The morning they left Edoras a harsh cold wind blew across the plains. Eowyn, Faramir and the children stood atop the steps of the golden hall and looked down onto the small troop of men gathered below.
"Go, seek out young Eldarion and bring him home!" Faramir said after giving a brief blessing to the knights before him. The group of men consisted largely of the troop of men who had been present when Ari and Eomer had returned to Middle Earth as well as some older men who had ridden under Eomer's command when he'd been third Marshall of the mark. They'd ridden out of Edoras into the harsh late winter winds and into the spring sunshine to the sound of cheering, the hooves of their horses making the cold frozen ground shudder.
That had been two weeks ago, when their armor had been newly polished and shined, their cloaks clean and new, their spirits high.
Two weeks had brought them from one end of the Rohirrim country side to the other. They stopped over a few nights at the fortress of Helm's deep and used the fortifications as a base of operations for their search. When snow fell they were blocked in for several days until the storm abated and they could brave travel.
Ari strolled through the great hall and looked at the paintings of the fight at Helms deep in which she'd held a brief role. She remembered being terrified in that first battle and of the hideous orcs. She paused before a mural depicting the outcast Cavalry returning with Gandalf the White and riding down the steep escarpment taking the Orcs by surprise with the Dawn.
"That day, I knew you had the heart of a shield maiden of Rohan." Ari turned to find Eomer standing behind her.
"Did you?" He nodded and placed an arm around her shoulder pulling her closer to him. "That day was such a blur for me..."
"You fought valiantly. Do you remember entering the fortress after?" Ari laughed.
"The look on Eowyn's face was classic…..she dressed me and I went out and stood on what had been the wall."
"You looked so beautiful then…"
"And I don't now?" Ari pushed away and hit him playfully.
"Well, you have to remember, the first time I saw you, you were filthy from sitting in jail and trying to tunnel your way out." He said raising his hands in defense. "And you also have to remember that after that you were wearing clothing a size too large for you."
"That's true…" They stepped out into the snow and looked at the rebuilt wall of Helm's Deep. The fortress had been great in King Theoden's time, but had been rebuilt and made better under the reign of Faramir.
"The guards said that sometimes the royal family spends summers here. I can see Eowyn everywhere in this place…the color, the tapestries…"
"I see Faramir in the construction….it looks so much like Gondor."
It took three days for the storm to let up and when it did, the riders went out once again into the wilds of Rohan.
In leaving the mountains near the Westfold they left the snow behind but encountered thick mud and heavy rains which slowed their progress. The trek across the gap of Rohan which would take less than a day in better circumstances took them a day and a half of hard work. They crested the hill above Isengard to see many people working within the rebuilt walls of the Wizard fortress. They approached cautiously but were welcomed in by the elderly gate keeper. They were given rations and water and were allowed to clean themselves and rest their horses. The head of the order explained to Eomer that they were trying to make a university of the fortress at Isengard, but still had much work to do.
"We few wizards left in this part of the world understand that the teachings of Gandalf the White must be spread to the common man. He spent many hours with young Eldarion before the ships set sail. I tutored the boy some later. Tell me, how is Eldarion….if you come from ROhan, you must have heard of the boy?"
"That is why we are out here….we are searching for Eldarion as he has been missing for many weeks."
"Oh dear…." The old man sat heavily in the deeply carved chair. "That is a worry….the queen can't be taking this well at all."
"She isn't." Ari answered. "I'm assuming you haven't seen him then."
"No…but there are things moving in the mountains…..several of the order have felt it. If Eldarion is missing, then it could be the root of it. Something evil is moving across the land."
The troop didn't stay over at Isengard long. The threat of evil moving again in Middle Earth was enough of a catalyst to spur the men to fast action. They rode into canyons long and deep that were cut by centuries of rain and wind. They rode up into the mountains and looked out onto the plains below. At night they lit fires and talked.
Ari and Eomer were leading the men along the high rim of a canyon when suddenly Maleth came galloping up beside them.
"Pardon me, my lord…my lady, do you realize where we are?"
"No, should I?" Eomer answered.
"You probably shouldn't, but the Lady Arianna ought to." He said with a slight grin.
"I should?" Arianna stopped briefly and took in her surroundings. There was a low hill to their left and the steep embankment to the right. "It does seem familiar….but I can't seem to place it…."
"It is the place where I first met you."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Ari dismounted and went to the edge.
"Be careful Ari…" Eomer said as he stepped his horse away from the edge. Ari had realized long ago that Eomer didn't like looking over edges. He'd barrel across the plains at reckless speeds on his horse, or weave in and out of traffic on his motor bike, but he wanted nothing to do with looking over the edge of a canyon or the side of a bridge. Ari didn't mind it at all.
"You worry too much Eomer. I just want to see if I can see my…Hey! I think that's my old bike!"
"What?" Ari sat down on the ledge and swung her legs over the ledge. "What are you…? Ari get back up here!"
"Just wait a minute. Tell the men to rest their horses and take a break, I'll be right up." Without second though Ari started the climb down the slick embankment, which at first wasn't too difficult to traverse but soon Ari found her feet slipping beneath her, unable to gain a foothold with the amount of mud clinging to her boots. She was three quarters of the way down when suddenly the rock she was holding in her left hand dislodged from the wet mud and Ari lost her footing. With a shriek she slid the last ten or twelve feet to the canyon floor and landed with an ungraceful thump.
"Ari!"
"I'm fine!" Ari said spitting mud. Her clothes and face were coated in the dark brown mud and she knew she probably had some in her hair as well. She tried to brush her pants off but it was useless as every bit of her was covered in the sticky mud. She walked over to the pile of useless junk that had once been her motorcycle. The metal was rusted and corroded, bits of wire hung out haphazardly and the black fiber glass of the outer carriage was cracked and faded and melted. The pleather of the seat was cracked and peeled and the cotton padding inside was long since gone and rotted away by weather. "My poor baby….I'll never let you get this bad back home…ever." She sighed as she looked at the wreck of her bike. Thank goodness time moved differently in her world…..she would be hard pressed to tell her mother what had happened to her bike. She pushed at the heap of junk and managed to pry the latch open on the hidden cargo area beneath the seat.
"Aha!" She cried. Her tool kit was still inside and she opened it to reveal a purple and black set of screwdrivers and wrenches that her Grandfather had gotten her. "Excellent!" Ari tucked the toolkit away and then approached the wall of the canyon. She looked at the steep walls and wondered how she would get back up. Things were always easier before she thought them out completely. It only took her trying twice to scale it in the mud to give up and call for a rope.
"Doesn't this bring back familiar memories." Maleth grumbled as he retrieved the rope from his saddlebags. "Gimmerbeck…take hold of this and lower it down to Lady Arianna…I'm not as young as I used to be…I don't think I could pull her up as I once did."
"Yes sir." The young man swung the rope down to Ari who grasped it and climbed up without any difficulty at all. "Are you alright my Lady?" Gimmerbeck asked when she'd crested the canyon.
"Never better." Eomer stood a pace or two away his eyes dark and angry. "Excuse me Gimmerbeck." She went towards Eomer who took in the site of her.
Mud coated every inch of the front of her clothing and was caked in thick clumps at her knees and elbows. Her face was smeared with a solid coat of gray brown mud, the mask of it extending back into her hair and clumping in places.
"What?" Ari asked when Eomer continued to stare at her. "Is there something on my face?" She brushed a muddy hand across her cheek and only succeeded in adding more mud to her already filthy face.
"That's not funny Arianna." He ground out.
"What? I don't get it…aww, come here and give me a kiss." She approached him, the amusement plain in her voice but Eomer turned and stomped away. "Someone's touchy." She said as she turned to her horse and grasped a rag from the saddle bag to clean her self with. The horse nudged her in the back. "Hey now….don't you sass me." The horse nodded its head towards Eomer and grunted and whinnied a few times as if trying to tell Ari something. "I know, I'll go talk to him, no worries." Ari dropped the rag back to the ground and went in search of Eomer.
He was standing at the top of the hill breaking branches in his hand. Where they'd come from she wasn't' sure of at first until she saw the fallen tree resting behind him.
"Hey, what's your deal?"
"Why must you be so cavalier?" He turned quickly on her flinging the branches to the ground. "Why do you never listen to me?"
"What the hell has gotten into you? I'm not being …"
"Dammit Ari! You could have died back there!" Eomer shouted. His voice echoed slightly across the hills.
Several of the men looked up from what they were doing at the two figures standing on the hill and watched as Eomer gestured frantically at Arianna.
"Someon'e in trouble." One of the men laughed.
"Which one?" Said another as Arianna too began gesturing angrily at Eomer who took a step back from her.
"That's none of your concern." Maleth said coldly from behind them. They jumped slightly at being caught by the elder man and went back to work silently.
"I'm a grown woman, Eomer! And I knew EXACTLY what I was doing. You're not my protector. If you remember right I fought just as well as you did two years ago and I've done fine since then. I was just PEACHY before I came here too, so don't even go there with me, ok?" Eomer was pissing her off. He'd always been a bit of a worry wart but he was being ridiculous just now.
"I worry for you Ari because you do not do it yourself. Even your mother sees it. It is one thing we have in common." Eomer shouted back. "I love you! Don't you see that? Don't you see that I would die if anything befell you?" Ari stepped back from Eomer. She looked off into the dense forest that stretched between the distant river and the Misty Mountains.
"I know." She said eventually bringing dark eyes back to his, her breath calming. "I know I'm reckless and cavalier. But I'm not used to anybody really giving a damn. Mom quit yelling at me years ago."
"Because it always falls on deaf ears, she knows you won't listen to her, but I at least hope you'll listen to me. I haven't learned her lesson yet."
"Alright alright I'll…" Ari never finished her sentence as Eomer kissed her fiercely.
"Please promise me to be careful." He said resting his forehead against hers, his thumb stroked absently along her still dirty cheek.
"I'll try." Movement caught Ari's eye and she pulled away from Eomer looking into the black forest. "What was that?"
"What?" Eomer followed her gaze into the forest, trying to see what Ari saw.
"There." Ari pointed to a spot in the direction of the river where flocks of birds were taking flight from the canopy and settling uneasily back into the treetops.
"Perhaps it is merely the ents moving…." Eomer said uneasily. Few people ever saw ents…he'd been lucky to go out on an excursion to Isengard with Gandalf and Aragorn shortly after the battle at Helms Deep. He'd met the ents then but his people still believed them to be a thing of legend.
"I didn't think the ents disturbed that much unless they were on the war path." ARi thought back to little Pippin and Merry's tales of the ents when they were brought to the Golden Hall. They'd been quite emphatic about the fact that if the trees didn't bob around you'd never know that their 'huma huma huma's' were anything other than a pesky termite problem. "Merry and Pippin said that the ents moved through the forest with ease and they only saw them get truly malevolent when they were trashing Isengard. Something is out there."
"Mount up! We head for the Anduil!"