AN: I hope all of you are staying safe and healthy during these times. Take care of yourselves :)
Guest (1): Thank you — I appreciate it :D
Guest (2): Thank you! Hopefully the wait wasn't too long!
Chapter 19
My arms burned as I pulled the paddle through the thick water yet again. I wasn't sure how long we'd been at this, but if I were to make an educated guess, it had been a few hours. Based on the pain radiating from my arms and the sky gradually darkening above us, I probably wasn't far off.
And I had thought shooting arrows for hours had been bad.
Oddly enough, Rose and I hadn't spoken much since we'd set out from Lorien's docks. The only indication that she was even still with me was the gentle splashing of her oar cutting through the water behind me.
Actually, the silence made some sense considering an elf was probably wandering around the woods, searching for our campsite, this very minute.
More importantly, though, was the small concern of mine that was becoming increasingly hard to ignore. Haldir definitely knew something was up with the two of us. He probably didn't expect much from me, but realistically, who did? No, it was Rose. The fact that Rose was out and about was basically a dead giveaway. Aragorn had to have told Haldir — or even Galadriel — about Rose and her antics. To catch her, then, armed with her weapons and pack, was a clear sign of plotting and trouble; however, the fact that I was also wearing weapons and a full pack likely didn't help.
Maybe camping was feasible enough. Even if it only bought us an afternoon.
We'd already agreed — much to my chagrin — that we would stop very rarely and only for a few minutes at a time. That said, we weren't going to stop at nightfall because doing so would play right into the elves' perceptions of us. If we wanted to stay ahead of them, then we couldn't afford to stop and make a camp, even for a few hours. The distance we'd put between us and the elves probably wasn't very big, so we had to work with what we had.
Unless, of course, they somehow deemed that we weren't worth enough to chase after. If that was the case, all of our troubles would be gone, but at this point, we couldn't bank on that happening.
That was really at the heart of my whole worry: when would they finally catch up to us?
Plunging my paddle into the water again, my hands trembled as I strained against the river's current. I knew it was improbable and foolish, but part of me clung to the hope that the elves would just leave us alone.
"Katherine."
There was pressure on my shoulder.
Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I shifted and met Rose's strangely dull gaze. Sitting up, I groaned at the stiffness in my arms. "Has it really been two hours?"
"Honestly, I have no idea," she sighed and rubbed her back, "but my arms are giving out, and the moon has moved a lot."
Her words lacking their usual bite, it was clear she'd pushed herself too hard, but I couldn't say I was surprised. Gripping the wooden handle of my paddle, the flat of it still slightly damp with river water, I leaned over the side and resumed rowing. At the first stroke, the pain in my arms reignited. Behind me, Rose slumped to the bottom of the boat and let out a small sigh as she shifted.
If she was trying to get comfortable, I wished her all the luck in the world. Rolling my shoulders, I could tell I hadn't succeeded.
As I squinted into the darkness, shaking off my sleepiness, I tried to get myself to focus on something other than the monotony of rowing. It hadn't even been five minutes, and I was already tired of it. Maneuvering my oar through the dark water, I hadn't realized how blissfully distracting it had been to have someone else awake with me.
A dull, wooden smack startled some sense into me. From the floor, Rose sleepily mumbled something under her breath that sounded like a threat. Peering over the side of our humble vessel, I watched as we passed a dark, rounded rock peeking out of the river.
Wonderful. Now that I was in charge, there were obstacles I had to avoid. With my luck, I'd probably lose my paddle in the process.
Maybe it was my time to unlock a hidden talent? Was I going to be the expert sailor out of the two of us?
With a more watchful eye, I managed to dodge the next few rocks with relative ease. The current was strong, and my arms burned as I steered independently, but it wasn't the strongest current I'd rowed through. It also helped that none of the rocks were directly blocking the boat's path.
Using my oar to push off another rock, a flicker of pride swelled in my chest. Maybe I really was an expert sailor after all. I could be good at something right away.
If only Melanie could see me now.
Smiling to myself, I turned my attention to the course I'd set. Luckily, I'd looked up just in time to see a larger rock heading straight for us. Tensing, I twisted, my grip on the paddle's handle tightening.
If we capsized, I would never hear the end of it.
Thinking purely out of self-preservation, I pushed the paddle through the water, the burn in my arms intensifying. Twisting, I knew that the boat would probably turn if I rowed on the other side. Shoving the oar into the water with probably too much force, my heart leaped into my throat. The boat was turning, but I'd slightly overestimated the force required to do so. As we slipped past the rock, Rose's end of the canoe smacked into the side of it.
Rose stirred behind me, understandably startled. "What's going on?"
Swallowing, I licked my lips, forcing a nonchalant composure. "Oh, we're okay." My heartbeat was racing, but my voice was steady enough. "We must have hit a rock under the water or something. At least, I didn't see anything."
The lies slipped out easily enough.
Rose seemed to buy them. Taking in a deep breath, I heard her settle again. "Please don't tip us over. I don't want to wake up wet and drowning."
"You got it, chief," I muttered, feeling a little lightheaded. Now that the adrenaline was ebbing away, my body felt a bit heavy.
At least I was alert and awake now.
Flinching, my back stiffened as a few droplets of river water landed on my thigh. As the cold seeped into my skin, I fought the urge to rub at it. This was already the sixth time since lunch, and at this rate, my pants were going to be soaked come evening.
"You'd splash less if your paddling wasn't so sloppy."
Thankfully, I was sitting in front of Rose, meaning she couldn't see my glower.
Luckily for me, the afternoon sun was shining brightly. Any water I'd splash all over myself would dry relatively quickly. If I managed to keep the water where it belonged, that is.
After nearly capsizing the boat the night before, rowing had become a little stressful. Thankfully, my other night shifts had all gone smoothly, but I still found myself a little worried that something like that would happen again tonight. Except for this time, we'd actually fall in, lose the paddles and our boat, get caught by the elves, and get dragged back to Lorien, where I was sure a lecture awaited.
More water splashed onto the fabric of my pants.
"Honestly Kat," Rose asked, "do you need a break?"
"No, I'm fine." Shaking my head, I tried to pull myself together, focusing in vain on the movements of my arms and the positioning of my shoulders. After a few moments of silence, the threat of the elves still weighing heavily on my mind, I asked, "Do you think they're coming after us?"
"Oh probably," she answered without hesitation "but I also think they expected to have caught us by now." My stomach twisting, I regretted asking. "With any luck, though, they'll figure we're too much trouble to keep pursuing."
That was the question I kept stumbling back to. Why were they bothering to come after us in the first place? If we weren't in Lorien, then the elves had one less problem to worry about. Realistically, they couldn't babysit us forever.
After giving it more thought, I supposed they could. They would live a lot longer than we would. Even still, babysitting us probably wasn't a glorious job, and I doubted any of the elves actually wanted to do it. There was also the pressure of keeping track of us, which was practically impossible with Rose.
Well, they had been entrusted to look after us, but why bother agreeing to it? They probably had so many better things to be doing with their time than babysitting a few humans.
"Hey."
Turning my head to the side, I kept an eye on my rowing and called, "Yeah? What's up?"
"I wouldn't worry so much about the elves." Squinting, Rose looked up from her rowing. "We've been on the water for a while now, and the longer we row, the more distance we cover, putting them farther behind us. Besides," out of the corner of my eyes, I saw her smile, "we're good sailors. We've been following the currents pretty closely."
I fought to keep my jaw from dropping open. She was trying to make me feel better? She had to be. Otherwise, why would she have said it? But that meant she had noticed I was worried. She had noticed and cared.
I never thought I'd live to see the day.
"Um," I tried not to let too much shock into my voice. "Thanks." My words wobbled a bit in response.
She didn't answer, but that didn't really matter. I was still absolutely floored.
Another healthy amount of water splashed onto my pants, but I hardly noticed.
Letting out a small sigh, I watched as the sun continued to rise, the soft splashes of my oar reaching my ears.
A few days had passed, and we were still successfully on the run. At this point, my concern about being caught was starting to fade pleasantly. From what I could tell, we'd managed to stay ahead of them because there didn't seem to be any indications that we were being followed. That said, there were no signs of our company either, but I tried not to worry too much about that.
We would find them. For some reason, I was sure of it.
Looking over the side of the boat, I watched as the morning gathered around me.
The water was as still as glass, save for the few ripples from my continuous rowing. A soft breeze blew a few strands of my hair into my eyes, and all around me, I could hear that same breeze dancing through the trees. A small bird flew overhead, chirping to itself, and I tilted my head back. Above me, a few clouds floated by, starkly white against the fading orange and pink colors of the sky.
Back home, I never would have experienced any of this.
There was no fleeing for my life or fighting for my survival, but there was no waking up on a boat in the middle of the river, peacefully watching the sunrise, either. There was no paddling in the middle of the night, marveling at how I was still alive. There were no burning sensations in my arms, showing me physical proof of my growth.
Speaking of, the fatigue I'd been feeling was vanishing. Even now, my arms felt pretty good.
Taking in another deep breath, a small smile shone on my face.
Another day had gone by, and the elves of Lorien were nowhere to be seen. I didn't want to jump to any conclusions, but it seemed like we were in the clear.
Unfortunately, that didn't mean things were smooth sailing from here. No, Rose insisted that we now had bigger fish to fry.
A few hours ago, a dull roaring had filled the otherwise peaceful air around us. As time passed, it had not only persisted but had also grown louder. From there, it wasn't hard to put together that we were headed for a drop of some sort.
The way I saw it, several possible scenarios were before us now.
If the approaching waterfall wasn't very big, then we could easily navigate down it and continue searching for our traveling companions. Personally, this was the one I was hoping for. It seemed relatively low-stress despite having no certainty in a reunion with our company.
If the waterfall was rather steep but there were signs of our company on the banks, then we would have some guidance in where to go. Aragorn and the others weren't stupid enough to try sailing down a steep waterfall, so there was a good chance we'd see their empty boats at the very least. In my mind, though, this was not an ideal situation. It still lacked a nice reunion, and it also meant that Rose and I would need to become skilled trackers on land. Knowing Rose, she would probably be able to figure out something, but I still didn't like it.
On the other hand, if the waterfall was still steep but there were no signs of our company, then we were hosed. We had lost them for good, and unfortunately for us, our best option was heading back to Lorien on foot. I now realized we could go back by following the river, but that was where the "good" in the situation ended. Our departure was probably a well-known fact by now, so it was unlikely that Rose or I would be allowed to wander anywhere unaccompanied ever again.
And both of the steep waterfall scenarios assumed we wouldn't go over accidentally and fall to our deaths.
"I think we should stick close to one of the banks from now on." As if she could read my mind, Rose added, "I don't want to get pulled into anything unexpectedly."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
As we neared a bend in the river, we both steered our little vessel to the shore on our right.
Maybe it was to the stillness of the water, or maybe it was the prospect of seeing signs of our company, but I didn't feel afraid. In fact, I was having a pretty good time. I had a decent grasp on how rowing worked, and the prospect of being sent down another boat didn't scare me down to my bones.
Was this how Rose felt about everything all the time?
"I can see something upriver!" Somehow, Rose managed to smack me in the back and keep paddling at the same time.
My eyes shot forward, and I sat up, the boat rocking in protest. Peering around the bend as best as I could, a few brown shapes began appearing on the stony bank. We were still a ways out, making it hard to tell for sure, but they did look kind of boat-shaped.
Or maybe they were just rocks?
"Do you think that's them?" I shot her a look over my shoulder, a little hope gathering in my chest. "Do you think they're still there?"
Looking over me, Rose squinted into the distance, frowning. "I don't want to get our hopes up, but I'd put good money on it being them. As for if they're still there," she pushed her paddle into the water with more strength than before, "there's only one way to find out."
Fixing my eyes on the small, wooden shapes in the distance, I put more determination in my paddling. A slight ache registered in my arms, but it felt different now. It felt good.
