The Girl and the Orc - (A Middle Earth Story)

Treebeard

"He's an idiot!" Rain yelled into the open sky.
She stood in the woods behind her family's little shack house. Tears rolled down her pale face. Rain was in love, but he didn't love her. She had seen him kissing another girl. Everyone was so happy when the two announced their engagement the very next day.
She was supposed to be a bridesmaid.
How could she be a bridesmaid at the wedding of the only love she'd ever had?
Rain remembered when she and him had hid in these woods, near the little creak. This was where they had confessed their love to each other.
And now he was marrying another girl? What was she going to do?
She swore she would never love anyone ever again.

----

Rain sat up from her sleep in a cold sweat. She had the dream again, when her first love had left her for another girl. Her heart filled with sadness, he and his family had died in the Orc raid. She wasn't sorry for them, and it sounded awful, but she doubted she would ever be sorry for them. She sighed.
Rain remembered her promise she made to herself, that long long time ago. Would she ever be able to open her heart up again?
Bogwater was awoken by his own nightmares, a burning village kept playing in his mind. He would never be able to erase the terror he saw that night. The crying children, the dying innocent people. He noticed Rain was also awake.
"Are you awake too?" she asked without looking at him.
"Yes."
"I don't know what's wrong with me," Rain brushed a hand through her thick brown hair.
"What do you mean?"
"How do you forgive someone who broke your heart?" she asked, not really expecting an answer. She doubted Bogwater would understand.
"You have to learn to accept your own mistakes before you can accept someone else's."
Rain furrowed her brows. She remembered always hating herself for falling for the man who broke her heart. As if it was her fault he didn't love her back. She would always ask herself if she had done something wrong, if she wasn't pretty enough or smart enough. How could Bogwater know how she felt?
Rain sighed, resting her chin on her knees, which she had pulled up to her chest with her arms. "You always know what to say."
"I'm just smart like that," he shrugged playfully.
Rain smiled at her friend, "Maybe you should write a book."
The Uruk laughed, "Whoever heard of an orc writing a book?"
"Hey! You can do anything you want to!" Rain argued.
Bogwater grinned at the girl. How could she put so much faith in him? He never did anything to deserve such kindness.
He sat up next to her, "The sun is coming up. We should probably get moving."
Rain sighed, a strange wave of sadness washed over her as the sun peaked up over the trees. She could just sit here with Bogwater forever if she could. "Alright," she finally said.
Bogwater stood up, handing his hand out to the girl. Rain took it and the Orc pulled her up to her feet. Rain suddenly let go of his hand, throwing her arms around her friend. Her face burrowed in his soft cloak.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Bogwater asked, a little shocked at her actions. It wasn't everyday a human girl hugged an orc.
Rain shook her head, "I'm fine."
Bogwater frowned, not believing her. He placed the palm of his hand on her forehead. She was burning up! "Are you sick?"
"No," Rain laughed. She wasn't sick at all. She was only blushing. The girl didn't understand why she was blushing, but she was.
     The Uruk smiled to himself as he buried his face in the girl's soft brown hair. He was just as confused as the girl was. Whoever would have thought a girl and an orc would ever hug like this, much less even be friends?
Gollum was watching the two from afar. He grimaced to himself. Never would he thought he would live to see a human and orc relationship like this. There had to be a way to break this up. It was a crime against the very workings of the world. It was disgusting to Gollum. He had lived for a very long time on this earth, and he never saw anything like this before. It was wrong. So very wrong.
Rain was the first to pull away, she didn't want to, but she knew that if they ever wanted to get to Rivendell they had to get moving. "I guess we should go."
Bogwater frowned to himself, "Yeah, you're right."
Rain furrowed her brows, suddenly remembering the creature, "The creature has been gone for a while."
Bogwater shrugged, he was still a little upset that Rain had left his arms.
Rain pulled out a apple from the bag she had stolen from the village, she tossed it to Bogwater, "Here. Eat."
The Uruk caught the apple easily. He'd never had such a fresh apple before, most of the fruits at the Orc Camps were old and rotted.
Rain pulled the map they had got from the tavern out from her bag. She studied it carefully, trying to find the safest route through the mountains to Rivendell. She also wanted to avoid coming across her old village, her heart couldn't handle seeing the burnt buildings and blackened farms. Her heart fell to her stomach when she realized that the safest way would go straight through her village. She would have to prepare herself.
"We need to go north," she said, pulling the compass out of her bag. Her voice was soft with anxiousness. She really didn't want to see her old village.
     Bogwater noticed the sudden change in her voice, "Are you sure you're okay?"
      The girl shook her head, "It's just... we have to go right through my old village." Rain decided just to tell the Orc the truth. She didn't want him to worry about her, but she knew he would just figure it out eventually anyway.
     Bogwater's heart broke for his little friend. Was this what had been bothering her lately? He felt so bad for her, he wished that he could do something...anything. "I'm so sorry Rain, are you sure you want to go through with this?"
      Rain lifted her head, but then how would he get to Rivendell? She couldn't be so selfish and take his dream of being human from him! "I think I'll be fine, as long as you are with me."
      Bogwater gave a small smile. Rain was so sweet, even when she had her own problems to face. "I'll be with you, Rain."
       Rain immediately felt better. She wouldn't have to go through this alone. She couldn't help but grin brightly.
       "Come on," Bogwater gave her a little shove with his elbow, "We need to get going."
       Rain nodded, as she began to follow him through the woods where they had stopped in to rest the day before. It was a thick wood, but it was a bright and happy wood. Not at all like the wood that was home to the giant spiders. There was sunlight sneaking out in rays between the trees. Birds were singing cheerful songs, and flowers were blossoming around them. It was beautiful.
       Bogwater's thoughts lingered on the girl beside him. Of course he felt bad for her, but he can't help but feel like if it wasn't for her situation, they wouldn't have ever meet. He would have still been the same lonely orc with no real friends. Rain was the only real friend he'd ever had. Sure, he would joke around with his fellow Orc and Uruk, but they never were real close. He felt like he could tell Rain anything, and Rain seemed to be opening up to him in return. Some reason it was comforting to him, he couldn't imagine having to do this by himself, with only the elusive creature. Who wasn't that great of an conversationalist.
     The two had been walking through the woods for a while. It was probably about lunch time according to the position of the sun. The creature had been following them since morning. He was waiting, watching, contemplating his next move.
     Rain had been walking a little ways ahead of Bogwater. He was still thinking deeply about something. She wasn't sure about what however, she too was busy admiring the wildflowers growing up around her. While she was so focused on her surroundings that she didn't realize that her foot had got caught in a tree root. She went to take another step and felt her ankle twist underneath her. Rain collapsed to the ground with a sharp cry of pain.
     "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!"
      Rain's eyes were watery with tears, "Wh-what?"
      "Are you alright, ma'am?"
     Rain looked up. Was the tree talking?
       Bogwater came running up to the girl, whose foot was twisted awkwardly within the root. "Rain!"
       Rain winced with pain as Bogwater tried to help her up off the ground.
       "Here, let me help!"
        The root was whisked away from her ankle. A woody arm picked Rain up off of the ground, holding her so her foot wouldn't be harmed. It then sat her on an old stump.
       "Wha-what?" Rain was still in shock. Bogwater went up to her, taking her face in his hands. "Rain! What happened? Are you okay?"
      "There is a village nearby," said the voice of the person who had helped her up, "There could be someone to help her foot."
      Bogwater looked up at Rain's savior, "What are you?"
       The girl's savior was a tall, skinny, tree-looking creature. It had a face carved into it's trunk, with wide set eyes and a long nose. Moss grew around his mouth, making a beard-like effect.
      "I am an Ent," the tree-creature said, "My name is Treebeard." He had a slow, rasping voice. But it was calm and strong.
     "It's nice to meet you, Treebeard," said Bogwater, "My name is Bogwater, and this is my friend, Rain."
     "Ahh, Bogwater, a strange name. Wait... are you an Orc?" The Ent recognized the Orc smell. The Ent no longer had the eyesight he once had, but he could recognize that smell anywhere.
      "Yes, but-but he wants to be human. We... we were going to Rivendell so he can turn human," Rain explained, her voice shaking with pain.
     "Shh..." Bogwater wiped the tears off of Rain's face, "Don't speak, just concentrate on breathing." He remembered when one of his fellow Orcs had gotten badly injured. They would sometimes panic and stop breathing. He couldn't let that happen to Rain.
    "Well," stated Treebeard, "I don't usually associate with the likes of Orcs. But I will make an exception this time, since I injured the girl here and because you are on a mission to become human. You seem like an honorable fellow."
     "Thank you," Bogwater sighed with relief, he was worried the Ent would not help them because he was an Uruk, "Thank you very much, Mr. Treebeard."
    Treebeard picked the girl up from around her waist, carrying her as if she were a fragile doll, "Follow me, the village is only a short way away. We must hurry so her foot can be taken care of."