Aragorn had the ideal look of confusion on his face as he looked at the young woman. She looked familiar to him but he couldn't place her face. Looking past her, he saw his friend Legolas and Glorfindel walking over towards him with concern written across their faces. He opened his mouth to greet them but suddenly felt his stomach heave. The woman saw the sudden paleness and hastily helped him roll over to dry heave a few times.
"Legolas hand me my bag of herbs," she instructed and pointed to the leather satchel.
Pulling out three different sprigs of a dried herb, she crushed them in one hand before holding it under Aragorn's nose.
"Breath in deeply through your nose."
He did as instructed and inhaled the strong fragrance of whatever was in her hand. He suddenly didn't care who she was just as long as she kept those herbs out to keep the nausea at bay. His stomach immediately calmed as she gently pulled him onto his back. Her hands were gentle as she cradled his head and repositioned her folded cloak to rest his slightly aching head on it. Lina rubbed her hands together to crush the herbs even more before piling the dried bits above his head. Without being asked to, she moved aside to allow the friends to talk as she prepared a tea to help the nausea and headache that he was trying to hide. She had studied under the best human healers and knew how to treat just about every human ailment that arose in a patient. Her only wish now was to study under Lord Elrond and learn from his knowledge to expand her own medical knowledge.
"How are you feeling Strider?" Legolas questioned as he sat beside Aragorn.
"You do not want to know," he mumbled and breathed in the herbs' scent.
"But I do and so does Lina if she is to continue caring for you," the elf replied and mentally rolled his eyes.
He knew very well how stubborn the Ranger could be when the mood struck him and it was usually at the worst times possible. Legolas would never admit it but it irritated him to no end when his friend was stubborn about his health. His stubbornness was notorious around Rivendell and Mirkwood and especially with the healers of those realms. There was one healer that Aragorn's stubbornness didn't work on and that was Lord Elrond. Oh, Aragorn did try but one of Elrond's more potent looks would serve to end all resistance and any sort of stubborn streak. Legolas also knew that Aragorn could imitate Lord Elrond's look shockingly well to almost amazing limits. Valar have mercy on Legolas whenever he is injured and Aragorn cares for him and he refuses to take a medicine. He was beginning to think it a conspiracy that all the sons of Elrond knew of the look and knew exactly when to use it.
"Very well, my stomach is twisting into knots and I feel as if I am about to throw up everything that I have eaten in the last week or two. If you wish, you may stay there and possibly inspect what I have had to eat in the past few days," Aragorn snapped and closed his eyes against his pounding headache.
"I have already been privileged to that spectacle, thank you very much. Has your father ever told you how grumpy you become when you are sick?" Legolas questioned sarcastically as the human opened an eyelid slowly to glare at the elf before closing it.
"Many times I believe," Glorfindel commented with a wry grin as he slowly lowered himself to the ground on the opposite side of Aragorn.
"I apologize mellonin, I do not mean to be so short with you," Aragorn apologized quietly and swallowed to attempt to control his queasy stomach.
Aragorn slowly opened his eyes as the woman tapped Legolas on the shoulder and handed him a tin cup carefully before quietly said something to him. Smiling down at Aragorn, she turned and stepped out into the sun and moved over towards the horses and mounted. She pulled her bow off her back and cued her horse to move off and she quickly rode out of Aragorn's sight. Legolas slid his arm under Aragorn's shoulders and lifted him slightly to have him drink from the tin cup. Aragorn noted that Glorfindel didn't help before he noticed that the elf's arm was tightly bound to his chest to keep it immobile. Thanking his friend, he turned to Glorfindel and cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Do I really want to know what happened after I lost consciousness?"
Legolas chuckled as Glorfindel told the Ranger everything that occurred before allowing Legolas to take over the narrative. He told him about riding through the rain and coming across the group of orcs before freeing the captives. Aragorn nodded here and there and remembered the sheet of parchment that had first started this wild goose chase. Once Legolas finished his story, Aragorn realized that he did in fact feel better after drinking that tea that the woman fixed for him. After that thought, he realized that he didn't even know the woman's name when she had been an important part in rescuing them from the orcs.
"You failed to mention one thing Legolas. Who is the young woman that has been caring for me?" Aragorn questioned and looked past his friend to see if she had returned.
Legolas glanced over his shoulder to look for Lina. She had told him that she was going to find some more herbs for her healing satchel and catch some fresh food for meals. He would have to remember to thank her for all she had done and continued to do. He didn't know what he would have done if he found Glorfindel and Aragorn by himself; he was not instructed in the healing arts. True, he knew how to deal with the simple things that all warriors are taught. One was being how to draw an arrow from a wound, setting a broken bone, even how to treat some orc poisons but that was the extent of his healing knowledge. Legolas was starting to think that it would be wise to learn some more healing techniques since he traveled so often with Aragorn and more often than he would like to admit. When someone was injured it would likely be both of them and he feared the day that something happened to Aragorn and he wouldn't know how to treat it. Maybe he would follow that idea when he next visited the Lord of Imladris.
"I do not blame you for not recognizing her, Aragorn. I could barely believe it when we…bumped…into each other."
Legolas snorted quietly to himself at the wording he used. 'Bumped' he thought dryly. More like hanging in a bloody net set by her and was found by her, with a small troupe of dwarves to add insult to injury. He swore to never tell Aragorn or anyone of that incident, if he did then he would have to kill them; it was as simple as that. The logic sounded well and good to him. Aragorn cocked an eyebrow at him and knew that the elf was covering over something but he didn't know if he really wanted to know.
"Well my dear friend Aragorn, that young woman happens to be young Lina from Tharbad. Remember her? The one that was so attached to Elladan when we came to rescue you from your escapade in that Valar forsaken town," Legolas supplied and Aragorn was momentarily shocked.
Now that Legolas told him, he did see the resemblances and knew that was why he recognized her face. He almost wished that Elladan was here to see how much the young girl had grown in that short time. On second thought, he didn't want Elladan here; he would be mothering him half way to death by now and lecturing him something awful. Yeah, definitely did not want Elladan here or Elrohir for that matter. He was actually surprised that Glorfindel hadn't started to lecture him, but he could be waiting till Legolas left so the elf lord could have him all to himself without having something interrupt his 'you-should-know-better' lecture.
"That was little Lina? The same little Lina that Elladan put up in a tree while they attacked the castle?"
"The one and only. She has grown, has she not?" Legolas commented with a smile and turned his head when he heard a horse approach.
Squeezing Aragorn's shoulder, he stood and left Glorfindel with Aragorn. He had a feeling that the elf lord wanted to talk with the human, well more like a lecture than a talk really. Glorfindel had that look in his eyes and Legolas knew that he didn't want to be a part of the lecture, or an accomplice, whichever way you would want to look at it. Aragorn would certainly look upon it as he being an accomplice and delighting in the lecture that the human was subjected to. Legolas smiled to himself when he heard Glorfindel launch into his lecture that he almost knew by heart. Reaching the tree line, Legolas waited and watched as Lina's horse weaved smoothly around the trees with Lina sitting comfortably atop him. In her hand were a few wild fowls and her healing satchel was bulging slightly at her side as it bounced slightly with the horse's motion. Stopping in front of the elf, she slipped off the horse and spoke a few words to the animal before nudging it away towards the other horses a few yards away.
"How is Aragorn doing?" she asked as she turned her attention to the elf.
"Better; he is not feeling as nauseous as before. That drink helped him greatly even though he is loath to admit that he needed it. I must thank you Lina for helping him. I am not so well informed with human ailments as others are and fear that I have been slightly useless in the healing department," he said and bowed slightly to the woman.
"There is no need to thank me Master Elf and you have been much help. A patient heals quicker when he knows that he is loved and has many concerned for his well-being. You do much by being a good friend to him," she replied, slightly embarrassed by the thanking.
Legolas smiled at her slight embarrassment and turned when Glorfindel called to him. Lina followed him as he walked back up to the other two and knelt down next to Aragorn as he handed him a sheet of parchment. Unfolding it, he looked over what was written on it before looking to Aragorn confused.
"What does this mean?" he asked and looked back to the sheet.
The entire sheet was filled with just numbers except for the last line, which was written in common tongue. The sheet read:
20.18.1.22.5.12…25.15.21…13.21.19.20…2015…1.14.14.21.13.9.14.1.19
1.14.3.9.5.14.20…19.5.1.20…15.6…20.8.5…11.9.14.7.19…15.6.1.18.14.15.18
6.9.14.4…20.8.5…23.1.12.12…23.9.20.8…20.8.5…19.25.13.2.15.12
16.21.19.8…1.14.4…25.15.21…19.8.1.12.12…6.9.14.4…23.8.1.20…25.15.21…19.5.1.18.3.8…6.15.18
In a world as cold as stone, must I walk this path alone?
"'In a world as cold as stone, must I walk this path alone?' What does that mean? What is this?" Legolas asked and flipped the sheet over to look at the back.
"For the past few weeks I have been having nightmares almost every night and one of the most realistic dreams were here, at the Hill of the Eye. I hid that piece of paper behind a stone on the stairwell in my dream before I died."
"You died?" Legolas asked sharply and Aragorn shrugged his shoulders slightly.
"I did not really die which is kind of obvious but whoever's body I was in did die but I woke up before the body hit the ground. The person was killed because of that parchment of because of something that he knew about it and I think it was intended for me to find it," Aragorn said as Glorfindel helped him sit up slightly so he wasn't talking to them while he was on his back.
"Aragorn, we can not even understand this. It is encoded and we have no idea of how to break the code when we do not even know which code was used," Legolas argued logically, not noticing Lina's interest.
Lina paused momentarily upon hearing about a code. Her hands started to continue to pluck the fowl from their feathers out in the open but kept her ears tuned to the conversation. Her father always told her that eavesdropping is not polite but he never specified what eavesdropping really was. She merely tuned into their normal conversation, which they were not trying to shield, too keep her mind occupied while she cleaned the fowl. It was very logical to her when she told herself it. She was also very interested in this coded parchment; her father and she always had a game between the two of them when she was younger. Her father liked to create mind games with her that taught her to think of every possible angle of any possible problem. Not meaning to brag, she knew that up till that moment no puzzle had ever stumped her and now this new mystery promised to be worthy of an attempt to break the code.
"Do not forget that I see the same thing as you do, my friend. But we have to at least try and solve it and hopefully these nightmares of mine will end and stop haunting me," Aragorn said, and hoped to hide the exhaustion from his voice.
"And stop the nightmares from clawing your back to shreds," Glorfindel commented and Aragorn suddenly wanted to throttle the golden haired elf.
"What is he talking about Strider?" Legolas asked quickly and Aragorn dropped his gaze from the piercing blue eyes of the prince of Mirkwood.
"It is nothing, just a few scratches; nothing to be worried about."
"'Scratches'? With you, a few scratches usually tend to be huge gashes and they tend to become infected," Legolas said and noted that lines of fatigue were starting to stretch across the human's face. "I believe it is time for you to rest Strider."
"I am fine," Aragorn protested and smothered a yawn.
"Rest or I will tell Lina to make a sleeping draught and we will forcefully drug you into a stupor," Legolas said sharply and Aragorn looked at him darkly.
Usually, the human would fiercely argue with the elf but he knew all to well that he was outnumbered. It was one against three and he would not allow anyone to drug him, certainly not into a stupor as Legolas threatened. The Ranger also knew that the elf would probably enjoy it far too much. He glared at the blonde haired elf as he called over Lina to look over the Ranger's back at the mere 'scratches'. Legolas watched as Lina lifted his under tunic and gently allowed her fingers to drift over the healing slashes. She asked a few questions about his health: if any of the slashes still bothered him, had his stomach settled, and was his thigh bothering him any. He answered while he continued to glare daggers at the smug looking elf. Once she was done, she helped him lie back down and he was quickly asleep, much to Legolas amusement.
"The slashes?" he asked Lina as she stood after covering Aragorn with a blanket.
"They are healing nicely as is his thigh wound. The foul potion of the orcs does not seem to have left any lingering effects on him. His stomach will probably be a little queasy for the next day or so, I will fix a bland broth for him to eat that should not upset his stomach," she said and glanced over at Glorfindel. "I should check that shoulder of yours. You may be able to leave it unbound, just be sure to use it lightly."
Glorfindel nodded and stood so she could unwrap the linens holding his arm to his chest. Legolas slowly walked away from them as he looked down at the parchment in his hands. The numbers meant nothing to him and was worried that they couldn't break whatever code the author used to write this. He knew without a doubt that he would try his hardest for his friend, but he worried that they wouldn't be able to. What would it say if they did solve the code? How important was this piece of parchment? Valuable enough for someone's death? Legolas wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer.
///////////////
You would not believe the story behind this chapter. So last night I sit down with my family and watch Pirates of the Caribbean. Well once it was done I headed off to bed which was about 10 o'clockish. I pull out my laptop with the intention of working on my POTC story and while opening the file from the disk I also opened chapter five of this story. Well I already have a bit written for it so I would just go ahead and type it up. Did not expect to stay up till two in the bloody morning working on it! My fingers just would not stop typing and before I knew it, several hours had passed and I had the next chapter ready to be sent out to my beta readers. *sighs* So anyway, here is the new chapter and I hope everyone enjoys it and please review for me. It would make a marvelous Christmas present.
"In a world as cold as stone, must I walk this path alone?"--Amy Grant "Breath of Heaven" A huge thank you goes out to Astievia for giving this quote/song lyric to me.
Gwyn- Yes, it is the dreaded exams! I am finished now and at home for the holidays but I am scared to get my final grades. I so bombed the math exam it is so not even funny. I hate math with a passion and it hates me. Was this enough angst? Probably not, but I promise there will be lots of angst coming up.
Astievia- I know, poor Glorfindel. He is so going to be the comic relief of this story. It is just hilarious to me. Anyway, I also saw RotK a few days ago and all I have to say is wow. That was a kick ass movie, great battle scenes, and I really loved that song that Merry or Pippin did. I can never remember how to tell them apart. He sang it for Denethor and then the song that Aragorn sang once he was crowned and then when he kissed Arwen. Eh gads I started to cheer. Man, the entire audience cheered (well at least all the women) when Eowyn killed the Witch King with "I am no a man. I am a woman."
Elvendancer- Heehee, the unfortunate incidents; that what makes all my life as adventurous as it is. Okay, so Gwyn is not your sister that is cool. I have not heard from a Ginny Potter or a Legalady, tell them they need to review for me. I love reading reviews.
Dha-Gal- *smacks you over the head* DUH, you are one of my beta readers chica. You are one of my favorite reviewers, did you know that? You are. And for that I will forgive you for killing the poor bird that was sitting on your window sill. And I am slightly depressed, I left my bag of skittles in Charleston and now I have none up here at home. I will have to remember to buy some next time I go to the grocery store. Hannon lle mellonin. You are proving to be a worthy friend as well as a beta reader.
Lydia2- I have fixed the silver/golden haired error and will repost that chapter when I post this one. I sent you this chapter to beta for me and I will wait till this evening for your reply but I will post before I got to bed; or at least tomorrow morning. Thank you very much for notifying me of the error with Glorfindel's hair. He was slightly ticked when he learned of my error.
Ringmarciel- I know I will get to 15 chapters but I hope that it will be longer. At the pace the story is going at now, I believe it will pass 15 but I am staying realistic. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the others.
Grumpy- I have been tossing around the idea of a story of what happens when they actually try to get themselves into trouble. Have not worked on it yet but I hope to soon. Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Star-Stallion- *snort* HA! ENERGIZER BUNNY EXTRODINAIRE! Eh gads, that was just hilarious. Oh, the Christmas season has definitely gotten to me. There is a story written by Nili where a character says: "…I believe we found something that belongs to you." Saying this to Glorfindel that had gone out to search for the twins who were in trouble as usual. And you hear Elladan at the back of the group saying something like: "You really did not find us…we did not ask for this…and (my favorite personally) we certainly do not belong to anyone." I would copy it on here but my computer being idiotic and will not let me get to the chapter.
Elven Kitten- I am too slightly. But I do love Arwen's line of: "If you want him, come and claim him!" Thank you so much for the compliment.
Lauren- Thank you much mellonin for betaing this chapter for me. And thank you for the compliment about the imagery and character interaction; those just lifted my spirits to sky high proportions. You are proving to be a very worthy fiend and beta reader. Diolla lle (I hope I got that right).
