a guitar, chewing-gums, and a fellowship

20. Embrace for Impact

"Want to go do something ?" Pippin asked excitedly.

"Depends," I answered slowly after a jaw-dropping yawn.

"It involves food."

"Hell yeah !"

Legolas and Merry soon joined us, carrying supplies to the boats.

"Lembas, elvish waybread ! One small bite is enough to fill the stomach of a grown man," Legless exclaimed as he pulled a piece of bread from a pack.

Uh-huh.  Good to know.

As soon as the elf left, Merry squinted his eyes at us.

"How many did you both eat ?"

"Two," I replied sheepishly. I guess I became an addict.

Pippin burped, as polite as ever.

"Four." 

I sat comfortably at the end of the boat, wrapped in my stylish new elven cloak, my guitar on my lap. What a wonderful way to start the day : sun, a boat ride, and lembas. And a blonde elf sitting right in front of you.

Whatever.

I promised myself that I would be the best boat captain the world has ever seen. I raised my scarf as a flag to attract the attention of my two teammates. The time had come for departure.

"To my signal, paddle. 1, 2, 3, go !"

Legolas rolled his eyes, and grabbed the oars. He began to row under the mocking laughter of Gimli.

"Come on, faster. You too, Gimli, stop laughing and paddle."

Grumbling, Gimli took his oars, accidentally hitting Legolas as he passed one of them over the side of the boat.

Key word : accidentally. Which led them to bicker for at least one hour.

"I am really jealous of all the people who never met you and any of your people."

"It is their loss. I consider myself an amazing person : 80% awesomeness, 20% beard and 100% muscles."

"That's 200%, stupid dwarf."

"Exactly. I'm twice the person you will ever be !"

"Zip it, Thanos. Paddle. You too, Hawkeye."

I had to hold back my laughter at the sight of Legolas and Gimli, trying to hit each other whenever they could accidentally do so, if they could not continue to insult each other. I decided it was time to change the atmosphere of our journey and spice things up a little.

"Since I'm a generous and compassionate person, I will play the guitar for you..."

I snickered when I saw their faces lit up in anticipation.

"... if you manage to overtake the two boats. Are you ready to show the rest of the Fellowship what the best team is capable of ?"

Legolas and Gimli looked at each other and nodded with determination. They both firmly took the oars and with one quick stroke began to row with vigor. The boat made a few leaps before it swung steadily, and I had to grab the edges to keep my balance. The wind hit us in the face, causing Gimli to complain that he couldn't see anything with Legolas' hair in his eyes.

As a result, we almost knocked over Boromir, Merry and Pippin's boat.

"We are not a team, this is a competition !" I yelled at them.

The two hobbits' faces lit up in understanding. Things were getting serious, especially with Boromir's massive strength. His boat was closing in on us as Pippin and Merry shouted for battle.