Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long, but I've been extremely busy. College, why must you assign homework over Spring Break? Why? Anyway, last chapter ended with a bit of a cliffy, so I am here to put your minds at ease…or am I?
Oh, Great, a Fight
My mind was racing a mile a minute. Orcs? Here? Now? I looked down at the sword on my left hip. Fat lot of good that would do; I had no idea how to use it! I was quite adept with firearms, but I had no idea how to reload a flintlock, so I only had one shot. I could hand-fight, but I was pretty sure that wouldn't be a good idea against Orcs. That left only one position for myself: strategist. Noway was I going to be some damsel in distress; that was not an option.
By then, the word had spread throughout the tavern: Orcs were coming, and they were coming fast. I glanced at Jack, who seemed confused as to what Orcs were, but I assumed he figured out from the natives that they were bad news.
"May, I have an idea, but I need to get into the war council," I said, voicing my plea to both her and Legolas. "And I need Jack to come, too." Legolas arched an eyebrow. "Trust me, I need 'im fer this. That is, if ye want ta get out o' this alive." Great, I was talking like a pirate now.
"Captain Sparrow," Legolas called. Jack turned and looked at us. "You and Miss Lucy will accompany us to the citadel. Quickly, now! Make haste!" With that, we were off and running. By the end of our run, Jack and I were both panting like dogs, and I had a stitch in my side so large I felt like I was being stabbed. Repeatedly. Legolas and May, on the other hand, looked as though they had finished a nice stroll around the garden. Darn Elves being all perfect.
To this day, I'm not sure how I got up in front of all those important people to talk like I knew what I was doing. All I know is one minute I'm being told to gather around a map, the next, I'm revealing my master plan. And it was a good plan, if I do say so myself.
"Right," I heard myself saying, "first things first: do we know how many Orcs we're up against?"
Éomer stood up and pointed at an area of the map close to Minas Morgul. "The Orcs must have amassed here before setting out for Gondor. Our scouts report a force around 6,000 strong."
I could literally feel the blood drain out of my face. Jack, who was standing to my right, looked as though he might be sick. This was way more than I had anticipated; my grand master plan was beginning to look pretty pathetic, but I had to try.
"Minas Tirith is still recovering from the last assault, and with the gates breached on two levels, I doubt we could withstand another siege," I declared. The others nodded in agreement, and several of them looked at me hopefully. I knew what they were thinking: we came from another world with different weapons, weapons the Orcs had never seen before. I was thinking exactly the same thing.
"If we were attacked, we would never be able to evacuate all the civilians before we were overrun. However," I paused, trailing my finger down to the river on the map, "the city of Osgiliath is emptied, save for Lord Faramir's Rangers, and the buildings will provide excellent cover."
Gimli looked at me doubtfully. "Cover for what?" he grumbled. Many of the others also looked skeptical; even Jack seemed to think I was mad.
May, on the other hand, had my back. "Cover for a small contingent of soldiers to lure the Orcs into the city, where theBlack Pearl will be waiting for them." I smiled at her. This was why we were best friends.
"Exactly. There's a low wall between the river and the city; outrun the Orcs to the wall, and we'll be able to fire on the Orcs without injuring any of our men. Meanwhile, the bulk of our forces can assemble here." I pointed to a spot on the map labeled "Emyn Arnen". "Once the cannons start firing, make your way around to the front of the city. As soon as they stop, you'll charge in and take them from the rear." I looked up hopefully; this was my only chance to earn their approval. I had to make it count.
Gandalf ran a hand over his beard thoughtfully. "The plan has merit. But what if the Orcs try to retreat on the river?"
"That's the second reason for the men to be hiding behind the wall," I explained. "Once the cannons stop, we'll be getting off the ship to join them. We'll be ready and waiting to stop any Orc that tries to slip away." I suddenly thought of something. "That is, if Captain Sparrow approves of the plan."
Jack seemed to be thinking very hard about his answer. "I think this plan is completely mad," he finally said. Then he flashed a grin at me. "That's just the way I like it."
XxXxXxX
I was pacing. Pacing. Pacing. And more pacing. My boots kept making a hollow thunking noise on the deck, but did I care? Not in the least…after the first five minutes, anyway. I didn't even know how long I'd been pacing, but I guessed for some time. My feet were starting to ache.
I reached up and adjusted my blue bandana before moving to sit on the ship's railing. Now I was drumming my fingers on the ebony wood. I could feel Jack's eyes on me, but I didn't look. I was too busy watching, listening, straining my eyes and ears for a sign. I wasn't eager for a battle, but I hated waiting. I just wanted it to be over with.
The crew was fidgety; I think Pintel and Ragetti had loaded and unloaded their cannon at least three times. I couldn't blame them; we hadn't been here more than a few hours, and I'd already thrust them into a fight. And they were used to fighting crews of other ships, not thousands of unknown creatures. I had told Jack to make sure the guns were loaded beforehand. I didn't want to risk wasting time once the Orcs showed up. We had to be ready to fire as soon as the last Ranger was safe behind the wall.
"They're coming!" Marty's voice called from the crow's nest. I pulled out my pistol, thankful that Jack had showed me how to reload it. He had even gifted me with extra shot and powder, though I prayed I wouldn't be put in a position to have to use it. Suddenly, I remembered what May had told me about her experience at the Battle of the Black Gates. She said her body seemed to already know what to do. I didn't know if I was the same way, but at this point, that might be my only chance.
"Ready on the guns!" Jack ordered.
"Guns ready!" Mr. Gibbs replied, his body tensing as he positioned himself on the stairs leading up to the helm. Only a few seconds later, I heard the roar of thousands of approaching monsters. Faramir's company soon came into view. He had rounded up some soldiers to supplement his men, and they totaled around 400 men. Large enough to be a threat, but small enough that the Orcs wouldn't think twice about sending everyone after them.
I could see Jack watching as they all jumped behind the wall. Just as the last man cleared it, he gave the order. I barely registered what he said; my world suddenly shrank, consisting of only the deck beneath my feet, the smoke in the air, and the sound of cannon shots all around me. I managed to glimpse the awestruck faces of Faramir's men before the smoke hid them from view.
I recalled the plan in my head; we would fire for five straight minutes before Aragorn would lead the charge from the rear. This way, we could take out plenty of the Orcs, but they wouldn't have time to find shelter.
The instant the last cannon fired, I leapt over the railing and onto the ground. I crouched low and joined the men already assembled by the wall, pulling out my sword. The cutlass looked pretty flimsy next to their broadswords, but I had seen the movies enough to know it was just as lethal.
Suddenly, the sound of battle cries and clashing metal filled the air above our heads. The rest of the army had arrived, and they were giving it to the Orcs like there was no tomorrow. And, with any luck, there wouldn't be for those creatures.
An Orc suddenly appeared by the wall, clearly getting ready to retreat. Without a second thought, I pulled out my pistol and fired. The Orc had a brief look of surprise on its hideous face before it fell below the wall again. However, there was one thing I hadn't counted on: even in the midst of a battle, a pistol was still quite loud, and now I had inadvertently drawn the attention of the rear guard.
Faramir knew what to do, though. "Charge!" he screamed, and with a loud and terrible roar, we all leapt up and ran. I was swept along with them, and before I knew what was happening, I had pulled out my sword and was hacking away expertly at any ugly creature that came near me. Well, that answered that question.
"Lucy, behind you!" a voice echoed across the battlefield. Without even turning around, I flipped my blade over and thrust it behind me. There was an awful choking sound for a moment, then I felt a weight slide off the end of my sword.
"Thanks, Mayday!" I hollered. My best friend nodded and returned to fighting beside Legolas. She looked terrifying with her armor covered in Orc blood, and I had never seen that look in her eyes before. I hoped I never would again. Since I couldn't find Jack anywhere, I fought my way over to them.
"Having fun?" I teased, ducking under an Orc's blade before stabbing it in the gut.
May laughed. "Loads, Lulu!" she replied. With a grunt, she whirled and hacked off another Orc's head.
There was a brief lull around us, during which Legolas curiously seized my spare pistol. "What does this do?" he asked, holding it up. Just as I was about to answer, I saw an Orc running toward us, knife raised.
"Get down!" I ordered, snatching it out of his hand. He ducked, and I shot the Orc straight between the eyes. "It does that," I answered, throwing the now useless weapon down and resuming the fight.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something. Turning to my left, I noticed Jack had been backed up against a building by three enormous Orcs. I spotted a clear path over to them, so I ran for it, ducking and dodging around combatants before burying my sword in the back of an Orc. Jack quickly dispatched a second, and we both took care of the last one.
"I owe ye one, luv!" he said with a cheeky grin.
I smirked. "Buy me a drink, an' we're square!" I retorted with a smile. I stayed close to Jack as we continued fighting. I wasn't sure how much longer it lasted, but before I knew it, I had just come up from dispatching an Orc only to find there were no more for me to worry about. We had completely flattened them, and the best part was, our side had suffered only minimal casualties.
Jack walked up to me and placed his arm around my shoulders. "Now, luv," he said with a smirk, "about that drink…"