A/N: Here we go again. Thanks for the reviews, loved to read them both! ;) Hope you'll like this chapter, too.

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The weak light of the waking sun surrounded her, mercilessly penetrating through her closed eyelids, so she slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times. Her throat throbbed painfully, and her head ached. Where was she? What was all of this? This bed… smelled awful. With that thought she finally remembered everything. She had fallen asleep last night in the chair. That man, Strider, must have put her on the bed.

"Strider?" she asked slowly with a husky voice, looking around as she pulled herself up on her elbows. Her mind filled with anxiety as no one responded. "Frodo?"

Dead silence surrounded her. She jumped out of the bed, looking through the dirty window, and then she noticed them as they were standing in front of the motel, pub, whatever it was, readying for the road. Weronika huffed and rushed towards the door, grabbing her handbag and the bag of groceries, and flew out of the room, not even bothering to lock the door behind her.

„Nie pozbędziecie się mnie tak łatwo," she mumbled under her breath, the pain in her head completely forgotten. Running down the stairs, she almost fell down twice, but she didn't pay attention. "Dupek czy nie, raczej dobrze wymachuje mieczem więc musi mnie znieść póki czegoś nie wymyślę." ("You will not get rid of me that easily. Arsehole or not, he is rather good with a sword, so he must endure me while I will figure out something.")

She flew past the old man, the same one who had allowed them go upstairs last night. He looked at Weronika strangely when he heard the weird language she spoke, taking a pause from smoking his pipe for a short second.

"Elves…" he mumbled to himself as she rushed out of the building, leaving the door open and allowing cold air to rush into the stuffy room. He shook his head, moving back to his previous activity.

She looked around to see the hobbits and man disappearing behind the corner. She rushed after them, clumsily slinging her bag over her shoulder. Surprisingly, the shoes that had appeared on her feet when she had… popped into this realm…were quite comfortable to run in, light but supporting her feet quite well. With her free arm, she pulled her dress a bit up to make it easier for her to run.

As she jogged behind the hobbits and the man, taking deep breaths through her mouth, she decided that she would follow them at a distance until they were too far from the town for the male to send her back. She kept a distance that seemed good to her, really, really hoping that her condition from the times when she used to take dancing lessons would allow her to chase them long enough.

It was ten years ago, genius… And you took three of them.

Just then, around 200 meters from the town, Strider stopped. Weronika instantly hid behind a bush catching her breath as quietly as she could, not daring to move.

"Get out of there, lady Veronica. There might be insects," she heard his deep, masculine voice shouting to her. Gritting her teeth, she narrowed her eyes and stepped out from behind the wide plant. She looked at him challengingly. "'You are welcome to join us if you truly wish to do so, however; I can provide neither the comfort nor the safety that you may have had in the city."

"I barely found the city comfortable in comparison with my world," she snapped angrily, her voice still husky, as she walked toward him quickly. She grunted, trying to clear her throat. "And I didn't exactly feel safe before I had met you yesterday."

He smirked slightly, motioning for her to go first. She looked at the four hobbits, glancing at her curiously, and smiled in spite of herself, feeling slightly relieved when they reciprocated the gesture.

"My name is Weronika," she said to them in a friendly manner, unconsciously bowing slightly as she introduced herself. Her voice still sounded as if she had drunk too much yesterday, and she made a mental note to check if she had any anti-inflammatory tablets in her bag, as she was almost sure she didn't have anything for a sore throat. Who would, if it was the middle of spring back in Poland?

"My name is Merry!" shouted one of the hobbits, well, merrily. "And this is Pippin!"

"I can introduce myself!" his friend retorted, narrowing his eyes.

"It's fine." She grinned. She looked at the prettiest hobbit and said, "I know that you are Frodo, but what is your name?" She looked at their fourth companion.

"Samwise Gamgee," he said, looking at her cautiously with his big honey-brown eyes.

"We have no time to waste. Lady, place your things on Bill's back," the man commanded, gesturing to indicate the pony as he passed the hobbits and the girl.

Weronika obediently placed her bag of groceries among the stuff brought by the hobbits. When Sam motioned for her to hand him her handbag, she refused as politely as she could. She would keep it close, in case she was whirled elsewhere. Besides, she still had to find those pills. She started searching her bag, mouthing "a-ha!" when she found what she needed.

"So… Where are you from?" Pippin asked politely, walking next to her. She looked down at him with a small smile, swallowing the pill.

"Well, it's not a place you know," she said slowly, carefully choosing her words, aware that everyone, including Strider, was listening. "I am not… Well, not from this world. My country is named Poland and it's… Well, nowhere near."

There was silence, which was disturbed only by Bill snorting and the tapping of his hooves as they slowly moved on.

"Lady Veronica simply has a vivid imagination and a strong desire for adventure," the man finally said, and she couldn't decide whether he was annoyed or only teasing her, as he walked in front of them all. His cloak flapped in the wind, reminding Weronika of a huge grey bat with brown hair.

Weronika narrowed her eyes at him but didn't argue. They were still close to the town, and she was afraid he might send her back. She walked quickly, sticking close to the hobbits. She eventually became rather uncomfortable with the silence that had descended upon them so she approached Merry, smiling at him.

"And where are you from?" she asked. They were climbing up a green mountain, the city now a small dot on the horizon, for which she was thankful. They were far from the town, and she hoped Strider would not change his mind about taking her with them.

"Ohh, from a beautiful place, the Shire, lady!" the hobbit answered. He was about to continue when his stomach growled loudly, so he frowned and with an apologetic smile slowed his pace to join Sam and his horse.

She heard little Sam mumbling to Frodo that he was not sure whether they should trust Strider, and she almost chuckled aloud when she heard the big-eyed hobbit say something about the man being foul.

"But where is he leading us?" Sam said in a hushed voice, which she could hear only because she was close enough. Nevertheless, she jumped slightly in surprise when the man responded to this barely audible question.

"To Rivendell, master Gamgee."

She watched silently as Merry and Pippin started squeaking something about seeing the elves.

Elves. It's getting even better.

No matter how much she hated to admit it, this new world was a pretty place when the daylight came. It reminded her a bit of The Forbidden Forest from the Harry Potter movies. A bit grim, but still charming. The very thought of it made her sick as she realized that if it was anything like The Forbidden Forest, she was fucked. Well, she could handle the unicorns; they were completely fine and within her capabilities… But huge spiders or centaurs were a completely different story.

It suddenly occurred to her that she would be pretty damn lucky to survive one day. Making some sort of a decision, Weronika rushed behind Strider.

"Sir?" she asked as she caught up with Aragorn, who sent her a glance over his shoulder but didn't stop. "Ummm… Sir, umm… Strider, I mean… Don't you think it would be wise… Well, I mean I don't exactly know how to use it, and I am totally against any unnecessary violence… But the violence against my body I find completely and utterly unnecessary and… Well… You know, the unicorns are cute, however; any other creatures might be slightly dangerous and…"

"You are safe as long as you follow my commands." he interrupted, finally finding some point in her hectic babbling, although he frowned slightly at the mention of unicorns.

"Oh, great!" she almost squeaked trying to sound relieved, jogging next to him since her legs were too short to actually keep up with him easily. "But you know, if you wouldn't mind… I mean, can I get a weapon? Just as a precaution, if… I misunderstand any of your commands? Like you know, something big and sharp, so that I can kill spiders?"

She grinned innocently as he looked at her with a partly amused, partly surprised expression on his handsome face. His eyes moved to her rather small and delicate hands and his lips twitched in an effort to keep from laughing. Then, he slowly unfastened a small dagger in its sheath from his belt and handed it to her.

"Do you know how to use it?" he asked seriously, looking down at her incredulously.

"Not exactly," Weronika started slowly, dragging her fingers over the leather sheath and shivering slightly at its roughness "But I guess I will find out when…" she swallowed involuntarily, correcting herself immediately. "IF I have to use it."

Just then, Strider turned around, looking at the hobbits questioningly as weird sounds reached his ears. Sam and Merry were unpacking some things from their horsie, including something that looked suspiciously like... a frying pan.

"Gentlemen, we do not stop till nightfall." the man stated, looking at hobbits a bit threateningly, though she couldn't help but think that a small hint of amusement danced in his voice.

"And what about the breakfast?" Pip asked with amazement in his voice. Weronika's lips curled into a smile involuntarily. Merry and Pippin were actually making this whole fucked up situation seem a little more real to her and a little more bearable.

"You had it," the male answered slowly, frowning.

"We've had one, yes. But what about SECOND breakfast?"

With disbelief on his face, Strider shook his head slightly, turned around, and kept on walking. She was sure he wasn't exactly pleased with his company, which made her feel even more sympathy for the hobbits.

Weronika smirked at the almost terrified expressions on hobbits' faces and was about to follow the man when she remembered something. She stopped and walked back to the horse, reached for her bag of groceries, and pulled out a bag of caramel cookies, opening it. Seeing the curious faces of her companions, she grinned, taking two cookies and handing the almost full package to Sam.

"Try it," she encouraged them before jogging to catch up with Strider. When she reached him, she offered him one of her cookies, which, to her great surprise, he took. After looking suspiciously at the little sweet in his hand as if it was poisoned or filled with broken glass, he took a bite and started chewing it slowly. When he swallowed, he sent her a careful look, although he didn't comment on its unusual – for him – taste. In general, she wouldn't call him talkative at all. Well, maybe in a comparison with a corpse…

Dusting the crumbs off his hands, he quickened his pace, involuntarily making her jog along is side in attempt to stay close to him.

xxx

When they camped for the night, she couldn't have been more happier than she was when she was finally able to sit down and give her trembling legs a long deserved rest. Actually, she couldn't recall last time she had felt so comfortable while sitting on the grass.

With a great amount of relief, she noticed that the hobbits were also stretching their legs tiredly as the five of them sat down, so she wasn't the only one who felt completely exhausted. It made her feel a bit better because the last thing she wanted was to make the man leave her in some village on their way because she was slowing them down. Strider was gone, to get them a supper, as he had explained to her before leaving with his bow and quiver. Her throat had stopped aching painfully after the massive portion of anti-inflammatory drugs she had taken during the day. She was running low on them, and all she could have done was to silently beg not to become ill had the pain persisted.

Her clothes were all wet because they had been struggling through some nasty swamp for half of the day. Something like mosquitoes, just slightly bigger and more… bloodthirsty had attacked them as they had advanced slowly but steadily. They had literally tried to eat the hobbits alive, making them wave their short hands and kick their legs frantically. Weronika really wanted to help, and she tried using her anti-mosquito aerosol, but it hadn't really bothered the insects, though Merry had said that the perfumes she sprayed them with smelled nicely. At least they didn't feel sick from its aroma. One good thing – for her, anyway – was that the hobbits were more tasty to those little creatures, so she and Strider had made it with just a few bites.

Bitter blood, Sam had commented under his breath, waving one hand furiously and guiding his pony with the other.

She felt rather relieved that she had survived one day. Before Strider came back, she was long asleep between two blankets, offered to her by Sam, while the hobbits awaited their supper rather impatiently after neglecting the million meals they were used to eat during the day.

Weronika woke up in the middle of the night, hearing someone singing quietly with a melodious voice. Her legs were throbbing painfully and she found out that her throat was sore again, but still she shifted slightly to see that it was Strider who sang with a barely audible voice, lazily puffing his pipe. She blinked a few times, listening to the sad song, on the edge of falling asleep again, the timbre of Strider's voice driving her back to dreams, when she heard a hushed voice, which brought her senses back to their non-sleepy state.

"Who is she?" Frodo asked, leaning on his elbows a little bit. At first, the girl's eyes widened because she thought that the hobbit meant her. Just then, she understood he meant the song. Weronika didn't move, for some reason feeling that this was a private conversation, not meant for her to hear.

Strider's head snapped around to look at Frodo, so she closed her eyes quickly, repeating to herself that what she was doing wasn't most definitely eavesdropping. The sky above them was clear, and she held back a quiet gasp when her widely opened eyes noticed its beauty. Never in her life had she seen so many brightly shining stars.

"This woman you sing of," Frodo specified, bringing Weronika's thoughts back to them. Strider hesitated a bit before answering, but finally she heard his quiet response.

"'Tis the lady of Luthien, the Elf-maiden, who gave her love to Beren, a mortal."

"What happened to her?" Weronika heard hobbit ask the same question which came to her mind, and by the short, heavy silence that fell on them, she could tell she didn't want to know the answer, and neither did Frodo.

"She died," the man said with a voice filled with emotion; Weronika couldn't really tell why. After all, what was so unusual about death? Everybody dies…

Frodo remained silent, and after a few seconds she heard Strider add, "Get some sleep, Frodo."

Obediently, the hobbit laid back down on the grass with his hands resting behind his head. Soon enough, Weronika's eyelids also felt heavy, and she allowed another wave of slumber to wash over her.

xxx

They were advancing slowly up a hill, and once again, Weronika found herself seeking Strider's company. It was great fun to listen to Merry and Pippin's stories and songs, but it annoyed her beyond reason that the man seemed to still think of her as a stupid human girl who had some odd desire to meet the elves.

Her stubborn nature couldn't possibly accept that someone didn't believe her when she had told the plain truth. So, she joined the man again and opened her mouth to start a conversation, but he was first to speak.

"We will get some rest soon," he said, looking down at her with some sort of concern. Neither her nor the hobbits had endured this travel well; her back was constantly covered with sweat from the physical efforts. She had muffled her coughing as well, and even if he hadn't commented on it, she knew he had noticed.

Because, well, a deaf man would have noticed.

The hobbits on the other hand, had kept grumbling about hunger but seemed to endure quite well in the physical aspect. Of course, they had been tired, but at least they hadn't been coughing out their lungs.

"It's fine," Weronika answered, smiling slightly. "I'll be fine."

Strider nodded his head and didn't try to say anything more. Well, talking with him wasn't the easiest thing in the world, especially with her language issues.

"So… Umm… How far are we from our destination?" the question slipped off of her tongue before she thought about it. She just couldn't stand that silence, feeling like an unwanted intruder. Besides, it was still a better topic than weather.

"Around 6 days, my lady. 7 maybe, if we meet any trouble," he responded mildly, not looking at her. Indeed, he had an annoying habit of not looking at his interlocutor.

Weronika nodded her head, not finding anything more to talk about. She was about to slow down her pace and join the hobbits, when she heard Strider's voice.

"Aragorn."

She tilted her head to the side, taken aback. His eyes were wandering around carefully, but she noticed that the corners of his lips twitched, as if he had noticed her surprised face. Too focused on him, she didn't notice a root and tripped over it, and she would have fallen if a huge palm hadn't grabbed her by the elbow.

Mumbling a few rather offensive Polish phrases under her breath, she lowered her gaze to hide her blush. She had a feeling that her awkwardness amused the man, and she was angry with herself. Back in her world, she hadn't been all that clumsy. She hadn't had to wander around in the wilderness, though.

"You asked my name back in town, and I offer it now, my lady," the man said, this time looking at her seriously. Weronika wanted to laugh, but seeing his expression she refrained. Perhaps it was a big deal to him and nothing to laugh about.

"Oh," she managed after a few seconds and really hoped that it didn't sound offensive to him. "Well, so… Thank you, I guess?"

"The pleasure is mine," he almost mumbled, and she felt dismissed.

Slowing down her pace, she joined the hobbits but couldn't turn her gaze from Aragorn's back.

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A/N2: Thank you that you spared some time to read today's chapter. Would love to read your opinion! See you next Friday : )