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Merry
So it came to pass that Peregrin Took pledged his obedience
and, therewith, his complete devotion to Meriadoc Brandybuck, in whole
sincerity, and with perpetual acceptance of own folly and guilt. Merry smiled
onto his younger cousin, like a blessed figure of sanctity suffering himself the
renewed vows of a past sinner. The lad may yet learn, he mused with a hint of
affection, but he shall not be fully enlightened from his wrongdoings until he
is thoroughly corrected. He truly hated to bring pain to his beloved, charming,
sweet Pippin, but it was necessary in every sense, and without it being done,
there could be no redemption. Merry sighed, considering whether the others
understood at all the piercing agony inflicted on his spirit whenever he had to
discipline them. No, assuredly they did not. Each time they had forced his hand,
it had been like a stab to the heart for him, a wound that bore deeper than
flesh. But there was no regret for his actions; he had been shown no alternate
choice.
“I hope that what you say is true,” answered Merry somberly, “For this shall
indeed be your one chance to prove that I can trust my charge with you, and that
I have not woefully decided to share this tremendously important mission with
one who flees from adult responsibilities. I need you, my Pippin. My friend, my
cousin, love of my life. I need you to call upon your wits and strength to aid
me in this time when it is required most. It will not be so intimidating a chore
if you stop to think of it. Frodo and Sam have grown into strong allies
together, and they greatly dislike even to be separated into different rooms for
any length of time. In most cases, this would mean further complication, but
Pippin! It has never been so simple! All that we must do is contain one, and the
other shall follow.” He grinned sardonically, his features lit by the pale light
of the failing day. His eyes, on the other hand, did not seem to reflect any
light. Rather, there was a deep, sullen darkness submerged behind his eyes that
swallowed the light and broke it.
The Withywindle ran alongside the path swiftly, its strong currents and fair
water not unlike those of the river Brandywine. For, lo, it was the Brandywine,
or at least a part of it; the river was so named by the Hobbits who inhabited
Buckland, but where it ran far and out of the Land of the Halflings, it was
known and named by other beings. There was naught unwholesome of the river,
though it might pass through some places of lesser virtue. On its banks were
beds of willow reeds, which grew tall and profusely. Merry was looking left and
right, doubtfully beginning to wonder when exactly he and Pippin would come to
the middle of the forest, and whether or not they would do so before nightfall,
when suddenly he heard a distinct shouting for help come from not very far away.
At once he recognized the voice as Frodo's, and he calmly directed his pony
after the source of the cries. "Come, Pippin. I do believe our cousin may have
gotten himself into a bit of trouble."
Frodo
Frodo's head swam with dizziness and black spots danced in front of his eyes.
Everything around him seemed to be urging him to sleep. The rustlings in the
trees had increased in frequency and volume until they had become an entrancing
crooning, low and soothing, and Frodo felt himself responding to it despite
himself. The darkness had intensified until even Frodo's sharp hobbit eyes could
see but a few feet in any direction. And what he did see was fuzzy.
Despite the alarm that had raced through him only a moment before, Frodo was
barely able to stifle a huge yawn now. He put his hand out to steady himself
against a tree and watched through heavy-lidded eyes as an out-of-focus Sam
crawled forward a few feet, then stopped, knelt up--and toppled back against the
nearest tree trunk.
"Sam, no. We've got to...," Frodo started to say, but ended the sentence with a
sharp cry instead as before his horrified eyes, Sam disappeared into the trunk
of the tree!
This jolted Frodo to awareness like nothing else had.
"Sam!" Frodo cried, and nearly flew the distance between himself and the
menacing tree--a mammoth, gnarled specimen the likes of which Frodo had never
seen. Only a slender crack remained in the apparently solid trunk that Sam had
been leaning against only seconds before!
Frodo pounded frantically against the bark, trying to get it open again.
"Sam! Can you hear me? Sam!" Frodo's voice rose with his distress.
There came again the unmistakable brush of something against his foot, and Frodo
glanced down to see a root as thick as a grown hobbit's thigh snake itself
around his ankle.
"Aaagh!" Frodo cried in horror, feeling as if he had just stepped into one of
his worst nightmares. He tried to yank his foot away, but the root pulled back,
sending Frodo tumbling backwards to land on his behind. The carpet of dead
leaves seemed to come alive all around Frodo as the roots beneath it writhed and
twisted, seeking to entwine him in their malevolent grasp.
Frodo scrambled to his feet, almost grateful for the shooting pains that this
action engendered in his injured legs, for pain helped to mitigate the effects
of the sleeping spell being sung all around him.
"Sam!" Frodo cried. "I can't fight this thing alone. I need help! I'll be back,
I promise!"
Dodging giant roots, which thankfully seemed to go more quiescent the more
mobile he was, Frodo careened back down the path the way he had come.
"Help! Help! Anyone! Help!" He called as he ran, sheer primal terror giving life
to his limbs.
Sam
(Editor's note: Sam waived his turn to post this round, the reason
being that the tree told him it would squeeze him in two if he did.)
Pippin
Pippin perked up at the sounds of his cousin crying in the
distance. "Help! Help!" He swallowed around a nagging thought in his head of
what kind of trouble exactly had Frodo gotten himself into. He nodded towards
Merry feeling rather sick to his stomach. He didn't know why
but he swallowed uneasily and urged his pony to keep up with Merry's.
He had very little chance to decipher precisely where his cousin's cries were
coming from as they seemed to echo in every distant corner of the forest. But
Merry seemed to know and so Peregrin undoubtedly followed. Suddenly he heard
Frodo now clearer and much closer and the
ponies were instantly abandoned. The moment Pippin swung down to follow his
cousin there was a cry and a thud and Pip saw Frodo lying on the ground before
Merry. "Frodo!" he cried and stepped forward only to think better of it and
shifted his position behind Merry. "Gotta
follow Merry's orders. I can't fail him now. Just wait and listen and for the
Shire's sake, Peregrin Took, don't fool this up."
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