When I woke up, Sam was cooking breakfast. Only a few of the others were awake. Aragorn, Legolas, Frodo, and Merry were eating. I walked over to the group. "My lady Ariane, would you like some breakfast?" Sam held out a small plate of food.
"I think I will just have some Lembas. I am usually not very hungry when I wake up." He nodded and then brought his hand back to himself. I heard Pippin, Gimli, and Boromir make their way over to get some food from Sam. "Aragorn, how far from the falls are we?"
"At least half a day's travel by water," he said after he swallowed his mouthful of bacon. After I had a bite of Lembas, I began to pack things up. I noticed that my clothes were still a little wet. Not knowing what to do about it, I twisted my clothes to ring out as much of the water I could, and then I just threw it into my bag with the rest of my clothes. After a few minutes, the others joined me.
We began to travel down the river again about twenty minutes later. I never realized how boring it can be to travel by boat, so I began to sing. I was facing behind all the boats and just leaned against Legolas' back. I didn't hear any objection to me leaning against him so I was able to sing to my heart's content. At first, I was quiet, but my voice gradually became louder. When Legolas heard the peaceful Elf song, he recognized it and began to sing along with me. Soon, Aragorn joined in as well. The song was a common Elf tune. It told the story of how the Elves had woken up the trees. The Fellowship listened to our song.
When the song ended, I heard someone clapping. I turned around and saw that the four Hobbits were applauding our performance. I laughed to myself. Leaning back again, I closed my eyes to rest while I could. A few minutes passed, and I fell asleep.
I woke up when Legolas patted my shoulder. I wiped my eyes. He pointed ahead to the large statues of past kings holding out their hands with their palms facing us. "The Argonath; the Pillars of the King." About ten minutes later, we pulled to the western shore. We began to unload the boats for the night.
"We cross the lake at nightfall. Hide the boats, and then continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the north." Aragorn instructed us about what we would do later that day.
"Oh, yes? It's just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil- an impassable labyrinth of razor-sharp rocks. And after that, it gets even better. Festering, stinking marshes as far as the eye can see. This is really where we are headed?" Gimli looked at Aragorn in disbelief.
"That is our road," the ranger replied. "I suggest you take some rest to recover your strength, Master Dwarf." Gimli growled to himself. Legolas walked over to Aragorn.
"We should leave now."
"No." I saw Legolas look at him questioningly. "Orcs patrol the eastern shore. We need to wait for the cover of darkness." The ellon looked towards the woods.
"It is not the eastern shore that worries me. A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind. Something draws near… I can feel it." I walked over to the two.
"When I fell in the water yesterday, it was because I saw something." The Elf and the Man waited for me to continue. Leaning in, I whispered, "It was a brigade of Uruk-hai. They're on a mission. They're hunting people… They're hunting us."