A/N: Well, it started differently then took a life of it’s own and this is what turned out. Written for one of Marigold’s challenges. By the way, it’s movie-verse. So Merry knows that he’s riding with Eowyn.  

Disclaimer: Not mine.

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The shield maiden and the hobbit

Merry sighed once more and turned in his makeshift bed; blankets and a bed made of grass. Over the months as he journeyed, and especially during the time they were with Strider on the way to Rivendell, he had gotten used to sleeping on the hardest of grounds. But lately, among all these strange men who thought him strange, sleep was the furthest thing on his mind.

“I would advise that you get some sleep, Master Holbytla,” said a soft voice next to him. “We have a long way to go before reaching Gondor and war.”

“Lady?” Merry sat up in his blankets and inched closer to the lying form of Lady Eowyn. Here he was, the only hobbit amongst the Rohirrim and he longed for company; for the comforting presence of another person. He longed for Pippin’s chattering voice or Legolas’s quiet presence or even the sight of Gimli pacing about grumbling under his breath. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“Who can?” The Lady chuckled bitterly. “The war veterans? My brother? The King? They aren’t sleeping. The exhaustion has merely taken a toll on them. Sleep is what you get in a state of utter vulnerability; when you allow yourself to slip away and know that the world’s at rest while you do so. No, they aren’t sleeping. When was the last time you really slept, Master Holbytla?”

“At Rivendell, I guess,” Merry replied, taken aback at this sudden change in conversation.

“Ah, amongst the elves. But even they cannot determine the fate of our world now, for we are doomed.”

Merry was astonished at the way Lady Eowyn was so hopeless. She spoke of death and war and battle as if they were her companions. He wondered what could have possibly have made such a young person view the world so distrustfully and in such a bleak way.

“What is life like in the Shire?”

Merry smiled at her question, could hear the child-like curiosity in her voice, and shut his eyes. For the moment, he was no longer a lone hobbit amongst men, but out with Pippin and Frodo running on soft green grass in the bright sunshine. He could feel the soft warm grass under his feet. He could smell the newly bloomed roses that Sam planted in Frodo’s garden. He could taste the delicious home-cooked breakfast that his Ma had made. The Shire was as clear in Merry’s memory as if he was right there.

He opened his eyes to find Eowyn looking at him. She had a small smile on her lips. “You wear your heart on your sleeves, Master Holbytla. One need only see your expression as you think of home to know that it must be a very beautiful place.”

“It is.”

An aching feeling washed over Merry, a feeling mixed with loneliness and homesickness. He missed all his cousins. He missed Pippin. Pippin…who was somewhere in Gondor with only Gandalf as company.

“Maybe one day, after the war, you would like to visit it? I’ll be glad to show you around the Shire, Lady.”

“Yes, maybe I will.” She graced him with a smile and Merry suddenly realized exactly how beautiful and young she really was; probably younger than him.

“What is your home like?”

“It is … well enough,” she said and then turned away, as if unwilling to elaborate more.

Merry stared at the back of the Lady, slightly disconcerted by the change in her demeanor. Just a moment ago, she had seemed like any other young woman her age, then one wrong question and she reverted back to the cold-hearted shield maiden. A slight shiver ran down his back as he remembered how her soft eyes had turned stony and hard at the mention of the Golden Hall. He wondered, what could have possibly happened to erase her of any hope?

Unable to contain it anymore, he finally blurted out his question. “Lady, why are you in the war?”

“Perhaps I could ask you the same question. You have your Shire waiting for you. Why are you here?

Merry considered her question. Why was he involved in this dreadful mess? He should be back at Brandy Hall eating his Ma’s delicious breakfast. But instead, he was on his way to war and possibly his death. To know that, to even contemplate it was unthinkable for hobbits who rarely saw death in any form besides old age. And Pippin … his sweet Pippin had actually faced the Dark Lord in his mind and survived. Frodo and Sam were in the forsaken land trying to destroy some little ring, even if they perished in the process. It had started as an adventure for him and Pippin, but now, it was a fight for their lives.

“To at least play my part in defending the future that my cousins and many other hobbits were supposed to have. I want to see Pippin grow up. I want to plan his coming-of-age party. I want to advise him in the art of courting a hobbit-lass. I want to see him get married and have children. I want him to have all the things that I’ve planned for him and I want to be there. That’s why I’m here.”

“Then you have hope. Whilst I have none. And to answer your question, I came here because this is the end for me. I don’t know if I should live and I find myself not quite caring if I do. Even if I do pass on, I would have gone fighting for my home, under my King. That was all I ever wanted.”

Merry was actually surprised that she had told him a straight answer. Aragorn or Gandalf would have just told him some child’s answer whereas Gimli would have hemmed and hawed till he went away. No one but for the Lady Eowyn had taken him seriously. It was a new feeling being treated as an equal.

Silence descended on them with Merry lost in his own thoughts. Eowyn wondered what was it about the young hobbit that made him so easy to talk to that she had even told him things that not even her brother knew. She felt a kindred spirit with him and was curious to know more.

“You are very close to Pippin, are you not? You speak of him as if he was brother.”

“Aye. I’m worried about him. I’m worried for him. He’s still so young, not even of age yet, and he’s already seen more things than even the Gaffer! I probably shouldn’t have let him come.”

“You wish to protect him and so you cage him. I don’t think he’s meant to be caged, Meriadoc.”

Merry sighed gustily. “I know. But I’m so scared of what may happen to him. I don’t want him to change. I just want him to remain as the Pippin he has always been.”

“And yet you are proud of all the things he’s accomplished. Have you ever thought, Meriadoc that maybe he was supposed to come on his own earlier than your average hobbit?”

Merry looked at her quizzically. “Have you been talking to Gandalf, Lady? He’s always saying things like that.”

The Lady’s heart laugh pierced the dark night and Merry was surprised to find out that she had a laugh much like a hobbit’s. Such a willowy woman and such a hearty laugh. And contagious too! Soon, Merry joined her in the laughter.

“Thank you Meriadoc. I’ve never laughed like that for some time. And now, I really do suggest that you get some sleep. The Sun is coming up and soon, we will have to move on.”

“Please call me Marry.”

Eowyn smiled again. “Then, I do insist that you stop calling me Lady and stick to plain Eowyn.”

As he watched the sunrise, still unable to fall asleep, Merry realized that he had just spent the night talking to the Lady … Eowyn. They spoke like old friends, jumping from one topic to the next. She wasn’t quite as ice-cold as others had said. As the sun rose and turned all the trees around them orange, Merry was reminded once more of Pippin. He had been worried for him but after his talk with Eowyn, he felt more at ease. At least he thought that Pippin was right where he was meant to be.

Merry’s eyes dropped as sleep finally claimed him. “ ‘Night, Pip.”