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Trapped As A Mary Sue II

Chapter Two

Onward, ever onward. Air burned in his lungs like a fire that could not be quenched and Brian's breath was so short that it barely existed. Darkness was deepening around him and the overshadowing cliff on their right did nothing to aid visibility as the five pursuers darted among the folds and gullies of the landscape. The trail was growing cold, he knew, and it was doubtful they would continue. He combed his memory for the precise events in the book, but in his over-exhausted state, Brian could not put things in order.

Legolas and Aragorn had pressed far ahead, their eyes keener and better adapted to the night. Gimli was attempting to do his share, but his own gaze was hampered, and Brian knew that, like he, the Dwarf would not see anything unless it jumped up from the ground and tripped him.

"Ah!" Brian twisted his body as a sizeable boulder knocked his leg out from under him, and he landed on his side, barely avoiding another rock with his head. He refrained from saying anything too colorful, and settled on, "Darn rock. I was there first," though logistically it didn't make any sense.

{Hang logistics, you're in one of the most illogical places ever created anyway,} a voice inside his head told him.

Brian blinked to himself as he regained his footing. He hadn't really just heard a voice in his head...had he?

"Brian?" Katie's question interrupted his thoughts. "You all right? I heard you trip."

"It was the rock's fault." It was hard to make out the expression on her face in the blackness around them, but he would've bet all he had that she was crossing her arms and giving him her 'fine-whatever-you-say-but-you're-still-crazy' look. "It got in my way!" he protested.

"Uh huh, right, sure it did..."

A shout from Legolas brought their conversation, such as it was, to a halt. "Come on," Brian said, not wasting a second. He grabbed his girlfriend's hand in his own as they navigated their way to where Aragorn and Gimli were gathered.

"We have already overtaken some of those that we are hunting," the elf said. "Look!" He pointed, and they saw that what they had at first taken to be boulders lying at the foot of the slope were huddled bodies. Five dead Orcs lay there. They had been hewn with many cruel strokes, and two had been beheaded. The ground was wet with their dark blood.

"Northern Orcs," Brian whispered to Katie. "They joined up with the Uruk-Hai in the second movie." Moments later, Aragorn confirmed his statement.

"You, Brian!" he said suddenly, turning to face the young man. "What did you call the great Orcs?"

Brian glanced at Katie, who was slowly shaking her head and mouthing, 'Don't say too much.' "They're called Uruk-Hai, the servants of Saruman."

Katie's face met her palm in the classic gesture of 'd'oh!'

"Then it is true; Saruman knows of our journey." Aragorn looked in an unseeing manner at the ground, his thoughts flowing fast. "But he knows not enough. He had hoped to capture the Ring, yet Frodo and Sam have eluded him." Determination kindled in his face as he glanced up at Brian, his gaze so intense that Brian straightened to near-attention. "These Uruk-Hai take Pippin and Merry to Isengard." He did not make it a question, but Brian nodded anyway. "Our task therefore becomes all the more urgent. We cannot let the hobbits reach his hands, when they have not the Ring. When the traitor Saruman discovers that, he will surely kill them."

"Then why do we wait?" Gimli demanded, glancing at the sky. "Dawn comes, let us resume the trail!"

No arguments arose from the hunters as they kept their northwards heading, although Katie's frequent glares in his direction were unsettling. A stream crossed their path as the first streaks of pink began to grace the horizon, and Aragorn paused. "At last! Here are the tracks that we seek! Up this waterchannel: this is the way that the Orcs went after their debate."

"You shouldn't have told him," Katie hissed under her breath as they veered aside onto the new path. "You can't interfere with the story like that; it could permanently screw something up!"

"Yeah, well from what I've seen, it's screwed up enough from this Meriweather already!" Brian muttered back heatedly. "Maybe we should help them out, since all she's been doing is messing with them."

"And maybe we should just leave well enough alone," she replied. "I don't like this any more than you do, even less because I've been stuck here so long, but I'm telling you, we can't just go off and reveal things! Look," Katie began, staving off his retort, "taking into account the fact that I've been here longer than you have, and I understand this whole thing better than you do, just do what I say, okay?"

When he didn't immediately reply, she elbowed him. "Okay?"

"Ow, fine, okay. Come on, let's catch up before they think we've gotten lost or tripped or done something really stupid." Brian resented Katie's control over the information she had, but they hadn't had time (or breath, as of late) to really talk anyway. But one thing he did know: the sooner they got through the book, the better. Call it a hunch, but he knew that instincts hardly ever failed.

The two teenagers at last crested the hill where the Three Hunters had paused. The sun had risen over Rohan and far-off Gondor while they had been arguing, but the view was still breath-taking. The wide green fields of Rohan sparkled like emeralds in the red sun's rays, and the water-vales glinted as diamonds. The purple and blue crags of the White Mountains were flushed with the rose of morning, and Aragorn was singing,

O Gondor, Gondor! Shall Men behold the Silver Tree,

Or West Wind blow again between the Mountains and the Sea?

Nobody missed the unmistakable longing in Aragorn's voice, even as he turned his eyes away from the South and said, "Now let us go!" He jumped lightly down the steep path, followed and soon outdistanced by Legolas. Gimli went quickly after them, his speed surprising.

Katie and Brian stood at the crest for a long moment and then they looked at each other.

"No words?" he finally asked.

"Nope. Not for this," Katie spread her arms at the view. "Ah, I'm just being pathetic, ignore me."

"Will do," Brian said, laughing when she smacked him playfully. "Let's go." Taking her hand in his once more, they started down the steep decline. By the time they caught up with the others, they were within spitting distance of the green plains of the Rohirrim, and the Orcs' trail wasn't hard to pick out. The Uruk-Hai, whether by lack of intelligence or lack of fear, had marked their path with cast-off objects: a cloak here, a shoe there.

The trail led them north, and at length they came to a deep cleft carved in the rock by a stream that splashed noisily down. In the narrow ravine a rough path descended like a steep stair into the plain. At the bottom, like an endless sea of grass, the plains of Rohan waited.

Legolas took a deep breath as they paused at the edge of the fields. "Ah, the green smell!" he said. "It is better than much sleep. Let us run!"

{I hate elves,} Brian grumbled to himself.

{Your girlfriend thinks they're hot.}

Brian literally jumped and turned around, looking for the source of the voice. Gimli was staring at him. He managed a weak wave in the Dwarf's direction. {Um...who are you?}

{Me? Moi? None of your business, you nosy Navy boy. Try saying that ten times fast. I've been helping Katie out with this mucky problem, and it seems you could use an explanation, am I correct?}

{Er...}

{Here, you just run and leave me to sort things out for you, all right? There's a good boy.}

Brian pulled himself back to reality as Aragorn led them single file across the flat land. He was the last in line, with Katie ahead of him, but was far too busy listening to this new personality in his head to pay any attention to anything else. Which was why...

{Look out!} the voice warned in one of those split-second-too-late ways.

"Yi!" Katie went down beneath him, followed by Legolas and Gimli who got caught in the domino-effect.

"Clumsy lad," Gimli muttered, disentangling himself from the elf's bow and cloak. "Did you not hear Aragorn call us to stay?"

"He has not the hearing of elves, Master Dwarf," Legolas put in, "and he was quite far behind when Aragorn shouted." He sprang lithely to his feet, inspecting his bow for nicks.

"What happened?" Aragorn had returned, something clenched in his hand.

"An accident," Brian muttered, sitting up. It was only then that he noticed Katie was not moving. And from what the voice had told him, that meant... "Katie?"

"No..." A chill wind knifed across the plain. Aragorn threw Brian out of his path. "No! This cannot happen again...it cannot!" His words were whispered, but with such intensity born of loathing that all heard him as he knelt by Katie.

"Pray she wakes, boy," Gimli said gruffly. "Or it is all our fates on the line." Several tense seconds passed as the four of them waited silently, gravely. Then:

"Yeeeeeek!"

"She's awake," Brian informed the Dwarf calmly. "And you might want to get Aragorn away from her."

"Aragorn, son of Arathorn, heir of Isildur, so help me if you are ever that close to my face again when I'm in the real Middle-earth, you'll find a few appendages missing from your body!" Katie yelled, scrabbling away from the Ranger and to her feet. A tense moment of silent glaring went by before Legolas dared to interrupt the contest of wills.

"Did you find anything, Aragorn?"

"Yes." The elf's question put an end to the stare-down. "A hobbit's footprints. Pippin's, I think. He is smaller than the other. And look at this!" He held up a thing that glittered in the sunlight. Even from where he stood, Brian knew immediately what it was, and Legolas and Gimli merely confirmed it:

"The brooch of an elven-cloak!"

"He's marked his trail, and told us he's alive," Katie mused quietly. "Smart hobbit."

"Let us hope he did not pay too dearly for his boldness," said Legolas. "Come, let us go on! The thought of those merry young folk driven like cattle burns my heart."

Gimli son of Glóin was not often given to anger over the topic of women, but ever since the council called at Rivendell, the Dwarf had not been himself. Of course, the entire thing was hardly his fault in the first place, but it angered him nonetheless. To think that a girl no different from Katie had begun this evilness, this madness that had taken them all was impossible! In addition to that, it was also improbable and very inconvenient. Nothing was of more importance than their quest, and even that had been torn asunder in three different directions. He found himself wondering if perhaps Meriweather had caused the breaking of the Fellowship.

Thrusting that thought aside, for now nothing could reverse the course of events as they were, Gimli focused his attention on sprinting, though the hunters had nothing to show for their progress but a still-empty plain that weighted his heart with a slowly-growing despair. His shadow stretched out long and far in front of him, nearly twice the height of the Dwarf. They had paused only twice that day for a brief rest, and Gimli had chafed at the delay, as he was loathe to admit that he needed rest.

Aragorn at last called them to halt, and the Dwarf half-braced himself, should the flaxen-haired lad, Brian, forget to stop running once more. Gimli estimated that their feet had covered no less than eleven or twelve leagues that day, but he knew that he could sustain scores more if it meant getting back Merry and Pippin. He did miss the hobbits and their odd habits, their unexpected cheerfulness in the face of despair. Smiling to himself, Gimli waited to hear Aragorn's words.

"We have come at last to a hard choice," he said. "Shall we rest by night, or shall we go on while our will and strength hold?"

Legolas spoke first, and at one time Gimli would have begrudged him for it, but much had changed since then. "Unless our enemies rest also, they will leave us far behind, if we stay to sleep." He seemed almost to bounce on his feet, as if ready to be off again like the wind if Aragorn gave the word.

However, Gimli had seen, or rather not seen, the obvious answer. "But if we walk by night, we cannot follow their trail." Granted, his eyes were not as keen as those of an elf, but he knew even Legolas would not be able to detect their path when the deepest folds of night swept over them.

"The trail is straight, and turns neither right nor left, as far as my eyes can see," the elf protested, glaring down at the Dwarf. It was not the superior glare of challenge that Gimli had learned to recognize in the earlier days of their journey, rather one that was beseeching, almost desperate to continue the hunt. Legolas indeed wished to save the halflings any mistreatment that awaited them at the treacherous hands of Saruman, no less than any of them.

The heir of Isildur looked past Gimli and asked, "What say you?"

A brief rustling of grass, as if one of the outworlders had stepped forward to reply and had been pulled forcibly back reached the Dwarf's ears, and he heard one mutter a warning to the other before Katie's voice said clearly from behind him, "We leave the decision to you." Then softer, "As it must be."

Gimli's attention never left Aragorn's face as a troubled expression passed over his face. "Maybe, I could lead you at guess in the darkness and hold to the line," he at last said, "but if we strayed, or they turned aside, then when light came there might be long delay before the trail was found again."

Now, that was a wise statement that he fully approved of. "And there is this also," Gimli added, "only by day can we see if any tracks lead away. If a prisoner should escape, or if one should be carried off, eastward, say, to the Great River, towards Mordor, we might pass the signs and never know it."

"That is true," said Aragorn. "But if I read the signs back yonder rightly, the Orcs—Uruk-Hai—prevailed, and the whole company is now bound for Isengard. Their present course bears me out."

"Yet it would be rash to be sure of their counsels," said Gimli. They were, after all, not the most trustworthy creatures... Another idea occurred to him. "And what of escape? In the dark we should have passed the signs that led you to the brooch."

Legolas stared at the Dwarf for a moment, before opening his mouth to speak. If Gimli did not know better, he would have thought that the Elf had just scowled at him. It was not that Gimli wanted to wait until better light, or even that he was very tired, but that he did not want to chance losing the trail. Nevertheless, he held his peace. The five of them would be useless to the hobbits if they quarreled amongst themselves.

"The Orcs will be doubly on their guard since the last attempt with the brooch, and the prisoners will be even wearier," Legolas protested calmly. "There will be no escape again, if we do not contrive it. How that is to be done cannot be guessed, but first we must overtake them."

Gimli sighed as a great weight seemed to settle on him. The longer the group paused to discuss their next course, the more weariness seemed to overcome him.

"Do you still say nothing?" Aragorn again addressed Brian and Katie.

There passed a moment of silence, and at last Katie responded, "What do you want us to say? We can't dictate your actions."

Aragorn made a sound that, to Gimli, resembled a growl. "You can. How is the wound?"

Her voice was dry as she asked, "Which one?" There was a pause, and she answered, "The dagger wound is fine." Brian muttered a phrase, but Gimli could not distinguish the words. However, Legolas was another matter.

"He believes she lies," the Elf said.

"It is a lie to say that I believe her to be honest about such things," Aragorn rejoined. Gimli decided to put an end to the argument and force the decision.

"Let her be, Aragorn. If she wishes to run herself into her grave, then it is her choice. I myself am a Dwarf of many journeys, and not the least hardy of my folk, but I cannot run all the way to Isengard without any pause. My heart burns me, and now I must rest a little to run the better. And if we rest, then the blind night is the time to do so."

"You give the choice to an ill chooser," said Aragorn. "Since we passed through the Argonath my choices have gone amiss." He stared off into the deepening dark for several long moments, in which Gimli fought to keep his legs steady beneath him. Resolutely, he locked his knees and waited.

At length Aragorn spoke. "We will not walk in the dark. The peril of missing the trail or signs of other coming and going seems to me the greater. If the Moon gave enough light, we would use it, but alas! he sets early and is yet young and pale."

"And tonight he is shrouded anyway," Gimli murmured. "Would that the Lady had given us a light, such a gift as she gave to Frodo!" For the briefest of moments the Dwarf let his mind slip into an indulgent memory of the sweet Lady's fair, shining face. Then all was returned to darkness as Aragorn answered him.

"It will be more needed where it is bestowed. With him lies the true Quest. Ours is but a small matter in the great deeds of this time. A vain pursuit from its beginning, maybe, which no choice of mine can mar or mend." Then, as if to cast aside the somberness he had just created, Aragorn continued, "Well, I have chosen. So let us use the time as best we may!"

Gimli had no qualms about the use of his time; the instant he fell prostrate on the ground, he was asleep, hoping for a fair morning.

Katie woke with Aragorn's command to Gimli to rise. The warmth at her back shifted, then vanished, signaling that Brian had risen. She could not remember much since the conversation last night, and even the latter half of it was vague. She'd slept a dead sleep, devoid of dreams, and still exhaustion ate at her.

Brian offered a hand to help her to her feet, and she did not refuse. A twinge of pain came from her latest wound, but she did not react as she pulled Boromir's cloak around her shoulders against the new morning's chill. Her thoughts preoccupied her. Just how much did Meriweather's author know about the new movie? How many times had she seen it? And how badly would she maim it? Katie, at least, was flying blind from the movie standpoint.

"Here." Brian pressed a bite-sized piece of lembas into her hand, and she ate automatically as she thought over the problem.

"I fear they have passed beyond my sight from hill or plain, under moon or sun," Legolas was saying.

"Brian, what do you know will happen from the book?" Katie questioned softly, as the Elf was occupied and would not likely overhear them.

Her boyfriend thought for a moment, but his face was still shadowed and she couldn't see his expression as he replied, "After a few more days of running, Aragorn will hail a band of Rohirrim and they'll give him horses and tell him that they slaughtered the Orcs during the night. Then it's onto Fangorn Forest."

Katie tried to remember everything he said from her own reading of the books, but her jumbled thoughts refused to make sense to her. She had her basic answer: there was more running ahead. "Great, just great. Couldn't get any worse."

Brian must have smiled, though she couldn't tell. "It could rain."

She punched him in the arm, but any retaliation on Brian's part was forestalled when Gimli motioned for quiet. Katie saw Aragorn lying on the ground, either sleeping or listening like trackers did in old movies. She opted for the second reason.

Minutes passed, and Katie began to fall asleep on her feet. Twice Brian was forced to grab her by the shoulders so she didn't fall over completely. Then dawn began to steal over the sky, and the darkness turned to gray around them. It was then that Aragorn rose, his face pale and drawn.

"The rumour of the earth is dim and confused," he said. "Nothing walks upon it for many miles about us. Faint and far are the feet of our enemies. But loud are the hoofs of horses."

Brian and Katie exchanged glances. So things were going according to book. So far, so good. Would Rohan have been at all affected by the author so far? She wanted to doubt it, but nothing was certain here.

"But now they are drawing ever further from us, riding northward. I wonder what is happening in this land!" Aragorn finished, passing a hand across his eyes.

"Let us go!" said Legolas, in motion before the last syllable had passed his lips.

"Doesn't he ever get tired?" Brian growled under his breath, lengthening his stride to stay with Gimli.

"Wait up!" Katie called from behind him. When she reached his side, she muttered, "I thought you said that we were going to meet up with the Rohirrim. Aragorn thinks they're headed away from us. Not that I'm particularly tired or anything," she went on a touch sarcastically, "but those horses would be nice."

{Would you relax?} her voice piped up. {Stop second guessing, or you'll use up all your energy in brainpower. Brian's right, and so is Aragorn. Now knock it off and run.}

Katie didn't bother with a retort as she continued her pursuit. The day passed slower, and no matter how much they seemed to sprint, they always stayed in the same spot. There was no cheerful sun to add lightness to their moods, and the pace became erratic. Aragorn allowed few to no pauses, and there was no further conversation. Most of them lacked the breath necessary anyway.

The track of their enemies remained straight, and as the day finally drew towards night, the trail began to fade from beneath the watchful eyes of Aragorn and Legolas. The ground became harder, jarring their steps and forcing the less hardy to adjust their strides. The land was lonely around them. Not a sign of life stirred, and often Katie observed Aragorn furrowing his brow, looking troubled. Great, so he was getting jittery. This was not a good sign.

They stopped at dusk again, and Katie was on the ground and asleep before anybody even broke out the lembas and water. Had she been conscious, she would have heard the Three Hunters discussing the loss of the trail and the deadness of the land.

The next thing Katie knew:

"Awake! Awake!"

Her hand shot out and smacked something good and proper; it turned out to be Legolas' shin. The Elf managed a graceful recovery and stood looking down at her with an indiscernible expression.

"Sorry, thought you were my annoying alarm clock," Katie muttered as an apology as she struggled to her feet. She gingerly touched her slowly-healing wound; it had become a habit. A stab of pain told her that it was still with her, but she couldn't let it slow her down, as usual. Katie only hoped she could hold out long enough for them to get those horses.

"I, annoying?" the Elf asked slowly, raising one perfect eyebrow.

"You're not exactly the most pleasant thing to wake up to," Katie retorted, digging through somebody's pack in search of anything resembling breakfast.

Legolas made a vaguely insulted noise before turning his back and preparing to lead the way as the remainder of the group readied themselves. "Annoying, am I?" she heard him mutter once more before charging off like a leaping deer.

"You know, lass, you may have an enemy," a gruff voice observed. Katie turned to see Gimli shouldering a bag, and matched pace with him as they started off.

"We'll just see about that. I'm willing to bet he has no idea what a wedgie, a corndog, a wet willy, or a purple nurple is. There're so many accidents that could happen when one is not paying attention."

"He's an Elf, Katie," Brian put in from her other side. "He'll always be paying attention."

She thought about that for a minute. "I thought that elves slept when they walked. Seems to me then would be a golden opportunity."

Gimli let out what might have been a chuckle, but he was serious as he said, "Whatever action you take, be sure it is wise and cannot be turned around to haunt you."

Brian was incredulous. "You're condoning this?"

The Dwarf shrugged. "Aye, and why not? What are a few tricks among companions? It is not as if I have never done anything to him myself." There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye that Katie did not fail to note.

"I give up," Brian said, exasperated. "If he shoots you, it's your own funeral."

She wisely refrained from a comment about being put out of her misery at that point.

{I do apologize that I have no book reference, but the book in question is, in fact, packed and ready for my return home from college. I have 3 weeks of school left, and school is the reason this update has taken so long. Unfortunately, I made a deal with my friend Fae, and now have to produce Chapter Three sometime before July. That's what we're shooting for anyway.

I know that you all most likely want to hang me for my tardiness, but I have to say it was those final few reviews that kept trickling in that helped persuade me to finish this chapter. When you lose steam halfway through the chapter and then a new semester of school starts, writing might as well be as easy as null-grav bungee jumping. You just don't get anywhere attempting it.

So, thank you to my reviewers, and I apologize that I didn't have enough time or the resources necessary to reply to each review, but please know that they were all appreciated. Many, many, many thanks, Key}