Alatara the Blue

They finally came to the pillars of the kings, 300 foot tall statues of old Gondorian kings. The Fellowship looked on in amazement, how had humans built such magnificient statues?

"The Argonaths," They had gotten to Aragorn or perhaps it was Boromir talking last night about Minas Tirith but for the first time in his life he was feeling proud of being a man of Gondor. "Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old...my kin."

The current of the winding river grew stronger and tugged them in between the two statuesque kings.

It wasn't long before they went ashore. Aragorn and Gimli pulled their boat ashore while Boromir and Legolas did the same to theirs. They were surrounded by a dense old forest, the trees were mossy and tall. Crumbled statues riddled the forest, some of cloaked figures covered in vines. Ruins of gigantic old statues of Gondor's kings riddled the forest, half a crumbled face here and a stone arm there.

"I don't think we should stop here," Alatara warned.

"And why is that?" Boromir dropped the boat and turned to her, disbelieving. "We've been in the boats all day."

"The water smells wrong," She raised an indignant eyebrow at him and crossed her arms.

"That water smells wrong," Boromir chuckled. "Did you hear that? That water smells wrong."

Aragorn pushed Boromir aside, "We won't stay, just north of here is a lake. We'll hide the boats after we cross at nightfall then we'll approach Mordor from the north. We're growing closer, a lot of the things here probably feel weird to your wizard senses."

She growled slightly, "Dont patronize me, I know what I'm talking about, you'll see."

She turned to Boromir, "I feel as if you're in the most danger, tread carefully Lord Boromir."

She stomped off and Legolas followed her.

Aragorn sighed.

"I agree with the lass! This is stupid," The dwarf groaned. "just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil, an impassable labyrinth of razor sharp rocks. And after that gets even better...a festering, stinking marshland, far as the eye can see."

Would Aragorn's leadership always be challenged? He was just trying to do what was best for everyone, "That is our Road...I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf."

"Recover my ass," Gimli scoffed, plopping down on a rock he pulled out his flask again to take another sip.

The Hobbit were oddly quiet, poor halflings were still in shock. Aragorn sighed, how would he get them all out alive?

---

Alatara stomped off indignant. Would they ever take her seriously?! She swung her staff into a tree and the tree snapped in half It thudded to the ground with a plume of dirt smoking into the air.

"Now, now, no reason to take it out on the trees," She turned to see the elf, Legolas.

"Are they always that infuriating?" She grimaced.

"Kind of, you aren't the only one who feels ill at ease being here," The elf old eyes looked around examining the forest, he looked so young but like her was wise beyond her years. For the first time, she truly felt she had a friend on this mission. "Don't worry, I'll talk to them."

"Thank you Master Legolas," She smiled.

"It's no problem at all," The blonde elf smirked and walked off.

"Wait Legolas," He turned to look back at her. "Don't worry about that whole human woman thing, things have a way of working out if you give them the free reign to do so."

He still smirked, "You are more like Gandalf than they are giving you credit for."

---

Legolas returned and marched up to Aragorn urgently.

"What was that loud crack Legolas?" Aragorn sat on a rock trying to figure out how to get a grip on his friends.

"You made Alatara so angy she snapped a tree in half with her staff," Legolas smirked.

Gimli laughed, "Ata girl."

"We should leave now, Aragorn."

"No. Orcs patrol the Eastern shore. We must wait for cover of darkness," Didn't they realize he was just trying to keep them alive?

"It is not the Eastern shore that worries me," Legolas' eye flickered into the forest. "A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind. Something draws near, I can feel it."

Aragorn's eyes narrowed, he had a feeling the elf might be right. He probably should apologize to the Wizard once she returned.

Sam appeared to slump asleep against a rock, his chubby face smooshed onto the top of his hand, using it like a pillow. Merry and Pippin sat with Gimli, secretly sipping from his flask too. Aragorn rolled his eyes, he loved his friends but really? Getting tipsy when your life was at stake and danger lurked in every shadow.

Merry looked up and saw Aragorn watching. You could see the clever hobbit try to come up with something to distract Aragorn and Legolas from the three's drinking, "Huh, that's odd, where's Frodo?"

It worked. Aragorn jumped to his feet, his eyes flew to Boromir's shield. The man had left it abandoned against a rock.

Alatara chose that moment to return, "Frodo's put the ring on again, I can feel him in the shadow realm. Has no one told him that Sauron can find him easily when he does that?"

Sam lurched awake and the Fellowship readied themselves for a fight.

"We need to find Boromir!" Aragorn ordered.

They heard marching in the distance of the forest.

"Horses?" Gimli asked, his axe ready in his arms.

"No, orcs," Legolas readied his bow.

"I'll find Frodo, you all look for Boromir," Aragorn ran off in search of Frodo.

---

Aragorn found the ringbearer curled up on the forest floor, next to a crumbling stone staircase, a part of an ancient castle. The hobbit was obviously traumatized.

"Frodo?" He whispered gently, not wanting to startle him.

"The ring, the ring," Frodo whispered. "Boromir's fallen prey to it."

He approached Frodo, trying to comfort him. They'd deal with Boromir however they had to.

"Did he take it? Where is it?" If Boromir had it they were all utterly screwed.

Frodo backed away, using his hairy feet to scoot himself away.

Aragorn was taken aback, had he ever given his friend a reason not to trust him?

"Stay away!" Frodo yelled, gripping the ring necklace.

Aragorn approached slowly, "Frodo, I swore to protect you."

Frodo's blue eyes were haunted, so haunted Aragorn wasn't sure if the boy would ever heal from this journey. If he even survived. Aragorn quelled that thought, he's make sure Frodo would live even if he had to give his life for him, "Even from yourself Strider?"

Frodo opened his hand and presented the golden ring to him. Such a tiny, insignificant looking thing. It was odd to think that a chunk of metal was capable of manipulating the most powerful of creatures of all Middle Earth.

"Would you destroy Strider?" Frodo sounded near tears.

Aragorn knelt to him, he knew what Frodo planned to do. He couldn't be around such easily manipulated minds, he was going to sneak there on his own.

Aragorn closed Frodo's palm, "I would have gone with you to the end...into the very fires of Mordor."

Frodo's eyes were so sad, "I know, you're the only one I know who can resist it. Please, look after the others. Especially Sam, he will not understand."

Aragorn nodded, he heard Orc horns of war in the distance and the clang of swords. He stood and drew his sword, "Go now Frodo, while you have a chance, we'll hold them off."

Frodo tried to give him a smile and nodded but he was hesistant. Aragorn gave him a look and Frodo finally ran. He darted into the trees just as 200 orcs approached Aragorn.

Aragorn yelled and attacked them like a madman. He had to distract them long enough for Frodo to escape. Who knew if they could smell Frodo had been here? Or follow his scent and track him.

He beheaded two before they even realized what happened.

Swing, duck, slash, kick, dodge, leap, slice, swing, dodge. It was like a dance and Aragorn was leading. He had taken out a good ten more before he was surrounded. Aragorn relaxed and heaved a breath out. Was this how it would end?

Suddenly, his ears were filled with the sound of Elven arrows flying. Legolas and Gimli broke into the clearing. With his largest axe in his hands Gimli attacked. Legolas hung back, killing as many as he could with his arrows. Alatara stood by him with her own bow, her kill count just as high as Legolas'.

Another blow of a horn reached their ears. But it wasn't an orc horn.

"The Horn of Gondor!" Legolas yelled.

Aragorn felt ill at ease, he knew something was off with Boromir for him to sound the horn, "Boromir."

They fought more desparately then, trying to break away from the mass of orcs. To conserve arrows, Legolas drew his two short swords and he lithely moved like water, slicing and slashing at the orcs.

Many of them went after Alatara and Aragorn almost dove to save her when she grinned and yelled, "Time for a little magic, what you've all been waiting for."

The gem in her staff glowed and all the orcs around her were thrown back, as if they had bumped into an invisible wall. Wines from the forest floor crawled around them, wrapping around them. Green stems curled around them, squeezing and tugging at the orcs until the orcs suffocated.

A few lived though and Gimli dove into action, "Easy pickings! 32, 33, 34."

"Those don't count! They're all tied up!" Legolas chastized but started killing the rest off with Gimli.

"Yes they do! You blasted dwarf!"

"Fine! 48, 49, 50, 51."

That just seemed to infuriate Gimli more.

Aragorn ran in the direction of Boromir's horn, hoping he was in time to save him. He broke into the clearing just in time to see a large Uruk-Hai aim an arrow at Boromir's head. His friends chest was riddled with arrows and crimson bloods ran down his chest as wet as rain.

"No!" Not one more of his friends would die. He leapt into action and tackled the orc. The orc was gigantic taller than Aragorn and Aragorn was 6'3". But Aragorn was faster and he slashed around him, the Uruk-hai knocked him to a tree and flung his iron shield at him, choking Aragorn.

The Uruk-hai ran to cleave Aragorn's head from his body with his machete.

But Aragorn ducked and punched him in the stomach. The orc knocked him onto his side and Aragorn kicked at him with all his might.

The Uruk-hai growled and pulled Aragorn up by his shirt and headbutted him. White hot pain flooded Aragorn's mouth and he rolled onto the forest floor, into the itchy grasses.. He crawled, making a desparate grab for his sword and lept back into battle. With a screech, he swung at it.

The Uruk-hai didn't seem to expect him to recover so quickly and he took his chance stabbing the creature in the gut. The Uruk-hai snarled and pulled Aragorn closer, pulling Aragorn's sword deeper into him. The creature snickered at him. Aragorn glared and pulled his sword from it and swung quickly, slicing it's head clean from it's body with Elven steel.

"They took the little ones," Boromir cried, from his wounds or at his guilt Aragorn wasn't sure. Twenty orc bodies were littered around Boromir, torn to bits. He was a gifted warrior.

"Boromir, you were very brave," Aragorn whispered to his friend and knelt to help him, he pressed on his chest, trying to staunch the flow of blood from his chest. "Just hold on, wait until Legolas or the wizard come here to heal you."

"Where is Frodo? Where is Frodo?"

"I let Frodo go," Aragorn whispered.

Boromir made a sad sound, "Then you did what I could not, I tried to take the ring from him."

Aragorn gave him a reassuring smile, "The ring is beyond our reach now."

"Forgive me, I did not see..I have failed you all," He was getting delirious from blood loss."

The mess of clotted blood was getting worse, he attempted to bind the wound, "No, Boromir. You fought bravely. You have kept your honor.

Boromir tried to shake him off, "Leave it! It is over...the world of Men will fall and all will come to darkness and my city to ruin, Aragorn."

"I do not know what strength is in my blood, but I swear to you... I will not let the White City fall, nor your people fail," He tried to reassure him?

"Our people...our people..." The light in Boromir's eyes started to fade.

Aragorn placed Boromir's sword in his hand. Boromir's fingers tighten around the hilt, "I would have followed you, my brother...my captain, my King"

"Be at peace, son of Gondor, my friend," Aragorn closed Boromir's dead eyes and hung his head. Another ally lost on this godforsaken mission.

He sat silently with the body, holding vigil until his friends found him.

---

They gave him a warrior's funeral. Placing him in one of their abandoned boats and pushed him over the waterfall.

Legolas and Gimli walked ahead but Alatara walked with Aragorn.

She placed a hand on his arm, "I'm so sorry."

Aragorn sighed, "It is alright, we'll make it through this."

"Aye," She nodded, her copper curls bounced around her head.

"That was amazing magic you did," Aragorn's heart panged, he had lost too many people, he couldn't afford to alienate someone who his friends had obviously taken a liking too. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

She gave him a sad smile, "I undestand, I can never replace Gandalf, I just hope I can keep you guys alive so you don't meet him so soon in the afterlife."

Legolas turned back to them and eyed Alatara's hands on Aragorn's upper arm. Aragorn subtly shook it off, he hadn't realized it was still there. Strange, "If we are quick we can catch Frodo and Same before nightfall."

Aragorn's eyes drifted over to the opposite side off the river to see Frodo and Sam's abandoned boat.

Legolas' eyes widened in shock, "You mean not to follow them."

"Frodo's fate is no longer in our hands," Alatara sighed.

Gimli groaned, "Then it has all been in vain, the Fellowship has failed."

Aragorn shook his head, "No, we won't abandon Merry and Pippin to the orcs. There is still we must do."

Legolas nodded, "We will leave all that can afford to be lost behind and we can probably catch them, we are smaller group and faster."

He grinned, "Let's hunt some orcs."