By Yewen Took
Disclaimer: Some characters are mine, some aren't, but it doesn't matter, cause the whole of Middle Earth is Tolkien's anyway. *sigh*
Author's note: I've decided to re-write this story, mostly because I wrote it before I finished reading the books, and I'm having trouble finishing it. Much of it will be the same, but I hope it will be better overall. If you would like to see the first version of this and/or beta read it (please!), I have up to chapter 10 writen.
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Home is not where you live but where they understand you.
Christian Morgenstern
Ch.1: Roseberry's Cousins
"I hate you all, and I'd rather live in Mirkwood than here in Hobbiton!" Roseberry Took screamed at her five visiting cousins and ran into her family's Hobbit-hole, slamming the round, wooden door closed behind her.
"You'd fit right in with the spiders!" One of the younger cousins yelled back, standing on his furry toes. "They'd love you!"
The young Hobbits were so enjoying their remarks that none of them noticed Bilbo Baggins coming up behind them. He caught two of them by the ears before they realised that their teasing had been noticed and only three had a chance to run away.
"Denn and Ferdibrand Took! I'm sure your parents will be glad to know what you've been doing in Hobbiton in your spare time. They'll put you to work in less time than it takes an acorn to fall. Now go find your scheming cousins and tell them to find a new game to play." He released their ears and they ran as fast as they could away from old "Mad" Baggins.
Bilbo continued his walk. He thought about Roseberry and what she said about Mirkwood. She was headstrong, but she often kept her ideas to herself. When she didn't her cousins would tease her. So she would climb trees and dream. She had given him the most rapt attention out of anyone he had ever told his stories to, aside from Frodo.
Roseberry was a Took, and she showed it with every motion. But even in Tuckborough she was an oddity. One time during a party she fetched a ball from Bullroarer pond. She just swam out, picked it up and threw it to shore! Roseberry told her mother that she wouldn't ever go in the water again, but Bilbo knew otherwise. He had been her confidante ever since she had moved to Hobbiton. She had let him in on her secret: she loved the water! She was a little frightened, as most Hobbits are, but Roseberry enjoyed the ponds and rivers of the Shire more than she was frightened of them. She had even told him, secretly, of course, that she wanted to see the mountains and the forests that he had seen on his journeys. She wanted adventure, but that was an idea that most Hobbits refused to entertain, and she knew it.
Bilbo walked for longer than he intended and nearly missed afternoon tea.