Ruby and Azaelia saw off the fellowship, all of whom were still in unhappy moods with them. Frodo seemed particularly distressed and saddened by their struggling, and the Tall Side seemed eager to take them away. But Merry and Pippin were furious. Ruby could see it in their eyes. They wished they'd never come at all.
That night, Galadriel called for them again. "I have promised to provide you with help in your own quest, and now I shall give it."
She gave them new clothing, boy's clothes to help with the rough travel, and cloaks pinned with the protection of an elven broach. She supplied them with food and water, and with proper armament; Ruby with two new swords and several throwing knives and Azaelia with a bow and quiver of arrows.
She took them to the shores of the river where they had seen the fellowship off. She told them of a path that led down the length of the river. She warned them that they would be a day behind their friends, but that they would be able to catch up; that she had the faith in them to succeed.
"Thank you for your help." She and Ruby bowed and looked toward the forest.
Ruby gave Azaelia a smile, mustering all her strength and courage into this first step back on their journey…And then they were off, into the trees, leaving the beauty of Lothlorien and the wisdom of Galadriel firmly and forever behind them.
Azaelia grabbed Ruby's hand. "We'll be all right. I'll stay with you to the end." "The very, very end." She added silently. She feared her future, but refused to let it consume her. Galadriel didn't warn her of this so she could hide away…she told her so that she could put what time she had left to the best use possible. At least, that's how she figured it. And that was just what she planned to do.
Ruby straightened her back and gave Azaelia another smile. "Of course we'll be all right, Zaelia. We're traveling for more than just ourselves, now. We're helping to save Middle Earth. And then, when it's all over..." Ruby talked a bit about going back to the shire and oh, the joys of sleeping in a real bed again! "How wonderful that will be..."
Azaelia smiled then bit her lip. "The shire…" She thought, sadly, "Will I ever get to see it again?" "Yes, it will be wonderful! We'll have another party and dancing! And we'll have cake and fireworks! Just like old times…" No sense giving Ruby any hints of her end, right?
Ruby thought back to her birthday party. Had that really been over a month ago...?
Azaelia's head bobbed back and forth a little as she started humming a song that she and Ruby had made up when they were children. Ruby caught onto the tune quickly and began singing it.
The two hobbits loved to sing, and they harmonized well, what with Azaelia's high toned voice and Ruby's own much lower one. But this song had always been a favorite. It had been with them for as long as they had known each other.
"A message has been sent and received, to you I'll send from me, endless as the eternal horizon, can you hear my plea? Will you hear the sparrow fly? The sun calls forth its song. A cry is heard on nigh, can you hear my heart calling for you? Alone I wander in darkness, until over mountains high, the golden sun awakes-a new day lives. So sing this song with me, until our paths do meet, and your road brings you back to mine…messages have been sent and received, from my heart now to yours."
"I don't know how I could survive this without you, Zaelia." Ruby whispered.
For a good day's travel all was quiet and peaceful. Azaelia and Ruby worked their way down the edge of the river, hoping to eventually catch up to their fellowship. But after a day and half and two nights of nothing but walking, something was beginning to stir in front of them. They heard sounds. Unfamiliar ones. They pressed harder, afraid that these odd sounds might involve their friends.
After a time, the sounds began to evolve and strengthen. Battle sounds. Coming around a bend, Ruby and Azaelia found the source of the sounds. Countless huge, hulking, dark creatures barreled through the forest, fighting and running and slashing and growling, and in the middle of this all were the members of the fellowship.
They ducked behind a tree and scaled its trunk for a better vantage point. From there they could look down the length of the steep hill before them; a clear view of the battle field. Aragorn, Ghimli and Legolas were positioned at the top of the hill while at the bottom, Boromir and the four hobbits stood.
"Azaelia!" Ruby hissed, pointing toward one particularly large creature placing himself on a rock. He lifted his bow and took aim at Boromir. "Azaelia, aim for him! Hurry! Try and help Boromir-I'm going down on foot."
Ruby slid down the length of the tree and, landing, drew her swords. She swung them about, slashing into thick muscled legs as she pressed to get to the hobbits and Boromir.
She was grateful for all the fighting lessons she'd gotten while following her fellowship-they really were good teachers. She made good time in crossing the upper battlefield, but when she finally reached the edge of the hill, she almost lost herself to her enemies.
Boromir, pierced three times by thick arrows, fell to the ground. Frodo ran away, toward the river, and Merry and Pippin leapt into the line of battle, calling the fleets toward them and away from their friend. They grabbed the two hobbits and carried them away. In a flash of thought, Ruby wondered where Sam was...
Azaelia took aim with her bow and aimed for her target's hands. Her arrows may have been too weak to kill him, but if she could offset his aim, then she might just save Boromir. Three times she hit his hands and shoulders, and three different places Boromir was shot. But he could never live through those wounds. Azaelia watched in horror as he fell to the ground. She slid down the tree, firing arrows as she ran across the battlefield, toward Ruby.
"No." Ruby thought. "No." Ruby said. "NO!" Ruby shrieked, taking off at a sprint after the two hobbits and their captors. She pounded after them, swerving away from and dodging each of the hands that moved to take her like they did her friends.
A maelstrom of torrential feeling filled her. Fear chilled her; a fear that would stick her to a single spot, if it could but take proper hold. Anger burned her; an anger that fueled her fear and turned it into a flame of action. Panic blocked her sense of reality, broke her grip on what was a wise decision and what was reckless…and all of this was topped off by despair. Somewhere, beneath this emotion, was a growing and piercing flood of despair. She knew she was too small. Too slow. Too soft. Too weak to ever accomplish what she herself had set out to do. She had only just gotten him back in her eyes, back under her protection, however inadequate she knew it to be. She was not about to let him be taken away from her. Ripped from her. Stolen from her.
Blinded by her rage, her panic and fear, she ran after the massing creatures, not fearing their weapons, their armor, their feet, their skill...none of it. Her mission was Pippin's safety. But there was one pair of hands she had not accounted for. Small hands. If it were not for Azaelia, dragging her to the ground and into the trees, she would be dead.
Azaelia pulled her down, hiding her in a hole under a fallen log. Ruby fought with everything left in her, tears running, undetected, down dirty, bloody, bruised cheeks.
"NO!" She shrieked, trying to pull herself away from her friend, even going as far as to claw at her hands, just to get free again. "Let me go! Let me go!" She fought with all her strength, yelled his name, but to no avail...Azaelia would not let her go.
Tears burned Azaelia's eyes. "Ruby, listen to me-we can't go out there! To fight them alone is suicide! We're not meant to die yet!"
"I have to go after him! I have to! I can't," Ruby sobbed, "I can't..." but she had stopped. She curled up in the dirt and sobbed.
By nightfall the army had passed and all was quiet. Azaelia stroked Ruby's hair. "Tomorrow, Ruby. We'll follow them tomorrow."
Ruby did not move from that spot until the sun came up. As Azaelia got her things together and ready for the next leg of the journey, Ruby called up every ounce of strength she had. She tried to find the rage that had pushed her so hard the day before. But all she could find was the despair. She dug inside her and tried to find that hatred that had seemed to burn her so deeply. She tried and tried to find something inside her that would get her back up onto her feet and moving again. She tried to yell herself into it, reprimanding herself for giving up so soon after having been so refreshed in Lothlorien. Had she really not expected to run into such dangers? But for all her yelling, all her searching for anger and hate…the only thing she could find that was stronger than that horrid, black despair was her tired, sick heart. Her love for her home and the shire. For Azaelia, and for Frodo and for Sam and Merry. But what truly pulled her to her feet and got her going again was her love for Pippin. Once she was up, she was moving, despite the pains left from the battle, despite weariness...she had found her inspiration. And she would not allow herself to lose it again.
Finally, after so long in that forest, Ruby and Azaelia broke free of it. The forest stopped at a rise, almost like a little ledge, overlooking a vast and spreading valley. In the distance they could see the army, a black streak across the horizon.
"Somewhere in that mass of black are two scared hobbits." Ruby looked to Azaelia and smiled at her. But the smile was sad and very distant. "And right here, Zaelia, stand two more scared hobbits. Alone. Powerless. What other weapon have we than our love?"
Azaelia gazed out into the valley. "Let's keep trying. Remember what Galadriel told us? 'Love them.' That's what we hobbits do best. Just love."