Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than my OC's
And now I give you Chapter 15!
Chapter 15: The White Wizard
Merry, Pippin, and Robin tore through the forest, leaping over large roots and dodging tree limbs. Eventually, the three hobbits collapsed under a great tree. Robin gazed around. Gnarled trees surrounded them, covered with lichen and moss. "Do you think we lost him?" she panted. The threesome had been chased by the orc who suggested eating the hobbits' legs. The foul creature had almost caught Merry by grabbing his belt, but the hobbit was able to quickly take it off, causing the orc to chase them angrily into the forest.
"I think we lost him," Pippin replied. A snarl in the distance stated otherwise. Robin turned in horror to see the orc so insistent on eating them stumbling through the forest.
"I'm going to rip out your filthy little innards!" it bellowed, charging towards them. Merry, Robin, and Pippin scrambled to their feet and sprinted through the woods, not wanting to become orc food. "Come here!" the orc shouted.
"Trees!" Merry whispered. "Climb a tree!"
Pippin leaped into the tree, followed by Merry and lastly Robin. Merry surveyed the forest from the branch he was on. "He's gone."
Suddenly, Robin felt something seize her ankle. The hobbit yelped as she was thrown to the ground, looking up at the hideous face of an orc. Robin kicked it hard and tried to scramble away, but the disgusting being pinned her to the ground. "Let's put a maggot hole in your belly," it sneered, raising its horrible blade.
"HOOOOOM!" A large, knotted tree limb came crashing down upon the orc, embedding it into the ground.
"Run Robin!" Merry screamed too late. Robin was scooped up and found herself squashed next to Merry in the giant gnarled hand of…a tree. A walking, moving tree. Immediately, the two squirmed, trying to free themselves from its grasp. But the tree was too strong. Oh great, Robin thought. First orcs, now tall, strong, moving trees.
The tree gazed at them with beady eyes. "Little orcs," it stated in a slow doleful voice.
Robin yelped in fright and clung to Merry. "It's talking, you guys! The tree is talking!"
"Tree? I am no tree! I am an Ent," it replied indignantly.
Merry looked at it in amazement. "A tree-herder," he gasped. "A shepherd of the forest."
"Don't talk to it, Merry," Pippin warned. "Don't encourage it."
The Ent continued to carry them through the forest. "Treebeard, some call me."
"And whose side are you on?" Robin inquired.
"Side?" Treebeard asked, confused. "I am on nobody's side, because nobody's on my side, little orc. Nobody cares for the woods anymore."
"We're not orcs!" Merry shouted. "We're hobbits!"
"Hobbits? Never heard of a hobbit before. Sounds like orc mischief to me!" Merry, Robin, and Pippin struggled as Treebeard's grip around them got tighter and his voice got louder. "They come with fire. They come with axes. Gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning! Destroyers and usurpers! Curse them!"
"No! You don't understand! We're hobbits!" Robin yelled.
"Halflings!" Pippin interjected.
"Shire-folk!" Merry added.
Treebeard stared at them solemnly. "Maybe you are, and maybe you aren't. The White Wizard will know."
"The White Wizard?" Robin asked nevously.
"Saruman," Merry whispered.
The Ent gently placed them chest-down on the ground. The three of them looked up into the face of the White Wizard and gasped.
~o*o*o*o~
Gimli bent down over a leaf spattered with a dark liquid. The dwarf quickly tasted the substance. "Orc blood," he spat.
The five continued dashing through the forest. They had left the horses at the edge of the woods and continued the chase on foot. The Hunters leapt over dark streams, huge tree roots, and moss-covered rocks. "Oh, I really don't like the feeling of this place," Peyton murmured. The air was damp, and the trees blocked out nearly all the sunlight. It seemed to her like one of the forest you would see in the creepy horror movies. But this isn't a movie, she reminded herself. This is real life.
Aragorn paused, examining some more prints. "These are strange tracks," he commented. Kayden walked over to where he was crouching. Indeed, the tracks were strange: large imprints in the moist dirt shaped like many rayed suns.
"These weren't made by hobbits," she remarked.
Gimli cautiously followed Legolas through the trees. "The air is so close in here," he muttered.
Legolas paused, gazing around. "This forest is old, very old. Full of memory, and anger." Suddenly, a loud, low rumble shook through the forest. Peyton notched an arrow, while Gimli raised his axe.
"The trees are speaking to each other!" Kayden exclaimed.
"Gimli! Peyton!" Aragorn whispered. "Lower your weapons." The two did as instructed, glancing around fearfully.
"They have feelings, my friends. The Elves began it," Legolas informed them. "Waking up trees. Teaching them to speak."
Peyton punched Kayden's arm. "So it's gonna be your fault if we're clobbered by a tree," she whispered as the elleth glared at her.
"Talking trees," Gimli muttered as they continued walking through Fangorn. "What do trees have to talk about? Except the consistency of squirrel droppings."
Suddenly, Legolas and Kayden tensed. "Aragorn, something's out there!" they chorused, rushing up to him.
"What do you see?" Aragorn asked.
Legolas surveyed the woods surrounding them. "The White Wizard approaches."
Aragorn turned to face the company. "Do not let him speak. He will put a spell on us," he whispered. Aragorn and Kayden loosed their sword in their sheaths, Legolas and Peyton prepared their bows, and Gimli raised his axe. "We must be quick," Aragorn instructed.
The five whipped around to face a blinding white light. Gimli threw his axe at it, but the weapon was deflected. Legolas and Peyton fired arrows, also deflected. Kayden and Aragorn's swords began to glow red-hot, causing the elf and the ranger to drop them. Kayden reached for Brethil, but it too burned her hand. Defenseless, they looked up into the light. "You are tracking the footsteps of three young hobbits," a voice stated from within the light. It was too bright to make out who was speaking.
"Where are they?" Peyton questioned.
"They passed this way, the day before yesterday." The voice seemed to chuckle. "They met someone they did not expect. Does that comfort you?"
"Who are you?" Kayden demanded.
"Show yourself!" Aragorn shouted.
The light receded, revealing Gandalf, his hair and beard now snowy white, clothed in flowing white robes and carrying an ornately carved ivory staff. "It's not possible," Peyton gasped.
"Forgive me," Legolas apologized, kneeling in respect of the old wizard. "I mistook you for Saruman."
"I am Saruman," Gandalf stated. "Or rather, Saruman as he should have been."
"You fell," Aragorn whispered.
"Through fire and water. 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 every day was as long as a life age of the Earth. But it was not the end. I felt life in me again," Gandalf explained. "I've been sent back…until my task is done."
Aragorn stepped closer to the wizard. "Gandalf…"
The wizard looked puzzled. "Gandalf?" A look of realization dawned on his face. "Yes, that was what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. That was my name."
"Gandalf," Gimli chuckled. Huge grins broke out on the girls' faces as they gazed upon their old friend.
"I am Gandalf the White," he continued. "And I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide."
Kayden, Legolas, Peyton, Gimli, and Aragorn hurriedly followed Gandalf through the forest. The wizard seemed to have also visited Lorien and had been given a grey elven cloak similar to theirs. "One stage of your journey is over," he announced. "Another begins. We must travel to Edoras with all speed."
"Edoras?" Gimli asked, surprised. "That is no short distance!"
"We've heard of trouble in Rohan," Kayden stated.
"It goes ill with the king," Aragorn added.
Gandalf nodded. "Yes, and it will not be easily cured."
"Then we've run this whole way for nothing!" Peyton complained.
Gimli seemed to share her thoughts. "Are we to leave those poor hobbits here in this horrid, dark, dank, tree-infested…" A loud groaning noise cut off Gimli's rant. "Oh, I mean, charming, quite charming forest!" he amended, staring at the trees nervously.
"It was more than mere chance that brought Merry, Pippin, and Robin to Fangorn," Gandalf informed them. "A great power has been sleeping here for many long years. The coming of Merry, Robin, and Pippin will be like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains."
Aragorn smiled. "In one thing you have not changed, dear friend." Gandalf looked at the ranger questioningly.
"You still speak in riddles," Kayden explained. Gandalf and Aragorn chuckled at her statement.
"A thing is about to happen that has not happened since the Elder Days," Gandalf continued. "The Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong."
"Strong?" Gimli exclaimed as the forest let out another groan. "Oh, that's good."
"So stop your fretting Master Dwarf," Gandalf chided. "Merry, Pippin, and Robin are quite safe. In fact, they are far safer than you are about to be."
"This new Gandalf's grumpier than the old one," Peyton muttered under her breath.
Finally, they company emerged from the trees. The four horses were happily waiting for them and gratefully trotted over. Meanwhile, Gandalf let out a long high whistle. Kayden watched in amazement as a great white steed, bearing no saddle or bridle, galloped over the hills towards them.
"That is one of the Mearas," Legolas remarked, "unless my eyes are cheated by some spell."
The horse halted in front of Gandalf. "Shadofax." Gandalf bowed his head in greeting before fondly stroking the horse's neck. "He is the Lord of all Horses and has been my friend through many dangers."
Peyton mounted Greystorm with a loud whoop. "To Edoras!"
If any of you are wondering about my description of the tracks, I studied Treebeard's feet, and that was the best description I could write.
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