The remnants of the Company were already on the second day of their chase and they found the trail of the orcs after founding some of their bodies. Later the company found another sign of their captured companions. It was the brooch of a cloak from Lorien. At dusk they decided to stop for a while for it is now nearing evening and they might miss the track of the orcs. Price, Mactvish and Nikolai were too tired to suggest that they could use their taclights to follow the trail.

Price woke up and found that most of his companions were still asleep. He checked his watch and it was 04:45 in the morning and found Legolas standing near them. Price picked up his rifle and bag and shook himself awake. Nikolai and Mactavish woke up next and asked Price,

"What time is it Price?"

"O Four forty five Soap. Pick up your gear; we might be starting any minute from now."

Aragorn then woke up and then followed Gimli. All of them knew that their quarry have a great lead on them and after Aragorn listened in the ground for signs of their quarry, then they continued the chase for another day until in the morning of the day after. They saw movement of horsemen approaching their direction Price, Mactavish, and Nikolai grabbed binoculars and had a closer look at them, fortunately their position is on a hill and it gave them a good view. They looked like horsemen from the middle ages armed with swords, spears and bows. Then they were shaken by Aragorn and said,

"What devices are you holding?"

Price handed the binoculars to Aragorn and said,

"It is called binoculars; it's used to make far objects look nearer."

The ranger returned the binoculars to the captain who was now aiming his rifle at the horsemen. Aragorn asked Price,

"What are you trying to do? Shoot them? But we are outnumbered?"

Price replied,

"We could take out most of them if we used our grenade launchers."

Nikolai and Mactavish already had their rifles aimed at the horsemen. The three laid prone with their rifles aimed. Aragorn and his other companions looked at the three men with wonder. At length Aragorn then said,

"Come on the three of you, I have been with these riders long ago. I could talk to them. Let us move down this hill. There is no need to use your weapons again this time. "

"Will do, don't worry when you talk to them we got your back."

Said Mactavish who drew his USP .45 and chambered a round in it, Nikolai and Price also did the same

The three followed him and they all moved down the hill and waited for the riders with their cloaks wrapped around them. Then when Aragorn rose they were quickly surrounded by the horsemen with their spears pointed towards them. The three men rose with their hands and their pistols at the back of their heads. They stood silently as they watched Aragorn and the leader of the horsemen, Marshall Eomer talk and the Marshall said something about the Lothlorien that angered Legolas and Gimli. Price and Aragorn intervened when their two companions grabbed their weapons, Price raised his M1911 from the back of his head and fired three shots in the air to take their attention, Price shouted,

"What on earth are the two of you thinking?! Calm down! We can't wage a fight in the middle of nowhere with no chance of us surviving it! Let Aragorn speak!"

"But Captain Price-"

Replied GImli,

Price interrupted

"Stand down Gimli, Legolas your bow! Lower it! Let Aragorn handle it."

The elf and dwarf lowered their weapons and Price holstered his M1911. Legolas said,

"Pardon me Captain what the Marshall said angered us."

Price snapped back,

"It's alright Legolas and Gimli I know the rest of you really revere Lady Galadriel."

The captain nodded back to Aragorn and Eomer to continue before placing his hands at the back of his head again Mactavish whispered,

"Nice move Price…"

"Hopefully they are not hardheads to deal with. But they are really short tempered."

Replied Price, Mactavish just shrugged Nikolai nodded to him in approval.

The Riders were not really hostile as it turns out. They knew both Boromir and Gandalf and were saddened when they heard that they were dead and the Company learned from the Riders that he orcs that they were chasing were already killed in a battle however they found no hobbits among the dead and their land of Rohan is in trouble because of Saruman. The riders now assembled and Eomer gave them horses. Unfortunately there were only three of them and the three men have to use only a single horse. Before Eomer left he looked at the three of them who already had their rifles at their hands and asked Aragorn,

"Who are these strange men you are with? They are strangest men I have met and they are armed with weapons I have never seen or even heard before?

"They are soldiers Eomer, soldiers from a distant land they call Afghanistan. The old looking man is Captain Price; the others are Captain Mactavish and the last is Sergeant Nikolai."

Eomer looked at three of them and said

"We have never met men like you. I see that you have fought wars and had men under your command. I hope you may aid us."

"And that we hope so Marshall Eomer. I also hope that this horse could bear three men. You owe us about the orcs that you had killed."

"It will, Captain Price the horses of the Mark are sturdy beasts…"

"I have one last question… Why do you have to use that small weapon of yours?

"I have to calm down my comrades the fastest way possible Marshall, a matter of quick response."

The rest of the Company also promised to come to them in order to return the horses that they lent and to help Rohan in their trouble. Then they separated on their own routes.

The Six now followed the tracks of the orcs that were killed, until they reached the outskirts of Fangorn. The Two Captains and the Pilot came last when their companions came to what seems to be a huge bonfire. They were searching for traces of the hobbits. They decided to bivouac in the forest for night is drawing and they planned to search the hobbits in the forest. The Six hunters were sitting around the fire and discussed about the forest of Fangorn. Celeborn warned them that the forest is perilous and the three men reacted in amazement on what things dwelt in it. Nikolai said,

"What are these things, are they beast, wild men, savages?"

"I have no knowledge about them, Sergeant Nikolai, by the way? Why did you have this Sergeant on your name? And why Mactavish and Price were called Captains?"

Replied Aragorn Nikolai chuckled and replied,

"Well, I was in the Army in the past and I have the rank of Sergeant."

Legolas asked,

"What is Sergeant? Is it a title of a warrior or a king or a lord?"

Nikolai answered as if explaining things to a civilian

"A Sergeant is a rank of a Noncommissioned Officer that could command few men let us say twenty or less in missions. They rank below a Commisioned officer such as a Captain like Captains, Price and Mactavish. Officers could handle more men than me let us say a hundred men or more or less in the rank of a Captain. The ranks go higher and so is the power of command and the number of soldiers under his control with the highest being a general being able to control a whole army and the lowest is called a Private who in other words is the common foot soldier."

Legolas said,

"I do not know that armies are as intricate as what you have said Sergeant Nikolai."

Aragorn added,

"And Boromir was a General in Minas Tirith they say… Alas that he perished."

Price replied,

"Poor man… well at least the orcs that killed him are dead too… He could have helped us in here… or in Gondor. I hope we could find those hobbits in the forest."

Gimli had the first watch for the night and the rest of his companions fell asleep. Mactavish joined the dwarf and brewed coffee using an aluminum mug in the fire which interested the elf and the dwarf because of the smell of it. When Mactavish was finished brewing the coffee the elf asked him,

"What liquid did you brew captain?"

Soap answered,

"This one is called coffee it is bitter if drank pure but it tastes sweeter if you add sugar and milk or creamer. Drink this when you don't want to sleep, very useful for us now. Do you want some, Gimli?"

The dwarf answered,

"Aye Captain, give me some of that brew."

The captain added sugar to the coffee and reached for a couple of mugs and handed it to the Dwarf and Elf, and then he divided the coffee in the mugs and drank the coffee and Mactavish poured the rest of the coffee in his thermos. They sipped their coffee silently until the elf laid down in a strange manner until he fell asleep or what it looked like to Mactavish. Only the two of them remained awake now they reserved the remainder of the elf's coffee for the next one who will take watch. The coffee improved their vigilance and kept them alert. Gimli had his axe at his hand and Mactavish had his M4A1 at his right side and the two resumed their watch. Then they spotted an old man. Mactavish slowly drew his USP .45 and cocked the hammer and pointed the barrel to the old man. The rest of them woke up and Aragorn spoke to the old man but he vanished and the horses were gone. Price rubbed his eyes with his right knuckle in disbelief. Mactavish was blinking while he still held his pistol in his right hand. Nikolai had just grabbed his M9 Berreta lying beside him when the man disappeared. He just said,

"The man vanished right?"

His companions nodded and Aragorn replied,

"And the horses were gone too…"

The Company now rested for the night and Aragorn suspected it was the wizard Saruman who did the trick. It was Nikolai and Aragorn who took watch and the two of them shared the leftover coffee. This time it was Aragorn who was amused by the strange drink of the three strange men. And the watch revolved to Price and Legolas hours later.

The hunters continued their search for the hobbits in the morning. And they found traces of the hobbits like the food wrapping of their Lembas, orc weapons and hobbit footprints. They continued the hunt into the Fangorn forest and found more traces of the hobbits until they came to a hill and the traces ended there. Nikolai, Mactavish, and Price stood alert with their rifles ready. They were looking for any sign of the old man that appeared last night. Legolas sighted the old man wearing a hat and a gray cloak again he was moving towards them. The three men aimed their rifles at him. The elf aimed his bow at him but Aragorn did not permit them to shoot. The old man said that he wanted to talk to them and spoke as if he knew them. Price, Mactavish and Nikolai were suspicious.

"This man is playing mind games with us…"

Mactavish thought and shook his head. And He listened at the conversation between Aragorn and the old man. At first it was pretty nonsense for the Captain. The old man seemed to be successful in delaying the search but when he said that he knew that they were looking for hobbits and he knew where they are and so he asked them to talk with him, the captain raised his brow and he quietly said to Price and Nikolai,

"I guess this man is bluffing with us Price. He really wanted to delay us."

"I got that Soap; He's sitting on a stone. Steady. Keep that rifle trained on him."

Gimli then cried aloud and moved to attack but the man mysteriously disarmed him. The three men fired a short burst from their rifles. The shots surprisingly missed the old man but the three men were unable to hit the man. The old man seemed to use his staff as a sort of a weapon for he was now strangely shining in white which made the three men look away from him. The three men switched to their side arms as they covered their faces with their left hands and fired at him. But when Legolas said that the old man was Gandalf, they slowly lowered their handguns and had a good look at the old man who seemed to have changed a lot from his hair to his clothes and it seemed that it was white. The three lowered their pistols astounded and Price muttered,

"Where the hell have you been, Mr. Gandalf?"