Ok, here goes:

This is my first-ever fan fic, entitled Viva New Zealand! It seems to be well-received on EWFN, so I'm gonna post it here for all of you simultaneously. The girls on EWFN are already up to chapter 9, so I'm gonna have to try and catch you all up. k?

I'm posting this in The Lads, even though Elijah is in it, just because there are so many of the other fine young (and older) gentlemen present in the story, and I wouldn't want to deceive you that it's just about 'Lij. 'Cause it's not. Really. Sorry.

Disclaimer:
~I don't own anyone famous, sadly... no matter how much I wish I did. :cry:
~I do own the non-famous (perhaps infamous) people in this fic, namely myself and my friends.

Rating:
~There will be certain not-so-nice words in this fic, however, anything ugly beginning with 'f' probably will not appear. (It might however.) You have been warned. Do not complain. Please.
~There may be some action/violence, but that will definitely be fairly minimal.
~There are absolutely NO sweaty sex scenes. Sorry if you like that kind of thing, but I wouldn't really know how to write it anyway. There may be some making out with some hot famous guys, however...No promises...but I'll try.

So, anyway, here it goes girls and guys:

B)




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Chapter 1

“Ok guys! Guess what?” I yell, running down the stairs.

“Ummm… You didn’t trip on the stairs this time?” calls Kristina.

Smartass, I think to myself, taking care not to yell the word across the house for my parents to hear. That would not have ended well.

“No… Well, no, I guess I didn’t, but that’s not the point!” I peter out incoherently. I kinda mumble when I get flustered, and man am I flustered.

“So… You yelled at us for your health, then?” comes Kristina’s reply to my babbling.

“Not so much, pain in butt!” I retort, finally coming into the room where the three of them sat.

Kristina, Heba, and Luisa: my very best friends in the world.

Heba is my best friend, which is odd, because I think I met her the last of the three of them. But, we do get along the best, somehow; she seems to complete me, finishing my sentences and speaking my thoughts before I even realize I have had them. We can be nearly polar opposites at times, but, hey, opposites attract, right? I love here like a sister, and we do nearly everything together.

Kristina and I are a lot alike, a little too much at times. We are both sarcastic as hell, love animals, and can be rather a lot to handle when in combination. She can come across as pessimistic occasionally, but we all know that’s not really the case. And, besides, we love her for it, anyway.

Luisa, the final piece to our puzzle, is the most unpredictable member of the group, even more so than Heba (which is really saying a lot). She’s kinda small, and can be very quiet, but when she gets loud, look out! She’s a real spitfire when she wishes to be, and if you make her mad, you’ll end up with something bruised, ego or otherwise.

“Well then, what’s up Nicki?” Heba intervenes before Kristina can come up with something not-so-nice to reply.

“Well…” I start, “You all know Lord of the Rings, right?”

“No shit, Sherlock,” comments Kristina, using one of our favorite replies, quite useful, and perfect in almost any and every situation.

I shoot her a look and continue, “Well, anyway, as I’m sure you all know, the trilogy was filmed in New Zealand over a period of—what?—18 months, during which the actors lived there, blah, blah, blah, et cetera and so on…”

“No d…” Kristina begins, and is then silenced by a look from Heba. “I mean, please continue, by all means.” Sarcastic smile.

“As I was saying,” I press on, “Lord of the Rings, New Zealand, exotic locations… So, how about if we go to New Zealand and follow the trail they blazed?”

Blank stares all around. Long, unforgiving moment of silence. And then…

Heba’s face absolutely lit up; I swear, the girl looked like a Christmas tree! “You mean…?”

“Yes, yes I do mean!”

One more minute or so.

Kristina and Luisa look at each other, and then back to Heba and me, who have begun to edge closer to one another, eyes locked, each silently screaming, imagining, waiting for the other two to speak. Then, the entire room erupted, as all four of us began yelling and jumping up and down and all around my family room.

Unfortunately, I think we must have scared my parents like no other, because this was about the point we heard the two of them come pelting out of the living room and around the corner to see what caused the horrific commotion we four were making.

They just stood there staring at us all for a few seconds, and then my dad spoke: “Unless there’s something dismembered or someone is bleeding, then you girls have some serious ‘splaining to do!”

“Sorry Dad,” I reply, somehow managing to break off the torrent of laughter attempting to escape me, “We just got a bit, er, a lot excited.”

“About…?”

“Well, do you remember that whole New Zealand, Lord of the Rings idea I had last week?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I finally got everything together, figured out all the details, and…”

“Wait! Stop! Did it ever occur to you that you might want to, I don’t know, ASK US before you went ahead with this little scheme of yours?”

“Scheme is a bit harsh, and besides, you already said yes, yesterday, in fact!”

“I did no such thing! I think that I would remember something like that, don’t you?”

Needless to say, a ‘heated debate’ ensued, which, thankfully, my three friends managed to stay out of. Eventually, however, my dad was forced to concede, especially after my mother reminded him that he (and she) had indeed said yes to my “little scheme.” (I prefer the term ‘plan,’ or ‘adventure,’ but, to each his own, I suppose.)

“All right, fine!” came my dad’s reply, finally, “You all can go. Provided that your parents all say yes, of course,” he finished, indicating the three teenage girls surrounding me.

They all rapidly agreed, of course.

yay!!
there going to NZ!!
Yea...
I'm so happy you posted it here!!
I really don't go on the over site on...so
yea
^_^

No problem Lessy! I'll be glad to find some new readers over on this forum too!

I'll get up a new chap in just a minute or two.

BTW: This fic is written largely in the writing form known as stream-of-consciousness. This writing style is definitely not very formal, but still a lot of fun. It allows you to see through the eyes (and thoughts) of the main character (me), and share her (my) fictional 'experiences' in quite an interesting way. It does, however, also mean that you get to put up with the babbling that sometimes goes on in my head. But don't worry: it's lots of fun.

So, now that you have been warned not to expect much of anything resembling seriousness in this fic... carry on. lol

B)

Chapter 2

“If you don’t hurry up and get your slow butt down here, we are leaving you!!!” Luisa yells agitatedly up the stairs.

“Right, right,” I mutter to myself. Then I yell back, “Yeah, cause you’re really gonna leave behind the only reason you’re even going on this trip!”

“Wanna bet!” came the reply.

“Hmmm, she just might…” I consider for a moment, then haul my ‘slow butt’ down the stairs as quickly as possible, without falling, of course. Let’s just say, I failed miserably in the not-falling department. I sure did manage to slide down about three stairs, followed by a very ‘graceful’ flying leap over the last several steps and onto the hard, tiled entryway floor. With everyone watching, no less.

“Erm, so I’m here now… We can go!” I cry. Then, without waiting for whatever reply the assembled smartasses might be working up, I stride on out to the car, bags in tow.

************************************************************

So, we finally get checked into the airport… all of us. However, even this seems to prove difficult for us. Don’t ask me how, it just is.

For starters, while it never crosses my mind that Heba is half-Arab, and most definitely looks the part, it certainly seems to have crossed the minds of those damn security screeners at Denver International. So, of course, they flag her down, pull her over, and do a thorough search of both her person and her carry-on luggage. Meanwhile, the other three of us can be seen fuming visibly in the corner, waiting for our poor friend to come through the fire, as it were.

Finally, the security guards decide that Heba is not, in fact, a threat to national security, and decide to let her go. Wow, they have managed to take nearly a full hour to decide what it took the rest of the population about two seconds to figure out. So, guess what: We are this close to being late for our flight!!!!!

All four of us run to the train to take us to the concourse, wait impatiently for it, jump on when it finally comes, take great leaps off when it comes to a stop at the proper concourse (the last one, of course), race up the escalator to the actual concourse, run faster than any of us ever has before all the way to end of the concourse, finally arriving at our gate just as our seats are about to be given away to waiting standby passengers.

Wow. And with seconds to spare, literally, we give our tickets to the pissy/prissy lady at the gate, and proceed to walk (quickly) down the ramp, into the plane, and to our seats.

Have I mentioned how much I hate puddle-jumpers? Guess what? I DO!!! I really, truly do. And guess what else? So does everyone one else in this world, and probably many from other worlds as well.

After flying in one of the smallest airplanes I have ever seen belonging to a large airline, we finally land in Los Angeles. (Why you send a small airplane from one large city to another two hours away, I have no idea, but leave it to the airlines to do something like that.) Of the four of us, Kristina is the only one who has never been to LA before: Heba and I are originally from that general area, and Luisa has traveled there looking at schools. Unfortunately, we weren’t there long, though; just a quick layover (20 minutes or so, by the time or rather-late flight from Denver got there), and then we were back in an airplane again, this time, a nice big Boeing 777, you know, the kind with the TV’s in the back of every seat… This type of plane is also known as Heaven/Nirvana/whatever name you wish to use.

Now that we’re in the plane and heading toward our destination of Auckland, New Zealand, we can finally relax, something that hasn’t really happened since… well, since that day when we all went nuts in my family room over the very adventure upon which we had just embarked. However, we don’t ever really relax, especially when we are all revved up for a real ‘adventure’ such as this one hopefully will turn out to be.

their going to Nz...
They might meet our little sexy elf and HOBBBBIIIITTTSSSSS**sings** :lalala:
yea...!!
can't wait for more!!!!!

Yay, you are posting this great story on here too!

YAY!!!!

Again, lovely story. Love the girls excitement about the trip


Lizzie

Yay a new story! I didn't catch it on EWFN, but i'll read it here! Sounds really good too! I'm glad you're posting it!

Great start!

Julie

Awww... Thanks to everybody!

I'm glad you all could make it over to my humble fic.

And... since I've been such a bad author, and have been neglecting it on this site... I'll give you a couple more chappies to make up for it. And to catch up to the posts on EWFN...

B)

Chapter 3

“I’m bored,” complains Luisa. No one is surprised.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Luisa—I love them all—but it was her own damn fault that she didn’t bring nearly enough stuff to do on the goodness-knows-how-many-hour flight from LA to Auckland. The rest of us have all managed to bring things to keep us occupied.

I, of course, have umpteen DVD’s, CD’s, and books to keep myself from getting bored; I am the Movie Queen, after all, and I do live up to the title well. My laptop of course suffices to play said discs (digital video and compact), and I also brought three extra batteries for the poor little computer so that it didn’t die on me in the middle of a movie.

Kristina, as usual, is buried in some computer game; she also has brought her laptop, as well as a couple extra battery packs that her brother found lying around. She would, of course, be asking to borrow some movies later, something she made sure to clear with me nearly a week ago.

Heba is well-equipped as well, though not with a laptop like Kristina and I; she prefers the low-tech approach (lower-tech, anyway), and has brought several books (a new series she discovered and saved for this trip). In addition to this, she will, no doubt, be watching movies with me, since she is sitting right next to me, and is the definite close-second in the Movie Queen race, largely due to me dragging her to every movie on the planet. It also helps that we have a similar taste in movies… and in leading men… yummy… Ummm… Anyway…

“And whose fault is that?” quip Kristina and I simultaneously. We look at each other, and then both burst out laughing, neither one of us really willing to jinx the other, but each knowing that the other was thinking it all the same.

“Jinx!” Heba cries suddenly, catching both of us off guard, a rare feat.

We both stare at her for a second, then, realizing what has just happened, resign ourselves to our fate: silence, until she says our names, of course. We don’t bother with that saying the name three times rule: it takes far too long, and nobody seems to be able to remember how many times a name has been said, especially since it almost never happens that only one of us gets jinxed at one time.

“Ok, then,” Heba continues, smiling, “Now that we have silence in the immediate vicinity,” looks at Kristina and I, both still slightly fuming, “Luisa, why don’t we find something else to do?” Ah, Heba, always the situation-diffuser. Good luck with this, let me know how it turns out for you. Uhoh, that’s a bad look on Luisa’s face. This is not going to end well.

“Right,” begins Luisa, falsely calm, “Well, what do you suggest we do, then?”

Oh, Heba, run, run while you still can! Oh, too late. Hmmm, for one of us, anyway.

“Oooohhh, hang on a second Heba; I have an idea!” Luisa shouts triumphantly (oh yes, shouts in an airplane). Now absolutely everyone’s heads have turned in our direction. Great.

“What? What?!” Heba asks, impatient.

“Well…” *Danger, Danger, Will Robinson* “I think that we should sing!”

Sing. Sing what?

“Sing what?”

Is there an echo in here?

“Hmmm,” Luisa thinks for a moment, before replying, “I think that we should sing Disney songs, and just about anything else that pops into our heads. But, Disney songs first!”

I know what you’re thinking, and no, Luisa is not Disney obsessive, nor are the rest of us, particularly. However, you gotta admit, they are great to sing to, and they don’t involve any lyrics that might make the harassed-looking mother of two seated behind us want to reach out and kill someone.

“Oh, that sounds great, Luisa!” Heba is really excited about this one. But, hey, that’s fine with me, and by the looks of it, Kristina doesn’t really mind either. After all, we can’t talk, remember?

“Oh yeah, almost forgot,” says Heba, “Nicki and Kristina!” she calls triumphantly.

Damn. This close. Oh well, they know I DO NOT SING IN PUBLIC, so we’re safe. And by we, I mean me; Kristina’s on her own, not that they could actually make her do anything she didn’t really want to do.

“Nicki,” Luisa says, slyly, “Why don’t you go first.” It’s not a question.

Big trouble, Luisa. I look at her for a minute, pondering my options. However, from the look in her eye, I decide that, as the Borg say, resistance is futile.

“Fine.” I may not be happy, but that wasn’t really a prerequisite, now was it?

It’s ok, though… I guess. I suppose I’ll survive with the minimal amount of humiliation possible in this most-dangerous type of situation: that of singing in public. After all, I do have a good voice, or so I’ve been told. So, I suppose, if I must, I must.

“Soooo…” Luisa pauses, waiting, for me I guess.

“So, what?” I most obnoxiously, and impertinently, inquire.

Luisa is clearly not amused. “So, what song will you be singing, you annoying shit, you?”

Hmmm. No sense of humor. Ok, then. We’ll play it your way. Hehe. *Evil laugh, evil laugh.*

“All right, then, Luisa,” I reply, rather nonchalantly, to my credit, “We will be singing…”

Dramatic pause for effect…

Chapter 4

“We will be singing… WHAT, exactly?” Luisa exclaims, clearly quite exasperated with me.

“Wait a minute,” interrupts Heba, “She said ‘we’ will be singing something. Or am I the only one who caught that?”

“What??!!!!!” shouts Luisa.

Oh, look, all eyes on us again. Surprise, surprise.

And, oh, look, three pairs of eyes on me. Surprise again. Oooohhh, Luisa… Angry much?

Hmmm… I think, perhaps, that royally pissed off at me would maybe, possibly, be a better way to term the emotion currently seething right on the surface there.

Oh well, best to press on then.

“Yes. ‘We’ will be singing something.” I say, trying my darndest to neither crow nor cringe.

“Ok.”

Ooohh, a new twist: all eyes now on Heba, six of them anyway. Mine seem to be the only happy ones of the bunch.

“Sounds like fun to me. What? Do you really want to leave poor Nicki just hanging there, out to dry? You know she doesn’t like public performances; hell, it took a long time before she would even sing in front of us where we could hear her,” Heba commented, still going strong. Yay Hebs!

“Well…” mumbled Luisa, “All right! We’ll do it!”

Yayyayyay!!!

“So, Nicki,” Heba suddenly turns to me and asks, “What song will we be singing this fine late morning?”

Oh, shit. I’m on.

“Uuuhhh… well… I…”

“Well, if you don’t know, we could always pick one and make you sing it by yourself…” Luisa offers quite slyly.

“No! No, errr, no…” I quickly interrupt, “I know exactly what song I wish for us to sing.”

Great… Think, darn you, THINK!! Got it.

“Hakuna Matata.”

“Huh?” rings out from three people sitting very close-by.

“You mean, like, from the Lion King?” asks Luisa, disbelieving.

“No, like from Sleeping Beauty. Yes, from Lion King!” I feel sarcastic, oh so sarcastic…

“Pain in the ass,” comes Luisa’s reply.

Duh.

“But, it sounds good to me.”

Wow. That was unexpected. Hmmm. Oh well: I’m sure not complaining.

“All right, then. Let’s go!” I cry. “Mememememe…!!!


Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain’t no passing craze

It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It’s our problem-free philosophy
Hakuna Matata!

When he was a young warthog
When I was a young warthog
He found his aroma lacked a certain appeal
He could clear the savannah after ev’ry meal
I’m a sensitive soul though I seem thick-skinned
And it hurt that my friends never stood downwind

And, oh, the shame
Thoughta changin’ my name
And I got downhearted
Ev’rytime that I…

Hakuna Matata!
What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata!
Ain’t no passing craze

It means no worries
For the rest of your days
It’s our problem-free philosophy

Hakuna Matata!

Hakuna… it means no worries
For the rest of your days
It’s our problem-free philosophy

Hakuna Matata!


Todah!!! That’s all folks!”

Wow. I tell ya what, wow.

By the time we had finished the song, nearly everyone in our immediate vicinity, and for the next few rows besides, had joined in and was singing their hearts out. Those kids right behind us were really outdoing themselves; it was much fun.

What fun, what fun!

Chapter 5

Clapping. I love it. Just the sound of it is oh-so-wonderful. And we are all getting an earful of it. This is kinda fun. But, don’t tell Luisa I said that.

“Encore, encore!” Now there’s a crowd. Or, a bunch of guys anyway. Oooohhh… Guys… This is promising!

Apparently Heba too notices the guys staring at us.

“What do you think?” she asks me quietly.

What do I think? Does ‘hell yeah’ ring any bells? Hmmm, let’s be just a wee bit more tactful than that, shall we?

“What do I think?” I reply, still weighing my options. I choose this moment to aim a well-directed, and overly obvious, glance at the extremely fine-looking gentlemen sitting not too far behind and to the side of us. Damn. None of them is looking at me. What a waste. Why do men never look when you want them to? Sigh.

Oh. Heba’s looking at me funny.

“Well, I for one,” I pause, mainly for effect, “think that those are some very fine-looking young things over there.” Pause again. “I also think that they liked our little number of a few moments ago, and that they would apparently like an encore.”

“No shit.”

Wow. I think perhaps that Kristina and I are starting to rub off on her. Hmmm… Evil laugh, evil laugh.

“You know what I also think?” I add, nearly as sly as Luisa.

“What?”

“I think,” I say, choosing my words very carefully, “That someone over there wants a shag, and that I am in quite the sufficient mood to give it to him.” Oh, yes, cool, nonchalant, a perfectly straight face: I could have been an actress! But Heba’s the real-life actress here, so let’s see if she catches me.

“What???!!!!!!!!!!!” I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a louder scream, except for this one time when my brother got himself bitten by the dog. But other than that: No.

I do believe she may have missed the fact that I was joking. But, that is a large part of the practical joker, the not-getting-caught part. I’m good, let me tell you.

Darn. By now, everyone on this flight has become accustomed to the random outbursts that are quite prevalent among the members of our little band of miscreants. No one looked. I can deal with that.

“A shag?” Heba is still quite incredulous, but has now managed to reign in her voice, keeping it below supersonic. Thank you Heba.

I decide to keep it going; this is far too much fun to end it now.

“Yes, a shag,” I plunge onward, “One of those lovely gentlemen sounded rather British to me, so I would imagine he fancies a nice shag right about now. It is almost one third of the way through the flight… He must be really lonely by now.” Hehe. I’m evil. You know it. I know it. What fun, what fun.

“Ok.”

Heba?

“Huh?” Now it is my turn to be incredulous.

“Oh, yeah,” Heba continues, “I think he would enjoy the pleasure of some female company right about now. And then maybe the rest of us could take care of the needs of his friends there.”

Ok, she has to have figured it out. Oh, well. That’s just fine by me. I’m almost tired of this game. Almost. But not quite.

“Ok.”

Ooohhh, her turn again.

“Huh?” Heba’s expression has turned to a slightly concerned shade of paler-than-usual skin.

Seriously, is there an echo in here?

This is fun.

“Yeah, I think you’re right, Hebs,” I press on, undeterred, and rather determined to make her squirm. After all, it was only fair; she had tried to play my game. Not the best idea she’s ever had. Hehe. More inner evil laughter.

“You think I’m… right?” Oh, she’s really squirming now. Much fun, much fun.

“Oh, yes! I do. I really do. I think I’ll just go over there and ask him myself.” Ah, the photo finish… Except for not. I was definitely a full length ahead.

“Well,” I conclude my game, “I’ll be back in a bit! No promises as to when.”

And with that, I get up and walk over to the ‘fine young thing,’ leaving Heba staring at me open-mouthed and wide-eyed with incredulity, and more than a hint of concern for my sanity.

Well, there you go girls. That's THREE chaps to keep you satisfied for a little while longer... complete with *small* cliffhanger free of charge, of course. lol

B)

hehe..

Who are the fine gentlemen, hmm? Is Nikki going to bypass them and go to the washroom or is she really going to go talk to them? hehe that would be hilarious!

Greaat three chapters!

Julie

Thanks Julie!

Fine gentlemen indeed... :drool:

Anyway. Aw, but that wouldn't be any fun if she didn't go over and talk to them... It would completely ruin Nicki's (my) little joke on Heba... lol

More chaps tonight girls!

B)

hehe...that's funny!!
It was great!!
^_^

Thank you, thank you!!

*bows to fans*

Thanks a lot girls! And now... on with the show...err...story!

B)

Chapter 6

“All right, man,” says Elijah, “And now the time has come…”

“ ‘The walrus said,’ ” interrupts Orlando.

“…for you to go over there and say hello to those four fine ladies you have been ogling for the past hour-and-a-half,” Elijah finishes, ignoring his friend’s interruption.

“ME???!!!!!” By the end of Orlando’s piercing shout, his voice must have reached a decibel only audible to dogs, since his friend could no longer hear him.

“Yes, you,” states Elijah, nonchalantly, as always, “Especially the tall one sitting on the end there. You know, the one that looked over here just a minute ago.”

“What?” Orlando asks, amazed that he can have missed it. “When was this? And more importantly, why didn’t you tell me???”

“Well,” Elijah shakes his head a bit at his slightly older friend, “I believe I just did tell you, and it happened about a minute or two ago… as I already told you.”

“But… but… but…” Orlando stammers, more-than-somewhat incoherently.

“But… but… but… nothing!” Elijah mimics playfully. “Just go over there, and… oh! Too late!”

“What do you mean ‘too late’?” Orlando asks, suddenly looking very concerned.

Chapter 7

So, now that I have Heba staring at me like I’ve just gone legally insane, I am currently working my way over to my fine young Brit.

Wow, here already. That was fast. And the Brit’s bright-blue-eyed friend is looking straight at me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes that… at least, not that I can remember. Or, have I?

Oh, too late. Now the cause of my little jaunt down the aisle has turned around to look at me as well: My Brit, looking right at me. (!!!) Wow. Those eyes are pretty good too. Almost chocolate-colored; in a word: beautiful.

All this ‘strenuous’ thought having taken place in less than a nanosecond, I decide that now would probably be a good time to speak, audibly that is, not just to myself in my own head. Yes. That would be good. Any time now.

“Ah, look, here she is now, Orli,” Elijah crows triumphantly at my poor Brit.

Hmmm, guess he beat me to that whole speaking thing. That’s good, very good. Cause goodness knows I didn’t talk in time. Thankfully neither of them noticed it. They probably thought I was just being polite by not interrupting them. Yeah, right. But, hey, I’ll take what I can get.

A low groan escapes Orli’s lips (oh boy, I hope that’s just a nickname) (your real name is better than that, right?) as he manages to turn a rather lovely shade of red. Awww, how cute! This is definitely promising.

“What, have you two been talking about me?” Did that come out of my mouth? Uh oh. Oh well, too late now. Best press on. “Or is there just some other girl standing behind me that I don’t know about?”

Wow. That sure is a whole new shade of red that boy is turning.

“Oh, no,” Elijah responds, “We were talking about you. Orli here was even saying just now how hot he thinks you are, and how wonderfully he thinks you sing, even if it’s just ‘Hakuna Matata.’ ”

Awww… *Nicki blushes, except for not*

“Well, then,” I inquire, ever-so-devilishly, “Why doesn’t Orli tell me all of this himself?” And when she was bad, she was horrid.

“Orlando.”

Ah, he speaks!

“What did you say?” Just want to make sure I caught that beautiful name.

“I said, my name is Orlando. This,” indicates Elijah, “pain in the ass, as well as many of my other friends, calls me Orli every once in a while.”

I do the ‘downcast eyes’ thing, followed by: “So, I don’t get to be a friend then?”

Ah, and once again it is Orlando’s turn to blush. How cute is that?

“Wha…No…That’s not…” Orlando stutters, oh-so-adorably, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No?” Ooohhh, I am evil!

“No!” he cries, slightly indignant, “I was simply attempting to express the annoyance that I occasionally feel at being called ‘Orli,’ when Orlando really is only one syllable longer.”

“Wow. There were a lot of long words in there, mate. Not quite sure I followed all of them,” I reply, smiling to myself, “But I think I got the general gist of it.” Hmmm. That may have been a little too Pirate-esque to be believable. Oh well. Oops.

Orlando and Elijah exchange an odd look. The look seems to say ‘uhoh, we’re in trouble,’ but they don’t really want to alert me to their concern, just in case they have read the signs wrong. Have you figured out yet who they are, just as I have? Well, in case you haven’t, I’ll tell you: Orlando Bloom and Elijah Wood. The famous actors, you ask? Oh yes, one and the same, among the hottest of the hot, Orli and ‘Lij, right here in front of me. And that’s not all, it seems, for there’s someone standing above us, waiting to sit back down in his seat, which I am quite completely blocking.

Hmmm... To post the next chappie, or not to post the next chappie... 'Tis quite a question... Whether to make your minds suffer the slings and arrows of....

Ok, that's enough butchering Shakespeare for one day.

The good fans on EWFN had to wait a couple of days for me to post between chaps 7 and 8, and for good reason: I had to make them guess as to who the *mystery man* is.

But... I won't do that to my good fans here... *sigh* I'm becoming soft in my old age... lol

All right. Here you go.

B)

Chapter 8

Those have to be some of the most beautiful eyes I have ever laid my eyes on. They are a kind of dark brown, I suppose, but they look black. They are so intense; I don’t think I’ve ever seen eyes look so intense. One look at him, and you can just tell there’s something more to this man than meets the eye. Wow. If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then that’s one heck of a soul, and one I sure wouldn’t mind finding out more about.

“Hey Johnny!” Orlando and Elijah yell simultaneously, “Come sit down! Take a load off!” Orlando adds.

“Well, my friend, I surely would,” Johnny begins, “But this lovely young lady would seem to be directly in my path. And,” he switches his gaze to me, “if she would be so kind as to slide over just an inch or two, I would be ever so grateful.”

“All right, then,” I respond, at the same time shifting position slightly so that I am ‘an inch or two’ closer to him. “Is that better?”

As Orlando’s eyes get bigger and Elijah begins to laugh harder, Johnny’s smile only grows, until it’s all that I can see. “Sure, honey, that’s just fine. I too can simply stand here in the aisle and block traffic.”

I turn around, and, sure enough, a rather overly large man is squeezing his way down the aisle, coming straight towards us. I turn back to Johnny, sigh, “Have it your way,” and edge my way into the row where Orlando and Elijah are currently seated. Johnny, obligingly, squeezes in beside me to let the man past. Now, like I said, this man is rather large, so Johnny is forced to push right up against me in order to let this bulk of a man through. Hey, I’m not complaining. Would you?

“Hmmm…Errr… Sorry,” Johnny apologizes, “I gotta let this guy through.”

“That’s ok,” I reply, “But that man has already passed us by and gone on to cramp the style of others less fortunate than ourselves.”

“So,” Johnny ponders for a moment, “I suppose this means that you’d like me to move then?”

“That would be ideal, I suppose.”

“Well, if I must, I must,” Johnny sighs, as he edges even closer to me. “Is that better?”

Echo, echo, echo…

“Infinitely.” Oh my wow: did that just come out of MY mouth? I’m not usually flirty AT ALL, and here I was, first flirting with Orlando (and Elijah a little bit), and now Johnny (well, more so than I was before). What’s gotten into me? I dunno, but it seems to be having a rather interesting effect on Johnny. He’s looking at me like I’m the best thing he’s seen since sliced bread.

“Why, miss,” he whispers, “I do believe you are flirting with me.”

Duh. Thank you Captain Obvious.

“Maybe,” I whisper back, “Is that a problem?”

“Not for me,” he says, simply.

“Good.” Now, my voice is kinda quiet and slightly smoky and just a teeny little bit sexy to begin with, but when I lower it an octave like I did just now, oh my wow… It’s really sexy, like you would not believe. Eat your heart out, Johnny.

“Ah,” Johnny goes on, at a more normal level, “That is good, it is true. But, I don’t even know the lady’s name.”

Uhoh, that what Rob Honey call cue. Woof woof. (If you’ve ever seen the movie Robinson Crusoe U.S.N., then you get that quote; otherwise, you don’t.)

“Hey,” interjects Elijah, “Neither do we. So… spill it!”

Crude, but effective.

Ok girls, there you go: three more chapters, just for you!

Just so you know, in case you haven't already figured it out: More than a pinch of literary license has been taken in this fic by yours truly. I just flirted with Johnny Depp. Yes, THE Johnny Depp, hottest of the hot (besides Orli, of course... lol). That would never--to my knowledge--happen in real life...although we all wish it would... *sigh* So, if anything seems a bit outrageous or out of the ordinary to you... that's why they call it FICTION... Savvy? hehe ;-)

Hope you enjoy!

Nicki

B)

And, now, a special public service announcement from yours truly:


HAPPY BIRTHDAY ORLANDO!!!! On this day, January 13, in the year 1977, a great star was born... We must celebrate this day!

:orli: Happy Birthday, you British fox, you! :leggybig: :love1: :leggy2: :PEF: :will: *emoticon fun*

Happy 27th Birthday to Orlando! All the best from all of us!

Nicki

B)

That was great!!
HAha!!
Jhonny!!
:drool:
Sexyness!!!


Orli's b-day!! YAYA!!
:leggy: :orli: :leggybig: :love1: :cloud#9: :leggy2: :will:
!!!!

Chapter 9

Wow, Orlando sat up awfully fast. I mean, his back just went ramrod-straight at Elijah’s little outburst just now. Apparently he also wishes to know the name of this mystery girl. Ha, good luck with that; let me know how it turns out for you.

“Hey,” Luisa interrupts my musings, leaning over Johnny slightly, who obligingly moves a bit to give her a better view of me, “If you think you’re getting out of singing that easily, then you’ve got another thing coming!”

Saved by the Luisa… I think.

“Aw, gee darn guys,” I apologize, “But it would appear as though I am being called away. Sorry.” The smile on my face only grows as all three begin to protest my leaving.

“You can’t leave yet, lass,” cuts in a distinctly Scottish voice, “You haven’t met me yet.”

“Billy,” Elijah admonishes, “Leave the poor girl alone! She was just about to tell us her name, and now that you’ve interrupted her, we’re going to have to coax it out of her all over again.” Yeah, ‘cause you had me all ready to ‘spill it’ for ya there ‘Lij.

“Aw, ‘Lij,” Billy does the puppy-dog look at Elijah, “Come on now. While I’m sure that this fine young woman here had fun just chatting with you blokes, I’m also equally sure that what she truly needs is a real man to keep her, shall we say, satisfied.”

“Oh, and I’m sure that you believe yourself to be that ‘real man,’ do you, Billy, was it?” Aw, look at that. I do believe I just deflated most of his ego in one fell swoop there. No, wait: there could be a comeback. Let’s see, shall we.

“Well,” Billy takes a second or two to steady himself, “I would never, ever, presume to say such a thing, miss. But, since you said it first: ok. I do believe that I could be that man for ya.”

“Maybe some other time,” interjects Luisa, “But, for right now, Nicki here has to be going. In fact, we both do.”

“Nicki, huh?” murmurs Johnny, more than somewhat triumphantly, and with his usual grin plastered across his face.

Big trouble, Luisa. I’ll be getting you later for this one.

“What?” Luisa asks, curious as to why I am glaring at her as though I would enjoy her spontaneous combustion. “Oh,” realization dawns, “Was that supposed to be a secret or something?” She stares at me rather incredulously, probably wondering why something so trivial would be such a big secret. Well, Luisa, if you had kept your mouth shut, we could have had some real fun with this one. But, it’s a little late for that now, isn’t it?

“Yeah, Luisa,” I respond slowly, “It was just a bit of a secret, yes. Not anymore though.”

“And, why, pray-tell, was it such a big secret?” Luisa questions, obviously dying to discover the reason for my ‘secret,’ “I mean, what is in a name? Ummm… And, something about roses…” Agh, Luisa, butchering Shakespeare now? You thought you were in trouble before. Oh, no, no, no. You have not yet begun to see true trouble, my friend; not even close to it.

“Well, it was a secret for a short time while I was ‘playing’ with Johnny here.” Bravo to you, Luisa. Glad you’re on top of things. “But, now that you’re here, and have rather satisfactorily ruined our fun… We can go now.”

“Oh, now, sweetness,” Johnny flirts, “You don’t have to go. You could both stay here and dazzle us with your wits for a while, couldn’t you?” Johnny! Wow! Oh my wow!

Tempting, but no. No? Are we sure? Do we really have to go? Grrr…

Chapter 10

“Oh, no, but we really do have to go.” Wow, Luisa! Somebody’s rather impatient, now isn’t she?

“Wha…?” Johnny stutters, flabbergasted that he is being spoken to in this way by a girl whose head he looks straight over.

“Aw, but why do you have to go?” Elijah leans forward and asks Luisa, “We were just about to get to know you both better. It’d be a shame to lose your scintillating company now.”

Is Luisa blushing? Oh, yes… definitely, definitely, yes! It’s a little harder to see with her tan, though, so maybe he won’t notice.

“Why miss, I do believe you’re blushing.” Oh, never mind. He might have noticed… just a little.

“Yes, well,” Luisa manages to get out after a moment or two, “We really do have to be going now.” I look at her incredulously, pleadingly. She cuts off my glance with a “Yes, right now!” carefully aimed in my direction.

“Well, then,” I start, “I guess we’re going back to our seats then. Maybe…”

But I don’t get to finish that sentence, as Luisa has latched onto my right arm and is in the process of dragging me bodily up the aisles and back to our seats.

“You know,” I comment, “We didn’t really have to go away from the gorgeous men, right?!” Ok, so that finished up as more of a yell than a casual comment, but, hey, it happens.

“Oh, yes, but we did!” Luisa shoots back at me. “You know, we did! I mean, did you see the way that guy was looking at me… Not to mention the way that dark-haired guy was looking at you,” she finishes, avoiding my stare.

“Which dark-haired guy,” I ask, curious now, “Because you know there were two of them.”

“The one sitting down.”

Ah, Orlando. Hmmm. Not bad. I think I could live with that. Yes. Definitely. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be with Orlando Bloom? THE Orlando Bloom! *sigh* Oh, Luisa’s probably looking at me funny by now. No, wait, she’s not. Hmmm. I wonder if she too is thinking what I’m thinking, about Elijah anyway. I mean, with those beautiful bright blue eyes, that slightly messed-up hair, and that adorable grin… well, I don’t blame her.

“Luisa?” Is she awake?

No response.

“Earth to Luisa.” I’m still getting no response over here, and we now have both Heba and Kristina staring at us, no doubt wondering what happened over there a few rows back.

Still, no response from Luisa.

“E.T. phone home, here!” I yell, practically in her ear. Only at this close-up assault of her eardrum does Luisa finally look up.

“Huh? What?!” Oh, I see, so know she’s mad because I interrupted her daydreaming. Agh, Luisa, deal with it!

“So,” I begin, carefully, “Where were you just now? In a world of your own?” Yeah, an Elijah-filled world.

“No…” she mumbles, “Not really… Just thinking…” She drifts off again, and there’s really no point in trying to talk to her anymore.

By this point, however, Heba and Kristina are nearly on top of me, staring holes through me, as they wait for the explanation of the events of the past few minutes. I quickly relate the whole thing to them, mostly waiting for Luisa to come out of her daze and join the conversation. By the time I finish telling the tale, however, I have remembered the reason for my retrieval by said friend: singing. I think I’ll just leave her that way: she’s happier.

“Hmmm,” sighs Luisa from beside me. None of use are in our proper seats anymore, but at least we have not yet moved across the aisle to the adjacent seats, a relatively small thing for which the flight attendant appears grateful. Hey, it’s not like we’re rude or anything: we have been livening up the rows around us during this otherwise-dull flight.

“You know, Nicki,” Luisa says suddenly.

“What do I know?” I ask, wondering what exactly she is giving me credit for knowing today.

“Well, you know that I’m going to make you sing solo now, don’t you,” she finishes, peeking over her shoulder at me slyly.

It’s not a question. Oh, well. We’ll see about this. “No,” I shake my head, “I don’t know anything about that.” Take that, Luisa!

“That’s ok.” It is? “That’s why I’m here.” Damn.

********************************************************************************
************

Needless to say, I lose this one. Luisa, Kristina, and Heba, in combination, managed to make me sing. What did I sing? Well, they did at least allow me to make my own choice. So, I decided to sing My Immortal, by Evanescence. I love that song, and it’s relatively easy to sing without the music in the background. I didn’t hear the boys’ opinion on that one, so I can only hope that they liked it. However, I was not the only one to utilize my singing talent over the duration of the flight.

The song selections for the remainder of the flight were:
~Here With Me, by Dido – performed by Kristina
~Doesn’t Really Matter, by Janet Jackson – performed by Luisa
~I’m With You, by Avril Lavigne – performed by Heba

We had fun with those songs, especially after Kristina brought out her secret weapon: the portable speaker. She plugged it into her laptop and was able to give the singers (including herself) musical accompaniment for their desired performances.

Oh, and I almost forgot the two kids in the seats behind us: they decided to give us a serenade of their own. When their mother left for a few minutes, they decided to sing “The Song That Never Ends” for several rather joyous, and extremely excruciating moments (that seemed rather more like hours or days). Finally, after about five or six minutes of this torment, their mother deigned to return from the lavatory, gracing us with both her presence and her children’s silence.

Not long after that, we began our descent, finally landing in Auckland, New Zealand, at about 7:30 p.m., New Zealand time.

Now the real adventure can begin.

Chapter 11

“Viva New Zealand!” Heba cries upon stepping off the plane.

“Of all the words you could have picked,” Kristina comments, scoffingly, “You choose those three. Bravo to you.”

I think about it for a second or two, then decide that Heba has the right idea. “Viva New Zealand!” I cry as well. I look over at her, our faces split into identical, albeit slightly evil, grins, and we both cry:

“Viva New Zealand!”

Kristina and Luisa both look at us as though they believe we may have gone mad. Well, ok, so maybe we have… but it’s still fun anyway!

“Come on you two,” I wheedle, “Resistance is futile, and you know it. Come… to the dark side!”

They look at each other and then back at Heba and me, finally deciding to join us in our insanity: “Viva New Zealand!”

Then we all cry, one last time, “Viva New Zealand!”

********************************************************************************
************

We finally made our way to baggage claim, got our luggage, and found the rental car place. We eventually managed, after signing over our souls to the Hertz company, to get our car (a dark blue Land Rover) and load all of our bags into it. We’re at our hotel now, but just for tonight; tomorrow, we will begin what is looking up to be the greatest adventure of our lives. Hey, no one said the competition was stiff.

Chapter 12

Well, once again, it’s time to head out, and one or more of us is not yet ready to leave. In fact, I seem to be the only one who is actually all set to go… for once. No, wait, Heba’s ready too. And now we get to sit around and wait for the other two to get their butts in gear and put a move on so that we can leave.

“So,” Heba comments casually, “How long are you betting it’ll take them?”

“Well,” I weigh my options carefully, “I’m not quite sure how long it’s going to take them. But,” I continue, “I am willing to bet money that Kristina will be finished before Luisa is.”

“Huh uh,” Heba shakes her head, “No bet. I know Kristina will be finished first. She has most of her stuff packed up already, and Luisa is still working on putting her clothes back in her duffel.”

Luisa’s luggage had a little mishap earlier this morning: it decided to explode, or, rather, it decided to dump all of her stuff rather unceremoniously all over the floor. She left her duffel bag open while she went to look through drawers and under beds one last time to make sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything; well, she hadn’t, except for the fact that her bag was unzipped. When she picked it up and slung it over her shoulder, needless to say, everything went flying. And I mean everything: clothes, accessories, toiletries, books, maps… you name it, it flew.

So, now Luisa has had the delightful task of playing everything-pick-up, followed by everything-fold-up-and-put-away for the past half-hour or so. Much to all of our delight, of course. The person who smugly shoved our noses in the fact that she was going to be ready long before the rest of us, now on hands and knees picking up and folding everything in her once neatly packed bag. I love it!

Anyway. You may think me cruel and unusual, but if that’s the case, I’m not the only one: the other two, also, are relishing Luisa’s little misfortune. This mishap came after she woke up nearly two hours ago, turned on all the lights in the room (rather effectively waking us all up), and proceeded to turn everything upside down, dumping all her stuff on top of Kristina (who was still in bed), and proceeding to fold and pack it all neatly into her bag (also dropped on the bed). So, as you can well imagine, none of us—especially Kristina—were feeling very much sympathy towards her by this point. See, we’re not cruel, just unusual. Hehe.

********************************************************************************
************

Well, it is now 7:30 in the morning, and we are all finally ready to go, Luisa having coaxed, sworn, and shoved the last of her clothes back into the unfortunate duffel. And now it is time to lug everything downstairs, pack everything into the SUV, and head on over to the sporting goods store where we have rented all the ‘stuff’ we’ll need for our little sojourn.

Big Sid’s Sporting Goods. Now there’s a name that inspires confidence, let me tell ya. But, it was recommended to us by travel companies and family friends alike, so I’m hoping that we can trust it. If not, well, it’s a little late for such things now.

********************************************************************************
************

Now we are on the open road, out in the middle of nowhere, heading to the campgrounds. We have found a family that lives nearby who will look after the car and some of our things that have no business on a camping trip; we’ll leave all that with them, and proceed from there. This family has also rented us four horses—one for each of us—on which we will ride. The horses will also suffice to carry our gear—tents, bags, et cetera.

I only was going to give you three chaps tonight, as usual... BUT... since today is SUCH an important and extraordinary day (see a previous post)... I have decided to be extra-specially nice to all of you wonderful fans and give you FOUR chapters! That, plus I want to catch you up with the folks at EWFN. ^_^

They are currently on chap 15 (which I posted tonight), so tomorrow I should be able to catch you up by giving you four chaps again (they'll be on 16 by then).

'Night!

Nicki

B)

That was great!!
Yaya!!
Still here!!
Still reading!!
post more soon!!
^_^

Yay Lessy! And anyone else still reading but not posting... ;) shame on you... but keep reading anyway... it's about to get more interesting... How's that for foreshadowing? lol

Anyways, here you go girls: More Chappies!!

Nicki

B)

Chapter 13

“You know, there’s nothing like the open trail to work up an appetite. How’s about some food.” Luisa’s comment certainly leaves no room for mistaking her intentions: she’s going to eat. Well, we’ll see about that.

“You do realize, of course,” Kristina observes, “That it is only 9:30 in the morning, and we had breakfast less than two hours ago.”

“Of course she does, Kristina,” comes my reply, “But doesn’t that mean that it is now time for second breakfast?”

“Oh, yes, the infamous ‘second breakfast,’ scourge of the Fellowship.”

“That and Pippin’s stomach,” Heba cuts in.

We all laugh at this comment. It is fitting, though: we came here to ‘follow the trail’ of the Lord of the Rings, and Luisa has us well on our way to doing so, rather realistically, in fact.

“Fool of a Took.” Oh, yes: I am, in fact, evil. This comment clinches that for me.

“Oh, yeah, cute guys,” Luisa huffs, “That’s really funny.” Hmmm. She seems somewhat less than amused. Oh well.

“Aw, come on Luisa,” Heba mock-pleads, “Lighten up!”

“No! I will not!” comes the snappish reply. Uh oh. I think we might have really made her mad. Very bad, not good. Probably best just to leave her alone for a while.

We ride along in relative silence for about ten minutes or so, at which point I decide to look over to see if Luisa has cooled down sufficiently yet. I am, however, rather pleasantly surprised to see a vaguely dreamy expression on her face; she seems to be, once again, off in a world of her own. No doubt an Elijah-filled world; I wonder if she thinks about him the same way I do about Orlando. I also wonder if she knows that he is, in fact, one of the most famous people in the world, perhaps.

“Psst, Hebs,” I hiss.

“What?” she whispers back.

“Look at Luisa!”

Heba looks and, sure enough, a huge grin begins to spread across her face. “Awww… She’s so cute! Is she still thinking about that guy… Elijah?”

“Yeah,” I reply, “I would imagine she still is. Oh, and who could blame her! That boy was hot!”

“Not nearly as hot as Orlando, though, was he?” Heba coyly questions.

“Well, no. No one’s as hot as Orlando,” I reply, unthinkingly. “Hey, wait a minute… crap,” I finish, mentally scolding myself for giving that away so easily.

“Oh, I dunno,” Heba out loud for a moment, “That dark-haired guy who was pressing up so close to you wasn’t so bad either.” She even-more-coyly smiles at me, daring me to argue.

Well, I’m never one to ignore a dare, especially such a blatant one, but I must agree with her: “Oh, Johnny? Yeah, he was pretty cute, wasn’t he,” I muse.

“ ‘Pretty cute’?” Heba asks, incredulous, “That man was completely gorgeous, and you know it!”

“Fine,” I admit, albeit somewhat grudgingly. Oh, who am I kidding? “Yes, the man was hot!” I cry, putting particular emphasis on the last word, mostly for Heba’s benefit. Unfortunately, I may have said it just a little bit too loudly.

“Who’s hot?” Kristina has now decided to join our little conversation; Luisa, on the other hand, still seems to be off in la-la-land somewhere, enjoying Elijah’s company (and other things that need not be mentioned here).

“Huh?” Oh, yes, that was an intelligent reply on my part.

“Who’s hot?” Kristina repeats her question, now slightly curious due to my lack of answer.

“Oh, nobody…” I begin, nonchalantly.

“Johnny, from the plane,” Heba interrupts smilingly, “You know, the dark-haired, incredibly beautiful hunk of a man who was pressed up against Nicki for quite some time there?”

“Oh,” Kristina’s face splits into a rather evil grin, “That guy.” She put rather a lot of emphasis on that little pronouncement there; I’m not sure I’m so very fond of that! “That’s ok. I’m sure Nicki wasn’t complaining, was she?” At this, Kristina turns to me, no doubt waiting for my shrieks of outrage and denial. Well, fat chance of that Kristina! I’ll give you no such satisfaction.

“Ooohhh, the silent treatment,” Heba observes casually, “That won’t last long.” Wow, we really have rubbed off on her; a year or two ago, Heba would never have made such a comment. Kristina: certainly. Heba: never. Aw, our little girl’s grown up!

“What are you two harassing Nicki about?” Luisa’s voice cuts through my musings; the cavalry, it seems, has come, but not in a way I ever expected. “Why don’t you just leave her alone and let her enjoy her boyfriends in peace.”

Ah, now there’s the Luisa I know and… something. Pain in the ass.

Oh, look: we’re here. Our first campsite: The Shire.

“Hey, look! We’re here!” Heba exclaims, visibly excited. Seriously, we have got to fix that echo.

All the rest of us are excited as well—myself included, of course—as we gaze upon the site of our slumber, as well as tomorrow’s playground of sorts. Oh, yes, tomorrow we will be the adventurous explorers, seeking out mystery and intrigue in Hobbiton! But first: sleep.

Second breakfast! :laugh:

Fool of a Took! :laugh:

I kill myself! :laugh:

Either that, or Luisa will... hmmm... More chappies...

Nicki

B)

Chapter 14

Do you have any idea how painful it is to wake up on the hard ground with a sharp stone digging into your back? Well, let me tell you: it’s pretty freakin’ painful!

None of us slept inside our sleeping bags last night because it was far too hot for that; we all just left the bags zipped and slept on top. We were all even smart enough to bring small travel pillows with us (you know, nothing valuable that we’d be upset to see dirty or lost); these, combined with our squishy sleeping bags, let us sleep in relative comfort. Well, all of us except for me. I tend to move around a bit when I sleep. Now, while I don’t fall off my twin bed, I seem to have rolled off my sleeping bag, which is a bit narrower.

So, here I am, trying to rub the sore spot that damn rock has left on my back. Oh, and I’m making a fire too. Pretty funny, huh? You have no idea. One of the funnier sights on earth—this one and the Middle kind—has to be this: me attempting to light my first fire ever.

Last night it was Kristina who got to make a fool out of herself trying to light the fire, while Luisa watched, of course; Heba and I were off a ways collecting firewood, both for that night and for this morning. So, now, I have ample firewood to get this fire nice and hot: hot enough for breakfast, in fact.

It’s taken me about an hour-and-a-half or so to get this fire started, and then get it hot enough to cook anything on. Of course, I got to do this without Luisa standing there and laughing at my attempts… Yeah, ‘cause she’s ever lit a fire before! Now that would be funny!

Anyway, by the time they are all stirring enough to be of any use to me, I have the fire ready and am just beginning to boil some water. Kristina is the first one up.

“Hey,” she says, trudging over to me and my fire. “You’re up awfully early,” she comments, looking at her watch. “It’s only 7 o’clock now, and by the looks of that fire,” she glances at the orange flames, “You’ve been up for an hour or more.” She looks up slyly, “Not including the time it took you to start it in the first place.”

“Ha ha,” I reply, looking up only briefly to glare at her, “I didn’t see your lazy butt up and doing anything. Besides, I couldn’t sleep: I got into a bit of a disagreement with a rather sharp, pointy rock.”

“A rock?”

“Yes, ‘a rock.’ I managed to roll off of my sleeping bag and ended up on top of the rock in question. It was kinda hard to sleep after that, you know?”

“Hmmm. Yes, I could see where that would affect you more than somewhat. So you decided to come over here and make us all breakfast! Wasn’t that nice of you!”

“Yeah… Ummm… Real nice…” I lead Kristina on for a minute or two, before handing her a mug and a packet of brown sugar instant oatmeal, saying, “So, here you go!”

I can tell that she is rather nonplussed at this. She comments, “Ah, the breakfast of champions… Or, of whatever we are, anyway.”

“Um, yeah. Here’s a spoon too. Hot water is… err…” I look doubtfully at the semi-bubbling water on the fire, “…coming. Enjoy!” I finish, cheerily.

“Sounds good to me,” says Heba, coming up behind me and reaching for a mug of her own. I hand it to her, along with a spoon and some brown sugar oatmeal. “And I’ll wait for the hot water,” she adds obligingly.

“Glad someone will,” I reply, glancing over my shoulder at Kristina as I do.

“Yeah, yeah,” Kristina mutters, clearly less than amused, “Says the person who had an argument with a rock!”

“What?” Heba’s confusion is quite evident by her facial expression. “A rock?”

“Yes, ‘a rock’…” *Where have I had this conversation before?* I quickly relate the sad, sad tale to Heba, by which point the water was ready. So, we all make our instant oatmeal—brown sugar all around—and began eating. By this point, Luisa has struggled over, so she too makes oatmeal, eating it while I tell about ‘the rock’ yet again.

“…And then they made me their queen.” I thought I’d add a little touch of Pirates to my little ‘rock’ monologue; it adds a bit of color, don’t you think?

“What?” the other three girls cry at once, trying to decide, yet again, if I’ve lost my mind.

“Are we high today?” jokes Luisa, only just now waking up.

“Says the one who didn’t wake up ‘til nearly 8,” I jest, grinning broadly.

However, just as Luisa is getting ready to really let loose on me in a first-class tirade, we all hear a great crash emanating from the Shire behind us.

Chapter 15

“What was that?” asks Kristina, somehow managing to keep her voice down.

Luisa, however, is not so quiet; she yells, “It was a crash, that’s what it was! There’s something over there.”

“Or someone,” I interject, hoping to have a calming effect on her. However, in her still-sleepy state, Luisa is far from calmed by my statement.

“Someone?” she shrieks, her voice ranging dangerously high in decibels. “It could be anyone: a murderer, or a psycho, and you say ‘someone’! We are screwed! Let’s just get out of here.” By the end of that last sentence, Luisa has become somewhat subdued, looking at…me…for guidance. Why in hell would she look at me?! What did I do to deserve this?

“What the heck are you looking at me for? I can’t help you!” I shoot at her, still more-than-slightly confused at her reasoning for looking to me.

“Well, you’re our fearless leader, aren’t you?”

“What?” I am stumped, to say the least: Me? ‘Fearless leader’? What are they on?

“Yeah,” agrees Kristina, looking at me unblinkingly, “After all, you are the oldest.”

“Oh, yeah,” I say, sarcasm flaring within me, “By—what?—two months? Three?”

“Still…” Gee, thanks Kristina, Luisa. ‘Preciate it. Not.

“Oh, fine,” I angrily agree, “Since you all are such big chickens, I’ll go and face the unknown peril and/or evil that awaits over behind yonder boulders!”

“Ok.” Once again, thank you Kristina.

“No.” Heba? Oh, Hebs, you saved me! “We’ll all go.” Not exactly what I had in mind, but it’s certainly better than me having to go all by myself. Ok, sure: why not?

Oh, there are lots of reasons ‘why not,’ but it’s a bit late for that now, isn’t it?

As we move closer to investigate, it occurs to each of us in turn how dangerous our situation truly is. After all, we are four girls out in the middle of nowhere: if anyone really wanted to try anything, we couldn’t really stop them, could we?

I’m the first one around the largest boulder. I peek cautiously over the top of the smaller one next to it, and find the source of the noise: a raccoon. And a small raccoon, at that. Not much of a threat, to us anyway. But I decide to have a bit more fun with the girls first, you know, for putting me in possible mortal peril and all that jazz. It’s only fair. *Evil laugh, evil laugh*

“Oh my,” I exclaim, “There’s a body over here!” I give a little pretend squeal and back up until I am back level with the girls again.

“Is it moving?” Luisa asks, petrified, her voice only coming out as a small squeak.

“Um, I’m not sure,” I reply truthfully; after all, the raccoon hadn’t moved when I came around the rock, so it wasn’t really a lie… just not exactly a full account of the truth. Still: the truth and nothing but the truth, just not the whole truth… Two out of three ain’t bad.

In the meantime, however, Kristina has rounded the boulder to see ‘the body’ for herself.

“You shit!” Kristina yells at me, coming around the rock and punching me in the arm.

“Ow.” That did hurt just a little bit. Kristina may not look so tough, but you just get yourself on the receiving end of one of her punches. Then you’ll see how tough she really is.

“What is it?” Heba and Luisa ask in unison, staring at both Kristina and myself.

“Jinx!” Kristina and I cackle simultaneously. Oh yeah, we got you back Heba! What fun, what fun! Kristina and I high-five, then Kristina tells them about the raccoon. They both look rather disgusted, but that’s their own problem. Kristina and I also decide not to jinx each other, because that would only perpetuate the cycle.

We are just about to head back to camp when we hear a crunching noise in the nearby forest.

Yes, me, the fearless leader! Have you ever heard anything more hilarious in your entire life?! lol

One more chap tonight, and then you'll be all caught up!

Nicki

B)

Chapter 16

“Um, please tell me that was one of you playing a joke,” says Heba in a quiet voice. For once, no one says anything about her breaking the jinx Kristina and I put on her. We are all too focused on that sound, staring in the direction from which it came.

“I’m sorry to say that I cannot,” I begin, attempting to be calm. “Although I would love to take credit, that was not my doing, for certain. Anybody wanna go see what did make that noise?”

“No,” comes the quick answer from three different persons.

“Didn’t think so. Shall we go back to camp then? Quickly.”

“Yeah, that sounds good to me.” Luisa’s eyes have become approximately the size of dinner plates, and they only seem to be getting bigger as she continues to stare into the darkness of the forest.

Suddenly Luisa lets out a piercing scream, then begins to back away at an alarming rate.

“What’s wrong Luisa?” Kristina questions, looking rather concerned for Luisa. She soon has her answer, however. A growl rises from between the trees, growing louder as it progresses, until it has become all that we can hear. At that, all four of us take off… away from camp. Don’t ask me why we were so stupid. At least our horses (tied up by our camp) could have carried us to relative safety quite quickly, quicker than our own legs could have. Unfortunately, we run in precisely the opposite direction. We still run away from the forest, but we run among the boulders, hoping that whatever creature is behind us will have more difficulty than we will running through, over, and around the large and small rocks.

We run hard for about ten minutes, then slow to a stop and catch our breaths, surveying the situation. We appear to have outrun whatever it was; unfortunately, we also appear to be quite lost. I mean completely lost. In a foreign country. In the middle of nowhere. Yeah, you get the idea.

Then I notice something: The only other person I can see around is Heba. She too notices this, and both of us look around to see if the others are close-by, to no avail. Neither Kristina nor Luisa is anywhere to be found. Now we are even lost from one another; hopefully, at the very least the two of them have managed to stay together, just as Heba and I have.

“Do you think Kristina and Luisa are still together?” Heba’s question voices the same thoughts I myself just had. It appears that both of us have the same wish, as well as the same doubts.

“I sure hope they are,” I answer, shaking my head slightly, “Because if they’re not, then that means the two of them are completely alone now. And that’s not something any of us needs.” As I finish this last statement, I happen to look up at Heba: she has a look of panic painted across her face. I turn around to see what has her so scared: the source of the growl from before. It’s a cougar. Or a wild cat by some other name, but you get the idea… It’s a big freakin’ cat… and it looks hungry!

“Don’t run,” I hiss at Heba, who looks about as ready to take to her heels as I am.

“What? Are you crazy?!” she hisses back at me, eyes bulging wider by the minute.

“No,” I whisper back, rolling my eyes at her. “You never turn your back on a wild animal. If you do, it will charge, you know, attack! And I’m not really a fan of that at the moment, are you?”

“Good point.”

However, at that exact moment, the wildcat decides to charge us.

“Can we go now?” Heba yells, eyeballs popping out of her head.

“Yeah, now would be good!” I yell back. We both turn around and run for our lives, literally.

Tadah! There you go girls! That's all for tonight. And, starting tomorrow night, you'll only be getting one chap at a time, just like the good fans on EWFN: I have to be fair to everyone, ya know!

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed them! Merry hobbits to all, and to all a good elf... er, night!

Nicki

B)

OMG!!
What are they going to do!!
post more soon!!

Hiya!

Holy smokes! I missed a lot of chapters! But i am now caught up!
Eek a cougar! How are they going to excape that?! Isn't that one of the fastest land animals? Maybe an elf or a hobbit will come and save them... teehee!

Great chapters!

Julie

I certainly do hope that everyone reading this fic is suspending both reality and disbelief... :unsure: Cuz otherwise, you're going to be sadly disappointed. This is fan fiction, after all. ;-) lol

Anyways... Sorry I didn't post last night... It got to be really late, and I needed to sleep... you understand.

But, here are chaps 17 & 18 for your reading enjoyment!

Nicki

B)