Chapter 7: Um…Good Horsie?

The sky was alit with the brilliant colors of the sunset. Hues of red, orange, purple, yellow, and blue made the eyes of many gaze into its beauty, it was nearly enough to forget about the crumbling of their homes, the rampaging orcs, and the declining health of the king. But one individual remained unmoved, with a sigh of disgust, soft leather boots nudged the large stallion under her. Blue eyes looked back towards her home…Edoras. Eowyn had once admired and loved the Golden Halls of her Uncle and now almost father…but now, she wished that she did not have to return. It was as if she were trapped in a cage of duty. Her duty to care for the diminishing health of Theoden, her dear uncle; to be held in the halls like a nurse and a young maiden, not a shieldmaiden of the Rohirrim; to be denied the honor and glory of riding out with the Riders of Rohan, slaying the invading Orcs and the Wildmen of the hills. What glory was there in being forced to stay behind? To be known as the one that had only tarried to be the keeper of the King?

What am I thinking? Thought Eowyn shaking her head, trying to rid her mind of these thoughts, but forever they plagued her. It is such a beautiful day, yet I am still confined in the dank prisons of my mind. Shouldn't I try to spend this time that I had so hard secured to be at ease and forget the worries of the city? "No, it will never be, unless the scum named Wormtongue is forever stricken from these halls." She answered firmly to herself. Athelwine snorted impatiently under her and turned as if asking what was his master's hesitance.

A peculiarly strong wind gusted past her, and Eowyn let out an exclamation of surprise as something collided into her face. It quickly bounced off and tumbled into her lap. Warily, she picked up the cylindrical object. Her eyes narrowed as she saw the sign sewed onto the material…the eye of Sauron. She quickly moved to unsheathe her sword and glanced around.

Sensing his master's sudden change in attitude, Athelwine's nostril's flared and his ears laid back till they were flat against his skull.

It seems that she would have a chance at glory after all…

o00o

I smell terrible...I'm disgustingly covered in blood and dirt and my clothes are ripped in a thousand different places…and we're stuck in the middle of no where. But then again, that's what has been happening most of the time since we were whisked here in the first place. Thought Senui, looking at his ruined robes disdainfully, with a flourish of his hands and a sharp command, it was as if someone was turning back the clock. The tears sewed themselves up, the blood that was caked on his robes became wet again and faded away slowly (Senui couldn't help but pinch the bridge of his nose as this happened) and the dirt was flung away. Soon, instead of looking like ragged, bloodied tramps; he now deemed himself fine enough to enter the pharaoh's courts. Ankhkare slept on, he had received the same treatment of course, (no want in traveling with someone so dirty) but lay unknowing in his heavy slumber.

Senui lay back in the grass, watching the blue sky covered in large fluffy white clouds through a canopy of tall, softly waving grass. He looked over at Ankhkare, and wondered whether or not to prod the idiot awake so they could resume their search for Shadi. They were closer than before…well, that's certainly better than being lost. He watched Ankhkare peacefully sleep and gave a sigh, the idiot probably needed the sleep, they've been traveling for a two days1 non-stop and the incident with that hulk of a flying creature…they both needed some rest.

He lifted up his arm and looked at his hand; with a look of concentration, Senui squeezed his hand tightly into a fist and quickly relaxed. Slowly, he unfurled his fingers and looked blandly at the pure white feather that was now resting in his palm. A smaller breeze blew by and the feather floated gently off his hand and rested gently on his nose.

o00o

Eowyn held the strange item firmly under an arm and scanned the widespread grassland for any signs of movement or living beings. The only sight that greeted her was the slowly waving stalks of grass in the wind. But out of the corner of her eyes, she could just see a sudden flash of black and red. Quickly she reeled Athelwine around and galloped quickly towards the area. A startled screech made her mount rear in fright and Eowyn's eyes widened at the scene before her. A dark-skinned man scrambled up from the ground, a blood red turban was swathed around his head and a same colored cape fluttered behind him in the breeze. Hazy, pupil-less, blue eyes stared back at her in amazement. The color of gold glinted from a pair of large hoop earrings as well as a set of strange scales…and on the scales was the same eye that had been embroidered on the object that she held.

From beneath her saddlebags, she swept out her sword and pointed it at the man. "Who are you and what business do you have in the land of Riddlemark? Are you a minion to Sauron or Saruman? Speak quickly or I'll have your head!" shouted Eowyn glaring down relentlessly.

The man just glanced back at her with a look of little worry, or interest for that matter, but widened for a moment when he caught a glance at the item under her arm and replied scathingly, "I have no idea of what you are talking about. I for one, am my own master and I do not need minions like some mortal!"

"Senui," came a slightly apprehensive voice to the side, "What's going on? What's the matter?" Eowyn looked down and saw a young man, his face was dashed with newly healing thin red cuts, as were his hands, she would have guessed that there were more cuts under his clothing as well. His long hair was the color of fresh straw and he wore nothing but…green. He almost seemed like the elves from the fireside tales she listened to as a child. As she watched him, his expressive green eyes swept around taking things in.

"You really need to keep a better grip on your things, you feather-brain. Somehow that woman has gotten a hold of your hat."

"My hat?!" the man passed a hand over his head and then looked over at Eowyn still pointing her sword at 'Senui'. "It must have blown away with the wind while I was asleep."

"And you wouldn't have been asleep if you hadn't wasted your energy trying to heal me." snapped back Senui, "Are you feeling better now?"

The young man stood up, a slight wince on his face with each movement as dusted off his robes. "Better? I suppose that's the word you could say." He smiled. He turned to Eowyn's direction, "Would it be too much to ask for my hat back?"

Eowyn looked at the two men, they did not seem to be allies of Sauron. There seemed to be nothing but goodness radiating from the young man. Senui, he seemed the exact opposite, Eowyn was loath to exempt him from her suspicions…but what reason was there to be for these two personalities to be traveling together?

o00o

"Hurry up and give him the Ra-damned hat, woman. We need to get going whether or not you like it." snapped Senui. Ankhkare inwardly winced, there went Senui's mouth again. The woman seriously seemed to be considering beheading Senui at the moment.

Quickly he ran between the two before anything else could further happen. "I greatly apologize for the friend's behavior, but he is speaking the truth. We are not any sort of minions…but we do have a master." At those words the woman seemed to tense up, Ankhkare quickly tried to explain, "He has disappeared and we worry for him. We have been searching for him. Perhaps you have seen him? He looks remarkably like Senui."

The woman raised an eyebrow and her hostility seemed to ease away as she glanced over at Senui, "I have never seen anyone of his likes before today. For that, I am fairly glad for."

"I have never met anyone of your likes either. And you'd better believe how relieved I am not to have ever met you before. Where I came from women knew to pay more respect to their superiors." sneered Senui crossing his arms haughtily. If the woman was a wolf, Ankhkare could swear that she would have been bristling with anger and growling very menacingly. Her blue eyes seemed to be like hard blue diamonds trying to kill Senui just by glaring. Senui met the glare squarely, and blue eyes met blue.

A large sweatdrop formed on Ankhkare's head as the two began a glaring contest. But…that was a good thing wasn't it? It meant the woman was no longer in favor of killing them at least.

The woman ended the glaring contest with an irritated growl, "I shall take you back to Edoras and to Medulseld." She swung her steed around to face the large hill jutting from the flat plains that he had noticed during their travels. The sun suddenly appeared from behind a cloud and the bright rays hit the hilltop. There was a flash of gold, for a second Ankhkare was drawn back into past, a faint memory of a tall obelisk being newly erected at a temple to Ra entered his mind, and its top glittered brightly, reflecting the rich rays of the sun with the golden cap. For some reason, the feeling of great accomplishment filled him and he could sense the greatness and the power…but the memory disappeared, and then the clouds rolled back over the sun, hiding that golden glint once again and the feeling of greatness of power faded away.

Ankhkare shook himself out of his daze and found Senui watching him with a quizzical eye before the other spirit snorted in disgust. The sound of hooves drew near to him and Ankhkare looked up to see the large stallion standing beside him, and the woman looking down at him, he could see the barest look of concern in her eyes. She held out a hand to him and Ankhkare eyed her curiously.

"Ride with me, you seem weary enough." Was her rough reply. Ankhkare took her hand and found himself being hauled behind the woman on her steed. He looked sideways at Senui who stood a few feet away, the other spirit's arms were crossed and his face was darkened by an irascible scowl. Ankhkare suddenly felt as if the whole world had whirled and flung his arms around woman's torso to keep from falling from his high perch. She had wheeled the large stallion around and was meeting Senui's glare. "You, will be walking. I have no more room. Try to keep up."

Ankhkare could almost feel the anger and annoyance sparking from Senui. This was going to be interesting.