Frodo wasn't sure how long he had slept when he awoke. It was a grim and gloomy day. The sun was out of site and it was raining quite hard. The rest of the Hobbits were already up.
"Good, now try hitting that stump" Shrell said, handing Pippin one of her daggers and patting him on the shoulder.
Pippin flung it quite hard but missed by a foot. He frowned.
"It was a good try, Pippin" said Sam, who was leaning up against a tree.
"Alright, Shrell, If your the one teaching me to throw daggers then you have to show me your capable of doing so" Pippin said, putting his hands on his hips. "You hit the stump."
Shrell's eyes gleamed. She walked back about ten yards from where Pippin was. Her grip on the dagger tightened. Then, she spun around and with a flick of her wrist flung the dagger. It spun through the air and hit the stump dead center.
"Whoa" Pippin murmured under his breath. Shrell went up to the stump and retrieved her dagger.
"Care to try again?" she asked, handing it to Pippin.
"How did you learn to do that?" asked Merry.
"Practice. Why don't you give it a shot?" Shrell handed Merry her other dagger. "Oh, you're up" she said, walking over to Frodo.
"Mmmm...yes. How's your ankle?" he asked, stretching.
"Fine. How's your back?"
"Stiff"
Smeagol came wandering over to them.
"We smells the Orcses, we do" he said. Shrell nodded.
"We must depart, now!" Frodo called as he stood up.
The Hobbits gathered up their things and Smeagol lead them on. The rain continued to pour down and Frodo felt chilled to the bone. The trees provided no cover and as they climbed the mountains the trees disappeared from site.
"Oh, how I wish we had a nice warm fire" Frodo said with a shiver. Shrell looked up at the sky then at Frodo.
"Well, it won't be much but here." Shrell untied her cloak and put it over Frodo's shoulders.
"You'll freeze!" he said, looking at her torn sleeves.
"You are the one I fear for, Frodo."
The cloak only provided a bit of heat but the thought of Shrell giving up her cloak to keep him warm was enough to warm Frodo. He watched the rain soak her through and couldn't help but feel guilty, though she insisted that she was fine.
The mountain only grew steeper. Many -a -time one of the Hobbits would lose their footing and go tumbling down the rocks. Even Smeagol found it hard to keep his footing on the steep wet rocks. It had been hours and hours before someone finally spoke.
"Please let us rest! My feet will carry me no further!" Pippin cried, falling to his knees.
"Be strong, Pip. We must make it to the top of that ledge" Shrell cried, pointing to a high ledge that seemed so far off. The wind whipped her hair over her face as she turned back for Pippin. She pulled him up onto his feet. "Don't ever give in."
Pippin slowly made his way up beside her. One foot after another. "I'll hold that to my heart" Pippin said with a nod. Shrell and Pippin reached the others.
"We must keep moving or the wind will blow us off the mountain!" Sam yelled over the whistling of the wind in the rocks and the pouring rain. Smeagol made his way to a small ledge above and held out his hand to Shrell. She took it and pulled herself up then offered her own to Frodo. He pulled himself up and he, Smeagol and Shrell pulled the rest of the Hobbits up. The rocks were so steep that the fear of falling was what lingered in the Hobbit's minds but they pushed that thought behind them and set there minds on helping each other to the ledge so far above.
Smeagol was climbing the fastest. He could find footholds quite easily. He scurried up to the next over-hanging rock and climbed onto it. He reached to grab Pippin's hand but there was a sudden gust of wind that blew him off the rock and he started to tumble down the steep rocks.
"Grab him, Samwise!" Shrell shouted over the whipping wind. Sam plunged after Smeagol and grabbed him by the wrist just after he tumbled off a cliff-like rock. He dangled there, watching the ground below.
"Pulls us up! Pulls us up!!" he shouted, kicking his feet wildly.
"I can't! The wind's to strong!" Sam yelled back. Merry and Pippin slid down the rocks and knelt next to Sam. They quickly grabbed Smeagol's other wrist and helped Sam pull him up.
Smeagol's leg was badly scrapped and twisted. He had to lean on Frodo and Shrell and sometimes one of them would have to carry the injured creature. He would often squirm and wail in pain.
"It hurtssss! We suffer!!" he shrieked in pain.
"Hang on, we're almost there" Frodo told him.
When the reached the ledge it was dark. Shrell and Pippin climbed up swiftly and helped Smeagol up. Then Merry and Sam climbed up and quickly went searching for shelter with Pippin.
"Well, are you coming?" Shrell asked.
"Oh, uh, yes" Frodo answered, breaking away from his thoughts. Shrell chuckled and offered Frodo a hand. He took it and climbed up onto the ledge. He looked around and frowned. The only bit of shelter there was was a small overhanging rock that would only shelter their heads.
"Could be worse" Shrell said with a shrug. She turned to follow the others, who had disappeared from sight as the searched for better shelter, when Frodo grabbed her arm.
"What is it about you?" he asked, rather dazed.
"What?" Shrell asked confused. Frodo shook his head in hope of clearing it.
"You, uh, don't get cold even if your soaked through and without a cloak" he said, though it couldn't have sounded more untruthful. Shrell laughed. She placed a hand on Frodo's shoulder and looked into his eyes.
"Would you call me a fool?" she asked.
"Yes. And a brave one" he answered. Shrell smiled.
"What's taking so long?" Pippin asked, popping his head over a tall rock. "We found a small cave."
Shrell and Frodo scurried over the rocks and were glad when the saw the cave was quite big and closed in from the storm. Smeagol was lying on the ground, moaning and hissing. His pain was very clear. Sam was doing his best to calm the creature and treat the wound.
"I need Algerio bark" he said with a sad sigh.
"What is that?" asked Pippin.
"The bark from an Algerio tree. They're quite tall and usually strait and their leaves are forked" Sam answered. Frodo saw Merry's eyes widen.
"I saw one below aways! It was growing among the rocks!" he cried.
"I shall go" Shrell said with a nod and left the cave before anyone could say a word.
"You'll be killed! The storm is getting fiercer!" cried Sam but it was too late. Shrell was far from earshot.
Frodo's heart began to race. He couldn't let her go. Without another thought he ran after her. He could hear the others calling him but paid no attention.
The rain was now so strong that it was blinding. Frodo felt his way around the rocks as he climbed off the ledge. He then scurried along best he could. It began to get dark and Frodo still saw no sign of Shrell. Lightning flashed in the sky. Frodo's fears deepened. His mind raced with all the things that could have happened to Shrell. Lighting flashed again, this time much closer.
Not watching where he was going, Frodo lost his footing and began to slide down the rocks. He felt them cutting and scraping his skin. He could not find anything to grab onto to stop himself from sliding. He felt as though he would surely die when his foot caught on something and he stopped. He gasped for breath, unable to move. He slowly glanced around. His eyes caught something that seemed quite close.
It was a tree and in front of it stood an eerie figure.
"Shrell?" Frodo whispered, staggering to his feet. The figure spun around.
"Frodo! You fool!" she cried. She ran over and flung her arms around him.
Frodo buried his head in her shoulder. He wrapped his arms tightly around her. He could not with hold his tears and he felt them running down his cheeks, soaking Shrell's torn sleeve and shoulder. She placed both hands on his shoulders and pulled back.
"Fool. Fool" she whispered, kissing him on the forehead. Frodo noticed that tears were also running down her face.
"I could not let you go" Frodo whispered. Shrell pulled him into another embrace. Frodo rested his chin on her shoulder.
Suddenly Shrell jolted back. She looked at her hand. Her eyes widened. Frodo glanced down at her fingers to see that their tips were stained with blood.
"Frodo, your injured" Shrell said, looking back up at him. Frodo now realized the pain in his back. "We must hurry back!" Shrell said, taking his hand........to be continued.