The Ranger And The Prince.

Sparring Matches.

I retired to Éowyn's room that night. Éowyn didn't join me, I believe she fell asleep in front of the fire in the Golden Hall. Changing into a nightdress, I clambered into my makeshift bed and fell asleep.

I was all wrapped up in the fur pelts of the bed when I heard a commotion down the corridor. I heard screaming so I quickly grabbed my axe by the side of my bed and made for the corridor.

Running towards the screaming, I burst into one of the room which were packed with sleeping soldiers (now waking up). I saw Pippin laying pale on the floor, Gandalf, Merry, Aragorn and Legolas leaning over him.

"What happened?" I asked, drawing near to the group.

"Pippin was looking into the palantír," Legolas explained quickly as he gestured to the dark crystal ball with a grey blanket flung over it.

As Gandalf gripped Pippin's hand, he muttered a few incantations under his breath. Pippin panted frantically, as though he had been awoken from a nightmare, Gandalf placed his hand to the side of Pippin's face to calm him.

"Look at me," Gandalf said softly as we all looked down at the little Hobbit.

"Gandalf, forgive me." He panted, his voice hoarse and beads of sweat on his brow.

"Look at me," Gandalf said, a little more sternly than before, "What did you see?"

"A tree." Pippin closed his eyes, "There was a white tree in a courtyard of stone. It was dead. The city was burning."

The scene laid out by Pippin was familiar. Minas Tirith. He saw the White tree of Gondor? I had set foot in the white city before and it had stood for thousands of years; if such a kingdom could be razed to the ground, what hope was there for Middle-Earth?

"Minas Tirith? Is that what you saw?" Gandalf asked the exact thing I had concluded.

"I saw... I saw him," Pippin said, his eyes full of fear, "I could hear his voice in my head."

"And what did you tell him?" Gandalf asked worriedly, "Speak!"

"He asked me my name. I didn't answer. He hurt me."

"What did you tell him about Frodo and the Ring?" Gandalf pressed.

"Nothing. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak," He whimpered.

***

We stood in the Golden Hall with King Théoden. The servants had cleaned and patched up my ranger gear so I quickly put it on before meeting them.

Merry and Pippin sat together on one of the benches. Pippin looked worse for wear and haggard as his head hung low.

Gandalf was explaining to Théoden the events of the night with Pippin and the palantír.

"There was no lie in Pippin's eyes. A fool, but an honest fool he remains," Gandalf explained, giving the Hobbit a small smile, "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. 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."

"Tell me," Théoden started as he looked up to Gandalf, "Why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours? What do we owe Gondor?"

"It is not a simple matter of owing anyone anything!" I scoffed, all attention now on me, "Don't you see? This war is inevitable whether we like it or not but it's how we chose to fight it. We can either unite together and have a fighting chance against the enemy or we can destroy ourselves from the inside. If we leave Minas Tirith to its fate, where do you thing Sauron will next target? Rohan may have survived Helm's Deep once but it will not take long before your country finally cracks under the weight of Mordor. If you do not ride to Gondor's aid, the city will most definitely fall and that will just be the first domino that brings down Middle-Earth!"