I awoke around noontime, due to loud voices right outside my bedroom door.
"Ry!" The voice was Aragorn's and he knocked on my door again. "Are you coming?"
I sat up and started to quickly get ready. "Coming?" I asked. "Coming where?" I heard him sigh. "We are talking to Théoden." He told me. "We might not have a day before Sarumon's army comes for us."
What a nice way to start my day. "Yes, I will be out in a minute." I told him.
I pulled my clothes on and pulled my hair back in a single fishtail. I than clipped my bangs back so they didn't fall in my face. My boots were across the room by my weapons and I quickly pulled those on too.
Grabbing my weapons, I opened my door and walked towards were I heard Aragorn walk off to.
He, Legolas and Gimli were by his room, waiting for me. As soon as I appeared, they started walking towards Théoden's chambers.
"What time of day is it?" I asked Aragorn. "It's before noontime." He said, unsure of the exact time. "We might not want to be rash with him." I told him. Legolas nodded. "The only way we will get him to listen is if we don't force our opinions on him."
Once the king's doors were in sight, Aragorn walked right up and strode in. Without even knocking. I sighed.
Aragorn started conversing to Théoden right away, talking about the opposing army.
"How many?" Théoden was walking back and forth in front of us, surprisingly listening to Aragorn. "Ten thousand, at least." Thankfully, I was good at hiding my surprise. Théoden, not so much.
He turned to us, his face full of fear and surprise. "Ten thousand?!" He repeated, horrified. Aragorn nodded. "It is an army bred for one single purpose. To destroy the race of men." He explained to the king. "They will be here before the day is over."
Théoden looked lost in thought for a while. "I want every strong lad and man able to bear arms, ready to fight before nightfall." He said. "Let them come!"
A guard hurried off in a direction, probably to tell the families that there sons and husbands were forced to fight a battle that was almost hopeless.
Théoden started walking around Helms Deep pointing to where we would position our men. "We will cover the gate and the walkways from above. No army has ever breached the wall or set foot inside the Hornburg."
I frowned. I was about to say something, but Gimli did first. "This is no rabble of mindless orcs!" he exclaimed. "This is the Urak-Hai! Their armor is thick, their shields broad!" Théoden turned to him.
"I have fought many wars, Master Dwarf! I know how to defend my own keep!" I wasn't at all convinced, but I didn't argue, knowing he knew more than I did.
We kept walking with him, listening to his plans and strategies for the up-coming battle. "They will break upon this fortress like water upon a rock. Sarumon's men will pillage and destroy, we have seen it before. But crops can be resown, homes rebuilt. But if we are within these walls, we can outlast them!"
I wanted to think he was right. It seemed so simple, but I knew that this would never work.
"They did not come to destroy Rohan's crops or villages!" I said loudly. "They came to destroy it's people! Down to the last child!" Théoden turned to me, looking like he wanted to punch me. He grabbed my shoulder roughly.
"What would you have me do?" He said. "Look at our men! Their courage hangs by a thread! If this is to be their end, than I will make it and end worthy of remembering!"
I sighed. "Boys cannot fight! They have very little training, if they even have any at all! Sarumon has at least ten thousand highly trained Urak-Hai, and your commanding young boys and men to fight!" I knew I was way out of my place, but the king had to know this. And if he did, he was not acting on it.
He looked me in the eye. "We have nobody else to fight for us!" He retorted back at me. "If you are not happy with what we have, you are free to leave and fight this war on your own. What else can we do?"
He turned and started down some stairs. I was about to follow him, tell him to call for our allies, but Aragorn grabbed my shoulder. He gave me a look that said know your place.
I looked down and sighed. Aragorn walked forwards towards Théoden.
"Send out riders, my lord." He said. "You must call for aid!" The king turned around. "And who will come? Elves? Dwarves? We are not so lucky in our friends than you. The old alliances are all dead."
I was glad that I had a lot of self-control. If not, I would have started shouting at Théoden about how he had to at least try and that he needed to think this through more.
Aragorn looked serious. "Gondor will answer." He said.
"Gondor?" Théoden growled. "Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell? Where was Gondor when our enemies closed in around us? Where was Gondor-" He stopped. Than, looking up at Aragorn, he said "No my Lord Aragorn, we are alone."
He turned and walked down the steps.
"Get the women and children into the caves." He told a guard standing nearby.
"My lord, we need more time to-" The guard started. "We have no time!" Théoden cut him off. "War is upon us!" The guard nodded and ran off.
The four of us just stood there, not knowing what to do. I cleared my throat. "Well, that went very well." I said sarcastically. The others looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders innocently.
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We walked to the caves, not intending to stay there, but to prepare ourselves for the battle.
Aragorn was leading, with Legolas and I behind him, than Gimli following. I heard hurried footsteps to my right, and I saw Éowyn running towards us.
"Aragorn, I have been sent to the caves with the women!" She seemed upset. Did she want to fight a losing battle?
Aragorn started talking to her, explaining how he thinks that she would be safer in there, where she can look after the others. She didn't seem convinced, and I knew that she was strong, mentally and physically, but it wasn't safe for her to fight.
It wasn't safe for any of us to be fighting, but someone has to.
She walked away, finally, her head low, in the direction of the caves. I turned to Legolas. "It almost seems like she wants to fight with us." He looked thoughtful. "How many battles do you think that she has been in?" I gave him a small smile and he returned it. He reached for my hand, and I gave it to him willingly, and we followed Aragorn to the caves.
The armory was dark and full of men. Some of them were not even old enough to be called men. They looked out of their place. Their place being in the fields and in stables.
"Farmers, farriers, stable boys." Aragorn whispered, shaking his head. "These are not soldiers." I agreed with him. None of them seemed like they knew how to fight.
"Most of them have seen too many winters." Gimli whispered back. We didn't want them to hear us, and get depressed. Or more depressed.
"Or too few. Look at them, they are frightened. I can see it in them." Legolas said. He said it a little louder than we had, and a few heads turned to us, realizing what we had been talking about. I shot him a look.
He turned back at us. "And they should be!" He said in Elfish, so only Aragorn and I could understand him. I could only imagine Gimli's frustration. "Ten thousand against ten hundred!" I drew back, knowing he was right, that they should be scared.
The room was silent now. All heads were turned our direction, trying to understand us.
"They have a better chance of defending themselves here than in Edoras!" Aragorn sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than convincing Legolas.
"They cannot win this fight!" Legolas shot back at him. "They are all going to die!"
I drew in a quick breath as he said that, thankful that nobody else knew what we were saying.
Aragorn looked at Legolas. "Than I will die with them!" He didn't say that part in Elfish, and I mentally groaned. Now everyone knew what we were talking about.
Legolas looked shocked, as of he didn't believe that Aragorn had actually said that. Aragorn turned and walked out of the armory, seeming upset. Legolas started to walk out after him, but I grabbed his arm.
"Let him go." I told him. "Let him be."
~~~<<<~~~>>>~~~<<<~~~>>>~~
The three of us worked on fitting ourselves with armor.
Legolas and I weren't all that happy with putting a ton of Men armor on, as Elf armor was very light, and easy to move and run in. Men armor, not so much.
But I put some on, to protect myself.
I also made sure my weapons were in fighting shape, they were. I was trying to mentally prepare myself for this huge battle coming up. This would actually be my first major fight. It was a little scary.
After we finished, we went to look for Aragorn.
He was in a separate room, putting armor on himself. It seemed weird how much humans needed to protect themselves. Elves could fight most wounds, and didn't get killed that easily.
"You have led us this far and haven't led us astray." Legolas said gently to him, handing him his sword. "Forgive me. I was wrong to despair."
Aragorn smiled at his friend and clapped him in the shoulder.
We heard Gimli come in, struggling with his armor.
"If I had time, I could get this adjusted." He let a bunch of it go, and it fell to the ground with a loud 'clunk!'
He looked at us, and we smiled at him. "It's a bit tight around the chest." He grumbled. I laughed softly at the Dwarf.
But my laugh was suddenly cut off, as in the distance, I head a faint horn sounding. That noise was familiar.
I looked to Legolas, who had the same expression on. "That is no Orc horn!" He said, and ran out of the room. I followed him, towards our people.
As we got to the outside, the cold air hit my face. There was also a slight hint of an upcoming storm on the air as well.
"Send for the king! Open the gates!" Aragorn yelled to some nearby guards who responded immediately.
As the gates were pulled open, new hope flooded into my heart, making me smile. Elves. They were here.
Standing in front of them all, was Haldir. I smiled even more as I saw him. But it faltered slightly when Théoden came running down the steps next to me. How would he take their surprise appearance?
"How is this possible?" He whispered, looking at Haldir.
"We bring word from Lord Elrond of Rivendell." Haldir told us. "Long ago, an alliance was formed between Elves and Men. We fought and died together. We have come to honor that alliance."
Aragorn rushed down the steps as well and pulled Haldir into a hug, welcoming him. "You are most welcome here!" He told Haldir.
Legolas and I followed him, running down the stairs as well. "I am honored to be fighting besides Men once again!" Haldir told us.
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A/N: I'm so sorry that this chapter wasnt the battle scenes, but next chapter will be! I promise!
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Bullseyes,
XXbowandarrowsXX