A/N: I got the element of Gimli's cure for hangovers from the book "Eragon". Sounds like a good enough cure to me. Again, thank you all for the kind reviews. I really want to finish this story, and I'm glad there are people who want me to.
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Most of the people in the hall returned to their homes and or their bedrooms for the night around two o' clock in the morning. Some, like Gimli and Eaoden, had to be dragged off by friends, spouses, siblings, parents or children. Gandalf and Aragorn hadn't drank anything, Legolas and Idrial were incapable of getting drunk, and Merry and Pippin had toed the line, but were still relatively sober. Elegost, Hadhod and Berethor did not drink anything more than what they already had, and Morwen had already been dragged off to bed.
Berethor pointedly did not tell anyone about Morwen kissing him, seeing as how Elegost would never let him hear the end of it, and telling Idrial would be pure suicide. He sensed coldness from her when he got within her field of vision. Berethor was still awake when all others had fallen asleep. Even though the most sober in the hall were asleep, he found it impossible.
Gimli was snoring so loud, Berethor thought that it was probably keeping Sauron awake in Mordor. Tomorrow, when they all awoke, Legolas would probably enjoy tormenting the dwarf about his noise. Smirking at the amusing image of the Eye of Sauron in a bed, wide open, grumbling about "Dwarves and their snoring", Berethor attempted to fall asleep. Somewhere behind him, he heard blankets ruffle, and someone stood up.
Berethor, now beginning to feel drowsiness overtake him, ignored it. There were footsteps that padded to the doorway, and faded away. In the next few minutes that followed, Berethor was in-between sleep and alertness, so he did not completely register what was happening. He heard a voice whisper:
"Pip?' What are you doing?"
"I just want to look at it."
"You'll get into terrible trouble."
There was a pause, in which rustling and footsteps could be heard.
"I just want to look. Just one look." There was another pause, and suddenly, strained noises reached Berethor's ears, pushing him slowly towards alertness.
"PIPPIN!" This shout pretty much awoke everyone in the hall. "HELP! HELP!" Berethor shot straight up and whirled his head around to see Pippin, holding the Palantir with a pained look on his face. The young Hobbit was shaking uncontrollably, and he was writhing in unimaginable pain on the stone floor.
A door at the side of the hall banged open and Aragorn and Legolas came shooting in. Aragorn attempted to take the Palantir from Pippin. But when he did, he fell into the same attack Pippin did, writhing on the floor and such. Legolas caught the Ranger before he could hit the floor, and the Palantir was dropped. It rolled across the cold floor towards the wall.
"GANDALF!" Elegost yelled, tossing his cloak to the wizard. Gandalf caught it, and threw it over the glass sphere. The wizard whirled to face Pippin and Merry.
"FOOL OF A-" He stopped dead when he saw Pippin, frozen stiff on the ground with Merry hunched over him. The Istar quickly pushed Merry out of the way and knelt down in front of Pippin. He muttered something under his breath while the rest of the hall looked on, most choosing to stand back. Eaoden quietly moved over to the covered Palantir, and made to lift the cloak.
"Do not touch it!" Idrial snapped. "Or do you wish to end up like Pippin?" Eaoden was only too quick to back away at the notion of becoming a living statue. There was a gasp, and suddenly Pippin snapped back. Berethor slowly walked over to see what was happening.
"Gandalf," Pippin whispered. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" He whispered.
"What did you see?" Gandalf said urgently. "Speak!" Pippin choked for a moment, and then whispered,
"I saw a tree… a tree in a courtyard of stone… it was dead." Berethor's eyes flashed strangely, but he said nothing. "And then… I saw him." Pippin's voice now came out as a terrified squeak.
"What did you say to him?" Gandalf pressed.
"He asked my name. I didn't answer. He… He hurt me." Pippin murmured.
"That explains the writhing." Elegost said.
"What did you tell him about Frodo and the Ring?" Gandalf asked. There was a dead silence.
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"There was no lie in Pippin's eyes," Gandalf said about twenty minutes later. He, Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, Merry, Pippin, Eomer, Theodan, Berethor, Idrial, Hadhod, Eaoden, Elegost and a very sleepy and disoriented Morwen were gathered in the Golden Hall. "A fool, perhaps," Pippin winced at this. "But an honest fool he remains." Pippin relaxed a little. "He told Sauron nothing of Frodo and the Ring."
There was a collective sigh of relief.
"We have been strangely fortunate," Gandalf continued. "While looking into the Palantir, Pippin caught a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Sauron's forces move to strike the city of Minas Tirith." Glancing over, Idrial saw Berethor close his eyes tightly. "He will strike swiftly, and with little warning. If the beacons of Gondor are lit, Rohan must be ready for war." Theodan stepped forward.
"Tell me," He said quietly. "Why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours?" Berethor whirled and looked at King Theodan with a mixture of fear, anger and confusion on his face. This was his home they were talking about! His family was there! "What do we owe Gondor?"
"They must at least be warned! I will go!" Aragorn said.
"I will gladly accompany you, my friend." Berethor added.
"No," Gandalf said. He beckoned Berethor closer and muttered to the Gondorian and the Ranger. "You must come to Minas Tirith by a different road." He turned to the rest of them. "Things are now in motion that cannot be undone. I ride for Minas Tirith," He turned and fixed Pippin with a gaze that explained itself to all. "And I won't be going alone."
Pippin groaned.
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The next morning, much of Edoras was like the living dead. Elegost's prediction about being surrounded by hungover men had been quite correct. Most unfortunately for Morwen, Elegost was quite right about her having the "mother of all hangovers". She groaned and winced at every slight noise, and she hissed and recoiled at the sunlight streaming through the windows.
Gimli, whom was partially immune to hangovers (He had one but it wasn't very strong), decided it was time for Morwen to get up. "Lass," He said, giving the young Rohhiric woman a shake.
"Leave me alone." She mumbled, her voice muffled because of the blanket pulled over her head. "My head hurts."
"I know that, lass, and I intend to help you with it." He yanked the covers off her head and she half-groaned, half-shrieked in agony. "Hadhod! You got Eaoden up yet?" He called to the other dwarf. A few beds down, Hadhod was tugging mercilessly at Eaoden's blankets, trying to pull them off.
"Yes, but he isn't coming quietly!" He responded. Another few tugs, however, and the Outrider finally gave in and allowed himself to be dragged up by his companion. "Consider this pay-back for that wisecrack about tossing me to the bridge." Hadhod muttered.
"What do you two want?" Eaoden groaned as he and Hadhod walked (Or in Eaoden's case, stumbled) over to Morwen and Gimli.
"We want to ease your suffering." Gimli said.
"You mean you're going to have a load of horses trample and kill us? Because that sounds a lot less painful than this." Morwen mumbled, rubbing her temple with one hand and leaning on Gimli's shoulder with the other.
"No, Morwen. We're going to cure your hangovers." Hadhod said, grabbing Eaoden by his tunic and motioning for Gimli and Morwen to follow. They arrived in the courtyard of Edoras, and Eaoden suddenly went a strange shade of green.
"Excuse me," He murmured, ducking to the side and retching. When he emptied his stomach of last night's celebration, he returned to the others. Gimli sighed.
"Exact reason we brought them outside. We best be doing this quick, before Morwen gives us an encore." He muttered to Hadhod, who nodded solemnly in agreement. The older dwarf disappeared for a few minutes, and returned with four things: two buckets of water, a pail of milk, and a large bottle of brandy. He calmly picked up the first bucket, and walked over to Eaoden, who blinked.
"Hadhod, what are you-" SPLASH. Hadhod had dumped the water all over Eaoden. "BLOODY- WHAT THE H-LL HADHOD?" The Outrider roared. Morwen laughed hard, and then winced and grabbed her forehead at the pain this caused. Hadhod ignored Eaoden's spluttering and grabbed the other bucket. This time, he splashed it all over Morwen.
The young woman froze and promptly gasped as the water hit her. It was freezing. Now it was Eaoden who laughed, and it wasn't long before he had to stop like Morwen did. Gimli grabbed two tankards from nearby and filled them with milk. "Drink it," He muttered, shoving one at Morwen and the other at Eaoden. Soaking wet, the two Rohhirans slumped against the wall and did as they were told.
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Meanwhile, Gandalf and Pippin were about to go to Edoras. Merry and Pippin were following while Gandalf and Berethor led. "Gandalf," Berethor said. "I have to go to Minas Tirith. I was charged by Lord Denethor himself to find his son and check up on him, and I should be the one to tell him what happened." Gandalf shook his head.
"I said it earlier, Berethor. You and all the others must arrive at Minas Tirith by another road. Besides, we are talking about Denethor's firstborn son. He will be devastated by this news, and I do not want you to have to face his wrath. I will handle telling him the unpleasant news." Gandalf said. Berethor winced.
"But Gandalf-"
"Berethor, you are staying here." Gandalf then leaned forward conspiratorially. "And be on the look out for those beacons I told you about earlier. I don't care if I have to set Denethor aflame and throw him on the wood myself, those beacons shall be lit!" He vowed. "And you are better off here. Theodan will need every sword. Minas Tirith has plenty of soldiers to defend itself."
Berethor shifted uncomfortably. "All right." He muttered. "I will await the lighting of the beacons. But please, Gandalf-" he grabbed the Wizard's shoulder. "My family is in Minas Tirith. All I hold dear to me is in that city. Please do not let it fall." Gandalf offered a reassuring smile to the Gondorian.
"I will defend your home to my last breath, Berethor." Berethor nodded, still feeling a bit uneasy, and stood back as Gandalf climbed onto Shadowfax. He helped Pippin up behind the Istar, and Merry held up a bag of something to his cousin.
"Old Toby?" Pippin muttered, looking at Merry with sadness in his eyes.
"I know you've run out," Merry muttered, smiling a bit. "You smoke too much, Pip." He then stepped back from Shadowfax.
"Ride, Shadowfax. Show us the meaning of haste." Gandalf said, nudging Shadowfax's side.
"Merry!" Pippin yelped. Now there was pure, undiluted fear in the Hobbit's eyes. Then, Shadowfax was gone with a gust of wind and a bit of kicked up dust.