Angel Chapter 23: Death of Gandalf and the Great River
Author's Note: And so I return, after many a month (8... eeeeek!!!!) of not
posting because of multiple reasons, mostly because of the fact that it just wasn't high on my priorities list. To all of you that are my old fans...
bless you for staying with me all this time. And to Dersi, Cavca, Irish Bug/Pip, Meha, and anyone else I left out that actually wants to see this new chapter... here it is, my present to you. I will try my hardest to start
posting (Semi) regularly again, but school often gets in the way. ^^;;;
Here it is, chapter 23...
Tersa awoke to the sounds of mourning. 'Who could have died?' She thought, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "What has happened?" She asked aloud.
"The Grey Pilgrim is dead." Said Legolas, standing a few feet away. "Aragorn and I discovered him this morning." He bowed his head and walked away.
Tersa just stared in shock. Dead?! How could Gandalf, whom had been around seemingly forever, just die during the night like a mortal suffering from old age? "He cannot be dead!" She fell back upon her bedding her throat tightening. "He cannot! Who will lead us? How could Gandalf, of all people, die?!"
'There are greater forces at work here than meets the eye.' A familiarly unearthly voice answered her internally, reverberating off the walls of Tersa's mind.
Tersa immediately looked around for the source of the voice, and saw Lady Galadriel standing by where Tersa had last seen Gandalf, seemingly asleep, last night.
Galadriel looked at Tersa as if she was looking through her, examining all the inner workings of her soul. 'Gandalf the Grey was destined to die this day, and though you interfered, you cannot change the Valar's plan. There is still much to do in this tale, fear not.' 'How can you say that... Gandalf is dead! We are leaderless!' Tersa thought, though she received no response other than a small, wise smile from Galadriel from across the clearing. Galadriel and the other elves that had been circled around Gandalf's bed soon left, taking his body with them, leaving the remaining fellowship members to mourn in silence. The only sound came from the hobbits soft crying; Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas and Gimli said and did nothing, lost within.
The Fellowship's remaining days in Lothlorien were laced with sadness, though they were able to rest and recover their strength for the next part of their quest. Upon their last day in the Golden Wood, they were given gifts of cloaks and lembas by the elves, and all personally received gifts from Galadriel herself as well. Now however, they were rowing down the Great River, though Tersa's mind was still back in Lothorien with the elves.
Tersa stood near the end of the line, beside Merry and Pippin, twitching nervously as Galadriel approached her. "And what gift would you ask of me, young hobbit, Tersa Took of the Shire?" Galadriel said, stopping and standing in front of Tersa. "I would ask nothing of you, Lady Galadriel. I feel I am of no service to the fellowship, or that I was even meant to be with them this far. But thank you for your kind offer." Tersa said politely, bowing. "There is but one thing I wish, and I do not believe you could grant it to me." Galadriel smiled. "I know what you wish, but you are correct, I cannot open eyes that have trained themselves to blindness." She gave Tersa a small dagger, with blue jewels in the hilt. "Protect yourself and those you love."
"Tersa? Are you all right?" Sam asked concernedly. "Hm?" Tersa answered, snapping out of her trance. "Are you all right?" Sam repeated. "You've been staring at the water for a long while, and you have hardly blinked." "I'm fine Sam. How's Frodo?" Tersa looked over at the ring bearer, whom was seemingly asleep. "He hasn't said anything for nearly an hour now, so I suppose he is asleep." Sam shrugged, but worry was in his voice. "I hope he is. Soon we will be trudging along for miles again with no time for sleep."
"There will be time for sleep, just not much." Aragorn commented from the front of the boat where he sat, rowing. "But only the Valar truly knows what lies ahead for our Fellowship."
That night the Fellowship reached Amon Hen, and after tugging their boats ashore, set up camp and met so that Aragorn could give instructions.
"We shall cross the river under cover of darkness and make our way to Mordor that way." Aragorn said. "We will have less chance of being detected if we move during the night."
"But orcs are still patroling the shores at night!. What if we are caught or attacked?" Tersa asked.
"We will deal with that when it happens." Aragorn answered.
"But shouldn't Frodo have some say in which way we go, if there are other ways?" Tersa asked, not relishing the thought of being caught and killed by a band of orcs in the dark. "Where is he?" She looked around, but did not see any trace of Frodo, save his pack.
"Frodo!" Aragorn called into the trees, but received no reply. "We must look for him. You hobbits stay together. Legolas, Gimli, follow me. Boromir is missing also, but right now concentrate on finding Frodo." Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli dashed off into the woods.
"Let's split up." Pippin suggested. "Merry and I will go one way and look for him, and Tersa, you and Sam go the other way."
"Good idea." Tersa agreed.
And so the four hobbits then split up, running through the woods and calling Frodo's name. Sam and Tersa were a few meters from the camp whenever Sam suddenly stopped.
"What are you stopped for?!" Tersa exclaimed. "We need to find Frodo!"
"Tersa Mr. Frodo is going to go off alone!" Sam said, turning back towards camp. "He's going to try to go to Mordor alone! He'll be killed for certain!"
"How do you know he's not lying out here unconscious Sam?! There is so much ground to cover he could be anywhere!" Tersa said, gesturing to the surrounding trees.
"You can keep looking then, but I'm going back." Sam replied, then started running back to the campsite.
After a moment Tersa started to follow but ran into a slight problem.
Namely, an Uruk-hai.
Yes, torturously short, I know, but I'm just getting back into the writing loop, so I apologize for that. And the Two Towers is fast approaching, so I
want your opinion my readers, should I start posting Two Towers in an entirely different fic, or keep adding chapters to this one? This affects
you more than me, so please give me some input. ^^;
Author's Note: And so I return, after many a month (8... eeeeek!!!!) of not
posting because of multiple reasons, mostly because of the fact that it just wasn't high on my priorities list. To all of you that are my old fans...
bless you for staying with me all this time. And to Dersi, Cavca, Irish Bug/Pip, Meha, and anyone else I left out that actually wants to see this new chapter... here it is, my present to you. I will try my hardest to start
posting (Semi) regularly again, but school often gets in the way. ^^;;;
Here it is, chapter 23...
Tersa awoke to the sounds of mourning. 'Who could have died?' She thought, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "What has happened?" She asked aloud.
"The Grey Pilgrim is dead." Said Legolas, standing a few feet away. "Aragorn and I discovered him this morning." He bowed his head and walked away.
Tersa just stared in shock. Dead?! How could Gandalf, whom had been around seemingly forever, just die during the night like a mortal suffering from old age? "He cannot be dead!" She fell back upon her bedding her throat tightening. "He cannot! Who will lead us? How could Gandalf, of all people, die?!"
'There are greater forces at work here than meets the eye.' A familiarly unearthly voice answered her internally, reverberating off the walls of Tersa's mind.
Tersa immediately looked around for the source of the voice, and saw Lady Galadriel standing by where Tersa had last seen Gandalf, seemingly asleep, last night.
Galadriel looked at Tersa as if she was looking through her, examining all the inner workings of her soul. 'Gandalf the Grey was destined to die this day, and though you interfered, you cannot change the Valar's plan. There is still much to do in this tale, fear not.' 'How can you say that... Gandalf is dead! We are leaderless!' Tersa thought, though she received no response other than a small, wise smile from Galadriel from across the clearing. Galadriel and the other elves that had been circled around Gandalf's bed soon left, taking his body with them, leaving the remaining fellowship members to mourn in silence. The only sound came from the hobbits soft crying; Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas and Gimli said and did nothing, lost within.
The Fellowship's remaining days in Lothlorien were laced with sadness, though they were able to rest and recover their strength for the next part of their quest. Upon their last day in the Golden Wood, they were given gifts of cloaks and lembas by the elves, and all personally received gifts from Galadriel herself as well. Now however, they were rowing down the Great River, though Tersa's mind was still back in Lothorien with the elves.
Tersa stood near the end of the line, beside Merry and Pippin, twitching nervously as Galadriel approached her. "And what gift would you ask of me, young hobbit, Tersa Took of the Shire?" Galadriel said, stopping and standing in front of Tersa. "I would ask nothing of you, Lady Galadriel. I feel I am of no service to the fellowship, or that I was even meant to be with them this far. But thank you for your kind offer." Tersa said politely, bowing. "There is but one thing I wish, and I do not believe you could grant it to me." Galadriel smiled. "I know what you wish, but you are correct, I cannot open eyes that have trained themselves to blindness." She gave Tersa a small dagger, with blue jewels in the hilt. "Protect yourself and those you love."
"Tersa? Are you all right?" Sam asked concernedly. "Hm?" Tersa answered, snapping out of her trance. "Are you all right?" Sam repeated. "You've been staring at the water for a long while, and you have hardly blinked." "I'm fine Sam. How's Frodo?" Tersa looked over at the ring bearer, whom was seemingly asleep. "He hasn't said anything for nearly an hour now, so I suppose he is asleep." Sam shrugged, but worry was in his voice. "I hope he is. Soon we will be trudging along for miles again with no time for sleep."
"There will be time for sleep, just not much." Aragorn commented from the front of the boat where he sat, rowing. "But only the Valar truly knows what lies ahead for our Fellowship."
That night the Fellowship reached Amon Hen, and after tugging their boats ashore, set up camp and met so that Aragorn could give instructions.
"We shall cross the river under cover of darkness and make our way to Mordor that way." Aragorn said. "We will have less chance of being detected if we move during the night."
"But orcs are still patroling the shores at night!. What if we are caught or attacked?" Tersa asked.
"We will deal with that when it happens." Aragorn answered.
"But shouldn't Frodo have some say in which way we go, if there are other ways?" Tersa asked, not relishing the thought of being caught and killed by a band of orcs in the dark. "Where is he?" She looked around, but did not see any trace of Frodo, save his pack.
"Frodo!" Aragorn called into the trees, but received no reply. "We must look for him. You hobbits stay together. Legolas, Gimli, follow me. Boromir is missing also, but right now concentrate on finding Frodo." Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli dashed off into the woods.
"Let's split up." Pippin suggested. "Merry and I will go one way and look for him, and Tersa, you and Sam go the other way."
"Good idea." Tersa agreed.
And so the four hobbits then split up, running through the woods and calling Frodo's name. Sam and Tersa were a few meters from the camp whenever Sam suddenly stopped.
"What are you stopped for?!" Tersa exclaimed. "We need to find Frodo!"
"Tersa Mr. Frodo is going to go off alone!" Sam said, turning back towards camp. "He's going to try to go to Mordor alone! He'll be killed for certain!"
"How do you know he's not lying out here unconscious Sam?! There is so much ground to cover he could be anywhere!" Tersa said, gesturing to the surrounding trees.
"You can keep looking then, but I'm going back." Sam replied, then started running back to the campsite.
After a moment Tersa started to follow but ran into a slight problem.
Namely, an Uruk-hai.
Yes, torturously short, I know, but I'm just getting back into the writing loop, so I apologize for that. And the Two Towers is fast approaching, so I
want your opinion my readers, should I start posting Two Towers in an entirely different fic, or keep adding chapters to this one? This affects
you more than me, so please give me some input. ^^;