Disclaimer: If I had the rights to Lord of the Rings, I probably wouldn't need a summer job (or any other gainful employment, for that matter).
Author's Note: Well. It's been a while, hasn't it? Close to eleven months, if you want to be precise. My deepest apologies for the long delay—I started college this year and it was quite a transition. I didn't have much time to write. But now that summer's here and I've (theoretically) got the hang of this college thing, updates should come on a timelier basis.
Chapter Three: The Trouble with Aria
Aria Nightingale was very good at many things. For example, she was an exceptional archer, swordswoman, musician, artist, writer, seamstress, dancer, gardener, horsewoman, cook, healer, and storyteller. Some of her talent was enhanced by her keen Elven senses; however, most of it was influenced by the fact that she tended to be successful at everything she attempted.
Jane was fairly well aware of this—after all, she had been the creative force behind the Elf's existence. So when Aria announced that she would be training Jane in the basics of swordplay and archery, Jane was not particularly concerned. It made sense, as Jane's presence on the quest was largely Aria's doing.
However, although Aria was exceptionally talented at many things, she was not a very good teacher.
"Once more," sighed Aria as Jane raised her practice sword, "but do try a little harder this time."
Jane bit her lip and forced herself not to snap at the Elf. She had been trying. However, every attempt she made ended abruptly with an elaborate disarming move from Aria. It seemed to Jane that the purpose of the entire training session was to showcase Aria's talents with a sword.
"All right," said Jane with a forced calmness.
"One…two…three…"
Jane had barely raised her sword into a block before it was knocked out of her hand once again. Aria gave an irritable sigh.
"Really, Jane…"
"I tried," Jane snapped, a little more crossly than she intended. "You barely gave me a chance to react!"
"Well, it's not going to be any easier in battle," replied Aria, her voice calm, but her eyes flashing slightly. "Do you think an enemy will just announce its intention to attack?"
Jane opened her mouth to protest, but she was interrupted by someone discreetly clearing his throat.
"That sword is too heavy for her," declared a voice. Jane looked up to find Aragorn watching on the edge of the practice area, his arms folded across his chest. She wasn't sure if she should feel relieved or worried, as she hadn't really gotten a sense as to whether the Ranger liked or despised her. She hoped it was the former.
"We're using the same sword," replied Aria, looking somewhat irritated at the Ranger.
"Yes, but you are much more experienced than Miss Baker, Lady Nightingale. A lighter weapon would be more appropriate for her experience and build," said Aragorn, moving to look at some of the practice swords lined up on the racks. He selected one and approached Jane. "This will be easier to wield," he said, passing her the weapon.
"Thank you," said Jane quietly. She lifted the new sword and felt an immediate difference. It was much lighter and much easier to use than the other one, which felt heavy and cumbersome in comparison.
"Ready?" asked Aria, still looking rather irritated. Jane placed the old practice sword on the ground as Aragorn backed up a few paces. "One…two…three…"
Despite the new sword, this attempt ended like the previous ones. Aria sighed again and Jane tried to steel herself for another pointless exchange.
"May I?" asked Aragorn, interrupting Aria before she could speak. She seemed to consider this for a moment.
"I don't see why not," she shrugged. She handed her sword to Aragorn and took his place off to the side of the room.
Jane regarded the Ranger rather nervously as he took his place in front of her. She was going to cross blades with a genuine Tolkien character, and a warrior at that. A combination of nerves and excitement formed an unpleasant knot in her stomach.
"Your footwork needs some attention," he said. "You stand almost in the same place for the entire duration of the fight. You need to learn how to move and to move quickly and fluidly. Now watch."
He patiently worked Jane through the movements of fencing. He did not disarm her in flashy moves, as Aria had, but used basic maneuvers so Jane actually got a chance to put her practical knowledge to work. After a while, he had Aria come back and duel Jane. And although Aria once again disarmed Jane in a series of flashy movements, Jane was at least able to hold her own for a few minutes.
Aragorn began showing up at Jane's training sessions after that. Jane was thrilled. She had always liked Aragorn and it was quite exciting to be able to interact with him. He was a valuable and interesting person to have around, although Jane felt a little guilty for wasting his time with basic swordplay when he was clearly at a more advanced level.
"You know, I really appreciate everything you've done, but you don't have to do this," she said to him one day as they put away the equipment. "I'm sure you've got a lot of things to do other than teach me remedial fencing."
Aragorn smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "It's good practice."
Although Jane wasn't entirely sure why Aragorn had taken her under his wing, she was quite grateful for the gesture. The events at the Council had caused quite a stir and it was no great secret that most people thought that Aria had made a very stupid decision. However, the fact that Aria was Elrond's daughter required that people show her some semblance respect even if they disagreed with her. As a servant, Jane did not enjoy that advantage and was often forced to endure cold stares and whispering. Unfortunately, there was not much she could do other than hold her head up and pretend she didn't notice anything.
Many of the citizens of Rivendell did not take very kindly to Jane. They were never rude or directly upfront about their feelings, but Jane got a good sense of their attitude from the constant stares and ill-concealed whispers. Lord Elrond was too well-bred to partake in such base social customs, but Jane felt his manner was noticeably cooler around her. Only Arwen, Elrond's second daughter and Aria's half-sister, seemed to have kindness for Jane. Jane didn't spend much time with the Elf, but the few minutes she spent in Arwen's company made a very large impression on her.
Gimli, the Dwarf, made it quite clear that he did not think much of Jane. If they were forced to speak, his gruff manner often bordered on rudeness. Privately, Jane felt that his dislike of her was largely a result of the fact that she was associated with Aria, whom he outright despised. The Elf and Dwarf had never met before, but the enmity that grew between them was enough in size and strength to suggest a grudge that went back years. In reality, it was mostly based on the fact that Elves and Dwarves don't always get along well. The fact that both Aria and Gimli were headstrong only aggravated things between them. Jane was not looking forward to traveling with the two of them.
Boromir was slightly more subtle in his dislike of both Aria and Jane. It was rather difficult to ignore Aria because she was both beautiful and persistent in the fact that she should not be ignored. In comparison, Jane was fairly unremarkable and quite easy to ignore. So Boromir took to ignoring Jane and saved disparaging looks and remarks for Aria.
Jane was not entirely sure whether the Elf, Legolas, had an opinion of either her or Aria. He didn't seem to particularly like or dislike Aria, which was quite difficult to do, given her beauty and, as Roger had called it, "spirit." He was always quite civil to both Aria and Jane, inquiring after their health and exchanging other such pleasantries. She couldn't quite tell if his politeness was genuine or simply out of habit, but she appreciated it nonetheless.
Gandalf continued to be quite kind to Jane, perhaps because he had a slight sense of her real situation. Whatever the case, it was quite a welcome change. He was fascinating, but comforting in a grandfatherly sort of way. And even though Jane knew he had many rare and powerful talents, the fact that he was not outwardly good at everything was a nice break from Aria. The hobbits were also quite friendly, but Jane suspected that they weren't capable of much ill-will, given their jovial personalities.
Overall, Jane was fairly uncertain how traveling with the Fellowship would be. Their opinions of her ranged from warm to cold, which would certainly complicate things.
"Perhaps they'll get more used to me once they get to know me," she thought hopefully. "Maybe they'll realize that I'm not like Aria at all."
At that particular moment, Gimli came tromping through the garden. Jane sent a tentative smile in his direction to test her new theory. Gimli responded with a typical grumble and continued on his way.
"Well," she thought as the Dwarf disappeared around a corner, "at least I've got Gandalf."
Despite the obvious conflicts, the week passed fairly quickly for Jane. A few days before, Aria's room became a virtual war zone, with supplies and clothing draped over available surface as she thought about what to pack. It turned out that Jane was responsible for preparing the Elf for the quest, so she found herself spending a lot of time in Aria's room while the Elf fretted over the practicality of a particular tunic. In all honesty, Jane would have much preferred to be outside doing something else, but unfortunately she was only allowed out of the room for a few hours to practice with Aragorn while Aria elected to stay in and pack.
Soon it was the night before they were due to leave. Aria was far chattier than normal, providing a slightly annoying soundtrack for Jane as she packed the final items into their respective backpacks.
Jane had taken to sleeping on a couch in Aria's room, as the servant's quarters intimidated her slightly. However, the problem with this was that Aria often continued to talk well into the night, forgetting the fact that Jane needed to rest. It was only after Jane sleepily reminded Aria of this fact that the Elf quieted down, allowing Jane to drift off to sleep.
Jane was wakened very early the next morning to someone shaking her shoulder.
"Jane, Jane, wake up! Wake up! It's morning!" whispered Aria excitedly.
Jane looked blearily up at the sky. "Morning" was a slight exaggeration—the sun had barely peeked over the horizon and there were still traces of night in the pink-streaked sky.
"Aria, it's dawn. There's a big difference," yawned Jane sleepily. "We don't have to be up for another few hours at least."
"We will rise not much later when we are on the quest," stated Aria primly.
"All the more reason to sleep in," mumbled Jane, pulling the blankets up to her chin and rolling over. She vaguely heard the Elf sigh irritably and mutter something in Elvish as she drifted back to sleep.
Several hours later, a hand once again shook Jane from a very pleasant sleep.
"It's much later," stated Aria once Jane opened her eyes. Jane glanced at the sky once again. Although the sun was still fairly low in the sky, the traces of the sunrise had disappeared, which made it a slightly more appropriate time to get up.
"All right," sighed Jane as she sat up and stretched. Aria happily sprang to her feet and began flitting around the room as she began to prepare for her morning routine, talking excitedly the entire time. She had apparently sent for breakfast some time earlier, as there were two plates sitting on her vanity, one of which was empty. She passed the full one to Jane.
"Eat," she said as Jane settled the plate in her lap. "You must have your strength. We have a long journey ahead of us."
Her monologue continued as Jane made her way through her poached egg, fruit, and bread. Jane idly wondered how it was possible to have this much energy at such an ungodly hour. In the end, she attributed it to Aria's Elven heritage.
About a half an hour later, Jane and Aria were both dressed and nearly ready to leave. Jane allowed the Elf a few moments to herself as she glanced with a sad fondness around the room. Finally, she took a deep breath and exited the room, with Jane trailing closely behind her.
It seemed that everyone stopped to stare at Aria when she made her entrance. Even the hobbits stopped packing supplies on Bill the pony to admire the Elf. For even in simple clothing, Aria was still something of a vision. The soft grey of her tunic complemented her eyes (which had changed to a mixture of soft violets and blues) nicely. Her hair was as glossy and as brilliant as ever, pinned up at the nape of her neck in a very complicated braid. Her ensemble was flattering to her lithe figure—her pants clung to her legs in such a way as to flatter their shape and her tunic made her waist seem impossibly small. Moreover, she seemed to positively glow with some sort of inner radiance, which made it almost impossible to look away. Even if you happened to disagree with her, you couldn't deny that she was beautiful.
Of course, Aria seemed to barely notice the extra attention (or if she did, she was masterful at hiding it) and went to greet Elrond, who was watching over the situation with a cool demeanor.
Jane followed quietly in Aria's footsteps, feeling invisible and plain in the wake of Aria. Aside from Legolas and Aragorn, who nodded greetings, and Gimli, who offered an ill-concealed scowl, no one noticed her. She suppressed a sigh and went to go help the hobbits saddle up the pony. It was certainly going to be a long journey.
Jane was not particularly skilled at preparing a pack horse, but the hobbits were quite nice about it and seemingly grateful for her awkward help anyway. She was puzzling over the problem of a few pots and pans when a loud and clear voice interrupted her thoughts.
"Miss Baker?"
She looked up from her pots and pans, although she knew that the regal voice could belong to no one else.
"If I might have a word," said Lord Elrond.
Jane carefully handed the pots to Sam and approached the Elf lord, conscious of all the eyes on her. She smiled to herself; mere moments ago she was feeling unnoticed and annoyed—now she was the center of everyone's focus and slightly uncomfortable as a result. She stopped in front of Elrond.
"Yes, my lord?" she said.
"Although you are not one of the Fellowship, you must know that you are not required to see this journey to its end. You are free to leave their company whenever you desire," he said quietly.
Jane held Elrond's gaze, wondering if this was meant to be a general statement or an expression of doubt about her capability.
"However," continued Elrond, his voice becoming sterner, "should you choose to abandon the quest, you must understand that you are still bound to secrecy. You must not reveal the nature or purpose of the quest to anyone. Do you understand?"
A hand came down on Jane's shoulder and she started slightly.
"I think you'll find the girl is well aware of her responsibilities," said Gandalf warmly, coming to stand next to Jane.
"Gandalf," said Elrond, inclining his head slightly in greeting. "You're late."
"A wizard is never late, Lord Elrond," said Gandalf.
If Elrond was prone to eye-rolling, Jane was quite certain he would have done so at that moment. Instead, he just smiled in such a manner that suggested he had heard that particular phrase many times. His features seemed to relax for a moment and he appeared slightly less stern than he had before.
"Very well." He looked at Jane once again. "You understand your responsibility?"
"I have every intention of seeing this quest through, my lord," replied Jane. "You don't have to worry about me saying more than I should."
Lord Elrond nodded and Jane thought that he might have smiled just a little. It was quite possible that he still thought she was a nuisance, but Jane thought that perhaps he didn't dislike her as she had assumed.
Both she and Gandalf retreated from Elrond, as it was evident that the assembly was becoming slightly restless (although it was likely that most of them had overheard their entire conversation, Jane thought that they were all probably ready to get started).
The pony was pretty well packed up and all that stood between the Fellowship (and Jane) and their departure was some speechmaking, which Elrond attended to, mainly reiterating the purpose of the quest and reminding them that they swore no oath to go farther than they will.
Finally, Gandalf cleared his throat and said:
"The Fellowship awaits the Ring-bearer."
Jane took a deep breath. This was it. They were leaving the safety of Rivendell to travel toward the center of evil itself. There would be hosts of orcs, a Balrog, trolls, and a myriad of other foul creatures awaiting them with open blades. Not to mention the growing threat of both Sauron and Saruman.
And through all of this, Jane was supposed to be developing Aria Nightingale into a decent character.
As Frodo began to lead them out of Rivendell, Jane Baker realized the true magnitude of the difficulty of her quest…and not for the last time.
The first day was fairly uneventful. Jane had always enjoyed walking and the scenery was nice, so she was not particularly bothered by distance or monotony. She tried to stay close to Gandalf or Aragorn, as they both had expressed some degree of friendliness to her. Aria mainly occupied herself by scouting ahead, although Jane didn't particularly see the need for such an action.
Jane's thoughts drifted to Aria. What did she need to change about Aria? At first, nothing came to mind. She was practically perfect. Of course, that was the main problem—she was too perfect. It wasn't believable. More importantly, it was slightly annoying.
"But what can I change?" thought Jane to herself. "She's going to be talented no matter what I do. She'll be beautiful unless she runs into a brick wall." Jane chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "Maybe what I need to change is how she uses her talents and beauty. Maybe the problem starts there."
Jane briefly listed Aria's most prominent qualities in her head: beautiful, talented, and "spirited". She thought about the last one for a moment. Part of the reason that the Council had been so irritated with Aria was that she couldn't take "no" for an answer, nor could she mind her own business when appropriate. She seemed to lack a certain amount of tact.
"So…how can I change that?" Jane asked herself. No immediate answer came to mind. Jane sighed and was suddenly quite grateful for the amount of time she had to think.
Luckily for Jane, Aria was unknowingly quite eager to create situations in which Jane could possibly interject some good, solid character developing advice.
Unfortunately, the first of these moments happened in front of the entire Fellowship.
They had stopped for the night on their first day on the road. Jane had helped build the fire and tried her best to assist Sam, who had insisted on cooking dinner. She was in a fairly good mood—the weather had been nice and the quest was still new enough to produce some degree of excitement and anticipation.
However, Boromir was apparently not in as good a mood, which only aggravated the situation.
Jane wasn't sure how it all happened, but as she passed a bowl of soup to Boromir, the bowl slipped from her grasp and its hot contents spilled all over his lap.
Boromir sprang from his feet with a yelp that was loud enough to be heard in Mordor while Jane tried to apologize.
"Foolish girl!" he growled, pulling the rag she offered from her hands. "The first night out here she has already proved to be a nuisance!"
"I'm sorr—" Jane began, but Aria had already leapt to her feet.
"You should choose your words more carefully, my lord," she spat, putting a heavy sarcastic emphasis on 'my lord'.
"Perhaps you should choose your companions more carefully, my lady," retorted Boromir with an equal amount of sarcasm.
"Jane is far more trustwor—"
"Aria!" interjected Jane sharply, growing tired of the arguing. Both Boromir and Aria quieted and looked at her in surprise. Jane could feel the rest of the gazes of the Fellowship on her as well. She cleared her throat.
"I can fight my own battles," she said quietly. Aria looked slightly taken aback. "Milady," she added quickly. She took a deep breath and turned to Boromir. "I am terribly sorry, milord. The bowl slipped. It was an accident. I'll make sure it won't happen again."
Boromir held her gaze for a moment and Jane steeled herself for an angry retort. Instead, he finally nodded slightly and sat back down. Jane retrieved the bowl from where it had fallen and calmly refilled it, willing her hands to stop shaking. She handed the bowl to Boromir, who took it and began to eat. With that, the tension seemed to relax slightly and everyone went about their business.
"Why did you do that?" asked Aria later that evening.
Jane took a deep breath and tried to prepare an appropriate response.
"I needed to apologize," she said simply.
"I would have defended you," replied Aria. Jane smiled slightly.
"I know…but it was my quarrel," she explained. "Sometimes you don't need to jump in like that. If I needed help, I certainly would have let you know."
Aria seemed to contemplate this for a moment, which Jane took to be a good sign.
"But he should not have said those things," Aria pointed out after a moment.
Jane shrugged. "I guess. But I did spill hot soup in his lap—some of the things he said were likely driven by that and not anything I'd done."
Aria smiled slightly and fell silent, apparently lost in her thoughts. Jane went to bed shortly after, feeling as though she had accomplished something that day.
The first full day away from Rivendell proved to be much more difficult. It was the sort of day where Jane was glad that she had sworn no oath to travel with the Fellowship indefinitely.
She was awakened very early in the morning by Aragorn, who had the last part of the night watch.
"What is it?" she asked groggily, feeling quite comfortable wrapped up in her blanket, despite the fact that the ground was fairly uncomfortable.
"They will rise soon—you will want to begin preparing breakfast, I imagine," said the Ranger quietly.
Jane blinked, suddenly feeling more awake and more than a little worried. She hadn't really been instrumental to the cooking of dinner the night before—on the contrary, she had watched Sam and handed him items when he requested them. More importantly, she had never cooked over an open fire. She wasn't a bad cook, but she knew it would not be the same as cooking over an electric stove.
"Oh," she finally managed. "Thanks…I'll be ready in a minute."
Jane thought frantically as she cleaned her teeth and brushed her hair. Why had she not joined Girl Scouts in grade school? Why had she listened to her mother and taken pottery classes instead? She tried to remember anything she had ever been taught about camping; unfortunately, that amounted to a few random tips about peeing in the woods (courtesy of her friend Rebecca who had experienced several particularly bad camping trips). Completely at a loss, Jane packed up her blankets and made her way over to the fire.
"Where's Aria?" she asked Aragorn quietly. Legolas was standing nearby, studying the morning sky with the sort of intensity that suggested it was academic, but Aria was nowhere to be seen.
Aragorn sighed. "She went off into the woods, against my counsel. She said something about berries."
Jane smiled slightly. No doubt the Elf would come back with pockets full of sweet berries, enough for everyone to have some with breakfast. If they had an oven, Jane suspected she would have also found a way to whip up a batch of muffins as well.
Jane turned her attention to the fire, which had gone out some time during the night. She examined the tinderbox that was sitting nearby. She opened it, picked up the flint and steel, and looked at them for a moment before carefully striking them together.
Try as she might, Jane could not light the fire. In the beginning, she was too gentle with the flint and steel and could not produce a spark. As the moments passed and no spark was produced, she began to grow more panicked and her hands began to shake. What would happen if they all woke up and found her crouching over the unlit fire, striking uselessly at the flint and steel like a fool? Boromir would be right about her usefulness, certainly. Perhaps they'd ask her to leave. Then she'd be stuck in the wilderness alone, unable to develop Aria's character and unable to go home. She tried to blink back tears and tried once more with the flint and steel. Nothing. She shut her eyes and the flint and steel tumbled from her hands onto the ground.
"Miss Baker?"
A very kind voice interrupted what was becoming a very depressing thought process. Jane looked up. Sam was standing at the edge of the fire, looking slightly concerned. Jane swallowed and tried to smile. The hobbit gave her a kind look and gathered the flint and steel from where they had fallen. In a series of swift and sure movements, he had the fire lit and began preparing the food for breakfast.
Jane quietly approached him after a moment and began to help as she had the night before.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly after a moment. "I…I had some trouble and I…" She trailed off. There was no really good reason why she shouldn't know how to do these things as a servant. But Sam just smiled.
"Don't you worry, Miss Baker," he said, handing her a frying pan. "We all forget and have trouble. Sometimes we just need to relearn a few things—that's all."
And from that day onward, Sam was always up to help with breakfast.
The problem with the movies, Jane began to realize, is that they really mess up your sense of time. In the movies, it appears that the Fellowship meets the crebain maybe a week or so after the departure from Rivendell. In reality, it took more than a month. What's more, the days were quite long. Although the scenery was nice, Jane was beginning to miss the convenience and speed of automobiles. Traveling by foot was far more difficult and messy. The mess was perhaps one of the most unpleasant parts—no matter what she did, at the end of every day, Jane had accumulated a fine layer of dirt on most of her exposed skin. She made efforts to wash every day, but sometimes it seemed pointless, as she often felt dirty even after washing. Aria, of course, remained flawlessly clean, with perhaps a stray streak of dirt across her cheek. However, the placement of such streaks seemed almost too artful to qualify as real dirt.
The bugs were no picnic either. There were mosquitoes, fleas, and spiders and they all seemed to consider Jane a walking buffet. The day she found a tick on her neck was the day the day she finally freaked out.
"You helped Sam skin a rabbit for dinner last night," Aragorn stated as he attempted to remove the tick with the tweezers Jane had received from Roger. "How is this any more appalling?"
"The rabbit was not sucking my blood," Jane replied. "And it was kind of cute, so I felt a little sorry for it. Ticks are just…gross."
"She has a point," agreed Pippin.
But despite the bugs, bug bites, mud, and inevitable aches and pains from walking all day, it wasn't all bad. On the plus side, Jane noted that her leg muscles were getting much stronger.
However, Aria still hadn't made any significant strides, even after the exchange they'd had on the first night. Jane continued to patiently remind Aria to mind her own business when the occasion arose, but she hadn't really seen any big changes overall.
There were some slight changes within the Fellowship in regard to Jane. It seemed that Boromir was less quick to dismiss her, although he still didn't seem to care for her much. Relations with Gimli continued to be strained as he and Aria continued to exchange words. Jane thought that would be her next project, as Aria's headstrongness seemed to come to a head when Gimli was involved.
Legolas was a soothing presence and Jane found that he was a good person to walk with because he noticed things that other people did not. Generally it was related to scouting, but he could also find things that were interesting or amusing—a woodpecker trying to get its beak unstuck from a tree or a black squirrel with a white tail that sort of resembled a skunk. They didn't talk a lot, but in a way, words weren't always necessary.
Sam was quickly becoming something akin to a friend—she was reluctant to call him that only because her relationship to anyone in the Fellowship was so strange. She got to know him over the cooking fire and he was quite happy to oblige her with stories of the Shire. He never asked too much about where she came from, for which Jane was glad, as she was still in the process of inventing a believable story. He was content to talk and she was content to listen and ask questions. Sometimes Frodo would wake up early and come over to listen. Jane liked Frodo. He was modest and grounded, the sort of person who is valuable in a fantasy world.
And so the days continued to stretch on in one long stream of travel. Jane was constantly on the lookout for familiar places so she would be prepared when the bigger events swept into motion. She knew that they would meet the crebain and every day brought them closer to that pivotal event. However, not knowing when it would happen was maddening.
When they came upon the hill with the boulders strewn across the coarse grass, Jane's breath caught in her throat. She recognized it.
"Jane?" Legolas was looking at her strangely. "Are you ill?"
"Oh, no," she replied quickly, pasting a smile on her face. "I didn't sleep well last night." It was a fairly lame excuse and she hoped for her sake that Legolas wasn't quite perceptive enough to pick up on any clues that might suggest she was lying.
The Elf regarded her with an unreadable expression before nodding. Jane breathed an inward sigh of relief.
It was difficult to hide her unease as they prepared to make a brief camp on the hill. They did not often stop to eat lunch, but both Aragorn and Gandalf seemed to agree that it would be one of those rare days. The hobbits were delighted, particularly Pippin, who declared that he would soon faint from hunger. Jane silently helped Sam prepare the meal. She was getting more proficient at the cooking fire and could be trusted to cook sausages to perfection.
After Merry and Pippin had more or less finished eating, Boromir offered to run them through some practice drills with the sword. Aragorn sat down with his pipe to watch and Frodo and Sam observed from their perch on one of the boulders. Jane's shoulders tensed slightly. It would happen soon.
Jane sat on one of the rocks with her knees tucked under her chin, her hands clasped tightly around her legs. She hadn't unpacked any of her things as the others had—what was the point? Better to keep it on and dive under cover that much quicker.
Legolas quickly grew more agitated as time passed, leaping from rock to rock as quickly and fluidly as a cat. Jane kept her eye on the southern sky and sat quietly and waited.
Aria, of course, noticed the change in her companion.
"Are you ill, Jane?" she asked, lounging gracefully on the rock beside Jane.
"I didn't sleep well," said Jane for the second time that day. Aria frowned and took a bite out of her apple.
"You look distressed," she stated. Jane shrugged. "Do relax a little—everyone else is." Aria glanced at Legolas, who was staring quite intently at the horizon. "Well, almost everyone." She cleared her throat. "Prince Legolas!" she called. She had taken to addressing the Elf as such when she was in a particularly playful mood. Legolas glanced over at Aria. "Must you be so dull? Rest for a moment—surely we are safe here."
Legolas gave a very small smile in return, but continued to watch the sky with vigilance. Aria laughed, her laughter sounding like a combination of a bubbling brook and a lilting song.
"He is stubborn," Aria said to Jane, glancing at the sky. "He always…" She trailed off abruptly and leapt to her feet, scanning the sky with her remarkable eyes.
"Aria?" said Jane, her unease growing. Aria ignored her and joined Legolas on his rock. Jane could hear them speaking quietly in Elvish. Jane looked at the sky. She could see nothing unusual yet…just an endless expanse of slate grey. She shuddered and drew her knees closer to her chest.
"If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note they're not…" she heard Gimli begin. She abruptly stood up and hopped down from her perch on the boulder. It would happen soon.
Sure enough, seconds later Boromir accidentally hit Pippin, resulting in a brief tussle. Jane inhaled sharply and tried not too look too worried. Sam noticed her unease.
"Are you ill, Miss Baker?" he asked over the shouts of Boromir, Pippin, and Merry. Jane tried to smile reassuringly.
"I didn't sleep well," she lied once again. Sam looked like he was about to say something when he glanced at the southern sky. "What is that?"
"Nothing. It's just a wisp of cloud," Gimli declared. Aria looked decidedly paler as Boromir noted that it was moving against the wind. Jane tensed, ready to jump into action.
"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas declared.
Jane was halfway under the cover of a scraggly bush when Aragorn yelled at them to hide. She crawled underneath until she was entirely hidden, her heart pounding in her throat, partly from nerves and partly from the maddening anticipation of it all. She was shortly joined by Aria and Legolas, who dove into the scrubby foliage with much more grace than she had managed.
They waited in silence for a minute or so, although Jane was utterly convinced that her heartbeat would surely be heard by the birds. She was beginning to imagine an Alfred Hitchcock sort of situation when the cries of the birds suddenly became quite audible. She braced herself and took a deep breath.
Suddenly they were flying through the campsite with a good amount of noise. Jane thought their cries seemed sharper and more sinister than normal crows, although she wasn't sure how much of that was just her own imagination making things bigger than they actually were.
The noise finally abated and Jane waited until the others began to emerge before attempting to crawl out of the bushes. She stumbled to her feet and attempted to brush the dirt from her clothes.
"Spies of Saruman," declared Gandalf, frowning at the retreating crows. "The passage south is being watched. We must take the path of Caradhras."
Jane inhaled sharply and felt her shoulders tense up. Foreknowledge wasn't quite as easy as she thought it would be.
"Are you certain you're well?" asked Aria, giving Jane a very concerned look. Jane tried to muster up another reassuring smile.
"Of course," she replied. Aria raised an eyebrow and regarded Jane carefully. Jane smiled again and went to help Sam pack up the rest of the food from their lunch.
She couldn't help but notice that Legolas had been listening to their exchange was giving her a very strange look, as though he didn't know what to make of her. Jane flashed another smile in his direction and fervently hoped that the Elf wasn't quite as perceptive as he seemed.