Chance Encounter
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize. I'm just borrowing them without permission but with every intention of returning them to their rightful owners.
Chapter 19: Hot On Their Trail
"Where's Boromir?" demanded Balian hoarsely, as soon as the horsemen were out of sight. Aragorn stared at the ground and Gimli gave a saddened sigh. A few moments of awkward silence followed before Legolas finally spoke. "Boromir is at peace," said the elf. Balian stared perplexed at the elf before the meaning of the words started to sink in.
"No…" he whispered, horrified. "It can't be. He was still alive when I last saw him. He can't be dead!"
"Balian," began Aragorn "Boromir's wounds were fatal. We could not do anything."
"It's entirely my fault," declared the blacksmith quietly. "Boromir wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for me." The events of the past few days seemed to have caught up with Balian and he was going into mild shock.
"What are you saying?" said Legolas. "What has his death got to do with you?"
"That arrow was meant for me, not him," said the blacksmith heavily. "I should be the one lying dead, not him."
Legolas finally understood what the man was talking about. Boromir had intercepted an arrow meant for the blacksmith and Balian felt guilty about it. This was the hardest type of wound to heal. It was unseen and yet, it made the most damage. Out of sight, many would ignore it. Not Legolas. He knew about emotional trauma and he treated it seriously. The elf looked at Aragorn, who nodded in comprehension. The ranger understood this too.
"Boromir chose to take that arrow for you because he loved you, Balian," said the elven prince gently. "He wouldn't have wanted it any other way and he certainly would not want you to blame yourself."
Balian shook his head. He disagreed with the elf but he seemed to have calmed down and accepted the news.
Guy watched the others comfort Balian. He was filled with disappointment. Why wouldn't the thrice-cursed blacksmith die? He wondered what Balian had done to deserve such good luck. Maybe Godfrey was watching over him. That was the only explanation; some otherworldly force was keeping the Perfect Knight alive just to spite Guy. Still, he was pleased to see that the blacksmith had suffered at the hands of his captors. Balian deserved that and more. At the moment, he had no plans to kill him. It wasn't that Guy didn't want to kill Balian. It was just that the opportune moment had not yet arrived.
Aragorn and Balian had gotten into another argument, much like the last one they had.
"Let me have a look at your wounds," Aragorn was saying.
"I'm fine," insisted Balian, although his pain-glazed eyes betrayed him. "It looks worse than it…" He trailed off as Aragorn silenced him with a scathing glare and gave up his protestations. Previous experience had told Balian that if the ranger wanted to do something, force was not going to stop him.
"No lad," said Gimli fondly. "You're not fine and the sooner you recover the better, so you'd better let him do as he pleases."
"But we can't tarry," argued Balian, trying another approach. If there was anything that could override Aragorn's healer's instincts, it was his sense of duty. "We have to find Merry and Pippin—"
"If you would just cooperate then we can get this over and done with quickly," reasoned Aragorn. He removed the tattered shirt from Balian's body then winced as he saw the painful looking weeping wounds. There was an old gash on Balian's left arm but thankfully, it did not seem to be infected. His back was torn and shredded by what seemed like a vengeful cat. The stump of a broken arrow protruded from his shoulder. He recognized it as one of Rohirric make but decided not to mention it. Balian would tell him in his own time.
"You and I need to have a discussion about the definition of 'fine' sometime," said Aragorn disapprovingly to the younger man as he treated the wounds the best he could. He sounded very much like a father.
"Then that would be a fairly short conversation, Aragorn," said Legolas with a mischievous grin in his eye. "His definition of 'fine' seems to fit yours perfectly, if I remember correctly."
"Your memory is definitely failing you then," retorted Aragorn without looking at the elf. He turned his attention back to Balian. "This is all I can do for now, as there is not enough water," he told him. "I'll treat your wounds properly once we find a stream."
"Thank you," said Balian. Aragorn helped him to put on the shirt which Éomer had given him.
"Well, lads," said Gimli "we'd best be on our way."
"There are only four horses," Guy commented acidly. "Who's going to walk?" His expression said that he definitely wasn't.
Balian chose to ignore Guy's expression. "You can," he retorted. "After all, you suggested it."
Guy was about to throw an offensive comment to Balian but Legolas stopped him with a look that he had more than likely learnt from his father. "No one will walk," said the elf. "Gimli can ride behind me."
"Ride?" demanded the dwarf. "Who said I was going to ride anythin'? I am keeping my two feet firmly planted in the ground!"
"You won't be able to keep up," said Aragorn. "You have to ride." His tone was almost pleading.
"Gimli, it won't be so bad," Legolas assured the dwarf. "I'll try to make Arod go as smoothly as possible."
"You've already claimed a horse?" demanded Guy hotly.
"I didn't see you indicating that you wanted Arod," said Legolas coldly.
"I'll take the bay—Hasufel," said Aragorn.
The only mare, Louan, nuzzled Balian's hair, flicking her ears backwards and forwards as if she was trying to make up her mind about him. Slowly, the blacksmith lifted his hand to stroke the pale golden neck.
"I suppose she's claimed you, my friend," said Legolas. "The female gender seems to be very much attracted to you."
Balian blushed, although no one could see it under the layer of grime on his face.
That left Guy with Cynebald, which was the horse he had initially coveted. The arrangement suited everyone fine, although Gimli clung onto Legolas so tightly that the elf found it hard to breathe.
The five of them continued in the direction of the place where Éomer had burnt the bodies of the Uruk-Hai. As they drew near, Balian could see the head of an orc stuck on top of a pike with its tongue lolling out of its mouth, making a grotesque spectre. The smell of burnt flesh and hair repulsed them but their determination to find their friends drove them on. Orc armour and weapons littered the ground around the mound of burnt bodies. They were all that remained of the group which had attacked the Fellowship and killed Boromir. Of the hobbits there was no sign.
Frantically, Aragorn, Balian, Legolas and Gimli dismounted although in Balian's case, it seemed more like tumbling from Louan's saddle and miraculously landing on his feet. Guy remained seated upon his horse. He didn't care about what happened to the midgets which the others were so fond of. The quicker they were away from here, the better.
Gimli and Balian rummaged through the charred corpses while Aragorn searched the ground for tracks. Legolas kept a look out for any signs of Merry and Pippin's presence. Balian found his mail shirt and the sword of Ibelin in the pile, covered in soot but otherwise unharmed. He strapped the weapon to his belt but left the chain mail draped over his arm. It hurt too much if he tried to put it on.
Finally, Gimli straightened. His face was filled with despair. He held up something for all of them to see. It took no expert to tell that it was not made by orcs.
"It's one of their wee belts," said the dwarf sadly. His eyes were filled with distress.
Balian felt numb. Merry and Pippin were dead. He had failed them; failed Boromir who had given his life so that he could live to protect the hobbits. He could see their faces; Boromir's eyes as he took the arrow, Gandalf's kind lined face, Merry and Pippin's grins, Frodo's earnest expression. He had failed everyone.
Aragorn felt the sense of failure as keenly as Balian did. He was the leader. He had been in charge when this happened. His frustration grew as Legolas recited an elvish prayer for the departed. The elf shouldn't be saying this prayer for the hobbits. With an emotion-laden cry, he kicked an orc helmet which was lying on the ground before his feet and fell to his knees, his face turned towards the sky as if demanding an explanation from the Valar. His hands were balled into fists, raised in a challenge.
"We've failed them," said Gimli sorrowfully, voicing all their thoughts.
Aragorn lowered his arms and bowed his head in defeat. Then his brow creased in a frown as something caught his attention.
"A hobbit lay here," he said to himself in a voice that was almost a whisper "and another."
'Does it matter now?' thought Balian in anguish. 'They're dead. Gimli's right. We've failed them. I've failed them.'
"Their hands were bound," continued Aragorn as he read the hobbits' tracks like a book. "And they crawled… Their bonds were cut!" He picked up a length of coarse rope which had been sawn through. Hope crept into his mind. "They ran over here," he said, tracing the hobbits' tracks "and they were followed."
Hope grew in Balian's heart. Maybe the hobbits still lived. Éomer wouldn't have seen them because they had escaped!
"The tracks lead away from the battle," declared Aragorn almost gleefully. Gimli and Legolas raced after him while Balian stumbled behind them. Guy quickly dismounted and followed. In their ecstatic states, they would probably forget him and truly leave him behind. Without them, he would be lost and doomed.
Aragorn stopped in front of an immense dark forest with looming twisted trees, some of which still bore the marks that the orcs had made the night before. "…into Fangorn Forest," the ranger finished with an awestruck tone.
"Fangorn?!" said Gimli in a small voice laced with horror. "What madness drove them in there?"
No one answered him. Balian felt inclined to agree with the dwarf that only madmen would go into such a forest. He remembered the sounds that had come from it and shuddered inwardly. It looked as if it was alive and could swallow unwary travellers who would never be seen again. However, Merry and Pippin were hobbits and maybe their sense of danger would be somewhat different from that of men. He glanced at Legolas.
Legolas was also awestruck. Unlike the others, his face was filled with delight and admiration. Balian pondered this. The elf had hated Moria and yet this forest was just as dark and sinister, if not more so. The blacksmith shook his head. He would never understand elves. They were too confusing.
Guy did not know what 'Fangorn' meant but he hoped to heaven that they would not have to go beneath the eaves of those trees. He had no desire to die just yet and even if he had no choice, he preferred to die in a more pleasant place. Not even the suicidal Balian would go in there, he was certain…
Aragorn took a step into the forest and the rest of them followed. Guy changed his mind. Balian was truly suicidal, so were his friends. He looked back to the relative safety of the horses, then at the others' retreating backs. If he followed them, he would encounter whatever horrors the forest chose to unleash. If he stayed with the horses and something attacked him, there would be no one to protect him. He hurried into the forest after the others. It was better to encounter monstrosities with someone watching his back.
A/N: Whoopee! Fangorn! Wonder what Balian thinks of it. He's not that pleased, that's for sure. The poor man has been through a lot recently. I love feedback by the way so please review! This is slightly short because I've been so busy with all those assignments (Biology, History, English etc.) I do hate studying English literature.