There was so much awkwardness in that minute that I was for one moment sure that I would wake up to realize it was just one of those dreams that make you feel highly uncomfortable when you wake up.
I stood on the higher part of the hill, my horse nickering as if sensed the awkward reunion, and I stared at my three friends who were all staring at me as if I had been raised from the dead. A million thoughts were running through my head right now. They were probably going to be angry that I was standing here alone, with no hobbits at my heels. I expected that. I also expected possible yelling at me for getting kidnapped in the first place.
What I did not expect was that of the three of them, it would be the gruff dwarf to run and launch himself in the air at me.
'No, no, no, no, no,' I couldn't say anything out loud, I was touched as he wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug, but he landed on top of me, and my ribs hadn't healed enough to comfortably stand the weight of Gimli and his armor. I coughed as the ground collided with my back.
"Lassie! You're alive, you're alright!" I was pretty sure if he was such a touch little guy he would have burst out in tears at that moment.
"Yes, yes, Gimli, though to be p-perfectly alright I n-need a-air!" I coughed out a full sentence, I proud moment, and rolled the dwarf to the side. He sat up, cheeks red with embarrassment, but his smile beaming beneath his beard. I returned the smile and hugged him, now that I could breathe. When we parted I looked up to see the sun blocked out by the ever tall dark and handsome Aragorn, who offered me his hand. I took it with a smile and he pulled me back, his silly smile growing, before pulling me into a hug as well. For the first time in awhile, safe feelings enveloped me, after all any one who messed with Aragorn usually didn't turn out that well.
"We were sure they had killed you." Aragorn pulled back and looked me in the eye. I shrugged and thought about it myself. Honestly, I had some close calls with the orc company, I would have probably thought that my mouth would have gotten me killed as well.
"It's all in the past. I am alright." I gave the long lost king a smile, sad I suppose compared to the usual ones I shot him, but in my defense the look he was giving me reminded me of the lost Steward, who I had noticed was not in their company.
"That should be considered a miracle, since this is you we are talking about." Aragorn's smile turned to a smirk and I punched him lightly on the arm. My fingers ached at the slight contact. Healing was going to take longer than I supposed.
I glanced over Aragorn's shoulder, and locked eyes with the last member of my previous company. It may sound silly, but I really took in the elf prince's beauty at this moment. Everything was still running in the back of my mind, but after how long with filthy, disgusting orcs, seeing his face took its own minute to be admired. Aragorn saw my look and patted me on the shoulder, before stepping to the side.
Legolas hadn't moved from the newly obtained horses, but as Aragorn moved and I was in clear view he walked over so quickly I was sure he was going to knock me over as well. His eyes were showing such a strange look, and as he came closer to me and didn't slow down, I wondered if he was going to kiss me, right here and now. I couldn't handle that right now, and some small part of me stopped talking to the rest of my mind, but not this soon after Boromir's death. I knew he was dead, he wasn't here, and was last seen pierced with three arrows. I mentally admitted this but couldn't say it out loud and make it real, not yet, and since I wasn't making it real yet then kissing Legolas would be me being unfaithful to Boromir.
Luckily, Legolas stopped right in front of me, his stare making me uncomfortable enough to shift my feet from side to side.
"Hello again, your highness." I dared to shoot him a look and quirked a half smile in his general direction. His stare did not falter, causing my smile to.
"I was so certain…." His mouth hung open mid sentence, his hand finding my face. I wouldn't kiss him, but his warm palm felt nice, and I grabbed onto his wrist and held it there. "I was so certain they would have killed you, that I would never see you again. Did they…" he faltered again. "Did they touch you?"
Strange as it may have seemed, that thought never really crossed my mind, I had been so preoccupied with the hobbits and the presumed deaths of everyone else. I should have probably put that into my priorities.
"No," I shook my head against his hand. "I mean, I got beat up quite a bit, but they didn't touch me in that way." At this statement his eyes softened considerably, making me believe he would have re-killed the orcs if they had. He pulled me into him, and his long arms ran up and down my back. As far as I was concerned we could have stood like that for an hour until I heard what I was told was a grumble, but I insisted that it was an awkward chuckle from the other two.
"Nalin, where are the hobbits?" Aragorn passed by me to grab the men's horses. I looked back down toward the ground and was silent until he turned around and noticed me. "Nalin?"
"When the battle with the horse lords began, I was away from the hobbits. I had been trying to find us decent food and clean water, and when the attack began I am ashamed to say I climbed a tree to get out of the danger, and didn't think of the hobbits until I was on the branch. By then I couldn't find them at all."
Once again my expectations were not reached, while I was waiting for the scolding for letting them out of my sight, but instead the other two came up to Legolas and me (still holding one another) and Aragorn placed his hand on my shoulder.
"We know you did what you could. The fact that you kept them alive was a large enough burden." He looked solemn but I believed the ranger's words. Gimli grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Aye, they were alive when you last saw them. That gives us enough hope for the time being." I could have hugged the dwarf again, had Legolas let go of me at any point. I was silently wondering if he was ever going to let me go, and I felt a twinge of annoyance with the overly protective elf.
"We should go now, find out whether they survived the onslaught or not." I pushed Legolas away, which he wasn't looking to thrilled about, and I jumped onto my horse, hiding the flinching that accompanied that action with the battered body I had.
"You should rest Nalin. We can go che-" I pushed my boot against Legolas's mouth. He was not going to start this I hoped.
"Get on your horses and let's go. We've wasted enough time as it is." I jerked my horse's reins and started to trot down the hill, towards the smoke in the distance. I ignored the shouts of the three I left behind me, but I giggled at my own personal thought of them clamoring onto horses to catch up with me.
"You cannot do those actions anymore Nalin." Boy did Aragorn sound exasperated with me already; I must have real talent in that area. I swished my hair over my shoulder towards him but chose to ignore the comment. Well, at least I had planned to.
"I'm sorry Aragorn, would you like me to stay at home and cook and clean? Raise the children, maybe sew clothes that are torn? Take care of the men who are in battle while I manage the safe homes with women and children who couldn't fight to save their own lives?" Aragorn and Gimli had the decency to not look at me, but as I made eye contact with Legolas I could not deny he looked like he was seriously agreeing with my sarcastic thoughts. "Oh you have got to be kidding me!"
"The battle field is clearly no place for a woman." I wasn't deaf, and Legolas wasn't subtle with his comments.
"And clearly it's perfectly safe for men, as seen by the fact that Bor-" nope, nope, not going to say it out loud, still not real outside. I covered quickly. "As seen by the fact that borrowed horses we now are riding. And those guys had a surprise ambush on their sides."
Aragorn gave me a sad look, it was obvious to him that I noticed the loss in our group, but thankfully he didn't say anything. I nudged my horse on faster, glad to have them as company but already pissed at two of them.
It surprised me that Gimli was still on my good side. Who'd have thought?
We rode the rest of the way in silence, with me riding ahead enough to not be tempted to continue yelling at the males, who I'm sure had pictured our reunion going a very different way. I felt a twinge of regret for my actions by not enough to apologize. They could not start treating me like a fragile statuette, and if they tried there was going to be hell to pay.
It was odd, seeing the pile of orcs burning in the sunrise. One of my carriers of the group had been the lucky choice to have his head positioned just so on a pike, and as I dismounted my horse, I gave into the urge to kick the pike hard, causing the head to wobble back and forth in a comical way.
My company dismounted quickly and immediately began rummaging around the pile, or in Gimli's case just jump right onto the pile and starts kicking body parts to the side. In my case I looked for signs of the hobbits, but in all the calamity last night I was unaware of their last position when I saw them.
I heard Gimli's grumbling grow louder and I turned to see the suddenly downcast dwarf holding up a woven belt of Lothlorien. My stomach dropped.
"One of their belts." He said solemnly, and removed himself from the pile of orc. Legolas began quietly speaking what I could only assume was a prayer. I sat on the grass, and fell back to stare at the sun, the fact that all signs pointed to Merry and Pippin being dead was enhanced by the guttural scream that Aragorn let out. If Mr. Composed felt that strongly than how could it not be true?
"I just saw them…" I muttered mostly to myself but I'm sure the others heard me. My eyes travelled to the tree I had climbed last night, and once I had spotted the branch that had been my hiding spot I took the time to figure out where exactly the hobbits had been when last I saw. Lifting my hand, because I had lost all strength to move beyond that, I pointed right next to Aragorn. "They were right there Aragorn, you could pretty much be sitting on them."
Aragorn lifted his eyes to look at me then followed my finger to the area next to him in the grass. I watched his hand move from side to side across the warm vegetation.
"A hobbit lay here…" He paused and looked around before settling on another spot. "And another here."
The next moment Aragorn shifted completely into ranger mode, noticing things that even Legolas could not see. He stood, mumbling quietly to himself and walking around the area, but Legolas and Gimli looked interested enough that I lifted my head from the grass and rolled up onto the balls of my feet.
"Their hands were bound…" The three had moved away from me quickly, so I took off after them, joining the elf's and dwarf's look of fascination as we all watched Aragorn show his skill. "Their binds were cut!" Aragorn pulled a piece of rope off of the ground, clearly cut in two by a blade. My heart skipped a beat as we took off practically sprinting now, jumping here and there, from spot to spot, with Aragorn shouting "There!" or "This way!" now and again. As we moved away from the scene of the battle the ranger slowed, as did we.
"They ran away from the battle…" Aragorn's neck craned back. "And into Fangorn Forest."
"Fangorn…what madness drove them there?" I completely agreed with Gimli on that one, only Merry and Pippin would go running deep into the ancient looking forest. I felt uncomfortable climbing a tree on the outer edge.
The four of us spent the next hour packing what was needed onto the horses. I myself grabbed a sword from the horrendous smelling pile, of course noticing Legolas's disapproving look. When he made eye contact with me I smiled and waved the sword as a taunt. Gimli and I thought this action was hilarious.
As we began to trudge through the thick trees, myself being stuck leading two of the horses, I noticed the slight change in dynamic that my three companions seemed to have developed. Aragorn, while in full ranger mode, had gained even more presence than before, his true Gondorian Kingly self appearing in frequent glimpses, often by his leadership. Legolas, by some miracle, had apparently grown a sense of humor, however slight, and cracked me up a couple times with his comments, even though I was still highly annoyed with him.
The biggest shift was between Legolas and Gimli, who apparently were best friends now. Don't ask me to explain what had happened, because I myself still find it hard to believe.
Fangorn was dark, quiet, and deep. It had us all on high alert, the sense of unseen danger was as daunting to us that moment as if we were facing an army of enemies in plain view. I had trouble, here and there, controlling the horses, and after a long while, Aragorn finally found a place to let me tie them up and come back for them.
"We are not far I feel now." The ranger patted the horses on their necks as he looked at me shrugging on my weapon. "You could stay here with the horses, put the minds of some of the more worried members of our fellowship." The look I shot Aragorn must have been a good one, because his eyes widened and he focused back on the horses. "It is just a suggestion."
"Stop treating me like I am a helpless girl." He opened his mouth, probably to point out that I HAD been captured, but decided against it. "Good choice you just made. I am quite willing and able to fight, and I will not let Merry and Pippin be lost forever because you three think I will trip and fall and land on an enemies sword."
"Merry and Pippin being in here is not your fault."
"I am aware of that, but they are small hobbits who should be farming and eating and drinking. They should not be lost in this godforsaken place, scared, alone, and in danger."
"I suppose," Aragorn glanced over his shoulder, where I knew the other two were a ways off. "He was extremely distressed you know, I mean we all were but he was probably the worst."
I snorted, such an attractive quality. "How can you tell behind his continuously composed mask?"
"Well for one, he didn't want to stop at all, he was desperate to catch up with the group. After we had sent off…" Aragorn looked at me and thankfully didn't complete his thought. "We found your sword impaled into an orc, and knew what had happened."
"Yes, and thank you for bringing that with you for when you found me."
"We had to travel light." Aragorn smiled and we started to walk back to the group. "All I'm saying is maybe don't start bickering with him as soon as we find you. The poor elf won't know how to handle it."
"When he stops treating me like I can break at any second then I will stop getting defensive." We entered a clearing and my eye's met Legolas's, it completely clear that he had heard my last statement. I shrugged it off and followed Gimli, who had been on the trail the whole time. Currently he was looking at some leaves curiously before touching his glove to the leaf and placing it in his mouth, promptly spitting it out.
"Orc blood!" He continued to spit, while I made a face at him.
"Why would you put anything in your mouth that even resembled blood?" He ignored my disgust as we followed Legolas and Aragorn deeper into the forest. At least that was my plan, had I not decided at that moment to trip and fall into a large indent of the earth. "I need everyone to pretend they did not see that!" I rose my hand before my head, trying to keep the blushing at bay.
"These are strange tracks…" Aragorn knelt at the edge of the track, his eyes scanning briefly before following them into the forest. "Also Nalin you may not want to look to your left at the moment." Well of course now I had to, my eyes jumping beside me, to the remains of what looked like a very squished orc. I turned my head back toward Aragorn, fighting the urge to throw up this instant.
"I knew him." I took a deep breath. "At least I'm pretty sure it's him. He was one of the orcs that was trying to vouch why they could eat parts of Merry and Pippin. He must have followed them." At least him being there accounted for the orc blood Gimli was now digesting. Aragorn pulled me to my feet while the dwarf grumbled about how close the air was.
"This forest is old.." my eyes shot to Legolas, who was clearly speaking to himself while his eyes held a faraway look. "Very old, full of memory…and anger." Oh great angry trees. Could I just go back and hang out with Eomer and his group, I felt safer.
As if on cue there was a loud grumble throughout the forest, one I felt from the ground into my knees. The trees were talking, as Legolas pointed out and frankly terrified me, and I looked over my shoulder to cast blame as Aragorn told Gimli to lower his axe.
"That was probably common sense there Gimli. No axe means happy trees." I resisted all urges to roll my eyes. Legolas continued on his elven knowledge.
"They have feelings my friend, the elves began it, waking up the trees, teaching them how to speak." I shot Gimli an 'I'm sorry I blamed you when we now know this is his fault' look.
He responded with a remark about squirrel droppings that made me chuckle.
"Aragorn!" Legolas apparently hadn't heard the humor around him as he spoke quick elvish before taking off at a sprint, with Aragorn in tow.
"Can we please use a language we all understand?" Gimli and I rejoined them just as Aragorn spoke in elvish as well. "Honestly!?" This was just frustrating.
Of course that was until Legolas spoke the words, "The White Wizard approaches."
If the talking, feeling, angry memory ridden trees hadn't scared me out of this forest, then this fact certainly would. My hand went instinctively to my sword, and my eyes went into full alert mode, as well as my ears.
"Do not let him speak, he will put a spell on us."
Really Aragorn? Who'd have thought?
"We must be quick." His words started the countdown in my head, I knew the others sensed what I was, the feeling of magic right behind us. We attack in 3…2….1…..
Simultaneously (which I must admit was pretty impressive looking) the four of us turned and faced the White Wizard. I should have known there was no way to win this battle, Legolas's arrow and Gimli's throwing axe were blown to smithereens, while mine and Aragorn's hands burned against the handles of our swords. In another three seconds our weapons were useless to us. I briefly wondered if it was too late to turn tail and run.
Instead I opted to grab Legolas's arm and hide behind him. I know some people would judge me for this move, but I was not stupid, if Saruman was going to try and reclaim me Legolas was going to put up the biggest fight to keep me safe.
"You are searching for two young hobbits?" That stupid light glowing from him annoyed me.
"Who are you?" You go Aragorn, show him who's the King. "Show yourself!" The light began to dim as we stopped using our hands to shield our eyes. I felt around with my foot to see where my sword was, and as my toe came into contact with the hilt I bent down to pick it up slowly. My eyes shot back up to the now all but finished light….
And out from it stepped Gandalf.
xXx
I'm going to end it there, I was going to go a little further but I just can't find a better place to end it than here. As always reviews are always welcome, and much appreciated, and continuously motivating. Also feel free to go check out my new Hobbit fic, which I will be working to update next. Until then faithful readers thank you!