Master of Death

To Helm's Deep we go

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Pippin would admit he was very childish, foolhardy and often too curious of his own good. He could admit he was not the bravest Took to ever Took, but he wasn't a coward. He loved his large family and adored his cousin Frodo to the ends of the earth, but he loved no other more deeply than he did Merry. It was not very common nor was it respectable to find your comfort in the arms of the same sex, but it does happen. It happened with Uncle Bilbo, who had been in love with a Dwarven King before his unfortunate passing and never married after nor had any children. Frodo seemed to follow that path, if how close he and Sam had always been from infancy to Fauntlings to now.

Pippin could admit in his heart of hearts that he loved Merry, but was often too scared to admit it, he's seen how shunned Uncle Bilbo was, sure they shunned him for going off on an adventure, but publicly announcing that he was queer had shocked the whole of Hobbiton and the shunning had been made worse. He didn't want that, he liked his life as it was, but it wasn't complete without Merry. And now as they were held on the backs of these monstrous Uruk-hais, being taken the gods only know where to face whatever horrors these hulking beasts would bestow upon them, he was scared. Not for himself, but for Merry, who looked ill and had been seemingly unconscious for the last few hours.

"Please! My friend, he needs water, please, mercy!!" He begged, hoping beyond a vain hope that there was a shred of goodness in these creatures. The whole contingent paused as the leader laughed as he came to leer at the youngest Hobbit.

"Mercy, he says! Water he demands! Fine!" He grabbed Merry's redder curls and pulled his head painfully back, forcing his jaw open and pouring a foul smelling wine down his throat.

He gasped and gagged, Pippin screaming in fright, begging them to please stop and they did, beginning to run again as Merry gagged and rasped out gasps around the terrible liquid. Pippin worried he may have caused him more harm than good, but Merry opened his eye and smiled a secretive smile as he showed he lost his Lothlorien pin, having dislodged it secretly and dumped it to the ground when they had paused. He assured Pippin he was well, going back to pretending to be ill and weak, hoping that if they can slow them down enough, the others would come save them or perhaps manage to sneak away...

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They had been running for three days and finally the Uruk-hai stopped on the edge of a dark, dense forest for the night. They were dumped rather unceremoniously onto the floor, their wrists bound tightly as the creatures broke out their camping items and set up a small camp site. They were watched constantly, by two Uruks and a Goblin or an Orc, the pair holding their bound hands together and trembling from fright. They watched moldy bread get passed around, that disgusting wine being downed by the mug.

"Merry... how are we going to get out of here?" Pippin whimpered, burrowing as close to his secret love as he could.

Merry, held the smaller blonde close as he watched the camp, trying to find the safest escape route and to see if they would go unwatched for a moment or three, plenty of time for them to sneak off as long as they used their innate ability to go unnoticed when they want and they really wanted to right now. But there was too much activity and there was always someone watching. They could only hope that the others were racing toward the camp right this moment, or that these monsters would get too drunk to notice them running away.

"Don't know... but I'm thinking... try to sleep, we will try and sneak away once they fall asleep... hopefully with them too drunk to be able to give chase..." Merry whispered back, holding Pippin as close as his bound hands would allow.