Nothing to report. I just want to get this posting.
Disclimer: The song from the previous chapter is "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan, so I don't own that. I don't own Lord of the Rings either, it belongs to Tolkien.
Chapter 32 Recap:
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.
Even sitting down she felt dizzy. To stop the world from tipping, she closed her eyes and prayed for darkness to take her away.
Chapter 33:
Sam sulked while following behind Gollum. Frodo merely minded his feet and occasionally fingered the 'trinket' around his neck. The stench was getting fouler; the marsh was coming in sight.
"Wonder how the men are doing," Sam said suddenly.
"The men plus Abigail," Frodo reminded gently.
"Abigail? Master traveled with lady," Gollum spoke up. "Gollum never heard good things about ladies."
"Shut your mouth. She's kinder and better than you'll ever be!" Sam quickly protested.
"We know women to be troublesome, don't we precious," replied Gollum, shaking his head. "Wraith said nasty things about her once. Stupid hobbit," he grumbled.
"What was that?" asked Frodo, curious.
"Master wants to know more? Gollum doesn't know more. All wraith said was he would kill her in the end. It would find her because mean wraith put a scar in her side."
Frodo's eyes widened, ever so slightly. "A scar in her side…" he mumbled.
Flashback:
"This might sound strange," he began slowly, "But today with the Nazgûl, I was wondering, why your side was hurting so much. I didn't see any blood or anything…" he trailed off.
"I was wondering who would notice that," she spoke more to herself than to Frodo. "I suppose I'll just come out and say it. I was stabbed by a wraith, about 7 years ago."
Gollum then stopped for another coughing fit, and didn't say more on the matter.
'They're specifically looking for Abigail? Why?" he thought to himself.
Sam noticed Frodo had his concentration face on.
"Mr.Frodo? Something wrong?"
"Oh.-no," said Frodo startled. "Just…reminiscing."
Sam barely knew what that meant, so he just shrugged it off and continued to walk.
(A/N- Kind of random, but it's a paragraph that came to mind with the encouragement of nightskylover. Thanks!)
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The horses thundered past them as the trio hid behind a rock. Aragorn soon recognized the flags, and stepped out, Legolas and Gimli following behind him.
"Riders of Rohan! What news from the mark?" he shouted.
The riders turned, and quickly surrounded them, spears pointed forward in offense.
"What business does and elf, a dwarf and a man have in the Riddermark?" one man questioned. "Speak quickly."
Aragorn was almost expecting a cheeky remark from Gimli, so he intervened.
"I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn, this is Gimli son of Gloin, and Legolas of the woodland realm. We are friends of Rohan, and of Théoden your King," he explained, hoping this could bring some peace.
The leader sighed. "Théoden not longer recognizes friend from foe," he removed his helmet, "Not even his own kin."
'Éomer,' Aragorn realized. 'He's grown much.'
The soldiers directed their spears away from the center.
Éomer came down from his horse and approached Aragorn.
"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the King and claimed lordship over his lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan, and for that we are banished. Spies are everywhere, trying to bring more ruin. Suspicions are put on every man," the young lord said.
"We are no spies," Aragorn assured. "We track a party of Uruk-hai, moving west across your lands. They have taken our friends captive."
"We slaughtered the Uruks during the night, and we left none alive."
"But what about two hobbits?" Gimli pressed on. "Did you see two hobbits?"
"There are small, Halflings. Only children to your eyes."
Éomer shook his head.
"Did you by chance see a woman?" Aragorn asked, not giving up yet.
Éomer looked equally confused.
"She's fairly tall. Surely you could have differenced her from the others," said Legolas.
"I do not recall any woman," Éomer said, then looking at his men. They all mumble their disagreement.
"Dead? All of them?" Gimli spoke sadly.
"I am sorry," Éomer said, truly apologetic. He turned and whistled. "Hasufel, Arod."
A white and a brown horse came through the crowd. The reins were handed over to Aragorn.
"Made these horses bare you better fortune than their former masters."
The three nodded with silent thankfulness.
"Look for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It is forsaken in these lands. Farewell." The horse master looked to his troop. "We ride north!" he commanded.
The riders were gone in a moment, but Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli hardly noticed. They were pained by this news, but would not give up everything.
"Let us go to the field, and pray we find no evidence of their…demise," Aragorn suggested, mounting the brown horse called Arod.
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"Giedd," Namian softly called for his friend.
"You shouldn't talk. You're parched enough," Giedd replied.
"Earlier…I heard a conversation. Who were they?" Namian asked, ignoring the suggestion.
"Just some travelers, searching for their friends. Apparently the Uruks had some captives. Two…what were they…hobbits and a woman. But no one saw anything," Giedd said, staring at his dinner.
Namian attempted to chuckle, but it turned into a cough. "Well, I am not a no one, for I did see a woman. It was she who stopped to take care of me."
"What? How did no one notice?" asked an astonished Giedd.
"I believe you had your hands full of orc blood," Namian said plainly. "But I…uh…fell asleep before I knew what happened to her next."
Giedd snorted. "You didn't fall asleep. You fainted. Be a man about it," he joked.
"I did not faint. I merely closed my eyes for an extended period due to a well deserved battle wound," Namian countered.
Giedd rolled his eyes at his friends lie. "At any rate, I hope they are able to find her again."
"Indeed. Now, what is there to eat?"
"Salvage soup, your favorite," smiled Giedd.
"Ugh, I'm going to faint-I mean, fall asleep again. Wake me when you have roast chicken," Namian said, lying back down.
"Whatever you say," said Giedd, checking the bandages.
(A/N-I gave more personality to these two, because I might have them come back. I'm not sure yet. Continue)
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Abigail woke up to another blur, but this time it was a bright one.
"Good morning sunshine," she grumbled.
She wondered how long she had been out. A few hours? A few days?
She tried to think back to the story.
"Merry and Pippin have most likely reached Treebeard by now, and maybe Gandalf as well. The others have probably talked to Éomer, if they are not already in the woods. I wonder if they'll find me."
She studied her surroundings.
"Doubt it. I can't even find me," she said, mostly serious.
It was about then when realization really dawned on her.
She was lost without any weapon or possessions (namely clothes, because hers were currently ripped and filthy with dirt and blood). She could name a couple friends who were mad at her right now, and another friend who was…dead.
Tears started to form again at the thought of Boromir.
"How could I be so stupid? I knew he would follow Frodo, I knew he was suppose to die. Why would I abandon him even for a second?"
She hit herself in the head, but instantly regretted it for her head was already bruised enough.
"God. One of the last things I did was lecture him. I'm so sorry," she whispered, brushing the tears and hair out of her face.
Her hand leaned against the tree as she stood up shakily.
'I need to get out of here. I made an oath, and there's a lot left to do," she decided confidently. Haldir had taught her survival skills. She refused to be useless, even to herself.
She hobbled over to the closest stream, leaning against everything in her path for support.
She bent over to get a drink of water, and then tried to wash her face after seeing her muddied complexion.
"Aragorn, where are you?"
And if there's a problem now,
Who will I turn to?
And if I should falter here,
Will you watch me go under?
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The two horses galloped to the burning pile of orc and uruk-hai carcasses. They might have minded the smell more if they weren't so worried about their friends.
Aragorn and Legolas scanned the area searching for something, anything that might help. Gimli prodded through the bodies, also looking for a sign.
Not much later, the dwarf's axe head came upon a small leather strap.
He picked it up for closer inspection, and noticed the detailed weavings.
"It's one of their belts," he announced sadly.
Aragorn punted a nearby helmet and screamed in despair. He fell to his knees.
Legolas remained calm, but his face was filled with sorrow.
"Hiro hyn hîdh ab 'wanath," he said in elvish prayer.
(May they find peace after death).
"We failed them," Gimli hung his head.
Aragorn, still on the ground, lifted his eyes and studies the dry grass and dirt.
"A hobbit lay here," he moved his hand to the right, "and another here."
He saw something else, and he continued to talk, almost amazed now.
"They moved," he said, following the trail. "Their hands were bound."
Sure enough, he found some rope. "Their bonds were cut. These track lead away from the battle," he said hopefully. But his face dropped. "Into Fangorn Forest."
"Again, we are reassured of the hobbits survival, but what of Abigail. Was she here as well?" Legolas asked.
Aragorn turned back to the cut ropes.
"1, 2…3," he smiled slightly. "There are three pairs of rope. There was another who was with them."
"Well isn't that dandy. We can be sure she was captured by ferocious orcs. But what else, any markings about her?" Gimli said impatiently.
"Unfortunately, she is too similar in size to the other men. I would not be able to tell," confessed the ranger.
"But if she had been killed the riders would have found her among the bodies. We can only hope that Abigail was, indeed, with Merry and Pippin," Legolas said, trying to raise his friend's spirits.
"Well, let's find our dear hobbits and ask them ourselves," said Gimli, as if it were that simple. The dwarf gave a wary look towards the woods. "Though I've never trusted the madness of this forest."
"Come, Gimli, it's only a few leaves and branches," Legolas said, stepping inside.
The elf was quickly followed by Aragorn, who in return was followed by a slow moving Gimli.
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The water was very refreshing, and Abigail felt some of her strength returning. She walked almost normally, with just a little help from a long stick.
Her stomach was still angry, though, for it growled a reminder every now and then.
"Can you roast a squirrel?" she asked herself thoughtfully.
An angry chirp from above startle her. She looked up to see a small brown squirrel shaking a small fist at her.
"Fine, fine it was only a thought," she told it.
It chirped at her one last time and ran away.
"That was…odd," she said. "But, you know, this place isn't that bad looking in the daytime."
Rays of light were streaming through the canopy, making the moss shine and giving the trees a brighter shade of green. The smell of bark and sap was thick in the air, and some trees looked so old that that they were turning gray and gangly, just like a person would.
"If Ents weren't so hostile, it would be a lovely place to visit or even live," she decided.
Suddenly, she shook her head, "Focus, Abby, Focus. You're looking for an exit."
To keep her head occupied, she started to sing a song, something she remembered from the modern world (besides, the forest enjoyed music, didn't it?).
Bring me back to you (bring me back to, bring me back to…)
You were, darker, deeper
While I was, closer to you
And you were only treading water
I couldn't hold on to you
And if there's a problem now
Who will I turn to?
And if I should falter here
Will you watch me go under?
'Cause I'm praying
Holding on to
A lifeline and a vision of you
So I'll keep praying
I'll keep holding on to
The faith I have, will bring me back to you
…
And in my dreams you fall
Through my finger
Still I sleep and
The sound of you lingers
'Cause I'm praying
Holding on to
A lifeline and a vision of you
So I'll keep praying
I'll keep holding on to
The faith I have, will bring me back to you
Bring me back to you…
(A/N-The song is "Praying" by Rachel Fuller.)
Sorry I didn't post yesterday, I got kind of busy.
This was a bit of a chopped up chapter, with many different views.
The next one, I think I'll stick to Abigail's POV more, and I might jump ahead in the story (you'll see what I mean)
Many thanks to the following, cool, Reviewers:
Narnian Sprite: Yeah, Abigail will come to a solution. For today, though, she's just going to wander around Fangorn. Thanks for the comment!
writin4fun15: I know what you mean. I think 2 chapters a week is pretty good for updating. Sometimes I feel a little rushed, but like I said on my profile, I do want to finish this story as fast as I can so I can write another one (I don't want to do two at once). There will be future time for editing. Thanks for the kudos!
nightskylover: I threw a little bit of Sam and Frodo in their for ya. Overall, in this version they don't have a big connection to Abigail or anything, but I'm going to try to give them credit now and then. Thank you!
Samantha-Girl Scout: Well, mobs are destined to be problematic (like all weapons). So use them wisely. LOL, thanks!
ArwenEvenstar83: As promised, Abigail is now free from the claws of the Uruks (no raping!). Of course she's gonna be strong and smart (even if she is a mary-sue)! No heroine of mine will be wimpy! Jk, thanks!
Next chapter: Possible fast-forward to Helms Deep (not the battle, just to the site).
May you have lots of good fortune!
Izzy: And fortune cookies! Yummy!
-MysticNight9