CHAPTER 2 – A Whole New World

Previously

God, now she was curious even more and was tempted to turn around. However, she really didn't want him to see her watching him. That would be so embarrassing. She wouldn't be able to leave her house ever again if that happened. But, at the same time, she wanted to look at him. Barbarella wanted to see him with her own eyes again. Her heart was screaming at her to turn around, while her mind was begging her not to. But her heart won.

Barbarella gulped and took a deep breath, before slowly turning around. All she could see were blue sparkling eyes before the world turned black.

Her eyes reopened when she felt the ground groaning and writhing beneath her, and she shrieked when multiple swords and axes were pointed at her face.

Slowly, my eyes raised from the weapons pointed at me to the strange people holding them. A man who was holding a sword had a rugged western man look going on. He had wavy shoulder-length brown hair with a moustache and beard growing. The man also wore weird clothing, his body covered with a long sleeve shirt and tights with a cloak over the top to keep warm. I dared not linger on his face as his eyes had a cold cautious look in them. If we overlook the hair on his face, I could find him attractive. However, he also held a sword to my face so that dwindled any thoughts of attraction.

Behind the rugged man stood four children, reaching up to his stomach. Only their height created the illusion they're children. Overlooking the height, they look like normal average men. Two were similar in looks with red locks reaching their chin and prominent chins. Looking down, I was astonished to find their feet bare and covered with lots of hair. Looking across, the other two-man child's feet were covered in hair. The other was more on the stubby side and seemed to the clinging onto the other with shoulder-length curly black hair who was clutching something to his chest. I gazed at his fist enclosed to his chest, trying to determine what he was hiding. However, a shiver crossed down my spine. With that, I continued to look around.

Next to the rugged man surrounded by four men who looked like children was an older man. He was covered in grey robes with a grey pointy hat and a long white beard and was the only one not pointing something threatening toward me. His presence seemed to reassure me in a way, and his appearance reminded me of Dumbledore. When our eyes connected, his lips tipped up in a smile and crinkles encircled his eyes that held a youthful light.

Beside him, another man held a sword aimed at my face. He was a normal height for a man, much like the rugged man and look-alike Dumbledore. It must be the 'trend' around here to sport shoulder-length hair because this man also had that. He also had facial hair and wore weird clothes with knee-high boots. It was disappointing that this man and the rugged one looked better than me wearing knee-high boots. Look-alike Dumbledore didn't stare at me with murderous eyes, but rather twinkling curious ones.

Once again, to my astonishment, was another small man. He wasn't as short as the children look-alike though, just tall enough to reach a man's chest. Out of all the males, he was the only one coated in what appeared to be armour and a helmet, pointing an axe towards me. It was incredibly strange. It was very daunting being surrounded by a group of all different heightened men who were pointing weapons at me. Except, of course, look-alike Dumbledore.

"Remove yourself from top of my companion," the rugged man finally spoke after a few moments of tense silence.

The sword inched closer to my face, and I struggled to comprehend what he said. All I could focus on was the sword inches away from my face, and I burst into tears. Were they going to kill me? Nothing around looked familiar. Where was I? Had they kidnapped me? I couldn't even remember what I was doing before waking up in this situation. Had I been drugged? Tears, snot, and drool dribbled down my face. Usually, I would be utterly humiliated at openly crying in front of people like this, but I couldn't focus on anything else until something beneath me squirmed.

In horror, I glanced down and gapped. I didn't even comprehend to my brain that the person below me was holding a knife to my throat. No, what caught my attention was... him. He was beautiful. The most beautiful person I have ever seen. His face was smooth with no imperfections, no sign of acne or freckles, and his cheekbones were to die for. Eyes trailing down his neck, his skin was pale and looked smooth to touch. The stranger had blonde hair that was braided on either side above his ears and seemed to lead back into another braid. Unlike the other men, it reached past his shoulders. I desperately wanted to run my fingers through his hair and see if it was as soft as it looked. He was clad in a green tunic with boots with a bow and a pack of arrows strapped to his back. He also seemed to have a glow illuminating around him. To put it simply, he was utterly perfectly beautiful. My eyes trailed back to his gorgeous face to find him staring at me in shock and surprise with piercing blue eyes. I could get lost within them. It was then I noticed the pointed ears and the dagger being held to my throat.

I gulped and quickly raised my hands. "I surrender!"

In doing this action, I sat up further and heard a grunt from underneath me. A heavy red blush settled over my cheeks, and I scrambled to get off the beautiful man. This is the first time that I've been in an intimate position with a man. A beautiful one. Gotta stop calling him that, I thought. But he probably received compliments like that every day. However, trying to get off the stranger was futile and after shakily standing up, I tripped on his arm and fell back down. Expecting to land flat on the stranger and squish the life out of him, I was surprised to feel hands circling my waist and holding me upright. My eyes opened to find piercing blue eyes staring intently into mine and the blonde man crouching low. He steadily stood up, leading me up with him. A fierce red blush coated my cheeks and I quickly stepped away, shivering when sparks danced around the skin of my waist.

"Ma len? Ma i eneth lin? (Who are you? What is your name?)" A soft voice spoke. My eyes were drawn back to the handsome blonde stranger and the language wasn't understood, but it was beautiful, just like him. It sounded soft, smooth, and fair to the ears. Overall, pleasing and lulling to hear. It would be something much enjoyable to just listen to while trying to fall asleep. However, it only made me feel awkward and uncomfortable as I had no idea what he said or how to respond. A normal person would just say they didn't understand, but what if I said that and he didn't understand? Then it'd just get even more awkward. "Pedil edhellen? (Do you speak Elvish?)" he tried again, seeing the confused look on my face.

I helplessly shrugged my shoulders. "Me," I began, pointing to myself, "Don't speak," I shook my head and tapped my mouth, "That," I finished, finally pointing at him. I clasped my hands in front of me anxiously, hoping he understood what I was trying to convey. Look-alike Dumbledore's face turned from curiosity to amusement. The tension seemed to be lifted a little, even if it seemed to be at my expense.

A snort and a chuckle from the short man clad in armour broke the tension. The blonde man with the funny ears who was trying to speak to me glared at the chortling short man. "The lady doesn't understand you, laddie." I blushed and looked anywhere but at the glaring pair of blue eyes.

The rugged man stepped forth. "You speak the Common Tongue? I am Strider and who are you? Why don't you speak Elvish?" Strider asked me, lowering his sword and the others seemed to follow. The basic idea of what he was asking was understood and my brain scrambled for an answer to his simple question but couldn't find one. I racked my brain desperately for my name but couldn't find the answer. I don't know my own name. What was my name? His name, however, sounded familiar to me and I struggled to think about where it came from.

"I-I," I gasped, hands beginning to shake nervously when swords were raised again at me.

"The lady is a spy!" the other man with a sword exclaimed and I panicked even more. If they thought I was a spy, they might kill me. The thought made me begin to shake in fear and my breaths became laboured. An unsettling sick feeling stirred within my stomach, and I struggled to stay on my feet when everything began to become blurry. Where was I? Who are these weird people? How come I don't remember anything? All the uncertainty and fear of the unknown flew up from my stomach and out my mouth onto a pair of boots in front of me.

The beautiful man's boots to be precise and then I knew no more.