-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
I own it all! Muhahahahahahaha!
Elrond: No you don't.
Yes I do.
Glorfindel: No, you don't.
Shut up, I do!
Elrohir and Elladan: No you don't!
Arg, damn Elf Lords. Fine. I don't own any of it. Happy?
Rachel: Hey, what about me?
Oh, right, I own you. But that's all.
Kari: I feel disowned...
-3: Waking-
Consciousness returned to my mind with the feeling of a soft mattress beneath me, and a warm blanket on top of me. I had never felt so soft a bed, and was sure I was dreaming. Opening my eyes only confirmed that I was dreaming, I knew there was no place on earth that could even remotely look like where I was. The ceiling itself was a masterwork of craftsmanship, and more then that, it seemed to emit a small glow all by itself. Not the harsh glow of glow-in-the-dark paint, but a gentle glow, like moonlight. After spending several minutes just admiring the ceiling, I wondered if this dream had a point other then to show me a really nice ceiling, and so raised my head to look around.
What I found was a room just as beautiful as the ceiling, if not more, and glowing just as lightly. It was sparsely furnished, but that was not what caught my eye. For, sitting in the chair next to the bed, staring off into space, was a young man. Looking him over, I was rather stunned. He was quite possibly the most handsome man I had ever seen. I wondered what on earth I could have done right in my life to be having such a dream as this. His absolute gorgeousness was somewhat dampened by the fact that he seemed to be completely ignoring me, but hey, it was more than I'd ever dreamed of to ever be able to even SEE such a fine specimen of a man. Of course, it was then that my eyes caught on his ears, and my eyes bugged out. Pointed ears.
Right. No more dancing in the rain. I was probably sick with a fever and this was a hallucination-dream. Granted, any dream with a really really nice looking specimen of an Elf in it was a good dream, but the state my body was most likely in while I was having it was not a nice thought. But still, instead of worrying about what state my body must be in, I started to think about the room and the fact that there was an Elf sitting next to my bed, ignoring me. And it hit me, as I lay there in bed - this room, the Elf, all of it reminded me very heavily of Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'. My hand trembling slightly with sudden fear, I reached over to my other arm and pinched myself hard. And dammit, it hurt.
I looked over at the Elf sitting beside the bed, then around the room again, and I'm pretty sure my eyes bugged out yet more. After a moment, overwhelmed by the thought that this was no dream and I could very likely be in Middle-Earth, I let my head fall back to the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Thoughts raced through my head, most about how this was impossible, I couldn't be here, I must be in some sort of coma and hallucinating.
So I started trying to figure out what the last thing I could remember was. My eyes widened once again, this time with horror, as I remembered the lightning, my ears bleeding, and the foolish dash into the house to use the phone. It disturbed me greatly that I couldn't remember anything past running out of the house, and I wondered if I'd been given a knock on the head. I was distracted by that, however, when I realized that I could hear birds singing outside. I absently wondered if my hearing had just been damaged, not lost altogether, and I'd been out long enough that it had now healed, but my mind was coming back to the topic at hand - where I was.
I spent quite awhile debating whether or not I was in Middle-Earth, and finally realized that the only was to be sure was to ask the Elf still sitting beside my bed. Carefully, I sat up in bed. The Elf didn't stir, and I peered at him closer. It was then that I saw that his eyes were unfocused and slightly glazed over, his breathing slow and steady. The little bugger was asleep. Annoyed, I raked my hands through my hair, considering how to get the Elf's attention. I was, however, thoroughly distracted from that when my fingertips touched the tips of my POINTED ears.
I'm pretty sure I sat there in shock for quite a while. Then I raised my hands to my ears again, and, still feeling the point, gulped heavily. At that point, I also realized that my toes looked farther away than normal, and I quickly deduced I'd grown several inches. Suddenly panicky, I pulled a lock of my hair in front of my face. I found that it was its normal length - down to the base of my shoulder-blades - but had somehow changed from its normal jet-black to so-blonde-it-was-almost-white. My fingers strayed back to the tips of my ears, and I swallowed, almost fearing to even wonder what colour my normally blue eyes were. This was way too weird. I ran my hand through my hair and took a shaky breath, then turned to the Elf sleeping in the chair beside my bed. My panic of suddenly finding myself in a body not my own was lessened somewhat when I noted that the Elf was starting to slip off his chair on the left side.
One thing I've found in life is that while everybody always tells you to grow up and act your age, if you do, everybody is suddenly telling you to loosen up and act like a kid again. So, I have never squashed my impulses to do terribly childish and terribly amusing things. And I wasn't about to stop now, in Middle-Earth with my looks radically changed or not. Slowly, I reached out towards the Elf and poked him in his right side. As planned, he awoke with a startled yelped and jumped sideways, away from my poking finger, which resulted in him falling out of the chair and onto the floor with a loud thump. I grinned as I leaned over the side of the bed to look down at him on the floor.
"I see you're better." the Elf grumped.
"I could be deathly ill and still unable to resist that sort of opportunity." I replied, still grinning, and the Elf rolled his eyes, though he looked at me slightly curiously. Belatedly, I remembered that Elves don't get sick, and I was apparently an elf. I mentally shrugged. Oh well, if they asked, I'd just have to tell them I wasn't really an elf.
"You're awake, at least." the Elf said, hauling himself to his feet. "I shall go tell the others." I wanted to ask who these 'others' were, but the elf was already gone, and I figured I'd find out soon enough, anyways. And I was right. Within a few moments, the Elf returned, this time with a lamp, and was followed by four other Elves, three male and one female. Two of the males had dark hair, like the Elf that had been sleeping by my bed, and one of those two looked like he could be the identical twin of the other Elf, while the other one looked so much like the two that they had to be related. The other two elves were a different story altogether - blond haired and so different in appearances there could be no relation whatsoever. But the female blond elf looked familiar. And when she bounded forward with a happy squeal, I realized that this was Kari. Who I had last seen dead. Slightly dazed, I let myself be wrapped in one of Kari's infamous near-fatal bear hugs. I quickly regretted that.
"Kari, I need to breath." I managed to squeak out.
"You sure about that?" Kari asked with a grin as she released me.
"Not really, but I would rather not experiment." I replied with just as big a grin. At this point, I noticed the other four Elves were looking at us with rather amused expressions.
"Who are your friends?" I asked Kari, nodding towards the other Elves. Kari gave me a look that warned me to prepare for anything, and I suddenly wondered if it had been such a smart idea to cause that Elf to fall out of his chair.
"Rachel, this is Lord Elrond Peredhil, his sons Elrohir and Elladan - don't ask me which is which - and Lord Glorfindel." Kari introduced. I nearly choked. 'Anything' did not cover this.
"So we'd be in Rivendell?" I asked after a moment, feeling dazed once more.
"Yep." Kari replied. "It's a long way from Fangorn, I know." Confused, I turned to Kari to ask her what the heck she was talking about, but the look in her eyes told me to play along.
"Uh, yes, it is." I said. "What happened?"
"We were hoping you could tell us." Lord Elrond said. "Lord Glorfindel found you two in a river not far from here, and Lady Kari says that the last thing she could remember was riding along the edges of Fangorn Forest. We thought you might remember more." I blinked, and thought fast. I have never been a fast thinker, however, so I just shook my head.
"I'm afraid I can't remember anything more." I said.
"You have no idea what could have injured you?" Glorfindel asked intently.
"Well, before I can get an idea, I would like to know how I was injured." I replied.
"Your mind seemed to be suffering from some sort of trauma." Lord Elrond replied. That would probably be due to the sudden loss of hearing, the lightning and later smoke, and the trip between worlds, I thought sarcastically. Out loud, however, I just said that I had no clue how I could have gotten such an injury. After a few more basic questions about how I was feeling, Lord Elrond decided that he and his sons, as well as Lord Glorfindel, should leave me and Kari be for awhile, and headed out.
"Don't fall off any chairs!" I called after the twins as they left. One of them turned and glared at me, and I grinned back.
"What was that?" Kari asked once the door had been shut, looking extremely curious.
"What, my parting remark?" I asked, and she nodded. "Which one of the twins was in here watching me?"
"Elladan." Kari said, looking even more curious. "Though darned if I could've figured it out if Elrond hadn't ordered him to stay by name."
"Yes, they do look quite alike, don't they?" I mused, then mentally shook myself and returned to Kari's question. "Anyways, Elladan was asleep in his chair when I woke up, and after discovering all sorts of strange things, like my pointed ears, I decided to wake him up and ask where I was. He was already half falling out of the chair, so I couldn't resist. I poked him in the side and he jumped awake and fell out of the chair." Kari giggled, as did I as I remembered the look on the Elf's face as he looked up at me from the floor. When we were done giggling, however, I turned serious.
"Now that I've told my short tale of what I've been up to, you need to tell me what the heck Elrond was going on about Fangorn for." I said, and Kari instantly turned serious as well.
"I was not as lucky as you in having time to discover where I was and my change in race before confronting any of the locals. I woke up sopping wet, with Glorfindel looking down at me. It was all I could do to keep up a credible story of who we were and where we were from. So we are now two traveling Elf-maidens that originally came from Hollin, and the last thing we remember was riding along the edges of Fangorn Forest." she said, then added warningly, "And don't you dare complain, because I had a limited amount of time to think it up, and Glorfindel staring at me the entire time."
"I'm not going to complain, but I'm just wondering why you didn't tell him the truth." I said with a slight frown. I was never one for telling lies when the truth would do just as well. Kari sighed.
"Do you even listen to me when I tell you about all those fanfictions about Lord of the Rings that I read?" she asked.
"Not most of the time, no." I replied truthfully, and Kari thwapped me on the back of my head. "Ow." I mumbled, rubbing the back of my head.
"It's common sense, anyways." Kari muttered, and then said louder, "If I'd told them, they'd either have thought we were crazy and not believed us, or tried to send us home. I, personally, like it here." I eyed her suspiciously.
"Have you found an Elf to flirt with?" I asked, and Kari looked at me with mock hurt.
"Your assumption wounds me deeply." she said somberly, then grinned like a maniac and answered. "Yes, Elrohir." I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Figures as much." I said.
"Aren't they absolutely scrumptious, though?" Kari asked, her eyes sparkling.
"I wouldn't know - I don't take bites out of strange Elves to see what they taste like." I replied dryly, and Kari hit me on the arm lightly.
"You know what I mean." she said.
"That I do, that I do. And for your information, when I woke I thought I was dreaming, and wondered what on earth I ever did right to dream up such a perfect specimen of manhood." I replied solemnly, and then grinned.
"You should see the rest of them." Kari said, her eyes sparkling again. "I haven't seen many except when passing by them in the hall, but by the Valar! From what I've seen, those four you saw are not exceptions, they're the norm!" We looked at each other for a moment, grinning like idiots, and then squealed in unison.
"So have you managed to find out what the date is?" I asked when we'd both calmed down.
"Well, Aragorn isn't around, so it's at least 80 years before the War of the Ring." Kari said with a slight frown. "I haven't heard any mention of either Arwen or Celebrían, either. Somehow I don't think either of them are here."
"Makes sense. Arwen spent most of her time in Lothlorien, and Celebrían is Galadriel and Celeborn's daughter. So they could both just be in Lothlorien. Or Celebrían could have gone into the west and Arwen visiting Lothlorien. Or Celebrían could be visiting her family and Arwen not even born." I said, frowning slightly, and Kari sighed and nodded.
"That's what I realized." she said. "Only thing I can be certain of is that the Last Alliance has happened - Elrond's wearing whichever of the rings of power is his."
"Vilya." I said absently. "And if the twins are alive, then no duh the Alliance has happened. They were born in the Third Age. We're looking at a spread of close to twenty-eight hundred years for the possible date."
"Twenty-eight hundred?!" Kari asked in surprise, her mouth dropping open.
"Yes, Elrohir and Elladan were born within the first 200 years of the Third Age, and Aragorn was born in the last 80 or so. Given that the Third Age lasted only 3021 years, that leaves us with around twenty-eight hundred years." I replied, and Kari blinked at me.
"How the heck do you remember all that?" she asked.
"Too much time spent reading the appendices of the books." I said, making a face. "Fortunately, that means if we can figure out a few more things about the outside world, I can figure out the date."
"What sorts of things?" Kari asked.
"Hm, if Gondor still has Kings, whether or not Rohan exists. The status of the Dwarf peoples in general. And, of course, where Arwen and Celebrían are." I replied, and Kari blinked.
"Girl, you need a new hobby." she said.
"Well, looks like I'll have to get one, since those particular books don't exist here." I said cheerfully. "Speaking of our world, what do you remember about what ACTUALLY happened before we showed up here?"
"I remember dancing in the rain, a loud boom, and that's it." Kari said with a frown. "What do you remember?" I sighed, and then paused for a moment to organize my memories.
"The loud boom you heard was a lightning strike on our house." I said finally. "I thought it killed you, to be honest. I couldn't find a pulse on your wrist. And I couldn't double check by listening to your heartbeat because the thunder strike wrecked my hearing. So I ran inside - our house was burning, by the way, the lightning was too much for our poor lightning rod, told you we should've gotten the deluxe rod - and phoned the hospital. The last thing I can remember is starting to run out of the house." Kari was silent when I finished, looking disturbed.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked after awhile. Kari started, looking at me in surprise as if she'd just remembered I was there, and then shook her head.
"Nothing important. Just wondering about life, the universe, and 42." she answered with a small smile. I knew that wasn't what she'd been thinking, but decided not to push it. Instead, I turned my mind to a more pressing need - food.
"Speaking of the great mysteries of life, where's the kitchen around here?" I asked, jumping out of bed and looking around expectantly. Kari chuckled, and climbed off the bed herself.
"I'll show you to it once you get changed into something more suitable." she said. I blinked, then glanced down at what I was wearing and found a long, white nightgown.
"Yes, a change would be in order, wouldn't it?" I said. "What clothes are there to wear?"
"Dresses." Kari said with an evil grin, and I groaned slightly. I'll confess, I'm a tomboy. I hate wearing dresses. Except for really cool ones. And, fortunately for my stomach, the dresses Lord Elrond had supplied the wardrobe in the room with when he had discovered that Kari and I had 'lost' our luggage someplace between Fangorn and Rivendell were really cool ones. So I quickly changed into one, and Kari set off for the kitchens, me close behind.
----To be continued...so join us here next bat-time, on the same bat-station...----
(If it's going to sounds corny, might as well have some fun)
-Authors Note:-
Chapter 3! Whoo! And what a spectacular amount of reviews...*giggle* Hee, ah well, for once I don't mind. I'm writing this story for the fun of it, and as a way to get out of doing schoolwork. Still, Elf-shaped cookies go to all my reviewers! Made by Santa's Elves, of course...which, now that I think about it, are really more like Hobbits than Elves...
Chapter 4 will be coming on Saturday! And if anybody's wondering, yes, my chapters are going to be getting longer, just as they did with 'No Eyes Needed'. Most of my stories seem to do that - start off with short chapters and then end up with really forking long ones. I'm sure my reviewers don't mind, though...
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
I own it all! Muhahahahahahaha!
Elrond: No you don't.
Yes I do.
Glorfindel: No, you don't.
Shut up, I do!
Elrohir and Elladan: No you don't!
Arg, damn Elf Lords. Fine. I don't own any of it. Happy?
Rachel: Hey, what about me?
Oh, right, I own you. But that's all.
Kari: I feel disowned...
-3: Waking-
Consciousness returned to my mind with the feeling of a soft mattress beneath me, and a warm blanket on top of me. I had never felt so soft a bed, and was sure I was dreaming. Opening my eyes only confirmed that I was dreaming, I knew there was no place on earth that could even remotely look like where I was. The ceiling itself was a masterwork of craftsmanship, and more then that, it seemed to emit a small glow all by itself. Not the harsh glow of glow-in-the-dark paint, but a gentle glow, like moonlight. After spending several minutes just admiring the ceiling, I wondered if this dream had a point other then to show me a really nice ceiling, and so raised my head to look around.
What I found was a room just as beautiful as the ceiling, if not more, and glowing just as lightly. It was sparsely furnished, but that was not what caught my eye. For, sitting in the chair next to the bed, staring off into space, was a young man. Looking him over, I was rather stunned. He was quite possibly the most handsome man I had ever seen. I wondered what on earth I could have done right in my life to be having such a dream as this. His absolute gorgeousness was somewhat dampened by the fact that he seemed to be completely ignoring me, but hey, it was more than I'd ever dreamed of to ever be able to even SEE such a fine specimen of a man. Of course, it was then that my eyes caught on his ears, and my eyes bugged out. Pointed ears.
Right. No more dancing in the rain. I was probably sick with a fever and this was a hallucination-dream. Granted, any dream with a really really nice looking specimen of an Elf in it was a good dream, but the state my body was most likely in while I was having it was not a nice thought. But still, instead of worrying about what state my body must be in, I started to think about the room and the fact that there was an Elf sitting next to my bed, ignoring me. And it hit me, as I lay there in bed - this room, the Elf, all of it reminded me very heavily of Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'. My hand trembling slightly with sudden fear, I reached over to my other arm and pinched myself hard. And dammit, it hurt.
I looked over at the Elf sitting beside the bed, then around the room again, and I'm pretty sure my eyes bugged out yet more. After a moment, overwhelmed by the thought that this was no dream and I could very likely be in Middle-Earth, I let my head fall back to the pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Thoughts raced through my head, most about how this was impossible, I couldn't be here, I must be in some sort of coma and hallucinating.
So I started trying to figure out what the last thing I could remember was. My eyes widened once again, this time with horror, as I remembered the lightning, my ears bleeding, and the foolish dash into the house to use the phone. It disturbed me greatly that I couldn't remember anything past running out of the house, and I wondered if I'd been given a knock on the head. I was distracted by that, however, when I realized that I could hear birds singing outside. I absently wondered if my hearing had just been damaged, not lost altogether, and I'd been out long enough that it had now healed, but my mind was coming back to the topic at hand - where I was.
I spent quite awhile debating whether or not I was in Middle-Earth, and finally realized that the only was to be sure was to ask the Elf still sitting beside my bed. Carefully, I sat up in bed. The Elf didn't stir, and I peered at him closer. It was then that I saw that his eyes were unfocused and slightly glazed over, his breathing slow and steady. The little bugger was asleep. Annoyed, I raked my hands through my hair, considering how to get the Elf's attention. I was, however, thoroughly distracted from that when my fingertips touched the tips of my POINTED ears.
I'm pretty sure I sat there in shock for quite a while. Then I raised my hands to my ears again, and, still feeling the point, gulped heavily. At that point, I also realized that my toes looked farther away than normal, and I quickly deduced I'd grown several inches. Suddenly panicky, I pulled a lock of my hair in front of my face. I found that it was its normal length - down to the base of my shoulder-blades - but had somehow changed from its normal jet-black to so-blonde-it-was-almost-white. My fingers strayed back to the tips of my ears, and I swallowed, almost fearing to even wonder what colour my normally blue eyes were. This was way too weird. I ran my hand through my hair and took a shaky breath, then turned to the Elf sleeping in the chair beside my bed. My panic of suddenly finding myself in a body not my own was lessened somewhat when I noted that the Elf was starting to slip off his chair on the left side.
One thing I've found in life is that while everybody always tells you to grow up and act your age, if you do, everybody is suddenly telling you to loosen up and act like a kid again. So, I have never squashed my impulses to do terribly childish and terribly amusing things. And I wasn't about to stop now, in Middle-Earth with my looks radically changed or not. Slowly, I reached out towards the Elf and poked him in his right side. As planned, he awoke with a startled yelped and jumped sideways, away from my poking finger, which resulted in him falling out of the chair and onto the floor with a loud thump. I grinned as I leaned over the side of the bed to look down at him on the floor.
"I see you're better." the Elf grumped.
"I could be deathly ill and still unable to resist that sort of opportunity." I replied, still grinning, and the Elf rolled his eyes, though he looked at me slightly curiously. Belatedly, I remembered that Elves don't get sick, and I was apparently an elf. I mentally shrugged. Oh well, if they asked, I'd just have to tell them I wasn't really an elf.
"You're awake, at least." the Elf said, hauling himself to his feet. "I shall go tell the others." I wanted to ask who these 'others' were, but the elf was already gone, and I figured I'd find out soon enough, anyways. And I was right. Within a few moments, the Elf returned, this time with a lamp, and was followed by four other Elves, three male and one female. Two of the males had dark hair, like the Elf that had been sleeping by my bed, and one of those two looked like he could be the identical twin of the other Elf, while the other one looked so much like the two that they had to be related. The other two elves were a different story altogether - blond haired and so different in appearances there could be no relation whatsoever. But the female blond elf looked familiar. And when she bounded forward with a happy squeal, I realized that this was Kari. Who I had last seen dead. Slightly dazed, I let myself be wrapped in one of Kari's infamous near-fatal bear hugs. I quickly regretted that.
"Kari, I need to breath." I managed to squeak out.
"You sure about that?" Kari asked with a grin as she released me.
"Not really, but I would rather not experiment." I replied with just as big a grin. At this point, I noticed the other four Elves were looking at us with rather amused expressions.
"Who are your friends?" I asked Kari, nodding towards the other Elves. Kari gave me a look that warned me to prepare for anything, and I suddenly wondered if it had been such a smart idea to cause that Elf to fall out of his chair.
"Rachel, this is Lord Elrond Peredhil, his sons Elrohir and Elladan - don't ask me which is which - and Lord Glorfindel." Kari introduced. I nearly choked. 'Anything' did not cover this.
"So we'd be in Rivendell?" I asked after a moment, feeling dazed once more.
"Yep." Kari replied. "It's a long way from Fangorn, I know." Confused, I turned to Kari to ask her what the heck she was talking about, but the look in her eyes told me to play along.
"Uh, yes, it is." I said. "What happened?"
"We were hoping you could tell us." Lord Elrond said. "Lord Glorfindel found you two in a river not far from here, and Lady Kari says that the last thing she could remember was riding along the edges of Fangorn Forest. We thought you might remember more." I blinked, and thought fast. I have never been a fast thinker, however, so I just shook my head.
"I'm afraid I can't remember anything more." I said.
"You have no idea what could have injured you?" Glorfindel asked intently.
"Well, before I can get an idea, I would like to know how I was injured." I replied.
"Your mind seemed to be suffering from some sort of trauma." Lord Elrond replied. That would probably be due to the sudden loss of hearing, the lightning and later smoke, and the trip between worlds, I thought sarcastically. Out loud, however, I just said that I had no clue how I could have gotten such an injury. After a few more basic questions about how I was feeling, Lord Elrond decided that he and his sons, as well as Lord Glorfindel, should leave me and Kari be for awhile, and headed out.
"Don't fall off any chairs!" I called after the twins as they left. One of them turned and glared at me, and I grinned back.
"What was that?" Kari asked once the door had been shut, looking extremely curious.
"What, my parting remark?" I asked, and she nodded. "Which one of the twins was in here watching me?"
"Elladan." Kari said, looking even more curious. "Though darned if I could've figured it out if Elrond hadn't ordered him to stay by name."
"Yes, they do look quite alike, don't they?" I mused, then mentally shook myself and returned to Kari's question. "Anyways, Elladan was asleep in his chair when I woke up, and after discovering all sorts of strange things, like my pointed ears, I decided to wake him up and ask where I was. He was already half falling out of the chair, so I couldn't resist. I poked him in the side and he jumped awake and fell out of the chair." Kari giggled, as did I as I remembered the look on the Elf's face as he looked up at me from the floor. When we were done giggling, however, I turned serious.
"Now that I've told my short tale of what I've been up to, you need to tell me what the heck Elrond was going on about Fangorn for." I said, and Kari instantly turned serious as well.
"I was not as lucky as you in having time to discover where I was and my change in race before confronting any of the locals. I woke up sopping wet, with Glorfindel looking down at me. It was all I could do to keep up a credible story of who we were and where we were from. So we are now two traveling Elf-maidens that originally came from Hollin, and the last thing we remember was riding along the edges of Fangorn Forest." she said, then added warningly, "And don't you dare complain, because I had a limited amount of time to think it up, and Glorfindel staring at me the entire time."
"I'm not going to complain, but I'm just wondering why you didn't tell him the truth." I said with a slight frown. I was never one for telling lies when the truth would do just as well. Kari sighed.
"Do you even listen to me when I tell you about all those fanfictions about Lord of the Rings that I read?" she asked.
"Not most of the time, no." I replied truthfully, and Kari thwapped me on the back of my head. "Ow." I mumbled, rubbing the back of my head.
"It's common sense, anyways." Kari muttered, and then said louder, "If I'd told them, they'd either have thought we were crazy and not believed us, or tried to send us home. I, personally, like it here." I eyed her suspiciously.
"Have you found an Elf to flirt with?" I asked, and Kari looked at me with mock hurt.
"Your assumption wounds me deeply." she said somberly, then grinned like a maniac and answered. "Yes, Elrohir." I rolled my eyes and sighed.
"Figures as much." I said.
"Aren't they absolutely scrumptious, though?" Kari asked, her eyes sparkling.
"I wouldn't know - I don't take bites out of strange Elves to see what they taste like." I replied dryly, and Kari hit me on the arm lightly.
"You know what I mean." she said.
"That I do, that I do. And for your information, when I woke I thought I was dreaming, and wondered what on earth I ever did right to dream up such a perfect specimen of manhood." I replied solemnly, and then grinned.
"You should see the rest of them." Kari said, her eyes sparkling again. "I haven't seen many except when passing by them in the hall, but by the Valar! From what I've seen, those four you saw are not exceptions, they're the norm!" We looked at each other for a moment, grinning like idiots, and then squealed in unison.
"So have you managed to find out what the date is?" I asked when we'd both calmed down.
"Well, Aragorn isn't around, so it's at least 80 years before the War of the Ring." Kari said with a slight frown. "I haven't heard any mention of either Arwen or Celebrían, either. Somehow I don't think either of them are here."
"Makes sense. Arwen spent most of her time in Lothlorien, and Celebrían is Galadriel and Celeborn's daughter. So they could both just be in Lothlorien. Or Celebrían could have gone into the west and Arwen visiting Lothlorien. Or Celebrían could be visiting her family and Arwen not even born." I said, frowning slightly, and Kari sighed and nodded.
"That's what I realized." she said. "Only thing I can be certain of is that the Last Alliance has happened - Elrond's wearing whichever of the rings of power is his."
"Vilya." I said absently. "And if the twins are alive, then no duh the Alliance has happened. They were born in the Third Age. We're looking at a spread of close to twenty-eight hundred years for the possible date."
"Twenty-eight hundred?!" Kari asked in surprise, her mouth dropping open.
"Yes, Elrohir and Elladan were born within the first 200 years of the Third Age, and Aragorn was born in the last 80 or so. Given that the Third Age lasted only 3021 years, that leaves us with around twenty-eight hundred years." I replied, and Kari blinked at me.
"How the heck do you remember all that?" she asked.
"Too much time spent reading the appendices of the books." I said, making a face. "Fortunately, that means if we can figure out a few more things about the outside world, I can figure out the date."
"What sorts of things?" Kari asked.
"Hm, if Gondor still has Kings, whether or not Rohan exists. The status of the Dwarf peoples in general. And, of course, where Arwen and Celebrían are." I replied, and Kari blinked.
"Girl, you need a new hobby." she said.
"Well, looks like I'll have to get one, since those particular books don't exist here." I said cheerfully. "Speaking of our world, what do you remember about what ACTUALLY happened before we showed up here?"
"I remember dancing in the rain, a loud boom, and that's it." Kari said with a frown. "What do you remember?" I sighed, and then paused for a moment to organize my memories.
"The loud boom you heard was a lightning strike on our house." I said finally. "I thought it killed you, to be honest. I couldn't find a pulse on your wrist. And I couldn't double check by listening to your heartbeat because the thunder strike wrecked my hearing. So I ran inside - our house was burning, by the way, the lightning was too much for our poor lightning rod, told you we should've gotten the deluxe rod - and phoned the hospital. The last thing I can remember is starting to run out of the house." Kari was silent when I finished, looking disturbed.
"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked after awhile. Kari started, looking at me in surprise as if she'd just remembered I was there, and then shook her head.
"Nothing important. Just wondering about life, the universe, and 42." she answered with a small smile. I knew that wasn't what she'd been thinking, but decided not to push it. Instead, I turned my mind to a more pressing need - food.
"Speaking of the great mysteries of life, where's the kitchen around here?" I asked, jumping out of bed and looking around expectantly. Kari chuckled, and climbed off the bed herself.
"I'll show you to it once you get changed into something more suitable." she said. I blinked, then glanced down at what I was wearing and found a long, white nightgown.
"Yes, a change would be in order, wouldn't it?" I said. "What clothes are there to wear?"
"Dresses." Kari said with an evil grin, and I groaned slightly. I'll confess, I'm a tomboy. I hate wearing dresses. Except for really cool ones. And, fortunately for my stomach, the dresses Lord Elrond had supplied the wardrobe in the room with when he had discovered that Kari and I had 'lost' our luggage someplace between Fangorn and Rivendell were really cool ones. So I quickly changed into one, and Kari set off for the kitchens, me close behind.
----To be continued...so join us here next bat-time, on the same bat-station...----
(If it's going to sounds corny, might as well have some fun)
-Authors Note:-
Chapter 3! Whoo! And what a spectacular amount of reviews...*giggle* Hee, ah well, for once I don't mind. I'm writing this story for the fun of it, and as a way to get out of doing schoolwork. Still, Elf-shaped cookies go to all my reviewers! Made by Santa's Elves, of course...which, now that I think about it, are really more like Hobbits than Elves...
Chapter 4 will be coming on Saturday! And if anybody's wondering, yes, my chapters are going to be getting longer, just as they did with 'No Eyes Needed'. Most of my stories seem to do that - start off with short chapters and then end up with really forking long ones. I'm sure my reviewers don't mind, though...
~Crimson Starlight