AN: Ack. I feel v guilt and I know that a majority of you are going to hate me by the end of this chapter. As in, more than you expect. ::cowers:: Let's just say that no one read the teaser as I hoped they would... as a warning to what was going to happen... ack.
Please read: I know I warned you awhile ago that I'd be following the movie version of Helm's Deep rather than the book version (and I found out they were actually closer than I expected... besides the lack of Erkenbrand, that is). But please keep in mind that when what happens, happens, I do actually have a reason for doing this and I'm not just randomly killing off characters. I promise! Meep! If it makes you feel any better, this part will probably be the all time low of this fic. So it can only get better, right? ::cowers::
So... heheh. Guess we better start this than. I might have flashbacks and/or go back and add some more C/Haldir to earlier chaps, just because you guys are that important. ;D But really, the romance has been developing from the beginning, since they were little kids, so I'm not sure how much more I could do. Well... as always, "..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN or definition, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. Don't get too mad at me. ^_^' And we left off with Celebithil etc. running out into the battle.
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It was not long before the chaos of war separated the nine women. Celebithil could see Menelsul attacking madly with her sword, clearly seeking revenge for her village, with Mirengaer nearby. Naurfea hung back, firing arrows with deadly accuracy, while Hinenmel blocked any orcs that came too close to her.
Celebithil tried not to think of the horror of what she was doing. She had never struck living beings before, only stuffed replicas or markers. She tried not to see the gore, nor think, but only to hack away at these monstrous creatures that continued to swarm towards her...
Something cold hit her flesh and sharp pain shot up her arm, but before it could cause any real harm, the metal weapon fell away. Taurenreil stood there with a wink, holding the hilt of the sword she had used to knock the orc out. "You alright?" she asked, pointing to the long line where the orc had drawn blood on Celebithil's arm. "I'll be fine," she insisted, taking the brief pause in the battle around her to glance around.
She wondered where Aragorn and Haldir could be. She had seen the shining helms of the Vakhar from a far, but she had seen no hint of Estel or the Mirkwood elf and dwarf-- Legolas and Gimli. She looked up from the nearby broken, flooded wall to the ramparts that still stood. She thought she heard someone calling something about the Keep, but the message was muffled in the clamor of battle.
Some of the men seemed to be heading in an opposite direction, but she made her way toward the still standing edge of the wall, where she thought she glanced a familiar face. She mounted the stairs and saw again the face she had been searching for.
"Haldir!" she cried with joy.
He spun around in shock, his face etched with horror and fear at her voice.
Overcoming the shock, he opened his mouth to say something, but before any sound could come out, his face changed once more. His eyes widened and his mouth gaped in shock; as he turned slightly, Celebithil gasped in horror at the grinning Uruk and a knife plunged into Haldir's back. He looked at her with pain and horror and fear and disbelief in his eyes, as he saw the hope of Valinor slipping away from him. Celebithil was frozen in shock as he looked at her, never to see the glory of Tirion or the light of Taniequetil or the true beauty of the original gardens of Lorien. He smiled sadly at her and started to form words, "Amin mel--", but another uruk took his blade and cleaved Haldir on the back of the head. Celebithil stood rigid, her eyes shocked and disbelieving, her breaths coming in short gasps. "Haldir?" she murmured fearfully, refusing to let herself believe the horrible truth. From afar, someone seemed to scream Haldir's name. But all was lost, lost...
His eyes blank and spirit gone, Haldir fell to the ground.
A familiar figure caught his head, but it was too late. The restraint of shock snapped. "HALDIR!!!!!!!" cried Celebithil fiercely. In angry blindness, she grabbed her sword and jumped to her feet, hacking away madly to destroy all the enemies that swarmed around her. A familiar voice cried out, and the figure fought through the crowd toward her.
"Ithil!!! Ithil, we must go now! It is too dangerous here; we must fall back to the Keep." [AN: He knows there's no time for shock; his shock was the familiar cry she heard.]
"NO!! I must save Haldir!!!" she cried blindly.
Knowing that there was no time to spare, he grabbed the small elf and threw her over his back, running towards the Keep. The rusty sword that had served her well fell from her grasp, and was lost. She pounded her fists against his back in vain.
~*~*~*~*~
Aragorn let Celebithil softly to the ground inside the Keep. She was quiet now, but her eyes still blazed. Aragorn kissed her forehead in a brotherly fashion, and without even a word of scolding, he moved away to help Theoden secure the Keep.
Most of her friends were already back and wearily resting nearby. Naurfea, her arrows exhausted, leaned against the wall, her face dark. Taurenreil grimly cleaned her small blade. Nenloth and Hineneml's faces were white, but they remained strong. Even Ertirhiril's face seemed taunt, but she remained standing, leaning on her staff.
Menelsul and Mirengaer were in the last group to reach the Keep, their faces grim. In front of her, Menelsul carried the small Kemenuial and gently laid her down on the floor of the Keep. Mirengaer sadly rested the girl's head in her lap.
Choking back a cry, Celebithil and the others hurried to her. Her eyes fell on a shaft that had struck the girl's shoulder. "Kemenuial!"
The small girl of strange wisdom slowly turned her head towards Celebithil. "I should have paid more attention. I'm sorry, Ithil."
"Come now," said Nenloth logically. "It isn't buried deep. See?" she said, gently pulling the arrow from Kemenuial's shoulder, where it had only just pierced her skin and only a small wound remained.
Kemenuial smiled sadly and looked away. Menelsul approached slowly, her breathing harsh and Mirengaer holding her arm for strength. Menelsul took a deep breath. "It was not an arrow of the elves, but an arrow of the monstrous orcs!" The statement came out as a harsh angry cry. Mirengaer clung to her arm, but turned away.
Nenloth looked up with shock as the truth dawned on her. "It was poisoned," she stated flatly, not daring to believe it.
Celebithil fell to her knees beside Kemenuial while the others let out a cry. "No," she murmured, "not you too. Please, Elbereth Gilthoniel, not you too!!!"
Kemenuial smiled sadly. "The battle's not over yet, Ithil. But it is for me."
"Don't talk like that!" Celebithil cried.
Kemenuial smiled. "It is not the end, Ithil. It is merely a new beginning." She looked up at the other tired, distressed, tear-streaked faces that surrounded her as her vision blurred. "Thank you Ithil, Mirengaer-mama and Menelsul-papa. Hennaid Nenloth, Hinenmel, Naurfea, Taurenreil, and Ertirhiril. Thank you for you acceptance and kindness and the joy you gave me in this life. You are everything and more to me." She looked down and spoke more to herself than the others. "But I must move on; there is a new life waiting for me soon. There is some new adventure planned for me, a new adventure that I cannot experience in this body and this life." She looked up, staring deep into the anguished eyes of her princess. "I will see you all again, I promise." She looked to their tearful faces one last time, her breath coming in short gasps. "Remember me."
Her eyes glazed over and her spirit left her body. Ertirhiril silently let her hand fall upon her face to close her eyelids as the others turned away sobbing and clinging to each other for support. Ertirhiril solemnly picked up the lifeless girl and silently carried her away.
Celebithil fell back on her heels, her face white, her mouth speechless in shock and sorrow and horror. A single tear slid down her blanched cheek. She tasted the salty water upon her lips, and suddenly the dam burst.
She could not form words. She could not cry out. She could not say how the others fared, so blinded was she by the endless rivers that flowed down her cheeks. She was alone. All alone, and all was lost. Lost in the darkness. Lost to despair...
Subconsciously, she curled into a ball as memories flashed before her eyes. Kemenuial, the tiny girl that comforted her dreams. Boromir, rowing away down the Anduin. Haldir, coming to save her. Haldir, his distracted look of horror upon seeing her. Kemenuial, smiling sadly with the shaft in her chest. Boromir, shot down by three uruk arrows. Boromir, her love, surrendered to Rauros. Haldir, her protective brotherly companion, cleaved in the back of the head by a monster's sword. Kemenuial, her life-long friend, a lifeless corpse...
And now gone. Lost. Lost because of her mistakes, her naivety, her misjudgments. She could have prevented their senseless deaths, if only she hadn't been so blind! If only. Truly, it was all her fault.
She hugged her knees tightly and sobbed uncontrollably, as alone as a rock in a storm-swept sea...
How long she lay there, none could tell. Her friends mostly sat silent in shock, refusing to believe that Kemenuial, the little girl who had grown up with them was gone. And Haldir! None had witnessed his last moments, but they had heard rumors from others. They refused to think about it and tried to remain strong for Celebithil, the strength she needed so desperately now. But tears fell freely down many white faces...
At length, the storm outside penetrated Celebithil's isolated world of pain. The screams returned to her conscious. The inhuman howls. The stench of death. The frantic calls of the Men inside the Keep.
It would not be long now. The uruks would overwhelm the men's feeble attempts to block the threshold. The monsters would be among them and the slaughter would begin. It would not be long now...
Theoden stood grim, away from the hassle of the threshold. He looked as hopeless as Celebithil felt. "The fortress is taken. It is over," she heard him say.
But then there was Aragorn. Estel. Hope. Still fighting. Not giving in to the inevitable. Celebithil raised her head slowly. He saw the nonexistent hope. And that tiny sliver drove him onwards. He was Hope. Slowly she raised herself to a sitting position, hugging her knees.
"So much death," said Theoden, grim and sorrowful. "What can men do against such reckless hate?"
Estel looked up, his eyes shining with some inner fire. "Ride out with me," he said softly, gaining confidence. "Ride out and meet them." Celebithil looked up, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
"For death and glory?" said Theoden.
"For Rohan. For your people," replied Estel.
Celebithil, clutching the wall for support, slowly rose to her feet as she watched the change come over the king.
"Yes," he said quietly at first. "Yes! The Horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the deep one last time. May we make such an end as will be worthy of song."
Something hardened in Celebithil as she watched the king call for his horse and prepare for the final assault. Her breathing continued to come in ragged sobs, but she wiped away her tears and hardened her eyes and heart. She would not let the murders remain unavenged. Estel might not let her ride, but she would not sit and wait for her doom.
"Now for wrath. Now for ruin. And the red dawn!" called Theoden. "Forth Eorlingas!!"
The men on horseback sprang forward through the ruined gate, cleaving a path through the endless mass of orcs. Her eyes cold as ice, Celebithil snatched a rusty sword that lay nearby and fiercely ran after them. Someone cried out behind her, but she did not turn.
She reached the threshold only a few moments after the last horseman rode through. Many of the uruks had fallen from the narrow path into the abyss below, but those that remained came face to face with her cold lifeless eyes. In a madness, she hacked and sliced, heedless of her own safety. She could hear infantrymen behind her, hurrying to protect the threshold from the few uruks that remained. But she paid them no heed.
Someone grabbed her from behind, but she fiercely shoved them off. She turned forward once more and gasped from a brilliant light--the White Rider, dazzling on the crest of the ridge, a leader of the Rohirrim beside him. "To the Keep!" called the human, and the force rode down the ridge, the brilliant light of Mithrandir clashing with the darkness of the uruks.
Letting out a cry, she fell to her knees once more. The madness passed and the rusty sword clattered to the ground. She fell forward and the world faded around her.
She felt someone gently reach under her and lift her from the ground. Then she passed into darkness.
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AN: Now, before you jump to any conclusions, Celebithil is fine. Well, she's broken down inside and has some minor physical wounds, but thats about it. ^_^' And FYI, Menelsul (Haruka) is the one who picked her up. She went running after Celebithil to protect her as soon as she saw her running away.
And I basically mentioned the Haldir stuff in the AN at the beginning of this chap.
Now, about Kemenuial (Hotaru): Gomen nasi, but this had to happen. If it cheers you up any, remember that I have promised since the beginning that there will be a whole Hotaru-featured portion of this fic. Haven't decided whether it will be a side fic, sequel, or just continued chapters, but it will definitely be here. Remember, in her soul she is the Senshi of Rebirth! (anyone seeing any parallels to BSSM yet?) She will be reborn with the name "Morwen"... I've actually already started writing some of her part. It will be good, I promise!
Now finally, Review Responses!
AngelQueen - eep!!!! ::cowers:: ::cries:: I am SO sorry! I really am! But but but... I'll try to include as many flashbacks as I can, if that helps any. Though I'm not sure how long she will be able to dwell on it. ::cries:: And reunions are coming! Huzzah! Happy times!
Chibi-Cola- Three cheers for the Silmarillion! :D And gomen for my evilness. ^_^" I was about to throw stuff at the movie screen when they killed off Haldir too... but I had to! Amin hiraetha!
Loopy Lu- :( I sowwy. If it makes you feel any better, if I don't get to see if that Wednesday, then I have to wait till the weekend. Erm... heheh. And thanks for the promotion of "Gathering Starlight". ^_^' LOL! Lle, Auta miqula orqu!
Hiyayaka- Thanks!
Sunshine Fia- I'm feeling v generous, so I will tell you a little. ;D Lots of stuff will happen, and in the end she will sail to the west... but for now, she will journey with the company to Isengard (next time). No way Aragorn will let her go with him on the Paths of the Dead though, as everyone thinks they won't be coming back alive. ;D Don't want to spoil much more, but I hope this satisfies some of your curiosity.
Branwen-of-Emrys- meep! Heheh... erm, gomen? ::cowers:: And really, as far as I can see, I think there is no one next in line, unless you include natural deaths or Tolkien deaths (DIE DENETHOR DIE, BAKA!) ^_^'' And yah, I know that Glorfindel, Elladan, Elrohir, Earendil, Ciridan, and many wonderful elfies that we don't usually see will be making appearances in "The Gathering Starlight". Huzzah!
Raye- THANK YOU SO MUCH!! emails rock my socks. ^_^"
Thank you to everyone, especially those that will keep reading even after my extreme evilness. It will get better, I promise. Domo arigato. Ja, minna-chan!
~Calli-chan