Falls of Rauros

Water crashed down against the rocks beneath. The sound of the waterfall was deafening. Haryn looked down at the map Khamûl had given him before he left. "These are the Falls of Rauros. It has to be, but how do we get up there?" a young raven asked himself. He folded the map once more and placed it back in his shoulder bag.

'There is something in the water,' the teen's black-furred companion said suddenly.

Haryn looked over at the swiftly running river. "Where?" he asked.

'It came from up there,' Padfoot said and pointed his nose to the falls. 'It must be beneath the water now.'

The raven rolled his eyes. He scanned the water for a moment and was just about ready to give up when something caught his eyes. Moving forward swiftly, he jumped into the swift stream.

'What did you do now?' Moony growled at Padfoot. The massive light-brown wolf was growling lowly. Sometimes his beta was useless.

'I didn't know he was going to jump in,' Padfoot said in an attempt to defend himself.

As the two canines argued – or Padfoot got scolded whichever suits you best – Haryn had managed to grab a hold of the thing that had made him jump into the river. He wished that he'd grown his wings. I would be so much easier to swim if he had. He pulled his burden towards the surface slowly. 'This maybe wasn't the best of ideas,' he thought. He needed air.

Splash!

"Aaaahhh," Haryn breathed in deeply. 'I so should have taken my clothes off before jumping in,' he thought as he managed to get closer to the shore. 'I just need to get up there.' His feet grabbed on to rough rocks and held him steady. He grabbed a hold of the rocks with one hand and pulled himself closer to the shore. Then sharp teeth buried in his arm and he looked up. "Moony," he said.

The wolf growled at him.

"I know I'm sorry but…"

Another growl.

"O.K. you can lecture me later could you just please pull me up now," the raven begged. The wolf's teeth were sharp, but they could not cut through his scales. He shifted his hold on his burden and grabbed on to it with a clawed foot as well. They were pulled out of the water as the wolf moved back slowly. Once back on dry land, Haryn fell down on his knees. He placed his ear against an unmoving chest. "Shit," he cursed. He grabbed a hold of the man's clothes and ripped them open easily with his sharp claw-like nails. He pressed his hands flat to the chest he'd revealed and pushed several times in an attempt to rid the man's lungs of water.

'He's dead cub,' Moony said softly.

Haryn shook his head. "He's not dead until I say he's dead," he said stubbornly. He pulled something from his belt. It was a small bluish vial. The plants in Endor were enough like the ones on Earth that he'd been able to set up a potions lab. He had been smart enough to bring healing potions with him this time. He had over the years made quite the supply of potions that could do all kinds of things. He poured the blue liquid out over the wounds he could see before placing his hands back on the man's chest and pushing once more. "Come on, breath you annoying human," he shouted. He could see how the wounds in the man's chest were healing up so there was life in him somewhere, but if he didn't start breathing soon he'd be brain-dead.

*Cough … cough

Water came spewing out of the man's mouth.

Moving swiftly, Haryn shifted the man to lie on his side so that he wouldn't choke himself.

Grey eyes opened for a moment and trailed around the area unseeingly before closing once more.

"See he isn't dead," Haryn said as he looked up at Moony. The wolf rolled his eyes. 'Impossible brat,' he muttered. 'Dry yourself up before you catch a cold will you,' he growled.

The raven rolled his eyes. "Yes mom," he said. His clothes started letting off steam as his body heated up. He reached out and carefully he moved his warm hands over the humans clothes to get rid of the water in them as well.

'So now we have an unconscious human, and we're no closer to that ring or whatever at all,' Padfoot muttered. 'This is not going the way I thought it would.'

Haryn snorted. "It's not a school yard adventure Padfoot," he said. "We won't just find the thing we're looking for and get back in time for dinner." He moved a hand to rest over the unconscious man's chest. "His breathing is deeper now that's good," he said. "He should be waking up soon."

Padfoot huffed.

"If you're that bored why don't you go and get us some food," Haryn said annoyed.

Moony chuckled as he watched the shaggy mutt wander off slowly. 'He's getting way too used to the comforts of Minas Morgul,' he said.

Haryn tilted his head to the side. "And you are not. You're not complaining half as much as he is at least," he said.

'I actually enjoy getting a chance to move around properly,' the wolf said. 'It feels good to stretch my legs.'

Haryn laughed.


Fingers moved slowly. They dug into the soft dirt they were resting on top of. A deep breath was pulled in. 'I'm not dead,' was the first thought that passed through the owner of those finger's head. 'How am I not dead?' was the second.

Grey eyes opened slowly. It was dark. He seemed to be coming back to life one sense at a time as the low murmur of the Falls of Rauros – at least he thought that it was Rauros – could be heard in the distance. He breathed in slowly this time. Dark hair fell over his eyes. He moved his arms slowly before pushing himself off the ground. His eyes tried to adjust to the darkness surrounding him. A hand travelled to his bare chest. His wounds were gone. 'How?' he wondered. His wandering gaze fell on a strange stone that didn't seem to match the rocks around it.

He froze as he realised that the stone was breathing. 'What is that?' he wondered. He shifted slightly and a placed his hand in sharp gravel. He hissed in pain. Grey eyes moved over to the big beast laying a few feet away. A furry head moved up slowly and a pair of intelligent eyes landed on his still form.

A low growl floated through the air.

Boromir tried to move away from the beast. He did not want to end up as a midnight snack.

"You really should stop that before you fall into the river," a tired voice said.

Grey eyes widened. 'The beast didn't just speak to me, did it?' he wondered somewhat terrified. Then the big shape shifted and a smaller dark shape became visible. The smaller shape stood up slowly.

"How are you feeling?"

Boromir's hand went back up to his chest. "You healed me?" he said, almost whispered. He watched with weary eyes as the shape came closer to him. It was a person. His eyes fell on the gleaming white horns that were visible in dark unruly hair. The man moved back a bit more. He didn't know of any people in Middle Earth that had horns. "Who are you?" he asked. "What do you want with me?" He felt bare without his sword. But that had broken by Amon Hen when the Uruk-Hai had attacked. He was at the other's mercy.

A dark eyebrow rose. "Why do you fear me human? I'm not here to harm you. Why would I heal you if I wished you harm," the soft voice said. "I am Haryn son of Sauron Prince of the Forgotten Peoples. I have saved your life partly because I have questions to ask you and partly because I believe I have been asked to find you. You are the Captain of the White Tower, Boromir, are you not?" he asked.

"How do you know my name?" Boromir asked before he could stop himself.

A warm chuckled floated through the air. "Men of Gondor came to our city beaten and bloody. We took them in and they asked me to find you when they learned that I was travelling north," Haryn answered. He had stopped about two feet away from the human and kneeled down before seating himself on the cold dirt. "The river city is under attack almost daily. It's mostly just small groups of scattered Orcs but an attack will come eventually that the city cannot survive. They need their captain."

Boromir was trying to process the information he'd been given. His head felt heavy and filled with cotton. He was cold. He tried to wrap his arms around himself to at least get some more warmth. It had him falling back down on the cold dirt. He'd been using his arms to stay upright.

"I'll warm you up don't worry," the man said softly. He moved up closer to the human, reached out, and placed his hands on top of the brunet's chest.

Boromir gasped as warmth spread through his body from those hands. It warmed him up to his very soul. His grey eyes blinked closed slowly. His breathing evened out. He fell back into the abyss.

Haryn twirled a bone between his fingers lazily. It had belonged to one of the rabbits that Padfoot had caught the day before. It was clean now of course – so small and frail. He was waiting for the human to wake up once more. He was getting restless. Standing up, he walked over to Anduin and looked down into the water rushing by. A sigh passed his lips.

Grey eyes followed the young man's movements as the raven moved from the river to a set of rocks. Boromir watched as the strange humanoid being used his clawed hands and feet to climb up on one of the rocks. He sat up slowly. His memory of the previous night was somewhat blurry, but he could remember what the man had told him. His eyes scanned for the huge beats that had hidden the young raven from view the night before but couldn't see it. He was still amazed by the fact that he was healed completely. 'What kind of sorcery is he capable off?' he asked himself.

"Ah, you are awake finally," Haryn said as he jumped down from the rock. "How do you feel? Any lingering pain?" he asked.

Boromir shook his head slowly. "No, I do not think so," he said. "I feel surprisingly well for someone who's been used as a pincushion."

The raven chuckled warmly. "Aye, you nearly died, but it would seem that fate has a different path in mind for you," he said. He picked something up before moving over to the human. He sat down with his legs crossed before holding what he had with him out to the brunet. "Here have something to eat. I'm sure you need it," he said as he held out a bundled leather cloth with food in it.

Boromir accepted the bundle. He still wasn't too sure he could trust the strange young man, but his stomach wouldn't let him ignore the food he'd been given. He ate hungrily from the cold rabbit, bread, cheese and dried fruit in the bundle.

"I am wondering Boromir," Haryn said as he looked out over Rauros water. "If you travelled with one who holds the One Ring?"

The dark-brown haired man stopped eating. Something the young man had said the night before came back to him. ~I am Haryn son of Sauron Prince of the Forgotten Peoples~ the man had said. "I will not aid the Dark Lord Sauron," he said. His eyes went back to the food as he wondered if it really had been such a good idea to accept food from the other.

Haryn snorted. "Sauron is a Dark Lord because the Elves fear our people. The one who gathered evil to himself in Mordor is not Sauron. And I seek the Ring in order to destroy it," he said. He held up a hand. "I know that words will not prove that I speak the truth," he said. He tilted his head to the side. "The war that felled Elendil started as a war between the Elves and our people. We are equally to blame for that war. I'm not trying to sound as if we were not to blame for it." He sighed. "My father did slay the King of Gondor but only because he believed that Men of Gondor had murdered me in my crib." He shook his head. "He believed he had lost his only child and went on a warpath," he said.

Boromir raised an eyebrow. "If you we a baby back during the Battle of Dagorlad then how come you seem so young… merely a boy not yet a man?" he asked.

Haryn smirked. "Now that is a story you would not believe if I told you about it," he said. "The easiest way to describe it is that I did not die when my murder was committed but rather ended up in a different time a different place. My father only recently found me once more and I hand only aged by a decade and a half."

"So someone did try to murder you," Boromir said. "I do not see how Men of Gondor could have done so, however."

"They didn't. It was my father's brother, Haxoru, who tried to kill me in an attempt to seize the throne for himself. He tried to kill my father as well but failed on both accounts," Haryn said.

"And the Ring? You said you wanted to destroy it but wouldn't that kill your father?" Boromir asked.

Haryn tilted his head to the side. "No it wouldn't. The Ring was created as a tool intended to control the Kings of Men so that they would cease their pointless killing of innocents. Long have our people accepted those who have been cast from their homes, those who were left forgotten and those whose lands and homes were taken from them. We are the rulers of the Forgotten Peoples because those are the once we rule over. Men and Elves and even some Dwarves live with us," he said.

"Then how do you explain the effect it has on those around it? The Ring is evil," Boromir said. He was met with a shrug. "The Ring was never meant to be worn by anyone but the ruler of the Shrāl, our people. I have no idea what the effects are or why they happen," Haryn responded. "It could simply be that you cannot handle the power that it holds or the power left in the Ring would have gained a mind of its own over the years. It has been out there for quite some time by now after all."

The raven stood up slowly. "We do not wish for the end of Man. Haxoru is our enemy as well. We would like our old lands back and the destruction of every Orc in Mordor," he said. He turned to Boromir. "You may not believe me Leader of Men but we will fight for the survival of our people."

The brunet closed his eyes and sighed. He did not know what to believe anymore. The young man before him was very convincing. There was something that was nagging at him however. "Why do the elves fear you kin?" he asked. His question was answered with another question. "Where do the elves live, Boromir?" He thought about that for a moment. "In Imladris, Lórien, and the Mirkwood," he answered.

Haryn nodded. "Apart from Imladris the other two places are forests. What is a forests biggest fear?" he said. He didn't wait for a response though. "They fear fire, Boromir," he said. "We are Shrāl, dragon-kin, we breath fire. Fire is our friend. They fear us because we wield what they hate. Never mind that they use fire as a tool for food and weapons," he said. A scaled hand was held out and within seconds a black flame danced in his palm. "I love the forest. I would never hurt it. Most of us are friendly just like any other race. We have our black sheep, but all we really want is to live in peace," he said. His green eyes looked down at the man still sitting on the ground. "We will help you if you help us. The Elves are leaving these shores. There is no real reason for us to fight each other. Yes my father killed the King of Gondor, but that is thousands of years ago, and he did it because he loves me. Must that be a reason for us to continue fighting each other?" he asked.

Boromir sighed. It wasn't like he could do much against the young dragon-human without a weapon either way. 'Especially not if he can breath those black flames,' he thought. He could take the chance that the young man was telling the truth and bring back powerful allies to Gondor, or… or what really? In his condition he probably wouldn't survive on his own. He might be healed, but he was still weak.

"Come on make up you mind," Haryn said impatiently. "I hate indecision! ... or maybe I don't. Well, just make up your mind, or I'll have your skin made into a hat. Maybe one of those arrowcatchers. I love those hats!" He was smiling in a way that told the human that he was nowhere near serious about the whole thing.

Boromir shook his head. This was a very strange young man. "Where are you planning on going?" he asked.

Haryn shrugged. "That would be easier to decide if I knew were the one who has the Ring is going," he said while giving the man a pointed look.

'Nothing ventured nothing gained,' Boromir thought before saying, "He is going to Mordor. He will throw the Ring back into the flames that it was forged in."

The raven snorted. "You know I'm pretty sure that father used his fire breath to forge the ring not the flames of Orodruin," he said. "Either way if we can intercept them I can destroy the Ring, and we don't have to deal with that anymore." He walked over to the human and held a hand out. "I'm sorry but I can't do much about your lost equipment," he said. "I was a bit too busy trying to stay alive when I dived in to save you to think about what you had with you."

Boromir grabbed the hand and was pulled up on his feet. "My sword wasn't of much use anyway," he said. "It broke, but it was a shame on the shield. There aren't many like it."

Haryn nodded slowly. "Ah, they are back," he said.

"Who?" Boromir asked. But he didn't need an answer. Two big canines came walking from between the rocks. One was huge. Its brown fur gleamed in the sunlight and its sharp claws dug deep into the ground. The second canine was not as big and looked more like an oversized dog than anything else. It had shaggy black fur. Both beasts had bright intelligent eyes that looked at Haryn.

"These are Moony and Padfoot," Haryn said. "They are my protectors and my companions. They can understand Westron so I suggest that you don't say anything that would insult them. I can understand them as well." He turned to the big wolf. "Can you carry the both of us?" he asked.

'Not if I am to keep to the same speed we had on our way here,' Moony answered.

The raven shrugged. "I could do with some exercise," he said. He turned to Boromir. "You don't have to fear them unless you decide to harm me. It will be faster if you ride on Moony for now. He's stronger than any horse you've ever met and far more dangerous should we get attacked."

The brunet moved forward uncertainly. He wasn't to sure about this idea. He understood, in theory, why it was necessary, but riding an animal that could just as well decide to eat him didn't seem like the wisest of ideas to him. Despite his doubts, he did walk up to the young dragon-human and allowed himself to be helped up on the beast's back. He grabbed onto the thick fur in front of him as the wolf started moving. 'This is insane,' he thought.

The pace was slow at first. No one wanted Boromir to fall off Moony's back. Over the course of the day, however, they picked up speed and by the time they stopped that day the human had relaxed enough that they were running rather fast.

They made camp on the Anduin's riverbank that night. They still had a long way to go.

'Maybe, just maybe we do stand a chance against the forces of Mordor,' Boromir thought as they went to lie down. The young man he was travelling with seemed to have the same endurance that Elves had. If there were more of them and they were willing to fight then. 'And they all can breathe fire.' They could win this.