Tsanra ran into the dorm room. A few girls were up, but most were still snuggled up in their warm beds. Tsanra didn't care. "LAENAS! KIILJ! Wake UP!" she shrieked as loud as she could, running down towards their bunk.

Immediately, a chorus of groans rose from the other bunks. Tsanra got many dirty looks as people rolled over, trying to snag another few minutes of sleep, and some even threw pillows and stuffed toys at her. One girl groaned: "They're over there…" and then uttered a long snore. She was already asleep again.

Tsanra turned around and saw her two friends coming out of the tub room laughing hysterically at her. Laenas had a towel wrapped around her head; a strand of hair was dangling down, soaking wet. Kiilj didn't bother with the towel: she preferred a wet back in the summer months.

Tsanra blushed and walked over towards them as quietly as possible. But right when she was about ten feet away, she bashed her foot into a trunk that was sticking out from under a bunk. "OUCH!" she screamed.

The chorus of girls screeched their fury, and a mass of flying pillows, toys, blankets, and even a few hardback books came hurtling towards them.

"Eek!" squeaked Kiilj.

"Meep!" shouted Tsanra.

"Oh, goddess, not this again," groaned Laenas, and dragged them into the bath room, closing the door. As soon as it clicked shut, a torrent of loud thuds hit it.

Kiilj and Tsanra looked stunned. Laenas just rearranged her towel and said, "So, you have big news again? What this time that it was worth waking up the whole dorm? Not that that's always unusual with you…"

Tsanra giggled nervously. She did this sort of thing at least once a month. She wasn't called the Loud One by her peers for nothing. It was ironic, though, because Tsanra was an introvert, and she really didn't talk to the other people at all besides Kiilj and Laenas.

Laenas judged it to be safe to go out again, and dragged her friends out of the dormitory, and they began walking down to the laundry room, where Laenas could deposit her wet towel and go to breakfast with them.

"Guess what?" asked Tsanra.

"What?" countered Kiilj.

Laenas, sarcastic as always, hazarded a guess. "The famous Legolas, the King of Men, Gimli the Great, Frodo of the Shire, his friend Samwise, and the magnificent White Wizard have all asked you to tea today," she replied, rolling her eyes. "What," she asked, seeing Tsanra's face.

Tsanra was ogling at her. Sometimes she wondered if her friend had mind reading talents.

"No, just the White Wizard, and I'm serving, not actually sitting down with them."

Laenas chuckled. Kiilj said, "You're getting to be as bad as her. I can only stand one sarcastic person in our trio. Come on, what really happened?"

So Tsanra told them exactly how she had met the famed White Wizard. Laenas listened intently, and made Tsanra describe their weapons exactly, and Kiilj wanted to hear about what Gimli was like, so it took longer than Tsanra had hoped it would.

When she was done with her story, they had finished their breakfast, and now had the entire day to themselves. It was high summer, and because it got so hot outside, most of the elves and the orphans chose to stay indoors, but not Tsanra, Kiilj, or Laenas. The girls packed a bag of food for lunch, and set out on a hike to the nearby woods. When they arrived, they took a sharp right into a tangle of overgrown thorns. After wrestling with the thorns for a minute or two, the girls pushed them aside to reveal a secret grotto. A stream rushed through the sanctuary gurgling on the soft white sand, and trees provided the perfect mix of warm sunshine and refreshing shade. This is where the three of them spent their summer months laughing and playing together while the other girls were stuck up inside all day.

Kiilj, Tsanra, and Laenas happily spent the day here at their leisure, but as dusk began to show signs of falling, Tsanra began to worry about the dinner she had to serve that night. She insisted on going back earlier than they usually did. Tsanra bathed, let her hair dry, dressed in her best clothes (which consisted of a never-worn pair of dress pants and a top without any stains) and madly brushed her tangled hair until it was smooth. Then she ran to the kitchen, grabbed a bite to eat, and checked the list of jobs one more time, in hopes that Gandalf hadn't been able to switch her.

But sure enough, her name was listed as the server in the Upper Tea Room tonight. She asked one of the orphan boys who was slaving over a hot oven why she had been switched: Jordiek, an older orphan boy, usually served at the important dinners.

"Oi, weel, ole' Jordiek got sick-like. Ee's got 'orrible stomack pains, and culdn't geet out of 'is bed for the hurt of it awll. Started just after bekfest. I fink he ate somphin that didin agree wif 'im."

"Ah," Tsanra replied to his garbled speech. Gandalf must have put something in his food; it was like a wizard to do something like that.

So, taking a plate of fish and bread, she scarfed her dinner down and hurried up to the Upper Tea Room to serve.

She got there just in time, too. As soon as she had walked in and set the table, the group arrived. All of them were there: Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn, Frodo, and Sam, as well as the head of the orphan home, Lord Wensil and his partner Lord Myron.

They sat down, and Tsanra served the first course. She felt a slight tingling as she served Gandalf, but didn't think much of it until she went to stand in the corner and looked in a mirror which hung on the wall. Then she nearly jumped out of her skin: she looked like a boy! A BOY! Not even like herself, either. Instead of having dark hair, dark eyes, and easily burnt, pale skin, she seemed to be blond, blue-eyed, and very tan. It was strange.

But Gandalf was speaking now. "As you all know," he said, "we have come here to discuss a matter of grave importance."

Aragorn interrupted Gandalf, saying "Shouldn't we do something about him…?" gesturing towards Tsanra. HIM, she thought indignantly, and was tempted to try and give the King a piece of her mind, but then remembered the disguise spell on her, and relaxed.

"I have put a spell on him so that what he will hear is boring conversation of old friends catching up. And many, many bad puns. Oh, yes! Bad puns aplenty," Gandalf replied.

"Ah," Aragorn sighed, "So we can speak comfortably. Good."

"What did you bring us here for, again?" asked Legolas.

"My dear elf," grunted Gimli, "You really must learn to PAY ATTENTION, or you will miss quite a bit of important information."

"Yes," quipped Merry, "Remember the Balrog? After we had all seen the thing and were running as fast as we could you had to try to shoot at it. Even once you dropped the arrow you still had to shriek like a little girl 'Ai! Ai! A Balrog has come!' and then run with us. Honestly, where was your brain?"

Legolas muttered something, turning bright red.

"So, remind my poor old feather brained chum as to why we are here," Gimli said to Gandalf.

"We are here because of the… problems… which originated in the Dead Marshes. As you know, after the Ring was destroyed, many of the powerful forces which exist here were also destroyed or changed in some way. Frodo, do you remember what happened there?"

Frodo shivered and nodded.

"Good, I would be worried if you didn't. The dead warriors have gone from there, and have appeared somehow in the waters of the Bay of Belfallas, by Gondor. They have been attacking any ships that try to leave Gondor by way of the bay. This is a problem for all those people who still, with good reason, do not wish to travel on the Harad Road, as it is so close to Mordor and the Dead Marshes, or cannot travel on the more mountainous roads that leave Gondor. While neither the Marshes nor Mordor are serious dangers now that the Ring is gone, Mordor is still in civil war and travelers have been known to disappear and skeletons to be discovered. My dear hosts, Lord Wensil and Lord Myron, I am sure you wonder what this has to do with you, here by the South Downs on the River Hoarwell…"

"Yes, in fact, we do. What on earth can a small orphanage here do to help those in Gondor?"

"My friend, you have a child in your midst who might just be the solution to the problem which I just presented to you. However, that problem is only one puzzle piece of the big picture. Something is stirring in Mordor again. I am too old to go chasing after things, Aragorn has a kingdom and a people to rule, as well as a wife expecting a child to care for; Legolas, I believe, will pledge himself soon; and I certainly could not sent the hobbits and Gimli off by themselves. They too, though they refuse to admit it, I am sure, are getting on in years and might not make it back from the arduous journey that I have in mind. There is a darkness that falls over the land once more, and I need someone who is both light and dark to fight it. Do you take my meaning?"

The two lords glanced at each other, and slowly nodded. They understood precisely.

Unfortunately, no one else did, least of all Tsanra.