Comment: Grr! I
would have had this up sooner if it wasn't for that stupid nation-
wide, east coast black out that happened days ago. It was horrible… no air conditioner,
no television, no lighting, and most of all no computer! And I live in
New York, so imagine going for a day without ANY lights. Well… I'm back now, so
that's good news.
Tidbit: The average child spends approximately 28 hours a week watching television (Sure it's not the computer?), which is twice as much time as they spend in school.
Chapter seven
It's a strange place to be, and Buffy was shocked to have ended up here without ever knowing how. All she knew was that she didn't want to be here, not now anyway. A whisper pass her head had said it was Barad- dur, and Buffy immediately remembered Elrond speaking of Mount Doom. But it was a voice that Buffy could not trust, so where in fact was she? Was this Mount Doom? Or was this, in fact, Barad- dur? She shuddered at the cold, gray clouds in the sky. It was dark here, so she could not figure if it was day or night. A loud, whooshing noise swept passed her and she fell.
"Damn!" She growled, the palms of her hands chipping against the rough pavement. "Whoever that was is going to regret it-"
She turned her head around and stared up at the large, black figure before her. It was the largest-- excluding the mayor at the high school graduation--, most darkest demon Buffy had ever seen.
She guessed it to be a demon, because… well, it looked evil and Buffy risen her gaze.
The creature was full of domain to her. Its long neck was that of a dragon; both scaly and thick as lumber. Its wings were extended fully, both the size of two great elephants and its body was snake like. It slithered around Buffy, cornering her further into the great, black wall that extended high into the dark, graying sky. For once, Buffy was truly frightened, since she had no weapon and the creature was one- hundred times larger than herself.
It reared its head and its long, slender tongue flapped out from its snout.
Buffy cringed and when it lowered his head to the ground, she saw that a rider was upon its back.
It was cloaked, but she could tell it was effeminate. Her body was small, almost like a child's, and brown, curly hair fell from inside the hood. Her hands were small as they grasped the reins, and her body was stiff as a board. Buffy was suddenly curious and as she leaned in for a closer look, the demon lifted its head and threw Buffy back into the wall.
Her eyes began to close when she heard her own voice tell her, "I told you I wanted the Ring!"
---
Buffy had a terrible cold the next day. It was January now, and it was colder than ever. Gandalf was probably the only one who was acting normal, if that's even possible for Gandalf to do, and he seemed a little too anxious about getting the fellowship up the same noxious cliff that had caused most of the Hobbits injuries. Pippin, who was directly in front of Buffy, kept slipping and kicking dirt into her mouth. She spat it out angrily, trying to swap at her tongue and hang on at the same time.
"Sorry." He said, blushing furiously.
Buffy struggled to get along the cliff's side, and she tried her best not to look vulnerable.
A gang full of men and one woman would almost seem like she was going to be vulnerable. She would try her best not to look it, especially since Legolas was watching her rather closely since her attack on Frodo. The single thought made her shudder, and after hours from traveling through Hollin, the group had decided to take a rest on a hill somewhere near mountains. Buffy jumped up on the flat surface of the hill and sighed with relief.
"Tired, are we?" Boromir asked with a chuckle.
"I don't know about myself, but maybe you are, since that was more of a pant than a laugh." Buffy mocked.
Boromir cringed slightly and walked away. Well, getting someone pissed is off my to do list for today, she thought sarcastically, just as Legolas walked by, a tense look sketched over his face. Buffy waved a hand in front of him and when he looked to her, he jumped back in surprise.
"I did not see you there, Buffy." He admitted.
"Right." Buffy said, her head shaking and she turned it towards the large mountains over looking the plain below. "Wow. Is that where we have to go over?"
"Nay, we must go South from that and Gandalf will lead us from there." He replied.
Buffy frowned. "Hasn't he been leading us since Rivendell?"
Legolas smiled down at Buffy and reached out to touch her cheek. His fingers curled around the soft flesh there and over the smoothness of her lips. Buffy, entranced with his touch, closed her eyes and went to lean into his touch, but the contact was broken when Aragorn beckoned Legolas over to him.
Buffy's eyes opened and she saw Legolas smile apologetically to her before he walked off.
Annoyed, Buffy kicked the ground below her and wrapped her arms around herself. It was warmer up here, she noticed, but the wind kept blowing passed her in a strange, eerie body chilling way. Buffy brushed the thought aside when Sam and Merry brought her over to a rock cliff, where Boromir had began sword fighting with Pippin.
"Is that a safe idea?" Buffy asked Sam when he handed her a plate of bacon and toast.
"What?" He asked. "This Hill? Yes, Gandalf said it was safe for us to rest until we start traveling again. He worries about us, I am guessing, ma'am."
Buffy shook her head. "Well, I just hope we aren't heard, or anything…"
They all sat in silence for awhile, watching and listening to the jesting act of sword fighting between Boromir, Pippin and Merry. Seeing how it was two against three, the Hobbits had a good chance of winning, but Boromir wouldn't let them win so easily. Buffy rolled her eyes over to Legolas, who had joined to watch, and gestured to the three.
"He makes the perfect father type, huh?" She joked.
Legolas smiled and sat down besides her. "I do not think Hobbits are usually thought of as… children."
Buffy noticed the way he had said children. "What's wrong? You don't like little, drooling babies?"
Legolas laughed and raised his hand in defense. "It is not that I do not like them, but Elves- well, they are not accustomed to raise babies… We do not have many of them back at my home land, nor anywhere else my kindred are at the moment, if they have not left Middle- earth yet."
"Wow, really?" Buffy said, and sighed dreamily. "Life with no babies… Sounds very cool."
"I do not know what you mean by cool, but I suppose we live our lives without them." Then he raised his eyes to the clouds and thought for a moment. "That is, until we are ready to breed, then the Elven society changes drastically."
Buffy frowned deeply. "You guys don't breed often, do you?"
Legolas shook his head, a smirk playing on his face. "We do breed, Buffy, we do." At the look on Buffy's face, he laughed and touched her arm gently. "But you must remember, we are… immortal. We have a very long time before we decide to breed, and that is why there are no babies, no children in the Elven homelands. Understand now?"
"Yeah…" She said slowly. "Immortal… right."
Legolas smiled sadly and said nothing. Obviously she had known what being immortal was like to the humans; curable, docile… lucky. And that is what he thought was going through Buffy's mind at the moment, but in fact it wasn't, so he kept silent throughout the whole time sitting there until something caught his eye.
Buffy watched him stand and move away from the corner of her eye. Had she upset him? Oh well, it was not like he had anything better to do than sit beside her for her company. After all, he's immortal, so he had better things to do to waist his time with her. At that thought, Buffy felt a strong pang inside her heart and she suddenly lost her appetite.
Sam noticed and made to comment, but Gandalf had approached them.
Frodo fidgeted where he sat, but when Gandalf looked down at Buffy, he relaxed.
"I would like a word with you, Buffy." He said quietly.
Buffy frowned but nodded and accepted his hand up. "Sure."
As they walked passed the others, she felt the strong gaze of Legolas on her back and she turned to see him staring at her. She turned away sadly and when Gandalf had stopped walking, she dropped her hand from his.
"What's up?" She asked, trying to sound normal. Trying to, she said to herself.
"I doubt I know what is up, for there are many things that are." He said thoughtfully. "I also know that something is up with you, and I doubt it has anything to do with the sky."
Buffy thought on that. "Why would I have the sky on my mind-"
"Please," He pleaded. "That is not what I meant. I am here to ask you of your dreams."
"Oh, great!" Buffy groaned. "You're intercepting my dreams, now are you?"
"I have many powers, Buffy Summers, and many that I do not like sharing with others." He said angrily, and Buffy stopped her ranting and nodded slowly. "Thank you. As I was saying, your dreaming… it has been coming recently, has it not?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it means anything." She said. "I always have these dreams, even back at Sunnydale. They are all normal. It's just because I fight violence and stuff."
Gandalf looked at her for a moment and said nothing.
"They are interceptions of your mind." He said. "Of your thoughts… of what will happen in the future, whether you realize it or not, the dreams are telling things."
"Alright, wait." Buffy rubbed her temple and sighed. "What you're saying is that I'm going to get cornered into a huge, black gate by a big ass, flying snake?"
"That was not a snake, Buffy." Gandalf explained. "It was a Fell Beast. Not many can intercept ones mind or dreams, but somehow this must have been done from-"
"The Eye?" Buffy asked impatiently. "Now that I've seen the damn thing, it's going to control my mind? That's fun to hear, now if you excuse me, I would really like to rest, I'm tired."
Gandalf sighed and nodded. "I understand."
Buffy went to leave, but suddenly stopped and turned around. "And don't tell anyone I said that either."
Gandalf smiled slightly. "Scouts honor."
When Buffy returned to the others, Boromir was still teaching Merry and Pippin sword fighting.
"Come on scouts. One. Two. Three. Four, and five." Boromir motioned his sword against the Hobbit's smaller ones.
"They're still at it?" Buffy asked.
"That's good, Pippin." Merry commented, raising his sword to block Boromir's attack.
"Thanks, Merry!" Pippin shouted above the clashing of swords.
Buffy looked over to where Gimli was speaking with Gandalf.
"If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note they're not going to, I'd say we were taking the long way round. Gandalf… we could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome."
"What's the Mines of Moria?" Buffy asked.
"The Dwarven City, mi Lady!" Gimli bellowed, walking over to her and grabbing her hand in his. "The towers go yay high," He raised Buffy's arm into the air. "the pillars are thick and rough as the Dwarves themselves."
Legolas made a snort, if that's possible for Elves to do, and scolded Gimli. Buffy knew the relationship between the Dwarf and the Elf, and she knew that every little word Gimli had spoken was completely off topic to Legolas. But she was curious to this place. Maybe they could go through this way, since Gimli is so fond of it. She turned to Gandalf with a smile.
"The Mines of Moria sounds cool, we should go that way Gandalf."
Legolas made another noise and came up to her. "I rather you see my homeland, Buffy. Mirkwood… 'Tis truly beautiful, as for beautiful people, nay that not everyone is welcomed." He glared at Gimli. "But you will very well be welcomed into my home."
Buffy groaned. "Oh, now I can come?."
"Why could you not?" Legolas pouted.
"She does not want to, that's why!" Gimli grunted.
"Stay out from this," Legolas hissed at him.
"I can't go because I'm human, remember?" She reminded him, having this discussion far too much than should be.
"Either way!" Gandalf shouted. "I would not choose the path of Moria, Gimli, if I had no other choice."
Legolas grinned and turned his head around. Buffy gave Gimli a sympathetic look as he continued to rant on how beautiful Moria is, just as Mirkwood supposedly was, and Legolas leapt away from rock to rock.
"Come on, now. Good." Boromir's voice made her turn around, and she saw the blackness in the sky that had caught Legolas' attention. Buffy tensed.
"What is that?" She asked.
"Nothing!" Gimli said, grunting as he came up beside Buffy. "Just a whiff of a cloud."
"It's coming at us pretty fast." Frodo acknowledged, and with reaction Buffy grabbed her sword tightly in her hand.
Buffy took a steady step forwards and laid a hand on Legolas' shoulder to balance herself on a rock. It was moving pretty fast and if she listened very carefully, she could hear the sounds of birds hawking… almost like crows.
Legolas jerked and took Buffy's arm. "Crebain from Dunland!" He cried.
"Huh?" Buffy asked in a hurry, just when Legolas tugged her over to a set of bushes.
"Hide!" Aragorn cried from somewhere behind them, and all Buffy saw now was pitch darkness from the rough shape of Legolas, and the hawking Buffy heard before was louder and clearer, while small, dark shadows flew over the hill.
Tidbit: The average child spends approximately 28 hours a week watching television (Sure it's not the computer?), which is twice as much time as they spend in school.
Chapter seven
It's a strange place to be, and Buffy was shocked to have ended up here without ever knowing how. All she knew was that she didn't want to be here, not now anyway. A whisper pass her head had said it was Barad- dur, and Buffy immediately remembered Elrond speaking of Mount Doom. But it was a voice that Buffy could not trust, so where in fact was she? Was this Mount Doom? Or was this, in fact, Barad- dur? She shuddered at the cold, gray clouds in the sky. It was dark here, so she could not figure if it was day or night. A loud, whooshing noise swept passed her and she fell.
"Damn!" She growled, the palms of her hands chipping against the rough pavement. "Whoever that was is going to regret it-"
She turned her head around and stared up at the large, black figure before her. It was the largest-- excluding the mayor at the high school graduation--, most darkest demon Buffy had ever seen.
She guessed it to be a demon, because… well, it looked evil and Buffy risen her gaze.
The creature was full of domain to her. Its long neck was that of a dragon; both scaly and thick as lumber. Its wings were extended fully, both the size of two great elephants and its body was snake like. It slithered around Buffy, cornering her further into the great, black wall that extended high into the dark, graying sky. For once, Buffy was truly frightened, since she had no weapon and the creature was one- hundred times larger than herself.
It reared its head and its long, slender tongue flapped out from its snout.
Buffy cringed and when it lowered his head to the ground, she saw that a rider was upon its back.
It was cloaked, but she could tell it was effeminate. Her body was small, almost like a child's, and brown, curly hair fell from inside the hood. Her hands were small as they grasped the reins, and her body was stiff as a board. Buffy was suddenly curious and as she leaned in for a closer look, the demon lifted its head and threw Buffy back into the wall.
Her eyes began to close when she heard her own voice tell her, "I told you I wanted the Ring!"
---
Buffy had a terrible cold the next day. It was January now, and it was colder than ever. Gandalf was probably the only one who was acting normal, if that's even possible for Gandalf to do, and he seemed a little too anxious about getting the fellowship up the same noxious cliff that had caused most of the Hobbits injuries. Pippin, who was directly in front of Buffy, kept slipping and kicking dirt into her mouth. She spat it out angrily, trying to swap at her tongue and hang on at the same time.
"Sorry." He said, blushing furiously.
Buffy struggled to get along the cliff's side, and she tried her best not to look vulnerable.
A gang full of men and one woman would almost seem like she was going to be vulnerable. She would try her best not to look it, especially since Legolas was watching her rather closely since her attack on Frodo. The single thought made her shudder, and after hours from traveling through Hollin, the group had decided to take a rest on a hill somewhere near mountains. Buffy jumped up on the flat surface of the hill and sighed with relief.
"Tired, are we?" Boromir asked with a chuckle.
"I don't know about myself, but maybe you are, since that was more of a pant than a laugh." Buffy mocked.
Boromir cringed slightly and walked away. Well, getting someone pissed is off my to do list for today, she thought sarcastically, just as Legolas walked by, a tense look sketched over his face. Buffy waved a hand in front of him and when he looked to her, he jumped back in surprise.
"I did not see you there, Buffy." He admitted.
"Right." Buffy said, her head shaking and she turned it towards the large mountains over looking the plain below. "Wow. Is that where we have to go over?"
"Nay, we must go South from that and Gandalf will lead us from there." He replied.
Buffy frowned. "Hasn't he been leading us since Rivendell?"
Legolas smiled down at Buffy and reached out to touch her cheek. His fingers curled around the soft flesh there and over the smoothness of her lips. Buffy, entranced with his touch, closed her eyes and went to lean into his touch, but the contact was broken when Aragorn beckoned Legolas over to him.
Buffy's eyes opened and she saw Legolas smile apologetically to her before he walked off.
Annoyed, Buffy kicked the ground below her and wrapped her arms around herself. It was warmer up here, she noticed, but the wind kept blowing passed her in a strange, eerie body chilling way. Buffy brushed the thought aside when Sam and Merry brought her over to a rock cliff, where Boromir had began sword fighting with Pippin.
"Is that a safe idea?" Buffy asked Sam when he handed her a plate of bacon and toast.
"What?" He asked. "This Hill? Yes, Gandalf said it was safe for us to rest until we start traveling again. He worries about us, I am guessing, ma'am."
Buffy shook her head. "Well, I just hope we aren't heard, or anything…"
They all sat in silence for awhile, watching and listening to the jesting act of sword fighting between Boromir, Pippin and Merry. Seeing how it was two against three, the Hobbits had a good chance of winning, but Boromir wouldn't let them win so easily. Buffy rolled her eyes over to Legolas, who had joined to watch, and gestured to the three.
"He makes the perfect father type, huh?" She joked.
Legolas smiled and sat down besides her. "I do not think Hobbits are usually thought of as… children."
Buffy noticed the way he had said children. "What's wrong? You don't like little, drooling babies?"
Legolas laughed and raised his hand in defense. "It is not that I do not like them, but Elves- well, they are not accustomed to raise babies… We do not have many of them back at my home land, nor anywhere else my kindred are at the moment, if they have not left Middle- earth yet."
"Wow, really?" Buffy said, and sighed dreamily. "Life with no babies… Sounds very cool."
"I do not know what you mean by cool, but I suppose we live our lives without them." Then he raised his eyes to the clouds and thought for a moment. "That is, until we are ready to breed, then the Elven society changes drastically."
Buffy frowned deeply. "You guys don't breed often, do you?"
Legolas shook his head, a smirk playing on his face. "We do breed, Buffy, we do." At the look on Buffy's face, he laughed and touched her arm gently. "But you must remember, we are… immortal. We have a very long time before we decide to breed, and that is why there are no babies, no children in the Elven homelands. Understand now?"
"Yeah…" She said slowly. "Immortal… right."
Legolas smiled sadly and said nothing. Obviously she had known what being immortal was like to the humans; curable, docile… lucky. And that is what he thought was going through Buffy's mind at the moment, but in fact it wasn't, so he kept silent throughout the whole time sitting there until something caught his eye.
Buffy watched him stand and move away from the corner of her eye. Had she upset him? Oh well, it was not like he had anything better to do than sit beside her for her company. After all, he's immortal, so he had better things to do to waist his time with her. At that thought, Buffy felt a strong pang inside her heart and she suddenly lost her appetite.
Sam noticed and made to comment, but Gandalf had approached them.
Frodo fidgeted where he sat, but when Gandalf looked down at Buffy, he relaxed.
"I would like a word with you, Buffy." He said quietly.
Buffy frowned but nodded and accepted his hand up. "Sure."
As they walked passed the others, she felt the strong gaze of Legolas on her back and she turned to see him staring at her. She turned away sadly and when Gandalf had stopped walking, she dropped her hand from his.
"What's up?" She asked, trying to sound normal. Trying to, she said to herself.
"I doubt I know what is up, for there are many things that are." He said thoughtfully. "I also know that something is up with you, and I doubt it has anything to do with the sky."
Buffy thought on that. "Why would I have the sky on my mind-"
"Please," He pleaded. "That is not what I meant. I am here to ask you of your dreams."
"Oh, great!" Buffy groaned. "You're intercepting my dreams, now are you?"
"I have many powers, Buffy Summers, and many that I do not like sharing with others." He said angrily, and Buffy stopped her ranting and nodded slowly. "Thank you. As I was saying, your dreaming… it has been coming recently, has it not?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it means anything." She said. "I always have these dreams, even back at Sunnydale. They are all normal. It's just because I fight violence and stuff."
Gandalf looked at her for a moment and said nothing.
"They are interceptions of your mind." He said. "Of your thoughts… of what will happen in the future, whether you realize it or not, the dreams are telling things."
"Alright, wait." Buffy rubbed her temple and sighed. "What you're saying is that I'm going to get cornered into a huge, black gate by a big ass, flying snake?"
"That was not a snake, Buffy." Gandalf explained. "It was a Fell Beast. Not many can intercept ones mind or dreams, but somehow this must have been done from-"
"The Eye?" Buffy asked impatiently. "Now that I've seen the damn thing, it's going to control my mind? That's fun to hear, now if you excuse me, I would really like to rest, I'm tired."
Gandalf sighed and nodded. "I understand."
Buffy went to leave, but suddenly stopped and turned around. "And don't tell anyone I said that either."
Gandalf smiled slightly. "Scouts honor."
When Buffy returned to the others, Boromir was still teaching Merry and Pippin sword fighting.
"Come on scouts. One. Two. Three. Four, and five." Boromir motioned his sword against the Hobbit's smaller ones.
"They're still at it?" Buffy asked.
"That's good, Pippin." Merry commented, raising his sword to block Boromir's attack.
"Thanks, Merry!" Pippin shouted above the clashing of swords.
Buffy looked over to where Gimli was speaking with Gandalf.
"If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note they're not going to, I'd say we were taking the long way round. Gandalf… we could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome."
"What's the Mines of Moria?" Buffy asked.
"The Dwarven City, mi Lady!" Gimli bellowed, walking over to her and grabbing her hand in his. "The towers go yay high," He raised Buffy's arm into the air. "the pillars are thick and rough as the Dwarves themselves."
Legolas made a snort, if that's possible for Elves to do, and scolded Gimli. Buffy knew the relationship between the Dwarf and the Elf, and she knew that every little word Gimli had spoken was completely off topic to Legolas. But she was curious to this place. Maybe they could go through this way, since Gimli is so fond of it. She turned to Gandalf with a smile.
"The Mines of Moria sounds cool, we should go that way Gandalf."
Legolas made another noise and came up to her. "I rather you see my homeland, Buffy. Mirkwood… 'Tis truly beautiful, as for beautiful people, nay that not everyone is welcomed." He glared at Gimli. "But you will very well be welcomed into my home."
Buffy groaned. "Oh, now I can come?."
"Why could you not?" Legolas pouted.
"She does not want to, that's why!" Gimli grunted.
"Stay out from this," Legolas hissed at him.
"I can't go because I'm human, remember?" She reminded him, having this discussion far too much than should be.
"Either way!" Gandalf shouted. "I would not choose the path of Moria, Gimli, if I had no other choice."
Legolas grinned and turned his head around. Buffy gave Gimli a sympathetic look as he continued to rant on how beautiful Moria is, just as Mirkwood supposedly was, and Legolas leapt away from rock to rock.
"Come on, now. Good." Boromir's voice made her turn around, and she saw the blackness in the sky that had caught Legolas' attention. Buffy tensed.
"What is that?" She asked.
"Nothing!" Gimli said, grunting as he came up beside Buffy. "Just a whiff of a cloud."
"It's coming at us pretty fast." Frodo acknowledged, and with reaction Buffy grabbed her sword tightly in her hand.
Buffy took a steady step forwards and laid a hand on Legolas' shoulder to balance herself on a rock. It was moving pretty fast and if she listened very carefully, she could hear the sounds of birds hawking… almost like crows.
Legolas jerked and took Buffy's arm. "Crebain from Dunland!" He cried.
"Huh?" Buffy asked in a hurry, just when Legolas tugged her over to a set of bushes.
"Hide!" Aragorn cried from somewhere behind them, and all Buffy saw now was pitch darkness from the rough shape of Legolas, and the hawking Buffy heard before was louder and clearer, while small, dark shadows flew over the hill.