Title: Through The Fire And Flames [22/?]
Genre: Romance/Adventure/Fantasy/Angst
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 - For mild language, violence, abuse, slight crude humor, and uh...more violence.
Story So Far: The Fellowship has been broken, losing two of the members in its trek to Mordor. Merry and Pippin are taken hostage by a troop of Uruk-hai, Frodo and Sam continue on to the awaited destination in Mordor, and Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, Aspen, and Damocles track the Uruk-hai for their two Hobbit comrades. Tári, Idril, and Linwë have their own plans. As the rigorous journey continues in pieces, Frodo and Sam stumble upon a familiar woman who should be in Rohan at the moment. While Aspen struggles with her feelings with a certain Elf, what would be his own thoughts on the girl? He hadn’t really experienced much emotions like these before, though it appears that she may have opened up his eyes to many things that he hadn’t seen before.
Disclaimer: I own none of these characters except for those who are unfamiliar to the LOTR books and/or movie. The rest belong to J.R.R. Tolkein. Tenthwalker fic.
Chapter Warnings: N/A.


MOAR!!! Oh, and as a reminder, all of these upcoming chapters are for my big sis only! (Which is why I've kicked my own ass to make them! 8D) <3 Love you lots.






Book Two - Scroll Nine: Entdraught And Death With Wings



Daylight soon seeped through Fangorn Forest, as the Hobbits Merry and Pippin rode atop Treebeard to their destination. After meeting Gandalf, the Hobbits were so relieved that they were sure they’d cry, and they did, surprisingly. Desperate for answers, the halflings asked Gandalf whether Aspen and the others were alright or not. Sadly, he beheld nothing for Frodo and Sam, but assured them that their human friend and her group were just fine.

Now that the two of them were safe, what were they supposed to do? Try to find Aragorn and help him and the others? Stay in the forest? Or just...go home? They were confused for the moment, pondering on their next move.

“Oh rowan mine I saw you shine upon a summer’s day.
Upon your head how golden-red the crown you bore aloft.” Treebeard hummed.

Yawning, Merry leaned against a branch, growing more tired by the minute. Pippin, however, listened to Treebeard eagerly.

“Such a beautiful verse.” Treebeard spoke.

“Is it much further?” Pippin asked.

“Bru-ra-hroom. Don’t be hasty.” The Ent replied. “You might call it far, perhaps. My home lies deep in the forest near the roots of the mountain. I told Gandalf I would keep you safe and, safe is where I’ll keep you.”


After a while of resting up, night had passed and morning rose, sending yellow-orange gleams of sunlight through cracks of the branches and leaves, making the Hobbits’ hair shine like gold. The Hobbits were dissapointed; they wished they could have slept a bit longer, feeling so peaceful in their slumber. It was a little cold around, but the sun’s rays said otherwise, warming up their bodies on the spot.

Rolling over, Merry awoke in a forest glade, seeing Pippin drinking from a stone dish. He rubbed his eye wearily, rising up groggily and sitting himself up, ruffling his hair as if to make it look proper. Seeing their Ent was nowhere to be found, the Hobbit stood and walked forward, looking around.

“Hello? Treebeard?” He called out, but got no response. “Where has he gone?” He turned to his friend.

“I had the loveliest dream last night.” Pippin said nonchalantly. “There was this large barrel, full of pipe-weed, and we smoked all of it. And then you were sick. I’d give anything for a whiff of Old Toby.”

Merry grinned, wishing he had his pipe with him right about now as well. Suddenly, startling Merry more than Pippin, a groan was heard through the trees. Merry flipped around, looking around for the source of the sound, but all he got was the same sight over and over: trees.

“Did you hear that?” Merry asked, though Pippin didn’t respond. Another groan was yet heard. “There it is again. Something’s not right here. Not right at all.”

Pippin patted his chest and gave a growling burp, immediately catching Merry’s attention. Pippin felt another burp coming, and patted his chest once more, releasing the sound.

Merry’s brows furrowed. “You just said something...treeish.”

Pippin looked at him as if he hadn’t had enough sleep. “No I didn’t. I was just stretching.” He said, standing and stretching as he said, though two more groans came from him and only him.

Merry examined his height. “You’re taller.” He said abruptly.

Pippin turned his head and gave him that look again. “Who?”

“You!”

“Than what?”

“Than me!”

Pippin was taken aback by this, strangely enough. “I’ve always been taller than you.”

Merry looked at him oddly, shaking his head a bit. “Pippin, everyone knows I’m the tall one. You’re the short one.” He said as if it was obvious.

Pippin smirked and smiled. “Please, Merry. You’re what, three-foot-six? At the most? Whereas me, I’m pushing three-seven, three-eight.” He said, rather smugly.

Merry’s brows furrowed, curious about the liquid in the stone dish Pippin had. “Three-foot-eight? You did something.” He said, taking the bowl and beginning to drink from it.

Pippin, startled, tried to take the bowl back. “Merry, don’t! Don’t drink it. Merry! Treebeard said that you shouldn’t have any!”

“I want some!” Merry retorted.

“It could be dangerous! Give it back! Merry!”

Struggling with the dish so much, the Hobbits failed to see their feet heading for a root, causing both to stumble over the large roots of a tree and tumbling in between them. As if they weren’t struggling enough already, the roots began to groan and rumble, closing in on them.

“What’s happening?” Pippin yelped, trying to scramble out from underneath them.

Merry tried crawling away, though a branch caught his leg and pulled him back under. “Gah! It’s got my leg!”

“Merry!”

The two attempted to reach for one another, though the roots continued to cover over them, nearly engulfing both Hobbits under darkness. As Pippin attempted to get his head free, he managed to catch sounds of what seemed like footsteps not too far from where they were at.

“Help!” Pippin yelped again, managing to wriggle his arm free and wave it about to try and catch anyone’s attention.

The footsteps got quicker, the shuffling of leaves flying everywhere were getting nearer, and just before his head was completely taken under, Pippin wriggled himself loose again and saw a woman dressed in dark clothing approaching them, her face soon stricken with confusion and shock.

“Oh my goodness! What is going on here?” The woman demanded, picking up the front of her long white dress and stepping around them to face the tree.

“Agh! Now more trouble!” Merry exclaimed, flailing his arms.

The woman soon took her hand and ran it softly against a root of the tree as if in a comforting way before standing up fully and waving her hand about in a commanding manner. “Away with you. You should not be waking. Eat earth. Dig deep. Drink water. Go to sleep. Away with you.” She spoke to it.

Surprisingly, the tree obeyed her and slowly retracted its roots, freeing the Hobbits from its grasp. Merry and Pippin scrambled forth and collapsed to the ground, breathing as if they’d just been pulled out of water after a long time being submerged.

The two turned and found their faces meeting her feet, as they both looked up at her oddly. Now that they were seeing her without being crushed to death, she was beautiful to them. Her hair was a golden blonde color with perfectly decorated strips of white running through her wavy locks as her hair dangled over her shoulders and nearly below her hips. She wore a beautiful silver Elven headdress around her forehead and a delicate silver necklace across her collarbone. She wore a long, white dress with silver knots lining the ends and a dark cloak over her shoulders.

Pippin, being as loud-mouthed as he always was, was the first to speak. “It’s another Elf!” He exclaimed, rising quickly to his knees.

“Pippin!” Merry snapped irritably.

“What in the world?” The woman spoke, gaining their attention as they stood. “What are two Hobbits doing in a place like Fangorn?” She questioned.

“Uhh...” Pippin stammered as he and Merry exchanged looks before turning their heads back up to look at her.

“We were being chased by Orcs and Uruk-hai until an Ent rescued us.” Merry said quickly.

The woman seemed to study them, still curious, until loud thumping was heard behind her and they all turned to find Treebeard just arriving back. The woman turned and smiled at him as if she knew who he was, taking a small bow before glancing between himself and the Hobbits.

“Treebeard, it’s good to see you again.” She said.

“Lady Enelya? Bru-ra-hroom, hmmm it has been a long time since I have seen you walk this place, hrmm.” He replied, regarding her and nodding.

“Wait a second,” Merry cut in, confused as ever. “you two know each other?”

The female Elf turned to look at him. “Are they with you?”

Treebeard nodded again. “Yes, I am looking after them for now, hmmn.”

The woman nodded in acknowledgement, turning back to the Hobbits and bowing appropriately to them. “Forgive me. It has been long since I’ve seen anyone inside this forest besides myself. My name is Enelya Carnesîr from the Realm of Lothlórien.” She introduced.

“Nice to meet you, milady.” Pippin said, smiling.

“Meriadoc Brandybuck,” He introduced and then pointed to Pippin. “and Peregrin Took. We’re from the Shire.”

She smiled and bowed smally. “A pleasure to meet you. Now, perhaps you could tell me what drove you to enter a place like this besides just Orcs? The Shire is quite a ways from here.” She questioned again.

The two Hobbits exchanged grim looks and their gaze averted to the ground. “It’s a long story milady.”

Before anyone could reply, more thumping was heard, all turning their heads to find another Ent walking towards them, speaking to the trees as it moved along. Enelya seemed to notice this and she smiled once again as if she recognized it.

“Ivysong!” She called, seeming to get its attention.

The Ent soon reached them and bore a surprised expression. This Ent, as Enelya had called out, had ivy curling around its legs and waist along with white flowers blooming in various places.

“Hummm what a reunion this is.” Treebeard said.

“Good to see you again.” Enelya said up at Ivysong, smiling.

“And you as well, my lady.” He replied, his voice just as deep and withery as Treebeard’s.

Then, they all heard more groans emitting the forest, branches shaking, leaves bristling, and trunks croaking. Seeming as if they already knew what to do, Ivysong lowered his hand and allowed Enelya step into it as she topped his shoulder and held onto a branch.

Treebeard did the same. “Come, the forest is waking up. It isn’t safe.”



As they walked through the forest, Merry and Pippin (mostly Merry...) told Enelya of their friend Frodo, who was taking the One Ring to Mordor as they spoke, the other members and their whereabouts being unknown to them. Needless to say, the woman was intruiged by their story, feeling sorry for the lot of them and their losses. After a while of explaining, their conversation soon switched over to Aspen.

“--and then, there was this girl named Aspen in the Fellowship. The only girl to ever travel so far, as far as I’ve heard.” Merry said, earning a nod from Pippin.

Enelya piped as soon as she heard the girl’s name be mentioned. “Aspen? Aspen Culnámo?” The two nodded. “I knew her mother! Annamaria, was her name, and her Elven husband, Amrod, was a great warrior from my realm.” She said.

“You knew her?” Pippin chimed. “You’re the first to say so! The others only speak of knowing their name and their story instead of knowing them in person.”

Merry looked at him. “Well that was a mouthful.”

Enelya nodded, “Oh, yes. I knew her as my own sister. She was a wonderful woman, and so was Amrod. Both of them were perfect together, never did their hearts turn black or fill with hate. Until Aspen came along...the poor girl. Sauron became aware of her birth and sent out riders to kill her. Amrod and Annamaria feared what would happen so Amrod ordered Annamaria to take Aspen through a portal and keep her safe. After that...I’m afraid it is a blur to me. I never heard from either of them after the incident, though Amrod soon returned to Lórien to aid the Queen there.” She explained.

Pippin looked up at Merry. “So that explains why he was there!”

Merry nodded. “He didn’t stay very long, though. And there Aspen had just been reunited with him.” He said, quite dissapointed at the warrior for that.

Enelya’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Eh? Were you two there, once?”

“Oh, yes! That was one of the places we’d been through before we were separated.” Pippin replied, nodding.

“And Aspen was with you??” She questioned, disbelieving.

“Yes, she was the tenth member of the Fellowship.” Merry said. “Quite a caring girl, too.”

Enelya held a hand to her mouth as if she was stunned. “I had no idea she’d made it back!”

Merry was about to reply, until a loud groan was heard right beside his ear, causing him to yelp and shuffle closer to a branch from Treebeard. Silence struck the group, listening for another sound, though all that could be heard was the thumping and rustling of the Ents’ leaves and feet. The Hobbits looked around nervously, awaiting another groan.

“The trees have grown wild and dangerous.” Treebeard spoke up. “Anger festers in their hearts. Black are their thoughts. Strong is their hate. They will harm you if they can. There are too few of us now, too few of us Ents left to manage them.” Enelya looked at him sympatheticly.

Pippin turned to him questioningly. “Why are there so few of you when you have lived so long? Aren’t there Ent children?” He asked.

“Bru-ha-hroom. There have been no Entlings for a terrible long count of years.” He replied grimly.

“Why is that?” Merry asked.

“We lost the Entwives, hmm.” Treebeard said, shaking his head.

Pippin looked up at him, feeling sorry for him. “Oh, I’m sorry. How did they die?”

“Die, no.” Treebeard said, shaking his head again. “We lost them. And now we cannot find them. I don’t suppose you’ve seen Entwives in the Shire?” He asked.

Merry twisted his lip, shaking his head as well. “Can’t say that I have. You, Pip?” He turned to the other Hobbit.

Pippin looked up at Treebeard, raising his brows. “What do they look like?”

Treebeard made a sad expression. “I don’t remember, now...”




*




Night had soon fallen, while Sam and Frodo rested for the night, leaving Gollum to be...well, Gollum and Anna to herself. She claimed to be sleepy, though while she laid down, she kept herself wide awake. Little did the others know that Frodo wasn’t all that asleep either. The Hobbit held the One Ring in his palm, staring at it trance-like and stroking it gently.

“So bright, so beautiful.”

Startled, Frodo placed the ring back into his shirt and looked around nervously, not seeing Gollum asleep at all. Not that he imagined the creature would need it, anyway. Turning over, he saw Gollum doing the same as he had previously: stroking the center of his palm as if the Ring were there.

“Our Precious.”

Frodo rose up, brows furrowing. “What did you say?”

Gollum halted, though didn’t turn around. “Master should be resting. Master needs to keep up his strength.” He replied.

Frodo moved from his spot and crouched behind Gollum, looking at him expectantly. “Who are you?” He asked.

Gollum shook his head. “Mustn’t ask us, not its business. Gollum! Gollum!” He choked again.

Frodo shifted to another side, trying to look the being in the eye, though each time he tried, Gollum turned his head angrily. “Gandalf told me you were one of the River Folk.”

Gollum looked to the left, ignoring the Hobbit. “Cold be heart and hand and bone, and called be travelers far from home.” He hummed terribly.

Frodo moved again, trying to see his face, though failed again. “He said your life was a sad story.”

Gollum looked away again, seeming angrier. “They do not see what lies ahead, when sun has failed and moon is dead!” He said, this time, without humming.

The Hobbit then moved directly in front of the creature, looking at him dead on. “You were not so different from a Hobbit once were you? — Sméagol.”

That certainly seemed to catch his attention. Seeming nearly nostalgic, Gollum looked up at the Hobbit slowly. “What did you call me?” He asked quietly.

Frodo nodded. “That was your name once, wasn’t it? A long time ago.”

A mixture of emotions poured onto Gollum’s face, unsure, happiness, sadness, remembrance... “My — My name...” He said, quietly again. “My name...Smé — Sméagol...”

There was a moment of silence until Gollum noticed something overhead. Unbeknownst of this, Frodo was thoroughly startled when the being let out one of his many ear-piercing screams and scrambled away. Almost in chain effect, the creature he saw shrieked out like a lost soul, an all too familiar sound to the Hobbits’ ears. This woke Sam and Anna sharply from their slumber, even though the woman wasn’t asleep, and looked up to see one of the creatures dressed in black riding a horrifying monster over their heads.

Gollum, frantic as ever, flailed his arms and hid under a bush. “Hide! Hide!”

“Black Riders!” Sam announced, though it wasn’t really needed.

Anna, gritting her teeth, leaped from her position and began to drag the Hobbit towards where Gollum was hiding. “Bloody ‘ell, they just had teh look fer us while restin’! Damn it!” She hissed.

This didn’t help Frodo much, however. The Wraith circled the premesis and let out a screech, Frodo collapsed to the ground shouting in pain as he clutched onto his shoulder, where...Aspen had been stabbed to save him. Why was he feeling this pain when it was Aspen who had gotten stabbed?

“C’mon Frodo, C’mon!” Sam called from under the bush.

Unable to stand, Frodo just lay there gripping his shoulder and crying out in pain, writhing on the ground.

“They will see us! They will see us!”

Sam, ignoring Gollum’s squeals, ran forward and grabbed Frodo’s cape and dragged him underneath the bush, making sure he was hidden well. Anna ducked as well, keeping her unusual eyes locked on the being above them.

The Nazgûl continued circling above them, letting out shrieks to call the Ring and draw it out, though only made Anna even more irritated at such a sound. She hated those things, for they were the blockades of her failures each time she tried to escape the dungeons of Mordor.

“I thought they were dead?!” Sam snapped, looking at Gollum.

“Dead? No, you cannot kill them. No.” He replied, shaking his head gravely.

“That’s because they’re already dead.” Anna said, her halfed eyes never leaving the creature.

The Nazgûl let out another scream, calling to the Ring once more, and thoroughly doing a job on sending Frodo into a hypnotized state as he began to take the Ring out from underneath his shirt, his eyes rolling back into his head.

“Wraiths! Wraiths on wings! They are calling for It. They are calling for the Precious!” Gollum continued his wailing.

Sam seemed to notice Frodo’s actions and quickly grabbed his hand just before he placed the Ring on his finger, holding his hand comfortingly and nodding. “It’s all right.” Frodo said nothing, but looked at his friend wearily.

The Nazgûl continued circling the area, letting out calling screams a few times, until it turned and flew away, leaving the group relieved and yet alert, this told them that the road ahead would more than likely have more of those creatures as an obstacle, making Sam weary but Anna only got even more irritated. She didn’t want to be around any more of those things, though it seemed that she wouldn’t get her wish.

Gollum crawled to them and shook them urgently. “Hurry Hobbits and Lady! The Black Gate is very close!”


---

d'oh! well there you have it. finally i shed some light on Merry and Pippin, phew! XD and i apologize. i really hadn't intended to create another OC but i was so flickin' stuck on a few scenes that i didn't know what to type, so Enelya saved me XD; anyways, see ya next chapter! which should be soon 8P