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Chapter 21: Let them go you filth! Sam and Yahiko vs. Shelob









Frodo Baggins and Kaoru Kamiya continued to tread down the rocky, narrow passage of Cirith Ungol, after suffering two terrible ordeals. One with the tunnels of Shelob the She-spider, and the other with Gollum, who fell into a deep ravine when Kaoru and Frodo fended him off, which nearly sapped Frodo's strength completely, but was revived by the intervention of Galadriel.



With Frodo's strength renewed, he and Kaoru continued with the quest by themselves, not willing to wait for Sam and Yahiko to come back. As they continued trekking within the passages...



"Frodo, look," said Kaoru, pointing towards a stairway passage between two peaks, which led towards a black tower in the background.



Kaoru and Frodo walked towards the mountainous stairway, and stood at the foot of the stairs, examining the tower, which burned a bright red light from its peak, though the sky behind was completely dark. Frodo could feel the dread around him and enemies before him and Kaoru in the pass...





"There's a light coming from that tower," said Frodo, continuing to examine the red light, "...I don't like the look of it, Miss Kaoru."

"So, this passage was guarded after all," Kaoru commented, gloomily.

"As Gollum knew all along, probably," added Frodo.

Kaoru nodded as she lowered her head, sadly thinking to herself, 'why...? /Why did you do it, Smeagol?/'



Even after what had happened... Kaoru still thought of Gollum and his sad, sad life, and what made him so lonely and miserable for over 500 years.



Kaoru then turned to Frodo and said, "Frodo... we could wait here. We could still wait for Yahiko to bring Sam back to us."

"No Miss Kaoru," Frodo quickly interrupted, "...even if Yahiko were to bring back Sam... they would still have to go through those horrid dark tunnels. The darkness within that tunnel was even more dreadful than the Mines of Moria. Worse of all, they would have to deal with that monster. And we left Galadriel's gift, along with Sting within the tunnels....

"...I seriously doubt... that Sam and Yahiko will be able to get through, Miss Kaoru," finished Frodo, dreadfully.



Kaoru took a moment to contemplate Frodo's assessments. And part... to almost all of her believed that Frodo was correct. Without the phial of Galadriel, Sam and Yahiko would be like blind bats, stumbling into the dark without knowing where they were going. It was most likely that Yahiko and Sam would undeniably run into Shelob and be eaten by her in an instant. So, either way... it looked like Kaoru and Frodo were on their own from this point forward...



"...Maybe you're right Frodo," Kaoru submitted.

"Our only choice now is to go through this pass," said Frodo, "if we move very carefully, then we'll be through, Miss Kaoru... through before any Orc can stop us."

Kaoru slowly nodded, agreeing with Frodo's advice of caution as she replied, "alright, lets go then."

And with that... Frodo and Kaoru began to walk up the stairs.





But then...







Shelob, slowly and silently, crawled out of another opening from within her lair, just above the unsuspecting travelers. As she squeezed her soft, squelching body from out of the opening...

The spider silently made her way toward her prey. Frodo and Kaoru slowly sneaked upon the stairs with great caution, making sure that it was safe to proceed. So much so, that they were completely and utterly unaware of the incoming danger of Shelob...





Shelob crawled up closer and closer, taking support from the surrounding rocks from above her intended prey...





Moments later...





The spider was right above Frodo and Kaoru, who still have no idea of what danger they were in...





Kaoru and Frodo were about to move forward on the stairs, convinced that they could proceed with the climb...







Click!







A very quiet, yet eerie sound of falling rocks suddenly came from behind their backs, startling them greatly. Frodo and Kaoru turned around to gaze at the area... but saw that nothing was behind them...



Not taking any chances, Frodo and Kaoru continued to look at the pass behind them for any signs of trouble... as Shelob slowly lowered her baggy back from behind the travelers... extending her stinger, ready to strike...





"Maybe it was just nothing Frodo," commented Kaoru quietly, receiving a nod from Frodo... then turned to proceed upon the stairs...







STING! STING!







Shelob had used swift reflexes to jab both Kaoru and Frodo. Kaoru was hit somewhere around the torso and lower body, as Frodo was hit in the right shoulder, just before the neck. Frodo and Kaoru let out pained groans and jerked from their hits, but they did not fall...



The look on Frodo and Kaoru's faces were anguished and shocked as their eyes continued to stare forward, knowing that Shelob had surprised them...



Frodo and Kaoru had stayed on their feet for a while, after they were stung, making slow, brief, but faint gasps...



Their mouths began filling with foam, Shelob's poison slowly taking effect within their bodies...





"K-ken...shn," Kaoru gargled Kenshin's name with her mouth, full of foam...





Then Frodo and Kaoru finally collapsed and Shelob caught them with her spinnerets, just before they hit the ground. The spider quickly began to cocoon her victims in her spider silk, using her legs to turn them around and around... as more...



And more...



And even more of the silk had covered Frodo and Kaoru in a giant cocoon. It would be a fresh double feasting for Shelob the She-spider, as this was the first time, perhaps in a very long time... that she would eat something fresh and sweet, instead of eating every Orc she came across...





"Hey ugly!" a voice unexpectedly cried out from the shadows. Shelob looked in front of her...





And saw that Yahiko, armed with his Elven wooden sword, and Sam, armed with Sting in his right hand... and the phial of Galadriel, glowing very brightly in his other hand.



"Let them go, you filth," snarled Samwise the Brave at Shelob, who shrieked at the arrival of the Hobbit and boy Samurai.

"LET THEM GO!" roared Sam.





Shelob released her catch as she snarled at the nuisance of Sam and Yahiko, willing to take her on. Sam and Yahiko's faces flashed with a hint of worry as they thought that it was too late to save their friends. But despite this, Sam raised the glowing phial proudly, unwilling to falter in his purpose.



"You will not touch them again!" Sam gritted at the eight-legged terror.

"If you want a piece of them," Yahiko the Adventurous fiercely growled at Shelob, also not willing to back down, "...THEN YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GET PAST US FIRST, YOU HEAR?"



Shelob snarled in response to Yahiko's challenge as she made her way toward him and Sam...



"Come," Sam also challenged, "...come on and finish it!"





And so...



Shelob and Sam and Yahiko began to charge at each other, engaging in battle. Sam and Yahiko swung their weapons, hitting Shelob's legs, managing to hurt her, but...





Shelob roughly pushed her attackers away from her, letting them fly into the air... and skid onto the ground as Sam dropped the glowing glass from his hands, allowing the glow to fade from it. The Spider then used one of her legs to kick the glass away from Yahiko and Sam and charged, with all her speed to her offenders. Sam and Yahiko quickly got onto their feet, with their weapons in hand...





But Shelob was faster as she was able to pin Sam and Yahiko to the wall, trying to reach them with her fangs. Sam gasped in fear as Shelob reared up on her backside of her legs, hoisting her new victims up the rocky wall, still trying to bite them with her pincers. Yahiko and Sam continued to struggle against Shelob's strength as Yahiko grabbed one of her pincers, while Sam grabbed the other, trying to keep the Spider from taking a bite out of them.



'Man,' thought Yahiko as he struggled against Shelob's chaps, with gritted teeth, 'I wonder if Misao and Aoshi had this much trouble when they were fighting those giant spiders at Mirkwood forest?'



Continuing to struggle against Shelob...



Sam started to use his feet to kick the spider in the head. Soon after... Yahiko was using his feet to kick the spider away as well. Shelob was now at the mercy of Sam and Yahiko's kicking as they continued to kick at the eight-legged horror with all their strength... until they finally kicked her back onto the ground. Sam and Yahiko then began to climb the rock face...



But Shelob came at them again as she crawled up the rocks again... and knocked the valiant fighters off the rock, falling haphazardly over her body... crashing onto the ground. Sam and Yahiko then spotted their swords and picked them off the ground and turned to face Shelob as she slowly circled the rocks from above.



Shelob sidestepped onto the stairway, over the cocooned Frodo and Kaoru, and jumped back onto the ground for a second round. The spider knew that Yahiko and Sam were not to be taken lightly as she charged at her attackers...



But Sam managed to use Sting to stab Shelob in the eyes, making her squeal and shriek in anguish. Shelob slowly backed away from Sam and Yahiko as she rubbed at her injured eye with one of her legs, until she was against the wall. The valiant Hobbit and boy Samurai had Shelob cornered as they both readied themselves for another attack, aiming their weapons for stabbing...



But Shelob caught their steel and wooden blades with her fangs. Sam and Yahiko were once again struggling against Shelob's fangs as the spider held onto the swords with her mouth, unwilling to release them, swinging her attackers around like they were mere toys to her.

Gaining enough momentum... Shelob released Sam and Yahiko's weapons, letting them fly from their hands. Sam and Yahiko tried to see where their weapons went... but Shelob knocked them down, sending them sprawling onto the ground. Seeing their weapons in front of them, Yahiko and Sam quickly went to grab them...



Unfortunately, Shelob was too fast for them as she used her front legs to step onto the steel and wooden blades. The spider now had the upper hand in this fight as she was now on top of Sam and Yahiko as they looked up... seeing Shelob once again extending her stinger from her abdomen for jabbing as she did to Frodo and Kaoru...


And Sam and Yahiko quickly rolled away as Shelob tried to sting her prey, using her bloated age-old hide to crush them like insects. Shelob followed both Sam and Yahiko, using her lighting-speed reflexes to jab her stinger into them, as they both kept rolling away from her attacks. As the narrow escapes increased, Shelob released her hold on Sting and the wooden sword. Yahiko managed to get Shelob's attention, allowing the spider to be occupied with trying to sting him, while Sam went over to grab Sting and Yahiko's Elven wooden sword.



"Yahiko!" Sam called out to Yahiko as he grabbed their weapons.



Yahiko noticed Sam's call as he rolled swiftly away from Shelob, and quickly crawled over towards Sam. Shelob turned around to see Yahiko crawling towards his companion and swiftly charged over to him and Sam as he gave Yahiko his wooden blade. Just as Shelob was over her prey, ready to strike...





STAB!



Sam thrusted Sting upon Shelob's bloated belly with a battle cry, making the She-spider squeal and shriek in anguish. Wasting no time...



Yahiko was also able to use all his strength to plunge his wooden sword into Shelob in the belly, making her cry out even more, as her screeching became even louder than it was before. Sam and Yahiko then used the time, with all their strength to twist their blades into the spider, making her wounds even worse. Then... Sam and Yahiko pulled their swords out of Shelob. The spider backed away from her attackers, staggering and crying out, the legs on one side of her body not working properly.

Sam then was able to get to pick up the phial of Galadriel that Shelob kicked away as it glowed within his hands. Yahiko grasped the star-glass also, assisting Sam...





"...Gilthoniel... A... Elbereth," Sam began to mutter unknowingly, making the light glow a little brighter...

"...A... Elbereth... Gilthoniel," Yahiko also began to mutter the language that neither he nor Sam knew, which made the light glow a bit more...





The ever-increasing light slowly intolerable for Shelob to handle as it began to sear her sight...





"O menel... palan-diriel," Sam said, with his voice filling with courage...

"Le nallon si... di'nguruthos!" Yahiko cried out in boldness, making the light glow brighter and brighter within Sam and Yahiko's hands as they slowly lifted the light high above their heads...





"A TIRO NIN, FANUILOS!" Sam and Yahiko roared out together...





FLASH!





The Glass blazed a very bright white light, as if it were a white torch within Yahiko and Sam's hands. The blazing light flamed like a star that leaped from the firmament, searing the dark air with an intolerable light. It was even able to clean the slime off of Sting, as well as Yahiko's wooden sword, making the Mithril from within it to glow along with the light.

The light symbolized Sam and Yahiko's fighting spirits, for they both had something to fight for. Sam was fighting for Frodo, as well as for the Shire. And Yahiko was not only fighting for the future of his world, as well as for Kaoru's safety as he promised Kenshin... but for his parents who died trying to provide a peaceful life for him during the chaos of the Revolution.

The searing light was like a terror out of heaven that burned Shelob's face. The beams of it entered her wounded head and scored it with unbearable pain... and the dreadful infection of the light spread from eye to eye. Her mind was in total agony from the torturous, shining light as she fell back away from the light, recoiling in defeat.

Sam and Yahiko came onto the recoiling Shelob, with the blazing light, driving it off.



"Back! Get back!" said Sam, as he and Yahiko, still holding the searing light, took threatening steps toward Shelob.

"Go on!" Yahiko cried out, forcing Shelob to retreat, "get out of here! Get lost you creep!"





Shelob cowed at last, shrunken in defeat as she tried to hasten away from Yahiko and Sam. The giant spider struggled awkwardly backwards towards one of her many holes, and backed slowly into it...



...Until she, at last... disappeared into the darkness, with her pained squeals fading. Shelob was finally gone. The blazing white light then dissipated, letting the dark air return to the passageway.





After Shelob had left, Yahiko called out into the hole, "and you better not think about coming back out again!"

"'Cause if you do," Sam added his cry, "...THEN WE'RE REALLY GONNA HURT YOU!"











"Mr. Frodo!" Sam called out as he and Yahiko rushed toward Frodo and Kaoru, who lay within Shelob's cocoon.

"Kaoru!" Yahiko called out also.



The brave travelers squatted down toward their respective masters... and pulled the spider silk from their faces. However, Kaoru and Frodo looked deathly pale and yellowish, their lips blue, and their eyes were open, surrounded by dark rims... staring into void.



"Oh no!" Sam muttered in growing despair, "Frodo... Mr. Frodo...!"

"Come on Kaoru," said Yahiko, slowly starting to fear the worse for Kaoru, "wake up. Its me, Yahiko."

Sam's eyes began to fill with tears as he whimpered hoarsely, "wake up...!"



But alas... there were no responses from either of them. Desperate for any signs of movement... Sam moved his face closer to Frodo, softly stroking his hand against Frodo's lifeless face...



"...Don't leave me here alone... don't go where I can't follow," Sam sobbed greatly, fearing that Frodo will never respond, "...wake up!"

"...This isn't funny Kaoru," Yahiko said, with tears beginning to flow from his eyes, imploring Kaoru to move, or something, "...you're not dead... I know that you aren't... so stop showing off already. You hear me, ugly?"



Sam continued to look upon Frodo... who didn't appear to have any signs of life within him... neither did Kaoru. Then...



The Hobbit slowly lifted his head and stuttered, "...no... they're not asleep... not asleep at all Mr. Yahiko."

Yahiko bolted his head in disbelief at Sam as if he knew what Sam was going to say...





"...Dead," Sam finally said, whimpering and crying, "...they're both dead."

Yahiko's face then began to swell in anger... and roared out, "...NOOOO! NO, THEY'RE NOT DEAD SAM!"



Unwilling to believe it... Yahiko slapped Kaoru's face, at least three times... trying to do things that Kaoru would hate him for.

"WAKE UP UGLY!" Yahiko continued to scream out fiercely, "HEYYY! UGLYYYYYY!!!!!"





But... there were no signs of movement from Kaoru. Yahiko knew that whenever he called her something bad, she would either hit him... or try to strangle him to death. Only this time... there were no attempts of any retaliation... no shouting, no mangling, no slapping... absolutely nothing whatsoever.

Yahiko paused a moment, waiting patiently for a response from his assistant master...





Then Yahiko began to stutter in great pain, "...you... y-you can't do this... you can't... do this to me, Kaoru. I-I... I promised Kenshin... that I'd look after you... that I would keep you safe. It was a promise... between two men...

"...I need you Kaoru," Yahiko added, beginning to sob hoarsely as much as Sam, "...I-I... I need you... to train me. To train me to be strong--in the Kamiya Kasshin style... like Kenshin wanted me to be. I need--to be strong enough... that--that I will be able t-to stand up for my parents... t-to... to defend their honor and strength... because they helped me so much during the revolution, enough to be worthy of being called, /Samurai/. So... s-so there's no way--that you can be dead... do you hear me, ugly...?



"...THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN BE DEAD!!!!" Yahiko bellowed out again in his anguish, refusing to believe Kaoru's pronounced death.



But alas... Yahiko slumped over, cradling over Kaoru as he repeated, with tears flowing greatly, "...there's no way you can be dead..."

"...T-they're dead... Mr. Yahiko," Sam muttered to Yahiko, who now was starting to be convinced, but not entirely. Sam then cradled himself over Frodo, crying with flowing tears.

Yahiko paused before he grunted out, "...Gollum... its all his fault. He's responsible for this!"



Sam heard Gollum's name as his blood began to boil at the mere mention of his name, knowing that the creature was responsible... and meant for this to happen.



'You'll pay for this, you creep,' Yahiko thought angrily, clenching his fist in great rage, cursing Gollum for his betrayal, '...we'll make you pay for this, I swear it!'

'Gollum/,' Sam also thought angrily as he slowly balled his hand into a trembling fist, '/you better pray that that monster of a spider had eaten you first. Because if Yahiko and I ever find that you're not... then you'll be sorry for it--you'll be very, very sorry you betrayed us!'





Sam and Yahiko's thoughts were set as the red fury in their brains burned with the desire to kill Gollum. But despite that, what could they do now? Without Frodo to take the ring to Mount Doom... all hope seemed to be lost.

But now, Yahiko and Sam were left to take the ring. Despite their desire to take revenge, they both knew that it wasn't why they were on this quest. They've got to go on now. And as soon as they had their period of grief... they would take the ring and continue the quest, whether the council gave it to either of them or not.



However...





That option may not be available as Sam lifted his head... and noticed that Sting glowed with its warning signals.

"Yahiko," Sam silently called as he tapped Yahiko on his shoulder.

Yahiko lifted his weeping face at Sam as he gestured toward the glowing blade, knowing that Orcs were coming...







"You get back, scum!" a surly Orc-voice snarled from within the stairway, as well as a couple of very faint grunts from other Orcs. Sam and Yahiko had no time to linger, as they had to move quickly, and out of sight...







A Company of Orcs and Uruk-Hai made their way down the pass. As they rounded a corner in the rocks... the lead Orc, Gorbag, spied the web-wrapped form of Kaoru and Frodo lying on the ground alone.

"What's this?" Gorbag asked gleefully as he stepped down to take a closer look, "looks like ol' Shelob's been having a bit of fun. A two for one, by the looks of it."



Sam and Yahiko had been hiding in one of Shelob's holes as they heard the Orcs and Uruks talking grimly about Kaoru and Frodo's demise by the hands of Shelob.



"Killed two more, has she?" the lead Uruk, Shagrat, asked grimly, as the company stood over Frodo and Kaoru's still form.

"No," said Gorbag, with a second thought, as he squatted down towards Frodo and Kaoru, poking at them one at a time, with his whip... then gave off a wicked, reassuring smile afterwards...





"...These fellows ain't dead," Gorbag pronounced positively.





"Not dead?" gasped Sam in bewildered shock, sharing a glance with Yahiko as they both, though disgusted by the presence of the Orcs and Uruks, felt a great wave of relief come over them when Gorbag said that Frodo and Kaoru were still alive.

'Then...they're really alive,' Yahiko thought brightly, 'but how?'



"She jabs 'em with her stinger," explained Gorbag with relish as he nudged a little at Shelob's victims with his hand, "and they goes as limp, as a boned fish! And--/then/ she has her way with them. That's how she likes to feed--fresh blood. Ha!

"Get them to the tower!" Gorbag gruffly ordered his company, gesturing with his whip as they obediently went to pick up the cocooned Frodo and Kaoru.



Though relieved to hear that Shelob had more than one poison, Sam and Yahiko felt like imbeciles after believing to themselves that Frodo and Kaoru were really dead.



'.../Samwise you fool,/' Sam thought miserably with self-contempt, as he and Yahiko watched the Orcs and Uruks take Kaoru and Frodo to the Tower of Cirith Ungol, 'you should've trusted Yahiko instead of your own head. It isn't the best part of you.'

'You're such a kid, Yahiko,' Yahiko, with gritted teeth, chastised himself in his thoughts as Sam did, 'you almost made yourself believe that Kaoru and Frodo were dead. Now they've got them, the creeps!'



"These pieces of scum will be awake in a couple of hours," said Shagrat as they moved off with the cocoon.

"Then they'll wish they'd never been born," Gorbag returned with anticipation as he looked around one last time for any possible sign of Shelob, trying to reclaim her meal... before hunching off after his company.





When they left... Sam and Yahiko filled themselves with a renewed sense of determination and hope, as they now had to go after the fiends to save Frodo and Kaoru from the Orcs and Uruks' tortures...













Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or Lord of the Rings. RK is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Lord of the Rings is the property of Professor J. R. R. Tolkien



A/n: I guess you all knew that I'd let Kaoru be one of Shelob's victims, eh? So, did any of you read Harry Potter 6 yet? I kinda sped-read through the book from start to finish. And it's pretty sad at the end of the book, especially with one of the major characters being killed by the Half-Blood prince himself. Well anyway, I hope you all liked these chapters. Please read and review.