A/N: Welcome all to The Sleeper Stirs, the second installment in my Sleeper Trilogy. I know it's a day late so I apologize profusely on my hands and knees. This second volume, like the first, will closely follow the movies but it's in this volume that it starts to diverge from the cannon. There will be more SLASH in this volume as well as implied (?) non-con, so you have been warned. We'll be seeing more of Valo's past, present and future so hold on tight.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except an old Blackberry, a laptop and a one eyed dog named Merceilious.

~~~~~~ The Sleeper Stirs~~~~

~~~~Chapter 11~~~ Flight Into the Riddermark~~~~

Aragorn lay with his ear to the stone, listening to the far off sounds of heavy footprints. Valo was panting against Legolas behind him, unused to such speeds or exercise unlike his companions. He'd been locked up in Barad-Dur and Minas Morgul for Ages, what could they expect? His beloved touched his head gently, his eyebrows creased in worry and unspoken question. He wanted to know if Valo was going to be able to keep up.

"I'm sorry…I'm trying to keep up…I don't want to be a burden." The teen panted, trying to catch his breath for the next round of travel.

His need to help them seemed to summon that tingling energy to his call. It was closer to the skin nowadays than it ever had been. If he could learn to wield it…

"Maybe I could carry you? Like the last time." Legolas suggested but it only made Valo wince.

That would be even worst. It would slow down the whole party, not that that wasn't what he was doing now by making Legolas practically drag him along. He wished the rocks were high enough for him to bang his head against. He just needed something to help…like the quickness of an Elf or wings like a bird. Valo pushed all of that tingly feeling towards his fingers tips. It moved like some thick liquid flowing towards his goal. It seemed like sludge, like it was groggy from Ages of disuse. Like a child trying to shake off a long sleep. With a final push, he pushed it out into the air, bidding it to offer some sort of aid. Would help come? A bush to their left shuddered. Would it be strong enough to summon him some sort of help? Aragorn was about to bid them to hurry when a sudden whooshing noise permeated the air. Legolas was about to push him behind him, ready to defend to the death when, of all things, a tree branch stopped in front of them, hovering in the air like some sort of strange organic bird. It had…flown. Flown through the air to come to him.

"By the Valar…" Gimli whispered, watching it in amazement.

Was this the aid his power had summoned? Was he to ride it? It was sturdy enough it seemed. It was about as wide around as a cup with a large tuft of leaves at the end and a great large knob on one side. Valo touched the thing cautiously and it seemed to purr. Despite it having obviously fallen from whatever tree or bush it had originally housed, it was warm to the touch. He looked up at his companions. They all were looking at it as if they expected it to start to bark and try to bite them at any moment. Each had their hand on their weapons. He gave a shrug and pushed himself onto it cautiously. It didn't shudder or buck him, in fact it didn't give at all with his weight. It slowly raised itself into the air with him on it's handle. Valo shot his companions a wide smile. Aragorn took his acceptance as pay and turned back towards the ridge up ahead.

"Their pace has quickened. They must have caught our scent."

Legolas didn't seem as convinced as the Ranger, woefully and resignedly accepting this new strangeness. He started after the now sprinting warrior with his love flying in the sky above.

"Stay low, Valo! We don't want them to spot you." He yelled up at the blissful teenager.

And if the weird thing gave, it wouldn't be too devastating a fall. Legolas lived in fear that the thing would give out and Valo would fall to his death at their feet. But Valo, true to his command flew down to fly right alongside him with a smile the likes of which he hadn't seen on the teen's face in all of the time knowing him. Valo could have shouted in joy at the feeling of flying through the air. It was the most freeing experience he had ever felt! He felt as if he could go anywhere, be anyone he wished instead of who people told him to be, if only he could fly high enough! He didn't even really have to steer the tree. It was a creation of his own magic and his magic knew what he wanted without words or commands. They came to stop in a wide valley between two outcroppings as Aragorn kneeled down to read some tracks. Valo came to hover just above the ground, his toes skimming the grass. Despite their grim voyage, he felt lighter, freer than he ever had. Aragorn picked something up from the dirt, a metallic green leaf not unlike the ones they wore on their own cloaks.

"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall." The Ranger said, more to himself than anyone.

"They may yet be alive." The Mirkwood Prince insisted while Valo came to touch down next to him.

"I don't think the Uruk-hai want Merry and Pippin dead. If their master thinks that they have the Ring, he will want them alive when they are brought to him." Valo explained, petting the branch he held like a favored pet.

It vibrated with pleasure at his fond touch as if it truly were a living thing. Gimli stomped over, his irritation making him growl out at the Morgul teen's statement.

"And what makes you so sure of that, Master Valo?"

His voice was full of annoyance at everything. Valo knew that the Dwarf was only venting, so he gave him the best answer he could. He shrugged and remounted his branch with a dark but soft look in Gimli's direction.

"It's what Master would do."

The three of them could only look at the teen now slowly raising up in the air again. The branch's movements seemed to reflect Valo's moods. It was so easy to forget where Valo really came from…what he really was. It was so easy to forget and pretend that he belonged with them, had been one of them all along. Little did they know that those were his own thoughts as well.

They traveled for what seemed an Age, Valo flying above the three warriors and keeping a silent vigil day and night. Once or twice he succumbed to sleep and was forced to ride on Legolas's back during the night. The Elf Prince had insisted upon this much to the exhausted teen's dismay. All the while, that strange pull tugged on Valo's core, leading him towards a growing darkness in the Northeast. What was in the Northeast that drew him so? It was almost a craving to obey the command and fly straight and true towards it's source. Like a stream to the mouth of a great river, flowing against the tide but eventually all leading down stream. It was an inevitability that he go there. Fate. Something dark and bitter rose in him at the word. It was an unconscious feeling but something told him that he didn't care much for Fate. Aragorn came to a stop at the top of a rocky crag.

"Rohan. Home of the Horse-lords. There is something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed to these creatures. Sets its will against us. Valo, fly high and tell me what you see! Legolas, can you spot them?"

Gimli trudged up, panting behind the Ranger.

"They head to the southern end of the Misty Mountains in the Northeast, Aragorn!" Valo shouted down from the taller-than-his-lover-liked height.

Legolas frowned, his eyes widening.

"They are taking the Hobbits to Isengard!"

Isengard. Valo frowned, rolling the name around in his mind, almost tasting it. Orthanc. That was where the Maiar Curuir resided with the Orthanc-palantir. He recalled an image if the Ithil-stone in Barad-dur, sitting in his Master's private chamber. It had a direct line to the other palantir, including the Orthanc-stone. It was without a doubt that the Istari had been corrupted by his Master's influence. Even from Rohan, he could see the smoke rising from Isengard from his height in the sky.

"Bloody Wizards!" Gimli cursed as they began to run once more.

Valo nearly dropped his hold on his broom. The statement struck a deep cord in him, something ingrained and sorrowful. Wizards…an image filled his minds eye, his Master as he was when he first came to Middle-Earth, holding a stick pointed at him with an expression of wicked glee on his handsome face. But why would his Master point a stick at him? Valo shook of the overwhelming sense of anxiety. There was something there that rebelled against his thinking about that image and yet another part that demanded that something terrible would happen if he did not. The voice in his head chuckled darkly, biting the soft laugh off in a hiss that sent shivers down his spine. What was happening to him?

The Riddermark was vast and hilly with rocks scattered about here and there, some the size of a group of Men. Valo touched down as Aragorn began to pause. He had seen some large moving shape not far off.

"Aragorn…There's something coming." He said cautiously, taking hold of Legolas's hand for reassurance.

It struck his heart something painful, that eventually they wouldn't have these small comforts. Eventually, Legolas would discover his duality, his terrible secret, and he would leave. He would no doubt kill him, thinking he was a spy. The memory of the Elf's arrow aimed at his face forced a shudder from Valo and quickly, he released the hand holding his own, wrapping them around his tree branch instead. They would hate him…He tried to avoid the frowning eyes looking down at him in concern. The Ranger nodded, standing from where he had been observing tracks in the dirt. He beckoned them all behind a large boulder as the sound of many horses approached. Valo watched in amazement as a legion of horsemen all rode by, their clomping hooves seeming to shake the very ground beneath them. He'd never seen so many horses in one place in all of his life! It was amazing and a little frightening. The great beasts, while smaller than the fell beasts of the Nazgul, were large and powerful. Their muscles pounded beneath their skin and their eyes danced around looking for any sign of an enemy. Valo couldn't help but to shrink away slightly. Aragorn stepped out of the safety of the boulder once the Rohirrim passed, despite Valo's soft plea not to go.

"Riders of Rohan! What news from the Mark?" The Ranger called, bidding his friends follow.

The Rohirrim did not shout back. Their leader put his spear up in the air, directing them all to turn. Much to Valo's anxiety, the Riders surrounded the group, spears out and mere inches away from them. Legolas pulled Valo behind him, sandwiching the defenseless teen between himself and Aragorn. He fought the urge to clutch the Elf's hand once more though he knew it would only serve to hinder his love's weapons draw. The Rohirrim leader glared down at them with all of the seriousness of a man driven to protecting his lands.

"What business does an elf, a man, and a dwarf have with a young lady in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!" He demanded, his voice cutting and hard as Gimli's axe.

Valo tilted his head to the side. Lady? His eyes widened and a blush spread across his face at the realization that the Rider thought HE was a lady. He was never going to live this down…The Dwarf stood stoically in the face of their new adversary, leaning on his battle axe as if he didn't believe the horsemen to be a threat. Valo had to admire his nerve, he thought with an inward smile. That was until the Dwarf sent him a mischievous smirk. Oh great.

A/N: LOL! So Valo is assumed a girl. Wow. And Gimli's out for blood. What's gonna happen next?