Cricket yelps and trys to back away from the two, but her back hits a wall, causing her head to scream in protest.
"Whoa whoa it's ok miss, we arent going to hurt you," Kili said, trying his best to calm the poor woman down,"you were passed out when we found you, so we carried you to our campsite. What..what do you remember? Are you ok? You aren't hurt, are you?"
Cricket looks at him a bit strangely, but notices he has kind eyes. She lets herself relax a bit before answering. "No, I'm not hurt, my head just aches a bit. You said you found me passed out? I..was finishing up a hike at the park when this storm came out of nowhere. There was a loud noise above when and when I looked up, I was hit by a heavy limb and knocked to the ground, hitting my head on a rock. The last thing I remember is everything going dark..then waking up to you two. Am I not still at the park?"
Kili and Fili look at each other for a moment before answering. "A park? No..miss there was a bright light and you...well, we think you fell out of the light and landed on the ground in front of our campsite. The storm was still going and we couldn't just leave you there."
Cricket stares at them before bursting out laughing."You are both kidding right?" she asks, stopping the laughter when she notices they weren't laughing or smiling. At all. "You..you aren't kidding..what do you mean fell out of the light Mr..." She realized she didn't know either of their names at the same time they did.
Both smiling they come to their feet and give a small bow "Kili" then "Fili" then together "at your service".
She smiles back at them, and the silliness of being bowed to, before standing wobbly to her own feet. Lucky for her they both caught a hand, making sure she didn't fall over. She attempts a curtsy herself before answering "My name is Ashley, but everyone calls me Cricket. Well, except for my family, they stick with Ashley, cuz they're stubborn like that."
Smiling cheekily, they both place a small kiss on her hand, saying "A pleasure miss Cricket" before helping her sit back down. When they had sat themselves down as well, Fili starts to answer her question. "What we mean miss Cricket..."
"Just Cricket, if you dont mind."
"What we mean Cricket is a storm hit here suddenly as well. In the middle of it right in front of our camp there was a flash of bright light like lightning had struck, and a thud from inside it. When it was gone and we looked to where it had hit, you were laying there. We carried you and your stuff here, you woke up, and here we are."
She goes silent for a while, taking in thoughtfully what they had told her. After a while she asked if she could see her bag, as she wanted to check something. They hand it to her, curious about what she could need to check, as well as curious as to what could be in the heavyish bab. She unzips the front pocket of the bag and, thankful she had the foresight to get a waterproof bag, takes out her phone, turning on the phone to check for a signal. There wasn't one of course, not even one freaking bar. She sighs and puts it back, part of what she was suspecting having been proven. The two names niggling at the back of her mind, and along with the clothes and their accents, let her know she was probably right, as much as she didn't want to believe it. First though, she needed confirmation from them.
"This may sound like a strange question...or maybe not considering how you found me...but where am I exactly? Because I have this strange feel that I'm very far where I passed out. And that scares me a bit."
Fili looks at her sadly "You are in Arda my lady, other-wise known as the middle-earth. In a forest maybe a day's journey from the Shire. Are you as far from home as you believed?"
She pales and covers her mouth with her hand, not trusting herself to speak at first, hoping he would have said something else entirely. She knew where she was, and she knew the name well. Unfortunately it had been awhile since she had read any of the books, and she could only remember a few bare pieces of information from them, though she had a weird feeling there were more to the strange gaps in her memory than that, as she normally knew a bit more than she could actually remember. It was like there was a block."I am farther from my home than is possible, it seems. May I be..alone for a minute?" Not waiting for an answer, she walks to the other side of the small cave and sits down, her back against the wall, pulling her knees up to her chest and breathes in deeply. This was definitely not what she expected when making her bugout bag. It would come in handy now, that was for sure. She starts shaking, realizing she had no idea if she could get back, or how to do so, or for that matter how in the hell she had gotten here in the first place. Would her sister be ok by herself? How long before anyone noticed she was missing?
While all this was whirring through her mind, she suddenly feels two warm bodies sit on either side of her. "Just how far from home are you?" Kili asks softly.
She sighs and answers "Just, try to keep an open mind, all right? I...I don't think im even in the same world anymore if what you say is true. I am far enough I have no idea how to get back." Kilis eyes widen slightly, and he's quiet a minute before speaking.
"This may come as a surprise, but I believe you. Considering the way we both found you it would be hard not to. Besides, there is too much magic in this world to not belive in something like that." Cricket gives him a grateful smile and Kili perks up. "Why dont you come with us to the Shire? I bet Gandalf could help you, he is a powerful wizard!"
"Do you really think so?" Kilis youthful excitement was contagious, and made her excited as well.
"Of course! Why don't we all get some sleep, and when we wake up we can all head there together!"
"Excellent idea Kee." says Fili smiling at them both, glad to see the girl a bit less sad. He hands her a blanket as she relaxes more by the fire. "Sleep well, and tomorrow we will try to get you some help home."
Nodding her thanks, she takes the blanket, thanking the stars she ran into someone as kind as these two. She didn't realize how tired she actually was, as while staring at the fire with them her eyes start drifting closed...
When she wakes up the next morning, the first thing she notices is the forest around her, reminding her what happened and where she is. The second thing she notices is that there were two warm presences up against her on either side. Apparently at some point they had all fell asleep next to one another, Fili with one arm around her shoulders with her head nestled into his side, while Kili on the other side had his head in her lap, cuddling his blanket like a teddy bear. Smiling at the absurdity of the situation, she runs her fingers slightly through his thick brown hair, how young he looks at the moment not escaping her. She glances over at Fili, him looking older asleep, with his full beard and braided mustache, but still keeping a young aura.
She can't keep in the giggle that escapes her and feels both the young princes stir. They slowly open their eyes, taking in their surroundings before realizing their sleeping situation. Both faces turn red as Fili moves his arm, giving a murmered "Sorry", while Kili just grins and snuggles back into his blanket and her lap, intending to stay a bit longer apparently. Funny as it was, she had pressing urges to take care of, and his head wasnt helping matters much.
"Kinda need to get up, Kili" she says, sliding to the side a bit so his head hits the ground. Covering his face with the blanket, he complains.
"What was that for?" while Fili just laughs behind her "I was comfortable."
"That may be, but I have to ..um..take care of natures call."
Both stare at her blankly.
"Argh, I have to relive myself..."
She laughs at their expressions as they point towards the small stream area. She thanks them and grabs a couple of things from her bag before heading that way, hearing a smack behind her, and the two start arguing.
"What was that for?"
"You cuddled back into her lap?"
"I wasnt the one with his arm around her all night!"
She laughs to herself as she gets to the stream, and, after using the restroom, washes her face and hands in the stream, as well as brushes her teeth. No one could tell her she was paranoid for making up the bag now, as helpful as it was here. Of course she would have to make it home first for it to matter.
Heading back she sees they have already completely packed up the camp. She compliments them for their quick work, telling them how nice it is to see a man who knows how to get things done jokingly.
They both beam at the compliment. "You should see what else we can do" Kili says mischievously while Fili smacks him on the back of the head. "But we arent men, we're dwarves, dwarrow."
Cricket cocks her head to the side in surprise. "But im only 5'4, and you aren't that much shorter than me, only a couple of inches if anything! Did I shrink?"
They both laugh and Fili takes off a boot for her to inspect. The first thing she notices is how heavy it is, the second thing that they actually added about three inches to their height without actually being heeled. That meant they were only about 5 feet tall!
She hands it back in wonder while Kili explains how they are made especially for Dwarrow, to make it a little easier to blend in for those of them that travel quite a bit. "It also makes us about the same heighth as our uncle, who doesn't actually need to wear them as tall as he is. Not only that it puts a little extra something into any kicking you do during a fight."
Nodding her understanding she turns to her own stuff, pulling on her own shoes and jacket, before grabbing the bag and walking hammer. She kept wishing she could remember more of the book, but every time she tried and got close it slipped away. The most she could remember is most of the names and the barest facts. She did, however, now know the timeline at least, and that the two she was with was part of the company meeting Bilbo for the quest. As she digested this, wondering why in the hell she was taking in all of this so well, she heard Kili ask if she was ready. "Yes, if you two are."
"Then lets head out."
After walking for a while, they both started asking questions about where she was from, both being the curious young dwarves they were. She smiles and answeres them the best she could, somehow ending up on the topic on television, what is was and how it worked(they were very interested in American ninja warrior), what exactly the function of her bugout bag was, and if she had made the hammer herself. And, of course, food was a favorite topic.
"Does that mean you're a cook?" Kili asks after talking about the different types of potatoes she liked to make.
"Me? No, I just like cooking, thats all. I like food, and experimenting with food, and honestly I just like feeding people. Those things just seem to help with food coming out well." This ended up turning into a conversation about what pintrest was as she told them about some of the recipes she had found and tried out. They both wanted to try the scrambled egg stuffed baked potatoes, and Kili had a big sweet tooth.
"Bombur would like you" comments Fili after a while. "I bet the two of you could talk all day and never run out of topics, not to mention could make an amazing meal together."
"Who's Bombur?"
"He is the cook for the company. Problem is he eats almost everything he cooks, so he is also the biggest one in the company. Doesn't change the fact he is a good fighter though."
"Maybe I can meet him and we could swap recipes. Are you two good fighters as well?"
They both puff out their chests and grin. "Of course! We have been training since we were little to fight with all sorts of weapons. I enjoy using double swords though, while Kili is a very good archer. I also keeps small knives everywhere on me."
Cricket thinks to herself if she was going to be in this world for a while, maybe she should learn how to fight as well. When she mentioned to the boys, they both agreed that would be a good idea. "If we weren't all going on the quest I would say Dwalin could teach you a bit, he is the best fighter of us all, except maybe for uncle Thorin."
It went on like that for the rest of the day, the princes seeming to be very interested in superheroes, so as it got dark and they finally reached the Shire, Cricket had been telling them about the X-men, and was thinking how much the two of them would probably enjoy exploring her world. However they stopped as Fili slowed down and pointed to a rune glowing on the outside of a door. "Thats the sign Gandalf said to look for, we must be here." Fili and Kili glanced at each other and Cricket before opening the gate and walking up the steps to the door. As they raised their fists to knock Cricket found herself very nervous, not knowing what to expect, or if Gandalf could even help her get home. As she stepped up behind the two the door opened...
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