The Road Goes Ever On And On
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Chapter Five: Coming Home
King Elessar was pacing the Citadel of Minas Tirith while his wife, the Queen Arwen Evenstar watched him worriedly from her seat. She had had a vision of the future and had made the mistake of telling Aragorn, now King Elessar, about it. And she had seriously worried him when she told him. Ever since she had told him, he'd been pacing the Citadel.
The vision had been of their daughter who had run away not long after Arwen and Aragorn had been remarried in a large ceremony in Minas Tirith. Tess had never wanted to be stuck inside the city of Minas Tirith or inside the palace where they now lived, which had led her to leaving. Tess had run away, taking her horse and heading for the Wild. And she hadn't been seen or heard from since then. And Aragorn had been the last person to see her.
In her vision, Arwen had seen Tess fighting in a battle when she'd been gravely wounded and then killed. She had never made it back to Minas Tirith, which was where her camp had been heading for when they had been attacked.
The vision had struck Arwen hard because shehad been really upset at Tess's disappearance the first timeafter she had barely meet herand she'd run off. But telling Aragorn had been a really bad idea because Tess and Aragorn had become really close since she'd arrived in Middle-earth.
"Aragorn! If you don't stop pacing, you are going to wear a hole in the floor!" Arwen said to Aragorn.
Aragorn scowled and replied, "I could care less!"
A little while later, Aragorn stopped pacing and as Arwen was letting out a sigh of relief, he began to yell at the guards.
"I want to see the Steward, now!" he yelled at the nearest guards, who ran as fast as they could from the room, eager to be far away from the moody King.
"Aragorn, calm down please!" said Arwen softly as she got up and went to him, before he could start pacing again.
"How am I supposed to be calm when she could be dead this very moment?"
"Aragorn, if she was dead, I think that one of us would have felt it by now."
"True, but I'm still entitled to worrying!" he said and proceeded to pace around.
Arwen swore and threw her hands up in disgust as she stalked towards the door of the Citadel as it flew up, due to the arrival of the Steward and his wife.
Faramir and Mary had come running quickly when the guards had come to see them. It sounded like something important was going on and so they had dropped what they were doing and ran to the Citadel. As they entered, they caught Arwen swearing and saw Aragorn proceeding to wear a hole in the stone floor, seeing as he was pacing and it seemed like he had been for some time. Mary finished pulling on her Charlie sweater, which she had almost forgot in the dinning hall where they had been eating before being interrupted by the guards.
As they entered, Mary stormed, "What the bloody hell is going on now, Aragorn? Who died this time?"
"That's not funny!" replied Aragorn, as he stopped pacing.
"What isn't?"
"That last thing you said was not funny at all."
"Okay, I'll bite. What's going on that's so important?"
"Tess is going to die..." mumbled Aragorn, staring at the floor, slightly more upset after talking to Mary.
"NEWS FLASH Aragorn! We all are going to die eventually! So, duh, of course she's going to die!"
"But she's going to die soon…" said Aragorn, as he began to break down and cry. "Arwen foresaw it… She's going to die before she can come home…"
"And what the hell does my Faramir have to do with all of this?" said Mary, hands on her hips as she glared at Aragorn. She was not in a good mood at all.
"I need him to take my place on the throne. I'm going—I've got to go after her. I can't—I will not let her die."
"No you are not going!" protested Arwen, stepping out of the shadows. "You are staying here in the city, where it is safe and where you belong!"
"Why!" whined Aragorn, sounding like a child.
"Aragorn, the Wild is no longer safe. No where is. A new power is rising and its victory is at hand. It is seeking you and Tess. It seeks to destroy the world of Men."
"So? I still wanna go!" cried Aragorn, stamping his feet in anger and acting, quite childish for an eighty-eight year old King.
"No! That's my finally answer!"
"Mary? Faramir? A little help?" he pleaded with them, begging.
"Who is this new power?" asked Mary. "Maybe we can kick his ass!"
"You can't. It's the same power that is responsible for Tess's death in my vision but I don't know who or what is behind it."
"Well then, unless we are needed, we are leaving now!" said Mary as she grabbed Faramir's hand and began to led him towards the door.
"No! You can't leave!" whined Aragorn. "I need you to watch the city while I'm gone in the Wild!"
"No you do not!" yelled Arwen.
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Do too!"
"Do not!"
"Stubborn Elf!"
"Stupid Human!"
"Behave children!" barked Faramir, finally speaking. Aragorn and Arwen stopped bickering and both them and Mary turned to stare at him.
"Let's get down to business shall we? What's the plan? We might as well have a plan, if we are going to do this."
"Ha ha! I win!" cheered Aragorn, doing a victory dance as Arwen swore in Elvish.
"Faramir!" groaned Arwen and Mary, finally while Aragorn was still celebrating and was now skipping out of the Citadel.
"What?" asked Faramir, unsure of what he had done and he recieved the death glare from Mary and Arwen.
Tithenwen and everyone in the Ranger camp had been packing up and preparing to set out for Minas Tirith before dawn had even arrived. Tithenwen was cursing under her breath in Elvish. She didn't want to go back to the city but she understood that she had too. No other choice was available. But that soon was the farthest thing from her mind.
"Tithenwen! Wild Men are attacking!" cried Nicholas, as he drew his weapon. He had been coming to check on Tithenwen when he had seen the Wild Men heading for the camp, so he had run towards her tent, to warn her.
Tithenwen looked towards the outskirts of the Ranger camp and saw the Wild Men coming in, their weapons drawn. She quickly drew her two swords from their sheaths. In her right hand was the longer and more powerful blade. It was a man's sword and had been forged by the Elves. It was Anduril, Flame of the West, the sword reforged for Isildur's heir. In her left hand was an average sword that she'd had gotten in Lothlorien from the Lady of the Golden Wood.
Tithenwen had joined the Rangers not too long ago and they had been on their way back to where she was from. Not that anyone knew where she had come from, save for Nicholas. But even he didn't know her whole story. Tithenwen was quiet about her life and her family. She had once said that she was related to Elves, hence her name and the fact that she spoke almost fluent Elvish. But no one knew more about it. But Tithenwen had left her life behind and become one of the best fighters in the camp. But this was her first battle as a full-fledged Ranger.
Tithenwen urged her horse towards the battle. The bay gelding galloped eagerly down to meet the Wild Men. This was not their first battle together. Tithenwen raised her swords to her forehead, blessing them as her horse charged head-on towards the Wild Men.
"Elendil!" she cried upon slicing two heads, one on either side, off at the same time. "Take that assholes!"
The Wild Men all turned towards her and aimed for her. They knew she was a girl and figured her to be an easy target. Besides, they had been told to find and kill the Ranger girl.
Tithenwen sheathed one sword and hopped off her horse. She unsheathed the sword and engaged in battle with the Wild Men. One of them clubbed her on the head, which made her dizzy. She dropped the sword in her left hand to try and steady herself. But it only made matters worse seeing as a Wild Man picked it up and used it against her.
Tithenwen tried to parry the blows of her own sword but the dizziness made her slow and finally the sword sliced her right arm at the shoulder open. Her sword started to slip. Tithenwen reached down, steadying it and placing both hands on the hilt. But the sword swung and cut her forehead.
"Bastard!" she cried as she fainted.
Luckily, Nicholas was nearby and saw her fall and raced to protect her limp body from harm. Finally, she began to stir and her horse returned. Other Rangers engaged in battle, protecting their captain and the fallen Ranger from harm. Nicholas helped Tithenwen climb onto her horse and he sheathed her sword for her. One sword was lost forever but the other remained.
"Ride for the city, Tithenwen! We cannot hold them back much longer. You need to reach safety and try and get help for us."
"I can fight!" protested Tithenwen, trying to get off her horse.
"No you can't."
Tithenwen start to slip off and felt dizzy, "I guess you're right..." she admitted.
"Listen, you don't have much time. No matter what, do not stop. The Wild is no longer safe for you!"
"Why do you care now? It never mattered before!"
"Find your father Tithenwen. Promise me you'll find him!"
"My father's dead!"
"He's alive Tithenwen. You need to go to him!"
"No!"
"Tithenwen, it is time to stop denying your destiny. It is time to face it and become who you were born to be."
"Never!"
"Go home, Tithenwen!" he cried as he smacked her horse's rump and he took off away from the battle.
"Valar damn it all to hell!" she cursed.
Tithenwen refused to go home. Once she was able to stop her horse, she headed back for the camp. She would not leave her friends behind to die! But what a shock met her eyes as she neared the ruins of the camp.
Tithenwen surveyed the ground that lay below her from her high place on a hill from her horse's back. Below was a horrible sight. All the grass that was once long and green was trampled and turned red, stained with blood. Bodies of Wild Men and Rangers littered the ground. Horses too had been slaughtered. Tithenwen shivered in the cool breeze.
Tithenwen was the lone survivor of the raid. And she was covered in blood. She had several facial wounds, a head wound, and a cut on her sword arm. Tithenwen had lost a lot of blood. Everything started to spin in front of her and she fainted not before whispering something to her horse.
"Home…" she whispered in her horse's ear and then it all went black.
Aragorn had eventually won and he had set out for the Wild, under the condition that he take with him other people. So he did. His old companions from the War of the Ring, Legolas and Gimli, came along with Arwen's twin brothers, Elladan and Elrohir who had been visiting the city. Not long after setting out, they came across a bay horse with a rider hanging on barely.
Aragorn dismounted and walked towards the horse, his hand out and he was speaking softly in Elvish.
The horse snorted at him and backed away. Aragorn reached towards him again and the horse reared, dumping his rider and then he stood next to the body, protecting it.
"Whoa! Whoa!" cried Aragorn as the crazed horse reached out towards his hand, teeth bared.
The twins snickered at him.
"Oh? You think you can do better?"
"Yeah, of course we can, little bro…" teased Elladan, ruffling Aragorn's hair as he and Elrohir dismounted.
"Ten bucks the Elves win!" whispered Legolas to Gimli.
"You're on!" said the Dwarf.
Elladan and Elrohir didn't have much better luck than Aragorn had. The horse was just as hostile, if not more hostile towards the Elves than he had been to Aragorn. But they managed to sneak a good look at the rider.
"Well the rider's pretty badly injured as far I can see.." said Elrohir.
"Did you notice the sword that the rider had?" Elladan asked Elrohir.
"The sheath looked familiar…"
"It should. The sword in the sheath is none other than Anduril…"
Both the twins, Legolas and Gimli all stared at Aragorn.
"What?" asked Aragorn, puzzled.
"Isn't Anduril your sword, laddie?" asked Gimli.
"Well, yeah… So?"
"Then why does someone else have it?" questioned Legolas.
"Well, um… I gave it to Tess before she left…"
"She must be dead then, if this person has it…" said Elladan, gesturing towards the fallen rider.
"Yeah, I guess..." said Aragorn as he looked towards the body. As he looked, he recognized the cloak and jacket covering the person and even the boots. It was his old cloak and jacket, which had been missing since Tess had disappeared. And the boots were Tess's. And if the sword had been Anduril, then the person had to be Tess! Which meant the nasty beast standing guard over her was none other than ES Brego, her horse.
"Brego, mellon nin..." he whispered to the horse walking towards the horse.
Brego turned his head towards Aragorn and stepped forward to sniff him. After realizing that it was Aragorn, Brego stepped aside, letting Aragorn pass. Aragorn knelt down beside the body and slowly turned it over. He stared at the face, which was clearly, even with all the cuts on it, Tess's face. Her gray-blue eyes were closed and she was clearly close to death.
"We have to get her help!" said Elladan, from over Aragorn's shoulder.
"Yes…" said Aragorn slowly, picking up Tess's body. "She needs help badly…"
A voice spoke in her head, a woman's voice. It was familiar, like someone who might have been close to her. She had heard it many times but couldn't place it.
"Come back to light," said the voice. "Come back…"
Tithenwen opened her eyes and saw light. Wherever she was, was quite bright. As her vision cleared, she saw grey stone every where and a few banners and tapestries on the walls, nothing special. Her gray-blue eyes swept around the room until they came to rest on another pair of gray-blue eyes, the eyes of a man with messy dark hair.
The man spoke to her, calling her a name but she couldn't quite make out the words that he was saying. He reached his hand out towards her but she moved quickly away from him, falling off the bed she'd been on. She quickly got back on her feet and raced for the door. The man called after her, and yelled instructions to someone outside the door.
She opened the door and raced out of it. But before she could get halfway down the hallway, another man and a woman, grabbed her and drug her back towards the room she'd just left. The woman called out, "Aragorn! We've got her!"
The man who she'd seen came out of the room, looking relieved. "You found her! Praise the Valar!"
"Next time, try to keep her from leaving! We have enough to worry about without worrying about her!"
"I don't know what got into her. I said her name and she ran. She was scared."
"Maybe she didn't want to see you!" joked the other man.
"Maybe…" said the man called Aragorn, looking sad and staring at his feet.
"I was just kidding!" cried the other man as the woman smacked her on his head. "Oww! Mary!"
"Don't you 'Mary' me, Faramir!" she said jokingly.
"But I already did marry you!" he said, with a smile on his face as he leaned towards her and they both forgot Tithenwen and let go of her.
Tithenwen took her chance and took off running. She had to get away from this people. She didn't feel safe here and even though all three had seemed familiar, she wasn't sure if they were her friends or the people out to kill her. She knew that she was on the run from someone who wanted her dead, but that was about all that she could remember, besides her name. And that she was a Ranger. And her family was dead. But that was all.
Aragorn saw her take off and chased after her.
"Tess! Come back!" he whined, chasing after her.
Tithenwen turned her head towards him and missed seeing the person she crashed into. The girl she crashed into grabbed her too, surprised and smiled.
"Something's never change, do they?" said the girl and Tithenwen had a look on her face that said, 'Damn it, I'm caught.'
Author's Notes:
Well I made some changes, but not many. Chapter six will be up in a few minutes.
Reviewers!
(Chapter 3)
Laer4572 - Well only these first few chapters are serious. Gradually they revent back to craziness. Part two is going to be pretty wild. So bare with it for a bit and it'll get funnier. I think that the last chapter of part one is serious again but most everything else is crazy.
Boromir's Curse - Spur of the moment is fun! That's usually when I do the best writing. Glad you like it!
(Chapter 4)
Mr. Random - Just a few wording bits. Other than that, nope.
Boromir's Curse - I honestly have no clue as to how any of us got there, it all just came to me in a dream and I put on the net. And yes, it is very amazing...