Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings.
This is my little, light-hearted side project, because writing Orc Queen puts me in depressing, deep moods that go against my very nature. Light hearted stories help me out of that funk and get my creative juices flowing.
Hence, this story was born! The idea I've been beating around a lot so I hope everyone will be able to get some light enjoyment out of it.
Timeline: Right when the Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring begins.
Warnings: The beginning of this chapter starts off sounding way more serious than it actually is. My poor character is probably a Mary Sue (but hopefully not too much Sue will be involved), but she won't be a 10th walker though she will go on some adventures.
She might meet up with the Fellowship from time to time, but will mostly do her own thing not wanting to interfere with their quest. She won't travel with them into Moria or anything like that – for one, she would most likely die, as I think any person for our world would.
I will also be splicing the movie and book versions, because it's been years since I've read the books and I refuse to do so for a fan fiction. Hell, I'm reading the Silmarillion and that's quite enough dorkdom for me at one time.
This won't be a Legomance - I hope for you Legolas fans out there you'll still give this a chance (and this is from one Legolas lover to another). I was tempted to have her fall in love with Legolas, but decided I liked the idea of Glorfindel chasing my character around a mayhem infested Middle Earth better. Besides, free creative license with Glorfindel since who knows what he was doing during the books, besides saving Frodo's ass after he got stabbed by the Witch King.
Expect slight silliness, slight seriousness, but overall fun. That's the plan at least.
Enjoy!
Stuck!
Get Me Out of This Hell Hole!
or
Follow that Maybe-Ship!
Jetties stark black in color rose from waves of pearl foam. They glimmered in the faint moonlight and in the murky shadows undulated up and down like a pod of whales. The sand was unlike anything she'd ever seen. Millions of tiny salt crystals blinked lazily up at her and shimmered away as she took small, measured steps through the sand.
Endlessly the coast stretched before and behind her. There had been nothing - no settlement, no noise but the crashing of weak waves against fictionalized surfaces. The world was calm and cool, and her memory was slowly coming back to her in faint flashes.
When she opened her eyes to the see the ocean, she had remembered nothing and stood only to seek warmth, but as she strode down those endless miles of bleak coast memories cautiously resurfaced; like shadowy wisps of hazed smoke they filled her empty mind, slowly and calmly but persistently.
A strand of dark hair, a smile of a female senator, an image from an old black and white, in 1918 World War I military operations ended, friends on her cell's contact list, the taste of cold coffee...all these images came to her in an nonlinear fashion. She was glad of it for a little while, but that was before the fear started to slowly creep into her pores, into the crevasses of her brain; for the memories brought awareness and awareness brought fear, and fear carried loneliness.
She knew the names of small shells she spotted along the beach - ring top cowrie, calico pecten. Her thirst was because her body fluids were too saturated, because her blood had a low osmotic pressure. There was pain in her right ankle because she had sprained it numerous times. These were only few of the memories she had regained from her disorientation.
Everything around her was familiar – water, sand, air, and sky, but there was something different about this beach compared to the ones in her memories. The air was sharp, its freshness almost biting. The North Star was absent from the sky, but Orion and O'Ryan remained, their images flipped in the heavens.
Exhausted but not quite fearful or fearless, she sat on the sand and rubbed her arms. The moon lit the water, its image rippled and larger than in the sky. From its position, she could tell morning was hours away. The chill in the air calmed her mind as feverish as it had become, but she was too tired to think about anything right now. Tomorrow, when morning came, she promised herself she would be more logical.
Turning on her hands and knees she crawled up a small, bushy knoll and took a look at the expanse of land which ambled up and away from the sea. Plains endless in the dark and much like a dream spread out before her. The dim light let her see shadows of tors and maybe the image of a tree now and then, but there was no light of civilization, no bubble eyes of a nocturnal creature prowling the territory.
This isolation gave her peace of mind, and with the thought she fell into a dreamless slumber.
With morning the hazed dream of confusion left and she once again knew herself.
A red sun had replaced the blue moon and sat heavy and swollen on the horizon. It was bright and golden at the edges, pink further across the sky, and the clouds were shaded a deep purple. There was a strong gust of wind that brought the smell of salt and fish and hit her like a slap in the face. Closing her eyes, Connie prayed this was a dream.
Disorientation left and in its wake there was anxiety. It churned the acid in her belly and for a moment she really didn't want to stand up and face what most likely was reality. Therefore, it really didn't come as a surprise when, on deciding to not be a coward because it was bad for the soul, Connie opened her eyes to see she was indeed on a beach and not her bed.
First thought: Well, her bed sucked anyway. No hard feelings about that.
Second thought: Where in God's green earth am I?
Third thought: How in the hell did I get to the beach?
Home was no where near the ocean, but barely a meter there foaming waves were. Last night they had been further away from her resting place. At least the tides remained constant she thought before the urge to retch assailed her. Placing her head between her knees, Connie concentrated to the sound of the crashing waves.
Okay, first thing's first. She needed a plan.
The plan: None come to mind, but I have a feeling I'm kind of screwed right now. Better plan coming to a theatre near you soon!
Since there were no theatres near her she would have to make due.
"Be calm, stay calm, don't freak out..." Connie chanted instead trying her best to ignore the rapid beating of her heart. What was it that Andi was always saying when doing her new age yoga bullshit - find your inner peace and your body will follow suit. To her it had been a bunch of bull, and as she had known Andrea since the cradle and been prey to her stupid fads since a little after that she had never give her advice much thought, but perhaps it could help her now.
After a few moments trying to find said peace, always a difficulty since there were always too many thoughts rolling around her head, Connie came to a not quite astounding conclusion. Fake meditation didn't help at all, but at least it took her mind off the situation; if that was the smart thing or not had yet to be decided.
Well, there was always praying. As a "good"Catholic, raised in a good Catholic family as she supposed her family was, Connie knew one thing: pray only when all other options were exhausted, and only if there was no food around to take her mind off the problem. God would, if He had time and/or the desire, help.
It made sense. You didn't want to ask for too many favors too soon in life. What if you lived to be real old and God just got tired of doing you favors? Yep, made sense.
And so she prayed, kind of, but shutting her eyes tightly and wishing that this was a dream didn't seem to be cutting it for God. The harsh grains of sand and the salty odor of the sea were too pungent and real to be an illusion
Was there some sort of prayer she missed out on? It had probably been that one time she cut CCE class. Okay, it had been more than once, but really if God had wanted her at CCE class than he shouldn't have given her the gift of being an extremely swell liar, erm, actor. But she would have never dreamed about cutting religion class if she had known this was what was in store - actually, that was a lie too, but come on! Sunday afternoons were meant to be spent watching television and not doing homework due the next day.
Ah, the good, old high school days...
Well, maybe God was busy. She'd try Him later.
A crash of a large wave brought her back to her present and current dilemma. Oh yeah, she was stuck in the middle of nowhere, and if her memories from the night before had been correct, and not drug induced, then she probably wasn't on Earth. But at least she could breathe the air, right! That was something, and there were animals too. Winning!
Small green-brown crabs scuttled around her, running from the waves, and then chasing them back again in search for food. A small smile twisted Connie's lips. Struggling to her feat, Connie really looked around her for the first time and realized that at least part of her night assessment was right.
Plains stretched out behind her. Every now and then there was a rock formation, a sporadic tree, and further, much further, she could see the purple-blue shadow of mountains. Or monster hills. Climbing up a small mound of grass and sand, Connie took in the scene from a better perspective trying to get her bearings and thoughts together. She might have been slightly crazy from time to time, but her mother had raised her to be a realist, and right now she realized that she couldn't stand around all day thinking to herself.
"There has to be something around here." Her voice echoed on the salt filled air and did little but to creep her out. "Okay, I'm near the ocean so some port has to be near-ish."
Hopefully. A dark thought pointed out. Maybe this place had no people, because for all she knew this was not her world. It was an innate thought, a vibrating fact inside her blood. The last memory she had before last night was sitting by an old wishing well, her friend laughing across from her, the windows of her house ablaze with warm yellow light and the smell of cider and pumpkins, and then blackness.
One moment changed her completely, and, true to her style, it was a moment she couldn't remember. Winning...Not.
Looking over the sea again, Connie did a double take. Squinting in the early morning sun, she could just make out a dark blob on the horizon. A ship, perhaps? Whatever it was, it was traveling to the north, or what she thought was north. The sun rose in the east and set in the west so Connie was pretty sure it was to the north that the maybe-ship-but-maybe-not-a-ship could be traveling. Hopefully here the sun rose and went the same way.
Very aware of her state of dress - wet, soaked, with sand in the most inappropriate places, she wasn't looking forward to meeting any locals. The swimming shorts she was wearing and the sports bra she wore under her black hoodie probably wouldn't be very proper. The best she could hope for was some hedonistic culture that wouldn't mind her lack of clothing.
For Christ's sakes, if she knew her entire life would be changing some shopping would have been in order. For one, she would have invested in a nice, warm outfit, but then again she was rarely ever cold. Maybe a camping-esque outfit with a rain resistant jacket would be better. Yeah, that would have been the best option since she could tie the jacket around her waist or…
She smacked her head. There was no point in thinking about proper cloths now anyway, and besides if she didn't keep focused she would lose sight of the ship thingy. Eventually, Connie knew that she would lose sight of it, but she wanted to keep it in her line of sight for as long as possible. And while losing sight of a maybe-ship wasn't the worst scenario that crossed her mind, it was the only thing she really had going for her right now.
Damn, she should have been a runner, but the state of her body proved her thoughts on the matter. The most exercise she got came in the form of walking - around the park, to the metro, to her car, to the store, the once a month hiking expedition with Tiny Dancer, etc. She needed to lose about thirty pounds, but then again she could survive being not so skinny. It wasn't worth the pain. Or maybe it was. That decision had yet to be breached.
At least fat reserves would help her survive if food was hard to come by. Yay for positive thinking! With that thought, the walking, as she later came to call all long walks, commenced.
Trudging along in the sand after the first forty minutes wasn't easy but wasn't unexpected either. In fact, it was down right unpleasant because as much as she liked the beach she preferred swimming in the water rather than sun basking.
Happy thought time: At least she wasn't pale! Sunburn would be harder to come by.
Not so happy thought time: The weather sucked. From a nice, cool morning the day slowly became warm to burning hot and the salty air was stifling.
God, she wanted to sit down, close her eyes, and wake up in her lumpy bed that's mattress was in dire need of replacement, but she couldn't because the maybe-ship was just a speck on the horizon its travels by wind being much faster and less sand hindered than her own. Note: who's smart idea was it to chase a maybe-ship?
Leaning forward Connie, with her hands on her knees, took a couple of deep breaths. By god, where the hell was she? Where were the locals? She hoped they weren't scary, inhuman locals, or mean human locals with bad breath, no love of hygiene, and sexual ideas in their heads. She could fight off one man with a relatively high chance of success, but not two or more. She was a strong girl, but not that strong!
It would probably be a good idea to find a large stick or rock to carry with her for protection, and in the mist of trying to find said supplies there came another thought. Humans aside, she knew there were animals, and where there were animals there was a food chain. She gulped. Food chains didn't bode well for uninformed creatures. Creatures like her!
"Whatever." The word escaped her lips thankfully stopping the beginnings of a minor panic attack. Thank god for her innate easygoingness or else she might have been a problem.
In the next three hours, it was the same beach scenery with the exception of no more ship, but Connie had taken a poll and concluded that her spirits were still in the middle to high range. It wasn't much but it was something, and judging by the sun it was just about two in the afternoon. There was still a lot of day left to discover a settlement or something…
Like an animal with huge teeth and really sharp talons.
Hmm. What would be worse - to be maimed by a human or animal? Another poll was taken and her body unanimously decided it'd would rather been maimed by an animal. At least then she would be part of a cycle of life and her spirit would live on in said animal. These happy thoughts, and others, kept her focused for the next couple of hours as she hugged the coast line.
Her other thoughts included: this place, world, or whatever was beautiful but uncivilized. Well, in a high tech sense.
There hadn't been an airplane, or a flying 'thing', no hum of a car motor or a machine, and no smog. The water was blue and held almost too much life; dolphins or very large fish jumped in the distance, crabs scuffled along the bench unaware and uncaring of her, rude!, strange birds flew over head cawing much like a gull would. Complete isolation.
This of course could be easy disproven. There could be very little people and not a lot of technology, or maybe no people but monster magic locals that had ships.
And then the land started to slope. Sand became rock, plains became forest, and the rock became moist dirt. The plains disappeared into trees and the earth became cut with ravines, thick with green moss and large, vibrant trees.
She did her best to keep to the coast, but the water was far below her now and the crashing of waves an echo on rock. Slowly thick foliage ate the scenery and she was stuck in a damp forest, almost a very shallow wet land, until it opened to a sandy banks of what she thought was a river delta. It's green and pregnant flow of water streamed into an estuary, the cliffs where she came from curving around the water and blocking the open ocean from her sight.
The break in the canopy allowed her to see that sun was further in the sky, probably around later afternoon time, and Connie sighed trying to wipe dirt and pieces of forest off her. The forest had been cool, but the sun was blazing hot and her skin almost immediately became sticky with sweat. And one hot, sweaty, hungry, and thirty Connie did not equate to one happy camper.
"Shit," she cursed taking off her running shoes and rinsing the mud off with water. "This really sucks."
Now was a good time as any to cry. Too bad she had already tired with no success.
This is what happens to people who spend their whole lives trying not to cry, Connie thought mockingly, when they actually need to cry they can't. Great. Perfect. Now how was she supposed to vent? Punch a tree? Maybe...No bad idea.
Blinking as she came again into the sun, Connie decided that she should do as she did earlier that morning - gather her bearings. If she couldn't cry pathetically then she should at least do something. Precious daylight was wasting away.
She took in everything: the trees, the cliffs, the inlet, and the river. She'd lost sight of that maybe-ship ages ago because of the stupid forest, but she was now on the banks of a rather large, slow moving river. Rivers led to places like civilizations - hello, river valley civilizations! - and theoretically this river could give her a better deal than that lame maybe-ship. It would provide water at least.
The trees stretched down the dark green river on both sides. Here there was a problem. Hug the coast and get to civilization, or hug the river and have water and food, and maybe reach some type of town?
The choice was obvious. She had enough skill due to her camp loving family and smarts (at least she'd like to think she possessed some intelligence) to meet basic survival needs for a time. Besides, she wasn't worried about surviving - she was worried about being alone for the rest of her life and never being able to return home.
Huckleberry Finn, eat your heart out!