Hammer and Tongs
By ALBA

FANDOM: Lord of the Rings - Character Fiction

RATING: G? PG? I don't know.

SPOILERS: Fellowship of the Ring and, to some extent, The Two Towers.

SUMMARY: I've always loved Gimli's line in "The Two Towers" about ...Hammer and tongs! If I wasn't so happy to see you... (or something to that effect). So, this story uses those words. Just a short little drabble, really.

DISCLAIMER: Wow, I have to do a new disclaimer here! Okay, the characters mentioned in this story do not belong to me, they belong to J.R.R. Tolkien's estate. I merely borrowed them and will return them when I'm finished with them. I am making no money off this fiction, in fact, I'm paying for it to even BE here. So don't sue me because I am flat broke. PrettySparklyDanceBoys (otherwise known as *NSync) broke my bank.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Mary (RandomSlytherin3) because she thought it was cool I was writing a Gimli story. And, of course, Kris.

*****

Hammer and Tongs

If nothing else, I will remember this: the nights are cold. Every night since the breaking of the Fellowship, the nights have gotten progressively colder. Even our resident Elf feels it. He says nothing, of course, but he doesn't refuse when Aragorn offers him a corner of blanket.

Then again, Legolas refuses Aragorn very little.

Whatever their reason for sharing blankets every night, it is clear that both are committed to the quest we undertook after the death of Boromir. Aragorn swore that we would not abandon Merry and Pippin to whatever fate lay before them at the hands of the Orcs, and we shall not. We have tracked them for three days now, each step bringing us closer to Isengard and the enemy. But for our friends it is worth it, for we will not lose another. We have lost Gandalf and Boromir already, and I don't think any of us could take another loss such as those.

By the hammer and the tongs, we will not give up! We will not rest until Merry and Pippin are once again beside us. The fate of the Ring-Bearer is beyond our reach, but there are still two who are counting on us.

So we will continue our hunt, no matter how hope fades.

/End (told you it was short!)