Brother's Keeper

Notes: For anyone wondering, no I have not forgotten about this story. It may well be one of the favorites I've ever worked on. (Though given that it's been about a year and a half since I've put up a new chapter, I don't think anyone would know this without me saying it.) I've been running into a lot of real-world circumstances (moving house, not being able to reconnect my computer until yesterday, my mother's heart attack and open heart surgery - just to name a few) that don't give a crap about my hobbies.

Plus, if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times...I'm a slow writer. The plot's been giving me hell. I know the line that I want the story to follow, but when I sit at the keyboard, stuff hits the page that pulls it off the line, and I have to figure out how to force it back together. I think my best example of this would be Todd staying in Lothlorien when the Fellowship left. A lot of folks asked why did I seperate Todd from Legolas/the Fellowship. The answer was simply that there was no logical reason he should have gone with the Fellowship. In my opinion, having Legolas go up to Todd and say "You look like me. Come! Join our quest!" would have been unbelievably cheesy. I hate that cheesy, cliched crap. I hate reading it, and I refuse to write it. However, one of the premises of the story is that Todd and Legs should be in a reasonably close geographic proximity. The solution: Send Todd to Helm's Deep. There's tons of logical reasons for Todd to head for Rohan instead of sitting on his butt in Lorien. So that's where the story is now. This chapter isn't very long, but the next should come a little quicker. Maybe just fourteen months instead of eighteen. :grin:

Part 8

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I was rudely awoken by someone kicking my feet. I looked up groggily to see who it was.

"Ah, if it isn't my favorite elf in the whole wide world."

Haldir quirked an eyebrow at me. "We must get an early start for our journey."

"Yeah, yeah," I waved him off. After a good yawn and stretch, I gathered all of my things and changed back into my military uniform. I barely had enough time to splash some water on face when Haldir came back.

He eyed my uniform. "You are not going to keep the clothes we gifted you?"

I shrugged. "Didn't know they were gifts."

I packed away my elven clothes, and Haldir escorted me to breakfast with Galadriel and Celeborn. Talk was minimal; though, the silence was not unpleasant. After breakfast, Celeborn gave me a cloak, and Galadriel gave me a sword. They both wished Haldir and me a safe and swift journey, and we were off.

We went on foot, tramping our way south out of the forest. "Our journey is mostly southwards," Haldir explained. "In a few days' time, we will reach the edge of Fangorn forest. We will travel along the outer edges of Fangorn until we reach the Entwash. After that, we go directly south to Edoras, the capitol of Rohan. There you will meet Theoden, King of Rohan, and it is he who will then decide your fate."

"'Decide my fate?' Doesn't sound promising. What's Thayd'n like?"

"You may wish to pronounce his name correctly when you meet him. It is The-o-den. And to answer your question, I do not know. I have never met him."

"But Celeborn and Galadriel have...right?"

He shrugged. "Not to my knowledge."

I stopped. "Wait a minute...You're guiding me to a place you've never been, to possibly be governed for God knows how long, by a guy no one really knows? I have a little problem with that, Hal."

He stopped and turned to me angrily. "Haldir...and your little problem is of little importance to me. It should suffice that the Lord and Lady of my lands do not want you in their kingdom. In their benevolent wisdom, they thought to send you to a place full of your own kind, which was not too great a distance to travel, and you could either live there for the rest of your days, or from there, strike out on your own. Whatever you choose, I shall happily leave you to your own devices once we can see the city of Edoras."

"Hell, you've told me the way. Why not just go home now and save the both of us a headache?" I yelled back.

"Because," he ground out, "I was ordered to see you safely to Edoras, and I obey my orders. As a soldier, I assumed you would understand that."

Haldir turned back around and quickened his pace. I had to jog to keep up with him.

We didn't talk for a long time. We had many angry glances but no sound other than my labored breathing.

"We can stop if you are tired..." Haldir offered.

It sounded more like a challenge to me. "No...not tired," I managed between breaths. I reached into a pocket for some water. "Besides...the less we stop...the sooner...we're...r-rid of each other."

"Agreed."

We didn't talk again until nightfall when Haldir called a halt for the day. I mustered every ounce of pride I had to not collapse in front of him. I put my pack on the ground, checked my weapons, and began stretching my legs.

"More of your 'yoga'?"

"Yes."

"Teach me," he commanded.

I eyed him warily.

"You had said you would."

I rolled my eyes. I had said no such thing. "Fine," I sighed. "Just do what I do."

We went through several simple poses. As much as I hated to admit it, Hal was a natural for yoga. That, or elves were a pretty stretchy race. It only took him a few minutes to get a good breathing rhythm and copy my poses precisely. I kept the session short because I was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as I put my head down.

Morning came without anyone kicking me. In fact, it looked like Haldir let me sleep in a little while. I didn't complain about the late start. We had some water and a mouthful of some fancy elf bread and headed on our way.

The rest of our walk was slower than the first day. Out of some respect for me and my mortal lungs, or because he didn't feel like jogging the whole way, I'd never know. Our days fell into routine: wake up, eat bread, drink water, walk, sleep. On the morning of the fourth day, we spotted trees.

"That the forest?" I asked.

"Yes, Fangorn. It is a dangerous place. Do not venture in, and do not go near the trees."

"Why is it dangerous? What kinds of animals live there?"

"Birds and squirrels make their nests within, but it is no animal that presents danger. Fangorn is an old forest. The trees here have learned to speak and move. They have memories reaching back to when Elves first walked the paths of Middle-Earth. And of recent times, they have been reminded of murder and hatred and war."

I shook my head. "Man-eating trees..." I sighed. "This place just keeps getting better all the time."

Haldir quirked an eyebrow at me. "Indeed."

We traveled within sight of the forest. Haldir would stop every few minutes to gaze into the trees. It took us two more days to reach the Entwash.

"We will camp the rest of the day here," Haldir said.

"But it's barely noon...We could get a lot more ground covered if we kept going."

He shook his head. "Something bids that I stay. If it is not revealed to me by the morn, we will take our leave to Edoras."

I just shook my head and unshouldered my pack. "Whatever."

The rest of the day was memorable only for the fact it was the first time since leaving Lothlorien that I didn't drop to sleep in desperate exhaustion when Hal called a halt for the day. I got out my new sword and practiced for a while on some of the stuff Aragorn had taught me. Then Hal asked for another yoga session when dark came. When sleep came, it was easy and without strange dreams.

The morning, however, was very strange, and I was not entirely certain that I was awake.

A host of elves in gleaming golden armor were lined up in an unmistakable military formation. Each carried a bow, a quiver, and sword big enough to make mine look like a toothpick. A couple of the front elves were finishing helping Haldir into similar armor. I noted he didn't seem to have a helmet and wondered at the wisdom of gearing up for a fight without headgear.

Another elf noticed I was awake and pointed this out to Haldir and his helpers. Haldir simply nodded and waved them towards me. Another pair of elves came at me with another set of gold armor. When they were close enough for me to see into their helmets, I recognized some of my archery teachers/karate students. They smiled and offered me the armor.

"Hey," I greeted them with a perplexed smile. I motioned at the elven formation. "What's going on? What's happened?"

Their smiles faded. They looked at each other, then back at Haldir.

My stomach turned. I hadn't been a soldier long, but recognized that look. The little soldier does not dispense intel without getting approval from his superiors first. Whatever was happening was serious.

Haldir came over to us. "I suggest you let them help you dress."

"What's going on?" I demanded.

He stared at me grimly before answering.

"War has come to Rohan."