-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Sore feet suck.
...
Glorfindel: Er...aren't you going to do the disclaimer?
CS: Sore feet suck.
Glorfindel: ...Crimson Starlight owns nothing.
CS: Especially not my feet. Because they're sore and they suck.
Glorfindel: What is it with you and your feet?
Rachel: She went shopping all day.
Glorfindel: ...ah.
-29: Tree-
-Eh, I should probably put this in. WARNING: Rachel's mouth gets a l'il dirty in this chapter. And if it offends you, I suggest you stop reading, because it might get worse in some later chapters.-
My plan to go to bed and be ready to help rid Boromir of his hangover tomorrow, however, got slightly delayed - mostly due to my own curiosity.
I was almost at my room when, while passing a window, I heard someone singing something that sounded suspiciously like a funeral dirge. Curious as to who would be singing a depressing song when most of Rivendell seemed to have taken the occasion of Aragorn returning to get a little tipsy, I leaned out the window to see if I could spot the singer - or at least make out the words.
I didn't spot the singer immediately, but the words definitely got clearer - and they were going on about the golden flower of Gondolin in a very mournful way. I frowned lightly, and then used my ears to guide my eyes to the location of the singer - somewhere in the tree next to the window. Peering in among the branches carefully, I could barely make out the shape of an Elf leaning against the trunk of the tree - furthermore, an elf with golden hair, and a flask of Dorwinnian wine.
"A little depressing to be singing your own funeral dirge, dontcha think?" I said, and the singing stopped abruptly as Glorfindel's head whipped around.
"It helps, sometimes." he said with a shrug.
"With what?" I asked curiously.
"The memories, the loneliness, the homesickness." Glorfindel replied, turning his gaze back to whatever he had been looking at before I intruded.
"Sooo...singing your own funeral dirge helps with your depression?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
"It reminds me of why I did what I did." Glorfindel replied, giving me a small smile.
"Right." I said, letting my disbelief show through in my voice, and Glorfindel chuckled.
"Elvish 'funeral dirge's, as you call them, are more of a remembrance of the person who died than of how they died. They speak of what the person accomplished, how they lived their life, and only near the end do they mention their death." he explained. "Mine reminds me of all the good I did before my death, and what my death accomplished."
"Lucky you." I said, suddenly feeling slightly miserable myself as I remembered how I came to Middle-Earth. "If anyone ever tried to write a song about my death, they'd be hard pressed to find more than a few verses worth. I did nothing important before coming here, and my death accomplished nothing."
"Not true. Your death brought you here." Glorfindel said quietly.
"And what has that accomplished?" I asked with a sigh. "I've run around Middle-Earth for the past 800 years after running away from my best friend who is probably going to severely maim me the next time she sees me because of HOW I ran away."
"You had your reasons." Glorfindel said, sounding as if he did not believe in those reasons, and at that moment, in my strange, slightly depressed mood, I agreed with him.
"Which I'm beginning to wonder if they were justified." I said.
"Oh?" Glorfindel asked with interest.
"Yeah. After all, Kari's been living happily with Elrohir for close to 800 years, and Middle-Earth isn't showing any signs of falling apart at the seams yet." I replied with a shrug. "It makes me wonder if perhaps I was wrong. That maybe you and Gandalf are right, and all these signs I take for me transforming into a Mary-Sue are just little pushes from the Valar to help Kari and I fit in."
Glorfindel was silent for a moment, then held out the flask of wine and looked at me expectantly. I looked down to the ground, saw no one, and with a shrug, climbed out the window and onto the nearest branch of the tree. Going carefully, I made my way towards the trunk, then picked a thick branch close to where Glorfindel was sitting and sat down before taking the flask from him. I took a gulp, made a face, and handed it back.
"I still don't get how wine can taste worse than ale, even with a whole crapload of alcohol in it." I said.
"Its initial taste may be bad, but it does have a pleasant aftertaste." Glorfindel commented, taking a gulp of the wine himself. Moving my tongue around my mouth, I realized he was right - it had a very pleasant, fruity aftertaste.
"Well that takes the cake. I thought aftertastes were always supposed to be worse than the original taste, not the other way around." I said.
"Not always, obviously." Glorfindel said with a chuckle. A comfortable silence fell, during which Glorfindel took another sip of the wine before passing it over to me so I could have a sip, as well.
"So, why are you out here?" I asked as I handed the flask back to Glorfindel.
"I felt like singing." he replied.
"You could have done that in the Hall of Fire." I pointed out.
"Mm, but no ones been allowed to sing my lament since I returned." he said. "And Elrond gets concerned when he hears me singing it."
"Elrond sounds like he gets concerned about you a lot." I commented. Glorfindel chuckled.
"That he does. Celebrían used to help him keep it in check." he said. I nodded.
"It's a shame she had to go." I said sadly. "If there's one thing in all of Middle-Earth that I wish I could change or prevent, it would be what happened to her."
"Why didn't you?" Glorfindel asked curiously.
"Because it would have affected the timeline too much. The time between her leaving and now is too great - she could have done far too many things. Aragorn probably would have been raised differently and have become a different man if she was still around." I replied. I held out my hand for the flask of wine, and Glorfindel gave it to me. I took a sip and continued. "I'm surprised Kari didn't try to change it, though."
"She did, I think." Glorfindel said thoughtfully. "She tried to discourage Celebrían from her constant travel between Lorien and Rivendell, but no one else thought that Celebrían was in any danger. And she would not have been if the group of Orcs had not been so large."
"I suppose it served a purpose, at any rate. Elladan and Elrohir hate Orcs more than ever; Aragorn was raised without a mother..." I sighed, and took another sip of the flask of wine that I still held, holding back a grimace at the first taste of it, then handed the flask back to Glorfindel. "If only fate didn't love to cause such misery."
"But on such miseries is greatness built." Glorfindel said.
"Yeah, there can be no joy without pain and all that." I replied. Silence fell again.
"So what brought you to be wandering along the corridors so early in the evening?" Glorfindel asked eventually, after taking another drink of the Dorwinnian wine.
"A need for sleep so I can deal with a hungover Boromir tomorrow, and a need to get away from Elladan before he succeeded in getting me drunk." I replied dryly. "Though I may have just gone from one male trying to get me drunk to another succeeding in getting me drunk..." I added, eyeing the flask of Dorwinnian wine that Glorfindel still held suspiciously. Glorfindel chuckled.
"Completely by accident, I assure you. Want some more?" Glorfindel held the flask out to me with a playful grin. I took the flask and took a large gulp, mainly to keep myself from falling out of the tree due to Glorfindel's grin. Elf-lords should not be allowed to have playful grins. It is bad for females' health, especially when said females are sitting in trees.
"I should probably be careful; otherwise I'm not going to be able to get out of this tree without falling." I remarked as I handed the flask back. Glorfindel took a deep drink himself before responding.
"Then fall asleep in the tree." he said. "I've done it before."
"Yes, but you don't wear skirts, unlike me. Anyone could come along and get a good look at most of my underside. Not that I particularly care, as long as my arse is covered, but whoever came along probably would." I said.
"Actually, the first time I fell asleep in a tree, I WAS wearing a dress." Glorfindel said dryly. I coughed in surprise.
"What?!" I asked, my mouth hanging slightly open.
"It was Elrond's fault." Glorfindel said dismissively.
"Elrond's fault?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Despite what he may want people to believe, Elladan and Elrohir did get their wilder sides from him." Glorfindel said. "Though, to be fair, Celebrían contributed her fair share."
"It was Elrond's fault that you ended up asleep in a tree wearing a dress?" I asked, sticking to the topic that interested me. Glorfindel shot me an amused look.
"His and Círdan's, yes. They were half drunk themselves when they decided that it would be amusing to convince me to wear a dress. I was more drunk than them, and thus, they succeeded." he said.
"What I wouldn't give for pictures." I mumbled.
"I think Elrond attempted to make a drawing of me asleep in the tree the next morning." Glorfindel commented. "But it was a little...wobbly. Elrond has always been better with words."
"Which just goes to show that cameras should be one of the first technological wonders from my world invented in Middle-Earth!" I proclaimed.
"Cameras?" Glorfindel asked curiously.
"Fun little pieces of equipment that make instant, precise drawings of a scene." I replied, waving a hand about dismissively.
"Sounds...convenient." Glorfindel said, and I nodded, snagging the flask of wine from him and taking another drink.
"Sooo...was there any particular occasion for you wanting to come sit in a tree and sing your own lament while getting piss-arse drunk?" I asked as I handed the wine back to Glorfindel.
"Not really." Glorfindel said with a shrug, taking a drink of wine for himself. "Except that the Ringwraiths brought up unhappy memories of the last time I was involved in a battle against a would-be Dark Lord."
"Eh, don't worry, you won't be involved much in this battle. Sauron's for the newer generation to conquer. Well, if you don't count Gandalf. Or maybe even if you do. Was Gandalf hanging around when Morgoth was doing his thing?" I asked. Glorfindel shook his head.
"No, he is only recently arrived." Glorfindel replied, and I nodded.
"The newer generation entirely, then." I said, and then frowned thoughtfully. "Unless those guys in the Paths of the Dead are from around Morgoth's time..."
"No, they are not. And now you had best stop talking on this subject before the drink helps you say things you should not." Glorfindel said, handing me the wine.
"Says he as he hands me more alcohol." I said, taking another drink.
"If you are busy drinking, you can not talk." Glorfindel pointed out as I handed the flask back.
"Hmm, good point." I said as Glorfindel took another drink himself. We continued along those lines, taking drinks of the wine while talking about aimless things, for a short while, and then I decided that I had best get out of the tree while I still could.
"Despite amusin' stories about nights you spent in a tree, I really would prefer not t'sleep here tonight." I said, pushing myself carefully to my feet, my words only slightly slurred from the drink.
"Leaving so soon?" Glorfindel asked with a pout.
"Well you can follow if y'wanna. I just don't wanna spend th'night in this tree. I'll end out sore and all sortsa crap." I replied, taking a few wobbly steps towards the window I'd come out of.
"You know, perhaps I should go first. You seem a little unsteady." Glorfindel commented.
"If you can get ahead of me without makin' me lose my balance, be my guest." I said. A few moments later, I found myself staring up at Glorfindel where he stood in front of me on the branch. "How'd you do that?" I asked, peering behind me curiously.
"Practice." Glorfindel said with a smirk, and then pranced backwards a few steps along the branch, not even looking where he was going. I gaped at him.
"Ok, I KNOW you're AT LEAST half drunk. How the hell are you doing that?" I asked.
"As I said, practice." Glorfindel said, his smirk growing, and then he held out a hand to me. "Now, do you want to get out of this tree or not?" Without hesitation, I grabbed his hand and used it as a steady support while I made my way along the branch. Even with the alcohol in my system, I knew that Glorfindel was remarkably steady for one so drunk. I made a mental note to tell Elladan and Elrohir that Glorfindel's balance also went up when drunk. Then promptly forgot that mental note five seconds later. Ah yes, the wonders of alcohol.
When Glorfindel and I finally got near to the window, we discovered there was a downside to him going first - with the added weight, the branch bent more, and there was now a good jump up to the window. Furthermore, Glorfindel couldn't really just jump while leaving me on the tree branch because the branch would bounce up and down in reaction to his jump, and I wouldn't be able to keep my balance when it did.
"Maybe we should have just climbed down instead of headin' back for th'window." I said, eyeing the ground some fifteen feet below.
"Probably." Glorfindel said. "Or, I can climb up the wall to the window instead of jumping."
"You can do that?" I asked incredulously. Glorfindel shrugged.
"I have done it before." he said.
"Well, go to it, then." I said, and that is just what Glorfindel did. After almost falling about half a dozen times and scaring the shit out of me three other times. That was when we discovered the other problem - I hadn't noticed when I'd climbed out the window, but there was a jump DOWN to the tree branch, which meant there was now a jump UP to the window, and we both agreed that any jump I attempted to make would be disastrous.
"Right, back to the trunk and climbing down, then." I said. I half turned, but wobbled and almost lost my footing before I could move very far. "Or not." I said as I wind milled my arms to keep myself steady.
"Give me your hands, I'll pull you up." Glorfindel said, reaching down. I steadied myself, and then reached up, but I could barely reach his fingertips.
"Damn my shortness." I muttered. Glorfindel chuckled, shifted a little, and then stretched his hands down a little farther.
"Try that." he said, and I reached up again. To my amazement, I was able to grab onto his hands this time. Once my grip was secure, Glorfindel gave a pull, and I pushed off the tree branch, moving my feet to the wall so I was basically walking up it.
"I am so amazed that this is working." I commented as I got close enough to the window that I could let go of Glorfindel's hands and latch onto the window sill myself. From there, it was only a few quick maneuvers before I pulled myself in through the window - and promptly tripped over my own dress and fell flat on my face.
"Goddammit." I muttered, pushing myself up. "I officially HATE skirts, dresses, and anything related to 'em." I heard Glorfindel laugh, and I turned and gave him a scowl. Or tried to. The turn was far too much for my compromised sense of balance to handle, and I went down again - this time on my butt. I sat there and blinked for a moment, surprised to find myself on the floor again. Eventually, Glorfindel's stifled laughter brought me out of my surprise, and I glared up at him.
"This is all your fault, y'know." I said darkly.
"Mine?" Glorfindel asked innocently, hiding the flask of Dorwinnian wine - which he'd managed to keep, somehow - behind his back.
"Yes, yours and the wine's." I replied, nodding emphatically. "Whoa, did y'know nodding can make you dizzy?" Glorfindel's stifled laughter was back. I glared up at him again. "All right, funny boy. You got me into this, help me get up and get to my room."
"Of course, my lady." Glorfindel said with a mock bow, and then held out a hand to me to help me up.
"I'm amazed you managed a bow without tippin' over." I commented as I grabbed Glorfindel's hand and let myself be pulled to my feet.
"Ah, some of us hold our alcohol better than others." Glorfindel said with a mischievous grin. "Now, shall we see if you can walk?"
"I can walk." I stated determinedly, and took several steps forward to prove it.
"I'm impressed." Glorfindel commented. "You managed to go in a circle in three steps." I gave Glorfindel a withering glance.
"I said I could walk. I did. I just need a li'l help with the navigation end of things." I said. "Which is where you come in."
"Ah." was Glorfindel's reply. Then, with a satisfied nod, I latched onto his arm.
"Right, lead the way, then." I said.
"To where?" Glorfindel asked, a mischievous gleam entering his eyes.
"My rooms, dumbass." I retorted grumpily. "Where you will then LEAVE ME before going off where ever you might want to go."
"As the lady commands." Glorfindel said with another mock bow, and so we set off.
----To be continued...with Rachel's room!----
(And Glorfindel abuse!)
-Authors Note:-
Whee, this is fun...
Now I have a few MORE questions from reviewers that need answering. First off! Rachel is not going with the Fellowship! I've already done one tenth member fic, and man was that a bugger to keep everything straight. And I followed the movies in that one. Besides, with rachel's sense of Mary-Sueness, do you really think she'd go along with the Fellowship, even if they tied her up in a sack and carried her?
As for Kari in Lothlorien. I'm not sure its going to be explained, so I'll say it here. Y'know how Rachel situated herself in Minas Tirith so she could see the Fellowship? Kari did the same, only in Lothlorien. Why not stay in Rivendell? Because my plot wants her in Lothlorien, and she wants to help the Fellowship deal with Gandalf's death and probably give Boromir a few solid whacks.
As for my question from last chapter...well, The Noble Platypus kinda stolen Gandalf's hat when he dropped it in Balin's Tomb, so not only do I now know where it got to, but I don't have to give it away. O.o Allyrien Chantel de Montreve gets Gandalf's back-up hat, though, for the very amusing alternate reason for Gandalf's hat's disapearance. (hey, he has back-up staffs, why not back-up hats?) There were numerous other reviewers that gave the answer of 'he dropped it in Balins tomb', so I shall have to...uh...give you all copies of Glamdring (or however you spell his swords name) or his staff, depending on which you want. And man did that sound dirty. (early morning=dirty minded CS)
Yeah, um, thank-you to all my reviewers. If you all review again, and recruit more reviewers, you get some of the christmas cookies I'm going to bake tomorrow...now I'm off to make supper and listen to my uncle ramble on about electronic circuits. O.o He's great, really...he just talks a lot.
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Sore feet suck.
...
Glorfindel: Er...aren't you going to do the disclaimer?
CS: Sore feet suck.
Glorfindel: ...Crimson Starlight owns nothing.
CS: Especially not my feet. Because they're sore and they suck.
Glorfindel: What is it with you and your feet?
Rachel: She went shopping all day.
Glorfindel: ...ah.
-29: Tree-
-Eh, I should probably put this in. WARNING: Rachel's mouth gets a l'il dirty in this chapter. And if it offends you, I suggest you stop reading, because it might get worse in some later chapters.-
My plan to go to bed and be ready to help rid Boromir of his hangover tomorrow, however, got slightly delayed - mostly due to my own curiosity.
I was almost at my room when, while passing a window, I heard someone singing something that sounded suspiciously like a funeral dirge. Curious as to who would be singing a depressing song when most of Rivendell seemed to have taken the occasion of Aragorn returning to get a little tipsy, I leaned out the window to see if I could spot the singer - or at least make out the words.
I didn't spot the singer immediately, but the words definitely got clearer - and they were going on about the golden flower of Gondolin in a very mournful way. I frowned lightly, and then used my ears to guide my eyes to the location of the singer - somewhere in the tree next to the window. Peering in among the branches carefully, I could barely make out the shape of an Elf leaning against the trunk of the tree - furthermore, an elf with golden hair, and a flask of Dorwinnian wine.
"A little depressing to be singing your own funeral dirge, dontcha think?" I said, and the singing stopped abruptly as Glorfindel's head whipped around.
"It helps, sometimes." he said with a shrug.
"With what?" I asked curiously.
"The memories, the loneliness, the homesickness." Glorfindel replied, turning his gaze back to whatever he had been looking at before I intruded.
"Sooo...singing your own funeral dirge helps with your depression?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
"It reminds me of why I did what I did." Glorfindel replied, giving me a small smile.
"Right." I said, letting my disbelief show through in my voice, and Glorfindel chuckled.
"Elvish 'funeral dirge's, as you call them, are more of a remembrance of the person who died than of how they died. They speak of what the person accomplished, how they lived their life, and only near the end do they mention their death." he explained. "Mine reminds me of all the good I did before my death, and what my death accomplished."
"Lucky you." I said, suddenly feeling slightly miserable myself as I remembered how I came to Middle-Earth. "If anyone ever tried to write a song about my death, they'd be hard pressed to find more than a few verses worth. I did nothing important before coming here, and my death accomplished nothing."
"Not true. Your death brought you here." Glorfindel said quietly.
"And what has that accomplished?" I asked with a sigh. "I've run around Middle-Earth for the past 800 years after running away from my best friend who is probably going to severely maim me the next time she sees me because of HOW I ran away."
"You had your reasons." Glorfindel said, sounding as if he did not believe in those reasons, and at that moment, in my strange, slightly depressed mood, I agreed with him.
"Which I'm beginning to wonder if they were justified." I said.
"Oh?" Glorfindel asked with interest.
"Yeah. After all, Kari's been living happily with Elrohir for close to 800 years, and Middle-Earth isn't showing any signs of falling apart at the seams yet." I replied with a shrug. "It makes me wonder if perhaps I was wrong. That maybe you and Gandalf are right, and all these signs I take for me transforming into a Mary-Sue are just little pushes from the Valar to help Kari and I fit in."
Glorfindel was silent for a moment, then held out the flask of wine and looked at me expectantly. I looked down to the ground, saw no one, and with a shrug, climbed out the window and onto the nearest branch of the tree. Going carefully, I made my way towards the trunk, then picked a thick branch close to where Glorfindel was sitting and sat down before taking the flask from him. I took a gulp, made a face, and handed it back.
"I still don't get how wine can taste worse than ale, even with a whole crapload of alcohol in it." I said.
"Its initial taste may be bad, but it does have a pleasant aftertaste." Glorfindel commented, taking a gulp of the wine himself. Moving my tongue around my mouth, I realized he was right - it had a very pleasant, fruity aftertaste.
"Well that takes the cake. I thought aftertastes were always supposed to be worse than the original taste, not the other way around." I said.
"Not always, obviously." Glorfindel said with a chuckle. A comfortable silence fell, during which Glorfindel took another sip of the wine before passing it over to me so I could have a sip, as well.
"So, why are you out here?" I asked as I handed the flask back to Glorfindel.
"I felt like singing." he replied.
"You could have done that in the Hall of Fire." I pointed out.
"Mm, but no ones been allowed to sing my lament since I returned." he said. "And Elrond gets concerned when he hears me singing it."
"Elrond sounds like he gets concerned about you a lot." I commented. Glorfindel chuckled.
"That he does. Celebrían used to help him keep it in check." he said. I nodded.
"It's a shame she had to go." I said sadly. "If there's one thing in all of Middle-Earth that I wish I could change or prevent, it would be what happened to her."
"Why didn't you?" Glorfindel asked curiously.
"Because it would have affected the timeline too much. The time between her leaving and now is too great - she could have done far too many things. Aragorn probably would have been raised differently and have become a different man if she was still around." I replied. I held out my hand for the flask of wine, and Glorfindel gave it to me. I took a sip and continued. "I'm surprised Kari didn't try to change it, though."
"She did, I think." Glorfindel said thoughtfully. "She tried to discourage Celebrían from her constant travel between Lorien and Rivendell, but no one else thought that Celebrían was in any danger. And she would not have been if the group of Orcs had not been so large."
"I suppose it served a purpose, at any rate. Elladan and Elrohir hate Orcs more than ever; Aragorn was raised without a mother..." I sighed, and took another sip of the flask of wine that I still held, holding back a grimace at the first taste of it, then handed the flask back to Glorfindel. "If only fate didn't love to cause such misery."
"But on such miseries is greatness built." Glorfindel said.
"Yeah, there can be no joy without pain and all that." I replied. Silence fell again.
"So what brought you to be wandering along the corridors so early in the evening?" Glorfindel asked eventually, after taking another drink of the Dorwinnian wine.
"A need for sleep so I can deal with a hungover Boromir tomorrow, and a need to get away from Elladan before he succeeded in getting me drunk." I replied dryly. "Though I may have just gone from one male trying to get me drunk to another succeeding in getting me drunk..." I added, eyeing the flask of Dorwinnian wine that Glorfindel still held suspiciously. Glorfindel chuckled.
"Completely by accident, I assure you. Want some more?" Glorfindel held the flask out to me with a playful grin. I took the flask and took a large gulp, mainly to keep myself from falling out of the tree due to Glorfindel's grin. Elf-lords should not be allowed to have playful grins. It is bad for females' health, especially when said females are sitting in trees.
"I should probably be careful; otherwise I'm not going to be able to get out of this tree without falling." I remarked as I handed the flask back. Glorfindel took a deep drink himself before responding.
"Then fall asleep in the tree." he said. "I've done it before."
"Yes, but you don't wear skirts, unlike me. Anyone could come along and get a good look at most of my underside. Not that I particularly care, as long as my arse is covered, but whoever came along probably would." I said.
"Actually, the first time I fell asleep in a tree, I WAS wearing a dress." Glorfindel said dryly. I coughed in surprise.
"What?!" I asked, my mouth hanging slightly open.
"It was Elrond's fault." Glorfindel said dismissively.
"Elrond's fault?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Despite what he may want people to believe, Elladan and Elrohir did get their wilder sides from him." Glorfindel said. "Though, to be fair, Celebrían contributed her fair share."
"It was Elrond's fault that you ended up asleep in a tree wearing a dress?" I asked, sticking to the topic that interested me. Glorfindel shot me an amused look.
"His and Círdan's, yes. They were half drunk themselves when they decided that it would be amusing to convince me to wear a dress. I was more drunk than them, and thus, they succeeded." he said.
"What I wouldn't give for pictures." I mumbled.
"I think Elrond attempted to make a drawing of me asleep in the tree the next morning." Glorfindel commented. "But it was a little...wobbly. Elrond has always been better with words."
"Which just goes to show that cameras should be one of the first technological wonders from my world invented in Middle-Earth!" I proclaimed.
"Cameras?" Glorfindel asked curiously.
"Fun little pieces of equipment that make instant, precise drawings of a scene." I replied, waving a hand about dismissively.
"Sounds...convenient." Glorfindel said, and I nodded, snagging the flask of wine from him and taking another drink.
"Sooo...was there any particular occasion for you wanting to come sit in a tree and sing your own lament while getting piss-arse drunk?" I asked as I handed the wine back to Glorfindel.
"Not really." Glorfindel said with a shrug, taking a drink of wine for himself. "Except that the Ringwraiths brought up unhappy memories of the last time I was involved in a battle against a would-be Dark Lord."
"Eh, don't worry, you won't be involved much in this battle. Sauron's for the newer generation to conquer. Well, if you don't count Gandalf. Or maybe even if you do. Was Gandalf hanging around when Morgoth was doing his thing?" I asked. Glorfindel shook his head.
"No, he is only recently arrived." Glorfindel replied, and I nodded.
"The newer generation entirely, then." I said, and then frowned thoughtfully. "Unless those guys in the Paths of the Dead are from around Morgoth's time..."
"No, they are not. And now you had best stop talking on this subject before the drink helps you say things you should not." Glorfindel said, handing me the wine.
"Says he as he hands me more alcohol." I said, taking another drink.
"If you are busy drinking, you can not talk." Glorfindel pointed out as I handed the flask back.
"Hmm, good point." I said as Glorfindel took another drink himself. We continued along those lines, taking drinks of the wine while talking about aimless things, for a short while, and then I decided that I had best get out of the tree while I still could.
"Despite amusin' stories about nights you spent in a tree, I really would prefer not t'sleep here tonight." I said, pushing myself carefully to my feet, my words only slightly slurred from the drink.
"Leaving so soon?" Glorfindel asked with a pout.
"Well you can follow if y'wanna. I just don't wanna spend th'night in this tree. I'll end out sore and all sortsa crap." I replied, taking a few wobbly steps towards the window I'd come out of.
"You know, perhaps I should go first. You seem a little unsteady." Glorfindel commented.
"If you can get ahead of me without makin' me lose my balance, be my guest." I said. A few moments later, I found myself staring up at Glorfindel where he stood in front of me on the branch. "How'd you do that?" I asked, peering behind me curiously.
"Practice." Glorfindel said with a smirk, and then pranced backwards a few steps along the branch, not even looking where he was going. I gaped at him.
"Ok, I KNOW you're AT LEAST half drunk. How the hell are you doing that?" I asked.
"As I said, practice." Glorfindel said, his smirk growing, and then he held out a hand to me. "Now, do you want to get out of this tree or not?" Without hesitation, I grabbed his hand and used it as a steady support while I made my way along the branch. Even with the alcohol in my system, I knew that Glorfindel was remarkably steady for one so drunk. I made a mental note to tell Elladan and Elrohir that Glorfindel's balance also went up when drunk. Then promptly forgot that mental note five seconds later. Ah yes, the wonders of alcohol.
When Glorfindel and I finally got near to the window, we discovered there was a downside to him going first - with the added weight, the branch bent more, and there was now a good jump up to the window. Furthermore, Glorfindel couldn't really just jump while leaving me on the tree branch because the branch would bounce up and down in reaction to his jump, and I wouldn't be able to keep my balance when it did.
"Maybe we should have just climbed down instead of headin' back for th'window." I said, eyeing the ground some fifteen feet below.
"Probably." Glorfindel said. "Or, I can climb up the wall to the window instead of jumping."
"You can do that?" I asked incredulously. Glorfindel shrugged.
"I have done it before." he said.
"Well, go to it, then." I said, and that is just what Glorfindel did. After almost falling about half a dozen times and scaring the shit out of me three other times. That was when we discovered the other problem - I hadn't noticed when I'd climbed out the window, but there was a jump DOWN to the tree branch, which meant there was now a jump UP to the window, and we both agreed that any jump I attempted to make would be disastrous.
"Right, back to the trunk and climbing down, then." I said. I half turned, but wobbled and almost lost my footing before I could move very far. "Or not." I said as I wind milled my arms to keep myself steady.
"Give me your hands, I'll pull you up." Glorfindel said, reaching down. I steadied myself, and then reached up, but I could barely reach his fingertips.
"Damn my shortness." I muttered. Glorfindel chuckled, shifted a little, and then stretched his hands down a little farther.
"Try that." he said, and I reached up again. To my amazement, I was able to grab onto his hands this time. Once my grip was secure, Glorfindel gave a pull, and I pushed off the tree branch, moving my feet to the wall so I was basically walking up it.
"I am so amazed that this is working." I commented as I got close enough to the window that I could let go of Glorfindel's hands and latch onto the window sill myself. From there, it was only a few quick maneuvers before I pulled myself in through the window - and promptly tripped over my own dress and fell flat on my face.
"Goddammit." I muttered, pushing myself up. "I officially HATE skirts, dresses, and anything related to 'em." I heard Glorfindel laugh, and I turned and gave him a scowl. Or tried to. The turn was far too much for my compromised sense of balance to handle, and I went down again - this time on my butt. I sat there and blinked for a moment, surprised to find myself on the floor again. Eventually, Glorfindel's stifled laughter brought me out of my surprise, and I glared up at him.
"This is all your fault, y'know." I said darkly.
"Mine?" Glorfindel asked innocently, hiding the flask of Dorwinnian wine - which he'd managed to keep, somehow - behind his back.
"Yes, yours and the wine's." I replied, nodding emphatically. "Whoa, did y'know nodding can make you dizzy?" Glorfindel's stifled laughter was back. I glared up at him again. "All right, funny boy. You got me into this, help me get up and get to my room."
"Of course, my lady." Glorfindel said with a mock bow, and then held out a hand to me to help me up.
"I'm amazed you managed a bow without tippin' over." I commented as I grabbed Glorfindel's hand and let myself be pulled to my feet.
"Ah, some of us hold our alcohol better than others." Glorfindel said with a mischievous grin. "Now, shall we see if you can walk?"
"I can walk." I stated determinedly, and took several steps forward to prove it.
"I'm impressed." Glorfindel commented. "You managed to go in a circle in three steps." I gave Glorfindel a withering glance.
"I said I could walk. I did. I just need a li'l help with the navigation end of things." I said. "Which is where you come in."
"Ah." was Glorfindel's reply. Then, with a satisfied nod, I latched onto his arm.
"Right, lead the way, then." I said.
"To where?" Glorfindel asked, a mischievous gleam entering his eyes.
"My rooms, dumbass." I retorted grumpily. "Where you will then LEAVE ME before going off where ever you might want to go."
"As the lady commands." Glorfindel said with another mock bow, and so we set off.
----To be continued...with Rachel's room!----
(And Glorfindel abuse!)
-Authors Note:-
Whee, this is fun...
Now I have a few MORE questions from reviewers that need answering. First off! Rachel is not going with the Fellowship! I've already done one tenth member fic, and man was that a bugger to keep everything straight. And I followed the movies in that one. Besides, with rachel's sense of Mary-Sueness, do you really think she'd go along with the Fellowship, even if they tied her up in a sack and carried her?
As for Kari in Lothlorien. I'm not sure its going to be explained, so I'll say it here. Y'know how Rachel situated herself in Minas Tirith so she could see the Fellowship? Kari did the same, only in Lothlorien. Why not stay in Rivendell? Because my plot wants her in Lothlorien, and she wants to help the Fellowship deal with Gandalf's death and probably give Boromir a few solid whacks.
As for my question from last chapter...well, The Noble Platypus kinda stolen Gandalf's hat when he dropped it in Balin's Tomb, so not only do I now know where it got to, but I don't have to give it away. O.o Allyrien Chantel de Montreve gets Gandalf's back-up hat, though, for the very amusing alternate reason for Gandalf's hat's disapearance. (hey, he has back-up staffs, why not back-up hats?) There were numerous other reviewers that gave the answer of 'he dropped it in Balins tomb', so I shall have to...uh...give you all copies of Glamdring (or however you spell his swords name) or his staff, depending on which you want. And man did that sound dirty. (early morning=dirty minded CS)
Yeah, um, thank-you to all my reviewers. If you all review again, and recruit more reviewers, you get some of the christmas cookies I'm going to bake tomorrow...now I'm off to make supper and listen to my uncle ramble on about electronic circuits. O.o He's great, really...he just talks a lot.
~Crimson Starlight