Disclaimer: (In the spirit of Crimson Starlight)
Haldir and Glorfindel: banging loudly on Shana's bedroom door
Bessie: What're you two doing?
Haldir and Glorfindel: jump at the unexpected voice, looking rather guilty
Bessie: hands on hips Well?
Haldir: She locked herself in her room and is refusing to come out.
Shana: from inside room Fuck off!
Glorfindel: See?
Bessie: Did it ever cross your minds that maybe, just maybe, she wants some time to herself, away from you two that isn't at work?
Haldir: blinks Why would she want to get away from us?
Glorfindel: looks sheepish
Bessie: nods toward Glory I think he gets it.
Haldir: looks at Glory So?
Glorfindel: We HAVE been a bit in her hair a lot lately. Actually a lot more than usual.
Haldir: confused
Glorfindel: She needs some "me" time and unless we want to be sleeping with the dog and the snake for the next 2 weeks I suggest we give it to her.
Bessie: makes shooing motion Scram. Go climb a tree or something.
Haldir and Glorfindel: glare but leave
Shana: pokes head out of room They finally gone?
Bessie: Yup. You got em?
Shana: Oh yeah. pulls Bess into room Every movie Keanu Reeves ever made.
Bessie: rubs hands together, already drooling Which one first? Oh wait. Almost forgot. Shanastay owns only Janessa. Everything recognizable belongs to Tolkein. We good now?
Shana: Oh yeeeaaah. The Matrix?
Bessie: grins Red pill or blue pill?
Shana: Red pill.
Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit-Hole
Janessa awoke to find herself in a brightly lit white room. From her prone position on the floor she tried to determine where she was, bringing one hand up to shield her eyes from the light. "Bloody hell. I feel like I have the mother of all hangovers. Where the fuck am I?" Jan muttered, propping herself on her elbows, still lying on her stomach.
She let the hand by her brows drop, her attempt to diminish the glaring illumination proving ineffectual. She couldn't even tell where the light source was. Looking down at the ground she realized she didn't even cast a shadow. "Ok. What the fuck? That's a neat trick."
With a groan she levered herself to her feet. As she moved, pain flared across her lower back and ribs, forcing the air from her lungs. Something snapped, the agony driving her back to her knees. As quickly as it hit, the pain was gone. Did I wake up in bizarro-land? Jan looked around again, this time registering that while everything was white, she could not discern actual walls, a ceiling or even the floor she kneeled on as she cast no shadow. Everything was just… white and utterly featureless.
Neat trick was an understatement. Where AM I? It took her a moment but Jan finally realized what it was she was sensing. A presence. Something or someone else is here, but where? Oh what the hell… "Hello? Who's there? I know you're here. Come out and show yourself!" she challenged.
Whatever it was smiled in response. Smiled? How would I know it smiled? Jan rose to her full height, warily turning about in a small circle, eyes narrowed, trying to see something, anything in the glaring whiteness. Curiouser and curiouser. Stay calm. Think. How could you have gotten here? Start with the last thing you remember.
Against her better judgment Janessa closed her eyes, focusing on what she could remember. With vivid clarity it all came rushing back. The Denver 7 Newsvan. They were chasing me. There was an accident, a gas tanker. I got the truck driver out. I was going back to get the news crew when… Oh God. The guy with the cigarette. He… I ran but I was too close. The explosion vaulted me through the air. I… Janessa's mind froze, the moment she was airborne and something hit her freeze-framed in her mind.
"I died." Her voice was a barest whisper
The presence seemed pleased with her conclusion.
Janessa shook her head, clearing the fog of disbelief from her mind. Striking a trademark pissed off stance Jan glared in the general direction of where the ceiling would be. "Ok, so I died. And I ended up here, wherever here is. What is this place? Purgatory? Have I not suffered enough in my life that I have to do time here before gaining entrance to Heaven, assuming there is a Heaven and this is Purgatory?"
Janessa's tone was clearly sarcastic, her typical disregard for unproven authority coming through. "Or perhaps this is Hell. Maybe my version of Hell. I can see myself going insane quite quickly from sheer boredom. So what gives? Which is it? 'Cause surely this is NOT Heaven."
The presence seemed amused by the redhead's attitude.
From nowhere eerie music began to rise, quickly gaining strength.
Free… the dream within
The stars are crying, a tear
A sigh…
Escapes from heaven, and worlds end
Wait a minute. I know this song. Where have I heard this before? The answer hovered at the edge of her mind, teasing her. The woman's voice was haunting, the music soaring. Is there some kind of message here I'm supposed to divine? Do the words have a greater meaning?
Breathe… the dream within
The mystifying
We tremble and spin
Suspended within
"The dream within…" What does that mean? Wait. I remember! "This is the theme from Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. But why am I hearing it? What are you trying to tell me? Answer me!"
Look beyond,
Where hearts can see
Dream in peace
Trust love, believe
Dreams, dreams. This has something to do with dreams. My dreams? Which ones? I don't understand! "I don't understand! What do my dreams have to do with anything? Hello? Kinda dead here. Dreams are a bit irrelevant at this point don'tcha think?" Jan threw her arms out to her sides, turning in circles, pleading to whatever or whoever it was out there.
We tremble and spin
Suspended within
Even in death I can't get a break! "Hey! Color me stupid but I don't get it. So what is it? I'm suspended in a dream now? Hey, whatever. Not like I have a whole lotta say here. If you're gonna do something might as well get on with it! I'm not getting any younger here. Well, I'm not getting any anything. I'm DEAD! Great. I'm dead and I'm talking to myself to boot. Good job Jan. Couldn't get it together in life and you're just as fucked up in the afterlife… or whatever." Suddenly the music seemed to get louder, as if to emphasize the lyrics that followed.
Free… the dream within
A voice is calling, a song
A prayer, from deep inside you
To guide you
Be… the dream within
The light is shining
I fly on the wind
Salvation begins
Guide me? Salvation? What do I need to be saved from? "Oh come ON! I'm already DEAD! Why do I have to keep reminding you of that?" Jan's arms hit her sides with a loud slap.
Look beyond
Where hearts can see
Dream in peace
Trust love, believe
"Trust love?" Janessa started laughing hysterically, losing her grip on her already tenuous sanity. "Am I actually supposed to believe LOVE will 'save' me? Love is a joke, a petty dream deluded people indulge in. It's too late for any of that anyway. I'M DEAD!!!" Jan screamed her last comment, the sound swallowed up immediately.
We tremble and spin
Suspended within
The presence did not seemed pleased with her reaction, the redhead still giggling like a madwoman, tears beginning to run down her face.
Completely defeated, Jan lifted her face up, impotent tears still coursing down her face. In one last act of defiance the redhead raised both hands high over her head, both middle fingers extended, not knowing or caring if the entity would recognize the gestures as the insults they were.
Free… the dream within
The stars are crying, a tear
A sigh, escapes from heaven
And worlds end
The ground, or lack thereof, dropped out from under the redhead.
With an echoing scream Janessa plummeted downward, tumbling and twisting.
"MOTHERFUCKER!!!!" the woman screamed as she fell uncontrolled and unchecked.
Janessa tumbled end over end several times before she got a grip on herself. I'm gonna puke if I don't do something fast. Ok. I'm in free-fall. There is no difference between this and jump training at USAFA. Janessa reconsidered that thought for a split second. Strike that. At least at USAFA I had a parachute…
That only slightly comforting thought in mind, she immediately spread her arms and legs out in a loose "X," her knees slightly bent, body tensed against the rush of air she fell through. The movement put her in a stable body position, stomach down the twisting and flipping immediately ceasing.
Now that I'm stable and not gonna hurl, what hell am I gonna do? She looked "down." I have no idea where I'm falling to or what is waiting for me. FUCK! Why do I have a bad feeling that if I wasn't already in Hell that's exactly where I'm headed now. "FUCK YOU WHOEVER YOU ARE!!!!" Jan screamed defiantly yet again, having decided she'd pissed whoever or whatever off to the point she could say anything now.
Something caught her eye and she focused her attention below her, alarm growing in the back of her mind. Oh shit. What the fuck is THAT? Something was coming into focus beneath her, much like everything got bigger as you dropped out of the sky when parachuting. Ok, that IS the ground. As things grew in size the redhead began to make out a valley, trees, a river, buildings and other vague features.
Every hair on Jan's body stood on end as she came to the crystal conclusion, Awww FUCK! This is gonna hurt!!! Nothing impeding her rate of descent, the woman screwed her eyes shut as things below became all too clear and large. Brings new meaning to "brace for impact." So I get to die twice? Woo! What did I do to rate that privilege?
Jan cracked on eye open a split second before impact, immediately closing it again, an involuntary scream ripped from her chest to be cut off as she slammed into the ground.
The group of elves and one Istari gathered in one of Imladris' many gardens looked around as an unexpected scream rent the air, all jumping back as a body landed on the ground at their feet. Not one moved as they contemplated the still form before them, Gandalf and Glorfindel looking speculatively up into the clear blue sky. The most striking thing about the body was the cascade of blood-red hair falling around it, obscuring its face.
Several thumps behind him caused Legolas to turn, finding himself staring at a pile of black leather saddlebags, a full quiver of red-fletched arrows, a gracefully curving bow and a strange looking sword. A grunt and the sounds of movement turned the Prince's attention back to the body they had formed a circle around.
Janessa was surprised that the force of her impact with the ground wasn't even remotely what she'd anticipated. She hit hard enough to bounce but not injure anything other than her nose. She landed face first, her nose breaking with an audible crack. Someone REALLY has a sense of humor.
Muttering around the blood pouring from her nose Jan sat up, throwing her head and hair back as she shifted to her knees, weight resting on her heels, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. She froze as she suddenly realized there were people all around her. Oh shit. This can't be good.
Elrond, Erestor, Glorfindel, Legolas and Gandalf all were struck speechless by the sight of the woman, they now realized, who had just dropped out of the sky into their midst. Her strange, skin-tight attire drew murmurs at the bared skin of her midriff and the swell of her bust, the latter now splattered with blood dripping down her bared neck from her clearly broken nose.
A gasp rose from the Mirkwood Prince as she tilted her head toward him, her features becoming visible, followed by an unfocused rush of anger and barely restrained panic. Legolas took a step back, feeling as if he had been punched in abdomen, all the air rushing from his lungs, a choking sound issuing from his mouth. The woman's emerald eyes locked on his, widening in fear as she saw recognition sweep through the elf.
The group's attention shifted back and forth from woman to elf, their confusion at Legolas' reaction plain on each face. Glorfindel in particular picked up on the woman freezing as she met the Prince's gaze, her muscles going suddenly tense. No. Could this possibly be…?
"Janessa."
Fuck this shit. I'm gone!
Legolas' whispered declaration was just loud enough for the redhead to catch, spurring her into motion. Janessa immediately dropped her hands to the ground in front of her. Pushing off with her fingers and flexed toes she took off sprinting past Elrond, heedless of the renewed flow of blood from her damaged nose, heading straight into a thick stand of trees, the nearest cover she could spot.
Catching sight of something important to her left, Jan dodged just enough that her path took her past her piled belongings. As she swept past she bent slightly, catching her quiver with attached sword in one hand and bow in the other. As she ran she threw her quiver hastily across her shoulders. Shouldering her bow as well she vaulted up to catch the low-hanging limb of a large tree, quickly clamoring up into the branches.
In a flash Legolas was after her, Glorfindel hot on the Prince's heels as they pursued the clearly distressed woman, the rest of the company clearly not understanding what was happening.
The redhead had a bit of a head start, giving her enough time to retrieve what were clearly her weapons as she raced away from them and into the trees.
Legolas had to fight back the tide of alien emotions battering him as he pursued her, realizing he was clearly correct in his summation of who she was. What he could not fathom was why she was running from them. Had they somehow inadvertently threatened her without realizing it?
Glorfindel was not nearly as confused as Legolas as to Janessa's motives for running. Faced with an unknown threat he would have retreated to a defensible position himself, which he assumed was exactly what she was doing. The balrog-slayer smiled to himself as he caught sight of her black-shod feet swinging up into a large tree ahead.
Janessa managed to climb several layers up into the canopy before the two elves reached the base of her tree. She unshouldered her bow and swiftly nocked a broadhead arrow, loosing it to impact at the first pursuer's feet. She swiftly retrieved another arrow, holding it at the ready, this time aimed at the head of the larger male that had followed the first, perceiving him to be the greater threat though neither seemed to be armed.
"STOP!" she cried out. "Who are you and where the FUCK am I?" Confusion and concern? rose in Janessa's mind, mingling with her barely controlled urge to panic. So muddled was she that she failed to realize neither of the former emotions were hers.
Legolas jumped back as the black and red arrow lodged in the ground at his feet. He looked from it to Glorfindel and up to the woman who now had a second wicked-looking arrow pointed at the seneschal's head. His head already swimming the Prince couldn't make sense of the woman's words, only catching the controlled panic rolling off her in waves. There is no way this could be anyone other than Janessa. The fact that he was privy to what were clearly her emotions settled the issue for him.
Glorfindel, recognizing her panic, stepped forward with his empty palms extended, attempting to placate her. He spoke to her in Sindarin, whatever she had yelled at them sounding like so much gibberish to his ears. "Janessa. Saes. We have no desire to hurt you. Please come down."
Janessa's aim never wavered as the taller male stepped forward, his palms out, hands empty. He wasn't speaking English which confused the woman further. What was that? It sounded somehow familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
As the tableau continued a strong gust of wind blew through the trees, buffeting Janessa on her precarious perch. The air lifted the oddly-attired males' long hair, whirling it about their heads. Janessa nearly lost her arrow, barely maintaining her hold on the deadly dart as the dancing breeze revealed something to her eyes that should have been impossible.
Pointed ears! They both have pointed ears! Her already panicked state escalated as the observation sunk in.
"Where the hell AM I?" Jan cried out desperately as more of the long-haired, pointed-eared males drew up behind the first two.
The shorter, thinner blonde male mimicked the first one's actions, spreading his clearly empty hands and speaking what Janessa assumed were supposed to be placating words. At the same time as she spoke Janessa was suddenly hot with a wave of focused emotions that definitely were not hers.
Concern and reassurance rushed through her as she focused on the slender blonde male clearly entreating her. The emotions seemed to gain strength the more she concentrated on that particular individual. What the…? Without consciously realizing it Jan had let up on her bow and was staring, open-mouthed at the male, having come to the extremely unlikely conclusion that the emotions she was feeling were coming from him.
Both elves remained wary, Glorfindel in particular tensing as the woman cried out what was clearly a question, speaking in some language he did not recognize. How do we communicate with her if she does not speak any of our languages?
The balrog-slayer sensed the approach of Elrond and the rest of the group, motioning behind him for them to stay back, not wanting to worry the woman further. Glorfindel assessed the woman's increasingly agitated state. A million questions flew through his mind as he tried to ascertain the best course of action to follow. He almost stopped the Prince as Legolas copied the seneschal's previous motions, pleading with the embodied mystery woman.
Legolas tried to calm Janessa, consciously projecting concern and reassurance toward the redhead. Calm down. It's alright. No one here will hurt you. Please. Trust us. The Prince was gratified when he seemed to receive a response as she let up on her bow.
Something clicked in Janessa's mind as she tried to process everything coming at her. Sindarin. That's what they're speaking! Why the heck are they speaking the language Tolkien created for the Eldar? And further, why do they LOOK like elves? They couldn't possibly be… could they? Now that I'm really looking they clearly are NOT human. That means they MUST be something else…
A particularly strong gust of wind caught Jan unawares, causing her to lose her balance, her arms pinwheeling in the air as she fought to maintain her precarious perch. Jan didn't make a sound as she lost the battle, slipping off the limb, plummeting toward the ground.
Legolas smiled as Janessa seemed to calm down, considering his words perhaps. The grin was wiped off his face as he watched the redhead suddenly lose her balance and fall off the limb she'd been perched on.
The entire group held their breath as they watched the woman fall from the tree.
Legolas cried out as she was about to hit a branch, only to watch Janessa, incredibly twist in the air, reaching out to catch the branch one-handed instead. Relief rushed through the elf at the woman's save only to be overwhelmed by a flood of pain. Jan had clearly injured herself in grabbing that branch.
Jan remained focused even as she fell, her back toward the ground. Deftly, she turned in the air, hand moving out to catch hold of the nearest passing branch rather than hit it. Jan caught the branch one-handed, her bow clutched in the other, swinging down under the branch. The speed of her drop coupled with her own weight resulted in her shoulder tearing out of the socket as her descent was suddenly arrested.
Jan hissed through the pain flaring down her arm and shoulder and across her back, thankful that at least it wasn't her draw arm. Bloody hell. What next? Oh wait. I've literally fallen into a fairy tale. Just wonderful. What have you gotten yourself into now girl?
"You couldn't just let me stay dead could ya?" Jan yelled indignantly to the heavens.
A/N: OOoooo! Cliffhanger! Or should that be branch-hanger? More to come soon! Our poor girl just can't get a break can she?