Hey everyone! So I'm just going to put my disclaimer at the beginning, it
carries over the whole piece:
I DO NOT OWN ANYONE (except for Lorelai) ALTHOUGH I DO OWN THEIR SPEECH AND ACTIONS (except where noted).
There, that done, I'm Amanda, this is my first serious LOTR fan fic, and I'm going to try to stick to the story as closely as possible. Now some of the dates may be different then from the book, but that's because it will either a) work with MY story better or b) work with my interpretation of the film. Yes, I have read all the books, as will be seen in future chapters (ooh spoilers!). So please read and review, constructive criticism is always welcome as I am always looking to improve my craft! Soooo, on with the fic!
PS: the words in /backslashes/ are thoughts. Got it? *thumbs up* good!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 1
"Where am I to go?"
"Rivendell…" a dark voice hissed in reply.
~*~
Eventually it will come to Rivendell. That's what she had been told. That is where she must wait.
She glanced up at the iridescent moon above them. It gleamed off the sweat of the three Orcs towering over her. They had been forced to guide her to Rivendell and protect her. She was most vital in His plan.
For weeks now, they had traversed across land, more land then she had ever seen before in her life, at least to her memory.
"This is where we end our trek," one of the Orcs grunted.
"End? It is still three day's journey to Rivendell," she replied curiously.
"We must not be seen. If that were to happen, the plan would fail and you would most likely be killed immediately," he said matter-of-factly.
"Oh. Well then." She looked upon them with veiled distaste and turned to leave when she felt a cold moist hand grab her arm roughly. She spun angrily out of its grasp. "What exactly do you think you are doing?"
"Just following orders," they grinned evilly before they knocked her onto the ground and pinned her arms down.
She squirmed underneath their firm frames and wriggled relentlessly. The leader of the other two whipped out a small blade and drew it across her arm.
"What are you doing?" she hissed fiercely at them.
"The elves will not willingly believe the story of a lone wanderer, not at these times especially," he growled as he pulled a small package from his belt. "Who is to say you are not on His side?" He proceeded to wipe away the flowing blood and fill the wound with a dull grey powder. "If you were poisoned with deadly potions from our side though, it is more likely to believe that you are with them, against us." The slice began to burn with a freezing fire.
"Why was I not told? What happens if I do not reach Rivendell in time though?" she asked, fear lightly lacing her voice.
The Orcs laughed coldly as they released their grip on her and stood. "You were not told because it was feared you would not agree to the task if you knew what was to come. And if you do not reach Rivendell, we shall prepare our armies for attack." Their eyes glittered in anticipation of impending war. "And you shall die if you do not reach Rivendell in three days. Only there and in Mordor are the resources to save you."
"Three days? So there is no time for rest along my way? Remember that you have only just poisoned me and I am already weary from our travels. It is almost as if my failure is greeted!" She stood, her astonishment clouding her voice. "I thought it was wanted that I complete this task. He certainly wants it." The fire burned along her arm now.
"Then you may want to began as soon as possible," the leader smirked. They yanked hard on the reins of a small white pony, which was stolen from the previous village they passed by, and threw them to her.
"Head north by the ridge at the base along the foothills of the Misty Mountains. Follow the first river you meet west towards Rivendell." She pulled herself up onto the small horse as he gave her directions.
/What if they are not giving me the correct directions?/ she thought wearily. /Oh, what does it matter? No matter which way I head, I have the same chance as whatever their instructions are…/
"Off you go!" one cackled and whipped the backside of the horse. It jumped with a start and went flying off into the night. It took all the strength she had to hold tight to its wild mane as it galloped hard in the direction he had pointed out.
~*~
It had been too long since he had been on a walk. A thinking walk, not one of purpose and destination. Too long since he had felt cool grass upon his weary feet, too long since the burden of the ring hadn't ached upon his heart. He wore it around his neck still, but for those short moments, it weighed no more than any other ring.
He sighed as he walked, remembering life in the Shire, in his comfy home at Bag End. It almost made him feel as though he was back.
A soft snap crackled through the foliage and Frodo's hand instinctively raised to clasp the ring. He cautiously called out, "Who goes there?"
More rustling ensued, and soon the head of a white pony peeked out of the branches.
"Oh," Frodo sighed in relief as his hand fell from his neck. "You startled me…." His hand stretched out to pet its nose and it reached out a little further.
"Oh my…." He breathed softly as the horse stepped out of the trees and he could see the shape of a small form slouched over the neck of the animal.
"Mr. Frodo!" he heard a familiar voice echo through the forest. "Mr. Frodo! We need to prepare for…." Sam stepped into the clearing where Frodo stood, and gasped at the pale rider clinging listlessly to the back of the pony.
"Sam, go and fetch help," Frodo said softly, his eyes never leaving the motionless rider. "Quickly, please Sam."
"R-Right," he trembled and hurried off in the direction he had arrived. When Frodo could no longer hear Sam clambering as quickly as he could through the woods, he slowly reached out his hand and motioned for the horse to move towards him. It gingerly trod forwards and whinnied softly. He softly patted its nose and shifted to its side. The face of a very pale and tired girl lay nestled in the horse mane. Her eyelashes fell to touch her white cheeks, which were dusted with clumps of dirt. Her dark brown hair was streaked with mud and tangled over her shoulders. Upon her arm, there was an angry gash, with dark veins running towards it. Frodo reached out and touched it gently.
Pain struck his left shoulder and the fiery amber eye flashed before him briefly. He fell to the ground in shock, staring wildly at the deep slash just above him.
"Right this way they were, Mr. Elrond sir, I think they just showed up…" Sam was mumbling as the entered the clearing. Elrond quickly moved to the girl's side, as did Gandalf. Strider picked up Frodo and straightened him on the ground.
"Are you alright, Frodo?" he asked.
"Y-Yes, just startled," Frodo stammered once upon his feet. At once, Pippin and Merry flew to his side.
"So what happened?" Merry asked eagerly.
"Yes, Sam just burst into the dining hall and cried, 'Mr. Elrond! Frodo's found someone in the woods!'"
"Pippin, I do not sound like that!" Sam cried defensively.
"You do too Sam," Merry stated. "Anyway, so Elrond gets up and everyone starts following Sam. And then we came into this clearing just in time to see you fall to the ground like you was hit or something!" They stared at him with their excitement written plainly on their faces.
"Well… not much really happened," Frodo offered. "I mean, I was just walking, I heard something and her horse stepped out. Then Sam ran in here and I asked him to go fetch some help for her." They all looked over to see Elrond had removed her from her steed and had laid her on the ground. Gandalf and he had knelt over and were muttering strange words they could not hear whilst they washed the cut.
"So it's a girl…" Pippin said softly.
"Come now," Strider said to the awed hobbits and stood in front of them. "Go back to the house."
"But we-"
"Go."
They sighed dejectedly when they caught a glimpse of Strider's stern face and headed back towards the house.
"I wish we knew who she was…" Merry sighed.
"I guess we'll just have to wait until she wakes up," Frodo shrugged.
I DO NOT OWN ANYONE (except for Lorelai) ALTHOUGH I DO OWN THEIR SPEECH AND ACTIONS (except where noted).
There, that done, I'm Amanda, this is my first serious LOTR fan fic, and I'm going to try to stick to the story as closely as possible. Now some of the dates may be different then from the book, but that's because it will either a) work with MY story better or b) work with my interpretation of the film. Yes, I have read all the books, as will be seen in future chapters (ooh spoilers!). So please read and review, constructive criticism is always welcome as I am always looking to improve my craft! Soooo, on with the fic!
PS: the words in /backslashes/ are thoughts. Got it? *thumbs up* good!
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chapter 1
"Where am I to go?"
"Rivendell…" a dark voice hissed in reply.
~*~
Eventually it will come to Rivendell. That's what she had been told. That is where she must wait.
She glanced up at the iridescent moon above them. It gleamed off the sweat of the three Orcs towering over her. They had been forced to guide her to Rivendell and protect her. She was most vital in His plan.
For weeks now, they had traversed across land, more land then she had ever seen before in her life, at least to her memory.
"This is where we end our trek," one of the Orcs grunted.
"End? It is still three day's journey to Rivendell," she replied curiously.
"We must not be seen. If that were to happen, the plan would fail and you would most likely be killed immediately," he said matter-of-factly.
"Oh. Well then." She looked upon them with veiled distaste and turned to leave when she felt a cold moist hand grab her arm roughly. She spun angrily out of its grasp. "What exactly do you think you are doing?"
"Just following orders," they grinned evilly before they knocked her onto the ground and pinned her arms down.
She squirmed underneath their firm frames and wriggled relentlessly. The leader of the other two whipped out a small blade and drew it across her arm.
"What are you doing?" she hissed fiercely at them.
"The elves will not willingly believe the story of a lone wanderer, not at these times especially," he growled as he pulled a small package from his belt. "Who is to say you are not on His side?" He proceeded to wipe away the flowing blood and fill the wound with a dull grey powder. "If you were poisoned with deadly potions from our side though, it is more likely to believe that you are with them, against us." The slice began to burn with a freezing fire.
"Why was I not told? What happens if I do not reach Rivendell in time though?" she asked, fear lightly lacing her voice.
The Orcs laughed coldly as they released their grip on her and stood. "You were not told because it was feared you would not agree to the task if you knew what was to come. And if you do not reach Rivendell, we shall prepare our armies for attack." Their eyes glittered in anticipation of impending war. "And you shall die if you do not reach Rivendell in three days. Only there and in Mordor are the resources to save you."
"Three days? So there is no time for rest along my way? Remember that you have only just poisoned me and I am already weary from our travels. It is almost as if my failure is greeted!" She stood, her astonishment clouding her voice. "I thought it was wanted that I complete this task. He certainly wants it." The fire burned along her arm now.
"Then you may want to began as soon as possible," the leader smirked. They yanked hard on the reins of a small white pony, which was stolen from the previous village they passed by, and threw them to her.
"Head north by the ridge at the base along the foothills of the Misty Mountains. Follow the first river you meet west towards Rivendell." She pulled herself up onto the small horse as he gave her directions.
/What if they are not giving me the correct directions?/ she thought wearily. /Oh, what does it matter? No matter which way I head, I have the same chance as whatever their instructions are…/
"Off you go!" one cackled and whipped the backside of the horse. It jumped with a start and went flying off into the night. It took all the strength she had to hold tight to its wild mane as it galloped hard in the direction he had pointed out.
~*~
It had been too long since he had been on a walk. A thinking walk, not one of purpose and destination. Too long since he had felt cool grass upon his weary feet, too long since the burden of the ring hadn't ached upon his heart. He wore it around his neck still, but for those short moments, it weighed no more than any other ring.
He sighed as he walked, remembering life in the Shire, in his comfy home at Bag End. It almost made him feel as though he was back.
A soft snap crackled through the foliage and Frodo's hand instinctively raised to clasp the ring. He cautiously called out, "Who goes there?"
More rustling ensued, and soon the head of a white pony peeked out of the branches.
"Oh," Frodo sighed in relief as his hand fell from his neck. "You startled me…." His hand stretched out to pet its nose and it reached out a little further.
"Oh my…." He breathed softly as the horse stepped out of the trees and he could see the shape of a small form slouched over the neck of the animal.
"Mr. Frodo!" he heard a familiar voice echo through the forest. "Mr. Frodo! We need to prepare for…." Sam stepped into the clearing where Frodo stood, and gasped at the pale rider clinging listlessly to the back of the pony.
"Sam, go and fetch help," Frodo said softly, his eyes never leaving the motionless rider. "Quickly, please Sam."
"R-Right," he trembled and hurried off in the direction he had arrived. When Frodo could no longer hear Sam clambering as quickly as he could through the woods, he slowly reached out his hand and motioned for the horse to move towards him. It gingerly trod forwards and whinnied softly. He softly patted its nose and shifted to its side. The face of a very pale and tired girl lay nestled in the horse mane. Her eyelashes fell to touch her white cheeks, which were dusted with clumps of dirt. Her dark brown hair was streaked with mud and tangled over her shoulders. Upon her arm, there was an angry gash, with dark veins running towards it. Frodo reached out and touched it gently.
Pain struck his left shoulder and the fiery amber eye flashed before him briefly. He fell to the ground in shock, staring wildly at the deep slash just above him.
"Right this way they were, Mr. Elrond sir, I think they just showed up…" Sam was mumbling as the entered the clearing. Elrond quickly moved to the girl's side, as did Gandalf. Strider picked up Frodo and straightened him on the ground.
"Are you alright, Frodo?" he asked.
"Y-Yes, just startled," Frodo stammered once upon his feet. At once, Pippin and Merry flew to his side.
"So what happened?" Merry asked eagerly.
"Yes, Sam just burst into the dining hall and cried, 'Mr. Elrond! Frodo's found someone in the woods!'"
"Pippin, I do not sound like that!" Sam cried defensively.
"You do too Sam," Merry stated. "Anyway, so Elrond gets up and everyone starts following Sam. And then we came into this clearing just in time to see you fall to the ground like you was hit or something!" They stared at him with their excitement written plainly on their faces.
"Well… not much really happened," Frodo offered. "I mean, I was just walking, I heard something and her horse stepped out. Then Sam ran in here and I asked him to go fetch some help for her." They all looked over to see Elrond had removed her from her steed and had laid her on the ground. Gandalf and he had knelt over and were muttering strange words they could not hear whilst they washed the cut.
"So it's a girl…" Pippin said softly.
"Come now," Strider said to the awed hobbits and stood in front of them. "Go back to the house."
"But we-"
"Go."
They sighed dejectedly when they caught a glimpse of Strider's stern face and headed back towards the house.
"I wish we knew who she was…" Merry sighed.
"I guess we'll just have to wait until she wakes up," Frodo shrugged.