Author's Note:
Hello All, and welcome!
This is my second fanfiction, but my first LOTR fanfiction. I have long been a fan of LOTR, and only very recently have felt confident that I know enough information to write aboug Middle Earth. I freely acknowledge the fact that I am not the MOST knowledgeable about LOTR, so if I get something wrong, don't hesitate to tell me! Any and all constructive criticism would be GREATLY appreciated. :3
Thanks to DarthxRane and CrackinAndProudOfIt for beta-ing!
On that note... *grandiose gesture* Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not even pretend to own the Lord of the Rings, or it's associated characters. I only own my own characters, Hannah and Josh.
Chapter One: Falling Up
"I can't believe we got lost while on a friggin' tour! How hard can it be to follow a tour guide?" Hannah grumbled as she dug through her voluptuous backpack, pushing past all the memos and guidebooks that filled it. Of course, her cell phone would have to be at the bottom of her bag at the most inconvenient moment. The frigid December air made her shiver, despite the many layers she wore, and the hustle and bustle ofLondonwas rather subdued due to the miserable winter weather. The snow-laden clouds overhead only served to increase Hannah's bad mood. She and her younger brother stood along a rather quiet stretch of the River Thames, next to a tourist shop that sold replicas of medieval weapons. A metal railing stood between the sidewalk and the icy river.
"Hey, don't blame me," Joshua told her. Hannah glanced up at the 14-year-old boy, who was leaning against the rail, making no attempt to find a solution to the problem. Suppressing a sigh of irritation, Hannah replied "It wasn't my fault you wouldn't leave that sword shop!" It hadn't been the first time Josh's fascination with medieval weaponry had gotten the siblings in trouble…
Josh broke Hannah's reverie by pulling out his own cell phone. Hannah paused in her digging. "I thought your battery was dead."
"It was. Last night."
Hannah frowned. "Then what are you waiting for? Call Mom and Dad."
"Hold your horses, I'm working on it!"
Hannah sniggered. "No one says 'hold your horses' anymore, Josh."
"Whatevs." The sound of buttons clicking could be heard as Josh began to dial one of their parents' cell numbers.
Hannah sighed and began to repack her backpack, cramming things into every square inch. She couldn't help but feel irritated and worried – it had only been about fifteen minutes since their London tour group had left the tourist shop, but they were in a foreign city, in a foreign country for goodness' sake! She also felt rather stupid. If they had only paid attention to the clock… Oh, Mom was going to be SO mad at them…
"Oh, crap!" Josh exclaimed. Hannah looked up at her brother, wondering what else could possibly have gone wrong. "What?" she snapped.
"I accidentally dropped my phone."
"Well, pick it up again!"
"I dropped it on the other side of the railing."
Hannah left her backpack sitting on the public bench and came over to stand beside her brother. Following his gaze, she noticed his cell phone lying near the edge of the dirty river. Between the siblings and the phone was a treacherous five foot slope, muddy from recent rains and practically vertical.
"I'm going down to get it," Josh announced, climbing over the railing.
"Wait, Josh…" Hannah hesitated, knowing her overconfident brother wouldn't listen to her. "Oh, be careful!" she warned.
"I will!" Josh assured her. Hannah didn't find it very reassuring.
Her misgivings proved correct. Josh, with a yelp of surprise, slipped and slid into the river. Hannah knew her brother was a strong swimmer – he'd be okay, if slightly muddy and wet. Still, she couldn't help but be worried. "Josh, are you okay?" she called.
Hannah's knowledge of her brother's swimming skills meant she was especially concerned when he didn't resurface immediately.
"Josh?" she called. No answer. "Josh!" she called again, a bit more frantically. When no answer came, and no part of her younger brother broke the surface, Hannah leaped over the railing, heedless of her own safety. Which was why, of course, she fell into the water too.
Immediately, she knew something was wrong. The water shouldn't be this deep, she realized. Gravity seemed to reverse – she was sinking, though she was swimming with all her strength towards what she thought was the surface. The muddy water pushed and pulled at Hannah until her sense of direction was completely lost. Seconds seemed to pass like hours. Hannah grew dizzy from lack of oxygen and the frenzied water, and black began to creep over the edges of her vision.
I'm going to drown, she thought. She sent a quick prayer heavenward.
Her lungs burned with need for air, and she choked on the water as she reflexively tried to breathe. The blackness crept slowly over her eyes like a thick woolen blanket, but all of a sudden, Hannah felt the world right itself. She finally knew which way was up. In a sudden burst of adrenaline, Hannah kicked upward, lungs straining for oxygen. Almost there… almost there…
Hannah's head broke the surface, and she began to splutter and cough up the brackish river water from her lungs. Her strength was ebbing – Hannah knew that she wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer. Her head slipped below the surface again…
Just at that moment, someone grabbed her around the waist and pulled her up out of the water.
"Hannah, stay with me, come on!" Josh's voice was like the voice of an angel in her ears.
Joshua pulled his older sister back to shore, where she fell to her hands and knees, coughing up more water. Josh patted her on the back encouragingly. Once all the water had been expelled from her lungs, Hannah flopped over onto her back where she lay gasping and shuddering as she inhaled huge lungfuls of sweet, sweet air. Gradually, the pounding of her heart lessened and her breathing slowed.
Josh sat down next to her, carefully avoiding the wet area where she had spit up water. "Okay?" he asked.
Hannah coughed weakly before croaking "I love you, Josh."
Josh giggled – giggled! – and said "I guess my ninja skills paid off, then."
"No kidding." Hannah sat up, eyes and nose streaming. She hastily wiped her face with her sleeve. "Thanks."
"You don't have to say thanks; you're my sister."
"Well, thanks anyway." A realization suddenly dawned on Hannah. "Where the heck are we?" she exclaimed.
"That's what I've been trying to figure out for the last hour."
"Wait… the last hour?"
"I came through an hour before you did."
"I fell into theThamesnot even a minute after you, though!"
"I don't know what's going on, but wherever we are, we're certainly not inLondonanymore. I mean, look at that river! TheThameshasn't been that clean for over a century, if not more! I don't think the river we came out of is the same one we fell into. And then there are the plants. Look at how tall those trees are! I don't think there's a forest like this inLondon."
"No, we're certainly not inLondon." Now that Josh had mentioned it, Hannah could see the differences between their current location and where the siblings had fallen into the river.
The river they had emerged from sparkled in the sunlight. It was wide, deep, and fast- flowing; it was so clear that you could easily see the riverbed twenty feet below the water's surface. The siblings were resting on a narrow, three-foot stretch of rocky shore. Around them lay an immeasurable forest, which seemed to stretch from horizon to horizon. The trees themselves were tall and obviously ancient. Something about them made Hannah nervous, as if they might come alive at any moment. There was a certain malevolence in the air that put her on edge as well.
"Could we possibly have been carried downstream, you think?" Hannah asked hopefully, knowing what the answer would be.
"No, I don't think so," her brother replied. Hannah sighed regretfully. She couldn't think of any other logical reason for the siblings' current predicament. However, she stubbornly held on to the hope that they were still somewhere inEngland.
The siblings rested in companionable silence for another half an hour. Finally, Hannah spotted a rising plume of smoke in the distance. "Look!" she told Josh. "Smoke. Maybe that means civilization is near."
Joshua nodded uncertainly. "It's a possibility. Looks a bit big for just one house, though. It could even be a forest fire."
"Well, we're going to need to try and find someone who can help us get back toLondon. If there's anyone there, then we should see if they can provide us with any assistance."
"I suppose," Josh said doubtfully.
Hannah continued, excited. "It looks like we might get there if we follow the river a ways. It's as good a place as any to start."
"I guess you're right," Josh sighed. "But if we're not there before nightfall, we should make camp."
"Agreed." With stiff, creaking joints, Hannah picked herself up off the ground. Beside her, Josh also got up with a groan, rolling his shoulders.
"Let's go."
The coming of the two was not unplanned for. This, among other things, Ilúvatar had kept to himself concerning the future of the world. Not even the Valar knew of their coming. He knew that without the two, many others would suffer death and pain. For the good of many, Ilúvatar had brought them from their own time to assist those of times past. He knew they would face great trials, but without them, all of Arda would fall into darkness.
