Hey Everyone,

Sorry I'm a day late again, It was taking me forever to get something I was happy with.

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Kezia felt a cool breeze drift across her face, stirring tendrils of her hair to brush against her cheek. It was a gently wakening as she slowly began to gather her senses. She remembered exactly what had happened but was refusing to open her eyes in the hope it was all some mad dream. She heard a fire crackling not far from where she was lying. She presumed she was lying on the ground as she felt the unyielding hardness barely softened by a bedroll under her back. The faint murmuring of voices seemed constant but she wasn't listening to what they were saying. She was determined to just lie here as long as she could, not wanting to face the reality of her situation. But try as she might to deny the truth, the pain coming from her hands made her aware the she was very much awake and this was all very real.

She had her entire life torn away from her in one day, thrust into a strange world, into what appeared to be a land on the brink of war. Even with her eyes closed she could feel tears trying to break through but she would never let them fall. These men had seen her breakdown enough for one day, she didn't want them to see what an weak emotional wreck she felt like right now. She forced her fear and panic deep within herself she would not let it claim any remaining dignity she had left. Forcing herself to take a deep breath in she focused on releasing the tension from her muscles, willing them relax. Slowly she could feel a sense of calm wash over her, a deceitful serenity it may be but it was all she could hope for right now. Breathing in again she noted how crisp and fresh the air felt as the breeze once again brushed against her hair blowing it gently across her face. Opening her eyes she stared straight up at an incredibly blue sky. In her peripherals she could see the trees waving softly in the breeze, the leaves dancing idly in the breeze. A few white clouds dusted the sky, move lazily across her vision until they revealed the sun. Warmth washed over her as light filled the clearing. She almost felt peaceful as she lay there just staring at the sky letting it consume her every thought.

She wasn't aware of how long she lay like that until a shadow passed over her, blocking her from the suns warmth. It was then the she realised how far the sun had travelled in the sky as it was now far to her right and was currently being blocked by one of the men.

She let her eyes travel across to take in the man's face as he looked directly back at her. It was the brown haired one, the one who had given her the knife, he probably regretted that move now, not that she had actually done anything with it. It appeared as if the man was waiting for something, maybe for her to say something. It wasn't often she found herself speechless but what exactly does one say after being teleported into another world. Sighing she sat up and turned round to face him, curling her legs to her side, having no clue what to say she just waited for him to start.

Aragorn approached the woman slowly, Legolas had told him some time ago that the woman was awake but as she had not moved he thought she was taking time to absorb what had happened that morning. But as the sun reached its peak and was now swiftly travelling west he decided he needed to check on her. On his approach he saw that she was breathing slowly, a relaxed look on her face, her red hair dancing around her face as she watched the sky. He had expected her maybe to be in shock but she looked calm and collected. He gained her attention by moving to stand in the sun, he was still a few paces away from her not wanting to get to close and scare her. As the shadow passed across her face a pair of dark blue eyes flicked across to look at him. In them he saw nothing, no fear, no panic, they were completely devoid of any emotion that could hint at how he should approach her. Elves are much more apt at reading people but given her earlier reaction to Legolas he had made the decision that the one to approach he should be one of her own race. He was now wondering if that was a mistake or not.

Movement brought him out of his own thoughts as the woman sat upright turning to face him. She looking at him expectantly and Aragorn took this as an indication for him to start.

Clearing his throat he opened his mouth to speak but found himself at a loss of what to say. Realising his was standing there with his mouth agape for a few seconds longer than what was considered normal he quickly snapped it shut as he hastily tried to think of something to say. His obvious indecision was rewarded with a raised eyebrow from the woman and from behind him he heard Boromir mutter something about him 'being out in the wild to often to know how to speak to a lady' this earned a muffled chuckle from Gimli.

"It's kind of difficult to know what to say is it not?" the woman spoke her comment mirroring exactly the thought that was going through his mind.

Scratching the back of his head he chuckled "Aye, it's not a usual situation we are in milady"

"No shit Sherlock" she replied with a chuckle.

"Who is Sherlock?" Aragorn asked in confusion, regretting his question immediately when she looked at him with a confused and lost expression on her face.

"I do not know, I cannot remember" she sighed dejectedly glancing away to look behind him at where the rest of the Fellowship was gathered. "But unless you want me to call you Sherlock from now on, might I know your name being as it appears I am somewhat stuck here?"

"Forgive me Milady, I am Aragorn son of Arathorn" he introduced himself bowing to her.

"Call me 'Milady' again and I will forever more call you Sherlock" she said with a frown, a small smirk playing on her lips. "Just Kezia is fine, I'm not lady of anything here" she added as she started to get to her feet stumbling slightly. He stepped forward quickly grabbing her arm to steady her, he felt her tense up immediately as he touched her so as soon as he was certain she wasn't going to fall he let go taking a step back to give her space.

"Alright then 'Just Kezia' we need to see to your hands." He said trying to keep the atmosphere light hearted. The woman looked down at her hands the blood had dried now but there was dirt mixed in with the scrapes on her hand. She nodded at him and he gestured for her to move over to fire. Her eyes flicked once again to the group behind him before she cautiously made her way over to the fire to sit on a log. Following her Aragorn noticed her garments left her back completely exposed, he quickly averted his gaze and moved over to the camp fire. Kneeling in front of her he held his hand out and watched as she reluctantly placed her hand in his palm up. Soaking some ripped cloth in heated water he slowly began to clean the cuts, all seemed to have begun healing bar one which reopened when he was wiping some dirt from it. He wrapped a piece of clean cloth around the still bleeding palm tying the ends together in a knot on the back of her hand. Kezia had remained silent throughout him ministration her eyes cautiously flitter to the group, watching as the hobbits began to make their way over to the camp fire. Aragorn watched her face carefully for her reaction, but that cool mask of indifference she wore blocked whatever reaction she was feeling. Aragorn was getting ready to introduce the hobbits to her, when she surprised him and addressed them directly.

"So, which one of you is Merry and which one is Pippin?"

She had watched them fidget for the entire time Aragorn had cleaned her cuts, she had found herself almost amused as she caught them elbowing each other and slowly taking sidesteps away from where the rest of the group were chatting to each other. Their attempt of stealthily creeping towards where she was did not go unnoticed by the man dressed in grey, who shook his head in amusement at their antics as he puffed on a pipe. When he noticed she was watching he gave her a quick smile and wink before he returned his attention back to his conversation.

Out of the entire group these small people seemed the least terrifying. Yes, it was confusing that they had the face of grown men but the body of a child, weird as that was she didn't feel frightened by these two. When they reached the edge of the camp fire they stood there nudging one another trying to get the other to speak. She felt a cracks appear on her composed mask as she fought to prevent the small smile that tugged at her lips. She won that small battle but couldn't help the feeling of wanting to put them out of there nervous misery. Keeping on her mask she turned to fully look at them before she spoke.

"So, which one of you is Merry and which one is Pippin?" She asked when the two had finally made their way over. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Aragorn look at her shock and surprise written on his face.

"You know our names?" one of them gasped admiration evident on his face.

"Of course she does, who wouldn't know the names of the Shires fiercest warriors" the other one answer puffing his chest out.

"Well that rules you out Pippin" replied the other one glancing smugly at his friend.

"To answer your question Milady, this here is Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took" Aragorn cut in as the two cut start arguing. "They prefer Merry and Pippin though"

Kezia flashed a glare at Aragorn "I'm sorry, what was that Sherlock?" She saw Aragorn give her a small smile shaking his head.

"Forgive me Kezia but old habits die hard. It is unusual here for one to address royalty by their first name." He replied quickly under the glare of her deep blue eyes.

"Good thing I'm not royalty here then isn't it, so you should feel more at ease now" she replied.

"You will be royalty where ever you go Kezia, you cannot turn your back on that" he said softly to her. The intensity of her glare deepened but as she opened her mouth to respond she was interrupted by the other two who had finished their bickering.

"Well we call you by your name though Aragorn, should we not?" Pippin cut in.

"Well the situation is somewhat different" Aragorn replied quickly not liking the turn the conversation had taken.

"How? You're royalty too" Merry chipped in.

Aragorn barely contained his groan, his attempt at a little pep talk had completely backfired and now he had to deal with two very inquisitive hobbits. He glanced towards Kezia who sat looking at him expectantly, one eyebrow arched. He noticed a small quiver of her mouth almost as though she struggling not to smirk at him. He heard the quiet chuckle of Legolas who had obviously heard the entire conversation and noticed him whisper to Gandalf who looked up amusement on his face at Aragorn's predicament.

"Aragorn is the King of Gondor and Boromir is the Captain" Merry's voice cut in and Aragorn watched in dismay as Merry pointed at Boromir who had looked up upon hearing his name. He stood up and walked towards them, stopping to bow in front of Kezia.

"I am gladdened to see you have recovered from your shock this morning, Your Highness" Boromir said upon completing his bow. Aragorn watched as Kezia's eyes flicked between Boromir and him, her lips pressed in thin line.

"Kezia has just stated her preference that we do not use her titles" Aragorn filled Boromir in before he made the mistake again.

"Oh, I see." Boromir said looking perplexed, "Then we are to call you by your first name?"

"I would much prefer that, my titles are somewhat redundant here" Kezia said looking up at Boromir.

"A most wise decision my dear" Gandalf stated from across the camp, "Should we run across anyone on our journey it would be most difficult to explain why you are named with titles that do not exist in this land"

"So that means no more 'Your Highness or Milady' got it" Kezia said looking pointedly at the two mean in front of her. "Besides, you don't use your titles from what I have heard so far" at this she looked directly at Aragorn who shrugged in response, earning him an eye roll.

"So Kezia, you've met us, Aragorn and Boromir" Pippin said drawing Kezia's attention away from him. "That there is Gandalf the Grey" he said pointing at toward the figure who nodded raising his pipe to her in acknowledgment. "Gandalf's a great wizard."

"Just so I have this right, Wizard as in magic?" Kezia asked her eyes widening slightly.

"Indeed my dear" he responded simply.

"So magic is real here" she seemed as if she was speaking to herself more than anyone else as if she was thinking of something.

"Well how would else would you explain your sudden appearance here?" Gandalf questioned her.

"Touche" Kezia said obviously not able to answer any differently.

"Over here is Gimli son of Gloin" Merry said pointing at the dwarf who raised a hand in greeting.

"Nice to meet ya lassy"

"This is Legolas, Prince of the Woodland Realm" Pippin introduced, Legolas silently nodded in response. Aragorn was surprised, after Kezia's previous reaction to Legolas he had expected her to have a few questions regarding a race which apparently did not exist where she was from but her only response was to nod back. As Merry and Pippin moved on to introduce the rest, Legolas raised a questioning eyebrow at Aragorn. Obviously he hadn't been expecting her reaction either.

"And these fine Hobbit are Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee" Merry finished introducing everyone.

"Sorry" Kezia said blinking "What is a hobbit?"

Merry and Pippin looked at her mouths agape.

"We're hobbits. Don't you have hobbits either where you're from" Pippin asked incredulously.

"Sorry, not that I'm aware of" she replied with an apologetic shrug.

"Well you're missing out! Don't worry though we will tell you everything you need to know about hobbits" Pippin said.

"Thank you, I get the feeling I will need filling in on pretty much everything going on here"

Gandalf nodded at her "We shall tell you shortly my dear."

Kezia just nodded in response before turning her attention to Sam who had stepped forward, he was rubbing his neck nervously.

"Afternoon Miss, be begging your pardon for my behaviour earlier, just wasn't expecting company on the road" Sam apologised.

"Not sure I exactly took it well either so I think we can call it even" Kezia said earning her a smile from Sam.

"That's alright Miss, went through a similar thing when I left the Shire for the first time, worlds a lot bigger than I thought and I'm from here!"

The group had all moved to sit round the fire, Sam was cooking sausages much to Merry and Pippin's delight. The duo had been giving Kezia a lesson in all things hobbit they had been talking non-stop for an hour but had barely made it past their family lineage. Kezia was currently enjoying the reprieve of her lesson as the hobbits became much more intrigued with the prospect of sausages. The two had moved away to harass Sam cooking trying to steal and piece of bacon.

Kezia jumped when she felt something brush against her back. She looked round in shock only to find Aragorn standing behind her .

"Apologies, I did not mean scare you" he said "I was coming to offer you my cloak"

"Thank but I am not cold" Kezia said with a slight frown. She was sitting directly in front of the fire if anything she felt a little too warm.

"Ahh, it's not for the cold Mil.. Kezia" Aragorn said quickly recovering from his almost slip up. "Your dress is torn, your back is exposed" he murmured quietly to her, he did not want to embarrass her.

"My dress did not have a back to begin with" she said fighting hard not to smile or laugh at the man who was clearly uncomfortable with their current conversation.

At her statement Aragorn looked in shock at her face. "Your garment is meant to bare your skin?" he said unable to make sense of this.

"Yes, it is only my back, I'm not showing off anything too risqué am I?"

"Are you saying that women all wear garments such as yours where you're from?"

"Well this is somewhat conservative by our standards but judging by your reaction I'm guessing this isn't what women wear here?"

"Erm no, that is an understatement Kezia. Women of your standing here do not expose themselves so much"

"Expose? You're making me sound like I'm a prostitute right now"

"No! That was not my intention forgive me"

To his surprise he heard a small chuckle come from her. "God, if you're reacting like this over a bit of bare back, I'd love to see your reaction to shorts, ohhh mini skirts and bikini's!"

As quickly as her mirth had come, it went. Sighing she took the cloak from Aragorn and draped it across her shoulders and back. "Better?"

He nodded then sat down beside her on her right. They sat in silence for some time just listening to banter going between the hobbits.

"What are shorts?" a smooth voice came from her left. For the second time that night Kezia jumped in fright.

"Uhhhh why are you guys so sneaky, I never hear you coming!" she grumbled to herself as she tried to get her heart to return back to its normal speed.

"Forgive me Mila..." Legolas paused seeing Aragorns frantic stop motions behind Kezia back "Forgive me Kezia, I should have made my presence known"

She looked up at him, she obviously knew what he had been going to say but she appreciated the recovery attempt, though she had a sneaking suspicion it had something to do with Aragorn.

"May I join you" he asked. She nodded in response turning to gaze back at the fire.

"What are shorts?" Legolas asked again.

She was about to answer when she realised something.

"You were the other side of the camp, how could you have possibly heard that?" she said, her blue eyes scrutinising him.

"Elves have very keen senses" Aragorn replied "Their hearing and eyesight is far better than humans"

"We are light on foot so it is rare that you would hear us approach" Legolas commented.

"Explains a lot" she said her eyes still observing him. A moment later she continued, "If your hearing is so good then surely you already know the context behind my comments on shorts"

"I was not listening to your conversation but your foreign words drew my attention" he replied simply.

"I would explain them but I fear if you are half as prude as Aragorn here you will not tolerate such items" she said throwing Aragorn a glance who in turn looked uncomfortable and looked down at his feet.

Legolas saw Kezia's lips twitch as if she was trying to smile, it was clear she found this situation amusing. "I do not understand, items?" he questioned. Aragorn's head whipped round to face him the look on his face was shock, clearly Aragorn did not want to broach this topic.

"Aragorn cover your ears" she said "Shorts, miniskirts and bikini's are a type of clothing that women wear where I'm from" she started not giving Aragorn a chance. "Shorts are like trousers but are a lot, well, shorter, most come down to here" she said pointing at her mid thigh "but fashion at the moment means that a lot finish about here" this time pointing higher up her thigh.

"And women wear such garments in public? Their entire legs showing?" Aragorn gasped, gaping at her in disbelief.

"I knew you couldn't resist listening in" Kezia said in a smug tone. "Yep, especially in summer when its hot, then it's pretty much the shorter the better."

"Surely the men would not let women go out in such a state of undress" Boromir joined in. Kezia looked up, it appeared she now had the attention of the entire camp.

"Ummm, men don't really have a say in what women wear, sorry Boromir"

"You said they were like trousers, do women wear those too?" Legolas asked looking puzzled.

"Yes"

"But they are mens clothes" he said.

"Women can pretty much wear whatever the men wear" she said, "Wait don't women wear trousers here?"

"No lass, only men folk, tis not proper for women to be running around dressed as men, tis not right" Gimli huffed.

"What is a miniskirt?" Legolas asked Aragorn and Boromir looked at him incredulously.

"Exactly what it sounds like, a skirt that is mini, about the same length as the shorts" she said, the stunned silence around her was making her regret having this conversation.

"A Beekini, is that another garment" Legolas asked, this time the entire group turned to look at him. "What?"

"Given your reaction to shorts and a miniskirt I think maybe we should leave it there" Kezia said finally breaking the silence.

The group mumbled in agreement and dinner was served. Kezia looked at her plate which had a sausage, some bacon and mushrooms, she was pleased that at least some of the food here was familiar to her but tonight she had no appetite whatsoever.

"Are you not hungry" Frodo asked her, his plate was mostly untouched like hers only the sausage had been eaten.

"It's been a very odd day for me, it has somewhat dampened my appetite" she said looking at the hobbit. He looked tired, his face he looked almost strained. "If you see anything you want you can have it" she said offering her plate.

"No, thank you" he said with a small smile. Kezia looked at him for a moment before spearing her sausage. "If there is one thing I have learnt about hobbits today, it is that they love sausages" and with that she placed the sausage on Frodo's plate. He looked at her for a moment before he smiled and tucked in.

Kezia nibbled on some the mushrooms but couldn't force more than that down so she offered the bacon to the other hobbits who were more than happy to accept.

For the rest of the evening Gandalf talked to her of their quest. She was at a loss of what to say for most of. At the end of his tale Gandalf looked at her expectantly.

"So in short there is an evil ring which if it gets into the wrong hands has the power to annihilate everything."

"In essence. Yes"

"And so this group was put together to destroy the ring by taking it to Mordor"

"Yes and to throw it into the fires of Mount Doom"

"Okay, but isn't that exactly where the ring wants to go" Kezia cringed as she realised she had just referred to the ring as having a will of its own.

"The ring is always seeking its master, who is indeed at Mordor"

"So the plan is to sneak it past him"

"Correct"

There was a long pause.

"You do know how unlikely that is right. Surely this Sauron guy is going to be expecting that"

Gandalf said nothing and just looked at her.

"Look I'm not saying it's doomed or anything, but after the day I've had you can forgive me for not being optimistic. More to the point, where do I fit in with all this?"

"That, my dear, remains a mystery. Your arrival was unprecedented, all I know is that you have a role to play in this quest, what that may be, only time will tell. The Lady of Lothlórien may have some further knowledge for you."

"So I am to tag along with you guys until we get to her."

"For now, that seems the best option."

"Question – Do we really have to go through the mines?"

Gandalf raised an eyebrow at her.

"I get a little claustrophobic okay, and dark caves really don't fill me joy"

"I would advise you never to refer to the mines as a dark cave in front of Gimli, he would not take that well" he said giving her a wink. "Alas our only path now is through the mines."

There was another pause before Gandalf stood up and order that the rest for the night. Aragorn was taking the first watch so offered her his bedroll saying he would swap with Boromir when they changed over.

Kezia didn't believe she would be sleeping much after her strange day but within minutes of lying down despite how uncomfortable it was, she was soon asleep.

So another chapter done :) Hope you all like it - You know the drill guys, follow/fav's and reviews are always appreciated.

It can't get better without you guys :)

Riehull - Stamping on Legolas was my favourite part. There will be more issues with stilettos coming soon :P

Guest - 'He's an elf' still makes me laugh! I'm glad you liked it :)