Chp.3- Found
Two hobbits walked along a path leading them from their home, and into the forest surrounding the area. One was older then the other one, even though you could never really tell how old either of them were. The only distinguishing things between the two were very clear; the younger one had lighter hair color and lighter blue eyes then the other. But when talking to the two, you could see vast knowledge in the eldest one's eyes.
"These walks seem to be more calming everyday, don't they Drogo?" asked the older hobbit. He had no answer from his companion. "Drogo?"
The younger hobbit shook his head and stepped out from his dream, "Oh, I'm sorry father."
"What's wrong with you, my lad?"
"I just had a dream last night that I can't stop thinking about."
"What?! Drogo Baggins, scared of a dream?!" his father joked with him.
"I never said that I was scared of it. I just said that I couldn't stop thinking about it," he looks down the path and into the trees.
"I know. You have more courage then I ever thought possible for one of your age."
"Father, I'm in my tweens. I mean, most hobbits my age are no longer scared of the dark or of anything coming out and grabbing them," Drogo turned to his father with an amused look on his face.
"I'm aware of that; it's just that you have been the bravest of all your friends, or of your age group. I don't know how many times I've seen you stand up for what you believe in."
"What's the use of courage if you can't use it?" Drogo shifted the dirt underneath his feet, "Sure, standing up to bullies is one thing, but I'm so tired of sitting here in Hobbiton doing nothing," he sat down on a nearby rock, "I want some adventure. Like Bilbo or even just like you . . . the great Frodo Baggins. You took the ring of power and destroyed it."
"Believe me son, you don't want an adventure like that, if you want to call that an adventure," he looked down at his hand where his finger had finally grown back with some help from the elves in the Undying lands in the short period that he was there.
"I don't care, really. Just as long as I can have something that people know me for. Both you and Bilbo are famous for what you did. I want to live up to the Baggins name."
Frodo sat next to his son, "Why do you bring this up now?"
"I was just thinking, among other things . . . about mother. It's been twelve years now."
"I know it has. You must miss her as much as I."
"Very much so. Why did they take her? She didn't do anything to them."
"Orcs are creatures without a conscience. We never know why they do what they do."
"I want to get them back so bad. It's a pity they didn't all die in the end."
"Don't keep holding in hate. It's never good," he patted Drogo on his shoulder, "Let's go home. On the way, you can tell me about this dream."
***
'Where am I? Did I actually fall into the pit of fire? Was it all a dream?' Aubrey opened her eyes slightly and found herself looking up at a vast, night sky. Rubbing her head she opened her eyes the whole way thankful that she didn't have to deal with the bright sun shining in her eyes. She could feel herself moving, and sat up on her elbows and saw that she was in a small, wooden cart. She saw the driver of the cart facing away from her.
"Ah, so you're finally awake. I was wondering when you would come to," smoke came from the man's mouth as he removed his pipe.
The driver turned to her. He was an elderly man, with a long white beard, and a long wooden staff leaning on his side. Immediately remembering where she was, she asked him, "Gandalf?"
"I am he. You gave us quite a scare, you know."
"Us?"
"Yes, us," he whistled to the sky and Aubrey looked up to see a giant hawk flying over the cart, barely visible in the night sky. "My friend here saved you from a fall," he stopped the cart at the side of the road and climbed out from the driver's seat and walked around to the back of the cart, "Do you need to stretch out your legs, Miss . . ."
Aubrey jumped out from the cart, "Just call me Aubrey, if you don't mind. I don't like being called miss anything. Just too formal for me, but you may call me lass if you like." She still tried to be well mannered, this being a whole different world and this man being the most powerful wizard known. She smiled up at Gandalf and looked at the hills and forests surrounding the road that they were traveling on. Finding it quite difficult in the mid of night.
"So I'm really in Middle Earth. I'm actually here . . . it's amazing, after you get out and away from the orcs, that is. It's amazing to think that orcs once were elves," she remembered the fact from the movie as she took the clip out of her hair then later clipped it on one of her jacket sleeves.
"You have quite a lot of information in that little head of yours, young Mis- I mean Aubrey."
"I would like to think so," Aubrey looked around, as if she lost something and lowered her voice, "Did Mandy make it?"
Gandalf gave her a confused look, and then realized whom she was talking about, "Alas, the young elf perished. The hawk can not carry two at one time." Aubrey looked down and held something tight in her hand.
"What is that that you have in your hand?"
"My mother's amulet, she gave it to me before I was taken from my home. I promised her I would take care of it," Aubrey looked at it and placed it around her neck, securing it by hooking the small gold clasps.
"As you should, for any object that is that important to you. Now, we have to keep moving. Someone is following us."
"Who?" Aubrey looked back to search for anyone coming.
"We won't be able to see them. They don't want to be seen." He looked over at the bushes, "If I ever tell you to run, do so. Fast and hard, and don't stop until you have to." He climbed back into the diver's seat and Aubrey climbed back into the back.
Gandalf started to move the cart back down the road. The ride began to go into the woods, small over hanging branches reached out for the cart. Aubrey saw that there were some things covered with a blanket to her side, and suspected that they were fireworks. Aubrey laid on her back looking up at the stars. 'Oh Mandy . . . Couldn't you have held on? Couldn't you have believed that there was going to be a way? We would have found a way.'
Gandalf listened to hear if she moved suddenly because she saw something, but through the ride he heard nothing from her. He turned back to see her just staring at the sky through the tree's branches, and then turned back to the road.
"I suppose that you are not too familiar with this area."
"You have no idea," she looked up toward Gandalf and crawled toward the front of the cart putting her arms over the back of the front seat, "Are you taking these fireworks to Hobbiton?" She asked while pointing behind her over to the lump under the blankets.
"You are a very curious and observant little one aren't you?"
"Very, some people say that I'm too smart for my own good," she smiled.
He laughed, "Curiosity has nothing to do with how much knowledge you have stored in that little head of yours."
"Yes, but you need to be very observant to gain that knowledge, don't you?"
"Very true. You seem to have knowledge as well as wisdom, Aubrey, which is always a good thing. Because if you have that knowledge without the wisdom . . . well, that could be just too dangerous. Especially if you like to be curious as you are," he smiled down at her.
"Gandalf, is it alright if I sit up in the front with you, it's kind of hard talking to your back?"
"I don't see any objection to you joining me in the front here. But be careful, sometimes it can get tricky climbing from the back."
"No problem," she grabbed the back of the seat and jumped to the front.
"How did you know of Hobbiton?" he asked watching the road in front of them.
"Um . . ." she thought for a moment, "Well, nearly everyone has heard of Frodo Baggins, therefore hearing of Hobbiton. I mean, I heard many tales when captive by the orcs. Some girls in the cell next to me actually were in Hobbiton at one time and had wished to go back. "
"Hm, yes. They were probably there because of the raid."
"The raid?"
"Quite a while back orcs came to the Shire and took many young women. No one knew why, but many were spared."
After a few moments in silence Aubrey looked down at her feet, "Gandalf, where are my shoes? And . . . how did my feet get so big? Not to mention hairy?"
"Why, I never knew of a hobbit lass that wore shoes before. Or of one with small feet."
"Hobbit lass? But I'm hu-"
Aubrey didn't have much time to think as the cart was turned on its side and Gandalf was shouting, "Run Aubrey! RUN!"
Aubrey picked herself up and ran for her life, "Great . . . just great. First orcs and now these other things that I haven't even seen yet. What next?!" Aubrey looked down and saw her mother's amulet start to glow from underneath the gold binding, holding the blue jewel in place. She jumped over small streams and branches, trying to escape from her pursuers. She jumped under a fallen tree trunk and heard her pursuers pass her by, but waited a few minutes before getting up and running, in another direction.
She heard noises coming toward her; following her every move. She looked behind her and saw them. They were green beings, with spears in their hands. 'Goblins,' Aubrey thought. She watched as they followed swiftly, but didn't turn back around fast enough to see the uprooted tree branch in front of her. She tripped on it and flew down a steep hill. She caught a glimpse of the goblins trying to come down the hill after her, but had many difficulties. She closed her eyes as her head hit a rock.
***
"So, you don't know who she is; or where she came from. But you have the feeling that she is in trouble."
"Exactly. I don't know why, but I just have the feeling that I need to help her."
"Well, it's only a dream. Don't think about it too much," Frodo turned away from his son and looked toward Bag End, "It looks like we have a visitor."
Drogo looked up, "Gandalf!" He started running toward the cart, "Gandalf, it has been too long!"
He hugged the old wizard and looked at the cart closely. The cart was a little beat up, with one of the wheels almost falling off the axel. "What happened?"
"Oh, I had a little problem, and . . ." Gandalf lifted the material that was covering his cart, "I got delayed." Drogo gasped as he saw a young girl asleep in the back of the cart.
Frodo walked up to the cart, "Hello old friend. What do we have here?"
Gandalf turned to Drogo, "Help the young lass into a comfortable bed, would you?" Drogo carried the girl in, "Frodo, we need to talk." Frodo nodded and followed Gandalf into Bag End.
***
"So, who is this young lass?"
"I don't really know, but the orcs want her very badly. And once they have her they will kill her."
"How do you know?"
"They have tried once before. If Nighthawk wasn't in the sky, then she would have been burned alive in the fire pit."
"But he has flown over that area millions of times, and never returned with someone on his back."
"Something is special about this young lass, Frodo. Maybe it is something she has, or something that she is."
"It might be both," Frodo motioned over to one of the doors in the hall where Drogo was shutting the door quietly. "That is the fifth time in an hour that he has checked on our young guest. I think that he might see something about her as well."
"Indeed," Gandalf smiled, and then turned serious again, "She must have something. Even the goblins were after her; they ambushed us on the road. I found her before they got to her." Frodo looked puzzled and sat back in his chair, rubbing his chin in thought. Gandalf continued, "And another thing Frodo, she said something to me that was very peculiar. Well, actually a couple of things. She said that she was finally in Middle Earth. That she had actually made it."
"Where else could she have come from?"
"That is what I'm hoping to find out. She had also asked me about why her feet were so big. It confuses me. It's like she doesn't know who or what she is. And yet she remembers her name. And knows a lot of information for a lass her age, not to mention that she is also very mature. Much more mature then others of her age," Gandalf shook his head, got up and walked toward the door.
"Gandalf, where are you going? What if she wakes up?"
"You will be fine. Just treat her well, and don't call her Miss, by any means. I'm pretty sure that she will like it very much here. Even if it isn't her home." He looked over at Drogo who had just entered her room for the sixth time.
***
"It's amazing . . . she looks exactly like the girl in my dream. But she looks so peaceful," Drogo looked over her sleeping form as she stirred slightly in her sleep, "And beautiful." He brushed some of her hair out of her face and sat back in the chair next to her bed. 'Although that is the way that it usually starts, Drogo. Beautiful girl, then something happens where they have no time for you. But this . . . this is different.'
With no attention paid to his thoughts he stayed in the chair for the rest of the night, watching over her. Frodo peeked into the room and saw Drogo asleep in the chair. He smiled and walked over to the chair, and nudged his son awake.
"I think that you need a break. I'll look over her now, you need your sleep."
"No, I'll be alright. I want to stay."
"Why, I never thought I'd see the day when you would pass the opportunity for sleep."
"Ha, ha. It's just that," he looks over at the girl, "that's her."
"That's who?"
"That's the girl in my dream." Frodo looked at the girl. She wasn't moving that much, except for the occasional repositioning.
"Are you sure?"
"Positive. I would like . . . to wait for her to wake up."
"You need your sleep. I'll come and get you if she wakes up." Drogo's face fell and started to stumble toward the door.
"Did Gandalf leave already?"
"Yes, he had to . . . find some answers."
Drogo nodded and took one last look at the girl, "Do we know her name?"
Frodo thought for a moment then looked at Drogo, "Gandalf never did tell me her name. We'll ask her once she wakes up. Now go to sleep." Drogo left the room and headed down the hall, but not without stealing another peak at the girl.
***
Aubrey could tell that she was back in a comfortable bed. She felt the mattress below her, and the soft pillow under her head. She sighed to herself, 'What a dream. It felt so real.' She turned on her right side and opened her eyes, to check the time. But there was only a blank wall.
"What the-?" She sat up fast, then immediately fell back down into the pillow. "Ow! Head! Pain! Guess what, genius?" she talked to herself, "This still isn't a dream. And what is it with me and blacking out? I got to stop that! I mean, soon enough I'll get brain damage or something." She held her head and sat up slowly this time. She took a look around, "At least I'm not in a cell, or a cart."
Her clothes were torn, but all of the pieces were still there and were able to be sewn back together if she needed them to be. Her favorite shirt was pretty much gone from the wood chase, but her jeans were still in mostly one piece. Her jacket was hanging on a chair in a corner, torn with holes and there were some branches still stuck in the dark blue material. Her favorite boots were now gone, to only God knows where. She slung her feet over the side of the bed and looked down at her feet. 'Why so big?' She looked down at her hand to see how her burn was, but it wasn't there any more. 'How strange . . .'she scratched her head and brushed over her ear . . . her pointed ear?
"What?" She felt her ear and looked in the mirror that was above the bed. She looked at herself and the realization finally hit, "I'm a hobbit! - Er, hobbitlass . . ." She looked at her hand knowing no mark was there anymore, but she knew that it had to have something to do with her no longer being human.
She decided to think about it later and start to figure out where she was now. Last time she was awake, she was rolling down the hill with goblins following close behind. "I wonder where Gandalf is," she looked at the edge of the bed.
"He left to find some answers about you." Aubrey turned her head toward the door, where a gentlehobbit stood with a bowl of what looked like soup in his hands. He was older then what she thought he would look like, but she knew right away whom it was standing before her.
"The great Frodo Baggins, I presume. The one who took the burden of the ring."
"Gandalf was right. You do know a lot for your young age. None the less that was a long time ago. And please, just call me Frodo." He walked over and handed the bowl to Aubrey.
"So, how did you sleep?"
"Very well, thank you. Although I got a nasty shock when I woke up. Not being in my own bed and all."
"I could imagine," he looked at the girl, "Well, you know who I am, but I'm still waiting to hear your name. And since Gandalf warned me not to call you Miss, I have nothing to call you, lass."
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Where are my manners?" Aubrey extended her hand out holding the bowl of soup in the other, "My name is Aubrey Cander."
"Cander?"
"Yes. What's the matter?"
"The name sounds familiar," he paused for a minute, but then continued, "I heard that you had a horrible experience concerning orcs. Are you alright?"
"Yes actually," Aubrey looked down into her soup and started to spoon it around. She saw Mandy falling toward the fire pit, just imagining the pain that she refused to show, and closed her eyes. How much did she suffer being burned in the pits like that? How much pain did she have keep inside so she wouldn't scream out, alerting Aubrey about her death to come?
"I'd much rather forget about it," Aubrey said trying not to show tears.
"It's alright, Aubrey. Orcs are nasty beings, and I believe that they do not deserve to have any contact with any other being," he pats Aubrey on the back, "I can understand if you don't want to talk about it." Frodo got up and headed for the door, as Aubrey took another sip of the soup.
"Where are you going?" she asked swallowing the soup.
"To wake up my son, Drogo, he has been waiting for you to get up," Frodo walked out of her room.
"Oh," Aubrey put another spoonful of soup into her mouth, 'Wait a minute!' She spit out part of the soup that was in her mouth and tried her best to swallow the rest of it. "You have a son!?!" she nearly shouted, choking on the soup.