Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, I write for my own guilty pleasure.
Prologue: Raven and the t-bird.
"This is the last time I take direction advice from a female, I don't trust anything that can bleed for a week and survive." Raven glared and shifted the pack on his back, his hunting bow strung over his shoulder. A young woman with dark chocolate brown hair trailed along behind him, her lungs out of breath and a scowl across her usually cheerful face.
"Do you want your testicles or not?" she seethed; teeth bared as she shifted her own pack and growled as it dug into her back. Her hunting knife was strapped to her thigh and her own bow was slung across her back, the forest around them was all but quiet, save for the gentle bubble of a river off to their left.
"Seriously, we should be back at camp by now. If it wasn't for your hiccup we would have dinner." Raven turned around and glared at her, fire in his usually cool blue eyes. He was starving and he would have to wait until the morning to go hunting again, running a hand through his light brown hair he felt his lip twitch with annoyance.
"Stop being an ass, I drank from my water bottle too quickly and it was unavoidable. Focus on where we are going rather than basking in my beauty…" She stared hard at him, he chuckled and turned around – that was better. She could watch his ass again through his dark cargo pants.
"T-bird, you're gonna be the death of me one day." He shook his head and powered on, there was a chuckle behind him but they continued on in silence. Hours passed and the day became night, Raven dropped his pack and went to gather firewood silently. He would not forgive her for doing this again to him, twice on their trip had she hiccupped and scared away prey.
As they set up a makeshift campsite, Tori built the fire and collapsed next to it before rummaging and rearranging her pack for her beef jerky. The night life began to sing around them, the stars appeared through the leafy canopy.
"Thanks for convincing me to go hunting again Rave," her brown eyes were watching the sky, Raven munched on his evening meal as he watched her thoughtfully. He knew she was just taking it all in again, it had been a year since he had seen her this relaxed. A year since she had been attacked by the mountain lion which was a fluke she survived.
"My pleasure T-bird." He said quietly and allowed his blue eyes to scan their surroundings, he was feeling very protective of the young girl in front of him and refused to let any more harm come to her. It had taken him a month straight worth of convincing but finally she relented, he knew she only came because he swore he wouldn't bail this time.
The pair settled into their usual evening routine of watching the campsite, Raven was wide awake just before dawn and he shook Tori awake. With a face she sat up and stretched, Raven had placed his coat over her throughout the night while she used her own as a pillow. With silence they packed up and put out the fire, it was game time.
Tightening their packs to their back, they slung their bows and headed off into the woods once more with Raven in the lead who was following a pair of fresh deer tracks. The pair were light on their feet, their noises fading easily into the forest and they caused no alarm to the animals around them. Raven paused and waved his hand for a halt, the wind had changed. He signalled for Tori to move around him and go towards the right. They were close, she knew it. Tori felt her blood pumping with adrenaline, this is what she loved most. Being with her best friend and traipsing through the wilderness as they left their reality of life behind.
Raven paused, inclined his head and drew his bow as he dropped to his knee. Tori drew hers and stood just behind him, before them stood a young buck eating grass not to far away. In a synchronized release, their arrows flew through the air and met their mark. Raven's struck the spine which would render it paralysed and Tori's flew true through the eye socket, killing it instantly.
The boy looked over his shoulder at a very smug looking Tori, she definitely hadn't lost her touch. Breakfast was served.
After preparing the meat and disposing of the carcass, the pair began to head up the mountain when they finally realized that clouds had began to cover the sky – they were dark and the pair could smell the rain on the wind. With hurried footsteps, they looked for cover and made sure they were well away from the river. There was a flash of lightning and a loud rumble, Raven and Tori looked at each other in panic before looking to where the loud crashing noise had come from. Both paled and began to run from the rockslide that was rushing towards them.
The pair ran with all their might, the mighty rumble of the rockslide was getting close and they were running out of escape options. "You idiot!" Tori screamed as they ran down the hillside, jumping over rocks and sliding with practiced ease.
"Not my fault!" he screamed back, his face red and fear etched on his face. Realization dawned on the pair and Raven made a grab for Tori, the rockslide was upon them and they knew what was going to happen next.
Suddenly, all went black.