A/N: Here we go people. The first Chapter of the Sequel to Bargaining with Death! Hope it's okay!

Disclaimer: I can't be bothered to write a disclaimer every chapter any more so here's one final one; I don't own Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit in any of its forms. The rights belong to J.R. and Peter Jackson and those who own the movie companies. I am merely borrowing the characters and playing with them.

Gambling with Death: The Second Instalment of the Deceiving Death Trilogy

Chapter 1 (21)

Remember Me

"Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land;
When you can no more hold me by the hand,
Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay.
Only remember me: you understand
It will be late to counsel then or pray,
Yet if you should forget me for a while
And afterwards remember, do not grieve:
For if the darkness and corruption leave
A vestige of the thoughts that once I had,
Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad."

– Christina Rossetti (Remember)

The plains of Rohan stretched as far as the eye could see. Rolling hills and dales covered in thick grasses dotted with various bushes; gorse, heather, thistle and lavender their scents filled the warm air in the late afternoon sun. The shimmering gold light of the sun poured down onto the land in shafts of warmth moving and dancing as clouds blew across the sky.

There was no sign of life on the landscape save for the bowing of grasses and the unseen mammals that hid below the tops of the grass. Then a white and silver mare thundered across the plain; mane and tail streaming behind her, the thud of her hooves pounding the earth sending animals scurrying into holes.

As the sunbeams hit her snow white hair the light reflected from her body seemed to brighten and shine with an almost ethereal gleam. The mare's mane was silver as was her tail, and both streamed in the air like mithril. Although the mare was predominantly white there were a few lighter spots on her body, almost cream in colour dappling her whithers, rump and her muzzle.

A mere few minutes after she passed over the grasses there followed a group of eight Uruk-hai; foul creatures that desired to consume the horse. Despite being fatigued and aggravated by their futile chase the large orcs could not give up. Her purity and innocence of being drew them like moths to a flame and no matter where she went, how she dodged, hiding behind rocks, hills or doubling back behind them they knew where the noble creature was.

Curses flew from the Uruk-hai's mouths as they panted and wheezed driven on by their un-quenching lust. Where they ran the sunbeams and shafts of light seemed to shy away and the small mammals that dwelt in the grasses such as mice, voles and shrews quivered and hid away terrified of the beasts that trampled over their homes.

From on top of the horse's head there was a glowing red light. The small red glow was the Tennyo, Ayaka. For the past few hours the tiny winged woman had intermittently flown above and beside her friend or rested on the crest of her head, whispering into the mare's ears.

Amaterasu was glad of Ayaka's presence despite the fact that she could not understand the fae-like woman who chirped, chittered and sang in her ears. Ayaka's light had faded to a pale pink as they journeyed on and she grew more tired and weary. After resting and allowing Ammy to carry her the light returned to its usual shades of colours melding from sakura pink through to ruby red.

Currently the Tennyo was sat with her feet buried in Ammy's forelock. Her gossamer thin wings that looked like panes of stained glass were folded against her back and she was resting her slim frame against Ammy's left ear. A tiny flute was pressed to her lips and the Tennyo drifted through a variety of songs. Some sad and melancholic others more joyous and exciting. Despite its tiny size the flute was not shrill and sounded as if it were human-sized.

Amaterasu was enjoying the medley of music that was being performed on top of her head and despite her tired and sore limbs and the aching of the arrow wound in her left shoulder she did not feel particularly weary. The small ditties were invigorating and it had been so long since she had heard music that the small flute sounded like a symphony to her music-starved ears.

Although the music was loud and being performed right next to her sensitive ears, Ammy could still hear and smell her pursuers.

"They don't seem to be giving up Ayaka. Drastic measures must be taken I'm afraid. Once I get over the next hill I will stop and transform into dragon form. Taking to the skies will mean that I can get ahead of the orcs much quicker. And they will hopefully lose sight and smell of us." Amaterasu spoke and was answered when the winged woman returned her flute to her long sleeves and chirped brightly.

Pounding over the crest of the next rise of earth the mare hastened her speed until she reached the bottom. Sliding to a halt Ammy waited until Ayaka had flown off her head and fluttered anxiously in front of her muzzle.

"Don't worry Ayaka. I've done this before, albeit I have not been in dragon form. Not since Moria…The tigress and rabbit form have been the most useful so far." Whickering softly at her tiny companion Amaterasu closed her eyes and then felt for the dragon.

She remembered how it had felt to be soaring in the air, wind holding her behemoth frame aloft like a frail leaf on an autumn breeze. Recalling the smooth surface of her beaded scales and the fluttering hair that lay along her serpentine neck with the small golden flames that raced and sparked along each strand of silver hair, the Ame-no-Mihashira summoned the dragon.

Gold and silver lights burst from her body and cast every blade of grass into illuminated detail. The lights coursed over her body as the horse disappeared and morphed into the gigantic dragon. The rope that had been chafing at her horse neck had been torn apart when it was being forced to fit the much wider and longer neck of the dragon. It lay on the ground, the only sign that would remain of the horse's existence.

Crouching down low and pressing her body as close to the ground as she could, Ammy peered around with her slitted eyes looking for Ayaka. She did not have to wait long as the Tennyo flew into view of her right eye. Ayaka looked stunned and amazed at the Ame-no-Mihashira's sheer size and ever so slightly disconcerted. The fae creature was used to having the air and skies to herself whilst Ammy ran along the ground; now the Tennyo would be flying higher than she had ever flown.

Ayaka flew up Ammy's scalp, over the ridges above the dragon's eyes and up to where the silver horns with black tips gleamed. Eyeing the flames that streamed along the hair Ayaka placed tiny hands on one horn and then sat down, wrapped both legs and arms around the base of the horn.
So small was she that the Tennyo disappeared completely below the hair, the only sign of her presence a subtle pink glow that was emanating from Ammy's scalp and hair.

Having to trust that Ayaka had secured herself, Ammy rose to her feet and spread out her wings. Stretching them out fully Ammy raised them as high as possible and just as she was about to spring from the ground with her legs and beat downwards the Uruk-hai came over the rise of the hill.

The orcs staggered to a halt, they raised their weapons in their hands and their mouths dropped open in disbelief. Smirking Ammy crouched down like a cat and then pushed up, particularly with her back legs. Leaping into the air she hastened to flap her great wings down and then she was soaring into the sky.

As soon as she was several metres off the ground a gust of wind came dancing over her scales and rustling her hair. As the dragon gained altitude she could hear Ayaka shrieking in alarm and excitement. Trills and chirps of delight were released in a joyous cacophony of noise and Ammy felt the bitterness of parting from her friends ebb slightly.

Once a sufficient height she stopped and hovered, feeling the wind dancing over and around her form, tickling her scales and shifting her hair. The Uruk-hai far below were looking up at her and to test to see if they would still follow Ammy glided to her left. Sure enough the Uruk-hai began to run in her direction. Sighing at their perseverance Amaterasu decided to just keep flying straight ahead.

After all, they could not keep up with her forever, could they? Cursing her lack of knowledge regarding Middle Earth's various creatures the dragon glided along an air current, flicking the tips of her wings to change direction and occasionally flapping to shift into another air stream.

This is much nicer than the last time I was flying. Snowstorms are not great flying weather. Ammy thought to herself as she settled down for an afternoon of fair weather and peace.

After a few hours of calm flying with the wide open spaces sprawling out before them and only the clouds and some brave birds for company Ammy noticed the fading light. The sun was fast making its descent into the horizon and Ammy knew that soon it would set completely: meaning there was only a short time to return to the ground and transform into a more suitable form.

Although the Ame-no-Mihashira felt confident that she had lost the Uruk-hai several hours before, it would not do to transform into her humanoid body with flaming glowing hair. The grassy plains were rather flat at her present location and there was no chance that a party of Uruk-hai or other unsavoury creatures would not see her flaming dragon hair in the distance and pursue her once again.

At night Ammy had little chance of outrunning the Uruk-hai and no weapon to defend herself with. Transforming into another form and finding shelter for the night was definitely her best bet. Scanning the ground below her in the dimming light Ammy spotted a small group of low rocks. Whilst not particularly large they would definitely offer some shelter during the night hours and if she was lucky there would be a hole beneath one of them that she could scrape out and sleep in.

Tucking her wings tightly into her behemoth body the dragon twisted in the air and then fell into a nose dive, her neck outstretched and legs and claws pressed tight up against her body Ammy was completely stream-lined and cut through the air swiftly and cleanly. She could just about hear Ayaka squealing with delight at the speed they were falling but as they neared the ground the squeals turned to shrieks of alarm.

Spreading her wings out and levelling out smoothly Ammy chuckled as Ayaka grumbled on top of the dragon's head. Ammy glided down onto the ground and landed with extreme lightness, or at least as light as a dragon could land. The moment the dragon stopped Ayaka slid down her skull until she was hovering at eye level with a great golden orb.

Blinking Amaterasu regarded her tiny companion who was fluttering about wildly, her glass-like wings beating as fast as a hummingbird. Ammy managed to get the gist of Ayaka's complaints: too high, too fast to descend, not enough care when landing, could have hurt herself. The dragon simply reared her head back and then blew a gentle puff of hot air at the Tennyo sending the ruby light swirling away.

Seeing the sun start to kiss the horizon and begin its slow decline from the day, Ammy quickly thought of the form which would best suit her purpose. Choosing one of her five forms Ammy embraced the change and could only hope the golden and silver light show the change evoked would not attract the attention of anything unpleasant or unfriendly.

Soon where the behemoth dragon had stood was her tigress form. The sleek white and cream fur was ruffled as if she had been dragged through a hedge backwards, but she knew it was a reflection of her dragon's mane that had become wild and windswept during the flight and the speedy descent. There would be time later to tame her wild hair and hopefully in a safe location.

Stretching the tigress yawned and allowed her claws to spring forth and scratch the soft dirt. The ends of the claws were not shifting the dirt smoothly and Ammy knew that she would have to find a way to sharpen them soon. They had obviously become blunt and jagged after tearing through Uruk flesh.

Grinning to herself Ammy looked up when Ayaka came flying back. The Tennyo seemed quite excited about something and continuously gestured to the rock formation behind her. As Ayaka flew off in the direction of the white and grey stones that soared into the darkening sky, Ammy paused to regard the distance behind her and the great length the pair had traversed.

Amaterasu desperately wished to be back with the Fellowship: with Gimli who constantly grumbled under his breath but meant well and was a solid and comforting prescence, with the Hobbits who were always eager for more stories and tales from her world but would always exchange her tales with information about Middle Earth and Hobbits in general, with Boromir who had been training her in the evenings to use a sword and a shield effectively in combat and had shown enormous patience as she stumbled over the ground. She missed Gandalf too with his wise words and solid presence but he had still had that underlying humour that had reared itself on several occasions, normally when Ammy was in her rabbit form. The Ame-no-Mihashira missed Aragorn and Legolas too; Aragorn having been the first outside the Hobbit's to accept her in all her forms and would comfort her when she felt homesick or overwhelmed and Legolas who would patiently sit and brush through the great tangle of hair that cascaded down her back unchecked and once it was knot-free he would braid it in intricate patterns and shapes worthy of a Dwarf.

Tugging on the threads of fate that had bound themselves to her soul, Ammy was relieved to see that all were intact. Frodo and Sam's were still delicate and pale but it was as if they were mithril, as light as a feather but has strong and hard as dragon's scales. From Pippin's thread there was sense of worry, anxiety and fear whilst Merry's felt as if he were in a dream his conscious drifting in and out. Boromir's Royal Yellow thread was quivering and trembling but appeared stronger than it had a few hours ago: it seemed Boromir would live out the night. Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas were still entwined and a steely resolve seemed to be coursing from their threads along with a touch of exasperation from Gimli. A new thread had become attached to her also and it was of a deep purple. Inspecting it curiously for she had not noticed it earlier Ammy realised that it was actually three thin purple threads woven together. Poking it tentatively Ammy was relieved to discover it was Kiyiya and the two wolves. The other woman's thread and Boromir's were close together and ran parallel away from Ammy's soul.

Before she could explore further however Ammy was brought out of her meditative state when Ayaka pulled on her whiskers. Thrown out of the trance Ammy snarled at Ayaka who fluttered back and then admonished the tigress. Sighing Ammy padded after Ayaka to discover that the Tennyo had found a hole beneath one of the rocks. It had obviously been scraped out by some wild animal, a fox or badger possibly but had been long since abandoned.

Sniffing tentatively to check there were no current residents Ammy then began to scrape at the earth with her forepaws in order to widen the entrance hole. The dirt was soft and sandy and was quick to shift to the sides. Inspecting the hole, Ammy put her head through into the cavern. The hole beneath the great rock was large and empty and the entrance literally fell straight into a rather wide space. After shifting some more earth and deepening the entrance hole Ammy was able to slink into the cavern and make herself comfortable in the soft and giving earth.

The rock above made the ceiling of the cavern and at one point had cracked and split but the smaller part had not shifted much. The resulting split left a two inch wide gap between the rocks and Ammy could see the nearly black sky above.

The change swept over her and Amaterasu found herself a humanoid once again. The human Ammy stretched out her arms and legs gratefully. The tigress attributes that had carried over were numerous in her human form but Ammy barely noticed them; a long silky-white tail flicked lazily from the base of her spine and both her ears had remained the soft curved cat ears but instead of being on the side of her head they had risen slightly so that they sat on the curve of her skull. The two characteristics Ammy would be most grateful of tonight however were her teeth which remained sharp and pointed (she had to be careful not to cut her tongue) and her claws that had taken the place of her fingernails. The claws would not retract in her human form however so Ammy made sure to wrap herself up thoroughly in the fur cloak Galadriel had given her.

Once she was completely bundled in the warm fur garment Amaterasu lay down and called Ayaka to her. The Tennyo flittered down from the ceiling of the cavern where she had been inspecting the gap between the two rocks and settled herself on Ammy's shoulder. As the two females settled down their breaths became smooth and steady. When Ayaka fell asleep the light the Tennyo created began to pulsate slowly growing brighter and then dimming as she breathed. The constant pulsing light soothed Ammy and she quickly eased off into an exhausted slumber.

The black thread that had wrapped itself round Ammy's soul sensed her relaxed state and un-camouflaged itself. During the time Amaterasu had been inspecting the threads of fate the black thread had turned itself into the Forget-me-not-Blue of Pippin's thread. Once the same colour it had been able to copy the feelings and emotions the real blue thread was emitting and once in sync with Pippin's thread the Jet black thread had wrapped itself around Pippin's thread and blended in completely, thus avoiding detection.

Now however Amaterasu was asleep and the black thread began its exploration of Ammy's bonds. It quickly dismissed the bonds as being insubstantial and unimportant and decided to try and infiltrate Ammy's mind.

Before it could simply saunter into the slumbering woman's mind however it was met with a blockade. Silvery layers rose up around Ammy's mind: Walls, gates, padlocks, mist, rivers, doors, windows and long passages made of a mithril-like feeling slammed into place. As the black thread twisted and raged at the first layer, Izanami looked on with worry. The black thread would not be forever held off and Izanami did not know how long she could keep it from exploring Ammy's mind.

So far the Jet black cord knew very little of the person it had tied itself too, only that the person was a pure-blooded Ame-no-Mihashira. Once it infiltrated Ammy's mind however it would know everything about the albino from her happiest moments, to the deepest and most terrifying fears. All her memories and feelings and emotions would be at the owner of the black thread's disposal and Izanami feared what anyone could do with free access to Ammy's mind.

Izanami's reincarnation was ten times stronger than any Ame-no-Mihashira the spirit had ever known. Ammy's strength rivalled even her namesake as Amaterasu had only been most powerful when she held the three treasures but Ammy had a power brewing within her that could be used for greatness or for great evil.

All Izanami could hope to do would be to keep the black thread at bay. But holding up the guards would require all her concentration and Ammy would be left alone without any guidance or words of advice from the spirit residing within her mind. Weighing up the situation Izanami turned to the wards that surrounded her host's mind and strengthened them, pouring all her emotions into them Izanami fortified the defences.

Let's see you get through that. Izanami challenged and then began to do battle as the black thread plunged into the first level of defence, seeking a weak point in order to bring the first wall/puzzle down. Izanami was not going to make this easy…

Aragorn crouched low to the ground cursing the heavy treading Uruk-hai. They trod so heavily into the ground that any evidence of Ammy was lost. Aragorn didn't even know what form she was using and thus it was difficult to find any trace of tigress, rabbit or snake.

The Uruk-hai trail suddenly stopped. Screeching to a halt Aragorn crouched down and looked both left and right. The tracks ran back and forth for a bit. As the Ranger followed the footprints Legolas scanned the horizon looking for a trace of their female companion. His elf-eyes saw much but he could not see Amaterasu.

Gimli came trotting up behind the elf and dropped the wooden end of his axe onto the ground and leaned on the top of the weapon. They had been running for several hours after Amaterasu and the Uruk-hai chasing her and this was the first major pause they had, had. The Dwarf was not going to waste a second's respite.

"Aragorn. The Uruk-hai have turned north. I can see them on the horizon." Legolas called as he pointed to a vague point on a hill. Sighing Gimli picked up his axe and got ready to start running again.

"The Uruk-hai tracks go over this rise and south, Legolas. I will check to see if there is any sign of Amaterasu. If not we will turn north." Aragorn scrambled over the small hill and then stopped still, gazing down at the ground.

"What is it laddie? What have you found?" Gimli called up at Aragorn as the Man did not move and looked frozen. Legolas leapt up the small rise and stood next to Aragorn. His arrival caused a sudden bark of laughter from the Ranger.

"You have to see this Gimli." Legolas smirked down at the Dwarf who frustrated with Aragorn and Legolas' dithering and laughter. Grumbling and grunting the Ereborean Dwarf climbed up the small rise (He missed mountains. Grassy hills were nothing compared to Erebor) and then stopped at the top.

"Well Mahal bless me. She isn't a completely naïve lass then." Gimli exclaimed and nudged his helmet with his axe as he lifted it to scratch his head in amazement.

Imprinted in the grass behind the hill was a set of footprints. Well, footprints of Uruk-hai indeed and again they were running back and forth, but the most astonishing set of footprints were large and four-toed.

The three Hunters trotted down the hill to inspect the footprints but stopped in the centre of one of the tracks which extended a metre or so either side of the trio. The four toe-like marks extended out of the rounded square shape and at the point where the toes tapered to a triangular point there was a deep, circle shaped hole.

"Lady Amaterasu mustn't have been able to loose the Uruk-hai in any of her landbound forms." Legolas interjected as both Elf and Dwarf looked at the holes her talons had made deep into the earth. Gimli dropped the shaft of his axe down into one of the four holes and the axe only hit the bottom when the blade was just touching the tip of the grass. Turning to look at Legolas he swallowed nervously.

"I don't think I should like to get on the wrong side of Amaterasu in this form." Gimli grumbled and cleaned off the wooden shaft of his axe.

"She took flight, the two back marks are imprinted into the ground more. There's about a hand's width in the front two paw marks but the back two are almost an arm's length." Aragorn called from where he had gone to inspect the back footprints.

"I cannot tell which way she has gone. I'm assuming she has gone anywhere but north as the Uruk-hai seem to have given up chasing her and decided to return to their fellows." The Ranger stood and looked northward.

"It would take us too long to search for her Aragorn." Legolas spoke softly but firmly. "Lady Amaterasu can fend for herself in her animal forms and at night… Well we shall just have to hope she manages to find somewhere to hide. Ayaka is with her also."

"The Elf's right." Gimli spoke from behind them and both taller males turned around and looked at the Dwarf in surprise. "I know, agreeing with an Elf, feels all unnatural. But the princeling is right. Amaterasu can defend herself. And if she has gone anywhere but north then she should be safe from the Uruk-hai. If she goes East she will reach the Gap of Rohan but with any luck she will see Edoras and decide to seek aid there."

Now, during their quest Gimli had never seemed to be a voice of reason within the group. The Dwarf seemed to recklessly throw himself into battle, but then again that seemed to be the way of the Dwarfs. Act first, think later (if they were still alive later that is) and hope you hadn't killed anyone important. In their current predicament however the red-bearded Dwarf was remarkably level-headed.

"We go North. If we hurry we may yet catch up with the small band of Uruk-hai that were pursuing Ammy. Then we can find out where they intend to take the Hobbits." Aragorn set off following the Uruk-hai trail in the slowly sinking afternoon sun. Legolas looked at Ammy's dragon paw prints with regret and then took off after his friend.

"Here we go again. What I wouldn't give for Rhosgobel rabbits right now." Gimli spoke under his breath as he trotted after the Man and Elf who were already several paces ahead.

Far behind the Three Hunters and Ammy, Kiyiya and her siblings were tentatively making their way down the cliff side with the injured Boromir hanging gently from Kajika's mouth.

The wolves and Kiyiya had made good time so far and had found a fairly wide trail that wound down the cliff-side. It was only in the last few minutes and the last part of their descent that they had encountered a problem.

The path had crumbled away and there was now a fairly steep drop down. If Kiyiya and the wolves had been alone, the wolves would simply have jumped down. Their large size made the drop seem small and they had made worse jumps in their youth when they were smaller. With the wounded Gondorian swinging from Kajika's mouth however they were at an impass.

Kiyiya slid down from Menewa's back after the wolf had lain down and the dark-haired woman began to inspect the path.

"Menewa jump down to that ledge." She called to her brother and the russet-coloured wolf trotted forward his tongue hanging from the side of his mouth. He looked down at the ledge and then sighed and simply stepped down, his body bridging the drop easily.

"Now rise back up so that your forepaws are next to my feet." The male-wolf did so and was rewarded with a scratch on his muzzle.

"Kajika pass the boat down to Menewa, Menewa open your mouth and unhook the rope from your sister. We can make our way down doing this. It'll be time-consuming but I daren't jostle Boromir too much. If the tip of the arrow moves it'll cut one of the veins to his heart and he'll bleed out." Kiyiya watched nervously as the two wolves moved closer together.

Kajika waited until the boat stopped swinging from her movement and then opened her mouth. Menewa leaned forward and hooked his bottom teeth under the rope that hung from his sister's mouth. Both wolves now had hold of the boat and Kiyiya scrambled forward to lift the rope from her sister's mouth.

Once the rope lay fully in Menewa's mouth he slowly backed up his back legs and removed one forepaw and then the other from the ledge, careful not to knock the precious cargo, until he was finally on all fours.

Kajika yawned and then crouched down and waited for her human sister to climb onto her back. The smaller wolf's fur was slightly coarser than the male wolf's and Kiyiya shifted slightly as she sat on her sister's back. Most of the time Kiyiya rode Menewa because he was the bigger of the two and when the human had been a young pup (but still older than her siblings) Menewa had been the better protector of the two wolves. Kajika's avoidance of confrontation also meant that Menewa was the better of the pair at fighting and thus Kiyiya rode her brother into battle (but that is another story entirely).

The trio made their way down the side of the cliff in a similar fashion, passing the boat between the two wolves until they finally reached the bottom with the vessel hanging from Menewa's mouth. Kiyiya however had been left on the ledge above as both wolves had, had to careful clamber down the slippery rock slope that led to the level grassy plains once more.

After watching tensely at her siblings descent Kiyiya realised she would have to get herself down. Putting her spear down the scarred woman embraced the wolf within her and soon the familiar black wolf stood on the ledge. Picking up her spear the Kiyiya leapt from the ledge and landed firmly on solid ground.

Shaking her body as if it were soaked with water Kiyiya stretched and enjoyed being wolf form. Her clothes transformed with her change so Kiyiya was glad that she wouldn't be losing her rabbit fur cloak. Her sister trotted up to rub alongside her sister's body. The two she-wolves played and shoved each other for a few seconds, nipping at each other's flanks and biting ears in a sibling manner until Menewa let out a gruff bark.

Kiyiya stepped forward and, wary of the spear in her mouth, rubbed the top of her head down her brother's left flank and then back up to his head. Menewa's eyes seemed to soften in fondness as he looked down at his little human-wolf sister who had to stand on tiptoe to reach his flank.

Both the wolves of the Ithil Draug Tylwythau were the size of a small hut, Ammy had compared their size to an elephant whatever that was, and Kiyiya was only 3/4's their size. Despite her small stature in wolf and human form both the natural wolves referred to her out of deference as she was a higher status in their pack then they were.

Kiyiya had never been challenged for her place as third most important female in the pack and none of their siblings would have dreamed of challenging the human. To do so would have been to incur the wrath of not only Menewa and Kajika but also of the Alpha Female who had found the human many years ago.

The black wolf stepped forward and sniffed the air. The further down the cliff they had descended the more the Earth seemed to be shrieking and telling them to retreat. Now they were on solid ground once again and Kiyiya's feet were touching soil once more the changed wolf could feel the earth screaming at her. The soil felt dry and weak, as if all nutrients had been drained from its very being, the plants felt brittle and ill as did the trees. The only part of nature that seemed to be healthy was the Anduin which burbled and ran down towards Gondor.

'The Earth is ill.' Kiyiya spoke to her siblings in a soft growl. Although she could speak normally in her human form, both her siblings and pack preferred when she used wolf-language when inhabiting her wolf form.

'I can feel it screaming and it only seems to worsen the closer we get to Gondor.' Kiyiya's hackles raised and her white teeth began to clench down only for her to stop suddenly when she realised her staff was in her mouth.

Kajika stepped forward and rubbed her head over her sister's.

'It will be fine. We will return the mortal to his people and then we can return home. I miss our mountain.' Kajika rumbled softly the vibrations flowing from her throat down into her sister's head and soothing the small black wolf.

Menewa padded up next to Kiyiya on the other side and his leg pressed against her in a comforting manner.

'Let us continue. There is still plenty of daylight left and we can reach the point where the Mouths of the Entwash. Crossing there should take the night and then it will take hopefully but half a day to reach Cair Andros and then we can travel down to the White City in the afternoon reaching the gate in the early evening.'

Kiyiya padded forward to check the sleeping Gondorian. Boromir's face was pale but not bloodless and she could not smell his condition worsening.

'Let's move out.' The scarred black wolf moved forward at a quick canter which her siblings soon copied until the trio were running in a line, the russet-coloured wolves guarding their smaller sister. The ground shook as they loped over the land and where Kiyiya left footprints small flowers and patches of grass bloomed in the dips…

A/N: Hope that was okay! Please let me know as I'm excited and worried about starting The Two Towers arc.

Thanks to:

emmerx 4/13/13
jonnioholo 4/13/13 - If you know the Chinese Zodiac then you know the answer to your question! ;)
Sadly only a guest
GleekLover2012 4/13/13
Tessa 4/15/13