NolitariWe will! We will! Keep reviewing!

AnnamariahHope you like this chapter as well oh giver of reviews! We always try and see if you will review first or if someone else will beat you to it! Hugs and kisses.

crazyroninchicI really hate reading the parts where the elves die as well. Sniff sniff!

Mayhem : I two loved the 'Captain Vin Diesel' part of the story. It was my idea you know!

Winkle : Now sir you know ever well that it was what exactly happened to Emily and Barbara, you didn't make it up at all!

Snodgrass : SHUT UP!


AmfmchicWoot, what a delightful expression! I would encourage you to use it often and always in your review because I love it.

Elvin BlueEyesI guess your right although I don't know for sure myself. Because you see I am the Perfect Snodgrass and I never make mistakes.

Siriusly Sirius Lily BlackIf he is that just because he's always been so good at everything. Anyway you will love this chapter. Love Snodgrass.

Slayer3 : I know you will like this chapter as you and the elves get some action as always. Roar away mighty elven maiden!

AraelMoonchildJust because you give away your life's grace to a person doesn't mean that you are in love with them! Beside everyone falls in love with the poor elf! And Barbie is too…I don't know, you see I haven't even read the whole thing yet. Blast it!

Primevera Tookabsolutely wargs and orcs have been kicked! I love that you loved, that we loved, that we both loved…..I'm confused now. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter you'll love this one too I hope. Oh steal some fireworks for me! Please, Please!

Winkle : Sir are you encouraging these impressible youth to steal? From Gandalf? What is wrong with you?

Snodgrass : I am too cute to be blamed for it.

AnbuShinobi379 : You want to die by falling off the battlements? Ur..okay.

chelsey-pudgeUnfortunately you aren't in this chapter, but despair not! You'll appear soon!. Keep reading….oh and reviewing!

Pancake : Did I mention that I think your name is the Bee's Knees? Well I do. Your name is the Bee's Knees! And no we have never seen the princess bride, does it has anything bad in it? Let us know and we'll try and see it. Luv you!

Ellinde : We hear your entreaties and we listen and you will just have to read the whole story to see what happens. We are not surprised you found the last chapter so moving and Tolkien like, because this exactly happened in the same way that everything else in the LOTR books did. Keep reading!

Ty-Kwan-DoWe hope the both of you like this chapter, you will find Darafeth under her own name and I hope you like it. She really kicks some serious orc…

Winkle : Please…please say bottom!

Snodgrass : Very well, bottom!

Winkle : (Sighs happily.)



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Chapter 20, Hold me when I'm scared.

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Barb's POV

"Gamling, look, I really, really have to talk to King Théoden, right now! As in, this second! Let me go!"

I struggled, and tried to kick free of Gamling's firm grip. I had been trying to get to the King when I was "detained" by his right hand guy.

"Just tell me what it is !" he insisted, skillfully avoiding my attempted kicks.

"You wouldn't believe me! Let me go and you'll find out, it's for the good of Rohan I swear it!" Did I just say that?

"Then tell me what it is!" he gritted out, setting me down, but keeping me cornered.

I was right at the foot of the stairs, and I could see Théoden from there, so near and yet so far away. I had to warn him about the wall! Changing canon or no canon, this was people's lives and I didn't give a flying flip if this totally discombobulated the rest of history.

"Please, Gamling, I have to warn him." I repeated, frustration growing "It's about that wall!" I was practically crying I was so mad.

"Now, see here girl." he said, tone changing to that of someone trying to reason with a very small child "You should really be with the woman and children. You should let the King worry about the wall himself."

Oh, mistake, my dear man.

"Don't call me girl." I growled out, and then screamed out as loud as I possibly could "King Théoden, I need to talk to you right now and Gamling won't let me go!"

Gamling dropped me like a hot coal, covering his ears, but still trying to block me from getting to Théoden. Finally, breathing a prayer for forgiveness, I elbowed him right in the pit of his stomach, and ran around him, almost ramming right into the King.

"What are you doingI am so sorryget back here you!" Gamling had recovered quickly, and he, Théoden and I all spoke at once in confused jumble.

"Um, King." I started out quickly, before Gamling could stop me. "I have to warn you of a nefarious plot of Sauruman's concerning the wall!" Theoden stared down at me, and then up at Gamling.

"Gamling, what is she talking about?" he asked. Gamling looked flustered.

"I have no idea my lord." he said "She has some ridiculous idea in her head about the wall, nothing important."

"It is so important!' I said indignantly, now not regretting the wham to his stomach.

"Now, look, King Theoden, Sauruman put a bunch of these explosive black things into the culverttunnelthing under the wall, and he's going to send a big orc with a giant torch to set them off. The wall will be totally destroyed and we'll all be doomed!"

"What?" King Théoden looked at Gamling, who shrugged vaguely.

"I have no idea what she speaks of my lord. The walls of Helms Deep have never been breached before." ( How many times did these people think they had to repeat this? )

"I don't care if they've never been breached you imbecile! I know for a fact they will be breached tonight if you nimrods don't do something about it!" I froze. Did I just call King Theoden and his guys?

"How do you know this?" Theoden said challengingly, apparently he didn't know what a nimrod was…thank you God, thank you God.

"Because…I just know these things. Like, eh, I know what your thinking right now!" I blurted out "You're wondering why Gamling allows such lunatics to reach you, and your also trying to decide how to get me to leave peacefully."

Theoden's eyes widened, and he looked from me, to Gamling, from Gamling to me again.

"And." I added "Even if it is, we'll still win. You want to make a bet on it? I think I have a quarter around here somewhere."

"Yesno, I mean no! Attend to your post young lady!" Theoden finally lost his temper ((surprise, surprise, everyone hates me)

Oh, and you know that old guy who shot the first orc? It wasn't because his hands were so shaky…I bumped into his elbow.

Emily's POV

What is worse then all out battle? Waiting for all out battle. It was about three in the morning before the final tramp of feet finally came and the pounding of weapons and the roar of the orcs filled our ears even deep inside the Hornburg. Thankfully most of the children were asleep and didn't hear it, but all the rest of us did. Eowyn was trying to calm a hysterical girl.

"But they're dying and I want to be with them if I can! Oh! Lady Eowyn please! Let me go to them!" she cried, tears running down her face.

"Hush, now Farwyn, you'll do your family no good if you would go out to them. They would be too worried about defending you to protect themselves. Now, make your father proud and stay with us. I need you to be strong for the sake of the children. Do you understand?"

She wiped at her tears with the back of her sleeve and nodded. Eowyn patted her hand and went onto another woman who was weeping quietly. Almost everyone was going to lose a family member tonight and I felt sick at the thought. I was standing by the door and listening the continual sound of the orcs stamping their rusty weapons on the ground. It was slowly getting to me. I guess that's why they were doing it.

Who knew that orcs actually had the ability to do anything besides kill things? I fingered my sword where it hung from my waist, beautifully made and as dull as a butter knife. Being a diplomat came with it's annoying moments.

"You have a lovely sword." said a slightly sarcastic voice. I looked up to see a tallish girl in a rough woolen dress covered in a leather apron thing. She stood with her hands on her hips and looked at me scornfully.

"I beg your pardon, were you talking to me?" I said, I mean "Hello!" this isn't exactly the nicest looking girl in the world. Not with her long hair hanging in her face and around her snotty looking hazel eyes.

"Yes, I was my Lady. Honestly I don't know what you're doing here. It's not even as if you can do anything with that thing." and she gestured at my sword.

"I'm sorry Missy but I didn't catch your name. And where to you get off being so rude to me? I didn't do anything to you, what's your problem?"

"I just can't stand the sight of a little prissy like you standing there trying to look concerned and still wearing that proud I-know-it-all look on your face. Besides, you could be doing something to help out with the rest of us."

I narrowed my eyes at this catty young woman, we stood nose to nose in height (thanks to the Ent draught, I think my limbs are still aching.) and I wasn't about to take this sass laying down.

"Now look here, first of all I have idea what to say to these woman to help and if my sword were sharp I would use it on you. Now if you think the woman need so much help go and do it and stop insulting your elders!"

She stood there and for one frightening moment she looked like she was going to tackle me. However instead she smiled and said "I think that you'll do, if you what I can show where the food is, we're going to serve some soon. By the way, the name is Darafeth."

I smiled back and said, "Call me Emily, just because I'm married doesn't mean I need the title."

We spent the next ten minutes passing out bowls of soup ( not Eowyn's) to everyone who was awake. Just as I handed some Eowyn an explosion rocked the cave and I fell on top of Eowyn and people screamed. As I pulled myself off the poor princess I grabbed at one of the torches that had fallen out of it's holder.

"What was that?" cried Eowyn. Before I could say anything Darafeth came running up her face white.

"The wall is breached! By some power I've never seen the wall is breached!"

Immediately woman and children began to panic, they started milling around in confused and frightened groups. Eowyn was shouting and trying to calm people down but nothing was happening. Pulling myself up on some rock I screamed at the top of my lungs.

In the cave the sound was magnified and suddenly everything was fairly quiet and I was on the receiving end of many stares. Oh, and my throat hurt too.

"Now listen up. We need to first find anything we can use for weapons and arm ourselves if necessary. Panicking will get us no where. Now the women of your country know how to fight so you sure as heck better be able to do something now. Darafeth, you see to arming all those who can swing anything like a sword and then anyone who can throw rocks or something okay? Eowyn you get all the children close to the back of the cave now the secret exit. Okay everyone go!"

I jumped down and helped to arm the woman with pans and pots and even some scissors. Ouch! I won't want to be the one on the receiving end of those things!

And then everything happened so fast that I hardly had the time to think what to do next. The door burst open and men and elves poured in and barred the door and started to pile anything they could find against the doors. Windows were opened and what archers remained, fired volley after volley into the orcs outside. It was painful to see some of them fall to the ground the black arrows of the enemy protruding from them.

Legolas was carrying a table across the room as four soldiers dragged another one just like it from the other side. I couldn't help, but take a second to admire his strength. Barbie was screaming something out as she threw a rock out the window and reached for another. A small chain of boys were doing the same from a safe position in the other windows. They were too small to make a good target for the arrows. Than I hear what they were all saying,

"Remember Jackie Chan!"

Lord preserve us!

Boromir was nowhere to be seen and I looked around trying to find him, but I couldn't. Where was he? I tried to find Aragorn and Theoden and I saw them in the corner of the room. Theoden was just standing like a stone, Aragorn was trying to question him, but he was only going on and on about "such reckless hate."

Finally Aragorn turned to Gamling and I knew I had to do what I could for the women first and Boromir later. He was a warrior after all. I prayed as I ran back to the women shouting "Get into the passage! Forget everything just go, go, go!"

Then mother's caught up their babies and sisters grabbed their siblings hands and were running for their lives. Just then Hadrien came in the room blood pouring from a gash on his shoulder. He collapsed into Darafeth's arms as I grabbed some towels and began to bind up the cut which almost turned my stomach.

"They broke through the wall,…..so many dieing….I..I have to get out there!" he gasped.

"I know, I know you will just hang on a bit. Here give your sword to Darafeth, and use your flail." I said as I tied the last knot tight. He weakly handed the heavy blade to the girl who grabbed it and went to the door and stood poised for any attack. I helped the young guardian to his feet and he smiled a bit.

"You should use your own blade now, my Lady."

"I can't, it's just for show." I said, feeling like an idiot.

"My Lady, did not the giver tell you what it was?" Hadrien asked as I helped him to stand beside Darafeth.

I stood there feeling even more like a fool and then the words of the Lord Celeborn came back to me.

"My gift is small. but it will behoove you have it in the future. Use it as a last resort and when you do know that experience is not needed. It was the treasure of a mighty warrior and ambassador once, so now it will pass to another."

And as I looked down at the blade I realized that this was the time I had needed this weapon for. I looked at Hadrien and said "Can you read Elvish?"

"Yes, why?"

"What does my sword say?"

He looked down at the sword resting in my hands and his golden eyes traveled along the blade and he smiled and said "My Lady your blade is perfect. It's name is this "Diplomacy's End."

I nodded, "For the time when diplomacy ends and survival takes precedence."

"I would say that would be now!" Darafeth yelled and the big main door was hurled down and orcs poured into the room.

Barb's POV.

Keep back the orcs I thought frantically Give Emily and the others time to get out of here! Keep back the orcs!

The wall had been breached, despite all my warnings, despite Legolas desperately trying to shoot the orc down. Now all we were doing was giving the others time. It was dark, it was raining, and the enemy was pouring through the wall in a seemingly never ending stream. I was still on the wall, with many of the younger boys.

" Keep on with the rocks!" I yelled, pulling out another arrow, and shaking my wet hair out of my eyes, I released it. I was beginning to worry, I only had six or seven arrows left.

The boys were pelting the orcs with a veritable hail of stones, and chunks of loose wall. Considering the armor the orcs were wearing, it didn't seem to do much, but that was all they could do.

Oh, and Emily was right about that stupid helmet. If I hadn't been wearing that dorky, uncomfortable piece of metal, I would've been beaned about million times by flying pieces of wall, badly aimed rocks, etc, etc, etc. What an ignoble death! I could see me obituary now "Barbie Of Some Place She Made Up In Her Twisted Mind, died defending Rohan. Was killed by a chunk of rock from wall she couldn't stop from exploding."

"We're running out of rocks!" A plaintive call jolted me back to reality, and I looked with dismay at the dwindling pile of stones and such. Not enough men, not enough arrows, and now we were running out of rocks!

"Justthere's an orc heading for that elfkeepaim carefully now, don't waste this shotthrowingrelease the arrow. Too late, the orc swings it's swordROCKS!" I finished vehemently, resisting the urge to throw up. I reached back again, fumbled around in my quiver, and pulled out my last arrow.

Picking the ugliest orc within my range, I pulled my bow back as far as it would go, and then watched with vicious satisfaction as it sank deep into it's unprotected back. Only then did I let the realization sink in…I had nothing to fight with.

"There's no rocks left!"

I turned, just in time to see a fresh group of orcs swarm over the walls, shouting and wielding their dull, iron weapons. Our tiny bunch…was trapped, unarmed. Between them, and the forces below.

"Hang on! We're commmmming!"

A sudden shout rang out, and I turned to see Hadrien and Boromir charging down the wall, cutting through the orcs like wheat. Boromir was swinging his sword left and right like a madman, and Hadrien was using a flail, which is basically a spiky metal ball on a big stick. He was smashing orcs right off the wall as he ran, actually cracking through their thick armor.

"Hurry!" I screamed, filled with relief, and yet fear.

There would be an absolute slaughter if the orcs reached us before Boromir and Hadrien did. I heard a frightened whimper, as one of the really young boys, he couldn't have been more than six, crowded up close to me, tears streaking down his round face. The orcs were almost upon us, and as one was lifting up a huge, wide sword, I just put my arms around the poor kid, and closed my eyes. The blow never fell.

With a deafening clatter, Hadrien smashed his flail into the sword, sending the orc reeling backwards, falling right on his botto. As the other orcs stumbled back, jostling and teetering, Boromir drove his sword straight through the orc's chest. The creature screamed in mortal agony, body twisting under the impact of the blow. They say there are some things you can never forget, and that scream is one of them.

"Thank you guys! I owe you, majorly." I gasped. Boromir kept on fighting, slashing ruthlessly into the orcs.

"Well.." he said "It wouldn'tsmashbe veryslitgoodcrashif my wife's sistercrunchdiedbamboozlewhat kind ofwhammarriage would I havetake that scum!then!"

"Good point!" I said, wincing as I watched him get an orc right in the gut, sword sliding right through the armor with a odd, sucking noise.

I don't care what I do in battle, but when I'm not doing anything, just watching, I can be pretty squeamish. One of the little boys threw up, and I patted his back, and remembered that I still had Gimli's old handkerchief still in my pocket. I gave it to him, and he sort've hid his face in it, shoulders shaking.

"Hadrien." I said, holding back tears, there wasn't the right time or place "Where can I take these kids?"

"You can take them to the Hornburgfilthy beast!" By the way, he was referring to an orc he was busy impaling, not me.

Hornburg. I thought vaguely Definition, a character created by Dr. Seuss in his happy world involving sterile library books, which always get checked out by happy five and six year olds.

"The stairs! Run!"

I made the boys run ahead of me, pushing them faster and faster towards the tower steps. It was half-way there that I realized that one of the boys was missing, the one who had thrown up.

"You!" I said, picking at random one of the older boys "Take them up into the tower, I'll be right there!" To his credit, he didn't stutter, or look confused, he just grabbed up two of the littlest boys, and ran with them, the others flocking behind.

Dodging the dead bodies, and a few random orcs who were milling around, looking a bit confused, I spotted the little boy. He was huddled up on the stone, curled into a tiny ball, as if he were trying to escape this terrifying place by not looking. Utterly unprotected, he was completely vulnerable to an advancing orc, who gripped a long spear in one grimy hand.

If this kid dies, I'm going to kill myself." I thought, running forward as fast as I could, despite the fact that I had no weapon. I wasn't going to get there in time though, already the orc stood poised with it's spear. As it fell, I screamed.

When the deep sound of the Hornburg's trumpet rumbled across the walls, it was already over. Hadrien had come too late, slaying the orc with one, enraged swing of his flail. And as the sun began to barely show over the horizon, I was left there on the wall, clutching my empty bow in one hand.

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Emily's POV

"Get out of the way!" Hadrien yelled as a mace swished through the air where my head been a second before. I saw my chance as the orc struggled to remove his mace from the wall, I swung up with my "dull" sword and sliced through the thing like a hot knife through butter.

It fell dead and we went on, Darafeth and I kept just behind Hadrien as the orcs tried to force a way through to the last door that stood between the helpless women and children. Everyone thinks that because the rest of the men had ridden out to fight that it automatically saved those inside from any attack. Well, that's just hogwash, because the orcs were pouring in any space they could find.

Darafeth really knew what she was doing and had already killed at least ten of the things. I watched as she drove her sword deep into an orc and give some war cry when her pulled it out, black blood dripping everywhere. Finally we had found a way to defend the door so that we only had a small area to keep them back from, however this also had us penned in a bit.

"Keep it up the sun is rising!' I yelled, my voice was really hoarse by this point and only Darafeth heard me.

"What good will that do they can walk around in the day." she yelled back while ducking a scimitar blow.

"Eomer will be here in a few minutes with Gandalf!" I cried back as a stray knife sliced through my sleeves and cut my arm. Thanks to Hadrien it didn't go very deep because he had driven his flail into the orcs face causing him to miss making a more dangerous wound.

And just then as if saying the words had called them closer the figures rode over the hill, only instead of standing there to make a little speech to each other like in the movie they just rode down screaming and yelling all the way.

This distracted the orcs long enough for us to kill a few more with any attack focused on us. And then they just turned tail and started running in the other direction!

"Hey, I can work with this! Just let them go!" I said, as Darafeth and Hadrien were about to go after them. They looked at me as if I was crazy and then watched as Eomer's forces devastated the remaining orcs, driving them father and father away from the Deep. I could see in the cold morning light the forest of Fangorn was indeed hemming in the way and I watched as Aragorn and Eomer told the rest of the men not to follow them.

And by the way, the sound of the trees eating, or killing the orcs was horrible. It was something that nightmares are made of and sometimes I will wake up with the sound ringing in my ears.

And then it was all over.

They were gone, and we finally stopped to look around at the numberless bodies that littered the Deep. The carnage of battle is like nothing I had ever understood before, because unlike the movies people didn't die immediately of clean and painless wounds. No, they some of these men had died terrible deaths and even here and there I could see the slender body of a fallen elf, golden armor still gleaming through the blood.

"Eru have mercy." Hadrien whispered.

I was frantically looking for my husband, I couldn't see him anywhere at all.

"Boromir! Boromir! Where are you!" I cried. I looked around the rocks and bodies looking for that telltale show of red and gold. Suddenly I was being crushed in a bear hug against Boromir's chest.

"You little fool, what were you doing out there?" he said as he pulled away to look me over. He saw the cut on my arm and crushed me to him again saying, "You don't know what was running through my head when you ran out into the battle. I really should bend you over my knee and spank the life out of you."

"Look at you only our second day of marriage and your already threatening to beat me! So much for respecting me as you would yourself!" I laughed.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and laughed as tears run down my cheeks. It felt so good to be in his arms to know he was alive, in the middle of a battle field we were together and at this point nothing mattered.

"Don't you ever do something like again do you hear me!" he demanded. I looked up at him for a minute and had about one tenth of a second before his lips claimed mine and we both forgot about promises and battle.

But then we had to turn to the horrible task of picking up the pieces of the shattered Deep. Can I tell you what went through my mind as we picked up the dead and dying men and elves and brought them back to the Hornburg? The cries of pain and death are…..I can't say you simply cannot understand.

Gandalf, Aragorn and everyone else helped as we searched for the living in the masses of reeking orcs and other bodies. We found many alive that only lived for a few hours and died peacefully in the arms of their families.

It was hours and hours later when we finally had all the dead men and elves buried. It was hard, but it had to be done. We left the orcs where they were we weren't about to worry about those things until the next day, at this point everyone was dead on their feet. Barbie was already sleeping with her head on Legolas's shoulder and he looked like he was sleeping as well, I mean the way his eyes were unfocused on anything. I had heard her crying earlier, she had witnessed the death of one of the little boys and it was effecting her deeply.

I found Boromir in the hands of one of the women who was binding up all his wounds and he was wiping the dried blood off his face where the scratch of the day before was bleeding again. I took the rag and did it for him as the woman, I think her name was Mara, finished up with his arm.

He leant back again the wall and I sat beside him under the shelter of his unwounded arm. He kissed the top of my head and said, "I think we should start a model of marriages for the people of Gondor, get married and spend the first few days killing orcs. What do you think?"

"Only if your father approves it. I really think that we should. I certainly think that we have set a standard that won't be met by most people." I would have said more but a yawn the size of Alaska overcame me and I just rested my head against Boromir's shoulder. He started playing with my hair with his free hand and I wrapped my arms around him to feel the rise and fall of his breathing.

I was about to drift off when he suddenly laughed.

"What?" I asked sleepily.

"They won."

"Who? We won the battle." I muttered.

"No, not this battle. The one about marriage, we lost at the very end, we lost." he laughed again and stroked my cheek saying, "But I think I'm a pretty good loser this time."