A/n: Anyone who is wondering about the choice of chapter title can thank Andy's friend Kylie, who had an adverse reaction to the beginning of Chapter 17, which actually pleased Andy immensely. She worked very hard on that particular bit, and nobody mentioned it. Nobody. Not even once. Andy was very displeased.
Andy subsequently expressed opinions that Suedom's readers didn't respect her ability to write nasty, disturbing things. Thus Andy has to write MORE nasty disturbing things in order to cement it in Suedom readers' heads that she has an ironclad resistance to squicking herself. And that she is very good at squicking other people.
Andy will stop talking about herself in the third person now.
Another A/n, by that other author: Andy is not a Good Girl as many seem to think. Beware of her squicking skills--they put even Saphie to shame. {shudder}
Unlike Andy, Saphie will continue to talk about herself in the third-person for a while because she is most deranged.
Saphie would like those of you who are up for some fanfic conversation to take a look at this thread on the message board:
http://p221.ezboard.com/fthesuedommessageboardfrm7.showMessage?topicID=7.topic
Be forewarned that it discusses the use of rape in fanfics. Saphie would like to hear some of your thoughts on the matter.
Also, she would like to announce that PPC and Sue Recruiting are closed. We never expected this many recruits (or readers) and there are just too many for us to keep track off--we can't handle anymore. Sorry. Thank you all for your wonderful contributions (the Sues especially were wonderfully bad and very useful). As for those of you that have Sues and Recruits in, we think we can fit them all in, so we're pretty sure they'll all make an appearance.
*****
Suedom
By Andy and Saphie
Chapter 26: This One's for You, Kylie
*****
Sam was getting annoyed.
It had been odd, really. When Mister Frodo announced that Gollum was following them, Sam had expected there to be a fight between he and his master and their creepy stalker. And there was, initially. But after that, once Mister Frodo made Gollum promise to lead them to the Black Gate...nothing. He wasn't sure why, but Sam was expecting to loathe the pathetic creature. He was expecting Gollum to be sneaky, untrustworthy, to probably lead them into a few traps, and to generally be a very bad choice of guide.
Instead, Gollum led them without objection towards the Black Gate and mooned endlessly about some girl with an unpronounceable name.
"Eyess as green and shiny as fissh's scales," he recited to himself during a break in their journey, apparently unaware that Sam could hear his "poetry."
Pretty pretty fissh.
And skin pale like a fissh's stomach.
With hair as dark as a night without the White Face.
Pretty pretty night, yess.
Pretty, oh sso pretty.
Like a fishy, fishy, fishy.
Except that we won't eat her.
Gollum sighed wistfully. "Sshe is the mosst beautiful thing in the world, yess. From the firsst moment we ssaw her, we knew, we did. There iss no one as wonderful as her..."
Sam, irritated that the nasty creature wouldn't stop talking, especially while Mr. Frodo was having a lie-down, pointed out that Gollum couldn't have met many girls in his life. Gollum glared at him.
"And we supposes the fat hobbit thinks he knows ssomeone better than Arintalerthirialimsilira!" he snapped, his speech impediment seeming to take a moment off so that Gollum could pronounce the name. Sam wasn't sure how--he couldn't even pronounce it. "We supposes that the fat hobbit doessn't know what he iss talking about, ssince the fat hobbit has never sseen beautiful Arintalerthirialimsilira in his sstupid, fat life."
Sam glared back. He wasn't that fat. And he was willing to wager all the gold in a Barrow-wight's tomb that whoever this...girl was, she was nowhere near as beautiful as Rosie Cotton.
Gollum sighed happily and rested his scrawny chin in his equally scrawny hand. "The moment we sees her, Sméagol says to hisself, 'this is the mosst beautiful thing in all the world,' and one day we comess and makess her our own."
The deep, dark regions of Sam's soul said "Brrrr!" Sam himself said, "Have you asked what she thinks about that yet?"
Gollum looked aghast. "Sspeak to the preciouss lady? No, we could never, sshe is too beautiful...too perfect...we admires her from afar. Besides," Gollum's eyes narrowed angrily. "They are with her...alwayss with her..."
Against his better judgement, Sam asked, "Who's 'they'?"
"THEM!" Gollum hissed venomously. "The sstupid other lady with the bright eyes and the dwarf and the woman with yellow hair, alwayss with her, keeping her from us. Sshe is too good for them, she is. Gollum, gollum."
"Right. Let me make sure I understand you right and proper," Sam said. "You know this great girl, but you've never talked to her, she doesn't even know you exist, and you don't know a thing about her--"
"Not true, preciouss," Gollum interrupted. "We knows plenty about her, we doess."
"Pardon? What exactly?"
Gollum paused and mumbled, "She is...like uss."
Sam raised his eyebrows. "I thought you said she was beautiful."
"She knowss," Gollum went on, as if Sam had not spoken at all. "We have seen her, when she speakss of it..."
Gollum looked at Frodo's sleeping form. Frodo's hand was lying on his breast, fingers curled protectively over something beneath the fabric of his cloak. Almost unconsciously, Gollum moved his own hand to his wasted chest, fleshless fingers curling around an invisible object.
"We sees it in her eyess, we doess," he muttered, his mad eyes fixed on Frodo's hand. "Sshe knowss, preciousss, she knowss what it is like..."
A green glint shone in Gollum's eyes, and Sam felt suddenly alarmed.
"It takess hold of her too..." Gollum whispered, now stepping softly towards Frodo. "She knowss, preciouss, she knowss how it never letss go..."
Sam stood up, reaching for the hilt of his sword as he placed himself between the corrupted Stoor and his master. Gollum jumped back and fixed Sam with a gaze so full of malice, that Sam nearly drew his sword. For a moment they stared, judging each other, and then Gollum looked away, the light fading from his eyes.
And something deep inside Sam said, "Ah. There it is, after all."
Carefully, Sam sat down again, a plan forming in his head. "So," he said. "She's a wonderful girl, and you're here following Mr. Frodo through the Black Lands instead of going after her? Where's the sense in that?"
Gollum gave a small hiss and turned away. "We says we guides the hobbitses, and we keeps our word, precious. Always, we keeps our word to Master."
Sam reckoned there was a bit more to it than that, but did not say so.
"Well, the way I see it, a girl like that doesn't come along every day, does she?" he said. "You can't go passing her up like that just because...just because of a promise."
"But we could never talk to her, preciouss..." Gollum mumbled. "We wouldn't know what to ssay."
Sam shrugged. "Just --"
Sam stopped. He had been about to say 'Just be yourself,' but considering the suitor in question, this was unlikely to help.
"Look," Sam rallied. "I reckon you'll never know if you don't talk to her, will you? Maybe...maybe it turns out you've got even more in common than you think."
Maybe she's also blind, Sam thought.
Gollum looked uncertain. "But...what about Masster? We gave Masster our word--"
"O, master will understand," Sam assured him. "Master's very understanding, you see."
Gollum still looked uncertain, and Sam sighed.
"How about this," he said. "After you've talked to this girl, you can come back and keep leading us, what about that? I'm sure you won't take very long."
Not with the Ring still with Mr. Frodo, you won't, he thought.
Gollum glanced back down the path they had taken through the marshes, and then back at Frodo. Sam noticed his gaze lingered a lot longer on Frodo than on the path. Finally, Gollum looked at Sam again.
"It promises not to go very far, doess it?" he asked. "Or we will not be able to find the hobbitses afterwardss. Hobbitses need poor Sméagol to guide them through the Black Lands."
"O no, we'll move nice and slow," Sam said. "You'll catch up to us in no time."
With another glance at Frodo, Gollum took off down the path, paused, and came back.
"It must tell Masster that Sméagol only goes a little wayss away," he said. "Masster musstn't think Sméagol was bad."
"I'll be sure to tell him," Sam assured Gollum, and the wretched creature took off again. This time he did not return, although it seemed he moved in an odd way, as though he were being pulled in two directions--back to the Ring, and down the path, towards this dream girl of his. To Sam's relief, the latter won out. Once Gollum faded from sight, he did not return.
Sam wrinkled his nose, his heart swelling with pity for the poor girl, whoever she was. But better her than Mister Frodo. He had enough troubles without that nasty creature following him everywhere.
Still...
Something deep inside Sam told him that this was inherently wrong. Besides the thought of Gollum having a girl somewhere being utterly revolting, Sam had the nagging sense that it was just...not right. And not just because of the sheer improbability of the thought; it was just something that Sam was completely sure didn't happen. It was puzzling him immensely.
It was just like having made it from Emyn Muil to the Dead Marshes in a matter of hours. Not that he was complaining, mind you, but something in Sam's gut was telling him that the journey should have taken a lot longer; and that they shouldn't be this far into the Marshes all ready.
Furthermore, Sam had a niggling suspicion that he'd done a bad thing by tricking Gollum into going off. He couldn't imagine why--Slinker and Stinker were nothing but trouble for poor Mister Frodo, and Sam was willing to bet his life that the nasty creature would turn out to be untrustworthy...and yet, he couldn't shake the feeling that what he'd done was bad.
But deeper than that was Sam's mistrust of Gollum, and so he firmly ignored his gut feelings and went with his head, which as he himself would admit, was not the best part of him.
"Wake up, Mister Frodo," Sam said, shaking Frodo's shoulder gently. "We've got a long ways to go yet."
Frodo sat up, yawned, and looked about while he stood. "Where is Sméagol?"
Sam looked perfectly innocent. "Oh, he's off foraging, you know. Looking for something he likes better than elf bread. He said he'd be back."
"I don't think we should go on without him," Frodo said, looking around at the marsh.
Sam shrugged. "It couldn't hurt to go a little ways, could it?"
And Frodo, whose head was easily the equal of his heart, and who knew when to go with which, and was set to err on the side of caution whenever possible in order to make his mission succeed, said:
"No, it couldn't. I'm sure Sméagol will be back soon."
And he and Sam, still in the grips of Arinta...whatever's creator, walked off into the Marshes.
It is likely that they either drowned, or wandered guide-less and lost until their rations were exhausted and they both died alone on the outskirts of Mordor--and then appeared again in another horrible Story--but that, on a large scale, is the effect of Mary Sues.
***
The geography of Arda creaked under the strain as entire countries were moved out of the way and shoved back into place. As they came to a stop, Kate swayed slightly, looking green.
"I can't help but think that that's not good for canon at all," she groaned, rubbing her temples, "and it's not easy to do when you think about it too much."
Merry and Pippin were staring at her. They stared back at where they had come from, only to see that the meadow near Orthanc was gone, then looked back at her.
"What..." Pippin looked back once more and then at her curiously. "What did you do?"
"How did you do that?" Merry asked, his mouth hanging open in amazement.
"I think I moved a few hundred miles out of the way for a moment so that we could get here, and then put it back. Maybe it was less than a hundred, I'm not--"
"Never mind that; where did you take us?" Éowyn asked, looking around. They had come to rest in a narrow valley between two tall, craggy rock walls, mired in fog. A faint, boglike stench hung in the air. Éowyn frowned; the fog made her feel apprehensive--who knew what could be hiding in it?
"Emyn Muil," Kate said. "I thought--" she was cut off by a sharp intake of breath from Kira, who had suddenly backed up against one of the cliffs and was looking around with scared eyes. Éowyn drew her sword.
"What is it?" she whispered, thinking that perhaps Kira had heard something in the fog.
"Nothing," Kira said, stepping away from the wall. She stood an equal distance between the two cliffs, hands at her sides in a position of forced casualness. Éowyn eyed her skeptically.
"Nothing?" she asked.
"Nothing," Kira said firmly, just a hint of an edge to her voice. Éowyn watched her for a moment before replacing her sword in its sheath.
"As you say," she said noncommittally, her face passive.
Kate glanced nervously between Kira and the Shieldmaiden. In an attempt to break the tension, she said, "I thought it would be pretty empty by this time. Um."
Kira remained silent, radiating discontent.
"Was that okay?" Kate ventured, wondering what was wrong with her friend.
"Yeah," Kira said shortly. "Yeah, it'ss great. We should look for the Bridge while we're here. We haven't been here yet."
"If the Bridge is hidden in Emyn Muil, our best hope of finding it is to stumble onto it by accident," Gimli muttered. "As far as I know, none of us here knows their way through here, and there are any number of places a Bridge could hide itself in."
"It's smaller than the rest of the world, though," Kate said helpfully. Gimli snorted.
"Aye, that it is, but it does not make the search any easier."
"Then let'ss get going," Kira said. She started to rise from the rock she'd been sitting on, but Kate noticed how slowly she was moving and how she'd been slumped over with her eyes closed before getting up.
"Do you need a break?" she asked, with concern.
"No," Kira responded sharply. A little too sharply, in fact. "But I...um...I thought Merry and Pippin might need one."
Kate raised an eyebrow. "Merry and Pippin," she said flatly.
"Yeah," Kira said, a defensive edge to her voice.
"I'm fine," Pippin put in, or started to, because Merry stepped on his foot.
"I thought we could probably spare about ten minutes, at the most," Kira went on, sitting down again. Kate looked at Gimli, who looked at Kira.
"Fine," he said gruffly, "But no more than--"
Suddenly Kira drew in her breath sharply and jumped up with a swiftness that surprised them all.
"Never mind," she said, all but running past the canons. "We haven't got time to sit around. Sorry guys," she addressed to a rather nonplussed Merry and Pippin.
As she ran past, Merry turned to Gimli, a suspicious look on his face and said quietly, but not so quietly that Kate couldn't hear, "Are you sure they aren't just some mad women roaming the countryside?"
"No, it's okay, I'm sure we can take a few minutes--" Kate said, ignoring the hobbit and Gimli's answer, and running to catch up with her.
"No. We can't," Kira said, with a tone of finality.
"Why? There's--"
"We just can't!" Kira yelled, rounding on Kate, who fell silent with confusion.
Kira was angry. Really angry. That went without saying, really, considering that she was mad enough to yell at Kate. But beyond the anger, she looked...afraid.
"Kira, what's wrong?" Kate asked as she jogged after her friend.
"Nothing! Nothing'sss wrong!"
"You're in an awfully big hurry for nothing being wrong," Kate commented.
"Kate, nothing isss fucking wrong with me, preciousss!" Kira shouted. "I jusst think we should try and find the Bridge as ssoon as we can, you know, to sssave the world?"
Kate backed down. "Fine," she said, a little spinelessly. "I just thought you were upset about something, that's all."
"Upset? Me? Why would I be upsset?" Kira snapped. "Nothing to be upsset about. Let'ss go."
Inadvertently, she added Gollum gollum, and Merry and Pippin backed off slightly in apprehension. She had told them of her character's lineage when telling her story, but that didn't make evidence of this any less disturbing.
She stalked off and Kate trotted rather meekly after. The rocks blurred a little as their Mary Sue powers arranged Emyn Muil so that they could be in exactly the right place that they wanted to be, wherever that was, in exactly the right time, whenever that was. The canons brought up the rear.
Except for Éowyn, who hung back.
The footsteps faded, and still she stood, staring sharp-eyed down the crevasse, her posture tense. She laid a hand on her sword hilt.
There was a hint of movement at the end of the crevasse. Éowyn drew her sword.
There was silence for a moment, and then Éowyn spoke, her voice as sharp as her weapon.
"Pity has been your in your favor time and again, but let me assure you that I could be the first not to heed mine for your sake," she said, apparently to the rocks. "I care not whether your part in this tale is unfinished. If you interfere with my mission, I will not be the first to raise a sword against you, but I will be the last."
A faint hiss, like a breeze through the rocks, issued down the crevasse.
"Go back to your master. Fulfill your purpose," she ordered the unseen listener. "You will find no pity here."
A moment of silence passed, and then there was the sound of a few rocks being displaced, and something receded through Emyn Muil. Only then did Éowyn replace her sword and dart off after the group.
They were some distance away, and Éowyn broke into a run in order to catch up. Her face was twisted in anger as she pushed past Merry and Pippin, passed Kate, grabbed Kira by the throat, and slammed her against a boulder.
The girl cried out in pain, her hair falling over face and into her open mouth.
"What did you do?" she hissed, pressing Kira angrily against the rock. Kira stared at her with shock and struggled to throw off Éowyn's iron grip.
Spitting out her hair, now clumped together with saliva, she screamed shrilly at Éowyn, "Let me go!" Éowyn's grip only tightened. Kira hissed in pain.
"So this is what you did not want to say, is it?" Éowyn snapped. "How long have you been keeping your secret?"
"I have no fucking idea what you're talking about," Kira growled, equally angry. "Let me the fuck go, preciouss!"
"What are you doing?" Kate yelled, running in panic at Éowyn.
"What has come over you?" Gimli asked.
"You would do better to ask Kira," Éowyn said. She turned to the person in question. "Go on. Tell them. Tell them what came over you."
"What's going on? What's she talking about?" Kate asked, looking wide-eyed from Éowyn to Kira and back.
"I don't know!" Kira yelled, still struggling against Éowyn's grip. "She's gone crazy, or something!" She sobbed: Gollum gollum, and beat futilely at the Shieldmaiden's strong hands.
"Tell us!" Éowyn shouted. "Tell us what happened in Mordor, when the madness came over you! Tell us what you took in the dark, when no one was watching! Tell us why you never told us that Gollum is following you through Emyn Muil!"
Kate shrieked in horror and immediately pulled out her sword, as if expecting Gollum to jump at her at any moment. Kira winced and Éowyn jarred her against the rocks again.
"Where is it?" she hissed, in a voice icy with venom. Kira stared at her, rage boiling behind her features as she understood.
"You think I sstole the fucking Ring, preciouss!" she accused.
"The thought has crossed my mind," Éowyn said flatly. "Why else would Gollum choose to follow you instead of Frodo?"
"Bitch, pleasse!" Kira spat furiously. "I didn't steal the damn Ring! I don't know why Gollum is following me, but he's been doing it since we were in Lothlórien! Galadriel told me!"
"And you didn't tell us? You didn't tell us that an insane creature more than capable of murder is tracking you?" Gimli shouted, red in the face behind his beard as he strode up next to Éowyn. "Did you expect him to be quite polite about it and wait until we were aware of his presence to try and kill us?"
"I--I didn't think--" Kira sputtered.
"Precisely," Éowyn spat. "You didn't think. Particularly about our safety."
Gimli was still glaring at her. "If you have not taken the Ring--" Here Kira twitched, as she always did when the Ring was mentioned "--Then why is Gollum following you?"
"It'ss a sstory! It's the Mary Ssue sstory, okay? Ssome Author'ss got control of him and iss making him follow me," Kira said, gasping for breath, her face red and her eyes watery. Éowyn had not yet released her.
"That may be," she said, "but might it also be because you are in league with the foul creature?"
Kira paled. "No!" she shrieked angrily.
"Then why did you not tell us about him?"
"I don't know!"
"Why?"
Éowyn shook Kira again, and the fury in the Shieldmaiden's eyes terrified her. Éowyn meant business, and one more dodged answer could be dangerous. And Kira knew that if it came down to it, she'd never hold her own against Éowyn.
"Alright! Alright," she said, her voice softening, tinged with guilt and embarrassment. "Gollum doessn't want the Ring anymore. Well, he doesss, but he, er...wants me more. If you get what I mean."
A wave of disgust washed over Éowyn's features. In the background, Kate said, "Eww!" out loud.
"That'ss why I didn't tell anyone. It's embarrassssing," Kira said sullenly.
"Embarrassing or not," said Gimli, "that was still amazingly foolish."
"Fine, I was a moron, now will you let me go?" Kira snapped at Éowyn.
"Not unless you promise not to keep any more secrets," Éowyn said, "Particularly ones that could be dangerous."
"Fine," Kira said.
"Swear it."
"I swear! I goddamn fucking swear!" Kira snapped.
"And I will hold you to your word," Éowyn said, not understanding the actual curses per say, but understanding the meaning they conveyed. She released Kira, but continued to watch her with an expression that clearly said, "I don't trust you," even if she did not say it out loud.
Kate, who still had her sword out, was glaring at the rocks. Éowyn sighed.
"Put it away," she said. Kate looked at her and shook her head vehemently.
"Éowyn, search her clothes, just to be sure her word is true. I'll search her bags," Gimli commanded, glaring at Kira.
Kira let out a shriek of outrage at Gimli started rooting through her bag, and Éowyn shut her up immediately by administering what, on Earth, would have been considered a bitchslap.
Kira froze and held a hand to her stinging cheek, as Éowyn snapped furiously, "You have no right to be outraged, you foolish child."
Then she roughly patted her down, checked her pockets, and made sure the Ring wasn't hanging around her neck, as she stood stiffly, so embarrassed she was nearly in tears, Kate and the hobbits watching her.
After a few moments, both were satisfied with their searches, and they stopped.
"We move on," Éowyn said. "We must avoid that creature by all means." This last part she said while staring Kira in the eyes--the girl could not return her gaze.
They started walking again, Éowyn and Gimli in the front (they knew Kira wouldn't run, as she had nowhere to go, and couldn't survive on her own). The hobbits filed past her where she still stood stiffly, her eyes cast down, and stared suspiciously at her.
It was then that Kira finally reached down and gathered up her messy belongings, nearly shaking with fury. She followed the group, which was now far ahead--they were acting almost as if she didn't exist--Kate in tow.
"Can you believe them? Thinking I sstole the Ring?" Kira raged.
"Um," Kate said, noncommittally.
"Why didn't you sspeak up?" Kira said, rounding on her. "You heard them accussing me, why didn't you ssay anything?"
Kate bit her lip before saying "Um" again.
Kira's eyes widened. "Oh my God. You thought I took it too, didn't you?"
"It's not entirely out of the question," Kate said nervously, looking uncomfortable. Kira gave her a look of disgust, and Kate went on, "Look, I know you know too much about it to really think of taking it, but you haven't seen how you get when someone mentions it! It's like someone else looks out from inside your eyes, and it's scary! It's the character, not you, but it still makes it possible!"
Kira glared at her furiously. "I thought you were my friend! I thought you'd sstick up for me!"
"I am your friend!" Kate protested, now looking genuinely afraid. What if Kira mistook her doubt for disloyalty? She couldn't have Kira hating her. Not here. Not when knowing that there was at least one other person in the same situation as her was the only thing keeping her sane. "But you should have told us, I mean, we weren't going to judge you or anything because of the role the author stuck you in."
Kira growled and looked away, picking up the pace. Kate bit her lip and trotted after her.
"Look, please don't be mad at me, please?" she begged. "I know you probably hate me for not sticking up for you, but I didn't not do it because you're not my friend and I don't care about you, okay? I'm really worried about you, that's all."
"Well you don't have to worry about me anymore! I can worry about mysself jusst fine! Ssince I'm so much trouble, go find someone else to ssave the world with, you fucking, sstupid crybaby!" Kira yelled. Kate stopped dead in her tracks, looking crushed, her lower lip quivering.
"Can't you hear what you're saying? You don't even sound like yourself anymore," she said, her voice small and sad. "I know you don't mean that, but..." Her voice shook, and the clenched her fists, willing herself not to start crying, willing herself not to be a fucking stupid crybaby. "I'm worried about you. You may not want to hear it, but we all know you're sick. It's weakening you. And I'm scared that you may end up doing something that you wouldn't normally do because of what the Author is trying to make you."
Kira stopped walking, and stood very still, fuming.
"I know you'd never take the Ring, and I know you'd never do anything to hurt us, and I know you'd never say any of the stuff you just said if you were totally yourself, but you're not," Kate said quietly, "And neither am I, you know. I'm fighting an Author just as hard as you are. Please don't get mad at me. I just want to make sure that you're okay."
"All right! All right!" Kira shouted, turning around, her face angry and tearful. "You want to know what it iss that made me do that?" She yelled, advancing on Kate. "You're right, it ISS the damn character! It'ss the sstupid fucking character and she'ss taking over my mind, and my God, did you even ssee it? It'ss sso fucking beautiful, and I want it, even though I know exactly how I'll end up if I take it! I can't sstop thinking about it and it sscaress the hell out of me because I don't want to end up alone in a cave under a mountain with nothing but an evil piece of jewelry for company. But I can't sstop thinking about it! I can't--sstop--thinking about it!"
Without speaking, Kate walked over and hugged Kira. Unused to such physical displays of affection, Kira stiffened awkwardly, but Kate didn't let go.
"But we're far away from it," Kate said, "and we're not going anywhere near it again. So there's no opportunity for you to be tempted. Besides," she started patting Kira's back gently, in an attempt to calm her down, "I know you're stronger than that. I know you are."
"I'm afraid..." Kira muttered awkwardly, through Kate's hair. "I'm not--"
"I'm afraid too," Kate said. "I'm afraid of a lot of things. I'm afraid of failing, and getting killed, and losing you--and tap-dancing carrots, but that's another story." She paused. "We're all afraid. Not just you and me --Éowyn and Gimli and Merry and Pippin...they're all afraid of stuff. But I'm not afraid that you'll fail. Because past the wound and the Author and the fear, deep down, I think you're the strongest person in the world."
The admiration in Kate's voice was just too much. Kira's face scrunched up with misery.
"But...but I already tried to take it. In Mordor, I tried to take the Ring from Frodo. While you were ssleeping," she whispered shamefully.
Kate didn't say anything for a while. Then-- "But it won't happen again. It won't."
"You don't know that. You don't know how much I want it now," Kira said reluctantly. It had never been easy for her to admit her weaknesses.
"It won't happen," Kate repeated stubbornly, still hugging Kira.
"I'm afraid," Kira whispered.
"And that's okay," Kate said.
And she didn't let go until Kira had calmed down, and had even relaxed enough to hug her back. Then they walked back to the canons, who had been watching with stony and impassive faces, to continue searching.
They found nothing.
***
"I don't know why changing distances is so tiring, but it is," Kate said, as she sat down heavily next to Kira when they finally stopped to make camp. "I'm sure other Mary Sues do it all the time. Authors do, anyway."
"Maybe it'ss becausse they don't know they're changing distancess," Kira suggested. "It must be lesss work when your own mind issn't telling you all the while that what you're doing can't be done."
"I guess that'd take less energy on their part or something," Kate said. She rooted around in the pack that she had replenished in Rohan and pulled out a small piece of bread. "Eat something."
"Don't want to," Kira muttered slowly, her head drooping almost to her chest.
"You've got to eat," Kate protested.
"Ssleepy," Kira murmured, sitting back against the rock wall. Dark rings ran under her sunken, half-lidded eyes. Her face was drawn and pale, and sweat was beading on her forehead and slowly dripping down. In the dim light, it almost seemed to Kate that there were crow's feet in the corner of her eyes, and that wrinkles were gathering around her mouth. She looked so...old.
It was horrifying.
Kate replaced the bread, eased Kira away from the wall and took off her pack. Kira didn't protest at all when Kate unpinned her cloak and bundled it under her friend's head.
Bad sign, Kate thought, covering Kira with her own cloak and blanket. Normally, she'd be arguing that she's "FINE!" right about now, and telling me to stop fussing.
Kira drifted off to sleep as soon as she was tucked in. She shivered under the blankets though. Kate put the back of her hand on her friend's forehead and was startled at how hot it was. Sighing, she stood and ambled over to where the canons were sitting. She sat down in front of them, cross-legged.
"She's getting worse," Kate said miserably. "She has a fever."
Gimli and Éowyn shared a concerned glance. Untrustworthy as she was, Kira was still a child, and was their companion this adventure. While both of them, especially Éowyn, had the urge to slap her around, and certainly did not trust her, they by no means wished death upon her.
"Do not worry in the least bit," Gimli said reassuringly, "Once we get to Elrond or Aragorn, she will be fine."
Merry chewed thoughtfully on the mouthpiece of his pipe. "If we can bring Aragorn and Elrond back to themselves."
Pippin shot his cousin a dark look, and whispered, "Merry, you're going to upset her."
"We have to be realistic about this," Merry went on, ignoring Pippin. "Aragorn and Elrond are going to be completely...what did you call it? Oh yes, washbrained—"
"Brainwashed," corrected Pippin, before puffing on his pipe. The smell of it was nice, Kate thought. Sort of like fruit and bonfires and fresh-cut grass.
"--brainwashed," Merry said, "and we might not be able to get them back into their proper states of mind. Even if we manage to, the mere fact that you two will be there might make them go all funny again, whether you intend to do it or not."
Kate drooped, and looked so utterly dejected that Pippin, Éowyn, and Gimli all glared at Merry. He stared back unflinchingly, and said, "It's the truth, and you know it."
Still glaring, Éowyn patted Kate sympathetically on the arm.
"Do not forsake all hope," she said. "We will get her help in time."
Even though Kate nodded in agreement, she wasn't so sure...
Pippin looked thoughtful. "I'm wondering something..." he said to the other canons. "Why is it that she--" He jabbed his pipe in Kate's direction "--and Kira do not make us all brainwashed?"
Kate looked up. "You know, I've been wondering that myself..." She bit her lip, and pondered. "I think...it might be because the authors of the stories we're supposed to be in only made our characters interact with Men and Elves, and made only them out-of-character. There's never been any mention of hobbits, dwarves, or women in the Authors' words when we hear them. Bilbo and Thorin and Company probably haven't come across many Mary Sues, so I think that's why we wound up brainwashing them when we shouldn't normally have been able to, since they aren't Men or Elves."
"Ah, that would make sense. It's because we're being ignored," Gimli said testily. "As if we are not important."
Merry put out his pipe. "It's better to be ignored," he said evenly, tucking it into his pack, and settling down with his cloak covering him. "Then to never be left alone."
He turned over and faced the other way.
Pippin put out his own pipe and tucked it away, and was about to lie down next to his cousin, but Merry turned and snapped, "What are you doing?"
Pippin sighed, gathered his things, and walked past the others so that he was at Éowyn's side, so that Gimli and Éowyn separated him from his cousin. He started unpacking his blankets and prepared for sleep. Merry turned back over.
"Why aren't you sleeping next to Merry?" Gimli whispered. "You always do."
Pippin paused and looked up at Gimli, his eyes sad and somewhat cold, as if there were a wall of ice separating what he was really feeling from what emotions he showed.
"It's not safe," he said simply, and he couldn't stop his voice from cracking slightly. He laid himself down, squirmed under his cloak and blanket, and turned over to face the other way.
Gimli stared at the ground, and Éowyn and Kate looked at each other sadly. Kate wrapped her arms around her knees. As they sat in silence, the last of the day finally faded, and the stars started to flicker in the inky black overhead.
"I will take first watch tonight," Éowyn said, breaking the awkward silence. "Then it will be your turn Gimli, then Merry's, then Pippin's. Kate, you should get as much sleep as possible," she said, as Kate opened her mouth to protest.
Kate sighed, and scrambled over next to Kira. As Gimli settled in for the night, Éowyn brought her things over to Kate's other side. Just in case the girl might want to talk before she rested. It had been a trying day, to say the least.
Her back resting against the wall, she sat silent but alert, her sword unsheathed at her side. Complete silence filled the gorge.
Kate checked on her friend one more time before going to sleep, tucking the blanket under her chin to keep out the night-chill; though she had a fever, it was rather cold out. She passed her hand comfortingly over her friend's warm forehead, and tucked her hair, damp with sweat, behind her ears. Kira stirred slightly in her sleep, and took a shaky breath--almost a sob of relief. "Mom..." she murmured.
Kate's throat constricted.
"Don' feel sso good..." Kira murmured. "Sing, mmm ...lullaby?"
Kate didn't know what to do. She didn't feel right with just ignoring Kira and going to sleep, but she didn't what lullaby she was talking about.
Unless...
She figured it was worth a try. Kira had said that her mom used to sing it to her all the time. Hopefully, she could remember all the words. After taking a moment to try and remember the words, quietly and softly Kate sang:
Summertime...and the livin' is easy
The fish are jumpin', and the cotton is high.
Your daddy's rich and your momma, she's good lookin'
So hush little baby, don't you cry...
Éowyn stared up at the sky as she listened to Kate's sad voice, tears starting in the corners of her eyes, as she thought of all the lullabies she had sung to her own children, and of her life with Faramir after the war. Faramir, her love, her dear husband, so strong and yet so gentle, so kind, so wise...
Those memories were fading, drifting out of her grasp faster than she could reach out and pull them back them. When they had left her, they were illusive things, drifting just out of reach, taunting her with their closeness.
She could remember what happened before, however, in Rohan.
Where was her dear brother right now? Was he safe? Was his mind free? What of her uncle?
It was so hard, so hard after opening up and letting her cold heart melt, to now be without those she loved...
Gimli's face pursed into a frown, and he thought that no child should ever sound so sad. As he lay there, his thoughts started to drift to the rest of the Fellowship. It was reassuring having Merry and Pippin with him, because now he knew two of his friends were safe. But what of Sam and Frodo, forced to endure their horrible trek through Mordor over and over? And where was Aragorn? Was he safe? Was he himself? Or was he currently the victim of the wiles of some Mary Sue, cheating on his beloved, beautiful wife against his will? What of the Lady Galadriel?
And what of the Elf? What horrors was his dear friend experiencing that very moment...?
Pippin was still wide awake as well, shivering slightly with the cold. He was sniffling softly, and blinking tears out of his eyes.
He had never felt so lonely in his life. Ever since everything had started to happen, Merry had sort of...shut off. Before, there had been the occasional Mary Sue or whatnot, and the two of them always stuck together and helped each-other through it. But now...?
One of these mornin's, you're gonna rise up singing;
And spread your wings; and take to the sky.
Until that morning, there ain't no-one gonna harm you;
Your friends is right here, right nearby...
Kate finished the song, and watched her friend for a moment. Though somewhat labored, Kira's breathing was even and steady; she was sound asleep now.
Kate found a relatively comfortable spot on the ground, rested her head on her now almost-empty pack and snuggled under her blanket.
Over where Pippin was laying, he sighed deeply, and lifted himself up on his elbows to peer over Gimli at his cousin. He would much rather sleep between Merry and Gimli; he really didn't like being out on the outside edge. There had been so many stories where he had slept on the outside edge of the group and snatched up by some orc or some other nasty thing in the dark...
Sighing to himself again, he lowered himself off of his elbows and back to the ground.
Pippin knew he was not the bravest of sorts, and he knew that he probably would never have been able to carry the Ring to Mt. Doom, or fight giant spiders, or face down the Witch-King, but he also knew that he was very brave, nevertheless.
Normally.
That was the key word there: "Normally." Nothing was normal now, and it hadn't been normal for a very long time. He had lived through many horrible things, and some of them had been quite worse than being squashed by a troll.
Now every little thing made him jump. Every noise in the dark was an approaching orc to him, every pile of rocks a crouching uruk, waiting to do...to do horrible...horrible things to him.
Or to make he and Merry do horrible things together.
He shuddered.
In any case, as much as he hated to admit it to himself, everything frightened him now. Every little thing. He had turned into a coward.
Merry, in turn, had dealt with the whole thing by just shutting off, by turning cold and harsh. "Merry" was hardly a fitting name for him anymore; he was anything but.
Pippin sighed again, and looked very sad, but after a moment, pushed himself back up on his elbows with a look of resolve. He slowly and cautiously stood and lifted his blanket and pack.
He didn't care whether it would annoy Merry or not, he was just too frightened to sleep on the outside now.
Éowyn watched him curiously and catching her glance, he held a finger to his lips to keep her silent. He crept almost soundlessly in between Merry and Gimli, who were both sound asleep, laid himself down on the ground, bunched his pack under his head, and snuggled under his blanket. Now less frightened, he started to drift off.
A moment later, Merry sighed and turned over in his sleep, and brushed against his cousin with his elbow. After this seemingly innocent action, several things happened at once. With a snort, Merry started awake, yelped when he saw his cousin next to him, and sat up abruptly. Pippin gave a small cry, shaken out of his slumber, and sat up equally abruptly.
Then he was nearly knocked over by a ringing slap administered by his shaken cousin.
Pippin froze in shock, holding a hand to his stinging cheek, tears pricking his eyes. The two of them sat shaking, Merry panting, and Pippin holding back tears.
Gimli, Kate, and Kira were still sound asleep, but Éowyn was staring at the two hobbits in shock, unable to say a word.
After a moment, Merry's breathing slowed and calmed down, and he looked somewhat contrite for what he had done, though not as sorry as Éowyn had expected him to look.
Pippin looked up at his cousin apologetically, a doleful expression on his face and whispered, "Merry, I was just frightened. I wasn't--"
"Go to your side," Merry whispered, absolutely furious.
"But Merry, I--"
"Go," Merry hissed, and with a lip trembling slightly, and sniffling, Pippin picked up his things and moved back to where he had been before. He lay back down and buried his head under his blanket. Merry turned over and covered himself with his own again.
Both had seemed to have forgotten that Éowyn was there. She thought she heard Pippin sobbing miserably to himself, the sound even more forlorn because it had been muffled by the blanket. From the way Merry was shaking under his, he was probably sobbing to himself as well.
She wasn't sure what to think after what she had seen, but the heart-wrenching feeling that arose in her because of it was not pleasant at all.
When will this madness end...? she thought mournfully.
Where she lay--shaken half out of her sleep by the yelling--Kate squirmed a bit, trying to get comfortable. The ground was jutting up on her back, so she turned on her side. As she turned over, her heavy eyelids briefly opened and she saw Kira, deathly pale in the moonlight, breathing shallowly.
Just as she was about to shut her eyes again, Kate saw Kira's eyes pop open, and she gasped, looking like someone coming back from the dead. Kate gasped slightly in surprise.
Kira turned over and faced Kate, her face a mask of horror, her eyes glinting light green in the night.
"He'ss here!" she hissed.
"Who?" Kate whispered in alarm. "Who's..."
"Shh," Éowyn said from next to her. Across from them, Gimli's eyes briefly flickered open and up; then he looked up then over at Éowyn. Apparently, he had been awakened by the noise, as well, and had just chosen to keep his silence.
'On my signal,' she mouthed. He gave the slightest of nods and closed his eyes again.
At the top of the gorge there was the oddest sound Kate had ever heard, like the slapping of a wet towel on the ground. It was rhythmic, almost like footsteps.
Wait, Kate thought.
Flapping footsteps...?
After a silent moment of horrified comprehension, she remembered which character had footsteps like that.
"Oh no," Kate gasped, grabbing Kira's hand.
Éowyn's eyes were wide and grim. "Stay quiet," she advised. "Lay back down. Pretend to sleep."
Kate and Kira clamped their eyes shut. Kate's heart jumped into her throat when she heard a voice above them, rasping in the dark...
This was like one of the nightmares she'd had after reading Riddles in the Dark...
"The thieves! The thieves...the filttthy little thieves! Wheeere isss she? Wheeere isss she? They stole her from usss, my Preciousssss."
There was the slow methodical sound of feet and fingers clinging and scraping along the rock as the thing climbed down from above, closer and closer. The hissing descended towards them in the dark, and Kate's chest tightened in fear.
The hissing seemed to be right above them now. "Curse them! We hates them! She'sss ourss, she is--"
Kate opened her eyelids just the tiniest bit and had to bite back a shriek when she saw the scrawny, rank-haired, sharp-toothed figure blocking out the stars. Its thin arm was outstretched towards Kira's face, the bony fingers wiggling in anticipation.
"--And we wantss her!"
"NOW!" Éowyn cried, and she was on her feet, reaching over Kate and grabbing the creature's arm. Gollum gave a startled shriek as she yanked him down, and then Gimli was up as well, and trying to help Éowyn pin the struggling creature. Kira sat up and cowered against the wall, and Kate jumped to her feet and stood in front of her friend. Merry and Pippin woke, and seeing Éowyn and Gimli trying to wrestle down the slimy lank-haired creature, quickly stood.
Pippin cried out in disgust. This was the first time he had ever seen the creature that had guided and betrayed his cousin, and it was obvious that Sam and Frodo's descriptions of him hadn't been exaggerated.
This was also the first time that Kate had ever gotten a good glimpse of Gollum. He looked like a living skeleton, thin, pale skin stretched tightly over his bones. His large eyes, suited for the darkness of subterranean caves, were bloodshot and wild, rolling around as he twisted in Éowyn and Gimli's grip. What little hair he had was lank and greasy, and dangled around his scrunched-in, bony face. His teeth were jagged and black or missing entirely. His voice was shrill as he screamed.
This horrid creature had haunted her nightmares ever since she had been a child, after she had watched him fall into the fire in the old animated Return of the King movie, and the sight of him revolted her utterly.
"Isn't he supposed to be your father, too?" Merry asked Kira disgustedly.
Kate saw her grimace. Then, suddenly, a booming voice echoing through her head caught her attention, and she saw Kira jump to attention to listen to it as well.
--...Long ago, Arintelerlemsilira's father had been swimming in the river and he had found Sauron's Ring glinting in the mud. He had taken it and become a horrible gollum and after years and years, he saw a beutiful maiden near the entrance of his cave. Her name was Princess Moogoogaipan (A/n: I wanted to give her a Asian-sounding name, LOL! Isn't it kawaii??? ^.^) He forgot all about the ring and threw it back in the river, and went off and married the princess and they had a daugher.........Arintelerlemsilira! (A/n: That's why she is half-gollum). Later on, Smeegol found the ring in the river and become a gollum too, and that's why Arintelerlesilira is perfect for him, because she is half-gollum and her mother loved a gollum. (A/n: I know it's kinda gross to have her lofe Gollum, but I think he's dead sexy, LOL! I know, I'm weird. ,,^_^,, )--
"Weird doesn't begin to describe it!" Kate yelped.
"Well, that'ss a relief...ssort of," Kira muttered, after the author's words had stopped resounding in their heads. "The Author jusst ssaid we're not related after all."
Kate snorted. "Moogoogaipan?"
Gollum shrieked loudly, making their heads whip up, and threw a wild elbow at Gimli's face. Blood spurted out of the Dwarf's nose and his head whipped back. Gollum took this opportunity to lean over and bite him on the shoulder.
"AAARGH!" Gimli cried out in pain, in the sort of voice that had serious undertones of "I am going to bury my axe in this creature!"
Gollum stopped biting Gimli and kicked him in the chest, knocking him into Merry; the two tumbled to the ground. He twisted around and grabbed Éowyn's long, golden hair, in his gnarled fingers, yanking it as hard as he could. She screamed in pain, and punched the creature in the face. He squirmed out of her arms and was dangling by her hair, pulling her backward onto the ground. She tried to climb to her feet, but he let go of her hair and kicked her into Gimli and Merry, who had had been untangling themselves and rising. The three fell to the ground in a heap, and to Kate's horror, she realized she was only thing standing between Gollum and Kira.
Gollum launched himself at her and she and Kira screamed, but before he reached them he was tackled in midair by Pippin, who grabbed him by his lank hair and started to hold his sword to the creature's neck. He was about to open his mouth to threaten the nasty thing when Gollum simultaneously punched him in the face, knocking him off the side, and kicked him in a very sensitive place.
Groaning, Pippin lay curled up on the ground, and Merry, who had finally managed to stand, saw his prostrate cousin and screamed in rage. He launched himself forward, brandishing his sword, but Gollum scrabbled around on the ground with his hand and hefted up a rock. He beaned Merry in the forehead with it, before he even got to him, knocking him unconscious.
Kate's eyes went wide, and she heard Kira give a horrified yelp behind her. Gollum turned, slavering, and launched himself at Kira, but fell on his face as Gimli reached out and grabbed his leg and dragged him backwards. He pinned the corrupted Stoor's arms to his side in a great bearhug and with a roar, lifted him clean off of the ground. Gollum twisted around and bit Gimli again, in the same spot he had bitten him before, and after a short scuffle, managed to fall back with his legs pinning Gimli's arms and his arm wrapped around his neck in a stranglehold.
Kate started unsheathing her sword and running forward, but Éowyn beat her to the punch; she unsheathed her short knife, grabbed Gollum by his lank hair, and held the blade to his throat.
"Let him go, you fiend," she commanded, her voice icy and threatening. "Or you will taste the steel of the Rohirrim..."
Gollum's face twisted in horror and then in utter misery and he let Gimli go. Éowyn backed away slowly, pulling out her sword, and pointed the blade at the creature's throat.
Sputtering and gasping, Gimli crawled away, and sat for a moment trying to catch his breath, blood streaming down his beard. Next to him, Merry was sitting up and groaning, blood trickling down from the wound on his head, and Pippin was trying to stand.
"Well," Pippin said, his voice more high-pitched than usual. He paused and frowned, then cleared his throat. It sounded more normal when he spoke again. "That was easy."
"Why does you hates us, preciouss?" Gollum moaned piteously. "Nasty cruel hobbitses, and dwarfses and ladies, all trying to hurt poor Sméagol for no reason at all. Gollum, gollum."
"You attacked our companion!" answered Pippin indignantly.
"Sméagol wasn't attacking. No no, Sméagol saw the poor dark-haired lady shivering in the cold. He was jusst pulling the blanket over her, yes." His huge eyes went all soft and sad. "And you hurtses us, just for being nice. Yes, yes, you hurtses poor Sméagol, when he is being good and helping the poor cold lady."
"There is no goodness in you," Éowyn said sternly. "You are a traitor—and we will not believe a word you say. I warned you creature, that you would find no mercy in me..."
"Sméagol is good, always," the creature said miserably, wringing his hands together, and dragging them in the dirt. He turned to face Kira and she stared at him with mingled pity and disgust. "Ask the lady..." he said slowly. "The dark one knows, yes preciouss, the dark one knows what it is like...doesn't she, preciouss..."
Kira stared at him in horror, and then turned her face away, towards the wall, her expression furtive and guilty.
Seeing this, and misreading it as Kira being afraid, Kate planted herself firmly in between her friend and Gollum, blocking her from his view, and crossed her arms. The Stoor's face twisted up in a scowl.
He turned back to Éowyn. "Poor Sméagol wasn't doing anything wrong. Why does you all hate us so, precious?"
"Because you're a filthy, lying sneak," Merry said matter-of-factly.
"No, Merry, that's not why," Pippin said, and Merry raised his eyebrows at him. "It's because he's a filthy, lying, traitorous sneak."
Merry turned back to Gollum. "Right. What he said."
Gollum scowled at the both of them and then stared at the ground, obviously knowing that there was to be no merciful person foolishly trusting him this time.
--(A/n: I got the idea for this next bit from "The Frog Prince." I've always loved that story).--
Kira jerked to attention. "What did the author jussst ssay?"
A yellow-green glow of malice in his eyes, Gollum picked up the rock he had surreptitiously clutched when he had been casting about on the ground with his hands and threw it at Éowyn. She ducked, but it gave him enough of an opening shove past Kate, jump onto Kira, and knock her to the ground.
Kira screamed and kicked and punched furiously at the horrid creature, but as Kate looked up, she saw Gollum leaning over her friend...
"AAAGH!" Kate screamed, and she grabbed him by the hair and threw him back towards the others, where he remained still. "Nobody molests my friend, you lousy creep!"
"I say I take my ax to him!" Gimli roared furiously.
Kate ran over to Kira and knelt by her side. Her eyes were so wide, Kate feared they would pop clean out of her head, and she was so green she would have been a good stand-in for Kermit the Frog.
"Ew!" Kira gasped, hyperventilating, waving her arms up and down like a prissy girl with mud on her hands. "Ew! Tassstesss like rotting fish! Ew!" She kept spitting, and gagged several times, and then fumbled for her water-bottle and started pouring so much water into her mouth that she started choking on it. She swished water in her mouth several times and then spit it out.
"I need a toothbrussh! I need mouthwassh! Hell, I need freaking bleach!" she cried, utterly miserable and nearly so disgusted that she was going to throw up. "I just got kisssed by Gollum! Gollum!"
"Hey, look at it this way, at least the author didn't write it according to the uncensored version of the Frog Prince," Kate said reassuringly, though she thought it was rather pointless to try consoling her friend after she had just been snogged by Gollum. There were some things that were inconsolable.
"What happenss in the other verssion?" Kira gasped, gagging again.
"It's more than a kiss, I'll tell you that."
"Oh, ew! EW! KATE!" Kira cried, almost on the verge of tears.
"Well, in another one, she throws the frog into a wall. Shame it wasn't that one," Kate said, patting Kira's arm consolingly.
"What do we do with him?" Merry asked, prodding the still Stoor with his foot, and not very gently either.
--And the magical kiss magically healed Gollum by magic and restored him to how he had been before he had found the ring...—
Kate blinked. "Oh. That's where the fairy tale comes in."
Gollum suddenly arched his back and writhed on the ground, shuddering convulsively. He opened his mouth and let out a horrible shriek of agony. To the amazement of all, as his limbs twitched and shook, they slowly started to change. Where their had only been bone under the skin, muscle and fat started to reform, and spread until he no longer looked like a skeleton with skin, but a solid creature that normally had six square meals a day. His bowed back straightened out with a crack, and the teeth that were still in his mouth straightened and turned white again, as more teeth sprang up in the gaps where they had once existed. On his torso, a splotch of normal flesh-color appeared among the sickly gray, and spread over the rest of his body in a wave. His hair thickened and more sprouted out of his head like weeds and grew long, curling atop his head and falling down the sides of his face as he shuddered in agony on the ground. Fuzz sprouted on his feet.
The last thing to change was his horrible screeching, which was shrill at first, and then lowered in tone until he no longer sounded like some fell creature, but rather a young man in the utmost agony.
At last, the change was finished, and he flopped one last time and went still, his body coated in sweat and shivering.
"My God..." Kira muttered.
"Merry...he looks..." Pippin started nervously, staring wide-eyed. "...he almost looks like a hobbit. Except that he's a bit taller. And more mannish."
"He's a Stoor, Pip. You know that."
"Yes, well, it's just...odd," Pippin said, clearly unnerved by the sight. He looked like he was going to say more, but he stopped, not adding what was on his mind:
He looks like us.
Suddenly, the Stoor's eyes flickered open, and the group simultaneously drew their weapons and trained them on him. Kate pushed Kira behind herself.
He lifted his head and stared up at Kira with glassy eyes for a moment, obviously in a Suvian trance.
But Gollum was a creature that had lived for five hundred years in possession of the Ring, when most other beings would have succumbed to it long before he had. Though he had been ensnared by it, he had still had a will strong enough to resist being turned into a wraith, even after possessing Sauron's ruling ring for that long. Like a light shining through a chink in the darkness was how Gandalf had described it once to Frodo. There had always been a bit of Sméagol left in the vicious creature Gollum even if Gollum was far stronger.
So, it was no surprise when, seconds later, his eyes cleared and his will snapped into place almost audibly.
What was a surprise was how he stared at Kira for a moment longer with sharp brown eyes, sighed miserably, and gasped, "Wonderful. Now I've got one. Haven't I suffered enough?"
Then his head fell back and he lay still.