We traveled as fast as we could manage without full-on sprinting, stopping only for a few hours each night. The next few villages we came across we avoided. We were several months of small chaotic disasters into our wild run when we finally slowed, reaching a village where Krumran knew someone we could sell the jewels to. Padfoot was having the time of his life, with all the exercise and new smells. He was also thrilled that Krumran was still with us. I wondered, occasionally, if he missed Lisbet as much as I did. I usually pushed those thoughts away posthaste.

I watched the tennis match argument that was Krumran bartering, absently running my fingers through Padfoot's fur as the merchant's face grew redder and redder. Eventually, he threw his hands up, giving in to the indomitable force that is dwarrow stubbornness. It was an unbearably smug Krumran who split our gold that evening, sitting at a table in the pub. I was absently listening to his play-by-play of the bartering and everything the merchant had done wrong when I spotted them. I immediately whapped Krumrans' shoulder, pointing once he was paying attention.

A group of dwarrow had entered the pub. Krumran was off, already calling out to them in their language. I did my best to ignore the moments when I was certain they were talking about me, Krumran motioning in my direction. Instead, I focused on practicing my Westron handwriting. It wasn't long before Krumran was back,

"Pack up, pack up, we're headed to a different inn!"

I followed, not bothering to protest. There was a tense moment outside, when the dwarrow took in Padfoot for the first time. The moment ended when Padfoot waltzed up to the group and flopped over, shamelessly begging them to scratch his stomach. I didn't bother to hold in a facepalm, dragging my hand down slowly even as I muttered in a few different languages about my idiot dog.

I was introduced to the dwarrow in a whirl, doing my best to match faces with names when the faces were mostly covered and the names were so foreign to me. It didn't matter in the end, Krumran waved them away when we got to the inn, calling out something that I didn't understand. He motioned for me to follow him, bee-lining to a corner table that already held a man wearing a cloak, hood up. The stranger was tall, even sitting down, and a bit on the thin side, with a head of thick grey hair that was cut short, unlike most men I'd seen here, and the closely trimmed facial hair was also unusual. His eyes were a dark brown, almost black, and his gaze searching.

I followed more sedately, but was able to catch the start of the conversation.

"Are you Esegar the ranger?"

"I might be."

"Good, good. Holly! Hurry up!" He turned back to the stranger, "I don't suppose you're free at the moment to answer some questions?"

"Depends on the questions."

I obliged with the urging to hurry, easily maneuvering around Padfoot and settling into the chair next to Krumran, across from the stranger. I didn't get a chance to pose a question before Krumran was off again, chattering.

"No one is more widely traveled than a Ranger, if anyone were to recognize pieces of your home it would be one of them, if you'd like to try?"

I examined the guy again, noting his expression was mildly curious now rather than the blank expression he'd held when we first accosted him. I shrugged,

"I don't suppose you know any English?"

The ranger's brow furrowed,

"I don't recognize it."
I got the same answer for the French, Spanish, and Japanese, the few bits of Chinese I knew, the small bit of Korean, the Norwegian I'd picked up from the exchange student, and the Russian I'd learned out of curiosity and slight Star Trek ensign obsession. I even threw in some Mando'a and Klingon in the middle of it all for kicks. German, however, got a head tilt,

"That sounds similar to the language of the Dwarrow."

I wrinkled my nose, turning to Krumran who was shaking his head.

"There are similar tones to it and quite a few of the languages Holly knows, but none of the words are right."

Esegar got my attention again,

"How far away is your land? Do you think it would be possible to visit in the near future?"
I scowled, shaking my head. I had no words to explain it honestly, and frankly, no matter if there were dwarves and magic of some kind the truth would be hard to swallow.

"No. The gate closed, there's no going back.

Esegar exchanged a glance with Krumran and I stiffened, not liking that something was going on here that I was unaware of. I forced myself to relax. If nothing else in this strange new reality I could trust Krumran. We'd fought and bled beside one another for months now, not to mention the fairly solid foundation we'd started with. Esegar turned to me then, putting his hands on the table in plain sight, leaning forwards slightly.

"How would you like to visit those who may know your language? Who may know how to better teach you to understand the Common tongue?" Well, that was rude, I thought I was doing pretty great.

"At what cost?"

I was well aware by now that nothing is free in this day and age.

"I have messages that need delivering there in any case. It would be useful to have a traveling companion to help keep watch."

Hmmm, not liking the sound of it, but Krumran didn't seem to find anything wrong with the offer and it had been his idea in the first place. But this guy carries a sword and seems to know what he's doing. I couldn't just shoot him and run if need be. Then again, I'd had quite a lot of practical experience coming my way since I'd fled the village.

"Where?"

"A place called Rivendell."

The unfamiliar word caused me to pause, "Where?"

Krumran harrumphed. "With the Elves! Cheeky bastards, can't stand them myself, but," here he lowered his voice, leaning in so only I could hear it, "if you have a magical problem they'll have a magical solution!" He leaned back away, volume normal, "A ranger guide is just what you need to get there! The Last Homely House, Lord Elrond is who you'll want to see."

My brain skipped. "You mean Imladris?"

Krumran finally stilled, glancing over at me. "You've never heard of any of the geography of this place, or even the language, you didn't know about dwarrow, but you know Imladris?"

"Of course I do, it's a legend, a myth. I read about it in a book." I didn't even have to lie or stretch the truth on that part.

The ranger, looking entirely too interested in the proceedings now, cut in, "It's very real." He paused, eyes flicking from Krumran to myself. "Would you like to accompany me there?"

Elves. Elves in Rivendell. That was plot central, really. And I really didn't know enough about this world that I was apparently living in, having only read the prequel book and the three main ones, skipping out on all the unfinished stuff or the background stuff. I'd seen the movies of course, and read a metric fuckton of fanfiction, but that was little help at the moment. Honestly, it's amazing I remembered the name 'Imladris', but I had just done the biggest book report of my life on Fellowship just before I ended up here. I was still a bit pissed about never seeing the grade for that thing. But as for traveling to Rivendell, I really couldn't pass up this opportunity. It solved the problem of finding out 'when' I was so I could avoid certain places when shit hit the fan. Because honestly, I've seen enough Doctor Who to know you shouldn't fuck with time. Plus, you know, magic, and whatever the fuck might be wrong with me.

"Alright. Only if my dog can come as well."

The ranger glanced over at Padfoot, looking wary.

"Is it dangerous?"

I grinned, "Only to those who threaten us."

He still didn't look too sure of it, but finally, he nodded,

"So long as it can keep up with us. Can you ride?"

Oh, a chance for sass, how I've missed it. I made an obvious glance at Padfoot, putting a faux confused look on my face, "I don't think he is quite big enough for that."

The two looked at me for a solid three seconds before I started snickering and they realized that it was a joke. Krumran looked fondly exasperated, but Esegar just rolled his eyes and clarified.

"I meant a horse."

I shrugged, "I've ridden a few times."

My Grandfather had gotten a horse when he got that farm of his, but he hadn't had it long before I got bounced to another dimension. So my experience was limited at best, but I knew the basics of how not to get killed, thrown, or have the horse hate me with a passion.

I brushed my hair out of my face absently, "But I don't have a horse, so it's not like that matters."

Krumran waved it off, "Dalvik already scouted out the stables, he'll help you pick out good stock. Most likely different from buying a pony, but not different enough to make it impossible.

I was a bit skeptical at that, my share of those stolen jewels can't have been worth a whole ass horse. Then again, I don't know the trade rate for horses.

Esegar nodded decidedly, "Then we'll meet in the stables tomorrow at dawn with your things."
**

Surprise! It's alive! I know it's short, but it's something to bring it back to life and get it kicking again. I have a fairly comprehensive timeline set up for this thing now, I'm playing fast and loose with some of it, so feel free to hit me up with suggestions or whatever. This definitely won't be updated weekly or anything but for sure not a gap like last time (seven years is bad, even for me). Be sure to comment, I'll stagnate without feedback [:)]
[Rereading chapter 7, I had such high hopes for humanity in 2022 lmfao that tech tho]
~TimeLordOfPie