A/N: Sorry for the wait, guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own LotR. GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! (or that song)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pippin strolled slowly out of the small alcove and into the sunlight. The ground was still moist from an apparent rain, but the sun peeked through the intertwining branches of the trees. He took a deep breath, smiling. The smell of the forest reminded him of the Shire, especially the Old Forest. There were forests in the Shire, of course, such as the Bindlebole and the Woody End, but the Old Forest was his favorite. Perhaps it was because he and Merry had spent a lot of time there. . .oh well.

Suddenly, Pippin jumped and screamed as something crashed into him. It was a boy, about Iris' age, with rather long, shaggy brown hair and grayish eyes. He was carrying a stack of firewood, which he now dropped from Pippin's cry. He glared up at the Hobbit.

"Look what you made me do!" he snapped angrily, stooping to pick the wood up. Pippin eyed him curiously, recovering from his shock.

"Umm. . .pardon me, but. . .who are you?" he asked. The boy shot him another glance, then turned his eyes to Will, who was just leading the horse out of the shelter.

"Don't even have the courtesy to introduce me?" he inquired a bit coldly. Will shrugged.

"Thought it better if you introduced yourself," Will replied.

The boy stood again, awkwardly holding out his hand underneath the pile of wood. "My name is. . ." He shifted the lumber. ". . .Fidell."

Pippin grinned, stifling a laugh. "Fiddle?"

The boy frowned. "Fi - dell. You best tell me your name, Halfling, before you go criticizing mine."

"My name is Pippin Took," Pippin greeted. "And I wasn't criticizing it, I was just a bit amused by it."

Fidell looked to Will. "He's not one to hold his tongue, is he?"

Will shrugged again, too busy saddling his horse to care about the unpleasant feelings between one Hobbit and one boy.

* * *

After they had started off, Pippin decided it was best not to walk next to Fidell. He didn't seem to like Hobbits very much, but maybe if he kept his distance for awhile, that would change. Byrn hadn't liked him much at first, either, but. . .well, now, come to think of it, Pippin couldn't really tell if Byrn had taken a liking to him or not, for the human had disappeared before he could really tell.

Not feeling too comfortable around Will yet, either, Pippin settled for walking behind the two by himself. It was lonely, he had to admit, but it didn't really seem very different from when he was with Merry and Iris. He had walked alone then, too. Only difference was Will and Fidell weren't constantly talking to each other. In fact, it was rather quiet walking with these two humans.

'I wonder if they enjoy not talking,' Pippin thought. 'I don't know about them, but I'm not sure if I could stand life without talking. Not that I'm a really talkative Hobbit, but I like to have someone to talk to. . .'

* * *

Merry sat in the back of the cart, Iris snuggled up against him, sleeping. He was beginning to doze off himself. It was quiet, as Byrn was never really one to talk much. For some reason, this made Merry feel a bit uncomfortable. He didn't really like the quiet. He liked to talk to people. . .like Pippin. His heart sank to think about his cousin, alone somewhere, even if it had been of his own free will. But the worst part was if Pippin had left to go home, Merry knew it was because of him. He hadn't spent very much time with Pippin, and Elbereth knew that the young Took was very homesick. Merry cursed himself for not perhaps comforting his cousin at all. Perhaps it would have made Pippin stay.

Yet, another thought came to him. Pippin had kissed Iris - twice - without saying anything to Merry. This angered the elder Hobbit. He couldn't believe Pippin would have done something like that, especially when he knew how much Merry cared about Iris. Why would Pippin have gone behind his back like that? Was it out of anger? Or was Pippin genuinely in love with Iris? Maybe still, it was just that Pippin was jealous? Merry didn't know, but he swore to himself that he'd find out.

The cart slowed to a stop, and Merry sat up slowly, so as not to disturb Iris. He looked around, then to Byrn. "What is it?"

Byrn said nothing, simply jumped down from the cart and drew a small dagger from his belt. He went slowly to a bush and kicked.

"Ow!" a voice cried. Merry's brow furrowed as a man stood from within the bush, raising his arms in surrender. "Don't get to hasty there, Byrn, I meant no harm."

Byrn's face brightened a bit. "Will? Is that you?"

"'Course it's me, you fool!" the other man cried happily, laughing. He shook Byrn's now outstretched hand. "It's nice to see you again! And you remember Fidell?" No one appeared. Will cleared his throat. "I said, you remember Fidell?!" Another man, a younger one, appeared at Will's side. He held out his hand.

"Byrn," he said shortly, shaking the man's hand. His eyes drifted to the cart as the two elder men began talking. Merry's gaze caught his and they sat like that for a moment, stares locked intently on one another. It wasn't a friendly glance, either. Merry shifted slightly, then glanced down at Iris. Fidell followed Merry's gaze to the girl's face. His eyes softened a bit.

"Well, Byrn, it was good to see ya," Merry heard Will say. "Fidell and me gotta get going on back to Bree now. Maybe next time you're about we can get a drink and catch up?"

"Sure, sure," Byrn agreed, climbing back into the cart. "Good-bye Will. Fidell." And then with a slight nod of his head, Byrn ordered the horse to continue on, and the cart rolled away.

* * *

"What are you doing?" Pippin cried, watching the cart drive off. "That was Merry! We could have saved Merry!"

"All in good time, little Hobbit," Will said, calming him a bit. "We have one more place to stop first, and then it's back to the Shire with you."

Pippin shook his head. "No! I can't go home yet! Not without Merry! I can't leave him with them!"

Fidell forced Pippin to sit down. "Now listen here! We'll get your friend back, but you'll just have to trust us until we do! So just keep quiet, all right?!"

Pippin shut his mouth, but fidgeted nervously. He itched to run after the cart and get Merry away from those thieves, however, he knew he couldn't do that by himself, so he'd just have to wait. He sighed. 'Waiting is not my favorite thing. . .'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I hope you enjoyed, and sorry for making everyone wait! Also, I have a new story up. It's called "May It Be". Check it out, if you will. Now please review! Danche.