A/N: Hey guys! I'm really pleased with the response that I've gotten so far on this fic! sorry for the late update; and I hope that I won't update so late next time:)

000

Gelmir, who was riding just in front of Faramir, turned around to get a glance at their approaching enemies.

And then he saw his Captain on the ground with his dying horse; he slowed his horse down a little and looked ahead. His comrades were pretty far now, for they had ridden their horses to their full speed.

Suddenly an evil glint appeared in his eyes as he briefly watched the Shadow elves catch up with his Captain; all of a sudden, Faramir looked up and saw his fellow Ranger-he saw that evil gleam in his eyes.

Faramir said nothing, for it was a good chance that Gelmir would not hear it for the sound of the horse's hoofs was very loud indeed; but what he was thinking was written on his face, he had the expression of one who had been betrayed-and he was right to feel that way. Gelmir turned back around and galloped out of sight.

It was impossible for Faramir to move; the now dead horse was laying on him, so he could do nothing but lay still as the elves caught up with him. They caught up with him so fast that he thought he was going to be trampled upon, a raven-haired elf dismounted and beckoned to two other elves to help him lift the horse.

They seemed to lift the dead horse with ease, and the raven-haired elf roughly lifted Faramir to his feet, and then he spoke to the two that helped him lift the horse.

"Burn the horse, we do not want to leave it here as a sign that someone traveled this way."

The elves obeyed, and as they set back off for the camp Faramir could smell the fumes of the flames.

Faramir was being led by the raven-haired elf, and he dreaded his return to the camp for he knew that he was going to have to face the consequences-and they would be very harsh.

They soon returned to the camp and he was roughly shoved into the tent, and two other elves went in with him. Inside was Selwyn, he appeared to be looking over a map of some sort; when he saw heard the elves enter he looked up. Anyone who looked at him at that moment would have been able to have seen the fury in his eyes.

"Is he the only one who you was able to recapture?" he asked, somewhat coolly despite how he really felt.

"Yes; we shot his horse and so he was trapped," replied a blond elf.

"Good; but the next time you show such incompetence again I will have both of your heads."

The two elves swallowed hard but said nothing; they looked quite fearful.

"So Ranger, I should have known that you would have attempted something like this," he said, walking away from the table and up to Faramir. "But I did not expect such reckless behavior from a captain."

"You may call it what you wish 'Selwyn' but I do not answer to you."

"I did not say that you did-but you will, for you shall be taught a lesson which you will never forget; your worthless Rangers may have escaped, but you will never, for once we reach our final destination you will be begging at my feet for mercy but you will not get it, I have no sympathy for you Gondorian," he spat.

"I care not for your sympathy; you have no reason to hold me captive," Faramir said, he was not afraid to stand up to the elf-even though he had been beaten severely for doing so.

"I see that I will have to teach you a lesson-again, for you do not take heed."

And with a gesture of his hand the two elves dragged Faramir outside and began to beat him ruthlessly; it did not take long until his nose began to bleed and blood began to spill out of his mouth, much like the first time he had been beaten badly.

He tried to fight them off but it was useless, they were very strong-much stronger than him and they were determined to beat him worse than the first time.

He groaned in pain as a hard punch was delivered to his face. Faramir was soon almost completely covered in blood as it stained the grass once more; only then did the evil elves stop; only then were they satisfied; for they had accomplished what they had been commanded to do.

000

Arial and Eowyn moved like shadows, none saw them for almost everyone in the city slept; they took two horses from the stables: Eowyn had taken her beloved horse Windfola for she had not felt right about escaping with the horse that her husband had just given her as a gift.

Arial took a beautiful brown stallion, and so as they cautiously rode near to the gates, they were relieved to see that they were open, but, as it turned out, there were two guards patrolling nearby.

Arial swallowed; he had not expected this, but nonetheless he was prepared. He had seen Gondorian soldiers on patrol by the gates before, and he knew that if he only remained patient and waited for the opportune moment that he and Eowyn could escape.

"What now?" Eowyn asked in a whisper.

"We wait; I am certain that we will get an opportunity if we just stay out of their sight."

Eowyn nodded; she didn't know the city half as well as Arial did so she knew that it was best to listen to him, although her stomach was doing terrible butterflies.

Finally, after what seemed like they had been waiting forever, the opportune moment came; the soldiers left their post.

"Why did they do that? Wouldn't it be dangerous for them to let up their guard?" Eowyn asked, not understanding the situation, but not exactly disliking it.

"They are switching shifts, I know that it is not the smartest way but they do it anyhow-but we will take this as our opportunity, and we must ride-and not look back."

Eowyn nodded, and so without delaying a moment longer, they sprung out from their hiding place and galloped through the gate and out onto the Pelennor.

By the time they were almost out of sight two more guards returned to the gate, and they spotted two figures on horseback in the distance.

One of the soldiers strained his eyes to see who they were.

"We must fetch some horses and go after them!" he said.

But the other held him back; "we would be too late anyways."

000

Gelmir had ridden hard and without rest so that he could catch up with his fellow Rangers again; finally he saw a small fire, and then he knew that he had found them.

They were all sitting around the small fire warming their hands; they looked up when they heard the sound of horse hoofs, and were disappointed that Gelmir had come and lord Faramir was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Captain Faramir?" Medwyn asked grimly.

Gelmir did not answer for a moment, and he had a grim expression on his face, finally he told them, his twisted side of the story.

"I rode behind with Captain Faramir, but I thought that I needn't worry about looking behind to make sure that all was well with lord Faramir; but as I have learnt to trust my instincts, I looked behind, for they told me to do so; and I saw lord Faramir riding away from us, and I could have been killed for an arrow whisked very close to me, but I rode after him for surely, I thought that Captain Faramir would not desert us, but I was wrong; I rode after him and called him, and I am certain that he heard me but he continued to ride on; at last I had to return and follow the rest of you-for I would not desert you as our Captain had done."

Medwyn was enraged by what he had heard; he knew that Faramir would never desert his men; he would rather die than do so. "You lying pig!" he yelled, and he placed a well aimed, well deserved punch right in the middle of Gelmir's face.

Gelmir stumbled back a few feet and covered his bloody nose with his hand, but blood could still be seen seeping through his fingers.

"You know that Captain would never desert us; you lying wretch!" shouted a still very angry Medwyn.

"I understand how hard it is to accept the truth for I did not want to believe it either, but are you going to be a fool! I saw him with my own two eyes: he rode away from us! He deserted us!"

"You are lying! Captain Faramir is more loyal than you could ever wish to be! Swine!" was Medwyn's reply, as several Ranger's held him back so that he wouldn't lunge at Gelmir again.

"You cannot say that! For you was not there! I was there I tell you! With my own two eyes I saw him desert us! He is a deserter, and whether he is or was our Captain it matters not; when we return to Minas Tirith I will make sure that justice is served upon him as it is with other deserters; whether I am the only one to stand up and ask for justice or no; it will be done-justice will be served upon him!"

"You are a wicked beast!" Darcyn yelled. "You must have gone through a lot of trouble to try to make this sound as believable as possible but I know, as do all of our fellow Ranger's know that Captain Faramir would never desert anyone-not even you!"

"You do not know him then, or you are simply in denial; I came to show you that he isn't the man that you think he is. And am I disappointed? Yes! I looked up to the man, he was my Captain and as far as I knew he was a great man, but that is not so! I could not believe what I was seeing and so I followed him and called after him; I would have killed him myself for desertion but mercy stayed my hand, and I returned and tried to find all of you, that it was turned me back; I am very disappointed in you all. You are all ignorant and in denial! You refuse to believe the truth when I witnessed it with my own eyes!"

It took everything that the Ranger's had, to maintain their honor and hold back the fuming Medwyn and the enraged Darcyn.

"I do not mean to hurt you all, but you must believe me!"

"Never," Medwyn hissed.

000

When Eowyn and Arial had journeyed a considerable distance from Minas Tirith, they agreed to stop at an inn so they could rest for at least a few hours.

They stopped at a slightly rundown inn, for they figured that their identity would be better concealed there. When they entered the inn, there was an old balding man at the desk; they figured that he was the owner of the inn, for they noticed him ordering some of the others around.

When they approached the desk, the old dirty man looked at them with uncertainty. "What can I do you?" he asked, eyeing them somewhat suspiciously.

"We would like to book one room for the night," said Arial.

The old man shot Arial an unfriendly look. "We don't get your kind here-at least not very often."

"We will pay just about anything; we do not mean to cause you any trouble," said Eowyn.

"That'll be three pieces of silver," he said greedily.

"Very Well," said Eowyn, placing the money on the desk.

The old man took it eagerly. "I'm guessing that you'd be hungry; would you want one of my folks to fix you a meal?"

"That would be very good, thank you," replied Arial.

"You can go into the common room and wait for it if you want to," said the old man, his tone turning friendlier thanks to the large sum of money that he had received.

And so they went into the common room to wait for their meal, and also to discuss what they were going to do next.

"I say that we take turns sleeping-we only need a few hours, and so one of us can always keep watch just in case…" Eowyn's voice trailed off.

"In case Gondorian soldiers come looking for us," Arial finished.

"Yes," said Eowyn, not really wanting to think about anything that had to do with Gondor at that time.

Soon their dinner was served to them, which was hot soup and bread which they ate hungrily; finally, after they had eaten, it was decided that Arial would take his rest first for Eowyn insisted that she wasn't tired.

So Eowyn stayed in the common room, occasionally looking out of the window, expecting to see Gondorian soldiers, but as she sat down and tried to conceal her anxiety, she noticed, out of the corner of her eye that someone was staring at her.

She turned to her left to see who it was; it was a man with dark hair; she couldn't see his features properly due to the dimly lit room, but she knew that her noticing him had not deterred his gaze.