"Attention to all Hobbits!" Alpha Thornburrow called out. "Today we have guests in our community, Dwarves!" The Hobbits all grinned at the closest Dwarf to them. "Their purpose here today is none of our concern. However, since Pup Bilbo Baggins has taken them as guests to his den, they will be participating in our game of the day, and that game will be Hide and Seek!"
The Pups, Omegas, and Betas broke into loud cheers saying "yes'" and "I knew its" and countless other things as well.
Once they had been settled, Alpha Thornburrow began once more. "While I am sure that you all remember the rules, we do have company and though I have no doubt that they play this game in their community, it most likely has different rules than ours. Leaders of each section will have five minutes to go over the rules of Hide and Seek. When the bell rings the game will begin."
"Gather around, pups," Beta Oakbottom commanded. "For those of you who don't know me, I am Beta Oakbottom. My job today is to ensure you all know the rules of the game." He glanced around before continuing. "Since we have limited time you're all going to have to introduce yourselves during the game. Moving on, today's game is Hide and Seek, its purpose for pups is to train your hiding and evasion skills. The rules are simple, if you are caught by a seeker then you go to the pen. The pen is the box to the west surrounded by water. Do you all see it?" After confirming that the pen was seen by the dwarfs he continued. "The seekers consist of omegas and betas, it's up to you to keep track of who's a seeker and who is not. The seeker counts for 30 seconds while everyone else hides. If you're caught the seeker must bring you to the pen. Along the way to the pen if you manage to escape the seeker then you are free to go and hide again. There is always more than one seeker, but they vary between omega and beta. While playing remember to be vigilant." With his instructions over \, Beta Oakbottom watched Alpha Thornburrow.
Meanwhile, Beta Bilberry was explaining things to her group. "Some of you will be seekers and others will hide with the pups. Remember that not all omegas will be hiding. If you are touched by a seeker then you turn into a seeker as well and the seeker that touched you can go hide. You cannot turn the hobbit who touched you into a seeker. The starting seekers are Betas Jasmine Proudfoot and Merimas Longbottom If you catch a pup, take them to the pit. The pit is the wooden box surrounded by water. Can you all see it?" After a couple of moments, she continued. "Be sure not to break, fracture, or sprain anything on anyone. Viligence is key during this game, and don't forget to focus your ears against the cries of the pups and omegas." With her part stated, Beta Bilberry turned to Alpha Thornburrow shut in time to see him bang a fist against a large be hanging on a thick branch.
Immediately Hobbits of all classes bolted. Bilbo grabbed Ori and Kili, leading them to a cluster of densely leaved trees to hide behind.
"Hurry!" Bilbo urged them, seeing Wilimar leading Fili to a large bush near Bilbo's hiding spot. Behind them, Pups were already being scooped up by Betas and Omegas.
"Where's Fili?" demanded Kili once they were safely ducked behind the trees.
"Right here, Kili!" Fili answered somewhere off to their right. "Look at how fast the taller hobbits are getting the smaller ones!"
They watched eagerly as a Beta snatched an Omega off the branch she'd been hanging onto, only for the Omega to kick the Beta and run.
"Look over there!" Wilimur softly exclaimed.
Two Betas were tag teaming another Beta who was going after a Pup. As the Beta crouched down to lunge at the unaware Pup, the two other Betas dog piled him. Together they managed to throw the Beta into the pit.
"Why are they going after each other?" Fili questioned.
Wilimur shrugged, "More practice I suppose."
Behind Bilbo, a twig cracked. All of them froze and spun around. Barely five meters behind them were two Omegas. At once the Pups bolted with the Omegas giving chase.
"Run!" Bilbo screamed giving warning to any who had been hiding nearby.
Cursing, Fili pulled Ori with him over a hedge and into grass that was longer than they were tall. Following Fili's example, Kili leads Bilbo and Wilimur into the tall grass and behind a large rock. They could hear the two Omegas run through the grass passed their hiding spot.
"Now what?" Ori asked, on his belly, pressed as close to a log as possible.
"We wait," Bilbo hissed back. He stiffened when footsteps were heard.
The footsteps continued, walking close enough to Fili's spot curled under a root for Fili to begin to slowly inch away.
"I know you're there," A deep voice crooned.
Bilbo and Wilimur went stiff, they gestured with there arms and hands for the other Pups to stay still.
"I can smell you," the voice said. "You smell like an Elder's pie and rocks. Are the Dwarf Pups here as well?"
Fili, Kili, and Ori went pale.
The voice continued, "If I catch one of you I bet I'll get a bigger reward than I'd get catching an Omega."
Bilbo signaled for them to start crawling away. With Ori and Wilimur in one group and Fili, Kili, and Bilbo in the other, the Pups slowly started creeping away.
"Are you moving?" This time the voice seemed further away, possibly mistaking their location.
When the Pups finally broke out of the grassland, they bolted to a tall thick tree and with a couple of jumps they scampered up quickly.
"Who was that!" Kili demanded.
"Theodric Underhill," Wilimur shakily replied. "His tracking his so good he can track an Alpha within ten minutes."
"Thank you," Theodric voiced with false modesty. "I wasn't aware that I was known to Pups as well."
Ori and Bilbo yelped in fright, and if Kili hadn't caught him, Fili would have taken a tumble out of the tree. The infamous Beta was right below there tree, looking up at them with sly amusement.
"Now then," he drawled. "Are you going to come down like good Pups or do I have to come up there?"
Without even looking at each other, the Pups lept off the tree and once again made a run for it.
"The hard way it is," Theodric grinned.
He lunged after Ori, who was scrambling over a hill after Kili.
Bilbo, seeing whom Theodric was going after yelled, "Run, Ori!"
While Fili dragged Ori closer to him and over another hill, Kili attempted to distract Theodric by hitting him with rocks.
Theodric turned his attention onto Kili.
"Oh? Do you want to play little Dwarf?" He raced towards Kili who bolted towards Wilimur who bolted towards Bilbo.
"Don't come near me!" Bilbo screeched as he ran in the direction Fili had taken Ori.
"Where do you expect us to go!" Wilimur exclaimed pulling up next to Bilbo with Kili. Theodric only a meter behind them.
Bilbo was about to reply when the ground below him went into a steep decline sending him and the other Pups toppling down.
Scrambling up, the Pups kept moving as Theodric fell down the slope as well.
Spying a small through the hill they'd fallen down, Kili tugged Bilbo and Wilimur into it with him. The crack was barely wide enough for them to squeeze into, but with a bit of trouble, they made it halfway through the crack by the time Theodric caught up.
"Clever Pups," he rumbled. "Clever indeed. I suppose that with you all stuck in here I should go after the others." He thought it over mockingly, well aware of the fact that the Pups were wishing he'd leave. "Nah!" Theodric began to laboriously squeeze himself into the crack as well.
In response, the Pups frantically inched through the crack, pulling each other closer to the exit until finally, the last Pup popped out. Gasping for breath, Bilbo spotted Ori waving from the top of a hill. Bilbo, well aware of Theodric making steady progress through the crack, urged his fellow Pups into a sprint and led them to Ori.
"Hurry!" Ori muttered when they reached him. "Grab some dirt and rub yourself with it!"
Confused, the Pups did as he said and when they finished Ori led them to Fili.
"It's about time!" Fili cried when they reached him. "I was worried that he'd gotten you!"
Simultaneously Wilimur and Bilbo hushed him. "Quiet! He's not the only snatcher you know!"
Abashed, Fili nodded and the Pups scrambled into the uppermost branches of the tree.
"How did you get away from him?" Fili demanded when they had all found sturdy branches.
"We were running and there was this huge drop down a hill. We fell and ran into a crack in the bottom and he followed us, but it took him longer to squeeze through it because he was bigger than us." Kili explained.
"At least you got out," Ori sighed looking relieved. "Now what do we do?"
"We stay quiet and stay still until one of the Alphas ring the gong," Bilbo answered watching warily as a fellow Pup crawled under a bush twenty meters away from the tree they were in.
"What happens when the gong is rung?" Kili asked.
"The Alphas are let into the game and we run," Wilimur responded. "The Alphas don't care who they grab so long as they grab someone. When the gong rings we run back to where the game started and try not to get caught."
"We need to stay away from everyone else," Bilbo advised. "Last game we were throwing each other into the paths of the Alphas to save ourselves."
"How much longer until the gong rings?" Kili questioned.
Bilbo and Wilimur shrugged, "It changes every game. It depends on how many are being thrown into the pit and how excited the alphas are."
"Why would the Alphas be excited?" Ori wanted to know.
"They have some type of point system," Wilimur told him. "A certain amount of points for each Pup, Omega, and Beta."
Distantly they could hear a Hobbit screaming "Run" as Bilbo had earlier.
"Why did you scream run when we were being chased, Bilbo?" Fili asked.
"It's something the Pups do to help each other," Bilbo said. "We're already at a disadvantage because most of us aren't as skilled as the other classes, so when one of us is being chased they scream run to alert the other Pups in the area."
The Pups waited impatiently for the last gong to ring. They could hear, and in some cases see, other Pups screaming "Run!" in warning, and on one occasion they had to relocate due to an Omega leading a Beta to their tree.
"Any minute now," Wilimur murmured noticing how the number of Hobbits being chased and taken had decreased significantly.
"How do you know?" Kili inquired.
"Fewer Hobbits are being chased and taken to the pit. Everybody's starting to conserve their energy for when the Alphas are released," Bilbo whispered.
"Does anyone remember the way back to the clearing?" Fili asked.
None of the Pups knew.
"We're going to need to be careful," Wilimur whispered. "I remember last time the Alphas started to herd us."
"Right," Kili nodded, having seen similar behavior in wolves with their prey. "No following the crowd."
"Anything else we need to know?" Fili wanted to know.
"Stick together, run as fast as possible, and don't stop until you reach the clearing," Wilimur replied lowering himself carefully on his branch.