AN: Now we get to the good part, where she's interacting with the Middle Earthlings. Oh, no offense to any Amish or cultists or anything, I just thought it fit well. The names of Archer's accomplices are random, so don't go reading into them.

Disclaimer: I don't own LOTR. Enough said.

Verdi wondered where they were taking her, it was almost totally dark and her sense of direction was befuddled. She knew if she walked north of her forest, she would hit the YMCA and the mall, and if she walked south of her forest, she would eventually reach the highway. Yet she heard no sounds of cars, or for that matter, no sounds of anything civilized. 'These guys must be part of one of those crazy cults, the ones who revere nature and don't use any modern technology' she thought. 'Maybe they'll have a phone anyway, or maybe they can drive me in their little horse-and-buggy to somewhere with a phone.' The picture of the Amish guy in her history textbook popped into her head and she started to giggle. When they had read that section in school, Verdi and Caroline decided that one day they would drive in a nice blue convertible through an Amish town on a warm summer day with their music blaring.

Verdi started cracking up, perhaps it was the stress, but the whole thing seemed almost as funny now as it did then! Archer guy turned around and looked at her, a peculiar expression on his face; he obviously didn't understand the mind of a teenage girl. 'Duh! He's never been a teenage girl!' That sent Verdi into more peals of laughter as she thought of the guy being shrunk a foot and wearing the tight little shorts and spaghetti-strap tanktops that were popular these days. All three guys frowned at her, and she closed her mouth obediently. 'These guys have no sense of humor, I bet they've never laughed in their life!'

They kept walking and Verdi began to examine Archer guy more closely. His blond hair was long, the top part was braided tightly and there were two cute little braids on either side of his head, behind his pointed ears. 'Pointed ears! Humans don't have pointy ears!' Verdi walked a little closer, to make sure that it was just a trick of the light and his ears were really rounded. They weren't.

"He has pointy ears!" She hadn't meant to say that, especially not so loudly. Archer guy stopped and turned around again, definitely annoyed. Verdi looked at him for a moment, then reached over and touched his ear. Archer dude jumped back, 'Man is he touchy, my goodness. Those ears are definitely pointy!' Verdi touched her ear, just to make sure she didn't have pointy ears. She didn't.

Verdi sighed with relief, then she remembered the other two guys. She turned around to face them, 'Yep, they have pointy ears too, must be part of their cult thing.' Satisfied with that, she took off her backpack. 'Since we're stopped for the moment, I might as well get out my food. It's not like I have to save it anymore, these guys have to eat something, no matter how crazy they are.' She took out her bagel and apple juice, and proceeded to eat and drink as they continued through the forest.

They walked and walked and walked. And walked some more. The sky was completely dark and Verdi's watch told her it was almost ten. 'It's way past my bedtime,' she thought as she yawned for the third time. She was tempted to ask, "are we there yet?" but she knew they wouldn't understand her. 'I hope we are almost there, because much longer and I'm going to wet my pants!' Verdi had peed in the forest before, but she didn't want these guys watching her, and she didn't think they would trust her out of their sight.

Nature wasn't to be denied, though, and it wasn't much longer before Verdi decided she had to find a little girl's room now!

"Hey you!" Archer guy turned around and raised his eyebrow.

"Haldir." He said, pointing at his chest.

'Oh great, now we get to the introductions, now that I have to pee!' Verdi pointed at herself, "Verdi."

Archer guy, no, Haldir, nodded and pointed at the other two. "Camthalion" that was the dark-haired one, "Huor" that was the blond one. 'Okay, intros done, now can I go hide behind a tree?' Verdi wasn't sure how to explain the call of nature without embarrassing herself. She tried to put on an pained, urgent expression and hopped around a little. Evidently she got her message across, for Haldir nodded, motioned to the trees, and then turned his back. He said something, and the other two turned their backs as well.

Knowing that was all she was going to get, Verdi went into the trees, relieved herself, and came back feeling much happier. They walked on, as silent as ever. Verdi took the time to contemplate the meaning of life. Right. No, actually she thought about the dudes' names, they were weird, definitally not American. Yet, she recognized one of them, but she couldn't remember where from. 'Well, it'll come to me in the middle of the night, a few nights from now.'

They didn't walk much farther before the guys stopped and set up camp. Atleast she assumed it was camp, for they all gathered around, made a small fire and cooked some food. Verdi wasn't too happy, she wanted to go home, and these guys were taking a lunch break! But the food called to her, and she sat down to eat the funny bread and cooked wee, I mean, vegetables that they offered.

Once they were done, Haldir and Huor settled down around the fire. Verdi realized with a start that the guys intended to spend the night here.

"Wait, no, we have to keep going, I have to get home!" Her anguished voice broke the silence of the night and they all looked at her. Haldir motioned for her to lie down, whispering some soothing words. Verdi wasn't to be comforted, 'No, no, this is all wrong! My parents must be freaking out and these guys are acting like they're on a camping trip!' In her anger she kicked a tree, unfortunately for her the tree was harder than her toe and she danced around on one foot before collapsing by the campfire. The guys just shook their heads and looked out into the night or deep into the fire.

'Wow, look at how the flames flicker in his eyes' Verdi was entranced as she looked at Haldir's blue caverns. 'It's almost hypnotic.' Verdi didn't realize how tired she was, and after a few moments of looking at the archer's eyes, she fell asleep. Her family was just going to have to wait until tomorrow.

The elves looked at her knowingly, and they sat up straight and conversed softly. They weren't tired in the least, but they knew she was. They knew that Galadriel wouldn't be happy if they exhausted the girl just so they could arrive sooner. The girl would need plenty of energy to explain her self to the elves.