What? No Hobbits?

Summary: What if Frodo did return to the Shire before the Council of Elrond? Chaos falls upon Imladris at the hobbits' sudden departure but they luckily find a replacement: a young boy from Rohan who is unwilling to fulfill the task (and he just had to bring his sister along who fancies that 'world-famous' fan fiction hottie-ha! yeah right). Did Elrond choose right and how will the absence of hobbits affect the journey to destroy the ring? I wrote this to find out….

Written by the one-and-only Bearer of Light

A/N:

When I first saw the conversation between Frodo and Sam in The Fellowship of the Ring, I always wondered what would have happened if the hobbits had decided to return to the Shire. Gollum would have probably never guided the ringbearer if they were human (and we all know what that could lead to), etc… (I'm sorry, but that's all I can think of right now). So in other words, Middle-earth would be in chaos and Sauron would take his place as ruler….

That is what this story is all about…

Also, a short warning before we get started: I don't have the books on hand right now so this first chapter is 100% movie-verse… But fear not! I only used less than five lines from the film!

Note: A small contest follows after this….

centerPrologue:/center

centeriIn Which/i/center

centerThe Hobbits Make An Unthinkable Decision/center

centeri"We did what Gandalf wanted, didn't we? We got the ring this far to Rivendell, and I thought, seeing as how you're on the mend, we'd be off soon."/i/center

icenter-Sam/i/center

"Are they looking?"

Sam jerked his gaze away from his hairy feet in surprise. "What do you mean are they-"

"Gandalf and that-" Frodo lowered his voice to a hiss and shook his head. "I keep forgetting his name!"

Sam quickly glanced up at the balcony hanging over them. "I don't think so. It looks like they just left."

"Then come on!" Frodo snatched up his pack and pulled impatiently on his gardener's sleeve. "Grab Merry and Pippin's bags; we're going!"

"To where?"

"Back to the Shire!"

"The Shire? But- but aren't you going to tell Gandalf first?"

Frodo rolled his eyes. "Of course not! He'd try to talk us out of it!"

"So, we're just going to leave without them-" Sam trailed off and beamed as it finally hit him.

"I did write him a letter before we got here, though." The dark-haired hobbit drew out an unsealed envelope from within his the folds of his coat and plopped the ring in. "I somehow knew I wouldn't like Rivendell. I'll just give it to someone when we've reached the gate."

After licking it shut, both hobbits darted off in separate directions.

Unfortunately, young Baggins ran into Bilbo.

"Frodo, my lad-"

"No time to talk! I'm late for my date with the privy!"

Bilbo watched in confusion as the young hobbit raced down the trail as if a million wargs were right at his heel. "That boy must have been having too many dips with that pipe of his."

Luckily, the massive doors were already spread open when the hobbits met by the gate and Sam had to pull Pippin back from nearly getting trampled by many elegant horses who were saddled by several flawless elves.

Frodo handed the envelope to a golden-haired elf dressed in camouflage. "Give this to Lord Elrond when you see him!"

The elf turned the envelope in his hands. "Is it urgent?"

There was no reply except for the scamper of feet as they raced off into the distance.

The elf stared back at the four small figures gradually fading away in the upturned dust. "Guess not." He shoved the message in the pocket of his tunic, not knowing that it carried the fate of the world.

center~()~()~()~/center

Elrond grimaced down at the map as the door to his study swung open. "Can't anyone knock these days?"

"Elrond!" A tired voice shouted in and the wise lord blinked in recognition as he caught sight of the figure leaning against his doorframe.

"Why, Legolas! I haven't seen you in a while!" Elrond stood and gave the prince a friendly clasp around the arm which the Mirkwood elf quickly shoved away. "Are you enjoying Imladris?"

"Well, the food is good… The wine could be a little bit better. The women are fascinating and well…." Legolas trailed off and squinted down at the ground in thought. "Now why am I here?"

iI think he had a little too much wine./i Elrond shook his head. "I can't help you with that, young prince." He turned the golden-haired elf around. "Here. Maybe you should go back to your room now and get some sleep-"

"That I would do gladly but I know I was- aha!" Legolas stopped and fumbled through his pockets. "A little small man told me to give you something when I came here… It must be in here somewhere."

After a few moments of searching, Legolas finally handed the letter to its rightful owner.

Elrond eyed the word 'URGENT' scribbled in small letters beneath the address. "It's a little heavier than usual…"

Legolas watched as the half-elf's eyes widened as he read over the contents of the letter. "Sorry I didn't get it to you sooner but those ladies were really starting to get to me-"

"Do me a favor and get back to your room." Elrond interrupted the elf's poor apology with an empty look in his eyes. "If you hadn't been fooling around we would've had enough time to prevent this from happening."

i~()~()~()~/i

"It has happened!"

Gandalf glanced up at his old friend who was now pacing around his room with painful discomfort in each step. "What has?"

"I knew something would go wrong in our plan; I just knew it!" Elrond dropped himself into an empty chair and threw a letter in front of Mithrandir. "Frodo has left for the Shire!"

"Frodo?" Gandalf didn't even let one of his eyes fall upon the contents of the letter. "Well at least we still have the other hobbits, especially that Sam fellow-"

"He's taken the hobbits with him and left us the ring!" The elf turned the envelope upside down and flinched as the loud iclang!/i of the ring falling to the hard floor echoed in the still air.

And at that moment- but very far away from Rivendell- the four runaways heard a very familiar voice cry: "WHAT? NO HOBBITS?"

End Notes:

Not bad for a first draft written in five minutes… So what do you guys think? Should I continue? Feel free to leave a review; it would really make my day! ;)

The first of many contests. This one's mainly a poll.

WNH? CONTEST #1

Since there are now four empty places in the Fellowship, who do you think should join? I already have two spots filled up but I have no idea about the other ones. I was thinking about Glorfindel… But come. It's your time to decide.

Feel free to leave your opinion in a review or (if you're not the kind of person who likes reviewing people's stories) email your entry to me at . All emails and reviews will be accounted for.

DEADLINE:

JULY 21, 2010