Jinxed

Chapter Seven - Dead and Searching

Gina awoke with a gasp. Legolas sets her down and turns to leave. "Aragorn" She rasps Legolas looks down.

"He fell, he is dead Hiril Vuin" Gina shakes her head feebly, and tries to pull on the Elven prince's arm but a healer pulls her weak body away.

(...My Lady)

Gina manages to convince the healer that she is fine and manages to get out of the hall filled with the pained groaning.

Gina finds herself sitting on the wall watching the grounds before her. Aragorn, she knew wasn't dead. He was her Cordë, that was why she felt like she was drowning. She was still alive now because he was and she hoped that he would return to her.

Berating herself on her wistful thinking Gina turns and watches the bustle of Helms Deep, she is so lost in thought that she misses the figure on the horizon, she misses the horse and rider enter the safe hold, the only thing that draws her attention to the newcomer was the huddle of people and the yelling of Gimli that could be heard even by the oldest man over the chaos of the hold.

When it registers to Gina that the excitement may be over Aragorn she runs down to him, shoving through the crowd. She pauses to examine the battered brunette before her, then with tears of joy she lunges towards him and gently hugs him, burying her face into his neck and breathing in his scent. That is until she realises what she is doing and steps back smoothing her dirty shirt averting her eyes. Aragorn pats her on the shoulder with a smile, Gina awkwardly smiles back and shuffles her feet.

~

Gina is being led by a guard to the caves when she spots Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. She darts out of her herders grasp and towards the men. Aragorn looks up to see her and grimaces "Please tell me that you do not come to barging your way out of the caves?" He pleads.

Gina laughs "oh no, I would be of more use in the caves then out here" She looks past Aragorn to Legolas and Gimli "I just want to wish you luck and to warn you that if any one of you die I will hunt you down." She pauses looking back to Aragorn "And I'm not sure how I'd manage that so don't die, please?" Aragorn claps his hand onto her shoulder.

"You need not fear, all three of us will return to you unharmed" Gina gives a sad grin.

"Thank you" She whispers bringing him in for a hug, startling him, but he quickly hugs back. She then moves onto Legolas and Gimli giving each of them a hug and words of well wishes.

~

Gina sits at the mouth of the cave with a stolen bow and arrow, she hums to herself watching the door, ready to shoot anything that may pose. The thick doors open and in a slightly jerky movement the bow is drawn and trained on the face of a man. She lowers the bow slowly eyeing the man, she recognised him. Barely. "You must head for the hills" He commands walking towards her to grab her arm.

Gina growls and raises the bow to the man "Do not make me move" She threatens. "I have gone out of my way to be agreeable" She pauses as the man backs off "Go and warn the others" the man quickly scurries off into the mountain to warn those huddled in the caves.

~

Time passes slowly and Gina was growing more antsy. Her body throbbed from her Cordë being injured in battle. Finally, the doors are thrown open and someone runs past her to fetch the women and children from their journey to the hills. Gina tentatively walks out of the cave and into the hall where injured people lay while overworked healers rushed around tending to the soldiers. Gina swiftly walks out of the hall, she takes a breath and goes to the stables hoping that Indigo had survived the attack, she passes people carting the dead and Elves mourning over their lost kin.

The rubble around strewn across the hold posed no obstacle to Gina as the made her way to the battered building. However, before she reaches the stables in the corner of her eye she catches Legolas's hair. Quickly she joins him. In his hold, he has the reins of Indigo and a large chestnut horse that Gina recognises in an instant. With a quiet squeal, she lunges towards the big horse and brings his neck into a hug the horse backs up swishing his tail nervously until he catches the scent of the girl hugging his neck and nuzzles into her shoulder.

Legolas watches silently as the woman and horse have a moment. Gina understands Brego's sorrow and attempts to comfort him. "Aragorn is looking for you Lass" Gimli speaks up drawing Gina's attention from Brego.

"Not any more, stop looking. I found her" Aragorn arrives on the other side of Brego and takes his reins from Legolas. "Come, we ride to Isengard"

~

They rode through the forest towards Isengard. Théoden rode with the dwarf, wizard, elf, Dunedin and the woman of another world. Gina had not stopped chatting since they left. They walked at a steady pace, Gina sometimes jumping off Indigo to go off into the forest for a while, she always came back smiling but the men found it suspicious.

Legolas decided to approach her on the matter. "Where do you go?" He questions quietly. Gina looks up to him from gazing into the forest.

"To greet old friends, sometimes. Other times I get lost and make new friends" She chuckles to herself it wasn't so long ago that she was keeping to her lonesome and avoiding human contact "The trees know a lot because the birds can see everything. Isengard has been taken by Ent's" Gina then slips off into the forest again.

Right before the horses entered the water that now filled Isengard she reappeared and her and Indigo veered off the path that the rest of her company took to a specific spot. She looks to the tower sadly and then eases Indigo into a trot. She ends up riding past a Halfling in the water with a big orb. Her eyes widen and she snatches it from him quickly, her sleeves over her hands. Gandalf comes up to her and holds out his hands for it while the Halfling looks on dismayed.

Gina offers him a hand "Come now young Halfling" He takes her hand and allows himself to be pulled up onto the back of her horse, just in front of her pack. Gina turns around "Hello, I'm Gina" The small being looks up in acknowledgement.

"Pippin"