Chapter 5

Truth or Dare in Lothlorien

Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR, and . . . why is this on itallic?! Maybe because I pressed control-i. No one reviews this story!!!!! But, rather than get disappointed, I will continue writing, because, STUBBORNNESS RULES!!!!! Oops, did I spell that right?

Aragorn bowed his head respectfully. "We must obey his last command." He said, and lead the Fellowship out of the mines.

It was glorious to see sunshine again, having spent 4 days in a dark, dingy mine. Everyone flung themselves on the grass and breathed in the fresh air. Even Gimli. Eventually, Legolas remembered the Emilys and their injuries.

"Aragorn." He said, pointing at them.

Aragorn started to make his way over.

Itarilde shook her head. "I'm fine." She gasped, though the pain was now spreading all over her torso.

Neal came over, hands on his hips. "That you most certainly are not. Allow me."

He started to glow a pale greenish colour. The next moment, a feeling of warmth was spreading through Itarilde's icy chest. The wound became a scar, something she would carry to the end of her days.

As Neal looked over Emily, Aragorn tended to Frodo. All the other hobbits were sobbing for the loss of Gandalf. They couldn't even eat.

Aragorn stood up. "Get them up, Boromir."

Boromir looked exasperated. "Give them a rest, for pity's sake!" The truth was, he wouldn't have minded staying where they were for a while.

Aragorn was in a hurry. He didn't want his orders questioned. "By nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs. I suppose you would like to be their prey?" he walked over so that his face was a centimeter from Boromir's. Boromir looked away and drew back, gathering the hobbits with him.

They staggered on, until they reached the fair woods of Lorien. Itarilde looked around with interest. She had never seen a forest so dense, but, yet, beautiful. There was a narrow stream and they all waded through. In doing so, everyone felt their weariness fade away and get carried down the stream.

Aragorn was the first to reach the other bank. As soon as he set foot on it, an arrow whistled by him and landed in the stream. Uttering a cry of surprise, he quickly drew out Anduril. Harry tightened his grip on his wand. Before anyone could do anything, thought, a voice came from the tree nearest them.

"Who enters the Woods of Lorien?"

Legolas climbed out of the water. "I am Legolas Greenleaf. My father is Thranduil, King of Greenwood. With me is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, the heir of Isildur; 4 hobbits of the Shire: Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took; and six Gondorians: Boromir, son of the steward, Ioresth, Iorlas, Ioreas, and Itarilde, who is of elvish ancestry; Olorin the Different, Gandalf's student; and . . ." he faltered. "And a . . . dwarf."

The elf in the tree made a face of distaste, unnoticed by the Fellowship.

"I am Haldir of Lorien. Dwarves carry great evil, as does one of the periannath. You can go no further."

"Haldir o Lorien," pleaded Aragorn, "We have traveled a long way from Rivendell, and lost our guide, Gandalf the Grey, in the shadow of the mines of Moria. Therefore, I beg of you, please let us stay."

Haldir sighed heavily and climbed down from the tree with a rope ladder. Two other elves followed. "I will bring you to Lady Galadriel and lord Celeborn. They will decide."

"Hannon le," Said Legolas (thank you), "Govannas vin gwennen le." (our Fellowship stands in your debt)

"However," continued Haldir, "the dwarf must be blindfolded."

Gimli was infuriated. "What?! I am no spy. I refuse to be treated less than equally."

Haldir frowned. "This is our law. Your people of ancient days have created a barrier between Elves and Dwarves."

Gimli raised his ax. Harry, sensing trouble, shouted "petrificus totalus!" and sent Gimli crashing to the ground face first, just as Neville had done so many years back. Thinking of Neville, a wave of homesickness washed over him. Hogwarts was like his family. Would he ever get back?

His thoughts were interrupted as he noticed everyone staring at him.

"He-that's Gandalf's assistant-I mean student, Olorin the . . . different." Aragorn said hastily.

Haldir blindfolded Gimli as Harry muttered the counter-spell. All 3 Lorien elves regarded Harry with confusedness and mistrust. Nevertheless, though, they led the Fellowship into Lothlorien, Gimli grumbling all the way about hew he'd better not trip over any bumps.

"He'll probably sue if he trips over so much as an anthill." Itarilde whispered to Emily, who snorted in agreement. Neither could understand why dwarves were so touchy.

There were, of course, no bumps, anthills or no, in Lothlorien. They reached Caras Galadhon, after a long march up countless flights of stairs and stopped in front of a set of stone steps. A bright light appeared at the top. Well, two lights, actually, because one was Galadriel and the other was Celeborn. The Lady of the Wood shone of golden beauty. Her clothes were spotlessly white and her fair was as gold as the sun reflected in a pool of sparkling water. In her eyes were the light of the stars and the great wisdom of her years. Celeborn shone, too, though not of as much brilliance or whiteness. His hair was a moonlight silver colour, and his eyes, too, betrayed the fact that he was older than he looked.

Celeborn spoke first. "There were 14 that were to set out. Here there are 13. Where is Gandalf? For I much desired to speak with him again."

Kel opened her mouth to respond, but Galadriel beat her to it. "Gandalf the Grey set out with the company, but he did not pass the borders of this land. He has fallen into shadow."

"Wait." Said Neal. "How did you know that?"

Itarilde was appalled. "Neal!" she hissed, "Mind your manners! Do you know who you're speaking with?" she turned to Galadriel. "I apologize for my companion's insolence." She glared at Neal before continuing. "I hope you haven't been offended."

Galadriel was smiling. "And who might you be, young human? I would guess you are no more than 15 years of age."

Itarilde looked a bit nervous. Elves could be trusted, but she wasn't taking any chances. She had a feeling, that either way, Galadriel would see right through her. But what had she to lose?

"My name is Itarilde. I have ancestors among the Greenwood elves, but I have been born and raised in Gondor, as have my comrades, Iorlas, Ioreth, and Ioreas."

"I see." Said Galadriel. "Now, answer me truthfully. Do you and your companions really live in Middle-Earth?"

Itarilde swallowed hard. "No."

Emily poked her. "Um, why did you just say 'no'?"

Itarilde looked confused. "Because Galadriel asked me if we live in Middle-Earth. You heard her."

Emily shook her head. "I didn't hear anything."

They both looked at Galadriel, who was still smiling. Then they understood. Galadriel hadn't verbally spoken to Itarilde. She had spoken to her telepathically. Itarilde found this a bit creepy.

Galadriel moved on to the Ringbearer. "You carry a heavy burden," she told him, "your quest is know to us. Now, tell me what happened."

After Frodo gave a detailed explanation of what had happened since they'd left Rivendell, Galadriel said to them, "Your quest stands upon the edge of a knife. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the Company is true. But, do not let your hearts be troubled. Tonight you shall sleep in peace."

Half an hour later . . .

Now, we find the hobbits smoking pipe-weed, since that is all Sam has. Boromir, Kel, and Neal are talking quietly, and Gimli and Harry are asleep. Gimli is snoring. Aragorn, Legolas, Itarilde, and Emily are sitting in a small circle, laughing hysterically. Itarilde and Emily had decided to teach Aragorn and Legolas how to play "truth or dare" to lighten up the mood.

"Okay," said Itarilde, grinning wickedly, "Legolas, how much time to you spend every day taking care of your hair and face?"

Legolas grimaced. "Three hours brushing and washing my hair when I'm in Mirkwood, and 2 minutes when I'm elsewhere, away from my father. For the facial features, I spend one hour at home and none elsewhere."

Emily frowned. "What does your father have to do with all of this?"

Legolas made a "dying" face. "Have you ever seen my dad? He's twice as good-looking as me, and the only reason I spend so much time on 'personal hygiene' is that if I don't he will kill me for not living up to his reputation. Ah, how good it feels not to have to worry about my complexion right now! If my father could see this he would come and scold me on the spot, then shove a lot of facial products and shampoo in my arms and tell me to keep up the routine."

"O-kay. . ." Itarilde looked a bit scared. "Um, you're next Aragorn. Truth or dare?"

"Erm. . . dare."

Now Legolas was smiling. "Then I dare you to go into that corner over there," he pointed to a very dark corner, "ALONE, and sit, with your back facing us, for 10 whole minutes."

Aragorn turned pale, much to Emily and Itarilde's interest. "But Legolas. . . "

Legolas gave him a friendly shove. "Go."

Aragorn stayed rooted to the spot. Eventually, the other 3 had to push him over to the corner. That was no easy task.

"Geez, Aragorn!" exclaimed Itarilde. "How much do you weigh?"

"He probabaly weights at least as much as an oliphaunt." Replied Legolas.

"I resent that-ouch! Watch your foot! You kick hard!"

They finally got him to the corner. Aragorn was behaving very strangely. His eyes were shut really tight and he looked like he was about to wet himself. They left him there. A few seconds later, they heard whimpering and very off-tune singing:

"Whenever I feel afraid,

I hold my head erect,

I whistle a happy tune,

So no one will suspect,

I'm afraaaaaaiddd."

Emily, Itarilde, and Legolas stifled giggles. They didn't have to wait long before he came running out of the corner, with a white, tear-stained face.

"Legolas!" he whined, "how could you?"

Legolas smirked. "Oh, I couldn't resist showing my young companions how you seem to like dark places so much."

Aragorn, missing the sarcasm, cried, "Like them? You know very well I'm petrified of- " he stopped short when he saw Itarilde and Emily looking at him, laughter in their eyes.

"It's okay," said Itarilde, trying to keep a straight face, "you can tell us."

Aragorn sighed. "Okay. It began like this. Around 50 years ago, Elrohir and Elladan were playing hide-and-seek with me in Rivendell. It was quite a childish game, but Elrond's house had so many secret nooks and crannies, we just couldn't give it up."

"Okay." Said Elrohir to his brothers, "you both have 15 seconds. Go."

"Fifteen seconds?!" exclaimed Aragorn as Elladan scurried off. "That's not enough time!"

"Ten seconds now." Elrohir grinned.

Aragorn rolled his eyes and ran off. He found himself in the dining room. From outside he heard Elrohir yell, "I'm coming to find you!"

Quickly, Aragorn ducked under the dining table. It actually didn't offer that much protection; the tablecloth didn't even reach halfway to the floor, but he resolved that it would be better than the fireplace, where Elrohir had hid last time.

Distinctly, he heard, "I've found you!" meaning both his brothers were now coming to look for him. He was about to shift to a more comfortable position under the table when suddenly, a huge gust of wind blew through the open windows of the house, extinguishing every candle, and leaving everything in pitch blackness.

Aragorn stifled a scream of terror. He had always hated the dark, and this was not helping. He couldn't get out from under the table. His fear bound him in place, his fear of what was around him, in the darkness-

"Hey, stop that!" Aragorn exclaimed at the giggling Emilys.

Emily choked. "Go on." She said, after a few tries.

Aragorn rolled his eyes.

He stayed there, unmoving, for what seemed like an eternity, until the door creaked open. Harsh breathing was heard from directly in front of Aragorn, who was sure his heart had stopped beating. Then, a dark hand appeared. It groped around in the dark, reaching for Aragorn. And then. . .

"Stop laughing!" Aragorn shouted at the hysterical girls.

Legolas took over the story, seeing as Aragorn would probably never finish.

And then Aragorn let out the Queen of earsplitting shrieks, just as the hand grabbed him and said, "ha! Gotcha!"

Aragorn was shaking so badly that his breath was coming in short, ragged gasps. A candle was lit. A faint glow filled the room. Aragorn could move.

"Are you okay?" Elladan's voice rang through Aragorn's ears, though he didn't hear a thing.

"Aragorn?" Slowly Aragorn's vision cleared and his ears stopped ringing. He found the twins grinning at him. They had somehow found out where he was hiding and had decided to give him the scare of his life.

"And they did, too. He had a weird twitch for the next 3 months." Legolas finished with a smirk.