Beauty and the Warg
Chapter Three: Lady Draugwen
A/N: Thank you to all my lovely reviewers! I left a little message for you all at the bottom of the chapter.
Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings and all related characters, settings, events, etc. belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and New Line Cinemas. Beauty and the Beast belongs to Disney and their associates. The Broadway play belongs to… well, someone who is not me. I make no money from this venture.
Important A/N: For the purposes of my story, Aragorn did not fall off a cliff during the Warg attack. Thought I ought to mention that in case some people were confused.
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The weary Rohirrim marched on towards Helm's Deep. Many were wounded, and all were grieved for those they had to leave behind. Legolas rode at the front with Aragorn and Théoden, Gimli mounted behind him. His mind kept straying back to the Warg he had left alive. He felt so sorry for it. It seemed to have been forced into battle against its will, and wanted only to get out of it as quickly as possible. Legolas wanted to go back to it and learn more about it.
Pressing his heels lightly to Arod's sides, the white horse jogged up next to Aragorn's, making the Dwarf grumble as he bounced uncomfortably.
"Aragorn, my quiver is empty. With your leave, I would go back and refill it, if another mount could be found for Gimli," Legolas said.
Aragorn glanced at the ever-present quiver strapped to Legolas' back. Only two arrows, slightly bent and stained with the foul blood of Orcs, stood in it. Aragorn nodded. "Gimli can ride with me. Go on, Legolas, but hurry to Helm's Deep!"
As soon as Gimli was on the ground, Legolas wheeled Arod on his hindquarters and galloped back over the hill, back to the site of battle.
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Wendy lay on her side, trying to be as still as possible. She couldn't see anything but a few dead Orcs and Wargs, but she heard thundering hooves as the Riders galloped away to Helm's Deep. She waited a few minutes after the hoof beats faded away until she rolled over to her other side, then sat up on her haunches. All around her lay dead or dying Orcs, Wargs, and even Riders of Rohan. The heat of the sun caused the carcasses to stink, and a sudden feeling of nausea made Wendy lay back down. Her eyes fluttered closed and she swallowed the bile that rose in her throat.
A light breeze picked up, cooling Wendy's body a little. She mentally cursed the thick, coarse fur of these Wargs and wished she could just shave it all off. Her tongue lolled from her mouth and her breathing became panting as she lay under the midday sun. She became aware of a voice floating to her on the breeze…
Perhaps it was the sun playing tricks with her mind, but Wendy thought she heard the voice of some enchantress calling to her, saying:
"Wendy… Wendy… you have been given a second chance…"
"Huh?" Wendy mumbled. Or at least, that's what she would have mumbled if she was capable of speaking English. Instead it was more of a grunt.
"You should have perished in the car crash, but in the moment of impact a portal was opened. You were brought to Middle-earth instead of passing on," the voice explained. Wendy looked around her, but the voice was coming from some unseen being. "You will be stuck as a huge, ugly, hideous, frightening, revolting, terrifying, hated, repulsive, dreadful, terrible–"
"Okay okay, I get the point!" Wendy interrupted. It sounded more like "bark bark, growl grunt snuffle growl!"
"Sorry," the voice apologized, understanding the gist of her Warg-speak. "You will be stuck as a wolf of Isenguard until you find true love. You are not limited to other Wargs, any creature of Middle-earth will do. But it is true love's first kiss that will release you from this spell. As soon as you share a kiss with the one you love, you will be transformed back into your normal state. Good luck!" With that, the voice faded off and Wendy was left in silence.
True love?! She thought. Who in their right mind would fall in love with me? I'm a Warg, for crying out loud! One of the most loathed and feared creatures in Middle-earth! I'll be stuck like this forever!
Wendy began to weep. She was tired, hot, itchy, and more than anything, she was homesick. She almost wished Legolas had killed her, just to put her out of her misery.
With a jolt, Wendy remembered. Legolas! He said he would come back! In her mind's eye she saw blue eyes filled with compassion and understanding. Wendy had never really been a Legolas fan girl; she was more of a Hobbit fancier herself. But in the moment that Legolas chose to spare her life, Wendy felt her heart lurch in her large barrel chest, and she saw why so many girls were obsessed with this fair-haired Elven prince.
Wendy sniffled and rolled from her back to her side, curling into the fetal position. She wished she still had a thumb to suck. Tears still leaked out of her beady black eyes, wetting the fur on her face.
Unbeknownst to Wendy, there was one Orc still alive that was not quite fatally wounded. He had escaped notice in the same way she had, by playing dead. Then, seeing that one of his Warg friends was still alive, he began to crawl towards her. He had a broken leg and an arrow wound in his side, but he was not about to lie there rotting in the sun next to a stinking Man. While Wendy cried to herself, he came closer to her, and suddenly grabbed fistfuls of the thick fur on her back.
She roared in surprise, rolling over quickly. The Orc didn't let go and was brought over with her, still hanging on to the fur on her back.
"There there little one, it's all right," the Orc sneered, making fun of the fact that Wendy was a little bit smaller than most of her fellow Wargs. "Come on, it's all right, just let me get up on your back. You can take me back to the Master."
Wendy's vision was blurry with tears and her stomach turned from being so near this Orc, who stank of blood, sweat, and filth. He suddenly grabbed the reins and yanked on her mouth, trying to get her to stand up. She winced at the pain. Her original rider had been very heavy with his hands and the rough metal bit had cut her lips, and now this Orc was reopening the wounds. Wendy finally snapped.
With a roar of pain, anger, and frustration, she leapt to her feet. She reared up on her hind legs, sending the surprised Orc flying off her back. As soon as her front paws touched the ground again she bounded away, leaping over the bodies strewn over the plain and in the direction that the Rohirrim had gone.
More tears leaked out of her eyes, making breathing while galloping at full speed even harder, but Wendy did not stop until she saw an Elven warrior mounted on a white horse emerge over the crest of a hill ahead of her. He was surprised to see the Warg and reflexively drew his bow. But when the Warg stopped and cowered in fear, holding one paw over its head, Legolas stopped.
Wendy peeked one eye over her large paw and saw that Legolas was dismounting. He showed her that he was laying his bow down on the ground, along with his knives. Then he slowly approached her.
Wendy uncovered her eyes and sat back on her haunches. She kept her lips tightly closed to hide her hideous fangs and tried, unsuccessfully, to reduce the bristling of the fur along her back. It was just stuck like that.
"Why do you run, little Warg?" Legolas whispered.
"I wanted to get away from the Orcs. They smell so bad. And I was so scared, laying amongst all those dead things," Wendy said, sniffling. Legolas took a step back, eyeing her warily, and she realized how threatening the language of Wargs sounded. So she shut her mouth and tried to convey an apology with her eyes alone.
"Are you trying to talk to me, little Warg?" Legolas asked. Wendy nodded vigorously and Legolas chuckled. "I wish I could understand you. How is it that you understand my words?"
"I don't know," Wendy said, shrugging. Legolas sighed.
"I wonder if you can speak Elvish as well," Legolas said in his native tongue.
Wendy shook her head to convey that she could not understand what Legolas said. He nodded and said in the Common Tongue, "I would not expect a Warg to know the language of the Eldar. Little Warg…" Legolas paused, frowning. "I do now know what else to call you."
"My name is Wendy," Wendy said, but of course all Legolas heard was "woof, bark, grunt, growl."
"With your leave, good sir–" Legolas was interrupted by an angry growl from Wendy. He frowned and asked, "What have I done to upset you?"
Wendy growled again, shaking her head. Legolas could call her whatever he wanted except a "sir." Warg or not, Wendy was not going to sacrifice her femininity.
"Are you saying you are not a good sir?" Legolas joked, a smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Wendy shook her head harder.
"You… you are not a sir!" Legolas said with sudden understanding.
Wendy nodded.
"My apologies, kind lady! I did not know there were she-Wargs! Well then with your leave, my good lady, I will call you 'Draugwen,' meaning 'wolf maiden' in my language," Legolas said. Wendy nodded. She liked that name, especially the way Legolas said it in his soft, deep voice. "Draugwen, if you wish to journey with me, we must first return to the battleground. I need to refill my quiver with arrows. Then we ride to Helm's Deep."
Wendy nodded to say that she did want to go with Legolas. She wasn't looking forward to going back to all those Orcs and Wargs, but she felt safer with Legolas. But it was Arod, his horse, that was the most nervous of the three. Being so close to a Warg was really unsettling him. Wendy looked at him with sympathy. He couldn't understand that Wendy was not about to hurt him. Legolas also noticed Arod's nervousness and went to try to comfort the poor animal.
Before Wendy lived in NYC, she and her family had lived with her mother's sister on a ranch in Texas. She had grown up with horses and was quite skilled with them. She had spent every summer at the ranch since moving to New York, so she had never lost her touch. It nearly broke Wendy's heart to see a horse so scared of her. She desperately wanted to comfort it, but she didn't want to cause him to bolt.
Slowly, Wendy lumbered over to the horse, making soft noises in her throat that sounded almost like purring. When Arod started dancing around she stopped, keeping her stance as non-threatening as a Warg could manage. Arod stopped, eyeing her with eyes rimmed with white, showing his fear. He snorted and Legolas put a hand on his muzzle, soothing him.
"Milady, I wonder what you are doing," Legolas said, knowing it would be pointless to ask since he wouldn't understand her answer. Wendy looked at him but said nothing, taking another few steps towards Arod. She lifted one large paw and set it on Arod's sweaty neck. He whinnied nervously but did not pull away. Wendy began to purr again. Keeping the claws on her paw well away from Arod she began to stroke his neck, albeit awkwardly. Amazingly, the horse began to relax.
"You are truly an amazing creature," Legolas said softly, staring at Wendy in wonderment. She glanced at him and their eyes met. For a moment they were frozen like that: Wendy's paw on Arod's neck and Legolas' hand on his nose. Then Wendy smiled, baring her fangs, and Legolas looked away, a little frightened. Wendy barely managed to hold in a fresh wave of tears.
There was no way anyone was ever going to fall in love with her.
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So that's chapter three, please review and tell me what you thought. Thank you!