He runs without looking back, nearly tripping over his own two feet but never stopping, never daring to look back over his shoulder. Sharp rocks press against the soles of his bare feet, branches whip across his face as he flies by, but Sam takes no heed of any of it.
He can't remember how he'd gotten here. None of this looks familiar - not that much does, these days - and more to the point, he can't figure out where the others might have gone. Normally that itself would have been cause enough for panic. The last he can remember, he'd been curled up on the shores of the Anduin beside Frodo, cold and exhausted and grateful to be out of the blasted boat at last. Merry and Pippin were nearby, already asleep, and he'd been vaguely aware of Strider and the other Big Folk talking quietly a few yards away as he drifted off to sleep himself.
Now, it's daylight, and he's alone, and the river is nowhere in sight. Frodo is gone, along with the rest.
And it doesn't matter, because this is more important right now, and he has to keep running.
Behind him, the bear roars, the sound splitting the air and - he swears - shaking the earth itself. Sam shakes as well, turning a blind corner and crying out himself as he does. He just hopes he doesn't crash into - well, anything.
Samwise Gamgee | Rifter | Lord of the Rings
He runs.
He runs without looking back, nearly tripping over his own two feet but never stopping, never daring to look back over his shoulder. Sharp rocks press against the soles of his bare feet, branches whip across his face as he flies by, but Sam takes no heed of any of it.
He can't remember how he'd gotten here. None of this looks familiar - not that much does, these days - and more to the point, he can't figure out where the others might have gone. Normally that itself would have been cause enough for panic. The last he can remember, he'd been curled up on the shores of the Anduin beside Frodo, cold and exhausted and grateful to be out of the blasted boat at last. Merry and Pippin were nearby, already asleep, and he'd been vaguely aware of Strider and the other Big Folk talking quietly a few yards away as he drifted off to sleep himself.
Now, it's daylight, and he's alone, and the river is nowhere in sight. Frodo is gone, along with the rest.
And it doesn't matter, because this is more important right now, and he has to keep running.
Behind him, the bear roars, the sound splitting the air and - he swears - shaking the earth itself. Sam shakes as well, turning a blind corner and crying out himself as he does. He just hopes he doesn't crash into - well, anything.