AN: I've managed yet another chapter. Thanks again go to Wolfie for the reviews. I'm sorry that my updates are few and far between, but yall have no idea just how much shit I'm working on right now, story wise and life wise. I'm working on several different fanfictions, an original book, trying to find a job, and dealing with a horse that doesn't want to be ridden. I have a lot of shit going on, as you can see. I'm holding off the writer's block as best I can and I have to take a lot of breaks to keep from getting it. Wolfie has given me hope though. At least I know I have one reader that'll keep coming back. Anyways, enjoy.

Disclaimer: By now you know what I do and don't own.

The Spider of Fangorn

Chapter Six: Spinneret Wicked

Claws scrapped on rock as Spider pulled herself up the rock face. She had thought she'd made it in time to catch up with her friends, but she was wrong. Spider could smell them everywhere and yet she had been too late to catch up with them. She shifted back into her full cat form and put her nose to the ground. The only way Spider would find them was to find their trail.

After an hour of feeling like a hunting hound, Spider picked up their trail and began following it. It wasn't long before she ran head first into a rock they had climbed over. She shook her head in aggravation and continued on. This was no place for a cat that lived in trees. Spider stopped cold on the edge of a stream some time later. The trail was lost.

I should just turn around and go home. They don't want me. Gandalf didn't even give me time to explain myself. Why should I help when they don't need me. Spider growled and turned to go back to Fangorn, but she caught a scent on the wind. The others! The scent is new...er. They may not need me, but I'm a stubborn cat. I offered my claws and I'll stand by it.

Spider ran as fast as her bleeding paws would let her. She stopped several times to recheck the scent and give her paws a break. Something suddenly stopped Spider in her tracks. She should have realized it all along. She couldn't scent Gandalf and the scent of grief still twinged the air. Something had happened to him.

Tears slipped silent and unbidden down Spider's cheeks. She got to her paws and and ran, scenting blindly, in the direction they had gone in. Her paws hit grass, but she didn't notice. She passed trees, but she was blind to them. Spider ran faster than her hurt paws could stand, but she didn't care. She needed to know what had happened.

Soon Spider realized she had entered the Elven forest Lorin. She was in danger, but still she ran- trying hard to reach Frodo and ask him what had happened. As soon as she entered the city- if that is what one would call Lorin- Spider became aware of the danger she was in. Elves had bows pointed at her and she knew they intended to kill her.

Spider found her friends, though, and pounced on the first one she saw- which happened to be Gimli- and toppled him to the ground. The others didn't realized what had happened and had drawn their swords. Spider promptly shifted in to her human form and gave him a big hug as tears ran unchecked down her face.

"Lady Spider!" Gimli exclaimed. Everyone settled down and sheathed their blades. "What are you doing here, lass? Gandalf sent you home and you did nothing wrong. Why would you come back for us?" Spider merely laughed at this.

"Gimli, you all are my only friends. Why wouldn't I come back?" Spider asked with a smile. She knew very well he knew the answer, though he didn't speak. She sighed and dropped her head, but when she looked up new tears had formed.

"Aragorn, what happened to Gandalf? I couldn't find his trail when I came looking for all of you." Spider was sad and her friends couldn't understand why. Gandalf had told her to go home, back to Fangorn, but, she had come back. They could clearly see the blood on her hands and feet from her hard run to find them. They recounted the tale to her and her tears came faster.

"Lady Spider," Aragorn started gently, but was interrupted by Boromir. "Why didn't you come back sooner? We could have saved him!" But they all knew that they couldn't. In Boromir's mind, he needed someone to blame for what had happened.

Spider sighed. "I was close to the gates of Saruman's tower when I heard his voice on the air. I knew everyone was in trouble then. I also knew that I could not turn back and that I would have to take a path through Fangorn to reach you all. But, as always, I was too late. I had to stop at my village when I made my way through Fangorn. I spoke with Crow... she is sick, dieing with the forest. Saruman is killing my home and the only thing I can do is see this quest through. No matter what happens, I shall not leave again." Spider was sad. To her, she had failed to keep a promise, even if it wasn't her fault.

The companions were soon approached by an elf that Spider had not met. "Who and what is this that has dared enter our forest in such a disrespectful way? The only reason you are not dead yet is because I'm curious as to what you are doing here."

Spider bowed to the new comer. "I am sorry for any harm I have caused. I am Spider Silver Paws of the Nacatl. I meant no harm. I only sought to find my companions. We were separated and I traveled a long ways to get here. I seem to have damaged myself in the process." With that being said, she turned her hands over and showed him her bloody palms.

"Forgive me, I do not expect you to understand, but I have a duty to uphold and your reckless actions nearly got you killed. Aragorn, I expect you to be responsible for your friend. Take her to the healers and find her a place to sleep." With that the elf turned and left, giving no name and offering no real apologies.

Spider fell to her knees. She was tired and hurt and all she really wanted to do was sleep.

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Aragorn watched as his friend dropped to her knees, tired and broken. Not once did she complain, not once did she argue with Haldir. Spider was kind and polite to him, while he was cold and cruel to her.

Aragorn looked down at Spider. She had stretched out belly down on the cool grass- the first time she had rested in days.

"Would someone be so kind as to drag me to Frodo? I am afraid that I cannot get back up and I should like very much to speak with him." A slight smile graced Spider's lips, as if she really didn't to have someone drag her across the ground.

"Lady Spider," said Legolas, "I would be honored to carry you to him, however, i do not think it wise to drag you there." He looked very serious in the matter, as if he did not quite understand the cat's humor.

"It would be most welcome Legolas and would everyone stop calling me Lady. I am a warrior, not a hand maiden." Spider smiled as Legolas scooped her up off the ground. They all agreed to call her by her name, though it wasn't proper.

Aragorn noticed that within the few moments that it took to carry her to the tents, she had fallen asleep. When the Hobbits realized who Legolas was carrying they almost started to jump up and yell with joy, but Aragorn held a finger to his lips in a sign to be quiet. :Legolas laid her down on his bedding and the four little Hobbits huddled around her and went to sleep. The healers came later and mended her hands and feet.

"How could she have gotten here so fast?" asked Gimli. "We've only been here for a day."

"You saw how quickly she ran away from us," Legolas pipped in. She's faster than any elven horse."

Aragorn thought a moment. "She said that she even went through Fangorn. How is it that she wasn't confronted by any of the creatures that call it home."

"I think," Boromir paused a moment to gather his thoughts. "Spider said that she was born and raised their. Did she not? It may be because she is one of the creatures of the forest that none of the others attacked her."

"I think you may very well be right Boromir. It would make sense that all other creatures and the trees as well are accustomed to her races' presence, so they think nothing of her running through the forest." stated Aragorn. In the end it made the most sense to him.

Gimli looked thoughtful. "Unless, of course, everything else is just afraid to cross her path. Spider also said that she had to out do the others of her tribe because she is an outcast. Who knows. She could have taken on the meanest, ugliest creature the forest has to offer for nothing to bother her." That made sense as well. For now they would just not think of why nothing had attacked her.

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Frodo sat by while Spider slept. Now staring in her direction. He Had never really paid much attention to the way she looked. However, he now had time to really look at the young cat.

Spider's hair was a color somewhere between blond and brown, leaning more toward brown, with pure silver strands so bright that they stood out against the main color. Her ears were slightly pointed, but nowhere close to those of an Elf. At first glance, you'd never realize they were a bit pointed. Her lashes were long and black and silver tipped. Her eyes, about the only thing he had ever noticed, were a bright, yet somehow dark blue. Almost like they were sapphires with a candle held behind them. She looked a bit odd, as there was a metal ring in the right side of her bottom lip. The lobes of her ears were stretched with pieces of colored bone and wood. Her skin was tan from spending so much time on open plain. Both the ring and stretched ears were customs of the Nacatl.

Maybe someday they would all understand her race. Maybe not.

AN: So, I know this isn't a very long chapter, but I wanted to hurry up and get it posted before i lost interest. On a side note, I'M REALLY FREAKED OUT! I think I might have skin cancer. My dad had it and now this weird spot has showed up on my arm. I'm scared. I remember what he had to go through with it last year. I don't want it to be SC but knowing my luck, it will be. T.T