Angie is 16, Laura is 14 and a half, and Eowyn is 14. This story is currently under serious editing. This chapter has been edited very much and is now twice as long as it was before.
Laura's Pov.
My friend Eowyn and I were having a campout-sleepover at our friend Angie's house. Eowyn had been there many times before but I had only been there a few times. It still caused me to feel very excited whenever I went there and having a campout there with both friends heightened my excitement to the highest degree. I was probably way too excited but we had so much planned for that day. Though I was soon to find out that all our teenage plans would be ruined.
Eowyn and Angie were setting up the tent, and I was lighting the fire. I had enough camping experience to know how to make the fire rise high and hot. It was around seven o'clock in the evening and the sun was just beginning to set. It caused the trees the cast eerie shadows around us and it made perfect lighting for spooky campfire stories. It made us feel like we were actually in the woods camping, rather than being in a friend's backyard.
When our work was done, we gathered around the fire I had made and began to roast our marshmallows. We had eaten dinner inside since none of us could correctly grill hotdogs. Well, Angie being the oldest of us could mostly but we prefered to keep it safe and have her dad do it.
We had just begun eating our first smores when there was a cracking sound in the woods. It startled us only slightly but we still set our smoes down and looked around the area.
"What, was that?" I asked in a slightly startled tone. Bad things always happened to teens when they were camping and sometimes I worried that something bad would happen to me.
"Do you want to go check it out?" Eowyn asked. She had a reckless adventurous spirit and wasn't afraid of checking out strange noises no matter how small or big. Angie and I looked at her nervously. Both of us knew that going off by ourselves into the woods wasn't the smartest thing to do.
"Um, you can go. We'll just stay here," Angie replied. Eowyn shook her head defiantly. I knew that there was no winning against her as she grabbed our hands and pulled us up from the ground.
"No, you're coming with me!" she declared. We sighed and agreed. there was no use in arguing. Besides, we didn't want to be left there all alone, even if Angie's house was right there. We turned to the woods, leaving the campfire going. There wasn't much of a chance that it would do anything. We were all a bit uneasy, even Eowyn, who was the tomboy and as I said before, reckless. After we had walked for a little ways - the fire was still going, we saw a bluish glow to the right of us. We followed it until we came upon something that none of us had expected. To our shock and amazement, we stared directly at a swirling black and blue hole, one that looked like a black hole.
"If I didn't know any better, I would say that's a portal," I said looking at it, but not getting too close. The wind was blowing around it and I could feel slight suction coming from it.
The other two girls nodded in response. "Should we try it?" Eowyn asked smirking. Angie sighed and looked over at her. She knew that if anything happened to either of us, she would be responsible. She was sixteen and she knew better than either of us could. I would like to say that she was wiser, but the truth was, the only one of us that she was wiser than was Eowyn. Again, reckless.
"I'm not sure that would be safe. It might be just an illusion though. We'll probably just walk out the other side." We talked about it for about ten minutes. In the end we decided we would jump through, after all as Angie said, it was probably just an illusion. So we clasped hands, I counted down from three to one and we jumped. We had only expected to jump out the other side, pardon our poor judgement, but we did not. We went through a tunnel like place, and the portal closed behind us. I felt as though all time had passed before me and I felt sick. Then suddenly, we saw a faint light and it began to grow brighter and brighter. There was suddenly a huge flash of light and we were standing on solid ground, the sun shining brightly.
"Where are we?" I asked in confusion. I hid my fear and confusion and kept my voice steady. My question was almost immediately answered when we saw the members of the Fellowship in front of us, and Elrond behind us. Actually everything was in a uproar. We didn't quite know what was going on until we heard Frodo say, "I will take it!" At first no one heard him and then he yelled again, "I will take the Ring to Mordor!" Then everyone's attention turned to him. "Though I do not know the way," he said. We watched Aragorn walk over to him. I suddenly felt all giddy and I had a hard time keeping myself from screaming.
"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword!" I whispered with Aragorn. I bit my lip to keep myself from talking too loud.
"And you have my bow," Legolas said stepping up. We almost screamed when we saw him step up. Yes, we are BIG fans of Legolas. I mean, who isn't? He's amazing!
"And my axe," Gimli added. Boromir also walked up to them and joined them. We waited anxiously for what would happen next. Since we had all seen all three movies, and I had read the trilogy itself we knew what would happen. It was like we were fortune tellers. We read every moment and anticipated what would happen next. And we were right for nearly everything. Just as we had expected, Sam jumped out of the bushes and stood by Frodo.
"Mr. Frodo isn't going anywhere without me!" he exclaimed. I giggled slightly and Eowyn through her hand over my mouth. I stomped my foot in annoyance.
"Well surely you will go! It is hardly possible to separate you from him, even when he summoned to a secret council and you're not!" Elrond said. Sam fidgeted uncomfortably beside Frodo. For a moment Elrond seemed slightly amused, that is, until Merry and Pippin jumped out.
"We're coming too!" Merry yelled. Elrond raised his eyebrows and made an annoyed expression. He was the king of annoyed expressions. In fact, he was the king of any expression. Especially when it was angry or annoyed. The guy looked like he had a scowl on his face even when he was happy. Which was very rare for him. He probably got so used to making that face that he forgot how to make a happy face.
"Besides," Pippin added, "you will need people of intelligence on this sort of mission..eh..quest." I held back a laugh. That line in the movie always made me laugh. It was one of Pippins best (worst) moments.
Merry glanced over at the Hobbit beside him. "That leaves you out Pip," he whispered. Pippin nodded before even thinking about what Merry had said.
"Well that settles it! You shall be called the Fellowship of the..." Elrond was about to say "Ring" but I interrupted him. I couldn't hold myself back, I could be very impulsive sometimes.
"Wait! We will join the Fellowship as well!" I said loud enough for everyone to hear. Angie and Eowyn stared at me in horror. I suddenly realized what had happened and fear struck me. I looked down and realized how lucky we were. We were wearing Middle Earth style clothing.
"Who are you? I do not believe you were part of the Council," Elrond said. I took a deep breath. Angie and Eowyn's mouths were still hanging open in shock and I knew I had to be the one to speak.
"No, we aren't part of the Council. We are from...um, Gondor. I apologize for listening but we already knew the Ring was here and we know what's at stake. I'm Laura, this is Angelina, and this is Eowyn." I was glad that at least one of us had a name that was common to this world. Angie looked over at me with a smile. I swelled with pride. I handled myself well. "I'm not sure whether I can use any kind of weapon but I do know how to fight."
"Same for me," Angie added. "Though, I believe with practice I'll be able to hold a weapon."
"And I think I can use a sword," said Eowyn. Her arms were strong from playing softball back on earth so a sword would probably be best for her. Elrond nodded in response.
"I will speak with Gandalf. Three women," I smiled slightly at his title for us, "might not be the best thing for this journey," he said. My smile faded and I frowned. Gandalf stood up from his place and they left the room. Time passed and we waited anxiously for them to return. Everyone had seated themselves once again and we continued to stand. We felt nervous, and awkward. We were around people who were familiar yet also very unfamiliar. There was no one we really knew around and speaking wouldn't lighten the atmosphere.
Finally after about forty-five minutes, Gandalf and Elrond emerged. Their faces were stern so we couldn't decide whether or not they had decided to let us come. "We have decided that if you turn out to be skilled in fighting and combat, and if you are able to stand a long journey, you will join. You must practice hard for the next few days. You must be ready," Elrond told us. We smiled excitedly. "Twelve members...A fellowship of twelve... You shall be called the Fellowship of the Ring," he declared. After glancing around a moment he sighed in relief because he was not interrupted again. After a few moments three Elves came, one with a sword, which he handed to Eowyn. She swung it in the air and her green eyes lit up with excitement. The two other Elves handed me and Angie a bow and quiver full of arrows. We looked over them, awe filling our eyes. We were holding Elven bows! There was practically nothing that could foil my excitement except for...
"But Lord Elrond! They are only girls!" Boromir protested. "What can they do to fight? Women are not meant for battle!" Elrond sighed and faced the man. "I know that they are only girls and I as well am in doubt. But it is settled that they will test to join. If they make it out, they will be with you." Boromir sighed and joined the group once again. He turned his head slightly towards us and gave us a death glare. I was slightly taken aback.
Pippin was obviously happy with everything. He obviously didn't know entirely what was going on. "Alrighty then!" he exclaimed with a smile. "So...where are we going?" My friends and I put our hands over our mouths to keep ourselves from laughing. He was so oblivious and it was hilarious.
After that the other members began to talk of plans while I quietly signaled my friends to a place where nobody was. Once out of sight and hearing range, we huddled up in a circle together. There were a few things that we needed to discuss.
"Okay, so what I want to know is, how did we get here? Did we somehow become actors in the movie, or are we actually in Middle Earth?" I asked. It was in many ways, a very complicated question. Angie and Eowyn thought about it for a moment as did I. We would probably come to the conclusion that we were in Middle Earth. Things were too...real to be on a set. Just to make sure, I searched around to cameras. I found none anywhere, and the plants all seemed very real and were very attached to the ground.
"Well," Angie began, "it would appear that we are, in fact, in the real Middle Earth. I suddenly felt a rush of panic. That was impossible for one thing, and for another, if we really were there, how were we going to get back? Would our families be looking for us?
"We shouldn't have gone through that portal..." I mumbled. I sighed. "Well, in neither the book, nor the movie was there a Fellowship with twelve members. There were nine. Well...Until Boromir...Ya know..." I hesitated. "And how is it that Elrond actually accepted us? That seems a bit out of character." The two girls nodded and there was silence for a few minutes. I suddenly smiled and laughed. My voice was slightly high pitched when I spoke. "Can you believe we're actually going to be members?" Eowyn giggled.
"I know! It's gonna be amazing! And scary!" she exclaimed. We nodded in reply. Ever since I watched Lord of the Rings I had wanted to be part of it. Now it had finally happened!
After a short meeting with the Fellowship, we began to practice with our weapons. I was surprised at how quickly I adapted to using a bow. I had taken karate and technically still was, only we were in Middle Earth. It made it easier with the strength I needed to use a bow. The strength wasn't the problem though. I had a hard time aiming. It took me about thirty tries before I could even hit the target. It took Angie only one more try than me. I guess that was pretty good for never having used it before though. And I blame our teacher. Eowyn was doing better with her sword. Boromir was teaching her, Merry, Pippin, Sam and Frodo how to use swords properly and they took turns battling each other. It was interesting to watch.
As I said before, I blamed our teacher for Angie and I taking so long. Though I couldn't be bad at him, or frustrated because guess who that person, I mean Elf was? Legolas. It was Legolas. Obviously him since he was pretty much the best archer in all of Middle Earth. He actually asked if he could train us. I nearly freaked out but I knew that I'd be thrown out of the Fellowship if I freaked out on him. "Put your hand a little higher up," Legolas told me. "And straighten your arm." I blushed when I saw that my arm was bending down a lot. He put his hand on my arm and put it in it's correct position, causing me to blush more. When he noticed me blushing, his face flushed slightly as well. Get together Laura! He's only Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood! I mentally face palmed. Great! Now you're making yourself even more nervous! Oh shut up! After my hands were in the right place, I aimed and shot. And missed. After a few tries Legolas went over to help Angie. I continued to fire more arrows until I was completely out.
At the end of the day, we were all exhausted, though we had already improved greatly on our fighting skills. "Oh I am so tired!" Angie exclaimed as she collapsed on the bed we were all to share. Eowyn and I sat down and nodded.
"So am I. I'm extremely nervous about the Quest a few days from now," I said. "I don't feel like I'm ready to fight orcs." I really wasn't. In fact, I don't think anyone was really ever ready to fight orcs. I'd be amazed if anyone was.
"Neither do I. But we're gonna have to fight," Angie replied. "At least I think so. If we don't do well enough in training for the next few days we're gonna have to be sent back to our 'home.' I can't believe you lied about Gondor, Laura." I sighed heavily and apologized for my little lie. It was the only way I could've gotten us into the Fellowship.
"I for one am ready to fight," Eowyn added. "I can't wait to knock some orc heads off with this!" she exclaimed. She pulled out her sword. It gleamed in the firelight, and cast an eerie shadow on the wall. I smiled slightly. Just seeing that made me feel adventurous. Then I remembered what would come with slicing an orc's head off.
"But blood! Fighting with swords and bows comes with blood! I might faint in the middle of battle!" I worried. In truth, I had never really fainted from blood or injuries. But the sight of blood had always made me sick. Which was not good if you were about to go on a journey where you were bound to see lots of blood. I didn't like that idea one bit.
"It's alright Laura, you'll get used to it," Angie said. I shivered. I would never get used to it. I knew that as a fact. And the thought that I might see it so often to even have Angie consider me getting used to it was horrifying.
We talked about our journey ahead for a few more minutes and then I realized how tired I was. "Well I'm going to bed. And if you wonder why we're so tired it's because we got up at 6:00am Earth time, and when it was 7:00pm in Earth, it was around 11:30am in Middle Earth. Well now that's it's around 9:30pm, it's like we've stayed up until three thirty in the morning!" I exclaimed. They thought about it and nodded. I was correct and I knew it. I smiled smugly.
"No wonder I'm so tired. It's a good thing they gave us these nightgowns," she said looking over at the neatly folded silk white nightgowns. "And by the way this is way better than camping in my backyard," she pointed out. We nodded.
"I know," I replied. "Come on, we better get some sleep. We'll need it," I said. We all took turns using the room to get changed and then we climbed into bed. The blankets were warm but they were also cool. It was very pleasant.
I didn't go to sleep for a long time after the others had. I was thinking deeply about the journey ahead of us. It would be extremely dangerous, especially to us. We were just teenagers. I was the only one who knew how to fight with my hands. We could get extremely injured or worse yet we could be captured and tortured. I'd rather die immediately than be tortured to death. I was suddenly struck with fear and worry. There wasn't just the worry of being injured, there was the worry of never returning to earth. Let me just say, this was going to be quite an adventure.