Chapter Six - Worrying and Wondering
Merry awoke with a start. The first thought that flooded into his head was of Pippin. He threw back the rug that was covering him and clambered to his feet, feeling slightly dizzy and disoriented. Sitting next to Pippin was Aragorn, who did not look like he had moved since Merry had fallen asleep. Aragorn heard him stir, and turned around to face him.
"Pippin," Merry said hoarsely. "Is Pippin...?"
"He is still sleeping," Aragorn said as Merry trailed off.
Merry sighed with relief, for fear had hit him when he first woke that Pippin would not have made it through the night.
"When will he wake?" Merry asked, moving over to Pippin's side.
"It's not possible to tell," Aragorn answered.
Merry looked into Pippin's face. It was as pale and as still as it had been in the night, no change had occurred.
"Here, Master Merry. Eat this," Merry looked up and saw Gimli with a wafer of lembas in his outstretched hand.
"It'll keep your strength up," Gimli finished, smiling kindly at him.
"Thank you Gimli," Merry said meekly, accepting the waybread and biting into it. He felt some strength return to him and his spirits rose slightly as he finished the elvish food.
"Aragorn," Legolas said, approaching him as he stood watching the others silently. "It is not safe. We cannot linger here much longer."
"Legolas is right. The chance is that more orcs will come before the day is spent," Boromir agreed. "Our position is known, we are being tracked. It is high time that we left."
Merry spoke. "We cannot leave now, what about Pippin?"
That was evidently the question on everyone's mind.
"We certainly cannot stay here," Boromir said stoutly.
"But what will become of the hobbit if we leave?" Aragorn said. "He is not in a good state. He needs to rest to recover fully; boats are certainly not a practical place for healing.
"We surely cannot walk, Aragorn," Boromir argued.
"I do not intend to walk. I contemplate we move our camp to a more secure place further upstream."
"Do you know of such a place?"
"I do not, but I presume I will be able to find one. We must go further from the river than the enemy would expect."
The discussion was clearly between Boromir and Aragorn. The rest of the company sat in silence, listening to the debate.
"Why not carry on by river? Surely we must carry on with our mission?"
"The further we go by river, the more dangerous our journey becomes. The river brings us ever closer to Mordor. I do not fully know what happened to Pippin last night, but I do know that we are being tracked. The most sensible thing would be to waylay our journey for a small number of days in a relatively safe place."
Boromir was silenced momentarily, not able to carry on his argument.
"If you truly think that is the best thing to do, then I leave the decision in your hands. However, I still think the river is our best path." Boromir turned on his heel and walked away from the gathered company, evidently not pleased with the decision. Aragorn did not speak. He sat looking thoughtfully into the sky. Sam looked worriedly at Pippin, who was lying in the centre of the camp.
"Poor Pippin," he muttered to himself. He crept to the hobbit's side, and somewhat clumsily took hold of his hand. Frodo saw Sam sitting by Pippin, and joined him.
"If only we knew what happened to him. I have all sorts of ideas and theories in my head, not one making any more sense than the other," Frodo said, looking at Pippin sadly.
"It's a proper mystery, Mister Frodo," Sam said simply.
Footsteps were heard, and Merry walked over to them. Without speaking, he sat down on the other side of Pippin, beside Frodo. Frodo saw Merry bite his lip as he looked down at Pippin, and felt sorrow in his heart for him. This was hurting Merry so much more than it was him, and it showed, even though Merry was trying to be strong. Frodo took him into a one armed embrace, trying to offer comfort. Frodo could tell from the weak smile that he received that the gesture was appreciated.
Merry softly brushed a wayward strand of hair from Pippin's forehead, and then gently touched the bandage that was bound around his wound.
"Poor Pip," He said quietly.
The bond that the four hobbits shared seemed to grow stronger in the time that they sat together, and as the minutes and the hours went by they simply sat, silently sharing their grief. Slowly, the noticed a change come over Pippin. His breathing quickened and his body seemed to grow colder. Sam fetched more rugs, but he did not warm up. A cold sweat broke over his forehead, so Frodo bathed his brow, but the hobbit did not seem to be getting any better. Merry simply sat, holding Pippin's hand and staring blindly at Pippin's face.
"Come on Pip." He whispered. "You can make it."
*-*
Authors Note: As always, here are my answers and responses to some of the reviews I received:
Goblz: You ask where Frodo is. I guess I wanted to make it more of a Merry/Pippin fic so I did not include Frodo as much. I can ensure you that he is grieving too, I just didn't write about it! There is a little more Frodo in this chapter though.
Thanks so much for all the reviews I have received (34!) You're all so supportive!
Expect the next chapter up tomorrow.
A little question, did I make the discussion/argument between Aragorn and Boromir obvious enough? I'm not sure I wrote it very well and I'm still not sure about it. Oh well, tell me what you think in a review please!
LOTR is not mine.
Merry awoke with a start. The first thought that flooded into his head was of Pippin. He threw back the rug that was covering him and clambered to his feet, feeling slightly dizzy and disoriented. Sitting next to Pippin was Aragorn, who did not look like he had moved since Merry had fallen asleep. Aragorn heard him stir, and turned around to face him.
"Pippin," Merry said hoarsely. "Is Pippin...?"
"He is still sleeping," Aragorn said as Merry trailed off.
Merry sighed with relief, for fear had hit him when he first woke that Pippin would not have made it through the night.
"When will he wake?" Merry asked, moving over to Pippin's side.
"It's not possible to tell," Aragorn answered.
Merry looked into Pippin's face. It was as pale and as still as it had been in the night, no change had occurred.
"Here, Master Merry. Eat this," Merry looked up and saw Gimli with a wafer of lembas in his outstretched hand.
"It'll keep your strength up," Gimli finished, smiling kindly at him.
"Thank you Gimli," Merry said meekly, accepting the waybread and biting into it. He felt some strength return to him and his spirits rose slightly as he finished the elvish food.
"Aragorn," Legolas said, approaching him as he stood watching the others silently. "It is not safe. We cannot linger here much longer."
"Legolas is right. The chance is that more orcs will come before the day is spent," Boromir agreed. "Our position is known, we are being tracked. It is high time that we left."
Merry spoke. "We cannot leave now, what about Pippin?"
That was evidently the question on everyone's mind.
"We certainly cannot stay here," Boromir said stoutly.
"But what will become of the hobbit if we leave?" Aragorn said. "He is not in a good state. He needs to rest to recover fully; boats are certainly not a practical place for healing.
"We surely cannot walk, Aragorn," Boromir argued.
"I do not intend to walk. I contemplate we move our camp to a more secure place further upstream."
"Do you know of such a place?"
"I do not, but I presume I will be able to find one. We must go further from the river than the enemy would expect."
The discussion was clearly between Boromir and Aragorn. The rest of the company sat in silence, listening to the debate.
"Why not carry on by river? Surely we must carry on with our mission?"
"The further we go by river, the more dangerous our journey becomes. The river brings us ever closer to Mordor. I do not fully know what happened to Pippin last night, but I do know that we are being tracked. The most sensible thing would be to waylay our journey for a small number of days in a relatively safe place."
Boromir was silenced momentarily, not able to carry on his argument.
"If you truly think that is the best thing to do, then I leave the decision in your hands. However, I still think the river is our best path." Boromir turned on his heel and walked away from the gathered company, evidently not pleased with the decision. Aragorn did not speak. He sat looking thoughtfully into the sky. Sam looked worriedly at Pippin, who was lying in the centre of the camp.
"Poor Pippin," he muttered to himself. He crept to the hobbit's side, and somewhat clumsily took hold of his hand. Frodo saw Sam sitting by Pippin, and joined him.
"If only we knew what happened to him. I have all sorts of ideas and theories in my head, not one making any more sense than the other," Frodo said, looking at Pippin sadly.
"It's a proper mystery, Mister Frodo," Sam said simply.
Footsteps were heard, and Merry walked over to them. Without speaking, he sat down on the other side of Pippin, beside Frodo. Frodo saw Merry bite his lip as he looked down at Pippin, and felt sorrow in his heart for him. This was hurting Merry so much more than it was him, and it showed, even though Merry was trying to be strong. Frodo took him into a one armed embrace, trying to offer comfort. Frodo could tell from the weak smile that he received that the gesture was appreciated.
Merry softly brushed a wayward strand of hair from Pippin's forehead, and then gently touched the bandage that was bound around his wound.
"Poor Pip," He said quietly.
The bond that the four hobbits shared seemed to grow stronger in the time that they sat together, and as the minutes and the hours went by they simply sat, silently sharing their grief. Slowly, the noticed a change come over Pippin. His breathing quickened and his body seemed to grow colder. Sam fetched more rugs, but he did not warm up. A cold sweat broke over his forehead, so Frodo bathed his brow, but the hobbit did not seem to be getting any better. Merry simply sat, holding Pippin's hand and staring blindly at Pippin's face.
"Come on Pip." He whispered. "You can make it."
*-*
Authors Note: As always, here are my answers and responses to some of the reviews I received:
Goblz: You ask where Frodo is. I guess I wanted to make it more of a Merry/Pippin fic so I did not include Frodo as much. I can ensure you that he is grieving too, I just didn't write about it! There is a little more Frodo in this chapter though.
Thanks so much for all the reviews I have received (34!) You're all so supportive!
Expect the next chapter up tomorrow.
A little question, did I make the discussion/argument between Aragorn and Boromir obvious enough? I'm not sure I wrote it very well and I'm still not sure about it. Oh well, tell me what you think in a review please!
LOTR is not mine.