Travelers

Chapter 9 - The Exit

Now that they had dealt with Ryan as well as they could without killing him, they could continue their journey. Jacob suggest that Sam stay behind with his wife, because they had earned the trust of Elanor. It was just as they were preparing to set out once more that his vision began to rise away from him. It crossed to a spot the Jacob recognized. It was the burn mark where he had landed in Middle-Earth. The voice said nothing for a short moment, but then he heard it again as he had been expecting.

The voice began, "When the elf star calls you friend, and you are ready to depart, you will." Jacob thought he knew what this meant. The voice continued, "Now, travelers, go and find your way home, or find a way to save it permanently. First will go the one who strikes from afar, then the one they turn to. Next, the one whose words will always be stronger, and lastly, the one who will never be the same will leave. Now go, wanderers. Save this world and leave, fight if you must, but with the weapon of love. It is your sharpest blade."

Jacob's vision flew back to the shire, and back to him. This time, he withstood the dizzying effect of the vision. He pushed his way to the edge of the road again. He sat down for a moment. The others stumbled over next to him, and the adults kept watch. Vince was the one this time to say the question that was on their minds.

"Who's who?" Vince asked, "That little prophecy made no sense to me." Jacob just sat as the others debated who would have to leave first. He was mulling it over in his head, when he realized that the voice said what the answer was.

"I have to go first, then Mal, Cat, then Vince. The voice said that the one who strikes from afar would go first. I'm the archer, and Mal is pretty much my best friend. Cat is brilliant with words, and you will never get rid of the things you've already done. Sorry man, but it's true. The voice said that love would be our weapon. You strike people with a weapon, so we will fight with love," Jacob said, interrupting Vince as he tried to guess at the order. Jacob looked at Cat and said, "The only problem is, I don't want to leave you guys here." He didn't want to go.

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Soon they approached the place where Jacob had landed, but as he had mentioned, he didn't want to leave. They went past the spot where he had landed, because they were going to take a rest at Rivendell, just because Jacob apparently didn't want to leave because he didn't want to leave them without an archer. He especially didn't want to leave Cat or Mal there, and Cat wasn't sure she wanted him to leave either. She definitely had to admit that his knowledge of the Lord of the Rings, his archery talent, and his skill with a sword were quite the assets, especially if they lost their talents again. They spent many days in the last homely house, living with elves. Finally, when Jacob realized that it was his time to go, they set off to the black leaf that he had left.

"I'm still not sure that leaving is the right thing to do," said Jacob as they walked. He turned to Mal and started speaking to her in a hushed voice. Cat, behind them, really didn't want to eavesdrop, but she did want to know what they were talking about. Getting closer, she caught some of Jacob's words, saying, "Don't want... leave... protect... can't... still... chance... in time." Cat couldn't tell what she heard, and didn't really care too. Surely it had something to do with some random thing.

Turning around Jacob saw Cat and smiled, looked at the ground, and sighed. She figured that meant they were there, so she prepared herself for a goodbye to her friend. Jacob began speaking to each of them in a whisper. First, he approached Defréndel, saying something to him, then shaking his hand. Next, he spoke to Aragorn, and took a little longer to speak to him. He thanked Mendon for all his help, then moved on to Vince. He punched him in the shoulder and chuckled. "See you soon man. You take care of these two," He said to Vince. Mal was next, and he gave her a fist bump, smiled and said only two words, "Thank you." Finally, he came to Cat.