Disclaimers: See chapter 1.
Reviewers!!!
Insane Child of the Night: Haha, thanks.
Moralinde: Thankies, hun. :-)
ArcherofDarkness: Yeah, my lil' sis must have been on something to actually have let the hobbits drive. XD And thanks for being patient with me. Patience is a virtue, as the saying goes.
Elwen: Thanks. Speaking of my sister's skating, (was it last week? yeah, I believe it was last weekend...) she won Little New Englands again for the second year in a row.
Jana Hawkins: Lmao! Oh, they're not that bad...haha.
Hobbit Babe: Yeah, I just saw X Men 2. Well, most of it anyway, since I haven't yet gotten to see the ending. Grr. That's a quality movie, though. Now I have to go out and rent the first one now that I've seen (most of) the second. (grins)
Angel: Woot! You're back! Sorry to hear about your computer...that must of sucked major ass. I don't think that I could have lived without my computer for more than a couple of days. Anyways, I did get that part of chapter 3 of RotR that you sent me, and I liked it lots. I'll add more to it and send it back to ya sometime soon.
Randomness:
Hey guys! I'm really sorry about the wait for this chappy...again. (sigh) But I have been writing as much as I can. Thanks for being so patient with me. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. (grins)
You're My Light in the Dark
Chapter 38
"Did we lose 'em?" Merry panted.
Lauren and Pippin had been following him into a forest, Fangorn Forest if Lauren remembered correctly, since it seemed like the best hiding spot from the orcs. As the sound of the battle faded away behind them, so did the adrenaline and fear in their hearts. The deeper they went into the forest, the slower their pace became.
Lauren took a long glance over her shoulder. "Yeah, I think we lost them," she replied. Merry breathed a sigh of relief and took a seat on the forest's leafy floor.
"Good," he said. "I didn't know how much longer we were going to be able to go like that." Merry looked up at his friends, and even though both their faces were smeared with dirt, you could still see how flushed they were as they gasped for breath. He also noticed that Lauren's lips were cracked and bleeding, and he could tell bruises were starting to form underneath the grime on her cheeks from the orcs hitting her.
"Well, let's find a drink at any rate," Pippin said. "I'm parched." Merry and Lauren nodded, and Lauren helped Merry get back up to his feet. They ended up following a broken tree root until they finally came across a stream.
The water was cool and refreshing, helped clear their heads somewhat and soothed their aching feet. They rested by the stream until dusk.
"You haven't gotten us lost already, have you, Merry?" Pippin questioned as he sat himself against a trunk of a tree. The sky was gray and the air was becoming rapidly cooler with the sun already gone down.
"I don't suppose it matters much," Merry replied sadly. "Just another problem to add to the ongoing list."
"We can always follow the stream a ways," Lauren suggested, though her mind was far away deep in thought. "Entwash, it's called, I think." That was it. She knew something was missing. The walking trees. She could just hear her sister now...
"Please, Kat! Just one more time!" she begged while wrestling on the floor with her older sister over the remote control. "I wanna see the scene with the walking trees again! Just one more time!"
"Once more?!" Kate replied annoyed. The next few minutes were spent rolling around the living room before she could continue. "We've already been watching the same scene for a half hour!"
"Forty-five if you count our fight," Lauren commented. "Come on, you gotta love those kick-ass walking trees!"
Kate was finally able to pin her little sister down and pry the remote out of her hands. She grinned in triumph and replied, "How many times do I have to tell you? They aren't trees, they're called Ents!" She got off of Lauren and held the remote control high out of Lauren's reach.
Lauren dusted herself off. "Yeah, yeah," she said. "Then why is that dude's name Treebeard? Huh, huh?" Kate never even got the chance to answer because she found herself being tackled back to the ground.
Lauren smiled at the memory. Back when she and Kat were teenagers and everything had seemed so simple. Sure, their lives had been living hell, no denying that, but it had been simple. Go to practice, do schoolwork, practice again, go to sleep. Add small meals here and there and that was their life. Boring, hard, and pure hell.
That was only five years ago. To Lauren it seemed so far into the past that was almost like a different lifetime altogether. So much had changed since then. She couldn't help but think of what their lives would be like five years from now. Would Kat be able to help Frodo destroy that damn ring like planned? Or would things not go according to schedule? Would they just be slaves or even dead if it doesn't happen?
"Lauren?" She was brought out of her thoughts by Merry, who was looking at her worriedly. "Are you alright? You're looking awfully pale."
She nodded absentmindedly. "Um...yeah, I guess. Just thinking."
Merry gave her a weak smile. "Alright then. But, I really think you should eat a little something." He pulled a small crumpled up thing from out of his pocket. "We don't have much, just a little bit of Lembas bread that Pippin and I thankfully had in our pockets. They're kind of crushed, but hey, it's better than nothing."
He held out a small piece of the elven bread to her, and she could only stare at his hand for several moments. She wasn't hungry. She wasn't even all that tired, either, to be honest with herself. She just felt...numb.
Lauren realized that she was thinking and acting like Kat, and that scared her. Kat had always been the worry-wart, over-analyzing things and pondering situations and "what if's?" until she would make herself sick. Always the thinker, her sister was. And Lauren would always be able to make Kat feel better by changing the way Kat looked at the situation.
Sure, she always knew that anything could go wrong at any minute and the story line not go as it was suppose to. But Lauren had never given it much thought. She kind of just took it for granted and almost automatically assumed that everything would go according to plan.
But now that she actually thought about it reasonably, could everything go wrong since she and Kat were here? And if it did, what would happen to them and Middle Earth? Would it become an actual living hell?
She thought of what had happened with the whole orc ordeal they just went through, and realized that if Frodo failed, if the ring isn't destroyed, the pain is going to be worse. Much worse. And the fact that she couldn't change the situation around in her head like she use to do with Kat didn't make her feel any better.
Lauren shuddered involuntarily and felt strong arms wrap around her comfortingly. She snuggled into the embrace and could hear Merry whisper soothing words into her hair. That's when she lost it. She buried her face into his chest and cried.
(Insert the spacerness here... :P)
"Nice hobbitses must stay and hide with Smeagol. They mustn't go out and see the Yellow Face."
Sam made a face at Gollum and started to make his way out of the alcove in which we were resting, but I laid a gentle hand on his arm to prevent him from going anywhere.
"No matter how much I hate to admit this, but he's right," I said. "We shouldn't go out just yet, it's too dangerous. We're very close to the Gate now, and we really shouldn't take any unneccecary chances. We could be seen."
Sam sighed and reluctantly sat back down. "I know, and I'm sorry for being restless. It's just that, it's so dark 'round here. I long to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin."
I nodded in understanding since I felt the same way. We hadn't seen the sun out for many days, and it's comforting rays were missed.
"Dark skys for dark times," Frodo said softly.
I looked over at him, and it seemed like his mind was somewhere else. He had a far away expression on his face and was staring ahead blankly.
The Ring was finally getting to him, finally reaching at his soul. He often would stare at the Ring for a long while when he thought I was unaware and asleep when we stopped for rests. And it couldn't be helping much now that we were so close to Mordor. I couldn't help feeling guilty about it all. I had wanted so bad to help and prevent the evil from getting to him.
"Well, since we're not going anywhere, I think we should eat a bit and get a little sleep while we can," Sam suggested. He opened up his pack and pulled out some Lembas bread, then threw little pieces to Frodo and me before breaking off a small piece for himself.
Frodo glanced over at Gollum, who curled himself up in a ball and sat as far away from us as possible. "Are you hungry, Smeagol?" Frodo asked.
Gollum turned around and had a strange gleam in his eye. "Yes, yes. Very hungry. Quite famished."
"Do you want some then?" he questioned, indicating to the bread. "It's not much, though, I'm afraid." Frodo broke off a small corner of his share and tossed it to Gollum, who nibbled at it then immediatly spit it out.
"Gah!" he sputtered. "Dust and ashes that taste and smell like nasty, nasty elves! We can't eat that. Poor Smeagol will have to starve."
Frodo looked taken aback, but merely shrugged and was too tired to bother. Sam rolled his eyes then pulled out his blanket so he could sleep.
I crawled over to Frodo and wrapped my arms around him. "I'm sorry," I whispered.
"What is there for you to be apologizing for?" Frodo asked. His response surprised me; I wasn't expecting him to answer.
"No one should have to go through what you are now," I replied softly. "But please try not to dwell on the Ring. It's gradually devouring you."
"I can't help it," he admitted, "Sometimes it seems that it's the only thing I'm able to think about."
I leaned in and kissed him lightly. "I know. But we're going to have to fix that. It doesn't do anyone any good if you're obsessed with a damn piece of gold."
He chuckled softly. "Hey, I'm not obsessed."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. You could be like him," I said referring to our so called guide. "And let's hope you never reach that point," I added.
a/n:
Rocky: (dances) Yay, I finally finished that chappy!
Pippin: Yeah, took ya long enough.
Rocky: It's not like you were any help. (glares at the hobbits who are happily munching away on their leftover donations recieved by my oh-so-awesome reviewers)
Frodo: Hey, we haven't been that bad...
Rocky: No, you've been fine. But Pippin has been spending way too much time with my sister. Troublesome pair, them two. Very scary.
Frodo: Yeah, and I only have about 12 reviews left for my ransom! (grins like the adorable hobbit that he is) Please review!
-Rocky-
Reviewers!!!
Insane Child of the Night: Haha, thanks.
Moralinde: Thankies, hun. :-)
ArcherofDarkness: Yeah, my lil' sis must have been on something to actually have let the hobbits drive. XD And thanks for being patient with me. Patience is a virtue, as the saying goes.
Elwen: Thanks. Speaking of my sister's skating, (was it last week? yeah, I believe it was last weekend...) she won Little New Englands again for the second year in a row.
Jana Hawkins: Lmao! Oh, they're not that bad...haha.
Hobbit Babe: Yeah, I just saw X Men 2. Well, most of it anyway, since I haven't yet gotten to see the ending. Grr. That's a quality movie, though. Now I have to go out and rent the first one now that I've seen (most of) the second. (grins)
Angel: Woot! You're back! Sorry to hear about your computer...that must of sucked major ass. I don't think that I could have lived without my computer for more than a couple of days. Anyways, I did get that part of chapter 3 of RotR that you sent me, and I liked it lots. I'll add more to it and send it back to ya sometime soon.
Randomness:
Hey guys! I'm really sorry about the wait for this chappy...again. (sigh) But I have been writing as much as I can. Thanks for being so patient with me. I hope this chapter was worth the wait. (grins)
You're My Light in the Dark
Chapter 38
"Did we lose 'em?" Merry panted.
Lauren and Pippin had been following him into a forest, Fangorn Forest if Lauren remembered correctly, since it seemed like the best hiding spot from the orcs. As the sound of the battle faded away behind them, so did the adrenaline and fear in their hearts. The deeper they went into the forest, the slower their pace became.
Lauren took a long glance over her shoulder. "Yeah, I think we lost them," she replied. Merry breathed a sigh of relief and took a seat on the forest's leafy floor.
"Good," he said. "I didn't know how much longer we were going to be able to go like that." Merry looked up at his friends, and even though both their faces were smeared with dirt, you could still see how flushed they were as they gasped for breath. He also noticed that Lauren's lips were cracked and bleeding, and he could tell bruises were starting to form underneath the grime on her cheeks from the orcs hitting her.
"Well, let's find a drink at any rate," Pippin said. "I'm parched." Merry and Lauren nodded, and Lauren helped Merry get back up to his feet. They ended up following a broken tree root until they finally came across a stream.
The water was cool and refreshing, helped clear their heads somewhat and soothed their aching feet. They rested by the stream until dusk.
"You haven't gotten us lost already, have you, Merry?" Pippin questioned as he sat himself against a trunk of a tree. The sky was gray and the air was becoming rapidly cooler with the sun already gone down.
"I don't suppose it matters much," Merry replied sadly. "Just another problem to add to the ongoing list."
"We can always follow the stream a ways," Lauren suggested, though her mind was far away deep in thought. "Entwash, it's called, I think." That was it. She knew something was missing. The walking trees. She could just hear her sister now...
"Please, Kat! Just one more time!" she begged while wrestling on the floor with her older sister over the remote control. "I wanna see the scene with the walking trees again! Just one more time!"
"Once more?!" Kate replied annoyed. The next few minutes were spent rolling around the living room before she could continue. "We've already been watching the same scene for a half hour!"
"Forty-five if you count our fight," Lauren commented. "Come on, you gotta love those kick-ass walking trees!"
Kate was finally able to pin her little sister down and pry the remote out of her hands. She grinned in triumph and replied, "How many times do I have to tell you? They aren't trees, they're called Ents!" She got off of Lauren and held the remote control high out of Lauren's reach.
Lauren dusted herself off. "Yeah, yeah," she said. "Then why is that dude's name Treebeard? Huh, huh?" Kate never even got the chance to answer because she found herself being tackled back to the ground.
Lauren smiled at the memory. Back when she and Kat were teenagers and everything had seemed so simple. Sure, their lives had been living hell, no denying that, but it had been simple. Go to practice, do schoolwork, practice again, go to sleep. Add small meals here and there and that was their life. Boring, hard, and pure hell.
That was only five years ago. To Lauren it seemed so far into the past that was almost like a different lifetime altogether. So much had changed since then. She couldn't help but think of what their lives would be like five years from now. Would Kat be able to help Frodo destroy that damn ring like planned? Or would things not go according to schedule? Would they just be slaves or even dead if it doesn't happen?
"Lauren?" She was brought out of her thoughts by Merry, who was looking at her worriedly. "Are you alright? You're looking awfully pale."
She nodded absentmindedly. "Um...yeah, I guess. Just thinking."
Merry gave her a weak smile. "Alright then. But, I really think you should eat a little something." He pulled a small crumpled up thing from out of his pocket. "We don't have much, just a little bit of Lembas bread that Pippin and I thankfully had in our pockets. They're kind of crushed, but hey, it's better than nothing."
He held out a small piece of the elven bread to her, and she could only stare at his hand for several moments. She wasn't hungry. She wasn't even all that tired, either, to be honest with herself. She just felt...numb.
Lauren realized that she was thinking and acting like Kat, and that scared her. Kat had always been the worry-wart, over-analyzing things and pondering situations and "what if's?" until she would make herself sick. Always the thinker, her sister was. And Lauren would always be able to make Kat feel better by changing the way Kat looked at the situation.
Sure, she always knew that anything could go wrong at any minute and the story line not go as it was suppose to. But Lauren had never given it much thought. She kind of just took it for granted and almost automatically assumed that everything would go according to plan.
But now that she actually thought about it reasonably, could everything go wrong since she and Kat were here? And if it did, what would happen to them and Middle Earth? Would it become an actual living hell?
She thought of what had happened with the whole orc ordeal they just went through, and realized that if Frodo failed, if the ring isn't destroyed, the pain is going to be worse. Much worse. And the fact that she couldn't change the situation around in her head like she use to do with Kat didn't make her feel any better.
Lauren shuddered involuntarily and felt strong arms wrap around her comfortingly. She snuggled into the embrace and could hear Merry whisper soothing words into her hair. That's when she lost it. She buried her face into his chest and cried.
(Insert the spacerness here... :P)
"Nice hobbitses must stay and hide with Smeagol. They mustn't go out and see the Yellow Face."
Sam made a face at Gollum and started to make his way out of the alcove in which we were resting, but I laid a gentle hand on his arm to prevent him from going anywhere.
"No matter how much I hate to admit this, but he's right," I said. "We shouldn't go out just yet, it's too dangerous. We're very close to the Gate now, and we really shouldn't take any unneccecary chances. We could be seen."
Sam sighed and reluctantly sat back down. "I know, and I'm sorry for being restless. It's just that, it's so dark 'round here. I long to feel the warmth of the sun on my skin."
I nodded in understanding since I felt the same way. We hadn't seen the sun out for many days, and it's comforting rays were missed.
"Dark skys for dark times," Frodo said softly.
I looked over at him, and it seemed like his mind was somewhere else. He had a far away expression on his face and was staring ahead blankly.
The Ring was finally getting to him, finally reaching at his soul. He often would stare at the Ring for a long while when he thought I was unaware and asleep when we stopped for rests. And it couldn't be helping much now that we were so close to Mordor. I couldn't help feeling guilty about it all. I had wanted so bad to help and prevent the evil from getting to him.
"Well, since we're not going anywhere, I think we should eat a bit and get a little sleep while we can," Sam suggested. He opened up his pack and pulled out some Lembas bread, then threw little pieces to Frodo and me before breaking off a small piece for himself.
Frodo glanced over at Gollum, who curled himself up in a ball and sat as far away from us as possible. "Are you hungry, Smeagol?" Frodo asked.
Gollum turned around and had a strange gleam in his eye. "Yes, yes. Very hungry. Quite famished."
"Do you want some then?" he questioned, indicating to the bread. "It's not much, though, I'm afraid." Frodo broke off a small corner of his share and tossed it to Gollum, who nibbled at it then immediatly spit it out.
"Gah!" he sputtered. "Dust and ashes that taste and smell like nasty, nasty elves! We can't eat that. Poor Smeagol will have to starve."
Frodo looked taken aback, but merely shrugged and was too tired to bother. Sam rolled his eyes then pulled out his blanket so he could sleep.
I crawled over to Frodo and wrapped my arms around him. "I'm sorry," I whispered.
"What is there for you to be apologizing for?" Frodo asked. His response surprised me; I wasn't expecting him to answer.
"No one should have to go through what you are now," I replied softly. "But please try not to dwell on the Ring. It's gradually devouring you."
"I can't help it," he admitted, "Sometimes it seems that it's the only thing I'm able to think about."
I leaned in and kissed him lightly. "I know. But we're going to have to fix that. It doesn't do anyone any good if you're obsessed with a damn piece of gold."
He chuckled softly. "Hey, I'm not obsessed."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right. You could be like him," I said referring to our so called guide. "And let's hope you never reach that point," I added.
a/n:
Rocky: (dances) Yay, I finally finished that chappy!
Pippin: Yeah, took ya long enough.
Rocky: It's not like you were any help. (glares at the hobbits who are happily munching away on their leftover donations recieved by my oh-so-awesome reviewers)
Frodo: Hey, we haven't been that bad...
Rocky: No, you've been fine. But Pippin has been spending way too much time with my sister. Troublesome pair, them two. Very scary.
Frodo: Yeah, and I only have about 12 reviews left for my ransom! (grins like the adorable hobbit that he is) Please review!
-Rocky-