Chapter Five – Setting off
"Are you two okay?" asked Michael kindly.
"I..." began Jenna.
"We're..." said Estriel faintly.
"So confused..."
"You two looked kinda spaced out," remarked Gabriel.
Raphael gave him a reprimanding look.
"But, don't worry, 'cos you have three archangels on your side," he said quickly.
"But, what about the rules, Gabe?" asked Jenna.
"There are occasions, such as this, where things can be more important than rules," said Raphael.
"Well, that was monumental!" commented Gabriel. "Something more important than rules?"
"Do you need to sit down, Raph?" added Michael, smiling.
"I have so many questions," said Estriel, before Raphael had a chance to answer back and angel-banter began.
"Of course, Estriel, and we will be more than happy to answer any that we can, however there are some things that we cannot assist you with, I am afraid," said Raphael.
"Okay, well, my first one is...why us? I mean, okay, so we're obsessive Lord of the Rings fans, but so are, like, thousands of other people. And we're only in our second year at University," said Estriel.
"Alas, your first question is one that I cannot answer. However, I will say this. There is a reason for everything. You were not chosen by coincidence. There will come a time in your mission when you will realise that you have something that others do not. Only then will you know the answer."
Estriel smiled at the angel. "Thank you, Raphael. I understand."
"Heck, he lost me at "alas"," commented Gabriel to Michael, who sniggered. Raphael gave them both a reprimanding look.
"I have a question," said Jenna. "How did J.R.R. Tolkein know about Middle Earth? I mean if what you say is true..."
"Angels never lie," interrupted Michael, looking indignant. Jenna nodded, and continued.
"Then he wrote about a historic event that nobody knew about but him. How is that possible?"
"I should have warned you, she's doing Medicine at Uni, she's all sciency and factual and stuff," said Estriel to the angels, who smiled politely, even though they already knew this.
"Oooh!" exclaimed Gabriel. "Pick me! Pick me! I know the answer!" Raphael nodded.
"Just 'cos you got to pass on one lousy message to Mary, you think you're so great..." muttered Michael, who then nodded slightly resentfully at Gabriel, indicating him to go on. Gabriel coolly brushed back the floppy lock of dark hair from his eyes and explained.
"Basically, Tolkein got lucky. He was a good guy, faithful husband, good father, went to church, said his prayers...You get the idea. And, the guy, up there," Gabriel jabbed one translucent finger upwards. "Already had his plan forming, so he decided that maybe he could be the guy to do what you're about to do now. So, He gave him a dream which explained the story of Middle Earth. Only, instead of readying himself to step through a portal and do what was right, the guy just sat there and wrote about the flippin' thing."
"And what's worse," said Michael. "Is that he didn't even get all the facts right."
"So, you mean, the middle earth we're going to step into is completely different from the one we've read about?" asked Jenna, horrified.
"Well, not completely different," said Raphael. "However, there will be minor changes and alterations which you must be prepared for."
"Hey!" said Gabriel. "That was MY question. She asked ME!"
"Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from," said Estriel.
"Well, as much as we'd love to stand around here all day and answer your endless questions while there's a sale in the Prada in heaven, we can't," said Michael.
"Why not?" asked Jenna, deciding to ignore the Prada in heaven bit.
"Because you have to leave soon," said Michael.
"Leave?" asked Estriel.
"Soon?" shrieked Jenna
"Yes," said Raphael. "Leave-soon. Leave...soon. You have to leave soon."
"Don't worry, ladies, you'll see us real soon!" said Gabriel. "We'll pop in on you every now and then."
"When?"
"When you need us most," said Raphael.
"Well, how will..."
"We're angels," said Michael. "We know everything."
"Everything?" asked Jenna and Estriel in awe.
"Everything. The whole lot," said Michael smiling.
"We have time to answer one more question," said Raphael.
The girls turned to each other, and whispered quietly to each other for a minute or so. The angels could have heard if they had so wished, but out of courtesy, they refrained.
"Okay, we have one," said Jenna, importantly.
"What exactly is our purpose there, and how far are we supposed to interfere?" asked Estriel slowly.
"Your purpose there is simple, you must do what you feel is right," said Raphael.
"Well, what does that mean?" asked Jenna.
"When both your heart and mind agree, then that is right," said Michael.
"And as for how far you're supposed to interfere, you can change nothing directly, only through others. However, if you are in danger, you are allowed to act," said Gabriel.
"But..." said Jenna.
Raphael shook his head. "We don't have time for that..."
"But..." said Estriel.
"Or that one either. You must leave now. It has been a pleasure to meet you," said Raphael.
"We'll see you guys soon, promise," said Gabriel.
"Good luck!" said Michael.
"Keep an eye out for unexpected friends!" Raphael added.
Another portal opened in between them.
The girls knew what to do. With a final smile and wave at the angels, they lifted their backpacks again stepped into it, shouting their goodbyes behind them.
The same feeling encompassed the girls as had done when they first travelled through the portal. After a long time, they reached their destination.
The landed on the ground, and fell over, feeling weak after their journey. The girls felt dizzy and disorientated, and their whole bodies were heavy with fatigue.
"Es?" murmured Jenna. "You okay?"
"Mhmmm..." said Estriel. "Where ARE we?"
Jenna looked around, confused.
The angels had the whole of Middle Earth to choose from: Lothlorien, Rivendell, the Shire...and yet they chose the middle of the forest. Apparently divine beings could be directionally challenged.
"So..." "Yeah, we should definitely do something," agreed Jenna. "Any second now..." "It's getting dark..." "Should we try to find a good campsite?" "Yeah. North? South?"
"Forward?" Estriel pointed out they had no compass. "Good plan. Let's go." They had barely taken three steps when Jenna blurted out brightly "Look at us! We're so cool! We're on a mission! We're like..." "Crusaders? Holy warriors?" "More like on summer camp, but yeah, I'll roll with that." "K. Tally ho!"
They walked on, and as they went through tall leafy trees and bushes, they were silent. The forest's night time sounds flowed on the breeze past the girls sensitive ears. Soon they came to a glade in which a tree had fallen, providing shelter for the tired girls.
Jenna and Estriel sat down on a carpet of dried leaves, and relieved their backs of their unbelievably heavy rucksacks. They remained slumped for a moment, and then Estriel began to potter around, collecting firewood and dry brush, then scooping out a fire pit. She then began to carefully lay the fire, while Jenna managed to start making a sort of shelter for the night, mainly from a tree which bent over until its branches touched the ground. It was almost like a weeping willow, but with much thicker foliage and denser branches. It seemed like a hut already, without Jaena's extra efforts, spreading their tarpaulin and sleeping bags on the ground so they could wrap themselves up in it. Soon they had a fire going, and enough wood to see them through the night. They ate some of their snack bars and talked.
"So...Middle Earth, here we come!" Jenna said after a particularly poignant pause. "Yes, I guess so. Where do you think we should go? I mean, once we discover where we are?" Es replied soberly, staring into the flames.
"Don't know. You?" "Erm, well, in stories one usually heads towards one of the elven sanctuaries?"
"Yeah, but those are stories written by people that haven't always taken in all the information from the books, or have discarded bits for their own purposes- they aren't reliable. We should know, we write them." Jenna replied, biting her lip.
"You have a point. Well, we have to find out what year we're in- has Frodo even got the ring yet? Has Saruman turned? Have the elves of Mirkwood been given Gollum for safe keeping? We don't know. Perhaps we have a bit of time to sort of, prepare?" Estriel was thinking furiously. Jenna munched on her food and did the same.
Shadows flickered and danced amongst the trees surrounding them, and the forest seemed alive with the sounds of animals and night-birds calling. Rustling in the bushes didn't alarm the girls, as experienced campers they knew that silence was the warning of predators- as long as the rustling could be heard, they were pretty safe.
"I know!" Estriel had had a brain wave. Hurriedly swallowing the rest of her bar, she stood and began pacing as she thought aloud to her friend. "We need for people to trust us, right? So I figure, the first thing we need to do is get ourselves some reputations! Good ones, I mean. And then we need to work on getting to know important people, and those who were mentioned in LotR, and getting them to like us- otherwise, why the hell should they listen to what we say?"
Jenna applauded as she paused, and she pretended to bow before continuing.
"Ok. So what are we really, really good at? Stuff that we can build a reputation on? You want to be a doctor, for Christ's...Maybe I shouldn't say that anymore.... So you can start putting all your knowledge into practice that way, eh? And I can be your assistant! You have to have more general knowledge than most of the quacks around here, right? If that fails, I can be a storyteller! Drama is easy to do, and English- well, I never thought memorising the Iliad, Odyssey, Beowulf and the rest would be helpful! Maybe we should start off in some sort of inn?"
Jenna grinned and commented- "I know the perfect places- The Green Dragon or The Prancing Pony; surely the books will have got the hobbit's love of stories right!"
They grinned at each other excitedly.
"Perfect. But now we should set watches and get some rest- day break means walking again..." Estriel became assertive. They agreed to wake each other every two hours. Jenna took first watch, sat at the entrance to the tree/hut.
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