Hello, all me faithful reviewees out there! I really hope you like this story. I have drawn from the very depths of my artistic being t bring you this story. LOL! I hope you're a fan of slash because there will be some in a later chapter. I think MerryPippin slash is just so cute! PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!!!!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 1: Found

Pippin stood by Gandalf on the bloody battle field outside Minas Tirith. The air was dusty and it stunk of death. There were dead bodies dotted all across the golden grass of Pelennor Fields. Dead Oliphaunts also dotted the war-torn landscape. The surviving soldiers walked here and there looking for survivors and gathering the dead. Every now and then, a cry of agony or a loud moan could be heard as the wounded soldiers lay dying everywhere. Pippin had seen so much death and destruction in such a short period of time, he didn't know if he would ever be able to get it out of his mind. The dust floating in the air slightly stung his eyes as he and Gandalf came to a halt. He saw Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli standing in front of a huge army of wispy, green ghosts. His first thought was amazement. He had never seen such a sight. He heard one of the ghosts and Aragorn having a conversation, but he tried to tune it out. He walked away, unseen by his friends. He walked slowly across the battle field, the golden grass crunching softly underneath his bare feet. As he walked, something caught his eye. He saw a cloak laying a few feet away, but something about the cloak was sickeningly familiar. He ran over and picked up the cloak. Just one glance at it and he knew.....this cloak was that of his dearest friend: Merry. He looked around but saw no sign of Merry.

"Merry." Pippin whispered in horror as he though about what could have happened to him.

Pippin sprinted forward in search of Merry. He left no body unturned as he searched. He dreaded turning over each body for fear that he would find the lifeless face of Merry looking up at him. Tears streamed down his dirty cheeks as he searched and searched for the one person he cared the most about. He searched for hours without any success. As the sun started to set below the craggy mountains in the west, Pippin stumbled blindly across the battle field. He continuously cried out Merry's name, hoping against hope that he would heard an answer, but there was none. The tears fell freely now as he was beginning to loose hope of ever seeing his dearest cousin again. But still he searched; he could not give up on Merry.

"Merry! Merry!" Pippin cried out as he walked across the fields.

By now it was dark and it was becoming hard to see, but Pippin kept searching. He came to a stop in front of a huge, dead Oliphaunt. His eyes drifted down to between the two sets of enormous legs of the Oliphaunt. He saw a dead Uruk-Hai laying there, but that's not what caught his eye. he thought he saw a tuft of golden curly hair protruding from under the Uruk's dead body.

"No...." Pippin whisper in fear as he sprinted forward.

He felt his heart turn to ice in fear. He pushed the dead Uruk aside with some difficulty. He saw Merry laying before him on his side with his right arm clutched limply to his chest.

"Merry." Pippin cried as he leaned over him.

When Merry made no movement, Pippin turned him over and gently cradled him in his arms. Merry was as pale as death and he was completely limp in Pippin's arms. But the thing that scared Pippin the most was the extreme cold radiating off him. Pippin almost shivered in his armor as he held Merry close to his chest.

"Merry, it's me." Pippin whispered.

Pippin hardly dared to breathe as he waited for an answer. Merry's face twitched slightly and his eyes weakly peeped open. Pippin cried again, but this time with joy, and he held Merry closer, never wanting to let him go.

"It's Pippin." he said, tears of joy sliding down his cheeks, leaving trails in the dirt smeared across his face.

"I knew....you'd find....me." Merry whispered weakly.

"Yes." Pippin nodded.

Suddenly a look of fear crossed Merry's face.

"Are you going to leave me?" he asked.

"No, Merry." Pippin promised, "I'm going to look after you."

A look of relief came over Merry's face and he leaned his head on Pippin's chest.

"Are you hurt?" Pippin asked.

"I don't know....all I feel is cold." Merry answered, shivering in Pippin's arms.

Pippin held Merry closer and rubbed his shoulder in an attempt to warm him.

"H-help me, Pip...." Merry moaned, a wave of pain washing over his cold body.

"Shhh, it's all right." Pippin gently comforted, "Help will come soon."

Merry suddenly felt very weak and he strained to keep his eyes open.

"Merry, stay awake." Pippin said, gently shaking him, "Stay with me, all right?"

"I c-can't..." Merry said, drifting off into unconsciousness.

Fear gripped Pippin like a vice and he tried his best to remain calm. He took a deep breath to steady himself and he gently laid Merry back on the ground. Pippin very carefully checked him over for injuries and found almost everything intact. When he came to Merry's right arm, he felt a terrible cold that worried him. He moved upward to Merry's face and found that he had a split lip and some bruising across his face. He also had some dark bruises and cuts across his neck as if someone had been choking him. Pippin shuddered at the thought and turned his attention back to the possibly dying Hobbit before him. Merry seemed paler than before and his breathing was shallow and raspy.

"Oh, Merry, hold on. Please hold on." Pippin said, holding Merry's limp right hand in his and gently stroking the golden curls from his pale face.

Merry moaned and drew in a raspy breath. He muttered something in his state of semi-unconsciousness that Pippin could not understand. Pippin gently lifted Merry into his arms, cradling him close in an effort to comfort him. He slowly rocked back and forth as he listened to Merry's uneven breathing and moans of fear and pain.

"Stay with me, Merry. Stay with me." Pippin whispered, fighting to keep fear from overtaking him.

"Pip...it's...so dark." Merry moaned, "It's....c-cold."

"Don't dwell on that, Merry. I'm here now and you're safe." Pippin said.

Merry's face scrunched up in pain and he gasped with the struggle to breathe. Pippin took Merry's right hand and kissed it, wincing at how cold it was against his lips.

"You're going to be all right. Help will come soon and Aragorn will fix you right up." Pippin said, trying to encourage Merry a bit.

Pippin just hoped he was right. He could not carry Merry to the Houses of Healing and he was not about to leave him. Pippin sat there on the ground with Merry cradled gently in his arm for what seemed like hours that stretched on slowly, seemingly never-ending. He saw dots of flames from torches moving here and there as the surviving soldiers still works on bringing in the dead and dying. All those people were out there and no one bothered to help them. After about two hours or so, Pippin was on the verge of loosing it. Merry had not moved for a good while now and he had grown paler and his breathing was so shallow it was almost non-existent. His lips had taken on a blue color as he struggled for precious air. Suddenly, Pippin heard a familiar voice calling his name. He could have sworn he heard Legolas.

"Legolas?" Pippin called into the dark, "Is that you?"

Within seconds, Legolas appeared from the darkness with a torch illuminating his unearthly face. Legolas was stunned by the sight before him. Pippin's face was slightly pale and his eyes were red and poofy from crying so much. The dirt smeared on his cheeks had tear streaks in it.

"Where have you been? We've been looking for you for ages!" Legolas said.

"I had to find him. Legolas, he's hurt. He needs help. Please." Pippin pleaded.

Legolas cursed himself for not even noticing the pale, lifeless Hobbit in Pippin's arms. He rushed forward and knelt down beside Merry. He laid a gentle hand to his icy forehead and mouthed something in Elvish.

"His heart falters. We must get him to Aragorn quickly." he said.

He took off his green Elvish cloak and carefully bundled Merry up in it and gently lifted his limp body into his arms. He and Pippin sped off for the Houses of Healing, Pippin not a step behind him.

A/N: Well, here's the first chappy. I really hope you like it. PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!!!!