The Traveler: Chapter Two

Did I forget to close the blinds or something? Ariana could feel the light shining onto her eyelids and the heat from the sun. Then she heard a bird's call and knew something was wrong. "Oh shit." She opened her eyes to a world of green trees and bright blue skies. Oh yeah, something's wrong.

Ariana brought her hands up and rubbed her face. She laid on her back for a few minutes, trying to get her bearings. She followed the line of the trees up to the sky. They were taller then any trees she'd ever seen before. The colors were so vibrate and bright she could almost feel them. All the freaking' colors of the rainbow.

She sat up and rubbed the back of her neck. Her fingers caught the chain of the necklace. The memory of the women's face and the creepy images that had appeared in her sink came flooding back to her.

She winced as a pain in the back of her head throbbed, the beginning of a brutal headache to come. She didn't know what was going on. She couldn't remember any woods like these around her apartment. Nothing in the whole state of Ohio looked like this. After a few minutes of confusion she stood up and dusted off her jeans and tank top.

Well, standing here isn't going to do a lot of good. If I am going to get outta here, wherever that is, I'm really going to need some help. She took a few steps and felt a pain shot through her knee. "Crap!" Her knee gave out and she fell back to the ground. Oh, how I hate you gravity. She sighed and starting massaging her knee. Well this is great. I'm lost in the woods... and my knee has decided to give out on me. She felt a sob building up inside her and pushed it away. She really didn't need blurry vision along with everything else right now. Actually, she was surprised at how calm she was. All that damn violence in the media. Desensitizing bullshit.

It was at this moment that she felt eyes on her. She lifted her head and looked around. She couldn't see anyone, but that didn't mean someone wasn't there. Her gaze lingered on a bush on her right, but she didn't see anything, and began massaging her knee again.

After a few minutes her knee felt better and she decided the only way to find out was to test it. She stood up and put some of her weight on it. It held, and she took a step. Well, that's a plus. She turned around and looked behind her. All she saw in both directions was forest. She didn't know which way to go. All I need is a sign... preferably one that says "Civilization - This way."

She sighed and pulled a quarter out of her pocket, then she pulled off a shoe and pointed it one direction. "Ok, shoe is heads, tails is no shoe." She flicked the quarter into the air and watched it spin. Then she watched as an arrow flashed through the air, pierced the quarter and slammed it into a tree in front of her. "Hey!"

She moved to turn and look behind her when she felt something hard and cold against her neck. She heard soft breathing from the person behind her. Whoever it was wasn't even breathing heavy. Great, I've been here twenty minutes and now I'm going to die.

"What are you doing out here? Who are you?" she heard a soft but strong voice ask. She couldn't believe that the person who owned that voice could be holding a dagger to her throat at the moment.

"Um, I don't know what I'm doing here. As odd as it might sound, I kinda just dropped in, and I don't know why. I can't explain it because I don't even know the answer." She hoped this stranger would realize that she wasn't a threat and let her go. The idea of the blade so close to her throat wasn't the greatest feeling in the world.

He seemed to understand that she wasn't going to hurt him, so he pulled the dagger away and she heard it return to it's pouch. She let out a sigh of relief and she heard him take a step back.

She bent over and slipped her foot back into her sneaker, and then she turned to look at her mystery marksman and was momentarily stunned by the blonde haired man in front of her. He wore a tunic of greens and browns. His hair was pulled back from his face on either sides by a braid down his back. He stood before her, his shoulders held back proudly. He looked almost godly to her.

* * *

Legolas had been walking through the woods, singing to himself and becoming spellbound by the silence when he heard Ariana's "Oh shit!" He walked up to the road and came upon a short, blonde hair girl sitting in the middle of the road. He crouched down behind a bush to watch this new being in his woods.

He watched her look around the woods. Her face was full of confusion and beauty. He did not know why he trusted her face already but his feelings were set. She stood up and for a second, it looked as though she was going to take a step towards him, when she let out a cry and fell back onto the ground. He'd almost stepped out from behind his cover, but he did not know this girl, and knew it would be foolish to leave his cover for her.

Her hands moved to her left knee and she began massaging it. Her face was now filled with pain. He could see an aura of pain around her knee. He wanted nothing but to help her and take away her pain. He didn't understand it. He didn't know who she was, or where she was from, but he already felt drawn to her.

After a few minutes, she stood again. He watched her test the knee and smiled when she took a few steps with nothing more then a slight limp.

The next thing she did confused him. She pulled a sliver disk from her pocket and then pulled off her a shoe and pointed it down the road to Mirkwood. He became nervous. Maybe he shouldn't trust her; she didn't look like an elf, or any other creature that he'd ever meet. She then said some strange words and threw the disk into the air. He pulled out an arrow and sent it hurling into it. He watched as her face showed her disappointment and then he moved towards her and pulled out his dagger. Before she could turn towards him he placed the dagger at her throat. How could I have been so wrong about her?

* * *

Ariana had to stop staring at this man so she dusted off her jeans again and looked about the woods. After a few minutes of studying the same leaves she looked back to him. What the hell has happened, she thought to herself as she watched him studying her.

"Where are you from?" Legolas asked her again. Her answer before had confused him. "Why do you say you 'dropped' in?"

She noticed how his hand never strayed far from his knife. She knew she didn't want it pointed at her throat again, but she knew he wouldn't pull it on her again, though she didn't know why.

"Because that's what happened. One minute, I'm in my…." She looked at him. His ice blue eyes were locked on hers. "… apartment, looking into my sink and then a picture formed. The picture was filled with flames… I think I blacked out, then I'm here, in the middle of no-where with arrows flying by my head." He listened to her every word and said nothing.

She sighed and felt that same sob again in the back of her throat. After saying it out loud, she seemed even more pitiful then before. She felt a tear on her cheek. "I don't know what to do," she whispered. He watched her sink back to the ground and pulled her knees to her chest. Great first impression, Ariana, she thought to herself as she covered her face with her hands.

* * *

Legolas dropped to his knees beside her. Her cries pained him. He'd only met her moments before and already felt such a deep connection, though he could find nothing that caused it. He now only wanted to soothe her pain, to protect her. No, he hadn't been mistaken about his instincts. He never should have pulled his dagger on her. He placed his hand on her back and told her he would try to help her in anyway he could. He rubbed her back and waited for her sobs to stop.

He watched as she wiped her tears and then she looked up into his eyes. Her eyes engulfed him; they folded around him and pulled him to her. He couldn't stop staring into them.

* * *

His eyes, they are so beautiful, Ariana thought. The deep blues of his eyes hypnotized her. They reminded her of the old cliché of the sea after a storm, but that was exactly what they looked like. After a silent moment of looking into each other eyes Ariana finally looked away. She could feel herself blushing. When she looked back she could see a faint smile on the man's face.

"There is something that could help," she said as the stranger helped her up off the ground. When she was standing she began to finger the pendent. She did it without even realizing it. The bead stayed its dark greenish color, almost as though it was sleeping.

"What is that?" he asked as he walked to the tree with his arrow. He had turned to the tree before she'd begun to play with the necklace. Ariana watched him pull it out; the quarter actually had a hole through the middle. Damn, she thought and she released the charm.

"When I was looking into the flames, I saw this face." She stopped and looked at him. She didn't know how to describe the women who had appeared in the sink.

Legolas turned to her from the tree and looked down the road towards Mirkwood. "What did it look like?"

She took a moment to collect her words. "It was a woman. She had long blonde hair, and, well, she was probably the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen." She paused and thought about the eyes. "But something was weird. Her eyes were filled with fire." She looked Legolas in the eye, "It seemed like she hated me."

Ariana watched Legolas' brow crease as he thought about this. She looked down the road the way he had been looking and saw nothing too important.

When Ariana looked back to Legolas he was staring at her. "Who you described, it sounds to be Galadriel the Lady of Lótiren." He paused and looked down at the ground. "But why has she brought you here?" he asked himself more than her.

Now that Legolas knew this girl was here for a reason, that it was Galadriel who had brought her here; he wanted to get her to Lothórien quickly.

Ariana shrugged to his question. She was just as lost as him, maybe a little more. Who in the hell is Galadriel?

"I'll help you to Lothórien. If it is Galadriel who has brought you here, it must be important." He turned and stepped down the path in the direction Ariana's shoe had been pointing. She fell into step beside him.

She smiled at him and said, "By the way, my name is Ariana Korvec."

"And I am Legolas Greenleaf, Lady Ariana."

"Oh, please. Just Ariana."

****Notes****

Yay for chapter two! I wish I had a sign that said 'Civilization - This way.' [All disclaimers and warnings can be found at the beginning of the first chapter.]