CHAPTER THREE: Follow the yellow (vegetable) road

* * *

It was the dawn of a new day. Birds cheered happily, filling the early morning atmosphere with song and mirth. The river nearby flowed with fresh clean water, sparkling in the new sunlight. Not a single cloud was seen in the sky, and all was perfect.

Unfortunately, the hobbits slept right through this, though they planned on traveling at dawn to make good time. It was late afternoon by the time they woke, had lunch, and set off again in the Old Forest.

"Do you think we'll see Elves on this journey, Mister Frodo?" Sam asked, out of the blue.

"Who knows, Sam?  I sure hope so. I would love learn more about them," Frodo answered as he adjusted the heavy pack on his back.

"Elves exist!?" Merry exclaimed.

Frodo smiled at his friend's rather slow reaction. "Of course they do, they were the first on Middle-earth, after all!"

"Blimey… I thought Bilbo was pulling my leg when he was telling those stories," Merry laughed.

"As the old Gaffer used to say, 'Never misjudge the truth behind a story,' though I admit I had trouble believing them myself," Sam piped in. "If we meet Elves on this journey, I shall die the happiest hobbit."

"Well, we can sure do without you dying after meeting Elves. We need all the help we can get," Frodo replied.

And the casual banter between the three continued awhile. It seemed no more than a mere walk in the woods.  The fact that they were on a perilous adventure to save their friend from a dragon was pushed to a dark cobwebbed corner of their minds.

Unfortunately, the fact that they did not know where to start searching for Pippin also failed to be brought up. They didn't even know if they were headed in the right direction; for all they knew, they could as well be heading straight for disaster themselves. It wasn't until Merry asked that infamous question that they began thinking about their destination.

"Are we there yet?"

Frodo and Sam froze in their places, and exchanged curious glances. "Where is… there?" Sam asked him, scratching his head.

He shrugged. "I thought you knew."

"Well… no, I don't. I thought Merry knew, since he saw where the dragon went." Frodo and Sam turned to stare coldly at Merry, who backed up a step in reply.

"How should I know where to go? Do I look like a dragon to you?" Merry shot back.

"Well, now that you've brought it up–" Sam started.

"Don't answer that."

"…Sorry."

Frodo sighed, flopped down onto a large stone, and proceeded to bury his face in his hands.  Merry joined him on the floor, taking off his pack and pulling out his pipe.  "What a predicament we've got ourselves into, eh?" he said as he lit the pipe, and took a long drag.

A long silence fell in between the hobbits as they searched for a solution.  Merry refused to go home without Pippin by his side, preferably alive and healthy, and Frodo refused to give up in general being the determined chap he was.  Sam would follow Frodo wherever he went, so if Frodo stayed, it meant Sam would be right by his side with bells on.  Together, the three of them sat, and thought.  Hard.

This is hopeless, Frodo said to himself bitterly.  Middle-earth is so huge.  A dragon's lair could be anywhere.  Pippin could be anywhere!  Every solution he came up with resulted in failure.  Though he didn't want to give up so easily on his dear friend Pippin, he felt there was no other choice. 

Frodo opened his mouth to announce his defeat when a loud crunch interrupted his speech.  Frodo turned to Merry, who stared back at him innocently, the pipe dangling lifelessly from his mouth.  He turned to Sam, and wasn't surprised to see him with food in his hand and chomping on it merrily.

What did surprise him was that Sam was eating corn, when they had not brought any along with them.  He did not remember corn as something his gardener had delayed the commencement of their journey to retrieve.  "Sam, where'd you get that ear of corn?" Frodo asked curiously.

Remembering his manners, Sam did not speak while he chewed, but he pointed at the dirt to illustrate his point.  Frodo leapt to Sam's side, and stared off onto the path of the forest.  And to his surprise, there was something he would never have guessed right before him.  "There's a trail of… corn," he pointed out, raising an eyebrow.

Merry cocked his head to the side, and shot up to join Frodo at his side.  Upon viewing the golden vegetables, he snapped his fingers as an illuminated light bulb appeared above his head.  "Of course, why hadn't I thought of that before!?"  He lifted his pack, and headed towards the path of scattered vegetables.  "The dragon picked up Pippin in a grasp of cornstalks! If it flew all the way to its home, there's no doubt that it would drop some corn on the way!"

They had found a way to Pippin!  Merry's mood rose higher than Frodo in the Green Dragon on a Saturday night, and he felt there was nothing in the world that could knock him down now.  Leading the way with a pretty little prance in his step, he passed by Sam and gave him a pat on the head.  "Good job, Samwise.  Pippin, here we come!"

Sam blinked, not exactly realizing what he had done.  But deciding that it was just best to nod and smile as it always was, he stood up, brushed the dirt off his clothes, and joined Frodo and Merry once more on their voyage.

* * *

Pippin felt extremely insecure by himself in the darkness of the cave.  He was rarely alone even in the Shire, always accompanied by either Merry or another hobbit.  He dared not move, in fear of what may lurk in the shadows of the foreign place. He knew that something was in there with him, but he was too afraid to find out what.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, his eyes darted around nervously out of habit.  It wasn't as if he could see anything though; all was consumed by the darkness, everything before him was pitch black.  Because of the echoes, everything seemed five times as frightening.  Even a slight shuffle to keep his leg from falling asleep could make enough racket to wake the dead.  When his stomach growled hungrily, Pippin winced at the sound of the echoes that followed.

But then, he realized that it wasn't his stomach that growled.  No, it was a much more fierce growl… one of an angry beast. As if on cue, he suddenly felt a hot breath against the back of his neck.  His heart began pounding so quick that the hobbit feared that it would leap right from his chest.  He shivered, despite the sweltering heat of the cave he was trapped in.   Slowly and reluctantly, Pippin turned around, terrified of what he was about to confront.

Two giant glowing eyes met his own.  All his limbs froze in fear as flames appeared before him from seemingly nowhere, momentarily illuminating his surroundings. It provided light for mere seconds, but that was more than enough for Pippin to see that the flames emerged from the two nostrils of an enormous red dragon, giving him a familiar evil grin.

And all became dark again, the flames disappearing as quickly as they came. Pippin began mentally running through his options, but was disappointed to find that none of them lead to him escaping alive. To run would be pure folly; where would he go if he could not even see his hands before him?  He would most likely run straight into the awaiting jaws of the dragon, with his luck.  However, his other option was no better; to stay would only ensure the dragon a hearty meal of a hobbit.

Reaching into his pockets out of desperateness, he searched them frantically for something, anything that could be of use.  At times like these, even the smallest trinket could stand between life and death.  In his right pocket was the flint and tinder he had used earlier, and in his left…

Much to his surprise, his left pocket was indeed not empty.  There was a smooth round object he had not expected to find. It was then that he remembered Merry had slipped it to him while they were still in Farmer Maggot's crops before this whole incident.

Taking a deep breath and hoping it was not going to be his last, he pulled the rather large object from his pocket and held it out to the dragon.  Giving a great big smirk, he offered it to the dragon as a gift.

"…Apple?"