~0~0~0~

"Faroth… I'm tired…. So exhausted from running…"

"What do you mean? We've only been running for half an hour!"

"… That's exactly why I'm tired."

"Why now? You were able to keep up all through yesterday and today, and after one ten minute break you can't take another step?"

"Just…. Go on without me…. Save the halflings and let me die here…. Alone…"

"Gorluk, now you're being dramatic! Wait… You ate too much Lembas bread again, didn't you?"

"No! I *burp* did not!"

"…. Well if you're going to keep acting like that you can at least ride on my back until you feel better."

"Really? Thanks!"

Faroth halted as he allowed the exhausted Orc to stagger towards him and climb onto his back. With a little bit more effort he continued to run at a faster pace than before, and Gorluk spent a lot of time trying to catch his breath. After Gorluk was able to relax a little, he began to view their surroundings. The country that they were now in was unlike any landscape Gorluk had ever seen. After following the tracks of the Orcs all through yesterday, it was before nightfall that the forest disappeared, and they found themselves running into a land full of grassy fields and rocky hills, with not a single tree in sight. Even though they were amazed by this sudden change, Gorluk began to feel nervous; he felt too exposed in the fields and knew that any pack of Orcs would be able to see them a mile away.

"Gorluk, do you happen to know what country we are in?" Faroth asked. Gorluk shrugged. "Like I've said many times, I spent too much time in Mirkwood to learn what lies south… Except for Mordor, of course."

Gorluk didn't notice Faroth shiver at that name. "And what direction is Mordor on, exactly?" he asked.

Gorluk pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "It's a ways east. Right now we're running in the opposite direction."

"You mean I'M running in the opposite direction," Faroth corrected. "But I sure am glad that we're not going there any time soon! I've had enough of dismal and gloomy places; other than Lothlorien, this is the best country I've been in so far. This is the first time in months that I've felt warm air in my fur!"

"But we don't know what lies in this land," Gorluk said. "If this seems like a perfect country to you, why must it be that those Orcs are taking the Halflings through here? There's something about this place that doesn't seem right to me; it's like there's some evil at work here in disguise."

"Well, it's not like we might have to face our worst fears here," Faroth huffed.

For the rest of the day Gorluk and Faroth traveled on in silence, except for occasional comments on the weather that was changing quickly. Big grey clouds were beginning to roll in through the sky from the south, but they never worried about it until dusk when it began to rain. It rained all through the night, and during that time they had a miserable job at trying to fall asleep. Gorluk was able to wrap his cloak around himself and Faroth, but the thin Elven fabric didn't stop them from getting soaked. By morning when the clouds cleared and the sun came up, they found themselves covered in mud from the waist down. Even though their morning went off to a rough start, they soon became thankful for the hard rain when they saw the footprints of the Orcs, which became clearer and easier to track due to the muddy ground.

"It's like they never stop," Gorluk said when they discovered the tracks. "We started running after them only minutes after they took off with the halflings, but yet they're probably miles ahead because unlike us, they run during the night. Why are they in such a hurry?"

Faroth shrugged. "Maybe they're taking them to one of their camps to be questioned. But that still doesn't answer why they're rushing… After we save them we'll try to figure it out."

Gorluk nodded, but he secretly wondered if they would be able to catch up to them in time. And if they did, what then? It would be him and Faroth against fifty of the tallest and strongest Orcs imaginable. How could they possibly save them all by themselves?

Gorluk and Faroth ran on throughout the morning at a faster pace than usual, not even stopping for breaks. By afternoon, as they climbed to the top of a steep and rocky hill, Gorluk scanned his eyes through the distance and saw something that gave him great joy.

"I can see them!" he gasped as he jumped up and down excitedly. "The Orcs must be only a mile away; if we keep up at this pace we'll be able to catch up to them by nightfall!"

Faroth nearly did a cartwheel in the air. "What are we waiting for? Let's keep going!"

The young Warg was about to dash off when Gorluk jumped in front of him and blocked his way. "It's not that simple," he said, "If we can see them, then don't you think that one of the Orcs may turn around and see us? This land is too wide open; we don't have any trees, bushes, or large rocks to hide behind."

Faroth thought for a moment. But then the simplest answer popped into his mind. "Of course!" he gasped. "If there aren't any bushes or rocks to hide behind, then we'll have to make them!"

"What! Faroth, you're not explaining this very well, what do you mean….?" Gorluk began, but his voice trailed off when he saw what Faroth was doing. Faroth ran down to the bottom of the hill and began to roll around in the largest mud puddle he could find. "I see what you mean! We need to camouflage ourselves!" Gorluk exclaimed. He eagerly sprinted down the hill and jumped into the mud puddle that Faroth was in. "Faroth! Find all of the dried grass you can find!" he said after they had both covered their entire bodies in mud. Faroth gave him a puzzled look, but obeyed. It wasn't very hard to find dead grass during the winter, and very soon they had a large pile.

"So why did you ask for dead grass?" Faroth asked. Gorluk grabbed a handful of grass and began to press it against the mud on his skin. "I was taught this when I was in training," he said, "When the mud dries, the dead grass will keep it from crumbling for a while longer, and it also helps you blend in with the ground."

Faroth nodded and began to roll around in the pile of grass. Minutes later, with mud and dead grass on their skin and fur, they looked both unnoticeable and ridiculous. "We'll have to stay in the tall grass so that the Orcs won't detect our movement very well," Gorluk said.

Faroth stared into a puddle and frowned at his own reflection. "Now I have more than one thing to worry about if we get caught; one, that we'll be pelted by hundreds of poisonous arrows, but most of all, that they'll see this silly looking disguise and laugh at me."

"We do look rather comical," Gorluk said thoughtfully, "but we're still a lot less likely to be found than before, so you won't have to worry."

And so they once again started their pursuit, the afternoon sun starting to sink fast through the sky. The grassy fields that they darted through had grass that grew near to Gorluk's height, but completely engulfed Faroth so even the Orc couldn't see him at times. Even so, they were able to run through without difficulty and remained out of sight… Even out of the sight of Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli who were unsuspectingly miles behind but on the same mission. Both Gorluk and Faroth had given in to the conclusion that the remnants of the Fellowship had continued on with their quest, and they sometimes wondered with guilt whether or not they had disobeyed the words of Galadriel when she said to continue in being part of the fellowship's journey. But what was unknown to them was that the Fellowship had shattered, each part on separate missions, but Gorluk and Faroth still had their fates connected with theirs.

The sun had nearly faded from the sky when Gorluk caught sight of the Orcs. "Faroth, stop!" he whispered loudly. The young Warg halted and jumped up and down through the grass to get a better view.

"I can't see through this tall grass!" Faroth huffed, "Can you see how far away they are?"

"About half a mile or less," Gorluk replied. "But I think that they've stopped because I can see a campfire."

Faroth's eyes widened. "This could be our perfect opportunity to save the Halflings!" he gasped, "Maybe if we could find a way to distract the Orcs, they'll stop guarding the Halflings for a bit so we can 'kidnap' them ourselves!"

"That's a perfect idea!" Gorluk exclaimed. He had never thought of that before; despite the fact that he was an Orc with a great heart, it was sometimes in his nature to expect battle as the only solution against enemies.

They quietly scampered through the grass until they were only fifty yards away from the Orc's campsite. They couldn't go any further hidden, for the tall grass ended abruptly at a small clearing where moss and a few pebbles covered the ground, leaving them exposed if they took another step closer. Beyond that clearing they could see a large forest, but they could only see the outlines of a few trees through the nighttime mist.

"Look Gorluk! I can see them!" Faroth whispered. Away towards the left side of the campsite, Gorluk looked and saw two small bodies that sat quietly on the ground, with two guards standing watch over them. He peered closely at their faces and instantly recognized them.

"It's Merry and Pippin," Gorluk whispered. "I don't see Frodo and Sam with them, but I don't think that they were captured anyway. I think that they're the only prisoners."

Faroth nodded. "Alright, so what should we do—?"

Faroth didn't have time to finish his sentence, for they suddenly heard a horn call along with the sound of beating hooves. From all different directions they saw spears flying by and piercing the bewildered Orcs. As Gorluk and Faroth gawked in disbelief at what they were seeing, many men on horseback appeared from their right and rode into the Orc's campsite. With their Bows and arrows, spears, and swords, they slew the Orcs as they rode by with impressive skill. But even as they rode by, they took no notice of Gorluk and Faroth who were still hidden in the grass.

"Faroth, we have to get out of here!" Gorluk gasped with terror. But his friend would not move. To him, Faroth seemed frozen with horror as he watched the horsemen ride by… But it wasn't the horsemen that frightened him the most.

"Horses…" he said as if he was in a deep trance, "I never thought that I would see horses again… The horses are going to kill us…. They'll trample the both of us to death…"

"Faroth, snap out of it! We need to get out of here!"

Faroth slowly turned his head and stared at Gorluk. "Run…? You mean… Oh right! RUUUUUUUN!"

And with that, Faroth pelted through the bodies of Orcs that lay strewn about on the ground and headed towards the trees. "No! Not that way!" Gorluk called out. But it was already too late; Faroth ran and disappeared through the trees. With an irritable sigh, Gorluk had no choice but to get up and run after him.

Thankfully he was able to dash past the horses and the other Orcs that were running and screaming in circles, and he silently made it to the trees. "Faroth? Where are you?" he called out. He turned his head this way and that, but could not catch sight of the Warg.

"I'm right here," he heard a voice mumble from above his head. With surprise Gorluk looked up and saw Faroth clinging to a tree branch. "Faroth, how did you get up there? And since when did Wargs start climbing trees!?"

Faroth slowly peeled himself off of the branch and very clumsily fell to the ground. "….I have a confession to make…" Faroth said quietly.

"You think?!" Gorluk said. "Does it have to do with why you nearly got yourself killed by blindly running past several Orcs and Horsemen, and why you climbed a tree?!"

Faroth nodded in shame. "Yes, but I didn't want to tell you because it's just too embarrassing. I… I'm afraid of Horses."

Gorluk blinked. "Um… What?"

Faroth slumped his shoulders. "I said that I'm afraid of horses," he sighed. "And I have no idea why either! The only time in my life that I ever saw horses was when I was with Mithuial. I was only about two months old, and I was with her down at the mountain valleys when a few wild horses ran by. Even though they were a hundred yards away, I was so terrified that I tried to quickly dig myself a hole for me to hide in. Mithuial laughed the entire time, for she could hear the galloping and the neighing of the horses as they rode by and my terrified squeals, and understood exactly what was going on. She even told me that the next time that I saw horses, that I should climb a tree instead of digging a hole for myself, for they would be able to trample me if I was underground. It took a while for her to calm me down after that."

Gorluk stared at him in amazement. "When you saw those horses, you looked more terrified than you did when we were being chased by that Balrog. Does anything else scare you as much as horses do?"

Faroth shook his head. "Ponies do scare me a little bit, but not as much as horses because they can't run very fast."

Gorluk laughed. "I'm sure that there aren't that many horses in this country. I'm sure that you have nothing to worry about…"

Away in the distance Gorluk suddenly heard a horse neighing. "It's coming!" Faroth gasped, "It's coming to trample us!" without another word he turned around and ran deeper into the forest with Gorluk running after him.

"Faroth! Come back!"

~0~0~0~

So… Faroth has Equinophobia, which is the fear of horses… Which can be a very big problem if you're in Rohan, or any place in Europe during the middle ages. *laughs evilly*

I'm sorry to say this, but I won't be doing any fanfiction work during my winter break… So I won't be updating any of my stories until 2014. I mean, writers need to hibernate too, sometimes… So happy Holidays! Anyone that reviews this chapter will have Gorluk show up to their front doorstep wearing a Santa hat to sing Christmas carols, while Faroth will hide behind a bush nearby because he'll be too embarrassed to sing.

~Tatharwen