Claire fell. Jim had grabbed her hand as Morganna had pulled her back into the void, and Toby had shattered the staff. But Morganna was holding on, pulling both her and Jim into the void.
Light.
Dark.
Then Morganna and Jim were both whirled away from her, and Claire opened her mouth to scream.
And it was filled with water, cold water. Like she wasn't in her shadow dimension anymore, but a deep ocean. She flailed around in terror.
Then there was a great figure leaning over her, almost a cut out of the world. Within its great form, she stars and voids of utter darkness combining to form an outline in the night.
Claire wanted to scream.
Then it spoke.
Thou hast seen the last day of thine home. All the days of your life you shall live here. The Lost shall you doom and redeem, and not even the Valar can say where your road shall end. But great sorrow and great joy alike shall be your companions…
Then suddenly cold air was hitting her. Light gleamed down from a normal sun…
And then Claire hit the water, the impact driving her breath out of her body as she passed out.
"Mr. Frodo!" Samwise ran into Bag End. "Mr. Frodo?"
"What is it, Sam?"
"A woman—one of the Big Folk, she fell into the Water."
Frodo blinked "Fell?"
"From the sky!"
Frodo shook his head and followed Sam out of the door, the two hobbits running down to the Water, where several others had pulled the woman out of the water, where she lay on her side, coughing. Everyone was talking about the purple flash and how the woman had just appeared, landing in the water with a huge splash.
Frodo frowned.
"She's not a woman, Sam, she's a child." What is she wearing? He'd read of armor, and some of the dwarves who had visited Bilbo before he left had worn armor, but he'd never seen armor of such a color, or—
She coughed once more, then looked around, eyes wide. "Where…where am I? This isn't Arcadia!"
"You're in the Shire," Frodo said. "I'm Frodo Baggins, uh… where is this 'Arcadia.'?"
"It's a town, in California?"
Frodo blinked.
"America?"
"Is that some Big People kingdom?" Someone else asked.
"Uh… Right, I'm Claire Nunez," she said.
Frodo paused. "I've…never heard a name like that." Never. He didn't recall any names like that in any of Bilbo's books or papers. "Where are your parents, and how did you fall out of the air?"
"Mom and Dad are home… we were fighting Morganna and Gunmar and his trolls…" She shook her head. "I… we broke her staff and then…" She put her hand to her helmet, and Frodo noticed the bruises on her face. "Where's Jim, I was holding on to him…" She tried to stand up, almost fell, then stood up, swaying from side to side, towering over the hobbits. "I have to find Jim and…" Then she shuddered, and toppled over on her side.
"What happened?"
"The girl fell out of the sky and into the water. It's a wonder her brains weren't dashed out," Hamfast Gamgee, said, bustling up. "Even the Big People should know better than to dress a child up in ironmongry and toss them into a river."
"Right," Frodo said. "We'll bring her into Bag End. I have a guest room with a bed large enough for her. Sam, go get Daisy and May, so we can get her out of this armor. It certainly won't be comfortable."
"Right, Mr. Frodo!" Sam took off and then Frodo, with the help of the rest of the crowd and a wheelbarrow, provided by Gaffer Gamgee, managed to get the mysterious girl up to the entrance and into Bag End.
Who are you? Appearing in the sky? Even Gandalf has never spoken of such things. And where is this "America?"
Regardless, she was clearly far from home, and Frodo would help her until she could find her way back to her family.
A few notes: 1. this isn't "Claire and Jim go with the fellowship." It's Canon Compliant and Adjacent, largely because I hate stories where "insert character A" shows up and totally saves the day and shows Gandalf how it's done. Also, Claire's a teenager who had no problems grabbing a sketchy magic artifact and Jim just picked up a talking amulet. Yeah. No way is Gandalf letting that pair anywhere near the One Ring.
2. While Strong, there are issues in Middle Earth that keep them from just casually rampaging over the setting. Both Jim and Claire are gonna have to use their brains.
3. While canon adjacent, they will be very important. Mandos does not offer prophecies to just anyone, after all...
