Chapter 4-Courtney
"I'M NOT FROM MIDDLE EARTH!" I yelled. I could no longer keep the secret. I could no longer keep it inside.
Of course, it wasn't really my fault. They did keep inquiring where I was from. I couldn't say Gondor because of Boromir and Aragorn knew every other place in Middle Earth.
"What do you mean?" Gimli questioned.
"I mean, that I'm not even from here. I'm from an alternate universe! I was brought here through a friggin' portal that someone opened when Lisa said 'I think Lord of the Rings really happened'!" I spat out.
The only person that seemed unmoved by my little sha-bang was Boromir. Somehow that didn't surprise me. I waited for my dying blow from Aragorn, it didn't happen. I waited for the remark from Gimli. I waited for the stare from Legolas. I waited for the embrace of pity that never happened.
"Well, that explains much." Legolas said.
"It explains coming in during a secret council." Aragorn stated.
"We are never going to live that down, are we?" I asked half laughing.
"No, Lady Courtney, I don't believe so." Legolas said.
"Legolas, please, just call me Courtney." I stated.
Once again we kept shifts that night, Everybody went to sleep with the tension relieved. I had a shift with Boromir.
"Hey Boromir." I whispered.
"Hello."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"I don't see why you can't."
"You don't believe what I said earlier, do you? I mean about me not coming from Middle Earth."
"It is hard to believe. All my life Middle Earth was the only place I knew about. It's hard to turn against something you've believed in all your life. I'm sure the others feel the same way."
"Yeah, I probably sound like I've had one too many pipes and pints. But I hear you. I defiantly didn't ever think that a book could ever become a reality."
"Book?" he asked.
Well, can I say shit.
"I didn't mean that. I meant that I'm going to turn this into a book called Lord of the Rings."
He smiled and said, "You don't lie very well, do you?"
I threw up my hands. "Why is it that I can't lie?" Boromir didn't answer my question. He was waiting for a different thing. "Okay, this is all a book. This is a book called Lord of the Rings. I knew what was going to happen. Gandalf was supposed to fall in Moria and you were supposed to.to.you were supposed to."
"I was supposed to die." he finished for me. I nodded. "Well I am eternally in your debt."
"No, don't say that. I don't think everything is going to work out for the better." I said.
"What?"
Just then a large rumble form overhead sounded. Rain started to pour down the sky. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas woke up.
"Great." I muttered. But still my mind wandered back to what I said to Boromir. What had I meant? Why did I say what I said? Laura and Lisa were going to kill me.
But they weren't here, They could be dead. Laura could be worse then dead. She could be in the hands of the enemy.
It was a wet rest of the night. After being in Middle Earth that long you would think I would be used to the rain. News flash, I'm not a duck. The rain stopped by the morning. That was good until I heard a stupid idea.
"Riders of the Mark!" Aragorn yelled. "What news from Edoras?"
A whole army of Rohirrim rode toward us. On horses. Each armed with weapons. Straight at us.
"Well, this wasn't the brightest idea, was it?" I muttered.
"No, lass, I don't believe so." Gimli replied.
They surrounded us. The Rohirrim, I mean. One jumped off his horse and walked towards us. I took one wild guess at who he was.
Eomer.
"What business does such a group have in the Riddermark?" he questioned.
"I am Aragorn son of Arathorn. This is Boromir of Gondor, Gimli son of Gloin, Legolas of the Woodland Realm, and Courtney of.a distant country." Aragorn stated.
Eomer walked up to me. "What country would that be, my lady?"
"Where I come from is none of your concern."
"Aragorn, you would learn well to teach this woman some manners."
"Manners!" I yelled. "Why you son of a."
"Lord Eomer." Legolas cut in, "we are in search of two hobbits that were captured by the Uruk-Hai."
"And my friend." I spat out.
"The hobbits would only look like children to you." Aragorn said.
"We slaughtered the Uruks and burned their bodies in the night. We left none alive." Eomer said eyeing the horizon.
All five of us looked where Eomer was looking in the distance. Smoke rolled up from an unseen source.
The Rohirrim rode off and left us four horses. I couldn't remember how many horses they had left them the book, but I was pretty sure that it wasn't four. I was glad though; I got my own horse. There was only one problem.
I had never ridden before.
Boromir helped me on the horse. I had seen that much be done. I was interrupted by Aragorn.
"You do not ride side saddle?" he asked.
"Nope. This is how I do it. Well, not me, but all the women. This is all I know how to do, though. I've never ridden before." I said.
"Perhaps I should ride with you?" Boromir asked.
"No! I'm good. I'm a quick learner!" I lied. I took up the reins. "You just go, Gee up!" I did the thing they do in the movies with the reins. The horse didn't move. I sighed.
Legolas said something in Elvish, and the horses trotted forward. After many times in failing, I finally caught on. Who knew that you couldn't just sit on the horses back?
We reached the pile of burning corpses that was on the edge of Fangorn. Gimli dug through it and, disgusting as it mat seem, so did I. I had to know if Lisa was alive or not. Out of the corner of my eye Legolas was saying a prayer, Boromir scanned the horizon. I couldn't see Aragorn. That's when I found Lisa's pack. It was half burned.
"No!" I yelled. "Lisa!" I began to cry.
"Courtney!" Aragorn yelled. "Come here!"
I walked over to him. He was at the edge of the forest. He pointed at something on the ground. I looked at it. It was Lisa's hat. I picked it up.
"Why was she here?" I asked Aragorn.
"You mean why were they running into Fangorn." he replied.
"You had better have something to say Aragorn." I said through gritted teeth.
"Boromir! Gimli! Legolas! Come here!" Aragorn motioned for them to come. "Foot steps of two hobbits ran into the forest. So did a pair of boots. It leads away from the battle."
"Fangorn? What madness drove them in there?" Gimli asked.
"Who cares? Let's go! What the hell are we waiting for?" I cried running into the forest. All of them were right behind me. It made me feel important. For once they trusted me. Or, maybe, it was the other way around. Maybe I trusted them.
We ran deep into the forest desperately looking for Lisa, Merry, and Pippin. Finally I couldn't stand running anymore, I stopped to take a 'breather', as Gimli called them.
"These woods are old." Legolas said. "They are full of memory.and anger."
"What was your first clue? The moaning in the trees? Really, Legolas, we can tell theses things ourselves, stop stating the obvious." I turned to Gimli. "Dude, put down the ax!" He lowered it and Legolas bounded to a tree, listening.
He said something to Aragorn and Aragorn went up to him. They went deep into conversation, in Elvish.
"That really gets on my nerves when they do that." I said to Boromir and Gimli.
"You said it, lass. Though Legolas is my friend, it certainly does get to you when you cannot understand him." Gimli said. Boromir laughed and nodded his head. Suddenly Aragorn turned around to address us.
"They say the White Wizard walks through these woods, and we are about to stumble upon him. Have your weapons drawn and do not let him utter a word for he will put a curse on us."
I pulled out my sword. I was most comfortable with that. I had been through two battles with it. Suddenly a bright white engulfed the woods and I dropped my sword to eyes. Aragorn's sword handle grew hot and so did Boromir's. Gimli's ax got deflected and so did Legolas's bow.
"You are looking for two hobbits and a young girl. They passed this way, yes. They are now under the protection of a Tree-herder, Treebeard." a voice said from the light. It sounded familiar.
"Gandalf?" I asked in disbelief.
"Gandalf?" he asked himself. "Yes, yes. That is my name. However, I am Gandalf the White."
He had still changed even though he didn't fall in Moria. I knew that should have sparked something in my head, but it didn't. Gandalf went on to explain that ever since we came out of Moria, he felt something was disturbed. Somehow some high power made him White, and not Grey. All in all, this took one hour.
"Well, I'm speechless." I said. "Unlike yourself, apparently."
"We should move quickly. Saruman's power is growing and we must ride to Edoras. Gandalf began to walk out of the forest. Everyone was silent except me.
"What about Lisa, Merry, and Pippin? What about Sauron? Why Edoras?"
"Courtney, it would be good to keep your mouth shut. You're very presence here is dangerous." Gandalf stated.
He knew about us, and I never even told him. He knew something else tool he just wasn't telling me. After Gandalf called Shadowfax, we were off to Edoras.
"What's going to happen, Gandalf?" I questioned after an hours worth of riding.
"I believe you know." he stated.
"Why do you ask, Courtney?" Boromir asked all too loudly. "You already know--"
I rammed my horse into his.
"Is everything all right, Courtney?" Aragorn asked skeptically.
"Damn dead deer in the road!" I lied.
"What deer?" Legolas inquired.
"It must have run off." I said lamely.
Tensions high, we managed to ride to Edoras. That's when things took a definite turn for the worse.
"What do you mean I have to give up my sword?!" I yelled at the guard at the door. "Listen, once you've been through what I've been through, giving up your sword isn't really an option!"
We were at the door of the Golden Hall where Theoden was being kept. Then very suddenly Aragorn grabbed my sword out of my hilt and placed it in the pile where I already had my ax. Afterwards, I was in a pretty crappy mood. When we were in the hall, Gandalf released Theoden from Saruman's hold. Then Theoden learned his son was dead and went to his grave. That's when he learned of Saruman's move against him. By the way, that was the SHORT version of it.
"You must act against Saruman!" Gandalf said as soon as we got rid of Wormtongue.
"I cannot let my people be massacred by the Uruk-Hai. I will not lead them to war." Theoden refuted.
I had been silent and it seemed to me that for the past hour the same things had been said in different forms.
"Saruman's wrath has washed through your lands." Aragorn stated.
I muttered, "Here we go again." Apparently it wasn't soft enough.
"What was that child?" Theoden asked making my age very noticeable.
I stood up unafraid of what could happen. This was my moment. My moment for everything. If it had been a movie, there would have been music.
"I've listened to you all bitch enough. You are so thick, it's not even funny! How blind are you? You have all of Isengard coming at you and we're still sitting here saying 'should we or shouldn't we'? For crying out loud, DO SOMETHING! I'm not about to die for someone else's ignorance!"
Theoden stood up and said, "Sit, and be silent. You have no knowledge in what you are--"
"NO! I am tired of sitting her and saying 'Sir, yes, sir'! I don't give a damn whether you like me or not! You will fight."
"Fight just for death?" Theoden asked.
"FOR THE FUCKIN' FATE OF MIDDLE EARTH! PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS!"
Silence filled the room and slowly but surely the truth came to King Theoden.
"We will march to Helms Deep." Theoden said quietly. "Somehow you convinced me, but how I do not know."
Boromir smiled slyly and said, "Perhaps it is the knowledge you claim she does not have."
"I'M NOT FROM MIDDLE EARTH!" I yelled. I could no longer keep the secret. I could no longer keep it inside.
Of course, it wasn't really my fault. They did keep inquiring where I was from. I couldn't say Gondor because of Boromir and Aragorn knew every other place in Middle Earth.
"What do you mean?" Gimli questioned.
"I mean, that I'm not even from here. I'm from an alternate universe! I was brought here through a friggin' portal that someone opened when Lisa said 'I think Lord of the Rings really happened'!" I spat out.
The only person that seemed unmoved by my little sha-bang was Boromir. Somehow that didn't surprise me. I waited for my dying blow from Aragorn, it didn't happen. I waited for the remark from Gimli. I waited for the stare from Legolas. I waited for the embrace of pity that never happened.
"Well, that explains much." Legolas said.
"It explains coming in during a secret council." Aragorn stated.
"We are never going to live that down, are we?" I asked half laughing.
"No, Lady Courtney, I don't believe so." Legolas said.
"Legolas, please, just call me Courtney." I stated.
Once again we kept shifts that night, Everybody went to sleep with the tension relieved. I had a shift with Boromir.
"Hey Boromir." I whispered.
"Hello."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"I don't see why you can't."
"You don't believe what I said earlier, do you? I mean about me not coming from Middle Earth."
"It is hard to believe. All my life Middle Earth was the only place I knew about. It's hard to turn against something you've believed in all your life. I'm sure the others feel the same way."
"Yeah, I probably sound like I've had one too many pipes and pints. But I hear you. I defiantly didn't ever think that a book could ever become a reality."
"Book?" he asked.
Well, can I say shit.
"I didn't mean that. I meant that I'm going to turn this into a book called Lord of the Rings."
He smiled and said, "You don't lie very well, do you?"
I threw up my hands. "Why is it that I can't lie?" Boromir didn't answer my question. He was waiting for a different thing. "Okay, this is all a book. This is a book called Lord of the Rings. I knew what was going to happen. Gandalf was supposed to fall in Moria and you were supposed to.to.you were supposed to."
"I was supposed to die." he finished for me. I nodded. "Well I am eternally in your debt."
"No, don't say that. I don't think everything is going to work out for the better." I said.
"What?"
Just then a large rumble form overhead sounded. Rain started to pour down the sky. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas woke up.
"Great." I muttered. But still my mind wandered back to what I said to Boromir. What had I meant? Why did I say what I said? Laura and Lisa were going to kill me.
But they weren't here, They could be dead. Laura could be worse then dead. She could be in the hands of the enemy.
It was a wet rest of the night. After being in Middle Earth that long you would think I would be used to the rain. News flash, I'm not a duck. The rain stopped by the morning. That was good until I heard a stupid idea.
"Riders of the Mark!" Aragorn yelled. "What news from Edoras?"
A whole army of Rohirrim rode toward us. On horses. Each armed with weapons. Straight at us.
"Well, this wasn't the brightest idea, was it?" I muttered.
"No, lass, I don't believe so." Gimli replied.
They surrounded us. The Rohirrim, I mean. One jumped off his horse and walked towards us. I took one wild guess at who he was.
Eomer.
"What business does such a group have in the Riddermark?" he questioned.
"I am Aragorn son of Arathorn. This is Boromir of Gondor, Gimli son of Gloin, Legolas of the Woodland Realm, and Courtney of.a distant country." Aragorn stated.
Eomer walked up to me. "What country would that be, my lady?"
"Where I come from is none of your concern."
"Aragorn, you would learn well to teach this woman some manners."
"Manners!" I yelled. "Why you son of a."
"Lord Eomer." Legolas cut in, "we are in search of two hobbits that were captured by the Uruk-Hai."
"And my friend." I spat out.
"The hobbits would only look like children to you." Aragorn said.
"We slaughtered the Uruks and burned their bodies in the night. We left none alive." Eomer said eyeing the horizon.
All five of us looked where Eomer was looking in the distance. Smoke rolled up from an unseen source.
The Rohirrim rode off and left us four horses. I couldn't remember how many horses they had left them the book, but I was pretty sure that it wasn't four. I was glad though; I got my own horse. There was only one problem.
I had never ridden before.
Boromir helped me on the horse. I had seen that much be done. I was interrupted by Aragorn.
"You do not ride side saddle?" he asked.
"Nope. This is how I do it. Well, not me, but all the women. This is all I know how to do, though. I've never ridden before." I said.
"Perhaps I should ride with you?" Boromir asked.
"No! I'm good. I'm a quick learner!" I lied. I took up the reins. "You just go, Gee up!" I did the thing they do in the movies with the reins. The horse didn't move. I sighed.
Legolas said something in Elvish, and the horses trotted forward. After many times in failing, I finally caught on. Who knew that you couldn't just sit on the horses back?
We reached the pile of burning corpses that was on the edge of Fangorn. Gimli dug through it and, disgusting as it mat seem, so did I. I had to know if Lisa was alive or not. Out of the corner of my eye Legolas was saying a prayer, Boromir scanned the horizon. I couldn't see Aragorn. That's when I found Lisa's pack. It was half burned.
"No!" I yelled. "Lisa!" I began to cry.
"Courtney!" Aragorn yelled. "Come here!"
I walked over to him. He was at the edge of the forest. He pointed at something on the ground. I looked at it. It was Lisa's hat. I picked it up.
"Why was she here?" I asked Aragorn.
"You mean why were they running into Fangorn." he replied.
"You had better have something to say Aragorn." I said through gritted teeth.
"Boromir! Gimli! Legolas! Come here!" Aragorn motioned for them to come. "Foot steps of two hobbits ran into the forest. So did a pair of boots. It leads away from the battle."
"Fangorn? What madness drove them in there?" Gimli asked.
"Who cares? Let's go! What the hell are we waiting for?" I cried running into the forest. All of them were right behind me. It made me feel important. For once they trusted me. Or, maybe, it was the other way around. Maybe I trusted them.
We ran deep into the forest desperately looking for Lisa, Merry, and Pippin. Finally I couldn't stand running anymore, I stopped to take a 'breather', as Gimli called them.
"These woods are old." Legolas said. "They are full of memory.and anger."
"What was your first clue? The moaning in the trees? Really, Legolas, we can tell theses things ourselves, stop stating the obvious." I turned to Gimli. "Dude, put down the ax!" He lowered it and Legolas bounded to a tree, listening.
He said something to Aragorn and Aragorn went up to him. They went deep into conversation, in Elvish.
"That really gets on my nerves when they do that." I said to Boromir and Gimli.
"You said it, lass. Though Legolas is my friend, it certainly does get to you when you cannot understand him." Gimli said. Boromir laughed and nodded his head. Suddenly Aragorn turned around to address us.
"They say the White Wizard walks through these woods, and we are about to stumble upon him. Have your weapons drawn and do not let him utter a word for he will put a curse on us."
I pulled out my sword. I was most comfortable with that. I had been through two battles with it. Suddenly a bright white engulfed the woods and I dropped my sword to eyes. Aragorn's sword handle grew hot and so did Boromir's. Gimli's ax got deflected and so did Legolas's bow.
"You are looking for two hobbits and a young girl. They passed this way, yes. They are now under the protection of a Tree-herder, Treebeard." a voice said from the light. It sounded familiar.
"Gandalf?" I asked in disbelief.
"Gandalf?" he asked himself. "Yes, yes. That is my name. However, I am Gandalf the White."
He had still changed even though he didn't fall in Moria. I knew that should have sparked something in my head, but it didn't. Gandalf went on to explain that ever since we came out of Moria, he felt something was disturbed. Somehow some high power made him White, and not Grey. All in all, this took one hour.
"Well, I'm speechless." I said. "Unlike yourself, apparently."
"We should move quickly. Saruman's power is growing and we must ride to Edoras. Gandalf began to walk out of the forest. Everyone was silent except me.
"What about Lisa, Merry, and Pippin? What about Sauron? Why Edoras?"
"Courtney, it would be good to keep your mouth shut. You're very presence here is dangerous." Gandalf stated.
He knew about us, and I never even told him. He knew something else tool he just wasn't telling me. After Gandalf called Shadowfax, we were off to Edoras.
"What's going to happen, Gandalf?" I questioned after an hours worth of riding.
"I believe you know." he stated.
"Why do you ask, Courtney?" Boromir asked all too loudly. "You already know--"
I rammed my horse into his.
"Is everything all right, Courtney?" Aragorn asked skeptically.
"Damn dead deer in the road!" I lied.
"What deer?" Legolas inquired.
"It must have run off." I said lamely.
Tensions high, we managed to ride to Edoras. That's when things took a definite turn for the worse.
"What do you mean I have to give up my sword?!" I yelled at the guard at the door. "Listen, once you've been through what I've been through, giving up your sword isn't really an option!"
We were at the door of the Golden Hall where Theoden was being kept. Then very suddenly Aragorn grabbed my sword out of my hilt and placed it in the pile where I already had my ax. Afterwards, I was in a pretty crappy mood. When we were in the hall, Gandalf released Theoden from Saruman's hold. Then Theoden learned his son was dead and went to his grave. That's when he learned of Saruman's move against him. By the way, that was the SHORT version of it.
"You must act against Saruman!" Gandalf said as soon as we got rid of Wormtongue.
"I cannot let my people be massacred by the Uruk-Hai. I will not lead them to war." Theoden refuted.
I had been silent and it seemed to me that for the past hour the same things had been said in different forms.
"Saruman's wrath has washed through your lands." Aragorn stated.
I muttered, "Here we go again." Apparently it wasn't soft enough.
"What was that child?" Theoden asked making my age very noticeable.
I stood up unafraid of what could happen. This was my moment. My moment for everything. If it had been a movie, there would have been music.
"I've listened to you all bitch enough. You are so thick, it's not even funny! How blind are you? You have all of Isengard coming at you and we're still sitting here saying 'should we or shouldn't we'? For crying out loud, DO SOMETHING! I'm not about to die for someone else's ignorance!"
Theoden stood up and said, "Sit, and be silent. You have no knowledge in what you are--"
"NO! I am tired of sitting her and saying 'Sir, yes, sir'! I don't give a damn whether you like me or not! You will fight."
"Fight just for death?" Theoden asked.
"FOR THE FUCKIN' FATE OF MIDDLE EARTH! PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS!"
Silence filled the room and slowly but surely the truth came to King Theoden.
"We will march to Helms Deep." Theoden said quietly. "Somehow you convinced me, but how I do not know."
Boromir smiled slyly and said, "Perhaps it is the knowledge you claim she does not have."