Author: Arinya
Rating:R
Summary: Sam is forced to retell all the things that happened after the Fellowship had succeeded in destroying the Ring. All the members of the Fellowship have their own problems. Darkness returns, and Love struggles to conquer all. But as the problems mount up to a peak, can they survive? And can Sam bear telling his audience the true story?
Chapter Thirty-Four: Revelations for a Hobbit
Over the next few days, Galadriel's army grew, as Lothlorien did. The air and waters more forceful. No longer was anything peaceful, but everything seemed to carry the beat of war drums, like the heart of Galadriel. She inspected her Uruk-hai army, approving. She mounted a dappled grey horse with several hundred elves at her side.
"To Emyn Muil!" she shouted.
Her war dress had a silver breastplate and tresses of white fabic covered her arms and gave her a ghost-like look. She wore high silver boots engraved with lighter grey designs and curved sharply up, protecting her lower legs. A cape of grey and white swept over her shoulders, and a sash of gold around her waist, trailing just above the ground.
She held a sword high into the air, and the elves rallied a cry as the Uruk-hai started to stomp and roar. A rumble ran through the Earth, as if at any moment, a great chasm would appear and swallow them whole. Galadriel shouted once more in both Elvish and Black Speech, then spurred her horse forward. The elves did the same, and the Uruk-hai started on their tireless march, carrying banners with Galadriel's crest drenched in blood.
Gandalf and Sam stopped at a few stops along the way while now riding to Rohan. Sam frequently checked to make sure the palantiri was safely in his pack. The black orb was small, but felt so heavy. It was like the ring. He put the object out of his mind, and stroked Dane some before completely pulling his mind away from the palatiri.
"I don't understand Gandalf...with Celeborn, Aragorn, and you on our side, how can Galadriel be such a big problem?" he asked, beseeching the old wizard.
"Mmm" he pondered that for a second.
"What grants you power Samwise?"
"Well...numbers in armies I suppose, and the loyalty of your people"
"Good, now what grants you unlimited power?"
"Well I...I...more armies?" asked Sam quite sheepishly.
"Oh no good Samwise, although you would get much more power, it would not be endless, would it?"
"...no" said Sam, not understanding what Gandalf was getting at.
"Tell me one more thing that would give you power Samwise, you missed just one when I asked you before" said Gandalf, sounding playful.
Sam was truly stumped.
"Then let me rephrase it. How does one try to beat their enemy?"
"By thinking of a strategy"
"What makes one stop an attack?"
"When they start to lose?"
"And how does one figure out that they are about to lose?"
"By looking at the field...and thinking?"
"What grants one unlimited power?"
"Thinking?"
Sam was one very confused hobbit. The roundabout questioning served to only muddle him some more and he looked helplessly at Gandalf. Gandalf good-naturedly laughed, and Sam smiled weakly.
"One's mindset. If a person were in their right mind, they would realize the boundaries that this world poses on its inhabitants. They would know that there is no way to fly without wings, or be in the water without drowning if they weren't a fish"
The truth started to dawn on the hobbit and he nodded, understanding.
"So Galadriel is...well...mad?"
"In a way, yes. Her grip on this world is quite loosened, allowing her to think differetly, to see differently and to act differently. She desires something that was never fashioned for her, an unattainable goal. However now...with a new shade on her outlook, she will strive to take it. Strive to take the power she once dismissed with new power, with insanity, and that is a true sorrow"
"Ahh...I see now Gandalf, thank you" said Sam very quietly.
"She and I were once very close friends, I brought many messages to her from the Western shore at the time of her exile...our conversations deep, and now I hope that I am still able to communicate with her" said Gandalf in a half wistful, mourning voice.
It scared Sam slightly, for Gandalf to him, was an immovable rock, and wise with years beyond his knowing. To see that the wizard had such emotions made him frightened, for if Gandalf was scared, there was surely something to be fearful about.