A/N: I own nothing as always.

***Chapter 17***

**Saffy's POV**

I had sat around, fighting the urge to gag, as the bodies of the Uruk-hai burned. The stench of rotting flesh still pervaded that air, as the Rohirrim finished setting up their bloody ceremony. The head of one of the Uruks had been impaled upon one of the spears of a dead Rohirric soldier. There had only been two losses on the side of the Rohirrim, and so there were only two extra horses. One of which, I would be riding.

"Why were you in the company of Saruman's Uruks?" Eomer asked me, watching his men complete the presentation of their massacre.

"My friends and I was kidnapped, taken hostage by the Uruks and were going to be brought to Saruman."

"Where are your friends now?" he asked me. This wasn't an interrogation; instead he was just trying to figure out how he could help.

"Two of them, ran off into the forest during the skirmish." I said, thinking of the hobbits.

"And the others?"

"The other was taken to Isenguard ahead of us. She was injured." I explained, glazing over the details of why DiDi was gone.

"Was she grievously injured?"

"An arrow wound to the shoulder, which the arrow had been embedded in her shoulder for the past four days now." I told him, not really wanting to go into this, as I was still upset with her.

He nodded his head. Confusion written clearly across his face, he turned from looking at me and stared at his men.

"Why were you being taken by the Uruk-hai anyways?" he asked me.

"Because I was traveling with a group on an important mission." I told him, again not wanting to talk about it.

"And what was this mission?"

"It is not my business to tell you. But it is for our side in the war effort." I assured him. "I was sent from Rivendell with my companions."

He nodded his head, clearly unsatisfied with my answer. But I doubted he was willing to press the issue much further.

"Some of my friends should be looking for us though. They have been following us since we were abducted." I told him.

"How do you know that?" he asked me.

"The Uruks smelled them following after us, which made them pick up their pace even more. They shouldn't be too far behind."

"Nevertheless, you will be traveling with me and my men. We will not leave a young woman defenseless. These are dangerous lands; there are often orcs who attack our people." He told me.

"So I'm stuck with you all unless we possibly run into my friends?"

"It seems so." He told me, smiling slightly.

Right then and there, I knew he was going to be a headache. I only hoped that I would run into Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli soon, so that I wouldn't end up wandering around the lands of Rohan with an army of men.

"Fine." I told him; apparently, the men had finished their arrangements for the corpses and now were waiting to head out.

He rose from his place next to me, going over and grabbing his horse. I moved over to one of the riderless horses, staring at it for a moment. Horses weren't exactly my forte, but I swung myself into the saddle and held on tight.

"Saffron." Eomer's voice rang out, causing me to look over at him. "You will ride next to me."

I nodded my head, pausing for a moment to adjust to sitting astride the horse on my own. Sidling up next to Eomer, I pulled back on the reins to halt the horse. He nodded his head, then shouted for his men to move out.

We traveled across the plains of Rohan, passing through both low and high yellow grass. Eomer asked me a little more about my traveling companions. I told him about Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli who were tracking us, so that he would know who they were when he saw them. Dawn had risen about an hour ago, when we there was a call from behind us.

"Riders of Rohan! What news from the Mark?" I heard Aragorn's voice call out to us.

Eomer begins to turn the company around, I rode next to him the entire time, as we circled around my three friends. Unfortunately, before I could face my friends, there were riders blocking my path and probably thinking that they were guarding me.

"What business does an Elf, a Dwarf, and a Man have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly." Eomer ordered them to answer.

"Give me your name, horse master. And I shall give you mine." Gimli's deep voice sounded, causing a smile to appear on my face.

Eomer dismounted, walking forward toward Gimli. He was clearly annoyed by Gimli's attitude. But I had told him about my friends, who would be looking for me.

"I would cut off your head, Dwarf… if it stood but a little higher from the ground." Eomer returned.

"You would die before your stroke fell." Legolas declared, having drawn his bow and had an arrow notched, and aimed directly at Eomer's face.

Suddenly, every spear that the Rohirrim had was aimed at my three friends. I huffed as I threw my hands up in the air, I couldn't believe they were still doing this after I had told them.

"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 Theoden, your king." Aragorn stated, being the voice of reason within the three.

"Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe." Eomer states sadly. "Not even his own kin."

As he said this he pulled his helmet off, revealing his face to my three companions. His hand went up in a signal that the soldiers should stop pointing their spears at them.

"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king…and claimed lordship over these lands. 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. And everywhere, his spies slip past our nets." Eomer stated, silently accusing them of being spies of Saruman.

I rolled my eyes at this. He was completely ignoring what I had told him, though this was probably his way of making sure that they were whom they said they were.

"We are no spies." Aragorn stated. "We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They have taken four of our friends captive."

"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night." Eomer told him.

"But there were two hobbits, and two women." Gimli declared. "Did you see them."

Eomer nodded his head in a jerky motion, causing the soldiers in front of me to part. Finally, I could see my friends clearly. I quickly dismounted my horse and rushed forward to give them hugs. I quickly embraced Legolas and Aragorn, even going so far as to hug Gimli.

"Saffron?" Aragorn questioned at first, unbelieving that I was actually here and safe. "Oh, thank the Valar that you are alright. But where are the others?"

"I'll tell you once we are on our way." I told him, trying to delay explaining the fate of our friends.

"We will leave you now. You still need to look for your friends." Eomer stated. "Hasufel. Arod. May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters. Farewell."

He nodded to us all, having given us the horses who's masters had died in the attack the previous night.

"Look for your friends, but do not hope to trust. It has forsaken these lands." Eomer stated, then he shouted to his men. "We ride north."

And with that Eomer and his Rohirrim rode off into the North, disappearing onto the horizon. I turned back to look at my friends who all were looking at me with expectant expression on their faces.

"Do you see that pillar of smoke rising?" I questioned, to which they all nodded their heads. "That's where we need to be."

They nodded their heads, probably understanding that I didn't want to talk about it just yet. Aragorn and Legolas each took their own separate mounts, I moved over toward Aragorn. He extended his head down to me, helping me up behind him. With a glance over, I saw that Gimli was already up behind Legolas, who was looking disheartened. It probably wasn't helping that I wasn't telling him what happened with Deirdre, he was probably worried out of his mind.

We rode to the pile of burning carcasses, the stench, which I had grown somewhat used to earlier, was far worse this time around. The air had more time to become infected with the stench, as well as the fire had more time to burn. There were several heads impaled upon spears and swords, the Rohirrim had taken their anger out effectively on the corpses of the Uruks.

"Where are the others, Saffron?" Aragorn asked, once we had arrived at the sight of the battle from last night.

"Merry and Pippin ran into Fangorn." I told him, pausing for a second. "At least that was the plan when we separated."

Aragorn nodded his head, but as I glanced over at Legolas, his expression was confused and decidedly dark.

"Where is Deirdre?" he asked, his voice coming out somewhat rough with emotion. It was a mixture of anger that I hadn't told him, worry, and sadness that she may be dead.

"Isenguard." I told him. As much as I tried the word not to come out as bad, it definitely did.

Legolas jumped down off his horse, leaving a dazed Gimli in the saddle, who had narrowly dodged a kick to the head. He picked up a helmet from the ground and threw it at the pile of burning Uruks. Then seeming a little more calmed, he turned back to look at me. Worry apparent on his face, he looked like a broken man.

"Why is she in Isenguard?" he asked, his voice coming out quietly, yet it still held that roughness to it.

"Legolas, we should really worry about finding Pippin and Merry." I told him, trying to avoid the subject of why Deirdre had gone ahead, because I was still figuring it out myself.

"Saffron." Legolas' voice sounded harsh and angry. "Why was she taken ahead?"

I looked away from him, thankful that I was still sitting behind Aragorn in the saddle. I bit my lip, knowing that what I was going to tell him would make him even angrier.

"She wanted to go ahead." I muttered, knowing that he would hear me with his superior elf hearing.

"What?" he asked me, clearly annoyed with what I was saying.

"The Uruks had left the arrow in her shoulder all the time that we were traveling. And she said she needed to go ahead to get it taken care of." I explained, still not making eye contact with him.

"Saffron? What aren't you telling us?" Legolas demanded, his hands were clenched at his sides.

"I don't know." I told him. "She wasn't exactly upfront with her plan. She just made her goodbyes and ordered the leader of the Uruk-hai to send her on to Isenguard ahead of the rest of us. Even though she knew you guys were coming to find us."

"She knew that we would be here?" Legolas said quietly, shock wearing into his tone. Disbelieving that Deirdre, knowing he was coming for her, left of her own accord.

"Yeah, she knew." I told him, finally meeting his eyes. " But for right now, the only thing that we can do is try and find Merry and Pippin."

I climbed down off the horse and looked at the ground, to say that tracking was a skill of mine would be a blatant lie. I looked up at Aragorn, who was now dismounting from our horse.

"Alright, time to do your thing. Find them." I told him.

He gave a half-hearted smile, then looked to the ground and began sorting through the tracks. It took him a little while to pick up the hobbits tracks and then started where the hobbits tracks had split from mine.

"They indeed go into Fangorn." He stated as he reached the edge of the forest.

"Fangorn? What madness drove them in there?" Gimli questioned, wondering why they had run in there, and why that was our plan.

"Deirdre told them to. It was the safest place for them to go to." I explained.

"Fangorn? Safe?" Gimli questioned, shocked at the idea.

"Yes, now if you are done being afraid of trees, I think we should go after them now." I told him, annoyed that he was afraid of the forest.

The others nodded their heads and we entered into the dark forest, which so many had a fear of, leaving the brilliance of the sunlight behind.

**Deirdre's POV**

"I wouldn't hold your breath on the return of your Uruk-hai." I told him, deciding that I should start there.

His eyebrow arched, but I was a little more worried about taking care of the cleansing of my wound. I winced when the cloth touched it, earning me an annoyed look from Saruman.

"I apologize for the delay in information. But I will be of no use to you dead." I told him, having to bite the inside of my lip to stop a gasp as the pain renewed itself. "Your Uruks are dead by now. Burning in a pile."

"And why do you say this?" he asked me.

"Because, the Rohirrim attacked during the night, shortly after I left with the two Uruks who brought me here. They were piled and burning by early morning." I told him.

"How did the Rohirrim know of their presence?"

"They had lit a fire, to take a breather as they said. But the better question would be why the Rohirrim were in the area in the first place." He raised his eyebrow once more. "Your subordinate, Wormtongue."

"What did Wormtongue do?"

"The banishment of Eomer and his men, pressed through by one Grima Wormtongue, robbed you of the prize of the halflings and my friend." I told him, washing my wound as I did so. "Had I not left when I did, I would have been unable to reach Orthanc."

"So a random twist of fate, between Wormtongue banishing the horsemaster and the break that my troops took, robbed me of my prize?" he questioned.

"Barring me?" I said rhetorically. "Yes, it did."

"And you are a prize as well?"

"Am I not providing you information, information which would not reach you for a good deal of time? Not including the fact that I can help you win the battle against Rohan." I told him.

"There is no need for war against Rohan. I have complete control over Theoden." He proclaimed proudly.

"For now, you do." I told him. "But that is not what is important."

"You mean to tell me that I will lose control over Rohan?"

"Yes, I do, and rather shortly. However, it is one of those things that must happen in order for success."

"I have a firm hold on Rohan." He assured me.

"When Theoden is free from your hold and Wormtongue comes sniveling back here, then you shall believe me." I told him.

I had managed to wipe away all the blood, and had sufficiently cleansed the room. After dipping the cloth into the water once more, I looked down to see the red swirling in the water.

"I need a needle and thread." I informed him.

"Excuse me?"

"My wound needs to be sewn shut, therefore I need a needle and thread. Though, a stiff drink would be more than welcome as well."

His face hardened for a moment, then he moved from his place opposite me. He called out the door for a servant to come, except there were no servants in Orthanc other than Orcs and Uruk-hai. An orc showed up rather quickly, waiting for instruction.

"Fetch a needle and thread, as well as some ale." He told the Orc, who quickly went to fetch the requested items.

"You will be given a room here, if what you say comes true, then I will listen to what more you have to say." He told me.

Just then the orc reappeared with a tankard of ale, and a sewing kit. Handing them to Saruman, who quickly dismissed the Orc. Saruman dropped the sewing kit on the table before me and placed the tankard of ale down. I took a large swig of the ale, letting it numb me to the slightest extent. I grabbed a needle out of the sewing kit, and threaded it, tying it off at the end.

With another gulp of the ale, I made the first stitch. It stung like hell, but I had to keep going. I took yet another swig, enjoying the feeling of the alcohol burning my throat, and the bitter aftertaste. After a few minutes of sewing my wound together and drinking the ale, I had succeeded in sewing it shut.

Considering that my only skill with a needle and thread had been sewing on buttons and making a small bag once, it was pretty impressive that I had succeeded in stitching my own wound. Since I doubted that I was going to get a knife to cut the thread, I leaned over and ripped the thread with my teeth. There was still the occasional throb of pain from my shoulder, but it would definitely start healing now. I chugged the last of the ale, using it as a painkiller, as they didn't have any drugs like Ibuprofen in Middle Earth.

"Are you sufficiently healed?" he questioned blandly.

"Yes, I am." I told him.

"Good," he stated then called another Orc. "he will show you to your room."

I nodded my head in thanks, then began walking over to the Orc, who stood just outside the doorway. I said a thank you to Saruman, then I followed the Orc. I was lead to a chamber that was plain with a black bed on it. There was even a vanity set up on one side of the room, made of ebony. The bed in the center of the room was a four-poster canopy bed with black curtains hanging down on the sides. As much as I hated to say it, my room at Orthanc was beautiful. I moved over to the bed, pulling the curtains aside and flopped down on the bed.

At least I wasn't dead yet, I thought to myself. Having to lie to Saruman all the time was going to wear on me, I was already tired of lying all the time. But it wasn't going to get any better, I couldn't be Deirdre or DiDi here. I needed to be cold and cruel. If anything was going to get done, and go the way that I hoped, I was going to have to be a heartless bitch. And for the first time, I was alone without protection. All the time that I had been at home, I had a big brother looking out for me, as well as my male friends, even most of my female friends. Then when I got to Middle Earth, I found Bainanu. And almost immediately after that I had become friends with Merry and Pippin, then Saffy arrived. I had never really been on my own before, there were always people that I could depend on. But now, I was completely on my own.

With this train of thought running through my mind, I drifted to sleep. I was grateful to have a soft bed beneath me, even if it was in Isenguard.

**Saffy's POV**

We were walking through Fangorn, as Aragorn still attempted to track the hobbits. Gimli paused for a moment, examining a dark liquid that was on a leaf. To my revulsion, he swiped his finger through it then placed it in his mouth. I couldn't help but be reminded of Deirdre, who once when we were walking through the park after a storm, picked up a small white substance and placed it in her mouth. Luckily for her, it turned out to be hail, but I had reprimanded her for putting a random substance into her mouth, especially one that looked as though it could have been poison.

"Orc blood," Gimli spat the blood from his mouth. I really didn't want to know how he knew what Orc blood tasted like.

Once this was said, we all headed back into a run to find the hobbits. Gimli's grumblings about the dark wood had yet to cease. Aragorn paused for a moment and examined what looked like the imprint of tree roots, which it probably was.

"These are strange tracks." Aragorn stated, still trying to figure out what had left the tracks on the ground.

"The air is so close in here." Gimli complained once more about the forest that we were in.

"This forest is old, full of memory…and anger." It had been the first thing that he had said since we entered the forest and I had told him about Deirdre.

There is a groaning sound of wood moving, which caused Gimli to raise his axe in reflex. I wasn't sure how he was planning on defending himself against trees, but the axe seemed critical in this plan.

"The trees are speaking to each other." Legolas stated, his voice still sounding terse and harsh.

"Gimli! Lower your axe." Aragorn directed him.

Between the instruction from Aragorn and the hand motion signifying peace that Aragorn gave him, Gimli lowered his axe. He must have reached the conclusion that him raising his weapon had caused the increase of talking amongst the trees, as he made an "oh" sound.

"They have feelings, my friend. The Elves began it. Waking up the trees, teaching them to speak." By now, Legolas had calmed down some, as he didn't sound as tense and angry as before.

"Talking trees," Gimli huffed, "What do trees have to talk about? Except the consistency of squirrel droppings."

I gave a single laugh, Gimli must not have thought much of trees, as he oversimplified it. Then again, he was a dwarf and had lived almost his entire life in the mountains.

"Aragorn," Legolas whispered, gaining the rangers attention. " nad no ennas." Something is out there.

"Man cenich?" Aragorn questioned in a whisper.

"The White Wizard approaches." He stated, staring off deep into the forest.

"Do not let him speak. He will put a spell on us." Aragorn said, sounding incredibly superstitious.

"You sound like Gimli did when we entered Lothlorien." I muttered.

They all ignored me, readying their weapons. I rolled my eyes at them, and left my swords at my sides. I crossed my arms, and leaned back against a nearby tree, planning on just watching this one pan out.

"We must be quick." Aragorn quietly told them once more.

The three of them turned around ready to attack the shining white light that was radiating from between two trees. Gimli threw his axe at the bright light, but it deflected and went flying to one side. An arrow flew from Legolas' bow, only to be blocked in the same way that Gimli's axe had been. Aragorn tried to attack with his sword, but the hilt of his sword grew white hot and he dropped the sword with a hiss.

"You are tracking the footsteps of two hobbits." A voice rang out, sounding suspiciously like Saruman.

"Where are they?" Aragorn demanded, using one of his hands to block some of the brilliant light, but still staring into it in defiance.

"They passed this way the day before yesterday. They met someone they did not expect. Does that comfort you?" the voice questioned, slowly as he talked the voice began sounding less like Saruman and more like Gandalf.

"Who are you? Show yourself." Aragorn tried to order once again.

The light fades, I have to blink my eyes a few times as they adjust from the bright light. But standing where the light had been blocking out his figure, was Gandalf. He was garbed completely in white robes, his hair and beard now a clean white as they had not been before he fell.

"It cannot be." Aragorn muttered shocked.

"Forgive me," Legolas stated, as he and Gimli dropped down into a bow in apology. "I thought you were Saruman."

"I am Saruman." Gandalf stated. " Or rather, Saruman as he should have been."

"You fell." Aragorn stated in disbelief.

"Through fire… and water." He explained, his eyes unfocusing as he lapsed into a memory. "From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak… I fought with 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 everyday was as long as a life age of the Earth. But it was not the end. I felt life in me again. I've been sent back, until my task is done."

With this explanation given, his eyes refocused upon us. There was a slight smile on his face as he looked the four of us over. Though there was a hint of worry when he glanced over at me, he was probably wondering where Deirdre was.

"Gandalf." Aragorn stated, his shock beginning to wear off and a smile was now upon his face.

"Gandalf?" he asked, slightly confused for a moment. "Yes. That is what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. That was my name."

"Gandalf." Gimli states, a smile upon his face as he looks up at the wizard and rises from the ground.

"I am Gandalf the White. And I come back to you now… at the turn of the tide."

"It's good to have you back, Gandalf. But we should probably get out of Fangorn before the trees decide to kill Gimli."

He smirked and gave a little chuckle, but I heard Gimli huff in annoyance. Gandalf moved forward, coming down from the rock that he was standing on. He was still taller than the rest of us, but the height difference was a little obvious still. Gandalf pulled a grey cloak from god, I mean Valar, only knows where. He pulled it over his white robes.

"One stage of your journey is over. Another begins. We must travel to Edoras with all speed." Gandalf told us as we traveled through the forest.

"Edoras?" Gimli questioned. "That is no short distance."

"We hear of trouble in Rohan. It goes ill with the King." Aragorn told Gandalf, ignoring Gimli.

"Yes, and it will not be easily cured." Gandalf told him.

"Then we have run all this way for nothing? Are we to leave those poor hobbits here… in this horrid, dark, dank, tree-infested-?" Gimli started complaining again, though the sounds of the trees groaning caused him to shut up. "I mean, charming—quite, charming forest."

"It was more than just mere chance that brought Merry and Pippin here. A great power has been sleeping here for many long years. The coming of Merry and Pippin will be like the falling of small stones… that starts an avalanche in the mountains." Gandalf told us.

"In one thing you have not changed, dear friend." Aragorn told him, causing Gandalf to give him a confused look. "You still speak in riddles."

Both Aragorn and Gandalf laugh as he says that, it's good to see that there can still be some happiness in these dark times.

"A thing is about to happen that has not happened since the Elder days. The Ents are going to wake up… and find that they are strong." Gandalf stated, giving us some clues about what was going to happen.

"Strong?" Gimli scoffs, earning more groans from the trees. "Oh? That's good."

"So stop your fretting, Master Dwarf. Merry and Pippin are quite safe. In fact, they are far safer than you are about to be." Gandalf says light-heartedly.

"This new Gandalf's more grumpy than the old one." Gimli grumbled quietly to himself.

We step out of the shadowy forest, the contrast between the brightness of the day and the dark forest, is shocking. Gandalf lets out a low whistle, a white horse appears on the horizon. The sunlight dances off of the beautiful white horse, as it gallops toward us.

"That is one of the Mearas… unless my eyes are cheated by some spell." Legolas said reverently, awed by the presence of the horse.

When the horse arrives next to us, and our two mounts, Gandalf bows his head in greeting. He strokes the nose of the beautiful white horse, murmuring softly to it.

"Shadowfax. He is the lord of all horses… and has been my friend through many dangers." Gandalf explains, half to us and half to himself.

We all mount onto our horses, Gimli once more rides with Legolas and I mounted up behind Aragorn. We all began the long ride to Edoras, watching the plains pass us by as we travel.

***End Chapter 17***

Alright everyone, it's probably going to start taking a little longer for me to update. After all, I am still in high school. And I still have some dates to meet otherwise I may not graduate. I will try to update almost as regularly.

Read and Review.