Chapter 6: A shortcut to mushrooms
Disclaimer: I own Annanya and nothing else!
AN: where did all my reviews go? I got nothing for the last chapter! Please, if you read my story review it encourages me to update it!
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Annanya looked down at the person she had just crashed into. Pippin had landed on top of her crushing her beneath him. She blinked slowly till the face came into focus.
"Sam!" she shouted as she sat up straight, knocking Pippin off of her. Sam looked at her surprised and embarrassed as she leapt off of him. "Where have you been? Do you know where Frodo is?" she began to ask, when a groan behind her distracted her. Turning around she saw Merry helping a dark haired figure up.
"Frodo!" she yelled feeling relief sweep through her. She launched herself over to her brother embracing him. The panic that had been coursing through her veins simply disappeared, as she knew where he was. He patted her on the back letting out a small laugh, until she abruptly smacked him upside the head.
"Where on middle earth have you been!" she shouted, her hands flailed as she continually tried to swat him. Frodo attempted to dodge her while trying to piece words together into an explanation. Merry and Pippin watched amused as the hurriedly gathered their vegetables; they flung Annanya's pile into Sam's arms.
"Here Sam hold these" ordered Merry. Sam, surprised held them as the piled more and more into his arms. Grabbing a hold of Anni's wrists so she had to stop Frodo looked over "what's the meaning of this?" he asked.
A shout interrupted everything as a large sickle appeared in the corn stacks, coming closer and closer.
"YOU GET OUT OF MY FIELDS" Frodo looked to Annanya sharply for an explanation, before she gave him an impish grin.
"No time to explain!" she laughed before taking off into the cornfields. Frodo looked confused for a moment before Merry and Pippin ran after her pulling him along too. Anni laughed feeling the thrill of panic rush through her as she weaved her way through the corn stalks. Her bare feet slammed against the soft earth propelling her forward and the cries of Farmer Maggot persuaded her to run even faster.
"I don't know why he's so upset!" shouted Merry chasing after. "Its only a couple of carrots!" Anni laughed hearing Pippin adding to the list of things they had stolen the last few weeks.
"Oi don't forget about those tomatoes we lifted when we got the mushrooms! we took the whole lot!" she called back.
"NYA!" shouted Frodo looking at her appalled. Before she could turn back and flash an innocent smile at him She realized the cliff she was running toward. Slamming her heels into the soft earth she stumbled to a halt at the edge looking down at the long drop beneath her. She sighed a breath of relief before her eyes flew open again as Pippin flew into her. She yelped trying to steady her feet as they slid. Pippin grabbed her by the waist and steadied them both. Grinning they both were relived they hadn't fallen before two more bodies came flying into them. First Frodo then Merry. Annanya peeked her eyes open and looked down. Her toes hung over the edge and she took a moment to take a deep breath before starting to back up. Suddenly a weight pushed her and the other bodies behind her off the ledge. She screamed as she fell rolling down the hill crashing into the ground and smacking tree roots on the way down.
As suddenly as the fall began it ended, Anni smacked the ground hard laughing. The laugh was pushed out of her as bodies fell on her, first Pippin, then Frodo, then Merry, and then of course Sam. She swore loudly as the pain increased and she was unable to move.
"Well that was close" she heard Pippin say close to her ear. She turned her head and saw what he was referring to; they had narrowly missed a large pile of dung sitting in the road. Annanya would have chuckled if she had any air left in her lungs. Finally some of the weight started to be relieved as the other hobbits began to stand up.
"I think I've broken something" she heard Merry whine. She rolled her eyes
"If you lot don't get off of me, someone is going to really break something" she growled. She heard Pippin chuckle from above her as Frodo stood up next.
"Trust a Brandy Buck and a Took" she heard Sam mumble grouchily as she brushed himself off.
"What? That was just a detour a short-cut"
"A short-cut to what?"
Anni breathed a sigh of relief as she felt Pippin finally start to get up. Air! Oh glorious air! She thought starting to sit up before the weight was all pushed upon her again.
"Mushrooms!" Pippin exclaimed pointing to a tree root. Without a pause both Sam and Merry leapt up and ran over to the small crowd of mushrooms, trampling Annanya and Pippin on their way. Anni swore again and this time pushed Pippin off roughly. He didn't notice however as he was already running over to collect his share of the mushrooms.
Annanya finally stood up and brushed some of the dirt off her dress. It had a large tear in it now, showing where it had caught on a tree branch. She sighed thinking of the amount of skirts she had ruined in the last month. Perhaps spending so much time running around with Merry and Pippin was a bad idea. Shrugging her shoulders Anni smoothed her hands over the tear looking over at her companions. She shook her head seeing the three grown hobbits scramble to collect mushrooms.
"You know, the mushrooms aren't going to suddenly sprout legs and wander off, they'll still be there even if you don't scramble to collect them." She called over. In response Merry aimed a mushroom at her head. As she ducked to avoid it he called over
"We are scrambling to preserve their flavor"
Annanya shook her head taking her eyes away from the group. Remembering there was one other person amongst them.
"Frodo?" she called over to her brother seeing him standing in the middle of the road. He stood perfectly still staring down at the path that lead through the woods. Anni skipped over to him placing her hands on her hips as she did.
"Where have you been Frodo Baggins?" she hissed through her teeth. Her last few days made her drained with worry, telling herself the second she'd find her brother she would hug him and make sure he was alright. Now that she had located him, all she wanted was to do was smack him upside the head and get a damn good excuse as to where he had been.
Instead of the long apologetic description she was hoping for Anni got a wave from one of his hands. Not even turning around to look at her. She heard the other hobbits squabbling amongst herself as she now hit Frodo's shoulder.
"Frodo" she snapped expecting him to at least look at her.
"shh Nya" he tilted his head towards the other hobbits "I think we should get off the road."
"Shh? Don't you tell me to Shh like I am a child Frodo, I want to know where you ran off to and why you didn't give me a damn explanation to your disappearance. ?"
"Nya please" he snapped moving to look at her with an exasperated look. Suddenly a screech seemed to come from further down the road. Frodo's eyes went wide as he grabbed Annanya's arm. "Get off the road! Quick!" he yelled, now dragging his sister off the road. The 3 others chased after them jumping under a tree root.
Grumbling Annanya wrenched her arm out of Frodo's grasp and gave him a deathly stare. He wasn't looking at her; instead he was looking straight up at the road they had just jumped off of. Merry, Sam and Pippin were squabbling over the mushrooms they had collected, when suddenly an eerie silence seemed to fall over them. On the road above they heard the slow heavy steps of a horse. Anni craned her neck to try and see through the tree roots, it seemed like a huge horse. Much to big for a hobbit to be using, and it was odd to have a man riding though the shire. Her brow knit together in confusion wondering what the big-folk could possibly want in the shire. Shivers ran down her spine as they heard someone leap off the horse. Next to her she felt Frodo jump, startled by the sound of chainmail hitting the soft earth.
The creature above them was sniffing the air for something. It sounded much like a dog would, what could it be looking for, Nya wondered. Small insects started running over the hobbits, in earnest to get away from the creature above them. Annanya wished she could join them, and quickly get away. Something was not right here. She looked to the others in desperation wondering what to do, but they all had the same stunned look of fear and apprehension on their face. Annanya's heart quickened in her chest, they needed to do something before the creature decided to look under the tree.
Close to her ear she heard Frodo let out a quiet groan. She looked at him bewildered to see his eyes closed and hands reaching for something under his shirt. The other hobbits had noticed as well. Panicked Merry looked at the bag of mushrooms in his hand and gave a curt nod. Sam lunged across the two hobbits and hit Frodo square in the chest. He gasped, eyes flying open as Merry tossed the bag of vegetables into the brush. With a loud screech the creature above them flew off after it and the hobbits fled, running as fast as their feet would go.
They ran for several minutes, away from the creature, sliding down a hill and coming to a stop in a dense packet of trees. Leaning against the tree Annanya tried to catch her breath, her heart raced in her chest as she looked behind her to see if the creature would appear. She closed her eyes for a moment to focus on her breathing, trying to sooth her racing heart but every time she did the screech of the creature would echo in her ears and she'd see their long black robes twisting behind them as the chased after the hobbits. Annanya's eyes flew open as she gasped, looking over to Frodo she saw him looking in the palm of his hand at a small object.
"What was that!?" exclaimed Merry voicing all of their concerns, Anni kept her eyes on Frodo more out of habit than anything; he was always the one to answer her questions. He said nothing however still looking at his palm. Placing her hands on the hard bark of the tree she had collapsed against Annanya pushed herself up to look into his hand "What are you looking at?" she started to ask making her way over to him. Before she could see he clenched his hand tightly around whatever was in his hand and stuffed it back into his shirt. She looked at him incredulously and opened her mouth to snap at him. He didn't even look at her however and took of running into the forest.
"What!" groaned Pippin jumping up as the rest of the hobbits followed him "where are we going!?" He whined. Anni shook her head as she raced after Frodo, wondering the same thing. They ran forever it seems, not stopping for a moment trying to catch their breath as they ran. Finally they stopped, at the end of a hill, panting and clutching their sides.
"What's going on?" Annanya exclaimed holding the sides of her bodice, exchanging a glance with Pippin. He closed his eyes shaking his head. She looked to Merry next who walked up to Frodo looking at him with a serious expression.
"That rider was looking for something, or someone," he said now standing directly behind Frodo starting into him. "Frodo?" he asked expectantly knowing full well his cousin had some idea of what was going on. A sudden screech from the black riders broke thorough the silence making all the hobbits jump, Annanya grasped Pippin's arm in surprise. Frodo looked at him his eyes wide.
"I need to get out of the shire," he said finally. Annanya gasped hearing him, narrowing her eyes "Sam and I must get to Bree" he said, his voice serious. The Hobbits exchanged glances.
"Right" nodded Merry understanding the look in Frodo's eyes. "Buckleberry Ferry, follow me" he said before taking off running, the hobbits following.
The Hobbits sprinted through the woods, hearing the black riders getting even closer. Pippin grasped Anni's hand pulling her along, the two of them making sure neither one stopped.
"Right through these trees!" shouted Merry pointing ahead. Suddenly a Black Rider jumped in their path, screeching its ear piecing call. Anni screamed nearly being trampled by the horse's hooves. Frodo grabbed her arm pulling her back.
"Come On!" shouted Merry dodging the rider and getting past it, Sam and Pippin following after him. The Baggins' had a tougher time, the creature following their every move. It seemed focused on Frodo moving if he gave the slightest hint of moving in any direction. Finally he shoved Annanya roughly away from himself, flinging her towards the rider as he leapt in the other direction. His plan worked as the Black Rider leapt after him, Anni sprinting after the other hobbits. She leapt over a fence following the others, turning her head back to see Frodo just make it past the rider.
"FRODO HURRY!" she screamed, now reaching the ferry docks. Merry fumbled with the rope untying the raft from the docks. Sam and Pippin already on the raft. Pippin leaned forward and pulled Annanya on as she turned to look for her brother.
"Go!" they heard Frodo shout as he ran towards them, the black rider hot on his heels. Merry shoved off from the docks the boat starting to move slowly.
"Come on Frodo!"" the hobbits shouted, as another Rider burst out of the woods. He leapt into the air, reaching the end of the docks and landed on the raft, knocking the other hobbits back. The rider screeched loudly having to stop at the end of the docks. The hobbits watched in fear as it took off again, turning behind it and heading towards the road.
"How far is the nearest crossing?" Frodo asked, looking up at Merry, as Sam pulled him up into a standing position.
"Brandywine Bridge, 20 miles" Merry answered giving the boat another push with the oar.