If you live in Saskatchewan and go to Roughrider football games you should know exactly what the answer is to the title challenge. If you don't live in Saskatchewan or go to Rider games or even know who the Riders are, too bad for you. And if you are a Rider fan my heart goes out to you in our time of pain.

Chapter 25 The Last Saskatchewan Pirate

It went on like this for days. Annwn knew they were being followed by Gollum and the thought made her uneasy actually it made her feel like she was going to throw up (she refused to believe that it was motion sickness from the boat). It was getting dark when they finally steered the boats to the shore and stopped for the night. Annwn was pulling out her things when she saw Aragorn and Boromir and Frodo looking intently at something a little ways down the river on the other shore.

"What is it?" asked Frodo

"It's Gollum, I had hoped we would lose him on the river but he had proved to be a skilled waterman." Answered Aragorn sounding grave.

"Should we not dispose him?" Boromir asked his hand on the hilt of his sword. They hadn't heard her walk up behind them. They jumped a little when she said

"We can't...didn't you hear Gandalf in Moria. Gollum" she shivered when she said his name. "No matter how unnerving or worrying his presence might be, still has some part to play in the outcome of this war." She had conveniently left out the 'for good or ill' part.

"You're right, Gandalf did say that. We have to let him be for now." Frodo said, Aragorn nodded but Boromir looked like he thought the hobbit was being too sympathetic. Why should that sickly creature be allowed to live and endanger their quest, his being spared might lead to the death of many of his, of Gondor's people. What kind of trade was that? Not a fair one, he was sure of it.

"Fordo, go get some sleep." Annwn said to him sounding a lot like a mother. "I can't sleep so I might as well keep your watch." The Ring bearer did as he was told and left her with the two men.

Annwn looked out over the river, and she saw a glint of his eyes as they caught the moonlight.

"You think we shouldn't dispose of that creature?" Boromir said more to Aragorn then to Annwn. He knew what her answer would be and he didn't need to hear it. Unfortunately for him it was not the man that answered but Annwn.

"You may be surprised hear this Lord Prissy Pants, but killing isn't always the best answer." He grumbled something that she couldn't make out and walked over to where his pack was. She watched him lie down and presumably go to sleep. She had forgotten that she was not alone until Aragorn said

"You speak as though you know what is to come."

"Really? I wasn't trying to; I was just repeating what Gandalf had said. His are wise words." She deflected his interest from herself as fast as she could.

"Our side lost a great ally when he fell. Will you be alright for the watch? Wake me when you feel tired." For once he didn't sound condescending.

"Yeah, sure." Annwn had the watch for the first part of the night. She could rest on the boat tomorrow and let Wellington paddle.

The next day was the sun was a lot stronger. So Annwn peeled of her Elvin cloak and her jacked but left her blue vest on. She liked it, it was the only colourful thing she had other then the leaf pin and her green dress. It also made her blue eyes pop, though she was told that they didn't need help to do that. It had been Jake that had told her that, the thought of him still made her angry. She wondered if she was back in Canada or if her body was still in London, England. If she was it was entirely possible that no one back home knew of her condition. Her parents didn't use the internet a lot and when they did use it, it wasn't to send emails. Allison might wonder why there were no facebook updates or emails. Annwn knew this would drive her blond friend mad. She liked to know everything. As for Jake, well he didn't seem to be missing her all that much. No he had Stephanie. Annwn had never liked her and now she had proof that she was what Annwn had always though she was, man eater.

She was quieter this day. She knew what it was. Her first choice to really make a difference in this story. And really if she was in a coma, what harm could she do? Not much. It was all a figment of her imagination.

Even with this Annwn was trying hard not to think about what would happen today. It was hard, she knew what she was going to do nothing, but thinking about it made her feel sick and she started to crack her knuckles every five minutes. She was so worried and confused that she even started to crack her wrists and first thumb joints. Boromir told her to stop but she just couldn't.

Until Merry and Pippin were so board they asked her

"Could you sing some more Lady Pirate?" Annwn had finally given into their nickname for her. It was now more out of fun than out of fear.

"Yes, could you? We like your songs very much. Even if they are strange."

"You don't know the half of it." Annwn said, she had tried to choose songs that wouldn't be considered strange. "But you want a song, how about The Highwayman?"

"Sing what you want." Merry encouraged her.

So she sang The Highwayman, as adapted by Loreena McKennitt. It was a poem she put to music. It was sad and beautiful with vivid imagery. It would satisfy the hobbits want for song.

The last stanza was her favourite.

And sill of a winter's night, they say,

When the wind is in the trees,

When the moon is a ghostly galleon,

Tossed upon the cloudy seas,

When the road it a ribbon of moonlight

Over the purple moor,

A highwayman comes riding-

Riding-riding-

A highwayman comes riding,

Up to the old inn-door.

When she finished she had to explain what a pistol, musket and rapier were. And who King Gorge was. When she was done Annwn found herself thoroughly disgusted by her worlds fascination with advanced weapons. After a few months learning the sword she knew enough ways to kill a man to last her a lifetime.

"That is very disturbing," said Pippin "We were hoping for something a little more nonsensical and whimsical."

"You want nonsensical and whimsical? How's this poem?"

"It's true he was wicked as wicked could be,

His sins they outnumbered a hundred and three,

But oh, he was perfectly gorgeous to see,

The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee."

"If you're not a pirate, how come you know that pirate, Durk of Dowdee?" Pippin looked at her with distrust in his eyes

"It's a poem Pippin, he's not real! I'm as much a Pirate as you are a tree." Annwn said laughing thinking about him, Merry and Treebeard, that would happen soon, too soon for her taste. Annwn's smile faltered for a second but was back in place without anyone noticing.

"Oh."

"Besides you should be more worried if I knew Jack Sparrow. No correction, Captian Jack Sparrow." She didn't explain but moved on. "I have another song for you." Then she launched into . Needless to say they thought was insane. When Annwn finished she was silent and uneasy. How much of the future rested on this one decision? To save or not to save? That is the question. She had thought she wasn't going to, because of that whole story line integrity thing. That was the main theme in ever science fiction show she had ever watched with time travel stuff, wouldn't it apply here? But Annwn reminded herself that this was all a dream, a hallucination created in her comatose state. Even if she messed up it couldn't hurt her...could it? She started to chew on her cheek again, unsure of what to do, and Aragorn noticed from his boat and this time he thought something of it.

"Does something worry you?"

"Hunh? Me, no." She denied it but sounded distracted; there was definitely something that was worrying her. He was keen to know what it was. She had done the same before they went into Moria, they all knew how that had turned out.

(excerpt from The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee, by Mildred Plew Meigs) Doesn't she have a nice name? It was my favourite poem I was little, I was on the pirate bandwagon way before Pirates of the Caribbean and Jack Sparrow was realaced on the world. ;)

Cool news. I was out of the city last week and I actually say a murder of crows. I know what Tolkien was thinking what he made the creblien and when Hitchcock made birds. That many crows is scary stuff.

Review thanks to Kyonkichi9, PaytonxJulia

Story alert thanks to Archer117, Lady Youko Kurama

Story favourite thanks to sharNZ, Lady Youko Kurama

I know someone else out there thinks like me, or at least similarly enough to get the answer to the chapter challenge! I know it, I have faith in you!