Moria's Revenge Chapter 15: Explained
Author: it's all Llinos!
Disclaimer: I do not own the great [WARNING: weird metaphor alert] metropolis that is Lord of the Rings. I am a street urchin playing in its gutters.
My herbs may be accurate, but they should never be used without professional supervision.
Danger! Danger! Llinos Angst ahead - proceed with Caution!
Frodo watched Pippin sadly for a while as the exhausted hobbit snuggled up against his motherly warg. He wished that his little cousin would allow himself to be comforted by him or Sam or Merry, but whenever they touched or spoke to him he was afraid and wide-eyed with terror. Either that or he seemed to retreat into himself as if he were merely suffering their touches and soft words. Only when he was allowed to be with Icicle would he close his eyes and sleep in peace.
Frodo decided then he would not be put off any more. He had asked Aragorn many times why Pippin was so afraid and was dissatisfied with answers such as, 'he doesn't know where he is, or who you are', it made no sense. He understood that Pippin had been badly hurt as the evidence was before him. The terrible wound in his belly, the dislocated arms, the multiple abrasions and cuts and bruises, to say nothing of whatever it was Aragorn had found just now when he examined between Pip's legs.
But why did the ranger not trust Frodo or Merry to help Pippin? He seemed to put more faith in Sam, although even he did not seem too sure exactly what was wrong with Pip's state of mind. All of the other members of the Fellowship seemed to know exactly what was wrong and trying their best to keep it from the hobbits.
Boromir and Merry had woken about a half an hour ago, although Merry did not look very rested and Frodo suspected he had not slept too well.
Frodo looked up at the setting sun. Although he was getting very tired, he resolved to not go to sleep until his questions were answered. He decided to enlist Sam and Merry's help to make Aragorn tell them the whole truth about Pippin and walked over to where the two sat at the campfire. Aragorn, Legolas and Boromir were talking about something a little way off, and Gimli was taking a nap.
"Merry, Sam" Frodo squatted on his haunches to talk quietly to his friends, "Do you think the others are keeping something from us about Pip?"
"What?" A note of panic sounded in Merry's voice. "Has something happened?" Merry was on his feet and about to head over to his little cousin but Frodo caught his coat and pulled him back down.
"No, not something new. It's just that I think they," Frodo waved towards the huddle of big people, "know things they aren't telling us. I don't know about you, but I want the truth about what happened to Pippin. Why he's so scared of us, and why he thinks his name is..." Frodo stopped suddenly, and he realised that Merry had not heard what Pip had called himself. Merry looked up sharply.
"What, Frodo, what does he think his name is?" Merry asked softly, standing up as he did so. Sam buried his head in his hands. Frodo bit his lip. Now he had said too much, if he lied, he would be as guilty as Aragorn for withholding information. But Merry would find out somehow, and Frodo knew what would happen if Merry learned that he too had been keeping things from him.
Frodo stood up next to Merry and placed his hands on his cousin's shoulders and looked into his eyes, "Merry it was quite horrible, poor Pippin did not know what he was saying, I'm sure of it."
"Just tell me." Merry looked squarely back at Frodo letting him know he would not be placated. "You were complaining about having things kept from us. Tell me."
Sam suddenly rose to his feet and caught Merry's arm, turning the hobbit around to face him instead of Frodo. "Mr Pippin said his name was 'Dogwhore'!" Sam knew it was presumptuous of him to behave this way, but he could not bear the tortured tone in Mr Frodo's voice or the agonised look on his face. He also knew that this would be a very hard thing for Mr Merry to hear and decided it would be better not to be told such a thing by his beloved cousin.
"Oh Sam!" Frodo understood completely why he had interrupted. He laid a hand on each of the other two hobbit's shoulders. Merry looked devastated, his mouth dropped open but he was lost for words.
"I'm so s-sorry Mr Merry," Sam stuttered, partly from nerves but also emotion at the awful silence that had fallen on Merry. "I didn't mean to blurt it out like that and all. I'm sure Mr Pippin was. was. " Sam broke off. He realised he was out of his depth now and hoped Frodo would have better words to explain it to Merry.
"Aragorn got him to say his proper name, Merry" Frodo could see Merry's hurt and confusion as if the whole of Pippin's ordeal had just been laid before him with that one word, as if he suddenly saw where Pippin had been and what had been done to him. "Aragorn made him call himself Pip."
"He did what?" Merry finally unfroze, his speechlessness being replaced by anger. "Why did he do that? How would that help? Pip needs to know who he is - not be told! He needs to remember who he is and I'm the one who can do that!"
"We'll all go and talk to Aragorn." Frodo tried to placate his cousin a little. "We'll explain that we need to know more and that Pip needs our help too."
***
"Aragorn, please." Frodo stood with the other two hobbits in a row before the ranger. Boromir and Legolas turned to look at the little deputation sensing with sinking hearts what was to come. "We'd like to talk to you if you're not too tired."
"Of course." Aragorn could hardly deny them. "In private or. " he indicated the others with his arm.
"No, that's partly what we want to talk about," Frodo said glancing either side at the other two hobbits, "all of us."
"Then let us sit by the fire, where we'll be warmer and can keep an eye on Pippin." Aragorn turned to Legolas. "Why don't you waken Gimli to join us as well?"
Once the seven members of the Fellowship were gathered around the small campfire Frodo began. "We three," he paused and looked at Sam and Merry, "we're worried that you are keeping too much from us about Pippin. We see you looking at each other and talking quietly amongst yourselves and we want to know just how badly Pip is hurt, after all," Frodo tried not to sound petulant, although he worried it was might seem to the big folk that way, "he is our kinsman, mine and Merry's and could we not help him more to know who he is and where he is?"
Aragorn took a deep breath and looked at the three expectant faces before him. Sam seemed to be a little nervous at the confrontation, but the ranger could tell Merry was boiling just below the surface and almost at breaking point. "How many victims of rape have you three ever encountered before?" He said it as gently as he could, for he did not need an answer, he already knew.
"I once heard of my second cousin's aunt on my mother's side out in Long Cleeve." Sam started but broke off as he suddenly realised the irrelevance of the story.
"Pippin has been through a terrible ordeal," Aragorn continued. "At the moment all I can deal with in any constructive way are his physical injuries, so let's start by telling you all there is to know about those."
The hobbits nodded to each other and Aragorn, this seemed a good place to start. Aragorn continued. "This is the order in which I believe, and I could be quite wrong, the order in which they happened. This is quite important to consider for then you know how long each injury went untreated. Although bear in mind these are only estimates.
"First, I would imagine that Pippin was knocked about and then beaten with a whip across his back. The bleeding there indicates this occurred early on in his captivity. Then I would guess that he was violently raped for the first time. The bruising on his arms and ankles indicate that he was held down for that purpose and the purple yellow colouring there indicates the age of the attack."
The hobbits shifted uncomfortably at the stark description Aragorn was now giving them of Pippin's ordeal. But it was what they had demanded.
"Shortly after that," Aragorn decided to press on, "I would think the collar was put around his neck and he was dragged around a great deal, probably being made to crawl on his hands and knees, as evidenced by the abrasions and grit in the wounds."
Again the hobbits all stared into the fire not wanting to meet each other's eyes and each feeling that uncomfortable clench in their bellies as they tried to avoid the inevitable pictures the ranger's words were conjuring up.
"Sometime around then, I'm guessing the orcs began to play with him, to torment him. They may have put things inside his back passage and they certainly whipped him again. They may have drugged him too, but I'm not sure.
"Dog's teeth!" Gimli exclaimed in horror. Even the dwarf had not realised the full extent of Pippin's ordeal.
"After this is when I think they burnt him with a hot iron and first put that terrible gag in his mouth. Certainly there would have been more raping and similar abuse. I'm gauging this on what I know of orcs and the likelihood of such things. I am sure the last thing they did, before bringing him outside was to dislocate his arms, which, fortunately was not a very old injury."
Aragorn looked at the three, who were now speechless, although Sam was openly weeping and Merry looked as if he was in shock. Frodo just stared steadfastly into the fire. Boromir, Legolas and Gimli had not fared much better, hearing the whole catalogue of torture vented upon such a small innocent being was a terrible shock even to these seasoned warriors.
"As we know," Aragorn tried to make his voice a little more gentle, "the last thing they did was to cut him across his belly and they would probably have killed him had it not been for Frodo leading us to him in time."
As Aragorn paused in his litany of horror for a moment, Legolas put his arm around Sam's shoulders to try and comfort him a little and Boromir reached out to touch Merry's arm. "Are you all right Merry?" he whispered with concern.
Merry did not verbalise his reply but looked up at Boromir with slightly glazed eyes as if he had not heard him and then nodded slightly.
"I'm sorry," Aragorn took Frodo's small hand in his. "It was not my intention to shock you, but the truth is, I'm afraid, brutal."
Merry seemed to come to a little at this, "It's better we know the truth," he said. "Just because we d-deal with it differently does not mean that you should shield us. F-for us to hear it is-is only a f-fraction of what poor Pip. p-poor P-P . Oh, he must have felt so lonely..." Merry gulped his tears back but could not continue.
"All right," Aragorn saw now that the hobbits would grieve and cry but they needed to suffer along with Pippin in order to maintain their mental health. "In terms of what that means right now, the most threatening injuries are to Pippin's stomach and to his rectum, both of which could still kill him."
Merry looked up sharply, a panicked expression on his face. "But I thought. I thought he. "
"No, Merry," Aragorn sighed, "Pippin is still in mortal danger. There is a major artery that runs along the rectum, and if it is ruptured, Pip will die almost instantly. He has multiple abrasions and had been sorely abused in that area. The danger from the wound in his stomach is self evident and that is not taking into account the shock or possible infection from all his other injuries. Added to which," Aragorn took a deep breath again, "I think he has a sexually transmitted disease which could also kill him."
Merry looked up in confusion. "A what?" Aragorn looked at the other halflings' faces and saw puzzlement there as well. He was going to have to explain this carefully. It was incredibly draining to do this and not let his emotions out, and he did not know how much more he could take. Fortunately Boromir saved him. Aragorn had been discussing the symptoms with Boromir, who, as captain of the guard, had quite a bit of experience with such things. His soldiers of course frequented brothels and, in order to prevent disease from sweeping his troops, had added a special training to the normal fighting instruction, training on how to recognize certain diseases. Aragorn knew of this and had gotten Boromir's opinion on the diagnosis.
"When someone is sick with measles or flu, you do not go near them because you could get sick as well, correct?" At the affirmative nods, Boromir continued. "There are certain illnesses that can only be caught by having sexual relations with someone who has the disease. No doubt the filthy orc den was rife with them, and Pippin is most fortunate he only caught one, and one that is curable. Aragron and I agree on which disease it is."
"And Pip will get better from that?" Merry asked quietly.
"As long as we can get him to take the right medication." Aragorn added. "He should."
"But what about his mental condition?" Frodo asked. "Th-that word he called himself for instance and how he doesn't know who we are."
"Frodo," Aragorn explained patiently, "I was listing the physical things that were done to Pippin to try and give you an idea of the mental torment that must have accompanied them. I cannot even begin to guess at all the humiliation and degradation to which they subjected him, certainly they forced themselves in his mouth and they urinated on him, so his use of this word is, I would think, the tiniest indication of the mental torture and conditioning they inflicted on him."
Merry could hardly bear to hear more but it felt as if he was deserting Pippin if he stopped now. "B-but why is my Pip scared of me? Aragorn I can't bear it, he's frightened of me or doesn't know me and I love him best in the whole world!"
"Merry, it is very typical for a rape victim to not want to be near the person they love the most." Aragorn knew this would be hard to explain. "They feel it is in some way their fault and."
"No!" Merry shouted at Aragorn startling the others by his sudden vehemence, "How can you say that? Why would Pip think he was to blame?" "I'm not saying he was, Merry," Aragorn explained gently. "He may have been made to feel that by the orcs. And because of this, he probably feels that he is not fit to be with you." Legolas took Merry's hand in his, "Of course none of this was his fault and eventually he will know that, but at the moment Aragorn must deal with his physical injuries or he will not survive to reach that realisation."
"B-but is there nothing you can do?" Merry quietened a little once more. "To make him feel better about himself I mean. It must be so cruel for him. Does he know we're here and that we're trying to help?"
"Sadly, every time I treat his injuries, I hurt him more." Aragorn had already agonised over this, "but it is either that or let him die. That is why, as I explained to you before Merry, I do not want you to be near him, he will only associate you with the pain."
"Aragorn is right, Merry." Boromir added his weight to the argument. "I have noticed that he already calls Aragorn 'Master', which is obviously some kind of conditioning that he associates with the pain."
"So how will you ever make him know what's happening and that he's safe?" Frodo could see no end to poor Pippin's torment.
"I will do what I can," Aragorn said softly. "But I must attend to his physical well being first. The mental healing will take a long time, but I think his best chance is with the elves in Lothlórien."
Sam lifted up his tear-stained face at this. "Where's that?" he asked. "Is it another elf house like Rivendell?"
"It is more," Aragorn smiled slightly. "It is the Golden Wood and is ruled over by one of the most powerful, yet gracious of Ladies - Galadriel."
"Surely that wood is bewitched!" Gimli exclaimed in horror, "It is no place to take the poor injured hobbit."
"I am sure her bewitchment will work only for good in Pippin's case." Aragorn assured him.
"And will the elves be able to bring him back to us?" Merry asked hopeful for the first time.
"I don't know for sure Merry." Aragorn admitted, "But I am sure they will bring all their powers to bear - one as pure and innocent as Pippin deserves a better fate than this."
****
TBC
A/N: Thank you to Llinos for that wonderful chapter!
Other stuff:
Author: it's all Llinos!
Disclaimer: I do not own the great [WARNING: weird metaphor alert] metropolis that is Lord of the Rings. I am a street urchin playing in its gutters.
My herbs may be accurate, but they should never be used without professional supervision.
Danger! Danger! Llinos Angst ahead - proceed with Caution!
Frodo watched Pippin sadly for a while as the exhausted hobbit snuggled up against his motherly warg. He wished that his little cousin would allow himself to be comforted by him or Sam or Merry, but whenever they touched or spoke to him he was afraid and wide-eyed with terror. Either that or he seemed to retreat into himself as if he were merely suffering their touches and soft words. Only when he was allowed to be with Icicle would he close his eyes and sleep in peace.
Frodo decided then he would not be put off any more. He had asked Aragorn many times why Pippin was so afraid and was dissatisfied with answers such as, 'he doesn't know where he is, or who you are', it made no sense. He understood that Pippin had been badly hurt as the evidence was before him. The terrible wound in his belly, the dislocated arms, the multiple abrasions and cuts and bruises, to say nothing of whatever it was Aragorn had found just now when he examined between Pip's legs.
But why did the ranger not trust Frodo or Merry to help Pippin? He seemed to put more faith in Sam, although even he did not seem too sure exactly what was wrong with Pip's state of mind. All of the other members of the Fellowship seemed to know exactly what was wrong and trying their best to keep it from the hobbits.
Boromir and Merry had woken about a half an hour ago, although Merry did not look very rested and Frodo suspected he had not slept too well.
Frodo looked up at the setting sun. Although he was getting very tired, he resolved to not go to sleep until his questions were answered. He decided to enlist Sam and Merry's help to make Aragorn tell them the whole truth about Pippin and walked over to where the two sat at the campfire. Aragorn, Legolas and Boromir were talking about something a little way off, and Gimli was taking a nap.
"Merry, Sam" Frodo squatted on his haunches to talk quietly to his friends, "Do you think the others are keeping something from us about Pip?"
"What?" A note of panic sounded in Merry's voice. "Has something happened?" Merry was on his feet and about to head over to his little cousin but Frodo caught his coat and pulled him back down.
"No, not something new. It's just that I think they," Frodo waved towards the huddle of big people, "know things they aren't telling us. I don't know about you, but I want the truth about what happened to Pippin. Why he's so scared of us, and why he thinks his name is..." Frodo stopped suddenly, and he realised that Merry had not heard what Pip had called himself. Merry looked up sharply.
"What, Frodo, what does he think his name is?" Merry asked softly, standing up as he did so. Sam buried his head in his hands. Frodo bit his lip. Now he had said too much, if he lied, he would be as guilty as Aragorn for withholding information. But Merry would find out somehow, and Frodo knew what would happen if Merry learned that he too had been keeping things from him.
Frodo stood up next to Merry and placed his hands on his cousin's shoulders and looked into his eyes, "Merry it was quite horrible, poor Pippin did not know what he was saying, I'm sure of it."
"Just tell me." Merry looked squarely back at Frodo letting him know he would not be placated. "You were complaining about having things kept from us. Tell me."
Sam suddenly rose to his feet and caught Merry's arm, turning the hobbit around to face him instead of Frodo. "Mr Pippin said his name was 'Dogwhore'!" Sam knew it was presumptuous of him to behave this way, but he could not bear the tortured tone in Mr Frodo's voice or the agonised look on his face. He also knew that this would be a very hard thing for Mr Merry to hear and decided it would be better not to be told such a thing by his beloved cousin.
"Oh Sam!" Frodo understood completely why he had interrupted. He laid a hand on each of the other two hobbit's shoulders. Merry looked devastated, his mouth dropped open but he was lost for words.
"I'm so s-sorry Mr Merry," Sam stuttered, partly from nerves but also emotion at the awful silence that had fallen on Merry. "I didn't mean to blurt it out like that and all. I'm sure Mr Pippin was. was. " Sam broke off. He realised he was out of his depth now and hoped Frodo would have better words to explain it to Merry.
"Aragorn got him to say his proper name, Merry" Frodo could see Merry's hurt and confusion as if the whole of Pippin's ordeal had just been laid before him with that one word, as if he suddenly saw where Pippin had been and what had been done to him. "Aragorn made him call himself Pip."
"He did what?" Merry finally unfroze, his speechlessness being replaced by anger. "Why did he do that? How would that help? Pip needs to know who he is - not be told! He needs to remember who he is and I'm the one who can do that!"
"We'll all go and talk to Aragorn." Frodo tried to placate his cousin a little. "We'll explain that we need to know more and that Pip needs our help too."
***
"Aragorn, please." Frodo stood with the other two hobbits in a row before the ranger. Boromir and Legolas turned to look at the little deputation sensing with sinking hearts what was to come. "We'd like to talk to you if you're not too tired."
"Of course." Aragorn could hardly deny them. "In private or. " he indicated the others with his arm.
"No, that's partly what we want to talk about," Frodo said glancing either side at the other two hobbits, "all of us."
"Then let us sit by the fire, where we'll be warmer and can keep an eye on Pippin." Aragorn turned to Legolas. "Why don't you waken Gimli to join us as well?"
Once the seven members of the Fellowship were gathered around the small campfire Frodo began. "We three," he paused and looked at Sam and Merry, "we're worried that you are keeping too much from us about Pippin. We see you looking at each other and talking quietly amongst yourselves and we want to know just how badly Pip is hurt, after all," Frodo tried not to sound petulant, although he worried it was might seem to the big folk that way, "he is our kinsman, mine and Merry's and could we not help him more to know who he is and where he is?"
Aragorn took a deep breath and looked at the three expectant faces before him. Sam seemed to be a little nervous at the confrontation, but the ranger could tell Merry was boiling just below the surface and almost at breaking point. "How many victims of rape have you three ever encountered before?" He said it as gently as he could, for he did not need an answer, he already knew.
"I once heard of my second cousin's aunt on my mother's side out in Long Cleeve." Sam started but broke off as he suddenly realised the irrelevance of the story.
"Pippin has been through a terrible ordeal," Aragorn continued. "At the moment all I can deal with in any constructive way are his physical injuries, so let's start by telling you all there is to know about those."
The hobbits nodded to each other and Aragorn, this seemed a good place to start. Aragorn continued. "This is the order in which I believe, and I could be quite wrong, the order in which they happened. This is quite important to consider for then you know how long each injury went untreated. Although bear in mind these are only estimates.
"First, I would imagine that Pippin was knocked about and then beaten with a whip across his back. The bleeding there indicates this occurred early on in his captivity. Then I would guess that he was violently raped for the first time. The bruising on his arms and ankles indicate that he was held down for that purpose and the purple yellow colouring there indicates the age of the attack."
The hobbits shifted uncomfortably at the stark description Aragorn was now giving them of Pippin's ordeal. But it was what they had demanded.
"Shortly after that," Aragorn decided to press on, "I would think the collar was put around his neck and he was dragged around a great deal, probably being made to crawl on his hands and knees, as evidenced by the abrasions and grit in the wounds."
Again the hobbits all stared into the fire not wanting to meet each other's eyes and each feeling that uncomfortable clench in their bellies as they tried to avoid the inevitable pictures the ranger's words were conjuring up.
"Sometime around then, I'm guessing the orcs began to play with him, to torment him. They may have put things inside his back passage and they certainly whipped him again. They may have drugged him too, but I'm not sure.
"Dog's teeth!" Gimli exclaimed in horror. Even the dwarf had not realised the full extent of Pippin's ordeal.
"After this is when I think they burnt him with a hot iron and first put that terrible gag in his mouth. Certainly there would have been more raping and similar abuse. I'm gauging this on what I know of orcs and the likelihood of such things. I am sure the last thing they did, before bringing him outside was to dislocate his arms, which, fortunately was not a very old injury."
Aragorn looked at the three, who were now speechless, although Sam was openly weeping and Merry looked as if he was in shock. Frodo just stared steadfastly into the fire. Boromir, Legolas and Gimli had not fared much better, hearing the whole catalogue of torture vented upon such a small innocent being was a terrible shock even to these seasoned warriors.
"As we know," Aragorn tried to make his voice a little more gentle, "the last thing they did was to cut him across his belly and they would probably have killed him had it not been for Frodo leading us to him in time."
As Aragorn paused in his litany of horror for a moment, Legolas put his arm around Sam's shoulders to try and comfort him a little and Boromir reached out to touch Merry's arm. "Are you all right Merry?" he whispered with concern.
Merry did not verbalise his reply but looked up at Boromir with slightly glazed eyes as if he had not heard him and then nodded slightly.
"I'm sorry," Aragorn took Frodo's small hand in his. "It was not my intention to shock you, but the truth is, I'm afraid, brutal."
Merry seemed to come to a little at this, "It's better we know the truth," he said. "Just because we d-deal with it differently does not mean that you should shield us. F-for us to hear it is-is only a f-fraction of what poor Pip. p-poor P-P . Oh, he must have felt so lonely..." Merry gulped his tears back but could not continue.
"All right," Aragorn saw now that the hobbits would grieve and cry but they needed to suffer along with Pippin in order to maintain their mental health. "In terms of what that means right now, the most threatening injuries are to Pippin's stomach and to his rectum, both of which could still kill him."
Merry looked up sharply, a panicked expression on his face. "But I thought. I thought he. "
"No, Merry," Aragorn sighed, "Pippin is still in mortal danger. There is a major artery that runs along the rectum, and if it is ruptured, Pip will die almost instantly. He has multiple abrasions and had been sorely abused in that area. The danger from the wound in his stomach is self evident and that is not taking into account the shock or possible infection from all his other injuries. Added to which," Aragorn took a deep breath again, "I think he has a sexually transmitted disease which could also kill him."
Merry looked up in confusion. "A what?" Aragorn looked at the other halflings' faces and saw puzzlement there as well. He was going to have to explain this carefully. It was incredibly draining to do this and not let his emotions out, and he did not know how much more he could take. Fortunately Boromir saved him. Aragorn had been discussing the symptoms with Boromir, who, as captain of the guard, had quite a bit of experience with such things. His soldiers of course frequented brothels and, in order to prevent disease from sweeping his troops, had added a special training to the normal fighting instruction, training on how to recognize certain diseases. Aragorn knew of this and had gotten Boromir's opinion on the diagnosis.
"When someone is sick with measles or flu, you do not go near them because you could get sick as well, correct?" At the affirmative nods, Boromir continued. "There are certain illnesses that can only be caught by having sexual relations with someone who has the disease. No doubt the filthy orc den was rife with them, and Pippin is most fortunate he only caught one, and one that is curable. Aragron and I agree on which disease it is."
"And Pip will get better from that?" Merry asked quietly.
"As long as we can get him to take the right medication." Aragorn added. "He should."
"But what about his mental condition?" Frodo asked. "Th-that word he called himself for instance and how he doesn't know who we are."
"Frodo," Aragorn explained patiently, "I was listing the physical things that were done to Pippin to try and give you an idea of the mental torment that must have accompanied them. I cannot even begin to guess at all the humiliation and degradation to which they subjected him, certainly they forced themselves in his mouth and they urinated on him, so his use of this word is, I would think, the tiniest indication of the mental torture and conditioning they inflicted on him."
Merry could hardly bear to hear more but it felt as if he was deserting Pippin if he stopped now. "B-but why is my Pip scared of me? Aragorn I can't bear it, he's frightened of me or doesn't know me and I love him best in the whole world!"
"Merry, it is very typical for a rape victim to not want to be near the person they love the most." Aragorn knew this would be hard to explain. "They feel it is in some way their fault and."
"No!" Merry shouted at Aragorn startling the others by his sudden vehemence, "How can you say that? Why would Pip think he was to blame?" "I'm not saying he was, Merry," Aragorn explained gently. "He may have been made to feel that by the orcs. And because of this, he probably feels that he is not fit to be with you." Legolas took Merry's hand in his, "Of course none of this was his fault and eventually he will know that, but at the moment Aragorn must deal with his physical injuries or he will not survive to reach that realisation."
"B-but is there nothing you can do?" Merry quietened a little once more. "To make him feel better about himself I mean. It must be so cruel for him. Does he know we're here and that we're trying to help?"
"Sadly, every time I treat his injuries, I hurt him more." Aragorn had already agonised over this, "but it is either that or let him die. That is why, as I explained to you before Merry, I do not want you to be near him, he will only associate you with the pain."
"Aragorn is right, Merry." Boromir added his weight to the argument. "I have noticed that he already calls Aragorn 'Master', which is obviously some kind of conditioning that he associates with the pain."
"So how will you ever make him know what's happening and that he's safe?" Frodo could see no end to poor Pippin's torment.
"I will do what I can," Aragorn said softly. "But I must attend to his physical well being first. The mental healing will take a long time, but I think his best chance is with the elves in Lothlórien."
Sam lifted up his tear-stained face at this. "Where's that?" he asked. "Is it another elf house like Rivendell?"
"It is more," Aragorn smiled slightly. "It is the Golden Wood and is ruled over by one of the most powerful, yet gracious of Ladies - Galadriel."
"Surely that wood is bewitched!" Gimli exclaimed in horror, "It is no place to take the poor injured hobbit."
"I am sure her bewitchment will work only for good in Pippin's case." Aragorn assured him.
"And will the elves be able to bring him back to us?" Merry asked hopeful for the first time.
"I don't know for sure Merry." Aragorn admitted, "But I am sure they will bring all their powers to bear - one as pure and innocent as Pippin deserves a better fate than this."
****
TBC
A/N: Thank you to Llinos for that wonderful chapter!
Other stuff: