The Lady’s Gift
A/N: This is my
story for Marigold’s
February challenge. The starter she gave me could have easily been made
into something very angsty, but that would hardly be my style! The setting of
this fic is during The Steward and the King. I can imagine that all of
the companions of the ring got up to a great deal of trouble while they waited
for Aragorn’s special day.
* * * * * *
S.R. 1419
(3019), Minas Tirith
Merry and
Pippin huddled to together as heavy footfalls ran past their hiding place. It
was dark, but the raised voices of those that pursued them were unmistakable,
and Pippin cowered closer to Merry.
“Peregrin Took!
When I get my hands on you…” Gimli the Dwarf roared.
“My friend, we
may have more luck finding our little thief if you cease screaming out
threats,” Legolas calmly advised.
“If I had
wanted your advice, Elf, I would have asked for it!”
Both of the
hiding hobbits held their breath. If they made any sound, Legolas was likely to
hear it. Eventually, the voices of the bickering pair faded into the distance,
and Merry hesitantly edged out from behind the large piece of rubble that he
and Pippin had been using for cover.
“That was too
close,” he muttered to himself. “Pip, they’ve gone, you can come out now.”
Pippin crawled
out even more slowly than Merry had. Letting out the breath he had been holding
in, he glared at his cousin. “This is all your fault, Meriadoc.”
“My
fault?” Merry snorted. He motioned to Pippin’s right hand, which was clenched
firmly in a fist. “You’re the one who stole Gimli’s gift from the Lady!”
“Well, I
wouldn’t have done it if you hadn’t dared me to!”
“Don’t blame me
– it’s not my fault that you’re constantly whining about being bored. I thought
this might teach you a lesson.”
“It did!”
Pippin snapped. “Never listen to a Brandybuck, especially not Meriadoc.”
Merry sighed,
and sat next to Peregrin. “I suppose I should have learnt by now to
never tempt a Took, especially not Peregrin.” He gave Pippin a lop-sided grin.
“Forgive me?”
Pippin smirked
in return. “Only if you admit your part to Gimli, if he ever finds us.” Pippin
opened his fist to reveal three golden hairs. “I really don’t see why he’s so
upset. It’s not as if they look different to any other hairs.”
“Ah, but Gimli
knows they come from the Lady Galadriel. He saw her cut them from her own
head.”
Peregrin
shrugged. “Still, I’d wager he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if we
swapped one.” Closing the fist again, Pippin stood to examine Merry’s curly
mop. “Your looks golden when it’s in the right light. We could try one of
yours.”
Merry jumped to
his feet before Pippin had a chance to pluck a hair from his head. “Oh, no you
don’t, Peregrin!”
Pippin pouted.
“You always ruin my fun, Merry.”
“Actually, I
was thinking I should ruin your fun more often. Perhaps then we wouldn’t be in
this mess!”
“Well, then,
Master Brandybuck, what do you suggest we do now?”
“To be honest,
Pippin, I hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Merry admitted. “I didn’t think that
you would actually take the hairs.”
Pippin groaned.
“That’s just great!”
“I suppose we
might as well just put it back…”
“Put it back?
Are you mad? Gimli’s probably waiting for us at the front door. And if he
isn’t, then he has someone doing the waiting for him! Gandalf, knowing my
luck.”
It was Merry’s
turn to be angry. “Well, I haven’t heard any brilliant suggestions from you,
Peregrin Took.”
Pippin weighed
up the options, and decided that Merry was probably right. They couldn’t run
from Gimli forever. They would have to face the consequences of their actions
eventually. Pippin had always hated that part – he very rarely thought anything
through before carrying it out, and so was constantly having to ‘face the
consequences’. “Fine, we’ll take it back. But I still don’t much like the idea
of marching straight up to the front door. We’ll have to find another way.”
* * * * * *
Gimli stopped
to catch his breath. He angrily kicked the ground. “Curse that woolly-footed
rapscallion! I’ll tear him to pieces!”
“Calm down,
Gimli,” sighed Legolas. He could remember a time not so long ago that Gimli had
wept to see Pippin alive and walking. “Perhaps you should have kept the gift in
a more secure place.”
“What’s more
secure than in my own room? In a house with friends?”
“I thought that
a dwarf, of all people, should have known what remarkable burglars hobbits can
make. Did your father not work with one such burglar? And did that burglar not
snatch a great gift from right beneath the Dwarf-king’s nose?”
Gimli scowled
at his companion. “Well, since we seem to be on that topic, did that burglar
not steal many a supper from the tables of your father?”
Legolas laughed.
“You have a good point there, my friend.”
With a sigh,
Gimli sat on a piece of stone that had not yet been cleared from the streets of
Minas Tirith. “It’s no use. Hobbits are very good at sneaking and
hiding. We’ll never find him.”
“We certainly
won’t while you think like that.” Legolas sat next to his friend. “Gimli, I
have been apt in the art of tracking for many lives of men – and dwarves for
that matter. One of the most important things to know about tracking is that
you have to enter the mind of that whom you wish to catch.”
“You’re saying
I have to think like Peregrin?”
“Exactly.”
Gimli thought
in silence for a moment. “Merry, Merry, Merry. Frodo, Frodo, Frodo. Food, Food,
Food. Perhaps we should toss a thought of ale into the mix there for good
measure.”
Legolas laughed
again. “You seem to have entered young Peregrin’s mind perfectly, and also
found the point I was trying to make. Pippin will not stray far from his
cousins, nor will he survive long without food. We need merely to wait for him
to come to us.”
From beneath
his thick beard, Gimli grinned. “And my father always taught me that elves were
stupid.”
* * * * * *
Frodo and Sam
wandered around the garden of their house in Minas Tirith, Sam stopping every
so often to admire one of the plants that he had never seen before. Gandalf
sat, not too far away, smoking and humming to themselves.
“You had better
be right about this, Elf,” came Gimli’s voice. A moment later, both the dwarf
and his elvish companion entered the garden.
“Ah, Gimli,
Legolas, there you are,” Frodo greeted. “When I woke this morning, Sam and
Gandalf were the only ones around. I wondered where everyone else had gotten
to.”
“Good morning,
Frodo,” Legolas returned.
“I don’t
suppose any of you have seen young Peregrin,” Gimli inquired. He assumed that
Frodo had not, but Sam or Gandalf may have.
“I had business
to attend to this morning, and left well before any of you had risen,” Gandalf
replied. “When I returned, I found only Samwise, and Frodo, still asleep.”
“I saw Mister
Pippin this morning, Gimli,” said Sam, and Gimli listened intently. “He ran out
of the house earlier, with Mister Merry, and then I saw you and Legolas run
after them. I would have scolded the lot of you for making such a racket, but
you were gone too quickly.”
Gimli frowned.
“So you have not seen him since?”
“No, sir.”
“What has our
young Master Took done now?” sighed Gandalf, working it all out faster than his
companions.
Gimli looked at
his feet and started muttering under his breath. Legolas assumed that he was
embarrassed to admit what had occurred, and how greatly he treasured the Lady’s
gift. Finally, Gimli spoke loud enough for them to hear. “He took my gift from
the Lady Galadriel.”
Gimli had
half-expected them all to laugh at him for being so sentimental. But they did
not. Gandalf rolled his eyes, like he had expected this to happen, but Frodo’s
eyes had widened in horror.
“He did what?”
“He snuck into
my room and took the golden hairs given to me by the Lady.”
Frodo groaned.
“I can’t believe he actually did it!”
“Beggin’ your
pardon, Mister Frodo,” said Sam, “but what do you mean?”
“Well, first of
all, Gimli, you cannot blame Peregrin alone,” Frodo sighed. “Meriadoc, and also
myself, are partially at fault.”
“Explain
yourself, hobbit,” Gimli demanded, ignoring the sharp look Sam had given him
for addressing his master as such.
“Yesterday,
Pippin was complaining that he was bored and had nothing to do. Both Merry and
I were sick of his whining, so Merry told him to go do something. When Pippin
asked what to do, Merry, well, he dared him to take your gift. We didn’t expect
that he would actually manage to take it. We just thought he’d either be too
frightened to, or that you would catch him in the act.”
“I suppose that
explains why Merry is with him,” Legolas concluded, and Frodo nodded.
Gandalf
laughed. “Well, Master Dwarf, it seems you have forgotten that hobbits make
excellent burglars, even for their friends.”
“Legolas has
already pointed that out to me,” Gimli grumbled. “He also seemed to think that
Peregrin would eventually return here.”
Frodo smiled.
“Yes, he will, but despite what you may think, neither of my cousins are so
stupid as to walk up to the front door when there is a chance that someone will
be there waiting for them.”
“What do you
mean?”
“Follow me.”
* * * * * *
Merry looked at
the – what he thought to be – towering wall in front of them. “No, Pippin. No
way.”
Pippin let out
a frustrated sigh. “What’s wrong with you, Meriadoc? We need to get inside, and
aside from the front door, the only way to do that is to climb up to one of the
windows!”
“Are you even
looking at this wall? It’s far too high!”
“Nonsense! I’ve
climbed taller trees, and so have you.”
“The last time
I climbed a tree that tall, Pippin, I seem to remember falling out of it and
breaking my wrist.”
“You are such a
coward, Meriadoc!” As if to prove his point, Pippin hoisted himself onto one of
the barrels that was rested against the wall. To him, it was hardly a difficult
climb. There were plenty of platforms for them to rest on, so it was not as if
they had to climb straight up the wall.
Merry hated
being called a coward, especially by Pippin. He took a deep breath, and started
to follow his cousin. In the end, it proved to be not as difficult as he
thought. Of course, he had to make sure he did not look down, as he had always
been rather afraid of heights.
Pippin made it
to the window first and quickly climbed inside. He called back to Merry, “See,
that wasn’t so hard.”
“Why, how nice
it is to see you back, Peregrin.”
Peregrin turned
slowly, with a look of pure terror on his face. Sitting on one of the beds was
Gimli. Legolas was next to him, and Pippin also saw that Gandalf, Sam and Frodo
were standing nearby. He backed towards the window, as Gimli stood and advanced
towards him.
“Merry, Merry,
stay back,” Pippin hissed.
“What’s that
Pip?” Merry asked, as his head appeared in the window. “You know, that wasn’t
nearly as bad as I thought it would…” He was cut off as Pippin’s back collided
with him. He lost his balance and started to fall.
“Merry!” Pippin
quickly turned and caught Merry’s hand. But Merry was heavier than Pippin, and
the younger hobbit was also dragged out of the window.
Gimli cried
out, and rushed forward, grabbing onto Pippin’s legs before they slid out of
the window completely. With the strength that only a dwarf could possess, he
pulled both hobbits back into the safety of the room. Merry and Pippin sat on
the floor, panting and trying to regain their breath after their scare.
Pippin held out
his hand to Gimli. “Here’s your gift from the Lady, Gimli. I’m sorry I took
it.”
Gimli held out
his own hand, and Pippin placed the three hairs on his palm. His own heart was
still throbbing from the fright of almost losing his two little friends. Seeing
Pippin’s large, pleading eyes, he knew that he could never stay angry at the
Took, no matter what he did.
Gimli smiled,
and ruffled Pippin’s hair. “You are forgiven, Master Peregrin. As are you,
Merry. Frodo has already turned both you and himself in for your part in this
theft.”
Merry smirked
at his older cousin. “Traitor.”
Frodo laughed
and shrugged his shoulders. “You should know that I can never let Pippin just
take the blame.”
Pippin stood
and offered to help Gimli to his feet. Gimli regarded the small hand in front
of him. How had one so small managed to have such a firm grip around the heart
of Gimli, son of Glóin? Gimli took one of the golden hairs rested in his palm
and handed it to Pippin.
Pippin looked
at it in confusion. “I can’t accept this, Gimli! This was your gift from the
Lady.”
“Aye, it was,”
said Gimli. “But I have three, and I only have one Peregrin.”
A broad grin
spread across Pippin’s mouth. He smothered the dwarf in a hug. “And I only
have one Gimli.”
* * * * * *
A/N: I hope the
end was not too soppy! I couldn’t help it – I just know that Gimli had a soft
spot for Pip!