Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are property of J.R.R.
Tolkien. The only characters I do own are Toralinda and Mimosa. Matilda
belongs to my friend Amael.
The girls stepped away from the small window and rushed to dress. They were extremely excited to have found their friends, having been without them for over a year. The hobbits had been on many small adventures in the Shire, but they had never ventured past the borders of their small country, and the girls, though they didn't admit it to themselves, were envious of their friends having ventured outside into the world.
"Hurry! They might leave soon!" Matti said as she adjusted her skirt.
"We're coming, we're coming!" Tori answered.
The girls threw on their shawls, for it was quite a chilly morning, and walked quickly out into the garden. They looked over to the shirrif house and saw that their friends were now accompanied by a dozen or so shirrifs, who did not look quite happy with them. The girls opened the gate and walked across the road to where the hobbits sat atop their ponies, talking to the shirrifs.
Merry spoke to the shirrif-leader with a slightly angered voice. "You will ride ahead, and we will follow you. I will not make any negotiations to this."
"You are our prisoners, and you will walk ahead of us." The shirrif answered back. They were obviously debating who would be leading whom, and it turned out finally that Merry and the others had their way.
Merry and Pippin made the shirrifs line up in front of them in three straight lines. Sam and Frodo sat off to the side watching, and Sam called to the shirrifs, "If this is what you wanted when you became shirrifs for that Lotho, then this is what you'll get, and it's your own fault!"
The girls stood back, giggling at the sight of the shirrifs being ordered around for a change. Nobody noticed them standing there until they jeered at the shirrifs, "Here now, what's all this? Shirrifs being arrested by their prisoners?"
The shirrifs paid no attention to the girls, for they were too busy following the orders being given to them by Merry and Pippin, but Pippin spoke to the girls in a very amused tone.
"Well it's about time! I was wondering when we'd see you girls!" The hobbits dismounted their ponies and walked over to the trio.
"I'm glad to see you all alive." Tori said as she gave Pippin a welcoming hug. "And..taller, for that matter." She stood back and looked at Pippin, who was now a good three inches taller than when she had last seen him.
"Where did you boys disappear to so suddenly?" Matti asked. "We were worried that you had been lost in the river and that we'd never see you again!"
"Well," said Merry, giving his sister a short hug. "We were not lost, as you can see, but we did have quite an adventure while we were away. I'll tell you about it later, if you wish, but right now, we have to deal with a small problem. These fine fellows say that we are to be arrested, but I do not seem to see what we have done wrong. We've agreed to come along with them to Bywater, but we refuse to go anywhere else."
The shirrif-leader gave a loud snort at this and muttered, "You'll come along with us, and we'll see what the Boss will have to say to the lot of you."
Pippin turned to the shirrif-leader and told him sharply, "Here now, that'll be enough out of you."
"Anyway," said Merry. "We're on our way to Bywater, if you girls would like to come along, though if I were you, I wouldn't want to travel with this lot of fools."
"We'll come." Said Tori. "Besides, we haven't seen you for over a year. What makes you think we want to make it any longer?"
Matti and Mimsy agreed heartily with this, and they were obliged to walk, but their friends would not have it. They had the girls ride along with them on their ponies, behind the shirrifs, who were very indignant at being ordered around by their prisoners.
The hobbits traveled along the road, talking and laughing, while the shirrifs stumped along, trying to look important. They had a brief stop at noon to rest and eat a little, and the girls felt the need to take a short stroll down to the small creek that ran near the road.
When they reached the creek, they found that it was now nothing but a small, dried-up ditch, and the flowers that grew near it were now dead and brown. The girls found this very disheartening, so they decided to head back up to join the others. Tori and Matti walked slowly, so that they could talk, while Mimsy went on ahead.
"How could it get like this?" Tori wondered aloud. "It's always been so beautiful, and now it's just a lifeless, empty patch of dirt. How could this happen?"
"I don't know. Life in the Shire is getting more and more dismal, and this is just one more thing to make it worse. I don't know what we are going to-" Matti was interrupted by a gruff voice coming from behind them somewhere.
"Hello, what's this?" The voice said. "Two pretty young hobbit-lasses all alone?" The voice was that of a man, or to be more precise, a ruffian. He emerged from behind a tree and started slowly towards the girls. "You girls shouldn't be wandering here by yourselves. Here, let me take you back to where you belong."
The ruffian grabbed Tori by the arm forcefully and pulled her close to him. "Or perhaps I'll keep you for myself." He whispered. He tried to grab Matti, but she stepped away before he could reach her.
"Matti, run! Go get help!" Tori yelled. Matti hesitated for a moment, and began to run back towards the road.
Tori struggled against the ruffian, trying with all her strength to escape his grasp, but he was too strong, and she could not get away. His arm snaked around her waist, and he pulled her even closer, so that she could hardly move. She tried to cry out, but he quickly covered her mouth and spoke fiercely, "The more you try to get away, the worse I will make this."
Tori felt the ruffian slide his rough hand up her back to the base of her neck. He moved his face close to hers and spoke quietly, yet still very roughly, "You're mine now."
He pressed his sour mouth to hers, making the young hobbit tremble at the unpleasant imposition. Tori felt herself being pulled to the ground, and before she knew what was happening, she was lying on her back with the ruffian sitting on top of her, straddling her small hips. The man began to laugh harshly, but stopped suddenly as he was hit forcefully from one side. He was thrown off of Tori, and he landed on his side with two small hobbits on him, kicking and hitting him with their small fists. The ruffian could not fight back, because his arms were being held down and he could not move his legs for the weight of the hobbits sitting on them. Merry and Pippin drew their swords quickly and stood, pointing the blades at the ruffian.
"This is not your land," Pippin told the ruffian lying on the ground helplessly. "You have no right to come here and terrorize our people."
The ruffian scowled at the hobbits and stood slowly. "You have made a terrible mistake, little fools. We ruffians always get our way, and those of you little folk who can't understand that, you can answer to Sharkey."
The man turned and ran, back the way he had come from before, and Merry called after him, "And you make sure to tell any other ruffians about that we'll not stand for this anymore!"
When the ruffian was out of sight, Merry and Pippin turned to where Tori still lay on the ground, sobbing from the fear that had overwhelmed her. Merry ran to where she lay, and gently placed a hand on her forehead.
"Tori?" he whispered softly. "Tori, are you alright?" He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and waited patiently for her to reply.
She stopped sobbing and closed her eyes, trying to calm down. 'It's over.' Tori thought to herself. 'It's all over. Nothing is going to happen now.'
She opened her eyes and looked up at Merry. "I.I'm alright." She said weakly in between sobs.
Merry took Tori's hand and whispered to her gently, "I'm sorry that this happened. I should have come with you girls. I'm never letting you go off on your own out here again. Not until all of this nonsense is cleared up and the Shire is returned to normal." He helped her up slowly and studied her delicate face. "This will not happen again."
A/N I'm soo sorry it took me so long to update, but I've been a little busy, and at a few points in the story I was getting major writer's block. Can you believe that just writing parts of this chapter creeped me out? Oh, well I guess that's a good sign. Anyway, it may take about that long to get the next few chapters up seeing as I'm starting school soon, and I'll have that to worry about, but don't lose interest!!!
The girls stepped away from the small window and rushed to dress. They were extremely excited to have found their friends, having been without them for over a year. The hobbits had been on many small adventures in the Shire, but they had never ventured past the borders of their small country, and the girls, though they didn't admit it to themselves, were envious of their friends having ventured outside into the world.
"Hurry! They might leave soon!" Matti said as she adjusted her skirt.
"We're coming, we're coming!" Tori answered.
The girls threw on their shawls, for it was quite a chilly morning, and walked quickly out into the garden. They looked over to the shirrif house and saw that their friends were now accompanied by a dozen or so shirrifs, who did not look quite happy with them. The girls opened the gate and walked across the road to where the hobbits sat atop their ponies, talking to the shirrifs.
Merry spoke to the shirrif-leader with a slightly angered voice. "You will ride ahead, and we will follow you. I will not make any negotiations to this."
"You are our prisoners, and you will walk ahead of us." The shirrif answered back. They were obviously debating who would be leading whom, and it turned out finally that Merry and the others had their way.
Merry and Pippin made the shirrifs line up in front of them in three straight lines. Sam and Frodo sat off to the side watching, and Sam called to the shirrifs, "If this is what you wanted when you became shirrifs for that Lotho, then this is what you'll get, and it's your own fault!"
The girls stood back, giggling at the sight of the shirrifs being ordered around for a change. Nobody noticed them standing there until they jeered at the shirrifs, "Here now, what's all this? Shirrifs being arrested by their prisoners?"
The shirrifs paid no attention to the girls, for they were too busy following the orders being given to them by Merry and Pippin, but Pippin spoke to the girls in a very amused tone.
"Well it's about time! I was wondering when we'd see you girls!" The hobbits dismounted their ponies and walked over to the trio.
"I'm glad to see you all alive." Tori said as she gave Pippin a welcoming hug. "And..taller, for that matter." She stood back and looked at Pippin, who was now a good three inches taller than when she had last seen him.
"Where did you boys disappear to so suddenly?" Matti asked. "We were worried that you had been lost in the river and that we'd never see you again!"
"Well," said Merry, giving his sister a short hug. "We were not lost, as you can see, but we did have quite an adventure while we were away. I'll tell you about it later, if you wish, but right now, we have to deal with a small problem. These fine fellows say that we are to be arrested, but I do not seem to see what we have done wrong. We've agreed to come along with them to Bywater, but we refuse to go anywhere else."
The shirrif-leader gave a loud snort at this and muttered, "You'll come along with us, and we'll see what the Boss will have to say to the lot of you."
Pippin turned to the shirrif-leader and told him sharply, "Here now, that'll be enough out of you."
"Anyway," said Merry. "We're on our way to Bywater, if you girls would like to come along, though if I were you, I wouldn't want to travel with this lot of fools."
"We'll come." Said Tori. "Besides, we haven't seen you for over a year. What makes you think we want to make it any longer?"
Matti and Mimsy agreed heartily with this, and they were obliged to walk, but their friends would not have it. They had the girls ride along with them on their ponies, behind the shirrifs, who were very indignant at being ordered around by their prisoners.
The hobbits traveled along the road, talking and laughing, while the shirrifs stumped along, trying to look important. They had a brief stop at noon to rest and eat a little, and the girls felt the need to take a short stroll down to the small creek that ran near the road.
When they reached the creek, they found that it was now nothing but a small, dried-up ditch, and the flowers that grew near it were now dead and brown. The girls found this very disheartening, so they decided to head back up to join the others. Tori and Matti walked slowly, so that they could talk, while Mimsy went on ahead.
"How could it get like this?" Tori wondered aloud. "It's always been so beautiful, and now it's just a lifeless, empty patch of dirt. How could this happen?"
"I don't know. Life in the Shire is getting more and more dismal, and this is just one more thing to make it worse. I don't know what we are going to-" Matti was interrupted by a gruff voice coming from behind them somewhere.
"Hello, what's this?" The voice said. "Two pretty young hobbit-lasses all alone?" The voice was that of a man, or to be more precise, a ruffian. He emerged from behind a tree and started slowly towards the girls. "You girls shouldn't be wandering here by yourselves. Here, let me take you back to where you belong."
The ruffian grabbed Tori by the arm forcefully and pulled her close to him. "Or perhaps I'll keep you for myself." He whispered. He tried to grab Matti, but she stepped away before he could reach her.
"Matti, run! Go get help!" Tori yelled. Matti hesitated for a moment, and began to run back towards the road.
Tori struggled against the ruffian, trying with all her strength to escape his grasp, but he was too strong, and she could not get away. His arm snaked around her waist, and he pulled her even closer, so that she could hardly move. She tried to cry out, but he quickly covered her mouth and spoke fiercely, "The more you try to get away, the worse I will make this."
Tori felt the ruffian slide his rough hand up her back to the base of her neck. He moved his face close to hers and spoke quietly, yet still very roughly, "You're mine now."
He pressed his sour mouth to hers, making the young hobbit tremble at the unpleasant imposition. Tori felt herself being pulled to the ground, and before she knew what was happening, she was lying on her back with the ruffian sitting on top of her, straddling her small hips. The man began to laugh harshly, but stopped suddenly as he was hit forcefully from one side. He was thrown off of Tori, and he landed on his side with two small hobbits on him, kicking and hitting him with their small fists. The ruffian could not fight back, because his arms were being held down and he could not move his legs for the weight of the hobbits sitting on them. Merry and Pippin drew their swords quickly and stood, pointing the blades at the ruffian.
"This is not your land," Pippin told the ruffian lying on the ground helplessly. "You have no right to come here and terrorize our people."
The ruffian scowled at the hobbits and stood slowly. "You have made a terrible mistake, little fools. We ruffians always get our way, and those of you little folk who can't understand that, you can answer to Sharkey."
The man turned and ran, back the way he had come from before, and Merry called after him, "And you make sure to tell any other ruffians about that we'll not stand for this anymore!"
When the ruffian was out of sight, Merry and Pippin turned to where Tori still lay on the ground, sobbing from the fear that had overwhelmed her. Merry ran to where she lay, and gently placed a hand on her forehead.
"Tori?" he whispered softly. "Tori, are you alright?" He brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face and waited patiently for her to reply.
She stopped sobbing and closed her eyes, trying to calm down. 'It's over.' Tori thought to herself. 'It's all over. Nothing is going to happen now.'
She opened her eyes and looked up at Merry. "I.I'm alright." She said weakly in between sobs.
Merry took Tori's hand and whispered to her gently, "I'm sorry that this happened. I should have come with you girls. I'm never letting you go off on your own out here again. Not until all of this nonsense is cleared up and the Shire is returned to normal." He helped her up slowly and studied her delicate face. "This will not happen again."
A/N I'm soo sorry it took me so long to update, but I've been a little busy, and at a few points in the story I was getting major writer's block. Can you believe that just writing parts of this chapter creeped me out? Oh, well I guess that's a good sign. Anyway, it may take about that long to get the next few chapters up seeing as I'm starting school soon, and I'll have that to worry about, but don't lose interest!!!