~*~*~*~
I grinned as I heard the footsteps outside of the cave come closer. Finally, my loverly Elven prince had come to rescue me. I stood up and smoothed out my clothes, then ran my fingers through my hair, just in case. Then I strode out of the cave with a (fake) scared look on my face.
"Oh, thank the Valar you have found me, LeeeEEEEK!!!!!" I shrieked and dove back inside the cave. Oh GOD!!! Not him!! Of all the people in Middle-Earth, it had to be him!
"Lothuviel! Are you all right?" Lenwe stepped inside the cave with a worried look on his face. I spun around and glared at him, my hands on my hips.
"Where is Legolas?" I asked snobbishly.
"Legolas? Why, he is back at the palace. But what are you doing all the way out here?" He laid a hand on my shoulder.
"Grrr," I growled. He got the point and stepped back a few feet.
"I ask again, why are you so far from home?"
"I was out riding until that stupid horse of mine threw me off and ran away!" I practically screamed. This was NOT the !@#$ plan!
"Oh... Well, I have come out here with a hunting party. We were going to stay in this cave like we always do. But now we must get you back to the palace. You must be cold." He took off his cloak and put it around my shoulders. I rolled my eyes, but it did keep me warm, so I didn't chuck it back at him like I was going to do.
"Thank you," I mumbled.
"You are quite welcome. Come now, let us head for home." He led me out of the cave and over to the little group of elves that was with him. One of them I recognized as the elf that had greeted me on the day that I arrived in Mirkwood. What is his name!?!
"Lady Lothuviel," he said with a bow.
"Hail... Mr. Elf." Wow, didn't that make me look SOOO intelligent.
He glanced at me with a bemused smile. "My name is Tarandur," he said. Oh yeah!
"My apologies, Tarandur. I could not remember your name." Obviously.
"That is quite all right, my lady. You have been through much. How-" Before he could finish, Stalker Elf walked over and started explaining how I had gotten all the way out there.
"Now, I am afraid we must cut our hunting short and get the fair Lady Lothuviel back home. She has been through much." He tried to put his hand on my shoulder again.
"Get your filthy hands off of me," I said through gritted teeth, "or you will die a slow and painful death." He pretended not to hear me and did it anyway. Unfortunately, I had lost my dagger somewhere along the way, or I would have killed him.
Tarandur, on the other hand, seemed to realize that I hated Lenwe's guts. "Perhaps you would like to ride with me, Lothuviel?" he asked.
I nodded vigorously. "Thank you!" I squeaked and ran over to his side. Lenwe glared at Tarandur, then spun around and walked off. I turned to my savior. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you!!" I said, practically sobbing. He smiled.
"I realized that you are not too fond of Lenwe. Why?"
"Well, he has been stalking me since the first day that I was in Mirkwood, and does not seem to get the point that I am not fond of him," I explained. Tarandur nodded knowingly.
"This is not the first time this has happened. Lenwe seems to think that he can always get his way when it comes to women. Obviously, that is not the case." Just then we came to a group of horses. Tarandur pointed to a black one, and I mounted it and he got up behind me. As soon as everyone was on their horses, we set off.
~*~
"Are we there yet?"
"Not yet."
Pause.
"How about now?"
"Almost, Lothuviel."
Five minutes later...
"Are we EVER going to get there?!"
"We are still fifteen minutes away. Please try to be patient," Tarandur said irritably. Hm, maybe I've pissed him off a bit... nah.
A very long fifteen minutes later, we rode through the gates to the palace. Yay! As soon as I was off the horse, the front door burst open, and Trelan, Legolas, and lil' Mary-sue came running down the steps towards me.
"Are you all right?" Trelan asked. He took me in a big hug and squeezed me really, really tight.
"Trelan. Lothuviel needs to breathe," I gasped.
"Oh. Sorry," he said. Then it was Lauren's turn to hug me.
"I was so scawed!!" she sobbed as she threw her arms around my legs. I looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Really?"
She rolled her eyes and mouthed "no". Oh thanks, bestest friend in the world. Next, Legolas came up and put his hand on my shoulder.
"I am glad that you are safe, my friend. I was quite worried when you did not come back by nightfall."
"I am sorry, Legolas," I said quietly.
"It is not your fault. But this is the second time that Erregroth has thrown you. Perhaps it is time that we find you a new horse."
"Very well." He smiled and patted my arm, then said, "Now, how about you take a bath and have something to eat? I am sure you will feel better after that." I nodded and followed him inside, with everyone else coming in behind me.
~*~
(Laura: *runs by with sign. Sign reads, The next day…* THE NEEEEEEEEXT DAY!!!)
Stomp stomp stomp stomp stomp. Pause.
"BOOF!!!"
"AAHH!!" I screamed as I was flung out of the bed by my favorite little hobbit in Middle-earth.
"Good morning, sunshine!" Lauren screamed in my ear. I cringed and slapped her upside the head. "Owies."
"Lulu, is it that hard to realize that a simple, "Laura, wake up" would suffice?" I asked irritably.
"I tried that. All you said was 'Ungh.'" I rolled my eyes and stood up.
"Whatever. So, young spoon, what is on your agenda for the day?" I asked.
"Dunno. There's nothing to do around here," she whined.
"Yes there is. You just need to explore a little bit."
"What do you think I've been doing the past three weeks?" she argued.
"How about this: since we're in Middle-earth, and one of the most important skills here is knowing how to fight, why don't you go ask Trelan to teach you how to shoot a bow and arrow?"
"Oooh, that sounds like fun!" she squealed as she jumped up and down. "C'mon, get dressed and let's go find him!"
"No, Lulu. I'm just going to do my own thing today. You go find him yourself." I shoved her out the door and went to the wardrobe to get dressed. I picked out a blue skirt with a matching long-sleeved top and put my hair back in a braid. I thought for a minute about what I wanted to do, and decided that practicing my sword fighting sounded like fun. I grabbed my sword and sheathe, and then walked downstairs to the kitchen, where I grabbed a big bagel-like thing. I munched happily on my breakfast as I wandered outside towards the archery range. I figured that there would most likely be someone to help me with fencing.
As I got closer to the range, I could hear voices. Good, then I'd have someone to fight with. Someone who would most likely kick my ass. Oh well.
Everyone that was there sort of stopped what they were doing and watched as I came into view. Oh great. Not only am I an outcast in my own world, I'm an outcast here, too. Isn't that just great?
"Hello," I said quietly. To my surprise, almost everyone replied, instead of ignoring me. I recognized a lot of the elves that were there. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone come near me, and when I turned towards them, I saw that it was Tarandur. Whoopee!
"Good morning, Lothuviel," he said with yet another bow.
"Good morning. How are you today?" I asked.
"Very well, thank you. I see that you have your sword. Were you hoping to find someone to practice with?"
"Well, yes, sort of," I mumbled. Oh great. I'm going to completely embarrass myself.
"Would you like to practice with-"
"Oh, hello Lothuviel," I heard someone say a bit sarcastically. It was a female voice. I turned around and glared when I saw who it was.
"Good day, Larien. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be cleaning something?" I asked sweetly. A few people chuckled. She narrowed her eyes and glared back at me.
"Actually, today I have a day off. Were you hoping to find another man to fall in love with you?" Her voice dripped with sticky sweetness.
She must die.
"Indeed, I was hoping to find someone who would be a challenge for me to fight. Obviously, you are not that person," I replied. She stiffened and drew her sword.
"Well then, why don't we see who is the more skilled swordswoman?" she growled.
"Bring it on, slavey girl," I shot back. All the elves nearby formed a circle around us, and we began to duel.
Contrary to what I had thought, Larien was actually pretty good. I tried to figure out what was going on inside her stupid little pretty head, but she was too sneaky. Several times she tried to trip me, and on one occasion actually did. I nearly fell, but I caught myself and spun around, swiping madly at her. She sort of shrieked and stepped back, which gave me a chance to gain back the offensive position. She growled and started muttering curses out me. I just raised my eyebrows and fought that much harder.
"Never...*clang* call me a... *clash* prissy little whore again... *clang clang*," I growled at her. Her eyes glittered, and she lunged at me, swiping at my legs. I screeched as I heard my skirt rip, and took a second to look down. She had barely scraped the skin, but I was still bleeding quite a bit. Her sword had made a slit in my skirt that went all the way to the middle of my thigh. I am going to kill her!!! Larien struck out at me one last time; I spun around, avoiding her sword, and held the tip of my blade to her throat. She gasped slightly, and I grinned. "You're dead," I whispered. She angrily put her sword back in her sheathe, then spun around and stomped away. "Loser," I muttered.
There were some murmurs of approval going through the small crowd of elves. "Well done, Lothuviel," Tarandur said. "You are quite skilled with a sword."
I grinned. "Thank you."
"Now," he continued, "would you like to fight against me?"
I bit my lip and shook my head. "Oh, no, that is quite all right. You would beat me terribly."
"One learns more when one is beaten. Come now, please?" he asked. Good Lord, I'm going to die.
"Oh, fine," I mumbled, getting into a ready stance. Faretheewell, dignity.
Yes, Larien had been pretty good. She had nearly beaten me. Take that much skill times ten. Now you've got Tarandur. Aww man... I found that he had a slightly longer sword than Larien had had; I realized that if I could make him loosen his grip on it, then it would be painful to fight.
"Move your feet more!" Tarandur said casually. Jebus, he acts like he's standing and talking about the weather! Okay, he wants me to move my feet more? I'll give him moving my feet more.
I (quite literally) jumped into the air and landed about two feet from him, which caught him off guard. He staggered back a bit, and I took advantage of his surprise. I sped up my strikes and lunged out at him. Big mistake. I missed, and he saw that there was only a little bit of space between his sword tip and me. He struck and I felt cold metal against my chest.
"I tried to tell you, but did you listen? Nooooo," I said with my free hand on my hip. He laughed and sheathed his sword. "Yes, you did tell me. But you fought well. I am impressed."
"Thanks," I muttered. I started to walk back toward the palace, until I heard someone call my name. Well, my Elvish name.
"Lothuviel." I turned around. Oh god. It was Legolas.
"Good morning, Legolas," I said. He smiled.
"It looks as though you had a good morning. I saw you duel with Larien and Tarandur." Oh boy... I looked at the ground. "You did well. I was simply wondering if you would like to fight me." I looked up at him.
"Pardon?" I asked stupidly.
"Do you have enough energy to duel with me?" he repeated. I was about to say no, but then, how would I impress him? He already thinks that I'm weird, knows that I get thrown off a horse easily, and I can't shoot. Oh hell.
"Oh, all right." I walked back to the clearing and stood there looking at him. "Are you sure you even want to waste your time doing this?" I asked.
"I am sure. Come on, unsheathe your sword." I sighed and stood in a stance. "Ready?" I nodded reluctantly. I took a deep breath, and struck out at him. He parried and started fighting back. Already I knew I was going to get my ass kicked.
Duh.
In less than a minute, Legolas had the point of his sword pressed slightly into my stomach. I sighed. "Yes, yes, I know. I lose," I mumbled. He laughed and pulled the sword away. "Try again," he said kindly.
"What? No, thank you, I do not want to be embarrassed yet again." I raised my eyebrow at him. The "audience" that was around us was staring accusingly. "What?" I asked.
Legolas smiled again. "You do not deny a prince of what he wants," he said in mock seriousness.
"But- but..." I searched desperately for some sort of argument.
"Once more. Please?" He looked at me pleadingly. Oh brother. I mumbled angrily and got back into a stance.
"Fine. Go ahead and waste another thirty seconds of your life," I said sarcastically. He grinned and we started to fight again. The whole time he was smiling in an irritating (yet very hot) way.
"What?" I hissed as I struck out.
"You must move faster," he replied.
"I am moving as fast as I can!"
"No, you are not. I have seen you move faster." He paused as our swords met with a clang. "Perhaps you remember a few days ago in the woods? You were singing? And dancing?"
My jaw dropped as the group started muttering. He had seen me! "You were spying on me!?"
"No. I was just taking a walk in the woods," he said innocently. Oh, that does it, Mr. Hotty Elf Prince. I pulled my sword away and struck out angrily. How dare he!? "There you go!" he exclaimed as I sped up and lunged at him furiously. "I told you that you could do it!"
I scowled at him and parried as he struck. For several more minutes we continued to circle and strike. I watched every move that he made, trying to find a pattern. I dodged out of the way as his sword tip came within inches of hitting me. I sliced at him, which pushed him back a few feet. I wanted to win so badly.
Fat chance.
I shrieked as he kicked my legs out from under me, and I fell with a thud to the forest floor. He smiled as he held his sword to my cheek. I glared up at him.
"Very-" But before he could before he could finish what he was saying, I gathered together my nerve and kicked at his ankles, going "Rrraghh!" He, too, fell to the ground, and everyone gasped. He stared up at the tree limbs above us in shock for a second, then turned his head towards me.
"Nicely done," he said with a genuine smile. He stood up and helped me to my feet. Then he kissed my hand, and walked away without another word.
~*~*~*~
Yay, new chapter finally! Sorry that took so long, y'all! Mwahaha, I pulled a move from the movie "Miss Congeniality"! You know, when Sandra Bullock and that one dude are fighting and he knocks her down, and then she knocks him down? Yeah! Thanks again to all of you who offered me ideas! I think I've gotten this story back on track! Luv ya all tons!
Much lurve, Legolas, Will, and Orlando,
~*!Laura!*~