A/n: again, a thanks for the reviews. I'm really starting to struggle as I continue (I am a bit farther than this) but as the plot bunnies run around they keep coming back with different ideas… I apologize for how the story may seem a bit dragged out, but in my best effort to write something credible, I didn't want to write one of those stories where everything moves insanely too fast and you don't understand where partnerships, friendships and romance can come from. *heheeh* not that I'm eluding to anything -.-;…
Anyway…here's chapter five "Fall of the Mighty"
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They breached the crest of the mountain and began to push through the knee-deep snow that steadily grew in height. Gandalf had demanded that the Hobbits go between them. Piccolo watched as Merry and Pippin pulled their cloaks closer to their bodies to keep in the warmth. He frowned, but followed along the treacherous stretch. Legolas scooted by, walking on top of the snow and quickly making his way to the front. Piccolo and Sam both looked up at him in a mixture of awe and jealousy. A boulder flew the through the air, like a streaking evil comet and a yell sounded from the front and Boromir pulled Frodo in from an onslaught of avalanching snow. Another fireball flew through the air and Piccolo could feel the heat as it passed.
Piccolo couldn't hear what was going on for the wind, but soon the group had been turned around and was bound for the caverns below. The change in the weather and temperatures was slow, but Piccolo found he could no longer see his breath and the Hobbits weren't shivering as badly as they once were. The smell of water came to Piccolo's nose, but instead of the crisp, clean scent he had grown to recognize with it, it smelled of sludge and stench. Vegeta and Goku both sneezed several times as they grew nearer. When Vegeta sneezed again Boromir laughed.
"You're going to kiss a fool." He grinned and Vegeta's eyes widened.
Goku giggled. "Geez, 'Geta, I wonder who it will be." Vegeta's face drained of color and Piccolo snorted as he grinned coyly at Vegeta. The Ouji's face colored but he scowled at him anyway.
The procession soon stopped, a set of enormous granite doors blocking their path. Gandalf raised his staff and began to speak loudly, the tip of his walking cane glowing a white-blue light. Everyone waited with baited breath but nothing happened. Merry and Pippin both growing antsy with the wait began to skip stones in the water.
Frodo bit his lip and his eyebrows furrowed in thought. "What's the elven word for friend?"
Gandalf looked at him and spoke, "Mellan." The doors began to shudder and the great groaning of their weight broke away into darkness as they opened slowly. Gandalf smiled down at the Hobbit. "Good work my little Hobbit. Good work." They entered slowly, Legolas with bow and arrow, Aragorn and Boromir with weapons drawn.
"I don't like the air in here." Aragorn whispered, feeling as though the dark itself would spring to life and smother them. Legolas nodded his agreement and turned sharply to every drip of water or scurry of rat. "Let's leave this place."
Gandalf's foot crunched noisily and he looked down at a crushed skull beneath his boot. Legolas stopped beside him and looked at the bodies strewn around them, thin arrows jutting from the skeletons. His eyes narrowed. "Goblins."
The group backed out slowly and Merry heaved a large stone into the water, the clap and spray of water catching Aragorn's attention for the first time. "Stop!" But it was too late. A large ribbed tentacle rose from the water and wrapped itself around Frodo's legs. Piccolo cried out, wishing for the first time since their arrival that they had their ki. Legolas fired shot after shot at the beast as new tentacles reached from the water.
Aragorn leapt from one to another, finally leaping high enough to lacerate the feeler with Frodo in its clutches. Frodo fell and was caught in Piccolo's thick arms as he jumped from one flailing limb to another and off of the beast while Aragorn drove his sword deeply into it.
"Everyone, back inside!"
They ran, filling the entryway and stumbled forward over bones and armor as the wall behind them caved in. The sound echoed deep within the caverns and Piccolo's head throbbed dully long after the sound had ceased to reverberate. He set Frodo on the ground and the little Hobbit gasped shallow breaths as he thanked Piccolo and Aragorn. Gandalf proclaimed that he knew his way through the chambers and began to lead them deeper into the halls.
Their footfalls echoed dully, Vegeta and Goku's eyes looking wide and alert as their saiyajin pupils dilated fully to peer into the invading darkness. Goku could smell something in the air, but for the life of him couldn't determine what it was. A mixture of rot and feces with something else, as though whatever was just out of their sight were wearing a jacket of decaying meat. He bumped into Vegeta and a shocked 'oh' escaped him before he sighed and rested a hand on the Ouji's shoulder. Vegeta smirked into the darkness and let the hand rest where it lay.
After several more minutes passed, Gandalf stopped and scratched at his beard. The group gathered around until they all stood in the circle of light, expectant and waiting. After a moment, the wizard said softly, "I don't remember…"
Goku felt Vegeta grow rigid under his hand and squeezed his shoulder lightly. The last thing they needed was for Vegeta to grow angry and have a tantrum. Vegeta grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. The Fellowship waited—in all honesty what could they do besides wait—and stared pointedly into the darkness to try to catch a glimpse of what they knew was lurking in the deep shadows.
They sat and rested for several minutes. Aragorn and Legolas sitting with Gimli as the stricken dwarf bemoaned the death of all the dwarves that had lived in the great hall. Frodo had gone to Gandalf's side and a moment later the wizard spoke.
"Ah…follow me." Gandalf began again, the Fellowship following closely on his heels.
"You remember then?" Boromir asked, gazing up at the high columns.
"No, but the air smells much cleaner this way." Gandalf didn't look over his shoulder and missed the wary glances between the members of the fellowship.
With a great cry, Gimli began to run toward a room off of the pathway, Gandalf calling after him before the others followed. They entered a vast room; skeletons still in their armor were laid across the expanse in heaps. The group disbursed, staring around them at whatever eeriness caught their fancy. Gimli sniffed deeply, Legolas dropping a hand onto his shoulder as they discovered the tomb of a dwarf, Gimli's cousin, Balin. Gandalf blew dust off of a thick book, the binding creaking as he opened it. He began to read from its pages, turning them slowly with nimble fingers. The others listened to the tales within, a growing sense of dread covering them like a sheet. Pippin gaped, stepping over bones and staring at the large spider webs that hung from the ceiling. He stumbled backward, hitting something hard and a skeleton clattered as it fell down a chute. Pippin froze in horror. Gandalf turned on him, anger flaring in his eyes.
"Son of a took! Next time throw yourself down and rid us of your stupidity." He pointed his staff at the well and paused. A steady thumping came from somewhere deep within the caverns. All movement stopped as they gazed around themselves in dismay. The beats grew closer. "Prepare yourselves…"
The door to the room splintered, oak shards flying haphazardly. Piccolo covered his face with one hand as masses of the ugliest little creatures he'd ever seen spilled into the room. Aragorn had drawn his sword, shouting out orders, Legolas already picking off a near dozen before they fully entered the room. Gimli grinned, hauling his axe from his belt and chopping wildly into the throng.
Vegeta could be heard laughing from across the room, already growing bloody as beast after beast had a limb torn from their body and were beaten to death with it. Goku snarled, his warrior's face firmly in place as he drove fists and feet through every other enemy. The Hobbits stood in a circle, taking down one goblin and then fleeing before take down another. Piccolo's own blood began to sing as he threw himself into the throes of battle, wailing at whatever monster came within reach. The crowd thinned considerably and the warriors began to breath a little easier thinking it was not going to be as bad as they thought when a hollow boom and the blasting smell of rot filled the room. A bead of sweat rolled from Piccolo's temple down to his jaw, the most repulsive creature had barreled in, a mallet the size of a fallen tree clenched in its leathery hand.
Aragorn gasped in surprise. The troll sniffed heavily and turned, Frodo stood in the corner, one hand clasped tightly around the ring and he shivered as the thing started to stomp forward. "FRODO!" Aragorn struggled to break through the mesh of goblins but they continued to rain in on them.
Piccolo turned, the troll several feet from Frodo and it was lurching the huge mallet onto its shoulder to bring it down in a heavy arc. Piccolo yelled out, but he too was caught in the swirl. An arrow whistled by Piccolo's head and stuck into the Troll's meaty thigh. The beast bellowed, angry, but it turned from Frodo long enough for the poor Hobbit to hide behind a stone pillar. Piccolo drove his fist through a creature's head and shook his arm mightily to get the smelly thing off. The Troll still stood in the corner, trying its damndest to get at the little one but Gimli was peeling the last head off of his group like a rotten grape and charging his way to help the brave Hobbit.
The Troll turned at the sound of Gimli's hoarse yell and swung a giant fist. It only clipped the dwarf, but it still sent him sailing through the air, axe handle slipping from his clenched fist as he dove head first at the ground. Goku grunted and blurred out of the small group of creatures that were tangled around him and caught the dwarf with a great whoosh of air.
"Thank ye, laddie." Gimli got to his feet, already half way back to his axe when Goku stood up and shook his head to clear it.
Merry and Pippin leapt from some upper wall and dropped down on the Troll's back. Piccolo grinned at their courage but flinched at their attack. The troll shook them off like water and Frodo continued to dance around the post, trying his damndest not to let the thing catch him. Arrows rained again, some bouncing off of the thick hide, others piercing it. The Troll only roared, annoyed beyond belief and continued to hunt the Hobbit that kept eluding it.
Finally fed up with the chase, the Troll aimed a tall candelabrum and wielded it as a trident. He drove the metal and it clanged against the rock. Aragorn blasted by, stopping the attack with his blade only to be beaten into a wall with one fist and laid unconscious. Frodo, now in a panic, called out to his friend just as the candelabra drove itself deeply into his side. He let out a moan of pain and slumped down a pillar. Random cries echoed out as they watched Frodo fall to the floor and Aragorn came to attacking the troll with all of his might, Gimli beside him, making great divots in the beasts hide. An arrow flew hard and straight, catching the thing in one eye, it bellowed before two more arrows embedded themselves in its throat and it fell to the earth.
After much panting and a great deal of wiping blood from their eyes, Sam's voice caught their attention.
"Mr. Frodo!" He ran to the fallen Hobbit after finally getting around the great Troll. He leaned over his friend, tears of worry in his eyes as he repeated his name like a mantra. "Mr. Frodo? Mr. Frodo?"
Gandalf hurried forward and heaved a sigh of relief as the small Hobbit stood on shaky legs and groaned. "How in the world…" Frodo pulled open the top of his tunic and displayed the weavings of his uncle's chain-mail. Gandalf smiled broadly. "You are certainly full of surprises."
After a moment of flushed cheer rousing everyone's spirits, the banging began again and Gandalf turned to the door. "Quickly."
En masse, the group hurried down the corridors into a great hall. The banging had ceased and Gandalf's eyes grew wide. His knuckles grew white as he gripped his cane and as the light shattered the darkness, the Fellowship gasped at the hordes of creatures that surrounded them. The smell of burning brick wafted around them and the ethereal growl echoed along the hall walls. The goblins began to scurry, falling down cracks and climbing columns.
"That is not something that can be stopped with what weapons we carry." Gandalf's eyes were far away as he spoke. "Run!"
Piccolo made sure the Hobbits were all accounted for as he ran, ticking off a mental checklist to make sure everyone was in stride as they came to the stone staircases.
"Down the stairs! Quickly!" Gandalf's voice was sharp and clear. As they descended the stairs, Piccolo watched as one of the Hobbit's slipped and his heart leapt into his throat but Boromir caught the small one's shoulder and righted him. Vegeta and Goku were in the rear grabbing one beast after another and heaving them into the crowds to push them back. The things were racing down stairwells all over the room. The ground shook and Piccolo noticed for the first time that they were going town the steepest, narrowest set of stairs he had ever seen and they had no guardrail and only a bottomless void below them.
The ground shuttered again and the staircase rocked and began to crack. Boromir, Gandalf and three of the Hobbits were halfway down the stairs when a chunk fell away. Aragorn grabbed Frodo as the Hobbit wobbled over the breach.
"You'll have to jump!" Aragorn's voice carried and Piccolo watched as Legolas' leapt easily to the other side. The screeching of the beasts grew closer and Piccolo could see some of their hides glowing dully in the low lighting. Aragorn picked Gimli up and the dwarf growled low.
"Nobody tosses and dwarf!" Aragorn set him back on his feet and Gimli jumped as far as he could, his toes barely making purchase with the edge of the stairs. He began to tip backwards, his arms flailing for balance when Legolas grasped him by the beard and hauled him forward. Gimli growled, rubbing at his chin. "Aye, watch the beard!"
Piccolo might have laughed at any other time, but the seriousness of the situation was growing as the beasts were running in hundreds toward them and the sharp snap of the stairwell began to squeal. Vegeta and Goku easily made the leap, followed closely by Piccolo, against his better judgment to see the others off of the falling rock first. As Aragorn and Frodo neared the edge another piece of stairs fell and the chunk they stood on began to sway. Aragorn leaned forward, the stairwell connecting soundly to the solid piece the rest were standing on, and jumped with Frodo clutched tightly to his chest. They ran full tilt down the remainder of the stairs, the beasts now cut off from their path directly but they came anyway, and the Fellowship ran with showers of arrows at their heels.
Gandalf stood beside a stone bridge and motioned everyone through as the smell of brimstone and sulfur whirled around them. The majority of the group had reached the other side when the ground shuddered under heavy footfalls. A fiery beast stomped into view, at least three stories tall. The group began to run and Gandalf halted midway, raising his staff and banging it onto the granite arch. "You shall not pass." Light radiated from the tip of his staff and the others watched in silence as the beast stopped, flames licking at its body and curls of smoke rising from its shoulders.
It charged forward again and Gandalf raised his staff, a wind blew harshly from out of nowhere, grey hair whipping around his head. "YOU… SHALL… NOT… PASS!" Gandalf slammed the end of his cane onto the granite and it rumbled. The beast shrieked as the stones under its feet began to crumble and fall away into the oblivion below. Gandalf turned and took a single step from the edge of the crater when a fiery whip snapped and wrapped securely around his ankle. He paused a moment, his face growing sullen as he was drug to the edge, he clung on, his face only inches over the ridge. His voice came out as a harsh whisper.
"Run fools."
And he was gone.
Frodo ran forward but Aragorn grabbed the Hobbit by the shoulders and then wrapped an arm around his waist. "GANDALF!" His voice broke and he sobbed harshly, reaching out to the crag. "NOOoooo!" Aragorn pointed to the exit and rushed them all outside.
The open air embraced them, the stark sunlight harsh to their eyes. The Hobbits plopped to the ground, Merry and Pippin holding onto each other and crying quietly. Piccolo watched them sob and he looked over to Frodo who stood facing away from everyone, his shoulders shaking. Piccolo's heart wrenched and he looked away to Legolas who was sitting on a boulder, one leg pulled to his chest, his eyes far away as he hugged his knee.
Goku stood staring at the ground, his gentle heart was bleeding for their loss and he dropped to his knees beside Merry and Pippin and pulled them into a crushing hug. The two turned into his embrace sobbing onto each shoulder. Vegeta stood to the side in quiet respect.
After several moments, Aragorn looked over them. "Enough, we need to get moving. Legolas get them up."
Boromir turned on him and spat, "Look at them, give them a moment to grieve!"
Aragorn stiffened. "We don't have time. Gandalf set us on this mission and we are going to finish it." The others turned to him, startled at his cool exterior but believing somewhere beneath the pain that he was right. "Where's Frodo?"
Piccolo's heart stopped for a moment as he looked around him until his eyes settled on the Hobbit a few paces away. Aragorn stepped beside Frodo set a hand on his head, ruffling his dark curls. "It's you decision."
Frodo turned, his tear streaked face determined. "We move on." He walked to his friends and helped Sam to his feet. They swung an arm over each other's shoulders as they walked quietly. The group responded slowly, gathering what strength they had left and followed the Hobbits down the hill.
--
While the Fellowship was trudging up the mountain, Bulma was seated comfortably in a spacious room, her time machine in the far corner. It had taken six strong elves to lift the thing onto a cart strapped to a mare. The machine was in a small shed just off of the main gardens. Lord Elrond had it cleared out so that she may work on it out of the weather. Now, she was covered in grease, half of the innards of the machine were strewn about the small room and she was eating an apple—held with a napkin of course. She had had the damndest time trying to maneuver in the dresses and petticoats while squirming inside a machine to gut it. If she had the choice to start again she would have demanded a tunic and leggings and if denied would have done it in her underwear, but she had already ruined the beautiful dress and pulled out the pieces so she wouldn't have to run around in her undergarments anyway.
Lord Elrond entered and frowned at her posture. "That is not the way a lady should sit." Bulma paused from taking a large bite of the apple and looked down at herself, she was slumped down into the chair, an elbow propped onto the small table the maid had brought to set the food tray on and her knees wide open. –We will give Bulma the benefit of the doubt. Of course her dress was long enough to hide anything that may have been seen in such a posture with just a short skirt, and who wouldn't want to relax as much as possible after gutting an entire time machine within the time of six hours without any proper tools. — She took a vicious bite of her apple and straightened in her chair, crossing her legs and setting her hands in her lap.
"You look like you've been wallowing in mud." Elrond curled his nose and sat in a chair opposite the table.
Bulma swallowed the mouthful of pulp. "Look here mister, it isn't easy to haul out an entire engine without ANY tools or ANY help or proper clothes. It's messy work okay, I know I'm filthy, I don't need you to point it out to me." She huffed and took the last bite of the apple before setting the core down, still in the napkin, on the tray.
The corner of Lord Elrond's lips quirked. "My apologies. I did not realize the size of the trial you are undertaking." Bulma sighed and shrugged.
"That's okay. I didn't think it would be this hard but then I realized I didn't have any tools here." She looked disgustedly at the machine and kicked at a piece that sat near her foot. It landed several feet away with a clunk. She squealed and ran to it, she held it up to the light and fell onto her bottom and bit her bottom lip. It was the stabilizer, and she had cracked it. "Dammit! Aaaaargh!" She whined and flopped onto the ground, dropping the broken equipment as well.
Elrond walked forward and picked her from the ground, wiping his hands on a napkin and frowned when it only served to smear the black mess further. "What is this stuff?" He sniffed at it and frowned deeper.
"It's grease. It's a lubricant for the engine." Bulma watched as he tried to wipe it away again and giggled. "Not easy to remove is it?"
Lord Elrond looked up at her and shook his head. "No it isn't." Bulma sat back down in the chair and popped what looked like a grape into her mouth. Elrond held his hand out to her and she took it. "Come, you should clean up. You could use a break and I'll show you around the palace a little, hmm?" Bulma's eyes brightened.
"That would be great." She beamed at him and Elrond smiled back, enjoying the way her blue eyes sparkled when she smiled.
--
Night had fallen again, and the somber group of the Fellowship sat around the fire. Piccolo had sat, without being forced, near the Hobbits and didn't protest as they leaned into him and onto each other. Vegeta went hunting alone, and instead of returning hours later came back at regular intervals with some animal or another to be skinned and cooked. Goku's warriors spirit was strong, but his innocent heart kept him tied to the fire, listening to the other's speak softly of tales about Gandalf the Grey. Vegeta would pause behind Goku for a few minutes, staring down at his spiky haired head before sighing softly and returning to the forests.
The dark was too quiet without the Hobbits laughing and being jovial. Piccolo crossed his legs and grunted apologetically at Pippin as he nearly toppled after his support was removed. Pippin resettled, leaning heavily onto Merry and they fell into a restless sleep, meals forgotten. Piccolo tried to meditate, but his mind kept replaying Gandalf's plummet and the heartbreaking bellow from Frodo. He opened his eyes after several failed attempts to meditate and carefully detangled himself from the Hobbits as he stood. Frodo gave him a weak smile as he patted his small head. The boy's large blue eyes were half lidded and red. Piccolo lay out his bedroll and pointed demandingly at it. Frodo shook his head but Piccolo would not be swayed. He picked the small Hobbit up, laying him over one shoulder, pushing the mat closer to the fire with a booted foot and lay the small one down on it. Aragorn and Gimli watched the action with small smiles but said not a word. Piccolo draped his cape over the little Hobbit's shoulders and Frodo was asleep before Piccolo began to set Sam to bed.
Piccolo had heard a river as he helped gather firewood before they had settled down and nothing sounded as good as a quick dip to clean off the stink of the combined beasts' blood and sour sweat. Legolas had departed from the group earlier; he had walked into the tree line and hadn't been back for nearly twenty minutes. No one was truly worried, they felt as though the worst that could happen that day already had, and the elf desiring a little solitude was something they all needed.
Piccolo disappeared into the trees and walked directly toward the source of the water, seeing it in the distance as it winked with moonlight. Piccolo kicked off his boots and pulled his tunic from his shoulders. He dunked it in the cold water and wrung it, scrubbed it along a crop of rocks, rinsed it and hung it on a low tree limb to dry. He water was nearly too cold, making his toes tingle in the chill but not quite enough to numb them right off. He found a deep spot that came nearly to his waist and sank to his shoulders in the water, splashing his face and running his hands along to help scour off the filth.
He could hear movement in the trees and the sound of feet as they dropped to the earth. He didn't need to look up to know the elf had joined him. Legolas sat on a flat stone near the river and splashed his face then took a long drink from a cupped hand. Piccolo looked up at him and saw the edges of sorrow on his features, but his eyes remained dry.
Legolas tilted his head and a sad smile graced his thin lips before he shook his head, he looked sadly down at Piccolo. "The trees are crying." Piccolo looked up at him, still not entirely believing trees could speak. Legolas motioned around him and Piccolo gave him a wary look before tilting his head and listening intently. There was a soft murmur just outside of his hearing range, he listened harder still and could hear wood crackling in the pit where he had come from. The murmur was louder, but it turned out to be the low voices of Aragorn and Boromir.
"I don't hear anything except the others." Piccolo dipped under the water and came up, shaking his head and sending droplets off of his antennae.
"You're trying to hard and listening the wrong way." Legolas' lip twitched as Piccolo looked at him as though he had spoken an entire sonnet in Elfish then demanded he repeat it. "Don't listen so intently, let the trees speak to you."
Piccolo closed his eyes, trying to appease the elf so that he may drop the topic when a soft whisper rolled across his mind. He opened his eyes in surprise, but closed them again. The whisper grew more prominent but grew no louder. It slowly began to make sense and it was a mixture of sobs and gasps of remorse. Piccolo looked at Legolas in awe. The elf smiled lightly.
"You are lucky. Ordinary people cannot hear the trees."
Piccolo shook his head to get the teary sobs from his mind and walked slowly out of the river. Legolas politely turned away and Piccolo pulled his tunic off of the limb and pulled it over his head. He sat down on the large stone next to the elf and Legolas looked up in mild surprise before moving over a little to give Piccolo more room.
They sat in amiable silence, Legolas looking into the trees, Piccolo into the alien sky. "You okay?" Piccolo didn't turn his head, still gazed at the stars.
Legolas turned his head and gave a small shrug. "As to be expected I assume."
Piccolo looked to him and frowned. "He was your friend?"
Legolas nodded, his hair spilling over one shoulder. "For a near millennia." Piccolo's eyes widened. The corner of Legolas' lips quirked. "Yes that long. Elves are an immortal people." Piccolo nodded his head.
"How old are you?"
Legolas smiled. "Far too old for this pain to be new to me, and far too young to know how to deal with it." Piccolo snorted and smiled back. The silence stretched again, but it wasn't uncomfortable. "And you, are you 'okay?'"
Piccolo flicked his eyes to the elf and then looked back to the sky. "About the wizard, or just in general?"
Legolas shrugged. "Either."
"It is never easy to watch a brave man fall. But it gives courage to others to hear his tale." Legolas looked at him with wide eyes, Piccolo was unsure whether they held a hint of humor or one of gratefulness. "Being here is strange because of how it affects us physically."
"You don't miss your family?"
Piccolo's lips pulled into a thin line. "I have no family." Legolas looked at him incredulously. Piccolo looked up, the moon was starting to show above the trees, which meant it was time to head back to the camp, the others would start worrying soon.
He stood from the rock, Legolas following quietly behind, already knowing that the hour was growing late and feeling the tension from his companion. They exited the trees, Piccolo could see the Hobbit's piled together near the fire, still sleeping. Goku and Vegeta, long since returned and stomachs full, were sleeping. Goku sprawled on his back and snoring, one arm draped across Vegeta's smaller frame. Gimli was across the fire from them, leaning against a rock with a pipe clenched in his teeth. He nodded to Legolas as the elf sat next to him, drawing his bedroll from his bag. Piccolo settled under a tree, setting his chin to his chest and began to meditate. The darkness behind his eyelids relaxed his mind and as he began to flutter through the void, the sound of Frodo's screaming sob bawled deafeningly and he opened his eyes wide, breathing deeply, the burn of unshed tears at the back of his eyes.
The sun was starting to peak and Piccolo watched it rise, surprised at how quickly the night had moved. The others were beginning to stir, but the only other awake was Aragorn. Aragorn was sitting against a far rock, he had taken the last shift, and Piccolo could hear his quiet sobs. Piccolo felt sorry for the man, being a leader is never as easy as those under the leadership believe it to be.
The others woke in turn, Boromir stirring the fire with a stick, watching the last of the embers glow. Gimli was walking to Aragorn, the stricken leader wiping quickly at his eyes. Gimli smiled grimly at him and patted his shoulder, a tear of his own caught in his ragged beard. The Hobbit's woke up simultaneously, Sam mechanically packing his things. Frodo walked quietly over to Piccolo and handed him the cape that had been draped over him in the night. Piccolo gave him a sad smile and took it, clipping it around his shoulders.
Now as the procession moved on in silence, Goku and Vegeta brought up the rear, Piccolo stood in the middle of the huddle of Hobbits, the four talking quietly now and then, trying to pick up what was left of their broken spirits.
