Success is Counted Sweetest
Chapter Two
They've Found Me!
Disclaimer: pout I wish LOTR were mine…
Alaina stepped onto the warm grass (of course without shoes, even though she was a human) and looked around. She had stepped through the door, as she always did, into the middle of a cornfield. Farmer Maggot's cornfield, to be precise. The day was warmer than she had expected, so before shutting and locking the door, Alaina tossed her cloak and jacket inside. She rustled up the cornstalks so that they would cover the door, which took on the exact texture and hue of its surrounding cornstalks, so this task was hardly necessary. And even though the door was locked, she just wanted to make sure no one could find it and accidentally get through. Or purposely, for that matter.
Merry and Pippin were nowhere to be found. However, upon looking around once more Alaina realized that they might well have been just a few feet to her left. She wouldn't see them, of course, unless they were right next to her, the corn was too thick. And since the door was hidden, they could never guess exactly the right spot, though they had been getting closer with the increasing frequency of Alaina's visits.
"Merry? Pippin?" she yelled, but received no answer. She shrugged and trudged on through the field, expecting to meet them at Frodo's, where she always stayed on her visits to Hobbiton. There was no sound except for the birds' whistling. Wait--there was no sound at all. Alaina wondered where all the birds had gone when she heard a faint rustling. Thinking it was just the wind, she walked on. The rustling increased. Suddenly there was a squeal, then a giggle, as Alaina was knocked to the ground by two large objects in the shape of hobbit-lads.
Pippin giggled insanely at what he thought had been a clever trick on his and Merry's parts. Alaina giggled, then sat up and shoved Pippin.
"Meanies!" (A/N: Please remember, she's only six! Six-year-olds say weird stuff!) She said jokingly. Merry got up and brushed himself off, then helped Alaina to her feet.
"I knew you were there all along," she stated haughtily.
"Did not!" Merry challenged.
"Did so!" Alaina retorted. "I heard Merry giggling as you got closer."
"Merry! You ruined it!" Pippin chided.
"You're the one walks like an elephant!" Merry teased. Alaina rolled her eyes.
"Race you to Frodo's! Whoever's last has to...Oh, I know! Whoever's last has to steal one of Farmer Maggot's apples to give to the winner. We have to race all the way and touch his door to win. Fair enough?" Merry and Pippin both agreed this was a good idea. "Alright, on my mark. Ready...set...GO!"
All three took off, running as fast as they could and squealing with glee. Merry and Pippin soon took the lead, right next to each other. Merry nudged Pippin with his elbow as they ran. Pippin nudged back. Merry nudged harder, pushing Pippin to the ground. Pippin fell, but grabbed Merry's foot, taking Merry with him as well. While they disentangled themselves, Alaina ran ahead and tagged the door just as Merry caught up with her. Pippin finished last, and promptly sat down to massage his ankle.
"Are you okay?" Alaina asked.
"I'm fine...I just...I think I hurt my ankle." Merry and Alaina each grabbed an arm and hoisted Pippin up. Merry let him lean on his shoulder while Alaina knocked on Frodo's door. Bilbo's face appeared in the window, and a couple seconds later he opened the door.
"Alaina!" he exclaimed, as she threw her arms around him.
"Uncle Bilbo!" (A/N: He's obviously not her uncle; she's a human, but she's so close with him that he's like an uncle; likewise, Frodo is like a cousin to her.) She pulled away quickly, remembering Pippin's ankle. "Uncle Bilbo, Pippin's hurt his leg. Do you think you could help?"
"Oh, I don't know much about healing, but I'm sure Sam could do something about it. Why don't you go find him? He should be in the garden." Alaina moved aside to let Merry and Pippin through the door, then turned and stopped to listen for the sound of Sam's shears. She found him trimming the bushes at the edge of the garden.
"Sam?" he stopped trimming and looked up.
"Alaina!" he smiled and dropped his shears.
"Pippin's hurt his ankle….we were wondering if you could help."
"I'll do my best." Sam ran down the street to his own hobbit-hole and told the Gaffer what happened.
Once they got back to Frodo's with all the supplies necessary to heal an ankle, they realized that Alaina was missing. Sam wrapped a bandage around Pippin's ankle and made sure it wasn't too tight before asking where Alaina could be.
Pippin looked up from his ankle. "She didn't go with you?"
"No, I went to get my Gaffer and I assumed she'd come back here."
Pippin looked out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Alaina, thinking that she might have wandered off. The others followed suit.
"What's that?" asked Merry, seeing a large shape seemingly struggling with a smaller one moving further away. (A/N: Frodo's there too….he's around somewhere, thinking about actually having a line in this fanfic *gasp*) The smaller one broke free and ran toward the hobbit-hole, shouting, "Help! Help, they've found me!"
"It's Alaina!" Pippin gasped. The larger shape, the one previously holding the struggling Alaina, got back up from where it had fallen and grabbed Alaina again.
"Stay here!" commanded Bilbo as he tore out the door and down the road. The Gaffer followed, issuing the same order. Of course no one listened. Frodo, Sam, and Merry rushed out the door, leaving an injured Pippin to limp along after them.
A/N: Yay, longer than last chapter. Please review, I want to know if people are actually reading this. Score! I've figured out that I have a lot less weird prolems when I don't use Microsoft Word. Also, I sincerely apologize for the scrunched upedness of chapter one. From now on, they'll be like this chapter and have random spaces whenever I hit enter...if I confused you then just nevermind. I'm muttering to myself basically. Please review!
Chapter Two
They've Found Me!
Disclaimer: pout I wish LOTR were mine…
Alaina stepped onto the warm grass (of course without shoes, even though she was a human) and looked around. She had stepped through the door, as she always did, into the middle of a cornfield. Farmer Maggot's cornfield, to be precise. The day was warmer than she had expected, so before shutting and locking the door, Alaina tossed her cloak and jacket inside. She rustled up the cornstalks so that they would cover the door, which took on the exact texture and hue of its surrounding cornstalks, so this task was hardly necessary. And even though the door was locked, she just wanted to make sure no one could find it and accidentally get through. Or purposely, for that matter.
Merry and Pippin were nowhere to be found. However, upon looking around once more Alaina realized that they might well have been just a few feet to her left. She wouldn't see them, of course, unless they were right next to her, the corn was too thick. And since the door was hidden, they could never guess exactly the right spot, though they had been getting closer with the increasing frequency of Alaina's visits.
"Merry? Pippin?" she yelled, but received no answer. She shrugged and trudged on through the field, expecting to meet them at Frodo's, where she always stayed on her visits to Hobbiton. There was no sound except for the birds' whistling. Wait--there was no sound at all. Alaina wondered where all the birds had gone when she heard a faint rustling. Thinking it was just the wind, she walked on. The rustling increased. Suddenly there was a squeal, then a giggle, as Alaina was knocked to the ground by two large objects in the shape of hobbit-lads.
Pippin giggled insanely at what he thought had been a clever trick on his and Merry's parts. Alaina giggled, then sat up and shoved Pippin.
"Meanies!" (A/N: Please remember, she's only six! Six-year-olds say weird stuff!) She said jokingly. Merry got up and brushed himself off, then helped Alaina to her feet.
"I knew you were there all along," she stated haughtily.
"Did not!" Merry challenged.
"Did so!" Alaina retorted. "I heard Merry giggling as you got closer."
"Merry! You ruined it!" Pippin chided.
"You're the one walks like an elephant!" Merry teased. Alaina rolled her eyes.
"Race you to Frodo's! Whoever's last has to...Oh, I know! Whoever's last has to steal one of Farmer Maggot's apples to give to the winner. We have to race all the way and touch his door to win. Fair enough?" Merry and Pippin both agreed this was a good idea. "Alright, on my mark. Ready...set...GO!"
All three took off, running as fast as they could and squealing with glee. Merry and Pippin soon took the lead, right next to each other. Merry nudged Pippin with his elbow as they ran. Pippin nudged back. Merry nudged harder, pushing Pippin to the ground. Pippin fell, but grabbed Merry's foot, taking Merry with him as well. While they disentangled themselves, Alaina ran ahead and tagged the door just as Merry caught up with her. Pippin finished last, and promptly sat down to massage his ankle.
"Are you okay?" Alaina asked.
"I'm fine...I just...I think I hurt my ankle." Merry and Alaina each grabbed an arm and hoisted Pippin up. Merry let him lean on his shoulder while Alaina knocked on Frodo's door. Bilbo's face appeared in the window, and a couple seconds later he opened the door.
"Alaina!" he exclaimed, as she threw her arms around him.
"Uncle Bilbo!" (A/N: He's obviously not her uncle; she's a human, but she's so close with him that he's like an uncle; likewise, Frodo is like a cousin to her.) She pulled away quickly, remembering Pippin's ankle. "Uncle Bilbo, Pippin's hurt his leg. Do you think you could help?"
"Oh, I don't know much about healing, but I'm sure Sam could do something about it. Why don't you go find him? He should be in the garden." Alaina moved aside to let Merry and Pippin through the door, then turned and stopped to listen for the sound of Sam's shears. She found him trimming the bushes at the edge of the garden.
"Sam?" he stopped trimming and looked up.
"Alaina!" he smiled and dropped his shears.
"Pippin's hurt his ankle….we were wondering if you could help."
"I'll do my best." Sam ran down the street to his own hobbit-hole and told the Gaffer what happened.
Once they got back to Frodo's with all the supplies necessary to heal an ankle, they realized that Alaina was missing. Sam wrapped a bandage around Pippin's ankle and made sure it wasn't too tight before asking where Alaina could be.
Pippin looked up from his ankle. "She didn't go with you?"
"No, I went to get my Gaffer and I assumed she'd come back here."
Pippin looked out the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Alaina, thinking that she might have wandered off. The others followed suit.
"What's that?" asked Merry, seeing a large shape seemingly struggling with a smaller one moving further away. (A/N: Frodo's there too….he's around somewhere, thinking about actually having a line in this fanfic *gasp*) The smaller one broke free and ran toward the hobbit-hole, shouting, "Help! Help, they've found me!"
"It's Alaina!" Pippin gasped. The larger shape, the one previously holding the struggling Alaina, got back up from where it had fallen and grabbed Alaina again.
"Stay here!" commanded Bilbo as he tore out the door and down the road. The Gaffer followed, issuing the same order. Of course no one listened. Frodo, Sam, and Merry rushed out the door, leaving an injured Pippin to limp along after them.
A/N: Yay, longer than last chapter. Please review, I want to know if people are actually reading this. Score! I've figured out that I have a lot less weird prolems when I don't use Microsoft Word. Also, I sincerely apologize for the scrunched upedness of chapter one. From now on, they'll be like this chapter and have random spaces whenever I hit enter...if I confused you then just nevermind. I'm muttering to myself basically. Please review!
