~Chapter Twelve~

The Mighty Ents Of Fangorn

The branches scraped at their flesh as they storm through the dark, uninviting forest. Stumbling over roots and rocks, the hobbits sprint after the Elf close behind. Branches crunch and crack under their feet. Their gasping breaths resounded, breaking the silence and stillness of the forest around them. Gwiliweth lead the hobbits deep into the forest to lose the pursuing Orc. Gwiliweth and the huffing two Half-lings reached auspicious gap between trees. The she-elf stopped running, to let the hobbits rest. She would have slayed the Orc by now if her daggers had not been pilfered. The hobbits collapsed to the ground, fighting for their breath. "Did we lose him?" Pippin asked shakily, his eyes scan the forest around him. "I think we lost him." 

Suddenly the Orc appears from behind the trees, waving his sword. "I'm gonna rip out your filthy little innards! Come here!"

The three scamper away behind a tree. "Trees! Climb a tree!" Gwiliweth, Pippin, and Merry clambered up a tree each. As they reached a reasonable height up the tree. Merry looks around and then sighed in relief, "He's gone."

Instantly, Merry is pulled by his legs and falls to the ground. The Orc leans over him with his menacing blade. Merry tried to kick him off.

"Merry!" Gwiliweth and Pippin simultaneously scream. They both stare down in horror. Pippin turns his head towards the Elf in the tree beside him.  

Yellow gleaming eyes blink in the tree he's clinging to. The tree starts to move and groan an quaking thunder. Pippin and Gwiliweth lost their grip in terror and ineffectively grabbing at the air as they fell. The tree catches the two before they hit the ground.

"Let's put a maggot-hole in your belly." The Orc sneered down to a terrified Merry. The Orc sensed something behind him and as he looks up, the tree stomps and squashes him onto the forest floor. 

 "Run, Merry!" Pippin hollered down to the hobbit. Merry tries to run away but is scooped by the tree.

The giant tree's yellow eyes scans each figures in his hands, "Little Orcs! Burarum!" The eyes studied the she-elf a few seconds longer than the hobbits as if contemplating why an Elf was with two little Orcs. 

Pippin stared up at the tree, horrified. "It's talking, Merry... The tree is talking!" the petrified hobbit whispered over to his friend. 

"Tree?! I am no tree. I am an Ent." The tree responded with a mighty scoff, as the tree slowly stumps through the forest.

"A tree-herder! A shepherd of the forest!" Merry  exclaimed in realization.

"Don't talk to it, Merry. Dont's encourage it." Pippin hissed over to the hobbits beside him. 

"Treebeard, some call me." the tree responded, ignoring the tiny hobbits's comment. 

 Pippin suspiciously eyes the Ent, "And whose side are you on?"

Treebeard's eyes glanced down to his hands to the hobbits. "Side? I am on nobody's side because nobody's on my side, little Orc. Nobody cares for the woods anymore." 

"We're not Orcs. We're Hobbits!" Merry vocalized. 

"Hobbits?" Treebeard echoed, "Never heard of a hobbit before. Sounds like Orc mischief to me!" His barky hands tightens his clenching grip on the hobbits and Gwiliweth. The three whimper in pain. "They come with fire, they come with axes! Gnawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning! Destoryers and usurpers, curse them!" the tree roared through out the forest. The ground shook at as his octaves grew louder and louder. 

"No, you don't understand. We're Hobbits... " Merry pleaded, "Halflings! Shirefolk!" the hobbit yelled out other names of their kind. 

"Maybe you are and maybe you aren't." Treebeard reasoned with a loud rumble. "The White Wizard will know." 

"The White Wizard?" Pippin echoed in fear. 

"Saruman." Gwiliweth and Merry whisper in shock.

Treebeard drops them to the ground. With a thud onto their stomachs their eyes gaze up at the White Wizard silent in terror. 

Gwiliweth's eyes widen stunned at the sight before her eyes, "Gandalf?" she murmured. Her hand clasped over her gaped mouth. "It can not be. You... you fell..." 

A warm smile stretched across his face and dipped his head to the she-elf. The red head stumbled to her feet as she stared at the man before her. The hobbits follow in pursuit staring up at Gandalf. The wizard reached behind him than pulled out a bundle of cloth wrapping an item inside. "Lady Gwiliweth, I believe you have misplaced this." 

The she-elf hesitantly obtained the bundle as her silver eyes locked with the wizard's blue orbs, tentatively. Gandalf smiled more and nodded to the she-elf. Slowly, her fingers unravel the smooth cloth around the hidden object.

At the last fold, her silver eyes widened at the sight. "My daggers?!" Her teary eyes quickly snapped up to the wizard. "How?"

His blue eyes sparkled with joy as he silently bowed his head to her. Gwiliweth knew the answer and a grin materialized, as she inclined her head. Gandalf now a White Wizard taking shape of what Saruman should have been.  A brilliant wizard with ultimate powers. Even powers to retrieve her prized ten daggers now in her possession. 

The wizard's kind blue eyes peered up to the Ent, "Keep them safe, old friend."

Treebeard bowed his giant canopy of a head to the wizard, respectfully. 

Her silver eyes flicker to the Ent back to the wizard, "What? No! I'm going with you. I have to do this, Gandalf. I have to help."

The White Wizard gazed over to the enraged she-elf, "It is not your time, my Lady. Your time will come. Patience is a virtue." Calmly Gandalf approached Gwiliweth, "Stay with the hobbits, Gwiliweth." he added appeased.

Her heart shuttered, Boromir had said the same before she was captured by Uruk-hai. Her grieving eyes lowered to the forest floor, avoiding any gazes. A nod was all was she gave the wizard in response. 

Gwiliweth silently pivoted around to the Ent and climbed aboard his hand resting on the ground waiting for the hobbits and the Elf.

~~~~~

Sitting on Treebeard's rough, rigid bark of a shoulder beside Merry, the Ent carries the three away through the forest away from the White Wizard. "My home lies deep in the forest near the roots of the mountain. I told Gandalf I would keep you safe and safe is where I'll keep you. The trees have grown wild and dangerous. Anger festers in their hearts. They will harm you if they can. There are too few of us now. Too few of us Ents left to manage them."

Gwiliweth bobbed her head at the tree's solemn speech, "Is that what happened to Old Forest, Treebeard?"

The yellow eyes of the Ent found it's way to the humorless expression of the she-elf. "Hmmm..." the tree hummed in thought of the red-head's question. "No Ents tend those woods. The Huron trees in the Old Forest among slowly turned into Ents as Ents slowly turn into trees still possessing a conscience. Fangorn would transfigure to this fateful doom if the remaining Ents lessen more."

Pippin gazes around and his eye catches a curious sight, "Look! There's smoke to the south!" 

"There is always smoke rising from Isengard these days." Treebeard responded as his voice roared, startling birds from the treetops. 

Merry tilted his head, "Isengard?" 

The two hobbits climb higher up onto Treebeard for a better view, "There was a time when Saruman would walk in my woods." the tree reminiscent, "But now he has a mind of metal and wheel. He no longer cares for growing things."

Gwiliweth glances up to the two hobbits finally reaching the top of Treebeard. Both gaped in shock and horror at the sight of a massive army moving across the land. "What is it?" Pippin gasped, peering over to Merry than back to the distant army. 

"It's Saruman's army!" Merry answered his eyes wide as he turned his attention to Pippin, "The war has started." 

Gwiliweth immediately sprung up beside the hobbits effortlessly, to feast her eyes. Her mouth quivered as her line of vision saw a slow moving mass marching across the land below like an army of black ants. "That certainly is no welcoming party." the redhead murmured quietly. 

~~~~~

Darkness fell in the Fangorn Forest. Treebeard continued to walk through the forest carrying quiet two hobbits and one Elf. The Ent comes to a stop at a clearing in the forest, "We Ents have not troubled the wars of men and wizards for a very long time. But now something is about to happen that has not happened for an age... Ent Moot."

"What's that?" Merry asked curiously. 

"Tis a gathering." Treebeard responded.

"A gathering of what?" the hobbit muttered to himself.

The three companions turn around as they hear movement from the forest around them. Many Ents like Treebeard, gathering. "Beech, oak, chestnut, ash... Good, good, good. Many have come. Now we must decide if the Ents will go to war."

Merry licked his lips in anticipation, obviously licking this idea. Gwiliweth slipped off the shoulder of Treebeard onto her feet. The hobbits soon follow after the she-elf, walking to a stone crop away from the meeting.

Gwiliweth sat quietly on the ground permitting the hobbits to sit on the rock. They sat quietly overlooking the 'Ent Moot'. Merry and Pippin casually had conversations to pass the time, but Gwiliweth stayed silent, never moving her silver eyes from the Ents. Merry glanced up at the red head worried, "Are you alright, my Lady?"

Her silver eyes slightly twitch from her name being called, but never budged. "Fine." she muttered. Pippin and Merry share a fixed look of non-belief. 

Pippin sadly casts his eyes on the emotionless red head, "You were close to Boromir weren't you?"

Her silver eyes flickered over to the hobbit, shocked. Ping! That was the naive hobbit hitting right on the nail. Gwiliweth gradually bobbed her head heart brokenly, her eyes downcast to the forest floor. "If you had not noticed I had been infatuated with Aragorn since Bree. Over time I realized he loved the Elven maiden, there was no chance for me." Gwiliweth uttered softly to the hobbits beside her.

Her eyes lit up and so did her smile, "Boromir. He had been so kind to me. Of course I hated him back in Rivendell, though in Moria it all changed. I found a light in him. I thought I saw my future standing right beside me. I had hoped I could have what Medlinya has with Legolas. For those two, it was simple like love at first sight. It clicked." Gwiliweth met the glances of the teary-eyed stares. "Boromir..." she whispered gently. "A great man. Honorable man he was."

Merry inclined his head softly. His eyes lit up slightly as he remembered something, "My Lady... back in Rivendell, there was a conversation I... uh... overheard that may comfort you."

Watery silver eyes met blue eyes, "What is it?"

"I was walking near Elrond's chamber. It was dark and I was wandering around for ale. Than Legolas and Aragorn enter the room to Elrond, not shutting the door behind them. Thus not a very secret conversation, but the door was open. Easy eavesdropping." Merry shrugged causing small grins to form on Pippin and Gwiliweth's face. "Anyway, they began talking about this... 'Faenod' ... It happened between Legolas and Lady Medlinya apparently. The only sentence I remember from that conversation is that the 'Faenod only happens once'... and the words 'eye contact'."

Gwiliweth's expression contort in confusion, "Faenod?... Spirit bond...?" Her eye flicker back and forth shifting through every file in her memory, "Faenod!" she exclaimed, bounded up to her feet. "No wonder! OH! Everything makes sense now!" she cried out.

The hobbits were taken back by her sudden loudness, "What does?" Pippin questioned.

Gwiliweth sat down inbetween the two hobbits and happily explained the process of Faenod. The red head clarified how Legolas and Medlinya had been so close when they first met and the reason why her love interests move from Aragorn to Boromir so fast. They were not meant for her. The Ent Moot was still in progress as the hobbits and Elf converse. The colossal Ents sway a little as they continue to deliberate. After Gwiliweth talked about her feelings and her revelation, the three sat in a peaceful silence. Suddenly, Treebeard nods his massive head and turns to the hobbits and Gwiliweth.

"Merry." Pippin whispered, nudging the hobbit.

"We have just agreed." Treebeard spoke, as his yellow eye close shut.

A long pause occurs, "Yes?" Merry urged as his head tilt in interest.

The Ent blinks his eyes open, "I have told your names to the Ent Moot and we have agreed - you are not Orcs." 

Pippin nodded slowly, "Well, that's good news."

Merry had other thing on his mind, "And what about Saruman?" the hobbit inquired impatiently, "Have you come to a decision about HIM?"

Treebeard waved his giant bark hand, "Now don'be hasty, Master Meriadoc."

The hobbit stiffened, "Hasty?" Merry spat angrily. "Our friends are out there! They need our help! They cannot fight this war on their own." 

Treebeard leaned back soaking in the angry hobbit's arguments, "War, yes... It affects us all. But you must understand, young hobbit. It takes a loooong time to say anything in oooold... Entish." Gwiliweth watched the two hobbits roll their eyes in irritation. "And we never say anything... unless it is worth taking a looong... time to say." 

Gwiliweth glanced back to Treebeard calmly, "The Ents cannot hold back this storm. We must weather such things as we have always done." 

Merry thundered over to the Ent, "How can that be your decision?!"

"This is not our war." Treebeard answered.

"But you're apart of this world! Arn't you?!" Merry countered. The Ents glance at one another, taken back by the hobbit. "You must help, please! You must do something!" 

"You are young and brave, Master Merry. But your part in this tale is over. Go back to your home." Treebeard replied.

Gwiliweth peered over to a defeated Merry. Quietly, the hobbit puts on his jacket as Pippin approaches him quietly. "Maybe Treebeard's right. We don't belong here, Merry. It's too big for us. What can we do in the end? We've got the Shire. Maybe we should go home." 

Merry gazed off in the distance, avoiding any eye contact. "The fires of Isengard will spread. And the woods of Tuckborough and Buckland will burn. And all that was once green and good in this world will be gone." Determined, the hobbit turned to Pippin and set a hand on Pippin's shoulder. "There won't be a Shire, Pippin."

Gwiliweth and Pippin watch helplessly after Merry as he walks away. 

~~~~~

The three companions find themselves back on the shoulder of Treebeard. Gwiliweth glanced to the dejected hobbits. "I will leave you at the western borders of the forest. You can make your way north to your homeland from there."

Pippin suddenly looks up with a gleam of light in his eyes, "Wait! Stop! Stop!" Treebeard comes to a halt, "Turn around. Turn around. Take us south!"

"South?" Treebeard pondered, "But... that will lead you past Isengard." the Ent responded in astonishment. 

"Yes. Exactly." Pippin asserted, "If we go south we can slip past Saruman unnoticed. The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm. It's the last thing he'll expect."

Treebeard hummed thunderously, "That doesn't make sense to me. But then, you are very small. Perhaps you're right. South it is them. Hold on, little Shirelings. I always liked going south. Somehow it feels like going down hill."

The Ent swiveled around south-bound, Merry leaned closer to the hobbit beside him. "Are you mad? We'll be caught!"

"No we won't. Not this time." Pippin responded with a grin.

Treebeard carried the three friends to the southern edge of the forest carrying on his stories. "And a little family of field mice that climb up sometimes and they tickle me awfully. They're always trying to get somewhere where they - Oh!" In front of the Ent lay a desolated landscape of tree stumps that used to be forested grounds. "Many of these trees were my friends. Creatures I had known from nut and acorn." the tree mumbled mournfully.

Pippin set a hand against the course bark of the Ent's neck, "I'm sorry, Treebeard."

The Ent's were wet with tears threatening to fall, "They had voices of their own." His gaze turns to the treeless Isengard and it's smoking caverns. "Saruman!" the Ent snarled, "A wizard should know better!"

Mustering in a breath, the Ent lets out a ferocious roar that echoes throughout the forest of Fangorn. When his howl ended, Treebeard shook his head angrily. "There is no curse in Elvish, Entish or the tongues of Men for this treachery. My business is with Isengard tonight. With rock and stone!"

The three turn towards the forest as rumbles quake the Earth come from Fangorn. Many Ents emerge, marching towards Treebeard. Merry grins at this sight, "Yes!"

"Hooraroom... Come my friends. The Ents are going to war. It is likely that we go to our doom. Last march of the Ents!"

As the Ents stomp over to Isengard there was chaos. Swinging their huge limbs swiping away pesky Orcs as if they are just little bugs. Many Ent threw Uruks using them as rock and others trampled over the tiny enemy. Many used the remains of the Wall of Isengard and rolled huge boulders over the ground. An Ent is pulled down with chains by some Orcs, who immediately jump on and hacks away at his wooden limbs. Saruman rushes out onto the balcony of Orthanc and stares at the chaos skeptical. Gwiliweth, Merry, and Pippin throw stones at Orcs, their aim is perfect, "Yes!"

"A hit. A fine hit!" Treebeard boomed with a deep chuckle. 

Two Ents rock a wooden structure and push it over into the cavern below, smashing against the rock instantly crumbling into pieces. To fight back the enemy shot fire flamed-tipped arrows at an Ent, setting him on fire. Saruman continues to watch from his balcony helplessly. "Break the dam! Release the river!" Treebeard bellowed up to the Ents a good mile away ripping out the support beams to the dam. With a tumultuous roar, the dam holding the mighty Angren river is broken. A mighty roar quaked the ground as the rushing river crashed down the slope towards Isengard, washing away Orcs and wooden structures in its path.

"Pippin, hold on!" Merry yelled. The hobbits tighten their hold on top of Treebeard.

"Hold on, little hobbits!" The Ent rumbled. Treebeard braces himself against the flood. As the water rushes over Isengard, the flaming Ent rushes in and thrusts his burning body into the water. The river rushes into the caverns, washing away the bridges, mechanisms, and structures within. The work Saruman had put in for a army worthy for Mordor... was destroyed.  

Gwiliweth smiled at the work they had done. Finally they were doing something for the future of Middle Earth. Her stomach rumbled loudly, churning like a clench fist holding nothing in its grasp. Her silver eyes scanned the land around her, a grin appeared on her face as her eyes laid on the tower. 

~~~~~

Resting on the smashed wall of the remains of the Isengard's wall the two hobbits sat as Gwiliweth sauntered over carried a basket. "Look what I found!" the red head replied in a sing-songy voice. 

A few minutes later, a feast of breads, meats, and wine laid out in front of the three friends. As the two hobbits spoke on their pipes, Gwiliweth sips on a few glasses a wine. They chat about the Ents, the war for Middle Earth, Frodo and Sam, and so much more. That was when Gwiliweth's silver eyes spotted the company of Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Medlinya, Gimli, and unfamilar faces to Isengard.

Gwiliweth had changed into a new woman during her jounrey away from Medlinya. A woman now no longer settling in with the 'best' man is now looking for the RIGHT man. Her Faenod... Though she will not think search for him... Medlinya had no clue what had been in store for her. So Gwiliweth will wait for hers...

(End of Chapter Twelve)

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:   Woot! Gwiliweth's flashback is done... Now back to regular time!! XD