Hello all! Welcome to my new story. I've really been into reading LoTR's fanfiction of late and I especially love the stories where someone of our world gets dropped into Middle Earth. There's just one problem. All the other stories I've read like that have really bitchy girls getting dropped into the world. The OC characters don't even try to blend into the world or characters and they all have huge attitudes that I personally find to be annoying. So here's my remedy. I'm just gonna write my own story with an OC that isn't like that. Lol! I'm also kinda surprised no one has hoped on the OC with Eomer train as he never gets a girl in the story and is hot as hell. I have no shame in admitting this. Heh heh. So here you are: a non bitchy OC that falls in love with Eomer while following the adventure that is The Lord of the Rings. BTW's: I'm following the movie plot, not the books as it's been waaaaay too long since I've read the books to rely on my dodgy memories of it. Just an FYI. This is rated M just to be safe. I might decide to throw some yummy lemons in. Still not sure tho. Love you all!
ooOoo
There was nothing. No light. No ground. No air. In fact, Anna was pretty sure she wasn't even a thing. And yet, she still felt as if she existed, though she couldn't see her body.
"Hello Anna May Gavel."
The voice was everywhere and nowhere at once. It was something she heard around her and in her head at the same time. She felt like this conundrum should have scared her but it didn't.
"Hello?"
"Welcome to the ReBuilding."
"Um, thank you? Where exactly is the ReBuilding?"
The voice sounded a bit amused as it answered, "Your people would call it Purgatory."
"So it finally took me then…"
"Yes. Your body lost the battle against the cancer infiltrating it. I am sorry for that. But take comfort in the fact that you were doomed to die from the beginning."
Anna was silent for a long moment as she tried to decide how to respond to that. She logically knew she should be angry by that fact or hurt by the short, matter-of-fact way the voice spoke it. She found, a bit to her surprise, that she felt none of those things. Nor did she feel relieved either. She felt oddly indifferent. She was dead. She had lost after four long years of hospitals, horrible chemo and endless pain. At least now it was over. And she wouldn't have to watch her parents' faces each time the doctor came back to tell them that the new treatment wasn't working. It was over. Maybe now she could find some peace.
"So what am I to do now? Stand in front of the judgement throne?"
The voice chuckled, "No. It is not your turn yet. That is why you are in the ReBuilding. Because you were robbed of your chance at a life, you are being given another."
"Oh." Mary thought for a moment, wondering if she'd rather just skip it all and go straight to heaven.
"You will start your life at the age you were when you died."
"Ok… Why? Why not just start all the way over?"
"Because your younger years were just fine. You grew up healthy, until the cancer that is. You had parents who loved you. You made happy memories. There is no reason to send you back and redo a time that was good for you. Do you disagree?"
"I guess not. How is that going to work though? Will my, soul? Be put into an already existing body?"
"No. What would we do with the soul that is currently inside it?"
Feeling a bit exasperated Anna huffed, "Well how should I know? You're the all-knowing one here."
The voice chuckled again, "No Anna May Gavel. I am merely the one following the directions of the all-knowing. You will be placed in your own body that you were given at birth."
Anna felt that she should be asking all sorts of questions. Like, is God the all-knowing? Are you an angel? So souls are a thing then? But she found she just didn't care to know. She snorted softly to herself. Joe would be having a hissy-fit if he knew she had the perfect opportunity to find the answers to the cosmic universe and she just couldn't bring herself to care enough to ask. She sobered quickly though when she realized she was never going to see him again. Her best friend was still back in her old life. Where he was going to stay, fighting his own battle with cancer, alone now. Now that was a question she wanted to ask.
"Can you tell me what will happen with Joe? Will he beat his cancer?" there was silence and Anna felt the need to add, "He was my best friend and he's all alone now. Please?"
A sigh and then, "I am not supposed to share information about the fate of other souls. But seeing as how you will be in another world I see no harm. Joseph Wolfgang Terry will win against the cancer in his body and go on to live a full and happy life. He marries a woman and has three children. He dies peacefully in his sleep at the age of ninty-three."
"Good." Anna let out the breath she had been holding, "That's really good. I'm really happy for him."
"Yes. Now it is your turn to have a chance at a happy life. Go now Anna May Gavel. Go and have your second chance."
ooOoo
Blinking her eyes open, Anna winced at the bright light that met her gaze. Groaning, she rolled to sit up and when her eyes adjusted, gasped in shock. She was in a field with huge, snow covered mountains to her left and a forest line several hundred miles to her right. The wind was gently whispering through the grass and the gurgle of a river somewhere to her right met her ears. Pulling herself to her feet carefully, Anna couldn't believe how good her body felt. How strong. She giggled and jumped up and down just because she could. There was no pain! For the first time in so long, she didn't feel any pain.
"Oh thank you! This is amazing!"
She danced in circles, laughing and reveling in how healthy she felt for several long minutes before pausing to really take stock of where she was. Turning in a full 360 degrees she huffed, "I'm in the middle of nowhere!" Looking up at the bright blue sky she snapped, "You couldn't have put me somewhere I knew?"
She wasn't expecting an answer, which was a good thing because she didn't get one. Looking down at herself she took a moment to really see what it was she was wearing. Frowning in confusion, she found herself in old looking brown leggings and a long burgundy tunic-like shirt that was belted around her middle. Brown, leather boots covered her feet and that was it.
"I look like I should be in a King Arthur movie. If I was a boy anyways…" Looking at the sky again she asked, "Shouldn't you have put me in a dress if you were going to send me back in time?"
Again, there wasn't a reply. But Anna was too busy trying to figure out what to do to listen for one. She had no idea where she was but water was always a good thing, so trying to remember what her dad had told her about wilderness survival, she followed her ears towards the sound of the river. It thankfully, wasn't too far before she came upon its banks. Anna had never seen a river so clear in person. All the rivers back home tended to be a bit muddy.
Coming down to the edge, she reached down and scooped a hand full of the icy cold water to drink. It was the best water she'd ever had in her life! Anna eagerly scooped hand fulls to her mouth until she'd had her fill. Standing again she wiped her chin on her sleeve and then muttered, "Welp. I have no idea where I'm at but everyone needs water so if I follow the river, theoretically, I should come to a town. Now the question is; do I go up river or down?" Looking in both directions she decided to follow her gut and go up stream.
The sun was starting to sink below the distant mountains before Anna began to feel the fluttering's of panic. She hadn't seen any signs of human life and she'd been trudging along this river all afternoon. She didn't know what she would do if she didn't find civilization.
"At least you have water." Talking out loud made her feel better. She knew she would survive longer since she had the fresh water. "But eventually you are going to need to eat…" the problem was Anna had no idea how she would get food. She supposed she could attempt to make a trap of some kind if she got desperate. But without a knife she had no way of butchering whatever it was she managed to catch. And without matches, starting a fire would be almost impossible…
Pausing to scan the horizon again, she squinted and then jumped in excitement at the movement in the distance. Horses! There was a company of riders on horses coming towards her. Thank goodness! She paused and frowned as the thought crossed her mind that these riders might not be friendly; especially since she was a woman, alone, in the middle of nowhere. The thundering of hooves reached her ears and the ground began to vibrate as she frantically tried to decide if she should hide or wait out in the open for them. Looking around for a place to hide proved to be fruitless however and Anna realized she would have to face who ever these people were.
The company was running towards the river in front of her but veered off course when someone shouted and pointed at her. She fidgeted nervously as another rider shouted for everyone to halt as he and one other rode towards her.
As they drew closer, Anna was able to see that they wore elaborate, mid-evil looking armor with huge swords hanging from their belts. She hoped they were friendly because if not, it was clear they could easily send her back to the voice in the ReBuilding.
"Hail maiden!" The man on the right called. Pulling his horse to a stop in front of her, he pulled his helmet off.
She had to consciously think about not drooling. This was one hella sexy man. He had long golden hair and a full mustache and beard. He reminded her of what she assumed a Viking would have looked like. All brawn and muscle and deep, graveling voice.
"What is a maiden doing out in the middle of the fields of Rohan alone?"
Swallowing thickly she tried to keep her voice steady to reply. "Truthfully, I'm lost. I'm not sure where I am. I've been following the river in hopes I would come across a town." She was mostly successful when her voice only trembled slightly.
"Then you are out of luck, for this river would have led you into the Misty Mountains. There are no villages along its banks."
Muttering to herself, Anna tried to decide what to do from here. "Could you please tell me where the nearest town is then?"
The man smiled in amusement and pointed back in the direction from where they had come, "That way. Seven days hard ride. On foot I would guess two weeks."
She could feel the blood draining from her face. That dang voice in purgatory had literally dropped her in the middle of freaking nowhere! Damn it all. What the hell was it thinking?
The rider must have seen the panic on her face because he dismounted and came to stand in front of her. He was deliciously tall. His deep blue eyes were kind as he said, "I am Eomer. What is your name little one?"
"Anna sir."
"Well Lady Anna, my company and I are headed to the Gap of Rohan. There is a village on the other side where you may find answers. You may come with us to there if you wish."
Looking up she sighed in relief, "Really? Oh, thank you. I honestly don't know what I was going to do if you had left me here."
Turning to the other man who had followed him over, Eomer called out, "Bring an extra horse for the lady." He glanced back at her, "My honor would not have let me leave a defenseless woman out here alone. But tell me, how is it you found yourself to be here, so far away from your home?"
Anna hesitated. She didn't want to lie, but she didn't think he'd believe the truth either. Finally she settled on half and half.
"I was taken from my home by a stranger I didn't know and brought here. I'm not sure where they went or why they left me here. I don't recognize this place. I think they brought me a really long ways from my home. I'm not sure I could go back even if I wanted to…"
"I am sorry to hear this. I know the Warden of the village we will be passing thru. I will ask him to look after you until you can decide what to do."
The man had returned with another horse in tow. Eomer reached out and took it's reins. "This is Bellina. She will faithfully carry you while you are in our company." Turning back to her he asked, "Can you ride?"
Anna smiled and reached out to brush her fingers across the mare's velvet nose. "Yes, I can. She's beautiful."
And the horse really was. She was a gorgeous black dapple with a silver mane and tail. Her eyes were a soft chocolate and she carefully nibbled Anna's fingers in greeting.
Eomer's voice was soft as replied, "Yes. Her name means 'sky of stars' in my peoples tongue. Her owner fell to a group of orcs not long after leaving Edoras. I believe she has been lonely and will enjoy having company again."
Anna looked up at him sharply in alarm, "Orcs?"
The man's face became like flint, though his voice remained gentle, "Yes. These are dangerous times Lady Anna. I will do my best to protect you while we ride north." His eyes turned to hers as he said, "However, I will need you to heed my words. If I order you to do something, please realize I do so to protect you. I hope you will give me your trust in this."
Anna nodded slowly as her mind raced. She had known his name sounded familiar! Oh gods. Was she really where she thought she was…?
"Sir? I'm sorry if this is a silly question but… where are we? I mean, where is this?"
He eyed her carefully, "You are in the plains of Rohan of Middle Earth."
She squeezed her eyes close and tried to keep from panicking. She was in the middle of the freaking Lord of the Rings! And by the sounds of it, the dang voice hadn't put her in the story after Sauron was defeated. Oh no! It put her right at the beginning of this dang story. She could practically hear the voice telling her they thought she'd be pleased considering how often she had laid in the hospital, watching the movies and wishing she was in Middle Earth instead of the cancer ward at Saint. Judes Hospital.
I take it back! I take it back! I don't have the skills to survive in this world! I'm just going to die an early horrible death all over again!
"My lady? Are you feeling unwell?"
Opening her eyes again, she found Eomer, the freaking next king of Rohan, looking at her with concern.
"No, I'm fine. Just feeling a bit overwhelmed I think. I hadn't realized I was so far from my home." Pressing her forehead to the mare's neck she whispered, "There really is no going back. I'm stuck here."
There was a moment of silence before she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"I am sorry for your grief. I will do what I can to ensure you have a safe place to stay."
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, Anna smiled up at him, trying desperately to blink back her tears, "Thank you sir."
He smiled kindly before stepping back and saying, "Come then. We still have ground to travel before nightfall. Do you need assistance mounting?"
Anna came around, holding the reigns in her left hand and grabbing the front and back of the saddle, she placed her foot in the stirrup and easily hoisted herself up. Thank god she knew how to ride or this whole mess would have been so much worse.
Eomer chuckled, "I see that you do not."
She shifted in the saddle and smiled down at him as he came forward to shorten the stirrups so she could reach them.
"Thank you."
After ensuring everything with her saddle was in order, Eomer patted Bellina's rump before turning to his own horse. Mounting swiftly he said, "Stay near me."
Anna nodded and nudged her horse to follow Eomer, privately hoping that she had joined him and his men after that fateful encounter with the Uruk-hai that allowed Merry and Pippin to escape. Only time would tell if her wish had been granted.