The Girl and the Orc - (A Middle Earth Story)

The End of an Old Adventure and the Start of a New One

Rain blinked.
"What?"
"No such thing exists," repeated the Elven lord.
Rain felt her stomach lurch. Her heart fell to the pit of her stomach. No. it couldn't be true. "But... but there has to be some way to turn him human."
"No magic like that exists that I know of. It's impossible. Who told him that such a thing was possible?"
Rain clutched at her hair, pulling it in desperation. Of course! The creature had lied all along. She should have known. The whole thing was some sort of sick, twisted, joke. What would they tell Bogwater?
Havish took over, noticing Rain's panic, "There was a creature who gave the Orc a key and a map. He told them about the door."
The old man with the hat raised a bushy eyebrow, "Creature?"
"It was a very sickly, ugly looking beast. He always coughed and said the word precious," Havish explained.
"Smeagol," the man shook his head, "He is not to be trusted."
"Yeah, we kind of figured that out," Rain snapped. She was angry and hurt. They had been tricked. This whole thing was a waste of time. They almost died several times, and it was all for nothing. No words could describe the sadness and pain she felt.
Havish gave a sad sigh, he had looked forward to seeing Rivendell again. He thought it would be a joyous time. He was wrong. Now his friend was heartbroken. What would they tell Bogwater? He would be devastated.
Rain looked up, "Can I go to Bogwater?"
Elrond nodded, "He will be asleep, but I'm sure your presence would be a comfort to him."
Rain gave an awkward bow to show respect before quickly leaving to where the Orc was sleeping. She entered the room quiet as a mouse and sat in the chair beside the bed her friend was sleeping in. She watched his chest rise and fall with his peaceful breaths. He would be so disappointed. Rain bit her lip, eyes stun with tears. They had come so far together, and now it was crashing down on them. What would they do now? Rain rested back into the chair, wiping the tears off of her face. Soon she too, fell asleep.
      As soon as the girl left Havish looked over at his old friends, "You can't be serious. There has to be something you can do."
     Elrond shook his head, "I'm sorry Havish. You know I would if I could. It's just not possible."
     "You're telling me, with all the spells and chants that you Elf people have, and yet you can't change an Orc to a human? Hell, even a dwarf would be good enough. We came so far."
    "I understand, Havish, but we can't just make spells up whenever we want to," the Elf tried to explain.
    "How else did you people come up with all those other spells?" Havish waved his arms up and down in exasperation.
     "It just doesn't work that way."
     Havish sighed, lowering his head in sadness. "Alright. I understand."
      "Come," Elrond stood with a comforting grin, "Your room is still set up, just the way you left it."

    Bogwater woke up as the light shun through the windows. He stretched with a happy sigh. Today was the day. He would finally be rid of the curse that was being an Orc. Bogwater looked around the room, noticing his friend sleeping in the chair that was next to his bed. He smiled. They would be able to be together now. It would be happily ever after for them. They and Havish would live in a nice cabin in a nice village, for the rest of their lives. It would be perfect.
      Rain squirmed in her sleep, her blue eyes slowly blinked open. Bogwater grinned at her, "Good morning!"
     Rain sat up, "Uh... good morning." How would she break the news to him?
     "When will I get to be human?" he asked.
      Rain bit her bottom lip, hard, drawing blood. She hardly noticed though. Her face turned toward the floor as she ran a shaking hand through her thick hair. Bogwater noticed her change in behavior. "Rain? Are you okay?"
     Rain looked up at her friend, hating that she had to be the one to break the bad news to him. "Bogwater, something's changed."
    "What do you mean?"
     Rain rubbed her face in her hands, "You... it looks like you aren't going to be able to be human."
    Bogwater's face fell, "Huh?"
    "The door doesn't exist, Bog. Creature was lying to us the whole time." 
     Bogwater fell back onto the feather pillow. He was so confused. Why would the creature lie to him? How come he couldn't see through the lies? He should have known, with the way he lied about Rain and the map. If he was honest with himself, deep down, he did know. He knew from the moment they met. It was impossible from the beginning. How could he be so blind? Bogwater felt tears building up in his eyes, causing his vision to blur. He and Rain could never be together now. Not like she would have been with him even if he was human. He would still be an Orc on the inside. There was nothing that he could do to change his past.
     Rain stood up, reaching out for her friend's hand, "Bog, please look at me."
     He looked up at her as she held his hand in hers, "It'll be okay. We've gotten through so much already. We can get through this together too."
    Bogwater shook his head, a tear falling down his scarred face, "I can't let you keep wasting your life away for me. It's not fair to you."
    "You don't understand. You're my friend, Bog. I want to be here for you. You've been there for me for so long. It's my turn now."
     "I just, I just..." Bogwater's voice broke. A sob escaped his lips. This was the second time he'd ever cry. Embarrassing.
     "It's okay to cry," Rain said as she sat on the bed next to him, "Guys are allowed to cry too. It's nothing to be ashamed about."
       Bogwater looked down at Rain's hand in his. It was so small and soft compared to his own. He didn't deserve her friendship. "Rain, I need to tell you something too. I've been keeping a secret from you."
      Rain furrowed her brows, "Yeah?"
     "When...I-I..." he gave a frustrated huff. She would hate him.
     "What's wrong?"
      "When we came to your old village, I remembered it from a long time ago. I was in charge of a mission to go there with a group of troops to find information about a ring Sauron needed. I was the one who gave the order to burn it down. I realized it was the same village when we came to it."
     Rain pulled her hand from his, "What?"
     Bogwater felt new tears sting his tired eyes, she would leave him. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I didn't want to loose you."
     Rain looked out the window. A dark cloud had came over Rivendell, blocking the sun. How fitting. Rain didn't know what to say. Could Bogwater had been the one to take her parents from her? Did he really give the order? He had to be forced to do it, yes? Rain shook her head in confusion.
   "Rain, please say something," Bogwater begged. "I know I should have told you before bu-"
     Rain cut him off, "It's okay. Really. It's okay. You didn't have a choice."
     Bogwater gave her a confused look, "You-you won't leave me?"
      Rain shook her head again, laughing, "No. Your past doesn't define you. You're different now. You can't change what's happened. I can't blame you for it, you didn't even know who I was before. I can't expect you to have always been this perfect, innocent Prince Charming. That's not how you were trained to be. That wasn't who you were made to be. No one is. We all have made mistakes. You are trying to be better now though, that's the difference.  I forgive you for what you've done. We can't control what has happened, what's happening now, and what's going to happen. No one can. We aren't some god. All we can do is keep going and try to learn from our mistakes."
      Bogwater stared at the girl with wide eyes, she forgave him? He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was certain she would hate him. "Do you mean it, Rain? Really mean it?"
    Rain nodded at him with a small grin. She meant it with all of her heart. "Really."
     Bogwater sat up again, "Seriously?"
     Rain laughed at her friend, "Yes!"
     The Uruk embraced the girl, holding her against his chest. His face pressed against her's, "I love you." 
     Rain felt her heart stop for a moment. What? He loved her? She didn't know how to respond. She felt her face grow tomato red.
     Thankfully, she didn't have to respond, the door was thrown open. They both jumped apart. It was Elrond?
     The Elven Lord gave the two a raised eyebrow. What was it he just walked in on? "Come," he demanded, "You both should eat."
     Rain shot up quickly, helping her friend up to his feet, "Can you walk?"
     Bogwater nodded, "It's a lot better now."
     The two were lead down another elaborate corridor, which lead to a large open space. A table was set with beautiful plates and foods Rain had never even seen before. Havish was already there, stuffing his face with his hands. Rain laughed at the old man, running to embrace him, "Morning!"
    "Good morning!" grinned Havish.
     Rain sat down at one of the places. Bogwater took the seat beside her. The old man with the funny hat was there too, and so was the Lady Elf. The guard, who Rain remember from last night, was there standing next to a wall. Rain assumed he was on guard duty.
     "We assume you've told the Orc what I told you," Elrond started as he took a bite of his food.
     Rain nodded sadly, "Yes." 
      "I'm very sorry, but there's nothing that we can do."
     "I understand," sighed Bogwater, picking at his food.
      "However, we believe you two would be interested in something else. Havish has already agreed to go."
   Rain and Bogwater exchanged nervous looks. "What is it?" Rain questioned.
     "I am sure you both know that this world is a very big one. There are many places still unknown to us. We believe that one of these places, islands or continents, could hold the answer to winning the war against Sauron." Elrond looked over at the Lady Elf.
     She continued, "We would provide you a ship and a crew to help explore what these places hold. Each time you visit an assigned island, for example, you will return with reports of what you have found. Havish has agreed to write these for us. Even if you don't find something to help us, your names would go down in history as the first to explore these lands."
    Bogwater glanced at Rain, "I'll agree to it if Rain believes it will be a good idea."
    Rain nodded, "I think it's a good idea. The sooner we win this fight, the sooner we can avenge our loved ones."
     The old man with the walking stick  smiled, "I knew you would agree to it. You are both so much like Havish."
    Rain smiled, "Who will be captain?"
    "I will," Havish answered, his mouth full.
   "Now that's not fair," Bogwater argued, "You're already the one writing the reports."
    "What about Rain?" suggested the guard from the corner of the room.
     Rain spat out her sip of water, "Wh-what."
     "You need to stop doing that," Bogwater laughed.  
     "Fine," Havish huffed, "Rain can be captain."
     "What will Bogwater be?" Rain asked.
    "Uh, second hand-man?" Bogwater gave a shrug.
     "I want to know why you guys think I can be captain," Rain scoffed.
     "You're good at being bossy."
      Rain gave Bogwater a playful punch, "I'm not bossy!"
       "You told Lord Elrond what to do," Havish stated.
        "Well, I..." Rain frowned. She didn't know how to respond to that.
      The whole group laughed at her concentrated frown.
      Rain couldn't help but smile to herself.
       Maybe this adventure wouldn't be such a failure.