The Dame of Dúnedain

Riders of Rohan

Aragorn got on the ground and placed his ear to the soil. Legolas, Gimli and Alaina stayed absolutely silent as he listened for the sound of the footsteps of the herd of orcs. They were close to Merry and Pippin, very close.

Aragorn looked up, "Their pace quickened. They must have caught our scent." He jumped up, more energetic than ever, "Hurry!" He yelled, running off in the direction of the orcs.

"Come on, Gimli!" Legolas yelled as he ran after Aragorn.

Gimli took a breath and Alaina pat him on the back, "Three days' and nights' pursuit. No food. No rest. And no sign of our quarry but what bare rock can tell."

Alaina chuckled as she took off after Legolas and Aragorn, Gimli running behind her as quick as he could.

They run across open terrain, Aragorn in the lead follow by Alaina, Legolas and Gimli. Every once in a while Legolas will turn around to make sure Gimli is keeping up. They stop on a small ridge when Aragorn bends down and picks up one of the Lothlorien broaches that they were given when they left the Woods of Lothlorien. "Not idly do the leaves of Lórien fall," Aragorn says, examining it.

Alaina suddenly becomes proud of the two hobbits, "They may yet be alive."

Gimli finally catches up and bends over grunting and catching his breath. 

"Less than a day ahead of us. Come!" Aragorn then sets off again and Alaina gives Gimli a sorry look before running after her brother.

"Come, Gimli! We are gaining on them!" Legolas says, following after Aragorn and Alaina.

Gimli spoke to himself between pants, "I am wasted on cross-country! We dwarves are natural sprinters! Very dangerous over short distances!"

Suddenly they come over a hill to reveal a large grass plains ahead of them. Alaina stands next to her brother, tall and proud. She places her hand on his shoulder as Legolas and Gimli catch up. "Rohan. Home of the horse-lords." She says, pointing to the large mountain range in the distance, "Over that mountain lies Gondor."

Aragorn's head lowers slightly. The last time they were this close to Gondor was a long time ago. There's silence for a moment before Aragorn's eyebrows furrow, "There is something strange at work here. Some evil gives speed to these creatures, sets its will against us."

Legolas runs ahead a ways, squinting at the horizon. "Legolas! What do your Elf eyes see?!" Alaina calls out from behind.

"The Uruks turn northeast. They're taking the hobbits to Isengard!" Legolas declares.

"Saruman.." Aragorn mutters angrily.

They continued on for another day, and all throughout the night. Aragorn got back on his stomach, on the ground, and put his ears to the ground. "They've stopped," he says. 

He gets back up and they continue on running together. It was soon dawn, and Legolas looked up, the sky was taken over by a red shade from the sun, "A red sun rises," Legolas pauses to look up, "Blood has been spilled this night."

They stop on a small hill only to hear the whinnies of horses in the distant. "Horsemen!" Aragorn says, "Hide!"

The four tracks hide behind a nearby boulder. They horses and men rode past, the hooves creating a thunderous noise. Aragorn and Alaina look at each other, "Riders of Rohan! what news from their Mark!" He steps out into plain view and yells and the riders begin to turn back around.

The riders come back around and completely surround what's left of the Fellowship in a tight circle followed by all their spears. Aragorn and Alaina put this hands up. Alaina squints slightly, using two fingers to move the spear that was directly in her eye a few inches over. 

"What business does an Elf, a man, a Dwarf and... a woman have in the Riddermark? Speak quickly!" The leader spoke, his eyes falling on Alaina.

"Give me your name, Horsemaster, and I shall give you mine," Gimli said, causing both Aragorn and Alaina to roll their eyes.

The leader got off the horse, handing his staff to one of the other soldiers. He walked towards the dwarf, "I would cut off your head, dwarf. If it stood but a little higher off the ground."

Faster than anyone could react to, Legolas' bow was nocked and aimed at the leader, "You would die before your stroke fell!"

All the spears go towards Legolas and after a tense moment Alaina puts her hand on the tip of Legolas' arrow, putting herself between the leader and Legolas' bow. "Settle dad, Legolas"

Legolas lowered the bow and Alaina turned back around as Aragorn spoke, "This is Gimli, son of Glóin and Legolas of the Woodland realm and I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn, this is my sister, Alaina. We are friends of Rohan and of Théoden, your king."

The leader looks at both Aragorn and Alaina with a little bit more respect, "I am Éomer.." he speaks lowly, "Théoden no longer recognizes friend from foe," Éomer takes off his helment, "Not even his own kin."

The spears instantly get redrawn as the man goes on, "Saruman has poisoned the mind of the king and claimed lordship over these lands. My company are those loyal to Rohan. And for that, we are banished. The White Wizard is cunning. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man, hooded and cloaked. And everywhere his spies slip past our nets."

Alaina is quick to defend them, "We are not spies. We track a party of Uruk-hai westward across the plain. They've taken two of our friends captive."

"The Uruks are destroyed. We slaughtered them during the night," Éomer speaks, his eyes looking directly into Alaina's eyes.

"But there were two hobbits. Did you see two hobbits with them?" Gimli asked in a hurry.

"They would be small – only children to your eyes," Aragorn says quickly, adding onto Gimli's words.

"We left none alive. We piled the carcasses and burned them," Éomer said, pointing to the smoke in the distance.

"Dead?" Gimli asked.

Éomer nodded, "I am sorry."

Alaina stood still, waiting for the man to speak again. "Hasufel! Arod!" The leader demands, two horses move up. He turns back to Aragorn, "May these horses bear you to better fortune than their former masters." He turns to Alaina, "Farewell. I hope our paths cross again soon."

Éomer put his helmet back on and mounted his horse, "Look for your friends. But do not trust to hope, it has forsaken these lands."

"That's an awfully horrible way to look at it. Hope is always on the good side, always turn to hope. Never forget that," Alaina calls out to the rider causing him to stop and look at her.

His eyes meet hers before calling out to the riders, "We ride North!"