Hi Everyone! I, once again, would like to thank everyone who Favourited, Followed and Reviewed, it means so much, knowing that you guys enjoy the story!

We're nearing the end of the First Book, and I think (the key word being; think here)I know what I'm doing for the next one. I'm definitely starting a new story, but before that, I think I'll make some minor changes to this one so that any future readers don't get too confused (I'm terrible, I know) ;)

Let me know If you spot any mistakes and I'll try to fix them as soon as possible!

PS: 'This' is Thoughts, M'kay?

Onto the story, My Little Lord of The Rings Fanatics!

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If I Die Young

Chapter 9

Sweet Dreams of Sanctuary

"You are afraid!" Boromir snapped angrily at the Rangel across from him, a heated glare being passed between the two as they fought. "All your life, you have hidden in the shadows! Scared of who you are, of what you are!"

Rosalie stood – albeit hesitantly - and walked over to the two men, the shouting worrying her greatly.

"What's wrong?" The Witch asked, her silvery-white eyes looking up in concern at the two men currently glaring daggers at each-other.

"I will not lead the Ring within a hundred leagues of your city." Aragorn growled back, both either not hearing or not caring about Rosalie's question and worried gaze.

At this, the conversation – is you could even call it that – ended, and both men stormed away in frustration and anger, leaving the small mage to wonder about their strange behaviour.

For some unknown reason, Boromir was seemingly getting frustrated by the day - hour even - and it was worrying Rosalie. The man had become much like an older brother to her, him being one of the only ones of the group who had asked her about her past and paid attention while she talked about it. The only other person she had told her complete past to, however, was Frodo and he – like Boromir – felt like a brother to the witch.

If Boromir snapped, however, Rosalie had no idea of what would happen, and she certainly didn't want a fight to break out between the group; things were already bad as it was and a fight could possibly break up the fellowship altogether.

Looking to her leather, boot-clad feet with saddened eyes, Rosalie thought of how her former mentor would have dealt with this. If he were alive, that is.

'I wish you were here, Gandalf…'

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Soon enough, they were on the river once again, the flowing, crystal-clear water seeming to have a calming effect on everyone after the events of the other day. Rosalie smiled softly and ran her slender fingers through the freezing liquid, her silvery-white eyes glittering like the water.

Once again (for about the Twentieth time), she looked at the gleaming, silver locket slung around her neck. She didn't have time to think about it, however, as someone softly tapped on her leather, armour-clad shoulder, snapping her out of her confused thoughts.

"The Argonath." Aragorn breathed softly from the boat beside them.

As soon as the witch looked up, she gasped and became breathless. The two noble-looking stone figures stood tall against the rocks, and Rosalie had to nearly bend her neck right back to look at them as the boats passed.

'Aragorn's Ancestors…' The Witch thought, glancing over at the seemingly thoughtful man in the boat beside her.

Aragorn must have caught her staring out of the corner of his eye, as he turned to look at the Mage not a moment later. A soft smile was shared between the two of them, eyes sparkling as the boats passed the two joint rulers of Gondor.

After a few minutes, the magnificent stone figures were – sadly - far behind them and out of sight, and the boats pulled up to a rocky shore soon after.

"We'll cross the lake at nightfall. Hide the boats and continue on foot." Aragorn instructed as they unpacked their gear from the boats. "We approach Mordor from the North."

"Oh yes?" Gimli asked. "Just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil? An impossible labyrinth of razor sharp rocks, and after that... it gets even better!"

Rosalie did her best to stifle a giggle behind her gloved hand at how Pippin continued to look at Aragorn and Gimli in turn, making the conversation rather humorous to the few who were watching. At Aragorn's confused gaze and arched eyebrow towards her, the mage bit her lip to refrain from laughing.

"Festering, stinking marshlands as far as the eye can see." Gimli continued, not paying attention to Rosalie's muffled giggles.

"That is our road." Aragorn replied calmly. "I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength master dwarf."

At this, Gimli grumbled. "Recover my-! Ugh."

Rosalie giggled once more, shaking her head as she continued un-packing.

She was pulling two small daggers out of her rucksack to clean them, when Merry came into camp, dropping a stack of firewood on the ground as he did so. "Where's Frodo?" he asked, looking around confusedly for the seemingly missing hobbit.

Everyone froze and Rosalie's eyes widened in fright. Frodo was missing.

"He's not safe out there alone!" Rosalie cried frantically, forgetting about everything else as she began running towards the forest to look for Frodo. Aragorn was about to follow when he noticed Boromir's things lying on the ground and, with a determined gaze, he sprinted, following the quickly disapearing mage.

After only a few of minutes of running, the two were far ahead of the rest of the fellowship who were rather far behind them. Rosalie and Aragorn stopped for a few seconds and looked at each other.

"We should split up; we'll be able to cover more ground that way." The Witch said, with Aragorn disliking the idea seconds after she had said it. He didn't want her to go out alone, as her magic could only do so much against anything that may be in the god-forsaken woods.

At Aragorn's disapproving gaze, she quickly added, "I'll be fine. I Promise." She smiled, giving his hand a quick squeeze inn her own, for reassurance. Not giving him time to argue, she ran off, un-strapping her bladed staff from her back as Aragorn reluctantly ran in the other direction.

The Witch ran through the trees and over the undergrowth for a while, only stopping at the sound of approaching, and obviously heavy footsteps. Silver eyes widening in slight panic, the Mage hugged a nearby tree with her back as orc-like creatures ran past, feet thundering against the muddy ground.

Putting a hand up to her mouth to stifle a gasp, Rosalie followed, thinking the demonic creatures would lead her to Frodo or the Others.

Keeping her footsteps silent – thank god she wore light boots - and her breathing even, the Mage thanked Leliana for her teachings on how to remain undetected.

'What are Uruk-Hai doing here?! Only Saruman would send them!' Rosalie thought, seeing the sickly, White Hand of Saruman on the creatures' armour and skin. Though she would never admit it to the group – she was terrified of the beasts. Orcs were one thing, but Uruk-Hai were a completely different story, indeed.

Suddenly, all the Uruk-Hai sped forward, their gaining speed catching the Mage off guard as she reluctantly followed. Moments later, a battle began and the Uruk-Hai began swinging swords and maces at someone as arrows flew towards them, only seconds later.

Quick as a flash, Rosalie recognised who the Uruk-Hai were trying to kill and, not even thinking, Rosalie shouted on the Fellowship members.

"Boromir! Pippin! Merry!"

At the sound of another opponent, some Uruk-Hai turned towards the Witch, growling fiercely as they did so.

Ducking from a cruel blade, swung by a rather ugly-looking Uruk-Hai, Rosalie joined the fight, making her way to Boromir just as an arrow lodged itself in his chest. Seconds later, the mage heard Aragorn shout as he too tried to get to Boromir through the swarm of beastly creatures.

Just as she stabbed an Uruk-Hai through the eye socket, Rosalie caught a glimpse of Boromir and the Hobbits, the sight bringing beads of salty water to her silver eyes. Boromir stood, with now another arrow sticking out of his chest, as he fought bravely against the overpowering army of Uruk-Hai.

At yet another arrow embedding itself in his already wounded chest, Boromir fell to his knees, giving the Uruk-Hai the chance to grab the two trembling hobbits behind him. The army ran off, leaving their leader to finish of the man on his knees.

The beast-like creature pointed its bow at Boromir, the bowstring taught as seconds ticked by like minutes.

Without even thinking, Rosalie gripped the Locket around her neck, her knuckles turning ivory as she did so. The silver jewellery seemed to glow an angelic white in response to her touch, time slowing to a stop.

'Got no Family, no Future, not even a proper Pet!' the mage thought franticly, terrified at what she was about to do.

"So what have I got to lose…"

…Open this only when Sanctuary calls…

But she had to do it now.

With that thought in mind, she ripped both the Locket and beloved Pendant off from her neck, throwing them to the ground unmercifully as time began once more. The silver locket split open as it hit the floor, the soft, ivory glow escaping from its clutches.

As if in response, the two pieces of neckwear began to screech and scream in an unknown language, confusing and aggravating the Uruk-Hai as it turned around to look at the space that Rosalie once occupied.

When the Uruk-Hai couldn't see the origin of the mysterious screeching, it growled ferociously, giving Aragorn the chance to tackle it away from the dying man beneath him. The two began fighting as Rosalie slipped past them, making her way to Boromir.

His eyes widened as she crouched before him, and she put a finger to her lips to indicate silence as Aragorn and the Uruk-Hai fought.

"Sorry."

Boromir's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion at the Mage's word, swallowing crimson blood before his moth opened.

"For what?" He asked breathlessly, life ebbing away as he turned deathly pale and thick blood flowed like a waterfall from his wounds.

"This."

Then his chest felt like it was on fire. Muttering a quick and soft apology, Rosalie pulled out the first arrow, throwing it to the ground afterwards where it – for some reason - crumbled and dissolved, the dust particles floating weightlessly in the air as the light shone through the trees and upon it.

Just as she was pulling out yet another arrow, Aragorn finished off the last Urak-Hai and stumbled slightly to her, covering the ground in the beast's dark blood as he did so.

"What are you doing?" He asked franticly, as Rosalie tugged on the final arrow.

"Just a little variation on a simple healing spell." She muttered as Boromir's eyes began to flutter, exhaustion weighing heavily on him. It was only then that the Ranger noticed Boromir's wounds slowly closing as the blood that covered his chest seemed to evaporate into nothingness in the air.

"Please, Aragorn. Close the Locket."

Aragorn barely registered the Mage's words, but only a few seconds passed before he sped to the silver Locket, coving his ears at the angry screeching emanating from it. He snapped it shut to save his hearing but in the blink of an eye, it opened again. Aragorn's eyes widened as he closed it, but yet again, it refused to close, the screeching continuing as a white glow enveloped it.

Rushing back to the now unconscious Boromir and the heavily breathing mage, Aragorn held the ever-screeching locket to its owner. Rosalie weakly lifted an arm to grasp the locket and the silver chain hung from her fingers, her magic drained to the largest degree.

Breathing deeply, she closed the Locket with seemingly no effort, though she murmured something in a foreign language to it softly, confusing the Ranger. She looked to Aragorn briefly but after a short moment, her silvery-white eyes fluttered and Aragorn had only a second to catch her before she fell backwards from exhaustion.

Now with two people unconscious, Aragorn sighed, dreading the thought of dragging them both back to camp.

"Great…"

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Sorry for the wait – it really seems like the wait's just getting longer each time! It was so hard to write this chapter because I wanted to actually have something there without giving the whole game away!

Either way, I hoped you liked this chapter, if you have a problem with the wait, however, just tell me and I'll see what I can do for the next one!

Vale!