Aragorn...strangely moved by the beauty of the silent sentinels. He speaks, almost as if to himself.
ARAGORN (CONT'D) (deeply moved) Long have I desired to look upon the kings of old...my kin.
The fellowship stare in stunned silence as the current takes them through the narrow gap between the Statues' feet.
(CONTINUED) 107.
Wide on:
Craning up past the statues vast crumbling heads, to reveal a large lake only a mile down river... EXT. SHORE OF NEN HITHOEL -- DAY
ANGLE ON:
THE FELLOWSHIP As they leap out of the boats and clamber onto the wooded shore.
ARAGORN:
We cross the lake at nightfall, hide the boats and continue on foot..we approach Mordor from the North.
GIMLI:
(gloomy) Oh, yes, just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil, an impassable labyrinth of razor sharp rocks. And after that gets even better...a festering, stinking marshland, far as the eye can see.
ARAGORN:
That is our Road...I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf.
GIMLI:
(indignant) Recover my... Legolas turns to Aragorn with urgency.
LEGOLAS:
We should leave now.
ARAGORN:
No. Orcs patrol the Eastern shore. We must wait for cover of darkness.
LEGOLAS:
It is not the Eastern shore that worries me.
Legolas casts a glance around into the Parth Galen forest... LEGOLAS (CONT'D) A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind. Something draws near, I can feel it.
(CONTINUED) 108.
CONTINUED:
Aragorn looks at Legolas, knowing full well what he means.
Sam has slumped asleep...Merry dumps a small pile of kindling at Gimli's feet...
MERRY:
Where's Frodo?
Sam sits up with a start...Aragorn's head snaps round..his eyes fly to Boromir's shield which lies abandoned by his camp
bed. CLOSE ON:
ARAGORN.... as he realizes Boromir has gone!
EXT. SLOPES OF AMON HEN -- DAY Frodo is walking beneath the trees...lost in thought. His feet hit the rough edge of an ancient stone slab...his eyes follow an overgrown path towards stone stairs leading to the summit of Amon Hen...the seeing seat. A CRACKLING SOUND!
Frodo freezes....
BOROMIR:
(quietly) None of us should wander alone; you least of all. So much depends on you...Frodo?
Frodo turns slowly...he stares at Boromir, tense, cautious.
BOROMIR (CONT'D) I know why you seek solitude. You suffer, I see it day by day. Are you sure you do not suffer needlessly?