Title- One Find Day
Author-Feather
Category-Lord of the Rings
Genre-General/Humor
Rating-PG
Pairings-None
Author's notes: This is my first full-length Lord of the Rings fic that's not POV *waits for applause* *crickets chirp* Okay, so it's not note-worthy ^^;! So, neways, I just thought that it was about time I wrote down this idea, because I am always plagued by an idea I do not write until I am either driven to insanity, or driven to write the fic. Sorry, I'm redundant a lot of the time *laughs at own joke* *stops when sees no one gets it*. This is just a small little fic about what Sam and Frodo do before they leave the Shire. No slash is involved. You also get a lovely picture if you listen to 'Concerning Hobbits' on the LOTR soundtrack while reading ^-^ (though you might have to put it on repeat, as this exceeds 7,000 words!) That's it, love you all! ~ Feather =^-^=
***
A slight wind rustled the lush branches of the fresh green trees as the sunlight started to break yet on the brink of the horizon. An indescribable tranquility of utmost certainty of peace spread throughout the fresh meadows of swaying wheat as a handful of early hobbits started to come out for another day's peaceful work. And the day broke in one swift second as the peaceable folk started a day's trade, a day's worth of merry work and laughter echoed throughout the happy dell, with just a whisper of wind on the late spring air.
Frodo looked out over the bustling village of Hobbiton with a slight smile played upon his lips, a hint of dancing merriment twinkling faintly in his eye. The town he had grown up in, the sloping hills of the Shire and the merry music the laughter from the people, the wonderful hobbits, was as lovely as ever, a picturesque image with the small people pulling their animals into the market, the shrieking laughter of the children, the oh-so many scenes of happiness everywhere you looked. There was the piper on the corner blowing soaring tunes from a miniature flute; the satisfied child on the corner who had started to eat an apple; the loveliness of ladies huddled by the corner buying scarves and teasing blushing young men; and the overall laugher was as sharp and sweet as the music of a fiddle, and the place truly was alive.
Frodo could sense a presence behind him, a small subtle apprehension growing slowly but surly. It wasn't a bad sort of feeling, not in the slightest, but he acknowledged it just to make sure that he didn't jump when that person tapped his shoulder expecting a startled reaction, and he smiled a bit more. By the shadow, fairly large for a hobbit's, he could tell it was Samwise, Samwise Gamgee, who helped tend the gardens for BagEnd. Just as he knew Sam was going to tap his shoulder, Frodo suddenly turned around and shouted, "Don't move!" to Sam, who appeared rather surprised. Laughing in merriment, he turned to Sam with a teasing smile played upon his lips and an eyebrow raised. To see the startled hobbit stare at him in utter disbelief and confusion had definitely played to his benefit. "Thought you could pull one on me, didn't you? Old Samwise Gamgee, you're up to new tricks, aren't you?" In an uncannily accurate impersonation of Bilbo, the most-respected and unordinary hobbit of the Shire, Frodo sent Sam laughing too, until they were both almost doubled over and were clutching each other from sheer hysterics. Patting Sam on the back and slinging an arm over his shoulder, Frodo led him into BagEnd.
"Would you care for anything to eat, Sam? It's almost Second-Breakfast, but I'm sure we could have a little something before then. Would you care for some tea, perhaps, or a bit of bacon? We have some lovely apples, oh!, and some potatoes and eggs, if you'd like. And a fine loaf of bread, quite fresh, smeared with a bit of butter, that sounds good! What would you like, we have almost anything at all!"
Sam smiled a bit more as Frodo led him into the kitchen, which was crammed full of baskets of fruit here and there, half-cut loaves of bread. and tea things strewn about the tables. "Just a bit of tea, if you wouldn't mind, and perhaps an apple or a slice of bread, or something small."
"Righto!" Frodo exclaimed happily, scampering off into a pantry further down the hall to return with a wicker container of apples. Panting slightly, he handed them to Sam joyfully and started to boil some water.
While it heated, he beckoned for Sam to sit down, and took a seat on a small chair by the fire to watch the water. "So Sam," he said, "Have you thought about what to do today? You needn't work, the Gaffer enjoys so much to work out in that old garden, and he'd be insulted if you'd try to do something too! I was thinking about seeing Merry and Pippin, they're rather cunning and quite witty folk. Ever since Bilbo left, I'm not quite sure how to pass the time anymore." A dreamy expression cast over his face, and his eyes were almost heavy with a sad kind of listlessness. He looked over to Sam, a small sorrowful smile on his lips.
"You know, I miss Bilbo on days like these," he said softly in a tone barely above a whisper. "He'd always be so full of life. And would go down the village pub, and he would make everyone laugh. I used to ask him how he could be so full of vigor all the time, but he'd just laugh at me and say, 'Frodo, my boy, I intend to live every day of my life, not just pass through what I have left!' When the dusk would fall, and the stars would just start to shimmer out, he'd tell me all about his adventures, never mind that I'd heard them all already, because he'd tell them differently every time."
He sighed, and stood up to check the water. Seeing it not ready, he started to talk again, in the same whispery voice. "I wish I was with him now. Knowing Bilbo, wherever he is, he'd have the whole place in some sort of uproar. He needs looking after, that all there is to it." He smiled at Sam again, his bright blue eyes so heavy and light at the same time. For a brief fraction of a second, Sam could see the burdens Frodo bore everyday, of losing Bilbo, of living in uncertainty while Gandalf was away.
"Don't you worry, Mr. Frodo, wherever Mr. Bilbo is, he'll be laughing the whole time. Don't look so sad, Mr. Frodo. Forget the tea, we can get some Second-Breakfast with Merry and Pippin."
Frodo turned joyfully towards Sam and took the kettle off the fire. He cursed at the burning-hot metal, sending Sam laughing again, as he set the iron kettle down on the hearth. "I'll have to douse the fire, though. Who knows what could happen if you left an open fire on these days...the wind's rather capricious of the late, and we wouldn't want BagEnd to burn down, now, then where would I be?"
Frodo quickly extinguished the fire, put a fairly large quantity of apples in his pocket, and tugged at Sam's arm so he would follow. Sam, wearing a dubious expression, allowed himself to be pulled along, nonetheless, and soon they were briskly walking across the cool countryside.
"Mr. Frodo, are you sure you want to see…Merry and Pippin, sir? They're well, they're - well…" Frodo laughed at Sam's great lack of tact.
"You mean they're wild, good-for-nothing hobbits who do nothing all day but cause mischief?"
Sam nodded with a bitter smile. "Precisely."
Frodo, for the umpteenth time that day, laughed, at Sam, at the world, at the glorious carefree beauty of the Shire. "All the more reason to, then. Come on, Sam! We want to be there before Second-Breakfast so we can swipe some food off of Merry and Pippin, don't we?" He started to run through the meadow that was on the side of the path, calling something about a shortcut.
Exasperated, Sam could only helplessly follow the trail of the rustling high grasses that Frodo was making. Suddenly, the rustling stopped. Sam looked around, and saw none of the grasses were waving from movement. He started to follow the direction of that Frodo had been going in before, but grew lost in the large endless field. A worry grew in him, as he started to call out for Frodo. "Mr. Frodo? Mr. Frodo?"
Suddenly, a pair of apples flew through the air and hit Sam on the head. Turning quickly while rubbing the spot where the apples had hit, Sam was faced once again with Frodo. He sighed, picked up an apple, and tossed it to Frodo who was laughing hysterically at him. "I suppose you think that was terribly clever. However, you're wasting perfectly good provisions, and we'll need them if we're lost in this 'shortcut' of yours, which it appears that we quite are." Haughtily sticking his nose in the air and turning the opposite direction, he took a large bite out of the remaining apple with a great show of pompousness and superiority.
He was promptly ambushed by another few apples.
While he was down, Frodo took the opportunity to heave Sam up again, grab his arm, and start running at a rapid pace through the high weeds. Having no choice but to follow him, Sam shook himself loose of Frodo's tight grip broke into a brisk jog.
As they neared the edge of the field, a path, though broken at first, started to appear. As they continued, it grew steadily more used. When they reached the edge of the clearing, it was Frodo's turn to grow haughty with triumph: "We're lost, are we, Sam?" Seeing Sam's ashamed expression, Frodo composed his face with a small sarcastic impersonation of Sam. " 'We'll need those apples if we're lost in this 'shortcut' of yours'." Seeing Sam glance down at his feet, almost upset, Frodo changed his voice. "Oh, do come on Sam, you know as well as I that I was only joking." Seeing again that Sam hadn't looked up and was fumbling for something in his pocket, supposedly a handkerchief or something of the like, he continued. "Sam, don't be upset!"
Sam looked up suddenly, grinning wildly, and threw a handful of dirt into Frodo's face. Frodo sputtered, grabbed a handful for himself, and threw it in the general direction of Sam. Too quick to be faulted by such a weak diversion, Sam ducked under the spray of dirt, scooped up another handful, and artfully hurled it at Frodo's shirt, ending in a dainty pose. "That's for the apples, Mr. Frodo," he explained, suddenly apologetic. "We really should be getting along now, to see Merry and Pippin."
Frodo nodded, but as the turned to leave, the found the path was stopped by two shadowy figures. "None shall pass," one of them, the shorter one, stated.