You thought the battle had gone rather well.

Apparently, you'd been horribly wrong.

The first person you saw was Pippin, and you were glad to know he and Gandalf had arrived safely and survived the battle, but that relief faded when you heard his cries.

"Merry! Merry!"

The hobbit staggered around as though the world was spinning, a familiar, torn green cloak in his hands. Merry nowhere to be seen.

Then, you saw Eomer of Rohan. The large man, who had always seemed so strong and impenetrable, threw his armour and sword away carelessly, collapsing to the side of ...

"Oh, no," you whispered, sprinting to get a better look.

Eowyn lay in her brother's lap, unresponsive and pale. Eomer threw back his head and wailed, holding his sister close to him and crying uncontrollably.

You just stared, unable to do anything. She wasn't supposed to be here. She wasn't supposed to be hurt, or ...

You turned away before tears could fill your eyes or the thought could finish itself.

The Houses of Healing were worse. Aragorn and Legolas were the best healers among the remnants of the Fellowship, but you helped where you could, bandaging horrific wounds and sponging streaks of sticky blood from their faces.

The moans of the wounded, their quiet sobs when they thought no one could hear ... within minutes you were dragged down into their misery. Everything here seemed so hopeless, and the battle that had seemed so easy and brief to you took on a whole other side when you saw the injured.

The casualties.

Eowyn was barely clinging to life, seeming so fragile, so unlike the strong warrior she usually was. Prince Faramir, brother to Boromir, was also badly wounded, his father having apparently trying to burn him alive, before the King of Gondor threw himself off a cliff.

"When the fuck did that happen?" you asked Aragorn.

He shrugged. "Don't ask me, Y/N."

You found yourself drifting among the sleeping residents of the Houses of Healing at night as a ghost would, singing low, sweet songs of hope and new life. It was all you could really do, and for all your fighting bravado and talent, you were truly helpless here.

Useless.

It was hard, but you supposed that this war taught many difficult lessons. So all you could do was sing, promise hope on the horizon, and act.

Act like everything was okay.

Pretend that this stupid, bullshit war hadn't taken enough lives already.

Lie about possibilities of victory and normalcy,

Cry when you watched dozens of children shake corpses on the battlefield, begging their parents to wake up.

The aftermath was horrific, and this would not even be the biggest battle. Yet, the Pelennor Fields was the largest loss.

A reminder that one battle one did not make for happiness and an easy trek. It seemed every 'mountain' you scaled was just hiding another, larger one behind it.

But the final mountain rose.

The Black Gate of Sauron. And you were probably headed right towards it.

- - -

"I can no longer see Frodo," Gandalf announced wearily, as he paced the Throne Room of the deceased King.

"That's good, right?" you asked, lounging on the large throne, your legs thrown over one armrest and your elbow propped up on the other. "It means they're in Mordor."

"Yes or no," Gandalf mused, ignoring your strange position. "It could simply be dark sorcery of Sauron ..."

"Y/N, would you please get off the throne?" Aragorn sighed, pinching his nose as you smirked and slid off it, folding your arms and standing next to Legolas. "If Sauron possessed the Ring and was casting such spells of secrecy, we would surely know it."

"The Enemy must be regrouping," Eomer mused, staring at the ceiling. "It's only a matter of time before they may attack again: us, or those hobbits."

Gimli snorted. "The Orcs can just remain in Mordor, thanks very much. Let Sauron rot there, and keep his nasty ass behind his cowardly walls."

"But now, ten thousand Orcs stand between Frodo, us, and victory."

Aragorn's words cast a deep depression over the room. The Wizard's shoulders slumped forward, and he leaned heavily on his staff.

"I've sent him to his death."

Everyone was once again shocked into silence at such a dark sentence, but the melody you sang in the Houses of Healing wove through your memory, and you shook your head.

"No, Gandalf, we must believe in hope." You let Legolas drape an arm around you, leaning into his side. "There always should be hope."

"Y/N's right," Aragorn admitted, a spark of light returning to his eyes.

"I'm always right, you fucking imbecile," you muttered.

"We need to draw out their armies and keep their forces on us," your brother continued, though he shot a warning glare at you.

"Something to give the hobbits time to sneak past the Eye's defences," Eomer added.

Legolas laughed, tapping one of his feet behind the other like he was about to dance. "The answer's obvious, isn't it? A diversion!"

Gimli waved his pipe around, and you coughed, tempted to throw it out the window. "Hmph. Certainty of death, success rate low, high chance that we'll just end up sucking ass ... what are we waiting for?"

You laughed. "Hell if I know, Gimli. Let's go."

- - -

The army preparing to march on the Black Gate had thousands of troops.

Sauron had more than 140,000.

You were severely outnumbered, and preparing for a new battle in the aftermath of a devastating attack ... you weren't sure it was the right thing.

"What if we aren't doing what we should?" you asked Legolas uncertainly, as you polished your swords. "What if going to the Black Gate is just what Sauron wants. I-I can't handle the thought of so many people dying for us and our quest."

"Don't worry, Y/N," Legolas responded immediately, flipping a new green travelling cloak over his blond head. "We aren't in control of those murdering our forces. Sauron is, and he's the one to blame. So if we have the chance to defeat him ... I'm going to take it. I just want you by my side as I do."

You shook your head with a laugh. "Valar, my boyfriend is such a smooth talker."

"Your boyfriend is a genius," Legolas corrected, the words barely making it out through his wide smile.

You weren't sure how many people laughed before a battle that would almost certainly take their lives. Fuck if you knew.

But if you and Legolas had to be the first ... that was okay.

please continue to read, vote and comment !!