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Ellfine and Twilight UnicornandKittiMarlowe and Fool SupPorTand Annamariahand Fwe and MoroTheWolfGod and TheAmazingTecnocolorRingWraithand Goergiana and all-evil-grins and Elvin BlueEyes and Luthien and Tari Oronarand Legolas's fanatical fan girl
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Rules For Gender Change By The One Ring Of Sauron
2.) Things that were easily carried aforetime will now be too heavy. Therefore thou shalt use the pack pony and feel shame for thy lack of strength. From my tower I shall see and laugh.
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Chapter Three
It's Heavy, It's My Backpack
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And so the next day they had gone on up the mountain. They hadn't any real choice in the matter, because, as Aragorn said, "We can't wait around for the Ring to change us back into men."
The Fellowship all sighed with resignation because they knew it was true. However, the packing brought up a new problem that none of them had considered before. Their packs were too heavy to lift!
"I can not believe this!" Boromir said disgustedly. She glared at her shield with defiant green eyes, as if the shield would suddenly change its mind and float all the way home.
"I know." Saw agreed. She was swiftly rearranging packs and pans and dishes from one pack to the other. "I'll have to put most of this stuff on Bill, poor boy."
"Well, I for one feel heartily sick about all this." Frodo sulked, "It's my fault we're all like this anyway." And she glared at the Ring hanging around her neck.
Merry and pippin were arguing over what they should take and what must be left behind. With their curly blond heads together they looked for all the world like a pair of matched china dolls.
"No! Merry we can't leave that behind! Diamond gave me that before I left!' Pippin said.
"It's a dead flower Pippin." Merry said mercilessly, "Besides she wouldn't want to be courted by you now."
Pippin hit Merry in the arm, a punch that the hobbit lad would hardly have noticed. But now she clapped her hand over her arm. "That hurt!" Merry said, and tears unwillingly pooled in her eyes.
In a snap pippin was sorry, "Oh! I didn't mean too." She awkwardly patted her cousin's shoulder, "I was just…you know I didn't think that it would hurt you. It never did before."
Gandalf, who had been listening in now spoke, "Listen, Meridoc, Peregrin, there are going to be a lot of things that are different now that we're all…changed. So we have to take special care of each other and what we do. Besides, her blue eyes twinkled merrily, "It's not nice behavior for such a pair of hobbit lasses."
Soon after, the Fellowship and an overloaded looking Bill the pony were ready to go. Aragorn looked around and suddenly asked, "Where is Legolas?"
"I saw him disappear into the trees a while back." Gimli said, pointing a stubby finger at the forest.
"I'll go get him…I mean her." Boromir said. She trudged off into the trees her shield firmly strapped over both of her shoulders.
The forest could hardly justify the name but it was too thick to think of as just a stand of trees. Boromir looked around and cupping her hands around her mouth called, "Legolas! Legolas! We're ready to depart! Hellllllooooo! Legolas! Where are you?"
There was no answer from the trees surrounding the Captain of Gondor's army. Boromir crossed her arms and tapped her foot a few times before snorting and calling, "We're leaving without you. If you don't want to be left behind you'd better hurry up!"
"I'm over here." A quiet voice said. Boromir looked around and saw the elleth standing a few feet away her bow in her long pale hands.
"Well, come on! We've been looking for you." Boromir's eyes narrowed, "Have you been crying?"
"Yes…no! I mean…maybe…" Legolas scrubbed at her face and slung her bow across her back, "Never mind," She said.
"Wait just a darn second!" Boromir stopped the elleth with a gesture, "You were crying! What's wrong? Should I go and get Aragorn?"
"No! There's nothing wrong with me that they can fix." The elleth snapped back, "Now let's go."
Boromir walked behind the angry elf and thought rabidly what may be wrong with her. Then a thought came to the Gondorian of something Denethor had once taught him (When she was him that is)
"When women say that nothing is wrong, they are always lying.' Denethor had said sagely, "It's always better to leave them alone then."
Boromir however was not the kind to let sleeping dogs lie and neither was he ready to leave Legolas alone.
"So…" she began, "You were crying about being a woman?"
"I thought I said nothing was wrong." Legolas said tossing her braids over her shoulder.
"Oh, I know." Boromir returned amiably. "But I make it a rule to never trust anyone outside my own race.'
"Goody for you." Was the elleth's reply.
"Then you were crying because you want to go home and forget all about the Ring and the Fellowship!" Boromir said. She had been watching the color of Legolas's skin change as she had spoken and was prepared for when the elleth whirled on her.
"Honestly! You never know when to give you to do? Fine, you want to know why? Because I can't draw my bow anymore that's why! Because I am too stupidly weak to do it!" Legolas whirled away, "I hope you're happy now!"
"Oh…" Boromir felt sympathetic, "I can't lift my shield without using both hands." She offered by way of an apology.
The elleth stopped and breathed deeply, "I'm sorry too. I just…everything about this is so wrong."
"Well, maybe the elf witch will be able to help us." Boromir said, 'Come on, they'll be wondering what's taking us so long. I don't want them to think we were braiding each other's hair or something."
"That would be bad." Legolas agreed, she eyed Boromir's long red hair, "Although it will get awfully tangled if you leave it like that."
"Don't even think about it elf!" Boromir quickened her pace, "My hair is my own. I'd sooner cut it all off then have you touch it!"
Soon they broke through the tree line and rejoined the Fellowship. Everyone breathed a sign of relief when they saw the pair of them.
"There you are!" Aragorn said, "You could have been braiding each other's hair for a long as you were gone."
Boromir grinned at Legolas and said, "Maybe some other time, I'm going for the wild ranger look for now."
"Indeed." Legolas said, "A rugged Gondorian."
"Idiots." Aragorn muttered and they began the long walk up the mountain.