You'd think riding the trail, like you always do, would be rather uneventful, right? I mean, other than the occasional spook or misbehavior from a green horse. But no, I just had to go and get myself thrown through a rabbit hole. Let me back up. I'll start at the beginning.

Eagle meadow has always held a special place In my heart. For as long as I can remember, we've been going horse-camping there in August. This year was a bit different, because instead of going with the group to High Ride, we did our own thing. And I was in a cast. I have this bone disorder see, where my Ulna, the arm bone on your pinky side, is too long, and I'd just had the right one shortened.

In order to ride, I had to beg and plead with my parents and reassure them that yes, I'd be fine and no, I wouldn't fall off. It started with a short ride on my primary horse, Lennie. He didn't behave very well, and I thought, well that's it, they're not going to let me ride again. They did, much to my shock. I got to ride Brilla, a fancy mare that my twin has assigned as mine, despite the fact that I'd only ridden her once before the trip. Three times before the incident, due to the two trail rides we did, the second being when the incident occurred.

Long Valley is a long, flat trail out of Eagle Meadow, and the second half is on a dirt road. It was on this dirt road that Brilla tripped and suddenly I found myself falling in a ridiculous tangle of horse and human limbs. At the time I was a bit too preoccupied to realize we were falling very much too far, but when we landed on something hard with an almighty thump and a good amount of pain literally everywhere, I didn't hear the expected panic from my trail mates.

The first order of business was to get both my horse and I up, and make sure neither had come to any harm. Imagine my surprise when I found myself with two horses rather than one, and nothing but grass as far as I could see. Once we had all managed to get up, I checked the horses over, growing more and more surprised by what I found. Brilla's cough had gone, and her persistently runny nose had stopped running. Lennie wasn't sore, and when I had him walk and trot around me, I could see that he was tracking nicer than he ever had. And as for me, my wrists didn't hurt! Neither of them, at all! It was like we'd all been miraculously healed, minus the scrapes and bruises from our fall. There was a strange soreness all over though, that I could contribute to nothing other than the whole process of being here and suddenly being healthy.

For a while, all I did was catalogue our equipment that had mysteriously appeared along with Lennie, and full tack. Whatever, I wasn't complaining. It appeared that whatever had brought us here duplicated the saddle set up, but provided us with Lennie's actual headstall and bit. It also added saddle-bags to both saddles, fully stocked with provisions of trail mix and jerky and with a blanket roll tied on Brilla's and one of our big oilskin rain slickers on Lennie's. Next order of business was climb up and stand in Lennie's saddle to see if I could see any sort of landmark. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough height to see much more than rolling hills, and more rolling hills, and, guess what, more rolling hills. Exasperated, I tried to remember what to do when there aren't landmarks, or high ground, or water, or any of the other things you're supposed to go to or follow when lost. Not that I thought it would be super helpful, what with the teleporting act we'd somehow pulled off. Definitely not freaking out about the teleporting.

So… temperate climate, grassland environs, a dark smudge that just might be a forest off to (roughly) the West/South West, and zero sign of anything larger than a coyote. Except my horses and I, that is. Moments when I really wished I was good at Geography.

Reasonably, there would be at least a road somewhere nearby, but definitely easier to find if I were to find skirt the forest, roads mean clearing a path, which means a really obvious break in the tree-line, right? And I could take my time, because apparently teleporting -freeking teleporting dammit- also meant full canteens and nearly three-weeks of jerky and trail mix rations.

"Whelp guys, looks like we're in for a bit of a hike West-ish. Some shade sound good to you too? Cool beans."

I'd ride Lennie first, since I was riding Brilla when we came through. Loosening her cinch a little, I replaced her bridle with her halter and mounted up, her lead in my left hand and Lennie's reins in my right, "Here goes nothing guys. Load 'em up, head 'em out."

We rode all day, switching horses every few hours, and night happened in fits and starts. Instead of really making camp, when the sun set I stopped briefly to eat some jerky and trail mix while the horses grazed. There was a little stream, and I took the opportunity while the horses fed and watered to boil fresh water to refill my canteens. There was a neat little collapsible pot in Brilla's bag, and a flint firestarter kit. Took me a little bit to get how to work it, but it was similar enough to the firestarters we used in my Chem lab that I figured it out. After the water boiled and cooled, and my canteens were full and as much water as I could drink, drank, I put out the fire and started walking. I wasn't comfortable sleeping out in the open like that, but the horses deserved a break, so walking it was. When the moon set, I stopped to doze for a while, but was constantly jerking awake. It gave the horses a chance to get out from under the saddles though.

Morning rolled around, and will power was the only thing that got me up and saddling the horses for another long day of trying to make the dark smudge look at least a little more like trees. Or, you know, a town. A town would be nice, but it looked a little too long and uniform. At this distance it was impossible to tell, but my bet was still on forest.

We got to mid-morning before I felt like I was starting to wake up a little. It was also when I got a little concerned about the horses' lack of opportunity to drink, and when I hopped off to switch I poured some water into my collapsible put for them. Unfortunately, the forest still looked like a smudge, but at least it was a kind of leafy smudge at this point, and I was a little awed at the sheer size and uniform edge. The only forests I knew of that started like that were fictional ones. Not exactly a comforting thought.

Said thoughts were interrupted by Lennie and Brilla, both shifting nervously to stand closer to me, ears swiveling and nostrils flaring. There were three figures approaching at a jog, two the height I'd expect of men, and one short, but incredibly stocky. I comforted the horses as they approached, not sure about anything. A slight suspicion was forming in my mind, but for now it was just that: a slight suspicion.

"What is a Lady doing all alone on the plains of the Riddermark? Orcs roam these lands, it is not safe."

Well shite, slight suspicion confirmed, "Huh, well. The plains of the Riddermark? Being lost, apparently. I had no idea where we were," I turned to my horses, "Did you know we're in Rohan? Like Middle Earth, Rohan? No? Well neither did I," I turned back to who I now knew were Gimli, Legolas and Aragorn, only to find them regarding me doubtfully, with no small amount of suspicion. I sighed, "Sorry, I guess I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed. Where I'm from, this is a fictional place," More confused looks, "Like a fantasy? You know, a fairytale? Full on Brother's Grimm. Yeah."

Legolas glanced at Aragorn, brow furrowed, and he stepped forward, "A fairytale?"

"Yes. Well, more of a novel or epic really, but same concept. There's a few books, The Silmarillion- sorry about the pronunciation on that one, A Hobbit's Tale, and a couple others, I don't know them all. The Children of Hurin is particularly sad," Legolas frowned, "Oh sh- ah... Shiitake mushrooms! That's not true, is it? Scratch that, rhetorical question. New subject: what are you three doing, out for a run in the middle of nowhere? And since when did elves and dwarves get along? What age did I fall into?" I thought it wise not to tell them I knew exactly what was going on just yet.

"Shiitake mushrooms?"

"What're you sayin' lass?"

"What age? It's the Third Age. Why?"

I put my hands up, "Whoa! One at a time, please."

They all glanced at each other, frowning slightly. Aragorn spoke first, "It is the Third Age. Why do you ask? And this talk of fairy tales and epics, does that mean you're trying to say you are from a different world? Is that why you're dressed so strangely?"

"Uh, yeah. Essentially. I ask because I only know up to the beginning of the Third Age, and then just a couple bits and pieces," I looked down at what I was wearing, "And this is perfectly normal at home, maybe even a little old-fashioned and prudish," I was wearing jeans and a button-down after all, complete with a bandana and straw cowboy hat. Yeah okay, so it was a bright red tank top button-down, but I had a jean jacket on over the top, unbuttoned. Another gift of teleportation, apparently. It was nice for not freezing my ass off when night fell.

Gimli raised an eyebrow and I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him.

"What is that on your arm?" I looked at Legolas, brow crinkled, "The red gauntlet."

"Oh! My cast!" I looked at it curiously, "I wonder..."

"Are you injured? Is that how you bind broken bones?"

"Uh, yeah," I murmured distractedly, gently working at it. If we'd all been healed that would mean this had too, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it earlier, the damn thing had been driving me crazy.

"Lass? Why are you tryin' to remove it then? Lass?"

"I think... Yes. Yes I don't believe I need it anymore," I was having a little trouble getting my thumb past the narrow part where my wrist had been, but with just a little more... "Aha!" The cast popped free, and I grinned at them triumphantly.

Gimli grinned a little uncertainly, but the other two remained skeptical. I pouted, but turned to tie my cast to the saddlebags on Lennie.

"My Lady?" I turned back to Aragorn with an eyebrow raised, "What is your name?"

"Oh!" I blushed, "I'm Nicholetta, but I prefer Nic or whatever other nickname you might come up with, you can drop the 'My Lady' nonsense."

"Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and this is Gimli, son of Gloin, and Legolas of the Woodland realm. We are tracking a pack of Uruk Hai across the plains, they have taken our friends captive. It troubles my heart to think of leaving you to wander alone, and yet also it troubles me to think of offering you a place amongst our company when we pursue such a dangerous road."

"I'll be safer with you, trust me. I'm completely lost out here. At least if I'm with you I'll have a chance. I can stay back a ways while you face the Uruks if I have to. But it sounds like we're in a hurry, it'll go faster if we take turns riding and running. I do have to warn you that I will yell at you if you aren't riding them the way they're trained. So who's first?"

They all glanced at each other again, and I held back a snicker as they muttered quietly to each other. I moved to check the horses' cinches, murmuring in their ears and petting them as I went. They stopped their little man-huddle and Aragorn took a step towards me, placing a calming hand on Lennie's neck as he did, "Well? Do I get to join your merry little band, or wander around aimlessly until I find civilization or wither up and die?" He frowned at my joke and I turned away to roll my eyes under the pretense of checking my bedroll.

"You may accompany us. You and Gimli will ride first, while Legolas and I run."

"Good, coolios. Hey Mr. Gimli? I think I'll ask you to ride Brilla, you cool with me just leading her? She really hates it when you pull on her mouth and well, from what I've read dwarves don't ride much, no offense meant."

He chuckled, and I grinned, relieved, "None taken Lass, and it's just Gimli to you."

My grin widened and I gestured him over, crouching slightly and bracing to give him a place to step up on my knee. He looked at me slightly horrified, and I glanced at the other two, looking back when they showed the same expression, "What? Did I offend you? I didn't mean to, I promise. I was just going to give you a leg up... What? Why do you all look so horrified?" They glanced at each other yet again, and I huffed in exasperation, "It's because I'm a girl, isn't it. Well, you're just gonna have to suck it up boys, I do things my own way, and I was raised to be polite, independent, and helpful in a world where men and women are equal. Come here, I'm stronger than I look," Gimli still hesitated, and Aragorn took a step forward, as if in protest. I rolled my eyes, "Are we in a hurry to find your friends or not?"

That seemed to galvanize them into action, and Gimli hurried forward, still regarding me with a furrowed brow. He was a bit heavier than I expected, and I found myself lifting him a bit higher for fear that the saddle would roll. It turned out fine, and I mounted Lennie quickly, holding Brilla's reins in my left hand and Lennie's in my right. I raised an eyebrow at Aragorn and Legolas still standing there, "Well? Load 'em up, head 'em out!" Blank looks, "Ah, uh, I mean, lets go! Lead the way. Yeah," Gimli chuckled behind me, and this time I didn't refrain from turning to stick my tongue out at him. His shock was extremely gratifying.