Frodo and Sam had been watching the whole thing unfold in front of their very eyes. They had seen Merry collapse and Frodo was sure he was dead and then they had seen Pippin thrashing around and getting thrown to the ground, only to be picked up again by a different orc.

"We have to follow them Sam," Frodo said as a couple tears fell from his face. He still felt like a bad cousin... and friend.

They were currently crouched down in the tall grass. If an orc where to be standing, the grass would go up to their knees. So as the Hobbits crouched down, it covered their whole bodies except for their heads popping out.

"Agreed, but we have to keep our distance," Sam replied. He looked also very sad and not himself.

They watched the orcs pick up both Hobbits and start running away again. They had heard the leader yell something, but they were not certain of what he said. They were too far away. Once the orc pack was only dots in the distance, they followed. There was no way the orcs could spot them.

"We will have to keep up with them," Frodo said, "I don't want to lose them,"

"I beg your pardon Mister Frodo, but I don't think we will," Sam pointed to the ground. Where the orcs had run, the grass was all trampled and more flat.

"Your right Sam," Frodo whispered even though he didn't have to, "They have left us a trail. And we will follow it,"

-----

Aragorn and Gimli had climbed successfully out of the troll trap at exactly dusk. There were many stars out and a waxing gibbous moon. In a few nights, it would turn into a beautiful and bright full moon. Other than the stars and the moon, it was darkness that filled the forest for Aragorn and Gimli.

At the moment, Aragorn longed for daylight, so they could find Legolas easier. But then again, Aragorn thought, Legolas is probably dead. But how and where did it happen? Aragorn also loved the darkness in a way too, so he could sneak past the eyes of any evil creatures lurking through the night.

Instead of going east to Mordor, they began going the opposite way, west, in search for Isengard and the Hobbits. On their way through the forest, they saw no sign of Legolas, Boromir, the Hobbits, or any enemy. Finally, Aragorn and Gimli reached a large grass field that stretched out for many miles.

"It looks like this is our new path. This is territory of Rohan and the Horse Lords," said Aragorn.

Gimli nodded and said,

"What about the elf?" he was clearly upset about his disappearance, but wasn't willing to show it.

"We must continue with our grieve behind,"

It was quiet after that and the two companions started running across the dark grass field. As they ran, Aragorn thought about Gandalf's fall, Boromir's betrayal, and Legolas' disappearance. There were only six members of the Fellowship left, and that number would keep decreasing until they made it to Frodo and the Ring.

-----

A long while later, Aragorn and Gimli were still running. They had been running through the night and it was now turning morning. The sun shone through the far off mountains. Aragorn and Gimli were taking a quick break when Aragorn noticed something in the grass up ahead. He got up and approached it cautiously. Once he was close enough, he realized that it was a body. He got even closer and crouched down next to it. It was an orc.

"Gimli!" Aragorn shouted.

Gimli came to his side quickly and looked down to the dead orc body,

"Whoa," he stammered.

Aragorn carefully lifted the orcs hand off of his stomach and figured out how the orc had died. It had been stabbed. From another orc too because the hole threw the body was too large to be a Hobbit sword. There was black blood all over the front of the orcs body and even some on the ground beneath him.

Aragorn looked up from the dead body and something else caught his eye. A couple feet away he found more blood, but it wasn't black like an orcs. It was red like a human.

"A Hobbit lay here," Aragorn said and padded the ground, "and here," he touched the flattened grass next to the other spot.

He looked around, but saw nothing else.

"We are on their path," Aragorn said and stood up, "We can't be too far behind. They are a little more than a day ahead of us. We can't stop now,"

Aragorn started running again and Gimli followed. They kept running on the only hope they had in finding the Hobbits.

-----

"Mister Frodo," Sam said, "Frodo we need to take a break," Sam said panting. They had attempted running throughout the day and they were exhausted by their efforts.

"Alright, Sam,"

The hobbits sat down in the grass. The orcs had only taken away the Hobbits swords, so Sam still had his backpack on his back. But it was impossible to get off since their hands were still bond. Sam turned around and had Frodo seek out their water canteens. They took a few sips and then Frodo put them back into Sam's backpack.

Frodo brought out some Lembas bread and gave a piece to Sam. As he was about to turn away from the backpack, but something caught his eye.

"What's this?" Frodo asked. He held up a small square box that was filled with salt it appeared.

Sam turned back around and looked at the tiny box Frodo was holding.

"Nothing. Just a bit of seasoning. I thought maybe if we was having a roast chicken one night or something," Sam said innocently.

"Roast chicken?!" Frodo said surprised.

"You never know,"

"Sam. My dear Sam," Frodo smiled.

"It's very special, that. It's the best salt in all the Shire," Sam explained.

"It is special," Frodo said and closed the box, "It's a little bit of home,"

They both smiled and Frodo put the tiny box of seasoning back inside Sam's backpack where he had found it. They went silent as they ate their Lembas bread. It was unusually quiet and it felt strange. No birds were singing, insects chirping, or the wind blowing the tall grass from side to side.

The hairs on the back of Frodo's neck stood up like he was being watched. Once Frodo was done chomping on the bread, he got up and looked around uneasily. As he looked around he noticed one spot on the grass that was moving and a dark spot moving it and he knew who it was.

"Sam, we must be going now," Frodo said suddenly.

"I think we are better off resting a while longer," Sam said and took his last bit of his bread.

"No, Sam," Frodo argued, "We aren't alone,"

Sam then understood what Frodo was talking about once he stood up and saw what Frodo was looking at. Frodo's hands went uncontrollably up to the Ring that was still around his neck. They quickly got moving and kept throwing uneasy glances over their shoulders every so often. Especially Sam.

It was about mid day and the sun was shining brightly down on the Hobbits. Frodo wondered if the orcs had made it to Isengard yet and if they were too late. His thoughts shattered away when he felt the ground start to rumble. Frodo and Sam looked to each other and then behind them.

"Oh no," Frodo whispered.

There were about twenty to thirty riders on horses coming their way. Quick and gaining on them.

A/N: Who/ what is it?! lots of information in this chapter. Thanks for reading! if you have any questions, feel free to ask!