Hi! I'm Lady ElfDragon and this is obviously my fic, otherwise I wouldn't be here.
This fic's been spinning around in my head for a while and it'll be great to get it out and onto the screen. The soul purpose of it is to provide the background crud for another idea I had, but I have to write this one first. It's my first fic, so go easy on me. Feel free to praise, ask questions, give suggestions/ideas, and object to stuff (although if you criticize my stuff to no end you'll end up with my muse, Kaidrun, tied around your neck, and trust me, he bites).
The main character is based on me (even though she's 2 years older than I am). I have read the books and watched the movies, so I'll be taking bits of the storylines from both. Most of it will be from the movie though. My character has also read the books and watched the movies.
This fic contains Legomance (maybe), Mary-Sue (I think) and 10th Walker. Anyone who has allergic reactions to the previous probably shouldn't read, and if symptoms do occur, don't complain to me about it.
This is a bit long-winded for an introduction, but I'm known to make things longer than they're supposed to be. Just bear with me, kay?
Other than that, please read and enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tolkien's work or characters (although I wish I did), and I don't own the lines from the movie either. Please forgive me if I've mistakenly done something wrong. I do own me though…
To Be A Girl In Middle-EarthChapter 1: Galadriel's voice
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"Will you two stop bickering!" my mum yelled. My brother – Harry – and I abruptly halted our arguing.
"Pointy-Ears hit me," Harry complained.
'Pointy-Ears' was my nickname, courtesy of the abnormal growths that made my ears form sharp tips.
"He took The Fellowship of the Ring away, and I was going to watch it," I said.
"I only took it because you stole the keys to my bike-lock," he argued.
"I never touched them!" I retorted. That wasn't exactly true, but he needn't know that.
"I bet you did take them."
"I bet I didn't."
"You did!"
"Didn't."
"Did!"
"Shut up!" mum yelled again. "Rosalie, you should know better at sixteen than to hit your brother."
Harry looked at me smugly.
"However, Harry, you need to stop acting like a two-year-old," mum frowned. Harry's smile disappeared and I snorted.
"That'll be hard. He's too little to not act like a toddler."
Harry pouted. "I'm not little. I'm eight."
"Exactly," I said, "The age of little, tiny, puny, titchy –"
"Be quiet," mum's voice cut through my list of smallness. "The next one to talk goes to his or her room."
I shut my mouth with a snap. That's unfair. I don't want to be sent to my room like a little kid. A little voice inside my head told me that I'd better shut up then.
"At last. Silence," mum sighed. "I was coming to tell you that we are going to be going on a holiday."
My brother forgot he was supposed to be being quiet and asked, "Who's coming?"
Isn't the logical question 'Where are we going?' I thought. Meh. He's little. He has a right to be illogical."Us," mum said simply.
"And…" I prompted. "Who's us?"
"Ha!" Harry shouted. "You spoke, Pointy-Ears, you have to go to your room!"
"I think you missed the point, brother dear. Technically, you spoke first."
"Oh yeah…"
"Us," my mum continued, ignoring my brother and I, "includes yourselves, your father, myself…"
I looked at her hopefully.
"…And your cousins, Jack and Peter." she finished.
"Yes!" I shouted.
(A/N: you can't have a holiday in our family without cousins. Holiday Cousins, and that's that. Oh, if anyone's interested, Jack is seventeen and Peter is nine. Jack also has hair that looks like Aragorn's, and that's why I put him in the story. I'll shut up now…)
Harry did a funny victory dance around us chanting, "Cousins! Cousins!"
He kinda looked like a blonde-haired chicken.
With a stomachache.
Mum looked relieved we'd stopped fighting. Harry stopped in front of her and gave her a hug.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"Kimboola National Park," she answered. "Now that I've given you the news, I have to prepare dinner." Disentangling herself from my brother, she made her way to the kitchen.
I let out the breath I was holding. She hadn't treated me like a child and sent me to my room. But she hadn't sent Harry either, and he was far too happy for his sibling's comfort.
I decided to change that. Reaching into my pocket I drew something out and dangled it in front of Harry's nose.
"Guess what I've got," I said, and grinned. My brother went cross-eyed and tried to focus on the object, which happened to be the keys to his lock. His eyes widened.
"Muuuuuuuuuuum!" he called. "I told you Pointy-Ears stole my keys!"-----
"Look! Look!" Harry shouted. "There they are!"
We were driving into the campsite area of Kimboola Park and I had just stopped pestering everyone with the usual "Are we there yet?" kind of crud. My brother had just sighted our cousins and was (obviously) delighted to see them.
We stopped and jumped out of the car, only to be smothered by a hug from Betty, our eccentric aunt. After we were able to breathe again, brother & sister greeted brother & brother in the usual fashion: Harry and Peter tried to knock each other over, while I struck up a conversation with Jack.
"Hi Jack, how's things?" I asked.
"Not bad Pointy-Ears – with the exception of everything," he gestured towards his little brother. "And don't tell Mum, but having Pete around all the time isn't my idea of fun."
I shrugged. "Brothers will be bothers."
Jack grinned. "You're right there, Pointy-Ears. We've been here for a few hours – settling in and whatnot – but we haven't had time to explore yet, so…" he looked around at my parents and his mum (they were arguing over where to put the tents) and then back at me.
"Let's take the little 'uns and go exploring," I said, and called to Peter and Harry who were tumbling around on the ground enjoying a fistfight. They reluctantly got up, dusted themselves down and followed in our wake towards the nearest walking trail (incidentally, it was labeled: The Gale Rapids Lookout, 3 km. Warning! Do not approach unfenced drops. Water does not flow during the dry seasons. Supervise children well. The usual stick-figure-falling-onto-gigantic-pointy-rocks picture followed this).
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Once the track entered the rainforest (and after I'd told them they could pretend to be Aragorn and Legolas tracking us), the littlies were content to leave us alone (thank God!) apart from the occasional zinging arrow, and the muted sound of arguing.We walked for another quarter of an hour and then stopped.
"Is it just me, or has this trail taking longer then the sign said it was going to?" I asked.
"Pointy-Ears," Jack said (he and the rest of my cousins were the only people that were allowed to use that name and live) and looked sideways at me, "I think it's the fact that we keep on doubling back to check on Pete and Harry that's making it long."
"Oh," I said. Damn my stupid, female, mothering self to be worried about them! Jeez, that's one of the many things I wish I hadn't inherited from mum.
"And you needn't have complained. There's the lookout." Jack pointed to a clearing ahead. As we headed towards it a sharp gust of wind tugged me towards the opening. It felt weird.
Actually, it felt like someone was calling me.
Don't be stupid, I told myself.
We walked – well Jack walked and I edged – towards the drop. I don't know why I was cautious, but something told me that walking boldly up to a windy cliff edge was not a good idea. A sign caught my attention and I sped up to reach it before Jack did. It was standing in the centre of a flat rock. The wind died down as soon as I set my foot upon the stone.
"The Legend of the Rapids Falls," I read aloud. "Hey, Jack!"
"What!" he called. "I'm a bit busy trying to fight against a cyclone here!""Don't be an idiot. The wind stopped a few moments ago!" I watched in surprise as he staggered towards me.
"Quit fooling around, Jack," I said sternly. He gave me a funny look that changed to surprise when he stepped up beside me.
"Hey the air's still!" he exclaimed.
"It has been for some time. Look, do you see the misprint on this sign?" I asked.
"No…wait…Yes! They forgot to put in the 'Gale' part."
"Exactly. Now, read the legend," I ordered, and for once he obeyed.
"Some superstitious settlers believed this outcrop of rock to be the home of an angry spirit, due to the many deaths that occurred in the area. Then it says how someone proved them wrong…blah, blah, and blah… What did you want me to notice?" Jack asked.
I rolled my eyes. "Nothing, but I'm surprised you made it this far into your schooling if you read test papers like you've just read this sign. Read the rest."
"All right, all right. It was named 'Rapids Falls' by…someone with a strange and awfully long name…because of the dangerous, fast-flowing water that appeared during the wet season. The name 'Gale' was added after…that person's…wife tragically died when a freak gust of wind knocked her off into the water. Historians continue to debate whether 'Gale' was given because of the wind or because that was the women's own name. Inhabitants of the surrounding towns are reluctant to go near the falls as –" he stopped.
"Keep going," I urged.
"I can't, Pointy-Ears, someone's graffiti begins here. It's nigh impossible to read the rest of the sign." he grinned. "I could read the graffiti though. It's very crude."
"Go eat your hat," I snapped, stepping off the flat rock. Immediately, the wind picked up again, stronger than ever. It even broke the tie that kept my long, wild hair at bay. I heard a laugh beside me and looked up.
"You look like Éowyn, Pointy-Ears, from one of the scenes in The Two Towers," Jack smiled. "Except her hair is a great deal lighter than yours."
I shook my head and the wind cast my thick, brown strands across his face.
"Pointy-Ears, could you move? Your hair doesn't taste all that great."
I laughed and stepped forward and away. The edge was so close the tips of my shoes went over it. A hand grabbed my arm.
"Don't fall," Jack said.
"I won't."
Just then, a rustling sound came from behind me. I spun around and was caught off-balance by the wind. Crap, I thought desperately. I'm gonna fall… At the last moment Jack grabbed my hand and steadied me.
"What was that about not falling?" he said with a grin.
"Shut up. I –" Suddenly a small figure leapt out at me from the part of the forest where I'd heard the noise. I stepped back with surprise; my foot connected with nothing and I fell.
I had one moment to register the horrified face of my little brother peering over the edge before I struck the boulders below and lost consciousness.
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When I opened my eyes I could see Nothing.
"Great. Where am I? And what just happened?" I asked the Nothing. My voice echoed away happily for at least ten minutes before I got my answer.
You are where you are. I shivered as the disembodied voice sent a chill down my spine. It was definitely female, even though it was deep. It was somehow very familiar. You have fallen.
It was Galadriel. Okay, I must've hit my head too hard.
"I've fallen…does that mean I'm dead?" It was a stupid question, I knew, but I asked it nonetheless. Light laughter filled my ears, seeming to come from everywhere at once.
"I take it that means I'm not?"
No.
"So I must be dreaming," I concluded.
No.
"What then?"
You were called for one soul purpose, Rosalie, although whether you accept that or not is you choice. You may choose one of two paths. Choose a door and embrace your destiny. You will be forever changed no matter which one you choose to open.
And, true to the word, two doors appeared in front of me. One was my familiar plywood bedroom door, while the other…
"I guess that this is the path I was called to take?" I asked.
Only if that is your desire.
The other was more of an arch than a door, and had many repeated carvings. I stepped closer…wait…they weren't repetitive patterns, they were a word repeated over and over! It'd taken me a moment to recognize the flowing script.
"Correct me if I am wrong, O voice of Galadriel, but the carvings on the arch, are they from the Tengwar?" I asked.
You know of it?
"I don't just know of it, I can read it too – this word at least. It's in High Elvish," my hand reached out and traced the word. "It reads Endóre, or Middle-Earth."
I blinked as I realized what I had just said.
"You want me to got to Middle-Earth!" I shouted. I immediately regretted it as the words continued to echo all around me. If this happened for much longer I'd go nuts! Maybe I already was.
Only if that is your desire, Galadriel repeated.
"I do not desire it! I'm not becoming a damn Mary-Sue! I'm going home." I headed towards my bedroom door and stopped my hand halfway to the door handle when a stray thought struck me. My friends would kill to be in the position I am, I thought. If this is a joke, whoever planned it is going die. Stuff this, I'm going for and adventure. I turned towards the other door.
Wait, before you go through to Middle-Earth, I must ask you to take heed of three things. One – don't be afraid to tell your Elfin name to the first person you meet. Two – Don't try to change the story's path. Let it run it's own course…
I didn't bother to ask why I should. "And the other?"
Laughter echoed around me once again. You will find out. When the time is right.
"What kind of an answer is that?" I said, just before I stepped through the arch and my eyes went black.
And there you have it: my first chapter ever! Now that you've read it you can review and tell me what a great writer I am! Then you can read the next chappie, review that too and make me happy! Replies and lots of praise will be given to the people that R & R.