November 25, 3018: Rivendell
A/N: Obligatory disclaimer: I own none of these characters or places, though I wish that I was brilliant enough to have thought of them. They all belong to the marvelous J.R.R. Tolkien.
Bilbo failed to describe the beauty of Rivendell in his tales, thought Frodo Baggins as he stood on a stone balcony overlooking the valley of Imladris. The air around him and the stone beneath his hands as he gripped the railing were cold, yet he felt no obligation to stray from his post outside to grab a cloak from his room for fear of missing the late autumn sunrise. Frodo had hoped that he would be able to witness the coming of dawn in solitude, but his attempts to sneak out of his room unnoticed had failed when he had stepped on a creaky floorboard and awakened Sam. The younger hobbit had been sleeping in Frodo's room for the past four days that the two had been in Rivendell, and refused to leave his master's side unless ordered to by Gandalf or Elrond. This particular morning was no exception. As soon as he heard his master waking, Sam had leapt from his makeshift watch-post in the chair by Frodo's bed and plodded quietly after his master to the balcony outside. There he stood, only a few feet away from Frodo eagerly examining some small blue flowers that had been planted in a large wooden box that hung off the edge of the railing that Frodo was leaning on.
"Sure is something, isn't it Mister Frodo?" Sam said as he looked out over the valley which was just beginning to come into view as the first pale rays of sun began spreading from the east. The golden light pierced the low fog that hung over the trees below them; sending mist fleeing to the deeper woods, where no light could penetrate the foliage.
"Yes, Sam. It is," Frodo replied, rubbing the wound near his shoulder in a vain attempt to make the dull ache go away. The sorcery of the Morgul blade had kept him asleep for four days, and he had only awoken yesterday to find that the pain had not altogether gone away. "I would have liked to see more sunrises like this back in the Shire," he chuckled, turning towards Sam who seemed to be more interested in the flowers by the balcony.
"I'm sure we'll be seeing plenty more of these sunrises while we're in Rivendell, Mister Frodo," Sam said, moving to examine another flower box containing pink and yellow buds, "Plenty more. That is, if you're willing to get up early to see them, which you shouldn't. Gandalf and Elrond said you need your rest, and that you should be sleeping more, even though you just woke up yesterday."
"I know, Sam," Frodo sighed, listening intently to the birds in the trees below him. He regretted having been asleep for so long; he would have liked to have spent more time with Bilbo than the hour he had with him yesterday evening. Frodo knew that there would probably be more time to talk to his uncle before he left, but he wasn't exactly certain when he would be leaving and wanted to converse with Bilbo thoroughly before he returned home.
A peaceful quiet came over the two hobbits as the sun continued to rise. Sam hated the silence and, eager to fill the awkward gap, asked Frodo if he knew what was going to happen today.
"Now that you're awake and all, Mister Frodo," he proclaimed hastily, "do you think we'll be returning home soon? I'm eager to be getting back, if it's all the same to you. The Gaffer's probably pretty concerned by now, and I can't imagine what the bushes at Bag End must look like without someone to look after them…"
Despite himself, Frodo laughed at his friend's concern for the shrubbery.
"Are you sure it's the bushes you really want to be getting back to, Sam?"
"Yes, Mister Frodo. Why do you ask?" Frodo could have sworn the flustered hobbit was blushing.
"You mean you don't want to get back to seeing Rosie Cotton at the Green Dragon?" Frodo asked, knowing how much the gardener admired the fair faced hobbit back home.
"No!" Sam yelped quickly, "I mean yes! I don't want to be insulting Miss Rosie by saying no! But I don't want to be saying anything else!" He continued, wringing his hands together the way he did when he was nervous.
"It's okay, Sam. Nobody cares if you like Rosie Cotton or not." Frodo said, laying a hand reassuringly on Sam's shoulder and letting out a light chuckle.
The younger hobbit let out a heaving sigh, as if liking Rosie Cotton was one of the most dramatic things he had ever experienced. It may well have been, but Frodo hoped for Sam's sake that that wasn't the case. How could he deal with the world beyond the Shire if he thought liking a girl was the most horrifying thing he had ever experienced?
"Thank you, Mister Frodo," Sam said, returning his attention to the flowers while Frodo turned his head away to watch the sunrise some more.
By now the sun had risen considerably, illuminating the golden leaves of the beeches, elms and oaks in valley below and turning the forest into a sea of gold, which rolled slightly in the cool autumn breeze. The light also reflected off the water pouring down the sides of the valley and spilling into the fords, creating small rainbows that danced in front of the rocky walls. Frodo was so focused in looking out over the valley that he hardly heard Gandalf approaching until the wizard was only feet away from the hobbits.
"Gandalf!" Frodo cried, rushing to hug his old friend.
"My dear Frodo," Gandalf said, returning the hug, "whatever are you doing up when you should be resting?" The wizard sent a pointed look towards Sam as if to say, why did you allow him to wake after I told you countless times that he needs his rest?
"He wanted to see the sunrise, Mister Gandalf. I know I shouldn't have let him out of his room, but he tried to sneak off while I was sleeping, see, so I followed him out here." At the hobbit's flustered reply, the wizard softened his gaze and turned his attention back to Frodo who stood nodding his agreement in front of him.
"Well I suppose I can't deny you fresh air, Frodo," Gandalf said, peering over the treetops to gaze at the rising sun.
"Mister Gandalf, begging your pardon, but do you know what's to be done today?" Sam's voice said from behind him.
"I know what it is what I must do today, and what Frodo must do today, but what's to be done today is beyond me."
"What is it that I must do today, Gandalf?" Frodo asked the old wizard.
"Ah, yes. You and Bilbo have both been invited to a council with Lord Elrond. I will also be there, as will the man who accompanied you to Rivendell, as I've been told." Gandalf said whilst pulling out his pipe and a small pouch of pipe weed.
"Strider will be there? I never thought of good ol' Strider as the diplomatic sort," Sam said, watching as Gandalf began shoving pipe weed into the end of his pipe.
"What will happen at the council, Gandalf?" Frodo asked in speculation as the wizard proceeded to blow smoke rings towards the rising sun.
"That remains to be seen, my dear Frodo," Gandalf said, after blowing a small blue smoke ring through a larger green one. "But right now, I am in need of a good breakfast, and I suggest that the two of you accompany me now, before your friends arrive to eat all the food." Gandalf stood, leading the two hobbits across the balcony towards the Homely House.
"Merry and Pippin would save us some though, don't you think?" Sam asked from behind Gandalf.
"I doubt that their habits would have changed for the better overnight, Master Samwise," Gandalf said.
With a moan, Sam raced in front of Gandalf, eager to beat his trouble making friends to breakfast.
A/N: Okay, chapter one yay. I tried to stick as close to the timeline of the book as possible, but if I royally messed up, please tell me about it so that I do not make the same mistake again. :)
First fan-fic, how exciting. :|