AN: First off HAPPY BELATED HALLOWEEN! Secondly, I appreciate all reviews---
good or bad. I really and truly do. You reviewers make typing this story
out worthwhile. I can't thank you enough!
neo serenity: I appreciate your criticism of my story. I am trying my darndest not to make Emma into a Mary-Sue. Allow me to defend myself, please? I wrote Legolas being nice to her because he feels sorry for and, in general, people are nice to little kids. I never, ever said that she sang well. When doing a lyrical-type ballet, steps become associated with words. You need the words to dance. My ballet teacher sings when he dances and he doesn't sing well at all! As for the private dance and the fact she is very proficient at it, that also goes back to the way my ballet teacher trains my class. If you are not perfect both with in a private and group situation, he bites your head off and even humiliate you in front of the entire class. You learn to be perfect out of fear. That is one of the main reasons she is so very good at ballet.
Kurelyhawk2: Busy week for me! I'm updating now though! Thanks for the compliment.
PixiePea000: That ballet really was the first private I did, of course that was in the pre-Spiro era. I'm also not a Mariah Carey fan but it was the only private I could come up with. I'm glad you liked that chapter. By the way, GOLLUM!
Elainor: Thanks for the review and I'm very glad you liked my twist. I can say, without spoiling the story, that Thranduil is going to be just a little angry when he finds out what he son has done.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
The next morning, Emma woke feeling rather refreshed and content. She looked around and noticed that she was alone. She recalled falling asleep next to Legolas but not him leaving.
"I wonder where everybody is," Emma mused, feeling slightly lonely.
With nothing else to do, Emma began to stretch. Despite the differences in location, her stretch had not changed in the slightest. In fact, she had added more and more to it until it nearly resembled the stretches she undertook during her acrobatics class.
The order was always the same. First, the butterfly stretch where, while sitting on the floor, the soles of both feet were pressed together. This caused the knees to bend, making the legs look like the wings of a butterfly. While holding her ankles, Emma leaned forward, flattening herself into an odd looking ball of sorts.
Stretching her legs out in front of her, pointing her toes of course, and raising her arms above her head, Emma entered into the next stretch. She leaned forward, trying to grasp her ankles. This stretch, according to Spiro, was for the lower back.
Next, she straddled her legs nearly one hundred and eighty degrees and stretched forward so that her stomach touched the ground. She repeated the front stretch a few more times and leaned to her right and left, locking her hands around her ankles. That was followed by right and left splits and tug of wars on both legs.
The stretch ended with backbends. She stood up and raised both hands over her head. She, then, bent backwards until her hands rested on the floor and her back was in an arch. She pulled up from that position, satisfied with the cracking sounds her back had produced.
As she went through the nearly automatic ritual of stretching, her mind went back to the previous night's events. The rational part of her mind wanted more proof, something tangible other than a strange image in a mirror. The other part of her mind wanted to believe. She had found something she had always wanted---a link to her actual family.
"Even if my biological father isn't all that nice," she thought.
So lost was she in her own thoughts that Emma failed to notice the other elf enter to room.
As she pulled up from a backbend, Emma came face to face with Ice.
Gone was the gray cloak she had seen Ice wearing, the elven ranger was in a simple white dress.
"Please tell me you recall who I am, Emma," Ice said, coolly.
"You're Ice, I think," Emma replied, cautiously.
From the small sampling she had seen the previous evening, nearly all of the elves in this forest shared the same basic features---light hair and light eyes.
"Correct, I was told so come get you," Ice said.
Emma nodded and followed the elf out of the room and down the winding stairs that wrapped around the tree.
They arrived at the base of the tree to find Fire and Legolas standing with two other elves. They were engaged in a very animated looking conversation.
One of the elves was a head shorter then Legolas. His dark hair was trimmed up to the base of his neck and appeared to have some sort of odd ridged design on the left and right sides.
The other elf was a very odd looking creature. He was tall, over a head taller than the elves he was speaking with. He stood with his chest puffed out a bit. Unlike every elf Emma had encountered, this creature had a mop of curly brown hair that reached to just below his shoulder blades.
"Look who finally decided to join us," called Fire, when she spotted her sister.
"Fire," Ice started, finishing the thought in elvish.
The sisters began to argue, trading ideas, or insults, in their native tongue.
"Good morning, Emma. Are you prepared to continue on?" Legolas asked, handing her what looked to be half of a giant cookie-like object.
Emma took the cookie-like object and, cautiously, bit into it. It wasn't bad and she ate the rest with relish.
"I guess so. By the way, I'm sorry I fell asleep on you last night. I didn't mean to," Emma replied.
Her father---technically her adopted father---wasn't fond of people falling asleep on him. He claimed it invaded his personal space.
"It is not a problem. It was quite cold last night and you are use to sleeping in those kinds of conditions," he stated.
In an undertone, loud enough for just Emma to hear, he added, "Anyway, is that not what big brothers are for."
Emma laughed and shrugged.
"Can't say," she responded, "I never had a big brother."
The two new elves, who had disappeared for a handful of moments, returned leading six horses with them. Emma recognized three of them---the ones belonging to Ice, Fire, and Legolas. The other three were a mystery. A dappled gray one, smaller then the others appeared to be for baggage.
"Emma, may I introduce you to Mac and Goose. They will be riding with us the rest of the way," Legolas said.
The two elves nodded their acknowledgement of her name. Mac, the shorter of the two, appeared to very antsy, as if he was quite anxious to get going. The taller of the two, the odd looking elf, was Goose. With his puffed out chest, it was easy to see from whence the moniker came.
"The other two horses must belong to them," Emma surmised.
"Will this be a long ride?" asked Fire.
"We will not be riding the entire way there. I was given this odd device that will take us near enough to our location. We will ride from that point on," Legolas explained.
He fished a very large looking length of branch from the confines of his bag.
"From what I have been told, each of us simply has to touch this object and we will be transported to our location," Legolas said.
"What of our horses?" Goose asked, a bit of a "honk" to his voice.
"I think if we hold tight to them, it will not be a problem," Legolas replied.
"Let us get going. I want to go," Mac stated, dancing from foot to foot.
Legolas held out the length of branch. Each elf placed a hand on it and, in an instant, they had disappeared.
They reappeared in some kind of field. Emma wanted to look around for awhile but she was swept onto her brother's horse.
Night had fallen, dark and starless, by the time the riders had stopped. A quick camp was set up and watches were drawn.
"Do you have dancing here?" Emma asked Legolas.
She was having problems falling asleep. He mind was still the playground of many questions.
"Of course we do. Some are similar to what you would call waltzes," Legolas replied.
Emma gave a small giggle, remembering something from one of her dances.
"What is so funny, Emma?" Legolas questioned, catching the giggle.
"I did a waltz once in this ballet called 'Evita.' It was our partnering section and I had to partner with Myra. It was to this really strange song called 'A Waltz for Eva and Che.'" Emma explained.
"Why was it strange?" Legolas inquired.
"Well, the song was really meant for a guy and girl so it looked really odd to have two girls in light blue and silver ballet dresses dancing to it. That ballet wasn't very good on stage. Rosemarie, she was the female lead that year and played Eva, was dropped by Spiro, who played this character called Che, a bunch of times during the dance. It was really bad and he was really upset with us," Emma said with a shudder.
She remembered the screaming at when they came back to class that September.
"He did some good ballets though," she added offhandedly.
"Explain," Legolas ordered.
"Yes please," Fire asked.
She and her sister had been listening to the exchange about dancing for quite sometime.
Emma took a deep breath and let it out. This was going to require a lot of words.
"I was really young when Spiro took over the ballet training at the studio. I remember I used to be so scared of him, when I had him that first year. I use to come home crying ever week, telling my mom that he was mean to me and didn't like me. I even thought about quitting. It turned out he was treating me so harshly because he felt that was the only way to bring out whatever talent he thought I possessed. I even remember the first big ballet he taught us. It was called 'Glory' and it was about the Civil War--- that's a really big important war where I'm from. I remember my class, the Junior class, wore these long to the floor, blood red poofy, itchy ballet costumes with a red and white top. It was the first really good big ballet the studio ever did. The other ballet that sticks out for me was this one called 'Ode to Joy.' It was based on a piece of music by the same title. I was in the Senior class by then. That dance was so amazing because he combined the Junior and Senior classes so there were about thirty-five dancers on stage at once. My class wore these really pretty, velvety brown tutus with gold leaves coming down like a sash. The Junior class wore green. We were supposed to represent a forest---brown for the earth, green for the trees. Every part of that ballet had a name. There was the 'creation' and the 'destruction' spots in it, just to name a few. Spiro's the reason I stay at that awful place. He's too good to be there," Emma explained.
"You will have to show us some of these dances someday," Ice said.
"Actually is sounds kind of boring," Fire commented.
"Fire," Ice warned.
"I know, I know a good fonging is on the way," Fire retorted.
"All that talk of ballet's made me tired," Emma commented.
"Sleep then, we have a hard ride ahead of us," Legolas said.
Emma nodded and, after a mumbled "good night," went to sleep.
(AN: What Emma says about her Spiro is reflective of how I feel about my ballet teacher, also named Spiro. He is the greatest ballet teacher in the world even if he is a princess and a bigger diva sometimes then the other people I dance with. The dances I referenced in this chapter are all dances I've done with him. He's honestly the best ballet teacher I have ever had. What Emma said is my quiet way of thanking him because I'd never tell him myself. Which reminds me, I have ballet tomorrow!)
neo serenity: I appreciate your criticism of my story. I am trying my darndest not to make Emma into a Mary-Sue. Allow me to defend myself, please? I wrote Legolas being nice to her because he feels sorry for and, in general, people are nice to little kids. I never, ever said that she sang well. When doing a lyrical-type ballet, steps become associated with words. You need the words to dance. My ballet teacher sings when he dances and he doesn't sing well at all! As for the private dance and the fact she is very proficient at it, that also goes back to the way my ballet teacher trains my class. If you are not perfect both with in a private and group situation, he bites your head off and even humiliate you in front of the entire class. You learn to be perfect out of fear. That is one of the main reasons she is so very good at ballet.
Kurelyhawk2: Busy week for me! I'm updating now though! Thanks for the compliment.
PixiePea000: That ballet really was the first private I did, of course that was in the pre-Spiro era. I'm also not a Mariah Carey fan but it was the only private I could come up with. I'm glad you liked that chapter. By the way, GOLLUM!
Elainor: Thanks for the review and I'm very glad you liked my twist. I can say, without spoiling the story, that Thranduil is going to be just a little angry when he finds out what he son has done.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
The next morning, Emma woke feeling rather refreshed and content. She looked around and noticed that she was alone. She recalled falling asleep next to Legolas but not him leaving.
"I wonder where everybody is," Emma mused, feeling slightly lonely.
With nothing else to do, Emma began to stretch. Despite the differences in location, her stretch had not changed in the slightest. In fact, she had added more and more to it until it nearly resembled the stretches she undertook during her acrobatics class.
The order was always the same. First, the butterfly stretch where, while sitting on the floor, the soles of both feet were pressed together. This caused the knees to bend, making the legs look like the wings of a butterfly. While holding her ankles, Emma leaned forward, flattening herself into an odd looking ball of sorts.
Stretching her legs out in front of her, pointing her toes of course, and raising her arms above her head, Emma entered into the next stretch. She leaned forward, trying to grasp her ankles. This stretch, according to Spiro, was for the lower back.
Next, she straddled her legs nearly one hundred and eighty degrees and stretched forward so that her stomach touched the ground. She repeated the front stretch a few more times and leaned to her right and left, locking her hands around her ankles. That was followed by right and left splits and tug of wars on both legs.
The stretch ended with backbends. She stood up and raised both hands over her head. She, then, bent backwards until her hands rested on the floor and her back was in an arch. She pulled up from that position, satisfied with the cracking sounds her back had produced.
As she went through the nearly automatic ritual of stretching, her mind went back to the previous night's events. The rational part of her mind wanted more proof, something tangible other than a strange image in a mirror. The other part of her mind wanted to believe. She had found something she had always wanted---a link to her actual family.
"Even if my biological father isn't all that nice," she thought.
So lost was she in her own thoughts that Emma failed to notice the other elf enter to room.
As she pulled up from a backbend, Emma came face to face with Ice.
Gone was the gray cloak she had seen Ice wearing, the elven ranger was in a simple white dress.
"Please tell me you recall who I am, Emma," Ice said, coolly.
"You're Ice, I think," Emma replied, cautiously.
From the small sampling she had seen the previous evening, nearly all of the elves in this forest shared the same basic features---light hair and light eyes.
"Correct, I was told so come get you," Ice said.
Emma nodded and followed the elf out of the room and down the winding stairs that wrapped around the tree.
They arrived at the base of the tree to find Fire and Legolas standing with two other elves. They were engaged in a very animated looking conversation.
One of the elves was a head shorter then Legolas. His dark hair was trimmed up to the base of his neck and appeared to have some sort of odd ridged design on the left and right sides.
The other elf was a very odd looking creature. He was tall, over a head taller than the elves he was speaking with. He stood with his chest puffed out a bit. Unlike every elf Emma had encountered, this creature had a mop of curly brown hair that reached to just below his shoulder blades.
"Look who finally decided to join us," called Fire, when she spotted her sister.
"Fire," Ice started, finishing the thought in elvish.
The sisters began to argue, trading ideas, or insults, in their native tongue.
"Good morning, Emma. Are you prepared to continue on?" Legolas asked, handing her what looked to be half of a giant cookie-like object.
Emma took the cookie-like object and, cautiously, bit into it. It wasn't bad and she ate the rest with relish.
"I guess so. By the way, I'm sorry I fell asleep on you last night. I didn't mean to," Emma replied.
Her father---technically her adopted father---wasn't fond of people falling asleep on him. He claimed it invaded his personal space.
"It is not a problem. It was quite cold last night and you are use to sleeping in those kinds of conditions," he stated.
In an undertone, loud enough for just Emma to hear, he added, "Anyway, is that not what big brothers are for."
Emma laughed and shrugged.
"Can't say," she responded, "I never had a big brother."
The two new elves, who had disappeared for a handful of moments, returned leading six horses with them. Emma recognized three of them---the ones belonging to Ice, Fire, and Legolas. The other three were a mystery. A dappled gray one, smaller then the others appeared to be for baggage.
"Emma, may I introduce you to Mac and Goose. They will be riding with us the rest of the way," Legolas said.
The two elves nodded their acknowledgement of her name. Mac, the shorter of the two, appeared to very antsy, as if he was quite anxious to get going. The taller of the two, the odd looking elf, was Goose. With his puffed out chest, it was easy to see from whence the moniker came.
"The other two horses must belong to them," Emma surmised.
"Will this be a long ride?" asked Fire.
"We will not be riding the entire way there. I was given this odd device that will take us near enough to our location. We will ride from that point on," Legolas explained.
He fished a very large looking length of branch from the confines of his bag.
"From what I have been told, each of us simply has to touch this object and we will be transported to our location," Legolas said.
"What of our horses?" Goose asked, a bit of a "honk" to his voice.
"I think if we hold tight to them, it will not be a problem," Legolas replied.
"Let us get going. I want to go," Mac stated, dancing from foot to foot.
Legolas held out the length of branch. Each elf placed a hand on it and, in an instant, they had disappeared.
They reappeared in some kind of field. Emma wanted to look around for awhile but she was swept onto her brother's horse.
Night had fallen, dark and starless, by the time the riders had stopped. A quick camp was set up and watches were drawn.
"Do you have dancing here?" Emma asked Legolas.
She was having problems falling asleep. He mind was still the playground of many questions.
"Of course we do. Some are similar to what you would call waltzes," Legolas replied.
Emma gave a small giggle, remembering something from one of her dances.
"What is so funny, Emma?" Legolas questioned, catching the giggle.
"I did a waltz once in this ballet called 'Evita.' It was our partnering section and I had to partner with Myra. It was to this really strange song called 'A Waltz for Eva and Che.'" Emma explained.
"Why was it strange?" Legolas inquired.
"Well, the song was really meant for a guy and girl so it looked really odd to have two girls in light blue and silver ballet dresses dancing to it. That ballet wasn't very good on stage. Rosemarie, she was the female lead that year and played Eva, was dropped by Spiro, who played this character called Che, a bunch of times during the dance. It was really bad and he was really upset with us," Emma said with a shudder.
She remembered the screaming at when they came back to class that September.
"He did some good ballets though," she added offhandedly.
"Explain," Legolas ordered.
"Yes please," Fire asked.
She and her sister had been listening to the exchange about dancing for quite sometime.
Emma took a deep breath and let it out. This was going to require a lot of words.
"I was really young when Spiro took over the ballet training at the studio. I remember I used to be so scared of him, when I had him that first year. I use to come home crying ever week, telling my mom that he was mean to me and didn't like me. I even thought about quitting. It turned out he was treating me so harshly because he felt that was the only way to bring out whatever talent he thought I possessed. I even remember the first big ballet he taught us. It was called 'Glory' and it was about the Civil War--- that's a really big important war where I'm from. I remember my class, the Junior class, wore these long to the floor, blood red poofy, itchy ballet costumes with a red and white top. It was the first really good big ballet the studio ever did. The other ballet that sticks out for me was this one called 'Ode to Joy.' It was based on a piece of music by the same title. I was in the Senior class by then. That dance was so amazing because he combined the Junior and Senior classes so there were about thirty-five dancers on stage at once. My class wore these really pretty, velvety brown tutus with gold leaves coming down like a sash. The Junior class wore green. We were supposed to represent a forest---brown for the earth, green for the trees. Every part of that ballet had a name. There was the 'creation' and the 'destruction' spots in it, just to name a few. Spiro's the reason I stay at that awful place. He's too good to be there," Emma explained.
"You will have to show us some of these dances someday," Ice said.
"Actually is sounds kind of boring," Fire commented.
"Fire," Ice warned.
"I know, I know a good fonging is on the way," Fire retorted.
"All that talk of ballet's made me tired," Emma commented.
"Sleep then, we have a hard ride ahead of us," Legolas said.
Emma nodded and, after a mumbled "good night," went to sleep.
(AN: What Emma says about her Spiro is reflective of how I feel about my ballet teacher, also named Spiro. He is the greatest ballet teacher in the world even if he is a princess and a bigger diva sometimes then the other people I dance with. The dances I referenced in this chapter are all dances I've done with him. He's honestly the best ballet teacher I have ever had. What Emma said is my quiet way of thanking him because I'd never tell him myself. Which reminds me, I have ballet tomorrow!)