HMP: . . . . . . .a little excited are we?

Aelfgiru: No, unfortunately, my internet is being rather difficult. *sigh* I am trying my best, though. And if you wanna draw a pic for my story, go right ahead! Um. . .request, request, request. . .well, whatever your favourite scene is. . .that's fine by me!

Disclaimer: I don't own LotR. How much more blatent can you get?

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A shrill cry cut the night air. Pippin and Merry sat straight up in their beds. Iris was no where to be seen. The bar fight from before had ended quite abruptly, and the innkeeper had given them their rooms. The three of them headed there straight away after finishing their "chores". Pippin shared a bed with Merry, while Iris took one across the room. He felt very guilty about the event in the store room, but what could he do?

The guilt left him now, though, as he stared frantically into the darkness. Merry was out of the bed and going to a window, looking out.

"There's no one there. . ." he whispered hoarsely. "Whatever made that noise, it's gone now."

"How can you be so sure?" Pippin hissed, hurrying to his cousin's side. "It could be in the tavern." Merry gave him a grave look, but said nothing. Pippin's hands trembled slightly. "Merry. . .what do you suppose it was?"

"A cat, maybe?" Merry guessed, though Pippin could tell he didn't believe it was true.

"Cats don't make that sort of a sound. What if it was a person? Someone could be in trouble?" Pippin's eyes traveled to Iris' bed. "What if it was Iris?"

Merry sighed. "I. . .don't think it was. . .it didn't sound like her. . ."

Just then, Iris rushed through the door and snatched up her pack. She began to throw her things into it, not even giving notice to the two Hobbits. They peered at her curiously, and finally Merry spoke, "Iris, what's going on?"

"Pack your things," she said quickly, not looking up. "We've got to get out of here."

"Why? What's going on?" Merry asked again.

"No time to explain." She was now pulling the sheets off of her bed, looking for something. "Ugh! I can't find the key to the room! Merry, you come with me to look for it. Pippin, stay here. Don't move an inch." With that she turned and hurried out. Merry glanced at Pippin, then ran after her.

Pippin stood alone in the darkness, afraid to move. Iris had said not to, and there was an urgency in her voice that told him he had better obey. But it was much too dark. . . He decided that it wouldn't hurt to light a few candles. He wouldn't be moving far.

He moved to the candles cautiously, and picked up a match, lighting each candle slowly. It brightened the room a bit, which comforted him. He never was a very big fan of the dark. Pippin went to the bed and sat, awaiting Iris and Merry's return. After fifteen minutes, there was no sign of them. Nothing moved in the entire tavern, as far as Pippin could tell.

"Perhaps they just left me," Pippin wondered aloud. "Maybe Iris did tell Merry what happened, and that I said I had wanted to go home. Maybe they left me here, hoping I would catch on and go back to the Shire. Perhaps-"

But his thoughts were cut short as a large hand appeared over his mouth and nose. It was clammy and cold. . .but wait, no, that wasn't the hand. It was the cloth in the hand. Pippin took a sharp intake of breath at surprise of the sudden appearance of the hand, and tried to pry it off his face, but to no prevail. As he continued to breathe with the cloth over his face, his head became fuzzy and he felt a bit nauseous. Soon, everything went dark. . .

* * *

Merry hurried around the small room, searching for any signs of his cousin. He and Iris had returned to the room only to find the candles lit and Pippin gone. Merry, quite worried, had instantly set to work trying to find him somewhere in the room. But after his search, he realized that Pippin was not in that room. This probably meant that he wasn't in the tavern anymore either. But where could he have gone without Merry and Iris noticing?

"Merry, stop it, you're being foolish," Iris said. "Pippin is most likely down in the kitchen or something."

"But you told him not to move," Merry argued. "Pippin's not one to disobey people, least of all girls."

"What does being a girl have to do with anything?"

"He gets nervous around them. He does what they tell him to, within the limits of course, because he doesn't want to come across as some sort of jerk. You have to be careful with that, Iris."

"Wait, you're blaming *me*?!"

"You're the one who told him to stay here."

"So?"

"Well, someone must have come in here and kidnapped him or something. If you had let him come with us, then it wouldn't have happened."

Iris scowled. "How was I supposed to know he would get abducted?"

"I don't know. You seem to know more about everything than me and Pip do. Figures you might know what happened to him."

And then Merry made a fatal mistake. He turned his back to Iris, blowing out the candles. He felt a soft breath on his neck.

"You're right, Merry," Iris' soft voice breathed furtively. "I do know what happened."

A harsh blow struck the back of Merry's head, and he saw no more.

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A/N: Oh, my! What has Iris done now?! Review, review and I will tell you!!