EARTHBOUND | the lord of the rings

00 | PROLOGUE

    

The rising sun blanketed  the endless greenery all around. Groves of trees shadowed a small brook filled with a collection of rainbow-colored pebbles. Mischievous little fish danced in the calm current under the cool, patterned shade. Shrubs of budded bushes swayed in the cool morning breeze. And patches of wildflowers danced along with them. A pleasant day lies ahead.

     As one treks through a tall-grassed meadow, one might consider returning to where they came from last. For all they knew, it was just a meadow. A very overgrown meadow, which required more time and effort to journey through. Several other meadows distances away would be much more inviting.

     If one perseveres enough through the tall stalks of grass, they'll come across a vast array of violet milkweeds, delicate white pignuts, and weeds of hawkbits. Besides the lush flora, there was no resident life to be found, other than the occasional deer prancing around or the playful chirps or warbles of common birds. It was peaceful, yes. Incredibly secluded and lonely? That too.

     In the woods, a soft hum roamed freely above the jolly chorus of warblers and the steady rhythm of a distant, running brook. A quiet percussion of snapped twigs and crunched leaves added even more layers to the ambience. The song went on and on and gradually faded out when the source stopped at a water bank.

The source of the humming voice belonged to a young lady. Her dark hair flowed freely in the wind with her wavy curls sweeping away from her flushed, round cheeks. There was a glazed look over her brown eyes; the heaviness of her eyelids threatened to close and a yawn crept up on her. After a moment of gathering herself together, she continued her task.

She set down two metal buckets connected by a wooden, shoulder-length pole onto the wet, stony ground. She tied her dark hair back and rolled her thin cotton sleeves up at the elbows. The girl returned to the buckets and detached them from the pole. With one in each hand, she approached the sharp coldness of the water.

She let out a shuddered breath. The girl took another step, then set down one bucket to the side and crouched to fill it with water. She repeated the same with the other bucket. Then, she returned to the earthy shore and clasped them both back onto the pole. The girl drowsily buckled to her ground and laid there, letting the warm morning sun linger on her skin.

She closed her eyes. She rolled to her side and let her hand wander the soft, mossy ground to find herself a pebble. It rolled back and forth in her grasp until she felt too fatigued to fidget a second longer.

"I curse myself for having slept so late," she grumbled.

She heaved herself up to stand and wobbled in a daze. Reluctantly, she picked up her buckets and placed the pole on her shoulder. The girl trudged through the woods as she settled for a new melody to hum.

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The girl walked through the wild grass stalks under the beaming sun. Sweat trickled down from her forehead; light huffs escaped her lips. Then, she slowed to a stop in the middle of the field.

  "Uncle, I'm right outside!" she called out. With the exception of wildlife thrumming, not a single mumbled answered. The girl stepped forward, anyway, into the sea of grass and vanished abruptly without a trace.

The meadow resumed breathing. The wind continued to sweep across, under the bright sun. A traveler would assume this was an ordinary meadow with no strangeness in sight. Nothing unusual. Nothing strange. However, if one knew about a precise point in the center of the field, they may stumble upon something unusual and strange. It was nearly impossible to notice. Hard to come by, even. Nonetheless, a strange, invisible veil masked over a hidden area.