Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own any characters or places in Lord of the Rings.
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"What are you doing?" whispered Merry as he watched Pippin get up and walk past him.
Startled, the hobbit in question whirled around, but upon finding it was only Merry, he turned around once again and approached Gandalf. However, Pippin got another shock when he saw the open eyes of the wizard, apparently staring at him. After a couple of seconds, the poor hobbit relaxed, waving his hands in front of Gandalf, he made sure the wizard was still sleeping, muttering incomprehensibly and clutching the wrapped Palantír like a prized stuffed animal.
"Pippin!" whispered Merry loudly.
Ignoring Merry, Pippin grabbed a nearby pot and prepared to switch it with the Palantír.
"Pippin?"
Very fast, the hobbit successfully switched the two objects and spent a moment basking in the thought that he had succeeded and Gandalf won't ever find out about this.
"Pippin, are you mad!" fiercely whispered Merry as he watched Pippin carry his prize away from Gandalf and unwrap the black sphere.
"I just want to look at it! Just one more time…" answered Pippin as his eyes lit in anticipation of seeing and touching the smooth flawless globe once more.
"Put it back!"
Not hearing Merry, Pippin smiled at the sight of the black orb and quickly put his hands on it. Immediately, an image started to form, taking shape more and more like an eye…
"Pippin!"
The Eye gazed at Pippin as the hobbit started to shake and tried to take his hands off without success.
"No! Pippin!" said Merry as he watched helplessly at Pippin's struggle.
His eyes closed tightly, Pippin began to make whimpering sounds as he tried to resist the constant piercing questions.
"I seeee you…." whispered a voice, the sound reverberating around the small room.
Pippin, unable to handle the agony, jumped up, and struggled to release the flaming ball, crying out in pain and fear.
"Pippin!" called out Merry as he could only stare wide eyed at his shaking friend.
The brown haired young hobbit continued to twist around while standing until finally landing on his back, twitching from the piercing voice.
"Help! Gandalf!" Merry yelled, frantic with fear at what was happening to Pippin.
The Istar woke up instantly, and jumped up from his bed, seeing the mess that Pippin had gotten into. However, the door burst open at that exact moment, revealing Legolas and Aragorn. The Ranger immediately grabbed the Palantír out of Pippin's hands, only to collapse, not anticipating the strain the contact would cause. Fortunately, Legolas caught Aragorn as he released the globe, leaving it to roll aimless on the floor.
Snatching up the discarded cloth, Gandalf covered the ball again, while Merry hurried to Pippin's unresponsive side.
"Pippin?"
"Fool of a Took!" thundered Gandalf, but upon seeing Pippin's wide, unblinking eyes, he pushed Merry out of the way to take a closer look. Taking one of the hobbit's icy hands, Gandalf placed his other hand on Pippin's forehead, murmuring. With a gasp and a blink, Pippin woke.
"Look at me." commanded Gandalf.
"Gandalf?" breathed Pippin. "Forgive me."
Pippin's eyes started to shut only to snap them open again by Gandalf's insistent command.
"Look at me."
Searching around the frightened hobbit's face, Gandalf inquired.
"What did you see?"
"…A tree… a white tree…" whispered Pippin.
"Minas Tirith?" Gandalf said, as he became alarmed.
"No…" whispered Pippin."It was…"
"It was what?" urged Gandalf as he gave the young hobbit a shake.
"It was… my fake model of a tree that I made…" sniffed Pippin."I got laughed at horribly because the tree wasn't the right color."
Impatient, Gandalf gave a long sigh. Rolling his eyes, Gandalf decided to see if there was anything else.
"What else? What else did you see?" questioned the wizard.
"I saw… HIM!" whimpered Pippin as he started to tremble again.
"The Dark Lord? You saw Sauron?" Gandalf asked, trying to confirm who "Him" was.
"No…" trailed off Pippin, as he continued to shake." I saw Farmer Maggot!"
"Who is Farmer Maggot?" whispered Legolas to Aragorn confusingly.
"Don't know." whispered Aragorn back.
"Farmer Maggot was questioning me something horrible, trying to get me to confess that I stole those mushrooms!" sobbed Pippin.
Exasperated, Gandalf got up and after quickly declaring that Pippin is alright and Frodo is in no immediate danger, went outside before he can give in to the impulse to choke the life out of Pippin for worrying him so much, while muttering under his breath, "FOOL OF A TOOK!"
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AN: Hey everyone. School got cancelled today because of snow. YAY! Anyway… Happy Valentine's Day!
