Pippin

A little Hobbit woke in the night and quickly glanced around. He just could not get used to not waking up in a nice warm bed again after their stay in Rivendell. Pippin sat up and rubbed at his eyes. He noticed Strider and Boromir were asleep, though the Ranger never looked truly at peace to him. And Gandalf, well... Pippin avoided looking at a sleeping Gandalf. He'd been terrified the first time he accidentally saw a sleeping Elf in Elrond's home and then again through the journey when he learned that Gandalf too slept open-eyed.

Across the way he saw Legolas sitting alone with an arrow in his hands. Pippin wondered if the Elf was asleep too, but it seemed more to him that Legolas was probably on watch, since it was obvious that Gimli was also asleep. Pippin had a feeling that an Elf would never fall asleep while on guard, even if it sometimes looked like Legolas was in a sleep state as they all walked along.

After a moment the Elf turned to look at Pippin and smiled. Pippin smiled back and, taking it as an invitation, went to sit with the sylphlike being, careful not to wake Merry or Frodo on either side of him as he moved.

"Hullo," Pippin said quietly.

Legolas smiled, repeating the greeting that seemed awkward to him.

"What are you doing with that?" Pippin asked, gesturing to the arrow the Elf still held.

"I am taking care of it, as I do with all my arrows. Each arrow is unique and an archer must know for himself that they are all in order. See this one here, a bit of the fletching isn't quite right. If I left that, it could go off course and I would miss my target. Not likely in close combat, but over a range it might miss."

"Just 'cause of that little bit of feather?" Pippin asked surprised.

Legolas nodded. "It seems like just a little bit, but it has a great impact. If it's out of place, it can slow the flight of an arrow or steer it the wrong way."

Pippin was quiet for a while, watching as Legolas deftly set the fletching right again. There seemed to be a lot of thought going on in the youngest Hobbit's mind and for a moment Legolas couldn't help wondering to himself if Pippin wasn't contemplating whether or not arrows were at all edible.

"How far must we go on this adventure?" Pippin asked quietly after a long while.

Legolas looked surprised by the question, surely Pippin knew the plan, they all had to. "Quite far," he responded, "though I do not know by what path." Unfortunately, going back to the argument between Gandalf and Aragorn that evening, it didn't seem like anyone really knew which path.

"Are there any nice villages along the way, do you think?" Pippin asked.

Again, Legolas wasn't sure why he was being asked. "There are many places between here and Mordor. There is Rohan to the south, and Gondor is east of there. There is Lothlorien on the other side of the mountains. Aragorn had hoped to go through Mirkwood on a different route, but I do not know if that would have been any better."

"Bilbo went to Mirkwood," Pippin said, remembering the magnificent tale so frequently told by the elder Hobbit.

Legolas nodded. He himself remembered the Hobbit, but only vaguely. There were too many other things pressing at the time.

"So, they know about Hobbits?"

"I wouldn't say that they do. When Bilbo was in Mirkwood, I do believe he went unnoticed by most," Legolas replied apologetically.

"I see," Pippin sighed deeply. "I thought maybe they wouldn't mind having me around."

Legolas cocked his head curiously. "Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I was just wondering," Pippin said off-handedly. "I thought maybe I could just be dropped off someplace along the way."

Legolas stilled, trying to discern what the little one really meant. "You feel that you can not continue with us?" Legolas asked sincerely.

Pippin shook his head. "It's exhausting, all this, and I hate waking up on the ground every day, but I don't really mind that much."

"Then what is it?" Legolas asked.

"I'm not really any use," Pippin said quietly. "I don't really know why Master Elrond let me come; I think it was a mistake though. It's like you said about that feather, if just a bit is off, the whole thing can go wrong. You don't get much more off than me with a thing like this. Eventually, I'll just become a burden, and end up being troll-dinner or left on my own. So, I'd really rather be able to stay someplace with folk who don't mind Hobbits."

What Pippin was saying stunned Legolas even more than Gandalf's few cryptic words less than an hour ago and it saddened him greatly. Legolas shook his head firmly. "That will not happen, Pippin. You have my word, not one of us would ever fail to defend you or leave you alone on this quest." Pippin looked up at him with such trusting eyes. "I have to admit that I too had doubted some of Lord Elrond's decisions, but he knows much more than I and there had to be a purpose for your inclusion. Pippin, I think that you shall have an important role to play. None of us know what the future holds, and it may be that, along the way, something will happen that only you can help or prevent. It all depends on who is at the right place, at the right time. No great skill is needed, you only must know what you have to do."

"D'you really think so, Legolas? That I could do something important, and not just get in the way?" Pippin asked hopefully.

"I am certain of it," Legolas said. "There well may be someone along the way who only you can pull out of the fire."

"Well, I hope that doesn't have to happen, but I'm glad you think I could do it if I had to," Pippin said, sounding much more like himself. It was about that point that he noticed that he was still sleepy after having woken so suddenly. He leaned against the Elf beside him, hoping Legolas wouldn't mind.

Legolas grinned and wrapped an arm around the little Hobbit, who did not hesitate to fall asleep against such an unquestionably strong protector. "You will not be abandoned, little one," Legolas whispered. "Not as long as I am still on this quest."