What You See…
SNOW DAY!!! NO SCHOOL!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) I'M SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO SCHOOL!!!!!!!!!! *gasps for breath* okay, I'm okay now. I'm just really really really really really really really really (how many is that now?) really really really really excited that there's now school today. ESPECIALLY because we WERE supposed to take the writing test today. ^_^ so I can post another chappie! Hopefully. If I don't get distracted by something or the other, I will be able to post this up today.
Well, thanx for the lovely reviews!!! *tries to hug reviewers; they run away screaming* ok, well, she'll definitely meet Legolas this chapter. I kno lots of u have been waiting for that. Well, I'll leave more notes at the end of the chapter so… on with the next chappie!!
Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR. I'm not a man who has come back from the dead to write fanfiction for his own books. You better have known that. Don't sue me.
Oh, and people I have no clue what exactly Mirkwood's giant spiders look like or how giant they are, so I just made this up, ok? I kinda picture them as looking like daddy long legs. Also, I don't know what a spider's anatomy is like, so I might get things a little bit mixed up here. Just bear with me please.
FOR ALL THOSE WHO ARE CONFUSED: IN CONVERSATIONS WHERE I DON'T SAY WHO IS WHO, JUST PRETEND THAT IT'S A TWO-PERSON CONVERSATION. LABEL ONE PERSON A AND THE OTHER B. IT WILL HELP CUZ MOST OF THE CONVERSATIONS ARE BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE. THEN, EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHO THE PEOPLE ARE, U CAN AT LEAST GET A GIST OF WHAT THE CONVERSATION IS ABOUT.
Chapter Seven: Lost and Found
* * * * * * * * * Aria* * * * * * * * *
I stared at it for a second, frozen in fear, shock, and indecision. An instant thought of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Aragog occurred to me. Spiders just don't get that big! It was even bigger than me, like over seven feet! It had a humongous, hairy, black body, or whatever the middle section on spiders was called (did it have sections?). I probably should have paid more attention in science to spiders. But hey, did I know that someday I would be us against a super-sized one. Eight thick, long, legs, eight shining, black eyes, and pincers that looked about as sharp as my sword were attached to its round body. It resembled a daddy-long-legs in a way, though those legs were definitely not thing and spindly. A silken strand hung from one of the branches of the massive trees. It had apparently swung down from the treetops on it.
The only thought that was on the part of my mind that was calm, which was a very small part, I assure you, was, Get to your weapons.
It lunged—dove, jumped? I had never seen a spider move quite like that—at me. My reflexes took over, and I dove underneath it toward the other side of the clearing, almost blacking out when I jarred my broken arm, and grabbed as many knives and daggers as I could with my right hand, since I currently could not feel my left one and probably couldn't have used it anyway. I spun back around quickly. It had recovered from its lunge and was now scuttling towards me. For a moment, panic took over. How exactly do you fight a giant, monster-sized spider? Where do you aim your weapons, where in the huge mass of its body? At home, I had just stepped on spiders. I would've loved to stomp on this one; there was only one small problem. It was bigger than I was.
The moments panic ended as training, the cursed and blessed training, took over. I glanced at it with a cold calmness, like I had separated myself from my body and was only a spectator watching a show, that unnerved the "oh my god, I'm gonna die" part of my mind, as it scuttled towards me. I considered my strategy, where to throw. I decided on the left side of its body. Hell, why not? I thought. Maybe it has some type of heart or something. All of this analyzing took place in a matter of a few seconds.
It scuttled closer. I threw one of my knives. It hit the right side of the spider's rotund body with deadly accuracy. I had always been rather good at throwing things, usually some type of weapon, but when I was little, I used to throw apples from the tree in our backyard to Johnny. They were the most delicious apples ever, huge, red, and juicy. It staggered in its frantic scuttling but then continued on, clicking it pincers menacingly. Uh-oh, wrong spot, I thought. There was enough time for one more throw. Then again, I only had one more knife left; I had only managed to grab two. I aimed again, catching the spider's left side. It stumbled once again but still continued. Ok, now it looks mad, I thought rather nervously.
Once again, it lunged at me, and I dove under it, this time shoving all the knives and daggers I had thrown down towards the base of the tree I was running towards. I whirled around again, this time not wasting the time to think up a strategy, just throwing randomly. If my arm had not been broken, I probably would have done something smarter than just random throwing, but a red haze was beginning to fill my head, and my breath was coming out in gasps and wheezes. My wounds were catching up with me. I didn't exactly see where I hit it; I just kept on throwing until I ran out of weapons. When I had thrown my last knife, I noticed that all was quiet except for my ragged breathing.
The spider was sprawled on the ground, apparently dead. I crept over cautiously to check. It was dead. Going over to a base of a tree, I sat down, hard, so exhausted that each move little movement seemed like lifting a weight. My arm was shooting little bolts of white hot lightning through my body. Resisting the urge to throw up, I analyzed my situation. I had no clue whether I had actually hit it in the right place or if it had gained so many injuries that it had finally been killed. Or maybe it was only unconscious. Can spiders be unconscious? I shook my head, trying to clear it of those thoughts. They were confusing me. Then again, giant spiders in themselves were confusing. Had that been a wildly mutated spider from some science factory or something? I racked my brains. Yes, there was a scientific research company in Northborough…if this was still Northborough. But then where else could it be?
I couldn't do this. I couldn't go on without knowing where I was. For the moment, I decided to assume that my mom had somehow blasted me all the way to the forest in the next neighborhood, thought my sensible side was protesting that this was not possible. I also decided to assume that the spider was some escaped lab creature running wild. If I used my imagination, I shuddered. I would probably lose what sanity I had left after being attacked by a giant spider. Nevertheless, as I stared up at the big boughs, casting shadows over everything, the ideas of Mirkwood and the Forbidden Forest came to mind. I shook myself out of my reverie. No, my mind reprimanded me angrily, how many times do I need to remind you that you're not in Middle Earth, no matter how much you wish you were? And now you think you're in the world of Harry Potter too?!
I sighed, knowing this was true. How many times had I wished that I would fall into Middle Earth, just like the girls in the stories on fanfiction.net. Being in the world of Harry Potter would be fine too, though. It probably would've been a good idea to try to find my way out of this forest, but to tell you the truth, I was just too plain tired. I leaned against the tree. Things wriggled against me, but I was too weary to care. My eyelids began drooping. No, I thought, can't fall asleep! Not in the middle of who knows where!
To stop myself from sinking into slumber, I began examining myself again. Strands of my hair were coming out of my braid, hanging in around my face. I grimaced, thinking of the unpleasant task I would have later of brushing out my hair, which was so full of twigs, leaves, and tangles that I felt like I might have to cut it off. My flared jeans with a little cut at the bottom were ripped, one pant leg having completely fallen off at the knee, while the other dangled by just a thread. My tight-knit shirt was also torn. One of the sleeves had been ripped off at the shoulder, and the rest of the shirt looked like a million branches had snagged it, though, thankfully, it was not ripped any further.
My arm still hurt like hell, though now it was slowly beginning to numb, which I took as a bad sign. I looked at it and winced. The bone looked like it was going to break the skin any moment now, and the part where it had broken was extremely swollen and a ghastly shade of purple. I turned away from my arm, not wanting to look at it but knowing that it would have to be set soon or else it would not mend properly. I hoped that I could find my way out of here soon or else I would be looking at the cheerful prospect of trying to set it myself.
Then, I remembered something. My watch! I could find out what time and day it was, how long I had been here! I peered at my watch with my neck bent in a strange angle, since my watch was on my broken left arm. 9:12 PM on Tuesday. I frowned. This couldn't be right! It was daytime! I looked at my watch again, to make sure I had read it correctly. Still, it read 9:12 PM. I glanced upwards. Yup, definitely daytime. So I decided that my watch had probably been broken during the fall. Great, I had no clue where the hell I was, what day it was, or what the time was. Great, just great.
My eyes strayed to my right leg. The long gash had started bleeding again.
Red liquid, seeping from my leg.
Red as wine.
Red as the firey sunset.
Red, blood red.
My blood.
I stared in morbid fascination at the stuff dripping down my leg.
Drip, drip.
Like red water.
I had not seen my own blood very often before. Seeing it now gave me a strange sense of pleasure. I had proof, evidence.
Drip, drip.
Sinking into the ground.
Splattering on leaves.
Drip, drip.
Red blood.
I tore my gaze away. I felt like I was going insane. To give myself something to concentrate on, I stood up the best I could and began stumbling over to my pack, which was on the other side of the clearing. And then, guess what? Another spider decided to come and visit me. Wait, no, two—three other spiders! Gee, I never knew I was this popular.
It had never occurred to me that the spider I had killed might have a mate or a pack or children or something. I realized that I was thinking of them as natural animals, as actual creatures. No, I told myself sternly, it is not a natural creature. Science experiment. Science experiment. Science experiment. More mutations, not a pack. I repeated this over and over, therefore keeping my thoughts rational and sane. I cursed my own stupidity. What to do next…
I had read a series of novels called the Dragonlance Saga when I was in eighth grade. I vividly remembered the Solamnic knights in it. Est Sularus oth Mithas. My honor is my life. They were those who were extremely loyal, brave, and honorable, those who fought to the death, those who faced their enemies even when they had no weapons and knew they were outnumbered but still preferred to die honorably, getting killed in battle rather than run.
Boy was I glad I wasn't a Solamnic knight.
Seeing my weapons lying too far away for me to reach and three giant spiders, seeming to me even larger than the first, if that was possible, advancing towards me, fear rose in my heart, fear of death. I did not fear pain but death, the knowledge that I would never again see my dear brother or my friends, had always been a fear of mine. I had read many books and stories in which a main character, whether of guilt or bravery, ran forward to meet their deaths. I had thought this selfish of them. They would not be there for the aftereffects. They would not see the family and friends grieving over them, see the tears shed, the lives damaged. They would not see the lover who had given his/her heart fade away into nothing. No, those who went to their deaths were not brave or heroic. Only selfish. So I did what any practical, rational person would do in this situation.
I ran for my life.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I come out of my trance. I found nothing. Then again, I expected to find nothing. Portals, I had done extensive research before attempting this feat, always vanished right after they were entered by someone.
But my search was not completely fruitless.
A thin smile of triumph comes to my lips. I had learned a fact that I had not known before.
Portals always returned to their creator if the creator did not go through. They were, in a sense, living beings. A portal could sense when its creator had not entered it and would find its way back to its creator.
But my smile is replaced with a frown as I realize another fact. I have no idea when it will come to me. There is nothing I can do about it, though. I sigh and stand up. I gather up my magical components and pack them into a bag. Then I begin gathering all of my possessions together and packing them.
Yes, I thought grimly as I packed, when it comes, I will be ready to go.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
A collective gasp rose from all members attending the Council. Even the Lord looked a little startled.
"Are you sure, Adrian?" the lord asked.
"Positive, my lord," he replied, still pale but relieved that the news was out. The two black-robed he had addressed the information to looked shocked.
"Her? Her?" one of them said in disbelief.
"Yes," Adrian repeated once again.
The other figure looked livid. "Why, that little— Oh, I'll teach her a lesson, all right!"
The lord raised a placating hand. "If you could find her. Do not let your emotions control you, Daughter." He was not her father. The lord called all of his protégés daughters and sons, though not out of affection. "We have already discussed this."
The figure flushed in shame. "Yes, my lord. My apologies."
"Can you sense where the portal is, Adrian. Do you know which world she has entered and what time period?"
"No, my lord," Adrian replied. "I'm afraid that none of our order may gather this information." The rest of the Council nodded in agreement.
"Well, we shall continue looking. Now, on to other matters."
"My lord, the girl—"
"What is it now, Daughter? The girl is not important," he asked irritably.
"She was—" the figure did not continue, rather just stared into the lord's eyes.
The lord paled noticeably. The mages all around noticed and hurriedly went to fetch him water. After taking a few sips of water, the lord spoke again. "Why did you not tell me sooner?" his voice was deadly and cold.
"My lord, I did not think it was a matter of importance."
"Well, it is!" the lord snapped. The Council murmured nervously. They had never seen their lord so angry before. "She could ruin everything we've worked for!"
"My lord, I apologize—"
"No, Daughter. Both you and he must learn a lesson. Take them to my manor, to the dungeons."
"My lord!" But they were led away.
The lord began to pace. "My lord, what are your orders?" someone asked him.
"Find her!" he hissed. "Find that damned girl!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The trees were curious. Long had they watched the comings and goings of the fair-haired Elves and the occasional human. Long had evil been present in this forest; long had they watched the many elves fight off the orcs and spiders that now roamed in the forest of Mirkwood. But in their infinite years, they had never seen quite a creature with such-colored hair. It was female, for sure, and human. But such a strange hair-color!
The trees had seen blonde-haired elves. They had seen brown-haired elves. They had seen dark-haired elves and auburn-haired elves. But this strange, human girl had silver hair! It shone, even in the gloom of Mirkwood.
Molten silver, gleaming like the blade of a polished sword.
They had seen her open her eyes, and they had looked upon them with wonder. For her eyes were golden! Golden as the sun, as gold itself!
Liquid gold, ever melting, a furnace that could melt the heart.
But then the gold was gone. Her eyes flashed for a second, as if a golden coin had been flipped in the sun, then became a clear, crystal gray.
Now the trees were even more curious. Who was this strange mortal child with silver hair and golden eyes that became gray? Who was she?
Yes, the trees were ever curious.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
You know, I thought to myself, maybe running wasn't such a good idea. I had been running for what seemed to me like an eternity. I was gasping for air but never seemed to get enough. I had developed a cramp, I was sure the bottom of my broken arm was going to fall off any minute, and my right leg was also going to give out soon as well. I was going to collapse soon. I could feel me strength, which hadn't been much to begin with, ebbing away, like the waves ebb as the tide turns.
The spiders were fast. They did not scuttle along behind me, but rather dangled from silken threads from tree to tree. I think that they could've caught me at anytime they wanted but felt like playing with me a bit first. I was fighting a battle already lost.
I ran on. My lungs felt like they were on fire, searing flames which consumed my ability to breathe. My right leg was beginning to go numb. I waited for the inevitable, the fall that would prove to be my downfall. It came. As I looked upwards and behind to see how close the spiders were, a large tree root tripped me. I hit the earth with a thud, luckily not jarring my broken arm too much. I waited for pincers to rip me open, closing my eyes, thinking about my friends and Johnny, praying that Johnny would be all right without me.
They never came. I turned over and opened my eyes. There were no spiders in sight. I stood up, staring all around me in disbelief. Was this a trick of the spiders? I scanned the trees. I saw nothing. Had it all just been a hallucination? No, it hadn't. Silken threads were still hanging on tree branches some ways back. I felt extremely confused. Where had they gone? Yet another mystery. And another problem.
I was even more lost than I had been before. When the spiders had appeared, I had just crashed into the undergrowth, heedless of my direction, the only thought on my mind that of escape. Now I had no clue where I had been before and was therefore unable to reach my weapons, my pack, and anything else that might have been of use to me. I sighed and looked about me. Well, I was definitely not going to wait here for some other strange creature to attack me. I randomly picked a direction and began walking, hoping to find someone, not something, soon.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The coming of the spiders had interrupted the trees' study of the strange girl. They had seen the girl run and the spiders chase after her. Their anger was aroused. They did not like interruptions. But it was not their place to interfere with the comings and going of the world. So they had watched helplessly as the spiders gradually gained on the girl.
The trees bore no love of the spiders that roamed the forest. They left sticky strands on their branches and often desecrated their trunks with their pincers when angry. They were helpless against the spiders, though. The trees did not have the power to move actively. So they watched on, angry but helpless.
Unbeknownst to the trees, however, a tiny, single strand of magic settled on them. All of their straining to whip the spiders' bodies away with their branches broke loose. Their branches brushed the spiders that were gaining on the girl away with a motion, then destroyed the spiders. Surprise ran through the trees. Surprise and ecstasy. They could move! They were free of their restraints!
But as quickly as it had come, it was gone. They were frozen again, their branches and boughs still, unmoving. Disappointment raged. But gratefulness as well. They thanked whoever had provided them with the magic to move, to give them a taste of the magic of movement, even if it was only for a second.
They continued watching the girl.
* * * * * * *Aria * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I was hopelessly lost. I had been wandering for hours, as my watch told me. Even if the time wasn't right, I could still tell from it how many hours had passed. My stomach growled. "Oh, shut up you," I snapped at it. "There's no food." It had been growling for the past fifteen minutes. When I first began looking for a way out, I had tried to be silent. That was not so difficult, since silence was bred into my very essence. But after a while, I began to tire. Exhaustion sank into my very bones, and it was all I could do to keep walking. Eventually, exhaustion won the battle, and silence was slain. My movements were clumsy, bumbling. I bumped into bushes, rustled leaves, stepped on twigs.
I was very annoyed with myself now. I had learned tracking, but I hadn't been that great at it. What little I knew didn't seem to be helping out here in the wilderness. I came upon none of my own tracks, though, so at least I knew I wasn't going around in circles. My guess that it was afternoon now. My throat was parched and dry. When had I last drunken water? A day ago, a night ago? Everything was slowly but surely beginning to slip away from me. School was so pointless. How was Algebra II going to help me now? Training was not helping either. I can't fight the forest and demand it to show me the way out!
I saw a rise a little ways to my left. I decided to head for it, see if I could make out houses or something. I stumbled uphill, tripping on the dangling cloth of my left jean leg, then ripping it out in frustration. I now wore what somewhat resembled capris. By the time I reached the top of the hill, I was hot, I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was dirty, I was tired, and I was sure that this was the worst form of torture I had ever been through. The broken arm didn't help much either. I think it was really getting to me; I was usually more durable than this. Standing atop the rise, I scanned the land below me.
I was disappointed to find nothing except for more trees and a small clearing. In frustration, I kicked at the terrain. "Damn this fuckin' forest! Damn my fuckin' parents! Damn my fuckin' life!" I shouted, my face pointing upwards toward the unseen sky. "What did I ever do to deserve this? Tell me? What the freakin' fuck did I ever do???" I was really angry. I was normally not one to cuss so much; that was Lilly's department. I picked up a rock and hurled it toward a tree trunk, hearing a satisfying thunk as it hit the place I had been marking.
I tried to calm myself, gazing over the rise again. Wait, was that a person? Yes, it was! A million emotions—delight, happiness, joy, relief—all rushed through me at once. A small figure had cautiously stepped into the clearing. I saw him look around, then beckon to others behind him. Before they could go away, I waved frantically at them, using my good arm. Fearing that they couldn't see me from my position, I yelled out, "Hey! Over here! Are you guys from the neighborhood? Help please! Over here!"
I thought I saw one of them begin to turn towards my direction. Too late did I hear the buzz of an arrow. Something struck my left shoulder. I glanced at it in surprise. An arrow was sticking out of it. I glanced backwards to see who had shot it. A band of creatures was rushing down from the cover of trees a little distance from me. The creatures were ugly, deformed, snarling in a grotesque language, clutching various weapons. Am I seeing orcs? I wondered vaguely, waves of pain and exhaustion assaulting my mind. The next thing I knew, darkness had come to claim me once again.
* * * * * * * * * * Legolas* * * * * * * * *
I turned when I thought I heard someone yelling. A small rise stood some ways off. And there, I saw the band of orcs that we had been tracking all day. I shouted an alarm to the group traveling with me, then readied my bow and arrow. The orcs were rushing towards us and dropping like flies as arrows flew through the air.
The battle was an easy one. Most of the orcs were killed by arrows. We had only resorted to close combat with the last few. Everyone was cleaning their weapons again, though this time, there wasn't too much to clean. I sighed. Exact repeat of yesterday, I thought gloomily. And it's probably going to be repeated again tomorrow. I wondered what had made me turn in that direction, what had made me spot the orcs. I glanced at the rise again. There was nothing there. Then—
A ray of sunlight managed to penetrate the dense foliage of the trees, and it gleamed upon—silver?
"Aragorn," I called to my friend. "Do you see something over on that rise over there?"
He frowned, glancing over to the direction I was pointing. Then his expression cleared. "Yes, I think I see a bit of silver." So he saw it as well. Elves had keener eyesight than humans, but I noticed now that the sunlight shining on silver was lighting up the rise. I peered more closely. It looked like a person!
"Aragorn," I said, "I think there's a person over there!" I began running over. Aragorn followed me. I topped the clearing, and yes, a person lay there! A girl with silver hair! I was astonished and extremely curious. I had never seen such a color before, especially not on hair. She was also wearing strange clothes, a tight shirt made of a material I had never seen before and some type of tight, ripped pants. She was unconscious. Aragorn came up behind me.
"Why, it's a girl!" he exclaimed. She was lying facedown, an arrow sticking out of her left shoulder, her left arm broken. A bloody gash ran up her right leg. I crouched down and gently turned her over, then gasped. She was covered with fading bruises, fading cuts. Her face and arms were scratched and bruised, as were her legs. She had obviously either fallen down a lot or not been treated well. Aragorn checked her injuries.
"She's badly wounded, Legolas," he said. "We need to get her to my father, quickly."
I helped him carry her, not asking any questions. I was suspicious, not sure where she came from, what her purpose was. But then again, all Elves of Mirkwood are generally suspicious of strangers. I would not be so coldhearted, though, as to just leave the poor girl here, when she was so wounded.
And so we ended the day, riding hard and fast back to the palace of Mirkwood.
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DONE!!! Took me forever. Sorry if the cussing offended u, but most people do cuss when angry. Questions: DO U GUYS LIKE LONG OR SHORT CHAPPIES? AND SHOULD I CONTINUE IN THIRD OR FIRST PERSON? DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT ELVES EAT AT LIKE BANQUETS OR DINNERS? PLEASE REVIEW!!!
LadyTremere: it kinda wasn't really his pov but kinda was. Like it wasn't the "I" pov so he wasn't really describing himself as sweet. AACK! I dunno how to explain it!!