Part Five
When she awoke next, there was light shining in her face. She blinked once or twice, looking about the room in confusion for one second. Then she remembered. Hunter was dead. Jenn had been hurt. She was in a strange place with Elves and blue things that liked to shoot people with arrows.
Erin let out a sigh, falling backwards onto her pillow. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to come to some sort of resolution about this. Was she crazy, or was all this for real? The larger part of her brain wanted her to be crazy, because the reality of it was too frightening. But even as she thought of it, Erin knew it wasn't true. She was lucid, she was sane. This was all real.
She struggled into an upright position, noting that she felt much stronger than before. Most of the scratches and cuts she had gotten during her run were healed and gone. Her body felt entirely more relaxed and rested than before. She leaned back on her headboard, flexing her legs at the knees and marveling at the pain that wasn't there. So far in the past two days, she had been in a car accident, transported to some sort of fantasy world, and chased through a woods by monsters only to be saved by Elves. Her head hurt just thinking about it.
She looked around the room, taking in the simple loveliness of it. From what she had seen of this place, simple loveliness summed it up. Especially the residents. God, they were all so flawless it was scary. Their eyes . . . haunting. She dimly wondered how the humans of this place resisted falling in love with such creatures. It would be entirely too easy to do so, but their unattainability would be heartbreaking. No creature so lovely would ever bothered with the flawed and imperfect race of man. Would they?
That man had been here, the one with the kind face. He looked all dignified and important, but she also caught a bit of adventure in the twinkle of his eyes. He was something else this human, and all the Elves seemed to hold him in respect. They had parted in his wake, leaving him room to be alone with her. They seemed to look at him with affection and reverence. He was something more than just a man.
Erin let out a deep breath, blowing a few strands of hair off her face. She couldn't very well sit here all day and muddle over things. She didn't know how long she had slept this time, though it felt like it was a good day or so. Lord knows how long she had slept the first time. So it hadbeen days since she had last seen her sister.
Jenn. The thought of her older sister made Erin straighten. She was quick to throw the covers off, swinging her legs around to the side of the bed. She tentatively touched the floor with her bare feet, biting her lip at the faint touch of cold that greeted her. Learning her lesson from the last time, Erin eased up into a standing position. She kept a hand on the bed lest she fall on her butt again. She really didn't want the Elves to come in here for the second time to find her sitting pathetically on the floor.
She found getting to her feet a lot easier than it had been before. Erin straightened, her legs strong underneath her. She gave a relieved giggle, thankful she had regained her strength. She took a step towards the door, flailing as her legs wobbled a bit. Okay, maybe she hadn't regained all her strength.
Erin gritted her teeth, moving slowly but assuredly towards the door. It seemed to take forever, but her legs became more stable with each step. She allowed herself a triumphant grin when she reached the door. Her hands wrapped around the knob, turning it and pulling the door open. She was a little disappointed that it took so much power on her part. She wanted to be fully recovered, not just partially. Cowardly or not, she wanted to have the ability to fight and flee at a moment's notice if needs be. Not that the Elves were particularly frightening, but it couldn't hurt to have the option.
The door swung open, revealing several stern Elves on the other side. Erin gulped, looking between the three of them. Two were male, one female, and oh so pretty. It had to be a crime to be that pretty. They looked like dolls or something. Perfect beautiful, slightly disapproving dolls.
"You are not strong enough to be up," the female was quick to tell her. Erin shrugged, frowning a bit.
"Well, I made it to the door on my own, so maybe I'm stronger than you think," she replied evenly.
The Elves smiled at her, the female placing a hand on her arm. Erin made a protesting sound as the Elf tried to return her to the bed.
"You have been through a terrible ordeal," the female told her. "The healers said it is best for you to stay off your feet until all of your strength returns."
"Well, not happening," Erin frowned, dragging her feet and forcing the female to stop. "I'm going to see Jenn. I have to be with my sister."
"Your sister still sleeps," one of the males informed her, taking Erin's other arm and pushing her back towards the bed. "When one of you is strong enough, we will bring you to the other."
"I'm strong enough now!" Erin snapped, her anger getting the better of her for a second. "I want to see my sister and I want to see her now."
"You're not-"
"If you don't get your hands off me, you're going to see how strong I," the human growled. "I want to see my sister. NOW!"
A deep chuckle from the doorway interrupted any further conflict. Erin sighed in relief to see the human who had been with her before. He walked into the room, waving the Elves away. The female had a brief protest, in some weird language that Erin had never heard. The man answered her in the same tongue, his tone obviously amused. Erin stood awkwardly while they conversed, feeling a bit like she was missing some sort of joke. Her frustration must have shown on her face, as the man was quick to give her a reassuring smile.
"The nurse insists you are not strong enough to be out on your own," he told her, the amusement heavy on his voice. "But from what I can see, you have regained your strength and seemingly your tongue as well."
She felt a deep blush come over her face, frowning at his laughing manner.
"I didn't mean to yell," she muttered. "But I want to see Jenn. I haven't seen her since she got shot and I need to see her."
He nodded, turning to converse with the Elves. They exchanged quite a few words, the female frowning quite a bit before reluctantly nodding her head. The man turned back to her with a smile.
"Tariea agrees that if I accompany you, she will allow you to go."
"Wasn't aware that I needed permission," she muttered under her breath. When the Elves tittered she realized they had heard her.
"Elves have superior hearing," the man supplied at her stunned face. She blushed brighter, mumbling some sort of an apology under her breath. It was just waved by the Elves and the man, the nurse, Tariea, covering Erin's shoulder's with some sort of cloak. The man offered her his arm and led her from the room.
Outside, it was even more beautiful than she had imagined. This place looked like nothing she had ever seen before. So grand and majestic, it was like . . . like she had always imagined Narnia to be. In fact, if she met a talking animal, she would not be at all surprised. Okay, she would be surprised, but it wouldn't be too much of a shock. After all, there were Elves wherever the eye could see.
"My lady," the man started, bringing her out of her thoughts. "We have yet to learn your name. We know of your sister, the lady Jenn, but yours . . ."
"Erin," she supplied, eyes never leaving the gorgeous landscape around her. "My name is Erin."
"Well, Lady Erin-"
"Just Erin," she cut him off. She turned back to him with a bit of a smile. "There's no Lady in front of it. Just plain Erin. I'm not royalty or anything."
"Very well," he consented. "Erin. I am called Aragorn."
"Aragorn," she repeated, letting the strange name roll off her tongue. "Does that come with some sort of title? Like Lord or king?"
"Why would you suspect that?" he asked, amusement back in his voice. Erin shrugged, eyes going to look out at the various buildings around her.
"You don't seem like just a guy," she explained. "You look like you should have some sort of title."
"And if I didn't?"
"Then I'd give one to you," she decided with a laugh. "I'm telling you, you look like you should have one. So do you, or should I give you one?"
"I have one," he revealed. "But perhaps we should save that for another time. Your sister's room."
Erin stilled as they came to a stop in front of a door. For a second a terrible fear welled up in her chest. She couldn't go in there and tell Jenn everything. Jenn wouldn't believe her, would refuse to believe her. Hunter's death would be too much for her sister. She couldn't be the one to tell Jenn all these things.
"Erin?"
She blinked, remembering that Aragorn was with her. She shook her head, giving a brief smile, and heading for the door. He waited respectively by the door until she had reached Jenn's bedside. After she sank down next to Jenn, he pulled the door closed and Erin heard his footsteps as he wandered away.
She looked down at her older sister. Jenn slept peacefully, her brow unworried in her sleep. Erin lifted up the covers, looking at her sister's wound in earnest. It had healed, for the most part. She traced the bandage with her fingernail, remembering how Jenn looked at that moment. The paleness of her face and the failure in her eyes. Jenn had been ready to die. Does a person come back from that sort of acceptance? Would Hunter's death just make Jenn want the comfort of her own? Would she able handle all these changes? Erin wasn't sure she was handling them all that well for her own part. But Jenn, could she accept all of this?
Erin shut her eyes, hands going to stroke her sister's hair while she slept. While Erin's own hair was a deep chestnut colour, like her father's, Jenn had the red hair of their mother. In fact, Jenn had most of their mother's features. The small nose, pale skin, and tiny mouth. Erin was much more like her father, regal nose, high cheekbones, slightly darker colouring, and full lips. But they did share one thing, those beautiful green eyes of their grandmother. That was probably the only thing that even helped clue people in on their relation. Otherwise, it would be impossible, they were far too different.
Her sister was still deep in sleep. Her injury had been far worse than any Erin had suffered. She dimly wondered if Jenn had woken yet. Had the Elves checked her for a concussion? Did they know what a concussion was? They seemed pretty adept at the other parts of healing.
She looked down at her sister, seeing how peaceful Jenn looked in her sleep. She didn't want to disrupt that with the news of what had happened to them. Jenn might not be able to handle it.
Erin gave a sigh, crawling under the covers with her sister. She wrapped an arm securely around her sister, eyes watching her continued sleep in worry. Things wouldn't be pretty when Jenn woke up, they weren't all that pretty right now. But they were bound to get worse. Her sister could be very high strung when she wanted to be.
Erin sighed again, closing her eyes and settling down comfortably next to her sister. She would deal with it when it happened. Until then, she was counting her lucky stars. She was alive, Jenn was alive. That was more than she could ask for.
*****
When she awoke next, there was light shining in her face. She blinked once or twice, looking about the room in confusion for one second. Then she remembered. Hunter was dead. Jenn had been hurt. She was in a strange place with Elves and blue things that liked to shoot people with arrows.
Erin let out a sigh, falling backwards onto her pillow. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to come to some sort of resolution about this. Was she crazy, or was all this for real? The larger part of her brain wanted her to be crazy, because the reality of it was too frightening. But even as she thought of it, Erin knew it wasn't true. She was lucid, she was sane. This was all real.
She struggled into an upright position, noting that she felt much stronger than before. Most of the scratches and cuts she had gotten during her run were healed and gone. Her body felt entirely more relaxed and rested than before. She leaned back on her headboard, flexing her legs at the knees and marveling at the pain that wasn't there. So far in the past two days, she had been in a car accident, transported to some sort of fantasy world, and chased through a woods by monsters only to be saved by Elves. Her head hurt just thinking about it.
She looked around the room, taking in the simple loveliness of it. From what she had seen of this place, simple loveliness summed it up. Especially the residents. God, they were all so flawless it was scary. Their eyes . . . haunting. She dimly wondered how the humans of this place resisted falling in love with such creatures. It would be entirely too easy to do so, but their unattainability would be heartbreaking. No creature so lovely would ever bothered with the flawed and imperfect race of man. Would they?
That man had been here, the one with the kind face. He looked all dignified and important, but she also caught a bit of adventure in the twinkle of his eyes. He was something else this human, and all the Elves seemed to hold him in respect. They had parted in his wake, leaving him room to be alone with her. They seemed to look at him with affection and reverence. He was something more than just a man.
Erin let out a deep breath, blowing a few strands of hair off her face. She couldn't very well sit here all day and muddle over things. She didn't know how long she had slept this time, though it felt like it was a good day or so. Lord knows how long she had slept the first time. So it hadbeen days since she had last seen her sister.
Jenn. The thought of her older sister made Erin straighten. She was quick to throw the covers off, swinging her legs around to the side of the bed. She tentatively touched the floor with her bare feet, biting her lip at the faint touch of cold that greeted her. Learning her lesson from the last time, Erin eased up into a standing position. She kept a hand on the bed lest she fall on her butt again. She really didn't want the Elves to come in here for the second time to find her sitting pathetically on the floor.
She found getting to her feet a lot easier than it had been before. Erin straightened, her legs strong underneath her. She gave a relieved giggle, thankful she had regained her strength. She took a step towards the door, flailing as her legs wobbled a bit. Okay, maybe she hadn't regained all her strength.
Erin gritted her teeth, moving slowly but assuredly towards the door. It seemed to take forever, but her legs became more stable with each step. She allowed herself a triumphant grin when she reached the door. Her hands wrapped around the knob, turning it and pulling the door open. She was a little disappointed that it took so much power on her part. She wanted to be fully recovered, not just partially. Cowardly or not, she wanted to have the ability to fight and flee at a moment's notice if needs be. Not that the Elves were particularly frightening, but it couldn't hurt to have the option.
The door swung open, revealing several stern Elves on the other side. Erin gulped, looking between the three of them. Two were male, one female, and oh so pretty. It had to be a crime to be that pretty. They looked like dolls or something. Perfect beautiful, slightly disapproving dolls.
"You are not strong enough to be up," the female was quick to tell her. Erin shrugged, frowning a bit.
"Well, I made it to the door on my own, so maybe I'm stronger than you think," she replied evenly.
The Elves smiled at her, the female placing a hand on her arm. Erin made a protesting sound as the Elf tried to return her to the bed.
"You have been through a terrible ordeal," the female told her. "The healers said it is best for you to stay off your feet until all of your strength returns."
"Well, not happening," Erin frowned, dragging her feet and forcing the female to stop. "I'm going to see Jenn. I have to be with my sister."
"Your sister still sleeps," one of the males informed her, taking Erin's other arm and pushing her back towards the bed. "When one of you is strong enough, we will bring you to the other."
"I'm strong enough now!" Erin snapped, her anger getting the better of her for a second. "I want to see my sister and I want to see her now."
"You're not-"
"If you don't get your hands off me, you're going to see how strong I," the human growled. "I want to see my sister. NOW!"
A deep chuckle from the doorway interrupted any further conflict. Erin sighed in relief to see the human who had been with her before. He walked into the room, waving the Elves away. The female had a brief protest, in some weird language that Erin had never heard. The man answered her in the same tongue, his tone obviously amused. Erin stood awkwardly while they conversed, feeling a bit like she was missing some sort of joke. Her frustration must have shown on her face, as the man was quick to give her a reassuring smile.
"The nurse insists you are not strong enough to be out on your own," he told her, the amusement heavy on his voice. "But from what I can see, you have regained your strength and seemingly your tongue as well."
She felt a deep blush come over her face, frowning at his laughing manner.
"I didn't mean to yell," she muttered. "But I want to see Jenn. I haven't seen her since she got shot and I need to see her."
He nodded, turning to converse with the Elves. They exchanged quite a few words, the female frowning quite a bit before reluctantly nodding her head. The man turned back to her with a smile.
"Tariea agrees that if I accompany you, she will allow you to go."
"Wasn't aware that I needed permission," she muttered under her breath. When the Elves tittered she realized they had heard her.
"Elves have superior hearing," the man supplied at her stunned face. She blushed brighter, mumbling some sort of an apology under her breath. It was just waved by the Elves and the man, the nurse, Tariea, covering Erin's shoulder's with some sort of cloak. The man offered her his arm and led her from the room.
Outside, it was even more beautiful than she had imagined. This place looked like nothing she had ever seen before. So grand and majestic, it was like . . . like she had always imagined Narnia to be. In fact, if she met a talking animal, she would not be at all surprised. Okay, she would be surprised, but it wouldn't be too much of a shock. After all, there were Elves wherever the eye could see.
"My lady," the man started, bringing her out of her thoughts. "We have yet to learn your name. We know of your sister, the lady Jenn, but yours . . ."
"Erin," she supplied, eyes never leaving the gorgeous landscape around her. "My name is Erin."
"Well, Lady Erin-"
"Just Erin," she cut him off. She turned back to him with a bit of a smile. "There's no Lady in front of it. Just plain Erin. I'm not royalty or anything."
"Very well," he consented. "Erin. I am called Aragorn."
"Aragorn," she repeated, letting the strange name roll off her tongue. "Does that come with some sort of title? Like Lord or king?"
"Why would you suspect that?" he asked, amusement back in his voice. Erin shrugged, eyes going to look out at the various buildings around her.
"You don't seem like just a guy," she explained. "You look like you should have some sort of title."
"And if I didn't?"
"Then I'd give one to you," she decided with a laugh. "I'm telling you, you look like you should have one. So do you, or should I give you one?"
"I have one," he revealed. "But perhaps we should save that for another time. Your sister's room."
Erin stilled as they came to a stop in front of a door. For a second a terrible fear welled up in her chest. She couldn't go in there and tell Jenn everything. Jenn wouldn't believe her, would refuse to believe her. Hunter's death would be too much for her sister. She couldn't be the one to tell Jenn all these things.
"Erin?"
She blinked, remembering that Aragorn was with her. She shook her head, giving a brief smile, and heading for the door. He waited respectively by the door until she had reached Jenn's bedside. After she sank down next to Jenn, he pulled the door closed and Erin heard his footsteps as he wandered away.
She looked down at her older sister. Jenn slept peacefully, her brow unworried in her sleep. Erin lifted up the covers, looking at her sister's wound in earnest. It had healed, for the most part. She traced the bandage with her fingernail, remembering how Jenn looked at that moment. The paleness of her face and the failure in her eyes. Jenn had been ready to die. Does a person come back from that sort of acceptance? Would Hunter's death just make Jenn want the comfort of her own? Would she able handle all these changes? Erin wasn't sure she was handling them all that well for her own part. But Jenn, could she accept all of this?
Erin shut her eyes, hands going to stroke her sister's hair while she slept. While Erin's own hair was a deep chestnut colour, like her father's, Jenn had the red hair of their mother. In fact, Jenn had most of their mother's features. The small nose, pale skin, and tiny mouth. Erin was much more like her father, regal nose, high cheekbones, slightly darker colouring, and full lips. But they did share one thing, those beautiful green eyes of their grandmother. That was probably the only thing that even helped clue people in on their relation. Otherwise, it would be impossible, they were far too different.
Her sister was still deep in sleep. Her injury had been far worse than any Erin had suffered. She dimly wondered if Jenn had woken yet. Had the Elves checked her for a concussion? Did they know what a concussion was? They seemed pretty adept at the other parts of healing.
She looked down at her sister, seeing how peaceful Jenn looked in her sleep. She didn't want to disrupt that with the news of what had happened to them. Jenn might not be able to handle it.
Erin gave a sigh, crawling under the covers with her sister. She wrapped an arm securely around her sister, eyes watching her continued sleep in worry. Things wouldn't be pretty when Jenn woke up, they weren't all that pretty right now. But they were bound to get worse. Her sister could be very high strung when she wanted to be.
Erin sighed again, closing her eyes and settling down comfortably next to her sister. She would deal with it when it happened. Until then, she was counting her lucky stars. She was alive, Jenn was alive. That was more than she could ask for.
*****