The next morning, Aragorn shook me awake. Legolas wasn't by my side. My
heart fell at this. "Rise, we have a change of course. Since the orcs are
dead, Roaenim will be safe for now. We shall go to Lord Elrond of Rivendell
to tell him of these happenings. Right now we are at the northeastern
borders of the forest. We will go round to the East-West Road. There is a
village there just across the road by Bruinen. We shall get a bath, food,
and two horses."
I was happy at Aragorn's mention of a bath. Legolas was sitting against a tree, cleaning his wound. Aragorn had gone to get water from a small lake in the forest so Legolas could treat his wound. I tried to stand up but it was futile. Legolas heard me fall down and looked up at me smiling.
"Shut up!" I shouted back at him, smiling also.
He laughed and walked over to me. "How is your foot?"
"Hmm, what do you think?"
He shook his head and said, "We cannot carry on with you in this state."
"I will carry her." Aragorn said. Legolas nodded with satisfaction at this suggestion. We gathered all our belongings, which was not much. Aragorn said he would piggyback me. I was really happy at this, but the excitement died down when he said I had to carry his bag and Legolas' bow and quiver.
~*~
Our journey was silent. I decided to perk it up with some talk. "Did you just finish a Shakespearean play and forgot to change?"
Legolas looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. "Why do you ask such odd questions?"
"Well, why do you wear such odd clothing then?"
"We do not wear odd clothing. It seems you are the one. I believe you should sew a new dress. That one seems too small."
I gaped at him after he said those words. "That's .very.nice of you." I stuttered.
"How old are you?" Aragorn asked.
"I'm eighteen." I said with a smirk. In my opinion, best age there is.
Legolas and Aragorn looked at me in shock. "You are a child."
"Child? No way!" I'm going to college. Kids don't go to college."
"College?" Legolas inquired.
I rolled my eyes. "Don't you know anything?"
Legolas looked at me blankly. "I do not know everything, but I do know some things."
I rolled my eyes. "How old are you?" I asked in return.
"I'm eighty and Legolas is two thousand nine hundred thirty one." Aragorn answered.
My eyes widened as he said those numbers. "Excuse me?"
"Elves are immortal so it is not unusual for him to be two thousand of age," Aragorn explained, "As for me, I am part elvish. Even if I am eighty, I only look half my age."
"I see." Here comes another monster. I chuckled at the thought. Well, that's not so bad being an elf. You get to be a thousand years old but still look twenty!
I looked at the landscape around me. To my right were the forest and my left were rolling hills as far as the eye could see. "Where are all the buildings?" I asked, interested.
"Buildings? What buildings?" Aragorn said.
"You know. skyscrapers?" I said. They didn't get it. I could tell by the look on their faces. "Office buildings, corner shops, apartments, boutiques, coffee shops," I started listing things I saw back at home. I miss home. All the things I need are back at home.
"Jocelyn?" Legolas called softly.
I had dozed out into my thoughts. "What?"
"Are you alright?"
"Of course I am." No, I wasn't. I was scared. Terrified! Why was I here? This all didn't make sense. Was this all a dream? Was there a reason why I was having this dream? Then something that happened last night came back to me. "Why did those orcs attack us last night?"
"They do not need a reason to kill." Aragorn replied.
"So they're just insane and they run around killing people?" I asked.
"No, they used to be elves." Legolas answered. I quickly turned to look at Legolas. "They were tortured until like this. Sauron's doing. He made them to destroy the villages and cities." Legolas finished.
"Wow, then this Sauron dude must be really powerful. Who's Sauron?" I asked.
"He is the Dark Lord. His tower is in Mordor."
"Dark Lord? Elves? Is this some kind of fantasy dream?" I asked this more to myself.
"Fantasy?" Legolas stopped walking. "This is not fantasy. This is a nightmare. Do you have any idea how people are suffering?" he shouted at me. He was frustrated with me. I opened my mouth to respond but he raised his hand. "I am sorry, of course you do. I apologize for my tone." Legolas said softly.
I was shocked by his tone, but I understood. He cared about his people. His people?! I meant people like him. All of a sudden, I felt sorry for him. I didn't know why. I didn't even know what happened to him. I looked away from him and out towards the rolling hills.
Aragorn broke the silence. "We do not like destroying the nature here in Middle Earth, except of course the Dark Lord himself. Trees here are very precious. It would be a sin to cut one down."
They should see L.A. or New York. No trees except in parks. The dark lord thing was still really weird for me. Oh god, I want to go home.
At the end of the day, we finally reached our destination. Aragorn was exhausted from carrying me. He was trying to hide it, but I could tell. Crentook wasn't as big as the village we were at before but it had about the same things: dirt, dust, hay, and people. We decided to stay at an inn called Bugspan. I mean, who would in their right mind stay at an inn called Bugspan? I guess us then and some drunks sitting at the bar. Bar?! They have a bar! Awesome.
"Two rooms," Aragorn requested. "Also a bucket of warm water, we have two injured persons."
"Here are the keys, I will bring the water later." The bald man from behind the bar said.
No wonder he named his inn Bugspan. He looked like a bug himself. He had huge, bulging eyes and fat lips. He was a round man with a piercing glare. He looked at me and smirked. It was scary! He looked like he wanted to eat me. Thank god we're only staying for one night.
Aragorn turned around and I didn't have to see the man's smirk anymore. Our two adjacent rooms were on the second floor. We went into the first room and Aragorn put me down on the bed.
It was not a good bed. It was itchy and uncomfortable. "I can't be sleeping here. It's nasty."
"It is fine. We will be in the other room." Aragorn said. He led Legolas out.
Okay, he was sounding more like my brother each day. He had no right to boss me around. In fact, I could stay here if I wanted. Nah, I didn't want to be around Mr. Bugspan. At least they didn't do anything bad to me.yet. Legolas wouldn't do that. Shh, trying to convince myself!
I looked around the room. It looked like one of the rooms in a motel by the side of a deserted road. It was really plain and all the furniture looked old and dusty. The size of it was like my walk-in closet. I couldn't live here.
Then a knock sounded at the door. I looked up and saw Mr. Bugspan standing in the doorway. Oh no, not him!
"I brought your water." He said, smiling. How I wish I could wipe that smile off his face! He came into the room. I raised my eyebrows and faked a smile back at him. He just stood there staring at my face still with that evil smile.
"Um, you can go now." I said.
"You know, you have a beautiful face." Mr. Bugspan took a step closer.
"What do you want?!" I shouted at him. He was scaring me. Mr. Bugspan said nothing except continue to stare. Suddenly, a guest of wind blew from the open window. The door slammed shut.
Mr. Bugspan's smile widened even more if possible. "There is a reason why leave this door open. It gets stuck."
Oh my god! Oh my god, he did it on purpose. I don't know how but he did! Someone help me!
"Since we are locked in, why not we get to know each other better." Mr. Bugspan suggested with a sneer.
I locked eyes with him and I felt hypnotized. I couldn't say anything because my throat was so dry. I tried to stand up but it was no use. My ankle was hurt and where could I go? I never run around in my walk-in closet!
Mr. Bugspan plopped down next to me. "What is your name, fair lady?" he placed his hand on my shoulder. Slowly, his hand moved to my neck and brushed it gently.
I shivered. His hand was really cold and clammy. Then it moved down my back. Finally, with all the strength I could conjure, I screamed, "Legolas! Aragorn!" Then what happened next was the stupidest thing I could ever think I would do like stand up which caused me to trip over my broken ankle. I fell and my head hit the corner of the table by the bed. At least I tried. Everything that happened later was a complete blank to me.
~*~
I woke up lying on a forest floor. Where was I? Where were Legolas and Aragorn? I shook my head to clear my vision of any white blobs. This again! Last time I was in the middle of a busy town and now I was in a forest. What was wrong with me? I wanted to get out of here!
I stood up and surprisingly, my ankle didn't hurt. I shook it hard and it felt fine. Yeah! I looked around me and all I saw were trees. Nothing else. How the hell could I get out of here?
Suddenly, a wave of nausea came over me. I leaned against a tree for support. Then memories flooded my mind; memories of my changes. The day that I became popular changed my sense of style. The day that I became captain of the cheerleading squad changed my personality. The day I became the editor of the school newspaper changed the way I thought of people. I realized that I missed myself, my true self.
Lightly, a leaf landed on my shoulder. I picked it up and looked at it. It was red. Then more leaves came floating down in different colours. Colours of autumn, snow of winter, buds of spring, and flowers of summer. What was going on? Was this some kind of show of the four seasons?
"Run, Jocelyn! Run quick!"
I turned at the sound of a male's voice. Everything seemed to come in slow motion. First, an elf appeared, and then a human and a whole army of orcs followed. They looked like orcs, but they seemed bigger and stronger.
At the sight of orcs, I had run. No need for reminders for the pain of arrows. I ran as fast as I could, but then I heard a thump. It wasn't extra loud or heavy, but it was a thump that made me stop running for my life. I turned around. What I saw froze my heart.
The elf was kneeling on the ground with an arrow pierced through his stomach. He stood back up but another arrow went into the left side of his chest. He took out his dagger and killed the orc to his left. He continued to fight no matter. Then finally one last arrow took him when it entered his heart.
It was then that I remembered who was the one that heard me when I needed help, who was the one who pulled the arrow out of my shoulder, who was the one who fed me his saliva, who was the one that carried me when I couldn't walk, who was the one that almost died saving me, who was the one that stood strong by my side when I was weak, who was the one who said I was worth dying for, and who was the one who still cared for me when he was hurt.
"Legolas!" I ran as swift as the wind to his side. When I reached him, his lifeless body fell into my arms. Off in the distance, I could hear Aragorn fighting through a bunch of orcs trying to reach us.me.
I looked down at the elf in my arms. The usual sparkle in his lavender blue eyes was gone. He didn't have that special aroma around him anymore. I closed my eyes and a single tear fell from my eyes onto his cheek. "I love you." I bent forward and kissed him softly on the lips.
I was happy at Aragorn's mention of a bath. Legolas was sitting against a tree, cleaning his wound. Aragorn had gone to get water from a small lake in the forest so Legolas could treat his wound. I tried to stand up but it was futile. Legolas heard me fall down and looked up at me smiling.
"Shut up!" I shouted back at him, smiling also.
He laughed and walked over to me. "How is your foot?"
"Hmm, what do you think?"
He shook his head and said, "We cannot carry on with you in this state."
"I will carry her." Aragorn said. Legolas nodded with satisfaction at this suggestion. We gathered all our belongings, which was not much. Aragorn said he would piggyback me. I was really happy at this, but the excitement died down when he said I had to carry his bag and Legolas' bow and quiver.
~*~
Our journey was silent. I decided to perk it up with some talk. "Did you just finish a Shakespearean play and forgot to change?"
Legolas looked at me with furrowed eyebrows. "Why do you ask such odd questions?"
"Well, why do you wear such odd clothing then?"
"We do not wear odd clothing. It seems you are the one. I believe you should sew a new dress. That one seems too small."
I gaped at him after he said those words. "That's .very.nice of you." I stuttered.
"How old are you?" Aragorn asked.
"I'm eighteen." I said with a smirk. In my opinion, best age there is.
Legolas and Aragorn looked at me in shock. "You are a child."
"Child? No way!" I'm going to college. Kids don't go to college."
"College?" Legolas inquired.
I rolled my eyes. "Don't you know anything?"
Legolas looked at me blankly. "I do not know everything, but I do know some things."
I rolled my eyes. "How old are you?" I asked in return.
"I'm eighty and Legolas is two thousand nine hundred thirty one." Aragorn answered.
My eyes widened as he said those numbers. "Excuse me?"
"Elves are immortal so it is not unusual for him to be two thousand of age," Aragorn explained, "As for me, I am part elvish. Even if I am eighty, I only look half my age."
"I see." Here comes another monster. I chuckled at the thought. Well, that's not so bad being an elf. You get to be a thousand years old but still look twenty!
I looked at the landscape around me. To my right were the forest and my left were rolling hills as far as the eye could see. "Where are all the buildings?" I asked, interested.
"Buildings? What buildings?" Aragorn said.
"You know. skyscrapers?" I said. They didn't get it. I could tell by the look on their faces. "Office buildings, corner shops, apartments, boutiques, coffee shops," I started listing things I saw back at home. I miss home. All the things I need are back at home.
"Jocelyn?" Legolas called softly.
I had dozed out into my thoughts. "What?"
"Are you alright?"
"Of course I am." No, I wasn't. I was scared. Terrified! Why was I here? This all didn't make sense. Was this all a dream? Was there a reason why I was having this dream? Then something that happened last night came back to me. "Why did those orcs attack us last night?"
"They do not need a reason to kill." Aragorn replied.
"So they're just insane and they run around killing people?" I asked.
"No, they used to be elves." Legolas answered. I quickly turned to look at Legolas. "They were tortured until like this. Sauron's doing. He made them to destroy the villages and cities." Legolas finished.
"Wow, then this Sauron dude must be really powerful. Who's Sauron?" I asked.
"He is the Dark Lord. His tower is in Mordor."
"Dark Lord? Elves? Is this some kind of fantasy dream?" I asked this more to myself.
"Fantasy?" Legolas stopped walking. "This is not fantasy. This is a nightmare. Do you have any idea how people are suffering?" he shouted at me. He was frustrated with me. I opened my mouth to respond but he raised his hand. "I am sorry, of course you do. I apologize for my tone." Legolas said softly.
I was shocked by his tone, but I understood. He cared about his people. His people?! I meant people like him. All of a sudden, I felt sorry for him. I didn't know why. I didn't even know what happened to him. I looked away from him and out towards the rolling hills.
Aragorn broke the silence. "We do not like destroying the nature here in Middle Earth, except of course the Dark Lord himself. Trees here are very precious. It would be a sin to cut one down."
They should see L.A. or New York. No trees except in parks. The dark lord thing was still really weird for me. Oh god, I want to go home.
At the end of the day, we finally reached our destination. Aragorn was exhausted from carrying me. He was trying to hide it, but I could tell. Crentook wasn't as big as the village we were at before but it had about the same things: dirt, dust, hay, and people. We decided to stay at an inn called Bugspan. I mean, who would in their right mind stay at an inn called Bugspan? I guess us then and some drunks sitting at the bar. Bar?! They have a bar! Awesome.
"Two rooms," Aragorn requested. "Also a bucket of warm water, we have two injured persons."
"Here are the keys, I will bring the water later." The bald man from behind the bar said.
No wonder he named his inn Bugspan. He looked like a bug himself. He had huge, bulging eyes and fat lips. He was a round man with a piercing glare. He looked at me and smirked. It was scary! He looked like he wanted to eat me. Thank god we're only staying for one night.
Aragorn turned around and I didn't have to see the man's smirk anymore. Our two adjacent rooms were on the second floor. We went into the first room and Aragorn put me down on the bed.
It was not a good bed. It was itchy and uncomfortable. "I can't be sleeping here. It's nasty."
"It is fine. We will be in the other room." Aragorn said. He led Legolas out.
Okay, he was sounding more like my brother each day. He had no right to boss me around. In fact, I could stay here if I wanted. Nah, I didn't want to be around Mr. Bugspan. At least they didn't do anything bad to me.yet. Legolas wouldn't do that. Shh, trying to convince myself!
I looked around the room. It looked like one of the rooms in a motel by the side of a deserted road. It was really plain and all the furniture looked old and dusty. The size of it was like my walk-in closet. I couldn't live here.
Then a knock sounded at the door. I looked up and saw Mr. Bugspan standing in the doorway. Oh no, not him!
"I brought your water." He said, smiling. How I wish I could wipe that smile off his face! He came into the room. I raised my eyebrows and faked a smile back at him. He just stood there staring at my face still with that evil smile.
"Um, you can go now." I said.
"You know, you have a beautiful face." Mr. Bugspan took a step closer.
"What do you want?!" I shouted at him. He was scaring me. Mr. Bugspan said nothing except continue to stare. Suddenly, a guest of wind blew from the open window. The door slammed shut.
Mr. Bugspan's smile widened even more if possible. "There is a reason why leave this door open. It gets stuck."
Oh my god! Oh my god, he did it on purpose. I don't know how but he did! Someone help me!
"Since we are locked in, why not we get to know each other better." Mr. Bugspan suggested with a sneer.
I locked eyes with him and I felt hypnotized. I couldn't say anything because my throat was so dry. I tried to stand up but it was no use. My ankle was hurt and where could I go? I never run around in my walk-in closet!
Mr. Bugspan plopped down next to me. "What is your name, fair lady?" he placed his hand on my shoulder. Slowly, his hand moved to my neck and brushed it gently.
I shivered. His hand was really cold and clammy. Then it moved down my back. Finally, with all the strength I could conjure, I screamed, "Legolas! Aragorn!" Then what happened next was the stupidest thing I could ever think I would do like stand up which caused me to trip over my broken ankle. I fell and my head hit the corner of the table by the bed. At least I tried. Everything that happened later was a complete blank to me.
~*~
I woke up lying on a forest floor. Where was I? Where were Legolas and Aragorn? I shook my head to clear my vision of any white blobs. This again! Last time I was in the middle of a busy town and now I was in a forest. What was wrong with me? I wanted to get out of here!
I stood up and surprisingly, my ankle didn't hurt. I shook it hard and it felt fine. Yeah! I looked around me and all I saw were trees. Nothing else. How the hell could I get out of here?
Suddenly, a wave of nausea came over me. I leaned against a tree for support. Then memories flooded my mind; memories of my changes. The day that I became popular changed my sense of style. The day that I became captain of the cheerleading squad changed my personality. The day I became the editor of the school newspaper changed the way I thought of people. I realized that I missed myself, my true self.
Lightly, a leaf landed on my shoulder. I picked it up and looked at it. It was red. Then more leaves came floating down in different colours. Colours of autumn, snow of winter, buds of spring, and flowers of summer. What was going on? Was this some kind of show of the four seasons?
"Run, Jocelyn! Run quick!"
I turned at the sound of a male's voice. Everything seemed to come in slow motion. First, an elf appeared, and then a human and a whole army of orcs followed. They looked like orcs, but they seemed bigger and stronger.
At the sight of orcs, I had run. No need for reminders for the pain of arrows. I ran as fast as I could, but then I heard a thump. It wasn't extra loud or heavy, but it was a thump that made me stop running for my life. I turned around. What I saw froze my heart.
The elf was kneeling on the ground with an arrow pierced through his stomach. He stood back up but another arrow went into the left side of his chest. He took out his dagger and killed the orc to his left. He continued to fight no matter. Then finally one last arrow took him when it entered his heart.
It was then that I remembered who was the one that heard me when I needed help, who was the one who pulled the arrow out of my shoulder, who was the one who fed me his saliva, who was the one that carried me when I couldn't walk, who was the one that almost died saving me, who was the one that stood strong by my side when I was weak, who was the one who said I was worth dying for, and who was the one who still cared for me when he was hurt.
"Legolas!" I ran as swift as the wind to his side. When I reached him, his lifeless body fell into my arms. Off in the distance, I could hear Aragorn fighting through a bunch of orcs trying to reach us.me.
I looked down at the elf in my arms. The usual sparkle in his lavender blue eyes was gone. He didn't have that special aroma around him anymore. I closed my eyes and a single tear fell from my eyes onto his cheek. "I love you." I bent forward and kissed him softly on the lips.