Shadow looked at them.
"How do you know you can trust me?" She asked. Aragorn was quite surprised by this question. Didn't she want them to trust her?
"What do you mean?" Aragorn asked.
"I have spoken to you twice, you know nothing about me, yet you trust me, why?"
"Why do I get the feeling that you know far more about us than you let on?" Gandalf asked.
"Well, at least someone seems to have senses. I would have thought that your experience with Talania would have taught you to be far more suspicious"
"What do you know about that?" Gimli asked gruffly.
"I am surprised; you really haven't figured it out have you?"
Suddenly Legolas realised what she was saying. "You've been following us"
"Yes, at last someone's figured it out. From when you first arrived in this forest until recently I was following you. I live in these forests and I did not know whether to trust you."
"Ok," Boromir said, getting the picture, "So why didn't you come to our aid sooner? Why now?"
"Your little friend here needs more than foxglove and rosemary to heal him. He needs a rare herb called Morust. I have been looking for it for the past few weeks. I do not know, even now, if I have found it. It is very similar to many other herbs and I am still trying to eliminate the fact that it could be them."
"You can help him? Why don't you try the herbs on him now?" Pippin asked.
"I still haven't eliminated Gefnad, if I gave him that he would die instantly." Pippins face fell.
"But," Shadow continued, "I have made progress, and your friend, with the right help, will get better"
"You have to stay with us," Sam said, "If anyone can save Frodo it's you" Shadow looked at the three hobbits, and the trust in their faces and for a moment a smile flickered across her face. Suddenly Legolas realised that that was the first time he had seen her smile.
"Ok, I'll come."
"Can you fight?" Boromir asked.
"I can fight some animals but I doubt that I could fight an army of Orcs"
"We can teach you" Aragorn said.
"Maybe," Gandalf said, "But tomorrow. It is getting dark and we must stay away from the road when it is dark."
"We should make camp here" Shadow said, "It would be futile to move him now"
"Ok," Gimli said, "We shall make camp here. Who will stay up and watch"
"I will" Shadow said, "I should keep an eye on Frodo"
"I will protect you" Aragorn said.
"No," Gandalf said, "you have had precious little sleep over the past few weeks, you must sleep"
"I will stay awake" Legolas said. Gandalf nodded.
"Ok," He said, "We must make a fire near Frodo to keep him warm." When the camp was made and everyone, apart from Legolas and Shadow, was asleep, they began to talk.
"What are his chances?" Legolas asked.
"If he gets worse, we will have to keep him completely still, we won't be able to keep moving"
"How do you know so much about herbs?"
"I learnt it"
"From who?"
"From my people, when I was young they taught me"
"How young?"
"I began learning when I was one. They begin teaching their children as soon as they can walk"
"Who are your people?"
"I should check on Frodo" Shadow said, changing the subject. She touched his forehead with the back of her hand and caught her breath. She took a herb out of her bag and placed it on Frodo's forehead. It melted. Legolas gasped slightly as she smiled.
"What was that?" he asked.
"Don't worry, the herb itself is harmless, but it's the only herb which melts at a hobbits normal body temperature. It means he's getting better" Legolas too smiled.
"You should get some sleep" He told her, "We have a long journey ahead of us"
"I do not need sleep." Legolas turned his attention to the fire, which was beginning to burn out, 'There's something weird about her' he thought, 'there's something very weird about her.'
* & ^
"Mr Strider, Sir" Sam said, interrupting the conversation that Legolas, Gandalf and Aragorn were having. Aragorn either ignored him or didn't notice him.
"Mr Strider Sir" Sam continued, doggedly. Aragorn didn't appear to hear him.
"STRIDER" Sam yelled.
"What is it?" Gandalf asked.
"It's Frodo's sword, it's glowing blue"
"Ok, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Sam and Pippin, come with me, we'll fight the orcs. Boromir, protect Shadow and Frodo" Gandalf ordered. Boromir kept his eyes peeled and Shadow gathered up her things and prepared Frodo for if they had to make a break for it. She was just picking up her cloak when she heard something in the woods.
"Boromir" She hissed, "There's someone over there" She pointed to where the sound had come from. Boromir ran into the woods and soon she heard his footsteps disappearing.
She bent over Frodo again to check that he was still breathing, something she did regularly, when his eyes began to flicker open. That was when it dawned on her. She was the only one there, there was no one to persuade Frodo to trust her, he was weak, but he had a sword. She on the other hand was unarmed. She could defend herself a little, but if he decided to attack her, there was nothing she could do but run…