Hey!!! I know it's been forever since I've updated. I'm sorry. I write for
which ever story of mine is the most in demand, and unfortunately I'm not
getting too many reviews for this one. lol, anyhow!! I need to do the whole
disclaiming thing so here it goes : I do not own or associate myself with
any of the Lord Of The Rings books/movies/memorabilia. I also do not own
Norah Jones or her music. All I own is Anya and anything/one I decide to
create. ENJOY!!!
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The night was a long distressful one for Anya. After her little promenade with the "elf prince" (Robin hood) she had retired to her room for a fitful nights rest. Memories plagued her dreams, the edges of a puzzle but no pieces to fill it. She dreamt of a garden, a garden blooming with flowers, beautiful bright wonderful flowers. Laughter rang out, a young man was chasing someone, a small child, her, she was being chased. It was not dangerous it was fun. It was a pure, innocent moment of bliss. She felt warm, safe, and most of all free. But, a nagging sense of concern slowly flooded through her. A hand reached out from beyond a small shrub, in it held a sparkly orb, her young naive eyes glinted with amazement, she remembered the desire to grab it to touch it, someone was calling now, she should go back. The hand reaches further exposing more and more of this glimmering object until she cannot fight her desires anymore and reaches out to grab it. Suddenly, she is falling down a dark tunnel. Fear builds up and she cries for the man but he cannot hear her. No one can.
Anya woke up with tears in her eyes and emptiness in her stomach. Not of hunger but of loss. A sharp knock on the door propelled her to sit and wipe the tears and sleep from her eyes.
"Just a minute!"
Quickly she threw herself off of the bed. She had slept in a long white gown so her clothes could be washed. Anya got dressed fast and ran towards the door.
"Who is it?"
"It is Arwen"
Anya raised her eyes in surprise and opened the door.
"Hello"
"Hello Lady Anya. I've come to see how you've settled."
"I don't think I've ever been in a place where so many people are so concerned whether or not I'm settled, god, you'd think I was like royalty or something" Anya laughed
Arwen just smiled softly and motioned for Anya to sit, which she did. A servant walked in and set a tray of food in front of her.
"Your breakfast milady"
"Thank you"
The servant left the room and Arwen picked up a sparkling brush up off the counter. She began to do Anya's hair.
"Oh you can't brush curly hair!" Anya began but as she looked up into the mirror she could see her curly hair thin and straighten with each stroke of the bristles.
"How are you doing that?"
"We are elves, there are many things we can do that do not exist in your world."
"Wait, in my world? Then you know that I-"
"Hush Lady Anya, all will be told in time"
"But..."
"Trust fate and grace will protect you and guide your path. The light is within you Lady Anya. You will find your way."
And with that Arwen left the room leaving a very confused Anya alone with the remainder of her breakfast, which she couldn't finish at this point. She stood, grabbed her bag and sweater and began to leave the room; Anya turned back and grabbed the brush. If she was going to be risking her life, she might as well have convenient hair tools with her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There she is"
"Lady Anya, could you please be so kind as to explain to our lad merry that he is not the lost king of a hobbit empire from a far away land."
"Excuse me?" Anya laughed
"Pippin, I told you I'd share the gardens with you when I find my kingdom, there's no need to be snippy"
"What are they talking about?" Anya asked Gandalf
"Your Robin Hood reference about them being the merry men has left master merry convinced he holds royal blood."
Anya laughed. "Well, it's a good ego booster I guess"
"So where exactly did you say you were from Lady Anya" Sam asked while eating his second breakfast which was a fallen apple.
"Oh, I'm from..." The answer hung against the tip of her tongue and refused to detach itself.
"I'm from..." a confused panicked looked spaced over her face.
"Well, thats so strange.. I can't-"
Her eyes were muddled in thought as Gandalf passed a look to Lord Elrond.
"It is happening" Elrond spoke to Gandalf softly, Legolas, having the hearing of all elves if not superior, heard this and looked hard towards Anya. Aragorn, who was saddling up Bill the horse, also took note. What was happening?
"Chicago! Thats where I'm from, Chicago."
"Oh" the group of hobbits chorused in acknowledgment as if it had all been made clear.
"So, where's that again then?" Pippin asked after a moment
Anya laughed, "Don't worry about it" she tousled his hair and he blushed.
"Pippin's got a wee bit of a crush don't he fellas!"
Merry laughed and then doubled in pain as Pippin kicked him. The hobbits began to argue amongst themselves, as they were all loaded up onto the horse.
"Are you sure you don't want to ride milady?" Legolas offered her his hand up to the horse.
"No, I'm not big on horses, I don't know how anyhow."
"Tis not a difficult task, well not for a man, or a hobbit even, but for this woman it appears to be a skill she does not possess. Now we will be held subject to her complaints as her delicate limbs begin to swell under the strain of our journey." Boromir spoke with bitterness and annoyance
"Boromir. Have you ever walked for a full day in stiletto heels up and down Madison Avenue in the freezing cold sleet trying to hail a cab? Then upon realizing your cab is nowhere, have to walk 27 blocks back to your hotel? My feet can handle it. Besides, its men that can't handle anything." The fellowship began to walk, bemused at the disagreements between Boromir and Anya.
"How do you figure that to be so?"
"Well for one thing, why do you think women are the ones who bear the children."?
"I'd say the man has a pretty significant part," Boromir laughed with a smile
"Right, not the PAINFUL part, not the god knows how many hours of excruciating torture of burning and tearing of places that should never burn or tear only to squeeze something the size of a cantaloupe out of something proportionally the size of an earring loop"
The men winced at this but didn't argue.
"It is the cross women must bear to have everything provided for them."
"You are so pathetic. Men need to feel as though women are inferior to them so they can provide themselves with the egos they feel necessary to sustain their existences."
Gandalf, Legolas and Aragorn laughed while the hobbits listened in confusion because they couldn't understand her speech. Boromir, flustered, tried desperately to continue the argument but deciding it was too frustrating, gave up with a glare to the sky.
And so their journey began. With each step taken memories faded further and further away from Anya. Where she came from, how she knew who she was, how she knew where she was going and what would happen. All this information was leaving her. All she knew were the footsteps before and behind her, and that for once she had a purpose. That was all she needed.
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Twilight jaded the light sky and sprinkled it with stars. The hobbits were huddled over each other on Bill, asleep. Anya, weary from her travels felt equally as exhausted but refused to let anyone see it. That was all Boromir needed, more reasons to harass her. An irrepressible yawn escaped her.
"I think it is time to stop for rest no?" Gandalf spoke through the silence.
"We can keep going for a little while" Anya offered, she didn't want anyone blaming her for the premature day's end.
"No, we cannot, we are each fading, some quicker than others" Aragorn glanced towards the hobbits.
"Aragorn is right, we will need our rest" Legolas slowly removed the pack from his shoulder.
Gimli, refusing to "agree" with Legolas, just silently removed his pack and lie on the ground.
Boromir, himself too tired as well to protest gave his tacit consent by not arguing.
"We will sleep in shifts" Aragorn spoke to the men.
"We're sleeping here? In the middle of the woods? With no tent?"
"What is a tent?" Frodo asked
"Never mind" Anya sighed taking off her sweater and leaning up against a rock, positive there would be no rest for her that night. She could barely handle the backyard campouts of her Girl Scout days.
"She is afraid no?" Boromir asked as if victorious in proving a point.
"She is not used to this, there is a difference, concern yourself left with the girl and more with the journey at hand." Legolas, again annoyed with the man, whispered harshly
"Now you look here-"
"Men, please, I will take the first shift, get some rest" Gandalf spoke calmly
The men scattered amongst the area, each keeping secret guard. Anya looked around from her spot on the rock. The hobbits slept quietly amongst themselves. Gimli, had fallen asleep against the leaves of a tree, Gandalf stood tall and faced the eastern sky. Legolas appeared to be meditating or maybe sleeping, did elves even sleep? He opened his eyes as she stared at him in confusion. If it had not been for the night's covering a burning blush would have been evident on her cool cheeks. She quickly looked down and played with the straps to her bag. Still feeling Legolas's gaze bear into her, Anya opened the bag to appear occupied. There were many things she'd forgotten about stuffed into her bag. A cd player, some make up, batteries, gum, lotion, a wallet with some picture and some money, some Tylenol and a couple tampons. Basically, nothing that would do her much good at the moment. Sighing she pulled out a piece of gum and popped it into her mouth. A fresh burst of mint escaped her lips and Legolas walked over.
"Want a piece?" She offered him a piece of her eclipse gum. "Its spearmint"
"What is this spearmint? Where does it grow?"
"Um, its not a plant, its gum, you chew it, it tastes good, makes your breath smell good, it can cause ulcers when chewed too much but a piece wont hurt you"
"I will try one yes"
Anya gave the elf price a piece of her chewing gum and watched in amusement, as he grew confused at the foreign flavor invading his mouth.
"It is an interesting creation. Strong" His jaw flexed exaggeratedly as he tried to grow accustom to the new sensation.
Anya laughed sweetly.
"So you don't seem like a prince, what's your story"?
"Well was Robin hood a prince?"
"Prince of thieves actually"
"Well, I am the prince of Mirkwood, it is my responsibility and duty to my people to be on this mission. How else would a prince be?"
"I don't know, we don't have many where I come from, none actually, I mean they exist, but not in my part of the world. My image of royalty has always been morons who sit on thrones all day eating ham on a stick"
"You are a very strange girl"
"I'm strange? I'm not the one with pointy ears and green spandex buddy"
"Are their no elves where you live?"
"Nope, not except Santa's"
"Who is this "Santa" you speak of?"
"Never mind. Lets not talk about where I come from"
"Were you not happy there?" Legolas winced in realization as he saw her glance to her wrists, still sore and bandaged.
"I'm sorry. My mind has escaped me."
"Not a big deal"
Legolas opened his mouth to say something but Gandalf called him over to discuss travel plans for the next morning. Boromir left to keep western guard and Aragorn sat towards the east. Anya put on her headphones and slowly began to drift asleep.
Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song
Come away with me on a bus
Come away with me where they can't tempt us
With their lies
I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows
knee high
So won't you try to come
Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountain top
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you
And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me
~Norah Jones "Come Away With Me"~
BEEEEEEEEP The low battery warning blared into Anya's ears startling her awake. Checking her watch, not really knowing if it all worked on the time schedule she knew, assumed it was just a few hours left till dawn. The chilly air raised Goosebumps on her shoulders; she quickly pulled her sweater on and stretched her arms over her shoulders. Boromir was sleeping against a log, Gimli was passed out mumbling against the same tree he was to begin with, the hobbits were laughing in their sleeps, Gandalf was resting, probably not sleeping near the fire and Legolas was perched on top of a rock gazing out over the valley.
"There are still a few hours left till we must continue on our way, you should rest some more before then, we have a long journey ahead of us" Aragorn's raspy voice penetrated the silence startling Anya.
"I can't fall back asleep"
"There is nothing in these woods to fear."
"It has nothing to do with that, I'm awake now, and I can't fall back asleep. I never could."
Anya gazed out over the night sky and inhaled the fresh air. Aragorn watched her quietly in thought, the answers to his newly discovered questions were held deep in his heart but again his mind would not let him accept them. Instead, his eyes traveled down to her wrists. The bandages were fraying on their edges.
"You need fresh bandages for your wounds. They will not heal otherwise."
"Well, its gonna have to do for now."
"Why do you care so little for yourself"
The question took Anya off her guard; she didn't really have an answer. Just a bunch of muddled emotions, confusion, and anger.
"Why do you care whether or not I care?"
Aragorn remained silent but searched her eyes.
"What was it like where you lived?" As he spoke, avoiding her question, he lifted her arms to him, she didn't fight it.
"A place like any other I guess"
"What about your family?"
Anya laughed bitterly
"Don't have much of one"
"Whom did you live with?"
He slowly began to unwrap her wrists keeping her talking as he did so. Aragorn pulled herbs up out of the ground and bit into them moistening them.
"I lived with OUCH!!!!" Anya tried to pull her arm back but Aragorn held it tight in place as he placed the medicine into her scars.
"Relax or it will pain you more"
Anya, in pain, glanced down for the first time viewing her scars. Thick slits ran across the base of her wrists. Wounds of a war that raged within her still. Sadness consumed her and she felt a tear begin to form in her eye.
"Did know one try to stop this?"
"No one was around"
"Tis a lonely act"
"Besides, it isn't really one of those things where you take into consideration what other people are gonna think"
"Were you not concerned with the people you were to be leaving behind?"
"I can't think of anyone who'd care"
"No parent? Or sibling? Or friend?"
"Well, the only person who ... the only reason I waited so long was...my brother, John, I didn't want to leave him alone."
"So why did you?"
"You don't understand, you don't know what it was like"
Aragorn stopped his bandaging for a moment to search her eyes.
"What was it that plagued you?"
Anya looked down and ignored his question.
"I just wanted to get away. I was sick of feeling like I didn't belong, like I wasn't where I was supposed to be. Do you ever get that feeling? There was no way to get away. I couldn't tell John about...well..." she sighed. There was no point in telling him or anyone for that matter. If she were to tell him, it would just get it off her chest.
"Yes Lady Anya?"
"It's complicated. Its hard to talk about"
She wrapped her sweater tighter around her while he gathered more herbs for her other wrist.
"Many things of the past are"
"My parents, well, I never knew them. I was an orphan, I just showed up one day I guess."
Aragorn glanced up at this but said nothing.
" I was raised by a woman who took me in as a child. I was an orphan. Social services were just glad that one less child was causing them paperwork and didn't check out her background or anything."
Aragorn placed the herbs in her other scar and she winced but bit her lip this time to keep from crying out in pain.
"So this woman, she was not kind to you?"
Anya scoffed "No, she was not kind to me. She was nothing to me. She had a lot of... problems"
"What kind of problems?"
"The mental kind"
"I do not understand"
"She had... she would do things, make me do things. She would wake me up in the middle of the night to garden, pluck the roses without gloves so I would bleed. Sometimes she would drive me far away and leave me there to see if I could find my way back. She always thought I was trying to do horrible things so she was always punishing me for things that I never did. I tried to tell people, but no one listened. As I got older it just got worse. She would lock me up in the attic for days because I "talked back to her" or "didn't appreciate her. Then one day, we were walking home the supermarket and she said that I wasn't walking fast enough and she threw me down onto the pavement. A policeman saw and reported it and I was sent to live with another family. The Carters. One of their sons had just died so it was hard. But, I was finally safe. I had a mother, a father, grandparents, cousins, and a brother. "
Aragorn had finished wrapping her wounds and was now sitting beside her listening attentively to her tale. The tale she spoke of was indeed disheartening, he could see where she would feel an emptiness.
"Then about 6 months ago, she fought to get me back. The woman, she said she'd been through treatment, and in the end they believed her and I had to move out of my home and away from my family. She hadn't changed a bit. Finally, I couldn't take it so I ran away, to John, my brother but she said that he made me go so they put a restraining order out on him and said I wasn't allowed to see him ever. Thats when I... well... did this."
"It is a sad past to possess. I am truly sorry you had to go through that. You know nothing of your real parents?"
"No, no one has any idea, they just found me walking down the streets one day in a costume. They thought I might have been the child of someone who worked in a traveling show and that I had gotten lost, but no one ever came looking."
"What kind of costume is it you speak of?"
"It was a blue dress with glittered sleeves, long ones. I had nothing else with me, well besides this necklace." she lifted down the top of her sleeveless turtleneck to reveal a steal locket.
"It doesn't open, they think I just found it on the streets somewhere. I was only 4 you know."
"And you remember nothing of your family before that"
"No, I've been trying my whole life to remember anything but I can't."
Aragorn lifted up her locket and felt the inscription, to the common eye it appeared to be a design of sort, but in this world it was words, letters. Aragorn sucked in a breath as he read what the locket said.
"So it is true." he spoke with a reserved breath.
Before Anya could question him any further Legolas's voice penetrated their thoughts.
"We must leave this ground. It is not safe. My thoughts have been plagued by this burden for some time now; I fear it is safe to remain here no longer. We must leave! NOW!"
Shrieks rose up the hill as the enemy came closer and closer. Orcs.
Aragorn grabbed Anya by the waist and lifted her up onto the horse with the hobbits.
"Hey!"
"Hold onto them!"
She quietly conceded and did as she was told. The horse whimpered, as did the four hobbits.
"Frodo..." Anya began
The ring around his neck began to glow bright orange the sword by his belt a light blue. The light swelled around them. He clutched the ring and Sam kicked the horse. Boromir, Gimli, Aragorn, Gandalf, and Legolas prepared for battle, each surrounding the horse to protect those on it. Legolas looked back when a glint caught his eye. A deep purple glow radiated from the locket around Anya's neck, the letters revealing themselves. It was elvish.
"Anastasia" he spoke aloud
Each member of the fellowship turned for a moment in shock. The Orcs were reaching the top of the hillside to their left.
"What does it say? What does it mean?" Sam asked
"What are you talking about?" Anya asked confused, until the glow caught her own eyes, and breath.
"Oh" she grabbed the locket and it felt warm to the touch. As she touched it the sensation caused a burst of memories to flood through her. A playroom, a servant, sunshine, flowers, screaming, tunnels, her head was burning and she felt weak.
"Use the light my child," a soft female voice cooed into her mind
"I don't know how," she whispered back.
Time seemed suspended in motion. She knew there was fighting but it was as if she was in some separate moment, frozen next to time. In front of her was a woman in a long silver gown.
"Anastasia your time will come, it has come in many ways, and you must use your light, use your grace. Find it within yourself."
"But I don't know how"
"Yes you do my child"
"No, I..."
The light grew more and more.
"Use your light"
The voice faded out as the scene around her refocused. Swords clashing, unnatural screeching, bows flying. The hobbits clung to each other and the horse was panicking. The men were doing a fairly good job of keeping them safe but they couldn't do much more. Anya or 'Anastasia" clutched the locket which was about to explode from the light filling inside it.
A large orc snarled from behind a tree, no one saw, he approached with an evil smile bow and arrow in hand. He lifted it up and set up his shot, inches away from the hobbits and herself.
"Gandalf!!" Frodo screamed
A calming sensation flushed over Anya as her hands fingered the locket. She closed her eyes allowing the locket to pop open revealing a singly crystal bead in the center, out of it came a flash of light. The orc shot his arrow but it merely flew right back into his own flesh when he tried to breach the light around the horse. Suddenly, the orcs grabbed their ears and began to shriek in pain.
"What's happening!!"? Boromir yelled
"It must be something we cannot hear!" Legolas responded
As the Orcs fell one by one, the light faded, and as it did so the energy faded from Anya. Anya fell back off her horse, caught by Boromir, who gently lay her down.
"It is her" Legolas spoke firmly
"How can this be" Boromir spoke, lost.
"It was bound to be." Gandalf answered
"Is she alright?" Aragorn asked extremely concerned
"She will be. She's just not used to her powers. She's probably never used them. The world in which she lived represses anything that supercedes the abilities of all. They have not been active since before she left..."
"No one has uttered her name in years."
"This is a gift" Boromir spoke.
"What is so special about her name?" Frodo asked
"See how the lockets glows, it is fading now, but you can still make out the elvish. It reads : Anastasia, bearer of the light of Liathuainia, this girl is no mere mortal sent through the portals of time."
"She wasn't lost through time, she was returning" Legolas choked out the words. As long as he could remember he'd known about her, about this Anastasia, and about her purpose to the world and to him.
"So she belongs here then?" Merry asked
"Yes." Gandalf smiled softly
"Wait, what is she a princess of?"
"The white city" Boromir choked out
"But wouldn't that make her Aragorn's si-" Pippin began
"We must get her up, we cannot stay here." Aragorn gently lifted the young girl off the ground.
"Legolas, ride with her." The elf nodded and jumped onto the horse, then lifted the girl up onto the horse with him.
"Aragorn... do you know what this means?" Boromir, close to giddiness spoke firmly.
"It changes nothing"
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As you can see, I've kind of altered the book/movie but I figure, thats what creative interpretation is all about right? Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism only please, no story bashing. REVIEW!!! :)
The night was a long distressful one for Anya. After her little promenade with the "elf prince" (Robin hood) she had retired to her room for a fitful nights rest. Memories plagued her dreams, the edges of a puzzle but no pieces to fill it. She dreamt of a garden, a garden blooming with flowers, beautiful bright wonderful flowers. Laughter rang out, a young man was chasing someone, a small child, her, she was being chased. It was not dangerous it was fun. It was a pure, innocent moment of bliss. She felt warm, safe, and most of all free. But, a nagging sense of concern slowly flooded through her. A hand reached out from beyond a small shrub, in it held a sparkly orb, her young naive eyes glinted with amazement, she remembered the desire to grab it to touch it, someone was calling now, she should go back. The hand reaches further exposing more and more of this glimmering object until she cannot fight her desires anymore and reaches out to grab it. Suddenly, she is falling down a dark tunnel. Fear builds up and she cries for the man but he cannot hear her. No one can.
Anya woke up with tears in her eyes and emptiness in her stomach. Not of hunger but of loss. A sharp knock on the door propelled her to sit and wipe the tears and sleep from her eyes.
"Just a minute!"
Quickly she threw herself off of the bed. She had slept in a long white gown so her clothes could be washed. Anya got dressed fast and ran towards the door.
"Who is it?"
"It is Arwen"
Anya raised her eyes in surprise and opened the door.
"Hello"
"Hello Lady Anya. I've come to see how you've settled."
"I don't think I've ever been in a place where so many people are so concerned whether or not I'm settled, god, you'd think I was like royalty or something" Anya laughed
Arwen just smiled softly and motioned for Anya to sit, which she did. A servant walked in and set a tray of food in front of her.
"Your breakfast milady"
"Thank you"
The servant left the room and Arwen picked up a sparkling brush up off the counter. She began to do Anya's hair.
"Oh you can't brush curly hair!" Anya began but as she looked up into the mirror she could see her curly hair thin and straighten with each stroke of the bristles.
"How are you doing that?"
"We are elves, there are many things we can do that do not exist in your world."
"Wait, in my world? Then you know that I-"
"Hush Lady Anya, all will be told in time"
"But..."
"Trust fate and grace will protect you and guide your path. The light is within you Lady Anya. You will find your way."
And with that Arwen left the room leaving a very confused Anya alone with the remainder of her breakfast, which she couldn't finish at this point. She stood, grabbed her bag and sweater and began to leave the room; Anya turned back and grabbed the brush. If she was going to be risking her life, she might as well have convenient hair tools with her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"There she is"
"Lady Anya, could you please be so kind as to explain to our lad merry that he is not the lost king of a hobbit empire from a far away land."
"Excuse me?" Anya laughed
"Pippin, I told you I'd share the gardens with you when I find my kingdom, there's no need to be snippy"
"What are they talking about?" Anya asked Gandalf
"Your Robin Hood reference about them being the merry men has left master merry convinced he holds royal blood."
Anya laughed. "Well, it's a good ego booster I guess"
"So where exactly did you say you were from Lady Anya" Sam asked while eating his second breakfast which was a fallen apple.
"Oh, I'm from..." The answer hung against the tip of her tongue and refused to detach itself.
"I'm from..." a confused panicked looked spaced over her face.
"Well, thats so strange.. I can't-"
Her eyes were muddled in thought as Gandalf passed a look to Lord Elrond.
"It is happening" Elrond spoke to Gandalf softly, Legolas, having the hearing of all elves if not superior, heard this and looked hard towards Anya. Aragorn, who was saddling up Bill the horse, also took note. What was happening?
"Chicago! Thats where I'm from, Chicago."
"Oh" the group of hobbits chorused in acknowledgment as if it had all been made clear.
"So, where's that again then?" Pippin asked after a moment
Anya laughed, "Don't worry about it" she tousled his hair and he blushed.
"Pippin's got a wee bit of a crush don't he fellas!"
Merry laughed and then doubled in pain as Pippin kicked him. The hobbits began to argue amongst themselves, as they were all loaded up onto the horse.
"Are you sure you don't want to ride milady?" Legolas offered her his hand up to the horse.
"No, I'm not big on horses, I don't know how anyhow."
"Tis not a difficult task, well not for a man, or a hobbit even, but for this woman it appears to be a skill she does not possess. Now we will be held subject to her complaints as her delicate limbs begin to swell under the strain of our journey." Boromir spoke with bitterness and annoyance
"Boromir. Have you ever walked for a full day in stiletto heels up and down Madison Avenue in the freezing cold sleet trying to hail a cab? Then upon realizing your cab is nowhere, have to walk 27 blocks back to your hotel? My feet can handle it. Besides, its men that can't handle anything." The fellowship began to walk, bemused at the disagreements between Boromir and Anya.
"How do you figure that to be so?"
"Well for one thing, why do you think women are the ones who bear the children."?
"I'd say the man has a pretty significant part," Boromir laughed with a smile
"Right, not the PAINFUL part, not the god knows how many hours of excruciating torture of burning and tearing of places that should never burn or tear only to squeeze something the size of a cantaloupe out of something proportionally the size of an earring loop"
The men winced at this but didn't argue.
"It is the cross women must bear to have everything provided for them."
"You are so pathetic. Men need to feel as though women are inferior to them so they can provide themselves with the egos they feel necessary to sustain their existences."
Gandalf, Legolas and Aragorn laughed while the hobbits listened in confusion because they couldn't understand her speech. Boromir, flustered, tried desperately to continue the argument but deciding it was too frustrating, gave up with a glare to the sky.
And so their journey began. With each step taken memories faded further and further away from Anya. Where she came from, how she knew who she was, how she knew where she was going and what would happen. All this information was leaving her. All she knew were the footsteps before and behind her, and that for once she had a purpose. That was all she needed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight jaded the light sky and sprinkled it with stars. The hobbits were huddled over each other on Bill, asleep. Anya, weary from her travels felt equally as exhausted but refused to let anyone see it. That was all Boromir needed, more reasons to harass her. An irrepressible yawn escaped her.
"I think it is time to stop for rest no?" Gandalf spoke through the silence.
"We can keep going for a little while" Anya offered, she didn't want anyone blaming her for the premature day's end.
"No, we cannot, we are each fading, some quicker than others" Aragorn glanced towards the hobbits.
"Aragorn is right, we will need our rest" Legolas slowly removed the pack from his shoulder.
Gimli, refusing to "agree" with Legolas, just silently removed his pack and lie on the ground.
Boromir, himself too tired as well to protest gave his tacit consent by not arguing.
"We will sleep in shifts" Aragorn spoke to the men.
"We're sleeping here? In the middle of the woods? With no tent?"
"What is a tent?" Frodo asked
"Never mind" Anya sighed taking off her sweater and leaning up against a rock, positive there would be no rest for her that night. She could barely handle the backyard campouts of her Girl Scout days.
"She is afraid no?" Boromir asked as if victorious in proving a point.
"She is not used to this, there is a difference, concern yourself left with the girl and more with the journey at hand." Legolas, again annoyed with the man, whispered harshly
"Now you look here-"
"Men, please, I will take the first shift, get some rest" Gandalf spoke calmly
The men scattered amongst the area, each keeping secret guard. Anya looked around from her spot on the rock. The hobbits slept quietly amongst themselves. Gimli, had fallen asleep against the leaves of a tree, Gandalf stood tall and faced the eastern sky. Legolas appeared to be meditating or maybe sleeping, did elves even sleep? He opened his eyes as she stared at him in confusion. If it had not been for the night's covering a burning blush would have been evident on her cool cheeks. She quickly looked down and played with the straps to her bag. Still feeling Legolas's gaze bear into her, Anya opened the bag to appear occupied. There were many things she'd forgotten about stuffed into her bag. A cd player, some make up, batteries, gum, lotion, a wallet with some picture and some money, some Tylenol and a couple tampons. Basically, nothing that would do her much good at the moment. Sighing she pulled out a piece of gum and popped it into her mouth. A fresh burst of mint escaped her lips and Legolas walked over.
"Want a piece?" She offered him a piece of her eclipse gum. "Its spearmint"
"What is this spearmint? Where does it grow?"
"Um, its not a plant, its gum, you chew it, it tastes good, makes your breath smell good, it can cause ulcers when chewed too much but a piece wont hurt you"
"I will try one yes"
Anya gave the elf price a piece of her chewing gum and watched in amusement, as he grew confused at the foreign flavor invading his mouth.
"It is an interesting creation. Strong" His jaw flexed exaggeratedly as he tried to grow accustom to the new sensation.
Anya laughed sweetly.
"So you don't seem like a prince, what's your story"?
"Well was Robin hood a prince?"
"Prince of thieves actually"
"Well, I am the prince of Mirkwood, it is my responsibility and duty to my people to be on this mission. How else would a prince be?"
"I don't know, we don't have many where I come from, none actually, I mean they exist, but not in my part of the world. My image of royalty has always been morons who sit on thrones all day eating ham on a stick"
"You are a very strange girl"
"I'm strange? I'm not the one with pointy ears and green spandex buddy"
"Are their no elves where you live?"
"Nope, not except Santa's"
"Who is this "Santa" you speak of?"
"Never mind. Lets not talk about where I come from"
"Were you not happy there?" Legolas winced in realization as he saw her glance to her wrists, still sore and bandaged.
"I'm sorry. My mind has escaped me."
"Not a big deal"
Legolas opened his mouth to say something but Gandalf called him over to discuss travel plans for the next morning. Boromir left to keep western guard and Aragorn sat towards the east. Anya put on her headphones and slowly began to drift asleep.
Come away with me in the night
Come away with me
And I will write you a song
Come away with me on a bus
Come away with me where they can't tempt us
With their lies
I want to walk with you
On a cloudy day
In fields where the yellow grass grows
knee high
So won't you try to come
Come away with me and we'll kiss
On a mountain top
Come away with me
And I'll never stop loving you
And I want to wake up with the rain
Falling on a tin roof
While I'm safe there in your arms
So all I ask is for you
To come away with me in the night
Come away with me
~Norah Jones "Come Away With Me"~
BEEEEEEEEP The low battery warning blared into Anya's ears startling her awake. Checking her watch, not really knowing if it all worked on the time schedule she knew, assumed it was just a few hours left till dawn. The chilly air raised Goosebumps on her shoulders; she quickly pulled her sweater on and stretched her arms over her shoulders. Boromir was sleeping against a log, Gimli was passed out mumbling against the same tree he was to begin with, the hobbits were laughing in their sleeps, Gandalf was resting, probably not sleeping near the fire and Legolas was perched on top of a rock gazing out over the valley.
"There are still a few hours left till we must continue on our way, you should rest some more before then, we have a long journey ahead of us" Aragorn's raspy voice penetrated the silence startling Anya.
"I can't fall back asleep"
"There is nothing in these woods to fear."
"It has nothing to do with that, I'm awake now, and I can't fall back asleep. I never could."
Anya gazed out over the night sky and inhaled the fresh air. Aragorn watched her quietly in thought, the answers to his newly discovered questions were held deep in his heart but again his mind would not let him accept them. Instead, his eyes traveled down to her wrists. The bandages were fraying on their edges.
"You need fresh bandages for your wounds. They will not heal otherwise."
"Well, its gonna have to do for now."
"Why do you care so little for yourself"
The question took Anya off her guard; she didn't really have an answer. Just a bunch of muddled emotions, confusion, and anger.
"Why do you care whether or not I care?"
Aragorn remained silent but searched her eyes.
"What was it like where you lived?" As he spoke, avoiding her question, he lifted her arms to him, she didn't fight it.
"A place like any other I guess"
"What about your family?"
Anya laughed bitterly
"Don't have much of one"
"Whom did you live with?"
He slowly began to unwrap her wrists keeping her talking as he did so. Aragorn pulled herbs up out of the ground and bit into them moistening them.
"I lived with OUCH!!!!" Anya tried to pull her arm back but Aragorn held it tight in place as he placed the medicine into her scars.
"Relax or it will pain you more"
Anya, in pain, glanced down for the first time viewing her scars. Thick slits ran across the base of her wrists. Wounds of a war that raged within her still. Sadness consumed her and she felt a tear begin to form in her eye.
"Did know one try to stop this?"
"No one was around"
"Tis a lonely act"
"Besides, it isn't really one of those things where you take into consideration what other people are gonna think"
"Were you not concerned with the people you were to be leaving behind?"
"I can't think of anyone who'd care"
"No parent? Or sibling? Or friend?"
"Well, the only person who ... the only reason I waited so long was...my brother, John, I didn't want to leave him alone."
"So why did you?"
"You don't understand, you don't know what it was like"
Aragorn stopped his bandaging for a moment to search her eyes.
"What was it that plagued you?"
Anya looked down and ignored his question.
"I just wanted to get away. I was sick of feeling like I didn't belong, like I wasn't where I was supposed to be. Do you ever get that feeling? There was no way to get away. I couldn't tell John about...well..." she sighed. There was no point in telling him or anyone for that matter. If she were to tell him, it would just get it off her chest.
"Yes Lady Anya?"
"It's complicated. Its hard to talk about"
She wrapped her sweater tighter around her while he gathered more herbs for her other wrist.
"Many things of the past are"
"My parents, well, I never knew them. I was an orphan, I just showed up one day I guess."
Aragorn glanced up at this but said nothing.
" I was raised by a woman who took me in as a child. I was an orphan. Social services were just glad that one less child was causing them paperwork and didn't check out her background or anything."
Aragorn placed the herbs in her other scar and she winced but bit her lip this time to keep from crying out in pain.
"So this woman, she was not kind to you?"
Anya scoffed "No, she was not kind to me. She was nothing to me. She had a lot of... problems"
"What kind of problems?"
"The mental kind"
"I do not understand"
"She had... she would do things, make me do things. She would wake me up in the middle of the night to garden, pluck the roses without gloves so I would bleed. Sometimes she would drive me far away and leave me there to see if I could find my way back. She always thought I was trying to do horrible things so she was always punishing me for things that I never did. I tried to tell people, but no one listened. As I got older it just got worse. She would lock me up in the attic for days because I "talked back to her" or "didn't appreciate her. Then one day, we were walking home the supermarket and she said that I wasn't walking fast enough and she threw me down onto the pavement. A policeman saw and reported it and I was sent to live with another family. The Carters. One of their sons had just died so it was hard. But, I was finally safe. I had a mother, a father, grandparents, cousins, and a brother. "
Aragorn had finished wrapping her wounds and was now sitting beside her listening attentively to her tale. The tale she spoke of was indeed disheartening, he could see where she would feel an emptiness.
"Then about 6 months ago, she fought to get me back. The woman, she said she'd been through treatment, and in the end they believed her and I had to move out of my home and away from my family. She hadn't changed a bit. Finally, I couldn't take it so I ran away, to John, my brother but she said that he made me go so they put a restraining order out on him and said I wasn't allowed to see him ever. Thats when I... well... did this."
"It is a sad past to possess. I am truly sorry you had to go through that. You know nothing of your real parents?"
"No, no one has any idea, they just found me walking down the streets one day in a costume. They thought I might have been the child of someone who worked in a traveling show and that I had gotten lost, but no one ever came looking."
"What kind of costume is it you speak of?"
"It was a blue dress with glittered sleeves, long ones. I had nothing else with me, well besides this necklace." she lifted down the top of her sleeveless turtleneck to reveal a steal locket.
"It doesn't open, they think I just found it on the streets somewhere. I was only 4 you know."
"And you remember nothing of your family before that"
"No, I've been trying my whole life to remember anything but I can't."
Aragorn lifted up her locket and felt the inscription, to the common eye it appeared to be a design of sort, but in this world it was words, letters. Aragorn sucked in a breath as he read what the locket said.
"So it is true." he spoke with a reserved breath.
Before Anya could question him any further Legolas's voice penetrated their thoughts.
"We must leave this ground. It is not safe. My thoughts have been plagued by this burden for some time now; I fear it is safe to remain here no longer. We must leave! NOW!"
Shrieks rose up the hill as the enemy came closer and closer. Orcs.
Aragorn grabbed Anya by the waist and lifted her up onto the horse with the hobbits.
"Hey!"
"Hold onto them!"
She quietly conceded and did as she was told. The horse whimpered, as did the four hobbits.
"Frodo..." Anya began
The ring around his neck began to glow bright orange the sword by his belt a light blue. The light swelled around them. He clutched the ring and Sam kicked the horse. Boromir, Gimli, Aragorn, Gandalf, and Legolas prepared for battle, each surrounding the horse to protect those on it. Legolas looked back when a glint caught his eye. A deep purple glow radiated from the locket around Anya's neck, the letters revealing themselves. It was elvish.
"Anastasia" he spoke aloud
Each member of the fellowship turned for a moment in shock. The Orcs were reaching the top of the hillside to their left.
"What does it say? What does it mean?" Sam asked
"What are you talking about?" Anya asked confused, until the glow caught her own eyes, and breath.
"Oh" she grabbed the locket and it felt warm to the touch. As she touched it the sensation caused a burst of memories to flood through her. A playroom, a servant, sunshine, flowers, screaming, tunnels, her head was burning and she felt weak.
"Use the light my child," a soft female voice cooed into her mind
"I don't know how," she whispered back.
Time seemed suspended in motion. She knew there was fighting but it was as if she was in some separate moment, frozen next to time. In front of her was a woman in a long silver gown.
"Anastasia your time will come, it has come in many ways, and you must use your light, use your grace. Find it within yourself."
"But I don't know how"
"Yes you do my child"
"No, I..."
The light grew more and more.
"Use your light"
The voice faded out as the scene around her refocused. Swords clashing, unnatural screeching, bows flying. The hobbits clung to each other and the horse was panicking. The men were doing a fairly good job of keeping them safe but they couldn't do much more. Anya or 'Anastasia" clutched the locket which was about to explode from the light filling inside it.
A large orc snarled from behind a tree, no one saw, he approached with an evil smile bow and arrow in hand. He lifted it up and set up his shot, inches away from the hobbits and herself.
"Gandalf!!" Frodo screamed
A calming sensation flushed over Anya as her hands fingered the locket. She closed her eyes allowing the locket to pop open revealing a singly crystal bead in the center, out of it came a flash of light. The orc shot his arrow but it merely flew right back into his own flesh when he tried to breach the light around the horse. Suddenly, the orcs grabbed their ears and began to shriek in pain.
"What's happening!!"? Boromir yelled
"It must be something we cannot hear!" Legolas responded
As the Orcs fell one by one, the light faded, and as it did so the energy faded from Anya. Anya fell back off her horse, caught by Boromir, who gently lay her down.
"It is her" Legolas spoke firmly
"How can this be" Boromir spoke, lost.
"It was bound to be." Gandalf answered
"Is she alright?" Aragorn asked extremely concerned
"She will be. She's just not used to her powers. She's probably never used them. The world in which she lived represses anything that supercedes the abilities of all. They have not been active since before she left..."
"No one has uttered her name in years."
"This is a gift" Boromir spoke.
"What is so special about her name?" Frodo asked
"See how the lockets glows, it is fading now, but you can still make out the elvish. It reads : Anastasia, bearer of the light of Liathuainia, this girl is no mere mortal sent through the portals of time."
"She wasn't lost through time, she was returning" Legolas choked out the words. As long as he could remember he'd known about her, about this Anastasia, and about her purpose to the world and to him.
"So she belongs here then?" Merry asked
"Yes." Gandalf smiled softly
"Wait, what is she a princess of?"
"The white city" Boromir choked out
"But wouldn't that make her Aragorn's si-" Pippin began
"We must get her up, we cannot stay here." Aragorn gently lifted the young girl off the ground.
"Legolas, ride with her." The elf nodded and jumped onto the horse, then lifted the girl up onto the horse with him.
"Aragorn... do you know what this means?" Boromir, close to giddiness spoke firmly.
"It changes nothing"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
As you can see, I've kind of altered the book/movie but I figure, thats what creative interpretation is all about right? Let me know what you think! Constructive criticism only please, no story bashing. REVIEW!!! :)