Author's Note: Sorry this chapter might be later than usual, I was out of my house all yesterday, last night, and this morning never went ahead prepared the new chapter. But here it is! (Also I might have mentioned this before but I'm also a Fairy Tail fan, and I was doing corrections for this chapter and noticed one of my spellings of "Edoras" was accidentally spelled "Edolas" lol...just ignore it if I forgot any others.)

Also I do not own Sword Art Online or the Lord of the Rings.

Chapter Twenty One

The Riddermark

"My company are those loyal to Rohan, and for that we are banished. The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there they say, as an old man hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies slip past our nets."

― Eomer, The Two Towers

They had been riding for a day or two now. Silica had lost full count of the hours ever since she made it into the fields of golden green that lay below the southern peaks of the Misty Mountains.

Rohan, or the Riddermark as some call it existed as a vast field of grasslands and stone boulders in central Middle-Earth. It stretched all the way from the Fords of Isen clear down to the northern Realm of Gondor. It was full of a great population of skilled craftsman and warriors, but their real trade of fame was the taming and riding of horses.

Now, Silica rides through the western section of lower Rohan as she and her small but valiant company makes for the country's capital. Their camp is stopped along the Westfolds and the southern road, and as they ready themselves for a night of rest, Silica sits with her new companions around a healthy camp fire.

"So…" She paused to collect the scene around her. "Am I the first player you guys have seen or what?"

"HA!" The NPC leader and marshal of the group laughed as he enjoyed a small meal of stew and ale. "No not at all, though it is impressive to see you know our land is very sparsely populated with players. Not many find themselves traveling through the Mark now a days."

Another spoke up from the other side of the fire ring. "Aye! But damn if we try to welcome all with hospitality…well those who see themselves as our ally that it."

Silica pondered for a moment. "Well what about elves? Are they your friends?"

The marshal gave her a partial nod. "We'd like to think so. No one will admit our communication with elves in the north is perfect, but they do come to our aid from time to time."

"That's a relief…" Silica smiled and lowered her shoulders now that she knew her friends would be accepted in Rohan.

She then remembered not knowing where her friends were at all. A few days ago the third group of the Fellowship were on their way down from Rivendell to make way for their new journey. The next thing they knew a group of Dunlendings surrounded them and tried escorting them into an eerie looking tower to the very south of the Mountains. Silica managed to escape with Leafa and Recon, but Sinon was lost as she valiantly ran forward into the belly of the mysterious beast that was the black fortress to the north.

Now, Silica didn't even know where her other two friends were. They were both set to turn for the north to find the forests of Lothlórien and Fanghorn, but now she had no idea whether they made it there or not.

Regardless Silica now found herself in the company of fellow blonde haired, horseback riding knights of the Riddermark, and even if she had no personal connection with these soldiers yet, deep down she knew it would emerge eventually.

"So you said there have been players in Rohan other then me? Are they from the same faction as us, or are they different?"

"Hmm…" The lead man around the fire stopped and scratched his chin for a moment as he looked to his fellow riders. "Well unless you count stray travelers passing through the road, than no we really haven't seen other Rohirrics."

"Or if you count the Head Marshal in Edoras." Said another man with a big gulp of ale. "We're actually headed there to introduce you!"

"Wait there is another player as a Rohan warrior?!" Silica sounded very confused from the entire conversation, but now she felt like all her thoughts were about to explode.

The first rider laughed. "Well of course! We can't say the head Marshal is much of a military mind though. Those fowl creatures from the east in Isengard still plague our lands with pillages and plunderings along the far river border."

Silica didn't like the sound of her new friends sounding so weak. "Well how bad of a leader is this guy? He's not a new player or anything is he?"

"He?" several men said at once, with the lead ranger starting a chorus of laughter. He then explained. "No, this one's a girl, same as you! She's said she has a lot of experience with worlds like this before, and we assumed she'd be the only player to pick Rohan."

Silica started to sound rather jealous from this so-called "female ranger." Now she wanted to get there as soon as possible. "Well…in that case when will we make it to the capital?"

The head marshal in the group finished his drink and smiled as he stood from his boulder chair. "Good question. We'll get there about mid-day tomorrow, assuming the company moves quick enough, and we make it there all in one piece!"

After a long night of rough frontier style sleep, Silica and the encampment of Rohirric knights mounted their horses and road for the far east, where they would eventually come a crossed the valley of Harrowdale in the northern ridges of the White Mountains. These picturesque mountain peaks separated Rohan from the rest of Gondor, and provided the realm with a beautiful background scenery in the distant view.

Then as Silica was starting to grow tired, she and the riders came a crossed the sacred hill alone in the middle of a wide-open plain of rolling grass dunes. It looked like an old barbaric village, with nothing more impressive than a few regal buildings at its height, and a surrounding wooden log wall that awkwardly guarded the perimeter at the foot of the hill.

In fact the only part of the town that even gave Silica the tiniest bit of wonder was the large yet modest building sitting at the very top of the hill. The Riders of Rohan called it the Golden Hall of Meduseld, and it was said that the Kings of Rohan ruled from there as the seat of all power in the Riddermark.

However, in this game there were no kings of Rohan, only an army of neutral NPCs, and apparently two female players from ALO.

"Is it a city or another camp?" Silica said with a depressed look on her face. The army was still quite a ways out, but even at this distance she could see the flags and banners were tattered, and the wood in the walls was old.

The chief marshal let out a grin of slight pride. "That's Edoras, the golden city of Rohan."

"I don't see a lot of gold…" Silica said with bitter sarcasm as she implied the city looked very broke.

The leader sighed as he also road out front. "Aye, these lands are not like they used to be…we have the wizard to thank for that."

"W-Wizard?" Silica suddenly remembered they were in the middle of a war, so this wizard had to be an enemy of sorts.

A secondary rider came up to their side. "Sir, the bulk of our force is going to wait outside. Seems the company has grown too big to fit into the city."

"Hold on." Silica said with confusion. "There's not even that many buildings. Why can't you just bring everyone inside?"

Silence took the small group for a moment as they slowly continued to head towards Edoras. Finally the marshal spoke up once again.

"Come, the captain will want to see you."

And so the company marshal continued to march his group down through the low plains of the valley and into the great but tattered wooden walls of Edoras. Some of the higher guards road in two by two, while the bulk of the forces stayed outside the walls. Silica was still uncomfortable with that premise, but chose to remain silent as they made their way up the windy dirt path and near the top to the golden hall.

Then Silica realized the building was far more beautiful than she previously thought. It was topped with a simple straw roof, but one that made it appear as if it was forged from gold when seen from far off. Its walls were richly decorated with modest tapestries depicting the history and legends of the Rohirrim, and great pillars lifted its high baring roof over the broad walls of the main hall, each topped off with ornate crosses of sorts. Finally, the point atop the gable roof was crossed with two carved horse heads that formed a heart shape, and this was designed in a very elegant manor.

Silica smiled with joy as she dismounted her horse and made the long but somewhat enjoyable trek up the long hill and into the mead hall. Now she and the leading riders from her company had made it to the look out in front of the hall made of solid carved stone and brick.

"Welcome back." One guard said with a stern voice, and virtually no emotion.

The leader with Silica rolled his eyes. "Come now, we need to gain entry."

The guard never moved. "Only without arms. That's the law of this house."

The leader shook his head and sighed as he drew his sword and firmly placed it into a guard's hand. Silica then watched with half-horror as the rest of her crew did the same.

Finally she too made the effort to relinquish control of her weapons, including her very prized and shiny elven dagger, Sting. It took a bit for the guard to pry it from her hands, but Silica wasn't too happy to depart with it so soon.

Or in reality, she was simply doing it as a façade.

Silica stood in the back of the company and mischievously pulled out her quickly forgotten ring from the beginning of the game. Unlike Asuna, Leafa, and Lisbeth who regularly wore their rings, Silica and her company never got into the habit. However they did know what powers and trophies came with wearing them, and Silica firmly knew that once her ring was placed around her finger, her long lost Ebon Dagger from SAO would find itself back on her belt and safely into her arms.

However, her new friends didn't need to know about that.

As they walked inside the hall Silica was blown away by the beautifully painted columns and walls inside the hall. Everything appeared in gold, burgundy, and a forest shade of green as it did on the Rohan banner. Silica also liked the regal armor worn by all the guards and officers inside the hall, but didn't appreciate the fact that they got to keep armor.

Silica started to look grumpy until one of the second in commands from her original party nudged her on the arm. "Ya know, they woulda taken your helmet too if you ever wore it…"

Silica had to laugh at the older man's joke, because in reality she never wore her helmet very often. She never liked pulling her hair out of its pigtails, and fitting them inside the Rohirric helmet was simply not going to happen.

In fact the little joke almost distracted her long enough to forget where she was, until she heard a snarky yet seductive voice giving out a command to the new guests.

"Well I ordered your company to patrol the west, captain. "She said with a firm voice directed at the leader of the group. "I'm sorry was that not enough?"

"We're sorry ma'am, but urgent business brought us to Edoras. We managed to find another Rohan player to help us in the war to come…" He turned to gesture to Silica in the back of the group, but as the men parted to reveal the little girl all's they saw was Silica with a face of shock and awe.

The Head Marshall of Edoras saw this and gave the timid girl a sly yet familiar grin. "Oh my god…is that little Silica I see? Wow, it really is a small world."

The tiny blonde girl shook with fear and confusion, and nearly dropped the ring from her hand as she stood in the lofty hall, and looking her way was a very familiar comrade from her days in SAO, a girl with a mature face, voluptuous red hair and two seductive yet mischievous eyes, one of which was covered by long bangs.

Silica had no idea what to do, so she let her mouth fall open. "No way…Rosalia?"

As Silica reunites with "an old friend", we now come a crossed a fallen ally from before. Sinon sits inside a dimly lit room without a clue of her location. Once she made for the north to give her friends a chance to escape, Sinon quickly out ran the slow Dunlendings on foot with the help of a horse. Sadly however her ride came to a quick end when her trail stopped right in front of others who were coming out from the north, one of which supplied her with a nice arrow to her horse's body, and a swift bash in her head with a soft club.

And so here she sits inside a black room all alone, with a table in front of her, a small candle, and extra empty chair, and alocked door. Her hands were not bound, her weapons were not confiscated, but she still had the feeling "captive" was probably the appropriate term for her situation.

"I should have just back tracked…" She said while leaning on a fist. "The tower just looked really important…I wanted a better look."

Yes, the tower. The black tower with shiny shone and spikes all around. The tower with a large ringed wall and mysterious foreground surrounding its base. That tower.

Although it was still an unknown, Sinon had a bad feeling that something dark was keeping this place a mystery. It was very odd, to find a place so dark and confusing just sitting in a peaceful mountain valet like that, especially when what she had see all game long, was everything dark chose to stick to the shadows, not broad day light at the foot of white snowy mountains.

Either way, her curiosity is what got her captured in the first place, but the real question is…why was she still alive, or for that matter armed?"

Then the door creaked, and as the lock tumbled open Sinon drew an arrow and held it by the bottom of the tip to look like a dagger, and as she stood a dim light of green emerged from the opening door.

It was Sigurd, the former lord of Mirkwood, and former commander of Sylvain of ALfhelim.

"What are you doing here?" Sinon asked with bitter sarcasm. She now felt so annoyed she actually dropped her arrow.

Sigurd rolled his eyes and shut the door behind him. "Relax, I came to explain that very purpose, Miss Archer."

The sly elven archer took her seat once again. "It's Sinon, and don't act like we're acquaintances."

"Did I imply we were?" Sigurd said with a solid expression. "Very well, Sinon is it? I just wanted to congratulate you on defeating the demo. I never got the chance to truly give you credit, but I believe now I may finish that fulfillment."

"…" Sinon never gave him a reply.

Sigurd raised both eyebrows and lowered them quickly "Right, well go ahead and remain silent, it makes my job easier." He then took his seat and began to tap his finger against the dark, purple stone table.

"Well, I see you're still dressed in rags from Mirkwood. I suppose you mean to use them in the war to come."

Sinon never answered again. That nod he made to her outfit left her in deep thought. When Sigurd first walked in the room she didn't happen to notice, but now he appeared to be dressed very differently from his original Woodland Realm armor back in Lake-town.

Here, Sigurd dressed in a soft green robe of modest make. He also had a short shroud like cape draped over his shoulders that was colored a bit dark green, and his long forest green hair was parted down the center with a thin golden crown encircled over his head. He also had a black staff, and the tip was designed much like the top of the black tower Sinon could see before her capture, which now left her to assume she was trapped inside that very tower.

Then, she decided to find out for herself. "Where am I?"

Sigurd shrugged. "You're in the Tower of Orthanc…I still assume you know nothing of that name so I'll go ahead and say you're just west of Rohan, in a small fortress called Isengard."

Sinon knew that name, but let him finish.

"This valley below the mountains is also given a second name…Nan Curunír. In your elvish tongue it roughly translates to 'The Valley of the Wizard.'"

Sinon rolled her eyes when he referred to the langues as her own. She then spoke up. "Why am I here?"

"Tsk…" Sigurd sounded annoyed that she didn't ask about his new outfit or presumed title as wizard of the valley. So he continued. "You're here because you were trying to pass through my new lands unannounced. This Gap of Rohan is put under my watch, and I have it under strict authority from my employer to keep an eye on it."

"Oh?" Sinon said with narrowed eyes. "Does Sauron have you too? Figures…"

"Grr…" Sigurd balled his fist at the annoying little teen. "Not in the slightest…and I will not have my respect questioned by a player who doesn't even know where she is. If you're so much better than I am why did you go and get yourself 'captured'?"

"…" It took a lot of strength for Sinon to keep her mouth shut and the virtual sweat from dripping off her nervous forehead. She now knew something was up with Sigurd, and if he knew Silica and the others had slipped by his sight, he would have sent for them.

So she just assumed he had no idea where they were. "I was doing some scouting for my party. I went a lone because of my sneak skill, and my archery skill makes it easy to collect food."

Sigurd didn't like her answer. "Hmm…well now you're probably wondering why I decided to let you keep your items." He then stood up. "I have a proposition, if you don't mind. I assume you'll try to rally the elf troops from Mirkwood eventually…"

"The elves I stole from you in Lake-town?" Sinon replied sheepishly.

"Agh…mgh…" Sigurd tried to ignore the exact details. "Yes...I need you gather them for a friend. Come." He then turned and opened the door as he clutched a hold of his staff and walked slowly out of the room.

Sinon was totally removed from the scene and darted after him in confusion. Sigurd then continued to explain. "I need you to make your way to Mirkwood."

AGH! Rosalia from SAO is in the story now, and Sigurd has been moved from Mirkwood to Isengard...I wonder what he wants with Sinon.

I had a hard time with this and the last chapter because in the original draft I provided names for all the NPC characters, but I knew I was making a lot of them and was worried there would be too many people to keep track of. Also while it's true some of them are supposed to be important, none of the NPCs are supposed to be memorable enough to receive a name, so I didn't want to give all these NPCs names and reveal they're really not that important. In the end I settled with no names. Tell me what you think about it! (or tell me if any of that even made sense haha...)

New chapter Monday! I have another one of those placement exams for my program that day. Wish me luck!