Ooo there's man slash in this chapter!and isn't that what we all came here for?
Of course it is.
AND I get to chop things up in this chapter!this should prove rather interesting.
Disclaimers and copyrights:I don't own lord of the rings 1-3,which I find rather sad.however,I do own this story,so stealing is a big time no-no.
Chapter 4:swordquest
I didn't wake up until late morning the next day. I knew I was already much stronger than yesterday because I could open my eyes without throwing up. I tested my limbs and found that I could move my arms and legs with ease, although they were still pretty stiff from lack of use ever since I arrived here. I'd have to do some yoga later to get the blood flowing again.
I was about to sit up when I heard my three companions talking by the mouth of the cave. I figured they had been awake for quite some time now and was probably the reason I woke up. I decided that I little eavesdropping couldn't hurt. I turned my head away from them.
"…should let her sleep," I heard Legolas say. "She was very weak when we found her yesterday and we need to let her regain her strength."
"All right, but I don't plan to wait on her much longer," Aragorn replied. "We've got a long journey ahead of us. If she can't keep up, then I don't know what we're going to do with her."
"Ideally, we should still take her," Gimli said. "She's the one who'll be guiding us, right? No sense in continuing on to Mordor blindly."
"We will if we have to," Aragorn said.
Okay, now I'm getting pissed. I guess I'll have to prove my worth. I heard them walk back into the cave, so I stirred a bit to give them the impression that I was just waking up.
"Awake now, are we?" Legolas said, smiling as I sat up.
"Just barely," I replied.
"How do you feel?" Aragorn asked.
"Much better," I said. "Thank you for your hospitality. Sorry if I've been a burden." I tried not to put too much emphasis on the last word; I wouldn't want them to know I've been listening in on their conversation.
"We best be moving now," Aragorn said. "You can tell us what's supposed to happen along the way. Can you stand?" he added as I attempted to stand up.
"Yeah, I think so," I said. I grabbed his arm for support, but I was mostly able to stand up under my own strength. There's no way they're getting rid of me here.
"We'll continue on until we reach the river," Aragorn said. "There we'll stop and eat something. Can you wait that long?"
"Oh yeah," I said. "A few hours isn't going to kill me."
At least I hope not…I grabbed my backpack and threw it over my shoulder, thankful that it's contents were not that heavy. Not yet, anyway. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli started out the cave, and I quickly followed. Aragorn had the map out and was studying it intently. I was walking closely to Legolas, should I need to suddenly grab on to him for support. That shouldn't really be a problem; I feel fine.
As the hour wore on, I was starting to wish that we had eaten that other rabbit before we left. I was feeling dizzy again, but I refused to show my weakness to the others, what with Aragorn's words still ringing in my head.
Another hour passed and my feet were feeling rather sore. If I hadn't been wearing last year's drumline shoes (which are insanely comfy, given how ugly they are), my feet would be just about bleeding by now. I was thirsty as hell, but I figured I could suppress it until we reached the river, which was only about another hour away.
"Kendra," Aragorn said, who had by now, put the map away. I looked over at him. "Tell us about Fangorn Forest." I rubbed my head.
"Yeah…" I said. "Well first we run into a bunch of Riders from Rohan who tell us of a big nasty battle with the Orcs. We look for signs of Merry and Pippin, and Aragorn, you somehow find clues that lead us to Fangorn Forest. Now, see, Merry and Pippin have gathered an alliance with the Ents, and will most undoubtedly leave before we get there. But we will find Gandalf the White."
"The White?" Legolas repeated. I nodded.
"I forget how or why that happens, but yeah," I said. "I haven't seen the movie in a bloody ass long time. My dad won't let me watch it when he's around because he thinks it's boring." I shook my head, half because of disappointment, half because of my returning illness.
"And after?" Gimli said.
"After that, we ride off to Rohan," I said. "We find that Sauron's minion Wormtongue has placed a curse on King Theoden, his son is dead, his nephew Eomer has been banished, and his niece Eowyn is in despair. Gandalf frees Theoden from the curse and they throw Wormtongue out of Rohan." My voice was beginning to crack. I pulled a water skin out from my backpack and took a long gulp before putting it back in my bag.
"Are we almost at the river yet?" I asked. Aragorn unfolded the map again, though I wasn't sure if that was going to help. Maybe he just likes to stare at it.
"Just about," he said. I stared at him quizzically. How the hell was he able to determine that just from staring at the map? He glanced at me. "What?"
"Nothing," I said. He laughed slightly and ruffled my hair. I calmly reached one hand up and batted his arm away before straightening out my hair. Speaking of which, I haven't had a nice hot shower in two days. These guys have probably never even heard of the word shower. Makes you wonder what they smell like.
Personally, I'd rather not know.
Well, the river is probably colder than all bloody hell, but it might just suffice. I'll see if I can get myself a quick bath before we move on. Maybe I can get the guys to wash up too. Lord only knows they probably need it. Maybe if we're lucky, we can find a big pit to fill with hot water and soak in…although I don't know where we'd get the hot water…
About twenty minutes later we reached Glanduin River, and what a sight it was. It wasn't an ideally pretty scene, but the sight of water was very welcoming. We set our things down beside the river and Aragorn and Legolas promptly started to make a fire. Gimli wandered off upstream of the river to see if there was any fish swimming about. I collapsed on the forest floor.
"Kendra, do you still have that other rabbit?" Legolas said. I dug around inside my backpack.
"Uh…yes, I do," I said.
"We'll eat that in the case that Gimli doesn't find any fish," Legolas said. I shifted, looking around for a place to bathe.
I suppose I could wait until we reach Rohan, I thought. But god, that's another three days! Even then I'm not guaranteed hot water.
"You guys reek," I said. Aragorn and Legolas glanced at me questioningly before glancing at each other. "Isn't there like, some place where we can wash up?"
"It doesn't appear so," Aragorn said. "If you'd like, you may take a dip in the river—."
"I'll catch hypothermia before I'm clean!" I retorted, dipping my hand in the water. Very icy water. Aragorn shrugged.
"Well, until you decide upon what you want to do, could you please fill the water skins?" he said. I raised an eyebrow.
"Just…directly from the river?"
"Yes."
"No!"
"What?"
"Aragorn, dear, I'm going to teach you some basic survivor skills," I said as I pulled the water skins from my backpack. "The first thing to do when you come across a fresh-water river is to rid said water of parasites and bacteria. And how do we achieve that? We boil the water. A few times, if you wish. This will assure us purified water that is most definitely safe to drink." Aragorn stared at me.
"And…how do you know this?" he said.
"Television," I answered. "There's this really awesome show called Man vs. Wild. This guy will purposely strand himself out in the wild just so he can teach you to survive if you're ever caught in his situation. It's very useful. I learned how to build a raft."
"Yes, but I don't think that a raft will help us much on our journey," Legolas said.
"True," I said. "But seriously, boil the water. Do we have anything to hold the water for the time being?" Aragorn searched through our things.
"Here," he said, handing me a worn-down saucepan. "I got it from Samwise before he departed with Frodo."
"He won't miss it," I muttered. "This will do fine." I filled the pan with river water and placed it by the fire. Just as I did that, Gimli walked back to us holding four fish by their tails.
"These should hold us until Rohan," he said. "Now all we have to do is cook them." There was an awkward silence before Aragorn and Legolas looked to me.
"Did this Man vs. Wild also teach you how to cook fish?" Legolas said.
"Yes, he did," I sighed. "Unless you guys like sushi. I don't. Whatever. Gimme the damn fish. Aragorn, I need your knife." He stared at me questioningly, hesitant to hand over his knife. "Unless you like sucking down fish guts, give me the knife." He reluctantly pulled it out and handed it to me.
This was rather interesting. I had never gutted a fish before, let alone, cook one on my own. I wasn't sure how to approach this, but if Man vs. Wild has taught me anything, then I should be okay.
Twenty minutes later, I had successfully gutted the four fish and had even removed their tails and fins. And look! I didn't even chop of a single finger.
"I need eight sticks," I said. "Preferably equal in length, and keep them moderately thin, but thick enough to support the weight of the fish. Go." Aragorn got up and started to scrounge around for sticks while I scaled the fish (AN:I'm not sure if all fish have scales.whatever.i'm not a big fish person.)
When I brought them over to the fire, Aragorn had already found the eight sticks I required and had Legolas cut them into equal length. I speared a stick through the head and…where-the-tail-used-to-be parts of the fish and propped them over the fire to cook.
The next twenty minutes were spent in silence. I had gone over to the river to wash my hair, despite how unspeakably cold the water was. Aragorn offered to spare some of the freshly boiled water so I could wash up more efficiently, and I gladly accepted. My head went through a brief episode of thermal shock, but it was all good. I sat by the fire to dry off.
The now cooked fish was the first meal I had gotten all day, and was absolutely delicious. I wasn't a big fan of fish, but hey. When you're hungry you'll eat anything (that's especially true in the case of Man vs. Wild).
I was still rather bent on taking a real bath. I'll stand under a flipping waterfall if I have to. I told the others I was going to go look for a pit, and although they did not really understand what I was talking about (since I didn't tell them any more than that), they allowed me to leave. I took Aragorn's knife with me for protection. Gimli went back to the spot with the fish to see if he could catch more for the rest of our trip to Rohan. This left Aragorn and Legolas to sit by the fire alone.
"Some journey this is turning out to be," Legolas said, slowly scooting closer to Aragorn.
"It's rather interesting, I'll admit," Aragorn replied, gently rubbing his hand over the elf's back.
"Do you think the girl will be a useful asset to the rest of our journey?" Legolas inquired. Aragorn turned his head to look at his companion.
"I think so," he replied, before leaning his head down to kiss him. Legolas sighed and leaned his head on Aragorn's shoulder.
"I didn't think we'd ever get any alone time ever since we found Kendra," he said.
"So let's just enjoy it while we can," Aragorn whispered, bringing Legolas into another kiss. They sat there side by side gazing out upon the river, completely oblivious to everything around them.
Which in most cases, can be a bad thing.
I decided to return to our campsite, having no success in finding a pit of water and feeling rather depressed. I wondered if Gimli had already returned as well. If he successfully caught more fish, then that might be enough to sustain our energy during the next few days on our trip to Fangorn Forest, depending on how many fish he catches, if any at all. My hopes were high, nonetheless.
"Hey guys, I'm bac—," I started. I cut myself off as my eyes moved from Aragorn and Legolas to the massive Orc advancing on them.
"Kendra?" Aragorn said.
"LOOK OUT!" I screamed. The Orc roared at me, and I launched Aragorn's knife at it. It staggered backwards and howled. Aragorn and Legolas jumped to their feet, grabbing various weapons. The Orc ripped the knife out of its shoulder where I had hit it, and charged. Legolas unloaded one arrow into its neck, and the battle was won.
Aragorn retrieved the knife from the Orc's hand, and sheathed it again. He glanced over at me, and decided that I was scared or something, because he started to walk towards me with a comforting look on his face.
Instead, I slapped him on the arm.
He looked rather surprised.
"Are you insane?" I shouted. "What the hell is wrong with you? That thing was standing like two feet from you two, and you didn't even notice? That's not like you guys! Don't tell me you've lost your touch." Aragorn looked desperately to Legolas, who said nothing, but rather placed his bow over his back along side his quiver.
"I guess we were distracted," Aragorn replied simply.
"Distracted," I repeated. I sighed. "Okay, fine. You know what, fine. But I think that it's only fair that I get a weapon of some sort too. You know, in the event that I have to save myself, or you two again. Sword will do fine." Aragorn glanced at Legolas again, who merely shrugged.
"I guess so," he said. "Rest assured, you will be given a sword of your own once we reach Rohan. You have my word."
"I'll take you up on that," I said, grinning slightly. We gathered up our things to get ready to leave. Several minutes later, Gimli arrived. He had caught three more fish. I took the fish, wrapped them in empty banana leaves (leftover from eaten Elven bread) and put them in my backpack along side the other rabbit and the three water skins.
And with that, we were off.
End Chapter 4
did this chapter feel short to anyone else?
More slash will ensue.promise.
the sword will arrive eventually.not sure when,but eventually.it all depends on which chapter I introduce Rohan.i don't want so much school-life chapters as there were in the first version of this story.i intend to stretch out my middle earth experience until either chapters nine or ten.
Oh yes,the story will still be ten chapters long.and chapter eleven?useless.will be deleted…once all ten chapter are replaced.
Well,I hope you've enjoyed the story so far,and I also hope that you will be so kind as to review.please,I live off of reviews.