AN: Here we go with the next chapter "Another War...The Two Towers". Have decided on a name for the ROTK-part "Another Journey". You'll see why eventually. I decided to change the exchange between the Riders of Rohan to explain a little bit of what the situation is, as well as starting a few new subplots for this story.
(In answer to LGF's suggestion, this is not a Gelphie story...nor much of a romance - not that there won't be anything -wink wink-. Lore-wise, though the races of Middle Earth worship the Valar, which are angelic beings in service of Eru [God], the story is set in an ancient Earth when worship the way we understand it was not yet invented. As such, hypothetically there wouldn't be any taboo against a same-sex marriage, other than the fact that it wouldn't be after the order of nature and couldn't produce children.)
(Yes, I am over-analyzing LotR. It's what I like doing. lol. Now enjoy and don't forget to review)
Riders of Rohan
Three days and nights had the Six Hunters seen on their pursuit of the orc trail. Three days with no sign of their quarry but the print of their feet in the earth.
The forest around Amon Hen slowly gave way to the deep gullies of the Eastemnet, on the southern end of the Wold. It was in one of these gullies that the company was now following the orc trail. The grass was thin and springy, and even Aragorn the Ranger had difficulty reading the signs they saw.
There was also another problem.
At the far end of the company, the last three of the Six Hunters were falling behind. Glinda was not built for cross-country running, and she often had to be carried by one of the others. Despite his protests that he was strong enough to do the same and still keep up with the others, Gimli's stature made carrying her on his back quite impossible. Aragorn and Legolas were usually so far ahead they could not be reached unless they stopped, which was seldom. Despite being larger than her blond companion, Elphaba's thin frame meant that she couldn't carry Glinda for too long before she herself became winded and had to pause.
This meant that Fiyero was often delegated by default to the task of carrying Glinda piggy-back behind him: a task which he did not relish. Sometimes he missed being a scarecrow who could feel no pain. Those thoughts returned to him when Glinda's tiny yet surprisingly heavy frame was bearing down upon his back (physically, Glinda was lithe and small, but even carrying something this small would take its toll, especially on one who was running up-hill and down from sun-up to sun-down).
They had with them some of the lembas, Elvish waybread, the Elves of Lorien gave them. It was definitely enough to keep them on their feet, and after a morsel of the golden-brown hard-cakes, Fiyero could run at almost full-speed with Glinda on his back.
But they did not have an infinite supply of it, and they had to ration it so that it would last.
As the third day of their pursuit came to a close upon the borders of a land Aragorn called Rohan, they came to a brief halt.
"There is something strange at work here," he said aloud to the others. "Some evil gives speed to these creatures, and sets its will against us. I am weary, as no Ranger should be on the hunt with a clear path ahead." He turned to look at the others, standing somewhat behind him. "As I'm sure you all are weary."
"The thought of those merry folk being driven like cattle pains my heart." Legolas said, referring to the Hobbits.
"Aye, and mine as well." Gimli added.
"But we can't stop running," Elphaba said, which made Fiyero make a noise that sounded like frustration. "They'll outrun us!"
"And there is no hope that they will stop for night," Aragorn said. "Seldom to orcs travel by day under the sunlight, yet these have done so. I do not think the night will deter them."
"But..." panted Fiyero. "If we...run about...in the dark...we could...lose the trail."
"As far as I can tell," Legolas said. "The trail runs northeast with no bend or turning."
"If we go by dark," Gimli said. "We might miss some sign, such as if there was a quarrel about the prisoners and they were carried off...east..."
The dwarf pointed his axe back behind the hills they came. Though it was getting darker and shadows naturally crept into the eastern sky as the westering sun made her path, there was a line of black clouds just at the horizon's edge that were darker than any other cloud.
"I say we go on," Elphaba said. "But if everyone wants to stop for the night, then we stop."
"I'm all for stopping," Fiyero said. "This has really taken a lot out of me."
Glinda was silent. She knew what he meant by "this."
There was a lengthy silence, during which all of them turned their eyes to Aragorn.
"We will rest, but only for tonight." he said. "The danger of losing the trail in the dark is too great, for me."
They rested with their backs to a cliff-wall of stone, and here they prepared for the night. Elphaba wrapped herself in her Elvish cloak, which substituted her old black cape marvelously in keeping out the cold wind. Glinda snuggled into her own cloak and dozed off in Elphaba's arms. Fiyero also fell asleep the moment he lay down, not even bothering to cover himself up. Had he been a scarecrow, he would not need to be warm. While he slept, Elphaba gently pulled his cloak over him and gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder.
The others, however, could not sleep. Aragorn was lazily smoking his pipe, gazing off into the distance, while Legolas, who needed little sleep, kept watch. Gimli, though tired, was doing his best to fall asleep, with no success.
"Lassie, might I ask ye somethin'?" the dwarf said.
Elphaba did not like being called "lassie", but had come to accept it as a term of endearment rather than an insult. After all, she had long ago noticed, especially in Rivendell, that dwarves were blunt and straight-forward: they did not hide their feelings as well as other races did. If a dwarf was angry, there would be no question about the matter.
"Hmm?" she asked, turning to the dwarf from where she had covered her love with his cloak.
"You and that young prince of yours," he said. "You fancy him?"
"Yes," she said. She was fortunate that it was dusk now and he could not see her face growing an embarassed shade of purple.
"Now the other one, the wee lady." she knew he meant Glinda. "She fancies you too."
"It's not the same way." she said, shaking her head.
Gimli grumbled and once again tried to return to sleep. Elphaba, who could not sleep, made her way to where Legolas stood.
"I feel the orcs have not stopped for the night," he said, hearing her approach with his keen ears. "There is little hope that we will overtake them now."
"I'm..." she began. "I'm sorry for all the trouble we've caused. With the hunt, and everything."
"It is no trouble." Aragorn said.
"If it were just Fiyero and myself," she said, walking over to where Aragorn sat. "I would have no problem. We're used to being on the run, and this kind of pursuit is bearable. But Glinda..." She cast an empathetic expression over to her friend. "I know she's dragging us down, but I don't want to just tell her to leave. It will break her dear little heart."
Aragorn removed the stem of his pipe from his lips and put a hand on her shoulder.
"What would you have me do?" he asked.
"Me?" she responded almost incredulously. "You're the leader. I follow your council."
"Yet I was the one who suggested we stop for the night," he said. "And it has brought us no nearer to our friends than before."
"Is that why you won't do it?" she asked, the thought just rising into her head seemingly out of nowhere. "Why you won't claim the throne of Gondor?"
Aragorn shook his head and gave an uneasy look on his face.
"There are others," he said. "Better men more capable of ruling my people than I. My cousin Halbarad, for one. He leads a small group of Rangers that keep watch over the northern borders of the Shire, near the ruins of Fornost. He is a worthy leader, one I would follow."
"But Legolas said that you are the heir of Gondor."
"There is no strength in my blood," Aragorn said. "Isildur proved that long ago."
"You're a good man, Aragorn." she insisted, taking his gnarled hands into her green ones. How old is he, she wondered. He looked no older than forty, untouched by the frost of age, but there was something about his eyes that held a deepness, similar to the depth of the Elves.
"You are your own person, capable of your own decisions." she continued. "You are not bound to be your forebearers."
"I wish that were so." Aragorn said, somewhat to himself. He then turned to the green-skinned woman. "Get some sleep, Elphaba. We move before dawn."
It was early morning as Legolas roused the Company from their sleep. Glinda was not displeased by having the handsome Elf-prince awake her, though Elphaba had a look of profound horror on her face.
"I had a horrible dream," she said, when the Elf asked why she was so fearful.
"We cannot stay to discuss dreams and visions." the Elf said. "The orcs have a fair lead on us. They run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them."
He then went to the others and woke them up.
"Hurry." he said. "A red sun rises. Strange tidings await us this day."
And so the fourth day of the pursuit began, with nothing more than they had the first three days.
They came at last to an open plain that gave a breath-taking view of the oceans of grass on all sides. Aragorn had called for the halt. When they had all come up with him, he fell down upon the ground, his ear pressed to the earth. They thought at first that he had fainted, but then he spoke.
"The earth groans beneath their wicked feet," he said, speaking of the orcs. "But the rumor of the orcs' passage here is faint. For another noise rises up upon the plain." He then rose to his feet. "Legolas, tell us what you see."
The Elf-prince stood tall and gazed out this way and that, using his keen eye-sight to scan the horizon.
Suddenly, he saw something.
"I see a host of horsemen, riding down the orc-trail this way." he said.
"Who are they?" Elphaba asked.
"Their standard is green, with a white horse upon it." the Elf said.
"They are the people of Rohan." Aragorn said. "Let us wait here. If they're coming down the orc trail, they might have news for us."
"I see three empty saddles," Legolas added. "But no hobbits with them."
"Didn't say it would be good news." Aragorn added.
In the distance, the whiny of horses and the low rumbling of hooves could be faintly detected. Aragorn then ushered them behind a large outcropping of rock and waited as the company of horsemen rode past them. Once the last one had gone before, Aragorn walked out from his hiding place, standing tall, and called out to them.
"Riders of Rohan, what news from the Mark?"
At a signal from their leader, the horsemen changed their course and came back around. The others slowly came out of their hiding place to see the sight. In a minute, the group found themselves surrounded in a thicket of spears, with some arrow-heads glaring menacingly from the bent bows of the riders.
After a moment, the lead rider rode up to his quarry. He was tall, and bore a white horsetail upon his helmet as a crest.
"Who are you and what business have you in the Riddermark?" he said, speaking to them all, in the Common Tongue. "Speak quickly!"
"I am called Strider," Aragorn began. "I hail from the North and am hunting orcs."
The lead rider threw his spear to another and then dismounted, walking towards Aragorn.
"I thought you were an orc yourself." he said. "But it is not so. Indeed, you know little of orcs if you hunt them in this fashion. They were many, fast and well-armed. You would become the prey if you ever overtook them." He then stepped closer to Aragorn, surveying him warily with his eyes, shining blue from the recesses of his helmet.
"There is something strange about you, Strider. And your clothing..." He said, indicating to the cloaks. "Are you Elvish folk?"
"No, only one of us is an Elf." Aragorn said. "Legolas of the Woodland Realm. But we passed through Lothlorien, and the gifts and favor of the Lady go with us."
The rider's glare became even more intense, almost hard.
"So there is a lady in the Golden Wood, so the legends say." he said at last. "Few escape her nets, and if you have her favor, then you must be net-weavers and sorcerers as well." Elphaba noticed Gimli's hand fingering the blade of his ax. The rider then turned to them.
"Why do you not speak?" he said to the others.
"Give me your name, horse-master, and I shall give ye mine." Gimli said, his feet planted firmly apart as if he were ready for battle.
"It is custom that the stranger declares his name first," the rider said with slight disdain, not liking to be called 'horse-master', especially by a dwarf. "However, I am Eomer, son of Eomund, Third Marshal of the Riddermark."
"Then heed the words of Gimli son of Gloin." the dwarf said. "You speak evil of that which is fair beyond your imagination, and only foolishness could excuse your insults."
The captain was obviously insulted, and the other riders whispered angrily in their own language. Eomer approached Gimli a step further, drawing his sword as he did.
"I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground."
In an instant, Legolas drew an arrow from his quiver and fitted it into his bow, now aimed directly at Eomer's head.
"And you would die before your stroke fell." he challenged.
The riders readied their spears, and Elphaba and Fiyero drew their swords, ready to fight to the death over...an insult? To their rescue came Aragorn, who stepped between Eomer and his companions.
"Your pardon, Eomer." he interceeded. "When you know more, you will understand why you have angered my companions. We are friends of Rohan and of Theoden, your king. We intend no evil to his people or his horses. Will you hear us out before you strike?"
Eomer lowered his sword.
"Wanderers in the Riddermark would be wise to be less arrogant in these days of doubt." he said at last. "Now, Strider, tell me your real name."
"Tell me who you serve." Aragorn returned. "Are you friend or foe of the Dark Lord of Mordor?"
"I serve only the Lord of the Mark," Eomer answered proudly, though there was a twinge of sadness in his voice. "We are not at war with the Power of Mordor, but neither do we serve him. If you are fleeing his wrath, you had best leave this land. We are beset by troubles on all sides, we wish only to be free and live as we have always lived, keeping our own and serving no foreign lord, good or evil.
"Now tell me your name, and by whose command you hunt orcs."
"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn." Aragorn began. "I serve no man, but the servants of Sauron I pursue wherever they may go. A party of orcs went westwards across the plain, they've taken two of our friends captive. We are in great need, and I ask for help, or at least for tidings. Can you tell us anything?"
"You need not pursue them any further." Eomer said. "The orcs are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night."
"And our friends?"
"We found none but orcs."
"But there were two hobbits!" Gimli suddenly said. "Did ye see two hobbits with 'em?"
"Hobbits?" Eomer asked, with a wary look in his eye. "And what may that be?"
"A strange name for a strange folk." Gimli said. "They were very dear to us."
"They would be small, only children to your eyes, unshod but clad in grey." Aragorn said.
"There were no dwarves or children." Eomer said. "We piled the carcasses and burned them near the Eaves of Fangorn. The ashes are smoking still."
A downcast look came across Aragorn's face. The others also seemed to grow morose in their mood.
"Are they dead?" Glinda asked at length.
"It's possible you may have missed them." Aragorn said, hoping beyond hope that the Hobbits were still alive. "Would you swear that no one escaped during the battle?"
"I would swear that no orc escaped after we sighted them." responded Eomer. "We reached the forest-eaves before them, and made a ring around their party. If any living thing escaped, it was no orc and had some Elvish power."
"Our friends were clothed as we are," Aragorn said. "and you passed us by under the light of day."
Eomer shook his head. "It is hard to be sure of anything among so many marvels. The world has all grown strange. Elf and Dwarf walk in company in our fields, folk speak of the Lady of the Golden Wood and yet live..." He paused, taking a glance at Elphaba. "And what is this? It has green skin like one of the goblins of..."
"She is no goblin!" Fiyero said angrily. "She is a human woman, only she has green skin."
Elphaba gave Eomer a scathing look at being refered to both as "it" and as a goblin. Some wounds never really healed over time.
"Time is pressing, captain!" one of the riders said. "We must head south for the Entwade. Let us leave these strange folk to their wiles, or bind them and take them to the King."
Eomer turned to the rider and said something in their own language which calmed his tongue.
"The men of Rohan do not lie," Eomer said to Aragorn. "Therefore we are not deceived easily. I do not doubt you, but I am not free to do as I would. We both have need of haste: my company keeps this land free of the ocs, but lately Saruman in Isengard, whom we counted a friend, has claimed lordship over this land. In these days of peril, I am under orders to bring you before the king that he may give you leave. It is against our law to allow strangers wander at will in the Riddermark."
"I am no stranger here," Aragorn said. I have been in this land before and have ridden with the hosts of Rohan, though under a different name and long ago. My duty is to my friends, which leads me to go on. You may aid us or at the worst let us go free..." Aragorn then shrugged. "...or attempt to carry out your law. But there will be fewer to return to your king. Choose swiftly!"
There was an uneasy pause, after which Eomer removed his helmet.
"This is my decision." he said. "You may go, and I will even lend you horses. However, I ask that your three unnamed companions go with us back to the King."
"No." Elphaba insisted.
"Why?" Fiyero asked.
"You know little of our land, stranger." Eomer said. "The horses of Rohan are greatly beloved, and to give them to a stranger is a hard thing for us. To insure that your friend is true, and that when his quest is achieved or proven in vain, that he will come to Meduseld for you..."
Elphaba wanted to say something in Aragorn's defense, but he rose his hand to silence her. Now was not the time for more harsh words, especially when outnumbered a hundred against six.
"Besides," Eomer said, looking upon Glinda. "Hunting orcs is the duty of men."
Both Elphaba and Glinda were a little offended at this remark.
Eomer whistled back behind him and summoned "Hasufel" and "Arod." A large, dark grey horse came first, with a smaller, lighter horse. "May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters."
At this, he mounted his horse again and placed his helmet back upon his head. He motioned to his warriors, and three other horses strode up. Fiyero climbed up behind one, Glinda was helped up onto another, but Elphaba did not climb up onto the horse.
"With your permission, lord," the last word she spoke a little sarcastically at Eomer. "I will ride by myself."
The third empty horse was brought forward and Elphaba climbed onto its back. Her blue-skirt, worn somewhat with the wear and tear of travel, made it that she had to sit side-saddle, to her displeasure. Once these were mounted, Eomer turned to Aragorn.
"Farewell. Look for your friends, but do not trust or hope. It has forsaken these lands." He then urged the horse on and waved for the other horsemen to follow him.
"We ride north!"
AN: In case you're getting confused with that last bit, in the book, Eomer was going south to the Entwade, which would suggest possible incursion by Mordor orcs. In the movie, they changed that he rode north...but for no explained reason, especially since direct-north would go into Fangorn. Here, there is an explanation: he is going north-west back to Meduseld to present the Ozians to Theoden. Obviously, he is not banished in this version (as he was not banished in the book). It is fan-fic, and I said I would be going closer to the book. Also, I decided to bring Halbarad and the Dunedain into the story, a deviation from the movie but not the book. Also, there is a reason why Elphaba had a fearful expression when she woke up. You'll find out why.
