A/N: This chapter is more action centered, rather than focusing on the character's emotions, but it'll get better.
Chapter Two:
The First Part Of Their Journey.
With Gandalf on Shadowfax, and the hobbits on their ponies, they went and gathered a good amount of supplies. For the next few days they made as quick a pace as possible, sleeping little, eating quickly, and going fast. Going through the Shire, through Bree, and on.
Gandalf was very cross with Merry and Pippin, as could be expected, seeing as he didn't really understand why they did what they did.
As they were riding along, Frodo rode up next to them and asked: "Why did you drop Gandalf's staff in the river?"
"It was an accident!" Merry said hotly. "We were hoping we could do some magic and it didn't work."
"What kind of magic were you trying to do?"
"He was trying to save my life!" Said Pippin. "I was drownin' and he held out the staff for me to grab onto. It wasn't long enough so he tried to magic it into growing longer when he dropped it."
"It was all wet and slippery!" Merry protested.
"So how'd you get out?" Frodo asked, with raised eybrows.
"I grabbed onto a log and it drifted me back to shore," said Pippin.
"What were you doing with Gandalf's staff in the first place?" Asked Sam, who'd been listening in.
"Gandalf was going on a picnic with us," said Merry. "And he fell asleep. We hoped he wouldn't notice his staff was gone, and he didn't.......until now."
"Why didn't you tell Gandalf?" Sam asked.
"He wouldn't believe us," Pippin said glancing over at the tall wizard.
That night, they stopped as usual by the river, as Gandalf wanted to make sure he would be able to see his staff should somehow it pass by them.
They all sat around smoking their pipes and what-not, quietly thinking their own thoughts. Pippin was thinking about food, Merry was thinking about stealing Gandalf's hat, and wondering what kind of reaction that might get from him, Sam was dreaming of Rosie, Frodo was thinking of the past, and Gandalf was thinking of the future.
At that moment, they heard a voice singing, and then who should appear over the hill but Tom Bombadil!
Gandalf jumped to his feet. "Tom Bombadil!" He exclaimed. He gave him a hug. "I had forgotten we were near to you."
Tom greeted all of the hobbits then Gandalf took him aside and talked with him for hours, until the hobbits decided it would be good to get some rest.
A few minutes after they had all settled down, Tom Bombadil waved goodbye to Gandalf, and headed back over to the hobbits. He kneeled down beside them, and looked at Merry and Pippin. "Don't worry, he's not really too angry with you, you just don't realize how very important that staff is. Not only to him, but because of the magic in it that he uses." He talked with them a few minutes more before shaking their hands and standing up. "May we meet again someday!" He smiled and waved and walked back the way he came, whistling and singing, leaving the group to their thoughts once more.
The next morning, the four hobbits and the tall wizard rode along at a fast pace, or as fast as they could go, and were silent, because the morning was cold and gloomy and foggy, and none of them had wanted to get out of bed, except for Gandalf, who wanted his staff.
Merry was beginning to wish that he'd never heard of a staff, and Pippin was wondering if he was going crazy, because he kept thinking weird thoughts like: 'what if Merry got married to that rock?' and, 'I want to live in the pony's fur.' and, 'Gandalf looks like a turkey when he sits like that.' The last one made him start cracking up laughing, and he nearly fell off of his pony. Merry stared at him, Frodo and Sam looked up.
"What on earth is so funny?" Merry asked, irritated because he didn't understand the joke.
Pippin just laughed harder, and to the confusion of the hobbits, he continued laughing for the next 15 minutes, which only reinforced his opinion that he wasn't right in the head. Frankly, the others were bound to agree with him.
After riding for a bit more, Gandalf began to speed up. "Hurry up!" He called over his shoulder. "Rivendell is just over that rise!"
When they reached Rivendell, Gandalf hurriedly swung off of Shadowfax in time to be greeted by Elrond.
"Gandalf!" Said Elrond. "What are you doing here?"
"No time for chit-chat," said Gandalf, "have you seen my staff?"
Elrond blinked. "No......not that I know of. Why would I have seen your staff?"
Gandalf waved his hand at Merry and Pippin. "These two imbeciles dropped it in the river, back in the shire about 10 days ago. Have you seen it?"
Elrond blinked again. "No, I haven't. But I'm sure someone has. We always have elves by the river. I'll ask Arwen. Arwen!"
A moment later Arwen came running up to him. "Yes, Daddy?" She asked breathlessly. Then she saw the group standing before him. "Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Gandalf! What are you doing here?"
"Merry and Pippin have dropped Gandalf's staff in the river about 10 days ago and they've come looking for it," Elrond summed up. "Have you seen it?"
Arwen thought a moment. "No, I haven't. And if anyone else had seen it, it would have been reported to me immediately. It must have gotten past us some how."
"Then it is on the way to Lothlorien! We must hurry!" Gandalf hopped on Shadowfax.
"Wait!" Said Arwen. "There's someone here who would like to see you, wait right here!" And she hurried off.
Gandalf impatiently tapped his long fingers on the side of Shadowfax's neck. "I do wish she'd hurry up!" He muttered, when Arwen came running back, pulling along, Legolas and Gimli.
"Look!" She exclaimed. "They came for a visit and I thought you might want to say hi."
"Hi," said Gandalf quickly. "And now I must be off. I have to get to Lorien before my staff goes any further."
"Gimli and I have decided to go with you," said Legolas quickly.
"I explained everything to them," said Arwen, looking very proud of herself.
"We'll only take a minute to gather some supplies," said Gimli.
"Hurry up then!" Said Gandalf. "I really cannot linger!"
Legolas and Gimli hurried off, Arwen right behind them. A few minutes later they came back with three horses and a few packs of supplies. "I've decided to go too!" Said Arwen happily.
Elrond stepped in front of her. "Arwen, no, you might get hurt."
"Oh nonsense, Daddy," said Arwen nonplussed. She swung up on her horse. "I'll miss you!" She blew him a kiss.
"Come on!" Said Gandalf and started riding away.
One by one, the others followed him, and with one last goodbye to Elrond, they all went off towards Lothlorien, three more added to their group.