He wasn't sure he had made the right decision, but he knew he had made the good one. He had let Ryan go, because he knew that was what should be done. Jacob was admittedly nerding out to the highest degree. He had always been a fan of The Lord of the Rings, but he had never thought he would end up in Middle-earth. As soon as they had crossed the border into the shire they had recalled their memories that related to this world. Jacob wondered if J.R.R. Tolkien had also been here and wrote his series to make himself believe it was all just his imagination. After they set up camp that night, he turned to Strider, who he now recognized as Aragorn and smiled. He was meeting one of his role models. He just realized that Aragorn had never said his name to any of them, just said to address him as Strider. When Jacob explained that he now knew more about the world to Strider, he didn't believe him at first. Jacob told him about Tolkien's books and how their story had travelled to earth. Aragorn still seemed to have some doubt, so Jacob looked him straight in the eyes and called him by his name.

"You are Aragorn, son of Arathorn, King of Gondor. That blade that you carry is named Aduríl, the flame of the west. It was forged from the shards of Narsil, the sword of Elendil. It was the sword that cut the ring from Sauron's hand after it had been broken. I know every detail of the story of the fellowship of the ring. I can tell you that I wasn't told any of that in this world," Jacob said rising to his feet in a hushed voice. Aragorn was stunned by Jacob's knowledge of him, and he simply stared at him for a moment.

Jacob began to walk away when Aragorn said something in response, "I believe you, but that knowledge is a danger in this world. If the girls don't know all that, don't tell them. I don't want to risk any slip ups." Jacob looked back and nodded in agreement. It was probably a good idea to mention that to Vince, as well. When he went to sit with the others, he noticed that Cat was looking a little downcast.

He went over and sat next to her, asking, "Hey, what's up? Something wrong?"

"No, I just realized that I still have to carry around my shield and sword even though I don't know how to use them now," She told him. Jacob laughed at this.

"Here give them to me," He said, "I know how to use a sword and a shield. If you want to use my bow, I'm sure Defréndel could give you a lesson or two."

She responded with a hint of sadness in her voice, "No, I don't want to fight now. It just seems wrong." Jacob nodded back to her.

"I understand. I know how to use both anyway. Maybe not as well as I did before, but I do know a little. Now you won't have that burden on you." He said, slinging the sword and shield around his back. He got up and went to his small blanket that he had brought. They went to sleep, and Jacob found that now dreams rushed through his head. Dreams of many things, but when he woke in the morning, he only remembered one of them. The one that was, in truth, a memory. He saw himself squatting there next to Ryan. He remembered every word he had said to him clearly.

"I am going to help lift this warg off you, but then you are going to run away and never return to my sight. If I do see you again, I will put an arrow right between your eyes, drive Vince's knives through your chest, put a blade through your neck, and a spear through your stomach, because you betrayed not only my trust, Mal's, or Drinian's, but you betrayed Cat, and I won't let you get away with that. I am only letting you go because I won't lower myself to your level. Now, push that warg as hard as you can, and I'll help," He had threatened. He still was shocked by what he had done and was beginning to wonder what kind of trouble that threat would probably cause. He guessed Ryan was beginning to muster a force to hunt them down. He had made that threat, and he would have to live with it, or even die with it.

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Cat was glad to not be wearing that heavy shield or blade, since Jacob was now carrying them, plus as they walked into town led by Sam, all the hobbits looked at her friends with concern while they looked at her with smiles. She wanted to be friends with these peaceful people, and they seemed to not like the idea of weapons. As they walked, hobbits greeted Sam and he talked with some of them. Soon though, Sam stopped in front of a round green door.

"Well this is home," He said, going in, "Oh Rosie! I'm home!" A female hobbit appeared from the hall to greet him, apparently named Rosie. Strider, Mendon, and Defréndel ducked inside in front of the four friends. Cat noticed that only Vince had to duck to enter through the door, because he was two years older than any of them. "Where's little Elanor? These kind people are looking for her," Sam asked his wife.

His wife gave him a disappointed look and said to him, "She not so little anymore Samwise, and she isn't here. she was out searching for you. You brought these people here for no reason." Sam looked dejected, but Strider simply stood and placed a hand on his shoulder. They all stood to go out, except for Sam. He sat, obviously feeling defeated. They all went out and began wondering what they could do to possibly find Elanor now. After a long time in silence, the door opened, and Sam poked his head out.

"You know you can stay in my home until you find a way to continue your quest. I'd be happy to have guests," He told them, slipping back into his home. Since nobody proposed an immediate solution, Cat walked back to the door and went in the hobbit hole again. They stayed that night, ate dinner with their friend, and slept well on the floors of their rooms, as all the furniture was a little too small.

In the morning, they all woke as usual, but soon they realized something was different. Each one of them thought they knew something they didn't before. When Cat mentioned this, Jacob agreed that something was different. So, the four friends took turns saying things from how they knew each other, to things they knew about this world. Finally, Jacob found himself realizing what he knew now.

"I know that Vince is a childhood friend, Mal is a good friend of mine who I really do trust, and Cat is a friend I've had for a little while," He said recalling what he knew about each of them, "We are in the world of the Lord of the Rings, and we got here by..." he trailed off. How none of them had realized it until now they weren't sure, but they all knew how they had gotten here.

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Mal had been early, but she wasn't alone. Cat had arrived about fifteen minutes early as well, as well one of Jacob's neighbors. Jacob introduced his friend to the two of them as Vince, and they decided to go in and hang out anyway. Jacob had invited many of his friends to this birthday party. It sounded like he had invited every freshman from church, and some of his school friends. She had remembered walking through the front door, rounding the stairs behind Cat, who had followed Jacob to the basement. She had walked right through the door the others had gone through, but it was suddenly pitch black, and as she stepped down to try to reach the first step, she stumbled forward and fell, finding no step there, but only a fall. She had fallen and fallen, until finally she found herself in this world temporarily blind, and without her memory. She looked around now to see that Jacob, Cat, and Vince all had just realized they remembered it too.

In a hushed voice, Vince said what she was thinking in that moment, "I didn't realize I had forgotten that. How can we forget something, and not know we had forgotten it?" Jacob and Cat smirked at that, neither realizing the other had done so.

Cat was the first to say what both of them were thinking, "I went over my memories as soon as we remembered everything we already knew about this world." Jacob looked over at her, then smiled even more, because she had just said what he was thinking. Mal was starting to feel cramped in the short halls in this hobbit home, so she suggested that they go outside in the gardens. She hadn't slept well in the cramped room on the floor. She had found that she had slept better while they were on the road. They went out and sat outside, talking about different things they could remember of their life before they came here.

As they talked, a younger looking hobbit girl approached them. "Hello, strangers. Do you know if Mr. Gamgee is home?" She asked them. She was a hobbit that was definitely fully grown, but not old yet. She had long, curly, blonde hair, a smile on her face, and a joy in her voice. Mal decided that nothing was wrong with telling her, but she wanted to be sure.

"Why do you ask? Do you need to talk to him?" Mal asked. She shook each of their hands as she explained herself. Vince, however, was inspecting some of the flowers in the garden, and didn't receive a handshake from the blonde hobbit girl. As she explained that she had a letter for Sam, Mal began to feel just a little dizzy, and she looked to the others to see if they were too. Simultaneously, the three of them fell to the ground, and the hobbit girl screamed aloud. She faintly saw Vince turning to look at them as her vision faded to black.

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Vince turned to see his friends collapsing, and he rushed to try to help them. The hobbit girl looked stunned, and Vince started directing her to help carry them inside the hobbit home, as she panicked. They carried Jacob in first, as he was closest to the door. They laid him in the entry hall and she said she did need to go, but she would leave her letter with him. She left through the front door, leaving the letter next to the door. Vince found himself having only the old hobbit to help carry in Mal and Cat, because Rosie was out shopping, and the adults were out trying to find a way to find Elanor. They successfully brought Mal into the hall, but before they walked out to pick up Cat, Jacob stood up behind them.

"Here, let me help. She'll be out longer than either of us, probably." He said, barely standing to his feet. He struggled to the door, and right as he pulled to open it, it shot open from a push from outside. He fell forward into the person who happened to have opened it at the same time. Luckily for him, they managed to catch them without being toppled. It also happened to be Cat, so he laughed and said, "I told you you'd help me when I couldn't walk." This made Cat smile and Vince took on a confused look.

Vince realized this was probably an inside joke and didn't want to intrude, so he walked to the door and picked up the letter. He wondered what had caused the others to collapse, and he was beginning to suspect the girl had somehow caused it. He didn't think it was intentional, so he handed the letter to Samwise and explained how it had come to them. Jacob picked up his bow with a natural ease and walked outside again. They all followed, because he asked them to see something. He fired an arrow and hit a small target he had set up to practice right in the center. It was then that Sam gasped, but not because of the shot. He had just read the signature of the letter. It had been given to him by Elanor. The girl had been Elanor.