So, Scarlet meets someone. Huzzah!

Also, because I am a terrible scholar of Tolkien languages, here is the language key for this chapter.

"Scarlet's normal English speak."

"Westron"

Chapter 3: Not that easy

She smelt the faint scent of smoke and roasting meat. Someone very nearby had started a flame upwind. Instantly, she headed towards the direction of the source in order to investigate. It did not matter if the person who started the flame was friendly or unfriendly. If friendly, she had found one of her allies. If unfriendly, she would simply eliminate the threat and steal his resources; especially the food.

This was the way of the game.

Scarlet neared the source of the scent.

It was nearly sundown and in the thick of the forest, she could see the glow of the flame cast upon the trees. Scarlet crept as close as she dared and observed the campsite. All she could see was a person hunched over the fire pit.

The person was dressed in clothes that looked positively medieval. His clothes, it was definitely a male, looked nothing like the standard issue attire the tributes were given. This was strange. To make matters more confusing, the male looked nothing like any of the tributes she had met before the games during the training period and he looked far too old to have qualified for the games.

Scarlet stiffened in horror as she took in all her observations, coupled with her experiences in the past few days. The blinking light of the teleporter, the arrival point that was nowhere near the Cornucopia, the lack of a bloodbath, the lack of fallen despite 3 days having passed, the strange mutations which did not look like a cross between tributes and any recognisable animal, the presence of mutations when there were no fallen, the foreign flora, and finally, the presence of a fully grown adult who looked like he was in the wrong era.

Scarlet slowly came to the scary possibility that she was not in the arena. It was a scary thought because now there were no rules. She was trained by her father to win a game set by rules. Every strategy she was taught; from being trained to run fast to the Cornucopia to secure a weapon, to learning how to hack people fast and take possession of the Cornucopia, teaming up with the other careers, learning how to use a staff, learning to run away if conditions were not in her favour and only return to kill when conditions were at her advantage. All of these lessons were meant to win the game. A game. But if what she suspected was true, she was no longer in the game and that meant that most of her advantage was lost.

Keeping herself calm, Scarlet tried to formulate a plan. She could not be sure of exactly what was going on. She also could not tell if the guy was hostile and hence decided the best thing for her to do was to arm herself first regardless of whether she was in the arena or somewhere else.

She briefly debated using her staff to crush his skull in his sleep before stealing his weapons. This was what she was trained to do. Kill first, eliminate the threat. But if her suspicions were correct, doing so would mean that she was killing what she assumed to be a simple, if well-armed, camper. As much as she was trained to kill tributes, she did not relish in the idea of killing innocent people.

Her conscience was getting to her.

Scarlet slowly considered her options. She was hungry. She was lost. The man on the other hand, seemed well equipped to survive this place. He might also have an idea of where she is and how she can return home. However, if she killed him, he would be useless to her. Yet if she did not kill him and he turned out to be a threat, she risked being killed. Her instinct and training said kill on sight, another acknowledged that she was woefully unprepared to survive and could stand to benefit from his assistance.

After much contemplation, Scarlet finally decided to wait until the man was resting to steal a weapon from him. If he turned out to be friendly, she would ask him for help. If he turned out to be hostile, she would just have to rely on her reflexes and training to protect her.

With a strange sort of jealousy, she watched where he kept his knife and sword. She decided to go for the knife first. Whilst the reach of the knife would be far less than that of the sword, she was better trained to use knives. Also, she missed the reassuring weight of a knife in her hand.

With that plan in mind, Scarlet settled herself down for a long wait till darkness came and the man slept.

When night fell, Scarlet crept up to the man. Treading as silently as possible, she kept her eyes on his face as she reached for the knife. Just as her fingers made contact with the hilt, strong fingers captured her wrist in a firm grip.

The Ranger had been waiting for her.

Immediately, Scarlet's trained reflexes kicked in and she whacked his hand with her staff, causing the man to loosen his grip a little. In that moment, she planted her staff into the ground and launched herself to the other end of the campsite.

At the same moment, the Ranger got up and drew his sword. They were not at a standoff. Both held their weapons at the ready while sizing up their opponent, neither doing more than keeping a wary stance.

The silence dragged on.

Finally the Ranger grew restless of waiting and decided to make the first move.

~~~~~~~ backtrack interlude ~~~~~~~~~

Slightly earlier in the day.

Theoraan was having an average day. It was a typical day in the life of a Ranger in the woods. He had just finished a three month stint guarding the Shire and was headed to Imladris to make some reports before heading back home to make further reports to Halbarad.

Yet on this typically uneventful day, he had an unknown visitor. The visitor was small, as tall as a Halfling could be. He was also rather rude. Instead of coming out to introduce himself, the visitor had chosen to approach him in the dead of night. Believing the visitor to be a Halfling, and hence not much of a threat, Theoraan allowed the small creature to approach; only stopping him when he reached for his knife.

Imagine his surprise when the supposedly harmless visitor retaliated with a swift knock on his knuckles and then proceeded to display amazing agility by launching himself through the air to the other side of the camp. Having gotten a glimpse of what the visitor was capable off, Theoraan immediately reached for his sword and swore not to underestimate a stranger again.

~~~~~~~~~~ End Interlude~~~~~~~~~~~~

They remained at a standoff for a fairly long time.

Finally, Theoraan decided that just standing there was simply a waste of time and decided to do something about this visitor.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Silence greeted the clearing.

Scarlet continued staring at the man. He had spoken to her, of that she was certain but she could make no sense of his words.

Seeing no response other than a raised eyebrow, Theoraan decided to try again.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

The man had spoken to her again. Again she did not catch or understand anything he said. Lowering her staff slightly, she gave him the universal sign of 'I totally don't get it' by shaking her head whilst maintaining eye contact and keeping a confused look on her face.

Scarlet even went so far as to tell him, "I don't understand."

It was then Theoraan's turn to stare in confusion.

Realising that there was a language barrier between them, what inevitably followed was the lowering of weapons as both parties exhausted the list of languages known to them. Being from Panem, Scarlet was quickly out of languages. Theoraan on the other hand was an avid traveller (it was part of the job) and hence continued trying various languages and dialects that he had come across on his travels.

Yet none invoked any response of recognition from the child before him.

As the man continued with his attempts, Scarlet slowly considered the thought that not only was she not in the Arena, she was very likely not in any part of Panem known to her. There was no telling how far away from home she was. Where had the teleporter taken her?

Finally faced with unequivocal proof that she was completely lost in some place unknown with no knowledge of how she got here or no known way of going back, added to the stress and hunger from the last few days, Scarlet wanted to break down and cry.

However, crying was not something Scarlet was used to doing. She had not cried for a very long time. Her father believed crying was a sign of weakness and she learnt that lesson pretty quickly. Instead, Scarlet decided to voice out her frustrations.

Completely ignoring her male companion who had exhausted his list of languages, Scarlet turned and faced the nearest tree. Once she was close enough to the tree trunk she gently tapped her head against it.

"Why." Tap.

"Why." Tap.

"Whyyyyyyy." Tap.

Resting her head against the trunk for the moment, she heaved a sigh before continuing her self-mutilating actions.

"You have GOT to be KIDDING ME." Thump.

"First I chosen to play the damn games." Thump.

"Then I get the messed up year with innovative Game-makers and experimental teleportation processes" Thump.

"Ow." Scarlet paused to rub her forehead. That last thump was a little too forceful. Yet she continued.

"Then I get the stupid faulty beeping teleporter." Tap.

"THEN I get thrown into some unknown place." Tap.

"And OF COURSE if that wasn't enough, I have to land in a place where I DON'T KNOW THE DAMN LANGUAGE." Thump! "Ow."

"COME ON! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! Scarlet exclaimed the last bit whilst glaring up at the sky. Never mind that her previous actions of hitting the tree and sudden burst of rage had Theoraan wondering if he himself did something wrong so as to deserve the great misfortune of encountering a crazy person on his travels when all he really wanted to do was sleep peacefully and continue about his business the next day.

Having expended all her rage, the two unlikely companions looked at each other again. Neither knew what to do.

Finally, Scarlet decided she was tired and exhausted. She figured that since the man had taken the effort to try and communicate with her instead of killing her on sight, he was worth trusting. Taking the first step, she approached him with her staff down. Indicating to herself, she made the proper introduction.

"Scarlet."

Realising what the child was doing, Theoraan decided to be polite and follow suit. Whilst he was still curious as to why a child was out here all alone, there was no need to be rude.

"Theoraan."

Nodding in response, Scarlet then turned to a nearby tree and climbed onto a suitable branch to settle down for the rest of the night. Crossing her arms, she leaned against the tree and allowed her eyelids to flutter close.

Raising an eyebrow at his companion's actions Theoraan simply shrugged and went back to this make shift bed of sorts. He would deal with this in the morning.

Theoraan woke the next morning to the soft sounds of shuffling and the crackling of logs. Jerking awake, he instantly reached for his knife before his awareness caught up with his reflexes. Looking across the fire pit to the kid who was watching him curiously, the memory of last night's encounter slowly drifted back into his mind.

Lowering his hand, he suddenly realised that he was merely grasping a stick. Staring at it with a dumb look on his face, he briefly wondered how his trusty knife had transformed into a wooden stick. The amused snort from across the camp caught his attention and he looked up to see the kid, 'no, Scarlet' he reminded himself, casually twirling the blade in her hand.

Having caught Theoraan's attention and having alerted him of the location of his wayward blade, Scarlet turned back to the fish which she had set on the flames not long ago.

After the events of last night, Scarlet awoke with the dawn to see Theoraan sleeping below. Slipping quickly down the tree, she was quick to swipe his knife now that he was not waiting for her. With the knife, Scarlet then made her way down to the stream where she practiced with the knife until it felt as natural to her as her own. Never use a weapon you are unaccustomed to unless absolutely necessary. That was a lesson her father had taught her. Especially since her chosen method of murder was to throw her knives at a vital organ, accuracy was of utmost importance. Once she was confident, she went fishing and relished each and every speared fish with each throw of the knife. Hunger was not something she enjoyed feeling and gutting the fishes felt like such satisfactory revenge on hunger that she almost burst out in maniacal laughter. Thankfully, she managed to control herself and finished the job swiftly before returning to the camp to cook the fish.

Theoraan ate breakfast silently though he could not help but be a little disturbed by the look of utter bliss on Scarlet's face and moan of satisfaction that came out every time she bit into the fish. Ignoring her for the moment, he wondered what to do with his newfound companion. He was a ranger, used to solitary movements and dangerous lands. He could not afford to take care of a weak child and perform his duties at the same time. Yet his sense of responsibility mandated that he ensure she reached her desired destination safely. It would not do well for a young child to travel around in these woods alone.

Momentarily forgetting that language was an issue, Theoraan asked, "Where are you headed?"

Looking up from her delicious fish at the sound of his voice, Scarlet looked at the Ranger quizzically. 'He isn't honestly expecting me to understand and answer is he?' she thought.

Immediately understanding Scarlet's blank face, Theoraan thought himself a fool for forgetting that important point on communication issues. Heaving a sigh, he searched his mind for other ideas as to what to do with Scarlet whilst the both of them cleared the camp.

With everything cleared up, it was time to decide where their paths would lead from here on out.

Scarlet liked to think she was a good judge of character. Thus far, Theoraan had yet to do anything untoward to her. He had also yet to demand his knife back. That was a good sign. Armed, she knew she had a fighting chance against him if he tried anything funny.

Knowing herself lost in a land unknown, Scarlet decided that sticking with Theoraan was a better idea than trying to stay on her own. At least he looked like a man who knew where he was going. With his help perhaps she could find a way to more non-medieval civilisation and find a way home.

Theoraan once more opened his mouth to try and ask Scarlet where she intended to go from here. The words died when he remembered the language barrier. Snapping his mouth shut, he tried to gesture 'where do you want to go?'.

It did not work out too well.

Luckily for him, Scarlet was a pretty smart girl and simply ignored his attempts to communicate and using her hand, gestured for him to proceed walking.

Getting the hint, Theoraan simply decided that he would drop the kid off at Bree since it was somewhat on his way. Being a prominent crossroad for travellers there may be someone who could recognise Scarlet or her language. Bringing the kid to Bree would fulfil his sense of honour in protecting the child and then allow him to continue onwards with his duties unhindered.

So, yes tada the figure in the woods was a Ranger and not Aragorn. Sorry if his name is a little strange. It was the best my brain could come up with. I was going to name him Thorean but my brain kept pronouncing Thor-ran and some how my brain then translated that into Theo-ran when typing... so that's how he got his name. BUT, at least he has a name now! In my draft's he's just called 'the Ranger'.

Also, Scarlet FINALLY got herself a weapon! And she also figured that she's not in the Arena.

Also, I am terribly sorry if the jumping points of view was confusing.

~~~~~~~~~ OMAKE~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really wanted to change my story such that Scarlet chanced upon Aragorn after he fell off the cliff, instead of some random Ranger, but as I tried to plan out the rest of the story after that, I realised that it would not work out. So anyway, here is the alternate version and its really long.

IF Scarlet Met Aragorn Instead - when Aragorn was thrown off the cliff and ends up floating in the river, Scarlet hauls him out of the river

Scarlet had been trekking along the river for two days now and she was approaching a region of the river that ran between two cliffs. 'I didn't know the arena had cliffs….' she thought.

Scarlet decided now was a good time as ever to stop and take a drink. As she approached the bank, Scarlet spotted a rather oddly shaped brown log by the river bank. At first, she was about to dismiss it as a normal log however the glint of sunlight that reflected off the log raised her suspicions. Treading carefully, Scarlet crept up upon the log in order to investigate.

Now that she was closer to the log, Scarlet was finally able to identify it as a male. A fully grown male, with scruffy neck length hair and facial hair. Whoever he was, he was definitely too old to be a tribute. Even his attire was setting of alarm bells in her head. Full medieval battle armour with a sword and chain mail was certainly NOT tribute attire.

Wary of the body, Scarlet moved closer to inspect it further. Upon closer inspection, she felt a pulse from the neck and at the wrist. Certain that the man was alive, Scarlet debated helping him or leaving him there.

'I should leave him to die. If I am still in the hunger games then tribute or not, his life shouldn't matter to me. But what if I'm NOT in the hunger games. Think about it Scar. Nothing thus far has jived with what I know the hunger games should be. I haven't seen any other tribute, I haven't seen any sign of the fallen and it's been 3 days. He's way too old to be a tribute. But if I'm not in the hunger games, then… where am I?!'

The sudden realisation made Scarlet sit up in shock.

In her shock, she did not know how long she sat there turning over possibilities of where she was and what happened in her head until she heard the clops of horse hooves. There ahead of her approached a horse. She automatically assumed the horse belonged to the fallen man at her side.

Suddenly remembering the man, Scarlet scrambled up and started to check him for injuries, realising that she had left him in the cold water for a very long time. Scarlet could only see several bruises and scrapes on his arm though there was some blood crusted around his head. Using all her strength, Scarlet heaved and ho-ed and hauled the man and his heavy armour up the banks of the river and under the shelter of a fairly large tree. She then left to immediately gather wood to try and start a fire so as to warm him up and boil water to treat his wounds.

Whilst she was doing so, Scarlet reasoned to herself that if she was not in the arena and in a strange land instead, it was better to have him in her debt than to leave him to die. Just because she was trained to kill tributes on sight did not mean she had to kill everyone she met.

After awhile, Scarlet got a fire going and was trying to boil water using an empty gourd she had found. Next, she started stripping him of his armour and weaponry so as to have better access to his wounds. She jumped for joy and nearly gave a shout of victory when she found knives on his arsenal of weapons.

"I have a knife! Oh lord I have knife! Oh sweet knives, never leave me ever again!"

She then took of his wet top and hung it up to dry. She left his breeches because she was admittedly embarrassed. After cleaning his wounds and bandaging them with rolls of cloth she had found in the horse's saddle bag, Scarlet covered his torso with her windbreaker so as to warm him up from the chill of the river.

Once she had finished taking care of him, Scarlet skipped towards the river in joy and anticipation of finally having hot and fresh meat for the first time in days. However, before she went fishing proper, Scarlet gave the knives a few test runs by throwing them against a tree. Never use a weapon you are unaccustomed to unless absolutely necessary. That was a lesson her father had taught her. Especially since her chosen method of murder was to throw her knives at a vital organ, accuracy was of utmost importance.

Once she felt she knew the ins and out of the knives, Scarlet approached the river bank and tracked the swimming fishes with her eyes. Poised with her weapon, Scarlet waited for the right moment, inhaled and threw. There was a sudden splash and then a cloud of red rose in the river, Scarlet had hit her target. She threw two more knives in the same manner before wading into the waters to retrieve her catch of the day.

Sometime later, Scarlet was happily sated and warming herself up by the flames when she finally heard a groan from the man. Scooting over, she leaned over to check on him. Hearing him cough, Scarlet immediately propped him up and fed him some water.

Aragorn woke to a throbbing headache and an aching body. Opening his eyes, he saw the leaves of a tree and concluded that he was still alive. Still dazed, he tried to recall what happened and then he remembered the battle with the wargs and his incident off the cliff. Remembering the wargs and hence the battle and the danger facing the Rohans, Aragon's eye's snapped open and he tried to sit awake only to groan at his body's protest of the sudden motion. Quickly lying back down, he hacked a few coughs from his dry throat.

Suddenly he saw a small gourd of water presented before him That was when he finally realised he was not alone. Snapping his head to face his company Aragorn examined the person just as the person examined him back.

It was a boy. No. A girl, just shy of womanhood. Her hair was short but a blazing red colour.

She urged the gourd closer to him and he gratefully accepted it. Once he was rehydrated, Aragorn tried to thank her for her assistance.

Once the man had drunk the water, Scarlet watch him try to speak to her. Hearing a language she did not understand, Scarlet frowned. Evidently he understood her frown for she heard him try various other unrecognisable languages following the first attempt. She simply sat there and continue frowning whilst shaking her head a couple of times. She next tried her own language and yet it was his turn to frown at her.

Finally she gave up and simply said 'you have GOT to be kidding me. Am I even IN Panem any more?!" groaning, she facepalmed and just offered him the remaining two fishes instead.

Now rested, Aragorn contemplated his next plan of action. He knew he had to get back fast. There were people waiting for him. Yet he did not know what to do with the girl, Scarlet she called herself. He was to return to a warzone. There was no way to ensure her safety in such a place. Yet as far as he could tell, she was alone here in the middle of nowhere. He shuddered to think of what would happen to her if she chanced upon a patrol of orcs.

That single thought made the decision for him. Motioning her over, he waited until she was close by before lifting her onto his horse with ease.

Upon the horse, Scarlet looked down at the man called Aragorn in confusion. She was further confused then he mounted up behind her.

Having never ridden on a horse before, Scarlet could not help the loud squeak that escaped when Aragorn urged the horse into a gallop. Gripping on to the saddle very tightly, Scarlet decided that this was nothing like the horse drawn carriages of the Dome.

So then they ride to Helms Deep where she is ushered into the caves to hide with the women and children and whilst the war is waging on outside, she can sing 'Safe and Sound' to comfort the children! SO PERFECT RIGHT?! Sadly, as I planned out the finer details, I decided this storyline wasn't to be. But at least you readers get the bonus!

Please R&R! Makes me happy.