Chaos Unleashed: Part Two

Chapter Ten

Kaia's POV

I stopped to take a breath, bending over a bit in exhaustion. We'd been hiking around nonstop that day at both Gollum's and Aragorn's urging, and I was about ready to collapse. The air was still thick with fog, though it had gotten more humid as well, and now there was a distinct, unpleasant smell in the air.

Clearly I wasn't the only one who noticed it as Pippin came up beside me, scrunching his nose in disgust. "What's that smell?"

"I don't know," I replied, "but I don't like it. Where the hell did it come from? Did something die in here?"

"No!" Gollum suddenly called out, spinning around from several feet ahead of us where he led. "No deathses here, silly lady!" I narrowed my eyes at him. "The smell is good, yes! Yes, precious, it is!"

"How's it any good?" Merry piped up, equally disgusted.

"It means we are close, little hobbitses! Close to the way out!" The creature seemed incredibly excited about this, but said nothing more as he continued to pounce ahead, mumbling and singing to himself as he went.

I groaned as I started walking again, falling into step with Merry. "I'd really like to know what his definition of 'close' is. I don't think I can walk much further." He nodded in agreement, and I looked down. "How in the name of God do you guys walk around barefoot in this? Shouldn't your feet be bloody and blistered and shit?"

"Hobbit feet are quite durable," the blonde said with a smile. "We never wear shoes for anything."

"I don't get it," I said, shaking my head in disbelief. "Even when it snows?"

"Even when it snows."

"Lucky," I grumbled. "You guys have no idea how expensive shoes could get back on Earth."

"But you didn't have that many shoes, did you?"

"No, because I wore all mine out until they practically disintegrated into nothing," I pointed out.

"Ahh," he nodded again. "That's right."

Suddenly, Pippin came up to us again. Or rather, to me. "Kaia! Kaia, what time is it?" he asked frantically.

I shot him a look. "How would I know? There's a severe lack of clocks here, in case you haven't noticed."

"But we have to know the time!" he exclaimed. "It could be time for supper!"

As soon as he said it, I swear my eyes nearly rolled into the back of my head. "Pippin, how many times do I have to tell you? We don't do that when we're on the road! We have no food!"

"Besides," Merry added, "I don't think her and Aragorn know about supper, Pip."

Now it was Merry who was getting an odd look from me. "...Uh, yeah. How would I not know about supper?"

The hobbits' eyes went wide with shock. "You do?" the redheaded ball of energy asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I always called it dinner, but..."

"Wait, what?" Merry frowned. "But...No, dinner comes before supper."

"The fuck? They're the same thing!"

"No it's not!" Pippin argued back. "There's two evening meals, dinner and supper! And then there's breakfast, second breakfast, elevensies, lunch, afternoon tea-"

My eyes bulged. "You guys eat all that in one day? Oh my God, why am I not a hobbit?!"

They laughed. "It is quite good," Pippin said dreamily.

I raised my hands to the sky and closed my eyes. "Dear Lord, I hope reincarnation is a thing. I want to die and come back to life as a hobbit."

oOo

Similar conversations continued as we pressed on through the rocky maze, and our surroundings seemed to turn against us even more as the day faded. The smell worsened the further we got, and eventually everyone just got so exhausted that we didn't even have the willingness to talk anymore. A few hours later, it was insanely dark outside, and we could hardly see where we were going. Frodo decided to use his special phial that Galadriel had given him as a sort of lantern...and I guess that's mostly what ended up giving us away.

It happened quickly, that much I remember. In one moment, I was minding my own business, plodding along and trying not to lose sight of Aragorn's form a short way ahead of me in the darkness. In the next, there were sudden shouts coming from ahead that I recognized as the ranger's, and on instinct I doubled back, grabbing the hobbits as I went to pull them back with me.

"Kaia!" Merry hissed. "What's going on?" The three of them clung to me as we pressed ourselves up to a pile of rocks that created a bend in our path.

"I don't know," I whispered back, "but shut up. We might've been spotted by something." But even that was confusing to me. What would we have been seen by? Orcs? Gollum said there weren't Orcs that knew the paths through here! I swear, if that little sack of shit was lying-

It was only then that I realized it was dead silent again, and dread settled down on me in a huge weight. ...Ohhh, shit.

"What's happening?" Pippin breathed. "I don't hear any noises!"

"Neither do I," I said lowly, "and that bothers me." I turned to them where I was crouched in the dirt. "Stay here, I'm gonna go check it out."

"Kaia, no!" Frodo grabbed my arm as I made to get up and leave. "You don't know what's out there!"

"Well, whatever it is, it sounded like it just took Aragorn out, and I don't plan on just waiting here doing nothing if he needs help," I hissed back. "So, like I said: Wait. Here." Without giving them a chance to reply, I spun and crawled to the edge of the rock formation. Waiting another beat to listen for any movement, I took a deep breath and slowly stood up to my full height, peeking over the top of the rock carefully.

"Shit," I muttered. I couldn't see more than three feet in front of me, it was so dark. I'm gonna have to walk out there, aren't I?I glanced over at the hobbits, who were looking to me nervously. Motioning to them that I was going to go out further, I returned my focus to the blackness ahead of me and slipped out from behind the rock.

Cautiously sliding one foot forward at a time, I clenched my fists and tried not to focus on how little light there was around me. I'd still never gotten over my near-crippling fear of the dark. But still...Aragorn needed me. Maybe. I had no idea what was going on, which seemed a valid enough reason to go exploring further. So I did.

I crept forward just a few more feet when I could've sworn I heard movement behind me. Jumping in fear, I spun around and backed up into a boulder, accidentally biting my tongue in the process. I swallowed the flash of pain and reached for my knife, hands shaking. Oh my God, please tell me I'm not gonna die like this. Don't let it be a jumpscare, PLEASE don't let it be a jumpscare-

And before I could blink, there was a hand suddenly on my shoulder. I screamed and thrashed out to the left, hearing a cry of pain as my small little dagger seemed to catch on something. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" I shouted, kicking out in the same direction and hearing another groan of pain as my attacker fell to the ground. I looked down, expecting to see an Orc...but it wasn't. It was...a...a man? What?

Then there was another shout, and two very, very strong arms were wrapped around my torso, keeping me from swinging at him again. There's two?! Shit, SHIT! I kicked back again, but the second man didn't give in. He simply grunted in pain and tightened his grip on me. I cried out in pain and dropped my knife as he then roughly tossed me to the ground. As soon as I landed on my stomach, I rolled, scrambling through the dirt and stone to find it, but I didn't get far before I felt the cool metal tip of a sword press lightly against my lower back. I froze.

A voice I didn't recognize spoke from above me. "You put up quite the resistance, my lady. However, I am afraid I am looking for cooperation, not retaliation. On your feet." I didn't move, and he pressed the tip to my back just a bit more; enough to draw a wince. "On your feet," he commanded again, more firmly this time.

I hesitated, but then decided I had no other choice but to do as I was told. Slowly, I drew myself up off the ground and stood again, ignoring the soreness in my chest from where my still-healing ribs had hit the ground. I heard gasps of pain from the man I'd taken out behind me and smirked, but it was quickly wiped off my face as a blindfold was suddenly placed over my eyes and tied tightly. I grabbed at an arm behind me in protest and opened my mouth to speak, but was cut off. "It is necessary, my lady. I do not mean to harm you; you have my word. Shall I take you to the rest of your companions?"

My heartbeat spiked in my chest as he and his friend got themselves together and began to lead me along what I assumed was the path out of Emyn Muil again. They've got Aragorn and the hobbits. Oh God...what have we gotten pulled into now?

oOo

Erin's POV

I gasped from the aches that racked my body as I tried to find a comfortable sleeping position for the thousandth time, berating myself for ever thinking that running across that godforsaken tree branch was a good idea. It felt like someone had played soccer and used me as the ball. "Jesus Almighty..."

There was movement from beside me, and I spotted Kathryn turning over to face me out of the corner of my eye. "Sore?" she asked with a teasing smirk, though keeping her voice low enough to avoid waking any of the others in the middle of the night.

I glared at her. "Oh, bluh. I took one for the team."

"And hopefully you learned to never do that again," she scolded lightly.

"I didn't break anything," I replied flatly. "I'll be fine."

My dear friend rolled her eyes in response as she raised her eyes to the sky, looking at the dark canopy covering us curiously for a moment before frowning."Why is everything so...black?"

"It looks burned," I said absentmindedly as I also observed it. "I'd imagine it's the result of Sauron's forces passing through here."
"They must've practically burned down the whole forest," she whispered in shock.

I nodded. And for no good reason, either. For a moment, my eyes flicked over at the blonde head not too far away from us. I felt so bad for him. This had been his home for so many years...and now it was nearly destroyed. It was in his nature to be connected to the life of the earth, and now he had nothing. Is all of Middle-Earth like this?

Kathryn's voice suddenly cut through the silence again, bringing me out of my thoughts. "...You know, sometimes I wonder if there's ever going to be a way for us to get back home."

"You'd want to go back?"

She made a face. "Of course I do! I mean, so far it seems like everything here's basically gone to shit. We're going through the remains of an apocalypse."

"True," I said with a nod in her direction. "And I'm not gonna lie, I miss Earth, too. I just don't know if I'd want to go back, though."

"Why not?"

"Well, think about what we left behind. We disappeared into thin air while cops were breaking into our house. If we just poofed back into existence, I doubt people would pretend it never happened. We'd probably have a lot of impossibly annoying stuff to deal with if we went back."

She shrugged. "I don't know. I still miss home. Maybe it's only because I feel like this isn't where I'm supposed to be."

"Yeah...I get how you feel. Besides," I said with a small smile, "there's no iPods here."

"Or Tumblr," she countered. "No ice cream, no video games..."
"No showers."

"Ew, don't remind me. I feel disgusting enough as it is."

"You and me both," I said with a sigh. "I'll never take advantage of indoor plumbing ever again."

"Assuming that we're going to find some in this place?"

"Oh, hush. You know what I mean." I playfully smacked her on the arm.

Kathryn laughed, then looked at me with a stupid smile on her face and laid her hand on my shoulder dramatically. "At least we have each other," she cooed.|

I pushed her away, shaking my head. "Nope. Rejected."

"Wow, you're a great friend."

"I know, you don't have to remind me." More quiet laughter, and I winked at her. "And I guess you're not so bad, either."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically. "...We should probably be sleeping, huh?"

"Yeah, probably," I replied. "But I'm not even that tired."

"Me either." We both grew quiet for a moment, each to our own thoughts, until she suddenly looked over at me again. "Erin, I just realized something...Do Orcs have dicks?"

I snorted, clapping a hand over my mouth and struggling to stifle my laughter for several seconds before finally looking back at her. "Wh...What the hell?" I choked out. "How do you go from a semi-serious conversation about going home to Orc genitalia?" Tears sprung to my eyes as I dissolved into giggles again.

"I'm serious!" she persisted. "Do they have them? Or...do Orcs even have sex? I mean, how are there that many of them running around Middle-Earth? Obviously someone's doing something..."

"Kathryn..." I breathed, hand on my stomach. "Just stop talking. ...Stop."

"It's a valid question," she grumbled.

Once I finally got ahold of myself, I exhaled and tried to think about an answer. "I...I don't think they do. Sauron just kinda spawns them from the depths of Mordor, as far as I know."

"But wasn't there that one Orc in The Hobbit that had a son or something?"

I looked at her oddly. "The fuck are you talking about?"

"The pale Orc guy!" she said. "Didn't he get a son?"

I blinked. "...Oh! You mean Azog and Bolg?"

"Sure, whatever."

"...Oh, shit," I chuckled. "Yeah, they were father and son. Or at least, I think they were supposed to be."

Kathryn laughed. "Well I guess Azog fucked somebody, then."

"Oh, God!" I groaned, covering my eyes. "Don't give me that mental image!"

She laughed some more, then lowered her voice to barely above a whisper. "I really hope none of them are awake right now."

I smiled. "Yeah, imagine waking up and the first thing you hear is 'okay, but Orc dicks though.'" We laughed quietly again, and then it fell silent for awhile until I looked over at her. I'd remembered something actually serious that I wanted to talk to her about. "So...You gonna tell me what's going on with Mr. Manly Man over there?" I subtly jerked my chin in the Gondorian's direction.

She glanced at me. "What do you mean?"

"This whole 'silent treatment' thing that's going on, " I answered. "You two are like, best buddies. Why are you just suddenly not talking to each other?"

Kathryn frowned, opened her mouth, closed it, opened it, closed it again, then let out a deep sigh before actually saying anything. "We...got in an argument."

"About?"

Another pause. "...I don't really want to talk about it."

I looked at her curiously, but didn't press the issue. If Kathryn wanted to work it out herself, that was fine. Even though I still really want to know what happened. "Okay. Well, you know I'm always open to listen to you if you need it."

She nodded and smiled faintly. "Yeah. Thanks for that." There were a few more seconds of nothing but the soft, deep breathing of our friends around us until she voiced a new question. "Uh...this really doesn't have anything to do with what we were just talking about, but I want to ask you it anyway."

"Shoot."

"Do you trust me, Erin?"

Now it was my turn to frown a bit. "...Yes? Why wouldn't I?"

She hesitated, and I looked over to see her dark brown eyes staring very intently at the branches above us, like she didn't want to make eye contact with me. "I...I don't know. I just get paranoid about this kind of stuff, you know?"

...Not really, but okay. "You know I'll always trust you, Kathryn," I whispered to her. "I trust anyone unless I have reason not to."

Still, she refused to look at me. "What would your 'reasons not to' be?"

My brow creased in confusion. Why is she asking me this? "Uh...if you look like a suspicious person, or if I've heard from other people that you've done bad stuff before...if you've ever done anything to hurt me or any of my friends...a lot of stuff, really. Why?"

"No reason. I'm just curious."

I would've believed her, but she said it just a hair too quickly. "...No, seriously. Why are you so interested in this all of a sudden?"

"I just wanted to know," she replied. "I don't know, what else are we supposed to talk about in the middle of the night?"

I smiled a bit, momentarily forgetting about the odd tension. "Well according to you, the sex lives of Orcs is a perfect topic."

"Shut up."

The conversation died out shortly afterwards, as Kathryn ended up actually falling asleep, leaving me to try and get at least a bit comfortable with my sore...everything. Instead, though, I kept thinking about Kathryn's weird questions from earlier. Why was she acting so...shifty? Did something happen that I don't know about? Is she planning something that I don't know about? ...But what could she even do? I haven't noticed anything out of place lately, except her and Boromir being distant. My frown from earlier returned. Is it about that? No, that doesn't make any sense. Unless...she told him something about me she wasn't supposed to...but there's no secrets I'm keeping from him anyway. I sighed through my nose, utterly lost at this point. Whatever. I'll figure it out eventually.

A/N: And another chapter is completed. Hope you enjoyed that one lol :)

Don't forget to review! C: They keep me motivated!