A Stranger In The Woods

Chapter 8:

They walked for many hours, until Rivendell and the falls that surrounded the city were no longer visible. Katie soon found herself in the back with the hobbits, lagging behind the rest. Pippin kept asking her questions and she would answer as politely as possible, but mostly she tried to save her strength.

The landscape was breathtaking, and Katie found herself smiling in spite of the fact her legs were beginning to burn. She stopped at the top of the hill they were climbing, trying to commit the view before her to memory.

"It's beautiful, yes?" Aragorn spoke from right behind her. Katie jumped, startled, then smiled at the man.

"Indeed," she whispered. "I have seen only a few things more beautiful."

"Come," Aragorn urged, taking her by the arm. "We must continue."

Katie allowed him to lead her away from the view, and walked beside him silently as he let go of her arm. She took the chance to study him closely. He was indeed handsome, rough and manly. He didn't possess the lithe pettiness of Legolas, but every move he made showed his strength.

'And, he looks damn good with that light beard,' Katie thought with a wicked smile. She was almost positive she'd read somewhere that elves didn't have body hair. 'Lucky bastards.'

'Still,' she mused 'Legolas would look incredibly sexy with a 5 o'clock shadow.'

She was envisioning this as she absentmindedly stopped to pull some hair that had escaped back into her ponytail. She took the moment to admire her boots yet again. Although her legs were sore and aching to rest, her feet felt fine.

"Amazing," she muttered with a little laugh. "I wonder if they'll let me keep them."

'Doubtful,' she thought with a frown, suddenly noticing she had fallen way behind the others.

"Crap, crap, CRAP." She grumbled, jogging lightly to catch up. The group had just come back into sight when someone reached out and grabbed her arm roughly. A small scream escaped her lips before she realized it was Boromir.

Katie eyed him cautiously; they hadn't said much to each other besides 'hello'. She knew the Ring would manipulate him, and he would eventually die. Needless to say, she was wary to befriend him.

He stared at her as if she had some kind of disease he might catch.

"Who are you?" he demanded suddenly, harshly. "I have been watching you. You do not belong here."

"Let me go." Katie whispered, frightened by the distant look in his eyes. "You're hurting my arm. Let me go." She repeated, louder.

Boromir looked down at her like he had just realized she was there. "I- I apologize," he stuttered, looking off balanced. "I don't know what came over me."

He dropped her arm and Katie wasted no time hurrying back towards the group. She felt Legolas' gaze on her as she took her place in the back, and wondered if he had overheard the encounter. She knew elves had super-hearing, and realized she would have to be extra careful about what she said. Especially about him.

She saw the question in his eyes and figured that he had not heard. Katie shrugged her shoulders, dismissing the silent question. She continued walking, positioning herself as far away from Boromir as possible.

By the time Gandalf decided it was time to camp for the night, several hours later, Katie was ready to collapse from exhaustion. She untied her bedroll from Bill and spread it out beside Aragorn's. Her pack she decided to use for a pillow.

"Don't wake me for dinner," she announced to anyone listening, then laid down, stretching her tired muscles.

"Like that would even be possible," she heard Legolas mutter from his perch on a rock.

Katie shot him a poisonous look. "Smartass," she muttered then rolled over, snuggled into her cloak and promptly fell asleep.

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Five days later the group reached the Misty Mountains. From there they turned south and slowly made their way down the long path. Katie was surprised at how long it had taken them to reach the freshly covered peaks. The movies made it seem like the journey was nothing, just a walk in the park...

Now she knew differently. This is real life, and real sore muscles. She had to face the cold, hard truth: in real life there was no fast forward button. "Or stop or pause," she muttered, imagining how different her life would be if she could redo choice moments of her life.

Just then Merry and Pippin approached her, breaking her trail of thoughts. Katie fought the urge to roll her eyes; the two hobbits had done nothing except ask her questions since their journey started. They were very curious about her home and spent most of the seventh day questioning her about it.

"What do you miss the most?" Pippin asked shortly after they had eaten lunch.

"My dad."

"Is that it?" Merry piped up, disappointed with her short answer.

Katie shook her head in exasperation. "Do you want a list?" she asked sarcastically. Both hobbits nodded happily.

"Alright," she sighed, then took a minute to think. She missed so much stuff. So many modern conveniences she had taken for granted. 'I wish I had my car right about now.'

"My dad, my friends, my clothes, my car, my ipod, my bed and pillows, my apartment…Oreos, chocolate," she said longingly, closing her eyes as she tried to imagine the taste of her favorite desserts. That got her to thinking about food.

"Mmmm…pizza. With everything on it."

Merry and Pippin both gave her baffled looks. "We have no idea what half of those things are," Merry admitted quietly.

Katie smiled. "And, I'm not going to explain them to you." She said, knowing their next question.

The hobbits frowned up at her and Merry mumbled something about being too tired to listen anyway just as Legolas walked up from behind.

He had been listening to the conversation, or rather the hobbits asking Katie question after question. "Maybe you would not be worn out if you saved your breath." Legolas told them with a frown. Merry and Pippin took the hint, and hurried to the front of the group.

Katie shot the elf an annoyed look as he walked beside her. "I'd rather have them for company than someone who doesn't talk at all." She muttered, wondering what it was about the man that made her unable to hold her tongue. And mutter so much.

Legolas looked taken aback. "I talk," he said somewhat defensively.

"Yeah? Not to me," she shot back.

His face twisted into a frown. "What do you want me to say?"

Katie rolled her eyes. "I don't know Legolas," she sighed with exasperation. "Usually two people just talk, it comes naturally…Evidently some elves don't possess this skill," she muttered.

She risked a glance at him- he was staring up at the sky, confusion etched on his lovely features. He turned to her suddenly, his bright blue eyes capturing hers with an intensity that shook her to the core. "Would you rather I questioned you as the hobbits did?"

Katie fought the urge to sigh in frustration as she turned away from his gaze. Apparently, he didn't understand the concept of just talking.

"You can ask me any question you want, Legolas," she announced, feeling rather bold suddenly.

Legolas was silent for a moment as he thought. There where several questions he wanted to ask her, but one weighed the most heavily on his mind. "Are you a spy?" he asked finally. "Or did you truly come from another place? Another world?"

Katie felt her eyes widen in surprise. She didn't know what question she had been expecting, but she hadn't been expecting that.

"You don't beat around the bush do you elf?" she said with a laugh. He shot her a bewildered look. "It's an expression," she explained. "It means you get straight to the point."

"You said I could ask anything," he pointed out, the edge of his lips curling into a rare smile.

"So I did," Katie bantered back with a grin. "And the answer is no, yes and yes."

"No, I am not a spy. And yes, I do come from a different place. A different world."

"Honestly," she continued, "I'm not sure whether to be flattered you would think Saruman would choose me to be a spy, or appalled."

Legolas studied her as if she was a new form of plant he'd stumbled across. Katie took a deep breath and met his gaze. "You don't have to believe me," she said "If elves have one imperfection it is the mistrust of others."

With this she smiled sweetly and walked away, leaving him to stare after her, bewildered.

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A/N: Okay, Okay, so I was one day late on my update- I apologize. I hope nobody reading this is a huge Boromir fan. He is rather mean to Katie, and it just gets worse. The poor guy is being manipulated by the ring, and isn't himself. So, apologize again.

Thanks to my breathtaking beta The Hobbit Ivy. I'm glad you're helping me, and I don't care what you say, I need your help.

Everyone please review- entire words if possible! Update coming soon-

Katie-sue