DISCLAIMER: LotR not mine.

FOOL OF A TOOK

Chapter Seven: At Sunrise

Pippin rowed his canoe until he caught the current. He didn't have much experience at boating, since he was quite afraid of water sometimes. He looked down at the flowing river, and said aloud, "Oh well, I guess this is just another fear that I've conquered on this quest."

The sound of his voice echoing back at him from the silent trees in the still, dark air made him lonesome, and he wished a thousand times that he had gotten Merry to come with him. Pippin sighed, knowing he couldn't have done that. Merry would either have tried to talk him out of it or tried to be in charge. Neither of those plans of action suited Pippin. Maybe it was for the best he had gone alone.

"At least if I fail, I won't have dragged Merry or anyone else down with me," he said to nobody in particular. Then he laughed aloud, nervously. "What are you talking about, Peregrin? If you fail, you'll drag the whole of Middle Earth down with you."

I really should stop talking to myself, he thought. I make myself nervous when I do that.

He sighed again. Then he burped. His stomach was uncomfortably full. That Elven bread he had eaten did not seem to be agreeing with him. He burped again, and for only the second time in Pippin's life, he admitted to himself that he had eaten too much. He shifted his weight and continued paddling.

Pippin found that if he kept his canoe pretty much in the middle of the river, the current would do most of the work for him. He was grateful for that new bit of luck, for he was not overly strong, and it was hard work trying to paddle a canoe made for beings twice his size.

By sunrise, Pippin found he had made considerably good time, and was a good distance away from where he had put to water. He also found himself growing sluggish, and his stomach began to rumble, telling him he was hungry again. He was a little surprised at that last feeling, as several hours ago, he had almost made up his mind never to eat again.

Almost.

Pippin smiled, as he spotted a peaceful-looking spot on the western shore of the river, where several large boulders were spaced protectively against the shoals. That would make a good place to rest, he thought, and with those big rocks, it looks to be out of the wind. He struggled a bit to get the large boat out of the current, but once he had it turned sideways, he managed to be able to paddle to the spot he had picked out without paddling too far back upriver.

By the time Pippin had managed to bring the canoe close enough to the shore to be able to jump out in shallow water, he was exhausted. He tried in vain to drag the canoe up out of the water, and succeeded only in planting on the shoals.

He gave up. "I'll watch it closely, and if there's a really good current that knocks it loose, I'll jump in and just keep going," he decided. "Ah…meanwhile, it's breakfast time!" Pippin sat and unwrapped another loaf of the Elven bread. "This is starting to grow on me," he said aloud. "Maybe I won't eat quite so much of it this time."

He ate half of a loaf ("Remarkable stuff," he told himself), and drank some of the water. Then, he wrapped his Elven cloak around him and leaned back against one of the big boulders to relax. A sharp pain in his side reminded him that the over-sized dagger he had found was still attached to his hip.

"A lot of good it'll do me if I take it off," Pippin said, "but I'll not get any rest with it poking me in the ribs." He took the weapon off of his belt where he had tied it, and laid it beside him. "Ah, that's more like it. I'll just sleep a little while, enough to get my strength back up."

Pippin closed his eyes and tried to rest, and managed to fall asleep. He began dreaming of the Shire, but almost immediately he saw a great red Eye, with no lid, burning with the fires of unquenchable evil. He began to shake, recognizing in his heart who was the owner of the Eye.

Sauron.

He saw the Shire again, this time in flames, and many small figures were running around, screaming. He looked closer, and saw that the figures were his friends and relatives, the people he loved. They were being chased by disfigured monsters, and were being raped or killed, or both. Pippin began to weep.

"NO!" He screamed, and woke up.