A/N: I’m not worthy! I’m not worthy! ~grovelgrovel~ I forgot to update this forever..~cries~ I’m so sorry, I left you all! ~crycry~ But I’ve got a new chapter. Don’t despair – Happiness will come soon! AND GUESS WHAT! Either the next or the 2nd next chapter is gonna be ‘A week later..’ at the party. Pippin won’t have completely recovered, but his wrist will be sort of better. And you won’t BELIEVE the kind of mischief Merry and Pip will get into at the party. ~grins evilly~

Note: Morlirva is elvish for ‘Black sickness’.

Note#2: The notes of the song go like this:

A, F#, F#, F#, F#, E, G, G, G,

A, G, G, G, F#, E, D, F#,

F#, G, A, F#, F#, F#, F#, E, B, B, B,

B, B, A, A, G, F#, A, E, E, D

http://www.geocities.com/liatius_took/liatius.html (Go there for the notes, at the bottom of the page)

Verse2:

A F# F# F# F# F# E G G G,

A G G G F# E F#,

A F# F# F# F# F# E B B B,

B B A A G F# A E E D

~~

Frodo and Sam searched everywhere. They went to every Smial and every hobbit-hole, asking if the owners had seen ‘a young hobbit, about yea high, with brown-ish hair?’ but no one seemed to know where Pippin was. No one had seen Bilbo, either. But he wasn’t the target of their worry, not yet.

The sun had set. Frodo and Sam sat on the edge of a road, the one they had taken to get to town. They looked, and looked, but could not find Pippin. However, neither hobbit happened to remember, and make the connection..

‘What are you doing out?’

‘I’m out for a walk, nothing more than that.’

"It’s no use, Sam. He isn’t anywhere. Where haven’t we looked?"

Sam searched for the right words to say. He hadn’t told Frodo about Merry’s scar, on request. Frodo had enough to worry about. "Well, Mr. Frodo, we could look for Mr. Paladin. He, if anyone, would know where Pippin was."

"Of course!" Frodo cried, jumping up. "How come you didn’t mention that before?! That’s the first thing we should’ve done! The letter said that he.."

Sam pushed himself up, putting a hand on Frodo’s shoulder. Frodo glanced to the side, looking worried. Sam smiled. "We’ll just go find Paladin. And we’ll find Peregrin, Mr. Frodo. There aren’t many more places he can be."

~~

Pippin sat on the ground, his knees drawn to his chest. He was afraid to move, lest some woodland creature hear. Pippin had always been terrified of forests – the stories he had heard, of trees that walked and would swallow you whole if you didn’t watch out.

He licked his lips, swallowing the saliva in his mouth. He hadn’t had drink or food for hours.

A bird like cry sounded. Pippin jumped in surprise. Something fluttered in the branches above his head. Two eyes flickered in the darkness around him. Pippin slowly pushed himself onto his knees, then stood up. The lights flickered. Pippin slowly backed away from the eyes, then turned and ran.

Pippin had no idea where he was running. He didn’t know if he was running towards the road, or away from it. He didn’t know how long he would run, either. He heard a voice up ahead, and his jog turned into a sprint. He wiped a bloody curl out of his eyes with his limp hand. His finger (which was not numb, as his wrist was) brushed his forehead. He skin was blinding hot, though he felt so cold.

~~

"Sam," Frodo said after a few minutes. They were jogging back down the road, to The Shire, and then to the Thain’s Smial. Neither realized that they were going in the wrong direction. "When we met Paladin, on the road..What time was that?"

"Must’ve been..Mid-day, maybe?" Sam answered.

"That was about nine hours ago, wasn’t it?"

"Aye."

"And we’ve been gone five hours.."

"Aye, Mr. Frodo."

Frodo skidded to a stop, nearly loosing his balance. "Sam, Pippin must be back there! Where we met with Paladin!"

And so they ran back.

~~

Pippin ran. He heard a voice to his left. He spun, and began to run to the left. A cry went up behind him. He turned again, looking to see if anyone was there. The voices grew louder. He could not tell where they were coming from. His dirty clothes stuck to his skin, making him feel hotter. He could feel sweat running down the sides of his face in scalding drops.

He saw the rock, the rock from earlier. Just up ahead. On the other side of that rock would be the road. All he had to do..get to the road..keep..running..

Fog clouded Pippin’s mind. The fever took over. He tripped over a root, and was sent sprawling next to the rock, but not quite on the road. His limbs went ever which way. He convulsed wildly.

The blackness took him and he fell into unconsciousness.

~~

"Are you sure he’ll be here?"

Frodo nodded, searching through the underbrush and behind trees. "He was not with Paladin when we saw him. He must’ve escaped."

Sam shook his head, helping Frodo look. "I don’t know, Mr. Frodo.."

"Sam, go look up the road aways."

Sam did. He walked up the road. He recognized it as the place where they had stopped, that very place where they had met Paladin. He stopped short, seeing something.

"Mr. Frodo!" he cried, and ran forward. Frodo was instantly at his side. Sam scrambled forward, gently grabbing onto one of Pippin’s arms. They lifted him up, and put his arms around either of their shoulders.

And they went home.

~~

Merry paced back and forth in front of the fire at Bag End. Frodo and Sam had been gone for at least seven hours. What if they could not find Pippin? What if he was at the Thain’s Smial, right now? And what of Bilbo. Merry sat in the chair, fiddling with his pipe, and sticking it in his mouth.

The door burst open at an alarming speed. It hit the wall, and Sam held it open with his foot.

"Pip.." Merry whispered softly. He rushed forward to look at his cousin. There were several bruises on his face, and his hair was full of dirt and dried blood. There was a piece of silky cloth bound around his wrist. Sam let go of Pippin’s arm. Frodo lifted his legs up, and carried Pippin down on of the adjacent hallways.

"He’ll be staying here tonight," Sam said. "That’s for sure. Why don’t you go with them, Mr. Merry. I’ll make all of you some supper."

Merry nodded, and quickly walked down the hall after Frodo.

~~

Not much later that night..

~~

Merry sat on the edge of a bed, in a dimly lit room. Pippin was asleep, tucked under the covers. He was burning up with fever. Sam said that it was Morlirva, or so the healer called it. Pippin had many bruises on his body. They had washed the blood off of him, and out of his hair. Still, he looked just as beaten and vulnerable as before.

"Merry," said a soft voice at the door. Frodo entered, holding a tray. "Sam made some food in case he wakes up. He went home. And Bilbo came back. He’s asleep, in the chair in front of the fire." Frodo set the tray on a side table, sitting on the other side of the bed. "How is he doing?"

Merry shook his head. "Not too good, as far as I can tell. I think he-"

He was interrupted as he felt Pippin’s leg move under the sheet. Pippin began to twitch, and then convulse. He cried out, arching his back. Frodo scrambled up, holding his cousin’s arms down. Merry sat on the spot where Pippin’s legs were. The thrashing stopped, and Pippin’s eyes snapped open.

"Help!" He cried in a small voice. His eyes were clouded over, and he didn’t seem to be looking at anything. "Help me!" He sat up, his eyes wide.

Merry quickly sat next to him, putting his arms around him. He ran a hand through Pippin’s hair. "Shh, Pip. It’s alright, you’re at Bag End now."

Pippin went limp in Merry’s arms, leaning against them for support. "Merry," he murmured softly. "I was having the worst nightmare..The voices..they..father.."

Merry looked side-a-ways at Frodo, concern shining in his eyes. Frodo lay down on his back, and pulled Pippin down next to him. Merry sunk onto his side and used his elbow to prop him up.

"It’s time to go back to sleep, Pippin." Frodo said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I don’t want to go to..sleep.." Pippin whispered, finishing with a yawn.

"We’ll be here when you wake up, Pip."

Frodo ran through his head for ideas. A lullaby came to mind. He did not know where the idea came from. But he began to sing..

Come, little hobbit, lay down and sleep,

Rest now, for it is your bedtime,

Close your eyes, holbylta, and make not a peep,

For it’s having-sweet-dreams-in-your-head time..



Merry smiled. As Frodo faded off, Merry started.



Think, little hobbit, about things you see,

Places you go, friends you make,

Dream, holbylta, but first listen to me,

I will stay and be here when you wake..

Frodo slowly slid off the bed as the song ended. Pippin’s eyes were closed. Merry nodded, and mouthed ‘Thanks’. Frodo mouthed ‘Goodnight’ back, and left. The only light in the room was the moonlight shining through the window.

"Goodnight, Pip." Merry said softly. His cousin sighed, curling into a ball and sleeping peacefully in the comfort of Merry’s embrace.

~~