I won't be on board tomorrow, so I post two chapters today! ENJOY!!!
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Startled, the rider raised his sword. Things might get ugly if Aragorn didn't jump and stood between them. "Peace, Legolas!" The ranger gripped the arrow before it could fly off the bow.
Turning to the rider, Aragorn said, "I beg your pardon for my friends. We mean Rohan or you no harm. These two acted thus due to weariness and grief. And please tell me whom you serve. Are you friend or foe to Sauron?"
"Sauron is nothing but an evil and disgusting maggot! I serve no one except for King Theoden, Lord of the Mark," the rider answered. "I'm Eomer son of Eomund, Theoden's nephew."
Legolas lowered his bow, feeling slightly foolish for reacting so brashly. You just have to stop letting your dark past overcomes you! he screamed inside to himself.
"Well met, Eomer," said Aragorn sending warning glances to his two friends. "Like I said, we are hunting some orcs. They have taken captive two of our friends. You might have come upon them. What can you tell us?"
"Yes, we met a herd of orcs during our patrol. They were lots of them, traveling at much haste. But they are destroyed. We've killed them all."
Aragorn and his two companions grew silent for a while. Shock. "You killed them all?" Aragorn asked in disbelief.
Eomer nodded. "That's correct."
"But…what about our friends?" Gimli voiced out.
"There are two hobbits. Halflings. They're small and look like children. Have you seen them?" Aragorn added.
Eomer exchanged looks with his fellow men. They shrugged and shook their heads. Eomer turned back to the three companions. "We found no hobbit, only those hideous orcs. Monsters, all of them. We piled the carcasses and burned them several leagues away from here. They are still burning. We slaughtered them all last night."
Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas looked at one another in dismay. Did the hobbits also died in the massacre?
Eomer frowned as he clearly saw their distress. "I'm sorry for not being of much help. The least we can do is give you mounts to ride."
Two horses were brought forward. "These are Arod and Hasufel. May they bear you well and better than their previous masters."
Legolas and Aragorn took the reins they offered, admiring the beauty of both stallions. Hasufel's shining coat was dark brown in color, while Arod's was pure white. The two magnificent animals obviously came from the best pedigree of breeding.
"My men and I need to move on," Eomer said after he had mounted his own steed. He stared directly at the three companions. "I hope you'll find what you're looking for. Farewell then."
With that, they parted. The sound of hoof beats was deafening in their ears as the Rohirrim riders sped away. Arod and Hasufel were a little agitated to be left behind but Legolas' stroking hands and crooning words managed to sooth them down.
The three companions then looked at one another as the riders finally vanished from their sight.
"Well, what now?" Gimli asked, eyeing warily at the two stallions. Darn! Horse again! And they expect me to ride one? I'd rather jog, thank you very much!
Aragorn was staring hard at the elf and the dwarf. Gimli squirmed under his steely blue gaze. "What?"
"The two of you nearly got us kill just now," the ranger said, his stare still did not waver.
Gimli had the grace to look down at his feet. "Sorry. I kind of lost control of my tongue."
But Legolas exchanged Aragorn's intent look with his own stormy gaze, saying not a word. The ranger saw the deep hurt in that silver eyes and chided himself, he has been through so much and you're condemning him for his great distress. Nice going, Aragorn.
Shaking his head in resign, the ranger said, "Let's go search for the burning corpses. We might find some clues there."
Legolas gracefully mounted the white stallion. Despite Gimli's protest, Aragorn deftly tossed the dwarf onto Arod's back behind Legolas. The dwarf screamed in outrage but then yelped in fear when the stallion neighed and moved about in agitation.
"Blast it all, Aragorn!!" he yelled, catching the back of Legolas' tunic in death grip, hanging on for dear life. "I prefer running than riding, I you'd asked me!!"
"I didn't ask so sit there and be quiet. You don't want to anger the horse, do you?" Aragorn replied, smiling in amusement. Dwarves and their fear of horses! He jumped onto Hasufel's back and led the way, his tracker's eyes already busy at work scanning the trails left by the riders of Rohan.
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"Look! The smoke!" Legolas pointed. It took several moments for his companions to discover what he was seeing, but then they also saw it. There, under the light of early afternoon beyond the horizon, a big black smoke danced in the breeze.
"They are still burning," Aragorn said softly, kicking his steed to go faster.
They found out later that the place of the great burning was very near to the eaves of a deep, dark forest. The Fangorn forest.
Legolas eyed the forest longingly, but also warily. He never ventured into Fangorn and had always had this secret desire to explore it. His father had once told him that the forest was old. Very, very old. It had lots of ancient memories that not even the old race of elves had the full knowledge about.
The elf could hear the big trees sighing and whimpering. He listened intently but could not fully understand what they were saying.
As soon as they dismounted, the three walked around the burning pile, searching for any sign of Merry and Pippin. But the charred figures were unrecognizable. They couldn't tell if they were orcs or hobbits. Then they looked around the site, but discovered no trace of the hobbits.
They had to accept the worse finally. The Rohirrims might have mistakenly killed Merry and Pippin, and their corpses were buried right there under the big pile of charred remains.
Aragorn sat down hard on the ground, clenching his fists. "We can't just lose the two like that!" he growled to no one in particular. Legolas came near and touched his friend's shoulder. "We might not lose them yet."
Aragorn looked up. "Thanks for the voice of confidence, Legolas. But I think it takes a miracle for those hobbits to still be alive in all this."
"You want miracle? I give you miracle!" Gimli shouted from fifty yards away.
Legolas and Aragorn straightened up and saw the way the dwarf was staring at the ground on his feet excitedly. They rushed to him and found out the items that had caught Gimli's interest; a brooch, the same brooch of Lothlorien leave that all the fellowship had received, and several thick strands of cut ropes beside an abandoned scimitar.
Aragorn picked up the brooch. "This did not fall idly. In fact, I believe one of the hobbits purposely drop it."
"And the cut ropes suggested that they somehow managed to escape their bonds," Legolas voiced out.
The ranger crawled and groped all over the ground, looking for answers. He smiled when he found what he was looking for. "Oh, yes, they did."
Legolas and Gimli followed as Aragorn ran after the hobbits' tracks that he had just discovered. To their absolute consternation, the tracks led them right into the Fangorn forest.
Gimli was flustered. "We are not going in there, are we?" He eyed the dark and gloomy woods, slightly afraid of the unknown path that lay ahead of them.
"Why? Are you scared, o mighty dwarf?" Legolas teased. Strangely, he was quite elated to know that he now had good reason to enter the feared forest.
Gimli glared. Without a word, he took a step forward. At that instant, came the high neighing of their horses.
The three of them turned around. They watched in great surprise and confusion as Arod and Hasufel sped away from the area.
"What had scared them off?" Aragorn wondered.
Legolas shook his head. "They were not scared off. They were called away."
Gimli was smiling, though. "Let them go. I don't mind at all. Besides, leading them through this forest will only be a nuisance!"
The elf and the ranger stared at the dwarf. Gimli smiled wider. "Come. Where were we? Oh, right. Into Fangorn, everyone!"
Shaking their heads at the dwarf's sudden jovial behavior, Legolas and Aragorn preceded to follow.
The elf was instantly assailed by mixed emotions coming from the surrounding trees. They were not pleasant, but not threatening either. The trees seemed to be angry at something, but definitely not at the three companions.
Gimli looked around him in awe, Aragorn with unchecked interest. As they continued to pursue the hobbits' tracks, they kept their eyes and ears trained to their surroundings.
After moving on over fifty yards later, they heard the trees rustled. Looking up, they saw with increasing trepidation as the trees seemed to sway against one another, moaning and whimpering.
"Beware," Legolas whispered, nocking an arrow to his bow and took aim. "Someone's approaches."
"Is it a friend or foe?" Gimli whispered back, lifting his axe.
"I guess we'll find out," Aragorn said, looking at the direction that the elf was staring at. "Here he comes."
TBC…Does everything look so familiar to you? Beware. Some things might change in the coming chapters…