Chapter Five:

            "Did you see the look on her face? When he recognized her?" Merry asked loudly and he burst into louder peals of laughter, striking the floor with his fist. Pippin flung himself onto the bed, hiding his face in her pillows to at least muffle his laughs.

            "Yes, it was all quite hilarious, thank you very much for laughing," Kahl fumed, hands on her hips stiffly. "Honestly, why did I even let you in? Now he knows me as the elven maiden he needed to shoot with an arrow."

            "The arrow of love," Pippin sang into her pillow in between deep breaths of even more laughter.

            Kahl stormed around to the other side of the bed and yanked a single pillow free, causing him to pause for a moment. A second later she swung at him, catching him in the face. "It…isn't…funny!" she shrieked, punctuating each word with a pillow strike.

            "Hey! Ow…oh, my nose…ow-"

            "Have at thee, you tiny monster-"

            The door opened at that moment, in the other room, and Elenuviel entered slowly, her eyes wide and set in a frown. "What is going on in here?" she asked in the faintest whisper and her face was pale with her anger. "I can hear the noise down the hall! Imagine my humiliation-" and she caught sight of the hobbit on her bed, his dingy clothes rubbing soil into the soft, quite white, blankets.

            "What is it and what is it doing on my bed?!" she screamed bloody murder.

            Pippin instantly scrambled to his feet as Kahl calmly put the pillow down. "He's a hobbit," she replied simply.

            "I'm a hobbit," he echoed uncertainly.

            "I know what-" she continued to scream at her sister before cutting off abruptly and looking Pippin in the eye. "I know what you are. What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice lowering.

            "Well, there was this very funny predicament with Kahl-" Merry began for him and Elenuviel looked at him in disbelief, as if she hadn't seen him when she first entered.

            "Now, now, Merry, none of that-" Kahl quickly dove for him, muffling his mouth with her hand. "We can't have you spilling all my secrets-"

            Merry mumbled something under her hand and held up a chubby finger.

            "Not all, just one," Pippin translated helpfully.

            Elenuviel backed away slowly, the gesture causing the three of them to look at her. She held up a hand as she paused, as if trying to maintain the peace. "I am leaving now," she said to Kahl, "and when I come back I do not wish to find these…hobbits in my room. Am I understood?" But then, forcing a wonderful smile directed at the hobbits, "It was very nice to meet you."

            And she spun and marched out, slamming the door in the other room behind herself.

            Kahl slowly straightened, her hand dropping away from Merry's mouth. "Wonderful. Just…wonderful," she sighed, shoulders falling limp. "I'm sure she's going right now to tell Lord Elrond that I'm up to no good."

            "But we aren't! Up to no good. Or rather we are. Up to good…" Merry broke off, his face confused, and he looked at Merry. "Aren't we?"

            Kahl whimpered and went after her sister, slamming the door behind herself as well.

            And so, Merry and Pippin found themselves in Kahl's room, looking about in wonderment. It was a pretty room, very feminine with all the hobbit heads on the walls and the notches on the bedposts of Elen's bed. And it made Pippin think of days long passed when he has skipped through the meadows of the Shire, pausing here and there to pick flowers, in a purely masculine manner, of course.

            He sighed inwardly.

            "Why are we here again?" asked Merry. And he suddenly gasped, running over to a small dresser and lifting something pink into his hand.

            "The brush born of the flames of Mordor!"

            Pippin spared him a look. "Don't be silly. It's only a brush-" but the moment his eyes fell on it he also had a strange feeling of revulsion. But a certain pull as well. A pull to take it into his hands and comb his hair. Yes. Comb his hair, his wild curls…straighten them…over and over…

            "Gah…" he shivered. "We should cast that thing into a fire and see if elvish writing pops up," he said with great difficulty. And he snatched it from Merry, took a step toward the balcony and tossed it off. Good riddance to it. Perhaps someone would come by and-

            A low yelp sounded below and casting a quick glance at Merry, Pippin hurried to the balcony.

            Directly below them was Legolas yet again, massaging his head, the brush lying at his feet.

            Merry burst into loud laughter once more, Pippin's face becoming apologetic.

            The blond elf lifted his head, one eye closed in a grimace. "Pippin, if you wish to see me dead there are better ways to go about it," he quipped as he rubbed the spot.

            Pippin lifted a hand to his heart. "My friend, I apologize from the bottom of my heart," he said solemnly.

            With a sigh, Legolas stooped and picked up the brush. "It is fine, I assure you," he said, and he looked at the pink brush for a moment. "Eerie…" he murmured. And he lifted his head once more, looking up at the hobbits. "Actually, I was sent to look for someone. The elven maiden who lives in that very room. I do not suppose you know who she is?"

            Pippin glanced at Merry, wide-eyed.

            Merry hesitated for a moment and his eyes shifted to the other room suddenly, his breath catching. And then, "Come up," he said quickly, looking positively mischievous. And he instantly pulled away, taking hold of Pippin's arm and yanking him backward.

            "Merry, what-"

            With a finger to his lips Merry pulled Pippin back toward a large wardrobe as he grinned gleefully. He shoved Pippin into it, in between soft, fluffy gowns, following closely behind. Then he closed the doors and they stood in silence for a moment, Pippin confused.

            A second later he understood, however, as the door in the other room closed with a slam. "Faster and uglier than a ringwraith on his black steed…" Kahl murmured and they heard her moving about, clothes rustling. She entered the bedroom a moment later and Merry bent a bit to look out the keyhole of the wardrobe door.

            "Merry? Pippin?" she asked as she came into the room. She scanned it with a delicate frown, lips pouting. "Oh, it figures. Bet they caught a whiff of dinner…"

            Pippin glanced toward Merry quickly but they stood in darkness and his eyes hadn't yet adjusted.

            Beginning to hum to herself, Kahl lifted her hands to her hair and she took several locks, pausing before her dresser. She hesitated and scanned the dresser top. "Where is that brush now?" she murmured impatiently, searching the contents of the dresser and even moving a few things aside. "Did she come back when I wasn't looking? Oh, damn her to a bald-headed life. She probably kicked those hobbits out on their heads…Elen!" She glanced over her shoulder, shouting, "Elen! Are you here?"

            A polite knock sounded at the door and, looking thoroughly put off, Kahl went to answer it. "It's about bloody time, you horrid little half-men," she called grumpily as she opened the door.

            "Um…good evening. I was hoping to-" that was Legolas.

            "Eep!" That was Kahl once more and then came the definitive sounds of a door slamming shut and the possessed footsteps of a slight elven girl running for her immeasurably long life.

            "What's going on?" Pippin bent, trying to peek around Merry at the keyhole.

            Merry blanched in the darkness. "I…think she's coming…this w-" And the closet doors suddenly flew open as Kahl flung herself inside blindly, shutting the wardrobe doors behind her nimble figure.

            "Ow! Hey! Kahl! Watch it-"

            This time she let out a soul-ripping shriek that left the hobbits' ears not only muffled but also strangely ringing. She shrieked again. And again. And one more time for good measure before Merry clamped a hand over her mouth to silence her.

            "By the Shire…" Pippin gasped under the shrill sound of her muffled screaming. "What cursed animal do you have dying in your throat?!"

            The door suddenly slammed open against the wall in the other room, causing the girl to halt in mid-squeal and they heard Legolas' voice. "Are you all right? Where are you?" he shouted, sounding positively alarmed.

            Merry and Pippin looked at each other in the darkness, Kahl trembling beside them. And as Legolas cautiously entered the bedroom with an uncertain, "Hello?" out they shoved her, instantly closing the wardrobe doors behind her.

            Kahl stumbled before Legolas, quickly righting herself as he looked at her, wide-eyed, his longbow in his hand and at the ready. She blinked at it, then at him, wordlessly, and then at the wardrobe quickly but the hobbits had wisely remained inside.

            Legolas looked down at his longbow also and quickly put it away. "Oh, yes. You and the arrow in the back. Forgive me for that, it was Mithrandir's fault, really…" He straightened a moment later and continued, "I was sent. By the Lord Elrond. To look for…are you all right?" he asked her as color flushed her face and an embarrassed look followed. He scanned the room cautiously and his blue eyes returned to her as she spoke.

            "I…I am fine," she stuttered, and she cursed Elenuviel inwardly. She couldn't get a coherent sentence in her head, much less out of her mouth and why was Elenuviel always right?! "You frightened me. I wasn't expecting-"

            "Of course," he said quickly and he suddenly looked apologetic. "I apologize, I assure you. The Lord Elrond has sent for you. I come only with those words but I feel I should also tell you what he wishes to speak to you about."

            His eyes were so blue, Kahl thought foolishly, melting. Bluer than the deepest seas, the darkest twilight and his hair, the sun spun into silk. His lips…

            She blinked.

            "My name is Legolas. Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood," he said.

            She nodded dumbly. Of course he was. His voice was deep and firm, yet soft. She could be content, always, if she could have that voice softly whisper in her hear eternally.

            "I am to be married to you. We are betrothed, rather, at the Lord Elrond's request, and I am to escort you to his Hall so that he may speak with us," he finished and he looked at her closely, no doubt waiting for her to take a nosedive for the floor. Or whine at least a little that she was too young to marry anyone.

            That was what Merry and Pippin waited for anyway.

            But a small smile rose on her lips, making her look quite lovely, now blushing with happiness. "Are you certain? Lord Elrond sent you?"

            He nodded, also smiling now. "Yes, he did. I did not know whether to escort you and allow him to tell you, and I did not know how you would take to the news, seeing as how you fled upon seeing my face…" his smile turned impish.

            And Kahl's smile vanished altogether, her eyes widening almost comically. "Oh, no!" she cried and she held up her hands, shaking them quickly. "I apologize, my Prince, I did not expect it to be you. I was expecting-"

            "The hobbits," he nodded and from his tunic he pulled forth her pink brush, examining it in his hand. "I do not think they take well to your brush. It is yours, is it not? When last I spoke to them Merry had me convinced it was his… "

            Kahl took the brush from him with a strained smile and Merry was sure that if she had been one of the Istari her hair would have been sticking up on end from her built up anger and magic. "Oh, it is mine. They always seem to be flinging it about…"

            He nodded once more, hands behind his back. But then a moment later he inched closer and held one arm out to her, inviting her. "If you will? I shall take you to the Lord Elrond." His smile was sincere now. Beautiful.

            She gazed at him and slowly slipped her arm through his. "It would be my honor," she replied, smiling into his handsome face and she allowed him to lead her.

            Merry and Pippin looked at each other in the darkness of the wardrobe, eyebrows lifted. "Mission accomplished," they agreed as one and Merry bent once more to look out the keyhole. Just as Legolas could be heard speaking from the other room.

            "Would it be improper to call you Elen?"

            A small pause. "I…beg your pardon?" Kahl stammered.

            "Elen. Or if you do not like that name I can call you by your full name. It is pronounced Elenuviel, is it not?"

            And the hobbits had only a split second to duck and cover in the wardrobe before Kahl exploded into bloody screams once more.

LMAO! Man, am I mean or what???

Anyways, I thought I'd update this now, see how people take to it. I've updated a few times to the Witch Child (or rather both Cass and I have) but it hasn't gotten a response for a few chapters so I'm just wondering if anyone is even reading it. I figure if anything I'll wait til the end of January, until this Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers phenomenon has died down and not everyone is uploading as much because stories get lost and buried under others in the mad rush. So I probably won't send out another chapter of this nor Witch Child til then. And Witch Child is actually winding down now, too. I wrote quite a bit of it yesterday and I loved the way it's ending…

Anyways, hope you liked the chapter. ;)

-Aes

P.S. – Cass has her own website up with her fanfics (all NC-17!! Woo-hoo!) and I think I'm going to do the same and put up my fanfics at my own website. I'll have the web address on my profile if you want to check it out, but I will tell you now it is nowhere near completion and it will only have whatever I have written for Fanfiction.Net. So, look for that if you want, and if you want Cass' Hentai site (ROTFLMAO!) let me know! ;) Maybe I can convince her to do a Lord of the Rings NC-17 fic…with Legolas…hohoho…