Legolas spread the contents of the dwarf�s bundle across the ground in the dark. The sharpening stone and bag of Dwarfie Krunchies were easily recognizable, as were the ear plugs and the little container of Tic Tacs. But, alas, there was nothing the elf was looking for. Legolas groaned in frustration, but then he looked again. Finally. What he was looking for. Quickly grabbing his loot and stashing the rest of the bundle together, he stuffed that back into the dwarf�s arms (Gimli was using it as a teddy bear), and ran off into the woods.
"Hmm," The elf studied his reflection in the mirror he stole off Sam, "It looks like I�m wearing pedal pushers." He paused. "That�s so 50�s!"
"What�s so 50�s?" Sirius, who was on watch, walked closer to the elf, "Hey, nice pedal pushers!"
"I know." Legolas looked at the dwarf�s choice of lower-body wear, and decided that it was certainly too large about the waist as they tended to slide about uncomfortably, "You would happen to have a spare belt, Aragorn?"
"Do I look like I have a spare belt tucked up my sleeve?" Sirius groaned and rolled up the sleeve of his robe and the elf stared at the arm, "No."
"Hmm. Do these look alright?" Legolas twirled about, "The color looks a bit off, but off-black does match dark-green and white-mushroom, eh?"
"I�m sure it does." Sirius rolled his eyes and headed back to camp, but then paused. "Where did you get those?"
"Um . . ." The elf looked at his fingernails (they needed a manicure) nervously, "I found them."
"You found pants in the forest?" Sirius asked skeptically, "Alright. I believe you."
Legolas was just breathing a sigh of relief when suddenly, a gigantic holler came from camp in the form of the scream, "ARAGORN!"
"What?!" Sirius ran back to camp and wondered why when everyone was in trouble, they did not call, HELP but ARAGORN! "Geeperz!"
"SOMEONE STOLE MY PANTS!" Gimli sat upright in the nest of his blankets and screamed, "SOMEONE STOLE MY PANTS!"
"Look," Sirius pointed, "You�re still wearing them!"
"NO!" Gimli roared, and began sobbing, "YOU DON�T UNDERSTAND!"
"Obviously I do not." Placing his hands on his hips, Sirius stared, "But they are right there!"
"These are my traveling pants!" Gimli thought that he�d better explain carefully, "And I had a spare pair! They were my just-for-when-Gimli-son-of-Gloin-sees-Minas-Tirith-Pants!"
"They were your WHAT?!" Boromir who had awoken, looked about angrily, "Well, who is going to steal your stupid pants? Besides, you�re so short they wouldn�t fit anyone but . . ."
"NO!" Sam jumped up, "This is it! This Fellowship is so stupid! Everyone is so short-ist! Legolas sees this thing in the bush and he thinks that all hobbits stalk him, and when Gimli finds his stupid pants missing, he thinks the hobbits took it! THIS IS IT! THIS IS THE END!"
"What do you mean, Sam?" Frodo rubbed his eyes, "The end?"
"THIS IS THE END OF THE DARN FELLOWSHIP!" Sam roared, "I�m sick and tired of being suspected as a peeping-tom-pants-stealing-shortie!"
"Maybe get platforms." Gandalf suggested, "Or stilts!"
"I want my pants back." Gimli stuck out his tongue, "That�s it! It has to be someone in the Fellowship!" And thus, he quickly stood and to everyone�s ultimate embarrassment, the dwarf looked at their pants to see if they were indeed dwarfish. Finally, the dwarf finished and sighed, "Okay, Gandalf, Boromir, Aragorn, hobbits, you are all clear. I suppose the wolves must have taken them or something."
"Wait. That�s eight." Boromir pointed out. "There�s nine walkers."
"LEGOLAS GREENLEAF!" Gimli tossed back his head and screamed, "WHY DID YOU STEAL MY PANTS?"
"Oh, you were admiring my pedal pushers?" The elf who had emerged from the forest walked into the circle of Fellowship as though he were parading on a catwalk in Milan. "This is the latest in elven fashions! Note the short length and the dwarf-inspired design . . ."
"HEY!" Gimli roared, "THEY WERE INSPIRED MY FOOT! THOSE ARE MY PANTS!"
"Do they have your name on them?" Legolas replied snootily, "No."
"They do too!" Gimli screamed, "How do you think I got them back from the Dwarfish Laundromat?" He quickly ran up to the elf and pointed to the hem, "LOOK!"
The entire Fellowship looked. There, in tiny dwarfish ruins, white thread stitched out the words These Are The Pants of Gimli, son of Gloin. Everyone fell silent. Sirius took a deep breath, "Well, the truth has come to light."
"GIMLI!" Legolas roared, "Why did you vandalize my pants by writing your name on them?"
"I didn�t vandalize your pants," Gimli screamed, "They�re MY PANTS!"
"No they�re not." The elf checked his fingernails again (still needed manicure), "Do you have a belt I could borrow?"
"YOU STOLE MY PANTS AND NOW YOU WANT TO BORROW A BELT?!" Gimli was besides himself and looked ready to choke all the living daylights out of the elf, "GIVE ME BACK MY PANTS!"
"You are already wearing yours." Legolas pointed, "See?"
"Oh yes I can see THAT YOU ARE WEARING THEM!" Gimli screamed so much, he was red in the face and reminded Pippin of a tomato, "AND GIVE THEM BACK!" He grabbed his axe, "Or I�ll put a dent in your nose that even YOU can not ignore!"
"Oh no!" Legolas slapped a hand over his nose in protection (the other hand was holding up his pants), "You wouldn�t dare!"
"If you�d dare to steal my pants, I�d dare to chop your nose!" Gimli roared, "GIVE ME BACK MY PANTS!"
"My pants!" Legolas swung a punch at Gimli and caught the dwarf in the nose, "You�re so stupid, I have to knock some sense into you!"
"And what are you doing, stealing my pants?" Gimli roared and swung his axe (missed the elf).
"Prove that they are yours!" The elf snarled, and finally, Gandalf stepped in between them, arms outstretched.
"I have put this off for far too long!" The wizard growled, and raised his staff, "I regret to say to you BOTH that this IS THE END!"
"The end!" Legolas snapped, "You hear that? The end of you trying to steal my pants!"
"The end!" Gimli snarled, "Of your idiotic behavior!"
"Excuse me!" The elf stuck his nose into the air, but then looked down at the dwarf, "Fine. I will forgive you. If you lend me a belt."
"I don�t have any belts to lend!" Gimli replied, "And if I did have any, I would not lend one to go with my stolen pants!"
"There, there, Gimli," Boromir soothed, "I�ll get you some new pedal pushers in Minas Tirith. I know a little shop down in the marketplace that gives good deals. I�ll take you there."
"Fine." The dwarf grunted, but pointed a finger at the elf, "Keep HIM away from ME!"
"Don�t worry," Legolas snapped, "I wouldn�t touch you unless it was with a fifty foot long pole!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A dog bit you?!" Adhara gasped, and stared at Aragorn, "A large hairy black dog that slobbered all over the place?"
"Well . . ." Aragorn shrugged, "I suppose it did slobber all over my leg when it bit me! Arg, and the way it was going on, you�d think that he�d like the mushrooms!" He paused, "Or maybe he was just after the hobbits."
"That was Sirius you twit!" She groaned, "The dog!"
"Sirius was a dog?" Aragorn moaned, "I have been replaced by a DOG?! How could this be? Can he wield the Blade that has been Broken? Can he uphold the burdens of Gondor? Can he marry Arwen? ARG! The heir of Isildur is a DOG! A four-legged beast!" He paused his venting for a breath of air, "I am equal to the worth of a dog?!" Aragorn turned to Adhara, "Do I look like a dog?"
"No." Adhara answered honestly, but then wrinkled her nose, "You smell awful! When was the last time you took a shower?!"
"WHY DOES EVERYONE ASK ME THAT QUESTION?" Aragorn roared, "YESTERDAY!"
"Shh!" She raised a finger to her lips as a sound of a distant conversation drifted to her ears, "Listen!"
"Um . . ." Aragorn listened, and frowned, "Sound like someone is fighting. Some people are fighting."
"Yes, it would seem that way." Adhara concentrated intensely, "Very close. But friend or foe?"
"We�re not in Mordor yet," He answered, and listened for a little bit, "Seems like . . . Someone is fighting over pants."
"You�ve got to be kidding." Adhara rolled her eyes, "They�re not fighting over pants. Who in their right mind would fight over pants?"
"And someone told someone else to keep away from them!" Aragorn looked around nervously, "And isn�t that Gandalf? We�ve found the Fellowship!"
"I suppose we have." Adhara answered evenly, "So, what do we do, rush in there and surprise Sirius?"
"Oh, I don�t care what you do!" Aragorn hollered, sprinting ahead, "I�m going to take my rightful place as Aragorn, son of Arathorn, heir of Isildur, heir to the throne of . . ." He paused and stared at what he saw before him. He turned back to her, "Adhara? Come see this!"
She came at a brisk run and paused before what had shocked him. It wasn�t a big gigantic drippy monster, which she could have understood. It was red. Red and long. Red and long and flat. Adhara turned to Aragorn, "You�re so important they rolled out a red carpet?"
"I suppose so." Aragorn mumbled and then turned to her, "Stay exactly one step behind me and to my right. You�ll do fine."
"One step?" Adhara rolled her eyes, "Royalty!"
"I never dreamed I�d ever get to walk on a red carpet!" Aragorn sighed, and as tears crowded in his eyes, he continued to walk, wiping at them, "So many tears!" And suddenly, he could no longer walk. Technically, he still could have, but something was blocking his way. Aragorn whipped out his blade faster than anyone could blink and carved up the thing in his path, thinking that it was a tree or something. But then, to his surprise, the thing replied (very loudly), "OUCH!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"ARAGORN!" Legolas hollered, clutching his bleeding forehead as he sprinted back along his red carpet, and Sirius stared at the elf, "SOMETHING IS TRYING TO EAT ME!"
"Eat you?" Boromir rolled his eyes (they all had to stay a step behind the elf according to him), "What wants to eat you? And what happened to your head?"
"A big honking blade!" The elf whimpered, "It hurts!"
"Let�s see." Sirius pried Legolas�s fingers away from his forehead and studied the tiny little scrape, "It�s just bleeding a lot. It�s not very deep." And he grabbed a Kleenex and mopped up the blood which had stopped flowing. With the elf whimpering, Sirius studied the wound and to his surprise, found that the small, precise scrape wasn�t a scrape at all. But a shaped cut. Funny. He squinted. If he looked at it right now, it would just resemble a . . . His heart skipped a beat. A lightning bolt.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"OUCH?" Aragorn screamed, "What is an ouch?"
"It�s an expression." Adhara replied dryly, "For pain. Used by children."
"It seemed to know who I was!" He sighed, almost dreamily, "He probably laid out the red carpet!"
"Oh, the red carpet is moldy." She looked down and pointed to a dark spot, "See? Fungus."
"This is an OUTRAGE!" Aragorn roared, "MY CARPET HAS FUNGUS ON IT!"
"Ooh . . . Fungus . . . Yummy . . ." Adhara and Aragorn turned in surprise to see some wretched alien-like creature with very sallow skin creep out of the woods, swipe up the fungus spot with a long finger and proceeded to suck on it, "Mmm . . ."
"Hey!" Aragorn waved his sword about, "Who are you? What are you?"
"Hic." The thing gave a small hiccup and glared at them with large, luminous eyes, and raised a shaky finger towards the sky, "Gollum phone home!"
"Oh, no you don�t!" Aragorn strode forward, "Last time you got away from those idiotic elves, but this time, I�m keeping you with me!"
"Hic." The thing glared again, and wiped at its runny nose, "Hungry."
"Aww, it�s hungry," Adhara cooed, stepped forward and scratched it behind what she thought were ears, "Isn�t it so cute?"
"Gollum is not cute." Aragorn frowned, "And it�s hungry for his Ring."
"PRECIOUS!" Gollum hissed and glared at Aragorn, "You have my Precious!"
"No I don�t." He rolled his eyes, "Some hobbit does."
"You SPEW!" The thing blinked, and Adhara managed to get out of the way just in the nick of time as it did a pretty good impression of Aragorn hanging upside down and spewing, "Precious!"
"What do you eat?" Adhara rummaged about in her bag and pulled out a winter wrinkled apple, "Will this do?"
"Gollum hungry!" Gollum hissed, and pointed a finger dramatically at sky again, "Gollum must use phone!"
"Yes, Gollum must go home," Adhara assured him, and turned to Aragorn, "We surely can send him home, can�t we?"
"Home?" Aragorn snorted, "What home?"
"His family?" She snarled, "His parents?"
"He doesn�t have parents." He answered.
"Then I suppose he fell out of the sky." Adhara rolled her eyes, "Haven�t you ever taken biology?"
"No." Aragorn admitted, "It wants a phone. What is a phone?"
"Gollum must call!" The thing was crying again, and Adhara handed him a Puffs, "Gollum must call Dominoes Pizza Delivery!"
"Pizza delivery?" Adhara�s brows knitted, "I thought you wanted to call home, Gollum."
"Must call! Must call!" Gollum planted little fists into the red carpet as Adhara tried to sooth him.
"Go find something for him to eat!" Adhara snarled at Aragorn, "Now!"
"Alright . . . And I thought no one was as bossy as Arwen!" Aragorn stuck out his tongue at her and stalked off the red carpet and in to the surrounding woods, "Wants me to find food for that thing. Arg. Why wasn�t she ever that concerned about me?"
The sound of a running stream alerted him to a possible source of fish, what he assumed Gollum ate. As he made his way towards it, his ears caught the sound of loud splashing, as though someone were frolicking about in the water. Hmm. How odd. Carefully stepping behind a bush, Aragorn peered out at the clear stream to find that there was something in the stream. And it sure wasn�t a fish either. Or maybe it was a very large pale fish with long hair and pointy ears. And a wooden back scrubbing brush, muttering about poison oak. Poison oak? There was no poison oak about here? Aragorn heaved a sigh. Stupid elf. The elf heard.
Aragorn just hit the forest floor in time as a wooden back scrubbing brush missed his head by millimeters (the elf had a good aim). And a loud voice. "GET OUT OF THERE YOU . . ." It seemed to pause for the briefest second, "HOBBIT! DWARF! THING!"
Aragorn remained silent. He was no hobbit. Nor a dwarf. Nor a thing. He didn�t have to respond. Now what would an elf be doing in the middle of a mountain taking a bath? No one was that crazy. Unless it was . . . "HEY!" Aragorn stepped out of the woods to greet his Mirkwood buddy, "It�s me! Aragorn!"
"ARAGORN!" The elf gasped, paling, "YOU! I would have never know! It will break Arwen�s heart!"
"What will?" Aragorn snapped, looking around, "What are you doing here? This isn�t Mirkwood!"
Legolas flung his damp hair over a shoulder elegantly, "I have to wash that ugly dwarf right out of my hair!" And suddenly began to sing, "I�ve got to wash that dwarf right out of my hair! I�ve got to wash that dwarf right out of my hair, and send him on his way!"
"Oh. How original." Aragorn stared at the elf, "Now what about Arwen?"
"The fact that you are spying on . . ." Legolas paused, "Me."
"I�m not spying on you!" Aragorn roared, "You nearly took my head off with that brush!"
"I got you the first time." The elf stuck out his tongue, "Remember?"
"This is my first time!" He snarled, "I�ve never seen you since the last time I borrowed your REE catalogue!"
"Then it was another." A voice hushed in conspiracy, Legolas looked about, "Who do you think it is? Who shares beliefs with you? Who spies on elves when they bathe?"
"I AM NOT SPYING ON YOU!" Aragorn roared, "I just FOUND you for Pete�s sakes! Where�s the rest of the Fellowship?"
"Over there." Legolas squinted, "Hey, Aragorn. You look different. Did you get a face sag or something?"
"A face sag?" Aragorn frowned, "You mean face lift."
"No. Face sag. You�re uglier." Legolas wrinkled his nose, "And smellier."
"Hey, I showered yesterday." He glared at the elf, "You stink. Like lavenders."
The elf sniffed his arm, "Slightly."
"I�m not ugly." Aragorn growled, "At least I�m not pretty."
"OOOOHHHH!" Legolas squealed, jumping up and down, "Someone finally is not jealous and can admit that I am pretty! So pretty! So pretty!"
"Alright. Fine." He rolled his eyes as the elf grabbed a fluffy off-white towel and began drying his hair, Aragorn looked about, "You know where I can find some fish?"
"Why?" Legolas sniffed, "That smells fishy."
"Hey! Aragorn!" Adhara pushed aside some bushes, "So that�s why you�re taking so long! Stopping to talk to an elf! Don�t forget that poor Gollum is starving while you stand around chatting like an old hen with . . ." She faltered and stared at Legolas, "An elf."
"Yes, I am an elf." Legolas grinned, and suddenly dove behind a bush. In a mechanical voice he yelled, "HELLO. You have reached the residence of Legolas Greenleaf. He is unavailable at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone. BEEEEEEP!"
"Answering machines!" Adhara groaned, "What�s wrong with him!"
"Nothing." Aragorn sighed, "Nothing at all." And with a quick swipe of a hand, grabbed a large fistful of leaves, "There. That�s what Gollum is going to eat."
"It eats fish." She snarled, "It needs fish."
"Well . . . where am I supposed to find . . ." Aragorn stopped in mid protest, and when Adhara was ready to say something, he shook his head. Silence. Except for a low growl behind him. The lower the growl, the larger the animal. This was one honking thing.
Before Aragorn could whip out his sword (and that was pretty quick), he found himself flat on his back, wind knocked out of his lungs and a gigantic pair of dark brown eyes staring into his. Two gigantic paws were slammed onto his chest and a drippy pink tongue bathed his face in doggy drool. The black dog wagged his tail and barked happily, sniffling at Aragorn, but then suddenly growled, bearing long white and sharp teeth.
"Sirius!" Adhara screamed happily and threw her arms around the dog, "Aww . . . give me a big doggy kiss!" The dog slobbered on her too. Aragorn had had enough. He was being sat on by a dog. And the dog was drooling on him. Yuck.
"MOVE!" Aragorn screamed, and Adhara jumped away, but the dog growled again, "GET OFF ME, YOU BEAST!"
"I think not." Sirius returned to his human form quickly and stood before Aragorn, wand drawn, "Get away from her."
"Hey!" Aragorn raised his hands, "I don�t mean anything! And aren�t you a little possessive!"
"Right." Sirius growled, not unlike the dog, "Who are you?"
"Aragorn!" Adhara supplied, "He showed up at Hogwarts all of a sudden!"
"Hogwarts." Sirius sniffled, "Aragorn, son of Arathorn?"
"The very same." Aragorn nodded, "I�m trying to find the Fellowship of the Ring."
"You�re Aragorn?" Sirius frowned, "Prove it."
"I have the Blade that has been Broken." The heir of Isildur tried, "Legolas could ID me!"
"Legolas. Get out here." With a voice as cold as ice, Sirius snarled, "NOW!"
From behind the bush, a mechanical voice answered, "HELLO. You have reached the residence of Legolas Greenleaf. He is unavailable at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone. BEEEEEEP!"
"GET OUT HERE BEFORE I REARRANGE YOUR FACE!" Sirius screamed and the elf yelped, "AND THAT INCLUDES YOUR NOSE!"
"Not my pretty little nose!" Legolas ran out of the woods, holding a protective hand in front of his nose, and the other hand hiked up his pedal pushers. He caught sight of Adhara. "Hey! Do you have a belt I can borrow?"
"No." She answered, and pointed to Aragorn, "This is Aragorn, isn�t it?"
"Of course." The elf snapped, and stared at Sirius, "Hey, aren�t you Aragorn? You got a face lift again!" Legolas hiked a finger at Aragorn, "Unlike this dude. Looks like you with a face sag."
"I don�t have a face sag!" Aragorn roared, "He doesn�t have a face lift!"
"Wait one moment." Legolas stared at Sirius, "You�re Aragorn," He stared at Aragorn, "And you�re Aragorn too? I didn�t know Aragorn was such a popular name!"
"Oh gosh!" Sirius moaned, "This is a total Mickey Mouse Prince and his Long Lost Twin Brother story."
"That would be Twain�s Prince and the Pauper." Adhara corrected, "And Tom Canty was not his Long Lost Twin Brother."
"ARG!" Legolas screamed, "This is so confusing!" He suddenly dug around in his pockets and got some stickers reading in bright red, HELLO! MY NAME IS followed by a blank line. "Fill these out." Aragorn took a big black marker and neatly printed on his sticker Aragorn, Son of Arathorn, Heir of Isildur and the Throne of Gondor, Esslar, Fianc� of Arwen, Foster Son of Elrond Half-Elven, Wingfoot, Strider, Ranger of the North. He recapped the marker. The rest of his names did not fit. Aragorn stuck the sticker onto his cloak. Sirius took a big blue marker and wrote in a shaky script Sirius Black and stuck the sticky sticker to his robes.
"Much clearer." The elf nodded approvingly, "You�re Sirius. And you�re Aragorn."
"Yes." They both chorused.
"But why are you Sirius? Why aren�t you Aragorn?" Legolas glared at Sirius, "Arg, this is confusing."
"I am not Aragorn. I never was Aragorn!" Sirius roared, "No one believes me!"
"You�re not Aragorn?! You can�t be serious!" Legolas sighed, "You could have told us earlier!"
"I tried! I�m serious I tried!" He screamed, "And I am Sirius!"
"You�re not serious." The elf rolled his eyes, "Fine. We�d best tell the others. They can sort you out for all I care." A wicked look suddenly glimmered in Legolas�s fair eyes, "Let the Inquisition of the Fellowship begin!"
"No!" Sirius roared, "Wait!" He turned to Adhara, "You Know Who is around!"
"You Know Who?!" She gasped, eyes widening, "How? What? Why?"
"The lightning bolt, you know." Sirius glared at Legolas and for the first time, everyone noticed the queer cut on the elf�s forehead. Including the elf himself.
"I HAVE A WHAT ON MY FOREHEAD?!" He screamed and ran into the bush again, the tinkling of a breaking glass mirror could be heard, followed by his sobs, "I�m RUINED! I�m UGLY!"
"Oh, Legolas!" Adhara sighed, "It�s just a very little cut!"
"I�m not PRETTY!" The elf moaned and would not come out, "I�m so UGLY!"
"Harry has the bolt. And I don�t see him hiding away!" Sirius roared, "GET OUT HERE! Get some gumption together! Be a man!"
"MAN?!" Legolas spat, "I SHALL NEVER BE A MAN!"
"I mean . . ." Sirius tried, but it was too late. The elf was not responding. Any calls were met with a tinny machine voice, "HELLO. You have reached the residence of Legolas Greenleaf. He is unavailable at the moment. Please leave a message after the tone. BEEEEEEP!"
"Um, I would like to leave a message for Legolas." Adhara tried, "And I just wanted to say that I thought the lightning bolt makes him look more . . ." She faltered, "Pretty."
"It does?" The elf asked, excitedly, but still with the machine voice, "Are you sure?"
"Of course!" Adhara cooed, as though she were talking to a creature of limited intelligence instead of the elf, "And if you come on out, I have a very nice present for you!" She dug around in her bag and pulled out what she thought the elf would like the most, a little bottle of lavender scent she had picked up as a little gift of congratulation for Hermione who had aced her 50th straight exam, "Look! Lavenders!"
"Oooh . . ." Legolas shrieked with excitement, ran out of the woods, snatched up the bottle, uncapped it, and stuffed it up a nostril before anyone could say Thank you. "It�s stuck."
"What�s stuck?" Sirius was afraid to ask.
"I meant to take sniff. Sniffed too hard." The elf shuttered, and pulled the empty bottle away from his face, "All stuff went up nose."
"Oh, Legolas!" Aragorn roared, "What good does that do?"
"Now I smell like lavenders all over!" The elf hugged himself and jumped up and down, hair flying wildly, "Inside, outside and between my toes too!" And as if to make a point, he shoved a finger beneath Aragorn�s nose, "My fingers smell. Can you smell the lavenders?"
"Um . . ." Aragorn did not like having a long elven finger two millimeters beneath his nose, "YES!"
"OOH!" Legolas yelled, thrilled, and continued to bounce around, "I SMELL PRETTY!"
"I�m sure you do." Adhara grabbed the elf by his shoulders and steered him out of the clearing towards the direction he mentioned seeing the Fellowship in. To prevent two Aragorns from showing up, Sirius turned back into a dog. No one would believe the elf anyway.
"Aragorn! Finally!" Gandalf hopped off his rock and put away his pipe, "We have to do some mountain climbing before tomorrow. What took you so long?"
"Um, I was flattened and slobbered on." Aragorn sniffled, and introduced Adhara, "I found her . . . er . . . in the woods. With Sirius." He motioned to the dog. No one noticed anything amiss.
"You look like you got a face sag, Aragorn." Gimli suddenly added, "You look tired."
"Thanks a lot." Aragorn rolled his eyes and looked around for the rest of the Fellowship which he found, "So let�s go. I suppose."
"Oops." Adhara gasped, and tugged on Aragorn�s sleeve, "We�ve got a problem."
"What?" Aragorn frowned. He didn�t like problems.
"I left Gollum. He�s waiting for breakfast." Adhara pointed to the trees, "Shouldn�t we go and give him some tomatoes or something?"
"You said so yourself. He only eats fish. Now let�s go." He snarled, and motioned for her to follow Gandalf up the mountain, "I take the rear. And if you don�t go, I can�t."
"Okay, alright." She snapped back, "You�re so bossy!"
Aragorn�s cough of a response hid a laugh. Sirius the dog growled angrily.