Disclaimer: I own nothing (except Mary Sue and Sue Mary, but would *you* admit that?). One phrase has been borrowed from Cassandra Claire's wonderful Very Secret Diaries, in addition to what I borrowed from Tolkien and other sources.

Outside Rivendell the plot continuum wasn't as weakened by Sues popping up all over the place, though shockwaves were rippling out from Rivendell and other badly affected places, such as Lothlorien; and these waves disrupted both the plot continuum and the two girls' attempts to make the story go their way.

The film continuum by now could no longer stabilise itself using just the slash continuum - for that is itself by its nature ever-changing and ultimately inconsistent - so it reached out further afield, looking for something to shore itself up with. It found, tested and discarded a number of options, and in the end it found something that would serve for a while at least.

Of course, the two girls hadn't changed their clothes when they set out. Surprisingly, it took only a couple of hours scrambling over rocks to change their minds about what they thought was suitable clothing for walking, and to concede that even magical Elven princesses would do a lot better walking over rough terrain in a tunic, trousers and sensible shoes than in elegantly draped dresses and high heels.

They were quite upset when Gandalf decided that they would travel at night and rest during the day, but now that they had left plothole-ridden Rivendell, their power to affect the story was not sufficient to change everything to their liking.

At the end of their second night's march Lharalavantariel announced she was sick of cold food and began making a fire using her magical powers. She was upset when Aragorn kicked it out, and after he pointed out to her rather sharply and at some length that the 'no fire' rule was meant for *all* the company, she was close to tears.

Lharalavantariel sat down disconsolately in a corner of the area they had picked to shelter in, sulking. This wasn't how it was supposed to go! She sat gazing at Frodo for a while, distracting herself from her misery by concentrating on those impossibly blue eyes. So deep in thought was she that she didn't notice Boromir bringing her something to eat until he sat down next to her.

"Whatever it is you're thinking, lady, you'd best forget it. Sam will kill you if you try anything," he said. She looked up, startled by his approach, and suddenly noticed that he wasn't at all bad-looking.

"But, but, but I wasn't thinking anything," she could just about stammer.

…

Meanwhile, Assansaibrivilieth had wandered off, surreptitiously following Legolas, who had drawn the first shift of guard duty that day. She had managed to remain unnoticed, and sat quietly observing him from across a clearing, brooding on a way to bend the story to her will and get him to take notice of her. Suddenly a rather feral smile moved across her face and she started sneaking around the clearing as quietly as she could, drawing her sword as she set off. On the other side, she was surprised to find that Legolas was nowhere in sight.

"Surely I was quiet enough to sneak up on him and surprise him like Arwen did with Strider in the film... " she wondered. Then she heard a rustling noise behind her and she whirled around. The low branches of the trees behind her were moving as if someone was hidden there.

"Aha!" she said and rushed in to find ... nothing.

Again, something moved further on. Again, there was nothing to see. This went on for a while, until Assansaibrivilieth realised she was back on the other side of the clearing.

"Very funny!" she called out, "I give up. Now will you please show yourself, Legolas?"

It wasn't until an arrow struck the ground in front of her, that she thought to look up, and found the Prince of Mirkwood standing on a tree branch. He jumped down lightly, and all thought fled Assansaibrivilieth's mind as she looked upon her main object of desire so close up.

"You'd better get back to the camp and get some rest," Legolas said, adding that her woodcraft needed a lot of work if she didn't even think to look for a wood elf in a tree, and that she was as noisy as a dwarf. This accusation caused Assansaibrivilieth to glare at the Prince rather viciously and she stomped off back to the camp in a huff, torn between anger and frustration.

"Like, what is going wrong?" she thought, "We can't control the plot, everything is different from the film, Legolas didn't even look at me, they're all *gay* and we can't even leave any more."

Her mood hadn't improved any by the time she got back to the camp, and she sat quietly for a while before she fell asleep. Lharalavantariel was already fast asleep, a rather pleased expression on her face; Assansaibrivilieth wondered if she had perhaps got anywhere with Frodo; but no, he was sleeping on the other side of the site, arms around Sam. "Strange,' she said to herself, and went to sleep as well.

After this, their journey settled into a routine; they walked during the night, they rested during the day, Lharalavantariel became more involved with Boromir, and Assansaibrivilieth became more upset and angry. This went on for about a week, until Assansaibrivilieth had had enough. She had first watch that day, and she was tired and footsore and bored with walking, so she called Lharalavantariel aside, while everybody else tried to get some sleep after a particularly hard night's travelling.

"Can't it wait, Su.." Lharalavantariel started, then saw her friend's expression and corrected herself, "Assansaibrivilieth? I'm tired, and I want to sleep!"

"What do you think you're doing with Boromir?" she asked, "Don't you remember he's gonna die?"

"Yes, I know!" Lharalavantariel answered, "I know! But we can change that! That's why we're here!!! Right?"

"It isn't that easy," replied Assansaibrivilieth, "you *know* things aren't right. We're taking way too long to get to that mountain - whatsitcalled; and Frodo is all over Sam all the time, and Legolas won't even look at me; he only sees that stupid Dwarf! And now you are getting all friendly with Boromir. What do you want me to do now Legolas doesn't even see me? Seduce Gandalf?" She shuddered at the idea, and Lharalavantariel shivered in sympathy, or perhaps it was just because of the cold weather.

"If we try again, maybe we can get control again, and make things go right," Lharalavantariel replied. Assansaibrivilieth agreed, and forgetting she was supposed to guard the camp, she wandered out of sight of the site with Lharalavantariel and they sat there for a while, their heads close together. This time, they managed to get the attention of the continuum long enough to get what they wanted and when they were done, they looked in satisfaction at the mountains which now were a lot closer.

"Remember the plan," Assansaibrivilieth whispered to Lharalavantariel before they went to sleep. Lharalavantariel nodded sleepy agreement before she fell asleep. She couldn't enjoy her rest for very long, as she woke up to find Gandalf shaking Assansaibrivilieth to wake her up; the angry expression on his face made her decide to keep her eyes closed and pretend to sleep. Apparently, he was upset about Assansaibrivilieth going to sleep and forgetting to wake him to take his watch.

"Silly," she thought, "we're safe here; it isn't as if there are wolves or anything horrid like that around here." She did however have enough of a survival instinct not to speak up in defence of her friend, and kept up her pretense of sleep even after Gandalf had finished telling Assansaibrivilieth what he thought of her lapse.

Apparently, none of the others had noticed anything out of the ordinary about being much closer to the mountains than they had been in the morning, and they continued the journey much as before.

The next days passed without incident. They noticed several flights of crows, but these all passed far off to the north, and the girls grew more confident that they were back in control of events.

Then, one evening, just as they were about to set out, while Lharalavantariel reluctantly untangled herself from Boromir's arms and Assansaibrivilieth went over what was supposed to happen next, the silence was disturbed by howling in the distance 

Unfortunately, no one was listening …