Fan Fiction ❯ Forget Me Not ❯ Oracles are THAT ugly? ( Chapter 10 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Whoops. At least, I thought that there was a forest in front of me. Apparently, I'm blind as well as dumb. Suddenly realizing that the darkness in front of me was rain clouds, my broken arm began to hurt even more, almost like a dull, throbbing, never-ending pain instead of the usual sharp pains from whenever I moved it.

Great, I thought, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. Now I can predict the weather, too. Why was I cursed with no sense of direction? There I stood in the middle of some godforsaken grassland and I had no earthly idea which way was up.

There was a sudden clap of thunder from up ahead and lightening soon followed it. Where was I supposed to go? I couldn't stay in the same place; there might be orcs somewhere near behind me. I mean, obviously they were all headed in the same direction, no matter how fast or slow they ran.

Theo only choice I had was to keep running straight into the thunderstorm. Hitting my head with my unbroken hand, trying as hard as I could to find another solution without having to run, I started off again, keeping my eyes open for anything that even looked like something I could be protected under.

Hmmm…maybe…the grass? No, I wouldn't be able to blend. A rock? I'm not that short, thank you very much. That tree over there? Wait a minute, what tree! You're being delusional again…I told myself, staring blindly at the tree that seemed to have popped out of nowhere.

Rubbing my eyes, I noticed that I hadn't been quite as wrong as I had thought. There was a forest in front of me; it just took me running a billion miles to get to it. This particular tree was a few hundred feet in front of the rest, growing on a little slope and making a nice piece of shade that suddenly seemed very inviting to my tired legs and broken arm.

Dragging myself over to it while trying not to feel the pain in my arm, I collapsed underneath its shady branches. I kept my brain awake long enough to make a make-shift bandage from my dress (unfortunately, I was still wearing that silk dress that I had gotten from Rivendell and I hadn't taken a bath since we left there. Just pretend like you still can't smell me.) and wrap it around my arm as a sling. Without even bothering to check and see if there was any danger, (not a smart idea, let me tell you…) I promptly fell asleep and drifted off into dreamland.

“I wanted to show you something,” Frodo said, reaching into his pocket. In the distance I could hear a melody playing over the balcony where we stood, still in Rivendell.

He began to mutter under his breath, now searching faster. “Of course I can't find them…first thing I do after I kiss the girl of my dreams is get flustered… ”

“Don't forget the part about the girl of your dreams' brother catching them in the act and yelling at them both.” I reminded him and we both took an unconscious glare over toward the bushes to make sure Sam wasn't still there.

Laughing, he pulled something out of his pocket and grabbed my hand, turning it over so that it faced palm up. “This was something that I picked up right before we left.” He whispered, clasping the something in my palm and keeping his hand over mine.

I stared down with curiosity. “What is it?” I asked, suddenly wondering why we were whispering. Frodo laughed a little and uncovered his hand, smiling as he heard my gasp of surprise.

I held the flowers aloft to see it better. “Oh...Forget Me Knots!” two flowers were held together by one stem, their fragrant wafting over me. “They're my favorite!” Frodo gently took them back from me and separated the two so that they became two separate flowers.

“Keep it in your pocket.” He ordered, giving me one and keeping the other. “I'll do the same.” He pocketed the other flower, safely storing it away. “If we're ever separated, then we will have these to remember each other.” He smiled and bent over to kiss my forehead.

I was still concerned, though. “But, what if they die in there? They won't get any air or water.”

Frodo took the flower and put it in my pocket, near the place where he put his in his own jacket. (A/N: she's wearing a dress, so it's going to be a little different, right?)

“It's a little like pressing flowers in a book,” he explained, keeping his hands on my waist as I began to wrap my arms around his neck. I sighed happily as he pulled me closer. “You know…they stay…er…um…pressed?”

I laughed, pulling back a little. “You have no idea what you're talking about, do you?” I asked him, enjoying his face turning red.

“Yes I do…” he seemed indignant. “I just can't concentrate, that's all.”

And with that, he caught me for another kiss.

I awoke with a start, trying to allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness that now surrounded me. How long had I been asleep? The moon wasn't out yet, so that was an encouraging sign.

That dream had startled me back to reality. How could I have forgotten about the flowers? Quickly, I reached into my pocket with my good arm. Just touching the petals instantly made me feel safe and warm again. Instead of cold, hungry, and heartbroken, I felt as if I were back where I belonged; the shire. What an idiot I was to leave! I thought, somehow managing to get up and stretch a little. I have to get back there as soon as possible…

A pang hit me and I realized that going back home meant moving farther away from the people who most likely needed me the most. But what was it that Galadriel had said again? Oh, yeah, I'm a peril-bringer to everyone in the fellowship. That really had boosted my ego. Even Gandalf had told me at least once to stay away from Frodo and Sam.

With a firm resolve, I directed myself towards the even-blacker-now-that-it-was-dark forest, banishing all the extra thoughts running through my head. With every step I took the forest got bigger and wider.

Looking up and closing my eyes to feel the wind softly blowing on me face, for some reason I suddenly had a feeling that I was walking toward my doom instead of from it.

Let me just make one thing perfectly clear: the people who like to go camping without tents and some sort of blanket are absolutely crazy. I don't know how they do it. No self-respecting hobbit would make oneself go through the pain and misery of sleeping on the ground in the entrance of a forest without a decent pillow, blanket, midnight snack, and a pre-midnight snack.

Why was I on this trip again?

Wait. Don't think about that. That only causes pain. No more thoughts about Frodo. Or Sam. Don't try to think about all the horrible things that could be happening to them right now. No! Nothing is going to happen to them! Stop it!

Waking from a dreamless sleep and noticing that the sun was just coming up, I decided that to keep walking would be better than nothing at all. I mean, what else did I have to do?

The forest wasn't as scary or cold as it was during the night. In fact, seeing all of nature waking was something that I had never had the pleasure of noticing before. Sam had, maybe, but he woke even before the sun had risen. For a brief instant I was jealous of my brother. He knew so much more than I did even then.

Left with nothing else to ponder, I started to remember more about that dream that I had the night before. Why in the world had I just now remembered when Frodo gave me the flower? Pretty soon I had made my own head hurt, so I stopped thinking about it for a while.

What's that noise?...oh…my stomach…looking down at it, I swear that I almost could see it move. Whoops…I guess I forgot about second breakfast…now I knew something was wrong with me. How could I forget about second breakfast?

Then I remembered that I had run away without any food or extra clothing. Suddenly wanting to have the power to peal off my layer of dirty skin, I heard my stomach roar again.

“Ok, ok!” I said to it, poking it gently to try to make some of the hunger go away. “I'll get something, I promise!” sigh… I thought sadly, looking around for anything edible. I think being away from Sam and Frodo for too long has thrown my mind and my stomach out of sync.

Hmm…no berries…no apples…no beer…where's the tavern when I needed it! Ok…calm down…you'll get food soon…everything will be all right…and now I was consoling myself. I really needed to get home and sleep in my own bed.

There was nothing to eat. I could have searched the entire forest for anything that even looked remotely like water or sap or something, but nothing would have come up. Or maybe I just am not a very good finder. Or looker. Or whatever.

Then I saw something that kept me entranced. A single thread of golden sunlight streaming through the treetops, glittering almost as if it were dancing caught my eye and held it. Not knowing why it was so enticing, I began to walk toward it, my hand leading the way as if it possessed on its own.

(A/N: hey, I just noticed…this is the 100th page! YAHOO! I apologize for the lax in the story. We now return you to your regular scheduled program.)

Coming from the light was soft music, but if I listened closely I could just make it out…

Wishing you were somehow here again…

Wishing you were somewhere near…

Sometimes it seemed, that if I just dreamed,

Somehow you would be here…

It was only with restraint that I help back the tears that suddenly popped into my eyes. Why was this magical music box playing, in all places, the forest? In the back of my mind I knew it was luring me in somehow, but for some reason, the thought of `why' wouldn't ever reach the place where I held my common sense and I kept walking.

Maybe if I had never had the sense to follow my own instructions and not have gone into the woods, then the following wouldn't have ever happened and I would have just gone on (well, maybe not peacefully) back home to my nice warm bed. But, then again, if I hadn't been so stupid, then nothing ever would have gotten resolved, right?

The light was warm and inviting as I came right up next to it. In fact, it seemed serene and peaceful. Until I walked into it, that is.

That's when I noticed that it was no longer warm; it was windy. And suddenly I couldn't see the trees anymore. The only thing surrounding me now was alternating colors of light and dark, blinding me for half a second, and then throwing me into darkness the next.

Then all at once it stopped. I still couldn't see anything outside of the light, as if I were in a sealed box. I knew it was a trap. I told myself, quietly also telling myself to shut up. That's when I noticed the creepy looking guy sitting cross-legged on the ground, his hands on his knees. He was not one color for more than two seconds. He was blue, the red, then black, then yellow, making my eyes hurt more. His eyes were closed and he looked as if he were in some sort of meditation.

“Uh…excuse me?” I asked sort of quietly, not sure whether or not I was allowed to break his concentration. There was silence for a few moments, and I almost started trying to break my way out of the force field before he spoke suddenly.

“You have come.” He whispered, his voice barely more than audible. It had some a buzzing quality to it, though, that filled my ears and made me want to listen.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“You were meant to be here.” He added, not nearly answered my question. I wanted to raise my eyebrows in sarcasm, but thought that might be a little too rude. Besides, how would he know? He had his eyes closed.

“Ok…what is going on here? Is this some sort of joke? Did someone conk me on the head and spin me around to get me to get lost and find wherever here is?” I joked, wanting to laugh at how ridiculous this all was.

“You were meant to get lost, just as you were meant to find this place.” I scoffed.

“What is this place, exactly?”

Silence for a few seconds. Then it smiled, turning my skin into a hair-raising bump machine. “All in good time, little one.”

I stood for a few more minutes, and then finally exploded. “I'm sorry, but I'm on a tight schedule and I really need to get going, so-” I was interrupted by his weird voice.

“Don't worry. Someone has arranged for you to be here, as you were meant to be.” This `you-were-meant-to-be-here' stuff was getting really old really quick. He shocked me into being quiet.

“Are you some sort of oracle?” I asked thinking and hoping that he wasn't some sort of manic who would jump out and kill me anytime soon.

“You should know the answer to that.” Was all he graced me with.

I sighed, going crazy from the lack-of-answer thing. “Will you just give me one straight answer?”

“Yes.” With that we fell back into the quiet. Five minutes passed…then ten…twenty.

Once again, I couldn't hold it in any longer. “You mean that Gandalf knew about this!”

“No. you were meant to be here to listen.”

“You keep saying that. For some reason it still doesn't seem to sink in.” I was being sarcastic now, instead of treating him with reverence like I should have (I think), but I didn't care.

“You must continue on a different path.”

“I know I'm lost.” He showed no sign of emotion, but I could suddenly tell that he was getting angry with me.

“That is not what this one meant.” He said, still in the same position as when I first saw him. I began to let my mind wander about how he could stay still for so long, but I brought it back quickly.

“Then stop speaking in riddles!” I shouted.

“Turn around on the path and go back.”

“Go…back?” I had two warnings from two very different people about not continuing and now some weirdo in a forest was trying to tell me the exact opposite! Where exactly did my life take that huge dip in the wrong direction?

“Yes.”

“I can't!”

“You must.”

“Tell that to Gandalf and Galadriel, because they're sure not going to let me!” I was angry because I hadn't had a bath for a fortnight and smelled like manure.

“You have a destiny to fulfill.” That got my mind reeling; apparently, if I traveled in either direction then I would be bringing peril or `fulfill' my destiny.

“And what exactly is my destiny?” I asked with a spiteful twist in my words.

For the first time he opened his eyes. I nearly fell backwards on my butt, shocked beyond all wits. There were no pupils in his eyes; they were completely white and solid.

“Turn around.” He commanded.

“But…where do I go?”

“Find the one you are supposed to help.” He never blinked.

“Who is that?”

“Go.”

“Tell me who!” I shrieked and there was a sudden gust of wind encircling me, whipping at me from all directions. I hugged myself around the middle to keep it from cutting me, but as soon as I did it stopped. When I opened my eyes again, he was gone and so was the light that I had first seen. The music had stopped and I found myself wanting it back again. It reminded me of a lament. A lament for Frodo. Stop it! He's not dead! I commanded my brain to stop thinking that way. It was way too morbid.

I still had no idea where I was. (Well, I knew I was in a forest, duh.)

Or where anyone else was, for that matter. We were all split up, going in opposite directions at the same time and getting further away all the while. So I did the only thing I could do in that situation. I stepped around in a circle, pointed in the exact opposite direction and started walking. It was the only thing any sensible grown-up hobbit would do, and wasn't I all three things?

It was a lot lighter than I thought it had been earlier. I guessed that several hours had passed since I had started talking to the annoying ugly guy. Oh, sorry. I suppose I should call it (him?) an oracle. Sigh.

Where to now? Do I follow his `suggestion'? I stopped in my tracks. Was this really the way I should be going? I rubbed my eyes with my left hand, not remembering that it was broken, and got a shock of pain shooting up my arm. Readjusting the sling, I decided to ignore the warning. Nothing that strange could have really happened to me. That's right. Everything that I just saw was just a dream. Something that my mind made up to play a trick on me.

Everything would be fine without following the advice of some lunatic. With that thought going through my mind, I found the path I was on previously and kept walking in that direction, never knowing that the choice I had just made had dire consequences.

ok, was that better? I had more fun writing that chapter than before, so…yeah. And I was able to work some new things in that I had forgotten or needed to advance the plot. Oops…did I say too much? Lol. j/k.

everything I write is so see-through anyways, that I'm sure the smarter people have figured out where she's headed by now. Don't be too disappointed, mind you. Lol.

oh and the song is from The Phantom of the Opera, the new musical that i'm obsessed about. it takes the place of Wicked, which i'm going to see in October! YAY!

Ok, I want to see my e-mail full of alerts that I have new reviews, ok? Ok! See you peoples in the next chapter!

Emmablk1

P.S. if you review, I'll give you chocolate! Shh!