- - - Gimli - - -

We had been running for almost a day straight. As soon as Aragorn had said, "Let's hunt some orc," he strapped some weapons onto his arms and waist and went off running. Of course the elf followed without question. So what were the lass and I supposed to do? Stay there and hope that the Uruk-hai didn't come back for us?

The breaking of the Fellowship seemed to dishearten us all. It was over, we had failed. Aragorn insisted it wasn't broken if we stayed true to ourselves and Merry and Pippin. I still think he was wrong. The Fellowship would never be the same. We had lost Gandalf then Boromir. It was over.

At night we stopped. Grace collapsed onto the ground as soon as we had come to a stop. The elf looked up to see if she had just fallen or she was hurt. She was fine. And I thought I needed to get out and run more. I was less tired than she was.

Within three minutes of stopping and the lass laying down, she was sleeping. I felt some pity for her. She wasn't up to the same as us. Men were clearly the stronger sex and if you weren't used to running and fighting with little sleep, it could take its toll on you. We couldn't leave her on the ground over night so Aragorn picked her up and brought her into the light of the fire. Using his cloak as a blanket, he draped it over her.

- - - Pippin - - -

We had been taken by the Uruk-hai. I don't know how long we had been gone. They had carried us for a while then made us run. I don't know how much longer I could stand it. In a last attempt for help, I ran off the trail a bit and dropped the pin from my cloak. The Lórien leaf fell to the ground and I lost sight of it as the Uruk-hai forced me to run on.

- - - Grace - - -

If this wasn't hell, I don't know what is! I searched the ground looking for a hole to step in. If I stepped into a hole and sprained an ankle we would either have to stop or I would have to be carried. Either way, I would get to rest. No luck, I couldn't see a hole anywhere. I guess that some good things could come of this. I would lose some weight. But really, I didn't see anything else that could possibly be good.

We came to a spot that was all muddy and churned up. It looked like a herd of elephants had come through there. But more likely, it was a gaggle of gorillas. Suddenly Aragorn stopped. Alleluia! Resting time! We weren't stopping for a rest though. He looked at the ground, picked something up and then held up for us to see.

"The brooch of an elven-cloak!" cried Legolas and Gimli together.

"Not idly to the leaves of Lórien fall," said Aragorn. "This did not drop by chance: it was cast away as a token to any that might follow. I think Pippin ran away from the trail for that purpose." ¹

On the fourth day of chasing gorilla men (Would you wanna chase some gross, ugly gorillas for days on end!?) I was dragged behind a rock by Legolas. I could hear the sound of pounding hooves. A group of men on horses rode into a clearing.

"Put up your hood!" Aragorn whispered to me sharply. I had no idea why I was supposed to, but I had learned that when Aragorn takes on that tone of voice you obey. And I mean fast. Then, foolishly in my opinion, he stepped out and called: "What news from the North, Riders of Rohan?" ¹¹

That sure got their attention fast. They all turned around. It was almost as if they were one creature, they moved so concurrently. In about three seconds, we were surrounded and had spears, bows and such pointed right into our faces. Now let me tell you, this sucked. I don't like having pointy objects at my throat.

A tall, handsome man stepped forward. "Who are you and what are you doing in this land?" he asked. ¹¹

"I am called Strider," answered Aragorn. "I came out of the North. I am hunting orcs." ¹¹

And why was I not informed his name was Strider? Excuse me, this guy is like my saviour, shouldn't I at least know his real name? Stupid guys and their stupid nick names. Next thing you know, Legolas would want us all to call him 'Duke' or something equally stupid. God, what stupid people.

They talked a bit. Asking each other stupid questions. Again I say: what stupid people. Then this guy turned his eyes onto us. By us I mean Gimli, Legolas as me. "Why do you not speak, silent ones?"

I hadn't been called that since back in Lothlórien when I wouldn't speak to anyone. Then Pippin got me to talk. All of a sudden, I felt a rush of longing for the hobbit. Of course, Gimli just had to go and say some stupid things like telling this guy, that had a HUGE spear I might add, that he had little wit. I had been thinking this but was I going to say it out loud? Oh, no.

Then Legolas dove right in after Mr. Braided Beard and pulled out his bow and shoved it into Éomer's (he had told us his name right before Gimli had insulted him) face faster than you could say "paddy cake!" But why would you want to say that? I think "I don't want to get impaled, take your spears away from my eyes, please!" would have been more appropriate. But I must be the only smart one.

There was almost a fight, but thankfully, Aragorn (or Strider, whatever you wanna call him - he has too many names) stepped in. Okay, maybe I'm not the only smart one. They talked again. I zoned out because it was soooo boring. It went something like this:

"Blah blah blah!"

"Blah? Yadda yadda blah!"

"Yadda yadda yadda! Blah blah bleh."

Pretty interesting hey? Well, I guess I shouldn't have zoned out that much because the next thing I knew, everyone was looking at me. What had I missed?

"What?" I asked. If Aragorn had wanted to pass me off as a man with my cloak hood up, I had just given it away. I think, and sincerely hope, I don't sound like a man.

"Take down your hood, friend!" Éomer said. I looked at Aragorn for guidance. He gave me a slight nod so I reached up and lowered the hood. There were some sounds from the Riders.

"Why would you bring a lady with you on such a dangerous journey?" asked Éomer. Good question. Why did they bring a lady, and I stress the word lady, on such a dangerous journey where she could so easily get killed? It looked like they didn't know the answer either. So, Aragorn made one up.

"She is my sister and is skilled. We need her assistance."

Sister? Yeah, good one Strider. You - need - me? Where'd you come up with that one? I tried to look as if I was useful in some way. I don't think it worked very well. Fortunately, we got two horses from the Riders of Rohan. I got to ride with Aragorn. That's right, Aragorn. My hot, now pretend brother.

But where we were going I wasn't too sure; I must have missed that part when I had been looking at Legolas' hair and wishing mine was that pretty. Yikes! I had forgotten about my hair! It was probably pretty gross looking after four days of running around and not being brushed. What would people think? Okay, so the only people who saw it were Gimli, Leggy, and Ranger Boy, but still.

- - - Aragorn - - -

Éomer had told us that they had found the Uruk-hai and killed them all. He said they had left none alive. It looked like our search for the hobbits would be over very soon. I felt pity for Merry and Pippin; they didn't know anything of the outside world, it was too harsh for them.

Grace sat in front of me on a horse. She was uneasy riding, I could tell the moment I had lifted her up onto the horse. I reached around her waist to hold her steady and she seemed to relax a bit after that. By no means was she a stupid girl. A bit childish at times, but not stupid. She had listened to mine and Éomer's conversation and asked the one question I had been dreading.

"Aragorn, why did you tell Éomer that I'm skilled and you need my assistance? We all know that I hurt the Fellowship more than help it."

Luckily, Gimli and Legolas were far enough ahead that they couldn't hear us.

"You don't think I meant what I said?"

She grimaced at that. I could almost sense what she was thinking. Don't lie to me, Aragorn.

"You think I lie to you," I said to her. It wasn't a question. She nodded. I couldn't see her face but I could feel her body tense up at that and her breathing got more ragged. That alone told me that she was trying to keep a hold of her emotions. Most likely trying to hold in tears.

"But you don't need me," she said in a low voice. "It would have been better if I had never come." I could hear the tears in her voice now. I wondered how long she had been holding this in. Suddenly, I remembered what she had told me right after I had met her. She had cut her own wrists as a way out.

I slowed the horse to a walk. Leaning forward and turning her head towards me gently, I looked her right in the eye. "Do you honestly believe that?" I asked. She nodded. "Never believe that," I said seriously, squeezing her shoulder lightly for emphasis. Her eyes looked at me, trying to decide if I was telling the truth or not. Again, I noticed their odd colour. When she cried, they looked ever brighter and more prominent then normal.

I wiped a tear off her face with my thumb and she gave me a watery smile. "If you still don't believe me, Legolas, Gimli, and I could always teach you to use a weapon."

I felt her laugh a bit. "Me and pointy objects don't mix well."

Even I had to laugh at that. "Then tonight, we'll start teaching you to use a weapon, alright?" She nodded then. I was happy I had cheered her up.

There was silence between us for a while. Then, "Why did you tell him I was your sister?" I was surprised she hadn't figured that out herself.

"If Éomer and his Riders believed you had a connection to one of us, I knew the chances of something happening to you would lessen," I said simply.

Grace looked shocked. As if she never considered anything like that could ever happen. I gave her a look and she turned around to digest the information she had just received.

- - - Legolas - - -

"What's going on back there?" Gimli asked me for the seventh time. I looked back to Aragorn and Grace again. I had heard them start a serious sounding conversation and ridden off to give them some privacy. Gimli had figured this out and now seemed to think they had a love affair started. I reminded him more than once about Arwen but he wouldn't listen.

I watched Aragorn brush Grace's face. I had known him long enough that there was no passion in that gesture at all. He was fond of Grace, as were we all. But I could also tell by watching Grace that she admired Aragorn greatly. I didn't know if she was aware he was involved with Arwen or not.

Finally, the caught up to us. Gimli watched them intently. I think he took Aragon's arm around her waist as a sign they were romantically involved. I took it as a sign she was uneasy on a horse. No matter how many times I told him they weren't, he didn't believe me.

We reached the edge of Fangorn Forest. For the last several minutes, I had smelled burning hair and flesh. There was a pile of dead Uruk-hai, still burning. If the hobbits had been there, there was no sign of them now. We all hopped off our horses. Grace's face was disbelieving. Gimli looked in the pile of burning rubble for the hobbits. Suddenly, Estel kicked a helmet and let out a cry of fury. I had never seen him do this. Grace wandered towards the trees. She looked around her. Touching a tree, she looked like was about to step inside the forest.

"Arwenamin!" I called to her, "Do not enter Fangorn Forest. It is said that the trees talk and move. It is old and full of anger." Her face took on a startled look. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by an excited Aragorn.

"A hobbit lay here!"

Praise the Valar! Aragorn ran around frantically for several moments, telling us what happened. It seems Merry and Pippin had crawled away and had their bindings cut. But they were not alone. They had run right into Fangorn Forest.

(A/N: Anything from any of the hobbit's P.O.V is gonna be really short, not much detail. Just little things and not very much of it. It'll mostly be the four running around on the Plains of Rohan and stuff. Keep Reviewing dude[tte]s!)

¹ The Two Towers, page 414

¹¹ The Two Towers, page 421