2. On the Shores of the Anduin

Merry was always a little resentful that he was the only one to take time to think before acting. It made him the one to scamper off after Pippin when he had another scheme that didn’t involve thought, only action, made him responsible when those schemes went wrong. It was Merry who orchestrated the conspiracy, who studied Elrond’s maps and it was Merry who stopped to think about where Frodo might be running to. He had expected better of Strider and Legolas, but the Fellowship had scattered and then there were orcs and Merry was thinking and then he was the one running down to the shore, away from everyone else, so he was the only one to know that Frodo was running.

Merry stood at the edge of the water and watched Frodo clumsily dipping on oar into the water. It crossed his mind that this was where Sam was supposed to be and wherever Pippin ran off to was where he was supposed to be.

He doesn’t want anyone following, Merry thought, but it was a coward’s thought, a reason to turn around and forget what he saw. He didn’t study the maps; he doesn’t know where he’s going.

He’s going to fail.

Merry had spent his nights worrying and planning and figuring, but two was always two, no matter how you tried to split it. Merry had known that Frodo would fail ever since the Black Riders in Bree. If that was what the Ring did, then what was one hobbit against it? Nothing in the end, that’s what. Once they had four hobbits, two men, an elf, a dwarf and a wizard, Merry thought that perhaps there was a chance, but now Frodo was setting out across the water and ruining what little chance he had.

In the end, Merry didn’t have time to think. Thinking would have had him on the river bank, waiting for Aragorn and planning the best way to get to Frodo when the Fellowship gathered again. Instead, Merry threw himself into the water, knowing that if he wasted any more time, Frodo would be gone forever.

When he pulled himself up and over the side, Frodo was mad and Merry was mad and then they were both crying.

“You can't be on your own,” Merry said, “It won't work if you’re alone.”

You’re going to fail, Merry’s eyes said.

“Besides,” he added as he wiped water and tears away from his face, “You don’t know where you’re going.”