Fellowship Guardians

Chapter 1: Weathertop

When the light died down, the first thing Yeona noticed was that she was in a forest, at night. At first, she thought this whole being transported to another world was a hoax as she and the others had been in the forest. But as she looked around, the deep forest looks like a hub of greenery with leaves falling on the solid ground. Some trees are aged with creaking branches, some are young with a smooth one. Leaves are varying from matured to the ones which are still in the process of budding. A gentle breeze engaged the leaves in dancing with its tune. When the breeze blew past her, she picked up many scents in the air: almost none of them were familiar to her making her suddenly doubt this was a prank Chen would pull off.

The one scent she was familiar with was that of a campfire; a deep and rich mellow smell. That was Chanyeol. Glad to not be alone, wherever she was really, she headed in his direction. She soon found the tall, pink-haired young man as he looked around, seemingly distracted. "Chanyeol!" Yeona called out to him, causing him to jump at the sound of her voice but when he turned to her, he calmed down instantly. "Noona, glad to see you. I don't want to be alone out here," he said and she rolled her eyes at how much of a child he was acting. "I don't even know where the others went. You haven't seen them have you?" Yeona shook her head, a small frown on her face. "No, unfortunately, I haven't. I don't even smell them," was her answer and Chanyeol sighed.

"Great. If anything we might have been separated as we were being transported here," he said. "It seems most likely as you were the only scent that was familiar to me. Everything else was new to me." Yeona said, looking around but froze as the scent of a human filled her nose and the sound of a twig snapping, she was instantly on guard. Noticing her actions and hearing the noise, Chanyeol was on guard as well. Looking in the direction of the smell, she saw a man with long unwashed brown hair and stubble on his chin and a rather weather-beaten look. He wore mostly worn black clothes and boots that also looked well-worn and he had a small bedroll and pack for food and other provisions on his back, though he did seem to be traveling light. Despite the torch that was on the ground, the two guardians were able to see the man as well as the sword in his hand, ready to be raised at a moment's notice.

"Who are you? What business does a boy and a girl have doing by the ruins of Weathertop alone?" The man asked and Chanyeol and Yeona were surprised at being able to understand him; bear in mind, they were in South Korea the time that the gateway appeared to them, and as Lorien was speaking to them in their mother tongue. "Well?" The man asked again, getting slightly impatient when the two didn't answer. Yeona and Chanyeol looked at each other as if having a silent or mental conversation for a moment then looked back at the man. "I'm Chanyeol and this is Yeona, we aren't looking for trouble," Chanyeol eventually answered. "Who are you?" "I am known as Strider,"

Before either could ask anything further, a blood-curling screech filled the air. "What the hell was that?" Both Chanyeol and Yeona asked at the same time but the man, now identified as Strider, didn't answer and instead took off running towards the ruins in the distance at full speed; for a human that is, not caring that the two guardians were following him, but also keeping pace with him though both knew they could go faster but, let Strider lead them the way to the ruins. Bounding up the stairs, all three were met by a horrifying sight. Three smaller people, Hobbits to Strider, had been thrown against the rocks and pillars and were barely conscious. Chanyeol and Yeona could smell there was a fourth person there but could not see them but a group of black-hooded figures who appeared wraith-like in appearance from the little that was seen, surrounded something on the floor.

One of the figures pointed their sword down and there was a cry of pain. At the sound, Chanyeol snapped out of his daze and attacked, his hands ablaze. Growling audibly much to the confusion of Strider, the guardian of fire, launching fireballs at the figures, hitting a couple of them causing them to screech in pain. This got Yenoa's attention and soon the shadows moved closer to her and tentacles erupted from the ground, knocking the remaining figures away. "By the Valor, who are you?" Strider asked and Yeona glanced at him from the corner of her eye. "That isn't important, someone is hurt and who knows how badly," she said, her tone instantly saying to drop the subject. The man nodded and ran over to the four small people while Yeona and Chanyeol remained, keeping those figures away from the ground, mainly from Chanyeol's fire.

Finally, they decided to keep their distance and Strider soon came up to the two, carrying one of the little people, the three others behind him. "This is beyond my skill to heal, he needs elvish medicine," he said as he shot a glance to the flames still on Chanyeol's hands, staring still even as the flames dissipated. "Follow me. All of you,"

The last part had been mostly directed to Chanyeol and Yeona.