I do not own anything written by J.R.R. Tolkien, and anything Araceil came up with in Fate be Changed belongs to her.


"There you are!"

Sakura cracked open her eyes at the call, looking toward the entrance to the baths where she'd first met Arwen. And the Elf maiden was there again, though this time it was her turn to be standing in the doorway. Her arms were crossed under her breasts with a small leather bag hanging from one hand, as she mock-glared down at her new friend.

Sakura's shrug rippled the blissfully warm water of the pool she was soaking in. "Where else would I be?" she asked.

"Getting ready to leave like the rest of your Company?" Arwen suggested. "You were very eager to leave your bed this morning."

Sakura languidly waved off the objection. "Of course I was, I'd hardly left it except for nature's demands for a week. It'll be good to get back on the road, again." And that was true enough. She couldn't say she had been bored over the past week, Arwen had been her near constant companion and had made it her duty to keep her patient entertained. And Sakura when she hadn't been telling stories to Estil, she had polished her Quenya reading skills while learning more about the history of the Elves and the Men that had allied with them than she had in ten years of visits with her Ranger friends. But ... "It's not like there's another warm bath in my future for a long time, though."

"Maybe so, but your friends are wondering where you are," Arwen replied as she took a towel from the shelves carved into the stone wall and walked toward Sakura's pool. "Thorin was muttering something about another early start lost."

Sakura sighed, but levered herself up out of the pool and accepted the towel, ignoring the feel of the attention of the rest of the bath's occupants, though they were polite enough not to obviously listen in. "Considering how far we're going, a few extra hours wouldn't kill anyone," she muttered as she began drying her flame-red hair, then glanced up suspiciously at Arwen when the Elf maiden giggled. "What?"

"Ivorwen used almost those exact words, when last she was here," Arwen replied. "And even Elvish women prefer to linger. Perhaps it is a woman thing?"

"That's just because you all like to gossip." Sakura grinned as she flipped the towel behind her to get her back, and Arwen's giggles briefly turned into clear, ringing laughter.

Calming, Arwen said, "Speaking of female Rangers ..." She reached into the bag she had brought with her, and pulled out a leather bundle tied with strings. "While Elves don't need the herbs Men and Hobbits use to hold off their monthly blood, female Rangers visit often enough we keep a supply. I thought you would appreciate an additional bundle to see you through." She smiled at Sakura's exclamation of delight, then reached into the bag again and pulled out a sheathed knife, tiny in her hand because it was sized to Sakura. "Mithrandir said that your knife had broken during your encounter with the Trolls, so I asked Iyrandrar to forge a new one for you, based on the one Eradon showed my brothers." She grinned suddenly. "It may not be of the same quality as the blade Mithrandir gave you, but it can skin a deer and won't glow when Orcs are near."

Startled into laughter, Sakura accepted the knife. "Gandalf told you about that, did he?" she said as she drew the knife and held it up to the morning sunlight to examine the blade. It was just like the bowie knife she'd lost, but ... "Very nice. It may not be legendary quality, but I don't think I'll have to worry about this one breaking on me. Thank you."

"Anything that helps you return alive. The scabbard for your sword is finished as well, with straps so you can sling it on your back and a clasp for the hilt to keep it from sliding out if you have to hang upside down." Arwen leaned down and with a knowing smile whispered, "I saw you didn't pack any of the books. I'm surprised you were able to resist the temptation."

Sakura blushed. "Yeah, right, like I'm going to haul along a book that weighs half as much as I do, just so I can do a little 'light' reading around the campfire. I'd need another backpack just to carry it. But I'll be back, and the Shire's closer than Erebor!" She ignored Arwen's renewed giggles as she wrapped the long strip of cloth she was using as a breast band around her and pulled on her cleaned leathers, then smiled up at her friend. "So let's find Gandalf and the Dwarves before they leave without me, it's a beautiful day for a hike!"

/oOo\

Sakura grimaced and adjusted her hood as a thin stream of rain water slipped past her soaked cloak and down her neck to further dampen her leathers. I really should have known better than to tempt fate, she thought, remembering what she'd said to Arwen. Everything had started out as beautifully as she'd hoped — just enough cloud cover to provide relief from the sun, pleasantly cool, the drifting sound of bird calls all around, and the beauty of mountains like she hadn't seen in over eleven years. (When she'd appeared in Hobbiton it had been over a year since she'd been home, and most of the time her squad had fought in the eastern theater — and however lushly beautiful, the Appalachians just couldn't compare to the Rockies.) It had had the feel of a family summer camping trip.

Then on the second day the clouds had thickened, rain had begun to sprinkle down, then occasionally hammer down, and by the time they'd cold camped (very cold, with the wet combined with altitude and dropping temperatures) on a rain-slicked rock ledge she was actually remembering her bed in Rivendell with a great deal of fondness — though there she had often had young Estel on the bed with her to while away the hours, the boy as enthralled by her stories as any Hobbit child.

The third day had been no better, if their camping spot hadn't been so poor they would probably be there still, huddled in their blankets under what cover they could find or make.

Another gust of rain caught her in the face and she muttered a curse before leaning out to the side over the edge of the cliffside ledge they were making their way along, as far over as she trusted her balance so she could use the illumination from a lightning flash to look past Bombur just beyond Dwalin, along the line of Dwarves ahead of her. Still no Gandalf coming back. "Where is that Wizard?" she wondered. "I'm the scout, I should be the one scouting ahead!" She looked up at the overcast skies and caught more rain in the face when her hood slid back off her wet hair. She hastily pulled her hood back up. With the rain and thick clouds, it simply wasn't possible to tell how advanced the day was, but it felt late.

"Now, Sakura, remember what Dwalin said," Oin responded from behind her. (Directly behind her — since Rivendell the Dwarf had turned into a positive fussbudget, constantly close by and asking if she was eating enough.) "Gandalf isn't watching for ambushes, he's making certain the path ahead is safe. And he may not be the heaviest of us, but he is the largest so any path he can navigate so can we. Have you had more lembas?"

She rolled her eyes just to make herself feel better, even if Oin couldn't see it. "No, mother, I haven't. It's all in one backpack or another, and I am not opening up a pack in this rain and risking soaking the rest of lembas if I can help it. I'm hardly the only one of us that's hungry, what with us not being able to find a place open enough to stop for lunch. Tomorrow I'll make sure to keep a wafer tucked in my leathers."

The Dwarf huffed, "I suppose so. But make it two wafers instead of one."

"Yes, mother," she replied, Ahead of her Dwalin's deep chuckle rumbled out at the exchange, but she just smiled fondly, since Oin couldn't see it and take her smile as encouragement to fuss over her even more. His fussing was already worse than the coddling she had suffered before Rivendell, but she couldn't deny he had cause. And the suspicious edge that had all too often haunted many of the Dwarves' interactions with her was gone, so she supposed she could put up with it ... for awhile. Think of it as penance for being stupid.

"Take cover!"

At Dwalin's shout Sakura threw herself back against the cliffside, pulling Oin back with her as she searched wildly for the threat that had the veteran warrior sounding so panicked. Then some instinct had her looking up and she froze for a second at the sight of a chunk of rock the size of a tank flying toward the cliff face above them, before dropping to crouch face down with her hands clasped over her neck and head for what little protection they could provide. Her backpack would have to do for the rest...

The boulder smashed into the cliff and shattered, shards raining down to clatter and bounce onto the ledge. She absently thought that they were lucky most of the rubble had bounced away from the wall as she rose to her feet and tried to see along the boulder's trajectory, no way that had been a natural —

Balin pointed off at an angle. "This is no thunderstorm, it's a thunder battle!"

Sakura felt a strong urge to curl into a ball and gibber as across the canyon part of the mountain peeled away to rise and walk! — and reach out to tear up another massive chunk of rock.

"Bless me, the legends are true!" Bofur screamed. "Giants! Storm Giants!"

Storm Giant, right. Get a grip girl — it's just a magical version of a giant robot like in Danny's manga, a fantasy war machine left over from the war with Morgoth, it must be ...wait, did he say giants?

Tearing her gaze from the Giant's skyscraper-massive form to look around — yes, a second massive form was lifting up from where it had been seated, to the crunching, thunderous, crackling accompaniment of dirt and loose boulders and even entire trees cascading down into the canyon as the crevices they had been rooted in for untold centuries rose up and walked. The first Giant stepped forward and ponderously swung a house-sized fist at the second that was just as ponderously ducked.

The world whited out for a moment with an ear-slapping crack as a lightning bolt slammed into the second Giant's head, then Sakura was clutching frantically at whatever cracks she could find in the suddenly tilting ledge's surface as the Company proved to be trapped just below the knee of a third Giant now rising to join the fight. For the first time in her life Sakura was too terrified to even scream, but her failure was more than made up by the Dwarves around her.

'Their' Giant stepped forward, right into the second one's uppercut as it rose from its crouch. As fresh rubble rained down, 'their' Giant fell backwards to crunch into its just-abandoned seat.

"Come on! Move! Move! Move!"

At Thorin's shout Dwalin grabbed up Sakura and ran forward along the ledge, jumped over a short gap (giving Sakura a split-second glimpse of a drop hundreds of feet deep into darkness). Behind them, the third Giant again rose to its feet and stepped forward, its thrusting fist smashing into the second one's chest to knock it back, then turned to face the first.

"Count off!" Thorin called out from the head of the column. The Dwarves shouted out each one's name in the called-for order, but even though it had been her suggestion when they moved into the mountains it took a nudge from Oin still next to her, crouched where Dwalin had put her down with her gaze fixed onto the battling titans, before she added "S-S-S-Sakura!" at the end of the list. But there'd been no gaps in the roll call.

"Cover!"

Dwalin again, but unneeded — everyone had seen the first Giant take advantage of the other two's preoccupation with each other to wrench another boulder out of the opposite side of the chasm and hurl it at the third one. This time the boulder was railroad car sized, and its impact broke its victim's head free of its body to explode against the side of the cliff far above the Company, and the entire mountain seemed to shudder under Sakura's feet and body pressed against ledge and wall when it was followed by the body crunching into the wall beyond them before collapsing down into the canyon.

A bellowed scream from beyond Dwalin yanked her attention away from the falling corpse. The impact of the Giant against the mountain had actually bounced Bombur away from the side of the cliff to the edge of the ledge, and a large chunk had broken off beneath his weight. Dwalin's desperate grab for Bombur's flailing arms missed, he was dropping out of sight ... and Sakura dove after him, shouting Dwalin's name as she reached ... !

She caught the cook's wrists, felt his hands twist to grab her forearms ... the very hefty cook ... hands grabbed her just above the ankles, and she just had time to brace herself for the inevitable pain as she tried to pour strength into her arms and shoulders. Then Hobbit and Dwarf abruptly stopped falling, Sakura screamed as one arm popped out of its socket, then her backpack slammed into the back of her head and knocked her forehead into stone wall, spangling her vision with stars.

/\

"Sakura! Sakura!"

Someone gently shook her by the shoulder, and she bit back a scream at the pain slashing through her when her other shoulder was jostled. But Bombur's weight wasn't hanging on her arms anymore, and she could feel hard stone under her butt, against her back. She was back on the ledge, rain beating down on her. She forced her eyes open to find a wide-eyed Bombur sitting in front of her, cheeks wet with more than rain.

"You can let go now, laddie."

"Wha ... ?" She glanced to one side to find Dwalin crouched beside her, the tattooed warrior's eyes filled with worry. Then he pointed down with his chin (an odd tick she had noticed in those Dwarves with fuller beards — maybe an adult thing?), and she shifted her gaze to find her hands still locked around Bombur's wrists. "Oops, sorry." Taking a deep breath, she relaxed the extra strength she had poured into her arms and forced her hands to unclamp a finger at a time.

As soon as she let go, Bombur threw himself forward and pulled her into a hug, then just as hastily let go at her high, thin shriek. "Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!"

"It's all right, you didn't know," Sakura gasped out as she carefully felt over her shoulder with her good hand and tried not to wince. Yup, definitely dislocated at least, maybe some of her ribs as well, a more thorough examination would have to wait until her arm was back in its socket. And she didn't want to think about how her quivering muscles were going to feel in the morning.

Then another boulder came soaring out of the rain-dark evening sky to explode into shards against the cliff a score of paces away and up. In a brief lightning flash she could see the massive dim shapes of the two remaining Giants again closing to hammer away at each other. She winced, then tucked the hand of her dislocated arm into her belt and with the wall for a brace forced herself up to her feet. Ignoring the way the world swayed, she said, "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

"Yes, there's a cave just a few paces away. Hopefully we'll be safe there."

Sakura forced herself to focus on the newcomer — Thorin. That seemed like a singularly bad idea. "No, we can't stay here, one of those things throws a rock or falls and collapses the entrance, we'd be trapped, don't worry about me, I can keep up, okay, maybe not, but Dwalin can carry me half the night to get away from here," she babbled out, before forcing herself to stop.

Thorin shook his head, though she could see a faint smile. "Yes, you'll be all right, if you're still able to tell me off to my face. But we can't leave. Back there" — he pointed past her, in the direction they'd come — "a large chunk of our path got up and walked away. And back this way, a large chunk of the path was broken away when the Giant fell against it. For tonight at least, we're trapped."

Sakura stared at him, then shrank against the wall when one of the Giants fell toward them. But this time it caught itself, its hands crunching against the cliff wall, and only a spattering of small bits of rock rained down on them. She watched it push itself away and turn back to the fight, then squeaked, "A cave sounds wonderful, let's get out of here!"

/\

Just inside the cave entrance where there was still some fading evening light (and where she could keep an eye on the still-fighting Giants), Sakura hissed as Dwalin eased her leathers down off her injured shoulder. (Oin had tried to insist that he was the healer, but Dwalin had pointed out that being an apothecary hadn't prepared him for dealing with dislocated or broken bones.) At least I managed to insist on some privacy, she thought as she shivered in the cool evening air. Her leathers had already been hanging open, all the ties loosened, but now her torso was left bare except for her breast bindings. Then she hissed again as Dwalin's fingers probed her shoulder and down her back.

'You definitely dislocated the shoulder," he said, "but I don't think anything's wrong with your ribs, just strained muscles and bruises."

"Well, at least that's some good news," she replied, then her nose twitched at the scent of stew. (Her offer to share her lembas as she wolfed one down had been roundly rejected.) "Let's get this over with, I'm still hungry."

Dwalin nodded. "Brace yourself, it's going to hurt," he warned.

"I know, this isn't my first time. Do it."

He hesitated for a moment. "Normally there'd be more men holding you down —"

"The only other person besides you I'm certain knows I'm female is Kili — you did know I'm female, right?"

"I'd guessed," Dwalin confirmed with a shrug. "When Thorin dropped you down to us during the Orc attack, your scream was rather high pitched. So was your rant that first evening in Rivendell."

"Oh." Sakura felt her cheeks heating up. "Just use your foot."

Dwalin grimaced but nodded, and spread her cloak on the rock floor. She lay down and pulled her leathers over her front and side, took a deep breath, relaxed as best she could and nodded. Dwalin took hold of her arm, braced his foot on the leathers covering her to hold her in place, pulled and twisted as she fought back another scream, then she felt her shoulder pop back into place.

She sagged with relief, then pushed herself up to a sitting position. "Glad that's done. Let's get me dressed and ... I suppose I can use my breast bindings as a sling. That'll be a relief, actually, you wouldn't believe how they've been chafing with all this wet. You'll need to get the knots, though."

In the end, a heavily blushing Dwalin just cut through the bindings, then helped a by now practically shaking with cold Sakura back into her leathers and set up the sling.

Sighing with relief and eager for the fire, Sakura hurried around the bend deeper into the cave, and slammed into an unyielding body. Stepping back, she looked up into Thorin's glowering face. Oh, crap, I am so busted.


And another scene with a good bit "borrowed" from Araceil's Fate be Changed — generally, at least, I've decided not to reread it so at least the details can be mine. And I do rather like the reason I've come up with for Gandalf not to be around at this point. I think that Gandalf should have been more effective than he was in the book, and since the Company didn't sneak out of Rivendell while Gandalf kept the White Council busy I couldn't go with Jackson's excuse that he hadn't caught up yet.