Notice: alright. This is mine own bizarre attempt at a Lord of the Rings
fanfic, so lets be nice to the aspiring, whatever it is I am. An important
thing to understand for the duration of this piece is that it's an
alternate universe. In fact, its about as alternate as it gets. The
fellowship has found, or rather forgotten themselves, in the present (or
somewhere there abouts) as high-school students. Why? Because I believe it
might make the universailites of the piece more poignant, and relative to
today's youth by establishing the similarities in behavior and moralistic
standards that still exist. In short, because that's how I'm writing it. So
there. Also, please bear with, as this is a bit archaic, but it will make
sense in further chapterings, I swear.
Chapter one.
The mechanical, yet comforting click of computer keys was the only noise that disturbed the pristine silence in Mr. Elrond's office. Lisaura looked around as the spry, dark-haired man peered intently at the glowing screen before him. The walls were a beige color, much like the rest of the school or, what she had seen of it. Various diplomas and plastic-gold awards hung on the walls over heavy looking Mahogany bookshelves, crammed with large, ancient-looking tomes. A pleasant room, at lest to Lisaura it was. Outside the long window next to the desk, a brisk autumnal breeze bristled through the stark, bronze and gold leafed trees. A few figures strolled along the cobbled paths between the school buildings. A boy with long, almost white blonde hair was tossing a ball back and forth with a shorter, stocky looking boy. Behind them a tall, dark haired girl was holding hands with a dark-looking boy. Lisaura wondered if they were all friends, a quiet, compact little group, a merry band, like the ones she had read about in books. She imagined them all riding on horseback, being chased by looming shadows and fire breathing monsters, swords drawn, hoofs clapping like thunder on the pebbled path beneath. She couldn't help but smile as her mind's eye watched the quiet cluster below her, swathed in light jackets and mufflers transform into fighting elves and warrior kings. Mr. Elrond brought her attention back to the office as he spun around from the computer to face her, a copy of her transcripts in his fingers.
"Well, Miss Corma it seems that all of your paperwork is in order. I would like to welcome you to a Rivendell School. I am sure that you and your brother will find Rivendell precisely what you need."
"I am sure I will, Mr. Elrond, thank you."
"Your brother, Ridley, I believe is already in class. I will ask one of our students if he wouldn't mind showing you to your room."
Mr. Elrond rang a buzzer on his desk, and softly muttered to his secretary to send Bilbo Baggins in. Lisaura shifted uncomfortably in her seat, silently wishing Mr. Elrond had left her to her own devices. She would much rather wander about the exquisite campus on her own than with a guide. And she never liked a fuss being made over her, even if the purpose was reasonable. Quicker than a flash though, the door opened and Bilbo stepped inside, quietly shutting the door behind him.
Bilbo was short, not dwarfed, but his shoulders barely touched the doorknob. His face was round and pleasant looking, topped with a mess of honey-colored curls.
"You wanted to see me, Mr. Elrond?"
"Yes, Bilbo. This is Lisaura Corma, she just enrolled at Rivendell, and I was wondering if you'd show her to her room, maybe give her a tour of the campus, get her aquatinted."
Bilbo's eyes landed on Lisaura, giving a pleasantly appraising look. He smiled and offered her his hand, small and round, but smooth and warm.
"Pleased to meet you Ms. Corma. I'm sure you'll find Rivendell just as homey as the rest of us have."
He smiled at her. A very pleasant smile she thought. Bilbo alone would prove to make Rivendell charming, she told herself as she gathered up her bags and followed him out the door. She gave a quick appreciative nod to Mr. Elrond who gave a friendly wink before returning to the phosphorus glow of his computer screen.
A few cluttered offices and flights of stairs later, Lisaura and Bilbo found themselves on the same cobbled path she had been staring at earlier. Bilbo was rattling away proudly about Rivendell's history, its academic and athletic achievements, and other such trivial matters that seemed of great and prideful importance to Bilbo, but Lisaura wasn't listening. Her eyes roamed hungrily over the entire campus, the exquisitely planned gardens and ancient looking buildings. She was in love with campus at first sight and she knew it. The entire place radiated of, happiness, perhaps? Or peacefulness? Whatever it was Lisaura decided that she liked it, and whatever during the year, even if the students here were cut from the same metal of those at Mordor, she decided she would stay.
They stopped at a large stone building, reminding her of a battlement of an old castle. A chill of excitement ran down her spine as she stared up at the towers on the roof spiraling towards the heavens, banners with Rivendell's crest emboirdered on them, flying from the flagpoles.
"It's like a fairytale" Lisaura breathed quietly, her eyes wide. Bilbo smiled to himself.
"This is the girls dorm. Everyone calls it Avalon though." He chuckled, as if remembering an old memory, then cleared his throat back into seriousness.
"boys aren't allowed in, so here is where I leave you. Arwen's probably in, so she'll show you to your room."
" Arwen.?"
"Oh, She's Mr. E's daughter, and kinda the unspoken head mistress of Avalon. Don't worry, she's real nice. You shouldn't have any problems."
"Mr. E?"
"Yea, Mr. Elrond, the principle."
"You mean his daughter goes here?"
"Yea, sure. Anyway, I gotta go. Soccer practice. Arwen should be coming by the field after a bit if ya wanna tag along, I'm sure she'd love to have you. Then we can introduce ya to the gang. They'll be in all of you're classes, so I guess it'd be a good idea to get aquatinted."
He gave her quick little wave then set off in a jog of the path, towards what looked like a large field. She sighed and looked back up over the façade of her new home. She was beginning to imagine herself pacing atop one of the towers, waiting for a valiant prince to rescue her, when the door opened, shaking her back to reality. A tall girl stepped out, her long dark hair braided neatly behind her. Lisaura immediately recognized her as the girl she saw walking before. Close up, the girl was beautiful, with wide, kid looking eyes and a pleasant smile set on blemish-less skin. An angel, perhaps.. or a fairy.
"Oh, hey. You must Lisaura. Dad just called over, said you were on your way. Where's Bilbo?"
Lisaura motioned to the field where he ran off to, Arwen's face immediately lighting up into a small laugh. Like bells, Lisaura thought.
"Of course. Practice. I'm so glad you came, I almost forgot. Well, I'm sure you'll want to get settled. Then maybe you'd want to watch practice? It's kinda boring if you're not playing. But the guys are definitely worth watching." She gave Lisaura a wicked little grin. "Besides, you'll wanna meet everyone. But, you must be freezing out there. Come in, I'll show you your room."
Arwen stepped aside, and motioned for Lisaura to come in. Lisaura smiled thankfully and toted her and her bags inside. It was warm, despite the largeness of the main room. A fireplace larger than Lisaura's old bedroom lay opposite the door, a roaring fire crackling inside. A dozen or so overstuffed couches, high-backed chairs, and tapestried setees were scattered in some form of a pattern about the room. Large oriental rugs lay between furniture pieces, creating a path towards the stairs leading to the dorms. Lisaura's jaw dropped at the sight. Such places she thought only to exist in fairy tales and ladies home journals. Arwen motioned again for her to her follow as she slowly climbed the stairs. Lisaura obeyed, her eyes confused as to what they should pay more attention to, her guide or her new home.
"You get used to it, I promise."
Lisaura looked at Arwen, slightly confused.
"Avalon. You get used to it. I know my first week here, I kept pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. But I wasn't and you're not either, trust me. It is a little much, perhaps,"
"Oh, no," Lisaura interrupted. "I think it's perfect. It's like all of those old castles from medieval times, you know? All resplendent and everything. You probably think I'm stupid."
"No, no I don't at all. I felt the same way. Everyone did. Rivendell takes your breath away, that's what it's supposed to do. I think if Rivendell weren't so, resplendent, as you put it, it wouldn't serve its purpose rightfully."
"What is its purpose? I thought it was a school?"
"It is. But it's also a haven for many from the storm. People like you and your brother."
Lisaura blushed at this and became very quiet. No doubt Mr. E talked with his daughter about the doings of the school and its students. Lisaura and her brother, she assumed, would be no different now that they were enrolled. However, having her past discussed at the dinner table wasn't all together a settling idea, and she wasn't sure if the thought comforted her, or alienated her more.
Arwen rounded a corner from the landing taking Lisaura down a long hallway that reached lengths on either side of the stairs. Large, heavy-looking wooden doors lined one side of the wall, while a dozen or so wall-high windows cast odd sunlight shadows on the green carpeted floor. Arwen stopped at one of the doors and opened it, stepping aside for Lisaura to go in. Lisaura gasped at the sight. A four-poster bed, with thick velvety curtains sat in the middle of a well-sized room. Nothing near as grand as the main hall, but Lisaura was pleased. Another fireplace sat opposite the bed, a smaller, but no less warm fire spat away, while Lisaura's trunks and baggage lay strewn about the room.
"I'll leave you to get set up. I'll be back in a bit so we can make it to practice before they get all sweaty and gross, alright?"
Lisaura laughed and Arwen smiled at her before gently closing the door. Lisaura walked dazedly about the room for a while, the clean white walls almost shimmering in the fading sunlight. A window near the bed was open, a small breeze fluttering through the opening caused the opaque curtains to flutter over a small bureau. A large rosewood wardrobe stood next to it, and Lisaura was shocked, if not a little bit pleased to find that her clothes had already been hung up. She walked to her trunk and opened them, finding most of their contents to be emptied, save a few boxes and books. She carefully lifted these out and stacked the books on her new desk, next to her bed. The boxes, which held various brushes, and shampoos, and a few picture frames, she shoved into a desk drawer, telling herself she'd worry about that later.
She wandered over to the window to close it, when the sound of shouts and laughter floated through the air. She looked down, and discovered that her window gave her a perfect view of the soccer fields. Ten bodies ran around, a small dot of a soccer ball helpless to their legs. She couldn't make out faces, but the noise seemed to hint at the friendliness of the company. She closed the window, the curtains fluttering to a standstill by the sill, and Lisaura shivered. Her thin T-shirt would not be perhaps the best thing to wear to a windy soccer game. She strolled to her new wardrobe and opened it, looking for a sweater. While rifling through her assortment of clothes, a strange garment caught her eye and she pulled it out for closer inspection.
A silvery dress met her eyes, the likes of which she'd never seen before. It was amazing beautiful, to say the least. The fabric was light and shimmering, trimmed in the tiniest of silver cording. It was the most breathtaking thing Lisaura had ever seen, and her breath caught in her throat as she reminded herself of the soccer practice. She carefully put the dress back, sure it was one of her imaginative daydreams, and grabbed her coat. She bent down to the bureau's mirror checking to see if everything was in order, when a soft knock came at the door. Lisaura straightened up as Arwen gently pushed the door open.
"Hey, you ready?"
Lisaura nodded and grabbed her coat before following Arwen out the door, down the hall and the stairs into the main hall. Lisaura kept her eyes open and her focus on the house's geography. If she was going to be living here for the next few years, she would have to learn how to get around without following Arwen or whoever happened to pass by her door at any given moment. Arwen stopped at the foot of the stairs, and so did Lisaura, but just short of bumping into Arwen. The Principle's daughter smiled and motioned towards the couches, where ten young men, sweaty, dirty and panting were sitting, each one looking appraisingly at Lisaura.
"Lisaura, I would like to introduce you to the soccer team. I figured you might as well know their names before you watch them, try, to play." She gave a quirky grin to boys, who all feigned hurt which gave way to short bouts of manly laughter.
"First of all, boys, this is Lisaura Corma, the new transfer from Mordor."
A general gasp and look of unease swept through the company save one boy with tousled brown hair. Lisaura's face lit up when she saw him.
"Ridley!" She cried. The boy smiled and pushed himself up off the couch he was sitting on and lumbered over to her, his muddy sneakers leaving imprints of the polished wooden floor. Lisaura gently nudged past Arwen, who took to watching with an amused look on her face, and ran to meet Ridley, throwing her arms around his neck. He in turn blushed red and gently pried her off of him, running a hand through his hair in a decidedly "cool" manner.
"Do you know this young man, or do you make it a habit to throw yourself at our soccer players?"
"No, no," Lisaura blushed now too, "This is my brother, Ridley."
One of the players spoke up, a large, muscular looking boy. His eyes unnerved Lisaura, so quick and narrow. They looked over her and her brother distrustingly, and his voice, rumbling deep within his chest, rang as though he spoke the opinion of judgement of the entire group.
"Ridley, you never said you were of Mordor"
"He's not." Lisaura spoke up. The steel in her own, parlor-quiet voice seemed to match his, and suprized her. Her own thoughts of Mordor proved strong enough to let her venture from her quiet ways, even if it was a first impression she was potentially ruining. "Nor am I. We merely attended Mordor for a year, but that does not mean we are of Mordor. We heard that Rivendell was an understanding place, where people were not judged for their past. I find that rumor to be mistaken"
"I'm sure Boromir meant no harm, Lisaura, its just that his tongue runs away with him sometimes, well, most of the time. You mustn't pay any mind to a thing he says." Arwen said reassuringly as she through a stern, silencing glance to Boromir. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and sat back down, keeping his gaze to the fire, away from Lisaura.
"Well, you know Boromir now." Arwen frowned towards his back, then turned to the rest of the company, her usual sparkling smile back on her face.
"Now to the rest of them. First of all, may I introduce the 'hobbits', a self proclaimed group of whiz kids. Honestly, Lisaura, if you ever need anything booky, help with a test, a study buddy, someone to hack into bank security codes," Arwen gave a pointed look a red-headed boy, blushed to match his curls and stifled a laugh, "These boys are your best hope. And you'll never find a closer group. I swear you can never find one without the other. They are, in no particular order, Samwise Gamgee," a short blonde-haired boy stood up, his face, though pleasant and bearing a sheepish grin, was covered in mud, adding a disheveled look to his clownish demeanor. He gave Lisaura a shot nod, and she found that she liked him, and smiled back.
"Meriodoc Brandybuck," a boy with honey colored curls waved spryly, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. The redhead, who was sitting next to Meriodoc, elbowed him in the ribs warningly, then smiled up at Lisaura, giving her a smaller, shyer wave. Lisaura grinned back, and gave a little wave in return.
"The redhead malcontent would be Pippin Took, and then the infamous Baggins' brothers, Bilbo, whom you know, and Frodo."
Bilbo all but jumped to his feet, beaming pleasantly, as usual.
"Hello again Miss Corma. I hope you found everything alright?"
"I did Bilbo, thank you."
"Good. Oh, this is my little brother, Frodo. Frodo, this is Miss Corma."
A brown haired boy stood up then. Lisaura's eyes stuck to his in a strange way. She couldn't look away from him to save her life. His face was young, but had the gentlest lines of care painted onto his eyes. He smiled, well, the corner of his mouth tugged upward at the corner, sending a light into the warm, browns of his eyes. There was friendliness there, tenderness, but something else as well, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She blinked, breaking Frodo's spell over her, for now, and she managed to mumble some form of a coherent greeting.
"So, there you have them, Merry, Pippin, Bilbo and Frodo. Then there's Gilmi," The stocky looking boy she saw from Elrond's window, nodded to her as he wiped some mud from his cheek.
"And then last, but never least, Legolas, the poet laureate of Rivendell."
A tall, lithe boy stood up and gave a short, almost courtly bow. It looked good on him. Although he was thin, Lisaura could see the build of muscles straining underneath his shirt. His face too was smudged with dirt, but even through the grim, he was, well, beautiful. His skin, creamy and pale, almost glowed. His almond shaped blue eyes were fathomless, and Lisaura found herself drowning in them. The rest of the room seamed to drop away, and she was surrounded by his clear blueness, floating in it. She smiled, the first real smile she'd given anyone in a long time, and he seemed to smile back as well, then something unexpected happened. The blue began to swirl, to cloud, until it became a pitch black void, swallowing her. She opened her mouth to let out a scream, something to flag down the roomful of people to her aid, but her mind swirled into the darkness, leaving Lisuara to collapse onto one of the rugs, and the rest of the room, to lunge to her side.
Chapter one.
The mechanical, yet comforting click of computer keys was the only noise that disturbed the pristine silence in Mr. Elrond's office. Lisaura looked around as the spry, dark-haired man peered intently at the glowing screen before him. The walls were a beige color, much like the rest of the school or, what she had seen of it. Various diplomas and plastic-gold awards hung on the walls over heavy looking Mahogany bookshelves, crammed with large, ancient-looking tomes. A pleasant room, at lest to Lisaura it was. Outside the long window next to the desk, a brisk autumnal breeze bristled through the stark, bronze and gold leafed trees. A few figures strolled along the cobbled paths between the school buildings. A boy with long, almost white blonde hair was tossing a ball back and forth with a shorter, stocky looking boy. Behind them a tall, dark haired girl was holding hands with a dark-looking boy. Lisaura wondered if they were all friends, a quiet, compact little group, a merry band, like the ones she had read about in books. She imagined them all riding on horseback, being chased by looming shadows and fire breathing monsters, swords drawn, hoofs clapping like thunder on the pebbled path beneath. She couldn't help but smile as her mind's eye watched the quiet cluster below her, swathed in light jackets and mufflers transform into fighting elves and warrior kings. Mr. Elrond brought her attention back to the office as he spun around from the computer to face her, a copy of her transcripts in his fingers.
"Well, Miss Corma it seems that all of your paperwork is in order. I would like to welcome you to a Rivendell School. I am sure that you and your brother will find Rivendell precisely what you need."
"I am sure I will, Mr. Elrond, thank you."
"Your brother, Ridley, I believe is already in class. I will ask one of our students if he wouldn't mind showing you to your room."
Mr. Elrond rang a buzzer on his desk, and softly muttered to his secretary to send Bilbo Baggins in. Lisaura shifted uncomfortably in her seat, silently wishing Mr. Elrond had left her to her own devices. She would much rather wander about the exquisite campus on her own than with a guide. And she never liked a fuss being made over her, even if the purpose was reasonable. Quicker than a flash though, the door opened and Bilbo stepped inside, quietly shutting the door behind him.
Bilbo was short, not dwarfed, but his shoulders barely touched the doorknob. His face was round and pleasant looking, topped with a mess of honey-colored curls.
"You wanted to see me, Mr. Elrond?"
"Yes, Bilbo. This is Lisaura Corma, she just enrolled at Rivendell, and I was wondering if you'd show her to her room, maybe give her a tour of the campus, get her aquatinted."
Bilbo's eyes landed on Lisaura, giving a pleasantly appraising look. He smiled and offered her his hand, small and round, but smooth and warm.
"Pleased to meet you Ms. Corma. I'm sure you'll find Rivendell just as homey as the rest of us have."
He smiled at her. A very pleasant smile she thought. Bilbo alone would prove to make Rivendell charming, she told herself as she gathered up her bags and followed him out the door. She gave a quick appreciative nod to Mr. Elrond who gave a friendly wink before returning to the phosphorus glow of his computer screen.
A few cluttered offices and flights of stairs later, Lisaura and Bilbo found themselves on the same cobbled path she had been staring at earlier. Bilbo was rattling away proudly about Rivendell's history, its academic and athletic achievements, and other such trivial matters that seemed of great and prideful importance to Bilbo, but Lisaura wasn't listening. Her eyes roamed hungrily over the entire campus, the exquisitely planned gardens and ancient looking buildings. She was in love with campus at first sight and she knew it. The entire place radiated of, happiness, perhaps? Or peacefulness? Whatever it was Lisaura decided that she liked it, and whatever during the year, even if the students here were cut from the same metal of those at Mordor, she decided she would stay.
They stopped at a large stone building, reminding her of a battlement of an old castle. A chill of excitement ran down her spine as she stared up at the towers on the roof spiraling towards the heavens, banners with Rivendell's crest emboirdered on them, flying from the flagpoles.
"It's like a fairytale" Lisaura breathed quietly, her eyes wide. Bilbo smiled to himself.
"This is the girls dorm. Everyone calls it Avalon though." He chuckled, as if remembering an old memory, then cleared his throat back into seriousness.
"boys aren't allowed in, so here is where I leave you. Arwen's probably in, so she'll show you to your room."
" Arwen.?"
"Oh, She's Mr. E's daughter, and kinda the unspoken head mistress of Avalon. Don't worry, she's real nice. You shouldn't have any problems."
"Mr. E?"
"Yea, Mr. Elrond, the principle."
"You mean his daughter goes here?"
"Yea, sure. Anyway, I gotta go. Soccer practice. Arwen should be coming by the field after a bit if ya wanna tag along, I'm sure she'd love to have you. Then we can introduce ya to the gang. They'll be in all of you're classes, so I guess it'd be a good idea to get aquatinted."
He gave her quick little wave then set off in a jog of the path, towards what looked like a large field. She sighed and looked back up over the façade of her new home. She was beginning to imagine herself pacing atop one of the towers, waiting for a valiant prince to rescue her, when the door opened, shaking her back to reality. A tall girl stepped out, her long dark hair braided neatly behind her. Lisaura immediately recognized her as the girl she saw walking before. Close up, the girl was beautiful, with wide, kid looking eyes and a pleasant smile set on blemish-less skin. An angel, perhaps.. or a fairy.
"Oh, hey. You must Lisaura. Dad just called over, said you were on your way. Where's Bilbo?"
Lisaura motioned to the field where he ran off to, Arwen's face immediately lighting up into a small laugh. Like bells, Lisaura thought.
"Of course. Practice. I'm so glad you came, I almost forgot. Well, I'm sure you'll want to get settled. Then maybe you'd want to watch practice? It's kinda boring if you're not playing. But the guys are definitely worth watching." She gave Lisaura a wicked little grin. "Besides, you'll wanna meet everyone. But, you must be freezing out there. Come in, I'll show you your room."
Arwen stepped aside, and motioned for Lisaura to come in. Lisaura smiled thankfully and toted her and her bags inside. It was warm, despite the largeness of the main room. A fireplace larger than Lisaura's old bedroom lay opposite the door, a roaring fire crackling inside. A dozen or so overstuffed couches, high-backed chairs, and tapestried setees were scattered in some form of a pattern about the room. Large oriental rugs lay between furniture pieces, creating a path towards the stairs leading to the dorms. Lisaura's jaw dropped at the sight. Such places she thought only to exist in fairy tales and ladies home journals. Arwen motioned again for her to her follow as she slowly climbed the stairs. Lisaura obeyed, her eyes confused as to what they should pay more attention to, her guide or her new home.
"You get used to it, I promise."
Lisaura looked at Arwen, slightly confused.
"Avalon. You get used to it. I know my first week here, I kept pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming. But I wasn't and you're not either, trust me. It is a little much, perhaps,"
"Oh, no," Lisaura interrupted. "I think it's perfect. It's like all of those old castles from medieval times, you know? All resplendent and everything. You probably think I'm stupid."
"No, no I don't at all. I felt the same way. Everyone did. Rivendell takes your breath away, that's what it's supposed to do. I think if Rivendell weren't so, resplendent, as you put it, it wouldn't serve its purpose rightfully."
"What is its purpose? I thought it was a school?"
"It is. But it's also a haven for many from the storm. People like you and your brother."
Lisaura blushed at this and became very quiet. No doubt Mr. E talked with his daughter about the doings of the school and its students. Lisaura and her brother, she assumed, would be no different now that they were enrolled. However, having her past discussed at the dinner table wasn't all together a settling idea, and she wasn't sure if the thought comforted her, or alienated her more.
Arwen rounded a corner from the landing taking Lisaura down a long hallway that reached lengths on either side of the stairs. Large, heavy-looking wooden doors lined one side of the wall, while a dozen or so wall-high windows cast odd sunlight shadows on the green carpeted floor. Arwen stopped at one of the doors and opened it, stepping aside for Lisaura to go in. Lisaura gasped at the sight. A four-poster bed, with thick velvety curtains sat in the middle of a well-sized room. Nothing near as grand as the main hall, but Lisaura was pleased. Another fireplace sat opposite the bed, a smaller, but no less warm fire spat away, while Lisaura's trunks and baggage lay strewn about the room.
"I'll leave you to get set up. I'll be back in a bit so we can make it to practice before they get all sweaty and gross, alright?"
Lisaura laughed and Arwen smiled at her before gently closing the door. Lisaura walked dazedly about the room for a while, the clean white walls almost shimmering in the fading sunlight. A window near the bed was open, a small breeze fluttering through the opening caused the opaque curtains to flutter over a small bureau. A large rosewood wardrobe stood next to it, and Lisaura was shocked, if not a little bit pleased to find that her clothes had already been hung up. She walked to her trunk and opened them, finding most of their contents to be emptied, save a few boxes and books. She carefully lifted these out and stacked the books on her new desk, next to her bed. The boxes, which held various brushes, and shampoos, and a few picture frames, she shoved into a desk drawer, telling herself she'd worry about that later.
She wandered over to the window to close it, when the sound of shouts and laughter floated through the air. She looked down, and discovered that her window gave her a perfect view of the soccer fields. Ten bodies ran around, a small dot of a soccer ball helpless to their legs. She couldn't make out faces, but the noise seemed to hint at the friendliness of the company. She closed the window, the curtains fluttering to a standstill by the sill, and Lisaura shivered. Her thin T-shirt would not be perhaps the best thing to wear to a windy soccer game. She strolled to her new wardrobe and opened it, looking for a sweater. While rifling through her assortment of clothes, a strange garment caught her eye and she pulled it out for closer inspection.
A silvery dress met her eyes, the likes of which she'd never seen before. It was amazing beautiful, to say the least. The fabric was light and shimmering, trimmed in the tiniest of silver cording. It was the most breathtaking thing Lisaura had ever seen, and her breath caught in her throat as she reminded herself of the soccer practice. She carefully put the dress back, sure it was one of her imaginative daydreams, and grabbed her coat. She bent down to the bureau's mirror checking to see if everything was in order, when a soft knock came at the door. Lisaura straightened up as Arwen gently pushed the door open.
"Hey, you ready?"
Lisaura nodded and grabbed her coat before following Arwen out the door, down the hall and the stairs into the main hall. Lisaura kept her eyes open and her focus on the house's geography. If she was going to be living here for the next few years, she would have to learn how to get around without following Arwen or whoever happened to pass by her door at any given moment. Arwen stopped at the foot of the stairs, and so did Lisaura, but just short of bumping into Arwen. The Principle's daughter smiled and motioned towards the couches, where ten young men, sweaty, dirty and panting were sitting, each one looking appraisingly at Lisaura.
"Lisaura, I would like to introduce you to the soccer team. I figured you might as well know their names before you watch them, try, to play." She gave a quirky grin to boys, who all feigned hurt which gave way to short bouts of manly laughter.
"First of all, boys, this is Lisaura Corma, the new transfer from Mordor."
A general gasp and look of unease swept through the company save one boy with tousled brown hair. Lisaura's face lit up when she saw him.
"Ridley!" She cried. The boy smiled and pushed himself up off the couch he was sitting on and lumbered over to her, his muddy sneakers leaving imprints of the polished wooden floor. Lisaura gently nudged past Arwen, who took to watching with an amused look on her face, and ran to meet Ridley, throwing her arms around his neck. He in turn blushed red and gently pried her off of him, running a hand through his hair in a decidedly "cool" manner.
"Do you know this young man, or do you make it a habit to throw yourself at our soccer players?"
"No, no," Lisaura blushed now too, "This is my brother, Ridley."
One of the players spoke up, a large, muscular looking boy. His eyes unnerved Lisaura, so quick and narrow. They looked over her and her brother distrustingly, and his voice, rumbling deep within his chest, rang as though he spoke the opinion of judgement of the entire group.
"Ridley, you never said you were of Mordor"
"He's not." Lisaura spoke up. The steel in her own, parlor-quiet voice seemed to match his, and suprized her. Her own thoughts of Mordor proved strong enough to let her venture from her quiet ways, even if it was a first impression she was potentially ruining. "Nor am I. We merely attended Mordor for a year, but that does not mean we are of Mordor. We heard that Rivendell was an understanding place, where people were not judged for their past. I find that rumor to be mistaken"
"I'm sure Boromir meant no harm, Lisaura, its just that his tongue runs away with him sometimes, well, most of the time. You mustn't pay any mind to a thing he says." Arwen said reassuringly as she through a stern, silencing glance to Boromir. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it and sat back down, keeping his gaze to the fire, away from Lisaura.
"Well, you know Boromir now." Arwen frowned towards his back, then turned to the rest of the company, her usual sparkling smile back on her face.
"Now to the rest of them. First of all, may I introduce the 'hobbits', a self proclaimed group of whiz kids. Honestly, Lisaura, if you ever need anything booky, help with a test, a study buddy, someone to hack into bank security codes," Arwen gave a pointed look a red-headed boy, blushed to match his curls and stifled a laugh, "These boys are your best hope. And you'll never find a closer group. I swear you can never find one without the other. They are, in no particular order, Samwise Gamgee," a short blonde-haired boy stood up, his face, though pleasant and bearing a sheepish grin, was covered in mud, adding a disheveled look to his clownish demeanor. He gave Lisaura a shot nod, and she found that she liked him, and smiled back.
"Meriodoc Brandybuck," a boy with honey colored curls waved spryly, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. The redhead, who was sitting next to Meriodoc, elbowed him in the ribs warningly, then smiled up at Lisaura, giving her a smaller, shyer wave. Lisaura grinned back, and gave a little wave in return.
"The redhead malcontent would be Pippin Took, and then the infamous Baggins' brothers, Bilbo, whom you know, and Frodo."
Bilbo all but jumped to his feet, beaming pleasantly, as usual.
"Hello again Miss Corma. I hope you found everything alright?"
"I did Bilbo, thank you."
"Good. Oh, this is my little brother, Frodo. Frodo, this is Miss Corma."
A brown haired boy stood up then. Lisaura's eyes stuck to his in a strange way. She couldn't look away from him to save her life. His face was young, but had the gentlest lines of care painted onto his eyes. He smiled, well, the corner of his mouth tugged upward at the corner, sending a light into the warm, browns of his eyes. There was friendliness there, tenderness, but something else as well, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. She blinked, breaking Frodo's spell over her, for now, and she managed to mumble some form of a coherent greeting.
"So, there you have them, Merry, Pippin, Bilbo and Frodo. Then there's Gilmi," The stocky looking boy she saw from Elrond's window, nodded to her as he wiped some mud from his cheek.
"And then last, but never least, Legolas, the poet laureate of Rivendell."
A tall, lithe boy stood up and gave a short, almost courtly bow. It looked good on him. Although he was thin, Lisaura could see the build of muscles straining underneath his shirt. His face too was smudged with dirt, but even through the grim, he was, well, beautiful. His skin, creamy and pale, almost glowed. His almond shaped blue eyes were fathomless, and Lisaura found herself drowning in them. The rest of the room seamed to drop away, and she was surrounded by his clear blueness, floating in it. She smiled, the first real smile she'd given anyone in a long time, and he seemed to smile back as well, then something unexpected happened. The blue began to swirl, to cloud, until it became a pitch black void, swallowing her. She opened her mouth to let out a scream, something to flag down the roomful of people to her aid, but her mind swirled into the darkness, leaving Lisuara to collapse onto one of the rugs, and the rest of the room, to lunge to her side.