Hello! Even though I just finished writing Chapter 52 (now 53, I guess), I've wanted for a little while to put this little story in here, especially since this segment of the story goes so quickly compared to the later parts. Anyway, whether you're reading this after the newest chapter or are only just starting... Enjoy!
"How on earth did you—?" Thranduil wondered as he looked around at the area where the feast was supposed to take place that night; every table, chair, branch, and inch of ground was covered in bright pink feathers.
The crazy Silvan elf (a.k.a. trouble incarnate) shrugged and grinned, looking quite proud of herself even though she was covered in feathers as well.
What were they going to do with this little demon? "If I told you to stay here until I return, would you?" he asked, hardly expecting a positive answer.
"Sure."
He almost fell over, but decided to take advantage of his good luck, assuming there were no strings attached. "Thank you, and I suggest you... de-feather yourself while you wait." He pulled several of the fluffy things out of his own hair as he walked away.
Pink feathers? How?! As usual, Thranduil could not decide whether he was glad he had kept an eye on her or not. Who was he going to go to, anyway? Certainly not his father.
"Hi again."
Thranduil almost drew his sword on her out of sheer surprise. "I thought you were staying back there," he said, trying to sound more stern than shocked, especially because he really should not have been expecting her to remain where she was.
"You forgot to define where 'here' was. I'm taking it to mean the forest, meaning I'm still where you told me to stay." She had fewer feathers now, but that was not saying much, and Thranduil noticed a trail of pink bits behind her.
Thranduil decided to try again. He marched her back, put her in a chair, and said, "Do not leave this chair until I return."
"Okay." She began to pull feathers off herself. Off he went again.
He had not gone far at all when she appeared again, carrying the chair. "I didn't leave it," she told him. She was almost half featherless now.
He put his hand over his eyes for a moment, then led her back for the second time. Once there, he took a stick and drew a circle in a patch of dirt, then nudged her inside it. "Stay inside this circle."
She sighed, looking defeated, although Thranduil wasn't sure he believed her. "Stay," he ordered again as he walked away.
He was just starting to think he had indeed won when he spotted her hanging upside-down from a branch ahead. "You didn't say for how long," she pointed out as she dropped to the ground.
He rolled his eyes and plucked the one remaining feather out of her hair, then took her by the shoulders and turned her back the way he had come. When they got there, he steered her into the circle and said, "Do not go outside this circle until I return, and do not exploit any loopholes you see in that request, please."
Now he really had won. She sighed dramatically and plopped down on the ground.
He narrowed his eyes at her, then turned to leave.
"Arooooooooo!"
He stopped, then slowly turned around. Was she...?
"AROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
She was howling. Of course she was. This made perfect sense if one took the rest of her personality into account. "A strange creature you are," he told her before he left.
She just howled louder.