I retired to Éowyn's room that night. Éowyn didn't join me, I believe she fell asleep in front of the fire in the Golden Hall. Changing into a nightdress, I clambered into my makeshift bed and fell asleep.
I was all wrapped up in the fur pelts of the bed when I heard a commotion down the corridor. I heard screaming so I quickly grabbed my axe by the side of my bed and made for the corridor.
Running towards the screaming, I burst into one of the room which were packed with sleeping soldiers (now waking up). I saw Pippin laying pale on the floor, Gandalf, Merry, Aragorn and Legolas leaning over him.
"What happened?" I asked, drawing near to the group.
"Pippin was looking into the palantír," Legolas explained quickly as he gestured to the dark crystal ball with a grey blanket flung over it.
As Gandalf gripped Pippin's hand, he muttered a few incantations under his breath. Pippin panted frantically, as though he had been awoken from a nightmare, Gandalf placed his hand to the side of Pippin's face to calm him.
"Look at me," Gandalf said softly as we all looked down at the little Hobbit.
"Gandalf, forgive me." He panted, his voice hoarse and beads of sweat on his brow.
"Look at me," Gandalf said, a little more sternly than before, "What did you see?"
"A tree." Pippin closed his eyes, "There was a white tree in a courtyard of stone. It was dead. The city was burning."
The scene laid out by Pippin was familiar. Minas Tirith. He saw the White tree of Gondor? I had set foot in the white city before and it had stood for thousands of years; if such a kingdom could be razed to the ground, what hope was there for Middle-Earth?
"Minas Tirith? Is that what you saw?" Gandalf asked the exact thing I had concluded.
"I saw... I saw him," Pippin said, his eyes full of fear, "I could hear his voice in my head."
"And what did you tell him?" Gandalf asked worriedly, "Speak!"
"He asked me my name. I didn't answer. He hurt me."
"What did you tell him about Frodo and the Ring?" Gandalf pressed.
"Nothing. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak," He whimpered.
***
We stood in the Golden Hall with King Théoden. The servants had cleaned and patched up my ranger gear so I quickly put it on before meeting them.
Merry and Pippin sat together on one of the benches. Pippin looked worse for wear and haggard as his head hung low.
Gandalf was explaining to Théoden the events of the night with Pippin and the palantír.
"There was no lie in Pippin's eyes. A fool, but an honest fool he remains," Gandalf explained, giving the Hobbit a small smile, "He told Sauron nothing of Frodo and the Ring. We've been strangely fortunate. Pippin saw in the palantír a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Sauron moves to strike the city of Minas Tirith. His defeat at Helm's Deep showed our enemy one thing. He knows the heir of Elendil has come forth. Men are not as weak as he supposed. There is courage still, strength enough perhaps to challenge him. Sauron fears this. He will not risk the peoples of Middle-Earth uniting under one banner. He will raze Minas Tirith to the ground before he sees a King return to the throne of Men. If the beacons of Gondor are lit, Rohan must be ready for war."
"Tell me," Théoden started as he looked up to Gandalf, "Why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours? What do we owe Gondor?"
"It is not a simple matter of owing anyone anything!" I scoffed, all attention now on me, "Don't you see? This war is inevitable whether we like it or not but it's how we chose to fight it. We can either unite together and have a fighting chance against the enemy or we can destroy ourselves from the inside. If we leave Minas Tirith to its fate, where do you thing Sauron will next target? Rohan may have survived Helm's Deep once but it will not take long before your country finally cracks under the weight of Mordor. If you do not ride to Gondor's aid, the city will most definitely fall and that will just be the first domino that brings down Middle-Earth!"
"I will go," Aragorn suggested.
"No," Gandalf protested.
"They must be warned." Aragorn retorted.
"They will be," Gandalf reasurred him as he stepped closer and spoke quieter, "You must come to Minas Tirith by another road. Follow the river. Look to the black ships."
With that, Gandalf turned to address everyone again, "Understand this, Things are now in motion that cannot be undone. I ride for Minas Tirith, and I won't be going alone," he said, turning to Pippin.
***
Both Pippin and Gandalf left on Shadowfax that afternoon, hurrying to warn Gondor of their impending doom.
Merry was not his chipper self anymore, now that his best friend was gone. I planned to rectify that at some point with some friendly competition.
Knowing that in a few short days - if Gandalf was successful - we would be called to war, I decided it couldn't hurt to help train some of the younger soldiers.
Aragorn spent most of his time at the watchtower, waiting for the beacons to be lit.
That left me, Legolas and Gimli to gather and train the newbies.
Most of the men snickered at me when I offered them training because they thought it was hilarious as woman was trying to give them advice. I would then proceed to challenge them to a sparring match. Suffice to say, they all ended up agreeing to let me reach them a few things.
When I offered Merry a few lessons, I saw him lighten up a bit. He was back to his normal bubbly self by the end of the afternoon.
I even managed to convince Éowyn to spar with me. She was reasonably talented, far exceeding my expectations. She had great form and was quick at picking up my little tips and tricks.
I sat down to dinner that night with the rest of the fellowship. Aragorn was telling tales of Minas Tirith to Merry who was listening intently with every word. I kept forgetting that the Hobbits were experiencing all of this for the first time. Just goes to show that it's possible to live a life without a shadow over you.
Gimli was munching down on his food in silence while me and Legolas talked about our training that day. After some of the soldiers got over the fact I was a woman, I think they were quite fascinated by the fact I wan an elf and was teaching them. The Elves were renowned for their prowess in fighting so both me and Legolas weren't surprised at their awe.
When the rest of the fellowship retired for the night, I grabbed Legolas' arm and pulled him into the corridor, away from prying eyes.
"Think you're up to facing me yet?" I smirked, crossing my arms in front of me.
"Just don't want you to be so disappointed when you loose," he smirked back, leaning against the wall casually.
"Is that so?" I said, raising a brow, "Five gold pieces say I beat you in a triple match."
"Well, if I gambled so frequently, it would be an abuse of my privilege as a Prince," He mused.
"Ten gold pieces?"
"You're on."
***
The sun had already gone down when we left the Golden Hall. Most of Edoras was readying to retire for the night but me and Legolas weren't particularly tired. We were Elves and we didn't require as much rest as the others. I tried to make a habit of regular sleep but if need be, I could be awake for a week and a half without too much hassle.
We walked to a secluded area behind the Golden Hall which I had found to be very good for training and fights. It was a flat area of beaten grass with the moon shining high above us, illuminating the area perfectly for a night fight.
I thought it was a fitting place for Legolas and I to have our first spar, since I had been wanting to do so since before even Moria.
"Weapons or hand to hand?" Legolas mused as he sat himself down on the small stone pillar the Golden Hall was built on.
"Mmm, how about weapons for our first round, hands for the second round and both for the last and final round?" I suggested, weighing my axe in my hands.
"Still time to walk away, Sapphire," He chuckled, his hands twirling as he brought out his two short swords and poised ready.
"Likewise, Princess" I smirked as I picked up my axe in one hand and my short sword in the other.
We took our stance under the moonlight and waiting. Both of us were waiting for the other to move first. I glared into his blue eyes, telling him I meant business.
I hadn't sharpened any of my blades that day and neither had Legolas so our weapons were reasonably blunt. However, since most of them were of elvish make like my axe, We made sure not to swing too roughly incase we did manage to hit each other (elvish made blades were lethal, even if bluntened). Whenever we got close to striking each others we would stop just before metal pierced flesh.
In the end, It was me who struck first. I leapt forward, brandishing my axe in front of me. Legolas evaded quickly and ducked beneath my arm, going to strike at my stomach but I brought my short sword up quickly, knocked the blow aside.
Using the momentum I had already built up from the last swing, I quickly turned and went to strike him again while he was still recovering from before. I was unlucky however, as he used this to his advantage.
He didn't go to knock my axe back as I had expected, he instead, leapt to the side and pushed my axe hand forward even more so he was now behind me.
I turned sideways to him just in time to bring up my short sword and block his attack from behind.
By this time, we were facing each other again and just as Legolas went to lunge towards me again, I raised my axe and swung it down. He was forced to jump back slightly and throw his hands in the air.
With this window of opportunity open to me, I kicked him hard on the chest, making him stumble to the ground.
While I still had the chance, I ran up to him and leant over him, intending to point one of my blades at his throat and claim a victory but apparently I had underestimated Legolas' reflexes.
Still sat on the ground, he raised his short swords just in time to block my attack and push me back a little.
He jumped to his feet as I was still bent over, he twirled around and licked me on the back, sending me falling to the ground, landing on my stomach.
Just as I rolled over, my eyes were suddenly staring back into Legolas' blue ones. He was now haunched over me, his two short swords dug into the ground either side of my neck as he pressed the blades to my throat (though I knew he wouldn't actually cut me). His face was hovering over mine, his long blonde hair almost tickling my face.
"Yield?" He asked with a smug smile.
I growled in frustration and looked away from him. I hated losing a fight but there was no possible way of turning this around. He was leaning over me and his blades were trapping my head to the ground.
"I yield," I grumbled irritably, cursing under my breath.
Legolas released me, pulling his short swords away from my throat and standing over me again. He offered his hand which I took with a huff.
"Looks like I win," Legolas mused happily.
"I'd like to point out that it is out of three. A lot can happen between now and then." I smirked, knowing it was now the hand to hand combat spar.
We placed all of our weapons on the grass beside us before we turned to face each other again.
I raised my fists and braced my legs as he did the same.
Just as before, we watched and waited for the other to move first. I didn't have much in the way of patience so I, once again, attacked first.
I lunged forward as if to attack his side but I kicked my foot hard against the ground and instead, went towards the other side, catching Legolas off guard. I used one of my fists to bat his arm aside while I hurtled my other fist straight into his abdomen.
He hissed in pain at the contact but just like me, he didn't pay attention to it.
He instead, went to grab my arm and pull me towards him so he could land a blow. However, I saw through this plan and decided to change it. I twirled into him, my elbow coming into contact with his chest.
I had expected him to let go of my arm but to my surprise, he kept a firm grip on it, meaning that when I tried to get away, my arm was twisting behind my back. I helped in pain before I kicked him in the foot, making him loose his grip ever so slightly, just enough for me to slip away.
This second round went on for some time. I had no doubt the others were all sound asleep by now and yet here we were, punching each other under the stars.
It wasn't until I had Legolas pinned to the floor (ironically just like he had me before) and in a headlock did he finally concede the match.
"Look who's helpless now," I smirked, giving him a little patronising kiss on the forehead before I released him and stood up.
The last round was much like the others. We only had one short sword each this time though, meaning we had to combine it with fists.
We were both determined to win so the third and final round went on and on for what seemed like hours. I think it was around midnight, when the moon was at its highest, when the round finally stopped.
To our surprise, neither or both of us won (depending on how you looked at it). We were standing in front of each other, still panting a little from the spar.
I had my blade pressed to his throat while his blade was pointed to my stomach.
We just stood there for several seconds before we sighed and put our weapons down.
"A tie." I huffed as I began to gather the rest of my weapons, "You got lucky this time, Princess."
"I'll admit though, you're probably the first person in probably a few thousand years that has managed to match my own skill," He admitted, putting his short swords away.
"That's both a compliment and an insult," I chuckled, "But I appreciate the sentiment."
"I mean it," He said, placing his hands on my waist and planting a kiss on my forehead, "You're a great fighter."
I still wasn't all that used to coupley things like this so I just gave him a weak smile before I took a step back and began to walk back into the Golden Hall.
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