Sands of Time

By Lily Martin

Rated R

Category: Romance/Adventure/Supernatural/and a bunch of other things…oh music too

Spoilers: Buffy--the episode before the last one; Lord of the Rings--everything's cannon, but it starts in the Fellowship of the Ring when they're on the watch tower and the Ringwraiths come. For LOTR it started out as a mix of movie and book, but from now on it's solely book, change on that, because I've lost interest in reading the book, I'm pretty much running off the extended DVD, which I own and can watch any time to make sure I have things right.

Summary: Buffy is summoned to Middle-Earth by Gandalf, by some fluke the rest of the Scooby Gang transported also. Then the third slayer Madeline Naur comes after them with Giles, now all we're missing is Faith...wait...nope...she'll be there too...all there just in time to join the Fellowship. Throw in a prophecy and a really messed up plot...

Disclaimer: But of course, we think one thing's gonna happen when it's always another, just as I was crossing the street to get to my little bitty car TBC…

Pairings: Arwen/Aragorn in the beginning, Buffy/Aragorn later on, Faith/Boromir while he's alive, Dawn/Frodo very subtle more of a friendship than a pairing, it's definitely going to be Legolas/Mady (my character) that's the only way the future I have for this story will work out,

A/N: holy shit it's been a long time since I've written anything, I hereby promise to make sure this one is at least three pages before sending it out to you…I'm sorry people…I've been on vacation in Virginia so my writing's been quite stunted, now I'm looking for a job, so when I get that, my writing will once again be slowed, and then school will start, I'll have to quit my job, but I still won't have time to write, so bare with me, eventually I'll continue.

Feedback:

Megeara Angela Nicole McGwire: keep reading hopefully we'll get rid of that 'I think.'

Chapter 11: "Over the hill and through the woods to Rivendell we go!"

Tári jumped from rock to rock easily in her red boots, while Giles struggled a bit more from the lack of this kind of physical exertion and his stuffy English loafers. At least they were away from the snow as they had been for the last couple days, of the five they'd been in Middle Earth.

"We're almost there," she called down to him as he climbed on top of the rock below the one she was standing on.

"Rea—" just as he started to reply she disappeared once more.

~*~

Far east in the land of…well…we don't really know where they are…just go with the fact that they're far east.

A large grey horse galloped across the open land, no trail lay for Faith to follow, but she no longer needed a trail, Mîdh was showing her the way.

"Follow Mîdh, she will show the way," Tári told her, placing a large red diamond in the shape of a flame surrounded by rubies and hanging from a long the woven gold chain in Faith's hand. "Wearing this you will understand the speech of the dragons as if it were your own. Mîdh will be drawn by it."

"Wait, you still haven't told me why the hell I have to go back instead of you," Faith said, grabbing Tári's arm as she started to turn away.

"Where I'm from, there's a prophecy, involving me, a really powerful bad guy, and a bunch of other people—" Tári started.

"So you want me to go take your place?" Faith interrupted, slightly angry.

"Valor no, you wouldn't be able to handle the power to finish things off. When I come back you must go to Imladris, for that is where your part will start, Mîdh will tell you when I come back. I'm staying here because I must get as much training as I can in the next couple years, while if I were the one going back, it would put the prophecy into action before everything's come together," Tári answered, before walking ten steps away from Faith.

~*~

Four days had passed in Rivendell, passing like a dream for the Scoobies, who'd had fallen into an easy pattern: breakfast, walking in the gardens, lunch, walking through the art covered halls of the Last Homely House, dinner, and sitting around talking to Gandalf, Elrond, or any of the other elves who wanted to hear of their world.

Aragorn was gone, he'd gone out not long after they'd arrived with the twins to help watch the woods to make sure the Ringwraiths weren't on their way back.

For Buffy things where only slightly different, during the after dinner talks, she was the one who mainly talked with Gandalf. They talked of many things. Within the first few days she'd told him all about her life as the slayer, and he in turn had told her that she was a wizard. He told her about Middle Earth and her mother as a child.

On the morning of the fifth day, Frodo awakened, everyone was very happy, especially the other hobbits.

That same week, people (elves, dwarves, and humans) had been arriving from all over Middle Earth. By the day Frodo had woken up, they'd all arrived, and dancing and celebrating took place after that night's feast like dinner.

~*~

"Shouldn't you be in there eating with the others?" Buffy asked, as Aragorn stepped out onto the balcony she'd been hiding on, the night Frodo had awakened.

"As should you," he nodded, coming to stand beside her at the railing.

"Did that yesterday, and the day before, and even the couple days before that," she replied.

"Ah, but every night they add something new and different," he pointed out, as though trying to talk her into going in to dinner.

"Too many people in there who aren't exactly human in there, setting my senses off balance," Buffy told him. "So where've you been?"

"Helping to track down the Nazgul," he answered.

"Find them?" she asked.

"There isn't a trace of them in the woods surrounding Imladris, but we will have to go out again and find out where they are," he explained.

"That's too bad," she frowned.

~*~

"It looks like no one has been here for several years," Giles commented once they'd reached the cave.

"Since just before I left," Tári whispered, running her fingers over the wall. "The time of the dragons is passing in Middle-earth, I doubt many still live since I've gone."

He wasn't sure what to say as she paced the cave appearing to be deep in thought.

"It will take to long to walk to Imladris and it is too late now to open another portal, we must wait till tomorrow, it will be simple this time," she told him, as she sat down on a rock.

~*~

A/N: hey, after I wrote this, I was looking at what I posted and realized that I didn't post the chapter I wrote for you in June and remembered that was because FF.N wasn't working for me then, so I'm posting that one just before this one with all it's original notes and everything.

Lily M.