Meanwhile, at Minas Morgul, Frodo, Sam and Gollum were still climbing up the secret stair. The Ring-Bearer was grabbing another step when suddenly, his hand slipped and nearly lose his grip. Thankfully, he managed to hold strong just as Gollum looked down at him " Careful, master ! Very far to fall !" the thin creature remarked as Sam looked up at them with a worried expression despise his tired stare.
"Very dangerous on the stairs ! Come, master ! Come to Sméagol !" Frodo was pulling himself up as he grabbed onto the edge of a platform. He didn't realized that the Ring slipped out of his shirt , revealing itself to Gollum who instantly caught sight of it. The thin creature took a step forward as he slowly extended his hand as to reach the tiny golden object.
Sam seemed to have noticed his behavior because he called out in alarm "Mr. Frodo !" before pulling out his sword and adding to the thin creature " Get back, you !" The Hobbit snarled at Gollum who glanced at him with an expression mixing both annoyance and anger. "Don't touch him !" Sam yelled out in warning as Gollum reached out again for Frodo…. Only to pull the Ring-Bearer forward, helping him out.
" Why does he hates poor Sméagol ? What has Sméagol ever done to him ?" Gollum questioned loudly as Sam , angered by the thin creature's trick, sheathed his weapon away before resuming his climbing. Then Gollum's attention returned on Frodo who was laying down on the ground, exhausted. "Master ?" the thin creature called out before stepping closer and adding while gently caressing Frodo's back
"Master carries a heavy burden... Sméagol knows... Heavy, heavy burden... Fat one cannot know…. Let Sméagol look after Master.." Then he lowered his head closer to the Ring-Bearer before saying quietly so Sam wouldn't hear him " He wants It... He needs It, Sméagol sees it in his eyes ! Very soon he will ask you for It! You will see! The fat one will take It from you !" Frodo's eyes widened at those words and glanced over at Sam who just appeared. The Hobbit looked back at the Ring-Bearer who instantly covered the Ring in a protective manner.
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At Minas Tirith, standing on the walls, a large group of Gondorian Soldiers were looking toward Osgiliath with a terrified expression on their faces as fear could be seen in their eyes. Then Gandalf the White appeared before standing with the scared soldiers to look at the devastated city before him .
"Where are Théoden's Riders ?" one soldier asked loudly before another one, who was standing at the left side of the Wizard inquired worriedly "Will Rohan's army come ? Mithrandir ?" He received no response from Gandalf who staid silent as he looked at Osgiliath. Then he responded in a calm but unsure tone "Courage is the best defense that you have now..."
Meanwhile, Denethor was not really pleased by the fact Osgiliath was taken by the Orcs stating that if Boromir was there , he would have held it to the last man ! And the Steward of Gondor was furious when he found out about Frodo and the Ring being out of reach because Faramir let them go !
Then he ordered his youngest son to find a Captain so he could lead a little army to take back Osgiliath. In an attempt to please his father, Faramir chose himself even if he knew he would surely die in this attack. As he left the throne room, Faramir had inquired his father to have a better opinion of him if he return to which Denethor responded in a cold tone " That will depend on the manner of your return..."
Some times later, a large column of Gondorian Soldiers were slowly riding toward the Gates as each of them harbored a solemn expression on their faces. All around them, citizens of Minas Tirith were watching them with sad expressions on their faces as some even throw flowers in their path.
None of them had a look of hope on their faces as they all knew it was a futile and suicidal mission…. Something Denethor was unable to understand due to his madness. Then a familiar voice echoed as its owner was making its way through the crowd "Faramir ! Faramir !" Gandalf appeared and walked side by side with the Steward's son " Your father's will is turned to madness ! Do not throw away your life so rashly !" The Wizard tried to reason the Man but it was in vain.
"Where does my allegiance lie if not here ? This is the city of the Men of Númenor... I will gladly give my life to defend her beauty, her memory, her wisdom..." Faramir responded calmly and those words caused Gandalf to stop in his track as he looked at the man with sadness in his eyes, whispering but loud enough for the Captain to hear " Your father loves you, Faramir... He will remember it before the end..."
If Faramir heard him, he didn't showed it as he still lead his company to the Gates. When they were outside, the company formed two lines, one before the other , heading toward Osgiliath as the citizens and soldiers of Minas Tirith were watching from the Walls. At the same time, in the throne room, Denethor was eating peacefully, without caring about the fact that his youngest son was riding to his doom , while Pippin, who was now wearing his new outfit was staring at the Steward with a blank expression on his face.
But then Pippin regained his composure when Denethor turned his head to look at him , asking " Can you sing, Master Hobbit ?" The Hobbit looked down as he answered in an unsure tone , surprised by the question "Well, yes…. At least, well enough for my own people... But, we have no songs for great halls and… evil times.." As he responded, Pippin had a sour expression on his face as he didn't like how calm Denethor was when his own son, the remaining one alive, will surely lost his life out there.
"And why should your songs be unfit for my halls?" Denethor asked as he looked at the Hobbit ,sternly before ordering in a harsh tone "Come, sing me a song !" then he resumed his feast, waiting.
" Home is behind, the world ahead
and there are many paths to tread
Through shadow to the edge of night
until the stars are all alight
Mist and shadow cloud and shade
all shall fade, all shall fade"
As Pippin sung, Faramir's riders were heading toward Osgiliath just as Archer Orcs , hundreds or thousands of them, appeared among the ruins with armed bows. When Pippin finished his song, the Orcs fired their arrows at the Gondorian Soldiers. Denethor , during the song had said nothing, as he ate his food messily.
He didn't care that his youngest son was probably dead right now. Pippin for his part, was holding back tears as he knew Faramir and his men had no chance to survive this mission. Meanwhile, somewhere in Minas Tirith, Gandalf was sitting by himself with a solem expression on his face.
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Back at Minas Morgul, the group of climbers had decided to take a break and rest for a bit. While Frodo was sleeping peacefully, Sam was not and in fact was eying Gollum with suspicion as Sméagol seemed to be asleep. He never trusted this creature in the first and since he caught him talking about killed both him and Frodo… well let just say he became more suspicious of Gollum. He knew that the thin creature wanted the Ring and nothing more but was too afraid to try anything.
Internally, he was also asking himself who was this 'her' Gollum mentioned during his monologue but Sam just knew he couldn't ignore it. He would protect Frodo at all coast. He was still eying Gollum but then his exhaustion began to take over as the climbing they did earlier was really hard. The Brave Hobbit's eyes slowly closed and soon he fell asleep.
It was his biggest mistake.
A few seconds later, Gollum's eyes shot open : he had fake to be asleep to trick Sam as if he knew he was being watched. The moment he felt that Sam had closed his eyes, he knew it was time as he slowly made his way toward the 'Fat' Hobbit's backpack and quietly pulling out the remaining lembas-bread out of it.
Gollum sniffed the bread and groaned in disgust before breaking the bread into small pieces. Then he mashed it in his hands before scattering the small pieces of food on Sam's cloak. His work finished, he crawled to the edge of the platform the group were on before tossing the remaining bread over the edge.
Satisfied by his mischievous act, he however didn't noticed that Sam had woke and was now looking straight at him " What are you off to ?" The Hobbit questioned the thin creature who was wiping his end a few seconds ago and was now looking back at him surprise on his face "Sneaking off are we ?" Sam asked as the wind blew against his face.
" Sneaking ?" Gollum questioned the Hobbit as he tried to hide his shocked face into a dumb one "Sneaking ! Fat hobbit is always so polite !" he said as he climbed back to his previous resting spot " Sméagol shows them secret ways that nobody else could find and they say sneak... Sneak ? Very nice friend... Oh yes, my precious, very nice, very…"
Having enough of Gollum's ramblings, Sam wrapped his sword back on his waist , standing up while saying loud but not enough to wake the Ring-Bearer "All right ! All right ! You just startled me, that's all... What are you doing ?" Sam questioned the thin creature as he looked over the edge wondering why Gollum was standing there a few moments ago.
Gollum looked back at him before answering with a toothy grin " Sneaking..." "Fine... Have it you own way..." Sam said in a dismissive manner as he approached the sleeping form of the Ring-Bearer before kneeling down in front of his friend, while putting a hand on Frodo's shoulder " I'm sorry to wake you, Mister Frodo... We have to be moving on..."
The little shake seemed to do the trick as it woke the Ring-Bearer up...even barely. Then Frodo glanced up at the sky before remarking out-loud "It's dark still..." " It's always dark here..." Sam responded back calmly as he pulled his backpack over before checking it. He was checking for their food…. Only to pull out a single leaf wrap without bread with it !
"It's gone !" Sam said in disbelief as he began to search through his backpack but only to find nothing. He looked over at Frodo with wide eyes of shock as he added "The elven bread !" "What? That's all we have left !" Frodo inquired as he quickly got up while looking at his comrade.
Sam was speechless for a moment but then his eyes turned toward the third member of their little group… the one he trusted the least… the one who was scratching his head with a confused look on his face "He took it ! He must have !" Sam stated at his pointed a finger toward the thin creature who looked shocked for a moment before pulling out an act.
"Sméagol ? No, no, no poor Sméagol…. Sméagol hates nasty Elf bread !" Gollum tried to said but it didn't calmed down the fury in Sam's eyes as the Hobbit was glaring at him accusingly as he snarled in anger "You lying rat ! What did you do with it ?!" Frodo, for his part, was standing there with shock on his face at the scene before him but then he looked over at Sam before remarking calmly despise the situation "He doesn't eat it ! He can't have taken it !"
Sam was about to respond when Gollum gasped which caught the attention of the other two "Look, what's this ?" the thin creature asked as he looked at Sam , more precisely at his cloak. Then he reached out a hand before brushing some crumbs off it. Sam's eyes widened in shock as he stared down at his clothes, covered in bread crumbs.
"Crumbs on his jacketses ! He took it ! He took it !" Gollum hissed as he pointed at Sam and Frodo was looking at his friend with wide eyes of shock and surprise but then he turned his attention toward Gollum when the thin creature approached him "I've seen him... He is always stuffing his face when Master is not looking..." Gollum said to the Ring-bearer who only stood there, listening.
Sam, however, just understood what had happened and was now LIVID ! " That's a filthy lie !" The Brave Hobbit yelled out as he lunged at the thin creature , whacking him on his head "You stinking filth face !" he yelled out again as he started to punch on Gollum's head. But then Frodo appeared and tried his best Sam off their guide "Sam ! Stop it !" however Sam was too furious to take notice of his comrade as he glared down at Gollum yelling out in fury "I'll kill him !" "No Sam !" Frodo yelled back as he dropped down on the ground.
Sam's assault stopped and rushed over to tend at an exhausted Frodo "Oh my ! I'm sorry ! I didn't mean it to go so far... I was just so, so angry... Here... You just… just rest a bit..."Sam seemed at the verge of tears but managed to hide it so he could focus on his friend's health.
"I'm alright..." Frodo tried to object but it was obvious he was lying " No, no you're not all right ! You're exhausted... It's that Gollum... It's this place… It's that thing around your neck !" Sam shouted as he looked down at Frodo who, at the last part, stared up at his comrade with with suspicion in his eyes. "I… could help a bit... I could carry it for a while…" Sam proposed to his friend whose body tensed when he heard those words. Those words who were now replaying in his head "carry it for a while… I could carry it… carry it… share the load… the load..."
Frodo's eyes widened as he cried out with anger and hate "Get away !" when he shouted this, he pushed Sam away from him which caused the Hobbit in question to fall back on the ground with shock in his eyes "I don't want to keep it ! I just want to help..." Sam tried to reason his friend who breath was slowly calming down from his previous out-burst.
Then Gollum stepped closer and with a sinister-like look on his face, he said to Frodo as he crawled at the Ring-Bearer's feet "See ? See ! He want it for himself !" Those words enraged Sam who quickly jumped back on his feet glaring at the thin creature as he snarled loudly " Shut up you ! Go away ! Get out of here !"
However he became shocked when Frodo remarked calmly "No Sam... It's you..." Sam looked at the Ring-Bearer with a hurt look on his face and eyes "I'm sorry, Sam..." unknown to the two Hobbits, Gollum was harboring a victorious grin on his face : after all his plan worked perfectly.
"But, he's a liar ! He's poisoned you against me !" Sam tried to reason his friend who stood there still calm and he seemed to ignore Sam's words "You can't help me anymore..." Sam started to cry when those words came out of Frodo's mouth as he harbored a look of sadness and disbelief "You don't mean that..."
"… Go home..." were the only words Frodo said as he walked away from the crying form of Sam as he collapsed on the ground. The Ring-Bearer didn't seemed to care that his comrade was hurt as he started climbing up the stairs. Gollum glanced at a crying Sam and for a second, he seemed guilty of what he did but then he ignored this feeling to follow after Frodo, leaving a broken Hobbit behind.
(To be continued…)