AN: A second update in a day. this is the last chapter before the march to the black gates. It's a short one.

38. Ithilien.

When midday arrived Ginny had finished bottling her potions and placed them in her pouch. She did a quick check to see if there was anything else she had forgotten but decided that she was as prepared as she could be. If she could only find something that would help her defeat the Nazgul.

"Have the scouts returned yet?" Elladan asked as soon as they entered the throne room. Inside many people had gathered and were going over plans. There were all those of the Fellowship, Théoden and Éomer, a few army men she had seen before, Gamling and a handful of noblemen.

Ginny looked around at the people present. She noticed that Gandalf was looking worried and Aragorn pained. The whole atmosphere was tense.

"No, they haven't." Ginny breathed. "They will never return."

Everybody looked at her as she made her way through the people towards the table where the plans were laid out. Aragorn looked at her and nodded.

"They were attacked near Ithilien. At least that is what we think. One of their horses returned nothing more." Éomer explained. Ginny nodded.

"That explains the bad feelings I had since yesterday. Something is wrong. We are missing something." She sighed.

"But what?" Éomer asked.

"I do not know yet. It's just a feeling I had since yesterday morning." Ginny told him. She looked down at the map and ran her finger over the route they were planning to take. "I'm going to apparate back to that cabin at the beacon. From there I'll fly in the direction of Ithilien. I'll stay up high and get a good view of the road we will take. I'll try to figure out why the scouts haven't returned and maybe I can scout the area out a little. I'll be back before nightfall."

"Be careful." Aragorn said.

"Always." Ginny nodded and walked away. She did not need eyes in the back of her head to know that Legolas was following her and the other men were still too shocked to move. She did not wait for Legolas to catch up; he would do so at her rooms. She was sure that he would have some things to say and ask before she would leave.

She opened the door and left it open for Legolas to enter. She dug through her bag to retrieve her broom and braided her hair quickly so that she could pull it up and hide it under a hood. By the times she was charming her cloak to hide her face completely Legolas entered her room.

"I'm not feeling very comfortable about this, Ginny." He whispered as he took her hand in his. "I do not like for you to go alone."

"I know. I wouldn't have liked it either if it was you." She sighed. "However I can't take you along and the fact that our scouts were killed or taken hostage suggest that something is up. So we need information before we can set out."

"I know but I still don't like the position you are placing yourself in." He sighed and took her other hand as well. Ginny shook her head and sighed. This was making things a whole lot more complicated. At least Théoden knew by now when to argue with her and when not.

"I'll be back before you know it. While I'm scouting why don't you go and remind Aragorn of the amazing saddlebags I made so that he can fill them up with food, herbs and bandages." Ginny told him. "We might as well make ourselves useful."

Legolas nodded and Ginny looked at him. He seemed to be trying not to smother her or force her to do anything but it looked like he was having a hard time letting her go in this. She smiled at him and leaned forward, she softly placed her lips on his in a loving kiss. He answered with passion.

"I need to go." She muttered against his lips after a while. She felt her cheeks burn red and her heartbeat was raging. "I'll be back soon." With that she apparated to a safe location.

While flying over the initial part of Ithilien she noticed nothing. Maybe that was what should worry her most. The absolute lack of any sign of life. It was silent and eerily dead. It wasn't until after an hour of flying that she caught sight of an encampment. It was an encampment of the Haradrim and the Easterlings.

She flew three rounds around the encampment to make sure she noticed everything she needed to see. She considered this still quite a large group. She noticed that they were coming and going from the edge of the Ithilien. This worried her, as she had not seen anything there. She flew back to that eerie part and hovered in the air. Her disillusionment charm, silencing charm and notice-me-not charm kept her well hidden but keeping up three charms like that and flying was draining on her.

When after a long while she still failed to see what was going on she took out her wand. She casted a revealing spell. "Revelio." She muttered. This caused her other spells to fail, as the drain on her core was too much. She was powerful, she knew that but not that powerful.

She got a few minutes to really look around before she was noticed. "Fuck!" She cursed as she managed to barely dodge an arrow. Suddenly a whole load of arrows made her way. She quickly summoned a tent of the enemy to stop the arrows. Two managed to get through and she was able to dodge them by an inch. She felt one of them going through her cloak but it did not hit her.

"Dammit" she muttered and apparated in mid-flight again. It wasn't something she enjoyed to do and it sure as hell wasn't safe but it got her to safety quickly as she noticed the Haradrim readying another folly of arrows.

She landed on the balcony of her room and fell to the ground. For a minute she thought she had splinched herself but a quick check ensured all her bits and pieces had made it back to the city.

She got up and placed her cloak and broom on her bed before she ran towards the throne room. She noticed that the sun was already setting as she reached the door. She had been out for quite a while and the others would most likely be worried about her.

She didn't bother to knock and threw open the door.

"We have a problem." She stated and drew immediate attention to herself. She noticed that her friends all seemed to be relieved to have her back unharmed and in one piece. The others just seemed to be annoyed with the interruption.

"What do you mean?" A captain asked. He didn't look like he cared about any problem a woman could tell him about. His nose was up in the air and he seemed to think he was pretty important. Ginny realized that he was probably the one talking the moment she interrupted the meeting.

"There is an ambush waiting for us in Ithilien. About three or four thousand men of Haradrim and the Easterlings are setting up an ambush at the passage into Ithilien. They had hidden themselves well."

"Then how would you know about this, woman?" The captain asked and almost all men winched and Ginny's head snapped up to meet the man's eyes. A second later she stood behind him with one of her knives resting against his throat. It was already drawing blood.

"Because I saw them. I sacrificed my safety in order to use my magic to see what they were planning. I would have used that magic to caused them fatalities if it wasn't for the fact that I had about a dozen arrows flying my way." Ginny snarled at him before releasing him. She pushed him aside and pointed to the map. "Their encampment is here. They have about fifteen hundredth men there. The rest is working on setting the ambush and I'm sure they have scouts out as well, though I didn't have time to identify them."

"And further down the road?"

"There is nothing further down I think. I did an initial search before I realized something was wrong but I didn't find anything there. I think that Sauron has underestimated how many survived the battle here and how many men will come to your call. It seemed like he is expecting you to fall for this trap." Ginny reasoned.

Aragorn nodded.

"We need to plan. We will ride at first light." He told Ginny.

"Do you need me for that planning?" She asked as she looked at the captain with distaste. She did not want to stay in his company for longer then necessary out of fear that she would end up cursing him.

"No, not really. Your information has been very valuable. Go get some rest for tomorrow." Aragorn said kindly. She nodded and left the room. She was hungry and still so tired. She made her way to the kitchen where she found Merry and Pippin eating.

She joined them and listened to their stories of the mischief they had gotten themselves into in the city. They had been left to their own device and that was never a good idea. Though she had to admit that she too had totally forgotten about them as well with the upcoming battle.

To her relieve they seemed to be enjoying and taking care of themselves. Merry had even managed to convince one of the Rohirrim to teach them some sword fighting. Pippin's status within the court helped them a lot as well. It kept them safe from the nastier kind of folk.

"Well, tomorrow we ride at first light. Make sure you are ready." Ginny said as she got up to catch some sleep. "And Merry don't forget to pack that bag I have given you with enough food."

"I won't. Goodnight!"

Ginny waved at them and headed towards her room. To her surprise she found a pacing Legolas in front of her door.

"Where were you?" He asked. "I have been looking everywhere for you."

"I was with Merry and Pippin in the kitchens." She told him and entered her room.

"That was one place I hadn't looked indeed." He chuckled.

"I told Merry and Pip to prepare for tomorrow. No matter who will complain those two are coming." Ginny said.

"I would not object. I heard Merry fought bravely with the Rohirrim and Pippin actually rescued Faramir, so no complaining from me."

"Good." Ginny sighed and sat down on her bed. She was tired and worried. After her morning with Elrohir and Elladan she now realized how much she was starting to enjoy her life here in Middle Earth. She feared the coming battle. She did not want to die anymore and these next few days could be easily her last.

"You look worried." Legolas said as he sat down next to her. It felt a bit awkward that he sat on her bed but it was over as quick as it came.

"I am worried." Ginny sighed. "I fear the battle that will come."

"Why? Why is this one different than the other two?"

"Well the first one was easy because I couldn't really bring myself to care. I was happy with the idea that my death would bring me back to my loved ones. The second one, I worried a lot but mainly about you and the others. I think this will be the first time in Middle Earth that I truly worry about myself as well." She explained.

"I'm happy that you are starting to feel happy with the idea of being alive again. You truly had me worried for a long time." Legolas told her.

"It doesn't make my life easier through. Just a week or two ago it didn't matter what happened to me. It made everything less complicated. Now I have to worried about myself as well." Ginny sighed. Legolas laughed at her statement and she had to admit it sounded ridiculously. She wondered how Harry had done it. Going into a battle and only worry about those he cared about, never about himself. She wasn't sure if she could be so selfless.

"I'll let you sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day enough." Legolas said and got up. "I'm happy you got back alright. I was very worried about you. I think the others did so as well. Aragorn wasn't happy with letting you go either."

"I was careful." Ginny said with a smile and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Goodnight Legolas."