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

River's Edge

    Treebeard and Rain had covered much ground in four days. They were getting closer to Rain's old village. Rain wished that Bogwater was with them. She remembered him saying that he would be with her when they had to go through the village. That didn't look like it was going to happen.
    Treebeard was trying to keep Rain's mind off of what had happened. He would tell her stories from his younger years. Rain tried to act like they interested her, but her mind would always drift off back to her friend Bogwater.
     The two had taken a break near a calm river. Rain was sitting on the ground, lifting some of the water to her face with her hands. Bogwater had her canteen, so she couldn't fill it. All she could do was try to scoop the water to her lips with her cupped hands. It kept splashing through her fingers. "Dang it!"
     Bogwater and Havish had made good time as well. They had hardly slept the past few days, trying to figure out were Rain had gone. Havish was exhausted, but for the Orc's sake he kept going. Standing still for the Orc seemed to bring a darkness over him. Bogwater and Havish had decided to fill their canteens at a small, peaceful river. Bogwater sighed as he filled Rain's canteen as well. Maybe she would need it when he finally found her.
     "Dang it!" echoed a voice from afar.
     Havish looked over at the Uruk, "Did you say something?"
      "No, did you?" questioned Bogwater.
      "No."
      Bogwater shrugged, they were probably just hearing things from lack of sleep.
      "We should get going," Bogwater stood.
       Havish stretched, "You are probably right."
       They had started on their way, following the river's edge. Eventually they would come across a village, since villages were always placed next to a water source.
     "You know," sighed Havish, "When I was a younger man, fighting in one of the battles at th-"
      "Forget this!" cried a voice from behind a large rock. It sounded familiar.
       "Did you hear that?" Bogwater asked. Was he just imagining Rain's voice?
       "We are probably just tired," Havish rationalized.
         Bogwater wasn't so sure of that. He approached the rock, could it be? He looked around it to see a small figure sitting at the river's edge, their arms crossed in frustration.
       Rain.
       Relief washed over the Orc. He ran towards her, pulling her into a tight hug, "Rain! Rain! I can't believe it's you, I'm so sorry!"
       The girl looked at him with her wide blue eyes, "Bogwater?!"
        "Rain!" cried Havish, running up to the couple, "You are okay!"
        "What- what are you guys doing here? I though you'd already be at Rivendell by now."
       Bogwater placed a kiss on her forehead, "I'm so sorry. I should have believed you."
        Rain was honestly confused, was she dreaming? Her friends were here? How? Tears of joy stun her eyes as she threw her arms around her Uruk friend, "Oh my god! I thought you hated me!"
     "I could never hate you."
      Rain gave a small laugh, "I thought I'd never see you guys again."
      "We had to find you. After I found out the creature lied... I-"
      "How did you find out?" Rain questioned.
      Bogwater shook his head, "That part doesn't really matter. I'm just so glad to see you again. Are you okay?"
       Rain nodded, "Treebeard helped me. He wanted to see if my foot was doing better, and he found me."
      Bogwater looked around for the Ent, which was no where to be seen, "Where did he go?"
       Rain shrugged, "He must have completed his mission and went home."
      Bogwater sighed as he looked back at the girl. Small red welts still dotted her neck from when the creature tried to strangle her. "I'm so sorry."
    "It's okay, I wouldn't have believed me either."
     "I'm such a jerk!" Bogwater hated himself for ever leaving the girl alone.
      Rain gave her friend a forgiving hug, "Let's not dwell on it, okay? We still have to get you to Rivendell."
     Bogwater was surprised. She was still going to help him? "You'll still help me? Even after leaving you like that?"
     "Of course I will! I promised you I would."
     His heart was full of joy, the girl was so kind to him! She was still his friend! "I don't deserve you," Bogwater sighed, burying his face in her thick brown hair.
Rain rested her face on the Uruk's shoulder, "I missed you."
Bogwater smiled to himself, "I missed you too, Rain."
Havish felt a little left out, "I don't get a hug?"
Rain laughed cheerfully as she stood and threw her arms around the old man's neck, "Of course you do! I missed you too!"
Havish grinned, "Hell, it wasn't as fun without you."
"I was so bored. Treebeard had me sleeping the whole way with his boring stories."
Bogwater laughed, standing up as well, "I guess a tree wouldn't have much excitement in his life."
"He always started his stories with 'When I was just a sapling'," Rain shook her head with laughter.
"Havish always started his stories with 'When I was just a young man," Bogwater looked over at Havish with a wink.
"Do not!" argued the old man.
"We should get going," Rain interjected, "We're almost to Rivendell."
Havish gave a wide grin, "I'm so glad that we-"
The old man was cut off by the sound of a loud ringing noise. Rain looked over at the Orc, "Is it the hunters?"
"I don't know! Hide!" Bogwater cried. He grabbed Rain's and Havish's hands in his and pulled them behind a large boulder. They crouched down to the ground, covering their ears with their hands. Rain felt a cold breeze ruffle her hair. A large shadow loomed over them, but soon passed. The noise soon disappeared with the shadow.
The trio sat quietly behind the rock for a few minutes, just in case whatever it was came back. After a while, they finally stood up, looking around to make sure it was gone.
"We've got to get to Rivendell and fast," Havish breathed, "I'm too old for this kinda shit."
Rain nodded, "I almost forgot that we were being hunted."
"Come on," Bogwater started walking, "Let's get going. We're too close to be caught now."
Rain and Havish followed quickly behind him. They followed along the edge of the river for a long while, only to come across a small abandoned village. The buildings were burnt, bones of humans scattered across the field. Rain had a sick feeling in her stomach. She knew that she would come across her old village once again, but she never imagined it would look like this.
"Good god." Havish sucked in a deep breath.
Rain bit the bottom of her lip as she approached one of the scorched buildings. It was her old home. She stepped up the the stairs into the cabin. It was nothing like she remembered. All the furniture was dusty with ash. Nothing was left in tact, except for a small stuffed animal in the shape of an elephant that was tossed carelessly on the floor. It was her sister's. The toy was missing an eye, but it was still in good shape, almost new. Rain bent over to pick it up.
"Rain?"
Rain turned to her friends, "This was my sister's."
Bogwater frowned. He remembered this village. This was the village that he was sent to on his first mission. He was the captain who gave the orders to burn it down. He felt sick to his stomach.
Rain held the toy close to her chest, "She named him Billy-Bob," she gave a forced laugh.
Bogwater looked down at the ground, guilty. What would Rain do if she knew he was there when it burned? Would she then have a reason to hate him? He knew he should tell her, but he couldn't bring himself to. She would hate him.
"Bog?" Rain looked at him with concerned eyes, "What's wrong?"
He felt even more disgusted with himself at her words. The girl had no idea what he had done. The Uruk wished he had never been created.
But he knew he had to tell her.
"Rain, I have to tell you something."
"Yes?" Rain was worried for her friend, it was like a dark shadow fell over him. He looked so tired.
"I-"
Havish popped his head into the house, interrupting the Uruk. "Ya'll might wanna see this."
Rain and Bogwater followed Havish out of the building. White flakes swirled down from the sky, melting as the touched the ground.
To some this would be a joyous sight to see, but for the trio, it meant trouble. It was snowing. If they didn't get to Rivendell soon, they could freeze.
"Fish Eggs," cursed Rain.