Rise (Lord of the Rings)

24 - "Good Luck."

I stuck to what I assumed to be Aragorn's footprints as I meandered deeper into the forest. On occasion, I'd flicker my eyes up from the ground, searching around for any sign of movement that would lead me to any of the Fellowship. I had never tracked anything in my life; so far it didn't seem so bad, just so long as the tracks didn't end.

I pushed past any brush that got in my way, my focus on following the footprints. They had to be Aragorn's.

Determined to not give up, no matter how painfully long I had to follow the tracks, I continued onward. My eyes had been stuck to the ground for so long that when I bumped into something I staggered backwards, pulling my attention to ahead of me.

I guess Aragorn hadn't gone far; I had found him quicker than I thought.

He scowled when he realized I had found him. "What are you doing out here? Didn't I tell you and the other Hobbits to stay at the camp?" he scolded me.

I didn't cower under his reprimanding. "You did, but we didn't listen," I sniffed, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Apparently not. Wait a minute; it's not just you that's abandoned the camp?"

"We broke out into search parties. Just you, Legolas, and Gimli won't be enough to find Boromir and Frodo. The more that are out looking, the better chance we have of finding them."

Aragorn groaned, rubbing his temples. "I understand your logic, Marlena, but it's risky to have us all looking. What if one of us gets lost and cannot be found by the others? Or what if one of us goes missing because Orcs have snatched them up?"

"We considered those situations, we talked it out," I retorted. "Now, whether you like it or not, I'm here. Have you gotten any closer to finding either Boromir or Frodo?"

"I think I have something." He looked over his shoulder. "Stay close and don't wander off."

"I would never think of it."

Aragorn set off on the trail he was following, with me right on his heels. Since Aragorn was already looking, I felt there to be no need for me to focus on the ground anymore. I had the task of keeping up with Aragorn's pace, a difficult task since I was much shorter than him.

I looked around, trying to see behind trees for any sign of Frodo or Boromir. I prayed both of them were all right.

The ground began to incline a little, and as we hiked, I noticed we were coming upon what was left of some sort of outpost. It looked like it had been around for a while. My head turned at hearing someone panting.

On the ground, on his back, was Frodo.

I let out a relieved breath. "Frodo," I said. He didn't seemed to have been harmed in any way—a plus for the Fellowship. His blue eyes jerked to me, a startled look met my eyes. "Thank goodness we found you."

"It has taken Boromir," Frodo blurted.

"What?"

"The Ring, it got to him."

"Where is he now? Do you know?"

"No."

"What happened?"

"He tried to take it from me and I escaped. I don't know where he is."

Finally, there was proof that one of my theories was right. Boromir had taken his chance, and failed. I couldn't believe that I was saying it, but Boromir failing to capture the Ring for himself was a good thing.