Oira laurë: The light of Hope.
AE: Hey and welcome to part two of Oira laure! Whoo hoo! Yeah! Anyways, if you haven't read part one, then I would suggest that you do cause you'll be pretty lost but it's not a necessity. To catch you all up, this is what has happened:
(1) Demi and Rhia got brought to M.E. through Galadril's mirror
(2) They joined the fellowship
(3) Lost Gandalf in Moria, yada yada yada and now have just lost Merry and Pip to the orcs but Boromir is alive. Again, to understand it further, read part one.
On with the story!
***Cross-country marathon***
"So what happens now?" Rhia asked, wiping another loose tear away. Demi put an arm around her shoulder.
"We must make for certain what happened, then we shall decide." Aragorn said, jogging down the hill. The others followed slowly, heads bowed.
They passed through the trees, Aragorn urging them along. Demi was just so glad that Boromir lived. She hated to think how Aragorn would take it if he didn't. Finally they came to the shoreline and their camp. Aragorn was already there; he was looking at something on the ground with great interest.
"No orcs have been here." He stated, still his eyes intent on the ground. But here are hobbit foot-prints, they seem to be crossing back and forth." He then followed the faint prints to the waters edge. "One of them waded into the water, then came back, though, how long ago, I cannot tell."
"Then how do you read such a riddle?" Gimli asked, following Aragorn, who remained silent. Legolas wandered off to their belongings and shouted:
"Two packs are missing! One is Sam's!"
"Then Sam found Frodo and both have crossed the shore on the boat." Demi concluded, rubbing her chin deep in thought.
"So then Sam was right all along, Frodo didn't want any harm to come to us so he shot through, but Sam refused to be left behind." Rhia said quietly.
"That he did." Aragorn said. "Now we must decide to follow Frodo, or to follow the orcs. There is little hope either way." He paused for a moment thinking then said at last: "I shall follow the orcs. Now Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands. Merry and Pippin's lives are at stake. We cannot forsake them to torture and death!"
"Then I shall follow you, as it is my fault they were stolen from us." Boromir said gravely, hanging his head.
"No it's not, we were busy and out numbered, and there was nothing we could do. Demi wasn't with us! Two against thirty is hardly a fair fight!" Rhia said angrily.
"Excuse me! I was there, only I could not be seen!" Demi retorted.
"Yeah whatever." Rhia said.
"Now cousin, hear Vaira out, I'm sure she had a reason for what she did." Aragorn said. Demi was on the verge of tears. How dare she! Demi thought.
"I cast an invisbilty spell on myself. A large orc, whom I guess was their captain, was about to fire an arrow at Boromir. I wouldn't let him be killed! So I attacked the orc but then it came at me. I cast the spell, snuck behind it and slew it after futile attempts of shooting fireballs at it!" Demi said, her voice said, suddenly getting louder.
"You…you tried to save me?" Asked Boromir.
"Yes, I do believe this is what you spoke to me of Vaira. Boromir's death. You were clear it was going to happen." Aragorn said and Demi nodded. Rhia's mouth hung open. "Come now, what say you all? Do you follow me or return to your home's?"
"You have my answer." Boromir said.
"I will go." Legolas said.
"As will I." Gimli said, a smirk coming across his face. He could not wait to hunt more orc.
"Count me in." Demi said, casting a glare to Rhia, who glared right back.
"I'm in." Rhia said finally. With that they discarded all they had no use of and took off, following the orc trail. Even the girls could not miss it, and they had no education of tracking.
***
They ran hard all day. Rhia found it hard and kept behind with Gimli. "I'm just making sure he is alright." She said. Demi of course saw right through this. She was able to keep up well with the men and elf. They left the woods and came to long slopes by sunset. Aragorn kept them going through to dusk and into the night like 6 shadows across a wide plane.
Night came and all was now dark, for the moon was young and gave no light, but the stars came out. By this time they had come to the feet of stony hills. Gimli and Rhia were drawing further behind and the strength of the men were failing. The trail was no hard to follow as they passed through a corner of Emyn Muil. They made their way through the rocky land, though it was steep and difficult. They were now in a spot of trouble as they orc trail went into the valley bellow them and then disappeared.
"Where now do we go?" Boromir asked, out of breath, his hands clutching his stomach.
"They will take the shortest route they can. They are heading either to Isengard or Fangorn but to get there quickly they will pass through the fields of Rohan. Let us head northwards!" Aragorn replied, taking off again. With a loud groan from Rhia they were all off again.
Demi made an effort not to check on Rhia. She had accused her of something she would never do and then did not apologise after her story was told. Something odd was at work with her.
***
On and on they ran into the dawn and the faint light of a new morn. Aragorn had stopped again, bent over the grass and Demi and Legolas ran ahead. They searched the lands and then Demi let out a yelp of surprise.
"Look! Legolas! There are orc bodies over there. Surely that was not the work of Merry and Pippin?" Demi cried, after hearing that, the rest gathered with the elves, straining their eyes to see.
They all saw five dead orc bodies, torn apart and beheaded, blood on the ground around them. "No, this was not the work of the hobbits." Aragorn answered. "Probably more likely that a brawl. There were two breeds of orcs and here you see five smaller ones. There were northern orcs amongst the troop the others were the lesser sort of Mordor."
"Let us just hope it was not of the captives and that they did not meet their end here." Gimli said.
The group now moved to survey the area around the bodies. Aragorn could not find any other clues and led them on. They soon came upon a small stream, as dawn grew older. Through it and before, many muddy prints littered the ground, proving their path certain.
"Here are the tracks we seek!" Aragorn cried. "Follow me! They passed this way."
With this newfound path, they ran onwards, gaining speed. The night with no sleep and little rest began to wear upon the hunters. Yet even under such a spell they strove onwards.
At the break of full light the six companions stood upon a ridge that dove down quite steeply: The East Wall of Rohan. Legolas stopped still and peered at his surroundings.
"Look! On the plain before us! A great company on foot tread but I cannot see of which folk they are." The elf said.
"Than I believe we no longer need to find a path to tell us where go. Hurry!" Gimli said. "I am in a right mood to face an orc today!"
The group ran on, down the slope and over the plain. The light of day gave hope that their enemies could be near. Many things had been cast aside during the orc's run, helping the pursuers on.
Running in single file, they followed the tracks. The grass had been trampled and disfigured. Demi cursed the fell creatures for ruining such a beautiful landscape. Legolas stopped short before her. She stopped herself in time and Aragorn once again on the soft ground. "Stay here and do not follow!" was all he said, before running off swiftly to the right of the main trail. He returned soon after and reported Pippin most likely ran aside and he opened his hand to reveal the hobbit's elvan brooch. "Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall. He ran from the group and cast it aside to mark their trail."
"Then they may yet be alive!" Boromir said with joy.
"A clever yet bold act." Legolas said. "Let us hope he did not pay too dearly."
***
Noon came and still did they run. They stopped briefly for a bite to eat and found themselves going again. Though the walking proved a help from prior to their pursuit, Rhia still found it increasingly hard to follow the others. She puffed and panted; yet she still found the strength to go on, in large part to Demi. Demi may be half-elvan, but Rhia was set out to prove her weak. She did not care for her friend any longer. A newfound fury came over Rhia, possessing her thoughts and actions.
Demi could not help but turn and check to see if her friend was well, even under circumstances. She did not know why Rhia was so angry with her. It was a pain, tearing her apart. Like a madness had befallen her best friend. And Oh! How she missed Rúmil! Having such a time to think like this, her thoughts were plagued by his sweet face. His deep blue eyes. His loving smile. Never did she think she could feel such pain and joy at the same time.
Aragorn stopped them at nightfall. "We have run 12 leagues since the East Wall and now we have a hard choice to make. Shall we rest by night or continue whilst both strength and will hold us steady?" he asked. All seemed deep in thought contemplating this.
"Unless our enemies rest, they will leave us far behind." Legolas said, breaking the silence.
"Though surely they must." Said Gimli.
"Seldom will orcs journey under full sun, and yet these ones have." The elf said.
"Than I doubt they will rest by night." Boromir said.
"So what hope is there for the hobbits?" Rhia asked, falling to the ground, sitting cross-legged.
"I don't think they are dead. Why would the orcs take them captive and try to kill us? Who ever they serve knows that a hobbit carries the ring and has come for it." Demi said, receiving an instant eye roll from Rhia.
"That does make a lot of sense." Aragorn said, thinking for a moment. At last then he said, "But still do we run blind in the dark or push ourselves harder next morn?"
"We may not have the strength to go on. I think it's a risk we must take." Said Boromir at last and they all agreed, setting themselves upon the ground with Rhia. Legolas as he did not grow weary so easily took first watch and Demi second.
Demi's watch came soon around, Legolas though kept her company. "I cannot sleep whilst thinking what may happen to our friends." The night was uneventful and before dawn the two woke their friends. Demi crouched over Gimli and tried to wake him up, which proved to be a rather difficult task.
"Come on Gimli!" She shouted at last but the dwarf took no notice and slept on. Demi gave up after five minutes of trying and fell to the ground in a huff beside him. Then a wicked idea came.
"By the Valar!" She cried. "Is that the Lady Galadriel?" At once Gimli sat up, smoothed his beard down and looked around. Demi just sat there smirking.
"Where?" he asked.
"Sorry, you must have mistaken me. We have to move on now." She said innocently. Boromir, Aragorn and Legolas could not help but laugh.
"Come now my friends." Aragorn said at last after calming down at bit and taking off again at a fast pace. They all followed their leader.
***
Author's note: I thought I'd cut it short there. Now for a new tradition, I'm going to start a poll. Every chapter I'm going to ask one or two q's and can you guys answer in your reviews? Thanks, poll number one:
(1)Should Demi and Rhia be friends again?
(2) Should Rúmil and Demi hook up?
(3) Should I have a poll thing each chapter?
Please be brutally honest! Give me your ideas and stuff. Thanks guys, without you, I wouldn't write!
Silcawen Uvanimor-dreamingfifi: Thanks for the help. The names, you mean the elvish versions. I'll leave them coz everyone associates those names with the characters. Thanks anyway. Um, if you mean the names, Dimetria and Rhiannon, I like those names, and if you don't that's cool, but I wanted to use them so I did. Thanks for the web address. Please reply soon.
Levanna: I'm glad you got the review! Your story rox. Sounds all right for the ending. Very Shibby! (Sorry, I just watched dude where's my car for like the ten thousandth time.) It'll just be sad to see it go. I tried not to make you wait to long. Thanks very much. I just so didn't want Boromir to die. I absolutely love him and I think he's sweet but he never really got a chance did he? My chance to change that! Hehehehehe! *Evil thoughts* don't mind me.
People, would you please read my other fic up at the mo. Voronwe. I'm taking Oc Characters so if you get in fast you can be apart of the story. Yes I know I'm doing another but stories like that rock.
Laters,
AE*