A/N: Hello there, lovely readers! C: I hope you've all been doing well! I've definitely been getting back into the swing of things as far as updating more often goes...Hopefully nothing too drastic happens in my life and I'm able to continue lol.

Have you guys all heard that they gave the third Hobbit movie a new title? If you didn't, it was originally supposed to be called "There And Back Again." Now they've changed it to "The Battle of the Five Armies." Thoughts? Let me know in your reviews! :D (we're really close to breaking 50 wow)

Enjoy!

Chaos Unleashed: Part Two

Chapter Nine

Boromir's POV

"You said what?!"

"I swear to God, I didn't mean to!" Kathryn pleaded. "I just...I wasn't thinking, I guess, and it just sort of came out."

I clenched my fists in anger, trying not to completely lose my temper as it was still the middle of the night and the others were asleep. "...How does she know?"

"Well, I'm not totally sure about that," she corrected me. "I mean...Erin said that she had some private conversation with Thranduil back in the halls, and he warned her about her friends betraying her."

That does not make sense. I frowned. "Thranduil knew about our plans?"

"I don't know," she said quietly. "Maybe one of his guards overheard it or something."

"But even so, they would have no reason to inform their king of it," I countered.

"Maybe they thought it would've been dangerous to keep it a secret."

"Perhaps." I sighed, stepping back and turning away in exasperation. "But it doesn't matter know. If Erin knows of our plans to leave them, she will tell the others, and it will all be in vain."

"Like I said, maybe she doesn't know," Kathryn repeated.

I spun back to her quickly, my anger from before returning. "And you've now endangered everything!" I hissed. "You promised her you wouldn't leave her side. If you break that promise, she will never forgive you."
Kathryn looked utterly torn. "I know..."

I took a deep breath, calming down a bit again before speaking. "Kathryn." She raised her head slightly, though still looking down. "You made me a promise first. You swore you would help me." She said nothing. I stepped forward, catching her chin in my hand to make her meet my gaze, my blue eyes searching her own. "...Do not tell me that you would go back on your word. After all we've been through."

She was frightened, I could tell...but also reluctant. I felt my heart constrict in my chest as she spoke. "...I don't know what I'm going to do, Boromir... What am I supposed to do?"

"You come with me!" I insisted. "And allow me to protect you from the dangers out there!"

"But leave the others to fend for themselves?"

"I am doing this for your safety!"

"Why? You don't trust the elves to do it for you?"

"No, I don't!" I spat, the air between us tense as there was a pause in the hushed argument. "...I will not see you off to finish this journey yourself. You could die, Kathryn. Do you understand what that would do to me?"

"And what if you died?" she retorted. "Do you have any idea what that would do to me? It's the same way for both of us, Boromir! We both might lose our lives doing this! Splitting up won't change anything!"

"But it will!" I stared directly at her, eyes burning. "If I am with you and there is danger, at least I would be able to try and defend you; try to help you! I cannot do that if you leave me!"

"I don't need your help!"

I froze. Any anger I'd just possessed vanished in an instant, like a candle flame that had been snuffed out. Immediately, I saw guilt and remorse wash over Kathryn's face – she saw how those words had affected me, which I also regretted. I tried to harden my expression again, swallowing before I broke the silence. "...Very well. If I am of no use to you, then...perhaps we should go our separate ways." No, no don't sound so fragile, you idiot.

"No, Boromir!" she said softly. "I-I didn't mean it!"

"Then why did you say it?" She reached for my arm, but stopped, her hand lingering in midair before falling back to her side again. She could not meet my gaze to argue, and I stared at her, feeling the sting of rejection. I cared for you. I cared for you more deeply than nearly anyone I ever knew. And you don't think anything of it.

"...I'm sorry," she whispered. "...I can't make this kind of decision."

You don't care. "Good." I forced the words out. "Now you don't have to." She looked up at me in shock, but before she could say anything more I turned and walked away, headed back to our campsite. I tried to swallow my emotions and ignore the cutting pain I felt as her words echoed in my head. She didn't try to argue. She doesn't care. In a sudden spout of fury, I stopped walking and slammed my fist into the nearest tree trunk, barely flinching at the pain in my hand that flared up. Why did I do that? Why did I put so much effort into trying to protect her? Why did I care about her?

I stared at the decaying bark for a moment, angry at Kathryn for betraying me...angry at myself for being naive enough to care as much as I did. Eventually I finished making my way back to the camp, finding Legolas' bedroll and roughly waking him to have him take over the watch. The elf did not miss my sullen mood and shot me a questioning look, but asked no questions as I laid down in my own spot and tried my best to shut out all that had just transpired so I could fall asleep.

It seemed like hours later when Kathryn returned. I gave no acknowledgment.

oOo

Erin's POV

I was way more nervous about journeying through Mirkwood than I thought I'd be. Everything was just so...dark. Dead. There was no life, no growing thing anywhere. Just blackened, scorched tree trunks that were twisted and fallen, and a dry, crumbly earth to match beneath our feet. It looked even worse than what Jackson's movies had showed us in the Hobbit trilogy, and that scared me. Who knew what was waiting for us out there?

And honestly, so far our group itself wasn't getting along too smoothly either. Kathryn and Boromir must've had some kind of fight a couple days ago, because they hadn't been talking to each other for awhile. I could hardly even have a normal conversation with Legolas anymore because Tauriel was always right there, ready to jump in at any chance she got. Either that, or they'd be giggling about something they were whispering to each other in elvish. Kathryn was basically the only person I'd been talking to for the past few days.

So to put it simply: I was grumpy. Certainly not in the mood to deal with anyone's shit. Which is exactly why I was less than pleased when Legolas fell back into step beside me that afternoon (if it was even daytime. I couldn't tell anymore). "You seem quiet," he teased.

"I have my reasons," I murmured. "This isn't exactly the field trip of a lifetime."

He just gave me a quizzical look. "Field trip?"

"Don't ask." There was a beat of silence before I exhaled and looked at him. "So is there something important you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No," he said with a frown. "Why?"

I chuckled bitterly. "It's just miraculous that you actually came to talk to me this time."

"What do you mean?"

"You know damn well what I mean," I said lowly, though at this point I couldn't have cared less if she heard us. "She's been practically superglued to your hip since the moment we set foot out here."

His frown deepened. "...Tauriel and I are good friends, Erin. Nothing more."

"...Wasn't really implying that," I said slowly, "but whatever."

It amazed me how confused he looked. "Does that bother you?"

Oh. My. God. "No, Legolas," I replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm totally fine with it. You can tell by the huge smile plastered on my face right now."

He looked at me oddly. "Why would you have a problem with it?"

It wasn't until he said it that I realized my mistake. ...Oh shit. I hate myself. "I...I don't know...it's just kind of awkward being a third wheel, I guess."

"...You're lying."

"No I'm not!"

"You are," he said firmly. "You hesitated."

I threw my hands up in exasperation, the urge to look away incredibly strong. "Well what else do you want me to say?" I knew if I broke eye contact, though, it'd be a dead giveaway. You can save this somehow, Erin. Come on.

"The truth, preferably."

I was quiet for a moment, weighing my options. What do I say to that? I mean...I don't love him. Love is too strong of a word. But I can't just go 'well I don't like you talking to that Mary-Sue over there because she gets to look into your gorgeous eyes more than I do and has all these intimate conversations with you and stuff and I don't.' I also knew that if I told him the truth, it would just make everything even more difficult for all three of us, because Legolas only thought of us as friends. Besides...she's an elf. I can't even try to compete with that. And she'd be a better match for him anyway.

"...Erin?"

I blinked, not realizing how long I'd been wrapped up in my own thoughts until he snapped me out of it. "Oh. Uh, sorry."

Legolas was looking at me curiously, and a sudden fear gripped me as I wondered if he'd started piecing things together in his own head yet. "...Why do you not like Tauriel?"

"I-I just...I don't like how...how..." No. Erin, shut up. It's not worth it. "...Never mind. It's just me being stupid."

The elf didn't look convinced. "Erin."

I bit my lip. "I'm sorry...Just...don't worry about it. Do what you want; it's your life, not mine." Finally, I looked away and picked up my pace a bit, mentally kicking myself for being so completely stupid and almost ruining everything by opening my big mouth again. And then, to top it all off, in the middle of my self-berating I stopped paying attention to where I was going, walking right into Tauriel's back. "Oh, sorry," I said. "I-"

But I was suddenly cut off as she grabbed my arm tightly. "Quiet," she hissed. I frowned and was about to yell at her to step the fuck back for silencing me like that, but that feeling totally disappeared when she spoke again. "...We have been seen."

My blood ran cold, and I felt my heartbeat quicken. "By what?" I breathed.

The next few events happened so fast I could barely keep track of them. All I knew was that by the time I'd blinked, Tauriel had whipped around, bow in hand, and shot an arrow into the darkness surrounding us. There was a thunk, then a hideous screech of pain, and then the corpse of the biggest, ugliest spider I'd ever seen came tumbling down from where it had been perched in the trees above us, hitting the ground with a thud at our feet. Kathryn choked back a scream and jumped away in fear, and I also started slowly backing up.

"There are more not far behind!" Tauriel shouted. "Come!" Before I knew it, we were all running through the forest as fast as our feet could carry us. I felt my blood pumping as I followed after the two elves in a sprint, horrified at the thought of the spiders coming after us. Kathryn and I had next to no weapons, and the last thing I wanted was to be cornered by one of those things without any way to defend myself.

But even as we ran, I could hear more of them not far behind and gaining. Against my better judgment, I glanced over my shoulder, and my eyes widened to see dozens of sickly greenish-yellow ones peering hungrily back at me. "Legolas!" I shouted, pushing myself to run faster.

In a flash, the blonde elf spun around as he ran and let an arrow fly, nailing the one closest to us right in the head and buying us some time. "Hurry!" he called back. "This way!"

Gasping for breath, I ran after him, following his lead as he and Tauriel jumped over the trunk of a fallen tree. Oh God, tell me I can make this! With one last burst of energy, I reached out and vaulted over the trunk as best as I could, hearing Kathryn and Boromir right on my heels. By some stroke of luck, I cleared it with a shaky landing.

Not two seconds after I landed, Kathryn was at my side, and Legolas was leaning over both of us. "Quickly! Follow me!" With both of us out of breath, we simply nodded and did as we were told. He ushered us both off to the side and into a crevice that was created from the fallen tree and another huge log beside it. I stumbled after Kathryn as he roughly pushed us down and out of sight from the spiders. "Stay here." Without another word, he was off, climbing up into the trees and ready to fight the spiders off.

Kathryn gripped my arm in fear as we watched him go. "You do have a knife, right?"

My hand was on it instantly as I shrank back a bit more. "Ready to go."

oOo

Legolas' POV

As soon as the girls were hidden, I sprung up into the branches above them, climbing up, up, up until I was above the spiders that bore down on us. Finding my place on a solid branch and pressing my back to the tree's trunk, I drew my bow and looked down. Tauriel and Boromir stood in a small, open area on the ground far below, sword and knives at the ready. I nearly laughed as the spiders hissed in delight as they caught up to their prey, none of them even noticing me. Dull creatures. I watched, muscles tensed as they drew closer...closer...

Then Tauriel gave a shout. Now!

In a flash, I jumped down from my perch, arrow drawn, and fired straight down into the skull of one of the black creatures, smirking triumphantly as it wailed in agony. I landed on its back, finding my balance as it slid along a branch, firing two more arrows into the back of another as I rode down. Drawing low enough, I leapt from the corpse and rolled once I hit the ground, jumping back to my feet and shooting another one between the eyes as it ran right up to me.

"Legolas!"

I spun around, ducking as a spider's leg swiped at me, then dove forward and put an arrow in its stomach as I slid underneath it. Back on my feet, I switched my bow for my twin knives as I stood back to back with Tauriel, nodding to her with a smirk as more of them closed in on us. "Just like old times," she said with a chuckle.

"Indeed," I agreed, lunging forward and leaping onto the head of another spider as it ran to us, allowing for Tauriel to take a swing at its face as I plunged my cold metal blades deep into its back. The spider screamed in pain and tried to throw me off, but I used the momentum to have it launch me up into the air and onto a branch nearby. Pulling out my bow again, I ran along the wood, shooting arrows down into the battle arena below as Tauriel also took to the trees.

Boromir was fighting valiantly below, his sword slicing the monsters apart with ease. He was an excellent warrior, and I landed one more shot in the abdomen of a spider before getting to ground level again to offer Boromir my help. "You hold your ground well for your first fight with these creatures!" I called over my shoulder, pulling out my knives once more to slice at the legs of a passing beast.

"They are slightly more cunning than Orcs!" he replied, spinning to the side and stabbing one in the side of its head. "Though their size is a disadvantage!"

I nodded. "Yes, that is true!" Another screech rang out from behind me, and I stepped out of the way just in time to miss the stinger of one that had tried to snag me. I launched my knife at the thing, just barely missing a direct hit in the skull and catching its back instead. Hearing more noise to my right again, I spun and hit another in the soft underbelly, taking it down before running back and ripping my other knife out of the first spider.

Suddenly, I heard a shout from Tauriel, and looked up to see her wrestling with a particularly agile one in the trees. I broke into a run, jumping onto a branch and climbing up to her level, pulling out my bow again as I went. As I ran along the perimeter of the small clearing, more spiders took to following me, and I responded by sending arrows in their directions, knocking a few from the trees as I ran. Not all of them fell, but I could outrun them. I looked out to Tauriel again. She was close to defeating hers, but could not seem to get the upper hand. Quickly, I lined up another shot and let it fly, the arrow soaring across the gap between us and hitting the spider in the head, causing it to scream and fall to the ground. Tauriel looked up and nodded her thanks, and I returned it briefly before returning my focus to the fight at hand.

oOo

Erin's POV

It took all I had not to scream as another spider crawled right over our hiding spot. Kathryn and I were pressed back into the hidey-hole as far as we could go, clinging to each other in fear that we'd be spotted. There was a small slit between the logs that I could peek through occasionally to get a look at what was going on out there, but then another spider would scuttle past and I'd shrink back again.

Swallowing hard and daring to look out again, I watched as Boromir absolutely nailed one spider in the neck, his sword hitting so hard I thought he was going to decapitate it for a second. Tauriel was not too far away from him, blocking a spider's lunge at her by catching its leg in between her two daggers before dropping one and plunging it deep into its fleshy face, then spinning and throwing her other knife to have it sink into the face of another one that tried to sneak up on her from behind.

But where's Legolas? That was the more important question. I heard Kathryn whispering my name as she frantically tried not to focus on the chaos around her. I shifted to the left a bit so I could see at a different angle, and suddenly the blonde prince popped into view. He'd been flying around the area for awhile earlier, but now he seemed stuck in one spot. The spiders had been smart enough to figure out who was the best fighter out of the three of them and were starting to gang up on him.

As I watched him take on two spiders at once, movement on the branch above us caught my attention. I looked up to see another spider crawl over our heads, making its way along a branch that led in his direction. Oh shit...OH SHIT! "Kathryn!" I hissed, eyes going wide. "Kathryn, Legolas needs help!"

She looked at me like I'd just grown another head. "Are you fucking insane?! Erin, look at the size of those things! Don't you dare run out there!"

But it was obvious now, the spider was headed straight for him, and he was too preoccupied with the other two to take on the third one. I could tell he sensed it, he was glancing over his shoulder quickly to try and pinpoint where it was. My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt my hand drift towards my knife as the weight of my promise to Thranduil finally started to sink in. No...No, damn it! I promised your father you'd live, you little elf shit!

I was hardly thinking. All I could focus on was Legolas as I reached up and clambered onto the tree branch above, ignoring Kathryn's cries for me to get down. I could hear my heartbeat in my ears, and I swear to God I'd never been more terrified in my entire life as I broke into a run along the branch, ripping my knife from its sheath. Oh God don't fall Oh God oh God OH GOD DON'T YOU DARE FALL OH MY GOD FUCK-

I felt it coming. I should've known I couldn't balance up here like the elves could. I felt my left foot slip as I ran, and with adrenaline spreading through my veins like a wildfire, I screamed and lunged forward, managing to grab the leg of the disgusting thing just as it got within a few feet of Legolas. I fell from the branch and hit the ground hard, but at least pulled the damn spider down with me. That was all I cared about as I winced from the fall and slammed my knife viciously into its head, cringing again at the creaking, sputtering hiss it produced before going limp.

And then time seemed to slow again, and I was on my knees in front of a dead spider, shaking and panting and hurting all over...but I did it. That was all I cared about. I protected him. Granted, I had to literally yank a spider out of a tree to do it, but I did it anyway.

I didn't really process how long I sat there, but it couldn't have been too long because when someone – Boromir came and found me, he still seemed like he was getting his breath back from the fight, too. "Erin! By the Valar, are you all right!"

"Yeah," I gasped, my voice cracking. "Yeah, I'm fine! Oh God!" I groaned as he helped me to my feet and looked myself over. Nothing felt broken (thank God the branch hadn't been up too high when I fell), but I knew it was gonna hurt like hell to move anything for the next few days. I could already feel bruises blossoming.

Boromir led me back to the clearing, which was now littered with dead spiders. Kathryn had come out of the hiding spot and looked scarred for life, but as soon as I came over she hugged me tightly. "Don't you EVER do anything stupid like that again."

I gasped in pain at her grasp. "Hey, watch it," I said with a smile. "I just fell out of a tree."

"Why did you do that?"

I looked up, and Kathryn quickly let go as Legolas approached me. He did not look happy. "...Uh..." I gulped. "...W-Well, you were about to get taken out by that one spider, so I-"

"I told you to stay hidden," he said lowly. Oh God, he's pissed. "You had nothing but a dagger, Erin, you could have gotten killed!"

"You think I don't know that?" I shot back, though I was careful not to be too defiant. "Look, I'm sorry. But I wasn't just...I saw a chance to help you, and I took it, okay?"

His blue eyes bore into mine for the longest time, and I could tell he was trying to decide whether or not he should be angry with me. Finally, he sighed, looking me up and down. "...You are sure nothing is broken?"

"Positive. I'll make it."

"...Thank you."

I winked. "That's what friends are for."