Chapter Six: The Weight of the Ring

Written by Carithawen

Writer's notes: This is written from the original movie AND I've kicked it up a notch with some of my own stuff (again! Hurrah!)!

Finished with greeting the numerous guests, Bilbo was now sitting on a low bench, telling a group of young hobbit children a story of one of his early adventures.

"So there I was, at the mercy of three monstrous trolls," he presented with a hint of playful, and sometimes intense, drama in his tone. "And they were all arguing amongst themselves about how they were going to cook us. Whether it be turned on a spit, or whether they should sit on us one by one, squash us, to jelly."

At this, a hobbit girl gasped loudly.

"And they spent so much time arguing the whitertos and the whyfors," Bilbo continued, "that the sun's first light crept over the top of the trees and—" He voiced a large "poof".

At this, all of the hobbit kids gasped loudly.

"And turned them all to stone!" he concluded, nodding rapidly as if to defend the story's authenticity.

Merry still sat at his table, drinking his ninth mug of brew. It is at this moment that Pippin approaches him, taking his original seat at the table. Merry quickly set down his mug, and gulped down what he had in his mouth, finally turning to Pippin. "So… how did it go, Pip?"

Pippin was in dreamland. "Oh, Merry…" he said with a grin, his thoughts still on her. "Her words are like… are like… mushrooms on a spring day!"

Merry raised his eyebrow, taking another sip of his brew. "Some poet you are, Pip…"

Pippin looked at him. "…That wasn't good?"

Merry eyed him over the brim of his mug, then set it down. "You want to allure her, right?"

Pippin thought for a long moment, then nodded very slowly.

"Let me put it in other terms, Pippin… you want to fascinate her… Kind of like how… she fascinates you."

At this, Pippin nodded at regular speed. "I guess so."

"Well… you certainly can't do it with words…" Merry pondered. Then he lightly tapped him on the shoulder. "Fireworks!"

"Fireworks, Merry?"

A lightbulb clicked on in Merry's head. "Yeah… fireworks… come on!" He stood up and started to walk quickly towards the party tents in the near distance. Pippin could only follow him.

Noticing that he had run out of his current stock of fireworks, Gandalf took out several more fireworks from his wagon next to a party tent. As he left to go display them, Merry and Pippin crept out from behind the tent.

Merry looked around, then whispered to Pippin, "Quickly!" He gave Pippin a leg up onto the wagon, and as soon as the young mischievous Took landed on the many of laying fireworks, he started to look for a unique one.

Unaware to the 'snooping around' of the two hobbits, Gandalf set off some butterfly fireworks for the young Hobbit children that had gathered around him once more. "Oh! Up they go!"

Pippin pulled out a small firework.

Merry shook his head rapidly, pointing into the cart again. "No, no, the big one, big one!"

Pippin pulled out a very large, dragon-shaped firework, at which Merry gasped excitedly. Pippin descended the cart, and ran into the cart. Looking around for any spies, Merry took one bite of his apple, and hurried inside after him.

After a few minutes of setting up, Pippin lighted the wick of the firework. "Done!" He pushed the top end of the firework towards Merry.

"You're supposed to stick it in the ground!" Merry exclaimed, pushing it back to Pippin.

"It is in the ground!" Pippin replied, pushing it back to Merry, who pushed it back to him again.

"Outside..." Merry stated once more. They continued pushing the lit firework back and forth, the lit end of the wick approaching the end of the body of the firework very quickly, unnoticed by them.

"This was your idea!" Pippin yelled at him, and at that very moment, the firework goes off, shooting up, eliciting a rather high-pitched shriek from Pippin. Both hobbits were thrown to the ground in the event. The firework soon exploded in the air over the party field, and the all of the hobbit guests cheered. But their happy faces soon melt away, when it turned into the form of a fiery dragon. The hobbits screamed and made a mad dash to get away from it, knocking down tables of food as they did so.

Frodo looked up into the sky, seeing the dragon, and he scarcely breathed out the first word that came to mind. "Bilbo..." He turned to Bilbo, exclaiming loudly, "Bilbo, watch out for the dragon!"

Being lead away by Frodo in a panic, Bilbo shook his head. "Dragon? Nonsense, there hasn't been a dragon in these parts for a thousand years!" At that moment, the dragon passed overhead, Frodo and Bilbo dodging out of the way just in the nick of time. Slowly, the hobbits who had been crouching down, began to lift their heads. The dragon flew off into the distance, and suddenly burst, filling the sky with bright fireworks. The hobbit guests, who had been literally scared to death, burst out in wild cheers.

Merry and Pippin raised up from the ground, their faces now covered in soot, and their once smooth hair now dryly smoking.

Merry smiled proudly. "That was good!"

Pippin was equally proud. "Let's get another one."

Before they could do anything, they were suddenly grabbed painfully by the ears. They cry out loudly, and when they look up to see who the person that grabbed their ears was, a scowling old wizard looked down upon them. "Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took," uttered Gandalf. "I might've known."

As punishment to their crime, Merry and Pippin were sent to the party's 'outdoor kitchen' to wash up the dishes. Gandalf sat nearby, watching them, drinking tea, and smoking his long pipe.

When Gandalf moved his eyes away for a quick second, Pippin leaned over towards Merry, whispering, "My words could have done better than that…"

The hobbit crowd caught sight of Bilbo, and yelled loudly. "Speech, Bilbo! Speech!" They cheered and clapped loudly as well.

Frodo couldn't help but join in. "Speech!"

Bilbo, who had nothing better to do, walked up to the small, low stage in front of the crowd. "My dear Bagginses and Boffins!" Cheers were elicited from the crowd. "Tooks and Brandybucks!" Cheers again. "Grubbs!" More cheers. "Chubbs!" Yet more cheers. "Hornblowers!" Again. "Bolgers!" Yet again. "Bracegirdles! And Proudfoots!"

"Proudfeet!" an old hobbit corrected him loudly.

The crowd laughed, as Bilbo waves his hand dismissively, in the direction of the Proodfoot hobbit.

"Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday!" Bilbo continued happily. At this, cheers rose from the crowd yet again, along with many 'happy birthday's mixed in.

"Alas," he continued. "Eleventy one years is far too short a time to live amongst such excellent, and admirable hobbits. I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Silence.

Gandalf eyed the old hobbit, as though half-amused.

"I er... I have things to do," Bilbo stuttered, placing his hand into his pocket, and secretly taking out a gold ring. "I've put this off for far too long," he whispered to himself. He then addressed the crowd once more, "I regret to announce this is the end… I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell…." His eyes found a confused Frodo, and he whispered, "Goodbye."

He suddenly vanished into thin air where he stood, and the crowd gasped. Gandalf and Frodo both looked troubled, but the old Wizard knew further. Looking around for Elfindel, Gandalf caught sight of her, her eyes already upon him. He raised his hand to her in a gesture that she should remain here with the hobbits and calm them. Gandalf, on the other hand, got up, and began to make his way out of the party field.

Bilbo made his way back to Bag End, still invisible, and removed his ring once he had closed the door behind him. He appeared again inside, laughing. He flipped the ring into the air, catching it on its descent, putting it back into his coat pocket. Humming, he picked up his walking stick, and entered the living room, where the fireplace was already lit.

A deep voice came from behind him. "I suppose you think that was terribly clever." Bilbo gasped, looking around him, and finally catching Gandalf. He sighed in relief. "Come on Gandalf. Did you see their faces?" He laughed.

Gandalf eyed him. "There are many magic rings in this world, Bilbo Baggins, and none of them should be used lightly!"

"It was just a bit of fun...!" He sighed. "Oh, you're probably right, as usual..." He changed the subject. "You will keep an eye on Frodo, won't you?"

"Two eyes, as often as I can spare them."

"I'm leaving everything to him."

Gandalf observed him closely. "What about this ring of yours, is that staying too?"

"Yes, yes," Bilbo answered impatiently. "It's in an envelope over there, on the mantelpiece..." His hand reached into his pocket. "No, wait… it's here… in my pocket." He took the ring out of his pocket, and started to finger it. "Why…isn't that… isn't that odd, now. Yet after all that, why not." His voice lowered to just above a whisper. "Why shouldn't I keep it?"

Gandalf never took his eyes off him. "I think you should leave the ring behind, Bilbo. Is that so hard?"

Bilbo turned to him. "Well no..." He hunched over slightly, and his tone angered. "And yes… Now it comes to it, I don't feel like parting with it. It's mine! I found it! It came to me!"

Gandalf's eyes grew worried. "There's no need to get angry."

"Well if I'm angry, it's your fault!" He eyed the ring, "...It's mine… My own… My precious..."

"Precious?" Gandalf now grew both worried and confused. "It's been called that before, but not by you."

"Oh, what business is it of yours what I do with my own things?!"

"I think you've had that ring quite long enough."

"Y-You want if for yourself!!" Bilbo exclaimed loudly.

Gandalf seemed as if he suddenly grew taller, the air around him growing dark, and the wood began to creak, as if Bag-End was stretching. His voice boomed angrily. "BILBO BAGGINS! DO NOT TAKE ME FOR SOME CONJUROR OF CHEAP TRICKS! I AM NOT TRYING TO ROB YOU!!" Everything suddenly lessened back to normal again. "I'm trying to help you," he concluded in a friendly tone. He knelt down beside Bilbo, and placed his hand on his shoulder. "All your long years, we've been friends. Trust me, as you once did, hmm? Let it go."

Bilbo sighed sadly. "You're right, Gandalf. The ring must go to Frodo." He grabbed his travel bag and walking stick, preparing to leave. "It's late, the road is long... Yes, it is time..." He opened the front door, and only took a step outside when Gandalf spoke again.

"Bilbo… the ring is still in your pocket."

Bilbo turned to him sheepishly. "Oh… yes." He placed the gold ring on the palm of his hand, and slowly turned his hand vertically, letting it drop. The ring does not bounce, and 'clangs' to the floor. Bilbo turned quickly and walked out his door, Gandalf following him.

Bilbo stopped suddenly, raising his chin slightly. "I've thought up an ending for my book…" He turned around to look at Gandalf. "And he lived happily ever after, to the end of his days"

Gandalf grinned softly. "And I'm sure you will, my dear friend."

Bilbo grinned gently, speaking at a near whisper. "Goodbye Gandalf."

"Goodbye, dear Bilbo."

They shook each other's hand, and Bilbo turned, and started down the road, singing softly. "The road goes ever on and on…"

Gandalf watched him leave, and spoke silently to himself. "Until our next meeting…"