Okay, so this is my first Lord of the Rings fanfic, and it's been a really long time since I've written anything to be honest, so excuse me if it's not the best, I'm really out of practice. Now, I'm going to try my best with this, but I never read any of the books. I tried to, I really tried, but I couldn't do it. It didn't grasp my interest and I gave up. But I adore the movies. So, I'm going about my information here based on what I read on wiki, the movies, and other fanfics similar to mine. If you see a mistake, let me know in a review, nicely of course. Don't be all mean about it, I'm human, I make mistakes. Also, I'm sorry if my prologue is misleading. This is an OC/Legolas fanfic, however when watching the movies I always imagined my character meeting Legolas through Aragorn when he arrives in Rivendell with the hobbits,so this is how I decided to go about meeting Aragorn. I'm going to do a time skip, my next chapter will be around when the Hobbits arrive in Bree, and I'll be back to using Michelle's POV. So, let me know what you think in the reviews! It's so easy to make reviews now so you have no excuse not to! Ha-ha, be nice though. Don't go being mean to me, because it doesn't take a lot to make me sad.
I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go
When all those shadows almost killed your light
"Michelle! Is everything okay in there?" A worried mother asked on the other side of her child's locked bedroom door. On the other side of that door though, everything was the opposite of fine. A young woman, the age of eighteen, sobbed heavily into her pillow, soaking the fabric with salty tears.
"Everything's fine." Michelle called out, masking her voice with a fake calmness, wavering only slightly. Her mother, not hearing the waver in her daughter's voice nodded and decided to leave her alone. Her daughter came home from work early without calling for a ride, and slammed the front door upon arriving home and quickly retreated into her room without at least the courtesy of informing the family she was home.
Michelle continued to sob as her world had been crashed upside down. It was literally the worst day she had ever experienced in her life. First on the list of today's miserables, is the rejection letter she received in the mail, notifying her she did not get accepted into the college she had wanted to attend. It was on the other side of her home state of Pennsylvania, and she wanted to go there more than anywhere else, as it was the only place she had applied to. It was a huge let down and disappointment to discover she was not good enough to attend. Next, as she entered Hollister, the place she had been working for the past eight months, her manager stopped her at the door and told her the unfortunate news on how the store had not been making enough money to pay for all the employees and some of them had to be let go... Michelle was one of those employees. She was allowed to collect her things out of her locker in the backroom and that was it, she was unemployed. Now, if that did not make things bad enough, as she was walking through the mall, deciding whether or not she should stay and window-shop or begin to walk home, she spotted a familiar head of hair by the elevator. She recognized it to be none other than her boyfriend of one and a half years, Kevin. She was about to call to him, let him know of the news and maybe make plans to watch some cheesy romance movie or something to brighten her spirits, but before she could she witnessed a beautiful redhead step out of the elevator and Kevin quickly embraced her. At first, she was fine with this, maybe the red-head was a friend or a relative, however she saw the girl work her tongue into her boyfriend's mouth, and he seemed in no rush to push her off.
That was the final straw for Michelle. She couldn't face her boyfriend, she felt humiliated, embarrassed, and betrayed. She didn't want to embarrass herself more by making a scene in the middle of the local mall and collapsing to the ground crying. So instead, she didn't look back, and walked outside into the city air and began to walk the mile to her house, only letting silent tears slide down her face, holding off the flood until she got into the privacy of her own room.
So, there Michelle was, crying on her bed. She didn't need her mother, and her mother would not have done much anyway. For as long as Michelle could remember, her parents took care of her, gave her food, took her back and forth to where she needed to be, and lent her money when she needed it, but that was as far as it went. Besides that, her parents never paid attention to her, or gave her the guidance that most parents would give their children. Michelle could still remember all the times her older brother had beat her up in front of her mother's presence and all her mom would say is "Now that's not a nice thing to do." and then went to read the bible or something. Her father was no better. They didn't talk much at all, and the only real interaction they had was when he told her that they would be going on a hike, or a bicycle ride, or a canoe trip. He never once told her that he loved her, or that he was proud of her. Not even when she graduated from high school. Communication was limited between her and her parents, and Michelle kept them at a distance. She was raised by her brothers and the opportunity her parents had to have a close relationship with their daughter had come and passed.
"I want to leave this place…" Michelle sobbed. "There's nothing for me here, no family, Kevin was the only friend I had, no job or money…" she sniffed. "I want to find a place where people actually care about me. Where I'm not suspicious of everyone I meet… I wish I could start a new life for myself." She said silently to herself, and she meant every word. If something happened to where she was no longer in her crummy town, she knew she would not miss the people.
She closed her eyes, pressing her cheek into her tear-soaked pillow and tried to calm herself by listening to a catchy techno song inside her head, called Interlude. It was her favorite song, and always raised her spirits, and could feel her foot tap to the drums that echoed through the song as she played it in her head.
Michelle caught an odd scent and sniffed, trying to determine what it was. It took her a moment, but the smell reminded her of grass. A grassy meadow, after sunrise where morning dew still misted on the grass's blade and the soft dirt of the earth was moist and fresh with life. "Mom must be using a new air freshener. " Michelle smiled, enjoying the smell, "I'll have to steal it off her when I get the chance."
As she continued to have her eyes closed she heard a bird caw from above her. She didn't bother to open her eyes but she quickly assumed it was a crow or something close by her window outside. "It must be heading to its nest I presume; it should be getting dark soon". Although, she did find it odd that it sounded from directly above her, and not from her window, but she didn't trouble herself with the thought, not seeing the big deal of mishearing something. However, one last thing happened that Michelle couldn't ignore that made her open her eyes. She rolled over in her bed, trying to find a more comfy position, and when she rolled over she could no longer feel a mattress below her or a pillow under her head. She rolled back, but still nothing. Instead, she felt herself lying down in what felt like grass, and upon opening her eyes she found herself to be correct. She was laying in a grassy field, with a morning sky above her. "What in the… did I fall asleep?" she wondered out loud, thinking this was a dream. She sat up and examined her surroundings. The only thing she could spot besides grass, grass, and more grass, was a tiny village maybe a football's field away from her. However, the houses were odd looking. The houses were made of wooden boards with what looked like hay for a roof. Something you would see in the medieval ages she figured. But she quickly noticed something else off about the houses, there was smoke rising over them, and she could see the orange tongues of flame feast on a few buildings and slowly spreading to the others.
"F-fire?" she gasped in confusion. She could feel the heat of the flames warm the air and send hot gusts of air towards her. Michelle was beginning to feel afraid, how was it possible that she could feel the heat. None of her dreams had ever felt this real before. She quickly snapped herself out of it though." The people who live in those houses…why are there no people outside trying to put out the fire, or at least screaming…" she wondered. She was about to run for it, before the fire lit the grass and spread to the field she was taking refuge in, however she heard a scream, a faint scream but still a scream, belonging to what sounded like a small child. Michelle quickly turned back to the village, "hang on, I'm coming!" she called and broke into a sprint towards the village.
Michelle had never been near a house fire, the closest fire she had ever been close to was a camp fire on one of her dad's camping trips, and she was not expecting the immense heat that filled the air. "Can anyone hear me!?" Michelle screamed through the village, hoping to see some survivors, but quickly as she looked at the buildings and the ground around them, her blood turned to ice. There were a few villagers littered on the dirt path of the village, their bodies bloodied with deep cuts in the necks, chests, and other places. It definitely was not the work of a simple fire. "Oh my god…" Michelle gasped, holding her mouth in horror and suddenly feeling as if she were going to lose all the food in her stomach. She took a couple steps backwards and turned to run as fast from the village as she could, but something blocked her path. It had to be one of the ugliest creatures Michelle had ever laid eyes on. It appeared to be a man, about her height, but his skin was an ugly color of green, like the color of rotten celery or cabbage. His nose was large and crooked and he bore wild red eyes filled with hatred and the lust to kill. His teeth looked crooked and sharpened, as if every tooth was a sharp, pointed canine. His garments were cruel black leather with pieces of fur and cloth sticking out. He had a long, black sword, stained with the villagers' blood which looked even more malicious as the fire light glinted off the blade.
The crazed man gave her a cruel, horrible smile, and raised his sword, walking towards her with excitement as if the thought of killing her was some sort of strange high. "N-no-Stay away!" she screamed loudly, not having the courage to run and felt frozen to the spot. But he didn't stop, he kept charging towards her, sword gripped tightly in his hand. "Somebody help!" she screamed at the top of her lungs in a panicked and shrill voice.
Aragorn's POV:
The ranger knew that he had no time to rest; Aragorn was returning from Mirkwood after capturing Gollum and bringing him to the elves to be questioned by Gandalf. After they had learned that Gollum had told the enemy where to look for the ring, Aragorn left immediately to meet Gandalf and the ring bearer in Bree.
Aragorn had left Rivendell early yesterday morning and recognized the area he was in now as being close to the Last Bridge and before long would bring him close to the Shire... He was pleased with himself for making good time. However he knew his horse was beginning to feel fatigue and he decided to rest for a few minutes to let the horse drink from a nearby stream. For himself he decided to take a sip from his canteen and devour an apple he had packed with his food supplies in his pack. The apple had been bitten down to the core in a mere couple of minutes and soon Aragorn was ready to set out once again. The horse had finished drinking and whinnied impatiently to him. As he swung himself on top of the horse he noticed smoke not far from him and saw a small village that was in the process of being enveloped in flames. Aragorn had heard that villages were being overrun with orcs and goblins lately, but this was the first he had witnessed it. He shook his head and bowed it to send a prayer to the villagers, knowing it was already too late. Orcs weren't known for leaving survivors.
He had the horse's reins in his hand, adjusting the pack on his back when he heard a loud scream erupt from the village. "Somebody help me!" a woman's voice screamed, her voice filled with fear. Aragorn, acting quickly and without hesitation, unsheathed his sword and jumped from the horse, sprinting into the village, looking for the owner of the voice. He ran between two buildings and found himself in what appeared to be the main road of the village, a wide dirt path paving the ground that looked well worn. He looked to his left and saw a young woman, the one who most likely was responsible for the scream and was relieved to see she was alright. He ran to her, to shield her from whatever had caused her fear but was too late as he watched in horror as an orc thrust his sword into the woman's abdomen, and she fell to her knees clutching her wound, screaming in pain. Before the orc had a chance to finish the job, Aragorn charged forward, taking the orc by surprise and cut the fiend's head clean off.
Aragorn quickly turned around to inspect the woman and at first was alarmed when he saw he crumpled on the ground, unconscious and unmoving, but he was soon relieved when he saw the faint and slow rise and fall of her chest. However, Aragorn knew he needed to work fast if he were to save this girl. She was losing blood fast and if the bleeding did not stop soon the girl would not make it half an hour. He found the source of the bleeding, a deep cut on the left side of her abdomen, that was spilling too much blood much too fast. He took his dagger and cut part of his undershirt off and tied it tightly around the girl's middle, doing as best as he could to make it a make shift bandage. When he was happy with his work, he picked up the girl and held her tightly in his arms and ran as fast as he could out of the village with her to his horse, without disturbing the wound too greatly.
He rode with her for the rest of the day, holding her in front of him. The girl was not awakening or showing any signs of stirring which worried Aragorn, and he had enough reasons to be worried. Number one, the girl's life; He had never before met the girl, however she was young and still had life in her. As long as she breathed Aragorn would try his best to revive her. But he had other reasons to worry. He needed to get to Bree, and now that would become difficult if he had to carry the unconscious girl. And what if the girl wanted to travel with him? He could not just dump this girl in the middle of nowhere with no means to protect herself or hunt for her own food, and the nearest town was days away. The journey would not be a fast pace with his horse carrying the extra weight. Aragorn found himself frustrated with his predicament but decided the girl's wellbeing came first. Once she awakened, he would think of which course of action to pursue next.
Eventually, Aragorn spotted a stream ahead of them, and with the sun going down he decided to make camp on the edge of the stream. He gently placed her down, and undid the bandage he made for her. The bleeding had stopped to his relief, and he quickly went in search of the Athelas plant with his dagger in hand. He was lucky to find the plant growing not too far away from the campsite, and after cutting the amount he needed, he quickly returned to the girl, who was still lying there motionless. As he bent down he noticed she asbeginning to feel cold, and her skin was dangerously pale.
"C'mon, hang in there." He said under his breath, putting the Athelas into his mouth and chewing it until it formed a paste. He rubbed the plant into the girl's wound, somewhat glad she was unconscious, because he knew how agonizing the pain would be for her if she were awake.
After he used all of the plant, Aragorn rebandaged her wound and placed his blanket on top of her, hoping it would bring some warmth back into her body. After he had done all he could for the girl, he went back into the woods in search for wood to build a small fire. While he was out he was able to kill a pair of squirrels, and brought them back to camp with him. After he had the fire going, his skinned the squirrels and roasted them over the fire. He gulped the first one down in no time at all, leaving nothing but bones, and decided to save the other squirrel and wrapped the meat in a piece of cloth and tucked it into his pack, saving it for the girl if she woke up during the night, and would eat it for himself if she didn't wake by morning.
As the sun set, he put out the fire and laid back into the grass, his pack as a pillow. He looked over the girl one last time and really took in her features, and noticed she wore strange clothing. He had never seen anything like it, with strange looking fabric and odd bright colors splashed across her top. He wondered to himself where she hailed from. From the clothing on the dead villagers, she wasn't dressed like anyone from the village, nor was she dressed like any other place he had ever been, and Aragorn had been to a lot of places. Besides for the clothes though, she looked perfectly human. Her ears were unpointed and rounded at the top, so she couldn't have been an elf. Her hair was a light auburn, appearing brown unless the sun shone down on her head, making her mid-back length hair appear to glow dark red. Her skin looked soft, and unmarked, leaving no flaws on her gentle face, and air slowly came and left her body through her petite nose, and parted red lips. Aragorn smiled as he began to notice color creep back into her face.
He decided not to think about the girl anymore, and closed his eyes feeling sleep pulling at his senses and Aragorn gladly surrendered to its will.
In the morning, Aragorn blinked his eyes open, remembering yesterday's events and his eyes drifted off to the girl. He was surprised to see she was not in the same position he left her in last night. Her body was now rolled to the side, hugging the blanket tightly and having the edges tucked under her. He saw her breathing was stronger than it was last night and sighed in relief. He went and crouched over her, tugging the blanket off to check on the wound, the girl resisted and tugged back, groaning in annoyance. Aragorn decided a different approach.
"Can you hear me?" He asked the girl gently. She groaned in reply.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, feeling slightly amused.
"Terrible…" she muffled through the blanket, and Aragorn could see her eyebrows crease in pain.
"Lay still, you were attacked yesterday and are badly injured because of it. I was afraid you would never awaken. Let me check the wound for you." Aragorn said gently. The girl nodded and allowed Aragorn to pull off the blanket and remove the bandages he had dressed last night.
"Well it does not look any worse, if it remains like this it should heal fast." He told her as he redressed the bandages across her torso. The girl nodded blankly, staring at the sky. Aragorn felt a little uncomfortable with the silence and could tell something was troubling her. "Are you okay? Are you in a deal of pain or…?" he trailed off; waiting for an answer or hint to what was bothering her.
Her eyes slowly trailed over to meet his, and scanned what he was wearing as if they were foreign clothes. "Where am I?" She asked sadly.
"We are a day away from Rivendell by horse milady." He answered her, he could immediately tell that he had given her the wrong answer and she closed her eyes in sorrow. "Where are you from?" he asked curiously.
"Pennsylvania…America…" she said, hoping her words would rouse recognition in Aragorn but he only gave her an odd glance.
"I have never heard of it." Aragorn replied.
"And I've never heard of this place… look, I was in my bed at home, and then next thing I know I'm lying down in some grass field while a village is burning to the ground. I'm not from here." She cried, tears running down her face.
"I had my suspicions from your clothing. However I cannot possibly imagine where you may have come from. This is Middle Earth."
"I'm not from Middle Earth! I'm from Earth! No middle!" she sobbed. "How am I supposed to go home when I'm in a place I don't know and people here have never even heard of where I came from?" she asked incredulously. Aragorn had no answers to give her.
"I am sorry milady, but I do not have an answer for you." He bowed his head in apologies. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn." He introduced himself. "If you truly do come from a different world, you are welcome to travel in my company. There are many evils across Middle Earth, what you glimpsed was just a small example. It would be dangerous if you wandered on your own."
Michelle pondered over his words. She was taught back home, not to trust strangers, but then again, this stranger had saved her life. If he wanted to Kill her, he had his chance while she was unconscious all day yesterday. "I gladly accept your offer." Michelle said, giving him a small smile. "My name's Michelle…err… daughter of Robert…" she said awkwardly, trying to not seem too out of place andintroduced herself as Aragorn did, and she could hear him chuckle.
"Well then, Michelle, daughter of Robert, would you like some breakfast?"
So yeah… this is my prologue. I'm prolly gonna upload chapter one after this. Don't you worry Legolas lovers, he's coming in on chapter 3 and I've already written it, it'll be up by the end of the week. Any suggestions or corrections or just something nice to say, would be very much loved!