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Everlasting Road ch. 23
Gimli was continuing on in the forest with a loud, dwarf-like fashion. He was not trying to make his way secret or search for any tracks of Legolas, he was not skilled in that kind of thing. Rather, he ran on blindly, hoping that he would simply run into Legolas sooner or later. He tried to think like his friend to think of where he would go, and found this was not such a hard thing to do. He figured that his friend had to have been in a desperate state of mind to leave his home so soon after returning. That meant that he would have traveled far and fast, in probably one direction. So Gimli continued in the general direction that he and Liria had started in and tried to keep a straight course.
As a result, Gimli had been traveling alone for about an hour when he heard the first howl. It was close to him. Gimli jumped, surprised. This was probably one of the wargs that the elf guard had been talking about. Certainly, Gimli did not want to get any closer to it, so he started to veer off of his course away from it. But something disturbed Gimli. To get away from the warg, he would have to get away from the straight route he had been taking towards Legolas. Most likely, Legolas would not be found on such a course anyway, but if Gimli did not follow the straight course, there was nothing else left for him to go on, he did not know how to track, and he did not know the ways of a forest.
Gimli halted, indecision eating at him. Something was telling him to not turn away, but a bigger something, that probably of common sense, was telling him to get as far away from the warg as possible. Gimli took a step to the side, away from his course, but found himself turning a complete circle and starting on his original course, his axe now held firmly in his hands. Gimli ventured cautiously on his course, towards the howl he had heard.
It was not well until evening that Gimli came upon a clearing. He was walking very slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible, which was not completely silent, but quiet enough for a dwarf. Gimli's sight was no match for an elf's, but even he was able to see the huge warg laying in the middle of the clearing. Gimli stopped and jumped back into the fringe of trees, trying to disappear and be stealthy. But the warg woke up and looked over in Gimli's direction. Gimli's breath caught in his throat and he gripped his axe tightly, but the warg looked away and seemed to wait for something else.
Gimli watched silently and did not move a muscle as the rest of the pack showed and the leader presented itself. Gimli was confused when the leader of the wargs started to track something in the air. Gimli shrank back when the warg neared him, but it continued on past him, seemingly intent on the trees.
Suddenly, there was a crash and the warg howled out loud. The entire pack picked up the sound as they rushed to something that had fallen out of a tree. Gimli saw the thing that had fallen stand up uncertainly and turn to face the oncoming pack. With a shock, Gimli realized it was Legolas. Gimli plunged out of his hiding place, his axe drawn high.
Legolas stood slowly, trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. He focused in time to see the entire pack coming at him full force. He lifted his hands to ward off the impending blows and tried to back away. His back hit the tree and stopped him, and before he could go around it, or climb back up into it, the leader leapt at him.
Legolas was pinned by the tree and the huge animal on top of him. He could not move. The warg slashed at the arms Legolas held it off with, and had it not been for Legolas' wrist guards, the struggle would have quickly been over. Legolas summoned all of his strength and heaved at the animal, throwing it off of him. But he did not throw it very far, and the warg bounded back as if it were made of rubber. Legolas tried to sidestep the rush, but as he moved something else caught his eye. A new creature had bounded in from the side, yelling something loudly. It took Legolas a moment to realize that it was Gimli.
Gimli leapt in at the warg, his axe ready. He rushed from the side, knocking the warg off of its course. He moved in when the warg lay still, stunned, and readied his axe to kill it. But the warg quickly regained its focus and leapt at the dwarf. Gimli stood his ground and with a deafening war cry, swung his axe. It caught the warg on the shoulder and it went down, but it was still not dead. Gimli noticed the rest of the pack was still advancing, so he took this small opportunity to turn to Legolas.
"Catch," he called to him and threw Legolas his twin fighting blades that he had carried. Legolas caught them, and Gimli turned his attention back to the warg that was rushing again. This time, Gimli's stroke proved true and he hewed the warg's neck. He gave a triumphant yell at the fallen leader.
Gimli was distracted by his victory, and did not see the other warg rush him from the side. He was laid low before he knew it, and things would have gone hard for him had not Legolas leapt to his side. He picked the warg up by the scruff of the neck and threw it off of Gimli, then followed up with his blades and slashed the throat through the thick fur. He turned and picked Gimli up in one fluid motion, and then they both stood back to back, facing the wargs.
They were besieged by about three more when the rushes stopped. Legolas and Gimli broke apart and stared about at what was happening in wonder. The smaller, natural wolves were fighting the wargs. With the fall of the warg leader, they had decided to fight off the rest and reclaim their territory. Legolas and Gimli were forgotten as the new battle raged on. The small wolves were ill-fitted against the larger wargs, but they were bigger in number and fought with repressed passion.
Quietly, so as not to draw any attention to themselves, Legolas and Gimli backed away. It was not until they were a good fifty paces away that they allowed themselves to turn their back on the raging animals and run. Nothing bothered to follow them.
When Legolas could no longer hear the sounds of the battle, he dropped to his knees and took several deep breaths. Gimli followed suit, straining to catch his breath noisily. After a few moments, Legolas looked over at Gimli. His breathing had already returned to its normal state, but Gimli was still gasping for breath. Legolas smiled faintly when Gimli looked over. He placed a hand on Gimli's shoulder, "You always seem to come when you are needed most, my friend."
"You did not need me," Gimli replied, "but I decided you might want a little help since you were without any weapons." Legolas laughed and Gimli as well. Legolas stood and helped Gimli up.
"Come along my friend, and let us return to Mirkwood together, where we will then announce our departure," Legolas said, his tone light. Gimli only nodded in reply and they both started out back to the elven city.
Everlasting Road ch. 23
Gimli was continuing on in the forest with a loud, dwarf-like fashion. He was not trying to make his way secret or search for any tracks of Legolas, he was not skilled in that kind of thing. Rather, he ran on blindly, hoping that he would simply run into Legolas sooner or later. He tried to think like his friend to think of where he would go, and found this was not such a hard thing to do. He figured that his friend had to have been in a desperate state of mind to leave his home so soon after returning. That meant that he would have traveled far and fast, in probably one direction. So Gimli continued in the general direction that he and Liria had started in and tried to keep a straight course.
As a result, Gimli had been traveling alone for about an hour when he heard the first howl. It was close to him. Gimli jumped, surprised. This was probably one of the wargs that the elf guard had been talking about. Certainly, Gimli did not want to get any closer to it, so he started to veer off of his course away from it. But something disturbed Gimli. To get away from the warg, he would have to get away from the straight route he had been taking towards Legolas. Most likely, Legolas would not be found on such a course anyway, but if Gimli did not follow the straight course, there was nothing else left for him to go on, he did not know how to track, and he did not know the ways of a forest.
Gimli halted, indecision eating at him. Something was telling him to not turn away, but a bigger something, that probably of common sense, was telling him to get as far away from the warg as possible. Gimli took a step to the side, away from his course, but found himself turning a complete circle and starting on his original course, his axe now held firmly in his hands. Gimli ventured cautiously on his course, towards the howl he had heard.
It was not well until evening that Gimli came upon a clearing. He was walking very slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible, which was not completely silent, but quiet enough for a dwarf. Gimli's sight was no match for an elf's, but even he was able to see the huge warg laying in the middle of the clearing. Gimli stopped and jumped back into the fringe of trees, trying to disappear and be stealthy. But the warg woke up and looked over in Gimli's direction. Gimli's breath caught in his throat and he gripped his axe tightly, but the warg looked away and seemed to wait for something else.
Gimli watched silently and did not move a muscle as the rest of the pack showed and the leader presented itself. Gimli was confused when the leader of the wargs started to track something in the air. Gimli shrank back when the warg neared him, but it continued on past him, seemingly intent on the trees.
Suddenly, there was a crash and the warg howled out loud. The entire pack picked up the sound as they rushed to something that had fallen out of a tree. Gimli saw the thing that had fallen stand up uncertainly and turn to face the oncoming pack. With a shock, Gimli realized it was Legolas. Gimli plunged out of his hiding place, his axe drawn high.
Legolas stood slowly, trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. He focused in time to see the entire pack coming at him full force. He lifted his hands to ward off the impending blows and tried to back away. His back hit the tree and stopped him, and before he could go around it, or climb back up into it, the leader leapt at him.
Legolas was pinned by the tree and the huge animal on top of him. He could not move. The warg slashed at the arms Legolas held it off with, and had it not been for Legolas' wrist guards, the struggle would have quickly been over. Legolas summoned all of his strength and heaved at the animal, throwing it off of him. But he did not throw it very far, and the warg bounded back as if it were made of rubber. Legolas tried to sidestep the rush, but as he moved something else caught his eye. A new creature had bounded in from the side, yelling something loudly. It took Legolas a moment to realize that it was Gimli.
Gimli leapt in at the warg, his axe ready. He rushed from the side, knocking the warg off of its course. He moved in when the warg lay still, stunned, and readied his axe to kill it. But the warg quickly regained its focus and leapt at the dwarf. Gimli stood his ground and with a deafening war cry, swung his axe. It caught the warg on the shoulder and it went down, but it was still not dead. Gimli noticed the rest of the pack was still advancing, so he took this small opportunity to turn to Legolas.
"Catch," he called to him and threw Legolas his twin fighting blades that he had carried. Legolas caught them, and Gimli turned his attention back to the warg that was rushing again. This time, Gimli's stroke proved true and he hewed the warg's neck. He gave a triumphant yell at the fallen leader.
Gimli was distracted by his victory, and did not see the other warg rush him from the side. He was laid low before he knew it, and things would have gone hard for him had not Legolas leapt to his side. He picked the warg up by the scruff of the neck and threw it off of Gimli, then followed up with his blades and slashed the throat through the thick fur. He turned and picked Gimli up in one fluid motion, and then they both stood back to back, facing the wargs.
They were besieged by about three more when the rushes stopped. Legolas and Gimli broke apart and stared about at what was happening in wonder. The smaller, natural wolves were fighting the wargs. With the fall of the warg leader, they had decided to fight off the rest and reclaim their territory. Legolas and Gimli were forgotten as the new battle raged on. The small wolves were ill-fitted against the larger wargs, but they were bigger in number and fought with repressed passion.
Quietly, so as not to draw any attention to themselves, Legolas and Gimli backed away. It was not until they were a good fifty paces away that they allowed themselves to turn their back on the raging animals and run. Nothing bothered to follow them.
When Legolas could no longer hear the sounds of the battle, he dropped to his knees and took several deep breaths. Gimli followed suit, straining to catch his breath noisily. After a few moments, Legolas looked over at Gimli. His breathing had already returned to its normal state, but Gimli was still gasping for breath. Legolas smiled faintly when Gimli looked over. He placed a hand on Gimli's shoulder, "You always seem to come when you are needed most, my friend."
"You did not need me," Gimli replied, "but I decided you might want a little help since you were without any weapons." Legolas laughed and Gimli as well. Legolas stood and helped Gimli up.
"Come along my friend, and let us return to Mirkwood together, where we will then announce our departure," Legolas said, his tone light. Gimli only nodded in reply and they both started out back to the elven city.