Chapter 1 – The Dream
The lace of Larkin's hiking boot came untied. Deciding it was a sign for her to take a break, she leaned her walking stick up against a nearby rock and shrugged out of her backpack.. She blew a hair that had come loose from one of her twin braids out of her face and sat down on the ground. Rummaging through her pack, Larkin tried to convince herself that she was hungry because it seemed like the normal thing to be. But she knew deep down that she wasn't normal, no matter how hard she pretended to be. She'd been hiking for hours without rest, water, or food. She hadn't even slowed down, and she was the most content she'd been in a long time. She'd missed New Zealand, and she could not even begin to understand why she'd stayed away from the place she considered her home for so long.
Munching on some dried fruit, Larkin tied her bootlace. She brushed her hands on her cargo pants and glanced at her watch. She hadn't needed to look at it to know that it was nearly 5:00pm, but looking at a watch was more normal than instinctively knowing exactly what time it was. Peter would be worried if she wasn't back by dark, even though he knew her perfectly incapable of getting lost. With a sigh, Larkin rose to a standing position and turning slowly, drank in her surroundings. It was then that she saw him.
He stood in the distance with his back to her. There was something familiar about him although she was too far away from him to have any idea who he was. What she could tell, however, was that he was not normal. Larkin approached him slowly and quietly, leaving her possessions behind. As she got closer, she saw he had curly brown hair and he was dressed in green and brown. His clothes were nothing like anything she'd ever seen people wear in that day and age. He also had an empty quiver and a bow on his back. No, he was definitely not normal.
"Please go away." His voice was marked with a slight British lilt; much like her own.
Larkin halted in mid stride. How on earth had he known she was there? He couldn't possibly have heard her from so far away.
"Why?" Larkin wondered. He had certainly aroused her curiosity.
"I wish to be alone." He turned around and walked right past her without seeing her.
"I know you," Larkin realized aloud. She recognized the tanned face with its delicate cheekbones and soft brown eyes.
His head whipped around and he finally looked at her. His eyes flickered over her entire form as though he were looking for something. Apparently he didn't find it because he turned his back on her and began walking away. "No you don't." Larkin barely heard his words.
"Orlando, isn't it? I met you the last time I was in New Zealand two years ago. You're an actor if I remember clearly. You know my uncle, Peter Jackson," Larkin insisted, rushing to catch up with him.
"Orlando." He sounded as though he was saying the word for the first time. "Yes, that is what they call me. Peter is your uncle, is he? I have a message for him." He stopped walking and turned to her.
"Okay." Larkin swallowed hard at the angry sparkle in Orlando's eyes.
"Tell him that I am done."
Orlando was walking away again before Larkin had the chance to register exactly what it was that he was saying. "Wait!" she called after him. The emptiness of his voice worried her. "What does that mean? What are you doing here dressed like that anyway? Were you rehearsing for a play or something?"
Larkin quickly reached his side and placed her hand on his arm. Orlando stopped and looked at her hand before wrenching his arm free from her touch. "I'm done. Leave me be."
She watched him go, uneasiness heavy in her heart. He stopped at a tree and caressed it with his eyes closed. She saw his lips move as he murmured what she figured must be a prayer, but his words were too quiet for her to hear. He took three steps away from the tree and opened his eyes. Larkin could see his bright brown pupils clearly, but she was fairly sure that he did not see her. He stepped forward, and his face fell. He sank to his knees then reached to his waist and unsheathed a sword.
"NO!" Larkin screamed as he raised the sword above his head. Unwilling to watch the man kill himself, she scurried towards him.
"Stop," he said quietly when she reached the tree he had touched moments earlier. He lowered the sword. She did stop and looked at him with her eyebrows drawn together with concern. "Do not come any nearer."
"Are you going to hurt yourself?"
"I'm going home," he replied, smiling sadly. He closed his eyes and raised the sword once more.
Larkin did not hesitate. Just before he plunged the blade into his heart, she grabbed his hand and struggled to pull the sword from his grasp. They wrestled in a flurry of movement before Orlando released the weapon and Larkin tumbled down uneven ground into a bed of leaves. She landed face down with the sword held firmly in her fist.
She pushed herself up and brushed off her clothes. Orlando was nowhere to be seen. Worried that he'd gone off to find a creek to drown himself in, Larkin began canvassing the area. All of a sudden, she heard horse hooves approaching in the distance. Larkin pushed her way through the trees until she found herself on the edge of a gigantic field. Beyond the field there were snowcapped mountains and the view took her breath away.
"Do my eyes deceive me or is that a dwarf upon my horse?" The sound of Orlando's voice had Larkin whirling around towards it.
The man who stood behind her may have had the voice of Orlando, but he certainly didn't look like him. He had long straight blond hair and blue eyes, and he was laughing at the short, red-haired man atop the approaching horse. Larkin watched in awe as the blond deftly scooped his hair away from his face and wove it into an intricate braid revealing pointed ears.
"Someone had to keep him company while you were off gallivanting with beautiful women, Elf," the rider answered as he vaulted off the horse with an axe in his hand. He grunted as he rolled into a standing position. "My lady," the Dwarf took off his helmet and bowed his head in her direction before replacing his helmet and turning to the Elf who now held the horse's reins in his hand.
"I was not off gallivanting with women, Gimli." He said this as though he were disgusted by the thought.
"I hate to break this up, but I'd really like to know what's going on here. What happened to your hair!" Larkin interrupted, waving the sword around without even realizing it.
The Elf turned to Larkin as though he'd forgotten she was there. "You're dreaming," he told her, plucking the sword from her hand and sheathing it. "Follow me and I will take you back through the trees."
"Of what nonsense do you speak Legolas?" Gimli wondered, leaning against his axe.
"Legolas? I thought your name was Orlando." Larkin crossed her arms impatiently.
"It was when I was in your home, but this is my home, and here I am Legolas."
"Your home being?"
"Middle-earth. If you come with me, I will return you to your home."
"Whoa. Wait a minute. Middle-earth? You mean like in the book, The Lord of the Rings?
"You've read Frodo's book?" Gimli's eyes widened as though quite impressed that she'd heard of it.
"No. I haven't read any of the books, but my uncle is obsessed with them. He hopes to make them into movies one day," Larkin told Gimli then turned to Legolas. "In fact, I believe he wanted to use you for one of the parts, didn't he? Perhaps it was the Elf." Larkin looked around and shouted. "Am I on a stage without realizing it? Is this some sort of a trick to get me to be in your movie, Peter?"
Legolas shook his head in annoyance and began striding away. To Larkin he almost seemed to be floating. It was if he didn't even touch the ground, but skimmed it as he moved. He hadn't looked like that before when he'd walked.
Larkin turned to Gimli and looked at him questionably. "What's going on?"
Gimli shrugged. "What's a movie?"
"Come Gimli," Legolas called.
"Into Fangorn Forest? I went in there to look for you when you disappeared, but now I have no intention of ever going back. It's no place for Dwarves." Gimli shuddered then turned to Larkin. "My Lady, I know not what mischief is about, but the Elf usually knows what he's talking about. You better go on and follow him."
"Okay," Larkin decided, but she didn't sound entirely convinced. "It was nice meeting you, I guess Mr. Gimli. If this is just a dream then perhaps we will meet again."
"Perhaps," Gimli replied. "What is your name?"
"Larkin."
"Farewell Larkin. Have a safe journey home."
"Thank you." Larkin then turned to follow Legolas back into the forest.