Chapter 3 - 3- In which Gandalf does not die, and Tracey grudg

Chapter Three- In which Gandalf does not die, and Tracey grudgingly saves Boromir, so he doesn't either.


And so they journeyed even more, the hobbits not mourning mindlessly for Gandalf, who was not dead. Tracey often noticed herself mentioning things that hadn't happened yet, much to the confusion of the others. Gandalf, she knew, was very suspicious. She caught him eyeing her doubtfully a lot, but didn't particularly care.
(For the benefit of the reader, I will now skip over the months of journeying they did and fast-forward to the part at Anduin, where Boromir dies.)
Okay, so they're riding Anduin River in their spiffy little boats. When they all noticed Gollum paddling along behind them, Tracey leaned forward in fascination.
"Is that really Gollum?" she said to herself. As she bent over the edge of the boat, she lost her balance and toppled into the water.
"Arwen!" Aragorn cried, quickly paddling over to save her. Gollum, startled, also dropped into the water and glided away.
When Aragorn got to where Tracey floundered in the dark water, he, unhesitatingly, grabbed her arms and hauled her onto his boat. She sat gasping for breath, leaned back onto the side of the boat, and nearly fell in again. Finally, when she noticed who had saved her, she blushed furiously, muttered something in the way of thanks, and clambered back into her boat. "Women," muttered Boromir. Aragorn and Tracey both shot him a dirty look.
When they had tethered their boats and set up camp, Tracey discreetly moved to sit next to Aragorn by the fire.
"Thanks," she said quietly, daring to shoot a glance at him, but then blushed again.
"Oh, that's all right," he said awkwardly, also blushing. "Listen, since it's so unorthodox for women to be on a journey like this, I'm not really used to it. And I know you can't be, either, so if you need help with anything, ask me. Although you've been doing really well on your own."
"Yeah…" Tracey murmured absently, not really listening. His deep chestnut hair waved slightly in the night breeze, and his sapphire eyes sparkled. She gazed at him and leaned in closer.
Suddenly, the whine of an arrow sounded and one appeared, embedding itself with a THUNK into a nearby tree. Aragorn was up in a flash, sword in hand. Tracey smacked her forehead, silently cursing Saruman and his blasted orcs.
"Can you fight?" Aragorn shouted, looking quickly at her. She scowled. "Of course! I'm Arwen!"
He ignored this and sprinted into the trees without so much as a backward glance. With an annoyed grumble, Tracey drew her own sword. "Oh, crud. Stupid… stupid… orcs…" She looked around at the deserted clearing. Everyone else had run off, either to fight or to hide like the loser hobbits that they were.
Tracey heaved a sigh. "I guess I'll defend the fortress," she said without enthusiasm, looking around at their pitiful assortment of tents. No orcs, however, entered the area.
Abruptly, Tracey realized that this was the part where Boromir died. More irritated than anything, she started into the forest, muttering, "Well, I guess I have to go rescue the psychopathic dork." Suddenly, a booming voice sounded. "No, Miss Bosso!" it cried. Tracey looked around, considerably startled. "Vienna?" she said uncertainly. "How do you keep doing that?"
"You can't change the timeline any further!" Vienna's voice continued."Don't you remember the Prime Directive, from Star Trek?? The consequences could be disastrous!!"
Tracey rolled her eyes. "Who do you think you are, Christopher Lloyd?"
"Very funny."
"Listen, I'm not doing this much longer- you have to tell me what's going on!"
The voice sighed, exasperated. "Don't start that again… just keep going, you're doing great. But still, it's bad enough that you saved Gandalf, you-"
"I didn't intend to save him, I was just trying to stop Pippin from being stupid. I didn't feel like being trapped in Moria with swarms of orcs and a Balrog. Besides, isn't it better that he's alive?"
"No. We have no idea what'll happen now! You won't be able to predict what happens if circumstances are substantially different!!"
"So? I'll improvise."
"Maybe you're forgetting- you're not a warrior, or anyone particularly wise in this storyline. You, Miss Bosso, are not even Arwen. You don't know what you're doing!"
"Excuse me, but I've made it all the way here! I braved Moria and that god-forsaken mountain," Tracey growled angrily. "And I'll do what I want, okay, little miss Narrator?" And with that, she scrambled into the trees, holding her sword aloft and ignoring Vienna's furious protests.
She hurried along, seeing no signs of Boromir or, for that matter, anyone. Breathing heavily, she stopped and listened carefully. The arrow-whizzing-sounds seemed to be coming from her left, so left she went. At last, she caught sight of Boromir blundering through the brambles, a few dozen orcs at his heels. Merry and Pippin were a little ways away from Boromir, scurrying along with much more grace than he.
With a hopeless sigh, Tracey rushed forward and took out a few orcs. Although, since violence is not allowed in this story, let's say the orcs "fainted". Her sword flashed (Arwen's attack was super effective!) as she downed still more of the vile creatures, gradually putting distance between them and the bewildered man up ahead.
At last, she lost sight of Boromir as he pounded away. Sighing with relief, she decided he could take care of himself from here on out. Suddenly, she heard voices she recognized as Sam's and Frodo's, coming from behind her, on the riverbank.
"I'm going to Mordor alone!"
"Of course you are- and I'm coming with you!"
Tracey turned abruptly and headed in that direction. She left the forest and stepped onto the edge of the water just in time to see Sam wade into the river.
"Sam, you can't swim!" Frodo cried desperately from the boat in the water.
Indeed, as the stout hobbit entered the water, he slipped underneath it as its deepness exceeded his height. "Sam!!" Frodo wailed, hastening to paddle back towards the shore. Tracey watched, amused, as the hobbit saved his friend. Before Sam could get all mushy, she rushed forward and, without a word, waded in and climbed into the boat.
As she dried herself off, the hobbits stared at her. "Um, Arwen, maybe you should stay here," Frodo said, confused.
"Yeah right!" Tracey cried, grinning wildly. "I'm getting in on this deal- honor and prestige, and all I have to do is come with you to Mordor! Although I will miss Aragorn, I can marry him later. Okay, let's go!"
When neither of the hobbits moved, Tracey grabbed the oars and propelled the boat further into the water, singing loudly, "On the Road Again".

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