1.1 Another Hobbit's Tale

Also known as the account of a fearless hobbit who braved a great adventure

By: Pippin Took

Editing, Revisions, and Translations by Laura Stone

In Middle Earth, in the hells of Mordor, on the fiery peaks of Mt. Gloom, on the same spot of the sister mountain where the all-powerful ring was created, another wishing to hold power over all of mankind stood upon the brink of discovery. Magin Boo stood upon the craggy rocks inside Mt. Gloom. He had all he needed to complete the forging of the ring, with the exception of one thing. A willing servant must give their blood for the forging to be complete. But more specifically, the servant must be a hobbit, for hobbits were the building blocks of all creatures.

Pippin Took awoke from one of the strange dreams he had been having lately. Strange, he had never seen any of the things in his dreams, but the images were so lifelike. Also, an evil shadow loomed throughout the dreams.

Pippin lived in the Shire, in the west farthing to be exact, but he was a special hobbit. His family was know to love adventures and quests, unlike all the other hobbit families. But Pippin hated the outdoors, and was very afraid of becoming anything like his family members. Of course, all Tooks have that one extra spark in them, and it cannot be repressed, no matter how hard all members try.

Outside the cozy hobbit hole in which Pippin lived, a rather unusual band was gathering in the Shire. Four men, three elves, eight dwarves, and one wizard were assembling together on this day. Pippin heard the commotion and started off outside to shoo away the unwanted guests. But as he got there, he became too afraid to even approach the group, for they were clearly not here on vacation.

The men he saw were in full armor, and had enormous swords almost as long as the tallest hobbit in the Shire. They each had black hair, and growing beards that gave them a tough man look.

Dwarves swung their humungous axes around their heads, practicing their axe play over by the creek. They too were dressed in armor, but you could tell it was not as good as man's because it was made of leather, while men make their armor out of metal. Each dwarf had traditionally long hair, braided into a long, low ponytail, and a long braided beard as well.

The elves did not wear armor, for they did not need it. They were armed with huge mahogany bows, and baskets full of arrows. They sat carving wood together in the makeshift camp.

The wizard was the largest thing Pippin had ever seen, and it frightened him so. He looked strangely like Gandalf, though.

He let out a squeak and tried to run away, but an elf, elves generally have strong hearing, did not let him get away.

Instantly, he had three arrows pointed at his head. The elves had snuck up on him.

"Well, well, what have we here?" one of the elves asked.

"Pippin Took, sirs" the frightened hobbit answered.

"That's a different matter then!" exclaimed the elf. "Come, come, Mr. Took, Saguaron told me you would be arriving soon."

Pippin of course, having no idea what the elf was talking about, went on with him simply because he did not want to be shot with an arrow. He was taken to their campgrounds, near his house. There he was introduced to Boffin, Bilpin, Bonpur, Bombur, Guppin, Gulber, Blondor and Blibo. These of course were the dwarves. Pippin found he could relate most to these creatures.

They all greeted Pippin with bows and "at your services". Still Pippin was very confused as to why they were not yet ripping him into little shreds.

Pippin was also introduced to the four men. Samuel, Isendor, Nickolas, and Maximus were their names. He did not particularly like the men, but he knew that they would not harm him, for they all swore to protect him, for some reason or another.

At this point, the wizard, Saguaron, came up to Pippin and took him aside. He knelt down so that he was on the same level as Pippin, and he spoke,

"I know you do not understand why you have been brought before me, but I do not think it is yet the time to tell you. When it is the time, I will tell you."

"I do not understand" was all the tiny hobbit could force out of his lips."

"You must come with us, and beyond all else, you must trust me," the wizard gave a hearty smile, and with that, told Pippin to pack his things, for the band would be off soon.

Pippin was given one more night, possibly his last, in the Shire. He met with all his friends to say goodbye. One person in particular, his best friend, Merry did not want to part with him. He insisted he go with Pippin on the adventure.

"You need people with brains on this mission…quest…thing," protested Merry.

In any case, Merry did manage to persuade the company to let him come along. And off they went.

Chapter 2

The Renegade Soldiers

Magin Boo had once studied the fall of Sauron, and the final destruction of the first all-powerful ring. He had grown so corrupted from his study; he began to wonder if there had been a flaw in the plans of Sauron. Consumed by his evil, he began to wonder about the awesome power of the one ring, and how to get the same power as Sauron once had. And sure enough, there was a flaw in Sauron's plans. Sauron had taken his time, been lazy, and had strongly misjudged the strength of men, and of hobbits. Magin Boo knew he would not make the same mistake.

But Magin Boo had made a mistake. Not the same mistake, but a different, still costly one. Magin Boo had told others of his discoveries, and had told one of his closest advisors about his plans to forge another one ring. He had told Maximus. Maximus had then fled Magin Boo and started to form the Renegade Soldiers.

From the Shire, the band of men, elves, hobbits, and a wizard went southeast and there met the rest of their would-be army. Mostly made up of men, this band was known as the Renegade Soldiers. The more Pippin heard about what they set out to do, the more he wished he had never left his hobbit hole that spring day.

It was now autumn and he and Merry had traveled a long way. Maximus, who was Merry and Pippin's only real friend, had given them each swords, and had taught them the basics of swordplay. They certainly came in handy on that autumn day.

It was a very calm day, and whenever it is so, as Maximus had warned Pippin, be on the lookout for foul things. And foul things they found.

While wandering through the forests, Pippin, Merry, Maximus, and Nickolas stumbled upon a lair. It was quite cold, so they summoned their group to take shelter there for the rest of the day.

As soon as they had entered the cave, orcs crawled out from cracks and down from the ceiling. They easily outnumbered the group; Maximus lead everyone to safety, killing a few orcs in the process. He saved all except Pippin. So small, he was forgotten.

The orcs took him, and were deciding whether they should eat him or torture him. Pippin was scared for his life, but he remembered one thing that his grandfather, Frodo had given him when he was a little fellow. Hoping that it would calm his senses, Pippin put on the ring that had been given to him. Then, he vanished. Well, not really, but to the orcs he sure did. Pippin's Took blood roared through his veins as he struggled out of the ropes that bound his arms together. With the rope gone, he easily slipped away from the orcs. He raced though the damp, dark halls of the cave. Slipping and falling often on the glassy, wet cave floor, Pippin made slow progress towards the minuscule spec of light that he could just barely make out. He was almost home free, but then he bumped into a wandering orc in the final hall of the cave. The orc thrust his sword into thin air, and just nicked Pippin's side. The orc, after hitting something, let out a battle call, but Pippin ran the fastest he ever did in his life, and narrowly escaped the claws of the orcs.

Nickolas, having noticed Pippin was missing, went to look for him. Pippin took off his ring right in front of Nickolas, and the two headed off toward camp.

When Pippin reached camp, all the members, especially Merry, were thrilled to see him alive. He was barraged with questions. How he had escaped, what happened to the orcs, and what were orcs doing in the southern hills of Mordor?

Pippin could not answer all of the questions, but he told his story, and of his magical ring.

With this encounter, Pippin gained the respect of the soldiers. Now, the dwarves trusted him to do what was needed of him, giving him more responsibility. It was time for Saguaron to tell Pippin of his presence and of his role in the destruction of evil. As the soldiers camped in the deep woods, Saguaron began to tell the truth.

"It started long ago, right after the final destruction of the one ring. Evil vanished from the Middle East. But not for long. Soon, shadows crept back into the dark forests of Mordor. A lurking evil had been stirred." Began Saguaron. "I was a young boy at the time, just beginning my training to become a wizard, and look, I am new to this wizarding business. But that is besides the point," Saguaron said.

"What must I do?" quickly answered the Tookish part of the young hobbit.

"You must help our army defeat the new great evil, Magin Boo," Saguaron said. "You alone have the power to defeat Magin Boo, and keep his spirit from ever returning."

Pippin realized that he, and he alone, would have to complete this task, but he had no idea how he was going to do it. So, he went to Maximus, seeking help.

"You've just got to help Maximus!" exclaimed Pippin.

"I know what you have been burdened with. And I also know that I cannot help you, I have not the power," replied Maximus.

But the stubborn ways of the real Pippin decided to kick in.

"You are the only person I know who is fit to help me, and if you do not realize this, I am afraid all hope is lost."

If anything get Maximus angry, it is when a person gives up. His friendly, outgoing, helpful personality could not stand it when a person was ready to give up before anything had even started.

"All right then, I will teach you everything I know," Maximus said with a fire in his eyes.

So they practiced. For hours on end, day after day, Pippin practiced swordplay, archery, maintenance of weapons, and after everyday at work, Pippin was better.

Since nothing could be done about Magin Boo yet, the soldiers had fighting contest trice a week. Slowly, and steadily, Pippin moved up in the rankings of fighters after every contest.

Pippin no longer yearned for home, and he no longer waited in vain for his six meals a day. He was freer than ever, and he became less shy. He discovered that he loved the outdoors, and especially enjoyed the company of the dwarves, who weren't that bad, once you got to know them.

Merry practiced occasionally with Pippin, and also learned things about himself. While being an outcast back in the Shire, Merry discovered he could actually be quite witty and funny, often holding joke sessions for any soldiers who might want to listen.

Day by day, Pippin was beginning to feel a pull at his heart, like a toy being pulled at. He often yearned to go up to Mt. Gloom, which could now be seen, active as ever.

The day had come. Pippin was ready, and the army had grown to over ten thousand men, elves, and dwarves. With the aid of Saguaron, the army seemed unstoppable.

But Magin Boo, Masticus, and their evil army stronger than expected, and a battle raged. Only a mile from the Mountain, elves and men advanced quickly, shooting their bows rapidly at the unorganized mass of orcs, goblins, and other horrid creatures. Masticus lead the mob toward the Renegade Soldiers, but his effort was in vain.

As Masticus was fighting outside, Magin Boo was struggling inside the furnace of a mountain. Magin Boo had snuck up on the Renegade group, and snatched Merry right from underneath their noses. He had his hobbit; victory was in his grasp.

Little did Magin Boo know, Pippin had seen him take Merry, and he wasn't going to let anyone take away his best friend in the world.

He raced after Magin Boo, with his ring on, to make him invisible, of course. But he wasn't fast enough. Magin Boo had already used his friend's hand to complete the forging of the ring.

But because of the unwillingness of Merry, the ring was not strong. Pippin's ring held the power over Magin Boo's!

Pippin knew immediately that he must destroy the ring, so he charged at Magin Boo. Magin Boo was surprised at how well the hobbit wielded a sword, and was taken back by his strength. It seemed like hours the fight went on, and finally, Pippin started to overpower Magin Boo. They danced through the black castle walls, to the craggy surfaces of the inside of Mt. Gloom. The magma in side the volcano heated the Mountain like a furnace, and as the two flung themselves at each other, Pippin gathered a plan.

He directed Magin Boo toward the very center of the mountain, to the very center of the volcano, to the ledge, the end of the line. The only way for Magin Boo to get out, was to go through Pippin.

With one final blow, Pippin shoved Magin Boo in to the fires of the volcano, the ring with it.

As soon as Pippin had demolished Magin Boo, he ran to Merry.

Merry was close to death, and Pippin carried him outside to safety. There, Ligulas, a great elf, was able to heal Merry.

And so Merry, Pippin, Maximus, and all the others lived happily to the end of their days.