Disclaimer: If I owned any of this "Lord of the Rings" stuff, I wouldn't be sitting here, writing fanfiction. I own Arwith. Steal her for your own use, and I'll send small, furry animals to eat your socks.
Also, a second special thanks to Eccentric Banshee for her second review. Don't feel bad about not reviewing sooner, EB. I was away for a week and couldn't write. I'd also like to thank teinesamoa- who just happens to be my fabulous older sister- for her review. Here's the "more, more, more" that you needed to have.
"So what is it that we're looking for exactly?" Gimli sounded almost bored. "Anything that may tell us what is driving the orcs from their hiding places and into the light of day. If you find such activities to be beyond your capabilities, then you may very well return to Minas Tirith, young Master Dwarf." Gandalf was sure to put emphasis on the latter three words. Gimli snorted disapprovingly, but didn't say anything. He certainly didn't turn and make the three hours' journey back to Minas Tirith.
These two were not alone of course. Legolas, Faramir, and Aragorn were amongst them. They were accompanied by a small band of volunteer soldiers. The entire group was scouting one of the more wooded areas of Gondor. In light of the recent orc attacks that had occurred, it seemed only sensible to find either where they were all coming from or, more importantly, what had roused them from their cover.
Twigs snapped underfoot, breaths were taken, and leaves crunched. Somewhere an ear heard it and twitched. Its owner was tense and alert while somehow managing to stay almost entirely dormant. It had been vagabonding in the vicinity for some time. It had watched events unfold before its eyes while the participators remained unaware of its presence. It had listened to conversers and remained unheard. It knew about the search party that scouted the area and what they were searching for. It could feel their quarry being drawn in by some unknown force.
It moved from its spot, a silent, shapeless shadow. It edged its way to where it was able to see even a glimpse of the search team.
Legolas remained unusually uptight and uneasy. His azure orbs scanned the surroundings and he wasn't paying attention to what Aragorn was saying to Faramir or what Gimli was grumbling about. He noticed the flap of a bird's wings. The twittering, yellow dash of a butterfly's path. And the feeling of unseen eyes.
His own eyes wandered ever so slowly over to his right. He gazed from the forest floor up the tree roots to their trunk, right up into the canopy.
His gaze lingered there in the forest's top where the sun came blindingly through. The suspicious feeling that resided inside of him- the one that told him he was being watched- was stirred and he squirmed. A glance in Gandalf's direction and a look at his face told Legolas that his wizard companion was similarly uncomfortable. A leaf snapped softly and fell from overhead and passed through Gandalf's line of vision. Elvin and wizard eyes watched it fall gently to the earth and then met in a silent gaze. Each turned upward as they began, almost unconsciously, to arm themselves. Legolas pulled an arrow from his quiver as Gandalf held his staff defensively in front of him.
Aragorn had stopped talking and was watching their wordless interaction. He too began to search the treetops and unsheathed his sword. Others in the group noticed also. Faramir had his hand on his blade's hilt when Legolas shot an arrow to their right into the trees.
Something no one had noticed before dodged the arrow's path and began moving in the trees. "Get it down!" Gandalf shouted. Legolas continued firing arrows as several of the volunteer soldiers did the same. Aragorn took a dirk from his belt and threw it when whatever was in the trees faltered in front of it, then lost its balance and had to jump. It leapt to several limbs below and landed behind a shrub.
Everyone charged into the clearing where the thing had landed. It was stumbling away from them and had on several long cloaks that hid it from total view. The hood was up but falling down. Everyone drew whatever weapons they had.
Their prey was standing in a defensive, hunched-over position and turned to face them. Those present would later think of this incident and be reminded of a wild, cornered animal, of a wolf in a cage. It kept its head down so that only it mouth and nose were shown. It curled back its lips and emitted something between a growl and a hiss. The canine teeth in the humanoid face were oddly shaped, oblong and sharp in the way of fangs.
"Show yourself!" one of the soldiers shouted. The feral noise coming from their prey's mouth became lower and its mouth opened wider to bare its teeth. It turned and hissed terribly at the soldier that had yelled. The foot soldiers in front of it took a step back when it jutted its head forward and growled louder. Doing so revealed its eyes and when the thing turned, it saw, for the first time, Gandalf and Aragorn. It became suddenly alarmed and let out a loud warning growl, its teeth more apparent than ever. It froze in place for hardly two seconds when it turned and ran, disappearing into the forest.
"After it!" Aragorn ordered as he, Legolas, Gimli, and Gandalf began to pursue it. Everyone followed the personage, who was running ahead at an alarming rate and was becoming increasingly difficult to see. It seemed that the many cloaks it donned blended in with the surroundings. It ducked and weaved through the trees and rarely remained traveling in the same direction. It didn't seem to care where it was going, be it "left" or "right," so long as the direction was "away." Several times it disappeared entirely and was only spotted when it was almost out everyone's line of vision.
After several minutes of this, the personage darted one direction, behind a wide, tall tree and could not be seen when it was followed. Everyone was around the tree with their weapons drawn, looking in every direction and panting for breath. Gandalf was following suit when he paused and cautiously drew his eyes upward. His face became rigid and he thrust his staff upwards. A violent wind shook the trees while creatures of all sorts fled from his direction and those around him fell to the ground, unable to stand. The shuddering became steadily harder and finally a large branch snapped above them with a loud crack. It fell from the other side of the tree and everyone saw the being fall with it. They dashed to where the branch had fallen and were searching with their eyes for the being when it suddenly rose just enough for it to be seen. Before anyone could act, Gimli sprang from nowhere and covered it with a sack. It squirmed and fought until several of the others helped Gimli subdue it. Then it went strangely limp.
Aragorn approached Gimli and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well done, sir." He and Gandalf immediately went about giving orders to soldiers. Legolas came behind his friend and looked at him questioningly. "Admirable work. Though I must ask; from where did you produce a large sack?" Gimli chuckled. "You may not know this, lad, but I happen to carry a great deal of useful items such as that in my pack. The trick to fitting them all, however, is to not carry such things as cooking ware- as our own dear Sam does- or great horns- as our departed Boromir did," Gimli lowered his voice, "or even bows and quivers of arrows, like someone else I know." Legolas did not resist the strong urge to give Gimli a friendly punch in the arm. Nor, for that matter, did he resist the even stronger urge to make said punch just a little too hard.