A/N: Hey! Well, here is another chapter. This one might be a little longer
then the others, but I have the whole river scene and the breaking of the
fellowship in it. I hope you like.
R/N: Mojo: Thank you so much for your faithful reviews! I love reading them, thanks!
Discordia: Thank you for all your advice. I tried to pay more attention to the apostrophe's in this chapter, hopefully I got a little more better. Thanks for always reviewing. Oh, btw. I really liked the gift scene in the books, that was one thing I was disappointed about in the movie, so I had to stick with it hehe!
Noa: Aww! Thanks so much for your review! You rock!
The river was among one of the most beautiful places Aurora had been. The turquoise water twisted its way through a rocky canyon. The walls of the canyon stretched upward on either side of them and green, lush forests edged the top, only visible by putting your hand over your eyes to block out the blinding sun.
Everyone took turns rowing so that they could each rest their arms after a bit. They worked their way steadily down the river, chatting unconcernedly. Aurora put both of her hands behind her head (it was her turn to rest her aching muscles) and gazed at the beauty of it all, smiling to herself. Their journey so far had been far from enjoyable, but it was moments like these that made it almost worthwhile.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Scott said, noticing the grin on her face.
"Yes, it is. It's nothing like home, is it?"
"No." He replied. He was silent for a moment before asking hesitantly, "Do you miss it? Home I mean."
Aurora didn't answer at first. She simply gazed at the churning river, running her hand through its cool waters. Just when Scott thought she wasn't going to answer, she let out a long sigh.
"I don't. Not even a little. Is that wrong of me?" she replied. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "Not much to look forward to everyday, to be honest with you. Here, everyday I may die, but at least I am doing things worth dying for. Not sitting at home eating chips and watching TV all day. Then there was the divorce." Aurora was surprised that she was opening up like this. She hadn't talked to anyone about it, much less Scott.
Scott stared at her in surprise, still rowing. "Your parent's are getting a divorce? I practically live there and I didn't know that."
Aurora sighed, nodding her head. "Even you must have noticed things haven't been going well between them lately. And you know the sad part? They were actually arguing over who would get Dan and I. Not arguing because they both wanted us, but because neither wanted to raise us alone."
Scott said nothing for a few moments, before nervously opening his thoughts as well. "At least you had a family. Mom died when I was five. Car accident, I don't suppose you remember?" Aurora shook her head, confirming his belief. "Well, that left dad and I. Not a happy family, let me tell you. Dad's a drunk. Sometimes he wouldn't even come home. I was a kid at home alone sometimes, not really understanding how to take care of myself."
Aurora looked at Scott, surprised. She never knew any of this. She knew his mom had died, but she never really asked why he came over their house so much. Why he dreaded going home. Both of them fell silent, not needing to say anymore. It was the first time either had really talked to the other in a serious way. Aurora was confused how she felt about it, but didn't want to dwell on it long. She had other things to worry about. Like the fact that she just realized her lifestyle fit the perfect profile of a Mary-Sue. Most Mary-Sues had a very dodgy background, normally tramatic past's. She'd heard worse of course, and her past wasn't tramatic, it just wasn't good. She frowned, promising herself that she would stay far away from Legolas, for now at least.
Just when she was about to ask Gimli if he was ready for a rest, she noticed two towering statues standing on either side of the river ahead. Gaping open-mouthed, she leaned forward peering at them from over Scott's shoulder. They were two great men, king's, by the look of it. Their hands were outstretched, palms forward, as if warning them not to go past. Aurora had never seen anything so big before, and that included all the skyscrapers back home. Etched out of white stone, the statues were carefully and specifically done. Though chips of rock were missing, owing no doubt to age, they were nearly perfect. Each line around the eyes, every point on the crowns, every finger and every palm were as realistic as it were possible to be.
"They are the king's of old." Legolas whispered, gazing up the towering work of art. "Aragorn's kin."
"What?" Aurora asked surprised. "Aragorn, is- he's descended from Kings? Is he a King?"
Legolas nodded solemnly before speaking again, "He was supposed to be at least. But he chose to wander the world. Gondor has no king now. Or at least, until Aragorn returns home." Legolas added, almost as an afterthought.
As they neared the towers, Scott leaned further back to get a closer look. Aurora had still been sitting behind him, gazing at the figures before them, when Scott went back a little too much. With a shriek she tried to grab onto something to stop from falling, but there was nothing to hold. Instead she tumbled backward into the water with a splash that echoed around the canyon and nearly capsized the boat.
Everyone turned around, including the others in the other boats, to see her swimming furiously back to the rocking canoe.
Laughter echoed around the canyon as the boats moved past the giant figures. Aurora screamed in rage and yelled at Scott. "Stupid oaf! Couldn't you feel me behind you?"
The water was very cold and she could already feel her toes numbing. She fought the current, trying to pull herself back on board.
"I'm-really-really-sorry." Scott gasped between laughs. He really meant it too as he stretched out a hand to help a trembling Aurora back onto the boat. Aurora, however, had other plans. She took his hands but instead of him pulling her on board, she yanked him off. His yell could be heard by anyone within 50 miles, followed by his loud splash. Aurora, cold though she was, couldn't help but giggle satisfactorily as the others roared in laughter.
She ceased laughing however, when Scott's bobbing head disappeared beneath the rippling waters.
"Scott?" she questioned insistently. After no response she screamed in fright, "Scott? Where are you? Sco-" The last of her frantic cries were drowned out as she was pulled away from the boat and shoved unceremoniously under the water. Scott emerged laughing and pulled himself out of the water. He was already leaning over the side of the boat when Aurora emerged sputtering with rage.
"Why I oughta-"
"Do a lot of things." Scott finished for her, stretching out his hand again. "But enough play. We better get going." Scott had noticed Aragorn, who had been laughing, now glaring at them from the boat in front of them.
Aurora looked suspiciously at his hand but took it anyway. He pulled her onto the boat, where both of them sat shivering from the cold. Gimli grunted and Legolas grinned. They handed them the oars, telling them that rowing would warm up their cold limbs.
They came upon a waterfall, but before they could get near enough to the powerful current's that carried the water down the mountainside, they turned off and docked onto a sandy shore. Legolas stepped out and immediately he looked troubled. Aurora, who could care less where they were just so long as they were out of the water, walked over to a rock and sat on it, facing the sun, trying to dry out her sopping clothes.
Legolas walked over to Aragorn and muttered, "Something is not right here. I can feel it."
Aragorn turned to his friend in concern, "Orcs raid the Eastern shore."
"It is not the Eastern shore that worries me." Legolas said doubtfully, looking around him as though expecting an attack.
Frowning slightly, Aragorn began unloading the boats with Scott and shortly after, Legolas began to help.
With Aurora drying out and everyone else unpacking their gear, no one noticed that Frodo and Boromir had disappeared until Sam sat up quickly as though he had been shocked.
"Where's master Frodo?" he asked worriedly. Everyone stopped what they had been doing and looked around, searching for their missing friend.
Aurora noticed Aragorn look down at Boromir's gear. Fear flashed in his eyes before he began walking quickly into the trees, calling back to the startled fellowship, "Stay here!"
Aurora, now almost completely dry, jumped off her rock and came to sit with the others who were looking rather frightened.
"Oh honestly, maybe the poor guy had to go pee or something. I mean, we are almost always around him. Who can blame him for wanting to get a bit of privacy." Aurora said encouragingly, raking her fingers through her tangled hair.
"And Boromir went with him did he?" Scott asked, glancing at Aurora.
She sat silent, thinking then grinned. Shrugging she said, "Well, you never know. Boromir doesn't have a girlfriend, does he?"
Scott rolled his eyes and pulled out his pocket knife, trying not to laugh.
After about five minutes of sitting there, each person lost in his or her own mind, Legolas suddenly stood up.
"Something isn't right." He picked up his bow and tied his quiver of arrow's around his back.
Everyone glanced at each other before standing up as well. Aurora and Scott, though doubtfully, strapped on their own weapon's hurriedly and began chasing after Legolas and Gimli who were sprinting in the direction Aragorn had disappeared.
It was a good thing they had too. For when they reached the top of a hill, slightly out of breathe, Aragorn was fighting off an entire army of Orcs. Aurora almost tripped over a rock in shock, before pulling out her bow and stringing it with an arrow with shaking hands. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and she felt so terrified she almost turned around and ran, as was her instinct. She was finally going to need to use her skills and the thought of it made her sick with fear.
She tried to keep her mind blank as Orcs began charging at her from all directions. She remembered what Legolas had taught her and began firing arrows as quick as she could. She spun around in every direction and ran to spots that had been cleared, pulling the arrows from off her back as fast as her hands were able. She stole a quick glance at the others to see how they were fairing. Scott and Aragorn were fighting with their swords swinging in every direction, charging down Orcs, swinging their swords above their heads. Legolas fired his arrow's every which way, so fast that Aurora could have sworn they were bullets shooting from a gun. Before long, Aurora couldn't move quick enough with her bow. She wasn't as fast as Legolas and no where near as accurate. She was soon almost over swamped with Orcs and so she quickly strapped her bow over her back and drew her sword, attacking once more. She was bit disoriented at first, as she hadn't practiced with her sword much lately. She quickly developed a routine however and concentrated only upon slaying the Orcs.
It didn't take long for her to notice that some of the Orcs were much different than others. Some of them were so terrifying that Aurora screamed in fear whenever she turned around to find one charging at her, roaring like a wild bear. They were much bigger and broader then the others. They weren't disfigured and squat as most of the Orcs were. Instead they were tall, maybe about 7'0" for as much as Aurora could guess, and were broad and muscular. Even their coloring was different, they were more of a solid dark color rather than the slimy, mottled looking skin of the Orcs. Their faces were painted in different colors and something that resembled braided hair swung from the tops of their heads. Their teeth were bigger and when they roared it was with a much deeper sound.
Trying to ignore her heart pounding with fear in her chest, she continued to swing her sword this way and that. Sometimes only just noticing an Orc was upon her and making a lucky combination of moves that surely saved her life more than once. Suddenly the air was pierced with something more then the grunting and roars of the Orcs and whatever the other terrible creatures were. It was a horn that bellowed in the distance, ringing clear notes through the air.
The Orcs all froze before turning and running toward the sound of the horn.
"The horn of Gondor!" Legolas cried.
"Boromir." Aragorn muttered. Without so much as a backward glance, he began charging after the retreating Orcs. He was closely followed by Legolas who ran so fast it looked like he could have been flying. Gimli also followed but Aurora and Scott stayed where they were, fighting off some remaining Orcs who had not fled to the sound of the horn. After more thrusting, pulling out, spinning around, and thrusting again, Aurora let down her sword, gasping for breath. Putting her hands on her knees, the hilt of her sword digging into her leg as she still held on to it, Aurora looked around the clearing for any more Orcs. But they were either gone or dead around their feet.
Aurora winced in pain, noticing several wounds that she hadn't noticed because she had been fighting so ferociously. There was a long, deep cut across her chest that trailed down to her stomach. It looked like someone had tried to gut her, but seriously miscalculated and then tried to correct the mistake in one swing. There were several cuts on her face and blood slid down her cheek from a particularly deep one underneath her eye, which was turning a nasty shade of blackish-blue.
Scott looked worse for wear as well. After assessing their injuries and finding none that were too bad, they took off running without so much as saying a word to each other. Scott clutched his side, a few of his ribs felt like they were bruised.
They reached a tree near where Gimli and Legolas stood and slowed down immediately. Aragorn was crouched upon the ground, tears streaming down his dirt covered face. Aurora stared in bewilderment wondering what could be wrong. It didn't take long for her to realize. Boromir lay propped against the tree, eyes shut, face pale, and blood dripping from his mouth which was slightly open. He was dead.
Aurora could do nothing but stare. She sank slowly upon her knees, letting her sword fall to the blood-stained ground. She had never seen a dead man before. Her heart throbbed painfully against her chest and she could feel hot tears make their way slowly down her cheek. First Gandalf and now Boromir. How many would be left by the time this horror was over? If it ever got over. She looked up as Aragorn stood up holding his sword to his chest, and looking through his watery eyes toward the heavens. Legolas, who looked confused at the death, as though he had never experienced someone he knew dying in front of him, stepped forward hesitantly.
"Where is Frodo?"
Aurora felt her heart stop. Where were all the hobbits? Frodo in particular. He was the one this whole mission was about, he was the one that needed to be alive more than any of them put together.
"He has left." Aragorn said in a surprisingly calm voice.
"Left? Where? Shouldn't we go and find him before he gets too far ahead?" Aurora asked, standing up quickly, wiping her tears onto the back of her hand.
Legolas was already sprinting toward a boat and pushing it in the water, "Come on! He'll already have reached the Eastern shore by now."
Aragorn turned slowly to face him, "His fate is no longer in our hands. He goes into Mordor alone, except with his faithful servant Sam."
Legolas stopped pushing and turned to stare at Aragorn in surprise, as did everyone else. Frodo was going on alone?
"Then all of this was for nothing?" Scott demanded, looking crestfallen.
Aragorn shook his head. "We made it this far, my friend. We helped protect the young Frodo up until now. Our destinies do not lie together anymore."
Aurora looked solemnly at the ground, before turning to look at Boromir. Together they all put him onto a boat, with his sword and the horn of Gondor and let his body fall off the waterfall, safe from the scavengers upon the land.
Aurora looked to Aragorn, as did everybody else.
"Where do we go now?" she asked. She wondered whether her part of the journey was over and, if it was, where was she supposed to go now?
"Merry and Pippin were taken by the Orcs. We will not let our friends torture at the hands of Saruman."
Aurora, who had forgotten about her other two hobbit friends, felt dizzy and hot all at once. They had been taken by Orcs? They would surely die.
"Whose ready to hunt some Orc?" Aragorn asked mischievously.
Grinning, the remaining members of the broken fellowship began running through the trees, chasing after their hobbit friends. Aurora felt a burning desire in her chest to do something. Two of her friends had died now, and she wasn't about to lose two more. Her anger fueled her and she didn't feel in the least bit tired as she sprinted through the dark trees.
---- A/N: Please R & R! Thanks for reading.
R/N: Mojo: Thank you so much for your faithful reviews! I love reading them, thanks!
Discordia: Thank you for all your advice. I tried to pay more attention to the apostrophe's in this chapter, hopefully I got a little more better. Thanks for always reviewing. Oh, btw. I really liked the gift scene in the books, that was one thing I was disappointed about in the movie, so I had to stick with it hehe!
Noa: Aww! Thanks so much for your review! You rock!
The river was among one of the most beautiful places Aurora had been. The turquoise water twisted its way through a rocky canyon. The walls of the canyon stretched upward on either side of them and green, lush forests edged the top, only visible by putting your hand over your eyes to block out the blinding sun.
Everyone took turns rowing so that they could each rest their arms after a bit. They worked their way steadily down the river, chatting unconcernedly. Aurora put both of her hands behind her head (it was her turn to rest her aching muscles) and gazed at the beauty of it all, smiling to herself. Their journey so far had been far from enjoyable, but it was moments like these that made it almost worthwhile.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Scott said, noticing the grin on her face.
"Yes, it is. It's nothing like home, is it?"
"No." He replied. He was silent for a moment before asking hesitantly, "Do you miss it? Home I mean."
Aurora didn't answer at first. She simply gazed at the churning river, running her hand through its cool waters. Just when Scott thought she wasn't going to answer, she let out a long sigh.
"I don't. Not even a little. Is that wrong of me?" she replied. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. "Not much to look forward to everyday, to be honest with you. Here, everyday I may die, but at least I am doing things worth dying for. Not sitting at home eating chips and watching TV all day. Then there was the divorce." Aurora was surprised that she was opening up like this. She hadn't talked to anyone about it, much less Scott.
Scott stared at her in surprise, still rowing. "Your parent's are getting a divorce? I practically live there and I didn't know that."
Aurora sighed, nodding her head. "Even you must have noticed things haven't been going well between them lately. And you know the sad part? They were actually arguing over who would get Dan and I. Not arguing because they both wanted us, but because neither wanted to raise us alone."
Scott said nothing for a few moments, before nervously opening his thoughts as well. "At least you had a family. Mom died when I was five. Car accident, I don't suppose you remember?" Aurora shook her head, confirming his belief. "Well, that left dad and I. Not a happy family, let me tell you. Dad's a drunk. Sometimes he wouldn't even come home. I was a kid at home alone sometimes, not really understanding how to take care of myself."
Aurora looked at Scott, surprised. She never knew any of this. She knew his mom had died, but she never really asked why he came over their house so much. Why he dreaded going home. Both of them fell silent, not needing to say anymore. It was the first time either had really talked to the other in a serious way. Aurora was confused how she felt about it, but didn't want to dwell on it long. She had other things to worry about. Like the fact that she just realized her lifestyle fit the perfect profile of a Mary-Sue. Most Mary-Sues had a very dodgy background, normally tramatic past's. She'd heard worse of course, and her past wasn't tramatic, it just wasn't good. She frowned, promising herself that she would stay far away from Legolas, for now at least.
Just when she was about to ask Gimli if he was ready for a rest, she noticed two towering statues standing on either side of the river ahead. Gaping open-mouthed, she leaned forward peering at them from over Scott's shoulder. They were two great men, king's, by the look of it. Their hands were outstretched, palms forward, as if warning them not to go past. Aurora had never seen anything so big before, and that included all the skyscrapers back home. Etched out of white stone, the statues were carefully and specifically done. Though chips of rock were missing, owing no doubt to age, they were nearly perfect. Each line around the eyes, every point on the crowns, every finger and every palm were as realistic as it were possible to be.
"They are the king's of old." Legolas whispered, gazing up the towering work of art. "Aragorn's kin."
"What?" Aurora asked surprised. "Aragorn, is- he's descended from Kings? Is he a King?"
Legolas nodded solemnly before speaking again, "He was supposed to be at least. But he chose to wander the world. Gondor has no king now. Or at least, until Aragorn returns home." Legolas added, almost as an afterthought.
As they neared the towers, Scott leaned further back to get a closer look. Aurora had still been sitting behind him, gazing at the figures before them, when Scott went back a little too much. With a shriek she tried to grab onto something to stop from falling, but there was nothing to hold. Instead she tumbled backward into the water with a splash that echoed around the canyon and nearly capsized the boat.
Everyone turned around, including the others in the other boats, to see her swimming furiously back to the rocking canoe.
Laughter echoed around the canyon as the boats moved past the giant figures. Aurora screamed in rage and yelled at Scott. "Stupid oaf! Couldn't you feel me behind you?"
The water was very cold and she could already feel her toes numbing. She fought the current, trying to pull herself back on board.
"I'm-really-really-sorry." Scott gasped between laughs. He really meant it too as he stretched out a hand to help a trembling Aurora back onto the boat. Aurora, however, had other plans. She took his hands but instead of him pulling her on board, she yanked him off. His yell could be heard by anyone within 50 miles, followed by his loud splash. Aurora, cold though she was, couldn't help but giggle satisfactorily as the others roared in laughter.
She ceased laughing however, when Scott's bobbing head disappeared beneath the rippling waters.
"Scott?" she questioned insistently. After no response she screamed in fright, "Scott? Where are you? Sco-" The last of her frantic cries were drowned out as she was pulled away from the boat and shoved unceremoniously under the water. Scott emerged laughing and pulled himself out of the water. He was already leaning over the side of the boat when Aurora emerged sputtering with rage.
"Why I oughta-"
"Do a lot of things." Scott finished for her, stretching out his hand again. "But enough play. We better get going." Scott had noticed Aragorn, who had been laughing, now glaring at them from the boat in front of them.
Aurora looked suspiciously at his hand but took it anyway. He pulled her onto the boat, where both of them sat shivering from the cold. Gimli grunted and Legolas grinned. They handed them the oars, telling them that rowing would warm up their cold limbs.
They came upon a waterfall, but before they could get near enough to the powerful current's that carried the water down the mountainside, they turned off and docked onto a sandy shore. Legolas stepped out and immediately he looked troubled. Aurora, who could care less where they were just so long as they were out of the water, walked over to a rock and sat on it, facing the sun, trying to dry out her sopping clothes.
Legolas walked over to Aragorn and muttered, "Something is not right here. I can feel it."
Aragorn turned to his friend in concern, "Orcs raid the Eastern shore."
"It is not the Eastern shore that worries me." Legolas said doubtfully, looking around him as though expecting an attack.
Frowning slightly, Aragorn began unloading the boats with Scott and shortly after, Legolas began to help.
With Aurora drying out and everyone else unpacking their gear, no one noticed that Frodo and Boromir had disappeared until Sam sat up quickly as though he had been shocked.
"Where's master Frodo?" he asked worriedly. Everyone stopped what they had been doing and looked around, searching for their missing friend.
Aurora noticed Aragorn look down at Boromir's gear. Fear flashed in his eyes before he began walking quickly into the trees, calling back to the startled fellowship, "Stay here!"
Aurora, now almost completely dry, jumped off her rock and came to sit with the others who were looking rather frightened.
"Oh honestly, maybe the poor guy had to go pee or something. I mean, we are almost always around him. Who can blame him for wanting to get a bit of privacy." Aurora said encouragingly, raking her fingers through her tangled hair.
"And Boromir went with him did he?" Scott asked, glancing at Aurora.
She sat silent, thinking then grinned. Shrugging she said, "Well, you never know. Boromir doesn't have a girlfriend, does he?"
Scott rolled his eyes and pulled out his pocket knife, trying not to laugh.
After about five minutes of sitting there, each person lost in his or her own mind, Legolas suddenly stood up.
"Something isn't right." He picked up his bow and tied his quiver of arrow's around his back.
Everyone glanced at each other before standing up as well. Aurora and Scott, though doubtfully, strapped on their own weapon's hurriedly and began chasing after Legolas and Gimli who were sprinting in the direction Aragorn had disappeared.
It was a good thing they had too. For when they reached the top of a hill, slightly out of breathe, Aragorn was fighting off an entire army of Orcs. Aurora almost tripped over a rock in shock, before pulling out her bow and stringing it with an arrow with shaking hands. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest and she felt so terrified she almost turned around and ran, as was her instinct. She was finally going to need to use her skills and the thought of it made her sick with fear.
She tried to keep her mind blank as Orcs began charging at her from all directions. She remembered what Legolas had taught her and began firing arrows as quick as she could. She spun around in every direction and ran to spots that had been cleared, pulling the arrows from off her back as fast as her hands were able. She stole a quick glance at the others to see how they were fairing. Scott and Aragorn were fighting with their swords swinging in every direction, charging down Orcs, swinging their swords above their heads. Legolas fired his arrow's every which way, so fast that Aurora could have sworn they were bullets shooting from a gun. Before long, Aurora couldn't move quick enough with her bow. She wasn't as fast as Legolas and no where near as accurate. She was soon almost over swamped with Orcs and so she quickly strapped her bow over her back and drew her sword, attacking once more. She was bit disoriented at first, as she hadn't practiced with her sword much lately. She quickly developed a routine however and concentrated only upon slaying the Orcs.
It didn't take long for her to notice that some of the Orcs were much different than others. Some of them were so terrifying that Aurora screamed in fear whenever she turned around to find one charging at her, roaring like a wild bear. They were much bigger and broader then the others. They weren't disfigured and squat as most of the Orcs were. Instead they were tall, maybe about 7'0" for as much as Aurora could guess, and were broad and muscular. Even their coloring was different, they were more of a solid dark color rather than the slimy, mottled looking skin of the Orcs. Their faces were painted in different colors and something that resembled braided hair swung from the tops of their heads. Their teeth were bigger and when they roared it was with a much deeper sound.
Trying to ignore her heart pounding with fear in her chest, she continued to swing her sword this way and that. Sometimes only just noticing an Orc was upon her and making a lucky combination of moves that surely saved her life more than once. Suddenly the air was pierced with something more then the grunting and roars of the Orcs and whatever the other terrible creatures were. It was a horn that bellowed in the distance, ringing clear notes through the air.
The Orcs all froze before turning and running toward the sound of the horn.
"The horn of Gondor!" Legolas cried.
"Boromir." Aragorn muttered. Without so much as a backward glance, he began charging after the retreating Orcs. He was closely followed by Legolas who ran so fast it looked like he could have been flying. Gimli also followed but Aurora and Scott stayed where they were, fighting off some remaining Orcs who had not fled to the sound of the horn. After more thrusting, pulling out, spinning around, and thrusting again, Aurora let down her sword, gasping for breath. Putting her hands on her knees, the hilt of her sword digging into her leg as she still held on to it, Aurora looked around the clearing for any more Orcs. But they were either gone or dead around their feet.
Aurora winced in pain, noticing several wounds that she hadn't noticed because she had been fighting so ferociously. There was a long, deep cut across her chest that trailed down to her stomach. It looked like someone had tried to gut her, but seriously miscalculated and then tried to correct the mistake in one swing. There were several cuts on her face and blood slid down her cheek from a particularly deep one underneath her eye, which was turning a nasty shade of blackish-blue.
Scott looked worse for wear as well. After assessing their injuries and finding none that were too bad, they took off running without so much as saying a word to each other. Scott clutched his side, a few of his ribs felt like they were bruised.
They reached a tree near where Gimli and Legolas stood and slowed down immediately. Aragorn was crouched upon the ground, tears streaming down his dirt covered face. Aurora stared in bewilderment wondering what could be wrong. It didn't take long for her to realize. Boromir lay propped against the tree, eyes shut, face pale, and blood dripping from his mouth which was slightly open. He was dead.
Aurora could do nothing but stare. She sank slowly upon her knees, letting her sword fall to the blood-stained ground. She had never seen a dead man before. Her heart throbbed painfully against her chest and she could feel hot tears make their way slowly down her cheek. First Gandalf and now Boromir. How many would be left by the time this horror was over? If it ever got over. She looked up as Aragorn stood up holding his sword to his chest, and looking through his watery eyes toward the heavens. Legolas, who looked confused at the death, as though he had never experienced someone he knew dying in front of him, stepped forward hesitantly.
"Where is Frodo?"
Aurora felt her heart stop. Where were all the hobbits? Frodo in particular. He was the one this whole mission was about, he was the one that needed to be alive more than any of them put together.
"He has left." Aragorn said in a surprisingly calm voice.
"Left? Where? Shouldn't we go and find him before he gets too far ahead?" Aurora asked, standing up quickly, wiping her tears onto the back of her hand.
Legolas was already sprinting toward a boat and pushing it in the water, "Come on! He'll already have reached the Eastern shore by now."
Aragorn turned slowly to face him, "His fate is no longer in our hands. He goes into Mordor alone, except with his faithful servant Sam."
Legolas stopped pushing and turned to stare at Aragorn in surprise, as did everyone else. Frodo was going on alone?
"Then all of this was for nothing?" Scott demanded, looking crestfallen.
Aragorn shook his head. "We made it this far, my friend. We helped protect the young Frodo up until now. Our destinies do not lie together anymore."
Aurora looked solemnly at the ground, before turning to look at Boromir. Together they all put him onto a boat, with his sword and the horn of Gondor and let his body fall off the waterfall, safe from the scavengers upon the land.
Aurora looked to Aragorn, as did everybody else.
"Where do we go now?" she asked. She wondered whether her part of the journey was over and, if it was, where was she supposed to go now?
"Merry and Pippin were taken by the Orcs. We will not let our friends torture at the hands of Saruman."
Aurora, who had forgotten about her other two hobbit friends, felt dizzy and hot all at once. They had been taken by Orcs? They would surely die.
"Whose ready to hunt some Orc?" Aragorn asked mischievously.
Grinning, the remaining members of the broken fellowship began running through the trees, chasing after their hobbit friends. Aurora felt a burning desire in her chest to do something. Two of her friends had died now, and she wasn't about to lose two more. Her anger fueled her and she didn't feel in the least bit tired as she sprinted through the dark trees.
---- A/N: Please R & R! Thanks for reading.