~ Sightseeing in Middle-Earth ~
~ Disclaimer: ~
See previous chapters.
~ Chapter XIV~
~ From Rohan to Gondor ~
When consciousness returned to my mind later, I knew immediately that I wasn't still trapped by Sauron - or at least, he'd let me go for now. After all, what would I be doing riding on a horse in front of someone if Sauron still had me caught? I flicked an eye open just to reassure myself, and upon seeing ground speeding by on the sides and the dark brown head of a horse in front of me, promptly closed my eye and went to sleep.
I woke later when the movement of the horse had stopped. I was lying on a floor, now, with a blanket over me. Cracking open an eye, I saw that I was inside a building of some sort, curled up in a corner. I couldn't see much more then the wall right in front of me, so I shifted so I could see the rest of the room.
The room was rather small, looking like a guard house more then anything else - though a guard of what, I don't know. I knew I wasn't in Helm's Deep anymore - at the rate the horse had been going at, we had to be pretty far away from Helm's Deep by now. I also knew we weren't in Edoras - the building structure was different. Besides that, someone who was obviously NOT Rohirrim was standing just within sight outside of the single door.
Curious as to where I was, I took stock of my injuries, and discovered that, to my amazement, I was quite alright - no headache, even. I was, however, incredibly hungry. So, with the motivations of food and curiosity, I tossed back the blanket - which I now realized was actually Boromir's cloak that he had given to me on Caradhas - and stood, stretching. I grabbed the cloak and put it over my shoulders - we were barely getting out of winter, after all - and went over to the door.
"Where am I?" I asked the guard standing out there, after a quick glance around me told me I'd never seen this countryside before.
"Gondor." the guard replied. I blinked.
"Who came with me?" I asked.
"Lord Boromir. He's down below." the guard replied, nodding to a set of steps that I hadn't noticed, going down around the outside of the tower.
"Ah. Thanks." I said, and followed the steps down. They eventually led to the ground, and there was another door, which was partially open, and inside I could hear two voices talking, too low for me to tell if one was Boromir's. I pushed the door the rest of the way open and went in, anyways. Instantly, the talk stopped, and the three men in the room - Boromir and two others dressed as the guard above had been - turned to see who was in the door.
"Ah, you're awake!" Boromir said, smiling widely.
"Yes indeed. And I'd very much like some food and to know why we're in Gondor." I said. The three men were sitting on chairs in the center of the room, around a table, Boromir on his own side, the two other men on the other side. I now plunked myself down in the one available chair next to Boromir and looked at him expectantly. I heard one of the other men stifle a laugh. Then the two men excused themselves and disappeared outside, and Boromir turned to me.
"Which do you want first?" he asked, clearly amused, once the men were gone.
"Food please." I replied promptly, and my stomach backed me up by growling. Boromir got up and found some food for me, then set it in front of me and waited while I ate. As I was finishing, he started explaining what had happened. The majority of it, I knew - Gandalf, Theoden, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli going off to Isengard, for example. But there were a few things I didn't know about.
"Theoden bid me take a message to my father that the Rohirrim would come as soon as they were able, and I was to leave for Minas Tirith as they were going to Isengard. Gandalf said you were out of danger by the time we were ready set off, and so told me to bring you with me. That was two days ago." Boromir said, and I nodded. Then, I couldn't help asking about Haldir.
"Did Haldir go back to Lothlorien?" I asked, and I saw Boromir stiffen slightly.
"Yes, he did." Boromir replied, and there was a strange tinge to his voice that I hadn't heard before. "And he insisted on taking the Lady's gift to you with him."
"Oh good." I said, sighing. "That's one sword I never want to see again."
"So you asked him to take it back with him?" Boromir asked, curious.
"No, but I'm glad he did." I replied. There was silence for a bit while Boromir looked thoughtful.
"In the battle you told me you would not use that sword even if it was your only weapon with which to face the Dark Lord himself, and now you are glad that Haldir has taken it back with him to Lothlorien." Boromir said, thoughtfully, then glanced at me. "The rest of the Fellowship prizes their gifts - why do you hate yours so?"
"That, I'm afraid, I can't tell you. Suffice it to say it was given for a reason which I don't like." I replied with a sigh, and Boromir looked at me thoughtfully again. "Stop looking so thoughtful." I grumbled after a bit, and then Boromir smiled.
"My apologies." he said. "But there is much to think about."
"Think about it when all that's left of Sauron is dust motes. Cuz if you think about it too much now, you're just gonna get depressed. And that's rather useless." I said. Boromir chuckled.
"It is indeed. But sometimes thinking about events can help you realize something you otherwise wouldn't have." he said.
"For you. If I think about what's going on too long, I'm just gonna wanna ride back to Rivendell and hide there until this is aaaaaaaaall over." I said, and made a face. Boromir chuckled again.
"There's no need to be worried - I've talked with Aragorn, and there is hope yet for Middle-Earth if his plans succeed." he said.
"Well, since I haven't seen one of Aragorn's plans fail yet, then there's still hope for Middle-Earth!" I said cheerily. I had been more referring to Gandalf and Galadriel's wrath when I told them I'd changed the quest by saving the lives of TWO people who were supposed to die, but I couldn't very well tell Boromir that.
"So, when are we setting out?" I asked, glancing around. It was about mid-afternoon now, and I knew that Minas Tirith was still a good ways away.
"Not until tomorrow. Both horse and rider are too weary to go on for now." Boromir said, and for a moment he looked rather haggard. I leaned over and gave him a light kiss, and he smiled tiredly back at me. I realized, however, that we needed to leave sooner. The battle at Minas Tirith wouldn't wait for us - indeed, it would gladly happen without us, since we weren't even supposed to be there, anyways.
"I think we need to leave tonight, Boromir." I said gravely. "Minas Tirith needs your help. And the Nazgul will soon cross the Anduin, if they haven't already - it isn't safe to travel during the day anymore." Boromir looked at me curiously, but by now knew better to ask when I came up with some cryptic piece of knowledge. Then his expression turned thoughtful again.
"I suppose we could take one of the guards horses and leave this evening." he said.
"Good, but it would be better if we had two horses." I said, and Boromir nodded, and I followed him as he rose and left the room. Outside, the two guards who had been in the room when I'd gone in were standing a little ways off, talking to each other.
"We have need of horses - we must ride tonight." Boromir told then, and they glanced at each other.
"Surely it would be safer to ride during the day?" one of the guards asked.
"I'd rather risk a horse stumbling in the dark then risk a Nazgul spotting us." I replied for Boromir. The guards eyes went wide, and I knew we had our horses. Sure enough, as the sun was starting to dip beneath the horizon, Boromir appeared on the top of the guard tower, where I was looking at the countryside, and told me it was time for us to leave. Within a few minutes, we were off.
Sometime during the night, a Nazgul passed over us. I wouldn't have known, except for the fact that the horses started snorted and rolling their eyes, and Boromir glanced nervously at the sky. I think that was the closest to scared I'd ever seen him. For some reason, though, the Nazgul didn't affect me. None the less, I was glad when the Nazgul passed over us. My horse calmed down a lot, and the feeling that Boromir and his horse were going to take off at a mad gallop faded.
When the sky began to lighten, we came within sight of a small town, and Boromir managed to find us someplace to stay for the day. For my part, I mostly sat and listened. Boromir may have been home with his kinsmen - all of whom greeted him joyously enough, considering the times - but this was a new place for me, and it was one I wanted to learn more about. I slept only a little, during the heat of the afternoon, but the rest of the village, as well as Boromir, slept even less. The Nazgul passed over the village several times during the day, sending animals into panic, with the humans close behind them. I pitied the children in the village - in this world, the boogyman and the monster in your closet could very well be real. Well, they don't have closets in Middle-Earth, but close enough.
Finally, the sun began to set, and when it dipped finally beneath the horizon, Boromir and I set out again. It was another hard night of riding, and near the end of it, the beacons of Gondor were lit. They made an eerie sight, pinpricks of red light against the lightening night sky. When Boromir saw them, he kicked his horse into a gallop, and I followed.
There was no building near enough for us to reach before daybreak when the sun began to rise, so we rode into the nearest clump of trees and tied the horses securely to trees. Boromir set about making a small fire to cook some food on, but he looked tired, and I told him to rest while I did it. He almost refused, but I backed it up with a please and a kiss, and five minutes later, he was asleep.
I started a small fire, and cooked some of the food we had packed. Boromir awoke long enough to eat before falling back asleep, and I smiled slightly as I set about putting out the fire and cleaning up the relative mess I'd made making the food. When I was done, I found myself my own patch of ground and lay down to get some rest. I probably should have stayed up to keep watch, but I found that I was rather tired, myself.
I woke later in the day, hungry, to find that it was starting to get dark. Boromir was still fast asleep, so I set about making a small fire again to make some more food. When I was done, Boromir still hadn't woken up, so I went over to him and stared at him for a few minutes. Not a very unpleasant job, I must admit. Though he had obviously been traveling for the past week without a pause to get clean, he still managed to look cute. Of course, people always look cute when they're asleep. Except for Legolas. He just looked creepy, sleeping with his eyes open. But my staring at Boromir worked, anyways - he woke up after only a few minutes.
"Sky's getting dark, food's ready." I said when I saw Boromir crack an eye open. He got up, and we ate. Then he insisted on cleaning up the camp while I got the horses ready. When we were done, we were off again. Almost immediately, a Nazgul passed over us, and I saw Boromir's teeth clench. He kicked his horse into a gallop again, and I followed once more.
Around the middle of the night, we came to a large wall of stone. Boromir glanced along it, and, seeing a gateway farther down, turned and galloped towards the gate. When we reached it, he called something out to the guards that I couldn't understand, and we galloped straight through. We continued at various paces for the rest of the night, generally going as fast as we could, and found another village to stay in for the day. The day was spent with us sleeping and eating, and then we were off again in the night.
Sometime during the night, I'm pretty sure Gandalf and Pippin passed us on Shadowfax. At least, I saw a silvery blur out of the corner of my eye. I would have dismissed it as just my eyes playing tricks on me, but when the next night came and we still hadn't seen Gandalf, I knew it had to have been him, since he was to have arrived in Minas Tirith that day.
Once more we spent the day sleeping and eating, then were off again at dusk. As the sky darkened, it seemed that clouds rolled out from the south, towards Mordor, and even the light of the stars was blocked out.
"There will be no dawn today." I said softly during once of Boromir and my's brief rests, and Boromir looked at me as I stared at the sky. "We must reach Minas Tirith tonight." I said after a moment, then swung myself up onto my horse, and Boromir did so as well. For once, it was I who kicked my horse into a gallop, and Boromir was the one who followed.
~ Disclaimer: ~
See previous chapters.
~ Chapter XIV~
~ From Rohan to Gondor ~
When consciousness returned to my mind later, I knew immediately that I wasn't still trapped by Sauron - or at least, he'd let me go for now. After all, what would I be doing riding on a horse in front of someone if Sauron still had me caught? I flicked an eye open just to reassure myself, and upon seeing ground speeding by on the sides and the dark brown head of a horse in front of me, promptly closed my eye and went to sleep.
I woke later when the movement of the horse had stopped. I was lying on a floor, now, with a blanket over me. Cracking open an eye, I saw that I was inside a building of some sort, curled up in a corner. I couldn't see much more then the wall right in front of me, so I shifted so I could see the rest of the room.
The room was rather small, looking like a guard house more then anything else - though a guard of what, I don't know. I knew I wasn't in Helm's Deep anymore - at the rate the horse had been going at, we had to be pretty far away from Helm's Deep by now. I also knew we weren't in Edoras - the building structure was different. Besides that, someone who was obviously NOT Rohirrim was standing just within sight outside of the single door.
Curious as to where I was, I took stock of my injuries, and discovered that, to my amazement, I was quite alright - no headache, even. I was, however, incredibly hungry. So, with the motivations of food and curiosity, I tossed back the blanket - which I now realized was actually Boromir's cloak that he had given to me on Caradhas - and stood, stretching. I grabbed the cloak and put it over my shoulders - we were barely getting out of winter, after all - and went over to the door.
"Where am I?" I asked the guard standing out there, after a quick glance around me told me I'd never seen this countryside before.
"Gondor." the guard replied. I blinked.
"Who came with me?" I asked.
"Lord Boromir. He's down below." the guard replied, nodding to a set of steps that I hadn't noticed, going down around the outside of the tower.
"Ah. Thanks." I said, and followed the steps down. They eventually led to the ground, and there was another door, which was partially open, and inside I could hear two voices talking, too low for me to tell if one was Boromir's. I pushed the door the rest of the way open and went in, anyways. Instantly, the talk stopped, and the three men in the room - Boromir and two others dressed as the guard above had been - turned to see who was in the door.
"Ah, you're awake!" Boromir said, smiling widely.
"Yes indeed. And I'd very much like some food and to know why we're in Gondor." I said. The three men were sitting on chairs in the center of the room, around a table, Boromir on his own side, the two other men on the other side. I now plunked myself down in the one available chair next to Boromir and looked at him expectantly. I heard one of the other men stifle a laugh. Then the two men excused themselves and disappeared outside, and Boromir turned to me.
"Which do you want first?" he asked, clearly amused, once the men were gone.
"Food please." I replied promptly, and my stomach backed me up by growling. Boromir got up and found some food for me, then set it in front of me and waited while I ate. As I was finishing, he started explaining what had happened. The majority of it, I knew - Gandalf, Theoden, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli going off to Isengard, for example. But there were a few things I didn't know about.
"Theoden bid me take a message to my father that the Rohirrim would come as soon as they were able, and I was to leave for Minas Tirith as they were going to Isengard. Gandalf said you were out of danger by the time we were ready set off, and so told me to bring you with me. That was two days ago." Boromir said, and I nodded. Then, I couldn't help asking about Haldir.
"Did Haldir go back to Lothlorien?" I asked, and I saw Boromir stiffen slightly.
"Yes, he did." Boromir replied, and there was a strange tinge to his voice that I hadn't heard before. "And he insisted on taking the Lady's gift to you with him."
"Oh good." I said, sighing. "That's one sword I never want to see again."
"So you asked him to take it back with him?" Boromir asked, curious.
"No, but I'm glad he did." I replied. There was silence for a bit while Boromir looked thoughtful.
"In the battle you told me you would not use that sword even if it was your only weapon with which to face the Dark Lord himself, and now you are glad that Haldir has taken it back with him to Lothlorien." Boromir said, thoughtfully, then glanced at me. "The rest of the Fellowship prizes their gifts - why do you hate yours so?"
"That, I'm afraid, I can't tell you. Suffice it to say it was given for a reason which I don't like." I replied with a sigh, and Boromir looked at me thoughtfully again. "Stop looking so thoughtful." I grumbled after a bit, and then Boromir smiled.
"My apologies." he said. "But there is much to think about."
"Think about it when all that's left of Sauron is dust motes. Cuz if you think about it too much now, you're just gonna get depressed. And that's rather useless." I said. Boromir chuckled.
"It is indeed. But sometimes thinking about events can help you realize something you otherwise wouldn't have." he said.
"For you. If I think about what's going on too long, I'm just gonna wanna ride back to Rivendell and hide there until this is aaaaaaaaall over." I said, and made a face. Boromir chuckled again.
"There's no need to be worried - I've talked with Aragorn, and there is hope yet for Middle-Earth if his plans succeed." he said.
"Well, since I haven't seen one of Aragorn's plans fail yet, then there's still hope for Middle-Earth!" I said cheerily. I had been more referring to Gandalf and Galadriel's wrath when I told them I'd changed the quest by saving the lives of TWO people who were supposed to die, but I couldn't very well tell Boromir that.
"So, when are we setting out?" I asked, glancing around. It was about mid-afternoon now, and I knew that Minas Tirith was still a good ways away.
"Not until tomorrow. Both horse and rider are too weary to go on for now." Boromir said, and for a moment he looked rather haggard. I leaned over and gave him a light kiss, and he smiled tiredly back at me. I realized, however, that we needed to leave sooner. The battle at Minas Tirith wouldn't wait for us - indeed, it would gladly happen without us, since we weren't even supposed to be there, anyways.
"I think we need to leave tonight, Boromir." I said gravely. "Minas Tirith needs your help. And the Nazgul will soon cross the Anduin, if they haven't already - it isn't safe to travel during the day anymore." Boromir looked at me curiously, but by now knew better to ask when I came up with some cryptic piece of knowledge. Then his expression turned thoughtful again.
"I suppose we could take one of the guards horses and leave this evening." he said.
"Good, but it would be better if we had two horses." I said, and Boromir nodded, and I followed him as he rose and left the room. Outside, the two guards who had been in the room when I'd gone in were standing a little ways off, talking to each other.
"We have need of horses - we must ride tonight." Boromir told then, and they glanced at each other.
"Surely it would be safer to ride during the day?" one of the guards asked.
"I'd rather risk a horse stumbling in the dark then risk a Nazgul spotting us." I replied for Boromir. The guards eyes went wide, and I knew we had our horses. Sure enough, as the sun was starting to dip beneath the horizon, Boromir appeared on the top of the guard tower, where I was looking at the countryside, and told me it was time for us to leave. Within a few minutes, we were off.
Sometime during the night, a Nazgul passed over us. I wouldn't have known, except for the fact that the horses started snorted and rolling their eyes, and Boromir glanced nervously at the sky. I think that was the closest to scared I'd ever seen him. For some reason, though, the Nazgul didn't affect me. None the less, I was glad when the Nazgul passed over us. My horse calmed down a lot, and the feeling that Boromir and his horse were going to take off at a mad gallop faded.
When the sky began to lighten, we came within sight of a small town, and Boromir managed to find us someplace to stay for the day. For my part, I mostly sat and listened. Boromir may have been home with his kinsmen - all of whom greeted him joyously enough, considering the times - but this was a new place for me, and it was one I wanted to learn more about. I slept only a little, during the heat of the afternoon, but the rest of the village, as well as Boromir, slept even less. The Nazgul passed over the village several times during the day, sending animals into panic, with the humans close behind them. I pitied the children in the village - in this world, the boogyman and the monster in your closet could very well be real. Well, they don't have closets in Middle-Earth, but close enough.
Finally, the sun began to set, and when it dipped finally beneath the horizon, Boromir and I set out again. It was another hard night of riding, and near the end of it, the beacons of Gondor were lit. They made an eerie sight, pinpricks of red light against the lightening night sky. When Boromir saw them, he kicked his horse into a gallop, and I followed.
There was no building near enough for us to reach before daybreak when the sun began to rise, so we rode into the nearest clump of trees and tied the horses securely to trees. Boromir set about making a small fire to cook some food on, but he looked tired, and I told him to rest while I did it. He almost refused, but I backed it up with a please and a kiss, and five minutes later, he was asleep.
I started a small fire, and cooked some of the food we had packed. Boromir awoke long enough to eat before falling back asleep, and I smiled slightly as I set about putting out the fire and cleaning up the relative mess I'd made making the food. When I was done, I found myself my own patch of ground and lay down to get some rest. I probably should have stayed up to keep watch, but I found that I was rather tired, myself.
I woke later in the day, hungry, to find that it was starting to get dark. Boromir was still fast asleep, so I set about making a small fire again to make some more food. When I was done, Boromir still hadn't woken up, so I went over to him and stared at him for a few minutes. Not a very unpleasant job, I must admit. Though he had obviously been traveling for the past week without a pause to get clean, he still managed to look cute. Of course, people always look cute when they're asleep. Except for Legolas. He just looked creepy, sleeping with his eyes open. But my staring at Boromir worked, anyways - he woke up after only a few minutes.
"Sky's getting dark, food's ready." I said when I saw Boromir crack an eye open. He got up, and we ate. Then he insisted on cleaning up the camp while I got the horses ready. When we were done, we were off again. Almost immediately, a Nazgul passed over us, and I saw Boromir's teeth clench. He kicked his horse into a gallop again, and I followed once more.
Around the middle of the night, we came to a large wall of stone. Boromir glanced along it, and, seeing a gateway farther down, turned and galloped towards the gate. When we reached it, he called something out to the guards that I couldn't understand, and we galloped straight through. We continued at various paces for the rest of the night, generally going as fast as we could, and found another village to stay in for the day. The day was spent with us sleeping and eating, and then we were off again in the night.
Sometime during the night, I'm pretty sure Gandalf and Pippin passed us on Shadowfax. At least, I saw a silvery blur out of the corner of my eye. I would have dismissed it as just my eyes playing tricks on me, but when the next night came and we still hadn't seen Gandalf, I knew it had to have been him, since he was to have arrived in Minas Tirith that day.
Once more we spent the day sleeping and eating, then were off again at dusk. As the sky darkened, it seemed that clouds rolled out from the south, towards Mordor, and even the light of the stars was blocked out.
"There will be no dawn today." I said softly during once of Boromir and my's brief rests, and Boromir looked at me as I stared at the sky. "We must reach Minas Tirith tonight." I said after a moment, then swung myself up onto my horse, and Boromir did so as well. For once, it was I who kicked my horse into a gallop, and Boromir was the one who followed.