Chapter 20
So bring back the sun
We'll bury this hate
And build it with love
The grass wasn't greener
I found
I wanted you to know
I dug you up a rainbow
I know, I know I failed you
I hope, I hope we get to
Sunny days again
Bring back the sun-- Our Lady Peace
She didn't know why she stopped running, but something was wrong, she knew it. And the kind of something made her react quickly by pulling out her long knife that Legolas had given her since her guns were long lost. She took a step forwards, cautiously looking down for any twigs or anything that would give her away. Something was off about this place. It made her nervous and not knowing where the others were wasn't helping the matter. Then it happened.
She ducked on the floor before it hit her. She heard it miles away and luckily it only nipped at her ear, and as she tumbled against the ground the enemy flown from the sky and on top of her. Lara lifted her knife and looked away as it slid through the Orc's head, its blood dripping down against her face. She threw back her knife and tossed it off of her in disgust.
"Why do these things have to smell so bad?" She asked.
She looked up at the arrow that nearly flew through her head. She walked over to it quickly and slowly eased it out of the tree, making sure she didn't chip any of the fabric around the edges. The blood from her ear dripped down on the point and she touched it, fascinated. Didn't Elves use these things too? A loud bang from her left seemed to answer her question, and dozens and dozens of Orcs came piling out from the hill over a set of shrubs Lara hadn't seen before.
Lara looked at the end of her knife, which dripped with black Orc blood, and then turned to the hunters before her.
"I think I need a bigger knife."
And she charged forwards, an angry, fierce look on her face, and she clanged her long knife against the enemy's weapon, and the sounds of metal against metal was heard throughout the entire woods. Maybe they will hear her, maybe the others realize what's happening.
Sweating and tired, she continued to fight, loving the sound of her knife meeting against the Orc's bellies, heads and any part of their body that would stop them dead on their tracks. It was a wonderful feeling. And the defeated cries of the Orcs made her adrenaline pump higher in her veins, and she swung against a large Orc and watched as his head fell limp off its neck. And once it fell to the ground, she was brought back from her reverie of battle and looked down at the dozens of Orcs sprawled across the ground, dead. She grinned.
"Lara!" Someone cried.
Lara quickly looked over and saw Boromir waving his arms back and forth.
She ran after him, up that large hill and passed those dead bodies. Once she reached the top, Boromir helped her up and leaned against her for support. He was bleeding from his arm and she gasped lightly at the amount of blood the small gash could cause. She went to ask him if he was alright, but he silenced her and pointed across the hill.
Lara raised her brows and watched as more Orcs came pilling from no where, all carrying the same weapons and the same look on their faces. The look to destroy. Lara groaned and gripped her knife tightly. She hoped the others knew of this, because this could very well be two- hundred against ten. She looked back at Boromir for something. Anything.
"We need to fight them." Boromir whispered.
Lara nodded, though she wasn't sure. "Where are the others?"
"I do not know, I was-" He seemed uneasy and he gazed downwards for a quick moment. "-doing something else."
An arrow whistled through the air and Lara dived into Boromir, knocking him and herself down the hill. He landed on top of her, pushing her body down into the leaves. He quickly got off of her and helped her up, and they quickly darted away. Lara felt strange just running away from the Orcs, rather then fighting them off, but Boromir had a firm grip on her hand and she really didn't want to turn back. Then more arrows whistled through the air, one nipping Boromir's arm causing him to tumble down into the soil. Lara quickly jumped over him and went to help him up, but another arrow whistled in the air and a few small Hobbit shouts were echoing somewhere around them.
"Oi! You fat heads!" It was Pippin.
"Yea, fat heads! This way, we got the Ring, come on!" Merry shouted and Lara watched as they came wobbling passed a set of shrubs and towards herself and Boromir. They noticed both humans and ran quickly towards them. "Come on!"
Lara would have stayed and saw who they were actually speaking to, but Merry's little hands grabbed Lara's wrists and started to drag her away from the sight. Boromir got up and Lara glanced back, now seeing a herd of Orcs gathering around them. Merry said something but Lara wasn't listening. Why were they after them? Why were there so many of them? Merry, annoyed, tugged Lara so hard that she was brought level with Merry's face.
"Lara, let's go! They're after you and us!"
Boromir and Pippin caught up with them and Boromir quickly shoved Lara forwards. He told her something but she wasn't listening to anyone, because something just blinked on in her mind and she cursed herself for not remembering.
Frodo had her Ring watch.
She stopped short and watched as the others continued to run. A moment later, Merry turned around quickly.
"Lara!" He cried.
Lara ignored him and turned back around to the Orcs. They were gaining on them with top speed and there was no way for herself or anyone else to out run them. So she stood there, her sword raised in the air, and fought the closest Orc to Merry and the others. She killed the offending one, and went for the other closest. She killed him too.
And she kept doing this, over and over again and while the blood spilled she felt and increasing amount of pain in her heart. She was remembering the murders, the blood, the pain she went through when the ones she cared about had died. Her father. Her mother. Alex and especially Gandalf. The anger she had built up in her body boiled into her veins and her face screwed up in agony and she let out a triumph cry. A cry of battle.
She kicked her legs up and rested them against an Orc's shoulders. She gave a big twist of both of them and snapped its neck, its head falling against its shoulders. She jumped off and proceeded to the next one, the anger still bubbling in her fingers. It was a bad feeling, it was a feeling of lost control and she couldn't stop killing. She needed to hear and see the blood of the enemy fall. It was then that the loud sound of a horn was blown.
The horn Boromir always carried.
She slaughtered an Orc and turned her to the direction of the horn. Then she quickly regretted it because an Orc had grabbed her around the waist and lifted her in the air, swinging her around like a tattered doll. And before Lara could react, she was tossed into a tree. A sudden CRACK was heard and she cried out in agony.
The horn blew again, this time the Orcs retreated towards it. But her target was drawing a close on her.
He was large than the others, dread locks hanging down passed his waist. He was broader and more mean looking, because he was grinning, and this wicked look in his eyes. Lara couldn't feel her waist, it was all numb. She suddenly felt very cold and the Orc reached out to grab her, but she reached up and slapped its arm. He withdrew, shocked, then reached out again and slapped her. She hit the leaves and groaned. She must have cracked her spine or something.
The Orc growled in response and Lara felt him grab onto her waist.
She cried out and her knife dropped from her hand, landing in the pile of leaves and sinking in.
Just like her guns, it was lost. She was lost.
Her vision started to blur and the Orc tightened his grip around her neck. Her eyes began to roll in the back of her head when the Orc suddenly let go and his loud footsteps thudded against the ground. She tumbled into the soil, her face burying into the dirt and her body lying there limp and cold. A few voices rang but she couldn't quite hear them.
The horn blew one last time and Lara heard someone approach her, and a pair of boots stood besides her face.
Legolas bent down and moved Lara's hair aside gently. "Lara?" He asked, uneasily.
Lara made some kind of noise and looked up at Legolas, who was bent down and looking just as bed as she felt. The pain in her waist drifted slowly and it became numb. She couldn't feel anything and Legolas slowly reached out to touch her cheek, which was cold and dirty. He smiled softly and helped her to sit up, which was pretty painful. Lara flinched as her back leaned against the tree, relief flooding through her now that Gimli and Legolas stood in front of her.
"Frodo has my Ring watch." Lara said softly.
Legolas nodded. "Aragorn let him go."
Lara squeezed her eyes shut. She knew this was going to happen. "Alone?"
"Yes."
Lara opened her eyes again. "We have to go after him, follow him to Mordor and even catch up with him. Where are the others? Where are Aragorn, Boromir and the other Hobbits? Gimli, get me my sword, help me up-"
"Lara, you are wounded." Legolas protested, putting a hand up as the dwarf went to fetch her sword.
"Oh please." Lara groaned, sitting up more. "My back is just sprained, I'm fine, Legolas, honestly. Help me up, please."
Then, as though never having the conversation, Legolas' head jerked to the side and his face became tense and alert. Lara looked where he was looking and saw nothing, and Gimli handed Lara her sword and backed off slowly.
"Elf, do you hear something?" He asked.
Legolas nodded and looked back at Lara. "Boromir. He's in trouble. Lara, can you feel yourself?"
Lara made to move and laughed-- the kind of laugh where you would hit your funny bone, even though it would hurt, you'd still laugh-- and Legolas and Gimli helped her up slowly. The pain was fine, she could handle it, but she still could not feel her lower her. Her better half. She sighed deeply, slowly easing her knife into small holster and followed Legolas and Gimli to where horn was being blown. Legolas hurried her along, his feet gently touching the ground.
Dead Orc bodies were slain everywhere, there was no where to run.
Then something caught her eye. Something far off in the distance, but she could see, somehow and it made her stop. It was the Orc from before, the one that tried to kill her, and he was aiming his arrow at Boromir. And then he let it go, and it whistled through the air and hit its target. Boromir shouted something out and knelt down on the floor.
Lara cried out and pushed Legolas and Gimli away, running and tripping over dead Orcs.
"Lara come back!" Legolas shouted, and she knew he was following after.
Lara ran faster, trying to ignore the pain swelling up in her spine. It didn't matter now, only that the Orc that had offended her must suffer. She caught up with him just as he aimed his last arrow over Boromir's head and Lara clapped her hand over her mouth. Boromir had at least five arrows punctuating from his body, and one by his chest. His heart!
Lara had enough. She couldn't let the Orc do this, so she ran forwards, brushing off a hand that tried to grab onto her, and darted to the Orc. He didn't hear her coming up behind her, and Lara brought out her knife and swung it at him. The Orc heard her right before he let the arrow fly, and turned around to block her blow. Lara was thrown back before she could attack, and she tumbled to where Boromir was. He said something to her, but she was trying to get up.
The Orc advanced on her, his arrow now pointed at Lara. She looked up at him determinedly and grimaced.
The Orc grinned. He notched back his arrow and for a moment Lara saw his eye twitch. Then someone knocked into him, falling with him into the ground and tumbling out of sight. Lara leaned back against a Orc corpse, but she didn't care.
She watched as Boromir laid himself down against a tree and he started to cough.
Lara flinched and started to crawl over to him. He watched her, blood dripping out from the side of his mouth.
"What happened?" Lara whispered. The sound of metal clanged the air. "Can you hear me?"
Boromir nodded slightly. "Ye-es."
Lara linked his hand and turned back to see Legolas and Gimli standing there, looking uncertain.
Lara looked back at Boromir and sighed. "Does it hurt?"
Boromir shook his head and tried to smile, but it didn't work. "Of- course not."
Aragorn came limping down a hill, tripping over a dead Orc, and charging over to her and Boromir.
He brushed Lara aside and looked down at him. He was just as shocked as Lara was and he clapped hands with him, their hands fitting together perfectly. Lara wondered if they were related, but brushed that thought aside and laid back against the ground. Everything was hurting all over again and it even hurt when Legolas bent down to help her up.
He cradled her head in his lap and they both turned to watch Boromir and Aragorn speak.
"They took the little ones." Boromir spat, clenching Aragorn's hand tightly.
"Be still." Aragorn ordered.
"Frodo," Boromir said, blood inkling out of his mouth. "where is Frodo?"
"I let Frodo go. He had to go alone." Aragorn replied.
Boromir grimaced. "Then you did what I could not. You let- you let Frodo go with the Ring... I... tried taking Lara's too, but it was hard. Frodo- he, he has hers too?"
Lara squeezed her eyes shut. Frodo did have it then.
Aragorn nodded grimly. "He has both possessions. They are out of our reach now, there is no goin-"
"Forgive me, I did not see it." Boromir said, his voice getting lower and lower. "I have failed you all, including the possessors."
Aragorn shook his head violently and Lara whispered, "You did not. You fought bravely."
"Aye." Agreed Aragorn, who smiled back at Lara and turned back to Boromir. He saw how much pain these were causing him, so he went to pull them out but Boromir stopped him and shook his head.
"Leave them be. It is over, everything is over. Our people will fall and so will our city. Darkness was meant for this earth."
Lara couldn't hear it any more. She opened her eyes again and saw the pain Boromir was going through, the pain that was from him trying to steal her Ring watch and Frodo's Ring, and it sickened her. All this time she thought Frodo was the thief, when in fact he wanted very much to stop every one else to accompany him to Mordor. Just like she had wanted. But Aragorn was right, they are out of their reach now and there was nothing she could do. She let out a shaky breath.
"I do not know what strength is in my blood, but I swear to you I will not let the white city fall, nor our people fail!" Aragorn promised, squeezing Boromir's hand tightly. Boromir seemed pleased and looked up, smiling.
"Our people?" Boromir asked and then nodded. "Our people."
Aragorn smiled sadly, reaching for Boromir's sword and letting him grip it to his chest. Lara wanted to say something to him, tell him how much she wanted to meet his city, how much he meant to her. Even though they did not bond as well as herself and Legolas, she still wanted to let him know everything. He was special, he was kingly, and he was very brave. Lara held back tears.
"I would have followed you my brother, my captain, my king!" Boromir whispered.
And then it happened. Boromir's eyes closed slowly and his face was no longer in pain, but a sudden peace fell over the place. His body was loose and it leaned against the ground in a sleep like phase, and it was no lying. Boromir had passed away.
Lara looked away and shoved her face in Legolas' vest. She didn't want them knowing she was crying.
"Be at peace, son of Gondor." Aragorn whispered softly, leaning down and kissing his brow. "Sleep well, for your light is shining again and you will find better peace where you are now." He sighed deeply and turned to the others. "We must go on."
And Lara knew he was right. They must go on. Where now will they go? Where now will she go?
Her eyes opened and she saw the dead body of one of the members of the fellowship.
She turned away and looked up at Legolas, who met her gaze and held it.
Two down, Lara thought. Eight to go.
So bring back the sun
We'll bury this hate
And build it with love
The grass wasn't greener
I found
I wanted you to know
I dug you up a rainbow
I know, I know I failed you
I hope, I hope we get to
Sunny days again
Bring back the sun-- Our Lady Peace
She didn't know why she stopped running, but something was wrong, she knew it. And the kind of something made her react quickly by pulling out her long knife that Legolas had given her since her guns were long lost. She took a step forwards, cautiously looking down for any twigs or anything that would give her away. Something was off about this place. It made her nervous and not knowing where the others were wasn't helping the matter. Then it happened.
She ducked on the floor before it hit her. She heard it miles away and luckily it only nipped at her ear, and as she tumbled against the ground the enemy flown from the sky and on top of her. Lara lifted her knife and looked away as it slid through the Orc's head, its blood dripping down against her face. She threw back her knife and tossed it off of her in disgust.
"Why do these things have to smell so bad?" She asked.
She looked up at the arrow that nearly flew through her head. She walked over to it quickly and slowly eased it out of the tree, making sure she didn't chip any of the fabric around the edges. The blood from her ear dripped down on the point and she touched it, fascinated. Didn't Elves use these things too? A loud bang from her left seemed to answer her question, and dozens and dozens of Orcs came piling out from the hill over a set of shrubs Lara hadn't seen before.
Lara looked at the end of her knife, which dripped with black Orc blood, and then turned to the hunters before her.
"I think I need a bigger knife."
And she charged forwards, an angry, fierce look on her face, and she clanged her long knife against the enemy's weapon, and the sounds of metal against metal was heard throughout the entire woods. Maybe they will hear her, maybe the others realize what's happening.
Sweating and tired, she continued to fight, loving the sound of her knife meeting against the Orc's bellies, heads and any part of their body that would stop them dead on their tracks. It was a wonderful feeling. And the defeated cries of the Orcs made her adrenaline pump higher in her veins, and she swung against a large Orc and watched as his head fell limp off its neck. And once it fell to the ground, she was brought back from her reverie of battle and looked down at the dozens of Orcs sprawled across the ground, dead. She grinned.
"Lara!" Someone cried.
Lara quickly looked over and saw Boromir waving his arms back and forth.
She ran after him, up that large hill and passed those dead bodies. Once she reached the top, Boromir helped her up and leaned against her for support. He was bleeding from his arm and she gasped lightly at the amount of blood the small gash could cause. She went to ask him if he was alright, but he silenced her and pointed across the hill.
Lara raised her brows and watched as more Orcs came pilling from no where, all carrying the same weapons and the same look on their faces. The look to destroy. Lara groaned and gripped her knife tightly. She hoped the others knew of this, because this could very well be two- hundred against ten. She looked back at Boromir for something. Anything.
"We need to fight them." Boromir whispered.
Lara nodded, though she wasn't sure. "Where are the others?"
"I do not know, I was-" He seemed uneasy and he gazed downwards for a quick moment. "-doing something else."
An arrow whistled through the air and Lara dived into Boromir, knocking him and herself down the hill. He landed on top of her, pushing her body down into the leaves. He quickly got off of her and helped her up, and they quickly darted away. Lara felt strange just running away from the Orcs, rather then fighting them off, but Boromir had a firm grip on her hand and she really didn't want to turn back. Then more arrows whistled through the air, one nipping Boromir's arm causing him to tumble down into the soil. Lara quickly jumped over him and went to help him up, but another arrow whistled in the air and a few small Hobbit shouts were echoing somewhere around them.
"Oi! You fat heads!" It was Pippin.
"Yea, fat heads! This way, we got the Ring, come on!" Merry shouted and Lara watched as they came wobbling passed a set of shrubs and towards herself and Boromir. They noticed both humans and ran quickly towards them. "Come on!"
Lara would have stayed and saw who they were actually speaking to, but Merry's little hands grabbed Lara's wrists and started to drag her away from the sight. Boromir got up and Lara glanced back, now seeing a herd of Orcs gathering around them. Merry said something but Lara wasn't listening. Why were they after them? Why were there so many of them? Merry, annoyed, tugged Lara so hard that she was brought level with Merry's face.
"Lara, let's go! They're after you and us!"
Boromir and Pippin caught up with them and Boromir quickly shoved Lara forwards. He told her something but she wasn't listening to anyone, because something just blinked on in her mind and she cursed herself for not remembering.
Frodo had her Ring watch.
She stopped short and watched as the others continued to run. A moment later, Merry turned around quickly.
"Lara!" He cried.
Lara ignored him and turned back around to the Orcs. They were gaining on them with top speed and there was no way for herself or anyone else to out run them. So she stood there, her sword raised in the air, and fought the closest Orc to Merry and the others. She killed the offending one, and went for the other closest. She killed him too.
And she kept doing this, over and over again and while the blood spilled she felt and increasing amount of pain in her heart. She was remembering the murders, the blood, the pain she went through when the ones she cared about had died. Her father. Her mother. Alex and especially Gandalf. The anger she had built up in her body boiled into her veins and her face screwed up in agony and she let out a triumph cry. A cry of battle.
She kicked her legs up and rested them against an Orc's shoulders. She gave a big twist of both of them and snapped its neck, its head falling against its shoulders. She jumped off and proceeded to the next one, the anger still bubbling in her fingers. It was a bad feeling, it was a feeling of lost control and she couldn't stop killing. She needed to hear and see the blood of the enemy fall. It was then that the loud sound of a horn was blown.
The horn Boromir always carried.
She slaughtered an Orc and turned her to the direction of the horn. Then she quickly regretted it because an Orc had grabbed her around the waist and lifted her in the air, swinging her around like a tattered doll. And before Lara could react, she was tossed into a tree. A sudden CRACK was heard and she cried out in agony.
The horn blew again, this time the Orcs retreated towards it. But her target was drawing a close on her.
He was large than the others, dread locks hanging down passed his waist. He was broader and more mean looking, because he was grinning, and this wicked look in his eyes. Lara couldn't feel her waist, it was all numb. She suddenly felt very cold and the Orc reached out to grab her, but she reached up and slapped its arm. He withdrew, shocked, then reached out again and slapped her. She hit the leaves and groaned. She must have cracked her spine or something.
The Orc growled in response and Lara felt him grab onto her waist.
She cried out and her knife dropped from her hand, landing in the pile of leaves and sinking in.
Just like her guns, it was lost. She was lost.
Her vision started to blur and the Orc tightened his grip around her neck. Her eyes began to roll in the back of her head when the Orc suddenly let go and his loud footsteps thudded against the ground. She tumbled into the soil, her face burying into the dirt and her body lying there limp and cold. A few voices rang but she couldn't quite hear them.
The horn blew one last time and Lara heard someone approach her, and a pair of boots stood besides her face.
Legolas bent down and moved Lara's hair aside gently. "Lara?" He asked, uneasily.
Lara made some kind of noise and looked up at Legolas, who was bent down and looking just as bed as she felt. The pain in her waist drifted slowly and it became numb. She couldn't feel anything and Legolas slowly reached out to touch her cheek, which was cold and dirty. He smiled softly and helped her to sit up, which was pretty painful. Lara flinched as her back leaned against the tree, relief flooding through her now that Gimli and Legolas stood in front of her.
"Frodo has my Ring watch." Lara said softly.
Legolas nodded. "Aragorn let him go."
Lara squeezed her eyes shut. She knew this was going to happen. "Alone?"
"Yes."
Lara opened her eyes again. "We have to go after him, follow him to Mordor and even catch up with him. Where are the others? Where are Aragorn, Boromir and the other Hobbits? Gimli, get me my sword, help me up-"
"Lara, you are wounded." Legolas protested, putting a hand up as the dwarf went to fetch her sword.
"Oh please." Lara groaned, sitting up more. "My back is just sprained, I'm fine, Legolas, honestly. Help me up, please."
Then, as though never having the conversation, Legolas' head jerked to the side and his face became tense and alert. Lara looked where he was looking and saw nothing, and Gimli handed Lara her sword and backed off slowly.
"Elf, do you hear something?" He asked.
Legolas nodded and looked back at Lara. "Boromir. He's in trouble. Lara, can you feel yourself?"
Lara made to move and laughed-- the kind of laugh where you would hit your funny bone, even though it would hurt, you'd still laugh-- and Legolas and Gimli helped her up slowly. The pain was fine, she could handle it, but she still could not feel her lower her. Her better half. She sighed deeply, slowly easing her knife into small holster and followed Legolas and Gimli to where horn was being blown. Legolas hurried her along, his feet gently touching the ground.
Dead Orc bodies were slain everywhere, there was no where to run.
Then something caught her eye. Something far off in the distance, but she could see, somehow and it made her stop. It was the Orc from before, the one that tried to kill her, and he was aiming his arrow at Boromir. And then he let it go, and it whistled through the air and hit its target. Boromir shouted something out and knelt down on the floor.
Lara cried out and pushed Legolas and Gimli away, running and tripping over dead Orcs.
"Lara come back!" Legolas shouted, and she knew he was following after.
Lara ran faster, trying to ignore the pain swelling up in her spine. It didn't matter now, only that the Orc that had offended her must suffer. She caught up with him just as he aimed his last arrow over Boromir's head and Lara clapped her hand over her mouth. Boromir had at least five arrows punctuating from his body, and one by his chest. His heart!
Lara had enough. She couldn't let the Orc do this, so she ran forwards, brushing off a hand that tried to grab onto her, and darted to the Orc. He didn't hear her coming up behind her, and Lara brought out her knife and swung it at him. The Orc heard her right before he let the arrow fly, and turned around to block her blow. Lara was thrown back before she could attack, and she tumbled to where Boromir was. He said something to her, but she was trying to get up.
The Orc advanced on her, his arrow now pointed at Lara. She looked up at him determinedly and grimaced.
The Orc grinned. He notched back his arrow and for a moment Lara saw his eye twitch. Then someone knocked into him, falling with him into the ground and tumbling out of sight. Lara leaned back against a Orc corpse, but she didn't care.
She watched as Boromir laid himself down against a tree and he started to cough.
Lara flinched and started to crawl over to him. He watched her, blood dripping out from the side of his mouth.
"What happened?" Lara whispered. The sound of metal clanged the air. "Can you hear me?"
Boromir nodded slightly. "Ye-es."
Lara linked his hand and turned back to see Legolas and Gimli standing there, looking uncertain.
Lara looked back at Boromir and sighed. "Does it hurt?"
Boromir shook his head and tried to smile, but it didn't work. "Of- course not."
Aragorn came limping down a hill, tripping over a dead Orc, and charging over to her and Boromir.
He brushed Lara aside and looked down at him. He was just as shocked as Lara was and he clapped hands with him, their hands fitting together perfectly. Lara wondered if they were related, but brushed that thought aside and laid back against the ground. Everything was hurting all over again and it even hurt when Legolas bent down to help her up.
He cradled her head in his lap and they both turned to watch Boromir and Aragorn speak.
"They took the little ones." Boromir spat, clenching Aragorn's hand tightly.
"Be still." Aragorn ordered.
"Frodo," Boromir said, blood inkling out of his mouth. "where is Frodo?"
"I let Frodo go. He had to go alone." Aragorn replied.
Boromir grimaced. "Then you did what I could not. You let- you let Frodo go with the Ring... I... tried taking Lara's too, but it was hard. Frodo- he, he has hers too?"
Lara squeezed her eyes shut. Frodo did have it then.
Aragorn nodded grimly. "He has both possessions. They are out of our reach now, there is no goin-"
"Forgive me, I did not see it." Boromir said, his voice getting lower and lower. "I have failed you all, including the possessors."
Aragorn shook his head violently and Lara whispered, "You did not. You fought bravely."
"Aye." Agreed Aragorn, who smiled back at Lara and turned back to Boromir. He saw how much pain these were causing him, so he went to pull them out but Boromir stopped him and shook his head.
"Leave them be. It is over, everything is over. Our people will fall and so will our city. Darkness was meant for this earth."
Lara couldn't hear it any more. She opened her eyes again and saw the pain Boromir was going through, the pain that was from him trying to steal her Ring watch and Frodo's Ring, and it sickened her. All this time she thought Frodo was the thief, when in fact he wanted very much to stop every one else to accompany him to Mordor. Just like she had wanted. But Aragorn was right, they are out of their reach now and there was nothing she could do. She let out a shaky breath.
"I do not know what strength is in my blood, but I swear to you I will not let the white city fall, nor our people fail!" Aragorn promised, squeezing Boromir's hand tightly. Boromir seemed pleased and looked up, smiling.
"Our people?" Boromir asked and then nodded. "Our people."
Aragorn smiled sadly, reaching for Boromir's sword and letting him grip it to his chest. Lara wanted to say something to him, tell him how much she wanted to meet his city, how much he meant to her. Even though they did not bond as well as herself and Legolas, she still wanted to let him know everything. He was special, he was kingly, and he was very brave. Lara held back tears.
"I would have followed you my brother, my captain, my king!" Boromir whispered.
And then it happened. Boromir's eyes closed slowly and his face was no longer in pain, but a sudden peace fell over the place. His body was loose and it leaned against the ground in a sleep like phase, and it was no lying. Boromir had passed away.
Lara looked away and shoved her face in Legolas' vest. She didn't want them knowing she was crying.
"Be at peace, son of Gondor." Aragorn whispered softly, leaning down and kissing his brow. "Sleep well, for your light is shining again and you will find better peace where you are now." He sighed deeply and turned to the others. "We must go on."
And Lara knew he was right. They must go on. Where now will they go? Where now will she go?
Her eyes opened and she saw the dead body of one of the members of the fellowship.
She turned away and looked up at Legolas, who met her gaze and held it.
Two down, Lara thought. Eight to go.