Title: The Road is Destiny
Author: Firefly Lantern
Rating: PG-13 for language and violence
Author Note: [kind of mean, but I'm making a point here] Okay, here it is. I openly admit
I have written a Mary Sue type story ::gasp!::. And you know what? I don't care what any
"Tolkien Purists" have to say about it. Whine all you would like, but please, if you are going to
tell me this story isn't HARDCORE Tolkien or whatever belittling tidbits you'd like to throw my
way, please email me instead of taking up space on the review board. Thankies. ^.^. This story
is for FUN. I am not trying to create a masterpiece in the style of Tolkien, I prefer creativity
and originality to redundancy. Okies? An open mind is a wonderful thing!
Have fun on the journey. Hang in with me here! This chapter gets swinging into a little romance.
Disclaimer: JRR owns the LOTR characters. Any other modern things mentioned here
belong to the makers, etc.
Oh, and P.S. Woo! Thank you all for the positive reviews!! ::HUGS::. I'm so surprised, I was
expecting some sort of "You aren't Tolkien enough" backlash. Go me! Go you! ::dances::. LOTR is out
on dvd/vhs, go buy it and watch it every day! ^____^. Eek, watch out for typos...
_The Road is Destiny_
Funny... She could hear noises, but she couldn't open her eyes to see. Her mouth opened to speak;
no words came. Julie guessed she must look like a fish out of water gasping for breath...er, well...
for water over its lungs seeing as how fish don't have lungs. Damn, her mind was wandering
again. And she couldn't bring it back.
A small tongue of fire crackled at the corners of her eyes. The tongue forked and grew into a raging
blaze which consumed her entire dome of vision until a picture formed from the chaos. The forest
was burning! Billows of smoke rose into the air like the tolling of death bells. Tears ran down her
face at the horrors she witnessed. She thrashed; she writhed. If only she could help!
"Fire!" Julie choked, gagging on the thick smoke. The fire began to morph into a shape. A round golden
ring; a crimson fiery eye. It called to her by name and said so many horrible, horrible things...
"Stop! Please! Go away! .... Go away!." She screamed, unable to tear herself from the nightmare.
Her hands reached out and clawed for a way to be free.
"Julie! Wake up!" Aragorn spoke firmly as Boromir held her wrists in the vise of his hands. Julie
gasped for air and blinked. She coughed at the sickness and pain in her tummy.
"Let go!" She tore her arms from his grasp and rolled onto her side to finish the coughing fit.
She felt eyes on her...watching her writhe in agony. She hated her weakness. "Please, don't look at me."
She tried to be strong. The others turned their heads to offer the young woman privacy.
Merry's head hung the lowest.
"Shh. Be still." Aragorn whispered. "You bleed and I must tend to the wound, Lady."
"Uh, sure thing."
"Legolas, help me..."
*Oh SWELL. Legolas goes up my shirt only because I could possibly be mortally wounded. How romantic!*
Julie groaned in embarrassment. If she fell off a cliff, would he kiss her? Love was too much of a hassle.
"The cut is clean--shallow but long." Aragorn murmured and she felt something cool press into the opened
wound. She growled this time instead of whimpering. Her jaw clamped stubbornly. Sensing her pain,
Legolas held her cold hand and often gave it a firm squeeze to distract her attention.
"Does it require stitching?" Legolas lowered his voice. The confusion spell Gandalf cast over Julie
calmed her and put her into a state of waking dreams. He squeezed her hand and stroked her fingers.
"No." Both men breathed sighs of relief. "She fought bravely. She held her own, I'm impressed."
"Yes." Legolas agreed. "We must not linger. We are being tracked. Wake her."
_______________
Julie groaned, opening her eyes to the forest canopy and three familliar faces.
"Hey there, boys." She said in an overtly sexy voice. "Miss me?" A weak smile impishly curved her
lips.
"Yes. Can you stand?"
"I think so. All I need is a boost." Legolas took one of her arms while Gimli grabbed the other.
"*Gently*." The Elf emphasized. He did not wish for the Dwarf to handle Julie roughly and hurt her
more. Gimli grunted.
"Just be sure your slender arms can pick up something heavier than a bow."
"Drinking ale build arm muscle? Then you *must* be strong for you incessantly lift food
from the plateto your mouth."
"Guys...?"
The two came together as a duo to carefully help Julie to stand. She winced at the pain from
her stomach as she took a few steps.
"Sorry to move you so soon, Julie. We have to leave. Now."
"I understand. Thank you... All of you." Her thanks directed toward everyone. Together, they survived
the onslaught. She handled herself pretty damn well! In her humble opinion, of course. Though now her
wound made her more of a burden on the party. It ignited her will to be more self-sufficient and
less of a bother. "Lead on." She forced a samile and squared her shoulders.
"Lass, take hold of my shoulder. I'm strong as a tree." Gimli noticed her pale face and offered
to be a crutch. She nodded and leaned against his sturdy bulk. Legolas dissolved into the background
where he felt he belonged. The Hobbits and the men fluttered around her like a flock of worried
mother hens. It was awkward trying to walk with all of them so extremely close. Merry's eyes spoke
volumes about the guilt he carried. Afraid she would faint or fall, he went to her and held her hand.
He personally wanted to be at her side since he failed to keep the Orc from doing harm. Julie didn't
mind Merry's vise-like grip. Both he and Gimli provided heat for her chilled body.
"STOP IT. You're worrying too much. I can manage." She insisted, breathing easier now that she
was no longer suffocated by their overprotective attention. Every stiff step she took made her
stomach throb and ache. She did her best to ignore the pain by focusing oh her breath and
taking sanctuary in her mind.
***flash***
The sand was a gritty powder beneath her bare feet. She wiggled her toes and savoured the way bits
of it clung to her pink skin. How old had she been, maybe ten years old when her family took a trip to the
beach? It was the perfect day in her biased memory. Patrick had only been four years old and
her parents were still together and happy... Julie lost herself in revelry of sandcastles and
salty ocean waves. Her hazel eyes glazed as she saw only with her rememberance...
_______________
Aragorn led at a quick, hurried pace. It was for their own safety that they reach a safe place to wait
out the night. He knew not where such a place existed, so they followed Legolas's ears to
running water.
A breathless silence befell the party: no one spoke, no one sang. The Hobbits began to yawn and their
feet began to stumble. Julie wanted to hoot encouragement at them, but she knew it was best to keep
her mouth shut. Merry tripped and she held his hand tight, preventing him from falling. His tired eyes spoke his thanks.
Julie smiled and kissed the back of his hand.
"We are near." Legolas announced softly, staring off into the distance ahead. A flicker of excitement
charged through the group like a snap of a static electric shock. Three hundred feet away, a clearwater
spring rested in the glen of two gently slopping hills. A small lake and several pools awaited.
Oh, it was a lucious site to behold!
They set up camp in the glen where the land was firm and dry. Julie, refusing to let everyone else do
all of the work, used her broom to sweep away twigs and leaf debris. The Hobbits and Boromir scouted
for firewood as Gimli, Aragorn, and Gandalf sat down for a rest. Legolas tended to Bill. And Julie
swept. She was part of a team now, oh yeah.
"Night comes swiftly. If we are to bathe, it must be now." Legolas commented as Gandalf
used a spell to ignite the fire. No one spoke. Everyone waited for someone else to be the
first to speak.
"Uh, why doesn't everyone else go first? There are more males here. I'll go over there---waaaaaay
over there--" Julie motioned in the direction opposite of the spring. "I insist."
"Nay, your wound needs cleaned and freshly bandaged." Boromir protested. "We insist you be
the first. Allow us the couresy of bathing only after you are done." Damn, he had a point.
There were 9 of them, and only 1 of her. It was a precarious situation.
"Your virtue will not be endagered." Aragorn promised. "You have our word."
"Yes, our word!" Shouted the Hobbits.
"Er... fine then." She laughed uncomfortably. It was a thin veil to disguise the unease
she felt.
And so it was planned: Julie would be the first to bathe. Legolas would sit nearby--his
back turned and his eyes closed [he swore this on his kingdom]--to keep an ear out for
danger. When she was done and dressed, he was to help clean and bandage her wound.
Easy enough, she thought and neared the edge of one of the small pools. Shoot,
she had to get naked in the middle of the forest. Julie knew there was a catch.
Working up her nerve, Julie chickened out and only stripped to the waist of her jeans.
The material Aragorn used to bandage her cut was not sticky with blood. She couldn't look
at it, or she'd vomit. She used the crude soap and her own strip of blanket cloth to
wash her body and the mud-crusted length of her hair. She didn't mind the trickles of water trailing
down her back that soaked into the waistband of her low-rider jeans. Was this soap hypo-allergenic?
Hastily, she dunked and cleaned her hoodie the best it could be cleaned. . .
She finished dressing. The pretty, sheer pink peasant top had a large slice in it and splotches of
crimson across the front. Great! She ground her teeth in annoyance. She looked terrible!
"Legolas?" She found her voice and called for him. She couldn't touch the cut on her own without
fainting. He walked slowly, not knowing what to expect.
"Ready?"
"And willing. Um, I mean yes." She nodded, feeling awkward. More so than being on a blind date or
getting 'The Talk' for the first time. She froze as he came hear. "I'll lie down."
She murmured, not making eye contact. She lifted her shirt only as much as was necessary. His hands were
warm on her stomach as they removed the material which clung stubbornly to the wound. Her hands
balled into fists at her side.
Legolas did his best to be gentle. The cut was indeed long, but it would stop bleeding on its own. A glint
of light attracted his eyes lower.... Julie had a curved piece of bejeweled metal pierced through
her naval!!!! It did not disgust him, he found it odd yet attractive. Was it a status symbol? She wore
five earrings, all gold. Was she of high society in Ohio?
"Oh! That's my naval piercing!" She noted his stillness. "I had it done when I turned 18."
Ah, so it was a womanhood ritual.
"You wear it well, Julie." He said neutrally. "I must pour whiskey over your cut to clean it.
Scream if you wish, it will sting greatly." To his surprise, she did not make a sound. She stood and
held up her shirt as Legolas wrapped a fresh bandage.
"Thank you, Legolas! I couldn't have done that by myself."
"You are welcome." He inclined his head. "You require a new shirt. I can offer what we have as spare."
"Thanks!" She wanted to throw her arms around him in a hug... but she opted to touch his shoulder.
________________
"This is all that will fit your stature." He held up one of Aragorn's white, long-sleeved undershirts.
It was clean though not suitable for any lady's wear, Legolas inwardly cringed. He was a villian for
even offering the offesive shirt to her.
"Good enough! I'm not picky." She pecked his cheek and hopped happily to the bushes for privacy.
All of the other men were now away bathing, she had nothing to worry about.
So she thought.
Julie put the shirt over her head as something wet brushed past her leg with a hoot and a holler.
She screamed, scrambling into the shirt.
"Pippin! Gives back my clothes!" A nearly stark naked Samwise cried, running after an equally
less-than-covered Pippin. Her eyes widened. All she had seen were nakie Hobbit rears...
The obsurdity of the situation made her laugh until she gasped for breath.
"SAM! PIPPIN! MASTERS STENCH AND STABLEMUCK!" Legolas *bellowed*. He hoped suddenly that no other
naked men jumped from the bushes, chasing after them. "There is a lady present!" He paled in disgust.
They ignored him entirely.
"Pippin!" Sam ran and kept his undershirt from falling from his front. As quickly as they invaded the
camp, the Screaming Maddness ran back toward the lake.
"I...I..." He stammered. "I am sorry, Julie."
"It's all good. My little brother, Patrick, is just as bad." Julie emerged, fully dressed,
from the haven of the bushes. "Young boys have *no* shame." She laughed, rolling up the comically long
shirt. It reached down to her knees! "Is it safe?"
"I certainly hope so." They shared a smile.
Julie patted Bill's pink velvet nose and unpacked her blanket. It was the only one out of the lot
which was folded neatly. Go figure. She set up her bed beneath a tree and yawned.
"Goooooood night, Legolas!" She sighed contently, brushing out her damp hair and settling in
for the night.
"Good night, Julie."
Author: Firefly Lantern
Rating: PG-13 for language and violence
Author Note: [kind of mean, but I'm making a point here] Okay, here it is. I openly admit
I have written a Mary Sue type story ::gasp!::. And you know what? I don't care what any
"Tolkien Purists" have to say about it. Whine all you would like, but please, if you are going to
tell me this story isn't HARDCORE Tolkien or whatever belittling tidbits you'd like to throw my
way, please email me instead of taking up space on the review board. Thankies. ^.^. This story
is for FUN. I am not trying to create a masterpiece in the style of Tolkien, I prefer creativity
and originality to redundancy. Okies? An open mind is a wonderful thing!
Have fun on the journey. Hang in with me here! This chapter gets swinging into a little romance.
Disclaimer: JRR owns the LOTR characters. Any other modern things mentioned here
belong to the makers, etc.
Oh, and P.S. Woo! Thank you all for the positive reviews!! ::HUGS::. I'm so surprised, I was
expecting some sort of "You aren't Tolkien enough" backlash. Go me! Go you! ::dances::. LOTR is out
on dvd/vhs, go buy it and watch it every day! ^____^. Eek, watch out for typos...
_The Road is Destiny_
Funny... She could hear noises, but she couldn't open her eyes to see. Her mouth opened to speak;
no words came. Julie guessed she must look like a fish out of water gasping for breath...er, well...
for water over its lungs seeing as how fish don't have lungs. Damn, her mind was wandering
again. And she couldn't bring it back.
A small tongue of fire crackled at the corners of her eyes. The tongue forked and grew into a raging
blaze which consumed her entire dome of vision until a picture formed from the chaos. The forest
was burning! Billows of smoke rose into the air like the tolling of death bells. Tears ran down her
face at the horrors she witnessed. She thrashed; she writhed. If only she could help!
"Fire!" Julie choked, gagging on the thick smoke. The fire began to morph into a shape. A round golden
ring; a crimson fiery eye. It called to her by name and said so many horrible, horrible things...
"Stop! Please! Go away! .... Go away!." She screamed, unable to tear herself from the nightmare.
Her hands reached out and clawed for a way to be free.
"Julie! Wake up!" Aragorn spoke firmly as Boromir held her wrists in the vise of his hands. Julie
gasped for air and blinked. She coughed at the sickness and pain in her tummy.
"Let go!" She tore her arms from his grasp and rolled onto her side to finish the coughing fit.
She felt eyes on her...watching her writhe in agony. She hated her weakness. "Please, don't look at me."
She tried to be strong. The others turned their heads to offer the young woman privacy.
Merry's head hung the lowest.
"Shh. Be still." Aragorn whispered. "You bleed and I must tend to the wound, Lady."
"Uh, sure thing."
"Legolas, help me..."
*Oh SWELL. Legolas goes up my shirt only because I could possibly be mortally wounded. How romantic!*
Julie groaned in embarrassment. If she fell off a cliff, would he kiss her? Love was too much of a hassle.
"The cut is clean--shallow but long." Aragorn murmured and she felt something cool press into the opened
wound. She growled this time instead of whimpering. Her jaw clamped stubbornly. Sensing her pain,
Legolas held her cold hand and often gave it a firm squeeze to distract her attention.
"Does it require stitching?" Legolas lowered his voice. The confusion spell Gandalf cast over Julie
calmed her and put her into a state of waking dreams. He squeezed her hand and stroked her fingers.
"No." Both men breathed sighs of relief. "She fought bravely. She held her own, I'm impressed."
"Yes." Legolas agreed. "We must not linger. We are being tracked. Wake her."
_______________
Julie groaned, opening her eyes to the forest canopy and three familliar faces.
"Hey there, boys." She said in an overtly sexy voice. "Miss me?" A weak smile impishly curved her
lips.
"Yes. Can you stand?"
"I think so. All I need is a boost." Legolas took one of her arms while Gimli grabbed the other.
"*Gently*." The Elf emphasized. He did not wish for the Dwarf to handle Julie roughly and hurt her
more. Gimli grunted.
"Just be sure your slender arms can pick up something heavier than a bow."
"Drinking ale build arm muscle? Then you *must* be strong for you incessantly lift food
from the plateto your mouth."
"Guys...?"
The two came together as a duo to carefully help Julie to stand. She winced at the pain from
her stomach as she took a few steps.
"Sorry to move you so soon, Julie. We have to leave. Now."
"I understand. Thank you... All of you." Her thanks directed toward everyone. Together, they survived
the onslaught. She handled herself pretty damn well! In her humble opinion, of course. Though now her
wound made her more of a burden on the party. It ignited her will to be more self-sufficient and
less of a bother. "Lead on." She forced a samile and squared her shoulders.
"Lass, take hold of my shoulder. I'm strong as a tree." Gimli noticed her pale face and offered
to be a crutch. She nodded and leaned against his sturdy bulk. Legolas dissolved into the background
where he felt he belonged. The Hobbits and the men fluttered around her like a flock of worried
mother hens. It was awkward trying to walk with all of them so extremely close. Merry's eyes spoke
volumes about the guilt he carried. Afraid she would faint or fall, he went to her and held her hand.
He personally wanted to be at her side since he failed to keep the Orc from doing harm. Julie didn't
mind Merry's vise-like grip. Both he and Gimli provided heat for her chilled body.
"STOP IT. You're worrying too much. I can manage." She insisted, breathing easier now that she
was no longer suffocated by their overprotective attention. Every stiff step she took made her
stomach throb and ache. She did her best to ignore the pain by focusing oh her breath and
taking sanctuary in her mind.
***flash***
The sand was a gritty powder beneath her bare feet. She wiggled her toes and savoured the way bits
of it clung to her pink skin. How old had she been, maybe ten years old when her family took a trip to the
beach? It was the perfect day in her biased memory. Patrick had only been four years old and
her parents were still together and happy... Julie lost herself in revelry of sandcastles and
salty ocean waves. Her hazel eyes glazed as she saw only with her rememberance...
_______________
Aragorn led at a quick, hurried pace. It was for their own safety that they reach a safe place to wait
out the night. He knew not where such a place existed, so they followed Legolas's ears to
running water.
A breathless silence befell the party: no one spoke, no one sang. The Hobbits began to yawn and their
feet began to stumble. Julie wanted to hoot encouragement at them, but she knew it was best to keep
her mouth shut. Merry tripped and she held his hand tight, preventing him from falling. His tired eyes spoke his thanks.
Julie smiled and kissed the back of his hand.
"We are near." Legolas announced softly, staring off into the distance ahead. A flicker of excitement
charged through the group like a snap of a static electric shock. Three hundred feet away, a clearwater
spring rested in the glen of two gently slopping hills. A small lake and several pools awaited.
Oh, it was a lucious site to behold!
They set up camp in the glen where the land was firm and dry. Julie, refusing to let everyone else do
all of the work, used her broom to sweep away twigs and leaf debris. The Hobbits and Boromir scouted
for firewood as Gimli, Aragorn, and Gandalf sat down for a rest. Legolas tended to Bill. And Julie
swept. She was part of a team now, oh yeah.
"Night comes swiftly. If we are to bathe, it must be now." Legolas commented as Gandalf
used a spell to ignite the fire. No one spoke. Everyone waited for someone else to be the
first to speak.
"Uh, why doesn't everyone else go first? There are more males here. I'll go over there---waaaaaay
over there--" Julie motioned in the direction opposite of the spring. "I insist."
"Nay, your wound needs cleaned and freshly bandaged." Boromir protested. "We insist you be
the first. Allow us the couresy of bathing only after you are done." Damn, he had a point.
There were 9 of them, and only 1 of her. It was a precarious situation.
"Your virtue will not be endagered." Aragorn promised. "You have our word."
"Yes, our word!" Shouted the Hobbits.
"Er... fine then." She laughed uncomfortably. It was a thin veil to disguise the unease
she felt.
And so it was planned: Julie would be the first to bathe. Legolas would sit nearby--his
back turned and his eyes closed [he swore this on his kingdom]--to keep an ear out for
danger. When she was done and dressed, he was to help clean and bandage her wound.
Easy enough, she thought and neared the edge of one of the small pools. Shoot,
she had to get naked in the middle of the forest. Julie knew there was a catch.
Working up her nerve, Julie chickened out and only stripped to the waist of her jeans.
The material Aragorn used to bandage her cut was not sticky with blood. She couldn't look
at it, or she'd vomit. She used the crude soap and her own strip of blanket cloth to
wash her body and the mud-crusted length of her hair. She didn't mind the trickles of water trailing
down her back that soaked into the waistband of her low-rider jeans. Was this soap hypo-allergenic?
Hastily, she dunked and cleaned her hoodie the best it could be cleaned. . .
She finished dressing. The pretty, sheer pink peasant top had a large slice in it and splotches of
crimson across the front. Great! She ground her teeth in annoyance. She looked terrible!
"Legolas?" She found her voice and called for him. She couldn't touch the cut on her own without
fainting. He walked slowly, not knowing what to expect.
"Ready?"
"And willing. Um, I mean yes." She nodded, feeling awkward. More so than being on a blind date or
getting 'The Talk' for the first time. She froze as he came hear. "I'll lie down."
She murmured, not making eye contact. She lifted her shirt only as much as was necessary. His hands were
warm on her stomach as they removed the material which clung stubbornly to the wound. Her hands
balled into fists at her side.
Legolas did his best to be gentle. The cut was indeed long, but it would stop bleeding on its own. A glint
of light attracted his eyes lower.... Julie had a curved piece of bejeweled metal pierced through
her naval!!!! It did not disgust him, he found it odd yet attractive. Was it a status symbol? She wore
five earrings, all gold. Was she of high society in Ohio?
"Oh! That's my naval piercing!" She noted his stillness. "I had it done when I turned 18."
Ah, so it was a womanhood ritual.
"You wear it well, Julie." He said neutrally. "I must pour whiskey over your cut to clean it.
Scream if you wish, it will sting greatly." To his surprise, she did not make a sound. She stood and
held up her shirt as Legolas wrapped a fresh bandage.
"Thank you, Legolas! I couldn't have done that by myself."
"You are welcome." He inclined his head. "You require a new shirt. I can offer what we have as spare."
"Thanks!" She wanted to throw her arms around him in a hug... but she opted to touch his shoulder.
________________
"This is all that will fit your stature." He held up one of Aragorn's white, long-sleeved undershirts.
It was clean though not suitable for any lady's wear, Legolas inwardly cringed. He was a villian for
even offering the offesive shirt to her.
"Good enough! I'm not picky." She pecked his cheek and hopped happily to the bushes for privacy.
All of the other men were now away bathing, she had nothing to worry about.
So she thought.
Julie put the shirt over her head as something wet brushed past her leg with a hoot and a holler.
She screamed, scrambling into the shirt.
"Pippin! Gives back my clothes!" A nearly stark naked Samwise cried, running after an equally
less-than-covered Pippin. Her eyes widened. All she had seen were nakie Hobbit rears...
The obsurdity of the situation made her laugh until she gasped for breath.
"SAM! PIPPIN! MASTERS STENCH AND STABLEMUCK!" Legolas *bellowed*. He hoped suddenly that no other
naked men jumped from the bushes, chasing after them. "There is a lady present!" He paled in disgust.
They ignored him entirely.
"Pippin!" Sam ran and kept his undershirt from falling from his front. As quickly as they invaded the
camp, the Screaming Maddness ran back toward the lake.
"I...I..." He stammered. "I am sorry, Julie."
"It's all good. My little brother, Patrick, is just as bad." Julie emerged, fully dressed,
from the haven of the bushes. "Young boys have *no* shame." She laughed, rolling up the comically long
shirt. It reached down to her knees! "Is it safe?"
"I certainly hope so." They shared a smile.
Julie patted Bill's pink velvet nose and unpacked her blanket. It was the only one out of the lot
which was folded neatly. Go figure. She set up her bed beneath a tree and yawned.
"Goooooood night, Legolas!" She sighed contently, brushing out her damp hair and settling in
for the night.
"Good night, Julie."
