When Worlds Cross
Co-written by Heather and Jane
Disclaimer: Middle-Earth and its peoples belong to the great J.R.R. Tolkien. Mia, Rowan, and Randy belong to us. Any and all similarities to real life events/people are pure coincidence.
Summary: The trip to Rivendell begins and all goes well, until the reappearance of the Nazgul. Warning for some humor and some not-so-nice surprises.
Authors' Notes: co-written between Jane and Heather, two Lord of the Rings fans that are trying to keep true to the story. First part more movieverse than bookverse, but will soon go to mainly bookverse. Credit to Heather's father and our friend Wesley as story consultants.
Note to Zage—here is where your question gets answered. Thanks to all others who reviewed, btw.
Chapter TwoOf Traveling and Bad Surprises
~*~*~*~
The next few days of travel were uneventful—once they got out of Bree, that was. Randy's disappearance was of little concern to Strider (with good reason) and the hobbits hadn't really met the boy, so they had no personal reason to worry. To tell the truth, Mia was the only worried one. Rowan was a little disgusted by this, as she mentioned the first evening of travel: "Randy was a stuck-up pig who made everyone else's life difficult! What are you worrying about him for?"
"Oh, come on, the Nazgul were there and making a big mess of things. Literally," Mia hissed. Rowan stifled a snort. "We're only lucky if he's not off stabbing Smeagol—"
"You're calling Gollum by his given name?!" Rowan shook her head. "You're weird."
"There's a newsflash. Can I get back to the point?" asked Mia, frowning a little. Her friend stayed silent. "Thank you. As I was saying, we're only lucky if Randy's not off killing bad guys that have to stick around or blabbing secrets to the elves."
Rowan rolled her eyes. "And you wouldn't do the same?"
"Ro-wan. No. Duh. We're screwing up the saga. I am not happy." Mia moved ahead, muttering about missing points and how she was never complaining about walking a scant two miles home again. Rowan shook her head. They weren't doing anything to 'screw up' the saga so far—whatever was different from the books hadn't been their fault.
I hope, thought Rowan.
The journey to Rivendell was proving to be a long one, and thankfully, there were few complaints and problems. Possibly the most persistent one was that Pippin kept complaining about no second breakfast.
He was lucky that he was being cute about it. Otherwise Mia might not have intervened on Rowan's effort to shut him up.
"Don't humans have regular breakfasts, or are you making the effort for us hobbits?" Pippin finally asked Mia in exasperation.
Absently, she replied, "Not really. Most humans do eat breakfast, though I usually don't."
"What!"
Oops. That explanation took a while. (Though was it really Mia's fault if she never had time to get breakfast in between waking up and getting to school?)
They finally reached Weathertop, about six days from Rivendell, and a rather cool hill besides, according to Rowan. (Mia just muttered about aching calves and how comfy walking shoes were a heaven-sent gift.) They decided to set up camp at the top of the hill.
"Do not light a fire," Strider warned them. "For that will draw the Nazgul to you." Mia dropped the stick she'd been holding. "Nor should Mr. Baggins put on that ring again. That would be a…siren call, yes?" He looked at Rowan, who nodded.
"I don't get it," Merry whispered.
Mia whispered back, "It has two definitions and either one involves me making an idiot of myself with funny noises."
"Ooh, I want to hear them."
"No, Pippin!"
Rowan snickered. Got yourself into that mess, Mia…
As the sky darkened, the conversation died down a little, though not after the girls had assured their traveling companions that they were adults. (Mia had made the 'cutting throat' motion when Rowan started to specify age—eighteen was not the coming of age for hobbits and Mia doubted Strider really cared for how old they were.) Once Frodo decided to try to get some sleep, the conversation seriously hit a snag and everyone else either sat around or talked quietly. (The latter in the case of the hobbits.) When Strider stepped off to scout the area, Rowan noticed someone standing at the bottom of the mountain. "Hey, Mia, look."
"Henh?" the sleepy Mia asked blearily. She'd taken Frodo's example to heart and had tried to get some shut-eye.
Rowan nodded. "There. Someone's there."
"A Nazgul?"
"Don't know. Could be."
"Oh, great." Mia got to her feet and looked. "They're climbing."
"I don't like this."
"What's wrong?" Sam asked.
The girls exchanged looks before Mia gestured and Rowan turned to say, "We see something down there. Keep an eye out. We'll be right back." Mia groaned as they grabbed the weapons Strider had loaned them. "What?"
"You just signed our death sentence. Don't you ever watch horror movies?"
"Sorry, I don't believe in the Scream rules of life." Rowan started climbing down and tried not to laugh at Mia's muttered curses. Neither girl claimed to be a super-athlete, though apparently, Rowan was more used to such adventures than Mia was. (Though at least the other girl was being stoic about it.) "Will you come…"
It took only a few minutes to get to the same level as the mysterious figure. Rowan blinked twice. "Randy?" she exclaimed, while Mia looked around nervously.
Randy grinned. "Hey, Rowan. Mia."
"Where the hell were you?" Rowan lashed out immediately. Knowing that Randy was alive did not install any warm-fuzzy feelings for him. "Those guys…"
Mia shivered, hearing something high-pitched on the breeze. "I don't like this."
"Yeah, I got out of there in time. It was kind of wild," said Randy, still grinning. Now it was more of a demonic grin, rather than easy going. Rowan wondered just what he was trying to do. "You hanging out with those hobbits you picked up at the bar?"
"Ahem!"
"Had more luck than you," Rowan snapped.
Randy was still on the page where he grinned like a demonic idiot. "I dunno about that…I'm having a great time," he said.
"Ahem!"
"What, Mia?"
"He didn't have a sword. And since when was it so dark?" Mia hissed, eyes widening as Randy stepped forward, seeming to bring the shadows of the night with him. They had only see that happen once before and at a fair distance, too. She swallowed hard. "Rowan…I think he's a Ring-wraith."
"WHAT!"
At that precise moment, Randy attacked and Rowan had to leap out of the way, otherwise her skull would have been smashed in on the rocks. Randy ended up lunging at Mia, who responded with a kick from the side—something that she'd forced herself to perfect after a unit of self-defense in physical education. Randy fell back and drew a blade.
"Morgul blade," hissed Mia.
"Your grasp on this land is getting better."
"I hope you enjoy the shadow world!"
Rowan looked up at that moment, and saw four other Ringwraiths making for the camp. She yelled, "STRIDER!" and drew the dagger that she'd gotten back in Bree. "See, Randy, we're prepared too."
"Not prepared enough to save the halflings," Randy spat, and would have struck them with the Morgul blade had Rowan not lunged at him at that precise moment. She managed to both dodge his blade and score a hit on his shoulder, which made him hiss and grasp at the wound. And then he gave her the oddest look. "Rowan…ow…what the…you will pay!"
Mia had drawn her dagger (also gotten while in Bree) and might have gotten her own hit in, had Randy not moved. "See?" she hissed at Rowan.
Their little fight was stilled for a moment when a hobbit yelled in horror. The girls exchange a quick look before Mia attempted another kick (this time from the front) while Rowan lunged at Randy with her dagger in hand. It wasn't the most flawless of plans and a bit on the risky side as well.
Their combined efforts of daggers and kicking worked, however, and Randy toppled off the mountain. Wasting no time, the girls ran to the top and joined in the hobbits' efforts against the Nazgul. In his fright, Frodo slipped on the Ring and then into the Shadow World, making him all the more visible to the wraiths.
"Where's Frodo?" cried Merry, having missed seeing that.
Rowan yanked him out of the way from a Nazgul. "Off being invisible, I bet," she said angrily, and looked at the Nazgul that was slowly moving to a corner, then reaching out…and then stabbing down with a blade. There was a voiceless yell and then Frodo reappeared, clutching his shoulder.
"Frodo!" Mia screamed, just as Strider came running back waving torches. He beat the Nazgul back, setting them afire and toppling them off of the mountain much as the girls had done to Randy.
"What's happening?" Sam cried as he and Mia rushed to Frodo's side.
Mia looked at the blade that lay next to the fallen hobbit. "A Morgul blade," she murmured as Strider approached. He picked it up and the blade crumbled in an instant. The hobbits gasped and Rowan felt a bit queasy. "He's going into the Shadow World, isn't he, Strider?"
"Yes," said Strider, not bothering to ask how Mia knew. "We must hurry to Rivendell."
Pippin looked up, worry in his eyes. "Can't we do anything now?"
"Yes, but we must not delay. The Nazgul may return…and fear not for Frodo," said Strider, looking down at the hobbit. "He is not dead."
"He'll be worse than if we don't get a move on," snapped Rowan. They looked at her. "Am I the only one who realizes this?" They shook their heads and Rowan realized that someone was missing. "Mia?"
"Let's go," Mia said from behind her.
Rowan jumped and turned to see Mia holding their backpacks. She groaned. "Mia, that's not fair."
~*~*~*~
The next day was not a good one. Much to Mia's horror, Frodo began hallucinating by noontime. She drew Rowan aside and hissed, "This did not happen in the…"
"I know, I know! What do you think it means?"
"That we're in trouble," Mia muttered. She wasn't happy at all. Too many things were different from the storyline she was familiar with and so far, the excusable differences were now outweighed by the gravity of the inexcusable differences. And who gave Randy permission to go to the Dark Side, anyway?
Strider called to them just then, asking them to watch over Frodo (and the other hobbits) while he looked for a plant that might stop the wound's progress. Mia alternated between trying to remember what the plant was called and worrying about Frodo. "You're almost worse than Sam," Rowan muttered after a moment.
Sam looked up. "Beg pardon?"
"I said that Mia's worrying almost as much as you, Mr. Samwise," said Rowan, seeming surprised that Sam had overheard her. She'd tried to speak as quietly as possible.
Nice save, Mia thought dryly as Strider returned, followed by an elf named Glorfindel. Oh, not again—he's not supposed to show up until we got closer to the river. She decided not to dwell on this irregularity, as the arrival of Glorfindel would lead (hopefully) to a speedier recovery for Frodo.
After introducing the elf to the hobbits, Strider proceeded to tell Glorfindel what had happened to Frodo, with the help of the hobbits. Glorfindel agreed to take Frodo to Rivendell immediately—which was a very good decision, as Frodo was starting to look seriously sick and not just delusional anymore. Truly, he was descending into the shadow world.
"This isn't a good sign," Mia muttered as they got Frodo on the horse and watched them gallop for Rivendell. "I don't like this one bit."
Not looking at anyone, Strider said, "These are dark times. I would be surprised if anyone here enjoyed themselves very much." He said it very quietly, almost to himself.
"Think they'll make it?" said Merry after a moment.
"Yes," said Rowan and Mia at the same time.
"Oh, good."
"What took you so long?" Sam asked, finally voicing a question that must have been bothering him for some time now.
Mia's eyes hardened. "We had to kick Randy's butt."
"Randy? So he lives?"
"I would not call it living," Rowan said angrily.
Strider looked at them, a bit surprised at their vehemence. For all their animosity towards the boy, he had assumed they would be at the very least pleased to know that Randy had survived. "What has happened to your, ah, comrade?" he said, as if he were choosing his words carefully.
"I like to call it registering in the club of the Nazgul," said Mia, eyes still hard.
The three hobbits and the one Ranger stared at the girls in disbelief.
To Be Continued – in Chapter Three, where Gandalf enters the picture and so does the romance subplot. We think. Leave reviews if you like or if you disliked.