I've been battling with the idea of starting a LOTR fanfiction, mainly because I couldn't think of any ideas that weren't cliché and very Mary-Sueish. Yes, this is a 'Falls into Middle Earth' take, I'm testing the waters here, but hopefully the mindset I have with this storyline won't end up a total disappointment. I hope that you all get to enjoy it! Please Rate and Review so I know if I should continue with this!
Disclaimer: I hold no claim to any of the canon characters, only my original characters.
Some believe that the Universe holds greater mysteries. I never really thought about it myself, up until the moment that this so-called 'mystery' came face to face with me and my daughter. Whatever happens, it's up to me to protect her and keep her safe from all the things in this world that want to harm her. After all, that's what fathers do.
Quick footsteps. Lots of shuffling. Occasional tripping on the carpet and cursing. John Howard struggled to put his pants on and stuff his feet in his tennis shoes before grabbing the car keys and dashing out the apartment door. Damn. He had forgotten Mirian's gymnastic performance at the high school. Twice. It took a TV commercial on the Olympics to remind him of his promise to her.
'Shit, she's going to kill me.' He thought as he got into the car, fumbling with the seat-belt for a second or two before turning on the engine and backing out of the parking lot. On his way to Preston High School, John couldn't help but beat himself up for this. He hadn't done it intentionally; his mind was just…off. It has been like that ever since his ex-wife passed away 3 months ago. Naturally, he gained custody of his 15-year-old daughter who he could barely talk to.
About 15 minutes later, John pulled up into the school's driveway and parked at an empty spot, not even bothering to notice he had done so diagonally before he was out of the car and running off to the school gymnasium.
'This school is a damn maze!' He thought, panting as he had been running around the place for at least 3 minutes now. Finally, he saw a sign on the double doors labeled 'GYM' and pushed through them. When he saw people already heading out through the exit doors, John realized he hadn't made it in time. He was too late. With a face of defeat, he walked past the other parents congratulating their daughters for their performance, and on the benches he spotted Mirian carelessly stuffing her gymnastic clothes in her duffel bag.
She zipped it, put the strap over one shoulder and looked up, pausing when she saw her father. John nearly winced at the look she was giving him. He made slow steps toward her.
"Hunny, I'm so sorry –" He started, but Mirian just walked right past him.
"Forget it, let's just go." She mumbled, but there was obvious contempt in those words. John sighed and looked up at the ceiling before following after her. The first half of the drive back home was awkwardly silent. He didn't know what to say to her. Sorry obviously wouldn't cut it. He stopped at a red light and drummed his fingers on the wheel for a second.
"So…how was it?" He finally asked, but received no answer. He glanced over to Mirian who had her face turned to the window. It seemed like she was going to keep giving him the cold shoulder for the rest of the night.
'Can't say I blame her.' He thought, looking back ahead as the light turned green and he began to drive again. Once they pulled up on the parking lot, he turned the engine off and got out of the car. Mirian shut the door hard speed-walking up to the sidewalk and up the stairs. Once again John sighed and followed after her. Getting inside, he slowly shut the door behind him and went upstairs to Mirian's bedroom where she was already laying in bed with the headphones on. John leaned in and knocked on the door before walking up and sitting at the edge of the bed.
"Look Mirian, I'm sorry I didn't make it to your performance." She didn't look at him; just stared at the ceiling with a blank face. John frowned a bit and tried to put a comforting hand on her arm, but she just shrugged it off and turned her back to him. Shaking his head, he stood up and decided to just leave her alone.
'I don't know what to do anymore.' He thought, running a hand through his brown hair, making way down to the kitchen to grab something to drink. Ever since he and Mirian's mother had gotten a divorce when she was 12 she's been distant with him. He tried to mend the bond they had with each other, but with her teenage years having rolled in it became a struggle. Mandy knew how to talk to her. He didn't.
John grabbed a beer can out of the fridge and popped it open before taking a large gulp. He then made way into the living room and sat on the couch, resuming his original position on it before turning the TV back on. The game was on, but he didn't pay much attention to it.
It was Saturday afternoon, and John figured he'd to something to make up for missing Mirian's performance last night. He went up to her bedroom door and gave three knocks on it. He waited a few seconds, and was about to knock again when the door abruptly opened. He stared right at his daughter.
"What?" She asked, sounding impatient and annoyed. John bit back his tongue to keep himself from scolding her attitude, and instead put on a pleasant smile.
"Hey, I was thinking…how about you and I go out today? I heard the Carnival is in town this weekend. Remember how we used to go there sometimes?" He was met with a roll of her eyes.
"I'm not a kid anymore, dad." She was about to shut the door, but he put his hand on it and pushed it back open.
"Oh come on hunny, it'll be fun! Let's just go there and get a feel for it, and after 5 minutes if you still don't want to be there we'll come right back home. Okay?" Mirian stared at him for what seemed like the longest time, but finally gave an exasperated sigh, caving in.
"Fine." She went back in her room and put on some sneakers before grabbing her bag and walking out. A grinning John followed after her. They got in the car and off they went. The drive lasted 20 minutes before they found a parking spot and got out. The Carnival was bustling with noises from the many rides and the occasional scream of delight from the visitors. They made way through the green gates and John looked around, his mind filling with memories.
"I'm going over there." Mirian then said, already walking off to look at some of the booths.
"Stay where I can see you!" He called out to her, before he himself started to explore a little. There were the traditional trailer food stands selling funnel cakes, corn dogs, popcorn, cold drinks, and all other sorts of things. He passed the first few, before one caught his eye. Smiling, John remembered that Mirian used to love Carnival snow cones, so he went up to the stand and paid for one. Turning around, he paused and looked left and right for her.
"I told her to stay where I could see her." He sighed, heading off to hunt the girl down. Surprisingly, it didn't take too long for him to find her. She was standing in front of a game booth, staring at one of the prizes.
"Hey hunny, what are you looking at?" He asked as he walked up from behind her. She jumped a little.
"Jesus dad! Don't just come up to me like that." She huffed, before looking at what he had.
"Oh yeah, here you go," He said, extending the cherry flavored ice cone. "It's your favorite."
Mirian stared at him, before shaking her head and just taking it from him. John then looked at the prize she was eying before; it was a stuffed tiger.
"Do you want me to get that for you?" He asked.
"Like you could, let's just keep going." She instantly said when he offered, but John wouldn't have that.
"Oh come on, give your old man a try, will ya?" He walked off to a nearby ticket booth, and got 2 tickets, then came back and handed them to the game owner.
"Here you go sir," He handed him an airsoft rifle. "You have 20 shots. If you hit 15 marks or above, you get to pick from the big prizes; 8-14 and you pick from the smaller ones. Good luck!" John positioned the rifle and squinted one eye as the owner pulled a lever. The targets began to move back and forth. John took 5 instant shots, hitting 2. The next 7 shots were made, hitting 5 more. The next 4 he missed altogether, and the remainder of the shots he managed to get 3 more with a final count of 10 hit marks. He sighed a bit as that was not enough to get Mirian the stuffed tiger. He could tell Mirian was disappointed too, even though her face didn't show it.
"Congrats, sir! Take your pick from the small prizes." He motioned his hand to the trinkets hanging above the stand. Nothing seemed worth having.
"Which one do you want?" He tentatively asked Mirian, who just sighed and walked off. John looked back at the trinkets and decided on a small penguin keychain. Stuffing the prize inside his jacket pocket, he hurried off after his daughter.
"This was stupid." Mirian muttered to herself, having walked out of the Carnival.
"Mirian!" John called, jogging up to her. He put a hand to her shoulder and turned her to him.
"What's the matter? You don't want to get on the rides?" Mirian gave him a look.
"Dad, I told you I'm not a kid anymore. I want to go home." She said, turning back around and heading off to the parking lot. John frowned and continued after her.
"Mirian I'm trying here, I really am!" He said, feeling frustrated as he had no success with making her smile in the slightest.
"Well, you're doing a really shitty job at it!" She spat back. That was it. John had it with her disrespect.
"Do not talk to me like that young lady, I'm still your father!" He said, his tone firm. Before she could give another remark, a guy jumped in front of them and grabbed Mirian's bag before running off. She gasped.
"M-My bag! He stole my bag!" She dropped her ice cone and started running after the robber. John could barely react in time to what was happening before he went after her.
"Mirian stop! Get back here!" He called out. His heart already pounded like mad to the thought of the robber possibly hurting her for going after him, but the robber seemed more intent on running away from them than anything else. Mirian chased after him, and John chased after her, them crossing a street and heading well into the city woods. The sky was already dark at that time and John could barely see Mirian in front of him now.
"Mirian come back!" He shouted, trying his best to keep up. He lost sight of her for a few seconds when they got deep in the woods, and had no choice but to stop to catch his breath. However, what came next threw that idea right out of his mind. Mirian's sudden scream cut through the air and he panicked. Running faster than he had been, he tried to find her.
"Mirian! Mirian where are you?!" He called over and over, until he heard her cry again.
"Dad help!" He took a turn toward where he thought he heard her voice, and nearly toppled down a cliff.
"Mirian?" He called again.
"Dad!" He looked down and his eyes widened when he saw his daughter below, clinging to a small root sticking out of the cliff wall. There was a large lake below, but if she fell down there was still the possibility of her breaking something.
"Hold on hunny, I'll get you!" He said, looking around in the slight hope that he could find something that might help him get her out of there, but there was nothing. Having no other options, he got to the edge and laid flat on his stomach. He tried to extend his arm toward her.
"Grab my hand!" Mirian struggled to take hold of his hand.
"I can't reach it!" John moved his upper body further over the edge to see if he could reach her now.
"Try again!" Mirian did, and her fingers barely touched his. She pulled her arm back as it stung.
"I can't do it dad, I can't hold on!" Those words nearly sent John's head spinning.
"No, you have to hold on! You have to!" He begged as he inched further down. More than half his body was over the edge now, his knees and feet being the only things keeping him from sliding off.
"Come on hunny, take my hand!" She looked up and once again stretched out her arm to grasp it, and this time she was able to get a hold of it. John could barely breathe as he now tried to pull her up, but his body was starting to slide further down the edge. He tried to grasp a nearby branch for more support, but he didn't take into account how fragile that branch was. With a snap, his body propelled forward. Screaming, father and daughter both tumbled down the cliff and into the lake.
John soon broke the surface with a gasp, and instantly looked around for Mirian.
"Mirian?!" He called out, coughing water he had swallowed coming up. Seconds later, there was another gasp a few feet away from him. He quickly swam over to her and held her arms to keep her from going down as she tried to catch her breath.
"Mirian! Are you okay?" He instantly asked, but all she could do was nod as she coughed a few times.
"Come on, let's get out of the water." He said, grabbing hold of her waist before swimming them both to shore, despite feeling his arms stinging with pain from the fall. Once they got out, John examined his daughter to make sure she didn't get hurt; there were a few scratches here and there, but other than that she seemed fine. He breathed a sigh of relief and laid back down as his own exhaustion and injuries started to become more known to him. He figured he must've hurt his left arm pretty bad because whenever he tried to move it a certain way pain would shoot right through him and he'd wince. Mirian soon crawled over to him.
"You okay, dad?" He looked at her, ignoring his state to give a reassuring nod.
"I'm fine." She frowned a little, then looked around at their surroundings. It was pitch dark now, the only source of light they had was the moon above but even then it was still hard to see through the dense woods. Her hand then reached for her purse, that is, until she remembered the robber had stolen it. Her cellphone was in there.
"Dad, do you have your cellphone? We should call for help, 911 or something." She said. John nodded and with a little trouble, reached in his jean pocket for his cellphone. He flipped it open and sighed when it didn't turn on; must've gotten damaged from the water.
"It's dead." He said, putting it away. Mirian groaned and sat back. He looked at the sky, finding it strangely littered with stars that night. After a few minutes of rest, John tried to stand up, ignoring a newly-found sore on his right leg now that he did.
"We should get out of these woods." He stated, looking around as he held onto his left arm. Mirian stood up and nodded, before they both slowly walked off and into the intense amount of bushes, trees, and plants surrounding them.
They walked and walked, for at least 20 minutes with no hope of finding a road or sound of civilization. John was already exhausted, and the stinging pain in his arm was getting worse. Mirian was quiet.
"Alright, let's take a short break." He finally said, slightly limping over to a molded log and taking a seat. He stretched out his tired legs as he rubbed his left arm still, while Mirian sat down on a small boulder a little further to the left of him. It was once again quiet between them, it starting to get a little chilly as more time went by.
'I can't believe all this happened.' John thought, finding an almost sardonic humor in all the events leading up to now. He looked over at his daughter, who was looking like she wanted nothing more than to be home. She was probably regretting having gone to the Carnival he had begged to go with her.
'Naturally, this is all my fault.' He sighed, looking down at the ground. He was so wrapped up in his guilt that he didn't hear the strange sound that came not too far from them, but Mirian did. Her eyes looked around wildly, before she got up and walked over to her father, tugging a little at his jacket.
"Dad, I think I heard something…" He snapped out and looked at her.
"What?" But Mirian didn't have enough time to repeat herself as another sound caught both their attention this time. This sound, a growl, was not welcoming. Trying to think fast, John slowly stood up and held onto Mirian's arm.
"Let's keep going. Keep an eye out for anything, you hear?" Nodding, Mirian slowly made way off with John following behind her, his eyes darting from side to side to make sure no wild animal was tracking after them. He looked behind him, but there was only darkness there. He ended up bumping into Mirian, nearly stumbling back as he now turned ahead to question why she had stopped; sight in front of them created a lump in his throat like none before.
"What the hell is that?" She whispered, her body nearly shaking with fear at the sight. They had come upon a clearing, but the thing that was in it was what made them freeze in the spot. A man – no – a human-like creature, dark-skinned with grotesque beastly features, was tearing apart at a human arm, a dead body lying at its feet. Blood running cold at the gruesome sight, John tried to put a firm hand on Mirian's shoulder, and he slowly lowered to her ear…
"Back away, slowly." He whispered. She couldn't even nod, but started to back away as he said, and he did the same. They did this very slowly to not get the attention of the creature in front of them. It didn't seem to have noticed them as it was too busy eating out the flesh of the victim...that is, until a loud snapping sound quickly made its head turn. Mirian's frightened eyes looked down at the twig she had just stepped on. The beast dropped the arm and now turned fully to them, a grim-like grin spreading across its face as its tongue licked over the lips. There was no other choice now. Gripping tight to Mirian's shoulder, John quickly pulled her off as he broke into a run. Mirian gasped and quickly picked up pace as the humanoid snarled and tailed after them. John's arm and leg were sending jolts of pain throughout his body as he ran, but he couldn't stop. He just couldn't. He kept a tight hold of Mirian's hand as he dragged her at his pace for fear that she might fall behind, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen.
"Hurry!" He told her, pulling her more as he kept up the pace, but Mirian couldn't keep up. The woods proved harder to go through when running than walking. She lost her footing and crashed down onto the ground. John skidded to a stop, wincing at the pain before quickly turning around.
"Mirian!" He shouted, his eyes horrified at the approaching beast about to maul his daughter. John launched forward to try and get to her first, but he was pushed back by another creature like the first, this one holding a rusty sword in its hand. He fell back onto the ground and cried in pain at the impact it made on his left arm.
"Dad!" Mirian shrieked. She looked back at the beast running at her, letting out a blood curdling scream.
"Nooo!" John shouted, trying to get up only to get kicked in the stomach by the beast in front of him.
"Wretched human!" It snarled, catching John off guard for a split second when it spoke. The beast raised its sword to strike him, but before it could do anything else a swift arrow struck through its skull. An expression of shock was frozen on its face as it slowly tumbled down to the ground, dead. The beast about to attack Mirian got hit by two arrows to the chest, before it also fell over. Mirian quickly scampered away from the fallen body. John stared in utter disbelief, his mind trying to process everything as it all happened so fast. Some voices were heard soon after, speaking a foreign language he had no idea what it was, but fear struck him that they might be dangerous too.
"Mirian quick!" He called out to her. She looked back to him and sat up, but the sound of footsteps behind her caused her to look over and freeze once again. John winced as he tried to get up, but someone stepped in front of him, blocking his way. This someone was definitely human compared to the beasts now slain. He looked at the man standing before him, one with long dark hair and a fairly handsome appearance. He spoke in the foreign language before he knelt down.
"Are you harmed?" He asked, and this time John understood him.
"M-My arm and my leg..." Was all he could say, before his eyes shot over to where Mirian was, being assisted by another man who had long golden hair; she seemed mesmerized by him. The dark haired man in front of him began to inspect his left arm and his leg, running a gentle hand over them. He pulled back when he put a hand on John's arm and he winced.
"We must take you to be treated." He said. "Can you stand?" John stared at him, before nodding and slowly stumbling up. The man held him for support, then carefully helped him off.
"Dad! Are you okay?" Mirian said, coming up to him, but pausing as she stared at the dark haired one with uncertainty.
"I'm fine sweetie. Are you?" She looked back to him and nodded. The golden haired man said something to the dark haired one in the foreign language before they proceeded to take John and Mirian out of the dense woods and into a dirt path where two other people were waiting with horses.
"We will ride you to Rivendell. There you will be able to get proper assistance on your injuries." The dark man said to John, who looked at him and nodded.
"Thank you… thank you so much for saving us." He expressed, very grateful for them intervening right when he felt that he and Mirian were done for. The man merely nodded to him before motioning for another, one who looked identical to him, to help get John onto a brown horse. The golden haired man helped Mirian onto a gray horse before mounting behind her. Once the dark haired man mounted behind John, the identical one climbed onto another brown horse, and the other man waiting with him climbed onto his. When all were set, they rode off to this so called Rivendell. John's mind kept replaying the chase he and Mirian had with the ugly beast, and he just couldn't wrap his mind around everything they went through. As the horses galloped, John's pain and exhaustion soon caused him to black out.
Once again please Rate and Review! I'd really like to know if this story is likeable and if I should continue. Thanks! x