Meet the Cast

A/N: sorry for not updating in a while, here’s the next chapter.

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Sunlight streamed into the Elven bedchamber, awakening the blonde woman from her peaceful slumber. Laura simply groaned and pulled the covers over her head to block the intrusive light. Suzanne laughed at her friend’s antics, slipping from the bed to the floor. She grabbed a satin blue dress from the skillfully crafted armoire before attempting to dress behind the veil. The corset, however, was different than the one before and she couldn’t lace it on her own.

“LAURA!”

“Go away.”

“Wake up!”

“Sleep. Leave me alone.”

Suzanne walked over to her friend and pulled the covers away from her. Laura growled at her friend and put the pillow over her head. Suzanne tore the pillow away and grabbed Laura’s arm, trying to pull her off the bed.

“Get. Up.”

“Why???”

“Legolas is in the room.”

“Really? Where?”

Laura perked up pretty quickly, looking around the room. She realized that he was not currently in their bedchamber.

“You lie!”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Just help me lace this thing up.”

“Fine. If that’s what you wanted, why didn’t you just ask?”

“I did. You didn’t get up.”

“Really? I don’t remember things going that way. You tried to kill me, but, never asked.” Laura put emphasis on the last word.

“Your memory’s slipping.”

Laura laughed slightly while rolling her eyes. She helped Suzanne lace up the corset before selecting a red dress and another corset. Laura stepped behind the dressing veil and began to change. Suzanne helped her with lacing the corset and then sat on the bed again. Legolas and Aragorn entered the room at that moment, not bothering to knock.

Suzanne said quietly to her friend, “Laura, Legolas is here.”

Laura loudly replied, “Suzanne, I’m not stupid. You already tried that once today.”

“Laura, seriously. He’s here.”

“STOP LIEING TO ME!”

Laura looked over the edge of the veil to prove her point, making eye contact with a certain blonde elf. She quickly disappeared behind the veil again, her face beginning to match the color of her dress.

Suzanne said resignedly, “Told ya so.”

Legolas flopped down in a chair, leaving Aragorn only the bed on which to sit. The brunette human sat down beside Suzanne, leaving her in uncomfortable silence. Laura slowly emerged from the dressing veil’s protection, avoiding eye contact with the two men. Suzanne laughed silently to herself. Laura broke the awkward silence.

“So, what are we up to today?”

Aragorn looked at her strangely, not understanding.

“Today. What are we going to do?”

The man showed recognition and began to answer. “Elrond has assembled a group of various races to meet together and discuss the Ring.”

Laura whispered to herself, “The Council of Elrond.”

Legolas addressed the two women, “Lord Elrond requests that you attend.”

Suzanne and Laura looked at each other. Their very presence could affect the outcome of the council. They weren’t supposed to be there. Then again, they weren’t supposed to be in Middle Earth either. The two nodded their consent, the men and woman rising to exit.

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Laura and Suzanne sat by each other. Aragorn was seated by Suzanne and Legolas was adjacent to Laura.

Elrond stood and began to address the group. “Strangers of distant lands, friends of old, you’ve been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle-earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fail. Each race is bound to this fate. This one doom. Bring forth the ring, Frodo.”

Suzanne began to mouth the words along with Elrond. Laura indiscreetly elbowed her in the arm to shut her up. Suzanne, in turn, dug her nails into Laura’s skin to seek revenge before settling into silently reviewing each of the lines in her head.

Frodo rose and placed the ring on a pedestal in the middle of the arena, everyone surrounding the two gasping as they saw it, save for their two companions, the Elven lord, and Gandalf.

Boromir spoke up. “So it is true?”

Someone in the crowd whispered, although the girls could not discern who it was. “The doom of man.”

Boromir rose and began to approach the ring, stretching his hand to grasp it and take it as his own. Gandalf saw this and immediately began reciting the speech of the Black Tongue. The ground trembled and the sky became darker.

At Gandalf’s haunting words, the two drew closer to the formerly mentioned men seated beside them. Legolas put a comforting hand on Laura’s arm while Aragorn gently rubbed Suzanne’s shoulder to calm her down.

Boromir sat down before beginning to rave. “It is a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this ring? Long has my father, the steward of Gondor, kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him.”

The girls rolled their eyes during Boromir’s monologue. Suzanne could feel Aragorn shift uncomfortably in his seat, his eyes boring into Boromir’s figure. It was evident that the ranger was not happy. At the end of the man’s speech, Aragorn spoke.

“You cannot wield it. None of us can. The One Ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master.”

Boromir turned and looked accusingly at the future king of Gondor.

“An what would a Ranger know of this matter?”

Aragorn looked at a loss for words before Legolas stood and came to his rescue.

“This is no mere Ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance.”

Boromir regarded Aragorn with an air of disgust.

“Aragorn. This is Isildur's heir?”

Legolas continued. “And heir to the throne of Gondor.”

The tension suddenly became very evident, and Estel sought to cease its pressure.

“Havka dof Legolas.” [Sit down, Legolas.]

Fire brewed in the elf’s eyes, but he sat down once again, his hands gripping the armrest of the chair to ebb his fury. Laura glanced at him quickly, but he caught her gaze as she tried to turn away. She smiled, trying to make him feel better and mouthed, “It’ll be okay.” The elf nodded, a bit of harshness in his face dissipating.

The council continued as it had in the movie, the girls snickering silently in regard to Gimli’s inevitable failure. The races began to argue, Suzanne and Laura zoning out of what was going on around them. Frodo’s face looked plagued and tormented, earning sympathy from both women.

He immediately stood and walked to the bickering crowd, proclaiming his desire to take the Ring to Mordor. Each of the 9 individuals pledged their allegiance to Frodo, assembling before the Elven Lord.

The nine stood before Lord Elrond, his piercing brown eyes passing judgment on each man before him. His gaze traveled to the two young women, strides carrying him before them.

“I wish for you to accompany them. Your knowledge may be useful.”

Laura looked over at Suzanne before facing the Elven lord once more. “I fear that any knowledge they attain from us may change the future of Middle Earth that we know.”

Elrond’s face remained stoic. “It is my will that you accompany them. Travel at least to Lothlorien, where you will meet the Lady Galadriel.”

Laura turned to her friend once more, addressing Lord Elrond. “Will you give us an hour to talk about it?”

The brunette nodded and walked back to the ensemble of nine. “These two may accompany you on your travels. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring.”

Pippin spoke up, “Great! Where are we going?”

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“Aw, come on Laura! It’ll be fun!”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun. Until some stray arrow hits us and we DIE!”

“You don’t know that. Maybe, if we die here, we just go back to our world.”

“And what if we don’t?”

“Umm..It’ll be more time for you to spend with Legolas!”

“Excuse me for caring more about my life than some hot elf who I just met a few weeks ago!”

“Please?”

“Our presence could change their future.”

“What if we were meant to be here? Let’s at least go to Lorien, like Ronny said!”

Laura looked strangely at her friend, raising an eyebrow. “Ronny?”

“Elrond!”

“Riiight then. Fine, we’ll go as far as Lothlorien, but I’m not promising anything more.” Laura walked off to go tell Lord Elrond.

Suzanne waited for a moment, muttering under her breath, “She sounds like my mother.” She quickly followed her friend.

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A/N: Well, that’s it for now. PLEASE review..reviews keep us inspired and HAPPY! We’ll give u Legolas and Aragorn posters..