Lord of the Rings Reader Inserts

Meriadoc Brandybuck

You ignored the pain in your ankle as you stumbled across the body-strewn field. Limping over fallen soldiers and severed orcs, you searched the ground, tears pooling in your (e/c) eyes. 

"MERRY?!"

Your voice was hoarse and it hurt to even breath, but you couldn't give up. 

"MERRY?!"

You tripped and fell to the ground, the wind getting knocked out of your lungs. But after regaining your breath, you didn't move. Instead, you buried your face in your arms and sobbed. Your body shook as tears watered the ground under you, pain, fear, and fatigue leaving you with every drop. 

Memories of the past few months had plagued your mind with dark nights, foreign places, and deadly orcs. You were tired, hungry, and missing your warm bed and cozy fire. You wanted to go home. You wanted to find your best friend. 

But Merry had left with Lady Eowyn, leaving you to use the quickly formed friendship you had with Eomir to convince him to bring you with him. It took your deepest, darkest secret to get him to smile, tossing you on his horse before he took off. 

Even as the battle on Pelennor Fields was ranging around you, you searched every horse rider for your fellow hobbit friend. But it wasn't until that same battle that you realized that friend was not a strong enough word to describe how you felt about Merry. It saddened you that it took going into a series life or death situations for you to recognize your childhood friend meant the world to you. 

But now, he could be gone for all you knew. Your body shook as you silently let your heart to break, thinking the worst had happened. You had run into Pippen as he, too, searched the fields, but he had yet to see Merry. You cried harder.

You hiccuped and paused, breathing steadily as your heart slowed and your tears dried. 

No. 

You were NOT going to give up. Not when you knew for a fact Merry would search all day and all night until he found you. Not when it was still light out enough to keep searching. Not when you knew him to be one of the strongest Hobbits ever to live.

Sniffling, you struggled to your feet, thankful for the millionth time since leaving Hobbiton that you had such thick souls as you stepped over the debris of war. You limped, your ankle still in pain but you pushed through it, your mind cleared after such a good cry. You looked around with more determination than before, taking in any and all signs of life. 

You stumbled across three Roherum riders still alive in your search. The first one frightened you as they grabbed for your cloak, calling out for help. But after taking note that he was not, in fact, an orc, you came to their aid. You did the same with the other two. You would smile at them as you kelt down next to them, telling them that help was on the way. 

By the time the third rider was taken by Gondorian soldiers in a makeshift stretcher, his hand slipping off your arm as he thanked you over and over, it had started to grow dark. As did the hope in your heart. But you shook your head, looking around at the others still searching for their fallen friends. 

"Merry?!" You called, cupping your hands around your mouth. "MERRY!?"

Tears pricked your eyes but you didn't let them fall as you started moving again. You held them back with happy memories, such as of Merry sneaking you out of your house to go on adventures with Pippin. The first time you showed him how to sneak in and out of a bakery without getting caught. The first time Merry showed you a butterfly, it landing on your nose making him laugh, the sound filling your heart. The numerous times you three went fishing and Pippin finding himself in the water nearly every time. The first time Merry took your hand when listening to scary stories with Bilbo and the other Gaffers while out camping, smiling at the memory of falling asleep hand in hand because he was so frightened. You could hear the noise of Rose's Pub and the laughter of the cousins as they sang songs, the sound filling your mind and numbing your fears.