You pushed the Orcs back, trying to get back to where Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, and the remaining hobbits should have been.

These were unlike most Orcs you'd fought before - they were Uruk-hai of Isengard. Bigger, faster, and unfortunately smarter, they were going to be harder to beat.

"Y/N!" someone yelled. Aragorn.

"I'm coming!" you screamed back, decapitating two Orcs at once before you even finished the sentence.

You finally gave up trying to fight so many on your own (it was asking to die) and just ran for it, dodging arrows as you weaved between the trees. On your way, you found Merry and Pippin, high-tailing it from the direction you'd also come.

"Y/N!" they cried.

"What are you two doing?!" you panted as your feet flew over the ground in longer strides than theirs. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"No!" Pippin sounded actually offended. "We're hobbits of intelligence."

You darted off to the side, grabbing the two and pulling them into a hollow tree with you, watching as the Uruk-hai ran past.

"Listen, what did you do?"

"We helped Frodo get away," Merry said adamantly, defending himself and his cousin with a determined directness.

"So did I," you panted, stealing a look out of the hollow. "Look, we gotta get back up to the others. Stealth, or storm?"

Something flew past you, and by the time you'd finished blinking, a quivering arrow was embedded into the cracking bark of the tree, mere centimetres away from the hobbits.

"Storm," all three of you agreed in unison, and you drew your swords again from where you'd sheathed them, running out of the tree.

Orcs growled and you winced when you found that they had surrounded you. You did all you could - fight. Slash a throat there, stab a chest there, blood spilling everywhere and making your hands slick with red. Merry and Pippin were not as adept fighters, though they tried well, and your heart almost stopped every time some sword or arrow came near to their flesh. You wouldn't let all you'd defended thus far be forsaken now - even if you had to die for it.

Thankfully, you didn't, because arrow after arrow came from the direction you were running in, and as you crested a small ridge, you saw the achingly familiar archer.

"Legolas," you gasped, short of breath, yanking Merry and Pippin to safety as your ... (you didn't know the word to describe your relationship yet, so you didn't), as he calmly took down Orc after Orc. "Thank you."

"It's fine, melleth nin," he said shortly, his concentration focused on each arrow he let fly. "Get those two to Boromir - he should be able to defend them."

"I'm not leaving you!" you protested, tilting your sword to brush aside an arrow that flew back towards you.

Legolas sighed and you grinned - it was evident in his pale eyes that he'd given up on arguing with you and your stubbornness. "Alright, hobbits - go back to Boromir. He can defend you better than we at the present."

The two nodded and scurried off and you hoped that you would see the troublemakers again.

"We can't hold them for long, Y/N," Legolas said through gritted teeth, as each Uruk-hai he shot down grew closer. "Let's fall back to Aragorn and Gimli."

"Good idea," you panted, deflecting another arrow aimed in your general direction with a flick of your swords. "Run!"

Legolas turned and sprinted. You ran to catch up with him, heart sinking as you realised you didn't have his Elven endurance and you would probably be shot down before you caught up to him.

No, you thought, as pictures of Legolas holding your broken, bloodied corpse sprung into your mind. I won't let that happen.

Something snapped inside of you, and suddenly energy coursed through you. You could run faster, and somehow knew that you could match more powerful blows, and hear some of the quietest of whispers.

This must be what it feels like to be an elleth.

Paired with the events on the river of your far-seeing eyes, and your endurance of the cold on Caradhas, suspicions and ideas snuck from the deepest parts of your mind.

But you had no time for that, as you caught up to Legolas, soon running side by side with him as he snuck curious and confused glances your way.

The two of you broke through a tree line, Legolas shooting an Orc even before his boots hit the ground. You ran towards Aragorn and Gimli, making a circle of tight defence around each other, beheading and massacring any Orc that came near you.

"Where've you been, Y/N/N?" Aragorn asked, exasperated.

"Just hanging out with Legolas and the troublemakers," you joked, spitting blood onto the leafy ground. "You know how it is."

"Where are the hobbits?" Gimli asked, swinging his axe around and around.

You paled, trying to do the maths in the heat of the battle. "Frodo's gone, I sent Merry and Pippin to Boromir, Sam must be with Fro-"

"You sent them to Boromir?" Aragorn repeated, his voice going rapidly higher. "And where is Boromir?"

Legolas quickly pointed off to your right. "That way."

Gimli muttered, rattling off some probably filthy Khuzdul curses. "Their leader went that way."

"Fuck." You were glad for the brief break in Uruk-hai, though you knew it did not bode well for a third of the Fellowship. "I'll go with Aragorn. Legolas, Gimli - you need to stop more from pursuing us, please."

You went quickly to the blond Elf's side, reaching up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. "Ni melleth le. Be safe." I love you.

"I love you too," he murmured, pressing your forehead to his, before rapidly pushing you away from him as more Orcs entered the clearing. "Now, go!"

You ran off reluctantly, following a faint trail that Aragorn led you along.

"This way!" you called instinctively, changing direction. You burst through a gap in the bushes.

"Y/N, how did you-" Aragorn cut himself off, seeing Merry and Pippin being carried off by a large number of Orcs, and Boromir alone with their leader before him.

The Gondorian had two arrows stuck in him, and you knew he would die.

"No!" you screamed, for, though he had been unkind to you at some points during the Quest, you knew he was a good leader of his people, and he had meant well.

Aragorn charged forwards, but there was nothing any of you could do to stop the third arrow, which embedded itself into Boromir with a disgusting squelch, and he fell to the ground, blood slipping from his lips.

The leader of the Uruk-hai (Lurtz, if the other Orcs had been right) snarled a grin at the sight of you and your brother, staring at Boromir tearfully.

Aragorn met the massive Lurtz swing for swing, his sword clashing against the Orc's violently. You could do little to help, but you jumped in, making it that much harder for him to defend against two trained Dunedain warriors.

Lurtz had apparently tired of the combat, and he threw you against a tree and kicked Aragorn to the ground. You cried out as your head hit something hard, likely a rock at the bottom of it, and pain erupted through you.

You weakly raised your head to see if Aragorn was okay, but your vision was blurred and doubled, and you had to close your eyes. You heard another ripping noise after several sword-on-sword strikes, and from the fact that a gently hand came to stroke your back, you guessed that Lurtz had been decapitated.

Pushing off against the ground and standing unsteadily, you slowly walked over to where Aragorn kneeled before Boromir.

"... my King," the Gondorian whispered weakly, before he closed his eyes and his head fell back. You saw a tear fall from Aragorn's cheek as he kissed the fellow royal's cheek, and you felt one fall from your own e/c eyes.

Aragorn moved back from the man, coming to wrap his arms around you. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," you waved him off. "We should properly honour him. He gave his life to protect Merry and Pippin, and the rest of us."

"The hobbits are gone," Aragorn muttered, casting his eyes over tracks you couldn't see. "We should meet back up with your boyfriend and Gimli and go after the Uruk-hai who hold them prisoner."

You blushed, whacking him as hard as you could. "He's more than just my boyfriend, Aragorn."

But you liked the feel of the word in your mouth, and it brought a smile to your lips. You linked arms with Aragorn, pressing a cloth to your head as you both stumbled in search of the remaining two members of the Fellowship.

Thankfully, the Elf and Dwarf found you first, and Legolas ran to you, engulfing you in a tight embrace. You squeezed him back as hard as you could, resting your head against his chest. He pulled back after a couple seconds.

"Is your head alright, melleth?" he asked.

You snorted. "And you still haven't got a fucking scratch on you."

"Must be Elf benefits," he teased, tilting your chin up and leaning in.

"Ahem?" You rolled your eyes, eyeing Aragorn. "I'd rather not watch you and your boyfriend make out until the Orcs get away."

"They won't," you tried to say calmly through your raging blush. "Come on."

You made your way back to the boats, heart sinking at how strange it felt to see the empty ones.

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