(Author's Note: So, a rewrite to an old story I started many years ago. For those who had read the first edition, this will be quite a shocking change...but life has happened in the last six years, and what had once been aspirations of mine no longer are. I hope that the story reflects how my writing ability has grown, though. Without further ado, on we go)
Carrie stood in line, waiting her turn to go into the voting center. She wore her mask proudly, ignoring others who stared at her. They had come entirely too close to disaster a few years back for her to ever really feel comfortable without it again. It was also why she made absolutely sure to keep as much distance between her and the other voters as possible. One could never be too careful, after all.
It was during this midmorning wait that the unthinkable happened. An unmarked vehicle pulled up and people in suits hopped out. One was holding a tablet, while the other was holding a gun. The voters started to move away, fearful of these strange, rather hostile appearing people. They had heard rumors of other voting sites being hit by people of similar nature, but to a person they had thought it was just that: rumors. There was not a single one who was prepared for the reality.
Movement halted at first when the retort of a gunshot sounded, before an all out panic took over. Those who could, fled towards the inside, only to be felled as they neared the door. The ones who couldn't run either stood there, or started approaching the gunman with the intent to stop them. A few, like Carrie, were absolutely incensed that this was happening; Carrie even suspected that this was an intentional suppression tactic. Either way, it had to be stopped before more people were killed.
Maybe it was her determination that made her a target; maybe it was the fact that her dad couldn't flee easily that made her stand out in the crowd. Whatever the reason, Carrie soon found herself laying face down as first burning pain than numbing cold spread from a line of shots down her torso. Her last thought, as the light faded from her eyes, was that she could finally join her mother on the other side.
Carrie woke to an unexpected sight: instead of fields of green, or even a rainbow, all she saw was calm darkness. Well, it was calm until she woke up that was. Once she realized that she wasn't where she had thought she'd be, she started screaming in rage. She ended up pounding the ground with her fists, though there was no ground to be seen. It wasn't fair, her life was over, yet she was in a place that didn't seem to be any kind of afterlife, not even oblivion.
She didn't know how long she carried on like that, nor how long she lay defeated afterwords. All she knew was that, eventually, things changed. A light started to approach her, though she could just vaguely see a figure within. She thought that she should be afraid, or at least curious, but she currently just felt nothing, not even the rage she had initially felt when she woke up. She honestly was way too familiar with the feeling of emptiness to even fight it anymore. Thus, she just stared blankly at the light, wondering what was going to happen next.
"Young one, you are in limbo, for your life ended suddenly and without warning. Normally, you would move on to whatever afterlife your universe has, but two things have interfered with this. Firstly, the unfairness on which your life was stripped from you left a, rather understandable, bitter seed in you. Secondly...you are needed to help fix a timeline that suffered..." the figure spoke, but before they could finish, Carrie was standing up and glaring at them.
"Why?! Why should I do anything for a timeline that existed without me?! Why should I give up my chance to be reunited with my mother?!" Carrie's voice grew louder and louder, ending in a shout. The anger had returned, not as blinding hot as it had been initially, but still fierce. Carrie didn't deny that she felt bitter...but the bitterness was 99% towards the fact that she was not in an afterlife, good or bad. She wanted, desperately, to return to her own universe, to the reward or punishment she knew awaited her. She certainly didn't want to be some weird light's fixer-upper for a universe she hadn't been involved in to begin with.
The figure in the light seemed to sigh briefly, before pulling up out of the darkness an image. It was hard to tell what it was at first, but it eventually became all too clear. Carrie stared, horrified, at the innocuous, innocent looking ring. She knew what it was; how many times had she delved into that world, that story, after all? She looked at the figure, shell-shocked, asking without words what the hell she was supposed to do. That story had a happy ending, mostly, and her presence could royally screw things up.
"Your part will be...secondary, in a way, but no less important than his part. You see, there are many things that happened in that timeline that could have been prevented, if a slightly different path had been taken. With your knowledge, you could, if you choose to, gently turn the story down that path and prevent much suffering." The figure in the light fell quiet, leaving Carrie to her own thoughts. She had a lot to think on, and her decision wasn't so simple anymore.
On the one hand, everything within her wanted to go back, to be with her mother again, with her family. On the other...to prevent suffering, to actually be able to help? That was something she had never been able to do in her own universe. It had left her feeling hopeless, and more than a little depressed.
Still, even if she did accept this strange figure's offer, what could someone such as she do? She had no powers, no fighting skills...hell, she didn't even know how to survive without a grocery store. There was no way she could be of any help to the party...worse, she would likely cause the quest to fail. She knew too much and all could be ruined if she should fall in the hands of the enemy because of her own carelessness and inability. She brought this up, the first thing that had been said for the past several minutes.
"Oh, we aren't going to throw you in the deep end, child. You will be given abilities...Talents, if you will, though much more limited than the wizards. You will also be given twenty-five years to train and hone your skills with a dear friend and someone very powerful." This really didn't soothe Carrie's fears any...twenty-five years would make her at best middle aged when the quest would start...that, coupled with her already bad health, and she doubted she would make it a week into the journey.
However, when she brought this up, she was assured that she was going to be given a new body, around the age of ten. This would not only give her plenty of time to learn but it should also help to improve her health tremendously. The decision, though, was of course hers. If she chose not to, she would be returned to where she came from and the afterlife that awaited her there.
It was a heavy decision and not one to make lightly but given the lack of time in limbo, she had more than enough to think things through. At the end, though, she chose to go through with it. After all, she had nothing left to lose, she was already dead. She might just be able to help some people who had been given the short end of the stick in the original timeline.
She gave the figure her answer and was rewarded by what was undoubtedly a smile. They faded and she was left in darkness for a long time. It was not peaceful though, as her limbs shook with the pain of shrinking down to the size of a ten year old. While her body underwent the transformation, she could feel the Talents being given to her, though it would take a while to master them. She was also shown what would be her home for the next several years...and a name that would be much more fitting for the place she was headed: Kria Woodsroad.
Twenty-five years later
Kria looked out upon the emerald green fields that were interspersed with the gold of corn and blue of rivers and lakes. In all her time in Arda, she had never seen such a beautiful and peaceful place. It was hard to believe that, in a few months time, things would be massively different. Still, that was not something she was here to fix or even to start. She was here to hustle, or at the very least guide, a reluctant hero on his way.
She had spent the last twenty-five years learning, growing and befriending the different people of the land. Though she would never admit it to anyone, she had even met with and had friendly conversations with random orcs. It was clear, painfully so, that they were in no way evil...at least, not initially. There were just some things that they couldn't control in their future.
That wasn't her concern though, not currently. For now, she needed to try to convince someone to leave before his fiftieth birthday, as unlikely as it was to happen. With that in mind, she raised her hand to knock on the door that marked the entrance to the hole in the hill. Everything was tidy, the doorframe dusted clean and the gardens immaculate. As the door opened, she caught the scent of something baking, and it made her smile as she looked at the small figure in front of her. He was round, like all his kind, shorter than her with feet that were covered in long furry hair.
It was his face, though, that she noticed the most. It was a friendly, open face, unlike the others she had passed by. His brown eyes held an innocence that belied his nearly fifty years. Seeing him, finally, after all this time, made her all the more determined to protect him and fulfill her tasks. It was with this in mind that she introduced herself.
"Hello, good sir. My name is Kria Woodsroad, and the Gray Pilgrim has bade me to help you upon your journey." Her voice had a lovely timbre to it, something that seemed to put the Hobbit at ease. That or it was mention of the Pilgrim that did so; whatever the reason, Kria was gladly welcomed inside. She just hoped that her presence would be enough to get the journey started sooner...she somehow seriously doubted it, though.
(End Author's note: For anyone paying attention to my profile, you'll know I'm writing this for NaNoWriMo. Which hopefully means that each chapter will be around 1,667 words long. Don't count on it though. My main hope is that I can get through this month writing every day...maybe even complete this story. Either way, see you in the next chapter.)