.

~0~0~0~

"FAROTH WAKE UP! WAKE UP!"

Faroth awoke and jumped up in alarm right after Gorluk tried to punch him in the stomach for the second time. "What is it? Are we being attacked? Did the Orcs come back?" Faroth asked in fear as he ran around the clearing in circles. Gorluk stood up with his arms crossed. "No." he snapped. "But once the sun came up I tried to wake you, but you were in such a deep sleep I couldn't get a single word out of you. I would have thought that you were dead if you weren't snoring so loudly!"

Faroth bowed his head with embarrassment. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Gorluk frowned and patted Faroth on the head. "That's alright," he said. "We just need an early start. We have five extra miles to walk if we're going to catch up with the group."

Faroth nodded. "You don't have to walk. You can ride on me while I run."

Gorluk grinned. "Good! That way we'll get there faster!"

And so that's how Faroth's morning started, him pelting through the trees, and Gorluk riding on his back and clinging onto his fur for dear life. As the sun rose higher into the sky, Faroth could see the sunlight streak through golden leaves. That made Faroth confused, for he had never seen leaves still in the trees during winter. He began to wander where they could possible be, for he had never gone southwards away from the misty mountains. And he knew that Gorluk didn't know where they were either, for he was from Mirkwood.

It was near noontime by the time Faroth finally stopped to rest. He stopped right next to the stream where they had scared the group of Orcs the night before, so there were footprints scattered everywhere. Faroth sat down panting for air while Gorluk walked around.

As Faroth stood up to drink from the stream, Gorluk stooped over to stare at something. "Look at this!" he called to Faroth. Faroth walked over and watched as Gorluk picked up a strange shiny object. Faroth cocked his head to the side in curiosity. "What is it?" he asked. Gorluk whirled his head around in surprise. "You don't know what a sword is when you see one?"

Faroth shrugged. "I've just never seen one before." That was true. Faroth rarely saw any weapons where he grew up, but when Elves occasionally drove his pack further into the mountains, they would use Bows or spears.

Gorluk wiped the dirt off of it and waved it in the air with admiration. "One of the Orcs must have dropped this last night," he said. He held it up, and they both watched with marvel as it glittered in the sun. The blade shone as if it was made of silver, and the sword hilt was wrapped with leather. "What kind of an Orc would walk around with a thing like that?" Faroth wondered. "Maybe the Orc that carried this had stolen it," Gorluk said. "Either way, I'm going to keep this!"

Gorluk picked up the sword's sheath that had been lying on the ground next to it and tied it to his belt with glee. Also, to Faroth's surprise, he pulled out his small knife from his pocket and dropped it to the ground. "I won't need this anymore," he said.

After a few breaths of air and a drink from the stream, Faroth was ready to move on. Together, Faroth and Gorluk were able to wade across the stream with ease, despite their short height. They had to stop again after they had crossed, for they were soaked, and the air was exceedingly chilly that day. For a long while they sat side by side in the sun, shivering, while they dried. Faroth looked around and noticed that the forest had become thicker with the mysterious golden leaves.

"What country do you think we're in?" he asked Gorluk. Gorluk scratched his head. "I'm not quite sure. I've never gone this far south before," he replied. "Although…" He said in a much quieter tone. "I have heard of a land not far from the mountains that's inhabited by Elves. They say that there's an Elf-witch that rules the land with terrible power…"

Faroth trembled with fright (and cold). Gorluk glanced over and saw the fear on his face. "But I'm sure that it's not true," he said quickly. "It's probably only a myth, after all."

That seemed to calm Faroth down a little, but he was now worried about the forest that they were now in.

Gorluk stood up and stretched. "I'm fully dry now, are you?" he asked. Faroth saw that he was still wet, but he knew that Gorluk was anxious to catch up to the travelers as soon as possible. With a sigh, Faroth stood up and shook a few drops of water off his fur. "Let's go."

Faroth only took a few steps into the forest before he began to get paranoid. Something just didn't feel right about the trees. He didn't know what, but he began to feel like they weren't alone…

"Gorluk," Faroth said, turning to face him. "I have a strange feeling about this place…"

Gorluk's eyes widened. "You can feel that too?"

Faroth nodded gravely. "I think that I should go on for a distance while you stay here and hide."

Gorluk became even more surprised. "No way! If there's something or someone out there, I should be there to protect you!"

"Shhhh! They might hear you!" Faroth whispered. "What if this is the country with the Elves that you were talking about earlier? If an Orc stepped too close to their border, the Orc would get shot! I just want to make sure that we're not too close to that place." After a brief moment of silence he also added "And if I step too close to the border, they'll just think that I'm a dog or something, since I'm pretty small for a Warg."

Gorluk thought about this and finally nodded his head. "I guess that it could be worth a shot. But if you're not back in thirty minutes, then I'll look for you."

Gorluk disappeared to hide before Faroth could ask him how long thirty minutes was (Faroth wasn't even full grown, if you remember). So with a brave face and his tail held up high, he trotted deeper into the trees.

Fifteen minutes later…

Faroth's confidence had vanished after a few moments. His tail was now between his legs, and his brave face had vanished, replaced with dread. His mind was rushing with thoughts about whether or not to run back. Faroth just couldn't understand why this forest seemed to be watching him…

"DARO!"

Faroth yelped in terror and jumped, nearly doing a summersault in the air. When he landed back onto the ground with a loud thud, he whirled his head around wildly, trying to figure out where the voice had come from.

Strangely, he couldn't see anyone close by. He jumped again when he heard soft laughter coming from the treetops. That must have been the trees!, he thought in horror. These trees are haunted!

It was true, the voices that Faroth had heard came from the trees, but it wasn't the trees that had made the noise. While Faroth stood still in panic, he didn't notice the two Elves that were sitting in the branches watching him. They had grey hoods that hid their faces, but they were both laughing and talking to each other in their own language.

"Rumil, you didn't have to scare that poor creature!" the first Elf said between giggles. "It looks petrified!"

"I was only doing my job!" Rumil grinned. "You're supposed to warn strangers before they cross the border!"

His friend stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes at Faroth. "What do you think that is, anyway?" he asked. "Is it a dog?"

Rumil shook his head. "No Thalion, that seems more to me like a Wolf, can't you see its teeth? Or maybe it's a Warg…"

"There's no way that's a Warg," Thalion declared. "It looks too small to be one."

Rumil rolled his eyes. "I'm still going to take a closer look," he said. He swung his legs and jumped out of the tree, and Thalion followed.

Meanwhile, Faroth was still shaking with fear, but then froze when he heard footsteps coming. Hoping that it was Gorluk, he turned around to run, but then he saw the two Elves standing in his way. Faroth knew that it was no use to run. He had enough experience to know that Elves are surprisingly fast when pursuing enemies, and they can shoot Arrows at great distances, even at moving targets. Seeing that it was no use to escape, Faroth stood still and waited to see what would happen. One of them spoke to the other, but he couldn't understand them. In Faroth's mind, they were probably talking about whether or not to kill him.

But thankfully, that was the last thing on their minds. "I told you that it was a dog," Thalion said. "If it was a wolf, then it would try to attack us."

Rumil scratched his head. "But I still think that it's a Wolf! Maybe the Men down south tamed it somehow."

Rumil slowly reached out his hand towards Faroth. Faroth thought that the Elf was going to strangle him, but became confused when the Elf patted him on the head instead. "Wolf or dog, I think that it's kinda cute," Rumil said. Thalion nodded and also patted Faroth.

Faroth stared up at the Elves incredulously. He had expected for them to kill him… So why were they patting him on the head and talking to him with affectionate voices? But then he figured it out. They must think that I'm cute or something, he thought. So he did his best to make himself look friendly. He wagged his tail, smiled, all while saying in his head don't kill me don't kill me don't kill meee...

"Maybe it got lost from its master," Thalion said. "It would be nice if we could keep it."

"That's a great idea!" Rumil exclaimed. "We could take it back to Caras Galadhon and show it to my brother Haldir! He's been out of Lothlorien before, so maybe he could tell us what it is."

Faroth didn't understand what they were saying, but he knew what the Elves were up to when they tied a rope around his neck. They're capturing me, he thought dismally. He was thankful that they weren't going to kill him (not yet at least), but he became worried about where they were going to take him. In the back of his mind, he remembered the Elf witch that Gorluk had mentioned earlier that morning. Was it possible that they were going to take him to HER?

Faroth slumped his shoulders and trotted alongside the Elves gloomily as they began to walk deeper into Lothlorien.

~0~0~0~

I apologize for not updating for three weeks… I've been on vacation.

I guess that it's time that I answer a question that has been asked ever since I posted the third chapter… "when will Gorluk be discovered by the Fellowship?" I will answer this the best I can without giving anything away.

Only one person in the Fellowship will find out about Gorluk first, some time during or after chapter sixteen, but I won't tell you who it will be (I'm just kidding, his name starts with a G!) and he won't tell the rest of the fellowship about Gorluk, so everyone else has to find out about him for themselves. The rest of the Fellowship will find out about him MUCH later, so be VERY patient!

I hope that answers the question, but you can ask me more specifically if this confuses you.

HAVE A NICE DAY,

Tatharwen

(P.s., Has anyone seen the movie preview for the desolation of Smaug yet? It's sooo great!)