-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Bwa! I own nothing. Except the rather amusing chibi drawing I just made for the special feature...
Haldir: You enjoy tormenting your reviewers, don't you?
CS: Hm?
Haldir: Well, they're not going to get to see this 'chibi drawing' you just made until you post the special feature, which won't be for another three weeks or so...and you've just said that it's amusing. So now they're going to want to see it.
CS: ...shush you. I'd be posting it already if it didn't give away the main joke in the special feature.
Haldir: What, you mean the part about - *gets tackles by CS* mmPH!
CS: Yes, that part.
Haldir: *blink* You didn't even know what I was going to say...?
CS: Well, really, the whole thing's a joke, so whatever you were going to say was, in some way, part of the part I was talking about.
Haldir: Not necisarily...
CS and Haldir: *continue pointlessly arguing along on that topic*
Rachel: Oi, and I thought -I- didn't get along with Haldir...
-70: Recovery-
It was three days later before Kari finally got worried enough to knock on Rachel's door. Food had been disappearing into the room, so she knew someone was alive in there, but as to more than that, she was clueless. Kari was also getting slightly harried, as Faramir and Aragorn had apparently exchanged notes about Rachel the Elf and Asira the Gondorian Lady, and had started asking questions of the only person they could find who they thought knew the answers, despite Kari's constant admonishments to remain patient, as an explanation would come in time.
At any rate, it was half worry, and half a need to escape from Faramir and Aragorn, that drove Kari to knock on Rachel's door late in the afternoon of the third day after Glorfindel arrived. There was silence behind the door for a good minute, and Kari was just about to knock again, when the door opened to reveal Glorfindel. He looked, thankfully, happy, if tired, and upon seeing who was at the door, he opened it wide enough to admit Kari, and she stepped aside.
Once Kari was in, Glorfindel shut the door and turned to her, nodding in the direction of the bedroom. Kari took the invitation for what it was, and moved as silently as she could over to the bedroom door, which she cracked open just enough to poke her head in. Rachel was asleep on the bed - her half-lidded eyes testified to the depth of that sleep - clutching a pillow that Kari suspected was a recent replacement for a certain Elf-lord, and she looked much improved from the last time Kari had seen her. Kari smiled slightly with relief, then pulled her head out of the bedroom and turned back to Glorfindel. He smiled at her obvious relief, then beckoned for her to follow him, and when she did, he led her out onto the balcony.
"I must admit, I expected your curiosity to get the better of you before now." were Glorfindel's first words. They were quiet, but the amusement was clear.
"I figured you two would make an appearance when you were ready." Kari said with a shrug, also keeping her voice quiet. "I probably would not even be here now if Aragorn and Faramir hadn't been driving me insane with their questions."
"You should tell them to be patient." Glorfindel said, arching an eyebrow.
"I have." Kari replied grumpily, and Glorfindel shook his head and tsked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Did that boy forget everything we taught him as soon as he was crowned?" he asked rhetorically, and Kari chuckled lightly.
"I think it's more chafing at suddenly being King of one of the biggest Kingdoms of Men out there, and yet finding that we Elves are still able to keep secrets from him." Kari said with a smirk.
"Of course we can. The youngest of us is ten times his age." Glorfindel said, arching an eyebrow.
"Hmm, yes, but the whole age thing is probably starting to get hard for Aragorn to wrap his head around, since he's starting to show some signs of ageing, and we all still look the same as the day he was born." Kari said with an amused smile. "I know it was rather weird for me when I hit 100. I kept waking up in the morning expecting to be a crotchety old lady." I was Glorfindel's turn to chuckle lightly.
"I would have liked to see Elrohir's face if one morning you DID wake up a crotchety old lady." he said. Kari snickered.
"Yeah, that would've been funny to see." she said. "Though not very funny afterwards..."
"Only if you were actually an old lady, and did not just have a glamour cast over you." Glorfindel said, looking mischievous. Kari arched an eyebrow.
"Well, you are definitely in a fine mood." she said, and Glorfindel suddenly smiled brightly.
"Why would I not be?" he asked, practically oozing happiness as his eyes drifted over to around where Rachel's bedroom was. Kari shook her head and smiled.
"I expect to hear a betrothal announcement before you follow Elrond to Valinor, you know." she warned. "And possibly an invitation to a wedding." Glorfindel chuckled, eyes sparkling.
"Oh, you shall." he said, "Though I am not entirely sure that I shall follow Elrond."
"Why not?" Kari asked, her eyebrows shooting up. Glorfindel nodded in the direction of Rachel's bedroom.
"I will not leave her, nor force her to leave before she is ready." he said softly, but firmly. Kari glanced south and west, the direction of Dol Amroth.
"Frankly, Glorfindel, I think she will be ready to leave when Elrond goes. She may not realize it herself, but I think it has been on her mind for awhile now." Kari said with a light frown. "She has avoided Dol Amroth for decades - despite Prince Imrahil being her friend, and he, along with Boromir and Faramir, inviting her to come - because she feared awakening a longing for the sea. Yet even before we left Lothlórien, she was speaking of going there." There was silence for a moment.
"I had not thought of that." Glorfindel confessed finally. Kari smiled lightly.
"Most would not, unless they had done the same sort of reading as Rachel and I." Kari said, and the emphasis she put on 'reading' made sure Glorfindel didn't mistake exactly what reading she was talking about.
"The books speak about Elven longing for the sea?" Glorfindel asked curiously, and Kari nodded.
"When it is awoken in Legolas." she said, then half-closed her eyes and recited from memory,
"To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying,
The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.
West, west away, the round sun is falling.
Grey ship, grey ship, do you here them calling,
The voices of my people that have gone before me?
I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me,
For our days are ending and our years failing.
I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.
Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,
Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,
In Eressëa, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,
Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever!" She smiled slightly and opened her eyes when she finished. "Legolas can be quite the poet." Glorfindel's eyebrows shot up.
"Did you...?" he didn't need to finish the question, as Kari nodded.
"I was a little...um...obsessed with the poetry and verses in the books before Rachel and I came here." Kari said, waving a hand through the air vaguely. "Rachel found some of the verses of the Fall of Gil-Galad catching, but I am as much an expert on the poetry and verses as she is on the dates." Glorfindel nodded, and then suddenly straightened from where he had been leaning against the balcony railing, tilting his head to one side. Moments later, a sleepy looking Rachel appeared in the doorway into her rooms.
"Hiya 'Ri." she mumbled, then immediately wandered over to Glorfindel and snuggled up against his side, looking extremely content. Kari smiled, happy to see her friend so blatantly and obviously in love.
"We didn't wake you, I hope?" she asked.
"'Course you did. I always wake up when I hear parts of the books." Rachel replied, still mumbling. "Helps me catch interesting conversations." Kari chuckled.
"My apologies, then." she said. Rachel waved the apology away with one hand, which went back to holding onto Glorfindel's shoulder as soon as it was finished with the action.
"I've been doing little more than sleeping and eating recently, anyways." she said.
"Which you need to do to get your strength back." Glorfindel said, light scolding in his tone.
"Nah, snuggling my Elf-lord will do that." Rachel practically purred. Kari snickered, noting the possessive in the sentence.
"Well, that is that. You are as good as married now - she has laid her claim." she said. Rachel shot Kari an amused look, and then looked up at Glorfindel like a cat looking at a bowl of cream.
"I did that back in Lothlórien." she said, once again practically purring. Glorfindel shifted slightly, and for the first time ever since she had known the Elf-lord, Kari saw him blush slightly. She laughed.
"What's the date, anyways?" Rachel asked after Kari's mirth had calmed down. "This fine specimen of the male gender refuses to tell me for some reason."
"June 14th." Kari said, arching an eyebrow.
"Of the year 3019, I'm assuming?" Rachel said with a light frown, and Kari nodded. Rachel paused. "Elladan and Elrohir will be meeting Arwen's escort today."
"Elrohir will, you mean." Kari said with a small smile. Rachel looked at Kari curiously, and Kari turned a mock scowl on Glorfindel. "Haven't you told her anything?"
"I have been a little busy with other matters." Glorfindel replied dryly, and Kari paused, then nodded, conceding the point.
"Elladan took off on Shadowfax the day after he and Elrohir got back from Mordor, to get Glorfindel. When he met the escort, he switched places - I'm assuming." Kari glanced at Glorfindel, and he nodded, then smirked slightly.
"Though he might have had an interesting time trying to get on Asfaloth." he said. "That horse has never liked any of Elrond's children." Rachel and Kari exchanged glances, and then burst out laughing.
"Go Asfaloth!" Rachel cheered when she had calmed down. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow at her. "I told you about the two different versions, remember?" Glorfindel looked thoughtful for a moment, then remembered, and nodded, grinning now.
"I had not put those two things together before." he said.
"Of course not. That's Kari's and my job." Rachel replied cheerfully, and then suddenly let out a jaw-cracking yawn. "Damn, I hate being tired. I wish Middle-Earth had caffeine or sugar in concentrated, easily palatable amounts." Kari snickered.
"Sorry. The only thing I have been able to come up with is a mild form of coffee, and it's imported from the south and so darn expensive that I doubt even a High King of the Elves could afford to drink it on a daily basis. Never mind you or I." she said, then arched an eyebrow at Kari. "So that means that you are going to actually have to take NOTICE of your body when it tells you to sleep." Rachel stuck her tongue out at Kari.
"I don't like sleep. It should be banned. It takes time away from the more interesting thing called life." she grumped.
"But if there was no sleep, there would be no beds, and that would most assuredly be a bad thing." Glorfindel interjected with innocence. Rachel opened her mouth to reply, then blinked, shut her mouth, and looked up at Glorfindel with a cross between puzzlement, surprise, and admiration. Kari applauded.
"Congratulations, you have figured out Rachel Logic!" she said with a smirk. "I always knew whoever Rachel ended up with would have it figured out." Then she frowned slightly and added, "Though I have yet to decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing."
"It's somewhere in-between." Rachel said with a wry smile, and Kari nodded in acceptance.
"Anyways. Rachel, when are you going to get everyone together and explain The Story to them?" Kari asked. "Faramir and Aragorn have been talking, and are now driving me insane with questions."
"Oh, I dunno. I want Imrahil here, along with Faramir, Aragorn, the twins, possibly Haldir..." Rachel said, shrugging one shoulder as she rested her head against Glorfindel's chest. "The rest of the Fellowship if they want. And Galadriel, Gandalf and Elrond should probably be included - I don't think any of them have gotten the complete story, at least not from me." Kari nodded.
"So when will they all be in one place?" she asked. Rachel paused for a moment, squinting at a piece of stonework as she thought.
"Um...Arwen and Aragorn's wedding? If Haldir comes with the escort." Rachel finally said.
"And that's half a month away. Great." Kari sighed.
"Tell Faramir he's a 'fobobair nawe shmirm' if he keeps asking. It'll shut him up." Rachel said with a smile. Kari's eyebrows shot up.
"Why would calling him an evil nipple boy shut him up? Strikes me it'd make him laugh and then want answers more." she said.
"Well, if that was what he thought 'fobobair nawe shmirm' meant, yes, he probably would do that." Rachel conceded. "But since he thinks it means he's an orc's mother, it will probably shut him up for awhile." Kari looked at Rachel for a moment, and then started laughing.
"What other little jokes have you sprinkled throughout Middle-Earth, girl?" Kari asked once she calmed down.
"There's a Green Dragon Inn down in the sixth ring of the city." Rachel said with a smile. "And if you go to Rohan and look through the breeding books, every time there's a chestnut stallion named 'Hero Bill', I was there. Oooh, and then there's this one tapestry up in the east wing of the Citadel that, if you look really closely, has the Enterprise A stitched into the sky as Eärendil. Not to mention that there's a nice little plaque in the Steward heir's rooms that, among a bunch of fancy decorations, contains the words 'Veni, Vidi, Lustici'." Kari chuckled and shook her head. "And those are only the things that lasted." Rachel added with a grin. Kari arched an eyebrow.
"Oh? What did you do that didn't last?" she asked.
"Well, there were the random parties that I threw whenever something important happened, the two years wear I wore nothing but black because of Celebrían, and the graffiti on the Argonath." Rachel replied, her eyes unfocusing slightly as she sought to remember all the things she'd done.
"Graffiti on the Argonath?!" Kari asked, her eyebrows shooting upwards. "What did you write?"
"'Dude with a 'tude' on Isildur." Rachel replied with a smile. "And the funny thing was, I went ahead of my escort in the night to be able to do it, and so I was able to see their faces and still remain completely blameless when they saw it. Absolutely priceless. When I went back a few years later, though, someone had scoured it away."
"I take it you were heading to Rohan at the time, and were slightly pissed at Gondor?" Kari asked dryly, and Rachel nodded vigorously.
"It was shortly after one of the Steward's sons wouldn't leave me alone, even though I was a 'bar wench' who constantly discouraged him, right along side his family." she said. "It got to the point where I either had to leave or tell him why exactly I wasn't interested. I left, going to work for a lady I knew he hated - and for good reason, as she was damn annoying - and that thoroughly annoyed me with Gondorians for the next little while." Kari shook her head.
"I don't get it." she said. "I talk to you non-stop for weeks on end, getting all sorts of hilarious stories out of you, and yet somehow, after all that, you still manage to find even more stuff, equally as hilarious, to tell me. How did you do it? How did you manage to wrack up such a large amount of stories in only 800 years?"
"Well -"
"She shall have to tell you later." Glorfindel interrupted Rachel, frowning lightly down at the maiden who was now leaning on him quite heavily. "Time for bed." Rachel wrinkled her nose, and made as if to protest, but the instant she opened her mouth, she let out a huge yawn. Kari chuckled.
"Go, have a nice cuddle. I shall go back to being tormented by the King and Steward." she said. Rachel nodded, seeing herself out-voted.
"Bye then." she said, and waved tiredly to Kari as her friend turned and left the balcony with her own wave. Kari was just shutting the door behind her when she heard Rachel protest at something, only to be cut off by a suspicious silence. Kari smirked as she strained her ears and, sure enough, heard footsteps - which she only would have heard if Glorfindel was carrying Rachel. Oh yes, definitely in love, both of them. Sickeningly so. Damn, why did Elrohir have to leave? Kari sighed and headed off to her rooms, suddenly missing her own Elf-lord very much.
----To be continued...with scientific discussions resulting confused vertically challenged persons!----
(And just about every other type of person, too...)
-Random Note:-
The 'Veni, Vidi, Lustici' comes from Camilla Sandman's 'The Official FanFiction University of Middle-Earth' (OFUM for short). It's Latin, and means 'I came, I saw, I lusted'...at least, according to what's on the OFUM website that's what it means. At any rate, I didn't make 'Veni, Vidi, Lustici' up - my mom tried to get me to learn Latin at one point, but it didn't stick enough for me to make up such a phrase myself.
-Authors Note:-
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. It was quite refreshing to get into my inbox the day after posting the chapter and see the same general amount of reviews as normal there...and on the topic of reviewing, guess what I found out? You can submit a signed review to your own story...O.o This strikes me as a dangerous prospect. (And for those of your wondering, yes, I found this out through experimentation...I honestly expected it to give me an error message saying I couldn't do it! But it let me!)
For any of you out there that might be wondering - I know there was at least one - TGotG reaches just over 400 pages in 12-point Time New Roman type in word. Or 315 pages if one uses my typical format of 10-point Arial type...whatever you use, it's freakishly long. :P
Also, I got a new place to host my webpage! This is good, since it takes about 20MB of space if I include all my graphics, and the server I was using before had a grand total of...5MB of space. So now, instead of just my writing being on 'This Corner of Insanity' (my webpage), I've got my writing AND my lj icons, plus the desktops and tiling backgrounds that I've made over the years and haven't really put up anywhere before now. All the TGotG pictures have also been moved to the new site, under the FanFiction category. Just click on FanFiction, then on TGotG, and down at the bottom there will be three links to the TGotG pictures.
Yep, so, this is the end of a rather long author's note. So remember - review! And I'll see y'all again sometime Monday!
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Bwa! I own nothing. Except the rather amusing chibi drawing I just made for the special feature...
Haldir: You enjoy tormenting your reviewers, don't you?
CS: Hm?
Haldir: Well, they're not going to get to see this 'chibi drawing' you just made until you post the special feature, which won't be for another three weeks or so...and you've just said that it's amusing. So now they're going to want to see it.
CS: ...shush you. I'd be posting it already if it didn't give away the main joke in the special feature.
Haldir: What, you mean the part about - *gets tackles by CS* mmPH!
CS: Yes, that part.
Haldir: *blink* You didn't even know what I was going to say...?
CS: Well, really, the whole thing's a joke, so whatever you were going to say was, in some way, part of the part I was talking about.
Haldir: Not necisarily...
CS and Haldir: *continue pointlessly arguing along on that topic*
Rachel: Oi, and I thought -I- didn't get along with Haldir...
-70: Recovery-
It was three days later before Kari finally got worried enough to knock on Rachel's door. Food had been disappearing into the room, so she knew someone was alive in there, but as to more than that, she was clueless. Kari was also getting slightly harried, as Faramir and Aragorn had apparently exchanged notes about Rachel the Elf and Asira the Gondorian Lady, and had started asking questions of the only person they could find who they thought knew the answers, despite Kari's constant admonishments to remain patient, as an explanation would come in time.
At any rate, it was half worry, and half a need to escape from Faramir and Aragorn, that drove Kari to knock on Rachel's door late in the afternoon of the third day after Glorfindel arrived. There was silence behind the door for a good minute, and Kari was just about to knock again, when the door opened to reveal Glorfindel. He looked, thankfully, happy, if tired, and upon seeing who was at the door, he opened it wide enough to admit Kari, and she stepped aside.
Once Kari was in, Glorfindel shut the door and turned to her, nodding in the direction of the bedroom. Kari took the invitation for what it was, and moved as silently as she could over to the bedroom door, which she cracked open just enough to poke her head in. Rachel was asleep on the bed - her half-lidded eyes testified to the depth of that sleep - clutching a pillow that Kari suspected was a recent replacement for a certain Elf-lord, and she looked much improved from the last time Kari had seen her. Kari smiled slightly with relief, then pulled her head out of the bedroom and turned back to Glorfindel. He smiled at her obvious relief, then beckoned for her to follow him, and when she did, he led her out onto the balcony.
"I must admit, I expected your curiosity to get the better of you before now." were Glorfindel's first words. They were quiet, but the amusement was clear.
"I figured you two would make an appearance when you were ready." Kari said with a shrug, also keeping her voice quiet. "I probably would not even be here now if Aragorn and Faramir hadn't been driving me insane with their questions."
"You should tell them to be patient." Glorfindel said, arching an eyebrow.
"I have." Kari replied grumpily, and Glorfindel shook his head and tsked, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Did that boy forget everything we taught him as soon as he was crowned?" he asked rhetorically, and Kari chuckled lightly.
"I think it's more chafing at suddenly being King of one of the biggest Kingdoms of Men out there, and yet finding that we Elves are still able to keep secrets from him." Kari said with a smirk.
"Of course we can. The youngest of us is ten times his age." Glorfindel said, arching an eyebrow.
"Hmm, yes, but the whole age thing is probably starting to get hard for Aragorn to wrap his head around, since he's starting to show some signs of ageing, and we all still look the same as the day he was born." Kari said with an amused smile. "I know it was rather weird for me when I hit 100. I kept waking up in the morning expecting to be a crotchety old lady." I was Glorfindel's turn to chuckle lightly.
"I would have liked to see Elrohir's face if one morning you DID wake up a crotchety old lady." he said. Kari snickered.
"Yeah, that would've been funny to see." she said. "Though not very funny afterwards..."
"Only if you were actually an old lady, and did not just have a glamour cast over you." Glorfindel said, looking mischievous. Kari arched an eyebrow.
"Well, you are definitely in a fine mood." she said, and Glorfindel suddenly smiled brightly.
"Why would I not be?" he asked, practically oozing happiness as his eyes drifted over to around where Rachel's bedroom was. Kari shook her head and smiled.
"I expect to hear a betrothal announcement before you follow Elrond to Valinor, you know." she warned. "And possibly an invitation to a wedding." Glorfindel chuckled, eyes sparkling.
"Oh, you shall." he said, "Though I am not entirely sure that I shall follow Elrond."
"Why not?" Kari asked, her eyebrows shooting up. Glorfindel nodded in the direction of Rachel's bedroom.
"I will not leave her, nor force her to leave before she is ready." he said softly, but firmly. Kari glanced south and west, the direction of Dol Amroth.
"Frankly, Glorfindel, I think she will be ready to leave when Elrond goes. She may not realize it herself, but I think it has been on her mind for awhile now." Kari said with a light frown. "She has avoided Dol Amroth for decades - despite Prince Imrahil being her friend, and he, along with Boromir and Faramir, inviting her to come - because she feared awakening a longing for the sea. Yet even before we left Lothlórien, she was speaking of going there." There was silence for a moment.
"I had not thought of that." Glorfindel confessed finally. Kari smiled lightly.
"Most would not, unless they had done the same sort of reading as Rachel and I." Kari said, and the emphasis she put on 'reading' made sure Glorfindel didn't mistake exactly what reading she was talking about.
"The books speak about Elven longing for the sea?" Glorfindel asked curiously, and Kari nodded.
"When it is awoken in Legolas." she said, then half-closed her eyes and recited from memory,
"To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying,
The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.
West, west away, the round sun is falling.
Grey ship, grey ship, do you here them calling,
The voices of my people that have gone before me?
I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me,
For our days are ending and our years failing.
I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.
Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,
Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling,
In Eressëa, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,
Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever!" She smiled slightly and opened her eyes when she finished. "Legolas can be quite the poet." Glorfindel's eyebrows shot up.
"Did you...?" he didn't need to finish the question, as Kari nodded.
"I was a little...um...obsessed with the poetry and verses in the books before Rachel and I came here." Kari said, waving a hand through the air vaguely. "Rachel found some of the verses of the Fall of Gil-Galad catching, but I am as much an expert on the poetry and verses as she is on the dates." Glorfindel nodded, and then suddenly straightened from where he had been leaning against the balcony railing, tilting his head to one side. Moments later, a sleepy looking Rachel appeared in the doorway into her rooms.
"Hiya 'Ri." she mumbled, then immediately wandered over to Glorfindel and snuggled up against his side, looking extremely content. Kari smiled, happy to see her friend so blatantly and obviously in love.
"We didn't wake you, I hope?" she asked.
"'Course you did. I always wake up when I hear parts of the books." Rachel replied, still mumbling. "Helps me catch interesting conversations." Kari chuckled.
"My apologies, then." she said. Rachel waved the apology away with one hand, which went back to holding onto Glorfindel's shoulder as soon as it was finished with the action.
"I've been doing little more than sleeping and eating recently, anyways." she said.
"Which you need to do to get your strength back." Glorfindel said, light scolding in his tone.
"Nah, snuggling my Elf-lord will do that." Rachel practically purred. Kari snickered, noting the possessive in the sentence.
"Well, that is that. You are as good as married now - she has laid her claim." she said. Rachel shot Kari an amused look, and then looked up at Glorfindel like a cat looking at a bowl of cream.
"I did that back in Lothlórien." she said, once again practically purring. Glorfindel shifted slightly, and for the first time ever since she had known the Elf-lord, Kari saw him blush slightly. She laughed.
"What's the date, anyways?" Rachel asked after Kari's mirth had calmed down. "This fine specimen of the male gender refuses to tell me for some reason."
"June 14th." Kari said, arching an eyebrow.
"Of the year 3019, I'm assuming?" Rachel said with a light frown, and Kari nodded. Rachel paused. "Elladan and Elrohir will be meeting Arwen's escort today."
"Elrohir will, you mean." Kari said with a small smile. Rachel looked at Kari curiously, and Kari turned a mock scowl on Glorfindel. "Haven't you told her anything?"
"I have been a little busy with other matters." Glorfindel replied dryly, and Kari paused, then nodded, conceding the point.
"Elladan took off on Shadowfax the day after he and Elrohir got back from Mordor, to get Glorfindel. When he met the escort, he switched places - I'm assuming." Kari glanced at Glorfindel, and he nodded, then smirked slightly.
"Though he might have had an interesting time trying to get on Asfaloth." he said. "That horse has never liked any of Elrond's children." Rachel and Kari exchanged glances, and then burst out laughing.
"Go Asfaloth!" Rachel cheered when she had calmed down. Glorfindel arched an eyebrow at her. "I told you about the two different versions, remember?" Glorfindel looked thoughtful for a moment, then remembered, and nodded, grinning now.
"I had not put those two things together before." he said.
"Of course not. That's Kari's and my job." Rachel replied cheerfully, and then suddenly let out a jaw-cracking yawn. "Damn, I hate being tired. I wish Middle-Earth had caffeine or sugar in concentrated, easily palatable amounts." Kari snickered.
"Sorry. The only thing I have been able to come up with is a mild form of coffee, and it's imported from the south and so darn expensive that I doubt even a High King of the Elves could afford to drink it on a daily basis. Never mind you or I." she said, then arched an eyebrow at Kari. "So that means that you are going to actually have to take NOTICE of your body when it tells you to sleep." Rachel stuck her tongue out at Kari.
"I don't like sleep. It should be banned. It takes time away from the more interesting thing called life." she grumped.
"But if there was no sleep, there would be no beds, and that would most assuredly be a bad thing." Glorfindel interjected with innocence. Rachel opened her mouth to reply, then blinked, shut her mouth, and looked up at Glorfindel with a cross between puzzlement, surprise, and admiration. Kari applauded.
"Congratulations, you have figured out Rachel Logic!" she said with a smirk. "I always knew whoever Rachel ended up with would have it figured out." Then she frowned slightly and added, "Though I have yet to decide whether this is a good thing or a bad thing."
"It's somewhere in-between." Rachel said with a wry smile, and Kari nodded in acceptance.
"Anyways. Rachel, when are you going to get everyone together and explain The Story to them?" Kari asked. "Faramir and Aragorn have been talking, and are now driving me insane with questions."
"Oh, I dunno. I want Imrahil here, along with Faramir, Aragorn, the twins, possibly Haldir..." Rachel said, shrugging one shoulder as she rested her head against Glorfindel's chest. "The rest of the Fellowship if they want. And Galadriel, Gandalf and Elrond should probably be included - I don't think any of them have gotten the complete story, at least not from me." Kari nodded.
"So when will they all be in one place?" she asked. Rachel paused for a moment, squinting at a piece of stonework as she thought.
"Um...Arwen and Aragorn's wedding? If Haldir comes with the escort." Rachel finally said.
"And that's half a month away. Great." Kari sighed.
"Tell Faramir he's a 'fobobair nawe shmirm' if he keeps asking. It'll shut him up." Rachel said with a smile. Kari's eyebrows shot up.
"Why would calling him an evil nipple boy shut him up? Strikes me it'd make him laugh and then want answers more." she said.
"Well, if that was what he thought 'fobobair nawe shmirm' meant, yes, he probably would do that." Rachel conceded. "But since he thinks it means he's an orc's mother, it will probably shut him up for awhile." Kari looked at Rachel for a moment, and then started laughing.
"What other little jokes have you sprinkled throughout Middle-Earth, girl?" Kari asked once she calmed down.
"There's a Green Dragon Inn down in the sixth ring of the city." Rachel said with a smile. "And if you go to Rohan and look through the breeding books, every time there's a chestnut stallion named 'Hero Bill', I was there. Oooh, and then there's this one tapestry up in the east wing of the Citadel that, if you look really closely, has the Enterprise A stitched into the sky as Eärendil. Not to mention that there's a nice little plaque in the Steward heir's rooms that, among a bunch of fancy decorations, contains the words 'Veni, Vidi, Lustici'." Kari chuckled and shook her head. "And those are only the things that lasted." Rachel added with a grin. Kari arched an eyebrow.
"Oh? What did you do that didn't last?" she asked.
"Well, there were the random parties that I threw whenever something important happened, the two years wear I wore nothing but black because of Celebrían, and the graffiti on the Argonath." Rachel replied, her eyes unfocusing slightly as she sought to remember all the things she'd done.
"Graffiti on the Argonath?!" Kari asked, her eyebrows shooting upwards. "What did you write?"
"'Dude with a 'tude' on Isildur." Rachel replied with a smile. "And the funny thing was, I went ahead of my escort in the night to be able to do it, and so I was able to see their faces and still remain completely blameless when they saw it. Absolutely priceless. When I went back a few years later, though, someone had scoured it away."
"I take it you were heading to Rohan at the time, and were slightly pissed at Gondor?" Kari asked dryly, and Rachel nodded vigorously.
"It was shortly after one of the Steward's sons wouldn't leave me alone, even though I was a 'bar wench' who constantly discouraged him, right along side his family." she said. "It got to the point where I either had to leave or tell him why exactly I wasn't interested. I left, going to work for a lady I knew he hated - and for good reason, as she was damn annoying - and that thoroughly annoyed me with Gondorians for the next little while." Kari shook her head.
"I don't get it." she said. "I talk to you non-stop for weeks on end, getting all sorts of hilarious stories out of you, and yet somehow, after all that, you still manage to find even more stuff, equally as hilarious, to tell me. How did you do it? How did you manage to wrack up such a large amount of stories in only 800 years?"
"Well -"
"She shall have to tell you later." Glorfindel interrupted Rachel, frowning lightly down at the maiden who was now leaning on him quite heavily. "Time for bed." Rachel wrinkled her nose, and made as if to protest, but the instant she opened her mouth, she let out a huge yawn. Kari chuckled.
"Go, have a nice cuddle. I shall go back to being tormented by the King and Steward." she said. Rachel nodded, seeing herself out-voted.
"Bye then." she said, and waved tiredly to Kari as her friend turned and left the balcony with her own wave. Kari was just shutting the door behind her when she heard Rachel protest at something, only to be cut off by a suspicious silence. Kari smirked as she strained her ears and, sure enough, heard footsteps - which she only would have heard if Glorfindel was carrying Rachel. Oh yes, definitely in love, both of them. Sickeningly so. Damn, why did Elrohir have to leave? Kari sighed and headed off to her rooms, suddenly missing her own Elf-lord very much.
----To be continued...with scientific discussions resulting confused vertically challenged persons!----
(And just about every other type of person, too...)
-Random Note:-
The 'Veni, Vidi, Lustici' comes from Camilla Sandman's 'The Official FanFiction University of Middle-Earth' (OFUM for short). It's Latin, and means 'I came, I saw, I lusted'...at least, according to what's on the OFUM website that's what it means. At any rate, I didn't make 'Veni, Vidi, Lustici' up - my mom tried to get me to learn Latin at one point, but it didn't stick enough for me to make up such a phrase myself.
-Authors Note:-
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. It was quite refreshing to get into my inbox the day after posting the chapter and see the same general amount of reviews as normal there...and on the topic of reviewing, guess what I found out? You can submit a signed review to your own story...O.o This strikes me as a dangerous prospect. (And for those of your wondering, yes, I found this out through experimentation...I honestly expected it to give me an error message saying I couldn't do it! But it let me!)
For any of you out there that might be wondering - I know there was at least one - TGotG reaches just over 400 pages in 12-point Time New Roman type in word. Or 315 pages if one uses my typical format of 10-point Arial type...whatever you use, it's freakishly long. :P
Also, I got a new place to host my webpage! This is good, since it takes about 20MB of space if I include all my graphics, and the server I was using before had a grand total of...5MB of space. So now, instead of just my writing being on 'This Corner of Insanity' (my webpage), I've got my writing AND my lj icons, plus the desktops and tiling backgrounds that I've made over the years and haven't really put up anywhere before now. All the TGotG pictures have also been moved to the new site, under the FanFiction category. Just click on FanFiction, then on TGotG, and down at the bottom there will be three links to the TGotG pictures.
Yep, so, this is the end of a rather long author's note. So remember - review! And I'll see y'all again sometime Monday!
~Crimson Starlight