Beauty and a Beast

The next morning, Merry woke up, and he started to look for his friend. In the golden light of the morning he saw Pippin sitting next to a little waterfall, as he drank from a bowl and with a barrel next to him. Merry got up and walked around.

"Hello? Treebeard? Where has he gone?"
Merry asked, glancing at Pippin

"I had the loveliest dream last night. There was this large barrel, full of pipe-weed. And we smoked all of it. And then you were sick. I'd give anything for a whiff of Old Toby."
Pippin said, almost dreamily, completely ignoring Merry's concerns.

Hearing the cracking of the trees, Merry walked towards Pippin.

"Did you hear that? There it is again. Something's not right here. Not right at all."
Merry said, concern growing in his voice.

Pippin got up and while doing so, a strange sound elicited from him.
Hearing this, Merry turned, and he looked at Pippin in utter surprise, and confusion.

"You just said something... Treeish."

"No I didn't. I was just stretching."
Pippin argued, before it happened again.

Merry started to walk around Pippin.

"You're taller!"
He exclaimed.

"Who?"
Pippin asked, completely unaware of what was going on with him.

"You!"
Merry exclaimed, surprised that Pippin was not aware of the change.

"Than what?"
Pippin asked.

"Than me!"
Came Merry's exclaimed answer.

"I've always been taller than you."
Pippin said, nonchalantly.

"Pippin, everyone knows I'm the tall one. You're the short one."
Merry said, as a matter-of-factly.

"Please, Merry. You're what? Three-foot-six? At the most? Whereas me, I'm pushing 3'7"."
Pippin said, before the treeish sound came again, and he smiled.

"3'8"!"
He exclaimed, as he continued to drink eagerly from the bowl.

"Three-foot-eight!? You did something!"
Merry exclaimed at his friend, who just smiled, and put the bowl on the rock.

Realizing what was causing the change, Merry grabbed the barrel, and he tried to drink from it

"Merry, don't! Don't drink it!"
Pippin shouted, as he realized what Merry was doing.

Merry stopped, smiled, before he ran away with the barrel, taking another sip

"Merry! No, Treebeard said that you shouln't have any."
Pippin warned, suddenly becoming concerned for his friend.

Once again, Merry ran away with the barrel, before he stopped for another sip.
"I want some!"

"It could well be dangerous!"

Merry escaped again, and he spilled some ent-draught.

"Give me it back, Merry!"

The barrel fell when Merry climbed over some big roots. The hobbits heard treeish sounds and found themselves stuck in a tree.

"What's happening?"

"It's got my leg!"

Pippin found his hand getting stuck.
"Merry!"

The hobbits tried to get loose but were disappearing into the tree more and more. Their faces were being covered with dead leaves.

"Help!"
There was silence, just as Treebeard returned.
"Away with you. You should not be waking. Eat earth. Dig deep. Drink water."

The hobbits were appearing again, shaking the leaves of their heads and were getting up

"Go to sleep. Away with you."
Treebeard ordered, before he turned to the Hobbits.
"Come, the forest is waking up."

Treebeard picked them up and walks away.

"It isn't safe. The trees have grown wild and dangerous. Anger festers in their hearts. Black are their thoughts. Strong is their hate. They will harm you if they can. There are too few of us now. Too few of us Ents left to manage them."

"Why are there so few of you when you have lived so long? Are there Ent-children?"

"Bru-ra-hroom. There have been no Entings for a terrible long count of years."

"Why is that?"

"We lost the Entwives."

"Oh, I'm sorry. How did they die?"

"Die? No. We lost them. And now we cannot find them. I don't suppose you've seen Entwives in the Shire?"

"Can't say that I have. You, Pip?"

"What do they look like?"
Pippin said, shaking his head.

"I don't remember now."
Treebeard said, sadly.