Chapter 5

Aragorn groaned with relief as he spotted a hobbit in the barrel. It was Merry, his face dirty and covered in bruises and scratches. Merry gave a whimper when he saw Aragorn.

"Strider" he cried. Aragorn leant down and picked up the small hobbit, cringing at the amount of blood his friend was covered in. Merry started to sob as Aragorn embraced him, carrying him over to Gimli, still mounted on his horse.

"Pippin's hurt, he sick, I think he's dying" Merry cried into Aragorn's shoulder. Aragorn closed his eyes for a moment, trying not to think of what Pippin might look like dead, his eyes open and vacant, the youthful energy and sparkle in his eye extinguished.

"He's strong, Merry, He'll be fine. We'll find him, and then we can leave" Aragorn reassured the small hobbit in his arms as they reached Gimli's side. Aragorn slid Merry into the saddle in front of Gimli, the dwarf tightly gripping Merry as he got his balance.

"Gimli, take Merry back to Gandalf, I'll look after Pippin when we find him" Aragorn told the dwarf, who awkwardly turned the horse around and rode it towards Gandalf. Aragorn stood for a moment, re gathering himself before commencing his search for Pippin. He turned and hurried back to the unchecked barrels, thankful that Legolas has continued to work throughout Merry's rescue. As they worked, side by side, checking the remaining barrels, Legolas broke the silence.

"How was Merry?' he asked. Aragorn stiffened slightly, guessing where this conversation was going.

"Scared, tired and upset." Aragorn shortly told him, hurling aside another barrel

"Was he injured badly?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't see anything too serious, but I'll need to check him later on."

"Did he say anything about Pippin?" Aragorn sighed and glanced over his shoulder, making sure he was alone. He didn't want to cause further panic.

"He said that Pippin was badly hurt, and quiet possibly dying. I think we should prepare for the worst, Pippin's strong, but even hobbits can only be pushed so far"

"Have faith, Aragorn. He will be fine" Legolas reassured his friend. Aragorn grunted and grabbed another barrel. Their were few left, less than 10 and the thought of Pippin lying, he life ebbing away in the bottom of one of them kept them going. Aragorn and Legolas were forced to separate when some began to drift away from them, and Aragorn was brought, wading through the waist deep water, back towards Legolas's side when his friend gave a triumphant cry. By the time Aragorn reached Legolas's side, Legolas had gently pulled Pippin's limp body from the barrel and was cradling him close to his chest. Aragorn felt at Pippin's throat, sighing in relief when he felt a weak pulse. The hobbit was alive, if only just. The two friends hurried back to where Aragorn's horse stood, patiently waiting for his master. Gimli rode his horse towards the pair, and wordlessly passed Aragorn Pippin's cloak, Merry was now wearing his own, and Gandalf had wrapped his own white robes around the hobbit, protecting him from the chilling wind. Aragorn mounted his horse and spread out Pippin's cloak. Gently, Legolas passed Pippin's unmoving form up to Aragorn, who wrapped the hobbit warmly in his own cloak, before pulling Pippin's body close to his own and spreading his own cloak over the two of them. As he felt the warmth of Aragorn's' body against his, Pippin groaned a little and struggled weakly, thinking he was still captive. Aragorn bent over and whispered comfortingly into the hobbits ear.

"Shh, Pippin, it's alright, it's only me, it's Strider. It'll be alright. We've come to rescue you and Merry"

Upon hearing his best friend's name, Pippin opened his eyes, before hastily shutting them again. Had the world always been that bright? Slowly he opened his eyes again, to find that it hurt much less to see now. He looked up, and saw Strider. His eyes prickled with tears.

"Strider" he whispered, before starting to cough. His chest hurt, everything hurt and Pippin whimpered slightly.

"Strider," he whispered again, "its hurts. Where is Merry?"

"He's with Gandalf, he's fine. We'll get you all nice and warmed up soon, I promise." Aragorn was shocked when he heard the next thing Pippin said

"Why aren't you with Frodo? He has more need of you than us"

"Frodo and Sam left without us, and we knew that Frodo couldn't trust us anymore, so we came after you. We wouldn't abandon you to torture, and a near certain death. Boromir wanted it this way" Aragorn told him, skirting around the topic of Boromir's fall. Boromir had died defending Merry and Pippin, and he wouldn't tarnish their memory of him. Pippin bowed his head and leaned against Aragorn as Legolas mounted his own horse, riding in front of Gimli. Aragorn and Legolas turned their two horses and rode back towards Gandalf. As they rode, Aragorn heard Pippin raise his voice again.

"So Boromir is dead. I was scared that had happened. I was scared you all had died, fighting the Orcs" Pippin faded of at the memory of the trek across Rohan.

"He died the way any solder would be proud of, with a sword in his hand, protecting his friends" Aragorn told Pippin, who sobbed.

"He wouldn't have died if I was able to fight myself. I could've helped him"

"You did, Pippin, you did help him. You and Merry tried to protect him once he was injured, and you only stopped when you were taken. We saw the orcs you and Merry killed, Pippin." Aragorn told Pippin, reminding him of the few orcs that they had stabbed before their knives had been taken. Pippin sighed. He missed his little knife; to him it helped bring the quest into retrospective.

"I doubt I'll ever see that knife again, or the leaf from Lorien I dropped on the way here' Pippin sadly conceded. Legolas heard the comment and glanced sideway at Aragorn, who was grinning, with one hand resting his hand on the two small knives tucked into his belt. As they approached Gandalf's side, the white wizard broke Saruman's staff, rendering him powerless. Gandalf turned to Aragorn and Legolas, his eyes lingering for a moment of Pippin, and Théoden and Eomer.

"Our job is done, he is powerless now, and we needn't fear him" he told the group. Gimli snorted.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish, if you ask me"

"Let's away from this forsaken place" Eomer agreed, and Théoden nodded. Gandalf nodded and nudged Shadowfax into a canter, leading the group away from the tower of Isengard. Aragorn checked Pippin again as they rode, and discovered that he had fallen asleep. He nudged his horse alongside Gandlaf as the hurriedly left.

"Can we stop at the earliest possible time" he asked. Gandalf turned, and Aragorn noticed that Merry was also asleep.

"How is Peregrin?" the wizard asked. Aragorn was shocked at how weary he looked, but acted like he hadn't noticed.

"Weak, beaten. His pulse is extremely weak, and he is badly injured. I want to give him as much care as possible, as quickly as possible. Has Merry said anything?"

"He was silent most of the time, Saruman made a comment about how easy it was to break Pippin, and how when Pippin dies it will drag Merry down as well, and I think that scared him."

"Pippin blames himself for Boromir's death, I told him he did his best, and that I knew he and Merry killed orcs defending Boromir. "

"Did they?"

"Yes, the daggers they had were different to the knives anyone else had that fought that day, and you could tell the difference in the knife wounds the orcs had, so one or both of the hobbits was using a knife on the orcs to some effect'

"Did Pippin say much else?'

"He was the one that dropped the clasp for his cloak, and he thought we would've gone after Frodo and Sam"

"It was not our road, but it was theirs. We will stop for the night once we have left the walls of Isengard, away from the flood" Gandalf told Aragorn. Aragorn nodded and glanced once over his shoulder, taking in the sight of Marry and Pippin's prison, before riding out the gateway and away from the flood.

A.N. Yay, the Hobbits have been saved, but will they survive? Reviews please