#Cassie came before Aiden story wise

[trickycreator]

“Rejoice, hopeless mortal! For your time has come to be removed from this prison of your own making!”

..and all she has to do is “become one with the void”

[acraftedmistake]

A Person Who Has Never Played MCSM Writes A Story About MCSM Chp. 8

This chapter was a TRIP to write I have been so excited to write this chapter for a lil while now fnbdgsf

Hope you guys enjoy!! 

It was mainly Aiden and Cassie Rose who told Radar everything that had happened since they left The Shrine Of Eyes; Radar listened keenly and wrote down as much as he possibly could. He’d ask questions along the way and Aiden tried to answer them the best he could or would outright admit he didn’t know yet.

Once Radar had been filled in on everything he wondered if he could be of any use to them. Everyone was on board except for Cassie Rose, who was the most hesitant of the bunch, but Aiden told her they needed all the help they could get, and a friend like Radar with his knowledge being a part of their team would certainly be useful.

After their discussion, Gill made dinner for everybody--though Radar declined--and they all sat around tossing suggestions for what their next course of action should be. Most were picked apart or retracted, no one was certain on what to do. They had ideas such as going to Petra and seeing if she had any items related to portals, but they needed to know what they wanted. Cassie did mention Petra trades items with other people; since the portal had been activated recently, she could have interacted with someone who took part in said-activation. It was definitely worth checking out.

Aiden said they shouldn’t let the books from the library sit around; they could read some before going to bed to spark ideas. While they were all grabbing a book Aiden also suggested they go to bed early. He was met with a few moans.

“I know we all like to stay up late,” Aiden started, “but we’re gonna be busy tomorrow. Plus I’ll be waking you all early.” Aiden grabbed the small journal from Hadrian’s sitting on the kitchen table.

“Come on, Aiden!” Cassie pleaded, “It’s only 8 AM...ish.”

Radar jumped out of his seat, “Have I really been here for nearly 4 hours?!”

He collected his clipboard and pen and held them tightly, hurriedly making his way to the door.

“I apologize for taking so much of your time. I didn’t intend on staying for so long.”

“Radar, don’t apologize.” Aiden said, catching up with his finely suited friend and placed his hand on the door’s knob. “If we didn’t want you here, we would’ve said something.”

Radar glanced at Aiden, who wore a reassuring smile, then to the group behind him. He caught glimpses of Cassie’s look of annoyance before Stella stepped in the way,

“You asked for information and we provided. I believe that’s time well spent!” Stella chimed with certainty. Aiden nodded along to her statement.

“Time flies when you’re having a crisis.” Maya commented, her arms crossed as she leaned against the couch.

Radar nodded and took a deep breath. Aiden opened the door, letting in the crisp air that the early morning offered into their stuffy house. The sky was a calming light blue, not nearly as intense as it’d get in the early afternoon. Radar stepped a foot through the doorway and was about to bid the group farewell when Gill abruptly asked, “Will we see ya tomorrow?”

“Of course.” Radar adjusted his glasses, “I’ll be coming over at roughly 7:30.”

“Sounds good.” Aiden said as he watched Radar make his way outside, “Have a good one, Radar.”

“Good day.” Radar did a small bow and began his walk home.

Aiden closed the door and everyone stood still for a few moments listening to Radar’s steps get quieter and quieter till nothing but silence remained.

“Okay. Bed.” Aiden said. Everyone groaned.

Gill, Stella, and Cassie began making their way to their rooms, each with a book in one hand. They talked amongst themselves as Aiden watched them until they were no longer in his field of view. He wasn’t expecting them to fall asleep the second their faces touched a pillow, he was okay with them staying up an extra hour if they wanted to, or if they needed to read.

Ever since Jesse had nearly destroyed Cavern City and escaped prison, no one’s been able to get a goodnight’s sleep. The group would split up and search every building, corner, alleyway, and even checked the nearby forests surrounding Obsidian Town. They’d search while the Sun was high in the sky all the way until it dipped into the east horizon. They’ve asked anybody and everybody if they’ve seen any sign of Jesse and got nothing. Though Aiden and his friends knew there were always liars amongst the crowd, you could never tell who was speaking the truth.

The past several days have been rather… Stressful. And sleepless. Heck, maybe their sleep schedule’s been butchered long before Cavern city. When’s the last time any of them slept well?

They needed the energy for tomorrow.

They couldn’t afford dozing off, getting distracted, nor getting grouchy all because they didn’t want to go to bed at an earlier time. Aiden knew he was guilty of acting in such a manner when he was sleep deprived.

“I’m gonna stay down here for a little.” Maya said to Aiden.

She went over to a chest beside the bookshelf in the living room, took out a couple of swords, an axe, and took them over to the kitchen table.

“Just gonna polish these. Maybe sharpen ‘em.”

She pulled open a drawer in the kitchen, grabbed a thick cloth--roughly the size of her hand--and sat back down. “I’ll go to bed soon. Try to read some as well.”

Aiden nodded before going upstairs.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Radar walked through the barren streets of Obsidian Town, his oxford shoes making small tapping sounds with each step he took. He had started creating his schedule for tomorrow; helping Aiden and doing a tour all in one day would be no easy feat, but nothing a little planning and organization couldn’t fix.

Radar read what he had written down aloud, “At 5:30 I’ll wake up, I should be cleaned and dressed by 6:00… I’d have enough time to have a proper breakfast before meeting with Aiden...”

His voice dwindled and he began tapping the pen against his chin, resisting the urge to chew on the end of it like he usually did. He couldn’t recall what Aiden, Stella, or anybody had planned for tomorrow. Was their next step even decided?

He continued to stare intensely at the unfinished list, walking aimlessly as he thought to himself, ‘They did mention going to Petra’s… Her place is rather far from the town but if our time is used wisely, we should be left with enough time for the tour.’

Radar had never been to Petra’s home before, he only knew it was a distance away when Petra told him herself while visiting a few months ago. If he recalled correctly, her house was in the northwest forest by the mountains. Shouldn’t be too long of a walk.

Hopefully they’d only be going to Petra’s tomorrow. He wouldn’t be able to save the tour for another day if Aiden and his friends decide to pile on more trips. Jesse and Olivia need to get home, after all.

Radar began clicking his pen at a steady pace, ‘Back to their universe…’

Seeing the two of them was a shock; he was amazed to see a deceased friend back in tip-top shape. Maya, Stella, Cassie, Gill, and Aiden all spoke of how they felt dissociated with Olivia and--as bitter of a taste it left in his mouth--he had to agree. The Olivia he saw back at the house was more like a stranger who looked identical to their Olivia. Of course, seeing her and knowing she’s from another universe fascinated him nonetheless.

His encounter with Jesse? A near heart attack experience, to put it nicely.

To see someone share the appearance with such a… Such a despicable man, while wearing a genuine, welcoming smile sat terribly with him. A part of his brain was shouting this was deception, yet no alarms went off.

But he was still Jesse. Radar knew he wasn’t the Jesse he knew but he was still Jesse. Running into him like that… Running…

Radar’s hands started becoming clammy.

‘Stop thinking about it.’ He told himself. He held his breath and gripped the clipboard tightly, hoping it wouldn’t slip from his grasp as he forced his mind to search for another subject.

A question popped up: ‘What would the tour consist of?’

Radar’s eyes brightened and he unclenched his jaw. He took a moment to observe the area around him for a spark of inspiration, Obsidian Town was the home to many and contained a rich history of their world. St. Stephen’s Library would be a wonderful place to start off! On their way there, they could stop at some of the monuments scattered throughout the town and he could explain what they represented!

His eyes drifted to the left where the town’s park entrance stood; a wide arch made of cool gray bricks which were cracked and moss covered. Perhaps he, Olivia, and Jesse could stroll through and he could answer whatever questions they had.

Nobody was at the park. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen the place completely empty.

He looked around the rest of the town and realized he was the only one outside, though deep down inside, he knew he was never alone. Everyone else was closing their stores for the day, finishing their dinners, getting ready for bed… The world was a much different place under the Sun and it’s plain sky compared to the lively, colorful evenings.

A bird flying by caught his attention, his eyes followed and watched the creature as it sat in its nest on top of the roof of one of the many stores, singing its song.

Everyone was ready to sleep yet the rest of the world’s creatures seemed wide awake.

‘You should be going home.’ A voice in his head said.

He should. He can plan the rest of the tour before bed, or--worst case--tomorrow.

Regret filled his mind when he started walking as the thoughts of Jesse and his universe were starting to come back. It wasn’t the… ‘Good’ Jesse he was worried about, but his mind would go from that Jesse to theirs and he didn’t want to work himself up over nothing.

Radar forced his hand to write whatever gibberish came to him, his pen was getting coated with sweat. Why did he have to remind himself of Jesse?

He kept walking. The world was becoming noisier. The pen would scrape the paper as he wrote nonsense, the light breeze which swayed the trees started sounding like a windstorm, the chirps of bugs and birds blared in his ears, even the tapping of his own shoes were getting distracting.

Radar tried to block out the noise but then he noticed… The tapping didn’t sync up with his steps.

Was he hearing things incorrectly?

He began walking faster. So did the tapping. It still didn’t sync.

Something was wrong.

Radar held his breath and gripped his clipboard.

He spun around and let out a cry, his heart nearly bursting out of his chest.

Jesse jumped as well, taken aback by Radar’s reaction.

“OH MY--” Radar held the board to his chest and shut his eyes tightly, “You scared me!”

He took in mouthfuls of air, trying to settle his pounding heart down.

And he thought the first encounter with Jesse was terrifying.

“One moment. One moment.” He told the brunet, whose eyes were wide with surprise.

Jesse stood perfectly still, his hands held behind his back as if patiently waiting for Radar to collect himself.

Radar opened his eyes, pushed up his glasses, and took one more deep breath.

“I apologize,” He started with a shaky voice, “I didn’t--I thought Aiden said… He said…”

Radar found himself stumbling over his own words. He attempted to rephrase the sentence, but all he could manage to do was repeat “I… I-I…” over and over again.

He was waiting to calm down again, for his heart to beat regularly, for his voice to return to it’s usual flatness. But it didn’t.

Something is wrong.

Beads of sweat formed on his face and his body began to tremble as if freezing.

As realization seeped into Radar, Jesse’s mouth curled. His smile got bigger and bigger as he peered into Radar’s fear-filled eyes.

“What did Aiden say about me?” Jesse asked in a curious tone with the mocking smile. He leaned forward while remaining in place, hands still behind back.

“N…” Radar struggled to speak, “Nothing--None of your concern!”

He should run. He needs to run. Aiden’s would be the safest. But Jesse’s right there. Right in front of him. Radar couldn’t take his eyes off of him. He can’t.

“Really?” Jesse clutched at his chest, “I’ve been gone for a whole week and Aiden hasn’t said anything about me?” He said in that sham of a sad tone Radar was all too familiar with.

Stop looking at him. Stop looking at him. Think straight. Do something. Look away. Do something.

Radar forced his head to the right, facing away from him, but he could still see the vibrant red straps of Jesse’s suspenders out of the corner of his eye, tempting him to look back.

Jesse brushed aside a long curl of hair in his face, “What were you doing at Aiden’s? Must’ve been important. Or maybe!” He recreated Radar’s pose; pretending to clutch a board and  looked in another direction with a terrified expression, “It’s the only place you feel ‘safe’ in! The big, strong heroes will protect you from all the eyes!”

“I don’t--I--” Radar pushed past the ridicule, “How do you know I was with them? Were you watching us?” He tried to steady his voice.

Jesse’s faced him again, “Not this time.”

Radar flinched and covered his face with the board on command.

Jesse stepped closer, Radar stepped back.

“I could hear your shrieky voice from across the town,” Jesse’s once mocking--though still expressive--tone had been dropped. “You could put it to use and tell me what you were doing.”

“If you… If you’re so interested,” Radar tried to gather as much courage as he could from his quivering body, “Why do--Why don’t you ask Aiden yourself?!”

“Hm.” Jesse took a step back and thought to himself. “Not a bad idea.” He shrugged and spun around, slowly walking away.

Radar’s hands clutched onto the clipboard so tightly he was afraid it’d snap in two. He was surprised to see Jesse on board with the idea. When he’d get there, Maya, Aiden, Gill, Stella, Cassie Rose, they could all deal with him. Yes, yes. They wouldn’t have to stress over finding Jesse if he was right in front of them! Perfect! Brilliant! No one would get hurt. No one. Not his friends, not him, not… Olivia and Jesse.

The other Jesse and Oliva.

Their Jesse couldn’t see them.

No, no, no. If he saw either one of them--No, no, he couldn’t let that happen. And it’d be Radar’s fault. His fault. Maya. Aiden. Cassie--they would get hurt or taken or killed, this town would be destroyed and it’d all be his fault. His fault, his fault, his fault--

Jesse’s distanting steps were nearly drowned out by Radar’s pounding heart. He bursted into a panic-fueled sprint.

“NO--!” He reached for the man’s arm to stop him, but Jesse whipped back around and grabbed Radar’s wrist with a crushing grip. Radar recoiled from the pain and immediately attempted to wriggle his way out of the grasp of Jesse’s… Disgusting hand… The filth on his hands traveled up his once clean white sleeves which were decorated with strange, washed out, brown stains. Some reached the shirt itself.

“Stop dragging this out, quitter.” Anger was becoming more and more detectable in Jesse’s voice. Radar squeezed his eyes shut. He could feel tears forming. He didn’t want to cry. He didn’t want to cry. Not now. Don’t let Jesse see. Things will only get worse. Hold it in. Jesse will get upset and leave. He should.

“If you…” Radar was caught off guard by how brittle his voice was but he trudged on, “If your plan is to c… Call me n-names and invade my personal s… Space…” He swallowed, “Th-then you’re in for a disappointment.”

Jesse was about to speak but stopped to eye Radar, whose eyes were welling with tears and mouth stuck open, struggling to say another word. He could feel Radar’s arm shaking intensely in his hand. His eyes trailed down to the clipboard, where he saw snippets of words. A small smile appeared.

Without warning, Jesse snatched the board out of Radar’s hand. Radar gasped and shot his other arm towards it only for Jesse to crush his wrist harder.

Radar needed that. He needed that. Jesse couldn’t take it--couldn’t let him see it.

“Last chance.”

“You…” Radar stuttered as he glared at Jesse, “You don’t scare me.”

Radar’s words were met with a painful punch in the gut, knocking the air out of him. He let go of Radar’s wrist and watched him stumble back.

“Not what I wanted to hear.” Jesse said as Radar gasped for air, hunched over and clutching his stomach. Jesse threw the clipboard to the ground and walked towards Radar as he gripped the fabric of his pants tightly.

Radar saw tears stream down his face and hit the ground. He kept staring at the ground. He didn’t want to look up. He didn’t. He wiped away the tears with his sleeve and tried to control his breathing with no luck.

“Are you crying?” Jesse’s face scrunched.

He came closer, “You’re making this a much bigger deal than it needs to be. You have no reason to cry!” His voice was rising.

Radar didn’t respond. He couldn’t.

Jesse dug at his legs then grabbed both of Radar’s arms, yanking him forward so they were face to face. He stared at the teary eyed mess whose body trembled terribly.

“You used to talk so much.” Jesse said calmly with a look of concern he struggled to maintain. “What happened?” Looking at Radar’s face started to boil an intense bitterness within him. He was the weakest person Jesse knew yet he was making everything difficult. This shouldn’t have gone on for so long. He should be with the others already. But he wasn’t.

And that fact alone angered him.

He didn’t give Radar the chance to stop crying--let alone respond. His dirtied fingers dug into his arms more and more with each sob let out. Jesse was sick of them. Sick of the cries. He threw Radar’s body down, sat on his legs and lifted up the top half of his body by the shoulders.

“Can’t you do anything besides crying and running away?!” He shouted, shaking the mess that was Radar violently.

Radar tried to say something back but it was all incoherent. He shook his head intensely.

Jesse couldn’t take this. He couldn’t. How incompetent can a person be? How useless can someone be? Wasted his time. His damn time. And for what? Listening to a quitter’s cries and staring at its pitiful face?

“Come on then! Do something!” He grabbed Radar’s head, nails jabbing into his face, and bashed it into the cold, concrete road.

Radar heard a cracking sound--praying it was his glasses--followed by a flash of colors. The colors came and went, everything became blurry and right before he regained his vision, Jesse slammed him into the ground again.

The pain wasn’t instant. For the first several seconds, he didn’t feel anything, and what a blissful several seconds they were. The pain started out small and more of an annoyance before it flared up, took over his head, and made its way down his spine.

‘Is he trying to knock me out?’ Radar thought hazily. His head was pounding. Half of it felt like it had been set on fire. Jesse held Radar by his hair and shouted at him. He couldn’t make out whatever he was saying. His glasses had fallen off. Radar could vaguely make out Jesse’s bloodshot eyes.

‘He’s going to kill me.’

Jesse would never.

‘He’s going to kill me.’

Maybe he wasn’t.

‘He’s going to kill me.’

Those were the only words booming in Radar’s head. Don’t take any chances. Do something. Anything.

Radar felt his head being lifted up again.

‘Scream.’

The instant his head made contact with the ground he screamed at the top of his lungs. He hated screaming. He hated it as much as crying. But he screamed. He thought his voice box would explode, that his tonsils would fly out and his lungs would shrivel.

Jesse’s body jolted and he froze.

Radar kept screaming.

Jesse shook off the surprise and immediately locked his hands around Radar’s throat,

“Shut up. Shut up.” He ordered through gritted teeth.

The screaming was replaced by gurgled attempts at gasping. Radar grabbed Jesse’s arm with his shaking hand, trying to get him off, but Radar couldn’t muster enough force. He could only hold onto the arm with a barely detectable grip as tears began mixing with his saliva.

Jesse heard a door open in the distance with voices accompanying it. Someone was coming. Even if they weren’t heading to them specifically, he wasn’t going to risk being seen.

Jesse dropped Radar and said something indecipherable before he ran off, leaving a pitiful Radar to lay on the empty streets of the town.

Radar was motionless. His hair was sprawled everywhere similarly to his body. He so desperately wanted to get up or find his glasses, but the thought of moving made his head pound harder.

The tears had slowed.

He heard footsteps approaching. He couldn’t see, but maybe that was a good thing. It’d save him further humiliation.

Radar laid still. He should stay here. Here is safe. Jesse’s gone. He’s safe. Here is safe. Only here.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maya stared at all the weapons she had polished and sharpened. She wasn’t originally going to sharpen them, but she found herself restless and had hoped this would tire her out. When she found herself still wide awake, she decided to spiffy up her friends’ weapons, she even made Stella an extra set of arrows to pass the time.

Maya wished she could’ve done something with Cassie’s axes, but Cassie always carried them around with her and insisted she could take care of them herself.

At the end of the line of weapons was the book she had picked from earlier. The book was a really pale red with a title whose words were nearly scratched off. Aiden had asked them to read; she could’ve spent her spare time doing so. She’s known Aiden long enough, he wouldn’t get upset over her not reading, but she’d feel a little bad if she didn’t do so much as peek inside of it.

Maya sighed, pushed herself out of the chair and was about to grab the book… But then she heard a sound. It was faint but noticeable. It sounded human. She listened to the sound for a moment longer until her heart came to a screeching halt and her body became cold.

‘Radar.’

She threw the door open and ran. Her shoes hit the ground and burned her feet as she ran faster and faster.

Anything in her path--people, signs, stands--was avoided on command. The layout of this town was ingrained into her brain, she didn’t need directions. Her legs would take sharp turns with only one goal in mind: Find Radar.

He couldn’t have gone too fair if she was able to hear his scream.

Maya took another right turn and saw multiple people standing and staring at a shaking figure on the floor, several feet from the park entrance. An older woman looked like she was trying to talk to it.

The first thing to grab Maya’s attention was the figure’s green suit. Her eyes widened. When she got close enough, she slid on her knees and yielded before the quivering figure which was Radar.

“What happened?” She asked as she grabbed Radar’s glasses and clipboard, her voice remained its gruffness but worry could be heard.

Radar carefully lifted his hand and placed it over his chest, his breaths started out slow and unsteady but soon sped up.

“Je--” Radar hiccuped, “Jes… Je… He- He wa… Jess--” Tears welled up and gushed down his face.

He couldn’t finish a single sentence. He didn’t need to. Maya heard enough. Her mouth hung open for a moment before rage filled her; she clenched her jaw and grinded her teeth. Jesse was out there. He was here. He could be close. Maybe she could run after him and knock him cold.

Radar’s stifled sobs washed away the red she saw, and brought her mind back to what was important.

“Radar, I need you to take deep breaths.” She said.

He shook his head recklessly, “I c… I can… ca… Can’t…”

Maya started biting the inside of her cheek. She needed to bring him back home, but he was in awful condition. There’s no way he could walk, let alone stand.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Olivia and Jesse rushed downstairs. When they reached the bottom they saw Stella and Aiden standing by the open door, talking.

“What happened?” Jesse asked.

Jesse had no idea how long he had been asleep. He was surprised to have even slept at all. One second the world was dark and restless, the next second a loud sound had awoken the both of them and the sun was shining.

Aiden turned towards them, “Maya ran out. I’m gonna look for her. You guys stay here and--”

Stella shook Aiden’s arm and directed his attention to the outside.

Maya came running in carrying Radar, his arms dangled and his face was stained with dirt and tear streaks. Jesse only caught a glimpse of the state Radar was in, but it was all he needed to see. He couldn’t believe that sobbing man was the same person they saw hours ago.

Jesse was about to ask a question but Maya ran up the stairs, shoving past him and Olivia with little acknowledgement, and went down the hallway before running into her room slamming the door behind her.

Jesse ran after her--with Olivia behind--and pressed his face against the door. He could hear Radar sobbing and Maya saying something to him, but her words were muffled.

He knocked, “Is everything alright?”

He began opening the door only for Maya to stop it with her foot. The door was cracked open enough for Maya’s face to peek through.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said coldly.

“Wh--” Jesse sputtered, “But Radar’s hurt and I wanna--”

“I know you mean well,” Maya’s voice softened, “but you’d make things worse if he saw you.”

Jesse didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t argue with Maya, she probably knew him better than he did, but seeing Radar in such a state--even if it wasn’t the Radar he knew--without knowing what had happened was going to haunt him.

Olivia heard the rushing footsteps of Stella and Aiden nearing and signaled Jesse to step back.

They both pressed themselves against the walls of the cramped hallway as Aiden and Stella skid to a stop at Maya’s door.

“Maya, what happened?” Aiden asked, looking through the crack.

“Jesse.” She answered in a whisper.

Everyone froze. Jesse’s entire body stiffened and his pupils shrunk.

He instantly zipped his head to Stella and Aiden, who were already looking at him, “I didn’t--This wasn’t me! I was asleep this whole time! I swear I would NEVER do this--”

Jesse didn’t even know what had happened, but he didn’t give either of them a chance to speak. Based on Stella’s look of absolute revulsion, he already had an idea on what they were thinking.

“It’s true!” Olivia confirmed, “He never left the bed! He only woke up when Maya ran out!”

Stella put her hands on her hips and opened her mouth, ready to go off on Jesse when--

“They’re telling the truth.” Maya said.

She shifted her head to the two of them, “I was downstairs the whole time. I didn’t see or hear any signs of Jesse breaking out. This was our Jesse.”

Maya closed the door and locked it.

No one said anything for a minute.

Stella turned to Aiden, the two were frantically discussing what must’ve happened and what to do next. Jesse struggled to swallow; his mouth was dry. He held his hands together tightly and took deep, steady breaths to calm himself down; Olivia saw the fear in his eyes.

Olivia carefully placed her hand on his shoulder, “What should we do?”

Aiden and Stella faced her with equally distraught expressions.

“We should--” Aiden paused. “We need to go back to bed. When everyone’s up we’ll tell them what happened. We can’t do this now. Not now.”

Olivia wanted to argue that it was morning, they should be figuring this situation out now. However, the desperation in Aiden’s voice told her to listen to him. She didn’t want to, but maybe it was for the best.

Olivia shook Jesse lightly, “You heard him, Jesse?”

“Mhm.” His response was rigid and barely audible.

Olivia began walking back to the guest room, dragging Jesse behind. They probably wouldn’t be able to sleep again, but they could use the time to think about what’s happened. Maybe Jesse needed the time to collect his thoughts on this situation.

When they entered their room neither of them said a word to each other, but shared the same question: How horrible is the other Jesse?

[the-jade-cross]

Journey to Middle Earth - Chapter 1

Summary – What if JRR Tolkien never gave Thorin a love story… because the person that was meant to be Thorin’s was not yet born when he wrote the Hobbit? Sara journeys from her world to Middle Earth after an accident, with a mission. To change something about the Hobbit story… but she is not sure what. What she does not know is that while trying to prevent something from happening, something new might arise between her and the dwarf prince….even if it is not on the agenda!

Warnings – None, no explicit scenes, some kissing, violence, frightening creatures, mentions of abuse.

Pairings – Thorin Oakenshield x OC

"And you're all done for the day," the math professor announced.

Immediately, the college students surged from their chairs and hurried out of the classroom as fast as their legs could carry them. However, one particular student took her time, making sure to study the problems on the board thoroughly before packing up her things and leaving.

The girl headed out of the classroom when she almost collided with tall, dark haired, handsome James Charleston.

"Hey Sara," the boy greeted, flashing his best smile.

Sara smiled back as she shifted her backpack on her back and drew out her phone, "Hey James."

"Hey Siri," the girl said into her phone, "Tell mom that I'm on my way home."

With that, she closed her phone and turned back to James, "What's up?"

"Oh you know stuff," James replied. "I didn't fail to notice that you're excelling at all your classes."

Sara smiled, "I don't know about that but I really enjoy them."

"Still working towards a degree in medicine?" James inquired.

The girl nodded, "That's the plan. My parents told me to just try school out for the first two years before deciding on a major. So I'm just taking extra math and science right now alongside singing and art."

"You should just still with those two," James observed. "You're probably the best artist in the whole school and singing wise, it's a miracle you haven't been asked to sing in a profession album."

Sara chuckled, "Okay spit it out James. You don't usually waste five minutes of your day to compliment a girl."

James seemed stunned at the girl had guessed that but yet again, Sara was a fast learner and probably the smartest kid in the whole school. She was also incredibly observant and curious which made it hard to hide things from her.

"Yeah I was.... wondering.... if you wanted to grab coffee sometime," James pointed out.

Sara smirked, "You know I'm not a coffee drinker James. I'm short enough as it is."

That was the truth. Sara, even though her brain was full and overflowing with knowledge, she wasn't exactly tall. Barely standing five feet tall, she hadn't grown since she was fifteen.

"Yeah well," James remarked. "I was really just asking if you wanted to go out with me."

The girl turned and looked at the boy a moment before smiling sadly, "Sorry James... I don't think I'm ready to date anyone right now."

The boy's eyebrows ducked down and he huffed, "What is your problem? First you turn down Aiden Baker, then Kenny Smith and now me!"

"What if I don't want to date anyone?" Sara inquired.

James snorted, "Then how will you get married and have a family?"

Sara smiled and lifted her chin defiantly, "I'll do what my parents did: meet someone I care about, get to know them and either go through strictly professional courtship or I'll just know from being good friends with them that they're the right person."

"Your parents are weird," James snorted.

Sara was just about to defend her parents when her best buddy, Cassie, skipped over and wrapped an arm around the shorter girl's shoulders, "Sara's parents rock. It's like stepping into a who different time period! What was it that your dad was really into last year.... wasn't it the renaissance time period? It was so cool!"

Sara smiled gratefully at her best friend who was, of course taller than her with jet black hair, dark brown skin and an adorable smile.

James rolled his eyes and stormed off leaving the two girls alone. Cassie sighed and released Sara.

"Golly that dude needs to get his head into reality. Did you just say that because it is James we are talking about or did you say no because you seriously don't want to date right now?" Cassie inquired.

Sara shrugged, "I honestly don't find guys interesting in that way... I find no one interesting in that way."

Cassie nodded, "Well maybe it's because you haven't found the right one yet."

Sara smiled and hugged her friend, "Thanks again Cass for standing up for me."

"Oh don't mention it," Cassie said, smirking, "You just make sure the moment you meet a guy who catches your eye, you tell me."

Sara smiled, "Believe me Cass, you'll be the first to know."

After navigating her way through the busy traffic of Pennsylvania, she managed to get home. She noticed that her dad's car was gone, meaning he and their mom were probably still at work.

Stepping into the house, she dropped her bag off at the door, "I'm home!"

"Sara!" four year old Ryder cried, charging into the room.

His bright red hair bounced on his cute round head as he catapulted into his big sister. Sara smiled as she scooped up the boy. Even though she was seventeen and at least thirteen years older than her baby brother, she and Ryder were probably the closest, not only because they were practically identical in looks but because Ryder was of a more gentle type than the other boys.

"What's going on?" Sara asked, pulling off her shoes.

"Omar and Axel are watching the Hobbit again," Ryder admitted. "They keep telling me to go to the bathroom whenever the big white orc comes on but I already know he doesn't kill Thorin till the third one!"

Sara chuckled and picked her brother up, placing him on her hip. Her parents were huge fans of JRR Tolkien and the moment the lord of the rings and the hobbit came out, they were all over it.

"Again? Didn't we watch it last week?" Sara asked.

Ryder nodded, "Omar said that since it's Christmas break, we have to watch them again."

Sara smiled and carried her little brother into the living room. Sure enough, her three brothers were sitting on the couch watching An Unexpected Journey. it was their favorite scene: Baggend.  

Eight year old Omar was jumping on the couch while fourteen year old Axel was bouncing to the beat. 25 year old Pierce was sound asleep on the couch. Sara smiled. The Aldhard family was well known for their bright red hair and piercing blue eyes. Each of the kids were plagued with the unique, right hair and eye colors.

"Sh!" Omar hissed, "Here's my favorite part."

Sara smirked when she saw that the scene was when Thorin steps into the hobbit hole. The moment the door opens and he greets Gandalf, the two boys yell in triumph, startling Pierce out of his sleep.

"It's he so cool!?" Omar cried.

"I wish I was Bilbo," Ryder said dreamily, leaning against Sara's shoulder. "Then I would get the meet Thorin and Gandalf and the dwarves and go fight SMoog."

"You mean Smaug," Axel corrected.

"Yeah Smoog," Ryder repeated, earning a chuckle from Pierce and Sara.

Just then, the phone rang and Pierce got up to answer it. Sara sat down in his spot with Ryder on her lap and listened to her three little brothers chatting excitedly about the movie when suddenly she heard a crash.

Axel paused the movie and they all turned around to look at Pierce who had returned to the living room. His face was ashen white, completely shocked and horrified. If Sara had to guess, the crash had been him dropping the mug that their dad always placed in front of the phone. You always had to lift it up to grab the phone and from the look of it, that was what had fallen.

Pierce was listening to the voice on the phone and he looked at his siblings who were watching him expectantly.

When he hung up, he just stood there limply, unable to speak.

"What happened?" Axel asked.

Omar looked over at the calendar, "It's December Fifteenth.... your girlfriend isn't coming to visit till next week."

Pierce shook his head, "There was a shooting.....seventeen people were killed."

Sara's eyes widened, "Here? In Pennsylvania?"

Pierce nodded, "At the Christmas party."

The silence that followed was so dense that the kids could hear the CD in the disk player still spinning.

"Mom and dad were there," Omar whispered.

Pierce nodded, "The police were the ones on the phone.... mom and dad....were killed on the spot."

"Sara! My pant legs are wet!" Omar called.

Sara stopped at the stop light and turned to look at her brother. She was driving home from taking the three little boys and their dog, Mason to the park. They had just recently brought Mason into the family. He was a jet black German shepherd puppy and the boys adored him.

"We'll get dry pants when we get home," the girl promised.

She turned back around and saw that the light was green. Driving through, she soon had to pull to another stop when an intersection was blocked up from flooding. The police were directing traffic elsewhere but it was going to be a while before they could move.

Sara's phone buzzed and she flipped it open, seeing that it was from their next-door neighbor who housesat their house on the weekends when Pierce was on business trips and Sara took the kids out.

"Hello Mrs. Alman?" the girl said, brightly.

"hello Sara. I was at your house locking up... when the phone rang."

"Was it Pierce?" Sara asked. "He hasn't returned any of my calls or texts today."

"I know," the woman said. "It was the hospital."

Sara furrowed her brow, "What did they need?"

"They wanted to know when you would like Pierce to be brought home."

Sara sat there, not knowing what was going on. Pierce worked with an engineering company. What did the hospital have to do with his coming home?

"What do you mean?"

There was a pause before the woman spoke, "Sweetie.... Pierce is dead."

Sara was so glad that she didn't have her on speaker. The boys were playing with Mason in the back of the car and didn't notice their sister freeze and go pale.

"The doctor said he has been suffering from brain cancer for a while now. he said that Pierce swore him to secrecy because he didn't want you to worry. He thought he wasn't going to go till next week and then he was going to tell you."

Sara didn't know what to do so she hung up without saying goodbye and threw her phone onto the seat next to her. She stared ahead and saw that the cop was directing her to the right. She turned the car and drove off, blinded by the tears that were springing up.

"Sara!" Axel called. "Can you hear me? Sara! Mason wont sit still."

"SARA!" Omar called.

"SARA!"

The girl was blinded.... she was in another world... all she could hear was her head drumming.... and Mrs. Almar's words repeating in her head.... the voices of her brothers and the barks of Mason in the far away distance.... then.... she felt a jolt.

********

Her eyes flew open and she realized they were no longer on the road. They had rolled off and were heading for a tree! Sara tried to turn the wheel but it wouldn't budge. She saw the tree nearing and the last thing she heard was her brothers calling her name.... then..... darkness.

Darkness filled Sara's vision. Her mind stopped thinking, her eyes stopped seeing and her ears stopped hearing.... it all stopped. She felt a gentle feeling rush over her like water flowing underneath her. Then she felt like something was lifting her off the ground and into the sky.

She saw stars appear below her... and above her and beyond, an endless void of stars and galaxies. She heard a gentle voice whispering to her from far off. She couldn't tell if it was a man or a woman but it kept whispering her name, telling her to wake up, to open her eyes.

Her eyes slowly cracked open and she realized she was lying on a bed. White sheets lay on top of her and a wooden ceiling above her. She didn't recognize where she was.... and the first thing that popped to her head was the crash. Was this the hospital?

She turned her head and found herself looking into the brown eyes of a young boy. He looked barely eleven years old and was smiling at her from behind a head full of blond hair. The first thing Sara thought was that his parents didn't think to cut their son's hair for it almost fell to his shoulders. Then she realized he wasn't wearing normal clothes.... but rather a brown tunic... a belt and sword? What?

"Hello," the boy whispered kindly, "You've been asleep for a few days. We found you outside the city. You had a really bad cut on your head. I'm Theodred by the way."

Sara furrowed her brow. Someone named their son after a character from lord of the rings? Cool.... and it was weird that he dressed like he was from lord of the rings too.

Suddenly, a man appeared at the boy's side. he looked to be about thirty years old and was a perfect older version of the boy. He wore a golden circlet in his hair and he wore similar clothes to the boy.

"I see you've met my son," the man said. "I'm Thengal."

Okay this is getting weirder.

The girl slowly looked around. What caught her attention the most in the large room were the windows. Unlike normal windows, they were shaped like two horse heads.... wait....

The glanced down at the sheets that lay atop her and saw that the pale green embroidery on the white sheets were unmistakably done entirely by hand...and almost looked Celtic.

"Where.... where am I?" the girl asked, deciding that if things got too much weirder than her brothers must be playing a prank on her.

"Rohan child," Thengal replied.

Sara sat up, prepared to call the name of her brothers and call their prank. However, it seemed a little too real to be a prank....this place was too realistic.... the bed felt real so it couldn't be a dream...

"What happened to me?" she asked.

"You were attacked on the road," Thengal replied. "There were no signs of hoof prints so you must have been walking.... but there were no footprints either.... it was like you just dropped out of the sky. You had a bad wound on your head but it wasn't from any weapon of our knowledge... but there were also a few cuts on your left shoulder."

Sara's hand snaked to her shoulder and lifted her sleeve just enough to see that there were three cuts on her arm. Two of them were deep but not deep enough to need stitches. The other had been stitched up and by the look of it, horse hair had been used to stitch it up. Even though it looked ghastly, it was rather good stitching work.

Her hand reached up and she touched the wounds. They were clean cuts.... then she realized why they looked familiar. When she was little, Pierce had been attempting to make dinner for their parents anniversary but had cut his hand in the process when cutting carrots. Sara had put herself to the task of cleaning the cut and bandaging it..... these looked just like Pierce's knife cut... but larger, deeper and wider.... she had been cut by a knife and obviously a large one.

'This is most certainly not a prank,' Sara thought to herself. 'It must be a dream.'

"My brothers...." she whispered.

Thengal shook his head, "There was no one with you child. You were alone... except for the pup."

"pup?"

Just then, the door flew open and Sara felt a small bundle jump onto her and she looked into the staring green eyes of Mason.

"Mason!" The girl cried, reaching over to hug the puppy.

Thengal smiled warmly as the young dog lapped at his owner's face. Theoden was grinning from ear to ear.

"Apparently he knows you," Thengal said smiling.

Mason sat back down on Sara's lap and looked up at her. The girl ran her fingers through his thick black fur.... yep, most certainly not a dream.... but if this wasn't a dream and wasn't a prank... then what was it?

"What.... what year is this?" the girl inquired.

"The year 2941," Thengal replied. "April 20th."

Sara groaned and rubbed her head. Wait.... why did that date sound familiar???? wasn't that when the hobbit was.... but then....what day did it.... April 27th.....holy noodles!

Sara shot up to a sitting position and cringed when the wounds on her head and her arm stung at the movement.

Okay, this wasn't a dream.... she was in middle earth!