Aragorn lay on the ground with his ear against a flat rock. "Their pace has quickened… They must have caught our scent. Hurry!" He jumped to his feet and started running again, with Rachel close behind him. Next was Legolas, with Gimli bringing up the rear.

"They run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them… Come on, Gimli!" Legolas called back to him without even breathing hard.

Gimli huffed and puffed as he plodded along behind them. "Three days' and nights' pursuit. No food, no rest. And no sign of our quarry but what bare rock can tell." He sighed heavily, doing his best to keep up.

A while later, they paused as Aragorn bent to the ground, picking up a slightly smashed, yet still radiant green brooch of Lothlorien. "Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall."

Legolas looked at him, full of hope. "They may yet be alive."

"Less than a day ahead of us," Aragorn said. "Come." He glanced quickly at Rachel, who gave him a brave nod, even though her fair skin was even paler than usual. The long pursuit was taking its toll on her, and she was running on pure adrenaline, forcing herself to go on. Aragorn made a mental note to let her have the first bit of food they acquired, whenever that may be.

"Come, Gimli! We're gaining on them!" Legolas shouted earnestly as he started running again.

"I'm wasted on cross-country," Gimli argued, tromping over some crooked rocks. "We Dwarves are natural sprinters- very dangerous over short distances!"

They reached the top of a hill that overlooked a rocky yellow plain which stretched as far as any of them could see… any of them but Legolas.

"Rohan… Home of the Horse-Lords. There's something strange at work here," Aragorn said grimly. "Some evil gives speed to these creatures… sets its will against us."

Legolas skipped easily atop a higher ridge on the rocks and looked out past the plains.

"Legolas! What do your Elf-eyes see?" Aragorn called to him.

"The Uruks turn northeast," Legolas told him. "They are taking our friends to Isengard!"

"Saruman," Aragorn said bitterly. They raced on, knowing full well that they were the only chance of surviving that Merry, Pippin, and Ariel had.

"Keep breathing," Gimli wheezed to himself. "That's the key- Breathe!"


Darkness fell, and the Uruk-Hai threw their captives roughly to the ground in the forest, in the middle of a clearing. Ariel's eyes widened in pain as she landed roughly on her hands. Her poofy black hair was a matted mess, and she couldn't even brush it out of her face, since her hands were tightly bound.

"We're not going no further… 'till we've had a breather!" one of the Mordor orcs insisted, panting heavily.

"Get a fire going!" Ugluk ordered. The Orcs and Uruks moved around, getting ready to make camp. Pippin scooted closer to Merry and Ariel.

"Merry!"

"I think we might have made a mistake leaving the Shire, Pippin," Merry said sadly. Ariel glanced over at them, eyes full of sorrow.

Pippin grinned heartily at his cousin, and then he gasped as a low moaning sound rumbled through the clearing. "What's making that noise?" he whispered.

"It's the trees," Ariel mumbled, accidentally taking Merry's line. Merry nodded in agreement.

"What?" Pippin asked.

"You remember the Old Forest, on the borders of Buckland?" Merry asked. "Folk used to say there was something in the water that made the trees grow tall... and come alive."

"Alive?" Pippin asked, intrigued.

"Trees that could whisper, talk to each other… even move," Merry muttered.

"I'm starving!" one of the Uruk-Hai shouted suddenly. "We ain't had nothing but maggoty bread for three stinking days."

A scrawny orc named Snaga agreed quickly. "Yeeeah! Why can't we have some meat?" He glanced at the three captives hungrily. "What about them? They're fresh."

"They are NOT for eating," Ugluk commanded. One of his Uruk-Hai dragged the three to their feet, moving them to stand a distance away from the Mordor Orcs.

"What about their legs?" another Orc, Grishnakh, asked. "They don't need those."

Merry and Pippin gasped, looking down at their legs. Ariel was too weak to care at the moment.

"They look tasty," Grishnakh went on, inching closer to them.

"Get back, scum!" Ugluk ordered, shoving Grishnakh out of the way. That raised some unhappy comments from the Mordor Orcs. "The prisoners go to Saruman… alive and unspoiled."

"Alive? Why alive?" Grishnakh asked. "Do they give good sport?" He moved closer again, leering at Ariel. "Does this one give good 'entertainment'?"

She took a step back, shuddering.

"They have something- an Elvish weapon. The master wants it for the war."

Snaga crept up behind the hobbits as Pippin whispered to Merry. "They think we have the Ring."

"Shh! As soon as they find out we don't, we're dead," Merry pointed out. Their words triggered a realization for Ariel, and she mentally kicked herself in the butt.

She liked to keep her fake copy of the One Ring from her Lord of the Rings Monopoly game with her whenever she watched any of the LOTR movies. It was currently in the pocket of her breeches, which had been given to her by the Elves. She had kept it with her as a token of home- but perhaps it was, somehow, the reason why the Uruks had taken her as well, instead of just killing her. So, even though she shouldn't have brought it with her… maybe it wasn't a bad thing that she had it with her, after all. Maybe it was the only thing that had kept her alive so far.

"Just a mouthful," Snaga sneered, raising his blade. "A bit off the flank!"

Ugluk whirled around and lopped Snaga's head off with his scimitar. The head rolled past the hobbits into the middle of all the Uruks and Orcs as the body crumpled to the ground. "Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys!" Ugluk cheered. There was a mad rush to get to the fresh 'meal', and in the flurry of movement, Merry and Pippin got shoved one way and were knocked to the ground, while Ariel got shoved in the other direction.

She scanned the orcs, trying to find the hobbits, but it was just too dark and chaotic. Thinking quickly, she backed up until she was behind a tree, wrapping her cloak around her. Since it was of Elven make, she hoped it would help her blend in until the Rohirrim arrived.

Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin realized no one was paying them any mind. "Let's go," Merry whispered.

"What about Ariel?" Pippin whispered back.

Merry shook his head. "There's nothing we can do for her right now."

Pippin nodded sadly, and they began to crawl away on their elbows. They didn't get far before a booted foot stomped unceremoniously onto Merry's back. Pippin rolled over to see Grishnakh standing over them with a curved knife.

"Go on- call for help," Grishnakh growled, pinching Pippin's cheek. "Squeal. No one's gonna save you now!" He lifted his blade- and suddenly, a spear jutted through his belly, knocking him over.

A large company of men on horses burst into the clearing, slaying Orcs and Uruks left and right.

"Pippin!" Merry called frantically, crawling towards a fallen blade that he could use to cut his bonds. Pippin, not far away, rolled onto his back to see a horse's hooves kicking right above his face.

"Agghhh!"


Aragorn paused to look at some tracks on the ground, and straightened up at the sound of many hoofbeats thundering through the ground. He beckoned to the others, and they darted behind a grouping of rocks just as the host of horseman galloped into view. They were almost out of earshot when Aragorn suddenly stepped out from behind the rocks, followed by his companions.

"Riders of Rohan," he shouted. "What news from the Mark?"

Their leader raised his spear, and the horsemen followed the signal, circling around until they surrounded the quartet, with their spears lowered into their faces. The one who had given the signal, a tall fellow with a plume of horsehair on his helmet, rode through the men until he reached the center. Rachel knew it was Eomer, King Theoden's nephew, and brother to Lady Eowyn (her least favorite character). "What business does an Elf, a Man, a Woman, and a Dwarf have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!"

"Give me your name, horse-master, and I shall give you mine," Gimli said gruffly.

The rider dismounted from his horse and walked towards Gimli. "I would cut off your head, Dwarf... if it stood but a little higher from the ground."

In the blink of an eye, Legolas had an arrow drawn and aimed at Eomer's head. "You would die before your stroke fell," he snapped protectively.

The Rohirrim all pointed their spears at Legolas. Aragorn stepped between him and Eomer and lowered Legolas's arm. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Gloin, Legolas of the Woodland Realm, and Lady Rachel of a far-off kingdom. We are friends of Rohan and of Theoden, your king."

"Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe… Not even his own kin." He took off his helmet to reveal a not-unhandsome face, which was twisted into a grimace. "Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king, and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished." He paused, giving them a closer look as he signaled for his men to raise their spears out of the way, which they did. "The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man hooded and cloaked. And everywhere, his spies slip past our nets."

"We are no spies," Aragorn assured him. "We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They have taken three of our friends captive."

Eomer nodded slowly. "We may have saved but one. Bring her forth," he called. One of the Rohirrim who was near the back of the group rode forward- he had an extra passenger on his horse.

"Do you know these men-" Rachel cleared her throat expectantly, and Eomer blinked- "and woman?"

Ariel smiled tearily, a bit overwhelmed at the sight of her friends. She was a little bit cleaned up from the night before, thanks to Eomer's rescue, but she was still fairly grimy and dusty. "Yes, they're some of my companions. Please, may I go with them?"

"Of course. I would not hold you against your will," Eomer said gently. Although it had only been one short night, he had grown somewhat accustomed to her face and her presence, and was a little saddened to see her go.

Ariel hopped down off of the horse and hugged Rachel tightly, then stood between her and Legolas, swaying slightly from weakness. Legolas held out a hand against her lower back to keep her from falling over, and the fact that he was voluntarily touching her made her want to pass out even more.

"Merry and Pippin?" Gimli asked her anxiously.

Ariel shook her head- even though she knew where they really were, she couldn't risk damaging the storyline by revealing their location, and the two hobbits would be fine, anyway. "I-I don't know. It was dark, and we got separated…"

"Thank you for ensuring Ariel's safety," Aragorn said graciously to Eomer.

"But there were two hobbits- did you see two hobbits with them?" Gimli interrupted.

"They would be small; only children to your eyes," Aragorn added.

Eomer grimaced again. "The Uruks are destroyed: we slaughtered them overnight. We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them," he said, gesturing towards a rising pillar of smoke not too far away, behind an outcropping of rocks.

"…Dead?" Gimli whispered in disbelief.

Eomer nodded. "I am sorry." He whistled sharply. "Hasufel, Arod, Roheryn, Arroch!" Four rider-less horses trotted forward. "May these horses bear you to better fortune than their masters. Farewell." He put his helmet back on and swung easily onto his horse. "Look for your friends- but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands. We ride north!" he shouted to his men. At his signal, the Rohirrim rode neatly into formation and followed him on towards the north.


The five friends rode a short distance to the pillar of smoke. Each rode their own horse, except for Legolas and Gimli, who shared Arod. A stench of rotting decay wafted through the air as they hopped off of their horses. They surveyed the pile of corpses, and Gimli prodded it with his axe, discovering something of Merry's or Pippin's.

"It's one of their wee belts," he said, voice thick with emotion.

Legolas bowed his head in respect. "Hiro hyn hîdh… ab 'wanath…" Ariel glanced over at him. She knew he was praying 'May they find peace in death', but she also knew that Merry and Pippin were perfectly alive and well. She wished she could ease their hearts by saying so, but they would find out soon enough.

Aragorn kicked an Uruk helmet and fell to his knees, crying out in anguish as well as, possibly, pain from two freshly-broken toes. "AAAAGHHH!"

"We failed them," Gimli said sorrowfully.

In defeat, Aragorn hung his head. His gaze was immediately drawn to two small depressions in the ground. "A hobbit lay here… and the other." He looked ahead to see some broken brambles and pieces of grass. "They crawled." Aragorn stood up, intrigued. "Their hands were bound-" right as he said that, he found and picked up a severed piece of rope- "Their bonds were cut. They ran over here," he said, finding some little footprints, as well as a third set of bootprints. "They were followed." Aragorn started jogging, following the prints. "Tracks lead away from the battle…" He paused in front of the dark mass of trees before him. "…Into Fangorn Forest."

"Fangorn?" Gimli exclaimed. "What madness drove them in there?"

An ugly orc named Grishnakh, Rachel said in her head.