Hello! Thanks again for reading and feedbacking!

Well, this is the last chapter... but it hasn´t to be the last story. I hope you liked my turn on the Old Forest and Pippin and Merry´s friendship.

Ciao, ~Key

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... what you deserve!

Merry awoke slowly. He could hear birds singing, the whisper of the wind in the leaves and felt someone nestled beside him. With a jolt he opened his eyes staring into the bright blue sky.

The memory of the events of the previous night flooded back, as he sat up fast and looked down beside him. Pippin was still curled up into a tight ball, breathing evenly. Merry could see the various bruises and cuts on his small cousin's face and arms. Even in his sleep he had wrapped his right arm protectively around his left. Merry´s face darkened as he saw in what an odd and sick ankle the arm was in.

A small whimper brought him back to the now and then and he gently touched the youngster and called him:

"Pippin! Hey Pip! Come on, you´ve to wake up now. We need to go home. Pippin!"

With a small, painful yelp Pippin opened his eyes and stared up blearily where Merry was glooming down at him. A short moment he seemed disoriented, then the confusion fell from his face, and was replaced by tears.

"Is it gone Merry?" he asked his voice nothing but a quivering whisper.

Merry smiled fondly down, put his arm under Pippins neck and gently helped him into a sitting position without hurting his injured arm. Slowly nodding throughout this action he finally answered:

"Yes Pippin, it´s gone. It´s day now, and it will not come back to harm you…"

"It´s evil. It wanted to kill us and it was all dark and, and… it hurt you… and I found the dagger and as I slashed it… it… it…" Pippin stopped his babbled stutters and asked instead: "What was it Merry? You knew, didn´t you?" He remembered the call with that Merry had tried to stop him to go into the forest.

Merry shrugged. "I know the woods. I live here, remember?"

It didn´t answer Pippins question, but the throbbing pain in his body made Pippin numb to the distraction. He tried hard not to show he hurt but couldn´t manage to keep his limbs from shaking.

Merry´s eyes grew suddenly more worried. He saw Pippin starting to shiver, as he wouldn´t be able to hold his own weight any longer. He placed a hand at Pippins back, trying to support him and almost jumped as the smaller Hobbit hissed in pain at his actions. Merry stiffened.

"You´re hurt." He stated the obvious.

Pippin tried to snicker but it came out as a gasp. "Stupid Brandybuck!" he uttered.

This time Merry didn´t get annoyed, even a small smile came across his features before the worry replaced it again. He then slowly lifted Pippin´s shirt to get the real extend of the injuries of his cousin and winced. Where Pippin had connected with the tree the colour of his skin had turned in to nasty blacks, blues and violets. It must hurt horribly. He felt his eyes burn as he tried to control his feelings

"How did it happen Pippin?" he asked hoarsly.

There was a long pause, but finally a small voice answered: "It threw me into a tree…"

Sighing deeply Merry removed his cloak, folding it to use it as a pillow and eased Pippin gently down. As he stood he started to talk again:

"Listen, my dear cousin. I´ve got to fetch help. I don´t believe you can make it …"

at this point he was interrupted by a harsh "No!" of Pippin.

His brow rose as the lad tried to sit up again. "Don´t! Merry, please…" he started to stutter, "… don´t leave me alone in the woods. I´ll make it… I just…" Pippin was about to burst into tears again in his despair, but Merry´s eyes suddenly grew gentle and he smiled.

"… on the other side," he continued his interrupted sentence: "my dad will already have a search-party out, looking for us. He bent down again, removed the folded cloak from the ground and with a soft and light movement positioned himself at the same place.

He then embraced Pippin from behind, easing him down, so that he was leaning against his chest in an half sitting half lying position but carefully watched out to not move or touch Pippins hurt shoulder.

Soothingly he whispered in the small ones ear. "I´m gonna stay, okay? I gonna stay here, Pippin do you hear?"

A slight nod and some further weight on his chest told Merry that Pippin had understood and started to relax.

He now used his cloak as a blanket for Pippin and himself and a long silence between the two fell, finally interrupted by Merry who decided to tell Pippin what he know about the dark hooded figure they had encountered the previous night.

Softly he spoke: "Once a long time ago, there where Hobbits who lived in the "Old Forest". But one day the trees started to live, to grow larger and higher… but as well they started to get evil. They didn´t grow leaves and their wood went dark.

They talked to each other, telling them stories about how bad people treated them, how they hurt and killed them and started to fight back. However, soon after the Hobbits who lived the forest started to get evil themselves. They started to turn as the woods.

Getting dark and hairless, evil and careless. They stopped working on the fields, stopped eating and just were shadows of the Hobbits they once used to be."

At that point of his story he could hear Pippin mumbling something incoherently and smiled.

"And that´s how my grand-grand-grand-grand-Father Marlo Brandybuck, met them as he got lost on his search for a new home. He named them "Snarls" and since then every Brandybuck was told about the hazardous, deadly creatures in the "Old Forest" and we keep it a secret. No other Hobbits know about the Snarls. Well, no other Hobbits but you…"

Just then he recognized for the first time the even rising and falling of Pippin´s chest that indicated that his cousin, HIS small cousin slept.

He grinned as he felt Pippin snuggle against him and watched the small one sleeping a while. Just before he himself fell asleep he whispered: "We are the keepers of the wood. You know Pippin? And now you´re one of us..."

That´s how his father found them hours later.

*~*~*~*

EPILOGUE

(Days later)

"Meriadoc Brandybuck! Peregrin Took! If I can lay my hands on you I´ll strangle you both!"

The roar of Saradoc Brandybuck sounded through the hole.

A pair of giggles could been heard and soon after two pair of fast Hobbit-feet ran down the hall, a door was shut close and a relieved sigh followed from more giggles could be heard.

"Did you see his face?" A high boyish voice asked. "It was too much to keep quiet." The other voice said. "Yeah! The look as he felt the honey… and how he stood…" there was more laughing. "His own fault! Eating the last piece of pie and let it look like you did it!"

Their hands met in midair… but the fun ended as the younger one gasped in pain.

Merry was at his side in an instant. "You okay?" he asked.

A slow nod told him that he wasn´t. "Come on, lets get you back to bed, then. Enough of excitement for today, hu?"

Another nod and no complain let him know that this was the right decision. Slowly he led Pippin back to his bed and helped him climb in. The Hobbit laid down drained, but his eyes watched Merry very alive.

"You tell it again Merry?" he asked. Merry rolled his eyes but smiled wide and did as he was pleaded. Sitting down on the bed beside his cousin he sighed deeply but started the story again:

"Once upon a time, there where two Hobbit-lads who got lost in the "Old forest" It was then that they stumbled over one old and evil creature, called a Snarl, who wanted to eat them alive. But one of them, the mighty and courageous Peregrin "Pippin" Took..."

END