Hello again! I am SO happy for all the reviews! You guys have no clue how much I appreciate them! hugs I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! :D On to the shoutouts!!!
Navaer Lalaith: Oops, I just realized that mistake. Hopefully I have everything fixed for this chappie. ;) Thanks for the review!
my-fool-of-a-took: lol, I can imagine Pip now. "Look mom! Look what I found! A HUMAN! Can we keep her? Huh huh huh?" lol... Yeah, I have sooo many fantisies where I meet the fellowship, hang with the hobbits. Have fun. lol. I think I was born to be a hobbit. Sometimes I crawl around on my knees to get the hang of being short. Ya never know! One day I might wake up in ME and have magically transformed into a hobbit! :D Thanks for the review!
Piratica: Yeah, like what if Lilka has a sudden instinct. PROTECT FRODO FROM CREEPY BLACK SHADOWS!!!! lol Not. I guess if I ever have a major writers block I could just let her keel over and die. lol I hope you can post another chappie SOOOONN!! Thanks for reviewing! :D
Hermoine Heart: lol, I am the famous mind reader! lol. Thanks for reviewing!
azgirl: You're not a GIRL you're aMOM!! lol, Thanks. I was sooooo happy when I read it. I have NO clue how you found it. lol Thankssoo much! :D I hope you can keep reading it! Maybe then I can FINALLY convinceyou to watch LOTR!
Daydreaming Turtle: Thank you! I'm very glad you like it! :D
On to ChapterThree!Reviewswelcome!
Chapter 4
Lilka's POV:
I stare at the book in disbelief. I am in a book? In a fantasy? This can't be right. How in the world can this happen to me? I don't know a thing about Lord of the Rings! How am I supposed to survive in it?
I try turning the next page of the book, but I can't. It's stuck. In fact, I can't go beyond this page at all! Only backwards to the beginning and forwards to this chapter called "A Knife in the Dark." I can't go any farther. Not even to finish the chapter! I put both my hands onto the end of the book and pull as hard as I can.
It won't even budge.
What's going on? Why am I here? I think frantically as I try again and again to pry that stupid, cursed book open.
I finally throw the book down in frustration, and then notice everyone staring at me in surprise. I shrug sheepishly, pick up the book and put it in my backpack once again.
Breakfast is finally ready. I eat it quickly, not questioning what it is. (I have no clue.) It tastes okay. Afterwards, Strider gets up and points to the north (at least. I think it is the north)
He says something in his stupid language and points again.
No duh, I can see they are traveling! But where are they traveling to? I nod and get up, picking up my backpack and shouldering it, following Strider and the midgets to who knows where.
Striders POV
Lilka proves to be not a bad traveler. She walks at a steady pace, always seems to be questioning things, but none of us can answer.
I can tell Pippin especially wants to talk to her, even though she is one of the "big folk," as I am. However, she looks almost his age, if not a little younger. I do feel sorry for Pippin; he is the youngest of the group; according to Frodo, not even the age of adulthood yet. Merry, of course, is very close to him, but I can tell; to him, it's not the same.
After hours of traveling, Lilka is exhausted. She is dragging her feet, staring at the ground in a daze. I do want to stop for her, but we usually stop later in the nights, and the sun is only just now setting. Of course, the hobbits find this as a great excuse to stop early, but I urge them on. There is no time to stop early. No time at all.
Lilka's POV
Anytime, I think wearily, Anytime Strider will let us stop and I can go to sleep. My feet ache terribly; I have a horrible headache, my arm started throbbing - the dull, aching throb that seems to never go away, and my eyes are dry because my contacts are still in. We are walking through this weird sort of swamp thing. These mosquitoes will not leave me alone. I keep swatting at them, but it's no use, there are too many of them. Then there are these… things. They keep chirping this frighteningly strange chirp that makes me feel shivers down my spine. Never stopping, these bugs, this whole swamp, is making me feel terrified.
The midgets seem a little tired, but not as much as me. I figure they are used to it, but they are also slapping and scratching at the bugs in irritation and cringing every once in awhile from those chirping things.
Whenever one of my new companions says something, I get annoyed. Why can't I understand them? Of course, it isn't their fault that I can't understand them.
Strider doesn't show any signs of stopping, so I decide to talk to myself to get my mind off my aching feet, dry eyes, and tired body. I know, I know, it is stupid, but what else am I supposed to do?
I talk about my friends, cute guys, movies, how this place sucks, how hungry I am, music, school, Caden… anything, really. The hobbits look at me in surprise and amusement as I babble on and on. You have no clue what not talking to anyone for a day and a half does to a person.
After what seemed like hours, Strider finally says something in his language. I suppose it meant we found a good place to sleep because before I know it everyone is stopping and cooking dinner. I could care less about dinner. Wearily, I grab a blanket off of the pony's pack and collapse on the ground, totally exhausted.
I wake the next morning with Merry (I think) ripping off my blanket. I shiver and close my eyes again. It's early, way too early to get up.
Merry is shaking me now and I sit up and glare at him. His normally cheerful face is taken aback, replaced with a look of slight hurt.
I can feel my face soften into an apologetic smile and he grins back at me again. I am forgiven just that easily. Sheesh, these midgets are always cheerful!! I sure wish I could be like that. I scratch at the hundreds of bumps that have formed on my arms and shiver slightly at those chirping things. I can already tell this is going to be a long day.
Striders' POV
I really hated to make Lilka go on for so long last night. But with us trying to avoid the Wraiths, and traveling quickly to Rivendell without being seen; well, there is no time for pity. At least, not too much pity.
I can tell that the hobbits are getting a bit anxious. On the road for almost 5 days has taken a toll on them. I fear that I have pushed them a bit far. But there is really nothing I can do. If we do not get to Rivendell soon, I fear the Wraiths will block the way or Elrond give us up for dead. We have just entered the middle of the Midgewater Marshes. It has proven to be rough. The Midgewater Marshes is a dangerous swamp filled with midges (of course). We are already being attacked by them, resulting with small red bumps and sores.
I am not sure if Lilka will last for even another day traveling at this pace. She looks like she has never walked this far in her life. But how else could we finding her in the middle of nowhere be explained? I am hoping we will meet Gandalf sometime in our journey. Maybe he will know what we should do with her.
As Merry wakes Lilka up, Frodo and Pippin help Sam get breakfast ready. I scan the land around me. Nothing but swampland for a long while. I see Amon Sual in the distance, still far ahead, but by tomorrow we may arrive. There I am hoping to meet Gandalf. I doubt that he has the strength to withstand the Wraiths for that long. He may not even be at Amon Sual. He may be in Rivendell, or maybe somewhere completely different. I am worried for him.
I turn back to see Lilka stumbling to Bill the pony and stowing her blanket in one of the packs. Her eyes are bloodshot, and she looks scared and nervous. What would trigger these emotions? I understand that she islost and confused. But does she not know the way back to her ownhome? Does she even have a home? I shake my head in confusion at this strange girl and proceed to scan the land for any enemies.
A/N: There we go! Chapter 3. Sorry if it's a bit short. There really isn't much to write about except them walking. How exciting. lol. I welcome any suggestions if ya have any. :D Thanks!
