Second Section Epilogue: She could do it! Gollum plots a trap

The waters at Isengard had settled, after rushing so wildly from the mountains above. Isengard was now flooded, with the mining machines, floating around the valley. Misao, Merry, and Pippin climbed down from Treebeard, wading through the water that now drenched the land. Merry and Pippin were waist deep into the water. Misao was almost waste deep herself in the water, but was a bit taller than the Hobbits.

The trio then looked up, from a distance, at Orthanc tower, where Saruman and Wormtongue were out on the balcony, observing all the devastation the Ents caused.

"He doesn't look too happy, does he?" Merry asked quietly.

"Not too happy at all, Merry," answered Pippin.

"Yeah, at least that's one unhappy face that I'm glad to see," commented Misao, gladly, "maybe he'll think twice about trying to take over the world."

"Of course, Misao," responded Merry, as he thought fondly about the balcony from the tower, "still, I suppose the view would be quite nice from up there."

"Oh yes, you guys," interjected Pippin, playfully, "it’s a quality establishment. I hear the staff are very good."

As Pippin contemplated this… Merry slowly lifted his hand near the top of Pippin's head, keeping it level. Merry then brought his hand over to his head, secretly measuring his height, noticing that it touched his forehead, to his delight. Pippin had a feeling come over him, as he swung back at Merry, who was apparently playing with his hair.

"What are you doing?" Pippin asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing," responded Merry, acting innocent, with a satisfied smile, "the world's back to normal, that's all."

Misao giggled, to herself, remembering how upset Merry was about Pippin being taller than he was by drinking the Ent-draught. She knew that Merry was happy because he was taller than Pippin again.

Pippin then noticed Misao's giggling and wondered curiously, "something funny, Misao?"

"Nope," answered Misao, sheepishly, not wanting to tell Pippin the truth, "it's just like Merry said, the world's back to normal and everything."

"No it isn't," returned Pippin, disgruntled, "…I'm starving."

"Well, to tell the truth, I am starting to feel a little famished after spending so much time with Treebeard," admitted Misao.

"Good luck trying to find something decent to eat around here, Misao," interjected Merry, as he picked up a basket of moldy bread that floated in the water, "probably only dead rats and moldy bread."

Pippin nodded, agreeing with Merry.

"Yeah," said Misao, also agreeing with Merry, gloomily, "after all we did to stop Saruman, Isengard's still a gloomy place to be."

Pippin then looked down… and noticed something else. He picked it up out of the water and gasped to see… at it was a piece of fresh fruit, an apple to be precise. Pippin looked up to see if it had fallen from the sky. Seeing that nothing had fallen… his expression lightened, upon having some fresh fruit to eat…

Pippin turned around, and noticed some more apples, which he picked out of the water. Merry and Misao then noticed that Pippin was all happy for some unknown reason, and went to follow him, as he followed the trail of the floating fruit…

Pippin picked up some more fruit… then dropped it upon seeing a whole roasted turkey, in which he picked up and placed it inside a floating basket, which was filled with tomatoes…

Misao gathered up the fruit that Pippin dropped, while Merry picked up a flask of wine as they all entered through a doorway, following the flotsam, within the walls of the ring of Isengard. The trio then looked up…

And gazed happily at the many fresh supplies of bread, meats, fruits, and vegetables that were inside…

"Saruman's storeroom!" Merry gasped in great awe of the food they found.

'Man, oh man, Saruman's loaded with all this food!' thought Misao, dreamily, with a mouth-watering appetite to eat all this food she saw.

The trio laughed happily, knowing that they won't have to go hungry after all. Merry and Pippin then looked upon a shelf… to see two barrels, with the label 'South Farthing' on them both.

"I don't believe it," said Pippin, breathlessly.

"It can't be," added Merry in disbelief…

Pippin then grabbed the barrels and opened one of them.

"It is!" exclaimed Pippin in confirmation.

"Longbottom leaf," said Merry reverently, inhaling the scent of the dry leaves in the barrel.

"What is it, anyway?" asked Misao.

"Simply the greatest, Misao," replied Merry, with much satisfaction, "Longbottom Leaf's the finest pipe-weed in the South-Farthing!"

"It's perfect," said Pippin, as he gave a barrel to Merry, then took one for himself, "one barrel each."

"Uh, excuse me, but what do you do with it?" inquired Misao.

"You smoke it… in a pipe," answered Pippin happily, offering some to Misao, "why don't you have some, Misao."

"Well, actually, I've never smoked before," Misao pointed out, "I don't even have a pipe."

"Oh, that's a shame, Misao," said Merry, discontented.

"Wait," interjected Pippin, with a thought that made him feel crestfallen, "should we share it with Treebeard, then?"

"Share it with Treebeard?" Merry asked, his heart sinking.

Merry turned his head to the door a moment, in deep thought…

"…No… no," Merry replied, taking a piece of the weed in his hand, "dead plant, and all that. Don't think he'd understand."

"Huh? How do you mean, Merry?" wondered Misao, as Pippin thought the same.

"…Could be a distant, relative, Misao," Merry responded in a little voice, while looking back at the opening.

Misao and Pippin then brightened with realization dawning upon their faces…

"…Oh, I get it," said Pippin, touching his nose, with his finger, "don't be hasty."

"…Exactly," replied Merry, as he pulled out his pipe, playing with it, while in his mouth.

Misao nodded sheepishly, understanding the situation.

"Bar-hrum!" Merry bellowed playfully, trying to sound like Treebeard.

Pippin… then Misao began to laugh gaily, with Merry joining along. As they were doing this…

Treebeard walked up to the opening… and smelled a bit of smoke. The Ent bent down to try to see what was happening, while hearing Misao and the Hobbits… dissolve into fits of laughter, like a bunch of clowns.

Helm's Deep was finally saved from the Uruk-Hai. The women and children welcomed back the men upon their return. Éowyn looked around for Aragorn to see if he was among the men that returned. Aragorn then appeared and she immediately ran over to him, and caressed his cheek lovingly. The pair embraced, pleased to see him again, crying tears of relief. Kenshin, Sanosuke, and Aoshi looked up at the embracing pair happily, while Saito smoked his cigarettes, pitying Aragorn and Éowyn's reunion.

Cleanup then began all over the fortress, with the soldiers gathering and throwing the dead Uruk-Hai on top of each other in many separate piles. As they were doing this…

Legolas and Saito were counting up the many Uruks they slain during the battle, in their little contest. They both came up to Gimli, who was sitting on one of the Uruks, smoking his pipe, with his axe buried in the beast's skull.

"Final count," Legolas announced confidently, while checking his bow string, "…42."

"Heh, tough break," Saito smirked, with a hint of arrogance, "my count happens to be 56."

"Eh, fifty-six," rumbled Gimli, "I must concede to you on that count, Master Saito."

Saito smirked, even more, responding to the fact that he won.

Gimli turned to Legolas and added, with a little ease, "and forty-two's not bad for a pointy-eared Elvish princeling."

Legolas lifted an eyebrow in confusion to why Gimli would say so little of his count.

"I myself am sitting pretty on forty-three, Legolas," Gimli announced happily, "which rather puts me in second place, Saito."

"What does it matter?" Saito nonchalantly returned, "you were still behind by thirteen."

Suddenly, Legolas mounted an arrow, aiming it towards Gimli…

ZIP!

And shot an arrow, hitting the Uruk in the side, right in between Gimli's legs, making him, as well as Saito gasp in surprise.

"Forty-three!" Legolas pronounced smugly, "now I'm in second place, Saito."

"He was already dead," Gimli informed him dryly.

"He was twitching," returned Legolas indignantly.

"He was twitching, because he's got my axe, embedded in his nervous system!" Gimli explained in exasperation, as he grabbed his axe, moving it while in the Uruk's head, causing his body move along with it.

'Obviously,' Saito thought, not rather amused.

The people could now leave the protection of the fortress, and return to their homes, and at Edoras. But Gandalf, Kenshin, Théoden and company… rode to the top of a slope, looking towards Mordor, at the Mountain of Fire, from where they stood…

"Sauron's wrath will be terrible, his retribution swift," Gandalf told the others soberly.

The fact was made clear as they all saw Mt. Doom rumble more fiercely than before… with thunder and lightning flashing all over the land of Mordor…

"…The battle for Helm's Deep is over," Gandalf added solemnly, "the battle for Middle-Earth…

Gandalf turned to Kenshin, ending, "as well as for your world… is about to begin Kenshin."

Kenshin slowly nodded with determination. Sanosuke looked at Kenshin with the same determination, while Aragorn looked over to Gandalf, who in turn returned his gesture…

Gandalf then looked forward and fatefully announced, "…all our hopes now lie with two little Hobbits, a woman, and a young boy… somewhere in the wilderness."

After finally convincing Faramir not to take the ring to Gondor, Faramir freely helped to lead Frodo, Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sam out of Osgiliath, through an old underground sewer system. Gollum was once again, leading them to Mordor's secret entrance in the mountains up ahead.

Silence followed the travelers and suddenly…

Sam spoke, in fantasy, "I wonder if we’ll ever be put into songs or tales."

"What?" Frodo asked in surprise.

Sam went on clarifying, "I wonder if people will ever say, ‘let’s hear about Frodo and the Ring’. And they’ll say ‘yes, that’s one of my favorite stories'."

Kaoru and Yahiko brightened with smiles, hearing Sam's delightful quoting.

Sam quoted once more, "‘Frodo was really courageous, wasn’t he, dad?’ ‘Yes, my boy, the most famousest of Hobbits. And that’s saying a lot.’"

Yahiko then interjected, playfully. "I don't know if the people back in my world will want to hear about this story, Sam, but I certainly do."

"Well," added Kaoru, "in Yahiko's case, I'm proud to admit that this story's starting to become one of my favorites too."

"Oh, thanks for the complement, Miss Kaoru," said Sam in gratitude.

"Well, you left out three of the chief characters," Frodo cut in, playing along with his companions, "Samwise the Brave, Yahiko the Adventurous, and the Compassionate Lady Kaoru. I want to hear more about them."

Hearing this statement from Frodo made them feel like the real heroes of the story. Frodo then turned to look at them, seriously.

"Frodo," said Frodo, "wouldn't have got far without Sam… or Kaoru… or even Yahiko."

Kaoru and Yahiko grinned at Frodo's statement. Sam, however, was confused… and looked at Frodo reproachfully.

"Now, Mr. Frodo," said Sam, "you shouldn't make fun. I was being serious."

"So was I," Frodo said quietly, before turning away again.

"Of course he was Sam," added Yahiko, "he wouldn't call you Samwise the Brave if he wasn’t serious now, would he? And he certainly wouldn't have called Kaoru compassionate, even though she's still ugly."

Insulted… Kaoru slapped Yahiko on the head.

"Very funny, Yahiko," Kaoru said annoyed. They went on afterwards.

Sam, thinking about what Frodo had said, gave his backpack a little heave… and continued to follow along.

"Samwise the Brave," Sam said quietly …and dreamily… to himself. Frodo heard Sam a little bit and smiled to himself.

Yahiko then looked around, inquiring, "speaking of which, where's my least favorite character, Gollum the all-out creepy?"

"Yeah," said Sam, "where is the stinker?"

"We better look for him," said Kaoru… and they started to look for Gollum, calling for him.

"Smeagol!" Frodo called out.

"Mr. Smeagol!" Kaoru called out as well.

"We’re not gonna wait for you," Sam added, "Come on!"

"You heard Sam, ugly," Yahiko added also, "let's go!"

As they continued to call for Gollum…

Gollum was a few yards ahead of the travelers, hidden behind some trees. He crawled on all fours, looking lost. But was in fact… struggling with himself once more…

"Master... master looks after us," Smeagol told himself in a small voice, "Master… wouldn’t hurt us."

"Master broke his promise!" Gollum reminded harshly.

"Don’t ask Smeagol, Smeagol whimpered out, knowing what Gollum wanted as he crawled to a tree, pulling himself against it, "poor, poor Smeagol…"

"…Master betrayed us! Wicked, tricksy, false!" Gollum spat out as he out for a nearby tree branch, and twisted it snarling, "we ought to wring his filthy little neck!"

Gollum then started scuttling around, showing his hatred of Frodo and the others…

"Kill him!" Gollum growled, "kill them! Kill them all!"

Then he stopped scuttling, raising a fist. "… And then we takes the preciousss and we be the master!" Gollum finished triumphantly.

But then…

"But the fat Hobbit," said Smeagol whispering, "and the impulsive child, they know. Eyes always watching."

"Then we stabs them out," Gollum grimly resolved, "put out their eyeses, and make them crawl!"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Smeagol nodded enthusiastically, with the back of a finger to his mouth, more than happy to see that happen.

"Kill them all," Gollum gritted, raising his fist again.

"Yes!" Smeagol nodded in agreement, then, "No! No!

"Its too risky!" The creature shook its head, backing away into a tree, "its too risky!"

From the tree… Gollum looked in the direction of the travelers, who were continuing to call for him…

"Where is he?" Sam asked in exasperation, "where's he gone?"

"Man," said Yahiko, "he's really getting on my nerves!"

"Yeah, no mistake, about that Mr. Yahiko," agreed Sam, grudgingly, "oi! Gollum, where are you?"

"Mr. Smeagol," Kaoru said reproachfully, "we don't have time to be playing games, you know!"

"Smeagol!" Frodo called out again…

But Smeagol remained hidden behind some trees a few yards ahead. And then…

Gollum came with a sneaky suggestion, "…we could let… 'Her' do it."

"Yes," Smeagol brightened in agreement, "…she could do it."

"Yes, precious, she could," Gollum added, softly and sinisterly as he turned to look back at the travelers.

"And then, we takes it once they’re all dead," finished Gollum devilishly.

"…Once their all dead… shhhh!" Smeagol repeated putting his forefinger to his mouth…

And Gollum bounded out of his hiding place, in front of the travelers.

"Oh," said Kaoru in surprise, "there you are Mr. Smeagol. We mustn't waste anymore time. There's still a long way to go."

"Yes," said Gollum, gesturing the travelers to follow, "come on Hobbits, come on travelers, the pretty lady's right. Long ways to go yet. Sméagol will show you the way."

He turned away, and scrabbling along on all fours, adding in an ugly voice, "follow me."

Kaoru noticed the change in Gollum's manner and almost gasped…

Follow me… Kaoru recalled what Gollum said… the way he said it.

'…Smeagol,' thought Kaoru with a shocked expression, '…is he… is he…?'

Still in shock of this revelation… Kaoru, nevertheless, continued to follow Gollum, along with Frodo, Sam, and Yahiko. Their journey was still long…

As they must continue to stroll through the forest…

Up the rocky, sharp-edged hills of Ephel Dúath…

Towards the desolation of Mordor, where the Eye of Sauron glowed darkly atop Barad-dûr… and the fires continued to pour from Mount Doom. Lightning flashed everywhere around the Black Land as three fell-beasts circled the dark skies. But Gollum's trap wasn't deep in the land of Mordor…

It lies somewhere… within the mountain range…

END OF SECTION 2

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: Section two has ended. And all of you should know to the 'her' that Gollum is leading them to, shouldn't you? Next is the final section, KENSHIN AND THE RETURN OF THE KING, next chapter. Sorry if I didn't include the ending song of Two Towers, but other than that… please read and review.