Okay, being in the car for about 7 hours yesterday was, apparently, a good thing, since I got most of this written then, hahaha.
Oh, and I need some help, guys. I don't actually own the movie trilogy (shocking, I know). I've been using PDF files I found online that I downloaded that have the scripts for the extended editions for the movies, along with websites that let me watch the movies. Unfortunately, I only found Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. If anyone has the extended edition script for ROTK OR has a website (like novamov or vidxden) that has the third movie on it, please, please, PLEASE send me the link. I'm asking now because I've come to the realization that The Two Towers is mostly about Frodo, Sam, and Gollum, so after The Battle of Helm's Deep, there won't be very much left for me to write before I move onto ROTK. If I don't get/find either a script or the movie (again, extended edition), I'll have to start using the book, since I own all three books and The Hobbit, which could make this take a very, very long time because I would have to hand transcribe it all. Which would suck. A lot.
WARNING: LOTS OF ARAGORNxALICE FRIENDSHIP IN THIS CHAPTER. (LOL)
Disclaimer: I own only Alice.
Alice aids the Rohirrim as they gather things from the Great Hall and carry it out. She enters one of the rooms quietly, but stops when she spots Éowyn standing over a chest. She slinks into the shadows to watch. Éowyn opens the chest and pulls out a sheathed sword. She quickly unsheathes it and holds it before her, running her hand down the flat side of the blade, smiling. Deliberately, she practices her swing.
Alice hears the footfalls of someone approaching from behind. She recognizes it, and so does not warn Éowyn when she suddenly spins and swings behind her. Aragorn meets her swing with his dagger, and Alice is impressed when Éowyn's face does not soften at his gaze. She doesn't think he knows that she's there.
"You have some skill with a blade." He says to the young woman. With a swift move, Éowyn swings her sword, throwing Aragorn's arm and knife to one side, rendering him vulnerable and gaining the upper hand. He lowers his weapon. She does likewise and steps away.
"Women of this country learned long ago: those without swords may still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain." "Dramatic, much?" Alice's heart burns, missing Fingolfin's witty retorts. Éowyn re-sheathes the sword, and then places it back inside the chest.
"What do you fear, my lady?" He asks, and she freezes for a moment before turning to him. When she speaks, it is with a grave tone.
"A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them. And all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire." Aragorn shakes his head in wonder.
"You're a daughter of kings, a shieldmaiden of Rohan." He sheathes his knife, continuing to look at her. "I do not think that will be your fate." "For a guy whose, allegedly, engaged he does a lot of flirting." Éowyn gazes at him, unable to respond. He bows and leaves.
Alice waits a moment, before stepping out from the shadows. Éowyn gasps, surprised.
"Oh, it's you." She says, relaxing at the sight of the foreigner. Alice smiles.
"Yes, it is." She nods her head in the direction Aragorn left in. "He was right, you know." Éowyn stares curiously. "You are skilled with the blade," Alice reaches underneath her cloak, drawing an extra sword, "but your form is sloppy." She tosses it to the shieldmaiden. "Tell me, how well do you think you would fare in-"Suddenly, Alice lashes out with her sword, letting her instincts guide her. In a very sloppy move, Éowyn tries a direct defensive blow. Alice's sheer superior strength knocks the sword from her hand, and almost makes her fall down. Éowyn barely manages to steady herself. "battle?" The blonde woman doesn't respond for a minute.
"Against you? Not very well, I would guess." Alice takes a few steps back, and then uses Ringil to motion for her to pick up the extra sword.
"You would be correct. Stand, I will teach you what I can in the little time we have together."
The next morning…
Théoden, Aragorn, Alice, Legolas, and Gimli ride at the forefront of the people leaving Edoras. The King pauses atop the first rise to gaze back upon his city. The Rohirrim walk single file out of their city, following him, carrying only what they need. They make their way towards the mountains where Helm's Deep lies. Some falter, some ride in carts, ever so slowly, they draw closer to their destination.
Later that afternoon…
Gimli rides atop a horse, led by Éowyn, among the throng of traveling Rohirrim. Alice and Aragorn ride near them.
"It's true you don't see many Dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they're often mistaken for Dwarf Men." Gimli informs the King's niece, who smiles and looks back at Aragorn.
He gestures, and whispers, "It's the beards." Éowyn smiles and shushes him, and Alice restrains her laughter, giving Aragorn a light slap on the arm. He gives a fake duck, and laughs at her.
"And this, in turn, has given rise to the belief that there are no Dwarf women, and that Dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground..." The two women laugh. The Dwarf joins them and continues. "...which is of course ridiculous."
Suddenly, the horse rears up, surprising Éowyn, who loses her hold on the reins. The horse takes off, galloping through the throng, and throwing Gimli to the dirt. Éowyn rushes forward to the Dwarf who struggles to get up like a turtle on its back, and Alice tries to not laugh again.
"It's all right. Nobody panic. That was deliberate. It was deliberate." He says as the woman helps him up. Théoden, Alice, and Aragorn, who ride side-by-side, laugh at the sight. The King glances at the two rangers. (Or, at least who he assumes are both rangers, as it has never been confirmed nor denied that Alice is a ranger, but seeing as she wears clothing very similar to Aragorn's – because no one knows that they are, in fact, his clothes – it is assumed by the general throng that she is his sister, and though Théoden knows that that is not true, he does assume that she is a ranger nonetheless)
"I haven't seen my niece smile for a long time. She was a girl when they brought her father back dead. Cut down by Orcs. She watched her mother succumb to grief." Both their expression's turn dark and mournful. They look to Éowyn, as she laughs and looks to them and brushes Gimli off. Aragorn looks back to Théoden. "Then she was left alone, to tend her king in growing fear. Doomed to wait upon an old man who should have loved her as a father." Éowyn looks back at Aragorn with the sun behind her and the wind in her hair, smiling at him.
Later…
Éowyn walks through a makeshift Rohirrim camp, carrying a pot of stew. She sees Gimli and offers him some.
"Gimli." She says, holding it up.
"No, I couldn't. I really couldn't." He says, very quick to refuse, and even quicker to walk away. Éowyn continues walking until she comes upon Aragorn and Alice, who rubs her legs, sore, having not been used to riding a horse for so long. He looks up at her approach.
"I made some stew. It isn't much, but it's hot." She draws him a bowl, and he takes it. She hands him a spoon.
"Thank you." He dips the spoon in the bowl and fishes for a bite of meat. Immediately upon putting the morsel into his mouth, he freezes. His face registers the distaste of this morsel. Meekly, he looks up to Éowyn. He swallows hard, and nods with the word "Yuck" written all over his face. "It's good." Alice clamps a hand to her mouth to bite back the laughter waiting to burst.
"Really?" She begins to walk away. Subtly, Aragorn tips the bowl to pour out the distasteful mixture, when Éowyn turns suddenly. Aragorn tries to catch himself, but ends up soaking his arms in the steaming brew. Alice hears a small hiss of pain, and laughs a bit at him before helping him clean it up. He gives her a huge, fake grin.
"Would you like to try some, Alice?" Glancing over at Éowyn, who gives her a big smile with doleful, innocent eyes, Alice sighs.
"Sure, why not?" She asks aloud, before begrudgingly taking the bowl from the ranger. The grin drops off his face as soon as she has it, and his expression clearly reads, 'THANK YOU!'. She, too, fishes for a piece of meat. Upon putting it into her own mouth, she immediately spits it out, and Aragorn looks ready to kill her. "What the heck, Éowyn? Are you trying to kill us?" She says, and the blonde looks shocked. Alice plunges her bare hand into Éowyn's hot stew, ignoring the searing pain and searching for another piece of meat. Finding one, she pulls it out and rips it open using her fingernails and teeth. She exposes the inside of the piece to the young woman. "Do you see this? See how light pink that is? That's raw meat. If anyone ate this stew, it could be like eating sheer poison." She glances at Aragorn, "He probably didn't eat enough to die by it, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got sick tonight. Who else have you fed this to?" She demands. Still in shock, it takes Éowyn a second to respond.
"Uh, uh, no one! I just made it; I only offered it to Gimli before I came over here and found you two."
"My suggestion to you is to walk at least half a mile from here, in any direction except the way we're going, dig a hole, and bury the entire pot." Éowyn's eyes widen a little further.
"The entire pot?" Alice nods resolutely.
"The entire pot." Regaining her composure, Éowyn nods before setting the pot aside, and then turning to the silent ranger to ask a question that's been on her mind.
"My uncle told me a strange thing. He said that you rode to war with Thengel, my grandfather. But he must be mistaken."
"King Théoden has a good memory. He was only a small child at the time." Éowyn kneels down to him, shocked. Alice does some very quick math in her head, and comes to the same conclusion as the young woman before her.
"Then you must be at least 60." He chuckles uncomfortably, and looks away. "Seventy?" She tries, but Aragorn looks down and still doesn't respond. "But you cannot be 80!" He looks at her calmly, and smiles.
"Eighty-seven." Éowyn's and Alice's jaws drop. The blonde stands, momentarily speechless.
"You are one of the Dúnedain." It's a statement, not a question. Alice just stares at him. "Best case of plastic surgery I have ever seen."Aragorn nods, humbly. "A descendant of Númenor, blessed with long life. It was said that your race had passed into legend." "Oh, well, I guess that explanation works to." She half expects Fingolfin to tell her to shut up, before remembering.
"There are few of us left. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed long ago." He looks down sadly.
"I'm sorry." She leaves quietly, taking her pot with her. Aragorn turns and looks at Alice.
"Were you serious about the stew being like poison?" She glances over, sees that Éowyn is out of hearing distance, and laughs.
"Not really. I mean, sure, a lot of raw meat will kill you, but even if you ate the entire pot, you would probably just have really bad food poisoning and wouldn't be able to keep any food down for a couple of days. You'd feel absolutely terrible, but you'd survive." She laughs again, "No, her biggest problem was that she put in way too much salt. I'll be sure to tell her that next time she tries to cook." Aragorn is now staring her with the same kind of awe/shock that she stared at him with after learning his age. "What?"
"I could kiss you right now."
The next morning…
Alice, too sore to ride a horse, foregoes the entire operation and simply walks. Legolas had been walking with her, leading her horse and holding her hand; but, when they reached a hill, he kissed her cheek softly, told her he would be right back, and went to go scout ahead. She listens to Éowyn ask Aragorn about the Evenstar pendant hanging about his neck, and his delayed responses.
A few minutes later, she sees Gamling (the soldier who wanted to attack Gandalf for attacking the King while he was under Saruman's spell) and Háma (the soldier who detained their weapons, and then later held Gamling back from attacking Gandalf) ride through the crowds to go scout ahead. They go up further than Legolas, and she notices that he is momentarily distracted by them. She loses sight of the two soldiers.
Moments after, Aragorn, Éowyn, and Alice look up at the sounds of Háma's cries. Gamling draws his sword.
"Wargs!" He yells, loud enough for all to hear. Aragorn runs atop the ridge and momentarily out of sight.
"A scout!" She hears Legolas yell. Aragorn runs back down the hill to Théoden, who rides toward him.
"What is it? What do you see?"
"Wargs! We are under attack!"
The crowd is instantly reduced to a blind panic. The people scream and turn back to Edoras. Aragorn makes his way through the crowd to Éowyn and his horse. Gimli tries to mount Arod.
"Come on. Get me up here. I'm a rider!" With a bit of help, he's up, although he almost falls again.
Alice rushes towards him, and all in one movement goes from running to leaping atop the horse and straddling him with her legs, now sitting in front of Gimli. She spurs the horse forward, and both nearly fall off. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Théoden charging forward with his warriors following. Aragorn, perched on Brego, has stopped momentarily to look at Éowyn, and in his pause, Alice, copying a movement she'd seen on old Western films, brings Arod close to Brego. Trusting her instincts, she waits for the right moment, and then switches mounts, clutching onto Aragorn's cloak as she regains her balance atop the new horse. Both men are shocked and surprised, but neither have a moment to comment as Brego takes off.
The Rohirrim horsemen ride together under their standard up the hill to confront the warg riders. The horsemen ride up the hill into battle. Atop the ridge, Legolas fires arrows into the ranks of the warg riders, hitting his mark each time. The Rohirrim ride over the hill, and Legolas turns and joins Gimli on Arod.
The two armies ride towards each other. Théoden and the Warg Commander give their armies the signal, and the two armies on the field of battle. Riders are knocked from their mounts, spears, arrows, teeth, and swords make contact, the blood-thirsty wargs maul fallen men and horses. As Brego brushes against the wargs, Ringil and Andúril sing with the spilt blood of Orcs.
Alice doesn't see Gimli fall off Arod, but hears him speaking to a warg.
"Bring your pretty face to my axe!" She glances over, and watches Legolas expertly place an arrow inside the beast, felling it, and Gimli is outraged. "That one counts as mine!" She turns for just a half a second to politely remove an Orc's head from its body, and when she turns back, Gimli is laying on his back with a warg pinning him down. She turns back to Aragorn.
"Gimli needs help! I'll see you later!" He gives her one swift nod, not even bothering to question the fact that when she speaks, she doesn't sound like the Elvish warrior that normally speaks with her voice when battle is upon them.
The battle rages on as Alice slips off Brego's back. Aragorn and Théoden deftly dispatch Orcs with their swords. An archer fires arrow after arrow at the attackers before a warg mauls him. More riders are knocked from their mounts.
"Stinking creature." Alice hears Gimli say as she fights her way towards him.
"Half a moment, my dear Dwarf!" She says before quickly dispatching a warg-less Orc.
Suddenly, a warg with an Orc charges her. She spots it in the corner of her eye, and turns to face it as he races towards her. As the Orc swings his sword, Alice drops to her knees and gives a low blow to the warg, swiftly removing it of it's legs. She grabs a knife off a nearby dead body and throws it as though she had been throwing knives her entire life directly at the Orc, braining it.
When she turns back, she watches as Aragorn charges past Gimli, having just speared one of the wolf-like creatures. Gimli moans in pain as the third beast has now been added to the weight he's carrying. She races to his side, her path now clear, and begins helping him get the beasts off. She hears a familiar 'TWANG!' go off near her head, and glancing over, sees Legolas standing at her side, protecting her and Gimli from enemies. Two other soldiers quickly arrive to help, one to help lift the bodies and the other to fight off enemies.
The battle rages on.
Later…
Alice watches from behind as Gimli axes a fallen warg. They look about. All over the plains the warg riders are retreating, still being removed from this life by Rohirrim horsemen. She quickly spots Legolas, and walks over to him.
"Aragorn!" He calls out, marching towards, and then past her. The name makes her recall that she has not seen the ranger for some time, and quickly walks with Legolas, also calling out the name of their friend.
"Aragorn?" Gimli calls.
Legolas, Gimli, and Alice approach the drop-off. They look over the ground, and the Elf looks up to an Orc, who is laughing rasply. They approach him, and Gimli holds his axe threateningly over the Orc's head.
"Tell me what happened and I will ease your passing." He says, almost growling.
"He's ... dead." The Orc says, and laughs. "Took a little tumble off the cliff." Théoden turns to the cliff, and runs up to look over. Legolas bends down and grabs the Orc by the shirt.
"You lie."
The creature chortles and dies with a smile. Legolas roughly releases him, and something in his hand catches Alice's eye. She reaches down and picks it up. It's a necklace that she'd seen Aragorn wear. Legolas whispers it's name.
"Evenstar…" She glances over, and sees his expression change to worry. The two quickly join Théoden at the drop-off with Gimli close behind. Down the sheer cliff to the rushing water below, there is no sign of either the warg or Aragorn. The trio desperately scans the ravine for their friend as Gamling runs up, and Théoden turns to him.
"Get the wounded on horses. The wolves of Isengard will return. Leave the dead." The King instructs. Gamling acknowledges and runs back to the ranks. Legolas looks at Théoden with an expression of perplexed anger. The King puts a comforting hand on the Elf's shoulder. "Come."
Théoden leaves the three staring at the river. Alice looks down at the Evenstar, not wishing to believe the truth.
Buh-bye, Aragorn. See ya later.
Amber D - Thank you so much! I think the reason why sequels are usually not as good as the original is because there's normally a gap in the writing. I went, literally, from writing the last chapter of FOTR to writing the first chapter of TTT. But, imo, this isn't even really a sequel, just a continuation. The sequel will come when Alice goes to a new world. ;) Thank you for reviewing!
Luna - I know, it was very sad. =( Thanks, I'd been dying to find a reason to use that song in here, lololol. XD
Lady Minuialwen - *hands tissue*
Alright, I have a contest for you guys. That's right, you heard me, a CONTEST. My first ever Submit Your Own Character contest! w00t! I need Gondorians. Try and keep them mostly over 20. I need soldiers, healers, and nobles. I'll put the form up on my profile. I'll also set it up so ya'll can even use the form again when I move on to my sequels, for like Hogwart's students, Star Wars aliens, Star Trek officers, yadda yadda. Just tag it on to the end of your review, mkay?
Oh, and one last note, I had a bit of technical trouble with the poll, BUT it's fixed now. So, please go vote on where you would like to see Alice go next!
Review please! =D