Chapter Eleven: Going Home
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Pippin looked at Malaika pitifully and wondered,
'You're right... what are we going to do with you, Malaika?' He laid a hand on her shaking shoulder, and she looked up at Pippin. Tears ran down her face, and her eyes were red. Dirt smears covered her cheeks and forehead, and her gash had scabbed up a little.
"Malaika..." He whispered, getting her attention, "Can you please show Aragorn? He'll fix your cuts and clean you up a bit, at least." The girl shook her head mutely. Pippin sighed, turning and taking his hand off Malaika's shoulder. 'Now what am I going to do? Tell Gandalf? No... that won't work... I guess I'll have to tell her, then. But she won't like it, I know.'
"Malaika," he said, waiting for an answer from the girl.
"Y- yes?"
"You're going to have to go home." He knew this would hurt her, and he knew she would not do it for anything; she had said so herself. But it was the only way.
He turned to see her reaction, and was surprised. Malaika's eyes were filled with abject horror, and fear could be clearly seen in her features. She shook her head slightly, shocked that Pippin, the one she least expected it to be coming from, had said the seven words she had never wanted to hear since she had met the Fellowship almost a week ago.
Malaika stood up and glowered at the hobbit, staring him straight in the eyes. Pippin's eyes had a determined look in them, and he glared straight back. Malaika inwardly faltered, she hadn't expected Pippin to be one to challenge. She curled her upper lip into a snarl, and snapped,
"I don't want to go home, and you can't make me, Pippin." With that remark, she turned and sulked by herself in a corner away from where the Fellowship was, but still far enough away from Pippin to satisfy her.
"All right," he said, low enough to say to himself, but just so Malaika could hear, "I'll go tell Aragorn and Gandalf that we will be taking you along with us, until we decide to get rid of you, which we have tried to do already, and failed. And then we'll all be happy without you, won't we?" He turned and walked back to camp, leaving Malaika to sulk by herself.
As soon as Pippin reached the clearing, Merry ran up to him.
"What happened, Pippin? Is Malaika alright?"
The younger hobbit nodded.
"Yes, she's fine. She's over there," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in a gesture of where the girl was. He was still mad about the argument with Malaika, and worrying more about getting back home again than what she had said only moments earlier. He didn't remember that she didn't want anyone but Pippin to see her wings, and the thought totally slipped his mind. Merry walked over to Malaika's hiding spot, and luckily Malaika's back was turned, so she didn't see him. The young hobbit gasped almost inaudibly.
'Wings?' Merry crept up to the girl, and he could hear her murmuring odd phrases.
"Nera merane, Mother... I wonder if Markei... no, I can't think of that now. No, never. Stupid Pippin, he said that I have to go home. I don't want to, never. I'll just stay here forever. Besides," she paused, "I like the snow."
Merry stepped closer.
"Malaika?"
Malaika whipped around, fear in her eyes. Her left wing hit the rock face, and it hurt, but her thoughts too preoccupied with Merry to care.
"Merry?!" She folded her wings as flat against her back as she could, as she had done when she was on the ledge talking to Pippin earlier. "What are you doing here?" Her voice sounded different to Merry. 'Cold, almost,' he thought. Not like the happy, joyful girl he had seen. No, she was much different.
"I... I wanted to see what had happened. Pippin told me you were over here, so I came to ask you." He hesitated, and Malaika feared what he would ask next. "Malaika... Why do you have wings?"
The girl visibly faltered.
"I... I can't tell you, Merry."
"Why?"
Malaika sighed.
"I just can't."
Merry looked rather defeated.
"Oh, alright. I suppose I'll just go back to the camp and tell them where you are, then." Merry turned and started to walk back to the camp around the curve of the rock face and Malaika gasped.
"Merry, no!" She yelled, but the hobbit seemed to ignore her. "Merry!" she yelled again, this time louder, but he was already around the bend. Malaika leapt to her feet and ran to the edge of the rock surface, careful to only show her face. "Merry?" she whispered to herself. He was at the clearing talking to Aragorn. Malaika, with her sharp hearing, could catch pieces of the conversation.
"Aragorn, she is hurt badly."
Malaika heard a sigh from Aragorn.
"Yes, but I need to see her for myself to fix her wounds."
"I know, but..."
"No. She needs to come here."
"You can go to her. She's over-" Merry started to say, with his finger pointing in Malaika's direction, but the girl interrupted.
"Merry, no!" Malaika yelled, and, without thinking, stepped into the clearing. Aragorn and the hobbit looked at her, along with Pippin, and Legolas, who had heard with his Elven ears. With a sharp intake of breath, Malaika realized what she had done. Biting her lower lip, she immediately turned and thumped her back against the rock, hiding herself from the gaze of the Fellowship. 'Oh no, what have I done to get myself into this mess?' She thought with a groan. "Now almost the entire Fellowship knows! Including Aragorn!" she said to herself. "How could I be so ignorant of the one thing I didn't want for everyone else to know about?" She then saw Pippin turn the corner she was hiding behind.
"Malaika?"
The girl sighed.
"Oh Pippin, I didn't mean to. Now everyone knows, and it's all my fault!" She whimpered, turning to look at him miserably. The young hobbit shook his head.
"No, it's my fault, Malaika. I told Merry where you were, and he told Aragorn that you were hurt, which I already did, and he didn't believe either of us. Now he knows you really are hurt, and he needs to clean your wounds. Will you let him, Malaika?" She hesitated, closing her eyes; brow creased in concentration. After a moment, she opened her eyes.
"Will I have to go home after this, Pippin?"
Pippin shook his head.
"No, not until you wish to. Now, will you let Aragorn clean you up?" Malaika nodded slowly. "Good, I'll go tell him to come over here; and I will go set out my bed, as it seems to be getting dark."
"Goodnight, Pippin," Malaika whispered, and the hobbit nodded in reply. He left, and a few moments later, Aragorn walked up to Malaika, looking at her various cuts, bruises, and Orc-blood spatters on her clothing.
"My, my, Malaika, you're a mess," he said, crouching down until he was eye-level with her. Drawing a cloth out from a pouch and a glass bottle filled with water from another pocket, he lightly soaked the material and began dabbing around Malaika's gash on her forehead. The girl winced, but she let him continue. Still dabbing at the wound, he looked at her wings. He said rather bluntly, "I take it you are not one of our kind, or even a human at all." Malaika lowered her eyes from his piercing ones.
"No, but not in the ways you would expect."
Aragorn finished cleaning her deep cut, and took out a swathe of white cloth, carefully wrapping it around the right side of her head, where the wound was. He then moved to the gash on her left shoulder, and began to clean that up also. After binding her shoulder, he stood up.
"We are going back down the mountain tomorrow. Will you be wanting to leave on your own soon?"
The girl nodded.
"Yes, I have all the necessary provisions for my journey."
Aragorn shook his head.
"Malaika, you came with nothing but your sword, will you leave with nothing?"
"Nay, son of Arathorn," the Ranger looked incredulous at this, "I brought enough supplies for my passage."
"Are you sure about your choice, Malaika? There is a town not far from this mountain that may possibly have all the equipment and goods you could need."
"Yes, I will be alright. Thank you, Aragorn." He nodded.
"I will be with the others, if you should need me again," Aragorn said, turning and striding back to the group.
Pippin came back with Malaika's bed roll, and said,
"Here's your bedding, Malaika, just in case you would like to stay over here for the night instead of going over where the Fellowship is, but we're going to have a fire, if you change your mind." Silence ensued, and after a moment, Pippin sighed. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier, Malaika."
The girl was silent.
"I'm going home tomorrow, Pippin."
"You are?"
Malaika nodded.
"But I am afraid of what I will find there."
"What do you mean?"
Malaika seemed hesitant.
"Three years ago," she began, but paused, then continued. "I was forced to flee from my home by men who invaded our land, hoping to take over. The act started a war, and my father led the first resistance force against them. He died in battle."
Pippin lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
Malaika shook her head.
"No, don't be, Pippin. My mother... she forced me to run away, and my older sister went into hiding."
"Did the men win?"
"I don't know, but they most likely did."
Pippin was hushed, but then he spoke after a moment, as if he had been thinking.
"You're a broken girl, Malaika."
The girl looked up at him in surprise.
"What makes you say that?"
The hobbit shrugged.
"I don't know, it's just... everything that has happened since you got here. You talking about your mother, trying to walk off the cliff, your being stubborn with Aragorn, your song, and... your wings."
Malaika nodded once.
"Anyone would say that, after seeing the events of my past," she whispered solemnly.
"Yes, I believe they would."
The girl proceeded to unroll and lay out her bedding, and Pippin exhaled softly. "I really... I don't want you to leave, Malaika."
She looked up at him from what she was doing.
"Why? I'm not needed here, and I'm 'just another burden for the Fellowship', as Boromir so aptly put it." Pippin was silent. After a moment, he looked at Malaika and strolled back to the Fellowship without a word, hanging his head.
Malaika curled up in her bedding, carefully avoiding her wings and sore spots, and sighed, closing her eyes.
Tomorrow was the beginning of everything she had ever dreamed of.
********
Well, how did you like this really long chapter? Please review and tell me, or else you won't get more of this story! Did you like the little bit of conflict between Pippin and Malaika? Their ideas aren't exactly the same there, huh?
Well, at LEAST 3 or 4 more reviews form you wonderful people, and I'll update!
Ja!
Karita-chan
*******
Pippin looked at Malaika pitifully and wondered,
'You're right... what are we going to do with you, Malaika?' He laid a hand on her shaking shoulder, and she looked up at Pippin. Tears ran down her face, and her eyes were red. Dirt smears covered her cheeks and forehead, and her gash had scabbed up a little.
"Malaika..." He whispered, getting her attention, "Can you please show Aragorn? He'll fix your cuts and clean you up a bit, at least." The girl shook her head mutely. Pippin sighed, turning and taking his hand off Malaika's shoulder. 'Now what am I going to do? Tell Gandalf? No... that won't work... I guess I'll have to tell her, then. But she won't like it, I know.'
"Malaika," he said, waiting for an answer from the girl.
"Y- yes?"
"You're going to have to go home." He knew this would hurt her, and he knew she would not do it for anything; she had said so herself. But it was the only way.
He turned to see her reaction, and was surprised. Malaika's eyes were filled with abject horror, and fear could be clearly seen in her features. She shook her head slightly, shocked that Pippin, the one she least expected it to be coming from, had said the seven words she had never wanted to hear since she had met the Fellowship almost a week ago.
Malaika stood up and glowered at the hobbit, staring him straight in the eyes. Pippin's eyes had a determined look in them, and he glared straight back. Malaika inwardly faltered, she hadn't expected Pippin to be one to challenge. She curled her upper lip into a snarl, and snapped,
"I don't want to go home, and you can't make me, Pippin." With that remark, she turned and sulked by herself in a corner away from where the Fellowship was, but still far enough away from Pippin to satisfy her.
"All right," he said, low enough to say to himself, but just so Malaika could hear, "I'll go tell Aragorn and Gandalf that we will be taking you along with us, until we decide to get rid of you, which we have tried to do already, and failed. And then we'll all be happy without you, won't we?" He turned and walked back to camp, leaving Malaika to sulk by herself.
As soon as Pippin reached the clearing, Merry ran up to him.
"What happened, Pippin? Is Malaika alright?"
The younger hobbit nodded.
"Yes, she's fine. She's over there," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder in a gesture of where the girl was. He was still mad about the argument with Malaika, and worrying more about getting back home again than what she had said only moments earlier. He didn't remember that she didn't want anyone but Pippin to see her wings, and the thought totally slipped his mind. Merry walked over to Malaika's hiding spot, and luckily Malaika's back was turned, so she didn't see him. The young hobbit gasped almost inaudibly.
'Wings?' Merry crept up to the girl, and he could hear her murmuring odd phrases.
"Nera merane, Mother... I wonder if Markei... no, I can't think of that now. No, never. Stupid Pippin, he said that I have to go home. I don't want to, never. I'll just stay here forever. Besides," she paused, "I like the snow."
Merry stepped closer.
"Malaika?"
Malaika whipped around, fear in her eyes. Her left wing hit the rock face, and it hurt, but her thoughts too preoccupied with Merry to care.
"Merry?!" She folded her wings as flat against her back as she could, as she had done when she was on the ledge talking to Pippin earlier. "What are you doing here?" Her voice sounded different to Merry. 'Cold, almost,' he thought. Not like the happy, joyful girl he had seen. No, she was much different.
"I... I wanted to see what had happened. Pippin told me you were over here, so I came to ask you." He hesitated, and Malaika feared what he would ask next. "Malaika... Why do you have wings?"
The girl visibly faltered.
"I... I can't tell you, Merry."
"Why?"
Malaika sighed.
"I just can't."
Merry looked rather defeated.
"Oh, alright. I suppose I'll just go back to the camp and tell them where you are, then." Merry turned and started to walk back to the camp around the curve of the rock face and Malaika gasped.
"Merry, no!" She yelled, but the hobbit seemed to ignore her. "Merry!" she yelled again, this time louder, but he was already around the bend. Malaika leapt to her feet and ran to the edge of the rock surface, careful to only show her face. "Merry?" she whispered to herself. He was at the clearing talking to Aragorn. Malaika, with her sharp hearing, could catch pieces of the conversation.
"Aragorn, she is hurt badly."
Malaika heard a sigh from Aragorn.
"Yes, but I need to see her for myself to fix her wounds."
"I know, but..."
"No. She needs to come here."
"You can go to her. She's over-" Merry started to say, with his finger pointing in Malaika's direction, but the girl interrupted.
"Merry, no!" Malaika yelled, and, without thinking, stepped into the clearing. Aragorn and the hobbit looked at her, along with Pippin, and Legolas, who had heard with his Elven ears. With a sharp intake of breath, Malaika realized what she had done. Biting her lower lip, she immediately turned and thumped her back against the rock, hiding herself from the gaze of the Fellowship. 'Oh no, what have I done to get myself into this mess?' She thought with a groan. "Now almost the entire Fellowship knows! Including Aragorn!" she said to herself. "How could I be so ignorant of the one thing I didn't want for everyone else to know about?" She then saw Pippin turn the corner she was hiding behind.
"Malaika?"
The girl sighed.
"Oh Pippin, I didn't mean to. Now everyone knows, and it's all my fault!" She whimpered, turning to look at him miserably. The young hobbit shook his head.
"No, it's my fault, Malaika. I told Merry where you were, and he told Aragorn that you were hurt, which I already did, and he didn't believe either of us. Now he knows you really are hurt, and he needs to clean your wounds. Will you let him, Malaika?" She hesitated, closing her eyes; brow creased in concentration. After a moment, she opened her eyes.
"Will I have to go home after this, Pippin?"
Pippin shook his head.
"No, not until you wish to. Now, will you let Aragorn clean you up?" Malaika nodded slowly. "Good, I'll go tell him to come over here; and I will go set out my bed, as it seems to be getting dark."
"Goodnight, Pippin," Malaika whispered, and the hobbit nodded in reply. He left, and a few moments later, Aragorn walked up to Malaika, looking at her various cuts, bruises, and Orc-blood spatters on her clothing.
"My, my, Malaika, you're a mess," he said, crouching down until he was eye-level with her. Drawing a cloth out from a pouch and a glass bottle filled with water from another pocket, he lightly soaked the material and began dabbing around Malaika's gash on her forehead. The girl winced, but she let him continue. Still dabbing at the wound, he looked at her wings. He said rather bluntly, "I take it you are not one of our kind, or even a human at all." Malaika lowered her eyes from his piercing ones.
"No, but not in the ways you would expect."
Aragorn finished cleaning her deep cut, and took out a swathe of white cloth, carefully wrapping it around the right side of her head, where the wound was. He then moved to the gash on her left shoulder, and began to clean that up also. After binding her shoulder, he stood up.
"We are going back down the mountain tomorrow. Will you be wanting to leave on your own soon?"
The girl nodded.
"Yes, I have all the necessary provisions for my journey."
Aragorn shook his head.
"Malaika, you came with nothing but your sword, will you leave with nothing?"
"Nay, son of Arathorn," the Ranger looked incredulous at this, "I brought enough supplies for my passage."
"Are you sure about your choice, Malaika? There is a town not far from this mountain that may possibly have all the equipment and goods you could need."
"Yes, I will be alright. Thank you, Aragorn." He nodded.
"I will be with the others, if you should need me again," Aragorn said, turning and striding back to the group.
Pippin came back with Malaika's bed roll, and said,
"Here's your bedding, Malaika, just in case you would like to stay over here for the night instead of going over where the Fellowship is, but we're going to have a fire, if you change your mind." Silence ensued, and after a moment, Pippin sighed. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier, Malaika."
The girl was silent.
"I'm going home tomorrow, Pippin."
"You are?"
Malaika nodded.
"But I am afraid of what I will find there."
"What do you mean?"
Malaika seemed hesitant.
"Three years ago," she began, but paused, then continued. "I was forced to flee from my home by men who invaded our land, hoping to take over. The act started a war, and my father led the first resistance force against them. He died in battle."
Pippin lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
Malaika shook her head.
"No, don't be, Pippin. My mother... she forced me to run away, and my older sister went into hiding."
"Did the men win?"
"I don't know, but they most likely did."
Pippin was hushed, but then he spoke after a moment, as if he had been thinking.
"You're a broken girl, Malaika."
The girl looked up at him in surprise.
"What makes you say that?"
The hobbit shrugged.
"I don't know, it's just... everything that has happened since you got here. You talking about your mother, trying to walk off the cliff, your being stubborn with Aragorn, your song, and... your wings."
Malaika nodded once.
"Anyone would say that, after seeing the events of my past," she whispered solemnly.
"Yes, I believe they would."
The girl proceeded to unroll and lay out her bedding, and Pippin exhaled softly. "I really... I don't want you to leave, Malaika."
She looked up at him from what she was doing.
"Why? I'm not needed here, and I'm 'just another burden for the Fellowship', as Boromir so aptly put it." Pippin was silent. After a moment, he looked at Malaika and strolled back to the Fellowship without a word, hanging his head.
Malaika curled up in her bedding, carefully avoiding her wings and sore spots, and sighed, closing her eyes.
Tomorrow was the beginning of everything she had ever dreamed of.
********
Well, how did you like this really long chapter? Please review and tell me, or else you won't get more of this story! Did you like the little bit of conflict between Pippin and Malaika? Their ideas aren't exactly the same there, huh?
Well, at LEAST 3 or 4 more reviews form you wonderful people, and I'll update!
Ja!
Karita-chan