"Merry."
"What?"
"Is that possible?"
"Is what possible, Pip?"
"For anyone to be that beautiful."
"What are you talking...oh."
Merry turned around and saw just what Pippin was talking about. She was as fair as an elf, but the height of a hobbit. The room was quite full, so there wasn't many open seats. She carried a drink in her hand and moved toward Merry and Pippin's table.
"Mind if I sit here?"
"No, go right ahead. Move over, Merry."
She squeezed in between Merry and Pippin, leaving Pippin looking like someone announced Christmas had come early.
"So, I'm Pippin. This is my cousin, Merry. What's your name?"
"Well, my friends call me Austin."
"Austin...it's beautiful."
"Thanks, Pippin."
The three sat in silence drinking their mugs (or in Pippin's case, his PINT), when the rest of the fellowship came in. Austin looked up and immediately ran toward one member in particular. Pippin felt his heart drop to his stomach.
"LEGOLAS!!!!!!!!!!" Austin shouted.
"Austin????? What on Earth are you doing here?" Legolas answered.
"I'm traveling. I needed some time away from Mirkwood. What about you?"
"I'm on an...important....mission."
"Ok, keep your secrets, then."
"Hey! Merry! Pippin! We were looking for you guys."
"Oh, well, here we are." Merry said.
"C'mon, you guys. We gotta get goin. Austin, you wanna come?" Legolas said.
"Sure, I'd love to." She replied, giving Pippin a quick smile.
**************************************************************************************
"So, where are we going?"
"She sounds like you, Pip." Merry said.
Over the course of their journey, Austin found out the whole story about their adventure, where they were going, and all the other details.
Also, something else unexpected happened over their journey. Austin began to notice that whenever Pippin looked her way, or walked next to her, she was happier somehow. One evening she was talking with Legolas, who knew of her "crush" on Pippin, when who of all people Pippin came up to join them.
"So, Austin, how do you know Legolas?"
"Oh, me and Legolas grew up together in Mirkwood. See, I'm kinda weird."
"Kinda?" Legolas whispered under his breath, earning a slap from Austin.
"See," Austin continued, " My grandmother was an elf, but my grandfather was a dwarf. My mom turned out elf-like, but I wasn't so lucky. I'm half elf, half dwarf just like her but she got the appearance of an elf. So did I but I got the height of a dwarf."
"Lucky you" Pippin said.
"Well, think about it. Now I get to be the same height as you adorable hobbits." Austin said, giving Pippin a reason to blush.
Legolas gave Austin one more look as if to say "You go girl" and went to bed, leaving Austin and Pippin alone. The two talked late into the night, resulting in Austin falling asleep on Pippin's shoulder and his head leaning against hers. The next morning, no one knew what they had talked about, but they were walking hand in hand. She didn't know when, but Austin had fallen in love with Pippin. They traveled for quite a few days before stopping in an inn. At the "bar" they had a kereokee so Austin decided to sing a song for the heck of it. She was thinking of what to sing when she looked at Pippin and knew exactly what she'd sing:
I get a feeling
I can't explain
Whenever your eyes meet mine
My heart spins in circles
And I lose all space and time
And now that we're standing face to face
Somethin' tells me
It's gonna be okay
And I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Ready to hold my heart open wide
I can't promise forever but baby I'll try
Yes, I'm ready to fall in love tonight
I know you've been watching
Choosin' your moment
I've been dreaming of that day
No one before you has gotten to me this way
And now that we're standing face to face
There's something that I need to say
And I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Ready to hold my heart open wide
I can't promise forever but baby I'll try
Yes, I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Nothing is certain, this I know
Wherever we're headed I'm ready to go
I can't promise forever but baby I'll try
Yes I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Yes I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Yes, I'm ready to fall in love tonight
When the song ended, Pippin just stared while everyone around him applauded. The rest of the night passed by quite uneventful. They stayed in the little town for a few more days, which one of the next nights something of "importance" happened. At least, important to Austin and Pippin. They went back to the same bar and everyone remembered Austin as the "singer girl" so they treated them with free drinks and played whatever songs they wanted. Pippin decided to be a sweetie and had them play slow romantic songs all night that they danced to. They left the following day, where they were ambushed by orcs. Merry and Pippin were kidnapped, mistaken for Frodo and Sam. Austin fought long and hard with Legolas to go and get them. Eventually, Legolas won.
"They'd only capture you and then kill all three of you." He tried to reason with her.
All she could do was sit down and cry. She could only think of the last thing he said to her. The first time he said it, and it would probably be the last time he ever spoke to her.
**************************************************************************************
It had been almost a year, and they had not heard nor seen anything of Merry and Pippin. Then, one day when they were tired from a day of searching, a masked rider came to deliver something to Austin. When she opened the envelope, two brittle pieces of paper fell out. One was dated almost 8 months ago and read:
They're takin' us to Isengard.
Don't know how long it'll take to get there
Don't bother lookin' for us - they're hidin' the trail
They know what to do
And Austin, I still love you.
The other was a little over 5 months ago and it read:
Good and bad news - we're lost
We aren't any closer to Isengard but we don't know where we are
Don't look for us - you'll only get lost
I'm worried about Merry - sometimes he turns blue
If this is Austin, I still love you.
All she could do once more was cry. Legolas read the notes and sat down in despair.
"What do we do now?"
Austin didn't answer, but instead pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled a note and handed it to the masked rider.
"Take this to them. You found them to get these to me. You can find them," she said. Then she whispered to Legolas, "We're gonna follow him."
They followed the masked rider in secret for over two weeks. Finally, it led them to Merry and Pippin. Austin almost screamed when she saw them. It was clear they'd been beaten. The looked like limp rag dolls. After all the orcs had gone to sleep, she crept over to Pippin, against Legolas's wishes. She gently shook him to wake him up. When he groaned, her sign that he was awake, she whispered:
"When you wrote to my heart, it's always been yours. I should have listened to it a little more. Then it wouldn't have taken me so long to find you. And by the way, boy, this is letter bein' read to you. Can't you tell? This is Austin. And I still love you."
He opened his eyes but didn't say a word.
"Austin. Oh, god, Merry wake me up."
"Pippin, I gotta get you outta here."
At her signal, Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn came to help in retrieving Merry and Pippin. Once they were a safe distance away, and Merry and Pippin were fully awake, Austin wrapped her arms around Pippin as if she would never let him go and cried into his shoulder. After Austin had calmed down and everyone was settled, they had a well deserved nap and after they were replenished (and after Merry and Pippin had recovered) they began the long, hard journey to Mordor to aid Frodo and Sam in destroying the ring.
"Aren't you afraid?" Pippin asked Austin as they began their journey.
"I would be if you weren't here. But not anymore. I'm never gonna lose you again, Pip. That's a promise. If you go, then I go with you.
"What?"
"Is that possible?"
"Is what possible, Pip?"
"For anyone to be that beautiful."
"What are you talking...oh."
Merry turned around and saw just what Pippin was talking about. She was as fair as an elf, but the height of a hobbit. The room was quite full, so there wasn't many open seats. She carried a drink in her hand and moved toward Merry and Pippin's table.
"Mind if I sit here?"
"No, go right ahead. Move over, Merry."
She squeezed in between Merry and Pippin, leaving Pippin looking like someone announced Christmas had come early.
"So, I'm Pippin. This is my cousin, Merry. What's your name?"
"Well, my friends call me Austin."
"Austin...it's beautiful."
"Thanks, Pippin."
The three sat in silence drinking their mugs (or in Pippin's case, his PINT), when the rest of the fellowship came in. Austin looked up and immediately ran toward one member in particular. Pippin felt his heart drop to his stomach.
"LEGOLAS!!!!!!!!!!" Austin shouted.
"Austin????? What on Earth are you doing here?" Legolas answered.
"I'm traveling. I needed some time away from Mirkwood. What about you?"
"I'm on an...important....mission."
"Ok, keep your secrets, then."
"Hey! Merry! Pippin! We were looking for you guys."
"Oh, well, here we are." Merry said.
"C'mon, you guys. We gotta get goin. Austin, you wanna come?" Legolas said.
"Sure, I'd love to." She replied, giving Pippin a quick smile.
**************************************************************************************
"So, where are we going?"
"She sounds like you, Pip." Merry said.
Over the course of their journey, Austin found out the whole story about their adventure, where they were going, and all the other details.
Also, something else unexpected happened over their journey. Austin began to notice that whenever Pippin looked her way, or walked next to her, she was happier somehow. One evening she was talking with Legolas, who knew of her "crush" on Pippin, when who of all people Pippin came up to join them.
"So, Austin, how do you know Legolas?"
"Oh, me and Legolas grew up together in Mirkwood. See, I'm kinda weird."
"Kinda?" Legolas whispered under his breath, earning a slap from Austin.
"See," Austin continued, " My grandmother was an elf, but my grandfather was a dwarf. My mom turned out elf-like, but I wasn't so lucky. I'm half elf, half dwarf just like her but she got the appearance of an elf. So did I but I got the height of a dwarf."
"Lucky you" Pippin said.
"Well, think about it. Now I get to be the same height as you adorable hobbits." Austin said, giving Pippin a reason to blush.
Legolas gave Austin one more look as if to say "You go girl" and went to bed, leaving Austin and Pippin alone. The two talked late into the night, resulting in Austin falling asleep on Pippin's shoulder and his head leaning against hers. The next morning, no one knew what they had talked about, but they were walking hand in hand. She didn't know when, but Austin had fallen in love with Pippin. They traveled for quite a few days before stopping in an inn. At the "bar" they had a kereokee so Austin decided to sing a song for the heck of it. She was thinking of what to sing when she looked at Pippin and knew exactly what she'd sing:
I get a feeling
I can't explain
Whenever your eyes meet mine
My heart spins in circles
And I lose all space and time
And now that we're standing face to face
Somethin' tells me
It's gonna be okay
And I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Ready to hold my heart open wide
I can't promise forever but baby I'll try
Yes, I'm ready to fall in love tonight
I know you've been watching
Choosin' your moment
I've been dreaming of that day
No one before you has gotten to me this way
And now that we're standing face to face
There's something that I need to say
And I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Ready to hold my heart open wide
I can't promise forever but baby I'll try
Yes, I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Nothing is certain, this I know
Wherever we're headed I'm ready to go
I can't promise forever but baby I'll try
Yes I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Yes I'm ready to fall in love tonight
Yes, I'm ready to fall in love tonight
When the song ended, Pippin just stared while everyone around him applauded. The rest of the night passed by quite uneventful. They stayed in the little town for a few more days, which one of the next nights something of "importance" happened. At least, important to Austin and Pippin. They went back to the same bar and everyone remembered Austin as the "singer girl" so they treated them with free drinks and played whatever songs they wanted. Pippin decided to be a sweetie and had them play slow romantic songs all night that they danced to. They left the following day, where they were ambushed by orcs. Merry and Pippin were kidnapped, mistaken for Frodo and Sam. Austin fought long and hard with Legolas to go and get them. Eventually, Legolas won.
"They'd only capture you and then kill all three of you." He tried to reason with her.
All she could do was sit down and cry. She could only think of the last thing he said to her. The first time he said it, and it would probably be the last time he ever spoke to her.
**************************************************************************************
It had been almost a year, and they had not heard nor seen anything of Merry and Pippin. Then, one day when they were tired from a day of searching, a masked rider came to deliver something to Austin. When she opened the envelope, two brittle pieces of paper fell out. One was dated almost 8 months ago and read:
They're takin' us to Isengard.
Don't know how long it'll take to get there
Don't bother lookin' for us - they're hidin' the trail
They know what to do
And Austin, I still love you.
The other was a little over 5 months ago and it read:
Good and bad news - we're lost
We aren't any closer to Isengard but we don't know where we are
Don't look for us - you'll only get lost
I'm worried about Merry - sometimes he turns blue
If this is Austin, I still love you.
All she could do once more was cry. Legolas read the notes and sat down in despair.
"What do we do now?"
Austin didn't answer, but instead pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled a note and handed it to the masked rider.
"Take this to them. You found them to get these to me. You can find them," she said. Then she whispered to Legolas, "We're gonna follow him."
They followed the masked rider in secret for over two weeks. Finally, it led them to Merry and Pippin. Austin almost screamed when she saw them. It was clear they'd been beaten. The looked like limp rag dolls. After all the orcs had gone to sleep, she crept over to Pippin, against Legolas's wishes. She gently shook him to wake him up. When he groaned, her sign that he was awake, she whispered:
"When you wrote to my heart, it's always been yours. I should have listened to it a little more. Then it wouldn't have taken me so long to find you. And by the way, boy, this is letter bein' read to you. Can't you tell? This is Austin. And I still love you."
He opened his eyes but didn't say a word.
"Austin. Oh, god, Merry wake me up."
"Pippin, I gotta get you outta here."
At her signal, Legolas, Gimli, and Aragorn came to help in retrieving Merry and Pippin. Once they were a safe distance away, and Merry and Pippin were fully awake, Austin wrapped her arms around Pippin as if she would never let him go and cried into his shoulder. After Austin had calmed down and everyone was settled, they had a well deserved nap and after they were replenished (and after Merry and Pippin had recovered) they began the long, hard journey to Mordor to aid Frodo and Sam in destroying the ring.
"Aren't you afraid?" Pippin asked Austin as they began their journey.
"I would be if you weren't here. But not anymore. I'm never gonna lose you again, Pip. That's a promise. If you go, then I go with you.