The dark haired stranger looked at me with eyes that were filled with distrust and suspicion, as if he was trying to see inside my mind to discern my deepest secrets and thoughts. He was clad in green and brown garments that I didn't recognize, but that were in better shade than my dirt covered pajamas.
"I ask you again, what are you doing in this part of the Northern Territories?" He growled at me.
"I..don't know" I managed to stutter. I began to processes what was happening to me now that my adrenaline wasn't pumping through my body as much. I was in some kind of a forest, still dressed in my tang top and leggings. The creature that had been chasing me was covered in what looked like rotting flesh, and reeked like meat that was left out in the sun to long. It's sword was made of some kind of twisted and broken metal and it wore broken armor that was partially embedded into its body.
"That….thing…started chasing me mad I just ran. The last thing that I remember was going to sleep in my bed. Where is….here." I choked out.
The stranger continued to eye me with suspicion but finally holstered his sword. "This is Northern Territories of Arda, also called Middle Earth. I am one of the rangers who patrols had protects this land and the people who live here, the few that remain anyway".
His eyes softened somewhat, but remained wary. He pulled a piece of rope from his belt and approached me.
"I will bring you somewhere safe, but only if you allow me to bind your hands. I know not who or what you are and must take all precautions. If you are thinking of running or refusing, be warned that these hills are swarming with orcs when the sun goes down and I doubt you will be so lucky as to be rescued a second time".
This had to be some kind of a bad joke, or a drug induced hallucination of some kind. There was no way I wasn't goofing to wake up in bed any moment now, thrashing about from this strange nightmare. I didn't know where I was or how I got here, but the word 'Arda' struck a chord with me. I knew that name, it was a term used in Lord of the Rings.
No fucking way was I in Lord of the Rings. Not a chance. Things like that don't happen in the real world. But here I was, feeling the cold of the mountain air and smelling the rotten corpse at the man's feet. If I ran into another one I would be dead, so with great regret I held my wrists towards the dark stranger and allowed him to bind my hands and put a blindfold around my eyes.
We walked for what seemed like forever. Branches scratched and reached for my arms and legs. The only guide to my blindness the rope pulling me deeper and deeper into this nightmare. The only communication between myself and my captor was the occasional warning of an obstacle.
The first thing to reach me was the smoke. I smelled fires that reminded me of the camping trips I used to take with my parents as a child. Some kind of meat was being rosed over a fire and the scent woke the hunger that I hadn't noticed was clawing at my stomach. As we got closer to the smell of the fires I began to hear voices, including women and children.
"What do you have Strider." Questioned a gruff voice.
"A wanderer who became lost in the woods with which she claims to be unfamiliar with" replied my alter whose name I now learned was Strider. "For now she will remain blind to our world, but will be under our protection. Were she a friend of the enemy she would not have been so easily hunted by an orc, for those who serve the dark lord do not fall prey to such simple minded creatures."
The rope was yanked forward, causing me to stumble and nearly fall. I was led into what I believed to be some kind of building, the sounds of the woods grew quieter and the smell of a fire was replaced with others that reminded me of a wooden cabin.
"What is going to happen to me"? I asked in a shaky voice.
"For now you will remain here. Your sight will remain lost to you until I trust that you won't betray our secrets and location of these people. You will be cared for by Glenda, who will tend your wounds and find you suitable clothing to wear. In the morning you will tell me more of who you are and what a strange land you hail from".
I nodded in response. I felt my arms pulled backward and moved behind my back, realization dawning that with arms tied behind my back I had little to no means of getting my blindfold off. Strider gave a final huff and turned away, his footsteps quickly fading.
Time passed slowly, I strained my ears for any sound from outside, but all I heard was the pounding of my own heart.
Such was my blindness that I was startled when another hand touched my shoulder, this one much softer in nature than Striders.
"I am Glenda, I have been instructed to attend to the wounds on your body and prepRe you something to eat before nightfall." Her voice was gentle but was strained in a way that I didn't recognize. She sounded as though she was around my mothers age, but I wouldn't know unless I asked her or saw her face.
She guided me to another part of the building and set me down on a chair, leaving the room momentarily. I heard water sloshing in a bowl when she returned, and soon felt the cool liquid washing the dried and crusty blood off my arms.
Glenda assisted me in undressing and pulled some kind of light linen dress over me, unbinding my arms long enough for me to dress and rub my wrists, which had become raw from the rope. My momentary freedom did not last long and I quickly found myself bound once more, this time with strips of cloth instead of the rope.
Glenda guided me to a mat on the flor and instructed me to sleep until I was summon in the morning, warning me that a guard was posted at night and that any escape attempt would result in my death.
So much for sweet dreams.
As I lay there, uncomfortable with my arms twisted behind my back I finally had a chance to really think about what had happened to me. I had gone to bed in my own apartment, only to wake up in a forest being hunted. I was rescued and then taken prisoner by an unknown group of people. There was the threat of death if I tried to escape, but seemed decent enough to treat my wounds. They didn't seem to want me dead right away, or so I tried to convince myself.
What haunted my mind the most was what the dark strange was called – Strider. I had heard that name, or rather read it. I was beginning to form a hunch about where I was, but all logic inside of my mind told me that I had to be delusional. There was no way that I was…here….it wasn't possible. And yet I felt the earth beneath my feet, heard the sound of people around me. There was no denying that the world around me was real, and was not the one I had gone to sleep in. But I could not possibly be in Middle Earth. Could I?
I wish I could say that I woke up in a familiar bed, in a familiar place. Instead I was woke up to darkness, my eyes still covered and my hand bound behind my back. My wrists had become so raw during the night the simplest movement was agony. I could hear small movements outside and birds were beginning to make noise, I presumed that it must be near sunrise.
Glenda came to get me around half an hour after I woke up. She led me outside, near a fire, I could feel the heat radiating in contrast to the crisp, cold morning air.
"I'm going to untie your hand so that you can eat" she told me, her voice sounded raspy, as though she had only just gotten up. I felt the knot behind my back loosen and the binding slip over my wrists. Instinct drove me to immediately move to take my blindfold off, but Glenda grabbed my wrists and forced a piece of bread into one and a mug of some kind of hot drink into the other.
I wolfed down the bread and greedily drank the tea in the other, once I finished both Glenda handed me a bowl that contained a stew that had vegetables and meat of some kind in it. I was too famished to ask what the meat was, but it tasted gamey.
I desperately wanted to rip the blindfold off, to allow my eyes to take in the strange world I was in. The stress of the last few days and confusion finally caught up with me and I felt salty tears soak the blindfold. Sobs began to wrack my body and I felt heard Glenda let out a huff and stomp off. I suspected she would be back soon, for she hadn't bothered to rebind my hands.
Glenda returned with Strider with her. She said something in a language didn't understand and I felt the blindfold being untied before I was blinded by sunlight, my eyes having become adjusted to pitch blackness for the past two days. I took in my image of my surroundings, the houses were made from simple wood and hay. The clearing was surrounded by large trees that reminded me of oak, but were not quite the same.
I saw Glenda for the first time, she was in her late 50s with hair that was dark brown had mixed with silver. It was braided behind her back and fell almost to her waist. Strider looked much as I remembered, dark shoulder length hair, with a towering height.
Strider sat down in front of me "Glenda thinks that you're not a threat and insisted that I take you blindfold off. Do not take advantage of the little trust you seem to have earned from her, I still believe you are untrustworthy." He said in a gruff tone. His eyes looked at me as hot ugh he was trying to uncover my every thought and secret. "You will tell Glenda your story, and she will put you to work. For as long as you are here, you earn your keep."
As the days passed I began to develop a routine, working in the garden in the mornings and int the afternoons I assisted the old woman, whose name I learned was Melwen, in mixing her herbal remedies. I bathed alone in the nearby river at the end of each day, with Glenda watching nearby to make sure I didn't run away. I kept my curly hair pinned back with the only item I had from my world, a small clip that I used to keep a couple of strands of my hair back, with the rest basically exploding from underneath it. I missed hair bands immensly. Occasionally Strider joined me as I ate dinner in front of the hearth in the home I stayed in with Glenda. He never said much, just whispered with Glenda and giving me the occasional nod. I helped Glenda prepare meals and do chores around the village. Some of the other women slowly began to warm up to me, I would get a gentle nod every now and then instead of suspicious glares.
My only glimmer of happiness was my time with Melwen. She seldom spoke, just croaking orders at me in a voice that reminded me of a lifetime long smoker. But she would often give me a small pat on the shoulders or a soft hug when I seemed to need it. Sometimes she braided my unruly hair and tied it with a soft pink colored ribbon. I cried softly the first time she did my hair. I had always prided myself on being strong, but the internal stuggle that occurs when one loses their whole world and family is something that cannot truly be understood, except by those who expperience it.
Nights were the worst. I dreamt of being home. Not at my apartment, but at my parents house with them and my older sister. I felt hollow when I woke up from a dream about my family. I never realized how truly important they were until I couldn't even pick up the phone to call one of them anymore. Sometimes I woke up crying, and Glenda would walk over and sit next to me. She didn't say anything or make a move to comfort me, she would just sit there.
About two weeks into my stay, Strider gave me a small leather satchel to keep the few possessions that I had in. It was beat up and had clearly seen years of use, but it was sturdy and felt as though it would last for years. I thanked him and felt glad to have something of my own again. I'm not sure why it felt so good to hold it in my hands, maybe just the security that I had something I could put things it that others wouldn't touch.
I remembered reading stories about girls who dreamed of falling into Middle Earth, and how stupid they must have been! I felt hollow being here, this world wasn't worth losing the life I had worked for, or the family I left behind. Yet, if there was a way here, maybe there was a way back. As time passed, I tried my best to determine what part of Middle Earth I was in and when. I knew that it was before the War of the Ring, since Aragorn was still known as Strider, and orcs were still roaming the lands. I wondered how long until the War began though. Months? Years? Would I have the chance to ask Gandalf the grey to help send me home? How had I even gotten here in the first place?
I knew I had to get home. And I was certain that I wouldn't be able to do it alone. I had no idea what brought me here, but I hoped that Gandalf or Elrond may know how to send me home. But how would I get to them? I would have to get Strider to take me to along with him to Bree, or to Rivendell if he stopped there first. I would have to convince him to take me somehow.