~Be sure to check out my website, REvolution! (at ) for information about an illustration contest for my stories 'Legolas and the Really Messed-Up Fanfic!' and 'The Fellowship of the Fanfic Writers!' *by the way, that's no typo up there, that's how you spell my site's name * ~

The Fellowship of the Fanfic Writers!

by Odeena Skywalker (alias Anne Shard)

Chapter 9: Fun and games

Frodo stood up and looked around sheepishly. Just as he was about to begin, my sister's head popped in. "What'cha doing?" she asked in that sing-song voice of hers which I hated so much.

Everyone present started and turned around. Not all the guys had had the chance to meet Laurie yet - and from the looks on their faces, I could tell that they were getting an absolutely wrong impression about her. When it came about my sister, looks could be really deceiving, if you catch my drift.

"Err... homework", I said quickly. "You know, math, physics, that sort of stuff. There's nothing for you here, so bye-bye, there you go, that's a nice little girl..."

"Now that is absolutely preposterous!" Elrond stood up abruptly. "We are the Fellowship of the Fanfic W--"

"Elrond, shut up." I turned to Laurie, ignoring Elrond's puzzled expression. "What he means is that we write... err... boring school essays about... err..."

"Schopenhauer."

Now, everybody was glaring at Legolas. My sister raised an eyebrow, "Schopen-who?"

"Schopenhauer. He was... err... an... Help me!", he whispered, turning to me.

"Schopenhauer was an aviator."

Trust Haldir to come up with a brilliant idea. This immediately caught my sister's attention, and I made a mental note to kill Haldir as soon as possible. "Aviator?" Laurie asked, her eyes sparkling. "Cool! What did he do?"

Haldir scratched his forehead. "Well, from what I can remember, he... umm... took down five hundred enemy airplanes in three days and got decorated with... err... the... Order of Phoenix for that. And then he married a princess and became king of Transilvanya, and they lived happily ever after."

I clasped a hand over my mouth to stifle my giggles, while Faramir, Boromir and even Aragorn looked like they were about to crack up. "Laurie", I said, "get lost, okay? Go play in the traffic or something!"

"Now don't you tell her that!" a very offended Arwen interjected. "What if she really does that? Now sweetie - what's your name?"

"Laura Francesca", my sister answered proudly.

"All right, Laura Francesca - why don't you go buy yourself an ice-cream? My treat."

Laurie seemed to ponder this for a second. "Okay", she said finally.

"There's a good girl." With that, Arwen gave her a $5 bill. Laurie stuck her tongue out to me, and then rushed outside.

I sighed, "Thanks, Arwen. I owe you one."

"Make that, we", Legolas added. "Boy, was that close..."

Elrond gave me one last reproachful look, and then turned to Frodo. "You may begin", he said.

"All right... My story is about something that actually happened... it takes place a few days after we left Rivendell, and I think it will explain a little about a lot..." He sighed. "Well, here it goes."

Fun and games

It was the third night since we had left Rivendell. We had been walking all day, and I could barely feel my feet. From what I could tell, Sam, Merry and Pippin were doing no better, and even showed some signs of tiredness. On the other hand, Legolas and Aragorn were fresh as if they had been resting all day. I must confess, I was amazed.

When Gandalf finally said that we should stop for the night, I dropped to the ground and would have fallen asleep right away if the others hadn't thought that I had suffered a psychic attack or something like that. After all the commotion settled, we ate a little (very little), and then everybody went to sleep. Well, everybody but Legolas and Boromir, who were on the night watch. Poor guys.

Merry, Sam and Pip fell asleep immediately. On the other hand, I soon found that I couldn't do the same, no matter how hard I tried. This was peculiar. I had never suffered from insomnia before, and I couldn't recollect anyone in my family who had. After about half an hour or so, I decided that, if I were to spend a sleepless night, then there was no point in just sitting there like a rock, and that I might as well have some fun. So I took the ring and put it on.

Now, most of you might - and probably will - say that this was a very dumb thing to do. I wholeheartedly agree. I knew from my previous experiences in Bree and Amon'Sul that after I put the ring on the nine Wraiths (or what was left of them, anyway) would be attracted to its power, and so would Sauron be. Still, I just couldn't resist the temptation. That's just the way I am.

After I put the ring on, I waited a second or two, to make sure no one had noticed what I had done, and then I got up quietly. In the distance, I could see my first target: Boromir. Frankly, I never quite liked the guy. So I approached him from behind, and when I was inches away from him, I whispered, "Boo."

Boromir started and turned around, but, of course, there was no one there. He shook his head; but, just as he was about to turn, I said again, fainter this time, "Boo."

Boromir leaned forward, his nose almost touching mine. "Who's... who's there?" he asked, his voice shaking. So much for the big brave man, I thought. I took a step back, and then sneaked up behind him again and said for the third time, "Boo."

This time, Boromir spun so fast he lost his balance and nearly fell. "Who's there?" he demanded loudly, unsheathing his sword. "Show yourself!"

Uh-oh. I'm a pacifist by nature, so I hate swords. I decided that things were getting quite dangerous for my liking and I left Boromir to slash at a nearby hedge in peace. My next target - Legolas.

The elf was at the other end of our camp, if camp is what you should call six sleeping people, two people on the watch, one guy who has nothing better to do than two play pranks on the others, their belongings, their horses and a fire. No sooner had I approached that he turned to where I was, his eyes piercing the thick darkness. I remembered that elven senses are much above human ones, and, not wanting to risk being caught and exposed as the sleepless prankster (which in fact I was), I backed away from him, nearly tripping over Pippin in the process. This gave me an idea.

I bent down and whispered, "Pippin! Wake up!" Pip started, but didn't wake up. I whispered again, "Wake up!" This time, he stirred a little and muttered something I couldn't understand. I sighed, and then whispered yet again, "Pippin! Wake up and smell the mushrooms!"

Now this immediately caught Pip's attention. "Mushrooms..." he muttered, a wide grin spreading over his face. "Mmm..."

Merry, who was sleeping next to him, was apparently having the same sleeplessness problem I did. He elbowed Pip and muttered, "Shut up, you're making me hungry."

"I didn't say anything", Pippin protested sleepily.

"Yes you did. You were talking about mushrooms."

"No I wasn't, but now you're making me hungry."

"Well, you made me hungry first."

"I did not!"

"You did too!"

I chuckled as I left Merry and Pippin to their own affairs and moved on to Sam. Sam usually had a light sleep; this time, however, no matter how hard I tried, all I got in response were incoherent mutters and a very sleepy, "Leave me alone." Resigned, I went to where Aragorn and Gandalf were sleeping, head to heel. Boy, that must've smelled terrible.

Gandalf was sleeping with his eyes wide open. He looked really, really freaky. Then again, Aragorn looked even freakier. On first sight, one might think he was a barbarian from the North or something, rather than a king - about which, if I am to be honest, I had some serious doubts. Anyway, after I tugged at Gandalf's beard or hair (it's hard to tell which one is which) for about ten minutes with no result and I nearly got stabbed by Aragorn (although I could have sworn he didn't even open his eyes!), I decided that I had had enough fun for one night and went to take my place next to Sam. I fell asleep on the spot.

The next morning, I woke up to find that everyone - or nearly everyone - was desperately looking for... me. I realized that I had forgotten to take my ring off, and I wondered numbly how come nobody had tripped over me yet. Just as I finished the thought, Boromir - gods, why did it have to be him of all people? - tripped on me and went crashing on the ground, face first. I took this opportunity to take off my ring; then, as Boromir was pulling himself together, I waved my hand and said innocently, "Hi guys... did you miss me?"

"Where HAVE you been?!" Boromir shouted, jumping to his feet.

"Well... right here, in your way", I said. "And by the way, ow."

"Sorry", Boromir half-snarled.

"No problem." I beamed at Gandalf, who was glaring at me, and at Aragorn, who was rubbing his chin as if in deep thought. "So... when do we eat?"

~ The End ~

"So it was you!" Boromir shouted, while the rest of us cheered and applauded. "I knew it! I knew it!"

"This thing really happened?" Elrond asked, arching his eyebrows.

"Well... yeah, kind of", Frodo answered, shifting his foot. "So... what do you think?"

"Glorious", I said, getting up and patting him on the back, while Haldir rolled on the floor with laughter and even Legolas gave a small smile.

"Wonderful", Arwen said, giggling. "And Boromir slashing at a hedge...? I could totally picture that!"

"HEY!" Boromir said. Arwen grinned widely, and Faramir said, "Touché!" Boromir glared at both of them in turn, then turned to Frodo, "Good job!"

"So... who's next?" Haldir asked.

"Elrohir", me, Arwen and Elrond said at the same time. The elf smiled nicely at all of us, and I must say, he really did have a glorious smile... I shook my head. Something was definitely wrong with me if I was having this kind of thoughts.

"I bet you fifty he'll write either something nasty about Arwen or something sweet about Eowyn", Haldir whispered to me.

I raised an eyebrow, "Why?"

"Because he likes Eowyn."

I choked, "What?" Haldir just shrugged.

Well, this was a big surprise...

__________________

Author's Note: Hello, this is the Fellowship of the Ring. Odeena locked herself in her room two days ago and has been playing 'Legacy of Kain: Defiance' ever since, so we'll be doing the review responses for this chapter. Here we go:

Crystalline4: Well, nobody says we have to wait until Odeena writes that interlude to go out... are you busy this Saturday? Let me know at 1-800-BOROMIR. Guess who.

Filia Regalis: Thanks! As for the Fruit Loops... you don't mind if I take some too, do you? Haldir.

ApocalypticPyro: Here's a small note from Odeena: 'Thank you! I'm honored! *bows to the applause* By the way, did you get the mail I sent you? Let me know!' And we're dying of curiosity to know what you wrote in the Prequel. Can't wait to read it! The Fellowship.

Kekelina: Glad you liked the chapter. So, will you take part in that 'Fangirls and the Fellowship go steady' interlude? Let me know. Elessar.

Voldie On Varsity Track: I didn't know dad can speak Swahili... although that would explain why he's always making funny noises at the phone every Sunday morning. Thanks for thinking I'm sexy. Faramir.

hornofgondor2: There's my horn! I thought I lost in in that battle with--oh wait, that's just your nickname... O_o Oh well. Hug me again, I like it ^_~. Boromir.

Devie Saves a.k.a. Linwe: Really...? Wow... So, what kind of flowers do you like? I'll ask Sam to make a nice bouquet just for you... Frodo. (PS: Which name should I call you - Devie Saves or Linwe?)

yahoo-chocolate-bars: Thankyou for reviewing! And I like chocolate bars, too! Sam.

PS: Sorry for the long wait. I've been away most of last week at a national contest, and now school made a dramatic comeback... Sorry again! Odeena.

PPS: Before you ask: yes, I know the guys screwed up the review responses completely, but I decided to let them have some fun for a change :) And this chapter is a bit longer than the others. I hope you like it!