Hi! This is my first fiction posted on ff.net, as you can probably tell. Like I said in the summary, I tried not to make is stupid, but I may have failed. Just a warning.
Attention: About a year ago, there was a fiction up in the LOTR section. It was a real-person fiction (which would explain why it suddenly disappeared) about Orlando Bloom having to live in New York with a bitchy girl who seems to hate his guts and he can't figure out why everybody else seems to love her. If anyone knows the story and/or the author, please let me know!!!
Disclaimer: I very much own Vista and, though I very much wish I did, I do not own Haldir. He remains the figment of the amazing imagination of the honorable John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. If I was making money off of this, you'd know about it.
-Nataku
Vista walked dejectedly down the street. The heavy Seattle rain pounded down on her and she was vaguely pleased that she'd put on her water-proof shorts on. It rained here, even in the summer. But at least the rain was warm, then.
Her mom'd just called her at work. Matt, her best friend back home in Ohio, the one person who knew her the best, who'd seen every possible aspect of her personality and survived, was dead. He had been driving home after a weekend camping and had been T-boned at an intersection. Matt'd died on impact.
He's dead. Matt's dead. And we always thought I'd be the first to go. Goddamn drunk driver.
She wandered the city for hours; soaked to the bone and shivering. But she didn't want to go home. Not yet. She just wanted to...walk. Night fell and still she walked. By now she was completely numb. The rain was still falling.
Then, it wasn't the rain that was falling. It was Vista.
The earth fell away, and she was falling through the stars. Or, that's what it looked like. Soon, however, she was falling the way you usually fall: down. The sky righted itself and she could see trees, fields, and mountains below her. Down and down she fell. The ground rushed up to meet her, faster and faster. She was headed for a particularly large forest. Great. She could see the ground through the leaves and branches. There was no way to survive this.
She hit.
***************************************************************************************************************
Vista's POV:
Okay, that was a pure trip. I must have fallen asleep, or run into something. All I know is that I ache and don't want to open my eyes, for fear of where I might be. Then, I heard voices. They were talking in some language I'd heard before, but I just couldn't place it. It was two guys. They seemed to be confused as to who (or what?) I was. I could tell that, though I was lying on the ground, I was still soaking wet. Then it happened.
I had just decided to 'wake up' and see what was going on, when a hand, *shudder*, started feeling me up.
***************************************************************************************************************
They didn't mean any harm. They were simply...unsure of what she was. She looked like either human or Elf, but she was just dressed so strangely. So, one had reached out to touch her, make sure that she was indeed real. The first thing he encountered was her breast. That felt real enough. The next thing he felt was the fist connecting with the side of his head, knocking him senseless. His companion yelled for help, then tried to subdue the...creature.
He didn't get too far. Before he could saddle an arrow, she kicked out, breaking his bow neatly in half. She spun and lashed out with the other foot, landing solidly with his midsection and depriving him of oxygen. He could hear the footsteps of reinforcements...if he could just hold her here for a little while longer...
He approached her, trying to communicate with her, stalling. It soon became apparent that she didn't understand Elvish. And since he had not been instructed in the Common Tongue, he couldn't talk to her. He held up his hands in surrender and spoke gently, trying to calm her. But she was like a cornered animal, eyes wide and body tense. She turned to run and nearly impaled herself on half a dozen arrows which were trained on her.
***************************************************************************************************************
They were saying something to her. She couldn't understand them, but she guessed they wanted her to take off her jewelry. After the rest of them'd gotten the drop on her, they'd marched her to a building on the outskirts of what looked like a city in the trees. Then, Vista'd realized where, incredably, she was.
"Lothlorien!" she'd muttered. She hadn't read the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but Matt had read them all the time and told her all about the world of Middle Earth.
One of the Elves had looked at her, surprised. He'd shot some rapidfire Elvish at her, but she'd just shaken her head.
They'd tried to tie her, but even the dozen of them couldn't keep her in bonds for long. So they'd just taken her to this....place. She was awfully cold; the blowing wind added to the near-winter temperature and she was still very wet.
She didn't understand why they didn't speak in what was called here the Common Tongue. Vista thought she looked very much human.
She complied, but soon was deprived of her shoes, also. They were quite fascinated. So she stood, freezing, while these stupid Elves fiddled with her things. They hadn't even told her to empty her pockets, of which she had several.
Then everything changed. They suddenly stood straight, standing at attention. A cold, stern voice spoke from behind her.
"She is shivering. Has no one given her a cloak?"
ENGLISH...COMMON TONGUE!!!!
A cloak was draped over her shoulders from behind. It warmed her immediately. She drew it closer, up under her chin. It smelled good, like the owner had had it for ages and had left himself imprinted on it. Vista turned to face her unseen benefactor.
He was taller then her (no surprise there) with long blonde hair and dark eyes. He was looking at her curiously.
"Do you understand the common tongue?" he asked gently.
She nodded. There wasn't much else she could do. Her mind knew that Elves were...well endowed in the appearance department, but she just wasn't prepared for it to be proven thus. Sure, the Elves that had captured her had been attractive, but none so much as this one. He was obviously a person of some importance; a captain of some sort maybe. He carried himself slightly taller then the others and seemed to Vista to have a slight ego short-circut. Not that it was revelent at the moment.
He noticed her lack of shoes and glanced at the Elf holding them, who immediately gave them back to Vista. She took them back and dropped them on the ground as if intending to put them on, then stopped. She looked up at the 'captain'.
"I've heard tell of Elvish hospitality, even where I come from. And yet I have only experienced common courtesy thus far, and even that was long in coming."
The Elf seemed surprised. One eyebrow arched and a smile played on his lips.
"You are right, mortal. Please forgive the...hastiness of my guards. They were simply unsure of how to treat you: friend or otherwise. Your sudden appearance in a pile of leaves was not expected."
Vista interrupted, "Vista."
The Elf blinked.
"Vista. My name is Vista." She held out her hand.
He blinked again, then, "Lady Vista, I am Haldir, Captain of the
Lothlorien Guard."
Thought so. Then, instead of shaking her hand like she expected, he bowed over her hand and kissed it gently. She yanked her hand back, unnerved. He looked up quickly.
"Did I hurt you?" he asked.
Vista shook her head, "No, no. It's just... no one's ever done that before. It's not something you see in general social interaction anymore. At least, not where I'm from."
"Then I hope I did not offend you."
Vista shook her head again, "No, you didn't. Just caught me off guard is all."
"Where are you from?"
Ummm...."Let's just say I'm from a different time. And leave it at that."
One of the guards made a choked-off noise, like he wanted to ask a question but stopped himself.
Vista sighed, "I know, it's not the most satisfactory answer, but it's all I can handle right now."
Suddenly, the world reeled most violently. Vista leaned forward and gripped the table she had piled her jewelry on moments before.
"I..I think I need to lay down..." she muttered. Her legs refused to hold her any longer and gravity worked it's evil against her once again.
But before the ground could, once again, lay bruises on her, a pair of strong arms broke her fall, pulling her against a warm chest. The last thing that registered before unconsciousness over took her was the same scent that was on the cloak.
***************************************************************************************************************
Vista awoke sometime later. The room in which she lay was beautiful. Vaulted ceilings in a pale blue with Gothic style windows that showed the trees of fall. The bed was comfortable, but her body was telling her, in no uncertain terms, that she'd been laying still for too long. Slowly she sat up and realized that she was no longer clad in her own clothes. Instead, she was dressed in a nightgown of light, but warm fabric.
Vista stood, releaved that the room didn't spin like she thought it would. Her clothes, obviously washed, lay across a chair. Her jewelry on the bedside table, her shoes at the foot of the bed. She wandered to the window and out onto the terrace. It wasn't warm out, but even the wind wasn't enough for her to shiver. The Enya song, "May It Be" popped into her head as she surveyed the view.
Then it hit. She may never get home to hear that song. Eventhough it was beautiful here, 'here' wasn't home. Even though her life wasn't going according to plan, she still wished for it back.
Vista didn't know how long she stood there. She thought about her childhood home; her apartment; her school friends; her plans for the future. The memories ran like water through her head and exited through her eyes.
***************************************************************************************************************
Elves passing by the House of Galadriel were struck by a beautiful and heartbreaking sight. They had all heard of the strange woman who had appeared out of the air. Now, she stood on a terrace, sunlight from a cloudbreak streaming down on her, giving her the appearance of an angel. The wind gently whipped the sleeping-gown around her body; toussling the hair about her face. Her hands were placed on the wooden rail of the terrace and tears were freely flowing.
***************************************************************************************************************
A gentle, warm hand covered hers.
"You are ice. Come inside." murmured a familiar voice.
Vista didn't move. "I wanna go home."
She turned to face the owner of the voice, "And I doubt you can get me there."
Any resolve she'd maintained until then melted away. She sank to the ground, sobbing. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs, rocking back and forth.
Haldir didn't quite know what to do. He'd come up to see if she was awake, and now she was curled up on the terrace crying as if her heart would break. If she stayed out any longer, she might fall ill. He hesitently approached her and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"You must come inside. You'll not want to get sick."
At first she didn't respond. Then she raised her head slightly and looked at him through tear clouded eyes.
"Don't touch me."
Okay, he didn't expect that. Were all human women like this? He was about to just walk away. She could go inside if she wanted to. But one more look at her convinced him unerringly otherwise. This woman had fallen into the middle of somewhere obviously foreign to her. She hadn't been welcomed; instead treated like a spy. She'd woken up in yet another unfamiliar place. She didn't deserve to get sick, even if she did seem determined to do so.
"I won't allow you to sit out here and freeze."
He bent and easily picked her up once again. She struggled at the first touch of his hands, but sorrow and fear made it impossible to both cry and fight. She went limp, bringing her hands up to her face and burying her face in her wrists. He laid her gently back on the bed and pulled the blankets over her. He was about to leave when she flung them back, stood, and headed for the door. He stepped in front of her, blocking her way.
"You must stay inside."
Vista stared up at him balefully, "You are in no position to tell me what I can and can't do. I've been inside for too long; I need to be outside."
He shook his head, "You will get sick. You must stay inside."
With one last, long look, Vista took a step back. Then, suddenly, she was around him and half-way out the door. He reached out and snagged her arm, pulling her back into the room. She let out an angry cry, and with the force of the follow-through of his pull, flung up her fist and punched him in the nose. His head snapped back with the force of the blow and he could feel the blood begin to flow.
He reached out and grabbed her other arm and held her still, staring her in the eyes.
"Lady Galadriel bid me watch you, for fear that you might harm yourself."
She glared at him, fresh tears falling down her face, "I don't care what you want, what Lady Galadriel wants, what anybody wants. I don't want to be here! Did that ever occur to you? I want to go home."
Oh, loophole.
"Well, you cannot go home if you are dead, now can you?"
He let her arms go and they stood in the doorway for some time, staring warily at each other. He glanced away first, looking down and quickly back up.
"So you will stay inside, then?"
She sighed, "I don't have the energy to argue with you right now. I'll stay put."
Vista walked over to the bed and flopped down, staring at the ceiling. She was asleep within seconds. Haldir smiled to himself and, once again, pulled the blankets over her. He caught a glimpse of himself in the reflective glass of the window. His face was covered with blood from his nose.
Should go get cleaned up.
