I really do not like being cold. Scratch that. I hate being cold. Having lived along the sunny shore of Florida my entire life this has never been a problem. To say that I was just cold would be the understatement of the century. My lips were cracked and chapped to the point of bleeding, my fingers were so numb they couldnt move anymore, and dont even get me started on my feet. How I was still moving I had no idea.
Though the cold did bring some lovely sights. The snow-capped mountains were just as beautiful up close as they were afar. When the snow first started to fall it was like a winter wonderland. Hell, Id never seen snow before! Of course now that has all changed. I was colder than I had ever been before and after hours upon hours of walking in the deep snow I was becoming less amused. At this point if I never saw a single flake of snow again I would die happy.
"Lady Alexandria, sick close to the hobbits while I talk with Aragorn." Boromir addressed me already moving away. I hadnt even noticed I was near him or the hobbits. Pippin smiled at me as he pulled his hood closer to his head. I really need to work on being more observant.
I couldnt help but notice that the hobbits werent wearing shoes. I knew my feet were close to freezing off, if they hadnt already, so I could only imagine how theirs felt. But, once again curiosity got the better of me and I found myself speaking before thinking, "Pippin, how are your feet not freezing? I mean you arent wearing any shoes and the snow is at least three feet deep." At least this made more since than the pointy ears comment I made with Legolas.
"Hobbit feet are thicker than the feet of men." He explained still smiling despite the bitter cold. "I can hardly feel the cold on my feet, though he laughed, that is not to say that the rest of me isnt cold."
"That makes sense," I told him. Now that I thought about it, it would explain why they were able to walk across the rocky terrain earlier with no problem. "I really wish I were a hobbit so my feet werent so cold." I joked.
Apparently that was the wrong thing to say. "What do you mean? How cold are you?" Merry asked moving closer to me.
"Are you not wearing shoes Lady Alexandria?" Sam inquired. He looked genuinely worried.
"I do have shoes," I explained as I pulled my foot out the snow so they could see. "They just werent meant for the snow. These are more for the beach." Now that my foot was visible I could see that my toes were blue. Very blue. This was most certainly not good. "Now that is an interesting shade of blue."
"Aragorn!" Frodo called to the ranger. His voice barely audible in the storm. "Lady Alexandria is not well!"
Before he could finish his statement I found myself surround by all nine members of the fellowship. Once again I was the center of attention. Lovely. "Maybe it isnt as bad as it looks?" I tried to convince myself more than any of them.
"I doubt that," Aragorn told me. He pulled his pack off his shoulder and started pulling out what appeared to be small fur blankets. "Boromir do you have any string or twine?"
Boromir was one step ahead of him and was already reaching out to him with two very long pieces of twine in his hand. It seemed as if they were able to communicate telepathically because the next thing I knew I was in the air. I looked up at Legolas to try to tell him that I wasnt that bad and could still stand but was stopped when Aragorn pulled off my flip flops.
Soon both my feet were wrapped in mock fur boots held together with string. I had to laugh, it looked like I was wearing a pair of uggs. As much as I hated the style I couldnt deny how much warmer my feet were. I was beginning to get feeling back in my toes.
"How do you feel?" Aragorn asked as Legolas placed me back on the ground.
"So much warmer! Thank you so much!" I almost had to yell to be heard over the wind. Aragorn handed out blankets to the hobbits and myself.
With any luck we have caught it in time and there will be no permanent damage. He said as he turned to continue walking. Before he could fully turn I leaped out and hugged him.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I told him over and over again before pulling away. He looked surprised but before I could fully think out why I was hugging Boromir. Thats right. I was hugging Boromir of my own free will. "You too, thank you." I told him when I pulled away. I moved to continue on and barely caught sight of the shocked faces of the group.
"What do ya suppose that was about?" Pippin whispered to Merry.
"Dont know Pip," Merry responded in an equally hushed tone. "Maybe its a cultural thing."
I guess these people dont hug much.
Soon we had fallen into a not so comfortable silence as we continued with our hike up the mountain. While my feet were considerable warmer the rest of me wasnt. The blanket seemed to be more useful for keeping the snow from sticking to me than it was keeping me warm. Either way I was grateful for it.
I noticed something much higher than myself walking by on the surface of the snow. That just wasnt fair. "How is it you can walk on the snow?" I yelled at him without meaning to.
"I am an elf, Lady Alexandria." He explained in his normal tone. Of course, because cool pointy ears weren't enough he had to be able to walk on snow too. Show off.
"How much further?" I more begged than asked. I hated whining, really I did, but I was sick of snow and being cold. I must have looked pretty pathetic because the next thing I knew Legolas was offering me his hand.
"You are growing tired and we still have ground to cover." He explained as he pulled me up. He helped me find my footing, supporting most of my weight so I would be able to balance on top the snow.
"You dont have to do this. I mean wont you get tired? Its not like I only weigh ten pounds or anything. Tylers always telling me to lay off the sweet and hit the gym more. I mean Im not fat or anything, but I could stand to lose five pounds. Or maybe ten." For some reason I just couldnt stop talking. I couldnt help it, I was feeling so self conscious with him holding me like that. My face was burning from the blush that I knew Legolas could easily see.
"I assure you, Lady Alexandria, I will not tire that easily, and your extra weight is hardly noticeable."
My extra weight was hardly noticeable? I wasnt sure how I felt about that one. Arent guys supposed to assure the girl that she was nothing at all and that she shouldnt worry about it? I guess Tyler was right: I do need to spend more time at the gym. I will put it at the top f my list when I get home. If I ever get home.
We walked on in silence. As awkward as I felt I did enjoy walking on top the snow much more enjoyable than walking through the snow. As I took another step forward I was pulled back. "Legolas?" I questioned looking up at him.
His attention was not on me, it was fixated on Boromir. There appeared to be some sort of altercation between Frodo and Boromir, and Aragorn certainly did not look too happy about it. "Legolas, whats going on?"
Again, he did not answer me. Instead he reached behind his shoulder to grasp his bow. Before he could bring the bow forward Boromir handed Frodo back a small gold ring set on a silver chain. This seemed to make everyone happy and we continued on.
"You were going to shoot him because of a ring?" I asked him completely alarmed at the thought. "And Aragorn he almost pulled out his sword!" I tried to pull away from him, no longer wanting anything to do with these people.
"It is of great importance that the ring remains with Frodo." He explained as he attempted to get me under control again.
"You guys are nuts!" I told him in all seriousness. "Its a ring, and you were going to kill Boromir over it! Dont touch me!" I pulled my arm away from his hand. I hadnt really thought my actions trough because they next thing I knew I was sinking, rather quickly, into the deep snow.
Legolas made to offer me his hand, but I refused. "I dont need your help!" I snapped, trying to move myself into the deep trough Gnadalf had created with his staff. Legolas looked like he wanted to say something to me, but turned his head forward as if he was straining to hear something.
I made my way over to Merry and Pippin as rock started falling from the top of the mountain. I could only hear bits and pieces of conversation, there was something about bringing down the mountain and that we should turn back. I couldnt help but agree, we should go back.
The next thing I knew an avalanche was cascading towards us. "Dear God!" There was no one to help me now. My world went dark.
I couldnt have been buried for long before instinct made me fight to reach the surface. "Are you alright lass?" a gruff voice asked me from behind. Turning my head I could see Gimli pulling himself out of the snow. I struggled to do the same.
"I'm fine Gimli. Are you?" I was having a hard time trying to free my left arm from the snow. I knew it was going to be an uphill battle just trying to free my legs. I wasnt too concerned with that though, because I was so cold that I had no feeling in my body. Honestly I was just happy to be alive at this point.
"I will survive. I have been through tougher scrapes than this!" He boasted, offering me his hand. I took it gratefully. He helped me get my arm out of the snow, but couldnt help me any further. It must have been the height thing. He just simply wasnt tall enough to pull me out any further.
"Allow me." A soft voice offered to my right. Legolas. I really didnt want to see him. I was having a hard time dealing with the fact that him and Aragorn were willing to kill someone over a piece of jewelry. It just didnt make sense, and was a completely horrible thought.
I tried to tell Legolas that I didnt need his help but Gimili stopped me. "As much as I dont want to say it lass, I believe the elf might be of more help than I."
Grudgingly I allowed Legolas to take my hand and pull me up. It took lees than ten seconds for him to pull my entire body from the snow. "Thank you."
"You are most welcome, my lady." He responded. "I fear that I have angered you, for you seem unwilling to be in my presences."
"Not gonna lie, I'm more than a little freaked out that you would even consider killing someone over a ring." I explained. "Its just not right."
"As I told you the ring must remain with Frodo. The ring is evil and Frodo must be the one to destroy it at Mt Doom." He spoke every slowly, as if to insure that I understood his words completely.
"So why not just melt it in a fire? Its just gold right?" I questioned. "Why go on this long journey to some volcano?"
"I'm afraid it is not that simple." He sighed.
Of course while Legolas and I were making amends we missed an important conversation. Well, I missed the conversation: Legolas never missed anything. Damn perfect elf.
"We will go through the mines." Frodo stated, his tone final.
"Well, at least the mines sound warm." I was trying to stay on the bright side of things.
"Right you are lass!" Gimli seemed very excited that someone was happy about heading to his cousins house. Well, mine.
"You people sure are strange." I told Legolas as we started making our way down the mountain. "Going through all this trouble for a ring."
He seemed to understand that I was joking because his reply was just as snarky, "You are one to talk, my lady. You wear the clothes of a man, and work with strange animals."
"Oh, I do miss my sea lions." I sighed.
"What is a sea lion?" Pippins curiosity seemed to get the better of him again. I had a horrible feeling that would get him in trouble some day.
"It's a large marine mammal. It looks kind of like a dog with flippers, but much much bigger.' I explained.
"Ah. Whats a marine mammal?" He asked. I had all four hobbits around me by this point, the rest of the fellowship seemed to be listening in too making me the center of attention. Lovely. At least this time I was talking about something I loved. I really could talk about my animals for hours. As nerdy as that may be.
"Do you know what a mammal is?" I asked, needing to know where to start explaining.
"I think." He seemed a little confused.
"Mammals are things like dogs, horses, cats. Basically anything that gives birth to live young and feeds them with milk from their body." They all seemed to understand this so I continued. "A marine mammal is simply a mammal that lives in the ocean."
"You work near the ocean?" Aragorn questioned.
"I live just a few blocks from the shore line." I told him. "I work with many different animals from the sea."
"What other sorts of animals?" Sam questioned, I could see in his eyes that he liked this conversation.
"Mostly other marine mammals, though my facility does have many different species of fish, sharks, sea turtles. We even have birds and horticulture! Though I have no idea why." I couldnt help but smile. I know people say that you shouldnt make your job your life, but when you work for your entire life to get a specific job that is kind of impossible. My animals made me happy.
"I like horticulture." Sam told me, pride was clearly heard in his voice, "Back in the Shire Im something of a gardener."
"He is the best in the Shire." Frodo added, smiling at his friend.
"I dont have much of a green thumb. I'm much better with things that can show me whats wrong." I admitted, laughing. "I always feel so helpless when my flowers start to die."
We continued this banter all the way to the entrance of the mines. It was certainly warmer, but it was by no means flip-flop weather that was for sure. Not that it mattered anyway, I'm pretty sure Aragorn tossed mine into the snow.
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I saved her feet! I hope this chapter was enjoyable. I had a hard time writing it, and Im not sure Im entirely happy with it. I will try to get the next chapter out within the next two weeks. My schedule is a little weird with two jobs and all.
Thanks for reading. Reviews let me know how Im doing and are greatly appreciated.