Hey, I know its Thanksgiving, and due to an excess amount of free time, I should be updating more regularly, but I need a break. Badly. So I'm sorry to all of you who were expecting somewhere around five chapters between Wednesday and today, but its not going to happen. But ohh, the superscripts are back *sugar high evil grin* (only this time, they are little stars). If you have noticed, they only appear after my mom has baked a fresh batch of peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies, mwahaha. Oh, and to all of you who thought Merry was dead, (a rumor which I encouraged), he is not getting let off that easily (heh heh heh). Being evil is so much fun. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Blah, I hate writing these so just know that none of this stuff belongs to me. Obviously.
Fugitive Slaves
"Do you know why you are here?" He looked into the once beautiful face of the woman in front of him, a face now scarred and caked with dried blood, and sneered. Her companion, who stood beside her, would not look at him, and his face was set with grim determination. The eyes of the first man lighted up like freshly stirred coals. "Do you know why I am speaking to you?"
"Yes." The woman raised herself up to her full height, which was at least two times the height of the man standing before her. "Firstly, we are here because I attempted an escape from the Great City." It was obvious from her tone that she believed that the place she was being held captive to be anything but "Great".
"Very good, very good." His grin sent chills down her spine. "Go on." He stood there, smiling, mocking her pain, slowly destroying her with the effort of keeping her anger under control. She couldn't hold it in any longer. The light touch of a hand on her shoulder from the man beside her calmed her nerves slightly. When she next spoke, it was with a voice which shook with every word.
"I cannot hate you Merry; you are simply a tool. But in reply to your second question, yes, I do know why you are speaking to me." She took three slow breaths before continuing on. Her rage seemed to scorch the very air surrounding her. She knew what she was about to do was almost suicidal, but she no longer cared.
"You, Merry Brandybuck*, are speaking to me because your master is too much of a coward to face me," she spat. Instantly, a blinding pain took hold of her. Every nerve in her body twitched, every muscle went into spasm. She screamed, but the sound was lost on the wind which now swirled around the tower. The man standing next to her caught her as she fell to the ground. "Oh Arwin, what has He done to you?" He held her tightly until she became still. Not dead, he thought to himself. He could feel her breathing coming in ragged gasps and shuddering throughout her body. When next he looked up, the man that had stood in front of him was staring around in a dazed sort of way. He was obviously weak and soon collapsed onto the floor. He looked up at Faramir* with colorless eyes and whispered, "Never surrender to him."
************
"Glaaadfuzpuhudgeya!"* yelled Pippin as he unsheathed his sword from underneath his pillow clumsily and leapt to his feet. "Oh," he said as he looked up at the man who had tried to rouse him quietly. "Its only you. Sorry," he added as an afterthought.
"Just keep your mouth shut from now on," Gandalf quietly replied from somewhere on his left.
"We need to get out of here, now." Something in the man's voice drove the two to gather their belongings as quickly as possible. Eowyn stood uncomfortably by the door. Who were these men? And why were they carrying weapons? She had thought that only Orks carried swords. A look from the man who had brought her to the tent told her there would be time for questions later.
Pippin and Gandalf straightened up and nodded to her. All four of them left the tent wordlessly, though Eowyn was bursting with questions. They stole through the camp like shadows, sliding across the rocks and making their way towards the cliff.
"We can't go down there, its too steep, and furthermore, there are Orks patrolling all along the perimeter of the camp."
"Well, it looks like she's getting some of her old sensibility back," the man said to the other two with a hint of humor in his voice. As he turned to her, she caught her breath. "Trust me, I will get us out of here." They continued to walk until they suddenly reached the edge of the cliff. Eowyn found herself staring at a swift drop off about five hundred feet from the ground. She swallowed hard and followed the man as he swung himself over the edge.
"Quickly now, the next patroller will be coming this way soon." As soon as this was said, a torch light appeared a little way to their left and above them. Gandalf climbed over the edge of the cliff just as the light reached a point directly above them. They all flattened themselves against the rock face, hardly daring to breath.
"Hey, you, come over 'ere an' 'ave a look." Another Ork joined the first. They both peered over the edge.
"I think I see somthin', jus' there." He pointed to where the four fugitives were flattened against the rock.
"Well, well, well, looks like we got ourselves a bunch o' escapees. Should I sound the alarm?"
"No, let's jus' get on that ledge there. We can catch 'em." As the two Orks came into view, Pippin drew his sword and cut off the nearest one's head. The other yelled loudly before the man had a chance to silence him.
"Go!" with a flurry of movement, the four fugitives scrambled as quickly as they could down the cliff as the lights from the torches made small groups above. There was no time to think, only to act. Panting and bathed in sweat, they reached the bottom simultaneously and hit the ground below, only to speed off across the barren plain. They ran, and ran, and ran, never slowing once until the lights in the distance were only specks as large as the stars. Then,, they collapsed in a heap, breathing heavily.
"I (gasp) don't (gasp) think (gasp) they are following us (GASP). "Pippin could hardly talk, and no one else ventured to say anything for a long while. Finally, it was Eowyn who spoke.
"Would someone tell me what we are doing, and where we are going?" She looked at her three companions with pleading eyes.
"I could tell you everything from beginning to end, but it would mean nothing to you." The man pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked over at her. "You have lost your memory of The Age Before."
"Yes, but I just ran away from everything that is familiar to me under the direction of, well, three complete strangers."
"Oh, you know us better than you think you do." His face was kind yet sad.
"Stop doing that!"
"What?"
"Acting like I'm a child, like I don't know anything."
"But you do--"
"Hinting all the time like this just a game. I don't appreciate being left out of this. If I have lost my memory, why haven't you done anything to help me find it?"
"Tired of subtlety?"
"Yes, I am." The man gave his companions an exasperated look as Eowyn said this, as if he could not think of anything to say. He got up and came to sit next to her.
"Gandalf, Pippin, I want you to check our supplies, see how long we can survive out here before we reach"
"We will see to it." The man turned back towards Eowyn's eager face. "I think," he said slowly, "it would be best for you to remember everything on your own." He leaned forward, and before she realized what was happening, he was kissing her gently on the lips. It was so familiar. The warmth she felt, his touch. It all felt so right somehow.* A piece of the puzzle slid into place in her mind. Suddenly, she pulled away and stared at him with disbelief.
"Aragorn*?" she whispered.
Stars!!!!
Well, well, well. I didn't kill off Merry after all. But he is now an 3v1l m1n10n of the Dark Lord. HAHAHA!!! Sorry, my dark side got the better of me for a minute there. Well, *evil grin* he will wish he was dead by the time I'm done with him (don't worry folks, I am not all that mean, its just fun to type that). So, mystery man #1 has now been revealed. It is the cool dude known as Faramir. I put him in because they completely destroyed him in the movie (making him all mean and evil) and it is up to me to set things right. Or at least, make them a little better. Isn't that little exclamation soo Pippin? Hurrah for Billy Boyd in Master and Commander! Love the pink and white striped pants (warm and fuzzies). No, Renn, I am not completely insane. O.K. Amanda, this part is dedicated to you. I was going to put it in later, but I have figured out a way to make this all work splendidly. Darn you and your forceful e-mails!! Mystery man #2 is now known! Let me know what you guys think I should do to him through fictitious literature!! (that's not what I meant you pervert).Here ends the fifth installment. Tune in next week, because we shall have more on Legolas, Gimli, and Sam. Sorry about the sugar high.
