Disclaimer:  I own Erin and Elmar.  That is all.

A/N:  I know, I know this is a very, very late update.  No, it did not take me this long to write a single chapter… I just didn't start writing it for a very, very long time.  Anyone who first read this story probably isn't reading it any more, mais c'est la vie. 

Also, this chapter, like the previous two, has NOT been beta-read so please excuse the many mistakes contained within.

Also also, I'm messing with the time line slightly, which will become more apparent in future chapters.

Also also also, the formatting is not doing what I want it to.  Terribly sorry if it's a bit hard to read, I'm trying to fix it and it is not cooperating.

********

Erin must have passed out, for the next time she opened her eyes they were greeted by a sunset – and a young man who was looking at her with concern.

Her tired mind accepted all this without argument.  Hadn't life always been this way?  Endless days and eternal weeks, spent in the sort of daze on was usually in when stricken with a high fever.

She noticed the boy was holding something out to her, it looked like something she knew she should recognize… a spittoon?  Cantoon?  Canteen?  Yes, that was it, a canteen.  She raised one arm slowly – it felt heavier than it should have – and after several failed attempts at grabbing the canteen, she laid her hand upon the rough textured water skein and grasped it weakly.  It didn't occur to her for a few minutes to take a drink, but when she finally lifted the canteen to her mouth and let the cool water past her lips – ah!  It was divine, a miracle.  A bit of strength returned to her, and she began to gulp the water down as quickly as she could.  She was dimly aware of a hand placed on her arm, like a warning, but she paid it no heed.  It had been too long since the last time she had been able to consume any sort of liquid.

And so, once the canteen became all but empty, Erin promptly turned to her left (away from the young man) and vomited.  The water was not quite as refreshing coming up as it had been going down.

****************

After the girl had finished vomiting, Elmar had helped her drink what little was left in the canteen, making sure she only drank in tiny sips and did not guzzle it all down.  Now she was sleeping, once more allowing Elmar time to mull over the many questions in his mind.

Such as, why had Éomer let him go?  This was supposed to be Elmar's chance to prove himself, prove that he could be just as good of a rider as his father had been before he had taken his new job.  Prove that he was fierce and fearless, despite being placed in the lowest of the éoreds in the Edoras hierarchy.  So I left only to be sent back.  To be even more shamed, he thought bitterly.

He shook his head violently.  At least he had been given a task, however lowly.  If he preformed well, then perhaps people would begin to see him as… as what?  A marshal?  Hah.  No one would ever see him as anything but a lousy Rider, and an even worse swordsman.  Except for possibly his family, though even his beloved sister had suggested that he was better suited to farming than he was to being a Rider.  He was no farmer.  He knew in his heart that he was meant to be a Rider, and a great one.  Now if only he could convince someone else of that fact.

It was truly night now, but there was still enough silver light from the stars and the moon to see the girl beside him shift in her sleep.  It was amazing to Elmar that she had been able to survive out her for as long as she had (at least two days, he was guessing) – not only had she been found without provisions or anything of the sort, with the Orc attacks that had been growing ever more frequent it truly was a miracle she was alive.  Unless she was a servant of the Enemy, which would explain a few things.  Just not everything.

He sighed and lay back on the ground.  Hopefully, her luck would stay with her, and him too… all though her luck didn't seem to cover him finding a patch of comfortable ground.  Not that trying to sleep in his armor made it any easier.  For a minute he wished he were back home in his own bed after having finished one of his mother's excellent home cooked meals instead attempting to sleep on the lumpy earth after a rather poor meal of the thick tackbread and dried meat which was issued to all Riders.  That is, he wished it until he remembered that he was indeed a Rider and thus sleeping outdoors with no tent should not be a problem.  He was fierce.  Fearless.  He could handle a rough night.  No problem.  No problem at all.

*************

Her situation had definitely improved, Erin noted with satisfaction.  Except for maybe the bathroom problem, which was only being aggravated by her current mode of transportation.  But this morning she had had water from a fresh canteen and even a little dried meat from some animal that she probably wouldn't want to be identified.  The young man she was with (hadn't there been more of them?  Maybe he was left behind?) seemed impatient to leave, something Erin was completely in favor of.  If they left, they would have to end up somewhere eventually, and then she could probably make her way home from there.  Hopefully.

It took several tries before Erin was able to mount the horse.  She could tell the boy was frustrated with her, he kept saying things  - directions? – and getting only silence, blank looks, and words said to him that probably made as much sense to him as his speech made sense to her.  He hauled himself up after her, said something to the horse, and off they went at a relatively slow speed that was still far too fast for Erin. She clung tightly to the boy's waist and shut her eyes.

Many hours and a few stops later, Erin and her escort were in sight of a city.  It was upon a large hill, at the top of which there stood a large building.  It looked so oddly familiar, just as the boy's armor did.  Where the hell was she?  As they continued riding towards the city, Erin struggled to remember what was on the edge of her memory.  But as the gates opened for them and she saw the building clearly, she knew.  Except it was impossible, ludicrous.  The building which she had seen so many times before on her television set, and on the movie screen could not be sitting on the hill before her.  Yet there it was, in all its splendor.

"My God," she whispered.  "I'm in Rohan.  I'm in Lord of the Rings!"

****************

Next chapter should have things really get started.  Hopefully.