AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey y'all! so this is my first LOTR fanfic and it was an idea that popped into my head a while back and wouldn't leave so I decided to test it out. I would greatly appreciate any constructive criticisms and or opinions you might have about this story so if you could kindly leave a comment at the end of the story that would be TERRIFIC! Even if it is only one word... so yeah :D Hope you enjoy the story! Let me know if you want me to continue!
Pain. That's the first thing my mind registered. Pain. A throbbing pain in my head and aches all over my body, as if I had been compressed and stretched beyond limit at the same time. After the first wave of pain hit me my other senses soon returned. I could smell the damp, musky smell of trees and earth; felt the lush earth underneath me, and a gentle breeze that caressed my sore body. My ears registered the sound of soft breathing from the left and right of me. Groaning, my body twitched as I tried to clear my mind and open my eyes. Shifting towards my right I bumped into a small, sturdy, and solid object. Another person? Forcing my eyes open I blinked rapidly against the harsh sunlight. Once my eyes adjusted I worked on lifting myself up. Gingerly I sat up. Big mistake! The second I righted my body I was hit by an intense wave of nausea. Turning to my left I threw up until I had emptied all the contents of my stomach. Sitting back up I put my head between my knees and took shallow breaths as I tried to get my stomach under control. Once I got past my nausea I lifted my head and began to take in my surroundings. My head still fuzzy and incoherent, I looked to my right and down. Due to my inebriated state of mind it took me a few seconds to fully comprehend what I saw. A few seconds for me to go into full out panic mode. Hastily I scooped up the baby, "Liam...?" I brokenly whispered. "Liam!" Frantically I put my ear to his mouth and waited with baited breath, and ever mounting anxiety, to hear his breath. To feel the proof that he lived. Feeling the shallow coolness of his breath on my ear I began to asses him to see if there was any damage. Satisfied that he was merely asleep and perfectly fine I began to take stock of my surroundings, my overactive mind being used to it's full capacity as I went into survival mode.
I was in a clearing of sorts, surrounded by tall trees; don't bother asking me what kind because I don't have a clue! I bet a child of Demeter would know, but I am most definitely NOT a child of Demeter. I digress, stupid ADHD! Turning to my left I received another shock – other than the vast amount of food I had to have had in my stomach to make such a big mess – lying on the grass spread eagle style with her glorious golden hair fanning around her in gloriously perfect waves was my best friend Evelyn (Ev) Rose Summers, daughter of Aphrodite. Before my still hazy mind could work itself up into another panic attack Ev rolled onto her stomach and gave a VERY unladylike snore. To give you an idea of what it sounds like just imagine a cross between a pig, a hog, and a freight train, hope that gives you an inkling as to what her snores sound like. I in return released an equally unladylike snort of amusement. Evelyn is one of the most BEAUTIFUL women in the world! So to see her, a daughter of Aphrodite who is renowned for her beauty, do something so manly is quite hilarious.
Deciding that Ev was okay, continued my scrutiny of the clearing and the forest beyond. A distance to my right I saw a flash of color in the trees that I recognized as my backpack/purse and Liam's roller bag. Setting Liam down near Evelyn I walked into the forest to retrieve our bags. After scaling the tree to get our bags down I saw Ev's purse about 10 feet further in. Climbing down I grabbed her purse and all its scattered contents before heading back to the clearing to wake up Evelyn and find out where in hades we were and how we got here. Just to name a few of my most pressing questions that is. You know what they say, two heads are better than one!
EVELYN POV
If there is one thing anyone should now about me it's that I do not take kindly to being woken from my beauty sleep especially if it is not gentle! Unless of course it's with a kiss! Ring a bell? (sleeping beauty – cough, cough) I'm just kidding, I would wake up with my fists swinging if someone kissed me without my express permission! I may be a daughter of Aphrodite but I don't put out easy, I believe in respecting oneself! You know, the whole no sex before marriage or sleeping around, no polygamy, no kissing on the first date, etc. Not that I have anything against those that do participate in those activities, I just am not one of them... Right! Beauty sleep is VERY important to me! So when I was awoken via shaking I was none to pleased. Add the fact that I was sore all over and had a headache that made Athena's birth seem painless, well let's just say I was NOT a happy demigod.
Squinting my eyes against the unwelcome sunlight, I swatted the perpetrators hands aside and gave an unintelligible response to their insistence that I get up immediately before re-closing my eyes and rolling away from them. Groaning once again, I finally sat up because they were so relentless and would give me no peace. Inconsiderate twerp! Looking to my right I gazed into a pair of amused blue-green eyes surrounded by some of the longest and darkest eyelashes known to mankind. Eyes that could only belong to one person, my very BEST friend. Ariella Delaina Darcy, daughter of Poseidon. "May I ask why you so rudely woke me up?" I asked my best friend as I looked around. Before she could get even a word out I interrupted her with another question, "Where in hades are we?"
"Well I was hoping you could help me figure that out.." She replied, "I can't seem to remember how we got here or where here even is. All I known is that I woke up in this clearing 15 minutes ago with only you and Liam fo–"
"Liam's here? Where? Is he okay? Where's Annabeth and your brother? More importantly where is my PURSE?!" I once again interrupted her. Sorry, I can't help it. I am easily excitable and once you get me started I have a bad habit of not being able to shut up...
She gave me an annoyed look before continuing, "If you would let me finish?" With a sheepish grin I nodded my head once. "Yes Liam is here, he's asleep right beside you, and yes he is okay. I have no clue where him and Annabeth are. I found your purse inside the forest along with me and Liam's bags. Before you even ask! Your purse is okay. I understand your concern for Liam and my family but seriously? Your purse?! Of all things to be worried about your worried about the where-abouts and well being of your purse?" At this she paused to give me a withering look, "You know sometimes I really don't understand you..."
"Oh do give me some credit! My weapons and emergency supplies are in that bag. And for your information that is not any old purse! It's from Mother's newest line, it comes with a zero gravity feature thingy that makes it virtually weightless no matter what you put in it!" I huffed out as I crossed my arms and urned to face her fully. Gods you'd think my best friend would no better by now!
"Well that makes more sense, for a second there I thought you had hit your head or Drew had somehow managed to take over your body," she jokingly replied while fighting a grin. I grinned back before her face turned serious again. "We need to figure out what exactly happened, what do you last remember?" she asked me.
What did I last remember? We were at camp waiting for Annabeth, Liam, and her brother to pick us up so we could meet her mom at the beach house. We got to the house and we were playing with Liam on the beach while her mom and Annabeth were preparing lunch and Percy was fixing the clogged toilet. There was a high pitched noise and a bright flash, then... nothing, I couldn't remember what happened, how we got here... I told Ari and she told me that that was all she remembered as well. Glancing up at the sky I deduced that it must be mid-afternoon and I told her such. She agreed. "We should get moving," she told me, " We have no idea where we are or how we got here but I have a feeling that we do not want to be here when the sun goes down. We need to find a way out of this forest and to civilization as quick as possible. If we stay we are sitting ducks to any monster that catches our scent."
With a nod of consent I told her that was a splendid idea! But first we needed to check what supplies and weapons we had with us. Dumbing the contents of our purses (even though hers is really a backpack) we began to sort out our belongings. Ariella still had her brooch (which turned into a sword! How cool is that?!) and her mother's ring and necklace (just a ring and necklace, nothing godly about them...) as well as a baggy of ambrosia and a canteen full of nectar–for all you normal people out there let me explain something to you real quick, just so there is no confusion and/or misunderstandings. Me and Ari are demigods, meaning we are half-gods. Ambrosia and nectar are the food and drink of the gods; only the gods and us demigods, though only in small moderation, can eat/drink the godly food. If you have ZERO godly blood in you and you eat one of those bad boys... well let's just say it won't be pretty or pleasant. Demigods only eat the food of the gods when we are injured and/or need the energy to survive, but again we can only take it in small quantities else we suffer the same fate of mortals who eat the godly food. I had my long knife and my short sword along with my compact mirror, favorite lip gloss, Ibuprofen, feminine products, and godly food. Ari also had a ton (think elephant ton!) of books and notebooks in her backpack... which she refused to leave behind. Absolutely absurd! Okay so maybe I exaggerated, it was only like 3 books and two notebooks. Anyways, we repacked our bags, Ari adding Liam's food, clothes, teddy bear, and pull ups to her bag, and attempted to discuss a plan of action. I say attempted because right when we started to speak Liam woke up in tears, screaming his head off. Grabbing a couple of snacks from her bag Ari pacified the little beast so that we could finish getting ready. Once we were all set to leave Ariella grabbed Liam and strode into the forest with a sense of calm and confidence I was sorely lacking and wishing I had. Hastening after her we walked in silence, both praying to any god that would listen that they find safety and answers soon.
3 HOURS LATER (Ariella POV)
We had been walking forever! My feet were aching and my back throbbing from the weight of my backpack and the strain of carrying around an extremely heavy two year old for about 3 hours. Of course I didn't carry him the whole time, me and Ev switched off whenever our arms grew tired. Currently though it was my turn to carry the little mischief maker. As we continued in our brisk walk I began to hear a bubbling, gurgling noise. It was so faint I thought I was imaging it. That is until Evelyn said she was hearing the sound as well. As we continued walking the wound became more distinct, it was water, a stream or river or something. I could really care less! It was water, and water to me means energy! Speeding up our walk we continued on for another 30 minutes before we finally reached the stream. It was not too wide and was easily crossed, only coming up to mid shin. Me and Evelyn were too exhausted to question why we could hear the stream from about over a mile away. Sitting along the bank I put Liam in my lap before turning to Evelyn. "It's a good thing we found this when we did, It looks like it won't be light out for much longer and if we follow this river south we should find something soon," I told her with relief very evident in my voice. Her only response was a droopy nod. Rising, I turned to offer Ev a hand up and words of encouragement, "Come on Ev! We need to get as far along this river as possible then we can rest. We are bound to find help now!" My words seemed to have put a new pep in her step. That's my girl, my little energizer bunny! As we continued along the river the sun began to fade. 'Notice your surroundings, child. Danger is near at hand!' a cryptic and unknown voice sounded in my head, it certainly wasn't me... Taking the warning to heart I passed Liam off to Ev and told her to keep a sharp eye out. Creeping along the bank of the river I heard a rustling in the forest. Pausing I told Ev to stay quiet, ears straining I heard the heavy steps of multiple big creatures right before I was them. They were by far one of the most HIDDEOUS creatures I had ever laid eyes on. Without missing a beat I grabbed my broach and it transformed into my trusty sword. Swinging into action (literally and figuratively) I began to hack and chop at the strange creatures. These weren't any normal type of monster, they were wounded by my sword but they did not turn to dust as was the usual with monsters I had previously killed. Ducking under a hard swing from a nasty to my right I stabbed underneath his arm, plunging my sword into his chest. Quickly pulling it out I began to call upon the water for aid, Throwing up a solid wall of water between us and the nasties I yelled at Evelyn, "RUN! You need to get help, these aren't normal monsters!"
"No! I'm not leaving you!" She cried.
"Ev your main concern needs to be Liam, I can hold them off long enough for you to get help! Please keep him safe, no matter what," I begged her. With a grim and teary eyed look in her eyes she gave me a quick nod before running further down stream and out of sight. Turning my focus back to the nasties I looked just in time to witness them break through my water barrier. 'Please hurry Ev! Bring help and protect them both,' I prayed to the gods.