His first initial thought was to go to Merry, but then he remembered that Merry was in Bree and wouldn't be back for two more days, so Pippin would have to find somewhere until then. It was a very cold night and thick clouds smudged the black-blue sky. Above the veil of condensed twilight, Pippin could make out the stars, far away and very bright. He remembered that Merry had told him that stars where what Hobbits used when they felt sad. Pippin asked Merry what he had meant and Merry had taken Pippin out all the way down to the fields and they both sat there looking up to the night sky. Merry had said that every single star was a memory. It could be a memory of anything at all, but not only that; the stars were what Merry had called the Lights of Comfort. He had promised Pippin that if ever the small Hobbit felt alone or upset, all he'd have to do was look up to the sky and see all those stars and think of Merry. Then he would feel better again and feel comforted by the Lights.

Pippin wiped his eyes and sniffled a little. He couldn't even see any stars anymore, which meant he couldn't feel comforted because he couldn't think of Merry. Pippin blinked a few times and made himself stop crying. He had to keep moving. He had to find somewhere to hide out until Merry came back.

He then thought that he could make his why to Bagend. Maybe Frodo would let him stay there. He then decided that perhaps it wasn't such a good idea, considering Frodo would want to know every single last thing and Pippin didn't much feel like telling him everything. Pippin then decided that he would have to do something quite frightening. Pippin would have to decide whether he should stay here, in the safety of the Shire-and the place that he'd only ever known-or he could leave and travel to places unknown and, as frightening as it was, it seemed to be the most logical thing for him to do. He would leave the name of Peregrin Took behind and leave the Shire to become someone else.