So here is the next chapter for the events of the Return of the King. I am happy to see that I surprised a few of you with Fili's early appearance. I just couldn't let him miss the huge at Minas Tirith.
I just want to point out that Inara's newest sword looks just like red sword that Tidus uses in the Final Fantasy Ten game. Only difference is that there is a dwarven inscription on it.
Enjoy the beginnings of the battle.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit or LOTR.
Dunharrow...
Night has fallen over the armies of Rohan and Erebor at Dunharrow. Many of the men are glad to see the dwarves have joined them. As for the dwarves, most of them were thrilled at the idea that they would be seeing battle yet again. For most of them had lost family member at the beginning of the Erebor siege and after. So many saw this as a way of paying retribution to the one who ended the lives of those they lost.
Stories of the breaking of the siege had been told in the camps when the dwarves joined the men for a late evening supper. Yet each dwarf told a different part of the epic tale, and the men enjoyed hearing the triumph. Some of the men even shared their own battle stories in return.
Up in Théoden's tent, Fili had told the tale the best he could with Balder filling in anything that he may have missed. When Balder had told them about Bofur's deadly injury, and that of Kilian's injury, Tauriel had to leave the tent. Kili, though proud that his son had fought, tried hard not to show emotion as he was told of his son losing his hand. It was by that point that Kili had left to go join Tauriel.
From there, Thorin had asked Fili about the breaking of the siege and that is when Fili asked for a refill of his ale before he continued. With a cup full of ale, Fili downed the whole thing in one go before speaking.
"We waited till nightfall to strike." Fili says while staring down at his once again empty cup. "It was Vân's idea, by the way."
Thorin sighs at hearing that his youngest lad had come up with that part of the plan. Inara only smiles at hearing it. Leave it to her youngest to remember her telling stories of battles being won in the dead of night.
"We didn't open the gates, but used the sides of the mountain to come down from the ramparts of the main gate." Fili continues saying. "We only sent out those who were agile, fast, and heavy hitting. Of course Dwalin and Fergys were the ones to lead the first wave."
"You mean Fergys actually fought?" Frerin asks Fili. He is astonished to hear that his once quiet and reserved cousin had actually gone to battle.
"Yeah. Dwalin said his lad was a natural after it was all done and over with." Fili says to Frerin giving him a wink. "Anyways, let me keep going without sidetracking the story."
Everyone chuckled at Fili's telling off of Frerin. As the chuckles died away, Fili continues with his story.
"So the first wave had snuck down without raising alarm from our enemy. From there, they moved quickly through the many pikes that the enemy had placed before our gates." Fili shudders with remembrance of those dwarves, and men, whose bodies or heads were placed on the pointed tops. "As our troops got closer to their encampment, Dwalin noticed that their night watchmen had actually fallen asleep at their posts. They were the easiest to slaughter without anyone taking notice. Once they were taken care of, I led our second wave out of Erebor. We joined up with the first wave, and started setting fire to all of the enemy tents and killing any of them who escaped. Lucky for us, most of their army was in the encampment and not hiding away inside of Dale."
"What of those that were in Dale?" Kelda asks her uncle from where she is seated next to Legolas.
"Bard, Brand's son, had us hurl large flash bombs into the city." Fili replies to Kelda. Then he looks to Inara before speaking again. "I had Karys and Yuri go through our private library to find that book Ori wrote. You know, the one with those ideas of yours. It took Karys a while to perfect the correct mixture of ingredients so that those flash bombs would explode properly and cause a lot of damage."
Inara gives Fili a small, sad smile. "Hopefully you won't ever use that idea again. I had Ori write those to serve as a lesson for nonuse, not as an instructional guide in how to use them."
Fili lets out sigh at hearing Inara's displeasure. "Well it actually helped us, and Dale, get rid of the enemy forces. If we didn't use that knowledge, then we would still be locked inside of Erebor."
Inara gives Fili a scowl before excusing herself for the evening by stating that she is tired. Everyone bids her a goodnight as she left Théoden's tent. Thorin, knowing that something is bothering Inara, also makes his excuses and leaves the tent.
Fili watched as Thorin left the tent, and was wondering just what all has been going on. He turns to look at Frerin and Durin, but both boys shake their heads at their older cousin. Then Fili looks to Kelda, who refuses to meet her uncle's eyes.
"So what have I been missing out on?" Fili asks loudly.
It's Éomer who answers Fili's question. "The long story or the short one?"
"Either one will do."
Before Éomer can speak, Théoden cuts into the conversation. "It is best to let it go, King Fili."
Fili decides to let it go for now, though he does plan on pigeon-holding Kili into telling him what has happened between Inara and Thorin.
Once the supper has ended and stories of battle are told, Théoden's guests make their way to their own tents to get some sleep. Since Fili and Balder had arrived after the setup of the camp, they were going to sleep in Tauriel and Kili's tent for the night.
Night has set in full, and the full moon is the only light that shines in the encampment, since everyone who isn't are sentry duty is asleep. However, not everyone is getting a goodnights rest. For in Inara and Thorin's tent, someone is awake.
With a rolling stomach, Inara moves slowly in an attempt to extradite herself from Thorin's sleep-heavy arms. With slow movements, so not to wake her bed partner, Inara takes hold of one of the fur-hide covers and wraps it around her blue tunic covered body. Getting up out of bed, Inara walks quietly to the tent's entrance. Glancing over her left shoulder, Inara looks over to where her two boys are sleeping, huddled up together on their sleeping mats in the corner. Seeing that they are sound asleep, Inara leaves the tent.
Inara traverses the small sea of tents till she reaches a tree. Going around the trunk of the tree, Inara places a hand on the tree and proceeds to lose the contents of her stomach. Twice. Once the purging is done, Inara spits the nasty stomach acid aftertaste to the ground. Removing her hand from the tree trunk, Inara uses the back of that hand to wipe away any spit from her lips.
"I am surprised to see you awake so late, my lady." A serious voice says from behind her.
Spinning around to see who it is, Inara lets out a gasp of surprise.
"Lord Elrond." Inara says, giving a small bow to the Elven Lord.
"Does he know, your dwarf husband?" Elrond asks as he offers out a waterskin to Inara. "Drink. It is only water."
Inara takes the offering of water from Elrond and takes a sip of it. The cool liquid helps chill the fire that is burning in her throat and mouth.
"How long do you plan to keep quiet about it?" Elrond asks Inara as he eyes her over carefully.
"What are you talking about?" Inara asks in return after taking a second sip of the water.
Elrond gives Inara a serious look before speaking in a low tone to her. "You know what I am speaking of, Inara. Though you are purposefully ignoring the signs because you fear it to be true. How far along are you?"
Inara lets her eyes fill with tears and she tries to hold back her sobs by taking deep breaths. She had been trying hard not to give any thought about it, but for the Lord Elrond to say something to her, she knows now that she can no longer ignore it.
"Six, maybe seven weeks." Inara says between straining breaths. "Though I can't really be sure. Ever since leaving Rivendell my damn cycle has been appearing at random with no set pattern to it. You know how difficult it is to go almost four years without the bloody thing just to have it reappear? I'm supposed to be done with all this. Done with that damn bloody cycle, and done with bearing children. But no, some dark fucktard decides he wants to force me to do this all again, only for him this time."
By this point, Elrond can tell that Inara is starting to go into hysterics over it all, and decides to intervene.
"You are not the only one bound to the fate of the One Ring." Elrond tells her as he gently places a hand upon her shoulder. "My own daughter and nearly every person on Middle Earth is bound to it as well. I would suggest you stay out of battle tomorrow, but from what Gandalf has told me, you have a will of your own."
Inara takes a few breaths to try and calm herself down. Using the tanned side of the fur blanket, Inara wipes away the tears running down her cheeks. Once the evidence of her tears are gone, Inara hands the waterskin back to Elrond.
"Thank you." Inara says softly to him.
"You are most welcome." Elrond says as he takes the waterskin from Inara. "You are always welcome to stay in Rivendell, my lady."
Inara gives Elrond a softy smile before watching the elven lord make his way towards Théoden's tent. Once he disappears inside, Inara makes her way back to her own tent to try and get some rest.
Unknown to Inara, the conversation between her and Elrond had been overheard, and she was watched more closely when she had left to go back to her tent.
An hour later, Aragorn is preparing to leave the encampment with his horse in tow. As he leads his horse towards the mountain road, a cough comes out from the side.
"Just where do you think you're going laddie?" Gimli growls out from his place before a small fire.
"Not this time." Aragorn says to the red-haired dwarf. "This time, you must stay Gimli."
The sound of another horse coming up alongside his, draws Aragorn's attention to the other side. Standing next to the white horse is Legolas and Kelda.
"Have you learned nothing about the stubbornness of Dwarves?" Legolas asks Aragorn with a smirk on his face.
"You might as well accept it laddie." Gimli says to Aragorn. "We're going with you."
Aragorn lets out a sigh before glancing at Kelda. "I suppose you are coming as well?"
"You bet your ass I am." Kelda replies with a smirk on her face that is just like Kili's. "Besides someone needs to keep you males out of trouble."
"And Kili is okay with you going lassie?" Gimli asks his cousin.
"He is." Kelda says sheepishly as the three males look at her. "Alright. Adad won't find out till morning, but naneth already knows and will tell him for me."
The three males smile at Kelda's response to their knowing looks. Setting themselves up on the two horses, Aragorn takes Kelda with him while Legolas has Gimli riding with him. Slowly the two horses carry the four companions into the mountain road.
In the morning light, the encampment is coming to life with preparations. Last minute sharpening of weapons, fixing of armor, and morning meals are being done in the camps.
In Thorin and Inara's tent there is a lot of bustling around going on. Along with an argument being waged.
"What do you mean she left?!" Kili yells at Tauriel as he watches his red-haired yâsith help Inara tie up her armor corset.
"I told you. She left late last night with Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas." Tauriel replies back calmly, even though she want yell back at him. "Gimli is with Kelda, so it isn't like she won't have a chaperone."
Fili smirks at his pacing brother while trying to tie up his gauntlet to his wrist. He too was surprised to hear that Kelda had rode off with Legolas, Gimli, and this man named Aragorn during the night. Though from what he had overheard from Durin and Frerin's discussion with Balder the night before, it sounded as if his auburn-haired niece was becoming quite close with Thranduil's son.
"Kili, give it a rest." Thorin growls out from where he is allowing Durin and Frerin to help him with his armor. "Besides, you need to dress if you are to be joining us in battle. Unless you wish to stay behind."
Kili stops his pacing and glares at Thorin while the others try hard not laugh at the look on the archer's face. "I plan on getting my armor on once Tauriel is done helping Inara."
"You can dress yourself, Kili. You don't need my help." Tauriel says while giving him a smile.
Kili gives her a scowl and lets out a huffed growl before heading out to his own tent. This causes everyone to snicker for a few minutes. Once Tauriel is done helping with Inara's mithril and silver armored corset, she leaves the tent to prepare herself.
Along with the silver colored armored corset, Inara's battle outfit has matching gauntlets that reach up to just under her elbows. Her upper arms only have the black leather hide of her under armor and cream colored tunic. The armored corset covers most of her shoulders and has a triangle cut in the front that leaves the leather under armor covering the top of her chest and collarbone. Her legs are covered by the leather under armor with her leather boots of the same black color. At her waist sits a thick leather belt that holds two tomahawks and her newest weapon, courtesy of Fili, a red colored sword. The red sword has a small pummel to it, and as you go down the blade, there is a section of it that is separated with a point facing the holder, and the end of the sword comes to a point. Oh the flat part of the blade, Fili and Balder had etched dwarven runes onto it which state, 'Feel the flames of retribution strike you down'. Her hair is done in many braids with not a single strand left free.
"Your new armor suits you, Amad." Durin says with a smile on his face as he walks away from Thorin to get a good look at Inara's armor.
"Thank you, Durin." Inara says with a smile. "I only wish I didn't have to wear it." She is still a bit worried that the corset might reveal her secret to everyone.
"It befits my Tharkâl." Durin says to her, letting his voice echo with all of his previous incarnations.
"Durin is right." Thorin says once Frerin finishes tying off his other gauntlet. "It is time that my warrior queen have suitable armor to wear before our enemy."
"Definitely better than what she wore for the Battle of the Five Armies. From what I heard, Amad could have been mistaken for you, Adad." Frerin says jokingly as he begins adding the finishing touches to his own battle armor, which is the same one that he wore at Helm's Deep.
Fili tries hard not to laugh at Frerin's statement for he too thought the same thing when he saw them come to the gate almost sixty years ago. This time, however, Thorin will be wearing armor that is made of a silver, gold, and iron mix to it. Its color is of a tarnished gold color, and to Fili's relief looks the same as his. He had planned this so that the enemy wouldn't know which of the two dwarfs was more important. Fili also made sure to have several other dwarves dressed in near matching armor to the royal family that way they won't be singled out during the fighting. As for Inara's armor, Brea and a few other dams are dressed in nearly the exact same style as their queen.
"Are you all ready?" Balder asks as he enters the tent, dressed in his own armor. "The King of Rohan is growing impatient to ride out."
"I believe we are finished here." Fili says as he looks to the others to see if they are dressed and ready.
Seeing that everyone is battle ready, Fili decides to lead them out of the tent. Fili takes the lead with Thorin and Inara flanking him. Followed by Durin, Frerin, and Balder, and eventually Kili, in his dwarven armor that Fili had brought him, and Tauriel, in her elven leathers and dwarven made armor.
Brea is waiting for them at the cliff edge with several battle rams tied to a rope line. Seeing the royal family's approach, she bows to them and waits for Fili to address her.
"Is the army ready to move out?" Fili asks Brea as the rest of the family takes charge of their battle rams.
"Everyone with a ram is ready to depart, my king. However, those on foot will be following behind in the pull wagons." Brea replies to Fili.
"Very good, Brea." Fili says to the dam as he takes charge of his battle ram.
Once settled in the saddle on the ram, Fili leads the group down the winding mountain path so that they may catch up to Théoden who is already down below with his own troop. Reaching the bottom, Fili and the royal family form up with Théoden at the front of the massive army. Dwarves on battle rams, and men on horses follow their kings as they head out for battle.
"It's a three day ride to Minas Tirith." Théoden calls out to Fili and Thorin who have positioned their rams next to Théoden's horse on the left.
"Our rams will not tire." Fili calls back to Théoden.
Minas Tirith...
As they await the arrival of help, all of Minas Tirith watches as Sauron's armies move towards the city. The dark clouds have begun to cover the sky above the white city, which has the people of the city scared. On the horizon, the guards can see the massive army slowly approaching the city that they have sworn to protect.
As the armies approach the city walls, a lone horse brings back its master to the city gates. The guards open the gates, only a little, to let the horse inside. Once the horse has entered, then do they realize that the horse has dragged back the steward's son. The guards make a stretcher so that they may carry the fallen heir to the main citadel.
Toril and Pippin were inside the main audience hall when word reached them that Faramir had returned alone. Denethor was quick to rush outside to see the stretcher being brought to him.
"Faramir!" Denethor calls out as he rushes towards his son. "Say not that he has fallen."
"They were outnumbered. None survived." A soldier from the gate says to Denethor.
"My sons are spent." Denethor says sadly as he stumbles away from Faramir. "My line has ended."
Toril and Pippin, both, hurry over to Faramir to see if what Denethor is saying is true. While Toril checks Faramir's neck for a pulse, Pippin notices that Faramir breaths shallowly.
"He's alive." Toril whispers to Pippin. "But just barely. His pulse is weak, but there. He needs to see a healer."
"He still lives." Pippin calls out. "He needs medicine, my lord!"
Denethor's voice calls out for people to flee before it suddenly falls silent. Looking towards where Denethor had been standing, Pippin and Toril see Gandalf standing over a fallen Denethor. Gandalf decides to take control over the defense of the city. He hurries off to lead the men to the wall, leaving Toril and Pippin behind.
"It's going to take a miracle to survive this battle." Toril says to Pippin.
"Let us hope that Gandalf can hold the line till the reinforcements arrive." Pippin replies. "What kind of medicine does Faramir need?"
"How should I know? Kelda was the one training to be a healer." Toril growls out at Pippin before looking towards one of the council men. "You. Get Faramir to a healer! He still has a pulse."
"Right away." The man says before sending a woman to go find a healer.
"Right." Toril says as she takes hold of Pippin's arm. "We need to go help Gandalf. This city is going to need every able fighter."
"You plan on fighting?" Pippin says in shock as Toril begins to haul him away from Faramir.
"I mean to kill some orc." Toril growls in response. "Mahal knows that this is what I have spent the last two decades training for."
Toril, with Pippin in tow, heads down into the city to find the armory. If she is going to be fighting, she is going to be needing a weapon. 'Multiple weapons.' Toril thinks to herself.
It takes the two of them twenty minutes to reach the armory, and Toril rushes about quickly to find a helm for Pippin to wear and a sword for him to use. Once he is outfitted, Toril rushes about grabbing what weapons she can from the armory. Luckily she is wearing one of her altered dresses that allows her legs free movement from under the skirt. At her leather belt at her waist, Toril tuck dagger after dagger between the belt and her body. Then she proceeds to tuck a few short knives into her leather boots, being careful not to cut her pants. Once confident that she is well armed, Toril takes hold of a sword and turns to look at Pippin.
"What?" She asks him at seeing his surprised look. "A girl needs protection."
"You mean to carry that many weapons into battle."
"Yes. You never want to be left weaponless in battle. Or so says my uncle Fili." Toril tells Pippin before grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the armory.
"You are one strange lass, Toril." Pippin shouts to her over the sounds of the beginning battle.
"Yes, well, you're the one who's married to me." Toril shouts back as they run after a contingent of soldiers.
The two of them keep running and as they turn a corner, a loud high shriek echoes through the air. This causes Toril to let go of Pippin's hand and cover her ears. Pippin pulls off his helmet and covers his own ears trying to block the sound. The pair stumble into an open patio before their knees give way thanks to the pain from the high pitch cry. It becomes too much for Pippin and he screams out in pain, while Toril growls through her pain.
Once the shrieking dies down, Pippin and Toril uncover their ears and look at each other.
"You okay, Pippin?" Toril asks as she stands up.
"Yeah. How about you?" Pippin asks as he moves towards her and begins to check her over for any injury.
"I'm fine." Toril slaps Pippins hands away from their checking of her person for injury. "We need to find Gandalf."
Pippin nods his head in agreement and takes hold of Toril's hand. Just as he is about to pull her out from under the patio awning a large chunk of rock debris falls nears them. It sends out smaller pieces and a lot of dust on impact, which causes Pippin to use his body to half cover Toril from the smaller debris.
"Pippin! Are you okay?" Toril shouts as she pushes Pippin off of her. "Were you hurt?"
Pippin, panting out while in some shock, looks at Toril with a dazed look in his eyes. "I don't think so."
Toril lets out a breath, which she didn't know she was holding. Then takes hold of Pippin's hand, again, and pulls him into an embrace. "You need to focus, Pippin. You're going to have to set aside everything you know, and focus on surviving this battle. You hear me. Do not hesitate in battle."
Then she surprises herself by pressing her forehead to Pippin's before talking again. "Let's kill some orcs. Okay?"
Pippin nods his head, rubbing his forehead against Toril's. "I can do that."
"Good."
Toril rushes off, pulling Pippin with her as they run through the white city in their search for Gandalf. It doesn't take them long to find the white wizard at the front lines of the battle.
"Gandalf!" Toril shouts as her and Pippin hurry down a set of stairs.
Gandalf turns to see the two coming towards him. "Toril. Take Pippin and go back to the citadel!"
"But they called us out to fight." Pippin says, which wasn't really a lie since the pair had come across others from the citadel running to battle as well.
A loud crash is heard from the right, and both Toril and Pippin see a wave of orcs approaching from the crude looking tower that was not letting orcs into the city. Frozen with fear Pippin takes a few steps back while Toril pulls the sword from her waist. However, she isn't given the chance to use it.
Gandalf comes to stand between the orcs and the two. Swinging both staff and sword, Gandalf keeps the orcs from reaching Toril and Pippin.
"Get out of here. This is no place for either of you." Gandalf yells as he takes down an orc.
As Gandalf keeps fighting, a two orcs approach when his back is turned while taking down other orcs. Seeing the threat, Toril growls out before rushing forwards to engage the orcs. Locking swords with one of the orcs, she doesn't realize that Pippin has followed her. Once she takes down the orc she is fighting, with a dagger thrown into its throat, Toril turns to see Pippin pulling his sword out of the other orc's stomach.
"Guard of the Citadel, indeed." Gandalf says in surprise that Pippin has just taken down an orc. "Now back up the hill, both of you. Quickly!"
"But Gandalf!" Toril shouts out, not realizing that Pippin has taken hold of her free hand. The rest of her words of lost as she is pulled by a fast moving Pippin, who is heading back to the Citadel. "What the hell, my dagger is still back there!"
"Now is not the time to be worrying about a single dagger, when you are carrying so many." Pippin retorts as he keeps pulling her away from the fighting.
I'm going to end this chapter here. I could take it farther, but this seemed like a good place to stop for now. The next chapter is going to be a long one. Making this one shorter will help the track of events flow much easier.
Reviews are loved and cherished.
Selene