Awakening

Allie gasped and directed her gaze up at the beast. Nothing, not the sound of the downpour hitting the grass all around her, nor the feeling of thick blood coursing down her left arm, could pull her attention away from the beast standing in front of her.

In spite of her terror, Allie was mesmerized by the wolf's elegant stance and shiny red coat glistening with rain. A pair of penetrating and intelligent black eyes pierced through her from above a long muzzle. Blood dripped from the wolf's bared fangs. Her blood.

At the sight of it, she clasped her shoulder with her other hand. Touching her wound was like getting stabbed by a knife, and the pain worked a scream out of her. Trembling, she tried to crawl away from her attacker, though every movement felt like lifting a mountain.

Something jumped over her, and a grey wolf appeared beside the red. Streaks of white fur ran from the back of its ears to its front paws. Belligerent red eyes glared at her sprawled down shape. All hopes of escape died within Allie at the appearance of the second wolf.

The grey wolf's gaze pinned Allie to the ground as surely as a boot of steel on her chest. While Allie trembled under its gaze, the red wolf prowled over to Frodo's discarded jacket and sniffed it. Its hackles bristled and it ripped the jacket to pieces. It then approached Allie and growled so hard that wet locks of hair flew away from her face.

Allie curled on herself and waited for the inevitable.

The red wolf made a step toward her, ready to finish her off, but then suddenly shifted to the side to avoid a flying rock. Allie opened one eye and lifted her head off the wet ground. To her horror, she made out Frodo standing a few feet away with another rock clenched in his trembling hand. Dark locks of hair clung to his white face and his knees trembled so much they were about to buckle. Still, he lifted his arm and weakly threw the second rock.

"Run," Allie whispered under her breath. "Run, Frodo."

The grey wolf easily avoided the second projectile and let out a resounding growl. He started to prowl in Frodo's direction, but the red one cut off his path. They exchanged a long look and a message seemed to pass between them. With one last glance at her, the red one turned tails and hopped over the bushes, soon followed by the grey one. Just like that, they disappeared as fast as they had come. The whole attack mustn't have lasted more than a minute.

Frodo watched the bushes behind which the wolves had disappeared. The sound of his anguished panting resonated in his ears, louder than even the mad downpour all around them. His right hand was still frozen in mid-air, his knuckles white around a third rock he hadn't had the chance to throw.

A whimper came from Allie's sprawled form, shaking Frodo out of his terror. He blinked rain out of his eyes and stumbled forth on shaky legs to kneel by her side. He wiped her hair away from her face and she trembled under his hand. Her eyes had shut closed, and she didn't seem aware of his presence.

Frodo gulped audibly when he saw the left side of her shirt soaked through with blood. He wanted to call out her name, but nothing came out of his dry and constricted throat.

He needed to do something. He needed to get her out of here and to safety. Who knew when the two wolves might be back? "Allie," he finally managed to say.

Allie did not respond.

Frodo tried lifting her up by the shoulders, but Allie let out a scream of pain and folded on her side. Frodo's anguish increased by a notch. The bleeding didn't look as though it would stop. At this rate, soon she would pass out from losing too much blood. He had to move her, and fast.

Frodo swallowed again and bent down close to her face. "Allie, I know it hurts, but we need to get you to a healer," he whispered through numb lips. "I will lift you up now, all right?"

Slowly, Allie's eyes opened and a few tears rolled down her cheeks. Her wavering gaze focused on Frodo, and she gave a small nod.

"Good," Frodo said as he grabbed her under the arms. "Take a seat first. That's it."

With much effort, he managed to hoist her up into a sitting position. Then, he knelt in front of her with his back to her. "Pass your arms around me, Allie."

Allie did as she was told, biting her lip to avoid crying out when she lifted her injured arm to drape it around his neck. She then leaned against his back, crying softly. Frodo passed his arms under her thighs and struggled into a standing position with Allie on his back. The motion worked a whimper out of her, and Frodo winced at the sound.

"Hold on, Allie."

Frodo started to run through the woods as fast as he could, blinking rain out of his eyes every now and then. His legs felt like cotton as he floated more than sprinted past never ending rows of dripping trees. His feet slipped often on patches of wet grass, and many times he had to slow down to reaffirm his grip on Allie's legs and hoist her up lest she slid off his back.

Frodo could hear Allie's breathing coming in shallow and fast, her breath warm against his neck. She no longer had the strength to hold on to him and had let her arms dangle in front of his chest. Her shoulder wound kept on bleeding and thick blood had sipped through the fabric of his own shirt. Frodo told himself to just keep on running and not think about the thick sensation of blood seeping through his clothes.

His heart lifted when he finally reached the edges of Bucklebury village. Sprinting down the battered roads, he went straight to the smial he knew pertained to Hob the healer.

"Mr. Hob! Mr. Hob!" he screamed as he banged desperately on the round door. He could feel Allie slipping from his back and he doubled the intensity of his knocking.

There was a shuffle inside the room, and then Hob was at the door, peering down owlishly at his frantic face. "Oh my, if it isn't young Frodo."

Frodo pushed past him without waiting for an invitation. "Quick! My friend is badly hurt!"

He managed to reach the living room before collapsing on the couch. Heaving one last effort, he managed to slowly ease Allie off his back and onto the couch. He lay next to her dripping body, trying to regain his breath.

Hob took one look at Allie's blood-soaked clothes and his face turned serious. Kneeling down beside her, he quickly pulled away her shirt to reveal the bite mark on her shoulder. The wound was still oozing blood. Frodo's face paled at the sight of it. He knelt beside Allie and brushed wet strands of hair away from her face.

At his touch, Allie's eyes fluttered open and she focused her wide eyes on him. "Frodo," she whispered.

"Just breathe," Frodo told her. "Mr. Hob is helping you now. You are going to be just fine."

Allie nodded with fresh tears in her eyes. Frodo looked over his shoulder and saw Hob coming back with a bucket full of water and a clean towel. He soaked the towel thoroughly and begun cleaning her wound as best he could. Allie ground her teeth to keep from screaming out. Frodo clasped her hand in his, trying not to let anything show on his face when she crushed his fingers in a painful grip.

Soon, the bucket of clean water had turned red with blood. Hob asked an anxious Frodo to change the water and bring more towels.

"No," Allie said when he let go of her hand.

"I will be back in a minute, I promise," Frodo said.

Allie searched his gaze and Frodo flashed her a small, reassuring smile. "I won't take long."

Allie gave a nod and closed her eyes again. Frodo hurried away with the bucket of bloody water. He emptied it outside and then filled the bucket again with fresh water from the well.

Hob thanked Frodo when he came back with the bucket and fresh towels, all within a minute.

Frodo resumed his spot next to Allie while Hob finished cleaning off her wound. Hob then uncorked a bottle of alcohol and prepared to pour it on Allie's wound. "Bear with me now," he told a wide-eyed Allie.

Allie hissed and moaned when the alcohol touched her open flesh, but she never uttered a word of complaint.

After pouring the alcohol, Hob seemed satisfied with his work. He began to wrap a bandage around her shoulder. When he was finished, he sat back on the balls of his feet with a deep sigh.

Frodo turned two wide blue eyes up at him. "Is she going to be all right now?"

Hob studied him through wrinkled eyes. "She should be. The bleeding has stopped." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and his expression turned severe.

Frodo looked down uncomfortably, knowing what was coming.

"What exactly happened?" Hob asked.

Frodo exchanged a quick glance with Allie, wondering if Hob would believe him if he told the truth. "We were in the woods and an animal attacked us. It was some kind of wild dog."

"A wolf," Allie added in a tired whisper.

"A what?" Hob exclaimed. Before she could repeat it, he continued, "There's no such thing."

"I have heard rumors of them when I was in Bree," Allie said, and her eyes brimmed in spite of the cold sweat on her brow.

Hob rubbed his hands together, clearly ill at ease. "Don't say silly things, lass. Frodo, you tell me what it was."

Frodo looked down at his shirt, sodden with both rain and blood. "I have never seen a wolf before so I can't be sure, but those beasts were too big to be dogs."

The healer sighed and threw his hands up in the air. "Kids these days and their imagination! Really, there's no use trying to reason with you. Fine, a stray dog it was then. What are you both doing in Buckland anyway? Did you come with Bilbo Baggins?"

Frodo gave a nod. "My Uncle is with Mr. Saradoc." He didn't insist about the wolves, for he had a feeling Hob would never believe him.

Hob walked over to the door and put on his raincoat. "All right, you two stay here. I'm going to find Bilbo. I have left two blankets there." He pointed at two folded blankets sitting on the edge of the couch. "Dry yourselves with it so you don't fall ill. I shan't be long."

When the door closed after him, Frodo shook the blankets open. He wrapped himself in one and draped the other over Allie's shoulders, careful not to move her injured arm. When he was bent over her and covering her up, Allie tugged on his blanket. "Thank you."

Frodo looked sideways into her face, and then pulled back with a rosy tint to his cheeks. "I'm only helping because you can't do it yourself."

Allie shook her head. "No, I mean for everything before this. Thank you for carrying me here." She pulled the blankets tighter around herself until nothing peeked from the aperture other than a pair of grey eyes.

Frodo sat next to her on the couch. "Since the alternative was to leave you behind, I only did what I had to."

Allie hid her face within the blanket and turned her face to the fire crackling in the hearth. "Still, I'm grateful."

"Does it still hurt?" Frodo asked, signaling to her bandaged shoulder.

"It's a dull kind of pain now. I'm trying not to think about it."

Frodo was about to ask her if she was sure it had been a wolf, when Allie spoke first. "Did you see its eyes?" she said with her gaze to the flames.

Back in that clearing, Frodo should have been too scared and preoccupied with throwing rocks to notice such details, he did remember the split second the grey wolf had locked eyes with him. Its eyes had brimmed with cruelty and intent to kill, the message as clear as though it had been a human gaze conveying the expression. The intensity of its gaze had paralyzed Frodo completely, freezing his blood more surely than the icy rain around him. If the red wolf hadn't intercepted the grey one at the last minute, he wouldn't be here right now.

He shivered within his blanket. "Yes, I saw its eyes," he said.

"I have seen them before," Allie said in a frightened whisper.

Frodo quirked an eyebrow, but she just stared into the fire with a troubled expression and didn't say anymore.

"Why do you think they didn't finish us off?" Frodo wondered.

Allie shook her head. "When the red wolf bit me, it could have easily killed me. Why did it back off? To me, it seemed…" She looked up at Frodo. "Almost scared."

Frodo arched an eyebrow. "Scared of what?"

"Of having bitten me."

Frodo highly doubted a wolf would ever experience fear after attacking a prey. "I don't know, Allie. How can you know that?"

Allie's eyes became troubled. "Even I can't say. Still, when I looked into its eyes, it was like… looking into your eyes or into Merry's eyes. They were the eyes of a person and not a beast. I read fear and uncertainty in that gaze, though I don't know why such a beast would ever be afraid. Also, the red one kept looking over at your jacket."

Frodo sat back against the couch and shivered. "So the mystery deepens," he whispered to himself. "I wonder what those creatures are. Can they really be wolves?" He leaned over toward Allie. "Is it true that you have heard rumors of them in Bree?"

"Yes. Folk were gossiping about sighting wolves near Bree. Though, the sightings remained mere speculation because no one has ever been found bitten to death. If wolves were really there, surely they would have left traces of their passing. Still, if the two wolves we saw are the same as the ones sighted in Bree, then maybe…"

The front door flew open and in entered an alarmed Bilbo followed by Hob, huffing and puffing behind him.

Bilbo didn't bother taking off his raincoat and hurried to Allie's side by the couch. His worried eyes roamed all over her and Frodo. "What happened, child?" he asked Allie. "How badly are you hurt? Show it to me!"

Allie snuggled out of her blanket and pulled her shirt down by the collar to reveal the white bandage. Frodo frowned when he saw a red circle spreading again in the middle.

"Oh goodness gracious," Bilbo exclaimed. "Hob, she's still bleeding!"

"Some bleeding is normal. It should stop within the night," the healer replied with a comforting wave of his hand.

Frodo could see his uncle was anything but appeased. After studying Allie's bandages for a few more seconds, he pushed back to his feet. "This won't do. She needs a thorough examination. A good friend of mine back in Hobbiton is very knowledgeable in healing herbs. His name is Dom, and he lives in the Bywater region. Frodo, I've brought you there once before, do you remember?"

Frodo remembered. A few months after he had been brought to live with Bilbo, he had been stung in the arm by a particularly vicious bee. The bite had become red and swollen, and extremely itchy. Bilbo had brought Frodo to Dom's abode, where the old herbalist had squeezed out the stinger and applied witch hazel oil to help with the pain.

Bilbo knelt in front of Frodo. "Frodo-lad, I want you to take the cart and bring Allie back to Hobbiton first thing on the 'morrow. I still have some unfinished business with Saradoc so I cannot go with you. You do know how to drive the cart, don't you? I taught you the basics last time."

Frodo gave a nod. "Yes Uncle, I remember very well."

"Bilbo, I will be fine," Allie protested. "It almost doesn't hurt anymore. We can go back together when you are done with your business."

"I still want you to get examined by Dom sooner rather than later. Now, don't argue with me, young lass."

Allie sighed at his unyielding scowl. Frodo knew there was no convincing his uncle otherwise when he had that look.

The next morning, the rain had finally stopped and the skies had cleared back to a vibrant blue with not a cloud in sight. When Frodo and Allie stepped outside Hob's smial, Bilbo was already prepping the ponies and getting them ready for the trip back.

"You really don't need to do this, Bilbo," Allie insisted again. "I changed my own bandages this morning and it's not even bleeding anymore."

"What if it gets infected?" Bilbo said without interrupting his task.

"It won't," Allie assured him. "I'm strong. Nothing will happen to me."

Bilbo finally turned toward her and allowed a smile on his lips. "I know you are strong, Allie." His smile morphed into a stern expression. "But sometimes you just have to listen to the grown-ups because they know better. Hop on now. The morning is already well underway and you must make haste if you want to get there before afternoon tea."

From the way Allie jutted out her chin, Frodo knew she had no intention of abiding.

"I really am fine, Bilbo. Besides, I can't leave just like this. I have to say goodbye to my friends."

"You can come back to see your friends anytime. Right now, you need to see to your wound. Don't make me say it again, Allie!"

Allie opened her mouth, no doubt to issue further protests.

Frodo placed a hand on her good shoulder. "Come on, Allie. Uncle Bilbo is just worried. We should go. If the herbalist says it is nothing, we will come back right away and still have of plenty time to spend with Merry."

Allie looked over at him and a pout formed on her lips. "All right. Fine," she conceded.

Bilbo threw his arms up in the air in disbelief. "I see you only listen to Frodo now."

Allie didn't deign reply to that. She mounted the cart without another word and sat on the front seat with her arms crossed.

Frodo smiled up at his uncle and gave him a discreet wink. Bilbo knelt in front of him and buttoned him up properly. "Thank goodness she is finally listening to one of us. I will leave her in your hands. You children should take care of each other."

Frodo grinned. "Don't worry, Uncle Bilbo. I'm sure everything will be just fine."

Bilbo gave Frodo one last pat, and then helped him onto the driver's seat beside Allie. Frodo seized the reins and whipped the side of the pony, setting the cart in motion. Bilbo waved goodbye, and Frodo reciprocated the gesture. After a second of hesitation, Allie also waved back.

Frodo and Allie rode on for a moment in silence. The spring air was cool and fresh on their faces after the storm had abated. The scent of rain-soaked earth drifted over to Frodo's nose, interspersed with the occasional perfume of early spring buds hanging off the branches of the trees they passed under.

Allie broke a thin twig from one of the low overhanging branches and placed it carefully in between her teeth. "Well, that was a short trip," she said through the twig. "I didn't even get to say goodbye to Merry. Or to Berilac," she added as an afterthought.

Frodo shrugged. "Don't be too sad. Now that you have reconciled with Merry, we can come back anytime."

Allie took the twig out of her mouth and smiled. "That is true. I can't wait to tell Merry about the wolves. Knowing him, he will be so jealous he didn't get to be there with us. Merry can be crazy like that sometimes."

Frodo did not return the smile. "I would not wish such an encounter on my worst enemy. It was truly awful."

He heard a gasp and turned to see her bewildered eyes an inch from his face. "Not even Lotho Sackville-Baggins?" she asked in dismay.

At that, Frodo couldn't help cracking a smile. "All right, the Three Idiots are an exception."

Allie sat back against the cart and chewed on her twig pensively. "Were you scared?"

Frodo's hands tightened around the reins, remembering those beastly eyes bearing down on him. "Of course. I have never been so scared in my whole life. I hope we never see more of them again."

Allie heaved a sigh. "Oh, Frodo. Have folk ever told you you are too honest for your own good? If it were Merry and Pippin, they would probably boast they were not scared at all."

Frodo scowled at her. "Well, I'm not a liar. There is no shame in admitting to your fears."

Allie closed one eye playfully. "I thought lads were not supposed to show that they are scared. Even if they are, they are supposed to hide it and put on a brave front."

Frodo stared ahead in sulky silence. Perhaps he should have indeed lied and said he had not been scared.

She nudged his side. "Are you mad?"

"No."

"Yes, you are!" Allie laughed at the face he made and patted his hand holding the rein. "Still," she added in a soft voice. "You were really courageous when you threw stones at the wolf back in that clearing."

Frodo threw her a sidelong glance. "Why, thank you. I'm glad it was appreciated."

He startled when Allie leaned her head against his shoulder. Allie took the twig out of her mouth and threw it off to the road. "More than appreciated. You could have run away, but you didn't. A part of me wanted you to make a run for it, so that at least one of us would survive, but I'm glad you stood your ground for me. No one has ever stood their ground for me before." She grinned happily. "What you did for me made me really happy. You saved me yesterday, just like a hero in those books you always read."

A ball of heat ignited in Frodo's belly and crept up his chest, up his neck, all the way to the tips of his ears. He tightened his hands around the reins and stole a glance down at Allie's face. She wasn't looking at his burning face, much to his relief. Instead, she was beaming happily as she watched the pony's head bobbing ahead.

Frodo forced himself to breathe and wondered why it felt as though the pony's hooves were resonating within his own chest. Did Allie always intentionally strive to confound him at every turn? She was always going from teasing him one second to giving him the most heartwarming compliment in the next.

Allie nestled against him more comfortably. "I'm going to sleep for a while," she said as she closed her eyes.

Frodo swallowed several times to moisten his throat. "All right," he finally answered in a normal voice.

Over time, Frodo had noticed that Allie was never the type to lean on anyone. However, on the rare occasions she did, like today, it was his shoulder she chose to lean on. Her trust provided him with a warm sense of purpose. It made him feel like he was needed in this often lonely world.

Was that what an older brother felt for their younger sister? Frodo wondered. Being an only child himself, he had often mused about the connection between siblings. As an older brother, it would only be normal to be protective of a younger sister and experience pride at being a source of support for her. Had he come to see Allie as a little sister? Fate had made them family after all. Still, it didn't feel quite right to think of her in that way. Besides, he knew her brother would always be Robin, whether he was still here or not.

No, Allie was not a sister, but a good friend. Perhaps even his best friend. He could share anything with her, for she understood him better than anyone else. He remembered that pinky promise they had made in the woods the day before. Allie had asked him to promise not to torture himself anymore with scenarios of how the past could have played out. She always seemed to know what to say to him to make him feel better.

Frodo put a hand in front of his eyes and raised his head to peer up at the sun beaming brightly down at him from a flawless sky. When its light became blinding, he cast his glance down to the road ahead of them. His stomach grumbled, for it was nearing noon. Bilbo had packed a few snacks in his bag, but he didn't want to reach for it and risk waking Allie up. She still slept with her head on his shoulder, and he smiled. He should return the favor after all, if what she had said was true about him having slept on her shoulder for several hours on their ride to Buckland.

Allie stirred a little against him and made a sound halfway between a yawn and a moan.

"Allie, you never told me what happened with Berilac back there," Frodo said, remembering the way the other lad had strolled off.

Allie didn't answer. Had she drifted back to sleep?

He ventured a glance down at her unruly curls splayed out on his shoulder. "Did you really think I would have run away and left you to the wolves? Silly lass. How can I ever leave you? After all, you told me I'm your home now." He heaved a small sigh. "I wonder if you said those words to stir me up on purpose. Still, now that I know this is how you feel, I have come to realize I feel the same. You are my new family now, along with Uncle Bilbo. We could happy the way we are, the three of us together. We could live like this for a long, long time, don't you think?"

He stared down at her hair shining golden under the sun, and he smiled. "Don't worry, Allie, I will take care of you from now on. I did promise your brother after all. Only, unlike your brother, I will never disappear on you. I swear."

Frodo fell silent, wondering why on the earth he was saying all this when she couldn't even hear him.

The wheels of the cart bumped against a rock on the side of the road and Frodo and Allie were both jerked up by the motion. Frodo seized the reins with both hands to stabilize himself, but Allie slid down and landed across his lap, motionless.

"How can you still stay asleep after that?" Frodo teased. "You really sleep like a rock. Get up now!"

He put a hand on her arm to shake her, and then frowned.

Something was wrong.

"Allie? Wake up."

The skin on her arm burned hot under his palm. He touched her forehead, and her skin burned even hotter there. Alarmed, Frodo started shaking her even harder. "Allie! Allie! What's wrong?"

Allie let herself be handled like a rag doll, offering no resistance. Frodo pulled on the reins so hard the cart jerked and came to an abrupt halt. The pony flared its nostril, displeased, but Frodo only had eyes for Allie sprawled across his lap. She was running a bad fever, but they were in the middle of nowhere between Buckland and Hobbiton. To go back to Buckland or to go forward to Hobbiton?

It would take too much time and effort to turn the cart around at this particular part of the road, for the trail was too narrow. Frodo had no choice but to go forward. He seized the reins and whipped them hard against the pony's side. The animal neighed and started galloping along the country roads, dragging the cart in its wake.

After an hour of mad ride that felt like three to Frodo's anxious mind, they finally reached the Bywater village where Frodo knew the old herbalist to reside. Dom's smial lay secluded from the rest of the village, a green settlement almost indistinguishable from the hill from which it had been dug, if not for the bright yellow paint on its round door.

Frodo guided the exhausted pony straight to the gate of his smial. Allie hadn't woken up this entire time and her fever still ran high. Her forehead felt like a stove under his palm. However, she wasn't shivering nor breathing laboriously, like Frodo remembered himself doing last time he was sick. She just looked asleep, with the exception that she was burning up from the inside. Could this be an after-effect of the wolf bite?

Frodo left Allie on the cart and ran to the front door of Dom's house. The bright yellow door flew open before he could knock on it, a thin middle-age hobbit with shaggy blonde hair appeared at the threshold, looking down at him from behind huge spectacles. His eyes were red as though he hadn't slept in days.

"What is this?" he asked dryly in greeting.

Frodo pointed back to the cart frantically. "I need your help! My friend is really sick. She has a bad fever." He shook his head to get his ideas in order. "Uncle Bilbo told me to come here. Bilbo Baggins. I'm his nephew. I have come here before. Do you remember me?"

Dom's hard glance softened a little. "Oh yes… what is your name again, lad?"

"Frodo. Frodo Baggins," Frodo answered rapidly, not knowing why it was important to give his name. Allie was burning up.

"That troublemaker Bilbo," Dom groaned. "Always giving me work to do every time he comes to see me. What is the problem with your friend? Bring her inside."

Frodo nodded in relief and went to retrieve Allie. With difficulty, he managed to carry her down from the front seat of the cart. Maybe it was his imagination running wild, but touching her bare skin almost burned his hand.

When Dom saw Frodo struggling, he went to help him carry the lass. However, when the herbalist touched her arm, he backed off with a cry of alarm.

"What is this? She's burning up!"

Frodo, sweating under Allie's weight, ignored his outburst and carried her inside.

The inside of Dom's house looked like a jungle more than anything else. There were more pots of plants dispersed all over the place than Frodo could count. He couldn't detect any furniture at all; no table, no couch, no chairs.

Dom, regaining his senses, guided Frodo toward a door hidden behind a curtain of green vines. On the other side loomed a somber room consisting of a bed and a night table. Frodo headed towards the bed and gently eased Allie down. Allie's head lolled to the side, and her arm dangled off the bed. Frodo hurried to place it beside her body.

He looked around for the herbalist and saw his silhouette in the adjacent room. He was bent over several pots of plants, muttering to himself. Frodo ran over to him, ready to demand that he hurry up to examine her, but before he could open his mouth, Dom bent down until his face was an inch from his. "Tell me what happened to her. That is no ordinary fever."

Frodo took a deep breath and decided to reveal everything that had happened in the woods. He talked about the attack of the wolves and gave descriptions of their physique to the best of his recollection. Unlike Hob from Buckland, Dom didn't show any expression of disbelief when Frodo mentioned the beasts, but his expression darkened as Frodo's tale went on.

While Dom listened, he busied himself collecting a leaf here and a root there. He meshed all his ingredients together by grinding them with a sharp stone, giving rise to a green liquid at the bottom of a steel plate.

"That is all that happened," Frodo finished. "What do you think? Can you help her?"

Dom headed back to the bedroom and knelt beside Allie's still form. Frodo peered over his shoulder while he pulled back Allie's bandages. To his surprise, the bite mark had almost completely faded. All that remained were red markings where the animal's teeth had sunk into flesh.

Frodo had a flash of hope. "It's almost healed! But then why is she like this?"

Dom's face darkened. "It is likely there was some sort of venom on the attacker's fangs."

"How can that be?" Frodo couldn't help exclaiming. "We are talking about a wolf here, not a snake. A wolf is like… a giant dog. Dogs don't have venom."

The glint coming off Dom's spectacles made Frodo fall silent. The healer rested an ear on top of Allie's chest and listened for a while. Then, he brought a spoon in front of her nose until vapor collected on it.

"She's breathing normally, but her heart beat is unusually fast. She's not displaying any of the symptoms of a normal fever, yet she is burning up. I was going to treat her injury with this…" He signaled to the green liquid on the steel plate. "But it seems this is not what she needs."

Perplexity made its way onto his haggard features. "It's the first time I see such an illness."

Frodo balled his hands into fists. "But you will still attempt something, won't you? Don't you dare tell me you are going to give up! Just… we should cool her down first. Bring down the fever!"

Dom cast him a glance he couldn't decipher. "I will see what I can do," he said, before leaving for the other room.

Frodo grabbed Allie's limp and hot hand in both of his and hoped against hope she would at least regain consciousness. Still, her eyes remained closed. "Please, Allie. You have to hang in there," he whispered.

From the corner of his eye, Frodo followed Dom's movements as the healer plucked a few leaves from a vine and started grinding them. He caught Frodo watching and said, "Will you go fetch a bucket of ice from the kitchen?"

Frodo complied, almost happy to have something to do to make himself useful. He wrapped the ice cubes in big handkerchiefs and then brought them over. Dom signaled to Allie on the bed, and Frodo quickly started placing the ice packs over her body.

On his end, Dom was done grinding the leaves. A clear juice soon flowed out, which Dom collected in a goblet. Then, he went to Allie's side. Under Frodo's watchful eyes, he soaked a handkerchief with the clear juice and then pulled her clothes open to rub it on her skin. A scent of mint soon filled the room.

"This is very efficient at fighting against high fevers," he explained as he worked.

Frodo nodded and sat on the bed, watching Dom work with furrowed brows. Up until now, his mind had been too frantic to question how things had come to this, but now that he had brought her to someone more capable and was left with nothing to do, he quickly sank into a haze of disbelief. He couldn't believe what was happening. One second, they had been riding under a clear sky and Allie had been teasing him like she always did, but in the next they were in this dark room with Dom telling him he had no idea what was wrong with her. This had to be a nightmare. He would wake up soon to find that Allie and him hadn't yet left Hob's place. Or better yet, to find that the wolf attack in itself had never happened.

For the next hour, Dom rubbed the juice on Allie's body as Frodo stared in a daze. Throughout the whole process, Allie's face remained peaceful, belying the fire burning inside of her.

Frodo didn't know when he had dozed off, or how he could have ever dozed off, but when he came to, night had fallen outside the only window. He looked around owlishly, trying to get his bearings. He was lying on a blanket set for him in the living room, amid the sea of plants. In the dark, their twigs looked like crooked arms extending into the shadows.

For a moment he didn't know where he was, but then he turned his head and saw a flicker of light coming from beyond the green vines leading into the bedroom. With a pang to his chest, he remembered everything.

"Allie…"

Perhaps she had gotten better. She must have gotten better by now. He climbed back on his feet with difficulty, for his muscles ached as though he had just hiked a mountain. The door behind the vines creaked open, revealing the source of the light as a candle standing on the night table. From the living room, Frodo saw a portion of the bed along with Allie's blonde hair spread across the pillow.

And then, Dom's face appeared against the light. He looked even more tired than when Frodo had first set eyes upon him. Dom removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes with two fingers.

Frodo hurried over. "How is s…"

"I'm sorry," Dom said, still rubbing his eyes.

Frodo looked from him to Allie, and back to him.

"I'm sorry," Dom repeated. "I did all I could."

The silence seemed to stretch on for hours and hours.

"What did you just say?" Frodo finally asked in a dry voice.

Dom slowly put on his glasses again, his eyes red. "I said, I did all I could for her. I have had many patients with different illnesses over the years, but it is the first time I see symptoms such as hers. I don't know what caused the fever, so I don't know how to cure it. I'm sorry, lad."

After another long moment of painful silence, Frodo suddenly leapt past Dom, knocking a flower pot to the ground. The sound of porcelain breaking didn't even register with him as he stormed into the small room dimly lit by the fading candlelight.

Allie's face looked as peaceful as ever as she lay among the blankets in disorder. The dying flame of the candle cast a warm glow upon her pale face. A strong scent of mint permeated the room, so strong Frodo had to cover his mouth lest he be sick.

He approached the bed on trembling legs and extended a hesitant finger toward her hand resting upon her chest. When his finger finally contacted her skin, he let out a gasp. Throwing himself forward, he circled her wrist and touched her forehead.

"She's cold!" he exclaimed, turning toward Dom who was observing the scene from the doorway. "You did it, Mr. Dom! You brought the fever down! Her skin is cold!"

Dom just stared at him without a word, without any echo to his overjoyed statements. Immense pain and sadness slowly filled with gaze.

Little by little, Frodo's smile waned away to nothing. His hands turned as cold as those of Allie. Turning to her, he noticed for the first time the stillness of her chest. She wasn't breathing.

"Allie…" he muttered, shaking her wrist. "Allie… wake up. Open your eyes."

He shook her harder. "I know you are joking," he said in a falsely light tone. "But it's not funny anymore. Wake up, all right? Open your eyes."

He was shaking her so hard now that her whole arm was jerking up and down in his grip.

"Open your eyes!" he screamed with all his might.

A big hand suddenly covered his to stop his mad jerking. Frodo looked up and there was Dom's face looking down upon him. For some reason, his features were blurred, as though Frodo had been thrust under water.

"Stop it, kid," Dom said with immense gentleness. "She is gone."

Frodo shook his head, and tears fell on his lap. "No, she's not. She can't be. I mean... she was fine. Just yesterday, she was fine. She was telling me that... lads should never admit when they are scared." He shook her by the wrist. "I'm not scared, Allie. I swear I'm not. Please wake up now." Almost desperately, Frodo lifted Allie's limp wrist toward Dom. "Look, her fever is all gone now. She's cooled down. She will be just fine. She's just… resting. She's just…"

The words wouldn't come out anymore, as though something had descended down his throat, crushing his vocal chords and making it hard to breathe. His chest was becoming painful, so painful he couldn't stand it. He suddenly became conscious of Dom's hand running up and down his back in a comforting way while he whispered words to his ears that Frodo couldn't comprehend.

Frodo wanted to tell him to stop, but he couldn't talk.

He couldn't do anything but sob like his heart was being ripped out of his chest.

Frodo didn't know how long his tears lasted. When he wearily raised his head, Dom was gone and the room was as dark as ever. Would this horrible night ever end? He still had Allie's wrist tightly clenched in his hand, and he forced himself to let go. The coolness of her skin that felt like salvation at first now frightened him.

In the dark, he could faintly make out her still shape on the bed. She wasn't Allie. She couldn't be Allie. This was someone else, lying still on this foreign bed. None of this could be real. He tried forming the thought "Allie is dead", but simply couldn't. It was too absurd. It didn't make any sense.

"What am I going to say to Uncle Bilbo now?" he muttered to Allie's lifeless body. "He entrusted you to me, but I let this happen."

He turned his back to her and leaned against the bed. His head fell back against the mattress and he stared up at the dark ceiling. "Why?" he asked to no one in particular. "Why does this have to happen when I have just started thinking of you as family? Why do you have to leave me too?"

The dark ceiling did not give him any answer, not that Frodo had expected any.

Perhaps unfair things just happen in life, and the only thing we can do is to deal with them as best we can, Allie's voice echoed in his mind.

But he couldn't deal with this. How did Allie expect him to deal with this? As though his parents' passing had not been hard enough, now he had to accept that Allie had gone somewhere he could not follow?

He buried his face in his hands with fresh tears burning behind his eyelids. "Don't leave me behind, Allie. Take me with you."

Frodo leaned his forehead against his bent knees. "Take me with you."

"You have not been careful enough."

"Did I ask for your opinion, Councillor? If not, keep your mouth shut. Where is Protector?"

"You forgot about my prophecy, did you not? Misguided scents in the wind and rain carry the forces that shall undo you, but the scent of rain shall also bring salvation to our race. On the night…"

"I do not believe in your prophecies, Councillor. I will be the master of my own fate. This mistake remains a simple mistake. Five more sunsets until the Blood awakens. Two have passed, but three remain. That is enough time to undo what has begun. Protector, where are you?"

"Time should have made you wiser, and yet…"

"The wise thing for you to do is to stop talking lest you want my fangs in your throat."

"Have you called for me, Queen?"

"Where were you? I have an urgent task for you. Do not make me wait like this next time."

"I apologize. Is it about the she-hobbit?"

"What else would qualify as urgent?"

"Should I kill her after all?"

"Follow her scent and finish her off before the third sunset. Be swift. If the other half-human is present, recruit him. I do not wish for any more complications.

"Yes, Queen."

"It is too late. Don't you feel it?"

"Feel what, Councillor?"

"It is too late for you to undo what has begun. It is happening as we speak. This is your fate."

Thump

"What is this? The Blood… the Blood is resonating!"

"Queen, this is…"

"It cannot be! It has not been five sunsets yet! How can she…"

Thump

"Protector, go to her now."

Thump

"Do not let her awaken!"

Thump

"Kill her!"

"It is too late."

Thump

Allie slowly sat up in her bed. She was in a place she did not know, and she had no memory of the last twenty-four hours. She brought a hand to her chest and felt her heart thumping steadily within. For some reason, the vibrations of her beating heart provided her with a deep sense of reassurance.

It was still night time. She scanned the dark room. Aside from her bed, there was no other furniture than a night table with a burnt out candle and a bucket of water. The strong scent of mint permeated the air and her own skin. She sniffed her arm and made a grimace of disgust. Her eyes then fell on the lad sitting curled up against the side of her bed.

"Frodo?" she whispered upon recognizing him.

Frodo didn't look up. He must have fallen asleep. She wondered why he was sleeping here.

Here. Where exactly was here? The last thing she remembered… was falling asleep on the cart.

She lied back down but sleep eluded her. In fact, she had never felt so alert in her entire life. Still, she remained immobile until the early rays of the morning sun finally penetrated the curtains. Only then did she leave the bed to walk to the window, pulling the curtain to one side, letting the sun come into the room. The light seemed especially bright to her eyes that morning.

She heard movement behind her and turned in time to see Frodo stirring.

He lifted his head off his knees and looked around through half lidded eyes. When his empty gaze settled on her, she was shocked to see how red his eyes were, as though he had been crying all night.

"Allie…" Frodo muttered softly. "You took me with you after all."

"What are you talking about, Frodo? Where are we?"

The clearness and realness of her voice made his eyes widen and the last traces of sleep fade from his pupils. Allie frowned upon seeing Frodo's face become as pale as though he were seeing a ghost.

Frodo looked frantically from the empty bed to her.

"A-A-Allie?" he stuttered. "How can this be? How…?"

Allie took a step forward. "Frodo, what's wrong? You look awful."

Frodo also took a step forward, and then another, until they were face to face. Allie's curious grey eyes peered into his staggered blue ones. Up close, he looked even worse. His eyelids were puffy and red, and dark circles had formed beneath his tired eyes. Had he had a bad dream about his parents?

Allie was about to ask him, when Frodo grabbed her wrist. His lip quivered at the touch. "You are warm…"

Before Allie had time to reply, Frodo suddenly threw his arms around her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. Allie choked against him and placed her hands on his shoulders to try and get some breathing space. She stopped trying to push him away when she heard him whisper, "You are alive! You are alive!" to her over and over again. Staring at the opposite wall in shock, she just let him squeeze her.

She had never been hugged like that in her entire life, as though it mattered, truly mattered, that she was alive. Slowly, she wound her arms around him too and patted his back. "Frodo, what's wrong, really?" she asked softly. "Did you have a bad dream?"

Frodo let go of her and pulled back with tears swirling in his eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Allie asked, more and more worried.

Frodo quickly rubbed his eyes with his fists. He clasped her shoulders and shook her slightly. "I thought you died, Allie."

Allie gaped. "Well… obviously, I didn't. I'm still here."

A look of awe returned to Frodo's features. "But… but… you collapsed on the cart, and you were running a high fever! So I brought you here, to that herbalist whom Uncle Bilbo sent us to visit. He tried everything to bring down the fever, but then he said you didn't make it, that you died! I didn't believe him, so I touched you, and you were as cold as ice."

Allie stared at Frodo for a second longer, trying to figure out whether he was joking or trying to pull a prank on her, but the distress she sensed from him was too real. She had no idea how to respond.

"I don't understand," she simply said. "How? I don't remember any of it."

She brought a hand to her chest again, and felt her heart thumping ardently, evidence that she was truly alive.

At that moment, there came a knock on the door.

"Kid? Are you awake?" came over Dom's voice.

Before waiting for a reply, he pushed the door open with his shoulder while his hands carried a breakfast plate. "I know you must be in shock, but you still have to eat some…"

He lifted his head and his plate shattered to the ground. From behind his spectacles, his eyes roamed over Allie standing next to Frodo. He brought a shaky hand to his heart. "By the Grace of the Valar…" His legs gave out beneath him and he crumbled to the floor.

Frodo hurried over to help him, but Dom shrieked in a high pitched voice, "Don't come near me!"

Frodo halted. "Mr. Dom…" he started.

Dom only had eyes for a shell-shocked Allie. He pointed a shaky finger in her direction. "You… you died last night! Why are you standing? What are you?"

Real fear started to take hold of Allie. What was everyone talking about? Why was everyone looking at her like that? Dom's eyes held a crazy glint, and she had to use all her courage to hold her ground instead of fleeing the room.

"Maybe you made a mistake…" Frodo started.

"No!" Dom yelled. "I confirmed it! I confirmed it three times to be sure! There was no pulse, and she wasn't breathing. Her body was as cold as that of a corpse! She was dead!"

Allie's hands started to shake as a feeling of horror arose within her.

Dom rose to his feet with the help of the wall. "Leave!" he shrieked. "I don't know what you are, but I don't care! I don't want to deal with witchcraft!"

Allie startled out of her daze when she felt Frodo grabbing her hand. She gave him a helpless look, but he simply guided her to the door. Dom plastered himself against the wall to let them pass, eyeing Allie with open fear and disgust when she passed him by.

Frodo led Allie across the room filled with herbs without stopping. Upon reaching the door, he paused and turned to her. "Allie, go wait for me on the cart."

Allie was too shaken to question anything. She turned away from him and walked out into the yard in silence.

Frodo followed her progress, and when he saw her climbing upon the cart stationed outside the gate, he turned to see Dom standing in the everlasting shadows of the room with his glasses glinting ominously in the gloom. "Please don't tell Uncle Bilbo about this. Don't tell anyone," he pleaded quietly.

In three steps, Dom was in front of Frodo with a hand clawing his shoulder. "Of course I won't," he whispered madly. "No one would believe me even if I did. But listen to me carefully, lad. Whatever that lass is, she is not like the rest of us. Stay away from her, if you know what's best for you."

Frodo glared at him and shook off his hand. "Don't talk about her like that. She's my family."

"How can she be your family when she's not even a hobbit? What am I saying? She's not even a living thing!"

Frodo clenched his jaw. "Look, I don't know what happened, but she's just like you and me…"

"Just like you and me? Listen to me, lad. Living creatures do not die and come back to life. That is simply impossible. She's either a witch or one of the even more fearsome creatures that lurk out there. The world is not limited to the Shire, boy. The world is big, and the world is messed up. There exist many more loathsome creatures than you can imagine."

His red eyes pierced through him. "Get rid of her," he whispered manically in his ear. "Get rid of her. Do not associate yourself with her, or it will bring you great sorrow in the future."

That was the last stroke. Frodo took a step back with his blue eyes blazing. "Do not speak another word. I will never desert her. She's not some loathsome creature. She's just Allie! You know nothing about her, so keep your mouth shut."

Dom wasn't ready to let him go. "You have to listen to me, lad. You are the nephew of my friend, and that's why I'm giving you such advice! It is for your own sake!"

"Thank you for your concern, but I shall decide whether I want to abide by such advice."

He threw one last cold look at Dom over his shoulder. "Thank you for trying to save her," he said, before closing the door behind him.

Frodo blinked at the brightness of the morning sun, a stark contrast to the gloomy interiors he had just left behind. Upon reaching their cart, he unfastened the pony's reins from the pole of the fence and jumped up on the driver's seat, where Allie was already sitting with a grim and shaken expression.

After he set the cart in motion, Frodo turned to her. "Let me make one thing clear, Allie. I don't know how you did it to come back, but I'm just thankful that you did. All that matters to me is that you are here, alive."

Allie didn't reply. She had her eyes set to the road, and Frodo realized she must have overheard his conversation with Dom.

"Allie… don't listen to that man. He doesn't know what he's talking about. He made a mistake, that's all. No matter what, I will never…"

"Frodo," she interrupted in a small voice. "Frodo, I'm scared. What is this? What is all this? Did I really die?"

She was squeezing the fabric of her pants in an ever tightening fist.

Frodo took her hand and forced her to loosen her first. He brought it up against her own cheek. "Do you feel this?" he said. "Your hand is warm, and you are breathing. If this is what being dead feels like, then I suppose I am dead, too."

Allie brought their clenched hands to her chest and slumped over in her seat with tears pooling in her eyes.

"I'm scared," she whispered. "I'm so scared. I don't understand."

Frodo stared at the road ahead with a clenched jaw, unable to find anything more to say to comfort her. He didn't understand anymore than she did.

Allie turned away as she dried her tears on the back of her hand. "Let's go home," she said so softly he barely heard her. "I want to go home."

Frodo nodded. That much he could do for her. "I will take you home, Allie."

I wrote this fairly quickly! *feeling proud*

Inspiration is flowing right now. I'm at the good part of the story and enjoying it. I hope you guys are too :D

Leave some comments or theories as to what you think is going on. I'd love to have your feedback on things!

Potato-pancake-muffin-salad: Wow, thank you so much :D You're the first person to tell me that. It made me super happy, haha. And the chapter is here! what did you think? :p