Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Lord of the Rings. (Hey didn't I
already tell you that? Oh well)
A/N: Okay new chapter. A lot more exciting!!!!! (I hope). But don't worry it'll get better. Anyway guess that's all. Now, on with the chapter. R&R!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter 2
He was just as shocked to see me as I was to him. Of course his reaction was not to scream bloody murder. Mine was.
"Rapist," I screeched. "Help rapist. Rapist. Rapist."
He obviously did not expect me to scream. He also didn't want me to. He clamped a hand on my mouth, but I bit it. He let go, and I kept on screaming. Finally I felt blade at my neck and I shut up.
"Be quiet or I will kill you," he said menacingly. "Now march." He pointed down the hill. I was relieved. We were going toward town and someone would help me there. I obeyed without question and he kept his dagger at my back.
I considered running, but I knew I would never get anywhere. The man looked far stronger than I did, and he had a bigger chance of outrunning me than I had of reaching help first. It was also night, and I would probably kill myself just trying to get down the hill. But the big deterrent was his weapons. I had never seen someone armed so openly. I began to wonder if he had a gun, because he certainly didn't look like he would pull one out any time soon.
We came at last to the bottom of the hill but I saw no sign of Sheraton. Instead I found the remains of a campfire and three midgets. One was rather fat and the other two looked relatively normal except that they were only three feet tall. The weirdest thing was that they weren't wearing shoes. Instead they had rather furry looking feet. They didn't look too happy to be in the forest, but the man looked as if he came out into the forest and pranced around it every day.
I wondered if these men were part of a gang. They sure looked like they would be. You know, the outcast freaks of society.
"Come," said the man to the midget men. "We have now a burden to take to Rivendell. Lord Elrond can decide what to do with her when we get there. And." He turned to me. "I am not a rapist."
"Yeah I figured that out already, doesn't mean you have any less evil intentions," I retorted.
The midget men seemed to think this comment funny, but the man was not amused. So we started off toward the place they had called Rivendell. A couple hours into the walk I started complaining.
"How much further," I whined. "I'm tired and hungry. I wanna go home." It crossed my mind afterwards that I had absolutely no idea how to get home since my town seemed to have vanished.
The man was beginning to become very irritated at me, but he answered me with strained patience. "Rivendell is another two and a half day march from here, if we make good time. As for your hunger, I can do nothing about it. You'll have to live with it. And if you are tired, I could always brighten your spirits with my dagger." He waved it meaningfully at my neck. I gulped and did not complain any more.
"Actually Strider, I bite to eat wouldn't be too bad," piped up one of the midget men.
"No Pippin," replied the man, whom I assumed was Strider. "We do not stop until nightfall."
So we kept on walking. I was lagging quite a bit, and often we had to stop so that I could rest. It pleased me to see that this annoyed Strider, though I was still wary because he still held many weapons.
Finally we stopped as night began to fall again. Strider lit a fire and went out, instructing the three midget men, Sam, Merry and Pippin to guard me. I wasn't planning on escaping. I was leaning more towards sleep and food, and these people could provide me with food and they would guard me while I slept.
When Strider returned he carried with him a dead rabbit. It had an arrow through it's throat and I could see blood stains on it's snow white coat. I looked at it with a mixture of sadness and revulsion. He offered it to Sam to strip and cook.
"I'm not eating that," I declared. "In fact I might just become vegetarian." I had never had trouble eating animals before because I never actually seen them killed; all I had seen was a pink or red carcass or parts of the animal. It had never bothered me, but to see the whole animal dead was horrible. It was like eating your pet, except you had far more chance of disease.
"I suggest you eat something," said Strider. "You'll need your strength for the journey ahead, or would you rather we leave you here?"
I had a feeling that I would not find Sheraton again, no matter how hard I looked. "Isn't there something else to eat?"
"No," replied Strider.
So I ate the stew. It wasn't that bad, but since I was holding my nose the whole time so as to taste as little of the food as possible, I couldn't really judge fairly. I was happy that I managed to keep the food down.
The next day we headed out again. They had given me something to carry, but eventually they relieved me of it since I was stopping every ten minutes to rest. Even without my burden I stopped a lot. We continued the same way for another six days or so. Obviously we weren't making good time or we would have been at wherever Rivendell was, by now. Strider also seemed to be aware of our delay, and every time I sat down he looked at me with an annoyed look, but he couldn't do anything to stop me from resting, since he had made it obvious that he did not want to leave me behind. I relished his annoyance each time I stopped, but I didn't do it too often for fear of angering him to the point where he might hurt me.
On the morning of the sixth day, we reached a river. There was no bridge, but this did not concern Strider. He strode into the shallow river and crossed easily. The water had only come up to his knees. The midget men had a bit more difficulty crossing the river, for obvious reasons. Finally only I stood on the near shore.
"Hurry up girl," called Strider.
It suddenly occurred to me that this man had never asked my name. For that matter, he had never used it. "My name is April Olsin," I shouted at him.
"What?" He seemed totally confused at my statement.
"My is not girl, it's April Olsin," I yelled again.
"Well than April Olsin, hurry up."
I was not about to give in that easily. I was going to have the last word in this argument. "I am not getting my best running shoes wet," I called to him.
"There is no other way across," he called impatiently.
"You'll have to carry me across."
"You'll either come across yourself or we'll leave you to servants of the Enemy."
"And who are 'the servants of the Enemy'?"
They had started to walk down a path, having gotten tired of my stubbornness. Strider looked back over his shoulder. "Suffice to say that they are evil. You do not want to meet with them."
For some reason this statement freaked me out, probably because I thought the Enemy was their enemy gang that was probably far more violent. I splashed across the river and followed them down the path and beheld Rivendell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Hope you liked that one. It was better than the last, but the next is better. Review!!!!!
A/N: Okay new chapter. A lot more exciting!!!!! (I hope). But don't worry it'll get better. Anyway guess that's all. Now, on with the chapter. R&R!!!!!!!!!!!
Chapter 2
He was just as shocked to see me as I was to him. Of course his reaction was not to scream bloody murder. Mine was.
"Rapist," I screeched. "Help rapist. Rapist. Rapist."
He obviously did not expect me to scream. He also didn't want me to. He clamped a hand on my mouth, but I bit it. He let go, and I kept on screaming. Finally I felt blade at my neck and I shut up.
"Be quiet or I will kill you," he said menacingly. "Now march." He pointed down the hill. I was relieved. We were going toward town and someone would help me there. I obeyed without question and he kept his dagger at my back.
I considered running, but I knew I would never get anywhere. The man looked far stronger than I did, and he had a bigger chance of outrunning me than I had of reaching help first. It was also night, and I would probably kill myself just trying to get down the hill. But the big deterrent was his weapons. I had never seen someone armed so openly. I began to wonder if he had a gun, because he certainly didn't look like he would pull one out any time soon.
We came at last to the bottom of the hill but I saw no sign of Sheraton. Instead I found the remains of a campfire and three midgets. One was rather fat and the other two looked relatively normal except that they were only three feet tall. The weirdest thing was that they weren't wearing shoes. Instead they had rather furry looking feet. They didn't look too happy to be in the forest, but the man looked as if he came out into the forest and pranced around it every day.
I wondered if these men were part of a gang. They sure looked like they would be. You know, the outcast freaks of society.
"Come," said the man to the midget men. "We have now a burden to take to Rivendell. Lord Elrond can decide what to do with her when we get there. And." He turned to me. "I am not a rapist."
"Yeah I figured that out already, doesn't mean you have any less evil intentions," I retorted.
The midget men seemed to think this comment funny, but the man was not amused. So we started off toward the place they had called Rivendell. A couple hours into the walk I started complaining.
"How much further," I whined. "I'm tired and hungry. I wanna go home." It crossed my mind afterwards that I had absolutely no idea how to get home since my town seemed to have vanished.
The man was beginning to become very irritated at me, but he answered me with strained patience. "Rivendell is another two and a half day march from here, if we make good time. As for your hunger, I can do nothing about it. You'll have to live with it. And if you are tired, I could always brighten your spirits with my dagger." He waved it meaningfully at my neck. I gulped and did not complain any more.
"Actually Strider, I bite to eat wouldn't be too bad," piped up one of the midget men.
"No Pippin," replied the man, whom I assumed was Strider. "We do not stop until nightfall."
So we kept on walking. I was lagging quite a bit, and often we had to stop so that I could rest. It pleased me to see that this annoyed Strider, though I was still wary because he still held many weapons.
Finally we stopped as night began to fall again. Strider lit a fire and went out, instructing the three midget men, Sam, Merry and Pippin to guard me. I wasn't planning on escaping. I was leaning more towards sleep and food, and these people could provide me with food and they would guard me while I slept.
When Strider returned he carried with him a dead rabbit. It had an arrow through it's throat and I could see blood stains on it's snow white coat. I looked at it with a mixture of sadness and revulsion. He offered it to Sam to strip and cook.
"I'm not eating that," I declared. "In fact I might just become vegetarian." I had never had trouble eating animals before because I never actually seen them killed; all I had seen was a pink or red carcass or parts of the animal. It had never bothered me, but to see the whole animal dead was horrible. It was like eating your pet, except you had far more chance of disease.
"I suggest you eat something," said Strider. "You'll need your strength for the journey ahead, or would you rather we leave you here?"
I had a feeling that I would not find Sheraton again, no matter how hard I looked. "Isn't there something else to eat?"
"No," replied Strider.
So I ate the stew. It wasn't that bad, but since I was holding my nose the whole time so as to taste as little of the food as possible, I couldn't really judge fairly. I was happy that I managed to keep the food down.
The next day we headed out again. They had given me something to carry, but eventually they relieved me of it since I was stopping every ten minutes to rest. Even without my burden I stopped a lot. We continued the same way for another six days or so. Obviously we weren't making good time or we would have been at wherever Rivendell was, by now. Strider also seemed to be aware of our delay, and every time I sat down he looked at me with an annoyed look, but he couldn't do anything to stop me from resting, since he had made it obvious that he did not want to leave me behind. I relished his annoyance each time I stopped, but I didn't do it too often for fear of angering him to the point where he might hurt me.
On the morning of the sixth day, we reached a river. There was no bridge, but this did not concern Strider. He strode into the shallow river and crossed easily. The water had only come up to his knees. The midget men had a bit more difficulty crossing the river, for obvious reasons. Finally only I stood on the near shore.
"Hurry up girl," called Strider.
It suddenly occurred to me that this man had never asked my name. For that matter, he had never used it. "My name is April Olsin," I shouted at him.
"What?" He seemed totally confused at my statement.
"My is not girl, it's April Olsin," I yelled again.
"Well than April Olsin, hurry up."
I was not about to give in that easily. I was going to have the last word in this argument. "I am not getting my best running shoes wet," I called to him.
"There is no other way across," he called impatiently.
"You'll have to carry me across."
"You'll either come across yourself or we'll leave you to servants of the Enemy."
"And who are 'the servants of the Enemy'?"
They had started to walk down a path, having gotten tired of my stubbornness. Strider looked back over his shoulder. "Suffice to say that they are evil. You do not want to meet with them."
For some reason this statement freaked me out, probably because I thought the Enemy was their enemy gang that was probably far more violent. I splashed across the river and followed them down the path and beheld Rivendell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: Hope you liked that one. It was better than the last, but the next is better. Review!!!!!