The Return of the King and Queen

Chapter 8: Risk in the Journey

It had been a few days and the fellowship was currently resting among a small hill of rocks. Gandalf was sitting on a rock, smoking his pipe and going over the plans with Gimli who asked the same question a few times throughout the journey what path they were taking. Legolas was standing on a rock not too far from them, looking out to see if there was anything suspicious. Sam was cooking up some food for the others and watched Boromir practice sword fighting with Pippin and Merry with Frodo next to him.

Aragorn and Amdiriel sat on a rock next to each other, watching Boromir and the hobbits while giving them small pieces of advice every now and then.
"Good, very good." Boromir said to Merry as he then moved to practice with Pippin. The sound of clashing blades echoing through the air.
"Move your feet." Aragorn advised the hobbit. He quickly did as he was told and was able to move around better. "That's good, Pip." Merry complimented Pippin who thanked him.
"Faster." Merry told Boromir who soon brought down his blade.
"Don't think too much but anticipate everything, if that makes sense." Amdiriel said to a slightly struggling Merry. She turned to Aragorn "Did that make sense?" She asked with a chuckle. "I think it did." Aragorn replied with a small smile.

Suddenly they heard Pippin yelp in pain and drop his sword. "Oh sorry." Boromir apologized for nicking a part of the hobbit's hand. But before he could inspect the wound he was kicked in the shin by Pippin and then was wacked in the other leg by Merry. The two hobbits then tackled the man to the ground. "For the Shire!" Merry yelled while they laughed, earning a smile and small laugh from both Aragorn and Amdiriel.

After a few seconds of 'torture,' Aragorn got up over to save Boromir. He handed his pipe to Amdiriel who took it and sneaked a quick puff when the ranger turned to walk over to the group on the floor. "Gentlemen, that's enough." He said and bent over to grab the two rascals but they turned around and pulled Aragorn's legs out from underneath him. Aragorn had no time to react and ended up flying on to his back. That was when Amdiriel burst into laughter. Aragorn groaned as he sat up but a smiled came over his face as Amdiriel's laughter filled the air. He looked and saw the smile that graced her face as she laughed and he wanted to keep it there forever. Boromir smiled for 3 different reasons: they got Amdiriel to really laugh, the look Aragorn was giving his sister and maybe they were a little bit closer to breaking the spell. The four got up and began to dust off the dirt from their clothes as Amdiriel tried to calm herself.

"What is that?" Sam asked, making all of them turning their heads toward Legolas's direction. "Nothing, it's just a whiff of cloud." Gimli declared but Amdiriel knew that it wasn't as she focused her elf eyes.
"It's moving fast...against the wind." stated her brother.
"Crebain from Dunland!" warned Legolas. "Hide!" yelled both Amdiriel and Aragorn as they grabbed their things. Boromir then yelled for Merry and Pippin to follow him while Amdiriel yelled for Sam and Aragorn for Frodo.

The four of them hid under a large boulder, the hobbits next to each other and the half-elf and man next to each other. Just as everyone got to their hiding spot, the crows flew overhead, squawking as they did.
Amdiriel could hear them getting closer to their hiding place, so she pulled out an arrow from her quiver and was about to load her bow when a hand grabbed hers.
Amdiriel knew who it was by the sparks that shot through her body. Amdiriel looked over to Aragorn who gave her a small shake of his head but kept hold of her hand to help calm her until they left.

Once the birds had cleared, everyone came out slowly. Amdiriel could still feel the sparks as she offered a hand to the ranger as he climbed from under the boulder. It was something that Aragorn have never felt before but it somehow felt familiar.

"Spies of Saruman." Gandalf told them "The passage South is being watched...We must take the path of Caradhas." They all looked to the mountain behind them that was fresh with snow.