As we sat there in silence we could hear the sound of blades clashing, and turned to see that Merry and Pippin were busy dueling, or what was supposed to look like a duel.

"Right! Better go and show them how it is done, come," Boromir said as he touched my shoulder, "it would do you good to get some practice." So together we headed over to the two small hobbits.

"Now hobbits, let the master show you how it is done." Boromir said with a slight hint of humor to his voice.

The hobbits, who proved to be eager students, turned to Boromir.

I moved to stand beside them and drew the sword which was resting against my hip.

Slowly he took the three of us through the different steps which belonged to the deadly dance.

Although I had already been taught the basics of sword play while we were still in Rivendell I was still eager to learn as much as I could on the art, as I did not want to be a burden to any of the other members of the fellowship.

"Two, four, five!" Boromir called out the numbers of the different steps as he slowly took Pippin through them. "Good, very good." He complimented as he turned to Merry and went through the same steps with him. Then he turned to me and instructed me through them as well. We had already been through the 

discussion that I did not want him to hold back, as I knew that the enemy would not either, and I was happy to see that he was not holding back now, as I blocked each of his powerful blows, and although he was going slower and more gentle then normally I could still detect the warrior strength in him.

Once we had been through the steps he moved back to Pippin, this time increasing the speed.

"Move your feet." Aragorn said as he watched on from the sidelines.

"You look good, Pippin." Merry said once Pippin was finished with the steps, obviously not having the same expertise as Aragorn had. And the little hobbit replied with a thanks and a nod towards his best friend.

"Faster!" Boromir ordered as he turned to Merry and not giving him much time to get ready began with the blows.

This patterned continued for another few minutes, until Boromir's blade accidentally slipped and nicked Pippin on his hands.

"Aaarrrggghhh" The little hobbit cried as he held his hand in pain, and even though Boromir tried to apologize to Pippin and see how bad the damage was, the little hobbit would have none of it and moved to kick Boromir in the shin.



Boromir yelped in pain and hoped on one foot as he held his shin. This of course gave Pippin the perfect opportunity and pushed the man to the ground, while Merry jumped on top of Boromir to hold him down, "Get him!" Pippin cried as they began tickling Boromir, "Hold him, for the Shire hold him down Merry!"

By this time I joined Aragorn on the rock and enjoyed the show.

I noticed how carefree Boromir looked as he took hold of the two small hobbits laughing as he tried to tickle them back, but did not have a chance.

By now Aragorn had decided to take pity on the man and went to pull the hobbits off of him. "Gentlemen, that's enough." But as he tried to pull them off Merry and Pippin grabbed hold of each of his legs and pulled them from under him.

At the sight of two men being beaten by two small hobbits made me laugh so hard that my sides were splitting.

"What is that?" Sam asked as he directed all of our attentions to a dark object moving closer.

"Nothing its just a wisp of cloud."

Boromir had finally managed to untangle himself from the hobbits and together we all moved up to inspect the so called 'cloud'.



"Its moving fast," Boromir observed, "Against the wind." He said, and by now none of us believed that it was a cloud.

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas confirmed.

"Hide!" Aragorn ordered as we moved to put everything away. I saw as Aragorn pulled Frodo and Sam under a rock and how most found their hiding place, but for what ever reason I could not seem to find a place of my own. Suddenly I felt something grab me around the waist and place a hand over my mouth as they pulled me under a bush, I struggled against my captive, but settled down when I saw that it was Boromir who was signaling me to be quiet.

He lay on top of me as to hide me from the view of the creatures flying over us, and the weight of him made me feel warm and safe. As soon as he moved his hand I buried my head in his chest as the sound of their cries became overbearing. Boromir merely held my head protectively and waited for the creatures to fly away.

The sound of the Crebain was loud and as they flew over I felt as if my heart would beat straight out of my chest at the fear that they invoked in me.

Once the creatures had gone, Boromir released me and we crawled out, just as everyone else also came out of their hiding place.



"Spies of Saruman," Gandalf said as he moved towards us, "The passage south is being watched. We must take the Pass of Caradhras." As he revealed our new travel plan we all looked to the high mountains and the one thing that went through my mind was a sarcastic 'joy!'