AN: Hello readers! I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Let me know what you think via reviews/faves/follows. Thanks for reading :)
"What the fuck are you doing?" I cried, still standing and ready to pop my arm back properly. From where I was, he looked maybe twelve…what was this kid doing with my psycho serial rapists? Focusing back on my arm, I gripped the branch above me as tightly as I could and wrenched my arm down and to the left. I heard the pop and let out a yelp. I slunk back down into a sitting position and rotated my shoulder, loosening it up to avoid lasting damage.
"Please don't push me out of the tree," the kid climbing the tree pleaded as he reached the branch below mine. My eyes widened at the man before me, for the kid I thought I saw climbing the tree wasn't a kid at all. While he was small, barely reaching my chest in fact, he was perfectly proportioned for an adult.
I remained silent as I took in the person who was finally able to climb up and sit across from me. He had thick curly hair on top of his head that matched the thick curly hair on his feet. And his feet were large…at least three times the size of normal feet. He wore no shoes, but wore a green jacket covering a lovely yellow vest over a white shirt. He hardly seemed like someone to belong to the group waiting and muttering down on the ground. I glanced down and noticed several of the men had wandered back toward their campfire to continue eating and drinking, while only a few remained waiting at the bottom of the tree.
I turned my gaze back to my new companion and narrowed my eyes. "Who are you?" I asked coldly, trying to keep the fear from my voice.
The small man gave me a small smile. "I am Bilbo Baggins at your service, Miss. May I ask your name as well?" he asked, obviously holding back the urge to take my hand in his.
I merely continued staring silently, wondering what this little interlude was leading toward.
"Well, I just want to assure you that everyone just wants to make sure you're all right," he explained gently, as if loud noises or sudden movements might trigger an episode of hysteria. He gave me another supportive smile. "When Ori spotted you and we found you unconscious, I thought for certain you –"
"What do you mean found me?" I asked confused. There was no way they found me here in the middle of nowhere. "I was at home in my yard…at home," I explained quickly knowing I most likely sounded like a crazy person.
"Oh – no, you were definitely here," he replied nervously. "Where is home? I'm sure we could return you."
"No…you're lying. You brought me here…" I could feel my brain trying to figure out what exactly was going on. It was failing miserably. My breath started to hitch once more in my throat and I felt the panic rise up in my chest. Before I knew it my vision was tunneling and I was straining to hear the man-child beside me.
"Oh dear…Miss, please try to calm down. If you fall now, I'm afraid we'll both go down." I tried to steady myself, but my breathing continued on in the same erratic fashion. "Miss, if you could just breathe with me. Come on now."
I flinched as he grabbed my hand and put it to his own chest. "Just like this, Miss. Do you feel it?" With a nod, I closed my eyes and tried to match my breathing to his own. After a few moments, I felt my body begin to relax, and I pulled away my hand.
"I'm okay," I muttered. He seemed reluctant to release my hand, but he finally let go. We sat in silence for a few minutes as I continued to recover from my panic attack. I glanced back toward the man beside me who offered up an awkward grin and a pat on my knee.
"Honest Miss. We – my company and I – have been on the road for over a week now. We only discovered you an hour or so ago. Gandalf refused to leave you behind, and rightly so of course, but we weren't sure what to do with you while you slept, so it was decided we would wait and make sure you were unhurt." He looked at me, desperate that I believe what he was telling me. And against all my better judgment, I was beginning to.
I sighed. "If you all really did stop to help me like the gentlemen you claim to be, why were you talking about me like I'm some kind of slut?" I asked, clenching my jaw.
"Pardon?" he asked. I raised my eyebrows.
"You called me a whore," I replied coldly.
"No no no no," he explained hurriedly. "I did nothing of the sort. That was some of the others…and really they meant no harm. It's just you-" I was amazed at how quickly he cut himself off. I noticed his blush and shook my head angrily.
"I just what?" I asked pointedly. There was no way in Hell he was going to blame their behavior on me. I was fucking unconscious for Christ's sake. He mumbled something inaudibly and stared determinedly at his feet. "What was your name? Bilbo?" He nodded. "Okay well Bilbo, what about me?" I'm not sure if it was the fact I used his name or the force in my voice that made him answer me, but answer me he did.
"Well, Miss you hardly…uh…have the proper…mmm…attire for a lady out on her own. Well any lady really." I gave him a blank stare and crossed my arms.
"Excuse me?" I asked. Was he really using the "if she didn't want it, she wouldn't dress like that" argument?
"I mean no offense, Miss, truly…" he explained rapidly. At least he had the decency to look ashamed. We sat in silence for a few moments as I tried to come up with a response that didn't include a massive account on the struggles and advancement of women in modern society. During this brief rest, we looked down as a voice shouted up to us.
"Mr. Baggins are you coming down or should we not plan on you two for supper?" Bilbo rolled his eyes and asked if I wanted to go down. I looked at him like he was insane and he sighed.
"Give us a minute will you?" he shouted back. "Don't let Bombur eat everything!" he added hastily.
"What's a Bombur?" I asked, surprising myself.
"Ahhh well he is the dwarf farthest on your right…the rather large fellow," Bilbo replied, pointing at the roundest man I had ever seen in my life. Just as I was about to ask about the old man dressed like a man-witch, I froze at what I was just told.
"Dwarf?" I asked disbelievingly.
"You know…a dwarf," he laughed. "Big beards, love gold and a good fight…?" I stared at him blankly. "Surely you've heard of dwarves?"
I shook my head and asked, "Are you a dwarf?" Wrong question apparently.
"I should say not! I, Miss, am Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit of the Shire," he explained firmly, obviously proud of his heritage. "Not that dwarves are bad, of course," Bilbo added hastily, looking at the company below us.
"And that man with the pointy hat? He's a person right?" For the life of me, I didn't know why I bothered asking. Clearly Bilbo wasn't giving me real answers, the little shit. Dwarves, at least dwarves like these, they just weren't real. And what the Hell was a hobbit?
"Yes…well sort of, I think. Maybe not really." Bilbo seemed to be more confused than I was. "Well he's a wizard anyway. Gandalf the Grey is his name." So not a man-witch, I thought. A wizard. I guess he looked a little like Dumbledore…
Shaking my head, I shot Bilbo a pointed glare. "See you're just making things up now."
He gave his head a violent shake and looked at me with big eyes. "Miss I swear to you, it's true. Trust me, I understand. If someone had told me a fortnight ago I would be marching across the every land from here to God knows where with thirteen dwarves and a wizard, I would have said they were crazy. But I'm not crazy. I'm here, they're there, and here you are with me. Plain as day.
"And while they are crude and have no small aversion to basic hygiene, on my mother's grave and upon my honor, I promise no one down there wants to harm you. I would not stand for it." I could only stare in silence as I took in all Bilbo had said. It was hard to be suspicious of the little guy, though I sure did try. Even though it was all a bit dramatic with the swearing and the honor and what not (because really, who spoke like that,) I wanted very badly to believe his words.
"Miss, are you ready to tell me your name yet?" Bilbo asked hopefully, interrupting the brief silence between us.
I bit my lip, trying to think of a reason not to give up my name. I gave Bilbo another look, and for some reason it became impossible for me to think anything but good could come from someone with such warm, sympathetic eyes.
"I'm Ripley." I held out my hand to him, but the look on his face made me pull back.
"Ripley…that's an interesting name," he remarked, slowly nodding his head. Releasing a sigh, I licked my lips. I knew what it meant back home if someone said something was "interesting," and had the distinct feeling the word had a similar meaning here.
"Yeah, my dad…I don't know." I raised an eyebrow and held out my hand again. "Some people call me Ellie," I offered.
"Right," Bilbo replied shaking my hand. "Well Miss Ellie, have I convinced you to come down from this rather high up tree?"
I looked down and shook my head. "Bilbo?"
"Yes Miss Ellie?" If the situation wasn't so terrifying, I may have laughed at him calling me Miss.
"I just – well this isn't home. It's not right. I don't know where this is." I motioned to the grasslands around us. "You say you found me here, but where is here exactly?"
The sympathy on Bilbo's face was plain as day. It was clear he wanted to give me an answer that would please me, but he didn't look hopeful he could.
"Well we've been heading east from Bree for ten day days now, though it feels like one hundred. It's hard to say how many miles we've gone, but – Miss Ellie?"
"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I just – I don't know what that means. Bree?" Was that supposed to be a town? If it was, it was nowhere near home.
"Yes Miss," Bilbo replied softly. "Is that not a familiar name?"
I shook my head and closed my eyes. "Ummm, okay and the year?" I knew I must have sounded insane. I felt insane, or at least like I was going insane.
It's the year 2941," he replied. "Of the Third Age."
I ran my hand through my messed hair and brushed the stray strands from my face. It wasn't possible. Different place? Different year? Hell, it was a completely different measurement of time. I knew what it looked like, and I think, deep down, I knew it to be true. But seriously, people don't just travel to whole other worlds or whole other times. Doctor Who and Supernatural were just TV shows, not real life. What the Hell…
"Miss Ellie?" I looked back at Bilbo and could see the concern reflected in his eyes.
"Yes," I finally answered after releasing a heavy sigh. "Okay, right. You said that old guy's a wizard?" Bilbo nodded. "Right, I guess he's the one I need to talk to.
Bilbo grinned. "So you're ready to go down then?"
I released a snort. "Ready? The way I see it, there are three possibilities here. A. I have completely lost my mind and should be put away. B. This is all a super elaborate ploy to get me to trust your creepy ass cult of psycho serial rapists before you torture and/or murder me. Or C. I have literally fallen through space and time into some unknown world where dwarves, wizards, and hobbits are totally normal and not disconcerting in the least.
"Now apart from a history of Postpartum Depression in my family and one very distant cousin who believes he's Santa Claus, there's nothing to suggest I've suddenly cracked. So that's out. And while I'm still unsure of some of those assholes down there, for some reason I'm trusting you. That means of all my options, I'm looking at some sort of Bill and Ted event going on here, and if that guy can do magic, maybe he can send me back sans telephone booth."
I shot Bilbo an expectant look.
"I'm I afraid I don't understand what any of that means," he finally replied, clearly trying to make sense out of my longwinded speech.
"Yeah, well…welcome to the Hell in which I currently reside."