Chapter 7: Have they taken the hobbits to Isengard?

The group had been running for what seemed like forever, miles and mile of nothing but running. Aragorn was in the lead, searching for clues of Merry and Pippin's existence. Legolas was not far behind, leaving the other three to bring up the rear.

Sara hoped to God that they were still alive, they had been in the film and the book, but what if their presence had changed something and the Uruk-hai had decided to kill them straight away instead?

Claire had barely spoken at all; she was still too shocked by what had happened.

Sara was weak, the group had to stop frequently on account of her injury, which Legolas still did not know anything about, and that was the way it was going to stay.

The girls sat on a rock above a cliff, staring down at the floor below, wondering just how far the drop would be.

"I'm sorry Hun; I wish that there was something I could do." Sara said solemnly to her friend.

Claire's eyes filled with tears for what felt like the hundredth time since Boromir's death, Sara looked at her and nearly joined her, but instead she put her arm around her companion, trying to comfort her as best she could.

"He did love you, it was just the ring..." she paused trying to think of the best thing to say, "it had too much power over him, he could not control his actions."

Claire just stared aimlessly at the ground; there was something she hadn't told her friend.

"There's something you should know...me and Boromir...in Lothlorien...we..."

Sara's expression changed to one of shock, she guessed what her friend was about to say, "Oh."

"Come on! We must keep going!" Aragorn called to the pair.

"Their pace has quickened," whispered Aragorn, "come on we must keep going." He lifted his head from the rock.

"Ooooh, someone's spider senses are tingling!" said Sara.

Claire smiled through tears; they got up and rejoined the others, to continue the chase after the Orcs.

They ran across the bare countryside, the girls longed for a hot bath and a comfy bed, neither of which they would be seeing soon, the men didn't seem to mind being grubby, which is understandable because they were...well...men. But to the girls this was torture.

Aragorn stopped and bent down, he had noticed something on the ground, it was a leaf from an elven cloak, "Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall."

Legolas turned and came back to see Aragorn's findings.

Sara wasn't bothering to keep track of which part of the journey they were up to, but she heard a line from Aragorn that caught her attention, it was very familiar, "Legolas, what do your elven eyes see?"

Sara shot up, elbowing Claire in the ribs, "what?" she asked; she looked over to where Legolas was stood and her eyes widened.

"The Uruks have turned north-east...they are taking the hobbits to Isengard!"

"Saruman." Aragorn whispered.

That was it Sara and Claire just burst out laughing, unable to control themselves, they were rolling around the floor laughing hysterically, Legolas walked over to them.

"Owww! Pain!" Sara moaned, she was laughing too hard.

Claire stood up again, wiping tears from her eyes. "What is it you find so funny?" Legolas inquired.

"Nothing!" said Sara quickly.

"It must have been something." Said Aragorn giving them a puzzled look.

Claire looked at Sara, "it's just...well...that line."

"What line?" Legolas asked, frowning.

Claire cleared her throat, stood as tall as she could, and in her best Legolas voice she said: "They have taken the hobbits to Isengard!" she gestured with her hands as she said it, making it look more dramatic. Sara collapsed again, it had been a while since they had laughed, or even smiled. Claire was also laughing, the others just looked puzzled.

"What is wrong with that line?" Legolas looked offended.

"Oh nothing, don't worry about it." Said Sara as the giggles subsided, they ran on, snickering every time Legolas so much as even looked at them.

It was night time, they had decided to rest, only for a couple of hours though, time was precious as long as Merry and Pippin were still being held captive.

The group sat around the campfire, looking miserable.

Sara was sat on her own, just staring aimlessly into the fire, she was still not talking, or even looking at Legolas after what he had said to her.

Aragorn was busy searching around for more clues of the hobbits trail, and Gimli was trying to keep the fire going as best he could in the harsh wind.

Claire walked around, not knowing where she was, or how far away. She just didn't care. A song came to her mind, whilst stood on a rock, looking out towards the dark, fiery depths of Mordor. This song held a lot of meaning in her life at the minute, so as tears began to stain her pale face she sang softly to her self, her voice brimming with emotion.

"I'm so tired of being here

Suppressed by all my childish fears

And if you have to leave

I wish that you would just leave

'Cause your presence still lingers here

And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal

This pain is just too real

There's just too much that time cannot erase

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears

When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears

I held your hand through all of these years

But you still have

All of me

You used to captivate me

By your resonating life

Now I'm bound by the life you left behind

Your face it haunts

My once pleasant dreams

Your voice it chased away

All the sanity in me-"

She stopped, sensing someone behind her; slowly she turned around, expecting it to be Sara.

"Legolas?"

He stood there; the elf had probably been there the whole time.

"That song, it sounded so sad." he said, coming to sit next to her.

"Yeah it's supposed to be, it's about losing a loved one."

"Like the lament they sang for Gandalf, in Lothlorien."

"Sort of, only this wasn't about Gandalf."

"Boromir."

"Yes" her eyes filling once again with tears.

"He did love you; I could see that from the way looked at you."

"Really? Then how could he do that to me, I was trying to save his life."

"You knew he was going to die?"

"Yes I saw it in lorien."

"Then his death has served a purpose, which was not to be changed. The ring had much influence over him, more than any of us; he could not control his actions, as much as he may have wanted to."

"I know."

Legolas smiled at her, stood up and offered his hand.

"Come, we must rejoin the others, you need to rest."

Claire took his hand and stood up, "You really should talk to Sara."

"I know, but she can be so stubborn sometimes, I'm only trying to protect her from getting hurt."

"Oh I know she can be stubborn, she just doesn't like being told what to do."

They walked back and rested for an hour, before once again taking after the servants of Sauron.

They ran, in the distance a group of men on horses were travelling at a fast pace, Aragorn ran towards them and shouted, "Riders of Rohan!"

They turned around and came towards the remainder of the fellowship. The men formed a circle around them, spears aimed at there throats.

The girls looked at each other; this wasn't going to be pretty.

"What business does a man, an Elf, a Dwarf and two girls have in the Riddermark?" the leader asked, sneering at Sara and Claire.

"Okay no way does some idiotic man treat me like that." Claire muttered

Murderously, unsheaving her sword, ready to fight. Aragorn looked at her sternly and she put her sword away, "Stupid bloody men."

"Give me your name first mister and I shall give you mine!" said Gimli.

The captain climbed down from his horse.

"Owww!" Sara moaned, a spear scratching the back of her neck, "Will you please point that thing somewhere else!" she said to its owner.

The man walked towards Gimli, who looked ready for a fight, but Aragorn put a hand on the Dwarves shoulder, warning him otherwise.

"I would cut off your head, dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground."

In a flash Legolas had whipped out a fresh arrow and it was aimed at the man's throat.

"You would die before your stroke fell!"

Sara let out a squeal having just witnessed Legolas say that line; it was one of her favourites from the film. They stopped for a moment to look at her, and her face turned bright red. So she hid behind Legolas.

Aragorn stepped between Eomer and Legolas who were glaring intently at each other, Aragorn was trying to keep the peace, he pushed Legolas' bow down and gave him a 'stare'

"I am Aragorn; son of Arathorn, this is Gimli; son of Gloin, Legolas; of the woodland realm, and." He paused not knowing what to say, "Claire and Sara, from the north." He finished lamely.

Claire and Sara were staring daggers at Eomer, if looks could kill...

"We are friends of Rohan, and of Theoden, your king."

Eomer took off his helmet, "Theoden no longer recognises friend from foe, not even his own kin."

The soldiers finally lifted their spears, as the group were obviously not a danger to them.

"Thank you!" Sara said, relieved to still have a head.

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over his lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan, and for that we are banished. The white wizard is cunning." He said walking towards the ranger, "he walks here and there, they say as an old man, hooded and cloaked and everywhere his spies slip passed our nets." Eomer stared at Legolas as if he was one of these spies.

"We are no spies, we track a party of Uruk-Hai westward across the plains, they have taken two of out friends captive."

"The Uruk-Hai were destroyed, we slaughtered them during the night." Eomer said gravely.

"There were hobbits, did you see two hobbits?" Gimli pleaded.

"They would only be children to your eyes." Aragorn said.

"With curly brown hair." Claire added.

"And no shoes." Said Sara.

"We left none alive, we piled their carcasses burned them over there." Eomer said, gesturing towards the billowing smoke.

Eomer called three horses and gave them to the travellers.

Sara and Claire were about to jump on their horse when Eomer came over to them.

"I wish to apologize; I was rude to you before, it's just that you can't be too careful in these dark times." He smiled at them.

"We understand." Sara said.

"Thank you for these horses, they are beautiful." Claire said, stroking the ebony black horse's mane.

"Yes, they are the best we have."

"We must get going, we will see you soon, I expect." Sara said.

Both girls mounted the horse, with Claire in the front as Sara could not ride.

They reached the pile of what was now ash, Gimli began searching frantically for any sign of the hobbits, dead or alive.

"Its one of their wee belts!" he said, pulling the twists of Metal out of the smoke.

Sara and Claire stood together, looking nervous, and afraid.

"Do you know anything of Merry and Pippin's whereabouts?" Aragorn demanded.

"No." Sara muttered sadly, wishing that she could say that they were still alive, but even she was not sure of that.

Legolas muttered a small prayer for the hobbits, whilst Aragorn Cried out in frustration, angry that all their effort had been in vain and they had not even managed to save the hobbits, and stay true to the fellowship.

"We failed them." Gimli said in disbelief.

Claire walked towards the stout dwarf, putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

Aragorn was walking around, staring at the ground when he noticed something on the ground.

"A Hobbit lay here...and the other" He said.

Sara and Claire exchanged relieved glances, things were happening as normal for now.

"They crawled." Aragorn began to search the ground for further clues as to where Merry and Pippin had ended up; he found the rope that had bound their arms, cut.

"They ran over there." Aragorn was walking quickly following the trail. He stopped and looked up, Fangorn forest towered in front of him.

"So they haven't taken the hobbits to Isengard?" Claire asked, gaining a 'how dare you mock me' look from Legolas.

"What madness drove them in there?" Gimli asked, it was known that dwarves were not a forest people, but even Aragorn seemed worried about going in there.

Aragorn took a cautious step, and soon disappeared amongst the mass of twisting rope and vines. Legolas followed, having lived in a wood for thousands of years meant that he was the least afraid.

Gimli looked distressed, Sara and Claire took an arm each and half dragged him in.

"achhh, ork blood." Gimli said tasting the blood from the leaves.

Claire walked into the forest and looked around, she went ahead of Legolas, not noticing as an item fell from her backpack. They continued to walk through the forest.

"What's this?" Legolas asked.

"What's what?" Sara said turning around to see what had captured the elf's attention, she saw what was in his hands and froze, "Oh shit, Claire."

"What?" she looked at her sindarin dictionary, and then at Legolas.

"Where did you get this, it is not of elvish make, I have never seen anything like it before."

"Umm..."

Aragorn cam back to see what all the fuss was about, "We have to keep going." He said, "What is that?" he asked Legolas spying the book in his hands.

"I'm not sure, it seems to be a sindarin dictionary, but I'm sure that no such things exist."

"Where did you get this?" He asked the pair, who were trying to form a reason for owning such an artefact.

"Umm...well...it..." Claire stuttered.

Legolas flicked through the book taking in some of the phrases, he looked on the back, "Made in the U.K, where is the U.K?"

Claire decided the truth was the only option for this, and she didn't want to lie to her companions, "The U.K is on a planet called earth, its where me and Sara come from."

Legolas narrowed his eyes and looked at them sceptically, and how come on your earth you have sindarin dictionaries?"

"Because-"

Claire was cut off by Sara, who gave her a 'shut the fuck up' look, because Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken on our planet."

"And how did you end up here?" Gimli asked.

"Well we don't exactly know, we just walked through an archway and ended up in Imladris, in front of Lord Elrond."

"Lord Elrond did not mention this, so you have been lying to us all along, are you spies of Sauron?" Legolas said.

"No! No, we are most definitely NOT spies of Sauron; we're just not from middle earth."

"But you have been lying to us all along?"

"Well, not exactly lying just...not really telling the truth..."

Claire grabbed Sara by the arm and pulled away from the situation, the others made no attempt to stop or follow them.

"What did you have to go and tell them that for?" Sara demanded.

"We owe them the truth."

"Oh great, they now hate us, if I had left you talking then you would have told them everything, even that we know what is going to happen!! What are you crazy?"

"We can't go on lying to them any more, if you expect them to trust us then we can't lie to them!"

"oh yeah, cause they're really going to trust us now, I think that we are no longer members of the fellowship thanks to you and your big mouth!"

"Me and my big mouth, what about you? Oh we haven't been lying just not telling the truth." Claire yelled at her friend.

"Oh just shut the fuck up will you." Sara said, she stormed off in a different direction, leaving the group split and Sara and Claire on their own in Fangorn forest.

(A/N: okay sorry I haven't updated in a while and I hope you like the new chapter, and if you do review! And if you don't tell us what we can do o put it right! Don't forget to check out our other stores! Sara x)