-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: First off, you should all know by now that I own nothing, so don't even think for a moment that I do. And second off, we have a rather 'special' guest for this disclaimer...
HurriCanine: HI!
CS: Everybody say hi!
Cast of TGotG: ...hi?
HurriCanine: *wanders around shaking peoples hands*
CS: Right...uh, now that that's done...can I have Boromir back?
HurriCanine: Sure! Here ya go! *pulls Boromir out of nowhere and hands him back to CS*
CS: Righty-o! The Fellowship shall be whole once again!
Boromir: I feel so used...
CS: At least you have it better off than Halbarad...
Halbarad: *still singing from the last chapter* I cut down trees. I eat my lunch. I go to the lavatory. On Wednesdays I go shoppin', And have buttered scones for tea...I cut down trees. I skip and jump. I like to press wild flowers. I put on women's clothing, And hang around in bars...I cut down trees. I wear high heels, Suspendies, and a bra. I wish I'd been a girlie, Just like my dear Papa...
CS: *evil grin* Again, Halbarad! And this time try it with an English accent...
Halbarad: I don't even know what an English accent IS!
CS: So? SING!
-47: Springs-
As Glorfindel and I continued to walk along, the air got heavier and more humid, making breathing more difficult. Finally, though, the temperature and humidity seemed to even out, and shortly after that, we broke through some bushes and I found myself confronted with several inter-connecting pools of steaming water. The water was clear, when I could see it through the steam, and the pools looked to be no more than five or six feet at their deepest points - and a few inches at the shallowest. Except for that one that seemed to be the source of all the other pools - judging from its dark colour, it was quite deep. Probably the actual spring itself.
After taking this all in, I let go of Glorfindel and scampered over to the nearest pool. I sat down at the edge, pulled off my boots, and dangled my feet in the water. Glorfindel came over and looked down at me in amusement as I sighed.
"It's warm!" I exclaimed happily as I looked up at him.
"You seem to have a strong dislike of cooler temperatures." Glorfindel commented, sitting down beside me - though he declined to pull off his boots and put his feet in the water.
"Yeah, another hangover from being human. I tended to get cold really quickly." I said, making a face. "To this day I will take any chance I can get to be warm."
"So I've noticed." Glorfindel said with a smirk. I just shrugged and shot him an innocent smile.
"Y'know," I said thoughtfully after a moment's silence, "I haven't gone swimming since I first came to Middle-Earth."
"Really?" Glorfindel asked, arching an eyebrow, and I nodded.
"Never had time to when I was in Rivendell, and I couldn't very well go swimming once I was out of Rivendell - I had to have something to cover my ears, and leaving a scarf on your head when you go swimming just starts questions." I replied, and then eyed the farthest, deepest pool. "How deep do you think that pool is?"
"No one has yet touched the bottom." Glorfindel replied, then frowned slightly and added, "Well, Elrond has. But he cheated and used Vilya." Both my eyebrows shot up.
"He...cheated...?" I asked. "This is a story I want to hear..."
"Oh, there is not much to tell." Glorfindel said, waving a hand through the air dismissively. "On one of the few times when Elrond came to Lothlórien with Celebrían and Arwen, and I came with them, we started talking about how deep that pool was. I can not remember why, now. But then Elrond decided to find out, so he dove down, using Vilya's powers to keep himself from running out of air. He was underwater for a good twenty minutes. Celebrían was quite worried when he finally surfaced. And soaked all those waiting." I blinked.
"Why does people being soaked and Elrond not fit in my brain unless Elrond's the one being soaked?" I asked, and Glorfindel chuckled.
"You really should have stayed for longer, Rachel." Glorfindel said, giving my nose a tweak. "Elrond is much more fun when Celebrían's around."
"Hmm, that I'll believe when I see it." I replied. "So, until I get to Valinor, I'll try and find out for myself how deep that pool is." I jumped up at that and headed over to the pool.
"There is no way you will reach the bottom." Glorfindel said, standing and following me. "And you will soak your clothes."
"You almost sound as if you don't WANT to see me all wet and panting." I said with a mischievous grin. Glorfindel visibly twitched, his face gaining a distinctly pink tinge, and I laughed. "It's what, a half-hour walk back to Caras Galadhon, max? I think I can survive that far with wet clothes. Of course, I could always go swimming without them." Glorfindel opened his mouth to respond to that, then abruptly shut it and paused for a moment, obviously searching for a different response than the one he had been about to say.
"Or you could wait until a later date to attempt to find out the depth of the pool." he said finally.
"I could, but I'm here now, and I like to liiiiive in the moment!" I replied cheerfully. Then I quickly pulled off my belt, not wanting to ruin the leather - it was only keeping my tunic down, anyways (form-fitting trousers and all) - shoved it into Glorfindel's hands, and then backed up and made a running jump into the pool. I did what was probably my best dive ever - this having been the first time I'd dove when in possession of Elvish grace - and swam down with all my might.
Despite how strongly I kicked, however, there was still nothing but dark blue water beneath me when I knew I needed to head up or I wouldn't make it back in time. So, regretfully, I did a half-somersault and kicked upwards. It turned out I had gone a lot farther down than I had thought - the light coming from the surface was just a pinprick above me. Momentary panic shot through me, but I forced it aside and concentrated on kicking upwards.
I still ran out of air before reaching the surface, however. I managed to hold in the urge to draw in a breath underwater, but the instant I broke the surface, I gasped in large lungfulls of air. When I recovered, I looked up on the bank to find a very pale-looking Glorfindel seemingly rooted to the spot. I arched an eyebrow at him.
"I so want to steal Vilya." I commented, and that seemed to shake Glorfindel out of his shock. His face took on an almost frightening combination of fear, concern and anger, and I carefully paddled my way to the opposite side of the pool from him.
"That -" he said firmly, "Was a very foolish thing to do."
"Stupid, too." I agreed, shrugging.
"And this does not bother you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.
"There are a lot of foolish things I've done in my life." I replied calmly. "Besides, this was fun."
"Most foolish things are." Glorfindel said, pursing his lips. Then he walked over to the side of the pool I was at and stuck his hand out to me. "Come out of there." I glanced at the hand, then up at Glorfindel. Shrugging, I grabbed his hand and let myself be pulled out, resisting the urge to pull Glorfindel in instead - for which I am eternally grateful. Because the instant I was steady on my feet, I found myself pulled into a big bear hug, which was promptly followed up by being kissed quite soundly on the lips.
"You realize you were under there for more than five minutes?" Glorfindel said when he pulled away, cupping my face in his hands and looking at me intently.
"Uhh..." I blinked. "Yes?" Glorfindel arched an eyebrow at me. "No. Maybe? Sorry, you just fried my brain." Glorfindel threw back his head and laughed. The sound made the gears in my brain start working again, and I peered down into the pool as Glorfindel's words registered.
"Over five minutes, eh?" I said, and Glorfindel, now recovered from his mirth, nodded. "Definitely going to steal Vilya next time I see Elrond." I paused for a moment as I recalled that all the Elven rings lose their power when the One Ring is destroyed. "No, that won't work. Bah. Maybe a dash to Rivendell and back before -"
"Rachel?" Glorfindel interrupted, and I looked over at him.
"Yeah?"
"Stop talking and giving away the future." Glorfindel said, and kissed me again to emphasize his point.
"Y'know, of the two methods already discovered of stopping me from talking about the future, I like this one better." I said, a mite breathlessly, when the kiss finally ended.
"Me too." Glorfindel replied, giving me a light kiss on the nose. "Now let's get back to Caras Galadhon. Your clothes are wet, and it IS December."
"Y'know, I hadn't noticed." I commented, looking down at what I could see of the sopping-wet shoulder of my tunic.
"I have." Glorfindel muttered, and I realized he was half soaked from pulling me out of the pool. I glanced behind Glorfindel and saw a pool, then I glanced up at Glorfindel. I grinned.
"Well maybe you should get warm then, hm?" I said innocently, and Glorfindel's eyes barely had time to widen before I pushed him solidly into the pool. Glorfindel, the little bugger, once he lost his balance, purposely reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me in with him. And yes, I know it was on purpose and not just an attempt to stop from falling in. I saw his evil grin, thankyouverymuch.
Anyways, I crashed into the pool and sunk to the bottom - all of four feet below the surface - before coming spluttering to the surface. Glorfindel, to my eternal annoyance, was waiting there, calmly crouching in the water so only his head was above, and looking very amused. I glared at him.
"Why can't I win against you?" I asked. Glorfindel shrugged.
"Maybe you have a soft spot for me and keep letting me win." he said.
"Soft spot my arse." I snorted. Glorfindel looked at me in momentary surprise, and so was caught off guard when I pushed him over into the water again. When he came up, spluttering, I eyed him, waiting until I was sure he was paying attention before I spoke again. "Whatever I have for you, my dear Glorfindel, is most definitely more than a 'soft spot'."
"You are always a surprise, you know that Rachel?" Glorfindel said after a moment.
"So are you, when you set your mind to it. I certainly didn't expect to get led to hot springs, or get bear hugged when coming out of said hot springs, and we all know what that kiss did to my brain." I quipped in reply.
"Mm, yes - fried it." Glorfindel said with a small smile. "Which means you should not be able to move fast enough to get away from me, yes?" He tilted his head to one side, grinning mischievously, and I eeped before going as fast as I could to the other side of the pool...which was a grand total of four feet away.
"Why did the small pool have to be behind you?" I whined as I suddenly found myself pinned.
"Because it is next to the well-spring?" Glorfindel replied with a smile.
"Smarty pants." I muttered, and then added randomly, "I miss Smarties...and just plain chocolate for that matter."
"You know, I seem to recall another time not too long ago when you were acting just as random and we were in this same position." Glorfindel commented.
"Only I was acting in random ways to try and get you to leave. And you ended out kissing me." I said.
"You kissed back." Glorfindel retorted. "And afterwards you galloped out of Rivendell on my horse." There was a pause.
"We're not in Rivendell, and I don't know where my horse is, let alone yours." I said arching an eyebrow. Glorfindel's response was to kiss me again, and I kissed back eagerly.
----To be continued...with...ooooh! Yummy!----
(Can I help it if I'm easily distracted by mental pictures?)
-Authors Note:-
Um...Author's Note...right......I have none? Oh wait, yes I do! 'The Games of the Gods' has been archived at Kedi's window sill! (http://privat.bluezone.no/kedi/)
...
Other than that, that's it, really.
So, thank-you once again to each and every reviewer - You're all wonderful! Even if you do kidnap characters and refuse to give him back unless I put you in the disclaimer...*cough* Anyways. See y'all Friday!
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
CS: First off, you should all know by now that I own nothing, so don't even think for a moment that I do. And second off, we have a rather 'special' guest for this disclaimer...
HurriCanine: HI!
CS: Everybody say hi!
Cast of TGotG: ...hi?
HurriCanine: *wanders around shaking peoples hands*
CS: Right...uh, now that that's done...can I have Boromir back?
HurriCanine: Sure! Here ya go! *pulls Boromir out of nowhere and hands him back to CS*
CS: Righty-o! The Fellowship shall be whole once again!
Boromir: I feel so used...
CS: At least you have it better off than Halbarad...
Halbarad: *still singing from the last chapter* I cut down trees. I eat my lunch. I go to the lavatory. On Wednesdays I go shoppin', And have buttered scones for tea...I cut down trees. I skip and jump. I like to press wild flowers. I put on women's clothing, And hang around in bars...I cut down trees. I wear high heels, Suspendies, and a bra. I wish I'd been a girlie, Just like my dear Papa...
CS: *evil grin* Again, Halbarad! And this time try it with an English accent...
Halbarad: I don't even know what an English accent IS!
CS: So? SING!
-47: Springs-
As Glorfindel and I continued to walk along, the air got heavier and more humid, making breathing more difficult. Finally, though, the temperature and humidity seemed to even out, and shortly after that, we broke through some bushes and I found myself confronted with several inter-connecting pools of steaming water. The water was clear, when I could see it through the steam, and the pools looked to be no more than five or six feet at their deepest points - and a few inches at the shallowest. Except for that one that seemed to be the source of all the other pools - judging from its dark colour, it was quite deep. Probably the actual spring itself.
After taking this all in, I let go of Glorfindel and scampered over to the nearest pool. I sat down at the edge, pulled off my boots, and dangled my feet in the water. Glorfindel came over and looked down at me in amusement as I sighed.
"It's warm!" I exclaimed happily as I looked up at him.
"You seem to have a strong dislike of cooler temperatures." Glorfindel commented, sitting down beside me - though he declined to pull off his boots and put his feet in the water.
"Yeah, another hangover from being human. I tended to get cold really quickly." I said, making a face. "To this day I will take any chance I can get to be warm."
"So I've noticed." Glorfindel said with a smirk. I just shrugged and shot him an innocent smile.
"Y'know," I said thoughtfully after a moment's silence, "I haven't gone swimming since I first came to Middle-Earth."
"Really?" Glorfindel asked, arching an eyebrow, and I nodded.
"Never had time to when I was in Rivendell, and I couldn't very well go swimming once I was out of Rivendell - I had to have something to cover my ears, and leaving a scarf on your head when you go swimming just starts questions." I replied, and then eyed the farthest, deepest pool. "How deep do you think that pool is?"
"No one has yet touched the bottom." Glorfindel replied, then frowned slightly and added, "Well, Elrond has. But he cheated and used Vilya." Both my eyebrows shot up.
"He...cheated...?" I asked. "This is a story I want to hear..."
"Oh, there is not much to tell." Glorfindel said, waving a hand through the air dismissively. "On one of the few times when Elrond came to Lothlórien with Celebrían and Arwen, and I came with them, we started talking about how deep that pool was. I can not remember why, now. But then Elrond decided to find out, so he dove down, using Vilya's powers to keep himself from running out of air. He was underwater for a good twenty minutes. Celebrían was quite worried when he finally surfaced. And soaked all those waiting." I blinked.
"Why does people being soaked and Elrond not fit in my brain unless Elrond's the one being soaked?" I asked, and Glorfindel chuckled.
"You really should have stayed for longer, Rachel." Glorfindel said, giving my nose a tweak. "Elrond is much more fun when Celebrían's around."
"Hmm, that I'll believe when I see it." I replied. "So, until I get to Valinor, I'll try and find out for myself how deep that pool is." I jumped up at that and headed over to the pool.
"There is no way you will reach the bottom." Glorfindel said, standing and following me. "And you will soak your clothes."
"You almost sound as if you don't WANT to see me all wet and panting." I said with a mischievous grin. Glorfindel visibly twitched, his face gaining a distinctly pink tinge, and I laughed. "It's what, a half-hour walk back to Caras Galadhon, max? I think I can survive that far with wet clothes. Of course, I could always go swimming without them." Glorfindel opened his mouth to respond to that, then abruptly shut it and paused for a moment, obviously searching for a different response than the one he had been about to say.
"Or you could wait until a later date to attempt to find out the depth of the pool." he said finally.
"I could, but I'm here now, and I like to liiiiive in the moment!" I replied cheerfully. Then I quickly pulled off my belt, not wanting to ruin the leather - it was only keeping my tunic down, anyways (form-fitting trousers and all) - shoved it into Glorfindel's hands, and then backed up and made a running jump into the pool. I did what was probably my best dive ever - this having been the first time I'd dove when in possession of Elvish grace - and swam down with all my might.
Despite how strongly I kicked, however, there was still nothing but dark blue water beneath me when I knew I needed to head up or I wouldn't make it back in time. So, regretfully, I did a half-somersault and kicked upwards. It turned out I had gone a lot farther down than I had thought - the light coming from the surface was just a pinprick above me. Momentary panic shot through me, but I forced it aside and concentrated on kicking upwards.
I still ran out of air before reaching the surface, however. I managed to hold in the urge to draw in a breath underwater, but the instant I broke the surface, I gasped in large lungfulls of air. When I recovered, I looked up on the bank to find a very pale-looking Glorfindel seemingly rooted to the spot. I arched an eyebrow at him.
"I so want to steal Vilya." I commented, and that seemed to shake Glorfindel out of his shock. His face took on an almost frightening combination of fear, concern and anger, and I carefully paddled my way to the opposite side of the pool from him.
"That -" he said firmly, "Was a very foolish thing to do."
"Stupid, too." I agreed, shrugging.
"And this does not bother you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.
"There are a lot of foolish things I've done in my life." I replied calmly. "Besides, this was fun."
"Most foolish things are." Glorfindel said, pursing his lips. Then he walked over to the side of the pool I was at and stuck his hand out to me. "Come out of there." I glanced at the hand, then up at Glorfindel. Shrugging, I grabbed his hand and let myself be pulled out, resisting the urge to pull Glorfindel in instead - for which I am eternally grateful. Because the instant I was steady on my feet, I found myself pulled into a big bear hug, which was promptly followed up by being kissed quite soundly on the lips.
"You realize you were under there for more than five minutes?" Glorfindel said when he pulled away, cupping my face in his hands and looking at me intently.
"Uhh..." I blinked. "Yes?" Glorfindel arched an eyebrow at me. "No. Maybe? Sorry, you just fried my brain." Glorfindel threw back his head and laughed. The sound made the gears in my brain start working again, and I peered down into the pool as Glorfindel's words registered.
"Over five minutes, eh?" I said, and Glorfindel, now recovered from his mirth, nodded. "Definitely going to steal Vilya next time I see Elrond." I paused for a moment as I recalled that all the Elven rings lose their power when the One Ring is destroyed. "No, that won't work. Bah. Maybe a dash to Rivendell and back before -"
"Rachel?" Glorfindel interrupted, and I looked over at him.
"Yeah?"
"Stop talking and giving away the future." Glorfindel said, and kissed me again to emphasize his point.
"Y'know, of the two methods already discovered of stopping me from talking about the future, I like this one better." I said, a mite breathlessly, when the kiss finally ended.
"Me too." Glorfindel replied, giving me a light kiss on the nose. "Now let's get back to Caras Galadhon. Your clothes are wet, and it IS December."
"Y'know, I hadn't noticed." I commented, looking down at what I could see of the sopping-wet shoulder of my tunic.
"I have." Glorfindel muttered, and I realized he was half soaked from pulling me out of the pool. I glanced behind Glorfindel and saw a pool, then I glanced up at Glorfindel. I grinned.
"Well maybe you should get warm then, hm?" I said innocently, and Glorfindel's eyes barely had time to widen before I pushed him solidly into the pool. Glorfindel, the little bugger, once he lost his balance, purposely reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me in with him. And yes, I know it was on purpose and not just an attempt to stop from falling in. I saw his evil grin, thankyouverymuch.
Anyways, I crashed into the pool and sunk to the bottom - all of four feet below the surface - before coming spluttering to the surface. Glorfindel, to my eternal annoyance, was waiting there, calmly crouching in the water so only his head was above, and looking very amused. I glared at him.
"Why can't I win against you?" I asked. Glorfindel shrugged.
"Maybe you have a soft spot for me and keep letting me win." he said.
"Soft spot my arse." I snorted. Glorfindel looked at me in momentary surprise, and so was caught off guard when I pushed him over into the water again. When he came up, spluttering, I eyed him, waiting until I was sure he was paying attention before I spoke again. "Whatever I have for you, my dear Glorfindel, is most definitely more than a 'soft spot'."
"You are always a surprise, you know that Rachel?" Glorfindel said after a moment.
"So are you, when you set your mind to it. I certainly didn't expect to get led to hot springs, or get bear hugged when coming out of said hot springs, and we all know what that kiss did to my brain." I quipped in reply.
"Mm, yes - fried it." Glorfindel said with a small smile. "Which means you should not be able to move fast enough to get away from me, yes?" He tilted his head to one side, grinning mischievously, and I eeped before going as fast as I could to the other side of the pool...which was a grand total of four feet away.
"Why did the small pool have to be behind you?" I whined as I suddenly found myself pinned.
"Because it is next to the well-spring?" Glorfindel replied with a smile.
"Smarty pants." I muttered, and then added randomly, "I miss Smarties...and just plain chocolate for that matter."
"You know, I seem to recall another time not too long ago when you were acting just as random and we were in this same position." Glorfindel commented.
"Only I was acting in random ways to try and get you to leave. And you ended out kissing me." I said.
"You kissed back." Glorfindel retorted. "And afterwards you galloped out of Rivendell on my horse." There was a pause.
"We're not in Rivendell, and I don't know where my horse is, let alone yours." I said arching an eyebrow. Glorfindel's response was to kiss me again, and I kissed back eagerly.
----To be continued...with...ooooh! Yummy!----
(Can I help it if I'm easily distracted by mental pictures?)
-Authors Note:-
Um...Author's Note...right......I have none? Oh wait, yes I do! 'The Games of the Gods' has been archived at Kedi's window sill! (http://privat.bluezone.no/kedi/)
...
Other than that, that's it, really.
So, thank-you once again to each and every reviewer - You're all wonderful! Even if you do kidnap characters and refuse to give him back unless I put you in the disclaimer...*cough* Anyways. See y'all Friday!
~Crimson Starlight