Chapter Twenty Seven: Discovery, Distress, and All That Jazz
(We find ourselves once again in the overly familiar Voids of Space and Time with our pals Spry and Dawdle. They are hanging out in their bean bag chairs doing that thing that sprites do best�..whatever that may be. Anyway, they are sitting there talking.)
Dawdle: I�m really worried about Haldir. He�s starting to get pretty funky in there. Last time I checked on him he was screaming curses in Elvish and was trying to use his sword to hack his way out.
Spry: (sighs) Well, I feel bad for the guy, but we can�t let him out. Not yet, not now.
Dawdle: But Stevie never even indicated when we should release him. What happens if he goes crazy?
Spry: I don�t think he�ll go crazy. After all, I was in there for like a week with Pokemon episodes and I didn�t go crazy.
Dawdle: You were crazy to begin with.
Spry: Oh yeah. That�s right. Never mind.
Dawdle: Do you think maybe we should let him out for a little while?
Spry: Pshht. No. Releasing Haldir will probably be no better than trying to get a Balrog�s wings clipped.
Dawdle: (grimaces) Agony and fiery death?
Spry: More like dismemberment or disembowelment or something of the like.
Dawdle: Ouch. Keeping him in there seems like a good idea for now.
(Back at Isengard, our pals are chatting away. Not like there is anything else better to do. Except for maybe plan how Stevie is going to save her hide when Aragorn finds out what she did.)
Kit: Well, it isn�t as if we can just make you disappear!
Stevie: I know, I know! I just have to pull off something really good instead.
Van: Well, if Spry and Dawdle brought you here, can�t they send you back?
Stevie: I don�t want to go back, that�s the thing, Van! Besides, I�ve asked them to do too much with holding onto Haldir for safekeeping.
Merry: (scratches his head) What if we were to sneak you out of Isengard?
Pippin: Merry! Where exactly is a girl like Stevie going to sneak off to out of Isengard during a time of war unnoticed?
Kit: Yeah, Merry! Hey, Pip, you�re getting smarter and it�s beginning to creep me out.
Van: Well, perhaps we can hide you while everyone is here and then you can get out to wherever it is you want to go after that. If I remember what Harper said one time back home, the Rohirrim should be going to Dunharrow, where Aragorn will head for the Paths of the Dead.
Stevie: Well, that works out everything except for how I�m going to avoid Aragorn once he gets here! I have no means by which I can ride ahead to Dunharrow!
Kit: Not like they wouldn�t catch you on the way down there anyway.
Pippin: Well, this leaves us in a wee bit of a predicament, doesn�t it?
Stevie: Don�t talk to predicaments yet, Peregrin. You have no idea.
Pippin: (looking at Merry) Why do I not like the sound of that?
Merry: Why don�t I like the sound of it either?
Van: What if we dressed you up like one of the dudes from Rohan or Gondor or something?
Stevie: Generally, I�d congratulate you for a good idea, Van, but it won�t work.
Van: Why not?
Kit: First off, we don�t have anything to dress her up with.
Stevie: Secondly, no one in the company coming here from Helm�s Deep would fall for it.
Kit: Thirdly, If they did fall for it, they�d want to know why a soldier of Rohan was in Isengard and how that soldier got there, and they would be even more curious, if not suspicious, if she were dressed in the livery of Gondor.
Van: Oh. That makes sense.
Merry: Worse comes to worse and we can always shove you in a barrel for a day or so. Then you can ride off to Dunharrow, or wherever it is you are going.
Stevie: (rolls her eyes) Gee, thanks Merry, that�s a wonderful idea. Besides, you�ll all be going to Dunharrow as well. They aren�t going to leave you here.
Kit: All these ideas are just leading us around in circles. Hey, off topic, why�d you come here anyway?
Stevie: Oh yeah, I remember now! These are for you, from Lady Galadriel.
(Stevie gives Kit and Van the two crystal necklaces that she had been holding on to since Lorien. The girls get all excited over having something shiny and put them on.)
Stevie: I also came here because I was worried about you two. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen to one of you.
Van: Do you really think so? Well, I think it�s great that you are worried for us and all, but right now I�d be worried about yourself. I hear horses outside the gate.
Stevie: Oh crap. So much for a plan to save my hide.
(Over at the Gladden River, inside the small house in which our two buddies are residing, Harper and Boromir are in the same positions that we left them. They are sleeping soundly in each other�s arms near the fire as the early morning approaches. Well, maybe not quite so soundly. Boromir awakens abruptly, and looks startled. Harper appears to sense his sudden disquiet and awakens herself. She rolls over and faces him and upon seeing the trepidation in his eyes, places a gentle hand up against the side of his face.)
Harper: What�s the matter, Boromir? Beloved, why do you look so troubled?
Boromir: I had a ghastly dream.
Harper: Would you tell it to me?
Boromir: (nods) I saw�..I saw my own death. I was at a place that looked like Parth Galen. There were those Uruks all about me. I was standing there and I had three of their thick black arrows stuck in my chest and side. One loomed over me and was going to shoot at me again when Aragorn appeared and fought with it.
(He pauses for a moment and looks at Harper. He sits up and leans his back against the wall. Harper leans her right shoulder against the wall so she can look at him and nods for him to continue. He waits a moment more to gather his thoughts and then continues.)
Boromir: He killed it and ran to help me, but I was dying. I told him to leave me, for there was no good he could do. I told him about what I did to Frodo and he seemingly forgave me. Then you appeared and kneeled beside me. You were weeping over me and begging me not to die and for Aragorn to help me. I wiped the tears from your face and told you I loved you�..and then I died.
Harper: That would have been your death, had I not done what I did when you went after Frodo. That�
(He cuts her off and she looks at him. He raises his hand as a sign for her to wait before she continues talking.)
Boromir: There is more after this. Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas put my body in one of the boats, and push the boat into the river, where it then plummets down the falls of Rauros. You still weep nearby, and Stevie tries to calm you, but you will not cease your crying. The others prepare to leave, but when they come to get you, you refuse to leave the shore. After much debate and unending weeping on your part, the four others leave you on the banks of the Anduin.
(Again, Boromir pauses, this time to gather his composure more than anything else. He takes her hand and squeezes it gently for a few moments before he continues.)
Boromir: It was at this point that I though the dream would end, but it did not. I found myself standing near you as you lay on the bank of the river weeping. I tried to comfort you, but could not, for I was only there in spirit, not in body. You had no idea I was there. You became so weakened by your grief that you ceased your tears and climbed into the last of the boats. As if knowing that you were going to die, you push the boat out into the river and lie down in its bottom, with my horn, cleaved in two, clutched against your breast. You died of your sorrows before the boat reached the bottom of the falls.
Harper: (speaking quietly) What happened then?
Boromir: Then I saw my younger brother, Faramir. He was walking along the riverside in the brush when he suddenly got this haunted look about him. He went out to the river and waded out into it. Then, through the early morning mists was a boat. He waded out farther until he was right beside it. He cried out in grief as he saw that it was I who lay in the bottom of that boat, cold and lifeless. Then, behind my boat came yet another. Faramir reluctantly left my funeral boat to look into the other, to see you, equally as departed from your body as I. He then saw my horn clasped in your hands, and being the perceptive lad that he always has been, realized that you held some significance to me in life, for not even in death would I let some piece of filthy rabble hold the heirloom of my house.
(He stops and they both take a moment to chuckle slightly at the thought of his ghost coming and beating the living daylights out of some street urchin who managed to swipe the Horn of Gondor off his deceased person.)
Boromir: Seeing this, he took a piece of rope and tied the ends of our boats together to that we might drift down the river and out to sea together. Then he must go and tell the ill news.
Harper: To your father, the Steward?
Boromir: None other. I then saw Faramir telling my father this, having shown him the Horn, which in knowing he needed proof to convince my father, he took from you. My father was grieving. I saw Faramir there, thinking of telling our father of you, but thinking better of it, knowing the Steward would most likely accuse you of having caused my death. After having once again yelled at his youngest son, my father began to weep and ordered Faramir away from him. And so my brother left and went back out to do his work protecting our people.
Harper: Did anything happen after that?
Boromir: Yes. I briefly saw Faramir on a battlefield fighting, but he fell. His horse dragged him back to the gates of the White City. His body was brought to my father, who in seeing my brother dead as well began to grieve even more. Now, something was going on in the city at that point, but I could not tell what, but my father took Faramir to the halls of my dead forbearers and placed him on a table. There were servants bringing in wood and oil. They built a pyre, Hannah, and set my brother upon it. My father chased out all the servants and locked the doors. He started talking of how he had failed our family and lost his beloved sons. He apologized to my dead brother for not showing him how much he really did care. And then�..then�..
Harper: (squeezes his hand gently) Then what, love?
Boromir: Then he poured the oil over the wood and my brother, and then he climbed atop the table and poured some on himself. He grabbed a torch and set it all on fire. He burned my brother�..and then he burned himself�..alive. Then I awoke.
Harper: Oh Boromir! I am so sorry you had to see that.
Boromir: You say that my death would have happened had you not saved me. That has not happened, so do you think there is a possibility that something will happen to my brother? That my father will be driven mad from grief?
Harper: Your brother is in danger as long as he fights for the safety of your people. Your father, on the other hand�..
Boromir: (grabs her shoulders and pulls her closer) What of my father? If you know something that I do not, tell me, please! I already lost my mother at an early age I don�t want to lose my father and brother as well. Please, Hannah!
Harper: I cannot say honestly. Did, perchance, when your father burned himself alive, was he holding anything?
Boromir: (thinks for a moment) He�..he had a round thing in his hands. It was black�..I know not what it was.
Harper: That was a palantir, Boromir. Surely you remember that the Anor-stone was kept in the Tower of Ecthelion.
Boromir: Now I do, though vaguely. I never thought of it much, but what does that have to do with the death of my father?
Harper: You may not want to hear this, but bear with me. Your father has been using the palantir to find out what was going on around and outside the borders of Gondor. There is a chance that through that palantir his mind has been poisoned by the trickery of Sauron.
Boromir: (looks at her indignantly) My father is a wise man. He would not fall for such a ploy.
Harper: He is human, and he is susceptible to the trickery of Sauron. Just like you fell for the call of the Ring, Boromir. It is no different. Evil comes in many different forms and waits to take people. I do not want to insult your father, or your family, but it is a possibility.
Boromir: Do you think so, Hannah?
Harper: It is possible, but then again, we are making assumptions based on a nightmare you had.
Boromir: What should we do?
Harper: We think and wait until we figure that out, love, and hope nothing terrible happens as we do so.
(Back at Isengard, the guys have arrived from Helm�s Deep, Stevie has been discovered, and Aragorn is more than slightly peeved off. So, for your own entertainment, we have provided you with the whole entire argument. Blood and guts at no extra charge.)
Aragorn: Stevie, is that you?
Stevie: Err, yeah, or at least it was the last time I checked.
Aragorn: (getting off his horse, looking angry) How did you get here? Is Haldir here? If he brought you I shall skin him alive.
Stevie: No, Haldir isn�t here. It is by my planning and my mischief that I ended up here.
Aragorn: (glaring at her) You have a lot of explaining to do, Stephanie. Talk.
Stevie: Oh alright. I stayed with Haldir in riding for several hours. When we made camp I lost my temper and we had a wee bit of an argument. I stormed off to the other side of the grove of trees where we had made camp and I did some thinking.
Aragorn: And?
Stevie: And I decided that I had to come to make sure Kit and Van were alright. So I called Spry and Dawdle up.
Aragorn: (cursing under his breath) I am going to kill those two. They cause more harm than good. So they sent you here, did they?
Stevie: They did.
Aragorn: I cannot believe you would be this immature, Stevie! Not only have you deliberately disobeyed me, you�ve put Haldir in trouble. He�s probably searching the whole of the plains of Rohan for you right now!
Stevie: (winces) Not exactly.
Aragorn: What, have you sentenced him to an untimely death already?
Stevie: (getting peeved herself) I am not so foolish as to go and get someone I care about killed! It�s because of me that he didn�t die at Helm�s Deep to begin with! I took his safety into consideration, and he is being taken care of!
Aragorn: What did you do with him?
Stevie: I sort of had Spry and Dawdle�..lock him away�..for a little while�..
Aragorn: You did what?
Stevie: He�s safe at least.
Aragorn: Stevie! I cannot believe you would do such a thing to Haldir! I ask him to do me a favor in caring for you and you go and do something this stupid! Why couldn�t you, for once in your life, just have done as I bid?
Stevie: Because I made a promise to Harper that I would make sure that Van and Kit, and Merry and Pippin, were all right when this time came. I promised her!
Aragorn: Well, if Van and Kit�s safety meant so much to her than why didn�t she come down here and check on them herself?
Stevie: (glaring) Because she�s making sure Boromir doesn�t run off and get himself killed, that�s why! She�s doing her part in all of this! I promised I would do mine. I won�t break that promise just because you want to know where I am and that I am safe so that I can come and do what you want of me at your every beck and call!
Aragorn: Stephanie, enough! (seems to calm down considerably) I have had enough of our bickering. It never gets us anywhere and then we�re still just as angry as we were before. Now, let�s go find some food around here, we�ll talk and we�ll come to an agreement this time, alright?
Stevie: (nods) Okay.
(The two walk off to one of the storerooms to look for something to eat, but once right in front of the door they hear voices, so they stop. Aragorn and Stevie both stop and quietly listen to what is going on inside the room. It appears as though Van and Legolas are talking, or at least Legolas is talking.)
Legolas: Van, you know it isn�t going to work out between us.
Van: You�re dumping me.
Legolas: I am not dumping�
Van: (cuts him off) You are! I don�t want to listen to your stupid spiel. Just tell me why.
Legolas: I was thinking during the Battle at Helm�s Deep. I had been thinking about this before that, about you, but I was thinking harder there. I saw the slaughter and death�..I realized that if we were to try to stay together, I couldn�t do it. I couldn�t continue to love someone who I would have to watch die before my very eyes. I am sorry.
Van: (sounds choked up) I should have known better. Well, you know what, I hope you go and find some prissy-arsed Elf who will never die and you can spend the rest of your days remembering how you broke the heart of the young mortal girl who was fooled by your charm and words of love and kindness.
Legolas: Oh Van, I did not�
(Stevie and Aragorn manage to step away from the door in just enough time that when Van storms out she doesn�t run into them. Legolas is left there, feeling like a bum wipe. Van sees Stevie and Aragorn and looks to Stevie.)
Van: (crying) You heard all of that didn�t you?
Stevie: We did. Come on Van, you and I need to talk.
(Stevie and Van start to walk off, leaving Aragorn to most likely talk to Legolas. Before leaving entirely, Stevie turns around and looks at Aragorn.)
Stevie: Now you know why I went through all that trouble in disobeying you, my liege.
