Author's Notes: Oh great. After six hours of relentless typing, I managed to type the story out, up until Gandalf's fall in Moria, and what does my computer do? It crashes and loses everything I added. So now I'm sitting here, frustrated beyond all possible reason. I'm retyping it all now, so it shouldn't have any affects on the updates. I just needed to complain to someone. THE STORY WILL CONTINUE!
Carolyn looked up and surveyed the group with a strange sense of awe. Boromir was teaching Merry and Pippin how to swordfight, Katie was reading a book entitled 'Pack Mules for Dummies', Caitlin was flirting shamelessly with Legolas, while Aragorn looked on, amused.
"It seems like it was only yesterday that we were all pulled into the book," Carolyn thought. She shuddered with slight embarrassment as she recalled the eager way she had poked the portal and been drawn in. "Why did I react like that? Did a part of me know this would happen? Was I so eager to escape the real world? It's like all of this is a dream, but it can't be. My dreams are always incoherent pictures and thoughts, they're never this vivid." Then another thought struck her.
"Well... I could be crazy. I could wake up a screaming wreck in a nuthouse." She tried not to think about it.
Instead she focused on what was in front of her. She was with the Fellowship, sitting on a hillside, stirring dinner in a small cooking pot. If in reality she was really sitting in a white padded room in straitjacket, she preferred the hillside.
She looked over at Caitlin and Legolas. Legolas didn't seem to be enjoying the attention Caitlin was giving him at all. He was leaning as far away from her as possible, and was sitting, with his arms folded, in a slouched position. Carolyn tried not to laugh.
"Go right ahead, Caitlin," Carolyn thought, "Flirt away. He'll just think you're crazy."
They had been traveling from Rivendell for about three days. During that short amount of time, the rest of the Fellowship was finally getting used to the three girls. Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin seemed to have accepted that their friends were from a different dimension, and were speaking to them again. Even Katie's wacky hijinks seemed normal to them now.
Carolyn loved traveling with the Fellowship. Even though nothing exciting had happened yet, she knew it would soon. Besides, she was happy just traveling with them. When she had first seen the movies, she had looked upon them as invincible heroes; heroes that always came out on top. But now that she was getting to know them personally, she knew now that they were just people, like her. She was glad to know them; and she knew Katie and Caitlin were too.
"If anyone were to ask my opinion," Gimli announced, "Which I notice they're not, I'd say we were taking the long way 'round!" He looked over at Gandalf, "Gandalf! We could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome."
"I agree with Shorty!" Katie yelled. Because she and Gimli were almost the same height, they had become instant friends. They had taken up the habit of calling each other 'Shorty'.
But Gandalf shook his head. "No, Gimli. I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice."
Caitlin came over and sat down next to Carolyn.
"How's dinner coming?" She asked. Her voice had a cool tone to it. Ever since Carolyn's little joke back in Rivendell, Caitlin had become very cold to her. Carolyn had only been messing around when she blamed Caitlin and Katie for the orb's near destruction, but Caitlin seemed to have taken it as a personal attack.
Carolyn checked the surface of the beef stew. It was just starting to boil. "It's almost done." She smiled. "How are things going with Legolas?"
Caitlin sighed. "Progress has been slow, but I'm getting there. He likes me, he just doesn't 'like me like me'. But he will soon." She saw the skeptical look on Carolyn's face. "Go ahead. Say I'm crazy, that doesn't mean I'm not right."
"I doesn't mean you're not mad as a hatter." Carolyn thought rolling her eyes. She noticed that the stew was warm enough to test. She lifted a spoonful to her mouth to taste. The moment it touched her tongue, however, she gagged and spat it back out.
"What the hell!" Carolyn cried, taking a swig of water from a canteen at her side, to wash out the taste.
"What's wrong with it?" Caitlin asked innocently.
"It tastes horrible!" Carolyn said, "It's taste like someone filled it with-" She stopped, remembering the eager way Caitlin had volunteered to help her fix the stew earlier. Caitlin had added the ingredients while Carolyn got the fire going, "SALT!"
"Seven tablespoons of salt to be exact!" Caitlin chuckled gleefully.
"Caitlin! You just ruined dinner! Why did you-" She stopped. Her eyes widened. "I get it! You were hoping I would serve it without testing it! You were trying to make me look bad, weren't you?"
Caitlin smiled. "Well, I don't like to brag, but...yes I was."
Carolyn's eyes narrowed. "This is about Legolas, isn't it?" She said lowering her voice. "You're still mad I put the blame on you back in Rivendell. It was just a joke, Caitlin!"
Caitlin's eyes had narrowed as well. "I know that! But I'm not going to sit idly by while you act all sweet and perfect in front of him, like a regular little goodie-two-shoes. You have flaws just like I do, and I'm going to make sure he sees them!"
"And what flaws might you be referring to, my friend?" Carolyn hissed dangerously.
Caitlin went on. "You swear like a sailor, you're lazy, you won't get off the computer, you bitch and moan about every little thing, you get obsessed over things too much, you won't stop daydreaming when you should be focusing on reality, you never stand up for yourself, and YOU WON'T STOP READING WEBCOMICS!"
"So what?" Carolyn snapped, "Who doesn't like Megatokyo?"
"That's not the point! The point is, if all Legolas sees is your good side, then how can you expect him to like you? You're being so fake in front of him!"
"But..." Carolyn said looking down at the ground. "I just...I just don't want him to see my flaws and have him hate me for them."
"That's your problem right there!" Caitlin said triumphantly, "You worry too much about what everyone else thinks! You put up a mask so that you never show your true feelings! You think it makes you acceptable in their eyes, but instead you just confuse them!"
"Shut up, Caitlin." Carolyn whispered so softly she wasn't even sure she'd spoken.
Caitlin sighed. "See? You can't even give a decent retort when someone is yelling at you." She folded her arms. "At least I'm open about my feelings. I like Legolas too, and I'm not going to lose. Understand?"
Carolyn glared up at her. "You think you're pretty damn popular with this group, don't you?" She growled.
"Yeah, so what?"
Carolyn cupped her hands over her mouth and yelled to the rest of the group. "HEY GUYS! CAITLIN PURPOSELY DUMPED SALT IN THE STEW AND RUINED DINNER! I'M GONNA HAVE TO START ALL OVER AGAIN!"
Angry shouts erupted all over the campsite.
"I'M HUNGRY!" Pippin bellowed.
"YOU SUCK CAITLIN!" Katie yelled. She flung her book at Caitlin. It beaned her in the head.
"OW! THAT WAS THE CORNER!" Caitlin yelled rubbing her eye. She glared at Carolyn. "I'll get you for this..." She snarled.
At that moment, Boromir accidentally hit Pippin, knocking him down.
"OW!" Pippin exclaimed.
"Sorry-" Boromir started to say.
"Get him!" Pippin yelled. He and Merry dove playfully at Boromir.
"For the Shire!" Merry said triumphantly.
"DOG PILE!" Katie cheered running forward and jumping into the fray.
At that moment, Legolas frowned and looked up at the sky. Sam noticed his interest in that direction and looked also.
"What's that?" Sam asked pointing a black shape. It seemed to be growing larger every second.
"Nothing," Gimli said without interest. "Just a wisp of cloud."
Boromir pushed Katie off of him and looked up at the shape. "It's moving fast. Against the wind..."
Legolas spun around; a look of panic on his face. "Crebain from Duneland!"
Aragorn quickly jumped to his feet. "HIDE!" He commanded.
Everyone ran and hid behind a large rock. As they all pressed together, trying not to be seen, they could hear the sound of thousands of winged creatures flying over their heads. The small bat-like creatures were searching the area, as though they knew they were there.
When they were gone, everyone emerged from the hiding place.
"Spies of Saruman..." Gandalf murmured. "He turned and looked at everyone else. "The passage to the south is being watched. We must take the pass of Caradhras."
Carolyn had been holding the pot full of the ruined dinner. She hadn't wanted to leave it out so that the Crebain could see it. "Hang on." She sighed. "Just let me get rid of this stew.'
"Very well," Aragorn said, "But hurry."
Carolyn went up to a small cliff side, and dumped the contents of the pot over the side. The ruined stew spilled out and splattered all over the rocks far below. Satisfied, Carolyn hurried over to help everyone pack up camp for their journey through Caradhras.
But unbeknownst to the Fellowship, a piece of meat in the stew had been implanted with an explosive/tracking-device. It had been placed there by Saruman's spies in Rivendell, with the intention of wiping out the Fellowship upon detonation, and leading the enemy to the ring.
A few days later the cliff side Carolyn poured the stew over exploded. What the Fellowship had been doing at the bottom of the cliff, Saruman's servants couldn't say. But, they told him, even the three Chosen Ones couldn't have survived THAT explosion.
Evil masterminds have been saying this for centuries: it is impossible to get good help.
