Chapter 7


"I will take it!" Frodo spoke, unheard over the roar of the fighting. The thunderous bickering that invaded every thought Kida had, trying to listen for his small voice. She only heard it when he repeated himself. "I will take it! I will take the ring to Mordor."

The longer he spoke the quieter the council fell, until there was dead silence and all men stood staring at the small hobbit. "Though... I do not know the way."

"I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins." Gandalf walked slowly to stand behind the young hobbit. "As long as it is yours to bear."

Kida was on her feet next, and she walked across the council to kneel in front of Frodo. "I already promised you that you will be alright, and I'll be damned if I don't see that through." She smiled and then stood at his side. "I will join you."

Aragorn stood. "If, by my life or death, I can protect you, I will." He said nobly and strode across after Kida to kneel more like Frodo was royalty than a boy. "You have my sword."

"And you have my bow." Legolas moved to join the forming group.

"And my axe." Gimli waved the weapon and despite his earlier cries of racism stood next to Legolas. The prince looked exasperated, but uncomplaining.

Boromir looked them over and walked toward Frodo. "You carry the fate of us all, little one." He looked over at Elrond and Gandalf, as if seeing if this was right. "If this is indeed the will of the Council, then Gondor will see it done."

Frodo stood between them all with wide eyes as if he realized that, save from Kida, he had some of the best men in all of Middle Earth fighting for him. Standing at his side, a group of fighters in many different ways, brilliantly strong despite fear. There was a boyish yell from outside the council, then, and Kida instantly stepped to the side as Sam pushed into the group.

"Mr. Frodo's not going anywhere without me." He announced boldly, chest puffed out as he played a much larger man than he was. Kida was charmed by the hobbit who was more of a friend that any of them, with no fighting experience, offering to do more than he expected.

Elrond did not look surprised, but entirely amused. "No, indeed. It is hardly possible to separate you, even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not. Though at least when intruding the Lady made it inside as you eavesdropped." He gestured at Kida and she shrank at the blasphemed reaction of those in the council who didn't know who she was.

Then Merry called out. "Oi! We're coming too!" Merry and Pippin ran into the circle, up some stairs to stand by the group. Bonnie was making chattering sounds on Pippin's shoulder. "You'll have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us."

"That can be arranged." Kida whispered playfully, obviously joking. She took her pet from the hobbit who offered to care for it. Bonnie curled around her neck.

"Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this soft of mission... Quest... Thing." Pippin babbled.

Merry leaned to his friend. "Well that rules you out, Pip."

Thoughtfully, ignoring the childish comments, Elrond surveyed the group. Nobody else seemed to be caring enough to volunteer before he spoke. "Ten companion. So be it. You shall be the 'Fellowship of the ring'." He announced.

"Great, where are we going?" Pippin asked ignorantly.


There was very little time before the fellowship, newly borne, was meant to assemble and leave Rivendell. Kida was packing a bag that the she-elf steward had given her the day before, filling it with the clothes she had been given, as well as a large quiver of arrows. She had accepted a bow, which she put around her like in the movies, solely because she did plan to learn how to use it, even if she was mediocre at it.

As she was having an inward debate about whether or not to leave Bonnie in the safety of Rivendell, there was a knock on her open door. Turning, Kida gestured for Legolas to come in. He had little with him, dress in green, a full quiver on his back and a bow around him. She was a little surprised to see he knew where to find her, but then again there were up to a dozen elves or hobbits or people to point him in the right direction.

"Hello, Legolas. What's up?" She asked and picked her violin up from the ground to place it on the bed. That, for sure, she was leaving behind. Someone could take it, she wouldn't be hurt by the thought, but she couldn't let it break.

The elf furrowed his brow. "Excuse me?" He asked her.

She realized the term she used. An incredibly normal Earth term, and sort of American as well. "Oh, I mean, is there anything I can help you with?" She spoke a bit more formally, turning to him.

"It seems unlikely, but I have come to implore that you stay here in Rivendell." He spoke with care and she stopped smiling. "It is a dangerous way even for the strongest of men or elves or dwarves alike. You are but a young woman, and I fear for you."

She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder as he spoke. Kida avoided eye contact expertly. "I'm not staying here. And I can't go home." She said, knowing Legolas was ignorant to her personal situation, as was everyone else. "I came with Frodo and Aragorn, so I will leave with them, simple as that, no matter where they go."

He tucked his hand under her chin and made Kida look up at him. "If I force you to stay behind?" He threatened.

"Then I will get a map and see you in a few days. I know where you'll be, sooner or later." She pushed away from him, instantly deciding that she would not bring Bonnie. She grabbed her pet from the bed and brushed past Legolas at a bit of a quicker pace than walking.

Kida was more confused than angry. What was he doing? A bit paranoid, she did go quickly to the arch leading out of Rivendell, where there was already elves gathered to watch them leave. Of the fellowship, Sam, Pippin, and Merry were there with the pony Bill, as well as Gandalf and Boromir. Holding Bonnie, she waited to join them and walked up to Elrond.

"I have to leave her behind. If I beg will you let her stay here?" She pleaded in the most pathetic voice she had ever heard come out of her mouth. Kida wouldn't be able to stand it if something happened to Bonnie. It would be the longest the were ever apart, but it was better than loosing the squirrel or having either one of them die.

Elrond nodded just once with a tilt of his chin. His steward came up and took the squirrel out of Kida's hands. "I will do what I can to guarantee she is here when you come back." The lord agreed and thankfully he didn't say if she came back.

She was glad but also very depressed. Bonnie didn't even know what was going on, being sociable as always and pulling on the steward elf's long hair. Distracted, Kida stood next to Boromir at the skirt of the group, watching Legolas walk up a few moments later. He stood opposite her, not looking at her, thankfully.

Aragorn arrived with Frodo, who was likely saying goodbye to Bilbo. Though she knew how he was mentally because of the movie and books, Kida still wished she had met Bilbo before leaving, but she would hopefully be seeing him in however many months it would take to end this journey. If she was still in Middle Earth. Or still alive.

Now that they were all there Elrond began to speak. "The ring bearer is setting out on a quest to mount doom..." He said his kind farewell as Kida tuned out, staring at her boots. She was leaving, for a very dangerous place with many dangerous places in between, where she knew most of them would live, but one of those might not be her.

When the voice changed and Gandalf spoke she tuned back in, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach. "The fellowship awaits the ring bearer." He said to Frodo.

Frodo gave one last look before turning. They all moved for him to take the lead out of Rivendell. Kida looked over her shoulder and spotted Arwen among a few women, watching them leave with horrible sorrow on her face. Kida glance at Aragorn and figured it had to be hard for her to watch the man she loved leave her again. It was touching, and Kida walked after her group wishing she someone like that at home, who would miss her as she left.

They hadn't been walking more than three hours, on hills south of Rivendell, when Gandalf spoke above idle chatter. " We must hold to this course west of the misty mountains for forty days. If our luck holds, the Gap of Rohan will still be open to us. From there, our road turns east, to Mordor."

"Forty days!" Pippin cried, and that wasn't even the whole of their journey. That was only to Rohan.

Kida laughed at his despaired reaction. She for once wasn't at the head of the group with Aragorn leading. Gandalf led, Legolas and Gimli near him, then Frodo, Merry, and Pippin. Then Sam was leading Bill in front of Boromir, who had Kida and Aragorn not far behind him.

"Before now, the longest I've been away from home is seven days." Kida mentioned nostalgically, having gone camping in Washington with a few friends years ago. Aragorn heard and looked down at her. "One whole week, nothing more, and all I did for seven days was read in a tent."

He made a small amused sound. "And yet you seem to know almost as much of Middle Earth as I do." He braced a hand on her as she stepped up onto a high rock, following her and the rest of the group. "But you had a scholar man teach you. Cheating, if you ask me."

She mocked offence. "Cheating? Me? Never!" She cheered and gained a look from Boromir. "Can I help you?" She asked at his expression.

He ignored her and turned forward again. Kida wasn't surprised that he was just as oddly vain as he had been represented in the movies. Diluted and vain was not a great combination, but she couldn't be too harsh on him. She would only feel guilty later on if that was the case. It took a bit of convincing herself, but when Aragorn was quiet for a while Kida stepped up and decided to chat with Boromir.

Mostly question. "What is Gondor like?" "How is your family?" "Are you a soldier?" All her inquiries were answered with quick and cold answers. But for the most part she had tried to get along with him. Now, anyway. Then when she ran out of vague questions she walked in silence off the the side of the line so she wasn't next to either of the men leading the back of the group. Like before, on the journey to Rivendell, she hummed to herself.

Near night fall they prepared a large camp somewhere atop the near Eregion Hills. There were rocks very familiar to Kida, from the movie depiction obviously. She dropped her gear with an even five foot space between her and either Aragorn or Legolas. While it was still just light enough out, they lit a quick fire to make food, but it had to be put out for safety safe as the sun began to set. Kida perched herself on a tall rock in their circle of a camp.

"Kida, where is your violin?" Merry asked up at her, sitting opposite the circle in the dirt.

Pippin squinted at her dropped things. "Oh yeah. I was going to ask you to play, you know." He said with an exaggerated nod.

She bit her lip for a moment. "I left it behind. I didn't want it to break." Though now she wished she brought it, if only to entertain them for a moment.

"Well will you sing for us?" Frodo asked, looking disappointed at the lack of the instrument.

Kida was quick to shake her head. "No. No." She repeated herself a bit strongly. "I don't sing for people. I didn't think anyone could hear me last time."

"What did she sing?" Legolas asked, leaning away from the rock he had sat against.

"Twilight and Shadow." Aragorn responded before anyone else could, though the hobbits only knew it was in elvish.

The elf spoke breathily. "Beautiful." He looked up at her. "You speak elvish?"

She held her hand out in the air, wiggling it. "Only a little. Mostly songs, and very basic conversation." Kida explained.

"Was is Tolkien who taught you?" Aragorn asked. He looked like he expected her to agree. "The scholar."

This time she was able to shake her head. "Nope. He was dead by then. But I spent a lot of time burying my nose in books learning things." And by books it was mostly the internet that taught her elvish, the movies that taught her songs, and other nerds like her who sang with her.

She was smiling, remembering her first renaissance fair when she was fifteen, going with her friends in garb appropriate for Middle Earth, singing every song they knew in elvish with a bunch of strangers. It was the most fun she had ever had. But then her friends grew out of the Lord of the Rings phase and stopped going to fairs. Then Kida was going alone and her friends weren't close with her anymore. But it was still a good time.

"Um, yeah." She stuttered on, everyone staring at her. "I had some help but it was mostly me and my friend Lisa trying to talk to strangers in elvish, when most of the time not even the people we were talking to knew elvish." Her mind wandered.

"Don't even think of speaking that language near me!" Gimli barked at them all.

Kida laughed, bending down to adjust her boot. "Gimli, don't be so stubborn. You know you like us." She spoke lightly.

"I have said no such thing, and will not!" Gimli denied, which was true. He hadn't said anything to anyone for most of the day, save for Gandalf and the hobbits.

"Just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it's not true."

Aragorn watched faces change. "For those of you who do not know, Kida claims herself a clairvoyant." He told the group, which would only really inform Boromir and Gimli, as everyone else knew.

"No, you called me a clairvoyant, and I went with it for about a week now." Kida slid down from the rock, standing in the group. "I don't see things or whatever, I just know things. Like remembering the next part of a story you heard a thousand times." Because that was exactly the case.

Boromir spoke for the first time. "So this is why you are of value to this fellowship." He spoke with wonder. "You can change the outcome if things are to fail."

"No, I can't. I already tried to once, and it doesn't work. Some events are set in time and can't be changed." She sat at her pack nearer to Aragorn than Legolas. "But the little things I know are handy, and I can fight."

Boromir looked interested. "Then perhaps in the morning you can help me teach the halflings some sword work." He suggested.

"It's a deal." She accepted with a smile.


Aragorn and Kida woke up almost simultaneously. They were used to the early morning, and one of them waking the other at some point. They didn't talk for a few minutes and Kida went off to get changed behind a rock. She didn't remember much of this part of the story and she would know less as days went on. About twelve months would pass if she recalled it correctly, and she wasn't prepared for it but she would go through it.

So she also needed to stop thinking about the future and missing her own home. Being a fake clairvoyant was tiring, but she did know one thing and wanted to take advantage of the memory quickly. Changed, she strolled up to Aragorn, who was stretching a ways away from the camp. She smiled up at him as she circled into view, and he wished her a good morning.

"So, you and Arwen?" She hinted at and sat down on a rock in front of him, legs crossed. The evenstar so visible and popularly mentioned wasn't visible around his neck but she wanted to see it.

Aragorn rolled his wrists before speaking at all. "You know of Arwen?"

Kida nodded. "We haven't met, but I know who she is." She was so happy for them and she wanted to see the glowing evenstar for herself, in real life, or as real as this was.

"And you have seen something between me and her?" Aragorn sat next to Kida, facing her just slightly.

Again, she tilted her head in a nod. "Well, yes? She gave you her evenstar." Kida was confused by his dim behavior. She nudged him, trying to lighten his mood. "Come on, let me see it."

He caught her eye and she stared deeply into his, seeing a certain sorrow. It was noticeable. "But I did not take it."

Kida's stomach dropped in a dramatic way that she had thought only happened in exaggerated literature. But she felt it, the sickening weight that things had changed. It could only be her fault. She was the only thing that was different in this version of the story she loved. Before Aragorn could say anything she was on her feet, feeling the prick of tears in her eyes.

"Kida." Aragorn reached for her hand quickly.

But she didn't want to be forced to talk about what she knew. She was done with that, and now she had to deal with the fact that she had done something potentially horrible. Pulling her hand away, she couldn't look at Aragorn, and she ran. Not far, but up the hill away from the camp, giving up behind a large rock. She pressed against it, hidden behind it from the view of the camp, trying to catch her breath.

"Dammit." She whined to herself and slid down onto her knees.

Kida had changed something she didn't mean to, and she didn't know how or why it had. And it was something as big as Aragorn accepting Arwen's necklace. Arwen would be immortal and probably wouldn't wait for him like she was meant to. It wasn't anything that could affect the outcome of the war, but this was love, and it was just terribly sad.

At the camp Aragorn decided it was best not to chase the crying girl. He still was not one for comforting women. It made him uncomfortable and confused, though the last time Kida had cried she only ended up sleeping. Instead he started a fire and watched the others wake up slowly. The absence of the only female in their group didn't go unnoticed at all, and Sam mentioned it first.

"Where's Miss Kida?" He asked Aragorn, who was finding food in their bags for a breakfast.

He didn't know how to explain the situation but instead just nodded in the direction she ran. "Up the hill for near half an hour now." He told the halfling.

Of course Sam wasn't exactly trusting. "What did you say to her, Strider? She doesn't just walk off." He glared lightly at Aragorn.

"Nothing that would offend her." Aragorn stood from stoking the fire and saw that Sam wasn't the only one looking at him. At Sam's angered voice they had their attention drawn to him. "I will go and fetch her."

Merry popped up before he could walk off. "No, you will fix things. We like Kida." He told Aragorn off, just as defensive as Sam was.

If he knew what he had done wrong, the situation may have been amusing, but Aragorn had no idea what to say. "Fine." He told those listening, exasperated.

"This is why a women should not be on this sort of journey." Boromir retorted as Aragorn walked away.

Last he heard of the camp was Merry, Sam, and Pippin all yelling, "Hey!"

He trudged up to where he knew Kida was hidden behind a boulder. She sat on her heels, knees in the dirt, staring ahead with distraction. It was shocking how completely blank her face was in deep thought, but at the very least she was no longer crying. At the same time, she hadn't yet noticed Aragorn so that could change. But before it could he squatted near her and put his hand on her shoulder. A small gasp went through her and she looked at Aragorn.

His face was hard, Kida noticed, like he didn't want her to know how he felt. It reminded Kida of the face guys made when they were going to break up with her. "What about my ended relationship with Arwen has you acting so oddly?" Aragorn asked, not breaking up with her but basically saying he had broken up with the she-elf.

"Because it's my fault you're not with her!" Kida couldn't really hold back the yell, hands clenching the clothe of her pants.

Aragorn shook his head. "You have nothing to do with my affairs. You said yourself that you have not even met Arwen." He denied, standing up in front of her.

She stood up, a bit slowly after half an hour in one position on her knees. "No, it had to be my fault. I know everything, how everything is meant to happen, except how it happens without me." Kida wasn't yelling, but still loud, desperate.

"So if something changes, it's all my fault! In some way, I know it is, I'm the only thing that's different!" Kida was hysterical at this point. She knew her hands were shaking, she felt them vibrating with nerves, and her heartbeat was pulsing in her ears. "I have to fix this. I can go to Rivendell and fix this and meet you all at Moria, I know I can make it in time."

"Don't do that." Aragorn grabbed both her wrists and pulled them to his chest. She stopped panicking if only because she could no longer flail her arms. "I made my choice, and there is no fixing this."

Kida couldn't understand, but she nodded anyway. "Fine. Okay, let go of me. I told Boromir we would train the hobbits." She spoke barely a whisper after a long pause.

Aragorn let her go and followed her down the hill slowly. He wondered what she meant by meeting them all at Moria. The mines of Moria were not a place they were planning on even nearing.


AN/ Yep, I'm updating again because I'm needy for love and attention. Please review if you can or want to, or even if you don't, a good bash of your forehead on the keyboard will suffice.