Journey Through the Life of a Hobbit

By: MissLunaMoonheart

This is my first Lord of the Rings fanfiction about my original character Camellia Bunce. Since I am a huge LotR fan and I am on summer break I decided to spend my time writing down my own story of my female Hobbit character. Through this story I hope to have her develop and hopefully some of you who read this fanfiction will enjoy her story as much as I do. Thank you for taking the time to read my work and I eagerly await any reviews given! -Luna


Chapter 1: A Child of the Shire

The land of Middle Earth was filled with mysteries and dark places, but that is only the foreshadowing of this story. You see, Middle Earth contained many inhabitants: the creatures and secrets of the great forests, the race of Elves that looked to the West in these dark days, the Dwarves in their Mountain domains, the race of Man spanning from the North to the South and then East and West, and last, but not least, the race of Hobbits. In the current age of Middle Earth, Hobbits lived in peace and harmony with their own kind without catching the notice of the 'Big Folk'. It was a lucky thing for them too, because in these days there were whispers of darkness and fear in the lands outside of where the Hobbits lived.

In these days, Hobbits mainly dwelled in the Shire, a peaceful land that had many sub-areas within its boarders. And Hobbits themselves were friendly creatures whom always seemed to have smiles on their carefree faces. They enjoyed working with the dirt and vegetation. However, the Hobbit family that this story follows is none other than a family with the last name of Bunce who lived in Buckland near the Brandywine river.

The Bunces were a proud family that were talented in many Hobbit required tasks. The women were skilled homemakers, with talented hands for sewing and cooking. The men of the family were sturdy brave hearted lads whose main endeavor was building Hobbit-sized boats. However, the men also held more traditional Hobbit jobs, such as farming vineyards for wine and raising livestock.

One, much smaller, section of the Bunces were a family of painters. The mother of the family was Camellia Bunce, once a Brandybuck, who was a well-known cook in Bucklebury. She married her husband Popo Bunce and the two bought their own little house near the Brandywine river. Together they had six children, four sons and two daughters: Fosco, Pimpernel, Pansy, Olo, Hob, and Camellia. Their sons took up work with their father, woodworking and painting, while Pansy took up cooking with a passion. Their youngest, Camellia seemed to take up no interest, or talent, in either craft. Her parents despaired for a while but allowed the child to do as she pleased, since they had five others to fret over at all times, especially since Fosco had a knack for causing mischief with every lass on their side of the Brandywine.

So Camellia grew to the age of ten without much acknowledgement from her busy parents, or even a glance from her siblings. The child-Hobbit appeared to have not a single standout trait about her either. She was plain with waist length curly dark brown hair and bright hot fudge sundae colored eyes that stared out at the world. Her skin was an average cream colored tone with a hint of olive to it, and even for a Hobbit she was short. However, Camellia didn't mind being overlooked. She spent most of her days wandering near the Brandywine, and at night she'd chase fireflies in the darkness with a glass jar, borrowed from her mother's kitchen.

It was during one of those summer nights, when she had given up on chasing fireflies to admire the small jarful of six blinking green lights that she met him for the first time. And as cliché as it might sound, the Hobbit girl had no idea how meeting him would alter her small life forever.

"Hellu, what are you doing there?"

Camellia looked up startled. A boy child-Hobbit squatted down and peered at her jar. His hair was dark and curly, but even in the greenish light she could tell his eyes were a fair color. He was examining the fireflies in her jar with curiosity she wasn't used to seeing in Hobbits. She didn't even protest when he picked up her jar and turned it thoughtfully in his small hands. Her heart was beating rapidly in her tiny chest, it was a feeling similar to whenever she'd run as far as she could from home and then stop somewhere near the North Gate to catch her breath. But she hadn't moved for quite a while, so why did her heart beat in such a manner? And why did her stomach feel all bubbly? She knew not the answer but she felt her breath catch as the boy looked at her and smiled.

"You're awfully quiet for a girl, can you speak?"

It took her a second before she responded. "Yes, I…I just don't know what to say. I don't even know your name," she added quietly glancing away from him and at the ground. To distract herself she plucked pieces of grass and let them drop.

"Oh, I apologize, my name's Frodo, Frodo Baggins, and yourself?"

For a moment Camellia felt her heart stop. Without realizing why she stood up and bit her lower lip fidgeting with the folds of her skirt nervously. "I'm so sorry," she blurted out seeing the obvious confusion and bewilderment on the young male's face. "I…I mean…I'm sorry what happened to your parents…"

"Oh…" he fell silent as he gazed out at the river they were sitting beside. "I should have guessed you'd have heard of that. Miss?"

"C-camellia, Camellia Bunce, I didn't mean to offend you," she added feeling very foolish. Perhaps she shouldn't have brought it up, they had only passed away a few months ago, every Hobbit in the Shire probably knew about the incident by now. But her family were one of the first to hear of it, since the Bunces built the small boat his parents had been on.

"It's alright," he said as he stood up and offered her the jar of fireflies. Frodo gave her a weak smile as she took the jar. For a moment their fingers brushed and he glanced at her hands before looking out at the river. "I've heard of you, or at least of your family. I never thought of it, but I imagine it's a good thing for a painter to have small hands." She was going to correct him and say that she wasn't actually a painter but his eyes stopped her. He had looked at her once more and smiled, this time a little stronger. "Keep on painting, and maybe one day I'll get to see your work."

Before she could say anything a distant voice was calling for Frodo and he looked off in the direction of the voice. "Sorry, guess my Aunt is looking for me…she always worries, goodbye and goodnight Camellia Bunce, you have a name that suites you just fine," he added with a grin before heading off towards Brandy Hall. Camellia watched him go, slowly she smiled down at the jar of fireflies before opening the lid and setting them free. The bugs flew out of the jar and fluttered around her a few cycles before taking off into the night over the Brandywine River.

"Goodnight, Frodo Baggins," she whispered to herself before twirling in a circle smiling at the stars. With a hop and a skip the girl hurried back towards her own home before her family could call her home or wonder where she was.

Perhaps, she'd see Frodo again, or she'd go talk to him at Brandy Hall. They might even become friends! It was an exciting thought to a ten year old child-Hobbit who didn't have any real friends. Her closest friends were her two-year older brother Hob, who barely noticed her, and the few animals her family owned.

As the full moon continued to rise and the stars twinkled in the black sky, the world began to change. Slowly, but assuredly something had begun that couldn't be unraveled.