It should have frightened me how easily we were able to move on from one of our lowest points to one of our better. It could have easily been the other way around. As it was right now the lower compartments of our stolen ship were filled with ghosts, I reminded myself. That, and I should perhaps be more concerned that our stolen ship was filled with ghosts. Had these ghosts not tried to kill us just before?

Fortune was a funny, changing thing I concluded. I glanced at the hilt of my sword, taking in the image of the otter. Mahal bless my wise mother for giving me the symbol of good fortune for my emblem.

I was watching the water absentmindedly for now, scratching another otter into the side of the ship with the end of a knife. The men previously on board, no match for the undead army behind us, had reminded me of the men from the South I had heard of. And if I knew anything of the South and the people that lived there, it was that they were fierce, all forces to be reckoned with. Vesper had taught me that with her shoving, and quick swings of the sword and sharp jabs in the side with her elbows.

My friend, the 'queen' of the southern colonies, who had beat me in every duel we had since she could hold a sword, then picked me up and brushed me off, if only to repeat the same actions. I sighed, recalling Vesper and the others fondly. The only good thing about there being so many men out here on the river was that it meant there were less of them in the southern regions causing trouble for her.

Perhaps they were here because Vesper had drove them away herself, I thought, amused. I finished the little image of the otter in the wood and gently wiped away the dust with my thumb. I began to scratch in other images, the bear for Fali, the wolf and fox for my brothers.

"Master Gideon." Aragorn stalled my hand as I finished etching in the last hairs of the wolf's tail.

"We're almost there, aren't we?" I asked. Aragorn nodded.

I turned to Gimli, over on the other side of the deck. "What do you expect we will find when we arrive Gimli?"

"Oh, there'll be a hoard to fight through before we even get into the thick of it." Gimli began. "After that we can expect anything, orcs, wargs, who knows? Plenty of targets either way."

Legolas narrowed his eyes on the horizon. "You can probably see the shore…any truth to what Gimli says?"

"They expect a ship, and are gathering where we will dock." He nodded. He then narrowed his eyes at Gimli. "You have no need to build up any fears."

"The lad has been through worse by now." Gimli scoffed. "Right Gideon?"

I shrugged. "I only ask because I know Gimli isn't one to put things gently. If he says it will be bad then I know what to expect…and if it isn't as awful as he makes it sound to be then I shall be pleasantly surprised."

I couldn't help but notice how Gimli had taken our brief respite to sharpen his axe, and Legolas had ensured his quiver was well filled with arrows. "You two are challenging one another again?" The two exchanged a glance full of rivalry, firm but friendly nonetheless.

"Good luck to you both then." I said. "I doubt I'll have the mind to keep count for myself out there."

"Get down, we are approaching the dock." Aragorn quieted us all, and we lowered ourselves out of view. Now the ship truly resembled a ghost vessel, seeming empty.

There was a brief shudder when it stopped, and I held on to the side, gliding my thumb over the symbols I had carved again. There were voices, frustrated ones, approaching the ship. I glanced beside me to Aragorn. "Now?" I breathed.

"Another moment." He replied just as quietly.

We sat silently for a few more seconds, which felt stretched to hours. "Now?" I repeated. Aragorn shook his head, as the voices grew in volume, and the sounds started to resemble actual words. "Surely we can show ourselves now?" I asked after another pause, to which Aragorn did not reply, being too focused on the other voices. Legolas responded instead, by way of giving me a stern look that read quite plainly that I should be quiet. No doubt my whispering was bothersome to him and his keen hearing. 'Sorry' I mouthed the word rather than saying it.

Aragorn announced it was the right moment to jump over the side of the ship and onto the dock by leaping over himself. The rest of us followed suite, throwing ourselves over the side. Legolas landed as silently as a leaf falling to the ground, but Gimli and I made such noise that anyone who was not already staring at the ship now had their gaze transfixed on it. There was a rising laughter from the crowd.

"A pathetic sight we must make right now." Gimli whispered over to me. His beard hid most of his smile, which he couldn't help but reveal. There was a gleeful sort of look in his eyes that gave him away. "They won't be laughing soon."

There was the sound of wind rising as I readied my sword, and then a great wave of greenish mist flowed out from the ship. One or two of the undead actually walked through my body in their rush forward, giving me the sensation of have a cool, damp wind blowing straight through me.

"Onward, to the White City." Aragorn commanded.

"There's plenty for both of us! May the best dwarf win!" Gimli had the gall to cheer to Legolas. He ran off behind Aragorn, with a smile on his face still. All things considered, a remark like that from Gimli showed good sportsmanship.

Running in a sea of ghosts was disorienting. I had not run more than a few feet when a knife flashed in my view and I ducked my head in time to save myself. With everything a blur it was hard to see what was actually coming at you. I swung hard to my left and felt rather than saw my blade strike against someone's ribs. No sooner had that orc been felled then I felt another try to strike at one of my shoulder blades. I escaped by continuing my run forward, hearing a howl from the creature. One of the undead had taken care of him.

One orc charged in my direction, his gaze focused on me, and I jumped backward. In doing so I narrowly avoided his falling body, which collapsed right in front of me, revealing an arrow that had been fired into his back.

"You are falling behind us." Legolas appeared, taking me by the sleeve of my tunic and hurrying me along.

"Can't help it." I replied quickly. "I'm shorter than you and Aragorn…smaller strides…"

I was propelled onward, eventually turned loose by the elf who released my sleeve to fire an arrow, keeping count under his breath. I caught sight of both Gimli and Aragorn and stayed close behind them, swept up by wave after wave of ghosts who flew from one victim to the next. My eyes adjusted to all the movement, and I discerned attacks on me more quickly.

I remembered the lessons from Aragorn well, keeping my guard up, minding the grip on my sword, how my weight shifted. One creature would spring for me and I would strike first, seeking some exposed area, a rib, or throat, or shoulder, and jabbing hard.

I was charged again, but saw my attacker this time. Not waiting, I trusted my aim and upward, stabbing into his hand. The orc screeched so loudly my ears went numb, but he dropped his weapon immediately. I retracted the blade as the creature seemed to keel over his hand in pain. This left my side open to attack, an opportunity another orc quickly took advantage of. I blocked his onslaught narrowly, shaken a little by the force of the attack. The two weapons struck each other so suddenly I almost expected sparks to appear. Rather, my attacker quickly regained his balance, escaping my block and swinging twice more. I hurried backward a few paces, lifting my sword each time to prevent his blade from slicing into my shoulder. When he drew back farther, raising the weapon far above his head in an effort to strike me down, I saw my chance. I stepped quickly to the side and jabbed forward, making contact with his hip at such an angle that I had wounded his abdomen. I withdrew, and the orc took a single step toward me. Already the sword he had raised against me was lowering rapidly, until he faltered, fell to his knees, and then over completely.

Without waiting to see if he was dead, or simply bleeding out where he lay, I regained a steady stance. I looked briefly over my shoulder, to see if there was another attack aimed at me, and to reassure myself that Aragorn and the others were still behind me. They were not. Somehow, we had become separated again in the mess. There was another screech, and my attention snapped forward again. The orc with the injured hand had turned his attention back to me, furious. He stabbed forward, blindly. I was forced to do the same. His sword narrowly missed my side, and I made contact. He hissed and fell, face down.

A wave of ghosts rushed past me, giving me a moment of safety to look around for my friends. From somewhere behind me a heard someone shouting "Twenty three!"

Gimli.

"Gimli!" I shouted. I could not be heard above the noise so I ran closer, shouting his name again with such force I felt my throat burn. I could not tell if he heard me or not, but he happened to look up and see me.

I continued to run. Something slammed into me just before I reached the dwarf, sending me and whoever it was rolling. A snarl very close to my ear informed me it was an orc. A felt a dead weight on me, and cringed, thinking an attack was soon.

"Twenty four!" Gimli smiled above me, and I realised the orc had already received a fatal blow from Gimli's axe before he could even rise enough to stab me.

The creature was rolled off me, and Gimli extended a hand to bring me to my feet. "There you are." He grinned.

"I heard you calling out your count." I grinned back.

"I'm ahead of the elf." He said triumphantly. "And by no small amount either." He added, a little more loudly. I looked behind us to see both Legolas and Aragorn. Gimli was probably proving a nuisance by calling out each time he killed another orc. Legolas could plainly hear him, and I knew he could be just as competitive Gimli.

A dreadful noise, something like the call of an animal but far deeper, rang out. I could feel the vibrations of the sound going through me. "One of those Mumakil's." Gimli warned.

I looked up from the battlefield itself and saw the beasts he spoke of, each laden with soldiers on it's back. They were the size of mountains, and I dreaded being caught under there feet. The earth probably shook with their every step under them.

I was not able to stare for long though. The battle was not yet done, and soon enemies were leaping at me, and I lost myself from the others again.

I was beginning to feel the disadvantage of my height now. One orc, twice as tall as I was, came at me. I ducked from his attack and with a clean stroke cut at his knees. This caused the creature to buckle down. At that height, I was able to swing overhead and stab into his shoulder, killing him.

Someone kicked me in the back shortly after, sending me forward. The grip on my sword was enough so that I did not lose it in the fall. I rolled to the side quickly, as a broadsword struck the ground just where I had been. I stabbed at the creature's leg, wounding him enough to make an escape.

The sound of a Mumakil rang out again, followed by dozens of men shouting at once. I glanced at one of the Mumakil's just as the saddle carrying a small army on it's back rolled off. Had it snapped? Who could manage to…?

There remained a solitary figure on the back of the animal, an archer.

Legolas.

Well whatever Gimli's count was now, the elf had surpassed it. I watched, concerned that my friend actually meant to kill the beast too. The fall of the animal was too unpredictable, and could easily kill him. But there he stood, a small figure at my distance, poised at the neck of the beast. "No…you can't be…just jump off, just jump off…" I muttered under my breath. It seemed the safer option to me, even though jumping from such a height would have caused injury.

But the animal cried out in distress seconds later, and then stumbled, falling head first into the ground, taking hap hazard and heavy steps along the way. Its hulking body swayed dangerously. It looked to be tripping itself. At last it collided the ground, roughly, and sending up such a spray of dirt and dust that I worried I would not be able to see the fate of my friend.

I discerned the figure sliding gracefully down the long nose of the animal, leaping to the ground safely. In front of him was a shorter figure, which was doubtlessly Gimli, who even from far away I could tell was unhappy with the sudden change in score.

My attention was brought back to the fight at hand, which was quickly dying out. The undead had rushed over the field and were now rushing into the White City. I was soon able to walk around without the worry of being attacked, and rather than fighting, I was drifting between the bodies, ensuring they were dead, finishing those who were not, and waving over those who could help our wounded.

The slowing down and eventual end of the battle allowed to think more clearly again. I had made it through, with no grave injuries, only the minor scrapes, bruises and overly exherted muscles. I did not know about the rest of my friends, but believed they were all well. Legolas surely was, or had been a short while ago. He had been showing off in fact. I took a moment to clean off my sword. I still hated the sight of blood, though I found it no longer turned my stomach as much as it once had. It was just the sight of it…so much of it…thank mahal orc blood was at least dark in color. Red stains in the ground spoke of how decent life had been wasted.

I disliked the battle, but I had been glad to save the White City and yet one could not be accomplished without the also doing the other. Was this how Aragorn felt about fighting and saving people as well?

After a time, longer than I had first intended, I set out looking for the others.

I found them eventually, with Aragorn speaking to the dead king.

"Release us." The king said.

"Bad idea." Gimli said, as I came closer. "Very handy in a tight spot these lads…despite the fact they're dead."

"You gave us your word!" The king of the dead hissed.

But Aragorn remained calm, even when the king's voice rose. "I hold your oath fulfilled. Go now…be at peace."

And then every green wisp of a person dissolved, blown away in the wind.

Honour before advantage. Not everyone had such a trait.

"Has anyone seen Master Gideon?" Aragorn asked afterward.

"I haven't seen him since I pulled him to his feet." Gimli said.

"Was that the last we saw him?" Legolas asked.

I began to come nearer, waving my hand, and catching Aragorn's attention.

"No one then?" Gimli asked, sounding actually worried. "So the lad could be…?" His toned turned angrier. "Well that's just…" Gimli was unable to find a decent adjective for the loss of me.

"Gimli." I said.

"The lad comes along with us, dodges everything thrown at him, learns from us all…and for what?"

"Gimli." I spoke louder.

"To be struck down just when we're coming to the end of-!"

"Gimli!" I shouted, coming right up behind him. "I'm alright."

He spun around.

"You were right behind?…you!" He seemed angry at me now.

"They were such kind words too." I smirked. "I'm glad to know you care so much." I laughed at his face, still frustrated with me. "Stop looking so gruff and annoyed with me, I'm alive after all."

This caused both Aragorn and Legolas to hide amused looks.

I looked over Gimli and at Aragorn. "What now?"

"Eowyn!" We heard Eomer shout.

"Eowyn?" I asked. "She fought? But…but didn't Theoden disagree?..."

"He did." Aragorn said, moving past me quickly and hurrying to find where Eowyn was, and what state she was in.

We found her being cradled by her brother. She was hurt, and exhausted. If not for the gentle rise and fall of her chest, she would have been taken for dead.

She was carried back, by Aragorn and Eomer. I followed close behind, seeing Fali in her still, and seeing my mother in her too now. Aragorn bandaged her wounds. At some point Legolas told us that Theoden had died, and the news was only half-heard.

"She'll live?" I asked Aragorn.

"It seems that she will." Aragorn said.

"But are you certain?"

"Gideon you shouldn't worry yourself." He replied.

I stayed by her as she rested. It only seemed right. Aragorn had to move onto other injured men, Gimli couldn't stir me, having to bring word that Merry and Pippin were well. Legolas did not even try to get me to move from my post, instead bringing me food when I did not get up to fetch any myself.

He glanced over Eowyn when he came, surveying the blanket I laid across her, and glancing at her feet. "You removed her shoes?" He asked.

"She did the same for me." I said.