Title: Northfarthing Rain

Author: LeftOfWest

Pairing(s): Merry/Pippin and Frodo/Sam (In other words, male/male. If you do not like that kind of thing, please do not read this story.)

Chapter Summary: Pippin gets the bright idea to go adventuring.

Disclaimer: I'm not Tolkien, nor do I claim to be a Tolkien scholar. Just a small fan hoping to entertain others whilst I entertain myself.

Feedback: Yes, have some.

a/n: The title of this fic is a play on R.E.M.'s song title "So. Central Rain." Just used it for inspiration for the title really. That's all. Now, the more you review, the better chance you'll have of either 1) getting me to stop disgracing the face of slashdom AND Tolkiendom or 2) continuing on in the world of fanfiction. It's all up to the people who review. As for the people who don't review, well, they LITERALLY have no say in the matter.

Chapter 1: Pippin's Adventure

"You know what I'd really like to do?" Pippin said to Merry as he shoved a mushroom into his mouth. The two were having an extended visit with Frodo at Bag End, and according to Pippin, 'Frodo always has his head in the books and never spends any time with us'.

But the fact of the matter was that Frodo was always spending time with them while they were staying with him and rarely had any time at all to just sit and read. So Master Baggins sent both of his younger cousins off on a picnic with what Frodo was sure was 'more food than they could possibly eat', hoping it would keep them out of trouble (and out of his hair) at least for a little while…

…hence, their current location, sitting atop Bag End with a basket that was formerly full of food. Now, that food was all gone except for a few leftover mushrooms. So much for having 'more food than they could possibly eat'.

"It already sounds like trouble, but I'll ask anyway. What WOULD you like to do?" Merry asked, popping a mushroom into his own mouth.

Pippin ignored Merry's obvious apprehension about asking the question. Not that he'd really noticed it anyway. "I'd like to go on an adventure."

"'I'd like to go on an adventure'," Merry repeated. "Well, that's a Took for you. Never happy just enjoying mushrooms in the sun."

"Oh. Well, I guess a troublemaking Brandybuck wouldn't be interested in the really great adventure I had in mind." Pippin popped another mushroom into his mouth and chewed it slowly, absently studying his fingernails (or at least pretending to).

Merry looked at Pippin for a long time. "Well?"

"Well, what?"

"Are you going to tell me or not?"

"Oh, you're not interested," Pippin sighed, still putting on his act.

Merry looked at him for another long while, then crawled over and tackled him to the ground, his legs astride the younger hobbit's hips.

Pippin almost choked on the mushroom he was still chewing. "What are you trying to do? Kill me?" he asked, giggling.

"I WILL kill you if you don't tell me what your little Tookish brain is scheming," Merry laughed, still pinning his cousin to the ground.

"Alright, alright. I'll tell you," Pippin said, still giggling. "I'll tell you if you get off me! Your weight is unbearable!"

"Hmph. You're just jealous because I'm developing a proper hobbit belly and you've still got a baby belly." He put his hand on Pippin's tummy and with a look of surprise he said, "Peregrin Took! What is that?"

"That's a hobbit belly," Pippin told him with a grin.

"It's only a little one, but I guess it IS coming along. I want to see it." Merry started pulling up Pippin's shirt.

But the younger hobbit fought to keep his shirt down. "Noooo. I thought you wanted to hear about my adventure."

"Yes, yes. In a minute. Right now I want to see the competition," Merry said. He tickled at Pippin's neck until he coerced a fit of laughter from the hobbit underneath him.

"Merry, stop it," Pippin giggled, trying to shoo his cousin's hands away from his neck and when next he knew it, his shirt was being pulled up.

"Look at that," Merry said, referring to Pippin's barely pudged tummy. "Looks just like mine. When did this happen? Was I not paying attention this whole time...? I've been around the whole time, haven't I?"

Pippin struggled to crawl from underneath Merry, stood and pulled his shirt back down. "Are you going to listen to what I have to say or are you going to keep violating me?"

Merry raised his eyebrows. "VIOLATING you?"

"Violating my PRIVACY," Pippin corrected, blood rushing to his cheeks.

The elder hobbit got to his feet. "Violating your privacy indeed," he muttered. "Alright, Pip. I'm ready to hear all about your adventure." He started putting away their picnic paraphernalia with a little help from Pippin.

"Well, it won't be a short adventure and I'd understand if you didn't want to go with me," Pippin said.

"You know I'm not going to let you go alone. Especially if it's a long adventure," Merry told him.

Pippin smiled. "Let me tell you first before you go agreeing to it." Helping Merry fold their picnic blanket, he went on. "I want to visit the Northfarthing. Where the great Bandobras Took fought in the Battle of Greenfields. And I want to visit the North-Tooks and hear his story straight from them."

"You want to go to Long Cleeve?" Merry asked. Once the blanket was folded, he held it in his arms. "That's a long way to go for a story. You can hear about that right here in Hobbiton. As a matter of fact, I'm sure Bilbo left records of that battle somewhere in Bag End. We can ask Frodo about them."

Pippin's smile disappeared and he lowered his head. "Well, it's just that I haven't been to the Northfarthing in a long time and..."

Merry looked at Pippin out of the corner of his eye. "And?"

The younger hobbit blushed and fiddled with the buttons on his shirt. "And there was this young lass there."

A pang of something unidentifiable swept over Merry. 'Probably just indigestion,' he thought, and he grinned anyway. "A lass?"

Pippin picked up their picnic basket and nodded. "You'd swear she was an angel. She's got the most beautiful dark golden, well, almost auburn hair you've ever seen. And...and her eyes are..." He looked at his feet. "Her eyes are just like..., well, blue. Not creepy blue like Frodo's. Just NICE blue." He looked back at Merry. "She was very young when I visited there, but she's bound to be a beautiful hobbit-lass in her tweens by now. You have to see her, Merry."

"So, you're adventuring to meet up with this beautiful lass from long ago?" Merry asked.

"No, I want to hear the story," Pippin told him. "I just thought I might catch a glimpse of her while I'm there. Just to see how things turned out for her."

"No worries, Pip. We'll go off and find your lass and your story."

Pippin blushed again. "She's not MY lass. She's probably got at least a hundred callers by now."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Merry said. "We should set out as soon as possible."

-inside...

"Hullo, Frodo," Merry greeted once he entered Bag End.

"Hullo, Frodo," Pippin repeated, walking past Merry to the next room. He set the empty basket on the kitchen counter and started rummaging around for a cake he remembered seeing before he and Merry went on their picnic.

"I thought you two were actually LEAVING the premises for your picnic, not going up on the roof," Frodo said with his nose still buried in his book.

"What makes you think we were on the roof?" Merry asked with a chuckle, tossing the picnic blanket on a nearby chair.

Frodo chuckled a bit as well. "I could hear you two up there. You were making such a racket that I had to leave the study. Or did you not notice that this isn't the study?"

"I always did get the study and the sitting room mixed up," Merry murmured sarcastically. He plopped down on the sofa next to Frodo. "Cousin, I have a favor to ask," he sang sweetly.

Mr. Baggins groaned and leaned his head onto the back sofa, letting his book drop to his lap. "What? What is it, Merry? Because it already sounds like trouble."

"Actually, WE have a favor to ask," Merry said, ignoring Frodo's comment. He figured it would be best if Pippin told Frodo what he had planned, but when he looked around, he didn't see their younger cousin. "Pip?"

"Hm?" Pippin asked, sticking his head out of the kitchen.

Frodo didn't move; he just groaned more dramatically.

"Come here. This was your idea," Merry said.

"What was my idea?" Pippin asked, walking back into the sitting room with the other two hobbits, sans cake.

"Your adventure, remember?" Merry said to Pippin. He turned to Frodo and sighed. "It's a wonder he can keep anything between his ears."

Frodo sat up and nodded, sympathetic to Merry's situation with Pippin. They all had a hard time getting Pippin to remember things sometimes.

Pippin raised his eyebrows. "Oh, it's nothing really."

Merry shook his head at Pippin, then turned to Frodo with a grin. "Pip's got a lass over in Long Cleeve. He wants to go visit her."

The young Took shoved Merry playfully. "She's not my lass and that's not why I'm going there." Pippin moved Merry aside, sat between his two older cousins and attempted to correct the details of the adventure he had in mind. "I was saying to Merry that I thought it would be interesting to learn more about Bandobras the Bullroarer-"

"I told him that Bilbo surely had some records of the old Battle of Greenfields," Merry interrupted.

Pippin looked at the Brandybuck. "You wanted ME to tell him, Merry." With a small smile, he turned back to Frodo. "I wanted to hear the stories from the North-Tooks themselves-"

"Not to mention that there's a pretty lass living in Long Cleeve that caught Pip's eye," Merry teased.

The youngest hobbit blushed and turned to Merry again. "That is NOT why I-"

"Well, you brought it up to ME like you're obsessed with her."

"Did not! I was simply saying that I remember her from when I visited Long Cleeve a long time ago."

"That's not what you said when we were outside."

Pippin tried to say something, but he was at a loss for words.

"You should have heard him going on about her. How she was like an angel. How golden and beautiful her hair was and how pretty and blue her eyes were," Merry told Frodo.

As the two younger hobbits argued, poor Frodo had to lean backward and forward to look at each one who spoke. It began making him a little dizzy, so he decided to look straight ahead instead. "Peregrin Took, I do believe you have a crush."

Pippin's face reddened. "I do not have a crush on her. I haven't seen her in years and she was really young then. Much younger than I was. I just...admired her look, is all."

Merry giggled. "Sounds like a crush to me."

A slow smile crept up on Frodo's face. "Well, what was the favor you wanted to ask, then?"

"Ah, yes. The favor," Merry said. "If we are to embark on this journey, we'll need provisions. That's where you come in, Cousin Frodo."

Frodo shook his head, still smiling. "I should have known. If I didn't know any better I'd think that you two only come here to eat me out of hearth and home."

It was Pippin's turn to giggle now, but as soon as he was about to comment, there came a loud crash from the next room. All of their attention turned toward the entrance to the kitchen.

"Sam! Are you alright in there?" Frodo called.

"Yes sir, Mr. Frodo, begging your pardon for all the clamor!" Sam answered. "I thought you, Mr. Merry and Mr. Pippin'd like some tea!"

"Oh, thank you, Sam! I hadn't thought of that!" Frodo said.

Pippin raised his eyebrows once again. "I didn't even know Sam was here."

Frodo shook his head and smiled. "I tried to give him the day off, but he insisted on organizing the garden shed instead."

Merry raised an eyebrow. "Well, Sam moves about rather stealthily for one so brawny. Aside from the clattering just now, that is. We didn't even see him come over."

"I wouldn't be surprised if Sam snuck up on you while you were sleeping just to tuck you in at night," Pippin said to Frodo.

It had been an innocent comment, but it caused Frodo's cheeks to color slightly. "I can always count on good old Sam," he seemed to say out of nowhere. He closed his eyes and shook his head to help clear it. "I'm sorry; you were saying something about provisions?"

Merry gave a nod.

"You shouldn't need much. There are villages along the way. You can always replenish your supplies if you have to," Frodo told them.

Pippin looked like he was out in left field-a common look for the young Took. His brain was trying to work through something, though he wasn't even sure what that something might be.

"Of course," Merry said. He sighed. "Then what we'll need more than provisions is some spending money." He gave his most prize-winning smile.

"Meriadoc Brandybuck, you're the Master of Buckland's heir. You CANNOT tell me that you're broke," Frodo laughed.

"Broke as Pervinca Took at the Summer Harvest Festival," Merry muttered with a wink.

Frodo laughed even louder.

It took a moment for Pippin to get the joke, but after a while his mouth dropped open. "Hey! You can't go around saying stuff like that about my sister!"

"I was only kidding, Pip," Merry assured him, tousling the younger hobbit's hair.

The eldest of them put his hand over his own mouth to help himself calm down.

"Very funny," Pippin said, not very amused at all. "I never should've invited you to the Northfarthing with me."

"The Northfarthing?" Sam asked, bringing in their tea. He began serving the three gentlehobbits. "What's in the Northfarthing?"

Pippin was about to explain his case, but Merry interrupted him. "Pippin's lass lives in Long Cleeve."

Frodo giggled.

"She's not my lass and that's not why we're going there," Pippin said. As soon as he saw Merry open his mouth again, Pippin quickly covered it with his hand. "I'm in the mood for adventure and I wanted to hear the story of old Bullroarer straight from the North-Tooks."

Sam smiled. "Wow. It sounds like a right nice adventure, and no mistake. Wish I could go along with you."

Frodo raised his eyebrows.

"I don't see why you couldn't," Pippin said, still covering Merry's mouth.

Surprisingly, Merry sat calmly, allowing Pippin to believe he'd gotten the better of him.

"Well, I've got a lot of work to do here and-" Sam started.

"Would you really like to go, Sam?" Frodo asked quietly.

"Course I would. You know how much I like a good story, Mr. Frodo," Sam told him.

Frodo smiled. "Then you should go with them."

Pippin grinned and nodded. "It'll be great having you with us, Sam."

Sam looked surprised. "Well, I said I'd LIKE to go, but I can't just leave Mr. Frodo here with no one to take care of him."

There was a sudden silence and everyone looked at Frodo.

"What? I can take care of myself, you know," Frodo told them.

Sam chuckled. "Says you. My Gaffer said to me, 'Samwise, my lad, you're gonna have to look after that Mr. Frodo Baggins. If someone's not around to make sure he takes in all his meals proper, he'd likely forget to feed himself.' That's what he said to me. And I said, 'A hobbit that doesn't feed himself proper. Imagine that!'"

Pippin giggled.

Frodo shook his head, an embarrassed smile on his face. "Your Gaffer was over-exaggerating."

Merry licked the hand Pippin still had over his mouth.

Pippin gasped and yanked his hand away. "Ugh! Merry licked me!" He wiped his hand on the side of Merry's trousers.

It was Frodo and Sam's turn to giggle this time.

Merry chuckled at Pippin, and then looked at Sam. "Well, if you're worried about Frodo's eating habits, maybe you'd feel better if he came along too." He then turned to Frodo and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, a foursome! Please say yes, Frodo," Pippin pleaded enthusiastically.

Sam gave Frodo a hopeful look.

Frodo looked at his friends and smiled. "When do we start?"

-later...

"Now, Sam. Are you sure your Gaffer won't mind that you're leaving for a few days?" Frodo asked Sam as they were loading up their backpacks.

Sam sighed. "Well, he was a little disappointed that I was leaving my gardening duties behind for so long, but he was more concerned about your well-being than anything else." He leaned close to Frodo and whispered, "I kinda told him that it was your idea to take this trip and I agreed to go along with you."

Frodo grinned. "You told a fib," he said slowly.

Sam lowered his head. "I did. I told a fib, sir. I'm awful sorry."

Mr. Baggins chuckled quietly and put an arm around Sam's shoulders. "It was only a tiny fib. No harm done." He let Sam go and hoisted his backpack onto his shoulders. "Now, all I have to do is grab a map from the study and then we can go to the sitting room and wait for that Took and that Brandybuck."

Sam smiled to himself as he followed his master out of the room.

-not far away...

"I can't believe I let you two talk me into this. I'm a Baggins. I'm not supposed to have any adventures or do anything unexpected, like leave the Westfarthing with no notice at all," Frodo complained once he and Sam found Pippin and Merry. But he had to admit, he was looking forward to this little trip no matter how unexpected it was.

"You may be a Baggins, but you've got Brandybuck blood in you too," Merry said. "And if Pippin wouldn't have thought up this crazy scheme-"

"Hey!" Pippin objected.

"-then you probably would have," Merry went on, ignoring his younger cousin. "You like going places and doing things, though you would've most likely gone alone without ever mentioning it to anyone."

"Yes, well, I also like the quiet and comfort of home from time to time. And I never go very far." Frodo told him. "Now get out of here before I change my mind."

Sam just smiled to himself as the foursome headed out of Bag End, lead by Merry and followed by Pippin, Frodo and Sam respectively.

"I hate to ask this on my own adventure, but where exactly are we going?" Pippin asked.

"You're the one who wanted to do this and you're not prepared?" Merry questioned, putting his hands on his hips. "Peregrin, Peregrin. When will you ever learn not to be so impulsive?"

Pippin frowned and they all stopped at the Bag End gate. "You were the one who said to leave as soon as possible. Besides, I assumed that Frodo would know the way or something."

"You didn't even know Frodo would be joining us. Besides, I assumed that you would know the way since you've been there before," Merry told the Took.

"My memory's a bit foggy," Pippin stated.

Merry grinned at him. "Your whole head's a bit foggy."

"Well, YOU try to remember the directions to a place you haven't been to in..." Pippin looked up at the sky, then started counting on his fingers and mumbling to himself. "...ten, eleven, twelve..." He looked back at Merry. "Thirteen years."

"You may not remember the directions, but you sure did remember that lass well enough," Merry said, rolling his eyes.

Sam watched the two cousin's bicker and then leaned close to Frodo. "They cluck at each other like a couple of hens, if you don't mind me saying so, sir," he muttered.

Frodo turned to Sam and nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking," he whispered, taking Sam's hand as he chuckled under his breath.

Sam laughed quietly as well, and then looked down at Frodo's hand in his.

"-dropped pudding down the back of Mrs. Burrows' dress," Pippin was saying. (The gods only knew how they came to this subject.) "And blamed it on me."

"And I can't believe you haven't forgiven me for that. It was, like, five years ago," Merry said.

"Merry, Pippin, please," Frodo said between giggle fits. He finally let go of Sam's hand and took a deep breath to steady himself. "I have a map. You probably wouldn't have brought me along if I didn't."

"Oh...," Pippin said. "Well, where to first?"

Frodo took off his backpack and pulled out Bilbo's map of The Shire. "Here we are. Let's see now." He studied the map for a while, trying to decide which direction would be best to go. "We'll head to Bywater first and then follow The Water north until we reach the Northfarthing Stone. That seems simple enough." He folded the map and put it back in his backpack.

Merry nodded. "And here I thought you would prefer to take us along the roads until we got to where we were going. You have adventurer written all over you, Frodo."

"I thought that since this is Pippin's adventure that we should take a Pippinish route," Frodo said with a smile.

"Well, that's a happy little coincidence, going the Bywater way," Pippin said with a wink to Merry.

Merry nodded to Pippin, then looked at Sam and gave a grin.

Sam raised his eyebrows, and then looked at Frodo with pleading eyes.

Frodo laughed at all of them. "Fine. The Green Dragon it is."

The other three hobbits cheered.

End Chapter 1

a/n: This is my first story, so reviews are everything to me. ;) Facts may be a little off and language is definitely off, but considering the disclaimer, I think that would be understandable... If you liked it, let me know and I'll gladly continue. If you didn't like it, let me know and I'll see what I can do to make it better.