Her Name Was Zoe

Chapter 4

        I was woken up by an elf maiden who told me the company was at breakfast. I got up and joined them as they were singing and eating. I took some bread and put it away to save for later. We only stayed for a few minutes before Thorin told everyone to pack their things and be ready to leave. I know once we leave Rivendell we will have to go through the Misty Mountains where we will meet the stone giants and the goblins. Fun.

            As we started walking up the path the dwarves started conversing with each other about different things. Dwalin had noticed I wasn’t carrying much so he asked me to help Bombur carry some of the food that they saved. No one really talked to me for a while after that. I had a lot of time to think of ways to survive certain parts of the journey. If I was to survive the giants and the goblins then I would have to worry about the Wargs that come right after and I don’t think I can climb trees. It would be worse if the orcs were with the Wargs. If I survive that then I’d have to worry about Beorn, Mirkwood, Smaug, and then the Battle of the Five Armies. I seriously doubt I’d make it to that and if I do I will be killed.

            Trying not to think about that, I start singing a random songs that I would listen to on a daily basis back home. “The tricky thing, is yesterday we were just children, playing soldiers just pretending, dreaming dreams with happy endings…” I sang quietly following the rest of the company. Apparently that caught some of the company’s attention.

            “What song is that, lass?” Bofur asked me. “It’s called Eyes Open. It’s by Taylor Swift, though I am 100% sure you have never heard of it.” I replied. Bofur nods, “You’re right I haven’t. Is it well known in the place where you’re from?”

            “It depends. Where I’m from there are many songs that most people know because we share them with each other all the time. We know the names of the people that write the song and originally sang it. We have groups of people called bands that sing and write songs together. We have millions of songs and we don’t know them all, but we know enough to sing for months on end. So some people will know a song that others won’t know.” I reply. Now most of them are listening and are interested.

            “Where are you from? I don’t believe you’ve told us yet.” Fili asks.

“Where I’m from there are many different lands. There’s North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and Antarctica. I’m from North America.  It’s very different than this part of Middle Earth. There are no elves, or hobbits or wizards, or dwarves. Just humans of all shapes and sizes. We don’t always get along with the other lands and that usually ends in war, but I feel like for the most part we try to live in harmony with each other. It’s really not that hard to be nice.” I finished talking and it took a minute for him to respond.

“I’ve never heard of those lands before. It is nice to meet someone from somewhere new. Tell me more about this ‘North America’ place,” Fili said. I continued talking about the continents and what it’s like to live on each one and what you’ll find there. I wasn’t about to tell them that I’m from a different world or anything because they’d probably think I was some type of monster.

It felt like we were walking for hours when it started to rain and the path started to become narrow. We travelled in a single file line being very cautious. The ground soon started to shake and I knew exactly what was happening. I could hear several shouts before hearing sound of a stone giant. I backed up to the wall of rock and grabbed on to Fili who was standing next to me. The rock split between Kili and Fili, separating half us from the other half. The rock started moving and we realized we were standing on a stone giant’s leg. Another giant hurled a boulder at its head, and in seconds we were being lodged into the side of the mountain. Luckily we weren’t crushed and hurriedly got inside a cave.

“Everyone get some rest. Bofur you take first watch.” Thorin said and that was the first I’ve heard from him all day. I watched him as he talked to some of the dwarves to see if they were all right. I think he caught me staring, so I pretended I was asleep. He came over and sat down next to me, and I continued my pretend sleep. I opened my eyes a little and saw that he was looking at me.

“I knew you weren’t asleep,” he said with a smirk on his face. “Why were you staring at me?” he asked.

“I was actually looking at the wall. But I can see why you would think I was looking at you.” I lied with the stupidest lie in the history of stupid lies.

         “You’re a terrible liar.” He replied and turned away and closed his eyes. I did the same and fell asleep only to be woken up by dwarves yelling and the floor caving in.