before we knew it, grandfather and mother came out of the castle. They were amused when they found out. But I can't say the same for my father" Faramir concluded with a rather wry smile.
Silence reigned over all of us. I for one was stunned. The thought that Faramir had done something that crazy as a child was hard to believe. I knew Éowyn and Éomer shared a peculiar sense of humor. The disturbing part though was that Faramir's sense of humor was also along the same lines.
I looked at Tonigil and he smiled at me. I realized I owed my life to that idiot. Either that or I'd be shark bait.
"Any more stories?" Pippin asked. It looked like it was going to be a LONG vacation.
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A/N: Haha! I hoped you liked it. Well, if you give me any ideas in your reviews for stories that Niliwen can mention in her next entry, I'd be glad to include them. Just say who's going to narrate okay? I'll take care of the rest. Wish me luck in my school play this Thursday! Send a review! Namarie for now.