When dawn approached the following morning, Theoden found his niece standing alone staring out into the distance. Her stance was still and her arms crossed, lost in thought. "I have left instruction. The people are to follow your rule in my stead. Take up my seat in the Golden Hall. Long may you defend Edoras if the battle goes ill."
He wasn't expecting her reaction to be so…bland. "What other duty would you have me do, my lord?"
Turning to her and taking her hands, he tried to explain himself. "Duty? No. I would have you smile again." His spirits were lifted slightly to see a fraction of a smile cross her face, even if it might have been forced. "Not grieve for those whose time has comem" he continued, cupping her head in his hands and resting her forehead to his. "You shall live to see these days renewed. No more despair," he assured her before leaving her to return to her thoughts.
Thinking back to the previous day, she recounted all of the things that she had picked up on from the now-departed travelers. Aragorn had told her that her feelings were not true. That stung, but the more she thought on it, she couldn't help but feel that he may have been right. Perhaps it was the ideals that he carried that she found attractive? She should have known that her feelings – true or not – would not be reciprocated when she saw the elf return the jewel he had said come from a woman that would be sailing for the Undying Lands. The care that he held in that necklace said volumes.
Then there was the elf, or Lord Legolas, as she had come to address him despite his requests otherwise. He was peculiar, she learned since the day they arrived at Edoras. His story was more peculiar when she learned of the woman that he visited in dreams, but yesterday had taken the cake in terms of peculiarity. She had heard of empathic-shared connections, but they were usually between lovers. Lord Legolas had on more than one occasion stated otherwise to the amusement of his companions. She truly did smile then; she shouldn't have laughed the day before when she left the tent, but there was something about it that was too funny.
She wondered about the young elf woman he called Ithilwen. Eowyn had never had many dealings with the fair race before, so to speak candidly with one was fascinating to her. She had told the elf that should the opportunity arise, the young woman would always have an invitation to visit Rohan.
Of course, that was if the war turned to their favor. Eowyn shuddered as a breeze passed. Best to try and stay positive, even if that meant staying put. Or did she…?
The path to the Dimholt was dark, narrow, and pointy. The horses had to take the path in single file; it had long passed the point of riding side by side.
"What kind of an army would linger in such a place? " Gimli wondered.
"One that is cursed." Legolas began to recite some of his history lessons as an elfling. "Long ago, the Men of the Mountain swore an oath to the last King of Gondor, to come to his aid, to fight. But when the time came, when Gondor's need was dire, they fled, vanishing into the darkness of the mountain. And so Isildur cursed them, never to rest until they had fulfilled their pledge. Who shall call them from the great twilight? The forgotten people. The heir of him to whom the oath they swore. From the north shall he come. Need shall drive him. He shall pass the door to the Paths of the Dead."
Aragorn led his horse forward until they reached the end of the path. The space had widened significantly so that they gathered in a huddle and dismounted. The atmosphere was dark and grey, almost as if there were a blanket of fog across the ground.
The eerie silence made the dwarf shudder in his armor. "The very warmth of my blood seems stolen away."
Legolas observed the paintings on the rock positioned above the opening. "The way is shut," he translated. "It was made by those who are dead. And the Dead keep it. The way is shut."
"Sounds like we've found it," Elladan stated bluntly. Grasping the reins a little tighter in their hands, they group approached the entrance. A blast of air came from the tunnel they neared, and the horses became frantic, breaking out of their rider's grips and galloping off to safety.
"Brego!" Aragorn shouted, knowing it was pointless. The horse had more sense than he did at the present to get the hell out of dodge. Regardless, he turned and looked back into the tunnel of the mountain. "I do not fear death!" he stated firmly before taking off into the darkness.
Legolas hesitated briefly before following Aragorn. He didn't want to go in there, but knew that he had no other options and would not leave his friend to the task alone. That left Gimli, Haldir, and the twins to watch their departure.
"Well, this is a thing unheard-of." Gimli said surprised, "An Elf will go underground where a Dwarf dare not! Oh! Oh, I'd never hear the end of it!" He stamped his feet a few times in frustration, forgetting that there were three elves beside him that hadn't moved either.
"We told Ada that we would follow Aragorn," Elrohir stated.
"Yes, yes we did," Elladan agreed.
Haldir snorted. "Legolas is younger than the both of you and he didn't hesitate as long as you are!"
"Well then why are you still standing here, Master Elf?" Gimli asked, almost mocking.
The marchwarden adjusted his robes. "To make sure that you three do not back down. Now who is going first?" Silence followed the question, and he nearly growled, "Fine. We go together. Now!" As they made their way into the darkness, he added, "Not a word of this is to be breathed to anyone or I will own the tongue of the speaker."
It was a mutual agreement since none of the four wanted to admit to nearly chickening out and attempting to go around the mountain to meet Aragorn and Legolas on the other side.
Ithilwen found herself laughing as another of North's elves fell into the egg-dying river of the Warren. Easter was quickly approaching, and Bunnymund had enlisted all willing hands to help make sure he had enough eggs to hide around the world. Fiona and Morwen had also agreed to assist the pooka and the guardians, though it seemed like some were more for talking than painting.
Jack would occasional paint a snowflake on one. North's were nearly decorated like Christmas presents. Toothiana's were closer to Easter colors, but one had to watch what she would write – she was bad to put things about flossing with a handful of eggs. Sandy's weren't quite with the theme, but his had a shimmer effect that Bunnymund was pleased with. Phil the Yeti would groan uncontrollably whenever Bunnymund would tell him to change the color – especially after a large pile was just painted. Fiona's collection of eggs were painted with a child-like hand for variety. Morwen's held an elegant script of Tengwar that read 'Happy Easter' – or a close translation, as she assured the pooka. It's not like any of the children would be able to decipher the language, much less realize that it was a language, so he consented.
Ithilwen didn't have a set theme for her eggs – she just painted what came to mind for that egg. Bernard was sitting nearby when he caught sight of her current design. "What's this theme? Mechanics?"
"Steampunk." She held the egg up to better show him. The egg was wearing painted goggles and a vest in an Easter palette of earth tones. "See, he's an Airship Pirate Egg." She grinned cheekily.
Bernard laughed at her. "How have you been lately? I heard from Tooth about what happened down here. I'm sorry it went down like it did."
The elleth shrugged it off. "It's alright, Bernard. Everyone's been telling me that, and I keep telling everyone that I'm getting past it. At least now I don't have to worry about it anymore. I'm doing better, thanks for asking. That costume still isn't done, but it's getting there."
"How's… well… how are things…?"
"In middle-earth?" she asked. He nodded. "Things are rough. Legolas told me that they are leaving the Dunharrow camp to go to the Dimholt."
Before she could explain to the confused Christmas elf, Morwen's voice carried across the Warren. "The Dimholt? Who is going and why?"
"Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, Ada, Elladan, and Elrohir. Apparently Uncle Elrond gave Aragorn instruction to go seek the Dead King's Army. Is this bad?"
Morwen flashed her a smile. "Aragorn is with them, my dear. Do not concern yourself. He should be able to convince the King to assist him. By the way, how are you feeling today?"
"Better than yesterday but still aching. It turns out that I'm not alone in my suffering," she added with a wink to her mother. The words took but a minute to register and the older woman had broken out into peals of laughter.
Bunnymund came hopping over to check on the progress when he saw Morwen succumb to laughter. "Eh, shiela," he asked Ithilwen, "What's got your mum in such a tizzy?"
"Just sharing war stories," Ithilwen answered with a grin. "They're all in one piece," she added. "My friends back home, and the eggs."
The pooka nodded, patting her on the shoulder with his large paw. "Good to hear. Interesting take with this little guy," he commented on the steampunk egg. "Keep it up, everybody!" he bounced off to other parts of the Warren.
When the sun had risen a little more in the morning sky, haste was afoot in the Dunharrow camp. The men were putting out fires quickly and the women of the court that had traveled along were packing away the remnants of shelter for their journey back to Edoras. Some were already on their horses, agitated to get going.
Theoden swept from his tent in a flurry of armor. "We must ride light and swift," he told Eomer. "It is a long road ahead. And man and beast must reach the end with the strength to fight." Eomer nodded and left his side to collect his horse while Theoden hoisted himself up, passing Merry with his white pony along the way. "Little Hobbits do not belong in war, Master Meriadoc."
Merry looked put out by the words. "All my friends have gone to battle. I would be ashamed to be left behind," he reasoned.
Theoden, however, was not informed as to the backstory of his kin. "It's a three-day gallop to Minas Tirith, and none of my Riders can bear you as a burden."
"I want to fight!"
"I will say no more," he said, riding off. He didn't want to do it, but he felt it in the best interests of the Halfling. How was he to know that two of his friends were on a near-certain one-way trip to Mount Doom?
Poor Merry stood there, feeling lost as he watched the Rohirrim pass him by. It took him by surprise to feel the grip of one rider pull his small frame up onto the horse in front of him.
At least, he assumed it was a him until he heard "him" speak. "Ride with me," the rider said, securing an arm around the hobbit to prevent him from falling.
"My Lady!" he said, proud to be riding with the White Lady of Rohan, disguised as a man.
They fell into step with the other soldiers, easily becoming unnoticeable in the mass. Up ahead, both could hear the shouts of Eomer and Theoden.
"Form up! Move out! Form up! Move out!" Their captain herded them like armored sheep out of the camp.
Theoden was leading them up front. "Ride! Ride now to Gondor!"
The "meeting", if you could call it that, with the King of the Dead could have gone a lot worse. Nearly being swallowed by the thousands of skulls of those unfortunate enough to not escape was not the worst way they could have perished in the situation. There were also the chunks of rocks that came down that just as easily could have crushed them like berries.
None of it mattered, though. Aragorn hit his knees as he saw the black ships of the Corsairs on the river. Faintly he registered Legolas' hand rest on his shoulder in some form of comfort. What was the point, when their last hope for assistance was all but gone? In the distance they could hear the last trickle of skulls and rock roll across the landscape, but it was not this noise that made Aragorn turn to look behind him.
The noise was a haunted one, coming from the King of the Dead and his men, damned to walk the earth until the curse was lifted. "We fight," the king said.
Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Haldir, Elladan, and Elrohir were standing side by side on the bank of the river, watching the ships steadily creep toward them. Elladan tilted his head slightly as he watched. "They're getting closer, Estel."
"You may go no further," he called out to the pirates. "You will not enter Gondor."
The Corsair men on the closest ship laughed outright at his words. The captain shouted back, "Who are you to deny us passage?"
Ignoring his question, Aragorn spoke to Legolas much quieter than earlier. "Legolas, fire a warning shot past the bosun's ear."
Legolas readied his bow as instructed, not noticing the dwarf beside him shift the walking axe in his hands.
"Mind your aim," he whispered, knocking the bottom of the bow with the axe handle when Legolas fired.
The arrow lodged itself into the chest of the short stout man next to the captain. Gimli covered his mouth with a mock gasp as Legolas stared down at him in disbelief.
"Nice shot," Elrohir snickered. Then he winced with Haldir reached behind his brother to smack him in the shoulder.
Gimli continued to play the part of the niave dwarf. "That's it. Right. We warned you. Prepare to be boarded."
The captain of the Corsairs looked nonplussed. "Boarded? By you and whose army?"
Later on Aragorn would catch onto the joke, but his intent was dead serious. "This army." Seconds after, the ghostly green wisps would swarm the ships and leave none alive.
A/N: Did anyone else laugh during that "This army?" bit in the ROTK EE? Just me? If you don't get the joke, then damn I must be old. Lol Anyway, not quite as long today. I wanted to follow Eowyn's journey – sort of a spur of the moment thing – through the end of the movie, so that's why she is still making an appearance. I just don't feel like her character got enough screentime even in the EE, so like Haldir and the twins, I'm taking some liberties…but you already saw that coming, right?