(Hey guys sorry if this story's writing is a little outdated. I did it about 7 years ago. I considered taking it down until I re-edit most of it. But I figured if people were still enjoying it I'd leave it up. However I want to make improvements on this story in the future since it's my favorite one I've done, concept wise.)
Reality is a strange thing. We think it's one thing, but only a small turn of events and it will become another. In a world of darkness I grew up thinking that hope wasn't in the future, but in reality. But since things change, where is hope? Where is the task at hand? My world was taken from me. The demons that took it we thought we could fight... but after thirty years they began to overrun us. Why? Because there were too many of them. They kept coming, spawning... taking us. Nothing was strong enough... that is until we decided to launch a nuclear strike. First one on the U.S... But luckily I was born in Wales. We watched as an entire continent was destroyed in the year 3801. And it didn't stop the creatures... Nothing did... they ate our existence.
A flashback of my childhood skips through my head... running, training... meeting the mysterious Ry with a light step and a wise personality. I remember looking into his eyes and seeing thousands of years... like he was an old man in a young man's body. I remember my parents, playing outside in the sand on the beach... that was until it was time to move again. Our world faded away... and so did my life.
I wake up screaming, hearing the calls of my mother, father, friends... all who had died. Each memory played in my head of their deaths like a nightmare. I clutch my head and feel my eyelids burn with light. Then I notice something... am I dead? I must be.
I allow my eyes to finally open and I blink a few times, cringing from the light in them. My hands feel grass... my fingers grip the bright green earth. This... doesn't make sense. Where am I? Maybe this is where my father mentioned I would go after death.
I lie there for a second... only feeling empty. What is happening? What happened? Is this heaven? It cannot be... can it? This is how I imagined it... like the fairy tales and stories in books of green and clear skies of blue... the smell of fresh grass against my worn nose and the sound of birds in the trees.
Maybe I am... maybe I am not... I don't feel as happy as I would if I was really in heaven... I feel... torn... broken... because of my friend I just lost. I had traveled with Ry through earth over adventures after my parents were gone. We became like brother and sister. I never had a blood sibling...
I shut my eyes and breathe.
When I push myself up off the ground I wince. Looking down at my palm I see the rune that Ry had on his own hand burned into my very skin. That's when I notice my fingers shake. How long had I been asleep? Passed out? Dead? I do not know. But my stomach feels so hungry that it no longer wishes for food. That's not good. How long have I been lying here? Wherever "here" is...
I look around me... I am in a somewhat clearing. I see trees around me, and a cool breeze blows my hair back. I had it already fixed in two braids that meet at the back of my head, letting the rest of it flow down onto my shoulders. My grey t-shirt is torn and my black trousers dirty with mud... my boots are worn. I had taken them from the body of another woman just months ago. They too, are black. My olive green jacket is the only thing in good condition really.
I lie down and shut my eyes, okay to just die here... my best friend is gone... he's really gone...
I want to stay there without hope and wallow in sadness... but eventually I decide to get up. Ry's last words echo in my head. He wants me to find his father. He gave me a mission.
I pull myself to my feet, my head spinning... Where...? Am I dreaming?
I feel the soft ground under my shoes and the wind in my hair... I can't be dreaming.
I look around me... seeing no civilization anywhere. I can only spot hills covered in trees... so many as far as my eyes can see... well in one direction. The trees all other directions block the view of the horizon.
Okay focus. This is a new environment. How do I survive now? I have had too much experience in these situations.
I begin walking down the hill after a moment. If I can't find anyone I need to find food, and water. I have no idea where I am going but I must start somewhere. I trudge down the slope and through the trees... I don't find anything for a good while.
Light dances through the branches and on the thick grasses below. Everywhere is so much greener than what I am used to... which isn't really green at all.
I remember when I once found a living plant. Ry and I kept watch over it hoping it would spread. But one day we had to leave it. I don't think I ever saw the color green again.
I keep hiking in search for food. Living creatures is what I need to find here. I haven't seen much wildlife in years. I can't remember the taste of fresh seasoned meat.
I look down and feel the dirt in my fingers... It's moist. Water can't be too far. I stand up and run forward, hearing a thump behind me. I turn and see my pistol on the ground. I still have it! Then I have something to protect myself and hunt with. At least until the ammunition runs out.
I put it back in my belt and continue... I walk for hours... my head feeling a bit dizzy for some reason. I feel my feet weaken and my steps become heavier. I am tired. And when I am tired there isn't much left. I start to lose hope. What if I die in these woods? What if this isn't heaven? But this is not earth. Earth is gone... so then where am I? It looks like the earth I read about in history books. Back when school only taught you how to fight and how to survive.
I took a liking to books... I would sneak into the library and read our history for hours when no one else cared... I was a smart child apparently to some.
But none of that matters now. Like I said before: reality changes. And mine is completely different... Now I have no idea what reality I am in.
I watch the sun get lower and lower in the sky as I walk through trees and trees, not finding anything. Not even a squirrel...
I rest against a tree... out of breath... And it takes a lot for me to be out of breath considering the training and spending long days traveling by foot when cars and other vehicles would no longer work because of rubble and crowded, abandoned streets.
A sound rips me from my thoughts and memories. I look to see a rabbit standing tall and twitching its ears... This is it. Don't move quickly, Vil.
I pull out my pistol slowly... my fingers finding the trigger... I aim at the creature steadily... and I fire. Crap I missed. And my dinner and pouncing through the woods. No way.
I chase after it with lightning speed, reloading my gun quickly.
I hold it up but a tree blocks my aim. I groan in frustration and run faster, keeping my eyes on the small animal. I chase it past the trees and over ferns, running and not moving my eyes from—I trip over something and fall on my face. I grunt when I hit the ground, my palms hitting the dirt.
I make a pained look and move my hands to push my chest off the ground.
But then I realize that the thing under my ankle moves. I gasp and spring back to my feet.
On the ground lie four... wait why are they so small? They are as small as children but they look like adults. All with curly hair; mop headed really. They were all piled on top of each other after falling from the ledge above. They wear strange clothes as well, medieval era perhaps. Button up vests over white shirts and short trousers that end below their knees, with dark green cloaks. And they are all barefoot as well...
They mumble and groan in pain. One with light brown hair says "I think I've broken something..." Picking up a broken carrot from behind his back he frowns. "Awe," he pouts.
The one with black hair is the first to see me as I look confusingly at these beings.
He stands up, his big blue eyes locked with mine. He has an innocent face and childlike posture. He looks at me with puzzlement, like I look at the four of them.
They all scramble back to their feet and dust off. They appear like men my age but it looks as if someone shrunk them to just three and a half feet tall.
"Um hello, my lady," the light brown haired one says hesitantly. He has a longer face with a larger chin. But even so he almost looks as young at the one with black hair that seems to be the youngest. He has thick eyebrows and a trouble-maker look to him.
"Why are you so small?" I ask them.
"Why are you so tall?" A brown haired one next to that one asks in a Scottish accent. He looks older but not any more mature. In fact he looks the most childlike in spirit as all of them.
"A valid argument," I frown. "You look like tiny elves." I notice their pointy ears.
"Elves?" the black haired one asks. He speaks softly and has a subtle English accent. "We are hobbits of Hobbiton."
"Where?" I sound confused and surprised.
He exchanges looks with his friends. "Of the Shire..."
"In?"
They frown. "Middle Earth?" a blonde one who carries more supplies than the other three says confusingly. This one a bit chubbier than the others but has the kindest looking face with deep brown eyes.
"Oh dear lord," I murmur, still staring at them. Now I definitely know I am not sucked into my history book. This is an entirely new world.
How was I sent here? How long has this place been here? Maybe this is millions of years into the futur-no there are no "hobbits" on earth... so that's not possible. I was sent to another universe...?
I remember what Ry said to me. Find his father. But how?
I use the only lead I have so far. "Do any of you know what this symbol means?" I show them my palm and all four of them get close to observe it.
"It looks like Elvish," the black haired one says.
"I can't read Elvish," the light brown haired one says.
"We would not be able to tell you what this rune means but the four of us are headed to Bree," the one with black hair continues. "You are welcome to come with us, my lady. I am sure someone can help you there."
I catch something move out of the corner of my eye and I look to see the bunny I had been chasing just standing there... very still... "One second." I pick up my pistol with one hand and fire at the creature quickly, killing it instantly with a bullet through its head, sending the thing violently against the ground, and also scaring the cheese out of the four "hobbits".
They all look at me with scared expressions on their faces. I stick the gun in my belt before they have a chance to ask about it and pick up the rabbit. "Yeah I'll go. Thanks. What are your names anyway?"
"Frodo... Underhill," the black haired one stutters. "This is Samwise Gamgee," he gestures to the blonde, "Peregrin Took," to the brown haired one, "and Meriadoc Brandybuck," to the light brown haired one.
They nod politely when called.
"Vil is my name..."
"And where are you from?" Peregrin asks.
"London," I lift an eyebrow but look in the distance, noticing something. I walk past them. Clearly they won't know where London is but whatever. "Do you hear that?" I ask... as a wind blows up the leaves on the road ahead, a screeching sound in the distance... like a creature in pain.
I look back at my new friends as they just talk to each other. Mister Underhill, however stares to where I was in great terror. He begins to back up. "Get off the road!" he says and flees to the right. The others look at him but soon follow, the four of them leaping down and barely fitting under a small dent in the ditch.
I stand there not knowing where to go but I dash into the woods, sticking behind a tree. I hear the footsteps of a horse down the road... but I cringe when the sound slowly comes to a halt.
Peering around the corner hesitantly I see a black horse, striking red eyes and tattered attire of the same color... and the rider even more terrifying. I only make out a black cloak over armor... the cloak covers all but the hands and feet. Under the hood is no face at all, just shadow, an alluring darkness about the being that I cannot grasp.
It sits there for a moment, the radiating darkness of this demon silencing anything living in the woods around us.
Slowly its head turns... evil scanning the forest and almost catches my gaze... if it even has eyes. I snap back behind the tree, a nightmare whispering to me.
I hear a thud as it gets off the horse just above where the hobbits hide, holding their breath.
I start to breathe frantically, horror in my heart at what it would do to them...
I swallow and steadily pull out my gun as it bends down, its silver armored hands clutching the roots, and looking over in search of them. It seems as if it cannot see... but it... can smell. It lingers there, trying to detect the four friends as they look utterly terrified, as would I.
I cock my gun quickly and lift it, ready to fire... my shaky hands hesitating as I arm for the beast's head... It inches closer to discovering them...
I fire at the monster, a hole tearing in its hood.
It screeches loudly, the sound piercing my ears as it flashes its empty head my direction.
My heart skips a beat in terror as I begin to stumble backwards from it.
It stands to its feet faster than I wished it had and mounts its horse.
I don't stick around to watch what it'll do next. I dart in the other direction as fast as possible, hearing a sword pull from a sheath.
I leap over a log and sprint for my life as the horse's hooves hit against the hard ground. My feet move over in front of me on the ferns of the forest floor, my white hair flying by as the trees pass around me.
"Hey! This way!" I hear Meriadoc call. I look to the left to see him and the hobbits running a different direction. I switch my current route and chase after them quickly.
I stomp my feet in a rush, crushing heavy grass under me as I charge forward. I hear the terrifying screeches of the black rider in pursuit of us not as far behind as I would like.
Luckily I am used to dealing with things like this-well perhaps not this frightening-so I keep a fast pace, running in between trees and pushing off them with my palm to gain speed. Unfortunately since the hobbits are so small their legs can only move so fast. But they are speedy nonetheless. They are, I think, eight times as frightened as I am.
We fly through the woods, advancing on the rider? No we could never be. He is on horse back.
My eyes dart the landscape with a calculating scan. I see thick brush nearby... large enough for...
Alright if this thing cannot see it looks like this just might work.
The hobbits begin to slow down from tire.
"Under the ferns! Now!" I command.
They look around in panic but there are not many options for them. So they duck down, becoming invisible as they lay in the thick plants that mask their smell with that of fresh greens.
I leap up the tree to my right as the rider is heard approaching with speed, gripping the rough branches with my fingers, pulling my body with strength up the trunk and into the tangle of branches high above the ground. Climbing is something I can do easily. But I am used to scaling buildings, not trees.
Even so I make it before the thing can hear me. I stop and hold my breath as I hold onto the large limb under my foot, perching like an owl.
I watch the nightmare of a monster fly by on its horse, still thinking it is pursuing the hobbits and I further.
The horse runs through the trees past us.
Quickly I get down from the tree and step on the ground, motioning for Frodo, who is now looking up at me, to follow me.
He and the others silently dust themselves and run after me, peering towards where the rider in black has disappeared.
I don't speak but run east of the route we were on before, trying to be far from the rider's path.
Once we have put enough distance between us and it we stop and catch our breath.
"What was that?" Meriadoc asks in fear to Frodo.
The black haired fellow looks more frightened than the rest of them as he tries to make sense of what is after him... What is after him?
That back there looked like the Grim Reaper.
The hobbit does not answer his friend.
"Well I haven't been here long but I know that it would be wise to be as far from that thing as possible..."
"Could those be the creatures in Mr. Bilbo's stories?" Samwise asks Frodo.
"We should go. We can speak later," I tell them quietly.
"Sam and I must get to Bree," Frodo says
"It's this way. Let's go," Peregrin says to them when he looks past the trees.
They breathe but journey on and I follow.
We keep a fast pace through the forest, the sun disappearing by the minute. Daylight is running out. But I hope we get to this destination before it is late. Something inside me suggests that being pursued by this thing at night would only be worse.
The hobbits and I don't talk too much.
Until Peregrin watches me fiddle with my pistol and asks me again, "So where did you say you were from?"
"Far from here," is all I say, trying to calculate where "here" is exactly. "So all of the people here look like you?" I ask.
"You mean hobbits?"
"I suppose."
"Well no. not many know of us. There are many other races in our land."
"Is that so? How many?" I breathe.
"Four in total, if you don't count orcs."
"I see... And these... 'riders'. Are they a problem often?"
"I've never seen anything like it before, my lady."
That worries me. And just what I need right now are more questions.
All of us flee through the trees as the sun leaves us behind, traveling with these new fellows. I have to say it has been a long time since I met anyone new. Ryohnin and I have traveled together for so long but... Not another face... Not that I needed one.
Darkness falls on our heads, shading the forests with a dim glow of blue, mist layering around our ankles as the air thickens with humidity. Clouds block the stars above the branches as we journey on.
We have slowed down now. The hobbits and I walk towards Bree.
"Does this trip of you two have anything to do with Mr. Bilbo disappearing on the night of his birthday?" Meriadoc asks Samwise quietly.
"Somewhat yes. But I don't think Gandalf is alright with us talking about it," he responds.
"Why is that?"
"Because. There is a lot I learned about the darkness. And ears are everywhere. If I tell you out here I don't know who else might come after us... Gandalf spoke of Sauron and... shadow. I fear this is all bigger than we think," he seems uncomfortable with these topics. I suppose he is used to the calmer life. Must be nice.
This place seems like my world was at the start of the apocalypse. After the demons started becoming a real threat. And soon people realized that. Most still lived in luxury and when they had to move like gypsies because their homes were raided and destroyed... well they behaved as these four are.
Maybe the same force that took my world has taken theirs too. And if that is true then it's only a matter of time before this place is gone.
"Do you hear that?" Peregrin asks as we stop.
I look left when I catch something move... "Get down!" I whisper and we scramble in the huge bushes and behind the large trees as the rider we thought we lost comes into view at the top of the hill by us, the silhouette of the creature terrifying us of the darkness as it sits there on its steed... searching for us.
An eerie fog is cast on the ground where it stands.
We hold out breath, my hand against the bark of the tree as I peek at the creature. It slowly turns and guides its horse down the other side of the hill...
They all relax to an extent when the silence of the forest surrounds us.
"That black rider was looking for something..." Meriadoc says as he approaches Frodo with a set brow, "or someone."
He doesn't respond to his friend, swallowing away the secrets he might have about this situation. I am also curious why such an innocent looking person would be pursued by these reapers.
"Frodo?" he asks again.
The hobbit clutches his pocket, something small hidden inside. Clearly they want whatever it is. He looks scared. "We have to leave the Shire. Quickly. What's the fastest way to Bree?"
"Over the river..." Samwise says in thought as he realizes where we are on the map.
Peregrin and Meriadoc exchange a look.
"Buckleberry Ferry," Meriadoc says. "Follow me." He gets up and begins to run east.
I exchange a look with Samwise behind me and then follow after them.
Not too long after we come out of hiding that we hear something terrifying but distant behind us.
I turn to look... some of the others do too.
Screams and yelps of the faceless creatures almost throw my heart from my chest as a rider in black is suddenly in front of us, rearing his horse up with the hooves in the air.
Some of them yell in fear and my heart beats fast. I dart behind the horse and book it in the direction we were headed, the others doing the same and pulling their friends along.
Our feet hit against the ground of the forest, the screeches frightening us, making it seem like the trees themselves are gaining on us.
A demon-like squeal like a bat catches my attention to the right of us. I see another hooded rider in pursuit...
I breathe hard and keep on sprinting, the hobbits running the same speed as adrenaline takes them.
I think I can see water ahead through the trees...
I hear the hooves of the monsters... but more than just one or two. At least four of them chasing us.
We fumble from the forest, the river straight ahead.
I see the ferry docked at the riverside that they are fleeing towards.
We run as fast as we can, hearing Peregrin up front say, "Run Merry!" as Meriadoc tries to catch up.
Peregrin and Samwise hop onto the ferry and begin to untie it.
I run across the wooden pallet as Merry gets on. But I stop when I hear the screams of the riders behind us and I turn to see Fordo desperately trying to reach the docks.
"Frodo!" the hobbits cry in worry as the horses' hooves stomp against the ground and the beasts of maybe seven or eight catch up to his tail.
Without thinking any further I charge ahead towards him, grabbing the three and a half foot kid in my arms just before a rider's dark sword lops off my head. I sprint from them as the horses kick their hooves in the air.
The hobbits exclaim as the ferry begins to float away from the docks.
I huff and run as fast as I can, my feet hitting the wood until I leap off the edge, over the water, and onto the ferry, miraculously not tumbling off the other side, as the floating piece of wood is not that large.
I catch my breath and Frodo scrambles to a sitting position.
I look back at the riders in black, their horses whinnying with their hooves in the air and the cloaked creatures screeching like a banshee. They all stop there at the edge of the water. Nine of them there are. They seem to be hesitant about the river. Afraid of water? Seems strange. Or perhaps they cannot get their horses into the water. That seems to make more sense after all... But we all look after them as they stand there while we float off to the other side.
Peregrin breathes as he steers us with a long paddle. Frodo is still in shock, but I can tell he is very relieved that I basically saved his life.
I breathe and prop myself up on my hands. "Any way to make this thing move faster?" I ask.
"Not unless you have another row on you," Samwise says.
I roll my eyes. But I look back at the river bank to see those monsters are now gone. "What were those things?" I ask still catching my breath.
I turn to look at them once they hesitate to answer. They look as confused and frightened as I do.
"I do not know..." Frodo answers.
"And I reckon this isn't the last of 'em," Samwise says.
"They are after you? Why?" I ask Frodo.
He swallows and his eyes hesitate, flashing back to where the black riders once stood. "Nothing..." he answers... Obviously I don't believe him but I figure if he wants to keep it to himself he can. It doesn't concern me anyway.
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PS: please please please COMMENT and tell me anything on your mind or what you think so far. I REALLY need reviews if i am to grow as i writer! thank you!