Ha. I slept until noon today. Which kind of sucks it a way because now I won't want to sleep tonight and I have school tomorrow.

Izzy: You were the one who choose to wake up at 5 am on a Saturday.

MN9: I had a tournament. I didn't have a choice.

Izzy: Oh yes, the gods forced you to get up insanely early.

MN9: Exactly! I can't disobey them. I mean remember what happened to you when you didn't listen.

Izzy: Let's not go over that again…

Disclaimer: I own Lord of the Rings…oops wait that's a typo. What I meant to say was THERE IS NO WAY THAT I OWN LORD OF THE RINGS. It belongs to Tolkien.

Chapter 31 Recap:

Aragorn said after a pause. "It is obvious that Saruman has a reason, which is no better. No matter what, though, we know he has Merry and Pippin and we will not leave them to torment and death. No while we have strength."

He stood tall and tightened his armbands and sheathed Abigail's daggers on his person.

"Leave all that can be spared behind. We travel light."

A determined gleam came into the rangers pale eyes.

"Let us hunt some Orc."

Chapter 32:

Abigail was barely aware that she was moving, save for the blurred pictures moving past her. But she could not feel her legs; in fact it was hard to move any part of her body.

"My head," she moaned. Something felt sort of sticky in hair; it must have been blood.

'I was hit,' she remembered.

She opened her eyes all the way.

"Shit," she mumbled, when she realized she was bound and slung over an orc. She had been captured along with Merry and Pippin.

Speaking of which, she tried to raise her head to see her she could find her little friends.

Moments later, she spotted them ahead of her, bound and being carried as well, but they were passed out.

"No," she said quietly. The orc heard her and turned his head.

"Hey Katrez, the wench is awake," it called out.

"I'm not a wench," she protested, out of habit. She assumed Katrez was some sort of leader.

"Shut your mouth!" Katrez said, bumbling over.

"What have you done to my friends? Release them at once!" she shouted, or at least tried to sound angry.

"Aren't you a spitfire, too bad we have to save you," he grinned grotesquely.

"Touch me and you die!" she warned in a low voice, finding some strength and trying to use her power.

Katrez stumbled at bit, but didn't fall down (which was what she meant to do).

"That all you got? Ha!" he laughed. "And the wizard tried to warn me about you being dangerous. Better follow orders, though," he said, picking up a nearby rock.

'How could Saruman know to warn them?" she thought, but was cut short but a painful blow and then nothing.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

As far as Merry and Pippin could tell, this was their third day of them being captive.

By now they had realized Abby was with them, but she was only conscious sometimes for a minute before they knocked her out again.

They had shouted against it, of course, but after being beaten the first time they stopped. Luckily, though, all three only had bruises and cuts, nothing fatal.

Though Merry was worried about the blood less Abigail was taking to the head.

"It's not right, why is she treated so harshly?" Merry whispered to Pippin once.

"Well, they aren't exactly custom to elvish courtesy or anything are they," replied Pippin sarcastically.

While he was worried for his life, Pippin was still very crabby without having eaten for a few days.

Merry shrugged, and closed his eyes, hoping when he opened them again they would be with better fortune.

Pippin stayed awake, thought, and was alarmed when the group of Uruk-hai stopped suddenly on a sunny afternoon.

"What is it?" a companion hissed.

"I smell man flesh," Katrez growled. "They've followed our trail. Move!" he ordered.

"Aragorn," Pippin exclaimed, feeling the smallest bit of relief.

He bent his head and bit at his brooch, tearing it off. Then he spit it into the ground, praying his friends could find the clue.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Not idly to the leaves of Lorien fall," Aragorn wondered, fingering the cold metal covered in mud.

Legolas stopped and stared at the pin.

"They may yet be alive. Can you tell who it came from?"

"The fabric is a lighter color, Abigail's elvish cloak was darker, still different from ours."

"That gives us hopes for the hobbits," Legolas said, somewhat happy that at least one of his friends was okay.

Aragorn stood up, still clutching the pin. "Less then a day ahead of us." He began to run again.

"Come Gimli! We're gaining on them!" Legolas called out.

"We dwarves are natural sprinters, very dangerous over short distances," he complained.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Nightfall came on that third day.

"We ain't going no further, 'till we've had a breather," an orc protested. Other mumbling complaints came from the crowd.

Katrez rolled his eyes, "Get a fire going!"

The orcs scurried off towards the trees and started to chop.

Merry and Pippin inched and crawled their way to Abigail, who was on the ground about 15 feet from them.

"Abigail. Abby," Merry nudged her gently.

"Are you alright? Please say something," Pippin urged.

She coughed. "Don't worry lads, I'm only pretending," she said in a horse voice.

"Smart idea," Merry said.

She smiled weakly. "I thought so too. This way I can keep and eye on ya. Make sure you don't get into any trouble."

"I think we're already in trouble, Abby," said Pippin, nervously.

She studied a blade of grass. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you two. I tried to stop them, I really did-"

"But then they took you as well," Merry finished. "It's not you fault, though I don't understand why they did take you."

"You aren't really mistaken for a hobbit," Pippin agreed.

"I'm not really sure either," she said, "but we need to get out of here."

"Bit hard, seeing as we're tied up. And you're in no condition to run for it," Merry said, being the logical one.

"Forget my poor health, we need to leave before they discover we don't actually have IT. Then we're really in trouble," she explained, IT being the ring, of course.

"We can bluff it for one more day, until then you need to sleep…or something," Pippin said.

She was touched. Two little hobbits risking their lives so she could have a nap.

Spend all your time waiting

For that second chance

For a break that would make it okay

There's always one reason

To feel not good enough

And it's hard at the end of the day

I need some distraction

Oh beautiful release

Memory seeps from my veins

Let me be empty

And weightless and maybe

I'll find some peace tonight

Suddenly, Merry and Pippin were being dragged away from her.

"Hey!" she knelt up, forgetting that she was supposed to be unconscious.

"Ah, princess has stirred again," and orc jeered.

She whipped around at the pet name; it reminded her of what her stupid father used to do.

"What don't you just lie back down," he said, pushing her to the ground.

"What did I say about touching me?" she whispered, her anger level rising.

The orc couldn't reply, though, because that second a long wooden spear drove through his back.

She lifted her head to see a group of horseman and warriors charging towards them.

'Right on time,' she thought.

The orcs began to run in all directions. Some were fighting, some were trying to find weapons and some were just running away.

The two orcs that had been holding Merry and Pippin dropped them and left.

Abigail took a sword from a fallen orc and cut her own binds. Then she crawled over to Merry and Pippin and did the same.

"Let's get out of here," she told them.

She helped them up, and they dodged between men and horses.

She stopped running, though, right before they reached the forest's edge.

'I can't go in with them. I might lead them away from Treebeard by mistake. Only by their own path will they find him and Gandalf,' she thought.

"Abby, come on!" Pippin shouted.

"Uh...lads, you go in first, I'll make sure no one follows."

"What?"

"Listen, just get in the forest and keep running as far as you can. Don't look back or wait for me," she instructed.

"Abigail, that's insane. No one will follow," Merry insisted.

"Trust me! Just do it! Keep running and don't stop!" she yelled, and pushed them in the trees.

"I'll find you, I promise!" she called over her shoulder as she ran back towards the fighting.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The hobbits stumbled a little as she pushed them in, and then they watched as she disappeared into the madness.

"Run without her? What is she talking about?" Pippin asked.

"I don't know. But she said to trust her, and she sounded dead serious. She wants us to go on," Merry replied.

There was the rustling of a bush, and the two turned to see a cut-up orc stumbling in their direction.

"I'll make a hide out of you!" he snarled.

The hobbits stopped arguing, and did as Abigail said. They ran.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"This was not one of my more brilliant plans," Abigail said to her self. She had just finished killing an uruk-hai.

She looked to her left to see a horse charging at her and a rider with a drawn sword.

She quickly jumped and ducked away from the blade.

"Do I look like a bloody orc?" she yelled after the rider.

Suddenly a hand grabbed her ankle and made her fall down. She was about to kick the figure, when she realized it was a man.

"Help me," he groaned.

She saw he had a bad cut across his shoulder. It already looked infected.

She looked around, the fighting would stop soon, and almost all the enemy was dead. She didn't want to risk being caught again.

"Please," he spoke again.

She sighed softly, knowing she couldn't leave him here to die.

"Alright, hold only," she whispered.

There was a horse, standing near them. She walked up quietly and searched the saddle.

"Ah-ha," she found a flask of water.

She returned to the man and poured some water on his wound, trying to clean it up a bit. Then she ripped off a piece of her skirt, and used the cleaner side to bandage it.

"That should keep you steady until a real healer," she told him.

"Thank you, my lady," he managed to say.

"My pleasure," she smiled, "But please tell no one I was here."

Well, even before she finished that sentence, the man passed out. She didn't have to worry about him talking anytime soon.

With her work done, she carefully made her way back to the forest.

Her plan had been to follow far behind Merry and Pippin so she wouldn't interfere.

But she had forgotten how hard it is to follow footprints on a forest floor filled with sticks, leaves and other problems.

"Damn me and my stupid logic," she sighed. "I should have just gone with them. It probably would have been fine."

But deep down she knew she wouldn't have, because it was so important that Merry and Pippin find Treebeard. If that didn't happen, maybe Isengard would never be destroyed. She did not know how precious the balance might be in this world. The last thing she wanted to do was set it off.

So she continued to wander, without knowing she was heading in the opposite direction of Merry and Pippin.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"What are the casualties?" Eomer asked Giedd, one of his fellow riders.

"So far we have only counted two dead. Many are wounded, but not fatally. The horses helped a great deal," Giedd answered.

"Is anyone fatally wounded?"

"Sir Namian has a bad wound on his shoulder. It came very close to his heart. Currently, he is unconscious but…his wound has already been bandaged."

Eomer slowly came to a stop. "How?"

"No one quite knows, my lord. None of the men have claimed to have done it, but judging how much blood has soaked through we assume it's been on there for a while. Sometime during the fighting."
"We were outnumbered in battle. True my soldiers are trained to leave no one behind, but they would not stop in the middle of a close fight. It is too risky," Eomer quickly explained.

"I meant no accusation to you soldiers obedience, my lord. But someone did stop to tend to him, and most likely saved his life," Giedd said calmly.

Eomer said nothing and only studied the scene before him.

'Who else was here?' he thought.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Abigail was stumbling and tripping over the tiniest rock and root.

Her lack of food and water was causing her to become very weary and clumsy.

Her wounds were catching up to her as well. Every bone in her body felt sore and she had the worst headache, her vision was spinning.

"How many times did they hit me with a stupid rock?" she mumbled.

Finally, she collapsed against a tree and slowly slid to the ground. She pulled her cloak as tight as she could to get some warmth.

"This life look so glamorous on the big screen," she said sarcastically.

So tired of the straight line

And everywhere you turn

There's vultures and thieves at your back

And the storm keeps on twisting

You keep on building the lie

That you make up for all that you lack

It don't make no difference

Escaping one last time

It's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh

This glorious sadness that brings me to my knees

Even sitting down she felt dizzy. To stop the world from tipping, she closed her eyes and prayed for darkness to take her away.

In the arms of an angel

Fly away from here

From this dark cold hotel room

And the endlessness that you fear

You are pulled from the wreckage

Of your silent reverie

You're in the arms of the angel

May you find some comfort here

You're in the arms of the angel

May you find some comfort here

Remember, sometimes I will put a song in just to set the mood or feeling of a chapter. The 'three hunters' will be in the next chapter a bit more, but I'll be switching POV's a lot more too (like I did in this one).

Thanks to reviewers-

ArwenEvenstar83: I think I got the whole "bush" skit from a movie or something. I just remember I thought it was hilarious. And as you can see, Abigail got away from the orcs so there will be not 'problems' with Grima. And gibberish is fun!

LadyEruaphadriel-orderofthe...: It is sad to see Boromir go, but it works in the big scheme of things. I didn't know what I would do with him otherwise. I haven't worked out the exact details on how Arwen will be out of the picture, but I have a general idea. I'm not going to kill her, I can tell you that. Maybe Abigail will see Galadriel again, maybe not. It's one of those things that even I have to wait and see on. Thank you!

writin4fun15: Some were wondering what I would do with Boromir, but overall I'm trying to stick as close to the book I can, because it's a reflection of what Abigail knows. I hope that makes some sense. Thanks!

KillerRubberDuckiesR-J: Yeah, I curse and love the day I found fanfiction, because it's so much fun, yet I've skipped lots of homework and lost a lot of sleep over it.

Samantha-Girl Scout: Hmm…maybe you and your mob have control issues. Lol, thanks for caring!

Narnian Sprite: Yes, may Boromir rest in peace. I'm happy that people are sad and not angry about it, though.

White Blossom of Gondor: Hello new person! Welcome to the party (well, kind of). I'm thinking maybe I should put more cliffies because it makes you readers review faster. Abigail avoided Saruman this time, but maybe not forever. Thanks and please post again!

Expect another update Wednesday or Thursday.

Until we meet again!

-MysticNight9