Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This chapter is supposed to be funny. So tell me whether or not it was funny. I could probably title this "The Worst Day in Nori's Entire Life."
And it would be true.
Disclaimer: Only the characters that I have created in my head belong to me. The rest belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and various publishing companies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nori's world had now become limited to only three tasks. Get to Rivendell. Don't let Aragorn fall of the horse. Don't fall of the horse yourself. The last one would have seemed odd except for the fact that Nori hadn't eaten for three or four days. What little she had she had given to Aragorn, to keep up his strength. Her stomach growled loudly, but she paid no heed to it. By early morning she had slowed to a quick canter.
"Rhone." said Aragorn.
"No, it's Nori." she said.
"Rhone, remember when I was five..." he started to go into a long story about getting stuck in a tree, all the while thinking she was Rhone. _Oh great, he's hallucinating._ Thought Nori sourly.
"And I was so afraid to climb down, but you helped me, and..." he trailed off into silence. Nori wasn't sure if he'd gotten sidetracked or passed out, so she shook him lightly.
"Aragorn?"
"Where are we?" Aragorn asked. He seemed to be aware of his surroundings now.
"Somewhere between the Mitheithiel and Rivendell. That's about as good as I can give you." Nori said.
"Where's Rhone?" He asked. He apparently did not remember the ranting incident. Nori was not sure this was a good thing, since that meant she might get more "When I was five..."
"Rhone's following behind us. I'm supposed to get you to Rivendell." Nori said. Her stomach growled.
"You need to eat something." Aragorn commented.
"I'll eat when we get to Rivendell." Nori said.
The whole rest of the day was pretty much like this. After a while Nori wondered if it might be a good idea to write some of this down. She knew by now that Rhone had thrown up on Elrond, Aragorn had made out with some Elvish girl when he was 16, and that Rhone had told Aragorn when he was eight or nine that if he buried the shards of Narsil, a sword tree would grow. He had tried it. It didn't work.
By nightfall Nori was just about ready to stab him again.
It had been dark for a few hours when a howl cut through the silence. "Oh, what now?" said Nori with a sigh. Then there was another howl. And another. And another. "Noro Lim Firenze!" She cried, and Firenze immediately leapt into a gallop.
Nori could hear pounding behind her and she glanced back. Then she looked forward again. "Firenze, must go faster."
"What is it?" Asked Aragorn.
"Wargs." Nori said. "A whole pack of them."
"Oh."
Nori's world now had four objectives. Get to Rivendell. Don't get eaten by Wargs. Don't let Aragorn fall off the horse. Don't fall off yourself. The third objective, however, was becoming increasingly difficult however, what with Aragorn's hallucinations.
As if on cue, Aragorn started to speak. "When I was around 18 or so, Legolas came to visit. You wouldn't remember, Rhone, cause you'd left by then. Me and Legolas went out hunting- mfph!"
Nori had shoved Aragorn down as an arrow sped over her shoulder. "Great, they come with orcs." She muttered.
"Anyway," he continued. "We were running, and Legolas was showing off by running backwards. Then there was this tree..."
"Would you just shut up right now!" Nori yelled. It wasn't that she didn't want to hear the story. Quite the opposite actually. The problem was that she didn't have time to listen to what he was saying.
"You're mean." he commented, but ceased to tell stories.
She glanced back again. "Aragorn?"
"What?"
"I need you to hold onto the reigns. I'm going to try and pick off some of our friends back there."
Aragorn didn't say anything- he merely grabbed onto the reigns and trusted Firenze to know where they were going. Nori pulled her longbow off her back and strung it. She pulled an arrow out of the quiver attached to the saddle, and turned. She put the arrow on the string and fired in one fluid motion. A warg toppled, sending its rider to the ground. _Two down, sixteen to go._ She thought. Her next three shots hit two wargs and an orc. An arrow whizzed by her head, and she dodged it, hearing the wind whistling in her ears as it went past. She chanced a look ahead and smiled grimly when she saw familiar rock formations. _Almost there._ she thought.
Then, it started raining, so hard that it was like she was taking a bath.
"What gods have I offended today?" Nori yelled to the sky. "Noro lim, Firenze, noro lim!" Firenze broke into an all out run, going as fast as she possibly could. After a few minutes, the Ford came into view.
The water level had risen because of the storm, but not so much that crossing was impossible. When they got to the Ford, Firenze crashed into the water without hesitation. The water went up to the mare's chest, soaking Nori's legs to the knee as it splashed.
Nori looked back at the approaching warg riders, bow ready. But the wargs had stopped at the shore, nervous of the swift water. _Maybe I should shoot._ She thought. _No. It's too wet for my bow anyway._ She turned and concentrated on the opposite shore, which was excruciatingly near. After a few minutes Firenze pulled herself out of the Bruinen, shivering with cold.
Nori wheeled her horse to face the warg riders on the other side. "Come and get us now, stupid heads!" She yelled contemptuously. Then she turned Firenze around and sped towards Rivendell. Suddenly something thudded into her shoulder causing her to cry out in pain. She reached behind her with one hand and came in contact with an arrow, and when she pulled her hand away it was bloody. "I swear this has been the worst day of my life."
Then Nori realized that Aragorn hadn't been talking at all for the last few minutes. She shook him, and called his name. "Aragorn!" When he did not respond she checked his pulse, and it frightened her how slow it was.
Firenze slowed to a walk, and Nori realized that the warg riders were not following. The mare's head hung low, almost to the ground and her mouth was whitened with foam. "Good job my friend," Nori said, patting Firenze fondly on the neck. "Just a little further, and then you can rest." She gently nudged Firenze into a trot, who only did so because she could smell the hay and other horses.
"Halt!" Said a guard on horseback that appeared out of the bushes, and arrow trained at her heart. He immediately slackened his bow when he saw Aragorn slumped over in the saddle.
"He's dying! He needs to get to Elrond now." Said Nori. Suddenly the world seemed to spin, and she swayed slightly.
"My lady, are you all right?" He asked as she helped him move Aragorn onto his horse. He saw the arrow in her back and his eyes widened. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine!" She yelled. "Get him to Elrond!"
The guard took off like a shot, leaving Nori alone in moments. Firenze moved into a slow trot, and Nori leaned forward. Her vision started to darken, and she blinked her eyes to dispel it, to no avail. She slid off her horse onto her back, driving the arrow further into her shoulder. Pain shot through her entire body, and she lost consciousness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, what did you think?
Pretty bad day huh?
And she didn't even get to hear the story about Legolas and the tree...
This chapter is supposed to be funny. So tell me whether or not it was funny. I could probably title this "The Worst Day in Nori's Entire Life."
And it would be true.
Disclaimer: Only the characters that I have created in my head belong to me. The rest belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and various publishing companies.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nori's world had now become limited to only three tasks. Get to Rivendell. Don't let Aragorn fall of the horse. Don't fall of the horse yourself. The last one would have seemed odd except for the fact that Nori hadn't eaten for three or four days. What little she had she had given to Aragorn, to keep up his strength. Her stomach growled loudly, but she paid no heed to it. By early morning she had slowed to a quick canter.
"Rhone." said Aragorn.
"No, it's Nori." she said.
"Rhone, remember when I was five..." he started to go into a long story about getting stuck in a tree, all the while thinking she was Rhone. _Oh great, he's hallucinating._ Thought Nori sourly.
"And I was so afraid to climb down, but you helped me, and..." he trailed off into silence. Nori wasn't sure if he'd gotten sidetracked or passed out, so she shook him lightly.
"Aragorn?"
"Where are we?" Aragorn asked. He seemed to be aware of his surroundings now.
"Somewhere between the Mitheithiel and Rivendell. That's about as good as I can give you." Nori said.
"Where's Rhone?" He asked. He apparently did not remember the ranting incident. Nori was not sure this was a good thing, since that meant she might get more "When I was five..."
"Rhone's following behind us. I'm supposed to get you to Rivendell." Nori said. Her stomach growled.
"You need to eat something." Aragorn commented.
"I'll eat when we get to Rivendell." Nori said.
The whole rest of the day was pretty much like this. After a while Nori wondered if it might be a good idea to write some of this down. She knew by now that Rhone had thrown up on Elrond, Aragorn had made out with some Elvish girl when he was 16, and that Rhone had told Aragorn when he was eight or nine that if he buried the shards of Narsil, a sword tree would grow. He had tried it. It didn't work.
By nightfall Nori was just about ready to stab him again.
It had been dark for a few hours when a howl cut through the silence. "Oh, what now?" said Nori with a sigh. Then there was another howl. And another. And another. "Noro Lim Firenze!" She cried, and Firenze immediately leapt into a gallop.
Nori could hear pounding behind her and she glanced back. Then she looked forward again. "Firenze, must go faster."
"What is it?" Asked Aragorn.
"Wargs." Nori said. "A whole pack of them."
"Oh."
Nori's world now had four objectives. Get to Rivendell. Don't get eaten by Wargs. Don't let Aragorn fall off the horse. Don't fall off yourself. The third objective, however, was becoming increasingly difficult however, what with Aragorn's hallucinations.
As if on cue, Aragorn started to speak. "When I was around 18 or so, Legolas came to visit. You wouldn't remember, Rhone, cause you'd left by then. Me and Legolas went out hunting- mfph!"
Nori had shoved Aragorn down as an arrow sped over her shoulder. "Great, they come with orcs." She muttered.
"Anyway," he continued. "We were running, and Legolas was showing off by running backwards. Then there was this tree..."
"Would you just shut up right now!" Nori yelled. It wasn't that she didn't want to hear the story. Quite the opposite actually. The problem was that she didn't have time to listen to what he was saying.
"You're mean." he commented, but ceased to tell stories.
She glanced back again. "Aragorn?"
"What?"
"I need you to hold onto the reigns. I'm going to try and pick off some of our friends back there."
Aragorn didn't say anything- he merely grabbed onto the reigns and trusted Firenze to know where they were going. Nori pulled her longbow off her back and strung it. She pulled an arrow out of the quiver attached to the saddle, and turned. She put the arrow on the string and fired in one fluid motion. A warg toppled, sending its rider to the ground. _Two down, sixteen to go._ She thought. Her next three shots hit two wargs and an orc. An arrow whizzed by her head, and she dodged it, hearing the wind whistling in her ears as it went past. She chanced a look ahead and smiled grimly when she saw familiar rock formations. _Almost there._ she thought.
Then, it started raining, so hard that it was like she was taking a bath.
"What gods have I offended today?" Nori yelled to the sky. "Noro lim, Firenze, noro lim!" Firenze broke into an all out run, going as fast as she possibly could. After a few minutes, the Ford came into view.
The water level had risen because of the storm, but not so much that crossing was impossible. When they got to the Ford, Firenze crashed into the water without hesitation. The water went up to the mare's chest, soaking Nori's legs to the knee as it splashed.
Nori looked back at the approaching warg riders, bow ready. But the wargs had stopped at the shore, nervous of the swift water. _Maybe I should shoot._ She thought. _No. It's too wet for my bow anyway._ She turned and concentrated on the opposite shore, which was excruciatingly near. After a few minutes Firenze pulled herself out of the Bruinen, shivering with cold.
Nori wheeled her horse to face the warg riders on the other side. "Come and get us now, stupid heads!" She yelled contemptuously. Then she turned Firenze around and sped towards Rivendell. Suddenly something thudded into her shoulder causing her to cry out in pain. She reached behind her with one hand and came in contact with an arrow, and when she pulled her hand away it was bloody. "I swear this has been the worst day of my life."
Then Nori realized that Aragorn hadn't been talking at all for the last few minutes. She shook him, and called his name. "Aragorn!" When he did not respond she checked his pulse, and it frightened her how slow it was.
Firenze slowed to a walk, and Nori realized that the warg riders were not following. The mare's head hung low, almost to the ground and her mouth was whitened with foam. "Good job my friend," Nori said, patting Firenze fondly on the neck. "Just a little further, and then you can rest." She gently nudged Firenze into a trot, who only did so because she could smell the hay and other horses.
"Halt!" Said a guard on horseback that appeared out of the bushes, and arrow trained at her heart. He immediately slackened his bow when he saw Aragorn slumped over in the saddle.
"He's dying! He needs to get to Elrond now." Said Nori. Suddenly the world seemed to spin, and she swayed slightly.
"My lady, are you all right?" He asked as she helped him move Aragorn onto his horse. He saw the arrow in her back and his eyes widened. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine!" She yelled. "Get him to Elrond!"
The guard took off like a shot, leaving Nori alone in moments. Firenze moved into a slow trot, and Nori leaned forward. Her vision started to darken, and she blinked her eyes to dispel it, to no avail. She slid off her horse onto her back, driving the arrow further into her shoulder. Pain shot through her entire body, and she lost consciousness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, what did you think?
Pretty bad day huh?
And she didn't even get to hear the story about Legolas and the tree...
