Chapter Five: Through the Mountains

*That night as they stopped, everyone fell asleep. Gandalf, who had been on watch, drifted in between a state of sleep and awareness. The rest of the company slept fitfully as usual. And as they slept, a drop fell to the dusty earth. And another. And still another. Finally large, hard pellets of rain fell in torrents upon the small company. Hail began to fall from the heavens as well, and Gandalf, who had finally woken from the ice and rain, rushed to alert the others. They scrambled for their supplies and looked for any shelter possible.

"There, lower on the cliffs!" Gimli's trained eye spotted a large cavern on their side of the Gap. All they had to do was climb down to reach it.

"What of the horses?" Legolas yelled.

"Leave them here! They're tied to the trees and can't bolt, they'll be fine!" Aragon called back. The company began to scale the vertical cliff to get to the opening. Aragon and Gandalf had been the first to begin climbing down. Gimli joined them quickly as well. Just as Legolas was about to start down the rock wall, he overheard a problem.

"We can climb trees, and we can climb up, but we're not too sure we can make it climbing down the rock wall!" Sam yelled to Serein over the booming thunder of the storm. Serein looked at the cliff, then at Frodo, who was beginning to look ill, as if he were carrying a heavy burden. Quickly calculating, she nodded to herself. It was possible.

"Very well then. I can carry one of you on my back as I go down. I will come back up for the other."

"That won't be necessary, I can take one." Legolas offered.

"Fine then. Frodo, come on." She agreed quickly.

"Sam, on my back!" Legolas commanded. Then the two elves hoisted themselves down the stone wall and towards the cave as gently as they could with the massive hail pellets crashing down on them. Legolas reached the cave first, and after Sam had climbed off of his back, he reached over and with Gimli's help, pulled Frodo off Serein's back just as she reached the mouth of the cave. Legolas reached over to help her in as well, but she refused.

"Our packs are still down up there! I'll be right back!" She called. Nimbly grasping rocks and hoisting herself back up, she made a run for the packs she had abandon earlier to help the halflings. Standing at the edge of the cliff, She realized she had no choice but to put the three packs on and wear them as she scaled back down the wall. As the hail hit her even harder, and the rain soaked her more thoroughly, she hastened to fasten them to her back.

"Come on Serein, that's everything!" Sam called.

"All right!" And she began to descent again. But the rock had become slippery. One wrong foot placing, and the wall began to give way under her light weight. Slipping and knocking the wind out of herself, she grabbed on. If she let go, she would fall and most likely break her neck. Where then, would her kingdom be? No leader and no protection would leave them vulnerable. She could not fail, for them, for her people, she could not fail.

Her cloak by now was water logged, and weighed her down a great deal. Still, she managed to, with sheer force of will and strength, regain her footing and scale the wall. As she reached the top of the cavern, two strong arms reached up and carefully guided her waist in the rest of the way. As she let go of the top of the cavern and let the person pull her in the full way, she shuddered at how close she had come to falling down the Gap. Clinging to the figure, not caring whom it was at the moment, only happy to be alive.

Soon her racing heartbeat stilled, and she had regained her lost breath. She calmly lay her head against the man who had so graciously helped her in her time of need. Opening her tired eyes she took in the sight of green and brown, Legolas' signature tunic. He had been the one to pull her into safety. Not having the energy to look up as of yet, she merely murmured to him.

"Thank you, Legolas."

"You're welcome Serein." He slightly pushed her back to examine her. "No bruises, broken bones, or scrapes. Amazing." He smirked.

"You're a character." She replied sarcastically.

"Do you know you'll catch your death of cold if you continue to wear those clothes with that cloak?"

"Now, I highly doubt that." She smirked. The company had chosen to believe she was a human, and seemed content with the thought. She certainly wasn't going to tell them any different unless they asked.

"Believe what you will, Lady. But the others have changed. Perhaps so should you?"

"I have a better idea. I should not." He frowned.

"Why not?"

"You all changed while I was fetching the packs. You are all men. I am a woman. That should sufficiently explain my reasoning why not. I will be quite content once I remove this cloak." Serein smirked as Legolas' face paled and then flushed at her suggestion.

"Of course, Lady."

"Are you two going to sit there all night? Or would you like to at least get warm by the fire?" Aragon yelled to them.

"Coming!" Legolas yelled back. "Come, I will show you where we have taken refuge."

"Very well." She sighed and stood to follow him.

"Serein! Are you alright?" Frodo asked concerned as the two entered the larger cave the rest of the company had holed up in.

"Rest assured, Short Ones, I am in perfect health." She smiled lightly at them.

"Good! Frodo was worried for a moment there! But I told him not to worry!" Sam exclaimed.

"Did you?" Serein asked, amused at the antics.

"Yes. We thought you might become a pancake if you were to fall down the Gap!" Sam blushed as he told her this, and Frodo shook his head in denial.

"Sam, tell her the truth—you were the one who had worried about her becoming a pancake!" Serein could hold it in no longer. Such antics these two had. She let a true smile crack, then she grinned widely and giggled with them.

"Does she seem different to you?" Gimli leaned over and whispered into Gandalf's ear, which proved to be slightly challenging for the height impaired dwarf.

"She seems to have lightened considerably." Gandalf smiled at Gimli's sense of humor. The dwarf was right though. Maybe they had been too harsh with Serein, just as she had not given them a chance.

"Well, now that we are trapped in this cave until the rain and hail give way, what do you say to sleep?" Aragon suggested. He was tired, and knew that if he was tired, then the others must be as well.

"Yes." Other chorused.

"Sleep then. I will take the watch." Serein spoke, back to her cooler, more monotonous voice. But it was too late. Her cold image had been shattered, and the others let it brush over them, knowing she was merely hiding her true self. They nodded in thanks to her and each drifted off to sleep.

Serein sat near the entrance to the larger cave so she was able to keep a view of the mouth of the cave in her sight. She missed the warmth the fire had given her, but knew she had more important things to think of than being warm. She was responsible for so much life. Here it was Frodo and Sam, and their new friends. Back home her duty was to her people, though she had not held the duty for so long, she still felt obligated to it. A footstep on the cave floor brought her back to her senses. Whipping around, she found Legolas making his way toward her.

"You are supposed to be asleep." She informed him.

"Supposed to be. But I am an elf, I do not need sleep as humans. In fact, I cannot sleep right now anyway." He replied.

"Oh? And why not?"

"My dreams are unsettling. And you looked lonely." He watched her stiffen. But his vision was overcome with a flashback of her smiling and laughing contentedly while speaking to the hobbits earlier. He shook his head to clear the murky, unwanted vision and refocused back upon her.

"I am not lonely, merely board." She covered. He did not know that she had dealt with being lonely for nearly three thousand years, and could continue to do so very well. "Why do you insist upon giving me your company?"

"You look as if you need a friend."

"Friend? I will be leaving you shortly after we get off this cliff. I will, in all probability, never see or hear of you again. A friendship between us would be a foolish waste of time. Besides, there are other more pressing matters weighing upon our minds. We should concentrate upon them instead of upon each other."

"I disagree. Even if we never meet again, which I am sure will not be the case, having a friend even for a little while can be a nice release before thinking upon our important issues."

"Well then, I am afraid our friendship will merely be one-sided." She ended the conversation abruptly. "The rain and hail have stopped. Awaken the others, it is time for us to continue on our way."

The company traveled for only another day before they reached the edge of Isengard's land. It was late that night when they decided to stop and sleep, and early the next morning when Serein awoke. She packed away her things and grabbed an apple. Not stopping to look back, she began her march away from the company.

"Leaving us are you?" She turned on her heel to find Gandalf the White staring intently at her.

"I have done my duty to Frodo and Sam. Now I must fulfill the quest I originally came to complete."

"No good-byes?"

"Good-byes are hard on all. It would be…"

"Horrible for you to leave without saying them!" Frodo interrupted her. While she and Gandalf had spoken, the others had awoken.

"I am sorry Short One." She said quietly.

"Are you really leaving then?" Sam asked.

"I am. I have my own journey to complete, as you have yours. Be careful around this place, hobbits. Orcs are more numerous here than anywhere, and they will stop at nothing to get to you, it seems. But you are in good hands. Gandalf, Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, you are now obligated to watch the Short Ones. Keep them out of trouble." She nodded to each of them. Them she turned around and left, once again, not looking back.

"Well. I'm going to miss her." Sam sniffed.

"As am I Sam, as am I."

)(

Serein came upon an unholy sight as she looked behind her. The Gap that she had just crossed was now covered in a thick black mist. Saruman was working up a storm. That could only mean one thing. He was preparing an attack. Well. If she hurried, she could get to his tower before he had the chance to destroy more of Middle-Earth. *