Merry's POV:
"Well what now?" I hear Pippin ask from beside me. Everyone's heads turn to look at him, Gandalf looks like he is resisting the urge to face palm and Gimli lets out an annoyed huff. I simply laugh at Pippin's blunt curiosity.
"Now, we set up camp," Aragorn replied, gazing up at the sky.
"But it is only noon!" Boromir exclaimed.
"No doubt the hobbit's journey has been a hard one, and there is much explaining to be done," Gandalf said. "We set up camp."
The day was warm enough, with almost no wind, so a fire was not needed. Our group of nine sat, for the most part, in a circle, covered by a nearby cave we had found. Radagast was tied up in the back of the shallow cave.
"What will happen when he wakes up?" Pippin asked, motioning to the bound figure on the ground.
"I have rid him of Saruman," Gandalf told him. "Radagast's mind was controlled by the evil wizard, but no longer. He is free as he once was." Neither Pippin nor I asked how Gandalf had freed him for when we were finding the cave, Gandalf requested to be left alone with the unconscious Radagast and a deal of shouting was heard from where the rest of us had left him. After we found the cave, Legolas returned to Gandalf and with Boromir's help, bound and carried Radagast to the rest of us.
It was silent as we all ate our food; Pippin and I were given more to return our strength. I insisted that I was mostly fine, as did Pippin but I could still see the pain in his eyes when we told our story.
"Radagast showed me…" Pippin started to tell of his torture, as we recapped the events of our capture with the rest of the company. "He showed me images, frightening images that…" Pippin trailed off again and I wrapped my fingers around his and moved closer to him.
"He tortured Pippin with frightful images, the Orcs beat him," I took a deep breath and squeezed Pippin's hand tighter at these words. "We travelled farther, strapped to large wolf-like creatures and when we halted he trapped us in a cave for the night." I continued on explaining, Pippin cutting in for some parts, until our whole story was known to the others.
Pippin's POV:
Once we finished, Gandalf sat back and silently took a puff of his pipe.
"It looks like Saruman knows more than we had thought…" Gimli said, breaking the silence.
"True, and maybe even more. It's not likely he told Radagast everything," added Aragorn.
"But do you think he knows where we are?" Frodo worried eyes wide.
"I do not think so, but I will keep a close watch about our surroundings just in case," Legolas comforted the hobbit. Frodo looked slightly less pale now and nodded as if to reassure himself.
"What do you think Gandalf?" Samwise asked from his place beside Frodo. The wizard had not spoken still, and took another thoughtful puff of his pipe before answering.
"I think we best be extremely cautious," Gandalf slowly started. "Saruman does not know out definite course, so we should be fairly safe. All the same it is best we sleep in shifts, taking turn watching camp." We all nodded in agreement, I was not listening too closely, for I was too focused on the fact that Gandalf was smoking, and from the smell of it, Pipeweed. I nudged Merry softly in the ribs and nodded my head towards the wizard and his pipe. Merry's eyes widened slightly in recognition. We turned to face each other, and reflected on both our faces was a mischievous grin we both knew too well.
…
"I will take the first watch tonight," Aragorn said as we took out our blankets. The sky was now dark and stars were starting to faintly shine in the sky, No one protested so we all climbed under our blankets and slowly drifted off to sleep. Everyone of course, but Merry and I; between the time of our recount of our time with Radagast and now, Merry and I had went aside to discuss our plan. Now, we inched closer under our blankets and whispered in hushed voices.
"So do you think Aragorn will notice?" I asked Merry.
"Hmm… maybe we should offer to watch next," I suggest.
"He will suspect something. We are the ones who should be resting anyways," he contradicted. For a while we were silent, both lost in thought. "Just say you were having nightmares, so didn't want to sleep." I nodded excitedly at this idea.
"Aragorn has been watching for almost an hour, soon we can switch," Merry nodded back and lay down, smiling before closing his eyes. I did the same, but neither of us actually fell asleep; we couldn't even if we wanted to. I hadn't had pipeweed since we left the Shire, and neither had Merry; it was about time for a good smoke.
After a little while of waiting that seemed like forever, Merry and I approached Aragorn. "Aragorn?" I asked quietly.
"Pippin, what are you doing up?" He questioned, eyebrows drawing together in confusion.
"I was…" I paused and quickly glanced at Merry beside me before I continued. "I was having nightmares. I can't sleep now, so I figured I might as well take a turn watching camp." Aragorn stared at me for a while, then nodded and left us to go sleep.
As soon as we heard the soft, slow breathing of a now sleeping Aragorn, Merry and I exchanged triumphant grins.
"Great, now we are alone; but how are we supposed to get the pipeweed from Gandalf?" I ask Merry.
"Oh… hadn't thought of that," Merry said, face falling into a puzzled expression. "Well we have to find where he keeps it first and we'll just go from there," he procrastinated. So we crept over to where Gandalf was sleeping; beside him was a small cloth bag.
Merry's POV:
Pippin leaned closer to the little bag and took a small whiff of its contents.
"That's it, that's it Merry!" he whispered excitedly. I lay a finger to my lips, and sneakily snatched the bag from beside the wizard. Pippin practically skipped as we crept away from Gandalf and closer to the front of the small cave. I untied the string around the pouch and inhaled the wonderful scent, handing it to Pippin so he could do the same. "From the South Farthing, the sneaky old devil. Must have stocked up when he left us in the Shire before the bonfire," Pippin said, hushed so as not to wake the others.
"Do you even have a pipe Pip?" I ask, and Pippin pulls two pipes out of his vest pocket.
"Always come prepared," he states triumphantly.
I snorted in disbelief. "When it comes to drinking and smoking, otherwise your about as useful as an angry Sackville-Baggins!"
"Sackville-Baggins? I'm a Took to the core and don't you imply anything else Meriadoc," Pippin defended, planting his hands on his hips.
"You sure about that Pip? I mean Tooks are known to be adventurous, and you're such a respectable Hobbit," I tease, knowing full well Pippin acted in every way like a Took. Pippin saw through my teasing and couldn't help but laugh a little. We were cut off by the sound of Gimli mumbling in his sleep. We held our breaths until he was silent again, then exhaled in relief.
"Well, let's not just stand here in the cold then!"
…
"Pi…Pippin," I stutter through the haze of pipeweed that clouded my mind.
"Yes, my fine Merry?" Pippin replies, taking another puff of his pipe. I don't say anything but lean closer and plant a kiss on his lips. Pippin smiles, and hugs me letting out a tiny laugh. "My Merry…" he says, causing me to smile. My Merry, I liked that line very much.
"So Pip? I don't see how Saruman is soooo… dangerous,"
"Neither do I, but I don't want to think about him right now," Pippin replies, and I nod in agreement.
"What would you rather do?" I ask, loading my pipe up with some more leaf from the stolen sac. Pippin smiles goofily and wraps his arms around my neck, pushing me down on my back as he straddles his legs over my hips. I lean up slightly to kiss him, running my tongue along his teeth. He lets me enter and we lock in a passionate kiss as I run my hands through his curls. I start to undo his pants, but something roughly pulls him off of me. I grunt as the collar of my shirt is grabbed, hoisting me to my feet.
"I should have known better than to leave that bag out in the open with you two around," Gandalf says, gripping the hood of Pippin's cloak.
"Stealin' pipeweed in the middle of the night, and…" a voice from behind me says, Gimli. He trails off and looks at us with almost a look of disgust. I feel my face flush as I think of the position Pippin and I were in when they found us.
"Do you want some Gimli?" Pippin offers, earning a tug of his hood from Gandalf. I roll my eyes, and struggle a little in Gimli's hold. The dwarf lets go, and snatches up the bag from the ground. Stumbling over to Pippin, I take his hand as Gandalf lets him go and retrieves the sac from Gimli. Gandalf opens his mouth to scold us, but stops as a mumbling sound, followed by struggling, is heard from the back of the cave.
Thank you to Meroochocolate and Strawbaby Chick for reviewing! They make me happy ^_^ Reviews with your opinions on the sotry so far and such would be much appreciated!