Hello again my friends! I have decided once again to an update quite soon, although I may have to leave bigger gaps between them soon; I'm convinced my teachers are trying to drown me in coursework! Lol
Anyways, as usual the disclaimer is in chapter 1(although we all know my 'brilliance' is being stretched by this story! This is the best I can do) You may read the disclaimer again, jusr for kicks, if its really that fun.
Once again, enjoy everyone!
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Chapter five- Flowers for new friends
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*Merry's POV*
We went to breakfast as usual the next morning, but we couldn't see Elenya anywhere, no matter how hard we looked. We finished quickly (or as quickly as hobbits can; most of the others had already left) and went outside.
Pip was getting worried and we were about to go look for her when she came into the hall, holding in her hand a large bunch of yellow flowers with some other small pink ones mixed in. They had large, bright heads and a very soothing fragrance, which I couldn't help but relish as she came over merrily. So this was where she had been at breakfast, getting flowers?
"Morning," she said, "I brought some flowers, and I can tell you, they weren't easy to find; autumn is really starting to show." I was amazed at her, once again.
"You missed a meal to find flowers?!" I said and she nodded.
"Wow!" Said Pippin, just as taken aback as me. How could she miss a meal? She giggled at he look on our faces.
"Oh you two hobbits and your meals! Come on then, lead the way!" She said mock- scoldingly. She clasped the flowers and went forwards a step or two, then turned, waiting for us to go in front of her.
It turned out Frodo's room was the floor below hers, in the hospital wing, and in the same room she had been in when she arrived. Which I was glad to hear, because it was a really lovely room, very airy and open and peaceful. I peeped my head in first, just to check no-one else was in there and was surprised to find that even Sam had gone.
As we went in Elenya remarked; "I wonder where Sam is. Shouldn't he be here?"
Things like these could tell you that Elenya had paid attention to what we had told her yesterday; even she knew Sam should be here, looking after (or as the rest of us would call it 'fussing' over) Frodo.
"Well he has to eat sometime, I suppose," I answered confidently. Elenya turned and gave me a half-amused, half-exasperated look. She walked over to the bed, with me and Pippin behind her, and stood looking down at Frodo.
He seemed to be unconscious and he was very pale, but he had a frown of worry on his face. His hair was matted to his head and he had beads of sweat on his forehead, but I knew for a fact he was stone cold to the touch.
He had a large bandage around his shoulder, covering the wound. I realised his pyjama shirt was open, and that he had a gold chain on his neck, tucked into his pyjama; I wondered if that had been done on purpose.
I looked up at Elenya and she was standing there completely still, looking down at Frodo with a mixture of compassion and concern on her face- she obviously hadn't noticed the chain.
I was about to speak when we heard the door open. We turned to see Sam standing there, looking confused, and then angry.
"Who is she?!" He exclaimed furiously. Elenya stepped forward.
"I'm Elenya- Merry and Pippin brought me up here to come and see Frodo." Sam didn't even look at her as she spoke to us.
"And why is she here? Have you two been spreading our business around Rivendell?!"
Then Elenya, Pippin and I began to speak at the same time. I was really irritated that Sam was being like this- he had no right to be so rude, acting as though Elenya weren't there.
Pippin however, having the loudest voice out of the three of us, so he was the one got heard as he yelled, loud enough for the whole valley to hear.
"We didn't spread it round! We only told Elenya, she's our friend; we keep her secrets and she keeps ours!!!" He shouted at Sam. Elenya stopped trying to explain and just stared at Pip, with a really touched look on her face.
"Oh and what secrets might these be?! If you know about ours, then I should be allowed to know yours!!" Sam barked at Elenya. I knew she wouldn't want that;
"Sam, that's beside the point! She only here because she wants to make sure Frodo is okay" I said, or began to say, but Elenya broke in, speaking quietly, but each syllable was filled with quiet rage. Her face was like a block of stone, cold and impassive. I was actually quite scared, that voice and the look on her face suggested that Elenya would be a deadly enemy, if you got her angry.
"No, no Merry," She said quietly, lifting up her sleeve and pulling at her bandage, "If it pleases Sam then by all means, we should let him see. But I assume I'll be allowed to stay, or at least be forgiven for being here!"
The bandage fell away and Sam looked horrified and shocked. I wondered if Elenya would tell us all why they happened. But she didn't, she just put the bandages back on and stared defiantly at Sam with her arms crossed. Sam recovered and turned red, looking ashamed of himself.
"I'm really very sorry; I didn't mean to offend you at all I-" He didn't get to finish;
"It's okay; I suppose you were just worried about him, that's all." Elenya replied, gracefully accepting Sam's apology, though you could tell she was mastering her anger.
She turned back to the bed and sat down, looking at poor Frodo again. She picked up her flowers, which up till then had been forgotten and began to speak to him, as though he could hear her.
"Hello Frodo. My name is Elenya I brought you some flowers, you see? You don't know me, but I have been talking to Bilbo, and he misses you terribly ever since he left Hobbition. I suppose these flowers; they won't do much, but I do know that flowers always make me feel better when I'm sick, so I don't know, maybe they'll help you too."
Frodo continued to toss in his sleep, but the frown on his face seemed to ease a little. Elenya continued to talk to him about how much he would love Rivendell when he woke up as she gently pushed his curly hobbit-hair out of his eyes. The rest of us said nothing, but simply listened to her.
I occasionally looked at Sam, who was looking at Elenya in total and utter awe. He, like all hobbits had been brought up to think that all Big People are either stupid and clumsy, or stupid and evil. And I knew that right then, as he watched a complete stranger tend to someone he had know for years with as much care as he himself would have taken, Sam realised that there may be more to the world outside the Shire than he had been taught as a lad.
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We spent the whole day in Frodo's room, with Bilbo coming in halfway through the day, and Lord Elrond frequently coming in to tend to Frodo. I saw, as he answered Elenya's questions about how Frodo was and how Elrond thought he would be tomorrow, that he thought the same as me and Pippin.
He knew there was something different about Elenya, which went past the fact that she wasn't lady-like and past her unusual concern and humility. You could see it on his face as he spoke, except he wasn't trying to see what it was- I think he was trying to put it into context.
I wondered that night as I went to bed, but this time I didn't mention it to Pip, though I don't think I would have needed to, I think Pip had seen it too.
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Michelle had spent exactly 53 minutes and 17 seconds walking- to get to her first school dance. Michelle normally stayed away form dances; it was too much of a chance to be noticed, and to have people cause trouble.
But she had to come this time; she couldn't believe it-she had been invited by the most popular guy in school, Jason Adams! Michelle had fancied him since year 6 and at last he had finally noticed her! She had spent a months worth of wages on a new black dress and gorgeous shoes, and had her hair put up at the hairdressers especially.
But now, Jason was late, and she had had to walk all the way to school in 5 inch stilettos. She had just entered the parking lot when she saw Jason's best mate Will, leaning on his car, talking his date. He saw her and yelled over;
"There you are! Jason thought you had ditched him! He passed you house and you mum said you'd left!" Michelle brushed a stray curl out of her eyes.
"Well where is now?!" She called over, not thinking to ask why Jason had been 30 minutes late to pick her up. Will shouted loudly;
"Inside, but you'd better hurry up! It'll be over soon!" Michelle said nothing, but walked faster, and only stopped to check her hair in a car's side mirror quickly- not bad for someone who had walked all the way here!
No frizz, hair still pretty, make-up impeccable. She went to go into the gym, prepared to dazzle everyone. Tonight she was going to show them she was cool, and that she wasn't a loner, if Jason Adams liked her, then she had to have some kind of status.
The door didn't seem to want to open so she pushed it with all her might, and fell inwards, and then got hit over the head with 10 litres of grease, taken from the canteens deep fat fryer.
She screamed and when she managed to lift her head, she saw everyone wetting themselves laughing at her, with Jason standing at the front, high-fiving Will. Now she understood everything- why Jason and asked her to come and why Will was so intent on getting her inside.
With all the dignity she could find, she stood up and turned to leave out the door. But instead, she slipped in the grease and fell over ripping her dress. She was being deafened by the sound of jeering laughter from all around her. This time she made it up and ran away from school hoping to block out the laughter, but it still echoed in her ears.
When Michelle got home, her mum didn't recognise her. Michelle's new dress was torn apart and one of her shoes was missing. Her month's wages had been wrecked in less than a minute. Her brown hair had come down and was now plastered to her head and her make up (especially her mascara) had run from all the hopeless crying she had done on the way home. She went straight upstairs and threw herself into bed, ignoring the smell of hundreds of school dinners that lingered in her skin, and tried desperately to block out the laughter, but she never could.
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*Elenya's POV*
I sat up completely straight in my bed, as though hit by an arrow. I was aware of a lot of things at once, so much that it was almost hard to take it all in. Firstly, my whole body felt sticky, as though I had washed in something greasy.
My face felt odd, almost stiff, like after you have been crying a lot. I knew also that it was just before dawn- the sky had that greyness about it. And I was also aware that today, the 24th of October was going to be important, for two reasons, but I didn't know what those reasons were.
I could remember a lot of strange things, mainly about a large stone-like building, with bright lights and the strangest music coming from it. I remembered being soaking wet and falling over. And for some reason I still felt embarrassed, as though I had done something terribly stupid.
Although it was quite light, I lit a candle on my bedside table and took it over to my dressing table. Looking in the mirror, I was horrified to see my eyes red and puffy from crying and my face all smudged and stained. Around my eyes there were black streaks, my cheeks were runny rouge and around my mouth was pale pink. I remembered something about that, but I was unsure why my make up had run like that.
Looking at my bed there was none on my pillow, just all over my face. What was going on? Quickly I washed and scrubbed my face as hard as I could, making sure I got all last traces of the black off from around my eyes. Then a sat there, quite sure I was waiting for something- but unsure what it was, just that it would happen soon.
Sure enough, within a couple of minutes one of Arwen's chief maids, Miriel, came into the room, about to call out, before she saw sitting look at her.
"Why Lady Elenya, should you not be in bed?" She exclaimed in surprise, then lowering her eyes, knowing she had stepped out of her place.
I hated this; I was being treated by servants as though I was better than them. I wasn't anything better than a servant! I liked Miriel, she was nice and kind, if a little scatterbrained, and I didn't think it right to treat her as though she was below me, so I treated her just as politely as she did me.
"Oh, I just couldn't sleep, but what was it you wanted?" I asked kindly. She suddenly remembered whatever it was she had to tell me.
"Lady Arwen told me to come and fetch you; you are wanted down at the stables as soon as possible!" She answered as she went to the cupboard and began getting out my plain dress. I knew at once what this was about.
"I can save you some time!" I cried moving past her and pulling out a deep blue shawl, and draping it over my shoulders. Miriel looked as though she wanted to tell me to get dressed, but she must have though it wasn't her place because she simply lowered her eyes and motioned for me to leave the room, blowing out the candle as we left.
I knew I was right.
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The first thing I saw when I, creaked open the heavy doors of the stables was Boromir feeding his horse. Everyone looked around at me (Boromir's face breaking into a weary smile) but I didn't notice anyone else was in the room, I ran across the room ignoring the mud and hay slipping beneath my feet.
I ran over to Boromir and almost leapt into his arms, but controlled my self and gave him a huge squeeze around the middle. I was so glad to see him! He hugged me back hard.
"How have you been?" I asked, "Did you find them? Are you okay? You look tired, are you tired?" I pestered him.
He laughed softly but didn't answer and just said, "How are you Lady Elenya? I'm sorry I took so long"
"That's okay, I found some new friends," I giggled, but then seeing the severe look on his face added, "But I am so glad you are back, it's not the same without you!" I realised I was still hugging him and so I let go and stood back. Suddenly, he turned bright red and averted his eyes.
"But, you, you're wearing your nightdress" he stuttered. Before I could even say anything, I heard two very familiar laughs from across the room.
"You'll never change, will you?" One of them said simply. Looking past Boromir, I saw none other than Ethion and Ondion standing with Legolas and some other elves on the other side of the stable, all of them apart from Ehtion and Ondion looking puzzled or confused. I walked over slowly, scarcely daring to believe what I was seeing.
"But, I though you wanted to have some piece and quiet for a little while? Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Rivendell! I can't believe you two! HELLO, HOW ARE YOU??!!!"
My voice started off as a quiet mumble, but the end I was near screaming, and lost in both their arms, with kisses on the cheeks and them both patting my arm and all of us laughing together.
I realised then that, for elves, Ethion and Ondion were amazing open and laid back, all the others were frowning at us (apart from Legolas who had a bemused smile on his face). But I didn't care; we were talking about what the other was doing and how we loved Rivendell and all sorts when Legolas managed to break in.
"But how long have you all known each other for then? And how did you chance to meet?" Ethion answered;
"Well my dear Legolas, this", he gestured at me, " this elf-friend, this maiden, so highly regarded, which you see before you today, was nothing more than a simple barmaid when we met her!" I was outraged at this,
"
Well it was these two who were a bad influence on me! Were it not for them, I may still be working at home, having a good reputation in Gwendil!"
I said this all perfectly seriously, but everyone knew I was lying, I wouldn't be in Gwendil now if I was paid!
Arwen spoke, which was a surprise, as I hadn't noticed she was there. She was standing next to her father, talking to Bilbo, and two people I had never met before, but I knew exactly who they were.
One was old and was wearing a grey cloak and a big blue hat. He had long white hair and a beard which flowed over his robes and he was leaning on a staff, smiling pleasantly.
The other was lean and tall, his skin was completely weathered- I could tell he had done a lot of travelling in his years. His eyes were grey-green and right now were focused on me, with a look of interest in them, and that interest was directed at me. . .
"So are you happy I sent Miriel to wake you up then?" Arwen spoke meekly.
"Oh very much, thank you!" I replied as I walked over to her, nodding my head at each of them in turn.
Bilbo then spoke to me; "Elenya, this is an old friend of mine, his name is Gandalf"
I almost said 'I know' but stopped myself just in time, instead nodding and answering,
"It's pleasure to meet you, Gandalf, I am Elenya"
The look on my face must have said what my mouth hadn't because Gandalf said; "My pleasure, I assure you," and then turning to Bilbo, "True, she never misses anything, do you Elenya?"
I giggled and with all respect answered, "No sir, of course not" Then the other man spoke lightly,
"And then, do you know who I am?" I smiled and answered, obviously thinking I wouldn't know. But I was out to surprise him;
"Might you be Strider? The Strider who arrived with Merry and Pippin recently? Strider of the Rangers?" I smiled more at the surprised look on their faces, and then strider smiled, taking my hand and bowing.
"A pleasure to meet you, lady Elenya. So you have met Merry and Pippin then? You poor thing!" He joked lightly; I knew he was only joking, so I nodded in agreement.
"Ah such a curse to bear!" I sighed, putting my hand up to my forehead, and then promptly dropping the act and laughing again.
We continued to talk all of us mainly Bilbo and Boromir and I, but I noticed that in the rest of the time, Arwen said nothing more, but stared out at Strider form under her lashes, as though hypnotised.
I smiled inwardly, knowing that she wasn't looking at him in just admiration.
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I had sent Boromir to get some rest and told Ethion and Ondion to do the same. Gandalf had gone to see Frodo and Strider had disappeared somewhere with Lord Elrond and so had Arwen.
I spent the morning with Bilbo, reading over his book- since he had at last finished it! He had bound it in soft leather and made inscriptions on the spine, it really was beautiful. Reading over the book was different now that I had met Gandalf; I could picture him doing every movement and gesture whether or not it was described.
I was just about to suggest to Bilbo that we go and get elevenses when we heard the patter of four sets of feet and a lot of laughter.
Looking up the path I saw Merry hugging Sam and both of them were gazing happily at Pippin who was jumping up and down and clinging onto none other than Frodo. As we looked at them, they noticed us and Frodo sped down the path towards us (well towards Bilbo really).
He was wearing brown breeches and a brown waistcoat. His angelic face still had the look of a sick person; his eyes were still puffy and red and he was still quite pale. But his hair was no longer plastered to his head and now bounced with each bound he took.
His eyes- now that they were open- I could see were huge, and very blue, but not in the same way as Legolas' eyes, his didn't have that wisdom which came from so many years of stored knowledge.
He looked so happy to see Bilbo, and it was so good to see him up. I helped Bilbo up and watched as he hugged Frodo tightly, while holding onto the book. Merry, Pippin and Sam were all beaming at me and Sam had tears in his eyes.
"Frodo my lad!" Cried Bilbo as the two hobbits clung on tightly to each other. When they stepped back from each other, I could see they shared a lot of the same qualities. They both had that look of mischievousness in their faces and they both looked so contented to be in each others company.
"It's good to see you up again, Frodo," I smiled meekly, clutching the book to my chest and resting my chin on the top. He looked at me, still smiling, and I could tell he had been told about me.
"You must be Elenya, thank you for the flowers, they did help, I think" he replied. I grinned, handed him the book and turned to go.
"I'll see you all later on, you have a lot of catching up to do" I called over my shoulder as I strode away.
I felt that I didn't belong there, not because of anything anyone else had done, but of my own accord. I decided I would go and find Legolas and see if he would 'teach' me how to spar. I was quite sure I had cracked him, so perhaps I could learn something new.
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Well that's all for now, I'm currently writing about how Elenya will leave Rivendell (though that isn't the next chapter) and IT IS HARD!!!!
I will see you soon, or as soon as I get at least 2 reviews off you lot! That's the price you pay *mwahahahahaha!*
Carla
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Anyways, as usual the disclaimer is in chapter 1(although we all know my 'brilliance' is being stretched by this story! This is the best I can do) You may read the disclaimer again, jusr for kicks, if its really that fun.
Once again, enjoy everyone!
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Chapter five- Flowers for new friends
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*Merry's POV*
We went to breakfast as usual the next morning, but we couldn't see Elenya anywhere, no matter how hard we looked. We finished quickly (or as quickly as hobbits can; most of the others had already left) and went outside.
Pip was getting worried and we were about to go look for her when she came into the hall, holding in her hand a large bunch of yellow flowers with some other small pink ones mixed in. They had large, bright heads and a very soothing fragrance, which I couldn't help but relish as she came over merrily. So this was where she had been at breakfast, getting flowers?
"Morning," she said, "I brought some flowers, and I can tell you, they weren't easy to find; autumn is really starting to show." I was amazed at her, once again.
"You missed a meal to find flowers?!" I said and she nodded.
"Wow!" Said Pippin, just as taken aback as me. How could she miss a meal? She giggled at he look on our faces.
"Oh you two hobbits and your meals! Come on then, lead the way!" She said mock- scoldingly. She clasped the flowers and went forwards a step or two, then turned, waiting for us to go in front of her.
It turned out Frodo's room was the floor below hers, in the hospital wing, and in the same room she had been in when she arrived. Which I was glad to hear, because it was a really lovely room, very airy and open and peaceful. I peeped my head in first, just to check no-one else was in there and was surprised to find that even Sam had gone.
As we went in Elenya remarked; "I wonder where Sam is. Shouldn't he be here?"
Things like these could tell you that Elenya had paid attention to what we had told her yesterday; even she knew Sam should be here, looking after (or as the rest of us would call it 'fussing' over) Frodo.
"Well he has to eat sometime, I suppose," I answered confidently. Elenya turned and gave me a half-amused, half-exasperated look. She walked over to the bed, with me and Pippin behind her, and stood looking down at Frodo.
He seemed to be unconscious and he was very pale, but he had a frown of worry on his face. His hair was matted to his head and he had beads of sweat on his forehead, but I knew for a fact he was stone cold to the touch.
He had a large bandage around his shoulder, covering the wound. I realised his pyjama shirt was open, and that he had a gold chain on his neck, tucked into his pyjama; I wondered if that had been done on purpose.
I looked up at Elenya and she was standing there completely still, looking down at Frodo with a mixture of compassion and concern on her face- she obviously hadn't noticed the chain.
I was about to speak when we heard the door open. We turned to see Sam standing there, looking confused, and then angry.
"Who is she?!" He exclaimed furiously. Elenya stepped forward.
"I'm Elenya- Merry and Pippin brought me up here to come and see Frodo." Sam didn't even look at her as she spoke to us.
"And why is she here? Have you two been spreading our business around Rivendell?!"
Then Elenya, Pippin and I began to speak at the same time. I was really irritated that Sam was being like this- he had no right to be so rude, acting as though Elenya weren't there.
Pippin however, having the loudest voice out of the three of us, so he was the one got heard as he yelled, loud enough for the whole valley to hear.
"We didn't spread it round! We only told Elenya, she's our friend; we keep her secrets and she keeps ours!!!" He shouted at Sam. Elenya stopped trying to explain and just stared at Pip, with a really touched look on her face.
"Oh and what secrets might these be?! If you know about ours, then I should be allowed to know yours!!" Sam barked at Elenya. I knew she wouldn't want that;
"Sam, that's beside the point! She only here because she wants to make sure Frodo is okay" I said, or began to say, but Elenya broke in, speaking quietly, but each syllable was filled with quiet rage. Her face was like a block of stone, cold and impassive. I was actually quite scared, that voice and the look on her face suggested that Elenya would be a deadly enemy, if you got her angry.
"No, no Merry," She said quietly, lifting up her sleeve and pulling at her bandage, "If it pleases Sam then by all means, we should let him see. But I assume I'll be allowed to stay, or at least be forgiven for being here!"
The bandage fell away and Sam looked horrified and shocked. I wondered if Elenya would tell us all why they happened. But she didn't, she just put the bandages back on and stared defiantly at Sam with her arms crossed. Sam recovered and turned red, looking ashamed of himself.
"I'm really very sorry; I didn't mean to offend you at all I-" He didn't get to finish;
"It's okay; I suppose you were just worried about him, that's all." Elenya replied, gracefully accepting Sam's apology, though you could tell she was mastering her anger.
She turned back to the bed and sat down, looking at poor Frodo again. She picked up her flowers, which up till then had been forgotten and began to speak to him, as though he could hear her.
"Hello Frodo. My name is Elenya I brought you some flowers, you see? You don't know me, but I have been talking to Bilbo, and he misses you terribly ever since he left Hobbition. I suppose these flowers; they won't do much, but I do know that flowers always make me feel better when I'm sick, so I don't know, maybe they'll help you too."
Frodo continued to toss in his sleep, but the frown on his face seemed to ease a little. Elenya continued to talk to him about how much he would love Rivendell when he woke up as she gently pushed his curly hobbit-hair out of his eyes. The rest of us said nothing, but simply listened to her.
I occasionally looked at Sam, who was looking at Elenya in total and utter awe. He, like all hobbits had been brought up to think that all Big People are either stupid and clumsy, or stupid and evil. And I knew that right then, as he watched a complete stranger tend to someone he had know for years with as much care as he himself would have taken, Sam realised that there may be more to the world outside the Shire than he had been taught as a lad.
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We spent the whole day in Frodo's room, with Bilbo coming in halfway through the day, and Lord Elrond frequently coming in to tend to Frodo. I saw, as he answered Elenya's questions about how Frodo was and how Elrond thought he would be tomorrow, that he thought the same as me and Pippin.
He knew there was something different about Elenya, which went past the fact that she wasn't lady-like and past her unusual concern and humility. You could see it on his face as he spoke, except he wasn't trying to see what it was- I think he was trying to put it into context.
I wondered that night as I went to bed, but this time I didn't mention it to Pip, though I don't think I would have needed to, I think Pip had seen it too.
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Michelle had spent exactly 53 minutes and 17 seconds walking- to get to her first school dance. Michelle normally stayed away form dances; it was too much of a chance to be noticed, and to have people cause trouble.
But she had to come this time; she couldn't believe it-she had been invited by the most popular guy in school, Jason Adams! Michelle had fancied him since year 6 and at last he had finally noticed her! She had spent a months worth of wages on a new black dress and gorgeous shoes, and had her hair put up at the hairdressers especially.
But now, Jason was late, and she had had to walk all the way to school in 5 inch stilettos. She had just entered the parking lot when she saw Jason's best mate Will, leaning on his car, talking his date. He saw her and yelled over;
"There you are! Jason thought you had ditched him! He passed you house and you mum said you'd left!" Michelle brushed a stray curl out of her eyes.
"Well where is now?!" She called over, not thinking to ask why Jason had been 30 minutes late to pick her up. Will shouted loudly;
"Inside, but you'd better hurry up! It'll be over soon!" Michelle said nothing, but walked faster, and only stopped to check her hair in a car's side mirror quickly- not bad for someone who had walked all the way here!
No frizz, hair still pretty, make-up impeccable. She went to go into the gym, prepared to dazzle everyone. Tonight she was going to show them she was cool, and that she wasn't a loner, if Jason Adams liked her, then she had to have some kind of status.
The door didn't seem to want to open so she pushed it with all her might, and fell inwards, and then got hit over the head with 10 litres of grease, taken from the canteens deep fat fryer.
She screamed and when she managed to lift her head, she saw everyone wetting themselves laughing at her, with Jason standing at the front, high-fiving Will. Now she understood everything- why Jason and asked her to come and why Will was so intent on getting her inside.
With all the dignity she could find, she stood up and turned to leave out the door. But instead, she slipped in the grease and fell over ripping her dress. She was being deafened by the sound of jeering laughter from all around her. This time she made it up and ran away from school hoping to block out the laughter, but it still echoed in her ears.
When Michelle got home, her mum didn't recognise her. Michelle's new dress was torn apart and one of her shoes was missing. Her month's wages had been wrecked in less than a minute. Her brown hair had come down and was now plastered to her head and her make up (especially her mascara) had run from all the hopeless crying she had done on the way home. She went straight upstairs and threw herself into bed, ignoring the smell of hundreds of school dinners that lingered in her skin, and tried desperately to block out the laughter, but she never could.
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*Elenya's POV*
I sat up completely straight in my bed, as though hit by an arrow. I was aware of a lot of things at once, so much that it was almost hard to take it all in. Firstly, my whole body felt sticky, as though I had washed in something greasy.
My face felt odd, almost stiff, like after you have been crying a lot. I knew also that it was just before dawn- the sky had that greyness about it. And I was also aware that today, the 24th of October was going to be important, for two reasons, but I didn't know what those reasons were.
I could remember a lot of strange things, mainly about a large stone-like building, with bright lights and the strangest music coming from it. I remembered being soaking wet and falling over. And for some reason I still felt embarrassed, as though I had done something terribly stupid.
Although it was quite light, I lit a candle on my bedside table and took it over to my dressing table. Looking in the mirror, I was horrified to see my eyes red and puffy from crying and my face all smudged and stained. Around my eyes there were black streaks, my cheeks were runny rouge and around my mouth was pale pink. I remembered something about that, but I was unsure why my make up had run like that.
Looking at my bed there was none on my pillow, just all over my face. What was going on? Quickly I washed and scrubbed my face as hard as I could, making sure I got all last traces of the black off from around my eyes. Then a sat there, quite sure I was waiting for something- but unsure what it was, just that it would happen soon.
Sure enough, within a couple of minutes one of Arwen's chief maids, Miriel, came into the room, about to call out, before she saw sitting look at her.
"Why Lady Elenya, should you not be in bed?" She exclaimed in surprise, then lowering her eyes, knowing she had stepped out of her place.
I hated this; I was being treated by servants as though I was better than them. I wasn't anything better than a servant! I liked Miriel, she was nice and kind, if a little scatterbrained, and I didn't think it right to treat her as though she was below me, so I treated her just as politely as she did me.
"Oh, I just couldn't sleep, but what was it you wanted?" I asked kindly. She suddenly remembered whatever it was she had to tell me.
"Lady Arwen told me to come and fetch you; you are wanted down at the stables as soon as possible!" She answered as she went to the cupboard and began getting out my plain dress. I knew at once what this was about.
"I can save you some time!" I cried moving past her and pulling out a deep blue shawl, and draping it over my shoulders. Miriel looked as though she wanted to tell me to get dressed, but she must have though it wasn't her place because she simply lowered her eyes and motioned for me to leave the room, blowing out the candle as we left.
I knew I was right.
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The first thing I saw when I, creaked open the heavy doors of the stables was Boromir feeding his horse. Everyone looked around at me (Boromir's face breaking into a weary smile) but I didn't notice anyone else was in the room, I ran across the room ignoring the mud and hay slipping beneath my feet.
I ran over to Boromir and almost leapt into his arms, but controlled my self and gave him a huge squeeze around the middle. I was so glad to see him! He hugged me back hard.
"How have you been?" I asked, "Did you find them? Are you okay? You look tired, are you tired?" I pestered him.
He laughed softly but didn't answer and just said, "How are you Lady Elenya? I'm sorry I took so long"
"That's okay, I found some new friends," I giggled, but then seeing the severe look on his face added, "But I am so glad you are back, it's not the same without you!" I realised I was still hugging him and so I let go and stood back. Suddenly, he turned bright red and averted his eyes.
"But, you, you're wearing your nightdress" he stuttered. Before I could even say anything, I heard two very familiar laughs from across the room.
"You'll never change, will you?" One of them said simply. Looking past Boromir, I saw none other than Ethion and Ondion standing with Legolas and some other elves on the other side of the stable, all of them apart from Ehtion and Ondion looking puzzled or confused. I walked over slowly, scarcely daring to believe what I was seeing.
"But, I though you wanted to have some piece and quiet for a little while? Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Rivendell! I can't believe you two! HELLO, HOW ARE YOU??!!!"
My voice started off as a quiet mumble, but the end I was near screaming, and lost in both their arms, with kisses on the cheeks and them both patting my arm and all of us laughing together.
I realised then that, for elves, Ethion and Ondion were amazing open and laid back, all the others were frowning at us (apart from Legolas who had a bemused smile on his face). But I didn't care; we were talking about what the other was doing and how we loved Rivendell and all sorts when Legolas managed to break in.
"But how long have you all known each other for then? And how did you chance to meet?" Ethion answered;
"Well my dear Legolas, this", he gestured at me, " this elf-friend, this maiden, so highly regarded, which you see before you today, was nothing more than a simple barmaid when we met her!" I was outraged at this,
"
Well it was these two who were a bad influence on me! Were it not for them, I may still be working at home, having a good reputation in Gwendil!"
I said this all perfectly seriously, but everyone knew I was lying, I wouldn't be in Gwendil now if I was paid!
Arwen spoke, which was a surprise, as I hadn't noticed she was there. She was standing next to her father, talking to Bilbo, and two people I had never met before, but I knew exactly who they were.
One was old and was wearing a grey cloak and a big blue hat. He had long white hair and a beard which flowed over his robes and he was leaning on a staff, smiling pleasantly.
The other was lean and tall, his skin was completely weathered- I could tell he had done a lot of travelling in his years. His eyes were grey-green and right now were focused on me, with a look of interest in them, and that interest was directed at me. . .
"So are you happy I sent Miriel to wake you up then?" Arwen spoke meekly.
"Oh very much, thank you!" I replied as I walked over to her, nodding my head at each of them in turn.
Bilbo then spoke to me; "Elenya, this is an old friend of mine, his name is Gandalf"
I almost said 'I know' but stopped myself just in time, instead nodding and answering,
"It's pleasure to meet you, Gandalf, I am Elenya"
The look on my face must have said what my mouth hadn't because Gandalf said; "My pleasure, I assure you," and then turning to Bilbo, "True, she never misses anything, do you Elenya?"
I giggled and with all respect answered, "No sir, of course not" Then the other man spoke lightly,
"And then, do you know who I am?" I smiled and answered, obviously thinking I wouldn't know. But I was out to surprise him;
"Might you be Strider? The Strider who arrived with Merry and Pippin recently? Strider of the Rangers?" I smiled more at the surprised look on their faces, and then strider smiled, taking my hand and bowing.
"A pleasure to meet you, lady Elenya. So you have met Merry and Pippin then? You poor thing!" He joked lightly; I knew he was only joking, so I nodded in agreement.
"Ah such a curse to bear!" I sighed, putting my hand up to my forehead, and then promptly dropping the act and laughing again.
We continued to talk all of us mainly Bilbo and Boromir and I, but I noticed that in the rest of the time, Arwen said nothing more, but stared out at Strider form under her lashes, as though hypnotised.
I smiled inwardly, knowing that she wasn't looking at him in just admiration.
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I had sent Boromir to get some rest and told Ethion and Ondion to do the same. Gandalf had gone to see Frodo and Strider had disappeared somewhere with Lord Elrond and so had Arwen.
I spent the morning with Bilbo, reading over his book- since he had at last finished it! He had bound it in soft leather and made inscriptions on the spine, it really was beautiful. Reading over the book was different now that I had met Gandalf; I could picture him doing every movement and gesture whether or not it was described.
I was just about to suggest to Bilbo that we go and get elevenses when we heard the patter of four sets of feet and a lot of laughter.
Looking up the path I saw Merry hugging Sam and both of them were gazing happily at Pippin who was jumping up and down and clinging onto none other than Frodo. As we looked at them, they noticed us and Frodo sped down the path towards us (well towards Bilbo really).
He was wearing brown breeches and a brown waistcoat. His angelic face still had the look of a sick person; his eyes were still puffy and red and he was still quite pale. But his hair was no longer plastered to his head and now bounced with each bound he took.
His eyes- now that they were open- I could see were huge, and very blue, but not in the same way as Legolas' eyes, his didn't have that wisdom which came from so many years of stored knowledge.
He looked so happy to see Bilbo, and it was so good to see him up. I helped Bilbo up and watched as he hugged Frodo tightly, while holding onto the book. Merry, Pippin and Sam were all beaming at me and Sam had tears in his eyes.
"Frodo my lad!" Cried Bilbo as the two hobbits clung on tightly to each other. When they stepped back from each other, I could see they shared a lot of the same qualities. They both had that look of mischievousness in their faces and they both looked so contented to be in each others company.
"It's good to see you up again, Frodo," I smiled meekly, clutching the book to my chest and resting my chin on the top. He looked at me, still smiling, and I could tell he had been told about me.
"You must be Elenya, thank you for the flowers, they did help, I think" he replied. I grinned, handed him the book and turned to go.
"I'll see you all later on, you have a lot of catching up to do" I called over my shoulder as I strode away.
I felt that I didn't belong there, not because of anything anyone else had done, but of my own accord. I decided I would go and find Legolas and see if he would 'teach' me how to spar. I was quite sure I had cracked him, so perhaps I could learn something new.
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Well that's all for now, I'm currently writing about how Elenya will leave Rivendell (though that isn't the next chapter) and IT IS HARD!!!!
I will see you soon, or as soon as I get at least 2 reviews off you lot! That's the price you pay *mwahahahahaha!*
Carla
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