I have a few things to address before we start the chapter. First of all, the last chapter was, in my opinion, the best I've written! Yay! I hope it made you want to vomit from its scariness! lol jk
So I've started uploading another story called Our Realm, an Ouran Highschool Host Club fanfic (yes, another) but I haven't abandoned this story. I'll be updating that one more because I have lots of chapters written in advance for it while I'm still trying to keep this one on an 'updated once a week' schedule. However, I'm one chapter ahead so I decided upload this one.
I also forgot to do the first time review shout outs so...shout out to yuuki91, AriellaSerenity, ElvithienAranel, and Raider-K! You're reviews mean a lot to me. Btw, so sorry if I forgot a first time reviewer or I repeated you. I'm a bit off from forgetting to do them last time.
Another thing, no I don't know how amnesia works but I just invented my own laws of amnesia psychology of Middle Earth, hope you like its twisted ways. If you're confused about how she recovered from amnesia, the trauma of near death revived her memories. Well then, let's find out who Calen really is!
Have you ever recovered from amnesia? It's not an enjoyable experience. It doesn't just click and you remember everything, you have to let every memory you ever had come back in a jumble. Random childhood memories and feelings flooded my brain. For one second I'd be remembering an old friend and the next I'd be recalling a near death experience! It was coming too fast- The Raven's thoughts were coming too fast for me to keep up with! Although I was beginning to remember, I couldn't put one memory with another! I still didn't know who I was! The only thing I did know was that I was not Calen. Adrenaline numbing my pain, I jumped out of my bed, shoved Karka and Rakka on my hands and began surveying the room around me.
'Use me!' a wall across the room said. I looked to the wall and there, at the top of it was a tiny window. Breaking into a sprint, I scaled the wall and just scraped through the tiny window. I dropped down from the window. Helms Deep was like a cage filled with people! It was so enclosed and stuffy!
I have to get out of here! Have to escape! Were my thoughts, still unsure of who I really was. Find my horse! I have to find my horse! Wh-who is my horse?! Who is my horse again?!
With adrenaline still pushing me, I ran across the deserted street and climbed a wall. Running along it, I looked for a place where they might keep horses but I didn't see a trace. I dove across more streets, balanced across walls, scaled towers, and I found myself running down a narrow alley way. When I rounded a corner, I saw a balcony, looking over the valley beyond the Deep. There, on that balcony, were my companions but at the time but I wasn't sure who they were. I had a vague idea that they were my traveling partners but with all these memories clambering for a spot in my brain, I couldn't say exactly who they were.
The three looked shocked to see me up considering the blow I had on my stomach.
"Calen?!" Aragorn gasped, standing up, "What are you doing up?"
I tried to say something but nothing came out. He started to walk towards me but when he was a yard away, I unsheathed Claw.
"S-s-stay back!" I warned, my voice shaking in fear.
"You should be resting…" he began to say as he came closer.
Sloppily, I swung Claw at him which he easily dodged then grabbed my arm.
"Calen, calm down…" he tried to speak again but I responded by cutting him off with a swing from Tooth.
That made him let go and I took the opportunity to run! Confusion took my mind as I blindly bolted through the night, trying to make sense of the new me.
(No one's POV)
Calen bolted from the ranger's grasp, speeding off into the darkness.
"She's in shock, if she runs any further she'll reopen her wound," Aragorn announced to his friends, "Gimli, go to the sick bay and tell them to be ready to receive a resisting patient. Legolas come with me, I'll need help catching her."
The ranger and the elf were soon in hot pursuit of their friend.
(Calen's POV)
This memory goes here and that happened after that! There! Perfect! No! NO! That's not right!
Every time I tried to piece a new memory together with another nothing worked. Remembering was a lot harder than I thought it would!
Just keep running and you'll remember! Yes, yes, that's right just run!
My swift movements weren't the only ones I heard. I turned and my bloodshot eyes spotted the elf, sprinting after me. Was he calling my name? All I could hear was the blood rushing inside me.
Run and you'll remember….that's right…hehe… I thought like a madwoman.
Noticing he was gaining, I took a sharp turn and scaled a stone wall, my hands desperately grasping for jutting stone to grab. When I reached the top, a rope that stretched across two walls spoke to me and I darted across it. When I made it across I turned only to see the elf even closer! Damn, he was fast! With a burst of adrenaline, I took a gravity defying leap and landed on the roof of a house. When I landed, a sharp pain resounded in my stomach, making me keel over. It was only when I heard the elf land behind me that I snapped out of it. Franticly, I broke into a run again, ignoring the blood that began to drip from beneath my shirt. I rolled off the roof (more pain) and half stumbled down the street. When I turned, he was only a yard away and I could hear his breath. In one last attempt, I took a sharp turn down another street but I didn't see what was coming.
The Ranger grabbed me and tackled me to the ground.
"Calen, you need to calm down!" he yelled but I only began screaming in protest.
I tried to swipe Tooth and Claw at him but I couldn't move my hands from my bleeding body, it hurt too much.
"The more you move, the more the wound will reopen!" he tried to reason with me.
I responded with a kick that he easily dodged. Then I fought against the fire in my stomach and threw Claw at him, fully unsheathed. That got him and left a shallow scratch mark across his face as if a cat had gotten him. He stumbled back a little and I got up clumsily, holding my gloves at the ready against the elf. Then there was a dull pain on my head and I hit the cold stone.
(No one's POV)
"Was that really necessary?" Legolas asked Gimli skeptically.
"Well she wasn't calming down anytime soon," he huffed, "A sharp hit to the head with an axe handle seemed only logical,"
(Calen's POV)
Click. Like a puzzle, everything fit now.
My eyes cracked open ever so slightly and they were clouded by that sticky stuff you get in them when you sleep in too late. Then I felt fresh stitches on my stomach and a killing pain in it too!
"Shit…" I groaned as I pried my eyes open the rest of the way.
"Calen?" came a voice but my ears still seemed fogged.
That's right.
I lunged in my bed to get up and kill them all but I didn't make it off an inch from the bed before I was thrust back down. My hands were bound. Great.
"Looks like those were a good idea after all," I heard a gruff voice. Gimli.
"Calen, can you hear me?" the first voice spoke again but this time I recognized it. Aragorn.
When my eyes cleared up of the goo and I saw a blonde elf.
"You!" I spat, trying to move again.
He seemed a little taken back. He didn't know yet. I only sighed and laid back down, looking at Aragorn.
"You went into shock, do you remember?" he asked with a concerned expression.
Isn't it great when you know something that no one else in the room knows? I grinned like a cat and began chuckling.
"Oh yes," I giggled mischievously, looking up at the ceiling, "I remember EVERYTHING!"
Silence cascaded across the room and I waited for someone to make their move. The girl they thought they knew this whole journey wasn't the girl they knew anymore!
"…What is your name?" Aragorn finally asked.
"My name is Ren and I am The Raven," I said smugly.
The Fellowship had been horrified by my recovery! They never expected to see me remember who I was! Most likely it was the trauma that caused my old memories to resurface. Instead of speaking, Aragorn signaled for them to leave the room, leaving me tied to the bed (I swear it felt so wrong!). Legolas looked the most mortified. When their urgent voices faded away down the hall, I began wriggling. I managed to put my knees up and just barely lift my body up. From there, I sawed my hands back and forth, slowly wearing away the rope under the bed. Soon, it became frayed enough for me to snap and then it was only a simple matter of undoing the knots. I grabbed my Elvish gloves and slipped into the hallway. All I had to do was follow the sound of an argument that echoed through the palace and I soon found my "friends".
Flattening my back against the hallway wall, I peered into a throne room to see Aragorn confronting the King of Rohan with Gimli and Legolas at his back.
"She may be an enemy to your people but she is bound under oath to compensate for her crimes," Aragorn reasoned.
Looks like they had told him the whole story.
"If what you say is true and she remembers everything, what says that she won't break that oath and revert to her old ways," Theoden responded coldly.
"She can fight for us…" Aragorn spoke up before being cut off.
"An army will be here by nightfall to slaughter my people!" the king roared, "The last thing I need is a potential assassin amongst my forces!"
"And what do you propose to do with me then?" I asked roguishly as I stepped out from the shadows.
The Fellowship turned in surprise to see me up and the king jumped to his feet, gripping the hilt of his sword.
"Throw me in a dungeon?" I suggested, "Lock me away? Kill me?"
I strode nonchalantly into the hall then stopped before the king's throne, "Correct me if I'm wrong but you were never able to succeed in any of those in the past,"
"Calen…" Aragorn whispered to me in warning.
"It's Ren," I replied bluntly without turning to him.
Theoden took a few deep breaths before calming down and sitting back on his throne.
"At least let her tell her story," Aragorn pleaded.
"What story?" I turned to him with a confused face, "Doesn't he already know everything?"
"He does not know yet the tale of The Raven," Aragorn replied, "Nor do we,"
I scanned the Fellowship, they all looked at me with the same love they always did. But why? Why did I deserve that? I wasn't Calen anymore!
"Alright," I heaved a heavy sigh, "Get comfortable, this could take a while…"
(Underlined is Ren's past story. I'll be telling it to you like I have told you this fic so far but just imagine Ren telling it to her companions)
I was taught when I was very young to take whatever I wanted. However back then, I didn't have a need for thievery. I could afford a kingdom eight times over and I could empty an entire store in one day! My father was of wealthy nobility in a small city on the border of Rohan. He coddled me well into my young adult years and it was in fact him who taught me to take whatever I wanted. My mother wasn't around to teach me better. She was an elf but her immortality didn't last as she died a week after I was born. However my father and I had one more trait that made us so both of us were half elf which is why I'm so dexterous today. My great great great great…so on grandmother was an elf and eventually, man was mixed into our family tree. It wasn't just because my mom was an elf, it was deeper than that.
Growing up, I never had any real friends. The others only wanted to be in my company because of my wealth and title. Eventually I let go of the silly notion of friends and I focused on a more important thing: arranged marriage. But somewhere along the lines, I forgot what "arranged" meant and thought I'd have the liberty to choose whoever I wanted. At age 19, I found out my father had arranged for me to marry someone in less than a month. I didn't take it too seriously, I was sure whoever my father gave me to would be the right man for me. Except he was abusive. I barely ever spoke a word to him because he would shut me up with a quick blow to the face. In under seven days, I grew spiteful. But then I remembered my father's words: "Whatever you want, take it".
They were trying to take my life away so I was going to take theirs. It was only a simple matter of sneaking into my father's chambers at night, slitting his throat, stealing a horse, and riding into my new life! My first few days on my own were terrible! I soon resorted to begging and one night, when I was laying by the side of the street, letting my stomach eat itself, I saw her.
"Hey," she said, poking me on the shoulder.
My mud smeared face peeled itself off the ground and I looked up to see a freckled face girl. She had long, curly red hair and sparkling green eyes.
"Come with me," she whispered.
I was in no place to object. I hadn't eaten in days and hadn't had a bath in longer! I trudged behind her as she led me into a narrow alley on the outskirts of the town. I had to go sideways down the alley it was so skinny! Finally, she crawled into a little sewer hole in the side of the wall which, rather than taking us outside the city, led to a small room. We both had to hunch over so our heads wouldn't brush against the slimy ceiling.
"It's not much," the girl said as I looked around.
There was a pile of rags that had an imprint of a body in it so it was probably where she slept. On the other side was a crate with a few coins and flawed jewels.
"But I'm willing to share it," she offered.
I only looked back at her and asked, "Do you have any food?"
I dismissed all manners I was ever taught and tore away at the loaf of bread like a wolf on the floor while the girl sat down next to me.
"What's your name?" she asked.
Too caught up in eating, I didn't reply so she only shrugged.
"My name is Shalen,"
Whaaaat?! Shalen knew Ren before she became Calen?! This will be cleared up eventually, don't worry. Next time, we get to learn more about Ren's back story! Yaaay!