Okay, guys, since I rarely update anything here and I feel bad about doing that and this is the story I've been working on the most lately but I haven't been posting it here (don't ask why, I'll answer you with gibberish) I'm just going to go ahead and post it here. Enjoy. Oh, and there will be spoilers for all of the manga, and LotR spoilers as well. And as usual, this is based on the MANGA.

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A scream.

That was what awoke Aragorn from his sleep, a scream that most people never wish to hear. The horrified scream of a child who feared for its life.

He knew that there were orcs in the area, but he hadn't expected them to move so boldly. The child couldn't have been alone, so had its parents been killed while it slept? If so, then why hadn't he heard anything before this?

Perhaps they had come upon the child by chance. Perhaps it had wandered away from its parents and been found by less pleasant creatures. Either way, Aragorn wasn't about to let an innocent life be taken.

With practiced ease, he retrieved his weapons and sprinted through the woods to where he'd heard the voice. He came upon a steep slope, just below which was where the orcs had cornered a small fair-haired boy. The boy was covering his head with his arms, pushing up against the earth as if he believed he could meld with it and be safe. Already, Aragorn could see blood on the boy's clothing.

Taking out the orcs was no problem. There were only four of them, and they were weakened by the rising sun. Once he was sure it was safe, Aragorn approached the boy, who was now whimpering in both pain and fear.

His clothes were unusual, a black shirt with long sleeves underneath a short-sleeved shirt that had been light blue at one point in time, the blood soaking through turning it a dark purplish red. The boy's pants were grey, spattered with red as well, and the boy's feet were bare. Judging from the quality of the clothes, Aragorn guessed that he simply hadn't been wearing his shoes.

As he took all this in, Aragorn gently placed a hand on the boy's back. The boy panicked and tried to run, but he collapsed before he could even get to his feet. He was weakened by his injuries.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Aragorn said gently as he pulled the boy to his feet. "Where are you injured?"

The boy finally looked at Aragorn, his eyes full of fear. Aragorn was intrigued by the golden color. "T-they hit my shoulder pretty bad…"

"Your shoulder? Will you let me see it?"

The boy nodded and held as still as he could while Aragorn gently removed his shirt. The wound didn't seem very deep, but it was still bleeding, and Aragorn quickly scanned the area as he applied pressure to the wound.

"It's not too bad. Did they do anything else?"

The boy shook his head. "Uh-uh. That's it."

"Where are your parents?"

The boy's eyes filled with sorrow. "I don't have parents."

"Were they killed by the orcs?"

There was a flash of confusion in the boy's eyes before he shook his head. "No. My mom died because she was sick, and I don't know where my dad is."

Once the bleeding had stopped, Aragorn brought the boy back to his camp and treated the wound more efficiently. The boy was quiet through all of this, his eyes downcast.

"My head feels funny," the boy whispered after a while.

"How so?" Aragorn Asked.

"I forget the word for it right now, but it's like when you spin around really fast for a while and then you stop."

"You're dizzy?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, I was sick for a while, but not like this." The boy swallowed and looked back up at Aragorn. "Um, thank you for saving me…"

Aragorn heard the sounds of another group of orcs in the distance and began packing up his horse. "No child should have to suffer that fate. Can you walk?"

The boy looked from Aragorn to the horse before looking back at Aragorn. "I've never been on a horse before."

"That's not what I asked," Aragorn said, amused by the nervous look on the boy's face.

"I think I can walk fine," the boy said, and he awkwardly stood up as Aragorn finished packing. Luckily, while the boy was very unsteady on his feet, he made it to the horse, and Aragorn lifted him onto the animal with practiced ease.

"Don't worry, I won't go too fast," Aragorn said as he pulled himself up. "But we can't stay here. It's not safe."

The boy clutched his injured shoulder as the horse made its way through the woods, going quickly but smoothly. "Are there more of those things?"

"Yes, there are. That's why we're leaving."

"But what if they try to hurt someone else?"

An injured child whose primary concern was not himself. Aragorn felt he had made a very strange discovery in the forest. "I'll do what I can to make sure that doesn't happen."

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The child was quiet for the rest of the journey, a silence that came with the familiar feeling of exhaustion. He would have fallen off the horse if Aragorn hadn't wrapped one arm around the small body. It was understandable, however. After all, the boy probably hadn't reached the age of six.

As they neared their destination, the boy stirred. It was still quiet for another minute before he spoke.

"What's your name?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

"Strider. What about yours?"

"Edward." Edward sat up a bit and looked around. "How much farther are we going?"

"Look straight ahead."

Using Aragorn's arm to help him balance, Edward leaned to the side so that he could see around the horse's head. "Whoa… Is that where we're going?"

"It is."

"Do you know someone there?"

Aragorn waited a moment before replying. "I spent much of my childhood there."

Edward seemed to be fading again, and Aragorn pulled him back into a more stable position. "It's different from home…"

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While he struggled not to fall asleep again, Ed heard a voice. He opened one eye to see someone approaching on a different horse. He didn't recognize the person. They were probably from that place down below…

He closed his eye again when he realized the person was speaking a different language, afraid that he might get in trouble for being here. Strider had seemed kinda weird on their way over, and Ed found himself wondering if he'd done something wrong. He hadn't meant to be attacked by those things… no, Orcs, that's what Strider had called them…

He opened his eyes a little bit to see what was going on now. The person who had been talking with Strider looked down at him once, and with the way he looked, Ed got the feeling he wasn't mad at him at all. That was a relief… The person said something else before muttering something to his horse and riding away.

Ed closed his eyes again. He wasn't gonna fall asleep, but it felt good to rest his eyes for a little bit…

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Just so you guys know, this story is going to be very, very long. It's already 83 pages in Word and it's not even close to being halfway finished. It's also going very slowly in terms of writing, so don't expect frequent updates (though I'll try to make them more frequent if people like it). I will try to update it more than I have updated other stories, though…