The Ranger

Chapter Five

*Two Days Later*

Today was the day of our departure. The past two days had been filled with preparations; such as packing, mapping out our route, and training.

I had my bag packed and on my back, as well as having all my weapons on me. My bag contained two spare pairs of clothing, a blanket, my notebook and quill, and enough food to last me a couple weeks, possibly more if rationed properly.

It was mid-morning when we gathered outside to leave. Honestly, I thought we should have left at sunrise, but there were only two that agreed: Aragorn and Gandalf. The others preferred to get more comfortable sleep before our journey began.

Elladan and Elrohir had come to wish us farewell, as had Arwen. I walked over to the brothers, and was greeted with open arms and a sad smile on their faces.

"Little rascal, you better come back! We are not yet done getting into trouble with you." Elladan told me.

"Indeed, we still have a lot of rules to break." Elrohir added. I gave them a slight smile from underneath my hood, and pulled them into, what may be, our last hug.

"I can't make any promises, but know that I will truly miss you both." I said in a hushed voice as I pulled away from the hug. As I stepped away I was pulled into someone's arms. I pulled back slightly to see the face of Arwen. Confused, I hugged back lightly as she kept a strong hold of me.

"Take care of him, please. He'll need you." She told me.

"Who will need me, Arwen?" I questioned. She pulled back and held me at arms length.

"You will see, when the time is right." She "explained" as she stepped back, smiling. Still confused about what in Mirkwood she was talking about I joined the rest of the Fellowship.

Once all of the Fellowship had finished saying their goodbyes, or getting something last minute, Elrond began saying a final farewell.

"The Ringbearer is setting out in the quest of Mount Doom and you who travel with him, no oath nor bond is laid to go further than you will. Farewell. Hold to your purpose and may the blessings of elves, and men, and all free folk go with you." He spoke, raising his hand as a farewell, and a gesture for us to begin our journey out of Rivendell and to Mordor.

"The Fellowship awaits the Ringbearer." Gandalf proclaims. Frodo hesitantly walks through the arches, taking action from Gandalf's statement.

"Mordor, Gandalf, is it left or right?" I hear Frodo whisper to Gandalf.

"Left." Gandalf says, placing a hand on the Hobbit's shoulder. With this, the Fellowship leave Rivendell.

"Can we stop for breakfast now?"

"Oh yes! That would be great I'm so hungry!"

"Here looks like a great spot to stop! We could get a fire going in no time and eat nice warm food!"

It had only been a few hours into our journey when Merry and Pippin began complaining about how hungry they were, and they refused to stop until they had eaten.

"You've already had breakfast" Aragorn reminded them.

"Yes, but now it's time for second breakfast!" Merry explained.

"Second breakfast?!" Boromir exclaimed, absolutely astonished. I wasn't too surprised, there are a handful of Hobbits in Bree. If you're there long enough, you can learn a bit about them. I pulled an apple off a tree next to the path, tossing it to the whining hobbits behind me. I hear a thunk, followed by an "ow!" as it hit a hobbit's head.

"This isn't exactly what I meant by breakfast..." Pippin explained. Though he complained, I could hear him happily munching on the apple.

It wasn't until late in the night when we stopped, and we only got a few hours rest until we had to continue on. Because of the inconvenient timing of nearby wolf howls, we had to continue; not wanting to fight ant orcs that may have accompanied them this early into our journey. 

We stopped again around mid-morning, allowing everyone to rest their legs and have some food that Sam prepared. Legolas kept watch while Sam cooked, Gandalf discussed travels, and Boromir attempted to train Merry and Pippin. 

I looked up as Pippin cried out in pain, Boromir apparently geeting the better of him with his sword. Merry and Pippin took their chance to pounce, bringing Boromir to the ground. Aragorn attempted to come to Boromir's rescue, but was only successfl in getting tackled too.

"What is that?" Sam's question caught everyone's attention as he pointed to a black mass in the sky.

"Nothing. It's just a wisp of cloud." Gimli shrugged off the strange figure.

"Crebain! From Dunland!" Legolas called out, now able to make out what resides in the black mass.

"Hide!" Aragorn yelled, running to his sword. The Fellowship scrambled to put out the fire and throw any supplies into bushes to make it appear that no one had been there. I dove under a rock just before the Crebain reached our encampment. I was met with Aragorn's eyes and his hand placing itself gently over my mouth, to prevent me from making any noise that may alert the Crebain of our whereabouts. When the Crebain left, everyone emerged from their hiding places.

"Spies of Saruman. The passage south is being watched; we must take the pass of Caradhas." Gandalf announced to the Fellowship. We once again gathered our bags and set off on our new path.

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Thank you all for reading this and being patient with me on updating. It has become increasingly hard for me to stay with old ideas and find time to write them. I hope I can do justice to this and not make it cliche or boring. -Colleen