~ Sightseeing in Middle-Earth ~
~ Disclaimer: ~
See previous chappys.
~ Chapter VIII~
~ Amon Hen ~
We stayed in Lothlorien for a good month, resting. I hung around Boromir a lot, talking to him, trying to figure out why he wasn't as tempted by the ring as he should be. But I couldn't figure it out. It just seemed like my presence there had just made him stop being tempted by the ring or something. Really odd, and confusing.
Eventually, it came time to leave Lothlorien. Galadriel and Celeborn came to see us off, and I watched as Galadriel gave each of the Fellowship their gifts. Then, to my surprise, she turned to me and gave me an Elven sword.
"Thanks. A lot." I said, so surprised I couldn't think of anything else to say.
"May it aide you in your travels." Galadriel said with a sad smile, and it suddenly occurred to me WHY she was giving me a sword. That made the shocked smile freeze on my face. If she expected me to - I stopped that line of thinking. Galadriel was a powerful sorceress, after all, and according to the book and movie, she could read minds. So I just kept my mind blank and sat in the boat with Gimli and Legolas and let Legolas paddle out of Lothlorien.
We spent ten days in those boats, paddling down the river, going onto shore only at night to rest. Eventually, however, the walls became too steep, Aragorn became cautious of Orcs, and we even spent the nights in the boats. My legs began to cramp, and what with Legolas and Gimli completely intent on forging their friendship, I soon became incredibly bored. My boredom was relieved, however, when we passed the large Argonath statues on the tenth day, and man - those things are huge. You can barely get a sense of how large they are in the movies. They're absolutely HUGE. As in, CN Tower huge! I gaped at the statues when I saw them, as did everyone else.
Then we were pulling up by Amon Hen to wait for darkness so we could cross to the eastern shore. We half set up camp, and Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli had their little disagreement about what we were doing and where we were going next. That was when I became aware that things were slightly different. Frodo had already disapeared, but Boromir, being there instead of off chasing after Frodo, put in his two cents about our route - supporting Aragorn, to my surprise. Somehow, the two had managed to sort out their differences without Boromir's anguish over the ring. I shrugged, then turned to watch the trees, wondering when I'd see the Orcs come exploding out of them, or when someone would notice Frodo was gone. No one seemed to notice Frodo's disapearance, though, and the voices behind me died down eventually. After a short silence that was only interupted by the crackling of our camp fire, Boromir came up beside me.
"Would you like to go for a walk?" he asked almost immediately, and I blinked at him in surprise. We all knew we were in great danger of being attacked by Orcs, and Boromir wasn't one to put himself in needless danger. Yet here he was, wanting to go for a walk in possibly Orc infested woods.
"Sure." I said, my curiosity piqued, and before anyone could stop us, we disappeared off into the trees. We were silent as we walked, something else unusual. Usually any walk I was on ended out in loud laughter before long. But I was quiet, since I knew Orcs were near, and Boromir did not seem inclined to speak for the longest time. But finally, he did.
"Lady Erin, there has been something I have been meaning to tell you." he paused and did not continue for a short while, and I looked at him curiously, but he was frowning, eyes unfocused, obviously trying to think how to phrase what he wanted to say. "I remember the first time I saw you, the night I arrived in Rivendell. You were watching me, from your window. There was a light behind you, and it seemed to me that you glowed. I could not see much of you, but none the less, I could not stop thinking about you that night. I thought that for sure I had been bewitched by an Elven Princess, doomed to pine after her while she dismissed me as a mere mortal. So my heart soared with joy when I discovered that this Elven Princess was actually a human Lady, and not so high above me as I'd thought, except in beauty." He paused once more, then stopped and turned to me. "Lady Erin, that night in Rivendell, when I first saw you, my heart was stolen from me - by you. I know I will never get it back, but I wish to know if it is treasured by it's new owner - or thrown away and rejected."
My mind was whirling as the pieces as to why Boromir had not been tempted by the ring clicked into place. And then all thought of the ring and proper plot of the story were swept out of my mind as I realized exactly what Boromir was saying. Staring at him, I could see the need for an answer burning in his eyes. Thoughts flew through my mind, out of order, unorganized and jumbled. I didn't know Boromir's exact age, but I KNEW he was at least twice my age. He needed to die for the quest to continue along its proper course. More flew through my mind, and suddenly I realized I had been quiet for a good while, and an edge of pleading had entered Boromir's look. I opened my mouth to reply, to tell him...something...when Orcs burst into the clearing.
"Oh fudge. I'd forgotten about them." I growled as Boromir and I leapt apart and drew our swords. Boromir, already focusing on the Orcs, didn't even hear my comment. And then the Orcs were there, and we were kept quite busy. Suddenly, I wondered how the rest of the story was going. Had someone finally noticed that Frodo had disapeared? Was everyone else running around in the bush, searching? Distracted, I didn't notice as an Orc took a swipe at my head, and I wouldn't have survived if Boromir's sword hadn't suddenly parried the Orc's at the last moment.
"Keep your mind on the fight!" Boromir grunted, pushing the Orc back with his sword before proceeding to finish it, not even glancing at me. I took a shaky breath and did as he suggested, forgetting everything else as I threw myself into the fight. It became painfully clear, however, that although Boromir and I were fighting well, there were just to many Orcs for us to fight alone. With only a glance at each other to confirm that we had the same thing in mind, we turned and ran. We knew we couldn't out run the Orcs for long, but we figured we could find some help before the Orcs overtook us.
Then, to my right, over a hill, I heard two little voices, yelling and attracting Orcs to them. I turned towards the voices, and Boromir followed. I scrambled up the hill and reaching the top, looked down to find Merry and Pippin running as fast as their legs could take them away from a large group of Orcs. I glanced around - it looked like the place in the movie. Well. At least part of the plot was going right. Boromir, now completely focused on saving the hobbits, made a spectacular leap to in front of the hobbits, and started hacking at the Orcs attacking him. I faltered for a moment before joining him. Something in me screamed to go and hide and kill the Orc archer that I knew was coming, but, well, that was too much active changing of the plot, even for me, and besides, even Aragorn had had problems with that Orc. And I was maybe a quarter as good as Aragorn, when I was fresh and well-rested - which I was currently not.
"Watch out for archers!" I couldn't help warning Boromir as I saw the archer appear over another hill.
"I think I learned that in Moria!" Boromir shot back, but none the less, he glanced up, and spotted the archer. I'm quite sure the next thing he said was a curse. One thing I found out very quickly after that, though - it's extremely hard to fight and keep an eye on an archer at the same time.
I didn't even notice when the first arrow was loosed. Of course, I hadn't even noticed that the archer was aiming at me instead of Boromir. The arrow hit my right shoulder with a flash of searing pain that made me gasp and almost drop my sword. I held on to it, somehow, but I'm right handed, and fought right handed, so even though I held onto my sword, I couldn't use it very well. Besides that, the force of the arrow had knocked me back a few feet and onto my knees. So I was fighting from hobbit height. Merry and Pippin decided to help me with that, while Boromir moved in front of me, now having three people to protect, and twice as many Orcs to fight. He took the first pause he could get to sound his Horn of Gondor, several times, then went back to fighting.
Then the archer fired again. This time, I saw it, and punched Boromir's left leg as I saw the Orc release the string, and Boromir lurched to the side. The arrow whizzed by him, and right by my ear, before I heard it embed itself in a tree behind us.
"Oi, that was close." I heard Pippin say under his breath, and guessed that the arrow had just missed him, as well. Boromir, having not seen the arrow, glanced back at me, annoyed, and an oncoming Orc took that opportunity to whack his shield into Boromir's head.
Exit one conscious Boromir, enter one unconscious Boromir. Who managed to fall on top of me, causing the painful throb in my shoulder to escalate into a searing, blinding pain. I vaguely remember seeing Merry and Pippin carried off before passing out.
What happened after that, I only know from what Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli said. Legolas and Gimli were actually the first to reach us, and they had a time defending the unconscious bodies of Boromir and I, though at the time, they'd had no clue whether or not we were alive. They had some trouble with the archer - Gimli's helm had a new hole in it - before Aragorn showed up and dealt with the orc. By that time, the majority of the Orcs had gone by, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli finished off the few that were left before checking on Boromir and I. When they discovered we were alive, they carefully carried us back to the beach, to discover that Frodo and Sam were halfway to the other side. They had a small argument as to what to do after that, but Aragorn finally won, and they let Frodo and Sam go, instead staying on the shore they were on and tending to Boromir and my's wounds. I was the first one to wake up later that afternoon.
"Ouch." was the first thing I said when I woke up.
"Is your shoulder hurting?" Aragorn asked, coming over.
"No, my head." I said.
"I'm afraid you'll have to deal with it. Boromir has a more pressing need for the herbs to ease head pains." Aragorn said, sounding grave, and I glanced over to Boromir, who had a big nasty lump on the side of his head.
"Ouch." I said again, this time in sympathy, as I sat up.
"Yes, indeed." Aragorn said.
"So what happened?" I asked, and Aragorn looked at me strangely.
"I was going to ask YOU that." he said.
"First, tell me what happened after Boromir and I went for a walk." I said.
"After we realized you two had left, we also realized Frodo was gone, and we set out to look for him - and you two. You could have told us you were going." Aragorn said reprovingly.
"Um...sorry. Didn't cross my mind." I said, avoiding looking directly at Aragorn.
"Indeed." Aragorn said, arching an eyebrow, then continued. "We went off to search, and I found Frodo. He had decided to leave, he wouldn't say why, but I think the Ring is effecting his judgment. The Orcs came, then, and I fought them where I was until I heard the Horn of Gondor. Then I followed its sound to where you were. Legolas and Gimli had a similar experience, except they did not find Frodo." Aragorn said, and then described what I mentioned above about what happened after Boromir and I passed out.
"Now we wish to know if you've seen Merry and Pippin." Legolas asked, he and Gimli having come over during Aragorn's explanation.
"The Orcs have them." I said quietly, and suddenly I glanced up to the sky and noticed it was starting to darken. "We need to go after them."
"I agree." Aragorn said. "But we will not make very good time with one unconscious and wounded with us."
"I'll be fine. It's a shoulder wound, it won't affect my traveling capabilities." I said, shrugging with my good shoulder.
"Indeed. But Boromir's injury is more serious." Legolas said.
"Nonsense." said Boromir suddenly, startling us all, as we hadn't even been aware he was awake. "I'm fine." he added, sitting up, then groaned and fell back, putting a hand to his head.
"That doesn't even warrant a response." I said dryly.
"You are both injured - you can not come with us. The pace would be too much. You need to go back to Lothlorien, over land." Aragorn said sternly. I hesitated, the idea sounded tempting. Besides that, it would effectively fix the plot line. But then there was the fact that with Lothlorien, came Galadriel. And she wouldn't be exactly accepting of the way the plot had changed. Damnit, why had I told her that Boromir was tempted by the ring and died in the original plot?
"No. We cannot go back to Lothlorien." I said, more crossly then I'd meant to. Aragorn arched an eyebrow.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Uh...it wouldn't be good for Boromir's health." I replied.
"How so?" Legolas asked, curious and somewhat annoyed looking, obviously thinking I was referring negatively to Elven healing skills.
"Just is. Stop asking questions. Going back to Lothlorien is impossible. So we're coming with you." I said flatly. Aragorn paused, then nodded, stood and headed off to pack up what little camp we had left. Legolas and Gimli looked confused that Aragorn would let me order him around like that, but then seemed to give a mental shrug, and Legolas checked on Boromir's head wound, then went to have a heated, if quiet, discussion with Aragorn in Elvish. Gimli just humphed and wandered off to the shore and glared across the water, to where an Elven boat was just visible, upturned and empty, on the other side.
"You never answered me." Boromir's voice was quiet, and startled me, and I looked down at him.
"The Orcs interrupted." I replied softly, then looked back out across the lake. There was silence once more, except for the low sounds of Legolas and Aragorn going at it.
"I don't know, Boromir." I said finally, and I swear I heard Boromir let go of a breath he had been holding. "There's so many reasons..." I paused, not sure where I was going, and glanced down at Boromir, who had a pained look on his face. "I just don't know, Boromir. I was not expecting to know you this long. I need to think about this." I finished softly.
"I can wait for as long as you need." Boromir replied simply, and caught my hand and kissed it lightly. I smiled down at him, and he smiled back, though I saw some confusion in his eyes at my comment. Then I got up and walked over to the shore to think.
~ Disclaimer: ~
See previous chappys.
~ Chapter VIII~
~ Amon Hen ~
We stayed in Lothlorien for a good month, resting. I hung around Boromir a lot, talking to him, trying to figure out why he wasn't as tempted by the ring as he should be. But I couldn't figure it out. It just seemed like my presence there had just made him stop being tempted by the ring or something. Really odd, and confusing.
Eventually, it came time to leave Lothlorien. Galadriel and Celeborn came to see us off, and I watched as Galadriel gave each of the Fellowship their gifts. Then, to my surprise, she turned to me and gave me an Elven sword.
"Thanks. A lot." I said, so surprised I couldn't think of anything else to say.
"May it aide you in your travels." Galadriel said with a sad smile, and it suddenly occurred to me WHY she was giving me a sword. That made the shocked smile freeze on my face. If she expected me to - I stopped that line of thinking. Galadriel was a powerful sorceress, after all, and according to the book and movie, she could read minds. So I just kept my mind blank and sat in the boat with Gimli and Legolas and let Legolas paddle out of Lothlorien.
We spent ten days in those boats, paddling down the river, going onto shore only at night to rest. Eventually, however, the walls became too steep, Aragorn became cautious of Orcs, and we even spent the nights in the boats. My legs began to cramp, and what with Legolas and Gimli completely intent on forging their friendship, I soon became incredibly bored. My boredom was relieved, however, when we passed the large Argonath statues on the tenth day, and man - those things are huge. You can barely get a sense of how large they are in the movies. They're absolutely HUGE. As in, CN Tower huge! I gaped at the statues when I saw them, as did everyone else.
Then we were pulling up by Amon Hen to wait for darkness so we could cross to the eastern shore. We half set up camp, and Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli had their little disagreement about what we were doing and where we were going next. That was when I became aware that things were slightly different. Frodo had already disapeared, but Boromir, being there instead of off chasing after Frodo, put in his two cents about our route - supporting Aragorn, to my surprise. Somehow, the two had managed to sort out their differences without Boromir's anguish over the ring. I shrugged, then turned to watch the trees, wondering when I'd see the Orcs come exploding out of them, or when someone would notice Frodo was gone. No one seemed to notice Frodo's disapearance, though, and the voices behind me died down eventually. After a short silence that was only interupted by the crackling of our camp fire, Boromir came up beside me.
"Would you like to go for a walk?" he asked almost immediately, and I blinked at him in surprise. We all knew we were in great danger of being attacked by Orcs, and Boromir wasn't one to put himself in needless danger. Yet here he was, wanting to go for a walk in possibly Orc infested woods.
"Sure." I said, my curiosity piqued, and before anyone could stop us, we disappeared off into the trees. We were silent as we walked, something else unusual. Usually any walk I was on ended out in loud laughter before long. But I was quiet, since I knew Orcs were near, and Boromir did not seem inclined to speak for the longest time. But finally, he did.
"Lady Erin, there has been something I have been meaning to tell you." he paused and did not continue for a short while, and I looked at him curiously, but he was frowning, eyes unfocused, obviously trying to think how to phrase what he wanted to say. "I remember the first time I saw you, the night I arrived in Rivendell. You were watching me, from your window. There was a light behind you, and it seemed to me that you glowed. I could not see much of you, but none the less, I could not stop thinking about you that night. I thought that for sure I had been bewitched by an Elven Princess, doomed to pine after her while she dismissed me as a mere mortal. So my heart soared with joy when I discovered that this Elven Princess was actually a human Lady, and not so high above me as I'd thought, except in beauty." He paused once more, then stopped and turned to me. "Lady Erin, that night in Rivendell, when I first saw you, my heart was stolen from me - by you. I know I will never get it back, but I wish to know if it is treasured by it's new owner - or thrown away and rejected."
My mind was whirling as the pieces as to why Boromir had not been tempted by the ring clicked into place. And then all thought of the ring and proper plot of the story were swept out of my mind as I realized exactly what Boromir was saying. Staring at him, I could see the need for an answer burning in his eyes. Thoughts flew through my mind, out of order, unorganized and jumbled. I didn't know Boromir's exact age, but I KNEW he was at least twice my age. He needed to die for the quest to continue along its proper course. More flew through my mind, and suddenly I realized I had been quiet for a good while, and an edge of pleading had entered Boromir's look. I opened my mouth to reply, to tell him...something...when Orcs burst into the clearing.
"Oh fudge. I'd forgotten about them." I growled as Boromir and I leapt apart and drew our swords. Boromir, already focusing on the Orcs, didn't even hear my comment. And then the Orcs were there, and we were kept quite busy. Suddenly, I wondered how the rest of the story was going. Had someone finally noticed that Frodo had disapeared? Was everyone else running around in the bush, searching? Distracted, I didn't notice as an Orc took a swipe at my head, and I wouldn't have survived if Boromir's sword hadn't suddenly parried the Orc's at the last moment.
"Keep your mind on the fight!" Boromir grunted, pushing the Orc back with his sword before proceeding to finish it, not even glancing at me. I took a shaky breath and did as he suggested, forgetting everything else as I threw myself into the fight. It became painfully clear, however, that although Boromir and I were fighting well, there were just to many Orcs for us to fight alone. With only a glance at each other to confirm that we had the same thing in mind, we turned and ran. We knew we couldn't out run the Orcs for long, but we figured we could find some help before the Orcs overtook us.
Then, to my right, over a hill, I heard two little voices, yelling and attracting Orcs to them. I turned towards the voices, and Boromir followed. I scrambled up the hill and reaching the top, looked down to find Merry and Pippin running as fast as their legs could take them away from a large group of Orcs. I glanced around - it looked like the place in the movie. Well. At least part of the plot was going right. Boromir, now completely focused on saving the hobbits, made a spectacular leap to in front of the hobbits, and started hacking at the Orcs attacking him. I faltered for a moment before joining him. Something in me screamed to go and hide and kill the Orc archer that I knew was coming, but, well, that was too much active changing of the plot, even for me, and besides, even Aragorn had had problems with that Orc. And I was maybe a quarter as good as Aragorn, when I was fresh and well-rested - which I was currently not.
"Watch out for archers!" I couldn't help warning Boromir as I saw the archer appear over another hill.
"I think I learned that in Moria!" Boromir shot back, but none the less, he glanced up, and spotted the archer. I'm quite sure the next thing he said was a curse. One thing I found out very quickly after that, though - it's extremely hard to fight and keep an eye on an archer at the same time.
I didn't even notice when the first arrow was loosed. Of course, I hadn't even noticed that the archer was aiming at me instead of Boromir. The arrow hit my right shoulder with a flash of searing pain that made me gasp and almost drop my sword. I held on to it, somehow, but I'm right handed, and fought right handed, so even though I held onto my sword, I couldn't use it very well. Besides that, the force of the arrow had knocked me back a few feet and onto my knees. So I was fighting from hobbit height. Merry and Pippin decided to help me with that, while Boromir moved in front of me, now having three people to protect, and twice as many Orcs to fight. He took the first pause he could get to sound his Horn of Gondor, several times, then went back to fighting.
Then the archer fired again. This time, I saw it, and punched Boromir's left leg as I saw the Orc release the string, and Boromir lurched to the side. The arrow whizzed by him, and right by my ear, before I heard it embed itself in a tree behind us.
"Oi, that was close." I heard Pippin say under his breath, and guessed that the arrow had just missed him, as well. Boromir, having not seen the arrow, glanced back at me, annoyed, and an oncoming Orc took that opportunity to whack his shield into Boromir's head.
Exit one conscious Boromir, enter one unconscious Boromir. Who managed to fall on top of me, causing the painful throb in my shoulder to escalate into a searing, blinding pain. I vaguely remember seeing Merry and Pippin carried off before passing out.
What happened after that, I only know from what Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli said. Legolas and Gimli were actually the first to reach us, and they had a time defending the unconscious bodies of Boromir and I, though at the time, they'd had no clue whether or not we were alive. They had some trouble with the archer - Gimli's helm had a new hole in it - before Aragorn showed up and dealt with the orc. By that time, the majority of the Orcs had gone by, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli finished off the few that were left before checking on Boromir and I. When they discovered we were alive, they carefully carried us back to the beach, to discover that Frodo and Sam were halfway to the other side. They had a small argument as to what to do after that, but Aragorn finally won, and they let Frodo and Sam go, instead staying on the shore they were on and tending to Boromir and my's wounds. I was the first one to wake up later that afternoon.
"Ouch." was the first thing I said when I woke up.
"Is your shoulder hurting?" Aragorn asked, coming over.
"No, my head." I said.
"I'm afraid you'll have to deal with it. Boromir has a more pressing need for the herbs to ease head pains." Aragorn said, sounding grave, and I glanced over to Boromir, who had a big nasty lump on the side of his head.
"Ouch." I said again, this time in sympathy, as I sat up.
"Yes, indeed." Aragorn said.
"So what happened?" I asked, and Aragorn looked at me strangely.
"I was going to ask YOU that." he said.
"First, tell me what happened after Boromir and I went for a walk." I said.
"After we realized you two had left, we also realized Frodo was gone, and we set out to look for him - and you two. You could have told us you were going." Aragorn said reprovingly.
"Um...sorry. Didn't cross my mind." I said, avoiding looking directly at Aragorn.
"Indeed." Aragorn said, arching an eyebrow, then continued. "We went off to search, and I found Frodo. He had decided to leave, he wouldn't say why, but I think the Ring is effecting his judgment. The Orcs came, then, and I fought them where I was until I heard the Horn of Gondor. Then I followed its sound to where you were. Legolas and Gimli had a similar experience, except they did not find Frodo." Aragorn said, and then described what I mentioned above about what happened after Boromir and I passed out.
"Now we wish to know if you've seen Merry and Pippin." Legolas asked, he and Gimli having come over during Aragorn's explanation.
"The Orcs have them." I said quietly, and suddenly I glanced up to the sky and noticed it was starting to darken. "We need to go after them."
"I agree." Aragorn said. "But we will not make very good time with one unconscious and wounded with us."
"I'll be fine. It's a shoulder wound, it won't affect my traveling capabilities." I said, shrugging with my good shoulder.
"Indeed. But Boromir's injury is more serious." Legolas said.
"Nonsense." said Boromir suddenly, startling us all, as we hadn't even been aware he was awake. "I'm fine." he added, sitting up, then groaned and fell back, putting a hand to his head.
"That doesn't even warrant a response." I said dryly.
"You are both injured - you can not come with us. The pace would be too much. You need to go back to Lothlorien, over land." Aragorn said sternly. I hesitated, the idea sounded tempting. Besides that, it would effectively fix the plot line. But then there was the fact that with Lothlorien, came Galadriel. And she wouldn't be exactly accepting of the way the plot had changed. Damnit, why had I told her that Boromir was tempted by the ring and died in the original plot?
"No. We cannot go back to Lothlorien." I said, more crossly then I'd meant to. Aragorn arched an eyebrow.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Uh...it wouldn't be good for Boromir's health." I replied.
"How so?" Legolas asked, curious and somewhat annoyed looking, obviously thinking I was referring negatively to Elven healing skills.
"Just is. Stop asking questions. Going back to Lothlorien is impossible. So we're coming with you." I said flatly. Aragorn paused, then nodded, stood and headed off to pack up what little camp we had left. Legolas and Gimli looked confused that Aragorn would let me order him around like that, but then seemed to give a mental shrug, and Legolas checked on Boromir's head wound, then went to have a heated, if quiet, discussion with Aragorn in Elvish. Gimli just humphed and wandered off to the shore and glared across the water, to where an Elven boat was just visible, upturned and empty, on the other side.
"You never answered me." Boromir's voice was quiet, and startled me, and I looked down at him.
"The Orcs interrupted." I replied softly, then looked back out across the lake. There was silence once more, except for the low sounds of Legolas and Aragorn going at it.
"I don't know, Boromir." I said finally, and I swear I heard Boromir let go of a breath he had been holding. "There's so many reasons..." I paused, not sure where I was going, and glanced down at Boromir, who had a pained look on his face. "I just don't know, Boromir. I was not expecting to know you this long. I need to think about this." I finished softly.
"I can wait for as long as you need." Boromir replied simply, and caught my hand and kissed it lightly. I smiled down at him, and he smiled back, though I saw some confusion in his eyes at my comment. Then I got up and walked over to the shore to think.