"Oh, Im sorry that was rude of me!" I exclaimed dropping my fork with a loud clank. "Im Alex", I gave them my best Im-pleased-to-meet-you smile.
"Thats a rather odd name." One of the childlike men stated.
"Pippin! You cant just say that to someone." Another of the little med chastised as he slapped Pippin on the shoulder. "Its not like yours is any better Pip."
"Its alright." I laughed figuring they were more familiar with Alex as a guys name. "Its short for Alexandria." I explained. Though they didnt seem anymore familiar with my full name than my short if their questioning eyes were any indication. This left me wondering where exactly these guys were from. I had thought that nearly every language, well European language since these guys were clearly European, had a variation of Alexandria. I mean Alexander the Great named nearly every city he claimed Alexandria. Now that I thought about it more they were the ones with strange names. I mean who names their kid Boromir.
I guess I spent too much time in my head again since every pair of eyes were once again upon me. This is starting to get really awkward. "Im sorry I didnt hear you?" I offered the person next to me, hoping my response would be accepted.
"I was asking where you were from." The sandy haired little man smiled at me.
"Yes, I too am curious to know of your homelands." Boromir added leaning forward a little more.
I narrowed my eyes at him, why he didnt like me I had no idea. Smiling I turned back to the little men, all of whom seemed eager to hear my response. "Im from New Smyrna, Florida. Im a marine mammal trainer at marine park."
"I am not familiar with Florida", the dark haired man stated as he rummaged through he bag. "It must be a very distant land for I have traveled these lands well." He pulled out his sword and began sharpening it. I dont know if he meant to intimidate me or not, but it did none the less.
"It must be very far indeed. This land is not known to me either." Gandalf frowned around his pipe.
"You guys have to be kidding!" I exclaimed before I could stop myself. "Everyone knows Florida! You know its part of the US, its got alligators and Disney World. The blank stares were not very encouraging. The shark attack capital of the United States?" I offered shrinking away from the group. Now I had everyones full attention: Gandalf had stopped smoking and the rhythmic scrapping of metal had stopped.
Just who are these people? The odd hunting party I can get, millionaires go to Africa all the time to hunt lions so I guess rich Europeans hunt in America. The funny clothes are acceptable as well, I mean have you seen some of things people wear now a days? But I just dont understand how can you not know about Disney World. I mean seriously, who hasnt heard of Disney World? Isnt that supposed to be every little kids dream?
I really do hate being the center of attention. Everyone staring at me was not helping my self confidence at all. But then again, neither was sitting here in some strange guys clothes. Pulling my knees to my chest and averting my eyes from the group I tried to alleviate the tension.
"Please dont stare at me like that." I begged as I hid my head in knees.
"We dont mean to stare my lady," the dark haired man took pity on me. "This land you speak of is foreign and your appearance here so suddenly is most puzzling."
"Yes indeed" Boromir agreed. He stood and started circling the group. "Though I must say your sudden appearance can hardly be coincidental. Dose anyone not find it strange that we set out on this quest and the very first night we make camp she turns up wondering in the dark?"
No one spoke, but there were several glances exchanged between members of the group. I thought we were past all this suspicion? To be honest it was getting old very quickly and I had had just about enough.
"Listen! Its not like I wanted to come here!" I started getting to my feet. Before I knew it I was standing right in front of Boromir jabbing a finger into his chest. "The last thing I knew I was sleeping on the beach after surfing all day. I woke up and I was here. I dont know how or why. All I know is that I am getting really tired of you accusing me of something that I have nothing to do with. All I want to do is go home and get back to my animals and friends!"
I dont remember having ever been this angry in my life. Not even when my little brother barrowed my car for a night without telling me. And let me tell you I was that night. Remembering my surroundings, and that Boromir was heavily armed, I backed down and removed my finger from his chest. "I just want to go home." I whispered taking a few steps back.
Of course everyone was still staring at me. Pippins mouth was slightly open and his head tilted in a confused manner. Boromir wore an expression that was a cross between amusement and anger. Guess no one has ever spoken to him like that before. Normally Im not one for confrontation, but I just couldnt take it anymore. I just snapped.
"We will escort you to the first town we come across. From there you will be able to make your way home." Gandalfs words held so much comfort. Suddenly I felt much better and not so scared. Dont get me wrong I was still scared. Who wouldnt be with nine strangers with weapons standing around you? Gandalfs words seemed final law as no one spoke out against them. "Though we do not know when we will make it to a town or where it will be you are more then welcome to stay with us until we do." There was an odd twinkle in his eyes, though it could have just been a trick of the light.
It seemed that I was no longer the center of attention. Everyone busied themselves with different activities. Boromir began instructing Pippin and his friend in swordplay. Showing them how to block his attacks. The other two helped themselves to more sausages and laughed as Pippin nearly tripped over a rock. From the corner of my eye I could see Gandalf smoking his pipe again. The dark haired man, whos name I have still yet to learn, followed in Gandalfs lead and pulled out a pipe of his own. Legolas and the short man with the axe seemed to be putting as much distance between each other as possible. Guess they get along just was well as I did with Boromir.
With the attention finally off me I was able to appreciate how lovely my surrounding were. I had never seen anything like it. I must have fallen asleep, basking in the cool sunshine because the next thing I knew everyone was fixated on a lone fast moving dark cloud. Before I could get a good look at it they were all diving for cover. "I dont understand. Theyre just birds." I stated, wondering why grown men would be so afraid of something so small.
I moved to get off the rock I had been perched on and figure out where everyone had gone off to. Before I could take my second step I was yanked down to the ground and pulled under a bush. "What-"
A hand was pressed to my mouth before I could continue. Looking back I could see the sharp blue eyes of Legolas. He wasnt looking at me, but rather at the strange little birds that were now flocking around our campsite. They were horrid and looked almost demonic. One of the demon birds landed on the ground by the bush and started pecking near my leg. I panicked and push back into Legolas, who inurn rolled so that I was on top of him keeping me away from the bird. The hand on my mouth moved to my back and pulled me closer to him as I buried my head into his shirt. I was terrified, plain and simple.
It was all over in a matter of minutes. As soon as the creatures were gone Legolas was helping me out of the bushes. Everyone was accounted for. There was talk of the passage south being watched and that would should take another route. While no one seemed to like the idea of the mountains it was agreed that counting on our current path would be unwise. Of course none of the names of places were familiar to me.
Everyone busied themselves with packing up camp as quickly as possible. Before long we were setting out to the base of the mountains. Being from the Florida coast, and having never traveled, I had never seen mountains before.
The mood was not nearly as light as before and there was very little talking. I was fine with these travel arrangements as they took the attention off of me, though I was still a little unnerved by those creepy little birds.
I was reaching t pull my hair back into a tighter pony tail when Legolas came up next to me. I jumped at his sudden appearance by my side and hair came down. "My apologies, I did not mean to startle you." He seemed amused.
"Its fine. I guess Im just not that observant." I laughed as I reached back for my hair. I couldnt stand it when my pony tail was loose.
"You should work on that, Lady Alexandria." He warned, a slight frown marring his handsome features. "These are dangerous times and we may find ourselves in unfriendly situations."
"I will keep that in mind." I muttered as I finished tying back my hair. Before I could bring my arms back down he reached out and was pulling my arm closer to him. What was with these people and invading my personal bubble? "Excuse me-"
"Forgive me," he seemed upset "I had not intended to use such force." His fingers gently touched the bruises on my arm. Bruises I didnt know I had. Bruises oddly in the shape of a hand. Suddenly it occurred to me where these bruises had come from, and it was certainly not Legolas.
"Oh! You didnt cause those." The words rushed out before I could stop them. It seemed that pretty blue eyes made me lose my filter.
"Then where did these come from?" He questioned, the frown growing deeper.
I hesitated, glancing towards the rest of the group. Boromir seemed to be watching our interaction with great interest, almost daring me to rat him out. "I have no idea." I tried to smile, "I must have fallen at some point." I really hopped he bought my lie. I just didnt want to be involved in any form of confrontaion, and the thought of having to deal with Boromir about this again was just not pleasant.
Legolas didnt seem to believe my answer but was willing enough to drop the matter. And we continued walking behind the rest of the group. Legolas told me the names of the rest of the fellowship and little things he had noticed about each of them, like how Sam hates change but seems to be willing to follow Frodo to the end of the Earth. In turn I shared with him details of my home, like the glorious sunrises on the beach, and about my work. He seemed really interested in my animals. I cant really blame him, they were my life and I found them pretty interesting too.
"I dont mean to be rude but," I just couldnt keep it in any longer, "did you know you have pointy ears?" Now that I said it out loud it sounded really stupid. Of course he knows he has pointy ears. Worried that I had offended him I quickly tried to apologies but was stopped by his laughter. Guess he wasnt too offended.
"I am an elf, Lady Alexandria." He explained. "We have pointy ears as you say." I felt like a child that just asked a stupid question in school. Thankfully we were able to move on from there and he continued to tell me about his people. Turns out that beautiful langue that him and Aragon were speaking when I met them was elvish, and Legolas agreed to teach me a few words.
As we got higher up the mountain Legolas went up to the front with Gandalf. I felt better being on my own now that I knew everyones name, and that the little people were in fact four hobbits and a dwarf. Though, I still had a hard time grasping that Gandalf, who could be the perfect grandfatherly figure, was a powerful wizard.
Even though I was lost in my thoughts I was able to catch Boromir coming up next to me. "Thank you." He murmured as he passed me to rejoin the hobbits.
I guess this means we are even ground. It seemed that since I didnt tell about him hurting me and he would leave me alone. This unspoken agreement suited me just fine since I wanted avoid any unneeded confrontation. He seemed to have a lot on his mind anyway since he kept sneaking glances at Frodo.
The wind started picking up the higher we got. I was grateful for the clothes that had been loaned to me as they were keeping me warmer than mine would have. I just wish that I had different footwear since my flip flops were providing little protection from the growing amount of snow on the ground. I considered just taking them off and leaving them behind since they were making walking in the snow harder and harder with each step. This was not going to be an enjoyable hike.
Im terribly sorry about not updating this sooner! I took on a lot more than I could handle this past year at university (but managed to make it through and graduate a full year early!)
To those of you still reading this, or to you who are just starting to read, I am hoping to update at least once a week. I am also thinking of starting another story, since the idea has been bouncing around in my head for a few years. It would be about a girl in out time (Dakota Rose) who finds out she is a half-elf when her father (Haldir) and her fianc (Legolas) come to bring her back to Middle Earth. What do you think? Should I put it to paper and post it?
Please let me know if there still arent any quotation marks. I think I was able to fix the problem, but wont know until this is posted.
Thank you all