Woo! I'm back! Finally after a half a year I'm back! Hey, I did warn ya...

Anyhoo, stupid class issues have backed up my graduation to Spring 2013 but, I might have a mentor for that semester, so I'm not complaining. The only thing I'm really worried about is money- I'm not sure how to afford the semester at the moment.

I've started another story as well, though this one is in the Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core fandom. Similar idea to this one, but with a bit of a twist. It is and will be much more humor based :) Danielle also is making a guest appearance (briefly) in it, if you were interested in checking it out :)

Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorite-ed, and/or alerted. Your support means the world, and the reviews feed the muse. Thank you!

In regards to this and my other works, the story is the same as usual. Updates are and will remain sporadic.

Just a reminder;

Narration

Danielle's thoughts

"non-english language"

Warning: Dissection of a frog is discussed in semi detail in this chapter when Danielle is reciting random facts and reminiscing on a lab class...

Enjoy!

Chapter: A Change in Plans...

"Strider" and "Legolas" must have heard me stop, since they stopped walking and turned to face me.

"Danielle?"

They wouldn't do that would they? They wouldn't kill me after putting so much effort into getting me better, it would have been a waste of their resources...

"Danielle, we need to keep moving"

I looked up as "Strider" approached me. Aside from the obvious question in his eyes, I couldn't read any of his intentions. Thinking on my situation a moment longer, I decided that they were not going to kill me. It just simply didn't make sense.

But what then?

I spoke before "Strider" had a chance to reach me, "Sorry, I'm coming" I said, as I resumed walking. As I walked, I tried to figure out their intentions.

Are they just going to leave me out in the middle of nowhere?

It certainly wouldn't be hard for them to do. They were good enough that if they wanted to simply disappear, I wouldn't be able to find them even if they were ten feet from me. I don't know a lot about being stealthy or covering your tracks, but I do know talent when I see it, and being 'invisible' was a talent for the majority of the males I was traveling with, especially the two I was currently following.

No, that wouldn't make sense either. It's practically the same as a death sentence. I obviously have no clue what I'm doing, and have no way to defend myself.

Discarding the idea, I continued my thinking.

Are they going to leave me with someone?

Well, of all of my ideas so far that definitely made the most sense. Their efforts wouldn't have gone to waste, and I would be off of their hands. But who would they leave me with?

The first person they see...

And cynical me is back again... let the internal arguing commence...

I don't think they'd do that... they don't seem like the type of people that would.

But, you've been with them for a while now, I wouldn't blame them if that is what they did.

That's not far off from just leaving me in the middle of nowhere, they won't do that.

How do you know?

They won't do that.

Maybe they'll sell you to someone.

I tripped on something with that thought. Catching my self on the tree next to me, I did my best to put on a smile for the two that had looked back at the sound, "Sorry, wasn't paying attention. I'm fine".

They wouldn't do that.

How do you know? They don't know what you were running from that night. They could sell you and earn back some of what they've lost caring for you...

I couldn't think of a more optimistic response to that. The reasoning was sound, and I was left with relying on their hearts being kinder then that for such a thing to not be my fate. Given how old fashioned their culture appeared to be, even if they didn't want to do such a thing, they might not be able to afford not to. I know I had cost them a lot of time and resources. Suddenly, "Legolas" stopped and turned to "Strider".

"Aragorn, do you smell that?"

"No. What is it?"

"Smoke, coming from the direction of the village"

"As in 'too much' for village activity?"

"Yes"

I looked between the two men. We had been walking for a while now, but neither "Strider" nor "Legolas" had spoken, and their last few word to each other put a grim expression on both their faces.

"I should go on and scout ahead. If the village is under attack, we will be unable to protect her with just the two of us"

"Be cautious Legolas, and do not engage if they still fight. I would rather not come looking for you with her in tow"

"Fret not, my friend. I will not be long... Perhaps the two of you should rest here. She looks a little tired, and the further she is from danger, the better"

"Very well, Legolas. We will await your return here. If you are not back by the time the sun is three parts through its daytime cycle, I will come looking for you, with her in tow"

"I shall return before then, farewell my friend"

I'm not two sure what had transpired, but "Legolas" left as soon as it was done. Jogging quickly away in the direction we were heading, I quickly lost track of his form in the dense trees. Once he was out of sight, "Strider"turned to me and signed that we were stopping to rest.

"Okay" I nodded, as I moved to sit with my against a tree. Across from me, "Strider" had done the same. I twiddled my thumbs for a little before advancing to a thumb war between my left and right thumbs. I was a little disappointed to find it nowhere near as entertaining as a thumb war match with another person. Sometime later, when I looked up again, I noticed "Strider" was polishing the dagger he carries in his belt, a common activity for him when we are resting somewhere. I watched him for a moment before speaking again.

"Where did "Legolas" head off to?"I asked, getting his attention. I repeated the question when he looked up, signing 'Where, "Legolas" ' to him as I did so. His response was a shake of his head, indicating either 'no', 'I don't know' or 'don't worry about it', I presume it was the latter.

We were both silent following that brief exchange. To pass the time, I began silently reciting random things to myself.

"The only way to kill bacterial endospores is to use an autoclave- high heat, pressure, and steam are required... mold is a super organism- it can go many years without water, appear to be dead, and then will 'magically' return to life with a sufficient amount of water added to it... dinoflagellates cause red tide, which is toxic. Don't go swimming if the water looks weird..."

'Don't go swimming if the water looks weird?' I must be more tired then I thought, surely I can come up with a better phrase then that...

"When dissecting a frog's leg, the neural reactions are still so powerful, even after a half hour after death, that the leg can physically 'jump' when the muscle is cut, even when detached from the remainder of the body..."

... It's not obvious at all that I'm a biology major... nope, not at all...

I smiled to myself with that thought. Of all the things I could be thinking of, I'm thinking of my classes. In all seriousness though, that frog lab was awesome. We (the class) were testing the sciatic nerve in the leg- the first time the leg jumped (when I was attempting to cut the thigh muscles from the femur bone), I was so startled I almost dropped the thing. After I got over my shock however, I was simply amazed- even detached from the body, the nerves in the leg still reacted to certain stimuli. The eukaryotic body is incredible, and this lab was another powerful testament to that.

"Life" is incredible. Any living thing is simply amazing if you just take the time to learn about it...

At some point during my little trip down memory lane,"Strider" had stopped polishing the dagger and was searching through his pack. After a moment he stopped his search and pulled out the water-skin he was carrying. He brought it over to me, offering me a drink.

"Legolas should be returning soon" He spoke while I drank. "We will know our heading when he tells us of the situation"

"Thank you" I said, after handing the water-skin back to him. It's funny, even though we know the other doesn't understand when we speak in our own language, we both maintain a little bit of small talk with close interactions like that. It would be two weird not to...

"Strider" returned to his place, and after taking a drink for himself, returned the water-skin to his pack. I decided to amuse myself by trying to remove the dirt from under my nails- It wasn't an easy task. Normally my fingernails are relatively long and healthy, but with all of the traveling (not to mention nearly starving to death earlier), my nails had broken off and were short an uneven. Without anything to help get under the nail, cleaning them was a lost cause.

It wasn't long before "Legolas" returned. He and "Strider"spoke for a minute, deep in conversation. Whatever they were discussing both had them very troubled.

"The town is destroyed. Judging by the remains, it was an attack from an orc pack-a large one"

"Were there any survivors?"

"No"

"Valar! May the deceased rest in peace..."

"Estel, we will need to return to camp for the night"

"Indeed, it would be folly to head further with that orc pack about"

"You seek counsel with the others for our next move?"

"Yes, we cannot keep her with us. Many of the other villages stray from our planned route. We will need to adjust the course of the company even if we repeat this venture with the three of us"

"Let us return, then. Night will not await our tarrying, and the orcs will be riled from their recent pillage. We need to warn the others"

After they had finished speaking, "Strider" turned and addressed me.

"We need to return to camp. Let us be off" He spoke while signing, 'follow' to me.

Much to my surprise, we turned and headed back towards the direction of camp. It seemed that there had been a change in plans, or at the very least, intended direction.

Great. Confuse me even more while your at it.

A while later we, much to my surprise, returned to camp. I don't know what the point of that little trip was, but I'm guessing that what ever news "Legolas" had brought had changed the original plans. The others looked confused with my presence, so my resolve in my 'Danielle is leaving now' theory grew. On the bright side, there was food cooking over the fire- and judging by the smell of it, it was almost done.

"Boromir" spoke first, "What is the meaning of this?".

"What happened to leaving her in the village?"

"Peace, my friends" "Strider" responded. "Plans have changed. We cannot leave her in the village, Pippin, because the is no village to leave her too. Let us eat, first. Legolas and I will explain after supper"

Dinner was eaten quickly, and the men resumed their conversation. I remained at the fire while they spoke, acting like I wasn't listening. I was desperately trying to understand what they were saying- today's little trip had been unnerving and I wanted to know what they were planning. I stared into the flames, not really seeing, as I desperately thought of the most recent events and what they meant for me.

"What do you mean there is no village? I thought you said there was a family you could leave her with"

"We did say so, Merry, and there was a village there once. Legolas scouted ahead when he smelt heavy smoke on the air, only to find the town pillaged and burned- there were no survivors"

"Are ya sayin' laddie, that orcs were responsible for this?"

"Yes, a large pack that is still in the area. We will need to put out the fire before nightfall- we have risked too much as it is"

"What do you plan to do with her, then? She cannot continue to travel with us"

"There are many villages between here and the Mountains, Boromir. Someone will be able to take her"

"You assume, Gandalf, that these villages have not also suffered the same fate as Carakvanya(1)"

"I don't understand why we didn't just take her back to Rivendell. We were only three days from it when you and Legolas found her, Strider"

"We considered it, Merry, but we were unable too because of the orc activity around us. Had we returned to the valley, we may have given away our position- it was better to keep our company together and stay hidden until things died down"

"But the elven warriors cleared the way before we left..."

"They did Merry, but there were many more packs in the area than any of us expected. And they were moving quickly. With that in mind, Gandalf and I agreed that it would be best to leave her in one of the human villages we would be passing, rather than returning where we started"

"Well what villages then, would you take 'er too, laddie? Korin Yuula(2) 'as strong defenses for a village its size, it may still stand"

"Astokemen (3) an' Kuune Agaru (4) are also stable establishments. You could take 'er to one of them"

"Astokemen and Kuune Agaru no longer stand- they were destroyed in the raids two years back. Korin Yuula is to far out of the way..."

"What about Ruidtal(5)?"

"I would not take her there, the Corsairs have taken over that town- she would be sold into slavery"

"I know of no other towns in the area..."

"Aragorn, say we take her to Firi MaRulma(6)? Aharosa(7), of the House of Laiveianter(8), may be able to take her in"

"It has been many years since we've seen that family, Legolas. Would it be right for us to ask such of them?"

"Given the circumstances, my friend, I do not think we have much of an option- less we leave her with total strangers. At the very least, it will not be a financial strain for them to take her in"

"Very well, Legolas and I will take her to Firi MaRulma first thing tomorrow. We will meet the rest of you at the Agarukorin(9) and we shall begin our trek upon Caradhras after midday. Get some rest"

"I will keep watch tonight. All of you, get some sleep. No orc will trouble us this night"

"Thank you, Legolas"

The fire was put out after the conversation was finished. Thankfully the light from the moon was enough to see by. Catching the drift of 'time to sleep' with everyone going to their respective 'beds', I headed over to mine- which had been moved closer to the original circle. I'm guessing it was packed up originally when I left, and then placed out sometime between my return and now- I obviously completely missed that happening.

Laying down in my bed, I reviewed my thoughts while the men talked. They obviously were getting rid of me, and were probably going to do so by leaving me with someone. Wherever we were headed today was supposed to start that process, but for some reason, plans changed. Judging by the lack of fire, which was usually kept low throughout the night, there was something unsavory about.

With the uncertainty of my future before me, I struggled to fall asleep. Many of the others had fallen asleep when I thought again of home- if their slowed breathing and occasional snoring were anything to go by. Quietly I began to cry to myself as I thought of my sisters, parents, and the dog. I wanted to go home- I wanted to stop being so scared and uncertain of what the next day would hold.

I don't think I kept anyone up, thankfully. The last thing I wanted to try and translate into our little sign language was that I was homesick and scared. Eventually, I fell asleep, my heart heavy with sadness, uncertainty, and fear.

Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!

The villages listed below are just made up places/human dwellings/ land marks in the lands around the mountains...

(1)Carakvanya - roughly in common, fair fang; it is the city that Legolas and Aragorn were going to take Danielle too.

(2) Korin Yuula - enclosure ember

(3) Astokemen- dust earth

(4) Kuune Agaru - crimsion cresent

(5) Ruidtal - Glade city

(6) Firi MaRulma - Mortal muttering

Names...

(7) Aharosa - rage rain, head of the Laiveianter houshold

(8) Laiveianter - old ointment one; reference to the name of the original founder of the house and the household trade (healing).

(9) Agarukorin - crimsion enclosure, a land mark at the base of Caradhras