Birds sang from the top of a tall furnished tree. Nearby was a river if the sound of flowing water was any indication. Sunlight made its way through the tick branches of the trees. No road or house could be seen. Only the forest. [Wait.... forest?] Willow jumped on her feet and groaned when her head swam and her stomach seemed to roll over itself.
After the dizziness passed, the redhead took a look around her. She was in the middle of a forest, surrounded by hundreds of trees in a variety she had never seen in the woods of Sunnydale. "Where the hell am I?" Willow exclaimed. She groaned when she saw that she was still wearing the leather pant and the black shirt. She sighed miserably. "Great. Well, lets go, feet!" She started walking, jumping on stones and catching leaves on her way.
Two hours later, she was still walking, completly lost. "Now I'm sure I'm not in Sunnydale. I would have been out of the woods a long time ago." But even if she was lost, Willow didn't felt bad. A smile graced her features and she felt better than she had in days, weeks even. Maybe it was the feeling of peace in the forest, maybe the pure air, maybe the calming sound of water still there even if she hadn't seen a river. Or it could be something else.
The environnment seemed to get brighter and brighter. Sunlight streamed down more easily between the trees, bigger spaces between them. The sign of the empending end of the forest was there, announcing that she'd soon fall on some city or park or whatever there was on the other side.
But it wasn't a city or a park at the end of the woods.
Miles and miles of green pastures and lonely groves of pines and birch were filling Willow's sight and even if the picture of the blue sky made her happy, not even a shadow of a smile appeared on her lips. She screamed in rage and pointed her index finger at the sky above. "What is it? A curse? To be lost forever in some countryside?"
Suddenly, an ear plitting screamed filled the air. But it didn't sound like a human voice, more like an animal, an animal screaming. Willow shook her head in hope of making the inhuman sound disappear from her mind. She cocked her head when she heard clearly the thunder noises made by horses riding on high rapidity. "Maybe there's still hope," she whispered to herself.
Willow broke into a wild run, jumping over bushes and pushing her legs until she thought she would collapse. When she couldn't move any further, she saw a cloud of sand coming staight at her. She wanted to go ahead and ask for help, but a weird feeling made her step back and jump up the nearby tree. Confused by her own reaction, she looked down, hoping to soon see some teenage horseback riders coming back from a school activity or maybe some camp.
She startled when a white horse ran under her in surprising rapidity, on its back, a woman with long flowing brown hair holding a small package in her arms. Willow was ready to get down the tree and yell to her when another inhuman scream chilled her to the bones and made her stop. Nine black riders ran under her hiding place, swords hanging on their hips, bouncing with every step of their horses. [Swords? Where am I suppose to be? Or should I say when?]
After the menace was far away, going into the woods again, Willow jumped down the tree. The sun hurted her eyes and she put her hand above her eyebrows, stoping the sunbeams from blocking her view. Looking in the direction the nine black riders and the woman came from, she saw a small hill with small forms on top of it, heading her way. Running for only a small distance, the redhead was able to see that it was a man getting down hill with three small creatures following behind. After a couple of minutes, the forms were a bit more clear and she could finally say that it wasn't animals behind the man, but small persons of about four feet tall. Normally, she would have said they were dwarves, but dwarves don't have pointed ears and hairy feet.
No longer caring, Willow walked right before them, heading their way with the firm intention to speak to them. She was hungry, tired and she didn't know anyway to get out of this never ending green landscape. The forest was beautiful, but she wanted to see some traces of civilisation.
As the small group came nearer to where she was standing, she saw the man looking at her suspiciously, apparently gauging her to see if she was friend or foe. Not long after, he let his hand fall from the handle of his sword and walked calmly to her. "Who are you?" he asked.
Finally feeling nervous, Willow played with small treads of her red hair falling on her shoulders. "I'm Willow and to be truly truthfull, I haven't the smallest idea about where I am. Could you help me?" She looked down, his heavy gaze following her every movement. She felt uncomfortable when looking directly into his striking blue eyes.
"We are going to Rivendell. You are welcome to join us if you mean no harm."
"I mean no harm and I'm going with you even if I don't know what Rivendell is. I no longer have an interest in the forest after waking up there and spending two hours fighting my way through it only to face a never ending landscape of grass and trees."
A small smile graced the man's features. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but our way is through the woods." He shrugged and passed beside her, walking the way the riders had tooken.
Willow grimaced but followed him nonetheless. She felt the three small 'creatures' looking at her, inspecting her from every way. "What are you? I mean, I'm sorry if I'm rude or anything but....what are you?" she babled.
"We are Hobbits of course. And this is Strider walking ahead. But don't talk to him. He's grumpy. By the way, my name is Peregrin Took or Pippin as my friends call me." He bowed before her then turned to the other Hobbits. "This is Sam and Merry. You would have met Frodo but...hum...he was hurted earlier and a friend took him with her for help."
Willow's eyes widened. "A woman? With long brown hair?"
Strider turned around and looked at her. "You saw her?" he asked hastily.
"Yeah, and whoever or whatever They were was bad news."
The three Hobbits exchanged worried looks and took another step in the redhead's way. "They?"
"Yes, nine black riders were chasing them, the woman and your friend Frodo." She looked curiously at their reactions. Apparently, they had met the black riders before and they obviously meant bad news. If that scream wasn't a dead giveaway about that. "What are they?"
"Ringwraiths," Strider answered vaguely. "Lets go." He walked faster, heading toward the woods, the three Hobbits following quickly behind.
Not wanting to lose them out of sight, Willow ran to join them then started walking at their rythm. When they were at the edge of the forest, she stopped and sighed. "Well, so much for getting out of the woods earlier." Then, she took a step in and followed her guide to civilisation.
About a mile from the edge, they arrived on the border of a river. Willow instantly recognize the sound of the peacefull waters that had geeted her when she had woken up a couple of hours before. There was tracks of horses near the river as if many of them had abruptly stopped there.
The river wasn't very deep and they easily crossed it, even the Hobbits. On this side, they saw shapes in the earth. Someone had been put down here and had been picked up by the owner of the footprints. They followed the tracks of a horse for nearly an hour before the woods cleared and the land before them took the shape of a magnificent city constructed in wood and white and silver materials. There were falls not far from it and the sunlight made the construction sparkle, giving it an ethereal appearance.
"Whoa! What is this place?" Willow asked in awe.
Strider smiled. "This is Rivendell, the house of the lord Elrond." He began the walk down hill that lead to a bridge.
The Hobbits followed, extatic. Sam jumped up and down, clearly disturbing Willow after seeing only a serious and worried Hobbit. "We are going to see Elves! I can't believe it!"
The redhead looked at him as if he had grown a second head. [Elves?] Then she glanced at the city before her, picture of a land existing only in her wildest fantasy world. All the explanation for what had happened jumped in her face. The swirling light had been a temporal disturbance and she had apparently gone back in time of about eight hundred years. Of course, she had heard all those legends and myths about the Dwarves, the small men that she had learned were called Hobbits and the Elves, creatures that had always fascinated her. But when she had met Buffy, all those stories got locked into her personal closet in her mind, shadows of the fantasy that had filled her childhood.
Now, all she thought had been just fairy tales for young girls that didn't believe in demons, vampires and ghosts was revealed to be the truth. She fainted.
After the dizziness passed, the redhead took a look around her. She was in the middle of a forest, surrounded by hundreds of trees in a variety she had never seen in the woods of Sunnydale. "Where the hell am I?" Willow exclaimed. She groaned when she saw that she was still wearing the leather pant and the black shirt. She sighed miserably. "Great. Well, lets go, feet!" She started walking, jumping on stones and catching leaves on her way.
Two hours later, she was still walking, completly lost. "Now I'm sure I'm not in Sunnydale. I would have been out of the woods a long time ago." But even if she was lost, Willow didn't felt bad. A smile graced her features and she felt better than she had in days, weeks even. Maybe it was the feeling of peace in the forest, maybe the pure air, maybe the calming sound of water still there even if she hadn't seen a river. Or it could be something else.
The environnment seemed to get brighter and brighter. Sunlight streamed down more easily between the trees, bigger spaces between them. The sign of the empending end of the forest was there, announcing that she'd soon fall on some city or park or whatever there was on the other side.
But it wasn't a city or a park at the end of the woods.
Miles and miles of green pastures and lonely groves of pines and birch were filling Willow's sight and even if the picture of the blue sky made her happy, not even a shadow of a smile appeared on her lips. She screamed in rage and pointed her index finger at the sky above. "What is it? A curse? To be lost forever in some countryside?"
Suddenly, an ear plitting screamed filled the air. But it didn't sound like a human voice, more like an animal, an animal screaming. Willow shook her head in hope of making the inhuman sound disappear from her mind. She cocked her head when she heard clearly the thunder noises made by horses riding on high rapidity. "Maybe there's still hope," she whispered to herself.
Willow broke into a wild run, jumping over bushes and pushing her legs until she thought she would collapse. When she couldn't move any further, she saw a cloud of sand coming staight at her. She wanted to go ahead and ask for help, but a weird feeling made her step back and jump up the nearby tree. Confused by her own reaction, she looked down, hoping to soon see some teenage horseback riders coming back from a school activity or maybe some camp.
She startled when a white horse ran under her in surprising rapidity, on its back, a woman with long flowing brown hair holding a small package in her arms. Willow was ready to get down the tree and yell to her when another inhuman scream chilled her to the bones and made her stop. Nine black riders ran under her hiding place, swords hanging on their hips, bouncing with every step of their horses. [Swords? Where am I suppose to be? Or should I say when?]
After the menace was far away, going into the woods again, Willow jumped down the tree. The sun hurted her eyes and she put her hand above her eyebrows, stoping the sunbeams from blocking her view. Looking in the direction the nine black riders and the woman came from, she saw a small hill with small forms on top of it, heading her way. Running for only a small distance, the redhead was able to see that it was a man getting down hill with three small creatures following behind. After a couple of minutes, the forms were a bit more clear and she could finally say that it wasn't animals behind the man, but small persons of about four feet tall. Normally, she would have said they were dwarves, but dwarves don't have pointed ears and hairy feet.
No longer caring, Willow walked right before them, heading their way with the firm intention to speak to them. She was hungry, tired and she didn't know anyway to get out of this never ending green landscape. The forest was beautiful, but she wanted to see some traces of civilisation.
As the small group came nearer to where she was standing, she saw the man looking at her suspiciously, apparently gauging her to see if she was friend or foe. Not long after, he let his hand fall from the handle of his sword and walked calmly to her. "Who are you?" he asked.
Finally feeling nervous, Willow played with small treads of her red hair falling on her shoulders. "I'm Willow and to be truly truthfull, I haven't the smallest idea about where I am. Could you help me?" She looked down, his heavy gaze following her every movement. She felt uncomfortable when looking directly into his striking blue eyes.
"We are going to Rivendell. You are welcome to join us if you mean no harm."
"I mean no harm and I'm going with you even if I don't know what Rivendell is. I no longer have an interest in the forest after waking up there and spending two hours fighting my way through it only to face a never ending landscape of grass and trees."
A small smile graced the man's features. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but our way is through the woods." He shrugged and passed beside her, walking the way the riders had tooken.
Willow grimaced but followed him nonetheless. She felt the three small 'creatures' looking at her, inspecting her from every way. "What are you? I mean, I'm sorry if I'm rude or anything but....what are you?" she babled.
"We are Hobbits of course. And this is Strider walking ahead. But don't talk to him. He's grumpy. By the way, my name is Peregrin Took or Pippin as my friends call me." He bowed before her then turned to the other Hobbits. "This is Sam and Merry. You would have met Frodo but...hum...he was hurted earlier and a friend took him with her for help."
Willow's eyes widened. "A woman? With long brown hair?"
Strider turned around and looked at her. "You saw her?" he asked hastily.
"Yeah, and whoever or whatever They were was bad news."
The three Hobbits exchanged worried looks and took another step in the redhead's way. "They?"
"Yes, nine black riders were chasing them, the woman and your friend Frodo." She looked curiously at their reactions. Apparently, they had met the black riders before and they obviously meant bad news. If that scream wasn't a dead giveaway about that. "What are they?"
"Ringwraiths," Strider answered vaguely. "Lets go." He walked faster, heading toward the woods, the three Hobbits following quickly behind.
Not wanting to lose them out of sight, Willow ran to join them then started walking at their rythm. When they were at the edge of the forest, she stopped and sighed. "Well, so much for getting out of the woods earlier." Then, she took a step in and followed her guide to civilisation.
About a mile from the edge, they arrived on the border of a river. Willow instantly recognize the sound of the peacefull waters that had geeted her when she had woken up a couple of hours before. There was tracks of horses near the river as if many of them had abruptly stopped there.
The river wasn't very deep and they easily crossed it, even the Hobbits. On this side, they saw shapes in the earth. Someone had been put down here and had been picked up by the owner of the footprints. They followed the tracks of a horse for nearly an hour before the woods cleared and the land before them took the shape of a magnificent city constructed in wood and white and silver materials. There were falls not far from it and the sunlight made the construction sparkle, giving it an ethereal appearance.
"Whoa! What is this place?" Willow asked in awe.
Strider smiled. "This is Rivendell, the house of the lord Elrond." He began the walk down hill that lead to a bridge.
The Hobbits followed, extatic. Sam jumped up and down, clearly disturbing Willow after seeing only a serious and worried Hobbit. "We are going to see Elves! I can't believe it!"
The redhead looked at him as if he had grown a second head. [Elves?] Then she glanced at the city before her, picture of a land existing only in her wildest fantasy world. All the explanation for what had happened jumped in her face. The swirling light had been a temporal disturbance and she had apparently gone back in time of about eight hundred years. Of course, she had heard all those legends and myths about the Dwarves, the small men that she had learned were called Hobbits and the Elves, creatures that had always fascinated her. But when she had met Buffy, all those stories got locked into her personal closet in her mind, shadows of the fantasy that had filled her childhood.
Now, all she thought had been just fairy tales for young girls that didn't believe in demons, vampires and ghosts was revealed to be the truth. She fainted.