Chapter By: Merry and Pippin

The six companions walked and walked for a long time. It was a little after mid- day and the sun was shining very brightly, but was still a little chilly. Everybody's bellies were full from the special breakfast, so they skipped lunch.

Pippin: Don't believe that I wasn't hungry. I wished we could have had lunch that day. Also I remember really missing afternoon tea. It's nice to be home now and drink that again.

Eventually the companions stepped out from the forest and into a large open area filled with rocky hills. The ground was all sharp boulders and rocks. No grass or rivers anywhere only grey all around them. Out in the distance in the sky was a large mass of black coming their way. Legolas stood on a high rock and peered out into the grey rocky area. He listened and watched.

"We need to hide now! They are Kamuto's. Hundreds of them and running behind them all is a small heard of Isengard orcs!" Legolas said as he stepped down from the rock he was on.

"Urkai- Hai. But why wasn't there a scout that came first?" Aragorn whispered to himself. He scanned the area and his eyes locked on a small dark cave.

"Everybody quick! Into the cave," Aragorn said quickly.

"We can take them! Let's fight!" Gimli growled and raised his axe.

"No, these are Kamuto's. Their stingers are deadly," Aragorn argued as he started pushing everybody into the cave quickly.

Merry and Pippin looked at each other in horror at the word, "stinger," They hoped that the Kamuto creature wasn't the same creature that Pippin had seen in the tree. But that could have been the scout that Aragorn had just spoken of! They both realized at the same time. Their eyes where wide with concern and fear. But what else could it be? They thought.

Now that everybody was safely in the cave, they hid behind some rocks in the corner. They were all on their hands and knees crouching down watching the entrance to the cave intently, but silently. All of a sudden two Kamuto's landed inside of the cave.

They had three eyes and a circle shaped mouth with puffy red lips. They both had two small purple horns and two small bird like feet and legs. It had feathers like a bird too and they where pitch black.

Pippin gasped and quickly put his hand to his mouth so he wouldn't make any further noises that would give everyone away. Even from a distance Pippin could tell it was the same creature from the tree experience. That one had been the scout as Aragorn had thought there should be. And there was. The one from the tree. That creature had tried to sting Pippin... tried to kill him.

Pippin: I still can't believe it was the same creature!

Everybody stayed absolutely still and silent as yet another Kamuto creature landed at the entrance to the cave. All of their stingers where concealed inside their black feathers, but everybody except Boromir and Gimli knew that if you got to close, the stingers would pop out and sting you until your death.

The Kamuto's where inching closer and closer to their hiding spot and Aragorn signaled Legolas to get his bow out. He did so quietly and took out an arrow too. He waited for the right moment for two of the Kamuto's to be in line with each other and then fired the arrow. It soared through the air and stuck through both of the Kamuto's. The third Kamuto hopped over to the two dead Kamuto's. It lowered its short purple horns onto the dead creatures.

The most unexpected thing happened. The Kamuto's that had been shot were now coming back to life. Everybody's mouths dropped open and they all stared wide eyed at the scene. All the blood that had come out of the creature was now floating back into their bodies, the arrow disappeared into thin air, and their black bird like feathers returned to the way they had been before.

All three Kamuto's looked around with their three eyes. A fourth and a fifth Kamuto flew into the cave now and looked around. The companions all held their breath as the creatures got closer and closer to their hiding place. Clearly nobody had expected them to come back alive.

From above, everybody could hear the Urkai- Hai orcs passing by overhead. The ground was rumbling and small pebbles fell from the rock ceiling. Then what made everybody jump was an orc that appeared at the entrance of the cave. It was tall, had a white hand painted on its face, and was sniffing the air attentively.

Merry: And it was ugly, just like the rest of those filthy creatures! Yuck! I can't stand looking at them.

Everyone knew they couldn't hide any longer and Aragorn jumped up and yelled,

"Attack!"

A/N: I'm thinking about 5 more chapters