Avadis - A legolas story (slow moving!)

Chapter 14 - Orcs?

It turned out that it did not take long for both of their pathways to reveal themselves. Only a few days later Gandalf was strolling the forest by himself when he heard the heavy footsteps of Treebeard thud behind him. "I have found... some little orc... white wizard" he told Gandalf.

"No! Please we are not orc!" a high-pitched voice called out from high in Treebeard's limbs. "We're hobbits!" another voice called out.

"What is this then? Hobbits, all the way in Fangorn forest?" Gandalf asked, turning around to see Merry and Pippin clinging to Treebeard.

"Gandalf?" they asked in surprise. Pippin jumped from Treebeard and ran over to him, "it cannot be! You fell."

"And I have returned, as you see Peregrin Took" Gandalf responded with a laugh, placing a hand on the young hobbit's shoulder. "But how?" Merry asked from behind Pippin. "How? That is not the most important question to consider." Merry and Pippin looked at him extremely confused. "A better question might instead be, why?" He replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "And a second question is what are two hobbits doing in the middle of Fangorn forest?"

"We were taken by a pack of Uruk-hai after they ambushed us" Merry began slowly, before Pippin butted in, "they killed Boromir Gandalf!"

"Yes yes I was getting to that" Merry said waving his arm at Pippin, obviously annoyed, "Anyway, they carried us all the way to the edge of this forest before they were attacked by a group of horsemen. We took our chance to escape unnoticed, until we were picked up by Treebeard here." Merry finished, gesturing to the Ent behind them.

Gandalf stopped a moment in thought while both hobbits continued to ramble on about some smaller details to their story, something to do with meat and menus. Apparently, his next task was to figure out what to do with them. Both hobbits seemed quiet tired, and Merry had a terrible gash to the side of his head. He would take them to Avadis, and she can care for them while he finds out where the rest of the company are. Knowing his companions as well as he does, he knew that they surely would not have simply abandonded these hobbits to the Uruk-hai. They would not be far behind.

"I have an old friend I wish for you to meet" Gandalf announced, looking up at Treebeard, who nodded in response. "Come here... little hobbits... I will take you to meet... her"

"Her? Who is she Gandalf?" Pippin asked with a hint of excitement at a new adventure. "Someone who will help you, while I am gone" he said.

"Where are you going? Why can't we come?" Merry asked him. Gandalf paused again slightly frustrated, he'd forgotten how demanding hobbits were. "You need to rest a moment, my little friends. Here you will be safe until you are ready to journey again" he replied, "I must continue on, there is much to contemplate. I will see you soon."

Just as Merry was about to open his mouth again, Treebeard scooped him up into his arms, making both the hobbits yell in surprise. "Do not... worry about him," Treebeard hushed the hobbits, "wizards... have a way... of doing things... that no one... understands."

"Until we meet again, friend. Thank you for caring for my friends" Gandalf said to Treebeard, "and pass on my goodbye to her. I know she will understand."

"Stay safe... young wizard"

...

Avadis was around the side of her house, tending to a small bed of flowers she had been growing, trying to make a deeper purple dye. They were growing, slowly, she had been using the water with other ingredients to give them as many nutrients as she could. But even though she had spent the last however many years alongside living plants, she did not have the skill of gardening. 

"Avadis... we have... visitors" she heard Treebeard call from the clearing. Visitors? Last I checked Treebeard only had one friend, and that's me. Standing to her feet, she began to take off her gloves, still trying to figure out who on earth would be visiting an Ent. "They are... hobbits... not orcs" Treebeard informed her, and Avadis froze in her tracks. It could not be Frodo, or Sam, they were far from here. Merry and Pippin?  She remembered them from the stories Gandalf had shared of the Fellowship. 

"Hello!" she called out, walking out into the clearing while brushing dirt from her hands. Her suspicions were confirmed almost immediately when one of the hobbits yelled very loudly "Merry! She has wings!" 

Avadis laughed at the sight of the little hobbits that were clinging to an obviously uncomfortable Treebeard. "I can see that Pippin" the other said, staring at her with his mouth open wide. "What are you?" Pippin asked, "hush Pip don't be rude" the other shushed. 

"Don't worry, I don't mind" Avadis said with a smile, "My name is Avadis. I am an Avian, so I look like an normal person but with wings, as you can see" she gestured to her wings, which she spread out fully behind her to show the hobbits before neatly tucking them away again.

"It is nice to meet you Avadis, I am Pippin and this is Merry"

"They are beautiful" Merry said as he climbed down from Treebeard's arms, "they match your hair!"

"Are you the friend that Gandalf told us about?" Pippin asked. Avadis looked slightly puzzled, she did not think that Gandalf had told anyone about her existence. Not even Saruman, which has proved a blessing in disguise. Treebeard began to speak, "we met him... on the way... here. He has... gone walking... and will not be back... for a long while."

"I see" Avadis replied, "well in that case I suppose I must be. We have been friends for a very long time now". He's gone to think. She knew how Gandalf was. He was gone, and she had no idea when he would be back. He must have found his path, and sent her on her own one. As the hobbits came closer, she could see that the side of Merry's head had a bright red gash. "You are hurt" she said, gently kneeling down to the ground infront of the hobbit, "may I see?"

"We were taken by a pack of Uruk-hai" he told her. "Uruk-hai? I have not heard of these creatures before" she responded, reaching to push his hair back and expose his wound better, making Merry wince. "Saruman has made them, they are like orc crossed with an elf. They do not fear daylight and can run for days without stopping."

Avadis frowned, now she knew what he meant. They were the new creatures she had seen emerging from Isengard. She had no idea they were so powerful. "It sounds like you have both had a long journey here. Come and rest here, I will care for your wounds and prepare a hearty soup for our supper."

"Rest... in the shade of the... trees" Treebeard sighed, "I will return... I am going to call... an Entmoot. There are... things we must... discuss." Avadis looked at him with raised eyebrows. He had not called an Entmoot since she had arrived in the forest all those centuries ago. Something must be on his mind.

"You must discuss whether you will fight for us!" Merry called out to him as he wandered further into the trees, "fight for Middle Earth!"

Avadis smiled, a sad smile now that she knew why he was calling Entmoot. She knew it was very unlikely the Ents would go to war. She had tried many times to convince them, but they did not care much for the comings and goings of the rest of Middle Earth. Treebeard was more likely to  fall asleep alongside a stream than to actually make such a decision.

"I have never heard of anyone like you before" Pippin said, collapsing into the moss at the edge of the trees. "Well that explains why you did not run away from me" Avadis replied, smiling at the innocent looks on the hobbit's faces. Grabbing a damp cloth to clean Merry's wound, she sat on the ground and looked over at the hobbit. "Let me tell you a story that happened long ago..."