Merisuwyniel was astonished and secretly impressed by the tremendous demonstration of stereotypical male behaviour she had experienced in the victory over the pirates; so much so, as a matter of fact, that she herself reverted to stereotypical female behaviour.
“Let us make camp here,” she announced. “I will prepare a meal for us.”
Amazed silence greeted this prospect, coupled with not a little scepticism, since none of them knew whether this would be a consumption devoutly to be desired. Pimpiowyn recovered first and heartily agreed, being inclined to think that any meal was preferable to none. They dismounted, but instead of the rest they hoped for, they were assigned tasks by their leader-turned-cook.
“Vogonwë, you know the plants of this forest, and Pimpi recognizes anything edible – you will search for vegetables, roots and fruits. Chrysophylax will light the fire, but Kuruharan needs to find firewood first. Orogarn Two and Halfullion, your weapons have slain so many foul creatures; now you can show if you can slay some fowls for our stew.”
Halfullion protested, “But I refuse to kill living creatures just so that we can eat them!”
“I’m not suggesting that we eat Tofu,” she snapped somewhat irritably.
“Can’t Earnur do it?” he asked.
“No, I have a different assignment for him,” came her answer, as she turned to Etceteron. “You are knowledgeable in the matter of herbs and spices, are you not? Search for some to season our meal; I especially need curry.”
“But where shall I find curry?” he queried, rather puzzled.
“Curry can be found in the most unlikely places,” she replied.
All of the companions took off to complete their assigned tasks, since a warm meal and rest could only be had afterwards. All, that is, except for Halfullion. He sidled up to Merisuwyniel, laid his arm around her waist and said coaxingly, “Can’t I help you here? Orogarn Two can hunt well enough without me.”
“Well,” she retorted, “perhaps your mighty sword can be useful for dicing the vegetables. It should be just the right size!”
Offended, he left, muttering under his breath something about showing her the size of his sword. Little did he realize that watchful eyes had observed him and the Elven maiden…
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth.. .'
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