Ithilien, May of 1425
Faramir woke up with a start. He had fallen asleep on his hard throne but the gentle shaking of a Hobbit hand woke him. He looked at the Halfling with freshly wakened eyes and sat up straight.
Pippin looked up at him with the eyes of a little puppy, and Faramir suddenly felt he knew what his esquire must have looked like as a child. They were both silent for a moment, Faramir waiting for Pippin to speak and Pippin waiting for Faramir to wake up completely.
"Strider is here" he said in a tiny voice.
Faramir nodded.
"It is my duty to inform the king when one of his soldiers do not return when they are supposed to."
That sounded like a lie to Pippin's ears but he preferred to let it pass. He would rather believe Faramir than think Strider had arrived out of personal concern. He had gone to sleep surprisingly fast the night before and woken up at the break of dawn. When he found no Merry in the other bed he got up and got dressed as quickly as possible. While he had hurried down the halls he had spotted the king through the window and thought it best to find the steward. It had scared him to see his old friend arrive; it must be serious if he had taken the time to ride to Ithilien on such short notice.
"I should go greet him" Faramir said and got up. "You stay here."
"He is my king too" Pippin said.
"Yes, but you are better needed here" Faramir said. "Guard the throne room for me, someone might come and look for me, then you must direct them to the courtyard. I will be back shortly."
Pippin nodded slowly and Faramir managed an encouraging smile before he hurried off. His back ached from sleeping on the stone throne but part of him found he enjoyed the pain. It was something tangible right now when everything else was uncertain. It was a good thing the king was here, if he could not find what had happened to the little soldier than nobody could.
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Out on the courtyard there was a hustle and a bustle as the soldiers of Ithilien were getting ready to ride out and look for Master Holdwine. The king was amongst them, dressed in his old ranger clothes, and with him was Legolas the Elf. Faramir had only sent word to one of them, but he was glad that the keen eyed Elf had come as well.
"Aragorn!" Faramir said when he reached the king. "I was not expecting your arrival so soon but I'm glad that you are here."
"No doubt will the Hobbit feel horribly ashamed when he realises all the commotion he has caused" Legolas said. "But we can laugh about that when we find him. Aragorn and I are going to track his pony's hoof prints and see where they lead us."
"It won't do you much good following a pony, he rode a horse" Faramir said and held Aragorn's horse while the ranger adjusted his saddle straps.
"A horse?" Aragorn echoed. "Mighty big for a Hobbit."
"He's a tall Hobbit" Faramir said. "But he might have found the animal too strong for him to be able to control it if it decided to bolt."
"We shall track his horse then" Aragorn said and mounted his beast. "Keep your soldiers away for a while, Captain Faramir. I don't want them spoiling the tracks. Which way did he go?"
Faramir pointed.
"Towards the river is my guess. When Master Halfling returns be sure to send him to me, I shall have a few words to say to him."
"Never mind that now" Aragorn said and grabbed his reins. "Let's find him. That's all we have to worry about at the time being. Come along, Legolas!"
Faramir let go of the horse and watched the king ride off, dressed as a ranger, with his keen eyed companion in tow. Pairing up the best tracker with the best eyes would doubtlessly lead them to Merry. Faramir turned to his soldiers and informed them to wait until they heard from the king. At the time Aragorn and Legolas were their best bet.
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"Eat something" Faramir said and pushed his own breakfast over to Pippin.
"No thanks" Pippin said, staring into space.
"I insist."
The Hobbit didn't move. He was seated opposite Faramir at a table, keeping him company while he ate his breakfast. But neither of the two had much of an appetite at the moment.
"Master Pippin… Eat. Show me the cheerful spirit of the Hobbits, the one that allows you to shake your troubles off like they were nothing."
"I'm just not very hungry" Pippin said and smiled apologetically. "I want him to be home. I, I can't really eat anything right now. Sorry. I'll be cheerful later, I promise."
Faramir nodded to a servant who came and took the food away. He leaned over the table and got Pippin's attention.
"I don't want you to worry about a thing" he said. "If he is not found by tomorrow then we have reason to be concerned but at the time he has not even been gone long enough to be considered lost. He got delayed on his way home, that is all. You know this."
Pippin nodded obediently. His stomach growled loudly and he managed a smile.
"Perhaps I should have that breakfast after all?"
"That is more like it" Faramir said. "Have some breakfast, then come with me and supervise the stables. Every horse shall be saddled and ready in case the king calls for them."
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Aragorn knelt down on the ground and gently followed the outline of the print with his fingers. It was the same prints as they had been following all morning, but the horse had slowed down. There were other prints nearby, and something smelled, something oddly familiar. He was sure Merry had been here, the question was where he had gone from here on. So far they had found no tracks leading back to the city.
"Legolas, can you see anything?" he asked.
"Nothing more than plains and the river" Legolas said. "And tracks all around us. Many tracks."
"Whoever made these tracks must--"
"There's something to the south!" Legolas said. "I can see it, following the river! Come Aragorn!"
Aragorn quickly mounted his horse and followed the Elf down to the river. He kept an eye on the tracks they had been following but soon had to give up at the pace Legolas was going. The Elf was in a hurry, and before long Aragorn too could see the dark shapes on the ground. The smell became more evident the closer they got.
They both leapt of their horses when they came close enough. Two bodies were lying on the ground before them, and a closer look told them that some form of struggle had taken place. From where he was standing now Legolas could see more bodies scattered around the area, hidden beneath the grass.
Aragorn and Legolas knelt down by the two bodies near them and looked at each other with disgust and fear.
"Yrch!" Legolas said.
"But in this age…" Aragorn said. "So near Ithilien… It shouldn't be possible."
"They are not here anymore" Legolas said and rose to look around. "And neither is Merry. There was a fight, I wonder if these two were slain by our Hobbit friend. Whatever happened after that, Merry is gone and we cannot find him on our own. If he was clever he would have gone into the river to escape that way. If he was unlucky the orcs took him. All we know for sure is that they are not here anymore and neither is the Hobbit."
Aragorn shivered as he rose and gave the orcs before him a kick with his boot. He truly hated these creatures and he thought he'd seen the last of them. He had seen more of his share during the war and so had Merry.
"We must return to the city" Legolas said. "The men must be sent out to search. We have to find Merry before it is too late. There is no way we can follow all these scattered tracks alone, Faramir must send out his best trackers to help us. Come, we must be quick. They can have a full day's head start by the time soldiers can be sent out to hunt them down."
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Pippin received the news of Merry's encounter with the orcs with much composure. He looked down on his hairy feet and then up at Aragorn. Then he managed a smile.
"Merry's been with them before. He knows how to handle himself."
Aragorn put his hand on Pippin's shoulder and squeezed it hard. Pippin looked away and tried to keep his mind from drifting too far into what dangers could be connected with being the captive of the orcs. Merry had been through it once before, but that time he had not been alone. And this time there was no telling where they were taking him.
"The one thing I don't understand…" he said. "What would they want with him? During the war we were valuable prisoners but they have no use for him now."
"Don't you trouble your mind with that" Aragorn said.
He knew how the orcs liked to treat captives, for them it was great fun whether it was a prisoner of war or not. He remembered his mother-in-law's fate and hoped it had not been Merry's. The last thing that Pippin needed right now was to remember the fate of Elrond's wife; he was frightened enough as it was even though he tried his best not to let it show. The Hobbit's refusal to panic was admirable, Aragorn felt proud of him.
"Legolas and I are going back out to help the search parties" he said to the Hobbit and hoped he sounded encouraging.
"I want to come with you."
"No, Peregrin. I have to know that at least one of you is out of their reach. Stay here and hold the fort together with Faramir."
"He's my cousin, you know" Pippin said. "I have more right than anyone to be out there looking for him!"
"I know" Aragorn said. "But you'll be reunited with him sooner if you stay here. If you're out with us he might be found by another search party and brought back. And he might need you when he arrives. Stay here, you will have the best chance of being with him soon if you stay here."
Pippin crossed his arms with a pouting face but did not say anything else. Aragorn stroke his cheek with the back of his hand and then he and Legolas were gone. Pippin was all alone.
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Éowyn opened the door out to the hallway slightly and listened for footsteps in the hallway. She could hear none and were just about to step out when she could hear her husband's voice accompanied by a number of feet walking down the stone hall. She drew back and listened by the door. If she looked through the tiny slot in the door she could see Faramir and his group of captains hurrying towards Faramir's council room.
"… must be done to find Master Holdwine" Faramir's voice said.
"Holdwine…" Éowyn mumbled under her breath.
"I want every last inch of Ithilien searched thoroughly, leave no stone unturned, no door not knocked, no tree not shaken and checked. Nobody eats and nobody sleeps until he is safely returned. Bring him home, and do it now. Every minute is precious. I want him back here alive. Kill those who hold him captive."
"Captive…" Éowyn whispered.
The voices and footsteps faded. Instead of going out into the hall Éowyn turned and fled back to her chambers.
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Aragorn had a headache. He knew he needed to stop and drink some water but he could not treat himself to any such luxuries at the moment. He was back inside a nightmare which he never wanted to live through again, once again he was chasing after orcs in hope to save those he cared about. This time around he had the advantage of travelling by horse but the disadvantage of being a day behind. Hopefully these orcs did not travel by day. In the back of his mind he wondered what had happened to Merry's horse. Knowing the orcs it might very well have suffered the fate of becoming orc dinner. Aragorn could only pray that had not been Merry's fate as well.
"We've been following this same trail for hours on end" Legolas said. "It has led us nowhere. Aragorn I think we are on the wrong track."
"Orcs have passed by this way."
"No more than two or three. Two or three orcs cannot have had Merry with them, these are no Uruk-hai, they cannot carry him far. Especially not if they've dared travel in sunlight. I think we should head back and not waste our time following a dead track."
"I am not stopping until I find the ones who made these tracks!"
"For what purpose? To kill them and avenge Merry? That will not do our friend any good. I think we must head back to the city and hear what news they have received. Chances are the Hobbit has been brought back."
Aragorn sighed deeply and stared at the tracks before him. Deep down he knew Legolas was right. These orcs did not have Merry with them. There was no sign of any Hobbit footprint anywhere on the trail, and nothing to indicate that one of the orcs was carrying a heavy burden. But he could not give up and return home until he had Merry with him. He could not go back and face the look on Pippin's face when the news was none.
"Aragorn."
Aragorn sighed again and gave in to the Elf. There was nothing they could do following this track. It was a dead end.
"We must return" he said and mounted his horse.
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An hour later, far from where Aragorn and Legolas were, a troupe of four soldiers halted. They had been following the river down its path, looking for any sign that someone might have gotten out of the river on any side. So far they had been without luck. The streams of the river could carry its prey all the way to the sea; the Hobbit could have followed it for a long time before managing to get out. Luckily Merry was a Hobbit who knew how to swim, but the water was cold and spending too much time in it might cause him to freeze to death. Neither soldier wanted to think of what would happen if they found the Hobbit dead and had to bring him back to the city in such a condition.
"If Master Perian did come this way he must have been frozen solid by now" one of the soldiers said. "Only pure luck could save him at this point."
"Wait!" one of his companions said and pointed. "I see something! Over there!"
"Is it the Perian?" another soldier asked.
"No, definitely not… But it might be a trace, perhaps one of his attackers. I just hope it's something which will tell us he came this way."
They galloped down the river. Their horses began to whinny and refused to go any further. One of the soldiers wrinkled his nose and jumped down on the ground. He could see what it was lying before him but for some reason he had to step closer and make absolute sure. He reached out his hand and touched it.
"The horse that the Perian borrowed" he said. "Washed up dead… So he went into the river."
"Let's hope he's in a better state than the horse."
"There's something here…" the soldier on the ground said and held his fingers over his nose as he leaned over the horse to have a better look. "An arrow. Sticking out of the horse's side. An orc arrow."
"We must move on!" one of the other soldiers said. "We are close now!"
The soldier on the ground went back to his own horse and shook his head in disbelief as he mounted.
"What happened to this poor Perian?" he wondered.
"Perhaps we shall find our answer further down the river."
And they did.
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Aragorn and Legolas had returned to the city by the time the four soldiers got back. They were keeping Pippin company in Faramir's throne room when the steward came to speak with them. Pippin hurried over as soon as Faramir appeared. He felt Legolas hand on his left shoulder and Aragorn's on his right. They stood right behind him as Faramir began to speak. He spoke to Aragorn, finding it easier that way.
"A troupe of soldiers found Master Holdwine's horse washed up on the banks of the river. Dead, impaled by an orc arrow before drowning in the river. They continued a bit further down the river and there they found proof of your friend's fate. I regret having to be the one to inform you, Merry is dead. I am truly sorry."
He looked down at Pippin and handed him something which the soldiers had found. Pippin looked down on it. It was Merry's pack, impaled by an arrow. Only part of the arrow remained, it had been broken off, and it did not take much guessing to realise that the other end of it was impaled in Merry's back. Pippin looked at it for a few seconds without making a movement. Then a cry of pain passed through his lips which startled the three tall people in the room with him.