Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters or settings from Lord of the Rings or Xena the Warrior Princess

Author's Note:

This is a LegoRomance (slow-burn)

~ LVIII: The Formless Shade of the East ~

Edoras, 3019 TA, March 5

Xena's thoughts were getting nowhere, it was like she was pulled into a meaningless mind game. A game of her own darkness that became a protective saviour who was unknown, but bound in duty to obey the light, then the darkness became the most of black velvets illuminated by heaven-spun stars. There lost in her own dream of her memories she conquer the season of darkness by opening a door to her own light.

Xena stood watching the valley under the cliff, and further west the forests and rivers. There were all her memories of Middle-Earth, united in one dream. In her dream he seemed excited for her to recognise the places, the valley was familiar, the golden trees, and the rivers. She tried to run and jump off the climb into the familiar scenery but her way was cut. A coldness settled in her bones until everything was gone and the blue sky only remain.

"Xena, it's not as if people will stare at you." a familiar voice told her and Xena knew immediately that she was dreaming. She was standing on the rim of a cliff, it was windy and it was raining, the darkness was gone and a familiar light had appeared. There she was sitting on a rock admiring the unseen view beyond the cliff.

She took a deep breath letting the familiar sounds, smells and sights settle in. Even if it was a dream it was nice to see Gabrielle once again. "I'm not worried about that," she answered noticing that she was wearing the same dress as last night.

"It's the latest rage in Rohan. You know what they say... When in Gondor..." Gabrielle told her as she turned over relaxing her body and smiling at Xena "You should wear dresses more often!"

"Oh, please." Xena offered as she rolled her eyes and took a step next to Gabrielle "I don't know, Gabrielle. Look- this is just not me."

"No, no. It is you. It was just taken away from you!" her friend offered while starting to fix the collar of her dress "I don't know, Gabrielle. Look- this is just not me. There's a lot to be said about immersing yourself into the culture of new land."

"What's that?" retorted Xena "Wearing gowns and acting like a lady?"

"I don't know. But you can try and give it a chance. After all, it is home, isn't it?" Gabrielle said waiting for the warrior princess to answer.

When Gabrielle asked the question it was daytime in her dreams, but Xena answered came late at night when the stars were hiding behind the clouds and the wind became stronger. "I have given it many chances, Gabrielle," Xena admitted "There places I could live, but I preferred to remain dead." She sighed and shook her head "I am not sure where home is any longer!"

"Home is where your heart lays, Home is where you are supposed to be," she smiled at her "Why are you fighting it. Let go, and just be! If you try to force things you will never get the answers. And you know that."

"I know it," Xena admitted "But since when do I go with the flow Gabrielle. I have fought against it all my life."

"You have! Since the day I met you. But there are times Xena you can't win, and you have to accept what life is giving to you." she answered softly placing her hand against Xena's "Accept what you are, and things will come easier."

"I am dead," Xena insisted "And I have accepted it. Then all this happened! Wars, elves, hobbits, rings and too many things that are not part of our world."

"But they are," Gabrielle offered "You're just being stubborn."

"I am not," Xena argued "Everyone else is who is trying to have me accept Middle Earth as my new home. It's not!"

"I am sorry Xena, but it is..." was the last thing that Xena heard before everything became dark.

She was surrounded by nothingness. There was a rising hollow that slowly started drawing everything in. Xena stood up looking around for Gabrielle but she was gone. There was nothing there. No friends, no light... only darkness. She turned around trying to find her way out, but she could not. She fought against the darkness, but nothing happened. She was stuck for a long moment in that strange dream until she woke up.

She was still dressed in the same gown that she had ripped hours ago while fighting the elf. She was not sure what had rose his odd behaviour. She was sitting on the large bed when she felt it. There was something eerie coming to life. She had felt it before the day when Saruman had summoned her in Isengard. But the wizard was now dead, and only one shadow remain. That was the dark lord.

Xena lept off her bed and rushed outside towards the Golden Halls. She started running towards where the darkness was rising. It seemed like darkness sweep to over the hollow and something was calling her. She did not linger until she managed to find the rest of the company that was sleeping.

Aragorn held his pipe as he exited the Golden Hall and Legolas had crossed the gate of the Golden Hall. He was standing outside, gazing at the stars. He could not sleep or rest, most of his troubles were settled after the dual. But there was still a burning fire inside him. He had spotted eerie darkness. The pitch-black curtain draped over the sky and the twisted, warped shapes that the stars made against the blackness. The night had changed it. The speckles, that twirled and danced along in his heart and mind in various patterns, were now gone.

"The stars are veiled. Something stirs in the East. Sleepless malice. The Eye of the enemy is moving." Legolas noted. He was wearing the hoodie of his cloak feeling the wind hollowing against the strange night. "He is here!" suddenly said Legolas loudly as he turned and gazed towards the Golden Hall.

Aragorn and Legolas dashed off through the entrance of the Golden Hall where the noise could be heard. Pippin, stuck to the burning orb, as he had grabbed the Palantír from Gandalf. Aragorn stepped in and pulled the Palantír from Pippin as he fell to his knees, in shock. The Palantír slipped from Aragorn's hands and rolled across the floor. Gandalf, who had awoken threw a cloth over it.

"Fool of a Took!" The wizard said as he tended to a terrified Pippin "Look at me."

"Gandalf! Forgive me!" mumbled the hobbit and then looked away.

"Look at me. What did you see?" demanded Gandalf, really serious about what his eyes had seen.

"A tree… there was a white tree in a courtyard of stone… it was dead. The city was burning." Pippin responded with a scary look on his face.

"The courtyard of Minas Tirith!" said Aragorn.

"I saw… I saw Him! I could hear His voice in my head!" Pippin confessed as his eyes seem lost.

"And what did you tell Him? Speak!" Gandalf quizzed. He had to know if the hobbit shared any information with Sauron.

"He asked me my name. I didn't answer. He hurt me!" Pippin told the wizard.

"What did you tell Him about Frodo and the Ring?" Gandalf asked terrified.

"Nothing, Gandalf!" Pippin added.

Théoden, Gandalf, and the others considered the next course of action. It was evident that the enemy would shortly strike Gondor. The King did not want to go to Gondor's help. In the end, they did not aid Rohan when the war broke out. Aragorn proposed going. However, Gandalf declined. It was determined that the wizard and Pippin would go to Minas Tirith and notify them. Gandalf desired that the ranger approach Minas Tirith through a different route. There, they arranged to meet. Only the King declined assistance. At least until Gondor requested assistance. The wizard was gone, and Shadowfax's clomping hooves were lost in the darkness.

"So five of the Company still remain!" said Aragorn. "We will ride on together. But we shall not go alone, as I thought. The king is now determined to set out at once." They were waiting for Théoden to agree when the signal beacons would light in succession across several peaks and Gondor would call for aid. They hoped that the King would answer.

The company of five had long awakened, after all the insistence that had occurred. They were gathered outside watching the signals to be fired, to inform the King and to take action. But until that happened the ranger wanted to know who would follow.

"And then whither?" asked Legolas.

"I cannot say yet! I think, he will hear tidings of war, and the Riders of Rohan will go down to Minas Tirith. But for myself, and any that will go with me!" Aragorn answered.

"I for one!" cried Legolas.

"And Gimli with him!" said the Dwarf.

"I for sure too!" Xena agreed.

"Don't leave me behind!" said Merry.

"You road lead with us!" Aragorn agreed.

((Upcoming Chapter Fifty-Nine))

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