If there are weird character things on this story, please go to View on your toolbar, click encoding and select auto-select (it it¡¯s already selected then unselect it and select it again.). I¡¯m trying to get this problem fixed, I swear!
*I don¡¯t own the characters. I own the depressing story I put them in.*
_____________________________________ Chapter two: Of the departure of two more Fellowship members¡°Argh!!!¡± screamed Legolas just as he sat down to the meeting, ¡°They¡¯re attacking!!!¡±
One side of his face was covered in snow - Pippin had been testing out the new snow, and was quite satisfied with it.
¡°Fool of a Took!¡± cried Gandalf, cuffing Pippin on the head none too gently. And he meant what he said too - Pippin, after all, WAS a fool.
¡°Oh, leave him alone,¡± interjected Aragorn, settling down in the snow himself. ¡°Peregrin, I command you to stop throwing snowballs at our friends.¡±
Pippin stuck his tongue out at Gandalf and sat down next to Sam, to whom he whispered, ¡°I wasn¡¯t aiming for his face - he just sat down at the wrong time.¡±
¡°Now,¡± said Aragorn, when everyone had settled, ¡°The first thing we should do is take a head count.¡±
¡°To make sure everyone¡¯s here,¡± added Legolas.
Gandalf frowned as Aragorn walked around the circle counting. Wasn¡¯t HE supposed to be the leader?
¡°There¡¯s one person missing,¡± announced Aragorn, ¡°There are only eight of us here.¡±
¡°There should be nine¡¡± mused Legolas.
Everyone started whispering to each other. Who could this missing person be?
¡°I know,¡± Boromir stood up and smirked. ¡°It¡¯s the Ringbearer. He was too ashamed to face us so he ran away.¡±
¡°But Mr. Frodo¡¯s sitting right across from you,¡± protested Sam.
Boromir narrowed his eyes at Frodo, who was, indeed, sitting across the circle from his and clutching the collar of his shirt where the Ring would have sat. ¡°Oh.¡± Was all he said and Boromir sat down, eyes still calculating.
There was a long silence.
¡°So, uh, who¡¯s missing?¡± asked Legolas unnecessarily.
More silence. Gimli began to stroke his beard, the harsh raping sound making everyone shudder.
Aragorn opened his mouth to say something but Gandalf beat him to it. ¡°Master Dwarf, would you stop that please.¡±
Gimli glowered. ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re doing anything useful either.¡± But he stopped the stroking.
They sat for a long time, and day was turning into night when Aragorn sat bolt upright and announced, ¡°I have a solution.¡±
He waited for the others¡¯ curious faces and incessant questioning when he realized that they were all asleep - all of them, that is, except for Gandalf.
The wizard was sitting with his legs crossed, his face unreadable in the fading light, but Aragorn thought that he was very loyal to have stayed up just to hear the King talk.
¡°So, your majesty,¡± started Gandalf sarcastically, ¡°What is this brilliant plan of yours?¡±
Aragorn frowned. There was something in the old ma¡¯s voice that he sis not quite like. ¡°Well, I thought that we could send someone to find that missing member.¡±
¡°Oh, really?¡±
Aragorn really did not like the tone of his voice by now. ¡°And what might you mean by that?¡±
Gandalf scratched his chin. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t really know¡¡± he thought for a while. ¡°Maybe I need a holiday. These hobbits are giving me a headache.¡±
Gandalf stood up abruptly and Aragorn was at a loss. ¡°Where are you going?¡± he asked the wizard.
¡°Back to Rivendell!¡± Gandalf replied, brushing snow off himself and turning to leave. ¡°I need break from all these troubles. You seem to like ¡®leading¡¯ people, so I appoint you leader in my steed.¡±
¡°But¡¡± Aragorn didn¡¯t want Gandalf to go. For one thing, he wasn¡¯t that good at leading yet, and for another, he wanted Gandalf¡¯s pipe weed.
Gandalf smirked at Aragorn, glad to be free of those little people. ¡°I daresay you will be sick of this lot yourself soon. Maybe I¡¯ll see you in Rivendell then.¡± And he strode off into the distance.
Aragorn thought about what Gandalf had said. It occurred to him that the wizard didn¡¯t expect him to be able to complete this mission without him! Well, Aragorn would show him. He would lead the Fellowship to find the Ring, then he¡¯ll take them all to Mordor and destroy it! If there was anything that could convince silly people like Boromir that he was the rightful King, it was this.
Yes, thought Aragorn and stroke the stubble on his chin. It would be all good¡
But if he was going to be glorious, it wouldn¡¯t do to have a missing member of the Fellowship, will it! Which brought him back to his first plan - to find the missing person. He began to feel more confident. Yes, it was hard to think he had been unsure a minute ago.
Aragorn went around the circle and arose everyone to tell them about his idea.
¡°Alright, we need someone to go and find the missing person,¡± Aragorn said.
¡°Well it ain¡¯t Mr. Frodo, he¡¯s in a right state,¡± said Sam, and everyone looked at where Frodo was groping about the snow, as if he had suddenly gone blind.
¡°I would go but I am the leader,¡± said Aragorn and everyone else nodded in agreement.
¡°Gimli can¡¯t go because he can¡¯t run fast enough,¡± commented Pippin.
¡°Can too,¡± muttered Gimli.
Silence.
¡°Well, I think it should be Pippin,¡± said Boromir. He seemed to have a thing against the hobbits too.
¡°What?!¡± cried Pippin, ¡°Why me?¡±
¡°Because you¡¯re small.¡±
¡°Because you¡¯re light.¡±
¡°Because you¡¯re the most useless one out of all of us.¡±
¡°But - but -¡± Pippin protested wildly, ¡°What about Sam? He doesn¡¯t do anything -¡±
¡°Sam makes good vegetable soup,¡± said Legolas, nodding.
¡°- and Frodo, now that the Ring is gone -¡±
Sam growled warningly.
¡°- what about Legolas, all he says is useless stating the obvious stuff, and what about Merry? He¡¯s the most useless out of all of us!¡±
there were murmurs of agreement among them. Finally Aragorn stood up. ¡°Alright, Meriadoc Brandybuck, you shall go and find the missing person.¡±
And of course, there was no reply. Everyone waited for Merry to say something, but there was nothing.
¡°If Merry¡¯s not replying¡¡± said Legolas slowly, ¡°that must mean he¡¯s the missing person!¡±
Everyone had already figured that out, and Pippin was picking up his things, getting ready to go. After all, Merry was his cousin. And he really did not want to be around Boromir anymore.
And so Peregrin Took set off into the darkness, Legolas sobbing, as if this could bring Pippin or Merry any luck.
***
But Merry had other plan than to be found by anyone. He was very glad of this new-found freedom - he now could eat as he pleased, as if he was still in the Shire. Every while or so he would sit down to another meal, finally being able to satisfy his hunger after all the travel with the Fellowship.
After afternoon tea, he thought that the landscape might be changing soon so he decided to climb up higher and find out where he was. But half an hour later, after many unsuccessful attempts at climbing the mountains he realized that he was still surrounded by snow. This was a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. The good thing was that the Ring had to be in the snow, and he hadn¡¯t wandered out of it, and the bad thing was that it would take him years to cover all the snow.
Merry sighed, and sat down again, his hand absently digging in the snow. There was a good point to traveling with men after all - they could always carry you. He munched on a biscuit as he sat and enjoyed the scenery - not that there was much to enjoy.
Suddenly his hand contacted something hard.
¡°Ouch,¡± said and looked at what he had uncovered from the snow. He brushed more snow away and lifted his discovery out. It was a small, brown box.
_____________________________________
So what can be in this little brown box? And ideas? Any thoughts on the topic? How will Pippin fare, finding his friend? What will the rest of the Fellowship get up to in the meantime?
The thing with the vegetable soup is from one of the stories by onegreyelephant, where Frodo, Sam and a whole bunch of carrots get into mischief - no, that¡¯s not the only thing that happens in the story.
Happy molecule aka Nicola my ¡®son¡¯, indicated to me that Merry was very useless indeed¡