Warning: there is swearing, nudity, mentions of rape, bodily violation and lots of blood in this chapter and probably more chapters to come. If you do not like this then do not read on, but if you don't mind then don't for get to review!
AN: sorry I didn't put that warning in the last chapter, I had forgotten, lol. Anyhoo, yet again if anyone wants to be my beta reader please e-mail me!
To Become a Ranger
Chapter 2
From Bad to Worse
Alyssa groaned and spat out some water. She had drifted ashore on a rocky beach though her legs where still in the water. She dragged herself up further on the beach until she was fully out of the water. She sat there gasping in excursion, her vision swimming in and out from pain.
Alyssa felt something sharp press to the back of her neck. She turned and looked to see who or what was pressing a knife to her neck.
"Now what have we got here." Said an oily voice. Alyssa turned her head to look properly at the person and found a man if you could call him that, with greasy black hair and frog like eyes looking lavishly up and down her broken body with a sick gleam in his eyes.
"Oh yes, we are going to have fun, once I fix you up a bit." He said more to himself then anything else
"Who the fuck are you." She croaked out.
"Oh how silly of me, I go buy the name of Wormtongue pretty lady, and you are now mine, I'm sure no one will notice your absence as it looks like you had a pretty tumble off the falls and no one has come to look for you." He then picked up a rather large rock. "Don't worry little girl, it will only hurt for a second." She then bashed her in the head knocking her instantly unconscious.
Alyssa slowly came to awareness and found herself laying beside a fire the greasy man she had met earlier nowhere in site. She shivered as the cool night air hit her chest. Wait a minute, her chest? She looked down at herself and found she was next to nothing (and that was only her little pink underwear) and had a few bandages covering the bottom half of her torso and more wrapped tightly around her left hand, but that was it there was absolutely nothing covering her bare chest, Alyssa new she didn't have much when it came to breasts but still, she felt so violated, the little perv. She sat up quickly and looked around for something, anything to cover her up. She saw an old cloak crumpled near her feet and grabbed it putting it on quickly then securely wrapping it around her self so nothing but her head showed.
Alyssa laughed bitterly a few tears escaping her damp eyes, what a day, first she is attacked buy two cougars then, she falls off a cliff into rapids then falls down a water fall and now she is stuck in a forest with a pervert and no cloths, who know what he had done to her while she was unconscious.
She looked over to where she saw the man Wormtongue come into the clearing with a stack of wood in his arms. She curled up into an even tighter ball and was looking up at him in barely concealed fear.
Wormtongue put his stack of wood down buy the fire before moving over beside the girl. He put his arm around her and said, "Their, their, there is no reason to be afraid love."
Alyssa scooted away from him and said in return, "Get away from me you pervert, and don't touch me."
"There is no reason to talk to you savior like that and I expect to be paid for my help." He got up and started to walk slowly towards her.
"Fuck you." Alyssa spat out. "I could have done with out your help, nor did I even want your help."
Wormtongue backhanded her in the face, hard enough to draw blood. "When I want some thing I get it, no ifs ands or buts." He grabbed her wrists tightly and leaned in close "And I want you Lassie." He darted out his tongue and licked the side of her face.
Alyssa turned and spat blood into his face defiantly, a look of pure loathing upon her own face.
He growled and started beating her in frustration for not getting what he wanted and soon enough Alyssa once again slipped into the peaceful darkness of unconsciousness.
When Alyssa came to again she was tightly strapped into a saddle buy a bunch of ropes with a pounding headache and an aching body from the beating the night before. The horse she was strapped to was tied to a horse in front of her which Wormtongue was riding.
She looked around herself, she still hadn't figured out where she was yet but found that they where riding through some hilly barren lands with a random stream or two cutting across it. She looked down at herself and sighed in relief at the sight of a tunic and pants on her, well at least she wasn't naked even if they where a bit big.
Alyssa chose to wisely stay quiet so she would not draw the attention of the man in front if her and to avoid the wrath of him.
Eventually just after sunset they decided to stop, or rather Wormtongue decided to stop and Alyssa really had no choice in the matter.
Wormtongue set about making camp with what little wood he had found for the fire leaving Alyssa slumped over in the saddle still tied to it. Alyssa watched him warily wondering if he was going to let her down and weather or not she really wanted to be let down even if her bottom and injuries where protesting against being held up for so long.
Wormtongue turned around and found the girl staring at him warily yet silently. "Ah, so you are awake." He said evenly, his face betraying no emotion. "You have been unconscious for the past three days; I was starting to become worried about your health."
Alyssa sneered yet said nothing, keeping her head down yet still watching him with distrustful eyes.
"We will be reaching Isengard in two days, we will be able to see Fangorn forest buy tomorrow morning which might intrigue you." He said watching her carefully, yet all he saw was a faint flicker of surprise in her eyes, she had jammed up her mask of indifference and was not letting any emotion slip out, which surprised him and also told him that he had lost any trust, no matter how little it was, that she had held in him.
Alyssa was highly surprised when she had said that they where nearing Fangorn forest and where heading towards Isengard. The only places that she knew with those names where in Tolkiens books 'The Lord of The Rings' and if this is not a dream (which by the way she is pretty certain this is not) then that means she had some how landed her self in an Alternate Universe, namely Middle Earth. And if this is Wormtongue the traitor of the Rohirem then that meant the time she had landed her self in is either just before the Fellowship of the Ring or during that time. She was shaken out of her thoughts when Wormtongue decided to speak again.
"You will be sleeping up there to save me the energy of taking you down and tying you back up again, so I suggest you get some sleep as we have a long journey ahead of us." He said while tying her horse tightly to a boulder they her camping beside.
Alyssa scowled at that, no matter how many odd places she could fall asleep quite comfortable like plain concrete, she could not sleep well while sitting up as it seemed to kill both her back and neck. Ah well, her body was already in pain why not mess it up even more.
It took her a good several hours before she actually truly fell asleep yet was woken up sharply when they had started moving again.
Alyssa groaned in dismay as she cracked her neck and attempted to crack her back to get the kinks out of it, yet unfortunately failed because of the ropes tying her to the saddle. She was also feeling the sharp pains of hunger and thirst, as she hadn't eaten in several days.
Eventually they stopped about mid morning and Wormtongue came over to her horse with a sack of water and what looked like some dried meet and berries. He quickly untied just her hands and handed her the stuff. "Here is your food and water." He said before walking way.
She frowned at him before sniffing the food and drink carefully. Nothing smelled off if not a bit stale, but hey, it was food so who was she complaining.
Once she was done both the food and water she straitened up a bit and looked around. Off to her right a bit she could see the silhouette of a forest maybe five or six kilometers away and a mountain range with a gap just past the forest even further away. She herd an eagle call out and looked up, she smiled a bit at the sight of the small golden eagle by the looks of it.
Wormtongue then came over to Alyssa and re bound her hand to the saddle and then they started off again towards Isengard.
Not even an hour later they herd a horn sound to the left of them then another answer to the right. Wormtongue turned in his saddle with a frightful look in his eyes and said, "Goblins." And sure enough goblins to the right and left of them started to appear on the hill tops, leaving only a small path way to freedom where Alyssa could see the old forest. Wormtongue suddenly cut the rope tying Alyssa's horse to his own and then darted towards the gap.
Alyssa swore, leave it to him to abandon his 'Prize' is the face of danger. She then leaned forward to whisper into her horses ear and said, "Get us out of hear and fast." She then squeezed her horses' sides and yelled at it to get going. The great horse reared and started sprinting towards the gap soon enough passing Wormtongue and his little horse. Alyssa couldn't believe the power of the horse she was riding. She had ridden a few times in her life but the only horse that she had ever ridden that matched this horse in power was the mustang she had snuck out in the night once.
Soon enough they had cleared the closing circle of goblins and where now heading full tilt toward the forest which was coming up to meet them a bit to fast for her tastes, plus she didn't want her horse to break its leg if it go tramping into the underbrush. She yelled at the horse to slow down a bit yet still be fast enough to out run the archers who where hot on their trail.
They made it to the forest just as a warg lunged at them catching Alyssa in the back with its claws when suddenly some one jumped out of a tree and chopped off the wargs head and quickly dealt with the goblin riding it.
Alyssa's Horse reared wildly yet Alyssa quickly calmed it down. The man, fore she was sure it was a man, jumped on the back of the horse and cried out in a gruff yet musical voice. "Noro lim, Asfaloth, Noro lim!" The horse responded in those beautiful words and shot off deeper into the forest and away from the immediate danger before halting at the mans command deep into the great forest beside a small river.
The man climbed off the back of the horse and petted it lovingly saying a few words of thanks in the musical language he was using which Alyssa was sure it was Elvish. She looked at him closely trying to gauge if he was a danger or if he could be trusted. He was tall yet not overly so, he had a medium build and seemed a bit rugged around the edges, and he had a five o'clock beard and had shoulder length dirty hair. Actually he seemed to be generally dirty everywhere and had splotches of mud all over him.
The man rubbed his eyes and turned to her. "Well are you going to get down?" he said generally confused.
Alyssa smirked and said cryptically. "I would if I could, but I can't so I won't."
He squinted at her in confusion. Alyssa sighed she would usually go on with this game but the pore man looked severely deprived of sleep and she doubted he would appreciate her mind games so instead she just lifted her hands a bit to show him the bonds then winced and quickly dropped them as the roped rubbed on her still not entirely healed left hand.
"Oh! I'm sorry I should have noticed earlier." He said and quickly took out his knife and cut her loose. Unfortunately, because she had been up there for so long she almost fell of the saddle luckily he caught her and sat her on the ground beside the river.
The man knelt down beside the river and splashed some water onto his face before rubbing it dry with a fairly clean part of his cloak. "Well that was a rather odd wake up call." He muttered more to himself but Alyssa still caught it and smiled a bit.
She started to rub some feeling back into her legs before getting up and starting to unsaddle and wipe down her horse, which was still panting heavily. Once she was done she led it over to the river and took off its bridle. If it wanted to leave then so be it but if it wanted to stay then she was not about to let it stay tied up. The whole time she was doing this she felt the mans eyes following her curiously and she knew it would be any moment that he would start to ask her questions.
"Who are you?" he asked just as she had sat down a few feet away from him, just enough to be well out of harms reach.
"My name is Alyssa Howald. Now might I ask who you are?" she said warily.
"They call me Strider." He said evenly. "You have an odd name, tell me where do you hale from my lady?"
Aragorn looked his new companion over as she tended to her horse. Personally he though she looked like shit, she had a split lip and a black eye, and she also had what looked like blood on the back of her head. Her hand was bandaged quite badly and she could only lift her arms so far above her head, she also had a slight limp to her right leg and to add the fact that she was tied rather tightly to her horse didn't help matters.
When she had finally sat down he decided to start asking questions. "Who are you?" he said.
"My name is Alyssa Howald. Now might I ask who you are?" she said warily.
"They call me Strider." He said evenly though with some confusion, 'Alyssa Howald' was an odd name, he had never heard of it before. "You have an odd name, tell me where do you hale from my lady?"
He watched as the girl frowned and look down at her hands. "I can not tell you now maybe later when I have thought things through, though I can tell you that I am not from around here." She said finally.
He nodded warily not really trusting her yet letting her get away with it for now.
The girl shifted uneasily and winced before getting into a more comfortable position. Aragorn frowned and asked. "Do you need medical attention?"
"No!" she said quickly, too quickly for his tastes. Aragorn raised an eyebrow and looked at her sternly.
"Ok, maybe a little." She said giving up under his stern stare her shoulders sagging a bit.
"It's ok to ask for help you know." He said kindly as he got out his medical kit that he had gotten from his father Lord Elrond.
Alyssa stiffened and started to inch away. "You're not going to heal me right?" she said stuttering a bit over her words.
He cocked his head side ways and looked at her quizidly. "Of course I am, who else do you think is around?"
Alyssa gulped scuring back a bit faster until her back hit the trunk of an old tree. "Th-then I am in no need of help thanks." She said at last.
Aragorn moved over towards him the pack still in his hands. "What happened?" he asked kindly.
Alyssa just turned her head and closed her eyes in shame and fear. Unfortunately exposing a rather gruesome hickey and a hand shaped bruise around her neck.
Aragorn gasped quietly, this girl had been severely beaten and violated during whatever captivity she had been in. He sat back on his heals, "What ever happened to you is defiantly punishable buy death and goes totally against my beliefs, and I can swear to you buy death that I would never violate someone such as your self.
Alyssa opened her eyes and looked into his warm grey ones only seeing the truth in his words shining through them. "Really?" she said quietly.
He placed his hand upon his heart, "Buy my heart and Soul I swear. Now let me help you and I swear I will ask for no payment."
Alyssa nodded jerkily and slowly lay down on her stomach so he could tend her wounds.
He lifted her shirt a bit and gasped at what he saw. Really all he saw was a mess of loose bandages covered in sticky half dried blood, which he quickly pealed away to reveal a mass of deep infected cuts and plenty of boot shaped bruises. It was clear to him that she had been severely beaten then taken advantage of then had her wounds treated very badly.
He sighed this was not going to be pleasant. "I need you to take you shirt off fully so I can treat your wounds properly." He felt more then saw her stiffen in response. "Do not worry, I am a fully trained healer trained buy Lord Elrond himself. Beside I have already given my word to you, you just have to trust me on this ok." He said gently.
Alyssa jerkily nodded and sat up with a bit of help from Aragorn and tried to get off her shirt. Unfortunately it got stuck on one of her scabs on her back and needed help to get it off much to her embarrassment. She then laid it out on the forest floor her face bright red and then she lay down on top of it turning her face away from Aragorn who was watching her quietly yet understandably.
He then took out one of his old shirts and ripped off the sleeve, then dunked it into the cool water of the stream and started to wipe away the mess of blood on her back and inspecting the partially infected wounds. He grimaced, there was a few he was going to have to stitch together and others he was going to have to put a hot knife too to get rid of infection. He pulled out his small plant of Athalas plant and put some to Alyssa's mouth. "I need you to chew on some of this while I start the fire." He said quietly.
Alyssa just nodded and put it into her mouth and started chewing making a face at the bitter taste.
Aragorn just smiled in amusement and got up to go find some firewood. He came back about five minutes later with a large stack of wood and with the help of some dry leave and some flint he got a decent fire started. He then set one of his knives into the blaze to heat up and turned back to Alyssa who was watching him quietly still chewing on the wad of Athalas. Aragorn put his had to her mouth and motioned her to spit out the Athalas into it.
Alyssa just raised an eyebrow but did as she was told and watched in mild disgust as he broke it up into little pieces and put it on the cuts that weren't infected to help the healing process and leave minimal scars.
Aragorn then turned away and picked up the hot knife, which was ready to be used on Alyssa's back. He put a stick into her mouth and didn't even have to tell her to bite down. "Brace your self." He muttered to her and Alyssa stiffened in response.
Aragorn brought the knife down to the first cut, a rather large one that ran from her shoulder to about her mid back from when the Cougar had jumped her from the tree, and tried to ignore the smell of burning flesh and Alyssa's painful moans, he had to give it to her though, she hadn't screamed out. His next target was the nasty bite mark also from the cougar, the teeth had punctured her skin deep and it looked as if the cat had tried to drag her away. Unfortunately this time he wasn't as lucky as Alyssa did scream out when he touched her with the hot knife.
This went on and on until all of the infected wounds where cleaned out and literally burned back together. Luckily Alyssa had passed out after the third wound and didn't have to experience the pain. Now all he had to do was stitch her hand back together and rub in a blaze balm lord Elrond had given him just before he had left Rivendell, he wondered if his father knew this was going to happen. He shrugged and got out the bone needle and the special waterproof thread specially made for stitches.
Just as Aragorn was finishing off the last stitch on her hand Alyssa woke up and looked around groggily. She liked her dry lips, "Water." She croaked out and then winced as Aragorn tied off the last stitch. He reached over for his water skin and helped pour some into her mouth. "Thanks." she said when she was done.
"No problem." Aragorn replied as he reached over for the blaze balm and started to gently rub it into her back. "How did you get these?" he asked after a few minutes of silence.
Alyssa sighed, "Do you want the long or short version?"
"I don't know, short I guess." he answered
"I got attacked buy two cougars, fell off a cliff into some rapids, fell down a water fall, then was found buy a pervert who attempted to heal me, then he wanted payment, which I refused to give so he beat me. Then I was tied to a horse and was forced to stay up there for three days, then we where attacked buy a bunch of orcs and well you know the rest."
Aragorn paused in his ministrations and looked down at her. "I think I should hear the long version." and so Alyssa told him everything including where she was from, her theory on how she got here what happened while she was hiking and in captivity of Wormtongue. By the time she was done she had gotten dressed and was now wrapped up in a warm blanket sitting in front of the fire watching Aragorn cook dinner from a deer he had caught earlier.
"So you're telling me that you are from another universe where no one uses torches and horses to get around and your wars are fought buy explosions and not buy hand to hand combat?" Asked Aragorn hardly believing a word she said.
Alyssa smiled. "I know it sounds crazy but it's true, I have read of things like this happening before but they where always in fiction but I guess any thing can happen."
Aragorn grunted in agreement and handed Alyssa a strip of cooked meet. "Watch out its hot." He said just as Alyssa had popped it into her mouth. He laughed in amusement as Alyssa waved her hand over her mouth and was blowing in and out trying to cool down the peace of meet in her mouth. "Yes I noticed." She finally said after quickly swallowing it.
"So how old are you?" Aragorn asked.
"It tis rude to ask a lady her age didn't you know." She said jokingly. "But I am only 23."
"I did not know my lady and I am terribly sorry." Said Aragorn with a playful smile. "So what did you do in your world? Occupation wise or where you brought up as a stay at home lady?"
Alyssa looked scandalized. "Stay at home? Are you crazy? Me? God no. I was a black smith; I specialized in weaponry, specifically swords and daggers. I was also going through school to become a carpenter."
"Really? Are all women like this or are you just special?" asked Aragorn.
"Don't tell me that all the women here are stay at home people. Where I come from woman can do anything that men can do, like we can join the army or rule a country or even be a smithy like me. Women are free to do what we want, there is the random sexist person but other than that we are free." Said Alyssa.
"It sounds like a wonderful place to live." Said Aragorn wistfully.
Alyssa shrugged, "It has its ups and downs."
Aragorn nodded. "Well we best be getting some sleep as tomorrow we will be setting out early for Bree where we are to meet master Gandalf, we will also have to stop at the Ranger headquarters to pick up some supply's and get you some proper traveling cloths as those will not keep you warm during the nights as fall is coming upon us soon."
Alyssa smiled and lay down on the ground rapping her blanket even tighter around her. "Good night." She mumbled before dropping off into a peaceful deep sleep.
Aragorn smiled "good night" he replied softly before he too dropped off into the land of dreams.
AN: Well there's chapter two! Almost 8 pages long! Well I hope you enjoyed it so far so please Review! Constructive criticism is great too.