Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Two Gundams ❯ Fangorn Marches ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter 5: Fangorn Marches

“Man, these trees are thick!” Zechs exclaimed. “You girls ok up there?” He was leading their horse through the dense forest with a hand resting gently on its neck. Perched on the horse's back, Alexa and Jett kept ducking to avoid the low-hanging branches.

“We're ok, Mommy,” Alexa said.

The horse plodded along, its hooves occasionally clumping against roots and exposed stones, but it was shod, so the terrain wasn't too rough for it.

“If it gets any thicker, you may have to get down,” Zechs said. “How are we doing, Jett?”

“It's not much further.” She pointed ahead. “Merry and Pippin are moving now, but if we keep going this way, we should run into them. They're going really fast, but they're coming toward us, mostly.”

“Moving fast, huh?” Zechs glanced up at her. “They couldn't have gotten horses in here. I wonder how they're traveling.”

“Maybe they're on a river,” Alexa suggested.

“Maybe.”

The three of them continued on their way. After awhile, they could hear the sound of a deep voice rumbling through the forest, along with a heavy, intermittent thumping that had the rhythm of slow footsteps.

“What the hell?” Zechs murmured.

“We should stop,” Jett said. “They're going to go right by us.”

“Ok.” Zechs stopped the horse by putting his hand on its nose. They waited for a few minutes and then a sight no one had expected came into view.

A tree walked toward them with Merry and Pippin reclining in its branches.

“Now that's something you don't see every day,” Zechs remarked.

“Pippin!” Jett shouted. All around them, tree branches shuddered and leaves fluttered to the ground. Birds shot up into the sky screeching and small animals bounded away in panic.

Pippin nearly fell out of the walking tree.

“I don't believe it!” Merry exclaimed. He stood up on the branch where he had been sitting and waved furiously. “Zechs! Jett! Alexa! How did you get here?!”

Pippin managed to right himself and waved, too.

The tree stopped walking and big golden eyes blinked at them curiously. “What have we here?” it rumbled in a deep voice.

“These are friends of ours, Treebeard!” Merry said. “These are some of the people we told you about that we were traveling with before the orcs kidnapped us.”

“It's good to see you well,” Zechs said.

“Where are the others?” Pippin asked.

“At a place called Helm's Deep fighting a battle,” Zechs replied.

“A battle?!” Merry and Pippin exchanged worried looks. “Are Frodo and Sam there?”

“No. They separated from us right after the fight when you were taken. They've gone on to Mordor with Hadeya. The rest of us came after you. We tracked you all the way to the forest but were then told that you were safe. So we went to Rohan to deal with some problems they were having, which led to the battle. Anyway, I didn't think the girls should be in a siege, so we came to look for you.”

“It's amazing that you could find us in this vast forest,” Merry said.

Zechs shrugged. “Jett can find anyone. She has a talent. Anyway, where are you headed?”

Merry made a face. “Treebeard is taking us to the southern pass so we can go back to the Shire. He thinks the troubles will just pass us by.” He scowled, obviously not believing any of that.

“We'll go with you,” Zechs said. “If Treebeard doesn't mind.” He bowed to the walking tree.

“I am pleased to meet friends of these young hobbits,” Treebeard rumbled. “Especially since I see you are men and not orcs.”

“Can we ride in the tree, too, Mommy?” Alexa asked. Her eyes were sparkling. “It looks like fun!”

“Yes, can we?” Jett squealed. The trees shuddered again.

“Only if you keep your voice down,” Zechs chuckled. “You'll deafen Treebeard.”

“Sorry!”

“I am not a tree!” Treebeard said a little indignantly. “I am an Ent. A shepherd of the forest and one of the oldest creatures in Middle Earth.”

“Your pardon, Treebeard,” Zechs said with another polite bow. “You are the first such creature we've met, so your resemblance to a tree should make our mistake understandable.”

“Well, it is true that when we rest, birds will nest on us and animals make burrows under us,” Treebeard acknowledged. He held out a vast, branch-like hand. “Allow me.” The girls scrambled directly from the horse's back onto his hand and Treebeard lifted them up while they clung, giggling, to his fingers. “Now hold on tight, little ones.” After the girls were settled next to Merry and Pippin, Treebeard resumed walking. Zechs swung up onto the horse's back and trotted along behind them. “I am still not convinced,” Treebeard said, “that taking the southern pass is the safest way. It will take you past Isengard. Saruman used to be a good friend to us in the forest, but lately his mind has grown dark.”

“I'm sure it's not the safest way,” Zechs said, “but there aren't a lot of safe roads in Middle Earth right now. Pretty much everyone is involved in the war that's going on. On the other hand, since Saruman just sent a huge army to Helm's Deep, it might not be too bad.”

“Saruman sent an army to Helm's Deep?!” Pippin asked in alarm. “But isn't that where you said the others are?”

“Yes. That's the army they're fighting.”

“We need to go help them!” Pippin exclaimed. “I'm not going to let my friends fight and maybe die and not be there to help them!”

“We'll sort that out later, Pippin,” Zechs said. “For now, let's just get out of this forest.”

They continued on while Treebeard regaled them with a long rambling speech that he claimed was poetry, but late in the afternoon, Zechs sat up straighter and looked ahead past Treebeard's lumbering form.

At the same time, Jett frowned and wrinkled her nose. “I smell smoke.”

“So do I,” Zechs said. “Look. The forest is ending up ahead.”

Moments later, the group abruptly exited the shadow of the forest, because on the slope ahead of them all the trees had been cut down. The clear cut appeared to have been rather hasty, because ragged stumps and dropped branches dotted the hillside, giving a clear view all the way down to the plains below, where a tall white tower stood at the base of the hill in the middle of a vast circular space surrounded by a stone wall. The empty space around the tower was crisscrossed with beaten earth roads connecting smoking pits, some of which had lifts rigged beside them. Others had steep ramps leading down into the red-tinged darkness.

Treebeard stopped in his tracks and let out a howl of rage. “A wizard should know better!” he cried. “Some of these trees have stood for centuries! This is an unspeakable crime! There will be vengeance! We Ents will punish him for this violation of our trust!” He let out a long, ululating cry that echoed across the forest. Then he stood rigidly and waited.

“What's going on?” Pippin whispered. “Why are we just standing here?”

Treebeard did not respond. They waited as the sun slowly sank toward the horizon and twilight fell. The girls and the hobbits climbed down out of Treebeard so they could eat while they waited. Then a rustling in the trees made them all watch the forest edge nervously.

“What is that?” Pippin whispered.

“I don't know,” Merry whispered back.

Then, in ones, twos and threes, Ents began emerging from the forest edge. They marched down to stand around Treebeard, forming a new forest where the old one had once stood. Soon, dozens of Ents dotted the hillside, all glaring down at the tower of Isengard threateningly. Though none of them moved or spoke, the weight of their anger was palpable.

Zechs nodded approvingly. “There aren't many of them,” he said, “but I think they'll do some significant damage.”

“What's that?” Alexa pointed off to the south east. “It looks like the ground is moving.”

“It is the forest,” Treebeard announced suddenly. “They have business of their own with the orcs of Isengard. We shall deal with the wizard.” He began to walk down the slope.

“Wait!” Merry and Pippin shouted. They raced after Treebeard and scrambled up into his branches.

Zechs boosted Alexa and Jett into the branches of a nearby Ent who looked like an ancient elm tree before pulling himself up into the branches of a towering ash tree Ent. The horse trotted along behind them curiously. As they headed down the slope, a number of Ents split off toward the west. As the main group of Ents neared the bottom of the hill, the destination of the splinter group became visible. A large dam had stopped up a river that should have been spilling over the edge of a cliff into a steep waterfall directly behind Isengard.

When the advancing Ents reached the towering stone wall, they did not climb over it. They grasped the smoothly joined stones with their twig-like fingers and pulled the wall apart. It was like watching a time-lapse recording of tree roots destroying a foundation. Within minutes, great sections of the wall were reduced to rubble and the Ents marched through.

“That's cool!” Alexa said.

“Yeah!” Jett agreed.

As the Ents marched across the plain, they destroyed any towers or structures they passed. A few hundred orcs rushed up from the caverns below, but the resistance they offered was easily overwhelmed by the furious Ents. Zechs hopped down from his perch so he could use his sword, hacking through any orcs he encountered with grim efficiency, including a trio who were shooting flaming arrows at the Ents.

“Look!” Pippin cried, pointing up at the dam.

Appearing small against the massive structure of the dam, several Ents were busily ripping out stones and support bracing. Already, cracks in the dam were spilling water. Then the whole structure gave way, cracking and splintering as the weight of the water finished what the Ents had begun.

“Oops!” Zechs said. He clambered up into the nearest Ent as water rushed down the mountainside in a massive flood, gushing onto the plain and flooding into the caverns. Steam boiled up from below as hidden fires were extinguished by the water. As the water thundered across the plain, engulfing the tower at the center, all other remaining structures were swept away, along with the orcs. There was so much water that even after all the caverns were filled, water stood waist deep over most of the plain.

Treebeard looked around with approval. “This is better. Trees will grow back and Isengard will once again be a place of beauty.”

Zechs hooked a thumb at the tower. “Isn't there still a wizard in there?”

“Yes.” Treebeard examined the tower grimly. He advanced on the sheer white walls and tried to work his fingers into the joins. But the building was so tightly fitted that he could not create a crack, no matter how hard he tried. None of the other Ents was any more successful.

“What do you think, Jett?” Zechs asked. “Can you break it?”

Jett eyed the tower. She tugged on a branch of the Ent she was sitting in. “Can I touch it for a second, please?”

The Ent held her closer and she rapped her knuckles against the wall, listening to the resonance. “I think I can crack it,” she said, “but it might not come down.”

“Give it a shot.”

“Ok. Better cover your ears, though.”

Pippin, Merry and Alexa immediately clapped their hands tight over their ears.

“If you can block sound,” Zechs said to the Ent holding Jett, “I'd advise it. This might hurt.” He covered his ears. “Go ahead, Jett.”

Jett drew a deep breath and uttered a piercing shriek. The sound echoed all across the plain, causing additional sections of the surrounding wall to collapse and more stones to tumble down from the dam. The mighty tower of Isengard creaked, groaned and shuddered, and a huge crack splintered up the side.

“Stop!” a voice shrieked from a balcony far above them. A lightning bolt shot down from the sky, striking close to the Ent holding Jett.

Jett's shriek cut off.

“Saruman!” Treebeard shouted. “You no longer have the right to live in this place. Get out before we tear this tower to the ground!”

“You have no power over me!” Saruman cried. “Back away!” More lightning bolts fell and everyone quickly retreated to a safe distance.

“He cannot leave the tower,” Treebeard said. “We shall just have to wait for someone who can deal with him.”

“It's pretty late,” Pippin said. “We should look around. Maybe we'll find something to eat.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Alexa agreed.

“There is an old gatehouse,” Treebeard said. “Maybe there are stores there.”

They slogged their way across the plain to a section of the wall that was relatively unscathed and therefore had a good bit of standing water in front of it. But here, the thick wall had several rooms built into it. Merry, Pippin and the girls scrambled down and half-swam, half-slogged their way in.

“Huzzah!” Pippin cried. “Smoked ham!” He picked the floating meat out of the muddy water.

“Here's a roast chicken!” Merry called out from another part of the room. “And apples!”

“No!” Pippin suddenly exclaimed. “It can't be!” He jumped up onto a counter so he could reach a high shelf. “Longbottom leaf! We can smoke!”

“Hurray!” Merry shouted. He began searching for his pipe.

“You shouldn't smoke,” Alexa said archly.

“But this tobacco is from the Shire!” Pippin said. “It's our duty as hobbits to smoke it.”

“That's right!” Merry agreed.

“Fine. Then we get the food.” Alexa began diligently collecting up all the food that was floating around the room and putting it on a dry shelf.

Zechs stuck his head in. “I assume you're finding useful stuff.”

“We are,” Alexa replied. “They're smoking.”

Zechs laughed. “I wouldn't have expected that from hobbits. I would have thought the food would interest you more.”

“We haven't smoked for weeks!” Pippin pointed out. He began opening drawers. “There have to be dry matches around here somewhere.”

“Found them!” Merry said. He struck a match and immediately held the flame to his filled pipe. He puffed until a curl of white smoke rose from the bowl. Then he handed the still burning match to Pippin. Pippin followed suit and soon the two hobbits were wreathed in smoke, puffing happily and grinning at each other like idiots.

“If there's no food left later, don't blame us,” Alexa said. She calmly hacked the roast chicken in half with a cleaver that was stuck in a cutting board on the counter. She handed half to Jett and took the other half. “Did you want some, Mommy?”

“No, thanks. I'll have a few slices of this ham and an apple. But if you saw a keg of wine or ale, point it out.”

“Over there.”

“You're an excellent child.”

“Thanks!”

Pippin immediately perked up. “Is it ale?!”

Alexa rolled her eyes. “Yes. There are mugs on the shelf up there.”

“I'll get them!” Pippin scrambled up to the indicated shelf, his pipe clamped between his teeth, and got down three mugs. “I assume you girls won't be having any?”

“No.”

Pippin handed the mugs over to Zechs and watched eagerly as he filled them with foaming brown ale. Pippin took two and handed one to Merry before taking a stiff pull on his mug. His face broke into a wide grin. “Oh, that's tasty!

“Ah!” Merry let out a long, contented sigh.

Zechs knocked back his mug with almost Duo-like zeal. “I have to agree, that hits the spot. A nice fight always whets my appetite for a little liquor.”

“And it was well-earned, I'd say!” Pippin declared. He walked back across the counter to refill his mug. “While Merry and I may not be as deft with swords as the rest of you, no one can beat our accuracy when it comes to cracking skulls with a well-thrown stone.”

“I know,” Zechs remarked. “You nearly cracked mine twice.”

“I called out.”

“Yes, as the stone was whizzing past my shoulder. Why do you think I started fighting about four Ents away?”

“There were a lot of orcs.”

“Not that many.”

Pippin sheepishly quaffed his beer.

After that, the five of them settled down to the serious business of eating, drinking and smoking as full night fell. Zechs lit some torches that had remained dry in their brackets mounted on the wall. But when Jett began to gape huge yawns, he looked around the flooded gatehouse thoughtfully.

“If we clear off some of those upper shelves, the four of you should be able to sleep dry tonight,” Zechs said. “I can stretch out on the counter here.”

“We could sleep in Treebeard,” Merry said.

“True, but you'll be in the open. It might get cold. On those shelves, the heat from the torches should keep you warm.”

So the shelves were cleared and the four small people squeezed onto them.

“This is actually not bad,” Merry said. He shifted around a little until he was curled up comfortably on his side.

“It's smoky,” Alexa said.

“It's the torches,” said Pippin.

“I don't think so.”

“It'll clear out.”

“Yeah, now that you've stopped polluting the air.”

“Smoke is good for you,” Pippin declared. “It improves digestion.”

“That's a crock.”

“No lecturing, Alexa,” Zechs murmured. “Go to sleep.”

“Yes, Mommy.”

In the morning, most of the water had drained away, leaving several knee-deep muddy pools, with the largest surrounding the base of the tower. A ring of Ents stood guard around it, while others were busily pulling down the rest of the wall.

Treebeard greeted them when they emerged from the gatehouse. “Good morning, my friends! I trust you slept well?”

“We did, thank you,” Zechs said.

“Did you find sufficient food and drink?”

“Indeed we did. Enough to tide us over for a while, I think.”

“That is good.” Treebeard turned to stare at the tower. “There is no telling when help will arrive, though I hope it will be soon. Until then, we must hold the wizard at bay in his den.”

“Why are you tearing down the wall?” Alexa asked.

“We will use the rubble to fill the pits Saruman made,” Treebeard said gravely. “Without the wall, the forest will reclaim this land and make it a place of beauty again.”

“That's a good idea,” Zechs said. Then he went still. “One moment,” he murmured and his gaze focused inward. After a moment, his face paled.

“What is it, Mommy? Is it Uncle Duo?”

“Yes, and he says I should hide.”

“Why? Are the orcs coming back?”

“No.” Zechs shuddered. “He said Trowa has been talking with Treize about sexual positions involving rope and suspension. This is not good.”

“Mommy,” Alexa sad patiently. “What about the battle? I'm sure that's not all Uncle Duo told you.”

“Well, no, but that was the important part!”

“Mommy!”

“Oh, fine! He mentioned something about them wrapping up the battle today, because Quatre doesn't want to be stuck indoors where Trowa can get at him, and Heero and Wu-Fei are bored.”

Alexa heaved a long-suffering sigh. “Well, they should come here when they're finished so Gandalf can deal with Saruman.”

“I'll tell him.” Zechs closed his eyes.

“Wait a minute!” Pippin exclaimed. “What do you mean Gandalf?! He… he died!”

“Yeah, but he came back. Didn't we tell you that?”

“No, that highly important piece of news was something you neglected to mention!” Merry cried.

“Oh. My bad.”

Pippin grasped her by the shoulders. “So explain! How is it that Gandalf isn't dead?!”

“Apparently, being a wizard and chosen by the gods, or some such, he wasn't allowed to just die. So he returned as Gandalf the White. He said he's become Saruman.” Alexa leaned forward and continued in a confidential tone. “I think that means he just got Saruman's job because Saruman screwed it up by falling under Sauron's power.”

“What a relief!” Merry said.

“He's more pompous than he used to be,” Jett announced uncharitably.

“Well, being dead, however briefly, can affect one's outlook,” Zechs said.

“Daddy isn't pompous and he was dead.”

“Well, true, but…”

“Wait!” Pippin interrupted. “What do you mean Treize was dead?”

“He died a few years ago but Roku brought him back because everyone missed him,” Alexa answered. “That was before I was born.”

Pippin and Merry paled. “Roku… brought him… back?” they stammered together.

“Yeah, he got him out of his storage space.” Alexa scratched her head. “Of course, that means his storage space is more than inter-dimensional. It must have temporal-spatial aspects to it as well. But of course, that would explain why stuff doesn't age in there. Or suffocate.”

“I think we should stop talking about this,” Pippin said weakly. “I'm getting a headache.”

Merry rubbed his forehead. “I think I already have one.”

“Try not to think about,” Zechs said. “That's what I do. Although the physics behind it is pretty fascinating. For example…”

“Aiee!” Merry and Pippin fled in panic, splashing through the puddles recklessly.

“That was mean, Mommy,” Alexa chided. “What if they fall in a hole?”

“I will retrieve them,” Treebeard said gravely. He looked down at Zechs curiously. “I, however, would be interested in hearing more. Is it a long explanation?”

“Extremely.”

“Aha!” Treebeard exclaimed gleefully. “That is the best kind! Please proceed.”

“All right…” Zechs launched into a highly technical discussion of theoretical physics, the space-time continuum, relativity and how all this might pertain to Roku's storage space, which of course required a long digression into who Roku was and how he came into existence. Treebeard listened in delighted fascination.

Alexa heaved a big sigh and took Jett's hand. “Let's go back to the gatehouse. I want a snack.”

“Ok. Can I scream more cracks in the tower afterward?”

“Sure.”

“Yay!”