Author Notes: Mistress Samwise – I am truly honored. Really truly. That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me. *sniff* Aww, damn. Hand me some of your Kleenex! Trilliah - I'm so sorry! I know I'm evil, but trust me, I don't mean to be! Please still like me? Please? Liete – Sam and Frodo-ish describes it perfectly ^_^ Paper Crane – that's alright, you're back! yeah, I wanted to explain where he went off to. Glad you liked the description! Mish – ah, you are wise, my friend. Other halves don't need a physical voice to communicate. Take identical twins, for example. But Sam and Frodo are better than identical twins, of course ^_^ Does that explain it, Trilliah? Their being eachother's soulmates? Hope so! Aww, poor Morodiel… Here, have another chapter. tiggivon – can't wait? Neither can anyone else! So here you are! And my darling Butterfly – you are the best, and that's all there is to it. Love ya ^_^ If the thought-reading stuff weirds you out, think of the bond between identical twins (I have cousins who are identical twins. Trust me, this stuff is not made up.) So, read on, my friends!
« Samwise ? Sam, son, where are you ? » Hamfast shouted into the wind. He had searched the areas close by their smial, but no sign. The storm worsened, and a chill rain began to fall. Sam, where are you ? I need to get you home. He began walking towards the woods where Sam usually played, when he heard a call.
« Hamfast ? Hamfast ! » He turned round, confused. Who the… ?
« Master Bilbo ! » he cried. « Sir, what're you doing out in this weather ? » Bilbo ran down the road and pulled up short beside him, somewhat breathless.
« Frodo ? Have you seen him ? » he asked. The gardener shook his head.
« Not since early afternoon, » he said. « Why ? » Bilbo hesitated.
« We – had a falling out, of sorts and – he hasn't… come back, yet, » he explained. Hamfast's eyes widened.
« You mean to tell me he's out in this weather ? » he asked, forgetting his 'place' at the thought of the young master out in the wind and rain. Bilbo nodded, looking guilty.
« I was hoping he was with you and Bell, » he said. « But I take it that's not so. » Hamfast shook his head.
« No, sir. I've not seen him since he left. » Bilbo's eyes darkened with worry.
« D'you have any idea where he might be ? » he asked. « Any at all ? »
The gardener thought a moment. « Well, sir… he and my Samwise have been making friends these past weeks. They might be together, » he suggested. Bilbo looked at him hopefully.
« Really ? You think so ? Do you know where Sam is ? » he asked urgently.
« No, sir, » said Hamfast, and now he looked worried. « I've seen nought of him since this morning. I just came out to look for him. »
« Alright, then, » said Bilbo. « We'll look together. The looking'll go faster that way. »
« I reckon so, sir. » The rain drenched their clothing and ran into their eyes as they stood there, and Bilbo clapped his gardener on the shoulder.
« Well, then, we'd best start looking. » They walked off towards the woods.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Though the branches of the trees protected them from the rain, they also blocked what little light the sky had to offer. Frodo's eyes strained to see through the rain and the darkness, occasional flashes of lightning guiding his way. And to think a short while ago I feared both lightning and trees ! he thought, and shook his head. Aye, but now they're helping us, the soft voice whispered. Frodo jumped, a little startled, but less so than the first time. This is very strange, he decided. Very, very, *very* strange. But it doesn't feel wrong. He shook his head again. Lost in the dark and the rain and the wind, with an injured Elfling in my arms who's speaking in my head. This has been the longest day of my life.
Looking forward and squinting against the rain that dripped into his eyes, he saw no sign of Sam's oak tree. I thought he said it was there ! ~ It is. Go further, the child said in his mind. Frodo turned his gaze downwards to the dark green eyes that regarded him wearily. Sam's pretty young face was bone-white with pain, and his fingers twisted the sodden cloth of Frodo's cloak in a white-knuckle grip. I've got to get him some help he's really hurt. Where's that wretched oak ? Ragged lightning tore the sky again, and illuminated briefly the dark silhouette of a huge, tall tree. That's it ! Alright, you. I don't know how you hear me, but I know you do, so hold on. Sam nodded, and tightened his grip.
Frodo took a deep breath and began to run, his eyes never leaving the dim shadowed outline of the tree that the lightning had revealed to him. Father, whatever You do, don't let me trip. I swear I'll never ask anything of You ever again, but don't let me trip. I can't bear to hurt him. Somewhere, somehow, his prayer was heard and though the ground was slick with water and tree roots lay treacherously in his path, his feet never faltered. Clinging desperately to the boy in his arms, he made it to the tree. Now where ? he asked. Left, came the answer. Frodo was still very uncomfortable at hearing someone else's thoughts, but it saved time, energy, and breath, so he dismissed his discomfort. I'll worry about it later.
Left. Alright… he turned left. How far left ? ~ Just go straight. The reply was faint, and glancing at Samwise, Frodo saw the child's eyes were tightly closed and he was biting down hard on his lower lip. He paused and pressed his forehead to Sam's. « Hey, » he whispered. « Are you alright ? » Sam opened his eyes slowly, and the look in them sent a surge of pain shooting through Frodo's leg. « Ah ! » he cried, looking at Sam with a mixture of empathy, anger, and fear. How did you do that ? he asked angrily. Sorry, Sam whispered. Didn't mean to – to hurt you…it just – just – happened – he screamed in his throat and a dark line of blood welled from his lower lip and ran down his chin. Frodo felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him, and staggered. « It's alright, it's alright, » he soothed, his breath coming fast. This is too strange, this is just too strange – Shhh, little one, it's alright. I'll get you out of here. No answer came but a vivid flash of red and black in his mind's eye. Never thought I'd know what pain looked like. Guess I do now. He hugged Sam close and kissed his brow. Straight, you said…
~*~*~*~*~*~*
« I can't see anything ! » Bilbo shouted as the rain fell in stinging sheets from the sky.
« Neither can I, » Hamfast shouted back. « But we've got to keep looking. »
« I know, » Bilbo yelled. I'm going to lose my voice, yelling like this. « Where else could they be ? » They had searched around Bag End, they had searched in the woods near Bag End, they had searched in all the fields they could think of. Now there was only the meadow. Well, thought Hamfast, at the risk of breaking a promise to my son, I'm goin' to have to show Master Bilbo.
« There's one other place, » he shouted. « But if they're not there – » He shrugged. Bilbo nodded.
« Alright, then. Let's go. »
They slogged their way up the hillside and through the trees again. Let me see if I can remember… ah, yes. « This way ! » Hamfast yelled. A deafening boom of thunder made them both duck and cover their ears, and they crouched a long moment, waiting for the sound to dissipate. They slowly got up again. « This way, » the gardener repeated, gesturing in the direction they should go. They walked shoulder to shoulder through the trees until they came to the edge of the meadow.
« Oh, no ! » they cried in unison. The meadow curved downwards, like an enormous bowl, and the torrents had been quickly and steadily filling it. It lay before them now, its bottom completely flooded and huge pools of standing water threatening to merge at its sides. Father this isn't a meadow ! It's a lake ! They faced eachother, thoroughly alarmed. My boy, they both thought.
« Frodo ! »
« Samwise ! »
They ran in opposite directions, slipping constantly but caring not in their desperate worry.
« Frodo ! »
« Samwise ! »
They met again at the other side of the meadow several minutes later.
« He's not here, » they said together, and stared at one another, sick with anxiety. All notions of society and 'position' were completely forgotten as they stood there. Hamfast was not Bilbo's gardener, and Bilbo was not Hamfast's master they were two fathers, one real, one adoptive, and they were bound together in their fear. They reached out instinctively and grasped one another's shoulders.
« We'll find him, » they said. No matter what it takes, they thought. Turning together, they walked on through the blinding rain.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Why is everything taking so long ? Frodo thought miserably, sloshing through the enormous puddles that were collecting on the ground. And why won't this miserable storm just rain itself out already ? The storm, on the contrary, showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. The clouds were just as dark as they had been at the start, and could Frodo have seen the horizon, he would have glimpsed the seemingly endless reinforcements stretching in all directions. Praise the Father, he could not see the horizon. It might have taken the hope right out of him. It's got to be close it has to be. But however cold he was, Frodo was willing to walk for as long as it took to get Sam out of the rain. He needs to be dry, and warm. What he really needs is help, but I can't do that. The boy's slender ankle was swollen to twice the size of its partner and the skin covering it was now one massive bruise, which had turned a malevolent blue-black color.
Sam himself had laid his head on Frodo's shoulder again and closed his eyes. Frodo couldn't tell whether he was crying or not for the rain that ran down his face. His small form shivered in Frodo's arms, and Frodo held him closer. I've got to be suffocating him, holding him this close. Sam pressed closer in response. Oh. I guess not, then. Alright, little one. We're almost there, I promise. A weak flash of something like laughter sounded in his head, and he smiled wryly. I *promise*, he protested. Believe and make it so, he told himself. I will get us there.
Walking on determinedly through the rain, he came to the edge of the trees and saw a dark hill rising up before them. This is it ! The hill ! But where's the overhang ? ~ Up, Sam whispered. Up ? Frodo asked, but received no answer. « Up the hill, maybe, » he muttered. Well – he began to climb. About halfway up the slope, he saw a darker patch on the hillside to his right. Up there ? ~ Yes. ~ Alright. Hold on, it's slippery. Good grief. I'm talking to you without even thinking about it now. Again, the weak laughter in his head, and he smiled.
Edging his way across the slope to the darker patch, he saw it open up, become a long hollow in the hill's face. Ah – now *that* would protect against the rain. Clasping Sam still tighter to himself, and more afraid than ever he would slip, he came to the hollow and ducked under it. The overhang was wide, and tall enough for him to almost stand – a sort of shallow grassy cave. And it was dry, being upwind from the rain. That's all I need, Frodo thought. Here at last, and I never even dropped you ! He was inordinately proud of himself, and perhaps it was this that tripped him up.
At the last moment, now finally safe from the rain, as Frodo went to sit down, his heel caught on a small stone and he fell backwards, landing hard on his backside. He was still holding Sam tightly as he fell, but the child's ankle jolted against the ground as he landed, and Sam screamed. Frodo wasn't sure which was worse – the scream in his ears or the scream in his mind. Violent flashes of red and black burst frantically in his head, and the pain that briefly surged through his leg almost made him faint with its intensity. Alright, I don't know how you're doing that, but stop it ! Just stop it ! Frodo was wet, cold, tired and frightened. I – can't, I – sorry. Sorry… the child's voice cried brokenly. More red and black, and he clung to Frodo, who found himself clinging back just as tightly. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell, he answered. Whatever's going on isn't his fault it's not his fault, you're doing it too. And I'd be terrified if it didn't feel so natural. But it does. Shhh, Samwise, shhh… Now he could hear Sam weeping clearly, his slim body shaking. He rocked him back and forth. Shhh… It'll be alright, I promise. Cross my heart.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
A/N: Hee, hee, hee; I did it again! It's just really late where I live, so I can't write anymore tonight. Sorry! Please still keep reading and reviewing! I won't do it again, promise! O_O