~ Chapter 11 ~

NO, I did NOT steal 'Meteora' from a store.

....

I just.... 'borrowed' it, shall we say? From someone.

LOL. Nah, my brother's friend burned it for me.

*

They were standing in a valley of mists, darkness, and mountains.

"Wah....?" Christina yawned and rubbed her eyes. "What's happening?"

Rachel arched a brow. "Well...." she began slowly. "You might just be dreaming, and anytime soon, you will wake up and find yourself sleep-eating again."

Everyone rolled their eyes.

"OR," continued Rachel, "we might be in some kind of sleep sequence, that the Fairy Queen Galadriel has created for us in order to explain the past, present, and future to our poor little Frodo, because she has Seen that we are not going to the Forest of Friggin Fairies anymore, because we will soon be waylaid by a tribe of huge, murderous orcs. We will then be given the choice of what we shall do. Shall pride and courage carry our feet to the path of inevitable death? Or will we escape the clutches of Sauron, by going into hiding?"

Legolas blinked. "Is she in a trance?" he asked. "I did not know that your friend was clairvoyant."

"She's not to both," shrugged Vicky. "First off, she can't be in a trance, because people in trances don't use swear words or sarcasm. And secondly, she's not clairvoyant. She just guesses." Victoria shrugged. "Do you understand?"

"But- but-" spluttered Legolas. "'Twas ever so poetic when she spake the words of prophesy or - as you say, guess."

"He don't understand," shrugged Rachel. "Well, it was half knowledge and half me." Her eyes fogged over and she gazed dreamily into the distance. "This....voice slipped into my mind, and....well....it told me to say....say...." Her eyes rolled up in her head and they shut.

....

Frodo sat up bolt upright, sweating. His hand flew to the ring around his neck and he looked around madly.

Beside him, Sam muttered in his sleep. "Potatoes....mm....chips...."

Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, Borimor and the girls were asleep too, as was Merry and Pippin. But where was Gandalf?

Frodo slowly slipped out of his sleeping bag and got up, his huge hobbit feet crushing the grass beneath them. Dew trickled from a leaf and landed on his head. "Gandalf?" he whispered.

There was no reply.

"Gandalf?" repeated Frodo, beginning to feel nervous. The dream he had just had was still imprinted in his mind, and it had created a feeling of complete loneliness and desolation. A feeling of dread and terror crept up on him, and he ran around to the other side, where Gandalf had lain down to sleep. But there was nothing there.

Far off in the distance, a wolf howled. A horn sounded. The hunt had begun.

~

"Aragorn," hissed Frodo, shaking his friend's shoulder. "Wake up. Gandalf's gone."

The Ranger groaned and stirred. "Wha-?" He turned to look at Frodo. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Gandalf's gone," whispered Frodo, his eyes wide. "And I've just had a dream. I think that orcs are coming. The prophesy has gone wrong. We're gone!"

"WHAT?" Aragorn quickly crawled out of his sleeping bag. "What do you mean?"

Several minutes later, Frodo had explained all.

"We must hurry," gasped Aragorn. "I had a similar dream! I believe it is a true one. Galadriel is trying to warn us!"

Legolas, who had joined them, sighed and leaned forward. "But that does not answer where Gandalf is," he sighed. "He would not leave without telling us, surely?"

"He would and he has," replied Aragorn, bitterly. "We have not choice but to continue with our quest.

"But- what did the dream mean?" asked Frodo. "I still do not understand. Is the Rachel a prophet? Why did Galadriel choose HER to be the one to explain? Meaning no offence, but she is hardly one we would trust."

"Well, maybe that was something in itself," said Aragorn. "We must trust those we would not trust, and question the motives of those we believe to be loyal. If the Rachel spoke true, then we have no time to waste. We should have reached the Forest a day ago, but we were slowed down by....by...." He frowned and looked around. "Boromir."

A

"Hurry!" Saruman snapped at the girl. "We have no time to waste! We must attack NOW! The Master has ordered a full force attack on Fort-"

"I KNOW!" snarled Angeline. "I'm working as hard as I can, can't you see? I've already perfected your ladders- you should be able to scale the walls with no problem. I improved your system of sharpening and creating weapons, and I'm ALMOST there with the trebuchets, but I NEED MORE TIME!"

"I don't HAVE more time!" bellowed Saruman. "I need it NOW!"

"You don't NEED them!" screamed Angeline, her face red. "You can't even PRONOUNCE it! You don't know what it IS! I'VE BEEN HELPING YOU, BUILDING YOUR WEAPONS AND LADDERS, AND NOW YOU'RE SCREAMING ABUSE AT ME! I'M DOING THIS FOR YOU OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF MY HEART! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR STUPID MASTER! I'M JUST DOING THIS TO HELP YOU, SO DON'T YOU DARE SCREAM AT ME!"

"I'LL DO WHATEVER I WANT!" retorted Saruman. He lowered his voice. "If I do not have my trebuchets by the end of this week...." He traced his finger across his throat.

"Don't you threaten me!" shrieked Angeline after his retreating back.

The door shut and locked behind him.

For a long time, Angeline sat, staring at the door, panting. Finally, she whirled around and slammed her fist into the table. "DAMMIT!"

*

I'm writing this in English. I'm meant to be writing a report about 'Soldier Boy', but I can't be bothered. Please review. PLEASE?