You have not escaped me yet, little one. Aren't you tired, weary of your long journey? You belong at home, in your Shire, not here, in this world of men, where friends die in moments. I can take you home, and this can be nothing more than a dream…
Frodo…
Frodo…
"Frodo?"
Frodo opened his eyes. The sun was beating down on him, he could feel it in his clothes, but it didn't warm his skin. Nothing seemed to warm him anymore, nothing except the Ring. When he held it, he felt as he once did, peaceful, full of hope.
"Yes, Sam?"
The red haired hobbit said nothing, only watched his friend for a moment and walked away. He had developed a habit of doing that over the past few days, a habit that Frodo found increasingly annoying. For the first time in days he'd been able to drift into sleep, and Sam had decided to wake him for nothing.
Before he could say anything he heard the sound of feet running in their direction. Four feet. He sighed. Smeagol must have returned. Since that morning the creature had been unnaturally cheerful, smiling, dancing an odd little jig whenever they stopped. He was plotting something, Frodo was sure of it. The moment he let his guard down Gollum would try to take the Ring from him.
Smeagol dropped something in his lap, the grin still plastered on his gray features.
"Look! Look! See what Sméagol finds! Ehehe! Hohohhooo! They are young!" he picked up one of the furred animals and bent it in half with a sharp jerking motion. "They are tender, they are nice. Yes they are! Eat them. Eat them."
Frodo watched with detached interest as their guide bit into one of the rabbits and began eating. A part of him registered that he should be sickened by what he saw, but he felt nothing. Sam however, felt differently.
"Make him sick you will, behaving like that," he yelled, pulling the rabbits away from Smeagol. "There's only one way to eat a brace of coneys," he said, carrying them over to his pack.
It amazed Frodo that here, in the wilds, with no one around to protect them, or even care about what happened to them, that Sam could still have the presence of mind to prepare a meal. He carefully skinned, gutted, and quartered the animals before dropping them into his ever handy cast iron pot, already slung over a fire. While it boiled he walked around, collecting herbs and humming a song Frodo remembered Rose singing as she cleaned the tables at the Green Dragon. He wondered what she was doing, if she'd found someone else since Sam hadn't returned. He thought of Bag End, if the Sackville Baggins's had already moved into his home. He wondered what would be left for him if he ever managed to make it home.
A whistle broke through his thoughts, followed by a sharp chirp. It sounded like two birds arguing, but they were too far apart. Slowly, he crept away from their small clearing.
He didn't have to go far.
Haradrim, he thought as he watched the columns of men marching. How he knew he didn't want to think about, so he content himself by observing their clothing. Everything, even their heads were covered, leaving what he assumed would be a narrow strip over their eyes.
Frodo turned at a noise behind him, but it was only Sam and Smeagol. He heard Sam say something, but he wasn't paying attention. He felt anxious, as if he were waiting for something, but didn't know what. The Ring began to throb against his chest." We've got to get moving. C'mon Sam."
"Mr. Frodo! Look! It's an Oliphant!" Frodo watched as first one, then another of the large creatures lumbered out of the trees. For a moment he was transfixed by the sight. He'd read of them in books, believed they were myths, but there they were.
"No one at home will believe this," Sam said, awe plain in his voice.
Frodo fought down a surge of disgust, then looked around. Smeagol was gone. "Smeagol?"
Before he could call out again there was the sharp sound of a hawks cry, followed by a whizzing he knew only too well. Screams echoed in the valley beneath them as the Haradrim came under attack from all sides. He watched as arrows flew through the air, always finding a target. Elves? Bilbo had told him of no clans that lived so far southwest. Whoever they were, they were not on the side of the Haradrim.
We have to leave…have to…mustn't stay…
"We've lingered here too long," Frodo said, fighting down his panic. "C'mon, Sam!"
__________________________________________________________________
"Please tell me again why we're doing this."
Teal'c listened with one ear as Colonel O'Neill began complaining once again bout their traveling. Their morning had started early, but not nearly as early as those who worked in the Hall and in the surrounding town. The announcement had been made at dawn that the city was to be evacuated, with an added warning that the people should carry only those things that were light and could be taken without difficulty.
The jaffa looked over their band with a practiced eye. Edoras had uprooted itself well, with everyone ready to travel before the prescribed time. What he hadn't counted on was the number of sick and elderly that the houses had hidden upon their arrival. There were several carts that held those unable to walk, and of those who could move under their own volition almost all were women and young children.
"Does he every stop complainin'?"
Teal'c looked up at the dwarf, who was currently seated on his horse. "Colonel O'Neill makes it a habit to complain about everything, Gimli. It is his way of relieving the tensions of those around him."
The dwarf grumbled. "More like aggravates them to no end."
Teal'c fought the urge to let a small smile slip out. "And thus they will struggle to pay attention to anything other than his complaints, forcing their attention to become more focused on their surroundings."
"That gave Gimli pause. No doubt he was thinking back to al the times when O'Neill had voiced his complaints, and others when he had every reason to complain, but didn't. "Smart man," he finally said.
It was something that few people realized about the opinionated colonel. When he complained there was nothing to worry about. His sarcasm served two purposes; to disarm and to warn away. It was when the colonel became silent that Teal'c knew something was very wrong.
"Indeed."
Gimli was about to say something else when he paused. Teal'c turned to find Eowyn had left Aragorn's side and was moving towards them.
"Good day, Teal'c, Gimli," she said, nodding to each of them in turn. Teal'c nodded back. Unlike the other women who worked in the hall, Eowyn had refused to use either horse or car. It showed in the rosy tone of her cheeks and a slight breathlessness.
She smiled. "IT would seem I have bothered all of your companions, but managed to miss both of you," she said cheerfully as she fell into step on the other side of Gimli's horse.
Gimli smiled brightly. "I don't see how you could bother anyone, Lady Eowyn."
She laughed. "Oh, I assure you that I will before we reach Helm's Deep. In the meantime, I have several things that I've always wondered about dwarves, if you are willing to tell me." She turned to Teal'c. "And afterwards I would like to learn something about your people as well, Master Teal'c. I have heard many strange and interesting tales from Colonel O'Neill about your home."
Gimli puffed up like a bird. "Certainly, young lady. What would you like to know?"
Teal'c half listened to Gimli's explanations of dwarvish customs and practices, most of which were interesting, though there were some that seemed completely unnecessary. Like their desire for gold and precious jewels. He believed that just as in Moria, that desire would lead to their downfall.
"Whoa!" The sudden burst of energy had the jaffa's hand going to his swords, but it was nothing but Gimli. The horse had finally followed its instincts and decided to buck its rider. For more than an hour Teal'c had watched the animal snort every time Gimli so much as moved on its back. Perhaps it didn't find his rendition of dwarvish history as entertaining as Eowyn did.
"It's all right! It's all right. Nobody panic. That was deliberate. It was deliberate," Gimli shouted the words as he picked himself up off the ground.
"I told him he needed to become more sure before he rode a horse alone," Legolas said wearily as they watched Eowyn help the dwarf right himself. The horse, for his part, waited patiently next to them. "Dwarvish stubbornness."
Colonel O'Neill humphed. "Yeah right. You gonna walk over there and tell him I told ya so?"
Teal'c was familiar with that tone of voice. Usually he found it was directed at him, but more and more often it was aimed at the elf. Perhaps the colonel had found someone who annoyed him just as much as the jaffa did.
The rest of the day remained uneventful, and soon enough they were stopping to make camp for the evening. Once again, the people of Rohan proved as adept as setting up a dwelling as they were at taking them down. In less than an hour small lean-tos dotted the area, each housing two or three families. The watch had been established, and rations of dried meat, bread, and cheese were distributed. The exhaustion of traveling nearly twenty miles had exhausted most, and only the truly hearty remained awake to talk.
"You seem unsettled, Master Teal'c," Aragorn said as he stood next to the jaffa.
"I was informed that we would not be allowed to stand watch with the rest of the men," Teal'c answered, letting a hint of his displeasure creep into his voice. It seemed unnecessary to prevent all those who could assist in the guarding of the people from doing so. He'd simply been told to rest, as they had a long journey ahead of them and would be starting out at dawn.
"And that is why you have claimed this hillock for you own?"
Teal'c nodded. The small hill they stood on gave them a good view both into a valley behind them, and over the camp itself. Try as they might, it was difficult to get a jaffa to do something he had no desire to do.
Aragorn turned to the south. "Gimli and Legolas have decided that they should watch from that end, to make sure nothing slips past the Rohirm."
"And you?"'
Aragorn smiled and placed a hand on Teal'c's shoulder. "I am going to take the invitation offered and sleep this night. We can never be sure when we'll have the chance again," with that he walked back to the camp, skirting along its outer edges until he found a spot on a small slope.
Teal'c sighed, and kneeled in the tall grass. His symbiote was less than pleased with him. In the days they tracked Merry and Pippin he had been unable to enter a state of kel-no-reem, and the few precious hours he'd managed the night before had been helpful, but not nearly enough for his symbiote to be satisfied. It struck him as amusing at times, that the larva within in would be picky about the amount of time it was allowed to fix its host. He never attempted to tell himself it was out of any particular emotion towards him that it did these things. He was its host, and it was in the larva's best interest for its host to be as healthy as possible.
1000 bottles of beer on the wall, 1000 bottles of beer. You take one down and pass it around…
Colonel Jack O'Neill was bored. And for those who knew him, that was a dangerous thing indeed. A bored Jack could find trouble in ten seconds flat when he put his mind to it, on or off world. At the moment, he had already found his target for the evening.
"Hello Danny-boy."
To his credit, Daniel didn't jump at the voice behind him. Not that much anyway. The colonel hated to admit it, but their time on the road had done wonders for the archeologists disposition. When his friend sneezed Jack sighed.
It hadn't done squat for his allergies though.
"Here," he said, handing Daniel his handkerchief.
"Thanks," came the congested reply.
Jack winced as Daniel proceeded to blow his nose, the sound harsh in the relative quiet of their camp.
"Tryin ta alert the pack of our whereabouts?"
Daniel glared, then pocketed the piece of cloth. Jack wouldn't have taken it back anyway. "No. It's these plains, they're making my allergies worse than normal."
Jack settled down next to his friend, grimacing as his knee twinged. Yep, he was definitely feeling his age. "Should have kept some of that elvish stuff, it seemed to keep you healthy."
Daniel nodded. "I wish we could take a sample back with us. I'm sure it has amazing properties."
The colonel looked out into the darkness. Of all of their small party, Daniel was the only one who still seemed to believe that they were going to get back to their world. He himself had given up somewhere between Moria and Lorien. Their chances of getting back to earth were about the same as Teal'c bursting out in a aria from La Traviata. "About that, Daniel-"
"The stars out here are wonderful," his friend cut in. Jack recognized that tone all too well. It was the 'don't-try-and-tell-me-what-I-don't-want-to-here-because-I'm-not-listening-anyway' tone that the archeologist had perfected over the years of their friendship.
Jack looked up. "Yeah, reminds me of my cabin."
"I used to sit under skies like this when I was a kid," Daniel said. "In the desert it was wonderful; no city to create light pollution, no loud noises. Just you can the stars. It was easy to understand why the Egyptians believed that the stars were the souls of the dead, you could almost reach out and touch one they were so bright," he turned to the colonel, his blue eyes sparkling.
O'Neill raised one eyebrow. "You hittin on me, Daniel?"
The two burst out laughing, drawing the attention of a soldier standing guard a short distance away.
"No," the younger man stuttered, then more forcefully when he had stopped chuckling. "No. You're not my type."
Jack snapped his fingers. "And here I thought you were waiting for me to make the first move. Ah well, back on the market I go."
The resignation in the other man's voice had them laughing again. It felt good to laugh like that again. It had been weeks since they'd had anything to laugh about.
"Will you two chambermaids keep it down over there!" Gimli grumbled from his pallet a good twenty feet away. "Some people are tryin ta sleep!"
The shouted words only made them laugh harder, and when a small rock sailed through the air and landed squarely on Gimli's helmet they nearly choked. Jack looked around and saw Legolas, looking entirely too innocent in the dim light, staring in the opposite direction, hands firmly beneath his armpits.
"Dang and blast it all! It was the elf, I know it!" the dwarf sat up and glared around the camp. "I'll get ya for that, ya pointy eared menace!"
________________________________________________________
As Arwen walked she let her mind wander, barely able to follow the faint glow that came from her fellows. Her father's words rang in her ears, deafening in the unnatural silence of Rivendell. In all her memory the small valley had never been so quiet. Even the normal sound of insects was gone, as if in silent requiem for the passing of the elves. For weeks such small groups had been leaving, heading for the Gray Havens, where ships waited to take them to the Undying Lands to the west. Now only a few remained, among them her father. It was their duty to make sure that their home returned to the forest that had shaped it.
The young elf slowed, waiting until her friends and family passed before her, then turned around. In the half light she could make out the path they had taken. Not a footprint showed their passing.
'So we leave without a trace,' she thought, looking up. The column of elves moved through the woods like ghosts, disturbing nothing, leaving no evidence of their movements. She had once taken pride in their ability to do so, to not disturb the world around them or mar its beauty. Now the thought filled her with sadness. They would leave no trace of their existence, no reminder that they had lived in this world. What would become of their forests when they were gone?
Would they be cut down like so many others, used for lumber and firewood? The trees mourned their passing, nodding their great heads and singing a song of woe and loss. In all her years she would never have imagined that they would abandon the world. Even as the rest of Middle Earth left them to their own devices, she believed she would spend her long life among its trees and animals. Now she would live her life far from everything she knew. Her grandmother had told her tales of the Undying Lands, of a place where light always shined, where the land was untouched by human hands. Beauty and peace awaited all those that made it to those shores. All elves, anyway. Humans had long ago lost the ability to find them, the price of attempting to wage war on the Valar.
I t was a dream , Arwen , she cringed as the words echoed through her mind . A dream . He had been so cold that day , distant in a way she would never have believed . But for all his cold demeanor and words she could feel his heart breaking . He released her from their promises, their plans, knowing that he might not survive the journey. And if he did, what would be their fate then? She would outlive him, outlive his kingdom . As they crumbled to dust she would be unchanged, forever grieving, forever lost in her own sorrow.
"Our fates are our own, granddaughter. No one can see all ends," her grandmother spoke those words to her days ago, trying to offer what comfort she could. When Arwen had asked her fate, the other woman had refused say anything, other than it was better to not tempt fate, rather than risk its wrath.
"Aragorn," she whispered, clutching at the small pendant she wore. It was his first present to her from many years ago, when he had been young in heart, but not in mind . It was the smallest of anison blossoms. He'd left the star shaped flower on the window sill of her room, the pale lavender petals running to royal purple as they neared the center of the flower, the whole shining with the faint light of the moon. He'd avoided her for a week after that, and she'd had it encased in crystal so the blossoms would never fade. She wore it now, just as he wore her star jewel, as a memory to what they had once had. And would have again if the fates willed it so.
She could still feel the imprint of her fathers eyes on her back, willing her to heed his advice and go to the Havens, to not doom herself to the fate that awaited her if she remained in Middle Earth. Begging her not to condemn herself to the pain of loving a human, of having to life with the agony of loss once she outlived him. And outlive him she would. She may choose to live in the world of men, but her blood would announce her heritage when those around her aged and she remained the same, growing more beautiful as they grew older, frailer.
Asfaloth whinnied next to her, drawing her attention back to the present. She was standing at the lip of the valley. Behind her lay her past, and ahead a future.
Our fates are our own…
Arwen looked deep into the trees lining their path. She could see Aragorn there, clear as a summer day. She looked closer and the scene expanded. Her love was there, yes, but he was older, gray strands shot through his dark hair. As she watched he turned and swooped up a small boy that had run to him, smiling and turning circles with the child in his arms. Silver glinted at the boys neck, and he turned to her with serious eyes so like her own.
"Arwen?"
She turned her eyes to her brothers. Both were watching her expectantly with the same inscrutable expressions. The three had fallen behind the group, and it took her a moment to realize that they were at the borders of Rivendell. Her thoughts had occupied her for longer than she imagined.
"No once can know all ends, Arwen. What fates we have we make for ourselves," her grandmother's words rang in her ears. Her fate was in her hands. Had she not spoken similar words to Aragorn before he left?
Arwen let her hand drift to her saddlebag, feeling the slight lump there. Without another word she took out a bundle and handed it to her brothers. "Find him, and give him this. He will need it soon."
Before her brothers could say anything she turned Asfaloth and started back to Rivendell. She needed to know if what she had seen was true, if her father had lied to her.
What fates we have we make for ourselves.
They had their fate, and she was setting out to make her own.
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THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU so much for reading this!!!! Special thanks goes out to everyone whose reviewed this story, and its too late at night for me to even attempt to put down all your names, but you know who you are!!!!!!!
Real big apologies for letting this story sit for as long as it has. Real life sucks sometimes, and I couldn't find anytime to work on this for the past four months or so. Hopefully, now that I have regular internet and time I"ll be able to update much more regularly.
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