AN: You guys rock! Thanks for all the reviews As before I dont own Lord of the Rings. Reviews make me smile, flames will be used to cook tomato, sausages and bacon for the hobbits to eat.
"PANIC ATTACK PANIC ATTACK PAAANIICCCCC ATTAAACKKKKKKKKK!" Aubrey cried as she ran in circles around the clearing. This could not be happening, nope. This wasn't real, she was dead. She had been stuck by lightning during the storm, or had a stroke. SOMETHING, because what was happening right now could not be real.
It had only taken a few sweet words from Jezebella to calm the Ranger down. Somehow, Aubrey still wasn't sure how, she had talked him into letting them come along. Claiming they were going to Rivendell as well.
The four hobbits and Aragorn had started to set up camp for the night where they found Aubrey and Jezebella after the ranger had deemed it safe. Aubrey hadn't calmed down since then.
"This is so WRONG! And—and—and- UGH!" Aubrey sobbed, covering her face.
" Is- is she all right?" asked one of the hobbits. Aubrey was sure that it was Sam. Sam was the nicest looking out of the hobbits, and he closely resembled his actor, Sean Austin.
In fact, all of them looked a bit like their movie counterparts. With some slight differences, of course. Frodo looked a little older and his eyes were a darker blue. Pippin, while still really freaking adorable wasn't as wide eyed. Merry had darker hair, and all the hobbits were heavier than in the movie. Still, it was creepy how they even looked a little like the actors...
Aubrey put that on the list of one of the many fucked up things about this whole siutaion.
"More crazy? I though we filled up all the space." Pippin whispered to Merry who snickered.
"I can hear you!" Aubrey snapped as she turned to them. "Don't ANY of you find this utterly and completely WERID!?"
"Yes," Merry nodded.
"Very," Pippin agreed.
Sam didn't say anything. He just stood there looking as bewildered as Aubrey felt. Frodo was quiet and hadn't said much since she met him. Though he looked troubled (Aubrey knew why but still felt like something was off) he had been smiling at Jezebella. It was Aragorn completely ignoring Aubrey that worried her. He had not stopped staring at Jezebella since they got here. Her sister had been giggling and flipping her hair while chattering on. Aubrey knew for a fact her sister wasn't saying anything that would hold the Ranger with such intensity.
"Hey," Aubrey said snapping her finger near Aragorns face. "Hey you there. Aren't you worried that we're spies?"
Aragorn turned his head away from Jezebella, who now looked coldly at her sister. He had a slightly dazed look to his now dull gray eyes as he blinked at her blankly for a few moments.
"Pardon me?"
"Spies!" Aubrey waved her arms wildly in front of Aragorn, her concern for this fuckupry growing. What was wrong with him? "These are dangerous times, some things must be kept a secret. Aren't you even slightly worried we are not spies from the Enemy? Look how we're dressed!" she gestured to her outfit.
This thought looked like it had never occurred to the ranger, though it looked like he was slowly regaining his sense.
"You are right..." He said, his gray eyes clearing as he slowly stood up.
Jezebella throw a nasty look at Aubrey before gripping Aragorn's arm and smiling at him. Aubrey had the sudden desire to slap her hand away. She knew nothing about this man. All her sister saw was a pretty face and a dark angsty past.
"We're not spies!" Jezebella said, batting her eyelashes. "I'm WAAAY to pretty to be some evil ugly spy." Her eyes shone with such innocence and truth in them that Aragorn knew in his heart she spoke the truth. With a nod he sat back down.
Aubrey threw up her hands with a cry before slumping down next to Merry and Pippin. This was wrong, so WRONG. Not only were they in Middle Earth, which was fantasy and supposedly not real. Somehow Jezebella had talked her way into the small company as they traveled to Rivendell. Aragorn should have known how important the quest was, how dangerous it was! How they were surrounded at all sides by the Enemy ...he should have killed both of them on the spot, or at least driven them off...
" This isn't good...How is Jezebella doing this?" Aubrey thought to herself, her mind troubled.
"Are you?" Merry's voice cut through her dark thoughts.
"Huh?" Aubrey blinked looking up.
"Spies, are you really a spy?" Merry asked, cocking his head slightly to the left.
"No," Aubrey shook her head. "But it troubles me that Strider does not."
Merry nodded in agreement but still looked like he didn't trust her. Along with Pippin and Sam, Aubrey noted, looking around at the company. But Aragorn and Frodo just looked at Jezebella in vacant awe.
"Fuck..." Aubrey moaned as she buried her face into her hands.
OoOoOoOo
Aubrey didn't remember falling asleep, but it sure didn't feel like she got any sleep. The teen grunted in a rather unladylike fashion as she tried to roll over, very much aware she was on the hard cold ground.
It wasn't like in the stories where the hero wakes up unsure where they are for a moment. Forgetting about what happened the day before. No, Aubrey knew where she was, and unfortunately what had happened. She was cold, sore, and hungry as she sat up blinking away the last of her fleeting sleep.
'And so it begins,' Aubrey thought bitterly licking her chapped lips.
They hadn't even started to walk yet and every bit of her had started aching. She didn't even want to think about how she would feel in a few days, with a 'few' extra hours of walking tossed in for free.
She sat up as Sam slowly approached her, holding out a plate of delicious smelling food.
"Oh," Aubrey looked a little surprised as she took the plate. "Thank you Master Gamgee." She remembered how people talked to each other in Middle-Earth. She had played enough D&D and LARPing to slip into this way of speech fairly easily. Now keeping in character, on the other hand, was not her strong point.
Sam looked out right astonished that she had addressed him so respectfully. Aubrey had the sudden urge to hug him. But she held that feeling in as she looked down at her plate, a frown crossed her face.
"Something wrong?" Sam asked as he turned to tend to the fire.
" It's just... Do we have enough food for two extra people? Rivendell is still a long way off." Aubrey murmured, staring at the food.
"I asked Aragorn that too," Sam answered, his brow creasing with worry.
"What did he say?"
"Your sister, Jezebella, just laughed and said a little less food would do me some good." Sam huffed, clear that he was still upset by her words.
"Bitch!" Aubrey hissed, though she wasn't surprised. Her sister was always making jabs at Sam's weight. "But you are a fine size for a hobbit. If you were any skinnier you would be the strangest un-hobbit-like creature, and if you were any fatter you would resemble a dwarf. Don't tell the dwarves I said that," Aubrey added, her eyes shifting about as if wary of any random dwarves eavesdropping.
The last statement caused Sam to laugh a little but he still looked troubled. "Mr. Frodo laughed when she said that." He mumbled, clearly more hurt about this than at Jezebella's careless words.
Aubrey had to fight the urge to hug Sam, reminding herself he was a grown man, not a child. Plus they had just met so she might have been invading his personal bubble.
"Well..." Aubrey trailed off trying to think of something. "Frodo seems like he's under a lot of stress right now... People act differently sometimes, saying and doing things they don't mean. I'm sure once we get to Rivendell he'll be back to the Frodo you knew."
Aubrey would make sure to get Jezebella away from them. Whatever was happening she was sure her sister was behind this radical shift in Aragorn and Frodo's character.
" It's unnatural, this whole thing is," Sam stated. "You seem like an all right sort, but I'm not so sure about Jezebella." He shuddered slightly at the mention of her name.
Leave it to Sam to hit the nail right on the head. If ever there was a hobbit with their head on right it was Samwise Gamgee.
Not knowing what to say, Aubrey didn't reply, so she turned to eating her food. Considering it was cooked on an open fire in the middle of bum-fuck-nowhere it was pretty tasty.
After they had finished eating the others had started to pack up camp. Jezebella didn't even bother helping but instead was brushing her golden tresses. She was humming a silly little tune with the sweetness of a song bird, making Frodo and Aragorn gaze adoringly at her. Aubrey had to wonder where she even found a brush and tried not to gag at the sight.
" Um...Is there anything I can do?" Aubrey asked, feeling useless as the others worked around her
" Oh don't be silly Abby!" Jezebella waved her perfectly manicured hand. "Let the boys do all the work, you can break a nail or something!" She gave a shiver, as if out of all things that could possibly happen at the time, breaking a nail was the worst of it! Aubrey was almost going to try to follow her sister's advice to break her nails by scratching Jezebella's face.
"Perish the thought!" Merry mumbled to himself as he rolled his eyes.
" By the Valar we would not want that!" Aragorn cried, though unlike Merry he was being totally surprised. "Do not worry Lady Jezebella, we do not wish to burden you so."
Merry, Pippin, Sam, and Aubrey all snorted at the thought of Jezebella being any kind of "lady", though they saw Frodo nodding in agreement with Aragorn.
In the end they did have an extra pack Aubrey could use. Splitting up some of their equipment they gave Aubrey a fairly heavy pack. It wasn't too much different from her book filled backpack at school, so she didn't have too much trouble carrying around the extra weight at first.
If she was being honest, Aubrey was kind of looking forward to the next few days. Despite what Jezebella may think the movies were NOT about hot guys being manly and hot. It was about walking, lots and lots of walking. Frankly she couldn't wait to see how Jezebella looked after a few days, as she wore skin tight white pants with a (and VERY tight) bright pink shirt with the words Angle written across it in glittering, along with her stylish but impractical flats that slipped on with no laces or straps. Of course she looked amazing in it, she would look amazing wearing a potato sack…
Aubrey, while not dressed for hiking days on end at least had more pratical clothes. Loose-fitting blue jeans with an old N7 t-shirt that fit comfortably and old sneakers that were just as fine. She was just grateful she wasn't wearing any of her LoTR T-shirts because that would have been TERRIBLY awkward.
The company set out early, the morning sun still low in the pale sky. Aragorn in the lead, followed by Frodo, Jezebella, then Merry and Pippin, Aubrey, and Sam bringing up the rear with Bill the pony.
Aubrey still wasn't 100% sure that she wasn't suffering from some kind of stroke and this was all her oxygen deprived brain's illusions. The thoughts dogged her every step as she trekked through the countryside with five men and one annoying sibling.
Their pace was quick, for fear of the unseen foe that followed them. Their walk would have been quiet and somber if Jezebella would just shut the fuck up. She kept on cooing and singing about how wonderful this all was, how she was finally free from her horrible life. (Aubrey did not try to hide her scoffing.)
If Aubrey was right about where they were in the timeline of the book they were still a few days away from Weathertop. They still had the bog to slush through as well... She was not looking forward to that.
Though on the bright side it put a few days between herself and the battle with the Nazgul. Aubrey shivered at the thought, missing home more than ever now. Maybe she could get Aragorn to teach her some sword moves before then so she didn't get herself killed.
She was so deep in her troubled thoughts she almost ran over poor Pippin who had stopped along with the rest of the group. She looked around at the rest of the company before following their line of sight. A slowly climbing land lay before them, off in the distance a large hill raised above the rest. It was flatter at the top and ruins dotted the surface.
Wait...
No, it couldn't be.
There was no way.
" There is Weathertop," Aragorn said pointing at the hill. He said more but all sound around Aubrey seemed to die and grow far away.
It was impossible! It was days away, they hadn't even passed through the bog! Or seen the lights coming from it at night by Gandalf! Aubrey knew she could get lost in her thoughts and lose track of her surroundings sometimes but she never lost days at a time.
But there it was, standing before them tall and proud even in its ruin. Weathertop, where the Nazgul attacked, with sharp poity swords.
I don't want to die a virgin!
Suddenly everyone turned to look at her with bewildered expressions. Aragorn's eyes seen to clear a little bit, and Sam looked down right scandalized.
" You're a virgin?" Jezebella wrinkled her prefect little nose.
Heat flushed across her face as she started wide eyed around her.
"Oh my god did I just say that out load." Aubrey stammered in horror. She must have totally lost her mind now. This was what insanity must feel like.
"Yes, and we will never let you live it down." Pippin said jokingly.
Well it was a good thing the Nazgul were going to kill her, and this thought she made sure to keep to herself. She was dead meat.
