Chapter 37:
"Lass, get up," someone grunted from above me. "Lass?"
I groaned, and opened my eyes slowly to see Gimli. "What?" I moaned, sitting up, and rubbing the back of my neck.
"We're leaving in an hour or two," he said.
"Great," I grumbled sarcastically. I yawned, and stretched. I hurt. All over. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked.
"Six hours, I'd say," Gimli said.
"Six hours?" I echoed disbelief clearly in my voice. "Six hours? You're sure?"
"Yes," he said. "What I wouldn't give to have slept six hours myself…"
I sprang up off of the blanket that I had dragged into a corner to sleep on. "So, what are we off to do?" I asked.
"Report back to Aragorn," Gimli said, "He'll find something for you to do."
"As long as we're not moving dead Orcs, I'm cool," I said with a smile. We walked in silence for a while. "So, who won the Uruk-hai killing contest?" I asked. I already knew the answer, but it was a good conversation starter, and I needed to keep away from the topic of Lilith for as long as possible.
"I beat the Elf," he said, a smug smile spreading on his face. "Forty-two to forty-three."
"Epic win," I said. "I probably killed 'bout seven myself." Gimli chuckled. "What?" I demanded.
"Nothing," he said, waving a hand as though waving away a thought. I shrugged, and we continued walking.
111
Gimli and I soon found everybody else huddled in a small room off of the main hall.
"My men are ready," Eomer was saying as we walked in.
Theoden nodded. "We leave in an hour," he said.
"So, what'd I miss?" I asked with a yawn. Eomer narrowed his at me. "Oh, come off it," I said, waving my hand at him. "We're not going to start this again, are we? Truce?" I asked, holding my hand out. Eomer nodded, but didn't shake it. I shrugged, and dropped my arm back to my side. Theoden looked from me, to Eomer, then back to me again. "Oh, we didn't get on so well at out first meeting," I told him.
Theoden's gaze lingered on me for a second longer. "I can see why," he said. I folded my arms my chest and glared at the ground. "Are all of the women and children ready?" he asked, turning to his right. For the first time, I noticed Eowyn standing near the wall. Her face was pale, and her eyes were rimmed with red. It was obvious that she had been crying.
"Yes, my Lord," she said, respectfully bowing her head.
"Good, good," Theoden said, turning back to the rest of us. "In an hour," he said firmly, nodding his head, and turning to walk out, with Gambling and Eomer trotting close behind him.
"Jana, I am sorry about Lilith," Aragorn said. "We all are." Boromir, Haldir, and Gimli nodded in agreement. It must have been hard for you to burry her with the rest of the soldiers."
What? I shot a quick glance at Legolas, who nodded his head ever-so-slightly, while staring at me. Oh. Oh… "Oh, yeah, it was… a little," I said quickly. Haldir put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I'm fine," I said, giving him a weak smile.
"I know you are," Aragorn said. "You can push though anything."
111
I waited for everyone else to wander out of the room until it was just me and Legolas left. "Thank you," I said. "I really appreciate what you told them."
"Yes," he said quietly, not meeting my gaze. I turned and started to walk away, but Legolas caught my arm. "What are you?" he asked.
"What?" I asked, generally confused now.
"Lilith and you were the same, were you not?" he asked.
"Yeah…" I said. "What are you talk-"
"When she died, she just vanished," he said. "That is not a natural thing."
"Okay, just let me explain," I started. He opened his mouth again, but I cut him off. "I'm human," I told him, "just not your average human." I paused. "But I think anyone could figure that one out without too much trouble. I guess you could call me a Humbit; like a human and a Hobbit put together." I gave a feeble laugh to accompany my bad joke. Legolas didn't smile. "I'm human, okay," I said flatly. "What happened to Lilith stays between the two us of, got it?"
He nodded. "Will that happen to you if you die, too?" he asked.
I shrugged. "Well, if it does, I won't be around to fine out, will I?" I chuckled, and he gave me a small smile. "You won't tell anyone, will you?" I asked.
"No," he said, "I promise you that."
"Thank you," I said again, before turning and walking out.
111
I thought that I would be nice, and put myself to some good use, so I asked Aragorn what I could do to help out. And, ironically, the chore that I ended up doing was moving dead Orcs.
"So, what are we going to do with them, exactly?" I asked, as I helped Aragorn carry one over the large pile that we had made.
"Burn them," he said.
"Gross," I muttered. Suddenly Haldir was at our sides. "Hey," I said, wiping sweat from my forehead.
Aragorn walked over and gave him a hug. "Goodbye, my friend," he said. I was too shocked by the word 'goodbye' to make fun of them about their man-hugs.
"You're leaving?" I cried.
Haldir nodded. "Yes, we are," he said.
"You're just going back?" I said.
"That's generally the meaning of 'leave'," he said with a small smirk.
I shrugged, and went over and hugged him as well. He seemed stunned by my sudden display of affection, but recovered quickly. I was going to miss him, as much as I hated to admit it. "Will I see you again?" I asked as I stepped back.
He looked thoughtfully at me for a moment. "If all goes well," he said, a dark expression crossing his face for a fraction of a second.
I waved as he turned and headed to his few surviving Elves.
Aragorn and I threw the last remaining Orcs onto the pile. Two men brought oil over and poured in on the dead creatures, while a third followed with a torch in each hand.
"That's disgusting," I said, as Aragorn and I stood back and watched the Uruk-hai burn.
I turned around as we heard approaching horses. Theoden, gambling, Eomer, Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli were riding towards us, with two more horses with them. Eomer threw the rains of the grey one to me. "We ride to Edoras."