This is basically the same chapter with a few little changes added in,
thanks to the hints from my wonderful reviewers. Thanks Kaeera, Laerupeth,
and shen panda!
Please read and review! An author always loves feedback, no matter how short or long it is (the longer the better though!) But for now enjoy!
Invasion!
Sam and the other four hobbits then proceeded to draw their swords from their belts. The other five in the company, however, were not as easily scared and were wary about bringing out their weapons. The noise came again and they all turned in the direction which they thought they had heard it. Unfortunately this meant that they all turned to face different directions.
'No offence intended,' whispered Legolas, 'but my hearing is best, and I am sure it came from this direction.' He then pointed to the South, the very direction in which they had been headed. 'I am also quite sure that, unfortunately, Sam was right. It is orcs. I can see them, but I do not know if they are yet aware of our presence. I think they would have attacked by now if they were.' He said all of this very quietly. 'We could possibly avoid battle if you wish by putting out the fire quickly and staying low to the ground, for they do not cross our path. They have crossed from the forest on the other side of the road and are going in a straight line.' Silently and quickly, the fire was out and the members of the Company were lying on the ground making as little noise as possible. In the case of the hobbits and the elf, this meant making no noise at all. Their quiet was made up for by Gimli, for no matter hard he tried, he could not seem to quiet his breathing. However, they were still a near silent party and it seemed that the orcs would pass them by without noticing them.
'Oh, no!' whispered Pippin. 'A-a-achooo!' He let out his loudest sneeze yet.
Everything was silent for a few seconds. Then the air seemed to explode with the noise that had first raised Boromir's suspicions: Orc cries. The orcs ran towards the clearing where the Company lay, you did not need elfish hearing to realise that. The nine travellers needed to make a decision, and they needed to do it with great haste. They all knew there was no time for reprimanding Pippin. Suddenly Legolas made the decision for them. He stood up and, unslinging his bow from behind his back, he took an arrow from his quiver and placed it upon the string of the bow, and let it fly with deadly precision. You could hear the orc that had been hit cry out in pain then hit the ground. But there were still many more orcs that were still coming, and Legolas, his bow twanging, shot lots before they had even arrived at the clearing, his hand almost moving faster than the eye could see. Altogether there were about thirty orcs against the nine fellowship members, but they fought long and hard. No orcs that got in Aragorn's way were left standing, for together he and his sword were a deadly pair, slicing through orc flesh as easily and quickly as a hot knife through melted butter. Boromir also was not one to be toiled with as the invaders attacked the clearing. As one orc attacked him, he stabbed it through the heart, then chopped the head off another that he had sensed behind him. Gandalf knocked his opponents out of the way with his great staff, and Gimli swung his axe as if his life depended upon it…which it did.
Suddenly Legolas noticed that an orc was sneaking up behind Merry and Pippin, and quick as a flash he notched an arrow and, just as the orc was about to bring his sword down upon their heads, he let loose his arrow and hit the creature right in the middle of his back, bringing him down dead. Merry and Pippin whirled around and saw Legolas standing with his bow pointing at the now dead orc. They smiled in thanks, but didn't have time for anything more, for two more creatures of Sauron were closing in on the two hobbits, and even more were closing in on Legolas! The tall, blonde elf easily shot two of approaching orcs, and killed the other two (who were now too close to shoot) with one swipe of his dagger. Merry and Pippin, even though they were small, could easily take on two of these evil creatures when they worked together. They stood back to back and held their swords up, and when the orcs came near enough, they used each other to push off and plunged their swords deep into the orcs stomach, killing them straight away.
Finally, after Aragorn had slain the last orc, the Company all threw themselves down upon the ground, utterly exhausted. It was quite a while before Gandalf sat up and said, 'Pippin, what were you thinking? How could you have sneezed at such a crucial time?'
Poor Pippin must have been quite distraught that he had, for he sounded very sorry indeed when he said, 'I certainly had no intention of it! I am very, very sorry that I did.' Then brightening, he added, 'But did you see the way Merry and I killed those orcs? We kicked their shins, crawled under their legs and stabbed them in the back, and chopped their heads off! Achoo!' He emphasised each new description with a swipe of his barrow sword.
'Yeah!' cried Merry. 'We were most definitely better fighters than all of the orcs put together! Did anyone note how many there were?'
'I think there were about thirty of them.' Replied Boromir. 'Definitely a lot more of them than there were of us, anyhow.'
'Exactly!' exclaimed Pippin. We have to have been the better team of fighters if there were so many more of them. And look at us! We won! There is no question that we came out of the fight the better side! Achoo!'
'That is true, little one,' said Legolas. 'Friends, we have just had our first meeting with orcs, completely unprepared, and we proceeded to kill all of them, with no injuries at all to our side. To that I say "Congratulations!". But, alas! This is just the start of a long and perilous journey, and we have many more battles yet to come. Let us just hope that this is and indication of how things are to continue! I think that we should set a watch, and try and get some sleep. I will take first watch, for I am not tired. Now all of you should try to get some sleep, we start early in the morning.'
'We will go to bed,' said Gandalf, 'Straight after we have cleared up these bodies.' They all then cleared up the bodies and settled down to sleep for a few hours, while Legolas stayed up to keep watch.
They dreamed dreams of defeating many more armies of orcs and destroying the ring within a few weeks. If only they knew the trouble that was in store for them just around the corner.
TO BE CONTINUED
I don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter up…I guess it would help if I wrote it first! But I'm gonna be pretty busy the next few days, so I'll write like mad when I can! And thanks to those that have reviewed already – Kaeera I hope you get over your cold soon!
Please read and review! An author always loves feedback, no matter how short or long it is (the longer the better though!) But for now enjoy!
Invasion!
Sam and the other four hobbits then proceeded to draw their swords from their belts. The other five in the company, however, were not as easily scared and were wary about bringing out their weapons. The noise came again and they all turned in the direction which they thought they had heard it. Unfortunately this meant that they all turned to face different directions.
'No offence intended,' whispered Legolas, 'but my hearing is best, and I am sure it came from this direction.' He then pointed to the South, the very direction in which they had been headed. 'I am also quite sure that, unfortunately, Sam was right. It is orcs. I can see them, but I do not know if they are yet aware of our presence. I think they would have attacked by now if they were.' He said all of this very quietly. 'We could possibly avoid battle if you wish by putting out the fire quickly and staying low to the ground, for they do not cross our path. They have crossed from the forest on the other side of the road and are going in a straight line.' Silently and quickly, the fire was out and the members of the Company were lying on the ground making as little noise as possible. In the case of the hobbits and the elf, this meant making no noise at all. Their quiet was made up for by Gimli, for no matter hard he tried, he could not seem to quiet his breathing. However, they were still a near silent party and it seemed that the orcs would pass them by without noticing them.
'Oh, no!' whispered Pippin. 'A-a-achooo!' He let out his loudest sneeze yet.
Everything was silent for a few seconds. Then the air seemed to explode with the noise that had first raised Boromir's suspicions: Orc cries. The orcs ran towards the clearing where the Company lay, you did not need elfish hearing to realise that. The nine travellers needed to make a decision, and they needed to do it with great haste. They all knew there was no time for reprimanding Pippin. Suddenly Legolas made the decision for them. He stood up and, unslinging his bow from behind his back, he took an arrow from his quiver and placed it upon the string of the bow, and let it fly with deadly precision. You could hear the orc that had been hit cry out in pain then hit the ground. But there were still many more orcs that were still coming, and Legolas, his bow twanging, shot lots before they had even arrived at the clearing, his hand almost moving faster than the eye could see. Altogether there were about thirty orcs against the nine fellowship members, but they fought long and hard. No orcs that got in Aragorn's way were left standing, for together he and his sword were a deadly pair, slicing through orc flesh as easily and quickly as a hot knife through melted butter. Boromir also was not one to be toiled with as the invaders attacked the clearing. As one orc attacked him, he stabbed it through the heart, then chopped the head off another that he had sensed behind him. Gandalf knocked his opponents out of the way with his great staff, and Gimli swung his axe as if his life depended upon it…which it did.
Suddenly Legolas noticed that an orc was sneaking up behind Merry and Pippin, and quick as a flash he notched an arrow and, just as the orc was about to bring his sword down upon their heads, he let loose his arrow and hit the creature right in the middle of his back, bringing him down dead. Merry and Pippin whirled around and saw Legolas standing with his bow pointing at the now dead orc. They smiled in thanks, but didn't have time for anything more, for two more creatures of Sauron were closing in on the two hobbits, and even more were closing in on Legolas! The tall, blonde elf easily shot two of approaching orcs, and killed the other two (who were now too close to shoot) with one swipe of his dagger. Merry and Pippin, even though they were small, could easily take on two of these evil creatures when they worked together. They stood back to back and held their swords up, and when the orcs came near enough, they used each other to push off and plunged their swords deep into the orcs stomach, killing them straight away.
Finally, after Aragorn had slain the last orc, the Company all threw themselves down upon the ground, utterly exhausted. It was quite a while before Gandalf sat up and said, 'Pippin, what were you thinking? How could you have sneezed at such a crucial time?'
Poor Pippin must have been quite distraught that he had, for he sounded very sorry indeed when he said, 'I certainly had no intention of it! I am very, very sorry that I did.' Then brightening, he added, 'But did you see the way Merry and I killed those orcs? We kicked their shins, crawled under their legs and stabbed them in the back, and chopped their heads off! Achoo!' He emphasised each new description with a swipe of his barrow sword.
'Yeah!' cried Merry. 'We were most definitely better fighters than all of the orcs put together! Did anyone note how many there were?'
'I think there were about thirty of them.' Replied Boromir. 'Definitely a lot more of them than there were of us, anyhow.'
'Exactly!' exclaimed Pippin. We have to have been the better team of fighters if there were so many more of them. And look at us! We won! There is no question that we came out of the fight the better side! Achoo!'
'That is true, little one,' said Legolas. 'Friends, we have just had our first meeting with orcs, completely unprepared, and we proceeded to kill all of them, with no injuries at all to our side. To that I say "Congratulations!". But, alas! This is just the start of a long and perilous journey, and we have many more battles yet to come. Let us just hope that this is and indication of how things are to continue! I think that we should set a watch, and try and get some sleep. I will take first watch, for I am not tired. Now all of you should try to get some sleep, we start early in the morning.'
'We will go to bed,' said Gandalf, 'Straight after we have cleared up these bodies.' They all then cleared up the bodies and settled down to sleep for a few hours, while Legolas stayed up to keep watch.
They dreamed dreams of defeating many more armies of orcs and destroying the ring within a few weeks. If only they knew the trouble that was in store for them just around the corner.
TO BE CONTINUED
I don't know when I'll be able to get the next chapter up…I guess it would help if I wrote it first! But I'm gonna be pretty busy the next few days, so I'll write like mad when I can! And thanks to those that have reviewed already – Kaeera I hope you get over your cold soon!
