When the 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: In which the travelers reach Rivendell. The girls get to meet Gandalf and then they both have extremely awkward encounters with people. Read on to see how and why.
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 bookverse. Credit to Heather's father and our friend Wesley as story consultants.
Thank you to all who reviewed. And yes, the title is supposed to make sense. Enjoy.
Chapter Three
Rivendell and Psychedelic Thrill Rides
~*~*~*~
A mere hour after Frodo's send off to Rivendell and the news about Randy had been given, the fact that 'Frodo had been severely stabbed by a Nazgul' seemed to finally slam into place in Mia's mind. Rowan had been expecting this occurrence (as the events had been far too rushed for information to set in properly) but had not been expecting a full-blown panic attack bordering on hysteria.
Though knowing Mia and her tendency to stress out over easy essays, Rowan really ought to have expected that.
"Okay, that's it," said Rowan, just as Mia's voice took on a high-pitched tone. The not hysterical girl had warned the hobbits and Strider that maybe Mia might go ballistic, and up until that point, it had been easy to ignore Mia's frantic ranting. "I'm shutting her up."
"How?" Merry asked.
"You'll regret asking." Rowan turned and walked over to Mia. "Yo, Mia. Snap out of it!"
Mia blinked but did not snap out of it. "Did you see the wound?" she demanded.
"Oh, for the love of St. Valentine, you knew that was going to happen!"
"Yes, but I didn't think it would be that bad!" Mia exclaimed, going for the high-pitched voice again.
Rowan thought a second and slapped Mia. The other girl yelped and the boys turned around to look at them curiously. "Are you quite finished?" Rowan hissed.
"Erm. Yes. Yes, I am."
Not a solution Rowan liked using on a normal basis but it did work.
The traveling party, including the ever-lovable Bill the Pony, arrived at Rivendell not two evenings later. (Panic was a great motivation.) Much to their relief, Frodo was already there, being treated for his wounds, and the river had defeated the Nazgul. For the time being, as they were immediately informed—the Nazgul were in a limbo between life and death. They could not die.
Even so, it was good to know that the Wraiths were gone for the moment, Rowan surmised.
They were all given nice rooms, as well as time to clean up, and to the great fortune of the teenagers, new clothes. Rowan was not happy about the fact that the clothes were dresses yet declined to make a statement at the time. Hopefully it would be temporary. But Mia was keeping her sneakers. She didn't like the boots. They were nice boots yet she didn't feel quite comfortable without her normal shoes.
The next day, Frodo awoke and they got to meet Gandalf the Grey.
Mia had been looking forward to the meeting with enthusiasm until Rowan yanked her aside and hissed, "Gandalf's gonna know!"
"Know what? That Randy's a bloody twit and we're not too sorry he's gone, only sorry that we can't make sure his butt stays kicked?"
"Well, obviously—but Gandalf's gonna know we're not from Middle-Earth." Rowan waited a moment for that bombshell to sink in and dropped the next one. "He might send us back."
Mia had a wide-eyed panic look going for her as they finally reached the room where Gandalf was sitting. Going back to their time was not a good thought, not in the very least. She and Rowan were having fun—incident with Randy the Ringwraith non-withstanding—and had thus far not made too much of a difference in the story's progression. Have to stop thinking about this as a story, Mia scolded herself as they entered Gandalf's sitting room. It's reality now…though for how long?
"Ah, it is the two girls, formerly part of a trio that included a nuisance of a boy," said Gandalf solemnly. The girls nodded, both of them feeling tongue-tied. The wizard's eyes twinkled. "Who still have the foot wear from a place outside of Middle-Earth."
"You had to keep your shoes?" Rowan asked, staring at Mia's feet in shock.
Mia smiled sheepishly. "I have my reasons."
Gandalf just looked at them, almost as if he were trying not to smile. "I'm sure you do. How did you two come to Middle-Earth?" he asked. The teens stumbled over each other's sentences as they explained their accidental 'fall' in and subsequent events. He only interrupted them twice. The first was to ask what the fall was like.
"What it was like?" Rowan repeated, stalling for a little time. "Well…it was kind of like a psychedelic trip from the sixties." Mia giggled. Gandalf blinked. "I mean a lot of swirling, bright colors…kind of like heading into a…" Sheesh, she couldn't say vortex or black hole here could she?
"Whirlpool," Mia supplied. "I didn't like it that much." She made a face. "I mean, the colors were interesting but it felt too much like some ride at Great America or something. You know, one of those things you hate the first time around and want to experience it again when it's over. The fall, I mean."
"You've only been to Great America once!"
Mia nodded. "And I was nauseated the whole time." Rowan had to admit that her friend was right on two accounts—that Mia had been sick at Great America and that the fall into Middle Earth was a lot like a roller coaster thrill ride. Except without the safety straps or knowing that there was an end to it.
Of course, the hard landing hadn't made it any easier. No wonder Mia had made the connection between the trip between worlds and something she disliked immensely.
"All right," Gandalf cut them off before they could get into discussing Great America any more. Wisely (of course) he had chosen not to ask what Great America was. "Do you believe that you have a purpose here?"
Rowan said, "Honestly? We don't know."
Gandalf looked at them. "You do not? I find that hard to believe. You are great warriors, are you not?"
The girls exchanged looks of surprise. This wasn't something they'd expected at all. "Define warrior," said Rowan after a second. Mia gave her a look. "I mean in the here and now Rivendell context."
"The circumstances of your arrival were very telling. The unexplained falls, the encounter with the Nazgul, and your assisting the hobbits without being told. All of this spells out only one reason for being here: You were summoned here to help with the destruction of the One Ring," Gandalf said. "I should know. I summoned you."
Rowan was shocked.
"Well, we didn't expect that Saruman the phlegm-head did," Mia muttered and clamped a hand over her mouth. She looked mortified.
Gandalf chuckled. "You see."
"Right…but there's just one problem." Rowan ignored the look Mia was giving her. "We're not warriors just yet. We're still in training." That was a somewhat accurate statement—they were still in school.
Gandalf raised his eyebrows. "Then how do you know of Saruman?" he asked Mia. "And 'Mr. Underhill?'"
"Luck and visions," Mia said firmly. She was not going to say 'I read it in a book', which her standard answer for anything else. That would lead to complications that were best left avoided. "We did not expect any of this so do not count on them as always being right—I mean, we ran into trouble right away, with the Nazgul!"
"And your friend had the misfortune to join the Ringwraiths," Gandalf said slowly. "I find that very odd. And you say he was not stabbed by the same sort of blade that young Frodo was struck by?"
Rowan shook her head. "No, sir. We would have noticed—last time we saw Randy before his going all Nazgul was at the Prancing Pony. Only problem he had then was a minor concussion."
"And how did that come about?"
"Strider punched him."
"I see." Gandalf looked deep in thought for a moment, before suddenly changing the subject completely. He asked them about their 'training' and their 'studies,' thankfully not touching on every day life. It seemed to surprise him that Rowan had studied archery while Mia had not. He said, "How is that possible? Obviously you two are the same age."
"Mia is not as advanced as I am," said Rowan, ignoring Mia's annoyed glare. "In the way of fighting skills, I mean. Her studies are more based towards the literary side of the spectrum."
"Very much so," Mia agreed, looking appeased. "I always meant to study archery, though…but my, uh, other studying time got in the way." How exactly did one explain six pages of math homework and essays to a wizard, anyway?
Gandalf glanced at her. "I see," he said slowly. Before either girl could worry about him following up on that line of questioning, Gandalf dismissed them. There were other things that he needed to take care of.
As they left, Rowan murmured, "This is so Kid In King Arthur's Court, y'know?"
"Yeah. Except Camelot did not include huggable hobbits," said Mia with a grin. "Bye!" She ran off.
Rowan froze, digesting that statement, and then sighed, looking down. "Mia…hobbits…huggable? Good grief," she muttered. "Should have known this was a bad thing."
How could she have forgotten that Mia's favorite characters from Tolkien's world were the hobbits—any and all of them? (Except maybe the Sackville-Bagginses.) And leaving Mia alone with the hobbits (considering the fact that the hobbits were just adorable) was just a bad idea.
"I better go after her," Rowan muttered, running after her friend.
~*~*~*~
Rowan actually found Mia in Elrond's library ("I got lost!") looking at the different titles. The only trouble was that the books Mia was interested in happened to be written in Elvish—a language that neither Rowan nor Mia could read fluently. They both left, one more disappointed than the other, and ran into Strider on the way.
"Hello, Aragorn," Rowan said brightly.
Mia looked heavenwards. "Ro-wan…"
Strider (or Aragorn) only smiled at them. "From what Gandalf has said, I would not be surprised if you knew any of my other names," he said and laughed when Mia chose to look past his right shoulder. "I suppose that answers my question!" In a more serious tone, he said, "I am sorry about what happened to your friend."
"So are we," Mia said politely, and in a different tone, "Though if joining that nightmare was his choice, then he deserves his fate."
"So quick to condemn?"
"No. He chose it, after all," said Mia wryly, and nodded in farewell. Aragorn returned the nod before walking into the library. Mia smiled. "Man who would be—Rowan," she said sternly, pulling her friend along. Rowan had just stood there, grinning, during the entire conversation and frankly, Mia found that a bit aggravating. "That's enough."
"Enh. Strider's cool."
Mia rolled her eyes. From Aragorn to Strider in less than five minutes—next they'd be calling him Estel or Elessar. "And hot too, according to your book," she grumbled good-naturedly, and snorted at Rowan's startled blink. "You know what I mean. Let's go find the kitchen." That got a look. "WHAT? I'm hungry. It's not about the hobbits!"
"Yeah, right."
"No, really, it's not."
"It so is!"
"It is so not!"
The girls were still debating pleasantly over the kitchen point when they turned into a wide, formal looking corridor that appeared to lead to any and all rooms on the floor. Mia sped up a little in order to check down an adjoining hallway, while Rowan continued at her normal, sedate pace…
…and promptly bumped into someone. Oops, Rowan thought, and glanced up. And then back down near immediately. "Oh, um, I'm sorry," she said to her shoes. No plans to look up again, as blushing would probably ensue. "Wasn't, uh, watching where I was going."
Noticing that Rowan had suddenly stopped, Mia turned and failed to stifle a wicked grin. Shoulda guessed, she thought, leaning against the wall casually. This looked to be an interesting day.
"It's all right," said the elf Rowan had bumped into. He said it very politely too. "I was likewise preoccupied. What is your name?"
"Um, Rowan Aran," Rowan said to her shoes. Yes, you are being very cool and casual, her inner voice said acerbically. Look at the shoes, yes, that'll make a good impression. Sad thing was, inner voices had a tendency to be right.
"Greetings, Rowan Aran. I am Prince Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood," said the elf.
Rowan looked up for all of a nanosecond. "Oh, uh, nice to meet you," she said. Yes! I am talking with the Prince of Mirkwood…must ask Mia exactly how far that is from here…this is so great. One problem—Why can't I look directly at him? There lay an interesting line of questioning.
Legolas smiled at the top of her head. "The same," he said. Rowan got a happy-glowly type of feeling in her stomach (and a couple fluttery butterflies, too) at that. A moment tinged with mutual awkwardness passed before Legolas said, "Pardon me, but I must take my leave."
"Right, yeah, I gotta go…right. See you later," Rowan said, keeping her eyes on the floor as she moved to catch up with Mia. Legolas murmured something, but neither girl heard it—he was too far away by then. Perhaps it was best that they did not hear, as Legolas was not sure he would have wanted Rowan to overhear.
Mia grinned at Rowan, rather wickedly. "Have a nice conversation with your shoes, dear?" she teased.
"Oh, be quiet!" Rowan grinned, slightly giddy, and tried not to think of what expression she must have at this point in time. "I bumped into—"
"Yeah, yeah, Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thenduil, Prince of Mirkwood, yada yada—I did hear you," Mia said, exasperated.
Rowan looked at her friend, vaguely surprised. "How are you so calm about this?"
"I've no reason—YIIPES!" Mia was suddenly tackled.
"Mia," said Rowan, trying not to laugh (and failing horribly) at the sight in front of her. "I think two hobbits just jumped you."
Mia sighed. "I noticed. Can I breathe, please?" she said, attempting to sit up and getting a good look at her attackers. She smiled despite herself. "Hi, Merry. Hi, Pippin. Question—just what are you DOING?"
"Frodo's awake—well, you must already know that—and we thought you might want to say 'hello' and oh, Bilbo Baggins is here," Pippin chattered, helping Merry yank Mia to her feet and then dragging her off.
"ROWAN! HELP!"
Rowan laughed and followed, already plotting her 'revenge.'
~*~*~*~
Merry and Pippin proceeded to lead Mia to the room in which Frodo was resting. Mia tried (and failed) to conceal her feelings when she saw Frodo lying weakly on the bed. I'm gonna kill that Ringwraith even more into the in-between world, she thought. They visited with Frodo for a moment, making sure he was well. Merry and Pippin disappeared at some point, as did Bilbo. Leaving Mia and Rowan in the room with Frodo.
The next time Mia looked around, Rowan was gone.
"Damn it, Rowan," Mia said under her breath.
"Is there something wrong…I'm sorry, what's your full name?" Frodo asked.
"Um, it's Mia Regan," Mia said as she suddenly became very interested in the pattern on the bed's comforter.
"Well, Mia Regan, something seems to be upsetting you." Great, how do I say I'm stressing out about being in the same room as one of my favorite hobbits and am upset about the whole Randy thing? Mia thought in exasperation. "Are you all right?"
This she could answer. "Oh…yes, I'm fine. Just upset about my friend," Mia said, side-stepping the other issue neatly.
"Oh…ouch!" Frodo winced.
Mia jumped. "Frodo! Are you okay?" Dumb question. "Is there something I can do?" Better.
Frodo gave her a small smile. "I'll be all right, Mia. My shoulder still hurts, that's all."
"Right, right," Mia said softly, wanting to smack herself. "Is there anything I can do—seriously?"
Frodo looked a bit sheepish. "Well…" Mia felt a bit nervous and then almost smacked herself again. She'd been hanging around the school perverts for too long. "Could you…maybe…fluff my pillow?" he asked shyly.
Mia sighed, more with relief than the aimed for exasperation. "Of course I can," she said, leaning over to fluff up his pillow behind him.
"Thank you, Mia."
Mia blushed. "No problem, Frodo," she said, stepping back and meeting his eyes. Their gaze stayed locked for a minute, starting off a panic reaction in Mia's brain. Do not stare do not stare, this is the Ringbearer, this is FRODO, you happen to have a longtime respect for this…no, he DOES NOT LOOK CUTE LIKE THAT! she told her inner voice sharply.
Time to get out of there.
"Well, I should be going…find out where Rowan got to and all of that…okay?" With that said, Mia started to leave the room, quite unaware that Rowan had been listening the whole time. While she planned for revenge for the 'talking to shoes' incident,' naturally.
As Mia rushed out the door, Rowan stuck out her foot to trip her. Not only did Mia trip, but did a quite ungraceful yet harmless face plant into the floor. The culprit of the crime almost burst out laughing but remembered in time to keep her mouth shut. Can't let them know I was planning that, Rowan thought gleefully.
"Damn it, Rowan," Mia said to the marble, thankful that she was not severely injured.
"So, have a nice talk with Frodo's pillow?" Rowan asked mockingly.
"OH—Rowan, you little…" Mia was cut off by Frodo's voice.
"Mia—oww." The hobbit had to be sitting up. Both girls wondered what exactly was up with that (Mia with panic, Rowan with a certain sort of 'gonna-getcha' glee.) "Are you all right? What's happened?"
Hearing his distress, Mia righted herself and said, "I'm fine, Frodo. It's just my friend being silly." She gave Rowan an evil look.
"Oh, all right then," said Frodo, sounding just a little amused. Mia vowed death on someone. "I suppose you'll both be leaving now?"
Rowan smiled brightly. "Yes, I think we've taken up enough of your time, Mr. Baggins. But we'll be back!" She grabbed Mia's arm and hauled her out of there.
~*~*~*~
"We'll be back? What is this, Terminator?" Mia exclaimed once they were well out of earshot. Her face was just a bit red. "And that was very rude…not to mention mean!"
"So? I thought it was funny."
Mia looked as if she were getting a headache. "It was not funny. Not in the least…I'm leaving." She stormed off.
Rowan snickered. Wonder what happened…
To Be Continued – in Chapter Four. Where the Council takes place, someone gets annoyed and some confusion abounds. Reviews and commentary are welcome.