TW: Thank you.
The next morning, the group of Men, Time Lord, Elf and Dwarf were continuing their pursuit as the sun rose. Legolas stopped, looking up into the sky with unease.
"A red sun rises. Blood has been spilt this night," Legolas said ominously.
"What do you mean by that?" Rory asked, looking over at the Elf oddly.
Before Legolas could answer, they heard the sound of horses ridding. Aragorn quickly gestured over to a large boulder and the group quickly ran behind it, hiding. After a few moments, the army that had invaded the Uruk camp rode passed their position.
"The Riders of Rohan," Boromir realized.
"You know them then?" The Doctor inquired and Boromir nodded.
"Aye, I've fought alongside them more than once," Boromir said before Aragorn stepped out from behind the rock.
"Riders of Rohan! What news from the Mark?" Aragorn shouted, getting their attention.
"Aragorn, I wish you hadn't done that," Boromir said as the rest of the group followed him out. "The Riders of Rohan can be hostile to who they see as invaders, even if they are friends."
"Too late now," River pointed out as they saw the Riders of Rohan turned back towards them.
Within the seconds, the Riders had surrounded them, aiming their spears at them. Aragorn and The Doctor immediately raised their hands, followed slowly by Rory and River.
"What business does an Elf, a Dwarf, and strangely garbed Men and a Woman have in the Riddermark?" the leader demanded. "Speak quickly."
"Eomer," Boromir, who had been hidden behind Aragorn and The Doctor, stepped into view, recognizing the leader. "It is I, Boromir."
Upon recognizing Boromir, Eomer quickly lowered his spear, gesturing for his men to do the same before dismounting and removing his helmet, letting his blond hair flow free.
"Forgive me, my friend. I did not recognize you," Eomer said as the pair bowed to each other.
"We apologize as well for coming onto your lands without permission," The Doctor said as he stepped forward.
"This is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, Gimli, son of Gloin, Legolas of the Woodland Realm, The Doctor of Gallifrey, Rory Williams and River Song," Boromir introduced each of his traveling companions.
"If you are a friend of Boromir, then you are a friend of the Riders of Rohan. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for their king," Eomer said mournfully. "King Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe, even among his own kin."
"That cannot be," Boromir said in disbelief and Eomer looked at him sadly.
"Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company and I are loyal to Rohan. For that, we were banished," Eomer revealed to the shocked Fellowship.
"I am truly sorry to hear that," The Doctor said gently, remembering his own banishment to Earth in his Third incarnation.
Gallifrey had stopped being his home long before his exile, but it had still hurt.
"And Prince Theodred was unable to reason with the king?" Boromir asked surprised and a sad look crossed Eomer's face.
"Prince Theodred was ambushed in an Orc attack and now hovers between life and death," Eomer said sadly, stunning Boromir. "So strong is Saruman's hold on the King that he didn't even acknowledge news of his son's injuries when my sister and I told him."
"His own son and he doesn't care?" The Doctor asked horrified, thinking of losing Jenny and his children on Gallifrey.
Both losses had nearly broken him. He couldn't imagine not caring about your child.
"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," Eomer informed The Doctor.
"We are not spies," Aragorn said firmly. "We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They have taken three of our friends captive."
"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night," Eomer said, stunning them all.
"Did you see a woman with red hair?" Rory asked desperately.
"And two Hobbits?" Gimli said in a matching tone.
"The Hobbits would be small. Only children to your eyes. And the woman with hair as red as fire," Aragorn told Eomer.
"We left none alive," Eomer said regretfully.
"I believe you should clarify that statement," The Doctor said, his voice dropping into a low growl as the blood drained from Rory and River's faces.
"We piled the carcasses and burned them," Eomer said, pointing to rising smoke in the distance, unable to face the group.
The effects of his words were immediate. Aragorn and The Doctor's face fell as Rory and River stared at Eomer, not truly comprehending his words.
"Dead?" Gimli asked, looking horrified as Legolas and Boromir lowered their heads in grief.
"I am sorry," Eomer said guilty before whistling. "Hasufel! Arod!"
Two horses came forward, a grey one and brown one.
"These are all the horses we can spare, I'm afraid. May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters. Farewell," Eomer said before putting helmet back on and getting back on his own horse. "Look for your friends. But do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands."
"There is always hope. One just has to know where to look for it," The Doctor said and Eomer smiled tightly.
"I wish I had your faith, Doctor of Gallifrey. We ride north!" Eomer called out and the Fellowship watched as the Riders of Rohan rode out.
"They're alive. They have to be," River said firmly.
"How can you know for sure?" Boromir asked hesitantly.
River glanced over at Rory, who was still frozen but said nothing. As much as she wanted to give her father and The Doctor hope, it would change too many timelines if she revealed her identity here.
"I just do," River said simply.
"I hope you're right, Dr. Song. I truly do," The Doctor said.
Later, the Fellowship rode onto the site of the Uruk camp. Aragorn was on Hasufel, Boromir behind him while Rory rode Arod with Gimli behind him. It had been decided the others, who were more used to running, were better suited to follow after them.
They all stopped as they came upon the sight of an Uruk head on a pike before several charred corpses. Dismounting from Arod, Rory and Gimli began going through some of the corpses when Gimli came upon a horrifying sight.
"It's one of their wee belts," Gimli said softly as he held it up.
Rory fell to his knees, a devastated look on his face as The Doctor lowered his head, unable to look at the sight, guilt and grief filling him. Legolas lowered his head and began saying an Elvish prayer as River stared in horror, knowing Amy was likely still alive but even so, Merry and Pippin had to be dead. Angrily, Aragorn kicked the nearby helmet of an Uruk and roared in anger and grief before falling to his knees.
"No. They can't…" Boromir said in horror, refusing to believe it.
"We failed them," Gimli said softly.
For a long moment, the group was silent. Then, Aragorn looked towards the ground, frowning as he saw some imprints on the ground.
"A hobbit lay here," Aragorn muttered before placing a hand on an imprint next to him. "Another here." Aragorn then placed his hand on a larger imprint in front of the other two. "And a woman here."
Amy rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting stomped on by the horse.
"They crawled," Aragorn said as the others looked towards him.
"Come on, hurry," Amy hissed to Merry and Pippin as they began crawling away, unnoticed in all the chaos.
"Their hands were bound," Aragorn said as he got to his feet, Boromir, The Doctor, Legolas and Gimli following them.
"What does it matter? They're dead," Rory said brokenly.
"Maybe not. We might be able to find something," River said gently, helping her father to his feet.
Rory didn't offer any response, but didn't resist as River pulled him after the others.
Finding a sword on the ground, Amy started using it to cut the ropes around their hands.
"Their bonds were cut," Aragorn said as he picked up the cut ropes.
"Come on, let's go!" Amy shouted as they stood up, grabbing Merry and Pippin by the hands.
They tried running but in the chaos of the battle, were nearly struck by horses and falling Uruks.
"They ran over here," Aragorn said as they followed him as he examined the tracks they left. "They were followed."
Merry cried out as a dying Orc grabbed onto his belt. Seeing this, Amy kicked him in the face and the Orc cried out but held onto Merry.
"Oi! Pick on someone your own size," Amy said, continuing to try and make the Orc release Merry.
Realizing what he needed to do, Merry took off his belt. The three of them ran as the Orc continued crawling after them. But they continued running, heading away from the battlefield.
"These tracks lead away from the battle…into Fangorn Forest," Aragorn finished as they came upon the forest.
"Fangorn? What madness drove them in there?" Gimli whispered horrified.
"Orcs and Uruks, I'm afraid," Boromir said grimly.
"They're alive," Rory said, hope renewed in him. "Whatever else, they're alive."
"Rory's right. So let's go get them," The Doctor said firmly before rushing into the forest. "Geronimo!"
"Doctor, wait up!" River shouted, running after him as they all raced into the forest.
Last night, Fangorn forest
Amy, Merry and Pippin dropped to their knees, breathing heavily.
"I will never complain about the running thing again," Amy said out of breath.
"Did we lose him?" Pippin asked hopefully.
"I think we lost him," Merry said in relief.
They then heard the sounds of grunts before the Orc came out of the woods and spotted them.
"You just had to say it, didn't you?" Amy said dryly as he spotted them.
"I'm going to rip out your filthy little innards! Come here!" the Orc snarled as he rushed them.
Amy led the Hobbits away from the Orc as he hobbled after them as quickly as he could.
"Tree! Climb up the tree!" Amy shouted as she frantically pushed Merry and Pippin up onto a tree.
They climbed up as the Orc reached Amy. She turned around; sure she was going to die when it threw her to the ground.
"AMY!" Merry and Pippin cried in horror as the Orc raised its blade.
A growl was then heard and the Hobbits turned back to the tree, stunned to see it now had two eyes. Pippin streamed in fright, letting go before the tree used its branch/hand to catch Pippin. Seeing Amy in trouble, the tree stomped on the Orc as Amy rolled out of the way before looking up at the tree in a mix of shock and disbelief.
"Oi," Amy muttered.
"Run Amy!" Pippin cried out as the tree started walking towards her.
Amy immediately tried to run only for it to grab her in the hand that didn't hold the Hobbits.
"Little Orcs," the tree said after a few moments before looking at Amy. "And a woman."
"The tree is talking. The bloody tree is talking," Amy said in disbelief.
"Tree? I am no tree. I am an Ent," the Ent declared.
"A tree-herder. The Sheppard of the forest," Merry said in fascination.
"Don't talk to it Merry. Don't encourage it," Pippin pleaded.
"Tree-Beard, some call me," Tree-Beard introduced himself.
"And whose side are you on?" Pippin asked fearfully.
"Side? I am on nobody's side, because nobodies on my side, little Orcs. No one cares for the woods anymore," Tree-Beard said mournfully.
"We're not Orcs! We're Hobbits!" Merry protested and Tree-Beard let out a low growl.
"Never heard of a Hobbit before. Sounds like Orc mischief to me," Tree-Beard said suspiciously. "They come with fire. They come with axes. Gnawing, biting, breaking…..hmmmm, hacking, burning! Destroyers and usurpers! Curse them!"
"Oi! You've heard of men and women before, right? Why would a woman be traveling with Orcs?" Amy argued.
"Hmm, you make a good point. Maybe they are Orcs, maybe not. But the White Wizard will know," Tree-Beard said as he began walking.
"White Wizard?" Amy asked confused.
"Saruman. He works for Sauron," Merry realized in horror.
Almost as soon as the words left Pippin's lips, Tree-Beard lowered his hands before dropping the trio to the ground. They looked up, staring in shocking at the glowing, white cloaked figure.
"Oi," Amy said in disbelief, wondering if she was seeing things.
And now the remaining Fellowship knows that Amy, Merry and Pippin are alive while the trio meet Tree-Beard.
And next chapter, we'll get to one of my favorite moments in the LOTR trilogy.