The Fellowship
"Well, you're not in Middle Earth." I was a little angry at having an arrow stuck in my face first thing in the morning. Legolas raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, I have come to that conclusion." He put the arrow back into his quiver, apparently having decided that Becca and I were harmless. I could have told him that.
"You are in Panama city, Florida, of the United States of America. I am Nikki and this is Becca." I said, introducing my friend and i. Then, before I could ask how he happened to be in my room, my younger sister screamed from the next room.
Pushing past Legolas, I rushed to my sister's aid, only to find that it wasn't her that needed help. A disgruntled Gandalf was struggling to defend himself from my sister, Jesse, who was beating the wizard with a pillow. Gandalf's staff lay on the other side of the room, probably from being flung away by Jesse. Behind me, I hear Legolas nock an arrow. I turn to him and step in front of the arrow, once again finding myself on the wrong end of a bow, this time, however, on purpose. The Elf looked at me, surprised that I would stand in front of an Elven archer, which was probably pretty stupid actually.
"Don't shoot! That's my sister!" I told him. Still sceptical, Legolas slowly lowered his bow. Breathing a small sigh of relief, I asked for the bow.
"Man?" What? He asked.
"Give me the bow. Now harm will come to you here. Anin anta estelya." Trust me. Slowly, reluctantly, he handed me the finely carved bow, which I handed to Becca to put on my bed along with the quiver of arrows.
As Gandalf was still being beaten with a pillow, Legolas entered Jesse's room carefully. "A pusta!" Stop!
Jesse screamed and immediately began attacking Legolas with the pillow. Becca darted in and snatched the pillow away. Jesse looked at my friend, rather confused as I entered and spoke up.
"Jesse, it's okay. This is Legolas."
"And I," Began Gandalf as he stood and brushed off his robes. "Am Gandalf the Grey, but who are you three?"
Once again I went through the introductions, this time adding Jesse to the mix, who was still very much angry. Gandalf saw this and attempted to console her.
"My dear girl, I apologise for startling you, but you are not the only one who was frightened by our…meeting, I assure you." Jesse calmed down considerably and I smiled.
"Oy! What's goin' on? Where are we?" A small, but very loud voice was heard in the hall. Upon venturing out, I saw that the voice belonged to Meriadoc Brandybuck and standing beside him was Peregrin Took and Gimli, all three of them looking highly bewildered.
I sighed, and then Becca stepped to explain where they were and who we were. I chose this time to get dressed and when I re-emerged, I saw that Jesse had done the same. Becca left to dress and when she returned, I noticed that it had become very crowded in the hall, so I led the group to the living room where I was surprised to see Aragorn lying on the couch with his head hanging off the side.
Pippin walked over to where the Ranger was sleeping and poked him till he wasn't. "Oy! Strider! Come on, up, up! Strider, wake…"
Aragorn sat up suddenly, catching the young hobbit off-guard. The Man growled, then looked around, his gaze taking in everything, surprise registering on his face before his eyes finally fell on a space to my right.
It was then that heard strangely seemed to be Rohirric. When I turned to look, I saw Boromir staring at my computer, mesmerised by the screen and pushing buttons on the keyboard. All of a sudden the Man started pounding on my precious computer. I ran over and tried to drag him away, but he struggled, forcing me to fight back.\
"Uh…hey…Becca? How's about some help?" Becca looked over and, grinning, refused, saying that she didn't fight tall people. It made sense, as she was only a little taller than a dwarf herself.
So I was left to struggle with Boromir on my own, but, he being the fittest, and, of course, trained to fight, I was soon overwhelmed.
He had me in a chokehold and I was starting to see spots so I threw my head back, the back of my head connecting sharply with his face. He let me go quickly and I sank to the ground, trying to catch my breath.
"I believe the girl won, my friend." Gimli rumbled. "You'd be wise not to go near that odd contraption again, I'd wager." Legolas chuckled as he helped me up, which go everyone laughing, except Boromir, who glared at me, but didn't say a word.
I looked up at him and started to apologise for attacking him, but was interrupted by a loud crash in the back of the house followed by a cry. I ran back to my parent's room, the Fellowship close on my heels and find Samwise Gamgee digging through a pile of boxes, crying. Under the boxes was an unconscious Frodo Baggins.
"Oh, no…no!" Racing over, I check the young hobbit for signs of life and was relieved to find that his vitals were strong. "Thank God."
Legolas knelt down next to me and began carefully lifting the boxes off of the Ringbearer, who groaned as the weight was relieved. Sam immediately tried to get to his friend, but Jesse caught him.
"Let them get him out and make sure he's okay." My sister carried the little hobbit to my parents' bed and sat him down to try to calm him. When he was breathing easier, she asked him what had happened.
"I woke up on the floor and Mister Frodo was looking through the closet and that pile of boxes fell on him and now…now Mister Frodo's d…dead!" His voice rose to a wail as Sam began sobbing. Jesse put her arm around the little hobbit and tried her best to comfort him.
Meanwhile, Legolas and I had cleared the boxes away from Frodo and wrapped him in one of my mother's quilts and carried him into the living room at my direction. He woke up the moment he was set on the couch and struggled to sit up and look around.
"Hello. How are you feeling? Do you hurt anywhere?" I asked, watching him to be sure he didn't have a concussion. He looked up at me, confused, and shook his head.
"Just my pride. I don't mean to be rude, but where am I and who are you?"
I laughed and told me where he was and who I was. "This is my sister, Jesse, and my best friend, Becca. That was the quite the fall, would you like to eat, try to regain your strength?"
As soon as I mentioned food, Frodo's eyes lit up and nodded enthusiastically, but groaned and lay back down, putting an arm over his eyes. I went to the kitchen and cut a Children's Tylenol ™ in half and brought it to him with a glass of water. He looked at it strangely, then up at me suspiciously.
"Don't worry, it'll ease the pain. I know it's not whatever you use in Middle Earth, but it'll work." Still wary, Frodo swallowed the pill.
"So, Frodo, what would you like to eat?" Bad question. Instantly, the little hobbit belted out a long list of foods I'm sure he couldn't have eaten in one sitting. "Wait…how about just eggs and bacon? I don't have all of that!" Looking a tad disappointed, he agreed to a small breakfast. I went to the kitchen and, with Becca's help, made breakfast for the Fellowship, Jesse, Becca and myself.
The eggs and bacon were gone in no time and Frodo was feeling much better when Aragorn look up at me. "A moment you called Frodo by his name. None of us have introduced him yet." The Ranger's comment made everyone look at me. "How did you know his name?"
Nervously, I looked over at Becca, who shook her head imperceptibly to tell me not to let them know that we knew who they were. "I…I heard his friend call his name when he was stuck under the boxes."
That seemed to pacify everyone, but Boromir still looked suspicious, but before he could confront me, Gandalf laughed.
"How silly of us not to introduce ourselves after so much time has passed!" Boromir grunted and rubbed his nose. Gandalf, smiling, continued. "You already know Frodo, and his hobbit friends are Samwise Gamgee, Peregrin Took, and Meriadoc Brandybuck. Sam, Pippin and Merry, respectively. Gimli, a Dwarf, and Legolas, an Elf."
Becca smiled at the latter as Gandalf began to introduce the men, but Aragorn stood. "This is our Wizard friend, Gandalf the Grey. Boromir is the Steward of Gondor, and I am a mere Ranger."
"Not so." Boromir objected. "You are no mere Ranger, my friend." He turned to us girls. "He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and heir to the throne to Gondor." Becca and I smiled at this, but since we weren't supposed to know this, we didn't say anything.
All of a sudden I realise something and shook my head. How could I have forgotten? I turned to Gandalf.
"How did you nine get here?"