Lady Hope of Middle Earth

Chapter 11: Gandalf is Gone and We Must Move On

Hope's POV:

Once everyone is out we all collapse. I walk up to Aragorn and take a paw to my chest. He nods and takes off his large coat, throwing it over me. Once I know I will be completely covered I shift back. I slip my arms into the coat and close it around me.

Once that is done however I stay on my knees. Tears stream down my face. "Hope?" Aragorn asks me. I ignore him. I feel the overwhelming sense to release. Release everything. The pain, the loss, the sadness. So I yell. I yell and I send a shockwave out from my body.

The wind blows hard and the others fight to keep their ground. It's the yell of someone who has lost. A yell of pain. A yell that I have yelled too many times before. When I finally stop I am exhausted. I lean backwards to fall over, but Aragorn stops me.

"Hope? Hope! Come on, you're all right." He says. I look up at him, broken over losing someone else I love. "Why do the people I love always have to die?" I mutter. "You still have me. I'm still here and I am not leaving you." He reassures me.

I envelop him in a hug before he pulls away and helps me to my feet. He hands me back my weapons and my back. I sling them over the coat which is huge on me. I kind of like it though. It smells exactly like Aragorn. I love that smell.

I hug it tighter to my body, trying to block everything happening because as soon as I let it in I'll lose it again. He's really gone. I faintly hear Boromir and Aragorn arguing about getting the Hobbits up, but Aragorn is right. We need to get away from here.

There'll be more orcs coming this way soon. We have to hurry. I feel a tug on my arm and I turn to see Aragorn. "Come on, it's not safe, we must get going." He says. I nod weakly. My legs move on their own accord as I follow the rest of the fellowship.

Boromir stops all of us and turns to me. "What are you?" He snarls. "Boromir." Aragorn chides, but I stop him. "No, it's fine. They have a right to know what I am, but I don't want any of you to think of me differently." I say. "We could never lassie. We just want answers." Gimli promises.

"I'm not just a witch. I'm also not from this world. I came here through a magical pit called Malivore. Also, I'm hybrid made up of three different creatures. A tribrid. I'm a witch. A werewolf and a vampire." They're faces scrunch at werewolf and vampire. I shrug it off.

"You don't know that last one, but being a werewolf allows me to shift into a wolf form like I did in the mines. " I explain. They nod, happy with my answer. "I'm glad we have you then Hope." Boromir says, all hostility towards me gone. I nod back at him.

We start walking again and Aragorn is quickly ahead of everyone, jogging. It's unusual. Usually Gandalf is leading and Aragorn is dead last, keeping an eye on everyone. This isn't right. I end up walking next to Frodo. "Is this what it always feels like?" He asks.

"No, it gets worse with each person you lose. I've lost people before I could comprehend it. I had an Aunt Cami, a kind woman who watched over me as a kid and who made my dad feel love like he never felt before and she died when I was two. I lost my step dad as well." He looks at me sad.

"I've lost my mom and my dad. My Uncle Elijah. Now everyone I've ever cared about has forgotten I exist. Gandalf was a father figure to me. I guess it's what I get for letting people in. Everyone I love ends up dead so you might want to stay away from me. I'm toxic."

With that I slow down so I am behind everyone. I'll keep watch over everyone. I can't die and I'm the most equipped to help everyone. No one else dies. I won't let that happen. My heart can't take it. We soon make it to the woods of Lothlórien. Home to the elf Galadriel.

I've heard stories of Arwen's grandmother, defiantly better than mine I have to say. As soon as I think about it I think about Arwen and Elrond passing into the Undying Lands. Two more people who are no longer in my life. At least they are going somewhere peaceful by their own choice.

"Stay close young Hobbits. They say a great sorceress lives in these woods. An elf witch. Very unlike Lady Hope who is a good witch." Gimli says. I want to laugh. Evil witches run in my family. I guess my Aunt Freya helped me be good. I got lucky. Frodo stops for a second.

"Mr. Frodo?" Sam asks. He continues walking. "Well, here's one dwarf she won't ensnare so easily. I have the eyes of a hawk and ears of a fox." Gimli proclaims. I see someone sneak up on him with a bow. I draw my own. "Don't" I snap. I feel someone else point a bow at me.

There are many others as well. Elves. I can't shoot them all. Legolas has his bow up as well. "The dwarf breathes so loud we could have shot him in the dark." An elf says, walking forward. They take us to another part of the woods. By the time we get there it is nightfall.

The elf greets Legolas in elvish first. When Legolas replies I catch the elf's name. Haldir. Haldir then greets Aragorn. He then turns to me and says something in elvish. A greeting I think. I'm still not good with understanding it.

Aragorn tenses and Legolas steps forward to interfere, making sure he knows I don't speak the language. It had to have been a greeting towards me. I heard my name. If it was a greeting then why is Aragorn so tense.

"So much for the legendary curtesy of the elves. Speak words we can all understand." Gimli gripes. "We have not had dealings with the dwarves since the Dark Ages." Haldir says. "You know what this dwarf says to that?" Gimli asks. He then proceeds to speak in dwarfish.

I have a feeling those weren't nice words. In fact I'm positive they weren't good. Call it a hunch. Aragorn turns and smacks Gimli's arm. "That was not so courteous." He reprimands him. Haldir then lays eyes on Frodo. "You bring great evil with you." He says. I move closer to the Hobbit.

No one is touching him. He then turns to Aragorn. "You can go no further." With that he starts to walk away. Aragorn pulls him to the side. We all take this time to rest. I sit down on the ground next to the Hobbits. They are talking quietly amongst each other.

I look at Pippin, the once animated Hobbit is now quiet and reserved. "Pip?" I ask. He turns to me and gives me a soft smile. "Yes Hope?" "Promise me that no matter what happens you'll always be you. You're a kind hearted and you don't deserve to lose that."

He gives me a genuine smile. "I will try Hope." He says. I pull him into a side hug. This quest is ruining their innocence and it hurts to see that happening. I look around, growing tired. We all need to rest. Hopefully Aragorn can talk Haldir into letting us stay with then, where it's safe.

I just want to not look over my shoulder anymore. I don't want to become paranoid. It's the one trait that made my father who he was. I don't want to be like that. Not now not ever.