The Digimon King and The King of Gondor

by Graven661

The Digimon of the Fusion Fighters were transported to the world of Middle Earth by the Code Crown and save it form Sauron that is trying to rule the world. The Digimon were scattered all over in middle earth. The two Kings will face their greatest challenge with their friends and allies to save the world. If they were worthy for their thrones and for someone they care.

9. Ch 9 The Warrior, Healer and Dragon

The Digimon King and The King of Gondor

Chapter 9 The Amazon Warrior, The Healer and The Dragon

XXX

As Legolas and Gimli continued to fend off the Uruk-hai that were still coming down the hill towards them, Aragorn and the three newcomers went into battle further down in the direction of the sound of the horn that blared through the forest. Mervamon had very little clue as to what was going on, but she and Agumon both had gathered enough to know that sound of the horn meant someone was in trouble, probably a companion to the three people they had already met.

And she was going to be damned if she just stood by while someone else was in trouble.

Agumon was right next to her ready to help the other people that are in trouble.

Cutemon, who was riding on Mervamon's shoulder, pointed ahead and cried, "There's more of them coming this way!"

And he was right. several of the Uruks had noticed the four heading in the same direction they were heading and had doubled back on themselves. One of them ran up to Aragorn and tried to swing at his head, but the Ranger brought his sword up and slammed the blade aside, delivering a hammer blow to the side of the Uruk's face with his fist and sending it rolling and dodging the blow of a second to plunge his sword through the stomach of a second and shove it forwards so he could keep running with no pause.

Mervamon had to admit she was impressed with this guy's swordsmanship, but she had little time to admire his handiwork, because some of the braver Uruks were heading towards her and Agumon as well, despite the fact she was a lot taller them they were and while Aragorn was shorter. She couldn't help but smirk to herself as she hefted both of her arms. They were welcome to try and take her on. And Agumon was ready to use his claws to face them too.

The first Uruk swept almost clumsily at her knees and it was just a simple matter of leaping over it and planting her feet squarely on his shoulder and flatten him to the ground. Two more rushed her from opposite direction but she swept her sword out to slam one with the flat of the big sword and send him flying into the second and send them both flying, and then as a couple more dashed towards her from the front she threw herself into a spinning leap, beheading one with a swing of the sword and bringing her foot crashing into the throat of another.

A few Uruks rushed at Agumon as one of them swing his sword to behead him. Agumon duck under and trust his claw into the Uruk's stomach as it died. Three more rush at him and Agumon turn to face them. "Let's see how you guys like this!" He said as he open his mouth. "PEPPER BREATH!" He shouted as he fire his fireball attack at the Uruks, the fire ball struck at them and burn all three to a crisp as they all drop dead.

Now Aragorn had to admit that he was impressed as he shoved another Uruk out of the way and swung him around to slice through another and keep on running. Whoever or whatever those two are they were capable warriors and he was thankful for that, at least for the present, they appeared to be on his side.

But another horn blast from Boromir snapped his focus back and he hurried of through the forest, the two mysterious creatures are hard on his heels.

XXX

Boromir was fighting using every ounce of his strength as he held the Uruk-hai back, determined to protect Merry and Pippin as the two hobbits continued to step backwards, swords drawn but with fear on their faces. Having dispatched one Uruks with a blow to the back of its knees, Boromir looked up too see another almost upon him with sword already raised, so he quickly threw himself forward and rammed his shoulder into its knees, pushing upwards and lifting the Uruk off its feet and over his back to crash to the ground in a heap.

Boromir lashed around and finished the downed Uruk off with a downwards cleave of his sword, seizing his curved white horn again and blowing into it, desperately calling out for help. All he could see were more Uruks coming out of the trees ahead of him there are dozens. Boromir was strong but he very much doubted he would be able to hold off this many Uruks for long. He needs help.

Ushering Merry and Pippin away as he spun around to catch the sword swing of the next Uruk's arm and send it tumbling to the ground. Another Uruk tried to sneak around him and get the Hobbits, but Pippin suddenly took everyone by surprise by leaping at it and latching onto its chest, carrying it to the ground. Merry hurried to join him as Boromir swept his sword across the neck of another and parried another's attack, muscling forwards with a cry and throwing it off its feet to bring his sword plunging down into its chest.

Merry and Pippin quickly did the same to the Uruk they were on and finished it off, grimaces on their faces as they did.

Boromir swung upwards and caught the sword of the next Uruk with such force it went shooting out of its hand and impaled it on his blade, kicking it off and send it crashing into another Uruk coming up behind. Boromir looked up wildly as another sword swung at his neck and he brought his sword up to block it just as a second Uruk swung at him from the other side.

Boromir lashed up with his other hand and caught the fist of the second Uruk in his palm, halting the blow and then swinging it across the Uruk's sword slashed across the other Uruk and killed it, allowing Boromir to pull his sword away and ram it into the gut of the second Uruk.

But more and more Uruks just kept coming, their numbers seem to multiply with every passing second. "Run! Run!" Boromir yelled, turning and steering the Hobbits further into the trees and following behind them backwards as best as he could, spinning up to block another swing and stab the Uruk before it could blink.

XXX

Mervamon, Agumon and Aragorn kept running but it seemed that every time they ran ten paces, more Uruks came in from the front and the side to try and best them. Aragorn had shoved one to its knees and slashed across the neck before it could get back up, Agumon was blasting them with fireballs from his mouth and slash the Uruks with his claws to clear a path and Mervamon had actually managed to cleave one in half with the strength of her swing.

Almost without realizing what they were doing, the three of them were beginning to coordinate themselves and work more as a team. as they struck close to one another, Mervamon darting across Aragorn to slash through an Uruk closing in on his left as Agumon fire a fireball at a Uruk coming at Aragorn's right when the Uruk burn to a crisp, Aragorn slammed another Uruk between the eyes with the pommel of his sword. Aragorn then spun around to cut through another Uruk that had leap at Mervamon and whirled around in time to see Mervamon's snake arm swing across and bowl to others in front of him away as if it were a club, and Aragorn quickly drew his dagger and flung it right in front of Agumon's stomach to ram into the belly of another Uruk.

The three of them shared a brief nod at each other before they continued to run on. By this point, many of the Uruks realized that the three of them were extremely dangerous as they fought together, and now they had turned around and charging at them. As Aragorn retrieved his dagger and then three of them kept running, they were heading right into the lines of charging Uruk-hai.

Aragorn had to suppress an urge to hiss of frustration. They didn't have the time to fight their way through all of these Uruks they had to get to Boromir now!

Almost as he thought it, Mervamon cried. "Cutemon! Clear a path!"

Cutemon beamed. "Yay! I get to do something!" He cried as Mervamon raised her snake arm. Cutemon sprang from her shoulder and planted his feet on her snake arm, sliding down it if he was on a snowboard right as Mervamon extended it out towards the charging Uruks. Cutemon slid down the arm and flipped onto the snake head right as it pulled to a stop in front of the Uruks and gathered his strength within his chest to cry out.

"SUPER SONIC WAVE!"

With a scream, a series of green sound waves erupted from Cutemon's mouth and wash over the Uruks right before they reach him. Even fifteen yards away as Aragorn was and the sound almost tore his ear-drums. To the Uruks it was agony and they all crashed into an invisible wall, hands dropping their weapons and slamming up to their ears, howling as the collapsed to the floor, writhing in pain.

Mervamon gripped Aragorn by the shoulder and hurried him forwards and Cutemon stopped his attack and allowed Mervamon to reel him back in and hop back onto her shoulder as Agumon followed behind them as the two Digimon and the Man bounded over the fallen, groaning Uruks and pelted back on down the hill.

XXX

Boromir valiantly fought on as the Uruks piled in on him, pushing him backwards ever further and forcing him to move swifter and more quickly to try and keep up with them all and kill them before another could take a swing at him from another direction. The sweat on his forehead as he kept the giant Orcs at bay, slamming one's shield aside and kicking his feet out from underneath his feet, swinging around in the same motion to block the strike of another, seize him and shove him down on top of the first one and then stab through them both as they lay dead.

He moved forward, cleaving upwards through another's waist and knock his sword high in the same swing and then brought the blow of his sword hammering down on another's helmet, cutting off its vision and causing it to yelp as Boromir rammed it in the chest with his shoulder and piled into three others as he spun around to thrust his blade past the guard of another. The two Hobbits were doing their best to help and their efforts were proving useful. Both of them were now throwing large stones past Boromir at the oncoming Uruks, and while this didn't kill them but it did stun them for a few seconds or even knocked them off their feet, lessening the hoard of Uruks that were reaching Boromir all at once and giving him an easier time of it, though it was still proving difficult even for the mighty warrior.

A throw from Pippin caught one between the eyes and brought him down to the ground and Merry quickly followed up by throwing two rocks in rapid succession, catching one in the throat and bowling them both flat right before they reach Boromir, allowing the Gondorian the time to cut another's legs out from underneath it and slash across the chest of the next and dent its armor before sending it rolling with a punch to the nose and round on the next one to stab it with such force that his sword came plunging out the other side and forced another Uruk to skid to a stop before it impaled itself on the blade, allowing Pippin to hit it in the face with another rock and knocking it over. But as Boromir rounded to face the next and slam its shield back and forth with his sword before it could swing its own sword, causing it to lose feeling in its arm and drop the shield numbly so Boromir could slash across its chest with ease, another Uruk appeared over the hill There were still a lot of them coming over the hill, but unlike the others this one was walking at a calm pace. It was not wearing a helmet, had a snarl on its face and a large white hand painted upside down on his face.

It was Lurtz the first of the Uruk-hai to be born and strongest one.

Lurtz pulled to a stop at the top of the hill as more Uruks running past, watching for a second as Boromir continued to wreak havoc on the other Uruks. The ground was littered with their bodies and Boromir hacked through the chest of one and the stomach of another in the same time and swung back to curve the chest of the second as well and send them both crashing to the ground. He was showing no signs of stopping, despite the hordes of other Uruks that were still charging at him. And Lurtz could see the two Hobbits throwing rocks behind Boromir. They were the ones Saruman had sent them for.

So the Gondorian had to go.

And that was why, as Boromir cut another one across the hip and knocked it over and couple of more rocks from the Hobbits throw overhead to smack into the heads of the other Uruks, Lurtz raised the bow in his hand, drawing one arrow from the quiver at his waist and he slowly drew it on its string, aiming at the moment and snarling in anticipation.

Boromir whipped around and batted the shield out of the hands of another and slammed it upside the chin with his blade, unaware of the danger at the Uruk feel aside, Lurtz had a clear shot.

He took it and fired the arrow.

Boromir half turned to face the next Uruks but the black arrow struck into his chest right above his heart. The wind knocked out of him as the arrow punctured his lung and he staggered backwards, shock spreading across his face as he struggled for breath.

Merry, who had been about to throw another rock, pulled to a stop and both of the Hobbits starred in absolute horror as Boromir, wheezing and his breath coming out in a ragged gasp, slowly collapsed to his knees, staring at the arrow struck to his chest and his sword dropping to the ground. As he make his way down the hill as more Uruks moved forward.

But the Uruks thought Boromir was finished they were wrong. Despite the pain and his lack of breath, Boromir wrenched his thoughts back to the battle and with a cry of desperation he surged back to his feet and swatted aside the sword of another Uruk before it could react, slammed it across the head and plunged his sword into its gut, withdrawing it sharply as more came towards him. Merry and Pippin could only stare as the warrior fought on despite his wound.

Lurtz was mildly surprised, but he calmly made his way down the hill and closer to the action as Boromir, with teeth clenched continued to lay into the horde, slashing another across the shoulder and slamming it in the face with his fist and desperately swiping around to cut the throat of another.

But Lurtz had already drawn a second arrow on his bow string and as Boromir turned back he fire again. Boromir yelled and staggered backwards as the arrow hit into his waist just above his belt. He let out a ragged wheeze of air and his hand flew to the arrow, but the moment he touched it more pain just went jolting through him. He fall down to his knees again, hunched over and chest heaving, every breath filling him with pain as Lurtz let out a louder snarl of triumph this time.

Boromir was blacking out, the arrows had punctured vital organs and he almost kneel over onto his side, but was able to catch himself slightly and maintain his upright position on his knees, sucking in as much air as possible and getting horribly little for each lungful. The Uruks were taking their time now, snarling as they stepped closer. It seemed that the mighty warrior was at last finished.

Merry and Pippin were standing to their spot in horror, their eyes locked on the terrible sight of the wounded Boromir crouched before them, blood seeping from the arrow wounds and soaking into his tunic. Neither of them could think of anything to do, their minds numb at the shock of what they were seeing. And as Boromir crouched there, the two arrows buried deep from him heaving with every motion of his chest, he looked up at the two of them. His eyes met theirs and for a moment they could do nothing but stare at one another with shock and dismay.

But, as Boromir sat there, slowly losing consciousness and blood, a sudden and desperate surge filled him and with one final cry he got back on his feet and whirled around, slower then he would have been able to do otherwise but still catching the closest Uruks off guard. He knew that he was finished now, but while he still had the strength to stand he would not let the Uruks near the halflings.

His sword slashed across the chest of the first Uruk and threw it to the ground, causing another to clumsily trip over its comrade as it swung clumsily at him. Boromir parried the strike almost as clumsily but threw his shoulder forward and caught the stumbling Uruk in the side, knocking him over allowing Boromir to fall on top of him with his sword. Teeth clenched and still gasping Boromir looked up to see another Uruk closing in on him.

Boromir slowly and tried to push himself upwards but right as he did, a third arrow was released from Lurtz' bowstring. This one hit into his chest just beneath his rib cage and this time Boromir had barely any strength left to even gasp. Now with three arrows buried into his chest, he sank slowly to his knees and this time, he knew he would not be able to get back up.

He just sat there, all his remaining energy being taken up just by staying up. He could barely breath and he could feel the blood seeping out of his severe wounds and spilling down his front.

As they saw the man who had valiantly been defending them even after being shot three times crouching there with arrows sticking out of his front, Merry felt grief course through his body, knowing there was nothing any of their could do to save Boromir now. As tears leaked from his eyes he draw his sword and gave a loud battle cry as he turned and run straight towards the on coming Uruks. Pippin quickly followed his lead and the two little Hobbits charged in with swords raised high.

It was futile. Neither of them were great warriors and had survived so far under the protection of the others. Now that the threat had been neutralized, the remaining Uruks could get back to their main mission of taking the Hobbits alive. The first two Uruks that run up did exactly that and seized the two Halflings under one arm before they could do so much as swing their swords. Merry and Pippin were lifted into the air, their swords from their hands were discarded as they were hoisted upwards and onto the shoulders of the Uruks who had grasped them.

The two of them struggled and Merry beat on the back of his captor but it was no use. The Uruks were to strong and man handled the Hobbits with ease as they ran past the wounded Boromir. They knew he was finished now and every single Uruk ran past the Gondorian and charged off into the forest, ignoring him as he sat there and continued to gasp. Out of the corner of his eye, Boromir saw Merry and Pippin yelling and kicking as they were carried away, but he couldn't do anything for them now. He could barely do anything at all.

It seemed to take several minutes for all of the Uruks to run by and Merry and

Pippin were quickly lost to Boromir's sight. This was made all the more horrible for Boromir that this was his second failure today and now he could only watch as his charges were taken away. And soon, the clearing that he had battled hard in was empty except for Boromir himself, the scattered bodies of all the Uruks that he had slain and one single Uruk-hai that was stepping slowly in front of him and come to a stop.

Boromir looked up slowly and found himself looking into the cruel, smirking face and yellow eyes of Lurtz. The two held gazes for several moments as the sounds of the other Uruk-hai faded away into nothingness and it was just them. Lurtz growled lowly to himself, not saying a single word as he draw another arrow to his bowstring and slowly pulled it back. Boromir could only watch as the arrow was aiming for his forehead, and his face twisted into one final pained look of defiance as Lurtz growled goodbye.

And it was at that point that Aragorn crashed into Lurtz' side, taking the Uruk-hai off guard and causing his arrow to fly wide and strike a nearby tree instead as both Aragorn and Lurtz went rolling to the ground and down a slight hill, before they pulled to a stop and scrambled to a stop. Lurtz proved to be very resilient and was back on his feet grabbing a shield and sword from a fallen Uruk and slashing out at Aragorn. Aragorn blocked the strike but the strength of the Uruk leader took him by surprise and he was shoved backwards with great force to crash into the trunk of a nearby tree.

Lurtz roared and flung the pointed shield directly at Aragorn, but the moment he did Mervamon dashed in and batted the shield aside with her sword, sending it catapulting backwards to slam Lurtz across the face and send him reeling. Mervamon gripped her sword and leveled it at Lurtz, leaping into the air and slashing it down with high force. Lurtz managed to roll aside at the last second as the huge sword buried itself in the ground and as Mervamon tried to pull it out, Lurtz lashed out with a fist and caught Mervamon in the jaw.

Mervamon barely flinched. "You call that a punch?" She asked and she backhanded the Uruk with her snake arm and sent him flying across the clearing to crash into another tree trunk with enough force to break the back of any Man. But Lurtz was tough and scrambled back to his feet, lifting his sword.

Boromir stared in shock from where he was still crouched, but he was slowly beginning to blackout now and he collapsed onto his back. Agumon arrived at the scene and saw Boromir on the ground wounded.

"Cutemon! Mervamon! He needs help!" Agumon shouted to them. They turned and saw Boromir on the ground.

"Come Mervamon we have to save him!" Cutemon said as he jump off Mervamon and ran up to Boromir.

Mervamon's head swung over and she grimaced, her eyes widening as she took in the stricken human. She turn to Agumon and Aragorn and said. "Can you two handle the big and ugly over there?" Aragorn and Agumon both nodded and Aragorn left his sword and charged Lurtz with Agumon following behind him. Mervamon turned and bounded over to Boromir, reaching him at the same time that Cutemon did and putting her sword to the ground next to Boromir.

"Are you alright?" She asked him. "Can you still feel anything?"

"Who... who are..." Boromir coughed, but he was barely able to say anything with much effort and he gasped in pain as he continued to lose his strength.

Mervamon could see that this was a bad time to be asking questions so she acted quickly she knew that the arrow wounds needed to be treated quickly but they couldn't do that until they took the arrows out... which is going to hurt. A lot. unless... she raised her snake arm and its forked tongue lashed out and slipped a gap in the hole in Boromir's tunic that the arrow had made to coat his skin around the puncture with saliva.

Boromir winced, but Mervamon said. "It's an anesthetic. It'll numb the pain but this is still going to hurt." She grabbed one of the ribbons hanging from her helmet, bunched it up and shoved it onto Boromir's mouth. "Bite on this so you don't break your teeth." Then, gripping the arrow beneath his rib cage, she yanked it out, barb and all. Boromir let loose a scream of pain, though the effect was minimized by the ribbon in his mouth and it was a good deal less painful than it should have been.

As the wound began to bleed out and Mervamon moved on to the next arrow, Cutmon bounced up next to Boromir and said. "Don't worry! You'll be okay! SKILLFUL HEAL!" He held up his hands over the open wound and an orb of glowing green energy appeared in front of his palms and washed over the wound. Boromir felt... strange and, to his astonishment, he saw the wound beginning to close right before his eyes.

"Be quick, Cutemon!" Mervamon instructed, anesthetizing the wound in Boromir's chest. "His life hangs in the balance."

XXX

Meanwhile, Aragorn, Agumon and Lurtz were engaged in a fight to the death and Aragorn and Agumon were both wary in their fight, Lurtz was still mostly fresh apart from bruising on his back moments ago. Aragorn slash out for Lurtz in three strokes, but Lurtz' blade was there to block it each time and he counter with a swing to the head, Aragorn managed to duck underneath and he saw Lurtz' fist came swinging in moments later to strike him squarely in the side of the face and send him rolling. Agumon help by striking Lurtz with his claws for two slashes, but Lurtz block them and kick Agumon aside that send him rolling.

Lurtz pursued quickly and attempted to slash down at Aragorn but he continued rolling and managed to avoid the strike and push himself to his feet, catching Lurtz' next swing on his own sword and managing to be the one to shove him back a little this time. Aragorn cleaved downwards at his skull but Lurtz parried easily. But it left his legs exposed and allowed Aragorn to kick him in the knee and cause his legs to buckle. However, as Aragorn swung down for the finishing blow Lurtz dropped down and took Aragorn's own legs out from under him, sending both of them rolling several meters before Lurtz got back up and dragged Aragorn up with him.

Before Lurtz is going to slam his head into Aragorn, Agumon got back up and tackle Lurtz from behind. He let go of Aragorn as he drop him on the ground and turn to Agumon to punch him in the face. Agumon block with his claw hands but was push back by the blow. Lurtz charged towards Aragorn to finish him off. But just before the Uruk could deliver the final blow, Aragorn gained enough sense to swing up and block again, allowing him to draw out his dagger from its sheath and stab it into Lurtz' leg.

Lurtz let out a snarl of pain but the dagger did injured him and he punch Aragorn in the face. He pick him up and punch him again and send Aragorn backwards as he was on the ground. Lurtz pull out the dagger out of his leg and lick the blood on the blade. Aragorn looks up and Lurtz throw the dagger at Aragorn. Aragorn pick up his sword and swung the dagger aside.

Lurtz pick up his sword and face Aragorn. Aragorn run in to meet him and keep on striking him as Lurtz try to block all the strikes, but one swing had cut Lurtz' right arm off and Aragorn plunge his sword in his stomach, but Lurtz grab the blade as he pulled Aragorn close to his face. Aragorn pulled the sword out of Lurtz' stomach and swing his sword and cut Lurtz' head as it rolled over in the ground and his body drop dead. Agumon came next to Aragorn after got punch that sent him back. Nearby, Mervamon had pulled out the third and final arrow from Boromir's body and Cutemon was putting all his effort to try and close the wounds. Mervamon look at Aragorn and Agumon have defeated Lurtz.

Aragorn stood there frozen for a second, wondering what these mysterious creatures are. But then a grunt of pain from Boromir jolted him back to what was really important and he dashed over to Boromir and knelt in front of him, Agumon followed and as he was watching as Cutemon held his hands over the arrow wound on his chest.

"Aragorn." Boromir gasped out, choking as he did. "The Hobbits. They took the Hobbits. Merry and Pippin. I couldn't stop them."

Aragorn felt a dull thud in his chest at those words, but for a moment he put them aside and said. "Hold still, Boromir. Everything will be fine."

"No." Boromir gasped. "Frodo! What happened to Frodo? Have you seen him?"

Aragorn paused, well aware of the fact that they were in the presence of three strangers who knew nothing about the Ring, making Frodo a very sensitive topic. Trying not to give much away, he said. "I let him go."

Boromir seemed to attempt a smile but couldn't get his face to stop shuddering. "Then you are a better man than I, Aragorn. I... I tried to... take..."

"Yes." Aragorn interrupted. "I gathered that much from what he told me. But now Frodo has gone and... it is no longer where we can reach it."

"I beg you." Boromir gasped. "To forgive me. I... I couldn't..."

"Boromir." Aragorn pressed heavily. "We shall... discuss this later."

"Please just hold still." Cutemon murmured. "This one is a difficult one."

Aragorn and Boromir both looked down and watch in amazement as the flesh around the small but serious wound on his chest slowly began to heal itself back together.

"Your lucky." Cutemon observed. "If that arrow had been an inch lower it would have pierce you in the heart. But it still managed to get you in the lung so this is delicate."

"Can you heal it, Cutemon?" Mervamon asked.

"Can you do it?" Agumon asked next to Mervamon.

"Give me a moment." Cutemon gritted his teeth and cried out. "IMMEDIATE HEALING!"

The small sphere of green light in Cutemon's hands turned into a beam which lanced into Boromir and spread across his whole body, through him and illuminating the Gondorian in a glow, he was astounded as he saw both of his remaining wounds began to close. The intense pain in his chest began to relieve and he was beginning to find it easier to breathe.

The bunny creature was repairing his lungs right before their very eyes! Aragorn was astounded. He had seen the healing magic of Elves before and even knew a lot of their techniques himself, but never before had he seen anything healed as quickly and effectively as this. This was some sort of miracle and, over the course of the next twenty seconds, the pain relieves until, it was as if Boromir had not been shot at all.

Boromir breathed slowly for several seconds, allowing his lungs to fill up and expel air almost as he was testing them both. Everything... had healed. Just like that. The ribs that the arrows had broken had been fixed, the organs that had been pierced were in working order. Boromir was... fine. He had been shot with three arrows and now he was fine.

Cutemon collapsed onto his backside and his ears dropped. "Ugh. That took a lot out of me."

"You did good Cutemon for saving him." Agumon smiled.

"You did well, Cutemon." Mervamon smiled too, reaching across Boromir to scoop up the small pink bunny creature and hold him close. "You did very well indeed."

Aragorn and Boromir glanced at another for several moments before Boromir tried to stand up. He stumbled immediately and Aragorn quickly grabbed him and steadied him, laying him back down on the ground again.

"You need to rest." Cutemon murmured. "I can mend the physical wounds but you still need to regain your strength. And you lost quite a lot of blood and I can't replace that."

"Indeed." Aragorn murmured softly. "But... nevertheless, this is remarkable. Do you feel any pain, Boromir?"

"No." The Gondorian shook his head. "I do still feel drained but... I am whole." He glanced across at Cutemon. "I believe I owe you a debt, small one."

"My name is not small one." Cutemon smiled. "I am Cutemon. And they are my friends Mervamon and Agumon."

"It's nice to meet you guys." Agumon said with a nod.

"We probably could have met under better circumstances." Mervamon chuckled.

"Yes." Boromir nodded. "But still... I do definitely owe you a dept... Cutemon. But, if I may be bold... what are you?"

The three Digimon glanced at one another. And then Cutemon said. "Ever heard of a Digimon?"

"A... no, I have never heard of such a thing." Boromir frowned. "Is that what you are, Cutemon?"

"Yes." Mervamon answered for him. "But it's what I am too. Agumon, Cutemon and I are all Digimon."

"But you three are all different." Aragorn frown deepened. "What exactly is a Digimon?"

"Digimon can take on a near infinite number of shapes and sizes and bodily structures." Mervamon replied. "We are beings that are made of data like you might find in a computer, but we still live and breathe just as you organic humans do."

Mervamon was not sure what kind of response she was expecting but both Aragorn and Boromir had nothing but blank expressions on their faces. They stared at Mervamon, Agumon and Cutemon without saying for several moments and then Aragorn murmured. "I am afraid I did not understand many of those words."

"Which ones?" Mervamon frowned, suspicion at something she was already guessing.

"What is data?" asked Boromir. "And what is a computer? And what does organic mean?"

"A computer?" Cutemon asked. "Surely you know what that is. It's like one of those things that you can log onto a machine that has all these files and things like that. And I heard that you can look at this thing called the internet, which helps you loads more files and it's all run on with digital power. That thing?"

Aragorn and Boromir both looked completely bewildered. Mervamon and Agumon both frown. "You really haven't heard of any of that, have you?" Mervamon asked.

"I know that I certainly have not." Said a voice as Legolas emerged through the trees, his sharp Elf hearing having heard most of the conversation. Gimli was following him closely behind, lifting his blood stained axe over his shoulder as the four Fellowship members continued to stare at the Digimon.

"But this is the human world, isn't it?" Cutemon protested. "I thought everyone in the human world had..."

"Cutemon." Mervamon interrupted with Agumon next to her. "I do not believe that this is the human world. At least not the one we know. You are very right, people in the human world would know what a computer is and what data is. The Digital power they were harnessing was the very thing that split our world apart in the first place. But I do not think that this is the world, and if it is we must be in a very remote part of it for people as intelligent as these four to not know what we are talking about."

Cutemon's eyes widened. "Then... does that mean...?"

"I think it does." Mervamon nodded. "We're not in the human world at all."

"But they're humans!" Cutemon cried.

"No we are not!" Aragorn shook his head. "You must have confused us with some other species, for I have never heard of humans either. Legolas here is an Elf, Master Gimli is a Dwarf and Boromir and I are Men."

"Yes, we know you're Men." Cutemon point out. "But you're humans too."

"No, we are definitely Men." Boromir shook his head, still breathing heavily. "I have been a Man all my life."

"But..." Cutemon was now whimpering in confusion.

"What about the females?" Mervamon asked. "If you are Men, what do you call your Women?"

"They are Women." Aragorn nodded. "But they are part of the Race of Men."

Mervamon glared. "That sound very sexist to me. But I believe I understand the problem. You may call yourselves Men in this world, but where we come from, we call you... as in both the men and women of your race, humans. Maybe you should start doing the same thing."

Aragorn and Boromir glanced at one another. "That makes sense, I suppose." Boromir murmured. "It is possible for a race to have many names. Who's to say that we really aren't humans to these... Digimon?"

Aragorn nodded. "And what of the Elves and Dwarves? What do you call them?"

"We don't." Mervamon grimaced. "I never heard of Elves and Dwarves before."

"You have not?" Gimli gruff. "That is outrageous and ridiculous. Never heard of Elves and Dwarves Indeed."

"No, we really haven't." Cutemon shook his head. "We don't even come from this universe."

"It is true." Agumon confirmed. "We are not from this world."

That got the attention of the four members of the Fellowship. They stared at Cutemon and Agumon in bewilderment before Legolas asked what they were thinking. "And where do you all come from then?"

"The Digital World." Mervamon replied. "All Digimon come from that place and as far as I know there are no Elves or Dwarves in it. There are no humans either, but they live in their own universe right next to ours. But not this one. As far as I can tell this is a completely new universe for us."

"But if you are not from this universe then how did you get here?" Legolas questioned.

"I do not know." Mervamon sighed. "It might sound odd, but something strange happened in our universe last night and... a special object that can help to control our world started to act up and... well, suddenly we found ourselves here in this forest, separated from our companions and without a clue where we are."

"We actually landed in the river first." Cutemon shuddered.

"I landed near the river next to them." Agumon said.

"Yes." Mervamon nodded. "We wandered through the forest and followed the course of the river to try and find someone to help and that's when we spotted your boats in the distance. You were the first people we found so we followed you and tried to catch up, hoping that you might be able to give us some answers, but then when we reach your camp we found it was empty and heard the sounds of fighting nearby so we rushed to help and... well, here we are."

"You followed us?" Legolas frowned. "So it must have been you two I caught a glimpse of on the high bank. I thought that my eyes were playing tricks on me."

"Probably." Mervamon shrugged. "Sorry that we trailed after you but we finally needed some answers."

Boromir was still lying against the roots of the trees but now he gripped his sword and dug its point into the ground using it to lever himself upwards and clamber slowly and with great effort to his feet. He wobbled slightly and tried to make sure he kept his balance by using his sword like a staff but he was able to stand tall. He set his jaw and said. "Well, I for one believe that you have no reason to be sorry. I am still unsure whether or not your tall tales and strange words can be believed if you had not come when you did then I would most likely be dead now. I owe the three of you my life, and I mean that seriously, upon my Gondorian honor."

He held out his hand and, after a second, Mervamon planted her sword in the ground and grasped it firmly to shake it. "Thank you." She said. "I do not know what Gondorian means but I thank you all the same."

"Me too." Cutemon nodded.

"Same here." Agumon said.

"And allow me to be the one to answer your question." Boromir stated. "This is the land you stand is called Middle Earth. If what you claim is true and you are not from this realm, then may I be the first to welcome you here. I am Boromir, son of Denethor, Prince of Gondor."

"A prince, huh?" Mervamon smirked. "I have never met a prince before, but I am good friends with a princess."

"If that is the case then today you meet two princes for the first time." Legolas nodded. "I am Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil and Prince of Mirkwood."

"It is our honour." Mervamon smiled and she and Agumon both bowed their heads to both of them, through Mervamon still stood taller than any of them.

"It's nice to meet you two." Agumon said.

Gimli still looked suspicious. "I find it very hard to believe these wild tales of yours. All this talk of other universes sounds quite ridiculous to me. However, if we are introducing ourselves then I am Gimli son of Gloin."

"A pleasure to meet you too." Mervamon through a warm smile his way. Gimli stared at her for a few moments and then looked away and started muttering to himself. Mervamon caught a few words of things like, "Never heard of Dwarves." and "Quite a powerful fighter." She chuckled.

"And I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn." The final member of the Fellowship nodded. "Ranger of the North." The other members of the Fellowship noticed he did not mention his true lineage, knowing that Aragorn did not like talking about it if he did not have to.

"Good to meet all of you." Mervamon and Agumon both nodded. "It sounds like we have a lot to discuss."

"And no time to discuss it in..." Aragorn suddenly pointed out. "Come everyone, we cannot linger. Today's events are still in motion and we must hurry."

XXX

Frodo Baggins was standing on the stony shore at the lake and staring out across the water. The three boats were still lying across the edge of the bank, one half in and half out of the lake and he could see his destination on the far side. He was having one final moment of doubt before he set off. He knew that once he touched foot down on that opposite bank then that would be it. He would well and truly be on his own and the quest for Mordor to destroy the Ring would be his and his alone. Nestled in his palm was the Ring, hooked up to its chain once again and sitting there as a trinket but Frodo could practically feel the evil within it. He had been the bearer of the Ring for so long now as the evil of Middle Earth grew it was as if the Ring was beginning to brand itself into his memory.

Once again the question in his head? Should he stay with the others who might be able to protect him, or should he go on alone and risk the death and betrayal of each of them just as Boromir had tried to take the Ring as well? The prospect of setting out alone still terrified him and now he was remembering Gandalf's death in Moria, plunging into the abyss after being dragged off the Bridge of Khazad-dum by the fire whip of the Balrog.

That happened because Gandalf was trying to protect him. He did not want any of the others to suffer a similar fate.

With Gandalf in his mind, he looked up again, a solitary tear falling down his cheek and streak of water already down the other side of his face, and he could hear one of the last things that he had spoken to the Wizard echoing out the recesses of his memory and to the fore of his mind, which applied in his situation just as much as it had happened.

Flashback

"I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." Frodo said. That had been the last sentence that he had spoken directly to Gandalf apart to scream his name when he had been facing the Balrog. And Gandalf's last words had been one of the last things he had said to Frodo.

"So do all who live to see such times but that is not for them to decide. All you have decided is what to do with the time is given to you."

End Flashback

And as Gandalf's soothing words in their kind and gentle tone reverberated through his mind, he knew that now was the time to make the decision and, in reality, he had already made it. He had to stop wasting time. He had no idea what was going on back in the forest but it would not be long before the rest of the Fellowship returned if they had won. And if they had lost then who knew if the Uruk-hai were closing in on him now. He had to leave now.

And so his fingers closed around the Ring and he stuffed it in his breast pocket, ignoring the tears still slowly running down his face and stepping across the stoney bank with his thick, hairy bare feet and grabbed the boat already half in the lake and heaved it forwards and into the water, bounding into it as he did so and almost effortlessly pushing the large boat out the lake it was a Elven boat after all. He pick up the oar with the leaf like paddle and plunged it into the water and began to steer the boat out and towards the far bank

And then, before he had got ten meters out, the sound he had least been waiting to hear reached his sharp ears. It was Sam. Somehow the faithful Hobbit had managed to avoid all the Uruks and all the fighting in general in his mad search for Frodo and now he was dashing out of the trees and onto the bank and Frodo could picture the look of horror and distress on his face as he cried. "Frodo! No!"

Sam ran right down the bank until his feet crashed into the water but Frodo's boat was already to far out for him to reach and he pulled to a stop with a desperate yell. "Frodo! Mister Frodo!"

"No, Sam." Frodo said over his shoulder without turning to look, just loud enough for Sam to hear. Frodo knew that looking back at him now would only make things worse and he could not bear to see the look on Sam's face. So he just kept rowing.

And then a splashing sound quickly changed that thought and Frodo looked back in alarm, to see Sam had started wading out into the river and after him. He was almost up to his waist already and such was his determination to get to Frodo and stay with his best friend that he seemed to have completely forgotten that there were two other boats on the shore which he could use himself.

"Go back Sam!" Frodo cried, but Sam ignored him and continued to wade out into the river forcefully and with purpose written across his face. "I'm going to Mordor alone."

"Of course you are." Sam shouted, continuing to wade deeper. "And I'm coming with you!" He was already up to his chest now and was getting deeper.

Frodo felt panic rising in his chest. "You can't swim!" He yelled back he knew this fact fully well having known Sam for most of his life. And as he watched Sam waded completely out of his depth and started to try and pull himself through the water with his arms, but already he was having difficulty. There was very little need for Hobbits of Hobbiton to learn how to swim and Sam's heavy cloak and gear was already weighing him down.

"Sam!" Frodo shouted, watching in horror as his best friend spluttered and floundered in in the lake and desperately tried to pull himself along, but only succeeded in going forwards and few feet and sinking deeper in the process. After a few agonizing seconds, his head went under and despite his lack of progress, the lake got very deep very quickly.

"Sam!" Frodo hollered in panic, dropping the oar and leaning over the side, trying to see the sunken Hobbit.

Under the waves, Sam was struggling and thrashing with his arms to try and get himself back to the surface kicking his legs feebly as his Elven cloak billowed upwards in the water above him, refusing to sink as fast as the rest of him. Having inhaled a lungful of water on entry, Sam found himself with very little oxygen to breathe in his lungs and as he struggled harder to gain some height and get to the surface he just couldn't do it. He was losing energy fast and bubbles were coming out of his mouth from time to time as he fought the urge to try and inhale and merely sunk in more water. Sam had no idea how long he was down there for, but after a mere twenty seconds and he was already nearly at a standstill. The cloak sank around him and he began to lose consciousness as his brain began to stop function properly due to the sudden lack of oxygen. He could already feel his eyes slowly beginning to close, the light of the sun flickering through the water above him and filtering into his eyes. He was, in reality, still not that far from the surface. He just couldn't reach it.

One hand was held upwards feebly trying vainly to reach the air.

And then another hand plunged into the water from above and seized Sam by the wrist. After a second, Sam's brain kicked into gear and he grabbed the wrist back and Frodo yanked upwards and hauled Sam to the surface again. Sam sputtered and coughed almost immediately and spat out water to replace it with the life giving air as Frodo, leaning towards the other side of the boat to try and balance the sopping wet Hobbit tumbling into the boat.

Sam quickly fought off his sudden near death experience and, still gasping for breath and choking, he pushed himself upwards and knelt in front of Frodo with their eye level. "I made a promise Mister Frodo. A promise: Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee." He sputtered out, repeating what Gandalf had told him on that day the two Hobbits had set out from their homes to begin this very quest. And then he repeated what he had promised to Frodo when he told him what Gandalf had said for the first time.

"And I don't mean to. I don't mean to."

"Oh Sam." Frodo almost whimpered and, ignoring the fact that Sam was wet through, he pulled the younger Hobbit into a hug which Sam returned. Sam was choking slightly, but the two Hobbits held one another close. And in that moment, Frodo knew absolutely that he couldn't just send Sam back to the other bank. And he could not just leave him behind. Having Sam as a companion would put him in danger, but Frodo couldn't stand to break his faithful companion's heart.

Not now and not ever. Sam would stay with him until the quest ended.

Nevertheless, they still had to leave before the rest of the Fellowship arrived, so Frodo pulled out of the hug and said. "Come on." Sam nodded and the two of them reached for an car each and quickly settled into place in the boat, steering their way to the far side. They were heading right towards danger and both of them knew it, but they also knew that whatever hardships they would face in the future they would face it with the other by their side.

XXX

It was not the two Hobbits had reached the opposite bank and had clambered out of the boat, which had thankfully contained all of Sam's gear like his cooking equipment just as it had contained Frodo's things, the rest of the Fellowship arrived back at their campsite. Mervamon, Agumon and Cutemon were still with them and Legolas immediately spotted the two Hobbits stepping into the forest on the other side.

"Look!" He cried, pointing as he did so. "Frodo and Sam are on the eastern shore! They have left without us!"

The Elf hurried towards one of the boats, but Aragorn raised a hand and said. "No, Legolas. Stay yourself. Frodo is no longer up to us."

"Aragorn." Legolas almost gasped, and it was hard to make Legolas gasps for any reason. "Are you saying that we do not follow them?"

"Yes." Aragorn said simply. "From now on, the quest belongs to Frodo and Sam alone."

Gimli looked similarly stunned. "You would let those two Halflings go it alone into the heart of..."

"Enough, Gimli." Aragorn cut across him, glancing at Mervamon, Agumon and Cutemon who were still not knowing to what is going on. "Let the matter rest."

Boromir's eyes were locked on Frodo's retreating back and, for a brief moment, he felt a sudden urge to jump in the nearest boat and chase after him, but before the idea could take root he turned his eyes away from the Hobbits and stared down at the ground, gasping for breath. The recovered but still weakened man was leaning on Mervamon for support, but he now pushed himself away and stood upright by himself.

"I agree with Aragorn." He nodded firmly, trying to purge himself of the last of the influence the Ring had on him. "Frodo has his reasons and... from what I have seen... what I have done... they are good reasons. We must let them be now."

Aragorn turned to Boromir and allowed a small smile to grace his face, knowing that statement was a triumph for Boromir considering what had happened earlier. The Gondorian man wobbled towards his shield, which would have been of immense help in the previous battle if he had remembered to bring it and slung it across his back.

"I..." He murmured. "I failed you all. I failed Frodo. I failed Gandalf. I failed Merry and Pippin. I... I failed myself."

Legolas and Gimli looked bemused but Aragorn gave Boromir a comforting look and said. "You are not the first to be taken in under its influence, Boromir. Isildur did before you."

"And yet you succeeded." Boromir signed. "You are a far better man than I could ever be, Aragorn."

"No, Boromir." Aragorn shook his head. "I am no greater than you. You fought against overwhelming odds and were it not for one Orc with his bow and arrow I believe you would have triumphed."

"And yet I did not." Boromir signed. "It is a miracle that I am still alive. Everything I have ever accused of you, Aragorn, I take it back now. You will make a great King and I will follow you to the ends of Middle Earth and beyond."

"Excuse me?" Mervamon blinked. She could tell they were talking about something which they were trying to keep secret from from her and she knew she had no business asking what it was so she didn't, but Boromir's last sentence caught her attention. "King? You are a King?"

Agumon heard Mervamon said King which shock him. "Is that true?"

Aragorn looked uncomfortable and said nothing, but Legolas nodded and said. "Not yet. But he is the rightful King of the country of Gondor by blood."

"Oh that's so cool!" Cutemon grinned.

"This your first time meeting a King, I take it?" Gimli snorted.

"Actually no." Cutemon grinned. "One of my best friends is a King, King Shoutmon of the Digital World."

That answer took Gimli off guard and he fell into silence.

"I do not much like to speak of my birthright." Aragorn said a little stonily, "And I would appreciate it if we let the matter rest. I thank you for your words and your sentiment Boromir."

Boromir barely seemed to hear him for several moments. "What are we supposed to do now? Sauron's power is great. Too great. The world of my people and our race will fall into darkness under his control. He will lay waste to everything before him, and we will all succumb to the darkness sooner or later... as I did." He shuddered and gasped his head. "What we are meant to do now that the quest is no longer belongs to us?"

Aragorn grimaced. "No, Boromir. We shall oppose Sauron with every ounce of strength we can muster. We will make sure of that. I promise you. And thanks to the actions of those brave strangers, you are still alive to carry on Gondor's legacy and now free from the burden of the quest, we can begin our own campaign. You will be able to do what you wished to do most and defend the White City. And we shall be by your side as you do so."

Boromir looked heartened. "Perhaps the Lady Galadriel was right." He murmured. "Perhaps there maybe hope after all. Especially with Gondor's true King back at the front lines at long last."

Aragorn did not make any comment on that for several seconds, but then Gimli stepped forward and said. "And what of the two other Hobbits in our company? Last we knew they were still alive. Our efforts on this quest appear to have been in vain, but what are we supposed to do about them?"

"I would have thought the answer is simple." Aragorn said firmly. "We go after them. Frodo might not be under our care any longer but our Fellowship has not fallen yet and until I see their dead bodies I will not give up hope that it has. We must remain strong and go after them. We will not abandon them, no matter what."

"A noble statement." Mervamon nodded approvingly. She stepped forward and said. "If I may be bold, may Cutemon, Agumon and I join you on your hunt for your lost companions?"

There was several moments of silence. All four members of the Fellowship were staring at the three Digimon with suspicion. Aragorn eventually cleared his throat and said. "We thank you for the offer Mervamon but... you must understand that we know very little about you. None of us have ever seen anything like you in our world and you claim that you are not from it at all. But we only have your word to go on it."

Mervamon scowled. "You are saying that you do not trust us?"

"It is difficult to determine." Aragorn admitted. "If you are truly creatures of good then I apologize for this... but these are dark times. The darkest of times in over two thousand years. Evil is abroad in this land and those Uruk-hai we fought back there were mild in comparison to some of the powers of evil that exist, serving under the Dark Lord Sauron. How are we to know that you are what you claim to be at all."

Mervamon's scowl reminds in place but she said. "Fair point. But we do not even know who this Sauron you've been mentioning even is. We have heard of him no more than we've heard of Gondor or these other places and people you keep mentioning."

"I understand that but again I can only take you at face value." Aragorn nodded. "And the spies of the enemy can come in many forms."

"You think we could be spies?" Cutemon looked so hurt by the accusation that Aragorn wanted to take it back almost immediately, but he refrained from doing so.

Agumon frown and said. "We do not work for evil, we only serve our King, our adviser and our Generals."

"With black magic in this world, many things are possible." He said. "Tell me, why do you want to come with us?"

"As we said, we are not from around here." Mervamon replied. "Neither of us have the foggiest idea where we are, or which direction to go in to reach anything else. You are the first beings we saw since we arrived here and I feel it would be better for the both of us if we were to stick with people who are more likely to know where they are going and what they are doing than simply wandering aimlessly in this forest until we finally stumble upon something."

"Yeah and there's more." Cutemon added. "There's all our friends as well."

"It's true." Agumon confirmed. "We believe all are friends are scattered all over this world."

"Friends?" Legolas frowned. "There are more of you here?"

"We believe so." Mervamon nodded. "When the... event... that caused us to fall into this Middle Earth occurred, most of our friends in the court of King Shoutmon were present. I have little reason to believe that Cutemon, Agumon and I are not the only ones who were transported here. I have a feeling... that this world received quite a few new arrivals yesterday. Unfortunately, we have no idea where they are either. Perhaps if we travel with you we will discover some sign or hear some news about them which may help us to find them again."

"And they all like you, are they?" Gimli asked gruffly.

"They are all Digimon, yes." Mervamon chuckled. "But most of them... are very much like us. Digimon can come in many, many shapes, after all."

"There appearance and size are all very different than us." Agumon said with a smile.

"I... see..." Aragorn murmured .

"But many of us are very powerful." Mervamon went on. "And while I am not in possession of all the facts, its plain to see that there is some form of evil trying to take over your world, correct? Well, perhaps we could be some help."

"Why would you help us so suddenly?" Boromir asked. "If what you said is true then you know as little about us as we do to you. Why to you trust us?"

"Because we help out those who need it." Mervamon said. "It's what we do. It's what King Shoutmon and his friends stand for. It doesn't matter who they are as long as they're the good guys if they need help then we will do all we can to give it to them."

Aragorn stared at them for a couple of moments and then said. "Would you allow us to discuss this amongst ourselves for a moment?"

"Of course." Mervamon nodded and stepped away. The four Fellowship members grouped together and Legolas kept a close eye on the three Digimon just in case they tried something.

"We don't know if any of what those three have just told us is true." Gimli pointed out gruffly. "How can we trust them? They appeared right out of nowhere and right about the same time that the Uruk-hai did. It smells a little funny to me."

"Great forces are at work here." Legolas nodded. "Forces far greater than us. I do know that much. The only question is what do we do next?"

"Well, I for one think that we can trust them." Boromir said quietly. "I see no reason why a minion of Sauron or any other servant of evil would go to such lengths to aid us. I was on the brink of death and yet the two of them work together to restore me back to heal my wounds right before my eyes. I cannot fathom how they, especially the small one, could possibly be evil."

"The servants of the enemy do often look fair." Aragorn mused. "That much is true. And yet they also feel foul. I am torn. I do believe that what Boromir says is true, for a creature of evil to heal a wounded man even to get into the graces of those who are good does not sound... right."

"Servants of Sauron can be cunning." Gimli pointed out. "It would be the last thing that we expected, wouldn't it?"

"Why are you so keen not to trust them, Master Dwarf?" Legolas asked curiously.

"I am not!" Gimli snorted. "I merely believe we should consider all the facts. I could also point out that Mervamon and Agumon both did kill the two Orcs that were about to drop on me. But if they're going to be coming with us then we must be sure."

"That is true." Boromir nodded quietly. "But I'll stand by what I said before. I think that we can trust them. They certainly do not feel foul, either of them."

"I thought the same." Aragorn agreed. "I have seen many minions of Sauron and none of them have felt like those three. It is strange. Legolas, Gimli, what would you decide to do?"

"I have no idea." Gimli sighed. "Their story sounds absolutely ridiculous to me and yet there's a small part of me that... wants to believe them. And not in that deceptive dark way of fell magicians either. That Mervamon is very fair indeed, even if she does have fangs and a giant snake for a arm. Agumon is also a fighter and even he is some kind of dragon. What about you, Master Elf?"

Legolas shut his eyes for several moments and a slight breeze blew back his long blond hair. And then he said. "I believe them."

"And why would that be?" Aragorn asked.

"Do you not remember what I told you, Aragorn?" Legolas asked. "In this very place earlier today? Last night I felt an incredibly strange disturbance in the fabric of reality and suddenly here are three strange creatures we never heard of before claiming that they woke up to find themselves here this very morning. The disturbance did feel close and it felt large. It does fit together in some obscure way."

Aragorn nodded quietly, digesting this. He did indeed remember Legolas telling him something like that, and of all of them he was included to trust Legolas' instincts the most.

"Besides." Legolas added with a smile. "That Cutemon is just to cute to be a servant of evil."

Aragorn actually laughed out loud at this, and that made up his mind for him. He turned back to the three Digimon and said. "Very well then. I am not usually inclined to accepting the company of strangers I meet in the wilds but if you wish, you may come with us. We could use your talents again in the future, I am sure, if what you say is true and you would be willing to help."

"Of course it's true." Mervamon said firmly.

"We are indeed a long way from most forms of habitation." Aragorn nodded. "Somebody could get lost in these forests for weeks if they did not know where they are going. You can come with us. But your friends, what do they look like?"

"Oh, I could be here all day describing what they look like to you." Mervamon chuckled.

"There is a lot of them." Cutemon nodded.

"Some of them are bigger and some of them are smaller." Agumon said with a smile.

"Very well." Aragorn supplied. "We can discuss things more on the run, for we must now make haste. This altercation will have allowed those Uruk-hai to gain a valuable lead on us and we must hurry if we are to catch up with them."

"Got it." Mervamon smirked, opening her palm and causing her big sword to vanish into mid air. Aragorn was momentarily startled but then he put it aside and said. "And what of you, Boromir? Will you come with us, or will you now return to your city to try and defend it?"

Boromir hesitated and looked of south for a moment, where he knew his city of Minas Tirith to be but eventually he looked back and said. "As I said, I would follow you and I meant it. Right now the Halflings are in more immediate danger than Gondor. And I would not break up this Fellowship any more than it has been broken."

"Can you run, Boromir?" Legolas asked.

"I will mange." The stubborn pride of the Gondorian appeared to be returning.

"Hooray!" Cutemon cheered. "We're going to be alright then."

"The same cannot be said for those Uruk things." Mervamon nodded with a smirk. "Let's get going then."

"I am right with you guys." Agumon was filled with determination.

Aragorn nodded and then gave Legolas a significant look. They still did not completely trust the Digimon and Legolas caught Aragorn's meaning quickly. Then Aragorn turned back around and said. "Then we shall leave all that we can spare here, we cannot be weighed down. Now... let's hunt some Orcs!" And he turned and pelted off into the forest without another word. Gimli let off a roar of approval and dashed after him. Boromir pulled his horn, which he had just noticed had been split in two at some point during his battle and he had not realized it, off his belt and threw it to the ground before taking in a deep breath and summoning his strength to run after the Dwarf and the King, Mervamon and Agumon both instantly falling in step behind him. Cutemon hang on Mervamon's helmet as they were running. Legolas brought up the rear, bow in hand just in case Mervamon and Agumon both decided to try anything, but despite their new arrival and slight suspicion that remained there was also a sense of comradeship in the air that almost drowned it out. For better or for worse, Legolas knew, the fate of Middle Earth was changing.

XXX

Now Mervamon, Cutemon and Agumon have joined the members of the Fellowship and Boromir have survive from his injuries.

Next will be Ballistamon's group in Emyn Muil

Next time Chapter 10 Need a Heavy Speaker.