A/N. Hi guys! sorry it's taken so long to update, but I've been busy.I will try to be more frequent. Anyway, here's chappie 3, so Enjoy!

3. Setting out

The sun was just appearing over the eastern horizon when Sam set out two days later. He was planning to meet Merry and Pippin at Brandywine river befor all three of them started south.

It had been heart wrenching to see Rosie's face when he told her that he was going away for a while. He had had to spend all night explaining to her that it was the only way to save Elanor, and she was still in tears of anxiety when he had left. Frodo had bombarded him with a stream of unanswerable questions, the most frequent being, "Can I come too?" But the reaction that really plunged Sam to the heart had been Elanor's. The young hobbit had closed her eyes, not saying anything for a moment. When she had opened them they were full of tears. She had then said faintly but very clearly, "I know you'll come back for me, won't you daddy?" Sam had pulled her into a hug, his eyes now also full tears. "Of course I will," he had whispered.

Sam now brushed a hand impatiently over his moist eyes. If he was going to save Elanor, he was going to have to be strong. So he held his head high, shouldered the bulging pack higher and walked steadily onwards.

He met Merry and Pippin at the aranged spot and they began the journey south. They walked for a while in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Merry was almost tingling with excitement. Although he loved the Shire, he couldn't help but be happy about the prospect of traveling and adventure. Pippin was thinking along the same lines, the only difference being more intense hunger pains. Sam's thoughts were all back home in his little hobbit hole with Rosie, Frodo and Elanor. He wondered how they were faring.

Glancing over at his comrades, Sam couldn't help but notice that Pippin was looking much better. He wasn't pale anymore and was wearing lighter clothing. He must be recovering after all. This relieved Sam greatly, as they had quite enough troubles without another sick hobbit.

At around midday the three companions stopped at a little river to have lunch. Pippin started up a stream of conversation.

"It's ages since we've been out of the Shire, isn't it? I wonder how all our friends are going, you know, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Ganda....." he stopped suddenly and looked down.For a minute an awkward silence hung between them. Pippin had momentarily forgotten that Gandalf didn't live in Middle Earth anymore.

Merry broke the silence. ''Er, I actually got a letter from Gimli a couple of weeks ago. I ment to tell you, but then Elanor got sick and I knew that you were really too busy to come and read it as it is quite long......"

''Í would have made time,'' Sam said, somewhat annoyed that he hadn't been told. ''Anyway, how was delivered? Surely no one would have rode all the way to the Shire just to do that?''

''Messenger birds.'' This time it was Pippin who answered. ''According to the letter, messenger birds are the latest form of communication with a lot of royal families like Rohan and Gondor. Merry's family has been using them for a while now"

Sam wasn't very happy at this. "You've known about this letter too? Why has everything been kept from me lately?" He grumbled. "Anyway, what else did Gimli say?"

"Well nothing interesting. A few meetings, Legolas got into a spot of trouble with some wargs, Gondor's in the middle of a war........." Pippin was cut off from his report and earned himself an exasperated look from Merry as Sam suddenly gave an angry yelp.

"WHAT?! Gondor's in the middle of a war! Just when we're going there right now! Why didn't you tell me?" Both hobbits were looking a bit scared at the moment. Merry quickly tried to correct Pippin's outburst. '' Look, it's not exactly a war. Gondor is just having a bit of trouble with orcs at the moment.''

Sam frowned.''Orcs? But I thought all Sauron and Saruman's orcs were wiped out. Where would there be enough to start a war and who would be commanding them?'' Merry sighed and lifted his large hobbit feet out of the river where he had been cooling them. I don't know Sam, but I told you, it's not war and it's obviously not enough trouble to stop Gimli writing a five page letter.''

Sam couldn't be bothered arguing anymore. He began packing away his cooking things wich he always took with him. ''Fine, but I hope you're right. I don't particularly want to be killed when.....''

''Merry, look!'' Pippin pointed upwards. Both hobbits looked up into the clear blue sky. ''What - oh, it's Brandy!'' Merry held out his arm to a large black raven with a piece of paper in its beak. Pippin was sniggering at the messenger birds name.''Brandy? Hmmmmmmm. Maybe if I get a messenger bird, I'll call it Took or Tooky, or maybe even......''

''Oh, shut up. Make yourself useful and help Sam pack. He was still flushed as he procceded to take the letter and read it. Sam watcked as Merry's eyes skimmed the paper, The young Brandybuck's face turned dead white. Leaving Pippin to put the last things away, he hurried over to where Merry stood, looking at the letter as if it had his death sentence written on it.

Muahahaha!!!!!!!! Now the fun begins. But I'm still not getting enough reviews. So if you want to find out what's wrong with Merry, just move the mouse over to the little button on the bottom left hand corner and click. (Gives a big winning smile)Pleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaase????????