I'll Protect You (Lotr fan fiction/Pippin love story)

Chapter Twenty-eight

I would like to apologize once again for the long wait. Y'all have been making me so happy by reading. I thank y'all for not giving up on me. My New Year's resolution is to finish The Two Towers and maybe even more. God bless you all and may your paths never falter. May you go on the greatest of adventures. ~Sarah

Sky's POV
I stumbled through the dark forest feeling suffocated by the intense heat and humidity. Every now and again I would trip and fall on my face. I didn't care. Tears flowed down my cheeks. A longing to go back haunted my heart. It took every bit of my will not to. Finally I stopped running and sat down. I leaned against a tree and tried to calm my breathing. Nothing seem real anymore. I felt far off from the world like I wasn't a part of it. My mind faded in and out of reality and fantasy. I was so out of it that I didn't realize that my legs were slowly being enwrapped by roots and when I did notice I was starting to sink into the ground with no way to escape. I let out a scream.

Pip's POV
We crashed through the foliage into the dim-lighted forest. When we thought we were safe we slid to a stop falling onto our knees.
"Did we lose him?" I asked nervously looking around. "I think we lost him." Suddenly the orc stepped out from behind the trees.
"I'm gonna rip out your filthy little innards! Come here!" He seethed charging at us. We hurried to our feet and darted away. Trembling we hid behind a tree.
"Trees! Climb a tree!" Merry cried coming up with a quick idea. I started climbing up the tree we were hiding behind. My cousin followed close behind. I sat down in one of the branches while Merry clung to the trunk.
"He's gone," he sighed in relief, but before he could say anything else the orc grabbed his legs and pulled Merry to the ground.
"Merry!" I shouted trying to reach down for him. I looked over at the tree to find two yellow eyes. There was a groan and the tree started to move. I screamed as I lost my balance and fell toward the ground. Several times I reach out for something to grab hold of but there was nothing. Before I hit the ground the tree grabbed me up in its hands....branches...I actually don't really know what it was. Whatever it was caught me and held me tight.
"Let's put a maggot-hole in your belly!" The orc growled before getting stepped on by the tree.
"Run Merry!" I cried desperately. Merry took off running but the tree caught him. It took a good look at us then said, "Little orcs! Burárum..."
"It's talking, Merry. The tree is talking!" I said in awe.
"Tree?! I am no tree. I'm an Ent," he corrected as made his way through the forest.
"A treeherder! A shepherd of the forest," Merry said with a sparkle in his eye.
"Don't talk to it, Merry. Don't encourage it," I scolded.
"Treebeard, some may call me," the ent continued.
"And whose side are you on?" I asked wiggling a little in his grasp.
"Side? I am on nobody's side because nobody's on my side, little Orc. Nobody cares for the woods anymore," he replied as he strolled through the forest.
"We're not Orcs. We're Hobbits!" Merry argued.
"Hobbits? Never heard of a hobbit before. Sounds like Orc mischief to me!" Treebeard said as he tightened his grip. Suddenly there was a scream that resounded through the forest.
"Skylar!" I cried worry clenching my heart. Treebeard seemed to move in the direction of the scream. He put Merry in the same hand I was in and squished us together then bent down in front of a tree. The Ent took his hand and began to push away the dirt. Finally he pulled out Skylar, unconscious but very alive. Treebeard once again stood up cradling Sky in his hand.
"We are hobbits! Where on earth would you find a female Orc!" I spat out.
"Maybe you are and maybe you aren't. The White Wizard will know," the Ent replied as he continued stomping through the woods.
"The White Wizard?" I questioned.
"Saruman," Merry said in horror. Suddenly he dropped me and Merry to the ground. When we looked we came face-to-face with the White Wizard. Surely this was the end. Our escape was for nothing and now we were all dead.