Disclaimer: I haven't won the lottery, nor married a millionaire, or ever
robbed a bank, so there is no possible way I can own them. As much as I'd
like to.
If you'll allow me to say a few words:
Kel: LOL, watch your step, silly! Nah, can't be mean to you, you're practically my partner for most intents and purposes. Behave now, and enjoy the little author's note down at the bottom! I can think of a few characters who would like to help kill the Sue, but we'll have to see how it goes . . .
Violet Dawson: Hey, I've missed our chats! AIM isn't up and running here yet, and I don't have your email address handy, but my new one is KSHER075@students.bju.edu, so could you send me yours and we can talk! Mmmm . . . cookies!
SummerRose: I think I scared even myself with that idea . . . thanks for your review!
GreyLadyBast: Yep, I'll admit it, I love Star Trek. I realized about the twelfth time I read "Uhura's Song" that it's a cleverly-disguised M.S. And I still think it's wonderful! I'm so pleased that I'm your favorite teenager! That is an immense compliment!
Mizalaye: Thanks for all your help with my reviews problem. It means a lot to me that you're willing to help me out like this! Your lovely comments give me warm fuzzies all over!
ShellMel: I thought the wargs came before, but I was very very pleased to find out they were after Caradhras. Perfect for my plot!
Key: Ooh, look, I get to thank myself! Erm . . . yeah. Thanks for your review! LOL.
Jester: Nah, because then the Sue would win, and then where would Middle- earth be? I shudder to think of it!
Celtic Dreamer: LOL, what's funny is that when I first met my three roommates here, one of the first questions we asked each other was "Do you talk to yourself?" It was quite entertaining to find out that we all did! Glad you're still with me!
Rabia: So I hear you're pestering people into reading my stuff! Thanks! I'm pleased you like my characterizations, and I hope this next chapter is sufficiently interesting!
Star Queen: I love getting email from you, then again, I love getting email from anyone, I'm so lonely here at college. Yep, I want to see all the newcomers on screen rather badly. Eomer and Eowyn definitely. And I will always beta for you, you have but to ask!
Nez: Welcome, welcome! If you'd like to know how I came up with this, read Firebird's "Short". It was my main inspiration, and I owe the whole concept to her!
Princess Joy: Yep, I'm fed up with 'em too! There aren't enough original good ones to drown out the bad ones, so they just all get labeled as bad. Go figure. Anyway, pleased to have you along!
Xit: Yep, Rabia's check is in the mail, I think! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I guarantee this next chapter will surprise you!
NightShade: I read your review and your paradox started to make my head hurt! Don't ever become a lawyer or anything like that! Hee hee. I'm pretty sure M.S. do belong to Sauron, or Morgoth even. Such a pity they're not so easily destroyed as a Dark Lord. We're working on the updating thing, as I don't have a lot of time anymore, but this chapter should keep you happy for a little while anyway!
Goddess Isis: Another comment that gives me the warm fuzzies! High praise indeed, and I thank you very much for it! I am ecstatic that you liked it so much, and I hope you come back for more!
Rune Lore: Oh, you thought *that* cliffhanger was bad . . . no, I won't give anything away! LOL, your review made me bubbly, and I am still really happy! I beg to defer, however. OFUM was a truly original thought, and the Fanfic Lounge was pure genius. I think I've read it seven times, and I always go back two weeks later and read it again! Quite honestly, I don't rate with either Camilla Sandman or Christine Linnell. Hee hee, I'm trying to keep my head from getting too big. Enjoy the chapter, and hope to hear more from you!
Right, I think that about covers it. Anyway, dedication of this chapter belongs to . . . Melilot Millstone! Let's all give her three cheers! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, HOORAY! Thanks Kel, for all your continued support that is so valuable to me, and especially for your little poem, "Reflection of You." Oh yeah, and *is so*.
Another note: I would have updated sooner, but I have just started college as a freshman, so I am *very* busy. You'll also have to forgive me for any correspondence I may have been slow in answering, because I have not had internet access for at least a week, and I am behind. I apologize, and hope to work out my schedule and get these things taken care of really, really soon.
TRAPPED AS A MARY SUE
Chapter Ten
"Need we wait until morning then?" said Gandalf. "It is as I said. The hunt is up!"
Katie struggled to her feet against the protests of her body, her heart pounding in fear. The possibility of being eaten alive was just making itself crystal clear to her, and panic was the first thing on her mind. They would not decide their course in the morning, for the spies of Sauron had found them now.
"Even if we live to see the dawn, who now will wish to journey south by night with the wild wolves on his trail?" the wizard continued.
I so did not need to hear the 'if we live to see dawn' part, Katie thought to herself, shivering. The howls of the wolves seemed to climb a notch, and was it her imagination, or were there glowing eyes behind that tree over there? She wanted out of here, right that very second. At the moment, even the orc-infested passages of Moria seemed welcome.
Apparently Boromir was thinking along the same thoughts. "How far is Moria?" He peered into the deepening dusk, hand wrapped firmly around the hilt of his sword.
Gandalf thought to himself before replying, "There was a door south-west of Caradhras, some fifteen miles as the crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wolf runs." He shifted his grip on his staff, face dark.
Wisely, Katie kept her mouth closed, content to let Tolkien run his own world. The characters will do what is meant to be done, I'm just a tag- along, she kept repeating.
A tag-along for twenty miles! Do you remember how long it takes you to run a mile in gym class?
Half the period. Argh, how am I ever going to be able to keep up? Katie realized the enormity of twenty miles like a ton of bricks had fallen on her head. I sure hope they don't expect to make it in one night, she lamented, massaging her aching legs while she had the chance.
"Then let us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can." Boromir's statement made her wonder if he was insane or being nice. Stay here with the wolves overnight? The man of Gondor continued, "The wolf that one hears is worse than the orc that one fears."
Insane. Definitely.
"True," replied Aragorn, loosening his own sword as he gazed around at the concealing rocks and shrubs. "But where the wolf howls, there also the orc prowls."
And the men that make lousy rhymes will soon run out of time, Katie thought to herself, wondering if either of them would mind terribly if she went and stuffed a few clumps of grass down their throats to keep them quiet.
Are you trying to get yourself decapitated? They're on edge already, and anything you do isn't going to go over terribly well.
She sighed to herself. You're probably right, though I'd be the last to admit it.
The hobbits were murmuring among themselves, and shortly after that, Gandalf ordered everyone to gather up their things. The company would take shelter on top of a defensible hill, within a ring of protective boulders and trees. Katie found that, yes, for her own safety she could make her legs move for another fifteen minutes or so.
By the time all ten of them had reached the summit of the hill, Katie wasn't sure what she was shaking more from, the cold or pure fear. She only felt marginally safer when Gandalf and Gimli kindled a fire, and she stuck as close to it as she could without setting herself aflame. Her backside did most of the warming as she cast furtive glances out into the surrounding night, wondering if she was imagining all those glowing eyes.
I didn't sign on for this, she whined to herself.
No, Meriweather did. You just happened to be along for the ride.
Well, next time I want to see the contract before somebody else signs it!
Hush up, and try to get some sleep. You're giving me a headache.
Oh, *I'm* giving *you* a headache?
Yes, as a matter of fact. Quiet.
Katie sighed and wrapped Boromir's cloak around her as many times as she could before hunkering down near the fire and trying to sleep. Yet she couldn't keep her eyes from flickering open every other minute, watching the prowling forms just outside the ring of trees, her heart hammering wildly in her chest. She knew something bad was going to happen, she just knew it.
Then she jerked bolt upright, and a wordless cry of fear forced itself from her throat. An enormous wolf-shape had appeared suddenly before her in the gap between the protective rocks, and the howl that came from it turned her blood to ice.
In seconds Gandalf was there, clenching his staff tightly. With steel in his eye he cried, "Listen, Hound of Sauron! Gandalf is here. Fly, if you value your foul skin! I will shrivel you from tail to snout, if you come within this ring."
And though she was scared beyond all comprehensible thought, the mental picture of a shriveled wolf was quite interesting. Then the great wolf leaped, and it suddenly wasn't so funny anymore.
Katie scrambled backwards with a speed she didn't know she possessed, until she ran up against Pippin. At that same moment an arrow that could only belong to Legolas split the air, and the foul beast of Sauron fell to the ground, dead.
There were several gasps of relief, mostly from the direction of Katie and the hobbits. As they looked around, it seemed that all the rest of the wolves had vanished. Katie began to breathe again.
Good, that was the last of them.
Are you so sure?
Are you trying to scare me?
Not really.
Somehow then, you're managing to do a marvelous job.
Katie at last managed to fall asleep, and it wasn't until Frodo's shout of warning and the great din of a large gathering of wolves that she woke. She attempted to shake sleep from her head even as her body kicked itself into overdrive. Gandalf was shouting orders to the others, and she stumbled to her feet.
The animals were everywhere, all around them, and there was no way they could escape. Katie was near the fire, but without a weapon. Her mind seemed to freeze, and she couldn't think. The hobbits were clustered back to back, Boromir and Aragorn stood side by side, Legolas was perched upon a handy rock, bow at the ready, and Gimli stood near Gandalf, axe hefted, his face set.
Then the wolves came. They broke like a torrent over the rocks, and suddenly the world melted into a melee of shrieks, sword clashing, and howls. They were like a grey river as they divided themselves smoothly amongst the Fellowship. Katie suddenly found herself staring down three slavering creatures, who were driving her towards the fire.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the girl cast about for some way to defend herself. Her gaze slid towards Aragorn and Boromir, but both were occupied with decapitating their own opponents with practiced skill. Legolas's back was to her, and the hobbits were busy on all sides. Gimli was shouting something in Dwarvish, and Gandalf seemed to be readying himself for something.
There was no help coming. Katie could feel the burning heat of the flames behind her, but she was cold all over. Acting more out of desperation than any conscious thought as the lead wolf bared its teeth and growled, she seized a flaming brand and thrust it in its face. The growls turned to yips and yowls of pain, and the smell of burnt fur and flesh permeated the air. The wolf leaped away, blinded.
The remaining two fell back and gathered themselves, then sprang for her at the same time. At that instant, Gandalf interceded. With a swing of his staff, he clouted them smartly across the face, then seized the branch from Katie's hand. The wolves fell back before him, and Katie unabashedly took shelter behind the wizard.
Gandalf seemed to grow large and terrible in the flickering firelight, and he cried aloud as he threw the blazing torch into the air, "Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!" His words resounded like thunder through the heavens, and the night lit up as the tree above him blossomed into flame. Then, like a living thing, the fire leaped from treetop to treetop, locking the Fellowship in a ring of flame.
The defenders took heart and moved to finish the last of the wolves off, stained swords glinting crimson in the dazzling light. The remaining creatures of Sauron took flight, even as Legolas's last arrow kindled in the air and found its mark in the heart of a wolf chieftain.
Slowly the fire died, and everyone found their breath again. The wolves did not return, even as the first streaks of dawn twined their way across the horizon. Hope rose with the sun, and Katie was especially grateful for the comfort of day as she moved to seat herself stiffly on a boulder.
Unfortunately, and with all the grace of an orc on ice, she tripped over the long hem of Boromir's cloak and misjudged the step that would have taken her safely over Gandalf's staff which was propped against a nearby tree. Pinwheeling off-balance, the rock Katie had meant to rest on met her head with a painful crack.
Suddenly the world was white again. And Katie realized what had happened, even as she found herself on the business end of a sword.
She had been waiting for her.
[Y'all are going to kill me now, I can just see it.]
[A/N: There have been some difficulties regarding FF.net, as it is banned by the filter here at college, so a dear colleague of mine is managing affairs, but I couldn't simply leave you all hanging, so I shall proceed with the best of haste, but understand that I am now under very adverse conditions, so chapters may take a little longer than before. Thank you for your patience, and I hope this was worth waiting for.]
If you'll allow me to say a few words:
Kel: LOL, watch your step, silly! Nah, can't be mean to you, you're practically my partner for most intents and purposes. Behave now, and enjoy the little author's note down at the bottom! I can think of a few characters who would like to help kill the Sue, but we'll have to see how it goes . . .
Violet Dawson: Hey, I've missed our chats! AIM isn't up and running here yet, and I don't have your email address handy, but my new one is KSHER075@students.bju.edu, so could you send me yours and we can talk! Mmmm . . . cookies!
SummerRose: I think I scared even myself with that idea . . . thanks for your review!
GreyLadyBast: Yep, I'll admit it, I love Star Trek. I realized about the twelfth time I read "Uhura's Song" that it's a cleverly-disguised M.S. And I still think it's wonderful! I'm so pleased that I'm your favorite teenager! That is an immense compliment!
Mizalaye: Thanks for all your help with my reviews problem. It means a lot to me that you're willing to help me out like this! Your lovely comments give me warm fuzzies all over!
ShellMel: I thought the wargs came before, but I was very very pleased to find out they were after Caradhras. Perfect for my plot!
Key: Ooh, look, I get to thank myself! Erm . . . yeah. Thanks for your review! LOL.
Jester: Nah, because then the Sue would win, and then where would Middle- earth be? I shudder to think of it!
Celtic Dreamer: LOL, what's funny is that when I first met my three roommates here, one of the first questions we asked each other was "Do you talk to yourself?" It was quite entertaining to find out that we all did! Glad you're still with me!
Rabia: So I hear you're pestering people into reading my stuff! Thanks! I'm pleased you like my characterizations, and I hope this next chapter is sufficiently interesting!
Star Queen: I love getting email from you, then again, I love getting email from anyone, I'm so lonely here at college. Yep, I want to see all the newcomers on screen rather badly. Eomer and Eowyn definitely. And I will always beta for you, you have but to ask!
Nez: Welcome, welcome! If you'd like to know how I came up with this, read Firebird's "Short". It was my main inspiration, and I owe the whole concept to her!
Princess Joy: Yep, I'm fed up with 'em too! There aren't enough original good ones to drown out the bad ones, so they just all get labeled as bad. Go figure. Anyway, pleased to have you along!
Xit: Yep, Rabia's check is in the mail, I think! I'm glad you're enjoying it, and I guarantee this next chapter will surprise you!
NightShade: I read your review and your paradox started to make my head hurt! Don't ever become a lawyer or anything like that! Hee hee. I'm pretty sure M.S. do belong to Sauron, or Morgoth even. Such a pity they're not so easily destroyed as a Dark Lord. We're working on the updating thing, as I don't have a lot of time anymore, but this chapter should keep you happy for a little while anyway!
Goddess Isis: Another comment that gives me the warm fuzzies! High praise indeed, and I thank you very much for it! I am ecstatic that you liked it so much, and I hope you come back for more!
Rune Lore: Oh, you thought *that* cliffhanger was bad . . . no, I won't give anything away! LOL, your review made me bubbly, and I am still really happy! I beg to defer, however. OFUM was a truly original thought, and the Fanfic Lounge was pure genius. I think I've read it seven times, and I always go back two weeks later and read it again! Quite honestly, I don't rate with either Camilla Sandman or Christine Linnell. Hee hee, I'm trying to keep my head from getting too big. Enjoy the chapter, and hope to hear more from you!
Right, I think that about covers it. Anyway, dedication of this chapter belongs to . . . Melilot Millstone! Let's all give her three cheers! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, HOORAY! Thanks Kel, for all your continued support that is so valuable to me, and especially for your little poem, "Reflection of You." Oh yeah, and *is so*.
Another note: I would have updated sooner, but I have just started college as a freshman, so I am *very* busy. You'll also have to forgive me for any correspondence I may have been slow in answering, because I have not had internet access for at least a week, and I am behind. I apologize, and hope to work out my schedule and get these things taken care of really, really soon.
TRAPPED AS A MARY SUE
Chapter Ten
"Need we wait until morning then?" said Gandalf. "It is as I said. The hunt is up!"
Katie struggled to her feet against the protests of her body, her heart pounding in fear. The possibility of being eaten alive was just making itself crystal clear to her, and panic was the first thing on her mind. They would not decide their course in the morning, for the spies of Sauron had found them now.
"Even if we live to see the dawn, who now will wish to journey south by night with the wild wolves on his trail?" the wizard continued.
I so did not need to hear the 'if we live to see dawn' part, Katie thought to herself, shivering. The howls of the wolves seemed to climb a notch, and was it her imagination, or were there glowing eyes behind that tree over there? She wanted out of here, right that very second. At the moment, even the orc-infested passages of Moria seemed welcome.
Apparently Boromir was thinking along the same thoughts. "How far is Moria?" He peered into the deepening dusk, hand wrapped firmly around the hilt of his sword.
Gandalf thought to himself before replying, "There was a door south-west of Caradhras, some fifteen miles as the crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wolf runs." He shifted his grip on his staff, face dark.
Wisely, Katie kept her mouth closed, content to let Tolkien run his own world. The characters will do what is meant to be done, I'm just a tag- along, she kept repeating.
A tag-along for twenty miles! Do you remember how long it takes you to run a mile in gym class?
Half the period. Argh, how am I ever going to be able to keep up? Katie realized the enormity of twenty miles like a ton of bricks had fallen on her head. I sure hope they don't expect to make it in one night, she lamented, massaging her aching legs while she had the chance.
"Then let us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can." Boromir's statement made her wonder if he was insane or being nice. Stay here with the wolves overnight? The man of Gondor continued, "The wolf that one hears is worse than the orc that one fears."
Insane. Definitely.
"True," replied Aragorn, loosening his own sword as he gazed around at the concealing rocks and shrubs. "But where the wolf howls, there also the orc prowls."
And the men that make lousy rhymes will soon run out of time, Katie thought to herself, wondering if either of them would mind terribly if she went and stuffed a few clumps of grass down their throats to keep them quiet.
Are you trying to get yourself decapitated? They're on edge already, and anything you do isn't going to go over terribly well.
She sighed to herself. You're probably right, though I'd be the last to admit it.
The hobbits were murmuring among themselves, and shortly after that, Gandalf ordered everyone to gather up their things. The company would take shelter on top of a defensible hill, within a ring of protective boulders and trees. Katie found that, yes, for her own safety she could make her legs move for another fifteen minutes or so.
By the time all ten of them had reached the summit of the hill, Katie wasn't sure what she was shaking more from, the cold or pure fear. She only felt marginally safer when Gandalf and Gimli kindled a fire, and she stuck as close to it as she could without setting herself aflame. Her backside did most of the warming as she cast furtive glances out into the surrounding night, wondering if she was imagining all those glowing eyes.
I didn't sign on for this, she whined to herself.
No, Meriweather did. You just happened to be along for the ride.
Well, next time I want to see the contract before somebody else signs it!
Hush up, and try to get some sleep. You're giving me a headache.
Oh, *I'm* giving *you* a headache?
Yes, as a matter of fact. Quiet.
Katie sighed and wrapped Boromir's cloak around her as many times as she could before hunkering down near the fire and trying to sleep. Yet she couldn't keep her eyes from flickering open every other minute, watching the prowling forms just outside the ring of trees, her heart hammering wildly in her chest. She knew something bad was going to happen, she just knew it.
Then she jerked bolt upright, and a wordless cry of fear forced itself from her throat. An enormous wolf-shape had appeared suddenly before her in the gap between the protective rocks, and the howl that came from it turned her blood to ice.
In seconds Gandalf was there, clenching his staff tightly. With steel in his eye he cried, "Listen, Hound of Sauron! Gandalf is here. Fly, if you value your foul skin! I will shrivel you from tail to snout, if you come within this ring."
And though she was scared beyond all comprehensible thought, the mental picture of a shriveled wolf was quite interesting. Then the great wolf leaped, and it suddenly wasn't so funny anymore.
Katie scrambled backwards with a speed she didn't know she possessed, until she ran up against Pippin. At that same moment an arrow that could only belong to Legolas split the air, and the foul beast of Sauron fell to the ground, dead.
There were several gasps of relief, mostly from the direction of Katie and the hobbits. As they looked around, it seemed that all the rest of the wolves had vanished. Katie began to breathe again.
Good, that was the last of them.
Are you so sure?
Are you trying to scare me?
Not really.
Somehow then, you're managing to do a marvelous job.
Katie at last managed to fall asleep, and it wasn't until Frodo's shout of warning and the great din of a large gathering of wolves that she woke. She attempted to shake sleep from her head even as her body kicked itself into overdrive. Gandalf was shouting orders to the others, and she stumbled to her feet.
The animals were everywhere, all around them, and there was no way they could escape. Katie was near the fire, but without a weapon. Her mind seemed to freeze, and she couldn't think. The hobbits were clustered back to back, Boromir and Aragorn stood side by side, Legolas was perched upon a handy rock, bow at the ready, and Gimli stood near Gandalf, axe hefted, his face set.
Then the wolves came. They broke like a torrent over the rocks, and suddenly the world melted into a melee of shrieks, sword clashing, and howls. They were like a grey river as they divided themselves smoothly amongst the Fellowship. Katie suddenly found herself staring down three slavering creatures, who were driving her towards the fire.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the girl cast about for some way to defend herself. Her gaze slid towards Aragorn and Boromir, but both were occupied with decapitating their own opponents with practiced skill. Legolas's back was to her, and the hobbits were busy on all sides. Gimli was shouting something in Dwarvish, and Gandalf seemed to be readying himself for something.
There was no help coming. Katie could feel the burning heat of the flames behind her, but she was cold all over. Acting more out of desperation than any conscious thought as the lead wolf bared its teeth and growled, she seized a flaming brand and thrust it in its face. The growls turned to yips and yowls of pain, and the smell of burnt fur and flesh permeated the air. The wolf leaped away, blinded.
The remaining two fell back and gathered themselves, then sprang for her at the same time. At that instant, Gandalf interceded. With a swing of his staff, he clouted them smartly across the face, then seized the branch from Katie's hand. The wolves fell back before him, and Katie unabashedly took shelter behind the wizard.
Gandalf seemed to grow large and terrible in the flickering firelight, and he cried aloud as he threw the blazing torch into the air, "Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!" His words resounded like thunder through the heavens, and the night lit up as the tree above him blossomed into flame. Then, like a living thing, the fire leaped from treetop to treetop, locking the Fellowship in a ring of flame.
The defenders took heart and moved to finish the last of the wolves off, stained swords glinting crimson in the dazzling light. The remaining creatures of Sauron took flight, even as Legolas's last arrow kindled in the air and found its mark in the heart of a wolf chieftain.
Slowly the fire died, and everyone found their breath again. The wolves did not return, even as the first streaks of dawn twined their way across the horizon. Hope rose with the sun, and Katie was especially grateful for the comfort of day as she moved to seat herself stiffly on a boulder.
Unfortunately, and with all the grace of an orc on ice, she tripped over the long hem of Boromir's cloak and misjudged the step that would have taken her safely over Gandalf's staff which was propped against a nearby tree. Pinwheeling off-balance, the rock Katie had meant to rest on met her head with a painful crack.
Suddenly the world was white again. And Katie realized what had happened, even as she found herself on the business end of a sword.
She had been waiting for her.
[Y'all are going to kill me now, I can just see it.]
[A/N: There have been some difficulties regarding FF.net, as it is banned by the filter here at college, so a dear colleague of mine is managing affairs, but I couldn't simply leave you all hanging, so I shall proceed with the best of haste, but understand that I am now under very adverse conditions, so chapters may take a little longer than before. Thank you for your patience, and I hope this was worth waiting for.]
