Natta: I demand you return the pink oliphaunt at once! And thank you for checking out me other story. It has 2 reviews thus far. . .from the same person! Woohoo!

HMP: Yes, Pippin got a kick outta Fidell's name, too. And, no, it's not taken from the name of the restaurant Billy and Dom went to in the Two Towers special that aired in December. . .I swear. . .*looks around nervously*

Stringzinger: Thank you very much. I was wondering where you came from. . . (referring to seeing that she was added to your Fav. Authors list)

Disclaimer: I don't own LotR, no song this time. :D

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Pippin awoke that night to see Fidell leaning over him, dabbing a cloth to his head lightly. A stinging feeling passed through his forehead. He sat up quickly, pushing the boy's hand away. "Ah! What are you doing?!"

"You have a cut," Fidell said. "It's old, but it reopened when I pushed you down earlier. I was just cleaning it."

"I don't have a cut!" Pippin cried, rubbing his forehead. It stung again and he removed his hand, looking at his fingers. There was blood on them. His eyes widened and he looked back up at Fidell. "I have a cut!"

Fidell smiled in amusement, laughing to himself. "Sit still so I can finish, would you?" Pippin did as the boy asked and sat still. After a moment, Fidell was finished and gathered his things to put away. Pippin watched him curiously. He was a strange young man, rather disheveled looking, and wasn't very clean either. The Hobbit wondered how he knew Will, how he had ended up with him. Perhaps he had kept his distance long enough. . . "Fidell?"

The boy turned back to him. "What?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did."

"Well. . .another one, then."

"I suppose."

"How do you know Will?"

Fidell frowned slightly, setting his things down and going back to sit beside Pippin. He paused a moment, then started, "Well. . .he's sort of like. . .my father in a way. He's not really, but he's a sort of temporary guardian. I'm almost old enough to be able to live by myself, so he's just looking after me until I am."

"Oh, me too. I'm almost Come of Age, I mean."

"What's that mean?"

"It means that I'm almost thirty-three, when I can get my own Hobbit Hole and start a life on my own. I'll probably stay in the Great Smials like I do now, but I'll be by myself." Pippin paused. "What happened to your real father?"

"He died."

"And your mother?"

"Same."

"So. . .you're an orphan?"

Fidell shrugged. "I guess. It doesn't bother me very much, though. I've always been sort of alone. My father was always traveling around. He was like a merchant. And my mother, she was very busy. Had to take care of the house since my dad couldn't, you know? So it was pretty much just me during the days."

"What did you do all day?"

"I walked around. Talked to people. Realized how much of a waste of time that is. Took up something else and never really got out much after that."

"What did you take up?"

"Sword fighting." Fidell grinned. "And girls." Pippin laughed knowingly.

"So how do you know Byrn and Iris?"

Fidell's grin faded a bit as he shrugged again. "Met Iris in Bree one day and we sort of became friends. I guess that's how I know Byrn, through her. I've known her for about two and a half years. She and Byrn come and go in Bree as they please, so I try to see her whenever she's in." He stopped there a moment, then looked to Pippin. "So how about you? Who's this Merry fellow?"

"Merry's my cousin and my best friend. We grew up together. . .well, no, he's older, so I grew up with him and he just sort of took me under his wing as his friend. But when he met Iris. . ." Pippin faltered. He didn't know how much he should tell Fidell.

Fidell waited expectantly for a moment. "What happened?"

"He and Iris. . .they sort of. . .well, they fell in love, to put it shortly. He started spending a lot of time with her, of course, and I guess I got a little jealous of him. But I liked Iris, too. She's. . .well, she's different. So, I did something I really shouldn't have."

"What did you do?"

"I kissed her. Twice. But Merry doesn't know about it, thank Elbereth. He would kill me! Skin me alive for sure."

Fidell looked at the Hobbit in amusement. "Sounds like you two have a bit of a rivalry going on, hm?"

"No, not really. I just got a bit aggravated that he forgot about me, so to speak. But I still want to get him away from Byrn and Iris. Will told me what they're planning to do."

Fidell was about to say something, when Will walked up behind them. "You two better get to sleep. You'll need your rest for tomorrow."

* * *

Merry awoke to find that the cart had stopped moving and Iris was gone. He was about to sit up, when he heard the sound of voices nearby: Iris and Byrn's. He rolled over quietly so he could hear better.

"How far in are we going?" Iris asked.

"We'll have to follow the Withywindle down to where it meets the Brandywine, and we can cross there and hide out in the Overbourn Marshes. That way, we'll be close enough to Brandy Hall without actually being there."

"So, we'll be in the Shire? Not outside of it?"

"Yes, of course. It's what we planned to do from the start. Why would it be any different now?"

"Well. . .now that Pippin's disappeared. . .shouldn't we stay in the Old Forest, in case he comes along?"

"No need for that, Iris. We don't really need him. The one we got'll do just fine."

There was no response to this. Merry closed his eyes as he heard Iris climb up and settle next to him. He tried to think about what they said, but sleep overtook him to soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A/N: I will be on vacation for about a week or so, just FYI. Review please! Danche.