Author: SkyFire <seleighe@yahoo.com>

Subject: Gil! This fic's for you! *g*

"Death and Flowers" is the name of my new LotRfic, and it was inspired

by that Mary-Sueness test posted this morning. *g* I used 9 elements

from it. Don't worry; I've listed them all at the end of the story so

you don't have to wonder which ones... *g*

Rated PG-13, for general evilness. *g*

It's 1282 words long, says FF.net.

Hope you like it! *g*

Death and Flowers
by SkyFire

Disclaimer: Recognized LotR characters are not mine. *sob* Plotbunnies are mine, though.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Gil for the inspiration for my plotbunnies! I was reading your list
and they just kept biting! *g* This is made up of 9 of the items thereon. Don't worry, I listed
them all at the end, for those who didn't get the list. Just don't peek, ok? *g*

Feed the plotbunnies! Leave a review! *g*

*****
Death and Flowers
by SkyFire

If he'd ever once had a name, it had long ago been swallowed up by the endlessly passing mists of
time. Now there was only the Master and the Master's will. He felt sorrow only when he failed
his Master, which only rarely happened, and felt joy only when he could return successfully from
fulfilling his Master's orders, then to await the next.

He was known now only as the chief of his Master's Nazgul, leader of the Nine, and he wore upon
his brow his ancient crown of old, and upon his hand he wore the Ring of Power he'd taken up
countless years before.

Now, by his Master's orders, he rode away north and west to find a land called 'Shire,' with the
eight other Nazgul close beside him, to find 'Baggins' and retrieve his Master's long-lost One
Ring.

The Nine rode their black horses over grassy road and green fields, feeling nothing but the
driving *need* to complete their set task and return to Minas Morgul to await the next time their
orders sent them forth.

At last, they reached the land called 'Shire' and split up, that way to cover more ground more
quickly in their search for 'Baggins.'

He rode in a somewhat westerly direction, moving toward what the passing signposts declared to be
'Hobbiton.' He was passing along a lane in a wood when he heard a furtive rustle at one side of
the road, then sudden silence. He pulled up his horse and dismounted. He sniffed the air,
trying to determine what waited hidden in the underbrush there. He walked to the bushes, armor
and mail clinking with a strangely dead sound with every step. He reached out an armored hand
and parted the bushes.

Then he reeled back with an unearthly wail as he clawed at his face and the two vicious, furry
ferrets that had attached themselves to it by tooth and claw. He managed to pull the creatures
off, crushing one in either hand, then dropped them carelessly to the ground.

He was approaching his horse to continue with his mission when he heard an outraged shriek from
above. He had not even time to look or draw his blade when he was hit hard from behind by the
fisted talons of a great eagle, who then proceded to buffet him from all directions with talons
and huge pumping wings. Somehow, he managed to stumble aff the road and into the trees where the
eagle could not follow.

He raised his head and called his horse with his undead voice, turning to look back at the road
when he heard no answering neighing. He saw there with his muted sight a great cat, a tiger,
the likes of which were usually only seen in the far south of Middle-Earth. His horse was
galloping away from the animal and would not obey its master's call.

He let loose another chilling wail, hoping to scare away the beast so that his horse would
return.

"You're one of the Nine Ringwraiths, aren't you?" came the smooth, fearless voice from behind
him.

He spun to face the newcomer, saw there a human girl clad in brown and green, cloaked as one of
the Dunedain. She was, even to his diminished sight, amazingly beautiful, with long auburn hair
bound in an elaborate braid. She seemed to glow in his sight, shining with the strength of her
goodness.

"You squashed my ferrets," she said sadly, her flawless face creasing in a pout of monumental
proportions. Her eyes shimmered with tears and a single perfect crystal tear escaped, running
down her face to drop to the forest floor from her chin. Where it hit, a shining flower sprang
up, the like of which was never before seen on Middle-Earth and would never be again.

The leader of the fearsome Nazgul found himself suddenly filled to overflowing with the emotion
of remorse, then surprise as he recognized the feelings, as they weren't granted to him by the
Master. He opened a mouth more accustomed to fearsome wails than speech, and spoke for the first
time in years beyond count. "I... I am... sorry."

He stepped aside as she passed by, watched as she knelt by the creatures he had crushed with his
own hands. He saw her scoop up the creatures, then squeeze her eyes shut, squeezing out a single
tear from each eye. A tear fell upon each ferret and as he watched, their crushed bodies
expanded once again, then, with angry squeakings, they lived again.

She looked over her shoulder at where he stood in the wood, his eagle-shredded cloak flapping
slightly in a faint breeze. "Come. Walk with me to my home. I want to talk to you."



The other eight Nazgul, leading his runaway horse, found him three days later.

He knelt beside the girl in her flower garden. His black cloak and armor was gone; he was
dressed simply in brightly colored shirt and pants, with an apron over it in front and a flower
tucked behind one ear. Hands, forearms and knees wore dirt-smears as he helped the girl plant
cheerful-colored pansies and marigolds. His Ring he wore on a chain about his neck.

He looked up as the Eight approached, then stood. He pulled the chain from about his neck and
gave it to the Nazgul that had been his second. "Take my Ring back to Sauron and begone," he
said, voice still raspy but much improved after those three days with the girl. "Go, now. For
our guests shall be arriving soon and you are not now ready to meet them. The Elf-lords have no
love for the Nazgul. They almost killed me the first day before my beautiful beloved convinced
them that I am completely reformed." He hugged the girl, and she smiled brilliantly up at him.

The Eight turned and galloped away, fear greater than any they had ever known coursing through
them.

Their once-fearsome leader... free of his Ring... planting flowers... in love... alive once more.


END

Notes: Okay, these are the parts of Gil's Mary-Sueness list that I chose to write this using.
#36. [Is your character] extremely beautiful?
#40. Does your character have long hair?
#41. Of an unusual colour?
#88. Do animals that are usually untamed, such as Shadowfax, like and obey your character?
#96. Does she also have a pair of ferrets, an eagle, and a Bengal tiger who follow her around
defending her? (If the answer to question 95 is yes, please send me a copy of your story)
#109. Is your character so good, beautiful and persuasive that s/he can persuade otherwise
evil (or misguided) canon characters to change their ways?
#143 d) Your character is a Ringwraith.
#147. Is your character able to restore anyone to life by weeping over them?
#189. Does a beautiful flower miraculous bloom at you character's gravesite? (OK, well it's
not her *grave*, but there *is* a flower!)


Like it? Yes? No? Let me know! Leave a review!