An Olympian's Daughter

Fool of a Took

Night comes to Edoras. In a communal sleeping room, Gimli snores and Pippin tosses, looking worried. Aragorn leaves, carrying his pipe. He pauses to stoke a fire near a sleeping Éowyn. As Éowyn stirs, Aragorn covers her feet and shoulders with a blanket.

Éowyn sleepily asks "What time is it?" "Not yet dawn." Aragorn answers her, Éowyn grabs his hand. "I dreamed I saw a great wave, climbing over green lands and above the hills. I stood upon the brink. It was uppterly dark in the abyss before my feet. A light shone behind me but I could not turn. I could only stand there, waiting."

Aragorn consoules her "Night changes many thoguhts. Sleep, Éowyn. Sleep... while you can." Aragorn exits the Golden Hall and approaches Legolas beside Hali, the three of them look toward Mordor. "The stars are veiled. Something stirs in the East." Legolas pipes up "A sleepless malice. The Eye of the enemy is moving." Hali conforms with a shuttering feeling traveling down her spine making her feel twitchy.

Indoors, Pippin wakes up and approaches a sleeping Gandalf.

"What are you doing? Pippin! Pippin?" Merry whisper screeches.

Gandalf is asleep, although his eyes are open. Pippin waves a hand over Gandalf's face to make sure.
Pippin takes the Palantír from Gandalf, replacing the space in Gandalf's hands with a chamberpot.

Merry stands right beside him "Pippin! Are you mad?" "I just want to look at it! Just one more time."
"Put it back!" Merry hisses
Pippin unwraps the stone.

"Pippin. No! Pippin!" Pippin becomes affixed to the now glowing stone. Outside, Legolas turns to Aragorn and Hali. "He is here!" Legolas' eyes widen. The three of them turn around running back into the hall.
Sauron hisses to Pippin "I see you!"
Merry cries out in fear "Pippin! Help! Gandalf Help him! Someone help him!"

Hali, Aragorn and Legolas enter. Everyone awakes. Pippin, stuck to the burning orb, writhes in pain. Hali takes the Palantír and falls to her knees before she too writhes in crippling pain and fear at what the eye was showing her, her time in Tartarus having to watch all her friends die at the hands of monsters.

The Palantír falls from Hali's hands and rolls across the floor. Gandalf throws a cloth over it.

Merry grabs his cousin "Pippin!"
"Fool of a Took!" Gandalf yells,
Gandalf tends to a terrified Pippin.
"Look at me." Gandalf presses the hobbit to look up. "Gandalf! Forgive me!" Pippin cries with tears in his eyes. Pippin looks away.
"Look at me. What did you see?" Gandalf asks. "A tree... there was a white tree in a courtyard of stone... it was dead. The city was burning." Pippin stutters.

"Minas Tirith? Is that what you saw?" Gandalf asks again. Pippin shivers and stutters over his words "I saw... I saw Him! I could hear His voice in my head!" "And what did you tell Him? Speak!" Gandalf shouts. "He asked me my name. I didn't answer. He hurt me!"

"What did you tell Him about Frodo and the Ring?" Gandalf talks to Théoden in the Golden Hall. Hali, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin are also present.

"There was no lie in Pippin's eyes. A fool... but an honest fool he remains. He told Sauron nothing of Frodo and the Ring. We've been strangely fortunate. Pippin saw in the Palantír a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Sauron moves to strike the city of Minas Tirith. His defeat at Helm's Deep showed our enemy one thing: he knows the heir of Elendil has come forth. Men are not as weak as he supposed; there is courage still, strength enough perhaps to challenge him. Sauron fears this. He will not risk the peoples of Middle-Earth uniting under one banner." Gandalf explains to the king.

"He will raze Minas Tirith to the ground before he sees a King return to the throne of men. If the Beacons of Gondor are lit, Rohan must be ready for war." Hali sneers at the thought while looking in fear over at Aragorn.