Disclaimers: All material from The Lord of the Rings trilogy belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien, New Line Cinema, Warner Brothers, and Turbine. All other canon material belongs to their respected owners. All original material belongs to the author of this fanfiction four-shot story. This four-shot story is heavily inspired by the ABC television show Galavant's songs "Time is of the Essence" and "Goodbye".

I think this is most morbid story I've written… or not, depending on how you look at it. I think I might still have caught a bug or something, but this was inspired by all those stories in which there is too much talk about death and not enough talk about life. So, you see where this four-shot story came from and what inspired me to do this. Anyway, let's get going.

Also, this first one-shot was inspired by the drabble I wrote for NirCele's 100 Drabble Challenge. The drabble series for the challenge is called Frodo Baggins' One Hundred Drabble Moments. I mainly wrote this first one-shot when I was feeling under the weather. It's really strange what my mind comes up with… but anyway, let's begin.

Time Waits for No Took!

Pippin Took was having a splendid day. For being a tween, he certainly had a lot of energy. It's a shame what happened to him on a particular day at the Green Dragon inn. For when he entered the tavern with his friends – Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee and Merry Brandybuck – he hardly expected the waitress to deliver steaming hot mugs of apple cider.

"They're fresh," the waitress told them. "Just came out of the mill."

"It can't hurt, can it?" Pippin asked, eager to try his cider. He was stopped by Merry.

"Wait. Something smells off about this cider. Are you sure it's good to drink?" Merry asked.

"Pippin should try it first. Although, I don't see the reason why we shouldn't drink it at the same time," Frodo said, not letting the cider's bad smell to back him down. Pippin said nothing as he drank down two large gulps of cider. The others followed, but it was Pippin who felt really strange. He was glad Frodo noticed, but it was too late. "Pippin, are you all right?"

"Frodo, I… I'm not feeling well." Pippin's stomach grumbled. He felt awful. "I need to see the healer. Where is he?"

"Um… we need help! A healer!" Merry rushed out of the Green Dragon inn. Pippin lay crumbled on the floor, unsure what was happening to him… all the world seemed to fall into darkness…

x-x-x

Frodo, Sam and Merry brought Pippin straight into the nearest healer's house. Frodo called for the healer, only the healer was a rather strange hobbit man with a very strange hairdo. Ignoring the gentle-hobbit's hairdo, focusing more on Pippin who he helped put on the stone bed. He looked up at the healer, who looked like he was in a hurry.

"What happened?" The healer announced, startling Frodo and his friends.

"Pippin drank some cider. It was awful," Frodo explained.

"We all drank that cider, cousin," Merry admitted. "Is he going to be all right?"

"Yes, about that. All the ciders had poison in them. It's an experiment of my own invention," the healer explained. "Now what can I do for your friend, before you all croak? Ah. I know. Let's examine the time." He checked his watches. "Ah. Yes, we have time enough to kill. So, let's make sure he's dead." Pippin groaned. "He's not dead? That's a shocker. Give it five minutes and he will be dead. And since you were given the cider in turns: Pippin's first, then Merry, then Sam and then Frodo."

"What? No." Frodo asked, confused. "What kind of a healer are you?"

"Shush!" The healer placed an index finger over Frodo's mouth. He returned to Pippin, whose eyes closed. He checked his pulse, but it stopped. "Ah. He's dead as a doornail."

Merry whimpered. His friend Pippin, his best friend, was… dead. How could this happen?

"You see what this healer did to Merry? And now Pippin's dead," Sam complained.

"Ah. But you three are next, and I have the beds all ready for you to complete my experiment. And you'll have to act fast because you'll croak in ten minutes each." The healer checked his watch again.

Not liking this plan, but agreeing to it nonetheless, Frodo moved over to the bed near the stairs. He looked around at his friends, who also made their way onto stone beds. In a manner of minutes, he would be… dead. No, he couldn't think that way. He couldn't… he… couldn't…

x-x-x

Pippin's mind felt at ease for some strange reason. He sat up on the stone bed, completely aware of his surroundings. But where were his friends? They needed him, right? Of course they needed him. He felt like he let them down when he drank that cider. Ooh, his poor stomach.

"That's what I get for drinking badly brewed cider. Oh, why me?" Pippin asked, completely confused.

However, he wasn't alone. Looking up, he saw Death in a hooded robe. Something wasn't right. Was he dead? Maybe his friends found a way to cure him. Maybe they did… oh, where was Merry when he needed him? And why didn't he have food?

Oh, there was food on a table, in front of the stone balcony. It was sitting there, waiting for him to eat some of it. Moving off the stone bed, Pippin approached the stone table. The food sure looked tasty. No, he shouldn't have some.

"Eat up," Death said, moving behind him. "You'll need some on your journey onwards."

"Eh…" Pippin backed away from the food. He was smart enough to avoid bad food. "I don't think so."

"I think you should." Death was confident it had the hobbit. "You drank the bad cider. You and your friends are allowed to pass on."

"What? What are you talking about?" Pippin asked, looking about him. There was Diamond. Oh, she looked radiant. "Diamond."

"Yes Pippin. This is me," Diamond Took said. She wore a very flashy red dress. Pippin nearly grabbed her and pulled her in, but realization dawned on him. This was an illusion. He needed to get out of here.

"Wait… I can still get through this. I'm not ready to die. I need to go home, back to Frodo, and Sam, and Merry, and…" Pippin was cut off upon seeing his three friends. They were all smiling at him. Why were they smiling at him?

"Pippin, I feel awful for making you drink that potion," Vision Frodo said, quirky.

"Potion? What potion, cousin?" Pippin asked, confused.

"The potion that was in the cider. A smarter hobbit would have avoided that cider, but then we weren't!" Merry laughed out loud, but then so did everyone in the room. Pippin felt dizzy.

"No. I need to return home." He didn't know what he was doing. He was following Death up the stairs. Oh, what could he do to stop his death? Ah. A water hose. Grabbing the nozzle, Pippin pulled the handle back. Water sprayed, right at Death itself. He couldn't believe it. Death was retreating. No. No. It was getting bigger. No, wait. Stop! STOP! Stop… Pippin fell back into the darkness… he could feel his body again and it felt heavy… very heavy…

Pippin opened his saggy eyes. Tears streamed down his face. He couldn't believe it. He was alive, and with the biggest headache. He tested his fingers and toes. They still worked. He tested every limb, feeling its muscles and bones. It was hard getting up, but he had to try. At last, he was able to move but felt as if he was about to throw up.

"Ah," the healer with the crazy hairdo approached him with a bucket. "Here you are. Just for you. I've saved three more buckets for your friends."

"Thank you," Pippin said. In a manner of moments, the cider he drank spilled out of his mouth, emptying into the bucket. He regurgitated all he could, not stopping until he was completely cleaned out of the cider. In moments, the contents in his stomach were in the bucket, which vanished without a trace. Wait. Was he dreaming?

"You are not dreaming, dear Pippin. It's just a vanishing bucket. Works instantly on anything that isn't water," the healer announced, taking the bucket from him. Pippin took the bathroom necessities from the healer's hands. The healer told him, "Now, wash up. You've been dead for five minutes. Your friends… we'll have to give them a minute or two to wake up."

"Did you do this? Did you give us bad cider? Was it poisoned?" Pippin asked, confused.

"Now, now. The experiment is not done yet. Now off with you. The bathroom is on the top step, to the right," the healer said.

Pippin thanked him for the directions and rushed off. However, one thing wasn't clear: why would the healer try to poison him and his friends with bad cider? That wasn't very hobbitish.

Yes, I guess this can be put into an early Halloween fanfiction one-shot series. Now, there's three more parts to this series. I just figured the only way to do this is to give it a Halloween theme, as that makes more sense. I just hope everyone wasn't too creeped out by this story. Thanks for reading. :)