From Other Worlds

The Prologue

     She felt like she had been catapulted, her body weightless yet heavy from the force. She hit the earth with a thud and rolled quite a bit. Finally she sat up catching her breath and looked around.

"Jesus fucking Christ where am I?" She asked no one in particular. It was night and all she could see where stars, and a few lights in the distance. Looking around she saw her bag that she grabbed quickly. Looking through it she had no phone, no wallet, nothing that she would usually keep on her. Just some leather bound journals, and jars of dried herbs. She sat back on her heels, leaning back she used her palms to steady her up and she felt something else in the grass. Grasping it she quickly realized it was a sword, and matching dagger.

"Great. I fucking lost it." She muttered, pulling the weapons into her. She finally noticed she wasn't even in what she was wearing before she fell. She had on leather trousers, a tunic top with a leather vest overtop. The leathers were brown, the tunic white, and a cloak around her that kept her warm was green.

"What have you lost?" A voice asked her and she whipped around, unsheathing the dagger in the direction of the voice, "Now now I meant no harm. Just someone up here who looks very out of place says they lost something. I.. I mean maybe I can help if you put that away."

"What is your name?" She slowly lowered the dagger.

"Bilbo Baggins. And yours?"

"Rayna Thorne. And I have lost my mind." She put the dagger away.

"And why do you say that?"

"Because this was not where I was five minutes ago. Believe it or not."

"Judging by the state of you, I do. Have you eaten?"

Rayna laughed at the hobbit in front of her before pausing, "Oh you're serious. Not since lunch."

"Then come have dinner and we'll get you sorted." Bilbo offered.

"So.. I'm in Hobbiton. I'm in the Shire. In middle Earth." Rayna had gathered her things and began walking with Bilbo.

"Yes. For someone who seems lost you sure know where you are."

"I guess it's difficult to explain." Rayna shrugged.

"Try me." Bilbo looked up at her briefly.

"I'm not from here."

"That's easy to tell. Not a lot of people come tumbling down a hill out of nowhere. Even fewer have pink hair like yours."

"Wait so you saw me?" Rayna stopped him. Bilbo looked her up and down and paused for a moment.

"I saw you land and roll down the hill. At first I thought you tripped and ran over. But I watched you. You seemed lost, very lost. And I don't remember seeing you on the hill before you fell." Bilbo answered honestly.

"Thank you." Rayna said.

"For what?"

"For your honesty. It might make this whole mess easier to figure out." She gestured for him to lead on again.

     Out of the corner of his eye Bilbo watched her. He watched her look around taking everything in in the night. How her face lit up when they passed the inn, and how it looked like she held back some tears as they walked up to Bag End.

"The ceilings might be a bit short for you." Bilbo stated, although Rayna could still comfortably stand. Six foot ceilings for a woman who crossed five feet by a couple of inches were going to be just fine for her, "You can place your things there, come now." Bilbo led her into the kitchen where she sat, offering her help but Bilbo only waved her off.

"So are you a ranger?" He set a plate of food down in front of her.

"No. I don't know." She shook her head.

"Well what's with the swords?" He nodded to the hallway.

"I couldn't tell you, I didn't have them before." She answered honestly.

"You have a strange accent, where are you from?"

"Canada." She responded.

"Never heard of it. Where's that?" He asked.

"Bilbo, I wasn't joking when I said I'm not form here. Truthfully I'm from another world entirely. I have no answers to your questions. They may come in time to me. But all I can tell you is one minute I'm walking down the street, I trip, and when I land I'm falling down a hill. I'm not from here. I do want to find out why I'm here and how I can go home however."

"As anyone would. Well, I don't suppose you have a place to stay then." Bilbo stated as more of a fact.

"No."

"I have a large room you can stay in. If this turns out to be long term I would have to charge you rent. You may need a job. What did you do in your old life?"

"I built things, and grew plants."

"I know where you can start then. But in the morning."

"Why are you being so kind to me? A stranger who you just met, who technically did threaten you, and is going on about being from another world?" Rayna asked.

Bilbo paused for a moment, "There's a little voice inside my head that's telling me to. And a feeling in my gut that says you're important. I tend to trust those feelings." He answered.

"Thank you." Rayna smiled.

"You're welcome." Bilbo smiled back.

The next day Bilbo roused her from her sleep with breakfast and told her to get ready, they were heading to the market.

Rayna was going to have to get used to the looks she received, and also realized she was going to have to find clothes that fit her. Many who spoke to Bilbo, a well respected member of the community, asked politely about Rayna.

"Oh she's an old friend, dropped in last night and may be staying a while." he would reply. Rayna tried to hold in her laugh for the first three who asked.

"What's so funny?" Bilbo asked after they walked away from the cabbages, knowing full well what.

"I dropped in?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Well didn't you?" Bilbo gave her a little laugh back.

     Despite what she thought she already knew about hobbits, once she showed her usefulness she was welcomed in The Shire pretty quickly. She made good use of her sword not a month in when a ravenous wolf made its way into town. Meeting the rangers that the shire paid to keep them safe from such dangers. She traveled with them for a month to train properly, being gifted a bow from a young ranger called Strider since she had natural skill. She tried not to act giddy when she met him.

      In The Shire she shared her skills, crafted with wood and clay, sewed, and made art out of every material she could. All hobbies and tidbits she picked up from her old life and never forgot. The leather bound journals she had were filled with recipes and remedies she shared with others. Rayna made herself at home in The Shire. Money to pay Bilbo for rent came easily every week, and when he called her a dear friend for the first time, and meant it, she nearly cried. Not as much as she cried for home, admitting she was angry she was even there sometimes. Bilbo did his best to listen, and to understand.

     As the winter came and went, Rayna could only look at Bilbo with a knowing something was about to happen, and soon.

     It was a beautiful April morning that Rayna set off with the rangers again, unaware that her evening would become quite unexpected.