Flight
A/N: Disclaimers in first part of story. Basically, I don't own anyone but Lauren and other original characters. As I mentioned in the disclaimers, there were many song lyrics in the first version of this story. While the song lyrics are no longer a part of the story, I do discuss, paraphrase and otherwise use songs as part of the story. This chapter includes a discussion of a song by Switchfoot, 'Dare you to move'. I don't have any rights to the song.
//"Oh, I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Lauren grinned at them. "Have you ever wanted to fly?"//
Chapter Fourteen - Flight
"Fly?" Legolas asked with excitement, his eyes lighting up.
"Fly?" Aragorn echoed, his voice not quite sounding so enthusiastic. To Lauren, he sounded almost wary.
She just smiled mysteriously at them and looked around. Aragorn and Legolas followed her gaze as the scenery changed around them once more. It was day again, and they stood in a wide grassy field. In front of them was a contraption that Aragorn and Legolas had never seen before, nor thought they would ever see. A large and very colorful mass of material was suspended above the ground in a sort of distorted spherical shape. Beneath this billowing material hung a large basket with a device that occasionally belched flame toward a hole in the bottom of the material. There was a person standing in that basket controlling the fire. He waved them over.
"What is that?" Aragorn asked. He was not about to go any closer until he got some sort of explanation.
"That, my friends, is a hot air balloon." Lauren's grin stretched from ear to ear and her eyes sparkled with her excitement as she explained what the object was. "It is a law of physics that hot air rises. If you can get enough hot air trapped in a small space, it has enough strength to lift a basket full of people. So, the fire below the balloon heats the air trapped in the balloon, and the people in the basket can fly above the land below. Now, would you like to join me?"
"Yes!" Legolas said instantly. He was excited as a child at the thought of being able to fly among the clouds like the birds.
"Is it safe?" Aragorn asked doubtfully. This did not seem like the best idea to him.
"Completely," Lauren reassured him. "And don't forget, we're in my dreams. I'll make sure there are no dangerous wind conditions or storms springing out of nowhere that might cause a problem. We'll be perfectly safe, I promise. And don't worry, you can't even feel any sense of movement when you're in a balloon."
"You have done this before?" Aragorn asked in surprise, looking back and forth between Lauren and the balloon.
"Once," Lauren answered, a broad smile on her face. "It was great." She bounced lightly on her toes in excitement.
"Very well," Aragorn relented, apparently reluctant to leave the ground.
Lauren led them to the hot air balloon where they quickly and easily clambered into the basket. The person controlling the balloon nodded to someone on the ground and the ropes holding the basket down were released. A loud noise indicated the controller was increasing the flame again, and the basket slowly rose off the ground. Aragorn grabbed the edge of the basket that reached above their waists in reflex, but when he realized that he truly could feel no sense of movement, he relaxed his grip.
Legolas looked around as they rose above the treetops, his eyes shining with excitement and wonder. It was not long before they were higher than the top of the tower they had just left. The land beneath them was rural, farmland with patches of forest. Legolas was much more comfortable here than in any city. They were far enough out for him to sense nature around them. Well, as much as he was able to in this dream world, anyway.
"So, do you like flying like this?" Lauren asked, gazing at the enraptured look on Legolas' face.
"Very much," Legolas answered, not taking his eyes from the view all around them.
"It is very nice," Aragorn agreed. He did not particularly enjoy knowing that the ground was quite so far below them, but he had to admit that this was a very relaxing method of travel.
"I need to put in a little disclaimer here," Lauren said. "I have been in this area before, but I've never seen it by air. I have no idea how close or far apart things are, so what we see here is largely a product of my imagination, though it is supported by the places I have actually visited."
"So where were you when you rode in a balloon the last time?" Legolas asked, glancing briefly back at her.
"It was back in the United States," Lauren said. "There was a hot air balloon festival near where we were living at the time. My parents arranged for me to get a ride as part of my birthday present, though I would love to take a hot air balloon ride over the Loire Valley some day as well." She pointed down to a river below them. "That's the Loire River, from which this valley gets its name. As I said, I don't know how accurate any of this will be, but there's a chateau, or a castle coming up that I want to show you. It's been one of my favorites from the first time I saw it."
As they traveled the length of the river, a building soon came into view that was straddling the river. "What is that?" Aragorn asked.
"That would be Chenonceau, my favorite castle so far," Lauren said. "I won't bore you with the history of the place, since it involves people you've never heard of and have no need to know, but the fact that it was built across the river just makes it special to me."
As they got closer, they could see the archways that allowed the river to flow between the supports of the castle. It was three stories tall, long and relatively narrow, as castles went. Separated from the rest of the castle was a circular tower-like building, though it was no taller than the rest of the castle. The water reflected the main body of the castle, creating a mirror image in the smooth water. On the end of the castle that was obviously the main entrance, the building was a bit wider than the rest, and the walkway leading up to it was flanked on either side by beautiful and extremely well maintained gardens. The garden to the left of the castle had a small circular pool in the middle, surrounded by walkways and grassy areas lined with bushes and flowers. The garden to the right was larger, more sprawling. It also had walkways winding through the garden, grassy areas lined with trees, bushes and flower plantings to keep people off the grass, but it also had intricate designs sculpted in the grassy areas.
"The gardens are beautiful," Legolas commented, "but they are a little too formal for my tastes. The plants are rigidly controlled; they are not allowed to grow as they should. If these trees had the ability to converse with me, I cannot imagine that they would have anything happy to say."
Lauren gave a lopsided grin. "Trust the elf to have a problem with the overly manicured gardens and lawns. I love this place, and I do think the gardens are beautiful, but I can see your point. These gardens were designed for the pleasure of those who look at them, not for the pleasure of the plants. Though, I have to admit, that is how most gardens are designed. Some people just have different tastes."
They soon left Chenonceau behind, and Lauren leaned on the edge of the basket, watching the river, the trees and the farmland pass below them. The height of the balloon was constantly changing as the air within it cooled and the balloon lost some altitude. At that point, the pilot would increase the flames, heat the air and the balloon rose again. Lauren began humming to herself as she watched the scenery pass below them.
"What song is that?" Legolas asked, not recognizing it as one he had heard before.
"You may not want to know," Aragorn warned, remembering the words to the last song she had sung.
"It's not that bad," Lauren retorted. "I'll admit that Evanescence doesn't have exactly the most uplifting music in the world, but they're not the ones stuck in my head anymore. For the last hour or so, I've had Switchfoot songs in my head. It's kind of like someone changed CD's somewhere, and I'm hearing what they're playing. Anyway, the song I was humming is called 'Dare You to Move'. I've never been quite sure, but I think the song is asking the question of how do you deal with problems in life? How do you react when things go wrong? Can you handle them as you should, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and continue to live your life?" She paused as the comparison to her own life struck her. Her voice was quiet as she spoke again. "Can I get past this accident? What will my life be like when I wake up? Will I be able to handle it, or will it overwhelm me?" She shook her head to rid herself of her less than pleasant thoughts. She didn't want anything to spoil her peaceful day.
Aragorn saw that she was going to change the subject again. He knew that sooner or later she would have to face those questions and prepare herself for anything. It would be his preference for her to discuss her concerns and thoughts with him, rather than face them on her own. After getting to know her, however, he had come to realize that her normal method of trying to deal with problems was to attempt to handle them on her own. Only after it was proved to her that she would not be able to handle things alone would she ever ask for help. Aragorn only hoped he would be around when she reached that point. If he thought it would work, he would stop this 'tour', sit her down and force her to talk. Unfortunately, he knew it would not work. She would evade his attempt and go on to discuss something else. It would be impossible to force her to discuss something she truly did not wish to discuss. All of her previous revelations about herself and her life would not have happened if she had wanted to keep the information from them.
Aragorn's suspicions were proved correct when she pointed to another sight below them. "The castle coming up is the largest in the Loire Valley. It has four hundred and forty or so rooms, with three hundred and sixty-five fireplaces."
"Three hundred sixty-five fireplaces?" Legolas asked. He looked over at Aragorn. "With that many fires, even you would not be able to complain of the cold in the winter."
"I feel the cold no more than any other human," Aragorn retorted. "Just because elves are not affected by cold, you seem to suffer the delusion that I need to stay huddled near a fire in the winter."
"Are you two done?" Lauren asked. "You can bicker later. I don't want you to miss this view. Of course, each of those three hundred sixty five fireplaces needs a chimney, so one of the things this castle is known for is its numerous and detailed chimneys. There are also several famous spiral staircases here. You can't see the most famous one, it's inside, but the double spiral staircase is actually two separate staircases that intertwine, but never intersect. If you had two people start up the stairs at the same time, they would never see each other all the way up except for the small windows inset into the walls of the staircases."
"I would have had fun with that as a child," Aragorn commented, a grin spreading across his face at the thought as he peered over the edge of the basket.
"I can see you as a child playing on those stairs and doing your best to avoid detection as you snuck about," Legolas said with a laugh.
"Can you imagine what my brothers might have done with a staircase like that?" Aragorn asked, chuckling.
"I shudder to think," Legolas laughed lightly, shaking his head.
Lauren gave up the lecture. As long as they were looking at the magnificent castle passing below them, she wouldn't try to interfere with their teasing comments. In fact, it was rather fun to listen to. She simply leaned back against the side of the basket and listened to them as she took in the scenery.
All too soon, the hot air balloon began to descend toward an open field. "You might want to brace yourselves," Lauren said. "There could be a small bump as we land." She held onto the side of the basket and braced her legs in preparation. The other two followed her lead. When they first contacted the ground, there was a large bump, and the basket began to slide sideways as the wind tried to continue carrying the balloon on its path. The basket rose slightly and drifted a few feet before hitting the ground once more. This time, there was not enough hot air in the balloon to lift the basket again. The balloon drifted lazily through the air and was caught by a group of people who were waiting for it. They kept the balloon from covering the basket and pulled it out of the way as two other people stabilized the basket, allowing them to climb out.
"Are all landings that rough?" Aragorn asked, moving away from the basket.
"I don't know," Lauren answered. "I've only been up once. But that was about how I remember it. It wasn't that bad."
"No, not compared to many of my abrupt descents from high places." Aragorn shook his head in remembrance, wondering why he was bringing up a subject that Legolas would surely take advantage of.
Lauren looked confused at Aragorn's comment.
"Aragorn has a habit of falling from nearly every cliff he climbs," Legolas said teasingly.
"Hardly every cliff," Aragorn protested reaching out to swipe at Legolas.
Lauren grinned as Legolas ducked away. Aragorn's apparent dislike of heights was becoming clearer to her.
"Well, other than the landing, did you like flying?"
Legolas's bright eyes and wide smile were all the answer Lauren needed from him. Aragorn nodded. "Yes," he said. "It was a very pleasant trip."
"Would you like to try another form of flight?" Lauren asked, a grin forming on her lips.
"May we see what it involves before we answer?" Aragorn asked warily.
"Of course," Lauren said. She turned around, and as she did so, the surroundings changed from a field to the shore of a lake ringed on all sides by mountains. "Welcome to Annecy," she said. "It's a small village in the French Alps, which is the mountain range around us. I stayed here once for a summer and spent nearly every day at the beaches. The only problems are that the beaches are rocky and the water extremely cold. But other than that, it is a very nice place to visit."
"Where is this new method of flight?" Legolas asked, looking eagerly around and taking in the scenery.
Lauren pointed out toward the middle of the lake. A boat was racing at high speeds along the lake. Attached to this boat was a rope that led up in the air to a person suspended from a half circular shape of material. "Is that person suspended by hot air?" Aragorn asked. "I do not see a method of heating the air."
"No, this is called para-sailing, and the person is held up by a parachute. The speed of the boat is the only thing holding the person up at that height. The parachute catches the wind, and raises the person from ground level. If the boat stops, the person will float gently back to earth." Lauren never took her eyes off the boat and para-sailing rig as she explained.
"And have you also done this 'para-sailing'?" Legolas asked, watching the person soar above the water of the lake. It did look like a great deal of fun to him.
"Yes, twice," Lauren said with an excited sparkle in her eyes as she glanced over to them. "I loved it. Would you like to give it a try?"
"Very much," Legolas answered immediately. He would certainly not turn down a chance to experience flight in whatever method Lauren would care to show them.
Aragorn shook his head as he watched the boat trailing the person high in the air above them. "You said with the balloon ride that you felt no sense of motion. Is that the case with this method?"
Lauren thought about it for a moment. "It's kind of hard to do a comparison. In an elevator, you feel the motion. In a hot air balloon, you feel pretty much like you're standing still. With para-sailing, you feel something, but its more like floating, feeling the wind rushing past and it's exhilarating and relaxing all at the same time."
"And can we all go up at the same time?" Aragorn asked. "It looks rather like only a single person is able to do this."
"Well, you can have two people attached to the same parachute," Lauren said. "I've done it with friends before."
"In that case, I will let the two of you do this," Aragorn said. "You both seem to enjoy the sensation of flying, while I would prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground."
"Are you sure?" Lauren asked. Aragorn's nod was all she needed. Grabbing Legolas' hand, she led him quickly to the dock where a boat awaited them. They were strapped into harnesses that would allow them to be connected to the parachute and then stepped onto a flat platform. The platform was powered by a motor and was capable of matching the speed of the boat. Moving out away from the shore, they waited for the boat to approach them. As the boat came toward them, the platform started moving and once the boat passed them, one of the operators grabbed the rope to the parachute and clipped it into a metal ring at the front of the platform. The person currently in the parachute was slowly brought toward the platform as the boat kept moving at a slower pace. Lauren and Legolas were placed in position so that the moment the other person touched down, he would be unclipped, and they would be clipped to the parachute. It all happened just as it was designed to. Lauren and Legolas were clipped to the parachute with no difficulty, and then the clip at the front of the platform was released. The boat sped up and the parachute rose swiftly and smoothly into the air.
"Whoo-hoo!" Lauren exclaimed the moment their feet left the platform. The first time she had done this, she had been afraid that the initial ascent would bother her, but it was so smooth that it could barely be felt. They quickly reached the extent of the rope and found themselves floating high above the lake.
Lauren turned her head around to glance up at Legolas. The rings he had been attached to were slightly higher and back behind hers, so it almost seemed that they were sitting on two different levels of bleachers. He was looking around them in rapt wonder. His eyes were shining and his hair was blowing in the breeze. He looked like he was having the time of his life. Lauren felt much the same way, and knew that her eyes had that same wild enjoyment. She turned back around and looked down at the lake below them. The water of the lake reflected back the deep blue of the sky, the trees on the mountains around the lake were a forest green, and the town off to the side looked very picturesque. Lauren could not imagine a more perfect moment, and felt a sudden pang of regret that Aragorn had decided not to do this. 'Oh well, his loss,' she thought to herself. She closed her eyes momentarily and held her arms out to her sides, letting the wind rush past her and feeling that she was truly able to fly like a bird. She loved this sensation. Opening her eyes out of fear of missing something, she relaxed back into her harness as she took in the sights. She saw the boat slowing to a stop and they started drifting toward the water. 'Oops,' she thought to herself. With a quick thought, both she and Legolas were no longer wearing shoes. She chose a pair of shorts for herself, but couldn't bring herself to do anything to alter Legolas' clothes. "You may want to roll up your pants legs," she said in warning. As they approached the water, she stopped worrying about it. The people in the boat were watching very closely to see when they touched the water and make sure everything was well with them. Lauren felt her feet break the surface of the water and relished the cool clean feeling of dipping her feet in the lake. As soon as both of them had touched the water, the boat sped up again, and they rose back into the sky. Since Legolas had been sitting higher than she was, in order for him to just dip his feet in the water, she had been submerged to her knees. 'It's a good thing I changed into shorts,' she thought as she felt the cool air blowing past her wet legs. 'It felt good, though.'
After the brief dip in the lake, they began circling back toward the platform. Lauren hated to see that, since it meant their ride was coming to an end, but she did have some more plans for their time together. As soon as they touched down, they were unclipped from the parachute and some other people were clipped up to begin their ride. After the parachute was released, the platform operator directed them on how to remove the harnesses and took them back to the dock. Aragorn was waiting for them at the end of the dock.
"How did you like the flight?" he asked, studying Lauren's bright eyes and flushed cheeks. She looked more alive than he had ever seen her. Looking up at Legolas, he saw much the same thing. Legolas looked more excited than Aragorn had seen him in a long time.
"It was like nothing I have ever experienced," Legolas said. "I cannot find the words to do it justice." His gaze was drawn back to the parachute, watching the person currently soaring above the water.
"Amazing, fantastic, wonderful?" Lauren suggested, bouncing again on her toes, unable to stay still
Legolas looked fondly down at her. "That will do."
"You two seem meant to soar with the birds," Aragorn said. "It is unfortunate that you were born without wings." It truly did please him to see them enjoying themselves.
Lauren grinned at him, a sly look crossing her face. "Oh, there are ways to acquire wings."
Aragorn looked warily at her. "What else do you have planned for us?" Her tone had made him quite suspicious.
"Something I've never done, but always wanted to try," she said. " I actually have a friend who has been trying to get me to do it for years, but I've just never quite had the nerve to do it. My friend does it all the time, and has told me all about it. I always wished I had been able to get up the courage to do it though. You don't have to go if you don't want to, but I don't think you'll want to miss out on it. Just ask Legolas. You missed out on an experience of a lifetime with the para-sailing. You don't want to miss this opportunity." She was babbling in her excitement.
"What opportunity?" Aragorn asked. He looked around to find that they were now high in the mountain range. Lauren was no longer even warning them when she changed the scenery. A pointed finger was her only response. Aragorn looked over the edge of the mountain and saw several triangular shaped objects soaring in the air down the mountainside.
"It's called hang-gliding," Lauren said, gesturing toward the shapes below them with a wide grin on her face. "These set-ups are capable of staying aloft for hours, covering hundreds of miles. Our flight will be much shorter than that. The wings of the hang-gliders catch the wind and an experienced person has complete control over the direction of the glider. They know how to catch uplifts to gain altitude and how to maneuver to stay aloft. Since I've never done this, and neither have you, we'll be doing tandem flights with an experienced instructor. All we have to do is strap ourselves in and let them do the work. This is as close as I can imagine to flying like a bird that we're capable of achieving. So Aragorn, what do you think? Will you give it a try?" She turned large, pleading, puppy dog eyes on him, begging him to join them this time.
Looking at the expectant looks on hers and Legolas' faces, Aragorn could not find it in himself to say no. "Very well, it does look enjoyable." His voice was still somewhat reluctant.
"And this will be the one time you go over the edge of a cliff and land without injury," Legolas put in with a grin. Aragorn glared at him momentarily.
"If you keep saying such things, I may be tempted to change my mind." Aragorn crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his friend.
Lauren clapped a hand over Legolas' mouth. "Don't say anything else. I don't want Aragorn to miss this."
Legolas glared at Lauren and reached up to remove her hand from his face.
Lauren narrowed her eyes and batted his other hand away. "I'll move my hand when you agree to keep your mouth shut. Are we agreed?"
After another glare, Legolas relented and gave her a small nod.
"Good," Lauren said, turning away from them and walking to a clearing where several of the hang-gliders were sitting on the ground, waiting for the chance to loose the bonds of gravity and soar with the eagles. After a short conversation with one of the pilots standing nearby, Lauren came back over to Legolas and Aragorn with three harnesses in her hands and someone trailing along.
"This is Gus," she said as introduction. "He's going to show us how to attach the harnesses and give us a few instructions."
Gus did exactly that, helping them to get into the harnesses correctly, and telling them what they would need to do. When the instructions were given, and there no questions for him to answer, he led them over to the hang-gliders and helped them fasten themselves in. When their pilots gave the word, they started running down the steep incline with the pilot, then found themselves launching upward into the air. Lauren and her pilot went first, followed by Legolas, then Aragorn.
Lauren couldn't help but gasp as the ground dropped out beneath her and they soared over the edge of a cliff. She knew she wouldn't fall, but that first moment was more than a little unnerving. Since she was lying in a prone position, it was easy to look down and see just how far the ground was beneath her. The moment of fear passed and she took in the gorgeous scenery around them. They were high in the mountains, and she could see the distant peaks, low valleys, and the far-off glimmer of blue, indicating a distant lake. Breathtaking was the only word she could think of to describe it. Her pilot shifted sideways, and her harness moved with him as they changed direction. Her heart jumped as she found that she had been right. This was flying. She, or rather, her pilot, was in control of the flight. All previous experiences were simply gliding or floating. This was much closer to actual flying. It was incredible. Even if this was in her imagination, it was more fantastic than she ever thought she could have imagined.
She looked around for Aragorn and Legolas, and found their gliders nearby. She was close enough to see their faces. The look on Legolas' face was nearly one of rapture, and even Aragorn seemed to be thrilled with the experience. She only allowed herself that one moment of checking on them, then abandoned all logical or rational thought, giving herself up to the sensation of soaring among the eagles. As she did that, she noticed an eagle just up ahead. Its behavior was much like that of a hang-glider, outstretched wings catching the updrafts, and changing its center of gravity to control the direction of its flight. She realized that the person who had come up with hang-gliders must have been using an eagle as the model for the device. This was something that she wished would never end. Not a word was spoken between her and the pilot, as he seemed to sense how she was feeling and left her to enjoy herself in peace. For the rest of her flight, Lauren simply felt her surroundings. For a brief moment in time, she thought she could begin to understand the elven connection to nature. She almost felt as if she could talk to the eagle or the surrounding trees and have them respond in kind. Lauren felt a pang of sorrow as she saw the ground getting closer and closer. They touched down much more gently than the hot-air balloon did, and rolled to a stop in a flat open field. The pilot helped her to disentangle herself from the glider and helped her remove the harness.
Lauren stood waiting as Aragorn and Legolas landed, removed their harnesses and walked over to join her. They were all quiet for a moment as they came to terms with the fact that they would never be the same after this. Lauren looked back up with longing in her eyes, and Aragorn knew that he had been correct. Lauren was meant to soar among the clouds, not to be bound to earth. Her spirit needed to be able to fly free with the birds. She would never be truly happy unless she had moments like that to look forward to.
Suddenly, Lauren's face paled and she swayed where she stood. Aragorn and Legolas both reached out at the same time and took hold of an elbow to support her. "What is wrong?"
Aragorn asked her in concern.
She took a few deep breaths, and they watched as the color seeped back into her face. "I don't know," she said. "I just felt kind of…dizzy for a moment. Maybe the flight did something to my sense of balance. It's nothing. I'm fine now." She decided not to mention the headache and the momentary shooting pain in her legs that had struck with the dizzy spell. They had begun to fade as well, even if they were not entirely gone. It probably wasn't anything to worry about, anyway. She looked at her watch. If she had calculated it correctly, they had just a little over an hour. That should do it.
Looking back at Aragorn and Legolas, she smiled. "Do you remember what I promised yesterday that we would do today?"
They had to think for a moment. Today had involved so much that they had almost forgotten what had been said yesterday. "You said we would ride in that machine called an airplane," Legolas said, remembering her words from yesterday.
"Yes I did," Lauren said. "And we have just enough time to give you the full experience. You see, we can't simply walk onto a plane. We'll start at the airport. Just a quick question: neither of you are carrying any hidden weapons, are you?"
They looked at her in confusion. "No," Aragorn said. "We have not felt the need to have weapons here, and when we do, we can summon them at will. Do you think we will need them?"
"No, definitely not," Lauren said, waving her hands emphatically to make her point. "Security is really tight at the airports, and anyone trying to get a weapon through could find themselves in a lot of trouble. I just wanted to avoid that potential trouble and make sure you aren't carrying anything."
As she spoke, their surroundings changed again, the mountain fading around them and a large building forming in its place. She led them through the automatic doors into the building after ascertaining that they did not have weapons on them.
Pointing to the rows of counters with the mazes of posts and ropes marking off places for lines, she started their education on what an airport was. "Those are the ticket counters. If you need to check in for a flight and send your luggage to the baggage compartment, that is where you go. The ropes are to mark off where people need to stand in line. On a busy day, you can be in line for quite awhile. Let's assume that we already have tickets." She handed them each rectangular pieces of paper with writing on them, and small cards that had a picture of each of them along with more writing.
"What is this?" Aragorn asked, looking over the small card. The image of him did not look like a painting, but them he remembered the 'photographs' that he had seen in her house and realized this must be something like that.
"That is your driver's license," Lauren said. "You can't get past security without some form of photo identification to prove that you are the person listed on the ticket. Things are strict enough now that only people who have tickets can get anywhere near the boarding areas or planes. And driver's licenses are the most common form of ID."
With that, she led them toward a uniformed man standing at the entrance to another roped off area. They followed her lead in presenting the man with their tickets and ID and were soon waved on to continue in the line. At the end of the line was a rectangular archway that looked like a doorway with no door or wall. Beside this doorway was a device with a black moving belt that ran through the device. The moving belt looked much like the device they had seen at the grocery store that Lauren had taken them to the day before. Aragorn stopped in his tracks and stared at the device in question, wondering what was supposed to go on the belt since they were not making any purchases.
"That archway is a metal detector," Lauren explained. "You have to put all metal objects that you are carrying and all bags through the X-ray machine. It will look inside the bags and jackets and other objects to make sure there are no hidden weapons. Oh, and you'll have to take off your shoes and place them on the conveyor belt as well."
"Our shoes?" Legolas asked in surprise, looking at Lauren as if she were joking, but not knowing what the joke was.
"Some idiot tried to put explosives in his shoes and blow up a plane. Ever since then, they check everyone's shoes." Lauren shook her head at the insanity of some of the people in her world.
"This form of air travel is truly so dangerous?" Aragorn asked, looking at the intense security measures being taken.
"Well, historically, it is a form of transportation prone to being targeted by terrorists because it is so vulnerable. Once you're in the air, there is no easy escape. There have been some truly horrible terrorist acts involving planes, with thousands of deaths. We all complain about the stringent security because it inconveniences us, but if it will prevent the same things from happening again, it's worth a little inconvenience." Lauren began moving again as she spoke, heading toward the security measures.
Again, they followed her lead in removing their shoes, placing all loose items on the 'conveyor belt', and walking through the metal detector. Once on the other side, they picked up their shoes and put them back on before continuing on their way. Lauren led them down a long hallway with seating areas, eating areas and shopping areas lining both sides of the walkway. There was a moving walkway that Lauren could not resist leading them onto. Stepping onto the walkway, she gestured for Aragorn and Legolas to follow her. "Come on guys, it won't bite."
Aragorn and Legolas glanced warily at each other before reluctantly stepping forward onto the walkway. Aragorn wobbled slightly at feeling the ground move beneath him, but it did not seem to bother Legolas in the least, though he did not seem to know what to think about this new invention.
"Why would such a thing be needed?" Legolas asked, looking down at his feet. "Can people not walk long distances any more?"
Lauren shrugged, turning around to face them. "Well, when you're hiking from one end of an airport to another with heavy luggage and a short amount of time, these things and escalators are greatly appreciated. And believe me, I have been one of those appreciative people on many occasions. I have a tendency to overpack." She tilted her head slightly to the side as she looked at them. "I think I blame that on Mom. She always packs more than she needs, and I took after her in that respect."
A small grin crossed Aragorn's face at her comments about her and her mother's packing habits. He had seen many of the nobility of Gondor pack far more than they needed whenever they traveled. It seemed that some things would never change.
Legolas on the other hand, caught another part of her comments. "What are these escalators?"
"They're similar to the moving sidewalk, but they're moving staircases." Lauren shrugged again and turned around as she neared the end of the sidewalk and stepped off, making sure that Aragorn and Legolas knew the 'ride' was ending. Seeing the curious and incredulous look on Legolas' face at her description of an escalator, Lauren decided that he needed to see one in person, and suddenly the airport had a second level. As they approached what was now the end of the corridor, she slowed her pace and turned around to walk backward, gesturing behind her. "That, my friends, is an escalator."
Gaping at the escalator, then looking back at the moving walkway, Legolas shook his head in disbelief. "Has the human race truly gotten so lazy that walking down a corridor or up a level of steps is requires mechanical aid?"
Crossing her arms over her chest, Lauren glared at Legolas a moment before sighing. "You may not be far off the mark in calling us lazy, but I for one love having escalators to get me to the top of a long flight of stairs when I'm tired and rushed and carrying a lot of baggage with me. And you won't change my opinion of that, either."
Realizing that his comments were more than slightly rude, Legolas dropped his eyes from Lauren's for a moment before looking up to meet her gaze again. "Forgive me, I did not mean that to sound as it did. I meant no offense."
Shaking her head, Lauren waved off his apology. "I know you didn't. And, as I said, you may not be too wrong. But I forgive you. Now, would you like to try the escalator?" She stepped forward onto one of the steps. "Be careful how you place your feet." Lauren showed them how not to end up with their feet on two different steps and they were quite amazed as the steps brought them to the top of the incline. Once they were off of the escalator, Lauren checked her ticket once more, then looked up and led them to a seating area under the number 24. "Now, normally, I try to get to the airport ahead of time to make sure I'm not late. Since this is in our control, we can either board the plane now and have more time in the air, or you can look around the airport a little bit first."
"I believe I would like to take a few minutes to look around," Aragorn said, wanting to see more of this unusual place.
"Sure," Lauren replied "Go ahead." She took them to a little shop that sold magazines, souvenirs and candy. While she was there, she picked up a pack of gum. The change in altitude hadn't bothered them on the hang-gliding ride, but she hadn't thought of it, and they may not have changed altitude enough for it to be a problem. She watched Aragorn and Legolas wandering the store with some amusement. They had stopped in front of the selection of magazines, and Lauren wandered over to join them. Her first thought had been that they had gotten sidetracked by the sight of the scantily clad models on the covers of some of the magazines, but they surprised her. The magazine they were looking at was the National Enquirer. The headline read 'Bat-boy discovered in remote cave'.
"Why would they have a picture of Gollum?" Aragorn was asking. "He perished with the ring. He could not still be alive."
"Gollum?" Lauren asked, looking at the magazine in confusion.
"That cannot possibly be Gollum," Legolas said. "But I will admit that there is a resemblance. Is there any way that another form of human has been created that looks like him?"
"Oh, this person doesn’t really exist," Lauren said. "The picture is a fake."
"How can the picture be fake?" Aragorn asked. "You said that they capture images as they are."
"Well, they do, but people can change the way they look with certain programs on the computer. Trust me, nobody believes anything they read in this paper. I occasionally buy one if I want a laugh, but that's all they're good for. Come on, we should probably board the plane if we want any time in the air."
They both looked back over their shoulders at the paper before following her out of the store. She led them to the boarding gate where they had to show their tickets once more to get on the plane. After walking down a long hallway, they entered a narrow vehicle through a rounded doorway. Lauren looked at the numbers on their tickets and led them to two window seats in the first few rows of seats. She declined a window seat and sat next to Aragorn. Legolas was in the row behind them. Stretching her legs out in front of her, she relaxed back into the plush leather seat. "I know you two don’t know enough about flying in planes to appreciate this, but I booked us seats in first class. These are the most luxurious seats on the plane."
"What are the other seats like?" Legolas asked.
"Go look through that curtain," Lauren said, pointing back over her shoulder.
Legolas did as she asked, and saw how much smaller the seats seemed, how closely they were packed together. "I am glad you chose these seats," he said. "There would be no room to stretch out my legs in those other seats."
"Tell me about it," Lauren said. "The one time I got an unexpected upgrade to first class, I was spoiled for any future flights in coach class." She told them that they would have to buckle up in this vehicle as well. She showed them how to do so, and a flight attendant soon came up to them with an offer of a glass of champagne. "Thank you," Lauren said, taking a glass and sipping it.
The other two also took a glass and tested it. "It is an unusual flavor, and it has bubbles," Legolas said. "Why do so many of your beverages have bubbles?"
"Not a clue," Lauren said as she put the glass down and leaned back in her seat. Since she was controlling things, the boarding went very quickly, with only a few people other than themselves getting on. Soon, they were backing away from the gate and taxiing toward the runway. Lauren handed each of them a piece of gum.
"What is this?" Aragorn asked, looking at her as she demonstrated unwrapping the gum and chewing on it.
"It's gum," Lauren answered. "The abrupt change in altitude as a plane takes off and lands has the tendency to hurt people's ears by messing with the pressure in their inner ears. The chewing motion that gum needs helps you be able to pop your ears and keep them from getting too painful. Trust me, just do it."
As in so much here, they followed her lead. The flight attendant had taken their glasses before they started taxiing so they didn't have to worry about holding onto them. Lauren watched Aragorn as the plane sped up and began to leave the ground. Aragorn's hands gripped the armrests tightly as he was pressed back into his seat by the acceleration. He didn't look like he was having too much fun. She glanced back at Legolas and found that he had placed his hands over his ears. Apparently, the engine noise was too loud. Out of consideration, she quieted the engines, wishing it was something she could do in reality. Legolas looked over at her in thanks, then looked back out the window as the ground dropped away from them very rapidly. It was not long before they no longer felt the acceleration and were able to lean forward without fighting to do so. Looking back again, she noticed Legolas grimacing and putting his hands to his ears again.
"Is the pressure in your ears getting painful?" she asked Legolas. At his nod, she showed him a few methods to use to get his ears to pop. After he was able to ease the pain, he looked back at her a little accusingly. "I did warn you," Lauren said. She gestured to the window. "Take a look."
Legolas turned his attention to the window and his eyes widened. The city below them, like several of the cities he had seen in Lauren's world had contained some very tall buildings. From this height, they looked like nothing more than children's toys. The cars on the roadways below them looked like insects traveling along their way. The land around the city stretched out to the horizon in a patchwork of fields, housing areas, wooded areas, and water that must be lakes. Aragorn was also staring out his window in amazement. His ears had only bothered him momentarily, and he had gone back to looking out of his window very quickly. He glanced upward and saw that they were approaching some fluffy clouds. They were about to fly among the clouds! "Legolas, look up," Aragorn said softly.
Lauren watched them fondly as they watched the wisps of cloud float past their windows. She thought they should have a chance to see the mountains from above, so changed the shape of the land beneath them.
"Look, Aragorn, there are mountains that seem no more than ant hills."
Lauren smiled to herself. Aragorn and Legolas were as excited as children taking their first plane ride. She was glad she had been able to give them these experiences. She rubbed her leg absently where a dull pain had settled. At least she was sitting down and would not have to do much moving around for awhile.
Looking back over at Aragorn, she saw him talking with Legolas about being able to see the clouds from above, and the shadows they cast on the ground below. As she watched, Aragorn began to fade from her sight. "Aragorn," she said to get his attention. He and Legolas both looked back at her. "You're waking up," she commented. "I'm sorry that your first airplane ride is ending, but I'll see you both tomorrow night?"
They nodded and said their goodbyes before they faded from view. Lauren sighed and hit the call button. When the flight attendant arrived, Lauren asked if she had any aspirin that she could take. After swallowing the pills, she relaxed back into her seat again and tried to think of a way to entertain Aragorn and Legolas tomorrow night.
//"Oh, I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Lauren grinned at them. "Have you ever wanted to fly?"//
Chapter Fourteen - Flight
"Fly?" Legolas asked with excitement, his eyes lighting up.
"Fly?" Aragorn echoed, his voice not quite sounding so enthusiastic. To Lauren, he sounded almost wary.
She just smiled mysteriously at them and looked around. Aragorn and Legolas followed her gaze as the scenery changed around them once more. It was day again, and they stood in a wide grassy field. In front of them was a contraption that Aragorn and Legolas had never seen before, nor thought they would ever see. A large and very colorful mass of material was suspended above the ground in a sort of distorted spherical shape. Beneath this billowing material hung a large basket with a device that occasionally belched flame toward a hole in the bottom of the material. There was a person standing in that basket controlling the fire. He waved them over.
"What is that?" Aragorn asked. He was not about to go any closer until he got some sort of explanation.
"That, my friends, is a hot air balloon." Lauren's grin stretched from ear to ear and her eyes sparkled with her excitement as she explained what the object was. "It is a law of physics that hot air rises. If you can get enough hot air trapped in a small space, it has enough strength to lift a basket full of people. So, the fire below the balloon heats the air trapped in the balloon, and the people in the basket can fly above the land below. Now, would you like to join me?"
"Yes!" Legolas said instantly. He was excited as a child at the thought of being able to fly among the clouds like the birds.
"Is it safe?" Aragorn asked doubtfully. This did not seem like the best idea to him.
"Completely," Lauren reassured him. "And don't forget, we're in my dreams. I'll make sure there are no dangerous wind conditions or storms springing out of nowhere that might cause a problem. We'll be perfectly safe, I promise. And don't worry, you can't even feel any sense of movement when you're in a balloon."
"You have done this before?" Aragorn asked in surprise, looking back and forth between Lauren and the balloon.
"Once," Lauren answered, a broad smile on her face. "It was great." She bounced lightly on her toes in excitement.
"Very well," Aragorn relented, apparently reluctant to leave the ground.
Lauren led them to the hot air balloon where they quickly and easily clambered into the basket. The person controlling the balloon nodded to someone on the ground and the ropes holding the basket down were released. A loud noise indicated the controller was increasing the flame again, and the basket slowly rose off the ground. Aragorn grabbed the edge of the basket that reached above their waists in reflex, but when he realized that he truly could feel no sense of movement, he relaxed his grip.
Legolas looked around as they rose above the treetops, his eyes shining with excitement and wonder. It was not long before they were higher than the top of the tower they had just left. The land beneath them was rural, farmland with patches of forest. Legolas was much more comfortable here than in any city. They were far enough out for him to sense nature around them. Well, as much as he was able to in this dream world, anyway.
"So, do you like flying like this?" Lauren asked, gazing at the enraptured look on Legolas' face.
"Very much," Legolas answered, not taking his eyes from the view all around them.
"It is very nice," Aragorn agreed. He did not particularly enjoy knowing that the ground was quite so far below them, but he had to admit that this was a very relaxing method of travel.
"I need to put in a little disclaimer here," Lauren said. "I have been in this area before, but I've never seen it by air. I have no idea how close or far apart things are, so what we see here is largely a product of my imagination, though it is supported by the places I have actually visited."
"So where were you when you rode in a balloon the last time?" Legolas asked, glancing briefly back at her.
"It was back in the United States," Lauren said. "There was a hot air balloon festival near where we were living at the time. My parents arranged for me to get a ride as part of my birthday present, though I would love to take a hot air balloon ride over the Loire Valley some day as well." She pointed down to a river below them. "That's the Loire River, from which this valley gets its name. As I said, I don't know how accurate any of this will be, but there's a chateau, or a castle coming up that I want to show you. It's been one of my favorites from the first time I saw it."
As they traveled the length of the river, a building soon came into view that was straddling the river. "What is that?" Aragorn asked.
"That would be Chenonceau, my favorite castle so far," Lauren said. "I won't bore you with the history of the place, since it involves people you've never heard of and have no need to know, but the fact that it was built across the river just makes it special to me."
As they got closer, they could see the archways that allowed the river to flow between the supports of the castle. It was three stories tall, long and relatively narrow, as castles went. Separated from the rest of the castle was a circular tower-like building, though it was no taller than the rest of the castle. The water reflected the main body of the castle, creating a mirror image in the smooth water. On the end of the castle that was obviously the main entrance, the building was a bit wider than the rest, and the walkway leading up to it was flanked on either side by beautiful and extremely well maintained gardens. The garden to the left of the castle had a small circular pool in the middle, surrounded by walkways and grassy areas lined with bushes and flowers. The garden to the right was larger, more sprawling. It also had walkways winding through the garden, grassy areas lined with trees, bushes and flower plantings to keep people off the grass, but it also had intricate designs sculpted in the grassy areas.
"The gardens are beautiful," Legolas commented, "but they are a little too formal for my tastes. The plants are rigidly controlled; they are not allowed to grow as they should. If these trees had the ability to converse with me, I cannot imagine that they would have anything happy to say."
Lauren gave a lopsided grin. "Trust the elf to have a problem with the overly manicured gardens and lawns. I love this place, and I do think the gardens are beautiful, but I can see your point. These gardens were designed for the pleasure of those who look at them, not for the pleasure of the plants. Though, I have to admit, that is how most gardens are designed. Some people just have different tastes."
They soon left Chenonceau behind, and Lauren leaned on the edge of the basket, watching the river, the trees and the farmland pass below them. The height of the balloon was constantly changing as the air within it cooled and the balloon lost some altitude. At that point, the pilot would increase the flames, heat the air and the balloon rose again. Lauren began humming to herself as she watched the scenery pass below them.
"What song is that?" Legolas asked, not recognizing it as one he had heard before.
"You may not want to know," Aragorn warned, remembering the words to the last song she had sung.
"It's not that bad," Lauren retorted. "I'll admit that Evanescence doesn't have exactly the most uplifting music in the world, but they're not the ones stuck in my head anymore. For the last hour or so, I've had Switchfoot songs in my head. It's kind of like someone changed CD's somewhere, and I'm hearing what they're playing. Anyway, the song I was humming is called 'Dare You to Move'. I've never been quite sure, but I think the song is asking the question of how do you deal with problems in life? How do you react when things go wrong? Can you handle them as you should, pick yourself up, dust yourself off and continue to live your life?" She paused as the comparison to her own life struck her. Her voice was quiet as she spoke again. "Can I get past this accident? What will my life be like when I wake up? Will I be able to handle it, or will it overwhelm me?" She shook her head to rid herself of her less than pleasant thoughts. She didn't want anything to spoil her peaceful day.
Aragorn saw that she was going to change the subject again. He knew that sooner or later she would have to face those questions and prepare herself for anything. It would be his preference for her to discuss her concerns and thoughts with him, rather than face them on her own. After getting to know her, however, he had come to realize that her normal method of trying to deal with problems was to attempt to handle them on her own. Only after it was proved to her that she would not be able to handle things alone would she ever ask for help. Aragorn only hoped he would be around when she reached that point. If he thought it would work, he would stop this 'tour', sit her down and force her to talk. Unfortunately, he knew it would not work. She would evade his attempt and go on to discuss something else. It would be impossible to force her to discuss something she truly did not wish to discuss. All of her previous revelations about herself and her life would not have happened if she had wanted to keep the information from them.
Aragorn's suspicions were proved correct when she pointed to another sight below them. "The castle coming up is the largest in the Loire Valley. It has four hundred and forty or so rooms, with three hundred and sixty-five fireplaces."
"Three hundred sixty-five fireplaces?" Legolas asked. He looked over at Aragorn. "With that many fires, even you would not be able to complain of the cold in the winter."
"I feel the cold no more than any other human," Aragorn retorted. "Just because elves are not affected by cold, you seem to suffer the delusion that I need to stay huddled near a fire in the winter."
"Are you two done?" Lauren asked. "You can bicker later. I don't want you to miss this view. Of course, each of those three hundred sixty five fireplaces needs a chimney, so one of the things this castle is known for is its numerous and detailed chimneys. There are also several famous spiral staircases here. You can't see the most famous one, it's inside, but the double spiral staircase is actually two separate staircases that intertwine, but never intersect. If you had two people start up the stairs at the same time, they would never see each other all the way up except for the small windows inset into the walls of the staircases."
"I would have had fun with that as a child," Aragorn commented, a grin spreading across his face at the thought as he peered over the edge of the basket.
"I can see you as a child playing on those stairs and doing your best to avoid detection as you snuck about," Legolas said with a laugh.
"Can you imagine what my brothers might have done with a staircase like that?" Aragorn asked, chuckling.
"I shudder to think," Legolas laughed lightly, shaking his head.
Lauren gave up the lecture. As long as they were looking at the magnificent castle passing below them, she wouldn't try to interfere with their teasing comments. In fact, it was rather fun to listen to. She simply leaned back against the side of the basket and listened to them as she took in the scenery.
All too soon, the hot air balloon began to descend toward an open field. "You might want to brace yourselves," Lauren said. "There could be a small bump as we land." She held onto the side of the basket and braced her legs in preparation. The other two followed her lead. When they first contacted the ground, there was a large bump, and the basket began to slide sideways as the wind tried to continue carrying the balloon on its path. The basket rose slightly and drifted a few feet before hitting the ground once more. This time, there was not enough hot air in the balloon to lift the basket again. The balloon drifted lazily through the air and was caught by a group of people who were waiting for it. They kept the balloon from covering the basket and pulled it out of the way as two other people stabilized the basket, allowing them to climb out.
"Are all landings that rough?" Aragorn asked, moving away from the basket.
"I don't know," Lauren answered. "I've only been up once. But that was about how I remember it. It wasn't that bad."
"No, not compared to many of my abrupt descents from high places." Aragorn shook his head in remembrance, wondering why he was bringing up a subject that Legolas would surely take advantage of.
Lauren looked confused at Aragorn's comment.
"Aragorn has a habit of falling from nearly every cliff he climbs," Legolas said teasingly.
"Hardly every cliff," Aragorn protested reaching out to swipe at Legolas.
Lauren grinned as Legolas ducked away. Aragorn's apparent dislike of heights was becoming clearer to her.
"Well, other than the landing, did you like flying?"
Legolas's bright eyes and wide smile were all the answer Lauren needed from him. Aragorn nodded. "Yes," he said. "It was a very pleasant trip."
"Would you like to try another form of flight?" Lauren asked, a grin forming on her lips.
"May we see what it involves before we answer?" Aragorn asked warily.
"Of course," Lauren said. She turned around, and as she did so, the surroundings changed from a field to the shore of a lake ringed on all sides by mountains. "Welcome to Annecy," she said. "It's a small village in the French Alps, which is the mountain range around us. I stayed here once for a summer and spent nearly every day at the beaches. The only problems are that the beaches are rocky and the water extremely cold. But other than that, it is a very nice place to visit."
"Where is this new method of flight?" Legolas asked, looking eagerly around and taking in the scenery.
Lauren pointed out toward the middle of the lake. A boat was racing at high speeds along the lake. Attached to this boat was a rope that led up in the air to a person suspended from a half circular shape of material. "Is that person suspended by hot air?" Aragorn asked. "I do not see a method of heating the air."
"No, this is called para-sailing, and the person is held up by a parachute. The speed of the boat is the only thing holding the person up at that height. The parachute catches the wind, and raises the person from ground level. If the boat stops, the person will float gently back to earth." Lauren never took her eyes off the boat and para-sailing rig as she explained.
"And have you also done this 'para-sailing'?" Legolas asked, watching the person soar above the water of the lake. It did look like a great deal of fun to him.
"Yes, twice," Lauren said with an excited sparkle in her eyes as she glanced over to them. "I loved it. Would you like to give it a try?"
"Very much," Legolas answered immediately. He would certainly not turn down a chance to experience flight in whatever method Lauren would care to show them.
Aragorn shook his head as he watched the boat trailing the person high in the air above them. "You said with the balloon ride that you felt no sense of motion. Is that the case with this method?"
Lauren thought about it for a moment. "It's kind of hard to do a comparison. In an elevator, you feel the motion. In a hot air balloon, you feel pretty much like you're standing still. With para-sailing, you feel something, but its more like floating, feeling the wind rushing past and it's exhilarating and relaxing all at the same time."
"And can we all go up at the same time?" Aragorn asked. "It looks rather like only a single person is able to do this."
"Well, you can have two people attached to the same parachute," Lauren said. "I've done it with friends before."
"In that case, I will let the two of you do this," Aragorn said. "You both seem to enjoy the sensation of flying, while I would prefer to keep my feet firmly on the ground."
"Are you sure?" Lauren asked. Aragorn's nod was all she needed. Grabbing Legolas' hand, she led him quickly to the dock where a boat awaited them. They were strapped into harnesses that would allow them to be connected to the parachute and then stepped onto a flat platform. The platform was powered by a motor and was capable of matching the speed of the boat. Moving out away from the shore, they waited for the boat to approach them. As the boat came toward them, the platform started moving and once the boat passed them, one of the operators grabbed the rope to the parachute and clipped it into a metal ring at the front of the platform. The person currently in the parachute was slowly brought toward the platform as the boat kept moving at a slower pace. Lauren and Legolas were placed in position so that the moment the other person touched down, he would be unclipped, and they would be clipped to the parachute. It all happened just as it was designed to. Lauren and Legolas were clipped to the parachute with no difficulty, and then the clip at the front of the platform was released. The boat sped up and the parachute rose swiftly and smoothly into the air.
"Whoo-hoo!" Lauren exclaimed the moment their feet left the platform. The first time she had done this, she had been afraid that the initial ascent would bother her, but it was so smooth that it could barely be felt. They quickly reached the extent of the rope and found themselves floating high above the lake.
Lauren turned her head around to glance up at Legolas. The rings he had been attached to were slightly higher and back behind hers, so it almost seemed that they were sitting on two different levels of bleachers. He was looking around them in rapt wonder. His eyes were shining and his hair was blowing in the breeze. He looked like he was having the time of his life. Lauren felt much the same way, and knew that her eyes had that same wild enjoyment. She turned back around and looked down at the lake below them. The water of the lake reflected back the deep blue of the sky, the trees on the mountains around the lake were a forest green, and the town off to the side looked very picturesque. Lauren could not imagine a more perfect moment, and felt a sudden pang of regret that Aragorn had decided not to do this. 'Oh well, his loss,' she thought to herself. She closed her eyes momentarily and held her arms out to her sides, letting the wind rush past her and feeling that she was truly able to fly like a bird. She loved this sensation. Opening her eyes out of fear of missing something, she relaxed back into her harness as she took in the sights. She saw the boat slowing to a stop and they started drifting toward the water. 'Oops,' she thought to herself. With a quick thought, both she and Legolas were no longer wearing shoes. She chose a pair of shorts for herself, but couldn't bring herself to do anything to alter Legolas' clothes. "You may want to roll up your pants legs," she said in warning. As they approached the water, she stopped worrying about it. The people in the boat were watching very closely to see when they touched the water and make sure everything was well with them. Lauren felt her feet break the surface of the water and relished the cool clean feeling of dipping her feet in the lake. As soon as both of them had touched the water, the boat sped up again, and they rose back into the sky. Since Legolas had been sitting higher than she was, in order for him to just dip his feet in the water, she had been submerged to her knees. 'It's a good thing I changed into shorts,' she thought as she felt the cool air blowing past her wet legs. 'It felt good, though.'
After the brief dip in the lake, they began circling back toward the platform. Lauren hated to see that, since it meant their ride was coming to an end, but she did have some more plans for their time together. As soon as they touched down, they were unclipped from the parachute and some other people were clipped up to begin their ride. After the parachute was released, the platform operator directed them on how to remove the harnesses and took them back to the dock. Aragorn was waiting for them at the end of the dock.
"How did you like the flight?" he asked, studying Lauren's bright eyes and flushed cheeks. She looked more alive than he had ever seen her. Looking up at Legolas, he saw much the same thing. Legolas looked more excited than Aragorn had seen him in a long time.
"It was like nothing I have ever experienced," Legolas said. "I cannot find the words to do it justice." His gaze was drawn back to the parachute, watching the person currently soaring above the water.
"Amazing, fantastic, wonderful?" Lauren suggested, bouncing again on her toes, unable to stay still
Legolas looked fondly down at her. "That will do."
"You two seem meant to soar with the birds," Aragorn said. "It is unfortunate that you were born without wings." It truly did please him to see them enjoying themselves.
Lauren grinned at him, a sly look crossing her face. "Oh, there are ways to acquire wings."
Aragorn looked warily at her. "What else do you have planned for us?" Her tone had made him quite suspicious.
"Something I've never done, but always wanted to try," she said. " I actually have a friend who has been trying to get me to do it for years, but I've just never quite had the nerve to do it. My friend does it all the time, and has told me all about it. I always wished I had been able to get up the courage to do it though. You don't have to go if you don't want to, but I don't think you'll want to miss out on it. Just ask Legolas. You missed out on an experience of a lifetime with the para-sailing. You don't want to miss this opportunity." She was babbling in her excitement.
"What opportunity?" Aragorn asked. He looked around to find that they were now high in the mountain range. Lauren was no longer even warning them when she changed the scenery. A pointed finger was her only response. Aragorn looked over the edge of the mountain and saw several triangular shaped objects soaring in the air down the mountainside.
"It's called hang-gliding," Lauren said, gesturing toward the shapes below them with a wide grin on her face. "These set-ups are capable of staying aloft for hours, covering hundreds of miles. Our flight will be much shorter than that. The wings of the hang-gliders catch the wind and an experienced person has complete control over the direction of the glider. They know how to catch uplifts to gain altitude and how to maneuver to stay aloft. Since I've never done this, and neither have you, we'll be doing tandem flights with an experienced instructor. All we have to do is strap ourselves in and let them do the work. This is as close as I can imagine to flying like a bird that we're capable of achieving. So Aragorn, what do you think? Will you give it a try?" She turned large, pleading, puppy dog eyes on him, begging him to join them this time.
Looking at the expectant looks on hers and Legolas' faces, Aragorn could not find it in himself to say no. "Very well, it does look enjoyable." His voice was still somewhat reluctant.
"And this will be the one time you go over the edge of a cliff and land without injury," Legolas put in with a grin. Aragorn glared at him momentarily.
"If you keep saying such things, I may be tempted to change my mind." Aragorn crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his friend.
Lauren clapped a hand over Legolas' mouth. "Don't say anything else. I don't want Aragorn to miss this."
Legolas glared at Lauren and reached up to remove her hand from his face.
Lauren narrowed her eyes and batted his other hand away. "I'll move my hand when you agree to keep your mouth shut. Are we agreed?"
After another glare, Legolas relented and gave her a small nod.
"Good," Lauren said, turning away from them and walking to a clearing where several of the hang-gliders were sitting on the ground, waiting for the chance to loose the bonds of gravity and soar with the eagles. After a short conversation with one of the pilots standing nearby, Lauren came back over to Legolas and Aragorn with three harnesses in her hands and someone trailing along.
"This is Gus," she said as introduction. "He's going to show us how to attach the harnesses and give us a few instructions."
Gus did exactly that, helping them to get into the harnesses correctly, and telling them what they would need to do. When the instructions were given, and there no questions for him to answer, he led them over to the hang-gliders and helped them fasten themselves in. When their pilots gave the word, they started running down the steep incline with the pilot, then found themselves launching upward into the air. Lauren and her pilot went first, followed by Legolas, then Aragorn.
Lauren couldn't help but gasp as the ground dropped out beneath her and they soared over the edge of a cliff. She knew she wouldn't fall, but that first moment was more than a little unnerving. Since she was lying in a prone position, it was easy to look down and see just how far the ground was beneath her. The moment of fear passed and she took in the gorgeous scenery around them. They were high in the mountains, and she could see the distant peaks, low valleys, and the far-off glimmer of blue, indicating a distant lake. Breathtaking was the only word she could think of to describe it. Her pilot shifted sideways, and her harness moved with him as they changed direction. Her heart jumped as she found that she had been right. This was flying. She, or rather, her pilot, was in control of the flight. All previous experiences were simply gliding or floating. This was much closer to actual flying. It was incredible. Even if this was in her imagination, it was more fantastic than she ever thought she could have imagined.
She looked around for Aragorn and Legolas, and found their gliders nearby. She was close enough to see their faces. The look on Legolas' face was nearly one of rapture, and even Aragorn seemed to be thrilled with the experience. She only allowed herself that one moment of checking on them, then abandoned all logical or rational thought, giving herself up to the sensation of soaring among the eagles. As she did that, she noticed an eagle just up ahead. Its behavior was much like that of a hang-glider, outstretched wings catching the updrafts, and changing its center of gravity to control the direction of its flight. She realized that the person who had come up with hang-gliders must have been using an eagle as the model for the device. This was something that she wished would never end. Not a word was spoken between her and the pilot, as he seemed to sense how she was feeling and left her to enjoy herself in peace. For the rest of her flight, Lauren simply felt her surroundings. For a brief moment in time, she thought she could begin to understand the elven connection to nature. She almost felt as if she could talk to the eagle or the surrounding trees and have them respond in kind. Lauren felt a pang of sorrow as she saw the ground getting closer and closer. They touched down much more gently than the hot-air balloon did, and rolled to a stop in a flat open field. The pilot helped her to disentangle herself from the glider and helped her remove the harness.
Lauren stood waiting as Aragorn and Legolas landed, removed their harnesses and walked over to join her. They were all quiet for a moment as they came to terms with the fact that they would never be the same after this. Lauren looked back up with longing in her eyes, and Aragorn knew that he had been correct. Lauren was meant to soar among the clouds, not to be bound to earth. Her spirit needed to be able to fly free with the birds. She would never be truly happy unless she had moments like that to look forward to.
Suddenly, Lauren's face paled and she swayed where she stood. Aragorn and Legolas both reached out at the same time and took hold of an elbow to support her. "What is wrong?"
Aragorn asked her in concern.
She took a few deep breaths, and they watched as the color seeped back into her face. "I don't know," she said. "I just felt kind of…dizzy for a moment. Maybe the flight did something to my sense of balance. It's nothing. I'm fine now." She decided not to mention the headache and the momentary shooting pain in her legs that had struck with the dizzy spell. They had begun to fade as well, even if they were not entirely gone. It probably wasn't anything to worry about, anyway. She looked at her watch. If she had calculated it correctly, they had just a little over an hour. That should do it.
Looking back at Aragorn and Legolas, she smiled. "Do you remember what I promised yesterday that we would do today?"
They had to think for a moment. Today had involved so much that they had almost forgotten what had been said yesterday. "You said we would ride in that machine called an airplane," Legolas said, remembering her words from yesterday.
"Yes I did," Lauren said. "And we have just enough time to give you the full experience. You see, we can't simply walk onto a plane. We'll start at the airport. Just a quick question: neither of you are carrying any hidden weapons, are you?"
They looked at her in confusion. "No," Aragorn said. "We have not felt the need to have weapons here, and when we do, we can summon them at will. Do you think we will need them?"
"No, definitely not," Lauren said, waving her hands emphatically to make her point. "Security is really tight at the airports, and anyone trying to get a weapon through could find themselves in a lot of trouble. I just wanted to avoid that potential trouble and make sure you aren't carrying anything."
As she spoke, their surroundings changed again, the mountain fading around them and a large building forming in its place. She led them through the automatic doors into the building after ascertaining that they did not have weapons on them.
Pointing to the rows of counters with the mazes of posts and ropes marking off places for lines, she started their education on what an airport was. "Those are the ticket counters. If you need to check in for a flight and send your luggage to the baggage compartment, that is where you go. The ropes are to mark off where people need to stand in line. On a busy day, you can be in line for quite awhile. Let's assume that we already have tickets." She handed them each rectangular pieces of paper with writing on them, and small cards that had a picture of each of them along with more writing.
"What is this?" Aragorn asked, looking over the small card. The image of him did not look like a painting, but them he remembered the 'photographs' that he had seen in her house and realized this must be something like that.
"That is your driver's license," Lauren said. "You can't get past security without some form of photo identification to prove that you are the person listed on the ticket. Things are strict enough now that only people who have tickets can get anywhere near the boarding areas or planes. And driver's licenses are the most common form of ID."
With that, she led them toward a uniformed man standing at the entrance to another roped off area. They followed her lead in presenting the man with their tickets and ID and were soon waved on to continue in the line. At the end of the line was a rectangular archway that looked like a doorway with no door or wall. Beside this doorway was a device with a black moving belt that ran through the device. The moving belt looked much like the device they had seen at the grocery store that Lauren had taken them to the day before. Aragorn stopped in his tracks and stared at the device in question, wondering what was supposed to go on the belt since they were not making any purchases.
"That archway is a metal detector," Lauren explained. "You have to put all metal objects that you are carrying and all bags through the X-ray machine. It will look inside the bags and jackets and other objects to make sure there are no hidden weapons. Oh, and you'll have to take off your shoes and place them on the conveyor belt as well."
"Our shoes?" Legolas asked in surprise, looking at Lauren as if she were joking, but not knowing what the joke was.
"Some idiot tried to put explosives in his shoes and blow up a plane. Ever since then, they check everyone's shoes." Lauren shook her head at the insanity of some of the people in her world.
"This form of air travel is truly so dangerous?" Aragorn asked, looking at the intense security measures being taken.
"Well, historically, it is a form of transportation prone to being targeted by terrorists because it is so vulnerable. Once you're in the air, there is no easy escape. There have been some truly horrible terrorist acts involving planes, with thousands of deaths. We all complain about the stringent security because it inconveniences us, but if it will prevent the same things from happening again, it's worth a little inconvenience." Lauren began moving again as she spoke, heading toward the security measures.
Again, they followed her lead in removing their shoes, placing all loose items on the 'conveyor belt', and walking through the metal detector. Once on the other side, they picked up their shoes and put them back on before continuing on their way. Lauren led them down a long hallway with seating areas, eating areas and shopping areas lining both sides of the walkway. There was a moving walkway that Lauren could not resist leading them onto. Stepping onto the walkway, she gestured for Aragorn and Legolas to follow her. "Come on guys, it won't bite."
Aragorn and Legolas glanced warily at each other before reluctantly stepping forward onto the walkway. Aragorn wobbled slightly at feeling the ground move beneath him, but it did not seem to bother Legolas in the least, though he did not seem to know what to think about this new invention.
"Why would such a thing be needed?" Legolas asked, looking down at his feet. "Can people not walk long distances any more?"
Lauren shrugged, turning around to face them. "Well, when you're hiking from one end of an airport to another with heavy luggage and a short amount of time, these things and escalators are greatly appreciated. And believe me, I have been one of those appreciative people on many occasions. I have a tendency to overpack." She tilted her head slightly to the side as she looked at them. "I think I blame that on Mom. She always packs more than she needs, and I took after her in that respect."
A small grin crossed Aragorn's face at her comments about her and her mother's packing habits. He had seen many of the nobility of Gondor pack far more than they needed whenever they traveled. It seemed that some things would never change.
Legolas on the other hand, caught another part of her comments. "What are these escalators?"
"They're similar to the moving sidewalk, but they're moving staircases." Lauren shrugged again and turned around as she neared the end of the sidewalk and stepped off, making sure that Aragorn and Legolas knew the 'ride' was ending. Seeing the curious and incredulous look on Legolas' face at her description of an escalator, Lauren decided that he needed to see one in person, and suddenly the airport had a second level. As they approached what was now the end of the corridor, she slowed her pace and turned around to walk backward, gesturing behind her. "That, my friends, is an escalator."
Gaping at the escalator, then looking back at the moving walkway, Legolas shook his head in disbelief. "Has the human race truly gotten so lazy that walking down a corridor or up a level of steps is requires mechanical aid?"
Crossing her arms over her chest, Lauren glared at Legolas a moment before sighing. "You may not be far off the mark in calling us lazy, but I for one love having escalators to get me to the top of a long flight of stairs when I'm tired and rushed and carrying a lot of baggage with me. And you won't change my opinion of that, either."
Realizing that his comments were more than slightly rude, Legolas dropped his eyes from Lauren's for a moment before looking up to meet her gaze again. "Forgive me, I did not mean that to sound as it did. I meant no offense."
Shaking her head, Lauren waved off his apology. "I know you didn't. And, as I said, you may not be too wrong. But I forgive you. Now, would you like to try the escalator?" She stepped forward onto one of the steps. "Be careful how you place your feet." Lauren showed them how not to end up with their feet on two different steps and they were quite amazed as the steps brought them to the top of the incline. Once they were off of the escalator, Lauren checked her ticket once more, then looked up and led them to a seating area under the number 24. "Now, normally, I try to get to the airport ahead of time to make sure I'm not late. Since this is in our control, we can either board the plane now and have more time in the air, or you can look around the airport a little bit first."
"I believe I would like to take a few minutes to look around," Aragorn said, wanting to see more of this unusual place.
"Sure," Lauren replied "Go ahead." She took them to a little shop that sold magazines, souvenirs and candy. While she was there, she picked up a pack of gum. The change in altitude hadn't bothered them on the hang-gliding ride, but she hadn't thought of it, and they may not have changed altitude enough for it to be a problem. She watched Aragorn and Legolas wandering the store with some amusement. They had stopped in front of the selection of magazines, and Lauren wandered over to join them. Her first thought had been that they had gotten sidetracked by the sight of the scantily clad models on the covers of some of the magazines, but they surprised her. The magazine they were looking at was the National Enquirer. The headline read 'Bat-boy discovered in remote cave'.
"Why would they have a picture of Gollum?" Aragorn was asking. "He perished with the ring. He could not still be alive."
"Gollum?" Lauren asked, looking at the magazine in confusion.
"That cannot possibly be Gollum," Legolas said. "But I will admit that there is a resemblance. Is there any way that another form of human has been created that looks like him?"
"Oh, this person doesn’t really exist," Lauren said. "The picture is a fake."
"How can the picture be fake?" Aragorn asked. "You said that they capture images as they are."
"Well, they do, but people can change the way they look with certain programs on the computer. Trust me, nobody believes anything they read in this paper. I occasionally buy one if I want a laugh, but that's all they're good for. Come on, we should probably board the plane if we want any time in the air."
They both looked back over their shoulders at the paper before following her out of the store. She led them to the boarding gate where they had to show their tickets once more to get on the plane. After walking down a long hallway, they entered a narrow vehicle through a rounded doorway. Lauren looked at the numbers on their tickets and led them to two window seats in the first few rows of seats. She declined a window seat and sat next to Aragorn. Legolas was in the row behind them. Stretching her legs out in front of her, she relaxed back into the plush leather seat. "I know you two don’t know enough about flying in planes to appreciate this, but I booked us seats in first class. These are the most luxurious seats on the plane."
"What are the other seats like?" Legolas asked.
"Go look through that curtain," Lauren said, pointing back over her shoulder.
Legolas did as she asked, and saw how much smaller the seats seemed, how closely they were packed together. "I am glad you chose these seats," he said. "There would be no room to stretch out my legs in those other seats."
"Tell me about it," Lauren said. "The one time I got an unexpected upgrade to first class, I was spoiled for any future flights in coach class." She told them that they would have to buckle up in this vehicle as well. She showed them how to do so, and a flight attendant soon came up to them with an offer of a glass of champagne. "Thank you," Lauren said, taking a glass and sipping it.
The other two also took a glass and tested it. "It is an unusual flavor, and it has bubbles," Legolas said. "Why do so many of your beverages have bubbles?"
"Not a clue," Lauren said as she put the glass down and leaned back in her seat. Since she was controlling things, the boarding went very quickly, with only a few people other than themselves getting on. Soon, they were backing away from the gate and taxiing toward the runway. Lauren handed each of them a piece of gum.
"What is this?" Aragorn asked, looking at her as she demonstrated unwrapping the gum and chewing on it.
"It's gum," Lauren answered. "The abrupt change in altitude as a plane takes off and lands has the tendency to hurt people's ears by messing with the pressure in their inner ears. The chewing motion that gum needs helps you be able to pop your ears and keep them from getting too painful. Trust me, just do it."
As in so much here, they followed her lead. The flight attendant had taken their glasses before they started taxiing so they didn't have to worry about holding onto them. Lauren watched Aragorn as the plane sped up and began to leave the ground. Aragorn's hands gripped the armrests tightly as he was pressed back into his seat by the acceleration. He didn't look like he was having too much fun. She glanced back at Legolas and found that he had placed his hands over his ears. Apparently, the engine noise was too loud. Out of consideration, she quieted the engines, wishing it was something she could do in reality. Legolas looked over at her in thanks, then looked back out the window as the ground dropped away from them very rapidly. It was not long before they no longer felt the acceleration and were able to lean forward without fighting to do so. Looking back again, she noticed Legolas grimacing and putting his hands to his ears again.
"Is the pressure in your ears getting painful?" she asked Legolas. At his nod, she showed him a few methods to use to get his ears to pop. After he was able to ease the pain, he looked back at her a little accusingly. "I did warn you," Lauren said. She gestured to the window. "Take a look."
Legolas turned his attention to the window and his eyes widened. The city below them, like several of the cities he had seen in Lauren's world had contained some very tall buildings. From this height, they looked like nothing more than children's toys. The cars on the roadways below them looked like insects traveling along their way. The land around the city stretched out to the horizon in a patchwork of fields, housing areas, wooded areas, and water that must be lakes. Aragorn was also staring out his window in amazement. His ears had only bothered him momentarily, and he had gone back to looking out of his window very quickly. He glanced upward and saw that they were approaching some fluffy clouds. They were about to fly among the clouds! "Legolas, look up," Aragorn said softly.
Lauren watched them fondly as they watched the wisps of cloud float past their windows. She thought they should have a chance to see the mountains from above, so changed the shape of the land beneath them.
"Look, Aragorn, there are mountains that seem no more than ant hills."
Lauren smiled to herself. Aragorn and Legolas were as excited as children taking their first plane ride. She was glad she had been able to give them these experiences. She rubbed her leg absently where a dull pain had settled. At least she was sitting down and would not have to do much moving around for awhile.
Looking back over at Aragorn, she saw him talking with Legolas about being able to see the clouds from above, and the shadows they cast on the ground below. As she watched, Aragorn began to fade from her sight. "Aragorn," she said to get his attention. He and Legolas both looked back at her. "You're waking up," she commented. "I'm sorry that your first airplane ride is ending, but I'll see you both tomorrow night?"
They nodded and said their goodbyes before they faded from view. Lauren sighed and hit the call button. When the flight attendant arrived, Lauren asked if she had any aspirin that she could take. After swallowing the pills, she relaxed back into her seat again and tried to think of a way to entertain Aragorn and Legolas tomorrow night.
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