Disclaimer: I have no creative rights over the characters and places you can identify in this story and have no way profited from this work.
29/03/2013
Happy Easter everyone! I hope my 'Easter Egg' (a term of many uses nowadays) in the form of this chapter is enjoyable for you. I have to make two apologies before this chapter commences.
First, I'm sorry to any Scandinavian readers if I embarrassed you with my clumsy attempt at Norse in the last chapter. I promise it was the only use of Norse planned for this story.
Second, my apologies if I am unable to get back to everyone who sends me a PM with their ideas.
gammaxmen80: I don't dispute the substance of your observations about Black Widow. But again, it's currently beyond my creativity to include more Avengers in this review.
Pip 4: Thank you for your kind review.
teach457: It goes without saying that Hugo Weaving and Liv Tyler played characters in both franchises. I guess we'll have to wait and see how that dynamic plays out in this story.
Chapter 22 – The Storm Breaks
A pause had come over Helm's Deep. The attackers and defenders stood motionless as they assessed each other. The rising tension was especially unnerving for the defenders. At an order from the Uruk Commander, the Uruk-hai began to release a cacophony of orc howls and screams. Then they began to either hit their own chestplates with their mailed fists or bang their falchions on their shields. All the Uruks armed with pikes began loudly tapping them end-first on the ground. Those Rohirrim armed with bows raised them with shaking hands in response to the Uruk's noise. A tiny part of Rogers commended the Uruk-hai's decision to engage in psychological warfare by demonstrating how much they outnumbered the defenders. Their tactic and the Rohirrim's reaction to it reminded Rogers of a quote of Sun Tzu's - One need not destroy one's enemy, one need only destroy his willingness to engage.
If Rogers told him about The Art of War and its contents, Boromir would have loved to secure copies of the book and make it required reading for all military officers of Gondor. Boromir's present thoughts were not strictly military ones. Theoden's words about Gondor's reliability as an ally had been eating away at Boromir ever since the King had spoken them. Etiquette demanded that Boromir not directly argue with Theoden in front of his subjects. But honour also demanded showing Theoden's opinion was wrong nonetheless.
Eomer and Theodred, Boromir thought as he put the Horn of Gondor to his lips. This is the sound of me honouring our promise that summer.
The horn's mighty blast echoed in the valley above the din of the Uruks. At its sound, the majority of Rohirrim gave a loud shout of defiance towards the Uruk-hai. Rogers gave Boromir a small grin in praise at how his friend had rallied spirits.
Some conscripts were too nervous to join in with their countrymen. One was an old man who stood next to Haleth. The old man had nervously drawn an arrow with the bow he had been issued. The tension and noise around Helm's Deep was too much, causing him to accidentally release the arrow. The surrounding din was silenced by a loud thump, confirming the arrow had struck and killed an Uruk.
Even though he spoke it in Sindarin, Aragorn's loud order to hold was understood by all the defenders. It was critical that the heavily outnumbered defenders not fire their arrows uncoordinated. Reflecting his fellow Uruks collective anger that the defenders had drawn first blood, the Commander pointed his falchion at the Deeping Wall as he roared his subordinates to charge. Countless Uruk's growled before sprinting forwards.
The Uruk-hai's assault first resembled a large black blob to the defenders atop the Gatehouse. A burst of lightning suddenly illuminated the enormous wave of orcs bearing down on the Galadhrim in greater detail. The eyes of Captain America and the Captain of the White Tower were transfixed on the charging Uruks.
"Well, we're in it now," Rogers murmured to Boromir.
Boromir replied, "Let's hope we're in it at the end, my friend."
Given their postion on the Deeping Wall, Aragorn, Thor, Legolas and Gimli had a good view of the first wave of the Uruk-hai's assault. The Uruk-hai's movement was not a sophisticated manoeuvre. Theirs was a flat sprint to get to position so they could raise their assault ladders, enabling them to get to the top of the Deeping Wall.
At a command from Aragorn, the Galadhrim began releasing their arrows into the massed ranks of oncoming Uruks. As Uruks began to fall, Thor felt Hawkeye would be more than impressed by the uniform speed and precision that the Galadhrim shot their arrows.
If they had Barton's arrows, Thor also reflected. These Elves could defeat Saruman's army by themselves.
Saruman had given great attention to the subject of military technology as well. The vast bulk of his Uruks were still not equal to the best soldiers of the Free Peoples. Not even with their numbers, training, size and inherent savagery. Saruman was confident though that the technological edge he had given his military would nullify this problem. The first demonstration of this technology at this battle was by the Uruk-hai armed with crossbows. They loaded their crossbows with reinforced iron bolts that had a sharp steel arrowhead. Because they greatly outnumbered the Galadhrim, the Uruk marksmen didn't bother about firing a coordinated volley.
The armour of the Galadhrim was representative of the highest levels of Elven metalworking. Some of its wearers wore the same suit they had worn for centuries. But their armour had never before had to deflect projectiles with the force and weight like the bolts the Uruk-hai had released from their crossbows. For those Galadhrim whose armour was punctured by these bolts, their death scream was as much from surprise as it was from pain.
Thor, Gimli and Legolas agreed to commence their competition afresh when this battle started. They shared an unspoken understanding that, despite the dire situation, they should carry out their competition with verve if only to keep up their spirits.
"Are they leaving any for us?" Gimli anxiously asked about the charging Uruk-hai he couldn't currently see.
Seeing the latest actions of the Uruk-hai, Thor knowingly replied, "You'll be glad to know the orcs are raising ladders."
"Good!" Gimli proclaimed with a fire in his eyes.
Aragorn had also spotted the Uruk-hai raising their assault ladders. At Aragorn's command, the vast majority of Galadhrim along the Deeping Wall switched from their bows to their two-hand sword.
Each rising ladder was being ridden by one of a new breed of Uruk-hai that Saruman had created. Each of these Uruks stood more than seven foot tall. They were naked except for the loincloth and thin visored skullcap they wore. These Uruks were armed with a razor sharp, two-handed sword. The sword had two spikes protruding out left and right at the top of its blade. These Uruks had been created for the sole purpose of being Isengard's elite shock troops. Saruman had dubbed them 'Berserkers' as they were created to fight with an unquenchable frenzy. Saruman would have liked for this Isengardian army to contain more Berserkers than its current complement of thirty. But given the number of defenders at Helm's Deep his crebain had reported, Saruman was confident this number of Berserkers would more than suffice.
Thor and Gimli had spread apart somewhat as they each simultaneously intercepted a Berserker jumping off a ladder on to the Deeping Wall. Gimli buried his two-handed axe into the stomach of the Berserker that faced him, resulting in its black blood spraying everywhere. Thor simply crushed the ribs of his respective Berserker with a blow of Mjolnir that sent the Berserker flying back over the Deeping Wall.
"Thor's kill was more impressive, Gimli!" Legolas called out having observed the pair.
"This is a competition of quantity not quality, Elf!" Gimli exclaimed before he hacked down another Berserker.
"Then I'm on seventeen," Legolas proudly informed before he shot down two Berserkers at the top of separate ladders. "Nineteen!"
"We've some quick catching up to do, Odinson," Gimli noted to Thor.
Out of the corner of his eye, Thor had noticed to his right that Aragorn locked in fierce combat with a pair of Berserkers.
"I shall do so helping one of our friends," Thor replied.
While the Fellowship members seemed to have the Berserkers measure, a number of the Galadhrim had fallen to their deadly blades. The Berserkers began cutting through Galadhrim ranks, using their swords like a scythe through a wheat field. The orcs' victims included those Elves around Aragorn at the start of the assault. Thor sped to the Ranger's assistance.
Aragorn was finally able to gut one of the Berserkers with his own sword but barely had the time to parry the other's blow. Before their swords clashed, Aragorn saw the Berserker fly back over the wall. Standing in the Berserker's place was the defender who'd dispatched it.
"I had that!" Aragorn snapped at Thor, as Galadhrim reserves rushed up to fill the gap where both of them stood.
Thor was taken momentarily thrown by these words until he saw Aragorn arch an eyebrow. All the Fellowship on the Deeping Wall was committed to raising spirits.
"I've decided to follow your advice, Thor," Aragorn wryly told him. "About being less humble."
Thor let out a quick laugh at the remark. The Asgardian also hoped it was a sign of Aragorn finally coming to accept his destiny. Thor's thoughts were quickly dragged back to present as Aragorn gave a sober assessment of the current situation.
"For every ladder we knock down, two more take its place," Aragorn commented about the current struggle for the wall. "At this rate, we'll soon be overrun."
"Allow me stem the tide," Thor resolutely offered.
Aragorn engaged another Berserker as Thor rejoined Gimli in the blink of an eye. The Dwarf stood between two ladders atop the wall's parapets. With the Berserkers having disrupted the defenders' formation, regular Uruks were now climbing up the ladders to continue the attack. Gimli alternated killing the Uruk that reached the top of each ladder he stood between. He was counting aloud so as not to lose track of his number of kills.
"Twenty!" he counted with gusto
"I'm on six," Thor replied.
Gimli chuckled before playfully teasing Thor; "You're falling behind, Odinson!"
"Not for long," Thor coolly advised.
Focusing its returning energies, Thor swung Mjolnir into the ladder to Gimli's left. The impact of Mjolnir's blow caused the whole ladder to shatter into a mess of wood and iron splinters. The Uruks that were climbing the ladder fell to the ground from a variety of heights. Thor similarly destroyed the ladder to Gimli's right a second later. As Thor moved to similarly dispatch other ladders, he heard a seemingly outraged Gimli's protest from behind.
"Find your own orc ladders to destroy!"
The Rohirrim defenders had not been idle during the Uruk-hai's assault on the Deeping Wall. At Theoden's order, delivered through Gamling, the Rohirrim archers along the Outer Wall released a hail of arrows at the attacking Uruks. Being three times the height of the Deeping Wall, the Outer Wall afforded a great position to shoot from. However, the archery skills of even the professional Rohirrim soldiers were well below those of the Galadhrim. The Uruks did not even consider the Rohirrim's missile attacks enough of a problem to warrant a response with their crossbows. They had a different tactic in mind for the Rohirrim.
"They commence their assault on the Main Gate," Boromir told Rogers while pointing to the bottom of the Causeway.
Even in the rain, Rogers could clearly see the Uruks that Boromir was pointing at were organising themselves into formation. Their formation was a tight column whose ranks were five across. The first rank placed their shields to their front while the Uruks behind them that formed the left and right of the column raised their shields side-on. The three middle rows of the column had raised their shields above their heads. The Uruks moved slowly up the Causeway to keep their shields overlapped with very little gaps for any missiles to get through. The Uruk column reminded Rogers of the famed 'testudo' formation of the legions of Ancient Rome.
"Even Legolas would find it difficult to penetrate," Boromir grimly assessed the oncoming formation.
"To kill a tortoise, you've first got to crack its shell," Rogers replied before jumping on top of the parapets in front of them.
Boromir thought that, if they survived this battle, he'd ask Rogers why such a docile animal was an appropriate metaphor to use in the current circumstances. His confidence in the First Avenger wasn't by any means shaken though.
"Archers!" Boromir focused nearby Rohirrim so armed. "Prepare to fire at my command."
Standing side-on with perfect balance, Rogers held his shield across his chest with his left hand. Given the battlefield conditions, he took longer than normal to perfect his aim. The slow movement of the Uruk column allowed time to do this, even if Rogers only needed a couple more seconds. Satisfied, Rogers let rip with his shield at the advancing enemy.
As Rogers planned, his shield cut right-to-left through the first two ranks of the Uruk's formation. After exiting the formation, the shield hit the cliff wall west of the Causeway before deflecting back into Rogers's waiting hand. The Uruk's formation was a very compact one. But that formation wasn't designed to deflect a high-speed vibranium object thrown by a Super Soldier. The first two ranks of Uruk-hai were instantly killed. Either by deep cuts inflicted by the flying shield or being simply dissected during its movement. Their deaths caused a domino effect down the rest of the Uruk's formation. The third rank of Uruks stumbled over the remains of the first two before the fourth rank fell over them in return. This caused several gaps to open between the previously overlapping shields that characterised the formation. Boromir's eyes lit up at this. As Rogers jumped back behind the parapets, Boromir thrust his index finger at the exposed Uruk-hai on the Causeway.
"Fire!" the Gondorian sharply directed nearby archers.
The conscripts' arrows flew all over the place. Those arrows of the Rohirrim sentries and yeomen hit true. Noticing the situation on the Causeway, Aragorn ordered the Galadhrim using their bows to shoot at the exposed Uruks as well. Thor's destruction of most of the assault ladders meant a lot more Galadhrim were available to do this than what otherwise might have been.
The Rohirrim around Boromir and Rogers let out a mighty cheer at the Uruk formation wilting under a hail of arrows. Its survivors made a tactical retreat back down the Causeway. Both Captains saw on the Rohirrim's faces their morale improving as a result of this small victory. The losses from the defeat of this formation's attack were very minor to the Isengardian army as a whole. But those losses were a major fillip for the confidence of the Rohirrim. A growing number of them began thinking that, maybe, they would survive this night after all.
"All things considered, we could be doing a lot worse," Rogers dryly observed to Boromir.
"We're doing better than that, Steve," Boromir replied to him with a half grin and a wink. "I'd say we're doing 'ok'."
As Rogers shared a laugh with the first individual in Middle-earth to use American slang, behind them Theoden assessed the battle. The King stood within the command turret lined along the top of the Inner Wall. If he could have heard the pair, Theoden would have agreed with Rogers and Boromir's casual analysis. The Uruk-hai had yet to reach the Main Gates and their first attempt had been driven back by his men. With the rain and clouds receding, Theoden now had a better view of the situation along the Deeping Wall. The Galadhrim had admirably beaten the numerous attacks the Uruks had made against it. More accurately, the Galadhrim had assisted Thor in repelling the attacks. It was easy for Theoden to spot Thor along the wall. The Asgardian's red cloak billowed behind him while engaging Uruk-hai along the length of the wall. The only thing that prevented Theoden from being completely staggered by Thor's actions at the current time was having witnessed Thor decimate the warg-riders in a similar fashion. Gamling also reported to Theoden about how Rogers had broken the Uruk attack up the Causeway. Theoden thought if the two Avengers continued in this manner, their deeds would soon surpass in legend the ones made in the fortress's defence by Helm Hammerhand.
Feeling confident about the situation at hand, the King taunted his absent archenemy.
"Is this it?" Theoden defiantly murmured. "Is this all you can conjure, Saruman?"
In the old Riddermark tongue, the name 'Saruman' meant 'man of skill'. Rogers felt that Saruman fitted the archetype of 'mad scientist'. Either way, both descriptions didn't do justice to Saruman's genius for crafting and invention. The former White Wizard had instructed the Uruk Commander on how to use the 'Fire of Isengard' he had invented. Having failed to make much progress on the fortifications, the Commander now decided it was time to deploy the strongest 'Fire' against Helm's Deep.
Boromir and Rogers noticed a narrow file open in Uruk-hai ranks leading right up to the Deeping Wall. They made out a pair of orc sappers placing something where the iron culvert was located at the wall's base. A second pair of sappers followed closely behind the first pair.
"That's not how you undermine a wall," a puzzled Boromir commented.
Rogers gave a slight nod in agreement before lightning again lit up the battlefield. Rogers's eyes widened in horror at what the sappers were carrying. This might be Middle-earth. But, as far as Rogers was concerned, the shape of an explosive mine was universal. The answer to his frantic guessing of what could trigger the mines' appeared in the shape of the only Uruk Berserker still alive. The Berserker sprinted towards the mines holding a burning torch like an Olympic runner.
"SHOOT THE TORCHBEARER!" Rogers screamed while pointing at the said Uruk.
The Berserker was out of effective range for the Rohirrim archers to hit despite them trying to do so. Along the Deeping Wall, Legolas was the only archer able to act on Captain America's order. Legolas shot the torchbearer with two arrows in quick succession but the Berserker's constitution was made of sterner stuff. Feeling its life slipping away, the Berserker made a desperate lunge at the explosive mines
All nearby defenders, including Boromir, immediately obeyed Rogers's sharp command of "Get down!" Rogers crouched down covering whatever Howling Commandos he could with his shield.
BOOM!
The mines placed in the culvert immediately detonated when they were lit by the Berserker's torch. The explosion from the mines tore through the masonry of the Deeping Wall. Rock, stone, dust, Elves and Orcs were scattered in all directions. The increased morale the Rohirrim had gained a short while ago was shattered. Either by the sound of the explosion or the huge gap in the Deeping Wall the mines had created.
Being used to the sound of explosions on the battlefield, Rogers stood up quickest and surest of those atop the Gatehouse. Waiting for the dust from the explosion to settle, Rogers recalled the assessment he made within the Golden Hall about the Uruk-hai's capabilities.
At least I didn't say the Uruks don't have the Bomb, Rogers reflected with black humour.
Boromir looked on in shock at the effects of the explosive mines. Out the corner of his left eye, his attention was quickly grabbed by something else. With the defenders' focus on the Deeping Wall, the Uruks had reformed their shield formation and resumed their assault up the Causeway. Uruks at the formation's left and right edges began falling off the Causeway as a battering ram was passed through the formation. They were only a few yards away from using it. It was small comfort to Boromir thinking that Gondor could have fallen years before if Mordor Orcs coordinated their battlefield attacks as well as the Uruk-hai did. Seeing the approaching Uruk-hai coming up the Causeway, Theoden ignored normal protocol of giving his orders through Gamling.
"Brace the Gate!" the King loudly ordered for all Rohirrim to hear.
The Rohirrim soldiers within the Gatehouse threw themselves against the Main Gate to strengthen its resistance. The defenders atop the Gatehouse clearly heard Theoden's command as well.
"Alright, Commandos," Rogers ordered the young boys behind him. "The King needs us!"
As Rogers had instructed them prior to the battle, the young Howling Commandos went straight for the hessian sacks full of rocks that lay close-by. They threw them strongly as they could down on to the Uruks that began using the battering ram against the Main Gate. Boromir ordered the other defenders with either bows or javelins to join in the defence of the Main Gate.
Rogers was about to join in the defence when some Rohirrim to his right suddenly dropped dead. They'd fallen with one or more thick iron bolts protruding from their chests. Rogers quickly looked over the Outer Wall. Satisfied with the breach in the Deeping Wall, the Uruk Commander ordered his crossbow companies to now fire in support of the Uruk-hai ramming the Main Gate. Rogers turned and swiftly raised his shield to protect himself and the boys dropping rocks from the top of the Gatehouse.
While the Uruk crossbow bolts were able to penetrate Middle-earth armour, they were completely ineffective against vibranium. Rogers' shield easily deflected the bolts shot at him and his rock throwers. However, his shield could not protect all under his command. Rogers heard the death cries of a couple of Commandos not protected by his shield. Despite their 'unit' sustaining its first losses, the young boys persisted in carrying out their duties. Haleth and Eothain both encouraged and helped boys younger than themselves. Rogers was full of pride as he saw the young boys that he had dubbed 'Howling Commandos' act like the bravest of men who had carried the title.
Rogers hadn't forgotten about the breach in the Deeping Wall. Given the Gatehouse was under attack, he was unable to give any assistance. The best he could do was to hope in the Avenger positioned there. It was a similar hope to that Rogers once expressed towards Banner.
Thor, Rogers reflected. Now would be a good time to live up to the myths about you.
The detonation from the explosive mines killed at least half of the Galadhrim placed along the Deeping Wall. Some Galadhrim were thrown either side of the wall from the force of the explosion. Those that landed outside the Deeping Wall, if they were still alive, were promptly torn apart by the Uruk's blades.
Being so close to the Deeping Wall, many Uruks also perished when the mines detonated. As he considered them expendable in the overall scheme of things, Saruman did not tell the Uruk-hai about the concept of 'blast radiuses'. As the Uruk-hai shared the universal Orc trait of a complete lack of empathy (including their own kind), they paid no heed to their fallen brethren. The only thing they cared about was that the wall had been breached. Now they moved to kill whatever defenders lay beyond it.
Nearly all defenders along the wall who'd survived the blast lay unconscious. Some lay on the wall close to where they'd been standing when the mines detonated. Legolas, Gimli and Haldir were among them. Aragorn and Thor had been among those defenders thrown to the dead ground behind the Deeping Wall. The pair landed just in front of the thirty Galadhrim that remained in reserve. Not having lost consciousness, those Elves were still reeling from what they had just seen. Even being accustomed to Galadriel's powers over centuries was no preparation for witnessing Middle-earth's first use of gunpowder. It was soon not the only thing the Galadhrim would witness and be confounded by.
The defenders knocked out by the detonation began groggily coming to with one exception. Thor's constitution allowed him to treat being thrown from the wall as if it were but a minor stumble. As if to emphasise the point, Thor spritely stood up before he absently brushed off the dust on his armour. Thor's attention was then grabbed by the Uruk-hai making their way through the breach. As the mines had blown away the culvert at the wall's base, the shallow pond of water it steadily drained now flooded towards the oncoming Uruks. The Uruks didn't even break step in the ankle deep water as they ran through the breach. Sensing the power in Mjolnir, Thor smiled that the Uruk assault was in the perfect location to be halted. One storm had petered out over Helm's Deep, but a more violent one was about to break.
Lying on the ground, Aragorn noticed Thor standing to the front of him with his back turned. He saw Thor quickly point Mjolnir skywards with his outstretched right arm. Aragorn and every other defender in the vicinity was stilled with wide eyed amazement as they witnessed a powerful lightning bolt stream from the heavens into Mjolnir's head. Aragorn now realised that when Thor spoke about the 'God of Thunder' being present at this battle, the Avenger was speaking about himself in third person!
After Thor had drawn as much lightning as his reduced powers allowed, he pointed Mjolnir at the water the Uruks were charging through. As soon as Thor released the stored lightning bolt, dozens of Uruk-hai suddenly halted as their bodies went into violent spasms. Their steel boots were a deadly conductor of the powerful electric current that Thor had supercharged the water they stood in.
Thor felt no small sense of satisfaction at the sight of dozens of electrocuted Uruks suddenly fall dead. His satisfaction was tempered after sensing he would have to wait to summon lightning again as that power 'recharged'. Still, that was better than not being able to summon it all. As more of Mjolnir's energies returned, Thor was confident he would soon be able to summon his trademark elements at will. The Asgardian remembered his remark at being unable to use lightning against the Orcs in Eregion.
"Two out of four," Thor murmured to himself.
An invigorated God of Thunder charged headlong at the fresh Uruk companies that now stormed the breach. These Uruks were slowed in their assault by the bodies of their comrades killed by Thor's lightning bolt. Now standing, Aragorn was still reeling from Thor's display of power. Aragorn nonetheless grasped the situation that had been presented. He ordered the Galadhrim reserves to follow him and charge at the advancing enemy.
The front ranks of breaching Uruk-hai were predominantly armed with pikes. But they never had the chance to deploy them given the speed of Thor's singular charge. Twirling Mjolnir, Thor scattered the Uruks who faced him with an even greater ferocity than those he dispatched along the Deeping Wall. With pikes flying in all directions, Aragorn wondered how many Galadhrim that Thor had saved from being impaled upon them.
Back on top the Deeping Wall, Legolas and Gimli saw Thor, Aragorn and the Galadhrim launch a fierce counterattack against the Uruk's assault through the breach. They were both conscious when Thor unleashed his lightning attack but were still in disbelief to discuss it.
"Come, Gimli," Legolas rallied his friend. "Let's launch an attack of our own."
Legolas skated down a flight of stairs on a disused Uruk shield. Legolas released arrows in rapid succession into the flanks of the assaulting Uruk-hai. Not possessing his friend's athleticism, Gimli simply charged towards breach's edge before jumping off.
"Baruk Khazad!"
The Uruks directly below Gimli heard his repetition of the Dwarves' famed battle cry before he landed in the midst of them. Both the Uruks and Gimli himself fell to the ground from the impact of his leap. Now thankful not to be wearing heavy armour, Gimli quickly got to his feet before attacking the Uruk-hai surrounding him. The other defenders rapidly defeated any Uruk-hai that stood the couple of yards between them and Gimli.
"Now who of us is falling behind?" Thor ribbed him about their competition.
"I knew should've stopped you destroying those ladders," Gimli indignantly reflected.
Banner, Pippin, and Merry stood in the middle of the Ent Moot having been invited to by Treebeard.
"You've most been anxious about the Ent Moot's decision in relation to Saruman," Treebeard told the trio.
Gee, I hope you Ents didn't have hurry on our account! Banner sarcastically thought while resisting the need to roll his eyes.
Treebeard spoke like a county judge who was passing sentence on a minor case of shoplifting. "The Ents cannot hold back this storm. We must weather such things as we have always done."
Because it was dark, no one noticed Banner's skin momentarily turned slight green.
"You're joking!" he incredulously responded.
An equally disbelieving Merry asked, "How can that possibly be your decision?!"
"This is not our war," Treebeard stated matter of fact.
Banner calmed himself before trying to reason with the Ent Moot. "You think you'll save Fangorn by not getting involved? Saruman's coming for you once he destroys Rohan. Given the size of his army, I'd say that'll be sooner rather than later."
"We've friends caught up in this war." Merry added before pleading, "There must be something you can do. Please!"
Many Ents shared slightly guilty looks after Merry and Banner had spoken. But none of them would argue against Treebeard, who was the oldest of their kind.
"You are young and brave, little masters," Treebeard gently parted his wisdom to the Fellowship. "But your part in this tale is over. Go back to your homes."
"I don't have that option, Treebeard," Banner coolly retorted before remembering what Rogers saw in Galadriel's Mirror. "In fact, your decision's just about guaranteed everyone's home will go up in flames."
Merry and Banner quickly walked out of the Ent Moot with Pippin closely following them.
"Can you believe that?" Banner rhetorically asked Merry in reference to the Ents' decision.
"It'll give us something to talk about while the Ents say 'goodbye' over the next few hours," Merry bitterly concurred.
Pippin understood the pair would be naturally upset over the Ent Moot's decision. Inwardly, the Took shared their disbelief. But after he'd been told about the Other Guy, Pippin felt it best to try and curb Banner's anger. Unlike Banner, Hulk's displeasure at the Ents' decision wouldn't be confined to a few angry words. Further, Treebeard and the Ents were thousands of years old and possibly the oldest creatures alive in Middle-earth. The wisdom of such beings couldn't possibly be wrong could it? After the trio had returned to their waiting area, Pippin tried to soothe Merry and Banner's feelings.
"Maybe Treebeard's right," he gently reflected.
"What makes you say that, Pippin?" Banner asked with a half frown.
Relieved with Banner's relative calm, Pippin explained, "This war's too big for the three of us. Four of us if you count the Other Guy. But the War could be too big even for him!" With his characteristic optimism, the Took then offered to Banner, "I know you still haven't found a way back home, Bruce. You're welcome to stay with us until you do. We've never had big folk living in the Shire before. But even the most close-minded Hobbit would welcome a Man who's a doctor and is pretty smart about a lot of other stuff." Pippin wryly concluded, "Maybe you could even teach me how to be the Shire's first vet!"
Banner sadly smiled at Pippin's touching innocence about the nature of evil.
"Unfortunately, Pippin," Banner replied, "there's people like Saruman on Earth. They're not just cruel and manipulative. They also don't stop until every one who could oppose them either's dead or enslaved."
"What do you mean, Bruce?" a genuinely confused Pippin asked.
Merry had his back turned when Pippin and Banner had commenced their discussion. While the pair talked, Merry went to collect his coat and Galadhrim cloak that lay on the ground. After hearing Pippin and Bruce's every word, he slowly turned around to face the pair.
"What Bruce's saying, Pippin," Merry answered forlorn. "Is there won't be a Shire for you to be a vet in."
Unfortunately the Battle of Helm's Deep (or 'Battle of the Hornburg' more accurately) is too big for me to fit all in one chapter. Especially for Thor to exercise his returning powers even more.
Yes, Boromir's line about the Uruk-hai charging at the Deeping Wall was based on Sean Bean's one as Odysseus in Troy.
My assumption that there are tortoises in Middle-earth is the result of me playing Lord of the Rings Online too much.