Aragorn looked around at the fellowship. The rest of them were all sitting on the ground, resting. He realized, however, that neither Frodo nor Boromir were amongst them.
"Guys, have you seen Frodo and Boromir?" he asked, frowning.
The others looked around, and looks of awareness came upon their faces. Sam jumped up.
"Uh oh…" he mumbled.
"Shadow and a threat," Legolas sang, looking up at the sky. Aragorn stuck out his tongue at him.
"I'll go look for them," Aragorn volunteered, stalking away. "Oh and Legolas," he called over his shoulder, "there's a tangle in your hair."
He smirked as he heard a distinct gasp of panic behind him, and strode deeper into the woods of Amon Hen.
Meanwhile, Frodo turned around to see the hulking figure of Boromir approaching him. He was not sure why, but Boromir's presence was unnerving him. He was walking toward him with slow, subtle steps and his visage was menacing. Frodo took a few steps backward.
"Heya, Boromir," Frodo tried to say in an offhand voice. "Whatcha doing?"
"Being scary," Boromir answered cheerfully. "Listen, I know why you seek solitude."
"Um, what do you mean?"
"I've seen you at night, when you think the rest of us are asleep. You cuddle the ring. You stroke it. You give it pet names…"
"So-so what if I do?" Frodo attempted to ask indignantly. Boromir stepped closer; he stepped back.
"We're all afraid, Frodo," breathed Boromir quietly.
"Can you please cut to the chase and tell me what you want?"
"Fine. I want to borrow the ring."
"Ummm…..no."
"GIVE ME THE RING!"
"NO!"
"ROOOOAAARRRRR!"
"OH MY GOD!"
Frodo instinctively ran away from Boromir. Boromir chased after him, his eyes bulging and his lips held back in a snarl. But Frodo could not outrun him. He felt the large body jump on his back and pin him to the ground. Frodo tasted dirt and leaves and tried to roll over so he was lying on his back. Boromir, on the other hand, took care of this for him and flipped him over while still lying on top of him.
"Give me the ring!" he growled.
"Uh-uh!" Frodo said, shaking his head frantically.
Boromir snatched at the ring hanging from around Frodo's neck. Frodo did the best to fight him off. He wondered for a moment whether Boromir really wanted the ring, or if he was using it as an excuse to have a cuddle with Frodo. This thought disturbed him greatly and motivated him more to get Boromir off of him. He slapped away Boromir's hands, grabbed the ring, and slipped it over his index finger, disappearing from sight.
Boromir became confused, and Frodo escaped, scrambling away from him. Boromir looked around wildly.
"FRODO, WHERE ARE YOU!" he yelled angrily. Frodo seized a log, and whacked Boromir across the head with it, stifling giggles. He delved deeper into the woods, looking over his shoulder to see Boromir fall to the ground.
He began to run backwards. This way, he could keep an eye on Boromir. The Gondorian man stood up, crying. He began to bellow that he was sorry and looked around frantically. Frodo did not listen to him. He continued to run backwards minutes after Boromir was out of his sight. He then turned around to run normally, but promptly collided into something, and fell on the ground. He shook his head to clear it, then looked up to see what he had crashed into……
Back by the river's edge, Legolas was anxious, panicking wildly…
"OH MY GOD, I NEED A MIRROR!" he yelled at the others, who were trying to calm him…and failing spectacularly.
"Legolas, there is no tangle in your hair," Merry said.
"Don't lie to me! I know there is! I can't see it though!"
He dashed over to the water's edge and stared at his reflection, turning his head different directions. He then pulled a purple brush with sparkles on it from inside his cloak and brushed frantically at his long, sleek, overly groomed blonde hair.
"What the fuck, Legolas!" Sam exclaimed. "We have no idea of the whereabouts of Mr. Frodo and all you can think about is your hair!"
Legolas turned to him, walking up to him, looking fierce.
"I may be only able to think about my hair, but YOU'RE only able to think about YOUR LOVER!"
Sam's jaw dropped and Legolas stalked back over to the river. Gimli walked over to Legolas, then did the unexpected and wrapped his arm around Legolas's waist.
"It's okay, Legolas," he said gently. "I understand you."
Legolas stopped brushing his hair to look down at Gimli, and smiled warmly.
"Thank you, Gimli," he said.
The three hobbits all looked at each other, raising their eyebrows and muttering darkly….
Yeah, you could definitely say tensions were a little high.
Aragorn was walking through the woods. Bill stood up on his nose. He had suddenly become very hyper. Aragorn understood, however; this was just how butterflies were: they slept continuously for days, then abruptly became extremely energetic, but to the point sometimes of being annoying.
"Greetings, Starshine!" he exclaimed. "The earth says hello!"
"Hey, Willy Wonka is my hero; don't make fun of him," Aragorn said threateningly.
"I'm not! He's my idol too! What's going on, Aragorn?" he asked.
"I have to find Frodo and hope Boromir isn't harassing him," Aragorn growled.
"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Bill said, clapping his-um-legs…? I don't know; what do you call a butterfly's body parts that are closest to resembling his hands, 'cause I don't really know.
"Yeah," Aragorn muttered (muttered!). "Loads of spanking fun."
"We get to spank someone?"
Aragorn remained silent.
A teenage girl was standing in front of Frodo. She was dressed mostly in black, but Frodo was confused by her clothes: they were definitely not from the third age. She looked as if she were about fifteen or sixteen with chin-length auburn hair and dark brown eyes. For whatever strange reason, she was also glowing.
"Uh…who are you?" Frodo asked tentatively.
"Gondor's TRUE queen," the girl answered. "And DO watch where you're going, will you? 'Cause you kinda ran into me."
"Oh, sorry. Wait…Gondor's true queen…hang on! YOU'RE supposed to tell me something more about Aragorn's apples!"
"Yeah," the girl said dully. "Okay. Well, you know how you've got to destroy the ring and stuff?"
"Yes…"
"Well, the thing is this: if you destroy the ring, you will destroy Sauron and all his dominions, which you already know. But if you destroy the ring, Aragorn's apples will destroy the rest of the life in Middle Earth, wipe it all out completely and painfully."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!" Frodo asked incredulously.
"Unfortunately. If you work together, though, you can stop this."
"How?"
"You see, you need to destroy the apples within the same minute you destroy the ring, and I mean, ALL of the apples."
"So you want me to throw Aragorn into the fire of Mount Doom too!"
"NO!" Gondor's TRUE queen exclaimed. "Don't you EVER do that to Aragorn, you fool of a Baggins!"
"Stop calling me that," Frodo murmured.
"What you need to do is have all of the apples cast out of Aragorn. For this, you need a wizard, like Gandalf."
"But Gandalf fell into shadow!" Frodo gasped.
"So what's your point?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You'll figure it out. Listen, I don't have much time, but I need to explain without anymore interruptions. Tell Aragorn that the next time he is being pinned to the ground by a troll's foot to tell Gandalf to cast all of the apples out of him and send them to Mount Doom. If they are destroyed at the same time as the ring, Sauron will be destroyed and the rest of the world will be safe, okay?"
"I guess…I still don't get who you are and all…"
"You'll find out in good time. Hey, look, Sam's over there and he's naked!"
Gondor's TRUE queen pointed behind Frodo. He looked over his shoulder saying, "Where!" He did not see Sam, clothed or naked, however, and went to look back at Gondor's TRUE queen, but she was gone.
"That was kinda weird…" Frodo said quietly.
He continued onward for a while.
"Frodo?" a voice said behind him.
Frodo jumped and looked around. Aragorn was standing there, looking concerned.
"Ahh! Stay away!" Frodo squeaked.
"Where is the ring?"
"I'm not giving it to you!"
"FRODO!" Aragorn yelled commandingly and Frodo stopped and listened to him. Aragorn walked up to him, saying, "I swore to protect you."
"It has taken Boromir. I can't trust any of you anymore. I have to go destroy the ring by myself or terrible things will happen. Do YOU want the ring, Aragorn?"
Aragorn looked down at the ring hanging from Frodo's neck. Someone whispered, "Elessar," in his ear, but he ignored it and looked into Frodo's eyes.
"I'd go with you to the end."
"Good. Look after the others for me. Especially Sam. Their brains are too tiny; they will not understand."
"Um, Frodo, pull out your sword," Aragorn said urgently, his brow furrowed at the hilt holding Sting.
"Why?" Frodo asked apprehensively.
"It's blue! It's blue! It's blue, bitches!" Bill said excitedly, jumping up and down on Aragorn's nose. Frodo pulled out Sting slightly, and the blade indeed was glowing blue.
"Frodo, don't waste time pretending you're brave and loyal and just run, dammit!" Aragorn said hurriedly, pulling out his own sword.
"Okay! Oh, and Aragorn, the next time you're being pinned to the ground by a troll's foot, tell Gandalf to cast all of the apples out of you and send them to Mount Doom!"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!"
"Just trust me! Bye, Aragorn! Bye, Bill!"
And without another word, Frodo ran off. Aragorn jogged in the opposite direction to find a myriad of orcs charging at him, except they were different than the typical orcs. He watched them and realized what they were.
"Uruk-hai," he muttered. "Saruman's work."
"Um, Aragorn, do you really think we can take these all by ourselves?" Bill asked fearfully.
"Hell no, but we don't really have a choice."
Aragorn rose up his sword as the Uruks came closer. Their leader was easily distinguishable at the front of them. It caught Aragorn's eye and roared in a way that told Aragorn neither would show any mercy.
Aragorn squared his shoulders and raised his chin up for a fight. He took one hand off his hilt momentarily and flicked off the Uruk leader, who's name was Lurtz. Then, Aragorn replaced his hand back upon the hilt, and ran into the mass of Uruks, yelling.
Sam had gone off on his own to look for Frodo. Merry and Pippin went together to look too. Legolas and Gimli went to look for Aragorn.
Frodo had to hide behind a tree momentarily as Uruks ran by. He glanced up to see Merry and Pippin hiding behind a rock a few feet to his left.
"Frodo!" Pippin whispered. "Hide here, quick!"
Frodo shook his head.
"What's he doing?" Pippin asked Merry.
"He's leaving," Merry supplied blandly. Frodo nodded, stood up, whispered, "You get a gold star," and continued down the hill and out of sight.
Pippin jumped out to go after him, but was promptly spotted by more oncoming Uruks. Merry jumped out too and the Uruks began to chase after them. They made to run in the opposite direction that Frodo had gone to keep them away from him. At one point, they were backed into a corner, and an Uruk was charging right at them, raising an ax. It was right up to them when-
"RAAWR! I KEEL YOU!"
Boromir had leapt in front of them, parried the blow, and killed the Uruk.
"Run!" he yelled. They did so and he chased after them, blowing the Horn of Gondor.
"Say, Boromir, can I blow the Horn of Gondor too?" Merry asked as they all ran away.
"No!"
Legolas and Gimli had found Aragorn a few minutes ago and were now helping him fight off the charge of Uruks. They were doing pretty well when they heard a horn in the distance.
"The Horn of Gondor!" Legolas stated.
"Boromir!" grunted Aragorn and he ran into the direction the horn was coming from, Legolas and Gimli following him.
Boromir, Merry, and Pippin had to stop running or the Uruks would get to them and kill them. Boromir signaled for them to back away and he fought the Uruks off, protecting them. He blew the Horn of Gondor between kills, Merry and Pippin watching anxiously, throwing their daggers to try and help out, but losing them and having no weapons left but rocks.
Boromir was fighting, but then felt a sudden blast of pain in his shoulder. He gasped, and fell to his knees: an arrow was sticking in his left shoulder. He took a few deep breaths, then stood up and continued to fight. Another arrow immediately struck him in the stomach. He gasped some more, but again, continued to fight.
"Why won't you DIE!" an evil voice growled from somewhere nearby. Merry and Pippin watched Boromir in shock.
"I," pant, pant, "KEEL," pant, pant, "YOU ALL!" Boromir gasped. He went on fighting, but was then struck a third time in the chest. He fell to his knees again, breathing hard and sweating furiously. He knew deep down that he couldn't get up again if he tried. He kneeled there, then the Uruks ran past him, scooping up Merry and Pippin. He had gone deaf momentarily, not able to hear the hobbits' voices as they were shouting, being carried away. All of the Uruks charged past him, ignoring him, and then the leader of them walked up to him.
He looked up into the face of Lurtz, who growled mercilessly at him, bring up his bow and arrow, aiming at his face. Boromir did not have the strength to fight back. He just kneeled there and watched. Lurtz pulled back the arrow, but then was sent flying to the ground as a figure hurtled at him from out of nowhere. It was Aragorn.
Aragorn began to fight fiercely with him. They both cursed and swore at each other as they did so. There was a moment when Lurtz hurled his shield at Aragorn and it pinned him to a tree by the throat. Lurtz charged at him, but Aragorn got himself free, did some more awesome fighting, then cut off Lurtz's head.
Exhausted and bloody, Aragorn rushed over to Boromir, who had managed to slide himself against a tree.
"They took the little ones!" he exclaimed. "Frodo, where is Frodo?"
"I let Frodo go," Aragorn said quietly.
"Then you did what I could not. Man, I'm such a bad person."
"No, you are not," Aragorn said sternly. "It was not your fault, but the ring's. You will have died an honorable death.
"I would have followed you to the end," Boromir smiled. "My captain, my brother, my king!"
Two seconds later, Boromir died, becoming completely still. Legolas and Gimli walked over. Aragorn kissed Boromir on the forehead, then stood up, smiling, but with a tear going down his cheek. Legolas and Gimli looked at each other and shrugged.
Frodo was back by the boats, thinking of Gandalf, and his words of wisdom. He got into a boat and began to go across the river when he heard a voice shouting behind him.
"FRODO! NO! WHERE ARE YOU GOING, MISTER?"
Frodo turned around to see Sam.
"No, Sam!" he called. "I'm going to Mordor alone!"
"Of course you are! And I'm coming with you!" Sam began to wade into the water.
"You can't swim, Sam!"
Sure enough, Sam began to sink to the bottom of the river, but was promptly pulled into Frodo's boat.
"I made a promise, Mr. Frodo," he gasped. "I promised Gandalf I would stay with you until I die!"
"Okay," Frodo shrugged. He continued to paddle across the river.
Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli watched the boat they had put Boromir in flow down the river and over the falls of Rauros. Legolas was talking about following Frodo and Sam, who were still visible on the Eastern Shore. Aragorn shook his head.
"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands," he said.
"Well, we all kinda failed," Gimli stated glumly.
"We will NOT abandon Merry and Pippin to torment and death!" Aragorn said indignantly. "We travel light." He looked at his friends with fierce motivation. "Let's hunt some orc!"
He ran off through Amon Hen. Legolas smiled at Gimli, who growled, "YES!" and followed after Aragorn. Legolas stood there, smiling deeply. He shook his head.
"I love my friends," he said, then ran after them.
Frodo and Sam climbed up the rocks of Emyn Muil, and looked upon the dark land in front of them, able to see Mordor.
"You think the others will be okay?" Frodo asked.
"Strider will look after them," Sam said cheerfully.
"I'm glad you're with me, Sam," Frodo said, smiling, and he walked ahead.
"Fool of a Baggins," Sam muttered happily. He jogged after Frodo, knowing already that he would follow him to whatever end….
To be continued with a sequel: Aragorn's Apples: The Two Towers…and Apples. Coming soon to a computer near you!