then again, my laptop got fried so we had to buy a new one. This laptop doesn't come with microsoft word, so I'm
using something else (so if you see anything wrong with this document, TELL ME RIGHT AWAY!).
ONWARD EORLINGAS!
~0~0~0~
one week later...
It had now been a week since Faroth had gone missing. During the first day of Faroth's disapearance, Gorluk had spent
some time figuring out what to do next. He knew that he couldn't leave Faroth in the hands of the Elves (which is
what he assumed had happened), but he also knew that he couldn't try to go in the forest after him, not all by
himself against who-knows-how-many Elven warriors! After some careful consideration, Gorluk finaly decided to follow
the stream that seemed to border the forest, hoping to find some sign of where Faroth may be. But before he left, he
crept back to the place where he had almost got shot by the Elves to try and get his new sword back. It was right
where he had dropped it, so he grabbed it and ran back into the trees for dear life. No Elves had tried to shoot him.
Gorluk had been worried about what would happen if Faroth came back to the same place he had last seen him, so the
last thing he did before he left was write a message in the mud beneath the same bush Faroth had told him to go hide
in before he left.
The message read:
"Faroth,
pleees folow the streem towrds the rit,
becaas thats wer I went.
-Gorluk"
(What Gorluk never thought to realize was that Wargs were never taught to read, and that no one could ever read his
hand writing anyway).
So by the time the sun had set the first day, Gorluk was already gone.
For days Gorluk walked, starting as soon as the sun came up, and stopping when the sky was completly dark. He would
try to rest when the sun came down, but he never could, for every night, he could see eerie green lights on the other
side of the stream. Gorluk guessed that the lights were coming from some strange lamps from the Elves. But the thing
that terrified him the most was that he was afraid that Gollum was following him. Most of the time he would hear a
small splash from the stream, or would hear something hissing between teeth, and if he pretended to fall asleep, he
would see pale eyes gleaming from a bush, glaring right at him for a few brief seconds before blinking out if Gorluk
moved. Gorluk knew that the only thing keeping Gollum from attacking him was his sword, so he spent every night
leaned against a tree with his sword in his hand, without a fire so he wouldn't be discovered by the Elves.
But yet every day seemed the same, with no signs of Faroth. The forest seemed to have no end, and there was a constant
silence, other then the gentle sounds of the stream (And Gollum). The only changes to each day was Gorluk's worry
and anxiety, which grew bigger and bigger. He even began to wonder if the Elves had killed Faroth, since he was a Warg
after all. But Gorluk did not want to give up, not since Faroth was the only real friend he had.
on the seventh day however, Gorluk began to feel that his search was useless. It was a sunny afternoon, and Gorluk had
just wondered into a small clearing next to the stream, when he stopped. "Oh Faroth!" Gorluk wailed, not caring if
there were Elves nearby, "Where are you?!" In despair he landed face-down onto the ground, and didn't move for a long
while.
Meanwhile...
During the time that Gorluk was 'musing' over his sorrows next to the stream, Faroth was doing the exact opposite in
Lothlorien. The whole week that he was there, he spent much of his time wondering through the forests, fountains,
gardens, lamps, and statues, as if he was in a dream. And truth be known, he actually did think that he was in a dream
most of the time (not that he cared.). But he was (slightly) smart enough to know that the beauty of Lothlorien
couldn't come from the product of his own imagination, or anyone elses.
Anyways, on that particular day, Faroth trotted along a small path that lead to the westward wall. Haldir had shown him
that path a few days ago, saying that he could go down that path if he ever wished to leave Lothlorien and join back
with his own kind. But the thought of coming back to the pack had made Faroth's skin crawl with dread. The path lead to
a hole in the ground, big enough for him to crawl through, which would enable him to go underground, and come out again
on the other side of the wall. But he never used it to leave Lothlorien for good, of course. Instead, He would only go
to get a drink from the stream whenever he got thirsty.
When he finally reached the stream, he climbed down to his usual spot on the rocks, where the water seemed the deepest.
As he leaned down to drink, he felt both of his hind legs slip on the rocks and in he fell-
SPLASH!
Gorluk jumped up in alarm from the other side of the stream when he heard a loud noise, like something heavy that had
fallen in the water. He quickly got out of his depressed state, and grabbed his sword. Hesitantly, he got out of his
hiding spot (for when he jumped, he landed in the bushes), and made his way towards the stream to investigate. To his
horror, he saw a massive, dark, sinister-looking ball of fur squirming in the water. Slowly, it began to rise out from
the water, and Gorluk almost screamed when he saw that it was covered with green slime and mud, and had jagged fangs.
This monster was hideous, and to Gorluk it reeked of death! It was coming out of the water towards him! And it had a
tail! It was getting closer! So close that Gorluk could see every detail of its face! It was...
"Faroth? Oh, good, it's just you... Wait a minute... FAROTH!? IT'S YOU!"
Gorluk threw his sword to the ground and jumped towards Faroth with joy, nearly tripping the both of them into the water.
For a long while Gorluk would not let let go of the confused Faroth, But when he finally did, he was covered with mud,
slime, and a great deal of Faroth's light brown fur. "I'VE-BEEN-LOOKING-FOR-YOU-FOR-DAYS!" Gorluk shouted with joy
as he jumped up and down.
"Gorluk!" Faroth said cheerfully. "I never expected to find you here!" Gorluk stopped bouncing, puzzled by what Faroth
had said. "What do you mean? I thought that you were captured by Elves!"
Faroth paused for a second in thought. "Well, I guess that I was, in the begining. But it's a long story...
And so they both sat down, and Faroth told Gorluk everything that had happened to him, starting from when they had last
seen each other. Faroth even described to Gorluk the beauty of Lothlorien, or at least what he could put into words about
it. "It's unlike any land I've ever seen before! Everywhere I turn there's statues of Elven warriors and Maidens, and
there's fountains too, and there's Elves that sing all the time... and there's so many gardens! All of them have
different kinds of flowers!"
Gorluk's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he said flowers. 'My favorite word...' he thought to himself. He
eagerly asked Faroth what they looked like, and sighed dreamily when Faroth told him that most of them were golden, while
others were purple or pink with many petals. "I like to walk through the gardens and pretend that I can smell the flowers,"
Faroth continued. "But I don't always walk by myself. Sometimes Sam and Frodo join me-"
"WHAT!?" Gorluk gasped. "You mean..."
Faroth smiled and nodded. "Oh yes, every one of them are here. Although what's strange is that they call themselves 'the
Fellowship', or that's at least what Haldir told me. Strange isn't it?" Gorluk was silent in shock for a while. Finaly
he asked, "What have you found out about them? Do you know why they're here?"
Faroth shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe they came to live here because it's such a wonderful place! Who wouldn't?" But
Gorluk shook his head. "But I heard them say a lot of times that they were on a secret mission! Maybe they stopped here
because they needed help..."
Faroth didn't seemed convinced. "Or maybe they knew that they would be safe here. You and I know too well the evils in
this world! But in Lothlorien, there is not a trace, nor will there ever be. They must have come here because they wanted
to escape evil, not fight it like you think."
Gorluk shrank away from Faroth in disbelief at what he said. This did not sound like him at all. Faroth sighed and turned
his head in the direction where Lothlorien lay. "I want to escape evil too. In Lothlorien, the Elves actually welcome me
here as one of them. They smile and greet me as I walk by them, their children want to play with me all the time. I never
had any of that back when I was with the pack..."
Gorluk stood up and patted the young Warg on the head. "I still welcome you as a friend!" he said cheerfully, but on the
inside he felt pity and remorse. This was the first time that Gorluk realized that Faroth's former life was much harder
then his had been.
Faroth looked up at Gorluk. "Haldir says that I could leave anytime I want, but he also said..." Faroth paused for a
moment, like he was hesitant to tell Gorluk something, "He also said that I could stay here if I wanted to. For the rest
of my life."
Gorluk sat back down next to Faroth but faced the stream instead of looking at the Warg. Now he really wanted to cry.
Faroth was the first friend that he ever had, but now he wanted to leave him to stay with Elves!?
"I understand," Gorluk said with difficulty. Faroth looked up at him and smiled. "I hoped you would," he said. Faroth
stood up. "If the fellowship actually does end up leaving," he said. "Then I'll tell you right away."
And without looking back Faroth crossed the stream and disapeared down the hole in the ground. For a while Gorluk sat
alone in a state of shock. But after a few moments, he stood up, walked calmly to the nearest tree, and banged his head
as hard as he could on the trunk.
"D****T!"
~0~0~0~
If it's any comfort to you, the whole Faroth-wanting-to-stay-in-Lorien situation gets MUCH better...
In the next chapter!
~Tatharwen