Chapter 8.

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I don't own Lord of the Rings, or Romeo and Juliet.

(Sophie)

"Hey, where are we going, anyways?" I was surprised that I hadn't asked the question before; we'd been traveling for about a week, it's not like we didn't have any time.

Gandalf was sitting at the front of his wagon, smoking his lungs into oblivion. "To Gondor." He answered simply. Ever since leaving the Shire, he'd been in a strange mood; he wasn't acting like the Gandalf we used to know.

Hmmm. Gondor. Evidently, the steward has two attractive sons, and with the way Eomer talked, the first one was this ridiculously hardcore warrior. Not like I would know what a good warrior was, though. To me, if you could swing a sword around and kill things, you were a good warrior; but hey, I've only lived here for six months. Give me another year and I'll know more.

"Are we going to stop by Edoras?" I promised Eowyn that I'd come back soon; I'd hate to leave her alone with Grima for too long.

Alas, it was not meant to be. "I'm afraid not, Sophie. I have urgent business to attend to."

Great. Ever since the incident with that ring, Gandalf's been 'urgent' about everything. He wouldn't even stop to let me pee yesterday. It was a long road to Gondor, and an even longer road to Minas Tirith; I was quickly running out of ideas for I spy.

"Anyone up for a game of go-fish?"

(James)

"Congratulations, James." Legolas, Ainion and I stood outside of my new house, admiring its beauty. "It's all yours."

"I still hate you." Don't think I forgot about the spider thing, just because he helped me buy this amazing house.

Legolas shrugged and smiled. "It was worth it, though."

Oh, yes. Anything for Maerwen. Still, I nearly lost my arm to the dang monster.

Still wondering about what happened with that spider? Well, it all happened about a month ago, now.

You last saw me when I was running away, terrified of the giant spider I was sent to kill. Not my best moment, but hey, it all turned out okay. After running for about ten minutes, I finally decided to just grow a pair and face the spider. If the first spider I faced was big, this thing was the freaking hulk. Honestly, the only thing I could think of doing was to stab it. I thrust my sword into what I guess was its chest (I'm no expert on bugs), and as a result, it sank its fangs into my forearm.

Uh, ow.

I could literally feel the poison flowing through my body, and I knew that I wouldn't last long, so I pulled my arm free, along with my sword. Using the last bit of strength I had, I sliced down on the spider's head and hacked it clear off. After my moment of glory, I fell to the ground in a very un-glorious way.

Yeah, Legolas and Ainion felt terrible; giant spider bites are known to kill. They quickly applied some odd plants to my wound and hauled my butt back to town as fast as they could run. By the time we got back, I was extremely delirious. Maerwen stood worried by the front gate (yeah, she was WORRIED, score one for me), and at the sight of me being carried by my two so-called friends, she nearly fainted. But elf girls are too cool to faint.

Ohhh perfection.

Well, I was out for about two days, and according to Ainion, Maerwen didn't leave my side for one moment. Well, asides from going pee and stuff, but that's understandable.

When I finally woke up, Legolas and Ainion took the liberty of telling me that there was, in fact, no warrior test. It was just something they liked to make new people do whenever they think that the person can handle it.

If I wasn't still weak from the poison, I would have strangled them. They were lucky that Maerwen was there, or I would have said quite a few rather unhappy words.

But I am a gentleman.

After about another week, I was finally able to function normally; evidently, I was lucky to be alive. Then, I nonchalantly questioned Maerwen about houses so I could get an idea as to what house I should buy. With a little help from Ainion, we found the perfect place. It was a two-story house; very spacious, very breezy, and it had this hardcore balcony that reminded me of Kristy and Sophie's obsession with Romeo and Juliet. They were absolutely in love with it.

Wow, I miss them.

The house was in a nice, secluded area, not far from the palace, and I made sure that it was well-protected from any giant spiders that might think about attacking the city. Once the house was picked out, I had Maerwen help me buy furniture and decorations for it. Legolas paid for most of the expenses, mostly because he felt bad about almost getting me killed.

Speaking of Legolas...

"So when are you going to ask her?" My friend knew very well that I intended to ask Maerwen to... well... let me court her, I guess. The customs of this world were still new to me.

"I already have, actually."

Ainion and Legolas looked at me with wide eyes.

"When was this?" Ainion sounded slightly insulted that he'd been left out of the loop.

"Yesterday." I shrugged.

Ahh, yes. One of the best days of my life. It wasn't this romantic thing that you'd think it'd be, actually. Still, it made me love Maerwen even more.

I can remember it perfectly.

She looked so beautiful, and she glared at me impatiently at dinner. "How much longer do I wait?"

I looked at her, slightly confused. Actually, totally confused. "Wait for what?"

Maerwen had rolled her eyes, making her seem almost human. "You have a house now, James. Ask me, now."

Reality hit me and I finally understood what was happening, but I could hardly believe it. "Uh... Can I court you, Maerwen?" Don't laugh at me. How do you ask to court someone?

She let out a frustrated sigh, but she still gave me a smile. "Took you long enough."

Then everything went back to normal. Kristy would kill me for my lack of romance, but hey, Maerwen caught me by surprise.

I recited this very story to Legolas and Ainion, and Ainion shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. "That's my cousin!"

(Sophie)

"Wow..." I could hardly find any words to express how I felt at the sight of Minas Tirith. Really, this place was far more beautiful than any city ever built in my world. How could anyone build such a spectacular place? It was absolutely massive, I was breathless. Eowyn's got to see this.

Kristy's expression was much like mine, but Collin's was slightly different. He looked up at the city with bright, anticipating eyes. His camera was rolling, and a wide smile began to break out across his face. He looked like a child who'd just seen Santa Claus.

Gandalf watched us with a smile; the first we'd seen in a while. It had taken us nearly a month to get to Minas Tirith from the Shire, and I was beyond excited to finally see what Gondor was like.

Upon our reaching the gate, Gandalf recited a password, and the giant doors opened to us. The city was absolutely ridiculous in the best way possible. Inside, there were big stone houses and wide paved roads. You could tell that the bottom level wasn't as high class as the others, but it was still ridiculously beautiful. The higher up we went, the more beautiful it got.

People in Gondor were super fancy. Those that we saw walking the streets were dressed in fine clothing of many rich colors, some bearing the symbol of the White Tree of Gondor somewhere on their outfits. Women wore rich jewelry, and it was obvious once we got to the highest levels that we were traveling by the nobles of Gondor. Suddenly, I began to feel very self-concious; I'd been traveling for a month, there was no way that I looked good.

When we got to the sixth level, Gandalf stopped the wagon by a pretty little house.

"This is where we'll be staying."

Gandalf owns property in Gondor? The high-class sixth level, too! Good job! Being a wizard has its perks!

I hopped out and ran inside, in search of a good place to wash up and change into my good clothes. Yes, I had good clothes. When I worked in the dress-shop for Byrde and Lyfides, I earned enough money to get some pretty decent clothes, considering the fact that I didn't have to pay for food or a place to sleep.

"Dibs on this room!" I chose a room on the seond floor with a small balcony overlooking the city.

Kristy was not pleased. "No fair! What if there's a Romeo here in Gondor? You'll get him all to yourself!"

"Exactly!" I fell back onto the bed and marveled at how lovely a bed felt after sleeping in a wagon for a month.

Collin was no where to be found, of course. He'd run off the second we stopped. I can almost guarantee you he's already gotten a horde of friends. That, or he's off sparring with someone; I'm surprised we'd kept him from sword fighting for so long.

"Get comfortable, ladies. We might be here for a while." Gandalf took his leave, and I watched him head off to the seventh level from my super awesome balcony.

"What do we do, now?" Kristy hadn't been out of the Shire, and so she didn't know how regular women spent their free time in this world. In a world of hobbits, I'm sure there's never a dull moment.

"Well, my dear Kristy. We wait for Gandalf to get back so he can show us around the city."

Oh, but I didn't understand how long Gandalf would be gone.

.

The sun had fallen, and all of the sixth level was quiet. Collin had returned just at sunset and showed Kristy and I all of the footage that he'd taken of his adventures in the city.

Fortunately, he wasn't off doing anything crazy; he had met some nice young noble men and basically spent the entire day being shown the city and meeting all of the nobility. Honestly, how he does it, I'll never know; there's something about him that attracts people, and he's never without friends.

Eventually, both he and Kristy went to bed; he was exhausted, and she was just plain bored. I, on the other hand, remained awake, sitting out on my balcony, looking at the stars.

Stars are hands-down the most beautiful thing in this world. Back home, you don't see stars like this. Here, everything's clear, and you can see absolutely everything. I could stay awake all night just looking at the twinkling lights. I stood and leaned against the railing to look out over the star-lit city of Minas Tirith. Such a breathtaking sight.

"Enjoying the view, are you?" A deep voice cut through the night air. I looked down to the street below and saw a handsome man watching me.

I wasn't sure what to do; this man was either just a friendly passerby or a creeper like Wormtongue.

Play it cool, Soph. "I like it well enough." I shrugged.

The man smiled. "I've never seen you around the city before, are you new here?"

"Well, it is a big city with many people. I'm sure you would not remember my face out of the thousands here." I made sure to not give away any information. How often do men just stand underneath your window, asking where you're from?

He shook his head. "I would remember you, milady."

I blushed, grateful that he was too far away to see.

"Do you not feel odd, speaking to me from down there? Surely, it's not normal."

The man shrugged. "I do not mind. I was just walking home when I saw your beautiful self standing on your balcony. I had to stop and ask for your name."

Smiling, I turned away and looked back over the city. "Yes, well, you're not getting it."

He raised an eyebrow, his cool smile never leaving his handsome features. "Might I ask why?"

"Because you're a stranger underneath my window in the middle of the night asking for my name."

"Do you not know who I am?"

I shook my head. "No, and I don't really care."

The man smiled at this. "Your honesty wounds me, milady."

"I'm not your lady." I made sure to sound more playful than mean.

A slight chuckle escaped the man's lips. "You're different. I must know where you are from; surely, you can tell me that."

Ha! Oh, goodness. Maybe, if he'd believe me. "Well, I am certainly not from Gondor, if that answers your question."

"It will suffice for now." He moved closer to the balcony. "Are you sure you do not wish to tell me your name?"

After a short time of consideration, I shrugged. "Maybe later."

Another chuckle from the man. "Does that mean that I may see you again?" His voice sounded hopeful.

"It's possible." I allowed a small smile to form on my lips.

The man smiled. "Well, I look forward to seeing you again. Until then." He bowed, and with another smile he turned and continued on down the street.

I turned back into my room, shutting the balcony doors behind me. A smile crept up onto my face.

I could definately get used to it here.