Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. I just like to write about them.

He's Not Alone: Chapter 6

"Frodo. Frodo wake up. It's time to take a bit of broth, my friend," the man's insistent voice penetrated the Ring-bearer's world between waking and dreaming. It was very warm where he was and no pain assaulted him. He knew if he woke, his shoulder would start to throb and his head ache. Frodo thought if he stayed still long enough that the man would go away and let him lie in the contented state he was in. The Ring-bearer took a deep breath and was just about to disappear into the blackness when that voice rose and something sloshed near his ear.

"No, do not go back to sleep, Tithen Min. You need your strength if you want to go to Rivendell and see your kin," Strider enticed, swirling the broth around in the cup, its aroma rising to be inhaled by the semi-conscious hobbit.

The familiar broth wafted passed his nostrils, turning his head until his cheek rubbed against the warmed cup. The gentle hobbit sighed, deciding it was no use trying to fool the Ranger and slowly forced his eyes apart, the left still swollen from where he had run into the cave's low ceiling.

"Good afternoon, Frodo," Estel said watching with anticipation as the lovely deep sea blue eyes adjusted to the dimly lit cave.

Frodo nodded, focusing on the warm cup. "Mush..." he said with difficulty. He licked his swollen chapped lips and started again,"Mushroom?" his eyebrows drawing up in query, unable to produce any more saliva to soothe his parched mouth.

A smile tugged at the corners of the aged face,"Yes, mushroom," he said placing an arm beneath Frodo's shoulders to raise him from the floor to drink the nourishing broth.

A rush of dizziness assailed the Ring-bearer,"Oh! Aragorn!" he cried clutching at Strider's tunic tightly.

Legolas came to the Ranger's aid as he had almost lost his grip on the cup of broth as Frodo grabbed onto him unexpectedly. "Perhaps Frodo would fare better sitting in your lap again?" the Elf suggested.

Looking into his friend's glimmering eyes, Aragorn accepted the suggestion,"Thank you, my friend. Come, Tithen Min, I will let you rest your head against my chest while you drink your broth."

The shireling was handled with gentle care as Legolas settled him between Estel's long legs, his head laying comfortably against the Man's chest. His little hands immediately grabbed hold of the fabric at the Ranger's knee caps to help anchor him until the dizziness passed. Frodo then felt the warmed metal against his lips once more, opening them to accept the much wanted broth. He could not remember when he last had a meal as he heard his stomach growl.

"My, you are hungry?" Aragorn teased as the halfling finished the broth, a few drops dribbling out the corner of the swollen mouth. "Would you like some more?"

Eyes opening, the Ring-bearer nodded as he flashed a lopsided smile, then winced at the attempt,his facial muscles aching.

Seeing Frodo in pain, Legolas had already had some more cloths soaking anticipating the need, he wrung one out and held it upon the hobbit's bruised cheek for a few moments.

"Whar...Samunta?" he mumbled from beneath the cloth.

"She's sleeping, Master Baggins," a voice announced from behind Aragorn.

Frodo's grip tightened on the Ranger's leggings, digging into flesh as he recognized the voice he would never forget that lingered at the edge of his consciousness for the longest moments as he was slowly being suffocated.

"Frodo," Estel breathed out in pain through gritted teeth, prying small fingers out of his skin, "Radagast will not harm you again. It was the Ring, my friend, that tempted him," he whispered into the pointed ear rubbing his pinched leg with a gloved palm.

Radagast the Brown came from behind the Ranger, appearing in front of wide blue eyes, "I am very sorry, Master Baggins. I do not know what came over me. It was very fortunate that the Lady did not mind knocking a Wizard to his senses," the robed figure knelt before the Ring-bearer, repentant for his actions.

With a deep exhale of the breath Frodo did not realize he had been holding, a shaky hand reached out, touching the knee of the Maia. "I understand now why Gandalf did not want to take the Ring when I offered It to him many moons ago," he said quietly,accepting the apology as his racing heart slowed.

Surprised by the kindness the gentle hobbit exhibited, Radagast remembered Gandalf's words that even though hobbits did not associate with the outside world of man, they were a most extraordinary race. "The Lady was very cooperative after you spoke to her. She let me tend to her wound," the Brown Maia smiled.

"She'll live then?" he said trying to stifle a yawn, placing a hand over his mouth, eyelids beginning to droop.

"Yes. She has a streak of stubbornness, but she will pull through, as I suspect you will as well," he added patting Frodo on the shoulder, getting himself up off the dirt floor.

Frodo held his breath until the Wizard left, lifting his bruised hand to rub at his injured shoulder. The hobbit then felt a large hand lift his and slide a warm compress to the pained shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Legolas' left arm draped with a few warm clothes, smiling down at him.

"I think he is ready for sleep again, Legolas," Frodo heard the voice above him say as the rhythm of the Ranger's breathing combined with the Athelas drew the Ring-bearer's eyes to a close.

The sunlight pried opened his blue orbs to reveal a familiar set of caring eyes. Slowly a smile crept along his face and unable to contain his happiness any longer he cried, "Oh, Sam."

"Mr. Frodo?" Sam said as he scooped up one of Frodo's hands, holding it gently between his. Then he let go of all the frustration he had pent up since his master's 'little excursion', "I hope you know you gave us all quite a scare when you did not come back. Poor Mr. Bilbo was just beside himself when I had to tell him you were missing. And your cousins, beggin' your pardon, they could worry the..."

"Let the poor lad get some air, Samwise. I am sure since he had been couped up in that cave, he has not had an ounce of sunshine or fresh air in sometime," Gandalf mused as he sat clamping his teeth around the stem of his pipe.

Frodo turned his attention to locate the familiar voice talking about him, realizing then that he had been moved outside. He was protected from the sun's rays beneath Legolas' cloak that had been stretched between two arrows staked into the ground. The hobbit felt about him with his free hand, discovering that the smell and texture of the cloth he was lying on was Aragorn's cloak.

He spied Gandalf at his feet as he tried to turn from his right side onto his back, facing the Wizard. Jolting his left shoulder, he quickly moved his right hand to massage the area, but found that movement hurt as well, a hiss escaping his lips.

"Don't go movin' overmuch, Mr. Frodo. Strider had to put a couple stitches in your shoulder. He said he didn't want it to be gettin' dirty. He also bound up your wrists with some Athelas poultices," Sam explained before Frodo could utter a word of rebuttal.

"Sam, I was just going to ask for some water," Frodo said his tongue feeling like a thick wad of cotton sitting in his mouth.

The gardener turned to his pack and retrieved a water pouch, putting it up to his master's lips.

Frodo gladly accepted the cool liquid as it went smoothly down his parched throat. Yet, there were still a few droplets that found its way out of the corner of his mouth, trickling down his chin. Sam managed to gently wipe the drop with a warmed cloth he pulled off the top of a wrapped warming stone. This he held a few moments to the swollen cheek, the hobbit trying to pull back as his face was still very sensitive to the lightest touch.

"Keep that on you, Tithen Min. I know it hurts now, but believe me and you should know the healing properties of Athelas," Aragorn walked up quietly, startling both Sam and Frodo.

"He'll keep it on. I'll be sure of that if my name ain't Samwise Gamgee," Sam said, looking upon his master with adoration. Frodo rolled his eyes, but was glad that he had such devotion in a friend.

Estel smiled then approached Gandalf sitting down beside him on the warmed ground,"How is Radagast?" he ventured as the Gray Pilgrim had been told of what had happened to the Brown Wizard in the presence of the Ring.

Gandalf had rode from Rivendell with Sam tagging along, sensing that he may have been too late to save the Ring-bearer from certain doom. Afraid of what he may find in the quiet cave, he told Sam to wait outside until it was safe for him to come in.

"You can't keep me from him! If anything should have happened, I...I" he stammered, a few tears escaping over the rim of his reddened watery eyes.

"I know, but please, stay here. I will call you in a moments notice," the Wizard tried to console Sam's fears as well as his leaving the gardener standing, hands twisting within each other.

Upon entering the cool dimly lit cave, Gandalf ducked his head as if he were back at Bag End, his pointy hat having to be removed. Venturing further,he finally breathed a sigh of relief as he found Aragorn lying the sleeping hobbit down, once again wrapping him snugly within the confines of his cloak. "Oh thank the Valar," he quietly prayed under his breath, but not so quiet that the Ranger had not heard him.

"He's all right?" an apprehensive gardener asked, coming up behind the Gray Pilgrim followed by Legolas.

"I thought I asked you..." Gandalf began to reprimand turning quickly, his staff pointed toward the rushing hobbit. Sam stopped abruptly in his tracks, afraid of being turned into something unnatural.

"I told him that Frodo was fine, Mithrandir. Forgive me for disregarding your request," the blond haired Elf asked, bowing his head to the Maia.

"No harm, Legolas," he sighed, lowering his staff,"I was just going to send for him once Aragorn told me how the Ring-bearer was faring," his bushy eyebrows raising in anticipation to his question.

Before Estel could answer, Sam bypassed the Big Folk and rushed upon his master, meeting up face to face with a white tooth filled mouth that had swung out from a darkened part of the cave. It placed its muzzle upon Frodo's chest, a low growl emanating from deep within its throat.

Sam jumped back in alarm, quickly being caught by swift big arms before his backside met up with the hard dirt surface. "Wha...What is that!" the frightened stout hobbit stuttered, pointing at the animal. "Get it away from Mr.Frodo!"

Gandalf had not even noticed the bear lying there in the dark either, but the feeling that someone was watching over the gentle hobbit that he could not place before, had now been answered.

"Calm down, Samwise," Legolas soothed the terrified hobbit with his sweet musical voice,"It is just a bear, who was injured protecting Frodo from the bounty hunters."

"Protect? It ain't natural, a wild animal takin' in something other than its own," his common hobbit sense coming into play, rationalizing.

"We were surprised as well when we found him unconscious. She had protected him and kept him warm," Estel explained, crouching down on his knees, inching forward as he petted the great Lady's snout. "Here, introduce yourself to her. She will not let you touch Frodo until you do. Believe me she is just as stubborn as our Ring-bearer," he chuckled, big arms settling Sam into his lap.

Sam did not want to pet this thing, but he could not go without checking over his master for himself. He tried to calm his frayed nerves, his heart still fluttering against his chest. He reluctantly let the Ranger pull his hand toward the Bear's sharp tooth mouth, closing his eyes anticipating that at any moment it would be gone.

"Samwise Gamgee I am pleased to introduce you to Samantha," Strider emphasized the names as the stout hobbit's hand met up with the Samantha's snout, relaxing tense fingers to rub the Bear's soft fur.

"Glad to meet you...Samantha?" the gardener questioned, grateful that the bear did not want to make elevenses of him.

"It seems as if Frodo had a case of amnesia where he had hit his head and not wanting to call her just 'bear', the first name that came to him was Sam," smiling he told the story as if to a child instead of a grown hobbit.

From that moment on, Sam and Samantha kept vigil over Frodo, neither one leaving his side until Aragorn thought it beneficial for the injured hobbit to get some fresh air and sunshine.

Taking a deep sigh of relief, Gandalf spoke of his friend fondly,"Radagast did not realize what he was doing. Radagast keeps his thoughts opened so that he may converse and be one with nature and its animals. I believe that openness made him very susceptible to the Ring's call. It took advantage of that. I have felt that power before, back at Bag End. The Ring called to me as well. I resisted Its call, even when Frodo offered it to me. He did not understand then what he was doing by trying to give it to me. It took great strength, Aragorn, to not heed Its call. Please be careful, if It calls out to you. The Ring-bearer can see how it corrupts others, but soon I fear, as the Ring takes hold, Frodo's struggle will come from within. A battle of wills," the Gray Pilgrim warned as thoughts of sadness and despair involving the hobbit lad came over him for the briefest moment.

tbc, the next chapter will be the end with Frodo saying goodbye to his newest friend.

thanks to all who read this and kept up with the story.

Nimrodel of Menetarma: I am glad you are enjoying this story.

Kaewi: yes, I mixed up the lines. thanks for pointing that out. I did go back and change it. And tweaked it a little more.

Easterlily41482: that bear is such a protector and Sam has to learn to share with a mothering instinct the bear has.

lindahoyland: More Frodo and Aragorn coming up.

Leia Wood: Yep that Maia of mine, Gandalf is relieved that there was someone else looking after the Ring-bearer.