A/N: Hay guys, heres the 3rd!
It took the Company a while to get used to their two new companions, not that we weren't fun to have around. Us two did unusual, funny things that amused the other travelers. For example, I was walking along one day and chatting to Legolas and randomly said, "Oh, I hope my mum tapes Survivor for me while I am away!"
And the time when it was our turn to take watch by the fire, we started playing an old favourite clap game. "Under the Bambi bushes, down by the sea…" Consequently, Merry and Pippin burst out laughing.
"Hey, we were bored." Nicky told them indignantly.
Then, another time when the two of us were making dinner, Nicky was taking orders from each of them in turn. When she got around to Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo, she gave Pippin a saucy wink and said, "Hey sexy, what you want for dinner?" For a few days after that, the hobbits, not really knowing what it meant, went around calling everybody 'sexy' which inadvertently set us into continuous fits of giggles.
Because we effectively came from the future and vaguely new how the story turns out, we knew that Boromir would die soon, so in order to know when this was going to happen, we had to find out what the date was.
"Aragorn?" I asked him that morning.
"Yes, my Lady?" He replied.
"What is the date?"
"Today is the 25th of Febuary."
I gasped and looked at Nicky with wide eyes.
"Oh my God, Nicky, tomorrow…" I whispered to her.
"I know…" Nicky whispered back, her eyes brimming with tears.
"We have to go." I said to Nicky. And we ran off.
"I can't believe that tomorrow is when Boromir dies! Can't we warn him Nicky?" I asked Nicky as we were searching for Boromir.
"We cant! That will alter the story too much, and then Frodo might not get the ring to Mordor, and then, us along with everybody else will… die I suppose."
"OK, OK. It just is unbearable knowing what will happen to him and we can't do anything about it." I said unhappily.
"We can do something though, we can make his last hours… the best we can." Nicky said, looking equally unhappy as myself. We found Boromir sitting on the bank of the river Anduin.
"Boromir? Could you please teach us how to 'wield' a sword, please?" I asked him tentatively. He looked at us, puzzled.
"Why do you wish for me to teach you how to fight?" Boromir asked us.
"Well, you never know when it will come in handy you know, we could stumble on another band of Orcs…soon." I said, with a hint.
"Carmen!" Nicky hissed at me.
"Sorry." I whispered.
"Very well, I will teach you. Perhaps you are right. We are drawing near to danger, you may need the skills soon." Boromir got to his feet. "First, we must find you swords."
We managed to get swords from Aragorn, which he carried in his pack. Boromir showed us the basics, and when we had those moves memorized, we went on to more complex swordplay. Boromir was impressed with our progress.
"I have never seen anybody progress so quickly with a sword. You are fast learners." He panted as we went through our paces.
"Thanks." I said, wiping sweat from my face as we had a quick break. I looked around and realized that Aragorn and the hobbits were watching us. They started to clap as we finished off, or at least the hobbits did, Aragorn just watched us intently, a frown upon his face.
Nicky looked at Boromir and flashed him a brilliant smile, "Well, anybody for dinner?"
Nicky and me cooked up a brilliant storm. Meat, bread, fruit, muesli bars, spaghetti on toast, and our specialty; jarred pickles covered with Nutella and chocolate chips. This was Boromir's favourite, to our surprise. The hobbits didn't touch the pickles. Dessert followed the main course, we brought out a sponge cake I had nicked from the cupboard and covered this with whipped cream. Needles to say, the hobbits loved the dessert. But no amount of chocolate could stop Nicky and me from thinking that this was Boromir's last dinner, and as everybody went to bed, full and happy, we slept uneasily, for fear of the events that would follow in the morning. It seemed like it was the middle of the night when Nicky sat bolt upright in bed, and though she did say, "Wake up Carmen!" She didn't need to, for I had been awake all night. "Oi, it never occurred to me, and obviously not you, what if… what if one of us dies tomorrow?"
"We wont die tomorrow Nicky, don't be thick." I said shakily. I didn't want to talk about tomorrow. What had seemed like a gift, to see the future, had turned into a burden. The burden of knowledge. "We know how to fight Nicky, we'll be OK." I assured her, my throat choking up.
"How the hell do you know that, we aren't in the novel, our lives aren't assured! We might die! And sure we can fight, but you know that the Orcs that Saruman sends against us tomorrow aren't exactly the trash! They are some of the best there are!"
"Nicky, I may not know as much as you, but I know that we were sent here by purpose. Why else would the portal have let you and me pass through it? Why didn't the portal close when it was just me? There's a purpose in all this Nicky, believe me." I lay down, staring hard at the stars, but not seeing them.
Nicky started to grumble, "I wish I weren't so stubborn, I'm of a good mind to go and get myself killed tomorrow just to prove you wrong." She said, frowning.
"Don't you dare Nicky. It's not funny to joke about stuff like this. Don't you leave me here alone." I said, panicking slightly.
"Hey, hey! Don't fear! Where did the old Carmen go? The one that did joke about death, ya'know, by a filthy big Lorry truck that came hooning down the road!"
I grinned, "Hee, I remember that."
"Just as well, just as well."
"Alright, well I suppose we should get some sleep."
"Why? The one chance of 'do whatever we want' without old fogey parents holding us back and making us go to bed, and you want to spend it sleeping?"
"Well, what the hell do you want to do in the middle of the night?" I asked Nicky in surprise.
"PARTAY!" She yelled it out and effectively woke the rest of the camp.
"Sshh!" I whispered and giggled at the same time. Then I heard Nicky let out a little shriek. I sat up fast, "What is it…" Then I gasped in surprise, for above us stood Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli and Boromir, all with their weapons drawn.
Legolas looked at me.
"What is the danger?"
Nicky started giggling. She looked up at him, "Ummm, distant dreams of a party."
"Party?" He said.
Nicky looked over at me and said in Pig Latin, "Ehay siay osay orgeousgay henway ehay siay onfusedcay." (He is so gorgeous when he is confused.)
"Iay nowkay." I said, and giggled. I looked up at Legolas, "There is no danger Legolas, just a false alarm."
"Why do two young prestigious ladies giggle so much? I have been around Lords and Ladies, Kings and Queens, and all their children, young or old, but none of them giggled so much! Neither did the common folk. So which, my lovely young companions, are you?"
"Ummm, Carmen, which are we?" Nicky looked over at me grinning.
"We, my good friend, are young ladies from the good and honest country of New Zealand." I giggled, sounding like I was on the bottle.
"Yes, but are you common, or are you… prominent?" He asked us earnestly.
"Prominent? My good Legolas, I have no idea what you're talking about." I said, starting to laugh now.
"Legolas! I thought you were smart, how could you look at…. Girls as skilled, as smart, as just plain beautiful as us, and not realize, that our fathers are very prominent among the ruling lords of New Zealand, you disgrace us!" Said Nicky, smiling benignly at him.
The men all bowed low at this, and Legolas looked up at us, a sheepish look on his face, "Forgive me for my sins, My ladies," he put his head down, "I am sorry. I would not be surprised if you were done with me, with all of us, for not giving you the respect that you deserve."
"Please Legolas, do not waste your polite words on us, Nicky here was just exaggerating, weren't you Nicky? Please Legolas don't be sad, we were only joking. Honest!" I said cheerfully.
"Carmen! How could you just disgrace the name of your father this way? We swore at our tenth birthdays, that we would never forego the names of our fathers. And us, we both have direct bloodlines to the throne!" Nicky said indignantly to me.
"Come on Nicky, you're making everybody nervous. What the hell bloodline are you talking about?" I added.
"Making them nervous am I? And so I should, I am fourth in line to the throne of NZ! Ha ha, you are only sixth."
Boromir frowned, "So you are saying, Lady Nicky, that you are a lady, and Carmen is just a commoner?"
"Exactly!" Nicky said haughtily. "Only, I'm a nice rich person, and I made friends with the common folk."
"Do not flatter yourself Nicky, If anything you are the commoner, and I am the Lady." I said to Nicky, then I turned to the group. "Guys…" But Nicky interrupted.
"Nope, not true, remember Carmen, I can play the Piano, and only ladies can do that. And I used to play the violin, hahaha, you, like the commoner you are amused yourself with more…common things like… ummm, TV!"
I laughed. "Nicky you Lady like beast you. How dare you call me a commoner! You may play the piano, but I play the drums! Bow to me!"
"NEVER!" She shouted with a vengeance, "I will never bow, ahahahahaha, you must bow to ME!" And she whacked the back of my legs, just at the knee joint, and I toppled over, onto my knees, Nicky turned to the others, "There you see my power? I can make people bow!"
Legolas came over to me and helped me to stand. "Please Lady, do not resort to violence to make people bow to you." He looked at Nicky. "If it must be so, then I will bow next to the Lady here," And he did just that.
"Hey buddy! You misunderstand! You make me sound like a bloodsucking tyrant, you see, before you stands an ugly commoner, and I got you to bow…feel proud!"
And she erupted into a victory dance, cheering.
"Please Lady, do not take such names upon yourself. It is not right. In my eyes, you both are Ladies beyond worship." He said, and bowed low again. I blushed hard.
"Hey, it may not be right, but I am of such a pure heart that I only speak the truth. And, hey, nothing I can do about it, jeez, Carmen, if you went any redder you would turn into a tomato!" Nicky said, staring at my face.
"Come on Nicky, we should get some sleep, gotta get up early tomorrow and all." I wanted to add 'hint, hint', but I didn't.
Nicky stood up dramatically, and said in a loud haughty voice, "My people, it is time to retire to our uhhh, slightly less than glorious chambers."
Merry looked over at Pippin, and said, "We better be careful, otherwise these two will steal the role of group jokers."
Pippin looked at Merry astonished, "But… but they are girls!"
Nicky laughed, "Damn right!"
"You better believe it Pippin, and you better watch your title as well." I said, giving him a cheeky wink.
"OK, so, G'night, everybody." Said Nicky. And she promptly lay down, and went to sleep, I quickly followed suit, we all would need our sleep tomorrow, every last one of us.
I woke up the next morning feeling depressed. I knew that I couldn't change the future and that I shouldn't meddle with these sorts of affairs, but I still couldn't let him just die. I formed a secret plot in my head; I was going to rescue Boromir.
"Good morning Nicky, or should I say, Lady Nicky?" I asked her, as she was getting up from her blankets.
"Damn right you should say 'Lady'."
"Well, lady Nicky, you look like you just stepped out of a swamp."
"Well, speak for yourself! So, what's for breakfast?" She said, looking around eagerly.
"Well, since your servants aren't here to serve you, you'll have to deal with just baked beans and toast." I laughed cheekily and handed her a plate.
"Hey, your Highness, you better watch it aye?"
"Yeah, whatever. Anyway, you better eat up, we're on the move today and you know pretty much what we'll be up to." I said, giving her a warning look.
"Fine, fine, whatever you say your majester."
I looked over my shoulder; the Company was packing bags and equipment, ready for today's move. I bent closer to Nicky and whispered; "Are you sure we cant do anything about 'you know what'?"
Nicky glanced over at me sharply, "Carmen, you know that we cant."
"Yeah, I know it's just that I can't just sit here and let him die. He was so nice to us." I said in a pleading voice.
"Remember, he goes all evil today, and tries to nick the ring off Frodo. We could stop him doing that, just to keeps Frodo's spirits up."
"Nope, cant do that, he's gotta go." I said, correcting her.
"Stink." She replied.
"Yeah. Well, maybe there's nothing we can do about it." I said, downcast, as I applied myself to my breakfast. Just then Aragorn came over to us.
"My Ladies, we require your opinions. We are having a council in Parth Galen to decide which paths the Fellowship are to take." He said to us.
"OK, we'll be over in a sec." I said.
We sat in a circle with the Fellowship, both Nicky and me noticed that Frodo and Boromir were missing. We looked at each other nervously. What if things didn't go according to plan?
"Look," Said Nicky, "Carmen and I know some things." I looked at her sharply, she threw me back a defiant look, "Well, we're about to be attacked by a whole heap of Orcs, and we know what will happen, so, be prepared OK." She flashed them a cheery smile, and settled back down to listen.
Gimli stood up in a flash, "TRAITORS!"
Aragorn grabbed his arm. "Gimli, settle down! They aren't traitors."
"They have betrayed us from the start, they know what will happen! Who will die, they are in league with the Orcs! They have set us up! It is their fault that we came this way!"
"GIMLI! We were coming this way from the start!" Said Aragorn, raising his voice.
"But they already knew that we were coming this way, they must have told the Orcs! Otherwise the Orcs wouldn't know where we were!"
Legolas stood up in anger, "They are ladies of pure heart, I am an elf! I know whom to trust! And you are a dwarf, you let your anger rule your senses!"
Gimli turned on us, "Why did you betray us, we were nothing but kindness to you."
Nicky stood up, "Hey mate, cool it! Don't be daft, we wouldn't betray you."
Gimli narrowed his eyes, "Cool it?"
Nicky rolled her eyes, "Some people don't know a thing, to put it in short, shut up!"
I stood up to join the argument. "Hey! This isn't fair; we are trying to warn you! If we wanted to help the Orcs, would we have told you that they are coming?"
"Two supposedly innocent young maids turn up one day and we just immediately trust them. THEY DECEIVED US!" Gimli shouted.
Nicky was most obviously getting angry, as was I, "Look," She said, "You are short and fat, so shut up." And she folded her arms and looked down her nose at him.
"OK, everybody listen up. We come from the future. We know everything that happens to you and we know every detail about your quest. As weird as this seems, it's true." I finished. There was a deadly silence.
"This is a gift! Could you not give us information that could guide us? We do not know what road to take, and we are weary. Please will you not help us?" Legolas asked me, pleading.
"Legolas, if I told you everything, then it could mess up everything. I mean, things could go wrong and people might die because of it." I said, looking him in the eye.
"But you could save lives my Lady. We could win the Great War and save many cities and win renown in Middle-Earth." He reasoned with us.
"Please Legolas, we have told you too much already! We had decided last night that we shouldn't tell you about the Orcs, because it could affect the future. But we have changed our minds, and put forth the idea that your lives are more valuable than possibly an entire race of Middle-Earth!" I breathed deeply; everyone was staring at me.
"Well said Carmen!" Nicky said, looking approvingly at me, "I seemed to have rubbed off on you after all."
"Please Ladies, forgive us, we were merely blinded by this gleam of hope. The balance of many lives hangs upon the edge of a knife." Aragorn said, the only person with calmness on his face.
"Its OK Aragorn. Do not ask for forgiveness, you have done nothing wrong." I said to him.
"Maybe we should just sit down and work this thing out." Nicky said, looking round at us. Everyone sat down again, in the circle, and started out the conversation again.
"We are holding this council in hopes of realising in which way we should choose to go." Aragorn filled Nicky and me in. "All our hopes lie in the decision we have to make." There was a heavy silence following this grave announcement and Nicky and I began to finally feel the strain of what this journey was. It was beginning to loose its reputation of being an adventure, and was starting to feel like an impossible task that we couldn't help in.
"Both Nicky and I know what paths you guys will take, so I know that you'll be able to work it out. Just listen to yourselves and you'll find the way." I said reassuringly.
"Carmen, that was the corniest thing you have ever said." Nicky told me, laughing.
"I'm just trying to encourage them! God, where's your compassion Nicky?" I scorned her.
"Oh, I just left it in a little place called NEW ZEALAND!" She said loudly.
"Ladies, please. This is a difficult time for us all, but we must pull together." Legolas spoke. Nicky and I looked at each other.
"OK, I-." But I was cut short; Boromir had just come bowling through the trees. Nicky gave a gasp.
"Boromir, where have you been?" Aragorn asked him sharply.
"Frodo! I am sorry! It took over me! He is gone! Frodo, Frodo!" Boromir skittered. He put his head in his hands and none of the Company could get anything else out of him.
"We must split into groups and find Frodo-." Aragorn began, but no one listened to him. Merry and Pippin had ran off immediately calling 'Frodo! Frodo!' in their high Hobbit voices. It was then that they heard the harsh voices of the Orcs.
"Yrch!" Legolas hissed, resorting to his own language.
Aragorn stood up and drew his sword. He looked for all the world like some majestic King that rules all lands. "Boromir!" He called, "Right the wrongs in which you have aided, and go after Merry and Pippin."
Boromir jumped up, and with a last glance at Aragorn, left the clearing. Aragorn too, went crashing into the bush, closely followed by Sam.
"My Ladies, please, arm yourselves as needed and stay here until we return!" Legolas called to us over his shoulder as he fixed his bow with an arrow. They sprinted off out of the clearing, leaving Nicky and me alone.
"We can't just stay here! The Orcs'll catch us! And I seriously don't want to end up as breakfast for a bunch of smelly Ogres." Nicky said nervously.
"You're right, we have to go help." I said hopelessly. I picked up my sword and its sheath, which I attached with a belt about my waist.
"I knew I shouldn't have come with you." Nicky muttered. Once we were ready, we stood and looked at each other.
"Well, lets get this sucker over with then." And we went charging through the undergrowth.
A/N: Guys, this is a lighthearted story and should be taken as such. Im not after a literary award here, so don't give yourself a hernia writing some long as review giving me advice about what I should change cos this story was written 4 years ago and I aint gonna change it now!
But thanks for the reviews, nice to know people actually click on a story to read it even though they say that they aren't interested in them. Must have been a bad tv night.
Kia ora!