A/N Heyo. Okay I admit it, when I first started writing the last chapter this was gonna be a part of it, but then it got really long and it was about to reach chapter one length and it felt weird to go so much longer than usual soooo I split it but you get it all really close together.

Also just like, shoutout to everyone for showing up cause it gives me the warm fuzzies.

No. Seriously. Real talk.

Every time the review/fav/follow/hit count goes up at all up I flail like a weirdo. I'm mega excited you guys are having fun cause I've been trying to write this story for a decade (Aragorn is not an easy dude to get a grasp on writing for sometimes) and just decided practically on a whim to post what I had for it back in December cause maybe it would motivate me to work on it more. And well, since almost none of what's been posted so far was written before December, I'd say it worked!

Thank you all so much for coming along for this ride and giving me somebody to write for other than just mysel So. Anyway. Yeah...sappy feels.

Buckle up kids, we've barely gotten through disc one of the extended FotR at this point and there's SO much more pining and tension to go.

Also is that how we still do heart emojis? Asking for a friend.

They'd been traveling by night for a large portion of their journey south, which none of them were particularly excited about. Harder to track them? Sure. Easier to slip through unseen? Definitely. The last nail in the coffin of her circadian rhythm? Absolutely.

Once they passed the Ford of Bruinen the wind began to blow all day and all night. Day meant rest and sleep if you could get it. But the bite of the wind off of the Misty Mountains in late December combined with dreary, cloudy days made even the weariest one of them beg for bright sunlight.

There were no fires, no warm meals. Dells and bushes ended up being their beds and camouflage and some days were so bitter they huddled together, wrapped tight in their cloaks with the hoods drawn.

It was two long weeks before the weather shifted. The landscape changed and became oddly lush for the late season. Sun came out, the wind died down, and Josephine could almost swear it was suddenly spring.

Gandalf paused, looking at the land around them. "The borders of Hollin. Elves lived here in happier days and the land will have remembered them. I think we will rest here, not only for today but tonight as well."

At the promise of a bright day and a long rest camp was made quickly and they found a deep hollow shrouded by bushes where they made a fire. The first hot meal since Rivendell had them all a lot happier than they'd been in weeks.

As tired as she was, Josephine didn't hurry to her bedroll, they'd be able to sleep all night anyway. So she followed suit with Frodo and Sam and laid back on the grass, letting the sun hit her face.

Boromir, restless still, had started teaching Merry and Pippin like he had her. In fact it looked very much like the bit they'd do on the rocky outcropping in the movie, but their camp was nothing like that now.

"Two, one, five!" He called off as they countered him. "Good, very good."

It hadn't hit her until then and she sat up.

"Move your feet." Aragorn added, lighting his pipe.

"You look good, Pippin."

"Thanks."

"Faster!" Boromir urged.

Josephine wracked her brain, Hollin had gone by so quickly in the book she had to admit that part hadn't stuck with her since her last reading. But what was happening in front of her was word for word the movie.

Boromir accidentally hit Pippin's hand and he yelped. He apologized, Pippin kicked him, and Merry attacked. Josephine watched it all, fascinated and unable to not be amused as Boromir's legs went out from under him and Aragorn laughed.

As they grappled she looked to the south, scrutinizing the empty sky. No crebain? North, none. Nothing east or west either. Maybe they weren't coming yet since the location wasn't the same? Maybe she could just enjoy the sunny morning after all?

The wrestling continued and a bit late on his mark, Aragorn set his pipe aside and stood to intervene. "Gentlemen, that's enough!" He was on his back in seconds, the next addition to the melee.

She couldn't help it, even having seen it a hundred times. He hit the ground and she burst out laughing. By the time he'd collected himself and calmed the other three down so he could go back to his seat, she'd lessened it to a snicker. He glared at her playfully as he set his pipe between his lips and she sputtered out one last laugh.

"Did you know that was coming." He said quietly, having to lean in quite a bit to be heard.

"No." she lied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I have never seen you so smug and I can tell when you're lying." He said in a low tone and sat back up with his own smug smirk.

Everything in her wanted to shoot back some kind of snappy comment, but she couldn't think of a damn thing that would top the look he'd just given her and the roll of his voice when he'd spoken. This was fine. The sudden blank mind and heat in her cheeks was stress and lack of sleep. It had nothing, absolutely nothing to do with how close he'd been when he'd said it either.

"It hardly touched you, there's not even a scratch!" Boromir said dismissively, drawing her attention back to him and the Hobbits.

"Yes well, it hurt just the same." Pippin defended, rubbing the offended wrist.

Josephine squinted at Boromir. "Why do you apologize when you hit Pippin on the wrist and sass me when you hit mine over and over again?"

"Because you, little sister, demanded I train you as I would a soldier under my command." Boromir said with a smirk as he sheathed his sword. "Pippin, did not."

She rolled her eyes but nodded. "Okay fine, point taken."

They'd shaken off what was left of their energy and started settling in, but Aragorn wasn't so lucky. He'd moved to stand in the shadow of a tree near the stop of the ridge, trying to put his finger on what it was that had him so restless. Maybe it was nothing at all, a quiet valley in a quiet land and his worry was just coming from another concern.

Looking back at earlier that day, when Boromir had wrestled with the Hobbits, he was uneasy. Was it their over confidence in making so much noise? Yes, that for certain seemed to be a moment they were lucky to have not drawn some kind of attention. But that was not all that was on his mind. No, he would be glad if that was all it was.

Josephine rarely strayed from his thoughts, though he might have been able to lie to himself and say it was due to the travel and being together all of the time, if not for moments like that. When he'd fallen her laugh had cut so clearly through the camp he'd heard nothing else. The unhindered smile he saw on her face when he'd sat up set an ease in his heart he could never remember feeling before. The final laugh she gave when he retook his seat had only heightened what he was already experiencing and his heart had started racing. Aragorn swore to himself he would not give into that feeling, now was not the time for such things, nor would he let such things on his own part interfere with her responsibility in their journey.

"What is the matter, Strider?" Merry called from below. "What are you looking for? Do you miss the wind?"

The distraction from his thoughts was a gift, and he called back quickly. "No indeed. But I miss something." Perhaps it was not just Josephine who worried him. "I have been here many times, in many seasons, and there is always the sound of birds." He looked around them with a frown. "There's no sound for miles, I do not understand it."

"Perhaps," Gandalf offered "The size of our group in a land that seldom sees a traveler has silenced them."

"I hope that is it. But I have a sense of watchfulness, and of fear, that I have never had here before." He looked over at Josephine as if asking her if he should be so wary, but as well it made him feel better to know where she was.

"Then we must be more careful." Gandalf said. "If you bring a Ranger with you, it is well to pay attention to him, especially if the Ranger is Aragorn. We must stop talking aloud, rest quietly, and set the watch."

Josephine wasn't bothered when it came to her turn for the watch, she hadn't been sleeping for awhile at that point anyway. She watched the skies above them critically. If the crebain didn't come, she'd have to tell Gandalf to make for Caradhras or else they'd keep heading for the Redhorn gate. She wasn't sure what that would look like if they went there, but she wasn't going to entertain the idea.

Maybe it was Aragorn bringing it up, but as her watch went on she noticed how eerily silent it was. Not a single bird, squirrel, or even bug seemed to be around and if they were, they weren't making a sound. It seemed to still be bothering him too, as he got up and joined her.

They didn't speak, or share any stories like they usually would. The only thing they did was watch the horizon from the ridge, waiting for something to happen. Soon even the occasional breeze stopped and the air felt dead. It made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she looked over at Aragorn, who nodded with the same tense expression.

Then she saw it, a speck in the sky to the south. It was still too far away for him to see, but there was no sense in her waiting it out. "Crebain."

In a snap he grabbed her, pulling her into the dark shade of a holly bush with his arm around her waist. "Lie flat and still." He hissed, his weight pressing her into the grass as half of his body covered hers.

The flock broke in two and a host of them came straight for the ridge, flying low. They were massive, larger than any crow or raven she'd ever seen back home. They flew so densely that they cast a dark shadow on the ground that swept over where they hid. One harsh croak was heard but nothing else beyond the swish of their wings.

Aragorn kept them there until well after the flocks had disappeared. She wasn't sure whether she was feeling her heart pounding or his as he finally stirred and she wrenched her fingers away from where she'd been gripping his hand. She'd felt it again, the deep unease that seemed to come off of the servants of the enemy. The crebain had never scared her, not in the story. They were birds, spies, but that was all. At least that was how she'd felt before.

They hurried back to the others and woke Gandalf, who followed them back up to the ridge. Leaving the company to sleep while they still could, Aragorn explained what happened.

"They're flying between the mountains and the Greyflood, and they have passed over Hollin."

Leaning on his staff, Gandalf scanned the skies. "The passage south is being watched. And in that case so is the Redhorn Gate. We could not hope to get over that now without being seen. We must take the Pass of Caradhras."