A/N: I know that the Palantiri are indestructible, but I asked myself a question... what if one of them somehow managed to be sent to our world be mistake? What if the rules that it was bound by in Middle-Earth did not apply here? Meaning... what if simple things could break it in our world?So, this is what came of those questions... enjoy! P.S It's sort of Pippin centric, because he's my favorite ^_^ Reviews would be VERY much appreciated! *hint hint*

Chapter One: A Free Trip

''In a moment, everything can change.'' - Hilary Duff

It was a cold and rainy day in Linden, Michigan as my cousin Kassi and I looked for a place to stop in and dry off. We raced up and down the pavement, frantically searching for a store. We spotted a little antique shop across the street and we hurried over to it.

''I told you we shouldn't have left the car at the theatre! I told you it waould rain, didn't I?'' Kassi nagged as we entered quickly. She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail and we looked around. This store we so small, but it was packed with a lot of stuff. To us, it appeared mostly as just junk, but some of it was kinda cool looking.

''Oooh, look at that stone! Isn't it so pretty?'' Kassi gasped with wonder, pointing at a large blue stone bigger then my head. It was a blue orb with several streaks of light and dark blue staining the surface.

''It is.'' I agreed, shivering.

''Hello, ladies. How is the weather?'' The lady that owned the shop came out of no where and eyed us with an amused look on her face. She was very young, probably in her early twenties.

''It's pouring out there!'' I admitted, shaking the water out of my hair.

''I thought so. It's about time, too. I'm Melissa, I'm the owner. See anything you like, let me know. You can dry off here for a while, if you'd like.'' She smiled gently.

''I really like that stone.'' Kassi told her.

''Oh, that old thing? I don't like it. I get a wierd feeling when I look at it. It's evil, I swear. I found it back on my farm out west a few years ago, before I moved here. I never could find anyone to take it off my hands. Everyone else I asked to take it said they didn't like it, or it was evil or whatever.'' Melissa sighed.

''I'll take it.''

''Kassi!'' I gave her an annoyed look.

''What? It's really pretty. I like it.''

''You really want it? Here, take it. It's free.'' Melissa grabbed a plastic bag and a cloth, and after wrapping the orb in cloth did she place it in the bag and hand it over to Kassi.

''Yay!'' Kassi cheered.

I had a very bad feeling about the stone, like it was dangerous... almost like it had a mind of its own. Taking a deep breath, I sat on one of the benches Melissa had in her store and waited out the rain. We stayed there for about a half an hour in awkward silence, then the rain stopped.

Kassi and I thanked Melissa for letting us stay in her shop and dry off.

''No problem, girls. Anytime. Thank you for getting rid of that orb for me. I was beginning to think it would haunt me for the rest of my life.'' She shuddered.

We made a hasty exit of the shop and had to walk for about ten minutes until we arrived at the theatre and my little gold malibu was waiting there for me. I unlocked the car and Kassi put her little devil stone in the backseat before climbing into the passenger seat. We had about a half hour drive before we reached our lonely little apartment in Flint.

When we arrived, I was pleansently suprised to see everything was the same. We climbed the steps to find our room on the top floor.

''Ah, much better. I'm going to take a shower.'' Kassi informed me, letting her hair down and setting her stone on the table. She grabbed her pajamas (usually shorts and a tank top in the middle of summer) and raced off to the bathroom. I sighed deeply and wished I claimed it before her.

Maybe I should explain a little bit about us? Well, Kassi is my cousin, as you know, and she was like a sister to me. We had been inseperable as little girls, and when I turned nineteen, I got an apartment, Kassi turned nineteen september fifth, about five months after I did. She told me she didn't have anywhere to stay because her dad was kicking her out, so I asked her to stay with me. She got a job as a clerk for a nearby gas station while I studied for college. In my free time, I either spent time with Kassi, or went out around the town and painted scenes from anywhere I thought was beautiful. I was twenty three now, and Kassi was twenty two. She had two weeks before her birthday, and she was very excited. No, niether of us had boyfriends to share it with, nor a family for that matter because we broke all contact with our family when Kassi moved in with me, but we didn't care. We had each other... best friends and cousins. We were each other's family and friends. No man would come between our friendship.

Smiling absentmindledly, I changed into my pajamas too and settled down in the chair, waiting for Kassi to get done with her shower.

''I feel soooo much better.'' She exhaled deeply.

''I'm sure.''

''Oh yeah, I want to look at my stone!'' Kassi grinned, taking it out of the plastic bag nd unwrapping it. Her nails clacked all over the top and bottome as she tried to think of what to use it for. Getting an idea, she went off to her bedroom. Anxiously, I got up and followed her.

Kassi set it gingerly on her top shelf beside her bed and nodded.

''That looks right, huh? That old stand did come in handy after all.'' She shrugged.

''Well, I'm a little tired, I think I'm going to go to bed.''

''Okay, Hey, sorry about the stone. I know you don't like it, but she offered it to me free.''

''No, it's fine. It's really none of my buisness, and it doesn't look that evil on your shelf. Goodnight, cuz.'' I called her cuz all the time. I knew Kassi like it when I called her cuz for some reason. It made her smile when she was sad. I think she heard the southern catching on in my voice and found it funny.

''Night, Jae.'' She told me. I loved it when she called me Jae, beings as that my full name is Jaessa.

I headed off to my bedroom and swtiched my MP3 pleyer on and started listening to music- it was the only way I got some sleep most nights.

The next morning came before I knew it, and I was rudely woken up by a loud crash. I ripped the headphones from my ears and got out of bed. I looked in the bathroom, but there was no evidence of a crash in there, then I heard Kassi scream. I made my way to her room without hesitation and there she was, trying to fix the shards of her broken stone.

''Oh my God, Kassi, I'm so sorry.''

''I don't even know how it broke! It was on that stand really well!'' She said, confunded. I kneeled beside her to help pick up the pieces. Before we could throw them away, this black smoke started creeping out of the pieces of stone. The lights went dim and started flickering. The door slammed shut.

''What's happening?''

''It's that damn devil stone! I KNEW it was evil!'' I yelled as the smoke started rising and covering everything in sight. I could feel it wrapping around me tightly, like rope. I frantically tried to get it off, but nothing was working. I could only assume the same thing was happening to Kassi, because she was screaming at the top of her lungs. Trying to stay calm, I attmepted to fight it off still, but it was smoke- how do you pull smoke coils apart with your bare hands? I was just about to scream when it started enveloping my face, but it had my mouth covered. I couldn't breathe, think, move or see and I felt like I would explode when suddenly, the smoke vanished and I could see again. Then, I wished I couldn't see again. I wasn't in my apartment, I was looking at a mountainous, green land. I could see people far off in a little village, with houses that seemed to be coming out of the hills. There was plenty of forest near me, woods, in fact, and I had to spin around to see all around me.

''Where the Hell am I?'' I asked, sort of loudly. Sighing frustratedly, I sat down in the dirt road I was standing on and sighed. I hoped this was all a dream, I really did. I left my hand rest in my hair, only to frown when I realized my hair was in fine little curls falling down my back. I put my hands on my face and I didn't feel anything unusual until I reached my ears... which ended in fine little points.

''What am I?'' The second question surfaced as I noticed I was wearing a rather tight corset underneath a bright blue and white dress that came up to my ankles... and I had no shoes. Now I was definatly confused.

''I'm telling you, Pip, I heard something.'' A soft voice said near me. I looked back at the forest looming behind me.

''Oi, what are you doing in the middle of the road?'' The same voice asked. Realizing whoever said it meant me, I got to my feet and thought of running, but where to? I had no idea what or where I was. Then a terrible thought struck me- where was Kassi? Was she as lost and lonely as me? Like a deer caught in the headlights, I was paralyzed. Where was my friend? Wanting to cry, I stopped where I was and turned to see two guys coming my way. They were dressed very oddly. One was taller then the other one, and he was wearing a blueish coat over a yellow waistcoat and blue breeches (which are apparently what people used to wear in medievil times). He had curly golden hair and his eyes were steele grey. The other beside him had piercing dark green eyes and a darker blonde hair, also curly. He wore a white shirt with a green coat overtop and a patterned olive green scarf around his neck, and he also wore silly breeches.

With tears in my eyes, I just stood there.

''Are you alright?'' The shorter one said. With a shudder, I noticed his ears were pointy too.

Maybe they can help... whatever I am, and wherever I am, they oviously know!

''Where am I?'' I wondered aloud, trying my best not to cry.

''The Shire. Just outside of Crickhollow, to be exact. I'm Merry, and this is my cousin, Pippin. You are?'' The tall one stated. Hearing him say, ''cousin'' and pat Pippin on the back, I immedeatly felt loss. Now there was nothing holding my tears back. I let them slide down my cheeks as I gazed at them.

Merry frowned and took a step toward me. I took a step back and almost fell.

There was silence for a while, and I thought of running again, but my feet wouldn't work anymore.

''Where is Michigan? Where is Kassi? What am I?'' All of my questions flooded out like my tears as I desperatly tried to figure out what had happened.

''Mich-i-gan? Never heard of it.'' The one called Pippin said with wonder.

At those words, I lost conciousness and this strange new world went dark to me.