A Light From the Shadows Shall Spring

We stopped only to sleep, eat, and for me, as well as the hobbits, to practice sword fighting. I was sitting on a large rock one day, away from the majority of the group, and I watched fondly as Boromir worked with Merry and Pippin. I loved watching how nurturing he was with them. It truly was incredible, because he simply wasn't like that with anyone else in the group. At times he was very conceited, and also intolerant of others, but never with the hobbits. He cared very much for them, and that was enough to make up for the way he sometimes acted towards everyone else - in my opinion anyway.

"Two, one, five. Good! Very good," he encouraged Pippin. I got up and sat next to Aragorn to have a better look. I didn't expect him to make conversation with me since he was also watching them, but after a few moments, without turning his gaze to me he attentively said, "We haven't spoken in a while. How are you fairing, Cecilia?"

I took a deep breath and said, "Well, I'm alright I suppose. Still trying to work through this whole ordeal and accept this as my life now. It all just seems so surreal sometimes. I just wish I understood it more is all. You?"

He looked at me briefly and took a drag off his pipe. "I'm well. Everything is going surprisingly according to plan thus far. It almost is enough to make one suspicious." I chuckled a bit. I knew the feeling. "Are you normally a suspicious person, Aragorn?" It was his turn to chuckle now, and he said, "I suppose that would be an accurate description, yes."

We went back to sitting in a comfortable silence and watched Boromir with Merry and Pippin. Eventually, Aragorn chimed in, "Move your feet!" Merry and Pippin continued encouraging each other, and I heard Gimli's voice off in the distance.

I looked away from Boromir and the Hobbits and honed in on what the dwarf was saying. "If anyone were to ask for my opinion, which I note that they're not, I'd say we're taking the long way 'round." I noticed Gandalf look at him warily, but Gimli seemed unmoved and continued, "Gandalf, we could go through the Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome."

Gandalf's face fell and he looked upon Gimli gravely and stated, "No, Gimli. I would not take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Legolas climb to the top of a rock and look out into the distance. I couldn't tell what he was looking at from where I was seated, but I could tell that he looked slightly unnerved.

Before I could ask what he saw, my attentions were again diverted by Merry and Pippin attacking Boromir in a playful way, and we all began to laugh at their antics. Merry cried out, "For the Shire!" And Pippin yelled, "Hold him down, hold him down!"

Though Boromir could have easily overthrown them, he allowed them their fun. Aragorn got up from next to me to attempt to break them up, but the hobbits only turned on him and took him down as well, with surprising swiftness. Many of us were watching them and laughing at their fun when Sam looked out into the distance and asked, "What's that?"

Gimli was looking as well and immediately countered, "Nothing. It's just a wisp of cloud." Suddenly though, everyone had stopped what they were doing to look. Boromir stood up and said, "It's moving fast… Against the wind." His face fell.

Legolas cried out, "Crebain from Dunland!" Everyone looked mortified as Aragorn screamed out, "Hide!"

Everyone began scrambling to put out the fire and clean up the camp. I had no idea what was going on, but I followed suit and attempted to help clean the campsite up as quickly as I could. "Hurry! Take cover!" Boromir shouted, and everyone grabbed as much as they could and went to hide under the overhanging rocks that created a partial cave.

I had my eye on a rock that I could hide under and was about to pass Aragorn when he suddenly grabbed me by the waist and pulled me under a rock that both he and Frodo were heading towards. He pulled me as close to the back of the rock as possible with him. I went to speak, to ask what was happening, but he quickly brought his hand to my mouth and covered it gently.

I was breathing heavily and I felt as if I had twenty hearts inside me, all scattered throughout my body, each beating harder than the next. I knew he could most likely feel my absurdly wild pulse, but I didn't care.

The next thing I knew, there were massive birds that looked like crows flying low throughout the campsite. They were cawing and and flying rapidly past us, and I could feel the biting breeze from their wings as they passed. As quick as they came, they were gone.

When the coast was clear, everyone began to cautiously climb out from where they were hiding. I felt Aragorn release my waist as well as my mouth, and I climbed out just in time to hear Gandalf say, "Spies of Saruman. The passage south is being watched." He looked around to each of us and said, "We must take the Pass of Caradhras."

I looked worriedly to Aragorn and said, "Still suspicious?" I attempted a sad smile adding, "I think you spoke too soon." He nodded in agreement, but there was no trace of any emotion other than worry on his face. The others had began walking again and he gestured for me to follow, placing his hand lightly on the small of my back as I passed him.

We eventually reached the foot of a very tall, daunting mountain and immediately began our slow decent up. As we walked, the path became more and more covered in snow until we were all having difficulty trekking through it. Conversations slowly stopped as we all had to concentrate on our steps. When we were about halfway up the mountain, Frodo lost his footing and fell backwards. I tried to catch him, but he fell right past me, almost knocking me off my feet as well, but Aragorn managed to catch him. As he stood up, Frodo checked his neck to make sure he still had the ring. He did not.

I looked up the mountain and spotted the shining piece of gold gently resting on top of the snow. Frodo had spotted it almost instantly, and so had Boromir. Eyes fixed on the small ring, he walked to it and picked it up, studying it. Frodo watched helplessly, and the rest of us stood tensely. Aragorn had his hand ready on the hilt of his sword as we watched Boromir, waiting to see what he'd do.

Aragorn called out to him, and Boromir ignored him and muttered, "It is a strange fate that we should suffer so much fear and doubt over so small a thing. Such a little thing." He went to touch the ring itself and Aragorn cried out, "Boromir! Give the Ring to Frodo."

Boromir made his way over to the hobbit, his trance-like state having waned somewhat, and handed it back to him saying, "As you wish. I care not." He ruffled Frodo's hair and forced a small laugh. We all watched as he turned away and continued walking. Slowly, everyone else followed suit, although Frodo hesitated.

I stayed back with him as well and kneeled down to his height. I looked at him gently and asked, "Do you think you'd like to walk back here with me for a little while?" He looked up at me with uncertainty and I saw his eyes flicker to Boromir. He gave a small nod and I cupped his face with one hand and said, "Well it would be my pleasure to walk with you." I stood up and he gave me a small smile and I waited for him to walk in front of me a little. I made it my own personal mission to make Frodo feel as safe as possible for the time being. And if that meant keeping him away from Boromir, I would do it. Although I liked Boromir, and I did feel like he had a good heart, I also felt as if the draw of the Ring was the most powerful on him. He would be one that could be easily corrupted.

I wanted to take Frodo's mind off of things for a bit, so I leaned in closer to him as we were walking and I said, "Frodo, would you care to tell me about The Shire?" I'd heard vague fragments of descriptions from hearing pieces of conversations between the hobbits on this journey, but I still didn't really have a sense of what their home was actually like.

Frodo's face lit up for a moment and he looked up at me and said, "Oh, Cecilia, I think you would like it there. The grass is so green and there are forests and flowers everywhere. And the sun is always shining. Every night there's singing and dancing, and the food is wonderful. Maybe one day, when all of this is over, we can take you there and show you."

I smiled brightly down at him and said, "I would like that very much Frodo. That sounds like a truly wonderful place. I look forward to it." He looked ahead again, and I felt as if a small weight had been lifted off his mind for the time being. I'd hoped I'd given him something to look forward to, because he'd certainly given me something to look forward to.