Chapter 16

Victory at Minas Tirith

Pippin was once again pushing through the crowd of soldiers, searching for the one person he knew could help him in this time of such dire need.

"Come on, soldier! Move it! Hurry along there! Hurry along!" One of the men called out in the chaos around them.

"Gandalf! Where is Gandalf? Gandalf!" Pippin exclaimed, searching everywhere, running desperately onward.

"Retreat! The city is breached. Fall back to the second level! Get the woman and children out. Get them out! Retreat!" Gandalf shouted from not too far ahead, trying his best to guide the panicking people around him as the Orcs came running rampant into the city, killing everyone in sight.

"Come on! Come on!" Soldiers were yelling as well.

"Move into the city. Kill all in your path." Gandalf instructed, as loud as he could, trying to make sure all could hear him.

"Take them down!" Another soldier agreed, in attempt to further rally the men around him.

"Fight! Fight to the last man! Fight for your lives!" Gandalf continued just as Pippin finally pushed through the soldiers and raced up toward him.

"Gandalf!" He cried hysterically. "Gandalf! Denethor has lost his mind! He's burning Faramir and Ruby alive!"

"Up! Quickly!" Gandalf said immediately his face going grim with the news, as he pulled the Hobbit up beside him on Shadowfax. They began to race together; horse running much faster than either one of them could have managed on their own. That is until it came to a sudden stop as the Witch-King and his own fell beast landed right in front of them. "Go back to the abyss! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your master!" Gandalf told him doing his best to not look scared or intimidated in the least.

"Do you not know death when you see it, old man? This is my hour." He practically laughed in return, his sword beginning to flame, as he reached out to break the Wizard's staff, throwing both of them to the ground.

"Gandalf!" Pippin exclaimed taking out his sword and running to the fell beast before it roared in his face and he rushed back in defeat.

"You have failed. The world of Men will fall." The Witch-King cackled in his soft terrifying voice, but before he could do anything more horns sounded in the distance, and the he decided to fly towards the sound. Both watched after him for a moment, recovering from their shock, before resuming their quest. But as he looked at the desolation going on around him, he had to wonder if the world hadn't fallen already.

~jb~

"Ruby! Ruby, are you alright?" Hazel called out, rushing to her younger sister's side and pulling her close while she cried into her chest.

"I … I'm fine. It's just Pippin… he… he..." The young, perhaps six-year-old hobbit stammered, as she tried to control the rush of tears.

"What? What did he do?" Hazel crooned looking right into her eyes, her own filled with love and compassion.

"He told me that I'd never go on a real adventure like Bilbo!" She wailed, feeling her heart break as she relived the moment once again. "He said I was too weak to do anything useful. That I'd only get myself killed."

"Well, what does he know?" Hazel demanded, her sisterly, almost maternal instincts kicking into gear in a way that made her feel safe and loved. "He's no better than you. Of course, you'll go on an adventure Ruby, when the time is right. You just need to be patient, that's all."

"But really Hazel what can I do? I'm not strong, or especially smart, and I've never wielded a sword in my life. What do I have to offer?" She asked still sniffling, though her tears were starting to dry with her sisters comforting words.

"Lots of things." Hazel insisted, smiling as she tenderly brushed a lock of Ruby's hair. "You're sweet, loyal, determined, helpful, and plenty smart. Smarter than Pippin anyway." This last elicited a small giggle from Ruby.

"Do you really believe that?" She questioned, wanting desperately to believe but not quite daring to.

"Of course. But more importantly, I believe in you." She returned her smile growing ever brighter.

"Thank you, Hazel." Ruby said, smiling as well now, as she returned her sisters embrace. "And you are the most loving, protecting, resolute, courageous and wisest Hobbit I have ever known. If I ever do get to go on an adventure I hope it will be with you."

"Same here." Hazel replied laughing as she began to pull away, though Ruby only clung to her tighter.

"Sing me a song?" She asked, her voice very soft and timid now, unsure of her sister's response. Though she shouldn't have been. There was hardly anything in this world Hazel wouldn't have done for her Ruby, smiling softly to herself she began to softly sing while gently stroking her hair.

Ruby felt a small splash of liquid against her cheek, and groaning she felt herself lifted from her wonderful dream and carried back to the horror of the real world. A scream nearly escaped her lips as she realized where she was, still tied up, and placed on a pyre of wood covered in oil.

Straining to regain her composure, she began to struggle ever so slightly (trying her best not to be noticed), as she tested the strength of her bindings, but they refused to budge. Great. Now what am I going to do? She thought quelling the panic rising in her chest. Wait. Where's Faramir! She turned, and saw him lying just beside her, still wrapped in his own unconscious world.

Oh Faramir! I'm so sorry. I've failed you. I really am too weak. Hazel was wrong. Tears brimmed in her eyes at this thought, but she shook them off, refusing to dwell on the self-pity that would do her no good in this situation. Suddenly she felt an odd prick at her back that made her wince slightly in pain, as she wondered what on earth it could be. Until she remembered the knife Faramir had given her before he went off to battle. The one she had placed in the sash with which she had used to better attach her silly, too-long apron.

It must have shifted to the back. She realized smiling to herself, as she once again wriggled against her bindings, this time with a distinct purpose in mind. She barely managed to grasp the hilt of the knife in her hand sighing in relief as she carefully managed to cut away at her bindings, often nicking herself in the process, but at least by the end she was free. Or at least her hands were anyway. She didn't dare try to free her legs for fear that she would be caught, by either Denethor or his men, and would then be unable to help Faramir.

At this very moment Denethor was standing over her on the pyre, pouring oil over his own head, after having made sure that both she and Faramir were perfectly drenched. Then he turned to his soldiers and solemnly ordered. "Set a fire in our flesh." The soldiers immediately moved forward to obey, but before they could (and Ruby lost her wits completely out of panic), the door crashed open forced so by a kick from Shadowfax.

"Stay this madness!" Gandalf shouted to the men, and they all came to a screeching halt, unsure of what to do though Ruby's own paralysis had come to an end and she slashed at the bindings round her legs quickly freeing herself and scrambling closer to her limp friend, but not before Denethor made a move of his own.

"You may triumph in the field of battle for a day, but against the power that has risen in the east, there is no victory." He told the wizard, stealing one of his men's torches and lighting the pile himself, causing Gandalf to charge and knock him off with a spear. Moved by a rush of adrenaline Ruby pushed at Faramir's body with all her might while the flames flickered around the two of them. After several tries she finally succeeded knocking him to the floor, where Pippin was waiting, straightly slapping out whatever flames had reached his clothing, before turning his arms raised to catch Ruby as she began to leap. But she could not. Once again, her dress had caught in the wood, but not only that her left leg was stuck as well.

Pippin tried to come help her, but he was assaulted by Denethor, who was screaming, "No! You will not take my son from me!" At the top of his lungs.

"No! No! Ruby!" Pippin shouted in return, desperately trying to stay the insane man, but it was little use. Ruby on the other hand heard and saw nothing at all except for the flames circling in around her (it is surely a miracle that she had not caught fire herself by that moment), and the voice of Sauron once again in her head. "You cannot escape your fate foolish child! Embrace the flames. You are destined to burn!"

She sobbed as she desperately tried to wrench her leg free, on the verge of giving up when suddenly it was Hazel's voice in her head, not the evil lord's. "I believe in you." Followed closely by the Lady Galadriel's. Your sister will need you Ruby. She will need you to be strong. With that last thought she somehow was able to dig deep within herself and find the power to break free, tumbling to the floor just as the bottom of her dress caught fire.

Ironically this was also the moment that Gandalf came riding up once again knocking Denethor away, although this time onto the pyre which now burst forth brighter and stronger than before, blazed with flames. From there he was able to peer through the fire at his son, and to his surprise finding him looking right back at him. The Hobbits had been telling the truth. Faramir was alive! "Faramir." He breathed, his heart softening, and his eyes tearing up with relief, love, and regrets over his many deplorable actions. But it was too late for penance. He had already caught ablaze. Screaming he leapt from the pyre and ran from the house, throwing himself over the edge of Minas Tirith, to what he hoped would be a less painful end.

"So, passes Denethor, son of Ecthelion." Gandalf said solemnly, but Pippin wasn't paying him any attention. He was at Ruby's side, having already put out the fire from her clothes, cradling her against his chest and they sobbed helplessly together.

~jb~

Once Faramir had been taken away to be properly tended to, and the two Hobbits had regained their composure, they followed Gandalf away back to the fighting; neither wanted to be separated from the other after last times results, and they all agreed that there really wasn't a perfectly safe place in the whole city. So, there they were sitting behind a short wall, watching and waiting, at the next level of the city where the Orcs would surely break through the gate any minute.

"I didn't think it would end this way." Pippin said sadly, his arm still around Ruby, though his sword was clutched tightly in the other one. She completely agreed. In all her daydreaming about adventures she had never imagined an outcome quite like this.

"End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain curtain of this world rolls back, and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it." Gandalf spoke up, looking at him in surprise before he seemed to stare into space the vision of which he spoke right before his eyes.

"What, Gandalf? See what?" Ruby asked desperate for whatever hope he could give her.

"White shores, and beyond. A far green country under a swift sunrise." He replied reverently.

"Well that isn't so bad." Pippin said, sounding much more hopeful himself.

"No. No, it isn't." Gandalf agreed, and the three all smiled slightly at each other, before the urgency of the moment crept back in and he nodded at the two of them. At this Pippin tightened the grip on his sword, and Ruby reached down to pull hers (she had been given it just before they departed for the battle) out and grip it tightly in her own hands.

The fighting itself was all a blur for Ruby: one, because her head was still kind of aching from Denethor's whack of earlier, and two, all of the chaos, and three because it seemed to end so fast. She did her best to fend off any Orcs that came her way, and she proved to be much better with a blade than she had ever imagined (which isn't saying much), but it was really all Pippin's doing that kept her alive. He fought like a lion to defend her, and she was in complete awe of his power and skill. Not much perhaps compared to that of the trained soldiers around him, but still impressive, especially for a Hobbit. Once the battle was won (through a rush of events that Ruby was still unsure of, though she could have sworn she thought she'd caught a glimpse of some sort of ghost army), she and Pippin decided to roam the battle-field, to see if anyone was left alive.

To her surprise, Ruby spotted a familiar Elven cloak and picked it up, rushing to show Pippin as fear struck her heart. "Merry." She breathed, and instantly they both rushed to find their friend, calling out "Merry! Merry!"

Of course, it was Pippin who found him, pushing of the dead body that covered him. "Merry! Merry!" He exclaimed, taking his best friend and cousin into his arms, as he cried over his hurt body. Hearing this Ruby rushed over to join them, though she stopped just short, wanting to give the two a moment alone. After all, they were Merry and Pippin, the inseparable duo, and she knew there were some aspects of their relationship she could never touch. "Merry, it's me. It's Pippin."

"I knew you'd find me." Merry gasped weakly, an unconvincing smile on his face.

"Yes." Pippin agreed allowing his own small smile.

"Are you going to leave me?" Merry asked in a tone and way that brought tears (once again) to Ruby's eyes.

"No, Merry. I'm going to look after you." Pippin informed him, grabbing a cloak and carefully covering him with it even as he did so. "Both of you." He added, turning to grin shyly at Ruby, who took this as an invitation to rush forward and join them; she embraced Merry as tightly as she could, kissing both of his cheeks before turning and kissing Pippin on the mouth so happy to finally have them all together again.

Uh-oh! The 'trouble-making trio is back!' Haha! As I've gone back to read/edit this, I realize the incredible character development that Ruby has. She grows so much! Hazel just…sasses her way through this story. Haha!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!