A/N: Once again thank you to those who have followed/favorited this story, and a special thanks to guest Dom who reviewed it. I'm sorry for rushing those parts of the story, I have found that I am not very good at writing fight scenes so I have the bad habit of just skimming over them, I will try to work on that. Readers please continue to review so that I know what you guys like and don't like for future reference. Thank you
Disclaimer: I do not own in any way shape or form Lord of the Rings
The small group was off again before sunrise, following the Uruk-hai's trail through the rocky plains of Rohan. Once the sun began to rise, Legolas skidded to a halt at the edge of a small cliff, staring off into the sky.
"Legolas, what do you see?" Aragorn asked in a commanding voice.
"A red sun rises. Blood has been spilt this night," he answered.
'Well isn't he cheerful this morning,' Anra grumbled to herself.
They continued on their way, trying not to put too much thought into Legolas's dark observation. 'Anybody could see those clouds, that warning could have been meant for anyone,' Anra reminded herself as she tried not to think about those missing from their company at the moment.
Not long after the sun had passed its highest point, a shift in the wind made Anra freeze and give her companions a warning growl. Shifting into her human form, she cocked her head to the side and listened. Aragorn started to ask her what was wrong, but she shushed him and continued to listen. It sounded like thunder, despite the fact that there was not a cloud in the sky. Her eyes flickered up and met Legolas's, he could hear it too.
A few seconds later the sound was loud enough for both Gimli and Aragorn to easily hear it too. With a swift look at each other, the four travelers took shelter between some large boulders and waited for those responsible for the uproar to appear. The smell was awful, and as soon as she saw those responsible she understood why.
Horses, lots and lots of freakin' horses.
Of course there were men riding said horses, but the she-wolf's attention was more focused on the large animals. Now she understood why they had called Bill a pony, these beasts were huge!
Aragorn relax upon seeing who it was and walked out into the open, giving the others no choice but to follow him.
Aragorn yelled loudly, "Riders of Rohan, what news from the mark?"
Eyes wide with fear, Anra silently cursed him for drawing attention to them, as the large group of heavily armed horsemen turned and galloped right at them. The four of them stood so that they were back to back with their hands up, as the riders formed a tight ring around them with their weapons drawn.
A single rider pulled out of the ranks towards them, "What business does an elf, a man, a dwarf, and their whore have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!"
A growl tore from Anra at the horsemaster's words, as Aragorn shifted slightly nudging her behind him; whether it was to take attention off of her or to remind her to behave, she wasn't sure.
"Give me your name, horsemaster, and I shall give you mine," Gimli sneered, sounding angry on her behalf. The man climbed off his horse and Aragorn placed his hand lightly on Gimli's shoulder, now Anra was pretty sure these actions were his way of telling them to play nice.
"I would cut off your head — dwarf — if it stood but a little higher from the ground."
"You would die before your stroke fell!" Legolas snarled, an arrow strung and pointed right that the man's head. Aragorn let out a strangled sigh as he reached over and pushed the elf prince's bow down.
"I'm Aragorn, son of Arathorn. This is Gimli, son of Glóin, Legolas, from the Woodland realm, and Anra daughter of Reigh of the Nightstalkers. We are friends of Rohan and of Théoden, your king."
"Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe," the man said bitterly, removing his helmet. "Not even his own kin."
Upon seeing their leader remove his helmet, the cavalry withdrew their spears and relaxed their formation ever so slightly. "Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over this land. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished. The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there they say, as an old man, hooded and cloaked."
His eyes seemed to linger upon Legolas for a second before continuing, "And everywhere his spies slip past our nets." Now his eyes focused on Anra menacingly.
"We are no spies. We track a band of Uruk-hai westward across the plains. They have taken two of our friends captive," Aragorn said, shifting slightly so that he could no longer see Anra and had to focus his gaze on the ranger once more.
"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night."
"But there were two hobbits, did you see two hobbits with them?" Gimli begged in a choked up voice.
"They would be small, only children to your eyes," Aragorn explained in a hopeful voice.
"We left none alive," his tone was regretful. "We piled the carcasses and burned them," he gestured to a plume of rising smoke in the distance.
"Dead?" Anra whispered in horror.
"I'm sorry." He whistled, "Hasufel! Arod!" Two horses were lead forward and he handed the reins to Aragorn, "May these horses bear you to better fortune than the former masters. Farewell."
He mounted his horse and gave a final warning, "Look for your friends, but do not trust the hope. It has forsaken these lands." To his fellow riders he shouted, "We ride north!" The small group watched as they rode away, numb with pain and disbelief.
Aragorn briefly squeezed his eyes shut, before murmuring, "Let's go," and handing the reins of the white and grey colored horse to Legolas.
The long legged elf swung up into the saddle with ease and extended his arm down to help Gimli into the saddle behind him. Anra started to wander towards the smoke, preparing to shift.
"Anra!" Aragorn called out after her. "Come back here, even in your other form you are not fast enough to keep up with the horses."
Her eyes widen when she realized what he was implying and she started shaking her head in refusal. "Anra," her heart broke at how defeated he sounded, unwilling to cause him anymore distress she walked back up to him and the dreadful creature, Arod.
See the uneasiness in her eyes, Aragorn rubbed her back comfortingly before gripping her around the waist and lifting her up into the saddle. Though the majority of her mind was focused on freaking out about the horse, part of her couldn't help but notice how gently he held her, carful no to aggravate her injured side.
She was only in the saddle alone for a few seconds, but they felt like centuries as she sat as still as possible, fearing that one small movement would send her tumbling off. She didn't have to worry for long though, Aragorn pulled himself up behind her and put his arms around her to hold the reins and to make it so she couldn't fall off.
Anra's breath's started coming out harsh and rapidly once the horse started moving. She was sitting stiffly, straight up, holding the horn of the saddle in a death grip. Aragorn lend forward and whispered, "Relax Anra, I won't let you fall."
His breath tickled the back of her neck as she slowly started to loosen up, but whenever the horse would go over a rough patch she'd shoot back up into the same position. Aragorn let out a slight growl of pain when one of the times she did this her head banged painfully into his chin.
"Sit still," he rumbled quietly, gathering the reins into one hand, he wrapped the other across her stomach, pulling her back against his chest and holding her there so she wouldn't jerk around so much. Feeling a little more secure with his arm keeping her steady, she tried to get use to the constant motion of the horse.
Once they reached their destination she was incredibly relieved to get off the horse and have her feet back on solid ground, but once she saw what was awaiting them, she decided she wouldn't have minded staying on the horse a bit longer.
The air reeked of burning flesh, so much so, that she couldn't even smell Aragorn who was standing right next to her. Staring at the pile of burning carcasses, she felt tears well up in her eyes. Trying not to breathe too deeply, she started walking around look for any clues of their missing friends.
She heard Gimli let out a strangled cry, he had been picking through the large burning pile till he came out with holding a small piece of leather in his hands. "It's one of their wee belts," he managed to choke out.
Legolas bowed his head and murmured something quiet in Elvish, while Aragorn kicked an orc helmet and gave a cry of pain and anger, dropping to his knees.
For once, Anra didn't try to hide the tears that flowed down her face as she tried to figure out how this could happen to two of the most innocent of their group. Memories of the two young hobbits flooded her mind, them exchanging prank stories, Pippin asking if he could ride on her back, Merry constantly apologies for his cousin's lack of a filter…
She felt an arm go around her shoulders and looked up to see Legolas's grief stricken face staring blankly at the ground.
"We failed them," Gimli whispered.
Aragorn who had been silently examining the ground suddenly spoke up, "A Hobbit lay here, and the other. They crawled." Climbed up and started following the track, with the other three close behind.
"Their hands were bound. Their bonds were cut," he held a piece of rope in his hands momentarily before continuing. "They ran over here… and were followed. The tracks lead away from the battle! Into… Fangorn Forest."
"Fangorn! What madness drove them in there?" Anra felt no strength to defend her home from the dwarf, and chose to look upon it in silence instead.
She was a little ashamed that they had been so close to her home all this time and she hadn't even noticed. Sure, they were by a portion of the forest that Nightstalkers did not inhabit, but still, she should have realized.
Not letting another second pass, the four companions plunged into the dense forest in pursuit of the hobbits. Anra found herself gazing around in wonder, enjoying the sound of the trees whispering, feeling at ease in the undergrowth. It seemed though, that Gimli did not share her opinion.
He dipped his finger in a mysterious liquid then raised it to his mouth to taste. "Orc blood!" he spat in disgust.
"These are strange tracks," Aragorn muttered more to himself than anyone.
"The air is so close here," Gimli complained.
"This forest is old. Very old. Full of memory… and anger," Legolas replied. "The trees are speaking to each other." Gimli raised his axe warily.
"Gimli!" Aragorn hissed.
"Huh?"
"Lower your axe."
"Oh."
"They have feelings, my friend. The Elves began it: waking up the trees, teaching them to speak," Legolas further explained. Anra listen with interest, though she was used to hearing the trees make noise, she had never known why.
"Talking trees. What do trees have to talk about, hmm? Except the consistency of squirrel droppings," Anra rolled her eyes at the dwarf.
Aragorn and Legolas conversed quietly in Elvish and then Legolas said in warning, "The White Wizard Approaches."
"Do not let him speak. He will put a spell on us," Aragorn said as if they needed reminding. The men carefully grasped their weapons, while Anra shifted into her wolf form. "We must be quick."
They all spun around to face their foe, only to be blinded by a bright white light. They all dropped their weapons, and Anra was forced to shift back to being human from some unknown magic.
"You are tracking the footsteps of two young Hobbits," the white light proclaimed in a deep yet strangely familiar voice.
"Where are they?" Aragorn demanded angrily.
"They passed this way, the day before yesterday. They met someone they did not expect. Does that comfort you?"
"Who are you? Show yourself!"
The blinding light dimmed to a gentle glow to show someone Anra never thought she's see again. It was Gandalf dressed in a bright white robe. They bowed to him, amazement etched into all of their faces.
"It cannot be!" Aragorn whispered in disbelief.
"Forgive me. I mistook you for Saruman," murmured Legolas.
"I am Saruman. Or rather Saruman as he should have been."
"But you fell," Anra said, almost as more of a question than a statement.
"Through fire. And water. From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, I fought him, the Balrog of Morgoth. Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside. Darkness took me. And I strayed out of thought and time. Stars wheeled overhead, and every day was as long as the life age of the earth. But it was not the end. I felt light in me again. I've been sent back until my task is done."
"Gandalf," Aragorn said his voice full of happiness.
"Gandalf? Oh yes. That's what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. That was my name," it sounded like he was just remembering this.
"Gandalf!" Gimli exclaimed.
"And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide," he finished with a soft smile.
Once he had assured them that Merry and Pippin were safe and in good hands, they turned to him not sure what it was they were to do now.
"War makes its way to Rohan, but they will not be able to win this battle alone." He turned his blue eyes to Anra, "They will need strong allies if they are to survive, and I do believe that we are close to the territory of those who could give them just that."
Her eyes widened when she realized just what he wanted them to do, she was going home!