A/N: Based more on the movies than the books. ON PURPOSE! One of my more serious fics ("See? I can do serious!" says Scarlett while she puts glue on the toilet seat) Read, enjoy, review! I'm just putting up the first two chappies right now, to see how they do; if people like this story, I'll do more of it!
FOOL OF A TOOK
Chapter One: Galadriel's Advice
Our story begins in Lothlorien. The Fellowship is now eight members strong, Gandalf having been lost in Moria, and pallor has settled over the heroes. Even thought Aragorn and the elves assure them that the border is well protected, they are having a hard time sleeping.
Pippin was having an especially horrible time of it. He rolled and kicked off his covers only to pull them back to his chin when he got cold. He grumbled to himself and finally sat up. "I shall take a walk. Maybe I'll be tired enough to sleep by the time I get back."
Pippin slid out of his bed between two large roots of a tree, and carefully tiptoed out of the clearing. He was careful not to wake the other members of the Fellowship as he made his way around their sleeping forms.
He looked around cautiously. Maybe the elves that stood guard wouldn't think he was trying to sneak off or steal something, and would let him be. Seeing no one, Pippin relaxed, and began to walk through the trees, thinking.
He tripped over a large root and fell. He lay there for a second, making sure he didn't wake anyone up, and then stood and dusted himself off. "You clumsy oaf," he chided himself as he picked a leaf out of his hair. "Gandalf was right, you are just a fool."
"Now, now, young Peregrin Took." Pippin looked around in surprise as a woman's voice filled his ears. He was puzzled; he didn't see anyone at all.
The voice came again, and he realized it was inside his head. "Do not be afraid of me, walk a little farther, past the largest silver tree and you will find me. Come, and softly now."
Pippin did as he was told, wondering what could be happening to him. As he passed the largest tree, he found a stair leading down. He peeked around the tree and saw that the stair led into a large clearing, with a strange sort of pool sitting on a pedestal in the center. On the opposite side from where he stood, a thin, silvery waterfall seemed to come from inside a tree, and emptied into a stream.
She stood beside the stream. Pippin knew instantly whose voice he had heard. It was Galadriel. "Wh-what did you want with me, milady?" Pippin asked timidly, still half-hidden by the tree.
Galadriel laughed, and though she laughed very softly, her melodious voice still seemed to echo off of the trees standing round them. "Come down from there, small one. I have something to show you." She stopped laughing. "Or are you still afraid?"
Pippin gulped and nodded. "Yes'm, I-I cannot lie to you. I am af-fraid," he stammered.
The Golden Lady smiled comfortingly, and it seemed to Pippin that she had an invisible string wrapped around his waist, for he seemed to be drawn into that clearing as if he were being pulled. His large hobbit feet stumbled to keep up with the rest of his body. "Do not be afraid, dear Pippin. I know what it is you struggle with in your mind. The very darkest of your thoughts are made known to me here, for this realm is mine."
Pippin blushed and shuffled his feet. "Oh, milady, please don't say things like that."
Galadriel looked amused. "Why not? It is true."
Pippin dared to look up at her. "I-I may be just a fool, but it makes me afraid of you again."
Galadriel laughed again and reached out to grab his hand. "Pippin, do not fear. And do not think for one minute I consider you to be a fool." She smiled. "A little clumsy, yes, and you do have a tendency to speak and act before thinking clearly. But though you are simple, you are no fool."
Pippin smiled at these words. Then he remembered how Gandalf had called him "Fool of a Took" before he was taken in Moria. The last words he'd said to Pippin had been "Run, you Fool!" His smile was quickly extinguished.
Galadriel knew of his thoughts, and she knelt before him, face to face. She cupped his chin in her hand and made him look into her eyes. "Peregrin, Gandalf the Grey was not perfect. Few are. But I know that he had plans for you. Those plans did not involve turning away because you are afraid. Let me ask you this: would you lay down your life for your friends? For Frodo?"
Pippin searched her eyes for a sign of humor. "Of course, milady. There is nothing I wouldn't do for Frodo, if it would help him in any way to bear his burden."
Galadriel smiled at him and he knew he'd given the right answer. "You see? That is bravery and not foolishness. Pippin, your time will soon come. Soon you will find your courage, and the fate of Frodo and the Ring will be in your hands. Use the time you have wisely, and you can return to your Shire a celebrated man. A hero."
Pippin smiled as he thought of the inhabitants of his land chanting his name in admiration. Naming him Thain of the Shire, perhaps.
Galadriel released his face and stood. "Now go back and try to find sleep, Pippin. And remember what I have told you. Soon you will find your courage." And she turned and disappeared into the trees.
Pippin stood a second longer, to make sure she was gone. Then he shuffled back up the stair and into the clearing where his party was sleeping. He lay down on his rumpled bed to think it over.