Sophinisba Solis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophinisba) wrote2006-08-24 12:00 pm
sophinisba) wrote2006-08-24 12:00 pm
Entry tags:
Not Yourself 12
In the spirit of alternate universes, two endings, neither one especially likely to satisfy, I'm afraid. *posts, runs, and hides*
Title: Not Yourself 12/12
Author: Sophinisba Solis
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Gen AU following mostly movie-verse. Faramir takes the Ring and means to save Frodo from madness.
Disclaimer: Of course, of course, I don't own these characters or their setting, and I make no money by writing about them.
Warnings: Kinda dark, some violence, no happy ending. More extensive intro, summary, warnings and author's notes here.
Note: This chapter is unbetaed because I suddenly got impatient. Please comment or e-mail if you spot any mistakes.
Previous parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
An Ending
Aragorn comes wide awake when Legolas touches his shoulder saying, "We should go to them, now."
"Do the birds speak to you, to make you decide such things?" Gimli complains at Aragorn's side. He's clearly been awoken first but hasn't yet risen. A sparrow chirps on the ground a few feet away.
"I am no wizard," Legolas says. "I do not understand the bird's song as one understands words. I only sense that something has gone wrong."
"Now he senses this!" Gimli mutters.
"Something has grown worse, then, and it has become urgent."
"No need to explain," says Aragorn, already up and starting to gather their things. "Gimli, have you not learned to trust Legolas's instincts by now?"
"Five days we've been following them," says Gimli, who by now has also begun to move, "and all along I've said we should go to them."
Longer than that, Aragorn thinks. Gimli began advocating an attack on Minas Tirith when the news first came to them that Faramir had Frodo and the Ring. Even when Théoden refused to send his army, Gimli was ready to storm the place on his own. He has needed to be talked down nearly every day since.
"Five days we could easily have gone to them," he says now. "No castle walls and no armed guards. But the Elf decides to move just as I've found a comfortable spot on the ground and a dream that doesn't involve battles or cursed rings."
He's still complaining, but he's on his horse already, as is Aragorn. Legolas joins Gimli, and the three of them take off.
Aragorn's heart has been with Gimli these past five days as well as these past six months. No one knows the full story, but Aragorn is certain that Frodo is suffering and suspects the other hobbits are as well. He wants to go to them, do whatever he can for them. The last thing he wants is to wait in the shadows.
Still, his reason has sided with Legolas and with caution. "The power of the Rings is altogether corrupted," Legolas argued when first they found the hobbits' trail, here in the foothills of the White Mountains. "The Rings are turned to the will of Faramir, which is turned to the will of Sauron. We know that we may no longer trust Mithrandir or Elrond or Galadriel. Frodo and his friends were dear to us when we knew them, but we cannot be sure that the ones we follow are even the same hobbits, after so many months in Faramir's custody."
"All the more reason to go to them now," said Gimli, "before any more damage can be done."
"Legolas is right," said Aragorn. "Though it pains my heart to say it, we must wait. We should observe them and try to find out their loyalties before we go to meet them. In any case, we must make sure they are not being followed or spied upon by any other."
"I don't abide being a spy," said Gimli. "It's all right for a Mirkwood Elf to be slinking about in the shadows, but you and I are Man and Dwarf, and we are warriors."
Such arguments were repeated each evening, and Gimli was often reminded that Legolas, too, was a warrior, at which information he always scoffed. But the truth was that he had learned to trust Legolas's instincts, if not to share his patience.
Aragorn hasn't an immortal's patience either, and as they ride the short distance to the hobbits' camp he too wonders what can be happening to make his friend choose to move just now. His trepidation is mixed with relief that at least they are moving, at last they are taking some action. He hopes they haven't waited too long.
When they come up over the crest of the hill they see two hobbits sitting on the ground. In the dark and from a distance Aragorn can't make out who they are and what they are doing; then Legolas says, "Merry is holding Frodo fast."
Aragorn rushes to them and halts, jumps off his horse and pulls the hobbits apart. Merry twists in Aragorn's arms and cries out, "Stop him! Don't let him drink the poison, Strider, he'll kill himself. Grab his hands."
Gimli has taken hold of Frodo, but there is no need to restrain him. Frodo is limp and speaks softly. "You came," he says, softly, almost as if speaking to himself, though he clearly recognizes them. "I'd given up hope that you'd come. And I… I don't think the hope was ever much good anyway. I'm sorry to have caused you such trouble. I'm sorry that I…"
"Don't listen to him." Merry is weeping, Aragorn can tell from his desperate voice, words with very little meaning to them, aimed at no one. "Don't listen, he's lying."
"You can let him go." Frodo nods to Aragorn and Merry and his voice sounds tired, flat. "He's not trying to hurt me -- and I'm not trying to hurt myself either. Please, Gimli, let me go."
When released, Merry stays in place on the ground, shaking. Aragorn takes a step closer to Frodo. Gimli now looks to be supporting him, holding him up rather than holding him still. At Aragorn's touch on his shoulder Frodo squeezes his eyes shut, as if in pain
"I didn't give it to him, Aragorn. I know that's how they tell it, but it wasn't my choice, I swear to you."
"We knew you would not give it to him willingly, Frodo. You are not to blame." Slowly, as gently as he may, Aragorn draws the hobbit to him. Frodo lets himself be moved, slumps forward onto his knees with a quiet sob. "Is this all right?" Frodo does not answer but wraps his arms around Aragorn's torso, as if he might hug back, if he had more strength. Aragorn feels Gimli's strong hands still at Frodo's back, though he has drawn back, not wanting to smother him. At Aragorn's touch Gimli moves away. "There was no way we could come for you in Minas Tirith," Aragorn says.
"Believe us, Frodo, we wanted to do it," Gimli says.
Frodo nods. "I know." He pulls away very lightly, and Aragorn releases him, still keeping a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "I stopped hoping for it a long time ago. But of course it's for the best that you didn't come. You would have been killed, I know that. It's a city made of stone, isn't it? They've got the armies and they've got the Ring. And we can't get it back."
"We still can, Frodo."
"No." He shakes his head, rising unsteadily to his feet. "No, it's too late."
Merry gets up and goes to his cousin, puts his arms around him and whispers something Aragorn cannot hear. Gimli looks to him and Aragorn signals him to wait. "The hobbits must decide for themselves," he says softly.
"No rescue," Frodo says aloud. "You can't save me."
Then Legolas reaches the top of the hill with Sam, who looks confused and is wiping sleep from his eyes, and Pippin, who is awake, wary, and calm.
"It's not a rescue," Pippin says. "It's a choice they're giving us."
"I've made my choice already," says Frodo.
Aragorn is barely able to make out Merry's next words, "That wasn't a choice."
"Oh, come off it, Merry. It would have been if you'd let me -- "
"A choice between slavery and death is no choice at all," says Merry, louder now, as if speaking for the company. "This is what we've been waiting for, don't you see?"
Then Sam sees the phial of green liquid in Merry's hand. "Mr Frodo?" he says. "Did you -- ?"
"It's all right, Sam. Merry stopped me." Frodo seems to shrink in Merry's arms. He glares at Merry and does not look at Sam.
"But you -- "
"Don't worry, Sam." Pippin puts an arm around Sam's shoulders as he speaks, and Aragorn marvels at the hobbits' ability -- nay, their need to give each other comfort even in the most desperate situation, despite all the tension he can sense between them now. "It's a good thing he talked to Merry and not to me." Frodo jerks his head up to look at Pippin, who nods lightly, even with a slight, sad smile. "I'd have let you go through with it, you know."
"Mr. Pippin!" says Sam, appalled, while Frodo and Merry stare at their cousin in amazement and some admiration.
"Well, if you'd heard his reasons!" Pippin says.
"I thought if you heard them you'd send word to Minas Tirith at once, any way you could," says Frodo. "Pippin, have you been pretending the whole time?"
"No," he admits, a little less bold than a moment before. "Faramir was... When first he came, everything he said seemed to make sense, or nearly everything."
"But you let them..." Frodo begins to tremble and stops speaking, and Pippin hangs his head. Aragorn and his friends have been living on the run for six months, and suddenly he feels that they've had it easy, though he has only vague notions of what has happened to the hobbits. "Fine then," Frodo says. "So you had to play along, get us back to the Shire and so on. I know enough about that by now. Perhaps Sam was doing the same thing. But listen, Pippin, if you heard what I said to Merry, you know it's still true. You, all of you, you need to keep fighting, but I can't go on with it anymore."
"No," says Merry. "The things you said, Frodo, even if, then... But everything's changed now, don't you see? Our friends are with us."
"Ah, so four against the world was hopeless but seven against the world will be child's play, is that it?" Frodo says with surprising energy and bitterness.
"They're not -- " Pippin begins, and Sam raises his voice as he says Frodo's name.
"Friends," says Aragorn, raising his hands to stop the arguing. "We make a clamor in a wild night. Frodo, I did not hear what you told your cousin, but I may tell you a little of what we know. We are not seven against the world, for we do have allies in this country and in every part of the empire. Still, we are a band of rebels in the night, and we would do well to be quiet and calm. Now, Pippin spoke the truth: Legolas, Gimli and I are not in a position to rescue anyone, for we are outlaws ourselves, and so you would become if you were to join us. We cannot offer you safety or security; that is what Faramir and Gandalf have done."
Frodo shudders faintly at the names. Merry holds him and Pippin and Sam move towards him.
"They have promised you safe passage to your home and protection once you reach it," Aragorn continues, "and as far as we can tell, they intend to honor this promise. Gandalf or Faramir or his soldiers may go to the Shire, but Saruman and his men and his orcs will be kept away. The Shire hobbits will not be enslaved or taken from their homes."
"Everything will be regulated," Frodo says.
"Yes, everything will be controlled, just as it is in Minas Tirith. Or, if you come with us, everything will be uncertain. We will live in the wild and no place will be safe. We will do battle and some of us may be injured or killed."
It is dark and until this moment Aragorn wasn't sure whether the hobbits had noticed the scar by his right eye, but Merry and Sam both dart nervous glances at it, probably without realizing they are doing it.
"Is that the plan then?" says Frodo. "Is it to be a battle at the last?"
"It may be that," Aragorn answers. "I cannot see the end of this fight, but perhaps my fate is to do as my ancestor Isildur did, to win the Ring back with a sword."
"Even if it comes to a great battle," Frodo says, "and you cut the Ring off Faramir's hand, we'll just be back where we started, and without the help of Gandalf or the Elves. And I can be no use to you in any part of it, Aragorn. I cannot fight with a sword, and if the Ring were to come to me again I should not be able to give it up. I know this."
"You may still do either, or it may be another's task. It may be beyond our own lifetimes to see it, but the Ring must be destroyed, and it shall be."
"I have some ideas," Merry offers brightly.
And Frodo closes his eyes, shakes his head, and smiles, as if annoyed but comforted by the familiarity of it. "You mean for us to go back to the City as spies, don't you?"
"We could say the Shire wasn't the place for us after all."
"If you choose to come with us," says Aragorn, "there will be time later to discuss strategies. If you choose to go on to the Shire without us, then the three of us should slip away now and not risk being discovered with you, which could put you in great danger. What say you, hobbits?"
Everyone looks to Frodo, but he does not speak.
"Sam?" says Aragorn.
"I shall go with Frodo," says Sam, "wherever he decides to go."
Frodo lowers his head.
"I shall go with the rebels," says Pippin, stepping away from Sam and standing tall, "with or without Frodo's company. For he wishes me to go with them."
Merry does not make a declaration but speaks softly, pleadingly, and everyone else goes silent.. "Frodo, when you went across the river with Sam at Parth Galen, that was where it all went wrong."
"It all went wrong long before that," Frodo says.
"Don't make us split up again. Here we are, seven of our Fellowship together. Don't leave me again, Frodo. Come with us, I beg you. I've as much hope now as ever I've had since before the Orcs took Pippin and me."
"They have the Ring, Merry."
"But we have you," says Merry.
"And a lot of good I am to anybody."
"No, Frodo, you don't understand," says Pippin. "Merry's right. I believed they had you, for a time. Or I believed the Ring had you, but it doesn't. I can see that now. When I listen to your voice now -- "
"It still has me, Pippin."
"Believe your kinsmen," Gimli says. "We were told tales of a hobbit driven out of his mind with desire for the Ring. That is not what I see before me."
"I am not as I appear," Frodo speaks slowly, as if holding back anger. "You can't -- all of you -- you can't turn this around. You can't make this come out right."
"Perhaps it is we who are mad then," says Legolas. "Perhaps we are doomed. But we are not yet ready to give up the fight."
"And we would have you with us," Gimli adds, "all of you."
"Whatever road you take from here will be a difficult one," says Aragorn. "What is your choice, Frodo"
"It seems you all refuse to let me give up the journey altogether," Frodo says. Then without leaving Merry's embrace, Frodo takes one of Sam's hands and one of Pippin's and he looks to the warriors. "If that is the way of it, then I choose to go on with my dear friends. We shall join you."
Or Another
The men take turns on watch, but Gandalf sleeps little and lightly. A sparrow landing on the ground beside him is enough to draw him back out of sleep. He lies still for a few moments, listens to the bird's quiet chirping, then rises and calls to the small company, "We must go to them. We must take them back."
And the men, though called out of sleep, seem grateful to have a concrete order, something to do, but Gandalf's heart is heavy. He had made this plan, after all, and convinced Faramir of it, confident that the hobbits could be trusted to act properly along the journey and after they returned to their home. What purpose did it hold to keep them in Minas Tirith, he had thought, where they would only remind Faramir of the unfortunate but undeniable fact that he had taken the Ring by force from the one who was meant to bear it.
But then, undeniable facts had ceased to be such some time ago. Faramir could deny anything he wished, and he had made the Ring his not only by taking it but by declaring it was meant to be his. He has no guilt over the action and has never seemed troubled by Frodo's presence. Perhaps Gandalf is the one who has wanted the other Ring-bearer out of sight. He prefers not to be reminded (and Frodo does try to remind him, whenever they speak) that he was on the other side of all of this once, that he thought Frodo capable of carrying the Ring even into Mordor.
The Ring has come to Faramir, whether by force or by fate or both it matters not. Gandalf understands and accepts this and has from the beginning. And he was happy enough to have Frodo out of Gondor. But letting him slip from the world of the living entirely is not part of the plan.
They've shadowed the hobbits from a distance since Edoras. The hobbits' walking pace has been tryingly slow for the mounted soldiers, who thought they should stick closer and tended to scoff when Gandalf told them they were still too close, that the hobbits might hear them. No one believes him when he says there is more to these creatures than meets the eye.
He sees Merry and Frodo first, sitting together on the ground. Then Pippin comes running up the hill as Gandalf and the five soldiers ride from the other side.
"Merry!" he shouts. "Merry, let him do it! They're coming to capture us again! They'll take him back!"
But the men are faster. Merry puts up something of a fight but quiets when he is struck, once on the face and once in the gut. He falls to his knees. Frodo kneels and lets himself be manipulated more easily, but he is given a clout to the side of the head for good measure. A short, sharp cry escapes him, and then both are hobbits are still. It is unfortunate, but Gandalf has given the men leave to use force, to let the hobbits know immediately that no resistance will be tolerated. There's no use pretending this is a friendly meeting. They bind the hands of each in front of them, quickly, efficiently. Gandalf goes to Merry and pries open his hand to take the phial of sedative from him.
"Peregrin Took," he says, rounding on the youngest hobbit, who has not yet been subdued. "I believed you to be loyal to our cause. Have you been in conspiracy with your Brandybuck cousin all along then?"
Pippin shakes his head. "No, no plots. Merry thought I was on your side too."
"You share Frodo's delusions, then."
"I share -- "
"Enough!" Gandalf shouts. "Bind this one as well."
"What have we -- "
Merry hisses, "Be quiet, Pip. You'll just make it worse for yourself."
"I am not mad, Gandalf," Pippin declares, not heeding him. "You are the one who's been led astray by the Ring. He's controlling you, don't you -- "
But his words are cut short as Mablung strikes him hard across the face. Pippin too falls to his knees. He moves his hands to catch the blood that starts from his lip, but they are caught and tied. "Don't you see it, Gandalf," he murmurs, dazed, swaying, staring at the ground. Blood drips down his chin.
"You've already been bound, fool. I'll have the four of you gagged as well if you will not keep silent."
"But what's the meaning of this?" Sam, roused from sleep by the noise atop the hill, has scrambled up to join them. He is shocked nearly beyond speech at the scene before him, and that is just as well.
Gandalf holds the poison aloft in his hand. "We believed you could be trusted with these responsibilities, Samwise, but clearly we were wrong. This one as well," he tells the soldiers, and they take Sam, pull him to kneel beside Pippin.
"I have committed a grave error, it seems." Yet again, he thinks. "All this time I believed the Ring had only affected Frodo, but now I see that the rest of you are only more clever, more devious in disguising your madness. I am glad my friends and I kept watch on you these last days, for it is clear that you cannot take Faramir's message or his rule to the Shire. We return to Minas Tirith."
Gandalf and three of the men mount their horses, and the other two lift the hobbits to ride with them. Those two will see to the pony and to the hobbits' few belongings while the rest ride on to Edoras with their arms around the little ones. From there they can commandeer a cart to carry them more conveniently back to Minas Tirith. As Gandalf pulls Frodo close and takes hold of the reins, he hears his voice, small, defeated. "Why did you do it, Merry? Why did you stop me?"
"Hush now," Gandalf says, and the horses are moving before anyone has another chance to speak.
drabble, five years later | series tag | fic index
Title: Not Yourself 12/12
Author: Sophinisba Solis
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Gen AU following mostly movie-verse. Faramir takes the Ring and means to save Frodo from madness.
Disclaimer: Of course, of course, I don't own these characters or their setting, and I make no money by writing about them.
Warnings: Kinda dark, some violence, no happy ending. More extensive intro, summary, warnings and author's notes here.
Note: This chapter is unbetaed because I suddenly got impatient. Please comment or e-mail if you spot any mistakes.
Previous parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
An Ending
Aragorn comes wide awake when Legolas touches his shoulder saying, "We should go to them, now."
"Do the birds speak to you, to make you decide such things?" Gimli complains at Aragorn's side. He's clearly been awoken first but hasn't yet risen. A sparrow chirps on the ground a few feet away.
"I am no wizard," Legolas says. "I do not understand the bird's song as one understands words. I only sense that something has gone wrong."
"Now he senses this!" Gimli mutters.
"Something has grown worse, then, and it has become urgent."
"No need to explain," says Aragorn, already up and starting to gather their things. "Gimli, have you not learned to trust Legolas's instincts by now?"
"Five days we've been following them," says Gimli, who by now has also begun to move, "and all along I've said we should go to them."
Longer than that, Aragorn thinks. Gimli began advocating an attack on Minas Tirith when the news first came to them that Faramir had Frodo and the Ring. Even when Théoden refused to send his army, Gimli was ready to storm the place on his own. He has needed to be talked down nearly every day since.
"Five days we could easily have gone to them," he says now. "No castle walls and no armed guards. But the Elf decides to move just as I've found a comfortable spot on the ground and a dream that doesn't involve battles or cursed rings."
He's still complaining, but he's on his horse already, as is Aragorn. Legolas joins Gimli, and the three of them take off.
Aragorn's heart has been with Gimli these past five days as well as these past six months. No one knows the full story, but Aragorn is certain that Frodo is suffering and suspects the other hobbits are as well. He wants to go to them, do whatever he can for them. The last thing he wants is to wait in the shadows.
Still, his reason has sided with Legolas and with caution. "The power of the Rings is altogether corrupted," Legolas argued when first they found the hobbits' trail, here in the foothills of the White Mountains. "The Rings are turned to the will of Faramir, which is turned to the will of Sauron. We know that we may no longer trust Mithrandir or Elrond or Galadriel. Frodo and his friends were dear to us when we knew them, but we cannot be sure that the ones we follow are even the same hobbits, after so many months in Faramir's custody."
"All the more reason to go to them now," said Gimli, "before any more damage can be done."
"Legolas is right," said Aragorn. "Though it pains my heart to say it, we must wait. We should observe them and try to find out their loyalties before we go to meet them. In any case, we must make sure they are not being followed or spied upon by any other."
"I don't abide being a spy," said Gimli. "It's all right for a Mirkwood Elf to be slinking about in the shadows, but you and I are Man and Dwarf, and we are warriors."
Such arguments were repeated each evening, and Gimli was often reminded that Legolas, too, was a warrior, at which information he always scoffed. But the truth was that he had learned to trust Legolas's instincts, if not to share his patience.
Aragorn hasn't an immortal's patience either, and as they ride the short distance to the hobbits' camp he too wonders what can be happening to make his friend choose to move just now. His trepidation is mixed with relief that at least they are moving, at last they are taking some action. He hopes they haven't waited too long.
When they come up over the crest of the hill they see two hobbits sitting on the ground. In the dark and from a distance Aragorn can't make out who they are and what they are doing; then Legolas says, "Merry is holding Frodo fast."
Aragorn rushes to them and halts, jumps off his horse and pulls the hobbits apart. Merry twists in Aragorn's arms and cries out, "Stop him! Don't let him drink the poison, Strider, he'll kill himself. Grab his hands."
Gimli has taken hold of Frodo, but there is no need to restrain him. Frodo is limp and speaks softly. "You came," he says, softly, almost as if speaking to himself, though he clearly recognizes them. "I'd given up hope that you'd come. And I… I don't think the hope was ever much good anyway. I'm sorry to have caused you such trouble. I'm sorry that I…"
"Don't listen to him." Merry is weeping, Aragorn can tell from his desperate voice, words with very little meaning to them, aimed at no one. "Don't listen, he's lying."
"You can let him go." Frodo nods to Aragorn and Merry and his voice sounds tired, flat. "He's not trying to hurt me -- and I'm not trying to hurt myself either. Please, Gimli, let me go."
When released, Merry stays in place on the ground, shaking. Aragorn takes a step closer to Frodo. Gimli now looks to be supporting him, holding him up rather than holding him still. At Aragorn's touch on his shoulder Frodo squeezes his eyes shut, as if in pain
"I didn't give it to him, Aragorn. I know that's how they tell it, but it wasn't my choice, I swear to you."
"We knew you would not give it to him willingly, Frodo. You are not to blame." Slowly, as gently as he may, Aragorn draws the hobbit to him. Frodo lets himself be moved, slumps forward onto his knees with a quiet sob. "Is this all right?" Frodo does not answer but wraps his arms around Aragorn's torso, as if he might hug back, if he had more strength. Aragorn feels Gimli's strong hands still at Frodo's back, though he has drawn back, not wanting to smother him. At Aragorn's touch Gimli moves away. "There was no way we could come for you in Minas Tirith," Aragorn says.
"Believe us, Frodo, we wanted to do it," Gimli says.
Frodo nods. "I know." He pulls away very lightly, and Aragorn releases him, still keeping a hand on his shoulder to steady him. "I stopped hoping for it a long time ago. But of course it's for the best that you didn't come. You would have been killed, I know that. It's a city made of stone, isn't it? They've got the armies and they've got the Ring. And we can't get it back."
"We still can, Frodo."
"No." He shakes his head, rising unsteadily to his feet. "No, it's too late."
Merry gets up and goes to his cousin, puts his arms around him and whispers something Aragorn cannot hear. Gimli looks to him and Aragorn signals him to wait. "The hobbits must decide for themselves," he says softly.
"No rescue," Frodo says aloud. "You can't save me."
Then Legolas reaches the top of the hill with Sam, who looks confused and is wiping sleep from his eyes, and Pippin, who is awake, wary, and calm.
"It's not a rescue," Pippin says. "It's a choice they're giving us."
"I've made my choice already," says Frodo.
Aragorn is barely able to make out Merry's next words, "That wasn't a choice."
"Oh, come off it, Merry. It would have been if you'd let me -- "
"A choice between slavery and death is no choice at all," says Merry, louder now, as if speaking for the company. "This is what we've been waiting for, don't you see?"
Then Sam sees the phial of green liquid in Merry's hand. "Mr Frodo?" he says. "Did you -- ?"
"It's all right, Sam. Merry stopped me." Frodo seems to shrink in Merry's arms. He glares at Merry and does not look at Sam.
"But you -- "
"Don't worry, Sam." Pippin puts an arm around Sam's shoulders as he speaks, and Aragorn marvels at the hobbits' ability -- nay, their need to give each other comfort even in the most desperate situation, despite all the tension he can sense between them now. "It's a good thing he talked to Merry and not to me." Frodo jerks his head up to look at Pippin, who nods lightly, even with a slight, sad smile. "I'd have let you go through with it, you know."
"Mr. Pippin!" says Sam, appalled, while Frodo and Merry stare at their cousin in amazement and some admiration.
"Well, if you'd heard his reasons!" Pippin says.
"I thought if you heard them you'd send word to Minas Tirith at once, any way you could," says Frodo. "Pippin, have you been pretending the whole time?"
"No," he admits, a little less bold than a moment before. "Faramir was... When first he came, everything he said seemed to make sense, or nearly everything."
"But you let them..." Frodo begins to tremble and stops speaking, and Pippin hangs his head. Aragorn and his friends have been living on the run for six months, and suddenly he feels that they've had it easy, though he has only vague notions of what has happened to the hobbits. "Fine then," Frodo says. "So you had to play along, get us back to the Shire and so on. I know enough about that by now. Perhaps Sam was doing the same thing. But listen, Pippin, if you heard what I said to Merry, you know it's still true. You, all of you, you need to keep fighting, but I can't go on with it anymore."
"No," says Merry. "The things you said, Frodo, even if, then... But everything's changed now, don't you see? Our friends are with us."
"Ah, so four against the world was hopeless but seven against the world will be child's play, is that it?" Frodo says with surprising energy and bitterness.
"They're not -- " Pippin begins, and Sam raises his voice as he says Frodo's name.
"Friends," says Aragorn, raising his hands to stop the arguing. "We make a clamor in a wild night. Frodo, I did not hear what you told your cousin, but I may tell you a little of what we know. We are not seven against the world, for we do have allies in this country and in every part of the empire. Still, we are a band of rebels in the night, and we would do well to be quiet and calm. Now, Pippin spoke the truth: Legolas, Gimli and I are not in a position to rescue anyone, for we are outlaws ourselves, and so you would become if you were to join us. We cannot offer you safety or security; that is what Faramir and Gandalf have done."
Frodo shudders faintly at the names. Merry holds him and Pippin and Sam move towards him.
"They have promised you safe passage to your home and protection once you reach it," Aragorn continues, "and as far as we can tell, they intend to honor this promise. Gandalf or Faramir or his soldiers may go to the Shire, but Saruman and his men and his orcs will be kept away. The Shire hobbits will not be enslaved or taken from their homes."
"Everything will be regulated," Frodo says.
"Yes, everything will be controlled, just as it is in Minas Tirith. Or, if you come with us, everything will be uncertain. We will live in the wild and no place will be safe. We will do battle and some of us may be injured or killed."
It is dark and until this moment Aragorn wasn't sure whether the hobbits had noticed the scar by his right eye, but Merry and Sam both dart nervous glances at it, probably without realizing they are doing it.
"Is that the plan then?" says Frodo. "Is it to be a battle at the last?"
"It may be that," Aragorn answers. "I cannot see the end of this fight, but perhaps my fate is to do as my ancestor Isildur did, to win the Ring back with a sword."
"Even if it comes to a great battle," Frodo says, "and you cut the Ring off Faramir's hand, we'll just be back where we started, and without the help of Gandalf or the Elves. And I can be no use to you in any part of it, Aragorn. I cannot fight with a sword, and if the Ring were to come to me again I should not be able to give it up. I know this."
"You may still do either, or it may be another's task. It may be beyond our own lifetimes to see it, but the Ring must be destroyed, and it shall be."
"I have some ideas," Merry offers brightly.
And Frodo closes his eyes, shakes his head, and smiles, as if annoyed but comforted by the familiarity of it. "You mean for us to go back to the City as spies, don't you?"
"We could say the Shire wasn't the place for us after all."
"If you choose to come with us," says Aragorn, "there will be time later to discuss strategies. If you choose to go on to the Shire without us, then the three of us should slip away now and not risk being discovered with you, which could put you in great danger. What say you, hobbits?"
Everyone looks to Frodo, but he does not speak.
"Sam?" says Aragorn.
"I shall go with Frodo," says Sam, "wherever he decides to go."
Frodo lowers his head.
"I shall go with the rebels," says Pippin, stepping away from Sam and standing tall, "with or without Frodo's company. For he wishes me to go with them."
Merry does not make a declaration but speaks softly, pleadingly, and everyone else goes silent.. "Frodo, when you went across the river with Sam at Parth Galen, that was where it all went wrong."
"It all went wrong long before that," Frodo says.
"Don't make us split up again. Here we are, seven of our Fellowship together. Don't leave me again, Frodo. Come with us, I beg you. I've as much hope now as ever I've had since before the Orcs took Pippin and me."
"They have the Ring, Merry."
"But we have you," says Merry.
"And a lot of good I am to anybody."
"No, Frodo, you don't understand," says Pippin. "Merry's right. I believed they had you, for a time. Or I believed the Ring had you, but it doesn't. I can see that now. When I listen to your voice now -- "
"It still has me, Pippin."
"Believe your kinsmen," Gimli says. "We were told tales of a hobbit driven out of his mind with desire for the Ring. That is not what I see before me."
"I am not as I appear," Frodo speaks slowly, as if holding back anger. "You can't -- all of you -- you can't turn this around. You can't make this come out right."
"Perhaps it is we who are mad then," says Legolas. "Perhaps we are doomed. But we are not yet ready to give up the fight."
"And we would have you with us," Gimli adds, "all of you."
"Whatever road you take from here will be a difficult one," says Aragorn. "What is your choice, Frodo"
"It seems you all refuse to let me give up the journey altogether," Frodo says. Then without leaving Merry's embrace, Frodo takes one of Sam's hands and one of Pippin's and he looks to the warriors. "If that is the way of it, then I choose to go on with my dear friends. We shall join you."
Or Another
The men take turns on watch, but Gandalf sleeps little and lightly. A sparrow landing on the ground beside him is enough to draw him back out of sleep. He lies still for a few moments, listens to the bird's quiet chirping, then rises and calls to the small company, "We must go to them. We must take them back."
And the men, though called out of sleep, seem grateful to have a concrete order, something to do, but Gandalf's heart is heavy. He had made this plan, after all, and convinced Faramir of it, confident that the hobbits could be trusted to act properly along the journey and after they returned to their home. What purpose did it hold to keep them in Minas Tirith, he had thought, where they would only remind Faramir of the unfortunate but undeniable fact that he had taken the Ring by force from the one who was meant to bear it.
But then, undeniable facts had ceased to be such some time ago. Faramir could deny anything he wished, and he had made the Ring his not only by taking it but by declaring it was meant to be his. He has no guilt over the action and has never seemed troubled by Frodo's presence. Perhaps Gandalf is the one who has wanted the other Ring-bearer out of sight. He prefers not to be reminded (and Frodo does try to remind him, whenever they speak) that he was on the other side of all of this once, that he thought Frodo capable of carrying the Ring even into Mordor.
The Ring has come to Faramir, whether by force or by fate or both it matters not. Gandalf understands and accepts this and has from the beginning. And he was happy enough to have Frodo out of Gondor. But letting him slip from the world of the living entirely is not part of the plan.
They've shadowed the hobbits from a distance since Edoras. The hobbits' walking pace has been tryingly slow for the mounted soldiers, who thought they should stick closer and tended to scoff when Gandalf told them they were still too close, that the hobbits might hear them. No one believes him when he says there is more to these creatures than meets the eye.
He sees Merry and Frodo first, sitting together on the ground. Then Pippin comes running up the hill as Gandalf and the five soldiers ride from the other side.
"Merry!" he shouts. "Merry, let him do it! They're coming to capture us again! They'll take him back!"
But the men are faster. Merry puts up something of a fight but quiets when he is struck, once on the face and once in the gut. He falls to his knees. Frodo kneels and lets himself be manipulated more easily, but he is given a clout to the side of the head for good measure. A short, sharp cry escapes him, and then both are hobbits are still. It is unfortunate, but Gandalf has given the men leave to use force, to let the hobbits know immediately that no resistance will be tolerated. There's no use pretending this is a friendly meeting. They bind the hands of each in front of them, quickly, efficiently. Gandalf goes to Merry and pries open his hand to take the phial of sedative from him.
"Peregrin Took," he says, rounding on the youngest hobbit, who has not yet been subdued. "I believed you to be loyal to our cause. Have you been in conspiracy with your Brandybuck cousin all along then?"
Pippin shakes his head. "No, no plots. Merry thought I was on your side too."
"You share Frodo's delusions, then."
"I share -- "
"Enough!" Gandalf shouts. "Bind this one as well."
"What have we -- "
Merry hisses, "Be quiet, Pip. You'll just make it worse for yourself."
"I am not mad, Gandalf," Pippin declares, not heeding him. "You are the one who's been led astray by the Ring. He's controlling you, don't you -- "
But his words are cut short as Mablung strikes him hard across the face. Pippin too falls to his knees. He moves his hands to catch the blood that starts from his lip, but they are caught and tied. "Don't you see it, Gandalf," he murmurs, dazed, swaying, staring at the ground. Blood drips down his chin.
"You've already been bound, fool. I'll have the four of you gagged as well if you will not keep silent."
"But what's the meaning of this?" Sam, roused from sleep by the noise atop the hill, has scrambled up to join them. He is shocked nearly beyond speech at the scene before him, and that is just as well.
Gandalf holds the poison aloft in his hand. "We believed you could be trusted with these responsibilities, Samwise, but clearly we were wrong. This one as well," he tells the soldiers, and they take Sam, pull him to kneel beside Pippin.
"I have committed a grave error, it seems." Yet again, he thinks. "All this time I believed the Ring had only affected Frodo, but now I see that the rest of you are only more clever, more devious in disguising your madness. I am glad my friends and I kept watch on you these last days, for it is clear that you cannot take Faramir's message or his rule to the Shire. We return to Minas Tirith."
Gandalf and three of the men mount their horses, and the other two lift the hobbits to ride with them. Those two will see to the pony and to the hobbits' few belongings while the rest ride on to Edoras with their arms around the little ones. From there they can commandeer a cart to carry them more conveniently back to Minas Tirith. As Gandalf pulls Frodo close and takes hold of the reins, he hears his voice, small, defeated. "Why did you do it, Merry? Why did you stop me?"
"Hush now," Gandalf says, and the horses are moving before anyone has another chance to speak.
drabble, five years later | series tag | fic index
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Powerful writing, this. Leaves me sad for Frodo, either way.
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Thank you so much for you help and support with this story, honey. It means a lot to me. ♥
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I had thought about one where Frodo kills himself I think if I had written this I might have done that >>has no qualms about these things :0 Although that might have been my urge to see Merry organising a resistance in the Shire. One part of my country was occupied in WW2 (the island of Jersey) and as it was a fairly rural place and cut off I imagine what went on there could be transferred to the Shire...*bats bunnies away*
A very good read and kind of you to provide alternative endings. It does lend itself to more exploration of that world so looking forward to you doing that perhaps, even if its not a sequel.
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Really? Wow, I debated with myself about it for a long time and did all kinds of angsting about audience reactions, which is part of the reason it took me so long to write the last bit. But hey, I got around it eventually. I figured the two endings would give it more of an open feel and help people not to take either one of them as, you know, the final word. If it can go either one of these ways, it can go any other way you care to imagine it as well.
*feeds occupation/resistance bunnies* Now that I've got this done I should really work on my other monster AU, which does happen to involve resistance during the Troubles in the Shire (although that one is a little low on the Merry, unfortunately. Hmmmm).
Thanks again! I'm really glad you enjoyed this.
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Thanks for a wonderfully powerful story. I enjoyed it so much. More than I have words to say. :)
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Well-done Sophi. Any plans on doing a sequel? I'd love to read Book 2 og this very riveting story.
:-)
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I don't think I want a sequel! But believe me, I have many dark and angsty AUs, one of which I think will be longer than this, so watch this space.
*hugs*
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But the first one seems easier to take -- while not necessarily offering hope, it allows the hobbits to escape the clutches of Gandalf and Faramir. Even if Frodo can never recover, the other hobbits will be free and be able to fight for what they feel is right instead of stifling in a prison of corrupted care.
Whew! What a story. I still feel like a deer caught in the headlights with this one. I won't say that I *enjoyed* it, but I appreciated it and am glad you wrote it!
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It is a very powerful story overall...I really enjoyed it a lot (er...enjoyed maybe not the best word for it, lol) well...it was a dark and satisfying story and congrats on finishing it! That was a big accomplishment! *hugs you*
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It is, as we talked about, a mixed feeling, this finishing of WIPs. But for the most part I'm really happy I got it done and the feeling of accomplishment is really nice. Thank you for all your help with it!
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