Chapter 2: …and Found
"Aragorn!" Legolas cried, as he nimbly dashed to the top of the knoll. "Look, over there, just beyond those boulders."
The man quickly caught up to his companion, and squinted his dark brown eyes in the direction that the elf was pointing. "What do you see?" he inquired.
Legolas peered into the darkening horizon. "A battle," he said, "there has been a battle. There are corpses strewn about. Uruks and orcs, I think. Merry and Pippin may yet be alive."
Just then, Gimli stumbled down the hill, skidding to an undignified halt at Legolas's feet. The disgruntled dwarf scowled. "A shortcut, that," he hastily blustered, "just a faster way to get down a hill." Gimli straightened and dusted himself off a bit. "Wait, where are you going?" he yelled to his comrades' backs. Groaning, he took a deep breath and hurried after them.
Aragorn and Legolas gingerly stepped over the numerous carcasses that littered the plain. "Do you see anything hobbit-sized?" Aragorn called. Legolas shook his bright head no. "Wait—what's that?" the man cried, rushing to a body that lay apart from the others. Legolas followed, his Elven feet padding silently across the dirt and dust.
Aragorn was soundless for a moment, and Legolas called out, "Aragorn, what is—" He stopped mid-sentence. "An elleth," he breathed. For a long moment, the two of them stood gazing down upon the motionless girl. Her head was tilted to the side, and her delicately pointed ears were plainly in view. Her black hair was matted and greasy, and plastered to her scalp with dark blood. The elleth's left eye was swollen—a huge bruise the size and shape of an egg, with a sickening purple-and-green shade, kept her eyelids firmly shut. A long, jagged gash ran from the corner of her right eye, down her cheek, and ended near her jawbone. Coarse dust had already gotten into the wound, and turned the bright crimson blood a dirty, rusty brown color.
After a moment's hesitation, Aragorn knelt down by the elleth's side, and placed his large brown hand on her chest. "Still breathing," he said, glancing up at Legolas, who until then had been murmuring an elvish prayer underneath his breath. Then Aragorn turned his attentions to the girl's arm, where he had noticed crusty, dried blood upon the thick grey cloth of her sleeve. The fabric had been torn apart, and he could see the gaping hole in her upper arm. "Hand me some water, would you, Legolas?" Aragorn said, as he swiftly ripped a strip of cloth from the elleth's skirt.
"What's this all—" Gimli began, but he closed his mouth in amazement as he saw exactly what was lying at Aragorn's feet. "That doesn't look like Merry. Or Pippin. Or a hobbit. Doesn't even look like a male," the dwarf remarked. Aragorn glanced up at Gimli and then resumed his work. He rinsed the blood and grime from the girl's injuries, and tightly bound the cloth around her wounded arm.
The three were silent for a long moment. "What are we going to do with her?" Legolas incredulously asked, frowning. Aragorn didn't reply.
"I suppose we'll just have to bring her along," casually remarked Gimli.
"We're not taking her along with us, are we?" Legolas questioned, disapproval snapping in his clear blue eyes. There was another long silence. "Yes," Aragorn said, "we shall take her."
"On foot?" Legolas cried. "What of Merry? And Pippin? Are we going to stop looking for them just to take care of her?"
"We can't just leave her here to die," murmured Aragorn.
"The laddie's got a point there," Gimli said, leaning on his battle-ax.
"She's coming with us," Aragorn said once more, this time with steel in his voice.
As if his verdict had broken a spell, the girl slowly and painstakingly opened her good eye. She licked her chapped, bloodied lips and swallowed, trying to lubricate her dry throat. Aragorn took the skin of water and raised it to the elleth's lips. She drank gratefully, though her ragged gasps for breath made most of the water drip into the dirt. The girl tried again. "Who—"she croaked, obviously in pain at her attempts to speak. Aragorn once again produced the water. This time, her voice came a little easier, though still raspy. "Who are you?" she asked, gazing up at Aragorn through her single, silvery eye.
"Shh," Aragorn whispered. "Go to sleep. You need rest." The girl ignored him, and once again, with tremendous effort, asked him who he was. But the exertion was too much for her, and before Aragorn even had a chance to tell her to sleep again, her eye was already drooped with heavy sleep.
(A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm sorry I took so long to update, as I have currently been testing my procrastination skills…as in beginning two projects that are due the next day at nine o'clock at night. Oh, yeah. Please review!)