DISCLAIMER: Despite my many attempts to prove to the nice law-man that I was Tolkien in my past life, I do not own Lord of the Rings, nor any of the characters therein.

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In the place where the mirror had been a moment before, there was now what seemed like an infinite number of trees. The changing room around Amy was shimmering and humming in the style of a really bad science fiction movie. Amy shut her eyes tightly in case she was seeing things. When she re-opened them, the changing room had disappeared altogether.

Now that was something that didn't happen every day.

As the novelty of her surroundings wore off, Amy realised that she was actually quite uncomfortable. Her feet were bare (she had taken her trainers off while she was trying on the dress), and she was standing on a carpet of leaves, stones, and a damp squishy substance which she sincerely hoped was mud. A chill wind brushed over the expanse of skin left bare by the plunging neckline of the dress, making her shiver. The sky was dark, and a lone owl hooted stereotypically. By now it was plain that Amy was lost in the worst possible way, without ever having set out to begin with.

Something long, wispy and black streaked across Amy's line of vision. She jumped and her breath caught in her throat. Then she realised that it was just a lock of her hair being blown around in the wind, and tucked it behind her ear, which had suddenly and inexplicably grown a point to it.

Amidst the mass of chaos, confusion and questions clamouring for attention in Amy's mind, a lone possibility asserted its presence. Could it be...? But no, that was impossible. Though, come to think of it, it defied all logic that she was even there in the first place.

For the first time since she had arrived wherever she was, Amy spoke.

"What the hell?"

Let's try and make sense of this, said a voice in her mind. From a changing room in a shop, you have randomly materialised at a random point in a random forest. You are lost and cold. There may or may not be wild animals in the vicinity. There is no immediately obvious way out, and no-one you can ask for directions. You are, in short, in a bit of a pickle.

"So what should I do?"

Well, there are about three options. You could stand around doing nothing and looking stupid, rather like you are now, and possibly get eaten by wild animals. Or you could make like the dude in that lit book you read and make yourself a bed under a pile of leaves. Alternatively, you could go over to that person-shaped shadow holding a torch, and see if you get anywhere.

"What do I tell them?"

Don't ask me, said the voice in her head, I'm just a voice in your head. I wouldn't let them catch you talking to yourself, mind.

"Can't hurt, I suppose," said Amy under her breath, and she made her way towards the glimmer of light in the distance.

To her immense relief (and, it must be said, a slight twinge of disappointment), the glimmer of light emanated from the flaming torch of a tall, not particularly sinister-looking man with long blonde hair and pointy ears. His unobtrusive appearance gave Amy the courage to speak. Fortunately, she didn't have to.

"Lle anta amin tu?" asked the man, smiling kindly.

Amy was too surprised to give any kind of proper reply, so she just blinked and said "Um." Then, as the English tend to do when faced with someone who doesn't speak their language, she replied, speaking slowly and enunciating her words: "Can  You  TelL  Me  WheRe  I AM?  I  ThinK  I'M  LosT."

The pointy-eared man gave her a strange look. Someone else appeared behind him, and the two strangers had a whispered conversation. Eventually they turned back to her, and the other man said, in a thick accent Amy couldn't distinguish, "Follow, please."

Amy considered the possible outcomes of this proposal for a moment. Back in London, where she had been residing up until about half an hour ago, she would not have followed. In fact, she would have run hard and fast in the opposite direction. But now she was no longer in London, and two strange men could be her only hope of survival.

So with a sigh she set off, walking close behind them.

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A/N: Anyone who can tell me who the "dude in the lit book" is gets a Vampire Cookie. Darkflare, I already told you so you don't count.