The day started just as any other would for Nox, the redhead awakening to the sounds of her mother in the kitchen just adjacent to the living room where she'd fallen asleep on the couch as usual. Rolling over she gave her bleary eyes a moment to focus before the large digital numbers came into view on her computer screen. A little after nine in the morning and from the sound of things her mother was getting ready to leave on a job for the day. With a quiet groan she sat up, stretching her arms over her head and reaching forward to pet the small Yorkie that sat between her legs.
"Are you up?" The older woman Nox called mother leaned her head into the room, looking frazzled and rushed as always.
"Yep, let me grab the dog." Slipping one arm under the Yorkie Nox picked her up and held her close, knowing that the small dog had a penchant for slipping out any door opened in the house and with nothing to hold her back from escape if she got out the front it was better safe than sorry.
"Okay. I have a package coming either today or tomorrow for work and you'll need to sign for it so please answer the door if it rings, it's important." And with that the hurried woman was gone, taking off across the kitchen and out the garage door.
The Yorkie squirmed in her grip but Nox held firm until she heard the garage door shut followed by the subsequent opening and closing of the sliding door, and only then did she let go and laugh to herself as the small dog sprinted across the house and skidded to a halt near the door. It was the same every morning when her mother had to leave, give or take a few instructions about mail or packages or requests to clean the house while she was gone. Nothing extraordinary at all, no reason to believe that the day would be anything other than the same boring drabble as always. Nox would pass the time on her computer, perhaps, or playing the latest video game she'd picked up. A job application or two would be filled out, a call would be made to see if there was any luck, and she would go back to writing her stories of fantasy in black letters on a white screen.
So things progressed and hours passed. Nox made herself breakfast, let the dog out a few times and otherwise didn't really move from her station on the couch until around noon or so when the doorbell rang. At first she considered not getting it but of course the words of her mother resounded in her head and the girl sighed, getting up and dusting herself off as she strode towards the kitchen. She gave little consideration for what she was wearing, after all this was a simple package delivery and the person handing it over would see her for less than five minutes if she had any say in the matter. With her too long pants held up by safety pins and her overly large shirt, her ragged hair and tired eyes she placed the small dog in her crate and shut the door, walking across the kitchen just as the doorbell rang a second time.
"Impatient little bastard aren't you?" She cursed under her breath, sighing as she reached for the handle and twisted it, pulling the red painted door open before staring in awe at what was on the other side staring back at her through the screen.
"Can I…Help you?" Nox blinked a few times, trying to make sure her eyes weren't betraying her.
"Are you Nox?" The blonde one asked, a slight smile crossing his face.
"I am but…Are you….?" Her mouth stood agape, her mind racing as she tried to comprehend what was going on.
"Fili and Kili, at your service!" Both bowed at the same time, and Nox finally found the strength to close her mouth as she reached for the screen to open it.
"Yes, I know who you are. Come inside, quickly." Her first thought was of the neighbors and what they would think, for her mother was on friendly terms with all of them and they wouldn't hesitate to say something if they saw looked out of place while the woman was not home.
"So um…Why are you looking for me?" Nox smiled uncomfortably, still staring somewhat at the dwarves that were now standing in her entrance hall.
"We were told to give you this." Fili handed over a folded bit of parchment, and Nox took it with some hesitation, daring to open it only after she'd taken a deep breath.
"Let's see…Noxomra 'Nox' Sayori…Adventure…be back to the portal by three in the afternoon…..expect to never return?" As she said the last words Nox raised a curious eyebrow at the pair, opening her mouth for a second as if to say something but closing it shortly thereafter.
"Gandalf also said we could use any means necessary to bring you back with us, willing or not, but to be honest we'd rather do this the easy way and have you come along without a mess." Kili chimed in, seeming all too cheery about the whole situation.
"Yes I…" Nox stopped for a moment, telling herself that this must all be a dream. A good one at that if she was seeing her favorite dwarves, but still just a dream. Best to just play along with whatever her subconscious was coming up with, and that meant no cutting corners. "I will come willingly, but you must promise me you will wait where I lead you for me to be ready." The brothers were always a curious pair, and it would be better for them to be away from anything they could accidentally damage that would matter.
"Sounds like a fair deal, lead on." Fili nodded, and Nox quickly led them up the nearby staircase and into an old bedroom. It was clearly used more as a guest room, containing nothing more than a well-made bed, a nightstand with a lamp and a dresser that hadn't seen clothing in it for some time. The bed was messy and unmade and a few clothes were strewn about but otherwise there was nothing particularly extraordinary about the room.
"Just…Sit on the bed or whatever. Don't leave the room, I'll be back as soon as I can." Nox left the door open for her pet cat to come and go as it wished, knowing that in a back corner of the unused room was the litterbox and food for the feline.
From there everything seemed to move faster than she would have liked. She gave herself two hours since the letter said they needed to return to the portal by three that afternoon but she had no idea where the portal was. So the first thing on her agenda was to take a shower, and though she wished to take a very long one and thus enjoy what would probably be the last hot shower she took there was no time. A quick in, washing and out before she wrapped the towel around herself and began to gather up things in her bathroom so she would not have to return upstairs except to fetch the boys. Earrings and necklaces were packed in a small travel case, perfumes and soaps were put in bags to keep them from leaking, and deodorant was thrown in with the perfume for good measure. Middle Earth had no technology, and if she was going to be on the road there would be little to no time to stop and bathe. She'd probably grow used to it in time, but Nox figured it was better to work her way into that gradually as opposed to going cold turkey on getting rid of body odor and such.
With her bathroom handled Nox went back to the first floor and left the items on the counter before heading for the laundry room to put on some undergarments. Once she was dressed in those she walked back across the kitchen and opened the door to the basement. Flicking on the bright white lights she descended down the stairs and looked around her bedroom with a heavy sigh. First thing was first - clothes. A pair of brown pants was overlaid with a long sleeved brown shirt and a leather vest with brass buttons. Goggles were grabbed off a hanger and thrown around her neck, glass things with brass around the rims and some leather lined padding plus an adjustable strap. Nox also snagged a small egg-shaped holder depicting a European style dragon fighting a knight and emptied the dice out of it, filling it instead with small trinkets from the shadow boxes that sat along one wall. Nothing particularly special, just a heart shaped stone, some stones carved to look like eggs, a rusted old key, and things like that. Things that would remind her of home eventually, for she was sure she would miss it.
She dug a canvas bag out from under one of the two beds and placed the container in one of its pockets then went about getting anything else she thought she might need. Steampunk tarot cards, a small ceremonial dagger that was sharp enough to cut skin, and some books were all on the list. Blank notebooks, a case full to the brim of pencils, lead refills, erasers and gel pens were next, followed finally by a stuffed koala bear. All of it fit neatly into the bag, and with everything essential packed away she headed back upstairs and put the things from her bathroom in it as well. The last things Nox grabbed were her pins and some other things from her purse. Said pins were repositioned onto the folding flap of the canvas bag while the small vials of oil and chapstick she had pulled out were put into some small side pockets. With her bag packed Nox went back to her computer and fiddled with it, erasing all the embarrassing stuff from her history, desktop and flash drive. Then she pulled up a document, made some small edits, and walked away. It was a basic letter to her mother stating that she was not coming back and leaving instructions such as her books, video games and anything else her friend Lilith wanted were to be given to her and the rest was to be donated to charity. It would take some time for her mother to come to terms with the fact that she was gone, but to Nox this was a fresh start. It was a chance to head into one of the fantasy worlds she loved so much, to live out an adventure that she would never get the chance to experience again. Besides it sounded like she was going to be taking this journey whether she wished to or not, so it was better to go along willingly for the ride and make it as enjoyable as possible.
'But it is all just a dream.' She reminded herself, having forgotten for a moment that there was no way this could be real. Nothing exciting ever happened in her life, the young woman spent most of her time looking for work in the crappy economy and writing works of fiction that she sold over the internet to a small following of interested folk. It was enough to pay the bills her mother expected but not enough to get her by without the assistance of having the house she lived in and most of the food she ate paid for by the older woman, which had led to a mostly boring existence thus far.
"Okay let's see…jewelry, perfumes, trinkets, cards…A weapon, books, writing supplies, Sydney and chapstick. Yep, I think I'm all set to go." Nox looked at the clock, realizing that it was only just after one in the afternoon. She had an hour or so before she needed to get moving, so that meant it was time for one last taste of home before she left.
Setting some water to boil Nox fetched her tea from the cupboard and set it all on the counter. What she didn't make she was going to take with her, along with the small circular tea infuser she used for single cups. With the tea packed away Nox rummaged through the pantry for foods she could take and anything she could make before leaving home. There wasn't really much since a grocery shopping trip was in order in a few days but there were some leftover cookies from the weekend before with Lilith that Nox wrapped up with a paper towel and some venison jerky she'd made out of what was in the freezer downstairs that got the same treatment. Everything else was either raw ingredients to cook with, things that required a microwave or some other form of heat to make and stuff that would not keep without refrigeration or being frozen. Such was the consequence of living in the modern world, however.
A microwaveable meal of egg rolls and chicken fried rice was her last, though the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs caught her attention as she was washing out the bowl in the aftermath. Nox knew who it was and she sighed as she noticed the brothers emerging from the hallway and into the kitchen out of the corner of her eye.
"I thought I told the two of you to stay upstairs?" She questioned, turning to face them before grabbing a set of heavy duty boots and began to unlace them so she could wear them.
"We smelled food." Kili almost apologized, looking around the kitchen with a bit of curiosity.
"Well stay there and don't touch anything, I'll be ready to go in just a minute. And trust me, you wouldn't want anything I have. Food here isn't the same as it is where you come from, and because you're not used to eating it you'd probably get really sick." Nox sighed, checking her bag one last time to make sure she had everything before shouldering it and looking at the brothers with a broad smile. "Ready when you are."
There was still plenty of time to get to wherever they were going, and as always to leave the house Nox had them go out through the front door which she made sure was locked behind her. From there Fili and Kili led her around the back of the house and towards the small strip of woodland that dominated the common area. The only reason it hadn't been turned into houses was because of several ponds that lined the space and the river that fed them running through the wooded area, making it legally considered wetlands and thus protected unless anyone who wanted to develop on it wanted to shell out the money to make a manmade wetland twice the size somewhere else.
"I know these woods like the back of my hand. Where is the portal?" If they could give her landmarks Nox could easily lead them there, and she was glad when it seemed as if Fili knew exactly what kind of directions to give her.
"The way to return is under a stone bridge that goes over the river, the one with the large willow tree near it." The blonde dwarf pointed off down the common area and Nox nodded as she adjusted the strap on her bag.
"I know exactly where that is. Come on, follow me." Rather than going into the woods Nox headed to the tree line and then followed it as close as she could towards the old bridge.
It wasn't actually a bridge nor was it stone, it was what remained of a concrete drainage pipe that had once run through the area before the water eroded it away. Someone had set stones along it and covered it up to look like a bridge that went over the creek, but any skilled eye could tell what it truly was. In no time they were crossing under the willow tree and down the embankment of the river next to the old pipe. Summer was upon the land and there had not been much rain, meaning that most of the riverbed was barely sneaker deep and no match for the boots that the trio wore. From there Nox followed the brothers to the underside of the bridge and she gave them curious looks as they stood in its shadow, for nothing appeared to be different from where she was standing.
"We all need to hold hands and think of Middle Earth. Gandalf said that is how we return." Fili offered a hand to Nox and she took it with a bit of a smile, Kili's hand grasping her own before she closed her eyes and tried to focus on seeing the world she so loved.
The air began to change around her, and Nox felt the hair on the back of her neck prickle as a soft breeze echoed through the stone of the pipe. Then there was silence for a moment before she could feel the sun shining down upon her skin and the sound of a heavily flowing river somewhere nearby. The wind whistled through the tall grass, and in the distance she could even hear people talking. Opening her eyes, Nox smiled broadly as she looked around and realized that she was no longer in the forest behind her house. She was in Middle Earth now, about to start on a wonderful adventure.
"Come on, the others are waiting for us." Kili kept his grip on Nox's hand and took off, the woman laughing as she ran to keep up with him and let her excitement give her all the energy she needed to get where they were going.