Title: On the Great River

Author: Anso the Hobbit

Beta: Marigold

Characters: The Fellowship, but mostly Merry

Timeline: Lothlòrien and the Anduin, SR 1419

Note: There are quite a few quotes in the first two chapters, I apologise for that, it’s not due to laziness on my part, but rather that Tolkien writes those bits best himself.  Some of the dialogue is taken from the Fellowship of the Ring, chapter 8 ”Farewell to Lòrien” and chapter 9 “The Great River”.

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PART ONE: Summoned

“Pippin?” Merry said, reclining upon a heap of pillows in the bower the Fellowship shared while they stayed in Lòrien. “Have you seen Frodo and Sam?” He had just woken up from a nice little nap and discovered that it was drawing towards supper and he and Pippin were alone. They had been gone for some time now and Merry was starting to worry about them.

Pippin, similarly arranged, shook his head. “No, I haven`t seen them for a long while.”

“Who haven`t you seen for a long while, Pip?” Frodo asked as he and Sam entered the bower.

“You,” Merry answered, yawning before sitting up a bit more and slowly sipping a little of the refreshing water that was always set out for them in large silver ewers. “Where have you been?”

“Oh, just taking a walk.” Frodo plopped himself down beside Merry and put his head in Merry`s lap. Sam sat down beside Pippin, lost in thought it seemed.

“See anything interesting?” Merry stretched and placed his goblet on a convenient table just by.

Frodo thought a bit and shook his head. He didn`t feel like talking about what he had seen in the Mirror, he probably never would. “Oh, pretty much the usual; lovely trees, beautiful flowers, sunny glades and shadowy copses, a stream here and there. You know,” he waved his hand around, “just the Golden Wood.” Merry laughed beneath him. Everything was so beautiful that they found it difficult to put words to everything. But Merry sensed that something had happened, although he couldn`t put his finger on what it was. Frodo suddenly seemed more solemn and worried than he had done during their stay here. Oh, well, he`d talk if he wanted to.

”How about you Sam?” Pippin asked.

Sam shook his head. He would not speak of the Mirror either. At that moment Aragorn and Legolas returned from speaking to the elves and just behind them Gimli and Boromir entered, having also taken a long walk in the Golden Wood.

“Everyone ready for supper?” Gimli asked as the surviving Fellowship once again were gathered together and chatting about their day.

“Yes!” Pippin declared eagerly, and they all set to the serious business of eating. They sat on pillows or on the ground around a low table that they moved to the centre of the pavilion when they ate, but was used as storage when meals were over. The pavilion was placed near by the tree where Galadriel and Celeborn lived, and outside it was a lawn with a beautiful fountain. At night the wood glowed with a silvery shimmer, as silver lamps were lighted and hung in the trees. Elves came with food three times a day, and after the first days understood that hobbits needed to eat more often than that, so they provided bowls of fruit and small tarts and cakes in between.

Everything they were served was delicious and Merry felt himself relishing in the feeling of a full stomach and the possibility of filling up the corners if he wanted, which of course he always did. He noticed that Frodo ate heartily too and that he had lost some of that thinness that the journey so far had brought them all. Merry looked down at his own stomach and found it once again slightly protruding, nicely growing into a proper hobbit belly as was suitable for a hobbit his age. He could get used to this! They had eaten heartily in Rivendell too, but there they had been occupied with worrying about Frodo, and then preparing for the journey and Merry didn`t know for sure that he and Pippin were going as official members of the Fellowship himself until the last week before they set out. All the same they had prepared as much as they could and found some time to explore and they had also started to learn how to wield their swords and protect themselves. That training had continued during their journey and still Boromir gave them sword-fighting lessons nearly every day.

At first they had been so exhausted and numbed with grief and travel that the hobbits had slept more than they had been awake and even if he tried Merry couldn`t manage to work out the passage of time. Then, when the exhaustion diminished and the grief became bearable, their days were filled with long and quiet conversation or just walking or sitting, staring in awe and wonder at the Golden Wood. Merry felt dizzy and faint just thinking about the flets and the tree houses, but they were so beautiful that he several times had found himself scaling the stairs that wound themselves around the trees to have a better look at them and admire the construction and colours of it all. And the trees themselves! They were nothing like any he had seen before and reverently he touched them, thinking he could feel the beat of their lives under the bark beneath his hand.

The grief over losing Gandalf was still tangible and suddenly Merry felt himself tear up and quickly, so that none of the others should see, he brushed away a tear. He had spent so much time comforting Pippin or talking to Frodo that he found that he hadn`t really had time for his own grief and he felt it coming back at the most unbidden times, like now. Sam too, he could see wasn`t finished grieving over Gandalf yet. Not that any of them ever would be, but there were stages to grief, Merry knew, and he and Sam weren`t as far along as Frodo and Pippin Merry thought. His main concern was for those two and he found himself once again pushing his grief back.

“Merry?” Pippin said softly, watching his cousin intently. Merry was brooding again. His brow was furrowed in thought and had Pippin seen a tear quickly brushed away?

“Hm…?” Merry hurried to gather his composure, smiled and looked at Pippin. “Are you still eating?”

“Well, yes,” Pippin looked down at his plate, then turned to earnestly look his cousin in the face. “And you should be too. Merry, are you all right?”

“Yes of course, Pip. Why do you ask that?”

“It`s just that you`ve been so quiet tonight and I thought I saw you crying a wee bit.”

Merry sighed. He knew he couldn`t hide anything from Pippin and that Pippin would get him to talk sooner or later. “I was just thinking, is all, about the Quest and this lovely wood and everything.”

“All right, Mer.” Pippin said, humouring him.“ But tell me if you want to talk, all right?” He gave Merry a quick hug and turned back to eating.

“I will.” Merry determinedly steered his thoughts to more pleasant matters and joined in on the conversation, once the important business of eating was finished.

*****

Later that night, an elf came to summon them to Galadriel and Celeborn`s chambers where they had been the first night of their arrival. The great elven rulers lived in a talan, a house built in the tree, and its floor was as large as the deck of a great ship, so Aragorn had told them. On it was built a fair house so large that it could have been a great hall among men. It was hard going for the hobbits as the steps were made for tall elves, and even though they rested on the flets adorned around the tree on the way up, the hobbits were still quite puffed and red-faced when they finally entered the lofty chambers. Once seated, they were greeted with fair words and the elven lord spoke long. Merry found himself having trouble keeping awake, lulled by the gently flowing voice. To keep himself awake, he looked again around at the beautiful place. They were in a chamber of oval shape, in the midst of which grew the trunk of the great mallorn, now tapering towards its crown, and yet making still a pillar of wide girth. The chamber was filled with a soft light; its walls were green and silver and its roof of gold.

”Now is the time,” Merry heard Celeborn said, and he pricked up his ears. Time for what? “When those who wish to continue the Quest must harden their hearts to leave this land. Those who no longer wish to go forward may remain here, for a while. But whether they stay or go, none can be sure of peace.”

“Do we have to leave already?” Pippin whispered, nudging Merry.

“Sssh!” Merry hissed back. He knew they had to leave at some point of course, but he was suddenly sad that it was so, that they would have to leave this lovely place out of tide and time. And what was that next thing Celeborn had said? That those who wanted could stay behind for a while. Not bloody likely! Merry thought. He had set his will to follow Frodo to the end and he would not stay behind if he could help it. Lòrien was a lovely place to visit, but it was not for ever and Merry felt a stirring in him, and he was ready to continue now.

Suddenly his mind flew to the day they had arrived and Galadriel had challenged them all by showing them what they could attain if they went home. Merry had never wanted to talk about what she had shown him and neither had the others, but suddenly he longed for home, for Brandy Hall and his family there. He longed to run through the soft grass, have an ale at the inn or tend to the ponies. He thought of his parents, cousins and friends. He missed them all.

When Galadriel had shown him what he could have if he went home, he had seen a prosperous Buckland, a lovely family of his own and more gold than he could ever want to have or know what to do with, certainly enough to keep the many hobbits over which he would be Master one day well cared for and comfortable. Merry wanted all that, but he loved Frodo and he had promised to do all he could. Surely he`d see a prosperous Buckland when they came home? Surely he`d get married and have children of his own one day? Following Frodo didn`t mean that he never would have what he wanted when he got home again, now did it, and there was more chance of these wonderful things never happening if the Ring was not destroyed and so did not that mean even more that he must help Frodo, not just because he loved his cousin, but for his love for the Shire? No, if it was possible, Merry was even more resolved to help as best as he could.

The conversation now turned to where they were going. Boromir wanted to go to Minas Tirith, but Aragorn wasn`t comfortable with that. ”Beyond Lothlórien I do not know what Gandalf intended to do. Indeed I do not think that even he had any clear purpose.”

Good, Merry thought. At least someone still tries to do what Gandalf wanted. He had been the one with the most foresight among them.

” The way to Minas Tirith lies upon this side, upon the west; but the straight road of the Quest lies east of the River, upon the darker shore. Which shore will you now take?” Celeborn said, and so the discussion went on.

Merry didn`t say much, he mostly listened, trying to picture the road before them from his memory of the maps he had studied in Rivendell. He knew the Great River they talked about was also called Anduin and that it was long, so long that it went all the way to Gondor and Minas Tirith, and beyond even to the Sea. Even if they were to go by boat some of the way they would have to go by foot sooner or later. If he remembered correctly there were waterfalls and other hindrances along the waterway. But boats would travel much faster than they could manage on foot, and each day they tarried, the Darkness grew. It was in their hands to save Middle-earth, well in Frodo`s hands really, and Merry would do all he could to see to it that Frodo succeeded. Perhaps if they could somehow acquire a boat or two they could travel far and fast before any decision would have to be made about what side of the River they should journey upon.

”I see that you do not yet know what to do.” said Celeborn. “It is not my part to choose for you; but I will help you as I may. There are some among you who can handle boats: Legolas, whose folk know the swift Forest River; and Boromir of Gondor; and Aragorn the traveller.”

Just what he had been thinking! Merry raised his eyes to look at the lord with excitement. Then he turned his gaze to the rest of the Fellowship. Frodo and Pippin looked to be in some sort of shock, half frightened and half sad that they had to leave this safe place, Frodo no doubt thinking about the Quest and the dangers lying ahead of them. Pippin probably feeling the same as himself; anxiety for what the journey would bring now and regret for not being able to stay and enjoy all the good food and the pleasant woodland. Sam paled significantly when the elven lord spoke of boats, but Legolas and Aragorn all looked at ease and fine with the plan, although Merry thought he saw Gimli fidget a little. Boromir, Merry thought, looked plain uneasy, but Merry had a feeling it was not about boats at all and he was troubled.

But now Celeborn had named Legolas, Boromir and Aragorn as capable of handling boats, and Merry forgot about Boromir’s unease. Someone had to stand up for the hobbits! Suddenly Merry felt small and insignificant again, but quenched the feeling. He would show them that the hobbits could be useful in this situation too. “And one Hobbit!” cried Merry. “Not all of us look on boats as wild horses. My people live by the banks of the Brandywine.”

Merry felt himself blush a little as everyone turned their gaze to him. Frodo looked at him searchingly for a moment then smiled and nodded in approval. He knew Merry could handle a boat very well. Pippin stared at him in awe that he had dared to speak up among all these great elves and Sam shot him a quick glance before turning his eyes away, no doubt thinking it was not his place to question Merry`s rowing skills and that boats were as bad as wild horses, at least in his book. Celeborn looked at him with a mix of amusement and loftiness but as Merry steadfastly looked back he finally nodded, pleased at Merry’s demeanour.

”That is well,” said Celeborn. “Then I will furnish your Company with boats. They must be small and light, for if you go far by water, there are places where you will be forced to carry them.”

Merry watched as Aragorn thanked the elf lord over and over, and felt grateful himself. He`d love to see an elven boat and to ride in one would be wonderful fun too! Frodo, Pippin and the others, save perhaps poor Sam, looked more hopeful now and Merry was glad.

” All shall be prepared for you and await you at the haven before noon tomorrow,” Celeborn said, and so the Fellowship descended the great mallorn again.

When they reached their pavilion, they sat for a long time discussing what to do in greater detail. It was mostly the Big Folk talking. Merry noticed that Frodo didn`t say anything and he found himself trying to once again remember the maps and which way was the most logical to take. Pippin started to nod and soon went to his bed. Merry felt sleep overtake him too, and soon he too crawled down in his bedroll, listening to the conversation. As his eyes closed he saw Boromir staring at Frodo, as if he tried to read Frodo`s thoughts.