Hidden Secrets

Disclaimer: I only own Aranwen, Beran, Star, and the plot!

Chapter Twenty-one: The Rohirrim

T.A. 3019

On the fourth day of the hunt, they saw horsemen. Aragorn motioned for them all to duck inside a clump of rocks until they could see if they were friend or foe. As the horsemen thundered past, Aranwen had a vision.

Trees. That was all she could see.

It was dark. The trees blocked out all of the light and she did not know whether it was day or night. She did know that someone was behind her and she was lost. She was lost in the trees.

"Wanderer, where are you?" teased a voice from behind her. Beran's voice.

He had found her. He was going to kill her there in those Valar-forsaken trees. It was a forest similar to the one he had first tracked him in, only more sinister. Her right arm was still far too weak to hold her sword, so she drew her dagger with her left hand.

"Hello, my love," he said and she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. "Did you think you could hide from me?"

Aranwen gasped aloud and Aragorn whirred around to face her. "What is it?" he asked in a whisper.

"Beran," she replied in a whisper. "Beran's in the trees."

"There are no trees in sight. You are safe."

Aranwen nodded and Aragorn left the safety of the rock. Aranwen tried to go after him, but Legolas held her back for a second before they followed Aragorn into the midst of the horsemen.

"Riders of Rohan, what news do you bring from the Mark?" questioned Aragorn loudly.

The horsemen turned around and surrounded the four hunters who stood back to back. Aranwen put her left hand on the hilt of sword, ready to draw it if the need be. Aragorn's hand was also on his sword but as soon as horsemen aimed their spears at the four hunters, he held both his hands in the air. Aranwen let go her sword, following her father's lead and held her left hand in the air, leaving her right hand at her side.

"What business does an Elf, a Man, a Woman, and a Dwarf have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!" said a Man who rode up on a gray.

"Give me your name, and I shall give you mine," said Gimli.

The Man dismounted and walked over towards Gimli. He said, "I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if it stood but a little bit higher removed from the ground."

In a flash, Legolas had an arrow in his bow and was aiming it at the Man. "And you would die before you stroke fell!" he yelled.

"Man carel le, Legolas? Daro i!" Aranwen yelled.

Aragorn brought down Legolas' bow with a hand and turned to the Man. "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn," he announced. "And this is Gimli, son of Golin, Legolas, of the Woodland Realm, and Aranwen, Ranger of the North. We are all friends of Rohan, and of Theoden King."

"Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe," said the Man, removing his helmet. "Not even his own kin."

The spears were lifted and the Man continued, "Saruman has poisoned his mind and has claimed lordship over these lands that are not his. My company is all those who are loyal to Rohan. And for our loyalty, we have been banished. The White Wizard is cunning and he has spies everywhere. He walks as a old man, hooded and cloaked."

"We are no spies," said Aragorn calmly, before Aranwen could say something rudely. "We track a band of Urk-hai westward across the plain. They have taken two of our friends."

"We slaughtered the Urks during the night. They were all destroyed."

"No…" whispered Aranwen shaking her head. She could see the battle between the Rohirrim and the Urk-hai. Merry and Pippin could have been easily killed.

"Did you see two Hobbits!" questioned Gimli.

"They are small--children--to your eyes," said Aragorn.

"We left none alive," said Eomer solemnly. "We piled the remains and burned them."

He pointed to a smoking pile in the distance. The four hunters' faces fell.

"Dead?" asked Gimli. "Are they… dead?"

"I am sorry," said Eomer.

Legolas put his hand on Gimli's shoulder to comfort him. Aranwen was still shaking her head. She had felt the Hobbits recently. They could not be dead. They could not. Not after all that they had been through to find them!

Eomer whistled sharply and called, "Hasufel! Arod!" and three horses trotted over to him.

Aranwen looked at the horses carefully. There was a chestnut and a gray wearing Rohirric tack and a dapple gray wearing well-worn, plain tack with saddlebags. Star was with the Rohirrim.

"Mellon nin!" Aranwen cried joyfully and mare whinnied loudly before she greeted her owner.

"This one joined us. I did not know whose it was, lady," said Eomer.

"That is okay. She was frightened by the Urk-hai when we were attacked at Amon Hen," said Aranwen, stroking her horse.

"Amon Hen? You came from Amon Hen?"

"We have been chasing the Urks since they took our friends on Amon Hen four days earlier," said Aragorn.

"Four days on foot? That is amazing! If you have managed to come so far, look for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands. We ride north! Farewell!" said Eomer as he put his head on his head and mounted his horse.

Aranwen swung lightly onto Star's back while Aragorn hopped onto Hasufel and Legolas and Gimli doubled on Arod. They watched the horsemen ride away, before riding towards the smoking pile. If Merry and Pippin were in that pile, they would find them.

They slowly galloped to the pile and reined in their horses. Aranwen hopped off Star before Star even halted. She raced to the pile and began to search, ignoring the Urk head on a pike beside her. She sifted through the pile with her dagger and stopped when she came across a belt.

"Ada! They were here!" she cried, dropping to her knees. They were there and they had been burned. They had died.

Aragorn looked at the belt in her hand. It was one of their belts for sure. Legolas whispered a prayer for the Hobbits in Elvish. Gimli was silent. Aragorn shook his head and walked away from the pile. He kicked the first thing he saw, which was an Urk helmet and screamed aloud in anguish before falling to his knees.

"We failed," stated Gimli.

Aragorn looked at the ground beside him and paused, before saying, "Two Hobbits lay here. They crawled. Their hands were bound."

He got up from the ground and started walking, Aranwen beside him and Legolas and Gimli behind them. Aranwen knelt to the ground and held up a length of rope to Aragorn.

"They cut their bonds," said Aragorn.

The four hunters continued walking.

"They ran," said Aranwen as she pointed at some tracks.

"And were followed," said Aragorn as he pointed out another set of tracks.

Aranwen and Aragorn were running now, following their separate tracks. They stopped at the edge of the forest.

"They left the battle and ran in there!" Aranwen cried, pointing at the trees.

"Fangorn Forest," said Aragorn. "They went inside Fangorn Forest."

Author's Notes:

Next chapter will take place in Fangorn Forest and we shall see if Aranwen's vision comes true. I will try to update tomorrow before I leave town, but I might not be able to. If I don't, there might not be a chapter for as long as a little over a week.

Elvish translations:

Man carel le, Legolas? - What are you doing, Legolas?

Daro i! – Stop it!

Mellon nin! – My friend!

Reviewers!

IwishChan – I'm not entirely sure if that is a mistake or not. I am using both the book and movie as references to help me write, so it could very well be wrong. I always thought that Gimli should think of it as a really long spirit. : )

ArwenFairTinuviel – Helm's Deep is going to be awesome! Yes, Aranwen still grows but the charm makes it invisible so it doesn't stretch her clothes and you couldn't feel her stomach in the air. It hides her growing stomach. Sorry about that! The website is arwen-undomiel . com (take out the spaces). : )

Jedi Padfoot- Thank you! There's more to come and I'm trying my best to update often. : )