Author's Note: Thank you's go out again to KinDoragon and Mitsukai for
their reviews. I do apologize for taking so long to get that last chapter
up, Mitsukai, things just ended up getting a little more hectic than I'd
planned on them being... Hopefully this chapter will be published (on the
'Net at least) a little quicker. ;)
Mandatory Disclaimer: JRR Tolkien owns Middle Earth and it's inhabitants. Sarah and Alex are figments of my deranged imagination, and are based solely on fictitious people. Any resemblance of my characters to actual people is merely coincidental. If you are affiliated with the estate of Tolkien, please don't sue -- I am writing this for my amusement (and the entertainment of anyone else who is still reading the story). While I do have hopes of publishing a story one day, it's not going to happen yet. In the meantime, I'll just hone my writing skills by continuing with the story. :)
Chapter 14: New Friends...
Sarah's POV (still).
We started darting from bush to bush and ducking behind trees while being careful to keep the Entwash within sight to guide us, still cautious that we might be found. (Even though I knew from the story that Merry and Pippin didn't run into any Orcs, I still figured I'd better stay on the safe side. After all, I hadn't remembered reading anything about a girl named "Sarah" in the story, and I had no idea how my being here might alter the storyline.) By the time we stopped for a short breather, my legs were scratched up from thorns lying close to the ground, and I found myself rubbing them subconsciously.
"Are you alright?" Pippin asked, looking curiously at me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My legs just got a little scratched up, that's all. By the looks of your feet, you've gotten a bit scratched up too..." I replied, pointing to his legs.
He looked down in surprise, as if only just noticing for the first time that scratches and bruises covered his calves. "Oh, I guess we've all gotten pretty scratched up. My feet are feeling really sore, though. Do you think we'll be able to find a place to sleep for a few hours, Merry?"
"I'd imagine so, Pip," Merry replied. "But I'd still rather press on a little bit further. This forest is just so tree-ish (1). I think I'll be able to rest much better when the air doesn't feel so heavy and quiet..."
Now that Merry came to mention it, I could really feel the surroundings seem to close in on me. It's a lucky thing that I'm not particularly claustrophobic, or I'd have been in real trouble! It was then that the sun's rays pierced the canopy of leaves overhead, and I noticed something slightly off to our right, almost hidden by the trees.
Pointing to get Merry and Pippin's attention, I said, "What's that over there?"
"I don't know," Pippin replied, "but let's go and investigate. Maybe the air will be a little less stifling up there, and we're sure to get a better idea of where we are from higher ground." Merry and I nodded in agreement, and we started our trek upwards, careful not to slip on the crumbling stone.
As we neared the top, we stopped to admire the view. The forest didn't look nearly as menacing as it had done from the ground, and Pippin admitted to almost liking the woods from our vantage point.
Even though I'd known what was going to happen, the Ent's voice still surprised me, and I must have jumped a foot in the air in shock. "Almost felt you liked Fangorn, Hroom, Hroom? That is nice of you to say, especially since at first glance I did not like you. But my motto is 'Do not be hasty,' so I will withhold my judgment until I know you better. We do not get strangers much in these parts, we like the quiet life you might say, Hoom. Turn around, then, and let me see you..."
As we turned around, Merry couldn't help but ask "Who's there? Where are you hiding?" Pippin merely looked at the old, knarled tree that I had been leaning against, his mouth and eyes open wide in a look of surprise or terror.
"You... you... you..." Pippin stammered. "You can talk?"
"Of course I can talk, Hroom... I am an Ent after all..." the Ent replied. "I am Treebeard, oldest of the Ents of Fangorn. And what, may I ask, are you?"
"I'm Merry, and this is Pippin, we're Hobbits..." Merry spoke up. "And this is Sarah, of the race of Man."
"Ah, yes, I know of Man, Hrum, Hoom. But I have never heard of Hobbits... Us Ents remember things by lists, and your kind are not on the lists I think... Oom..."
"We were always left out of the old lists," Pippin said. "We are people of the Shire, we live in holes dug into the hills that we call 'smials' and we're good farmers."
"Well, then, Oom, you are far from home," Treebeard said.
"We were taken hostage by a group of Orcs travelling to Isengaard," I said, feeling the need to say something.
"ORCS!!!" Treebeard shouted and began to tremble with anger. "They have been cutting down harmless trees on the edge of my forest. But why would they go to Isengaard? Unless..." Now he began to shake even more, as if the thought that Saruman, who I knew had once been Treebeard's friend, had betrayed him had just occurred to the Ent.
"Are you alright?" Merry asked, taking a few timid steps forward just in case.
At that, Treebeard seemed to calm down considerably and said, "No, I am fine. I must not be too hasty, after all."
I nodded. Exhaustion was starting to creep into my limbs once again, and I sat down, almost ready to fall asleep right there. Treebeard seemed to notice and spoke up again. "I am sorry, where are my manners, Hrum, Hroom... You all look very tired. Come back to my home and you can rest there." The looks of relief and thanks on our faces must have been evident, because he let out a chuckle and, taking the hobbits in the crook of one arm and myself in the other, started towards his home.
Alex POV.
I found myself moving with renewed vigor once I knew that Sarah wasn't far away now, and I heard Gimli saying to Legolas that there was a new lightness to my step, "almost as if he was an elf," to which Legolas merely laughed.
Even Haldir seemed to be in brighter spirits now -- I guess we'd all been worried about how the captors were doing, and when we might succeed in finding them (preferably alive and well). At least Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas had less to worry about with the safety of the Hobbits -- Aragorn had pointed out soon after Haldir and I joined up with them that Merry and Pippin would be wanted by Saruman or Sauron alive, since it was known that a Hobbit was carrying some valuable ring that everyone wants. Sarah, on the other hand, wouldn't have that kind of protection from the Orcs, but the fact that she sees to have survived so far is a good sign, Haldir says.
By now we had reached the downs, and the going was much easier. I was half tempted to roll down a couple of hills, but figured I'd better not, especially after the dirty look Gimli had given me a while ago, (the last thing I needed was for everyone to decide that I needed to spend some time in the next insane asylum we came across...) not to mention the fact that the hills weren't very steep, and it would have looked really weird if I *had* tried to roll down any of them.
"Can we have a bit of a break?" I asked as I started to hear my heart beating heavily in my chest from the exertion.
Haldir turned in my direction and raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you the one who was jumping up and down for joy a few hours ago? I'd have thought you'd have been pressing on now..."
I nodded. "I know, but I can hear my heart beating heavily, and it seems to be growing stronger by the second... If we don't stop soon, I'll probably die of a heart attack or something..."
"Heart attack?" Legolas asked. "What kind of an ailment is that?"
Gimli merely shrugged. "I don't know, but I can hear something too... Maybe we should rest if Alex says it is his heart that is beating so loudly."
Aragorn nodded. "Perhaps we should take a short breather to rest our muscles." Then, smiling in my direction, he said, "You needn't worry, Alex, it is not your heart that you hear beating so loudly. Horses are coming closer -- we are in the land of the Riders of Rohan, and I believe we should meet them soon. Still, I believe it may be better that we do not show ourselves yet, in case I am yet again mistaken..."
Legolas put an arm around the shoulder of Aragorn. "You should not punish yourself so, Aragorn. The role of the leader is always difficult, especially on a quest such as ours. We *will* reach Merry and Pippin before they are subjected to a life of torment, and then we can continue to fight against the Dark Lord Sauron and his minions. We will *not* fail..." With those last words, he gave Aragorn a smile of assurance and waited until Aragorn smiled back before giving his shoulders a quick shake and releasing the hold.
By now the rest of us were sitting down and resting our weary feet. Admittedly, I was also trying to rest the rest of my body -- I'd fallen over onto my stomach and was just going off to sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't get to sleep for long before Gimli prodded me awake. "This is no time for slumber, Master Alex..."
Yawning, I sat up and wrapped my cloak around me. The riders were in sight now, and I looked in awe at them as they prepared to gallop past, or rather, over me. Just in the nick of time I rolled out of the way, and the leader's horse shied away in fright.
As the leader attempted to control his horse, Aragorn spoke up. "What news do you bring from the North, Riders of Rohan?"
It was now the riders turn to be surprised. They wheeled the horses around with surprising speed (considering most of them had still been galloping) and looked around, trying to find where the noise had come from. Aragorn removed the hood of his cloak, and he held up his hands in the traditional 'I surrender' pose. Unfortunately, that still didn't stop the riders from poking the rest of us with spears.
If Sarah had been here, she'd probably have told me to hold my tongue in an attempt to be diplomatic, but she wasn't so I did. "What the f**k do you think you're doing with those things -- you could take an eye out if you're not careful!"
The leader gave me a steely look that could have made ice seem warm. "Watch your tongue, young man. My men know how to use these weapons -- if you are a friend, you will not be harmed, but if you are hostile, we *will* be poking your eyes, along with many other parts of your anatomy, out."
Anger flared behind my eyes, and I could feel my fingers bunching up into fists. If Legolas and Haldir hadn't both placed a hand on each of my shoulders, that leader wouldn't have been able to lead anymore... Still, in retrospect I guess it was best that I didn't end up hurting him -- he turned out to be a powerful ally.
But back to the story... The Rider turned back to Aragorn and asked what we were doing traveling through that part of the country. "We do not often get visitors, especially with war brewing elsewhere..."
Aragorn replied, "I am Strider, and my companions and I are hunting for a group of Orcs that recently passed this way."
"Orcs? We have just come back from killing a band of Orcs a short distance off," the Rider said.
"You didn't by any chance notice any other creatures that were traveling with the Orc party, did you?" Legolas spoke up.
The Rider laughed jovially. "What manner of creature would want to travel with Orcs? I no not."
"We had companions who were captured by these Orcs, and we have been trying to track them down in the hopes of being reunited with them," Gimli said gruffly.
"There was no-one but Orcs about when we came upon them," the Rider replied, "but if you will insist on seeing for yourself, take some of our horses. You will be able to reach the edge of Fangorn Forest, where we slew these Orcs, much faster if you are not on foot. I just ask that you return them to King Theoden when you return, and tell him that Eomer, son of Eomund, Third Marshal of Riddermark gave you leave to use them."
"Thank you, Eomer, that is most kind. We will be sure to commend you to King Theoden when we return," Aragorn said with a slight bow.
"But what am I to do?" Gimli asked. "Dwarves are not meant to ride -- we are much more comfortable with our two feet on the ground, or better yet, underground."
Legolas smiled. "You can ride with me if you like, friend."
Legolas and Gimli paired up on one of the larger horses, with Haldir and I sharing another, and Aragorn taking Eomer's steed. Just before we rode off, I happened to be looking at Eomer and saw him shaking his head. He turned to look back at me, whispering to himself, "Will wonders never cease? An elf has become friends with a dwarf!"
(1) 'Tree-ish' is how Merry describes Fangorn at the beginning of chapter IV, book 3 ("Treebeard").
Author's End Note: What will happen next? You'll just have to wait and see (or read the book -- I'm trying to keep pretty close to the storyline). ;) I'm going to try and get the next chapter up within a week or so. In the meantime, please feel free to press the review button and leave me some feedback (remember -- reviews keep me writing!).
Mandatory Disclaimer: JRR Tolkien owns Middle Earth and it's inhabitants. Sarah and Alex are figments of my deranged imagination, and are based solely on fictitious people. Any resemblance of my characters to actual people is merely coincidental. If you are affiliated with the estate of Tolkien, please don't sue -- I am writing this for my amusement (and the entertainment of anyone else who is still reading the story). While I do have hopes of publishing a story one day, it's not going to happen yet. In the meantime, I'll just hone my writing skills by continuing with the story. :)
Chapter 14: New Friends...
Sarah's POV (still).
We started darting from bush to bush and ducking behind trees while being careful to keep the Entwash within sight to guide us, still cautious that we might be found. (Even though I knew from the story that Merry and Pippin didn't run into any Orcs, I still figured I'd better stay on the safe side. After all, I hadn't remembered reading anything about a girl named "Sarah" in the story, and I had no idea how my being here might alter the storyline.) By the time we stopped for a short breather, my legs were scratched up from thorns lying close to the ground, and I found myself rubbing them subconsciously.
"Are you alright?" Pippin asked, looking curiously at me.
"Yeah, I'm fine. My legs just got a little scratched up, that's all. By the looks of your feet, you've gotten a bit scratched up too..." I replied, pointing to his legs.
He looked down in surprise, as if only just noticing for the first time that scratches and bruises covered his calves. "Oh, I guess we've all gotten pretty scratched up. My feet are feeling really sore, though. Do you think we'll be able to find a place to sleep for a few hours, Merry?"
"I'd imagine so, Pip," Merry replied. "But I'd still rather press on a little bit further. This forest is just so tree-ish (1). I think I'll be able to rest much better when the air doesn't feel so heavy and quiet..."
Now that Merry came to mention it, I could really feel the surroundings seem to close in on me. It's a lucky thing that I'm not particularly claustrophobic, or I'd have been in real trouble! It was then that the sun's rays pierced the canopy of leaves overhead, and I noticed something slightly off to our right, almost hidden by the trees.
Pointing to get Merry and Pippin's attention, I said, "What's that over there?"
"I don't know," Pippin replied, "but let's go and investigate. Maybe the air will be a little less stifling up there, and we're sure to get a better idea of where we are from higher ground." Merry and I nodded in agreement, and we started our trek upwards, careful not to slip on the crumbling stone.
As we neared the top, we stopped to admire the view. The forest didn't look nearly as menacing as it had done from the ground, and Pippin admitted to almost liking the woods from our vantage point.
Even though I'd known what was going to happen, the Ent's voice still surprised me, and I must have jumped a foot in the air in shock. "Almost felt you liked Fangorn, Hroom, Hroom? That is nice of you to say, especially since at first glance I did not like you. But my motto is 'Do not be hasty,' so I will withhold my judgment until I know you better. We do not get strangers much in these parts, we like the quiet life you might say, Hoom. Turn around, then, and let me see you..."
As we turned around, Merry couldn't help but ask "Who's there? Where are you hiding?" Pippin merely looked at the old, knarled tree that I had been leaning against, his mouth and eyes open wide in a look of surprise or terror.
"You... you... you..." Pippin stammered. "You can talk?"
"Of course I can talk, Hroom... I am an Ent after all..." the Ent replied. "I am Treebeard, oldest of the Ents of Fangorn. And what, may I ask, are you?"
"I'm Merry, and this is Pippin, we're Hobbits..." Merry spoke up. "And this is Sarah, of the race of Man."
"Ah, yes, I know of Man, Hrum, Hoom. But I have never heard of Hobbits... Us Ents remember things by lists, and your kind are not on the lists I think... Oom..."
"We were always left out of the old lists," Pippin said. "We are people of the Shire, we live in holes dug into the hills that we call 'smials' and we're good farmers."
"Well, then, Oom, you are far from home," Treebeard said.
"We were taken hostage by a group of Orcs travelling to Isengaard," I said, feeling the need to say something.
"ORCS!!!" Treebeard shouted and began to tremble with anger. "They have been cutting down harmless trees on the edge of my forest. But why would they go to Isengaard? Unless..." Now he began to shake even more, as if the thought that Saruman, who I knew had once been Treebeard's friend, had betrayed him had just occurred to the Ent.
"Are you alright?" Merry asked, taking a few timid steps forward just in case.
At that, Treebeard seemed to calm down considerably and said, "No, I am fine. I must not be too hasty, after all."
I nodded. Exhaustion was starting to creep into my limbs once again, and I sat down, almost ready to fall asleep right there. Treebeard seemed to notice and spoke up again. "I am sorry, where are my manners, Hrum, Hroom... You all look very tired. Come back to my home and you can rest there." The looks of relief and thanks on our faces must have been evident, because he let out a chuckle and, taking the hobbits in the crook of one arm and myself in the other, started towards his home.
Alex POV.
I found myself moving with renewed vigor once I knew that Sarah wasn't far away now, and I heard Gimli saying to Legolas that there was a new lightness to my step, "almost as if he was an elf," to which Legolas merely laughed.
Even Haldir seemed to be in brighter spirits now -- I guess we'd all been worried about how the captors were doing, and when we might succeed in finding them (preferably alive and well). At least Gimli, Aragorn, and Legolas had less to worry about with the safety of the Hobbits -- Aragorn had pointed out soon after Haldir and I joined up with them that Merry and Pippin would be wanted by Saruman or Sauron alive, since it was known that a Hobbit was carrying some valuable ring that everyone wants. Sarah, on the other hand, wouldn't have that kind of protection from the Orcs, but the fact that she sees to have survived so far is a good sign, Haldir says.
By now we had reached the downs, and the going was much easier. I was half tempted to roll down a couple of hills, but figured I'd better not, especially after the dirty look Gimli had given me a while ago, (the last thing I needed was for everyone to decide that I needed to spend some time in the next insane asylum we came across...) not to mention the fact that the hills weren't very steep, and it would have looked really weird if I *had* tried to roll down any of them.
"Can we have a bit of a break?" I asked as I started to hear my heart beating heavily in my chest from the exertion.
Haldir turned in my direction and raised an eyebrow. "Weren't you the one who was jumping up and down for joy a few hours ago? I'd have thought you'd have been pressing on now..."
I nodded. "I know, but I can hear my heart beating heavily, and it seems to be growing stronger by the second... If we don't stop soon, I'll probably die of a heart attack or something..."
"Heart attack?" Legolas asked. "What kind of an ailment is that?"
Gimli merely shrugged. "I don't know, but I can hear something too... Maybe we should rest if Alex says it is his heart that is beating so loudly."
Aragorn nodded. "Perhaps we should take a short breather to rest our muscles." Then, smiling in my direction, he said, "You needn't worry, Alex, it is not your heart that you hear beating so loudly. Horses are coming closer -- we are in the land of the Riders of Rohan, and I believe we should meet them soon. Still, I believe it may be better that we do not show ourselves yet, in case I am yet again mistaken..."
Legolas put an arm around the shoulder of Aragorn. "You should not punish yourself so, Aragorn. The role of the leader is always difficult, especially on a quest such as ours. We *will* reach Merry and Pippin before they are subjected to a life of torment, and then we can continue to fight against the Dark Lord Sauron and his minions. We will *not* fail..." With those last words, he gave Aragorn a smile of assurance and waited until Aragorn smiled back before giving his shoulders a quick shake and releasing the hold.
By now the rest of us were sitting down and resting our weary feet. Admittedly, I was also trying to rest the rest of my body -- I'd fallen over onto my stomach and was just going off to sleep. Unfortunately, I didn't get to sleep for long before Gimli prodded me awake. "This is no time for slumber, Master Alex..."
Yawning, I sat up and wrapped my cloak around me. The riders were in sight now, and I looked in awe at them as they prepared to gallop past, or rather, over me. Just in the nick of time I rolled out of the way, and the leader's horse shied away in fright.
As the leader attempted to control his horse, Aragorn spoke up. "What news do you bring from the North, Riders of Rohan?"
It was now the riders turn to be surprised. They wheeled the horses around with surprising speed (considering most of them had still been galloping) and looked around, trying to find where the noise had come from. Aragorn removed the hood of his cloak, and he held up his hands in the traditional 'I surrender' pose. Unfortunately, that still didn't stop the riders from poking the rest of us with spears.
If Sarah had been here, she'd probably have told me to hold my tongue in an attempt to be diplomatic, but she wasn't so I did. "What the f**k do you think you're doing with those things -- you could take an eye out if you're not careful!"
The leader gave me a steely look that could have made ice seem warm. "Watch your tongue, young man. My men know how to use these weapons -- if you are a friend, you will not be harmed, but if you are hostile, we *will* be poking your eyes, along with many other parts of your anatomy, out."
Anger flared behind my eyes, and I could feel my fingers bunching up into fists. If Legolas and Haldir hadn't both placed a hand on each of my shoulders, that leader wouldn't have been able to lead anymore... Still, in retrospect I guess it was best that I didn't end up hurting him -- he turned out to be a powerful ally.
But back to the story... The Rider turned back to Aragorn and asked what we were doing traveling through that part of the country. "We do not often get visitors, especially with war brewing elsewhere..."
Aragorn replied, "I am Strider, and my companions and I are hunting for a group of Orcs that recently passed this way."
"Orcs? We have just come back from killing a band of Orcs a short distance off," the Rider said.
"You didn't by any chance notice any other creatures that were traveling with the Orc party, did you?" Legolas spoke up.
The Rider laughed jovially. "What manner of creature would want to travel with Orcs? I no not."
"We had companions who were captured by these Orcs, and we have been trying to track them down in the hopes of being reunited with them," Gimli said gruffly.
"There was no-one but Orcs about when we came upon them," the Rider replied, "but if you will insist on seeing for yourself, take some of our horses. You will be able to reach the edge of Fangorn Forest, where we slew these Orcs, much faster if you are not on foot. I just ask that you return them to King Theoden when you return, and tell him that Eomer, son of Eomund, Third Marshal of Riddermark gave you leave to use them."
"Thank you, Eomer, that is most kind. We will be sure to commend you to King Theoden when we return," Aragorn said with a slight bow.
"But what am I to do?" Gimli asked. "Dwarves are not meant to ride -- we are much more comfortable with our two feet on the ground, or better yet, underground."
Legolas smiled. "You can ride with me if you like, friend."
Legolas and Gimli paired up on one of the larger horses, with Haldir and I sharing another, and Aragorn taking Eomer's steed. Just before we rode off, I happened to be looking at Eomer and saw him shaking his head. He turned to look back at me, whispering to himself, "Will wonders never cease? An elf has become friends with a dwarf!"
(1) 'Tree-ish' is how Merry describes Fangorn at the beginning of chapter IV, book 3 ("Treebeard").
Author's End Note: What will happen next? You'll just have to wait and see (or read the book -- I'm trying to keep pretty close to the storyline). ;) I'm going to try and get the next chapter up within a week or so. In the meantime, please feel free to press the review button and leave me some feedback (remember -- reviews keep me writing!).