Honor: Well hi! You have made it to chapter four :). If you have noticed that the author's name of this piece of work is Hope and Justice and wondered to yourself: ''Where is Honor's name?'' then I must say thank you for your concern. But don't fret! The account belongs to Hope and Justice; I am a guest author ^^. Now enough of that, let's get to it!
Hope: Chapter four includes: Rebecca's apology to Elrond, the arrival of some familiar faces, and more Word Association. Also we realize our timeline is probably off, but hey! It's alternate universe. Enjoy :).
Justice: Like I said before, we don't own anything, just the OCs!
Chapter Four: Wake Up, Little Frodo!
Sure enough the next few days turned out to be interesting indeed. It all started on the girls' second day in Middle Earth, when Gandalf the Grey arrived at Lord Elrond's home. The old Wizard was immediately informed of the strangers' arrivals as well as Frodo's, and seemed interested in meeting the new Hobbits as well as their Elleth companion after Elrond explained their situation to him.
When the girls did not stir by ten o' clock, Arwen was assigned the responsibility of waking them. Upon entering their room, Arwen stepped over to the first bed where a tuft of blonde hair peeked out from beneath the covers. Gently she shook the sleeping figure and lucky for her, Paisley woke up rather easily.
''Oh, well good morning Lady Arwen,'' Paisley said in a sleepy voice as she sat up straight in her bed.
''Good morning. You may want to wake the others. There is someone who wishes to meet you.''
Paisley blinked the sleep away from her eyes and gave a smirk before taking one of the overstuffed pillows from the bed and tossing it as hard as she could at the sleeping form that was Josie. ''Oi! Wake up sleepyhead!''
Josie bolted up in her bed and gave a squeak of surprise at being struck in the face by a bundle of fluffiness. ''Jesus Paisley!''
At that, Rebecca woke up as well, and she was not pleased. ''Bah...It's too early to be awake,'' she grumbled as she forced herself to sit up.
''Come on! Up and at 'em,'' Paisley rallied. ''Someone wants to meet us.''
As if on cue a knock sounded from the other side of the door.
''He has arrived,'' Arwen stated, as she stepped over to answer the door.
''Who is it Paisley?'' Rebecca mouthed.
Paisley merely shrugged because she honestly had no idea.
When the door opened, all their mouths fell open in shock. Standing there in the doorway, clad in long gray robes and matching stereotypical Wizard's hat, stood Gandalf the Grey.
''Oh for the love of Gandalf,'' Paisley whispered.
''Yes, Lord Elrond mentioned you, Paisley. I just came from meeting with him,'' Gandalf said as he glanced at the Hobbit. Arwen politely excused herself and the Wizard took a seat in one of the high back chairs that had been placed by one of the windows. ''He said you know our fates.''
''I do...Although I am forbidden to speak of them.''
''And I agree,'' Gandalf replied pulling out his pipe. ''There is to be a council soon. Lord Elrond was wary about allowing you three to attend, but I convinced him otherwise.''
''When Frodo wakes up?'' Rebecca asked. ''That's when the council is going to happen, right?''
Gandalf gave a crinkled smile. ''Others have been summoned here as well. When they arrive and Frodo decides to join us once more, the council shall be held.''
''Is Frodo getting any better?'' asked Josie, who was trying to sound nonchalant, but everyone heard the hint of worry in her tone.
''I checked in on him this morning young Josie. He seems to be doing fine,'' Gandalf replied puffing on his pipe.
''That wouldn't happen to be Old Toby in that pipe, would it Gandalf?'' Paisley asked, pointing at the pipe the Wizard seemed so fond of.
''You are an odd one, little Hobbit,'' he observed. ''And you are absolutely sure you do not come from the Shire?''
''I don't, but I wish I did.'' Paisley couldn't help but give a satisfied grin at guessing the type of pipe-weed correctly.
Just after lunchtime Rebecca left her friends' company and set out to find Elrond and apologize to him for her actions from the previous morning. It took her the better part of half an hour before she did discover his whereabouts. He and Gandalf were sitting on one of the various balconies and they appeared to be deep in conversation.
She approached the two of them cautiously and once she was close enough they both turned to look at her.
''Am I interrupting something?'' she asked, trying to not let her nerves get the best of her. When neither Elf or Wizard answered she turned to leave. ''I'm sorry! I'll come back later!''
''No child, stay,'' Elrond urged, watching as Rebecca turned back around to face him. ''Are you troubled by something?''
With her stomach in knots, Rebecca spoke in a timid voice as she replied. ''M-mister Elrond, sir? I...I am very sorry about trying to hit you earlier..you know, when I woke up. I really didn't mean to, I was just startled is all...It was really rude of me and I am sorry! I swear it won't happen again!''
''Do not worry yourself with that Rebecca Kingston. It was an understandable reaction for one with circumstances such as your own. I harbor no hard feelings.''
Gandalf merely sat puffing on his pipe, seemingly amused by the scene playing out before him.
Rebecca's face showed both surprise and relief at Elrond's kind words. ''Oh! Um...O-okay then. I will be going now!''
I really hope he meant that...Oh damn! Now he probably thinks I'm annoying because I apologized so much...Okay, all I have to do now is not screw anything else up, she thought to herself as she went to find Josie and Paisley.
Nothing else noteworthy happened on that particular day, but on the following day three more Hobbits and a man arrived in Rivendell.
''Look Jo, all I'm saying is you can't be a Hobbit unless you know about second breakfast.''
''Okay Paisley,'' Josie sighed. ''Whatever you say.''
It was early evening, and the sun was beginning to set in the distance. Paisley and Josie were sitting outside the house of Elrond on a small intricately designed bench discussing Hobbit life. Rebecca was nearby testing out her new Elf-eyes. In the distance, but not too far off, she saw four figures coming their way.
She turned to the two Hobbits on the bench. ''I think we'll have company soon.''
''Who is it?'' Josie asked, swinging her legs back and forth over the side of the bench.
''It's Gandalf, a scraggly looking dude and two Hobbits. Aw! They're so cute!''
Josie felt herself become intrigued at the thought of meeting even more individuals, and as much as she hated to admit it, she actually felt a little excited.
It took the approaching group a few minutes to arrive and when they did, Gandalf seemed in quite a hurry to get away, claiming he had matters to attend to with Elrond.
Always the social butterfly (and paired with a more positive attitude), Josie was the one to make introductions. ''I'm Josie, and this is Rebecca and Paisley.''
The tall scruffy man was the one to speak for the other group. ''I am known as Strider and these two are Merry and Pippin. Another Hobbit made this journey with us, he is called Sam, and he has gone to sit with Frodo in Gandalf's stead. Forgive me for parting so soon,'' he paused to bow slightly. ''I am weary from the day's travels.''
Rebecca, Paisley, and Josie exchanged a knowing look with one another as they knew the man's true identity, and ''Strider'' began to walk away.
''It was nice meeting you, Strider,'' Rebecca called after him.
''Indeed,'' he responded simply.
''Gandalf told us about your story. It's quite...unusual,'' the Hobbit known as Merry said.
''I suppose it is,'' Josie mused. ''It was scary waking up in an unknown place and suddenly becoming a fre-...a Hobbit,'' she corrected.
''Did you have a nice trip here?'' Rebecca asked, trying to make pleasant conversation.
''Believe me, it was anything but nice,'' Pippin replied, sitting down on a seperate bench across the way.
''Yes, I guess you're right,'' Rebecca agreed as she took a seat on the ground in order to be in everyone else's height range.
''You're awfully quiet,'' Josie realized, nudging Paisley in the ribcage.
Paisley, who had been staring intently at her lap since Strider departed, looked up but still did not speak.
Merry sat down beside Pippin. ''Is she alright?''
''Yeah. She's a little shy at times.'' The She-Elf reached over and gently patted Paisley on the shoulder.
The blonde mustered up a smile and apologized. ''I'm sorry. I'm just not used to meeting so many people in just two days. I'm fine. I was just a little overwhelmed.''
''Come on, Merry and I are nothing to fear,'' Pippin said. ''It will be nice to have some other Hobbits to talk to until Frodo wakes up.''
Rebecca cleared her throat.
''And an Elf of course!'' Merry added quickly.
Paisley was then struck with an idea. ''Do you guys want to play a game?''
''What kind of game?''
''A word game,'' Rebecca answered.
''Word game?''
''Yes, Pippin. It's called Word Association.'' Paisley replied nodding happily.
Merry seemed interested. ''Well how do you play?''
''Someone says a word and then we go around the circle and one-by-one we each say the first thing that comes to mind,'' Rebecca explained. ''We used to play it all the time. Are you joining us, Josie?''
''I guess.'' The auburn haired Hobbit shrugged. ''I don't think anything else is going to happen until Frodo wakes up.''
''So who wants to go first?''
Pippin was the first to answer. ''I do!''
Paisley laughed at his enthusiasm. ''What's the word?''
''Mushrooms!''
Leave it to a Hobbit to pick something food-related.
And so the days continued to pass. The nights got steadily colder and the sun was setting earlier. Everyone eventually met everyone and many pleasantries were exchanged between Elf, Hobbit, Man, and Wizard alike. Every being in Rivendell was waiting with baited breath for Frodo Baggins to wake up...And then on the morning of October twenty-fourth, he did just that.
Honor: Well folks, that's the end of chapter four. We want to give special thanks to xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx, Element Life, cjsl8ne, and Daydreams Become Realities for reviewing chapters two and three, Element Life and Team werewolf and vampire for favoriting, and VonEverette and Element Life for subscribing. Also, thank you so much Element Life for listing Hope and Justice as a favorite author. It's such an honor (no pun intended!), and it makes us incredibly happy! ...So thanks again you guys. 'Til next time!