A/N: This is my first story I've tried to write, so I'd appreciate it if you will review. If I have missspelled a word somewhere please tell me and I shll try to fix it right away.
Thx, L-H-S
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from the Lord of the Rings. Those characters and places belong to the author J.R.R. Tolkien. I also do not own the song The Melody Within performed by Ivey Lloyd.
Chapter 1
Unexpected Arrivals
It's been a year since we found DreamLand. A year since we started being chased. A year since we found the Gate. It's been seven months since we completed the treehouse at Angel's Creek. And today, along with the following month to come, were not going to be normal days we've had. For the days to come were going to be our second adventure to which we did not expect.
o0o0o0
May thirty-first. That day started out like any other day. No problems had erupted out of the blue. I had gone to Angel's Creek to read the last few pages of The Fellowship of the Ring. As I stood at the edge of the bank, leaning on a nearby tree, I began to listen around. The creek itself gave out a small bubbling sound while the birds flew and chirped around.
As I began to read a flash of light caught the corner of my eye. "What in the world…I thought we picked everything up the day before?" I mumbled. I stopped what I was doing and started for the other bank. And there, behind the old Willow tree, there sat a sword, bow and arrows, a pair of white knives, and an axe. Being curious I drew the sword from its sheath and looked at it.
"Very interesting," I whispered again.
A two handed long sword as it was called. The black sheath had a small pocket on the outside, which held a short knife (possible a hunting knife). It was probably used for around the house or for simple things like cutting a small piece of string or for cooking. Sliding the sword back in the sheath, I looked at the bow. It was long as well and was a bright white with a leaf and vine design on both ends where the string was strung, and in the middle where you would hold it. The quiver had a brown background to it and had a design similar to what was on the bow. The arrows the quiver bore had yellow feathers on them and a small, bronze colored, leaf shaped head with two small, straight hook-like things that fell a little below the connection of the head and the rod of the arrow. It was kind of like those hunting arrow heads, except smaller and with only two little wings. Picking up the bow and one of the arrows, I started aiming for the hill on the other bank and…crack.Making a fast turn, I saw someone pass behind a tree. Raising the bow and pulling back the loaded arrow, I called out, "Who goes there?" At that moment, two men, a little under 6 feet tall and a dwarf walked out from behind two of the neighboring Cottonwood trees. Awfully familiar, they were. One of the men had brown hair that went down to his shoulders and was a bit rough looking. The other had long blond hair in which parts of his hair was braided and pulled back elvish style and had pointy ears. The Dwarf, who was the shortest of them all, and could probably be overlooked by most people, was wearing a dark (possibly bronze colored) metal helmet, had a long red beard that was braided in some places, and hair that was long and braided. The longer I looked at them, the more that it seemed that I knew them or had seen them somewhere before.
"What are y'all's names?" I asked, putting the bow down and the arrow back in the quiver. The Dwarf looked up and blurted out,
"Tell me your name young missy and I shall tell you mine."
The man with brown hair shook his head and took a step forward,
"My name is Aragorn son Arathorn. This is Legolas Greenleaf and Gimli son of Glóin. We seem to be a little lost. Can you help us?"
"Uhhh…yes…I can," I responded shocked from the realization of who they were, "You are in a patch of woods just off of the neighborhood over there."
"What is your name, young one?" said the Dwarf (Gimli).
"Lily…Erin Lily; I live in the neighborhood that these woods trail off of."
"Aragorn, how do we know she's not working with the enemy?" asked Legolas.
"Excuse me? You ask him as if I'm not even here," I said crossing my arms, "I wish not to work for the enemy. First of all because I have no up-front fighting experience; secondly, just as a reality check, we are not in Middle-Earth, thirdly, last time I checked, the war was over in the Middle-East, and last of all, I wouldn't be telling you all this if I were the enemy."
"That doesn't mean that you aren't working for the enemy," Aragorn stated.
"Well…I guess you are right on that part," I said.
"Lily. Please help me," said a little blond headed girl from behind. Dressed in blue jeans, a light blue shirt and dark vest, Crystal, my little sister was trying to get up the steep bank.
"Crystal? What are you doing here?" I asked, helping her up.
"I received a call from the Power League members asking me to tell you that they are coming here to the treehouse around 3 o'clock. It is already 2:55," she said.
"Lily! We're here!" yelled Vega.
"Hey Champions! You're five minutes early," I called back.
o0o0o0
Before I go on, let me tell you about each member of the Power League Champions. Vega Obskura (aka Alexa Nyte), is someone who likes to pick on people just for fun. You know, not on purpose, but to kid around. She is smart compared to me (math wise and some other subjects if you get what I mean); she knows some neat stuff about TV-shows, games, and some other things. (Please note: Vega and Alexa are the same person. You may hear both names be said throughout the story, but do not get confused, Alexa and Vega are the same person. Vega has long blondish-brown hair with brown eyes. She likes playing her game boy and reading books in her spare time.)
Wonder Woman (aka Wanda), is not the most liked person in our group. It's not that she's mean, but she does stuff before thinking about it. So that's kind-of the reason. But she is nice and can do things when she puts her mind to it.
"Like her Math homework," blurted Mr. Brain.
"Yeah, that was out of the blue. --;" I said.
"Sorry."
Anyways, Wonder Woman, does have some spunk in her, so that kind-of gives her some of her personality. (Wonder Woman has a reddish-brown hair and Hazel eyes.)
Mr. Brain is a transfer student from South Korea. He is the type of friend you would want to have because he always tries to make you happy in some way. If you're down, he would make funny faces to try to get you to laugh. Mr. Brain is very nice and is also very good at Math. He is able to do long division in his head. (Mr. Math now has a competitor to compete with. Mr. Brain has brown hair and brown eyes. He likes making jokes and hanging around his friends in his spare time.)
Mr. Math is one of the shorter people in the club because he skipped a grade. Mr. Math is also very good in Math, but when Mr. Brain came he some competition. Mr. Math's personality is kind-of on the wild side, I guess. He's quirky, likes to surprise people, and abrupt mood swings. But he can be a good friend. He also tries to be funny; kind-of like Mr. Brain. (Mr. Math has blonde hair and blue eyes. Around here we normally call him M&M. He likes to try to scare Wonder Woman in his spare time, but unfortunately he still hasn't succeeded in doing that.)
Mario is the other short guy in the club. He doesn't talk very much, but will when he wants to or when you ask him something. He and Mr. Math are the same age, which makes them the youngest members in the group. Mario always likes doing his best and doesn't mind help others when they need it. (Mario, aka Super Mario, has brown hair and brown eyes. Mario likes to play card games on the computer. He's won most of the common games a couple of times.)
Kelly and Crystal are my two younger sisters. Kelly being second oldest and Crystal being the youngest. Both have a whitish-blond hair and hazel eyes. Kelly is a calm, quiet type girl. She likes to read when she has the time to, and will sometimes challenge someone to a duel in Yu-Gi-Oh. Crystal, on the other hand, is kind-of the opposite. She likes ice-skating, swimming, biking, and playing soccer. She also loves dueling people in Yu-Gi-Oh. It seems that she can't last a week without dueling someone.
"Good thing we take her to the Underground place. Otherwise we would have been dueling her every week," said Kelly.
"I have to admit, Kelly; you're right about that," I said.
That's pretty much it on everyone's personality and what they like to do in their spare time.
o0o0o0
"Better early than late," Mario said when he and the rest of the group got to where I was.
"Who are your new friends, Lily?" asked Mr. Math, noticing three people standing behind me with a questioned look.
"Oh yeah…Champions, this is Aragorn son of Arathorn, Gimli son of Gloín, and Legolas Greenleaf. Sorry for this unexpected arrival guys. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, meet my friends from the Power League Champions: Mr. Math, Mr. Brain, Mario, Wonder Woman, Vega Obscura (aka Alexa Nyte), and my two sisters Crystal and Kelly Lily." As I said their names I walked beside them to insure that nobody was mixed-up with the other.
"Umm, Erin, you do realize who they are and where they're from, right?" whispered Alexa.
"Yes, I do, but we will talk about this in private when we get to the treehouse," I whispered back.
"Okay," she responded. Stepping forward she continued, "We welcome you to come with us to our treehouse, if you wish."
After a couple of minutes of looking and whispering to each other they came to a decision. "We accept your offer. We will stay at your treehouse for the night. Then we must go," said Legolas.
"That's good, because it looks like it's gonna rain any moment now," said Mario looking up at the sky.
With Wonder Woman leading us, we walked down the winding trail to the treehouse. With trees and Bamboo fully bloomed lining both sides of the trail, and everyone admiring the view, Crystal started singing. Two by two we came in and sang while Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli listened. This is what we sang:
"Music boxes have within Every person you have known It's not easy, There was a melody Love more than anything There was a melody Love more than anything
Melodies they carry with them.
Once they open, music fills the air.
Has a song of their own;
Once they open up you'll hear what's there.
You must listen
With your heart for what lies hidden.
Locked deep inside of me,
But know it's free.
It found a place embraced by harmony,
Sweet harmony.
Teaches our hearts to sing.
Only love could break the spell.
Now I know very well
The love within myself.
Locked deep inside of me,
But now it's free.
It found a place embraced by harmony,
Sweet harmony.
Teaches our hearts to sing.
Only love could break the spell.
Now I know very well
The love within myself."
We ended together right when we got to the treehouse.
The treehouse was located in an open area in the middle of the second bank. When entering, there is a patch of Bamboo trees on the right. In the middle of the open area there were about six trees standing tall with a very big treehouse on their branches. All six sections of the treehouse were connected to each other so you didn't have to get out and walk to a certain part and then climb back up the tree again. A rope ladder hung down from the bottom of each part of the treehouse that was supported by one of the trees. The treehouse itself was a light brown color with green shingles and purple doors. The wood on the rope ladder was painted blue. The treehouse also had a small porch-like platform that extended from the front door all the way around the treehouse.
"Well…here we are," said Wanda. "The Power League Champion club…er…treehouse."
"A treehouse you say? Looks more like a house that you would live in," blurted Gimli, snickering a little.
"Well…this is the biggest treehouse here in North Carolina," said Mr. Math. "Though, I'm not sure if there are other treehouses like this somewhere else, but it's possible."
At that moment, rain started to sprinkle down. "Uh, oh...rain. Let's get in before it gets worse," said Mario.
As we scrambled into the treehouse, the rain became heavier, and everything outside was drench in water. Inside the treehouse you could hear the rain pounding against the roof. Now that it was raining outside, the temperature inside was beginning to drop some. As the others dried themselves off with some towels that were in the closet, Mario and I went and got the sleeping bags that were stored in the closet in hallway three. As we started walking back, I thought to myself about what we were going to do since some of us new who our visitors were. Should we tell them what we know and risk them not trusting us, or not tell them at all? Should we journey with them to Middle-Earth and help them destroy the Ring of Power? This was a decision that would have to be made by the whole club.
"Mario. I need to tell you something," I said.
"What is it?" he asked as we came to a stop in the second treehouse. I quickly wrote a note and said, "Read this and when you are done, pass it to the rest of the Champions; even Crystal and Kelly, but not our guest, ok."
"Ok," he said. He read it quickly, and then walked on with me following right behind him. This is what the note said:
Group meeting in Treehouse three at Midnight.
Very important.
Please pass on to all Champions.
And please do not let our guests see this note.
Last person to get this note, stick it in your pocket.
There was no question asked as we walked back to the main treehouse. For this, wasn't going to be a decision that would be very easy.