Never Gonna Give You Up Chapter 11
Hina didn't sleep much that night. The call of something ominous in the far distance plagued her mind. It wasn't a foreign feeling to her anymore after having travelled months on the road with Frodo and the one ring. Still it had been a while since she'd felt that kind of darkness. Galadriel's gift to her had saved her life in that sense. Hina thought she would have succumbed to the darkness during the war on Helm's Deep without her blessing.
Because of the party, a lot of women had overtaken her guest room which the day before had been empty. They were frail, pretty little things. Not a fight in their bones and certainly not a threat to her, but she'd never been comfortable sleeping around strangers. The people of Rohan were still strangers to her. Unwilling to be exposed, even in the midst of non-combatants she changed into her green kimono, and ignored the cold air against her exposed legs as she made outside. It was in the cover of night, and if they found her scandalous, she wasn't really in the mood to care.
She had been planning to go to the balcony but hadn't expected to run into Legolas there. He inclined his head towards her with a smile before he turned to face East. In the distance she could feel the red darkness of Sauron.
"He must be powerful," she noted. "More powerful than anyone I have met before... and I personally know a man who could level an entire kingdom with just the gaze of his eyes. To be more powerful than that... I do wonder if it's possible to defeat him."
Legolas took the information of another man that powerful rather gracefully. He did in fact understand the sheer presence of Sauron more than most. The Elves could feel the darkness better than Men could. They understood the warped nature of it. Legolas had a strong will, and he was able to ignore it, like he did the power on Hina's neck. He was coming to wonder if things were always as they seemed, if someone good could have such twisted energy.
"Sauron is moving, his forces are preparing to unleash their plague. I can feel the change in the air," Legolas said grimly as he turned to nod at Aragorn who had come too. She had come for solitude and found company.
"Couldn't sleep as well?" Hina asked.
"There is a foulness in the air tonight," Aragorn said with a grimace.
"That's because big daddy Sauron is on his way apparently," Hina groused. "He must have felt Saruman's defeat."
Aragorn snorted in amusement at her casual address of the Dark Lord. He supposed her irreverence was a welcome distraction from the fear he kept hidden away in the face of such odds.
"We have defeated Saruman's forces against all odds. Maybe fate is yet on our side."
"It is," Hina said knowingly.
She had a feeling her hand in this world wouldn't have changed much of the prophesied events she had watched in her previous life. In Konoha she had managed to irrevocably change the destiny of her lands. Whether for good or bad she didn't know, but she didn't think the same could be said about this world. More beings than the Elves, Dwarves, and the Humans had their hands in events here. It seemed even supposed gods were invested.
"The stars are veiled… something stirs in the East, a sleepless malice, and the eye of the enemy once again moves. I feel it now," Legolas warned again.
Just as Legolas finished his final warning all three of them turned to the sound of Merry screaming. Hina felt a sound almost akin to the call of the ring. She body flickered almost instantly into the men's sleeping quarters where she witnessed Pippin holding the Palantir.
"Sauron's eye!" Hina gasped as she grabbed the ball out of Pippin's hands to get it away, only to find herself sucked into its call.
She was in a storming world of red fire the next time she opened her eyes. In the distance was Sauron's eyes, slitted and angry looking down at her. She gasped at his overwhelming presence as they met gazes, slitted eyes reflecting each other's, green and red.
"You will bend girl. Then you will become but a hollow shell for my use!"
Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro! Utsuro!
Hina let out a cry of pain as she fell to her knees from this oppressive and indomitable force against her shoulders.
"No!"
She couldn't bend—she couldn't break. Not anymore, a thing to be used and abused by greater, more powerful men! She was her own person! Not a shell to be filled!
"I'm not hollow!" she cried out.
"Your struggle is in VAIN! I will use you to find the ring!"
"Aghhhh!"
Hina let out an ear-piercing scream as she saw through Middle-Earth, as if she was a being flying through it incorporeal and open to the winds. Then she passed a giant white city, with a white tree and she saw it—armies so big, so vast, and endless that it put Saruman's forces to shame. She did not have a moment to gaze upon it because she was flown straight into the tower under the eye and before her was a man of great stature, taller than any she had ever seen before, even taller than Strider.
"NOW YOU ARE MIN—"
Before Sauron could finish his binding, Hina felt his cold grip leave her mind and she was flung outside of this incorporeal state. She struggled to breath, eyes forced shut, as she gasped terribly for breath. A warm hand was on her cheeks, patting them as if stressing her to wake up.
"Open your eyes Hina! Look at me!"
She shook her head through tremors. Eventually she began to recognise that voice as Gandalf's and with all her effort she forced open her eyes to look again. The relief was only mild that it wasn't Sauron's eye that met her again. With trembling hands she pulled into Gandalf's embrace, teeth chattering with fear. She had been so close… so close to becoming the thing she most feared.
"Gandalf," Hina gasped as she gripped his robes tightly.
"Look at me Hina—what did you see?" Gandalf implored, as he searched the girl's now narrowly slitted eyes.
"A… tree… a white tree, and white stone… a-and forces so big they dwarfed Saruman's army… and… a-and Sauron," she hissed his name.
Hollow
Hina jerked at the voice, eyes darting around as she took a sharp intake of breath in.
"It's him. I can hear his voice in my head," she whimpered, as she shut her eyes.
"Hina focus. Tell me what you saw?" Gandalf asked.
"The white city—it's on the brink of his fire… he will carve me out Gandalf! He will carve me out from the inside," she cried as she shut her eyes tightly and pushed her face into the Wizard's chest.
Hina was grateful for once to be held in the arms of Gandalf because it draped over her like a mild comfort in the aftershock of something so terrible as what she'd faced. If Gandalf had not snapped her out of it a moment later, she would have had her very soul taken from her by Sauron. That she was sure of, because she could still feel the taint of his hand in her chest. It felt exactly like the taint of Orochimaru in her system after he'd given her the cursed seal.
"You are not with him now, little one," Gandalf said in comfort, before he shot Pippin a glare.
The Hobbit looked down in horrified guilt at what he had just done. He had never seen Hina devolve into such a whimpering mess before, and he'd seen her with her arm cut off looking calmer than she was now. Her whole body trembled against Gandalf like a shaking leaf in the wind. Aragorn came down to a kneel beside Gandalf not a moment later, taking the girl from his arms.
"I-I give me a moment," Hina mumbled, as she pulled away and wiped her trembling hands on her sweaty brows.
She stood up shakily, legs staggering as she got up. Only Aragorn helping her maintain her balance had allowed her to walk out of the room and away from the eyes of countless men who had seen her nearly cry. She didn't stop, even for the growing pain in her neck, or the way her seal activated and pulsed so painfully. She let out a whimper as she fell to her knees out on the balcony.
"Hina, are you ok?"
It was Aragorn. He was behind her. She felt his hand about to touch her shoulder and she turned and hissed like a snake. Aragorn staggered back for a second and Hina realised her seal had been activated. Her skin was pulsing with the dark fire like marks. She grabbed her neck and let out a groan, as she put her forehead down on the cool stone floor.
"You're in pain," Aragorn cursed as he knelt next to the girl who was rocking her body through its silent tremors.
"Leave Aragorn-san, I-I can't bear it any longer," Hina hissed through gritted teeth as she blinked back a growing, blinding pain. Soon she would be writhing and shouting in pain, and that was something she'd prefer to weather out alone where she didn't have to worry about looking weak.
"No, I will not leave you."
Hina cursed as she felt the presence of Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf rush in as well. She let out a cry of pain, drawing blood from her neck as her chakra activated painfully in her chest.
Gandalf felt a growing evil from within the girl and knew instantly that something foul was coming. He had always hoped beyond hope that she wouldn't succumb like he knew she would when faced with such a dark and unbearable burden. Yet now she was, and it wasn't how he'd imagined it. A great evil was coming to them, yes, but it wasn't her.
Aragorn watched in shocked horror as Hina let out a cry and opened her jaw too widely for a human to possibly open. A white snake's head emerged from within her mouth, bulging out the girl's neck on its way until it slithered out slowly, leaving her limp and gasping on the ground. Aragorn drew his sword to cut the snake when it opened its jaws and the yellow eyes of a serpent shone through its throat, and a laugh echoed from within. He stepped back, as a pale man with long dark hair stuck his head out of the now empty snake, ripping its jaws open and stepping out like a monster shedding its skin.
Aragorn pointed his sword at the man and his eyes widened when he saw the same markings on his eyes and earrings that Hina had, except his were purple. It took but a moment for him to recognise this figure from Hina's story. This was Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru-shishou," Hina whispered, her voice raspy as she rubbed her throat.
"Imagine my surprise when my student disappears for a month," Orochimaru said in their native tongue, as he leaned down and grabbed Hina by her scalp and hoisted her up. "and I find her allowing another man's energy into her body."
"Unhand her or face my axe," Gimli shouted angrily.
Hina held out her hands towards the group to stop them. She couldn't shake her head because Orochimaru had his hands gripped in her scalp holding her in place. He looked pissed. She knew she'd get punished for things later, but she didn't think he would come here. If she knew she would have been a danger to the Fellowship, she would have left them all earlier. They didn't know who they were provoking. Orochimaru would slaughter them.
"S-Stay back. Don't hurt him," she urged her friends desperately, hoping the desperation in her eyes spoke more than her words could convey.
Her attempt at calming them was ruined when Orochimaru jerked her up to her feet by her scalp. She didn't let out a pained whimper as she gritted her teeth at the throbbing ache it brought to her head.
"You've made friends," Orochimaru noted.
"They weren't the ones who tried to control me. It was a man named Sauron," Hina explained.
Orochimaru let go of her hair, although the look of irritation didn't leave his face as he continued to stare down at her, entirely ignoring the men at his back. He barely paid any mind to their obvious killing intent.
"Explain what's going or I'm going to kill him now for touching you," Gimli shouted angrily, a rise of fury and indignation appearing at the so brazen disrespect towards his friend.
"Say the word," Legolas agreed, his eyes narrowing on Orochimaru.
"You cannot kill him! Even if you wanted to. He's my master," Hina said holding her hands out, unsure of any other word to use for 'Shishou'. "Let me talk to him first."
Legolas and Aragorn were not at all quelled by this. They'd put together enough of her story to know about said master. Despite not telling them much, they'd understood through her haunted gaze how he wasn't a good man. Aragorn of course knew that he was the one who'd cursed her with that mark on her neck, and it was taking a considerable amount of self-control to not move to protect the child.
"Not only do you manage to find yourself in another world, but you go off and prostrate yourself before a new man like a bitch without her master."
Hina lowered her head. His words stung as painfully as a hornet. She knew he was being cruel because he was angry—that these words were carefully crafted to hurt her. It only hurt because there was some measure of truth to it. She had nearly given up the entirety of her being to Sauron. Maybe she was someone who needed a master… someone to be controlled. She'd crawled from under one master to another. Pathetic.
She shook her head. No, what she did was of her own will now. Even her stay with Orochimaru was her choice. He wasn't her master. She was beholden to no one but her family. Now was not the time to get depressed by sharply crafted words. If Sauron had a hold on her, she couldn't go back to the Elemental Nations safely, and neither could she remain here safely either. She needed a way to get rid of it.
"How do I get rid of him?" she asked.
"I will get rid of him. It's time I fix your mess and take you back where you belong," Orochimaru said angrily. "You've wasted enough of my time."
"But you have not seen Sauron! His armies are big, and he's too powerful for even just you!"
"I will see for myself," Orochimaru said idly. He turned to give Hina a sharp glare and slapped a seal on her forehead before pushing his own against hers.
"That's it!" Gimli shouted angrily as he swung his axe at the man.
Orochimaru caught the weapon without even turning around, and Hina looked wide eyed at her friends with a subtle shake of her head. Gimli tried to pull his axe back and Orochimaru let go, making him stumble backwards. Orochimaru stood up tall and imposing, and Hina wasn't surprised when he spoke in Westron. The cursed seal allowed him aspects of her knowledge, or at least the ones she hadn't sealed away from him.
"It seems my student has once again made a mess of things," he said in Westron, shocking the group.
"What brings you here then twisted creature?" Gandalf asked, feeling the sheer darkness from Orochimaru's now less than human soul.
Seeing the teacher before him, Gandalf was reminded of Hina's own energy except far more artificial and wrong. Now he understood her fate should she remain under this man. Little by little she would give him her humanity until she was but a reflection of him.
"I felt my dear student's call for help through her seal. I'd been content to let her runaway for a little while. She'd always been a bit of a free spirit—not suited to sit in a lab like a good little girl and take her medication," he said with an unnerving smile.
Hina grimaced. She had been growing more and more interested in her own personal studies, ducking away from the lab that would promise pain and power so she could be by herself for a little while. Orochimaru's body modifications were in no way painless or easy to get through. It wore her down. Time away from the lab was like an addicting reprieve these days. What had once been a study of passion, was now a science she detested. A necessary evil that was growing harder to justify with every passing day.
"But she somehow managed to get herself stuck in another world, and soul bound to another master. I can't have that, or my seal will become his. I will just have to help kill this Sauron for you," Orochimaru explained.
"And this is the truth?" Aragorn asked as he looked at Hina.
"Yes Aragorn-san… the Palantir… it brought me too close to him, and now it's the only way to get rid of him," Hina mumbled.
Now Frodo not only had the fate of this world in his hands, but also the fate of her soul. She shivered as Orochimaru put a hand on her head.
"I would like to talk to my student in private now."
"You will do no such thing," Aragorn said, as he grabbed Hina by her arms and pulled her away from the man.
Before Aragorn could blink, Orochimaru had a knife to his throat. The ranger looked to his left to be met with unnerving golden eyes. He grit his teeth as Hina shouted his name, but he showed no fear, just rage. The unnerving laugh from the man's lips made everyone draw their weapons again.
"You think you can presume to tell me what I do with what's mine?" Orochimaru hummed.
"She isn't yours," Aragorn replied with a deep warning in his tone.
"Let him go Orochimaru-shishou, or I will make you," Hina demanded coldly as she pointed a kunai to the man's back, behind where she could easily puncture his lung.
Orochimaru laughed as he turned around to his defiant student. Then it died when in blinding speed he grabbed her head and slammed it into the ground. Hina let out a cry before an arrow was shot at Orochimaru who easily grabbed it mid-air. She hissed in anger before twisting her leg up and kicking him off her. Orochimaru flipped in the air and landed on the balcony gracefully as he licked the blood of his lips.
"You touch a hair on their heads and you're mine," Hina growled.
"Oh got yourself some new pets… tell me Hina, what did I do to that last one of yours?" Orochimaru replied, gleaming joy from the stricken expression on her face.
Hina let out an enraged scream as she went through her hand seals and created a sharp blade of wind in her hand.
"Hina don't—" Aragorn warned.
But he was too late as he watched the two figures blur in the most acrobatic and fastest display of sword fighting, he had ever seen before. Hina's wind blade clashed against Orochimaru's katana as they went up against each other in a match. In her anger she did not see Orochimaru's kick coming, and she was thrown into the wall behind her breaking the stone. She coughed out blood before wiping her mouth, hissing, and getting up, but it was too late as his hands grabbed her by the head again and he slammed it once again into the wall behind her. She felt her world blur as he grabbed her by her scalp and shoved her onto her knees.
"It's been a while since you've been so petulant. Let's fix that."
Water.
Hina let out a tortured cry as she felt herself getting engulfed in a water prison as Orochimaru drew out the water from the lake below them. Hina watched, unable to do anything in the prison of her nightmares as Orochimaru easily blocked all of her friends' blows and knocked them down one by one. Even Gandalf was thrown aside. She let out a scream as Orochimaru was about to stab Legolas when she threw her remaining shuriken at his back. The Sannin dodged and turned around with a smile as she swallowed in water. She felt her vision about to blank when suddenly she was thrown to the floor and the water dropped around her too. She coughed out water and gasped for air simultaneously as she held her abused throat.
"What's going on here?!"
She turned to see King Théoden and several of his men including Éomer come out drawing their swords. Orochimaru turned and greeted them with a short bow.
"Well it seems I've come here to aid you in your war alongside my student," he said grinning at Hina.
Aragorn doubted there was anyone who could do anything against such a powerful foe. He could not fault Hina for never leaving such a terrifying man. He was much too powerful to do anything against, but he had seen the cruelty he used against his own supposed student, and it made his blood boil to have to consort with him. Hina looked more uncomfortable than he'd ever seen her. Whatever smile and jokes she had before gone too, replaced by a stony exterior and a stiff posture. It didn't escape his notice that she had placed herself in-between him and the rest of the Fellowship as they went into the hall for private council with the King.
"So to show your allegiance you fight my men and hurt a child?" Théoden asked dryly.
"Don't get me wrong. I could care less about your inconsequential war," Orochimaru dismissed him casually. "I have simply come to collect what's mine and leave. It just so happens that our goals align. I need to kill this Sauron to get Hina back to where she belongs."
"And that is with you?" Théoden asked with a raised brow. "What say we give that choice to the girl?"
Orochimaru drew his fingers close to her neck as if to tell her to remember and Hina did. She shivered and ignored the flight of fear that crossed her face. She knew she would not be able to leave Orochimaru now, not until she made good on her own promise and became strong enough to defeat him herself.
"I will go back with Orochimaru-shishou," she said, earning a roar of disapproval from Gimli and more than a few worried looks. "But until then Orochimaru-shishou, I will be travelling with Aragorn-san."
"So you've prepped the seal back home?" he asked.
Hina shook her head and winced. Orochimaru snarled. "What have you been doing all those months then or are you too stupid to do it yourself?"
"Let me at him," Gimli shouted.
"Gimli," Hina warned the Dwarf with a great deal of worry, as she shook her head with disapproval before she turned back to Orochimaru. "I have a feeling the powers of this world would not take kindly to your interference. They're barely taking kindly to me. Trust me Shishou. These are gods. Neither you nor I have the ability to face."
"Are you asking me to make the seal for you?" Orochimaru asked unimpressed.
"Hai. (Yes)"
"There will be a price to pay after."
"I will take it."
Aragorn didn't like what Orochimaru offered. A price to pay… he wasn't so sure it would be a painless one for the girl. He gripped his palms together in anger at how closely the man was standing by her. His hands on her neck possessively. Hina wasn't his. Aragorn had never before met such a free spirit and loyal soul. To take that away from the child felt like such a great and unfortunate loss.
"Yes, we still have the matter at hand of the Palantir," Gandalf said warily, as he eyed Orochimaru, before deciding to get back on topic. "Tell us what you saw Hina."
"A white tree, and a white city. Boromir had mentioned it to me," Hina admitted, as she rubbed her sore throat. "Minas Tirith. I fear Sauron plans to attack there next."
It was Gandalf that took control of the conversation once more. He sent the foreign man a distrustful look before admitting that he was a necessary evil and would have to stay for this coming council.
"We've been strangely fortunate in that neither Pippin nor Hina has informed Sauron about Frodo. Hina saw in the Palantir a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Sauron moves to strike the city of Minas Tirith. His defeat at Helm's Deep showed our enemy one thing—he knows the Heir of Elendil has come forth," Gandalf says with hope before he turns to Aragorn and continues with a nod. "Men are not as weak as he supposed. There is courage still. Strength enough, perhaps, to challenge him. Sauron fears this. He will not risk the peoples of Middle Earth uniting under one banner. He will raze Minas Tirith to the ground before he sees a King return to the throne of men. If the beacons of Gondor are lit Rohan must be ready for war!"
"If it were not for Boromir's part I would not have agreed, but I still fear for my people. Why should I risk their lives for an age-old alliance that has not been called upon these days?" Théoden asked.
"I will go!" Aragorn said, as he looked at Hina. Yes, he had a duty to his people, and it would be safer for her to travel far away from this man.
"No!" Gandalf disagreed.
"They must be warned!" Aragorn replied in frustration.
"They will be," Gandalf reassured as he put a hand on Aragorn's shoulder and whispered, "You must come to Minas Tirith by another road. Follow the river. Look to the black ships."
Hina was sure Orochimaru caught the whispers too. Then Gandalf turned to the King.
"Understand this, things are now in motion that cannot be undone. I ride for Minas Tirith," Gandalf said as he turned to Pippin, "and I won't be going alone. The enemy believes the ring is in Pippin's hands. He will be safest with me."
"And what will you do, Orochimaru?" Théoden asked not trying to even hide the suspicion in his tone.
"I require only paper and ink. I will work on getting us back home."
Théoden narrowed his eyes. "The last time this child asked for paper and ink we were given thunder and fire. Why should we trust you with such resources when you've proven to be hostile?"
Orochimaru laughed as if he'd been told a joke. "You presume you have a choice in this matter. If I wished I could kill everyone here in a minute, make this thatched house mine, and enslave your people in the matter of a week."
Hina sighed as she rubbed her forehead. Thankfully, there weren't any guards nearby in their secret meeting or Orochimaru would have been on a killing spree. The King looked plenty insulted on his own, but Hina shook her head imploringly at him. They were lucky Orochimaru didn't want to actually hurt them. If he did intend to do what he'd just said, she had no doubt he would make good on his word.
"Please give him the resources he needs. I will vouch for his peace if no one harms him first," Hina stepped in, hoping to be the diplomat.
"I will give you the paper and a room, but after this war is over you are not welcome in this kingdom," Théoden said with a scowl directed towards Orochimaru.
The man simply nodded in disinterest, before he took Hina to go away.
"Where are you taking her?" Legolas demanded.
"Wherever I please," Orochimaru replied.
Aragorn watched in shock as the two of them disappeared into a swirl of leaves. He had jerked out his hand to grab Hina, but it simply passed through thin air. He let out a shout of anger and punched the wall, before turning around and putting his hands on his face. Legolas put a calming hand on his shoulder, and everyone watched on in worried sympathy.
"We just let him take her," Aragorn cursed in frustration.
"He is beyond our power and skill," Legolas reminded, equally as defeated.
The group fell into silence only disturbed by the question of the King. He had not seen firsthand the man's treatment of his student.
"This man would bring harm to his own proclaimed student?" Théoden asked.
"He already has. I fear we will not have a hand in Hina's fate, for if she is to be free, she will have to break the shackles of her master with her own strength—otherwise she will remain a slave to his will even without his presence," Gandalf said just as displeased as the others.
"Then we are of little use," Gimli said, hanging his head.
"Just like we have faith in Frodo, we must have faith in Hina. Her journey will not end with Sauron's defeat, and we may never see the end of her bonds broken, but regardless we must have faith."
With that solemn thought, Gandalf gestured for Pippin to follow him. Gondor was in deep trouble.
Hina was punched against a tree. She didn't stop Orochimaru from taking her on in a very one-sided 'spar' again. It was rare for him to be this angry at her. Normally she didn't give him the cause for it. He did not stop until he cracked her ribs, and she was dropped from a tree coughing up blood.
"To think you had me searching for months for you and yet you've been here for over a year now. What possessed you to stay in such a backwater world? The people I assume—Aragorn was it? You've always been attracted to the weak. In one second I could have snapped his neck."
"They have no chakra... not exactly fair," Hina said as she spat out some blood and propped herself against a tree in pain.
"Who said you could relax? Get up."
Hina gritted her teeth and stood up again only to be kicked down again.
"You've been growing disobedient. Thinking you can challenge me when you're not even close. Didn't you say you would eventually become a master of your own?" Orochimaru asked. "Did I raise a pathetic student or a strong one?"
"Strong," Hina ground out.
"Wrong. Right now you're less than pathetic; you're weak," Orochimaru growled as he put his foot on Hina's face and held it against the forest floor.
"I'm sorry," Hina muttered between clenched jaws.
"Ah, the sound of an apology. To think it took you this long. Your mother must have raised a wild child."
Hina gripped the dirt in her fingers and bit down her explosive anger. He was baiting her. She needed to calm down. He knew her parents were a sore spot. It's part of the job, she reminded herself. This was part of the job. She couldn't get angry. She needed to maintain her calm, think keenly, and stay on the straight and narrow. She took in a deep, calming breath, and exhaled all her rage out through her nose, before biting back the part of her brain that told her to fight him to the death for his insult.
"Forgive me Orochimaru-shishou... let me make this right. I'll make sure we win this war and see that Sauron is defeated."
Orochimaru pulled his feet off her face and gently helped her sit up before he undid her kimono and she grunted as he pulled it off entirely leaving her in her underwear.
"Where does it hurt?"
"Mmm everywhere."
Hina hissed in pain as he harshly poked her ribs. Orochimaru grinned and she glared at him.
"Either you tell me specifically or I'll let you just walk around with broken bones."
"My ribs," she relented.
Hina hated the next part more than she hated the actual bone breaking part. She grit her teeth as Orochimaru used what limited knowledge of Iryo-jutsu he had to push his chakra tendrils into her body. The warmth was just a precursor for the excruciating pain to come as he cracked it back in place, realigned broken bone and stitched it back together. Once that was done, she gestured for her arm and that too was broken back into place and mended together.
Once the punishment was over Hina was a sweating mess, panting and shivering with the leftover pain. She hated Orochimaru like she hated Danzo. She hated him so much right now... but she also loved him. She hated that she loved him. He had twisted her this way. She logically knew the manipulation, how he did what he did to get her on his side while still raking control over her, but she couldn't help it. Sometimes she was just not as logical as she wanted to be.
Her mission had only made things harder. How did someone actively sabotage the person that they lived and served under? It was harder with every day that went by, and with every little piece she gave to him.
"You shouldn't travel with strangers Hina. Who knows what they'll do to you," Orochimaru chided her lightly, as if he hadn't just beaten her to a pulp to get out his anger on her a moment ago.
"They're good men," she mumbled through her pain.
"They're men. Men always have ulterior motives."
"Not all men."
Hina groaned in pain as Orochimaru picked her up bridal style. She had no choice in her tiredness to do much than to let her head loll to his chest. She hated this. How he would confuse her with soft words one minute, praising her other times, and then how he would beat her down with a smile and a promise of strength.
"Show me to your room. It's best if you don't move too much for the remainder of the day."
Hina nodded. Orochimaru knew only the basics of Iryo-jutsu. He knew more about taking the body apart piece by piece than he did putting it together. When she was punished by him it was usually Kabuto who healed her up. She needed to remind herself to stop studying Fuinjutsu for a moment so she could learn how to heal herself up. She knew how to regrow her own limbs and tissue but realigning broken bones was an entirely different field.
"We're here, put me down," Hina grumbled as she weakly pushed off Orochimaru.
She no doubt looked like shit. Blood down her head and face swollen from one of his punches, but she could hide it away with a henge if he just gave her a moment to stand and breathe.
"And jostle your wounds. Not a good idea."
"Put me down," Hina hissed.
Hina gaped in horror as Orochimaru smiled down at her—not one of his kind smiles. She pushed at him weakly, but she didn't have the power to force herself out of his arms. So to her horror he walked straight into Rohan holding her beaten form as if parading his actions and her weakness. Hina grit her teeth in shame as she turned her face away from the people. She had stood before them proud and tall and now Orochimaru had shown just how weak she was. This was worse than any beating he had ever given her.
"And where is your room?"
"Just there," Hina mumbled.
She'd pointed at a random house, hoping to end this shameful situation before it became too much for her to bear.
"It's not good to lie little-neonate."
"Put me down," she begged.
"I don't think I will. I might just have to find your friend—Aragorn was it? Yes, I'll find him. I'm sure he'll know where your room is."
"I'll point you," Hina gritted out in defeat.
She bit through the shame of knowing that the people of Rohan saw her being bridal carried broken and bloody by the very man who did it—like some dog who'd been disciplined. She just prayed that no one she knew personally would see her like this. She couldn't bear that sort of embarrassment... such a debasing of her as a person. To her horror Aragorn did spot her. Their rooms were close by.
"Hina! What did you do to her?!" Aragorn shouted.
"Just a bit of discipline," Orochimaru replied lightly.
Hina turned her face away from Aragorn in shame. She couldn't bear for him to see her this way—for him to truly see how little control she had, and for a proud person like her... no she wasn't a proud person... not anymore. She had been once, a woman on her own right, an individual with strength.
"Give her to me," Aragorn ordered.
"Just let me down Shishou," Hina mumbled.
To her distaste Orochimaru only put her down on her bed, gently, almost giving off the image of a kind parent in that moment if the blood on her body didn't say otherwise. She watched on in horror as Aragorn grabbed Orochimaru by his collar and drew close, face burning in rage.
"You will not touch her again!"
Hina groaned as she tried to get up from the bed and push Aragorn away. She knew she wouldn't be fast enough to stop Orochimaru from killing him, but the man didn't. Instead he grabbed Aragorn's hands and easily pushed it to the side before stepping around him in swift speed.
"And I suppose you'll stop me?" Orochimaru challenged with a laugh.
Before Aragorn could even turn the man had gone, leaving him in the room alone with Hina. He ran up to her side quickly, pulling her towards him to check her wounds.
"Please go," she mumbled.
"No, he hurt you," Aragorn said softly.
"He healed me later... I'm fine. Please go," Hina repeated, hoping the tremble in her voice didn't show, or that she wasn't shivering, or that the shame hadn't eaten her away.
"You don't have to face him alone. Take us with you next time," Aragorn urged.
Hina hated that Aragorn couldn't see how much more it hurt her to show him how weak she was, than to ever be beaten down by Orochimaru in private. She supposed it just made her own weakness all the more real when it was put out in the public so brazenly. It wasn't the pain that made her wish to weep again for anything other than relief, but the utter shame of everyone knowing who owned her. It reminded her of the seal Danzo had put on her tongue... but at least that had been discreet. She hadn't been nothing but someone else's property in her friend's eyes.
"There is no more us," Hina muttered. "He's here so there's no more freedom, and no more goodness. This was all a lie... a lie I told myself to feel better. I will never be free."
Free from her own debilitating self-hate, free from the pressures of future knowledge, free from Orochimaru or even free from Akatsuki. There was no freedom for her. She just gave up one master for the other.
"We can banish him away with a seal of yours. You don't have to go back," Aragorn said hopefully. "You don't have to do this alone."
"You must think I'm weak... you've seen me now after all... so pathetic to be paraded around like that," she said with a choked sob that devolved into laughter.
Aragorn hated it. Hated that he saw the twisted nature of something that was meant to be good. Hina laughed, she laughed a lot, found amusement in things so easily and just as easily jested and made jokes. Now when she laughed, he knew it was because she could not cry—she wasn't able to do something so intrinsically human and he didn't know why.
Hina couldn't help it, couldn't help that she put her face in Aragorn's chest and let him hold her despite how much it just proved how weak she was. She laughed a choking laugh because she didn't know what else to do. Usually she got angry and broke some things, but she was too weak for that and so all she could do was laugh at how pathetic she was being.
"Look at me Hina. You are not pathetic, or lowly, or someone who is to be pitied. You are a fighter, are you not?" Aragorn asked.
Hina looked up for the first time to meet his gaze, a glimpse of hope sparking in her eyes. Aragorn could feel it, he could feel her pain. He knew how much more she would devolve if even a hint of pity rolled into his tone. He knew her more than she would allow him to. Hina did not like pity, it made her feel weak, and so Aragorn would not give her pity, but strength to hope, because that was all he could give to help her.
"I am a fighter," she whispered.
"And a fighter never stops fighting until they breathe their last breath. You might face failure now, but it will only make the victory taste all the sweeter."
A glimmer of recognition sparked in her eyes. Aragorn knew she was recounting a moment just like that, where she had failed time and time again for that one victory.
"You are not weak. You will one day overcome it all and you will rise above it a better person than when you began. I see goodness in your heart Hina. Love and loyalty, the two words I would use to describe you. That is not the twisted mechanisms of a man who knows none of those things."
There was almost a greedy relief in her eyes as she looked at him to hear more. Aragorn wondered if she had been starved of any positive words… if no one had been there before to encourage her. While it was a sad thought, it only resolved him more to be that person for her. He had pulled her from the river and saved her life, but he had yet to pull out her spirit which had been drowning much the same.
"You are a wonderful person Hina, and you are your own person. You have friends on your side. Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf, Boromir, Merry, Pippin—even Sam and Frodo. The whole kingdom of Rohan is on your side after your efforts in the war. You have saved countless lives in the battle. Is that the actions of someone pathetic and weak?"
"No," she said a little more resolutely.
A sob echoed out and Hina devolved into tears as her grief left her. She had never had someone tell her anything so kind in years. She felt an immeasurable relief as somehow Aragorn managed to rid her of this hate she had been feeling so deeply for herself... even if it was just for a minute. He believed in her and his belief made her believe in herself.
"Thank you," she whispered into his chest.
She let him hug her back before she drew away and wiped at her tears.
"We will defeat Sauron," Hina said with conviction, "and I will defeat Orochimaru after... and even if I leave, I vow to somehow come back to tell you once I accomplish this task."
"That's the Hina I know," Aragorn said with a smile. "Now rest up. You are hurt."
Hina nodded tiredly as she let Aragorn tuck the sheets around her. She had been so exhausted sleep had taken her almost instantly. Looking at her like this, face turning red in preparation for the purple and blue that would spread tomorrow, and the way her body shook in pain, made Aragorn's chest hurt. He wasn't used to such anger. He had been angry before—when good men died to Orcs, or when tragedies occurred from Sauron's hands, but this was a different sort of anger... something that made his heart twist at the vileness of it all. She was just a child... a strong child—but a child nonetheless and she didn't deserve the pain she was going through. It hurt to know he had only witnessed and inkling of the torture she had lived through in her world.
He thought he'd understood before why she didn't want to go back home. Usually a stranger would do everything in their power to find a way back home, but she looked free and bright here like she belonged. Still, he knew the call of kin and responsibility. She would go back to her torture for them because that was the honourable thing to do, and whether she was blind to it or not, the fact remained that Hina was one of the most loyal people he had ever met. Not even a month of travel in and she had fought Nazgul for him, and a year down she followed him into a war she thought she wouldn't come out alive at. Legolas, Gimli, the Hobbits and Boromir too—he had the most loyal friends. Aragorn considered himself in that moment blessed.
He pushed the girl's matted hair out of her face and decided he would wash the blood off while she slept and heal her some. It hurt him to know there was nothing he could do for her beyond that. Gandalf had been right. This was a fight she had to face not now but in the future. All Aragorn had was faith and hope. It was when he was going to take a bucket of water into the room that Legolas and Gimli stopped short of him, their faces deep with worry.
"Is she hurt?" Legolas asked, eyes widening in worried anticipation.
Aragorn clenched his jaw and nodded, though he stopped them before they rushed in.
"She's asleep now... healing. Once she wakes up, I will need one of you to stay by her side at all times. Keep her busy and out of sight from him."
Legolas nodded as Gimli made a sound of pain himself. They had joked and laughed with the child and taken her in as one of their own.
"He marched her about like she was some kind of possession he wanted to mark," Aragorn murmured as he put his hand on his forehead to calm himself.
"We won't let him get close again. My eyes and ears are open," Legolas reassured Aragorn.
"That man will taste my axe one day," Gimli growled.
Aragorn had a feeling someone as strong as Orochimaru could not be taken down by them. It was almost like trying to match Sauron in a physical test of strength. It would be near impossible.
"I will keep an eye on her tonight. Elves do not need much sleep," Legolas said.
"Mae Govanne Legolas," Aragorn said thankfully.
And Aragorn was indeed thankful, thankful for the men he had come to call friends.
A/N
Did I not update this for months? Yes. Life became too busy for fanfiction, or maybe I'd burnt myself out for a bit. But I feel compelled to update this since I had 16 chapters written. The story is near complete but not yet finished. For now I'll update whatever I have written.
This chapter really hurt to write because there's just something really disturbing about how Orochimaru knows to hurt Hina. He knows she's used to physical pain, so he exposes her weak side to everyone, which is something she guards religiously. He knows her too well and knows how to keep her in line. Oh lord I normally don't feel sympathetic towards my characters, but that scene actually made me hate Orochimaru myself.
Anyway, thanks for being patient everyone. Hope you enjoy.