Okay, I didn't exactly forget this story, it was just at the back of my to do list (and my mum's banned me from writing till after my exams) so sorry for the wait. I will give you three long chapters right away- ALL I ask is some reviews? Pretty please?
Chapter Eighteen
Aragorn's head jerked up. A terrible sound pierced the air; Ello was screaming. Aragorn urged the horse into a gallop. He could feel Legolas and Gimli riding to his left, with Éomer flanking his right. There were other riders behind them, but it all faded away as Aragorn's eyes were met by the terrible scene before him. Ello had Isaac in his hands and they were both wailing and almost drowning in tears. Jam was leant over a broken body, shaking its shoulders, and a bloodied sword was lying next to them. The horses started to slow, and Aragorn was horrified to see that the body belonged to Gel. There were no signs of life whatsoever, and when Aragorn peered to his left he saw the tears trailing down Legolas's cheeks, and Gimli was sitting in shock.
The adults quickly dismounted and in a flurry of gentle words and soft actions the three leiveia and their dead brother were carried up to the safety of Edoras. Théoden, Éowyn and Harvey rushed to the gates and Théoden turned his head away at the sight of Gel's body. But Harvey shrieked and kicked and cried until Éowyn let him go and run to his brother. He embraced his twin fiercely, and without letting go of him he looked at Gel's body and began to cry. Many people were gathering at the gates and Théoden helped Éowyn usher them inside. Aragorn and Legolas took Ello, Jam and the twins into a separate room, but Jam started to shout and kick, so he was allowed to run to his brother's side briefly. Éowyn took the twins into a quiet corner and started to console Harvey, while easing what happened out of Isaac gently.
"Ello, you have to hold it together for the twins." Legolas pleaded, but Ello's ability to talk was long gone.
Despite Aragorn, Legolas and Jam's coaxing and Gimli's desperate orders, Ello refused to talk to anyone, not even the twins.
"Aragorn, we've been at it for an hour. She won't talk." Éowyn's sad face expressed no hope.
"Has she ever done this before?" Aragorn asked Jam. Jam sniffed, tears still trailing endlessly and unashamedly down his face.
"Once, when that bastard of a father left. She refused to talk for a few days, but when our mother sank into depression she had no choice but to talk again. But this..." Jam choked and started to cry again, pulling the twins closer to himself, and staring at his sister with deep concern etched in his eighteen year old face.
"What's wrong with Ello?" Harvey whimpered, "Why won't she talk?"
Aragorn sighed and bent to look Harvey in the eye. "She's sad. Very, very sad, and I don't know how to help her."
"How about a cookie? That always makes me feel better!" Harvey insisted.
Aragorn looked straight at Harvey. "I don't think a cookie will help. We just need to give her time."
Harvey's little eyes filled with tears. "I don't like it." He glanced at his twin, who was still crying loudly. Harvey scrambled back over to Isaac, putting his arms around the sobbing boy. "Ello will be okay."
"What about Gel?" Isaac sobbed and Harvey started crying again, but quietly.
"Come on, Isaac!" he yelled, and everyone stopped to stare at him, and the sudden
determination in his eyes. "Did that Fred in Harry Potter give up when George died? Did The Chuckle Brothers or the Wiggles give up when no one laughed at them? Did Tinky-Winky from the Teletubbies give up when he lost his purple bag? Did any hero ever give up? No! So we gotta keep going. That's what they always say. We should be at home now, with Jam and Gel and Ello, but we're not, so we have to help. Okay?"
Everyone's gobsmacked eyes opened wider as Isaac's eyes hardened and he nodded.
"There're too young to have seen Harry Potter," Jam muttered under his breath as Isaac began to talk.
"It was the big people...I can't remember what they were called. The big ones in black cloaky type things..." Isaac trailed off, his tiny brow scrunched in confusion.
"Ring Wraiths?" Aragorn asked, leaning forward.
Isaac's eyes lit up darkly and he nodded and gulped. "They came very quietly, and we couldn't hear them or see them until they were very close. They scared me, and Gel started to fight them. They were hurting both of us. I remember one of them picking me up and sticking me in a box. I could hear Gel shouting and saying bad words. I couldn't see anything, and suddenly he stopped. The box fell over and I crawled over to him; he was on the floor and-and-and" he gulped and looked about to cry, but Harvey squeezed his hand and Isaac carried bravely on "I grabbed his wrist and shook him but he wouldn't wake up. They started to look at me, and I just wanted to disappear. I think it worked, because they quickly went away and Jam and Ello couldn't see me."
Nobody even tried to stem the flow of the tears of the grieving siblings, even after Gel was buried. But Legolas was worried; why they had not heard the attack was one thing, and the other was Ello. Something was seriously wrong.
Frodo's heart was heavy as they made camp that night. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong, and his heart was hurting. It had something to do with what Sméagol had told him, but the other thing he could not put his finger on.
It felt like something was wrong with Ello, but Frodo pushed it to the back of his mind. He would have no idea if something had happened to her-how could he?
A short while later Sméagol crept over the hobbits' sleeping bodies and into their bag. He drew out one of the last pieces of lembas bread, and sprinkled a few careful crumbs onto Sam's cloak. Then he threw the last piece over the edge of the cliff and waited for the hobbits to wake up. When they did, Sam was the first to notice the missing bread.
"It's gone!" he cried in dismay and disbelief.
"What's gone?" Frodo cried.
"The elven bread!"
Frodo shot to his feet. Sam pointed at Sméagol. "It was him! It has to have been him!"
"Sméagol doesn't like nasty elven bread! And what's this? Crumbs on his cloak!" Sméagol gasped. Sam looked at Frodo in horror.
"Sméagol doesn't eat it." Frodo said slowly.
"Mr. Frodo, it wasn't me, I swear! I'll kill you!" he shouted and launched at Sméagol who dove behind Frodo.
"No, Sam." Frodo yelled.
"It's that ring, Mr. Frodo. It's making you go crazy. If you like..." Sam paused and Gollum edged forward. "I could carry it for a while."
Frodo stumbled backwards and Sam backtracked. "I don't want to keep it! Only to help you, Mr. Frodo sir. It's that Gollum. He has to go."
"No, Sam." Frodo went as I in a trance. "It's you."
Sam's eyes filled with tears. "No, Mr. Frodo, no!"
"There's nothing more you can do for me." Frodo chanted monotonously
"No, you don't mean that Mr. Frodo." Sam sobbed.
"Go home, Sam."
Sam stepped backwards, crying and watching helplessly as Sméagol pulled Frodo away, sneering at Sam. As Sam stumbled back down the stairs, every step meant heartbreak.
Gandalf pulled Pippin to the side. "I need you to do something, Peregrin Took. Another chance for one of the shire folk to prove their great worth. You must not fail me, Pippin."
Within seconds Pippin was climbing up a set of long, windy stairs. He scrambled onto the large pile of wood and set alight to the beacon of Minas Tirith.
A second beacon was lit in response, and soon the path of light had reached Edoras.
Aragorn was watching and when he saw the beacon he felt like whooping. He ran into the Golden Hall.
"The beacon has been lit!" he cried. Théoden's face remained unchanged, and Aragorn continued. "Gondor calls for aid!" he gasped.
"And Rohan will answer!" Théoden shouted, and he began organising his messengers to collect men. "On the third day we ride to Minas Tirith."
Two days later they were all in a camp on the side of the mountain.
"She's not getting any better Aragorn, and she's the only one who could get to Gandalf in time. Giving her something to do will take her mind off it, but this is not dangerous." Legolas argued, and Aragorn hung his head.
"But she could get hurt. The battle is going to be there, Legolas. I couldn't stand it if..." Jam didn't finish his sentence.
"Do not forget, she will be with Gandalf. That is as safe as I can imagine." Aragorn sighed again. "Your idea makes sense, Legolas. We will try."
Aragorn walked into the small section of the tent that Ello was in and knelt by her bed. She sat up and stared him in the eye.
"We need you to do something for us." She just hung her head. "For your brothers, for Frodo?" He had her attention. "For any of us, including Frodo and Sam, to survive, you have to get this message to Gandalf. I will show you what the city looks like. You have to go to a palace guard and show him this letter. It explains everything inside it. Be very careful. Understand? Can you do that in a moment?"
She nodded and they left her, all except Merry.
"Ello?"
Her eyes snapped to his face and she nodded.
"I know you don't want to talk, but, if you do, could you tell Pippin to be careful? Please, just tell him I miss him?"
Ello smiled slightly and nodded her head. They walked out to Aragorn in silence. Ello hugged her brothers and Éowyn, and Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli all patted her head. Aragorn pulled an old piece of paper out of his pocket and showed Ello a picture of a big white city.
"Do you understand?" Aragorn asked, and she nodded. "Good luck."
Ello wordlessly waved to her brothers and her gaze drifted towards the point where Gel was buried. Tears welled in her eyes but did not spill over as she walked into the newly made crevice that slid shut behind her.
Her feet slammed against a cool stone floor. She was used to this now. The tears she had been restraining hit her with a full force as she hurtled out of a wall and through busy streets
.
Beregond was on duty, watching his stretch of the city. The people were afraid; he was afraid. Mithrandir had returned to them with a small creature that he called a hobbit, who had turned out to be a charming little creature by the name of Peregrin Took, though Beregond had heard Mithrandir fondly calling the hobbit Pippin. Yes, Pippin was a very sociable creature, but still, a hobbit! Whoever had heard of such folk? As Beregond wondered to himself, he saw a small girl; about Pippin's size running towards him. When he looked closer, he was astonished to see that see looked as though was crying. As he watched she sank to her knees and hit her hand against her head. Before he could move, she had stood up and sauntered towards him.
Ello held the envelope in the guards face. He blinked and took it from her. As soon as she saw his eyes flash across the parchment she took it back. He looked at her blankly. She pointed to herself, her eyes, and then finally to Gandalf's name and the realisation dawned in the guards eyes.
"You want to see Mithrandir?" He asked softly, and she nodded, showing him her hand, on which some words were hastily scrawled in black ink.
"...and...Pippin..." Beregond read aloud. "You want to see Gandalf and Pippin?"
Ello nodded, and Beregond thought for a moment.
"Who are you?" he asked.
She pulled out an old pen and wrote on her finger two words.
"A friend? Of whom?"
Ello wrote again.
"Of Gandalf and Pippin. Are you another hobbit?"
Ello stomped her foot in frustration. Why wouldn't he understand? She wrote shakily on her other hand.
"Unimportant. It is a matter of life and death. Bring news from King Théoden of Rohan and Lord Aragorn of the Dúnedain." Beregond paled. "Is it desperate? For my Lord Denethor is speaking with Mithrandir, Peregrin and my Lord's younger son Faramir, and only wants to be disturbed in the case of an emergency."
Ello underlined the words life and death so fiercely that it drew blood.
"Alright, alright, don't go hurting yourself, miss. I have a job to do, you know." Beregond said quickly and she nodded, patting her foot impatiently on the floor.
Beregond sighed. "Wait here one moment please." He walked quietly into the hall.
Denethor was in the middle of shouting at Faramir. "You sent the ring of power into Mordor in the hands of a defenceless Halfling!"
"If you'll excuse me, my lord, I have a young girl here you wishes to speak to Mithrandir in a matter of urgency. She says that she has a message from Théoden of Rohan, and that it is a matter of life and death. Although, she has not uttered a word to me, only resolved to write things down." Beregond looked at Gandalf. "She says- writes that she is a friend of yours. She is of Pippin's size, but with smaller feet and long red-"
"Yes, she is indeed out friend. If she says it is a matter of life and death I firmly believe that it is. With my Lord's permission I will speak to her right away." Gandalf looked at Denethor warily.
Still angry at his son, Denethor spoke bitterly. "Bring her in, Beregond."
Bowing, Beregond went out to fetch the girl, and when he brought her in she bowed at Lord Denethor and Faramir, and turned to Gandalf, who almost fell over. The dead look in Ello's eyes was unbelievable.
He reached out and took her shoulders. "What happened? What happened, Ello? Ellora, you must tell me what happened. Is Frodo-" she shook her head- "Then is someone else hurt...dead?"
Ello's pain welled up again and she burst into tears. Sobbing quietly, Ello's tears were as unstoppable as the tide. She pushed the letter into Gandalf's hand, and as he drew back to read the letter she crouched down on the floor and sobbed. Gandalf and Pippin exchanged glances, and Pippin looked questioningly at Gandalf, who motioned for Pippin to do something. In a panic, Pippin knelt down next to Ello and put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. She leaned on him and he tried to sooth her, rubbing her back in soft, slow motions but though the sobs ceased, the tears still trailed down her face.
As Gandalf read the letter, his eyes misted up. Seeing the look on Gandalf's face Pippin's curiosity broke through.
"Gandalf, what happened?" he murmured, but Gandalf held up a hand to silence him.
After what seems like an age to Pippin, Gandalf cleared his throat.
"I apologise for Ello's behaviour, my Lord, but she has just lost one of her older brothers, one who was very dear to her heart. With your consent I will set her up a bed in our room for a while?" Gandalf's voice wavered and Pippin gasped, tears springing to his eyes already.
"We are all grieving," Denethor muttered briefly, but motioned for Gandalf to go on and he shot Ello a small look of sympathy.
Pippin tugged on Gandalf's sleeve, but Gandalf simply lowered to the ground, giving Pippin the letter and scooping Ello up like a baby in one go. Pippin hastily opened the scroll and read Aragorn's words.
Gandalf,
The situation here is grave, and a terrible incident has come to pass. The night when Pippin looked into the palantír, and Gel took Isaac out for a walk, the two of them were suddenly surrounded by wraiths. Isaac, although he didn't see the whole thing, still received serious wounds, and Gel was murdered, and all that Isaac could see was giant strangers, his bleeding body and his own brother with a meter long sword in his chest,. Gel is buried and gone, and the leiveia along with most of us here are of course devastated, but a few of us here are more concerned of how the wraiths managed to ambush Gel and Isaac unseen. If you have any idea send word, but not with Ello. I only sent her to see if you can help her; nothing that we say can. She has not uttered a single word since Gel's death, and she cries more often than not. I desperately worry for her Gandalf, but she does not talk. Do whatever you can, as I know you will.
Aragorn
Pippin gulped and swallowed back most of the tears in his eyes, but a few escaped and trailed down his cheeks. He excused himself and followed after Gandalf. They lay Ello on a long couch and she curled up into a ball. Gandalf gently prised her open.
"Ello, I know it hurts, but you have to look at me." Gandalf felt Pippin's troubled eyes on him but he kept his gaze on Ello. "I know how you feel, and yes I really do."
Ello's hair fell in wisps across her reproachful eyes.
"Yes, I do. You spend your whole life holding up other people, helping them, stopping them from hurting. Your own pain builds up on the inside and when something like this happens and you can't control it."
Ello's tears began to spill again and she nodded. Pippin began to stroke her hair gently.
"Well, I won't try to make you talk, Ello, if that's your way of dealing with it. But remember, things can get worse. Remember the song you sang with Gel only a few days ago? When you think you've had too much of this life, well hang on, cause everybody hurts, sometimes. You have to live by that. Be strong, Ello. For the twins. For us. For Frodo and Sam. For yourself."