Warnings: Yet another confession. What else can I say? Oh, but I wouldn't get too comfortable yet folks, because, once again, this is no ordinary confession. (evil hint, hint)
Disclaimer: (dances the Disclaimer Dance) Lalalala…you get the picture…
A/N: THANKS TO ALL MY REVIEWERS! (has Elven army come up behind her and solute all reviewers) You guys are the greatest. Couldn't do withoutcha'!
Thievery ConfessionThe next few days for Father Herman were something akin to a nightmare.
He probably prayed more in one night than he had in half of the rest of his life put together, and any attempts he might have made to find the strange man that had come to him a few nights before was completely in vain. No one had heard of anyone named "Aragorn" around town, and everyone he asked began to look at him as though wondering whether he had gone slightly senile.
He never slept well. He hardly ate. Everything was like a panicked frenzy around him…wondering if the strange man would return, or if he should set out to try and find him, or if he should simply return to the church that he had left and hope to smoothe out the situation that way. But who knew what might await him there? He was already so petrified after what he had recently seen that it hardly felt safe to leave his cozy room in the inn, and the idea of reliving those nightmares did not necessarily appeal to him.
Not to mention the fact that the priest at the other church had told him that other people had seen people of the same strangeness that he had seen. That could mean that those…beings could be anywhere. Everywhere. Perhaps right under his bed. There was just no way to be certain of anything anymore. To think, at any given time he could just take one peek out his window…and then a hand could appear out of nowhere, grab him, and…
Oh dear.
It was just as he had suspected before. He was doomed.
And yet, for some strange reason, he felt that he could not just brush this away. Not with the plea of a (supposedly) innocent man asking him to come back for religious and destiny reasons, and also the word of a fellow priest who suggested that he should go through with this. And certainly not with his conscience bugging him! That was one of the worst parts about being a man of God, he thought. It is often very hard to do something wrong without having something knaw at you from the inside out.
Therefore, he continued to pray, continued to ask around the area whenever he could…and tried to prepare himself for what he knew lay ahead. His return to the church. He even tried comforting himself with the thought that he might only be there for a little while before he was able to leave again, but somehow that didn't work either. Nothing worked.
Well, who ever said he wasn't doomed?
God did, of course. But that was really beside the point.
And so it passed into the third or fourth night after his confession. He was beginning to feel the tiniest bit organized knowing what he had tried and what he hadn't, and knowing that God was still listening to every prayer he offered. That was at least a start. And at least with this feeling of organazation there came a slight feeling of ease, so he felt a small bit of hope when he thought of going to sleep that night. Perhaps he would actually be able to sleep now. And how helpful that would be to his thinking processes!
Yes, it had to be done.
So with a huge yawn Father Herman slowly got himself ready for bed, changing into something more comfortable and reading his nightly Bible passage before slipping under the covers that lay spread over a soft mattress that the room provided, and letting out a long sigh of relief when a drastic feeling of weariness overtook him. Yes, he would be able to sleep tonight. And everything would look better in the morning because of it.
Yes indeed.
Zzzzz…
--
Poor Father Herman. If only he knew.
You see, although the occasional sympathy is given to certain characters of certain fanfictions is given from time to time, this certain authoress' sympathy doesn't stretch too far, and therefore there was really no chance of the poor old man having a completely undisturbed sleep that night.
For at that very moment, even as he lay snoring on that soft mattress and dreaming about living on a cloud somewhere out in Arizona (old men are strange), two shadowed figures were slowly creeping in through his window (he forgot to lock it again), making hardly a sound as they hopped down onto the wooden floor and began to creep toward the bed – for although they were small, they were just the right size for doing some very expertise sneaking.
And it didn't take long for them to reach the bed either. Nor did it take long for the slightly taller one of the two to whisper something to the shorter one, and cause the shorter one to slowly and very carefully creep up alongside the bed and closer to Father Herman's unsuspecting head, still not making a sound, and eyeing the face of the old man as though he would shatter at any moment.
And then, as soon as he had reached the place where he wanted to be, he stood up just slightly on his tip-toes so as better to lean over Father Herman's face…and then whispered to him as softly and clearly as you please. "F-Father Herman? Sir?"
Boom.
It took only another half-a-second for Father Herman's eyes to spring wide open…and come to rest upon a round, innocent-looking face that he would have immediately assumed to be a child's face under any other circumstances, but upon a slightly longer glance, he realized that it was actually a rather adultish face he was looking at. But that wasn't the point. The point was that this face was very close to his, in his room, and seemed to be speaking to him in a way that demonstrated that this newcomer knew exactly who he was, even though the priest had absolutely no idea who the newcomer was.
Perfect.
"AHHHHH!" The old man wailed, springing up rapidly into a sitting position on the bed and shoving himself back against the headboard, clutching the sheets against himself wildly as if his life depended on it. "WHO ARE YOU! WHAT DO YOU WANT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE? AHHHHHHHH!"
The small being nearly leapt back in surprise at the horrified yells coming from the priest, staggering slightly and eyeing the old man with a slightly terrified gaze before the other and taller one of the two came forward, looking a bit more brave as he watched Father Herman press himself against the wood of the headboard and eye the two of them as if they were both miniature werewolves of some kind.
In another few moments of this silent watching though, the taller one did end up saying something.
"Are you dying?"
This, surprisingly enough, stopped Father Herman's shouting in record time, and he was soon reduced to merely panting rapidly and switching his gaze between the pair at regular intervals. This got rid of the noise, but he was still obviously quite disturbed.
This, though, was apparently all the two newcomers needed, and the tall one spoke again shortly thereafter.
"We know this might be a bad time…but would you mind if we cleared our consciences?"
These words almost stopped the panting this time. Truly, this was just about the last thing Father Herman had expected the intruders to say.
"You mean…" He said slowly, his knuckles completely white from clutching the sheets so hard. "…a confession?"
The two small ones nodded.
Father Herman frowned slightly. "At THIS hour of the night?" He suddenly demanded, as though disbelief were suddenly making him very bold. "Are you mad? How dare you disturb me! I'll have you know I am – "
"Oh, we knoo!" The smaller one said quickly, his heavy Scottish-like accident making his words sound different than the taller one's. "Thass' why we came here! We knew yu'd haelp uz!"
The priest continued to stare. "I do not know what you mean."
"Are you a priest?" The taller one asked.
Father Herman was almost tempted to say "no" just for his safety's sake, but sudden memories of Aragorn's visit were enough to silence him just in time, and bring out an unsteady "yes" instead.
The small ones smiled. "Then you're just what we need!" The taller one said cheerfully.
"Will ye listen to uz then?" The smaller one asked eagerly.
Father Herman opened his mouth slowly to reply, still uncomfortably shaken after the uncalled-for entrance than the two had made…but if this was really all they wanted, and it almost ensured that they would go away afterward, perhaps it would be worth it to just let it be this time...just let it flow...just avoid trouble...
Yes, that sounded like a good idea to him.
"Very well then." He responded, glad that his voice wasn't shaking so badly anymore. "Have a seat."
The floor boards creaked slightly as the two little ones sat down, their curly-haired heads tilted up slightly to face the old man as he tried his best to compose himself, reaching over to pick up his crucifix necklace that he had taken off for bed (just in case it decided to choke him in the middle of the night) and put it around his neck a moment later. Then, he was ready. And all he could do was pray to God that it would go well. "Begin."
The two intruders looked at each other briefly, and then the tall one spoke first. "Bless us Father, for we have sinned. We bring the sin of thievery before the Lord."
The priest nodded slowly, not necessarily liking the idea that these two were thieves, but he decided to count his lucky stars and be grateful that they were not murderers. "And what caused you do this?" He asked, the professional coaxing in his voice returning to once again lace expertly in his words.
"Oh, a vere' great thing indeed!" The smaller one piped up, nodding eagerly as he spoke. "In fact, if we weren' doin' this, everyone would be a lot warse off!"
Again, the priest nodded. Of course, this could very well be the classic belief of any thief. "And why is that?" He pried carefully.
"'Cause it needs to be done!" The taller one added quickly, this time sounding rather eager himself, as though both of them were desperate to find a way to be forgiven out of this one. "We weren't given choices, see…kinda' like we had to do it!"
"I see." Father Herman said, this time not nodding. This was sounding rather…mysterious, and he had a very bad feeling that these two were somehow releated with that Aragorn fellow. Hopefully this would be over quickly… "And why did it need to be done?"
"Iss' a secret." The smaller one said gravely. "But you'll find out."
This, of course, unnerved Father Herman even more, especially with the sharp look that the taller one gave the smaller at those words. However, he knew he had better just slip easily out of this one all the same, and went on asking questions and trying to keep his hands from shaking. "And…wh-what exactly did you steal, my children?"
"Oh, nothin' yet." The taller one said, a slightly doomed look on his face. "Not exactly, anyway."
The priest's lips pressed together tightly as his nervousness increased. "Then what are you going to steal, my children?" He asked, very carefully.
But a half second later, he knew he never should have asked that. Not with the looks on the two intruders' faces. Not with how fast they jumped to their feet.
Not with the sack they threw over his head a moment later.
And the next thing poor Father Herman knew…he was tied up and dragged right out of the room in complete and total darkness…
And in the direction of a destination that he did not even want to begin to guess at.
--))--
Eeeep! What has happened! What have they done? (goes running around crazily) It seems that the professional vegetable thieves are at it again. Any guesses as to who those two little sneaks were? (evil grin) Honorable Mention to anyone who names them correctly:D
-Review Responses-
Almostinsane: Oh, thank you so much! (hugs) I'm really glad you liked the chapter. It was fun setting dear Father Herman up for a confession like that. (giggles) I do torture that guy…
Kabuki733701: Hello, mellon nin! (hugs tightly) We meet yet again! And with another confession at that! Isn't that something? And I must say you had me laughing very hard with that idea of dear Father Herman confessing to Saruman. Lol! And I absolutely and totally agree with you on The Stool. That little thing is going to have to play a crucial role in this story now, you just watch. (cackles) Thank you reviewing my story once again. You have no idea how much that helps me! (grovels pitifully) I'll try to update soon!
Lindahoyland: Aww, thank you mellon nin! (hugs) That was a very nice compliment indeed! And very relieving to hear that not only was I able to bring that guy out of retirement, but I didn't make it too boring either. Thank you! (hugs again)
Lina-Baggins: Oh good, another review from dear Miss Baggins! (hugs tightly) Thank you for leaving me yet another review! And I am very, very glad you liked the chapter. I do have all of your ideas stowed away, and I will see what I can do with them in the future. For now, I still have to find some way to secure Father Herman away from retirement, 'cause if he retires…well, that wouldn't be good. As you well know. (gulps) Oh, and I do thank you for the season's greetings!