Jinxed

Chapter One - Guess who's back, Back again

           

A river flows lazily, a bright yellow kayak floated down the stream. On board of the bright boat sat a copper haired woman dressed in grey tights and a red button down flannelette. A black hiking pack is lashed to the bow of the kayak.

She paddles down the Hutt river, the trees around her blocking the sound of the cars beyond the forest edge. She sighs setting the paddle down, twisting around and laying down on her front. She dips her hand into the water and closes her eyes in content.

She quickly sits up, making the boat rock dangerously and rummaged in her bag before pulling up a packet of beef jerky. She tears it open and grumbles to herself. When she has eaten her fill the packet is closed back up and shoved back into the open pocket. Then she goes to pick up the paddle due to the fact the kayak had drifted of course.

She feels a shadow fall upon her and looks up to the sky. Massive statues stand on the bank of the river holding their hands out on warning. Heeding their warning she looks ahead to see a slight disturbance in the water. Quickly she begins to paddle to the shore and beaches the kayak a hundred meters from the waterfall that she now can hear. In practiced movements, she slings her pack on her back, buckling the straps she stands on her kayak and walks up to the stern and onto the shore, she then pulls the plastic boat away from the water's edge. When she next turns around she finds an arrow in her face.

Quickly the copper haired woman scrambles back and behind a tree, her mind races before her head peaks out from behind the tree looking to the ragged trio. She examines their clothing. "No." She shakes her head. The rugged dark man with the sword frowns. "No!" she yells and kicks the tree she hides behind. She lets out a whine and begins to hop holding her foot. "Gosh darn it Gina, you've got to stop doing that" she hisses to herself.

"Where do you hail from" Gina looks up and puts her foot down tenderly.

"I-um-ha. Funny story about that. I am from nowhere near here." She pauses, "where is here exactly?"

A man, well she assumed that it was a man stepped forwards. "On the borders of Lorethian Middle earth" Gina threw her head back and groaned.

"I assume you're on a quest of some sort? In a group that needs to defeat a dark lord or whatever?" before the astounded men can reply she hoists her bag up her back "Righty oh, let's get this over with then, which way are we going?"

The darker man steps forwards. "We are going that way, where you go from here, I do not care" and with that the three, blonde, brunette and red-head midget turn and run.

"Well that was rude" Gina huffs begins to wander away.

~

"You would die before your stroke fell" The blonde man drew an arrow and a call was heard from the hill behind them, the outer ring of horse men twirled around to defend their brothers.

"Eomer" copper hair flowed in the wind, before turning and landing in the girl's mouth. Gina spluttered. "Hang on a sec" She called out hunching over her knees. "Can't really breath at the moment" she holds up a hand as she breaths heavily.

"Gina?" The man in the plumed helmet remounts his chestnut stallion and makes his way to the exhausted woman. "it is you my lady, it is so good to see that you are well" Gina coughs and holds a hand up to Eomer, he takes it and hoists her up to sit behind him. "What brings you here?" He asks as they trot back to the group of soldiers.

"Them. So please, do your mysterious thing then send them on their way so I can follow" Eomer waves his hand and dismounts from his horse holding out a hand to Gina. Gratefully she takes it and stumbles to the ground. "anyone here that I know?" she asks looking up to a helmeted man on a grey horse "Aside from Firefoot?"

Eomer nods "You know of everyone here"

Gina grins and throws her hands out to the side "I'm back bizatches*" Laughter rings through the group of riders. Gina goes to greet the men while Eomer warns the three men of the dangers of Rohan due to Saruman's influence.

After greeting everyone she makes her way back to Eomer and takes off her pack, rummaging through it. She triumphantly pulls out a green pen and zips up her bag, slinging it onto her back. Respectively she waits until Eomer has finished talking and hands him the pen, he nods to her before she pulls him into a hug, lowering his eyes he hugs her back and places a gentle kiss on her forehead, "go swiftly my dear friend" Gina turns and just as she is about to explain herself Eomer comes up behind her.

"Look for your friends, but do not trust to hope, it is forsaken these lands." He turns to his company and yells "We ride north!"

They watched the riders of Rohan gallop away before all the attention was placed on Gina. "Let's go and find your friends shall we, then I will explain. Alright?" They mount up, Gina and the darker man on the chestnut horse while the dwarf and the elf shared the dapple grey. Gina laughed at this, from her ten or so visits, she had lost count, the information provided suggested that dwarves and elves refused to even look at each other. 

They rode for the day and just as the sun touched the hills they reached the Orc bonfire. Gina didn't quite know what was going on or what she was meant to be looking for but she helped nonetheless. She pulls out a foot from the fire, recoiling in disgust when she realises what it is. Grumbling she moves to the forest edge to look for any clues to what happened she crouches to the ground and tries to remember what Neytiri*² taught her about using nature to help her find her way.

She grunts in frustration, the earth here was different to that on Pandora and that skill was lost. She glanced into the forest and saw a puddle, and due to the fact it hadn't rained for a few days. Gina was absolutely sure it wasn't water. "Oi, dude, something went into the forest" She looks to the trio who were searching the wreckage and the Man kicked an Orc head and fell to his knees screaming in frustration. Gina rolled her eyes and turned back to the forest, she cocked her head and walked in. pulling a small red object from her pocket she flicks out a blade and glances around the dark forest.

The trees groan in protest as she raises her serrated knife for protection. Her eyes widen "Fargorn?" She questions herself, slowly she lowers her knife, maybe Neytiri's skills wouldn't be so lost after all. She takes a breath and walks up to a large oak tree, gently she presses her hand to it and closes her eyes, slowly her head moves to the trunk until her forehead was pressed up against the knobbly trunk. "Hello dear friend" She speaks relaxing completely as she feels the branches caress her tenderly "It has been to long" The leaves rustle gently without a breeze of wind. "Have two Halfling's stumbled this way?" She asks breathing in the scent of tree sap. She opens her eyes and looks to one of the lower down branches a fresh cut swamped in oozing sap make her laugh. "You beautiful tree" She looks to the puddle of liquid "Orc I guess?" The tree only creaks in agreement.    

*Bizatches - Means the same thing as bitches in the derogatory sense but a little more friendly

*² The Daughter of the Omaticaya clan leaders in the movie Avatar.