Fan Fiction ❯ Forget Me Not ❯ Meeting Aragorn ( Chapter 4 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: Emmablk1 
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.24.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 202 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Drama / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 06.24.2005 | Pages: 4 | Words: 5.1K | Visits: 202 | Status: Completed
Chapter Four
It wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. Although, the difficult part was more due to Frodo instead of trekking through all types of weather. My nerves wouldn't stand still no matter how hard I tried to suppress them.
Already we had walked through farmland, grassland, another farmland, endless grasslands...everything looked the same. On the second day, however, we came to a gorgeous waterfall.
"Wow," I breathed. "It's so beautiful..." Sam was lagging behind me again and Frodo didn't seem to notice. He was becoming more and more preoccupied in his own thoughts than he had been and I hadn't seen him smile since the day we left.
"Can...we...keep...moving?" Sam panted from behind me. "If we...stop...everything becomes...heavy...again."
"Everything was heavy to begin with, idiot." I said sourly, thinking about Frodo's attitude and getting grumpier every minute I thought about it.
...
We walked on, stopping every now and then for food and for nursing our blisters. My feet weren't used to covering this much ground. We entered the farmland again and I sighed, not wanting to look at another barn.
Suddenly Sam stopped and I, who had been lagging behind him for once, collided with all the pots and pans on his backside. "This is it." He said as a way of explanation of stopping.
"This is what?" Frodo and I said together. Our eyes connected for a second and I saw that not all the warmth in his eyes had been frozen.
Sam looked at both of us. "If I take one more step...it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been."
I sighed and said, "Oh, please." Although my answer had been less encouraging, Frodo smiled at Sam as I readjusted my backpack that was cutting into my shoulders.
"C'mon, Sam," Frodo said and he took Sam by the shoulder to lead him on. "Remember what Bilbo used to say," I laughed and said the next line in chorus with him.
"'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.' " Sam smiled and we began to walk on, both Frodo and I helping Sam walk farther. "'You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.' "
"Plus," I added after we were done quoting. "I think you would have gotten farther if you were chasing Rosie, so I doubt that it matters anyway." Sam punched me in the stomach as punishment and things seemed like we had never left Hobbiton.
...
A few hours later we were lounging around taking a break. Frodo was lying in the tree smoking a pipe and Sam was, of course, cooking sausages. As he put them on the napkin, I snatched them up and put them in my mouth. Sam kept smacking my hand and telling me to 'keep away from my food!'
There was a slight sound of music in the air that Sam and I were ignoring. It wasn't until Frodo sat up that I noticed anything out of the ordinary. "Sam! Miriam!" He called to us excitedly, "Wood-elves!"
All three of us looked at each other for a moment, then shot up and ran toward where the music was strongest. There they were...beautiful in all their glory. We hid behind a conveniently placed log. I was amazed. In their flowing robes, it was impossible to tell what gender they were. The music was coming from somewhere, but the mouths of the elves weren't moving. I was about to ask where they were going when Frodo read my mind and said, "They're going to the harbor beyond the White Towers." He tore his eyes away from the elves and looked at us; his eyes lingering on mine a second longer. "To the Grey Havens."
"They're leaving Middle Earth." Sam whispered. I made my eyes look at him to find that he was still gazing intently at the elves.
"Never to return." Frodo continued. His eyes were still on mine. I didn't look at him directly.
"I don't know why..." Sam said dejectedly. "...it makes me sad."
I glanced at my brother and wondered if I should actually forgive him for taking me on a crazy trip after all.
...
The night was silent except for the occasional hooting of the owl that was in the tree above me. I rolled over to my side, but no matter where I lay, a piece of twig punctured my back. I opened my eyes and looked around as best as I could. Sam was having similar problems with the sleeping arrangement.
"Everywhere I lie, there's a dirty great root sticking into my back." He called out into the darkness annoying loud. I groaned and moved to my other side where Frodo was lying.
His eyes were closed tightly, but he called back to Sam. "Just shut your eyes and imagine you're back in your own bed...with a soft mattress...and a lovely feather pillow." He sounded very tired and his words came slow and sleepy.
I heard Sam twisting and turning around on the ground just like he did at home. He was so loud there that I heard him from my room, which was three rooms down the hall. I managed to get comfortable for five minutes until Sam muttered aloud again. "It's not working Mr. Frodo." He said and I groaned again. "I'm never going to be able to sleep out here."
Frodo opened his eyes and gazed at me, smiling a bit. "Me neither, Sam."
Distantly, I heard Sam munching on some leftover sausage and I tried to close my eyes and sleep. I couldn't sleep still, although for a different reason this time. Quickly I peeked out and saw Frodo still staring at me, though his eyes were glazed over. I shut my eyes again and silently hoped he would go back to normal soon.
...
I had come to the conclusion that the shire had too many farms. I was surprised that we had only gone about a hundred miles from Hobbiton, but I was never a good judge of meter. We were walking through yet another cornfield. I swear, if I ever walk through another cornfield, I'll...probably go insane.
One way or another, all three of us were separated. It wasn't hard to do, although I was trying to get lost from Sam anyways. I was looking down at my feet, not caring where I was going, when suddenly I realized that Sam wasn't ahead or behind me. At first I wasn't very concerned, but then I grasped the fact that Frodo was always with him and therefore wasn't with me.
Suddenly I heard a shout coming from a few stalks ahead of me. "Mr. Frodo? Frodo? Frodo!" I raced toward the voice and found Sam desperately twirling around looking everywhere. Frodo came from around the corner of the stalks and smiled worriedly. "Thought I'd lost you." Sam said, relived.
Frodo smiled and answered, "What do you mean?"
Sam shifted uncomfortably. "It's just something Gandalf said." He looked at me and I knew exactly what he meant.
"Oh! That..." I remembered.
Frodo looked between the both of us. "What did he say?"
"'Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee.' " Sam recited. You would think it was his favorite quote or something. Who remembers what someone has told you at least three days ago? I know I can't remember. "And I don't mean to." Sam finished.
Frodo laughed at us. "Sam, we're still in the Shire. What could possibly happen?"
As if it were an omen, there abruptly came a crashing from behind us. We turned around, but Frodo and I were instantly tackled by two blurs carrying vegetables.
"Ouch!" I cried, feeling someone's weight on me. They were heavy, too. I opened my eyes to see my attacker and saw a patch of reddish curly hair. "Pippin?!" I cried into his hair.
He looked up and blushed deeply, then looked to his right. "Frodo." He said amazed, as if he wasn't lying on top of me. "Merry, it's Frodo Baggins." He called to the other blur who had landed on top of Frodo. I smiled at him.
"Hello Frodo." Merry said cheerfully, still on top of him by accident, trying to get off.
"Get off of him! C'mon, Frodo." He yanked Merry off Frodo in an instant and pulled him off the ground, dusting him. He ignored the fact that Pip hadn't thought about getting off of me yet.
"Umm...Pip..." I said tensely. "You're still on me." He looked back at me and blushed redder than he already was.
"Sorry," He said and helped me up.
Sam already wanted to know why Merry and Pippin were running at top notch speed through a cornfield. Then he saw that they were holding vegetables. "You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!"
Before anyone had anything to say about it, there came a shout in the distance, unmistakably Farmer Maggot. "You get back here! Get out of my field! You'll know the devil if I catch up with you!" Merry and Pippin were visibly scared, so they dumped most of the veggies with Sam and took off at a run, grabbing me and Frodo with them.
"I don't know why he's so upset." Merry puffed as we ran, dodging huge stalks of corn at every turn. "It's only a couple of carrots."
"Umm...do you know where we're going?" I asked Merry, who had taken my hand at a run and hadn't let go yet. He didn't answer, which concerned me just a lot.
"And some cabbages," Pip threw back at him. "And those three bags of potatoes that we lifted last week," He stopped talking to catch his breath. "And then the mushrooms the week before."
Merry sighed but kept running. "Yes, Pippin. My point is...He's clearly overreacting!"
Finally we came out of the cornfield at a dead run and stopped just before a drop at the other side. All three of us sighed in relief.
Then Frodo asked, "Where's Sa-" right before he ran into us from behind and we toppled over into the ditch.
We fell in a heap all together; Merry on Sam, who was on me, and I was on Pippin. Frodo seemed to have no trouble getting out and standing up, while the rest of us groaned from the weight. "Oh. That was close." Pippin said, narrowly avoiding some dung that was in the road.
"Oh, yeah. Very close." I replied. Then I took some and mashed it in his face.
"What'd you do that for?" He sputtered after spitting some of it out. I chuckled and just smiled sweetly.
"I think I've broken something." Merry said disdainfully. He pulled a broken carrot out from under him and pouted.
Sam was less happy than the rest of us. "Trust a Brandybuck and a Took!"
"You didn't necessarily have to trust them, you know." I whispered to myself, fed up with Sam's attitude. We all tried to get up and after several tries I managed to fling Sam off of me, all three hundred pounds of blubber.
"What?" Merry said angrily. "That was just a detour. A shortcut." He sounded as if Sam had insulted his family generations back. Either that or his beer, which he was very protective about.
"Short cut to what?" I asked, curious.
"Mushrooms!" Pippin exclaimed, and we all immediately threw ourselves over to the mushrooms and started to divide them equally. The only thing missing was that Frodo wasn't joining in on the festivities. "That's mine." Pip said, picking the biggest one out for himself.
"That's not fair!" I cried, slapping his had away from it. He plucked it off the ground and we fought over it; one pulling it this way, one pulling it the other. While Pip and I were fighting like little children, Merry and Sam were picking up all the good mushrooms, sharing them equally between them.
Frodo was still on the road, staring out into oblivion for some reason. I let go of the mushroom to ask what the matter was and Pippin fell over. I helped him up, wondering what was wrong with Frodo. It didn't answer my question when he said, "I think we should get off the road." No one was listening but me. Merry and Sam were busy picking out mushrooms and Pippin was currently stroking the mushroom he had won. Frodo's eyes had an urgency in them that frightened me. "Get off the road! Quick!" he shouted. We followed his orders and ran over to a nearby log, hiding beneath it.
"Be quiet!" I whispered when the world suddenly went deathly still. The only sound I could hear was the breathing of everyone else and the crawling of the bugs over all four of us. Spiders were slipping over ever cranny they could and the other ones I couldn't name were crawling absolutely everywhere. (A/N: In case you wanted to know, Sam is on Frodo's left side, Miriam on his right, and Merry and Pippin next to her. I don't know how they all got squeezed in there, by the way.)
There suddenly came the sound of a horse breathing from right above us. I looked up through a crack and saw it was no ordinary horse. It seemed as though it were bleeding black blood. The rider got down and the metal he or she was wearing clanked even on the soft floor of the forest.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Frodo reach into his pocket. I turned my head and saw a golden ring in his hand. It looked as ordinary as a ring could be, but from the moment I saw it, I knew it was evil. Frodo then tried to slip it on; he was falling fast under a spell neither he nor I could see. Without hesitation I reached out and put my hand on his, at the same moment Sam reached out the stop him. I looked at Sam and wondered if we were alike after all.
Merry was the smart one and he threw one of the packs that we had left over to the side and listened for the crash. Instantly, the rider and horse raced over to investigate. All four of us ran as far as we could together without breaking our legs from running.
"What was that?" someone asked, but I was too tired to figure out whom.
...
For the last five hours, we were all on a tight rope; too scared to not dodge behind trees when we ran. It had gotten dark a few minutes ago and now we were really on the edge. Frodo dared to go out before all of the rest of us, checking to see if anything was out there.
"Anything?" Sam called. Frodo was hiding behind a tree about twenty feet ahead of us. We were all panting from running so much and from fright.
"Nothing." Frodo called back, relieved and discouraged at the same time, if it was possible.
We caught up with him, desperate for answers. "What's going on?" Pippin said desperately, leaning on another tree for strength.
Merry went right up to Frodo and said something almost inaudible. So much I had to strain to hear. "That black rider was looking for something or someone. Frodo?" Chills ran down my back at his words.
Out of the darkness there came a dark shape from ahead of us. "Get down!" Someone called.
Frodo called out to us quietly. "I have to leave the Shire. Sam, Miriam and I must get to Bree." Merry nodded as the rest of us were still trying to digest what he was saying.
"Right." Merry told him. "Bucklebury Ferry. Follow me." We followed him and I marveled at how he knew where everything was.
Our sureness at where we were going was short-lived, however, as when we went two feet, another black rider popped out from in front of us and we ran in the opposite direction. "Run!" Pippin shouted.
"This way!" Merry's voice carried over to the rest of us. "Follow me!" I scrambled over to where he was, intent on getting away from the shadow.
"Run!" pippin screamed again, and I knew instantly where to turn. We jumped a fence and came to a lake with a boat handy on the deck, made just for five hobbits to ride on. We scrambled on board and Sam undid the rope from the deck. Suddenly, at the same time, we all noticed that we were missing Frodo.
"Frodo!" Sam screamed, as Pippin yelled, "Run, Frodo!"
We shouted to him, telling him to 'Go!' and 'Hurry!', but he seemed to be running in slow motion, not being able to get there in time with one of the black riders behind him, tailing him.
"Frodo, c'mon!" I shouted louder than the others, "C'mon! Faster!"
"Jump!" All three of them yelled at the same time. We were now about a foot or more from the deck. Miraculously, Frodo got to the edge of the deck and jumped, landing hard on the raft.
He lay there, gasping for breath and said, "How far from the nearest crossing?" I stared at him in amazement and faintly heard Merry saying, "The Brandywine Bridge. Twenty Miles."
I bent down and helped him up, feeling him sink in my arms. He had fallen asleep in my embrace.
...
Compared to the rest of the journey, the boat ride didn't take too long. Although we felt better about loosing the riders, our hopes were dashed when it started to rain and we took one wrong turn after another in order to find the city of Bree. Apparently, we were looking for The Inn of the Prancing Pony.
"C'mon," Frodo whispered to the rest of us and lead us to the entrance of what had to be Bree. We stood in a line, constantly looking over our shoulders, at the giant wooden door. Frodo knocked and the man inside opened the small window at the bottom of the door that was just our size. I'd forgotten we were that short and I didn't like the overwhelming feeling it gave me.
"What do you want?" The man asked in a gruff voice. I couldn't see his face because of the combination of the rain and the dark.
"We're heading for the Prancing Pony." Frodo said daringly, but I could tell he was frightened.
"Hobbits." The man sounded surprised to see our kind in his town. "Five hobbits! What's more, out of the shire by your talk. What business brings you to Bree?" He surveyed all of us.
"We wish to stay at the inn." Frodo answered huffily. "Our business is our own."
The man looked amazed that such a small person could have such an attitude and he opened the door for us. "Alright, young sir." He apologized. We shuffled through the door quietly as he spoke. "I meant no offense. It's my job to ask questions after nightfall. There's talk of strange folk abroad. Can't be too careful..." his voice faded as we walked on.
There were so many people there and we were so short, it was hard to maneuver around the town. Especially since we didn't know exactly where the inn was. People kept shouting at us. "Out of the way!" and "Watch where you're walking!" were jeered at us several times. Then we finally saw the inn, like a beacon to us.
I knew before we walked through the door that we were not going to fit in here. Frodo walked right up to the desk at the front and said rather loudly, "Excuse me..."
As a man looked over the top of the desk, I turned to Sam, Merry and Pippin. "Are you sure Gandalf will be here?" I asked to mask my nervousness.
They didn't answer, but Pippin immediately became concerned with one of the things he loves best; beer. "Do you think they have any beer here?" he asked aloud and the rest of us sighed.
"It's not like you need it," Merry told him. "Unlike me..." He let it drop and he and Pippin began to fight over who needed it the most. It wasn't until we heard Gandalf's name that we began to listen to the conversation between Frodo and the owner.
"Gandalf? Gandalf...Oh, yes...I remember...Elderly chap. Big grey beard, pointy hat." We nodded in expectation. "Not seen him for six months." Frodo turned back to us, his face the same as ours; confused.
"What do we do now?" Sam asked.
"Sam...he'll be here. He'll come." Frodo told him for an answer. I nodded helpfully.
We decided to sit and wait. Merry and Pippin got us some drinks and we commenced to sitting and hoping. I turned to Frodo, who was sitting next to me. "Don't worry; he's never broken a promise before." I tried to soothe him. He smiled, took my hand, and squeezed it. Under the table, of course because we had no intentions of letting Sam see. Although I think he was too wrapped up in thinking about the Shire than chaperoning me.
Merry came back from the bar with another drink, ducking and avoiding the other people in the tavern. He sat next to Pip, who was sitting next to Sam. Pippin's eyes glazed over the drink, and then he did a double take. "What's that?"
Merry smirked and said proudly, "This, my friend, is a pint." I sucked in my breath and let out a groan.
"It comes in pints?" His eyes went wide for a second and then went back to normal. "I'm getting one!" He jumped from the bench and raced over to the bar.
"You got a whole half already!" Sam yelled at him, but either Pip didn't care or couldn't hear, and he didn't turn around and come back. Sam sighed annoyingly and turned to Frodo. He pointed to a corner. "That fellow's done nothing but stare at you since we arrived." Frodo and I both looked over him at the same time. It was terribly hard to see him, but every few moments the pipe he was smoking would light up and you could see the outline of his face.
The man from the front desk passed by our table and Frodo stopped him. "Excuse me...That man in the corner. Who is he?"
The man looked disturbed by the question. "He's one of them Rangers. They're dangerous folk, wandering the wilds." He leaned closer and whispered so that we could hear. "What is right name is, I've never heard, but around here he's known as Strider." Again, I felt chills race down my back. Something was wrong, but I couldn't tell if the problem was this man named Strider or...something else.
Frodo squeezed my hand again, let it go, and started to play with something in his pocket. Instantly I knew what it was, and I watched him twirl it in his fingers incoherently. Sam and I looked at each other cautiously when Frodo closed his eyes, lost in his own world.
Then there came a voice from the bar. "Baggins? Sure, I know a Baggins." Frodo's eyes flashed open as pippin's voice carried over to our table. "He's over there" Pip pointed at us and Frodo stood up in urgency. "Frodo Baggins."
"Oh, no...don't tell me he's gonna tell the family tree again..." I groaned to no one in particular. I couldn't watch, so I turned my head to look at the man called Strider. He was no longer sitting leisurely, but was now on the edge of his seat, ready to spring at any moment.
"...My second cousin, once removed on his mother's side...and my third cousin, twice removed..." I switched back to what was going on with Frodo and Pippin.
"Pippin!" Frodo shouted, trying to get Pippin down off the stool. Unfortunately, it backfired and Frodo was the one who fell onto the ground instead of Pip.
"Steady on, Frodo." Pip said, taking another drink of whatever it was he had in his cup. He was obviously very drunk.
Frodo fell and when he did something golden and shiny flew out of his hand. It was the ring. As he tried to grab it, it slipped onto his finger instead and, just like Bilbo, Frodo disappeared.
The crowd at the bar hushed and gasped to see (or not see) such a sight and nearly everything got very quiet. I heard Strider get up from his chair, and, a few moments later, when Frodo reappeared under a table, he grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and pulled up some stairs at the back of the pub.
I turned to Sam and Merry and the three of us pulled Pippin away from the bar and raced toward the stairs. On the way we found some candles and assorted things to fight with and we ran up the stairs two at a time.
"Ready?" Sam said savagely and burst through the door. "Let him go! Or I'll have you, longshanks."
My brother is a big embarrassment sometimes. And this was one of those times. "Sam," I whispered to him quietly. "Do me a favor and never use that word again." Sam ignored me as usual.
"You have a stout heart, little hobbit." Strider said. Frodo looked fine, actually. Apparently, he was only being verbally abused. "But that will not save you." He turned back to Frodo. "You can no longer wait for the wizard, Frodo. They're coming."
...
I was having the most wonderful dream...we were all back in the Shire, eating, have a few laughs...but then the tide turned and there was fire and darkness everywhere. Everywhere I turned it was so hot...then so blistering cold that I thought I couldn't stand it anymore...until someone saved me. They took me in their arms and comforted me...I looked up to see their face and-
A wailing, shrieking sound from across the street awoke me. For a minute I thought they had finally gotten to us, but then I remembered that we stuffed our beds with pillows and proceeded to fall asleep in Strider's apartments. Merry, Pippin, and I slept on the bed vertically while Sam and Frodo slept horizontally. It was terribly uncomfortable, but it was the most fulfilling sleep I had had in days.
Frodo was already awake and the others awoke when I did. Frodo turned to Strider, who was in a chair, staring out the window and asked, "What are they?" He was referring to the black riders that had chased us.
Strider silently looked all of us over and spoke. "They were once men. Great kings of Men. Then Sauron the Deceiver gave to the nine rings of power." The name of Sauron gave me goosebumps in what was an otherwise very warm bed. "Blinded by their greed, they took them without question. One by one falling into darkness. Now they are slaves to his will." All of us were hanging on his every word, intent on soaking every detail of the story. "They are the Nazgul. Ringwraiths. Neither living nor dead. At all times they feel the presence of the Ring...drawn to the power of the one. They will never stop hunting you." I swallowed hard and cast a look over at the others. We were white with fear, not knowing what to expect now.
It wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. Although, the difficult part was more due to Frodo instead of trekking through all types of weather. My nerves wouldn't stand still no matter how hard I tried to suppress them.
Already we had walked through farmland, grassland, another farmland, endless grasslands...everything looked the same. On the second day, however, we came to a gorgeous waterfall.
"Wow," I breathed. "It's so beautiful..." Sam was lagging behind me again and Frodo didn't seem to notice. He was becoming more and more preoccupied in his own thoughts than he had been and I hadn't seen him smile since the day we left.
"Can...we...keep...moving?" Sam panted from behind me. "If we...stop...everything becomes...heavy...again."
"Everything was heavy to begin with, idiot." I said sourly, thinking about Frodo's attitude and getting grumpier every minute I thought about it.
...
We walked on, stopping every now and then for food and for nursing our blisters. My feet weren't used to covering this much ground. We entered the farmland again and I sighed, not wanting to look at another barn.
Suddenly Sam stopped and I, who had been lagging behind him for once, collided with all the pots and pans on his backside. "This is it." He said as a way of explanation of stopping.
"This is what?" Frodo and I said together. Our eyes connected for a second and I saw that not all the warmth in his eyes had been frozen.
Sam looked at both of us. "If I take one more step...it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been."
I sighed and said, "Oh, please." Although my answer had been less encouraging, Frodo smiled at Sam as I readjusted my backpack that was cutting into my shoulders.
"C'mon, Sam," Frodo said and he took Sam by the shoulder to lead him on. "Remember what Bilbo used to say," I laughed and said the next line in chorus with him.
"'It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.' " Sam smiled and we began to walk on, both Frodo and I helping Sam walk farther. "'You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.' "
"Plus," I added after we were done quoting. "I think you would have gotten farther if you were chasing Rosie, so I doubt that it matters anyway." Sam punched me in the stomach as punishment and things seemed like we had never left Hobbiton.
...
A few hours later we were lounging around taking a break. Frodo was lying in the tree smoking a pipe and Sam was, of course, cooking sausages. As he put them on the napkin, I snatched them up and put them in my mouth. Sam kept smacking my hand and telling me to 'keep away from my food!'
There was a slight sound of music in the air that Sam and I were ignoring. It wasn't until Frodo sat up that I noticed anything out of the ordinary. "Sam! Miriam!" He called to us excitedly, "Wood-elves!"
All three of us looked at each other for a moment, then shot up and ran toward where the music was strongest. There they were...beautiful in all their glory. We hid behind a conveniently placed log. I was amazed. In their flowing robes, it was impossible to tell what gender they were. The music was coming from somewhere, but the mouths of the elves weren't moving. I was about to ask where they were going when Frodo read my mind and said, "They're going to the harbor beyond the White Towers." He tore his eyes away from the elves and looked at us; his eyes lingering on mine a second longer. "To the Grey Havens."
"They're leaving Middle Earth." Sam whispered. I made my eyes look at him to find that he was still gazing intently at the elves.
"Never to return." Frodo continued. His eyes were still on mine. I didn't look at him directly.
"I don't know why..." Sam said dejectedly. "...it makes me sad."
I glanced at my brother and wondered if I should actually forgive him for taking me on a crazy trip after all.
...
The night was silent except for the occasional hooting of the owl that was in the tree above me. I rolled over to my side, but no matter where I lay, a piece of twig punctured my back. I opened my eyes and looked around as best as I could. Sam was having similar problems with the sleeping arrangement.
"Everywhere I lie, there's a dirty great root sticking into my back." He called out into the darkness annoying loud. I groaned and moved to my other side where Frodo was lying.
His eyes were closed tightly, but he called back to Sam. "Just shut your eyes and imagine you're back in your own bed...with a soft mattress...and a lovely feather pillow." He sounded very tired and his words came slow and sleepy.
I heard Sam twisting and turning around on the ground just like he did at home. He was so loud there that I heard him from my room, which was three rooms down the hall. I managed to get comfortable for five minutes until Sam muttered aloud again. "It's not working Mr. Frodo." He said and I groaned again. "I'm never going to be able to sleep out here."
Frodo opened his eyes and gazed at me, smiling a bit. "Me neither, Sam."
Distantly, I heard Sam munching on some leftover sausage and I tried to close my eyes and sleep. I couldn't sleep still, although for a different reason this time. Quickly I peeked out and saw Frodo still staring at me, though his eyes were glazed over. I shut my eyes again and silently hoped he would go back to normal soon.
...
I had come to the conclusion that the shire had too many farms. I was surprised that we had only gone about a hundred miles from Hobbiton, but I was never a good judge of meter. We were walking through yet another cornfield. I swear, if I ever walk through another cornfield, I'll...probably go insane.
One way or another, all three of us were separated. It wasn't hard to do, although I was trying to get lost from Sam anyways. I was looking down at my feet, not caring where I was going, when suddenly I realized that Sam wasn't ahead or behind me. At first I wasn't very concerned, but then I grasped the fact that Frodo was always with him and therefore wasn't with me.
Suddenly I heard a shout coming from a few stalks ahead of me. "Mr. Frodo? Frodo? Frodo!" I raced toward the voice and found Sam desperately twirling around looking everywhere. Frodo came from around the corner of the stalks and smiled worriedly. "Thought I'd lost you." Sam said, relived.
Frodo smiled and answered, "What do you mean?"
Sam shifted uncomfortably. "It's just something Gandalf said." He looked at me and I knew exactly what he meant.
"Oh! That..." I remembered.
Frodo looked between the both of us. "What did he say?"
"'Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee.' " Sam recited. You would think it was his favorite quote or something. Who remembers what someone has told you at least three days ago? I know I can't remember. "And I don't mean to." Sam finished.
Frodo laughed at us. "Sam, we're still in the Shire. What could possibly happen?"
As if it were an omen, there abruptly came a crashing from behind us. We turned around, but Frodo and I were instantly tackled by two blurs carrying vegetables.
"Ouch!" I cried, feeling someone's weight on me. They were heavy, too. I opened my eyes to see my attacker and saw a patch of reddish curly hair. "Pippin?!" I cried into his hair.
He looked up and blushed deeply, then looked to his right. "Frodo." He said amazed, as if he wasn't lying on top of me. "Merry, it's Frodo Baggins." He called to the other blur who had landed on top of Frodo. I smiled at him.
"Hello Frodo." Merry said cheerfully, still on top of him by accident, trying to get off.
"Get off of him! C'mon, Frodo." He yanked Merry off Frodo in an instant and pulled him off the ground, dusting him. He ignored the fact that Pip hadn't thought about getting off of me yet.
"Umm...Pip..." I said tensely. "You're still on me." He looked back at me and blushed redder than he already was.
"Sorry," He said and helped me up.
Sam already wanted to know why Merry and Pippin were running at top notch speed through a cornfield. Then he saw that they were holding vegetables. "You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!"
Before anyone had anything to say about it, there came a shout in the distance, unmistakably Farmer Maggot. "You get back here! Get out of my field! You'll know the devil if I catch up with you!" Merry and Pippin were visibly scared, so they dumped most of the veggies with Sam and took off at a run, grabbing me and Frodo with them.
"I don't know why he's so upset." Merry puffed as we ran, dodging huge stalks of corn at every turn. "It's only a couple of carrots."
"Umm...do you know where we're going?" I asked Merry, who had taken my hand at a run and hadn't let go yet. He didn't answer, which concerned me just a lot.
"And some cabbages," Pip threw back at him. "And those three bags of potatoes that we lifted last week," He stopped talking to catch his breath. "And then the mushrooms the week before."
Merry sighed but kept running. "Yes, Pippin. My point is...He's clearly overreacting!"
Finally we came out of the cornfield at a dead run and stopped just before a drop at the other side. All three of us sighed in relief.
Then Frodo asked, "Where's Sa-" right before he ran into us from behind and we toppled over into the ditch.
We fell in a heap all together; Merry on Sam, who was on me, and I was on Pippin. Frodo seemed to have no trouble getting out and standing up, while the rest of us groaned from the weight. "Oh. That was close." Pippin said, narrowly avoiding some dung that was in the road.
"Oh, yeah. Very close." I replied. Then I took some and mashed it in his face.
"What'd you do that for?" He sputtered after spitting some of it out. I chuckled and just smiled sweetly.
"I think I've broken something." Merry said disdainfully. He pulled a broken carrot out from under him and pouted.
Sam was less happy than the rest of us. "Trust a Brandybuck and a Took!"
"You didn't necessarily have to trust them, you know." I whispered to myself, fed up with Sam's attitude. We all tried to get up and after several tries I managed to fling Sam off of me, all three hundred pounds of blubber.
"What?" Merry said angrily. "That was just a detour. A shortcut." He sounded as if Sam had insulted his family generations back. Either that or his beer, which he was very protective about.
"Short cut to what?" I asked, curious.
"Mushrooms!" Pippin exclaimed, and we all immediately threw ourselves over to the mushrooms and started to divide them equally. The only thing missing was that Frodo wasn't joining in on the festivities. "That's mine." Pip said, picking the biggest one out for himself.
"That's not fair!" I cried, slapping his had away from it. He plucked it off the ground and we fought over it; one pulling it this way, one pulling it the other. While Pip and I were fighting like little children, Merry and Sam were picking up all the good mushrooms, sharing them equally between them.
Frodo was still on the road, staring out into oblivion for some reason. I let go of the mushroom to ask what the matter was and Pippin fell over. I helped him up, wondering what was wrong with Frodo. It didn't answer my question when he said, "I think we should get off the road." No one was listening but me. Merry and Sam were busy picking out mushrooms and Pippin was currently stroking the mushroom he had won. Frodo's eyes had an urgency in them that frightened me. "Get off the road! Quick!" he shouted. We followed his orders and ran over to a nearby log, hiding beneath it.
"Be quiet!" I whispered when the world suddenly went deathly still. The only sound I could hear was the breathing of everyone else and the crawling of the bugs over all four of us. Spiders were slipping over ever cranny they could and the other ones I couldn't name were crawling absolutely everywhere. (A/N: In case you wanted to know, Sam is on Frodo's left side, Miriam on his right, and Merry and Pippin next to her. I don't know how they all got squeezed in there, by the way.)
There suddenly came the sound of a horse breathing from right above us. I looked up through a crack and saw it was no ordinary horse. It seemed as though it were bleeding black blood. The rider got down and the metal he or she was wearing clanked even on the soft floor of the forest.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Frodo reach into his pocket. I turned my head and saw a golden ring in his hand. It looked as ordinary as a ring could be, but from the moment I saw it, I knew it was evil. Frodo then tried to slip it on; he was falling fast under a spell neither he nor I could see. Without hesitation I reached out and put my hand on his, at the same moment Sam reached out the stop him. I looked at Sam and wondered if we were alike after all.
Merry was the smart one and he threw one of the packs that we had left over to the side and listened for the crash. Instantly, the rider and horse raced over to investigate. All four of us ran as far as we could together without breaking our legs from running.
"What was that?" someone asked, but I was too tired to figure out whom.
...
For the last five hours, we were all on a tight rope; too scared to not dodge behind trees when we ran. It had gotten dark a few minutes ago and now we were really on the edge. Frodo dared to go out before all of the rest of us, checking to see if anything was out there.
"Anything?" Sam called. Frodo was hiding behind a tree about twenty feet ahead of us. We were all panting from running so much and from fright.
"Nothing." Frodo called back, relieved and discouraged at the same time, if it was possible.
We caught up with him, desperate for answers. "What's going on?" Pippin said desperately, leaning on another tree for strength.
Merry went right up to Frodo and said something almost inaudible. So much I had to strain to hear. "That black rider was looking for something or someone. Frodo?" Chills ran down my back at his words.
Out of the darkness there came a dark shape from ahead of us. "Get down!" Someone called.
Frodo called out to us quietly. "I have to leave the Shire. Sam, Miriam and I must get to Bree." Merry nodded as the rest of us were still trying to digest what he was saying.
"Right." Merry told him. "Bucklebury Ferry. Follow me." We followed him and I marveled at how he knew where everything was.
Our sureness at where we were going was short-lived, however, as when we went two feet, another black rider popped out from in front of us and we ran in the opposite direction. "Run!" Pippin shouted.
"This way!" Merry's voice carried over to the rest of us. "Follow me!" I scrambled over to where he was, intent on getting away from the shadow.
"Run!" pippin screamed again, and I knew instantly where to turn. We jumped a fence and came to a lake with a boat handy on the deck, made just for five hobbits to ride on. We scrambled on board and Sam undid the rope from the deck. Suddenly, at the same time, we all noticed that we were missing Frodo.
"Frodo!" Sam screamed, as Pippin yelled, "Run, Frodo!"
We shouted to him, telling him to 'Go!' and 'Hurry!', but he seemed to be running in slow motion, not being able to get there in time with one of the black riders behind him, tailing him.
"Frodo, c'mon!" I shouted louder than the others, "C'mon! Faster!"
"Jump!" All three of them yelled at the same time. We were now about a foot or more from the deck. Miraculously, Frodo got to the edge of the deck and jumped, landing hard on the raft.
He lay there, gasping for breath and said, "How far from the nearest crossing?" I stared at him in amazement and faintly heard Merry saying, "The Brandywine Bridge. Twenty Miles."
I bent down and helped him up, feeling him sink in my arms. He had fallen asleep in my embrace.
...
Compared to the rest of the journey, the boat ride didn't take too long. Although we felt better about loosing the riders, our hopes were dashed when it started to rain and we took one wrong turn after another in order to find the city of Bree. Apparently, we were looking for The Inn of the Prancing Pony.
"C'mon," Frodo whispered to the rest of us and lead us to the entrance of what had to be Bree. We stood in a line, constantly looking over our shoulders, at the giant wooden door. Frodo knocked and the man inside opened the small window at the bottom of the door that was just our size. I'd forgotten we were that short and I didn't like the overwhelming feeling it gave me.
"What do you want?" The man asked in a gruff voice. I couldn't see his face because of the combination of the rain and the dark.
"We're heading for the Prancing Pony." Frodo said daringly, but I could tell he was frightened.
"Hobbits." The man sounded surprised to see our kind in his town. "Five hobbits! What's more, out of the shire by your talk. What business brings you to Bree?" He surveyed all of us.
"We wish to stay at the inn." Frodo answered huffily. "Our business is our own."
The man looked amazed that such a small person could have such an attitude and he opened the door for us. "Alright, young sir." He apologized. We shuffled through the door quietly as he spoke. "I meant no offense. It's my job to ask questions after nightfall. There's talk of strange folk abroad. Can't be too careful..." his voice faded as we walked on.
There were so many people there and we were so short, it was hard to maneuver around the town. Especially since we didn't know exactly where the inn was. People kept shouting at us. "Out of the way!" and "Watch where you're walking!" were jeered at us several times. Then we finally saw the inn, like a beacon to us.
I knew before we walked through the door that we were not going to fit in here. Frodo walked right up to the desk at the front and said rather loudly, "Excuse me..."
As a man looked over the top of the desk, I turned to Sam, Merry and Pippin. "Are you sure Gandalf will be here?" I asked to mask my nervousness.
They didn't answer, but Pippin immediately became concerned with one of the things he loves best; beer. "Do you think they have any beer here?" he asked aloud and the rest of us sighed.
"It's not like you need it," Merry told him. "Unlike me..." He let it drop and he and Pippin began to fight over who needed it the most. It wasn't until we heard Gandalf's name that we began to listen to the conversation between Frodo and the owner.
"Gandalf? Gandalf...Oh, yes...I remember...Elderly chap. Big grey beard, pointy hat." We nodded in expectation. "Not seen him for six months." Frodo turned back to us, his face the same as ours; confused.
"What do we do now?" Sam asked.
"Sam...he'll be here. He'll come." Frodo told him for an answer. I nodded helpfully.
We decided to sit and wait. Merry and Pippin got us some drinks and we commenced to sitting and hoping. I turned to Frodo, who was sitting next to me. "Don't worry; he's never broken a promise before." I tried to soothe him. He smiled, took my hand, and squeezed it. Under the table, of course because we had no intentions of letting Sam see. Although I think he was too wrapped up in thinking about the Shire than chaperoning me.
Merry came back from the bar with another drink, ducking and avoiding the other people in the tavern. He sat next to Pip, who was sitting next to Sam. Pippin's eyes glazed over the drink, and then he did a double take. "What's that?"
Merry smirked and said proudly, "This, my friend, is a pint." I sucked in my breath and let out a groan.
"It comes in pints?" His eyes went wide for a second and then went back to normal. "I'm getting one!" He jumped from the bench and raced over to the bar.
"You got a whole half already!" Sam yelled at him, but either Pip didn't care or couldn't hear, and he didn't turn around and come back. Sam sighed annoyingly and turned to Frodo. He pointed to a corner. "That fellow's done nothing but stare at you since we arrived." Frodo and I both looked over him at the same time. It was terribly hard to see him, but every few moments the pipe he was smoking would light up and you could see the outline of his face.
The man from the front desk passed by our table and Frodo stopped him. "Excuse me...That man in the corner. Who is he?"
The man looked disturbed by the question. "He's one of them Rangers. They're dangerous folk, wandering the wilds." He leaned closer and whispered so that we could hear. "What is right name is, I've never heard, but around here he's known as Strider." Again, I felt chills race down my back. Something was wrong, but I couldn't tell if the problem was this man named Strider or...something else.
Frodo squeezed my hand again, let it go, and started to play with something in his pocket. Instantly I knew what it was, and I watched him twirl it in his fingers incoherently. Sam and I looked at each other cautiously when Frodo closed his eyes, lost in his own world.
Then there came a voice from the bar. "Baggins? Sure, I know a Baggins." Frodo's eyes flashed open as pippin's voice carried over to our table. "He's over there" Pip pointed at us and Frodo stood up in urgency. "Frodo Baggins."
"Oh, no...don't tell me he's gonna tell the family tree again..." I groaned to no one in particular. I couldn't watch, so I turned my head to look at the man called Strider. He was no longer sitting leisurely, but was now on the edge of his seat, ready to spring at any moment.
"...My second cousin, once removed on his mother's side...and my third cousin, twice removed..." I switched back to what was going on with Frodo and Pippin.
"Pippin!" Frodo shouted, trying to get Pippin down off the stool. Unfortunately, it backfired and Frodo was the one who fell onto the ground instead of Pip.
"Steady on, Frodo." Pip said, taking another drink of whatever it was he had in his cup. He was obviously very drunk.
Frodo fell and when he did something golden and shiny flew out of his hand. It was the ring. As he tried to grab it, it slipped onto his finger instead and, just like Bilbo, Frodo disappeared.
The crowd at the bar hushed and gasped to see (or not see) such a sight and nearly everything got very quiet. I heard Strider get up from his chair, and, a few moments later, when Frodo reappeared under a table, he grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and pulled up some stairs at the back of the pub.
I turned to Sam and Merry and the three of us pulled Pippin away from the bar and raced toward the stairs. On the way we found some candles and assorted things to fight with and we ran up the stairs two at a time.
"Ready?" Sam said savagely and burst through the door. "Let him go! Or I'll have you, longshanks."
My brother is a big embarrassment sometimes. And this was one of those times. "Sam," I whispered to him quietly. "Do me a favor and never use that word again." Sam ignored me as usual.
"You have a stout heart, little hobbit." Strider said. Frodo looked fine, actually. Apparently, he was only being verbally abused. "But that will not save you." He turned back to Frodo. "You can no longer wait for the wizard, Frodo. They're coming."
...
I was having the most wonderful dream...we were all back in the Shire, eating, have a few laughs...but then the tide turned and there was fire and darkness everywhere. Everywhere I turned it was so hot...then so blistering cold that I thought I couldn't stand it anymore...until someone saved me. They took me in their arms and comforted me...I looked up to see their face and-
A wailing, shrieking sound from across the street awoke me. For a minute I thought they had finally gotten to us, but then I remembered that we stuffed our beds with pillows and proceeded to fall asleep in Strider's apartments. Merry, Pippin, and I slept on the bed vertically while Sam and Frodo slept horizontally. It was terribly uncomfortable, but it was the most fulfilling sleep I had had in days.
Frodo was already awake and the others awoke when I did. Frodo turned to Strider, who was in a chair, staring out the window and asked, "What are they?" He was referring to the black riders that had chased us.
Strider silently looked all of us over and spoke. "They were once men. Great kings of Men. Then Sauron the Deceiver gave to the nine rings of power." The name of Sauron gave me goosebumps in what was an otherwise very warm bed. "Blinded by their greed, they took them without question. One by one falling into darkness. Now they are slaves to his will." All of us were hanging on his every word, intent on soaking every detail of the story. "They are the Nazgul. Ringwraiths. Neither living nor dead. At all times they feel the presence of the Ring...drawn to the power of the one. They will never stop hunting you." I swallowed hard and cast a look over at the others. We were white with fear, not knowing what to expect now.
Wow. That took me all day. And it's twelve pages! You people better review after this. Oh, and if there are some counting mistakes please remember that I turn my brain off during the summer, so...things might be different sometimes because I'm bad at stuff like that. I'm going to Galveston on Monday, so I will be writing, but I don't think I can update. Send in those reviews, though. I want to see my inbox full of them.
I'm going to eat dinner now...see you people in about...the start of August. I'll try to find a computer, I swear!!
Emmablk1
I'm going to eat dinner now...see you people in about...the start of August. I'll try to find a computer, I swear!!
Emmablk1