-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
I own none of the recognizable characters or places mentioned in this story, or this chapter, and I am not claiming to nor am I trying to make any money off of this story. I should also mention, since several reviewers have mentioned something about this, that while the character of Rachel DOES belong to me, and is based on my own humble personality, there are some major differences - ie, I read a ton of LotR FanFic, Rachel reads none. Also, Rachel is a lot more outspoken than I. Therefore, some of the views expressed by her in this chapter, as well as past and future chapters, are not necisarily my own, but may be put in there simply because I feel it fits with Rachel's personality.
And that is the end of the first serious disclaimer since Chapters 1 and 2.
Glorfindel: You sure?
Yes. Now shut up, you're ruining the effect.
Glorfindel: Yessir!
Ma'am!
Glorfindel: Ma'am!
-25: Focus-
"I yield!" Boromir said, to my immense satisfaction, as I pressed the tip of my sword against his throat. With a smug smile, I withdrew my sword from Boromir's neck, then sheathed my sword and grabbed Boromir's hand, pulling him up. He was looking at me in something akin to amazement.
"I do not believe I have ever seen you fight like that." Elladan commented from the sidelines.
"Indeed, I haven't even taught you most of the moves you just used." Boromir said, eyeing me appraisingly, even as he picked up his own sword from where it lay on the other side of the courtyard.
"Anger can be the fuel for improvisation." I said with a shrug. It was the afternoon after my talk with Gandalf, and I had decided to work out my annoyance at the old wizard in sparring with Boromir and Elladan. Until my most recent spar, I had been losing badly - and rather quickly. Then Elladan had made a comment about how anger clouds the judgment, and after getting annoyed with him for calling me angry when I wasn't - just really annoyed - I decided to see if I could prove him wrong. So I focused my annoyance, and whooped Boromir's arse.
"Ah, but anger will only take you so far." Elladan said, standing and drawing his sword as he walked over. Boromir discreetly left the arena and sat down on the sidelines to watch.
"True. But it can give you that extra boost needed so you can finish your opponent before it runs out." I said with a shrug, drawing and raising my own sword as Elladan and I began to circle.
"Or it can tire you needlessly." Elladan said. "Anger may be good for short, quick duels, but for prolonged fights it is deadly - and not for your opponents."
"How about we test that?" I suggested with an innocent smile, and then lunged at Elladan. He sidestepped quickly, but barely managed to bring his sword down in time to block the sideways swipe of my sword.
Before even I would have thought it possible had I been thinking beyond my sword, I had recovered from my lunge and wheeled to face Elladan again. I blocked his sword as it came towards my neck, and then gave a sharp twist. Elladan's grip was strong, however, and he held onto his sword, turning my twist against me, making a swipe at my side while prancing out of the way of my own sword. Knowing I couldn't pull my sword back quickly enough to block Elladan's swipe, I twisted my body in a way worthy of a contortionist, and Elladan's blade met nothing but air.
Feeling the need for a little space before attacking again, I quickly leapt back several feet, and Elladan and I began circling each other again. This time, it was Elladan who lunged first, but I quickly brought my sword up to block him, and I saw surprise flicker across his face slightly before I realized that he had put his full strength behind that swipe. And I had blocked it. I grinned wolfishly, then ducked and took a swipe at Elladan's legs, which he barely managed to jump over, while I was already going into a roll to avoid his downward swipe.
Finishing my roll, I sprang to my feet not far from Elladan, who was just turning to face me. He was still slightly off-balance when my sword rammed into his, and with satisfaction, I felt his sword slip in his grip under the strength of my attack. As it was, he staggered back a few steps, and I took the opportunity to whip out a foot and hook it around his closest ankle before pulling. Elladan went down, and a quick twist of my sword, still entangled with his, sent his own sword flying.
Before I could bring my sword to Elladan's throat, however, he had rolled out of the way and onto his feet. I spun to face him, arching an eyebrow. He just smiled, then suddenly darted forward, making a grab for my sword. Surprised, I leapt backwards, and Elladan suddenly turned and sprinted over to where his sword lay. Picking it up, he whirled to face me with a satisfied smile.
"Anger clouds your thinking. You must be calm in order to see all your options." he said as we began circling each other again. "If you see all your options, you will be able to plan not only where to attack next, but a strategy for the entire battle that will help you win. Like, for example, I know all I have to do to win this fight is prolong it, because your anger will wear out quickly and you will become tired and easily beaten."
"Oh, but I'm long past anger." I said, grinning mischievously. It was true, too. I hadn't noticed when it had happened, but somehow I'd gone from being angry to being calm and focused, and now my entire mind was centered on the dark-haired Elf before me.
"Then I shall have to devise a new strategy." Elladan said with a shrug, and then leaped forward, letting his sword clash with mine.
One of the things I'd always been annoyed with during my practice was that both Boromir and Elladan could lift their swords with one hand, and sometimes fight that way even though both swords were two-handed, while my sword drooped dangerously and I usually ended out dropping it if I didn't hold onto it with both hands. Elladan, of course, had seen this, and now decided to use it to his advantage, as one of his hands left his sword hilt and whipped forward, grabbing my wrist and pulling. Unprepared, I barely had time to register what Elladan was doing before my hand was ripped off the hilt. Elladan then danced back quickly, and not only did I lose my balance from him suddenly not being there, but my sword wobbled loosely in my hands. I stumbled, and Elladan was in front of me again, his sword slamming into mine and sending it spinning from my grasp.
Without a thought beyond getting away from Elladan's sword, which was now coming back in a swipe for my neck, I bent over backwards, going into a bridge. Deciding that hey, I had probably lost, anyways, and might as well try something, once I was in the bridge, I gave a push with my legs and brought them up, aiming for any part of Elladan I could see. Surprisingly enough, the move worked, as one of my feet connected with Elladan's chin, and his head snapped back even as I fell to the ground again.
While Elladan stumbled backwards to recover from my kick, I rolled onto my stomach and jumped to my feet. A quick glance around revealed my sword not far to my left, and I quickly dashed over to it. I barely had time to pick it up before I had to drop and roll out of the way of Elladan's newest lunge. I sprang to my feet once at a safe distance, and Elladan and I circled again.
Elladan lunged, and the spar continued. Attack, parry, block, retreat, disarm, try and pin Elladan down before he could get to his sword, parry, retreat, get disarmed, try and get to my sword before Elladan could pin me down, block, attack, on and on it went. I was beginning to think the spar was going to be a draw when I suddenly heard something behind me as I circled Elladan. It was quiet, the hiss of a sword leaving its sheath, and I grimaced. So Boromir had decided to join the fray, eh? Well, I beat him once, I could do it again.
Maneuvering carefully so I would not put myself at risk from Elladan the instant I turned to Boromir, I whirled to face the Man, and to my surprise, as I brought my sword up, it clashed with another. I hadn't turned a moment too soon. But even more surprising was that the blade I clashed with was Elvish in origin. I glanced at its owner and tried not to go into shock as I saw the golden hair of one very familiar Elf Lord. I think I 'meep'ed, at least, judging from the chuckle I heard. Who it came from, I don't know, but I suspect Boromir.
At any rate, to make a short story even shorter, Glorfindel had me disarmed in a manner of seconds, and not long after that, I was going cross-eyed looking at the point of his sword.
"I dub thee Fred." I said, still looking at the point of Glorfindel's sword. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow in a clear question.
"The point of your sword." Elladan explained with amusement as he appeared above me. "Mine is George. Boromir's is Bob."
"You name the tips of swords?" Glorfindel asked me, his eyebrow still arched.
"Only those that I find myself staring at." I replied. "But as much as I like making new friends, kindly get Fred out of my face."
"Yield first." Glorfindel insisted. I rolled my eyes.
"I yield!" I said, and Glorfindel's sword disappeared quickly, sheathed before I could blink. He held out his hand to me, and I grabbed it, letting him pull me up.
"Sorry for interrupting," Glorfindel said to Elladan as I went to get my sword. "But your father wants you."
"It was a draw, anyways." Elladan said with a shrug, sheathing his own sword. "What does father want me for?"
"He requests your assistance in healing." Glorfindel replied. Elladan's eyebrows shot up.
"Ah." was all he said, then he said goodbye to Boromir and I and dashed off.
"So, you're back." I said. "How were the Ringwraiths?"
"The usual." Glorfindel said dryly.
"So is Aragorn already here, too?" I asked, and Glorfindel nodded. I snapped my fingers in mock disappointment. "Drat, I wanted to push him in the river." Glorfindel blinked.
"Why?" he asked.
"Cuz he's dirty." I replied with a shrug.
"What are you two talking about?" Boromir interrupted, looking very confused.
"Uh, you'll find out at the council." I said. Boromir gave me a withering look. "What?! You will!"
"Yes, but you are here now, and it would be much easier for you to explain." he said.
"Uh, no, no it wouldn't." I said. "It's long and convoluted. I'd only make a tangle of it, trying to explain it all."
"You seem pretty good at explaining things to me." Glorfindel said dryly.
"Do you want me to stuff a sock in that mouth of yours, or will you shut it yourself?" I asked Glorfindel, arching an eyebrow, my annoyance at Gandalf returning now that I was done sparring and finding a new target in Glorfindel. Glorfindel looked back at me with slight surprise.
"No need to find a sock." Glorfindel said with a slight bow, which I couldn't tell if it was mocking or not.
"Good. Now, I feel the need for a snack. Anyone else wanna come with me?" I asked. Boromir declined, looking slightly annoyed with me, but Glorfindel accepted. We walked in silence to the kitchens, where we snagged some food - incredibly quickly, too, due to Glorfindel's presence (Elf-lords can get anything from kitchen cooks with a little flirting) - before going to the main hall and sitting down at one end of one of the tables there. There were a few other Elves in the hall, either chatting or also having a snack, and one group had a musical instrument of some sort out and seemed to be taking turns playing and singing. It reminded me of the main hall-place thingy in the Harry Potter books.
"So why are you angry?" Glorfindel asked after awhile.
"Not angry, annoyed." I replied with a sigh.
"At what? Or should I ask 'at whom'?" Glorfindel asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Gandalf." I replied. "His secretive 'I-know-something-you-don't-but-I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-even-though-it-concerns-you' routine is very annoying." Glorfindel chuckled.
"It usually is. He finally arrived, though?" he asked. I nodded.
"In all his annoying glory!" I said. Glorfindel chuckled again, and it struck me that he had a very nice laugh. Of course, that might just have been the fact that he didn't seem to laugh that often - at least, not that I heard - and like rarity makes a gem more sought after, it made his laugh seem nicer than normal. I shook my head at myself as I realized I was going poetic.
"So what have you been doing? Besides learning how to fight with a sword?" Glorfindel asked, thankfully interrupting my thoughts before I could start wondering why I was going poetic over his laugh.
"And besides being annoyed by Gandalf? Eh, talking to Bilbo. Reading. Various things." I said vaguely, waving a hand through the air. "Also deciding that Rivendell is boring without people to bug or talk to. Reading only lasts for so long."
"Indeed." Glorfindel said, sounding amused.
"Oh, stop being amused." I said in annoyance. "Permanently hyper people with short attention spans for anything not shiny or cool can find any place boring." Glorfindel's attention turned to his drink, which, judging from the attention he was paying it, was the only thing keeping him from laughing. I sighed in exasperation. "Elf-lords..." I muttered. I heard a snicker from Glorfindel, but decided to ignore it in favour of snack. Unfortunately, there was very little of the snack left - I tended to devour food after practicing my sword fighting - so Glorfindel's amusement didn't have much time to dissipate before we were both done and there wasn't much else to do that didn't include talking to one another.
Nonetheless, we managed to settle on one of the few things that didn't - watching the other Elves in the hall. Most of the Elves weren't doing too many interesting things, but the group with the instrument sounded like they were having quite the time, laughing often in-between snatches of song. One of the male elves even snagged one of the ladies and did a quick twirl around the table in a dance. I smiled as I saw that.
"Dancing is so much more civilized here." I commented.
"Oh?"
"At home, it's rare to find a dance that doesn't involve being closer than six inches to your partner." I said. "And I won't even go into grinding..."
"Grinding?" Glorfindel asked curiously, and I looked at him in amusement.
"You don't want to know." I said. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow, and I rolled my eyes. "You seriously DON'T want to know, trust me. It's barely accepted even at home. And believe me, a lot of strange things are accepted at home that you wouldn't find even conceivable."
"Your world sounds like an...interesting place." Glorfindel said.
"Interesting? I suppose you could call it that." I said dryly.
"What would you call it?" Glorfindel asked.
"Messed up." I replied promptly. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow, asking for more information. "Let's put it this way. At home, we have weapons - readily available to anybody with the money - that can destroy entire cities and poison the lands around them for centuries. Not to mention the clear-cutting of trees, pollution, global warming, politicians and terrorists." Glorfindel probably didn't understand any of that last bit, but my simplified description of a nuke was enough to make him frown. "And, of course, there's the fact that a great number of the populace of my world have grown lazy and fat, not to mention rude, and chivalry is a thing of the past. I could go on."
"No need. I get the picture." Glorfindel said, shaking his head. Glorfindel then started asking me more about my sword lessons, and before long it was time for supper. All Glorfindel and I did was switch from one table to another in the Hall, really, and there we discovered that there were large gaps near the center of the table, since a good majority of those that sat there were busy elsewhere - Elrond and Elladan were both tired from healing, with Elrohir taking care of them (apparently sometime while I'd been away, it had become apparent that Elladan had his father's gift for healing, while Elrohir had his fathers gift for ruling), Gandalf was watching Frodo, Arwen and Aragorn had gone off who knows where, and Boromir had decided to eat in his rooms for some unknown reason. So there were four seats empty on Glorfindel's right, then two empty seats after his until me. I looked over at Glorfindel in amusement as he realized he was basically alone in the middle of the table. That amusement turned to surprise as Glorfindel got up and moved over two seats so he was sitting next to me.
"Stealing Boromir's seat, are we? He won't be pleased." I said. Glorfindel shrugged.
"The only other option was sitting next to Lord Námovaryar, and he's not much company." he replied. "Besides, Lord Boromir isn't using his seat."
"True." I said, and Glorfindel and I turned to our food. We chatted a bit during supper, though not terribly much, considering we'd been chatting most of the afternoon, but the meal still finished surprisingly quickly. I realized when I got out of my chair that I had grown sore already from my sword fighting earlier that day, and tired, so despite Glorfindel's invitation to go to the Hall of Fire, I went to my own room and bed.
----To be continued...with hobbits!----
(And the Wizard Hat Thief!)
-Authors Note:-
Well, I had a four-day weekend, I got bored, I read LotR Fanfiction, and thus, new chapter! Plus, I needed a break from doing NaNoWriMo...And this was the perfect break! Heh. And so was the inspired beginning of the next chapter...(Gandalf's Hat! Sleeping Hobbits! Mwahahahaha!)
Er, right...Yes, I'm insane.
Thank you to all my reviewers again for being patient, I'll try and update again soon! Maybe in another week...That's what I seem to be doing, isn't it? Hmm...just can't stop writing this story. :) Which, I'm sure, for all of you, is a good thing. Anyways, if some of you think the story is slowing down and getting confusing and/or boring, don't worry. It's going to get VERRRRRY interesting soon. If all goes according to plan. I'm just going to say 'Dorwinnian wine' and leave it at that...
-Authors Note 2:-
My spell-check knows to correct 'Elldan' to 'Elladan' and 'Argorn' to 'Aragorn'.
...
I think I write too many LotR FanFics. O.o
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
I own none of the recognizable characters or places mentioned in this story, or this chapter, and I am not claiming to nor am I trying to make any money off of this story. I should also mention, since several reviewers have mentioned something about this, that while the character of Rachel DOES belong to me, and is based on my own humble personality, there are some major differences - ie, I read a ton of LotR FanFic, Rachel reads none. Also, Rachel is a lot more outspoken than I. Therefore, some of the views expressed by her in this chapter, as well as past and future chapters, are not necisarily my own, but may be put in there simply because I feel it fits with Rachel's personality.
And that is the end of the first serious disclaimer since Chapters 1 and 2.
Glorfindel: You sure?
Yes. Now shut up, you're ruining the effect.
Glorfindel: Yessir!
Ma'am!
Glorfindel: Ma'am!
-25: Focus-
"I yield!" Boromir said, to my immense satisfaction, as I pressed the tip of my sword against his throat. With a smug smile, I withdrew my sword from Boromir's neck, then sheathed my sword and grabbed Boromir's hand, pulling him up. He was looking at me in something akin to amazement.
"I do not believe I have ever seen you fight like that." Elladan commented from the sidelines.
"Indeed, I haven't even taught you most of the moves you just used." Boromir said, eyeing me appraisingly, even as he picked up his own sword from where it lay on the other side of the courtyard.
"Anger can be the fuel for improvisation." I said with a shrug. It was the afternoon after my talk with Gandalf, and I had decided to work out my annoyance at the old wizard in sparring with Boromir and Elladan. Until my most recent spar, I had been losing badly - and rather quickly. Then Elladan had made a comment about how anger clouds the judgment, and after getting annoyed with him for calling me angry when I wasn't - just really annoyed - I decided to see if I could prove him wrong. So I focused my annoyance, and whooped Boromir's arse.
"Ah, but anger will only take you so far." Elladan said, standing and drawing his sword as he walked over. Boromir discreetly left the arena and sat down on the sidelines to watch.
"True. But it can give you that extra boost needed so you can finish your opponent before it runs out." I said with a shrug, drawing and raising my own sword as Elladan and I began to circle.
"Or it can tire you needlessly." Elladan said. "Anger may be good for short, quick duels, but for prolonged fights it is deadly - and not for your opponents."
"How about we test that?" I suggested with an innocent smile, and then lunged at Elladan. He sidestepped quickly, but barely managed to bring his sword down in time to block the sideways swipe of my sword.
Before even I would have thought it possible had I been thinking beyond my sword, I had recovered from my lunge and wheeled to face Elladan again. I blocked his sword as it came towards my neck, and then gave a sharp twist. Elladan's grip was strong, however, and he held onto his sword, turning my twist against me, making a swipe at my side while prancing out of the way of my own sword. Knowing I couldn't pull my sword back quickly enough to block Elladan's swipe, I twisted my body in a way worthy of a contortionist, and Elladan's blade met nothing but air.
Feeling the need for a little space before attacking again, I quickly leapt back several feet, and Elladan and I began circling each other again. This time, it was Elladan who lunged first, but I quickly brought my sword up to block him, and I saw surprise flicker across his face slightly before I realized that he had put his full strength behind that swipe. And I had blocked it. I grinned wolfishly, then ducked and took a swipe at Elladan's legs, which he barely managed to jump over, while I was already going into a roll to avoid his downward swipe.
Finishing my roll, I sprang to my feet not far from Elladan, who was just turning to face me. He was still slightly off-balance when my sword rammed into his, and with satisfaction, I felt his sword slip in his grip under the strength of my attack. As it was, he staggered back a few steps, and I took the opportunity to whip out a foot and hook it around his closest ankle before pulling. Elladan went down, and a quick twist of my sword, still entangled with his, sent his own sword flying.
Before I could bring my sword to Elladan's throat, however, he had rolled out of the way and onto his feet. I spun to face him, arching an eyebrow. He just smiled, then suddenly darted forward, making a grab for my sword. Surprised, I leapt backwards, and Elladan suddenly turned and sprinted over to where his sword lay. Picking it up, he whirled to face me with a satisfied smile.
"Anger clouds your thinking. You must be calm in order to see all your options." he said as we began circling each other again. "If you see all your options, you will be able to plan not only where to attack next, but a strategy for the entire battle that will help you win. Like, for example, I know all I have to do to win this fight is prolong it, because your anger will wear out quickly and you will become tired and easily beaten."
"Oh, but I'm long past anger." I said, grinning mischievously. It was true, too. I hadn't noticed when it had happened, but somehow I'd gone from being angry to being calm and focused, and now my entire mind was centered on the dark-haired Elf before me.
"Then I shall have to devise a new strategy." Elladan said with a shrug, and then leaped forward, letting his sword clash with mine.
One of the things I'd always been annoyed with during my practice was that both Boromir and Elladan could lift their swords with one hand, and sometimes fight that way even though both swords were two-handed, while my sword drooped dangerously and I usually ended out dropping it if I didn't hold onto it with both hands. Elladan, of course, had seen this, and now decided to use it to his advantage, as one of his hands left his sword hilt and whipped forward, grabbing my wrist and pulling. Unprepared, I barely had time to register what Elladan was doing before my hand was ripped off the hilt. Elladan then danced back quickly, and not only did I lose my balance from him suddenly not being there, but my sword wobbled loosely in my hands. I stumbled, and Elladan was in front of me again, his sword slamming into mine and sending it spinning from my grasp.
Without a thought beyond getting away from Elladan's sword, which was now coming back in a swipe for my neck, I bent over backwards, going into a bridge. Deciding that hey, I had probably lost, anyways, and might as well try something, once I was in the bridge, I gave a push with my legs and brought them up, aiming for any part of Elladan I could see. Surprisingly enough, the move worked, as one of my feet connected with Elladan's chin, and his head snapped back even as I fell to the ground again.
While Elladan stumbled backwards to recover from my kick, I rolled onto my stomach and jumped to my feet. A quick glance around revealed my sword not far to my left, and I quickly dashed over to it. I barely had time to pick it up before I had to drop and roll out of the way of Elladan's newest lunge. I sprang to my feet once at a safe distance, and Elladan and I circled again.
Elladan lunged, and the spar continued. Attack, parry, block, retreat, disarm, try and pin Elladan down before he could get to his sword, parry, retreat, get disarmed, try and get to my sword before Elladan could pin me down, block, attack, on and on it went. I was beginning to think the spar was going to be a draw when I suddenly heard something behind me as I circled Elladan. It was quiet, the hiss of a sword leaving its sheath, and I grimaced. So Boromir had decided to join the fray, eh? Well, I beat him once, I could do it again.
Maneuvering carefully so I would not put myself at risk from Elladan the instant I turned to Boromir, I whirled to face the Man, and to my surprise, as I brought my sword up, it clashed with another. I hadn't turned a moment too soon. But even more surprising was that the blade I clashed with was Elvish in origin. I glanced at its owner and tried not to go into shock as I saw the golden hair of one very familiar Elf Lord. I think I 'meep'ed, at least, judging from the chuckle I heard. Who it came from, I don't know, but I suspect Boromir.
At any rate, to make a short story even shorter, Glorfindel had me disarmed in a manner of seconds, and not long after that, I was going cross-eyed looking at the point of his sword.
"I dub thee Fred." I said, still looking at the point of Glorfindel's sword. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow in a clear question.
"The point of your sword." Elladan explained with amusement as he appeared above me. "Mine is George. Boromir's is Bob."
"You name the tips of swords?" Glorfindel asked me, his eyebrow still arched.
"Only those that I find myself staring at." I replied. "But as much as I like making new friends, kindly get Fred out of my face."
"Yield first." Glorfindel insisted. I rolled my eyes.
"I yield!" I said, and Glorfindel's sword disappeared quickly, sheathed before I could blink. He held out his hand to me, and I grabbed it, letting him pull me up.
"Sorry for interrupting," Glorfindel said to Elladan as I went to get my sword. "But your father wants you."
"It was a draw, anyways." Elladan said with a shrug, sheathing his own sword. "What does father want me for?"
"He requests your assistance in healing." Glorfindel replied. Elladan's eyebrows shot up.
"Ah." was all he said, then he said goodbye to Boromir and I and dashed off.
"So, you're back." I said. "How were the Ringwraiths?"
"The usual." Glorfindel said dryly.
"So is Aragorn already here, too?" I asked, and Glorfindel nodded. I snapped my fingers in mock disappointment. "Drat, I wanted to push him in the river." Glorfindel blinked.
"Why?" he asked.
"Cuz he's dirty." I replied with a shrug.
"What are you two talking about?" Boromir interrupted, looking very confused.
"Uh, you'll find out at the council." I said. Boromir gave me a withering look. "What?! You will!"
"Yes, but you are here now, and it would be much easier for you to explain." he said.
"Uh, no, no it wouldn't." I said. "It's long and convoluted. I'd only make a tangle of it, trying to explain it all."
"You seem pretty good at explaining things to me." Glorfindel said dryly.
"Do you want me to stuff a sock in that mouth of yours, or will you shut it yourself?" I asked Glorfindel, arching an eyebrow, my annoyance at Gandalf returning now that I was done sparring and finding a new target in Glorfindel. Glorfindel looked back at me with slight surprise.
"No need to find a sock." Glorfindel said with a slight bow, which I couldn't tell if it was mocking or not.
"Good. Now, I feel the need for a snack. Anyone else wanna come with me?" I asked. Boromir declined, looking slightly annoyed with me, but Glorfindel accepted. We walked in silence to the kitchens, where we snagged some food - incredibly quickly, too, due to Glorfindel's presence (Elf-lords can get anything from kitchen cooks with a little flirting) - before going to the main hall and sitting down at one end of one of the tables there. There were a few other Elves in the hall, either chatting or also having a snack, and one group had a musical instrument of some sort out and seemed to be taking turns playing and singing. It reminded me of the main hall-place thingy in the Harry Potter books.
"So why are you angry?" Glorfindel asked after awhile.
"Not angry, annoyed." I replied with a sigh.
"At what? Or should I ask 'at whom'?" Glorfindel asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Gandalf." I replied. "His secretive 'I-know-something-you-don't-but-I'm-not-going-to-tell-you-even-though-it-concerns-you' routine is very annoying." Glorfindel chuckled.
"It usually is. He finally arrived, though?" he asked. I nodded.
"In all his annoying glory!" I said. Glorfindel chuckled again, and it struck me that he had a very nice laugh. Of course, that might just have been the fact that he didn't seem to laugh that often - at least, not that I heard - and like rarity makes a gem more sought after, it made his laugh seem nicer than normal. I shook my head at myself as I realized I was going poetic.
"So what have you been doing? Besides learning how to fight with a sword?" Glorfindel asked, thankfully interrupting my thoughts before I could start wondering why I was going poetic over his laugh.
"And besides being annoyed by Gandalf? Eh, talking to Bilbo. Reading. Various things." I said vaguely, waving a hand through the air. "Also deciding that Rivendell is boring without people to bug or talk to. Reading only lasts for so long."
"Indeed." Glorfindel said, sounding amused.
"Oh, stop being amused." I said in annoyance. "Permanently hyper people with short attention spans for anything not shiny or cool can find any place boring." Glorfindel's attention turned to his drink, which, judging from the attention he was paying it, was the only thing keeping him from laughing. I sighed in exasperation. "Elf-lords..." I muttered. I heard a snicker from Glorfindel, but decided to ignore it in favour of snack. Unfortunately, there was very little of the snack left - I tended to devour food after practicing my sword fighting - so Glorfindel's amusement didn't have much time to dissipate before we were both done and there wasn't much else to do that didn't include talking to one another.
Nonetheless, we managed to settle on one of the few things that didn't - watching the other Elves in the hall. Most of the Elves weren't doing too many interesting things, but the group with the instrument sounded like they were having quite the time, laughing often in-between snatches of song. One of the male elves even snagged one of the ladies and did a quick twirl around the table in a dance. I smiled as I saw that.
"Dancing is so much more civilized here." I commented.
"Oh?"
"At home, it's rare to find a dance that doesn't involve being closer than six inches to your partner." I said. "And I won't even go into grinding..."
"Grinding?" Glorfindel asked curiously, and I looked at him in amusement.
"You don't want to know." I said. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow, and I rolled my eyes. "You seriously DON'T want to know, trust me. It's barely accepted even at home. And believe me, a lot of strange things are accepted at home that you wouldn't find even conceivable."
"Your world sounds like an...interesting place." Glorfindel said.
"Interesting? I suppose you could call it that." I said dryly.
"What would you call it?" Glorfindel asked.
"Messed up." I replied promptly. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow, asking for more information. "Let's put it this way. At home, we have weapons - readily available to anybody with the money - that can destroy entire cities and poison the lands around them for centuries. Not to mention the clear-cutting of trees, pollution, global warming, politicians and terrorists." Glorfindel probably didn't understand any of that last bit, but my simplified description of a nuke was enough to make him frown. "And, of course, there's the fact that a great number of the populace of my world have grown lazy and fat, not to mention rude, and chivalry is a thing of the past. I could go on."
"No need. I get the picture." Glorfindel said, shaking his head. Glorfindel then started asking me more about my sword lessons, and before long it was time for supper. All Glorfindel and I did was switch from one table to another in the Hall, really, and there we discovered that there were large gaps near the center of the table, since a good majority of those that sat there were busy elsewhere - Elrond and Elladan were both tired from healing, with Elrohir taking care of them (apparently sometime while I'd been away, it had become apparent that Elladan had his father's gift for healing, while Elrohir had his fathers gift for ruling), Gandalf was watching Frodo, Arwen and Aragorn had gone off who knows where, and Boromir had decided to eat in his rooms for some unknown reason. So there were four seats empty on Glorfindel's right, then two empty seats after his until me. I looked over at Glorfindel in amusement as he realized he was basically alone in the middle of the table. That amusement turned to surprise as Glorfindel got up and moved over two seats so he was sitting next to me.
"Stealing Boromir's seat, are we? He won't be pleased." I said. Glorfindel shrugged.
"The only other option was sitting next to Lord Námovaryar, and he's not much company." he replied. "Besides, Lord Boromir isn't using his seat."
"True." I said, and Glorfindel and I turned to our food. We chatted a bit during supper, though not terribly much, considering we'd been chatting most of the afternoon, but the meal still finished surprisingly quickly. I realized when I got out of my chair that I had grown sore already from my sword fighting earlier that day, and tired, so despite Glorfindel's invitation to go to the Hall of Fire, I went to my own room and bed.
----To be continued...with hobbits!----
(And the Wizard Hat Thief!)
-Authors Note:-
Well, I had a four-day weekend, I got bored, I read LotR Fanfiction, and thus, new chapter! Plus, I needed a break from doing NaNoWriMo...And this was the perfect break! Heh. And so was the inspired beginning of the next chapter...(Gandalf's Hat! Sleeping Hobbits! Mwahahahaha!)
Er, right...Yes, I'm insane.
Thank you to all my reviewers again for being patient, I'll try and update again soon! Maybe in another week...That's what I seem to be doing, isn't it? Hmm...just can't stop writing this story. :) Which, I'm sure, for all of you, is a good thing. Anyways, if some of you think the story is slowing down and getting confusing and/or boring, don't worry. It's going to get VERRRRRY interesting soon. If all goes according to plan. I'm just going to say 'Dorwinnian wine' and leave it at that...
-Authors Note 2:-
My spell-check knows to correct 'Elldan' to 'Elladan' and 'Argorn' to 'Aragorn'.
...
I think I write too many LotR FanFics. O.o
~Crimson Starlight