Pippin Took was bored and hungry. These two emotions had, by now, completely begun to outweigh being afraid of the Uruk guards, who were mostly just standing around grumbling that they were bored and hungry. Their leader, General Raxror, had left several hours ago. At first Pippin feared that this would lead to chaos, but the situation, tenuous as it was, had remained stable.

Night was falling. Watching the sun set outside the window had been the most excitement that they had had since the banquet hall had been taken. Pippin had been waiting for Haldir to show up and do something, but he had not come. Ciendriel and Legolas seemed to have faith in him, however, so Pippin did, too.

It was a real shame about his brothers. Pip had to squidge back a tear when he thought about them. Rúmil and Orophin had been capitol fellows, and he would never get used to losing friends. It was hard to believe they had been the only two to fall. Pippin had seen them fight before, and neither of them was a poor shot.

Legolas was taking it really hard, Pippin knew, though he was fighting not to show it. He had passed from grief to nervous, edgy energy, and he kept looking out the window. Pippin was pretty sure that Legolas was not watching the sunset. He wondered if Legolas would try to make a break for it.

He thought about Merry, and wondered where he was. Pippin wasn't too worried about his cousin, or even about Bilbo and Frodo, except that Merry had Estella with him. He was amazed by Merry's sudden preoccupation with her since he had always claimed not to think very highly of her before. Pippin secretly thought that Merry had always been jealous of Estella's crush on him, but she had apparently changed her mind, which was all for the best. Pippin only had eyes for Angelica.

Pippin turned and looked at her. Angelica had her elbows on her knees and her hands on her chin. Her eyes were closed. Her curly red hair framed her face and Pippin wished he could climb on top of her right there. He shook his head. This was no time for erotic thoughts.

"Diamond?"

"Yes, Pip?" said Angelica without opening her eyes.

"What are you thinking about?"

"The Shire. Our cozy little bed. And Frodo's kitchen, when Sam's in it."

Pippin's stomach growled at her words, and she opened her eyes and winked at him. He shook his head. "I don't know what's worse, being killed by Uruk-hai or starving to death," he said. "What do you think our chances are of sneaking into the kitchens?"

"You know how to sneak into the kitchens from here?"

"Oh sure, I can get to the kitchen from any part of the palace," Pippin bragged.

Angelica considered for a moment. "Where's the entrance?"

"Behind that tapestry over there, the one with the frolicking Elf maidens with the big jugs," Pippin said.

"The big what?" said Angelica.

"Jugs of wine," Pippin said, frowning at her. "What did you think I meant?"

"Never mind."

"Elrond covers the passage to the kitchen so the food can be brought in during feasts as if by magic."

"Do you suppose the Uruk-hai know about that passage?"

"Probably not."

"I wondered why no one has tried to get out through there," Angelica said.

"It is too risky," Legolas said. Pippin turned, not having realized that Legolas and Ciendriel were paying any attention to their conversation. "I would have gone out the window, myself. There is less of a chance of being noticed."

"Do you have anything to eat?" Pippin asked the blond Elf in frustration.

"No."

"Not even any lembas?"

"I am sorry, Pippin. I have no lembas."

"I thought you always had a piece of that crusty old bread hidden inside your tunic somewhere," Pippin grumbled.

"Forgive me."

"I'm ready to take the risk," Pippin said.

"Pippin, no," said Angelica. "We'll be all right, even without food for a few days."

"Or until they decide to kill us all," he muttered.

"If you are going to try something foolish, you should try retrieve weapons, not lembas," Legolas said urgently. "If you are going to do this anyway, I will create a distraction."

"I have no intention of getting lembas, if there's anything else to be had," Pippin said.

"Do you think the Uruk-hai have noticed us?" Angelica asked Legolas hopefully. "I mean, we are awfully small, and surely they would not be expecting to find Hobbits in Rivendell. Maybe we could slip out to find the weapons and they would never know we were gone."

"They do seem awfully stupid," said Ciendriel, looking over at the guards.

"It is hard to tell if they have paid you any mind," said Legolas.

"We can't exactly ask them," said Pippin.

It was getting darker in the banquet hall, and some of the guards preoccupied themselves with lighting torches along the walls.

"This is a good opportunity, if you wish to disappear," Legolas suggested.

"I'll come with you," Angelica said urgently.

"All right." Pippin did not want her to put herself in danger, but he did not wish to leave her behind, either.

"Be careful," Ciendriel cautioned them.

"Put the weapons in the hall behind the tapestry," Legolas instructed them. "Elrond keeps extra bows and quivers in the storage rooms beyond the kitchens. I will spread the word among all the Elves."

"I know where they are." Pippin nodded.

"Go slowly, and move the tapestry as little as possible," the Elf continued.

"Understood."

"Make sure you also--"

"Legolas! Let them go now before all the torches are lit," Ciendriel hissed.

Pippin took Angelica's hand and the two of them ducked under a table. They crept from it to another table, then another, making steady progress towards the tapestry. Pippin listened carefully, but there was little sound in the banquet hall besides the low murmur of conversation, both Elven and Uruk. Soon they could see the bottom of the giant wall hanging. They edged out from beneath the table towards the wall.

Pippin glanced back over his shoulder. The Uruks were paying little attention to their prisoners, but Legolas and Ciendriel were watching them like hawks. He took the edge of the tapestry in his hand. Dust stirred in the air, which surprised him, since Rivendell was, in general, spotlessly clean. Maybe all the Elves who kept the place tidy had already sailed for the Undying lands.

The dust tickled his nose, and Pippin felt a sneeze coming on. No, oh no, this was not a good time for this. Bilbo had told Pippin once that he had the loudest sneeze in all the Shire. He had to stifle it. He still held the tapestry, but he clapped his other hand over his mouth and nose.

"Pippin! What's wrong?" Angelica whispered urgently.

Pippin lifted up the corner of the tapestry and shoved her through roughly. He saw her fall on her knees inside the passage behind, but he was in no shape to apologize. His eyes were starting to water, but he saw Legolas get to his feet and stretch, pretending to be casual. The blond Elf began to stroll towards the window, distracting the Uruk-hai.

"You there! Sit back down!" Pippin heard one bellow.

"I am just stretching my legs," said Legolas.

"We can cut them off if they're bothering you," the Uruk leered.

The sneeze ripped through Pippin, hard enough to shake the tapestry he was holding. He froze in fear, expecting to be grabbed by a guard, but they were all preoccupied with Legolas, who at the sound of the sneeze had jumped onto the windowsill as if he meant to affect an escape.

"Get down from there at once!"

"Come and get me," Legolas called. All the other Elves stood up and cheered him on, but Ciendriel was frozen in fear, her face a wooden mask.

"Quiet you lot!" roared an Uruk. Three of them threw themselves at Legolas, who moved deftly aside. One guard pitched out the window and fell screaming. Pippin heard a crunch that said he had no doubt broken his back in the fall.

"Pippin!" Angelica hissed from inside the hallway. "He's doing this so we can get out! Come on!"

Legolas began to climb up the side of the window. He could get onto the roof and escape that way, Pippin knew, but one of the Uruk-hai grabbed his foot and hauled him back down roughly. Legolas lost his balance and fell. The Uruk-hai held him by one ankle out the window.

"Let him fall," one of the others snarled.

"No, haul him in! We can kill him! Raxror says we can eat any who don't behave."

Angelica grabbed Pippin by the back of his shirt and hauled him backwards into the tunnel behind the tapestry.

"Come on," she repeated.

"They're going to kill Legolas," Pippin stammered.

"Maybe they won't," Angelica said, but she bit her lip and looked worried. "He's awfully smart. He'll get himself out of it."

"It's all my fault."

"He did it so that we can try to save the others," Angelica said.

She put her arms around Pippin and pulled him up against her, which in itself made him feel a hundred times better. He clung on to her for a moment, trembling. If Legolas died, he would never ever forgive himself. Yet, Angelica was right. The Elf had sacrificed himself so that the two Hobbits could go after the weapons.

Pippin pulled himself together. For a moment he strained his ears, listening to the dull roaring of Uruk voices inside the banquet hall. He heard no mention of missing Hobbits or moving tapestries. Legolas' plan seemed to have worked.

"Let's kill him right here!"

"No -- bring him to Raxror."

"Raxror will only keep this juicy tidbit for himself!"

"Too bad, then. You want to lose a hand? You know what Raxror does when orders isn't obeyed."

"Please, let him go," this was Ciendriel's voice.

"Quiet, bitch, or you can go with him."

"You can take me instead."

The Uruks laughed, and Pippin could hear Legolas protesting. Pippin couldn't stand any more. He couldn't think about what they were going to do to Legolas. They had to go on with the mission so that it would not have all been in vain. He let go of Angelica slowly, and she reached out her hand for his. Together they hurried down the hallway towards the kitchens.

Unfortunately, the kitchens were teeming with Uruk-hai. They ransacked the large room, stealing what food they could find, knocking over chairs and breaking them, bashing pans until they were unrecognizable, and fighting with each other. Luckily for Pippin and Angelica, the kitchen end of the tunnel was equally disguised as the end that came from the banquet hall. It was covered by a large shelf on which Elrond's best dishes were kept, until the Uruks had smashed them into smithereens. The two of them stayed behind the shelf, debating what to do. What a shame it would be if Legolas had given up his life in vain!

"We'll just have to wait until they're gone," Angelica whispered.

Pippin nodded. It seemed hours had passed before the Uruk-hai gave up and realized that they had already eaten, stolen, and destroyed everything in the kitchen. It was depressing, Pippin thought. It really had been a perfectly good kitchen, even if Elrond's chefs were not the best in all of Middle-earth. They did very little besides what the Elves liked, and Pippin found their cuisine entirely too bland and stable for his taste.

Still, at this point he would have eaten a shoe. It was a good thing that Hobbits wore none, he reflected. As he debated what other article of clothing he might be wearing that was edible, Angelica poked him.

"They're gone, I think. It's finally quiet."

"I'll look and see." Pippin bent his head carefully out from behind the shelf. The kitchen was indeed in shambles. They were lucky the Uruk-hai had not knocked over the shelf they were hiding behind. "Come on. The store rooms are hidden, so they won't have gotten to the weapons." He thought about it for a minute. "There may be food yet, as well!"

The thought was cheering. He and Angelica carefully wound their way through the broken furniture and dishes. The entrance to the storage area was even more well-disguised than that to the serving tunnel. Pippin had to think for a moment to remember which stone to press on the wall to get the alcove to open. He had to press hard with both hands to operate the contraption.

"I'm not as strong as an Elf," he muttered. "Why can't they do as the Dwarves do and just set up a password?"

Finally the secret door opened and they slipped inside, only to find themselves face to face with two drawn bows knocked with sharp arrows and a rather deadly looking knife.