AN: I am so excited! I have 44 reviews for this story! That is the most reviews I've ever received for a single story! Thank you all! In honor of my wealth, I'm going to take the time to answers some reviews.
Lady of the Squrriels: What do you mean a play off? Like a competition between Verdi and another elf? Musically, verbally, or physically?
my own: I know it might seem a little cold hearted to, um, dump her in cold water, but it was for her own good. The elves, as you pointed out, know the devastating effects of despair and sorrow, and Verdi forced them to resort to extreme measures to "wake her up." It's sorta like chopping off a diseased limb to prevent infection of the entire body.
lishmi: So far this isn't very plotty, but Verdi will help Middle Earth eventually. It's not a long range thing, though, she will just be more put in a situation and forced to act, than save the world over time. And first she has to be at home in Middle Earth and understand it before that can happen, so it'll be atleast a few more chapters. Also, Haldir doesn't speak English, English doesn't exist in Middle Earth. What we read (or hear) when reading (or watching) LOTR is Westron, the "Common Tongue" of Middle Earth, which Tolkein has kindly translated into English so we can understand the story.
padawan_jinx: Definitely as in Weasley cats, long live the Weasley twins!!! I too have been wondering what elves do all day, and let me tell you, I am quite stretching the creative part of my brain to figure it out!
San Antonio Rose: Thanks for the very helpful review, I tried to fix the errors and I had totally missed the spelling mistake. And don't worry about the romance, I got it covered.
Now, sorry, again, that this took so long, same boring excuse, busy busy busy. Well, on with the story...
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
"English talking"
'thinking'
~Galadriel mind-speaking~
*Elvish talking*
Verdi came spluttering to the surface, yelling at the top of her lungs.
"What the hell do you think you are doing? You scum-sucking, pea head!" Haldir and Nienna had no clue what she was saying, but they knew it wasn't complimentary. Galadriel struggled to keep a straight face, easily understanding Verdi's thoughts .
"Can't a girl get any peace around this place? For the love of Pete, if you so much as lay a hand on me again, I'll soak ya! Ya bum!" Verdi treaded water in the middle of the small pool, glaring at the elves. She was so angry that she hardly felt the cold water.
*Verdi come out, let's go get you some dry clothes and breakfast.* Galadriel said.
"No! Why should I! You'll probably dump me in a hot bowl of soup to compliment the cold water. I'm fine just where I am, thank you. I don't need you, I don't need any of you! You go away, and your pointy-eared friends too!" Verdi was almost shrieking.
*Verdi, you are being rude, Haldir and Nienna don't know what you are saying. Now calm down and let's go inside.* Galadriel attempted to reason with the human child.
*Oh yes, your snottiness, I'll speak in your cursed tongue. So these idiots understand what I think of them!* Verdi looked at the other two, daring them to address her. They didn't.
*Verdi, if you will not come out, I will have Haldir get you.* Verdi didn't like that idea.
*No! No! I'll come out, just don't touch me!* Verdi was now cold, cranky, hungry and tired of being wet. Not to mention she didn't like weird guys touching her. She slowly swam to the edge and got out, shivering and feeling like a wuss. Galadriel wrapped a warm towel around her, and led her back to her room. There, Verdi was dried off, and put into a warm robe (Haldir left to do his duty as Guardian of the Golden Wood) and taken down to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, she was given some warm broth and a glass of water, all of which disappeared quickly. The elves refused to give her more, for fear of her throwing it up. 'Ha, they think I'll puke just because I haven't eaten for a while. Not too much food on an empty stomach, they say. Well, they've never encountered the strong stomach of Verdi Kellor!' Galadriel left, giving instructions to Nienna to take Verdi to the seamstress elf, and arrange for some clothing to be made. After that they were to go to Verdi's room and clean it. They would be expected for lunch in a few candlemarks.
Too downtrodden to object, Verdi meekly followed Nienna about. A nice older elf measured her, promising a new outfit by the next day. She even asked about Verdi's favorite colors and materials. 'Not that I understand the differences among the materials, polyester hasn't been invented yet, I see.' Some of Verdi's old wit was returning.
Cleaning the room didn't take long, so they still had time to waste before lunch. Verdi decided she might as well practice, so she entertained Nienna with some music. Her heart wasn't really in it, though, and she was relieved when lunchtime came.
Nienna led her to the lunchroom, but told Verdi she had forgotten something in the room and left to retrieve it, telling Verdi to go on in. The girl stood outside the door for a few minutes, listing the the twinkly sound of the elves and mustering up the courage to enter by herself. Eventually she took a deep breath and walked into a room about half full of elves, eating and talking joyfully. As Verdi made her way to the food, she tried to ignore the others and concentrated on her feet.
"Oops, sorry," Verdi murmured as she bumped into someone. She looked up and saw a tall, bony elf in front of her. The elf had pitch black hair, pale skin, and red lips.
"VAMPIRE!" Verdi screamed, turning around and fleeing from the perplexed elf. All the others turned to look at her, curious at the outburst. Unfortunately the room only had one door, and the Vampire was near it. Verdi backed into a corner, her wide eyes flicking about, terrified. 'Strange place, strange plants, strange creatures. If you can have elves, you can have vampires. I'm going to die. He's going to suck my blood and leave a dried up corpse.'
Galadriel had been sitting somewhat by the door, watching for Verdi. Since the girl hadn't seen her, the elf decided to let the girl alone, see how she acted. It wasn't good. As Verdi screamed, Galadriel got fleeting pictures of bats and blood, of caped men with fangs and dark castles. This girl sure could project her thoughts when her emotions ran high! The Lady of Light stood up and made her way to the human, not understanding her fear, but sensing it nonetheless.
*Verdi what is wrong, why were you frightened of Annael?* Galadriel tried to move closer to Verdi, but the girl moved away.
*Why aren't you? Are you in league with them? Is that your plan? Are you buttering me up so I'm tasty?*
*I do not understand, Annael would never hurt you. He is an elf, just like the rest of us.*
*Then why doesn't he look like you? Why does he have black hair, pale skin, and red lips? None of you look like that! He's not an elf!* "He's a vampire!" It was true, the Lothlorien elves looked very different compared to this cave-dweller.
*Annael is from Mirkwood, not all elves look alike, just like all humans do not look alike. Now why don't you get some food, and we'll sit down and you can explain what you are afraid of.* Verdi swallowed, and looked around the room. The elves were atleast being polite, they may have been listening, but the pretended they weren't.
*Okay.* Verdi whispered, she swiftly took some food and sat down, not looking at anyone around her. Once seated, though, she just stared at her plate. After a few moments, Galadriel spoke.
*Now what is this "Vampire" you speak of?* The other elves listened closely, they loved stories and they loved gossip.
*Well, um,* Verdi hesitated trying to organize her thoughts. *At home, there are stories about creatures, "Vampires," who drink blood. There is this famous book (and movie) called Dracula, which tells about a "Vampire" in Transylvania. Anyway, they bite people's necks and drink their blood, they have pointy fangs and red lips. They are pale skinned, dark haired creatures of the night. They can live forever unless they are killed, but the only way to kill them is to stab them through the heart with a wooden stake. They don't like garlic or crosses, religious stuff, and they sleep in coffins during the day. They hunt at night, some stories say they can turn into bats, others say they can just fly. They are just about as real in my world as elves are, so I figured if there are elves here, there might be "Vampires" too.*
Verdi took a sip from her glass, she had a dry throat from all her talking. The elves were talking excitedly, being immortal there were few tales of Middle-Earth that they hadn't heard and they relished the new story. Galadriel pondered for a moment, then called to Annael and asked him to open his mouth.
*See no fangs, he's not going to kill you.*
*Sorry,* Verdi said, feeling ashamed and immature.
*That's alright, you've given us something new to talk about, and from now on I'm sure I'll have a new nickname.* Annael smiled, *Youngling, once you're my age, nothing phases you anymore.*
The next few candlemarks were spent extracting all Verdi knew about Vampires from her brain. She slowly began to feel at ease as she described the traits and characteristics of the creatures, trying to remember what she had read over the years. The elves enjoyed the new girl for the first time, and Galadriel began to think everything might actually work out.