Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings.
Chapter 12 – The White Wizard
The next few days were rough. The fellowship of five traveled over rugged terrain nonstop ever since they had begun tracking the party of Uruk Hai that took Merry and Pippin captive.
In addition to the physical stress, they also had to deal with emotional stress. They just hoped against hope that the hobbits would be all right.
Tammy also had another thing to worry about. When she saved Boromir, she didn't think at all. She just acted. Boromir was alive, yet he was supposed to be dead…killed by that Uruk she had foolishly gone up against. That was the first time she had ever disobeyed a dream. She didn't even want to think about the inevitable repercussions.
Though she knew she was wrong in what she did, she could honestly say that she wasn't sorry that she had saved him. Just like everyone in the fellowship, she really cared about him. He was like a brother to her. She didn't think she could have handled it if she had to stand by and watch two people she cared about die. Having to do so once had been bad enough…but twice?
Suddenly, there was a great rumble of the earth.
The five companions took cover behind a boulder.
An army of men on horses galloped past.
Having recognized the insignia the riders bore, Aragorn came out from hiding and yelled, "Riders of Rohan, what news from the Mark?"
At this, the other four joined Aragorn as the group of warriors Aragorn had beckoned circled around them like vultures circling their prey.
The leader, Eomer, dismounted his horse and addressed the five strangers. "What business does two men, a woman, an elf, and a dwarf have with the Riddermark?"
"We have been tracking a party of Uruk-Hai westward across the plain. They have taken two of our friends captive," Aragorn replied.
"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them in the night."
"What about the hobbits?" Gimli asked, distraught. "Did you see the two hobbits?"
"They would be small. Only children to your eyes," Aragorn explained in desperation.
Beginning to feel pity for the company before him, he grudgingly explained that none were left alive. "We piled and burned the carcasses."
"Dead?" Boromir asked, not wanting it to be true.
"You may search for your friends, but do not trust to hope. It has forsaken these lands." After explaining this--feeling much sympathy--Eomer whistled, calling three horses forward: a white horse named Hasufel, a brown horse named Arod, and a black horse named Maranwe. "May these horses bring you to better fortune than their former masters." With that said, the soldiers of Rohan left the five companions to search for the hobbits.
Silence hung heavily in the air, none of the companions wishing to speak—no one wanting to voice the fears they all held.
After climbing on the horses—Legolas and Gimli on Hasufel, Boromir and Tammy on Arod, and Aragorn on Maranwe—they rode onward towards the smoldering pile of burnt corpses.
It would seem that the five remaining members of the fellowship had searched in vain. In the time that they had searched the battle site, the only token acknowledging that the hobbits had even been there was a small belt that the hobbits had worn.
In rage and anguish, Aragorn kicked a helmet and screamed in frustration, falling to his knees.
Two more friends, brothers, were lost. 'Was this meant to happen?' Tammy questioned. The guilt she had been trying to suppress since they had been taken finally surfacing. In her dream, she did not see the hobbits being captured, so she had to wonder if their capture had been an immediate effect of her actions. 'Two lives for the price of one… It's not fair.'
Suddenly, Aragorn began softy speaking as he followed a trail of sorts…leading right into Fangorn Forest. There was still hope.
In the thick darkness of Fangorn Forest, hope was anew. There was still a chance Merry and Pippin were alive.
Despite this fact, however, Tammy still felt a strong sense of foreboding. Something wasn't quite right. She had gotten this feeling almost immediately after she saved Boromir. She knew he wasn't meant to survive. She changed something that needed to be. The feeling kept growing worse and worse as time went on.
"The White Wizard approaches," Legolas said.
Each of the five companions retrieved their weapons, as a blinding white light appeared surrounding and obscuring their view of the wizard before them. Almost immediately, the weapons were forcibly lowered.
"Show yourself!" Aragorn ordered.
The white light slowly faded away to reveal Gandalf in white robes.
Shock and wonder filled the five companions as they beheld their old friend.
"Gandalf?" Boromir asked, not believing his eyes.
Something was definitely wrong. Tammy should be happy—deep down she was—but she just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. She felt as if she was on the verge of a cliff. The fear and dread that was filling her was overwhelming.
"Yes, but now I am Gandalf the White," Gandalf said in reply.
'What is wrong with me?' Tammy thought, panicking. Slowly, unconsciously, Tammy began to reach for her necklace, the one Galadriel had given her.
"I come to you now at the turn of the tide."
Tammy grasped the necklace in her hand and immediately felt a strange sensation. It felt like she was falling…
There were four horses running along the grassy planes: three recognizable—Hasufel, Arod, and Maranwe—the other one was white, just like Hasufel. Gandalf was riding on the new horse, Legolas and Gimli were on Hasufel, Tammy and Boromir were on Arod, and Aragorn was on Maranwe.
Maranwe started to neigh and thrash his head around in annoyance as a fly flew around and continually landed on his nose. Aragorn noticed the horse's agitated behavior and began trying to calm him down.
In a blur of movements, Maranwe lifted up onto his hind legs several times, throwing Aragorn off of his back. Aragorn hit the ground with a sickening thud. He hit his head off of the ground and lost consciousness.
A/N: Well, that's it for chapter 12. I hope you liked it!
PEF: Thank you for your review! I agree that I use too much in the way of the original story. That is probably one of the biggest problems I've been having with writing this story. In the future of this story, that shouldn't be a problem because of what I have planned. I did try to stray away from retelling all of the lines and actions in this chapter. If I'm still relying too heavily on the movies, please let me know. As for the dreams, from here on out they will be original.