Chapter 1
This is the story of twin sisters, Katie and Lily, who, for twins, were as different as could be. Katie or Katelyn, the older sister, had straight brown hair that went down a few inches below her shoulders and brown almond shaped eyes. With a more classic, sensible style of fashion, she was much more girly in that regard. However, she was not generally considered the pretty one. Lily, with her golden wavy hair and round blue eyes, was the one all the guys at school went after, despite the fact that she was a tomboy. There was a personality difference too. Lily was quiet, excruciatingly shy, and an imaginative day-dreamer. Katie was quiet too, but she was more outgoing than her sister, and she was the practical one of the pair. Not that she could not join Lily in her fantasies. In fact, that was one thing the girls had in common. They both loved to dress up in period costumes (especially medieval) and both loved to read Tolkein. Lily had read all of Tolkien's works, but Katie had only read the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. She tried to read The Silmirillion, but she gave with all the long, unpronounceable Elvish names.
Although Katie and Lily had many of the inevitable sister fights, they were as close as two sisters could be. Lily could get Katie out of her "Let's be sensible" mode, and Katie helped Lily focus on her school work when she needed to and watched out for her sensitive, quiet sibling.
It was the last week of school before the eighteen year old twins graduated. They were packing up for college; Katie for nursing school, and Lily for history ed.
The twins were just coming out of lunch. They passed people in the hall, a tall raven haired boy with a rock band hoodie on looked Lily up and down with a what the twins guessed was supposed to be a charming grin on his face. As he brushed past, Lily shuddered.
"What a creep." Katie commented, shaking her head.
"I can't wait to get out of here." Lily replied.
"Do you really think it'll get better at college? " Katie asked.
"I don't know," Lily answered. "Hopefully they'll be a little more mature and subtle about it." Katie rolled her eyes at her sister's wishful thinking. Despite the loose jeans, loose tee, and denim jacket Lily was wearing, the complete absence of make-up, and her hair being up in a messy bun, she was still pretty. And Lily was completely oblivious. She really could not seem to fathom why guys were always trying to make a move on her when she dressed the way she did. Katie was fairly sure that part of the reason Lily always dressed plain was to discourage the male population of their school, but to no avail.
"Well, I have to get to Consumer Math and English," Katie sighed. "See ya in history, Sis."
"You bet!" Lily grinned and gave Katie a tight one-armed hug. "Good luck with Mr. Gonzales's quiz!"
"Thanks!" Katie called over her shoulder as she hurried down the hall. "I'm gonna need it!" Mr. Gonzales was Katie's Consumer Math teacher and known as one of the toughest teachers in the school. His quizzes were killers; his tests were even worse. Only he would have a quiz during final's week
Since Lily had a free period before art, she decided to go to her home room for a little study hall. As she headed to the door a couple of guys blocked her path. "Excuse me." She murmured before trying to slip by them. However, one caught her around the waist.
"How about hanging out with me for a while." The school's biggest bully, Tony Medici. Tall, dark with curly black hair, he was considered the epitome of an Italian man. Half the girls in the school swooned over him, but who did he go for? Lily. Lily who could not stand the sight of him.
Catching his dark eye for a moment, Lily tried to put on a polite smile. "Um, I really need to study for my English final tomorrow," She said, hoping her voice would not tremble too much. "Maybe some other time."
"English? Who wants to study English?" He taunted, a grin that made Lily shudder.
"Someone who wants to pass the class." Lily said coldly, trying to act like her sister and push the boys off. "Now please let me go."
"Aw, come on, babe," Tony grinned, "You know you'd much rather come hang out than study."
"Actually, I don't." Lily wrenched herself out his grasp just as her homeroom teacher, Mr. Sullivan came to the door.
"Is there a problem here?" he asked, in an intimidating tone. Being over six feet tall an built like a football player only added to his overall impressiveness. He was the only teacher in the school who could really control the male students.
"Uh, no there isn't" Tony mumbled and left, but he shot Lily a glare as he did so.
"Those boys still messing with you?" Mr. Sullivan asked as Lily sat down. She nodded. "You know that the only way they'll ever really stop messing with you is if you stand up to them."
"Yes, Mr. Sullivan, I know, but it never works for me." Lily sighed as she took her English notes and text book out.
The rest of the week consisted of reviews and tests. On Saturday, Katie and Lily walked across the platform and received their diplomas. On Sunday afternoon, Katie, Lily, and their 25 year old brother Jared who they lived with since their parents died in a plane wreck, drove up to their grandparent's house for a celebration. Of course the whole family came to the party and everyone stayed up until midnight, and the twin's and their cousins Dustin, Tracy, and Liv stayed up even longer, playing their favorite board game Clue until two in the morning.
Monday morning was dark and cloud, threatening rain. The twins were supposed to go to their friend Jessica's house that afternoon. However, it didn't rain until about five minutes after the twins started out for Jessica's. It was like the sky dropped out; the rain came down in sheets and torrents, obscuring Katie's, who was driving, view out the windshield. She had the wiper on the fastest setting, but it didn't do much good. Thunder began to boom and lightning flashed across the sky. Lily shrieked, but Katie told her to relax because they were in a car. The rubber tires would keep the car from getting struck by lightning. However, nothing stopped the trees surrounding the road from getting struck.
There was a load clap of thunder, a brilliant flash of lightning, and a tree right in front of the twins car fell across the road. Katie slammed on the breaks and swerved, going into the ditch instead of the tree. For a moment the twins were dazed by the impact, then they had the sensation of falling, and the world went black.
Chapter 2
Katie woke on a rocky, but grassy plain. She felt like her entire body had been pelted by a ton of bricks. She slowly opened her eyes, but quickly shut them as the light overhead stabbed them painfully. Then she heard a moan on her right.
"Lily?"
"Katie? What happened? I'm sore all over."
"Me too." Katie squinted and turned her head towards her sister's voice. This caused her head to spin painfully. When it subsided to a degree, she was able to focus her eyes on the prone figure of Lily. There were scratches on her face and arms. "Are you okay?"
There was a pause. "My ankle hurts worse than everything else." Lily answered with a groan. Katie slowly sat up, which made her head spin again, but she ignored it. She scooted over to Lily's feet and realize that Lily was no longer wearing the light blue tee, green plaid hoodie, black jeans, and green converses that she had been wearing at the time of the crash. She now wore tan leggings a long white tunic, a soft green vest and brown leather boots. Her hair had come out of the braid she had put it in that morning and looked a bit longer than Katie remembered it being. Shaking her head, Katie examined Lily's ankle by removing her boot. Lily groaned, but didn't cry. The offending ankle was red and swollen. Katie gently began rotating the foot. Lily gasped a few times, but that was all.
Katie sighed. "Well, it's not broken. Probably sprained, though." Lily nodded. "Do you think you can get up and walk?" Katie asked.
"I'll try." Lily slowly sat up, and Katie realized that her sister was much taller than herself now. Katie tried to help Lily up, but found that she only reached Lily's waist.
"Lily! Look at you! You're taller!" Katie cried. "or I've shrunk!" Lily looked down at her now three foot something older sister and gasped.
"Katie! Look at your clothes!" Lily pointed. Katie looked down. She had been so concerned with Lily that she did not notice herself. Katie was now wearing a dress that went down to her mid-calf. She had on a white shirt with puffed sleeves that reached her elbow. The bodice of her dress was brown, had a pointed waist, and laced up the back, which showed off what figure she had. Katie was slender, but just did not quite have the perfect hourglass shape her sister did. The skirt was very full and brown with little pinkish red roses and dark green vines on it.
"Yeah? Well, look at yours." Katie answered. Lily looked down and gasped, plucking at the soft fabric of her vest. While Lily was examining her new outfit, Katie climbed a large boulder and took a look around from that high vantage point. All that she could see were grassy hills and rocks.
"Where are we?" Lily asked softly.
"I have no idea." Katie answered, jumping down. "Come here, let me do something with that hair of yours." Katie ended having to stand on the rock again in order to be high enough to do her sister hair. As she began to finger-comb it, she decided that it was definitely longer and thicker than before. She decided to French braid it, and when she began weaving sections up into the braid, Lily's ears were revealed. They were now pointed like a fairy or elves. Katie stared at it.
"Katie, what's wrong?" Lily asked when she felt Katie suddenly stop.
"You-your—ears!" Katie stuttered. Lily instantly reached up to feel her ears. She could feel the points
As her hair fell out of its half-finished braid, Lilly began pacing, or limping, rather, with her head in her hands. "My ear are pointy, my ears are pointy—"she chanted under her breath. Then she suddenly stopped, looking down at herself "Wait, I'm in green, brown and white, and my ears are pointed." She said a little louder. Slowly a smile grew on her face. "My ears are pointy!" she cried joyfully. Katie stared at her like she had an extra hole in her head. "Katie, do you know what this means?"
"No."
"I'm an elf!"
"An el—no way, Sis. It's not possible. Elves don't exist." Katie said skeptically, eyebrow raised.
"Well, I do now!" Lily giggled.
"Okay, fine, Little Miss Elf, come here so I can finish doing your hair." Katie sighed, rolling her eyes. Lily sat on the grass in front of Katie and tipped her head way back to that Katie could see the top of her head. When she finished, Katie found a ribbon in the pocket of her dress and used it to tie her sister's braid off. Katie decided to climb the big rock again to see if she might have missed something that might determine their location. Lily turned around to watch her sister climb and caught sight of her feet. There were bare and hairy. Very hairy.
Hobbit feet. She thought. She raised her eyes and watched the breeze brush all of Katie's hair away from her face and neck revealing that she too had pointy ears. Katie was a Hobbit. Lily let out a laugh.
"What?" Katie called down.
"Look at your feet, Sis."
Katie looked down and screamed. "What happened to my feet? It's disgusting!"
"You've got pointy ears too." Lily called up, laughing at the sight of her usually calm and collected sister freaking out. Katie immediately began feeling her ears. She looked at Lily with a look utter, complete shock. "Congrats Sis, you're a Hobbit." Lily smirked.
"What? No-I can't be—that's not-I mean-Hobbit?" Katie gushed. She was holding her now pointy ears and staring at her feet. Lily was about to roll out in the grass laughing, but a sound suddenly reached their ears. Voices. Lily's smile faded. Katie ducked behind the boulder, but had to run back out of hiding and grab Lily. Soon, footsteps could be heard and they could tell that the voices were male. Some were higher than the other, like young boys, but they were all male. Two boys with curly brown hair and a man with reddish blond hair and a short beard passed the sister hiding place. The sisters quickly realized that the boys were Hobbits. An old man wearing long grey robes, a pointed, wide brimmed hat, and a long grey beard came next, leaning on a tall staff. With him were two more Hobbits and one who could only be a dwarf. He was slightly taller than the Hobbits, but he was stockier built and had a red plaited beard, and a battle axe stuck in his belt. Finally two more men came; one with dark hair that went to his shoulders, a short beard, and a long sword on his hip. The other was fairer with long, pale blonde hair half braided back. The rest hung loose down his back. He had a bow and quiver strapped to his back. Katie noticed he was clad similarly to Lily.
Just when they thought they all had passed, the fair and dark men gave a shout. The sister watched as they examine the ground right in front of their hiding place.
"What is it?" the old man asked urgently.
The blonde man and the dark haired one looked up.
"A woman perhaps an Elf lay here." The dark one said.
"And a Hobbit, here." The blonde one said pointing to where Katie had woken. At the word "Hobbit" all four Hobbits in the group perked up. The two men scanned the area looking for more signs of the Elf and Hobbit. Katie look at Lily with her "I've got a bad feeling about this" face. Suddenly, the dark haired man came around the boulder, causing both girls to scream.
"Sounds like Strider found them." Called one of the Hobbit voices.
Aragorn, the son of Arathorn, called by some Strider, followed the prints in the grass until he rounded a large boulder and was shock at what he saw. As he and Legolas, son of Thranduil, predicted, it was an Elf and a Hobbit behind the massive stone. What surprised him was that they were both girls. He had thought that the Elf might have been, but it was hard to tell. However, to see a Hobbit, much less a female, so far from the Shire was a startling sight indeed.
"Do not worry, we will not harm you." He said gently in the Common Tongue for the benefit of the Hobbit. Legolas peeked over Aragorn shoulder and nearly gasped. Crouched down behind a Hobbit girl was one of the most beautiful Elf-maidens he had ever seen. Her long honey colored hair was braided out of her fair face and hung down to her hips. Huge, pale blue eyes the color of a clear winter sky stared up at him and Aragorn.
What is she doing here? He thought. He came forward and helped her up. She hesitated and looked up at him. "I will not hurt you, fear not." He said in Elvish. Her brow furrowed in confusion, then cleared as she gingerly place her hand in his. Aragorn helped the young Hobbit girl up and the two men led the girls to where the rest of the Fellowship was waiting.
As soon as Katie and Lily saw them all standing there grouped together, they knew who they were: the Fellowship of the Ring. Aragorn introduced them to everyone and Katie and Lily shyly gave their names.
Hmm, strange name for an Elf, Legolas thought.
Immediately the four Hobbits surrounded Katie, asking questions as they continued on their way. Or rather, the ones called Merry and Pippin asked lots of questions with Samwise interjecting a comment every once in a while and Frodo saying nothing at all. Where was she from? What was her surname? Did she live near the Bywater or Buckland? They came in a steady stream until Katie raised her hands and cried out for quiet.
"I've never been to the Shire," She said simply. "and it would do any good to tell where I'm from because you've probably never heard of it."
"Well at least tell us your surname," said Pippin. "You might related to one of us."
"I highly doubt that." Katie replied before racking her brains for the Hobbit surname that a website had told her that her last name translated as. "Uh, I'm from the Grubb family." She murmured. She hadn't been thrilled when she found out what her Hobbit surname was, but it was what it was.
"Mr. Frodo has some Grubbs in his family, don't you Mr. Frodo." Sam said eagerly.
"I doubt that it's the same line." Katie quickly said as a faint blush colored Frodo's face.
Meanwhile, Legolas was trying to get Lily to open up and talk to him unsuccessfully. She just walked with her head bowed. Legolas was sure that she was listening, but for some reason she would not respond. He could tell that something was bothering her. Suddenly, they heard a call.
"Lily?"
"Katie?" Lily suddenly jerked her head up. "I'm coming!" she jumped up and started to run but nearly fell when she seemed to lose her footing. Legolas ran to her, and found her gasping in pain.
"What is wrong, Lily?" he asked, concerned. However, the girl just shook her head and limped off in search of the Hobbit girl.
Lily soon found Katie surrounded by the four Hobbit boys. Lily waited for her to extricate herself. They tried to walk with their arms linked like they used too, but their height difference was too great now, so they had to opt for holding hands.
"Sis," Lily began switching from English to Gaelic, the tongue of their Irish ancestors, "That blond guy Legolas freaking me out. He keeps talking to me and asking questions in Elvish."
"Well, you do look Elvish. He probably thinks you understand him." Katie answered.
"That's just it! I do! It's scaring me!"
Katie stared up at her little sister and thought for a moment. "Well,-if you have really been turned into an Elf, I guess knowing Elvish is part of the package. Besides, I thought you wanted to learn Elvish."
"I did, but not like this!" The two were silent for a long time, untill camp was set up that night. They spoke as little as possible during dinner. When everyone was settling down to sleep, Frodo offered Katie one of his Hobbit sized blankets, which she smiled at and shyly accepted. Legolas immediately gave Lily his cloak when she lay down. She looked at him suspiciously before reluctantly allowing him to drape the cloak over her. As this was taking place, Aragron and Gandalf were having a whispered conversation about the strange pair.
"What is an Elf-maid and a Hobbit girl doing way out here, with no guide, maps, gear, or anything else for a journey?" asked Aragorn.
"I would say that perhaps they live nearby, but they came along with us, so I doubt that that is the case." Replied Gandalf. "There is something greater than ourselves at work here." The two turned to the Elf and Hobbit asleep side by side.
"They share a bond that is strong," Murmured Aragorn. "like that of kin."
"Perhaps they are as kindred to each other." Said Gandalf with a small smile.
As I'm sure ya'll can tell I've paired Legolas and Lily, though she going to make him work her affections. However, I'm debating on who to pair Katie with, Frodo or Pippin. If you have an opinion, email it to kswinn3431 students. .