Chapter 37: The Forbidden Pool
As Porter continued to dwell in his grief…
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"Captain Porter," one of his men called out to him.
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Porter turned his head as his man came toward him… and whispered something in his ear…
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Porter and a few of his men went to a cavern storeroom, where Ethan and Connwr were sleeping. The area was scattered about with crates and barrels around the room. He stood before Ethan as he awoke.
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Porter said to the Hobbit, "you must come with me, now."
Ethan and Porter went outside the cave and came onto a ledge. The moon shone full, as it painted everything silver. Porter was up front while Ethan was way behind him. The captain was at the edge of the ledge, looking down towards a pool at the bottom of the waterfall, for anything suspicious. Once he did…
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Porter turned back to Ethan as he pointed down below, "down there." He said beckoning the pair…
Ethan came up to Porter… and looked down towards the pool… shocked and surprised…
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To see the creature, Sméagol-Gollum, sitting on a rock at the pool's edge… just before he dove into the silver water…
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"To enter the Forbidden Pool bears the penalty of death." Porter told them quietly, as he gasped inwardly at Porter.
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The young captain then turned his head upwards, with Ethan following his gaze…
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And archers silently appeared out of the bushes, with arrows notched on their bows, ready to shoot Smeagol. Porter then turned downwards…
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Where more archers appeared, from their hiding places, with bows at the ready, to shoot the creature that was violating their territory…
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"…They wait for my command," Porter said, watching his captives closely, as they were dismayed to know that their guide will be shot on sight, "…shall I shoot?"
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Ethan looked at each other from the corners of their eyes, feeling that they have to do something fast. They both watched Smeagol play by the pool in horrified indecision. Smeagol climbed out of the water onto the rock with a fish, as he sang:
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The rock and pool…
Is nice and cool…
So juicy sweeet…!
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As Smeagol enjoyed his song…
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Porter lifted his arm to give the signal to shoot the creature while glancing at Ethan with a raised brow. Their dismay increased greatly, as the archers tightened their bows…
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And our only wish…
To catch a fish…
So juicy sweeeeet…!
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Smeagol continued singing, whacking the fish hard upon the rock a few times…
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Ethan looked wide eyed at Porter, then back down at the pool where Smeagol was happily eating the fish. as he was the only one who could tell Porter to stop. that Ethan was reluctant to answer Porter about him in the first place, which was probably the reason that he only wanted Ethan to come… because they had found Smeagol. If Ethan was to let Porter shoot, it would simply be murder. But if they were to beg for Smeagol to be let go… their request would only be ignored…
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The fish almost wriggled out of Smeagol's grasp, but regained his hold… and whacked it on the rock many times more, even harder, unaware of the danger that he was in…
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Faramir was ready to give the signal for firing…
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"Wait!" Ethan spoke up and Porter stopped, as the Hobbit knew that they had to tell Porter about the creature, "…this creature is bound to me… and I to him."
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With a perplexed expression, Porter was both surprised and not surprised to hear that Ethan knew about the creature and didn't tell him before.
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"…He is our guide," Ethan answered further, nodding in agreement and pleaded with the captain, "please… let me go down to him."
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Smeagol continued tearing into the raw fish with a very hearty appetite, happily enjoying his meal. Ethan pushed his way through the bushes behind Smeagol as his heart sank, thinking that it would probably be impossible for the creature to ever understand or believe… that Ethan had saved his life in the only way he could…
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"Smeagol," he called quietly, but Smeagol could barely hear Ethan at first, spiting out a piece of the fish in his hands.
"Master is here," Ethan spoke up a little… and Smeagol turned around, looking behind him in surprise.
"…Come, Sméagol," Ethan continued to call out, beckoning his guide.
Smeagol looked at Ethan hesitantly.
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"…Trust master… come," Ethan said, slowly backing up the way he had come and gesturing for Smeagol to follow.
Smeagol paused for a moment… before asking in bewildered confusion, "…we must, go now?"
"Yes, Smeagol, its time for us to go now," answered Ethan.
but you must trust master. Follow me, come on… come." answered Ethan
Smeagol then put the fish in his mouth… and hesitantly started to follow Ethan with a smile…
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"…Come, Smeagol," Frodo encouraged him, "nice Sméagol. That's it… come on…"
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Smeagol happily continued to follow Frodo… because had a master that he could trust. Then the creature's eyes widened as he looked wildly from left to right…
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And one of Porter's men took him by surprise as he grabbed Smeagol by the neck and held him up, ambushing him from the bushes. The rest of the rangers came out of the bushes, aiming their bows at the creature.
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"Don't hurt him!" Ethan cried anxiously to the soldiers, very shocked to see the rangers ambushing Sméagol…
"Sméagol don't struggle!" Ethan screamed wildly to the still struggling Sméagol, "Sméagol, listen to me!"
"Master!" Smeagol wailed reproachfully at Ethan, feeling betrayed by the one Hobbit he truly loved… and trusted.
Then the rangers covered Smeagol's face with a black cloth, as he was carried away, whimpering and screeching miserably. Ethan stared after them with a stricken expression and looked up at Porter as he turned away from the pool, taking Sméagol prisoner.
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In another part of the cave, Porter's rangers wrestled with Sméagol even more, punching and slapping him fiercely, being tortured mercilessly like he was with the Orcs at Barad-dûr.
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"Ahhhhhhh! No! Nooooo!" Sméagol wailed, begging the rangers to stop beating him senseless.
"That's enough!" Porter called to the men.
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And they threw the creature down onto the rocky ground. Crying in misery, Sméagol crawled and scrambled into a corner and curled up into ball, under a bulge in the rock wall, with his back, to the men, whimpering in fear of them.
Porter went up to Sméagol and asked intensely, "where are you leading them?"
Smeagol snuggled closer to the rock wall, his arms wrapped around himself, his hands over his shoulders and on his back and wouldn't answer him, weeping and sobbing quietly.
"Answer me!" Porter demanded, growing impatient.
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Suddenly…
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"Sméa… gol?" he asked himself, cooing and stroking his hand smoothly on his back…
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But apparently, it wasn't Sméagol talking… it was Gollum… now trying to take control…
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"…Why does it cry, Sméagol?"
"…Cruel men hurts us," Sméagol answered, sobbing and deeply hurt, "master tricksed us."
"Of course he did," Gollum said reasonably.
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Sméagol sobbed again…
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"I told you he was tricksy," Gollum confirmed about Ethan as Sméagol sobbed even more, "I told you he was false."
"Master betrayed ussss!" Gollum hissed harshly, "…they all betrayed us!"
"Noooo, not it's business!" whimpered Sméagol even more, trying to defend Ethan, "leave us alone!"
But…
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"Filthy little hobbitsesss!" Gollum grated roughly, while pounding his fist, "filthy little travelersessss! They stole it from usss! They all stole it from ussss!"
"No… no!" Smeagol groaned miserably, with his hands over his head.
Despite what Porter had witnessed with the seemingly deranged creature… he asked in great curiosity, "…what did they steal…?"
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Then… Gollum turned to face Porter with a wild, savage expression. It seemed that Gollum took over once again…
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"…Myyy… PRECIOUS!" Gollum answered, growling ferociously, "aaaaaarrrrgggggghhhh!"
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Back in the storeroom of the cavern, where the hobbits were being held… Conner was huddled before Frodo, sitting on their knees, discussing what to do next, since their guide was taken prisoner…
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"We have to get out of here." Conner said urgently.
Conner had a suggestion as he looked at Ethan. "I know… you can go, Ethan," he said to Ethan, "go, now!"
Conner crawled up towards Ethan and added, "you can do it. Use the ring, Mr. Ethan. Just this once… put it on… disappear."
But despite the suggestion, Ethan was hesitant.
"…I can't," returned Ethan, with despair in his voice, "…you were right, Conner... You tried to tell me, but…"
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Everyone felt sorry for Ethan, knowing that he finally realized that the ring has been taking ahold of him all this time…
"…I'm sorry," Ethan gave his sincerest apologies to his companions… companions who have been trying to help him on this harsh journey.
"The ring's taking me… if I put it on, he'll find me," ended a horror-thickened Frodo, cringing within his own fear, "…he'll see."
"Ethan," Conner said in concern.
The travelers gasped and stood up as Porter drew his sword…
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"So," said Porter with a tight voice as he began to approach Ethan, "…this is the answer to all the riddles."
Conner stood helplessly, afraid to move to Ethan's defense.
"Here in the wild I have you," Porter added, advancing closer to Ethan, as the Hobbit backed away from him, towards the wall, "two halflings,… and a host of men at my call…"
Ethan flattened himself against the wall, with both arms spread at his sides, his hands gripping the rock…
"…The ring of power within my grasp," Porter continued quietly, almost to himself… as he dipped the tip of his sword into the front of Ethan's shirt… and drew out the ring, hooking the chain from Ethan's neck, "…a chance for Porter, captain of Gondor… to show his quality."
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Everyone continued to stand helpless at Porter's discovery of the ring of power. Suddenly… the ring whispered… and Ethan began to fall into a trance…
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Ethan's look of fear slowly changed… as his eyes rolled up, showing the whites within them…
Porter was tempted as well, knowing he has an object of power within his reach…
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Ethan's eyes met Porter's again, but this time… Ethan looked feral…
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And…
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"…nnnNOOOOOOOOOO!" snarled Ethan, almost roaring, as he grabbed the ring in his hand, and pushed the sword away aggressively, running away from Porter.
"Stop it!" Conner cried angrily, "leave him alone!"
"Don't you understand? He's got to destroy it," Conner said to Porter fervently, "that's where we're going, into Mordor… to the mountain of fire."
Just then, one of Porter's men came in with news. "Osgiliath is under attack," he said urgently, "they call for reinforcements."
"please… it's such a burden to us all. Will you not help us?" asked Conner.
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Porter contemplated all of his prisoners' words and warnings about the ring, as he stood like a statue, indecisive about what to do…
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"Captain?" asked the man.
Moments passed before… Porter replied, "…prepare to leave."
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The man went away to tell the others to pass the order to head for Osgiliath for assistance. Conner waited as Porter turned back to them for his answer…
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"…The ring will go to Gondor," Porter declared to the travelers.