Never Gonna Give You Up Chapter 7
They had been travelling for three days nonstop, only taking an hour's break at a time to rest on the occasion. Couple that with chakra exhaustion, and a terrible concussion and you had a very grumpy Hina. She kept it hidden behind her silence though. Gimli was complaining enough as is.
Aragorn got down and listened to the Earth. Hina could hear it too, but that was because she had enhanced senses. How the Dúnadan did it was beyond her.
"Their pace has quickened," he said looking up. "They must have caught our scent. Hurry!"
"Come on, Gimli!" Legolas urged the Dwarf.
"Three days' and nights' pursuit. No food. No rest. And no sign of our quarry but bare rock can tell!" he grumbled before huffing and following.
Hina scouted ahead and to her relief noticed a familiar leaf brooch. She picked it up and smiled for the first time in days.
"They left a trail," she said happily.
"Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall," Aragorn says.
"This brings only relief," Boromir agreed, notably less worried.
"Less than a day ahead of us. Come!" Legolas said agreeably. "Come, Gimli! We are gaining on them!"
"I am wasted on cross-country! We Dwarves are natural sprinters! Very dangerous over short distances!" he complained.
"Want me to carry you Mister lazy-butt?" Hina teased.
"A Dwarf will never be carried!" Gimli said angrily as he sped ahead.
Hina looked at Legolas with a 'that's how you do it' look, as Gimli ran ahead with renewed vigour. The Elf smiled back in amusement before beginning his run as well.
They continued on for another three hours or so before they stopped atop rocky hills. Hina huffed. She wished for trees. Oh she missed trees. These rolling plains were hard to travel in. Still it was a sight to behold.
"Rohan. Home of the horse-lords. There is something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed to these creatures, sets its will against us," Aragorn noted.
"Or maybe their kind doesn't need rest," Hina ventured before she jumped forward to where Legolas was standing,
"Legolas, what do your Elf eyes see?" Boromir asked.
"The Uruks turn northeast. They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!"
"Saruman," Aragorn cursed.
"We should make haste!" Boromir growled.
They began running once more. Hina heard Gimli muttering something about breathing. Even Hina was beginning to tire, using whatever chakra she gained to keep going without rest. She had travelled once before like this. Three days without water and food. It was a harsh three days of sprinting, but she had done it… not with a raging concussion though.
"They run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them," Legolas said in exasperation as he looked at the sprinting orcs in the distance.
"If only my chakra was here," Hina cursed.
She only had one chakra pill left and she didn't want to use it unless absolutely necessary. This didn't feel like the right time. That was until they kept running throughout the night into the fourth morning and everyone was beyond exhausted. They didn't even take a moment to look at the stunning sunrise behind them… well everyone but Legolas didn't.
"A red sun rises. Blood has been spilled this night," he whispered.
They ran a little further and Hina caught wift of the smell of really sweaty men and horses. Not exactly a pleasant odour, but she'd learnt to lower her expectations for nearly all of the men in this world—well except for Elves because they were so stupidly perfect, they also happened to have no sweat glands.
"There are dozens of men on horses coming from the East," Hina informed as she paused to sniff the air. "Should we be prepared to fight?"
"No, we should wait and see. They could be Riders of Rohan," Aragorn replied.
"This could mean aid," Boromir said in relief.
Eventually they all fit themselves behind a rock surface and watched as around 60 or so riders rode through. Hina had to admit, the size of horses and their speed did make them terrifying to face in battle. She still preferred running on her feet though, but for now she was tired and was envious of these men sitting on their steeds. Aragorn was the first to run out behind them.
"Riders of Rohan, what news from the Mark?" he shouted.
Hina, Gimli, Boromir, and Legolas followed suit and the horsemen turned in their direction. Hina grabbed for her kunai when they began circling the group, but Aragorn held her hand and stopped her. It took everything to not just get in a defensive stance as they pointed their spears at them.
"What business does an Elf, Men, a child, and a Dwarf have in the Riddermark? Speak!"
"Give me your name, Horsemaster, and I shall give you mine," Gimli replied stubbornly.
Hina sighed as the men drew out their spears at Gimli's insolent reply. Thankfully, Boromir had the sense to step out in front of the Dwarf and hold him back.
"I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground," Éomer growled.
Hina was right there with Legolas when she drew her kunai and he drew his bow. No one threatened her friends on her watch, least of all Gimli who she had begun to like very much.
"You would die before your stroke fell!" Legolas warned.
Hina growled in danger when the spears came closer, but it was Aragorn's hand on hers that made her pause. Boromir made his stance in front of Legolas as well. He caught Éomer's eye and the man looked up in realisation.
"Boromir?" he asked.
"Aye, it is I. This is Aragorn son of Arathorn, Gimli son of Glóin, Hina Suzuki, and Legolas of the Woodland realm." Boromir introduced.
As if noticing the tension ease from Éomer's shoulders, his men all dropped their spears, and the rider took Boromir in an embrace.
"It's good to see you again my friend."
"What word do you bring Éomer? Of Théoden King?" Boromir asked.
Éomer's lips thinned in frustration and sadness. "Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe. Not even his own kin. Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those still loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished. The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man, hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies slip past our nets."
Hina didn't miss the fact that he said spies and looked pointedly in her direction at the word, a large amount of suspicion going her way. Only Boromir's hand on her shoulder deterred the Rohan Rider from further questioning her no doubt odd appearance.
"We are not spies. We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They've taken two of our friends' captive," Aragorn explained.
"I am sorry my friends. The Uruk are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night."
"But there were two hobbits. Did you see two hobbits with them?" Gimli asked urgently.
"They would be small – only children to your eyes," Aragorn added just as quickly.
Éomer shook his head with a grim expression. "We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them." Éomer pointed to the distance where the smoke rose. Hina felt her heart drop in her chest.
"They're dead," she whispered in disbelief.
"I am sorry," Éomer replied sympathetically.
Hina felt Boromir put a calming hand on her shoulder. She looked down defeated, feeling the weight of this grim finding. Merry and Pippin weren't meant for this kind of danger. In them she had seen an innocence that she had forgotten, and to know they had died so brutally, cut down no doubt… made her feel angry and depressed. She barely noticed as Éomer turned to whistle.
"Hasufel! Arod! Faruun!" he shouts as three horses respond. "May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters. Farewell."
Boromir, Aragorn, and Legolas grabbed the reins of the horse and turned to Éomer, but the man simply put his helmet on, looking at them with grim hopeless eyes, as if the weight of some failure was on his shoulders too.
"Look for your friends. But do not trust to hope, it has forsaken these lands," he said bleakley before he turned to his riders. "We ride north!"
The remaining members of the Fellowship watched the riders go in disquiet silence, their thoughts turning a mile an hour to the fate of their smallest companions.
"If I had only been faster," Hina whispered bitterly.
"Do not blame yourself for their fates. We should not lose hope," Aragorn said, "at least until we see it with our own eyes."
Hina nodded and for once allowed him to hold her hand. She let Aragorn help her up on the horse despite her really needing no help to do it. She was tired and was glad he took the reins behind her. She had only ever ridden one horse before, but it was a caravan horse, not one used to running fast.
They travelled in tortured silence towards the smoke. Hina had seen enough of her comrades die to know it wouldn't be a pretty sight if there ever were any remains left. When she came upon the burnt bodies, she was reminded of those Shinobi who died in the flames of a fire jutsu, and she felt sick. Despite this, she jumped off the horse speedily and rummaged through the corpses hoping to find nothing. Instead her eyes landed on a belt and she felt a dread settle in her chest.
"It's one of their belts," she whispered, holding up the charred apparel.
"Hiro ît ab 'wanath... (May they find peace in death)," Legolas muttered eyes down.
"No, it can't be," Boromir said, turning around.
While Aragorn kicked at a helmet and screamed, Hina closed her eyes and focused on her nose. The least she could do was find their corpses. She sniffed again and smelt nothing. Hina shuffled by the area, eyes wide on the ground.
"Aragorn, tracks!" Hina exclaimed.
"A Hobbit lay here, and the other," he said, noting the imprints on the ground.
Hina could see it too, the image playing out as Merry and Pippin crawled away in the chaos. Her time learning tracking from Gaku-sensei had made her eyes keen for these kinds of signs.
"Their hands were bound…" he followed the trail for several steps before exclaiming, "Their bonds were cut!" Aragorn pulled up the broken length of rope with renewed hope in his eyes.
Hina looked to the forest in relief. "They ran over there. They were followed for a bit and Merry loses his belt," she explains before she rushes up to the trees. "They ran in here!"
"Fangorn forest?!" Gimli exclaimed.
"Madness," Boromir agreed in worry.
"I don't get it," Hina said, looking back confused. "It's the most neutral thing I've felt in this world. Why would it be bad to go into a forest?"
"This forest is old… very old. Full of memory and anger," Legolas explained.
"Um sorry… did you just say a forest was full of memory and anger? Hate to break it to you buddy but trees don't feel," Hina pointed, still baffled.
"But they do. Elves can hear its call, but it eludes the ear of most Men," Legolas explained.
"What next, you can talk to animals like a Disney Princess?" Hina asked with a raised brow.
"I'm not sure what that is, but no I cannot talk to animals. Now come," Legolas said, gesturing to the forest.
"Gladly. I missed the trees," Hina said happily as she shot up and stood vertically on its surface. She was once again met with incredulous stares. "Oh standing on a tree makes you speechless when you've already seen me walk on water? What are we waiting for? We have two princesses to save!"
"Good to see her back to normal," Hina heard Boromir snort.
"Aye, her mood was setting me down too," Gimli agreed.
Hina pretended not to hear that. She was in the trees where she belonged. It was good to be back. Well it would have been if the branches weren't hitting her on the face every five seconds. After one rather hard whack she grumbled and jumped down to the party, holding her red face with a scowl. Legolas and Gimli laughing at her plight didn't make her feel any better.
"How does the forest not like a girl with green hair? One would think it would welcome you in like their offspring" Gimli laughed.
Hina held her offended cheek and grumbled in agreement. She thought it probably had to do with her twisted chakra. If this world was more in tune with energy, then that would make sense. The Elves could sense the cursed seal a mile away.
"It's the cursed seal for sure," Hina grumbled in irritation as a root tripped her and she fell on her face. "Ugh! Curse you, you stupid forest! I'm going to turn vegan and eat you!"
"Let's not anger the trees when we're in a living forest," Aragorn chided lightly as he helped Hina to her feet.
Gimli touched the leaves by the track and licked it. He spat it right back out in disgust. "Orc blood," he muttered.
Aragorn got back on track as he scoured the forest floor for more clues. He came upon big indents and looked at it in confusion. "These are strange tracks."
"The air is so close in here," Boromir noted.
Hina stopped when she heard the forest groaning. Legolas looked around and she turned to the Elf expectantly. Well he was a Wood-elf. She expected him to be the one who knew what was going on. He gave her a pointed look and smiled as if the groaning was self-explanatory.
"The trees are speaking to each other," he explained.
"Of course they are," Hina huffed, wondering if she should be surprised anymore.
"Gimli!" Aragorn hissed.
"Huh?" the Dwarf asked back as he turned around, axe still in hand.
"Lower your axe," Aragorn said, gesturing his hands lower.
"Oh," the Dwarf mumbled as he reluctantly put it away.
Hina felt it too, and she noticed that Legolas did as well. Their heads snap behind them to a blinding presence. The group goes back on guard as their two sensors look up at the same time.
"Aragorn, nad nâ ennas! (Something is out there.)" Legolas warned.
"Man cenich? (What do you see?)"
Hina palmed her kunai, Boromir his sword, and Gimli his axe as they waited for a moment in silence for Legolas to answer.
"The White Wizard approaches," Legolas warned with a frown.
"Do not let him speak. He will put a spell on us," Aragorn cautioned.
Hina's eyes grew wide in excitement. No this wasn't Saruman. This was Gandalf! He was coming back to them alive. She lowered her kunai and stood up a little straighter ready to tell her friends to calm down when they jumped to attack. She watched as their weapons were deflected and they dropped them to shield their eyes instead from the sheer brightness of the Wizard's light.
"You are tracking the footsteps of two young Hobbits."
"Where are they?" Aragorn asked.
"They passed this way the day before yesterday. They met someone they did not expect. Does that comfort you?
"Gandalf?!" Hina cried out hopefully.
The bright light dimmed and the shocked expression on everyone's face turned from the girl to the Wizard now. It became clear almost instantly that it was in fact Gandalf. Hina felt hope again at his presence. She didn't understand why, but it was like his presence alone kept her heart beating, and she hadn't known how easily she had fallen to despair without him until she had him back.
"Forgive me. I mistook you for Saruman," Legolas apologised as he bowed in reverence.
"I am Saruman… or rather Saruman as he should have been," Gandalf replied.
"It cannot be. You fell," Aragorn whispered.
"Through fire and water. From the lowest dungeon to the highest peak, I fought with the Balrog of Morgoth," Gandalf explained. "Until at last, I threw down my enemy and smote his ruin upon the mountainside."
"You killed the Balrog?" Hina asked in awe. "You're insane!"
"Insanity indeed," Gandalf replied with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "For in fighting the Balrog had the darkness take me. And I strayed out of thought and time."
Hina gasped. Thought and time… Gandalf had been to the place beyond, where the soul existed to travel to the next realm. She had been there before too, and suddenly she felt the urge to stop him there and ask a million questions, but the look of hope on her companions' faces stopped her prematurely. She would have her time, but it wasn't now.
"Stars wheeled overhead and everyday was as long as a life-age of the earth. But it was not the end. I felt life in me again. I've been sent back until my task is done."
"Gandalf!" Aragorn exclaimed like he's finally believing for the first time.
"Gandalf? Yes... That's what they used to call me. Gandalf the Grey. That was my name," he smiled.
"Gandalf!" Gimli and Boromir shouted as they rushed to the now White Wizard's side.
"I am Gandalf the White. And I come back to you now at the turn of the tide," he explained.
Hina laughed in relief, and for the first time since she came to this land she cried. The Wizard took her into an embrace, and she laughed as she buried her face into his chest. This was relief. She had long since come to realise that she only ever cried in relief now. All her tears of sorrow had been spent on too many a heartache.
"It is good to see you too my child," Gandalf smiles. "But there will be time yet to rejoice. Now we have a duty yet to complete."
Hina wiped at her eyes and nodded as she and the others readily followed behind the Istari. "One stage of your journey is over, another begins. War has come to Rohan. We must ride to Edoras with all speed," Gandalf explained.
"Edoras? That is no short distance," Gimli exclaimed.
"We hear of trouble in Rohan. It goes ill with the King," Aragorn continued.
"Théoden King has always had a weak heart," Boromir added with a frown.
"Yes, and it will not be so easily cured," Gandalf replied.
"Then we should assassinate him and replace him with Éomer. Problem solved," Hina said.
She was met with several looks of shock and concern and she wondered if maybe that was crossing a moral boundary in this world. Akatsuki had asked her to kill many nobles before and the idea had become normal to her. She supposed regicide might be a tad bit too much here.
"We will not assassinate a King," Gandalf said as he hit the child on her head with his staff.
"It was just a suggestion," Hina grumbled.
"Well then, looks like we ran all the way here for no reason," Gimli chimed in. "Are we just going to leave the Hobbits here in this horrid dark, dank tree infested—"
Just as Gimli continued his rant the forest groaned angrily. Hina dodged a branch that would have otherwise whacked her face only to be tripped once again and Gimli had his behind whacked by some vines. Hina stood up indignantly.
"Hey stupid trees, I didn't even say anything!" she complained only to be assaulted by shrubbery again.
Legolas laughed as he pulled the girl close to him to protect her from nature's wrath. Gandalf rolled his eyes at the immaturity of the group, but there was a hint of amusement in them before he was once again the one to bring them back on topic.
"It was more than a mere chance that Merry and Pippin were brought here. A great power has been sleeping here for many years," Gandalf explained.
"A great pain in the arse, more like," Hina said as she hissed at a tree branch that came at her.
"The coming of Merry and Pippin will be like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche," Gandalf continued, ignoring the child's mutterings.
"In one thing you have not changed dear friend," Aragorn said with a smile as Gandalf leaned in. "You still speak in riddles."
Hina smiled and noticed everyone else did too when Gandalf laughed. It was a good laugh; one she was glad to hear again. Even this horrid, dark, dank stupid tree-infested forest wouldn't make her smile sour today.
"Something is about to happen that has not happened since the Elder Days. The Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong," Gandalf continued with a grin.
"Strong… oh that's good," Gimli muttered unsurely.
"Stop your fretting Master Dwarf, and you little one stop breaking the branches," Gandalf chided.
Hina dropped the branch she had broken in retaliation at her feet and pretended innocence as she came up behind Boromir. Out of everyone in this group he was the least likely to scold her like a child and Aragorn had the penchant for going dad mode.
"Merry and Pippin are quite safe. In fact they're more safer than you're going to be," Gandalf said as he walked down quickly.
"This new Gandalf is grumpier than the old one," Gimli muttered to himself.
"And whiter," Boromir smiled in amusement.
"Not like you could get a tan in the afterlife," Hina chuckled.
Hina and Gimli found themselves running ahead, eager to be out of this cursed forest. They almost breathed sighs of relief when they went back out into the plains. Gandalf turned to the plains and whistled piercingly. Almost as if by magic, the sound of a horse answering came from beyond and Hina witnessed the whitest horse she had ever seen, gallop towards with tremendous speed. She supposed Gandalf only did things in colour schemes… which considering she was entirely green all the time she could respect. She mused for a second if she could have passed herself off as Hina the Green, a foreign Istari. That would have been a good cover if she'd bothered with one.
"That is one of the Mearas, unless my eyes are cheated by some spell," Legolas asked.
"Truly a steed of the Valar," Boromir agreed.
"Shadowfax," Gandalf introduced. "He's the lord of all horses and he's been my friend through many dangers."
"Come then, we shall travel across the plains of Edoras!" Boromir said eagerly.
Hina jumped back on behind Aragorn as Gimli took Legolas's horse. She wasn't eager to chafe her thighs again, but determined it would be better than having to deal with that evil forest. To think she'd once loved forests… well she still did love the ones outside of Konoha. At the thought her heart yearned for home.
They rode throughout most of the day and then finally settled down at night. Having travelled for nearly 5 days without rest had made everyone tired. It had taken too much out of Hina. She was still in a child's body and it required sleep, even if she was used to not getting it. But she had questions for Gandalf she had refrained from asking until they were alone in private. When she came about after eating a hearty meal to make up for lost ones, she saw Aragorn and Gandalf talking in private, their gaze turned to the fires of Mordor in the distance.
"Hina, you're still awake?" Aragorn asked as he turned to see the half-dazed child. "You should sleep now little one."
"Thanks but no thanks. I wanted to… talk to Gandalf," Hina admitted.
Aragorn hesitated for a moment looking between the two before nodding and taking his leave. Hina took Aragorn's place beside the Istari and frowned off into the distance.
"Something troubles your heart," Gandalf said notedly.
"You said you had 'strayed out of thought and time'," Hina repeated cautiously as she palmed her hands. "In that eternity where time is a flux, and your body is naught but an essence."
Gandalf's eyes widened and he nodded. "That is correct. How do you know of this?"
"I was there in that void once. My soul… it is bound to a cycle. After one death I am reborn into another world. Again and again I live, doomed to repeat key events in my life like a broken record… and I want to end this cycle, or at least take away the memory of it. It was my experiments in ending my own… soul that brought me here."
"Therein lies terrible magic," Gandalf said disapprovingly. "For that end you will curse yourself only more."
"But I don't want to live again. Legolas said the Edain find their journey in the great beyond, a gift that is not given to the Elves. I simply want to stop existing. One life is enough. I can't bear one more… ripped from my loved ones again and again," Hina said, feeling a familiar, terrible existential dread creep up again.
"You may not find the answers you seek in me, for I am but an emissary of the Valar and their wills. There are powers beyond even me, Hina. For the answers you seek you will have to travel to higher beings. Even then you are a queer case. No music to hear, not even the kind the Valar could tune to their whim," he replied with an apologetic look.
Hina sighed as she looked at her hands, still soaked in the phantom blood of her parents. No fate was too horrible for her. It was as if the universe itself was prematurely punishing her for crimes she had committed in the past and would commit in the future—a cycle of failures she would leave in her wake.
"Yet I know it is easy to lay down the sword and die, but true courage is in perseverance. Do not succumb Hina, for that will truly be your fall," Gandalf warned.
"First Galadriel and now you," Hina replied, shaking her head in amusement, before a yawn was ripped from her mouth and her tired body betrayed her.
"Now sleep little one. We will need to be rested for the perils to come."
"I'm not really little you know," she said, hoping for once to break this pretence.
Gandalf looked at her and nodded. She hoped that was acknowledgement. Sometimes she did feel little. It's hard not to feel so small and insignificant when she was just one person in such a large world. Sometimes it was easy to slip into this odd pretend state where she was in fact a child, because everyone here seemed to treat her that way. It wasn't entirely a bad feeling. It felt almost like running away from the grips of responsibility. Hina looked up at the stars and wondered if this was all some elaborate form of pretend. Just one big game before life called time out and got her back to work.
Hina was only all too happy to go back to her bedroll, but she had one thing left to do. She took Gandalf into a hug. Child or not, there were moments where she wished she had shown affection before and had held herself back because of some arbitrary rule of maturity. At least if she was pretending for a while, she could take a moment to get rid of one more future regret. The old man held out his arms as if shocked by her action before he chuckled and hugged back.
"It's good to have you back Gandalf… oyasaminasai (goodnight)," Hina said tiredly as she walked away.
Gandalf was left with a smile of his own. Yes, things were certainly not ideal, but they had hope yet, and perseverance was the only way towards victory. Sauron and Saruman had chosen to go against people with spirit. They would soon regret it.
After two days of travel on horseback, and more than enough time for Hina to sleep tentatively against Aragorn's unfairly comfy chest, she felt almost alive again. That was until they finally entered the Kingdom of Rohan. It's walls were in disarray, it's people looked gaunt and sluggish.
"You'll find more cheer in a graveyard," Gimli grunted.
Hina nodded in agreement at his apt description of this dreary kingdom. All the people turned to look at them ride by with distrust and weariness in their gazes.
"Be careful what you say here. Do not expect a welcome," Gandalf warned.
Hina noticed a woman dressed too richly to be a peasant looking down at them from the hall outside the castle. She promptly disappeared away, and they were left to climb the stairs in silence. Eventually they were met with guards by the gates.
"Ah," Gandalf muttered as he caught Hama's eyes, a familiar guard he knew.
"I cannot allow you before Théoden-King so armed, Gandalf Greyhame. By order of Gríma Wormtongue."
"Wormtongue… really?" Hina asked in amusement.
The guards did not reply with her same humour, instead they waited patiently for them to remove their weapons. Hina didn't feel too bad handing over her kunai and shuriken, even as dwindled as the supply had become. She could fight well enough with her fists if she wanted to. So she unbuckled her kunai holster, and her sword, and the several other hidden compartments in her kimono, getting as much amusement as she could from the guard's watching her impatiently. At some stage even the Fellowship was shaking their heads, as she leant down to her shoes and pulled out a kunai from there as well. She didn't need to give them her scroll with more weapons in it… did she?
"Are you quite done?"
"Nope. One more," she mumbled as she handed over a senbon from inside of her sleeve.
Hama gave her the briefest of glares before turning to Gandalf. "Your staff."
"Hmm? Oh. You would not part an old man from his walking stick?" Gandalf asked innocently.
Hina watched on in glee as Hama hesitated for a second and then eventually gestured for them to follow him in. Hina entered the hall and picked up the absolute staleness in the air almost instantly. The King… if one could call what looked like a living corpse a King, was sitting on his throne, leaning towards an equally pasty man, with slicked back hair and gnarled teeth. Hina was beginning to wonder if evil was synonymous with both terrible hygiene and really, really bad luck in the genetic department in this world. If this minion was so ugly, she didn't ever want to see Sauron's face.
"My lord, Gandalf the Grey is coming. He's a herald of woe," she heard the man whisper.
"The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Théoden King," Gandalf exclaimed.
Hina noticed the men drawing near with their swords and paused to get herself ready for a fight.
"He's not welcome." Grima continues to whisper.
"Why should I… welcome you, Gandalf… Stormcrow?" the King asked before his gaze fell back to Grima for confirmation. The man nodded eagerly in response.
"A just question, my liege," Grima asks slimily as he walks towards Gandalf. "Late is the hour in which this conjurer chooses to appear. Lathspell spell I name him. Ill news is an ill guest."
"Be silent! Keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!"
Hina almost whistles in appreciation for the zero shits Gandalf gave for Grima's insults. The Wizard raised his staff and the slimy man backed away in sudden fear.
"His staff! I told you to take the wizard's staff!" Grima shouted in alarm
Just as she suspected the guards came in for the attack, but their group of five easily took out anyone in their way. Boromir himself could easily overpower all of them if he wanted to, Hina mused as she idly threw a man aside. Meanwhile Gandalf completely ignored the all out brawl happening around him as he walked forward unfettered.
"Théoden, son of Thengel, too long have you sat in the shadows!" Gandalf said as he continued down the hallway in confident strides.
Hina and Gimli stepped on Grima as he tried to crawl away. They both grinned evilly at each other as they put more weight on the man's back making him groan in pain.
"I would stay still, if I were you," Gimli warned the corrupt advisor.
"Hearken to me! I release you from the spell," Gandalf shouted.
For a moment Hina expected something to happen, but just like with that bloody Dwarven door, there is only a kind of anticlimactic silence.
"Hahahhhahahahaha! You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey!"
Hina wonders if that was Saruman the White speaking through the King. It was hard to tell considering he held the King's voice and demeanour. Before she could ask Gimli next to her if assassination wasn't such a terrible route as an option B, Gandalf pulled back his grey cloak and the hall is filled with a bright, almost blinding, light. The King was thrown back swiftly into his seat.
"I will draw you, Saruman, as poison is drawn from a wound!"
Hina watched in wonderment as the Wizard went about doing his wizardly duties. She had no idea how his powers worked, and it confused her. Her chakra had rules, it had methods of use, and it had stringent limitations, but the Istari were in a different league altogether when the time called for it. She barely even noticed Éowyn rush in and get stopped by Aragorn, in her enraptured amazement of the Istari's ability.
"If I go… Théoden dies," Saruman threatened, through the King.
In response to the threat Gandalf simply exerted his magic harder, drawing the energy around him taut and to his whim. The Kind stiffened against the chair, as if fighting against some invisible force.
"You did not kill me; you will not kill him!" Gandalf challenged confidently.
"Rohan is mine!"
"Be gone!" Gandalf shouted as he smited Théoden. The king who had gone to lunge at the Wizard was promptly thrown back into his chair once again. Théoden let out a moan and slumped forward in the chair, once the presence of Saruman left him. Éowyn ran to her uncle's side as he fell, catching him just in time to hold him up. Almost suddenly, the man's leathery pale skin grew some colour and tightened back up.
Hina whistled, impressed at Istari magic once again. "Remind me to get Gandalf's anti-aging cream," she whispered to Gimli who snorted at her humour.
"I know your face. Éowyn… Éowyn…" he said in recognition as he held his niece's hands, who wept in joy. "Gandalf?"
"Breathe the free air again, my friend."
"Dark have been my dreams of late," the King said as he looked at his trembling fingers still mildly disoriented.
"Your fingers would remember their old strength better... if they grasped your sword."
It was almost like watching history unfold out. Hina was more than a little surprised with herself for taking part in such big matters. A lifetime ago the thought of being involved in a world's history was almost impossible to imagine. Once upon a time she had been but a normal scientist, but now she watched as a King regained his strength and once again drew his blade.
Her reverence for the whole situation was cut short when Grima began squirming under her feet. She grabbed the man by his shirt and threw him towards the middle of the hall. It was finally time for some due justice. Judging from the look in Théoden's eyes, it seemed they would be witnessing a good old brutal public execution. It had been a while since Hina saw one of those. Still it was kind of cathartic watching the pasty man get thrown down the stairs.
Argh! I've only ever served you, my lord!" Grima begged.
Théoden did not stop his angry descent, sword still in hand. "Your leechcraft would have had me crawling on all fours like a beast!"
"Send me not from your side!"
Hina thought that was a little stretching it as far as begging went. At most he should only be allowed to ask to keep his life. Well, it wouldn't matter anyway considering he was going to die—she'd spoken too soon. Aragorn had held the King's hands back before the blade could fall. Hina was more than a little confused… Was there some information Grima could give them yet?
"No, my lord! No, my lord. Let him go. Enough blood has been spilled on his account," Aragorn pleaded.
"What the—" Hina mumbled in shock as she watched Aragorn let the man scramble to his feet and run away.
"Get out of my way!" Grima cried as he pushed through the crowd.
"Should I execute him further from the Village?" Hina asked Boromir and Legolas. Maybe they had let him go so they could track him back to Saruman?
"What no! Haven't you heard Aragorn? Enough blood has been spilt," Boromir said gravely.
"But… he's probably going to run back to Saruman," Hina frowned. "And he's the enemy who enslaved a King… why are we just letting him run free?"
"Sometimes murder is not the answer," Legolas replied with a frown of his own.
Hina disagreed. Killing solved a great many problems. You imprison a maniac and they'd probably come back somehow, but you put him in the ground, and he was the problem of the great beyond.
"Hail, Théoden king!"
Hina's attention turned back out to the crowd as they kneeled. Since neither Legolas nor Gimli knelt, Hina didn't either. She barely even knew who this man was anyway. Not ten minutes ago he looked like a corpse, and his whole Kingdom had nearly fallen into ruin because he let himself get magicked by some pasty white man with a constant bad hair day. Still, she felt almost sorry for the King when he turned to look at his Kingdom with despair in his eyes—as if noting something worth withering over.
"Where is Théodred? Where is my son?" Théoden asked, his eyes growing wide and desperate.
Hina winced. No, that was not good. To lose a child… she couldn't imagine that. Whatever strength was left in the King's eyes faded to grief and tears.
The funeral was a sour thing, quick and sudden. There was no time for any formal preparation, and she knew for the son of a King there was surely more than this simple veneration. Still, the size of the funeral or the grandeur of it didn't matter much—not in comparison to the grief she knew etched into the faces of Théodred's loved ones. Even the common people mourned. He must have been a great man.
After a brief song that struck Hina's heart with grief, Éowyn came to their side. The people of Rohan trickled out and away leaving only the King in his heartache. Éowyn was left to take the Fellowship with her to the castle.
"Follow me good sirs, lady," she said, wiping away her tears. "Your journey has been long, and our hospitality earlier has been lacking. Let me show you food and water."
"We thank you Lady Éowyn," Boromir said, holding her hands in his, with a sympathetic look in his eyes.
She nodded but fell silent afterwards, instead leading the way towards the banquet hall where she ordered some servants to prepare food. Hina was grateful for the hot food, but it felt almost wrong to eat it after witnessing such a tragic event. It reminded her of the many funerals she had visited during the 3rd Shinobi War. She had buried her parents and her partner. She had seen too many burials.
"Forgive me for asking, but I know of Dwarves, Men and Elves, but I have not seen one like you," Éowyn said, catching Hina's attention.
Hina turned to spot the King's niece and smiled lightly. She knew a lady trying to escape her grief with distractions when she saw one. "I get that a lot. I'm human for the most part if you're wondering."
"Don't listen to the lass, she's a frightening creature who wields both blade and magic," Gimli snorted.
"Well not to proclaim my awesomeness to the world but yes he's right," Hina says lightly.
"But you're just a child and a girl," Éowyn frowns.
"It's not so uncommon where I come from for little girls to fight. Not ideal, I know, but magic tends to even out the playing field for even children to join," Hina explained as she chewed on a juicy piece of chicken.
Éowyn looks conflicted at that information. It went against every moral fibre inside of her to allow such young children into such dangerous positions, and yet it could be said the same for women. Men treated her as something to be protected, to be kept away from harm, to be almost a backdrop to their battles and history making. It frustrated her to no end, that she should see her brothers die and in harm's way while she faded away in a castle, chained behind pretty walls and pretty clothing. It was everyone's right to fight and protect in her opinion.
"It is a hard to grasp concept," Éowyn admitted. "Here women do not fight."
Hina looked up and frowned. She knew fighting and killing would always be a male dominated profession, and women who joined would be rare and few to be found even if it was encouraged. Women were just in the majority not as physically confrontational as men. She supposed in a world where men did not exist, there would be far less wars and more sabotage, but that wasn't something she often wondered. But looking up at Éowyn she found it hard to believe that they barred her from fighting when she was so adamant to do just that. Even back in her old-world women were armed and ready in case of an invasion. The Russian women were expected to fight and protect their land as much as the men were, and they were involved in the war as medics and home armies. Just cutting off all women from war sounded so ridiculous to Hina on a logical level.
"So you're saying that women here are just expected to sit down and die if anyone ever successfully invaded?" Hina asked incredulously.
"No we would protect them and the children to the last of our breaths," Boromir chimed in, half insulted.
"So say a bunch of Orcs managed to take down a whole city and all the men died—women and children would be defenceless," Hina pointed out with a frown. "Not to mention it's ridiculous that you're cutting out 50 percent of your population from your ranks. Weaker or not, women have arms and legs too, and pointy things generally kill people regardless of their gender."
"What a refreshing take," Éowyn mumbled with the beginnings of a smile.
Boromir shook his head. "War is the province of men."
"I'm a girl," Hina pointed out.
"You are… an exception," he settled on saying.
Hina rolled her eyes. Well this wasn't her fight to fight. Éowyn lived in this sexist world and Hina felt almost sorry for her to have to deal with this bullshit, but she knew that someone as determined as Éowyn would find a way to prove herself. No one should be forced out of fighting for the people they loved and wished to protect.
As if to save her from having to continue this conversation Gandalf and King Théoden walked in carrying two children in their arms. Hina noted instantly that the boy's lips were cracked, and his breathing was shallow.
"Éowyn, get these children a hot meal and a cloak," Théoden ordered.
Éowyn nodded and rushed off to do just that. Hina watched as the boy and girl weakly took their spot on the table as soup, bread and water was given to them. They dove into their meals as if they hadn't eaten in weeks, and it was only the gentle coaxing of Éowyn's hands that had them calm down. The Lady gently asked the crying children questions as they ate.
"They had no warning. They were unarmed. Now the wild men are moving through the Westfold, burning as they go. Rick, cot and tree," she relayed.
"Where's mama?" the little girl asked, as Éowyn 'shhed' her to calm her down.
"This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash. All the more potent for he is driven now by fear of Sauron. Ride out and meet him head on. Draw him away from your women and children. You must fight!" Gandalf urged.
"You have two thousand good men riding North as we speak. Éomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king," Aragorn urged.
"They will be three hundred leagues from here by now. Éomer cannot help us. I know what it is that you want of me. But I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war.
Hina is right there with Gimli on this one in their silence. She wanted nothing to do with war talks. Direct her to the next fight and that would do. Plus she wasn't so invested in the war as she was in her friend's lives, although she figured they tied hand in hand.
"Open war is upon you. Whether you would risk it or not," Boromir added in, as he crossed his arms.
"Boromir is right. There is no other option," Aragorn pressed.
"When last I looked, Théoden, not Aragorn, was king of Rohan."
Gimli besides her took a drink and burped, wiping the alcohol from his face away with his beard. Hina tried to hold back a laugh at his utter irreverence to the entire situation but failed for a moment, before she stifled it with a clear of her throat, and handed the cloth to the thankful Dwarf to wipe his beard. Gandalf shook his head at the immaturity of his group and turned his attention back seriously to the equally as unimpressed King.
"Then what is the king's decision?"
Théoden turned in his heels, a look of hopelessness in his eyes.
"Empty the city. We take our men and women to refuge in Helm's Deep!"
With that he stormed out of the Hall leaving a confused Hina. She didn't really know what all these places and names meant, but from the sounds of it, it was a fortification.
Hina was beginning to tire of all this running about. She could name at least 5 better ways to end the conflict if the group just let her have at it. Her most favourite option was to just go assassinate Saruman, impersonate him, and then lead his own army into a destructive ambush. That was what she was best for. She toppled down many places in secret during the 3rd Great Shinobi War. Iwa didn't fear her and her team simply because they were strong—but because they had sown discord and confusion into their very ranks. Hina thought maybe she could drive some logic into this group.
"Gandalf, please hear me out," Hina urged the Istari as she ran up next to him.
"No we will not assassinate the King," he said prematurely.
"No, how about you let me assassinate Saruman then?" Hina asked.
Gandalf paused for a moment, looked down in disbelief and then snorted. "What makes you think you can even do that?"
"I'm a master of stealth, infiltration, sabotage and assassination!" Hina retorted in indignation. "Many armies of men feared my meddling! I probably can't beat Saruman in a head on confrontation, but a little slip of some poison and—"
"We will not win this war in such a manner," Gandalf cut Hina off before she could continue.
"But it could save lives," Hina protested. "Why fight a war you can prevent?"
"Saruman is but one piece in a bigger plan. We need his information—and I fear to let you go there underestimating his power. He will control you should you fall."
Hina paused at that. She did suppose her falling into enemy hands would be a pretty shitty situation for the Fellowship… but she saw these gangly men and wondered how the heck they would survive an Orc army. Especially these newly improved Orcs called the Uruk-hai.
At least she had Gimli on her side.
"Helm's Deep! They flee to the mountains when they should stand and fight. Who will defend them if not their king? Hina is speaking logic. We should nip this conflict in the bud!" Gimli demanded.
"Thank you for being the one voice of reason in this group," Hina grunted in frustration at Gandalf as she crossed her arms.
Why follow a weak King like Théoden? He wasn't even strong… just born into the goddamn role. Leadership should only be given to those who proved their worth after all. Kami knows if she hadn't done anything about the Hokage position, Hiruzen would have been back in the seat and Minato would have died. It was up to the people to assign their leaders, and she had assigned Fugaku. Her faith in him came from his name in battle and politics, not the position of his birth. Not that one's birth wasn't important in a political context, but she reasoned that ability was the more important of the two.
"He's only doing what he thinks is best for his people. Helm's Deep has saved them in the past," Aragorn explained.
Hina thought Aragorn had too much of a bleeding heart. The man was too good. She ignored him as he ran besides Gandalf to the end of the stables where Shadowfax stood. Instead she turned to Boromir who had been oddly too silent in the whole meeting.
"What's got your panties in a twist?" Hina asked.
Boromir nearly gaped at her explicit language, but instead laughed for a moment. "Nothing to worry about Hina. I am simply in thought."
"About what exactly?" Hina pressed.
"About the nature of kings," he murmured.
"Well brother you got me there," Hina huffed, before she decided she wasn't in the mood to ponder hard topics at the moment. "Now show me how to ride a horse! I'm tired of being the backseat driver."
"Backseat driver?" Boromir questioned before he decided to drop the question altogether. Sometimes the girl said odd things, and he'd learnt to just stop asking for an explanation lest he wanted a headache. "We will have time on the road to show you. Do you need help getting on?"
"Pfft no, I can jump onto that ceiling and stand on it upside down in one go right now. I don't need help sitting on a horse," Hina said indignantly.
She pushed Boromir out of the way as Gandalf shot past them on Shadowfax. She supposed Wizards everywhere wanted to make a grand exit… she couldn't blame them. She turned back to Boromir.
"Where was I? Oh right—teach me sensei!"
A/N
Sorry for the really long wait. How do I put this… priorities in my life have shifted a little so fanfiction is taking a backburner until I have some free time to kill again, which I don't have much of at all at the moment. So I'll try my best with updates, but no promise ToT
Anyway, please give me your thoughts on the story so far. It's just interesting to see if others like it or hate it. It's always good to know how it's being received, although I can't change much with this story just because it's already been written.
Snap Back is going to be popped on hold for a while, just because I'm having a massive writer's block on how to continue that story. I admittedly am a bit sensitive to negative reviews, so I have a penchant for pushing my story in different directions depending on reviews, which really screwed up some of the plans I had for Snap Back. I mean it's always good to take on feedback, but probably not when it's just pandering to everyone's personal tastes. Then the story ends up being tonally all over the place which is what happened to Snap Back. So I figured I'd distance myself from the negative reviews in that story for a while until I go about writing it again, so I'm not so influenced by everything everyone wants. But honestly thanks to everyone for following/favouriting and keeping up with my stories. It means a lot to me!