Pippin awoke the next morning with a piercing headache, but he did not mind. He had won the competition, though there was no doubt in his mind that he would win when he accepted the challenge. He looked down at the scarf that hung loosely around his neck. It was nothing too special, and to any onlooker it would seem just an ordinary scarf, but to Pippin the scarf held a special meaning that none could understand.
"I shall never take it off," he said to himself.
"Then I suspect it shall become quite dirty," said Diamond, as she walked into the room with a tray of food.
"Breakfast!" cried Pippin, delightedly. "I was just wondering if I had missed breakfast."
"Why of course you missed breakfast, Pippin. It is well after midday," she laughed. "Luckily for you I managed to save some food."
"I had no idea it was so late. Where is Merry?" asked Pippin.
"He left several hours ago, said he had someone to visit before we left for Bag End."
"Oh yes, I had forgotten that we were going to visit Frodo today. Merry must be off visiting Sam Gamgee. He has been visiting Sam quite often lately," replied Pippin.
"Merry said for us to meet him at Bag End when you awoke. He said you knew the way," said Diamond.
"Yes, I know the way. It is not a far walk from here, just on the other side of Hobbiton. Let us hope that we may pass through the city without meeting Horro Boffin once more. That would not be a pleasant encounter," said Pippin.
"I agree completely, but I fear that we shall run into him one way or another if we go through the city. Perhaps we could go around," she suggested.
"That would take a good deal more time."
"I would rather not take the road through Hobbiton. I have had enough of Mr. Boffin of late. Do you not agree?" said Diamond.
"I do agree. We shall go around then. I do not suppose we shall be sorely missed by Merry, for he seems to be keeping himself busy," said Pippin.
Diamond went back to her room to pack her things, while Pippin finished his meal. Before they left, Pippin made sure the scarf was securely tied around his neck. They set out walking along the path that led into Hobbiton, but just before it entered the town they left the path for the quiet solitude of the woods. Hobbiton was a rather large town, as far as Hobbit villages went, and so it would take a considerable amount of time to go around it.
As they walked along under the calm shade of the trees, the two began to let their competing personalities take hold. "I wager I could climb that tree before you could," said Pippin, pointing to a large tree with branches close to the ground.
"No you could not! I am much better at climbing than you are," she replied cockily.
"We shall see," said Pippin, already starting his way up the tree.
"That is not fair you have a head start!" cried Diamond, starting to climb as well. Pippin just laughed and kept climbing steadily upwards. In a short time, Diamond had caught up with him, and the two climbed side by side up into the tallest branches. Just as Diamond was reaching the very top she heard a loud crack, and the branch on which they both stood gave way and fell, taking the two startled hobbits with it. They fell a good ways out of the tree, but the ground around tree was covered with soft grass so neither was hurt.
They landed side by side on the cool grass laughing merrily. "I won," claimed Diamond.
"You did not, we both fell from the same branch!" Pippin cried.
"Yes, but I would have won if we had not fallen," laughed Diamond.
"I am a faster climber, and a faster runner!" she claimed, grabbing his scarf from around his neck and darting off into the forest. He got up quickly and ran after her, but she had a good head start.
Pippin chased her through the woods, and soon he began to realize that they were straying farther and farther from the direction they needed to be traveling in. The reason for this was Diamond's lack of knowledge about the area around Hobbiton as she had only been there on occasion and never outside the town itself.
Diamond ran onwards, determined to outrun Pippin, and prove that she was faster. She could hear his shouts from behind, begging her to stop or they would soon be lost. Diamond disregarded the cries as his attempts to trick her into stopping. She ran faster, attempting to lose him once more. After some time it seemed like Diamond had succeeded in leaving Pippin far behind. She slowed her pace to a walk, but continued steadily onwards nonetheless.
Meanwhile Pippin was trying desperately to find Diamond. He had lost sight of her some time ago, and could no longer hear her faint footfalls. He began to fear for her because she did not know her way. It had started to grow dark, and soon the sun had completely sunken below the treetops. The forest grew eerily still, and the noises of the night began to appear.
Diamond had realized now that she was completely lost, and had no hope of finding her way back in the dead darkness. It had grown cold with the sun's departure, and Diamond soon wrapped the scarf about her own neck holding it closely. Soon her thoughts began to drift to her own story, and those she had been told. She imagined that a great wolf was hiding in the bushes, waiting for her to turn her back.
The wind blew fiercely through the seemingly empty woods of the Shire, and the trees seemed to close in around the place where Diamond sat. She had grown deathly afraid, and had decided to stop for the night. The woods would be less frightening in the morning. Diamond groped around nervously for some sticks to make a fire with. She wondered what had become of Pippin, and came to the conclusion that he must have left to find Merry. "They must be wondering what became of me," she thought.
In a short time Diamond had a fire going, and she sat close to it warming her hands. She began to nod off, as the fire slowly burned away into embers.
Diamond looked up, as the sounds of crunching leaves slowly grew louder. She began to grow terribly frightened, and she slunk back into the shadows, breathing hard. Diamond sat hidden in the shadows, watching as someone rushed into her makeshift campsite. The Hobbit began to look around, and then began to kick the ground and act quite angry. She gasped, and began to sneak away, grabbing a branch that lay on the ground.
Diamond decided that she would take the branch and hit whoever had come upon her campsite, and then run away before they had a chance to follow her. She crept up behind the person, and swinging with all her might, Diamond brought the branch down sharp and hard aimed at the Hobbit's head.
The Hobbit had obviously heard her coming, and turned just in time to block the blow with his arm. He cried out, and Diamond suddenly realized who it was.
"Pippin!" she cried happily, rushing towards him. "I thought you had given up looking for me long ago, and gone to meet Merry and your friend. When I heard you approach I hid, for I did not know whom or what made the noise. I was so frightened." She stopped short, and almost collapsed into his arms, overcome with happiness that she had been found at last, and that he was not hurt.
"It is alright now. It is a good thing you made the fire, for that is how I found you," he said, "and I would not have given up searching."
She looked strangely up at this comment, and then pulled away from the embrace. When she let go of his arm he winced visibly. "Oh, are you alright. I suppose I was swinging quite hard," she said.
"Yes, and right on the arm that was hurt by Farmer Maggot's dog," he said, crying out once more in pain as he tried to move it.
She untied the scarf from her neck and looked at it. "This is the cause for all of this," she said amusedly, wrapping it around his wounded arm in a sling. Then Diamond went over to where the fire slowly died away, and sat down deep in thought.
"Something wrong?" asked Pippin. "No," said Diamond, coming back from her thoughts. "I just thought of an idea for my book."
"You are writing a book?" he asked amazed.
"Yes, it is not very good. Everyone who has read it condemned it, for it is full of adventure," she replied sadly.
"Can I see it?" asked Pippin.
Diamond nodded, and began to rummage through her pack for the tattered book she wrote in. Upon finding it, she handed it to Pippin who came and sat by the fire so he could see to read.
She waited patiently for him to finish, and it did not take him long, for she had not written much. He closed the book, and handed it back without a word. Diamond looked at him curiously, as he did not respond for some time. Then suddenly a smile came across his face, and he turned to face her. "It is wonderful. Whoever did not like it before was clearly mistaken."
"Thank you," she said. She looked at him suspiciously, as the smile did not fade from his face.
"We should get some sleep, for there is no use trying to reach to Bag End tonight," he said at last.
"Yes I agree. The fire is almost out, anyway."
"Merry must be wondering what happened to us," said Pippin.
"Yes, well I am sure I shall never hear the end of how I got lost in the forest on the way to Bag End," she replied, moving her things close to the fire.
Diamond lay down next to the fire, and drew her cloak tightly around her. Pippin lay on his back a few feet away, still smiling. He had realized what the chapter in the book reminded him of, and he was most pleased. He fell asleep with the last line of the chapter running through his head.
Fate had brought them together once more, as it always seemed to do, and on this day she wondered for the first time if it were a mere coincidence or not.