The Winter Wizard: I'm glad you're liking it! :) Yeah, I know the Legolas falling in love with Kristy's singing voice is silly, unoriginal, and unrealistic, but a lot of these things came out of this crazy dream I had, but I'm starting to realize that I don't like how that dream turned out, so I'm planning on changing it around. :)
rex133668 That's one of my favorite songs of all time, and I absolutely love that you think of it as a theme song for my story! :D I often unconciously take inspiration from my favorite songs, so that's probably why. XD
everyone else: I love all of you. I've noticed that a lot of you guys review after nearly every chapter, even if it's just to say something nice. It means so much to know that people like what I write, and I hope to get around to responding to reviews, more often. I've been busier than I expected, lately, so I'm lucky to pop out a new chapter once a week. XD
Chapter 30! :D Wooo!
We're finally getting out of elf-land!
So, this chapter was supposed to be a long one. I shot for eight thousand, but fell pathetically short. After days of writing, I hardly had anything. I seriously think I'm going insane; I can hardly think anymore!
I don't own Lord of the Rings. Any quotes that I may use belong to Tolkien, or the writers of the Fellowship of the Ring script. I am not making any profit, nor do I claim to own this storyline.
(Sophie)
I let out a sigh as I stood in front of the mirror-studying my new stle. It was quiet, as it had been all morning, and an odd surreal feeling had settled over Rivendell. It's strange... Before, it felt like this day would never come, but now that it has, I'm a tad bit... Terrified.
Kristy sat on my bed, kicking at the floor, an blank stare on her face. She had spent the past week trying to change my mind, and although a part of me wanted to, I knew that this was what I wanted.
I let out another sigh, and turned to look at myself from the side. "I feel... confined..."
My friend let out a short laugh and gave me the once-over. "Well, this IS the first time that you've worn pants in almost seven years. You'd think you'd enjoy the freedom."
"I know! It's just..." I tugged at the green pants- which were more like leggings- in agitation. "There's just no breeze, anymore..."
Kristy rolled her eyes. "That should be the least of your worries, right now."
Sigh... "I know, I know..." Still, it bothered me with great power.
She looked at me with sad eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?"
I nodded. "Yes. I am... Are you sure that you WANT to stay?"
My friend frowned and looked to the ground. Although she thought that I didn't notice, it's obvious that she wasn't too pumped about staying in Rivendell without us. She loves the elves, but I don't think that any normal human could live among them without missing the life of a mortal. Elves live quite differently than us humans- everything is in slow motion, for them, because they have no expiration date. They have forever to enjoy life, but we don't. Living among mortals has a much more lively feel- we live for the moment, and have much more of a passion for life.
Although she didn't want to admit it, Kristy was unhappy, here.
When she didn't answer, I pulled out a letter from my dresser drawer and handed it to her with a sad smile.
"What's this?" She eyed it for a moment before turning to me.
"Something to help you out, if you ever want to get out of here. I wrote it last night- it's a letter to Theodred, the Prince of Rohan."
Kristy's eyes widened as she stared at the letter. "How does this help me?"
Silly, silly Kristy. Did she already forget? I know people.
"Theodred is a good friend of mine. If you ever want to leave Rivendell, I want you to go to Edoras, in Rohan. They'll take care of you, there, and they would love to have you. Eowyn needs a good friend, too, and you guys would get along great. There's only one thing you need to remember: stay away from Grima Wormtongue."
"You mean that creepy guy who lacks eyebrows?"
Yeah... That's about as much as I told Kristy about old Grima. I don't like to talk about him.
"Yes, the creepy guy without eyebrows. If you do go, I want you to go directly to either Theodred, Eomer, or Eowyn. Avoid the king and Grima, because they won't do you any good. Worst case scenario, go to one of the inns and tell the bartender that you know Collin- they'll hook you up with a place to stay." Being friends with Collin can get you almost anything in Edoras.
I had been plotting this for quite some time, now. I've always wanted Kristy to visit Edoras, and now, maybe she will. Eowyn needs a good friend, and Kristy's just the girl she needs.
Kristy sighed and set the letter down. "You make this Edoras place sound frightening..."
"No, just Grima. Edoras is cool." The king is a bit odd, as well, but hey. The man's Theodred's dad, I have to respect him. "Besides, Theodred thinks you're cute."
My friend immediately blushed as she began to fiddle with her hands. "Oh, whatever..."
"No, really! We showed him a picture of you, and he thought you were gorgeous!" Have we seriously neglected to tell her this until now? "Unfortunately, he's about forty years old, so Eomer might be a better choice for you."
Right when Kristy was about to bruise my ribs, a soft knock sounded at the door. Immediately, the environment became rather poopy once more, and my earlier nervousness came back.
I opened the door to reveal Collin, who was wearing a nervous smile on his lips, and light travel armor from head to toe.
"Hey, Soph. You ready?"
My eyes narrowed, and I pet his prickly cheeks. "You need to shave..." He knows how I feel about overly done beards!
Collin chuckled and ran his and through his nicely-done faux-hawk. "You didn't answer my question."
"Ready as I'll ever be..." I stood on my tippy-toes and gently stroked his hair. "You have time to preserve your hairdo, yet you don't have time to trim your beard?"
Kristy stood from the bed and handed me my travel bag, officially ending the beard conversation... For now...
"Let's get this over with..." She sighed.
The halls of Rivendell were silent, and I kind of wanted to kick things. Nervousness is never fun, and I was feeling more nervous than ever.
Collin reached out and gave my hand a comforting squeeze. "Don't worry, Soph. This will be fun. Think of it as a camping trip- we'll get you to Gondor in no time. Just remember, don't openly complain. It's a miracle we got you on this journey, in the first place. Think of Gimli, James, and I as your venting buddies, for now."
True, that. If I complain too much, Gandalf will have my head.
I'm pretty sure that Elrond already wants my head... Hey, if Merry and Pippin get to go, I should be able to go.
Ughh... But I don't know if I want to, anymore...
Dangit, Sophie, get ahold of yourself!
I'm friends with the majority of the Fellowship- minus Legolas. I just don't get that elf. He might suit Kristy's tastes, but I just haven't felt compelled to talk to him.
The others are relatively good budds of mine, but that doesn't change the fact that the majority of them aren't too happy about me tagging along with them. I can respect that. After all, this will be dangerous, and I am a woman...
Collin's the only person completely supportive of me. Boromir and James are cutting it close, but as two men who have lived as soldiers, they know what's out there. Frodo and Sam are hard to read on the topic- they're far too nice to be honest. Merry and Pippin are pumped, and I think I caught Pippin staring at me earlier...
Huh...
Gandalf does nothing but give me warnings about what to expect, and when I ask him why he even let me come, he simply smiles and winks. Stinking wizard... Aragorn's the same way, only minus the winking. He's much more of an encouraging smile guy. We like Aragorn.
Gimli just mumbles about dwarf women whenever the subject's brought up... Yeahh, we're not too sure about Gimli...
My ponderings had carried us all the way to the gate of Rivendell. The others could be seen standing outside, wearing thick cloaks, all looking relatively gloomy...
Kristy went ahead to meet up with Legolas, who was a safe distance from James. The two old friends did not return to Rivendell until late the night after their disappearance. No one knows exactly what happened, for Legolas refuses to speak about it, and James is being a self-absorbed prick. The elf had a nasty black eye, and James had a cut above his right eye. Neither of them would look at each other, and James always made sure that his sister was in his sights.
It was like the ultimate dramatic comedy.
Only, no one was laughing, at the moment. We all were a bit frightened at the possible death hanging out in front of us.
Yeah... Life...
"Sophie!" Merry and Pippin ran up to me, calling in soft voices, yet their faces bright and shining. If anything's gonna keep me in a good mood on this trip, it's gonna be these little guys, right here.
"How are you this morning, milady?" Pippin sent me a big, toothy smile, and bowed like a true gentleman.
That's the thing about these hobbits; they're about as chivalrous as you can get.
I smiled down at the little guy, who was't much shorter than me (I'm barely five feet tall), and gave his shoulder a friendly pat. "I'm doing fine, m'dear, and how are you two?"
"We're doing very well!" Merry pipped. "Especially now that you and Kristy are coming with us."
Ohh... Ouch... Dear Merry, he's always had a soft spot for our Kris.
"Merry, Kristy isn't coming..." I tried to speak in the kindest tone I know, but the Hobbit's smile dropped, regardless.
"Not coming...?" The poor fellow looked dumbstruck. I would have liked to comfort him, but good old Elrond swooped us into a long speech.
As the elf lord spoke of Frodo's duty to destroy the ring, and of our freedom to leave as we may, my mind got a bit stunned as Boromir gave my hand a little squeeze.
I looked up to his grey eyes and saw concern; he was struggling with this even more than I was. Then, as I looked around at everyone's faces... They all were...
Was something wrong with us? Collin, James, Kristy, and me? Was there something that we just didn't understand?
I looked at little Frodo, who was absolutely terrified. I'd seen his peppy confidence in action back in the Shire years ago, but now... He was different. He'd become distant and fragile. It bummed me out to no end.
As for the others, I saw the worried glances they sent towards Frodo. The ring is tempting them, somehow, and they're all fighting to keep it at bay.
Which brings me back to my question...
What's wrong with us? Why don't we care? It's just an ugly ring, to us. What makes it so different to those from this world?
And why won't Collin's camera die, already?
"And to you, Sophia..." Elrond's voice snapped me back into reality, sending a little spasm of panic through my veins.
Did I miss something?
The elf lord gave me a stern glare, still unhappy about my going. "I pray you do not forget your place, young one..."
That's really racist, Elrond, but I'll take it.
As Elrond bid us our final farewell, I looked to Kristy.
Her eyes were flashing back and forth through the entire Fellowship (plus me), as though she were trying to remember us as we were. It was as though our death warrants were already signed, and we were on our way to the guillotine. Her green eyes watered, slightly, as she tried to hold her composure. The elves turned back to go home, and she finally lost it.
In a second, she was right in front of me, squeezing me in an unbreakable bear hug."Don't you dare die on me... Any of you."
Collin, James, and the Hobbits moved forward to create a group hug, but our happy moment couldn't last.
"It is time, young ones..." Gandalfs voice broke through Kristy's sobs, sounding sad and reluctant. Even wizards can get scared, you know.
Kristy pulled away and hurried back to her room, not daring to glance back.
This is it... It's really happening.
"Which way to Mordor, Gandalf... Left, or right?" Little Frodo stared at the paths ahead of us, confusion in his blue eyes.
This is going to be a long day...
I looked back to Rivendell, so beautiful and peaceful in the morning...
Heck, why call this morning? The sun was hardly up, and on any normal occasion, I'd be in bed. I had half a mind to run to my room and hide under the covers- I'd be doing the Fellowship a favor, anyways.
Wow, I'm just Miss Optimism, today, aren't I?
There is only one way to fix a case of the pessimistic...
"Collin, sing us some inspirational music!"
Collin raised his eyebrow in thought. "Hmmm... What song would tickle your soul?"
"Sing some Jack Johnson!" Not inspirational, but happy enough.
"No... I'm not feeling it..." He sighed.
My jaw dropped. How can one not be in the mood for Jack Johnson?
Merry ran forward to fall into step with the bright-eyed man, who, compared to him, looked like a giant. "Sing us a song of adventure, from your world!"
Collin, James, and I gave each other looks; most songs from our world involve doing the naughty...
"I would enjoy a nice jig, if yeh know any." Gimli called from the back of the line, next to James- the furthest spot from Legolas.
"Do you know any Gondorian songs?" A homesick Boromir asked from my side.
Before Collin could answer, Legolas called from the front of the line.
"Sing of love, Collin." The elf requested.
James, being a terd, completely contradicted his poor old friend. "Sing a tragedy, Collin. You know, that one when the best friend stabs you in the back? That one's always a crowd pleaser."
Way to be nonchalant, James... No one would ever suspect your true meaning.
Legolas remained silent, but the question still remained... What should Collin sing?
"Sing a song about a famous battle!" Pippin begged.
"No, sing about cats!" Might as well get my own two cents in, eh?
"Enough!" Gandalf sighed in exhasperation. "There shall be no singing until you all can agree upon one song!"
Awhh...
We all frowned and went back into our previous silence.
I suddenly got this crazy picture in my head... Like, we were all a bunch of teenagers fighting over radio stations, and Gandalf's the cranky parent that just turns the radio off?
Ha. Some things never change.
..
Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall... Ninety nine bottles of beer... Take one down, pass it around, ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall... Ninety eight-
I continued to sing the song in my head, trying to keep from thinking about my throbbing body. We'd been walking all day, stopping only once for a quick lunch. Gandalf wanted to clear as much distance as possible before sundown, and the sun was sinking low in the sky.
My stomach grumbled, my entire body felt like jello, and Collin got tired of singing after about two hours.
Yes, Gandalf finally let us sing.
Now, I was reduced to think-singing about beer.
I bet you're thinking, "It's not that bad, Sophie!"
Yeah, well. My starting amount of beer was a thousand bottles. I am wasted.
"Oof!" Like always, I ran face-first into Collin's back, causing me to fall to the ground.
"There's nothing like the warm feeling of the one I love smashing into my back..." Collin turned around and smiled down at me. "Never change."
"I don't plan on it..." Although I should probably consider it, if I want to live to see thirty.
Heck, I'm just happy that I've made it this far.
"So, why have we stopped?" I asked, still on the ground. It felt good to finally relax after hours of nonstop walking.
"We're making camp." Boromir dropped his bedroll right where he stood, and kicked it open. "Would you like me to go get your bedroll for you, or are you happy with your current location?"
Let's see... I'm getting grass in my hair, there are ants crawling on me, and I'm pretty sure that some insect just crawled into my ear...
"Although I am quite content, I do enjoy my bedroll..."
Without another word, Boromir was off to find Bill, the lovely animal that carried all of my stuff.
Collin plopped down next to me and began to ruffle through his bag. "Elves are lovely people, you know..." His eyes brightened considerably as he pulled out a small sliver of wrinkly meat. "Look, beef jerky!"
"I would be thrilled... But I'm too sleepy to care..." I think I'll just fall asleep, now...
"Sophie!" Collin smacked me with some jerky, just as I closed my eyes. "You can't go to sleep now!"
"Whhyyy?" But the ground is so nice!
Collin snorted and rolled his eyes, like I just asked him where babies came from. "Because it's camp time, Soph! We've gotta stay up and party!"
Stay up and party... Hm, let me think about that... No.
"Stay up and party?" Boromir asked as he laid my bedroll out. "What do you mean?"
"We party!" Collin smiled. "You know... Campfire stories, beef jerky... Party!"
"What kind of parties have you been going to all your life, Collin?" Because that doesn't sound like fun, to me. "You mean we're gonna be forced to stay up all night to listen to ghost stories?" Woo.
Boromir chuckled. "These are some strange parties you're having, Collin..."
Ha! Boromir... Making fun of Collin...
"Not ghost stories, Sophie!" Collin shook his head and took a swig of water from his canteen. "Bonding stories!"
"Bonding stories...?" This sounds... interesting.
"Yeah, bonding stories. Y'know... To get to know each other! I mean, look at me and Boromir, here..." He put an arm around Boromir's shoulders and gave him a hefty pat on the back. "We have trained together every day for the past two months, yet I still don't know his favorite color. Which is quite odd, by the way, since that's typically the first question I ask..."
That is an interesting question... "What is your favorite color, Boromir?" You'd think that I'd know this by now.
"Blue." He shrugged, as he began to start a little fire for our group. It had become a silent agreement that the traveling party would be split up into two groups; Group Legolas, and Group James.
At present, we were group James. Legolas had a rather small group, consisting of Gandalf, Frodo, Sam, and a confused Aragorn. The poor man was like Switzerland in this great debate...
Yeah, our groop is way more cool. We've got a dwarf.
"You see!" Collin exclaimed, going back to the favorite color topic. "I would have never known. Thank you for sharing, Boromir."
Boromir's eyebrows scrunched together. "You're... Welcome?"
"It wouldn't hurt to at least get to know each other, better." Collin sighed.
Gimli sat down by Collin, his favorite human, and stole some of his jerky. "Hah! Bonding. The best way to bond is to slay orcs, and we'd best be avoiding those, with Sophie tagging along. What I really want to know, is what went down between James and the elf."
We all turned to look at James, who still had the remnants of a wound on his eyebrow. He'd been silent most of the day, but when he did speak, it always involved insulting Legolas. The poor man tried to be subtle, but he was never very good at hiding things.
"Yeah, James, what really happened?" I really wanted to know who won the fight.
James shrugged, his face sour. "I punched him."
We all stared at him.
"Go on..." Merry and Pippin insisted.
He sighed. "I chased him into the woods, tracked him for a bit, and then realized that he climbed up a tree... so, I yelled at him and told him to come down-"
"Did he?" Pippin asked, excitedly.
"I'm getting there!" James smiled at the eager Hobbit. "He didn't come down, so I chucked a rock at him."
"Did you hit him?" Pippin interrupted, yet again.
James has clearly become more patient since becoming a father, because he simply smiled and shook his head. "No, no. He didn't come down. So, I tried to go up. Well, Legolas realized that fighting in a tree is a bad idea, so he climbed down. Then I punched him! So, he climbed back up his tree."
"Hah!" Gimli looked like his favorite team just won championships. "I always knew that elves couldn't carry themselves in hand to hand combat! They're always hiding behind their bows and arrows, but if yeh get 'em close enough, they'll be like clay in your hands!"
Well, that's all nice and dandy, but is that all? "How did you get your wound, then?"
He rubbed the small scab, a humored look on his face. "Oh, this? Well, funny story, actually... I tripped on a tree root, and nailed my head against a rock."
"Ha!" Poor guy, he never has good luck. "Well, I was hoping for a more exciting story, but I can settle for you getting pwned by a tree root."
"That's what you get for attacking an elf!" Collin laughed.
Gimli got a strange look on his face, and he eyed the trees surrounding us. "Aye, the elves a tricky. It's best to take them down on open land, rather than around trees..."
Wait, is he serious? "You really think that the setting makes a difference?" What are they gonna do, bribe the trees to fight for them?
The dwarf moved forward and looked around, paranoid, before whispering. "Never trust an elf."
Merry's eyes widened, and Pippin began to search through the trees wildly. James let out a short laugh, despite being married to an elf, and the rest of us fought to keep our composures.
Oh, Gimli. How we do love you.
.
.
Roll over.
Close eyes.
Sigh.
Roll over again, look up at the stars.
Double sigh.
Where is my mother with some painkillers when I need her? Honestly, there's nothing I miss more than that. Waking up in the middle of the night to Mom with a big glass of ice cold water, and a handfull of pain killers after a long day of work. Right now, my legs were killing me, and I silently cursed myself for not taking better care of myself. Years of fast food living is still taking its toll on me.
Erghhh...
Grumble mumble...
I'm not content.
A gentle hand tapped my shoulder, and I rolled over to see an adorable Boromir.
Have you ever noticed that guys look a bajillion times cuter in the moonlight? Although half of you are probably snickering, having taken that completely the wrong way, I am flippin serious. Guys are cute, when their hair's all ruffled and they look all tired.
Kind of like babies!
"Here..." He handed me a handfull of herbs. "Chew on these."
Sorry, good sir. I don't accept random plants from strangers.
"They help to soothe the pain."
I want to kiss you, Boromir.
Of course, I wouldn't say that openly. I'm just very grateful for his gift of meds.
"How'd you know?" I studied the plant, making sure that it did not resemble marijuana in any way, shape, or form. Do they even have pot, here?
"Long trips are hard on all of us." He shrugged, and shoved some of the plant into his own mouth. "Why are you still awake?"
"I could ask you the same thing." I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to avoid complaining. I want to prove myself.
"I'm on watch." He smiled. "I'm glad you're awake, actually. There's something I've been meaning to give you..." He leaned over and searched through his bag, before pulling out something relatively small. As he turned back to me, I recognized the unmistakable shape of a weapon.
Boromir drew a small dagger from its holder, annd placed it in my hands.
"I bought it when I found out that you were to be coming with us." He rubbed his hair and sighed. "I don't know why I've waited for so long, but you might need it, one day."
I looked at the simple silver dagger, almost afraid to hold it. "You know, I absolutely suck at fighting..." He should know better than anybody; I nearly killed myself when he tried to teach me hand to hand combat. I tripped over a rock, and about broke my neck...
He chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I know. Still, it would give me some peace of mind..."
I smiled and gave him a hug. "Thanks, yo. It means a lot."
Now that I think about it, why hasn't anyone thought to give me a defense mechanism, before?
Boromir kissed my forehead and gently pushed me back onto my bed. "Go to sleep, Sophie. You're in for a rough day, tomorrow."
Ughhh...
Kill me.