*Disclaimer* I don't own anything. More's the pity.
A/N: ::cringes:: I'm scarily good at writing this stuff...read on!
Chapter 2- Feasts and Meetings
I hadn't realized that Ainaelda still thought she was human; her scream nearly raised the roof before I managed to smother the noise with a handy pillow. However, it was a scream of joy, so I didn't have to worry about her pulling a Van Gogh and cutting her ears. I flopped on the bed and sat Indian-style, inviting her to join me when she finally calmed down enough to string together a coherent sentence.
"So, Ainaelda, what took you so long getting here? It was almost ten minutes or so."
"Was it, Katty? I don't know. You were gone, and I looked around for you. Then, I was gonna go get mom when the movie acted funny again. It started rewinding, faster than my VCR could do. Then, it stopped at the Rivendell scene. And Legolas, instead of looking around, he looked into the woods, like he was looking at something. But anyway, I couldn't find you. Then the T.V. turned off. Then on again. Then off. I hit the screen to turn it on again." I sat up, angry.
"What? YOU HIT MY T.V.!" I yelled. She flinched.
"Yeah, stupid, I know, but I was panicking, okay?"
"DON'T HIT MY T.V.!"
"Well, it's in MY house, remember?" Oh, really, Ainaelda? I guess I missed that one...
"But you were borrowing it from me! You don't just hit other people's televisions!" She looked impatient. After all, it wasn't HER television that got abused.
"Look, this isn't the greatest place to whine about your T.V., okay? I'm sorry. Can I continue with my story, or do you want to bitch about the stupid T.V.?" I would have liked nothing better than to keep on haraunging her about my television, but she pressed on before I had a chance to say anything. "Cool. Anyway. Then, it turned on again right before I hit it. But I had my momentum going, you know? So I hit it. Then, the next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground with about two dozen arrows staring me in the face." I sat there silently until she finished. Then I had to do a little more protesting. I should so be a lawyer when I grow up. You get to argue and use big obscure words. What's not to like?
"Vinyaduriel. We're in Middle Earth, and we're Elves. We need Elven names." She shook her head so violently that her hair stood on end. Which, you know, was pretty hard to do, seeing how long it was getting.
"Don't you get it? The minute we start to let our Elven names replace our own, that's when you give up hope of going home." I came up with a compromise.
"Fine. Since you're so adamant about it, here. We can't exactly go up and say 'You know what, we have different names now!' So, we'll call ourselves Turan and Vinyaduriel in public. But in private, I'll call you Mina, you call me Katty. Is that good enough for you?" Okay, I would like nothing better than to be an Elf forever and a day. But apparently, Ainaelda didn't think so. "Ainaelda..." I stopped under her glare and corrected myself. "Sorry. Mina. At home, all we wanted was to be Elves, and BE Ainaelda and Vinyaduriel. Now that we're here and have that chance, all you can say is 'Oh, no, we have to stop!'" She looked a tad annoyed, to say the least.
"Oh, so you'd rather just forget about your mother and your LIFE?" I shrugged.
"She'd do the same for me." Ainaelda sighed.
"Okay, personally, I want to go home. But this works. Katty." I nodded mutely. We sat there in silence, looking around the room, taking in all that had happened in such a short time. I thought coming here was a blessing, a dream come true. Maybe even permanent. If it was, I sure as heck wouldn't be complaining. But even if Ainaelda didn't think so, I couldn't afford to fight with her. She was the only person in the world I could talk to about this. If she stopped talking to me, where would I be then? A lot more lonely, that's what.
About an hour later, an Elf I didn't know came and said we had been invited to a feast, and that he would escort us to it. We grinned in anticipation. That feast before the Council, in honor of Frodo's recovery! Did we have good timing or what? The Elf gave us a disapproving look, though I didn't know why. We had every right to be here! We walked down, following our guide, almost writhing in ecstasy. We would, in a matter of moments, be meeting Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gloin, Gandalf...HOW COOL IS THIS!!? We walked in the dining hall, trying not to gape and act like we did this every day, because as Elves, we would have. I mean, I guess we would have...I wouldn't know...It was spectacular! It was a total shame that they cut this scene out of the movie, because it was the BOMB! I couldn't even begin to describe it except for one word: HUGE!
We took our seats just as, quite literally, a small commotion came in. The four hobbits ran in the room, talking and laughing loudly. They plopped themselves down kitter-corner from us and introduced themselves in jovial voices. As if I couldn't tell them their genealogy, likes and dislikes, exact height, etc. Katty Watson knew that stuff. Vinyaduriel wouldn't.
"Hello, there! I'm Frodo, Frodo Baggins!" said he, filling his plate with the food that was in abundance. His shirt peeked open, and I saw a glimmer of gold. For that instant, cold fear drenched my spine, and I heard a voice in my head, frozen as winter: -Strangers draw close. All that is dear in jeopardy- Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone.
"Peregrin Took at your service!" said Pippin, doing the same.
"Samwise Gamgee!"
"Meriadoc Brandybuck!" They each replied in turn. We nodded politely.
"I'm Vinyaduriel, and this is Ainaelda, at your service and your family's. Well met, master hobbits!" Man, you have no idea how long I've waited to use the Middle Earth lingo. Well, I used it around Ainaelda to begin with, but it's not the same as using it in everyday life and not having mothers shield their children from you. I mean, that just hurts.
Frodo looked at us funny about halfway through the feast, then spoke hesitantly.
"Oh, I hope you don't find this offensive...you have some very, eh, interesting garments on...perhaps you would care to explain?" Our clothes! THAT'S what those Elves were all looking at us like we were a walking casualty! I hadn't payed much attention to my clothes, and I hoped to God that I wasn't wearing my powder pink flannel pajamas with the sleeping caps on them.
I wasn't, to my relief. But what I WAS wearing was certain to cause notice among the peoples of Middle Earth, even without the flannel pajamas (which I wouldn't have been wearing anyway, because it was almost summer back at home). My homemade khaki capris, which came into existance when I got a tear in the lower parts of my khaki pants and had to do a little surgery. The hem was never replaced, so they were kinda frayed. Oh, who was I kidding? They were REALLY frayed. Heck, they might as well be called fringe, except that denotes fashion. Plus, my moccasins that I got as a birthday present and that I never take off because they are the most comfortable things in the world. Lastly, a purple halter top sewn with blue daisies that I usually wore to bed on warm nights. Except for the moccasins, this was what I wore as pajamas. No WONDER they were all looking at us strangely. Ainaelda wasn't dressed any more low key than I was, in track pants, a shirt she outgrew about two years ago, and sneakers. I thought quickly, looking for an excuse. It turns out that I didn't have to. Ainaelda had one already cooked up.
"Oh, that, yeah. Well, you see, we haven't really been in civilization for years, so we had to make do with what we had and, well, this was what we had..." Another thing that I LOVE about Tolkien: stupid excuses like that fly a long way. If I said that to somebody on the street in any average town, the chances are, like, nil that they would actually buy that story. But here, anything goes. Frodo nodded, like this was a common, everyday occurance, and went back to his food. Sam, however, wasn't about to let us off the hook that easily.
"I can't help but notice that you seem to be alone in the world, except for yourselves. What brought this about? I must say, I've never met an orphaned Elf before, much less two." Pippin smiled.
"Don't listen to him, miss, he's never met any Elves before!" Sam looked affronted.
"So what if I haven't? Still seems rare to a hobbit such as myself. Well?" All four hobbits and Gloin, with whom Frodo had been talking, looked at us curiously. This was obviously my cue. I drew from my experiences in the good old U.S. of A. Simple excuses are more easily swallowed than some elaborate story. So, I kept it simple.
"We don't know. We never knew our parents; they might have abandoned us." Ainaelda nodded, like this was really what happened and she was used to explaining this.
"That's tragic. Why would anyone abandon two beauties like yourselves?" harrumphed Gloin. I shrugged. Ooh. A dwarf thought I was pretty. Then again, that might not be such a compliment...
A/N: Not much of a compliment indeed...but what happens when Vinya and Ainaelda finally meet their crushes? Nothing good, you can bet on it...
A/N: ::cringes:: I'm scarily good at writing this stuff...read on!
Chapter 2- Feasts and Meetings
I hadn't realized that Ainaelda still thought she was human; her scream nearly raised the roof before I managed to smother the noise with a handy pillow. However, it was a scream of joy, so I didn't have to worry about her pulling a Van Gogh and cutting her ears. I flopped on the bed and sat Indian-style, inviting her to join me when she finally calmed down enough to string together a coherent sentence.
"So, Ainaelda, what took you so long getting here? It was almost ten minutes or so."
"Was it, Katty? I don't know. You were gone, and I looked around for you. Then, I was gonna go get mom when the movie acted funny again. It started rewinding, faster than my VCR could do. Then, it stopped at the Rivendell scene. And Legolas, instead of looking around, he looked into the woods, like he was looking at something. But anyway, I couldn't find you. Then the T.V. turned off. Then on again. Then off. I hit the screen to turn it on again." I sat up, angry.
"What? YOU HIT MY T.V.!" I yelled. She flinched.
"Yeah, stupid, I know, but I was panicking, okay?"
"DON'T HIT MY T.V.!"
"Well, it's in MY house, remember?" Oh, really, Ainaelda? I guess I missed that one...
"But you were borrowing it from me! You don't just hit other people's televisions!" She looked impatient. After all, it wasn't HER television that got abused.
"Look, this isn't the greatest place to whine about your T.V., okay? I'm sorry. Can I continue with my story, or do you want to bitch about the stupid T.V.?" I would have liked nothing better than to keep on haraunging her about my television, but she pressed on before I had a chance to say anything. "Cool. Anyway. Then, it turned on again right before I hit it. But I had my momentum going, you know? So I hit it. Then, the next thing I know, I'm lying on the ground with about two dozen arrows staring me in the face." I sat there silently until she finished. Then I had to do a little more protesting. I should so be a lawyer when I grow up. You get to argue and use big obscure words. What's not to like?
"Vinyaduriel. We're in Middle Earth, and we're Elves. We need Elven names." She shook her head so violently that her hair stood on end. Which, you know, was pretty hard to do, seeing how long it was getting.
"Don't you get it? The minute we start to let our Elven names replace our own, that's when you give up hope of going home." I came up with a compromise.
"Fine. Since you're so adamant about it, here. We can't exactly go up and say 'You know what, we have different names now!' So, we'll call ourselves Turan and Vinyaduriel in public. But in private, I'll call you Mina, you call me Katty. Is that good enough for you?" Okay, I would like nothing better than to be an Elf forever and a day. But apparently, Ainaelda didn't think so. "Ainaelda..." I stopped under her glare and corrected myself. "Sorry. Mina. At home, all we wanted was to be Elves, and BE Ainaelda and Vinyaduriel. Now that we're here and have that chance, all you can say is 'Oh, no, we have to stop!'" She looked a tad annoyed, to say the least.
"Oh, so you'd rather just forget about your mother and your LIFE?" I shrugged.
"She'd do the same for me." Ainaelda sighed.
"Okay, personally, I want to go home. But this works. Katty." I nodded mutely. We sat there in silence, looking around the room, taking in all that had happened in such a short time. I thought coming here was a blessing, a dream come true. Maybe even permanent. If it was, I sure as heck wouldn't be complaining. But even if Ainaelda didn't think so, I couldn't afford to fight with her. She was the only person in the world I could talk to about this. If she stopped talking to me, where would I be then? A lot more lonely, that's what.
About an hour later, an Elf I didn't know came and said we had been invited to a feast, and that he would escort us to it. We grinned in anticipation. That feast before the Council, in honor of Frodo's recovery! Did we have good timing or what? The Elf gave us a disapproving look, though I didn't know why. We had every right to be here! We walked down, following our guide, almost writhing in ecstasy. We would, in a matter of moments, be meeting Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Gloin, Gandalf...HOW COOL IS THIS!!? We walked in the dining hall, trying not to gape and act like we did this every day, because as Elves, we would have. I mean, I guess we would have...I wouldn't know...It was spectacular! It was a total shame that they cut this scene out of the movie, because it was the BOMB! I couldn't even begin to describe it except for one word: HUGE!
We took our seats just as, quite literally, a small commotion came in. The four hobbits ran in the room, talking and laughing loudly. They plopped themselves down kitter-corner from us and introduced themselves in jovial voices. As if I couldn't tell them their genealogy, likes and dislikes, exact height, etc. Katty Watson knew that stuff. Vinyaduriel wouldn't.
"Hello, there! I'm Frodo, Frodo Baggins!" said he, filling his plate with the food that was in abundance. His shirt peeked open, and I saw a glimmer of gold. For that instant, cold fear drenched my spine, and I heard a voice in my head, frozen as winter: -Strangers draw close. All that is dear in jeopardy- Then, as quickly as it came, it was gone.
"Peregrin Took at your service!" said Pippin, doing the same.
"Samwise Gamgee!"
"Meriadoc Brandybuck!" They each replied in turn. We nodded politely.
"I'm Vinyaduriel, and this is Ainaelda, at your service and your family's. Well met, master hobbits!" Man, you have no idea how long I've waited to use the Middle Earth lingo. Well, I used it around Ainaelda to begin with, but it's not the same as using it in everyday life and not having mothers shield their children from you. I mean, that just hurts.
Frodo looked at us funny about halfway through the feast, then spoke hesitantly.
"Oh, I hope you don't find this offensive...you have some very, eh, interesting garments on...perhaps you would care to explain?" Our clothes! THAT'S what those Elves were all looking at us like we were a walking casualty! I hadn't payed much attention to my clothes, and I hoped to God that I wasn't wearing my powder pink flannel pajamas with the sleeping caps on them.
I wasn't, to my relief. But what I WAS wearing was certain to cause notice among the peoples of Middle Earth, even without the flannel pajamas (which I wouldn't have been wearing anyway, because it was almost summer back at home). My homemade khaki capris, which came into existance when I got a tear in the lower parts of my khaki pants and had to do a little surgery. The hem was never replaced, so they were kinda frayed. Oh, who was I kidding? They were REALLY frayed. Heck, they might as well be called fringe, except that denotes fashion. Plus, my moccasins that I got as a birthday present and that I never take off because they are the most comfortable things in the world. Lastly, a purple halter top sewn with blue daisies that I usually wore to bed on warm nights. Except for the moccasins, this was what I wore as pajamas. No WONDER they were all looking at us strangely. Ainaelda wasn't dressed any more low key than I was, in track pants, a shirt she outgrew about two years ago, and sneakers. I thought quickly, looking for an excuse. It turns out that I didn't have to. Ainaelda had one already cooked up.
"Oh, that, yeah. Well, you see, we haven't really been in civilization for years, so we had to make do with what we had and, well, this was what we had..." Another thing that I LOVE about Tolkien: stupid excuses like that fly a long way. If I said that to somebody on the street in any average town, the chances are, like, nil that they would actually buy that story. But here, anything goes. Frodo nodded, like this was a common, everyday occurance, and went back to his food. Sam, however, wasn't about to let us off the hook that easily.
"I can't help but notice that you seem to be alone in the world, except for yourselves. What brought this about? I must say, I've never met an orphaned Elf before, much less two." Pippin smiled.
"Don't listen to him, miss, he's never met any Elves before!" Sam looked affronted.
"So what if I haven't? Still seems rare to a hobbit such as myself. Well?" All four hobbits and Gloin, with whom Frodo had been talking, looked at us curiously. This was obviously my cue. I drew from my experiences in the good old U.S. of A. Simple excuses are more easily swallowed than some elaborate story. So, I kept it simple.
"We don't know. We never knew our parents; they might have abandoned us." Ainaelda nodded, like this was really what happened and she was used to explaining this.
"That's tragic. Why would anyone abandon two beauties like yourselves?" harrumphed Gloin. I shrugged. Ooh. A dwarf thought I was pretty. Then again, that might not be such a compliment...
A/N: Not much of a compliment indeed...but what happens when Vinya and Ainaelda finally meet their crushes? Nothing good, you can bet on it...