Being lost never was fun. Especially not when it came to being lost in a big, dark, cold, abandoned mine. Eventually the fellowship decided to settle down while Gandalf sorted out the way to go.

On the cold hard floor of Moria, Pippin squirmed to get comfortable. "You might not believe it, but I do know a thing or two about fighting, don't I Merry? Remember that time we scared off the ghost?"

Merry frowned. "What ghost?"

"At Uncle Bilbo's. Frodo was there. Remember, Frodo?"

Frodo tilted his head in slight shake. "I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

"We were at some party and it was boring so the three of us snuck off to the storage room," Pippin explained. "And Merry started telling ghost stories and one showed up right there and scared us all to death."

Merry straightened up. "I remember that now, Pip, though that's not quite what happened."

Frodo smiled. "No, it wasn't." He pulled his cloak around him. "Merry and I wanted to get away from the Sackville-Bagginses, who were convinced Bilbo had hidden away some secret treasures, and were trying to get me to reveal its location. We managed to sneak away quietly enough, though we caught Pippin's attention, and he followed us to the storage room. Pippin was young at the time—young enough to copy Merry's every movement, though too young to be much use for any of his schemes—and he was starting to get on my poor cousin's nerves."

A small smile spread across Boromir's face as he raised an eyebrow. "Can't imagine that."

Aragorn and Legolas gave each other a knowing look while Sam bit back his laughter. Merry grinned at Pippin, his eyes full of amusement.

"So when he followed us into hiding, Merry decided to try and scare him off," Frodo continued, ignoring the interruption. "He made up some story about an old dog that lived in the hillside before Bag End had been built, who guarded the land even in death. Sometimes—Merry said—in the quiet of the night, the dog could still be heard wandering his territory."

Frodo paused, allowing the silence of Moria to add a dramatic flair to his story. Pippin gave a small shiver in the darkness that went unnoticed by all but Merry.

"At just that moment," Merry said, leaning forward and lowering his voice, "there came a loud crunching sound. I thought it was Frodo, aiding me to get rid of Pippin."

Frodo leaned back, his eyes shining in the dim light. "And I thought it was Merry, embellishing his story."

Merry smiled. "Less than five seconds of hearing it, Pippin jumped so high, I thought he'd hit the ceiling, and took off running just as fast as he could."

"I wasn't scared," Pippin insisted, "You're exaggerating. I just heard it was time for cake and I wanted to get there before everyone ate it all!"

"Is that what you tell yourself, Pip?"

Sam turned to Frodo. "But if it wasn't you and it wasn't Merry, what was making that awful racket?"

Frodo and Merry's eyes met and they shared a knowing smile. "That's exactly what I wondered," Frodo said. "Merry and I fell silent and waited. We heard the noise again. Sort of a crunching, it was, and it was coming from inside an old Wardrobe. Grab that candlestick—I told Merry—and we'll sneak up on it. So as carefully and quietly as possible, Merry grabbed the candlestick and I grabbed the Wardrobe doorknob, and on the count of three we pried it open and you won't believe what we saw."

"It was Bilbo!" Merry cut in. "With a plate full of scones!"

"He must have wanted to get away from the Saxville-Bagginses just as much as we had," Frodo said. "For he was hiding from them as well. 'Come in, be quiet, and shut the door behind you,' he said. He'd even brought pillows for us to sit on and enough food to keep us full for hours."

"Bilbo?" Said Gimli. "Who has faced trolls and dragons and fought in the Great Battle of the Five Armies was hiding in a wardrobe from a couple of Hobbits?"

Gimli and Aragorn laughed and Frodo could have sword he heard Gandalf chuckle.

"Hobbits," Legolas said with a slight shake of his head. "I'll never understand them."