A/N: Mirkwood will have its own problems that Merry will face, but the
rewards will be worth it. Wow! Those reviews are really helping, but could
I have used a BETA writer for my poor skills in writing, but I think I
would overwhelm any who would try with so many mistakes..
Chapter 18
Thoughts
Merry chased Estella down the corridor, but she just ran all the faster to get away from him. She was too angry and did not want to hear what he had to say. She was terrified of the dwarves and beyond afraid of the orcs. She would not just sit and wait for Merry to come get her, if at all. Her mind was made up, if he did not want to take her with him, she would just follow. Then after hearing that Merry just wanted to dump her off on the dwarves and be rid of her. This hurt her feelings beyond anything else. She felt worthless to Merry, even though she tried her best not to slow them down. She worked just as hard as any of the hobbits that Merry preferred to be with. She was angry with herself for fainting from being so scared and only made Merry carry her off like a small child. Estella did not want Merry to think of her as a child, but as a women he could love. When she started crying, he did not understand. He stroked her hair just as her mother would have done every time she was upset. No matter how hard she tried, every thing frightened her. Estellas felt humiliated crying on her bed and all Merry could do was yelled back at her. How could she possibly love someone who is so cruel and heartless?
"Estella, wait! Please let me explain!" Merry yelled to her, but it only increased her pace.
Merry ran with his full speed and caught her by the wrist, stopping her in her tracks.
"Let go of me, Merry. I will not listen to you." She screamed at him as she gasped from breathing so hard.
Merry too struggled to catch his breath and he shook her by the arms to force her to listen to him.
"I can not let you come with us, Estella. It will be too dangerous. Don't you understand?" Merry tried his best to explain, but she interrupted him.
"You just want to dump me off with these dwarves and be rid of me. You won't come back, Merry. You will just leave me here." Estella began crying.
"I'll come back for you Estella, I promise. I could not bear seeing anything happen to you."
"You can not promise me that. You do not know that for sure." Estella told him.
Merry thought that she was right, it was too unfair to promise her something that he had no control of.
"Okay, you are right, Estella. I can not promise you that. I can not leave you here either. I know dwarves would see to it that you were safe, but I did not consider that you would not feel safe being here. I was not trying to dump you off, but see to it that you are safe and free of being hurt."
"I am hurt, Merry, you hurt me." Estella told him.
Merry looked into her eyes and wrapped his arms around her. "I am sorry for hurting you, I did not mean too. I want you to come with me and I will do my best to see that you are never hurt again."
He kissed her while standing in the corridor, when Gimili and Legolas came out of the dining room and seeing them off in the distance. Gimili winked at Legolas as they both smiled back at each other.
Estella touched Merry's cheek and told him 'Good night,' she opened her bedroom door and went in. Merry turned, seeing Gimili and Legolas standing in the corridor his face blushed in knowing that they had observed their tender moment. Merry returned to Gimili and Legolas as they handed him another beer.
When the other hobbits excused themselves for the night, Gimili. Legolas and Merry talked of their plans for the trip to Mirkwood.
"Legolas, I would like to come with you to Mirkwood, there I would have to depart from your company and travel on to the Lonely Mountains. Old Bomber and my father want some of the mithrill we have gathered from the mines of Moria. I had hoped to rid the mines of orcs before I have transported the mithrill, but that will take sometime as they are deep in the core of Moria and no easy task of breaking through their defenses. Then since you are traveling to Mirkwood anyway, I could think of no better time than doing it now. The mirthrill could not be in safer company then the three of us."
"Yes, Gimili I would be honored to have you accompany us." Legolas told him and turned to Merry, "Where the herd of horses are, is a very dangerous area. There are large spiders in those areas, so we will need to watch our steps, but I do know of away around them. We too have tried for many years to rid ourselves of these spiders, but they do make an excellent trap for those of our enemies." Legolas paused and looked towards Gimili with a small chuckle, "Excluding the dwarves of course."
"Of course, Master Elf. Then we agree." Gimili snorted and looked at him through the corner of his eye. "Then we all must turn in for the evening, we have along journey ahead of us."
Merry walked down the corridor to his room, when he noticed Berilac sitting on the floor puffing his pipe as the smoke swirled around his brown curly hair.
"Berilac, why are you not sleeping this evening?" Merry asked while he sat down with him and took out his own pipe, filling it with long bottom leaf and lighting it.
"I just do not feel like sleeping much."
"Berilac, I have notice you have not been yourself since we have started out in search of these horses." Merry inquired. "Is it about your wife and what she had told you back in Bywater?"
"Yes, but I have promised her not to tell anyone about it, and it is eating at me, I guess."
"Look Berilac, I am your closest cousin and we are family. If there is anyone you can trust it is I. Please tell me."
"You are right Merry, I just cannot get all this out of my head." Berilac told Merry about Erling and how he had attacked his wife. Tears formed in Berilac's eyes as he choke on the words that his oldest son, that he dearly loved, was not really his.
Merry was horrified in hearing just how evil this Erling truly was. He understood why Berilac was acting so differently.
"Look, Berilac. I know you feel betrayed that your wife did not tell you before the child was born, but I can understand her fear of Erling and why she did, what she did. Your son has not changed from you knowing this. He is still the boy that you love. When you look into his eyes, you will see this. It will not matter in your heart. He sees you as his father, it's all that he knows." Merry grew quiet when he looked up into Berilac's eyes as the tears ran down his cheeks.
"Get some rest now, Berilac. We have a long road ahead of us. I am here for you anytime you want to talk." Merry stood and walked to his bedroom.
~*~
The next morning the hobbits mounted their horses and road down the ramp with Legolas leading the way. Legolas turned and smiles at the hobbits on their smaller horses as they followed him in a single line. Even with the hobbits sitting on their horses, they still did not reach Legolas's full height, as he walked ahead of them.
Legolas's sharp eyes caught the dwarves who guarded the mines standing in hidden positions on the outside walls of Moria. Gimili stood at the bottom of the ramp talking to a group of his dwarves. In his hands he held the reins of a donkey that carried all of his packs.
Gimili barked his orders to the dwarves and said his farewells when he joined the hobbits in the rear when they all left the valley of Moria.
Grubdush hid in the darkness from the entrance of his cave, blending in with his dark form. He went unnoticed while he listened to what the dwarves talked about at the lower level just before the riders came out of the cave. 'So they are going to find the stallion.' Grubdush thought to himself. When he heard the clatter of the horses leaving, he turned to gather his orcs to follow them.
When the dwarves entered back into their cave, Grubdush led his orcs out of Moria.
~*~
Again the further they traveled the hobbits noticed the scenery slowly begin to change. Mountains rose and fell in the far distance that seemed to touch the highest clouds. Tall trees began to become thicker with each mile and lush green bushes in many different forms. There were flowered bushes, bushes with berries, and some with large green leaves. Even though the temperature remained very warm, it was not as dry as Moria. They could feel the humidity in the air. They saw the creeks and river rushing by and all sorts of animals that the hobbits had never seen before. They watched in amazement all the sights along the way.
It was not long until they reached what looked like to them an old forest area with thick growing trees tall as mountains and as far as anyone could see. The forest looked like it touched the edge of the earth. This old forest reminded Merry of Fangorn Forest when they enter it. Merry looked at the trees just incase one of them suddenly would move or see a face craved high into the base of their trunk. His thoughts went back to Pippin as he began to miss his cousin and all the memories that they shared. Having an adventure such as this, he would have been more comfortable having Pippin at his side. Merry thought about the hobbits he rode with and he could almost see Pippin in each one of them. Merry thought back through the many weeks since this had all began how much they had all changed. Nibs became rather good with a sword and he was less cocky in his attitude, taking his time and thinking things out before he would jump on them. He also had Pippin's playfulness and lighthearted spirit. Nib's had mischief in his nature that at times caused him to get into trouble. He kept the group laughing. Berilac seemed to open up more with dwarves and even Legolas. He could count on Berilac to watch his back if the occasion should arise. He could see Fredegar's confidence growing in him and rarely held back from his advice. Tom and Wilcome, well, they most likely would never change, however, they did become closer than any two brothers could possibly be. Merry hoped that Nibs would encourage them more to practice with their swords. Bowman was the quiet one and kept to himself most of the time. He was also a thinker of the group. If Merry was perplexed about something, Bowman was there to help Merry think it through. Then there was Estella, Merry watched her intently as she rode just ahead of him. Her long curly light brown hair bounced with each trot of the horse's feet. Merry was very perplexed in how he felt about her. So many thoughts floated in his mind about her touch, the way she would look at him, and the softness of her lips.
"Merry, the wind has changed and on its new path I can sense something approaching. Someone follows us." This brought Merry out of his thoughts and directly to what Legolas was telling him.
"What do your eyes see, Legolas?" Merry inquired.
"There are two riders in the far distance, I can just barely make them out on the horizon."
Gimili looked towards the horizon from which they had just came from earlier in the day, but he could not make out anything. However, he trusted the elf and seen on too many other occasions to listen to what he said.
" Bowman and Nibs! Come here!" Merry ordered. The two stopped their horses and let Merry, Legolas and Gimili to catch up to them.
"Bowman take the group up this path a mile or so and wait for us. It seems we have someone behind us. They should be here shortly. Keep the group quiet until we catch up to you." Merry turned to Nibs as Bowman kicked his horse to lead the group on.
"Nibs, I need you and Legolas to hide in the bushes on the other side of this path and Gimili and I will be on the other side. Let us see who is on our trail."
They did not have to wait too long, as the riders approached rapidly, but began to slow when they approached the path leading into the old forest of Mirkwood. The first rider seemed to sense there was something to be caution about as he slowed his horse to a walk. Merry could hear the blade of a sword being pulled from the rider's sheath. The second rider's horse was smaller and danced on its feet as it slowed to a walk as well.
Merry heard Legolas bow being pulled back and he leaped from his bush with his sword drawn and ready.
A loud squeal followed by the rider's comment, "You scared the crap out of Merry!"
Chapter 18
Thoughts
Merry chased Estella down the corridor, but she just ran all the faster to get away from him. She was too angry and did not want to hear what he had to say. She was terrified of the dwarves and beyond afraid of the orcs. She would not just sit and wait for Merry to come get her, if at all. Her mind was made up, if he did not want to take her with him, she would just follow. Then after hearing that Merry just wanted to dump her off on the dwarves and be rid of her. This hurt her feelings beyond anything else. She felt worthless to Merry, even though she tried her best not to slow them down. She worked just as hard as any of the hobbits that Merry preferred to be with. She was angry with herself for fainting from being so scared and only made Merry carry her off like a small child. Estella did not want Merry to think of her as a child, but as a women he could love. When she started crying, he did not understand. He stroked her hair just as her mother would have done every time she was upset. No matter how hard she tried, every thing frightened her. Estellas felt humiliated crying on her bed and all Merry could do was yelled back at her. How could she possibly love someone who is so cruel and heartless?
"Estella, wait! Please let me explain!" Merry yelled to her, but it only increased her pace.
Merry ran with his full speed and caught her by the wrist, stopping her in her tracks.
"Let go of me, Merry. I will not listen to you." She screamed at him as she gasped from breathing so hard.
Merry too struggled to catch his breath and he shook her by the arms to force her to listen to him.
"I can not let you come with us, Estella. It will be too dangerous. Don't you understand?" Merry tried his best to explain, but she interrupted him.
"You just want to dump me off with these dwarves and be rid of me. You won't come back, Merry. You will just leave me here." Estella began crying.
"I'll come back for you Estella, I promise. I could not bear seeing anything happen to you."
"You can not promise me that. You do not know that for sure." Estella told him.
Merry thought that she was right, it was too unfair to promise her something that he had no control of.
"Okay, you are right, Estella. I can not promise you that. I can not leave you here either. I know dwarves would see to it that you were safe, but I did not consider that you would not feel safe being here. I was not trying to dump you off, but see to it that you are safe and free of being hurt."
"I am hurt, Merry, you hurt me." Estella told him.
Merry looked into her eyes and wrapped his arms around her. "I am sorry for hurting you, I did not mean too. I want you to come with me and I will do my best to see that you are never hurt again."
He kissed her while standing in the corridor, when Gimili and Legolas came out of the dining room and seeing them off in the distance. Gimili winked at Legolas as they both smiled back at each other.
Estella touched Merry's cheek and told him 'Good night,' she opened her bedroom door and went in. Merry turned, seeing Gimili and Legolas standing in the corridor his face blushed in knowing that they had observed their tender moment. Merry returned to Gimili and Legolas as they handed him another beer.
When the other hobbits excused themselves for the night, Gimili. Legolas and Merry talked of their plans for the trip to Mirkwood.
"Legolas, I would like to come with you to Mirkwood, there I would have to depart from your company and travel on to the Lonely Mountains. Old Bomber and my father want some of the mithrill we have gathered from the mines of Moria. I had hoped to rid the mines of orcs before I have transported the mithrill, but that will take sometime as they are deep in the core of Moria and no easy task of breaking through their defenses. Then since you are traveling to Mirkwood anyway, I could think of no better time than doing it now. The mirthrill could not be in safer company then the three of us."
"Yes, Gimili I would be honored to have you accompany us." Legolas told him and turned to Merry, "Where the herd of horses are, is a very dangerous area. There are large spiders in those areas, so we will need to watch our steps, but I do know of away around them. We too have tried for many years to rid ourselves of these spiders, but they do make an excellent trap for those of our enemies." Legolas paused and looked towards Gimili with a small chuckle, "Excluding the dwarves of course."
"Of course, Master Elf. Then we agree." Gimili snorted and looked at him through the corner of his eye. "Then we all must turn in for the evening, we have along journey ahead of us."
Merry walked down the corridor to his room, when he noticed Berilac sitting on the floor puffing his pipe as the smoke swirled around his brown curly hair.
"Berilac, why are you not sleeping this evening?" Merry asked while he sat down with him and took out his own pipe, filling it with long bottom leaf and lighting it.
"I just do not feel like sleeping much."
"Berilac, I have notice you have not been yourself since we have started out in search of these horses." Merry inquired. "Is it about your wife and what she had told you back in Bywater?"
"Yes, but I have promised her not to tell anyone about it, and it is eating at me, I guess."
"Look Berilac, I am your closest cousin and we are family. If there is anyone you can trust it is I. Please tell me."
"You are right Merry, I just cannot get all this out of my head." Berilac told Merry about Erling and how he had attacked his wife. Tears formed in Berilac's eyes as he choke on the words that his oldest son, that he dearly loved, was not really his.
Merry was horrified in hearing just how evil this Erling truly was. He understood why Berilac was acting so differently.
"Look, Berilac. I know you feel betrayed that your wife did not tell you before the child was born, but I can understand her fear of Erling and why she did, what she did. Your son has not changed from you knowing this. He is still the boy that you love. When you look into his eyes, you will see this. It will not matter in your heart. He sees you as his father, it's all that he knows." Merry grew quiet when he looked up into Berilac's eyes as the tears ran down his cheeks.
"Get some rest now, Berilac. We have a long road ahead of us. I am here for you anytime you want to talk." Merry stood and walked to his bedroom.
~*~
The next morning the hobbits mounted their horses and road down the ramp with Legolas leading the way. Legolas turned and smiles at the hobbits on their smaller horses as they followed him in a single line. Even with the hobbits sitting on their horses, they still did not reach Legolas's full height, as he walked ahead of them.
Legolas's sharp eyes caught the dwarves who guarded the mines standing in hidden positions on the outside walls of Moria. Gimili stood at the bottom of the ramp talking to a group of his dwarves. In his hands he held the reins of a donkey that carried all of his packs.
Gimili barked his orders to the dwarves and said his farewells when he joined the hobbits in the rear when they all left the valley of Moria.
Grubdush hid in the darkness from the entrance of his cave, blending in with his dark form. He went unnoticed while he listened to what the dwarves talked about at the lower level just before the riders came out of the cave. 'So they are going to find the stallion.' Grubdush thought to himself. When he heard the clatter of the horses leaving, he turned to gather his orcs to follow them.
When the dwarves entered back into their cave, Grubdush led his orcs out of Moria.
~*~
Again the further they traveled the hobbits noticed the scenery slowly begin to change. Mountains rose and fell in the far distance that seemed to touch the highest clouds. Tall trees began to become thicker with each mile and lush green bushes in many different forms. There were flowered bushes, bushes with berries, and some with large green leaves. Even though the temperature remained very warm, it was not as dry as Moria. They could feel the humidity in the air. They saw the creeks and river rushing by and all sorts of animals that the hobbits had never seen before. They watched in amazement all the sights along the way.
It was not long until they reached what looked like to them an old forest area with thick growing trees tall as mountains and as far as anyone could see. The forest looked like it touched the edge of the earth. This old forest reminded Merry of Fangorn Forest when they enter it. Merry looked at the trees just incase one of them suddenly would move or see a face craved high into the base of their trunk. His thoughts went back to Pippin as he began to miss his cousin and all the memories that they shared. Having an adventure such as this, he would have been more comfortable having Pippin at his side. Merry thought about the hobbits he rode with and he could almost see Pippin in each one of them. Merry thought back through the many weeks since this had all began how much they had all changed. Nibs became rather good with a sword and he was less cocky in his attitude, taking his time and thinking things out before he would jump on them. He also had Pippin's playfulness and lighthearted spirit. Nib's had mischief in his nature that at times caused him to get into trouble. He kept the group laughing. Berilac seemed to open up more with dwarves and even Legolas. He could count on Berilac to watch his back if the occasion should arise. He could see Fredegar's confidence growing in him and rarely held back from his advice. Tom and Wilcome, well, they most likely would never change, however, they did become closer than any two brothers could possibly be. Merry hoped that Nibs would encourage them more to practice with their swords. Bowman was the quiet one and kept to himself most of the time. He was also a thinker of the group. If Merry was perplexed about something, Bowman was there to help Merry think it through. Then there was Estella, Merry watched her intently as she rode just ahead of him. Her long curly light brown hair bounced with each trot of the horse's feet. Merry was very perplexed in how he felt about her. So many thoughts floated in his mind about her touch, the way she would look at him, and the softness of her lips.
"Merry, the wind has changed and on its new path I can sense something approaching. Someone follows us." This brought Merry out of his thoughts and directly to what Legolas was telling him.
"What do your eyes see, Legolas?" Merry inquired.
"There are two riders in the far distance, I can just barely make them out on the horizon."
Gimili looked towards the horizon from which they had just came from earlier in the day, but he could not make out anything. However, he trusted the elf and seen on too many other occasions to listen to what he said.
" Bowman and Nibs! Come here!" Merry ordered. The two stopped their horses and let Merry, Legolas and Gimili to catch up to them.
"Bowman take the group up this path a mile or so and wait for us. It seems we have someone behind us. They should be here shortly. Keep the group quiet until we catch up to you." Merry turned to Nibs as Bowman kicked his horse to lead the group on.
"Nibs, I need you and Legolas to hide in the bushes on the other side of this path and Gimili and I will be on the other side. Let us see who is on our trail."
They did not have to wait too long, as the riders approached rapidly, but began to slow when they approached the path leading into the old forest of Mirkwood. The first rider seemed to sense there was something to be caution about as he slowed his horse to a walk. Merry could hear the blade of a sword being pulled from the rider's sheath. The second rider's horse was smaller and danced on its feet as it slowed to a walk as well.
Merry heard Legolas bow being pulled back and he leaped from his bush with his sword drawn and ready.
A loud squeal followed by the rider's comment, "You scared the crap out of Merry!"
