A/N: I. AM. SO. SORRY! Life has been a little…okay a lot…hectic of late, and I've had absolutely no time to write…and my muse took a vacation as well for the last few months, but things are slowly calming down as the new job is coming together and we're almost finished with the process of moving in to our new home, so don't expect future chapters to have NEARLY that large of a gap between them. Oh, how I've missed you all!
Thank you, thank you for all your kind comments on the last chapter. We've gained some new readers in my time away, and I hope my absence hasn't scared them off. Anywho, I'm going to shut up now and get on with the reason you've come to this page…the latest chapter of In the Shadows! *I don't own StarWars or LoTR. Only Shadow is 100% mine!*
~#*ITS*#~
"He's awake," The voice behind the stoic Jedi barely drew a response as Shadow stared icily at the shards of Narsil where they lay on their pedestal, his thoughts lost on ages past.
"I know," he breathed, not looking toward the grey man standing to his right.
"He is…inquiring as to your whereabouts," Gandalf sighed, not bothering to hide the disdain in his voice.
Shadow sighed heavily, turning from the broken blade to look wearily at the wizard before him.
"Then I shan't disappoint him," he folded his arms across his chest, leaning a hip on the pedestal, "unless the Lord Mithrandir has any objections…"
Gandalf's face was a stone barrier. It was true he did not trust the dark man before him, but it was also true that without this man's help, the quest would have certainly failed already.
"Please, friend," Shadow began again, "There is no need for pretense here. Speak your mind freely."
Gandalf paused for a moment, considering his options in this area.
"I'm not entirely sure how to get about this without being completely forthright," the wizard began.
"Perhaps I can help you," Shadow moved from his lounge on Narsil's pedestal to the balcony overlooking the valley. "You do not know me, and have no knowledge of my personhood, and therefore, even despite the goings on of the last several weeks, you do not trust me. Does that sound accurate?"
"Yes, very," Gandalf joined Shadow gazing out at the waterfall. "Though hearing it aloud makes it seem rather foolish, I suppose."
"Not in the slightest, my dear Gandalf," Shadow sent a sideways glance in the wizard's direction. "In fact, if you welcomed me with open arms, I would certainly question your judgment in such days. Enemies may go to incredible lengths to ensure your guard is down."
"A worthy answer indeed," Gandalf raised an eyebrow at his companion. "And now I believe we have come to the root of this problem."
"Who am I?" Shadow turned and sauntered back to the pedestal, away from the window. "Am I truly friend? Or am I nothing more than a very clever foe?"
Unsure how to respond, Gandalf moved back into the shadowy room and watched Shadow as the mysterious man ran his gloved fingers across the blade's shards.
"To my reckoning, this will be the last time I will be able to safely reveal myself until Lothlorien is reached…and that would be a far too long to beg your blind trust, I'm afraid." Shadow sighed and turned to Gandalf with what could only be described as sadness in his stance as his face was still hidden behind the misty blackness.
Carefully, the Jedi reached up with those gloved hands and grasped the edge of his hood. Despite his calm demeanor, Gandalf's heart pounded in his chest as the hood lowered leaving only the misty silhouette of a head behind. He couldn't help the gasp that escaped his lips when Shadow passed a hand in front of his face causing the mist to disappear.
"Oh, my dear child!" the wizard exclaimed, rushing forward to embrace the Jedi before him. "What the devil are you doing here? You should never have placed yourself in the middle of this madness! Does Elrond know you're masquerading around like this?"
"I'm sure he is aware," Shadow laughed, returning Gandalf's embrace. It had been almost a century in Middle Earth's timeline (and several centuries in his own) since his last meeting with the wizard, and Shadow had sorely missed him. "I highly doubt anything enters his domain without his knowledge…and you do remember that I'm actually quite a bit older than you, right?"
"Yes, technically," Gandalf laughed, "but if you would stick to your original timeline, I'd be the elder here."
"That, I cannot argue with," Shadow chuckled.
"In all seriousness, though," Gandalf's tone grew darker as his bushy brow furrowed, "how will Starkaven fare without you guarding its borders?"
"They will survive. They thrived before me. They have learned to deal with my absences over the years. I'm not worried about them. In fact, before this is over, I expect them to prove most useful to us."
"That, I will be interested to see," Gandalf clapped the Jedi on the back as Shadow hurriedly replaced his hood and the black mist that obscured his features. "As much as it troubles me to see you risk so much on this quest, I cannot say your presence with us is not a comfort."
"I'm not sure it should be such," Shadow's voice was filled with sorrow as he spoke, "Gandalf, I'm not sure my being here was such a good idea."
"Nonsense!" the wizard looked highly offended. "Without you, Frodo and the others would have failed already."
"I'm not so sure about that," Shadow's hood shook in his doubt. "In the stories told in the future, they made it just fine with only Strider to help them."
"But the road would have been far harder."
"Would it?" Shadow became suddenly frustrated, raising his voice slightly in his distress. "My being here didn't prevent Frodo's injury…and Sam! Dear, God, Sam! He was never supposed to have been in that room at Bree. In the stories he was completely safe with the others. Gandalf, my very being here has so altered the timeline that I'm not even sure of the outcome now! How can I be certain I won't lead them to utter ruin!?"
Gandalf was silent for a moment.
"That isn't true, Mister Shadow," a small voice caused the wizard and the Jedi to jump as Sam slowly moved from where he'd been standing around a corner. "Begging your pardon for intrudin', but that isn't true what you just said."
"Sam, how long have you been there?" Shadow's voice became a gentle murmur as he knelt to the hobbit's height.
"Not long," Sam answered truthfully, "but I did hear your rant to Mister Gandalf about being more harm then help, Sir, and that's just not true."
"Sam—," Shadow started, but the hobbit cut him off.
"You've kept us safe from the moment we stepped out of Bag-End, and probably a good long time before that. When we didn't know you were there, Mister Frodo and me were scared out of our wits, but after what you did for us in the Old Forrest, we weren't scared no more so long as you were around, Mister Shadow. I don't know what we woulda done without you on those Barrows. We were scared stiff and wanted to run mad, but you told us to stay put, and that's what we did.
"And don't you go blamin' yourself for the Inn. That was my own fault for wanderin' off an' not payin' no mind to what was around me when I came back. You fixed it though, Mister Shadow. You can't even tell I was hurt at all no more." Sam lifted his shirt and pointed to what should have been a marred line on his side as evidence before continuing.
"Anyhow, Mister Shadow, I can't stop you from weighing out all the bad things that happened on the way…but please don't feel guilty over me. I couldn't bear the thought of it. And don't count our peace of mind for less than it was. If nothing else, know that you gave us that…I hope that you see the truth though. I hope that you see how much you really did for us. It wasn't easy, but between you and Mister Strider, we all made it here safe, and I'd say that's quite a trick."
Shadow sat in stunned silence while Gandalf stood behind with his arms over his broad chest, a satisfied smirk adorning his aged face. Two drops of water glittered on their way to the floor as they fell to the floor from the abyss of Shadow's face. Slowly, the Jedi leaned forward on his knees and embraced the little hobbit.
"You're a gem, Sam," he breathed, "an absolute gem."
"I don't know about that, Sir," the hobbit grinned, "but I can make a mean rabbit stew. I'll have to cook you up some one of these days. But for now, Mister Frodo's lookin for you, Sir."
Shadow allowed Sam to take his hand and lead him down the hallway to where Frodo had slept for so many days. Behind them, Gandalf leaned on the wall and watched them go.
"This quest may yet have hope."
"Yes," Gandalf spoke to the elegant elf as Elrond slid up to the podium where he stood, "It worries me that Starkaven's jewel runs headlong into such grave danger…"
"But having Shadow fighting alongside us might just give us what the west needs to succeed in this suicide venture…" Elrond finished the grim thought as he watched the powerful Jedi be dragged down the hall by the smallest of creatures. "That heart will accomplish great things."
"It has already," Gandalf replied as he turned to walk away.
~#*ITS*#~
A/N: There you have it! I hope the gap hasn't caused the story to lose anything. Make sure to leave comments and/or constructive criticism!