For Greater Things (An LOTR Fanfiction)

chapter 15

I awoke with a start; sweat dripping down my face. I remembered having a dream, but I somehow couldn't remember what I had dreamed. Wiping the sweat off my face, I shook my head to clear my jumbled thoughts. My tent felt stuffy and confining. I couldn't stay in there a second longer. I shuffled off of my cot and walked out of my tent. A slight breeze blew across my face, cooling and drying the sweat off of me. I walked over to the small fountain. Cupping my hands, I brought the water up to my face and washed the dried sweat off. I rested my hands on the brim of the fountain and breathed in hard, trying desperately to settle my raging heart beat. Whatever I had dreamed seemed to really affect me. This wasn't the first time I had done this. Many times I have woken in the middle of the night covered in sweat, only to not remember what it was in my dream that had bothered me so badly. A sound behind me caught my attention as I whirled around only to see a startled Frodo.

"What are doing out of bed, Frodo?

He looked down and shuffled his way closer to me. "The Lady wanted to talk to me."

Realization filled me. I knew that she really wanted him to look into her mirror. I actually was quite surprised she hadn't asked me to look into it as well.

"I see. Well, it is late and you are exhausted," I said with a smile. If he didn't want me to know he looked in the mirror then so be it. "Go back to bed , Frodo."

"Are you going to bed?"

I smiled at his show of concern. "In a few minutes. Go on. I've had a little rest tonight, already."

He nodded his head and walked past me to his tent. His shoulders were slumped from exhaustion, and his eyes looked weak. I felt a pang in my heart for the little Hobbit. They had become like my children, always hanging around me and asking for my help. I didn't mind though. I love them as a mother would. I turned and sat against one of the many trees. My mind turned towards the future and the path that we must take. The road will be treacherous for the little Hobbits, even for the rest of us. It will be no easy journey.

I don't know how long I sat there before my eyes started to grow heavy with sleep. Finally, my eyes closed and I gave in to the urge to rest. The next thing I knew, was voices waking me from my sleep.

"Do you think we should wake her, Merry?"

"She doesn't look very comfortable, does she? I'd be surprised if her neck isn't in a crick when she wakes up."

"Maybe we should get some water and throw it on her."

"No! You don't do that to a lady, Pip! An Elven lady at that."

I finally decided that if they wanted me up so badly, I would just go ahead and let them know that I was awake. But I had to do it in a way that they would never want to wake me up again. Judging by how close their voices were, I knew that they couldn't be any more than two feet away from me. So I layed there very quietly as they kept talking about whether or not they should wake me up, before jerking upright and letting out a loud yell.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!!"

The two Hobbits screamed and fell backwards, landing on their bottoms as I layed on the floor and laughed at them. The rest of the Fellowship came running out of their tents (Gimli holding his axe) at the sound of Merry and Pippin's screams. They looked on in confusion as the Hobbits sat on the ground glaring at me.

"I'm sorry," I wheezed out, trying desperately to stop laughing, "It's only that your faces-" at the thought of their reactions, I doubled over laughing again.

"What's going on, Andriel?"

I looked up at Aragorn's voice. The rest of them were standing there awkwardly, watching me as I laughed. I finally stopped my laughter long enough to explain it to Aragorn and the rest.