Chapter Thirty-Three: The March

Naomi sighed in discontent as she watched the last of the army disappear into the ruins of Osgiliath. The midday sun burned down from behind soft cloud cover, coating the city of Minas Tirith and the surrounding Pelennor in a cold yellow light. From far below her the sounds of the city had returned to life, people shouting, hammering and someone was even singing somewhere. For most of the morning the people had been silent, praying for the soldiers and for the success of their quest. But it had soon passed and now the people returned to their duties, which mainly consisted of clearing away rubble and rebuilding houses. The city gates were also being reinforced, in case there were any pretentious orcs that thought they might be able to attack while the army was gone. She highly doubted that the mindless survivors would be able to pull together as any sort of real threat however. The only real reason any survived was because they had fled in the first place. Still, she decided it was much better to be safe than sorry.

With a soft sigh she shifted in her chair, the pillow under her rear shifting with the movement. Her left leg was propped up on a foot stool in front of her, while a small table to her right held a tea set for one. Well, it was originally for two, but Éowyn hadn't been able to sit very still for long. Naomi craned her neck to look at the second courtyard just below hers, a set of stone stairs leading down to a small fountain. Patches of green brightened the small area, which had a packed earth floor, each garden filled with purple and yellow flowers. It was not the fauna that kept her attention, however, but the couple standing under a near by arc looking over the city.

Éowyn and Faramir had been standing there together for most of the morning, not actually talking a whole lot but instead finding comfort in each others embrace.

Naomi couldn't help but smile softly at them before puckering her lips and whistling sharply. The two jumped slightly but didn't rush to move apart like Naomi had hoped (it was more fun to tease when the subjects acted bashful, these two were acting like the'd been dating for months). Instead they simply looked up at her and wondering why she was vying for their attention.

"Lunch?" Naomi asked hopefully, her stomach gurgling. She had already eaten through both her own and Éowyn's cakes and most of the tea was gone as well. Faramir chuckled and offered to go fetch it for the three of them, pausing to gently kiss Éowyn's knuckles before turning and heading inside.

Naomi stared at her friend with a raised brow as she practically floated back to her seat.

"Well, you look content,"

Indeed, when the Shield maiden had moved down there hours ago she had been downcast, her whole disposition just screaming out her melancholy thoughts. Now she had a softer feel about her, no longer bowed as if the weight of the world was resting on her shoulders. Éowyn just smiled at her friend before letting her eyes wander across the plains to Osgiliath.

"It will be a number of days before they reach the gate," She said quietly, her eyes hard while her hands clenched in her lap.

"And then it will take them a couple more when they win to turn around and come home," Naomi stated stubbornly.

If she thought about any other alternative her heart started to beat so hard it choked her and her hands would start to shake.

"Plus, of course, some of them will go in search of Frodo and Sam, save them from having to walk all the way back out of Mordor as well," She refused to look at Éowyn and see the look of pity in her eyes. She already knew that the Shield maiden didn't think the two Hobbits would make it out alive.

She already knew that the chances of everyone coming home in one piece were so incredibly slim.

She already knew that there was a huge chance that Faramir could become the Steward of Gondor and that Éowyn would have to return home and rule Rohan in her brother's place.

Naomi knew all of that.

She just desperately didn't want to believe it any of it.

XXXXX

Their first day of travel ended some five miles beyond Osgiliath.

Whatever preconceived notion Tess had had about an army marching to war before was now changed.

She had guessed it would be something similar to the march the people of Edoras had made to get to Helm's Deep, and it was, in the sense that both companies had been marching.

That was about where the similarities ended.

The trek to Helm's Deep had been slow, but it had still only taken two days. The march to the Black Gate would take much longer than that, and that was assuming they didn't become waylaid by anyone looking for a fight along the way.

There was also a lot less people last time; a lot less by about six thousand.

Of the ten thousand that had assembled in front of Minas Tirith, seven thousand now remained. As it turned out, the fourth regiment made up of around three thousand Rohirrim men were to be led by Elfhelm to waylay the West Road against the surviving enemies in Anórien instead of going with them to the gate as she had thought. That still did leave a lot of mouths to feed. On the journey to the Hornburg there were really only two main meals that had to be taken care of, dinner the night they left and breakfast the morning before they arrived. This trek would involve countless meals and even more stomachs for a longer period of time. Her perplexity must have shown on her face because around mid-afternoon Legolas had sidled up to her on Arod with Gimli and inquired as to why she looked like she was thinking so hard.

"How on earth are we going feed everybody?"

And so began her lesson on warfare.

Apparently there were around a hundred or so wagons trundling along in the different sections of the army somewhere, each carrying massive sacks of grain, pots of animal fat and barrels filled with water and ale. There were also lots of crates, packed to the brim with wrapped strips of dried meat and cram. Cram was a lot like Lembas bread, designed to last for months, only it tasted even blander than the Elvish way bread and was mostly used to soak up left over gravy from dinner. Legolas then explained to her that they were not actually going to live off the supplies they had packed for the journey. There were just too many men to feed and their march to the Black Gate would take time. Instead they would be living off the land as they went. She had not noticed, but all throughout the day men had been splintering off to go hunting, bringing back fresh meat that would be used for dinner that evening and possibly even for breakfast tomorrow.

She hated to think about how much they would be decimating the surrounding wildlife.

Legolas also made her take a closer look at the soldiers around them.

Each man carried his own rucksack and within was carried a water skin and his own foodstuffs. Lunch was evidentially eaten when you felt like it. When the company came to a stop for the night she saw that also included in their bags were cloaks of varying shapes, fabrics, colors and sizes.

Tess felt her bottom lip pout slightly as she looked around.

"Aaaand we're back to sleeping on the ground again," she muttered to herself under her breath. Legolas heard her anyway and just smiled at her. She admitted to herself at that point that she would miss her mattress something fierce on this journey.

White tents that looked like clouds in a sea of silver and red armor popped up over wagons to protect their supplies and fires with their smoke curling slowly up to the sky were started at intervals throughout the army as everyone prepared to hunker down for the night. Scouts were still riding out and returning with information as watchmen were elected and placed at intervals around the circular camp the army had created to look out for any enemies that might try to approach in the night. The smell of cooking started to waft around as horses were tended to, their riders ensuring they were fed and comfortable for the night before leaving to find their own place to sleep.

That had been another learning experience for Tess.

She had never marched with both infantry and cavalry before and had never actually given much thought as to how they worked together until she was in the middle of it. About fifty men on horseback rode around a hundred feet in front of them while the remaining nine hundred and fifty rode behind the foot soldiers. Which, unfortunately, meant that that was where Éomer was for most of the day.

Her stomach flipped and a smile she couldn't stop formed on her lips as she dismounted Hasufel.

She shook her head and straightened her face. This wasn't the time to act like a giddy girl with a crush.

The smile crept back anyway.

With a sigh she leant her head into her horse's neck, softly stroking his velvety nose.

"What am I going to do with myself," she mumbled to herself. Hasufel whickered softly and nudged her neck, whuffing and blowing air against her until she relented and pulled back with a laugh.

"Alright, alright!" Quickly she rifled through her saddlebags for an apple that was gone the second Hasufel saw it.

"You spoil him,"

Cue heart trying to escaped via mouth.

With a jump that almost had her off the ground she turned, the most startled deer in the headlights look she thought she had ever managed plastered across her face.

Éomer was barely suppressing a smile as he reached over her shoulder to lay a hand on Hasufel's neck.

"Sorry, I did not mean to startle you," The grin he was failing to hide said otherwise. Tess tried to pull back her composure from thin air.

"Yeah, well uh, you didn't or an-anything I was just...uh...y'know, its not a good idea to sneak up on someone at war," she tried to frown in a disapproving way but it was obvious that the man in front of her wasn't taking her seriously at all.

"I will be sure to take more caution in the future," His eyes locked onto hers, hazel burning with such a warmth she could feel it in her fingertips.

"It's-I-Ye-Ha-...yeah," did her voice just crack? Oh god she was ridiculous. He was moving his arm beside her head, his hand retracting back until it was trailing on the side of her face.

'Stop it. Stop it. Stop or I'll kiss you and then you'll be sorry, damn it.'

Her eyes flickered to his lips for just a mere second but the movement was noticed and Éomer started moving closer, herself rising onto her toes for more height.

"Ah-hem,"

With a scowl that would do Naomi proud Tess dropped back onto her feet. Éomer let out a huff of his own before letting his hand drop so that he could turn to face Gimli.

"If'n you're not too busy laddie, we have need of ye',"

The dwarf was grinning behind that beard, she was sure of it, grinning evilly and malignantly and wickedly and thinking of just how clever he was to interrupt at that precise moment.

"Of course, Master Dwarf, I will be with you momentarily," Éomer said pleasantly, bowing his head slightly and in a polite way dismissing him. Gimli caught this and huffed in a half laugh before turning himself around to head towards the centre of the camp. Tess was still glaring slightly at his retreating back when Éomer turned around to face her again.

"Duty calls," he told her as he bent at his waist to take her hands in his. He then brought her knuckles to his lips with a coy smile, his eyes smoldering.

'Two can play at that game,' she smirked before flipping her hands around to grasp his forearms. Éomer's face was just contorting to surprise when she pulled slightly, bringing him closer to her.

With one swift movement she leant forward and planted a kiss at the corner of his mouth, lingering long enough to feel him take a startled breath in.

Just as she felt his head turning towards her she pulled back, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Better get going or Gimli might come looking for you again," she told him with a quick wink, freeing his arms and darting around him before he had a chance to say anything.

She was tempted to look at him over her shoulder as she walked away, but she was afraid she would end up turning around and running straight back.

"Nicely done," a voice to her left made her slow her pace.

"Erchirion," she voiced her surprise as she spied the lord walking towards her.

"You appear to have quite the talent for keeping him captivated,"

"My mother always told me, 'treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen'," she told him with pink stained cheeks, her arms folding over her chest as she smiled at the fond memory.

"Well he certainly is 'keen',as you say," he stumbled slightly over the foreign word, his eyes flickering over to Hasufel and Éomer, who was only just now starting to move from his place watching the woman walk away. Tess rolled her eyes and waved a hand in dismissal, not seeing what Erchirion had.

"Oh please, I'm just something different to tackle," she told him as they fell into a walk together.

"You do realize he is besotted with you?" Erchirion asked in ernest, a frown marring his features as he stared at her. An un-lady like snort escaped her as she looked at him incredulously.

"Besotted? I don't think so," she denied, shaking her head in a skeptical manner.

Erchirion actually heaved a sigh and shook his head.

"I wish Lord Éomer luck, he will certainly need it," the lord muttered the last part but she heard it anyway and it made her confused.

"What does that mean?" she asked perplexed as he headed towards a near-by fire with a cooking station that was serving meals. There was a slight line but both were content to wait.

Erchirion simply shook his head at Tess in answer to her question.

"If you do not understand already then there will be no use in my trying to explain it to you," he told her as they shuffled forward a few steps.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" she questioned in indignation. Her hip popping to the side as her arms folded across her chest. He obviously had some knowledge about women, their body language and what a hip-popping meant because a nervous expression suddenly filled his features.

"It was not an insult, my lady, it is more that it is not my place to tell you,"

"Uh huh," she agreed sarcastically in a tone that said she wan't buying his bullshit.

She was forced to let it go, however, when they were next to be served. They both received a warm bowl of soup, filled with chunks of mystery meat, and a roll of cram to go with it. They shuffled along out of the line and Tess realized something with confusion.

Erchirion raised an eyebrow in question.

"No spoon?" She asked innocently enough, but immediately there was harsh laughter behind her.

"Aww, the wee laddie wants a spoon!"

"Must be missin' 'is silver tea set too,"

"You do realize we're marchin' to war, ya little girl?"

Setting her face in a stoney look she turned.

Of the three men, two of them almost shat their pants when they saw her face.

And her boobs.

The oldest one of the trio just sneered.

It was obvious none of them had known she was female, even more obvious was the looks of realization when they studied her face.

They knew who she was, what she had done and who she was friends with.

She quickly plastered on a feminine look of naive shock.

"My word! My Lord Erchirion, is this true? We are currently marching for war?" she squeaked gently in her best high-lady accent. Erchirion managed to produce a very intelligent 'um' before she was off again.

"Really!? I had no idea! Best I go pack up my knickers and trundle on home!" she turned to the older man and blinked owlishly at him.

"Thank you, kind sir, for so considerately telling me where we going! Good heavens, what might have happened if we'd stumbled upon a fight! What confusion I would have been swamped with!" With a delicate curtsy she bobbed her head to him. When her head rose again, however, it was plastered with a frosty sneer.

"It was a decent question, but I am not stupid and I suspect that indeed every person in this army knows why we march for the Black Gate of Mordor," the two younger soldiers were staring hard at the ground as she chastised them, the older one continuing to glower.

"So perhaps, gentlemen, next time you would like to keep your, remarks, to yourselves?"

Tess finished in an uncompromising tone that elicited three quick 'yes, my lady' 's from the men in front of her. With a roll of her eyes she turned to Erchirion and urged him to get a move on.

"Spoken like a true Lady of of power," he commended.

"Oh shut up," she mumbled as they found a place near a fire to sit. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before something occurred to her.

"Shouldn't you be at the meeting with all the other captains and commanders?" she inquired with a raised eyebrow, she had heard Merry talking about how he would be interested to sit in on the apparently nightly war conferences. Pippin had only been interested in what was for dinner. That reminded her, she should probably go find where they had set up for the night...

Erchirion meanwhile was smiling in a cheeky manner.

"I escaped," he said cryptically as he raised his bowl to take another mouthful of soup.

"Uh huuh," she acknowledge, not fully sure if she wanted to know the whole story or not.

They finished their meal and handed their bowls back to be washed before setting off to take a wander around the camp, the sky turning grey as the sun disappeared behind the hills and trees. As it turned out Prince Imrahil had been looking for his second son all afternoon and when a flustered page boy finally spotted Erchirion he was ecstatic.

"My Lord Erchirion-!"

"Arethas! Good to see you boy, have you eaten?" The lord cut in, the boy of around sixteen shook his head and opened his mouth to continue when Erchirion cut him off.

"Well, off you go and find something to eat! You know father really works you too hard, I should have a word with him," He said pleasantly. An irritated look passed over the page's face and Tess guessed this might be something of a regular occurrence.

"Your father is looking for you, My Lord,"

"Really? Well thank you for giving me the message, I will go now," he said pleasantly, to which the boy rolled his eyes subtly.

"Thank you, My Lord," Arethas bowed before darting off again.

Erchirion smiled innocently at her but Tess just shook her head.

"You're horrible,"

The Lord laughed as the two of them made their way to the center of the camp. A large fire was crackling in the middle of a sort of rectangle, two enclosed tents on either side of the pit with a third beyond it. The third tent was open faced and Tess could clearly see her companions hard at work, debating together over a large map. Merry and Pippin sat near by with Gimli, all smoking their pipes contently as they watched.

"Working hard I see," she commented as she and Erchirion got closer.

Some of them looked up momentarily to smile at the pair.

"Causing trouble I hear," Aragorn responded, his eyes darting up to her briefly.

Tess scoffed and shrugged her shoulders with a little grin.

"You know it's my middle name," she said in good humour, making the ex-ranger grin.

"What's yer middle name?" Pippin queried, not quite understanding.

"It's an expression, Pippin," she told him patiently.

"Yer mid name is Anexpression?"

Merry's hand promptly rose to his forehead.

Tess smiled and turned to explain.

"No, no, its saying that 'trouble' is my middle name because I attrac-,"

"Your mid name is Trouble then?" Pippin's eyebrows were getting higher by the second.

Tess sighed, her own hand going to her face.

"No, Pippin, it's a metaphor,"

"But you just said it was Trouble?"

Tess groaned into her hand and shook her head.

"Forget I said anything," she sighed, going to sit down in the space between Gimli and Merry.

They didn't speak much after that, apart from Gimli's occasional input to the meeting and Pippin's on going monologue about how he'd once consumed thirteen full sized mulberry pies in one sitting. Tess smiled where it was appropriate but otherwise let her mind wander from her, content to just sit among her friends and listen.

The night grew darker and the sounds of the camp trailed off as soldiers retired for the evening. She hadn't realized she was nodding off until someone was shaking her awake. She responded with an unintelligent noise and forced her eyes open, wearily rubbing them to rid them of the blur of sleep. The Lords and commanders had already vacated the tent in front of her and two soldiers were unfurling the fourth side so that it became an enclosed area for sleep. With a huge yawn she pulled herself onto her feet, stretching out her stiff shoulders and looking around.

"If you would follow me, a separate place for you to sleep has been made in the tent with our supplies, my lady," Merry said with a grin and a little bow. She grinned back at him and gestured for him to lead on. They both knew she could care less about where she was sleeping and didn't really need a tent all for herself, but she supposed behaving with some propriety was required considering she was the only female in the army. Merry walked her to the tent on the right, pausing at the fabric door to give an eccentric bow.

"I wish you a peaceful slumber," the Hobbit announced with a flourish and another grin. The smile on Tess' face grew larger as she curtsied in return.

"The same to you, Master Meriadoc," she bobbed down to plant a kiss on his forehead and laughed when he rubbed a hand over it as he was leaving. With a soft shake of her head she turned and moved the fabric door to duck inside when something caught her eye. Standing on the other side of the fire, trying to look like he was interested in what Gimli was saying was Éomer, his hazel eyes flicking over to her and widening when she caught him looking. She grinned at him and winked before turning on her heel and striding into her tent, heart thumping contently inside her chest.

There were four wagons packed into the area, two filled with sacks of grain, one stacked with crates that she suspected contained maps and a fourth that had a small pile of furs lining the inside.

With another yawn that threatened to dislocate her bottom jaw she moved towards the last wagon, slipping off her boots as she went. She removed her sword and placed in within easy reach before climbing in and shuffling around, cocooning herself with her cloak before closing her eyes and letting sleep take her.

What felt like only minutes later she was woken up when the tent above her head collapsed, loud voices calling out directions on how to fold it up. All too soon she was exposed to the chilled morning, her canvas roof being packed away near by. With a groan she peeled her eyelids apart, squinting up at the grey sky.

'It's still dark,' she mourned as she tried to curl back under her cloak. Her breath made small misty clouds in the frosty morning air and it burned her nose when she inhaled. She didn't particularly want to move yet, but her stomach grumbled at her and demanded to be fed so she was left with little choice in the matter. She stretched as she sat up, running a hand through her hair which had come loose in the night and now stuck out at odd angles around her face. Blearily she found her boots and pulled them on, her toes warming immediately, before heaving herself out of the wagon. The other tent across the fire had also been collapsed, the meeting tent however still stood, the fourth side once again rolled up to allow people to move freely. She spied several people she knew and headed in that direction, tying her sword back onto her belt as she went.

"Good morning!" Erchirion had noticed her first and gave her a smile.

"Ugh, you're a morning person," she muttered in way of a greeting as she passed him, nodding her head to people as they nodded at her.

"I sense that you are not?" He mocked slightly and she just glowered, making her way over to where Merry and Pippin were eating breakfast. She had barely sat down when a bowl was passed to her and wearily she mumbled thanks before raising it to her lips. It was porridge with honey mixed in and it warmed her instantly.

Breakfast was a relatively quick occurrence and before she knew it she was heading off to saddle Hasufel. Standing beside the chestnut horse was Arod, Legolas also in the process of readying his horse to ride. Tess gave a small smile and nod as a greeting, the blonde Elf returning it.

With the help of a borrowed crate she managed to complete her task of saddling efficiently and was ready to mount on time when the horns sounded out at dawn.

Legolas boosted Gimli up, to the Dwarfs disgruntlement, while Tess utilized her crate once again.

As one the army moved out in the same formation as the day before, cavalry split with the majority at the back and the foot soldiers in the middle. Tess had the privilege of spending the day at the head of the army, behind Gandalf with Pippin, Aragorn and Imrahil with Legolas and Elphir on either side of her. Éomer and Merry along with Erchirion would spend the day at the rear of the foot soldiers, which for some reason made her stomach clench.

Imrahil's second born seemed to be the plotting type and she prayed having Merry there would give her an advantage should he try to pull something later on.

The day passed slowly, the sun moving across the sky in steady arc that would have burned at midday if there hadn't been a cool breeze coming in from the west. The army maintained a steady pace, but there was depression in every face and what little cheer there had been when they started out that morning seeped away with every mile they walked.

It was mid afternoon when Tess' hands started to shake and a feeling of distress formed in the pit of her stomach. A chill ran up the back of her neck and she lifted her chin, searching the area to find what had caused it. It was Legolas that caught her attention, his sharp blue eyes were raised to the skies, focused on something she couldn't see. Immediately she knew what was following them, there was only one thing that she knew could take flight in Middle Earth, and although they were not crying out she knew that they were there. 'Ringwraiths.'

The name was bitter in her mind and her hands clenched the reins more tightly.

With a deep breath she lowered her head, focusing on the road ahead of her.

The road was long and tiring and on the fourth day the trees started to thin out and on the fifth day there were no more trees and on the sixth there was only desolation.

The air stank with the smell of swamplands and when they looked to the north west for miles and miles stretched the Emyn Muil, which beyond laid the Dead Marshes.

Tess felt her throat tighten and struggled to push back tears from her tired brown eyes. The land was just so dead and empty and scarred.

She did not have any intention of turning back just because of this though, which is why when a messenger road up to inform Aragorn that some of the men refused to march any further she was so surprised. The ex-ranger had only pity in his eyes as he took in the shaking hands of the page boy and agreed to follow him to meet with those that wished not to continue. Legolas went to follow but Aragorn assured him he would be quick.

Tess took their momentary break to eat something, though it was more through force of will than because se was actually hungry. There was movement towards the rear as a large group of men broke off. Aragorn returned to the front, his eyes weary as he told them he was sending these men to take back Cair Andros in the south-west.

Tess watched in dismay at the numbers they were losing, watching them silently until Aragorn called for them to keep moving.

They went forward slowly now, so much so that many of the mounted soldiers walked instead of rode. They were no longer sending scouts ahead or hunting parties out.

There was nothing for them to hunt now anyway, except for maybe a stray warg scout.

The afternoon passed in morbid silence, each person buried in their own thoughts as they put one foot in front of the other.

When the light was starting to fade they stopped and Gandalf told them this would in fact be their last camp before they came across the Black Gate.

Indeed, the Ephel Duath, or Mountains of Shadow as the men called it, almost seemed to stretch itself taller in order to loom over them, promising all sorts of dark things in the dying sunlight.

She stood by herself on the edge of the army, her back to them on a small rocky slop above them.

But she didn't feel scared.

She didn't feel scared, or angry or sad or any other negative emotion that one would connect to the night before marching to one's possible death.

Instead Tess just felt tired, like someone had drained the very life away from her bones and making them ache with a need to lie down and not move.

And the only thing stopping her was an unyielding need to finish this.

Her hand grasped the hilt of her sword and she drew it from its sheath, the metal ringing in her ears in a satisfying way. She raised it and let her forehead lean softly against the cool steel, a soft breath from her mouth fogging her reflection as she closed her eyes.

"I will finish this,"

AUTHOR'S RAMBLING

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK-!

amrawo, RescueAngel, MadameNoize and 'guest' for reviewing the last chapter

and I would especially like to thank CeffylGwyn, who without fully knowing has helped me to become re-inspired to get back into writing this story! So thank you Gwyn :)

(Also, if any of you like a good Thorin Oakenshield story you should check out Gwyn's amazing piece of fanfic 'I've Seen Hell' it is amazing. Seriously. Go. Read it now. You won't regret it!)

In other news...

I actually had every intension of actually reaching the Black Gate in this chapter but...well...it seemed out of place somehow and I wanted you all to get a feel of just how depressing this march is.

Also, I hope that you don't feel like Tess has a relationship complex, she doesn't, she just doesn't think that it's possible for someone to love her so quickly (and because she is being an oblivious idiot in regards to her own feelings).

Hope you liked it and I will try to get another chapter out soon!

Thank you and much love to everyone!

AxM