M.E.II Chapter 3: Fangorn Forest?

The days seemed to stretch on into eternity and forever seemed to pass quickly. By the evening of the fourth day, running had grown as a habit—not to be confused with a hobbit… Or a hobo, but a habit—and we had managed to keep up for a good chunk of the day.

The preceding week had seemed like a blur and afterwards Katy and I often described it to others as the week of the living dead… The living dead being us. Neither of us had observed many details of our trek. I had a faint recollection of running upon some orc bodies sometime early in our trek and we also recalled a few stops we had made during the day one of them involving footprints.

Back to the fourth night however, which was of course the night it was, being the fourth night since the Fellowship had broken. Anyway, once again we were forced (or allowed) to stop as the sun set and dusk began to grow thick about us. And, once again, Katy and I slept like logs. Assuming logs were to sleep, that is.

The next morning, however, was far from normal. I roused fairly early and surprisingly without anyone yelling in my ear. I looked about, quickly spotting the man, elf and dwarf standing nearby and, reassured they had not abandoned me, was about to go back to sleep. However, before my mind had completely shut down to them, a thought occurred to me and I reopened my eyes. My suspicions were confirmed, it looked as though the three men were looking at or for something.

Wiping the sleep out of my eyes, I rose, albeit grudgingly. I half-walked, half-stumbled over to where the majority of my companions stood and strained my eyes in the general direction my cohorts were so intent upon.

I didn’t see anything. So I glanced back at the faces of the males and then back into the wilderness to ensure I was looking in the right direction. I was. But I still didn’t see anything.

Disheartened I gave in and addressed my companions with my inquiry, "What’cha looking at?" I asked with a yawn.

Aragorn glanced at me uninterestedly and then did a double-take, surprise evident on his face.

"What?" I asked, quickly glancing behind me to ensure there was nothing there.

The attention of Legolas and Gimli had also been momentarily diverted to me, "You’re up early." Legolas commented, disbelief in his voice and I assumed this must have been the cause of the Ranger’s surprise.

"Oh…" I said, my newly awoken brain trying to work out a reason behind my fairly odd action. Finally I just shrugged and yelled across the camp to my other sleeping companion, "Katy! Wake up!"

A groan came from the strange form still laying on the grass, a bit of action added for emphasis.

"Katy!!" I called again, a little irritated I had been ignored.

Katy gave up resisting my will and slowly sat up, her eyes only barely open, "Morning already?" She asked dubiously as she searched the sky for some sign of the sun.

"See?" I asked, turning back to my companions standing by, "Katy’s up so it can’t be early."

Aragorn gave an exasperated sigh at my actions while Gimli pointed into the distance, "Fangorn Forest." He stated.

Looking again I saw that there was a little something back there. I guess it could have been a forest—it did look kind of wimpy from back here though. Not at all like I had imagined the immense Fangorn Forest.

"That’s Fangorn?" I asked in disbelief.

Legolas nodded a confirmation to his companion’s observation. I was vaguely aware that Katy was stumbling over to us as well. Shortly I was fully aware of Katy’s presence as she spoke.

"Where’s Fangorn?" She asked, scrutinizing the hilly landscape about us for anything resembling a forest.

Legolas pointed in the distance, his finger tracing a dark line on the land, "That is Fangorn." He told Katy, who squinted in a poor attempt to see it.

Finally she shook her head, "I know forests, those’re hills."

I grinned as Legolas once again reiterated that it was indeed Fangorn and Katy once again argued that it could not possibly be a forest. Their argument was broken short however, as Aragorn declared that since we were all awake we should be moving on. Legolas and Gimli readily agreed and soon Katy and I were left strangling behind, vainly attempting to catch up, or at least keep in pace, with our comrades.

"Forests need trees, and I don’t see no trees." Katy muttered to me as we started off, unable to have used the logic against Legolas but still unwilling to admit defeat.

Previous/Next
Return to contents here.