And then…

And then…

Chapter 1

Arianna ran. She'd been running for two days, and hadn't stopped yet, but she was going good. In fact, she felt like she could keep going forever. She had always loved to run; it was time to think and a time not to think, depending on what she felt like at the time. It was better than on the river, where not thinking about things didn't work as there was nothing to distract you. But while running, they had interesting scenery and rocks to watch out for. She had to keep one eye on the tracks of the Uruk-hai they were following, and drink from the water skin she had hung from her belt for easy reach.

She stopped. She looked around, then knelt down and put her ear on the ground. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She heard the footsteps of her companions first. Legolas ran at a steady pace, like her, and never seemed to tire. She heard him stop where she was, waiting for her update on their quarry. Aragorn, her twin brother, was next. He was able to run for long periods of time, but had never done anything of this magnitude before. He was starting to get a bit tired, she could tell. Although he hid it well, his footsteps had become heavier. He was about to join her and Legolas where they'd stopped. Gimli was starting to fall a bit behind. The first day, he had been able to stay with the group, despite his shorter legs. But the dwarf wasn't built for long treks in the wilderness, and was getting tired. His pace was steady, but he was slower, and his footsteps heavier than the rest of the groups. But he had kept his good humor, and didn't seem to mind…much. Arianna blocked out the sound of her companions, and found what she was searching for. The large group of heavy Uruk-hai was easy to spot from even a great distance. There was nothing else like them; their footsteps had a sort of hollow drumming sound. Their pace had been steady as well unfortunately. But they were slower than their pursuers and apparently hadn't realized that they were being tracked at all. She prayed that they wouldn't notice until it was too late and stood. A small owl landed on her shoulder.

"Ery!" she said in surprise. "I thought we left you in the forest back there. You're not made for open land my friend." Erynion gave a happy chirp and stayed where he was. Legolas chuckled.

"I don't think he'll ever stop following you, Firefly."

"I've never had such a stubborn owl before, usually they're perfectly happy to be set free again." But she was smiling and she scratched the owlet on his forehead.

"What about the Uruk-hai?" Legolas asked her.

"They're still going steady but we're catching up. Come on!" she cried, encouraging the other two to hurry. Legolas took off after her, Aragorn sighed but continued running. He had just reached his sister and had been hoping for a breather. Gimli simply grumbled to himself and kept his pace.

--

Pippin's arms ached. His wrists had been tied and he was hung around the neck of an Uruk-hai like a sack of potatoes. And the thought of potatoes almost made his stomach growl. Almost because the smell of their captors was enough to turn his stomach and make him lose his appetite. He turned and checked on Marina for the hundredth time in the past five minutes alone. She still hadn't woken up. The Uruks had hit her over the head after only a half an hour of traveling since she caused such a fuss. And she'd been knocked out since. Pippin was growing very worried about her and wished he could do something. As the group entered an area between two cliffs, Pippin called out to his friend.

"Mari. Mari!" she didn't respond, just hung limply. The large group thundered to a halt and a few orcs came out of hiding. Pippin didn't pay attention to what they were saying, he was too busy calling to Marina. "Mari! Mari wake up!" he realized it was futile and turned to the Uruk who'd come to check up on them. "Please, my friend is sick. She needs water, please!" he begged. He was surprised at himself; he'd never been one to stand up to anyone, it had always been Marina who was the brave one. He realized that if he didn't take on her job for now though, that she may not live to ever be stubborn and brave again. The Uruk smiled and Pippin's hope faltered.

"Sick is she? Let's give her some medicine boys!" he called out and the others cheered. Another Uruk grabbed Marina's chin and poured something that was not water down the poor girl's throat. She choked as Pippin protested.

"No! Stop it!" he said, almost in a panic. The Uruk stopped as the leader bellowed laughter.

"She can't hold her draught!"

"Leave her alone!" Pippin cried out.

"Why, you want some? Huh? Then keep your mouth shut." The Uruk-hai leader snapped and turned away back to the front of the line. Pippin turned back to Marina who was coughing slightly.

"Mari?" he asked softly. Marina turned to him, slightly dazed still, but smiling at him.

"Hello Pip." She said weakly. She licked her lips, grimaced, then wiped her chin on her shoulder the best she could to clean off the spilt liquid.

"You're hurt." Pippin pointed out, worried.

"I'm fine. It was just an act." She said.

"An act?" Pippen asked, confused.

"See? I fooled you too. You don't have to worry about me Pippin, I'll be fine." She said with a weak chuckle. Then she closed her eyes once again and fell asleep. Pippin allowed a soft sad smile to grace his features. He knew Marina too well to argue, but he also knew she was lying through her teeth. Even when she was hurt, she was still looking out for him. He smiled, and made a promise to himself that he wouldn't be such a burden on her any more. Then one of the Uruks gave a great sniff.

"What is it, what do you smell?" one asked him.

"Man-flesh." The Uruk answered. Pippin's eyes widened.

"Arianna…" he whispered.

"They've picked up our trail!" an Uruk shouted and signaled for them all to move out. Hope blossomed in Pippin's chest, knowing that the female ranger was hot on their trail. The least he could do was help her out. He angled his chin under the collar of the Elvin cloak which he'd gotten in Lothlórian. He gripped the leaf shaped broach in his teeth and tugged until it ripped from the fabric. He then spat it on the ground, hoping to show Arianna that she was going in the right direction.

--

They ran through the night, Ery perched on Arianna's left shoulder, where he tucked his head under his wing, and slept. She was surprised he didn't fall off. The next morning, the sun came up brilliantly, inspiring them all and lending them strength. Once again, Arianna stopped and listened through the ground. She heard the Uruk-hai run, then stop for a few minutes. Puzzled, she heard others join them, but then they started running again, faster this time. She looked up from the ground.

"Their pace has quickened, they must have caught our scent." She said. She turned to the others behind her. "Hurry!" she called, the urgency in her voice made them start going a bit faster, and they continued. Arianna heard Gimli start complaining.

"Three days and nights pursuit…no food, no rest, and no sign of our quarry but what bare rock can tell." He said grumpily and out of breath.

"I would suggest you listen to the bare rock, Master Dwarf," Aragorn told him, "And there's no better interpreter than Ari." Up ahead, Arianna laughed. She really loved this group; they had fun no matter what they were doing.

They ran over the plains. They dodged large rock formations, some of whish were truly incredible, and ran along the edges of cliffs. Late that afternoon, they entered a valley. Arianna slowed and looked at the tracks. The ground was very soft, and there were Orc foot prints everywhere. It seemed they had stopped here. Something glinting drew her eye. She went over and knelt, picking up a brooch identical to her own. Shaped like a leaf and veined with silver, it shone in her hand, even through the mud caked on it. They had been a gift from the elves in Lothlórian forest and were not easily lost. A few threads of green were caught in the clasp. It hadn't been opened, simply ripped off of the cloak.

"We were meant to find this. I can feel it. They know we're following, and Mari or Pippin is trying to show us that we're going in the right direction." Legolas stopped next to her.

"They may yet be alive." He said hopefully.

"I think they must be. The party is less than a day ahead of us, come on." She stood and started running again. Legolas and Aragorn followed close behind.

"Come Gimli!" she heard Legolas say behind her, "We're gaining on them!"

"I'm wasted on cross-country." The dwarf answered tiredly. "We dwarves are natural sprinters. Very dangerous over short distances!" She smiled and ran up the hill in front of her. At the top, she stopped and looked at the land before them. The others stopped next to her along the ridge.

"Rohan." Aragorn told them. "Home of the horse-lords."

"There's something wrong here." Arianna said quietly. "Some evil gives the Uruk-hai speed. They would normally be stopped by a patrol or something, but they're still going. Something here has set its will against us." Legolas had left in the middle of her muttering, and now stood on a ridge in front of them.

"Legolas! What can you see?" she called to him.

"The Uruks have turned northeast." He called back. "They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!"

"Saruman." Gimli growled. Arianna looked at him and Aragorn put a hand on his shoulder. Then she started running again, passing Legolas, and they went down into the land of Rohan. They ran, and as the sun set, Gimli started muttering to himself.

"Keep breathing, that's the key. Breathe! Hooh…"

"They run as if the very whips of their masters were behind them." Legolas said.

"Probably faster, we're a lot scarier." Arianna called back to him. She heard Aragorn laugh.

"Yes, Ari, you are so very terrifying with that tiny owl on your shoulder." He said. Said owl suddenly took off, and dived at Aragorn. He yelled and almost fell backwards as Ery flew up from the ground, a dead vole in his mouth. Now Arianna laughed at him.

"Well he certainly scares you, doesn't he?" she said to him, and laughed again as he grumbled to himself.

--

Marina felt a sharp jolt as she was dropped onto the ground. Her arms tingled painfully from the sudden blood circulation and she groaned, hugging them close to her chest. One of the Uruks justified their stopping to the leader saying

"We ain't goin' no further 'till we've had a breather." He said through heavy panting. The leader took a deep breath as well and ordered for a fire to be built. Marina heard Pippin crawl towards her.

"Mari? Mari!" he whispered to her, sounding worried. She opened her eyes and rolled back slightly to see his face. She smiled at him, still dazed.

"I think we might have made a mistake leaving the Shire, Pippin." She breathed. Pippin smiled back at her and she stretched her arms as best she could as they were still tied together. "I hurt something awful though. My arms are all pins and needles." Pippin crawled a bit closer and rubbed his tied hands up and down one arm and then the other.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much, thank you. Here, let me do the same." She said and shifted so she could help. Suddenly they heard an odd groaning from the nearby forest and froze.

"What's making that noise?" Pippin breathed in her ear. Marina grinned, pushing herself up a bit higher to be able to see.

"It's the trees." She said incredulously.

"What?"

"Pippin, do you remember the Old Forest? On the farthest borders of Buckland? People used to say…well, they said that there was something in the water that made the trees grow tall and come alive." She said. She was very excited to know that the stories might be true.

"Alive?"

"Mhmm." She murmured excitedly. "They said that the trees could whisper in a language of their own. Talk to each other. And sometimes…move." As she and Pippin watched the trees anxiously someone started complaining about how hungry they were.

"Yeah. Why can't we have some meat?" One of the orc whelps said. His eyes fell on Marina and Pippin who were now paying very close attention to the conversation. "What about them? They're fresh." He spat.

"They are not for eating." The Uruk-hai leader said. Marina had never been so happy to have him in charge of her life.

"What about their legs?" another orc said, peering around the leader's side. "They don't need those." He pointed out. Marina looked down at her legs, not wanting to lose them. "Ooh they look tasty!" the orc said licking his beak like lips.

"Get back scum!" the leader ordered. "The prisoners go to Saruman, alive and unspoiled."

"Alive? Why alive? Do they give good sport?" the second orc asked, flicking his tongue about noisily and making Maria grimace.

"They have something. An elvish weapon. The master wants it for the war." Marina felt Pippin lean closer to her ear.

"They think we have the ring." He whispered and she hushed him quickly.

"And the moment they find out that neither of us do, they'll kill us on the spot. So hush!" she said in a hurry. But then the first orc was behind them.

"Just a mouthful." He said hungrily. "A bit off the flank." Marina gasped in fear but then the orc was suddenly headless. His head had been sliced off by the Uruk-hai leader right over her and Pippin's heads. She was abruptly very glad they were short.

"Looks like meat's back on the menu boys!" the leader announced and everyone pounced. Marina and Pippin were flung to the side and out of the way. Marina turned to see Pippin watching the spectacle with disgust and decided not to turn herself.

"Pippin, come on!" she whispered to him and they started crawling away from the camp and towards the forest. She heard a grunt from her friend and turned to see the second hungry orc holding a sword to Pippin's throat.

"Go on, call for help. Squeal! No one's going to save you now." The orc threatened. But only a second later, he screeched in pain as a spear struck him from behind.

"Pippin!" Marina called again, not bother to whisper anymore. Thanks to the attack, they might be able to escape. She figured if they could hide in the forest they might be able to wait until Arianna and the others showed up. She crawled about, trying to avoid being stepped on. It seemed both the Orcs and the attacking men had forgotten she and Pippin existed. Suddenly Pippin was by her side once more and untying the rope around her wrists. He'd gotten rid of his own bonds somehow already. Once he was done he helped her to stand. The two of them dodged horses and falling bodies, slowly making their way into the woods. Finally they ducked under the branches and into the safely of the quiet forest.

"Did we lose him? I think we lost him." Pippin panted, answering his own question. They'd only been there for a few minutes however when they heard someone following them. They both peered out from behind their tree and saw the hungry orc following them. The spear still stuck in his back and limping heavily, but as dangerous as ever.

"I'm gonna rip off your filthy little heads! Come 'ere!" he shouted and finally spotted them. Marina gasped and looked around.

"Hurry Pip, climb a tree!" she ordered her friend. He turned and climbed, with her right on his heels. When she got high enough she looked around and saw no orc in sight. "Oh thank goodness, he's gone." She said happily. But then something grabbed her ankle. She gasped, gripping the bark so hard that it hurt, but the orc managed to pull her free easily. The orc leaned over her, ready to stab her right through the heart.

"Let's put a maggot hole in your belly." He sneered. She kicked him in the face without thinking and he flinched back. But it only made him angrier. She distantly heard Pippin call her name but was too busy to make sure he was alright. She scrambled away, and just I time too because a sickening squelch made her turn. She saw that the orc had been squashed by…a tree! The tree had eyes and was glaring at her. It held Pippin in one of his claws.

"Run Mari!" Pippin shouted to her and she didn't hesitate. She turned and dashed away, but only moments later felt her feet being sweep off the ground. She soon found herself face to face with the tree.

"Little orcs! Búrarum." The tree said and Marina's eyes went wide.

"It's talking Mari. The tree is talking." Pippin said but Marina didn't look away from its large yellow eyes. He seemed offended.

"Tree?! I am no tree! I am an Ent." Marina grinned.

"A treehearder! A shepherd of the forest." She said happily. The stories were true!

"Don't talk to it Mari! Don't encourage it!" Pippin said and she looked aver with a raised eyebrow.

"Treebeard some call me." the tree told them.

"And…who's side are you on?" Pippin asked him warily.

"Side? I am on nobody's side. Because nobody's on my side, little orc. Nobody cares about the woods anymore.

"Oh, but we aren't orcs." Marina told Treebeard. "We're hobbits." She tried to explain.

"Hobbits? Never heard of a hobbit before. Sounds like orc mischief to me." Treebeard said sounding angry. He tightened his grip and Marina gasped in pain. "They come with fire, they come with axes. Biting, breaking, hacking, burning. Destroyers and usurpers. Curse them!" the tree cried angrily.

"No, you don't understand!" Marina cried back. "We're not orcs! We're hobbits! Halflings! Shirefolk?" she was running out of adjectives and her ribs felt like they would crack any moment.

"Maybe you are and maybe you aren't. The white wizard will know." Treebeard said, loosening his grip once again.

"The white wizard?" Pippin repeated, sounding devastated. They'd escaped that fate only minutes ago and now they were right back where they'd started.

"Saruman." Marina said in despair. She put her head in her hands, resting her elbows on the claw wrapped around her chest. Then she was falling. She landed next to Pippin with a grunt and they both pushed themselves off the ground. She looked up in fear at the White wizard before them.

"Oh my…" she breathed.

--

Well here we go, the sequel! I hope anyone reading this story has read the first one, titled "What If...". I'm sure you could figure out whats going on, but it might be a little confusing, lol. Well, I hope you enjoyed it, please review, I love to hear your opinions!

Your Humble Authoress,

Whisperwings