From her vantage point, Charlie could see the smoking ruins of the decimated village smudging the peaceful horizon. She let out a low whistle before swiftly descending the ancient tree, landing lightly beside Éomer. While she had been scanning the landscape, the rest of the riders had packed up camp, leaving very little trace that anyone had recently occupied the area. Quickly appraising the scene, she quietly pulled Éomer out of earshot of the rest of their party.
"Orcs. They must have struck a day ago; there are still a few fires burning," Charlie whispered urgently as she strung her bow. "They headed west, by the looks of it."
Éomer rested a hand on the pommel of his broad sword, eyebrows scrunched together in concentration. "The horses are rested. We can catch up to them by nightfall." He turned to relay the news to the rest of his men. "Mount up! Orcs are in the area!"
Pulling herself onto her black mare, Charlie guided the horse towards the gruff Marshal. "Take Cedoc and Y/N with you to the village. I'll send more men when we finish with the scum," Éomer growled as he mounted his charger. He urged it through the throng of riders, taking the lead as the rest fell in behind him. Charlie gaped at him, stunned that Éomer would force Y/N upon her. He knew that they had had a brief courtship only months prior. He also knew that it did not end on the best of terms.
He must be getting back at me for that grass snake I put under his blanket.
Squaring her shoulders, she begrudgingly motioned for Cedoc and Y/N to follow her as she turned the mare towards the smoldering village. Y/N looked just as irritated as Charlie felt about the situation.
If Éomer makes it back alive, I'm going to kill him.
..........
It was mid afternoon by the time Charlie and her rescue party reached the small village. Very few of the dozen or so buildings were left standing. Many of the townsfolk were in shock, weeping over the dead or standing silently amongst the rubble. Somewhere a child was crying. Charlie inhaled sharply as she surveyed the chaos, her mind reeling from the turmoil.
Y/N appeared on her left, stony faced and impassive. She dismounted, removing her helmet and tucking it under an arm as she awaited orders. Cedoc followed suit. Charlie felt herself wither under their expectant gazes. It took confidence to be a leader, something Charlie felt she lacked in large quantities. A person had to be highly skilled to ride with the Rohirrim let alone to become the Third Marshal's second, but sometimes she still felt like it was a fluke that she even made it through training. She closed her eyes for a moment as she took a deep, steadying breath. "Cedoc, gather a few able-bodied villagers and begin searching for survivors. Y/N, get those who can to pack up. We'll need carts and stretchers for the injured. Everyone will need to be ready to go by morning.
"Aye, Cap'n." They saluted, turning to march into the mayhem. Charlie noted that Y/N's tone was a bit snarky, but she bit her lip to keep herself from saying something that would make the situation worse.
I'm a master of making everything worse, she thought morosely as she dismounted, tying her horse alongside the others. Unpacking the small pouch that held a few medicinal herbs and ointments, Charlie assessed the area, looking for those who needed the most immediate care. Spotting a young man with a gaping head wound being cradled by an older woman, Charlie ran to them and began tending to the unconscious teen. Throwing herself into her work always took her mind off of the problems she didn't want to face.
After bandaging the young man's head and giving a word of encouragement to his mother, Charlie sought out all the other injured villagers, setting bones and stemming bleeding. There were a few who she knew wouldn't make it through the night, but she did all she could to make them comfortable.
Anything to keep me from thinking about Y/N...
.............................................
Later that night, after the last of the dead had been buried, Charlie and Cedoc sat around one of the several small cooking fires enjoying their coffee in silence, letting the exhaustion of the day overtake them. Y/N, the more experienced of the trio, had volunteered to set up a guard shift amongst a few of the uninjured. Charlie was glad Y/N had taken charge; she was in no shape, physically or mentally, to organize anything after tending to the injured and the dying.
Cedoc drained his tin mug before standing up, his face haggard. "Permission to turn in, Cap'n."
Charlie shifted on the charred keg they had scavenged from a gutted lean-to. "Go ahead, Ced. You earned it."
Nodding, the younger rider stifled a yawn as he shuffled around the campfire to his pallet. Charlie watched him settle in, back to the fire. As Cedoc slowly relaxed into slumber, Charlie's gaze fell to the fire, the flames dancing merrily as it devour the reclaimed timber. Sighing heavily, she stretched her legs out in front of her and bent forward in an attempt to release the tension that had built up in her lower back. For a moment she held the position, exhaustion overcoming her body. She remained completely unaware she had company until a disembodied voice brought her to attention.
"I could have killed you, y'know."
Charlie turned her head until she could see a pair of deerskin boots through the curtain of her fiery red hair. "And I'm sure that would have made you extremely happy." She groaned as she straightened up, her body stiff from disuse. "What do you want, Y/N?"
Y/N dragged a rickety milking stool closer to the fire, rubbing her hands together as she avoided Charlie's gaze. "I just-" Cedoc snorted in his sleep, causing Y/N to look up sharply. "The guard is set, there'll be shifts of two rotating out until morning."
"Oh. Thank you." Charlie mentally kicked herself, wishing she had sent Cedoc on an errand away from their campsite.
Standing up, Y/N dipped her head in an informal salute and turned to walk away. Charlie panicked, her eyes dancing around as she frantically tried to find a reason to have Y/N stay. "Wait, Y/N..."
Y/N stopped, hands clenched into fists as she turned back to face Charlie. Her gaze was directed somewhere in the vicinity of Charlie's left ear.
"Yes, Cap'n."
"I... I..." Charlie stuttered to a stop, mind whirling with excuses. "Sorry. I mean, you know, for Éomer assigning you to rescue duty. With me. Especially since..." she trailed off, her fingers fidgeting with a blade of grass, her eyes focused intently on the ground. "I'm an idiot." She lifted her head to look at Y/N, her large sorrowful eyes pleading for Y/N to respond.
Y/N's impassive stance faltered as she regarded Charlie, strong emotions welling up to the surface. She blinked before giving her a crooked smile. "Yeah, you are."
Charlie shot up from her seat, eyes wide as she gaped at Y/N. "You mean y-you forgive me?"
Rolling her eyes, Y/N stepped closer, pulling Charlie by her sword belt into a tight embrace. "Not totally, but I think we can work something out."
Grinning, Charlie pressed her lips to Y/N's, her hands tangled in Y/N's hair. Y/N responded by wrapping her arms around Charlie's waist, pulling her in closer.
"Now that you two have made up, mind giving me an update on the issue at hand?"
Coming up for breath, Charlie and Y/N found that they had company. Éomer smirked down at them from atop his steed, an ornery glint in his road-weary eyes.
Yep, thought Charlie. I'm definitely going to kill him.