Chapter XXI: Agarlim

"Pippin… Pippin…" Merry whispered harshly as he attempted to wake his cousin. "Peregrin Took!"

"What?" the young hobbit cried, sitting up with his fists raised. "Oh," he breathed a sigh of relief, "it's just you. What business do you have waking me up in the middle of the night?"

"It's your watch."

"I don't want to watch."

"It's been your watch for the past hour and a half and if I don't get any sleep neither will you," Merry threatened.

Pippin stood up and wrapped his blanket around himself tightly and went to the fireside. He sat cross-legged and bounced his knees, blew into his hands to warm them. Despite the fire his breath came out in puffs of fog. Pippin tried to concentrate on something else. Gimli was snoring gruffly. Frodo was muttering to himself and Pippin wondered if he was even asleep; Sam laid close by, but seemingly in a far more peaceful sleep than his master. Aragorn slept with one hand under his makeshift pillow, the Evenstar catching the moonlight and shimmering on his chest. Boromir was sitting up against a rock with his arms folded over his chest, rising and falling rhythmically with his breath.

Above him, in the foliage of the trees, Pippin heard a crack and sharply turned around. "What was that?" He studied the trees carefully, looking for an owl or any other harmless creature that may have made the sound, but his eyes fell on a shadow and he quickly turned back to the fire, clasping his hands over his ears and slamming his eyes shut. When an arrow flew out of the forest and landed by the shore where Aragorn was sleeping Pippin screamed.

Aragorn woke first and his breath caught in his throat when he saw an Orc crawling out of the Anduin towards him. He reached under his pillow and pulled out his dagger, sitting up.

"Dad, Aragorn! (Down, Aragorn!)"

Pressing himself back against the sand, the Man waited for another arrow. It hit the Orc in the chest next to the other one and Aragorn realized the archer was not intent on killing the creature.

Legolas jumped out of the tree and landed gracefully in the sand then ran to the bank and pushed the Orc onto its back. He held its wrists down with his feet and notched another arrow, aiming down. "Who sent you?"

The Orc spit on his boot.

The Elf started to pull the arrow back. "Who sent you?"

"No matter what I say," it replied, its voice gurgling in its throat with blood, "you'll kill me."

Legolas pushed his heel into the Orc's wrist and made it writhe. "Who sent you?"

"I recognize you—"

Legolas pushed harder. "Who sent you?"

"Lurtz," the Orc replied. It smiled menacingly then grabbed the arrow from Legolas' bow and plunged it into its own heart. A moment later it was dead.

Stepping off, Legolas kicked the body into the river. After a moment he turned back to face everyone.

"How long did you know that thing was coming?" Pippin demanded. "And what were you doing up a tree? You scared me half to death!"

"My apologies and I noticed it nearly an hour ago, but my bow does not shoot arrows a league past," Legolas replied. He weaved through the blankets and sleeping mats and sat next to the fire with Pippin.

"We should leave here," Boromir said urgently. "They would've heard Pippin and they will know where we are."

Aragorn considered for less than a moment and nodded. "Everyone pack your things."

The hobbits reluctantly got out of bed, longing for the rest they had in Lothlórien. Sam did his best not to disturb the pots and pans in order to avoid making more noise.

"Sam, I will take your pack for you," Aragorn said. Sam raised his eyebrows quizzically, but took it off his shoulders and handed it to the Ranger. "Frodo and Sam are with me, Merry and Pippin with Boromir, and Legolas and Gimli."

They grouped off, but did not get into the canoes.

Legolas stepped forward with Aragorn and they turned the boats over—to everyone's shock.

"What are you doin'?" Sam asked, afraid for what was going to happen.

"We cannot expect to go unseen if we make ourselves targets," Aragorn said as he pushed one of the boats into the water. He pulled a line of rope off of his belt and tied the first two boats together then did the same for the last. "Come."

Frodo and Sam warily stepped into the water, immediately feeling the cold rush up their bodies. A sharp breath escaped them both. Aragorn tipped the boat up and the ducked under it, shortly followed by the Ranger. There were quiet splashes from Merry, Pippin and Boromir.

"No," the Dwarf denied simply. "I'm not going underwater."

"Gimli, you have no choice," Legolas argued, his eyes nervously scanning the surroundings.

"Yes, I do. I can stay here and fight them all of—"

Legolas grabbed the top of Gimli's head and pushed him underwater, following after. They came up and Gimli was sputtering for breath. "Hold onto the outside and you shouldn't sink. Kick your legs under the water without too much noise and you will be fine."

"Damn you, Elf."

They kicked for what seeming like miles to the hobbits. Having been tired when they were woken up, they were exhausted when Aragorn stopped. His heavy breathing echoed in the confines of the capsized canoe.

"What is it, Aragorn?" Frodo asked, his fingers slipping from their grip. He made a panicked squeak, deathly afraid of drowning. "Aragorn?"

"Shhh. I want you both to stay here." Aragorn dove under the canoe and swam to Boromir's. Merry and Pippin looked excited to see him, guessing that he was here to tell them they could swim to shore and rest, but when he whispered to Boromir they both became unnerved.

"Boromir?" Pippin asked.

"We're just stopping for a moment. Catch your breath," the son of the Steward replied. His arms were aching from holding the boat so hard, but he couldn't let go.

"Why have we stopped?" Gimli asked. He could feel water creeping past each layer of mail he had on and felt himself starting to sink.

Legolas looked into the water and immediately knew why. "Gimli, just try to stay afloat for a while."

"Don't think that's possible, lad," he said, getting a mouth full of water as he started to sink.

"Hold on, Gimli," Legolas said, disappearing under the water. He manoeuvred past the Dwarf's belts and coat to the armoured shirt beneath. He came back to the surface. "Take a deep breath."

The Dwarf complied, but panicked when he was pulled under the water. Legolas worked fast around him, pulling off layers until he reached the chain mail. He pulled it over the Dwarf's head and let it sink then put the other layers back on.

Gimli did his best to keep his breath, but when he saw why they had stopped a mass of bubbles escaped his mouth. He stared even when Legolas hauled him back to the surface.

"Thank you, lad," the son of Gloin said somewhat bitterly. Though he was immediately able to feel the difference of weight, he was very unhappy to lose his mail shirt. "What are those things?"

"They're the reason we've stopped. They are called agarlim, or blood-fish," Legolas answered. "Be as still as possible and do not look at them or they will sense you."

"And what happens if they sense you?" Gimli asked, staring at the top of the canoe.

Legolas closed his eyes and took a deep breath when he felt something rub against his boot. "They bite, but they don't usually eat their prey. They usually attack the ribs and chest and leave their prey to bleed to death."

Gimli, in all his sudden panic, felt somewhat at ease. His ribs and chest were mostly above the side of the canoe, so any blood-fish would have to get through the wood first. The ones in danger were Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas.

"Boromir, what are those?" Pippin asked, tasting water in his mouth as he looked down. He saw long shadows far below them than weaved through the water like a piece of ribbon in a gust of wind.

"Don't look at them," Boromir commanded and Pippin and Merry immediately looked up.

"Pippin," Merry whispered, his blue-tinged lips barely moving. "Pippin, I can't hold on…"

"Of course you can. Just a little while longer, Merry, you'll make it."

"I'm bleeding, Pippin…" Merry said, finally announcing the injury he'd received almost an hour ago. He had thought he had just bumped his calf against a rock, but it was still bleeding and Merry was beginning to feel faint. His fingers slipped.

"What?" Pippin turned around just to see Merry close his eyes, drop his hands and fall. "Merry!"

A/N: I'm evil… I can't go two chapters without something bad happening. I blame the encyclopaedia for having a picture of an anglerfish and inspiring me to make bigger, eviler anglerfish without light bulbs on their heads.