Luck of the Lost

by Gnomish Wrench of Reorx

A young hobbit comes across something that will change his life forever, but what will be the ultimate fate of this hobbit? Can he survive with it? Or without it? Be fore warned: there are additional creatures, and the characters are mostly, if not all, OCs. Also be aware of the fact that it starts out rather slow, and it only shows its true colors later on.

1. An unlikely path

This story begins, as some do, in a hole in the ground. This hole was no ordinary hole, for cradled in the earth of this small hole lived a hobbit. This was an ordinary hobbit, content to live the simple life that many hobbits do; until one fateful day when it seemed to the small hobbit that the world had twisted and stretched to the point that it was something new entirely.

The warm spring breeze had seduced the young hobbit into wasting the day in its soft embrace. Even though there was much work to be done and little time to do it in, the young hobbit lazed about as though time was infinite. He dozed and dreamed. He did not realize just how fast time ran until he awoke from his half-slumber just at sunset. Dazed and tipsy with sleep he tried to teeter back through his fields to his small home. Unfortunately for the young hobbit, even fully awake he had trouble with directions and he soon found himself at the Brandywine River. In a fruitless effort to wake himself up the small hobbit splashed some water on his face, but while the hobbit was trying to remove the veil of sleep from his mind and eyes the night had crept upon him. Even though he knew the area well, with the land bathed in the monochrome of twilight everything seemed unfamiliar.

The poor hobbit wandered on for what seemed to him like years when he finally stumbled across a small unfamiliar hut it was almost daybreak. At this point, with the light of the sun to guide him like an always faithful map, he would have returned to his home, but he soon found that the sun would not help him back, as he had no idea where he was. Confused and lost he decided to ask for directions in the hut. After knocking many-a-time he finally decided to open the door and have a look for himself.

"Perhaps they have a map," he thought to himself. He tried the door, and much to the surprised hobbit's relief, it opened without even a creek. Although he was confident in his ability to explain the situation, he still feared what the owners might do if they caught a small hobbit, for he knew not what manner of beast or man live there, roaming about their home without invitation. His mind wandered to the worst possible scenarios, what if the owner was a rogue human? A thief or a killer would not be pleasant for the young hobbit to encounter. A dark wizard or a necromancer was not high on the hobbit's agenda either. Through all of his worrying the small hobbit did not notice the small tools that lined the tables and shelves. He did not notice the hobbit-sized furniture or the various arrays of metal objects. He did however notice the large array of cobwebs that the hut ashamedly tried to hide in every corner. He noticed the dusty floors and how the light had to dodge and weave through countless dust particles to reach the floor below.

"Strange," thought the young hobbit out loud, "why would the outside be so clean and inviting if only to contrast the general grunginess of the inside? It seems as though no one has lived here for years. But yet the door didn't even make the slightest squeak when I came in." The fledgling hobbit pondered this while he continued his search.

He wandered into the main room, in the middle of the room light streamed down from a hole in the ceiling onto a table. In the middle of the beam of light sat a seed, Lilliputian even to a hobbit. He picked it up and examined it, never had he seen something like this before. It was about the shape of a plum pit but it was rough, almost as though it had scales. It was truly amazing, the light shone off of it like insect wings. The color was a very healthy earthly brown. When the young hobbit held it up to the light it almost looked as though each scale-structure was highlighted with a sapling green. With awe the tiny hobbit placed the seed back onto the table, or at least he thought he did. Without thinking the hobbit actually placed the seed into his pocket.

The hobbit did not know that soon his adventure in the hut would soon be over, he was also not aware of what he would find in the next room. When he did finish his search he quickly decided to move on the next. He moved to the door and expected it to open as easily as the front door. To his surprise when he tried to push the door inwards he was met with unexpected resistance. Truly curious now he pushed harder. With the door still not budging he applied more and more force until he was pushing with all of the force his small hobbit frame could exert. Just then the door budged and the surprised hobbit was rewarded for his trouble with a truly foul odor. Confused, frightened and using the power of adrenaline he pushed harder. For this action he was rewarded with an ever fouler smell and the hellish screeching sound caused by something large and heavy being pushed across a wooden floor with something solid resisting. The worst thing the hobbit dared to dread was staring him in the face.