A/N: Okay, so I know I said I wasn't going to post until all of the chapters are finished (which they aren't yet) but I have a good reason for this. I realized, with the way I make their relationship, it might be better to leave Sparrow and Frodo as just really good friends rather than a couple. So if you have any thoughts or opinions on this, leave a comment and I swear by the time the next chapter is posted I'll have the rest of the story done. Thank you!
"Are you still complaining about that?" Frodo asked two days after their departure. Behind him, Sparrow jerked out of her thoughts and realized she had been muttering "Run my mouth? Why, I'll teach him one of these days..."
"Yes!" Sparrow shot backed sharply. "Because he treats me like I'm a child! Just because I'm not of Age yet doesn't mean I'm a moron. I am three months away from being thirty-three, and he acts as if I'm five!"
Samwise came up behind her and rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Mister Gandalf is a very important man. Men like him tend to be stressed and accidentally take it out on others."
"I'm not sure if you're trying to comfort me or make up excuses for him." Sparrow growled back. Sam's hand jumped off her shoulder. Her temper was boiling now and under such situations it was better to just let it burn off rather than reason with her. No one had ever been able to make her back down from a fight she wanted. No one but Frodo, that is. She almost always listened to him. But there was something else. It seemed like every time she looked at him, a sort of sadness filled her. Most people didn't notice this because she covered it up well - not even Frodo realized it, though he knew her well - but Sam could read people easily. The redhead always looked at Frodo like it might be the last time she would see him, or like she might have to do something horrible to him. For the past two days, since he had gotten the Ring, Sparrow's hidden depression only seemed to intensify.
"So," Frodo started, picking up a stick and drawing aimlessly in the dirt. "I suppose tomorrow we'll be on the outskirts of Farmer Maggot's land."
"I guess so," Sparrow said as she pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. "About this time tomorrow we'll be out of the Shire completely." She chuckled softly. "Hard to think about that, eh?"
Behind her, Sam nodded as he crouched down and began to attempt to light a fire. "For most of our lives we've just been stuck exploring Hobbiton. Now we get to experience the outside world." There was a note of longing in his tone, as if he wanted nothing more than to be back home in the gardens of Bag End up to his knees in dirt.
"Hey," Frodo said, elbowing the gardener gently. "Don't sound so gloomy. We finally get to see the rest of the world; we're not cooped up in the Shire any more!"
Samwise sighed drearily. "Begging your pardon, Sir, but not all of us find the quiet life a bore."
The Ring Bearer smiled as if he expected this answer. "Maybe so, but - who knows? - we may even run in to some Elves..."
Sam's head jerked around to look at Frodo, his interest suddenly piqued. It was no secret that he'd had a fondness for Elves ever since he read about them in one of Mr. Bilbo's story books. "Do you think so?"
"Lately Elves have been coming through the Shire." Sparrow said, shocking both lads with her knowledge of the outside. "They head to the Grey Havens. They leave Middle-Earth, never to return."
Unable to think of anything else, Frodo just said, "It's amazing how quickly your mood does a full one eighty."
Sparrow scoffed. "I'm going for a walk." she huffed and stalked off.
Frodo shrugged and pulled out his pipe. "You really shouldn't worry, though, Sam." the Ring Bearer assured. "We'll be back home before next midweek." Frodo sighed. "I wish we could see more than just the back road to Bree."
"I don't." Sam contrasted, finally lighting the fire. Of course, with their luck, five seconds later the quick drizzle was all that warned them of the torrential downpour that came next. Both rushed under a tree, somewhat vainly: they were already soaking wet. Sam sighed. "I guess we'll be skipping supper tonight." The gardener sighed again, sounding thoroughly disappointed.
Frodo nodded glumly. "We might as well just go to sleep."
They curled up as comfortably as they could in the tree's roots before falling into an uneasy sleep.
Frodo woke in the morning from a gentle prod in the back. He turned to see Sparrow standing over him. "Plan on sleeping in all day, do we?" she asked with a smirk. "Sam made breakfast. We left some for you."
Sam handed the lad a frying pan filled with two sausages and a handful of blueberries after he had stood and stretched. Frodo gulped down the food greedily and the trio set on their way within the hour.
The trek was uneventful for the rest of the morning. When they stopped at lunch time, less to eat and more just to rest, Frodo couldn't help but say, "You two are so gloomy! Why don't we stop and play a game?"
Both Sam and Sparrow perked up at this. "What would you suggest, Mr. Frodo?" Sam asked.
"Oh, what about hide-and-seek?" the Ring Bearer said, slipping his hand nonchalantly into the pocket where he kept the Ring.
Sparrow's forefinger raced to her nose. Frodo got the gist and followed. Samwise sighed. "I'm it. I've never really understood the nose game."
Sparrow laughed. "There's nothing to understand, just go count to twenty."
As Sam counted, Frodo and Sparrow raced off. It was easy to tell which way Frodo had gone, but not so much as a leaf cracked under Sparrow's foot.
After counting to the designated number, the gardener started to search for the other Halflings. Looking for Sparrow was a bit easier because he knew how she liked to hide. So, instead of searching on the ground, he scanned the treetops for a sight of her red hair. When he did find her, Sparrow was sitting on a branch in plain sight. "Well, you took forever." she stated, climbing out of the tree gracefully. "I wasn't trying very hard to hide. Let's go find Frodo."
With Sparrow behind him, Sam renewed his search. He understood why Sparrow would want to help; unlike the redhead, Frodo had no set way of hiding which made him more difficult to find.
After half an hour of scanning the nearby forest, both Hobbits gave up. A chuckle sounded behind them as they plopped down on the ground. Sparrow jumped to her feet, putting two fists up defensively. "Who's there?" There was another laugh behind the lass and a hand fell on her shoulder. For one of the first times Samwise had ever seen, Sparrow jumped in shock as she turned around, looking thoroughly confused and surprised.
Unable to help himself any longer, Frodo pulled the Ring off his left middle finger, his laughter ringing bright and clear as he flipped it up in to the air as you would a coin, caught it, and slipped it into his pocket. "You should have seen your face!" the Ring Bearer cried as he wiped a tear of mirth off his face.
Sparrow promptly smacked him upside the head. "You moron! This is the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, the one thing that can completely destroy all life in Middle-Earth and you're using it as a toy!"
Frodo rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Sparr. But the thing turns you invisible and you expect me not to use it?"
"You're an idiot." the lass huffed as she folded her arms crossly. "Putting it on turns you invisible, yes, but when you put it on it calls to its master." She said this last part slowly, as if talking to someone who wasn't quite so quick on the draw.
"Alright, I admit, it was stupid and ill-advised-"
"That doesn't even scratch the surface of the situation." Sparrow interrupted. "Keep that thing in your pocket, don't use it - don't even think about it. Pack up your things, I'm going to go scout around for a bit then we're heading off. We've lingered here far too long." Sparrow turned on her heel and marched off briskly.
Frodo gave a nervous chuckle to ease the tension. "Is it just me, or does Sparrow seem to get more and more angsty each day?"
"Pardon my boldness, Sir," Sam said as he lashed his frying pans back to his rucksack. "But I don't think it's quite angst. She's scared it seems and she has every reason to be."
The Ring Bearer nodded in consideration. "She's not usually this angry though."
Samwise shrugged and muttered something about stress bringing out different sides of people, but he stopped abruptly when Sparrow returned and snapped, "Oh like you would know anything about that." She hefted her knapsack on to her shoulder. "Thankfully no Nazgul are around, we should hurry though. The sooner we get to Bree, the better."
Frodo and Sam pulled their packs onto their shoulders and headed off after Sparrow.
As they followed the redhead's quick pace the scenery slowly changed from the untamed forest of the back roads to the careful, symmetrically plowed fields of Farmer Maggot's land and soon the trio was winding their way through six-foot corn stalks.
The only time they stopped was when the stalks around them began to rustle noisily. Sparrow pulled out a little eight inch knife from her belt. She scanned the area with carefully trained eyes.
"It's probably just one of Farmer Maggot's dogs." Sam said and Frodo shuddered. He never liked the farmer's dogs. Especially since one time when he was young and foolish, Maggot had called the dogs on him as a punishment for stealing mushrooms.
The words swayed Sparrow and she sheathed her knife again. Right after she took her hand off the blade she and Sam were knocked off their feet by two other Hobbits. "Sparrow?" Peregrin Took asked disbelievingly. "What are you doing all the way out here?"
"Being your pillow apparently." Sparrow shoved her little brother off her. "The real question is what are you doing with all that?" she asked, looking pointedly at the assorted vegetables in Pippin and Merry's hands.
"Oh, uh..." Pipping shoved the produce into Samwise's hands and commanded, "Hold this." then he looked back to the redhead and said, "I really don't know what you're talking about."
"You've been in Farmer Maggot's crops!" Sam accused, dropping the load Peregrin forced on him and Meriadoc had added to just a moment ago.
Suddenly what sounded like an entire heard of dogs started barking viciously. Above the tall corn plants a scythe could been seen; the Halfling holding it began to yell, "Get back here, dirty thieves! Once I get through this, you'll be meeting the devil!"
Frodo knew that the farmer's threats were not vain ones. He grabbed Sam's arm and began to run. The others saw the wisdom in their actions and followed. They ran through the field, corn stalks whipping them in the face as they sprinted.
"I don't know why he's so upset." Merry said, following close behind Pippin. "It's only a couple of carrots!"
"And some cabbages, and those bags of potatoes we left last week, and, and those mushrooms the week before-" Pip panted.
"Yes, Pippin," Merry cut off as Sparrow looked back at him, obviously furious. "My point is, he is clearly overreacting!"
Meriadoc was so busy trying to plead his and Pippin's innocence to Sparrow that none of them noticed as Sam and Frodo stopped abruptly at the steep edge of a gorge. All three of them ran in to the Ring Bearer and his gardener at full speed, knocking them all off the ledge.
Each gained many scraps and bruises, but no permanent damage was sustained by any of them. Each Hobbit picked themselves up with a groan after hitting the bottom. "That was fun," Merry commented sarcastically, wincing as he stood. "We should do it again next week."
"Over my dead body." said Sparrow as she rubbed her bruised ribs. "What were you two doing, stealing from Farmer Maggot? It never ends well!"
"Too true," Sam agreed sourly and pulled a broken carrot out from under his backside.
"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad. It was just a," Merry said, pausing as he looked for a good word. "A bit of a shortcut."
"A short cut to what?" asked Sam.
Meriadoc opened his mouth to answer, but Pippin was quicker to have his say: "Mushrooms!"
Pippin, Merry, and Sam rushed over to them and began examining the fungus skeptically. Sparrow on the other hand gave a look to Frodo, who had stood silently and was staring intently into the blue. "I think we should get off the road," Frodo prompted with little weight to his words.
Sparrow was a little puzzled by the lad's actions until a breeze blew through the untamed forest carrying with it this sort of chill. Sparrow shivered, remembering every little thing that had ever made her sad, that had bothered her, that had depressed her; and for her life time the number of these moments was many.
"Get off the road! Quick!" Frodo repeated with more urgency and this time Sparrow was keen to head him. She grabbed the other three and followed Frodo as he ducked under a tall oak's roots.
The last of them, which was Merry, was just able to get under the roots as the sound of galloping came down the lane. The sound stopped right next to the tree. There was a heavy thud and the clinking of metal as the rider jumped off the horse. The rider took a few steps then a made a series of sniffing noises.
Sparrow already had a good idea what was above them, but still she looked up through the gnarled roots to see a figure hooded entirely in black with steel boots and gloves. Her heartbeat quickened and she went through colorful curses in her mind rapidly.
Frodo's reaction had a stark difference. Instead, the thoughts in his mind weren't his own. A voice whispered, feeling almost as if there was a person speaking directly into his ear. Just go to it. Give me to it. Give me up. The burden will finally be eased. You will be rewarded. You will be free.
The word "free" echoed in the Ring Bearer's mind. Freedom sounded absolutely amazing. For months his mind had been captivated with Bilbo's disappearance, Gandalf's strange behavior, and now this Ring capable of destroying all. But if he just gave the Ring up...
Unbidden, Frodo's hand slipped towards his pants pocket where the Ring lay safely hidden. The sniffing intensified. Sam looked over at his master and could see what he was thinking. The gardener grabbed Frodo's hand, which made the other's sense of reason kick in. Frodo grabbed at the tufts of grass around his ankles to keep his hand away from the Ring, but the voice still whispered in the back of his mind, pleading with him, tempting him.
After the longest thirty seconds any of the Halflings had experienced, the cloaked rider returned to its horse and rode off further down the road.
Pippin exhaled deeply. "What was that thing?"
"A living reincarnation of your worst nightmare." Sparrow replied solemnly. She looked at Merry and Pippin pityingly. "I'm sorry but you two are a part of this now. I wish it were not so."
"And what exactly are we a part of now?" Meriadoc demanded.
Frodo's hand traveled to his pocket again. "Everything." he muttered ruefully, trying hard to keep his fingers from even coming in contact with the weapon he carried.
"Mr. Merry, we need to get to Bree," Sam said suddenly to keep the attention off his master. "But we can't use the road."
The Brandybuck pondered this for a moment before an idea struck him. "Buckleberry ferry; follow me." Merry wasted no time in jumped up and rushing through the trees and neither did the other Hobbits.
They ran for a bit, brambles catching their legs and drawing long, thin lines of scarlet blood. Merry used this time to think. What could Sparrow, Sam, and Frodo have gotten into? Worse, what kind of evil did they bring to the Shire? Finally he couldn't be left in his own wonderings. Merry stopped and so did the others. "That black rider was looking for something." he said firmly.
"It was," Frodo agreed. "But pray you don't have to know of the item it was searching for."
"I want answers, Frodo. Why can't we go home? What have you three done?"
For once, Sparrow didn't seem keen to prove her dominance and intelligence. Instead she took a step back mournfully, leaving Frodo and Sam to explain. "Merry, we really can't tell you. Please, just help us get to Bree and then you can return home." Frodo pleaded to his cousin.
Merry was skeptical, but all choice was taken away from him when the clopping of hooves rung through the forest. Sparrow finally spoke up with one single word: "Run."
And run they did. Each was too caught up in their own heavy breathing and excitement as a view of the Water was visible to notice Frodo stumble behind. Don't run. That voice whispered in his mind again. Give in. All the pain will disappear.
It was hard not to stop and willingly give the Ring up. It's voice had such a convincing tone. All the pain he'd ever felt would leave if he just rid himself of one little, worthless Ring. One little, worthless Ring that had just grown incredibly heavy in his pocket
"Come on, Mr. Frodo!" Sam yelled. All four of the other Hobbits had already climbed on the flat raft that most called the Buckleberry Ferry.
Frodo tried to rush forward, but the Ring's temptings were so, well, tempting! It would be so easy to just stop and hand it over.
"Frodo, please!" Sam called as he saw the Ring Bearer's pace slow slightly, desperation causing him to drop honorifics.
The lad began to run faster, if only for Samwise, and leaped on to the raft. Pippin made quick work of the knot tying the boat to a tree and pushed them off shore.
Sam sat as the first little ripples met the vessel, his face turning a pastel shade of green. Sparrow rubbed his back comfortingly. "Don't worry, Sam, it'll be over before you know it."
The gardener nodded but his new color did not subside.
Beside him, Frodo sighed. "Bree here we come."
A/N: So in case you didn't read the top author's note, I think I may not make Sparrow and Frodo a couple like I did in the last version of the story. Let me know what you think!