A/N: Warning. This story has much insanity in it. You have been warned.
Amanda stood outside, hidden under the trees. It was close to midnight in mid- January and was freezing cold outside. She huddled inside of her coat and shivered. All that went through her mind was that she was going to kill Belinda when she got there. She wouldn't have been surprised if even her hair would have icicles on the ends by now.
Finally, when she considered going back inside, she heard a low humming noise up the street. Amanda looked up the street to hear the humming get louder as it got closer to her. Amanda immediately knew who and what it was before the humming got even closer. Belinda had brought the motorbike.When she closer to Amanda, she stopped in front of her and took of her helmet, her flaming red hair becoming illimunated under the streetlight.
"You had to bring the motorcycle, just HAD to, didn't you?" Amanda asked quietly and angrily, staring at Belinda, who grinned at her from where she sat, straddling her motorbike. Amanda was staring at the bike in the disdain. She was starting to have second thoughts about even doing this.
"Well of course I did. Honestly, did you want to add stealing my parents' car on top of running away?" She handed Amanda a helmet. "Let's get going before your parents wake up. We don't want them stopping us." Amanda sighed exasperatedly before putting the helmet on, strapping her bag to the back of the bike. She was scared of being on the bike; hell, she was scared of a lot of things, but she couldn't back out now.
" Fine, but try to drive safely, I don't want to get in an accident." She climbed on behind Belinda, who threw her a grin over her shoulder.
"Have I been in an accident yet?" Amanda rolled her eyes.
"Well, there was that thing with that guy when you backed through his fence into the pool in your mom's car." Belinda laughed.
"Okay, so I can't park my mom's car, but I can drive my Lilly." She patted the motorcycle affectionately as she revved the motor.
"Did you have to name it?" Amanda yelled over the engine. Belinda ignored her and began driving down the street. She drove for about an hour before she came to the stoplight that would change their lives forever. She drove through the intersection, as her light was green. She had no time to react when a huge truck rolled through the light, blinding her. All she could see was light until the whole world went dark.
"Who are you?" Amanda and Belinda looked around the room that they had just appeared in. There were a lot of people sitting in a circle, and it appeared that they had fell into the center of it.
"Who are YOU?" Belinda shot back, staring at the guy who had just spoke. He was tall, blonde, and had… pointy ears? She stared at his ears.
"I am Elrond of Rivendell. I ask again, who are you?" Amanda and Belinda exchanged wide-eyed glances.
"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore Dorothy." Belinda muttered to Amanda, who nodded. "I am Belinda and this is my sister Amanda." Amanda smiled at her words, but nodded.
"From whence have you came?" Elrond asked, his face impassive.
"Elsewhere." Belinda replied, waving her hand skyward. He glared at her and she gave him a smug grin back.
"I could have you killed." Elrond told her firmly. She snorted, though Amanda looked worried.
"Been there, done that already today, it didn't work too well the first time." She folded her hands, resting her chin on them. "And besides, that would be a very bad idea."
"Yeah, really bad." Amanda chimed in, not too pleased at the idea of being killed.
"Why is that?" Elrond asked.
"Because I'm psychic!" Belinda told him. He stared at her blankly. "I can see the future?" She explained.
"Predict for us then." He ordered. She glared at him, then sat cross-legged on the floor. "What is she…" Amanda hushed him as Belinda exhaled deeply. Suddenly her eyes snapped open. When she spoke, her voice was different. It almost had an eerie type of presence to it.
"The company shall depart in the cold month. One of their number will die, one will betray the company. Two will prevail." Her voice faded, until there was silence in the room. Finally, she opened her eyes and stood. She looked at everyone staring at her. "What did I say this time?" She asked Amanda, her voice back to normal. Amanda told her in an undertone as people around the room discussed this.
"Sit, I will deal with you later." Elrond said finally. Belinda grinned at Amanda and they took seats at the edge of the circle. They sat quietly as the meeting progressed, neither of them daring to speak as the Council got louder and louder. Finally, in the silence after Gimli tried to destroy The Ring with his axe, Belinda spoke up.
"This meeting is sexist." Everyone stared at her. "Well, it is!" She exclaimed. "You notice that the only women here are us, and we weren't invited! We showed up!"
"Perhaps that is because women are the weaker sex." A blonde elf spoke up. She glared at him.
"Maybe it is cause you and your macho manliness have too much pride to invite a woman because you are afraid one might show you up and be stronger than you, elf boy." She shot back heatedly.
"Or they're too emotional, little one." Belinda stared at him.
"Oh no you didn't." she spat. Amanda knew things were going to get out of hand. Belinda flicked the elf off across the room, causing people to gasp. "First off, I don't respond to little one. Second of all, I'm not emotional, I'm truthful. There's a difference." She raised her eyebrow at him challengingly as she settled back into her chair.
"Younglings." He muttered, loud enough for her to hear.
"Male chauvinist pig." She stage whispered back.
"That is enough, both of you!" Elrond interrupted. "Legolas, I expected better of a Prince. The child, at least, had an excuse for her rudeness." Belinda smacked her forehead with her hand.
"Not a child." She muttered angrily. Elrond glared at her. She pointed at Amanda, looking around innocently. Amanda glared at Belinda.
"Stop trying to blame me." she hissed at her. Belinda mouthed, 'Who me?' At her. They both stayed quiet until the Company was chosen.
"And you notice again, no females." Belinda observed. "Unless that one's secretly a girl." She pointed at Legolas.
"Belinda, you're going to get us in trouble." Amanda said with a glare.
"So are you volunteering?" Elrond asked.
"Yes." Belinda responded. Amanda gasped. "And she's coming with me." She pointed at Amanda. Amanda put her right hand to her face.
"I knew we were getting into trouble." Amanda muttered with a sigh, but smiled at Elrond.
"Can you fight?" He asked.
"Course I can. You think I would volunteer for something like this if I didn't know how to fight?" Belinda said, with a worried look at Amanda. "Manda, can you…."
"I'm good at archery and fair at sword fighting." Belinda's mouth dropped open and she stared at Amanda. "I was taking lessons in my spare time. I didn't want to tell you because I though you might laugh at me." Belinda grinned at her.
"That's sneaky, underhanded, and conniving! I like it." Belinda hugged her.
"So the Company will be eleven. It is decided." Elrond said, and Belinda grinned at Legolas. "I would like to speak with you two." He pointed to the girls, who exchanged worried glances, but moved to stand in front of him. "Can I ask you from where you hail?" Amanda opened her mouth to speak, but Belinda elbowed her.
"Prime directive." Belinda hissed, referring to Star Trek, which had a Prime directive that didn't allow them to interfere in other cultures. "We would love to tell you." she told Elrond. "And maybe someday we will. But at this point, the fate of your entire world is at stake, and I don't want to screw it up by revealing anything. I'm really sorry." Amanda nodded. Elrond smiled at them.
"I think I understand. You may go now. I will have servants escort you to your rooms, they are right next to each other, and you can unpack your stuff." The girls stared at him, and he gestured to the bags on the floor.
"My bag!" Amanda scooped up her bag with a smile. Belinda picked up her own, smiling at the bag beneath it.
"My purse." She sighed happily, swinging it over her shoulder as she and Amanda followed a maid out of the meeting room.
"I don't like them, especially the red-head." Legolas observed to Elrond, who smiled at him.
"Of course you don't, she actually dared to stand up to you. You're used to Court women, who throw themselves at men's feet. I think she will be good for you." Legolas scowled. "And besides, you fight like a married couple, it's somewhat amusing." Legolas stormed out, and Elrond smiled knowingly.
"Amanda, are you alive in there?" Belinda knocked on Amanda's door. Amanda finally opened the door after two minutes. Belinda rolled her eyes and walked in, shutting the door behind her. "So we need to decide what to do now. I'm unpacked, have explored my rooms, decided sadly that nothing was explosive, then got bored out of my mind. Want to explore the place with me?" Amanda sighed.
"Belinda, we need to talk about what happened. We died. That doesn't happen everyday." Belinda sighed and sat on Amanda's bed.
"So we died. So what? We aren't exactly dead, so does it really matter?" Amanda stared at her.
"How can you act like this isn't a big deal? We DIED!" Belinda looked down.
"Death isn't that big. For some people, it is considered easier then living." Amanda sat down next to her.
"I'm sorry, I forgot." Belinda sighed.
"It isn't the way I would have ended it, but I told you that I wouldn't take the life I had anymore. I'm kind of glad you talked me into running away with you instead of killing myself." Amanda looked sadly at Belinda, remembering the night that she had gone to her house and found her there, drenched in blood. Belinda was remembering too, rubbing the scars at her wrists.
"What was I supposed to do, let you die? I love you too much to let you do that." Amanda exclaimed.
"I know. You're the best friend that I could ever ask for." Belinda replied. "And I'm sorry I thought about putting you through that. Can we talk about something else now?" Her face was not sad, but it showed no emotion either.
"Let's figure out how we got here." Amanda suggested. Belinda laughed dryly.
"Isn't it obvious? God has a sense of humor and instead of sending us to heaven, he sent us to Middle Earth, a writer's paradise," she said, saying"writer's paradise" sarcastically. Amanda rolled her eyes at her.
"Or there was a rift in the space-time continuum and we fell through it into this world."
"Or you've been watching too much Star Trek reruns," Belinda muttered with a smile.
"I can't help it, they had a marathon on Saturday and I had nothing better to do," Amanda said and Belinda laughed.
"So let's go explore this place."
A/N: So, it begins... I'm sorry, I like doing that. Anyhoo, this is just the 1st chapter, not very long, just background info and introduction stuff. The next chapter is my job, even though I edited this chapter, so I'll try to make it longer. If you haven't already guessed, my best friend and I are both writing this story. So, please read and review, all that jazz.
Pirateers a.k.a A.N.L & Loriela