"Hello, dwarf!" Aragorn called as he saw Gimli approaching.
Gimli mumbled a greeting in response.
"Well, I had quite an uneventful night. How about yourself, Aragorn?" Legolas asked, glancing in Gimli's direction.
"Oh yes, it was quite pleasant indeed," the ranger replied. "I am very grateful that no one was so terrible as to disturb either of us again."
Gimli decided to play along. "I am pleased to hear that. I would not want someone bothering my two very dear friends."
At this, Legolas rose and excused himself. He turned to leave, but not before he threw a wink in Aragorn's direction. Then he disappeared into the trees.
"I trust then that you had a splendid night as well?" Aragorn inquired, trying to think up of a way to make Gimli stick around until Legolas returned.
"Slept the entire way through," the dwarf replied.
Aragorn successfully kept him busy for a few moments longer until the sounds of Legolas noisily tearing through the woods could be heard.
"Friends!" he cried, emerging from the trees. "Prepare yourselves! Enemies are approaching. Ready your weapons!"
Gimli stood motionless, too shocked to do anything else.
"You there, dwarf!" the elf shouted. "Where is your axe? Are you going to just stand there as we are attacked?"
"No, of course not!" he replied.
Gimli turned and sprinted up the steps towards his quarters where he had left his axe. When he returned, Aragorn and Legolas were also readying their weapons.
"I shall die before I allow enemies to encroach upon this beautiful city!" Gimli cried at the top of his lungs.
"Orcs!" Aragorn yelled, catching the spirit. "Thou shall be slain!"
Now, it just so happens that while this was taking place, Gandalf was making his way back to his own room after entrapping poor Pippin in a mound of lime Jello. Upon hearing the battle cries, the wizard quickened his pace and hurried to the scene.
"Enemies attacking Rivendell?" Gandalf asked, surprised. "I shall turn them all into toads! Today they will learn to fear the name of Gandalf the Grey."
"With a pink hat," Gimli coughed, not missing the opportunity to mock one of his mates, despite the imminent doom coming for them all.
Luckily for Gimli, the wizard was too wound up by now to notice the smart remark. Legolas shot a concerned look at Aragorn.
"Err… Gandalf," Aragorn began.
"Silence, Strider!" Gandalf cried. "The enemy is approaching. We must all be fully alert if we want to destroy them!"
"What he's…" Legolas started.
"You heard the man!" Gimli cut him off.
Helpless, Aragorn and Legolas stared at one another while Gimli and Gandalf tensed in anticipation of a battle. The leaves on the trees and bushes were rustling. Whatever was concealed in those trees was approaching quickly. Gimli threw a small dagger in the noise's direction. Although he could not see where it landed, a dull thud was heard.
"Aye! One for me before we can even see our foes!" Gimli exclaimed. "I shall better you this time, elf!"
The leaves were rustling even louder now. The crack of a twig was heard. Something began to emerge from the shadows… Gandalf pointed his staff and began to quote a spell as a small squirrel appeared from the woods. The animal stood on his hind legs, surveying the foursome. He soon decided that they were nothing interesting and scurried back into the trees.
"What?" Gimli asked, confused. "No Orcs?"
Legolas bit his lip, snickering. Aragorn heard it and glanced in his direction. The fact that the elf was snickering caused Aragorn to do the same. In turn, Aragorn's joining him caused Legolas to burst out into full-fledged laughter. This continued until both were laughing so hard they thought they might die due to lack of oxygen.
"You!" the dwarf shouted, irate. "You knew it all along. You were out to make a fool of me!"
"I am ashamed of you!" Gandalf told them. "If you want to make him look like a fool, you are more than welcome to do so. But when you make me look like a fool; then the matter has become personal."
Legolas stared at him as if the wizard had just said something dumb.
Gimli began to nod; then realized just what Gandalf had said.
"Hey, wait…" he began to protest.
Gandalf shot him a look of death and he immediately quieted.
"We tried to warn you!" Aragorn explained.
"Every time we tried you told us to be silent!" Legolas pleaded their case. "You were never meant to be a part of this. It was just for Gimli."
"Are you sure?" Gandalf asked suspiciously, eyeing them over.
"Yes," Aragorn confirmed; then decided to add on to his statement. "We would never so much as dream of pulling such a dirty trick on one such as yourself."
The wizard straightened himself to his full height as he allowed the remark to fully stroke his ego.
"Well then," he said. "In that case, the whole matter is quite amusing. The fact that Gimli could mistake a squirrel for an army of Orcs… Yes, it's hilarious actually! What a fool of a dwarf he really is."
Gandalf continued to chuckle about the incident as Legolas and Aragorn failed miserably in trying to hide their devilish grins from the dwarf's view.
"That is not fair!" Gimli whined. "What makes it okay for them to pull a trick on me?"
"The fact that it was done to you, and not myself," Gandalf stated matter-of-factly, grinning wide.
"Perhaps the next time Orcs are really coming, I will just leave you all to their mercy," Gimli voiced crossly.
"There will be nothing of the sort!" Gandalf boomed.
He aimed his staff and blurted out a few words that sounded like a bunch of nonsense to the others. It must have been very powerful nonsense; however, because a lick of flame shot just over Gimli's head.
The dwarf cried out and ducked, though Gandalf could have easily hit him if he had wished to do so. Not willing to take any more chances, he turned and hurried off, as far as he could get from Gandalf and the old wizard's staff.
Pleased with himself, Gandalf bid the remaining duo goodbye for the time being, leaving them to reminisce over the event.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I try my best to reply to all of those who sign in and leave reviews, but sometimes I will get so busy it will slip my mind. Know that I appreciate your feedback even if I forget to reply to your review. As a shameless plug, I invite you all to read the original Revenge of the Fellowship story to see what started it all!