Ch. 1: Undertow
A/N: I'll be updating this every 1 to 2 days. There
will be a total of 7 chapters. The OC does not accompany
the fellowship and does not change any plot lines. Please
review!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Lord of
the Rings. Amy and her family are my own, the rest are the work
of J. R. R. Tolkein.
My name is Amy LaCroix. My mother is
from Munich, Germany. At 15, she moved to the US in 1975
with her family. She speaks English well, but with an
accent. She was living in New York City where she met my
father, a displaced Canadian. They fell in love and got
married, then moved to North Dakota, of all places.
Don't ask me why. I was born in 1984, eight weeks
premature, weighing in at a whole 3 pounds, 8 ounces. My
twin sister died within the week; it's a miracle I survived.
Coming from a, shall we say, culturally
rich family, I grew up speaking French and German along
with English. I'm fluent in both and I also know a few
snatches of Spanish. My father home schooled me until I was
12. When I was 7, he started teaching me tae kwon do.
It was just something to keep me busy. He's a second
degree black belt, but his brother in Ontario is a seventh degree
master. I took lessons at a local studio for a while, and
then spent summers with my uncle in Ontario, and I got my first
degree by the time I was ten. I had just finished getting
my second degree when I started public school. I never told
anyone about it, but at least I was able to fend off
bullies. I was small and studious, but they learned pretty
quick not to pick on me, because I fought back (and I didn't
fight nice). I never got in trouble, because I was careful
to never be the first to attack.
Anyway, people quit picking on me after a
while, but they teased me to no end. I lost myself in a
world of books and languages. I'm a senior in high
school now, and that hasn't changed much. My family
life is pretty normal. I'm an only child. After
my sister died, my parents were reluctant to try to have more
children. I don't fight with them a lot like most of
teenagers. I'm a whole 4'10, and the only
thing in the school shorter than me is Peter's guide
dog. Pete is OK. He gets teased a lot, too.
He's blind because of an accident when he was 5.
I've stood up for him a couple times. Stood
up—yeah right. I'm too short to stand up to
anyone, but people know better than to fight me (especially
guys—I've been known to kick to the groin). Pete
is the only person here who knows I just got my third
degree. You might think we're really good friends, but
we aren't. We're only casual friends. He
has other friends, and he's nice to me, but we aren't
close. His girlfriend only tolerates me, but that's
OK. At least he's willing to listen. I'm a
loner, anyway.
Well, that's the story of my life.
Impressive, isn't it? I'm proud of my third
degree, but that's my only real accomplishment.
It's Friday, and we have Monday and Tuesday off
school. We're leaving tomorrow morning (bright and
early—ugh!) for the Black Hills. It'll be a nice
diversion. I need a break from school. That's
really sad, because it's only the second week of
September. I've even managed to get a cold already.
It's Monday afternoon, and we're
going on a tour of some little cave around here. We visited
Mount Rushmore yesterday. It was nice, but hot.
Nature doesn't seem to realize it's supposed to be
fall. The caves will be a welcome relief from the
heat. Our car and hotel both have air conditioning, but you
can't do much from the confines of the car or a hotel
room. My cold is really annoying, and it isn't getting
any better. You're not supposed to be sick when
it's hot. I hope I'll be able to enjoy the trip,
anyway.
While we were touring the caves, something
really strange happened. We were walking through a rather
narrow passage. I had fallen to the back of the tour group
to avoid the bratty kids that alternately whined about the dark
and fought with each other (bumping into anyone around them)
until their parents broke up the fight. One of them
bumped into my elbow, but he was paying
so little attention he thought it was his sister. Suddenly,
the wall fell away from my hand. I felt around a little,
and found a passage off to the right. It was narrow, but it
wasn't blocked off. I knew I shouldn't go in, but
I was annoyed at the kids and feeling just a little
rebellious. I was only going to go a few steps,
anyway. The walls of the passage were smooth and the floor
sloped down gently. I walked carefully, shining my pocket
flashlight ahead of me.
I kept thinking to myself that I should turn
back, but I kept walking, anyway. I don't know what
had gotten into me. After a few minutes of this, the floor
fell away suddenly. I saw it in plenty of time, and my
balance is good, so I didn't slip. That was
enough. I needed to go back. I turned around to do
just that, but somehow my feet slid out from under me, and I fell
face down into the steep passage. I managed to roll over so
I was sliding on my backside instead of my stomach, and after
what felt like an eternity, the passage leveled out a little
before suddenly dumping me into water.
I managed to tread water for a moment and
catch my breath, but an undertow pulled me under. There was
no way I could fight the currently, so I tried to relax and let
it take me where it would. Fighting would have just wasted
oxygen. Just when I thought my lungs would burst, my head
broke through the water. I was in a little grotto, only big
enough to get my head above water. The air was stale, but
breathable, and I managed to take a couple deep breaths before
the current pulled me under again.
When I broke the surface again, I found myself
in a small lake in a forest. I swam to the shore and
collapsed on the shore, trying to catch my breath.
Suddenly, a voice came from somewhere in the forest.
Who are you and why are you
here? As he spoke, a tall, blond man stepped out of
the forest. He was holding a bow with an arrow ready.
my name is Amy. I
don't really know how I got here. One minute I was
exploring a cave, then I was falling, and I fell into some kind
of underground river, which dumped me here. As I
spoke, I noticed something really strange—the man's
ears were pointed. He was also one of the most attractive
men I'd ever seen.
Are you carrying any weapons?
Weapons? Um, noI don't
even have my flashlight any more. Why would he think
I had a weapon? I was starting to shiver by that point.
You're cold. Forgive
me. He took off his cloak and put it around my
shoulders. About a foot of it trailed on the ground.
It was only then that my fuzzy brain took in the fact that he was
dressed like something out of Robin Hood. I think you
should come with me.
I opened my mouth to reply, but I started
coughing. When I was finally able to speak, I said,
You had probably better not get too close to me, or
you'll get this cold, too.
To my surprise, the man only laughed.
I don't think I'm in any danger, little
one. Elves are immune to disease.
Elves? I'm really
confused. I started coughing again. My cold
seemed to have instantly escalated (might have something to do
with the very cold water). Everything that could hurt,
did. I was even finding bruises in places I didn't
know it was possible to bruise (and I'm no stranger to
bruises)! I was shivering, and with the confusion, it
became just a little too much, and I fainted.
