Endore
Chapter 1
Benji awoke to the sound of familiar voices. He felt like he was lying on the ground; he was confused. His head was throbbing and his whole body was soar. He kept his eyes shut and his body still and listened to the people to decided if they were a threat or not.
"He must be a spy," Benji heard a gruff voice say. "We must be rid of him. I shall do the job with my axe."
"Nay Gimli," a softer voice spoke, "Though strange looking he may be; he's still an elf. My kin. I sense no evil in him. He shall not be harmed."
"Legolas is right," yet another familiar voice spoke. We will not be harming him, Master Dwarf. He is injured, and there is no proof of him being a spy."
Gimli? Legolas? Elf? Dwarf? What the hell is going on here? Benji felt strong hands grip his shoulders and gently shake him. He hesitantly opened his eyes. Benji couldn't see clearly at first, so he blinked repeatedly until his vision cleared. There kneeling right before him was Aragorn! And there beside him were Legolas and Gimli! Benji's eyes grew wide, his heart raced, and his breathing quickened.
"What is it that ails him?" Benji heard Legolas ask before he squeezed his eyes shut.
What the hell is going on here?! Where the fuck am I?! Benji's mind reeled. What the hell happened?! Realization finally dawned on him as scattered visions of a red truck slamming into his car filled his mind. Car crash. Damn. Well, that's gotta be why I'm in pain, and I probably hit my head and it's causing me to have weirdo Lord of the Rings hallucinations. Okay I'm gonna open my eyes and be sitting in my smashed up car with EMTs all around me. Benji opened his eyes a bit, but to his dismay the 'hallucinations' were still there. He quickly closed them again. Shit. Come Harper, wake up!...My God, what if I'm in a coma?!
"Cael seere raza, lle naiva nid na crome," Aragorn's words jolted Benji from his stupor [Have peace stranger, you shall not be harmed]. Benji's eyes snapped open, and he stared at the three hunters in disbelief.
Did he just speak in elvish? And I understood him?! What's going on?! Benji brought his hands up to his head and felt something strange…his ears were pointed! Benji couldn't believe it. He tugged on them hard, causing him pain and the realization that…Holy crap, I'm an elf! This can't be real! But… Benji darted his eyes, looking frantically from the "made up book-movie characters" to the vast landscape. Everything looked and felt so real. So, I'm an elf in Middle Earth. Benji tried to think of some rational explanation for his situation. Maybe I died. Gimli's words broke off Benji's thoughts.
"Well ELF, who are you? And why are you out here in the middle of the dale?" Gimli asked suspiciously, holding his axe in an aggressive manner. Benji stared at the axe and gulped.
Okay, assuming this whole thing is real and that axe can cut me up into tiny little pieces, I think it would be safe to play along. But what do I say; I'm from a different reality? Gimli would chop my head off in a heart beat.
"You're wasting time, elf. SPEAK," Gimli ordered. Benji didn't know what to do. Suddenly, the useless Lord of the Rings fact that Elves and Dwarves have been in who-knows-how-long of a feud popped into his mind. Benji decided to act how he thought an elf would react to a Dwarf barking orders at them.
"I don't have to answer to you, DWARF," Benji said, sounding authentically angered. Benji began to sit up, propping himself up on his elbows. "Who do you think—" Benji was cut off by a sudden wave of dizziness and he fell back to the ground with a small thud.
"Stay calm stranger," Aragorn advised Benji, but all the while kept a cautious hand on the hilt of his sword in case Gimli's suspicions turned out to be true. "But do tell us who you are, for never in all my days have I seen such an elf." Benji realized that his clothes of the twenty first century, and not to mention his lip ring and blue hair, were definitely not very 'elf like.'
"I'm Benjamin Harper, but you can call me Benji."
"Ben-gee," Gimli snorted, "Strange name for a strange looking elf."
Aragorn sighed at Gimli's childishness and turned his attention back on Benji. "Now before I reveal who I and my companions are, tell me where you are from."
"Uh…" Benji stammered. Might as well be semi-truthful, "I'm from Canton. It's a small town outside of…uh Middle Earth."
"You come from the Undying Lands?" Aragorn guessed.
"Uh, not exactly, I—"
"Enough of this," Gimli cut in, "Now mister elf, tell us are you on the side of Saruman?"
"Saruman? No! Of course not! He's nothing but evil!" Benji thought quickly what to say, and then added meekly, "You aren't servants of him, are you?"
"No, you have no need to worry," Legolas answered. "Clearly you are on the side of good," he said directing his speech toward Gimli in a slight 'I told you so' manner. The dwarf rolled his eyes.
"So the elves of your land have heard of Saruman's treachery?" Aragorn asked.
"Yes, in fact there is a great tale about it," Benji answered hiding his smile. "So you all are against Saruman?" Benji asked, pretending that he didn't know.
"Yes indeed, elendil [elf friend]. I am Aragorn; this is Legolas of Mirkwood, and Gimli son of Gloin." Benji nodded. "Tell us Master Benji, why are you here?"
"Uh, to tell you the truth, I don't know," Benji answered honestly.
"You do not know?" Legolas questioned.
"Yeah, I don't know how I got here or how to get back home. The last thing I remember was being in my car…er…cart and then this surge of pain and darkness, and then I wake up to a dwarf wanting to chop me into pieces."
"Perhaps he was jumped and kidnapped by the Uruk-hai," Legolas whispered to Aragorn.
"Maybe," Aragorn whispered back, and then addressed Benji, "So how you came to be here you do not remember, but do you recall seeing any orcs or more importantly two hobbits?"
Two hobbits? Oh, Merry and Pippin. They're still looking for them. "Hobbits?" Benji pretended to think, "You mean halflings?"
"Yes, yes, elf. Have you seen them?" Gimli asked eagerly.
"No, I'm sorry, but you're the only people I've seen here." Aragorn inwardly sighed then commanded his companions.
"Come Gimli, Legolas, we have wasted enough time here," Aragorn made to leave but Legolas place a hand on his retreating shoulder to stop him.
"Aragorn, we cannot just leave him here," Legolas said nodding his head toward Benji, "without memory, injured, and defenseless. It would not be right." Legolas clearly felt compassion and sympathy for his fellow elf. Aragorn, moved by Legolas's words, nodded his head in agreement.
"All right Master Benji, you may accompany us if you wish, until you remember how to get back to your home," Aragorn told him, "But I must warn you, our journey is indeed a perilous one. The choice is yours."
"I'll go with you," Benji answered, thinking it better to stay with the hunters than to risk being killed by orcs or something worse if he stayed on the dale alone.
"Come then," Aragorn extended his hand to Benji to help him stand up. Benji grabbed hold and stood. He was slightly wobbly at first, but his dizziness soon passed and he stood strait. Aragorn began to walk off but not before he whispered to Gimli and Legolas not to tell Benji anything of the Ring. Aragorn mounted the horse given to him by Éomir and helped Gimli saddle behind him. They started off.
"Are you all right?" Legolas asked Benji.
"Yeah," Benji said stretching a little to relieve his sore muscles, "just a little sore. I'm fine."
"Good, let us catch up with Aragorn and Gimli. We are in search of our friends, Merry and Pippin, the hobbits you were asked about."
The two elves mounted Legolas's horse. Legolas was at the reins, and Benji sat behind him. Benji had never ridden a horse before and tried to hold in his nervousness. He breathed easier as soon as they caught up with Aragorn and Gimli and dismounted. They all stood before a large pile of burned orc carcasses. It took Benji everything he had to keep from throwing up at the sight and smell. Gimli began shifting through the smoldering pile and soon he pulled out a charred belt and dagger sheath.
"It's one of their wee belts," Gimli said sadly, "We failed them." Merry and Pippin dead? No, it can't be. Legolas closed his eyes and quietly said an elvish prayer. Aragorn on the other hand, angrily kicked an orc helmet and shouted in grief as he fell to his knees. As he stared down at the ground in despair something on the ground caught his eye.
"A hobbit lay here," Aragorn said pointing to a spot on the ground, "...and the other." He got up and followed the tracks. Legolas, Gimli, and Benji followed. "They crawled…Their hands were bound." Aragorn rooted through the tough dead grass on the ground and pulled up a small piece of rope, "Their bonds were cut," he said with hope beginning to shine in his eyes. "They ran over here…They were followed. The tracks lead away from the battle," Aragorn quickly followed the tracks and then suddenly stopped, "into... Fangorn Forest."
"Fangorn!" Gimli said astonished, "What madness drew them there?"
Before them lay a vast stretch of a dark menacing forest. Benji sensed something bad about that place. How he could sense it, he did not know. It made him believe more and more that this was all real and that he had truly turned into an elf.
"They may yet be alive," Legolas smiled.
"Come," Aragorn said, "We have no time to waste." Aragorn and Gimli entered the foreboding wood; Legolas kept Benji behind.
"Wait a moment," Legolas said to Benji, undoing one of his belts with a sword sheath. "Come here, you may need this." He skillfully fashioned the belt around Benji's waist. Benji looked at the beautifully carved hilt of the elven sword now hanging at his left side.
"I can't take this," Benji told the elf, "What about you?"
"I have my bow and my other sword," Legolas explained, "T'is a gift, Master Benji, use it well."
"Uh…thanks, Legolas. You can drop the 'master', Benji's fine."
"Very well, Benji. Come now, we search for hobbits." Legolas dashed through the wood, and Benji placed a shaky hand on the hilt of his new sword. I really hope I won't have to use this. Benji took a deep breath and entered the forest.
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Chapter two coming soon….
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