As the sun rises the next morning I stretch out my stiff limbs and give a tiny thankful smile for the fact that Galadriel had sent an elf back to me with bandages and healing potions of some kind as I feel almost certain that if I could not have carried on without being healed, for the most part at least. I was still sore and my shoulder ached but the paste they had given me had worked miracles and so too had it worked on my ribs and the other cuts and bruises. I actually seem to heal very quickly here, much more so than I ever did at home, actually I barely seemed to have a bruise for more than a day before it was gone, I should probably have to ask some more questions about that at some point.
"My lady they are waiting," a voice says and I lock those thoughts away for later and concentrate on what faced me now and taking a deep breath I turn and nod before following the elf down to the water's edge where the rest of the fellowship wait.
I hesitate as I see them stiffen at the sight of me and the way that both Aragorn and Legolas avoid my gaze completely but harden my resolve and step forward coming to stand beside Frodo.
"Finley," I look up hearing the voice and see Lady Galadriel standing before me smiling sadly and I gulp a little. "You face decisions in your future that could change the lives of thousands but remember sometimes saving the lives of those close by could also be important. Trust in your instinct, it will not lead you astray, may this help you in your quest," she finishes handing me a beautifully ornate sword and I bow a slight curtsy to her. Well that was insanely cryptic and no help whatsoever, I understand nothing of what she just said other than the fact that my instinct has rarely been correct. I look up as she laughs suddenly and realise with sudden embarrassment and shame that she can hear everything that I am thinking. Bollocks!
"Sorry," I whisper in my head to her and she shakes her head.
"They avoid your eye because they are guilty, they know they were wrong to treat you so but their grief made them behave irrationally, just give them time, you were not wrong to trust them," she thinks to me and I blush again feeling the sting of tears in my eyes as their rejection of me rushes back over me.
Taking a shuddering breath I steel myself and walk purposefully towards the boats we would be travelling in and as soon as I get there both Legolas and Aragorn jump into boats so that there is no room for me and I sigh as I turn to Boromir who looks upon me with some kindness for the first time although it is twinned with pity and his own troubles.
"Here my lady you shall ride with me," he says offering me his hand and I offer him a small smile in return as I step into the boat and take a seat. We float along the river in silence for a long time and I have a chance to ponder the recent events. I had heard that time moved differently in the Lothlorien forest but it seems rushed, I can't quite put my finger on it but it felt like something had changed and originally the fellowship should have rested there longer. Could it be that my presence here was changing the course of the future even if I wasn't trying to do anything? Would the outcome of the war be altered too? But I couldn't panic, the Valar had brought me here, that's what Galadriel said so it must be going the right way. I sigh again as I think about it all and wished beyond anything that I could speak to Legolas or Aragorn about how I felt, even if I couldn't tell them anything about what was to happen just them being close to me made me feel better, made me feel safer.
"For what it is worth my lady I believe you did what you had to and I hold no grudge," Boromir says quietly and I spin to look at him in shock.
"Of all the people to be on my side I would have thought of you the last," I whisper and he shakes his head sadly.
"I have not shown myself in a very good light to you have I?" he says after a while and I smile a little at him, tears prickling in my eyes.
"It is okay, I know you are a good man and a brave and honourable one," I answer and he gazes at me for a while before smiling a tiny amount at me.
"You are a wise woman my lady," he says after a moment and I laugh a little, albeit quietly and without much mirth.
"I think you are being too generous and please, my name is Fin, I am no lady," I say and it is his turn to shake his head.
"You say you are not a lady and yet you show the qualities of one quite often despite being from another land," he says quietly before a noise catches our attention and we both look up to see Aragorn looking across at us with a very odd expression on his face until he sees me looking that is and quickly looks away again. "Men are stupid Fin," Boromir whispers to me now before glancing in the other direction and following his gaze I see Legolas also staring at us both, turning his gaze away as soon as it meets mine. "Even elves, they will come around and realise their stupidity soon," he finishes and I duck my head shaking it a little.
"It is okay Boromir, thank you for your kindness but I have never had anyone in my life before that has been consistently kind and caring, why should I expect it to be different here?" I say and we fall silent again as we row into the night and through to the next morning.
The journey takes us three days and by the time we reach the statues and are pulling into the banks of the river I have made two very important decision. Firstly, I would not let Boromir die here, I would do whatever I could to save him, although I'm not quite sure how and secondly, I would prove to Legolas and Aragorn and the others that I could be trusted and that it wasn't my fault that Gandalf fell.
I sit alone separated from the others as I watch them; Sam trying to make Frodo eat, Aragorn and Boromir arguing and Legolas keeping watch while Gimli, Merry and Pippin organise food. It is sometime later that I notice Legolas speaking urgently with Aragorn and realising where we are in the story I jump up quietly with my sword in hand and rush in the direction I think Frodo and Boromir have gone. Thankfully it does not take me long to find them, maybe the Valar are on my side this time. I take a second to catch my breath and figure out what to do whilst sheathing my sword, I could not fight him in that way if he was not in his right mind he would kill me in seconds.
"Boromir," I scream as I rush forwards just as Frodo manages to slip away. The man roars and rounds on me, delivering a blow to my face strong enough to make me see stars and knock me off my feet.
"Whore," he bellows advancing on me again but before he reaches me he seems to come out of a daze and falls to his knees instead.
"Oh Fin, Valar what have I done? I…" he trails off in despair and my heart breaks for him as my resolve to save him this day strengthens.
"It was not you Boromir, it was the ring, come we must hurry the enemy is upon us we must try to save Pippin and Merry," I plead and although he hesitates and looks upon me with something akin to anguish as he gazes at what I guess must be a fairly nasty mark across my face, if the stinging was anything to go by, he eventually nods and stands helping me to my feet to and letting me lead the way.
I knew that this enemy was different, bigger, stronger, smarter, I had read about them often enough, seen them often enough. Nothing though, prepared me for the terror that swept through me as I saw them below us when we crest the hill and break through a particularly dense thicket of trees. It's strange but as Boromir squeezes my arm before letting out a battle cry and charging forward with me close behind him, my own sword held out in shaking hands, the only thing that was running through my head was that, if I was to survive this, I am not sure I would ever be brave enough to even be at Helms Deep. The clash of Boromir's sword against theirs and the sound of his horn being blown pull me from my mind and back into the present and I let out what I hope is my own battle cry but what is more likely a terrified yelp I attempt to fight too.
It is very difficult to fight and keep one eye on a hill so that you can try and stop a massive, ugly, Uruk Hai from killing someone, especially if you are not very good. My heart nearly explodes as I see the creature and just as he aims and I see him shoot I jump in front of Boromir. Not the best plan I know but I couldn't come up with anything else. The creature lets out a bellow that almost drowns out my scream of pain and it takes me a while to work out why until I see him aim again and I glance to Boromir still distracted by his own fight, blowing on his horn again and I find myself praying for Legolas and Aragorn to arrive. I can barely feel anything, numbness taking over even as pain simultaneously pulses through me, an odd feeling that makes no sense but it's the only way I can describe it. I look back towards the creature on the hill and everything seems to slow down. If I didn't do something Boromir would still die, I had taken one arrow for him but it was not enough, he would be killed by this next one of that I am sure and so as it is released I stand somehow and step in front of it as it embeds itself in my shoulder just below the first. This time the pain causes my legs to crumple and my vision to blur, my entire body numb and paralysed as I watch what unfolds around me. I see Merry and Pippin being taken, Boromir fighting, just as it should be only with him uninjured but then something strange happens, I hear one of them yell about taking me alive and the one who had shot me saying something about making sure I was dead if they could not take me and then everything goes out of focus very quickly and the whole world seems to tilt slightly.