𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐑𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 || 𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐁 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊

ᴄᴀɴǫᴜᴇ

Robb jolted awake in the middle of the night.

At first, he did not know why—he had slept surprisingly well up until now (at least as far as he remembered), the nightmare for once not reaching his mind. But as he looked around, he saw that he was not the only one awake. Frodo was crouching at the edge of the platform, next to one of the Elves. Both Legolas and Aragorn had their eyes open, although they had not moved from their sleeping place.

A few seconds later, Robb became aware of a shuffling and sniffing at the base of the tree, and knew that was what had woken him.

Ordinarily, he would dismiss it, thinking it to be an animal, perhaps even an Orc, but somehow that did not feel… right. Not when there were four people (five, including Robb himself) who were awake and alert. Were it an animal, they would have ignored it. Were it an Orc, they would have slain it.

No, this was something else.

Robb turned his gaze to Aragorn, who was closest to him, and jerked his chin in the direction the noises were coming from, furrowing his brow.
Aragorn, quiet as a shadow, moved closer to him and whispered, “It is the creature Gollum. He has been following us since we entered Moria.”

“What kind of creature is he?”

“Gandalf thinks he was some kind of Hobbit, originally. But he found the Ring—or, the Ring found him—and it corrupted him. Now, he shares few traits with Hobbits. Gollum lost the Ring to Frodo’s uncle some sixty years ago and now all he wants is to get it back. It sunk its claws into him and even now he cannot escape.”

Robb frowned, mulling this over. “So he’s not truly sinister, is he? More of a pitiable creature.”

Aragorn tilted his head. “He may have been the victim of the Ring, yes, but we cannot ignore him on that account. On the contrary, we must stay wary of his viciousness. He would do almost anything to have the Ring come back into his possession and should that happen, we would all be doomed, for he is too weak to resist Sauron’s call. We should pity him for what the Ring has done to him, but you must never forget or underestimate the power of a desperate being.”

“I suppose that makes sense.”

They sat in silence for a time, listening to the quiet mutterings of Gollum.

Just when Robb’s eyelid’s began to droop, there was a slightly louder curse, the cracking of branches and then silence. A short few seconds later, Haldir’s head became visible at the top of the ladder.

“The Orcs have been taken care of,” he stated, climbing onto the platform. He cast a quick look at Robb, who could not decipher the emotion behind it, but assumed it meant Grey Wind had played no small part in the killing. “It is safe to go back to sleep.”

❄

The next morning brought a new headache for Robb (and, he was sure, Aragorn as well) in the form of Haldir’s distrust of Dwarves.

"I will not walk blindfolded, like a beggar or a prisoner,” Gimli barked. “And I am no spy. My folk have never had dealings with any of the servants of the Enemy. Neither have we done harm to the Elves. I am no more likely to betray you than Legolas, or any other of my companions."

Robb was inclined to agree with Gimli, but said nothing. He was sure Haldir already disliked him enough. Backing Gimli up would most likely lower both of their images in Haldir’s eyes, and Robb would prefer not to make enemies of presumably good people quite so quickly again.
It had not gone too well last time, after all.

Additionally, Robb doubted Gimli would appreciate being patronized, regardless of Robb’s intentions.

“I do not doubt you," Haldir sighed. "Yet this is our law. I am not the master of the law, and cannot set it aside. I have done much in letting you set foot over Celebrant."