What Happened Thereafter {A LotR Fanfiction}

Nettle

[I dedicate this chapter to @WynterFrost, because she has commented on my stories, and is overall a really nice person. Her stories are also really good, so you should go check them out. Thanks for the support, WynterFrost.]

The orcs charged forward with angry grunts; their spears and crude swords pointed towards the oncoming enemy. The hobbits were hesitant at first, because they had never seen such creatures, but as soon as the first orc was slain by none other than Samwise Gamgee, the battle officially began. Several hobbits attacked a rather large, ugly orc who held a spear and a flaming torch. They managed to take him down quite easily, and soon the rest of the hobbits realized that working together brought down the creatures more easily. Using this tactic, however, meant that they were outnumbered and many orcs would get through their defenses.

Nettle had ran forward with her sister, determined to slaughter her share of orcs, but when she realized how much blood was involved, she began to feel sick. She screamed when an orc grabbed her hair and dragged her to the ground. He was about to give her the death-blow when she took out her own sword and ran it through his leg. He howled and swung his axe around furiously, trying to hit the target. Nettle screamed again, and waved her dagger around in a pathetic way. Again and again she dodged his attacks. When finally she was able to stand, she let out a battle-cry, ran forward, and plunged her dagger into the orc's stomach. With one last strangled moan, the creature fell over, dead.

Nettle put a shaky hand to her mouth. Blood from the orc dotted her face and chest, and she couldn't bring herself to pull her dagger out from his chest. The blood gushed from the wound and seeped into the ground, staining the green grass red.

"NETTLE! BEHIND YOU!" Someone shouted. Nettle turned just in time to see Merry jump on the back of the approaching orc, who would have killed her otherwise. She forced herself to run and pull her sword out of the dead orc's chest, and tried to ignore the sickening sound it made. She searched the area quickly, and was able to locate Ivy, who was pressed up against a tree, holding her sword out in front of her. There was a strange look upon her face, and her hair was coming loose from its ponytail. There was a wild look in her eyes, and a grim determination. Nettle had never seen Ivy look so fierce.

Nettle yelled and took off running. She drove her sword through the unsuspecting orc who had cornered her sister, and this time was able to recover the weapon without too much hesitation. She refused to look at the dead orc that lay prone at her feet. Ivy gave her a grateful nod, and Nettle was about to nod back when she noticed a glow further in the forest. More orcs! Her heart heavy, Nettle pulled Ivy and the two sisters prepared for whatever was next.

Merry, who had killed the orc who attacked Nettle, was looking around for her, and when he spotted her, he made a mental note to keep track of her movements so that he was able to protect her when she needed it. He managed to kill two more orcs before more enemies came from the trees. Merry's eyes widened. Men! What were men doing in these parts?

Indeed, there were certainly men emerging from the trees; evil men who had sworn to serve their master under all costs. Merry's jaw clenched. He hurried over to Nettle and took his place beside her. It would take more strength to take down a man, because they were more intelligent than orcs, and carried more than just one weapon.

As they faced an especially large, burly man, Merry put all his focus on protecting Nettle an Ivy. When he was close enough to her, he reached over and grabbed Nettle's hand, squeezed it, then sliced the man's hand away. Nettle screamed and fell back, but Ivy surprised them both by taking the man's momentary distraction and slashed her sword through his stomach. The man fell to the ground clutching his stomach wound and Ivy looked down at him sadly. She hadn't wanted to kill anyone, but now she had done it three times.

Nettle brushed the hair from her face, and Merry pulled her into a quick hug.

"Don't cry, Nettle," he said, before letting her go to fight another man. Nettle sniffed, and brought her free hand up to her eyes. Tears streaked her cheeks and filled her green eyes. How terrible this was! Perhaps she had made a mistake in volunteering for this. Perhaps she should just go home and curl up with a good book in front of a cozy fire. Perhaps--

A scream jolted Nettle from her thoughts and she looked toward the sound. A nearby hobbit hole had been set on fire by one of the orc's torches, and a sickening thick, black smoke was clouding the air. More hobbits were joining the fight now that it had become more serious, and while some of them fought with whatever they could get their hands on, others took their chance with the flames. More trees and bushes were being set on fire and things began looking mighty bleak. One hobbit lay on his back on the grass and Nettle had to look away for his wounds were severe. Tears continued to blur her vision and she was suddenly very worried about her friends.

A sudden pain on her arm caused Nettle to cry out and drop her weapon in surprise. An ugly man was towering over her, ginning like the madman that he was. Nettle picked up her skirts, turned, and ran as fast as she could. She couldn't do it anymore; she had to get away. She ran as far as she could, eventually collapsing underneath an old oak tree far enough from the battle that she hadn't been seen. Or so she thought.

Merry had seen her run from the field shortly after the man had attacked her. Her arm had been cut, and it was bleeding and she was upset, so Merry had followed her. He sat next to her when she began to cry and let her lean into him; his strong arms holding her close.

"Oh, Merry, I'm such a coward! I'm so sorry!" Nettle sobbed into his dirty shirt. Merry cupped her chin in his hands and wiped away her tears.

"No, Nettle. You're not a coward. You're the most gentle hobbit I know other than Sam, and you showed true bravery for even coming here in the first place. And unlike those wicked men and the orcs, you'd be willing to show mercy, Nettle; to spare someone's life. That's strength."

They sat there for a few more minutes, then Nettle wiped her eyes and stood up, her determination returned.

"I'm ready now, Merry. Let's go save the Shire."

And so, hand in hand, they did.