Author's Note
'Ello again! I'm so sorry for the delay! It's been a week and a half or so now! Sorry sorry sorry!
GGTgY- Lol, thanks so much! You guys's reviews always make me laugh...
Lady S.- Muhahaha! Now who's the one who's nearly in tears! **makes tally mark on sheet of paper** And that's one for NSD. Yes, poor Faramir, I'm such a softie for him. There's more of it in this chapter, of course. Lol, damn orc plushie.
Nikki- Uggh, nasty old Denethor. **grins** Don't worry, he umm, has a little accident that involves the edge of a cliff in this chapter. YAY!
Bucklander- Thank you thank you thank you! And a thousand times more!
Ariana- glad you enjoy the fluff! And the story! Yay for new reviewers!
So anyway, as you can prolly tell, this doesn't go back to the present. I'm doing the two-past-chapters back to back again. The next one will be a present bit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When someone you love dies, you know it even before the news reaches you. You feel it inside yourself. Like some part of you is, for some reason or another, empty. And you know something's wrong. But Faramir wasn't dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pippin kneeled next to Faramir's body, his mind racing. 'He was alive!' Relief flooded through him.
He wouldn't be alive for very long though if someone didn't do something.
Pippin placed his hand on Faramir's forehead. He was warm. Too warm, raging with fever. There were beads of sweat collecting on his eyelids, and along his hairline, making his reddish brown hair damp.
"He's alive!"
"The House of Steward's has failed!" Denethor wailed to no one in particular.
"He needs medicine my lord!" Pippin told him.
Denethor wasn't listening. "My line has ended!"
"My lord?!" Pippin watched the unstable Steward walk over to the edge and look down at the massing forces of Sauron.
He could hear the catapults and the crumbling walls below. The panicked yells of Gondor's few remaining soldiers.
He doesn't even notice when Gandalf knocks Denethor with his staff, throwing him off balance. Any other time, were Merry here, they would have had a good laugh at the whole spectacle.
But here, with the slowly fading Faramir lying next to him, there was no time and space for laughter.
So he planted a secretive kiss to Faramir's forehead before following Gandalf into the battle torn streets below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chaos reigned the streets of Gondor.
Pippin walked amongst the bodies of the already dead and the dying. Orcs and men alike.
Enemies that lie dying together.
In a daze, he looked up and saw Gandalf, shouting orders, and walked towards him.
"Peregrin Took! Go back to the city! Now!" "But you called us out to fight..." he starts, but is cut off by the orc that then came barreling at him. Gandalf steps between them and soon the orc is lying dead at his feet.
"This is no place for a hobbit!"
But Pippin's not listening, there's an orc advancing on Gandalf from behind. Pippin pulls out his sword and stabs the orc.
Gandalf turns to looks at the hobbit, who is now staring at his bloody blade, and then down at the dead orc.
"Guard of the Citadel indeed! Now, back up the hill! Quick!"
Pippin has no time to savor the pride and surprise he knew he heard in Gandalf's voice, he didn't know what Denethor would have done with Faramir by now.
As it was in fact, Denethor was planning to burn himself and Faramir alive.
Pippin cursed Denethor under his breath as he ran after the funeral calvacade. He waited outside the door they went in minutes later and then snuck inside.
He'd never forget what he saw inside.
Faramir lie atop a stack of wood, and servants were adding more to the pile. His funeral pyre.
Pippin ran to the pile, brushing guards aside, and began to pull the pieces of wood off of the pyre. "He's not dead! He's not dead!"
He felt Denethor grab his collar, and drag him away from the pyre, away from Faramir. Pippin struggled to free himself. "No! He's not dead! No!"
Denethor threw him onto the floor and looked down at him, scorn in his voice as he spoke. "Hear now, Peregrin Son of Paladin, I release you from my service."
Pippin scrambled to his feet as Denethor continued.
"Go now and die in what way seems best for you."
No.
He wouldn't let this happen. He had NOT come this far to see this man die. He had NOT left Merry for nothing. They would both live. And he had to find gandalf.
Pippin ran down the steps and into the streets, searching for him. He could hear the wizards voice above the noise.
"Get the women and children out! Get them out! Pull back! To the second level!"
"Gandalf!" he yelled, running up to the wizard. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. "Denethor has lost his mind! He's burning Faramir alive!"
Gandalf looked at him for a moment and then offered his hand to help him onto Shadowfax's back. "Come."
To Pippin, it seemed like the horse was going all to slow. They had to get up the steps much more faster. Shadowafx reared back, Pippin nearly falling off, and kicked the double doors open.
Denethor stood atop the pyre, soaking Faramir and himself in oil.
"Stay this madness!"
In the instant that it took for Pippin to blink, Denethor had snatched a torch from one of the servants and thrown it onto the oil soaked wood. The pyre went into flames.
'No, it can't end this way!' Pippin thought. He leaped off of Shadowfax's back and jumped onto the pyre.
The heat was suffocating. If he had to risk his own life for this man's, so be it.
He had fleeting thoughts of Merry. Of Merry crying after what happened with the palatir. Oh, if only Merry was here now.
Pippin pushed at Faramir with everything he had in him, and sent the man tumbling off the stack of wood, Pippin not far behind him. And then frantically, after realizing what had just happened, he smothered the flames that still clung to Faramir's clothes.
"Nooo! You will not take my son from me!" Denethor, already in flames, attacked Pippin, but Gandalf interfered, and sent Denethor stumbling backwards back into the burning pyre.
Pippin kneels by Faramir, whose eyes are slightly open. His head turns slightly and he looks at Denethor, their eyes meeting. "Faramir..."
It must have been too much, realizing what he had done. Boromir's death, his own misery, sending his remaining son to a near inevitable death and nearly burning him alive then.
Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, then fled the Silent Street ablaze, and fell to his death.
"And so passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion." Gandalf sighed.
Servants were ordered to put out the fire. Pippin was still kneeled next to Faramir, barely daring to touch him, and was reliving the past few hours in his head. He had time to breath now.
A man's life is of great value, or so Pippin would always say afterwards. He looked down at Faramir. His eyes were closed again, and stray pieces of hair were stuck to his sweat drenched forehead.
Pippin brushed them away and watched him for a minute more.
Yes, life was a precious thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Courage Merry, courage for our friends."
Merry felt Eowyn's arm wrap around him. They were the Rohirrim. Poised at the brink of battle. Merry gulped and took another deep breath.
"Forth! Down fear of darkness! Arise! Arise Rider's of Theoden!"
Theoden rode before his men, not quite certain of what awaited them at the end of this battle .
"Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day! A red day! And the sun rises!"
They were riding to their deaths.
"Ride now...ride now...ride! Ride for ruin and the world's ending! Death! Death! Death!"
"Yes, death it what it all was." Merry thought. "And what it all would be."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So...yay! Denethor's dead! Party!!! Okay, I wanted to mention that in the book, there actually is no part where Pippin saves Faramir. He actually doesn't really help at all in that part except for alerting Gandalf of Denethor's intentions. And the real reason for Denethor's madness, is a palantir. He has one of the lost seeing stones, and was also, like Saruman, driven mad by it. And I wanted to add the Ride of the Rohirrim because I absolutely loved that part in the movie. It was really emotional for me. I have no idea why. I had already read the books, like a year before the movies came out, but it was still like "Oh my God! They're riding to their deaths! There's no hope for them!" even though I knew what was going to happen. I cried when Theoden was giving that speech. And from there I cried three more times, lol, I was pathetically emotional about the whole movie. But, from here on out I'm basically going to be sticking to the movie. I'm going to add some of the Houses of Healing part, cause that's way too much of a fluff opportunity to pass up on. So, next chapter will be a shorty, then on to the reuniting! I can't wait! Thank you for listening. I'm done now.
Review and I'll give you a Faramir plushie!!!! Yay!
'Ello again! I'm so sorry for the delay! It's been a week and a half or so now! Sorry sorry sorry!
GGTgY- Lol, thanks so much! You guys's reviews always make me laugh...
Lady S.- Muhahaha! Now who's the one who's nearly in tears! **makes tally mark on sheet of paper** And that's one for NSD. Yes, poor Faramir, I'm such a softie for him. There's more of it in this chapter, of course. Lol, damn orc plushie.
Nikki- Uggh, nasty old Denethor. **grins** Don't worry, he umm, has a little accident that involves the edge of a cliff in this chapter. YAY!
Bucklander- Thank you thank you thank you! And a thousand times more!
Ariana- glad you enjoy the fluff! And the story! Yay for new reviewers!
So anyway, as you can prolly tell, this doesn't go back to the present. I'm doing the two-past-chapters back to back again. The next one will be a present bit. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When someone you love dies, you know it even before the news reaches you. You feel it inside yourself. Like some part of you is, for some reason or another, empty. And you know something's wrong. But Faramir wasn't dead.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pippin kneeled next to Faramir's body, his mind racing. 'He was alive!' Relief flooded through him.
He wouldn't be alive for very long though if someone didn't do something.
Pippin placed his hand on Faramir's forehead. He was warm. Too warm, raging with fever. There were beads of sweat collecting on his eyelids, and along his hairline, making his reddish brown hair damp.
"He's alive!"
"The House of Steward's has failed!" Denethor wailed to no one in particular.
"He needs medicine my lord!" Pippin told him.
Denethor wasn't listening. "My line has ended!"
"My lord?!" Pippin watched the unstable Steward walk over to the edge and look down at the massing forces of Sauron.
He could hear the catapults and the crumbling walls below. The panicked yells of Gondor's few remaining soldiers.
He doesn't even notice when Gandalf knocks Denethor with his staff, throwing him off balance. Any other time, were Merry here, they would have had a good laugh at the whole spectacle.
But here, with the slowly fading Faramir lying next to him, there was no time and space for laughter.
So he planted a secretive kiss to Faramir's forehead before following Gandalf into the battle torn streets below.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chaos reigned the streets of Gondor.
Pippin walked amongst the bodies of the already dead and the dying. Orcs and men alike.
Enemies that lie dying together.
In a daze, he looked up and saw Gandalf, shouting orders, and walked towards him.
"Peregrin Took! Go back to the city! Now!" "But you called us out to fight..." he starts, but is cut off by the orc that then came barreling at him. Gandalf steps between them and soon the orc is lying dead at his feet.
"This is no place for a hobbit!"
But Pippin's not listening, there's an orc advancing on Gandalf from behind. Pippin pulls out his sword and stabs the orc.
Gandalf turns to looks at the hobbit, who is now staring at his bloody blade, and then down at the dead orc.
"Guard of the Citadel indeed! Now, back up the hill! Quick!"
Pippin has no time to savor the pride and surprise he knew he heard in Gandalf's voice, he didn't know what Denethor would have done with Faramir by now.
As it was in fact, Denethor was planning to burn himself and Faramir alive.
Pippin cursed Denethor under his breath as he ran after the funeral calvacade. He waited outside the door they went in minutes later and then snuck inside.
He'd never forget what he saw inside.
Faramir lie atop a stack of wood, and servants were adding more to the pile. His funeral pyre.
Pippin ran to the pile, brushing guards aside, and began to pull the pieces of wood off of the pyre. "He's not dead! He's not dead!"
He felt Denethor grab his collar, and drag him away from the pyre, away from Faramir. Pippin struggled to free himself. "No! He's not dead! No!"
Denethor threw him onto the floor and looked down at him, scorn in his voice as he spoke. "Hear now, Peregrin Son of Paladin, I release you from my service."
Pippin scrambled to his feet as Denethor continued.
"Go now and die in what way seems best for you."
No.
He wouldn't let this happen. He had NOT come this far to see this man die. He had NOT left Merry for nothing. They would both live. And he had to find gandalf.
Pippin ran down the steps and into the streets, searching for him. He could hear the wizards voice above the noise.
"Get the women and children out! Get them out! Pull back! To the second level!"
"Gandalf!" he yelled, running up to the wizard. Adrenaline pumped through his veins. "Denethor has lost his mind! He's burning Faramir alive!"
Gandalf looked at him for a moment and then offered his hand to help him onto Shadowfax's back. "Come."
To Pippin, it seemed like the horse was going all to slow. They had to get up the steps much more faster. Shadowafx reared back, Pippin nearly falling off, and kicked the double doors open.
Denethor stood atop the pyre, soaking Faramir and himself in oil.
"Stay this madness!"
In the instant that it took for Pippin to blink, Denethor had snatched a torch from one of the servants and thrown it onto the oil soaked wood. The pyre went into flames.
'No, it can't end this way!' Pippin thought. He leaped off of Shadowfax's back and jumped onto the pyre.
The heat was suffocating. If he had to risk his own life for this man's, so be it.
He had fleeting thoughts of Merry. Of Merry crying after what happened with the palatir. Oh, if only Merry was here now.
Pippin pushed at Faramir with everything he had in him, and sent the man tumbling off the stack of wood, Pippin not far behind him. And then frantically, after realizing what had just happened, he smothered the flames that still clung to Faramir's clothes.
"Nooo! You will not take my son from me!" Denethor, already in flames, attacked Pippin, but Gandalf interfered, and sent Denethor stumbling backwards back into the burning pyre.
Pippin kneels by Faramir, whose eyes are slightly open. His head turns slightly and he looks at Denethor, their eyes meeting. "Faramir..."
It must have been too much, realizing what he had done. Boromir's death, his own misery, sending his remaining son to a near inevitable death and nearly burning him alive then.
Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, then fled the Silent Street ablaze, and fell to his death.
"And so passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion." Gandalf sighed.
Servants were ordered to put out the fire. Pippin was still kneeled next to Faramir, barely daring to touch him, and was reliving the past few hours in his head. He had time to breath now.
A man's life is of great value, or so Pippin would always say afterwards. He looked down at Faramir. His eyes were closed again, and stray pieces of hair were stuck to his sweat drenched forehead.
Pippin brushed them away and watched him for a minute more.
Yes, life was a precious thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Courage Merry, courage for our friends."
Merry felt Eowyn's arm wrap around him. They were the Rohirrim. Poised at the brink of battle. Merry gulped and took another deep breath.
"Forth! Down fear of darkness! Arise! Arise Rider's of Theoden!"
Theoden rode before his men, not quite certain of what awaited them at the end of this battle .
"Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day! A red day! And the sun rises!"
They were riding to their deaths.
"Ride now...ride now...ride! Ride for ruin and the world's ending! Death! Death! Death!"
"Yes, death it what it all was." Merry thought. "And what it all would be."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So...yay! Denethor's dead! Party!!! Okay, I wanted to mention that in the book, there actually is no part where Pippin saves Faramir. He actually doesn't really help at all in that part except for alerting Gandalf of Denethor's intentions. And the real reason for Denethor's madness, is a palantir. He has one of the lost seeing stones, and was also, like Saruman, driven mad by it. And I wanted to add the Ride of the Rohirrim because I absolutely loved that part in the movie. It was really emotional for me. I have no idea why. I had already read the books, like a year before the movies came out, but it was still like "Oh my God! They're riding to their deaths! There's no hope for them!" even though I knew what was going to happen. I cried when Theoden was giving that speech. And from there I cried three more times, lol, I was pathetically emotional about the whole movie. But, from here on out I'm basically going to be sticking to the movie. I'm going to add some of the Houses of Healing part, cause that's way too much of a fluff opportunity to pass up on. So, next chapter will be a shorty, then on to the reuniting! I can't wait! Thank you for listening. I'm done now.
Review and I'll give you a Faramir plushie!!!! Yay!