Never Gonna Give You Up Chapter 8
Boromir was finding himself greatly indebted to this child. She had not only stopped him from committing a grave mistake against Frodo, but he knew in his heart he would have breathed his last moments against the Orcs without her aid. It had originally gone against everything in him to agree to travel with a woman, let alone a child. Only the confirmed rumours of her having defeated a Ringwraith in battle had made him halt his protest. He'd begun to see the strength in little things. Hobbits and now Hina, he mused. The girl was not made to ride horses, but she was learning from him at a reasonable pace.
"You have to place a measure of trust in your steed," he said.
"Someone as beautiful as Ruilar here has all my trust. Don't you pretty boy," she crooned at her horse, only for the animal to whip it's hair at her face in annoyance. "Ouch! Traitor."
"Ruilar is a horse not a puppy," Boromir laughed. "Treat him with respect and he will return it. Now come on, let's get you trotting. Keep your back relaxed or it'll hurt you in the long run, and you remember the way to steer?"
"Hai Boromir-sensei," she sing-songed in irritation as he continued his instruction.
"Your tone reminds me of my brother's," Boromir laughed, feeling a little longing at the thought of his kin.
He seemed to have caught the child's attention because her keen green slitted eyes turned his way in sudden interest. He realised he had spoken very little of his home or his kin, but she hadn't uttered a word about her family either.
"You have a brother?" she asked.
"Yes, Faramir. He is a good man. One day I know he will do great things," Boromir said proudly.
"I have brother's too," she admitted. "An older brother and a younger brother."
Boromir noted the look of sudden worry on the girl's face. "You worry for them?" he asked.
"Hai, my older brother is a baker, but he's strong. He raised Tsukiya as a baby after my parents… after they died. And now my otouto is going to become a Shinobi like me. No matter how much I warned him against it, his heart was set on the matter."
Boromir was mildly shocked. Hina had always come off, in some way, as someone important. He had assumed her parents would have been warriors of their own, but to think they had been simple bakers. It did catch him off his guard, but he would also admit to understanding her fears.
"It's never easy to let family go into danger, but we must place our trust in them to choose the right path," Boromir said softly.
Hina could understand now why Boromir had been so easy to take in the Hobbits under his wing, to train them on their journey at the beginning. She could see the older brother just gushing out of every pore in his body.
"Your brother sure is a lucky bastard to have you," Hina smiled.
"Language little one," he huffed, although not in offence if the smile on his lips said anything.
It came quickly and died quickly. Boromir knew he should remain here in Rohan while it needed his help, and he had sworn to do well by the Fellowship's side, but he also had just heard word of Osgiliath's troubles with increasing Orc raids, and despite his words of comfort to the Shinobi, his heart was hammering in worry for his brother. There weren't very many things he loved in life. Not the pleasure of a woman, nor the call of gold, or the praise of nobility made him happy. It was in protecting his home, his men, and his family that he found his meaning. A very large part of him wanted to ride there immediately, but a voice in his head whispered for him to stay for now.
"Come then, show me your skills Hina," he said changing the topic as he began to trot.
The girl followed after him as they rode alongside the now displaced people of Rohan. She ignored their curious stares at her unnatural appearance, instead focusing on keeping the horse stable as she rode it along. Eventually she trotted by Gimli and beamed at him a little too proudly.
"Look at me Gimli-san! I'm going to be a horsemaster at this rate," she boasted.
"Why you're only going the pace of a snail," Gimli retorted, rolling his eyes.
"If I'm a snail then you're a rock," she jabbed back.
"Why you little—I'll show you."
The Gimli rode a little faster and was almost instantly thrown off his horse. Hina barked in laughter alongside Éowyn and Boromir.
"It's alright, it's alright. Nobody panic. That was deliberate. It was deliberate." Gimli said as Éowyn helped him up.
Hina trotted up to the embarrassed Dwarf and grinned in victory.
"What did you say you'd show me Sir Rock?"
"Why you little—face me on the ground!"
"No way, I'm a horsemaster now!" Hina said feigning haughtiness as she left Gimli behind.
"Must you poke at him?" Boromir asked with a smile.
"If I don't make fun of Gimli-san and Legolas-san this world wouldn't be any fun," Hina chuckled.
"Come on then, if you want to learn to ride circles around Legolas too, then you'll have to pick up pace," Boromir implored.
"Hai sensei!"
It had been a long time since Théoden had seen his niece laugh as freely as she did. He had felt an ache in his chest at the thought that her smile had been erased by his weakness against the forces of Saruman. Then when he watched the odd child go by, he knew he had put off a question that had been coming back to his mind. He turned to Aragorn beside him.
"Who is that girl you travel with?" he asked.
"Her name is Hina, and her tale is an unbelievable one unless you've witnessed it firsthand," Aragorn replied after a moment's hesitation.
"I need to know who she is if she will travel with us," Théoden stressed.
"She calls her kind Shinobi, but I think she is from another world entirely."
Théoden's eyes grew wide in shock. Well that truly was unbelievable, but he didn't think Aragorn was a liar.
"You must be mistaken… perhaps she is a spy of the enemy sent to trick you," he replied with a frown.
" I have travelled with her for months, and she is but a child—a skilled warrior-wizard, but still a child. Her path lies in the twilight zone, but she is on our side. She is loyal to a fault."
"A warrior-wizard, you say. Is she of the Istari?"
"No, but maybe from another order. She called them Shinobi and no foe of hers would be wise to underestimate her stature. She can move at blinding speeds, conjure elements to her will, and walk on water and vertical surfaces as if the world's laws do not abide by her. She is also… lost. She lingers here out of fear at whatever lies in her homeland."
"She is an unknown I do not want to risk in such dark times, but I will trust your judgement on her character. Should she be one with the enemy then the deaths on her hands will also be on yours Aragorn," Théoden warned.
"You have my word that she will not harm your people," Aragorn said without hesitation.
He knew she would not betray them. In her heart was an undying loyalty to those she bonded with. He had not mistaken that emotion. Of that he was sure.
By the third day Hina had gotten terribly bored of riding Ruilar. Not only did riding him make her thighs ache, but also, she felt restless with all her energy travelling at such a slow pace. It was even slower than when they'd travel with the Hobbits. Despite these irritations, this time Hina had the self-control to stop herself from running around the Rohirrim like a child high on sugar. She felt like almost kissing Galadriel for whatever it was she did to the omamori in her pocket. It kept the energies of this world at bay and she felt less like an over eager brat, and more like the 50-year-old she chronologically was. Sometimes her childish emotions got the better of her, but that wasn't something new. She figured she'd have to weather it out until she turned 20 in this body.
"I'm going to go scout ahead with Legolas," she finally said, unable to hold back her energy any longer.
"Ok, but don't leave his side," Aragorn instructed.
Hina rolled her eyes at his unnecessarily protective behaviour. Aragorn would probably never stop seeing her as a kid until her body got older, but she didn't think she'd be on Middle-Earth long enough to finally see the day where he treated her like an adult. So she rushed off to Legolas's side, knowing she'd exhausted Gimli's tolerance with her after teasing him as a pastime.
"Tired of your horse, horsemaster?" Legolas smirked.
"Oh hush you," Hina said, playfully hitting his shoulder. "You know people like us need to run about every once in a while, or our legs will grow stiff with disuse."
Hina was beginning to become too used to this odd way people here spoke, but she kind of liked it. It was a lot more formal than the English she was used to speaking back in Australia where they had a penchant for shortening almost everything for the sake of expediency.
She continued scouting ahead happily, taking to it much like an Inuzuka ninken. Yama had taught her much when it came to scent. The Inuzuka dog was as much a sensei to her as Gaku was in a way. It was due to this that she quickly smelt Orc. She turned to Legolas and signalled danger—although since they didn't have an established signing system and so it just looked like her waving her hands frantically in warning.
Legolas knew what she meant well enough and ran to alert the others. Hina shot past Hama and before the Warg could grab him in its jaws she conjured a wind blade and stabbed it through the nose. The large hyena-like animal let out a dog-like yelp of pain as it stumbled back. Taking that moment Hina grabbed her shuriken and threw it straight into the rider's throat. She hastily picked up the man who had very nearly been killed before her attention turned eastward.
"There's a whole group of them coming! We must hurry!" she shouted in worry as she turned to the King.
Théoden twisted his horse around, unable to find the time to really gape at the sheer speed in which the little girl had brought down her enemy. She had sped away towards the people before he could even blink.
Hina rushed towards Aragorn but it seemed Legolas had already warned him. The civilians panicked but she deemed this a good thing for once. They'd make haste in leaving now. Kami knew they had been travelling so slow that it was a wonder Saruman hadn't already overrun them with a whole army and ended the conflict by now. She grumbled in her own head that this fight wouldn't even be happening right now if she'd been allowed to assassinate him and impersonate him for a while.
Across the distance she heard the sounds of hundreds of Wargs and their riders. She didn't wait around for the riders before she jumped into the battle alone. Best to get rid of them as much as she could… and a part of her would be lying if she didn't admit that a battle like this made her feel greedy for all the action. Killing Orcs was surprisingly cathartic. They were so far gone from humanity that killing them didn't have the unfortunate side effect of feeling guilty once the bloodbath was done. It was amazing! She tried to ignore the part of her mind that lamented the fact that Orcs didn't exist in the Elemental Nations. Maybe if there was one singular evil entity, then everyone wouldn't be so focused on killing each other.
She threw down a smoke bomb, the biggest one she had on her, and watched in pleasure as the animals and their riders stopped their charge in confusion. Then she used her enhanced hearing to track them down in their own chaos as she dodged arrows and swords and cut their necks with her Elven blade Pikapika. Once the smoke had cleared the Rohan riders rushed in and began cutting down the Wargs in their confusion.
"Hina, get on!" Boromir shouted at her.
Hina grabbed the man's hand and threw her weight up onto the creature. Her earlier intervention worked because of some good ol' Shinobi scare and confusion tactics. She didn't think she could take down this entire army before her chakra ran out. Not without the help of others. She had just helped thin the herd to save some good men from dying unnecessarily.
They continue in this bloodbath of a battle as horses and Wargs clash. It was clear to Hina that the Wargs were the better steeds, what with their added benefit of sharp canine teeth and their wide jaws. Still the horsemasters of Rohan were nothing to scoff at as they continued on their onslaught.
"Five!" Gimli shouted.
"We're counting?" Hina asked as she threw a shuriken at the Orc about to kill Gimli from behind. "I'm jumping off now Boromir-san!"
The man simply nodded in assent as Hina went to Gimli's aid. She was glad for once that someone didn't question her ability. Boromir's confidence in her was refreshing.
"That one didn't count!" Gimli replied angrily. "You distracted me."
"Thirty-two," Hina said cordially as she once again killed an Orc coming her way.
"Thirty-two!" Gimli exclaimed in disbelief before he slayed another Warg with a nearby spear.
"She has us beat," Legolas added in, before shooting down three Wargs at once like a true show-off.
Hina didn't try to hide the shit eating grin on her face as they took on the hordes of enemies together like a well-oiled machine. She'd missed working with a team. With nostalgia in mind she decides to pull out her ninjutsu. She'd reserved enough chakra to make a terrifying show for her enemies. They would learn to fear messing with her. Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger
Fire Release: Flame Bullet!
Hina began spitting blue balls of intense fire at her enemies, the heat enough to catch their cloaks on fire and to melt the metal even mildly to their skin. She wasn't a ninjutsu-taijutsu specialist for no reason. Her near perfect combination of the two made her a challenge to fight head on for any Shinobi, let alone disgusting, smelly, and terribly hideous Orcs… and no she wasn't racist… not at all.
"Arrggh! I'll catch up!" Gimli exclaimed in irritation as he tried harder to kill more Orcs.
Eventually though it became almost boring. Once their numbers had dwindled down and it was a matter of killing all stragglers and fleers (which Hina did easily and without much effort) it felt like even the people of Rohan didn't need her help. In the end she'd won though and that's all that mattered.
"Forty-two lads," she said with a victorious grin. "Bet you can't beat that!"
"You had an early start," Legolas pointed out.
"This battle doesn't count," Gimli agreed.
"You're just sore losers. Not my fault you cannot admit my sheer awesomeness. I'm going to gloat to Aragorn now and make him admit I'm the best," Hina replied with exaggerated haughtiness.
She turned to the battlefield and looked around in confusion. She couldn't smell Aragorn. For a moment she wondered if all the stinking Orcs had covered up his scent, but the more she looked around the more it became apparent that he wasn't there.
"A-Aragorn?!" she asked, twisting around a dead body nearby. "ARAGORN!"
Her cries seemed to turn the attention of the remaining men to the battlefield. Legolas came by her and then rushed off into the distance to pick up something. Hina ran up beside him to see Aragorn's necklace and she began to worry… had he died somehow? No, it was too early for any death… but this wasn't a story, and she knew it. People she hadn't expected to die early did in the Elemental nations. The same could happen here, and it was beginning to make her heart drop.
"Hehehehehe," an Orc laughed.
Gimli pointed an axe to the dirty creature's throat. "Tell me what happened, and I will ease your passing."
"He's—" the Orc began before he started coughing, "dead. Took a little tumble off the cliff."
"No, you lie!" Legolas said angrily as he grabbed the Orc by the neck, only to watch him die before he could question him further.
"It can't be," Boromir said angrily as he clenched his fists.
Hina rushed to the cliff edge and looked down to see a steep jagged drop. She couldn't tell how deep or shallow the river was, and if it was shallow, she feared for what she would find. But she had to know. She could smell his blood and that wasn't helping either, but some part of her needed to see a dead cold body before she gave up hope.
"He isn't dead," Hina hissed as she made to jump, only for Boromir to hold her back.
"Don't die with him," the man said, voice cracking in worry.
"Let go of me! He isn't dead!"
Hina had never used her chakra enhanced strength on any of the Fellowship members before, but she did then as she threw Boromir away in frantic worry. Then without another word she ran down the vertical surface and then jumped onto the water's surface before diving into the water. To her relief she found that it was deep here, and there was no body. She came back up and ignored the worried calls from her friends as she pulled herself onto the water's surface and began running down the river.
Hina cursed her nose as Aragorn's scent had clearly washed away. Kami knows she'd told him to take a bath a million times before, but now when she needed him to stink to high heavens, he was clean. She felt a little hysterical at the thought as she continued to track down the river for about an hour against the raging waters until she saw a figure laying face up.
"Aragorn!"
She grabbed the man and pulled him out of the cold waters, not struggling to carry his weight, but to put him in a position where his wounds wouldn't be jostled. She ran further downstream knowing she needed to do a more thorough check up on him before drying him lest he wanted to catch a cold or pneumonia. And she did get him there quickly.
"Arwen," he mumbled.
Hina looked down in relief but was a little confused as to why he was looking at her and seeing his lover. Still it was good to know he was awake at least.
"Not Arwen, although I'm definitely pretty enough to be mistaken," she laughed jokingly, although her laugh choked up with a worried emotion.
"H-Hina?"
Hina was relieved to see his deep blue eyes looking back at her in awareness. He noted she was carrying him but was too tired to really talk. Hina dropped him gently by the riverbed and went through her own personal hand seals for an instant hair drying jutsu she had created. It warmed the man up quickly and expertly until he was back to a stable temperature.
"Well, it seems like I got to pay you back for pulling me out of a river," Hina mused as she pushed his hair out of his face gently.
Aragorn smiled weakly and Hina grimaced as she realised she'd used up a lot of chakra. She'd need to use more to both carry Aragorn while defending against any potential attacks on the road would be too much for even her… and she wasn't keen to use her last soldier pill yet either.
As if the heavens heard her worries a deep brown horse rushed in and Hina gaped. This was too good to be true right?
"What the fuck?" she mumbled.
"Language"
"If you have the energy to scold me, you'll have the energy to tell me how this is possible."
"I freed him, and he came to me in my time of need," Aragorn breathed out weakly.
"That explains literally nothing, but who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?" Hina laughed at her own stupid joke.
It was time to use Boromir's lessons… although she wasn't confident in her skills yet. She figured this animal could get them back on its own if it could somehow sniff out Aragorn after an age long bath. She put the wounded man on its back before taking a seat in front of him. The horse listened to her, much to her relief, and had a keen sense for direction. She wondered if something or someone was guiding its step because it rode with more purpose than a horse should ever have.
"We can stop under the cover of nightfall," Hina said.
She noticed that Aragorn had already let himself fall to unconsciousness on her back but was glad his arms were around her waist tightly. Even unconscious he wasn't making himself a nuisance she mused.
"You're a real lifesaver, you know that horsey," she said, rubbing its neck.
The horse threw its head back and neighed, almost as if to show how proud it was. At least it hadn't whacked her face like Ruilan had, she mused with a smile. She just hoped Aragorn hadn't sustained any serious injuries, because while she knew how to heal someone the good old traditional way, she had no idea how to fix injuries like an Iryo-nin did.
She would have kept riding in silence if she hadn't caught wind of the foul smell of Orcs. She quickly took the reins and prayed to whatever god was up there that this horse would listen to her, because she changed its directions. After a moment of protest it decided to comply with her worded pleas, and they moved to the mountain peak. The sight before her was terrifying to say the least. Hina had been in war before, but it seemed the population differences between the Elemental Nations and Middle-Earth was on another level. What she saw was ten thousand or so Orcs. It was unbelievable. She couldn't even begin to imagine the sheer chaos that would have been unleashed back in her home world if this was how many Shinobi fought at once.
"These are grave findings," Aragorn whispered tiredly behind her.
"Good time to wake up," she mumbled sarcastically. "Go back to sleep. You'll need the rest to recover."
"After a sight like that, it would be impossible."
Despite what Aragorn said, he did pass out again. Hina made sure not to move him more than he needed to be, and only manhandled him when the sun had set, and they needed to make camp. She jumped off the horse first before coaxing the leaning man to the side and awkwardly carried him bridal style towards the base of a tree. She placed him down gently before putting her cloak behind him as a kind of prop pillow.
"What did I do to deserve such gentle caring from you," Aragorn asked with a smile.
Hina wondered who had cursed her. Of course he woke up in the most embarrassing moment possible, when she was tucking him into bed like an overly fond mother.
"This is payback for all the times you've stripped and dressed my wounds," Hina retorted playfully as she unhooked his Elven cloak, and then began unbuttoning his shirt. "You look normal for a man so shy about his body."
"I'm not shy," he grumbled.
"Well then you Men of the West need to rethink the word. You never get into any rivers with me unless you're falling into your doom. Why, the concept of bathing seems so foreign to you is beyond me."
In truth she was only teasing to help get Aragorn's mind off her probing his bruised chest. She was relieved when she didn't find any broken bones in her thorough search of his chest. So then she went about cleaning and bandaging the rather large gash on his arm. She pulled out a bottle of alcohol and he raised a brow her way as if to ask where the heck she had procured it. Rolling her eyes, she didn't deign him with an answer before she poured it on his wounds and then wiped away the blood.
"Didn't know alcohol could be used for that… are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked.
"Hmm not like I got a masters in biochemistry and worked under a leading scientist in the field of body modification and scientific mutation… yup not at all qualified to treat minor wounds," Hina replied sarcastically.
"In my defence I've never heard of such titles," Aragorn pointed out.
Hina just smiled innocently as she tied the bandage a little too tightly, earning a hiss from the man. He snorted at her little revenge for questioning her, but he didn't expect her to sit next to him, lean up against the tree and steal part of his cloak to snuggle up next to him. It struck him then how much Hina had grown to trust him. He'd known her to be too headstrong and independent… well that was unless she was under the thrall of Elven magic, but when she was in her right mind, she often kept to herself, preferring little contact that a child her age should want. To know she had given him this silent trust was warming.
"I've never seen an army that big," Hina admitted to him.
Aragorn hadn't missed the slightly raised pitch in her voice, despite how otherwise calm and collected she sounded. He was once again reminded of how small she was next to him—how someone so young and green to this world should not be going to war.
"You said you've seen war before," he noted tersely.
"Yeah, but there weren't this many people back home. At most you'd have a thousand at a time, but even that's big for us. Shinobi are specialised and hard to train up so there aren't many of us."
Aragorn found it hard pressed to understand the workings of a society run by warrior-wizards. It was such a foreign concept… but he'd come to hate what he knew of it. He'd seen the haunted look in her eyes, far too old for her age, and full of pain that had twisted into something ugly.
"This isn't your war, Hina. You should not stay to fight," Aragorn said.
"And leave Gimli and Legolas to beat my score," she huffed, trying to play it off as a joke.
"Why do you fight?" Aragorn continued sombrely, not allowing her to deflect like she usually did. "You could go home any time, and yet you tremble at the very thought. What frightens you of that place, that you would rather stay here to fight against the forces of Sauron rather than to return?"
The girl went silent next to him and he swore he felt her shiver. She looked up as if contemplating what to say, and he half expected to hear nothing, but then she spoke.
"It's a long tale… and once you hear it, you'll see me for who I truly am," she said, hiding her face from his view.
"And I will not judge. You have my word."
When she finally met his eyes the conflict in her expression was heavy, but eventually she nodded, and she frowned at her trembling hands, as if she was beginning to hate herself. He had not expected such a defeated expression from someone so usually energetic and full of humour.
"When I was five the 3rd Great Shinobi War broke out," she began sombrely. "I signed up for the Academy because I had no choice in the matter. When I was born, I was set to die due to a spiritual imbalance in my chakra, but a Shinobi Clan raised me and in return I paid with my service."
Aragorn was caught off-guard by the admittance. He was beginning to hate this world she spoke of more. To force a child just out of toddlerhood, one that should at that age barely know the ways of the world, into such a position—he could scarcely imagine being thrown into fighting and war so young.
"I didn't mind. I wanted to be a Shinobi either way. It was the quickest way to branch off to be a… scholar. Then my motives changed when the war hit. My family were bakers, and we'd already been in debt before, and this war would ruin us financially… so I decided my job would pay for it. I trained hard and graduated as the second youngest student ever at the age of six. Then three months later I went to war."
There was something deeply unsettling about imagining a girl barely at the height of his knees running off into war of all things, and yet he could in fact imagine it after he'd seen her magic.
"I'm a rarity where I'm from… There has only been one other child my age to have graduated so young and he was a close friend of mine. He had a sensei—teacher—who was a war hero while I was taught by a Jounin—a high rank warrior but no one of note. Because of this, a shadow army set their sights on obtaining me for their ranks… ROOT."
Aragorn had never heard so much hate uttered for a word, and he felt the way she briefly stiffened at the thought itself. He listened quietly as she got lost in her memories.
"The leader Danzo—"
He remembered hearing her tell him she'd killed him when she was drunk on Elven magic in Rivendell.
"—branded me with a seal on my tongue. It bonded me to secrecy and to his service."
"You were made a slave?" Aragorn interrupted for the first time in disgust.
Hina smiled wearily at that, but she continued with a nod. "We weren't called slaves but that was what we essentially were. They would steal children and break them until they were nothing but tools. No emotions, no love, no bonds—only the mission. We were assigned partners who we would inevitably grow close to and then we would be tested by being ordered to kill them."
Aragorn felt a rising heat in his chest. He feared for what he would hear next, for what kind of torture they had forced upon innocent children… upon Hina.
"I never broke to their beatings or indoctrination, and in my anger, I killed a high-ranking member. Danzo sent me away to work under a man named Orochimaru, who worked for him in ROOT. Orochimaru is extremely strong… and he helped me become stronger in exchange for my service—"
The girl paused beside him as if struggling to find the words to speak.
"I did many horrible things under him because it was better than being tormented by ROOT and they were threatening my family. My mother was pregnant at the time with my baby brother, and so no matter how vile the task I accomplished it. Many innocent people have died by these hands, and I grew to find pleasure in battle, but I still remained defiant. As a final blow to my disobedience Danzo ordered me to kill my own parents lest my brothers die too by his hands."
Aragorn shut his eyes and clenched his jaw. What was this madness? This cruelty… it was almost unheard of.
"I..I did it… I killed them… and then he sent me away to break me again, only this time he nearly succeeded. Orochimaru kept me from disappearing into ROOT base and my brothers kept me afloat and so I continued to be obedient, biding my time until the day came where in one fell swoop, I activated the seal on the tongue of every ROOT agent. My partner had died, and there was nothing left to stop me. So my master and I killed Danzo, and our Village leader took pity on me and let me go."
Hina paused and then for a moment she looked wistful almost, like she had experienced a glimmer of hope only for it to be ripped away from her.
"After that, things looked good. The war finally ended when I was 12 and it seemed like I could move on with my life, but I had accepted these markings from Orochimaru and accepted him as my master... I had done terrible things for him after all. But I couldn't allow him to become village leader and so I helped appoint an honourable man, who would then ask me to leave my village marked as a traitor to catch my master. I agreed. It was only meant to be a few months' job."
He knew instantly it wasn't, and he felt sick at the thought. "How long have you been with him alone... this man who no doubt gave you this curse?" Aragorn asked, unable to hide his anger as he touched her neck.
"A year and a half now," she whispered, shutting her eyes tightly. "In that time I have been twisted from my humanity, and kept away from anything good, but for good reason. He's working with a group that is... similar to Sauron in a way. They are strong and if they continue thousands will die and so I remain to act as a spy... but I fear any more time there will irrevocably change me. Even this body you see me in—it hasn't grown. It won't grow unless I force it to. I'm not even human anymore... just some twisted experiment for a madman I swore my life to in time of need."
Aragorn didn't like the dark look of self-loathing that came about her. He squeezed her shoulder in reassurance before shaking his head in disagreement.
"You cry and you laugh and you're the most loyal person I've met Hina," Aragorn disagreed with her gently. "You're not some twisted creature, not the victim to some bigger man. You're a soldier who sacrificed her life for the lives of others. You're someone willing to live in torture for the sake of your family. Is that something a selfish creature would do?"
Her eyes were wide as they looked directly into his. She put her palm on her forehead and chuckled. He mused that maybe she laughed because she couldn't cry, not because she found humour in everything like he had thought earlier.
"My first sensei told me 'take your failures like you take your victories', and I promised a friend that I wouldn't hate myself for everything. Sometimes I just need a reminder," she whispered. "Who I'm fighting for."
He let her thoughts linger on the positive. Her story had shaken him to his core, and what was worse was that he knew she had only given him the smallest taste of the horrors she had been through. He could see the seal on her neck, and he hated it. It felt like she had gone from being the slave of one man to the slave of another. Orochimaru was so far beyond his reach that Aragorn knew even if he could somehow kill this man, he wouldn't even have the opportunity to. But he'd seen how powerful Hina was and to imagine a man stronger than even her was hard to comprehend.
Hina paused as if realising she had just given away more than she'd ever intended, and Aragorn had to admit it was a long and terrible tale. He could understand full well why she'd latched onto their group now, and why she so readily accepted fighting a war that wasn't hers, in place of going home. He put his arms around her and pulled her in.
"You can rest now. There's no need for you to fight here," he whispered.
"Fighting's all I'm good for."
"No. Who would liven our spirits with beautiful flute music if you weren't around?" Aragorn joked.
Hina laughed at that, relaxing a little against him. "Yup, what better bard will you have than me? Your life would be songless."
"Take some rest, little one. I will take the first watch," Aragorn said.
"Hmm ok," she yawned before she closed her eyes and slowly drowsed to the hum of a foreign Elven melody. For once she didn't protest his order.
They began travelling again in the early hours of the morning when the sun had barely risen above the hilltops. Hina was grateful for this almost regal horse as they made their long journey over the hill Plains of Rohirrim.
Eventually they came upon Helms deep and Hina marvelled at the sight. She could suddenly understand why this fortification was looked upon highly. The Plains around it were marshy and would be hard to fight in for the enemy, and its ring-like walls were thick and sturdy with good defences. The large rocky mountain behind it though was something she wasn't too sure about. It would no doubt come with its pros and cons.
"You're a lifesaver," Hina told the horse with a sigh of relief as she urged it forward again.
"Mae carnen, Brego, mellon nîn (Well done, Brego, my friend)," Aragorn agreed as he thanked the horse before he turned his attention to the keep. "We will have to give word to the King."
"I doubt we'd have the forces to match," Hina muttered.
"We don't, but we have to believe the defences will hold."
"What about gathering forces from Gondor?" Hina asked, wondering if it was even feasible at this stage.
"…It is possible."
Aragorn was unsure about that suggestion. It had been a long time since Gondor and the Rohan had fought together in anything but border scuffles with Orcs. From what Hina could see, Sauron's forces were greater in number, and Orcs weren't exactly the easiest people to fight without the added disadvantage of fear at their disgusting, gnarled appearance. They brought with them fear and weakness. The name Sauron itself seemed to be taboo.
She didn't press for more until they reached into Helms deep and the refugees muttered in wonder at them coming back alive. Once they were in Hina jumped off and helped Aragorn down from his horse. Before she could ask where the King was, she heard Gimli off in the distance.
"Where is he? Where is he? Get out of the way. I'm gonna kill him!" Gimli shouted angrily as he stumbled through the crowd. His expression softened almost immediately and turned to relief when he saw Aragorn. "You are the luckiest, the canniest, and the most reckless man I ever knew! Bless you, laddie!"
Aragorn returned the Dwarves hug who then quickly pulled away to grab Hina in a tighter and even more thankful hug than the careful one he had afforded the Dúnedain. Hina laughed and hit his back.
"Gimli, where is the king?" Aragorn asked, getting back on topic.
"At the hall. Come on then," he gestures.
They made haste through the peasant crowd, and Hina noticed the looks of respect being thrown their way by the people. She supposed seeing more seasoned warriors might put their troubled hearts at ease. Her own heart was happier when she saw both Legolas and Boromir outside waiting for them.
"Le ab-dollen. (You're late)," Legolas said with a smile, before he took Aragorn's hands and gave him the Evenstar pendant.
Aragorn felt immeasurably grateful to have it back. He'd panicked silently after having realised it wasn't hanging on his neck. He had only kept silent because he had bigger fears at the moment.
"Hannon le. (Thank you)," he thanked the Elf with sincerity.
"Just don't go falling off cliffs next time," Boromir sighed. "Hina won't be around to jump down after you all the time."
"She what?" he asked in alarm.
"Don't exaggerate, I ran down the side of the cliff. Jumping down that length would cost me too much chakra… and you best bet to not test fate or I might jump on after you Boromir-san," Hina grinned.
"There wouldn't be a need to, I'm not that clumsy," Boromir replied with a smile as he put his hands on the girl's back and turned towards the Hall. They had business and while Aragorn's return was a relief, work they still had left to do.
"Stand aside guards, we have business with the King," Boromir said sternly.
The guards complied after noticing who they were in the presence of. Hina wondered when her life had gotten so crazy that she was considered important enough to be let in on the big boys table. There were Kings and Nobility and Princes in her midst, and she was just the daughter of a baker. She supposed life was never so easy to predict.
"Théoden King," Aragorn greeted.
"You are alive! This is fortuitous news."
"I do not bring fortuitous news," Aragorn said as he shook his head with pressed lips. The smile quickly fades from the King's face and he nods for Aragorn to continue.
"We saw a great host of Uruk-hai making march not a day away," Aragorn warned.
"A great host, you say?" the King asked.
"By the looks of it all of Isengard is on their way," Hina supplied with a frown.
"How many?"
"Ten thousand strong at least," Aragorn replied.
The King turned around in a display of shock Hina couldn't fault him for. "Ten thousand?!"
"It is an army bred for a single purpose: to destroy the world of men. They will be here by nightfall."
Hina didn't know whether it was fool's courage or some greater plan the King had in mind that had him turn his heel and dare them to come. He seemed agitated and they followed after him… well Aragorn mostly did. Hina wasn't so sure she'd be welcome input in this coming conversation.
The King turned to Gamling. "I want every man and strong lad able to bear arms to be ready for battle by nightfall."
He finally stopped at the stands of the gate at Helm's Deep, and he turned his solemn gaze to their group.
"We will cover the causeway and the gate from above. No army has ever breached the Deeping Wall or set foot inside the Hornburg."
Hina didn't really want to experience a siege. That was beyond her expertise in dealing with. Shinobi did not do sieges. It was unheard of.
"This is no rabble of mindless Orcs. These are Uruk-hai. Their armour is thick and their shields broad!" Gimli exclaimed in irritation.
"I have fought many wars, Master Dwarf. I know how to defend my own keep," the King replied as if Gimli's input was invalid.
Hina felt sympathy for Gimli's irritation at being dismissed so easily. Not a few days ago this supposed King who 'knew how to defend his keep' had fallen under the thrall of Saruman, allowed his country to wilt in power, ordered the exile of his own nephew, and was overall someone who'd made terrible decisions. Hina wasn't so sure this King knew how to 'defend his keep' like he proclaimed to. She would have preferred to have had him assassinated and appoint Éomer in his stead. From what she'd seen of him so far, he felt like a head-on kind of commander, and Rohan needed that strength right now.
"Don't worry I agree with you," Hina whispered conspiratorially at Gimli who just grunted in agreement.
"They will break upon this fortress like water on rock. Saruman's hordes will pillage and burn, we've seen it before. Crops can be resown; homes rebuilt. Within these walls, we will outlast them."
"They do not come to destroy Rohan's crops or villages. They come to destroy its people. Down to the last child!" Aragorn warned.
The King turned to Aragorn, stopping the group in their tracks. "What would you have me do? Look at my men. Their courage hangs by a thread. If this is to be our end, then I would have them make such an end as to be worthy of remembrance."
"Send out riders, my lord. You must call for aid!" Aragorn appealed.
"And who will come? Elves? Dwarves? We are not so lucky in our friends as you. The old alliances are dead," Théoden countered.
"Gondor will answer," Aragorn replied.
"Gondor? Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell? Where was Gondor when our enemies closed in around us? Where was Gon… – No, my lord Aragorn, we are alone."
"King Theoden is right. Gondor is too entrenched in war from all fronts by the Corsairs," Boromir interjected with a frown marring his face. "But know this my lord, you will have the aid of Boromir son of Denethor. The alliances of old may yet be called upon!"
Théoden paused at Boromir's conviction, as if for a moment he did wonder if Gondor would come to their aid… but it was too late. He feared they wouldn't survive the night, let alone wait four days for the arrival of another army.
"It may yet be Boromir… but I fear it will not be today," he said before turning to his guards. "Get the women and children into the caves!"
"We need more time to lay provisions for a siege, lord—" Hama began.
"—There is no time. War is upon us!"
Hina noticed her team hold their faces in defeat and turn around as if to catch their breath. They're just as frustrated as she is by the King, but Aragorn looked East as if expecting something, and she figured Gandalf would not have left at such an urgent time just to go for a trip to the hair salon to keep his whites glowing. But as much as magic fascinated her, she'd rather not leave it up to magic yet.
"Gamling-san," she calls out to one of the Captain guards.
"Yes?" the man asked.
"I know this might sound crazy, but I need all the paper and ink you can give me. I have a brush on me so that should be fine," she said.
Gamling turned to the group with a raised brow, wondering why a child would be asking for such resources at these perilous times. He relented when Aragorn nodded his way to confirm the request.
"Do as she says Gamling. She has a way with magic in the form of runes," Aragorn said.
"Of course. I trust this will be important."
"Oh yes! Expect explosions! A lot of explosions!" Hina laughs evilly as she grabs both her blood bank (Legolas) and Gamling as she ran towards her precious paper.
If there was ever a good time for explosions, it was now!
A/N
Woweeee… sorry for the wait… again. I loved reading all of your comments though. Brought me so much joy. I love me some LOTR battles. I enjoy watching those parts of the movies again for 'research purposes', but really it's just a good way for me to fawn over the awesome practical effects.