Assigned to Mordor RPG

[Kath]

Sai and Alli had returned to the garden centre with their new companion, whom they had now learnt was called Tom Felton. Both girls were keeping their distance though, as however cute he was, he still stank of rubbish bins. Realising this might be a slight problem if they were going to use him to attract the fangirls; Sai suggested that some kind of bath or shower might be in order.

Fortunately by some wonderful coincidence, the garden centre was right next to a film studio (which would explain what Orlando was doing nearby). The three of them snuck in through a helpfully unguarded back door and managed to find their way into an empty dressing room that was equipped with just what they needed. Sai and Alli left Tom in the bathroom and collapsed into a couple of chairs, sitting quietly for a while as it would likely be the last chance they’d have to do so for a while. They needed to get those fangirls and get back to Mount Doom and they didn't have long to do it.

As they were sitting there Sai heard singing coming from somewhere nearby. Standing up she moved towards the wall on the right side of the room and put her ear against it. Sure enough the singing seemed to be coming from the next room. She recognised the voice, and remembered her original plan for what to take from a celebrity. She wasn’t entirely sure that Anakron would accept the fangirls as being both her and Alli’s prizes, and thought she would have a go at getting one of her own just in case.

Informing Alli that she would be right back, Sai left the room, hearing Alli’s warning words as she went.

“Don’t get yourself caught!”

Heeding this advice, Sai crept slowly down the corridor, ready to run back if anyone came round the corner at either end. As she approached the next door down she could see that it was open, and she carefully poked her head through. She saw the object she was planning on taking first, it wasn’t exactly hard to miss, but for once was thankful for it as it meant the woman had her back to Sai. Still, now that she was here and actually had the opportunity to take it, Sai wasn’t sure how she was going to do it. She knew that pretty much anything was possible in Mordor, but she hadn’t been there long enough to know what worked and what didn’t.

She tried to think of Anakronisms, things that might have been sent to Mordor over the years that could help her, and finally came up with just one idea. Magic. Some high-minded fundamentalist type must have sent it to Mordor at some point, how could they resist? Desperately hoping that this was the case Sai tried to think of a spell, something that would work without causing any problems. She’d heard of consequences, and didn’t want to deal with them.

A movement behind her caught her attention and she turned ready to run, but it was just Alli.

“We’re ready to go!” she whispered. “Come on.”
Turning back Sai gabbled the first rhyming words that came into her head.

"I want to make J-Lo sad,
Make her weepy, make her whiney,
I think I know the perfect thing,
Take away her precious hiney!"

As she watched the giant moon in front of her slowly began to shrink, and as it did a small box appeared in her hands. Smiling, Sai opened it up a little, and saw a piece of paper lying inside with the words – "IOU one bottom". She’d no idea where the real thing had ended up but it was gone at any rate, she just hoped that was good enough for Anakron. Quickly pocketing the box, she ran back down the corridor, joined Alli and Tom and left the building.

A few minutes later they were back in the gardens, with a clean smelling Tom in tow. They had explained the plan to him on the way and had warned him to be prepared for the onslaught of fangirls that they hoped he was about to face. As they walked through the doors, every female head in the room turned from Orlando to Tom and back. Sai watched as the mental weighing up took place. The men were of similar height and build, with the same feminine, pretty faces. But Tom had the advantage being a new commodity.

Finally, with one movement, like a school of fish, every girl stood and headed towards Tom – the plan had worked!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

After directing young Tom to the showers and nicking him some clothes from an unlocked room, Alli went outside to wait for Sai and to get their ride home set up. The pilot was now leaning against a wide stone wall, casually reading a magazine. Alli looked at her reflection in a window of the building and saw that she looked okay, but not shibang. She undid one of the buttons on her vest and loosened the laces of her blouse, showing a bit of collarbone. She loosened her belt so that her breeches would be slung low on her hips, revealing midriff. She pulled the ties from her hair, letting it fall heavily down her back and making sure that a few pieces were flirtily in her face so that she could flick it out of her eyes should the need arise. She fixed her posture to be alluring and slipped up to the man.

"What are you reading?" she murmered softly.

"Oh... just.. um... this article... thing... um..." he muttered, a little tongue-tied. She held out her hand with a look and he handed it over, looking right back at her, though not at her eyes.

She took a look at the title and immediately decided that keeping the magazine didn't constitute stealing, but rather desparate and somewhat important in a stretched-to-become-legitimate sort of way.

"So you're a pilot?" she purred, lifting herself lightly onto the stone wall and dangling her long legs subtly.

A very short time later, Alli had two plane tickets, a bit of reading material in hand, and saw a clean and far less odious Mr. Felton emerging from the baths. She bade goodbye to the infatuated fly-boy and took Tom by the arm and found Sai.

"We're ready to go." she whispered. "Come on."

Leaving behind a scene that looked to have a story behind it, Tom and Alli walked slowly down the hall, leaving plenty of time for Sai to catch up.

In the gardens, Tom asked once again what they were doing.

"Oh, not much. Can you stand here for a second?" Alli pushed him into the sight of the fangirls and he looked around, confused. They looked around, interested. Sai looked on with a grin and Alli, in her laughingly cheerful mood, reverted to chat speak and actually lol'ed. When, as one, the Leggyboppers became Malfanciers, Alli beckoned for him to walk toward her. When she saw that the girls were following like trained... well... she supposed she ought to think of a better example than hens, but the way that they occasionally strayed from the group and looked about worriedly, but very swiftly got back into the group when movement began again could only bring to mind... chickens. Alli wondered if her last sentence was run-on but didn't care enough to revise it.

Looping her arm through Sai's, Alli beckoned Tom forward with the hand that held the pilfered publication. He followed... and so did his fangirls.

As Alli, Sai, and their following left the gardens of Orlando, Tom looked remotely paranoid and rather worried, sneaking the occasional glance behind him as though to make sure none of the giggling girls were going to actually get close enough to talk to him. In the distance, Orlando Bloom was looking rather crushed.

---------------------------------------------------

On the plane, Alli apologized in advance to Sai for her anti-sociality and apologized a bit late to Tom and his admirers for the fact that they were going to have to travel in the hold, bagged and tagged. She bade them happy trip and hoped that none of them were as claustrophobic as she was. Now, seated in first class with a cool drink in front of her, Alli opened the magazine and began to read, trying to ignore that she was in an enclosed plane flying quite high above the ground and that when it landed, she would probably be hyperventilating at the lack of open spaces even as the plane moved murderously close to the unfriendly ground at speeds that were far less comforting than a distinct lack of them would have been.

Famous adventurer, Màrîo, has just today revealed his thoughts on the brutish attacks upon him by one kilt-clad Scotsman.

"It's the pinky." Màrîo spoke to this reporter. "You see, Brits are born with a sort of a genetic predisposition to the extending of little fingers. While it is perfectly harmless in terms of tea drinking, it causes a little known malfunction in the medula oblongata which inspires sheer bouts of insanity. The Scotsman had been drinking a cup of P.G. Tips, well known to be Feanor of the Peredhil's favorite tea, with his little finger extended when suddenly he was enraged and, with no provocation, attacked me as I was on my way to purchase a bit of lasagna.

"He ought to be locked up!" Màrîo added with a lot of gesticulation. "In a small padded room, with a straight-jacket so that he cannot hurt innocents ever again. However I do not wish that the world see me as unfeeling... I forgive him. I have offered to pay the salary of a large and strong looking guard to stay with him day and night and write whatever the Scot choses to dictate. His voice should be heard, though the public should remember that he has such a tragic case of little finger insanity and should not be taken too seriously."

Closing the magazine, Alli decided to close her eyes and pretend to nap. Should Sai have anything interesting to say, she'd wake back up, but until then, perhaps Alli could try to convince herself that she wasn't trapped far above Mordor in an uncomfortably cramped fuselage.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Quite unexpectedly, Alli both double posted and fell asleep. It wasn't for long, but the dreams were filled with terror and darkness, cut through by a piercing light.

She walked through a valley, shadowed by death, and felt no evil whatsoever since she was fully aware that it was a dream. "Itsa me, Màrîo!" intoned an obnoxiously fake Italian sounding voice. Suddenly bagpipes played out in shining glory and Alli could hear words within them.

Seek for the Kilt that was broken:
On a Scotsman it dwells;
There shall be side-plots taken
Stranger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be given a token
That He is near at hand,
For Hookbill's Bane shall waken,
And a Hero forth shall stand.

Alli woke up, shaking her head. That was the stupidest dream she'd ever had. It didn't even make sense. Well, it sort of did... she'd been worried about this Màrîo since she'd first heard his name spoken by Roggie. She'd fallen asleep just after reading more of him. He was a national hero... and yet she distrusted him. It was no wonder, really, that she'd dreamt of him. But doubleyooteeyef did the rest mean? Was she supposed to go after this kilt-clad creep that she had only her gut instinct to tell her wasn't completely insane? Should she ignore her instincts in favor of what the group believed? But she didn't trust anybody in the group, except for Sai. Her dream had been compelling... she wanted to know more about him. She'd seen things in the back of her mind as she dozed that made her wonder. But he was only a name in a magazine. It wasn't like she'd actually meet him... she was too busy. She had too many problems already without being caught up in a mysterious side-plot. She just wanted to go home...

"It was only a dream..." she murmered to herself before turning to Sai. "How long until we land?"

[Celuien]

It was an uncharacteristically quiet Panakeia who sat behind the wheel, struggling to focus on the drive to Lost Angles. This business of her new feelings towards Valde was most annoying.

They drove on. Panakeia knit her brow together. As usual for Mordor, traffic was terrible and she wasn't entirely sure of where she was going. A bad thing when gas supplies are running low and you don't really know where the next station is either. A question from Valde as to the certainty of her navigation further irritated her, and she snapped at him to look for signs leading the way to Lost Angles, then snapped again when he proceeded to call out the contents of every last sign at the edge of the road, right down to the advertisements for Raglú. She berated herself internally. Oh, why had she done that? Showing her short temper to Valde was the last thing she wanted to do.

They finally found the exit for Lost Angles. With one problem temporarily solved, she at last had enough presence of mind to reattempt conversation, carefully staying on the topic of their quest. That was safe enough.

With a sudden swerve, Panakeia pulled on to the Debauchémain Street of Lost Angles and sped along, at last coming to a halt just a few blocks from the Cultivation Center. She knew that a gathering would soon take place there. They had only missed one at the Mount Doom Resort by a few days. But a leaflet and other literature about the cult posted on the Casino grounds had given the location of the next meeting. Thus, she had excellent information for Shatner's whereabouts tucked away in her pocket. Indeed, the ceremonies were scheduled to begin within the hour. Their arrival had been right on time.

As they started out of the Cruiser, Valde offered Panakeia his arm. Her heart skipped a couple of beats. So polite. A little overly formal, yes, but absolutely charming. I wonder...Formality as a mask for a soft heart? She looked at him hopefully, but said nothing of her secret thoughts. Instead, she gave a somewhat belated answer to his earlier questions.

"Well. I'm going after one William Shatner's legendary hairpiece. I'm sure it'll be a challenge, but I think I can manage it. Actually, you've given me the idea for how to snatch it."

"Really?"

"Yes. I've never sold him makeup or anything like that before. But, I think if I offer him a new poultice or something, I can get him to remove the toupee. Just for a second. And then..." She rubbed her hands together gleefully. "Then, it's mine."

Valde eyed her doubtfully. "Are you sure you aren't a member of the cult? You seem a little too interested in this Shatner character."

Could he possibly be jealous? "Oh no. Of course not. Not in the least. But I am eager to get my prize for Anakron. One step closer to leaving Mordor, you know. Going home. Getting on with life. Aren't you?" She hoped Valde would open up to her, just a little bit.

"I suppose." Silence followed.

"Well. Well. So, you're after Spockú's eyebrows?" Valde nodded in the affirmative. "Even more difficult than the toupee. But I think I can help." Panakeia tapped her sample case. "There are waxing and plucking supplies aplenty in there, though I can't imagine how you're going to get him to agree to using them."

"You'll see." The reply was given with an air of mystery and a grand flourish befitting a Lead Tragic Actor.

That final exchange brought the pair to the door of the Cultivation Center. "Here we are," said Panakeia. "Before we go in, there are just a few tips." She pulled out her flyer and a small book detailing the rituals of the cult and turned to a page marked by a folded corner.

"Never, ever call Shatner Shatner. To his followers, his name is Kirk. Or Captain. Or Jim to those of high rank in the cult. To say anything else would be sacrilege. Watch out for the ones in the red shirts. They're a special guard and will be carefully protecting both Shatner and Spockú. And finally, don't let Spockú's hand touch your shoulder. He is rumored to have strange powers and I wouldn't want anything to happen...I mean we can't have anything happen here to interfere with our task. And once we get what we came for, we run straight back to the Cruiser and take off. Okay?"

"Agreed."

With that, Panakeia and Valde walked up to the Cultivation Center entrance and knocked on the door. A red shirted guard answered. "What is the password?"

"Password?" Panakeia was nearly floored. Would they be denied admission after coming so close? But, like a flash, the answer came to her. Of course, that must be it. It's printed in such big letters on the flyer.

Without any further hesitation, she looked the guard in the eye. "Beam me up, Scotty." He nodded, and the pair passed through the doorway, a little closer to the completion of their mission, though their greatest challenge, the actual claiming of the trophies, was still ahead.

***

Inside, the festivities were in full swing, though the main attraction, the arrival of the honored duo, Kirk and Spockú, was still awaited. A particularly excited electricity snapped through the room, for it was whispered that Kirk and Spockú would be joined by a third member of their crew, the famed Dr. McBones. The guests (all but the two intruders) had come dressed as their honored demi-gods. Several, who were clad in blue, sported pointed ears and thick, obviously synthetic eyebrows. Panakeia was about to lecture them on the proper use of eyebrow pencils when she recalled that she was the one out of place.

Suddenly an excited shout rose from the crowd. Kirk, Spockú and Dr. McBones had arrived with a large group of the ubiquitous red shirted guards. They were immediately pressed in upon from all sides by their worshippers, who thrust pictures, books and smooth, strange objects at them to be signed. Several fainted. Panakeia and Valde were left at the back of the crowd.

"How are we ever going to get in close enough?" cried Valde.

"I'm not sure. Let me try something." She pulled out the flyer and scribbled a message on the back. Handing it to a guard, she begged him deliver it to the Captain. He did. And a few minutes later, Valde and Panakeia were ushered into the presence of the famed adventurers.

"What did you write," hissed Valde.

"Never mind just now," Panakeia returned through a clenched smile. They were now but 5 feet away from their target. "Take this. You may need it." She handed Valde a small packet of Hair Snatcher Wax.

"Captain! What an honor to meet you!" Panakeia put on her brightest smile. Kirk held her note in his hand.

"Is it..true? What...you said?" He waved the message.

Panakeia smiled even more broadly. "Of course it is. Will you try?"

"I will. She may approach."

"Jim! Be careful! Can't you see she's lying?" This came from McBones.

"Well, just because you couldn't..."

"I'm a doctor, Jim, not a miracle-worker."

Spockú would have said something just then, but he seemed busy talking to Valde.

Panakeia stepped closer. Just a few more inches. Then, her hand went out and snatched the toupee. She turned and fled, breaking through a line of red shirted guards, who, despite making numerous attempts, were strangely unable to stop her. "Run!" she shouted as red lights flashed over her head and Kirk ran in pursuit of his head covering. As Panakeia ran out into the sunlight, now followed by a crowd of the cult members and the red shirted guards, she couldn't see if Valde was behind her or not. She hoped he would escape safely.

[Durelin]

Still confounded as to how exactly Panakeia had managed to get the two of them in the presence of the most honored Captain and his Spockú, Valde did not waste time considering the possibilities. He approached Spockú and flourished a bow. “I am a great admirer of your work. Never have I seen a mind more large and swollen with brilliance than yours, particularly between a pair of pointed ears.” He knew flattery was the best way to get someone to trust you. It was only logical. And of course it was only logical for everyone to simply be in awe of this ultimate Vulcan.

“Thank you…?”

“Valde,” he said, supplying the Lord of the Brow with his name. He was mesmerized by those dark streaks, twisting up and ending in a slight point. He knew they were not natural. He knew they were a fabrication of dark forces. They irked him so much that he barely saw Spockú reach out with his hand, moving it slowly toward Valde’s shoulder. But his reflexes were quick, and Valde removed the Vulcan hand from anywhere near him.

“You have passed my test. It is logical to assume that you if you admire me, you k now my ways. And since it seems that you know my ways, then you must admire me.”

Of course. It made perfect sense. Valde wasn’t about to tell him otherwise, anyway. Instead, having gained his trust, he made his move.

“Oh my goodness!” he shouted, springing toward Spockú. “Sir, there are a pair of tribbles on your forehead!”

“Great Scotty! Where?!” The Vulcan shouted, flailing.

“On your forehead, sir.”

“Oh, yes, that’s right.” The pointy-eared man reached up to his face.

“Here, let me pluck them off of you, sir. Just relax. I happen to have the tribble removal kit you used in episode 74.”

Spockú dropped his arms. “I had a special kit for that? Well aren’t I clever.”

“Quick, close your eyes, sir, before their hair particles get in them.”

Valde then turned searchingly to see if he could acquire some kind of help. Dr. McBones approached him, seeing the look of inquiry on his face. “How can I heat this up?” he hissed.

“Here, let me nuke it,” McBones replied. Valde handed over the container of wax with an incredulous look on his face.

“Nuke it?”

“Scotty has a microwave.”

“Ah.”

He turned back to Spockú, who still had his eyes shut. It seemed Valde had made a logical enough argument concerning the tribbles, though logic of course came in many forms across the galaxies. For now, Valde decided to keep himself busy and his victim convinced that there were indeed two small furry animals on his forehead by using the tweasers. How that would do the latter he was not sure, but he began to pluck away at the Vulcan’s eyebrows, anyway.

“Ow!” Spockú exclaimed befittingly. “Hurry up! Those things always did have a nasty bite. That was a bite, wasn’t it?”

“Quite. No blood yet, though, sir. And we’re getting there. Everything’s almost set up for their sticky gooey fate.”

“Sticky gooey? I seem to recall using something like grains…”

“You used a number of preserves, as well, though.”

Valde felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to see Dr. McBones holding out the container of wax. He couldn’t help himself, and he beamed at him very unlike a Lead Tragic Actor. After taking the wax from him, though, he furrowed his brow in a deep concentration that was much more suitable to his role, and scowled slightly at recalling the smile. He wondered what Panakeia would think of him is she had seen that – she probably would have thought he was a joke. She’d think he was just another silly man who found joy in love and life and food and cute fuzzy little animals and pretty faces. The thought was horrifying.

“Goodness, that is gooey. And how warm. You really didn’t have to go and cook them fresh for me.”

Valde snapped out of his thoughts and realized that he had put quite enough wax on the left furry arch. Grabbing a conveniently pre-cut cloth strip from the kit, he pressed it firmly on the waxed area.

“There, all set for getting the first one. Ah, and he’s gone for it!” Valde commentated, and then pulled ‘in the direction opposite the hair growth’ as instructed.

“By the Borg! Are you sure that wasn’t a furry leech?!”

Valde peered at the cloth he had ripped off Spockú’s face and snickered. Looking at the Vulcan he had to stifle a stream of giggles. He looked lopsided. But quickly any humour Valde found in the situation turned to pure horror. He had reached up to clutch the left side of his face at the stinging pain. It was a natural reaction, of course, as Valde had failed to place any pressure on the area after he pulled the strip off. Perhaps he should have read the directions more carefully.

“What in the Enterprise…?” Spockú questioned while feeling the obvious hairlessness of his left brow. “What have you done?!”

“Run!” Valde heard Panakeia shout, and he silently agreed, racing after her with the conveniently pre-cut strip of cloth dangling from his hand, now stuck to it quite firmly. At least he would get half his points, even if Anakron was not feeling understanding. After a daring escape, the two contestants were on their way back to the Mount Doom Casino and Resort. Both their kamuramen had somehow escaped with them. Valde was disappointed, and questioned them as to whether they had simply stayed in the car the entire time. But, of course, they claimed to have gotten Valde and Panakeia’s entire escapade on their kamuras. Valde scowled as he carefully pried the hair-infested piece of cloth off his hand.

[Encaitare]

With the huge Star Map clutched in her wrinkled hands, Wilhelmina walked down the street, scanning it for Club Pârís. "Let's see," she said as the bottles in her pockets clanked. "The Opposite of Soft Stone Restaurant? No... Hemisemidemi Moore? No... Planet Trollywood? No... aha! There it is!" To her dismay, the club was on the other side of the resort. Glancing at a conveniently placed scrolling sign which displayed the time, temperature, and velocity of an unladen sparrow, she realized that she probably couldn't make it if she walked... and she didn't feel like driving again. Ever.

So what to do?

"Move it, lady!" someone said loudly, bustling past her. Apparently she had stopped right in the middle of the busy sidewalk while lost in thought. 'I'm behaving like a ruddy tourist with this map and just stopping short in the middle of the sidewalk... how foolish of me,' she thought, and then realized that could work, too.

~*~*~*~*~

Wilhelmina had decided not to sit on the top level of the double-decker tour bus, but was now regretting it. Rabid tourists with flashing cameras, sunglasses, and too much sunscreen were pressed up against the windows. They kept turning to her and exclaiming "Isn't that something!" and "We'll have to remember to tell the kids about that!" One man actually kept poking her and pointing to various buildings and nondescript lamp-posts in his excitement. "You know," she said severely, "I went to Nü Yawk once. And if you stop to point at things there, you get trampled. Do you know there's a huge glob of sunscreen on your nose? Oh, you did. Never mind, then."

Finally, she could take it no more, and she climbed the narrow stairs up to the top, where there were just as many rabid tourists, but a bit more fresh air. The kamura-orc, which had been goodnaturedly braving the tourists, seemed relieved. A bored-sounding orc was pointing out the sights, and for once Wilhelmina was glad she was going a bit deaf.

She pulled the brim of her hat down over her ears and kept a lookout for the club. Around her, people shouted and carried on and hurried down the street to their various destinations. She should have felt lucky she had the opportunity to get out of Mordor, and yet she felt rather lonely amidst all these rushing, insufferable people. She found herself missing Fléin, in fact. The cat-upchucking Dwarf had a certain charm.

She felt someone prodding her, and was about to whack the offending tourist with her walking stick. But it was only the kamuraorc. "Cwub Pâwís! It's wight thewe!" he was saying. Wilhelmina grinned, and the two of them grabbed the leash that an anxious mother was using to tether her child, and heroically swung off the top of the bus, both hoping they'd never have to experience such a wretched form of travel again.

"So now what?" asked the kamuraorc.

"Now," said Wilhelmina mysteriously, "we set the bait." All aura of mystery vanished as she produced a package of dog biscuits from her pocket. Carefully, she laid them on the ground in a trail from the door. She then took Panakeia's perfumes and did the same thing in the opposite direction.

"Woo awe going to wuwe hew out?"

"Yes... but first we're going to lure her dog out."

"How do woo know it wiww wowk?" the orc asked doubtfully.

"The dog'll smell the treats and come out, and she'll come chasing after it. Plus, you've got a kamura. People like her are complete kamurahôres. Most celebrities are." Wilhelmina hoped very much that she sounded like she knew what she was talking about. She didn't want to blow it and get no points... whatever the points meant, anyway.

~*~*~*~*~

After a duration of time which shall remain undefined so as to maintain some small aura of mystery, an obnoxious yapping sound was heard. And just a few moments after that, a rat in GooChee clothing burst out of a doggie door, having smelled the treats.

"Tinkerbell! Tinkerbell!" a woman cried, tripping along in gleaming pink heels. "Tinkerbell, come back to Mommy!" Then the shiny baubles caught her eye, and the pair were like kids in a candy shop, or happy anime characters with sparkles the size of galaxies in their eyes. "That's hot, said Pârís Hiltôn as she picked up the shinies one by one.

Wilhelmina gestured to the kamuraorc, who hastily ran to the end of the perfume trail, film rolling. Pârís Hiltôn looked up at the lens, said "Hi," and continued to smile vaguely in that direction like someone who has too much money and not enough purpose in life. And while Tinkerbell gobbled up the last of the treats, Wilhelmina unscrewed the cap of the Pearie Ockcide Potion and poured the contents on the dog's tail. She then proceeded to shout in horror.

"Oh! Oh! Ms. Hiltôn! Your dog!"

"She's adorable," Pârís Hiltôn said serenely, as though she were in her own little sunshine-and-rainbow world and the rest of them weren't allowed in.

"But she's sick!"

Immediately she was at the dog's side. "My Tink? My Tinky-Winky? What's the matter with my puppy-wuppy?"

"Her tail's gone blonde!" Wilhelmina fussed. "She must have... er... dog flu," she concluded lamely. Dog flu? Wherever did she come up with that? Now she had to go with it, though. "Yes, the dog flu can be fatal! I'd better take her to a doctor!"

"I thought you were a doctor," said Pârís Hiltôn.

"What?" Wilhelmina said confusedly.

"You must be a doctor... you know about diseases. That's what doctors do, right?"

"Sweetie," said Wilhelmina as kindly as she could, "I'm no doctor. I'm sure we all know about a good number of diseases."

"Maybe I should go with Tinkerbell..."

"No! That's just fine!" Wilhelmina dug in her pocket and drew out the mirror she had purchased. "Here! Occupy yourself with this!"

"That's hot," said Pârís Hiltôn as she vapidly stared at her own reflection.

"How shouwd we get back to the hotew?" asked the orc.

Wilhelmina looked around, and her eyes settled on something that was black, shiny, and at least three times longer than it really needed to be. "How about by limo?"

[Kath]

Sai had not minded that Alli wouldn’t be very sociable throughout the flight. She had always enjoyed being able to sit by a window and watch as the world went by beneath her, and a lack of distractions would make that easier. So she sat in a window seat (for once blessedly empty), pressed her nose against the glass and remained happily amused that way for a good few hours.

She was so enthralled that she started when Alli spoke, not having realised that she was awake. She looked over and noted that the girl seemed worried about something, but by this time knew better than to ask what it was.

“Not long.” She replied. “We’ve been getting lower for a while now so . . .”

Her words were interrupted as the wheels of the plane suddenly hit the ground without warning. Sai and Alli were thrown forward but managed to catch themselves before they fell out of their chairs. From the screams coming through the floor, those below in the cargo hold weren’t so lucky. The plane came to stop a few minutes later, and Sai finally stopped clutching the arms of her seat. She saw Alli release her equally white-knuckled grip and the two of them slowly stood up, hoping their shaky legs would hold them up.

“I’ll go get the others out of the hold.” Sai offered, needing to get onto stable earth as quickly as possible (or at least as stable as was possible in Mordor). “You can go ‘thank’ our pilot.”

Alli nodded and headed towards the front of the plane. Sai climbed down the stairs that must either have travelled with them the entire journey or had just mysteriously appeared out of thin air, as there was no one around who could have put them there. She opened the door to the hold and as she did she was knocked over backwards as a body fell on top of her. Scrambling out from underneath Sai laughed as she realised it was Tom. The poor boy had been sitting with his back right up against the door so he could escape as quickly as possible. Hauling him to his feet she began to lead him away from the plane and his new fangirls followed right behind.

They made their way to the specified meeting point, Alli joining them about halfway through the journey. Depositing Tom, the fangirls and the box in front of Anakron, Sai and Alli waited for the rest of the group to arrive.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Eomer of the Rohirrim (in after days, Aimé of Mordor) woke up, and instantly wished he hadn't. He had thought the Black Land was horrible, but the pain of this miserable little village was now dominating his consciousness. Or maybe that feeling was down to a night spent sleeping in a bed about as comfortable as a grave. Eomer did not care to think too hard about it; his mind could be occupied only with the bizarre events of yesterday.

He had been swept off his feet from the wide hostile land of Mordor into the midst of this Ridiculous Party Gathering (hereafter referred to as RPG) and he wasn't sure if he should accept it. "Why am I here?" he wailed, a little too loudly. It caused a very tall blond fellow to stare weirdly at him. This guy looked right at home among the fear, suspicion and acute paranoia; he was enjoying it! Eomer supposed that the man probably lived in Dol Gaurgauroth. He didn't know him, anyway. But of course! Eomer didn't know anyone in this place. Except...

He scanned the group and found the girl. Running lightly towards her, he noticed a sort of fog forming around him. He stopped, and the fog started to disappear. Strange, thought he, and went for the girl again. The fog returned, enabling Eomer to retain a curious kind of invisibility, and ensuring that his movements could not be recorded. Sweet.

"Alli" he called as the fog disappeared: now visible, he saw that he had reached the girl, who looked somewhat different today.

"Oh...yyyes, dear! How are you?" She smiled a smile which could be described only as devilish. Eomer started as he realised that he had been mistaken.

"Excuse me, miss" he said. "Only, you do bear a resemblance to Alli; and she's the one person I know here."

"Oh you poor thing!" the girl replied. "In that case you must get to know me." The smile never left her lips, but now her voice lowered to a husky whisper. She stared deeply into Eomer's eyes, in a way that professional hypnotists can only dream of [not that I'm suggesting professional hypnotists desire to gaze into my eyes—or am I?] "You mustn't be led by that Alli girl. She will be a bad influence on you, won't you let me tell you why? My name is Fea."

How could Eomer resist? So far, Alli had hunted him down, claimed to know a deep dark secret of his, brought him into this RPG catastrophe, and left him alone among these strange terrifying people. Conversely, Fea had been nothing but sugar and spice and all things nice. She took his hand, and led him to the village wishing-well, subconsciously intentional, if that.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

"You see, m'dear," Fea said, patting the wall of the well beside her. He sat, a bit of tartan peeking out from beneath his cloak. "Alli is just a kid. I know her well, though she does not know me. She just wants to go home. She wouldn't mind learning what it's like to be in love. But she is still a child. In time, I imagine that she will calm down and become slower to judge people, softer-spoken, and curse less. Now? Yes... she is a slave to her teenage-girl hormones. She's not yet learned to control them.

"What matters is that she means well. She is sometimes foolish, but she always regrets it, even if her pride will not let her apologize. Don't let her arrogance make you distrust her... she could be a powerful ally."

Fea realized that her defense of Alli could be construed as wolfish-comaradery, but she did not care. Alli's life was important... not hers. Actually, that wasn't true at all. Fea really liked her life most of the time, especially now that there was this one guy that... wait... That's Shire, not Mordor. In any case, Fea didn't want to see anything happen to Alli because of misunderstanding. She spoke again.

"'Mer, you should talk to her. She'll flirt. She'll seem shallow sometimes. But she'll tell you interesting things if you can earn her trust. She knows very much and has the most impressive connections with the Mordorian underworld. The reason, 'Mer, that she seems so inaccessable is because she wants you to think it of her. She's been hurt. She doesn't trust people."

"How do you know this?" murmered Aimè, entranced by Fea's words. "How do you know so much of Alli?"

"I have sources." Fea smiled softly, her thoughts hidden, but with a look of sweet contentment making her features look far more angelic than their usual devilish humor allowed. Aimè could not even find a smirk. "Ah, if you'll excuse me..."

Fea released Aimè's hand now and walked up to the crowd again, arms extended.

"'Ello, my loves, my doves, you have no idea. I've been having the most fascinating thoughts. I've been plotting like you wouldn't believe. You should be nervous. Those of you that are wolves, of course." She smiled in a way that conveyed a bit of bonkerdom. She didn't look all together sane, much different than she had just before with Aimè when her features had held amusement, flirtation, concern, and curiosity, all in turn. Aimè looked on in wonder as she propped her thumbs on her belt buckle, resting her palms on her waist. She shifted her weight to one side and looked nothing short of gorgeous as she teased the folk of Dol Gaurgauroth. "I think that we should lynch Anakron."

Anakron stood and began to speak some sort of rule that no doubt forbade it.

"No, listen to me." she interrupted, shooing him away. "This entire thing is his doing. If we lynch him, he'd be deprived of his fun, we'd know for sure whether or not he is innocent, and we'd all be able to leave Mordor without a single bit of trouble. After all, the Dweomer works through him. Without a conductor, surely it is as a disconnected circuit?"

Fea winked at Alli who glared at her. Fea smiled at the girls contrariness, appreciative of her dirty look. It was one that should have been able to kill. Maybe some day she'd learn to harness that energy. Hopefully it'd be a day after she learned to control her temper.

The rest of the crowd looked at Fea, swayed by the confident tone of her voice, her looks, her seriousness, and the way she seemed to speak such logic. It was only the loony look in her eyes that kept them from forking Anakron with a pitch immediately.

[Kath]

Completely bewildered by this entire set up, Sai kept close to Alli, hoping she would have some idea of what to do. Unfortunately she seemed just as confused, as well as seriously annoyed by the appearance of Fea who had charmed everyone in sight the second she turned up. Feelings of loyalty and perhaps some pride that she had been the only one to get through her defences kept Sai on Alli’s side and so, for now at least, immune to the pervasiveness of the newcomer.

She had gathered from Anakron’s instructions and the gruesome death of his counterpart, that there were 3 wolves in among this motley crew of individuals, and that the way to complete this next task was simply to stay alive. As she mused over this, a thought suddenly occurred to her.

"Wait a second... Will we actually be killed? That wasn't in the contract!"

As people (using the term in it’s loosest sense) turned to look at her, she realised she had spoken out loud. Blushing she turned away, but not before noticing the suspicious looks that Flein was shooting at her and Alli from under his bushy eyebrows. Sai wondered if he thought the two of them were wolves, Anakron had said they could be among the members of the Offending Party, which was a scary thought in itself. She thought they were more likely to be some of these newer people. Surely she’d have noticed if one of the Party were a werewolf . . . wouldn’t she?

She noticed that this Fea girl was speaking again, suggesting that they lynch Anakron. She was tempted to agree, but wondered whether his death might mean that their chances of getting out of Mordor were scuppered, since he was in charge of it all.

Fortunately it seemed that some of the others agreed with her, or at least were put off by the homicidal look in Fea’s eyes. She certainly seemed overly keen on killing someone, and she never even said she thought Anakron was a wolf. Also, from what she'd heard back home about these 'games' she was sure that the innocent people were supposed to have helpers, people with special gifts who could swing the balance of power.

Due to her slight phobia of having to speak in front of large groups of people, Sai whispered these little observations to Alli (gaining another glare from Fléin for some reason - perhaps he thought they were plotting something?), who nodded and thought it over. Sai knew Alli was as wary of this new addition to their group as she was, and hoped that she would have some kind of plan to figure out whether she really was as innocent and helpful as she was trying to appear to be, or was just attempting to avoid suspicion.

While Alli was thinking, Sai gazed around at the groups of people mulling about. From Rowling's creations she knew the signs one was supposed to look out for in a werewolf, but those weren't really helpful when everyone around was in as human a form as they could manage.

From her right she heard a snap of fingers, and turned toward Alli, wondering whether she'd come up with anything or was frustrated with the inability to do so. Sai sincerely hoped it was the former. She really didn't like the idea of being killed.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Alli had come up with an idea. Just as quickly, she'd forgotten what it was.

She'd listened to everything that Sai told her and glared prettily at Flein when he looked suspiciously at her. She'd come up with the most brilliant strategy in the history of Tol-in-Gaurhoth scenarios that would guarantee a win. And then, like I already said, she forgot it. She smacked herself in the head and only managed to make herself cry out in pain when she nailed herself in the bruise from the rock. Another vision showed up, this one of J.Lo. in a shower. She was getting really sick of this stuff. Illamatar was really bad at telling her when she was having real visions and when she was just having weird thoughts. At least the Scotsman was out of her head. But now he was in front of her. And she had to keep him alive. Even if he was a wolf. Illamatar had said so, and one didn't ignore a direct order from the deity that half of the forum thought was God.

She whispered back to Sai, her mouth close to the girl's ear to keep unwelcome strangers from reading her lips.

"We need Aimè on our side. His importance to the side-plot is unimaginably huge. His death would be a blow to all of Middle Earth and especially to me. I really need to find out why Eru thinks he's so important. I can't let him die. Will you help me?"

Alli was a little bit concerned that Sai was a werewolf, but it was too late now to worry. If the girl was a werewolf than Alli was in more danger than she could easily get herself out of. After all, they were sharing a cottage. Flein glared again when he saw them whispering. Alli stuck her tongue out.

"Apart from keeping Aimè and ourselves alive, I'm lost. No ideas from you?"

[Celuien]

The bizarre transformation from CoDzilla to CoD startled Panakeia. Even more so Alli's attempted conversation with the fish. What could Anakron possibly be up to now? Did CoD have special information about werewolves, being a movie monster himself, or was this just another distraction?

Suddenly, Nilp jumped to his feet. Throwing the bare, tooth-marked bone to the ground, he screamed, "I'm a werewolf! Can't you tell? Lynch me now." He pulled out a long quill pen. "Here, I'll make it easy for you." Nilp scratched a message into the dusty ground. ++NILPARION FELAGUND "I'll vote for myself." Then, Nilp's frame contorted wildly, engaged in a battle with itself.

"Stop that. You'll get us killed." His left hand reached to slap his right. And his right hand snatched his left.

"That's what I want, Adam."

"You're both crazy."

"Shut up, Alice."

As Panakeia stared, Nilp (Adam? Alice??) began to roll, writhing on the ground, mumbling and shouting incoherently.

"Do you see what I mean? We can't afford this distraction. I'm sure that some of you will want to attack SpaM. But at least he talks sense, even when rather, ahem, inebriated. So if he isn't a wolf, he can help us find them. Though some of those quiet ones are making me nervous, (she glared at those who had yet to speak) I really think we should get rid of Nilp now." Though she spoke with confidence, Panakeia really didn't like this business at all. It was with a heavy heart that she wrote

++NILPARION FELAGUND

on a sheet of paper left near the site of Elempi's demise. As she did so, Nilp left twisting on the ground, ran up, shook her hand and said, "Thank you." Panakeia groaned, almost certain that she was making a mistake. But it was too late now.

[Kath]

Sai watched in amusement as Alli conducted a somewhat one-sided conversation with the newly shrunk CoDzilla. She felt much more at ease now that there were more people who agreed with the idea of avoiding lynching any members of the Offending Party. However, it seemed that there were to be two lynchings each day now, and if none of those lynched were revealed to be wolves the focus might still turn inward.

But, if they were going to keep on with the idea of lynching the newcomers they were already doing well, with two votes for the schizoid Nilpaurion Felagund already - including one for himself!

Pulling a piece of paper and a pencil from her pocket, Sai quickly made a list of who was in the village and those votes that had already turned up, hoping that a bit of organisation might help them with this particular task.

Panakeia ~ Nilpaurion Felagund
CoD(zilla)
Alli
Fea
Nilpaurion Felagund ~ Nilpaurion Felagund
Wilhelmina
Aimè
Tom Felton
Mardil
SpaM
Fléin
Mormegil
Valde
Anakron

She wasn't sure whether Anakron was allowed to vote, but put him on the end just in case. Pulling Alli away from the pool and back to the group she showed them all the list.

"I suggest that we organise who will vote for who if we've got to do a double lynching. Panakeia, you've already voted for Nilpaurion Felagund so that's begun one bandwagon, but who should we start the other on?"

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Fea walked over and responded to Sai.

"I think that we should band-wagon Saucie. I mean... SpaM. See, it's tradition for me to fight for his early death. You can't break tradition, right? But my reasoning is better than that which I outwardly display: He's very clever. He could write us into a corner easily and we'd never know. If he's a wolf, we're not going to know it until it's too late. He'll never appear as anything but innocent... the only sure way to know is if he's killed, and we'd want that early since if he's lupine and we kill him late, he'll have had plenty of time to lay traps and manipulate our thoughts to where he wants them."

Alli was annoyed to realize that she agreed with Fea again. She spoke up.

"Fea's got a bit of a point. What we really need to know though, is if there's a Seer amongst us. I mean... I'm sure there's a Seer amongst--" she waved her arms to convey that she meant everybody in the village, "us, but if there's a Seer amongst us" Now she just meant the women present "then we could form a group as... wait... that'd be a bad idea. It would work perfectly if we were all innocent... but odds are, and knowing my luck, at least one of us is just asking to be killed."

"Kill me." laughed Fea.

"Shut it." snapped Alli.

Fea stuck out her tongue and Alli flipped her off. Fea laughed at her. Alli glared and considered smacking her. Fea was too irreverant for her liking. It was like she wasn't afraid of what anybody thought. That was good sometimes, but right now, people's thoughts dictated survival. Fea was being really stupid. Maybe she was just really tired.

"Fea, go to bed." Alli ordered. Surprisingly enough, Fea agreed. Sai and Panakeia (and a slightly nervous CoD that kept eying the water he was in dubiously) watched the argument curiously.

"Okay... good idea... I think I'm going to go take a nap now. I skipped the class that my alter-ego was supposed to go to for that purpose. I suppose I should carry it out."

With that, she disappeared into her cottage and within moments, the village could hear her muttering in her sleep.

[Kath]

"Ok. So we're going to try and get SpaM and Nilp lynched? I'm alright with that I suppose but what about mormegil? He clever and sober, and from what I've heard of him he's just as likely to try and take control over everything."

Instead of the calm discussion she hoped would follow, everyone suddenly started arguing. Accusations were flying between the females, some of them nothing to do with werewolvishness. Sai realised that no decision would be reached if this continued, so she stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Those in the near vicinity leapt backwards and stared at her in either astonishment or annoyance (depending on how close they'd been). Thankfully though, they all shut up.

"We're not going to get anywhere like this. How about a vote. All those who would prefer to lynch SpaM raise your right hand, and all those who want to raise mormegil raise your left hand."

She stood back a little and raised her left hand, and as she did so she saw the dwarf, Fléin, move towards the little group with his left hand raised.

[Hookbill the Goomba]

“Well, I’m a cobbler,” said the rather defensive Hookbill as he moved behind a chair away from one of the villagers. “I’ve been here for three years. I’m not a new character, or even a cameo.”

“Then why,” enquired the villager, “does your post title say ‘Hookbill’s Cameo?’”
The little man stopped and thought. Too many questions so early in the morning, only four o’clock pm! Did these people have no respect? “You’re not supposed to be able to see that.” He mumbled eventually looking at his shoes and seeing an interesting pattern in the creases of the leather.

“Well, I don’t like this,” continued the villager, now getting rather annoyed, “You had better not meet me again, or you’ll be sorry.” The villager stormed out leaving footprints in the floorboards and breaking the door as it was closed. Hookbill slowly sunk to the ground and hummed to himself until a brick flew through his window and hit him on the head.
Awaking some time later, Hookbill found a note attached to the brick, ‘Shut up’ was written on one side. On the other was ‘Welcome to Dol Gaurgauroth. Please enjoy our snack bars’. He sighed and got back to work.

[littlemanpoet]

Anakron slouched in his lazyboy, fanning himself with a left over piece of autograph paper taken from a fangirl corpse.

"Tut tut!" he said. "This is all getting rather undemonstrative. Where is the famed Alli? Where has Fea gotten off to? The Tragic Lead Actor has been rather quiet. And Mardil has been conspicuously quiet ever since he flamed up suspicion against Fea. Aimé is hiding again, and Fordim has gone sniffing after strangely scented opinion polls, no doubt.

"But that is nothing, my listeners, to compare with your sudden lack of creative imagination as compared with the last three challenges. What has come over you? The threat of death instead of mere failure to leave? What difference does that make?

"Assume nothing!"

Anakron lapsed into silence after this mirthful diatribe. The remaining villagers eyed him with obvious malice, clearly wishing they could lynch him. Anakron grinned as he snacked.

[the phantom]

"Well, Mardil, when are you going to cast your vote?" asked Eomer, flopping down beside Mardil during a village recess. "You're the one, after all, who led the way in accusing Fea."

Mardil took out one of his knives and began twirling it. "Oh, I suppose I'll go ahead and vote when everyone gets back."

"For Fea?" asked Tom Felton, scooting over closer to join in the conversation.

"No, probably for CoD," answered Mardil.

"Why not Fea?" asked Tom.

"For one thing, she's almost certain to get lynched anyway. Second, she's hot."

"I know what you mean, Mardil," agreed Eomer. "There's a shortage of hot women in the world. It would be a pity to damage one so hot as that without absolute proof."

"But she's as likely as anyone to be a wolf!" said Tom. "The object here is to kill wolves, not keep ladies alive. We need to vote for her."

"I'm sorry, Tom," argued Eomer, "But my noble Scottish spirit simply will not allow me to kill a young damsel without more proof than this."

"You're Scottish?" asked Tom, noticing Eomer's kilt for the first time.

"Of course," answered Eomer.

Tom leapt away from him in disgust. "I can't believe I was talking with a Scot- filthy mudblood! Wait till my father hears they're letting Scots into Mordor." Tom stomped off mumbling curses under his breath.

"What in the world was that about?" said Eomer in surprise.

"Oh, it's probably just in-a-rut-casting syndrome," answered Mardil. "It happens to actors who really only play one role all the time- they begin to, out of habit, act like their onscreen characters in real life."

"How horrible," shuddered Eomer.

"Yes, yes," agreed Mardil. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go get something to eat. When I get back, I'll cast my vote for ++CoD."

"Wait, wait!" called Eomer as Mardil began walking away. "Before you go I want your opinion on something. Since you aren't voting for Fea, does that mean you like her werewolf summoning plan?"

Mardil started laughing and turned back to look at Eomer. "Her plan would be excellent if not for the fact that she summoned far too many wolves. The amount of wolves she summoned, if incorporated into the village, would lead to an instant werewolf victory since there would be more wolves than innocents. Right now the count is nine innocents and three wolves. If we're going to summon wolves, we wouldn't want to summon any more than five, and we'd need to then lynch two of them today, but seeing as so many votes have already been cast, I don't think we could pull that off."

"So you think it would be foolish to support the plan?"

"Most definitely," said Mardil emphatically. "Now, I really need to go. If I don't hurry, I won't be back in time for the start of the next round of arguments."

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Alli sat alone and unhappy on the outskirts of the group. She wanted to sit by Sai... the only one that she felt she could trust in this whole group... but she was by Mardil. Fea was still gone... it was a good thing, truth be told. Alli wasn't sure if she could handle her emotions at this point.

Now Illamatar arrived, clad in purple spandex and baaing fiercly. Alli looked around and was passively miffed that nobody else could see him.

"You know, O Lord, that if people keep seeing me converse with empty space, they'll call me a loony and kill me?"

Illamatar looked at her with pity.

"Do you really think they care what you're doing?

"Way to crush a girl's confidence, O Lord. What have you to tell me now?"

"Jennifer Lopez has been rendered harmless."

"What?" Alli was confused. Since when were a pair of buttocks considered dangerous? And what in the world did this have to do with anything?

"She is harmless. The girl with whom you travel has taken care of her unwittingly."

"You mean that Sai is innocent?"

"Of course."

"But... I don't understand... J.Lo. isn't in the game... she just happened to..." Alli stopped, something dawning on her. Shortly after her epiphany, she looked at Illamatar.

"Do you understand?" he baaed.

"Sai is innocent of all crimes in Mordor. J.Lo. has been rendered innocent though she does not play in this game. Mario...?"

"A bloody great threat to the world. You must ally yourself with the Scotsman."

"I'll take care of it. But what does Sai have to do with my side-plot?"

"You'll figure it out."

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Rather far away, in another dimension, in another time, place, and thought process, Fea had rather been enjoying herself. After she disappeared, she'd gone to a gathering of friends, expecting laughs, but not the boys that arrived.

Her night had grown longer than she'd expected after this, infused with laughter, flirting, and stories by starlight until past midnight, when she decided that homework was in order and socialization for the day was at an end. She'd meant to return to the village quickly, but she had to admit that this diversion had really been a lot of fun.

Now, after classes were over and the opposite sex was sufficiently out of her mind, Fea returned to the little Mordorian village and wondered about her previous logic at releasing a bunch of werewolves on an already werewolf-infested village.

She looked around, catching a lethal glance from Sai. She had to give the girl credit... she certainly stood by her friend. Though at the moment she sat by the guy that her friend was upset over. Fea wondered what was going through Alli's head. She wondered what was going through Sai's head. She especially wondered what was going through Flein's head. What was going through Mardil and Aimè's heads was easy to figure out... if they were any more obvious, there would be a stream of drool involved.

She casually stood, twirling a heavy staff. While she didn't have as much strength as would be needed to defend herself against the entire village, she suspected that she wouldn't require it. She knew that she would soon die... she had accepted it as soon as the phantom had requested permission to accuse her of guilt. But she wasn't going to go easily. She was going to do something to make the Offenders gasp in shock. She didn't know what it was yet, but she hoped pretty hard it wouldn't end up being anticlimactic.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom was busy in his little bit of space moping over his recent encounter with a Scotsman. Aimè was the enemy in his book. He wondered if Aimè knew why Tom hated him so much and wished him so much ill will... it didn't matter. What did was that he could not speak with nor look at the Scotsman without feeling a certain growling menace unfold deep within him. He was pretty certain that it had something to do with the way Aimè was now eyeballing Sai.

Aimè couldn't have Sai... Tom wanted her.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Alli saw Fea as soon as Illamatar disappeared. She hated her with a passion. Arrogant. She was arrogant. And the worst part was, she was perfectly well allowed to have such a high opinion of herself because everything that she believed of herself was true. It was most annoying. She seemed to believe that she could get everything she wanted.

Well... maybe she could and maybe she couldn't, but apparently she was capable of getting exactly what Alli wanted, even though Alli couldn't manage it.

It didn't matter any more... she would soon die. Alli would soon die... Mardil would soon die...

Life is short and full of pain, she thought. Fleeting... grief-stricken... nobody is meant to be happy, least of all me.

She fell into a bit of despair over the trust that Illamatar had placed in her as well as the basic stress of having to keep yourself alive on your path along your only chance of ever finding your way back home while being somewhat in love with a guy with whom nothing seemed to be going right and who apparently had been undressed in a confined space with another girl very recently. Silent tears forced their way through her stubbornly focused eyes. Her whole body shook as she tried to repress her emotions. Finally, she gave way to the tears and curled up defensively as she cried, hoping that Illamatar was right when he said that nobody cared what she did.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom strode over to Sai, offering his hand and when she made to shake it, brushing hers with his lips. She blushed slightly and Tom grinned deep inside.

"Will you work with me, pretty girl, to rid the world of werewolves?"

His charm seemed at first to be working. He was well pleased with himself. Sai's attention suddenly shifted. She pulled her hand from his and went to Alli. She put her arms around her friend and whispered soothingly as Alli sobbed into her shoulder.

"It's okay, Alli... it's okay... it'll all be okay..."

"No..." she sniffed. "I don't understand it. I mean... I understand it, but how can he expect me to... how can I possibly measure up? I can't take the pressure. I'm not good enough. I'm so afraid... I'm so afraid..."

Sai had no idea what was going through Alli's mind, but she suspected that she was comparing herself... possibly to Fea. Unsure of what to say, Sai fell silent. She held Alli as the girl released all of her bottled up emotion through flowing tears.

"Now then," said Sai quietly once Alli had finally stopped weeping. "Didn't that make you feel better?"

"I suppose..." she sniffed, her head on her friend's shoulder. "But even with the emotion gone... I still have to find a way... I still have to... I'll never be able to live unless I see this through. It's too important for me to ignore. I've never felt this way before. I've never felt like I had a purpose... a special role in life. I never thought that I would need Aimè like I do. Who would have ever thought?'

Sai was truly confused now. Surely she meant Mardil? Surely Alli was in love with him and had broken down over his seeming indiscretions with Fea?

"You... you mean Mardil, right dear?" she asked hesitantly.

Alli looked at her and another tear leaked out. She wiped it away impatiently.

"No... I meant Aimè. I must speak with him. And it must be privately... I have so much to tell him."