AVALANCHE

Chapter 12 --- Seeing Stars

The storm raged for seven hours, during which the temperature plummeted even further as the icy wind blew relentlessly. Everyone took turns holding Gandalf's staff, which burned with a steady, powerful radiance without which Aragorn feared the hobbits, at least, might have come close to freezing to death.

The companions huddled together and talked, sharing food and stories and tales of their homes. In between meals, Pippin couldn't keep still. Time and again he got up, paced about for a while, and sat down, only to get restlessly to his feet again a short while later. Something was apparently stirring powerfully inside him, but no one knew quite what it was. Merry kept hoping that at any moment Pippin might burst into song, or feel the need of a proud retelling of the genealogy of the Tooks, but his cousin had remained silent.

Frodo lay in a deep sleep, at all times with one, and sometimes two people at his side holding him close and making sure he stayed as warm as possible. It was currently Pippin's turn, and he had burrowed so deeply into Frodo's blankets that he had finally fallen fast asleep in the warm darkness.

Gimli had awoken abruptly after several hours. When Boromir simply handed him a mug of warm soup and some bread, and continued talking with Sam about Gondorian customs and traditions, the Dwarf was well pleased with himself that no one had seemed to notice that he had fallen asleep. He assumed they had all been too concerned about the weather, and for the well-being of Master Baggins who, he observed, had been all but disappeared under blankets, a lump he identified (by process of elimination) as Peregrin, and what appeared to be Boromir's cloak.

Merry sat staring at his blanket-covered cousins, deep in thought. After awhile his gaze wandered to where Sam was trying to brush some of the ice off Bill's coat. If Sam had been bold enough to confront Gandalf, maybe it was time to...

"Merry, are you all right?" Merry was startled to hear Boromir's voice break through his thoughts. Merry looked up at the Man, his face showing the anguish he had been holding back.

"Nothing's working, Boromir," said Merry quietly, motioning to where Pippin lay. "We've all been kind and gentle and quiet with him, and he still won't talk to us. What do we do?" He leaned forward, now looking at Aragorn almost desperately. "What happens when we have to leave here and he won't go near the edge? Are you going to drug him and drag him up the mountain? Or is it down?"

Aragorn exchanged a glance with Gandalf which told Merry that they had been considering exactly that.

"No," Merry whispered urgently. "No. We have to think of something."

"We will, Merry," said Aragorn, "we will. But I cannot help thinking that something will happen soon to bring him all the way back to us." He chuckled softly. "That hobbit simply cannot stay silent for too much longer. It seems contrary to nature."

"Listen," said Legolas abruptly.

Aragorn was instantly alert. "Another avalanche?"

"It's the wind," said the Elf, listening intently. "It's dropping."

Everyone looked up, and around. The snow was starting to lessen, and the wind was definitely easing up. Five minutes, ten, and the swirling snow finally stopped falling. Merry and Sam breathed audible sighs of relief.

Gandalf gave his staff to Boromir to hold, and he and Aragorn walked away from the group and out to the rim of the ledge, now drifted with snow. In the fading light of early evening, they surveyed what they could see of the snow-covered landscape around and below them.

"We may even get some stars tonight," said Aragorn after a long silence, gazing up at the rapidly-clearing sky. He looked back at Gandalf. "If the storm had continued into the night, Gandalf, what could we have done? I do not know if Frodo, or indeed any of the hobbits, could survive such a freezing wind without fire or warmth, but with a light so intense..."

The wizard shook his head. "I do not know, my friend, although it was not simply the light I felt might reveal us. The wielding of Power can be felt on many levels. I suspect this dilemma will follow us throughout our journey. When a choice of safeguarding the Ring and its Bearer may cause us to reveal ourselves to unfriendly eyes..." He sighed. "I truly do not know."

"Tomorrow we must see how difficult the trail will be," said Aragorn grimly. "Hopefully the snow has not drifted too deep. We cannot continue to the top of the pass, Gandalf, we must retreat. But when we do..." Aragorn shook his head. There was now only one other path left to take, and they both knew it.

The evening was cold, but it was such a relief to have calm air and clear skies that even after Gandalf extinguished his staff the Company seemed to feel the warmth linger. Before the water in the basins and bottles grew cold again, Aragorn roused Frodo gently and urged him to drink once more. Frodo didn't fully awaken, but he drank enough to satisfy Aragorn before sliding back into sleep. Aragorn sat next to him for awhile, thinking, and Boromir came to join him. Pippin was still sound asleep somewhere in the mound of blankets.

"You will need your cloak tonight, Boromir." Aragorn started to pull the cloak away from where it lay, enmeshed with the blankets. "It's going to be very cold."

Boromir put out his hand and stopped Aragorn from pulling the cloak away from the hobbits. "In that case," he said quietly, "it will best serve where it is." The Man chuckled. "Perhaps I will stay close to it by sleeping here and helping keep Frodo warm."

Aragorn smiled. "I will do that also. Legolas and Sam have claimed the honor as well, so perhaps you and I can take the first watch while they rest here and they can take the second."

"Watch against what? What could be abroad after such a storm?"

"We must remain vigilant," said Aragorn. "We are the Ring-bearer's only defense." He reached down and touched Frodo's face.

"That is the third time you have checked on him this hour," Boromir said. "What do you fear?"

"One more day of rest for him is not enough time, but it is all we dare take. Perhaps we should not take even that much time." Aragorn closed his eyes wearily and leaned back against the cold stone wall. "This fever would surely be gone had he not been so weakened by the cold," he said grimly. He opened his eyes and looked off into the distance. "We should never have come this way, Boromir. My choice has proven ill."

Boromir was startled to hear such an admission. He had always believed that leaders should conceal from others all doubt and fear. This so-called Heir of Isildur was not as he expected him to be.

"He seems a frail one," said Boromir, looking down at Frodo's pale face.

Aragorn's thoughts flew back to how steadfastly Frodo had resisted the Shadows before he had been healed. How long, and how valiantly he had... His eyes met Boromir's. "He is not."

*~*~*~*~*

Frodo awoke to soft singing, and he opened his eyes to a sky full of stars. Clear, glittering stars. Although relieved that things weren't blurred anymore, he felt confused and disoriented. Stars... hadn't it just been morning? Carefully looking around, he saw no trace of the strange images he remembered. They had not been real, then. Pippin with the staff...

"Pippin," he murmured.

"He's asleep close by, Mr. Frodo," said a soft, familiar voice. "Everyone's all right."

Sam was sitting to his right, smiling down at him. "H'lo." Frodo sighed. "Oh Sam, it can't be night. Did I really sleep all day?"

"Strider said you'd most likely sleep a lot today. Are you feeling better?"

"A little better, I think, just... just terribly dizzy. My head still... still feels..." Frodo brought his right hand up and pressed it to his head. He looked down. "There's... there must be a dozen blankets on top of me."

Sam grinned. "Not that many. But don't be startled, sir, if you wake up in the middle of the night and find folks sleeping here with you. Strider said whoever let you get chilled would spend the next week walking behind Bill."

"Oh Sam," Frodo smiled back at his friend. "That's silly."

Sam chuckled quietly. "Maybe so, but no one wants to be the one to go testing him on it."

Legolas walked over with a water bottle and sat down, smiling at them. "Time for more water, Frodo," he said, and supported the hobbit as he drank.

"Thank you." Frodo looked up at the Elf. "How odd, I keep dreaming about you."

Sam and Legolas exchanged an amused look; neither wanted to be the one to tell Frodo that his second "dream" hadn't been a dream at all.

"Why don't you tell me more about the first dream?" Legolas asked. "Do you remember it?"

Frodo thought for a moment. "Yes," he said. "I remember feeling so sick, and Gimli was holding me down, and... suddenly the pain was so terrible..."

"Forgive me, Frodo, you don't have to talk about this."

"It's all right." Frodo took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I'm not sure what happened next... did I faint?"

Legolas and Sam exchanged another look, this one less amused. "Yes."

"I fell... into a freezing lake. It was dark, and so cold, I could hardly breathe. I think I was drowning. Then someone got hold of me, and pulled me to the surface. Suddenly the water wasn't cold anymore. It was warm, and I was just floating on my back, and it was easier to breathe. I opened my eyes, and you were the one holding me up, just keeping me floating in the warm water. You..." Frodo opened his eyes. "You were all lit up."

Legolas leaned close. "What do you mean?"

"Legolas, when I was at the Ford, and the Black Riders were on the other side of the river, I saw..." Frodo sighed. "Everything was starting to fade. I couldn't tell... what was real anymore. Almost the last thing I remember seeing was this person, made of light. Gandalf says I saw Glorfindel, the way he really is."

Legolas frowned. "Frodo, you could not have seen me in that manner. Glorfindel retains the Light of Aman, and perhaps you are one who can see it, but I am not such as he."

"It wasn't exactly like that. Not such a fierce, brilliant light. You were... it was gentle. You just held me up, and it was warm, and I knew I could just rest for awhile and I wouldn't drown." Frodo looked up at the Elf, concerned. "It was just a dream, Legolas. Have I said something to upset you?"

"I am sorry, Frodo. No, of course not."

"It was nice, when I woke up, that you were still there. And you were still all lit up. I don't know why."

"I do not know why either. Am I 'lit up' now?"

"No." Frodo yawned. "I have the strangest dreams sometimes, Legolas -- so vivid."

"Perhaps they are not just 'dreams'."

Frodo smiled as Sam gently took his hand and held it. "I'm sorry, Sam, I know you would love to dream about Elves all the time."

"That's all right," said Sam softly. He looked up at Legolas. "I never thought to be traveling about with one, and that's a fact. It's all been like a dream."

Legolas's eyes glowed with pleasure at Sam's words. He brushed a few curls away from Frodo's forehead. "Do you think you can sleep a bit more?"

Frodo sighed. "I don't want to be sleeping all the time, but I can't seem to stay awake. If things would just stop spinning..." His eyes were closing in spite of his efforts to stop them. "I'm glad you didn't let me drown," he murmured. "I'm glad you're here."

"I, too, am glad I am here, little one."

Frodo vaguely remembered talking with dream-Legolas about being called 'little one', but he couldn't bring it into focus. He felt so tired... "Would you sing some more?"

Frodo felt a hand at his brow and a ripple of soft music that beckoned, guided. He tumbled gently downwards into a warm Spring evening, through a dream of fragrant trees, shimmering waterfalls, and jewel-like stars.

*~*~*~*~*

High above, concealed among snow-dusted bushes atop the overhang that partially shielded the ledge, a small flock of crebain waited in silence. Drawn to the Power emanating from the frozen pass, they had arrived unseen as the storm had dissipated over the mountain. Bred and trained by their master, larger and fiercer than many of their kind, the birds knew they had found what they sought. They heard the Man reveal that the Company would not be continuing upward. They heard one of the Istari speak of "the Ring and its Bearer." They needed only to hear which of the small ones carried it.

** TBC **