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Firefoot · 01-13-2005, 07:09 PM

Sondo felt a burning desire to slap his sister. She was right, of course; he could not send her home - yet. They were just close enough that a party of hobbits would be able to ride out after them and bring them home before the adventure really got started. He was stuck with her. He would not, however, let her boss him around like she just had. He was older, stronger, and smarter, and on top of it all, she was a girl!

Before he had time to tell her off, Bingo came around and reminded him that they needed to be moving on. Sondo agreed; they had wasted a lot of time already. They needed to be far away by sunset. He began issuing directions: “Someone tie the oilcloth down again - we need to start sailing again. But leave the blankets out, so everyone can get dry and warmed up. Then everyone get on board the raft - I’ll be there soon.” He realized that he was quite chilly, now that he had stopped moving around. The day was warm, but not warm enough for a swim and wet clothes.

He turned his attention back to Sassy, who had begun to move triumphantly toward the raft. “Come here,” he instructed. She looked at him, and then very deliberately turned around to face him, as if it were solely by her decision that she listened at all. Sondo gritted his teeth, and when she was close enough he grabbed a small handful of her hair and held tightly. “You listen to me, you little brat,” he hissed. “First of all, I am the leader of this expedition, not you. I did not invite you along, nor do I want you here at all, but since you have decided to come along you are now under my leadership since I am the leader here. You will come with us for a while, because we are too close to home. Yes, too close - you can be home probably before tomorrow morning, and then you will send hobbits after us. But know that I will have no qualms about leaving you somewhere up ahead if you cause trouble. Then where will you be? You won’t be telling Da anything, then. When we get back and he asks where you are, I will say that you weren’t with us, or if you were you must have been hiding and were lost with all of our supplies when the raft tipped on the first day out. Got that? You are in no position of power over me or any of the other lads here, and being my sister will afford you no special favors. I won’t be taking any sass from you. Now, come on.” He released her with a shove and strode briskly toward the raft, stopping only to untie the rope lashing the raft to the shore. In this time Sassy boarded the raft.

Sondo shoved the raft off into the river, and they were once more sailing the Brandywine. He was in a foul mood, and after picking up a blanket for warmth he selected a corner of the raft and plunked down, dangling his legs in the water and gazing with unseeing eyes back upstream. For the moment, the others left him alone with his thoughts.

It was not that he hated his sister. Usually he was rather indifferent to her, except when she tried to tag along with him, in which case he sent her home without fail. He supposed it was this rejection that had led her to stowaway, and this did not put him in a better mood. Why now? Why did she insist on trying to go along with him all the time? Weren’t there any nice hobbit lasses her own age to play with? Aptly named little spitfire, he thought, as if it were a curse. Why wasn’t she docile like all the other lasses who played with dolls? Too bad she hadn’t been born a boy. She wasn’t usually this bad, and he didn’t even really mean it about leaving her someplace; he had mostly just needed some grounds with which to hold some power over her, and he wasn’t even sure she believed him anyway. Not that he was any less mad at her. Did she want to make him miserable and annoyed at her? Perhaps. He stared broodingly at the passing shores and wondered why his adventure was not like the ones in stories. Those heroes did not have to worry about tag-along little sisters. Then he vowed that she would not ruin his adventure. Would not. As far as it was in his power, he would even ignore her.

With false cheer, he got up to join some other hobbits in conversation.

01-13-2005, 07:09 PM	#29
Firefoot Illusionary Holbytla Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 7,547	Sondo felt a burning desire to slap his sister. She was right, of course; he could not send her home - yet. They were just close enough that a party of hobbits would be able to ride out after them and bring them home before the adventure really got started. He was stuck with her. He would not, however, let her boss him around like she just had. He was older, stronger, and smarter, and on top of it all, she was a girl! Before he had time to tell her off, Bingo came around and reminded him that they needed to be moving on. Sondo agreed; they had wasted a lot of time already. They needed to be far away by sunset. He began issuing directions: “Someone tie the oilcloth down again - we need to start sailing again. But leave the blankets out, so everyone can get dry and warmed up. Then everyone get on board the raft - I’ll be there soon.” He realized that he was quite chilly, now that he had stopped moving around. The day was warm, but not warm enough for a swim and wet clothes. He turned his attention back to Sassy, who had begun to move triumphantly toward the raft. “Come here,” he instructed. She looked at him, and then very deliberately turned around to face him, as if it were solely by her decision that she listened at all. Sondo gritted his teeth, and when she was close enough he grabbed a small handful of her hair and held tightly. “You listen to me, you little brat,” he hissed. “First of all, I am the leader of this expedition, not you. I did not invite you along, nor do I want you here at all, but since you have decided to come along you are now under my leadership since I am the leader here. You will come with us for a while, because we are too close to home. Yes, too close - you can be home probably before tomorrow morning, and then you will send hobbits after us. But know that I will have no qualms about leaving you somewhere up ahead if you cause trouble. Then where will you be? You won’t be telling Da anything, then. When we get back and he asks where you are, I will say that you weren’t with us, or if you were you must have been hiding and were lost with all of our supplies when the raft tipped on the first day out. Got that? You are in no position of power over me or any of the other lads here, and being my sister will afford you no special favors. I won’t be taking any sass from you. Now, come on.” He released her with a shove and strode briskly toward the raft, stopping only to untie the rope lashing the raft to the shore. In this time Sassy boarded the raft. Sondo shoved the raft off into the river, and they were once more sailing the Brandywine. He was in a foul mood, and after picking up a blanket for warmth he selected a corner of the raft and plunked down, dangling his legs in the water and gazing with unseeing eyes back upstream. For the moment, the others left him alone with his thoughts. It was not that he hated his sister. Usually he was rather indifferent to her, except when she tried to tag along with him, in which case he sent her home without fail. He supposed it was this rejection that had led her to stowaway, and this did not put him in a better mood. Why now? Why did she insist on trying to go along with him all the time? Weren’t there any nice hobbit lasses her own age to play with? Aptly named little spitfire, he thought, as if it were a curse. Why wasn’t she docile like all the other lasses who played with dolls? Too bad she hadn’t been born a boy. She wasn’t usually this bad, and he didn’t even really mean it about leaving her someplace; he had mostly just needed some grounds with which to hold some power over her, and he wasn’t even sure she believed him anyway. Not that he was any less mad at her. Did she want to make him miserable and annoyed at her? Perhaps. He stared broodingly at the passing shores and wondered why his adventure was not like the ones in stories. Those heroes did not have to worry about tag-along little sisters. Then he vowed that she would not ruin his adventure. Would not. As far as it was in his power, he would even ignore her. With false cheer, he got up to join some other hobbits in conversation.