Chappie 5
Are we there yet?
A/N: As stated in the previous chapter, I'm going to be basing all of The Return of the King off of the books, not the movies. This will take effect in the next chapter… expect very poor quotes! Disclaimer: Check the first chapter, you sue-happy freaks!
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"Are we there yet?"
"No."
"Are we there yet?"
"…no."
"Are we there yet?"
"No! Faramir, may I?" My captor pulled out a cloth. My hands were already bound (very tightly, mind you), and my eyes were covered, so what was he going to do?
I felt a cloth being jammed into my mouth. I tried to spit it out, but there was another one wrapped over it. Curse them! I could hear all of the men laughing. Smelly fools. They'll all see. One day… they'll all see!
To pass the time, I started to sing, "One hundred bottles of beer on the wall," which I stopped abruptly. Not really due to the fact I was getting odd looks from all of the Rangers, but because I was craving ale just thinking about it. I resolved to sing, "I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves." Of course, it sounded more like, "Hurm rrhu gah grr orh." It didn't seem to be bothering anyone, so I began to kick the ranger in front of me in the back of his leg. He recoiled.
"That's it!" he shouted. "I can't take any more of this!" I felt my feet bound together, and I was hoisted up. Now I was gagged, my hands and feet were bound, and I was being carried. I continued my humming.
I eventually fell asleep. I woke with a start to find myself lying on cold stone. I touched the ground and looked up. My bonds had been taken off, and I was in a large room, filled with many boxes of food.
"Food!" I
shouted. I ran towards the nearest box and hugged it. I felt a hand
placed on my shoulder again, and a harsh voice told me to meet
Faramir, where I was to be questioned with my companions. Of course,
I really had no other choice, so I began walking off.
As I was
walking, I took notice of how beautiful the view was. Basically, I
was standing on a ledge inside of a waterfall. The sun was just
beginning to set, and I could see all of Ithilien stretched out
before me. My attention was diverted, however, when I ran into the
back of Sam.
He stepped to the side. "Watch it, will you?"
"Sorry, sorry!" I said. I walked around him, and stood behind Frodo. Faramir was drilling them both with questions, which Frodo seemed to handle well. He asked about Gollum, and I pent up with rage. Sam glanced over us.
"What are you looking at?' I asked.
Faramir turned to me. "Ah yes. The troublesome maiden… your companions have not mentioned you yet."
I lifted my head up. "My name is Elanor Fairbanks, and I hail from a distant land. Frodo and Sam are of my kin…' I faltered. I felt like I would never be able to adjust to changing my race, entirely. "…we set out from Rivendell with eight companions. One was lost in Moria, two were of our kin. There were also a dwarf, two elves, and two men; Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and Borimir of Gondor."
Faramir stared at me. "You were a friend of Borimir?"
Frodo spoke up. "Yes, for my part."
"It would grieve you then to learn that he is dead."
"Dead!" I cried, "No more whacking him in the side with baseball bats? No Borry-poo ogling Pip-Pip and Merry? No!" I held onto Frodo, who was in shock.
"How? When?" He questioned.
"As one of his companions, I was hoping you would tell me." Faramir paused, and turned his head away. "He was my brother."
All that evening, I wandered around, looking for plenty of food and water supplies. I remembered that this was the last real stop we would have for any, so I was going to take a full advantage of it. One of the men noticed me wandering around.
"You would do well to keep
out of our stores, milady." He grabbed the bag I was toting around
with me, and walked off, 'resuming his duties,' or whatever he
was supposed to do.
"Curse you!" I shouted, just as he
disappeared from site. I went back to Frodo and Sam, and tried to get
some rest.
I felt Frodo's sleeping bag move. I opened my eyes, to see him and Faramir turn a corner. I ran behind them, trying to keep out of sight. I followed them for several minutes, and they finally reached a small waterfall, lined with stones. "Down there." Faramir whispered, still oblivious I was standing nearby.
A small figure was swimming inside, who I recognized as Gollum. He was humming a song, clearly about fish.
"To enter the forbidden pool bears the penalty of death." He nodded towards bowmen, lined all along the walls surrounding the pool.
I was overwhelmed with pity for Gollum, who, now having caught a fish, seemed to have his attention taken away from his lust for the Ring. I could imagine just the very thought of it gnawing away at his mind, leaving him the poor, filthy, wretched creature that he was. I wished I could help him somehow, but I knew that he was beyond saving.
Faramir interrupted my train of thought, once again. "They wait for my command. Shall I shoot?" he began to raise his hand.
Gollum began to sing louder.
''Rock and pool,
is nice and cool,
so juicy sweet!
I only wish, to catch a fish
So Juicy sweet…'
"No!" I cried out. Faramir spun around, as did Frodo, along with all of the bowmen's attention now diverted towards me. Gollum was still singing happily down below.
"You can't harm that little thing… it isn't his fault that he's like that. Besides…"
Frodo
chimed in, "He is our guide. This creature is bound to me, and I to
him. Please! Let me go down to him." Faramir nodded, an Frodo ran
down a stair nearby. I watched as he lured Gollum to the water's
edge, unaware. I couldn't contain myself any longer, and ran down
after him. Gollum was being taken by the guards.
"Master!" He
cried. He was taken away. Frodo stared at me, looking miserable. I
hugged him.
"It's okay, everything is going to be alright. You'll see."
Frodo started sobbing into my shoulder. "No, it isn't. Sam was right." He looked at me, tears streaming down his face. "The Ring has taken a hold of me, Elanor. I have to go talk to him…" He ran off, back towards the camp, wiping his face on his sleeve. I stood there, watching him go out of sight.
"Why me!" I screamed, pounding my fists into the wall next to me. Wonderful, now I had bloody hands, and had no idea on how to get back to Frodo and Sam.
After walking for what seemed like an hour, I finally got back to camp.
I saw Frodo cornered, with Faramir holding his sword up to his neck. I drew my sword and ran over.
Frodo let out a cry and fell back against the rock wall behind him, cowering in the corner.
"Leave him alone!" I shouted. Sam followed suit.
"Stop it! Don't you understand? He's got to destroy it. That's where we're goin'. Into Mordor, to the mountain of fire."
Another tall man entered the room.
"Osgiliath is under attack." He stated. They call for re-enforcements."
"Please." Sam pleaded. "It's such a burden. Will you not help him?"
"Captain?"
Faramir turned back around, sheathing his sword. "Prepare to leave. The Ring will go to Gondor."
That night I slept uneasily, and had several odd dreams. In one of them, a young girl obsessed with Kiba from Wolf's Rain had pushed me off of a cliff edge, onto Frodo. In another, I was chased by a giant penguin holding a flaming chainsaw. I woke up screaming, in a puddle of my own sweat. Sam was kicking me in the side, saying the Rangers were leaving. I got up, grabbed a wafer of Lembas, and headed out.
This time
around the whole 'Ithilien troops' were far more friendly to us,
(my hands were free) and we were able to walk amongst the rest of
them. All but of course Gollum, who was on a leash. (Again.) Poor,
dejected little fool. We stopped atop of a hill, looking out over the
ruins of a city. One of the men pointed out it was… on
fire.
"Indeed!" I shouted, feeling the need to be
noticed.
"Mordor has come." Said another.
Frodo cried out, "The Ring will not save Gondor. It has only the power to destroy!" I swooned a bit, waiting for him to finish. "Please! Let me go!"
Faramir completely ignored him. "Hurry!" He shouted. We all picked up our pace and ran into Osgiliath.As we all entered the city, I noticed chaos all around me. Pieces of buildings were raining from the sky, and arrows came whizzing over my head. There had to be a thousand or more orcs charging towards us. I noticed Frodo was breathing heavily. He leaned against the wall behind him."Frodo?" Sam walked over to him."It's calling to him, Sam. His eye is almost on me." I held Frodo's hand, and looked up towards Faramir. Sam started to comfort him, but it was clear he wasn't getting a word of it in. A man ran towards us."Take them to my father." Faramir commanded. It took all of my self restraint to keep from attacking him. "Tell them that Faramir sends a mighty gift." His glance strayed to Frodo's chest. "A weapon that will change our fortunes in this war."Sam's face turned red. "You wanna know what happened to Boromir? You wanna know why your brother died! He tried to take the Ring from Frodo. After swearing an oath to protect him, he tried to kill him! The Ring drove your brother mad!""Watch out!" The guard screamed. A boulder collided with one of the towers, and I dove out of the way to keep from becoming squished. I heard another scream from up ahead, but this time it was coming from a fell beast. Frodo eyes rolled into the back of his head."Frodo! No! Not now, definitely a bad time to become possessed!" I ran over to him.He stood up. "They're here. They've come.""Nazgul!" Faramir shouted. Everyone panicked, as more Nazgul flew in. More buildings rain down from above. He came over to us and took Frodo and me by the shirt. He tossed us against the wall."Stay here. Keep out of sight." He ran off, and starting shouting orders to his men. "Take cover!" He screamed at them.I sat down, holding my hands to my ears, keeping my eyes closed."What are you doin'!" Sam shouted. Frodo was walking out into the open, heading straight for the fell beast.Frodo walked up a flight of stairs, leading out onto a long strip of cement. The Nazgul perched on the edge. Frodo took the ring off of it's chain, and pulled it close to his finger. I sat there, staring, dumbfounded. Sam ran up the stairs and pushed Frodo off, just as the fell beast dived for him. They tumbled down the other side of the stairs, landing on the ground. I ran over to them, calling out for Frodo. He rolled over, holding Sam to the ground, and drew Sting to his throat. Sam sobbed."It's me. It's your Sam… don't you know your Sam?" Frodo drew Sting closer to his throat, and then fell back, dropping his sword to the ground.He let out a sigh. "I can't do this, Sam."Sam got up from the ground, and began his speech of DOOM! (A/N: You all know the one I'm talking about… sniffs I cry every time I hear it. gets a box of tissues ready)"I know, it's all wrong. By all rights we shouldn't even be here." Tears came to both of our eyes. I nodded sagely. "But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo, the ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes, you didn't want to know the end, because…" I started tearing up. "How could the end be happy?" I started sobbing. "How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines, it'll shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you, that meant something, (A/N: author is in tears, sobbing) even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turnin' back, only they didn't. They kept on goin', because they were holding onto something.""What are we holding onto Sam?" Frodo asked. Tears were streaming down my face.Sam walked over and lifted Frodo up to his feet. "That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and that it's worth fighting for."I ran over to Frodo and Sam, and dragged them both into a hug. "I love you guys!" I cried. "…and I wouldn't give anything in the world not to be with you." I smiled, and saw Faramir walking up. Frodo turned to him, and Faramir knelt down."I think at last we understand one another, Frodo Baggins."Another annoying human walked up to us. "You know the laws of our country, the laws of your father."I coughed, "Ah, yes. The abusive psychotic pyromaniac bent on world domination?"He glared at me. "If you let them go, your life will be forfeit.""Then it is forfeit." I beamed at Faramir."Aww, they grow up so fast. I'm so glad that you're being nice again. Are you going to be on our way now?" I hoisted my backpack onto my shoulders."Yes, little one. Release them!" The guards standing around us let up and went away. I did my happy dance, and Sam gathered his stuff up. Gollum came out from behind the pillar he was behind, and we all left, of course, not before thanking Faramir for all of his… 'hospitality.' he gave us some food and water as a parting gift, and we left Osgiliath.The next day while walking, Sam started to ponder what our future would have in store for us."I wonder if we'll ever be put into songs or tales?" He questioned aloud."What?" Frodo asked."I wonder if people will ever say, 'Let's hear about Frodo and the Ring,' and they'll say, 'Yes, it's one of my favorite stories!' 'Frodo was really courageous, wasn't he Dad.' 'Yes, my boy, the most famousests of hobbits, and that's sayin' a lot.'"I smiled. "You've left out one of the chief characters," Frodo pointed out. "Samwise the brave! 'I want to hear more about Sam.'" Frodo stopped walking and turned around. "Frodo wouldn't have gotten very far if it wasn't for Sam.""Now, Mr. Frodo, don't make fun. I was bein' serious.""So was I." Frodo smiled again and resumed walking. I ran to catch up with him, and planted a kiss on his cheek."Samwise the brave." Sam pondered. "Hmm…"Frodo looked around one of the trees we came up to. "Smeagol?""We're not going to wait for you!" He called. "Come on!"We walked around for a few minutes, calling for him.Sam was getting frustrated. "Where's he gone to? Ai, Gollum! Where are you?""Smeagol?" Frodo called.He peeked out from behind a tree ahead of us. I sighed, glad to get on our way."Come on, hobbits!" He smiled and danced about a bit. "Long ways to go yet! Smeagol will show you the way. Follow me…"
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