We walked. And walked. And walked, and walked, and walked, and, well, you
get the picture. And I was shattered. Gandalf paced away ahead, seemingly
oblivious to my curses as I foundered along. Aragorn/Strider/Wingfoot
strode away ahead. He was a masochist. I could have sworn he was grinning
as I blistered the air. Boromir was just ignoring me still. Gimli and
Legolas were a right pair. Neither of them was willing to show weakness in
front of the other and so both plodded on stoically.
At least the hobbits were in sort of the same boat as me. Sam had suggested that I ride Bill, but I told him politely no. I thought it wouldn't be polite to shriek that I would rather have blisters on my feet than my bum.
At least it was warm. But I was dreading what was to come. I could only hope that I got taken home before we got to Caradhras, or Moria. Or worse, Amon Hen. I wouldn't mind visiting Lorien, but Galadriel would be scary.
Finally, we stopped for a rest. I had no idea of how far we had travelled, and had sort of lost track of the days. I had made an attempt to keep a diary, but I had made two entries:
Sun peeping over horizon – Woken by Aragorn prodding me.
Sun an inch above horizon – Started walking.
Sun down – Stopped walking. Slept
Sun peeping over horizon – Woken by Legolas prodding me
Sun an inch over horizon – Started walking.
Sun down – Stopped walking. Slept.
And since they were almost the same, I decided to give up. But the place we stopped was familiar to me from somewhere, and as we settled, it nagged at my mind. But I was too tired to care. I shrugged off my pack and dropped down onto the ground and just flopped. I was about to close my eyes to catch up on some rest before we started walking again, when I was prodded awake, this time by Boromir.
"Sword. Lesson. Now." Was his short comment.
Then it hit me. I knew exactly where we were. Though the place did not have a name, well one that I could bring to mind immediately, we were due to have a short sharp squall of birds shortly. After Merry and Pippin had knocked Boromir over, which I was looking forward to.
I had been given Frodo's old sword, well, long dagger type thing, since he now had Sting. And now Boromir was going to show me how to use it. Oh god.
"This is going to hurt." I muttered as I got to my feet and slowly made my way over to where my tutor awaited me, with what looked to be unholy relish in his eyes. Oh god.
As I waited, this was one time I wished for the qualities of a Mary Sue. Plus if I didn't leave before Moria, I would bloody well need it. Ii didn't fancy facing orcs with nothing but a pen and some RE books,
"Two, one five." Boromir chanted as he swung his sword at Pippin, who parried.
"Move your feet." Aragorn advised.
The two hobbits complimented each other on their performances. Then as I heard Gimli's voice in the background, Boromir turned to me.
I brought my blade up and the shock that coursed through my arm as the two sharp bits of metal collided nearly made me nearly drop my aforementioned sharp bit of metal.
But Mr-oh-look-I've-got-a-big-horn didn't give me time to get rid of the tingling sensation, and swung again.
This time, I found my sword moving of its own accord to block the other.
"Shit, Sue!" I mentally shrieked, as my hand twisted in preparation to attack. I did the only logical thing. I hit it with my free (and under my control) hand.
My possessed hand spasmed before I regained control of it. Boromir was looking at me curiously, no doubt wondering what the hell I was doing. I exchanged glances with Merry and Pippin, and they nodded. Plot.
"For the Shire!" was the battle cry as the three of us tackled Boromir, tickling furiously (well, at least I was).
"Nothing, its just a wisp of cloud." Came the scornful voice of Gimli, as I achieved my third dream and had a Boromir butt on my chest. But alas all too quickly it was removed as Boromir rose to obey the dictates of plot.
"It's moving fast, and against the wind."
Doing my utmost to look casual, I wandered over to where my baggage was laid out, ready to grab it and run like bugggery for the nearest bush to hide under.
"Crebain, from Dunland." Legolas yelled, still managing to sound sexy, even when bird watching.
"Hide!" called Aragorn. I need no further urgings and sprinted and dived under cover.
The crows swept down on the hill as the fellowship bit the dirt. I watched from beneath my clump of gorse and just stared. Reality was a lot different from reading it or watching it.
As the crowds swept off back to Dunland, or rather to report to Saruman, we all emerged, Gimli and Legolas both trying to come up with reasons why they had hidden. They settled for blaming Aragorn's 'Hide' command.
"Spies of Saruman. The passes south are being watched." Gandalf declared. "We must take the pass of Caradhras!"
Snow. Cold. Snow. Avalanche. Not fun. These were roughly the thoughts that flashed through my mind.
"Hope you all packed your thermal underwear." I muttered,
At least the hobbits were in sort of the same boat as me. Sam had suggested that I ride Bill, but I told him politely no. I thought it wouldn't be polite to shriek that I would rather have blisters on my feet than my bum.
At least it was warm. But I was dreading what was to come. I could only hope that I got taken home before we got to Caradhras, or Moria. Or worse, Amon Hen. I wouldn't mind visiting Lorien, but Galadriel would be scary.
Finally, we stopped for a rest. I had no idea of how far we had travelled, and had sort of lost track of the days. I had made an attempt to keep a diary, but I had made two entries:
Sun peeping over horizon – Woken by Aragorn prodding me.
Sun an inch above horizon – Started walking.
Sun down – Stopped walking. Slept
Sun peeping over horizon – Woken by Legolas prodding me
Sun an inch over horizon – Started walking.
Sun down – Stopped walking. Slept.
And since they were almost the same, I decided to give up. But the place we stopped was familiar to me from somewhere, and as we settled, it nagged at my mind. But I was too tired to care. I shrugged off my pack and dropped down onto the ground and just flopped. I was about to close my eyes to catch up on some rest before we started walking again, when I was prodded awake, this time by Boromir.
"Sword. Lesson. Now." Was his short comment.
Then it hit me. I knew exactly where we were. Though the place did not have a name, well one that I could bring to mind immediately, we were due to have a short sharp squall of birds shortly. After Merry and Pippin had knocked Boromir over, which I was looking forward to.
I had been given Frodo's old sword, well, long dagger type thing, since he now had Sting. And now Boromir was going to show me how to use it. Oh god.
"This is going to hurt." I muttered as I got to my feet and slowly made my way over to where my tutor awaited me, with what looked to be unholy relish in his eyes. Oh god.
As I waited, this was one time I wished for the qualities of a Mary Sue. Plus if I didn't leave before Moria, I would bloody well need it. Ii didn't fancy facing orcs with nothing but a pen and some RE books,
"Two, one five." Boromir chanted as he swung his sword at Pippin, who parried.
"Move your feet." Aragorn advised.
The two hobbits complimented each other on their performances. Then as I heard Gimli's voice in the background, Boromir turned to me.
I brought my blade up and the shock that coursed through my arm as the two sharp bits of metal collided nearly made me nearly drop my aforementioned sharp bit of metal.
But Mr-oh-look-I've-got-a-big-horn didn't give me time to get rid of the tingling sensation, and swung again.
This time, I found my sword moving of its own accord to block the other.
"Shit, Sue!" I mentally shrieked, as my hand twisted in preparation to attack. I did the only logical thing. I hit it with my free (and under my control) hand.
My possessed hand spasmed before I regained control of it. Boromir was looking at me curiously, no doubt wondering what the hell I was doing. I exchanged glances with Merry and Pippin, and they nodded. Plot.
"For the Shire!" was the battle cry as the three of us tackled Boromir, tickling furiously (well, at least I was).
"Nothing, its just a wisp of cloud." Came the scornful voice of Gimli, as I achieved my third dream and had a Boromir butt on my chest. But alas all too quickly it was removed as Boromir rose to obey the dictates of plot.
"It's moving fast, and against the wind."
Doing my utmost to look casual, I wandered over to where my baggage was laid out, ready to grab it and run like bugggery for the nearest bush to hide under.
"Crebain, from Dunland." Legolas yelled, still managing to sound sexy, even when bird watching.
"Hide!" called Aragorn. I need no further urgings and sprinted and dived under cover.
The crows swept down on the hill as the fellowship bit the dirt. I watched from beneath my clump of gorse and just stared. Reality was a lot different from reading it or watching it.
As the crowds swept off back to Dunland, or rather to report to Saruman, we all emerged, Gimli and Legolas both trying to come up with reasons why they had hidden. They settled for blaming Aragorn's 'Hide' command.
"Spies of Saruman. The passes south are being watched." Gandalf declared. "We must take the pass of Caradhras!"
Snow. Cold. Snow. Avalanche. Not fun. These were roughly the thoughts that flashed through my mind.
"Hope you all packed your thermal underwear." I muttered,