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Chapter 19: We shall burn! Denethor's planned pyre







Narrowly escaping the terror of Shelob and her lair, Kaoru and Frodo were on the ground, in the middle of a narrow passageway with rocky walls on either side, exhausted from the chase, and covered in cobwebs after rolling out of a small opening within the cave. Kaoru quickly uncovered herself from the webs, tossing them aside, then looked up a little to see if there was any sign of the eight-legged horror trying to come out of the opening. But she saw that the spider wasn't there.

"Frodo," Kaoru called to the weary Hobbit as she sat up to help Frodo to uncover himself from the cobwebs, "are you alright--?"





Gollum had suddenly ambushed them from above, and managed to kick Kaoru aside, letting her bump into the walls of the passageway, knocking the wind out of her. Frodo was now struggling alone with Gollum as the creature grabbed Frodo's ears and bashed his head into the stone wall a few times, getting the upper hand in this fight.



"Got away, did it precious?" Gollum sneered at Frodo as he tried to snatch the ring from Frodo, "not this time, NOT THIS TIME!"

"NOOOO!!!" screamed Frodo, as he fought back, struggling to keep Gollum away from the ring.



Gollum and Frodo rolled around many times, before Frodo managed to push the treacherous creature away with a sudden rush of anger-given strength. Kaoru began to recover slowly as she saw Frodo rush at Gollum again, and punched him with a sudden violence and strength that was far beyond anything that Gollum had expected. Taking this opportunity, Frodo, with bared, gritted teeth, used his rage-ridden hands to throttle Gollum against the rocks.



"It wasn't us!" Gollum whined with wide and frightened eyes to the murder-driven Frodo, "It wasn't us!!!"

"Frodo no!" Kaoru cried to Frodo as she was pulling the anger-laden Hobbit off Gollum, trying to stop him from strangling Gollum.



Frodo refused to relent, as he was now deaf to those around him, bent on killing Gollum for his treachery. His violent strength was so great, that even Kaoru could not overcome it.



"Smeagol wouldn't hurt master, we promised," Gollum pleaded to Frodo again, whose face was still angry, but slowly turned to exhaustion and pity, "you must believe us!"

"Frodo, please," Kaoru added her pleas to Frodo, with a quiet voice and grieving tears within her eyes, "...let him go."

"It was the precious," Gollum told Frodo, "...the precious made us do it!"



Frodo, though he was angered with Gollum, finally released his neck as his exhaustion returned to him.



"Come on, Frodo" said Kaoru softly as she helped Frodo to sit on the ground, "...just relax for a minute."

Gollum then stood up slowly as he slowly said to Kaoru, "thank you mistress. Smeagol thanks y--"





SMACK!





Kaoru quickly slapped Gollum in the face after helping Frodo from his exhaustion. Gollum held his hand to his face where Kaoru had hit him, with his wide eyes watching Kaoru, and her scowling face, in apprehension.



"Mistress?" said Gollum, bewildered.

"Don't get me wrong," Kaoru said angrily, "I didn't keep Frodo from killing you just to save your miserable life. I stopped him because he would've been no better than you if he did kill you!"



Gollum froze in his misery as he could see the lingering anger and disappointment within Kaoru's eyes when she said those words to him.



Kaoru went on, with growing disappointment, "how could you do this to us? You saved Frodo's life and I loved you for it, as did Frodo. Is this because of what happened at the Forbidden Pool? Frodo didn't mean for Faramir's men to hurt you. He was just as shocked, as you were when they ambushed you after Frodo led you away from the pool, because if he hadn't... you would've been killed.

"...Frodo was trying to save your life as you did his!" Kaoru ended with contempt.

"...Master... tried to... save me?" asked a confused Gollum.

"Yes, that's right," answered Kaoru, "tell me something... am I really talking to Smeagol? Or am I talking to the Gollum side within you?"

Kaoru continued to explain, "I've seen how you struggle with yourself. And to tell the truth... it isn't anything new to me, because I know someone else, who struggles with himself as you do. His name is Kenshin Himura. He was known throughout my world as a notorious manslayer. Kenshin was just as troubled as you are, because of what he did in his past. When I met him and found out about his past... I told him that I didn't care about his past because he was no longer a manslayer... but a wanderer, who has vowed never to kill again.

"I don't care about your past either because you're just like Kenshin. But not like Kenshin as I thought you would be. You're more like the opposite of Kenshin because he would never think about revenge like you would. No matter how he felt betrayed... he would always forgive that person no matter how bad he was. But not like you do. You don't think about forgiving people do you?"



The creature's eyes widened slowly at Kaoru... because he knew that she was right. Gollum had been lonely for so long... that he forgot what it means to forgive and forget.



Kaoru went on sadly, "I should've... no, Frodo and I should've realized that fact long ago. Kenshin has always been strong to overcome his darkness... but you're too weak to stand up to yours, all because you thought that Frodo had betrayed you and now you felt that you had to betray him by throwing us to that monster in the tunnels. Then, you would've taken the ring back for yourself, wouldn't you?

"You can't even stand up to the temptation of the ring either. But then... you've had it for a very long time haven't you? The ring's been tempting Frodo too... and sadly..."



Kaoru lowered her head as she finally admitted somberly in a little voice, but enough for Frodo and Gollum to hear, "...I've also been tempted to have the ring."

"...Miss Kaoru," Frodo said with sympathy, finally learning of her temptation for the ring.

"But despite that," Kaoru continued further with Gollum looking at Kaoru in self-pity, "I know what has to be done and I'll try to struggle against the ring as hard as I can, like Frodo does.

"Frodo and I are grateful for your efforts to lead us to Mordor... we really are. But if you can't learn to forgive Frodo, even for a small mistake... then our friendship must end, until the ring is destroyed, and you've had more time to think things through.



The creature's eyes widened with great shock as he heard those words... words that were slowly tearing into him like a scar that was re-opening and giving him great pain and anguish.



"Your cure may be beyond us, but I deeply hope from my heart that one day... you'll be able to find it," concluded Kaoru with gloomy compassion.

"...Miss Kaoru's right," said Frodo as he slowly lifted himself from the ground, "we have to destroy it, Smeagol."



Gollum's face slowly became stricken at the thought of the ring being destroyed... as he gently turned his head to look up at Frodo... with his teary eyes meeting Frodo's exhausted eyes...



"...Miss Kaoru and I have to destroy it," Frodo added wearily, "...for all of our sakes."



Frodo started off slowly while Kaoru continued to stare at Gollum, who looked at her in return.

"Goodbye... Gollum," Kaoru said nonchalantly as she turned to join Frodo, leaving Gollum behind.



As Gollum gazed at the departing travelers... his eyes and expression slowly darkened to that of an intense look of anger and hatred, because he couldn't face the truth of his own obsession of the ring... had lost him friends that would've stayed with him to the end...





"...NOO!!!!" Gollum roared as he jumped at Kaoru and Frodo.

However... Frodo turned and fell back under Gollum's attack... and inadvertently threw him off him, into a deep ravine...



"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Gollum screamed as he fell into the deep hole... disappearing into the darkness.







Kaoru watched Gollum fall into the hole, silently weeping for the creature, feeling a great loss. But it would be nothing... compared to her fears of losing Kenshin to become Battousai the Manslayer once more... or even worse. Either way, she greatly yearned to go back to Kenshin and be happy once again. But she knew that it would not be possible... until the ring was destroyed.



Kaoru then went up to Frodo and said softly, "are you okay Frodo?"



Frodo did not reply, as he had no answer for Kaoru. The Hobbit was most certainly not okay after being almost eaten by Shelob. Kaoru had helped Frodo to get off the ground, but the Hobbit's strength had almost left him. The narrow escape from Shelob had taken its toll upon Frodo. Frodo struggled forward with one hand against the rocky mountain wall of the path.



But he stopped a little ways into the path as he said, crying softly to himself, "I'm so sorry Sam... so sorry Yahiko."

"Don't worry Frodo," said Kaoru, assuredly, "they'll be here. Yahiko said that he would get Sam back up."

"...I don't think he will Miss Kaoru," said Frodo, full of doubt, "I was so cold to him--so cold, Miss Kaoru. I saw the look in his eyes. I've broken him... because I told him to go home."

"You may have known Sam longer than I have, but I've known Yahiko longer than you have, Frodo," Kaoru firmly told Frodo, "Yahiko's too stubborn to let anything stop him from doing what he wants to do, especially keeping his promises."

"...I'm tired Miss Kaoru... so very tired," said Frodo, as he dropped to his knees, about to pass out.

"Frodo, don't give up on me now!" cried Kaoru, encouraging Frodo to stay on his feet... but was about to drop like dead weight...

"Frodo, Frodo!" Kaoru cried out again as Frodo finally gave out...









And dropped onto the ground, face down. Continuing to lie on his stomach a few moments... Frodo slowly lifted his head to discover... that he wasn't onto a course, rocky ground, but on a firm, and very grassy land. Frodo could feel the grass under him and the feel of the sun on his back. The Hobbit slowly pushed himself off the ground to look up...



And saw the Lady Galadriel, dressed in white, beautiful and fair as ever, walking gracefully towards him with a smile on her face...





This task, was appointed to you, Frodo of the Shire...



Galadriel's words echoed within Frodo's mind, remembering her words to him...





If you do not find a way...

No one will.





As the last word was spoken... the Elf-maiden slowly bent down towards Frodo, extending her hand for the Hobbit. Frodo, looking at Galadriel's hand with firm eyes for a brief moment... grasped Galadriel's hand, with a vestige of determination... letting Galadriel bear him up from the ground, to his feet...











"Frodo!" Kaoru gasped in surprise, seeing Frodo come to so mysteriously.

Frodo looked up as he met with Kaoru's eyes.

"...Miss Kaoru," said a bemused Frodo as he also discovered... that the hand that he used to grasp Galadriel's hand was grasping Kaoru's hand.

"What happened?" asked Kaoru, with her hand still within Frodo's, "you fell onto the ground. I was trying to get you awake and all of a sudden, it felt like you got back up on your own."

Frodo nonchalantly released Kaoru's hand as he replied, "...I thought I saw the Lady Galadriel, coming to bear me up. Then... I found that my hand was holding yours, Miss Kaoru."

"Miss Galadriel?" Kaoru said, baffled... then closed her eyes at the thought of Galadriel, "ah... she's always trying to help us. Its good to know that there are at least some people trying to help us, isn't it Frodo?"

"Indeed, it is," Frodo nodded in affirmation, "come on Miss Kaoru, we must move on."

"Right," replied Kaoru as she and Frodo continued down the pass.













Back at the city of Minas Tirith...





The battle for the lowest level of the City raged on into the night, with the enemy catapulting flaming material over the walls. Everywhere the balls of fire hit, fires roared out of control, destroying more of the lower levels of the city.





GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!



The Orcs continued cheering as Grond, the huge, mighty battering ram of Mordor, finally made it to the gates of the City. Inside its huge support structure it hung, four trolls pulled the heavy chains attached to its end, moving the ram back slowly and heavily... and released the chains, making Grond swing towards the gates...



BASH!



And crashed into them, fire erupting from its snarling jaws, making the gates tremble before its might.





"Back to the gate! Hurry!" Gandalf ordered the Gondorian soldiers as he, Aoshi, and a band of Gondorian soldiers raced from the battlements of the lower level... towards the gate.

The Soldiers formed ranks in front of the gates, in preparation to defend the breach that would soon come... as Grond endlessly bashed at the gates, weakening the structure even more, with the Orcs cheering...





GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!









Meanwhile... Pippin had made his way up towards the citadel. But as he got there...



He saw a procession leaving the White Tower of Ecthelion, led by Denethor carrying a torch, and wearing a long, gown-like chain mail beneath his long, black silk coat, girt with a long sword, great-hilted in a sheath of black and silver. Servants carried Faramir on a stretcher and more servants followed along, also bearing torches.





"I am Steward of the House of Anarion," intoned Denethor in a deadpanned expression, "thus have I walked... and thus now, will I sleep...

"...Gondor is lost," ended Denethor sadly, to himself, "there is no hope for men."



Pippin ran up closer and went to follow the procession to wherever they were heading for, but decided to put a great distance between himself and the procession, not to be noticed...







The procession proceeded away from the Court of the fountain... to a connecting bridge from behind the citadel that let to the Hallows of Minas Tirith. As they were walking on the bride... Denethor stopped to look down at the mayhem that was occurring upon the lower levels of the city...



"Why do the fools fly...? Better to die sooner than late," remarked Denethor with forlorn sorrow, shining in his eyes, "...for die we must."



Denethor and the procession then set forth across the bridge, progressing to the Hallows. When they finished crossing the bridge, the company turned to the side... heading for the crypt of Rath Dinen, where kings and stewards were laid to rest...





'.../It is said,/' thought Denethor, fixing his eyes on the crypt, 'that a Steward who faithfully surrenders his charge diminishes himself in love or honor. If this doom had denied me the rule of Gondor... then I will have naught; neither life diminished, nor love halved, nor honor abated...

'.../My life is broken,/' finished Denethor as he reached the doors to the crypt... and pushed them open.







The procession began to enter the crypt, as Denethor walked up further inside its wide vaulted chamber, where there were many rows of tables, dimly to be seen, carved of marble; and upon each table lay a sleeping form, hands folded, head pillowed upon stone.



"No tomb for Denethor and Faramir," proclaimed Denethor, while circling round the stand in the center of the mausoleum, "...no long, slow sleep... of death embalmed. We shall burn, like the heathen kings of old."

Denethor then turned to the servants and ordered, "...bring wood and oil."









The mighty battering ram of Mordor continued to break the gates down... and was making some progress as the gates were shaking under each assault. The soldiers stood at the gate, sword and shields held ready, some had bows and arrows or crossbows. They watched the gate, unsure what would come through...





GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!





The Trolls kept pulling back the ram, making it smash, heavily, into the gate. With the Orcs continuing to cheer for their ram, the soldiers' ardor was weakening as much as the gate was...





GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!





"Steady! Steady!" Gandalf, mounted upon Shadowfax, eased the nervous soldiers, as Grond continued to crash into the gate...



BASH!



Aoshi, mounted upon Thendred, drew his bow and uneasily pointed towards the gate, which was going to break at any moment...





GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!



GROND...!





'I must admit,' thought Aoshi, 'I also feel certain uneasiness with the overwhelming number of Orcs that have surrounded Minas Tirith. I somehow feel that this will be my place of death. And its times like this... that I wish that my four old comrades of the Oniwaban group were with me, even now...'





We are with you, Lord Aoshi, came a voice within Aoshi's head.

Where would you be without us leader...?





"What?" Aoshi asked himself, "who is it?"



Do you not know, leader?



After a few moments of bewilderment...





Aoshi saw in front of him an image of four men; one with stripes tattooed over his body and wearing a horrid devilish mask... the second with wild orange hair, and a muscled body, covered with numerous scars... the third was really large, bloated man... And the fourth, a small midget-like individual, the size of a Hobbit, but with a creepy-looking face. Aoshi recognized them all... as the four who died to protect him at Kanryu's mansion, the old members of the Oniwaban group.



"Hannya, Shikijo, Hyottoko, and Beshimi/,/" Aoshi said in bewilderment, a little surprised to see them, even in all his time in Middle-Earth.

"We are with you no matter where you are, Lord Aoshi," said the tattooed, masked man named Hannya.

"How much more redundant are you going to make yourself, leader?" asked the muscled man called Shikijo, "you can't give up because of overwhelming odds like these."

"Yeah, leader," said the fat, bloated man called Hyottoko, "you're needed here in Gondor, to defend it like we all did when we guarded Edo Castle, back in the Revolution."

"You were meant to be here, Lord Aoshi," said the midget called Beshimi, "as that little guy Pippin was meant to be there. I kinda like him. He does remind me of when I was young."

"Our spirits shall follow you in whatever battles you undertake, Lord Aoshi," said Hannya, "we've never left your side, even if you are in another world."

"My friends," sighed Aoshi, with teary eyes, "I'm so relieved to see you, even if you are in my mind."

"So stop belittling yourself and fight, leader!" said Shikijo.

"And as long as you remember that we're always with you," said Hyottoko.

"You'll never be alone, leader... never," finished Beshimi as they all began to disappear from Aoshi's mind, leaving him with a renewed sense of spirit...





SMASH!





Massive Grond hit the gate again... and its huge wolf head pushed through, fire leaping from his gaping jaws; it was a terrifying sight for the Gondorian fighters...



"You are soldiers of Gondor," Gandalf ardently told the soldiers as the enormous head of Grond withdrew, pulling pieces of the gate with it, "...no matter what comes through that gate, you will stand your ground!"

"Get ready men," Aoshi told the Gondorian soldiers firmly when the ram popped through the opening once more...





And the gates burst open, letting in a band of armored trolls, with mace-like clubs within their hands, which made Gandalf and Aoshi, widen their eyes with horror. These weren't ordinary brutish mountain trolls, but more intelligent beasts than their dimwitted counterparts. They were the Olog-hai, a crossbreed of Uruk-hai and Trolls... a deadly force to be reckoned with.



"Run!" cried out the Men, as the trolls charged in with their clubs, smashing and throwing the men into the walls.

"Volley!" Gandalf ordered the men, "fire!"



The archers and Aoshi shoot the Trolls, but made little difference with their arrows, even as some of the beasts fell before the arrows. Behind the Trolls, Orcs poured into the City. The men lowered their spears at the charging Orcs and Easterlings. The Orcs managed to dodge the Gondorian spears with the help of the Olog-hai trolls.

The beasts kept attacking and more men ended up dead. Gandalf rode behind a troll, hamstringing it with his sword Glamdring. The beast fell down, most likely dead. Aoshi grabbed one of the soldiers' spears and charged at another troll, riding Thendred, dodging the beast's swings as it went.



As the beast swung at Aoshi again... the Shinobi ducked his head... and forcibly threw the spear into the Troll's head, killing it instantly. As the gates were now broken, Sauron's forces storm inside, killing as they go. But despite this, the Gondorians, Aoshi, and Gandalf kept fighting their hardest, trying to protect the now-breached city of Minas Tirith...











Disclaimer: The Lord of the Rings and RK are not mine. They belong to their authors, respectively J.R.R. Tolkien and Watsuki Nobuhiro. This fanfiction is created just for fun, not for any commercial purposes.