A/N: It's always hard to start. You want to write so many things, and when it comes to it, you don't know what to say. I'll try to start from the beginning ;) I've been obsessed for a while with the idea of a 10th walker story, but I've never read a good one: either they were abandoned by writers, or...weren't to my taste. Most of those characters were too perfect for my liking, and the idea of my own OC started forming in my head.
I am most definitely not saying it will be surprising. My idea is a slow romance between my OC and Legolas. By slow I do mean slow ;) Though, even if it's not going to be surprising, I am not saying it won't have a plot. My intention is not to surprise you with crazy plot twists, but it's a love story, and I've got every intention to make it a bit... sappy. It's got its plot, a plot I put a lot of thought into, but I didn't try to make it something that didn't exist before. I tried to make everything flow and to make the plot interesting - for you and for me.
I did my best to make Weronika act like a human being, not some superhero or Mary-Sue. I am not promising that I succeeded, but I can promise that I did my best. I tried to give her a personality of her own, and I guess I succeeded at that because she stopped listening to me.
Also, I can promise this one WILL BE finished. I can promise that mostly because I've got quite a large piece written already, and some of it has even been beta-ed. I am planning on making it three stories (partly because I think one would be too long, partly because my beta and I had a hard time picking one title ;)), starting and ending at the same places as the books.
The story is mostly based on the extended versions of movies, but some parts are more book-like. I tried to fill the gaps between particular scenes with my own. Some of the details might not fit, and I am more than aware of it - this is intentional. My beta is a real Tolkien freak, and I swear she wouldn't allow me to make idiotic mistakes - if there are any deviations from the canon, we made them on purpose.
Updates will be posted on Fridays - I am not mentioning the time because we all live in different time zones and it's hard to specify the time. Sometimes they'll be every week, sometimes every two weeks - as I said, I have quite a piece written, but if I do happen to run out of written chapters or if I know I won't have time to write for a while, I'll have to slow down to avoid leaving the story without updates for a month or two.
All that being said - I proudly invite you to read the first chapter. I do hope that you will like it and that you will stay with us ;)
Huge thanks to my beta – Michela – for her hard work! ;)
xxx
Weronika rubbed her tired eyes, stretching her back the slightest bit. She looked around carelessly, noticing unconsciously that one of her colleagues looked as if he had fallen asleep. The lecture on surgery was coming to an end, and she couldn't have been happier. As much as she loved her studies, she was completely exhausted, and after all, it was four hours long. Her boyfriend had dumped her last weekend, and she hadn't slept very well the last couple of days. He had told her that she was stubborn beyond reason and that life with a self-willed know-it-all was too much for him. Though, as she had thought to herself on her first sleepless and tear-filled nights, it might have had something to do with her constant rejections to sleep with him. And maybe, just maybe, with that girl, Ania, who seemed to be greatly interested in his pants. Or getting them off. Whatever.
"Idziesz?" a quiet, friendly voice reached her ears, and at the same time Weronika felt a slight pat on her shoulder. She jumped lightly on the chair, looking back at her best friend. The lecture hall was almost completely empty, and she hadn't even noticed when all of the students had left. She quietly nodded, finding out in surprise that she didn't have tears in her eyes after thinking about her ex anymore, which was quite unusual at the moment. Maybe she had just already cried out all the tears she had. ("you coming?")
Standing up, she gathered all her belongings from the desk in front of her, placing them carelessly in her bag, and looked at her friend. Holding back a quiet sigh, she admitted to herself that she wasn't one of the prettiest creatures on the world. Natalia, with her dark hair, long, black lashes and tanned skin was totally something to look at. And Weronika? All she had was her long and neat hair. Other than that, she was completely pale. Her lashes were thick, but not long and her lips were nicely shaped, but rather small. Not completely ugly, not really pretty. Average.
"Co z tobą dzisiaj?" Natalia asked, looking at her friend with a raised eyebrow. Weronika shook her head, quickly grabbed her notes, and smiled weakly, trying to reassure her friend that everything was in order. ("what's wrong with you today?")
"Nic, po prostu mam kiepski humor," she mumbled, walking toward the exit from the lecture hall with Natalia next to her. (nothing particular, just bad mood)
Feeling that her friend was about to provide another rant about how immature, useless, ugly and boring Weronika's ex-boyfriend was, she quickened her pace, waving a quick goodbye with her hand. She knew it was childish and ungrateful since Natalia was with her all the time, but she couldn't bring herself to listen to it once more.
"Do jutra!" Weronika blurted quickly, not turning around. She could almost sense that her friend stopped in her tracks in silent surprise and offence. She would deal with that tomorrow, right now she needed at least one afternoon WITHOUT her ex appearing in every conversation of the day. (see you tomorrow)
Everyone except Natalia thought that Adam, the ex, was perfect. Weronika had to listen to endless rants from her parents about how she should go and try to make things up. To her father's credit, he said that they would not be forcing her to do anything against her will, though his eyes said otherwise. Her younger sister had gently tried to tell her that if she sat locked up in her room with her notes and studied all the time instead of trying to find a new boyfriend, she would end up a spinster. What was more, Weronika couldn't exactly explain that she wasn't interested in a new relationship just yet. After all, she and Adam had been a couple for almost a year. Not exactly long, but not short either, just enough to feel sad for some time, and she wanted to do so. She had a feeling that right then she would subconsciously compare every male to her ex. Trying to say so, she only earned herself a look of pity from her sister.
Time was all she needed. If only it was holiday and she could get away…
xxx
She was walking slowly back to her home, eyes locked on the ground in front of her. As much as she wanted to get home, she didn't feel like facing her mother again. It would mean another round of advice to go and apologize to Adam. For what, for fuck's sake? That she wasn't perfect? And who was?
Sighing quietly, she noticed a shop nearby and decided to get some food in order to avoid leaving her room tonight. Completely determined to spend some time alone, perhaps watch a movie, she opened the door and entered the grocery store.
Weronika mumbled under her breath, trying to choose between caramel and chocolate cookies. Her eyes wandered between the labels, and she pursed her lips slightly. With a final, annoyed snort, she threw both packages into the cart and moved forward.
No need to care, you have no boyfriend anyway. You are an independent young woman.
It didn't sound convincing enough, so after short moment of hesitation she also placed a package of cocoa and a huge box of strawberry ice-cream in her cart.
She might not fit through the door, not a big deal anyway.
Loading a few more things into her cart, fully aware that she was about to buy herself a takeaway diabetes, she turned to the cash desk, rummaging through her bag in search of a wallet.
"Trzydzieści osiem pięćdziesiąt siedem," the mid-aged woman said, looking over Weronika's shoulder with a bored expression on her slightly neglected face. When she went to hand the cash to the saleswoman, her eyes widened as she paused, feeling a strange, tickling sensation in all her limbs. Without any sound, she disappeared. (38,57)
The woman clutched her heart, and her eyes widened, looking for the young girl who had been there just seconds ago, before she ran out of the store.
"Złodzieje! Kosmici!" she squeaked and then fell down, unconscious. ("Thieves! Aliens!")
xxx
With a loud thud, Weronika landed gracelessly on her arse in the middle of a muddy puddle close to some wooden gate. Rain was falling, mercilessly whipping her face and long hair. Before she could actually contemplate her rather bizarre situation, or at least stand up, she heard loud gasps behind her. Forcing her eyes not to shut and swallowing slowly, she turned her head, hands dipping into the mud as she did so, trying to see something through the darkness. Four children were standing behind her with their mouths open. Girls' hands were clasped together as they observed her with wide eyes.
Gathering all her courage, Weronika stood up with difficulty and tried to approach them, but the children started running away.
"Dzieciaki! Zaczekajcie!" she shouted, but they had already disappeared behind one of the grim buildings, and she had no chance of finding them in the darkness. Someone yelled from behind, making her jump. Breathing heavily, she pressed her back against the wooden wall of the building next to her as she was passed by a cart pulled by a bay horse, which snorted aloud, his complaints accompanied by the loud shout of the coachman, who was yelling something in English about irresponsible young girls as far as she could tell – the sound of the falling rain was deafening. ("Kids! Wait!")
"Co…" she started slowly when someone approached her, making her jump. ("What…"
"What is a young lady like you doing in the middle of the street at such a late hour?" someone asked in a hushed voice, moving closer to her. She could smell the alcohol in his bad breath, and she gasped in surprise at his closeness.
With her mouth still wide open, she stared at the stranger, trying to gather her thoughts and force her overloaded brain to formulate a sentence in English, which appeared to be quite hard in the current circumstances.
"I…" she mumbled, not entirely sure how to act or what to say. She couldn't judge if he meant any harm, so she hugged the bag of groceries she had bought mere minutes ago tighter to her chest in a defensive move, taking a small step to the left.
"Are you looking for some delight?" he asked temptingly, following her movements clumsily in his drunken state. He licked his lips in a seductive manner. Her eyes widened even more as she tried to back away, but a strong arm grabbed her by the elbow, not allowing her to move.
"Let me go," she forced through her dried mouth, squirming awkwardly. The man only laughed, pulling her closer, his disgusting breath making Weronika wince in disgust. She tried to recall any moves to defend herself, but she couldn't think of one. So she stood there, shivering violently, fully aware of what was going to happen, when someone came to stand behind her and the filthy man.
"Is there a problem?" a deep, masculine voice asked. She moved her head sharply, scared eyes widening as she looked at this new man. He was wearing a hood, so she didn't see his face, but seeing her only chance to get away, she pulled her hand away from the attacker's grip successfully and started running, repeatedly stumbling on the slippery, muddy road. With horror, she noticed that the man in the dark cape was following her, leaving the drunken man next to the wall with his hands defensively pulled up. Moaning quietly, Weronika forced her legs to move faster. Had she escaped from one trouble only to fall into another? Was he a friend of that pervert and they were about to… Together?
When he noticed she wasn't going to stop, he quickened his pace, catching up with her easily and grabbing her elbow. His touch felt more gentle than the one she had experienced mere minutes ago, but she didn't stop fighting in a pointless attempts to free herself from his grasp.
"Puść!" she squeaked, not thinking about the language she used, not even caring if he could understand her. Her brain spun around one piercing thought only: she must get away. (let go)
She clasped the fingers of her right hand onto his huge palm that held her left forearm in a weak attempt to remove it, but her efforts didn't seem to affect him the slightest bit. Biting her lower lip painfully, she decided she should save her strength for later events, so she stopped jerking. Her body was shaking violently as they stood motionlessly in cold rain in the middle of another muddy puddle, but she stopped her pointless attempts to free herself.
"Lady?" the voice coming from under the hood sounded a bit concerned and slightly surprised, and he loosened his grip as she stopped struggling. She took a step back, blinking in surprise. "I mean no harm to you. Is there anything I can help you with?"
Weronika looked carefully at tall man in front of her. Realising that she had nowhere to run actually, not to mention she had no clue WHERE to run, she took a deep breath, feeling her clothes getting heavier and heavier from the rain. Before she managed to say anything, the man put his hand on the small of her back, pushing her gently toward a building. This half-caring gesture made her more at ease, so she followed him dumbly. Hugging her bag to her chest, she followed obediently wherever he guided her, silently begging for him to be trustworthy. It was all just so…
Weird? Fucked up?
"It's an inn, lady, it is warm inside, and you are chilled," he said slowly, as if he wasn't sure if she could understand him. She nodded her head slightly, not able to force any response through her icy, trembling lips.
He opened some wooden door, letting her in first. Her eyes cast a quick glance around as he guided her through crowded pub or whatever it was, his hand still touching her back gently. The noises coming from the people around here were nothing in comparison to the sound of the falling rain outside, so for the first dreadful seconds she was more than sure that she had lost her hearing. Slowly, merry voices started reaching her ears again, and unknowingly, she breathed a sigh of relief as warmth started spreading in her limbs.
The first thing that hit her in this "pub" was a lack of any speakers and music. Second – that the room was lit only by partially burned candles. Her head was moving frantically around, her eyes trying to see into the shadows. There were many people, all drinking and merry and, to be honest, rather dirty. The stink which filled the room made her wince in disgust as she was guided further.
Abruptly, he pushed her gingerly to sit at some sort of a wooden table. She stared up at his silhouette in the low light provided by the candles as she grabbed the edge of the bench she was sitting on. She stared at him intently and couldn't bring her eyes to stop doing so even if her usual self would find it impolite and embarrassing. Frowning, she noticed his clothes were rather… Weird. His shirt didn't have buttons; it was tied with some sort of dirty strap. It also didn't have any collar, which was typical for normal shirts. Feeling a flash of anxiety, she looked at her own body to find that her blue jeans and t-shirt had been replaced by a rather thick, well-fitting dress in a shade of dark grey. Moving her fingers to touch the material, she noticed that they trembled slightly and clenched them into a fist, hiding her hand under the table and moving her eyes back to her companion, who carefully watched her movements with dark eyes, no emotions visible on his face.
"You cannot wander around at such an hour, my lady," he pointed out with his deep, masculine voice, his eyes piercing into hers as if he wanted to read her mind. Despite the fact that she felt rather uncomfortable under his gaze, she couldn't bring herself to look away, staring at him with her lips slightly parted.
After what felt like hours to her, Weronika shivered slightly and coughed to clear her throat, aware that she should probably provide some response.
"I…" she started slowly, sliding closer to the wall as some drunken males passed their bench, noticing with some relief that he didn't even move or spare them a single look, and the men also seemed to subside a little bit as they passed him. The impression that they were scared of her companion provided her with some weird feeling of some comfort and safety. "Where the hell am I?" the question sounded a bit as if she dared him to laugh at her and tell her that it was just some sort of a silly joke.
The male tilted his head slightly, no smile on his handsome face as he slowly examined her pale cheeks. Weronika bit her lower lip, feeling tears fighting their way out. But she couldn't cry. Not now, not here. She must think of some solution for this wicked situation, not cry.
"We are in the village Bree, my lady," he responded slowly, with one look sending away some sort of waiter who approached them, probably intending to offer some alcoholic beverage. "But I believe you know it since you live here."
"Where is it?" she mumbled, ignoring his last, mocking sentence, trying to remember anything from her geography lessons back in high school. "Somewhere in England? Or USA?"
His frown deepened, but he didn't answer as his attention moved to the scene happening behind her back. Weronika also turned sharply, watching with wide eyes as some child disappeared in the middle of the wooden floor. Before she could even blink, she felt that she was pulled up violently by a strong arm and dragged in the direction of the kid. Stumbling, she followed obediently. It happened so quickly that she didn't even have a time to voice her disagreement.
"You draw far too much attention to yourself, 'Mr Underhill," her companion hissed, leaning over the boy and making her do the very same, still holding her with one arm while pulling the kid up in a slightly aggressive manner. Weronika opened her mouth to protest, but all of this, all of this sick situation felt so unreal that she couldn't gather her thoughts properly to form a sentence in a foreign language.
She numbly followed hooded man, noticing with surprise that the hand which had held her forearm now clasped her own hand as he dragged the kid in front of them up the stairs. No one, literally no one, tried to stop him, apparently too scared to protest. And, honestly, she wouldn't protest either if she was them. Her companion opened one of the doors on the first floor, shoved the kid inside and guided her in in a more gentle manner, letting go of her hand as he closed the door behind her.
"What do you want?" the kid asked in a surprisingly mannish voice for a boy his age. She couldn't help but quietly gasp when she noticed that he trembled violently, just like her. His dark blue eyes were watching the tall man warily. Weronika leaned against the wall next to the door, searching for support and feeling her knees hit on each other when she did her best to stand straight.
"More caution. That's no trinket you carry," the man answered in an angry voice, looking intently at the boy who, as Weronika noticed in candle light, was not a boy actually, more like a young midget. Brown hair fell on his forehead in loose curls, and his eyes were surprisingly big. He looked like a small cherub in this light. If only she wasn't so scared, she might have been able to admire his beauty.
"I carry nothing," the weird person answered quickly, looking fearfully at the man, but, to his credit, he wasn't shaking anymore. Outside, anyway.
"Indeed," the man snarled, pacing around the room. Then, he walked over to the candles and extinguished them with one puff, making Weronika's eyes open wider in silent fear and in an attempt to see something in the darkness. Now there was only the weak light of the moon coming through the small window on the opposite side of the room. "I can avoid being seen if I wish…" the male started slowly, casting a thoughtful look through the window before finishing the sentence. The girl shivered lightly. "But to disappear entirely, that is a rare gift."
And with those words, he pulled down his hood again, and Weronika narrowed her eyes to take a closer look. He was tall, no doubt about that. His face was scarred a little bit, a beard covering his face. A small, slightly mischievous smile danced on his face as his dark – green, maybe? – eyes looked straight at the midget. No matter how much she was scared right now, she had to admit – he was quite a thing to look at.
"Who are you?" short man asked slowly, looking with those incredibly huge eyes at the man next to the window.
"Are you frightened?" His voice was slightly mocking as he answered, and Weronika had to bite her tongue to stop a shaky "yes" from slipping from her trembling lips, but it vibrated in the chilly air anyway. She covered her mouth with a cold hand, gasping soundlessly, before realizing that it was actually the short male who had said that.
"Not nearly frightened enough," the handsome man smiled slightly with a hint of sadness in his voice, whispering those words. The sound of them made the girl shiver even more as she pressed her back tighter to the wooden wall in a desperate attempt to seek safety, her fingers trying to dig into the boards. "I know what hunts you."
She felt as if she was invisible to them, and the last words from the male made her consider whether she should try to escape or not. After all, whatever hunted the mysterious them, she didn't feel like being involved in. But just then, before she could move her feet even an inch or move her eyes, the male cast a quick glance in her direction, and she felt literally frozen to the ground. A short silence fell on all of them, only Weronika's heavy breathing disturbing the perfect tranquility. Just then the door opened noisily, making the girl gasp in surprise, while her companion drew his sword and pointed it at three midgets standing in the doorway.
xxx
A/N: I know I cut it in a weird moment, but there was no better place for like another six pages ;) Hope you liked it and I'd love to know your thoughts. See you next Friday!