GAH I'M SORRY! yeesh, my brain went dead for a while there... i'm sorry its been so long since i last updated... :D hopefully i haven't lost any faithful reviewers... and i hope it hasn't been all THAT long... *crosses fingers* anyway, i'm too lazy for a ridiculously long AN so, here's chapter 29... and i apologize in advance for the filler-y ness... DON'T KILL ME
as usual, i don't own lotr people, but i do own riana cri and cearien :D
enjoy!
The Fellowship Plus One
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Aftermath
The battle for Helm's Deep was over, and it could not have ended too soon. Aragorn sighed deeply as he surveyed the damage around him. He knew, deep in his heart, that the soldiers would not have been able to hold on for much longer than they had. It was only luck and the will of the Gods that they were standing victorious now. Grey eyes closed for a brief moment while he forced himself not to think of how close to catastrophe they had come.
"Lord Aragorn!" The Man turned back around at the voice, trying to hide the smile that grew on his face at the sight of the lady Éowyn as she came rushing up to him. "Thank the Gods you are safe!" she cried, throwing propriety to the winds and grabbing him in a hug. Shaking his head, amused, Aragorn hugged her back for a few moments. Finally, she pulled back, still smiling, but by now Aragorn was no longer paying her the proper amount of attention. He had only just noticed that two of his company were missing. Legolas he had seen only a short while ago, so unless some sort of abysmally bad luck had struck his Elven friend, he should be fine. Aragorn would not worry about him just yet; however, he had not seen Riana for some time.
"Lady Éowyn?" he asked softly, returning his attention to the woman beside him. She glanced at him, confused for a second. "You did not happen to see a young woman with silver hair in the caves, did you?" He sincerely hoped she had, because the alternative was not something he cared to consider, especially not now. He forced himself to return his attention to Éowyn.
"I am sorry, my lord, but I do not recall seeing anyone of that description in the caves." Aragorn sighed deeply, covering his face with one slightly bloody hand. Of course… That stubborn bratling would disobey a direct order from a king, even if he was not technically her king, in order to fight. "My lord? Is everything all right?" To her credit, Éowyn actually sounded honestly concerned. When Aragorn did not answer, she added, "This young woman you speak of, is she the girl who arrived with you in the city?"
"Indeed. It would seem that she disobeyed your uncle's orders and joined the men in the battle." Éowyn looked offended.
"She was allowed to-" Aragorn interrupted before the young woman could continue and alert anyone else to their conversation.
"She was in no way allowed to fight, and if I had known she was, I would not have allowed it." Inwardly, Aragorn was reaching panic levels. Where was she? He was fairly certain he had not seen her on the walls, and she had not been… A sudden thought struck him; he would have fallen if he had not collided with the wall in his shock.
The dragon. The dragon that had fought on the wall was somehow connected to all of this, but he simply could not figure out how. He distinctly felt like he was missing something, and it was truly starting to annoy him. Dimly, he head Éowyn nervously ask him again if everything was fine. He honestly could not say; something was… off… but he had no idea what. With a great force of will, the Man wrenched his concentration back to Éowyn.
"Excuse me, my lady, but I must go find my companions. If the Lady Riana is missing… It could have… interesting… consequences." After a moment, Éowyn nodded.
"Of course, my lord. I wish you luck," was all she said before hurrying off; she wasn't quite quick enough, however, to hide the flash of hurt in her eyes. Shaking his head inwardly and asking why women were so complicated, Aragorn moved off in search of either the Elf or the Dwarf to see if either of them had any idea where Riana had run off to. Gimli was fairly easy to find; the Dwarf was crossing the top of the wall, axing any Orc that seemed to still be moving. Even from a fair distance away, Aragorn could hear him mumbling under his breath,
"Forty-two… Forty-three!" he cried triumphantly, grinning as Aragorn came up to him.
"Forty-three what, Master Dwarf?" he asked, hiding his amusement carefully. Gimli's grin broadened.
"Forty-three dead Uruk-Hai is what! Forty-three killed by my ax! Now, where is that Elf? I have to tell him the final count!" Aragorn sighed.
"You mean to say you have not seen him?" Gimli shook his head.
"Not since he rode off after the battle some time ago, lad." Aragorn frowned. Why had Legolas off all people ridden off like that? Normally, he would be here, competing with Gimli, arguing over who had had the most kills. Suddenly uneasy, the Man turned to head back the way he came when he heard a new voice behind him.
"You might check the back courtyard, the one closest to the mountain." Aragorn spun back around, refusing to grasp his hand to his chest. Éomer stood there, holding a saddle and trying to hide a grin. Aragorn glared at him but otherwise refused to acknowledge his shock.
"What?" he all but growled.
"Behind the Keep, there is a small courtyard of a sort. I saw the Elf you are searching for heading that direction after the battle," the Horseman informed him, a slight smirk on his face. Aragorn sighed, rubbing his hand across his face again and asking the gods for patience.
"Can you direct me to this 'courtyard'?" he asked simply.
"But of course! There is a small alley over that way," he gestured between the outer wall and the side of the building off to their right. "Go through it, and you will end up there." The Horseman grinned, a teasing light in his eyes. "But you may not expect what you see!" Still grinning, Éomer wandered off again to rejoin the rest of his Riders. Aragorn fought the urge to roll his eyes, breathing a deep, calming breath before sharing a confused glance with Gimli.
"And here I thought the Elf was the strangest thing I was ever going to see!" the Dwarf exclaimed, wiping the last drop of Uruk-Hai blood off his ax-blade. Aragorn nodded in agreement.
"He is rather odd, isn't he?" Gimli didn't even grace that with a response, choosing instead to head over to the alley Éomer had gestured to.
"Well, we may as well see if he was telling the truth."
(Back to our favorite Elf and Dragonling )
Legolas carefully pulled Rianadra up from where she lay sprawled on the ground. She groaned again, softer this time, but the Elf was not going to let her stay on the ground. Briefly he contemplated trying to move her to a healer; seconds later he discarded that idea as stupid and incredibly foolish. She would not thank him for revealing her secret to others without her saying he could. He sighed, gently brushing a few silvery strands away from her face.
Her eyelids trembled as another small moan escaped her. Legolas leaned closer, wondering if she was actually going to wake or if it was just his imagination. After a few tense seconds, she opened her eyes just a little, just enough for him to know she was, in fact, as close to all right as possible. His breath left him in a relieved whoosh, but he flatly refused to show her how truly frightened she had made him.
"Legolas?" Rianadra's weak whisper broke into his thoughts rather roughly. Gently, he brushed a finger across her face.
"Aye, it is me," he told her. "And as soon as you get well, I am going to kill you for frightening me like that!" Well… so much for not showing her that, he grumbled to himself; her smile once she understood what he meant brought that thought to a screeching halt.
"You… were worried?" He barely escaped the urge to roll his eyes at her. Instead, he lightly flicked her forehead, trying to not laugh as she wrinkled her nose at him.
"Very much so, Rianadra. And you had better not do that to me again!" He tried to glare at her but was fairly certain it wasn't having the effect it should. She just moved to shrug, but as soon as she moved, her face splintered in pain as a tiny whimper escaped her. Her free hand shot to her shoulder. "What? What is it?" Legolas tried to push her hand aside, but she was stubborn.
"Hurts…" she whispered softly, curling in on herself with another quiet sound of pain as she moved her injured leg. One purple-grey wing curled more tightly around her while the other one just twitched slightly. She groaned again when it did, and he assumed she was injured there.
"Let me see it, stubborn girl." After a moment, she allowed him to tug her hand away; the instant he saw what was causing her pain, he wished he hadn't. There was a huge gash in her shoulder, right next to the big muscle in her wing and shoulder blade. "Valar, what have you done to yourself?"
"Not my fault," she grumbled, glaring at him as best she could. "Idiot Men…" She shifted again, causing a fresh rivulet of blood to ooze out of the wound on her shoulder. Not only that, he realized a minute later as a feeling of wetness spread on his lower leg where hers brushed his. He glanced down, not wanting to see what was causing it. But he had to, and when he did he uttered a favorite Dwarven curse of his at the sight. Her leg had a… a hole in it, that was the only way to explain it. Something large and obviously sharp had torn into her leg, deeply, and it was still bleeding heavily. Legolas yanked his cloak off and was about to rip it into shreds when a voice spoke from behind him.
"What in Middle Earth is going on here?" The Elf cursed again as Rianadra tried to get up and see who had spoken.
"Do not move, dra- girl," he swiftly corrected his mistake, although he figured that her wings were plainly visible to whoever was behind them. Once he was certain she would actually obey him, Legolas turned just far enough to see that their visitors were none other than Aragorn and Gimli, both of whom were staring at him and Rianadra with their jaws on the ground. It seemed Gimli was the one who had spoken. "Are you going to stand there all day?" he grumbled at the Dwarf and the Man. "We could use some help here." Aragorn reacted first, none-too-gently pushing Gimli back the way they had come. The Dwarf acquiesced with no grace whatsoever, disappearing with a series of muttered curses involving stubborn Elves and brutish Men. Legolas would have laughed were he not so worried about Rianadra, who had begun to tremble violently.
"What is wrong?" Aragorn asked as soon as Gimli was out of earshot, concern in his voice. Legolas tightened his grip on Rianadra, fearing she would attempt to run away as Aragorn crouched next to them. She did jerk slightly, but blood loss and pain kept her right where she was.
"Her shoulder and leg are the worst, and I think that leg is broken."
"Is not," she growled softly, trying to push herself up.
"Can you move it, Riana?" Aragorn interrupted gently. She glared at him.
"… kind of question is that?" she grumbled, but as soon as she moved her injured leg, her face went white and she bit her lip hard enough to make it bleed.
"The kind that I knew the answer to. That leg of yours is broken, at worst. At best, it is very badly sprained." She glared up at the Man.
"Figured that." Legolas sighed, and she turned that glower on him. "And what is he doing here?"
"Trying to keep you from hurting yourself any more, girl. Although I do ask that you explain the… Shall I be blunt?" Rianadra nodded, a definable fear in her eyes. "What are you, Riana? Not human, or Elvish."
"No, I am not human, nor Elvish. Similarly, I am neither Mortal nor Immortal, but something in between." Legolas glanced at Aragorn, unsurprised to see understanding come over his face suddenly.
"Dragonling…"
"Aye, that is what I am." Legolas winced slightly at the defeated tone to her voice and gripped her hand as tightly as he could without hurting her. Aragorn ignored that and her comment and turned to stare at the Elf.
"You have known for some time, have you not?" Legolas nodded as Rianadra's eyes slid shut again; he did not know whether she had lost consciousness again or was simply hoping to not have to see Aragorn's face.
"She told me in Lorien. I did not tell you-"
"It is probably best that you did not tell us, mellon nīn," Aragorn told him simply. "I doubt she would have appreciated that overly much." Legolas shook his head slightly as Aragorn worked to bind the worse of her injuries. "Riana?" A noncommittal grunt was his only response. "Can you hide your wings and tail again? I can only assume that is what you do when we cannot see them." She nodded slightly as concentration flashed across her face. A moment later, the aforementioned appendages faded from view. The Man was about to add something when a new voice spoke from behind them,
"High time I found you three." The Elf and the Man spun around to face Gandalf; the Wizard was smiling slightly at them. "We must away to Isengard."
"Riana should not travel, Gandalf."
"I can ride a horse, Aragorn. I will accompany you."
"Your leg is sprained at least, nearly not there at all, and something about the size of a spear just barely missed the muscle in your shoulder. How does that make you fit to ride, lady Riana?" She growled at his harsh tone.
"It does not matter. I am going with you." Before Aragorn could come up with a suitable response, she added, "Tie me to my horse if you must or make me ride with someone else, but I am going with you." The two glared at each other for a minute before Aragorn finally gave up. Legolas would have laughed at the irritated expression on the Man's face were he not so fond of the place his head was currently occupying.
"Very well then. Should she ride with you, Legolas?" The Elf thought about that for a moment before nodding.
"Gimli can ride with you."
"It is settled then! Now get me up so we can go!" Legolas shook his head, not comprehending how Rianadra was suddenly able to sound so strong when a little while before she could barely speak at all. He was about to ask her when a fierce glare from the young dragonling stopped him. Instead of commenting, he simply offered her his arm and hauled the both of them to their feet. Rianadra turned her gaze to Gandalf with a grin frightening enough to make even an Uruk run for cover. "Lead the way, Wizard!"
seeing as how i haven't gotten any reviews in a while, i'm actually going to beg for them... REVIEW, PLEASE!
