DISCLAIMER: You know the drill, everything but Manda and Candace belongs to Tolkien. *nodnod*
Darkness had taken over after all of the noise and pain. In the dark it was hard to think about any one thing for long, but it seemed alright somehow, when you're still in bed on a weekend and you can't quite get back to sleep, so you're content to just lay there and think of nothing in particular. It seemed like that for a long time.
Manda was the first to drag herself out of the stupor, partly of her own will and partly because she was starting to feel a consistent and demanding pounding in her skull. Suddenly she was really awake, laying on her side and staring at several sets of old muddy boots, all occupied. There was some raucous conversation going on, but she couldn't understand anything of it.
A blow to Manda's stomach sent her rolling, if only onto her back. She moaned softly, not really understanding what was going on.
"Get up, you little maggot!" a snarling, guttural voice snapped. There was more talking she couldn't understand, and another kick.
"I'm trying, I'm trying..." Manda choked out, and pushed herself into a sitting position. Everything was spinning out of control. She felt the back of her shirt grabbed and used to yank her to her unsteady feet. She looked up slowly, trying to make sense of things.
The first point that jumped out to her was the ugly face of a monstrous creature, something between a frog and a bull dog and a man. It's skin was a greenish gray a slimy looking, it had teeth jutting up out and of it's mouth, and it's eyes were a sulfurous yellow. Its nose was flat and broad.
She heard more of the nasty, brutish language that meant nothing to her, and her head snapped to look at the source. More of the ugly beasts, everywhere, and all of them with some sort of weapon. She did the only thing she could do at the time. She screamed.
A soft voice nearby started to moan, "Whaaaa...."
"Candy! Candy, wake up, wake up now, we-" she was cut off as one of the monsters cuffed her soundly and bared its teeth, another raising a sword to her throat, pressing the tip against her skin.
"Be QUIET!" It roared, "Or I will kill you now!"
Manda fell silent. Candace whimpered again, and very soon Manda could hear scuffling. Moments later Candace was shoved into her, nearly throwing the both of them back to the ground.
"Ooh..." Candace whispered. "What's happening, Manda...?"
"I don't know." Manda whispered back hurriedly. "Be quiet, though. Now isn't a good time."
Manda felt a clawed hand grip the back of her head and was forced to turn around. One of the nasty monster things was digging through her and Candace's bags. Text books, make up, paper, and pencils were strewn everywhere. The thing picked up Manda's physics book and leafed roughly through it. She could hear it growling in some strange tongue. Finally it looked up at her and said in a gruff voice, "What is this trash? How came you by this book of magic?"
Manda looked at it quizzically. Candace had finally gotten hold of things and said, "What the hell are you talking about? That's not magic, dumb ass, that's physics."
Right after Manda heard this a high pitched yelp came after. Candace had been slapped in the head by one of the things. Manda couldn't stand that. She didn't care about anything right then. "You mess with a friend and it's on!!" Manda yelled as she tried to kick the creature, but only got her weak ankle, a little sore from getting smacked by an errant baseball and then a crazy dog, twisted in return, without even touching the beast.
Manda fell to the ground but was forced back up. The creature holding her book strode forward and looked at them, then said, "We will take them to Sharku. These are obviously sorceresses. He will know what to do." With that he shoved all of the stuff back into the bags and threw them at two of the other monsters. "Carry those bags of tricks and be warned. If you cross us, you will be killed." It turned, said something in the other odd tongue and before they knew it Candace and Manda were being forced to run like herd beasts.
They ran and ran through glades and fields for what seemed like forever, not stopping at all. Manda was gasping for breath. Candace, on the other hand, was muttering darkly to herself. Candace could handle the running a bit better than Manda, owing to the fact that she had been in dance all her life. Manda wasn't in too good of shape, and her ankle still hurt badly. Finally after what seemed like ages, Manda just collapsed. She was immediately forced back up, kicked and wrenched about painfully.
"Keep moving!" the thing roared at her. Manda, try as she might, couldn't stay on her feet. She was downright exhausted, and her ankle was swollen. The thing kicked her again, and soon after picked her up and threw her over its leather covered back like a sack of potatoes.
It ran on roughly, jarring Manda and making her bounce up and down rudely. She could now see Candace right in front of her. Candace was getting tired and worn out too. Her face was pale and she was sweating profusely, her breathing turning raspy. Candace could do long distances, but not like this. As Manda watched her Candace tripped, fell, and wouldn't get back up. She too was picked up and carried in the same harsh fashion.
As the moon started to set and the sun showed it hot, glaring face, the creatures tossed Candace and Manda onto two other nonmoving figures. Candace could hear light breathing in her left ear and felt cold skin against her own. She lifted her head a little and saw a boy's face, or at least it looked like a boy's. His eyes were closed and faced screwed up as if having nightmares. His hair was dark and curly. She looked to her side and saw Manda completely passed out. She too was sprawled limply on another boy.
Candace could feel the adrenaline rush she got when she got mad. How could they be thrown around like rag dolls?! What were these freaky looking creature things? If only someone would come save them! Candace smiled at her own melodramatic thoughts. Even though the things scared the hell out of her, and she was stiff and cold, not to mention hungry, she could still smile. Caught up in her own thoughts Candace let her head drop onto the boy's and fell into a deep sleep.
Manda woke up when a bright light shone against her eyelids and warmed her face. "Mmmp..." she whimpered faintly. Her ankle was hurting like crazy, and her muscles were aching. Her throat was really dry, too.
She was about to go back to sleep when a voice very near her ear quietly said, "Excuse me..." Manda started, lurching away from the source of the voice. She got a little jarred, and realized she'd been laying about halfway on top of someone a little smaller than her. "I'm sorry," The timid voice whispered softly. "I didn't mean to scare you, miss. I was just having trouble breathing, that's all." The voice was a little weak, probably from lack of air and energy, and sounded like it belonged to a youngish man. She looked at him dully, and the voice didn't seem to fit him; he looked younger than her.
His eyes and hair were dark brown, the latter being curly and a bit unkempt. He looked mischievous somehow, even though his expression was very sullen. It didn't fit him. For some reason, she thought he ought to be joking and having a good time, not laying there with his hands bound like hers.
"Who are you?" She whispered, getting curious. "Where are we? What are those things? Where are they? What's going on?" She twisted her head about, trying to see her surroundings, but she couldn't see enough. There were bags stacked up all around.
He blinked a little owlishly. "My name is Meriadoc Brandybuck, but you can call me Merry like everybody else. I'm not too sure where we are, I think in Rohan maybe? I'm awfully confused from all of the running, you know. From `those things', I guess you mean Orcs. They've kidnapped all of us and I'm not sure where they're taking us. We've been resting just now because there's some trouble between the different groups, I suppose. They're all arguing about what they should really do with you and your friend. She's laying on my friend Pippin. Ah, what's you name, if you don't mind my asking?"
Manda was quiet for a moment. They were both nervous, going on and on like that. She could just see some of Candy past Merry, which reassured her a little. "I'm Manda Jones... Her name's Candace..." she whispered softly. "People call her Candy. Can you tell what time it is, Merry?"
He craned his neck a little and stared up at the sky. "I'd say late afternoon... the Orcs will be moving on soon, once it gets dark. You can be sure we'll be running all night and probably through tomorrow and the next night too... I don't know how long this shall keep up, but we'll probably traveling twice as hard as yesterday to make up for lost time."
Manda nodded slowly, relaxing a little. She really was tired, and she only had a few more hours of sleep, she guessed. Better to take his advice than to ignore it and be in even sadder shape than before.
Merry watched her head drop back to the rocky ground. Manda sighed, her hands twitching against the chafing bonds, then her breathing fell and he expected that she was asleep. "Don't worry..." he murmured. "Pippin and I will come up with something." He wasn't going to let those dreadful orcs harm the poor girls... it was obvious from the conversation that Manda didn't really understand what was happening. He hoped that he and Pippin could do something to save them. They seemed too innocent for the fate that might come upon them.
Candace (or Candy, same person using a nickname) woke to the sound of soft voices near her. One was, she supposed, Manda's, and the other she didn't recognize, but it sounded male, and pretty gentle. Candy couldn't tell what they were whispering, and didn't really care. Her head was pounding and she was a little too aware of the tight bonds on her wrists. She had rolled off the boy a little, but was still close enough to feel his breath and see his brown eyes, opened halfway and staring at her with curiousity.
"Who are you?" asked Candy, maybe a little too abruptly.
"Peregrin Took, or if you like, Pippin." said the boy, starting to wake up a bit more. "What's your name, then?"
"Candace Austin, or Candy if you like."
Pippin smiled faintly, or tried to. "Candy... that's a very cute name... It reminds me of back home, around midsummer's eve when we had sugared fruits, roast apples, the best of my father's ale..." Pippin trailed off and looked like he was deep in memories of long lost tranquility, not to mention skipped meals.
Candy looked at him with wonder. This wasn't kid, he sounded more like a young adult or at least someone beyond his obvious years. "Do you know what's going on, or where we are?"
Pippin stepped out of his reverie. "Well miss, we've been captured by this nasty lot of orcs, and where they're taking us is a mystery to me."
"That's comforting." said Candy sarcastically.
Pippin stared at her for a few seconds, then caught the sarcasm. Exhaustion did that to people, you started getting a little out of touch with your wits. Candy met his eyes, smiled a little, shifted a bit, and fell asleep. She looked dead tired. Pippin decided to follow suit, knowing they'd be running soon enough. He hoped that Aragorn and the others were coming to save them, not only for his and Merry's sake, but the girls' as well.
Wendy: Weeeell... that's chapter two! Whattaya think? Any better? Worse? Review, please! That very first review was really great, if short, but to the point! Hope you all like it, Jade and I are trying really hard. ^_^
Darkness had taken over after all of the noise and pain. In the dark it was hard to think about any one thing for long, but it seemed alright somehow, when you're still in bed on a weekend and you can't quite get back to sleep, so you're content to just lay there and think of nothing in particular. It seemed like that for a long time.
Manda was the first to drag herself out of the stupor, partly of her own will and partly because she was starting to feel a consistent and demanding pounding in her skull. Suddenly she was really awake, laying on her side and staring at several sets of old muddy boots, all occupied. There was some raucous conversation going on, but she couldn't understand anything of it.
A blow to Manda's stomach sent her rolling, if only onto her back. She moaned softly, not really understanding what was going on.
"Get up, you little maggot!" a snarling, guttural voice snapped. There was more talking she couldn't understand, and another kick.
"I'm trying, I'm trying..." Manda choked out, and pushed herself into a sitting position. Everything was spinning out of control. She felt the back of her shirt grabbed and used to yank her to her unsteady feet. She looked up slowly, trying to make sense of things.
The first point that jumped out to her was the ugly face of a monstrous creature, something between a frog and a bull dog and a man. It's skin was a greenish gray a slimy looking, it had teeth jutting up out and of it's mouth, and it's eyes were a sulfurous yellow. Its nose was flat and broad.
She heard more of the nasty, brutish language that meant nothing to her, and her head snapped to look at the source. More of the ugly beasts, everywhere, and all of them with some sort of weapon. She did the only thing she could do at the time. She screamed.
A soft voice nearby started to moan, "Whaaaa...."
"Candy! Candy, wake up, wake up now, we-" she was cut off as one of the monsters cuffed her soundly and bared its teeth, another raising a sword to her throat, pressing the tip against her skin.
"Be QUIET!" It roared, "Or I will kill you now!"
Manda fell silent. Candace whimpered again, and very soon Manda could hear scuffling. Moments later Candace was shoved into her, nearly throwing the both of them back to the ground.
"Ooh..." Candace whispered. "What's happening, Manda...?"
"I don't know." Manda whispered back hurriedly. "Be quiet, though. Now isn't a good time."
Manda felt a clawed hand grip the back of her head and was forced to turn around. One of the nasty monster things was digging through her and Candace's bags. Text books, make up, paper, and pencils were strewn everywhere. The thing picked up Manda's physics book and leafed roughly through it. She could hear it growling in some strange tongue. Finally it looked up at her and said in a gruff voice, "What is this trash? How came you by this book of magic?"
Manda looked at it quizzically. Candace had finally gotten hold of things and said, "What the hell are you talking about? That's not magic, dumb ass, that's physics."
Right after Manda heard this a high pitched yelp came after. Candace had been slapped in the head by one of the things. Manda couldn't stand that. She didn't care about anything right then. "You mess with a friend and it's on!!" Manda yelled as she tried to kick the creature, but only got her weak ankle, a little sore from getting smacked by an errant baseball and then a crazy dog, twisted in return, without even touching the beast.
Manda fell to the ground but was forced back up. The creature holding her book strode forward and looked at them, then said, "We will take them to Sharku. These are obviously sorceresses. He will know what to do." With that he shoved all of the stuff back into the bags and threw them at two of the other monsters. "Carry those bags of tricks and be warned. If you cross us, you will be killed." It turned, said something in the other odd tongue and before they knew it Candace and Manda were being forced to run like herd beasts.
They ran and ran through glades and fields for what seemed like forever, not stopping at all. Manda was gasping for breath. Candace, on the other hand, was muttering darkly to herself. Candace could handle the running a bit better than Manda, owing to the fact that she had been in dance all her life. Manda wasn't in too good of shape, and her ankle still hurt badly. Finally after what seemed like ages, Manda just collapsed. She was immediately forced back up, kicked and wrenched about painfully.
"Keep moving!" the thing roared at her. Manda, try as she might, couldn't stay on her feet. She was downright exhausted, and her ankle was swollen. The thing kicked her again, and soon after picked her up and threw her over its leather covered back like a sack of potatoes.
It ran on roughly, jarring Manda and making her bounce up and down rudely. She could now see Candace right in front of her. Candace was getting tired and worn out too. Her face was pale and she was sweating profusely, her breathing turning raspy. Candace could do long distances, but not like this. As Manda watched her Candace tripped, fell, and wouldn't get back up. She too was picked up and carried in the same harsh fashion.
As the moon started to set and the sun showed it hot, glaring face, the creatures tossed Candace and Manda onto two other nonmoving figures. Candace could hear light breathing in her left ear and felt cold skin against her own. She lifted her head a little and saw a boy's face, or at least it looked like a boy's. His eyes were closed and faced screwed up as if having nightmares. His hair was dark and curly. She looked to her side and saw Manda completely passed out. She too was sprawled limply on another boy.
Candace could feel the adrenaline rush she got when she got mad. How could they be thrown around like rag dolls?! What were these freaky looking creature things? If only someone would come save them! Candace smiled at her own melodramatic thoughts. Even though the things scared the hell out of her, and she was stiff and cold, not to mention hungry, she could still smile. Caught up in her own thoughts Candace let her head drop onto the boy's and fell into a deep sleep.
Manda woke up when a bright light shone against her eyelids and warmed her face. "Mmmp..." she whimpered faintly. Her ankle was hurting like crazy, and her muscles were aching. Her throat was really dry, too.
She was about to go back to sleep when a voice very near her ear quietly said, "Excuse me..." Manda started, lurching away from the source of the voice. She got a little jarred, and realized she'd been laying about halfway on top of someone a little smaller than her. "I'm sorry," The timid voice whispered softly. "I didn't mean to scare you, miss. I was just having trouble breathing, that's all." The voice was a little weak, probably from lack of air and energy, and sounded like it belonged to a youngish man. She looked at him dully, and the voice didn't seem to fit him; he looked younger than her.
His eyes and hair were dark brown, the latter being curly and a bit unkempt. He looked mischievous somehow, even though his expression was very sullen. It didn't fit him. For some reason, she thought he ought to be joking and having a good time, not laying there with his hands bound like hers.
"Who are you?" She whispered, getting curious. "Where are we? What are those things? Where are they? What's going on?" She twisted her head about, trying to see her surroundings, but she couldn't see enough. There were bags stacked up all around.
He blinked a little owlishly. "My name is Meriadoc Brandybuck, but you can call me Merry like everybody else. I'm not too sure where we are, I think in Rohan maybe? I'm awfully confused from all of the running, you know. From `those things', I guess you mean Orcs. They've kidnapped all of us and I'm not sure where they're taking us. We've been resting just now because there's some trouble between the different groups, I suppose. They're all arguing about what they should really do with you and your friend. She's laying on my friend Pippin. Ah, what's you name, if you don't mind my asking?"
Manda was quiet for a moment. They were both nervous, going on and on like that. She could just see some of Candy past Merry, which reassured her a little. "I'm Manda Jones... Her name's Candace..." she whispered softly. "People call her Candy. Can you tell what time it is, Merry?"
He craned his neck a little and stared up at the sky. "I'd say late afternoon... the Orcs will be moving on soon, once it gets dark. You can be sure we'll be running all night and probably through tomorrow and the next night too... I don't know how long this shall keep up, but we'll probably traveling twice as hard as yesterday to make up for lost time."
Manda nodded slowly, relaxing a little. She really was tired, and she only had a few more hours of sleep, she guessed. Better to take his advice than to ignore it and be in even sadder shape than before.
Merry watched her head drop back to the rocky ground. Manda sighed, her hands twitching against the chafing bonds, then her breathing fell and he expected that she was asleep. "Don't worry..." he murmured. "Pippin and I will come up with something." He wasn't going to let those dreadful orcs harm the poor girls... it was obvious from the conversation that Manda didn't really understand what was happening. He hoped that he and Pippin could do something to save them. They seemed too innocent for the fate that might come upon them.
Candace (or Candy, same person using a nickname) woke to the sound of soft voices near her. One was, she supposed, Manda's, and the other she didn't recognize, but it sounded male, and pretty gentle. Candy couldn't tell what they were whispering, and didn't really care. Her head was pounding and she was a little too aware of the tight bonds on her wrists. She had rolled off the boy a little, but was still close enough to feel his breath and see his brown eyes, opened halfway and staring at her with curiousity.
"Who are you?" asked Candy, maybe a little too abruptly.
"Peregrin Took, or if you like, Pippin." said the boy, starting to wake up a bit more. "What's your name, then?"
"Candace Austin, or Candy if you like."
Pippin smiled faintly, or tried to. "Candy... that's a very cute name... It reminds me of back home, around midsummer's eve when we had sugared fruits, roast apples, the best of my father's ale..." Pippin trailed off and looked like he was deep in memories of long lost tranquility, not to mention skipped meals.
Candy looked at him with wonder. This wasn't kid, he sounded more like a young adult or at least someone beyond his obvious years. "Do you know what's going on, or where we are?"
Pippin stepped out of his reverie. "Well miss, we've been captured by this nasty lot of orcs, and where they're taking us is a mystery to me."
"That's comforting." said Candy sarcastically.
Pippin stared at her for a few seconds, then caught the sarcasm. Exhaustion did that to people, you started getting a little out of touch with your wits. Candy met his eyes, smiled a little, shifted a bit, and fell asleep. She looked dead tired. Pippin decided to follow suit, knowing they'd be running soon enough. He hoped that Aragorn and the others were coming to save them, not only for his and Merry's sake, but the girls' as well.
Wendy: Weeeell... that's chapter two! Whattaya think? Any better? Worse? Review, please! That very first review was really great, if short, but to the point! Hope you all like it, Jade and I are trying really hard. ^_^