A/N: Hey minna! Welcome to the sequel to The Prophecy of Team Seven! If you are a reviewer from the last story, welcome back! If you're not, it would probably be best if you read the first story first before reading this.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS CHAPTER? Frodo has a nightmare about Moria and losing Gandalf; Naruto, Sam and Frodo continue making their way through Emyn Muil and stumble upon Gollum trying to steal back the Ring from Frodo; Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Sasuke track down the Uruk-hai who kidnapped Merry, Pippin and Sakura; and trouble stirs within the realm of Rohan.
Naruto Masashi Kishimoto and Lord of the Rings © J.R.R Tolkien. I don't own or have any affiliation with both works of fiction.
Please review responsibly and constructively. NO FLAMES WILL BE APPRECIATED!
(5/06/2019) Please note that I have made slight changes to the final chapter of 'The Prophecy of Team Seven' so I recommend before reading the last chapter again before reading this sequel. As such, I've also modified this chapter and the other three as well. Please enjoy the story!)
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
"Few can foresee wither their road will lead them, till they come to its end."
~Gandalf: Lord of the Rings 'The Two Towers'.
Frodo slept fitfully on the rocky terrain of Emyn Muil, lost in the memory of his dear friend, and wizard Gandalf's final moments in Moria. The dream was so vivid, Frodo could swear he was back in Moria.
"You cannot pass!" Gandalf shouted. Gandalf! "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor!" The Balrog snarled, and Frodo glanced around and saw the horrified expression of the rest of Fellowship observing Gandalf facing off against this demon of shadows and flame. No, Gandalf! Please stop! "Argh! Go back to the shadow. The dark fire will not avail you, Flame of Udûn!" Gandalf and the Balrog on the bridge of Khazad-dûm as the demon strikes down on Gandalf with its flaming sword. The grey wizard parried the blow with Glamdring, shattering the Balrog's sword. "YOU…SHALL NOT…PASS!" Gandalf thundered and strikes his staff onto the bridge. The Balrog takes a step forward and the bridge collapses under its weight, plunging the demon backward into the chasm; like before. Frodo despaired. He knew what was coming, and could do nothing but watch it happen again. He watches as an exhausted Gandalf, leans on his staff and watches the Balrog descend with contempt before turning and walking back towards the Fellowship. Here it comes… The Balrog's whip lashes up from the depths of the abyss and winds around Gandalf's ankle and dragged him over the edge. He clings onto the bridge but is straining to keep his grip.
"Gandalf!" Frodo struggles in Boromir's restraint.
"No! No!" Gandalf glares at the Fellowship, who look back at the Wizard in horror. Frodo just wanted this dream, no nightmare, to be over.
"Fly you fools!" And he plunges into the chasm. NO! After Gandalf fell after the Balrog, he manages to catch his sword Glamdring on his way down. They continue to plunge into the depths, and Gandalf hacks away at the Balrog even as it thrashes and bounces off the walls. They continue to plunge at great speed, sometimes with Gandalf clinging to the horn of the demon. The battling pair then falls into an enormous cavern and plunges into the icy water.
"Gandalf!" Frodo jolts awake, catching the attention of Sam whose turn it was to keep watch. Naruto, Sam and Frodo had drawn straws to see who would take the first watch, second and then final.
"What is it, Mr. Frodo?" Sam asks, looking concerned. Frodo looks around frantically, and seeing nothing but the jaggered rocks and mountain ridges, he sighed and lay back down.
"Nothing. Just a dream." Sam nodded, looking unconvinced as Naruto sat up, looking over at Sam who nodded in agreement. Naruto stayed sitting up, and stretched; scratching at his belly before getting up from his camp bed and started folding it up and went to answer the call of nature. Later, the three of them come across a cliff and saw no other alternative but to repel down it using Sam's elven rope, gifted to him by Galadriel. Naruto went first, as he was used to repelling down the side of cliffs occasionally as part of his career as a ninja.
"C'mon you two. It's easy!" Naruto shouted from the bottom. Both hobbits hesitated before Frodo summoned his courage and started walking backwards down the cliff. Sam followed swiftly.
"Easy!? It's easy for him to say!" Sam grumbled. Frodo rolled his eyes.
"You do know I can hear you, right Sam?" Naruto voice sounded from somewhere at the bottom of the cliff. Sam muttered to himself, before he talked down to Frodo.
"Can you see the bottom?" Sam asked him. Frodo craned his neck to check, and paled. He couldn't even see Naruto. How high is this cliff?
"No! Don't look down, Sam! Just keep going!" Frodo reassures his friend and Sam nodded, fearfully. A box falls from Sam's pocket.
"Oh! Catch it! Grab it, Mr. Frodo!" Sam exclaimed. Frodo reached out and grabbed the box, but slips and falls… right into Naruto's waiting arms.
"Gotcha!" Naruto grinned and put a flustered Frodo back down onto his feet. Naruto tried to avoid laughing at Frodo, as the hobbit glanced upwards and reassured a possibly freaking out Sam.
"I think I've found the bottom." Frodo announced. "With some help from Naruto…" Sam reached the bottom, and threw a grateful look at Naruto who shrugged it off. It was part of his job as a shinobi to not only defend but protect his charges. Sam glanced around with distaste.
"Bogs and rope, and goodness knows what. It's not natural. None of it." Frodo was frowning down at the box Sam asked him desperately to grab for him.
"What's in this?" He flipped open the lid and saw some white crystallised granules.
Naruto frowned. "Salt?"
"Seasoning. I thought maybe if we was having a roast chicken one night or somethin'?" Naruto and Frodo looked at the other hobbit with amusement.
"Roast chicken?" Frodo exclaimed incredulously. Sam looked embarrassed.
"You never know…" He trailed off, and Frodo smiled nostalgically.
"Sam! My dear Sam." He closed the lid and handed back to Sam, who pocketed it and continued to explain why he had it.
"It's very special, that. It's the best salt in all the Shire." Frodo smiled, and clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"It is special. It's a little bit of home." Naruto's smile dropped, and he immediately thought of Sasuke and Sakura, and wondered how they were faring. But that unfortunately, caused him to think about their home, and how the rest of the Rookie 9 and all their senseis were. He then bit his lip and looked worried. Were they searching for them? Had they actually been gone from the Elemental Nations for a long time? All these thoughts, eventually caused Naruto to brood and start feeling homesick. He was brought back down to reality when he heard Sam tutting disapprovingly and saw him and Frodo examining his rope. "We can't leave this for someone to follow us down." Frodo pointed out, and Sam snorted.
"Who's gonna follow us down here, Mr. Frodo?" He asked Frodo, dryly. "It's a shame really. Lady Galadriel gave me that. Real Elvish Rope." Naruto rolled his eyes and wondered over to them, volunteering to go back up to the top and untie it for them. "Well, there's nothing for it. It's one of my knots. Won't come free in a hurry." Naruto approached Sam.
"Hang about. I'll go back up and get it." Naruto grabbed onto the rope and started to pull himself back up. Unfortunately, the second he put his weight on the rope, the knot begins to loosen and the rope gives way. Naruto suddenly found himself, falling to the ground and lands in a heap at the hobbit's feet. Alarmed, Sam checks to see if Naruto is okay. Frodo raised an eyebrow and glanced up at the fog above.
"Real Elvish rope?" He commented, dubiously before stooping down to help Sam pull Naruto to his feet. The poor blonde had a large egg on the back of his head. "Wow, Naruto. That looks like it hurts!" Frodo said, examining the lump and wincing sympathetically. Naruto shrugged.
"Well, it doesn't tickle." Naruto chuckled, in embarrassment. But both hobbits gasped in astonishment when the egg on the back of Naruto's head instantly disappeared as though it had never been there in the first place.
"What sorcery is that?" Sam demanded, glaring suspiciously at Naruto who flushed, trying to think of an answer to the suspicious hobbit's question.
"Uh, shinobi are notoriously fast healers?" It wasn't an altogether lie. Shinobi did heal faster than the average civilian; but Frodo and Sam didn't need to know that Naruto's advanced healing was all down to the Kyuubi no Kitsune that resided within him.
Eventually, Frodo and Sam climbed over the rocky terrain with Naruto scouting ahead to try and find a safe path through the sharp rocks. They eventually come to the top of a Cliffside and look into the distance at the Mountain of Fire.
"Mordor. The one place in Middle Earth we don't want to see any closer, and the one place we're trying to get to. It's just where we can't get." Sam commented.
"Yeah, don't remind me." Naruto sounded a little irritated. He was hungry, and he could feel the Kyuubi stirring unpleasantly as they travelled closer to the evil of Mordor. Sam continued to despair. "Let's face it, Mr. Frodo, we're lost. I don't think Gandalf meant for us to come this way." Frodo winced at the mention of Gandalf and Naruto came over and offered the hobbit some comfort.
"He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen, Sam … but they did." Frodo continued to look miserably at Mordor, when suddenly he could feel and see the Eye zooming in on him. He gasped and panted as he turned and backed away. Naruto and Sam immediately came to his aid.
"Mr. Frodo? It's the Ring, isn't it?" Frodo nodded.
"It's getting heavier." He clutches the Ring by his chest and sits down, still panting. He fumbles for his water skin and takes a generous sip of water. Naruto takes a seat next to Frodo. "What food have we got left?" Sam untied his pack.
"Well, let me see." He pulls out a package of Lembas bread from his pack. He grins playfully. "Oh yes, lovely – Lembas bread. And look!" He digs deeper into the pack and pulls out some more. "More Lembas bread." He breaks off a piece for Frodo and Naruto and tosses it to them, before he tears off some for himself and munches on it. Naruto pulls a face.
"This stuff isn't so bad." Naruto commented lightly, crunching on his portion of the Lembas bread. Sam nodded.
"I don't usually hold with foreign food, but this elvish stuff. I agree with Naruto, it's not bad." Frodo smiles.
"Nothing dampens your spirits, does it Sam?" Frodo observes, and Sam smiles back. But his smile disappears when he notices something gathering in the sky over Mordor.
"Those rain clouds might." Sam points and Naruto looks over and curses. After eating their fill, the trio continue trekking through difficult terrain, often huddling underneath their cloaks. Eventually, they lost their patience.
"This looks strangely familiar." Sam commented, indicating the area around them. Frodo sighed with frustration.
"That's because we've been here before! We're going in circles." Frodo was exasperated. Naruto bit his tongue, resisting the urge to lash out in anger. While he really liked his new hobbit friends, they were starting to really grate on his patience. Suddenly a bad smell camped out in his nose.
"Ew! That reeks. Do you smell that?" Frodo and Sam approached where Naruto was standing and recoiled in disgust.
"Yes, I can smell it." Then something occurred to him, and he gestured for Sam and Naruto to come closer. "We're not alone." Naruto looked confused, but then thought back to a few days ago to before the Fellowship scattered, and cottoned on to who Frodo might've been thinking of.
"We need a plan." Naruto whispered and both hobbits nodded firmly, and they all put their heads together to form a plan.
Night time falls and all three of them are sleeping. Or at least, that's what it appeared to be. In reality, Frodo and Sam were feigning sleep, and the third lump was one of Naruto's shadow clones, which was set to disappear the second Naruto made his appearance. The plan was for Frodo and Sam to lie perfectly still, underneath the guise of deep slumber while Naruto snuck up behind the intruder and apprehended whoever it was, so that Frodo could get away quickly. A dark shape appeared on top of the cliff. It was Gollum, who had followed the trio since they had abandoned Aragorn and the rest back at the Falls of Rauros. He is making his way down to the hobbits.
"Thieves! The thieves! The filthy little thieves!" Gollum rasped, angrily. "Where is it? Where isss it? They stole it from us. My preciousss." Gollum creeps closer, making Frodo shudder with disgust when he realises Gollum was hovering directly above him, getting closer and closer. "Curse them! We hates them! It's ours, it is… and we wantsss it!" Gollum's hand is inches away from Frodo's neck, ready to seize the Ring from the chain around the hobbit's neck. But a glint of silver catches his eye and stops him in his tracks.
"Make one move, bright eyes, and your blood will paint those rocks!" Naruto's low, icy voice threatens the creature. Gollum growls and decides to call Naruto's bluff, but when the kunai presses deeper into his thin throat and a bead of blood seeps out of the nick. "In case you haven't already guessed, that wasn't a bluff." Immediately, Gollum freezes and curses underneath his breath as Frodo and Sam spring up and away from Gollum's reach. However, Naruto had underestimated the strength of Gollum and was caught off guard when he kicked out and connected with the blonde's solar plexus. Gollum sees the opportunity to leap onto Frodo, who falls backwards and lands painfully on the rocky terrain.
As he falls back, the chain and Ring around his neck is revealed and Gollum jumps straight for the Ring. Sam tries to grab Gollum but is knocked away as Naruto darts forward to assist Frodo. Gollum jumps on top of Frodo once again and undergoes a struggle of wills with Frodo, who struggles to push him away. Gollum's cheeks puff with exertion as he struggles with Frodo, his bright enormous eyes fixed on the Ring. Naruto falls back, trying to keep his anger under control; he didn't want to let the Kyuubi loose. Sam bear hugs Gollum and tears him away from Frodo. The creature then turns around and bites Sam on the shoulder, and wrestles with him until he clasps his arms around Sam's neck and legs around his waist in a death grip. Fed up, Frodo unsheathes Sting and holds it to Gollum's throat, where Naruto had already nicked his neck.
"This is Sting. You've seen it before, haven't you… Gollum?" Frodo glares menacingly at Gollum. The creature glares hatefully at Frodo, who is unmoved, and tightens his grip on Sam's throat. "Release him or I'll follow through on Naruto's promise to cut your throat!" Gollum hesitates, before slowly loosening his grip on Sam. The blonde hobbit scrambles to safety coughing and gasping for breath.
"Well done, Frodo." Naruto growls, and Gollum's eyes flick towards the ninja. Almost immediately, the creature's eyes widen in fear as Naruto's normally cheerful, bright blue eyes had changed into slitted, blood red fox eyes; which those who knew about the Kyuubi would see as a very bad omen. Gollum wails pathetically. When dawn breaks, Naruto borrows Sam's rope and wraps it around Gollum's neck like a dog leash. The creature ends up being dragged around for the duration of the hike, wailing and writhing in pain.
"It burns! It burns us! It freezes!" Gollum whines, and Naruto itches to stab a kunai into one of his large eyes to shut him up. A fact that causes Naruto to recoil from horror, because they were not his thoughts, but the Kyuubi's. "Nasty elves twisted it. Take it off us!" Gollum begged.
"Quiet you!" Sam tugged fiercely at the rope. Gollum cried out some more and collapses onto his back. Naruto stops in his tracks and glares hatefully at Gollum, as Sam turns to Frodo in dismay.
"It's hopeless! Every Orc in Mordor's going to hear this racket!" Sam complained. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Which is probably why he's doing it." Naruto pointed out. Sam nodded in agreement, knowing that Naruto wasn't stating the obvious on purpose; the boy was just as irritated as they were.
"Let's just tie him up and leave him." Sam suggested. Gollum's eyes widened in horror at the mere suggestion.
"No! That would kill us! Kill us!"
"I could always put you out of your misery…" Naruto offered, spinning a kunai threateningly around his finger and fixing the creature with a glare that could melt steel. Gollum instantly went silent, and both hobbits silently thanked Naruto for his threat, even though the way he had delivered it made their blood run cold. It was almost inhuman.
"Agreed. It's no more than you deserve!" Sam emphasised. Frodo looked at Gollum sadly.
"Maybe he does deserve to die, but now that I see him, I do pity him." Gollum overheard Frodo, and gave the hobbit a bright smile.
"We be nice to them if they be nice to us." Gollum promised and held out the rope to them. "Take it off us. We swears to do what you wants. We swears." Frodo hesitated as Sam and Naruto tensed.
"There's no promise you can make that I can trust." Frodo pointed out.
"We swears to serve the master of the preciousss. We swears on … on the precious." Gollum insisted, before hacking and coughing. Which to Naruto, sounded a lot like *Gollum. Gollum*. Frodo narrowed his eyes, and Naruto relaxed. Good, Frodo was not a fool.
"The Ring is treacherous. It will hold you to your word." Frodo stated. Gollum started getting excited.
"Yes … on the preciousss. On the preciousss." He started weeping. But Sam and Naruto sensed a trick.
"I don't believe you!" Sam yelled, as Gollum backed away looking frightened by Sam's outburst, and climbs onto a boulder. "Get down! I said, down!" Sam jerked strongly on the rope as Gollum tries to crawl away from him. He crashes onto the ground, choking.
"Sam!" Frodo was horrified by Sam's actions. Sam spun on Frodo.
"He's trying to trick us! We let him go he'll throttle us in our sleep!" Naruto nodded in agreement.
"I agree. It's a bad idea." Gollum lay panting and holding his throat. He starts to back away as Frodo approaches him, looking cautious and distrustful.
"You know the way to Mordor?" Frodo asks him, quietly. Gollum nods warily.
"Yes…"
"You've been there before?" Frodo stated, matter-of-factly. Gollum nodded again, wondering where Frodo was going with these questions. Sam and Naruto was intrigued as well.
"Yes." Satisfied with Gollum's answers, Frodo reached out and took the rope noose off Gollum's neck. Gollum, Sam and Naruto are surprised and stunned, and in Gollum's case, relieved. Frodo gives Gollum a no nonsense glare.
"You will lead us to the Black Gate." Gollum obeys and scrambles off in the direction of Morannon. Naruto and his two hobbit companions follow in his wake; with both Sam and Naruto questioning what Frodo was thinking, letting Gollum go free like that. Gollum talks to himself.
"To the Gate, to the Gate! To the Gate the masters says. Yes!"
"No! We won't go back. Not there. Not to him. They can't make us. *Gollum. Gollum.*"
"But we swore to serve the master of the precious!"
"No. Ashes and dust and thirst there is, and pits, pits, pits. And Orcses, thousands of Orcses." Naruto, who could hear better than anybody because of the Kyuubi's influence, raised an eyebrow, creeped out. Maybe he's schizophrenic?
"And always the Great Eye, watching, watching." Gollum clutches his head like had a bad headache, before he turns and looks at the hobbits and Naruto, and screams. Then Gollum turns and books it.
"Hey! Come back now! Come back!" Sam and Naruto run after him, but because they don't know the area; they lose him easily. "There! What did I tell you? He's run off, the old villain." Naruto nods, looking grim.
"So much for his promises." Suddenly, Gollum reappears; looking a lot more chipper than he did before he screamed at them and ran off. Naruto scratched his head, looking confused. Yep, definitely schizophrenia…
"This way Hobbitses and scary fox! Follow me!" Naruto paled, just as Frodo and Sam frowned and mouthed 'scary fox' at each other before glancing at Naruto.
"What did he mean by 'scary fox'?" Frodo asked, warily. Naruto chuckled nervously.
"Who knows?" Naruto replied, before he quickly darted after Gollum.
A band of Uruk-hai marched across the plains, with two hobbits and a young girl bound to the backs of three Uruk-hai. The two hobbits were Merry and Pippin; both tired, hungry and extremely frightened. While the girl, whose name was Sakura – a powerful kunoichi – had awoken from her unconscious state and was realising what had happened, started feigning unconsciousness; and mentally attempted to figure out a strategy to release both herself and her hobbit charges from where they were being taken. She prayed that Aragorn and the others were following them. Pippin tries to call out to Merry, who is unconscious with a nasty looking gash on his right eyebrow.
"Merry. Merry!" Pippin receives no reply from him. Suddenly, an Uruk-hai puts up his hand and signals a stop. Two Orcs emerge and address one of the Uruk-hai, who had become the leader when the last one was decapitated and killed by Aragorn.
"You're late. Our master grows impatient. He wants the Shire-rats now." Another Uruk approaches him.
"I don't take orders from Orc-maggots. Saruman will have his prize. We will deliver them!" While they were having their discussion about their fates, an oblivious Pippin was more concerned about Merry, who didn't look at all well. Pippin panicked.
"Merry! Merry! Wake up!" He turns to a nearby Uruk, who is swigging from a waterskin. Pippin tries to appeal to him. "My friends are sick! They need water. Please!" He begs, desperately. The Uruk-hai leader overheads and comes over to investigate. He chuckles cruelly.
"Sick, huh? Give them some medicine, boys!" The Uruk-hai manhandle both Merry and Sakura, who jolts 'awake' in surprise, as one of the Uruks force open their mouths and pours a sticky red liquid into them. Merry chokes, while Sakura fights savagely and glares angrily at the Uruk-hai forcing her to drink the foul tasting liquid.
"Stop it!" Pippin yells. But he is ignored. The Uruks laugh at Merry and Pippin's despair, and were not at all intimidated by Sakura's bravado. Merry finally stops coughing and sits up, blinking in the late afternoon sunlight like a newborn.
"Can't take his draught!" The leader crowed. Pippin scowls at him, angrily.
"Leave him alone!" The leader turns to Pippin, unamused by Pippin's anger.
"Why? You want some?" Pippin paled. "Huh?" The hobbit shook his head, fearfully. "Then keep your mouth shut." Pippin nodded, and turned his attention towards Merry and brightened with relief when Sakura made signs that she was alive and turned to look at her charges with concern.
"Merry! Sakura!"
"Hello, Pip." Merry croaked.
"Pippin, are you alright?" Sakura asked, automatically shifting into medic-nin mode. Pippin nodded, and focused upon Merry's bloodied eyebrow with worry.
"You're hurt." Pippin sounded extremely worried, and Merry smiled appreciatively.
"I'm fine. It was just an act." He lied to reassure his best friend, who frowned disapprovingly back at him.
"An act?"
"See? I fooled you too." Merry laughed out loud, so that the Uruk-hai wouldn't get suspicious and decide to attack them both. "Don't worry about me, Pippin." Suddenly, one of the Uruk-hai stiffened, catching the attention of the leader.
"What is it? What do you smell?" The Uruk sniffs the air, and growls.
"Man-flesh." Pippin brightened immediately, all was not lost. Sakura mentally cheered, knowing that all her hoping and praying had paid off.
"Aragorn…" Pippin whispered to himself, quietly, and Sakura grinned at him. The second Uruk curses, and turns to the band of Uruk-hai.
"They've picked up our trail! Let's move!" The Uruk-hai continue marching, picking up their pace. Pippin struggled to reach his Elven brooch with his teeth. He then tears it off his cloak and drops it on the ground. A foot steps onto the brooch, but it remains unbroken and visible on the grass.
A few miles back, Aragorn lies with his eyes closed and his ear pressed to a nearby boulder, listening for the sound of footsteps. Sasuke stands not too far away, observing the ranger with interest. It was uncanny how similar the tracking skills of this ranger was to the way the Shinobi did back in the Elemental Nations.
"Well?" Sasuke inquires, rather impatiently. Aragorn ignores the tone, but answers Sasuke's question.
"Their pace has quickened." Aragorn looks up. "They must have caught our scent." He turns and looks at Sasuke, and at Legolas who had just come up to them. "Hurry!" Aragorn takes off, with Sasuke close behind. Legolas turns and looks back at Gimli.
"Come on, Gimli!" And races off after the Ranger, and the two young shinobi. Gimli pauses in his steps and huffs.
"Three days and nights pursuit. No food. No rest. And no sign of our quarry but what bare rock can tell." He runs after his companions … and frowns when he remembers the shinobi consuming something unusual. "Although, Sasuke consumed some strange green stones and miraculously recovered. That is a mystery in its self." The four hunters run across rocks and plains, with Aragorn in the lead; followed in order by Sasuke, Legolas and Gimli. Legolas and Sasuke were on par with each other in terms of speed and agility, and rarely tired. But Legolas still looked back from time to time, to make sure that Gimli was keeping up. Eventually, Aragorn came upon Pippin's brooch and picks it up. He holds it up for Legolas and Sasuke to see.
"Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall." Aragorn stated, frowning critically at the brooch.
"So, they may yet be alive?" Sasuke asked.
"It a certainty." Legolas agreed. Aragorn straightened up and turned to carry on running.
"Less than a day ahead of us. Come!" He takes off running, with Sasuke at his heels. Gimli stumbles from behind some rocks and rolls to the ground. Legolas holds back an amused chuckle.
"Come, Gimli! We are gaining on them!" He declared. Gimli glared at him.
"I am wasted on cross-country!" He growled indignantly. "We dwarves are natural sprinters! Very dangerous over short distances!" The trackers come over a hill and pause as they gaze across the plains below. Aragorn pauses to catch his breath, and Gimli silently gives thanks.
"Rohan. Home of the Horse-lords." He frowned. "There is something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed to these creatures, sets its will against us." Legolas runs ahead and looks out to the horizon. "Legolas, what do your Elf eyes see?" Aragorn asked.
"The Uruks turn northeast." His blue eyes widened in dismay, fear and anger. "They're taking the hobbits and Sakura to Isengard!" He announced with despair.
Aragorn grimaced. "Saruman."
Sasuke looked troubled, as he nimbly jumps off the boulder he was perched upon next to Aragorn and quickly follows the ranger deeper into the realm.
A Rohan village is being attacked and pillaged, and the villagers try to escape the on-coming pillage. A woman, known as Morwen, with her hand on a horse's saddle, calls out to her children.
"Éothain! Éorthain!" A teenage boy, no older than Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura rushes up to his mother, carrying supplies. "You take your sister." Morwen finishes fastening up the saddle and Éorthain immediately pulls himself up onto the saddle. "You'll go faster with just two." A little girl of perhaps 10 or 11 starts to complain as her mother picks her up and puts her onto the horse in front of her brother.
"Papa says Éorthain must not ride Garulf, he is too big for him!" But Morwen had no time for this.
"Listen to me. You must ride to Edoras and raise the alarm. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, Ma!" Éorthain replies, hastily. His sister suddenly realises that their mother isn't coming with them and begins to cry.
"I don't wanna leave! I don't wanna go, mama!" Morwen can feel her heart breaking, but knows that this was the only way to sound the alarm. She cups her daughter's face and tries to soothe her.
"Freda, I will find you there…" She is cut off by a woman's scream. Morwen's eyes widened in alarm. "Quickly!" Her children ride off. Morwen looks after them, tears building up in her eyes. "Go child!" Dunlanders and Uruk-hai enter the village, burning everything in sight as the Rohirrim scream and run in all directions. Éorthain and Freda weep as they look at their village from a distance.
On the banks of the Isen river, bodies of men and horses lie in the rain. Men on horseback approach. Their leader is the King's nephew, Éomer, guides his horse forward.
"Théodred." He whispers, fearing the worst before he addresses his men. "Find the King's son!" Immediately, Rohan soldiers dismount and start turning over bodies. Éomer is a handsome Prince; tall and holds himself up regally dressed head to toe in expensive battle armour in rich reds, greens and golds. He had long golden hair, like most of the men living in Rohan wore and piercing celery green eyes. He dismounts from his horse, and starts walking around helping his men search for his missing cousin. One rider despairs.
"Mordor will pay for this!" He vowed, angrily. Éomer shares his anger, but notices something different about these particular orcs.
"These Orcs are not from Mordor." He stated and kicked over a dead Orc, revealing a white handprint on its armour. Suddenly,
"My Lord Éomer. Over here!" yells another Rider and Éomer immediately rushes over to the rider and gently pulls back the body, revealing a handsome young man with muddied dirty blonde hair, dressed in the same style of armour as Éomer, and had several nasty looking wounds on his face and body. The Prince is barely breathing.
"He's alive!" Éomer rejoiced. Yes, the Prince was still alive… for now. The group of horsemen ride to Edoras. Éomer is in the lead, carrying a gravely wounded Théodred. A beautiful young woman with very long golden hair, blue eyes and wearing a brown and crème medieval dress runs hastily up the stairs to the Golden Hall and enters a bedchamber. She is Éowyn; Éomer's sister, Théodred's cousin and a Princess of Rohan who had a secret that only she, her brother and her Uncle knew. She runs up to her cousin's bed, looking extremely worried.
"Théodred!" Her cousin stirs for a second, hearing her call but passes out soon after from the immense pain. He has a blood gash on the side of his head. Éomer nods to his sister in the direction of Théodred's torso, and she immediately pulls back the covers. She grimaces when she sees Théodred's fatal wound, and her lips tighten and eyes close. She looks up to catch Éomer's eye. He stares back solemnly. A short time later, Éomer and Éowyn are speaking to their uncle, Théoden-king who sits motionless on his throne, wizened, and aged beyond his years.
"Your son is badly wounded, my Lord." Éowyn stated, grimly.
"He was ambushed by Orcs." Éomer reported. "If we don't defend our country, Saruman will take it by force."
"That is a lie!" A pale-skinned man with long, greasy looking hair and dressed head to toe in black, appears from the shadows. His name was Gríma Wormtongue, the King's advisor; but unknown to the King and his court, was actually spy to Saruman. His presence was not welcomed by either Éomer or Éowyn. "Saruman the White has ever been our friend and ally."
"Gríma…" The King mumbled feebly. "Gríma…" Wormtongue leans down close to the King. "My son…? Gríma…?"
"Orcs are roaming freely across our lands." Éomer continues. "Unchecked. Unchallenged. Killing at will. Orcs bearing the white hand of Saruman." He dumps a helmet onto the ground, which topples over to reveal the white hand of Saruman. Wormtongue glares at Éomer, before he smirks and returns his attention to the King, while he talks to Éomer.
"Why do you lay these troubles on an already troubled mind? Can you not see? Your uncle is wearied by your malcontent, your war-mongering." Éomer's eyes flashed.
"War-mongering?" Éomer immediately grabs Wormtongue and pins him against a nearby pillar. "How long is it since Saruman brought you?" Wormtongue's eyes widened in shock. So Éomer had discovered his identity as a mole, huh? Oh, no. This just won't do. I need to dispose of him… "What was the promised price, Gríma? When all the men are dead you will take your share of the treasure?" Wormtongue's eyes flick to the right, at the retreating Éowyn, watching as she walked by. Éowyn stops to stare back at the pair for a moment before departing from the hall. Éomer jerks Wormtongue's attention back to him and clutches his hand around Wormtongue's jaw. "Too long have you watched my sister. Too long have you haunted her steps!" Wormtongue panicked until he suddenly looks to the left and relaxes as his thugs pull Éomer off him.
"You see much, Éomer, Son of Éomund. Too much." Wormtongue smirks as his thugs punch Éomer in the stomach. "You are banished forthwith from the Kingdom of Rohan, and all its domains. Under pain of death!" Éomer wheezed from being slugged in the stomach by Wormtongue's thugs.
"You have no authority here. Your orders mean nothing!" He struggled against the restraining hands holding him back. Wormtongue adopts a falsely sympathetic expression.
"This order does not come from me. It comes from the King." Éomer's eyes widen in shock. "He signed it this morning." Wormtongue gives Éomer an oily grin as the guards take Éomer away.
"ARGH!" Éomer screams.
A/N: What will happen next I wonder? If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, just wait and see when the next chapter is uploaded.
Thanks for reading! :)