Disclaimer: I ran out of amusing things to say here.
A/N: So sorry for the evil delay. I've been creepily busy! Anyway. . . this chapter will get somewhat interesting, and yes, I'm back to Elli and Caitlin's POV. Even though I had so much fun writing in Legolas's POV, I miss my girls. They're such basket cases, ya know?
I have a question. . . *I* know this is a Mary Sue, but I'd like you guys to tell me what you think about it. I have plans so that this doesn't keep going down that road, thinking of how most writers would go about such a tale as this, and pondering my own ways to alter it. Trust me, things are not going to be predictable (I hope!)! But, I would like you opinions. And also (because I'm just curious on this, too) I'd like good critical reviews. Stop the "OmiGoD! Dat rulz! Updat! Updat! Updat!1!" Not that I get any of that . . . but I'm craving some real opinions, so feed me!
Anyway, enjoy this chapter, it's a doozie, I swear! Time for much alterations!
ELLI'S POV
Caitlin was sleeping in. And I was off to see how Éowyn was faring.
That poor girl. . . I had become so confident that things would just work the way they were supposed to, and I had a funny feeling our arrival at Edoras was the beginning of the whole shabang! Things had been going well before we got here! And Éowyn was the beginning of the whole mess. I felt guilty about it, although in truth, I had really done nothing. I had just popped into this happy little world.
I silently crept the halls, even thought it was mid-morning and every person seemed to be awake or leaving breakfast at the main hall. I had smelled the food all the way from Caitlin and my chamber. I don't know why she didn't smell it. She was dead to the world today, that girl. Oh well, too bad, her loss.
Scurrying around corners, I was cautious to try and not bump into any people. My height was bad enough, but with huge, silent feet, it made walking around bends a hassle. But finally, I came to the door to the healing chamber. It was a big, heavy door, made of hard wood with gold detailing. This was going to be a pain to open!
Putting all my strength against the door, I got ready to push. But the door was lighter than expected, and in one quick swoop, it opened and I fell to the floor. The door didn't creek either, but I made a lot of noise as I came toppling in.
"Who's there?" asked a female voice from one of the beds, obviously not seeing me from her perch up on the huge beds. She seemed quiet alarmed.
"It's me, Elli. I'm down here," I answered sheepishly waving my hand up in the air as I got to my feet. "Sorry about barging in here like that. I wasn't expecting the door to open so easily," I apologized. "I just wanted to see how you were faring, lady Éowyn. Are you doing any better than yesterday?" I walked over to the side of her bed and climbed up to look at her. She looked better, if not for a bit of a bruise on her forehead. It was hidden in her hairline though, so it wasn't looking too bad. She seemed to have regained strength fairly quickly. She really was a strong woman.
She looked at me with a smile. "Yes, I'm doing better, although I still do not know who you and your friend are. Would you care to stay awhile and explain?"
"I would, but I think my friend Caitlin promised to tell you the tale. It's quite confusing, and I've gotten tired of explaining it to everyone. I'll have Caitlin come in later and tell you."
"That would be nice," she answered. "I would be pleased to met Caitlin, as I have met you a few times since your arrival. I'm sorry that you had to see me in a state such as this," she apologized, mentioning the accident that had occurred yesterday in the King's Hall.
"Don't worry about it," I reassured her. "That wasn't supposed to happen, actually. Caitlin and I have been altering a lot of things. I should apologize to you for what happened. But I can't really explain that right now. I have to go make sure Caitlin's awake. I'll have her come over later and tell you the story."
"I will look forward to seeing her. Take care, lady Elanor," she said.
"Please, call me Elli," I remarked kindly. I didn't want the Galadriel reminder everywhere I turned. Éowyn nodded, and I hopped down from the bed and padded across the stone floor. As I got to the door, I took one last look at the White Lady of Rohan. A maid had come in from another door as I was leaving, and was attending to the woman. I silently closed the door on my way out.
Creeping around the hallway, I gave up trying to avoid bumping into people at every turn. I became lost in my thoughts, wandering about and attempting to find my way back to the chamber. That wasn't too hard, I'd only taken a few left turns on my way here.
I should have been watching where I was going, because when I made a right, someone nearly fell over me! I ducked my head and gave a screech, watching the person stumble and then brace their hands against the wall. I quickly apologized, and looked up at the person, my little hobbit hands waving frantically as the older boy smiled down upon me.
"It is nothing, lass," he smirked, trying to comfort my clumsiness. "Really, I'm fine. I get used to such things as that when the corners are tight. Be comforted, there is no harm."
I breathed a sigh of relief, until I saw the questioning look in his eyes. His smiled turned into a half grin, trying to ponder what a three-foot, curly-haired, rascal was doing in the Golden Hall.
"I don't mean to be rude," he started, "but may I ask who, or what, you are?" he inquired.
I let out a laugh of relief. "I'm a hobbit," I answered with a smile. "A little perinnath, although. . . umm, I was once a human girl."
The lad chuckled. "Ahh, I see. A journeyer of Gandalf, are you? Well, what is your name hobbit-lass?" he asked, placing his hands on his knees and becoming eye level with me. I looked into his smiling face, finding that his eyes resembled that of honey, and then wondered where I'd seen those eyes before . . .
"My name is Elli," I answered, smiling into those eyes of mild enchantment.
He smiled back, and then told me his name. "I am Théodred, son of the King," he said.
CAITLIN'S POV
I'd come crawling back into the bedchamber just as the sun was begin to show itself on the tips of eastern mountain peaks. Elli was deep in slumber, so being exhausted, I flopped down on my fur rugs and feel asleep.
I woke up later and found that Elli was gone, kinda expecting that she wouldn't hang around for me to wake up. I had a lot to talk to her about though, and so I got dressed and tidied the room a bit.
Yesterday had been a strange day of arrival, and I was sticking with that logic. I had a really funny feeling that things were only gonna get worse during our stay in Rohan. The trip with Boromir on our horse had been peculiar enough, with him seemingly to be overly protective of me during the ride over the plains. He'd held onto my waist like there was no tomorrow. Which was freakishly creepy.
I heard patted feet running down the hall. Someone was in a hurry. It sounded like soft leather boots, and I tensed up thinking that Legolas was looking for me. But suddenly the door flung open, and I had to look farther down than I intended, for Elli had come barging in. She was somewhat out of breath, and then she took a look at the surprised and slightly scared look upon my face.
"Why the scared look?" she inquired, flinging the door closed with a heavy bang. "Never mind that," she answered a moment later, running over and plopping down on my rugs. "Caitlin, we're in trouble. We've done more major damage than I thought."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked eagerly, thinking there couldn't be anything worse than Boromir making stalkerish moves at me.
"Théodred's alive, Caitlin."
I didn't mean to sound ditzy, but I didn't know whom she was talking about. "Who?" I asked, shaking my head in confusion.
"The son of the King. He was supposed to have died at the Ford's of Isen. But that got botched and so he lives."
"And how is this bad?" I asked calmly, but that was apparently the wrong move to make.
"CAITLIN!" she shrieked.
"What?" I cried in astonishment, wondering what the hell I had said to the halfling. "I'm clueless, Elli! You know I've never read the books! And the movies aren't overly detailed!" Geez, you'd think I'd murdered my mother or something!
Elli gave an exasperated sigh. "It never dawned on me until ten minutes ago that we may really screw with the canon! Théodred lives on, Théoden might survive the Battle at the Fields of the Pelennor, Éomer won't become King of Rohan because of any of that, and frankly, this is only the tip of the iceberg. We've created a snowball effect, Caitlin. Their entire destiny's lied in our hands, and we screwed them up. I mean, what now? What else might go wrong? We should have stayed in Rivendell. . . "
"So this is all bad?" I asked meekly.
"YES!" the hobbit yelled once more, clenching her hands into fists and trying not to strike me with fury. "Apparently the number of uruks at Amon Hen was a lot greater than we realized. But we killed a good deal of them, lucky us. Some of them escaped or what not to the Fords of Isen though, and because they were small in numbers, the Rohirrim were able to defeat them and hold their own. Théodred lived when he was supposed to have perished, and now the King won't go into semi-madness over this defeat. This could be a good or bad thing there, but honestly, it makes me worry for the King's nephew."
The three-foot critter had stood up a while ago and was pacing the floor in front of me. She was wringing her hands before her, worried to the dickens about what we'd done. I sat there and pondered for a moment what she had just told me.
"So this is what happens to fangirls who do stupid things?" I asked, warily looking at my friend.
Elli plopped down on a shag carpet suddenly, nodding her head in sorrow. "Maybe we just should have killed Boromir ourselves. Maybe that would have tipped the plate, ya think? Now that he's alive, the fate of other people will change. I'm just glad we got Gandalf back. I don't know what we would have done without him."
I stared at the floor at the mention of Boromir's name. "Umm. . . Elli?"
"Mmm?" she murmured, laying on her stomach and burying her face in the fur carpet, her arms flat at her sides.
"Boromir's been hittin' on me."
Elli's face flew up out of the carpet with a look of horror. "You have got to be kidding me."
I shook my head. "You didn't notice anything unusual yesterday on the ride over the plains?" I asked. Elli's eyes remained wide and staring at me, and taking that as a no, I moved on. "We rode together on the same horse, unfortunately. He had his arm gripped so tightly around my waist I though he was just afraid I was gonna fall off or something. Even Legolas was giving him weird looks."
Elli rolled over onto her back. She stared at the ceiling, and waved her hands at me to continue.
"It was like Boromir was afraid for me to leave his sight. Or worse. . . for me to leave his touch." I paused as Elli's hand flew into the air and she turned over onto her stomach to look at me better.
"So Boromir is lusting for you," she began," Legolas is still not being obvious with his emotions, the Son of the King of Rohan is alive, King Théoden was under Wormtongue and Saruman's evil scheme worse than originally, Éowyn got knocked out, and none of this was supposed to happen!"
"Well. . . what bad things could possibly happen now, if we consider what's gone wrong already?" I asked, trying to bring hope to a bleak outlook on the current situation. "Is Boromir still destined to die? And is Théodred also destined to die as well? What about the outcome of Helm's Deep? And what about the hobbits, both groups of them? Do you still have hope for them?"
Elli interrupted me. "That's just it, Caitlin. I don't know what's gonna happen. We've screwed up things a lot worse than I though we would. We should have listened to Galadriel and Elrond. Maybe we if we had, the fates wouldn't have been altered. What the hell were we thinking?" She finished off glumly.
"Hey, come on now," I urged softly, leaning over and pulling my hobbit friend into my lap. "What happened to my optimistic Elli I once knew?" I asked with a smile, poking her cheek for amusement.
"I traded her in, and got you instead."
"Well that was cruel," I remarked, dropping my arms to my sides and leaving the hobbit in my lap.
"Caitlin, what else can go wrong now that we've realized what power we have in our palms? I'm worried. And I keep thinking about Galadriel and her creepy powers."
"Oh, not that woman again! She's scary!"
"If it wasn't for her you wouldn't have figured out that you like Legolas!" Elli laughed, turning to look up at me.
"Good, then let's go back and try Lothlorien again, shall we? And while were at it, lets slay Boromir ourselves before we even reach Amon Hen!"
Elli stare at me, dumfounded. "And you're calling me cruel?" she asked skeptically and then hopped out of my lap to face me.
"Sorry, the bitterness in me took over for a second there."
"I'll say, and I traded you in for an optimism? What was I thinking!" She cried with mock in her tone, rolling her eyes skyward and falling onto her back and throwing her furry hobbit feet into my lap instead.
I left her feet there, not caring that each one were roughly about half of the size of her head. I was tempted to poke them, but though better of it. What had we really done? How much more damage were we destined to make. I began to wish that we could just snap our fingers and leave this world. And then I remembered the creepy woman.
"Elli? I asked, trying to get her attention. She sat up a bit, and then I continued. "When Galadriel had had me look into her mirror, afterwards she told me something that I guess would be important to mention now."
"And that would be what?" Elli asked, removing her feet from my lap and sitting indian style across from me.
"That there might not be a way home for us. And everyone back home already thinks were dead or something like that. But I think were stuck here."
Elli stared at me. Her eyes had lost their gleam, and she stared at me with a blank expression. I wasn't sure what else to say now that I had told her something what was haunting me.
"I was afraid of that," Elli said in a near whisper, but her face was turned towards the window. "Galadriel hadn't something like that to me. She just told me to beware of things. I guess it's just the same. We've become part of the story, and from now on, we shouldn't try predict anything. We should stop thinking that some higher power is protecting us specifically and that we'll be ok in the end, because maybe we won't. We should be dreaming like fanfiction Mary Sues. Bad things are gonna happen. We may be doomed, but I doubt we'll be greatly blessed."
I moved over and hugged Elli, and she clamored into my lap and hugged me back harder. I could feel her shoulders shaking, and I knew she was crying. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek as well, and I let it fall into Elli's curls.
There was nothing we could do anymore except wait to see what was going to happen.
~*~*~*~*~*~
I met him outside before he was even given orders by Gandalf to keep watch. He seemed a bit surprised to find me with a bow and a quiver, perched at his usual station in the half-light of the moon.
"May I inquire as to your being here?" Legolas asked, bemused by my presence.
"I won't be able to sleep, so I thought I'd keep you company for another night. That alright with you?" I asked. He nodded his approval and stood next to me, our ears straining to hear the words of the guards at the door to the Golden Hall. The moon was dimmer tonight, for more clouds had moved in and blocked its view. It didn't matter, I could still Legolas's outline out of the corner of my eye.
He spoke suddenly out of the darkness. "I received a warning today," he stated quite plainly."
I cocked my head to look at him. "Oh? From who? What could you have done to be warned about?"
"It seems Captain Boromir of Gonder has told me to lay my hands off of you. I'll lose my precious head if I do so." He paused, then turned to me with amusement flaring in his eyes, "Am I under the assumption that you are owned by him?"
I gaped at him. He had to be kidding! I wagged my mouth to say something, but no words were issued for I didn't know what to shriek first. Legolas just smiled at me predicament and turned back to gaze at the mountains.
"I have no relations with him what-so-ever, that wretched, slimly, no good- "
"I believed so," he remarked, smiling, cutting off my words before I seethed the rest of my anger out in the open. "He is scaring you as of late, and I too am worried. I am keeping a close watch on his behavior, and do not be so alarmed if I seem to appear to save you from him. He is not himself lately, Caitlin. Be on your guard," he warned.
I nodded. "I am, Legolas. Thank-you though, for doing this."
"It is no problem. I'd do anything to keep you from harm."
I wasn't sure how he meant that, but it sounded good to my ears. We stood close to each other's side like the previous night, with not many words spoken, until I became fatigued and found my way once more into Elli and my chamber. Drifting off to sleep, I smiled, thinking it wouldn't be so bad spending the rest of my days in Middle-earth under the protection and care of that elf.
(A/N: please tell me what you think! Critical reviews greatly requested along with major opinions!)
A/N: So sorry for the evil delay. I've been creepily busy! Anyway. . . this chapter will get somewhat interesting, and yes, I'm back to Elli and Caitlin's POV. Even though I had so much fun writing in Legolas's POV, I miss my girls. They're such basket cases, ya know?
I have a question. . . *I* know this is a Mary Sue, but I'd like you guys to tell me what you think about it. I have plans so that this doesn't keep going down that road, thinking of how most writers would go about such a tale as this, and pondering my own ways to alter it. Trust me, things are not going to be predictable (I hope!)! But, I would like you opinions. And also (because I'm just curious on this, too) I'd like good critical reviews. Stop the "OmiGoD! Dat rulz! Updat! Updat! Updat!1!" Not that I get any of that . . . but I'm craving some real opinions, so feed me!
Anyway, enjoy this chapter, it's a doozie, I swear! Time for much alterations!
ELLI'S POV
Caitlin was sleeping in. And I was off to see how Éowyn was faring.
That poor girl. . . I had become so confident that things would just work the way they were supposed to, and I had a funny feeling our arrival at Edoras was the beginning of the whole shabang! Things had been going well before we got here! And Éowyn was the beginning of the whole mess. I felt guilty about it, although in truth, I had really done nothing. I had just popped into this happy little world.
I silently crept the halls, even thought it was mid-morning and every person seemed to be awake or leaving breakfast at the main hall. I had smelled the food all the way from Caitlin and my chamber. I don't know why she didn't smell it. She was dead to the world today, that girl. Oh well, too bad, her loss.
Scurrying around corners, I was cautious to try and not bump into any people. My height was bad enough, but with huge, silent feet, it made walking around bends a hassle. But finally, I came to the door to the healing chamber. It was a big, heavy door, made of hard wood with gold detailing. This was going to be a pain to open!
Putting all my strength against the door, I got ready to push. But the door was lighter than expected, and in one quick swoop, it opened and I fell to the floor. The door didn't creek either, but I made a lot of noise as I came toppling in.
"Who's there?" asked a female voice from one of the beds, obviously not seeing me from her perch up on the huge beds. She seemed quiet alarmed.
"It's me, Elli. I'm down here," I answered sheepishly waving my hand up in the air as I got to my feet. "Sorry about barging in here like that. I wasn't expecting the door to open so easily," I apologized. "I just wanted to see how you were faring, lady Éowyn. Are you doing any better than yesterday?" I walked over to the side of her bed and climbed up to look at her. She looked better, if not for a bit of a bruise on her forehead. It was hidden in her hairline though, so it wasn't looking too bad. She seemed to have regained strength fairly quickly. She really was a strong woman.
She looked at me with a smile. "Yes, I'm doing better, although I still do not know who you and your friend are. Would you care to stay awhile and explain?"
"I would, but I think my friend Caitlin promised to tell you the tale. It's quite confusing, and I've gotten tired of explaining it to everyone. I'll have Caitlin come in later and tell you."
"That would be nice," she answered. "I would be pleased to met Caitlin, as I have met you a few times since your arrival. I'm sorry that you had to see me in a state such as this," she apologized, mentioning the accident that had occurred yesterday in the King's Hall.
"Don't worry about it," I reassured her. "That wasn't supposed to happen, actually. Caitlin and I have been altering a lot of things. I should apologize to you for what happened. But I can't really explain that right now. I have to go make sure Caitlin's awake. I'll have her come over later and tell you the story."
"I will look forward to seeing her. Take care, lady Elanor," she said.
"Please, call me Elli," I remarked kindly. I didn't want the Galadriel reminder everywhere I turned. Éowyn nodded, and I hopped down from the bed and padded across the stone floor. As I got to the door, I took one last look at the White Lady of Rohan. A maid had come in from another door as I was leaving, and was attending to the woman. I silently closed the door on my way out.
Creeping around the hallway, I gave up trying to avoid bumping into people at every turn. I became lost in my thoughts, wandering about and attempting to find my way back to the chamber. That wasn't too hard, I'd only taken a few left turns on my way here.
I should have been watching where I was going, because when I made a right, someone nearly fell over me! I ducked my head and gave a screech, watching the person stumble and then brace their hands against the wall. I quickly apologized, and looked up at the person, my little hobbit hands waving frantically as the older boy smiled down upon me.
"It is nothing, lass," he smirked, trying to comfort my clumsiness. "Really, I'm fine. I get used to such things as that when the corners are tight. Be comforted, there is no harm."
I breathed a sigh of relief, until I saw the questioning look in his eyes. His smiled turned into a half grin, trying to ponder what a three-foot, curly-haired, rascal was doing in the Golden Hall.
"I don't mean to be rude," he started, "but may I ask who, or what, you are?" he inquired.
I let out a laugh of relief. "I'm a hobbit," I answered with a smile. "A little perinnath, although. . . umm, I was once a human girl."
The lad chuckled. "Ahh, I see. A journeyer of Gandalf, are you? Well, what is your name hobbit-lass?" he asked, placing his hands on his knees and becoming eye level with me. I looked into his smiling face, finding that his eyes resembled that of honey, and then wondered where I'd seen those eyes before . . .
"My name is Elli," I answered, smiling into those eyes of mild enchantment.
He smiled back, and then told me his name. "I am Théodred, son of the King," he said.
CAITLIN'S POV
I'd come crawling back into the bedchamber just as the sun was begin to show itself on the tips of eastern mountain peaks. Elli was deep in slumber, so being exhausted, I flopped down on my fur rugs and feel asleep.
I woke up later and found that Elli was gone, kinda expecting that she wouldn't hang around for me to wake up. I had a lot to talk to her about though, and so I got dressed and tidied the room a bit.
Yesterday had been a strange day of arrival, and I was sticking with that logic. I had a really funny feeling that things were only gonna get worse during our stay in Rohan. The trip with Boromir on our horse had been peculiar enough, with him seemingly to be overly protective of me during the ride over the plains. He'd held onto my waist like there was no tomorrow. Which was freakishly creepy.
I heard patted feet running down the hall. Someone was in a hurry. It sounded like soft leather boots, and I tensed up thinking that Legolas was looking for me. But suddenly the door flung open, and I had to look farther down than I intended, for Elli had come barging in. She was somewhat out of breath, and then she took a look at the surprised and slightly scared look upon my face.
"Why the scared look?" she inquired, flinging the door closed with a heavy bang. "Never mind that," she answered a moment later, running over and plopping down on my rugs. "Caitlin, we're in trouble. We've done more major damage than I thought."
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked eagerly, thinking there couldn't be anything worse than Boromir making stalkerish moves at me.
"Théodred's alive, Caitlin."
I didn't mean to sound ditzy, but I didn't know whom she was talking about. "Who?" I asked, shaking my head in confusion.
"The son of the King. He was supposed to have died at the Ford's of Isen. But that got botched and so he lives."
"And how is this bad?" I asked calmly, but that was apparently the wrong move to make.
"CAITLIN!" she shrieked.
"What?" I cried in astonishment, wondering what the hell I had said to the halfling. "I'm clueless, Elli! You know I've never read the books! And the movies aren't overly detailed!" Geez, you'd think I'd murdered my mother or something!
Elli gave an exasperated sigh. "It never dawned on me until ten minutes ago that we may really screw with the canon! Théodred lives on, Théoden might survive the Battle at the Fields of the Pelennor, Éomer won't become King of Rohan because of any of that, and frankly, this is only the tip of the iceberg. We've created a snowball effect, Caitlin. Their entire destiny's lied in our hands, and we screwed them up. I mean, what now? What else might go wrong? We should have stayed in Rivendell. . . "
"So this is all bad?" I asked meekly.
"YES!" the hobbit yelled once more, clenching her hands into fists and trying not to strike me with fury. "Apparently the number of uruks at Amon Hen was a lot greater than we realized. But we killed a good deal of them, lucky us. Some of them escaped or what not to the Fords of Isen though, and because they were small in numbers, the Rohirrim were able to defeat them and hold their own. Théodred lived when he was supposed to have perished, and now the King won't go into semi-madness over this defeat. This could be a good or bad thing there, but honestly, it makes me worry for the King's nephew."
The three-foot critter had stood up a while ago and was pacing the floor in front of me. She was wringing her hands before her, worried to the dickens about what we'd done. I sat there and pondered for a moment what she had just told me.
"So this is what happens to fangirls who do stupid things?" I asked, warily looking at my friend.
Elli plopped down on a shag carpet suddenly, nodding her head in sorrow. "Maybe we just should have killed Boromir ourselves. Maybe that would have tipped the plate, ya think? Now that he's alive, the fate of other people will change. I'm just glad we got Gandalf back. I don't know what we would have done without him."
I stared at the floor at the mention of Boromir's name. "Umm. . . Elli?"
"Mmm?" she murmured, laying on her stomach and burying her face in the fur carpet, her arms flat at her sides.
"Boromir's been hittin' on me."
Elli's face flew up out of the carpet with a look of horror. "You have got to be kidding me."
I shook my head. "You didn't notice anything unusual yesterday on the ride over the plains?" I asked. Elli's eyes remained wide and staring at me, and taking that as a no, I moved on. "We rode together on the same horse, unfortunately. He had his arm gripped so tightly around my waist I though he was just afraid I was gonna fall off or something. Even Legolas was giving him weird looks."
Elli rolled over onto her back. She stared at the ceiling, and waved her hands at me to continue.
"It was like Boromir was afraid for me to leave his sight. Or worse. . . for me to leave his touch." I paused as Elli's hand flew into the air and she turned over onto her stomach to look at me better.
"So Boromir is lusting for you," she began," Legolas is still not being obvious with his emotions, the Son of the King of Rohan is alive, King Théoden was under Wormtongue and Saruman's evil scheme worse than originally, Éowyn got knocked out, and none of this was supposed to happen!"
"Well. . . what bad things could possibly happen now, if we consider what's gone wrong already?" I asked, trying to bring hope to a bleak outlook on the current situation. "Is Boromir still destined to die? And is Théodred also destined to die as well? What about the outcome of Helm's Deep? And what about the hobbits, both groups of them? Do you still have hope for them?"
Elli interrupted me. "That's just it, Caitlin. I don't know what's gonna happen. We've screwed up things a lot worse than I though we would. We should have listened to Galadriel and Elrond. Maybe we if we had, the fates wouldn't have been altered. What the hell were we thinking?" She finished off glumly.
"Hey, come on now," I urged softly, leaning over and pulling my hobbit friend into my lap. "What happened to my optimistic Elli I once knew?" I asked with a smile, poking her cheek for amusement.
"I traded her in, and got you instead."
"Well that was cruel," I remarked, dropping my arms to my sides and leaving the hobbit in my lap.
"Caitlin, what else can go wrong now that we've realized what power we have in our palms? I'm worried. And I keep thinking about Galadriel and her creepy powers."
"Oh, not that woman again! She's scary!"
"If it wasn't for her you wouldn't have figured out that you like Legolas!" Elli laughed, turning to look up at me.
"Good, then let's go back and try Lothlorien again, shall we? And while were at it, lets slay Boromir ourselves before we even reach Amon Hen!"
Elli stare at me, dumfounded. "And you're calling me cruel?" she asked skeptically and then hopped out of my lap to face me.
"Sorry, the bitterness in me took over for a second there."
"I'll say, and I traded you in for an optimism? What was I thinking!" She cried with mock in her tone, rolling her eyes skyward and falling onto her back and throwing her furry hobbit feet into my lap instead.
I left her feet there, not caring that each one were roughly about half of the size of her head. I was tempted to poke them, but though better of it. What had we really done? How much more damage were we destined to make. I began to wish that we could just snap our fingers and leave this world. And then I remembered the creepy woman.
"Elli? I asked, trying to get her attention. She sat up a bit, and then I continued. "When Galadriel had had me look into her mirror, afterwards she told me something that I guess would be important to mention now."
"And that would be what?" Elli asked, removing her feet from my lap and sitting indian style across from me.
"That there might not be a way home for us. And everyone back home already thinks were dead or something like that. But I think were stuck here."
Elli stared at me. Her eyes had lost their gleam, and she stared at me with a blank expression. I wasn't sure what else to say now that I had told her something what was haunting me.
"I was afraid of that," Elli said in a near whisper, but her face was turned towards the window. "Galadriel hadn't something like that to me. She just told me to beware of things. I guess it's just the same. We've become part of the story, and from now on, we shouldn't try predict anything. We should stop thinking that some higher power is protecting us specifically and that we'll be ok in the end, because maybe we won't. We should be dreaming like fanfiction Mary Sues. Bad things are gonna happen. We may be doomed, but I doubt we'll be greatly blessed."
I moved over and hugged Elli, and she clamored into my lap and hugged me back harder. I could feel her shoulders shaking, and I knew she was crying. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek as well, and I let it fall into Elli's curls.
There was nothing we could do anymore except wait to see what was going to happen.
~*~*~*~*~*~
I met him outside before he was even given orders by Gandalf to keep watch. He seemed a bit surprised to find me with a bow and a quiver, perched at his usual station in the half-light of the moon.
"May I inquire as to your being here?" Legolas asked, bemused by my presence.
"I won't be able to sleep, so I thought I'd keep you company for another night. That alright with you?" I asked. He nodded his approval and stood next to me, our ears straining to hear the words of the guards at the door to the Golden Hall. The moon was dimmer tonight, for more clouds had moved in and blocked its view. It didn't matter, I could still Legolas's outline out of the corner of my eye.
He spoke suddenly out of the darkness. "I received a warning today," he stated quite plainly."
I cocked my head to look at him. "Oh? From who? What could you have done to be warned about?"
"It seems Captain Boromir of Gonder has told me to lay my hands off of you. I'll lose my precious head if I do so." He paused, then turned to me with amusement flaring in his eyes, "Am I under the assumption that you are owned by him?"
I gaped at him. He had to be kidding! I wagged my mouth to say something, but no words were issued for I didn't know what to shriek first. Legolas just smiled at me predicament and turned back to gaze at the mountains.
"I have no relations with him what-so-ever, that wretched, slimly, no good- "
"I believed so," he remarked, smiling, cutting off my words before I seethed the rest of my anger out in the open. "He is scaring you as of late, and I too am worried. I am keeping a close watch on his behavior, and do not be so alarmed if I seem to appear to save you from him. He is not himself lately, Caitlin. Be on your guard," he warned.
I nodded. "I am, Legolas. Thank-you though, for doing this."
"It is no problem. I'd do anything to keep you from harm."
I wasn't sure how he meant that, but it sounded good to my ears. We stood close to each other's side like the previous night, with not many words spoken, until I became fatigued and found my way once more into Elli and my chamber. Drifting off to sleep, I smiled, thinking it wouldn't be so bad spending the rest of my days in Middle-earth under the protection and care of that elf.
(A/N: please tell me what you think! Critical reviews greatly requested along with major opinions!)