Chapter 5 - Close to Confrontation

CassieOwls: I'm glad you're excited about the new chapter. Here's chapter five! Enjoy!

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Disclaimer: I don't own LotR. Period. End of sentence. La fin de phrase. P(riode.

A/N: As you see, the chapter title is not from the movie or the books. Which means: TOTALLY ORIGINAL SCENE!! Aren't you proud of me? ^_^

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Lexi and Meridol's eyes shot open as a high, screeching cry pierced the night air. It was coming from across the street, in The Prancing Pony. They were in a room with Strider at a neighboring tavern**. He told them it would be safer. Not really having any choice but to trust him, however shady a character he seemed, they refunded their rooms at The Prancing Pony and had followed him to this place. For the most part, things had been fairly peaceful. . .until now.

Frodo was sitting beside Strider, looking out a large window. Merry, Pippin and Samwise were in a large bed on one side of the room, Lexi and Meridol in another. All were wide-eyed and awake now, but Strider sat calmly in a chair, his sword draped across his lap.

"What are they?" Frodo asked after a moment.

"They were once Men," Strider replied quietly. "Great Kings of Men. Then Sauron the Deceiver gave to them nine Rings of Power. Blinded by their greed, they took them without question, one by one falling into darkness. Now they are slaves to his will. They are the Nazgûl. . .Ringwraiths, neither living nor dead. At all times they feel the prescence of the Ring. . .drawn to the power of the One. They will never stop hunting you." He was silent for a time, the Hobbits still staring at him in wonder. Finally, with a sigh, he stood. "I'm going to go see if anyone was hurt. You stay here, and take some more rest. You shall need it when the day comes." And he was gone.

Frodo glanced at the others, then curled up in a large armchair and tried to sleep. The others lay back down. Meridol turned to face Lexi. "That was scary," she whispered. "I never want to wake up to that sound ever again."

"Well, it can't be helped," Lexi replied with a yawn, closing her eyes. "It's over now. You heard Strider. Go to sleep."

Meridol gave her a look, but turned over and shut her eyes. However, no matter how hard she tried, she simply couldn't go back to sleep. She tossed and turned for a long while, before finally Lexi kicked her in her half-sleep and groggily told her to get out of bed or else. Meridol complied, slowly standing and walked over to the fireplace. With a silent sigh she sat, wrapping her arms around her knees and setting her chin upon them. The fire cast a soft glow across the room, and she could feel the warmth of it on her face. It was comforting. It reminded her of home.

She could still see her home back in a small town called Stock. It was just across the river from Brandy Hall, and she had spent all of her childhood there. Once she had Come of Age, three years ago now, she had moved to Bywater, where she worked at The Green Dragon. This was also where she had met Lexi, who worked in the library in Bywater, and the two had become fast friends, especially when Meridol learned of Lexi's close friendship with Pippin, whom she knew through Merry.

Meridol smiled to herself. She could still fully recall the day she had met Meriadoc Brandybuck. It had been on a rather sunny day when she was twelve. Her mother had asked her to watch one of her younger cousins for the day, so Meridol had taken this cousin to Buckleberry Ferry to play on the dock. It had been close to sunset when Meridol had been standing on the edge of the dock, watching her cousin rolling a ball around, making sure that nothing bad happened. Then, suddenly, a loud clap of thunder came from overhead. Startled, Meridol had lost her footing and toppled into the water. She didn't know how to swim, and was soon fully submerged in the water. She couldn't hear anything after that, except a loud whooshing sound coming from behind her. Before she knew it, she was being hauled onto the ferry, which was being driven by twelve-year-old Meriadoc Brandybuck. He had been giving Pippin a ride on the river, and had heard Meridol's cousin crying for help. Meridol could remember being so frightened, and coughing, and clinging to this stranger Hobbit without realizing it. But he hadn't seemed to mind. And then she had looked up at him. . .and that was when she knew. . .She looked into his silver-gray eyes and found herself completely lost.

"Meridol?" She jumped, turning to see who was there. It was Merry. He was looking down at her curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Couldn't sleep," she replied, turning back to the fire. "I take it you had the same problem."

"Well, no, actually, but I heard you get up," he said, sitting himself beside her. "I saw you sitting by yourself over here and thought maybe you'd like some company." He looked at her a moment. "What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You know. . .you can tell me anything you want to. I won't laugh at you."

Meridol sighed. "I know. . .I suppose I'm just a bit homesick, is all. I mean, I never really thought I'd be so far from home, being chased by these horrible Black Riders. Merry. . .they were so close to Brandy Hall and Stock. . .I'm worried about my family."

He put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a comforting look. "You don't need to be worried about them, Meridol. You heard Strider. The Black Riders want Frodo. They're long gone from the Shire by now. Of course. . .it's not much more comforting to think that they're now following us. . .but it's better for your family, and mine, and Lexi's and everyone else's."

Meridol smiled. "Why must you always be right?"

"Just lucky, I suppose. You should get back to bed, try to get some rest. Strider'll want us up and ready to go by dawn for sure." She nodded, and stood with his help. As she turned to go back to bed, he took her arm and stopped her. She turned back to face him, confused.

"Merry?"

He didn't answer straight away, just looked at her.

(A/N: The next part is Merry's POV, just FYI. Hehe, lots of abbrev. (muah ha. . .))

Strangely, Merry found that he couldn't take his eyes off of her, and apparently his voice had stopped working, as well. He simply stared. It was odd. . .now that he actually stopped and looked at her, there were things, little things, that he had never noticed before. For instance, the way the firelight seemed to create a soft glow that was reflected in her emerald eyes, or the way the light filtered through the strands of her auburn hair, making shadows dance across her skin. This amazed him. How had he, in all of the twenty-four years of his knowing her, possibly managed to overlook her. . .her. . .he didn't know how to describe it. He knew there was a word for it, but he couldn't think of it. He was too lost in her eyes, sparkling the way that they were.

"Merry?" she repeated.

"Yes?" he answered finally, forced out of his trance.

"What is it?"

Merry shook his head slightly, averting his eyes and releasing her arm. "Uh. . .nothing. Nothing, sorry." He noted the odd look she gave him, but turned and quickly returned to his bed. He lay down and stared up into the darkness, a small smile crept onto his face. He remembered the word now: it was beauty.

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A/N: Aw, a cute little chappy! Ok, enough mushy stuff. Time for reviews! Please click the little button that is located in the lower-left hand corner of your screen. Merci!