A/N: Here we go again, updating with two chapters at the same time. Oh well, enjoy!

Chapter 12:

Maybe If You Had Warned Me...

So we continued on with our journey, which was a very arduous one. I was agreeing with Belinda on this one. My arches were killing me and I was always the one who was lagging behind because of them. Because I, like some people out there, have a severe collapsing arch problem. Belinda would help support me sometimes, but even I could the strain it took out on her.

As we went through our unremitting routine of walking, eating, walking, and sleeping, we luckily encountered no other dead bodies or bones of any kind, which really helped me emotionally. I did not think that I could deal with that on top of everything else.

From time to time, I could see Aragorn look back at me from time to time as if to make sure I was alright. I would smile at him in reassurance and he would face forward again. Just as Belinda said, he was almost like the father of the fellowship, watching out for us younger ones... or shorter ones, in the case of the Hobbits.

Everything was pretty uneventful. Until we got to the tomb of Gimli's cousin.

I took one look at the skeleton near the tomb and had to clutch onto Belinda for support.

"It is okay, Amanda. Just take a deep breath. Pretend you are near the ocean. You can hear the rippling of the waves," Belinda said soothingly. I took a deep breath and tried to stop my trembling. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Boromir roll his eyes in irritation.

"Do you have something you want to say to me?" I asked violently, strolling over to Boromir with a look on my face that clearly said that I was about ready to kill him. Most people ran pretty fast when I had that look on my face. Even Belinda, as you saw.

Unfortunately and foolishly, Boromir did not.

"I just find it highly irritating that you react this way every time you see a skeleton. Are you so much of a weakling, girl? Even your friend is stronger than you." I just stood, with lips pursed, my cheeks turning red, my hands clenched into fists, and trembling in rage. If that...man said one more word, I would kill him, mission or no mission.

Belinda, instead of picking up the fight with Boromir, tried to console me.

"Amanda, calm down. Don't listen to him, he's just being a bastard because he knows that you are stronger than him," Belinda whispered into my ear, but I was behind consolation.

"How dare you call me weak?! It's not my fault that I react badly to anything relating to the dead. It's not my fault that my grandmother died and I saw her body in that coffin. It's not my fault!" I screamed out.

Boromir, instead of being touched like the other Fellowship looked to be, just sneered at me. "Is that all? It is just because your grandmother died? You really are weaker than I thought."

And that was what set me off.

With a scream of rage, I threw myself upon him and knocked him down on the ground. I then proceeded to beat the living crap out of him. He could insult me, but not Mom-Mom. Not her. Nor my grandma for that matter.

At that point, Belinda, Aragorn, and Frodo were trying to pull me off of Boromir, but I was able to resist all three of them. As blood began to pour from Boromir's face, I began to cry. But those were not tears of sadness; they were tears of pain and anguish. Everything was coming back to me. I was ashamed of myself. Mom-Mom would never have encouraged this kind of behavior. She had always been so proud of my sweet-disposition. What would she have said now? She would have been so disappointed in me.

With a sob, I stopped punching Boromir and got off him. Belinda was coming near me and so was the rest of the Fellowship, but I couldn't handle this. Not with everyone here.

I was so side-tracked about keeping them away from me that I could not tell where I was going and I bumped into the well. Yes, the well with the skeleton. And just like Pippin, I caused the skeleton to fall into the well and crash hundreds of feet below.

I knew Belinda didn't have the heart to be mad at me that point, but if she had, she would have been fixing me with a nice glare.

"Look what you have done, foolish child," Boromir claimed, wiping the blood from his face.

"What I've done?! Everything was fine until you decided to insult me!"

"Yes, well, I did not think that you would proceed to try and kill me!"

"Not kill. Severely injure, yes, but not to kill."

"You little..."

But Boromir had trailed off. We all looked at him in puzzlement before we heard it.

Faint drum beats.

I looked down at Frodo's sword to see that it was glowing blue.

"Orcs!" Legolas cried out.

Thanks for sharing, elf-boy.

I pulled my sword out of my sheath and tried to prepare myself for this fight. I could see the other members of the Fellowship looking at me strangely.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a sword before? Or are you just waiting for the grass to grow. Come on, people!" Apparently, that broke their daze and everyone began to prepare themselves. Aragorn and Legolas closed the door, but not before Boromir almost got hit by two arrows. Personally, I would not have been sad if they had hit him and he died a slow and painful death.

Remember Mom-Mom, remember Mom-Mom.

I tried to remember her, for I knew that she would not have wanted me to wish for his death, no matter how much he truly deserved it.

Aragorn, Legolas, and Boromir stood ready at the door, waiting for the first sign of this attack. Belinda stayed with me, while Gandalf stood in front of the hobbits.

"Promise me that you won't do anything stupid?" I asked Belinda, my old-self beginning to come back. Belinda smiled weakly at me.

"As long as you promise me that you won't." I nodded in agreement.

"I won't."

I gripped my sword tighter as I heard the first signs of the door beginning to break apart. I watched as Aragorn and Legolas shoot two arrows each and heard an orc squeal in pain.

Then the door gave way to a flow of orcs.

This was the first time that Belinda and I had ever experienced a real live battle. We had only read about them and watched them in the movies. They would enfold in our minds and see the different formations, the different weaponry, and the different people, fighting for a single purpose.

It is one thing to see it, another to experience it.

When you first get into battle, you get an impulse-driven feeling, the kind that Belinda has all the time. Unfortunately, for people like me, that drive only lasts for so long. About five or ten minutes into it, I was already worn out.

I was really beginning to regret going on this quest.

And it would have been fine if there had just been orcs, but no, they had to bring in the cave troll.

As I kept on dealing with orcs, Belinda tried to assist Legolas in defeating the troll. Meaning, she did something foolish. I took one look at where she was and screamed her name out.

Belinda looked at me, but that moment's lack of concentration cost her. The troll managed to push her into a nearby wall, therefore knocking her out.

I stared wide-eyed at the spot where she had fallen and then turned my attention on the troll.

It was my turn to break my promise.

I rushed over to Legolas and told him to look after Belinda. He looked at me for a moment before going to look after Belinda. I then turned my attention onto the troll.

I grabbed my sword and manage to climb up onto his back. Don't ask me how, that moment is kind of daze to me.

I clutched my sword with both hands and leaned down towards his neck. But he realized what I was doing and tried to toss me off his back. I clutched him around the base of his neck with one arm while I put my sword through it with the other.

I knew that once would not be enough, so I repeated this action while trying to avoid his searching arms. But with enough strikes from my sword and with some help from Aragorn, the troll eventually collapsed onto the stone floor.

I hurriedly put my sword back in my sheath, ignoring the scratches on my face, ignoring Aragorn's questions of concern. All I was concerned about was the woman in Legolas's arms.

A/N: What else can I say except R&R?