-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: I own Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Hugh Jackman. Other than that, I don't own anything.
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Hugh Jackman: You do not own us!
CS: Yes I do!
Rachel: *sigh* Just because you own movies with them in them doesn't mean you own them, Crimson.
CS: Shut up, you. I can turn you into a frog again.
Rachel: Ribbit.
CS: Don't make m-*Glorfindel whacks her with the hilt of his sword and she falls unconcious*
Rachel: You're going to pay for that when she wakes up.
Glorfindel: I know. But anything she does is more than made up for by the immense satisfaction that gave me.
Rachel: Hmm. If you say so.
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Hugh Jackman: Crimson Starlight owns absolutely NOTHING.
-37: Silence-
The second day of Glorfindel and my's journey, I tried again to get him to talk, but again, got no response, even when I prodded him with a stick. The day after that, I started braiding Aratelpe's mane - using three individual hairs per braid - out of boredom. Glorfindel gave me a strange look, but other than that, there was no response. The third day out, I started humming 'I am slowly going crazy' as I braided. Non-stop. All day. Even when we set up camp.
"Would you please stop humming?" Glorfindel finally asked in annoyance shortly after we finished supper, when I started humming again (having stopped to eat).
"I'll stop humming when you decide to talk." I replied. Glorfindel shot me a weary look.
"Hum then. I care not." he said, and promptly stood up and disappeared into the trees. I didn't see him until the next morning when it was time to break camp. I took the hint and stopped bugging him, though it saddened me that he was refusing to talk to me. Really, I couldn't understand what he was so upset about.
As I said, though, I took the hint and stopped trying to get him to talk. And anyways, over the next few days, once 'This Is The Song That Never Ends' drove ME insane, and I got bored of singing 'I Know A Song That Gets On Everybody's Nerves', Glorfindel did start to talk a bit more. Not much - no conversation, really, but he said more than a dozen words to me each day. Which sounds really really pathetic - but before he had barely been saying much more than 'wake up', 'time to go', and 'we will camp here'.
On our ninth day out, though, things changed. When we rose in the morning, we found a large, black, roiling storm on the horizon in the east, headed straight for us and getting closer by the second. There was no question that it would run into us before evening, even if we went south as fast as we could for the entire day. And then, to make matters worse, Glorfindel announced when we stopped for lunch that it was a snowstorm.
"Great. Snow. I hate snow." I grumbled. Glorfindel shot me a weary look, and then we mounted up on our horses again and set off southwards. It was around mid-afternoon when Glorfindel abruptly wheeled Asfaloth around so that he was now heading east - into the storm. Surprised, it took me a few moments to correct Aratelpe's direction, and then I galloped to catch up to Glorfindel.
"Why the change in direction?" I asked curiously.
"The storm is fast. We will not be able to reach the other shelter I had planned to make for." Glorfindel replied.
"So where are we going now?" I asked.
"Rebuilt ruins in Eregion." Glorfindel said, and cast an amused glance my way. The irony was not lost on me, and I chuckled.
"Time to see home, then." I said with a wicked grin. There was no response from Glorfindel, but I got the feeling that he was as amused by the situation as I was.
It turned out the snowstorm - or more appropriately, blizzard - was even faster than Glorfindel had thought (the second time around). It hit us in the late afternoon, before the ruins we were aiming for came in sight. At least of me - Glorfindel seemed to have spotted them awhile ago, as he'd made a minor course correction not long ago and had been going in as straight a line as possible since. I had to hope that he could keep that direction even in the storm, because as we went, it just got worse. The snow whipped around us, going at every angle, the wind howled, and even with my Elvish ability to adjust to the temperature, I was starting to feel a little chilly. Visibility, even for Elvish eyes, was down to about ten feet, with snow drifts forming and disappearing right before our eyes. Before it got even close to those conditions, though, I had grabbed onto Glorfindel's cape and was determinedly not letting go as he lead the way through the snow.
Glorfindel, it seemed, had an excellent sense of direction, as after what seemed like hours - but was probably only one hour, if that - a large building reared up out of the snow in front of us. The horses snorted in surprise - Glorfindel just nodded in satisfaction. He rode up to the building - me following closely - and inspected it carefully. I wondered why he was even bothering - any shelter was good shelter at this point - and then were rounded a corner and found that an entire side had fallen in, and the building was a haven for snow, wind, and mini-whirlwinds. We moved on.
We inspected two more buildings and found them in as bad condition as the first one, then, finally, Glorfindel found the building he was looking for. He dismounted from Asfaloth, pulling his cape out of my grasp, and pushed the door of the building open and led the horse in behind him without so much as a glance in my direction. Slightly annoyed, I followed him inside.
It was dark inside, but not too dark for Elvish eyes, and I quickly looked around. There were two rooms inside the building, I found, separated by a rough wooden door. The front room had the door to the outside, and a window which was shuttered on the inside. There were rough stalls, made out of a few stones and some wood, to one side of the front room, and Glorfindel was settling Asfaloth in one of them. Taking the hint, I put Aratelpe in another, and then headed for the back room.
The back room was mainly just one large hall. The roof looked to be a good fifteen feet high, and there was a huge fireplace on one wall, with a stack of firewood as high as me to one side. Other than that, the place was empty - and slightly eerie. I shivered slightly as I looked around, then went to the fireplace and beat Glorfindel to making a fire. He made no comment as he set down his pack and set out his bedroll. Once I had the fire going, I silently followed his example - even if the blizzard did let up before nightfall, which was unlikely, there would be no point in moving on.
"How long do you think it will last?" I asked him once we were both settled and staring at the fire.
"Into tomorrow." Glorfindel replied, there being no need to ask what 'it' was. The blizzard could be heard howling outside even through the stone walls. I nodded, and we continued to stare at the fire in silence. Eventually, the silence because too much for me, and I stood and went out into the front room.
I hit a blast of cold air when I entered the room, and glanced around. I spotted the window, with its shutters blown open, one hanging crookedly and obviously broken. I stared at it in a moment in shock, wondering how we hadn't heard it, and then a soft whicker brought my attention to the horses.
The poor things were freezing, standing nose-to-tail, as close at they could get with the rough stall wall between them. I glanced at the window, then at the horses. I went and grabbed the horses and lead them into the other room, where, while they shied away from the fire, they certainly looked warmer. Glorfindel looked up as I shut the door and arched an eyebrow.
"Shutters on the window are broken." I said.
"Then fix them." he said.
"I am a stablehand, a waitress, a seamstress's assistant, and many other things, but not a carpenter or stonemason." I replied promptly, then returned to my bedroll and sat on it. Glorfindel sighed and got up and left the room. A few minutes later, he returned and sat down with an annoyed-sounding noise.
"Neither am I." was all he said, and I resisted the urge to chuckle.
After a few minutes of staring into the fire, I remembered the reason I'd gone out into the front room in the first place, and went over to Aratelpe where she stood by Asfaloth, looking infinitely warmer, but rather shaggy. The shagginess was something I intended to fix. After surveying her for a few short moments, I returned to my pack and found some of the horse grooming supplies I'd packed on a lark. Glorfindel had informed me that we would not have time for such things on the journey, but I'd ignored him, and was glad now. I resisted the urge to smirk, however, when I felt his eyes on me as I returned to Aratelpe and began to give her coat and mane and good brushing down.
Once I was done with Aratelpe, I turned back to the fire and found Glorfindel beginning to prepare a meal. I went to head back to the fire, but then Asfaloth nudged me with his nose and gave me the most piteous look. I couldn't help but turn and start to do the same to him as I'd done to Aratelpe. By the time I was finished, a very aromatic smell was wafting over from the fireplace, and Asfaloth was prancing in place. That made me smile slightly until I realized he was eyeing Aratelpe.
"Don't even think it." I said, narrowing my eyes at the horse, and whacked his shoulder. He whickered in surprise, and I glared at him. He gave a horse equivalent of a sigh, and let his head droop. A few moments later, he glanced up at me, and I smacked my forehead in exasperation before stomping off to the fire.
"I swear your horse and Elladan exchange notes." I announced as I sat down. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow in my direction, but did not comment as he went back to what he was cooking. A few moments later, he announced it done, and we ate in silence. I was actually rather surprised at how good the meal tasted - up until now, as the female on the trip, I had been delegated to cooking supper, so this was the first time I had tasted Glorfindel's cooking. I supposed he had to be a good cook, though, if he traveled anywhere by himself - after all, he'd have to eat his own cooking, right?
That got me wondering if all the men in Middle-Earth that were soldiers were good cooks, and pondering that possibility kept me occupied for a good half an hour. I had to stop when I remembered Kari's cooking skills and almost burst into laughter at the thought of what Elrohir's expression must have been when he found out. While normally I'm not against spontaneous laughter, it had its place, and stuck in a deserted ruin with Glorfindel - who wasn't talking to me - wasn't one of those places.
Of course, that was when the light bulb turned on inside my head. Glorfindel and I were trapped inside a building, with a blizzard outside, and there was no place Glorfindel could go to escape me unless he wanted to freeze his tush off in the outer room. I grinned wickedly and turned to Glorfindel, but what I had to say died in my throat as I saw his expression. He was staring into the fire, looking as if his mind was miles away, with sadness written all over his face.
I suddenly recalled what had happened and been talked about that night not-so-long-ago before I'd had the Dorwinnian wine. How I'd found Glorfindel in a tree, by himself, singing the lament for his death. How he'd said that he was always cheery when drunk except when certain topics were brought up. How he never really answered my question about why he was out there - he'd given the excuse of the Ringwraiths bringing up bad memories, but I found it hard to believe that, even for an Elf, memories could be that painful after over several thousand years. And for the first time, I stopped and really started to think about that night.
Oh sure, I'd thought about it before, but I'd never...REALLY thought about it, if you get what I mean. I'd gone over the surface of it, and mostly the surface of the latter half of the night, but never any deeper. I looked into the fire, letting my mind wander back, the amused thought floating through my head as I settled into deeper thoughts that I must be taking on an eerie resemblance to Glorfindel, except with thoughtfulness instead of sadness.
I don't know how long I sat there, picking the evening apart, nor did I notice when Glorfindel finally moved himself to his bedroll and stretched out for sleep. When I did finally come out of my thoughts, however, I found the fire dieing, the horses drowsing in their corner, and the third toe on my left foot was itchy. I scratched my toe, added a few more pieces of wood to the fire, and then curled up on my blankets, looking over at Glorfindel as he slept.
I had come to the conclusion, during my thinking, that there was something vital about that whole past evening that I was missing. It was like a puzzle where there was one piece that was missing, and that one piece was all that was keeping you from seeing the whole picture. But I had a feeling that I knew what that picture was, and it was not one I was happy with. Or rather, I corrected myself, I was happy with it, but it was one my head told me was not good. It was like when I was a child, and I did something I knew was wrong - my head said I shouldn't be doing it, but my heart was saying 'whee, this is fun!'. Only it wasn't doing, but purely feeling this time.
With a small sigh, I closed my eyes for a moment, clearing my thoughts, then opened them and unfocused them in the way I knew would cause me to be asleep in a few minutes. I had done enough thinking for tonight, and would only be going around in circles, anyways, until I got some answers.
----To be continued...with a rant!----
(A good rant always makes everything better...)
-Authors Note:-
My sister is officially my hero. She got me Pirates of the Caribbean for Christmas. :) Which I've now watched two times in as many days. And I'm trying very hard not to make it three times in as many days.
Anywho, big thank-yous to all my reviewers, who have finally helped me reach that coveted 500-review mark. And pass it spectacularly...I've always wanted to pass 500 reviews. Could never seem to make it, though. I did now, however, thanks to all you lovely people who didn't just read, but reviewed! Y'all get...hmm...how about an authentic Elvish horse and sword? And an Elvish rulers tiara/crown/headband thingy of your choice.
Now I'm off to bug my dad some MORE about going to see RotK...and try and get my grandma on my side, too.
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
CS: I own Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Hugh Jackman. Other than that, I don't own anything.
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Hugh Jackman: You do not own us!
CS: Yes I do!
Rachel: *sigh* Just because you own movies with them in them doesn't mean you own them, Crimson.
CS: Shut up, you. I can turn you into a frog again.
Rachel: Ribbit.
CS: Don't make m-*Glorfindel whacks her with the hilt of his sword and she falls unconcious*
Rachel: You're going to pay for that when she wakes up.
Glorfindel: I know. But anything she does is more than made up for by the immense satisfaction that gave me.
Rachel: Hmm. If you say so.
Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Hugh Jackman: Crimson Starlight owns absolutely NOTHING.
-37: Silence-
The second day of Glorfindel and my's journey, I tried again to get him to talk, but again, got no response, even when I prodded him with a stick. The day after that, I started braiding Aratelpe's mane - using three individual hairs per braid - out of boredom. Glorfindel gave me a strange look, but other than that, there was no response. The third day out, I started humming 'I am slowly going crazy' as I braided. Non-stop. All day. Even when we set up camp.
"Would you please stop humming?" Glorfindel finally asked in annoyance shortly after we finished supper, when I started humming again (having stopped to eat).
"I'll stop humming when you decide to talk." I replied. Glorfindel shot me a weary look.
"Hum then. I care not." he said, and promptly stood up and disappeared into the trees. I didn't see him until the next morning when it was time to break camp. I took the hint and stopped bugging him, though it saddened me that he was refusing to talk to me. Really, I couldn't understand what he was so upset about.
As I said, though, I took the hint and stopped trying to get him to talk. And anyways, over the next few days, once 'This Is The Song That Never Ends' drove ME insane, and I got bored of singing 'I Know A Song That Gets On Everybody's Nerves', Glorfindel did start to talk a bit more. Not much - no conversation, really, but he said more than a dozen words to me each day. Which sounds really really pathetic - but before he had barely been saying much more than 'wake up', 'time to go', and 'we will camp here'.
On our ninth day out, though, things changed. When we rose in the morning, we found a large, black, roiling storm on the horizon in the east, headed straight for us and getting closer by the second. There was no question that it would run into us before evening, even if we went south as fast as we could for the entire day. And then, to make matters worse, Glorfindel announced when we stopped for lunch that it was a snowstorm.
"Great. Snow. I hate snow." I grumbled. Glorfindel shot me a weary look, and then we mounted up on our horses again and set off southwards. It was around mid-afternoon when Glorfindel abruptly wheeled Asfaloth around so that he was now heading east - into the storm. Surprised, it took me a few moments to correct Aratelpe's direction, and then I galloped to catch up to Glorfindel.
"Why the change in direction?" I asked curiously.
"The storm is fast. We will not be able to reach the other shelter I had planned to make for." Glorfindel replied.
"So where are we going now?" I asked.
"Rebuilt ruins in Eregion." Glorfindel said, and cast an amused glance my way. The irony was not lost on me, and I chuckled.
"Time to see home, then." I said with a wicked grin. There was no response from Glorfindel, but I got the feeling that he was as amused by the situation as I was.
It turned out the snowstorm - or more appropriately, blizzard - was even faster than Glorfindel had thought (the second time around). It hit us in the late afternoon, before the ruins we were aiming for came in sight. At least of me - Glorfindel seemed to have spotted them awhile ago, as he'd made a minor course correction not long ago and had been going in as straight a line as possible since. I had to hope that he could keep that direction even in the storm, because as we went, it just got worse. The snow whipped around us, going at every angle, the wind howled, and even with my Elvish ability to adjust to the temperature, I was starting to feel a little chilly. Visibility, even for Elvish eyes, was down to about ten feet, with snow drifts forming and disappearing right before our eyes. Before it got even close to those conditions, though, I had grabbed onto Glorfindel's cape and was determinedly not letting go as he lead the way through the snow.
Glorfindel, it seemed, had an excellent sense of direction, as after what seemed like hours - but was probably only one hour, if that - a large building reared up out of the snow in front of us. The horses snorted in surprise - Glorfindel just nodded in satisfaction. He rode up to the building - me following closely - and inspected it carefully. I wondered why he was even bothering - any shelter was good shelter at this point - and then were rounded a corner and found that an entire side had fallen in, and the building was a haven for snow, wind, and mini-whirlwinds. We moved on.
We inspected two more buildings and found them in as bad condition as the first one, then, finally, Glorfindel found the building he was looking for. He dismounted from Asfaloth, pulling his cape out of my grasp, and pushed the door of the building open and led the horse in behind him without so much as a glance in my direction. Slightly annoyed, I followed him inside.
It was dark inside, but not too dark for Elvish eyes, and I quickly looked around. There were two rooms inside the building, I found, separated by a rough wooden door. The front room had the door to the outside, and a window which was shuttered on the inside. There were rough stalls, made out of a few stones and some wood, to one side of the front room, and Glorfindel was settling Asfaloth in one of them. Taking the hint, I put Aratelpe in another, and then headed for the back room.
The back room was mainly just one large hall. The roof looked to be a good fifteen feet high, and there was a huge fireplace on one wall, with a stack of firewood as high as me to one side. Other than that, the place was empty - and slightly eerie. I shivered slightly as I looked around, then went to the fireplace and beat Glorfindel to making a fire. He made no comment as he set down his pack and set out his bedroll. Once I had the fire going, I silently followed his example - even if the blizzard did let up before nightfall, which was unlikely, there would be no point in moving on.
"How long do you think it will last?" I asked him once we were both settled and staring at the fire.
"Into tomorrow." Glorfindel replied, there being no need to ask what 'it' was. The blizzard could be heard howling outside even through the stone walls. I nodded, and we continued to stare at the fire in silence. Eventually, the silence because too much for me, and I stood and went out into the front room.
I hit a blast of cold air when I entered the room, and glanced around. I spotted the window, with its shutters blown open, one hanging crookedly and obviously broken. I stared at it in a moment in shock, wondering how we hadn't heard it, and then a soft whicker brought my attention to the horses.
The poor things were freezing, standing nose-to-tail, as close at they could get with the rough stall wall between them. I glanced at the window, then at the horses. I went and grabbed the horses and lead them into the other room, where, while they shied away from the fire, they certainly looked warmer. Glorfindel looked up as I shut the door and arched an eyebrow.
"Shutters on the window are broken." I said.
"Then fix them." he said.
"I am a stablehand, a waitress, a seamstress's assistant, and many other things, but not a carpenter or stonemason." I replied promptly, then returned to my bedroll and sat on it. Glorfindel sighed and got up and left the room. A few minutes later, he returned and sat down with an annoyed-sounding noise.
"Neither am I." was all he said, and I resisted the urge to chuckle.
After a few minutes of staring into the fire, I remembered the reason I'd gone out into the front room in the first place, and went over to Aratelpe where she stood by Asfaloth, looking infinitely warmer, but rather shaggy. The shagginess was something I intended to fix. After surveying her for a few short moments, I returned to my pack and found some of the horse grooming supplies I'd packed on a lark. Glorfindel had informed me that we would not have time for such things on the journey, but I'd ignored him, and was glad now. I resisted the urge to smirk, however, when I felt his eyes on me as I returned to Aratelpe and began to give her coat and mane and good brushing down.
Once I was done with Aratelpe, I turned back to the fire and found Glorfindel beginning to prepare a meal. I went to head back to the fire, but then Asfaloth nudged me with his nose and gave me the most piteous look. I couldn't help but turn and start to do the same to him as I'd done to Aratelpe. By the time I was finished, a very aromatic smell was wafting over from the fireplace, and Asfaloth was prancing in place. That made me smile slightly until I realized he was eyeing Aratelpe.
"Don't even think it." I said, narrowing my eyes at the horse, and whacked his shoulder. He whickered in surprise, and I glared at him. He gave a horse equivalent of a sigh, and let his head droop. A few moments later, he glanced up at me, and I smacked my forehead in exasperation before stomping off to the fire.
"I swear your horse and Elladan exchange notes." I announced as I sat down. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow in my direction, but did not comment as he went back to what he was cooking. A few moments later, he announced it done, and we ate in silence. I was actually rather surprised at how good the meal tasted - up until now, as the female on the trip, I had been delegated to cooking supper, so this was the first time I had tasted Glorfindel's cooking. I supposed he had to be a good cook, though, if he traveled anywhere by himself - after all, he'd have to eat his own cooking, right?
That got me wondering if all the men in Middle-Earth that were soldiers were good cooks, and pondering that possibility kept me occupied for a good half an hour. I had to stop when I remembered Kari's cooking skills and almost burst into laughter at the thought of what Elrohir's expression must have been when he found out. While normally I'm not against spontaneous laughter, it had its place, and stuck in a deserted ruin with Glorfindel - who wasn't talking to me - wasn't one of those places.
Of course, that was when the light bulb turned on inside my head. Glorfindel and I were trapped inside a building, with a blizzard outside, and there was no place Glorfindel could go to escape me unless he wanted to freeze his tush off in the outer room. I grinned wickedly and turned to Glorfindel, but what I had to say died in my throat as I saw his expression. He was staring into the fire, looking as if his mind was miles away, with sadness written all over his face.
I suddenly recalled what had happened and been talked about that night not-so-long-ago before I'd had the Dorwinnian wine. How I'd found Glorfindel in a tree, by himself, singing the lament for his death. How he'd said that he was always cheery when drunk except when certain topics were brought up. How he never really answered my question about why he was out there - he'd given the excuse of the Ringwraiths bringing up bad memories, but I found it hard to believe that, even for an Elf, memories could be that painful after over several thousand years. And for the first time, I stopped and really started to think about that night.
Oh sure, I'd thought about it before, but I'd never...REALLY thought about it, if you get what I mean. I'd gone over the surface of it, and mostly the surface of the latter half of the night, but never any deeper. I looked into the fire, letting my mind wander back, the amused thought floating through my head as I settled into deeper thoughts that I must be taking on an eerie resemblance to Glorfindel, except with thoughtfulness instead of sadness.
I don't know how long I sat there, picking the evening apart, nor did I notice when Glorfindel finally moved himself to his bedroll and stretched out for sleep. When I did finally come out of my thoughts, however, I found the fire dieing, the horses drowsing in their corner, and the third toe on my left foot was itchy. I scratched my toe, added a few more pieces of wood to the fire, and then curled up on my blankets, looking over at Glorfindel as he slept.
I had come to the conclusion, during my thinking, that there was something vital about that whole past evening that I was missing. It was like a puzzle where there was one piece that was missing, and that one piece was all that was keeping you from seeing the whole picture. But I had a feeling that I knew what that picture was, and it was not one I was happy with. Or rather, I corrected myself, I was happy with it, but it was one my head told me was not good. It was like when I was a child, and I did something I knew was wrong - my head said I shouldn't be doing it, but my heart was saying 'whee, this is fun!'. Only it wasn't doing, but purely feeling this time.
With a small sigh, I closed my eyes for a moment, clearing my thoughts, then opened them and unfocused them in the way I knew would cause me to be asleep in a few minutes. I had done enough thinking for tonight, and would only be going around in circles, anyways, until I got some answers.
----To be continued...with a rant!----
(A good rant always makes everything better...)
-Authors Note:-
My sister is officially my hero. She got me Pirates of the Caribbean for Christmas. :) Which I've now watched two times in as many days. And I'm trying very hard not to make it three times in as many days.
Anywho, big thank-yous to all my reviewers, who have finally helped me reach that coveted 500-review mark. And pass it spectacularly...I've always wanted to pass 500 reviews. Could never seem to make it, though. I did now, however, thanks to all you lovely people who didn't just read, but reviewed! Y'all get...hmm...how about an authentic Elvish horse and sword? And an Elvish rulers tiara/crown/headband thingy of your choice.
Now I'm off to bug my dad some MORE about going to see RotK...and try and get my grandma on my side, too.
~Crimson Starlight