Hi people!
We all know what happens in Amon Hen, but what's Kitty's role?
Before starting I want to thank Celridel for being a great help as well as invite to all the readers to leave their reviews which will be well welcomed.
And now let's begin with the chapter 16!
Chapter 16: To Isengard
The Anduin River was grey as the Fellowship floated along it, little leaves in the great waters. There was silence in the boats, each worried and absorbed in their own thoughts.
Kitty was hugging her knees, repeating the words of Lady Galadriel, and touching the necklace given to her. She did not believe in prophecies, and yet the voice in her head was insistent, telling her to trust the Lady of Light.
But there were other questions that whirled around her mind. What was the test? What role would her heart play? What was this? She absently touched the stone again, wondering again what use the beautiful necklet would be? Galadriel would give no frivolous gift, she was sure, but though this was lovely beyond compare, it would be little use in battle. She was not defenseless, Boromir had kept an old sword for her, and she carried the bow and quiver Legolas had given her.
When dawn came, for they traveled by night once more, the Fellowship landed on an reedy islet. Boromir had stepped out first on the muddy shores, only to see a shadow slip from behind a lichen-clad trunk. It was gone before he had a clear glimpse of it.
"Gollum. He has tracked us since Moria." said a voice behind him. "I had hoped we would lose him on the river, but he's too clever a waterman."
"And if he alerts the enemy to whereabouts it will make the crossing even more dangerous." said Boromir disdainfully. "He has already threatened Kitty."
Aragorn raised an eyebrow.
"In the caves of Moria." added Boromir. "He questioned her about the Ring, but he did nothing, save frighten her."
Aragorn sighed wearily. "But why did he leave her? Gollum would not abandon…"
"Legolas came. The wretch fled before the Elf could see him." broke in Boromir, and Aragorn frowned at his tone, but he said nothing. The man of Gondor spoke again.
"Minas Tirith is the safer road. You know it. From there we can regroup and strike out for Mordor from a place of strength."
"There is no strength in Gondor that can avail us." answered Aragorn
"You were quick enough to trust the Elves. Have you so little faith in your own people?" said Boromir indignantly. "Yes, there is weakness. We are falling, but we have courage, and the honor of Men, but you see it not."
Aragorn turned away, but Boromir called him back, his grey eyes mocking in the dimness of the young light. "You are afraid, Aragorn! You have lived on the outskirts all your life, but you will not return to the people that are yours , if you are, as you claim, Isildur's Heir!"
"I will not bring the Ring within a hundred leagues of your city." said Aragorn coldly, and was gone.
The next night they continued down the river. There was silence, as the river gurgled beneath the dead branches of trees that overhung them. There was a drizzle of rain, and it was cold.
Kitty, seated in the stern, had noticed Boromir's glances towards the boat ahead of them, where Frodo was.
"Boromir, is it difficult to row?" she piped up, trying to distract him.
The Man of Gondor took a breath. "No, indeed. All you need is strength and rhythm."
Kitty smiled. "Will you let me try for a little?"
"Do you know how?"
"No, but you can teach me." said Kitty eagerly.
Boromir chuckled. "Another time, Little One. There is no spare moment for that now." he replied, his eyes still fixed on Frodo.
Kitty shuddered, hugging her knees as the mist swirled about them, and dawn drew on, so the sky was not light. She could see dim shapes of the low cliffs rising ever higher, shadowy walls with their feet in the hurrying river. In the mid-morning the clouds drew down lower, and it began to rain heavily. The rain, however, did not last long. Slowly the sky above grew lighter, and then suddenly the clouds broke. The fogs and mists were gone. Before the travelers lay a wide ravine, with great rocky sides to which clung, upon shelves and in narrow crevices, a few trees. The channel grew narrower and the River swifter.
Now they were speeding along the River, and peering into the distance, Kitty saw two great statues, tall and ominous. But they were noble, majestic, hands outstretched towards the North. Great power and majesty they still wore, the silent wardens of a long-vanished kingdom.
"Behold the Argonath, the Pillars of the Kings!" cried Aragorn, in his eyes a wild light. "We shall pass them soon. Keep the boats in line, and as far apart as you can! Hold the middle of the stream!"
Awe fell upon the company, and even Boromir bowed his head as the boats whirled by, frail and fleeting as little leaves, under the enduring shadow of the sentinels of Númenor. So they passed into the dark chasm of the Gates.
"The Professor would be so excited to see all this!" Kitty thought sadly.
A couple of hours later, they came ashore, hearing the roaring of the great falls. Even from there, they could hear the mists, and the thunder was deafening. Aragorn gave orders to disembark and prepare the camp.
"We cross the lake at nightfall. Hide the boats and continue on foot. We approach Mordor from the north." he said
"Oh yes ?" answered Gimli annoyed "Is it just a matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil? An impassable labyrinth of razor sharp rocks! And after that, it gets even better! Festering, stinking marshlands, far as the eye can see!"
"That is our road. I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf." answered Aragorn impassibly.
Before Gimli could answer, Merry was on his feet. "Where's Frodo?"
Kitty had taken advantage of Boromir's teaching as she tracked the noble-man through the woods, growing more worried by the second, as heard, in the distance, two voices she knew very well.
"There is no other way!"
"I ask only for the strength to defend my people! If you would but lend me the One Ring…" answered the voice of Boromir.
"No." Frodo's voice was growing frightened.
"What do you recoil? I am no thief."
"You are not yourself!"
"What chance do you think you have? They will find you! They will take the One Ring and you will beg for death before the end!"
There was a silence that just endured but a second after the voice of Boromir that didn't sound like him said this time,
"You fool!"
Kitty ran, desperate, but as she burst into the clearing, she saw Frodo, leaping away as Boromir dashed after him. "It is not yours, save by unhappy chance. It could have been mine!"
The Hobbit was gone, as the man of Gondor fell to the ground. Kitty had shoved him down. "Boromir!" she screamed. "Stop it! Come back!"
"I will kill you!" cried Boromir. "You witch, dare you to come between me!"
Kitty had left her sword in the camp, she fled in the phasing state, fleeing through the trees until she heard no pursuing footsteps. She had run the way Frodo must have come, surely he would take off the Ring now…Yes! There he was now, dashing through the forest, down to the shore. She followed him, far behind, for he ran with the speed of madness.
Her feet touched the pebbles of the shore. There they were, Frodo, by one of the grey boats, and there was Sam, running out of the forest. The Halfling turned to Kitty, shaking his head. "I must do this alone."
Kitty shook her head, but it was Sam who spoke. "No, Mister Frodo, you won't do this alone."
"Sam's right! An X-men never leaves teammates behind!" exclaimed Kitty, her eyes filled with tears, knowing that this was in vain. The hobbit was right.
"'But I am going to Mordor." said Frodo softly.
"Not alone." replied Sam instantly.
Kitty drew a deep breath, knelt down and hugged Frodo. "Good luck." she whispered, and ran.
The clear sound of the Horn of Gondor was echoing through the words, shrill blast upon shrill blast, a cry for help, and she must answer it. She ran the way she had come, like shadow.
She stopped, riveted to the ground. Boromir was there, fighting endlessly, desperately ,against hideous creatures who pressed all around him. Many lay dead, but more were yet alive. Black-fletched arrows had pierced him, and still his sword swung round and round. She was trembling with terror now, but he was her friend. She dashed out, seizing a sword from a dead Orc as she ran, ready to die with a friend.
Kitty did not remember a fight like that, not even with the Sentinels. Was it that the orcs were more powerful warriors? It was hard for her to hold her ground, even with the aid of Boromir. The Orcs clustered around them, their hideous faces so close, black daggers and rapiers thrust at them from every side. And Boromir was weakening, his wounds were taking toll.
The truth was that for Kitty to maintain her position for the first opportunity to appear, to go to the aid of Boromir who had blew the Horn a couple of times, each weaker, was the
Suddenly, she felt that a strange presence or rather a strange feeling in her mind as of someone who remembers something came to her mind. With that strange sensation came a strange consequence: now she fought with more fluid movements and some of them that Boromir had never taught her, her reflexes had become faster and the force in her arms had become greater. She was puzzled, and worried, but she would not waste it. The Orcs were backing away, and Kitty, thinking to drive them away, dashed towards them, when a thick cloud of green smoke enveloped her. Kitty had dashed head on into it. Her head was dull now, she could not move. Vaguely she saw, through her dimming eyes, a human figure come. Spines were protruding from her back. There was an aching pain in her ribs, and Kitty feel senseless.
Marrow turned to the group of Orcs who had come back to approach Kitty who was senseless.
"Do not dare to hurt her!" she snarled. "Tie her and take her to Isengard. One scratch and I will make you sufferer. Where are the Halflings?" she added crisply, looking over the Uruk-Hai to see Merry and Pippin bound, slung limply over the backs of two Orcs. "Where are the others?" she hissed.
"We do not know."
Marrow cursed. "Damn your useless hides!" She drew in a breath. "Take what we have to Isengard! Now, move!"
The Uruk-Hai fled through the forest, and she turned to Boromir, who was kneeling, grasping vainly at the arrow in his chest, and smiled.
Kitty, Merry and Pippin have been made prisoners, even if Kitty is a mutant and she knows fighting unlike the hobbits.
What about Boromir?
Waiting for reviews guys, they're really important since they're the compass of this story.