When the Worlds Cross

by doofi

*Updated 2/9* Co-Written with Heather. What would you do if you were a part of the War of the Ring? Three ordinary teenagers are about to find out.

14. Chapter Thirteen Everything at Once

When the Worlds Cross

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—unless they appear with permission.

Summary: Everything bad starts to happen all at once…and preparations for darkness may or may not go through.

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.

Warning: Heavy spoilers for the end of Two Towers and the beginning of Return of the King.

References and quotes included two quotes from Disney's Atlantis: the Lost Empire and Disney's Snow White.  Plus a reference to Star Wars, the WWF, and Madonna's song Beautiful Stranger.  (Yes, there is a reason for all of that.) If we missed any, let us know.

Reader thanks following chapter.

Chapter Thirteen

Everything At Once

~*~*~*~

It was time to consider his options.  Randy was beyond angry at his former friends for what they did—delaying him and speaking in roundabout circles when he had tried to spy on them before the fight.  Not to mention getting hit with an arrow.  There was just no getting over that, even if it had been a blunt arrow.  Time to retaliate against the meddlers.

A part of Randy protested this.  A very small part, of course; the one that still cared about his friends and worried about the outcome of the battle, which was turning dark.  Randy ignored this small, insignificant bit of himself (was it called a conscience?)  I suppose I could just kill Gollum, he thought to himself as he urged his retrieved steed to Mount Doom.  But then the girls would interfere and make certain that the blasted Ringbearer drops the One Ring into the fire…

He would have to 'take care' of both of the girls, and then deal with the hobbits and the Gollum creature.  A simple plan, granted, but…  Don't simple plans often work best?

Randy rather thought so.

The part of him that had been protesting went oddly quiet.

~*~*~*~

Dark times had at last descended upon Middle Earth.  Aragorn, the brave man, had taken command of the armies of elves, men, and had led them to the borders of Mordor.  Gimli was no less ready to fight for the freedom of Middle-Earth than he had been back when the quest had started (it seemed so long ago), when the Fellowship had been solid and the hobbits innocent and Legolas was still a 'blasted elf', not a friend.

And said friend was not appearing as if he worried anymore, but Gimli knew that the elf prince was concerned about where Rowan and Mia had ended up at.  All knew that Frodo and Sam had gone on to the dreaded Mount Doom and were probably nearly there by then (Gimli hoped—the Ring needed to be destroyed now and fast, if the upcoming battle was of any indication).  And Merry and Pippin were among the soldiers of the army, having come quite a long ways from their prankster beginnings.

Gandalf seemed pleased about this.  And the old wizard was remarkably close-mouthed about where the girls had gotten to when Gimli had asked before the Host had set out to Mordor.  The wizard had only replied, "They are going to where they are needed."

"And is that Mordor?  Or are they in Lorien?" Gimli had asked.

"You know the answer to that."

"Aye, I do, but I think that elf prince back there wishes he doesn't."

"One wishes a lot of things in these times."

And then the wizard had gone to speak with Aragorn, who had taken up the mantle of his heritage at long last.  Gimli knew that had been a long time in coming, as had the defeat of Saruman.

Once this battle was over and they were relaxing victorious (Gimli did not believe that the forces of good would lose), there would be many stories to tell and remember.

~*~*~*~

Journeying through Mordor with only a rather small map (thank God for the Complete Guide) was not fun.  Dodging a few Orc groups was also not fun—and Rowan wondered just what those guys were doing.  The main army was heading for the Gates of Mordor with the Nazgul to do battle with the hosts, if she remembered correctly.

Mia said she was.  Which made Rowan feel just a little guilty about the fun that was waiting for them.

"And…oh, no, no, no.  Not another climb!" Mia exclaimed, interrupting her little explanation on the battle plan and staring up at Mount Doom.  Her face looked drawn with horror and resignation.  "Oh, noooo."

"You knew it was going to be here," snapped Rowan, debating pulling out her sword or keeping the bow out.  She opted for the former, in a way—didn't take the sword out, just got it ready.  "So stop whining."

"I was merely speaking for the feet," said Mia, rolling her eyes.  Her sneakers were actually holding up pretty well.  Rowan made a note to ask where they'd been bought.  "Now that we're here, what do we do?"

"Well…we need to get to the cave that Frodo will—"

"I know that," said Mia, exasperated, "but are we going up now or do we want to wait until the rest get here?"

Rowan frowned thoughtfully.  "Oh, I see what you mean."  She considered this, while Mia grumbled about swords and scanned the area for Randy.  No sign of him—and that was pretty bad.  He had to be coming soon, because the hobbits (and Gollum) were almost at the dreaded mountain.  "Just in case it changes the outcome, we should not let Frodo know we're here," she said at last.  "Least they know, the better."

Mia nodded.  "Fine, but how exactly do we accomplish that and still manage to keep the ever not punctual Randy from offing someone?"

"I say we go up until we find a hiding place…there's gotta be one somewhere around here," Rowan mused, trying not to laugh at the correct assessment of Randy.  The boy-turned-Nazgul was only punctual when it was class time.  "Then wait and see who comes by.  Once Frodo, Sam and Gollum—don't say it, Mia—go by, we'll follow to keep an eye out for Randy and make sure that everything turns out the way it is supposed to."  She took a deep breath.  "Whoa, I talk a lot."

"Yes, you do, but it sounds like a good plan."  Mia eyed the steep mountain, not happy in the least.  "Let's get moving, no time like the present."  She paused.  "Oh, and Rowan?"

"Yeah?"

"It's 'Smeagol.'"  Mia started climbing up the mountain, laughing.

Rowan glared at her.  "I said don't say it."

~*~*~*~

Sam could not help but worry almost frantically about his master—once again.  Frodo seemed to be getting weaker as they progressed to the foot of Mt. Doom.  Oh, dear, and I thought that getting rid of the Stinker and his mumbling would do us better…  "Master Frodo, are you all right?"

"The Ring.  It weighs down heavily…"

"Perhaps I should hold it for a—" Sam began, quite logically he supposed.  But Frodo got such a fearful look on his face.  Oh, no, Sam thought as Frodo denied the request.  Is the Ring corrupting him?  Sam hoped not.  It would make the task all the more difficult.

"Here we are," said Frodo, looking up at the mountain gloomily.  It looked larger when one was standing at the foot, Sam noted, than it had in the distance.  "It is…"

"Almost over, no thanks to that Stinker!" said Sam vehemently.  He still felt as if they were being followed, for all that he'd chased Gollum off.  "He meant for that spider to kill you."  But someone had already gotten to the spider, with things of Elvish make.  Sam wondered who that could be almost constantly (almost as much as he worried about Frodo).  None of the others in the Fellowship would know of their exact path to Mount Doom…except the girls, of course.  But why would the girls go to Mordor?  That was not logical and they were smarter than that.

Sam hoped.

Frodo stumbled.  Sam helped him up.  "Come on, Master Frodo, it is almost over."

"Yes, I know," Frodo nodded wearily.

Oh, dear.  It was time to truly inspire the Ringbearer, even if Sam felt a little guilty about what he was about to say.  The gardener said cheerfully, "And when it is, we will be able to see everyone again and we will have so much to say—they'll want to hear of all our adventures, you know."

"Yes…even Mia?"

Sam nodded, trying not to smile.  "Yes."

"She said she could not say if I lived or died," Frodo said unexpectedly.  Sam blinked at him, perplexed.  His master had never mentioned this before, and the strangeness and histories that Mia had spoken off had been mentioned more than once on the journey.  One would think that that would have been spoken of!  "And I have wondered—"

"Mr. Frodo, you will live.  I am sure of that," said Sam firmly.  "Miss Regan must have been worried about the perils of this journey, nothing more."

"You are certain?"

"Yes.  Now, let us go up this cursed place and finally complete the journey."

Frodo nodded.

And Sam continued to help his master up the side of the mountain.  It was a wearying climb, and at one point, Sam carried Frodo up (all the time unaware of more than one follower) to the crag.  It would be a miracle if Frodo made it to the edge without falling.

At long last, they reached the top, and could see into the inner fires of the mountain.  Even they looked evil, like the cursed afterlives some spoke of.  Sam said, "Here we are—you can finally get rid of that awful thing."

"No—no, it's mine, you can't have it!" Frodo yelled suddenly, an expression of twisted dementia on his face.  Sam watched in horror as Frodo put the Ring on and disappeared.

~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, Mia and Rowan had found a small pile of rocks to hide behind and watched as the Ringbearer and his companion (Mia wondered if Sam had had to hold the ring) struggle up the mountain.  Rowan had to restrain Mia from running out to help them at one point, whispering something about scaring the living daylights out of the heroes not being the best of ideas.

And now the two girls were watching as Smeagol ran after the hobbits, intent on stealing back his Precious.  Grateful that she couldn't actually hear what the creature was muttering, Mia glanced back down the mountain almost absently and saw Randy hurrying his butt up Mount Doom, sans horse but with blade.  Oh gah!  Oh, gah oh gah…this is not GOOD…  For a moment, Mia looked towards the hobbits, but then shook her head, dumping the pack.  She could only see one option that would save the future—and she didn't like it.

"All right, Mia, this is it," she muttered, getting to her feet.  Rowan glanced up, worry crossing her face.  "Any last words?"  Mia sighed.  "Yeah, I really wish I had a better idea!"

Shoving her terror into the back of her mind, Mia raced from the hiding place and actually managed to perform a flying tackle on Randy.  The boy-turned-Nazgul seemed surprised and went down easily enough, but fought back before she had a chance to get her dagger out.  They tumbled down the mountainside, scuffling and wrestling for weapons.

Mia heard Rowan shout after her.  Then she managed to disentangle herself from her former classmate and scrambled to her feet, trying to get a grip on her dagger.  Randy followed suit and Mia stepped back quickly.

That didn't work.

Randy managed to punch her in the face while trying to stab her with the Morgul blade.  Ow! Mia thought indignantly as she crashed to the ground, clutching at her face.  That hurt, you dork…

And then Rowan appeared, to save the day and the dorky weapon-incompetent girl.  About time, Mia thought, rolling over and getting back up.

~*~*~*~

"Mia!" Rowan yelled, drawing her sword.  Her friend paid her no heed and somehow managed to tackle Randy to the ground.  Oooh, cool…or, not cool, she amended as the two fighters started sliding back down the mountainside.

This was just great.  Now she had to save Mia's butt too.  Rowan groaned as she ran after them.  "Great, it's the WWF smack down in Middle Earth!"

And that was a bad joke.  Rowan watched as Randy took the hilt of his Morgul blade and hit Mia in the face.  She fell back as Rowan ran towards Randy the full Ringwraith.  I knew this was coming, I just knew it…why didn't we plan for this…

Her ambush might have worked, given the fact that Mia was taking her sweet time getting to her feet and Randy was watching that adversary.  Too bad he saw Rowan coming, otherwise she would have gotten a good clean slice at his side.  What ended up happening was Randy raised his blade and blocked her chance.

"No, you don't," Rowan growled, jerking her sword away and trying to get in another hit.

Randy blocked that one too.  Since when had he gotten so adept at sword fighting?  Rowan didn't remember him taking the fencing classes offered at school…

She could see Mia watching the battle in horror.  Rowan didn't blame her, since it was two of her best friends locked in what looked like a fight to the death.  Maybe Randy was not exactly the person he used to be but he still looked like Randy.

That doesn't mean anything, though, Rowan thought as she turned her attention back to the battle that seemed more of a stalemate.

Randy would swing, and Rowan would block.  Rowan would see an opening but Randy was too swift.  Many rounds were spent like this, simply parrying and blocking.  Ever now and then, Randy would get a good swing in but it would only cause a scratch to Rowan—not enough to get her down for the count.  Sometimes she would hit him with the blunt end of her sword.  No real damage was being done at first—which was getting a bit annoying.

Finally, the both of them backed away in pure exhaustion, glaring at each other.  Both had cuts and bruises.  It looked for a moment as if there would be a truce.  But then again, one of them was a Ringwraith.  And the words 'morals' and 'honor' were now unfamiliar to him.

Randy lunged forward without warning and stabbed Rowan in the leg while she tried to regroup her thoughts.  She saw this coming but had no time to react before the Morgul blade reached her.

Just as the blade pierced her skin, they both heard a scream from somewhere up the mountain.  It sounded like Mia.  This distracted Randy just enough to let Rowan thrust up her Elven blade, which she had lowered to waist level.  It went deep into Randy's gut.

Rowan, shocked by what she'd done, pulled the blade free.

Randy fell to his knees, and looked at Rowan with mournful eyes.  She stared back, horrified, and tried to say something, anything.  She couldn't.  Randy continued to stare at her, and then lay down with the hood of his Nazgul cloak covering his face.  Rowan almost cried, believing that she'd killed Randy.

Then something odd happened.  The cloak suddenly flattened, as if the body within it was no longer there.

"What have I done?" Rowan whispered to the wind.

She had no time to grieve or speculate about strange things, though.  As Rowan looked around, she could not find Mia.  And the mountain was starting to shake, just the littlest bit.

The mission.  Have to complete the mission.  With a heavy heart and pained leg, Rowan rose to go after Mia.

~*~*~*~

While Rowan and Randy fought it to the death—hopefully not—Mia turned slowly and headed back up the mountain to the crag, hoping to see that everything was proceeding smoothly.  She regretted her decision the instant she got within twenty fight of the crag.  Sam had been knocked over and Smeagol was grappling with an invisible force.  Almost too close to the edge.  Oh gah…this is not happening, this is not happening…

Smeagol bit down on something that looked a lot like thin air.  Mia let out a shriek—the kind she saved for worse instances than roller coasters—as Frodo became visible again.  Maybe she had shrieked a word; maybe it was simply a wordless scream.  She wasn't sure and didn't really care.  Frodo sank to the ground.

Dimly, Mia heard Sam cry out—it was as if there was an ocean roaring around her ears—at the sight of Frodo's missing finger.

"Myyy Precioussssss," cried Smeagol, holding the One Ring triumphantly.

Enjoy it while it lasts! Mia thought as she ran towards the hobbits, not caring if her eye was throbbing or her left side hurt.  She supposed she may have yelled it but any sound was drowned out as Mount Doom shook and Smeagol toppled over into the fires, screaming all the way.

"Holy H-E-hockey sticks!" Mia muttered, wincing as she skidded to a stop next to the edge.  Poor Smeagol, she thought, once again feeling sorry for the obsessive creature.  What a horrible end to a rather nasty life…and get me away from these fires, yeesh!

Sam looked at her in shock.  "Mia?!"

Uh-oh.  Mia grinned nervously.  "Uh, yeah?"

"What are you—why did—"

There was another crash and the two of them nearly fell over.  "Love to stay and chat, but we may have to haul tush!" Mia yelled over the noises.

Sam nodded, for once not questioning her vernacular, and tugged at Frodo, who was still lying on the ground.  The ex-Ringbearer did not move.  "Mr. Frodo!" the gardener yelled in alarm.

Mia swore extensively, using a vocabulary that her English teacher definitely would not approve of.  Sam stared at her in utter surprise.  "Don't look at me like that.  Frodo's in shock, I just know it!" she said over the sound of the mountain rumbling again.  "Get him up, c'mon!"

She grabbed Frodo's other arm and proceeded to assist Sam in getting Frodo out of the cave.  The incessant shakings of the mountain nearly knocked them off of their feet at least twice, but Sam was determined to get Frodo out and Mia was determined to get both of the hobbits out.  That system worked out fairly well.

On the way to the slopes of Mount Doom, the rather tired trio ran into a rather stunned looking Rowan.  "Hi!" said Mia brightly but sarcastically.  She felt that the hobbits were moving just an iota too slow.  "Sometime today, Sam, would be—where the hell is Randy?!"

Stumbling down the mountain with them, Rowan pointed at an empty Nazgul cloak that lay lonely on the dark, shaking ground.  "There," she said simply.

"He disappeared?  He dis-a-freaking-peared?" Mia shrieked.  That's it—she was going insane.  "He's not Obi-Wan!"

"Who?"

"Never mind!  I'll tell you later!"  Mia stumbled as they continued to run down the mountain.  She noticed that Rowan was injured and the wound seemed to be causing the shorter girl some trouble, but neither girl said anything about it.  Or they wouldn't have, if Rowan hadn't hissed with pain as she scrambled not to trip over a rock.  And Mia hadn't gone around with blinkers on her eyes or anything like that.  "Morgul?"

"Yep."

Sam winced in sympathy.

"And they say—whoa, Frodo, hello," she said to the former Ringbearer, who looked around blearily.  Being conscious was good.  Being conscious was what he was supposed to be.  "Stay awake.  Stay aw—Sam, he's not staying awake!"

Sam gave Mia an exhausted look.  "Is this bad?"

He's missing a finger and has gone into shock!  Yes, I would say that this is not a good development! she barely restrained herself from screaming.  Though Mia was having a blank on the issue—been a long time since she'd last had a health or first aid class.  "I can't remember.  Probably," she said in a gasp as the four of them finally reached the foot of Mount Doom.  Not that the ground had stopped shaking, but at least they weren't in any danger of falling into the mountain anymore.  "Rowan, what are you—"

Rowan was squinting at the sky.  "'S just me, or are there flying things coming here?" she mumbled before sitting down.

"Wha—yeahhoo!  Eagles!"  Bit early according to her reckoning, but she so did not care at this moment.  "Tell me, Sam," said Mia, looking at the conscious hobbit.  "How is that we're the awake ones?"  She did not say 'unharmed'—Sam looked a bit battered and her eye was throbbing.  Guess that's what we get for playing the sidekick to their hero…but if Rowan calls me 'Gabrielle' once, she's dead, Mia thought.

"I do not know," said Sam, supporting his master and looking up at the huge eagles with surprised eyes.  "Where did they come from?"

Mia racked her brains, knowing that she remembered the exact reason, and came up blank.  "I think Gandalf sent them?" she suggested weakly as the huge birds landed, and Sam nodded approvingly.  "Okay, how do we get on the eagles?"

The eagles (presumably Gwahir and another one) solved the problem by saying one hobbit and one human pair per eagle.  Mia immediately worried about this—Sam wasn't exactly one to leave his master in a time of crisis—but luckily, Sam was all right with this.  "It is all right," he said for the third time as Mia asked if he was sure he trusted her with Frodo.  "Master Frodo is safe with you and it is the right thing to do."  She gave him a puzzled look.  "Helping one's friends," the gardener hobbit elaborated.  "And you cannot worry about all of yours."

"Oh?"

Sam nodded over at Rowan, who had remained mysteriously quiet during the landing of the eagles.  Mia turned to face her friend, a bit worried about why Sam was saying that they had to help all friends.  Wasn't Rowan the one that stayed tough and thought about relaxing or acting silly a little later?

"Hey, Mia, why are you all green with purple spots?" asked Rowan, squinting.

Apparently not.

"What?" Mia shrieked.

"And why is the lava filled with rainbows?" asked Rowan, peering at a river of lava that was flowing way too close to the six of them for the eagles, Mia, and Sam to feel comfortable.  Frodo, I am so glad that you are unconscious for this, thought Mia.  "Oooh…they're dancing.  And now they're pink."

"Uh," said Mia, helping Sam get Frodo to his feet and staring at her friend in shock.  This was certainly out of the blue.

"Whoa, dude, look at my hand."  Rowan giggled, waving her hand back and forth in front of her eyes.  "So…uh-huh, cool."

Mia smacked her forehead and bit back a yelp.  Ow, headache…  This was so not what they needed.  "Good grief, just get on the eagle!" she shouted, finally getting Frodo up.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Sam, looking even more alarmed than he had a moment ago.

"Extremely long story!"

"…haven't we met, you're some kind of beautiful stranger," sang Rowan as she followed the orders to get on the eagle with surprising dexterity.  Weren't people that were going delirious supposed to be somewhat clumsy?  "C'mon, Sam, old boy, let's get a move on!  Whee!"

Mia and Sam exchanged looks.  "I think I will make sure she doesn't hurt herself," said Sam wisely.  "And you keep a good eye on Mr. Frodo, Miss Regan."

"Please call me Mia—" Only I would say that in a time of danger and crisis! she thought, bemused—"and yessir!"  She saluted.

"…hi-ho, hi-ho…"

Now Rowan was singing a song from Disney's Snow White?  Things were getting extremely surreal.  Mia didn't remember Frodo acting like a Morgul stabbing was a drug-trip-from-60's experience.  If she weren't more worried about getting everyone to a safe place at the moment, she'd probably think about having one of her hysterical reactions.

"First, though, we have to get out of Mordor and stay alive," Mia said to herself, "then I can panic."

To Be Continued…in Chapter 14, where we find out if Mia panicked, if they stayed alive, and if the rest survived.  Please leave any form of commentary in the little box below.

Midnight – thank you very much.  This soon enough? *grin*

Yavanna – we're glad you like the long chapters and the plot.  And as to your question—you MUST be psychic…I hope we answered it!