Chapter 1 – Unsuitable Conditions for Jungle Trekking.

It was some time before Kristin opened her eyes to find herself in unfamiliar territory. How odd. She blinked, trying to get the eye gunk out of her eyes. She shifted slightly, absentmindedly thinking that her bed was not this uncomfortable – unless the springs had erupted from the mattress again, of course. Kristin looked around for a familiar face.

"Jon?"

No answer. Ah well. She might as well look around for him, or someone else she knew. With any luck her parents had sent the boy to the hospital to remove the bullet in his arm. He had better be alright.

Who else would bitch to her about how the school prom king refused his advances?

She idly wondered what had happened to her. Why on Earth had she blacked out? What had been that crack sound?

Kristin rotated her neck, and was relieved to see that she hadn't suffered any neck trauma. So that quite obviously ruled out a broken neck. But she really needed to test out the rest of her limbs. What if she had broken something? She stood.

And immediately went back down again. Her legs were too unsteady for actual use. Pins and needles erupted throughout the entire length of said limbs (a feeling she despised), so instead she looked around and concluded she was nowhere near home, for home hadn't had so much…green.

She was surrounded by trees and there was even a waterfall thundering nearby. Or, more precisely, she presumed it was (Thundering; that is.) Concentrating, she could not discern the sound of the water at all, as it poured down on the rocks below and into the pool. Odd. She started to crawl to the water's edge, puzzling over this new place and its muteness.

She immersed two fingers in the cool water and touched them to her dry lips. It was heaven. The clear blue water looked enticing, and she could see the glittering pebbles at the bottom. It was apparent that the pool was not too deep, and she was about to undress for a swim to soothe her frazzled nerves when she realised – finally realised – that she had no clothes to remove.

'Oh, shite.' She needed clothes, and fast. It would not do to be found wandering around naked by some stranger in an unfamiliar place. So, gathering her wits about her, she stood and crept toward the trees, hoping to find somewhere she could borrow – read, steal – clothes. But not before she had a long drink.

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You may wonder why she was yet to panic, when she was in an unknown place, with no knowledge of where her friends and family were, or where to get food, or where to spend the night. You see, Kristin is nothing if not a little…slow. It will hit her soon. And when it does…it will not be pretty.

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It had been hours. Hours. She now wished she had some more water. And some food. Kristin had passed by a bush full of berries, and a clump of mushrooms, but she was not foolish enough to eat them. What happened if they were some kind of poisonous plant that killed her? At least the absence of clothes meant the absence of an extra burden; there were no bits of clothing getting caught in thorns or branches. But she had amassed many cuts in places you don't even want to think about. And her bare feet…Rest assured she had never missed her shoes so much in her life.

She stopped at a fringe of trees encircling a slight clearing. A horse was tethered nearby, magnificent and tall. Or was it two? Her eyesight was not cooperating with her brain, most likely it was on strike due to the lack of food. Ah well. There was no one about, at any rate. So she risked it and forced her exhausted muscles to work, half-running, half-hobbling, into the 'campsite'.

She had succeeded in pulling on a pair of pants and a tunic (both too big and a different style entirely than her normal clothes) and was about to scrounge around for food, when something sharp was prodded into her back. A strong hand gripped her shoulder. She swallowed and turned around, lest she be impaled. She looked up at her 'captors'. And gasped in recognition.

Elladan and Elrohir.

One of them had an Elvish blade at her throat.

"I'm sorry! I needed clothes! These were the first I could find!" she pleaded. Both the Elves looked confused. Then she remembered. She was speaking in English, not Westron, not Elvish, not even Dwarvish. They could not understand her.

One of them opened his mouth to say something, maybe ask her what she was saying, or what her name was. His lips moved but…Kristin suddenly realised why she didn't hear the water at the waterfall. She couldn't hear. She was…deaf. She hadn't even noticed that the forest was eerily quiet, that the horses made no neigh or snort, that she couldn't even hear herself speaking.

The only thing she could do was point at her ears and shake her head, hoping that they didn't think she meant she had no brain. Dawning broke on their faces simultaneously; which is kind of weird, seeing as they were both identical twins anyway. They started conversing in Elvish – probably over what to do with her.

She could not move out of fear. And there was that issue over the sharp blade pointing in her direction.

Finally, said pointy weapon was sheathed and one of the twins extended a hand. She looked at it distrustfully. How could she trust these men – Elves – even if she did know who they were? There was the issue of the Tolkien books being false (Oh, the blasphemy!) and these two dragging her off to some cliff to toss her over. He seemed to understand her misgivings, and smiled at her coaxingly.

Ignoring all sense, she gave in and he pulled her gently over to a horse. She gulped. It looked…tall. Too tall.

He knelt down and next thing Kristin knew, she was being tossed into the saddle as if she weighed as much as a feather. Which was a downright lie. She refrained from looking at the ground, she was too high up. Instead her gaze focused on the twins beside her. It was best she figure out which twin was who. She pointed at one.

"Elrohir?"

A funny expression passed across the face of the Elf she had pointed at, the one on her right. He shook his head, no, and said slowly, "Elladan," so she could read his lips. She nodded; yes, I understand, and repeated the name to him. Both Elves nodded.

Elladan then mounted her horse – or, his actually – so that he was sitting behind her. Elrohir told him something, she felt Elladan nod, and suddenly the horse took off at frightening speed. She might have screamed, she couldn't remember, nor hear. At any rate, it was disconcerting, knowing that the horse was galloping at breakneck speed and yet not being able to hear its hooves coming to contact with the ground. So she went to sleep, where sound didn't matter.

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Elladan shifted his grip on the mystery maiden as Aznavour jumped over a streamlet of water gracefully. He frowned and wondered who she was, and why she could not hear neither he nor his brother. And, more importantly, how she knew what their names were. Elladan would have definitely remembered if he had seen her before, but no one came to mind.

And what on Arda was he thinking, taking this girl, when he knew Ada would have fits if he knew his son was aiding a complete stranger who could very well be in league with Evil. Though this would be a new tactic, sending in a maiden who looked no more than a girl, who couldn't speak any language they knew, and had probably given herself away at somehow knowing who the twins were.

He shook his head. It was unlikely this girl was a spy, or that she had evil intentions. The look on her face when she seemed to realise (for the first time?) that she did not have the sense of hearing was a genuine one. The fact that she seemed to have stolen a pair of Elrohir's leggings and his tunic was an odd one, and Elladan briefly wondered why she had donned them.

He and Elrohir had been planning to remain out of Rivendell until the new moon, just for a change of pace. Both of them still had two weeks left until the specified date, and had been planning to hunt for dinner, when they had stumbled upon the unknown maiden in their clothes, and running around their campsite.

Elladan had wanted to take the girl to Rivendell and have their father see what was wrong with her, but Elrohir stated that Lothlorien (and therefore, their grandparents) was closer. And since neither of them knew what illness ailed the girl, it would be a better precaution to assume that the faster they got help, the better.

But even with Aznavour going as fast as he was, and he being one of the swiftest horses in Rivendell, Elladan knew they would not make it until early morning tomorrow, and the sun was still high in the sky.

Briefly, Elladan wished Elrohir was riding with him - if only to have the company of his brother. The silence was unnerving.

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This chapter was finished on: 21 July 2006, 10.47 a.m.