Faulkner: I'm sorry for the wait on the next chapter for my other story!
I'm encountering some obstacles. Such as writers block and a two page essay
for Language Arts. And i'm free from the hag Mrs.Miller!!! Yay!!
Now I have the nice Mr.Brown who teaches computers. The class is lame, but
easy, and the teacher is cool. My luck is finally turning around!!!
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Ratchet had somehow managed to get some rest. Legolas and Gimli had argued with Haldir about letting her sleep. They had won and promised the marchwarden that she would be awake for the battle. Ratchet had been left alone in a corner of the hall to sleep some. She had been woken when the sounds of orc horns were heard.
Currently, she was on the wall with Haldir to her left and Gimli on her right. The poor Dwarf couldn't even see over the wall! Haldir had given a little 'pep talk' to his army (including Ratchet) beforehand.
Ratchet gulped at the size of the orc army. It was monstrous. Torches were scattered among the orcs, and some held banners with a white hand painted on them.
"What does the white han stand for?" Ratchet asked Haldir.
"Saruman." was his reply.
Ratchet nodded and looked back at the orc army. They were all uglier than ugly. They started yelling and stamping, making a racket and calling out in orcish. Some even pounded on their shields with their wickedly curved swords.
A human archer got agravated and shot an orc soldier dead. Aragorn yelled at the man and the orcs growled at the act.
Aragorn called out in elvish and all the elven archers raised their bows and drew an arrow. Gimli was complaining to Legolas about the height of the wall and how he couldn't see. Legolas said something to the dwarf and Gimli laughed.
Aragorn yelled something else and Ratchet watched Haldir concentrate.
"Ratchet?" Haldir called softly.
Ratchet jumped slightly. "Yeah Haldir?"
"Promise me something." Legolas started speaking to all the archers in elvish.
"What?"
"Promise me you will live through this." he said.
"I dunno if i'll be able to promise that Haldir. This is battle, and anything can happen."
Haldir considered this and nodded slightly. "Promise me you will be careful and not take any unnecessary risks." he said after a moment.
"I promise." Ratchet said.
Aragorn called out again and all the elves let their arrows fly. All found their targets and the dying cries of orcs mingled with that of thunder. Ratchet looked up and saw lightning flash across the sky. The brief brightness illuminated the faces of the orcs and made them even uglier, if that was even possible.
Then the orc army charged forward and someone yelled, "Ladders!"
The elves needed no encouragement and continued shooting the enemy. Ratchet pulled out her sword in anticipation.
Suddenly the heavens opened up and started to cry. The rain came in a downpour and started soaking everyone and everything.
A ladder came in front of Ratchet and an orc almost immediately came up it. He was the first one to taste the steel of her blade. But more came and soon Ratchet lost track of her friends as she tried to keep the orcs off the wall.
She was brave enough to look over the wall after yet another orc fell and saw that another one was almost halfway up the ladder. Ratchet wasted no time in putting her sword away and shoving the top of the ladder with all her might. She grunted and pulled back. Then rammed into it again and the ladder teetered back and looked like it was deciding whether to fall or go back to the wall.
Ratchet cursed and jumped on the wall railing. Arrows immediately came after her. She ignored them and kicked the ladder. It fell backwards and she watched as it crushed many of its makers.
But there must have been a hole in the defences because soon the orcs were streaming onto the wall and coming up behind the defenders. Ratchet concentrated on bringing down the ladders, the source of the orcs.
It seemed that every time ladder fell two more were erected. She found a torch on the ground amidst the fighting and got an idea.
She picked it up and started setting the ladders on fire. The dry wood caught fire easily. The fire spread down the ladder and burned the orcs that were attempting to climb it. Now the smell of burning orc flesh was added to the stink of blood.
But the orcs kept coming and soon Ratchet was forced off the wall.
The fighting progressed and the rain didn't let up. Ratchet was surprised when a sudden explosion knocked her off her feet.
"What the hell is a bomb doing here!?" Ratchet yelled as she pulled herself out of some rubble. Orcs were streaming in through the breach.
A horn was being blown and a cry was passed around. "Into the Deep! Into the Deep!" the soldiers cried and retreated back. Ratchet looked around and saw so many bodies and blood that it made her sick. She retreated with the rest of her soldiers and was the last one in before the doors were barricaded.
She found herself a corner and plopped down on the floor, wiping the orc blood from her weapon with a bit of cloth she had found. Ratchet leaned back and rested her sword on her lap, one hand on the hilt, the other on the floor.
Abruptly she felt that unfortunately familiar searing heat.
"What do you want?" Ratchet growled at the Great Eye.
~How do you like the fighting?~ the Eye said. It laughed at her and upped the heat.
Ratchet cringed slightly, and shivered despite the heat.
~This all could have been avoided if you had given me my ring. But you had to be stubborn about it. Now they are all dead because of you.~ it accused.
"They are all dead because of *Saruman*. I had no part of this." Ratchet argued. 'No way is this guy....er....eye gonna pull the guilt trip on me and succeed' she thought.
~Think what you will, but it is all your fault.~ Sauron said. If it had a mouth, it would have been sneering at Ratchet. With a booming laugh that gave her a great headache he let her soul return to her body.
"Damn." Ratchet muttered. "Now he's reaching me when i'm awake."
She stood up and checked herself. So far she had no serious injuries, only cuts and bruises. The hall was eerily silent except for the sound of Aragorn and the King arguing quietly off to the side.
"Bring me my horse!" the King yelled and an assistant rushed out to do his bidding.
The King was soon mounted on his dark brown stallion and ready for battle. He had rallied what was left of his men and they followed behind him. Two servants removed the barricades and opened the doors.
The King startled the orcs who had been lulled into a false sense of security. Many who had camped for the rest of the night were slaughtered. Ratchet also came out fighting and was grateful for the appearance of the sun.
They heard horns and Ratchet looked up from her newly fallen enemy to see what looked like Gandalf in white and many fresh warriors on horses. They came over the ridge and charged the orcs from behind.
By now it seemed that nothing could surprise her now. She gave a whoop and went at her enemys with renewed strength.
The battle only ended when the few remaining orcs were either killed or ran for their lives. Ratchet looked around at all the dead bodies and gagged. Soldiers started looking for the wounded that could be saved and some whose passing could be eased.
Ratchet wandered around and was careful to not step on any human or elf bodies. Also checking for anyone who could be alive while going in search of Haldir. Every so often she would find one that was alive and call for help.
Despite her efforts, she couldn't find the marchwarden of Lorien.
She walked into the hall and came upon Aragorn who was sitting alone at a table.
"Aragorn?" The man looked up and smiled slightly at her. "Have you seen Haldir anywhere? I can't seem to find that blasted elf."
The smile vanished his face filled with sorrow.
"Haldir...." he started, but couldn't seem to finish. Ratchet felt her chest tighten in dread. Aragorn cleeared his throat and shifted his eyes to look at the floor. "Haldir is dead Ratchet. He was stabbed by an orc."
Ratchet felt someone had punched her in the gut. All of the air rushed out of her lungs. Her knees weakened and threatened to turn into jelly.
"No." Ratchet whispered. 'He can't die. Not after Boromir left me. Why is everyone leaving me?' Her face twisted into a pain filled and grief stricken mask of horror. She slowly backed up, then turned around and ran from the hall.
No one stopped her, just glanced up at her passing form and pitying her. They thought that she would get over her grief in time. After all, everyone else will, why shouldn't she?
Ratchet ran until she found a corner hidden away from all the blood and gore. She sat down and stared at her bloodstained hands. They were tinged black from all the orc blood that had poured over them. She shakily pulled out her waterskin and poured a little water into her palm. After scrubbing away all the dirt she studied her hands.
Ratchet slid her gaze to the greenish veins that showed through her skin in her wrist. They pumped blood through her and helped give her life. She pulled out the dagger Haldir gave her the day before they left Lothlorien.
~*Flashback*~
Ratchet walked towards the archery fields where Haldir had told her to meet him.
"Hi Haldir. What did you ask me to come here for?" she asked.
The elf turned around and held a beautiful dagger in his hands. The hilt looked like it was made out of some substance akin to ivory. The handle was smooth and had silvery designs threading through it. The sheath was black and had elvish incsribed in silver on it. In the middle of it the cover for the dagger was a golden sun.
"Wow. That is one gorgeous dagger." Ratchet breathed.
"It is for you." Haldir said. Ratchet looked up at him curiously. "It will be useful once the fighting begins at Helms Deep."
Ratchet looked back at the dagger and sighed. "I can't take something like that. It's too good for me. I can have a plain dagger."
"Yes, you can take it. It is yours, whether you want it or not." Then he added with a grin, "And you do want it."
Ratchet looked back at him doubtfully. Then slowly picked up the dagger from his hands and pulled out the dagger. The blade was smooth and gleamed from even the smallest amount of light. She threw it up into the air and caught it by the handle as it fell back down.
"It's perfect." she whispered. "Thank you Haldir. Thanks a lot." and she gave him a small smile.
~*End Flashback*~
"You were right Haldir, it has come in handy." Ratchet whispered to herself.
She lowered the blade, and with a flick of her wrist made a long cut on her left wrist. Warm red blood started flowing from the cut and onto the ground.
"Amazing that such a strange fluid holds so much life." she whispered in wonder. Oddly, she didn't feel any pain, only as if she was being slowly drained of energy.
She wiped off the small amount of blood that had gotten on her dagger and put it back in its sheath.
"And you bleed just to know you're alive
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am."
Ratchet sang the verse over and over. She stared in fascination as the blood made a river and flowed from her wrist to the ground. From there it formed a red pool that slowly grew in size.
Her eyes never strayed from the red stuff coming out of her body. Not even when Legolas found her and tried to stop the bloodflow. Everything was fuzzy and sounds came to her as if they were far away.
"What have you done to yourself mellonamin?" Legolas whispered desperately. He had never seen a human try to commit suicide.
"Let me be." Ratchet answered and stared at the growing red spot on the temporary bandage. "Boromir died, Haldir died, why can't I die? No one saved them, yet you're saving me. Am I cursed? What have I done that is so horrible that everyone wants to leave me?"
Legolas saw the pool of blood and gasped at how much of it there was. 'How long has she been sitting here like this?' he thought to himself. "Come. We must see the healers." he said to her. Ratchet looked up at him lazily and he noticed that her eyes were slightly glassy.
He picked her up and rushed towards the hall where the healers had set up a temporary infirmary. Legolas set her down in the first free space and called for a healer. A tall pale blond haired woman with freckles across the bridge of her nose came over and asked what was wrong with her.
"She slit her wrist, Lady Eowyn." Legolas answered, showing her the already bloodsoaked bandage.
"Oh my..." Eowyn called for fresh bandages and a small girl came over with a handful of clean cloths. She took the new bandages and pulled off the bloodsoaked one on Ratchet's wrist. Blood immediately started dripping on the floor and forming a small red puddle.
Eowyn hurriedly stopped the blood flow and wrapped a clean bandage tightly around the cut wrist. The bandage started turning red from blood from her wrist.
"Prince Legolas, you are going to have to put pressure on her wound or else it won't stop bleeding." Eowyn told Legolas. She showed him what to do, and then left to help the wounded soldiers.
Ratchet was quiet through all this and never moved. Legolas would have thought her dead if it weren't for her shallow and erratic breaths. He picked her up and took her outside and found a quiet spot for them to sit.
Legolas was scared silly at what she had attempted to do. He wondered what had pushed her to do this. Looking at the surprising fragil form that was cradled in his arms he thought back to what she said.
Had Haldir died?
"Why does this shit always happen to me?" she whispered so softly that even his elvish hearing had trouble picking it up. "Why can't I ever find peace?"
Ratchet looked over the horrible scenery and grimaced. Even though her sight was deteriorating as she slipped into darkness, the gruesome sight was clear enough for her.
Legolas shouted for help as Ratchet passed out.
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Faulkner: Nuttin to say 'cept please review!
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Ratchet had somehow managed to get some rest. Legolas and Gimli had argued with Haldir about letting her sleep. They had won and promised the marchwarden that she would be awake for the battle. Ratchet had been left alone in a corner of the hall to sleep some. She had been woken when the sounds of orc horns were heard.
Currently, she was on the wall with Haldir to her left and Gimli on her right. The poor Dwarf couldn't even see over the wall! Haldir had given a little 'pep talk' to his army (including Ratchet) beforehand.
Ratchet gulped at the size of the orc army. It was monstrous. Torches were scattered among the orcs, and some held banners with a white hand painted on them.
"What does the white han stand for?" Ratchet asked Haldir.
"Saruman." was his reply.
Ratchet nodded and looked back at the orc army. They were all uglier than ugly. They started yelling and stamping, making a racket and calling out in orcish. Some even pounded on their shields with their wickedly curved swords.
A human archer got agravated and shot an orc soldier dead. Aragorn yelled at the man and the orcs growled at the act.
Aragorn called out in elvish and all the elven archers raised their bows and drew an arrow. Gimli was complaining to Legolas about the height of the wall and how he couldn't see. Legolas said something to the dwarf and Gimli laughed.
Aragorn yelled something else and Ratchet watched Haldir concentrate.
"Ratchet?" Haldir called softly.
Ratchet jumped slightly. "Yeah Haldir?"
"Promise me something." Legolas started speaking to all the archers in elvish.
"What?"
"Promise me you will live through this." he said.
"I dunno if i'll be able to promise that Haldir. This is battle, and anything can happen."
Haldir considered this and nodded slightly. "Promise me you will be careful and not take any unnecessary risks." he said after a moment.
"I promise." Ratchet said.
Aragorn called out again and all the elves let their arrows fly. All found their targets and the dying cries of orcs mingled with that of thunder. Ratchet looked up and saw lightning flash across the sky. The brief brightness illuminated the faces of the orcs and made them even uglier, if that was even possible.
Then the orc army charged forward and someone yelled, "Ladders!"
The elves needed no encouragement and continued shooting the enemy. Ratchet pulled out her sword in anticipation.
Suddenly the heavens opened up and started to cry. The rain came in a downpour and started soaking everyone and everything.
A ladder came in front of Ratchet and an orc almost immediately came up it. He was the first one to taste the steel of her blade. But more came and soon Ratchet lost track of her friends as she tried to keep the orcs off the wall.
She was brave enough to look over the wall after yet another orc fell and saw that another one was almost halfway up the ladder. Ratchet wasted no time in putting her sword away and shoving the top of the ladder with all her might. She grunted and pulled back. Then rammed into it again and the ladder teetered back and looked like it was deciding whether to fall or go back to the wall.
Ratchet cursed and jumped on the wall railing. Arrows immediately came after her. She ignored them and kicked the ladder. It fell backwards and she watched as it crushed many of its makers.
But there must have been a hole in the defences because soon the orcs were streaming onto the wall and coming up behind the defenders. Ratchet concentrated on bringing down the ladders, the source of the orcs.
It seemed that every time ladder fell two more were erected. She found a torch on the ground amidst the fighting and got an idea.
She picked it up and started setting the ladders on fire. The dry wood caught fire easily. The fire spread down the ladder and burned the orcs that were attempting to climb it. Now the smell of burning orc flesh was added to the stink of blood.
But the orcs kept coming and soon Ratchet was forced off the wall.
The fighting progressed and the rain didn't let up. Ratchet was surprised when a sudden explosion knocked her off her feet.
"What the hell is a bomb doing here!?" Ratchet yelled as she pulled herself out of some rubble. Orcs were streaming in through the breach.
A horn was being blown and a cry was passed around. "Into the Deep! Into the Deep!" the soldiers cried and retreated back. Ratchet looked around and saw so many bodies and blood that it made her sick. She retreated with the rest of her soldiers and was the last one in before the doors were barricaded.
She found herself a corner and plopped down on the floor, wiping the orc blood from her weapon with a bit of cloth she had found. Ratchet leaned back and rested her sword on her lap, one hand on the hilt, the other on the floor.
Abruptly she felt that unfortunately familiar searing heat.
"What do you want?" Ratchet growled at the Great Eye.
~How do you like the fighting?~ the Eye said. It laughed at her and upped the heat.
Ratchet cringed slightly, and shivered despite the heat.
~This all could have been avoided if you had given me my ring. But you had to be stubborn about it. Now they are all dead because of you.~ it accused.
"They are all dead because of *Saruman*. I had no part of this." Ratchet argued. 'No way is this guy....er....eye gonna pull the guilt trip on me and succeed' she thought.
~Think what you will, but it is all your fault.~ Sauron said. If it had a mouth, it would have been sneering at Ratchet. With a booming laugh that gave her a great headache he let her soul return to her body.
"Damn." Ratchet muttered. "Now he's reaching me when i'm awake."
She stood up and checked herself. So far she had no serious injuries, only cuts and bruises. The hall was eerily silent except for the sound of Aragorn and the King arguing quietly off to the side.
"Bring me my horse!" the King yelled and an assistant rushed out to do his bidding.
The King was soon mounted on his dark brown stallion and ready for battle. He had rallied what was left of his men and they followed behind him. Two servants removed the barricades and opened the doors.
The King startled the orcs who had been lulled into a false sense of security. Many who had camped for the rest of the night were slaughtered. Ratchet also came out fighting and was grateful for the appearance of the sun.
They heard horns and Ratchet looked up from her newly fallen enemy to see what looked like Gandalf in white and many fresh warriors on horses. They came over the ridge and charged the orcs from behind.
By now it seemed that nothing could surprise her now. She gave a whoop and went at her enemys with renewed strength.
The battle only ended when the few remaining orcs were either killed or ran for their lives. Ratchet looked around at all the dead bodies and gagged. Soldiers started looking for the wounded that could be saved and some whose passing could be eased.
Ratchet wandered around and was careful to not step on any human or elf bodies. Also checking for anyone who could be alive while going in search of Haldir. Every so often she would find one that was alive and call for help.
Despite her efforts, she couldn't find the marchwarden of Lorien.
She walked into the hall and came upon Aragorn who was sitting alone at a table.
"Aragorn?" The man looked up and smiled slightly at her. "Have you seen Haldir anywhere? I can't seem to find that blasted elf."
The smile vanished his face filled with sorrow.
"Haldir...." he started, but couldn't seem to finish. Ratchet felt her chest tighten in dread. Aragorn cleeared his throat and shifted his eyes to look at the floor. "Haldir is dead Ratchet. He was stabbed by an orc."
Ratchet felt someone had punched her in the gut. All of the air rushed out of her lungs. Her knees weakened and threatened to turn into jelly.
"No." Ratchet whispered. 'He can't die. Not after Boromir left me. Why is everyone leaving me?' Her face twisted into a pain filled and grief stricken mask of horror. She slowly backed up, then turned around and ran from the hall.
No one stopped her, just glanced up at her passing form and pitying her. They thought that she would get over her grief in time. After all, everyone else will, why shouldn't she?
Ratchet ran until she found a corner hidden away from all the blood and gore. She sat down and stared at her bloodstained hands. They were tinged black from all the orc blood that had poured over them. She shakily pulled out her waterskin and poured a little water into her palm. After scrubbing away all the dirt she studied her hands.
Ratchet slid her gaze to the greenish veins that showed through her skin in her wrist. They pumped blood through her and helped give her life. She pulled out the dagger Haldir gave her the day before they left Lothlorien.
~*Flashback*~
Ratchet walked towards the archery fields where Haldir had told her to meet him.
"Hi Haldir. What did you ask me to come here for?" she asked.
The elf turned around and held a beautiful dagger in his hands. The hilt looked like it was made out of some substance akin to ivory. The handle was smooth and had silvery designs threading through it. The sheath was black and had elvish incsribed in silver on it. In the middle of it the cover for the dagger was a golden sun.
"Wow. That is one gorgeous dagger." Ratchet breathed.
"It is for you." Haldir said. Ratchet looked up at him curiously. "It will be useful once the fighting begins at Helms Deep."
Ratchet looked back at the dagger and sighed. "I can't take something like that. It's too good for me. I can have a plain dagger."
"Yes, you can take it. It is yours, whether you want it or not." Then he added with a grin, "And you do want it."
Ratchet looked back at him doubtfully. Then slowly picked up the dagger from his hands and pulled out the dagger. The blade was smooth and gleamed from even the smallest amount of light. She threw it up into the air and caught it by the handle as it fell back down.
"It's perfect." she whispered. "Thank you Haldir. Thanks a lot." and she gave him a small smile.
~*End Flashback*~
"You were right Haldir, it has come in handy." Ratchet whispered to herself.
She lowered the blade, and with a flick of her wrist made a long cut on her left wrist. Warm red blood started flowing from the cut and onto the ground.
"Amazing that such a strange fluid holds so much life." she whispered in wonder. Oddly, she didn't feel any pain, only as if she was being slowly drained of energy.
She wiped off the small amount of blood that had gotten on her dagger and put it back in its sheath.
"And you bleed just to know you're alive
And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am."
Ratchet sang the verse over and over. She stared in fascination as the blood made a river and flowed from her wrist to the ground. From there it formed a red pool that slowly grew in size.
Her eyes never strayed from the red stuff coming out of her body. Not even when Legolas found her and tried to stop the bloodflow. Everything was fuzzy and sounds came to her as if they were far away.
"What have you done to yourself mellonamin?" Legolas whispered desperately. He had never seen a human try to commit suicide.
"Let me be." Ratchet answered and stared at the growing red spot on the temporary bandage. "Boromir died, Haldir died, why can't I die? No one saved them, yet you're saving me. Am I cursed? What have I done that is so horrible that everyone wants to leave me?"
Legolas saw the pool of blood and gasped at how much of it there was. 'How long has she been sitting here like this?' he thought to himself. "Come. We must see the healers." he said to her. Ratchet looked up at him lazily and he noticed that her eyes were slightly glassy.
He picked her up and rushed towards the hall where the healers had set up a temporary infirmary. Legolas set her down in the first free space and called for a healer. A tall pale blond haired woman with freckles across the bridge of her nose came over and asked what was wrong with her.
"She slit her wrist, Lady Eowyn." Legolas answered, showing her the already bloodsoaked bandage.
"Oh my..." Eowyn called for fresh bandages and a small girl came over with a handful of clean cloths. She took the new bandages and pulled off the bloodsoaked one on Ratchet's wrist. Blood immediately started dripping on the floor and forming a small red puddle.
Eowyn hurriedly stopped the blood flow and wrapped a clean bandage tightly around the cut wrist. The bandage started turning red from blood from her wrist.
"Prince Legolas, you are going to have to put pressure on her wound or else it won't stop bleeding." Eowyn told Legolas. She showed him what to do, and then left to help the wounded soldiers.
Ratchet was quiet through all this and never moved. Legolas would have thought her dead if it weren't for her shallow and erratic breaths. He picked her up and took her outside and found a quiet spot for them to sit.
Legolas was scared silly at what she had attempted to do. He wondered what had pushed her to do this. Looking at the surprising fragil form that was cradled in his arms he thought back to what she said.
Had Haldir died?
"Why does this shit always happen to me?" she whispered so softly that even his elvish hearing had trouble picking it up. "Why can't I ever find peace?"
Ratchet looked over the horrible scenery and grimaced. Even though her sight was deteriorating as she slipped into darkness, the gruesome sight was clear enough for her.
Legolas shouted for help as Ratchet passed out.
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Faulkner: Nuttin to say 'cept please review!