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Chapter 5: like jericho walls
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"And anyway, that's why a lot of people think it's more than just a coincidence so many bad things started happening only after Harambe's death in 2016. It's one of those things that's like, a joke, but at the same time, not a joke."
Merry and Pippin nod, transfixed by Adrienne's story over breakfast. Meanwhile, Frodo appears thoughtful as he processes it all, and Sam doesn't know how to even begin to respond to everything she just said.
"So, this ape's death set off a string of misfortunes such as killer…clowns you called them?" Merry asks for clarification. "And a worldwide pandemic?"
"Supposedly, yes." She nods.
"Your world sounds most exciting, Lady Adrienne!" Pippin exclaims.
"And most strange," Frodo adds with a frown.
"Yeah," she agrees with a laugh. "That's an understatement. But it wasn't all bad. Weird has a way of being wonderful. And to be fair, this world seems pretty strange to me, too."
"What do you like to do for fun? Besides get in fights with Boromir."
"Haha." She rolls her eyes good-naturedly. "Well, outside of school and work, which take up most of my time, I like to go out. I'm always down for meeting new people, like going to bars and nightclubs. God," she says, closing her eyes in bittersweet remembrance, "I am really going to miss clubbing."
"Those don't sound like activities fit for a lady," Gimli comments as he goes for seconds.
She just shrugs. "What can I say? It fills the empty void that is my life." She says the self-deprecating joke lightly, but from the silence she receives in return, along with the frown she notices appear on Legolas' face (she hadn't even thought he was listening!), she quickly realizes such jokes aren't understood or appreciated here.
She mentally files the information away.
Sam sets the frying pan off to the side and inches closer. "Do you have any hobbies?"
"Besides martial arts, which I'm sure Aragorn told you all about already," she digs, earning a humored eye roll from said man, "I like to play guitar. I love it, actually. Also the ukulele!"
"What's that? Is it a game?"
"What? No, it's a musical instrument. Don't tell me you don't have guitars here," she cries in dismay.
"A musical instrument?" Frodo says in interest. "Please describe it to me."
"It would probably be better to show you. Does anyone have a pencil and paper?"
The hobbits swing their heads around in search of the items, but Aragorn is the one to provide them. He holds out a sketchbook and charcoal pencil without bothering to glance up from the book he's reading.
"Thank you, milord," Adrienne lightly says in a medieval accent as she plucks the items from his grasp. She's not much of an artist, but she knows a guitar like the back of her hand, so it doesn't come out completely terrible. "Hm, okay, it's kinda shaped like this," she explains, drawing the body of a guitar on the paper, "and it has this thing called a neck that comes out like this, which has these strings stretched along it that go over the sound hole on the body. And when you strum the strings, it makes noise."
The four hobbits crowd around the rough drawing and take in her description.
"It seems like it's just an oddly shaped lute," Frodo concludes after a moment.
"Oh my God, yes! You have lutes here, then," she sighs in relief at the name of a familiar instrument. "That gives me some hope. Yeah, lutes are pretty similar. But they're definitely not the same thing…ugh, now I'm sad. Just added one more item to the list of things that I'm gonna miss 'cause they don't exist in this place. Right next to the internet and sour candy."
The hobbits exchange sympathetic glances despite not being familiar with the things she just listed.
"Well, not yet. Perhaps you can make one?" Merry offers.
She looks at him fondly. "Ah, my sweet summer child. I appreciate your belief in my carpentry skills, but I'm afraid they are greatly misplaced. I don't know the first thing about making anything even close to a guitar. And even if I did, I'd probably cut off a finger in the process."
"I see," he deflates. "Well, maybe you can learn to play the lute instead?"
"Yeah, Maybe," she says with a tight smile. She doesn't doubt she'll be able to pick it up; she's naturally musically inclined and can already play multiple different instruments, but it won't be the same. The guitar is her favorite by far and nothing else will fill its special place in her heart.
"You can decide if you want to learn to play the lute later," Aragorn says, walking over to Adrienne and gesturing for her to get up. "We must continue your training now."
"Can't you see I'm bonding with my hobbit friends right now?"
He doesn't respond, only continues to stare at her levelly.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming," she surrenders, putting her hands up in defeat.
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"Plant your feet properly," Aragorn instructs, pointing toward the offensive appendages with his sword. "Poor footing will cause you to be easily overpowered, no matter how good your swordsmanship is."
Adrienne huffs in annoyance. "You think I don't know how to plant my feet by now? That's one of the basics of any kind of fighting."
"I think you underestimate what we will be fighting. Orcs are very strong creatures; surely stronger than any man you have fought."
She squints her eyes in confusion. "Orcs? What are orcs?"
He straightens up, looking like he's forcing himself to be patient with a young child who is asking the most obvious questions through no fault of their own. "They are servants of Sauron, and they are massive. If you do not learn how to counter their sheer strength, you will never stand a chance." He walks over and helps put her feet in the correct positions. "You have to brace yourself and hold your own; a good defense is the best offense."
She grins. "They say that where I'm from, too."
"It's good advice. And speaking of advice, have you thought any more on what I said yesterday?"
"...About?" she asks innocently.
He gives her a long look. "About Boromir."
She shrugs. "A little, I guess."
There's silence as he expects her to elaborate but she refuses to do so.
"Well?"
"Okay, so I may have…overreacted a bit."
"And?"
"And maybe there's a teensy tiny possibility that he had a point about, y'know, my attitude about this whole thing."
He nods, satisfied with her conclusions. "Good."
"BUT," she adds, desperately grasping onto what pride remains, "I still think he was pretty rude to me, so I shouldn't get all the blame."
"I never said otherwise," he replies. "I recognize the truth to that statement and I have already talked with Boromir about it. And now that I have addressed it with you as well, the only thing that remains is for you and him to talk it out amongst yourselves."
Groaning, she tilts her head to the sky. She can't be surprised, really. Of course he was going to lead it to this. "Ugh, why do you have to be such a good guy?"
He manages to keep a straight face, but if she looked she would've caught the smile in his eyes. "I only have the fellowship's best interests at heart."
"Of course you do." She looks back over at him. "Fine. I'll talk to him, bake him an apology cake or whatever and make up."
"I do not believe any baked goods are necessary; only genuine words."
"T'was a joke." She shakes her head. Humor is clearly lacking in this world. "Anyway, I'm gonna go track down Borry boy. If like, two hours go by and you haven't heard from me, just assume that it went horribly wrong and I've been murdered."
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It takes a while, but she finds Boromir sitting on a large rock by a stream.
His back is to her, and for a brief moment she considers just walking away, but she knows this is the right thing to do. That and the thought of disappointing Aragorn makes her feel ashamed for some reason. He's just one of those guys that you would hate to let down.
Taking a deep breath, she takes a few steps forward, while still leaving a good five feet between them, and clears her throat.
She knows he's aware of her presence, he has to be, but he doesn't turn around like she was hoping he would.
Okay, let's just cut to the chase then.
"Hey, let's squash this beef between us already," she says.
Turning around to face her, Boromir frowns in confusion. He glances down at the space between the two of them. "To what beef are you referring?"
She resists the urge to roll her eyes. "I mean the tension between us, this feud."
"Ah." He awkwardly avoids eye contact.
"Yesterday…didn't exactly go too great. And I realize I sort of owe you an apology."
He looks up at her in surprise and waits for her to continue.
"It's just that you hit a nerve, I think. But I handled it poorly, so I'm sorry. I didn't realize how I was coming off from your perspective."
He nods in acceptance but does not speak a reply.
Her cheeks flame as her pride recovers, so she quickly charges forward with her rambling. "And look, I understand that it's hard to trust a weird girl who shows up suddenly, supposedly from the future or whatever–it's insane. Hell, I'm the girl and I still have a hard time believing it. And I also get that you're upset Galadriel didn't choose for you to be present for my arrival thingy–I'd be hurt, too. But you're just gonna have to accept that she has her reasons; you can't keep taking it out on me."
He shuffles his feet in discomfort. "Perhaps you are right, and I apologize for my harshness yesterday as well. But you must understand my hesitance to trust you. The circumstances are most fantastic, and even with that aside, trust is not something easily gained. Especially in these times."
"I understand, believe me." She pauses, thinking of how to best approach the issue. "But the only thing I can say is that's just…what trust is, at its core. It's choosing to put your faith in another person even though you know you're taking a risk." She glances away and sighs before looking him right in the eye. "You're just gonna have to trust me the way I'm gonna have to trust the rest of you guys. It's not easy for me either."
His expression turns thoughtful as he mulls over her words "I suppose I had not thought about it that way. It must be very difficult for you; you're all alone in a strange new place with strange new people, expected to blindly trust our every word and go along with what is asked of you."
She offers a smile despite the sudden tightness in her chest at his depressing words. "Ouch, you didn't have to put it so bluntly," she teases, bringing a hand to her chest as if she'd been physically wounded.
"My apologies."
"Nah, it's alright. I kind of deserved it; as I said, I haven't been as nice to you as I could have, either." She offers her hand out for him to shake. "So, potential friends?"
With a chuckle, he grasps her hand and gives it a shake in agreement. "Potential friends."
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Adrienne and Boromir arrive back at camp together just as the sun is beginning to set.
The group eyes the pair with wariness and curiosity, unsure of what to think.
Adrienne puts up her hands. "I know, I know, it's a shock to see us being civil with each other. Believe it or not, we worked out our differences. We're potential friends now."
Boromir nods.
"Potential friends?" Gimli asks.
"Yeah. I don't want to push anything, we're taking it one step at a time. So," she spreads her hands out in a gesture, "potential friends sounds right."
Gimli shakes his head at the ridiculousness.
"I'm glad to hear it," Aragorn says, and the proud look he sends Adrienne's way makes her feel warm inside.
Her eyes wander over to the hobbits where she sees them packing something into pipes. "Oh my God," she exclaims as she rushes over, "what are you smoking?"
"Pipeweed."
She grins. "Is that the Middle Earth equivalent of Marijuana? Please tell me it's weed," she says, earning confused looks. "You know what? Doesn't matter anyway. Whatever it is, count me in."
As she takes a seat, Gimli clears his throat and gives her a reminder. "Erm, beg your pardon, Lady Adrienne but that really isn't very–"
"Proper," she finishes for him. "Yeah, whatever. Fuck that. I wanna smoke up."
The hobbits all look amused as they pass her the pipe.
She closes her eyes as she takes a hit. "Ohh," she breathes, "it's been far too long. Well, it's only been less than two months since I quit, but still."
"Why did you quit?"
Her eyes meet his, not having expected this to be brought up. "I…thought I had an illness." There's a brief pause as she says it out loud for what she realizes is the first time. "Actually, I'm still not sure I don't have it," she admits.
Galadriel had assured her that she hadn't been experiencing psychosis and that she is of sane mind, but that didn't make the fear disappear entirely. Especially considering the fact that everything that's happened is so, well, unbelievable. There's a part of her that still continues to doubt the reality of this all.
She wonders if it always will.
"What kind of illness?" Pippin asks curiously.
Adrienne grows quiet as a myriad of thoughts engulfs her. She doesn't want to talk about it, to unearth that deeply buried pain, she never does. Even to who she considered to be her closest friends back home–even Claire–, she never wanted to talk about it, to open up the darkest parts of herself. She always told herself that they didn't get it, that they couldn't. They would never be able to understand the pain she feels, so why bother trying?
Now, at Pippin's question, she's tempted to clam up like she always does, but something causes her to hesitate. She can't help but recall Galadriel's words to her on the night of her arrival.
For it is selfish to keep your pain to yourself and refuse to let others in, it is selfish to assume others do not understand or even share your pain
She thinks that maybe she can try to open up to them in this way. This is her chance to have a new life, she might as well make the most of it and take a chance on her new friends here.
Or she can at least take a step in that direction.
"A mental illness called schizophrenia; it's known for causing psychosis, which is pretty much where it's hard to decipher between what's real and what's not. Like, it skews your perception of reality. It includes stuff like delusions and hallucinations. So when I started hearing Galadriel's voice in my head, I feared the worst."
"Is that why you think you had it?" Merry asks
"Yeah, that and because it's highly genetic–it runs in my family."
"Did your parents have it then?"
"My mom." She hesitates before adding the next detail. "It's um, actually what led to her death."
The pipe freezes halfway up to Pippin's mouth as he and the rest of the hobbits all exchange an empathetic look. Even the nearby chatter from the rest of the fellowship fades down as they hear her solemn words.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Lady Adrienne," Frodo offers sympathetically, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Everyone's grief is their own, but if it eases your mind any, I too know the pain of losing a mother. Several of us do, I believe. I lost mine to a boating accident when I was twelve, so if you ever need to talk, I will listen."
The others all quietly chorus in agreement. Us, too.
It is selfish to assume others do not understand or even share your pain, Galadriel's words echo in her mind yet again.
Adrienne blinks back tears at the kind offer. "Thank you, Frodo. All of you. I really appreciate it." She gives them a watery, appreciative smile that they all return. Then she clears her throat and wipes at her eyes. "Okay, enough sappy talk. Let me get another hit and let's hope the effects kick in soon–I'm ready to feel dopeily happy.
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"Hmm lemme see. Oh! I've got it; would you rather have feet for hands, or hands for feet?"
"Feet for hands, most definitely! That way I could hold twice as much food."
"Fair point. Okay, okay, what about this one; would you rather-"
"Lady Adrienne," Aragorn speaks up, his voice teetering on the edge of exasperation, "I think it's time you and the hobbits quiet down and retire for the night."
The girl lifts her head from where she's lying on her back, Pippin on one side of her and Merry on the other, her arms wrapped loosely around their shoulders. "But I'm all cozy and having fun with my new besties here."
"I can tell, but I'm afraid I must still ask you to go to bed."
"Do I have to?"
"Yes."
A small chorus of disappointed aww's sounds from their direction and Aragorn sighs. "Legolas, please escort the lady to her flet."
"What, why do I need a babysitter?" Adrienne protests, offended.
"Are you that confident in your ability to find your way back to your room from here?" he questions. "In the dark?"
Up until now, Aurëill has always come by to fetch Adrienne before nightfall.
She shrugs. "No, but I'd find it eventually."
Aragorn sighs. "Please, allow Legolas to walk you back to your flet."
"Ugh, alright, Mom ," she reluctantly agrees as the elf is already making his way over to her.
"Thank you, mellon nin," Aragorn says to Legolas. My friend.
As the two begin to walk off, he can hear Adrienne tease the elf, "Do I have to hold your hand too, in case I wander off?"
"I can assure you that is not necessary," comes the reply, and Aragorn can't help but let out a chuckle of amusement.
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Adrienne rants as she walks alongside Legolas, more for the sake of saying something than out of actual annoyance. "I can't believe he pretty much told me to shut up and go to bed like a mom scolding kids at a sleepover. I don't think he likes me," she concludes. "Like, he's a good teacher and all, but I think he only does it 'cause he feels obligated to."
"Aragorn is a guarded person," the elf reponds. "It will take some time to get him to warm up to you and treat you as more of a friend than a mentor."
"Hmm." She chews her lower lip in thought. "Well if there's one thing I'm good at, it's tearing down those emotional walls and barriers people have and getting them to warm up to me."
"And what about your walls?" he asks.
The question surprises her.
Her walls.
They're more like a fortress at this point. A fortress of thick, brick castle walls, complete with a drawbridge and surrounding moat.
But then again, just earlier tonight she'd willingly let those walls crack a bit when she told them about her mom. She hasn't told someone about that in…well, she can't remember how long.
So maybe there is hope for her after all.
She clears her throat and looks up at the night sky, an action that is second nature to her by now. "The moon sure is pretty, from what I can make out behind the trees that is."
He follows her gaze, noting the tender look in her eyes. "If it would please you, I can take you somewhere where you can see it better."
She breaks out of her trance and turns to him, searching his face. The offer is so thoughtful it touches her heart. "You'd do that for me?"
"Of course. It's the least I can do. You are so far from home, I can't imagine your pain. If I can ease it in any way, I shall."
She gives him a warm smile in response. "Then yeah, I'd really appreciate it. Lead the way, good sir."
He nods, responding with a ghost of a smile in return before beckoning her to follow him. He leads her through the forest for several minutes until they reach a part she has not been to before. It's more secluded than the rest; no one else seems to be around.
When they arrive at a pair of intertwined trees, Legolas comes to a stop.
"These are my favorite trees in all of Lothlórien. They were planted so close together one could have choked the other, causing it to wither and die, but instead they decided to adapt and grow together, supporting one another as they do so."
"That's beautiful. Poetic, even."
"Indeed." He gestures upwards. "Shall we?"
She grins. "You can always count me in, but be warned that I may or may not have fallen out of a tree and broken my leg before."
"Worry not, I shan't let you fall."
"Oh and that's something you can promise?"
"I'm a woodland elf; climbing trees comes natural to me. I am more than capable."
"Alright then, lead the way, master climber."
He shoots her an amused look at her teasing before beginning to lithely scale the tree, jumping from branch to branch.
Pleased with a challenge, Adrienne scrambles up after him much less gracefully. She's on the last branch she needs to conquer in order to reach Legolas' final destination when she falters. There's a bigger distance between the two places than any of the others she'd encountered on her way up.
"What is the matter? Are you scared?" he asks with a smile.
"Pfft, me? Scared? Nah." Against her better judgment, She glances down into the space between them–specifically, the long way down to the ground. "Okay, maybe just a little."
"Ah, so you admit it," he laughs,
Smug bastard, she thinks.
"Yeah, okay, can you blame me? It's a long way down, and as I told you, I have previous trauma involving falling out of trees." She bites her lip nervously, the memory of her tree-climbing injury suddenly rushing back to her in vivid detail.
The teasing smirk slides off his face as he inches closer to the edge of the branch he's standing on. "Jump, Adrienne. I promise to catch you."
She swallows hard. "You promise? For real?"
"I do," he says with such confidence that Adrienne knows he means it with all his heart.
"Always?" she questions.
He laughs softly at her drama. "Yes, always."
"O-kay," she agrees before raising a finger in warning. "But if you ever do let me fall I'm coming back as a ghost to haunt you for the rest of your freakishly long life."
He laughs lightly. "I would not think of it; you have my word."
"Alrighty, then." Taking a deep breath, Adrienne steps forward and pushes her feet off the stable branch beneath her, launching herself through the air. She shuts her eyes shut in apprehension, but no sooner had she done so when she feels a pair of strong hands grab her and swing her around.
When she feels solid ground (or tree, technically) beneath her feet again she opens her eyes to find Legolas in close proximity, his hands still gripping her arms securely.
"Well," she gulps, "you didn't let me fall."
He releases her and takes a step back. "Just as I said."
"Mm. Guess you are trustworthy after all."
"Did you not think so before?" he sounds offended.
She raises her hands in defense. "Hey man, for all I knew you could have brought me out to this secluded area of the woods to intentionally kill me."
His brow furrows. "Why would I do such a thing?"
"Ugh, I guess serial killers aren't really a thing here." She waves him off. "At least that you're aware of."
"Serial killers?" he asks before shaking his head. "Nevermind, I do not think I wish to know. Besides, you are missing out on the true reason I brought you out here."
"What-"
He grasps her shoulders and turns her away from him and instead straight ahead, her back to the heart of Lórien. He gently lifts her chin toward the sky and she gasps at the sight.
In a clearing from the rest of the branches and trees, and now much closer to the sky than before, an unobstructed view is granted to them. The moon and thousands of stars glitter across the dark sky to create a true work of art.
As she stares up, her face relaxes into a serene expression and she sighs softly. "I never knew a place could be so peaceful as here. Someone said it's magic, and I know that has to be it, 'cause I've never felt so at home before."
"I would think you would feel somewhat at home regardless of magic, what with being familiar with being surrounded by trees and all."
"Huh?" she asks as she turns to face him again, humored. "What gave you that idea?"
"Your kin resides in the forest, do they not?"
"Um, no. I'm from the suburbs," she says and upon seeing his confusion she quickly elaborates. "Like, the outskirts of a city."
"Oh. I see." He frowns, sounding disappointed. "To what does your name refer then?"
She only blinks at him.
"Woods. Was that name not given in reference to where your kin resides, if not yourself then?"
There's a beat of silence as she processes this explanation before letting out a breathy exhale in amusement. "Um, no," she answers slowly, smiling in amusement. "Well, I guess maybe that was the case–or something like that, at least–, like generations and generations back. But by now it really doesn't mean anything. It's just a name, sorry to disappoint."
He nods, appearing a bit crestfallen, and Adrienne smiles to herself at him being such a huge fan of trees that he's disappointed in her not having such a thing in common with him. It's both hilarious and adorable.
"What about you, though?" she asks. "What was it like growing up here?"
He looks at her confused. "I did not grow up here."
Heat rises to her cheeks as she realizes her ignorant mistake. "Oh, my bad. I just assumed–"
"What? That my looks resemble the other residents of this place so I must be closely related?" he asks stiffly.
She grins sheepishly. "Um. Kinda, yeah."
"How presumptuous of you."
"Hey, you were presumptuous about where I grew up, too."
"Fair enough. I grew up in Eryn Galen," he reveals, "but most people refer to it as Mirkwood these days. So you were correct that I grew up in a wooded kingdom, just not this one."
She nudges his shoulder playfully. "And here you were offended."
He stares at where she just nudged him as if trying to process the meaning behind it. "You are most strange, Lady Adrienne."
"Right back at ya," she says with a wink.
They both move into sitting positions on the branch, their legs dangling in the air as a comfortable silence settles over them.
In such a calm moment, Adrienne can't help but realize how incredible it is that she's even here at all. So much has changed within a few days; one day she was on campus about to graduate, and the next she's in a foreign, magical world.
She's startled to realize how quickly she's accepted it, but then again, she's always been up for adventure. And there really wasn't much waiting for her back home; she had been, well, empty is a good word for it. Of course, she will certainly miss her friends. Despite being a people person, she'd had few very close friends, and even then, she'd still kept them from the most raw, vulnerable parts of herself. But oh, they were still special, and Adrienne knows she'll never forget them. Claire, Jesse, Collin…they'll probably never know what happened to her, and the thought makes her heart ache. They'll surely miss her, and she'll miss them just as much.
Even in face of missing her old life, Adrienne is aware that she doesn't miss it nearly as much as she thought she would. Sure, with everything aforementioned it hurts, but right now she's looking up at nearly the same sky she did at home and she's made some new friends already. More than that though, she's been given a purpose. The Valar–or whoever, she's still not quite sure-gave the chance for a new life; she can start over and try to find happiness here. And if that means helping save Middle Earth with this band of misfits, then so be it.
Yes, this isn't particularly what she'd had in mind when she'd made that wish at the well, but it's what she got. A gift, Galadriel had called it. And just as she's always done, she's going to make the best out of what she's been given.
"Everything happens for a reason," she whispers the reassuring words her mother used to say to her, a soft smile upon her lips, while the elf beside her nods in agreement.