- - - Éowyn - - -
Grace and Legolas had come back to the group late last night. Both had looked extremely calm. As if they had come to an agreement with themselves. I heard Legolas and Aragorn conversing in elvish after. My elvish isn't that good and they talked incredibly fast so I could only pick out a couple of their words. Legolas sounded strained though.
After that, Aragorn had joined Gimli, Grace - who was sleeping already - and me around a fire. Legolas went off to wander in the dark. Aragorn said he wanted some time alone. Quickly Gimli dropped off and I was left talking to Aragorn. We laughed and talked for several hours until the fire was about to go out. Finally, I realized I had worked up enough courage.
"Aragorn, I -" I turned to him, and realized he had fallen asleep. "I… I love you…" I said quietly, knowing he couldn't hear me.
I shook my head, coming out of my memories. I tried to focus on what was happening now. We were on our fourth day of walking, Grace and Aragorn were fighting happily about something, I could only guess what, and Gimli and Legolas were having a pleasant conversation beside me. I had thought that dwarves and elves hated each other. What happened to that? But I guess a lot of things had been different since the Ring of Power came into play again.
It was well after mid-day, people would start to get out food to feed the children soon. What were we to do if there was an attack on us? We consisted of mostly women and children. And as soon as I thought that, there was.
My Uncle called out to me. "Éowyn! Take the women, lead them to Helm's Deep! Quickly!"
I watched as everyone screamed and ran. Aragorn unsheathed his sword and Legolas sent off several arrows. Then I saw the wargs and orcs come over the crest of the hill. That put me into action. I grabbed a small child, called to everyone to keep up, and ran.
- - - Grace - - -
"Go Grace! Go with the women and children!"
Ahaha, not on your life, Aragorn! I was staying right here. I grabbed the two daggers I had sheathed on my thigh. They weren't Legolas' knives, but they would have to do. I almost lost my nerve as I saw big wolves come over the hill. One already had an arrow embedded in his side. Good ol' Leggy.
"Grace," Aragorn called to me again. "Go! Now!"
I shook my head at him. I wasn't going anywhere! He sighed, seeming incredibly mad for a second. I had never seen him like that. I thought he was about to push me after Éowyn and the children, but thankfully, there was nothing he could do. I readied myself as quickly as I could, hoping that someone would watch my back.
An orc came at me so quickly I didn't even see where it came from. I swung the short knives around and soon it had several deep gashes in its neck and chest. It gagged and sputtered but kept coming toward me. I took several steps back, about to swing again. I swung and as soon as I hit and killed the first orc, there was one on my left side. It lifted it's sword, presumably about to chop me into tiny pieces, but was stopped when an arrow found it's way into the orc's neck. It fell over, dead.
I turned around and saw Legolas, already firing more arrows off. He smiled at me and nodded his head slightly. Have I mentioned how much I love that elf? Honestly, he never ceases to amaze me.
Fairly quickly, after Legolas had saved me three times, the battle was over. I looked around. It looked like there was a fair number of the King's people lying on the ground with the orcs. Gimli approached Legolas and I. Where was Aragorn? It seemed that both of them had realized this at the same time as I had.
"Aragorn!!" I screamed out.
The three of us wandered around, almost afraid to look at the bodies on the ground. What if he was among them? He couldn't be! He was Aragorn, my hero, my brother-figure, he couldn't die!
Legolas called, "Estel?" There was no answer.
"Oh Gods," Gimli muttered.
I started to freak out. Then we heard laughter beside us. An orc was lying on the ground, cut up. He (She? It?) laughed again but it quickly turned to coughing and I flinched as blood came out of his mouth. Ick. He laughed again and then said something else. Legolas bent down to get something out if his hand. A necklace. Aragorn's necklace.
"He went over the cliff," Legolas said softly, sadly.
"What? No," I breathed.
Gimli clapped a hand onto my shoulder. Then before either of them could stop me, I took of the for edge of the cliff that was only about ten feet away. Damn Legolas. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate that elf? He snatched me back about two feet from the edge. I screamed and kicked at him. He grabbed one of my wrists and I tried to bite him but he moved his hand.
"Grace," he said sharply, almost shaking me, "calm down! There is nothing we can do for him now."
Slowly he let go of me, testing me to see if I'd run and try to jump again. I didn't. Once he had taken his hands completely away, I darted forward again. This time I had been so close I had seen the rocks near the river. Instead of just holding me this time, Legolas picked me up over his shoulder and carried me away from the cliff. I was not happy, let me tell you.
- - - Legolas - - -
The moment I set Grace down, I could tell she was unhappy with me. I hoped I had not offended or violated her in any way. She glared at me. I watched as she tensed her body up. I could tell she was about to make another dash for the cliff. Before she had gone four steps, I had grabbed her again around her waist and swung her around so she couldn't see the cliff.
"Let me go, Legolas!" she cried.
"No, arwenamin," I said softly to her. "I can not. Forgive me."
She kept fighting me. But slowly, slowly I felt her growing weaker until she stopped fighting altogether. Then she surrendered to my embrace and cried into my shoulder. I stroked her hair softly and tried to comfort her by whispering into her ear.
After what seemed like hours, Grace raised her head and looked once more toward the cliff. I started to lead her towards Arod, for he would take us to Helm's Deep. I held her hand to make sure she would not run off. And for once, she didn't try.
Gimli took one of the horses that had previously had an owner. I did not know where Aragorn's horse went. The remaining ride to Helm's Deep was horrible. The women had ran far enough ahead that they were there to greet us. Grace cried bitterly the whole way there.
Éowyn took one look at Grace's face and said, "So few have returned. Where is Lord Aragorn?"
Grace let out a choked sob and ran off. That was all Éowyn needed to see before her eyes also filled with tears. I left her with Gimli so he could explain, and ran after Grace.
"Please," I heard her say and followed her voice, "please leave me alone. I want to be alone." Her eyes were streaming and mostly green. She sniffed and forcefully wiped a tear from her cheek. "Why did it have to be him? It could have been me and no one would have cared."
It felt as if someone had grabbed my heart and twisted it right then. But since I couldn't say anything about how I felt, I reached out with one hand and grabbed hers. Instead of saying what I really wanted to I just said, "I would."
Her eyes looked at me and were filled with fresh tears. Then she threw her arms around my neck and wept. I held her for hours, until she was done crying. After she was done, she resignedly stood up. When Éowyn saw her, she threw her arms around her neck and started to cry again on Grace's shoulder. Grace patted her softly. I knew she had no tears left.
(A/N: How was that for a BEAST of a CHAPTER? Pretty good? Very good! Yeah, so I'm NOT going to tell you to REVIEW again! Subliminal messages, anyone?)