I don't eve have to say how sorry I am..I think you all know that I am very
very very ashamed for not updating sooner. I still hope that you will read
and review, because that's the one thing that makes a writer happy. To
receive reviews. So here's my moment of graditude:
Gotta Luv Pippin: O dear, I hope I haven't made you go crazy by not updating sooner. *straps her out of straight jacket*. But look look look: a new chapter. Yeeh!
Lora: I did it again! I didn't update soon. But thanks for making me feel not stupid about it. It's good to know that I'm not the only one with an update problem ;)
Natta: LOL, LA does sound wonderful because Dom lives there. That's why I wanna go to Scotland. Billy's there :D O, and update your story too!
PTB: I know, Brandy Hall is crazy and it gets a bit crazier in this chapter. Don't worry, I'll never leave this story unfinished. It'll go on and on until I find a good ending. Though it might take a while...
GreyLadyBeast: Even more Pippin uneasiness in this chapter. And even MORE to come. dundundun
Lady Hummingbird: Ok, I'm going to give a little hint. Pippin's dreams are a bit foresight. But why? And when? You will just have to wait. Thanks for making me feel good about my English. *glows with pride again* I'm sure you would do fine if you took on French or German. They're both wonderful languages and who knows how good you'll be?!
CassieMR: LOL, your little pointer gave me a better grade :D I ahd to write an English exam a few weeks ago and when I wrote it I thought: Oh, right. I should use of and off in that way. So thank you! And I looked up when PTB started her story and when I did. I was first but that doesn't really matter because both stories will go in a different direction. So we both wrote totally different stories.
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. I hope you still will when you finish this chapter. Please enjoy!
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Pippin looked around the over-crowded room in Brandy Hall. The noise was almost deafening because everyone was trying to make themselves heard. Pippin looked over at Merry who was walking towards his father. Probably telling him that Pippin had arrived. Pip didn't know what to do now so he just followed Merry trough the room. Suddenly he was grabbed by his shoulders and turned around.
"Well I'll be!" the hobbit said. "It's young master Peregrin. I had no idea you were coming over for a visit!" Some hobbits that were sitting close by ended their conversations and turned to look at Pippin.
"Have you come to grace us with your presence then, master Pippin?" one yelled.
"We haven't seen you for a long time, Peregrin. It was about time you'd show up again!"
"Good thing we stocked up on food éh!"
Pippin suddenly felt very self-conscious as everyone was talking to him, some even walking over to pat him on the back or shake his hand. One very fat hobbit even gave him a hug. He just wanted to turn away and have a quiet talk with Merry and leave the crowded room. He just stood there, nodding and smiling; trying to laugh at jokes that were said.
"Pippin!" he suddenly heard behind him. He turned around to see Saradoc Brandybuck walk over to him. He was grabbed in a huge embrace by the Master of Buckland and nearly choked by a lack of air. He looked at Merry over Saradoc's huge shoulder. Merry was grinning and Pippin couldn't help but grin back. When Saradoc finally let go of Pippin, the young Took coughed a bit and quickly straightened his clothes.
"Young Pippin, it is wonderful to see you again. How was your journey?"
Saradoc lead Pippin to a big armchair which was clearly for the Master of Buckland. Pippin's father had a chair of the same sort. It was meant only for the Thain to sit on and everyone else had a smaller chair. This was to point out that the Thain was more important then the others in the household, which made sense to Pippin. The chair that Saradoc was leading them to was the same. But when Pippin came closer he saw that there were several smaller hobbit children sitting in it. They were trying to push eachother off. Pippin couldn't believe that they were allowed to do that. If not because of the importance of the chair but also because it was another game that they could get themselves hurt at. Pippin thought back to the running children and figured that the Brandybucks probably didn't mind for their children to play dangerous games. But surely they would get told to get of the chair to make way for the Master of Buckland.
But Saradoc took no heed of the children playing in the chair and instead sat down on a smaller chair close to the fire. He nodded to Pippin and Merry to sit down on two chairs close by. Pippin eyed the big chair with the children but quickly looked back to Saradoc. Probably another Brandybuck thing.
"So, Pippin, what news do you have from Tookland? How is your mother?" They spend some time talking about the life at the Great Smials and how everyone was faring. Every once in a while a relative would stop by them and greet Pippin. After about half an hour, Esmeralda Brandybuck joined them. Pippin stood up from his chair as he was taught to do when a woman entered the conversation. He heard a soft giggle from Merry next to him. Pippin ignored it and stuck out his hand to greet his aunt. But she wouldn't have it. She grabbed him in a huge bearhug and kissed him on both cheeks. It took Pip a while to find his feet again as she let him go.
"Hey now!" Saradoc said smiling "that's my wife."
"Oh, I..... I didn't..." Pippin stuttered, not sure if Saradoc was being serious or not. But Esmeralda slapped her husband playfully. Merry just smiled and took another sip from his drink.
"So, how is my sweet little cousin?" she asked and sat down on the armrest of Saradoc's chair. Saradoc wrapped an arm around his wife protectively.
"Oh, ehm... very well, aunt Esmeralda" Pippin said. He sat down a bit shakily.
"And how is that silly brother of mine? Still walking around owning the Shire?" Esmeralda asked smiling.
"Ehm, I don't think he... I mean--" Pippin started but was caught of by Esmeralda.
"I was only kidding Pippin," she said sweetly, "but how is the old rascal." This still didn't please Pippin completely. Calling the Thain an old rascal didn't really suit a man of such importance, but he decided to let it go. After all, he was in Brandy Hall. Things obviously weren't the same here as in other parts of the Shire.
"He's doing fine, he has a lot of important things to attend to. That's why he couldn't find the time to visit as well." Pippin said.
"Of course he does," Saradoc said, "he has your sisters party to take care of doesn't he? Well, he'd better, cause we're coming and when Brandybucks go all the way across the Shire to attend a party, we expect a good one!"
"Hear, hear!" Merry laughed and took another sip of his drink.
"I'm sure it will be wonderful." Pippin said to reassure them. The rest of the conversation was a long one and Pippin felt himself getting more and more drowsy. Finally Merry noticed Pippin's tiredness and stood up resolutely.
"I think it's time for us to end the conversation here, dad. Pip is nearly falling out of his chair." Pippin immediately sat up straight again.
"Am not." Merry just laughed.
"Sure you are, Pip. In that case, Í'm tired. I think it's time for us to look up our rooms. Goodnight dad." Merry said and kissed his dad on the cheek. "Mum." His mother also deserved a peck on the cheek. Pippin looked at Merry kissing his dad. That was new.
"Are you coming Pip?" Merry said as he started walking away. Pippin quickly stood up and gave a tiny nod to Merry's parents.
"Goodnight."
"Sleep tight, Pip." They said and Pippin quickly followed Merry out of the room. Most of the younger hobbits were already tucked in so everything was getting a bit quieter around the house. Merry walked back to the front door and Pippin was surprised to find his stuff still lying where he'd dropped them. Obviously nobody had brought it up to his room. Merry picked up the bag and started to walk towards Pippin's room.
"Shouldn't ehm...." Pippin wanted to ask why the future heir of Buckland was carrying his bag, but thought the better of it.
"What, Pip?" Merry asked as he entered one of the rooms.
"No, nothing." Pip said and looked around the room. It was nice one, very much similar to his own back in the Great Smials. Suddenly he felt a sting in his stomach. Everything was so much easier back home. So much more normal. Understandable. Predictable.
"What's wrong Pip?" Merry asked.
"What? Nothing." Pippin said and sat down on the bed. Merry sat down next to him.
"You've been acting a bit odd today, Pip." Merry said as he let himself fall back on the bed.
"What do you mean?"
"Ow, come on. Standing up for my mother. All those big words and fluent sentences. Not really the Pippin I remember."
"It's called polite, Merry." Pippin said.
"Polite?" Merry asked and sat up straight again. "Polite? That's rich! You haven't been polite for an entire day in your whole life, Pip!"
"Well, it's just-" Pippin started.
Merry giggled and let himself fall back on the bed again. "Polite."
"It's just the way I should behave Merry. Father says that it's good to start practising your manners when you're still young."
"Does he now?" Merry asked.
"Yes, he says it's necessary for. ehm. diplo. it's."
"Diplomatic?" Merry guessed.
Pippin didn't like this conversation. Here he was being told of for being polite, even though that was obviously a good thing. "Yes, diplomatic." He said and stared at the wall in front of him. "Father says I will need to be diplomatic if I want to become Thain some day." They were silent for a while.
"Well," Merry said eventually. "It's nice that you have those good manners. But let me ask you this."
"What?" Pippin looked at Merry again.
"Are you Thain yet?"
"No."
"Do you have to be Thain tomorrow?" Merry sat up again.
"No."
"Then you can still be Pippin right?" Pippin didn't answer. "You can be Peregrin when you're older, Pip. You're still young. You shouldn't have to worry about all that."
Pippin didn't answer for a while. He just sat and stared at Merry. "I guess." He said eventually.
"Excellent. Then tonight we will be Pippin and Merry. Peregrin and Meriadoc will just have to wait for a few more years."
"What?" Pippin said. "What's tonight?"
"You'll see. Just be sure that you're awake around midnight." Merry said and walked out the door.
Pippin didn't know what to think of all this. He had the feeling that Merry was up to something and somehow that felt good. It felt like when he was a child and the knot in his stomach was now replaced by a nice feeling of excitement.
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Once again, please leave a little review. And I PROMISE that I will write more soon! Please, just bare with me.
:hugs all:
Gotta Luv Pippin: O dear, I hope I haven't made you go crazy by not updating sooner. *straps her out of straight jacket*. But look look look: a new chapter. Yeeh!
Lora: I did it again! I didn't update soon. But thanks for making me feel not stupid about it. It's good to know that I'm not the only one with an update problem ;)
Natta: LOL, LA does sound wonderful because Dom lives there. That's why I wanna go to Scotland. Billy's there :D O, and update your story too!
PTB: I know, Brandy Hall is crazy and it gets a bit crazier in this chapter. Don't worry, I'll never leave this story unfinished. It'll go on and on until I find a good ending. Though it might take a while...
GreyLadyBeast: Even more Pippin uneasiness in this chapter. And even MORE to come. dundundun
Lady Hummingbird: Ok, I'm going to give a little hint. Pippin's dreams are a bit foresight. But why? And when? You will just have to wait. Thanks for making me feel good about my English. *glows with pride again* I'm sure you would do fine if you took on French or German. They're both wonderful languages and who knows how good you'll be?!
CassieMR: LOL, your little pointer gave me a better grade :D I ahd to write an English exam a few weeks ago and when I wrote it I thought: Oh, right. I should use of and off in that way. So thank you! And I looked up when PTB started her story and when I did. I was first but that doesn't really matter because both stories will go in a different direction. So we both wrote totally different stories.
Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. I hope you still will when you finish this chapter. Please enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pippin looked around the over-crowded room in Brandy Hall. The noise was almost deafening because everyone was trying to make themselves heard. Pippin looked over at Merry who was walking towards his father. Probably telling him that Pippin had arrived. Pip didn't know what to do now so he just followed Merry trough the room. Suddenly he was grabbed by his shoulders and turned around.
"Well I'll be!" the hobbit said. "It's young master Peregrin. I had no idea you were coming over for a visit!" Some hobbits that were sitting close by ended their conversations and turned to look at Pippin.
"Have you come to grace us with your presence then, master Pippin?" one yelled.
"We haven't seen you for a long time, Peregrin. It was about time you'd show up again!"
"Good thing we stocked up on food éh!"
Pippin suddenly felt very self-conscious as everyone was talking to him, some even walking over to pat him on the back or shake his hand. One very fat hobbit even gave him a hug. He just wanted to turn away and have a quiet talk with Merry and leave the crowded room. He just stood there, nodding and smiling; trying to laugh at jokes that were said.
"Pippin!" he suddenly heard behind him. He turned around to see Saradoc Brandybuck walk over to him. He was grabbed in a huge embrace by the Master of Buckland and nearly choked by a lack of air. He looked at Merry over Saradoc's huge shoulder. Merry was grinning and Pippin couldn't help but grin back. When Saradoc finally let go of Pippin, the young Took coughed a bit and quickly straightened his clothes.
"Young Pippin, it is wonderful to see you again. How was your journey?"
Saradoc lead Pippin to a big armchair which was clearly for the Master of Buckland. Pippin's father had a chair of the same sort. It was meant only for the Thain to sit on and everyone else had a smaller chair. This was to point out that the Thain was more important then the others in the household, which made sense to Pippin. The chair that Saradoc was leading them to was the same. But when Pippin came closer he saw that there were several smaller hobbit children sitting in it. They were trying to push eachother off. Pippin couldn't believe that they were allowed to do that. If not because of the importance of the chair but also because it was another game that they could get themselves hurt at. Pippin thought back to the running children and figured that the Brandybucks probably didn't mind for their children to play dangerous games. But surely they would get told to get of the chair to make way for the Master of Buckland.
But Saradoc took no heed of the children playing in the chair and instead sat down on a smaller chair close to the fire. He nodded to Pippin and Merry to sit down on two chairs close by. Pippin eyed the big chair with the children but quickly looked back to Saradoc. Probably another Brandybuck thing.
"So, Pippin, what news do you have from Tookland? How is your mother?" They spend some time talking about the life at the Great Smials and how everyone was faring. Every once in a while a relative would stop by them and greet Pippin. After about half an hour, Esmeralda Brandybuck joined them. Pippin stood up from his chair as he was taught to do when a woman entered the conversation. He heard a soft giggle from Merry next to him. Pippin ignored it and stuck out his hand to greet his aunt. But she wouldn't have it. She grabbed him in a huge bearhug and kissed him on both cheeks. It took Pip a while to find his feet again as she let him go.
"Hey now!" Saradoc said smiling "that's my wife."
"Oh, I..... I didn't..." Pippin stuttered, not sure if Saradoc was being serious or not. But Esmeralda slapped her husband playfully. Merry just smiled and took another sip from his drink.
"So, how is my sweet little cousin?" she asked and sat down on the armrest of Saradoc's chair. Saradoc wrapped an arm around his wife protectively.
"Oh, ehm... very well, aunt Esmeralda" Pippin said. He sat down a bit shakily.
"And how is that silly brother of mine? Still walking around owning the Shire?" Esmeralda asked smiling.
"Ehm, I don't think he... I mean--" Pippin started but was caught of by Esmeralda.
"I was only kidding Pippin," she said sweetly, "but how is the old rascal." This still didn't please Pippin completely. Calling the Thain an old rascal didn't really suit a man of such importance, but he decided to let it go. After all, he was in Brandy Hall. Things obviously weren't the same here as in other parts of the Shire.
"He's doing fine, he has a lot of important things to attend to. That's why he couldn't find the time to visit as well." Pippin said.
"Of course he does," Saradoc said, "he has your sisters party to take care of doesn't he? Well, he'd better, cause we're coming and when Brandybucks go all the way across the Shire to attend a party, we expect a good one!"
"Hear, hear!" Merry laughed and took another sip of his drink.
"I'm sure it will be wonderful." Pippin said to reassure them. The rest of the conversation was a long one and Pippin felt himself getting more and more drowsy. Finally Merry noticed Pippin's tiredness and stood up resolutely.
"I think it's time for us to end the conversation here, dad. Pip is nearly falling out of his chair." Pippin immediately sat up straight again.
"Am not." Merry just laughed.
"Sure you are, Pip. In that case, Í'm tired. I think it's time for us to look up our rooms. Goodnight dad." Merry said and kissed his dad on the cheek. "Mum." His mother also deserved a peck on the cheek. Pippin looked at Merry kissing his dad. That was new.
"Are you coming Pip?" Merry said as he started walking away. Pippin quickly stood up and gave a tiny nod to Merry's parents.
"Goodnight."
"Sleep tight, Pip." They said and Pippin quickly followed Merry out of the room. Most of the younger hobbits were already tucked in so everything was getting a bit quieter around the house. Merry walked back to the front door and Pippin was surprised to find his stuff still lying where he'd dropped them. Obviously nobody had brought it up to his room. Merry picked up the bag and started to walk towards Pippin's room.
"Shouldn't ehm...." Pippin wanted to ask why the future heir of Buckland was carrying his bag, but thought the better of it.
"What, Pip?" Merry asked as he entered one of the rooms.
"No, nothing." Pip said and looked around the room. It was nice one, very much similar to his own back in the Great Smials. Suddenly he felt a sting in his stomach. Everything was so much easier back home. So much more normal. Understandable. Predictable.
"What's wrong Pip?" Merry asked.
"What? Nothing." Pippin said and sat down on the bed. Merry sat down next to him.
"You've been acting a bit odd today, Pip." Merry said as he let himself fall back on the bed.
"What do you mean?"
"Ow, come on. Standing up for my mother. All those big words and fluent sentences. Not really the Pippin I remember."
"It's called polite, Merry." Pippin said.
"Polite?" Merry asked and sat up straight again. "Polite? That's rich! You haven't been polite for an entire day in your whole life, Pip!"
"Well, it's just-" Pippin started.
Merry giggled and let himself fall back on the bed again. "Polite."
"It's just the way I should behave Merry. Father says that it's good to start practising your manners when you're still young."
"Does he now?" Merry asked.
"Yes, he says it's necessary for. ehm. diplo. it's."
"Diplomatic?" Merry guessed.
Pippin didn't like this conversation. Here he was being told of for being polite, even though that was obviously a good thing. "Yes, diplomatic." He said and stared at the wall in front of him. "Father says I will need to be diplomatic if I want to become Thain some day." They were silent for a while.
"Well," Merry said eventually. "It's nice that you have those good manners. But let me ask you this."
"What?" Pippin looked at Merry again.
"Are you Thain yet?"
"No."
"Do you have to be Thain tomorrow?" Merry sat up again.
"No."
"Then you can still be Pippin right?" Pippin didn't answer. "You can be Peregrin when you're older, Pip. You're still young. You shouldn't have to worry about all that."
Pippin didn't answer for a while. He just sat and stared at Merry. "I guess." He said eventually.
"Excellent. Then tonight we will be Pippin and Merry. Peregrin and Meriadoc will just have to wait for a few more years."
"What?" Pippin said. "What's tonight?"
"You'll see. Just be sure that you're awake around midnight." Merry said and walked out the door.
Pippin didn't know what to think of all this. He had the feeling that Merry was up to something and somehow that felt good. It felt like when he was a child and the knot in his stomach was now replaced by a nice feeling of excitement.
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Once again, please leave a little review. And I PROMISE that I will write more soon! Please, just bare with me.
:hugs all: