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Chapter Five
Mifsnugwinker and Not again!
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Emily's POV
The next morning the thing that woke me up was the sun peeping in through the blinds. I groaned and buried my face deeper into my pillow. I have never been so sore in my whole life! That slam against the house had done nothing to help it either.
I rolled myself stiffly to a sitting position and dragged my hair out of my eyes. My hair was my one middle earthly beauty, it was long, past my bottom and thick. However, like I said, my one and only middle earth beauty, because I was at least 40 pounds over weight.
Sure I had tried losing weight and that was the reason I was only 40 pounds over weight instead of 60. Mine was a losing battle, or so it would seem. I crawled across to my closet and pulled something out to wear. I had to get up now because I wasn't one of those people that could simply roll over and go back to sleep. I had a guilty conscience if I did.
So I pulled my pj's off and began to dress. As I did so I caught sight of my back in the mirror, it was one big blue mass of bruises! No wonder it hurt like the dickens to move anywhere! I struggled manfully into my clothes and padded out to the kitchen to find a brush.
The kitchen was neat and clean, but I could tell the guys had already eaten and were outside. I peaked out the window and saw them all out in the yard, Boromir was teaching the hobbits more sword techniques and Legolas bow skills. Aragorn was cleaning his sword and Gimli was giving Legolas. . .er. . .helpful? comments on how to fire a bow.
I wandered back to my room and cast a glance down the hall toward the room Barbie was in. through a crack in the door I saw Gandalf snoozing away on a chair near the bed. Barb was curled up in a tight little bundle, her left hand resting lightly on her side and the other clasping the shining ring to her chest.
Well, she'll be alright for now. I braided my hair up and away from my face, it wouldn't do to have it always getting in the way. I then mooched about the kitchen and dug up some breakfast for Gandalf, Barbie, and myself. Sounds of the weapon practice were still coming from outside so I didn't bother them. I carried the tray down the hall and coughed loudly to wake them both up.
When I came in I found Barbie sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Good morning Dearest" I sang as I settled the tray across her lap.
She answered with something like "Mifsnugwinker"
"I'll take that as 'good morning to you too, Miss Perfect.' I said as I plopped on the edge of the bed.
Gandalf was still asleep and merely snorted once or twice and went back to snoring away.
"Boy, I feel like I was run over by a truck." Barbie said after a few sips of hot chocolate.
"Well, no, instead you were almost killed by a dude in serious need of a life." I answered jokingly. "You almost copped it that time Barb, it's a good thing you have 'No fears' like you used to say."
"I was only three at the time Em." She grumbled.
"Yeah, but it sure worked for you yesterday. I wasn't so brave, I just kind of hacked uselessly at them and lured ol' witchy away from you. I was so scared I sure as heck didn't feel brave or 'without fears!'"
She looked at the necklace and said "I was terrified, I thought that we would all be killed, or most of us, but I just didn't ever think it would-be…you know, like this."
I reached out and touched the ring and it warmed at my touch, it was as if it knew when you held it. I pulled my hand away and asked her, "Do you know what that is?"
She rolled her eyes (not too sick to be annoyed it would seem) and replied "I'd be pretty stupid if I didn't if I didn't! I mean, Hello? It's not everyday that you see the symbol of an elf's life Grace. Or that you find it hanging around your neck."
I glanced over at the sleeping wizard and whispered "Gandalf couldn't have saved you without it you know. He was ready to give up, do you realize that if Legolas hadn't helped, we might have had to kill you so you wouldn't become a wraith?"
She shivered at the thought and clasped the ring against her again. I encouraged her to eat and we sat in silence for a while, just thinking about what might have happened.
Suddenly Gandalf gave a monstrous snort and coughed and woke up with a start. "What! Oh good morning Ladies, I hope you slept well?"
"Fine thanks," I said and moved to pour him some cocoa.
"Lady Barbara, I trust you are feeling much better now?" he patted her gently.
She nodded and unconsciously touched the ring on her neck again. Gandalf noticed and smiled quietly. "Yes, he gave it to save you, quite willingly and you have him to thank more than myself. I had done everything and still I needed the aid of another."
Barbie asked "Will it hurt him in anyway to have given it to me? I mean, he wouldn't die suddenly because I have it?" "No, no, no, child rest your heart at that, he is and always will be an immortal creature. The ring is merely a of that immortality, it holds the power of the Grace that causes it and that is what helped bring you back to us.
"Although I have a feeling we have awakened more in the world around us by using it"
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Barbie's POV
When I said I felt like I had been run over by a truck, that was the understatement of the century. Try drowning a girl, wringing her dry, making her run ten miles, lift weights for a few hours and THEN running her over with a truck if you want to be more accurate. But other than that, I felt just great
"I think I am sensing a spirit of sarcasm in the room Councilor Troy."
I am not easily scared, but when Gandalf (good ol' doomsday boy) said that last, cheerful phrase before breaking his fast with a healthy appetite, I couldn't repress a shudder. You do not come away from a Nazgul blade with just a bad headache and a fear of screaming guys in black.
It's more like, you kind of see things with the thought "Could bad headaches and screaming guys in black have any connection with this?" No, I'm kidding, you really do see things in a different light.
"Like what?" I asked, stretching, and then stopping mid stretch as my side throbbed dully in protest. Stupid side.
Gandalf just smiled enigmatically, with a classic "I'll explain later my dear, you must preserve your strength" sort of look, straight from the movies. Go you, Sir Ian! It still was really annoying for him to say things like that and then not explain. Gragh.
"Well, where are the others?" I asked Emily, "Shortcutting? Oliphant hopping?"
"Shhh," hissed Emily, glancing at Gandalf, who was looking interested. "No, they're all outside teaching the hobbits which side of the sword is the sharp one, and no, you do not fire arrows at random." said Emily, entering into a joking mood.
"This I have to see." I said, setting down my cup and pushing back my blankets. Gandalf gave me another "look" and would have said something, but his mouth was full.
"I'll be just fine." I said, tugging at the snarls in my hair with a brush that Emily handed my.
Gandalf still looked doubtful, and I added quickly "Oh, and would you mind leaving? I kind of need to get dressed."
He looked suspicious, as if guessing at my ruse, but he left. "Phew. Just barely managed it that time." I said, sighing with relief, and pulled my hair back in a sort of knot thing at the back.
Emily politely turned around while I slipped into a dress, a loose floral affair that didn't require tugging or pulling to get on. Walking didn't hurt, just stretching. The house was absolutely quiet, you could hear your own footsteps. That was positively eerie and I was glad to get outside.
"Hail chaps well met!" Said Emily cheerfully, as we both settled ourselves on the porch to watch the guys practice. Well, most of them were. Legolas was trying to rescue his bow from Merry, who was fascinated with by the sound the string made when you pulled at it. (Thwathung, thwathung, thwathung.)
"Good morning." returned Boromir, actually smiling (gasp)! He was practicing with Pippin, and was easily warding off his attacks, even when he wasn't looking. The hobbit was obviously in need of some help. Heeheehee.
"Hey Boromir! Quick look behind you!" I called out, pointing at nothing behind him. He looked, but the trouble was, so did Pippin. Didn't work. Darn.
"What?" said Boromir, turning back to us. I couldn't resist laughing, and Emily shook her head at me.
"Nothing, I just thought I saw some, uh, eagles, yeah, eagles behind you." I said, hastily inventing an excuse as Boromir stared at me, arms folded over his chest.
"Eagles? You thought you saw-eagles-behind me?" he said, raising one eyebrow in a spookily Spock like manner.
"Barb, look a cave troll!" Emily suddenly grabbed onto my arm, and half shouted the words. This time we all looked.
All except two people who were both laughing very hard. "Haha, I didn't think you would fall for-heehee-that one," gasped Emily, wiping her eyes.
Boromir was laughing so hard he couldn't even say anything, sitting next to us on the porch. Finally, he managed "You should have seen the-oh Valar help me-looks on your faces! Good job Emily," he said, giving her a friendly slap on the back.
"OW!" Emily jerked away, bending over a little.
"Em, what is it?" I asked, worried.
"You hit a-ow-big bruise-on my back," said Emily between clenched teeth.
"Now Boromir, look what you did! I can't believe a big man like you would do a thing like that!" I scolded.
His reaction was truly amazing. He actually seemed to wilt under my words, and Boromir is NOT a flower.
"I am very sorry, my lady, I had no idea that-please, forgive me." he apologized, looking positively stricken.
"That's fine-I'm fine, Boromir don't worry-ow- about it." said Emily, straightening up and then grimacing slightly.
"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine." I added. I had no idea he would react like that.
"No, no, I'm sure I did something. I'll ask Aragorn to look at it," said Boromir, jumping up, and again looking at Emily with a very guilty expression.
"Wow! Did he actually say that he would ask Aragorn something? Now I call THAT devotion!" I said as soon as he was out of earshot.
"Don't be silly Barb, he's just being nice," said Emily, but she looked rather pleased.
Boromir returned with Aragorn in tow, who was now in "Here I come to save the day……..AGAIN!" mode.
He sat next to Emily, and just barely touched a few places on her back, asking her "Does this hurt?" just like any regular doctor.
"Yes, right-there!" Emily said, wincing a little, even though he was obviously trying to be gentle.
"And Boromir hit you there?" Aragorn asked incredulously, looking at the Gondorian man in question.
"It was an accident-I didn't know that-I'm terribly sorry about it." said Boromir, turning a dark shade of pink.
"Well, I am going to have to attend to it, so you can help her into the house." instructed Aragorn, looking more stern than incredulous now.
"Of course, of course." Boromir was meek as a lamb, and followed Aragorn into the house with Emily on his arm. "What on Arda did you tell him?" asked Legolas, having finally retrieved his bow.
"Oh, I just told him that eagles don't live around here." I said airily.
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Emily's POV
I was not going to let Aragorn look at my back, no way! I mean, Hello! Barbara wasn't any help either, she was all for making the situation as embarrassing as possible.
"Here you can use my room for the examination, and I'll be the nurse." she offered wickedly.
Aragorn thought this was all peachy and Barbara shoved me into the room with an evil wink. I stood there looking at Aragorn in total embarrassment until I noticed the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
He laid an ear against the door and heard Barbara's sniggers and the hobbits' light laughter. Boromir was trying to shush them, but it wasn't working. Aragorn turned to me and asked "Do you have something…uh…light and thin that you could wear?"
"Yeah, just give me a second." Puzzled, I went to the closet and found a thin sheer kind of blouse that I always wore under a jumper or vest because of how see-through it was.
I pulled it on while Aragorn turned his back. Then he went ahead with examining my back as gently as possible, however, he told me to yell every time I felt any pain. This would make everyone feel worse and think something was really wrong with me. So I did, and made and made it seem as real as possible, not all of it was acting though because my back hurt!
But slowly it ceased to throb and it didn't smart every time he touched it. All in all, I would rather have had a sore back because I felt terribly awkward having a man of his age touching my back. It was not that I didn't trust Aragorn to be anything but a gentleman, however, I have always been a private and modest person. I believe the popular term is "prude".
Anyway, we went out to find the hobbits looking worried and Boromir looking as if he would go throw himself off a cliff. "Are you alright Lady Emily?" inquired Merry, taking my hand.
"Sure, it wasn't so bad really. I am glad it's over though." I cast a murderous look at Barbie.
We went to the living room just in time to hear Gimli say: "Stupid girls, always getting themselves hurt and then whining about it! Mind you I think the little one is a brave lass and no mistake, but she's too thin. At least the older one has a good figure, real meat on her bones!"
I could have died right there, to be admired is one thing. But to hear yourself as having "real meat" on your bones is the worst! Merry and Pippin were dieing to keep from laughing and the rest were just as bad.
Throwing my head into the air, I sailed into the room regally and said, "Why thank you Master Gimli, that's the nicest thing you have ever said to me. You're not so bad yourself." "In a super-red-hairier-than-thou sort of way" I added silently.
I was pleased with the effect, he turned a funny purple and spluttered, "Well, I…er…thank you my Lady…I hope you're feeling better?"
"Much better thank you and your compliment just made my day."
We all went into the kitchen and threw lunch together with the food we had left, which wasn't much considering how much the Fellowship ate. I knew we would have to go shopping that night and replenish the pantry. I decided that I would take Pippin and Sam with me to the store because they would know what everyone liked the best.
Boromir rather annoyingly insisted that he come with us so I wouldn't have to carry anything. I was secretly flattered, but I wasn't about to admit it. I mean, I had never had a boyfriend and I wasn't up to date on how to deal with the attention.
So off we went and the hobbits loved the car asking a million questions about it, and never letting the Man of GONDOR get a word in edgeways. I let Sam push the cart and made Pippin stick close to Boromir while I went from aisle to aisle picking up the little things we needed.
Then I gave Sam free reign to choose anything he saw that the rest of the group would like. "Uhm, Lady Emily? Why is everyone looking at us? Is there something wrong?" this from a smiling Pippin, he was attracting a lot of curious looks, as were the other two.
"No Pip, it's just that people aren't used to seeing little hobbits in the grocery store shopping with a man dressed like a knight and a girl of twenty."
"Do all the women of this time insist on dressing in such an immodest fashion?" asked Boromir looking at some girls in mini-skirts and barely-there-tube-tops. They were flirting back in the most disgusting manner!
"I'm afraid so, see these days girls go around like that all the time and no one cares."
"But you and your sister do not dress that way."
"No, because Mom and Dad raised us to have more respect for ourselves and the men around us than to show off everything we have. I hope you don't have to see any more of that than you have to." I apologized.
As we went by, he stared straight ahead and ignored the girls who looked ready to do head stands to get his attention. I stuck my tongue out at them as we passed them and heard one of them say "What a jerk!" And then another one capped it off with the comment of "He's probably gay anyhow."
Needless to say, that made my blood boil, but what was I supposed to do? I couldn't just go up and say no, he wasn't. I shrugged it off glad that he didn't know what they were talking about. They weren't worth the trouble.
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Merry's POV
After watching the others go off in that cart-or whatever it was-I was feeling rather bored. Boromir was gone and so I couldn't practice sword fighting, and since that elf's bow was bigger than me, I couldn't really do that either.
Gandalf was in the living room reading something called "The Rise And Fall Of The Roman Empire." Definitely a wizard thing.
"Gandalf, is there anything for me to do?" I asked, looking over his shoulder, and deciding that whoever Julius Caesar was, he had a very bad nose,--- He--Gandalf, not Julius Caesar-just glared at me.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you to read the invisible 'Do Not Disturb' sign hung around every reader's neck?" Barbara had suddenly come into the room.
"The what?" I asked, confused. She was always using the oddest expressions. "All readers have one, When they pick up a good book-poof-there it is." she answered, sitting on the couch. She had a small box in her hand, and slid off the top.
"Hey Merry, you want to see something?" she said, picking up something in her hands.
She was looking through a collection of jewelry, a small ring with a bluish stone set in the center, another ring with a white stone in it and some other things. "I bet Gimli would love to see these," she said, and handed me the box.
Then she jumped up to get him-and then stopped. She just stood there, one hand slightly forward, frozen in movement. "Barbara?" I said, then stopped. Her face was utterly blank, and she seemed to be staring at nothing on the opposite wall. "Gandalf, something's wrong with Barbara, she's just-oh dear-look!"
Just as Gandalf finally looked up from his book, she slumped to the floor with a soft thump, her eyes still wide open and unseeing.
"Gandalf I-what in the!" Frodo had come into the room, and broke off abruptly as he saw Barbara lying on the floor.
"Here, you can help us-lift her onto the couch," said Gandalf. She was completely limp, as if she wasn't even there.
"What is it? I mean, what is happening?" asked Frodo, looking incredibly worried.
"I was afraid something like this would happen- because of the incident yesterday. I think we should just-leave her alone," explained Gandalf, unconsciously brushing some hair out of his eyes.
"So it's because of the Nazgul when-I was-when she was alone?" said Frodo, looking at Gandalf with a very guilty look.
"Frodo, it wasn't your fault, there was nothing else to be done." I said firmly. He shouldn't be blaming himself for this. I heard something outside, and looked out the window. The others were back.
"I'll go tell them before they come in, I do not think it would be good for Lady Emily to come in and see her sister in a faint on the couch," said Gandalf with a slightly rueful expression.
"Alright, I'll-tell the others. Frodo, why don't you stay with her?" I said.
"Yes of course" said Frodo, sitting on the edge of the couch. I entered the room where Aragorn and the others were, just in time to hear Gimli sing something about ale, and not stopping until the sun went down and the sun came up. I felt rather awkward.
How was I supposed to tell them about Barbara? "I say chaps, Lady Barbara just hit the carpet out there in the living room" didn't seem respectful. This was serious.
"Uh, Barbara just-fainted in the living room," I said.
"Not again!" was the first thing Gimli said. Legolas just glared at him.
"Oh yes, Gimli, I'm sure she did it on purpose to interrupt your song," he said, and he brushed by me into the hallway followed by Aragorn and Gimli. Emily was inside, questioning Gandalf with a worried face.
"What's happening? Did she push herself too hard or something? Is it and aftereffect of the stab?"
Gandalf shook his head. "No, it is nothing like that. I should have explained the remark I made earlier."
"What about it?" asked Emily uneasily.
"I believe that your sister was-contacted- yesterday. It was hard on her then, and when it happened again today- she wasn't ready for it. I'm sure she'll be alright," reassured Gandalf.
"Contacted? By who? And- how?" blurted out Emily, looking more and more confused.
Gandalf looked down at the girl's unconscious form again before replying. "I think it may be-and I could be wrong-but I think it is very probably the Lady Galadriel."
"You must be joking," stated Emily slowly, eyes widening.
"No-in fact, this may be the only way we will be able to continue our quest."
"What do you mean?" I had to ask.
"I believe I will now be able to contact the Lady myself, Master Merry," returned Gandalf. He turned to all of us, "And when I do, you need to be ready. We will probably be leaving tonight."