I know its been a while, you guys, and it'll probably be a while longer to my next update too. Next week is dead week, and so we all know what comes after that- finals. End of term. (Cue the lightning bolt!) This chapter's pretty short, so I'll try to get the next one up today too, but after that- who knows? I'm sticking with you lot, that's for sure, but I don't know when I can get back.
I got some reviews!
Lizzie: I'm glad you enjoyed it! I felt I had to throw some comedy in here, and it always annoys me in stories like this where the girl is super skilled at archery and sword fighting with no experience. Thanks for the feedback!
Pink penguins: I enjoyed your cyber cookie. It was very tasty! :) Thanks for your support!
Kyle: Interesting title! I was looking for something kind of children's story-ish since as you can tell, this is written a lot simpler than Tolkien's works. That's why I settled on Aisely in Wonderland, to give it a sort of Lewis Carroll child-like whimsy, you know? And I'm afraid I don't understand your joke, but that may just be a culture gap, or a lost reference or something. I'm sure it was funny!
Kyle: Again! :) I didn't have Aisley show Strider the airplane because it wasn't really an important plot point. He never contested that she was from elsewhere, she just doubted that she was in Middle Earth. The airplane wouldn't prove very much. But I see your point. And you should totally write a fic about a plane crash if you want to- just because the site's going down the tubes doesn't mean we can't still put up quality stuff. And as for original- I had my doubts about this story since the plot is so used, but I'm having loads of fun playing around with every cliché possible and making it quality writing at the same time. So sometimes being unoriginal is the most fun thing you could do. I say go for it! And thanks for the suggestions!
Katherine Sparrow: First of all, cute name! I'm glad you liked it- the end was my favorite part to write. I was giggling to myself as I wrote it! Thanks for your support!
And I don't own LOTR, in case you were wondering…
"Move your feet." Aragorn declared, watching the hobbits sparring with Borimir. They weren't doing much better than Aisley- whereas she had classical training that didn't do her any good in a real fight, they had no training at all. He walked over to where Aisley was leaning, analyzing the girl.
She wasn't very old- probably the youngest of all of them- and she didn't have any kind of experience with this sort of thing. Their best bet to keep all of them alive was to get rid of her as soon as possible. But at the same time, she was surprisingly resilient. Whatever was wrong with her ankle, she refused to let any of them touch it, and continued onward, never once complaining about it. A slivery scar had formed along her jawline from her first orc encounter, and it was obvious the marring of her face annoyed her, but she hadn't complained or cried. Her feet were constantly bleeding, and her odd boots, the ones she called trainers, had been torn to shreds.
"What are you looking at?" Aisley asked, tracing the scar along her jaw, a nervous habit she'd developed.
"You. Your nose looks like Arwen's. Did you know that?"
"Who's Arwen?" Aisley asked, scratching said nose.
"Only the love of his life. Where've you been your whole life?" Pippen called from where he fought with Boromir. Boromir took advantage of the distraction to score a point.
"Ireland." Aisley shot back with a grin, and Pippen rolled his eyes.
"You always say that."
"It's always true."
Aragorn smiled at the hobbit, and then turned back to Aisley.
"How are you holding up, Lady Aisley?" He asked, and she smiled ruefully.
"Alright. I'm really hoping we reach a town soon, but I'm doing ok."
"Are you sure?" Aragorn asked skeptically. As much as Aisley complained, he expected her to go off on a rant right then and there.
"Yeah." Aisley rolled her eyes. "I'm doing fine."
"This is no place for a woman. It is alright if you are having difficulties."
"See, that there gets me. In your world being a woman is an excuse for everything, right? Oh, don't mind me; I'm just a poor frail woman who can't do anything." She stood up angrily pacing. The others stopped what they were doing to watch, unbeknownst to her. "But that's just crap. Being a woman is no more an excuse than being a man is. In my world women and men are equals, unless someone holds themselves back. And yeah, sometimes some girls pretend to be frail little things just to get some guy to take care of them, but that's just stupid. Any one of them could hold their own, if they needed to. The only thing that sets me apart from you guys is that I don't have any training. If I'd grown up in the same circumstances that you have, I could be just as good as the rest of you."
"What is this?" Aragorn asked, reaching for the pendent that had fallen out from underneath her cardigan. She took it from him and hastily tucked it back.
"My mum says that my father gave it to me before I was born. When they were expecting, I suppose. It's very special to me." She declared, and Aragorn nodded, withdrawing his hand. He then pulled out a matching pendent in awe.
"Your father gave you the Evenstar pendent?" He asked, and Aisley stared at his necklace in shock. "I thought there was only one."
Gandalf swooped towards the pair, taking both of their pendants in his hands. After a moment's deliberation, he declared "They are the same necklace."
"Well, yeah, anyone can see that. But, I mean, your world isn't exactly foreign to mine. And if your pendant is in the books or movies or whatever, I'm sure some company made a copy to sell to adoring fangirls. Maybe my father bought one because he thought it looked nice-"
Gandalf cut her off, pointing at a groove cut deep into both necklaces. Aragorn stared at it quietly, than spoke.
"An orc blade caught me there, and this pendent saved my life. That's how it became damaged." They turned expectantly towards Aisley, who shrugged.
"It's always been there. As long as I've had it." Aragorn was about to say something, when the hobbits and Boromir caught his eye. He ran off in their direction, as Aisley turned back to Gandalf.
"These are the same pendants, Aisley. Somehow your father came into possession of Aragorn's pendent, and passed it on to you."
"Wait, does that mean I'm from the future? And I got transported back to the past, and Aragorn's necklace is about 50 thousand kajillion years younger than mine? Does that make Aragorn my great to the 50 thousand kajillionth times grandfather?"
Gandalf opened his mouth to reply, when a shout came from the other side of camp.
"Crebain from Dunland!"
Aisley had no idea what these Crebain were, but it didn't seem good. Following the others example, she dashed off, skidding over in order to scoop up three different packs and throw water on the fire, and collapsed behind a bush, allowing her momentum to push her forward. She clamped her hand over her mouth, trying to quiet her breathing, and waited as the raven like birds swarmed them, covering the sky. It seemed as if it had suddenly turned to night, the black birds covering every inch of sky.
After what felt like hours, the last of the birds flew over. Aisley remained in her hiding space a short while longer, making sure they were truly gone before she climbed back out.
"So, about this mountain climbing…" she started. The others, visibly as shocked as she felt, chuckled, and Aisley cracked a grin.