Rurouni Kenshin and the Lord of the Rings, a fanfic by John the Visionary, chapter 34

This is a work in progress (not yet complete). It is the best combination of anime and Lord of the Rings that I've seen yet, which is why I asked John for permission to post it here. Enjoy. Tim Seltzer

John's Disclaimer: 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.

Misao, Merry, and Pippin have had a good night's worth of sleep in Fangorn Forest, at Treebeard's home. Misao slowly fluttered her eyes as she turned her head… to see that it was morning. She yawned, stretching out her arms.

He and Misao looked around in confusion, to see a clearing surrounded by trees and rocks, with a little stream, which started as a trickling waterfall amongst the rocks. There, they also saw Pippin standing near the little waterfall drinking what appeared to be water from a fungus bowl. But… there was no sign of Treebeard.

Merry and Misao then stood up, gazing about, looking for Treebeard, who had apparently left them.

"I hope you didn't leave us behind," Misao added her call, "you promised Gandalf that you'd look after us."

"I had the loveliest dream last night," Pippin spoke dreamily to the others, "there was this large barrel, full of pipe-weed. And we smoked all of it, and then… you were sick, Merry."

Pippin's last remark seemed to discourage Merry as he still wondered about Treebeard. Misao, however, could not help but laugh to herself at Merry's reaction.

"I'd give anything for a whiff of Old Toby," Pippin said wistfully as he laid back into the rocks.

"Did you hear that?" asked Merry as he and Misao walked towards Pippin, trying to figure out where the sounds were coming from.

Pippin, however, seemed unconcerned as he just stood, carrying a large fungus jug in his arms…

"No," replied Merry uncertainly, watching the trees around the clearing suspiciously, "…something's not right here. Not right at all."

Pippin looked at his friends like they were frightened for no reason at all. Pippin then took a swig of the liquid in the bowl and suddenly…

Merry and Misao then turned to look beside them… to find that Pippin was the one who made those noises.

Pippin then did his stretching, making those tree-like groans again. And as he did… something else happened…

Pippin appeared to be growing when he 'stretched'. Which apparently make Misao and Merry gasp even more. Merry looked at Pippin, seeing how much he's grown.

"Pippin," Merry explained to Pippin, as he puts his hands on his waste, "everyone knows, I'm the tall one, you're the short one."

"Oh please, Misao," laughed Pippin, "Merry's what… three-foot-six, at the most? Whereas me, I'm pushing 3'7"."

Pippin then drank the water again, becoming happier each moment. Misao and Merry, however, were becoming more distraught with Pippin's unnatural growth.

Pippin only responded with an innocent shrugged, grinning as he pleased. The happy Hobbit then lowered the fungus bowl in which he drank the water from. Merry and Misao suddenly noticed the pitcher that Pippin held in his arms, their expressions turned to greed as they believed that it was the water that made Pippin grow unnaturally.

'That water's got to be what made Pippin grow,' thought a greedy Misao, 'man, if I had some of that… Lord Aoshi will finally see me as a woman, and not a kid.'

Misao looked at Merry, who shared the same greed for what Pippin drank… and gave each other a conspiratorial nod…

Merry only grinned mischievously at Pippin and ran off with it. Pippin tried to follow… but was knocked down by Misao. She then ran off to join her accomplice.

Pippin then sat up… to see Merry sharing the Entdraught with Misao. Misao drank up like a storm.

"Hey Misao, don't drink it all," said Merry to the drinking machine that was Misao, "save some for me."

"Merry! Misao!" Pippin cried out desperately as he ran towards his greedy friends, "No, Treebeard said, Treebeard said that you shouldn't have any!"

"Well, you should've remembered that before you started drinking," Misao pointed out the obvious.

But Merry and Misao kept pushing Pippin away, avoiding his lunges and grabs each time, wanting more of the Entdraught. The ensuing mayhem resulted in a frivolous chase with Pippin in pursuit of Misao and Merry.

"He said that--!" Pippin repeated, still chasing his friends, "it could well be dangerous!"

Pippin continued to chase Merry and Pippin, who had now, ran into one of the ancient trees.

"Give it back!" Pippin implored them once more as they clambered over the gnarled roots of an ancient tree that made Merry drop the pitcher, "Merry!"

The ground underneath the mischievous trio began to tremble and shake… the roots of the tree were moving!

"Merry! Misao!" Pippin cried out as he was starting to be pulled into the ground as was Merry and Misao…

Merry, Misao, and Pippin were pulled into the ground even faster. They all screamed and cried out. It was so hard for them to believe that their adventures… would end here…

When only their faces were left uncovered… the leaves from the trees covered their faces. Then…

"Help!" Pippin cried out, but was muffled by the tree so much… that practically no one could hear it!

"Away with you," Treebeard stepped in, gesturing the trees to let their captives free, "you should not be waking."

"Eat earth," Treebeard ordered the tree as it loosened even more, "dig deep. Drink water."

And Misao and the Hobbits swiftly escaped the roots, getting as far away from them as they could. Misao, upon seeing Treebeard, immediately jumped onto Treebeard's branches.

"Man, Treebeard," said a panting, yet relieved Misao, "…could you practice not coming in at the last possible moment? I nearly suffocated in there!"

Treebeard then turned to pick up Merry and Pippin as he said, "Come, the forest is waking up, it isn't safe."

"I don't understand," said Misao, "I mean why did the tree attack us like that? We didn't do anything to it."

"The trees have grown wild and dangerous Misao," Treebeard explained, "anger festers in their hearts. Black are their thoughts, strong is their hate. They will harm you if they can.

"There are too few of us now… too few of us Ents left to manage them," Treebeard finished.

"Why are there so few of you, when you have lived so long?" asked Pippin, "are there Ent children?"

"Bru-ra-hroom," rumbled Treebeard, "there have been no Entings for a terrible long count of years."

"We lost the Entwives," Treebeard answered. Misao gasped in shock, filling her with remorse after hearing Treebeard's answer.

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Pippin with the same remorse as Misao, "how did they die?"

"Die?" asked a bemused Treebeard, "No, we lost them. And now, we cannot find them."

"You mean to tell us," interjected Misao, "that these 'Entwives' didn't die, but are just missing for no reason?"

"Yes, that's correct," answered Treebeard, and asked Misao, "are there any Entwives from where you come from, Misao?"

"Sorry," replied Misao, "my world doesn't have any Ents, or any trees that could eat you alive."

Treebeard was shocked to hear that statement come form Misao, to which she recoiled a little nervously.

"No," interrupted a sympathetic Treebeard, "I… understand. You've just gone through a terrrible ordeal, and no one can blame you for that. From where you come from, you and your people must've never heard of the Ents before."

Treebeard then asked the Hobbits, "I don't suppose you've seen Entwives in the Shire?"

"…I don't remember now," answered Treebeard sadly, leaving Pippin with a bewildered expression on his face.

'Geez,' Misao thought, with an exasperated expression, 'Treebeard can be so pathetic. First he loses these Entwives of his, next thing you know… he forgets all about them.

'I'm sure glad I'm not an Ent… because then, I'd probably end up forgetting all about Lord Aoshi.'

Back in the plains of Rohan, Gandalf, Kenshin, and the others have arrived in Edoras, a large, village-like wooden city set up upon a hill, in front of a range of mountains in the background.

"Edoras," announced Gandalf, "and the Golden Hall of Meduseld. There dwells Théoden, King of Rohan, whose mind is overthrown. The poison of Saruman has been induced into the king by the king's advisor, Grima Wormtongue. Saruman's hold over King Theoden is now very strong…"

In the hall, Éowyn kneeled before Théoden, holding his hand in hers, trying to bear bad news to her uncle…

"My lord," said Eowyn, with much sorrow, gently stroking his hand, "…your son… he is dead. My lord… Uncle?"

After all of Éowyn's efforts… Théoden just sat there unresponsive… and stared ahead, his eyes clouded and unseeing. Saruman's poison had truly taken its toil upon him. Theoden could no longer be called the ruler of Rohan… but a virtual zombie without any will of his own.

"Be careful," Gandalf advises the others, "what you say. Do not look for welcome here."

A/n: originally, I set the part of Gandalf and the others riding off to Edoras at the end of ch. 7, but it seemed that one of my reviewers, Raiden-sama (this one's for you, by the way), wanted to see the scene with the Entdraught. And I must say, I liked that part too.

But I'd say that I would explain more. Well, the thing is, I'm trying my best to get a job so that I can continue to go online and publish more of this. I don't want to have to be unable to pay for AOL, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to publish more of this story now, would I? That's one of the major reasons for the waiting. And also, I meant what I said about starting section three. I'm on the second chapter now.

But anyway, please read and review, and thank you for taking the time to read my situation.

Rurouni Kenshin and the Lord of the Rings

Believe it or not, there's more, lot's more to come. This is a work in progress. Yikes!!!


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Rurouni Kenshin and the Lord of the Rings

Chapter 34: Misao and the Entdraught