A/N: *phew* Sorry this took so long to update. More of the madness; read on!
Chapter 8-Why is This Place So Big?
We were both in Tae Kwon Do, but neither of us did very well in it. I was a yellow belt in the barest sense of the term, and Ainaelda was just a little bit higher. Nevertheless, we both flew out, and within seconds we were exchanging clumsy blows and pulling at hair. We had successfully turned the Council into an all out WWF smackdown a la Stone Cold. I wasn't trying to get points for style, I was just in a blind fury and trying to inflict pain on my best friend since birth.
Suddenly, strong arms linked into mine and pulled me away. I didn't see nor care who it was; I only knew that I had to get at Ainaelda, to hit her, to punch her, to...
I was punching at air. Aragorn had pulled me away, and Ainaelda was simalarly situated with Legolas. Her oh-so-perfect Elven hair was mussed out to the great wazoo, there was a shockingly dark bruise on her cheek bone, and her dress was ripped beyond repair. I didn't feel a single twinge of remorse or pity at all. I just strained uselessly against the Ranger's grip, and I felt stupid to notice that it was like pushing against a redwood; he wouldn't have budged if I got a crowbar under him and pushed for a year. She was trying to get at me too, straining so much I thought she was going to come out of that dress, but Legolas was no wimp. Elrond stood in between us and planted himself their, legs akimbo.
"ENOUGH!" he roared. Any other time I would have trembled. I would have cringed, and been afraid. But this was not any other time. This was now. I just glared at him, like he was my cousin Trudy when she was in her holier-than-thou mood. "How dare you! Take your petty squabbles outside, for this is neither the time nor the place for it!" Oh please.
"Listen up and listen hard, Halfelven. You've got no freaking idea what we are going through, so I think I'LL decide the time and place for our 'petty squabbles', thanks." He looked like he could have killed me then and there, but Ainaelda got to it first.
"Oh, so you think YOU'VE got the right to decide things now? You can't even decide when to have your birthday party, let alone when we can go at each other! Just as sson as he let's you go, I'll kick your ass!" I'll show HER kicking. I'll kick her from here to Cincinatti. And yes, I meant that literally. Legolas shook her roughly. She turned to him and lashed out at him, too. "Hey, lay off, blondie. Just because you can shoot a freaking arrow from a freaking bow doesn't mean you can shake me like a bobble head, so let me go. LET ME GO!" She squirmed like a fish, but he had a firm grip on her. Another random thought floated to my mind, just like the whole Elrond/purple thing. I remembered, faintly, the movie Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock, towards the end. "Just remember to SING..."
SING. I moved suddenly, trying to whack Aragorn in the chest. I took him by surprise, but that didn't necessarily mean I got free. He certainly got his wind knocked out, and for one shining moment, I thought I might be free...but then the moment passed, and he gripped me harder then before. Frustrated beyond belief, I tried again, this time for a more serious spot, the G in the acronym SING. But he was ready for me this time, and I got nowhere. Ainaelda tried to throw Legolas over her hip in a classic kick-boxing move, but he, like Aragorn, wasn't about to be thrown by a sixteen year old girl. So, completely humiliated, they dragged us out of the little rotunda. I started to get in a blind panic mode. I couldn't escape; there was no way to break free. What if I was ever in this situation again, with people a little less friendly than Strider? I kicked out, panicky.
"Let me go, please, put me down, right now!" I noticed, in the one sane corner of my mind, that Legolas was taking Ainaelda in another direction, presumably so we didn't jump each other again. But I really didn't care about Ainaelda at the moment. I was trapped, good and trapped. "Put me down! Put me down now! Let me go, please, just let me go!" Suddenly, he did, dropping me on the ground. I scrambled up to my feet and threw a punch at him, most likely the last thing he expected me to do. It hit him squarely on the temple. He caught my fist as I tried to repeat the manuver and twisted my arm behind my back. Did I ever mention that's a very painful position? Yeah. Some trip this turned out to be.
"Lady Vinyaduriel, I would not suggest doing that again." His tone was mild, but painful, like his teeth hurt to talk in a civil tone of voice. Almost like his line "Are you frightened? Not nearly frightned enough!" That sort of tone.
"Let. Me. Go." I said, trying to grit my teeth through the pain and talk at the same time. Finally, I gave up, and a little whimper escaped. How stupid can I get? At least I wasn't in infantile sobs. To my surprise, he obeyed, though he seemed wary about another attack. There was no danger from me, though; I was beat. It was right then that I realized what a mess I looked. My dress was ripped as much as Tura's was, it felt like I had a black eye, and there were several bruises and scrapes where fingers and nails had come into contact with my arms. I didn't even want to know what my hair looked like; it felt like patches were missing. "Man, I look like someone just ran a car over me." I muttered. Aragorn looked confused.
"What?" Oh. Duh. He wouldn't know what a car was. I improvised.
"I said, I look like someone...uh...dropped me down a mine." Well, I didn't say it was a good improvisation. He laughed and took me by my upper arms.
"You could never look horrible, Lady," he said. Well, evidently he had never seen me before I did my morning blow dry. I squirmed uncomfortably, but he refused to let me go.
"Lady, is aught amiss?"
"Nope, everything's great, I just have to...you know..." Dang, where did he get such a good grip? This was pathetic.
So I kicked him in the shin. I shouldn't be abusing him like this, but he's starting to scare me. Plus, he kept exerting his (quite painful grip) on some very bruised parts of my upper arms. So, this time he got the hint and let go. Then, irrationally, I started running for all I was worth. I could hear him calling me, but I didn't give a damn. I kept on going, before realizing I was completely and totally lost!
A/N: And things don't get better from there...
Chapter 8-Why is This Place So Big?
We were both in Tae Kwon Do, but neither of us did very well in it. I was a yellow belt in the barest sense of the term, and Ainaelda was just a little bit higher. Nevertheless, we both flew out, and within seconds we were exchanging clumsy blows and pulling at hair. We had successfully turned the Council into an all out WWF smackdown a la Stone Cold. I wasn't trying to get points for style, I was just in a blind fury and trying to inflict pain on my best friend since birth.
Suddenly, strong arms linked into mine and pulled me away. I didn't see nor care who it was; I only knew that I had to get at Ainaelda, to hit her, to punch her, to...
I was punching at air. Aragorn had pulled me away, and Ainaelda was simalarly situated with Legolas. Her oh-so-perfect Elven hair was mussed out to the great wazoo, there was a shockingly dark bruise on her cheek bone, and her dress was ripped beyond repair. I didn't feel a single twinge of remorse or pity at all. I just strained uselessly against the Ranger's grip, and I felt stupid to notice that it was like pushing against a redwood; he wouldn't have budged if I got a crowbar under him and pushed for a year. She was trying to get at me too, straining so much I thought she was going to come out of that dress, but Legolas was no wimp. Elrond stood in between us and planted himself their, legs akimbo.
"ENOUGH!" he roared. Any other time I would have trembled. I would have cringed, and been afraid. But this was not any other time. This was now. I just glared at him, like he was my cousin Trudy when she was in her holier-than-thou mood. "How dare you! Take your petty squabbles outside, for this is neither the time nor the place for it!" Oh please.
"Listen up and listen hard, Halfelven. You've got no freaking idea what we are going through, so I think I'LL decide the time and place for our 'petty squabbles', thanks." He looked like he could have killed me then and there, but Ainaelda got to it first.
"Oh, so you think YOU'VE got the right to decide things now? You can't even decide when to have your birthday party, let alone when we can go at each other! Just as sson as he let's you go, I'll kick your ass!" I'll show HER kicking. I'll kick her from here to Cincinatti. And yes, I meant that literally. Legolas shook her roughly. She turned to him and lashed out at him, too. "Hey, lay off, blondie. Just because you can shoot a freaking arrow from a freaking bow doesn't mean you can shake me like a bobble head, so let me go. LET ME GO!" She squirmed like a fish, but he had a firm grip on her. Another random thought floated to my mind, just like the whole Elrond/purple thing. I remembered, faintly, the movie Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock, towards the end. "Just remember to SING..."
SING. I moved suddenly, trying to whack Aragorn in the chest. I took him by surprise, but that didn't necessarily mean I got free. He certainly got his wind knocked out, and for one shining moment, I thought I might be free...but then the moment passed, and he gripped me harder then before. Frustrated beyond belief, I tried again, this time for a more serious spot, the G in the acronym SING. But he was ready for me this time, and I got nowhere. Ainaelda tried to throw Legolas over her hip in a classic kick-boxing move, but he, like Aragorn, wasn't about to be thrown by a sixteen year old girl. So, completely humiliated, they dragged us out of the little rotunda. I started to get in a blind panic mode. I couldn't escape; there was no way to break free. What if I was ever in this situation again, with people a little less friendly than Strider? I kicked out, panicky.
"Let me go, please, put me down, right now!" I noticed, in the one sane corner of my mind, that Legolas was taking Ainaelda in another direction, presumably so we didn't jump each other again. But I really didn't care about Ainaelda at the moment. I was trapped, good and trapped. "Put me down! Put me down now! Let me go, please, just let me go!" Suddenly, he did, dropping me on the ground. I scrambled up to my feet and threw a punch at him, most likely the last thing he expected me to do. It hit him squarely on the temple. He caught my fist as I tried to repeat the manuver and twisted my arm behind my back. Did I ever mention that's a very painful position? Yeah. Some trip this turned out to be.
"Lady Vinyaduriel, I would not suggest doing that again." His tone was mild, but painful, like his teeth hurt to talk in a civil tone of voice. Almost like his line "Are you frightened? Not nearly frightned enough!" That sort of tone.
"Let. Me. Go." I said, trying to grit my teeth through the pain and talk at the same time. Finally, I gave up, and a little whimper escaped. How stupid can I get? At least I wasn't in infantile sobs. To my surprise, he obeyed, though he seemed wary about another attack. There was no danger from me, though; I was beat. It was right then that I realized what a mess I looked. My dress was ripped as much as Tura's was, it felt like I had a black eye, and there were several bruises and scrapes where fingers and nails had come into contact with my arms. I didn't even want to know what my hair looked like; it felt like patches were missing. "Man, I look like someone just ran a car over me." I muttered. Aragorn looked confused.
"What?" Oh. Duh. He wouldn't know what a car was. I improvised.
"I said, I look like someone...uh...dropped me down a mine." Well, I didn't say it was a good improvisation. He laughed and took me by my upper arms.
"You could never look horrible, Lady," he said. Well, evidently he had never seen me before I did my morning blow dry. I squirmed uncomfortably, but he refused to let me go.
"Lady, is aught amiss?"
"Nope, everything's great, I just have to...you know..." Dang, where did he get such a good grip? This was pathetic.
So I kicked him in the shin. I shouldn't be abusing him like this, but he's starting to scare me. Plus, he kept exerting his (quite painful grip) on some very bruised parts of my upper arms. So, this time he got the hint and let go. Then, irrationally, I started running for all I was worth. I could hear him calling me, but I didn't give a damn. I kept on going, before realizing I was completely and totally lost!
A/N: And things don't get better from there...