Disclaimer:  This story is non-profit and is sole product of the author’s own insanity.  All recognized characters and places are property of Tolkien Estates and New Line Cinema.  May Tolkien have mercy.

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~ Chapter 3: Entmoot ~

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Should any have chanced to witness the reunion of the Three Hunters and their quarry, it would have been deemed a most interesting spectacle to behold.

Aragorn opened and shut his mouth, as though he were a suffocating fish gasping helplessly upon the sand.  Their current situation was. . . not right.  Of this, the Ranger was certain.  The Heir of Isildur was not the only one perturbed by these misgivings.  Merry, still within the tightened grasp of Pippin, could do naught but grimace apologetically.  Pippin merely shook his head and shrugged.  ‘It is all wrong,’ thought Aragorn.  He knew not how, but only that it was.

Treebeard, meanwhile, had taken to gnawing upon Merry’s leg.  Fortunately, daisies do not have teeth.

Aragorn shot Gimli a look, to which the Dwarf answered with a grunt and raise of his thick brows.  Something was most definitely amiss.  The Ranger then turned to Legolas, in the hopes the Elf might offer an explanation to the matter, but Legolas was far too fascinated by the gnawing flower to take note.  Aragorn again sought the eyes of Merry and Pippin, and a silent understanding was reached.

The Ranger turned sharply on his heel.  “Come Gimli, Legolas,” he called.  “We must continue our journey into the forest post-haste.”

“But what of the hobbit folk,” asked Legolas, finally managing to tear his eyes away from the peculiar flower.

Aragorn cleared his throat.  “I see no hobbits.”

Legolas blinked.  Surely mortal sight was not so limited!  “But Aragorn,” exclaimed the Elf, his brow furrowing in confusion, “Clearly, they are directly in front of us.”  The Elf stretched his slender arm in the direction of the two hobbits, who had managed to snatch Treebeard and were attempting to slink off into the dry eaves. 

Aragorn tactfully averted his eyes.  “I see no hobbits,” he repeated.

The poor Silvan Elf was utterly confounded.  “But—“

“I, too, see no hobbits,” stated Gimli in a loud and scripted tone.  He rotated his stout body until his back was to Merry and Pippin.

Legolas looked back and forth from Aragorn and Gimli to Merry and Pippin.  Had they all gone mad?  “Are you daft?  If you but turn around, I assure you, they are clearly visible!”

Pippin and Merry charged recklessly into the trees, heedless of the overgrowth barricading their path.  Treebeard began to scream ridiculously long oaths at the duo as errant brambles tore at his petals.  Aragorn gritted his teeth.  “No hobbits,” he said through his clenched jaw.

Legolas stared at the Ranger in disbelief.  Aragorn promptly avoided the Elf’s sharp gaze and began to walk back into the forest from whence they came—in the direction opposite Merry and Pippin.  Gimli marched after him.

The perplexed Elf remained in the clearing, pondering what course of action would be most beneficial to him.  Of course they were not supposed to discover the hobbits at this point in time, Legolas was certain of this though he could not say why, but that did not mean they could simply pretend the accidental meeting never occurred. 

The high-pitched screams of Treebeard could still be heard as they echoed throughout the wood.  Legolas winced as his sensitive ears were assaulted by the dreadful sound.  He had no desire to follow the noise, but he also had no desire to follow a possibly blind (and delusional) Ranger and Dwarf.  He cocked his head and sighed as Aragorn called to him.  In the end, the Elf’s loyalty to the Ranger and Dwarf finally won him over and he turned back to his companions.  He was, however, positive they had both cracked.   

 *     *     *

“Your mother was a HaHooooomHastyInsectPotatoTreePigWallop!  Hoom!  HOOOOOOOO—ACK.”  Treebeard began to choke and gag as Merry squeezed him tighter around the stem. 

“Shut-up!  Shut-up!" shouted the hobbit.  "Shut-up!  You miserable wretch!”  He was not exactly sure if he found Treebeard’s remarks insulting, but they were certainly annoying.  And Merry wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to choke the little monster.

“Merry, not so hard,” ordered Pippin.  “You’ll kill him!”  Merry glared at Pippin; that was precisely the point.

The hobbits slowed their mad scurry after several minutes had come and gone.  They were then hit by the full realization that they had just fled from Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas.  “Why?” asked Pippin aloud, voicing Merry’s thoughts.  “Why did we do that?”

Merry shook his head, “accidentally” squeezing Treebeard in the process.  “I don’t know,” he muttered over the daisy’s gurgled screams and threats.  “I don’t rightly know.  But I have the strangest feeling that meeting should not have happened.”

Pippin nodded and scratched his ear.  “Me too.  How very odd..."

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“They came at last to what looked like an impenetrable wall of dark evergreen trees.  Through [a narrow entrance] the path passed and dived suddenly down a long steep slope.  The hobbits saw that they were descending into a great dingle, almost as round as a bowl, very wide and deep, crowned at the rim with the high dark evergreen hedge.  It was smooth and grassclad inside.”  *

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Flowers of every size, shape and hue decorated the grassy dip, and the sudden burst of color left the hobbits breathless.  “Entmoot!” cried Treebeard in delight.

“What?” asked the two hobbits in unison. 

Treebeard took a deep breath.  “Hoom HOOOOOOM!  DARUUUUUM!!! HOOOOM!” he shrieked.  Merry dropped the wailing Ent with a yelp and covered his ears with both hands.

Suddenly, every flower in the meadow turned and began hopping towards them.  “Hoom HOOOOOOM!!!”  The eardrum shattering cries rose into the air, causing birds to take to the sky and forest animals to flee in terror.

Merry and Pippin watched in horror as thousands upon thousands of roses, daisies, dandelions, violets, marigolds, and countless others slowly hopped closer and closer.  It was as if the entire land had picked itself up and now moved forth in one giant, undulating wave. 

The agonized wails of the two hobbits mingled amidst the shrieking Ents.  Treebeard, mistaking their cries of agony for cries of joy, began bouncing excitedly at their feet.  “Yes, yes, do join in,” the daisy shouted triumphantly.  “We will shout our battle cry all the way to Orthanc!”

“Orthanc?” exclaimed Pippin, through his tears of pain, “Why are we going to Orthanc?”

Treebeard stopped mid-bounce.  “To attack!” squeaked the flower, flailing his petals wildly.  “We will show them the true fury and wrath of the Ents!”

Merry sat down helplessly upon the grass and watched as the flowers began jumping back down into the vale and on to Orthanc.  At the rate they were going, they would be lucky to reach the tower by next winter.

“Merry,” began Pippin.  “It could be worse.”

Merry, his face the picture of misery, turned to his cousin.  “How?  How could it be any worse than this?” he cried.  “We are in the company of screaming flowers, who just so happen to be on their way to attack Orthanc...  HOW IN THE NAME OF ARDA DO FLOWERS ATTACK ORCS AND WIZARDS?”

Pippin plopped down in the grass next to Merry.  “I don’t know,” he mumbled.  “But,” his countenance brightened considerably, “if Frodo and Sam can make it to Mordor, there is no reason why the Ents can’t overthrow Saruman.”

Merry fought the urge to slap him.  “We don’t even know if Frodo and Sam are still alive, much less traveling to Mordor,” snapped Merry.  Pippin’s face fell.  Merry sighed.  “Well, maybe it will all work out in the end.”  He rolled his eyes when Pippin wasn’t looking.

Pippin stood up abruptly.  “Come on,” he shouted to Merry.  “Let’s go help them!”  The young hobbit trotted off and began picking up numerous Ents.

Merry wondered what Saruman would think when two hobbits showed up at the gates of Orthanc bearing armloads of flowers.  He put his head in his hands and moaned.  No good would come of this, he was certain.

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* The Two Towers; Book III, Chapter 4: Treebeard.

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