A very good alternate "The Three Hunters rescue the Hobbits" story - and it even manages to tie in with canon in the end, placing all pieces on their respective places on the chess board.

Now, I'm really curious whether you will truly add two more chapters when inspiration allows:)

Hair-brained indeed, though it seems to be working so far (I'm not so sure about Legolas obviously staying behind to buy the hobbits some time...).

This was my favourite sentence in this: "For a while they had run swiftly as the Anduin, until this day, when it seemed a hand pressed upon them and snatched their strength." Very good imagery!

I like this so far. Often, stories set during the Ringwar run the risk of including big chunks of movie dialogue. It was refreshing to not see this being done here. It owes much more to the books than the films to begin with.

Now, let's see what this diversion might be. Since it's Aragorn's idea, I'm pretty sure it'll be a totally hair-brained scheme:)