Chapter 2
Ok I'll admit it. The day had been a lot of fun. Everyone was very friendly, and even better that me and my friends weren't the only girls. Many of the women chose to be the races of elves, hobbits or man. But I only saw maybe two other women who dressed up as rangers. They seemed less than please that my pants were jeans and that my boots didn't look anything like what people from middle earth would wear. They were more fashion black combat boots one would find at the mall, with two buckles in the back, zipper on the side and laces in front. But I didn't care, I already owned them and don't want to buy a pair of shoes I'm only going to wear once.
Lights had been set up when the sun began to set, fake candles had been "lit" on the sides of the stands. Tents were set up randomly through out the park. They reminded me of circus tents. They confused me, I had never heard of people staying the night for Renaissance Faires, but then again I had only gone once before.
Our tent was set up on the other end of the park, far away from the nearest bathroom. There were 8 cots set up inside. Four on one side of the tent for our group and another four for another group of girls, who were now sleeping soundly. Our tent was well lit by the four lamps that we were given.
"This is so great!" Mindy was changing into her night gown. It was apparent that even though she was changing she wasn't going to be going to sleep anytime soon as she went on about the excitement we all experienced today. "Uh huh." Deni fell onto her cot not bothering to change, a yawn escaping from her. Pam laughed, mimicking Deni's action.
"So what's going on tomorrow?"
"I know there's a food eating contest. Mostly dwarves and elves competing. Oh! Natalya! You should join!" Mindy shot up in her cot, a smile beaming across her face. I rolled my eyes, "No."
Pam and Deni laughed as Mindy's face fell into a pout before rolling onto her back.
A smirk fell upon my lips and slowly rolled my neck as the laughter died down to sleepy chuckles. Pam's eyes were closed and Deni lay on her stomach, her head was turned away me however the heavy breathing would indicate she was in the same state as Pam. Grabbing my cell from my back, I was surprised to find it was almost 1 am. No wonder they were tired.
Sleep was the last thing on my mind, insomnia had become the norm for me over the past 2 years. As quietly as I could, I got up and walked out of the tent. There was a chill in the air, and for once today, I was happy for wearing pants and three layers of shirts now. It was like stepping back in time. The many torches (although electric), and many tents gave the feel of medieval times. The night sky made the trees around us seem dark, deep and mysterious. Scanning the darkness dotted with random torches, I tried to remember which direction the bathroom was.
"They seriously should have put up a sign saying 'bathroom this way.'" I scratched my head before I just started walking. If anything, I would hit the main road and would be able to follow it to the parking lot.
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The trees never seemed to end. I knew the park was big, but it shouldn't be this big. I should have cleared the trees minutes ago. The trees seemed to shift their shape and leaves the further I walked. Small bushes and ferns were joining them, and I couldn't help but pause. "This can't be right." I winced as I pinched my arm. I wasn't dreaming. But I certainly wasn't in the same park that I was in earlier. No longer could I see the torches as I spun around, the only light offered was from the moon. Even the sky looked different. The stars shown brighter and moon looked bigger, higher in the sky. "What the hell? How-"
A crunching of leaves caught my attention. Instinctually I set my stance and threw up my arms. I must have looked ridiculous standing ready to fight in my dress and heels, but at the moment my focus was on finding the culprit of the steps coming closer. The rushing sound of my heart beating and blood flowing overpowered all other sounds around me, my breath increased.
As the bush a head of me parted, I tensed and took a deep breath. The sight of a fuzzy nose followed by the fuzzy head of a horse, made all the tension go away. With laugh of relief, I dropped my arms and relaxed my stance.
"Hey cutie." I slowly raised my hand out, trying to coax the horse to me. It shook it's head slightly and nickered. My smile widened as it slowly made its way over to me. The first touch of it's soft nose under my fingers, I became giddy. It was small compared to the other horses I usually see.
"Where did you come from?" Another quick look around, I couldn't hear any other sound except the sound of the forest. Stepping closer, I rubbed the side of it's neck, I noticed that there was no saddle yet she was still wearing a bridle, and a strand of rope attached to the bridle. I couldn't help but notice she looked a lot like the horse that Bilbo rode in the movie which was odd. But there weren't any animals in the park, apart from the random crows and occasional squirrels.
I bit my lip, I knew that I should try to find my way back, yet at the same time I wasn't going to let the horse just wander off alone out here. So the decision was made, I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and pulled the rope leading the horse back in the direction she came from.
"Let's get you back home." A quick nod of her head and she followed close behind me. "Hopefully you didn't run too far from your owner."
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After hours of walking, there was still no sign of a camp or anyone at all. All I really saw where trees and bushes. I could hear small animals scatter every now and then in the dark. Riding in silence had become unbearable after a while. The slow pace of her gate caused my to sway back and forth, creating a relaxing rhythm. Many times I would find myself being jolted awake from almost slipping off of her.
"Really hope we're going in the right direction, girl." The night sky grew lighter as the sun peeked over the horizon.
"The dawn will take you all!"
"What the hell?" A loud boom followed by the cries of pain echoed over the trees. With a strong kick, the horse took off. My legs tightened around her sides and my hands grasped her mane and rope.
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"The dawn will take you all!" It still confused me. I hadn't known better, I would have sworn that the voice belonged to Ian McKellen. But how could that be possible? Who would play it that loud out here?
The trees were becoming more spread out and I could finally see the owners of the voices moving around about 30 yards away. Pulling the rope and her mane, we slowed down to a walk, the voices became louder. Through the trees, I could make out their strange wigs. They all appeared to be men.
A branch snapped under the horse's hoof. The men all perked up before frantically moving about. "Crap. Maybe they aren't part of the faire." My brows furrowed. Pulling the rope, I started to turn the horse around when four of the men jumped out of the bushes. The horse reared up, screaming I clutched onto the rope but it did no good. I was thrown backwards, my back hitting the ground knocking the wind out of me.
"Minty!"
Opening my eyes at what sounded like Aiden Turner's voice, I found that my hood covered my face. Someone grabbed my arms and pulled me up. The cold touch of something metal against my chin made my breathing hitch and sent a shiver down my spine.
"Who are you?" Once again, I was confused. It sounded like Richard Armitage. The hood was pulled back allowing my to finally see.
"She's a woman." The sight before me made my mouth drop. "Oh my god..."
The cast of The Hobbit stood before me. Richard Armitage was holding his sword up, while Ian McKellen stood behind him. He must have been wearing stilts as he towered over us by 3 feet. Both dressed as their Hobbit characters. A gasp escaped from me as I saw Aidan Turner and Dean O'Gorman standing with the horse I found. Everyone was surrounding me dressed in their wigs, beards and prosthetic noses and ears. While some wore their full clothing, others were in their first layer of clothing.
A smile broke across my face as I began to laugh.
"What is so funny?" Richard Armitage didn't lower his weapon.
"I...You...I..."
"Speak!"
"Sorry. Just...I'm sorry. But this is just awesome! No one said you guys were going to be here but you are and you're in character and...it's just so cool!"
They all exchanged glances of confusion with one another. Graham McTavish dressed as Dwalin and Peter Hambleton as Gloin both stood beside me, holding my arms out. Normally I would try to fight anyone who did this, but seeing the two men dressed as the dwarves made me giddy.
"Who knows of our location?"
My attention shifted at seeing movement behind the two men dressed as Thorin's nephews.
"Oh my god! It's you!" Everyone turned to where I was looking. Martin Freeman perked up looking very nervous and very confused. "Excuse me?"
"Do you know her?" Freeman shook his head at the actor who still held his weapon steady.
"No, he doesn't know me. I'm just a fan. I love you as Watson in Sherlock."
"I'm sorry. You must have me mistaken for someone -"
A moment of confusion, then Armitage's eyes narrowed and a snarl formed on his lips.
"Do you take us for fools? Who are you? What game do you play?"
"Wow. Seriously?" My laughter stopped at the anger that only seemed to rise in the man. "Ok...Well I'm new to this so I don't really know what I'm supposed to do."
"What?"
"The game...Look I love that you all are so in character and that they even got you to come here. But I've never participated or even come to one of these things. So I don't really know if there are any rules that I have to follow -"
"Do not test my patience girl!"
"Ok, can we please just drop the act? It's great, amazing. Really. But I've been walking all night and I would really like to get back to my friends. So-"
"There are others with you?" "What act?" McKellen and Armitage stepped forward. I quickly looked up at two men still holding my arms, their curious gazes stayed on me making me suddenly feel self-conscious.
"Yeah. Of course there are others. I mean what would you expect after the movie."
"Movie? What is a...movie?"
My head fell back as I let out a sigh. Looking back at everyone, none showed any sign of breaking out of their characters anytime soon. In any other circumstance, this would probably be the one of the happiest moments of my life. But given that I was tired and cranky, my tolerance for this role playing game was wearing thin.
"Ok. This really isn't funny anymore. So... yeah. If you can just tell me how to get back to camp, I'll let you get back to playing Thorin."
"Playing? I know not what you speak of. And you will not go anywhere."
"What?! Are you insane!? This is a game, it's not real and you can't keep me here!" I tried struggling against the two larger men but their hold on me tightened.
"This is no game!" He lashed out, just a mere inch away from me, the blade of his sword pressing just so I could feel just how real the weapon was. My heart raced and breath quickened. I closed my eyes praying he back off.
As if reading my thoughts, I felt his presence disappear along with his weapon. Cracking one eye open, the crazy man turned away to the other crazy man dressed as Balin.
"Fili! Search her."
"What!?"
With a nod, "Fili" made his way over to me. The young man didn't smile as he stepped up in front of me. My stomach dropped and body tensed as his hands touched my side. At the first grab at my hip, I bit back a laugh and tried my best to move away from his touch. He snatched his hand back and looked up raising his brow.
"Tickles."
He said nothing as he resumed his search, however his touch was less grabby as he moved down my legs. He slowly straightened and I let out a slow breath to relax. I had assumed his was finished but once again his hands were on me. Checking my waistcoat, my body once again tensed and eyes widened as his hands came in contact with my breast. Just as soon as the touch was there, it had left. Searching the rest of my body, until he finally stepped away. As he walked over to the men dressed as Thorin and Balin, I let out a shaky breath. I could still feel his hands on me.
"I can't believe I'm being held captive by the actors of The Hobbit."
"Actors?" The bald dwarf stared down at me, a brow raised and eyes narrow.
"Yes actors. I've seen the movie so many times, I probably know the lines by heart." Glaring and the pair of hands holding me, I quickly pulled my arm against their thumbs finally breaking free. "So don't tell me that you're Dwalin and you are Gloin, because they're fiction characters. Just like Fili, Kili, Oin, Bifur, Bofur, Bomber, Dori, Nori, Ori, Balin, Thorin, Bilbo, Gandalf, Radagast, the Shire, Erebor and all of Middle Earth."
Silence fell upon the group, except for the sound of heavy breaths coming from me.
"Please, I just want to go back to my friends. So just drop the act and tell me which way to go."
No one said anything for a long while. They just stared at me, occasionally sharing glances with one another. Even the Richard Armitage look-a-like had no words to say. Suddenly the man in gray took a step forward and leaned against his staff.
"You say that you know of us and of Erebor through a...what was it you called it? A mo..vie?"
Slowly I nodded my head, my jaw tightening becoming less entertained with this role playing game by the second.
"And this moovie, is about Middle Earth?"
Fine. If you aren't going to stop this stupid game, I'll play along. "No. It's pretty much the story of Bilbo Baggins and his journey with Thorin son of Thrain son of Thror, and his company to reclaim Erebor. It was actually a book long before they made it into a movie."
"If you know as much as you say you know, then you must have proof." The blond moved in front of the man dressed as Gandalf. It still confused me how they could make him be so tall and so proportioned. I mentally shook my mind off the subject as to focus on the blond actor.
"I'm sorry what?"
"If you know so much about us, then surely you must have proof." Proof? My brows furrowed as I tried to understand what he meant.
"I don't have the movie on me or the book. But-"
"We don't have time for this now. We must find out where the trolls had come from."
The old man quickly made his way past the others and into the forest. "Go get dressed. I shall look ahead."
"What about the girl?" I shot a glare at the bald man standing behind me.
"Bring her with us."
"What?!"
"Fili, Kili you two keep an eye on her." The dark clothed man walked off after the man in gray followed by the Dwalin look alike while the others proceeded back where they initially came from to get dressed, leaving me behind with the two young men who looked identical to Fili and Kili.
"Now I know how the ponies felt." The comment was really just me thinking out loud, however it did get a smirk from both men. Scanning the surrounding area, I noticed it really did look like the scenery in the movie. These faires really go all out don't they.
Dressed as Bofur, Bomber and Ori, the three men stepped through the bushes beckoning us to follow them or get left behind. With a quick nod, Fili turned his attention to me and held out his hand indicating me to go first. I took one deep breath before following the others with Fili and Kili look-a-likes beside me.