Disclaimer: I only own Danielle. Middle Earth and everything else in it belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien.
Oh shit. Danielle looked around, not seeing anything until she stepped around the stone slab. In the distance, a pack of what had to be orcs were heading their way. They had blackened skin with white handprints painted on their disfigured faces, and they were closing their distance quickly.
For an instant, Danielle stood frozen with her eyes wide. Everything she'd been taught about combat was gone, and she realized she didn't have her bow with her anyway. She had left it with everything else by the boats.
A hand gripped her around the elbow and pulled her back. It was Aragorn.
"Follow me," he said. They ran toward a stone formation that protruded from the ground, forming a shelter much like a cave. Aragorn reached it first and stopped at the entrance to usher Danielle in. She went to the very back, where she crouched to keep from hitting her head on the rock above. Aragorn bent down in front of her, hiding her from sight and keeping her against the back wall. Her heart jumped around in her chest and she shook as she listened for any sign that the orcs were heading their way. She knew they must be. They must have seen her standing in the open.
"Ara-"
Aragorn silenced her with a hand over her mouth and a stern look.
Thump thump thump. Her whole body seemed to move with the beating of her heart. And they listened. Gradually, she heard the sound of running feet approaching. Their shelter was little more than a slab of rock overhead, and Danielle knew if the orcs looked around for even an instant they would find them, trapped. She didn't notice that her hand was clenched tightly around Aragorn's forearm until he turned around to face her.
Thump thump.
"You are not ready to face these foes," he whispered, his piercing eyes adding to the urgency conveyed in his voice. "I will run out and strike. As soon as I do, run out in the opposite direction. Keep running, do you understand? Do not stop."
"But-"
"Listen to me," Aragorn said, cutting her off. "There is no time. I will find you."
Wordlessly Danielle nodded, because she knew he was right. She was not ready, and in that moment, as they crouched waiting for the enemy to find them, she trusted him.
Danielle's eyes stayed locked with Aragorn's as though they were her life support, looking for silent commands or some indication that they would make it out of this alive. Her breath was caught in her throat and a thousand years seemed to pass between each beat of her heart.
Then, when the voices seemed to be right outside their shelter, Aragorn turned and sprinted out into the open and to the right. He yelled out aggressively, and Danielle heard metal clash against metal.
That was her cue. She ran out, heading to the left without looking back to see what was happening. She heard grunts and clattering behind her, and she realized she was being a coward. She should be helping Aragorn, rather than make him face the orcs alone. His life meant more to this world than hers did.
Before she could turn and head back, though, she heard heavy footfalls hitting the ground quickly behind her. She was being chased. Danielle tried to quicken her pace, but she was already going as fast as she could. She feared that if she tried to go any faster her balance would falter and she would plunge forward. Instead, she tried dodging trees, but her pursuer was gaining on her.
Panic set in. Danielle's whole body seemed to flush as she broke a sweat. The footfalls grew louder, but she remembered the sword that hung at her belt. If she was going to walk away from this alive, it wouldn't be from outrunning her pursuer.
Danielle pulled her sword out just as a pair of arms wrapped around her. Her world stopped as she crashed to the ground, face first, and her sword flew out of arm's reach with the momentum. She was pinned to the forest floor under the weight of the orc, stunned from the force of the fall. Danielle kicked and bucked, doing everything she could think of to fight her way free and reach the sword that rested just inches away from her fingertips. The orc worked his arms underneath her as she struggled, and she felt her chance of freedom slip away as he got a better hold of her.
The orc lifted her with ease, one arm around Danielle's neck and the other against her rib-cage as he held her to his chest. Her feet dangled off the ground, and when she continued to kick back at his shins he tightened his arms around her neck, threatening to cut off her air. She went limp, her hands instinctively going up to his arm to try to weaken his grasp so she could breathe, but his arm was an immovable mass of muscle.
"Stupid girl," he said and laughed.
Danielle wished he would just kill her and get it over with. Instead, the orc walked back to where she could still hear Aragorn fighting. They were close - she hadn't made it far before she'd been tackled. In the distance, Aragorn was against three orcs with his back to Danielle and her captor. There were three other dead orcs scattered around him.
Even as Danielle gasped, she felt her oxygen supply dwindling. Her fingernails drew blood in the orc's arm, but he didn't seem to notice.
And then, the orc called out. "Drop your sword or she dies now."
The three orcs stopped and Aragorn turned, watching the orc standing with Danielle at his mercy. She tried to yell to Aragorn not to stop, to keep fighting. He'd be condemning himself to death if he complied, but she couldn't get enough air in her lungs to make a sound with any force.
Aragorn's eyes glanced about him and then connected with Danielle's, holding her gaze for just a moment. Then he held up his left hand while, with his right hand, he lowered his sword gently to the ground. He straightened back up with both hands out, showing he was not going to do anything. Danielle wanted to scream at him.
Danielle's captor laughed and tightened his arm around her neck one more. "We could have fun with this one," he said, gloating as he shook her. Danielle's eyes glazed over as she saw an orc step behind Aragorn with his blade raised to strike. They had lost.
Before the orc could swing his sword down, he dropped to the ground with an arrow protruding from the side of his head. The orcs stopped laughing and the grip on Danielle's neck loosened infinitesimally. Then, something flew by her ear, and she was released. Her captor had been shot with an arrow directly to his temple.
Danielle fell to the ground with the orc's dead weight on top of her once again, but she could breathe. She drew in a large gasp of air and rolled the orc off her back.
Aragorn grabbed two knives from his belt and stabbed one orc, who stood still trying to comprehend the events. And then there was one. Aragorn kicked up his sword with his boot and caught it, then re-engaging in combat with the remaining orc.
Meanwhile, Legolas ran up to Danielle and tossed her bow and a quiver of arrows her way, bless him, before running towards Aragorn. Another wave of orcs, having heard the commotion, were now heading towards them. This time, Danielle did not run. Instead, she shouldered her quiver, reached back for an arrow, and drew it back with the bow string.
She hesitated for a moment. There were twenty orcs running towards them, if not more. She did not trust her aim enough to shoot at any who were within ten feet of Aragorn or Legolas, so she knew she had to act quickly before they came too close. Legolas already had new arrows soaring toward the orcs that charged them, and then Danielle followed suit. Her first arrow sailed through the air but was aimed too high. She pulled another arrow, aimed as quickly as she could, and let it fly. This time the arrow pierced an orc in his lower abdomen. She shot again, and again. Sometimes she missed, but before the orcs had reached them she brought down two. It wasn't hard, they were so densely packed that her odds were fairly good.
Gimli made his appearance, swinging his axe and decapitating an orc instantly. Danielle kept back as he, Aragorn, and Legolas engaged in close combat. She no longer trusted herself not to hit one of them. One orc broke off and charged toward her, clearly thinking her incapable with the bow. Maybe she was, but as the orc approached her, increasing the size of the target, Danielle launched another arrow directly into his head.
A horn sounded, and Danielle looked around, alert.
"The horn of Gondor!" Legolas said.
"Boromir!" And with that, Aragorn darted off toward the horn call.
Legolas and Gimli finished off the last couple orcs as Danielle fell to her knees. Now that the immediate danger had passed, here, she started to feel the strain in her neck and wrist and bruises forming where she'd been held. Her breathing felt erratic, but it was starting to come back. Danielle's face felt rubbed raw and her chest sore from when she'd been tackled to the ground, but she was alive, and that was a lot more than she could have hoped for.
"Danielle, come!" Legolas called out to her as he ran in the direction Aragorn had.
She picked herself off the ground, but went back to retrieve her sword before she ran after him. When she found him and Gimli, they stood with their eyes fixated on the same spot. She followed their eye gaze down the slope of the hill to where Aragorn knelt with Boromir. Three arrows had pierced Boromir's chest, and he lay with his sword clutched to his chest.
"Oh my god," Danielle said, inhaling sharply and covering her mouth with her hands. This was too real. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she watched the two speaking to one another in lowered voices, and then Boromir spoke no more. Aragorn bent down and kissed him on the forehead and then stood.
"They will look for his coming from the white tower," he said, "but he will not return."
They carried Boromir's body in silence back to the banks of the Anduin. They laid him in one of the elven boats with his sword still clutched to his chest and the weapons of his enemies at his feet, and then they set him off in the river. Danielle had not always had the best opinions of Boromir, having suspicions that he wanted the Ring for himself. She understood it, though, now that she had seen the Ring and had felt its pull. Anyone would crack under that power in time. Boromir had only been unfortunate enough to be the first.
Seeing Boromir slain made Danielle's insides twist and ache. Was this the fate they all would reach? One by one, would they all fall?
As Danielle watched the boat drift off she remembered that they were missing others in the fellowship. "Where are Merry and Pippin?" she asked. "And Sam?"
Aragorn stared out into the river, speaking with a flat voice. "Sam, I believe, went with Frodo. The Uruk-hai have taken Merry and Pippin."
One by one.
"If we are quick, we can catch Frodo and Sam before nightfall," Legolas said, but when Aragorn said nothing he continued. "You mean not to follow them."
"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands."
Danielle nodded absently. "It's what he wanted," she said. "He wanted to go alone."
"Then it was all in vain," Gimli said, downtrodden. "The Fellowship has failed."
"Not if we hold true to each other," Aragorn said. "We will not abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death, not while we have strength left." He pulled a knife out of his pack and attached it to his belt. "Leave all that can be spared behind. We travel light. Be quick to ready yourselves, and then... let's hunt some orc."
"Yes!" Gimli said, cheering.
They worked quickly to gather what they could. Legolas scoured the ground for more arrows for their quivers while Danielle dug through what was left of their supplies, trying to figure out what was necessary and what was superfluous.
"Are you hurt?" Aragorn asked, bending down by her to grab the packs of lembas.
"I'll be okay," Danielle said, but Aragorn glanced over the scrapes on her face and the red around her neck that would eventually bruise. He reached into his bag and pulled out two dried leaves, crushing them into a fine powder in his palm. He then added a couple drops of water from the river.
"What are you doing?" Danielle asked as she watched him mix the concoction in his hand.
Aragorn dipped his finger into the mixture and held it up to her face. "This will help fight off infection and prevent swelling," he said, smoothing it into the scrapes on her chin and jaw. It felt cool on her skin, soothing as it drew some of the heat away.
"You weren't supposed to put yourself in danger to protect me," Danielle said as he dipped his finger back into the mixture and applied more to her neck.
"I knew Legolas was watching when I dropped my sword," he said, his fingers tracing along her neck near her ears, where the orc's nails had scratched her skin. Danielle drew a sharp breath in at his touch. He was being so gentle, and she was not accustomed to being touched in such an intimate location for any reason in a long time.
"Does that hurt?" he asked, his eyes flickering to hers.
"Not a lot," Danielle said, and looked away. When Aragorn finished, he applied what was left to his own hands, which now bore several cuts, and a cut in his arm. "Thank you," she said simply. For saving her life. For training her. For allowing her to join the fellowship. She couldn't begin to thank him for everything.
Aragorn looked back to Danielle and nodded his head, silent, and held her gaze.
They both turned away when Legolas and Gimli returned.
"For your quiver," Legolas said, handing over a handful of assorted arrows to refill Danielles quiver.
"Thank you, Legolas," she said. "I owe you and Aragorn my life."
"You thank me for doing the only thing that was reasonable," he said. "But you are most welcome."
"Did you slay any orcs?" Gimli asked Danielle.
"Three, I think."
"Ah ha!" he said, laughing. "Not bad for a first time. We'll make a warrior out of you, yet!"
"Indeed," Legolas agreed.
"Well what are we waiting for? What do you say we find some more?"
"Forth the four hunters!" Aragorn said, and they were off, following the tracks of the Uruk-hai.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are much appreciated :)
