Faulkner: So sorry it's taking me so long to update! Been getting sick, and
I also have to clean the house! And no pay for it either!
CrystalMeth: Life sucks
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Ratchet had been severely scolded by the whole Fellowship for using her still healing leg too much. She had tried to protest, but to no avail. Her punishment was amusing the Hobbits when they got in trouble with the Lothlorien elves and were sent back to the pavilion.
Her other free time was spent getting to know Legolas, Boromir, and Haldir. Haldir was usually the one to save her from the Hobbits when they became too much for even her. He would show her around the forest and even took her out on patrol with his group and himself a few times.
Boromir would spar with her to make sure she didn't get rusty and got his butt kicked every single time. Sometimes they teamed up and taught the Hobbits how to fight. That usually ended up with bruises on their shins and leaves in their hair. When they weren't doing that, they would talk about their different homes or do some more, ahem, *intimate* activities.
Legolas would talk of Mirkwood and his friends with Ratchet and try to teach her archery. Haldir would occasionally help in these lessons, and even let her use his bow once. Ratchet turned out to be a fairly good archer, but no better.
And even with all of this filling up her days, she somehow found a way to practice her martial arts. She was definitely not gonna let *those* skills disappear. She occasionally even tried to give the members of the Fellowship and Haldir lessons in martial arts. But they were all too old to really get it. Martial arts was better taught when one was young.
The elves watched the human girl who called herself Ratchet in amusement. They thought at times that she might be half-elven like Lord Elrond by the way she could be graceful and radiate beauty like the elves at times, and yet still have that human mortality.
But all these things went by too fast for the Fellowship. All too soon it was time to leave the safety of the Golden Wood. They packed their now clean clothes, food, and other things that they would need in the boats provided by the elves and got ready to leave.
After everything was packed and ready to go they stood in a line and watched as elven cloaks were put on them. The cloaks, as the Lorien elves said, would hide them from unfriendly eyes. Then they had a big lunch with the Lord and Lady. All through it Ratchet flinched whenever Galadriel looked at her. She knew that Galadriel was one of the good guys, but that still didn't make the similarities between her and Sauron disappear.
After the lunch, Galadriel gave them all gifts.
To Aragorn, a beautiful scabbard for Narsil. To Gimli, three hairs off of Galadriel's head. To Merry and Pippin, identical elvish knives. To Legolas, a bow of the Galadhrim. To Sam, a box full of dirt from Galadriel's own garden. To Boromir, a golden belt. To Frodo, the light of Earendil, their most beloved star. And finally to Ratchet.....
"I have thought long and hard on what to give you, and have come up with this." Galadriel pulled out of a pocket in her dress a pendant on a silver necklace. The pendant was a sun made out of gold. Galadriel stepped forward and put it on Ratchet and whispered in her ear, "For Hope."
Ratchet looked up at Galadriel and wondered what the elf knew. She reached up and started fingering the pendant. It felt warm, like the sun, and was smooth under her fingers, except for something on the back. Ratchet flipped it over and saw some unfamiliar curly writing.
She didn't have long to think about it, because then they were caught up in their farewell to the Lorien elves. Suddenly Haldir was in front of her and staring into her nearly black eyes. He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Be safe, mellonamin."
Ratchet smiled up at him. "Don't worry Haldir. I'll be fine. I have the whole Fellowship to look after me."
Haldir gave her one of his rare smiles. "I know. Boromir especially." and then he disappeared into the forest.
Just as Haldir disappeared, Boromir appeared and told her it was time to go. When they reached the boats, Gimli was arguing with Aragorn about the seating arrangements. Ratchet rolled her eyes, and went over to Legolas.
"What's his problem?" she asked the elf.
"He is complaining about having to sit with me. I think I should be the one complaining though." Legolas snorted and rolled his eyes at the dwarf. Ratchet suppressed a chuckle and zoned out. That is, until her mind came to the pendant. She started fingering it and wondering what the weird writing on the back said.
"Hey Legolas?" she called.
"Yes?"
"What does this say?" She showed him the writing on the back of the pendant, and he studied it before answering.
"It is in an older form of Elvish. It says 'estel.'" He looked up at her curiously.
"What? What does that mean?" she asked, a little bit of panic rising.
"'Estel' means 'hope'." he answered, still looking at her curiously.
Ratchet then thought back to what Galadriel said. "For Hope." Ratchet murmured.
"What? I didn't catch that." Legolas said.
"Nothing." Ratchet said quickly and walked over to stand next to Boromir, who wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the back of her head.
Aragorn finally ended the argument and they all got their seating arrangements. Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam were in the first boat. Legolas, Gimli, and Merry were in the second while Boromir, Ratchet, and Pippin were in the third boat.
They set off, with Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas being the ones to row. Occasionally they would let someone else in their boat row for a little bit. But this was very rare.
The boat ride was very dull, everyone was getting cramped from sitting so long. They would only go on the river shore to get some sleep, and even then, they didn't stay long. Ratchet ended up teaching Pippin how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors and how to have thumb wars. Eventually she ended up calling to the other Hobbits on the other boats on how to play these games too. But it only lasted so long.
Most of the time Ratchet would lean back onto Boromir's strong chest and fall into a light sleep.
One day as they were moving along, Ratchet heard Aragorn start talking to Frodo.
"Frodo, look." Frodo looked up to see two huge statues, one situated on each side of the river. "The Argonath. Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old." Then he whispered, "My kin."
Both statues held out a hand, palm forward in warning. They were gigantic, and made them all feel very small. But the boat ride continued, and soon the giant statues were put behind them. They could all faintly hear the roaring falls ahead of them.
The falls came into sight and the three boats were steered to the shore. Everyone started getting off as soon as they touched the shore. Merry went off to find firewood as Sam prepared a small fire. Pippin found himself a comfortable spot and sat down to take a small nap. Legolas and Aragorn started arguing quietly about traveling while Ratchet sat down and relaxed against a tree.
"We cross the lake at nightfall. Hide the boats and continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the north." Aragorn declared.
"Oh yes? Just as simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil? An impossible labyrinth of razor sharp rocks?" Pippin's started to bug out. "And after that, it gets even better! Festering, stinking, marshlands as far as the eye can see." Gimli protested.
"That is our path. I suggest you rest and recover your strength Master Dwarf." Aragorn replied.
"Recover my?!" and Gimli snorted. "Pay no mind to that young Hobbit!" he said to Pippin
Merry returned with an armload of wood and set it down next to the fire. He looked around and asked, "Where's Frodo?"
It was an innocent enough question that set off a chain of events.
Ratchet felt her heart wrench and immediately ran off to find Boromir. She knew he had left also.
'No. Please please Boromir! Don't give in!' she screamed in her mind. Trees flew past her as she ran in a random direction. She slowed as she heard voices close by, to her left. Ratchet stopped at the top of a hill and saw Frodo and Boromir.
Boromir had a pile of wood in his arms, and Frodo was watching the man warily with a little bit of fear.
"There are other ways Frodo. Other paths we might take." Boromir said.
"I know what you would say. And it would seem like wisdom but for the warning in my heart." Frodo replied and took a step back as Boromir took a step forward.
"Warning? Against what?" Frodo started to back away, but Boromir followed him. "They're all afraid. But to let that fear drive us to destroy what hope we have, it is madness."
"There is no other way."
"I only ask for the strength to defend my people!" Boromir threw down the wood. "If you would but lend me the Ring."
"No." Frodo kept backing away, with Boromir still following him.
"Why do you recoil? I am no thief."
"You are not yourself."
"What chance do you think you have? They will find you. They will take the Ring. And you will beg for death before the end!"
Frodo turned around and started walking away. But Boromir wasn't done yet.
"Fool! What could've been mine, what should be mine! Give it!" Frodo started to run but Boromir dived and caught his ankle. They started wrestling on the ground and Boromir reached towards the Ring on Frodo's silver chain.
But Frodo was too quick, and put on the Ring and disappeared. Boromir blinked and started feeling around for him. Unseen by Boromir, Frodo got up and kicked the man and ran.
"I see your mind." Boromir growled. "You would give the Ring to Sauron! Curse you! Curse on all the Halflings!" he yelled.
Then he set eyes on Ratchet, staring at him with wide eyes.
"What have I done?" he whispered to himself. Then louder, "Ratchet, please! I tried not to! I didn't want to!" but the damage was already done.
Ratchet turned around and ran as fast as she could with tears in her eyes. She dimly heard Boromir yell 'I'm sorry!' before she got out of yelling range.
Ratchet kept on running, while clutching at the necklace that Lady Galadriel gave her. It felt warm in her palm, the heat soothing her a little, but not much. All the while she could hear *him* laughing. She wanted to yell at him to shut up and go away, but it wouldn't work.
'Why Boromir? Why couldn't you have tried harder? For me?'
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Faulkner: Oooooooh. What'll happen next, me wonders? What'll happen to my preciousssssssss?
Pinky & CrystalMeth: __
Faulkner: ::lightning flashes and horses neigh:: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
CrystalMeth: Life sucks
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Ratchet had been severely scolded by the whole Fellowship for using her still healing leg too much. She had tried to protest, but to no avail. Her punishment was amusing the Hobbits when they got in trouble with the Lothlorien elves and were sent back to the pavilion.
Her other free time was spent getting to know Legolas, Boromir, and Haldir. Haldir was usually the one to save her from the Hobbits when they became too much for even her. He would show her around the forest and even took her out on patrol with his group and himself a few times.
Boromir would spar with her to make sure she didn't get rusty and got his butt kicked every single time. Sometimes they teamed up and taught the Hobbits how to fight. That usually ended up with bruises on their shins and leaves in their hair. When they weren't doing that, they would talk about their different homes or do some more, ahem, *intimate* activities.
Legolas would talk of Mirkwood and his friends with Ratchet and try to teach her archery. Haldir would occasionally help in these lessons, and even let her use his bow once. Ratchet turned out to be a fairly good archer, but no better.
And even with all of this filling up her days, she somehow found a way to practice her martial arts. She was definitely not gonna let *those* skills disappear. She occasionally even tried to give the members of the Fellowship and Haldir lessons in martial arts. But they were all too old to really get it. Martial arts was better taught when one was young.
The elves watched the human girl who called herself Ratchet in amusement. They thought at times that she might be half-elven like Lord Elrond by the way she could be graceful and radiate beauty like the elves at times, and yet still have that human mortality.
But all these things went by too fast for the Fellowship. All too soon it was time to leave the safety of the Golden Wood. They packed their now clean clothes, food, and other things that they would need in the boats provided by the elves and got ready to leave.
After everything was packed and ready to go they stood in a line and watched as elven cloaks were put on them. The cloaks, as the Lorien elves said, would hide them from unfriendly eyes. Then they had a big lunch with the Lord and Lady. All through it Ratchet flinched whenever Galadriel looked at her. She knew that Galadriel was one of the good guys, but that still didn't make the similarities between her and Sauron disappear.
After the lunch, Galadriel gave them all gifts.
To Aragorn, a beautiful scabbard for Narsil. To Gimli, three hairs off of Galadriel's head. To Merry and Pippin, identical elvish knives. To Legolas, a bow of the Galadhrim. To Sam, a box full of dirt from Galadriel's own garden. To Boromir, a golden belt. To Frodo, the light of Earendil, their most beloved star. And finally to Ratchet.....
"I have thought long and hard on what to give you, and have come up with this." Galadriel pulled out of a pocket in her dress a pendant on a silver necklace. The pendant was a sun made out of gold. Galadriel stepped forward and put it on Ratchet and whispered in her ear, "For Hope."
Ratchet looked up at Galadriel and wondered what the elf knew. She reached up and started fingering the pendant. It felt warm, like the sun, and was smooth under her fingers, except for something on the back. Ratchet flipped it over and saw some unfamiliar curly writing.
She didn't have long to think about it, because then they were caught up in their farewell to the Lorien elves. Suddenly Haldir was in front of her and staring into her nearly black eyes. He put his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Be safe, mellonamin."
Ratchet smiled up at him. "Don't worry Haldir. I'll be fine. I have the whole Fellowship to look after me."
Haldir gave her one of his rare smiles. "I know. Boromir especially." and then he disappeared into the forest.
Just as Haldir disappeared, Boromir appeared and told her it was time to go. When they reached the boats, Gimli was arguing with Aragorn about the seating arrangements. Ratchet rolled her eyes, and went over to Legolas.
"What's his problem?" she asked the elf.
"He is complaining about having to sit with me. I think I should be the one complaining though." Legolas snorted and rolled his eyes at the dwarf. Ratchet suppressed a chuckle and zoned out. That is, until her mind came to the pendant. She started fingering it and wondering what the weird writing on the back said.
"Hey Legolas?" she called.
"Yes?"
"What does this say?" She showed him the writing on the back of the pendant, and he studied it before answering.
"It is in an older form of Elvish. It says 'estel.'" He looked up at her curiously.
"What? What does that mean?" she asked, a little bit of panic rising.
"'Estel' means 'hope'." he answered, still looking at her curiously.
Ratchet then thought back to what Galadriel said. "For Hope." Ratchet murmured.
"What? I didn't catch that." Legolas said.
"Nothing." Ratchet said quickly and walked over to stand next to Boromir, who wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed the back of her head.
Aragorn finally ended the argument and they all got their seating arrangements. Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam were in the first boat. Legolas, Gimli, and Merry were in the second while Boromir, Ratchet, and Pippin were in the third boat.
They set off, with Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas being the ones to row. Occasionally they would let someone else in their boat row for a little bit. But this was very rare.
The boat ride was very dull, everyone was getting cramped from sitting so long. They would only go on the river shore to get some sleep, and even then, they didn't stay long. Ratchet ended up teaching Pippin how to play Rock, Paper, Scissors and how to have thumb wars. Eventually she ended up calling to the other Hobbits on the other boats on how to play these games too. But it only lasted so long.
Most of the time Ratchet would lean back onto Boromir's strong chest and fall into a light sleep.
One day as they were moving along, Ratchet heard Aragorn start talking to Frodo.
"Frodo, look." Frodo looked up to see two huge statues, one situated on each side of the river. "The Argonath. Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old." Then he whispered, "My kin."
Both statues held out a hand, palm forward in warning. They were gigantic, and made them all feel very small. But the boat ride continued, and soon the giant statues were put behind them. They could all faintly hear the roaring falls ahead of them.
The falls came into sight and the three boats were steered to the shore. Everyone started getting off as soon as they touched the shore. Merry went off to find firewood as Sam prepared a small fire. Pippin found himself a comfortable spot and sat down to take a small nap. Legolas and Aragorn started arguing quietly about traveling while Ratchet sat down and relaxed against a tree.
"We cross the lake at nightfall. Hide the boats and continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the north." Aragorn declared.
"Oh yes? Just as simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil? An impossible labyrinth of razor sharp rocks?" Pippin's started to bug out. "And after that, it gets even better! Festering, stinking, marshlands as far as the eye can see." Gimli protested.
"That is our path. I suggest you rest and recover your strength Master Dwarf." Aragorn replied.
"Recover my?!" and Gimli snorted. "Pay no mind to that young Hobbit!" he said to Pippin
Merry returned with an armload of wood and set it down next to the fire. He looked around and asked, "Where's Frodo?"
It was an innocent enough question that set off a chain of events.
Ratchet felt her heart wrench and immediately ran off to find Boromir. She knew he had left also.
'No. Please please Boromir! Don't give in!' she screamed in her mind. Trees flew past her as she ran in a random direction. She slowed as she heard voices close by, to her left. Ratchet stopped at the top of a hill and saw Frodo and Boromir.
Boromir had a pile of wood in his arms, and Frodo was watching the man warily with a little bit of fear.
"There are other ways Frodo. Other paths we might take." Boromir said.
"I know what you would say. And it would seem like wisdom but for the warning in my heart." Frodo replied and took a step back as Boromir took a step forward.
"Warning? Against what?" Frodo started to back away, but Boromir followed him. "They're all afraid. But to let that fear drive us to destroy what hope we have, it is madness."
"There is no other way."
"I only ask for the strength to defend my people!" Boromir threw down the wood. "If you would but lend me the Ring."
"No." Frodo kept backing away, with Boromir still following him.
"Why do you recoil? I am no thief."
"You are not yourself."
"What chance do you think you have? They will find you. They will take the Ring. And you will beg for death before the end!"
Frodo turned around and started walking away. But Boromir wasn't done yet.
"Fool! What could've been mine, what should be mine! Give it!" Frodo started to run but Boromir dived and caught his ankle. They started wrestling on the ground and Boromir reached towards the Ring on Frodo's silver chain.
But Frodo was too quick, and put on the Ring and disappeared. Boromir blinked and started feeling around for him. Unseen by Boromir, Frodo got up and kicked the man and ran.
"I see your mind." Boromir growled. "You would give the Ring to Sauron! Curse you! Curse on all the Halflings!" he yelled.
Then he set eyes on Ratchet, staring at him with wide eyes.
"What have I done?" he whispered to himself. Then louder, "Ratchet, please! I tried not to! I didn't want to!" but the damage was already done.
Ratchet turned around and ran as fast as she could with tears in her eyes. She dimly heard Boromir yell 'I'm sorry!' before she got out of yelling range.
Ratchet kept on running, while clutching at the necklace that Lady Galadriel gave her. It felt warm in her palm, the heat soothing her a little, but not much. All the while she could hear *him* laughing. She wanted to yell at him to shut up and go away, but it wouldn't work.
'Why Boromir? Why couldn't you have tried harder? For me?'
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Faulkner: Oooooooh. What'll happen next, me wonders? What'll happen to my preciousssssssss?
Pinky & CrystalMeth: __
Faulkner: ::lightning flashes and horses neigh:: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!