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"Riders of Rohan, what news from the mark?" shouted Aragorn.

Immediately Eomer raised his spear horizontally above his head and began to turn around, the rest of the riders following suit. They circled the odd threesome, leveling their spears, ready to strike them down should they reveal themselves a threat. Eomer came forth to address them.

"What business does an elf, a man, and a dwarf have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!"He said, his tone commanding.

"Give me your name horse master, and I shall give you mine." Gimli shot back.

Frustrated, Eomer dismounted, took a couple steps toward the dwarf and with a threatening glare replied, "I would cut off your head, dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground."

Legolas, in immediate response to the threat, whipped an arrow from his quiver, strung it, and took aim at Eomer's face faster than the eye could follow. "You'd die before your stroke fell." he promised.

The riders better positioned their spears for the kill, but Aragorn intervened, shooting Legolas a warning look while guiding his arm, and effectively his bow, towards the ground. Aragorn then proceeded to introduce them all and explain that they were chasing after their friends who had been captured by a party of Uruk-kai.

"The Uruks are dead. We slaughtered them during the night." Eomer informed them.

"There were two hobbits. Did you see two hobbits with them?" Gimli asked, panic surfacing in his voice.

"They would be small, only children to your eyes." Aragon clarified, for not many people knew of hobbits.

Eomer hesitated, "We left none alive," he said "save for a young woman the Uruks had taken captive as well."

"Elsie." Aragorn breathed.

"You know her?" Eomer asked, his tone once again commanding.

"Yes, she was traveling with us." Aragorn said in vague response. With no immediate response forthcoming from Eomer, Aragon continued, "She is my charge." he said, with hints of desperation in his voice.

Eomer turned, and began to walk away from them. Confused, Aragorn was about to cry out to him, when he stopped and yelled "Girl!"

"What!"

All three of the companions strained to look through the crowd of horses and men, for though they could hear her, none of them could see her.

"Come here!" Eomer commanded.

Elsie slid off the horse she had been sharing with one of the riders, casting him a furtive glance as she began slowly picking her way through a labyrinth of horse legs.

"I have a name you know!" she shouted, causing Eomer to roll his eyes and respond with a simple, "Yes!"

"You could use it!" she pressed.

Eomer let out an exasperated sigh and looked to Aragorn as if to ask: Is she always like this? The smile playing on Aragorn's lips was all the answer he needed.

"But then we couldn't have this wonderfully stimulating conversation." he said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

"Can't you find a better way to get your jollies?" Elsie responded in mock frustration.

Eomer could see her now, struggling through the sea of legs.

"None that would be quite as effective." he shot back, a smile in his voice.

Finally she emerged from the crowd, immediately fixing a glare on Eomer. She opened her mouth to fire back a quick retort, but caught sight of the three companions. The glare was replaced by disbelief, and then she was running to them.

Elsie threw her arms around Aragorn, tears in her eyes, and clung to him as if she would break should he let her go. Aragorn was equally relieved to see her and gladly returned the embraced. Eomer looked on in surprise, at first, and then simply looked toward the ground, allowing them their private moment. After a short time she regained control and released her hold on Aragorn, aware of the presence of the others once more. She looked toward the ground, then to the side, giving Legolas a shy smile as she moved to hug him next. He smiled warmly at her and wrapped his arms around her in a full embrace. Their hug was brief. Then, with a wide smile, she got down on both knees to hug Gimli. Their hug morphed into a contest of strength and endurance, both squeezing the other until one broke the hug. Gimli won, of course.

With the reunion at an end, Aragorn was quick to press her for answers, not even allowing her time to respond before firing off another question. "What happened?" "Where are Merry and Pippin?" "Are they well?" "Do you know of their fate?" He looked at her, bordering on panic, desperate to hear her answer.

"Merry and Pippin were well enough the last time I saw them." Elsie began. "They were crawling away from the Uruk's camp, though their hands were bound and I don't know how far they got before these men rode in and slaughtered everyone. I lost track of them during the battle, and I have no idea what happened to them."

She watched the hoped dim in Aragorn's eyes and quickly added, "I didn't see their bodies either, though."

With that, all four of them looked to Eomer, silently asking for him to elaborate.

He hesitated, as before, for he didn't believe their two friends to be alive, and said, "We left none alive." He pointed to a cloud of smoke to their left. "We piled the carcasses and burnt them."

"Dead?" Gimli asked in disbelief.

With his eyes shamefully on the ground, he nodded his head, "Yes, I am sorry." Then, the idea suddenly occurring to him, he looked up and whistled, "Asfaloth. Eorl. May these horses bay you to better fortune then their former masters. Farewell." He replaced his helmet, mounted his horse, and made ready to ride away. "Look for your friends, but do not trust a hope. It has forsaken these lands." Eomer then faced forward, clearly ready to give the order to continue on their way, but before he could, Elsie shouted out to him.

"Eomer!"

Surprised he swung his head around.

She found his eyes and held them for a moment, "Thank you." she said simply.

Eomer stared at her briefly, mildly surprised. He said nothing, just simply offered her a stiff nod before turning around, and shouting the order he had been about to issue. "We ride on!"