The Visitors Version 2

by Lamoo

Five little hobbits, and elf, a dwarf, a king of Gondor, and what started out as a little stroll to Rivendell and back. This is the re-write of a previous version of this story, and much better I hope.

AN/ well.
It has been more than two years now since I started writing this fanfiction. It has also been more than a whole year since I last updated.
I have not written any new chapters, but am concentrating on re-writing the story so far, so that it is better written and actually has a plot. Many of the earlier chapters were absolutely disgusting and it appears that two years ago, when I began writing this, I had no concept of grammar and wasn't too fond of a little thing called paragraphs. I intend to fix things this time around.

I can't really ask you guys to forgive how long its taken for me to update, because I have no right to be forgiven. I was slack, and I accept that. I cannot promise that I will become obsessed with this fanfiction again, like I once was, but I still hope you approve of the changes made.

Name changes will be made, particularly in the cases of the little hobbits, as I am now regretting some of the names I chose for them… not very hobbity. Characters will still be pretty much the same, identical in all but name in most cases. There are also changes in how things happen, and a couple of very minor, insignificant characters will be 'deleted' for lack of a better word. No one important, don't worry. The storyline will basically be the same, but there are some quite big changes in this chapter as well as others coming up. Things are done a little differently in this new version, as I thought I sort of needed a reason for the hobbits to go to Rivendell.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that belongs to Tolkien. The hobbit children belong to me, but I am not overly concerned if they are borrowed once in a while. Actually, quite frankly, I couldn't care less. No profit is being made out of this story, and it is purely for my own entertainment.

Merriadoc Brandybuck heaved a content sigh, feeling quite at ease. Sitting in the sun and watching the world go by was rather a pleasant pastime, the hobbit had discovered, and he quite liked the peace and quiet.

Or he would have liked peace and quiet. Five little hobbits, a picnic table, sticks and a basket of apples are hardly ingredients for peace and quiet.

Merry smiled to himself, watching as his nieces and nephews scampered around the front yard, playing a game. According to Lilly, a little hobbit lass with curly faun hair, the object of the game was for the brave knights to protect the treasure from the evil pirates. The treasure was kept in a castle and it was up to the knights to fight the pirates. Obviously the treasure was the basket of apples and the castle was the picnic table. The two boys, Toby and Hugo were the knights, sticks picked up off the ground as their swords. It was their duty to defend the basket of apples from the pirates. Lilly, Marigold and Daisy, the three girls, had been relegated to the role of pirates, a role that Lilly in particular, took great delight in playing as well as she could. Daisy was not quite so happy however. She didn't want to be a pirate, and made that fact quite clear. Marigold, fondly shortened to Goldie, was quite content to go along with whatever Lilly was doing, but she was trying desperately hard to pull her disgruntled companion, Daisy, into the game.

"Should we intervene?" Peregrin Took asked, stretching out his legs as he watched Toby attack Lilly, their 'swords' clashing.

"No." Merry said with a lopsided grin, puffing on his pipe. "I want to see what happens."

"Pardon?"

"I want to see if the pirates succeed in capturing the treasure." Merry added with a chuckle.

"Fair enough," Pippin said cheerfully. "I'm hungry." He remarked after a few moments of quiet thought, puffing on his own pipe.

"You're always hungry Pip," Merry said lazily, not terribly eager to have to move from his comfortable seat in the sun. On the other hand, Merry himself was feeling a little bit peckish and his stomach was telling him that it must be nearly time for afternoon tea. "Do you think the knights and pirates would mind if we took some of their apples?" he wondered, a smile curving on his lips. He nodded to the basket of apples sitting on the picnic table, which was being ferociously defended by Toby and Hugo.

"They might kill us," Pippin remarked, grinning. He chuckled to himself, watching as Marigold declared quite loudly that she wasn't dead. Hugo, who had apparently stabbed her, argued, saying that he'd put his sword right through her belly.

"No you didn't!" retorted Marigold crossly. "I stabbed you first!"

"You did not!" scoffed the hobbit lad, hands on his hips, scowling.

By this point the others had paused in their attempts to attack and defend the 'treasure' and were looking on curiously as Goldie and Hugo argued. The two stood facing each other, Goldie, who was Pippin's niece, standing with her arms folded across her chest, her 'sword' tucked under her arm.

"I did too stab you first!" she insisted. She turned to glance up at Merry and her uncle. "Uncle Pip, tell Hugo that he was cheating and that I am not dead!"

Pippin shot Merry a slightly exasperated glance before he rose from his seat and approached the little ones.

Merry looked on as Pippin attempted to defuse the situation, the hobbit slightly impressed by his friend's maturity. Maturity was not a word generally associated with Pippin, so to see him dealing with something in a calm, adult manner came as a pleasant surprise.

"But I stabbed her first!" yelled Hugo, after Pippin's attempt at trying to get the two youngsters to cooperate had failed.

"He did not!" screeched Marigold, furious.

"Stop arguing!" Pippin said crossly.

"He started it," murmured Marigold.

"I don't care who started it," Began the Took. "I'm finishing it."

"I hate it when grown ups say that," Daisy whispered to Toby, the latter nodding in agreement.

Much to Pippin's dismay and Merry's amusement, Goldie and Hugo continued to argue. In a final attempt to side track the hobbits and make them forget about what they were arguing about, Pippin pointed at the horizon, pretending that he'd seen something.

"Look at that!" he said, in a tone of mock amazement, pointing at something off in the distance. He wasn't really pointing at anything, so was quite amazed to hear Merry call out from the balcony:

"It's Gandalf!"

Pippin turned and looked towards the road. Sure enough, riding along, looking rather out of place on such large horses among hobbits, came Gandalf. With him rode three companions.

The little hobbits, as soon as they saw Gandalf, forgot all about their argument, and also their game, and rushed to the front of the yard, gathering behind the garden gate to wait for the wizard.

Pippin was slightly baffled. What business would Gandalf have in the Shire now that Middle Earth was at peace? Pippin smiled to himself. Maybe he'll have fireworks… he thought to himself with a grin. He always had liked Gandalf's fireworks.

Merry too had noticed the wizard and his companions, for he also gazed out onto the road, looking curious. Slowly the hobbit rose from his comfortable seat on the garden bench and walked up to Pippin.

"What's Gandalf doing here?" he asked his friend.

Pippin shrugged, wondering the exact same thing. He turned to Merry. "It will be nice to catch up though. It's been a while." He grinned. "And those with him can only be three people." He and Merry looked back out onto the road.

The riders were drawing closer. A tall dark haired man rode on Gandalf's left, while two others, sharing a horse, one tall and slender, the other short and stocky, rode on his right.

Merry grinned. Pippin was right. It didn't take a genius to work out who the Istari's companions were.

The little hobbits, all still gathered at the garden gate, watched in awe as the four visitors neared them. Gandalf noticed them and waved cheerily. The children murmured excitedly, wondering if the Wizard and his friends were here to visit them.

Merry and Pippin were wondering the same thing, but they received their answer when Gandalf and his three companions halted at the gate and dismounted their huge steeds.

"Move out of the way little ones," the wizard said kindly, opening the gate. "I do not wish to trample you." He chuckled as the hobbits looked up at him in awe. "I thought a visit to the shire and some of my dearest friends was long overdue," he remarked, not really aware that the little hobbits didn't really care very much about his reasons for visiting.

"Let them through," Merry said to the little hobbits, "or the horses will step on you."

Lilly, Goldie and Hugo all moved back warily, afraid of being trampled by the large horses, but Daisy remained where she was, too busy drinking in the sight of these new, strange, BIG people. Toby refused to move back, throwing himself at the white robed Istari, obviously very pleased to see him, the wizard's horse snorting in surprise.

It took a few moments for Gandalf and his companions to get their horses inside the large yard but once they had, all five hobbits rushed up to Gandalf, five voices talking at once, asking questions.

"Just hang on a minute," Merry said. "Give them a chance to get settled!"

Children are, well, children, and these particular little ones ignored Merry and continued to greet the wizard.

"Kindly wait a moment, please," Gandalf said brightly. "An old man like myself needs a minute to sit down before I am assailed with questions."

This remark seemed to convince the little hobbits to back off for a few minutes.

The old wizard smiled. Toby turned his attention to the other three newcomers.

One was a tall dark haired, grey-eyed man, who looked quite amused at the hobbits' antics. He had a noble, kingly air about him, and a small smile curved on his lips as he looked down at the hobbits. Being a trusting type, Toby smiled back. The next companion was obviously a dwarf. He was about a head taller than Merry and Pippin, but was shorter than the other three. He had a great bushy beard, brownish red in colour, and eyes that twinkled with mirth. He flashed the little hobbit a grin and bowed, causing Toby to giggle, beam and do the same. The last member of the group looked both older and younger than the other companions. He was tall and slender, with golden hair and sapphire eyes. He was clean-shaven and carried a bow and a quiver of arrows. He nodded to the little hobbit.

Toby opened his mouth to speak, but his attention was turned back to Gandalf when the wizard asked Pippin if he could please put the kettle on, for he and his companions would very much like a cup of tea.

"How rude of me not to offer sooner," Pippin said good naturedly, before he turned on his heel and trotted inside to fix a spot of afternoon tea.

Meanwhile, Gandalf and his three companions had been seated comfortably in the garden, and Lilly, Hugo and Daisy had made an attempt to continue with their game while they waited for Pippin to bring out afternoon tea.

"Be careful with that stick little one," The tall dark haired man said to Hugo, who missed smacking his little sister Daisy over the head by barely an inch.

"I am careful," insisted the hobbit.

"You should teach him to use that weapon properly laddie," The dwarf said to his mortal friend.

Hugo turned to face them. "You would teach me?" He asked excitedly, not even waiting for the kingly man to even agree to the dwarf's suggestion. "That would be so excellent sir, because then I would be the best warrior hobbit in all the shire!" Hugo said excitedly.

"Go on." Urged the dwarf, nudging his friend.

"I really do not think that would be a good thing to do," remarked Gandalf. "Not before we do some introductions," he added, at the exact moment that Pippin appeared at the door carrying a tray. The hobbit set down the tray, on which sat a teapot, cups, a pitcher of apple juice and a plate of biscuits and cakes, on the table. Gandalf continued, "quite silly of us to be together without even knowing each other's names… two sugars please my dear hobbit," he took the cup of tea that Pippin passed him. "This is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, King of Gondor," he began, and whispers broke out amongst the little hobbits.

"A king!"

"He doesn't look much like a king to me."

"I think he does,"

"Where's his crown then?"

"King of Gondor… where's Gondor?"

Gandalf noticed the amused glimmer of laughter in Ellessar's eyes, and went on to introduce his other companions. "Gimli, son of Gloin, from the Lonely Mountain," he gestured to the dwarf.

More whispers. "The lonely mountain? I didn't know Mountains could be lonely," "no, stupid, it's a place. Where Bilbo Baggins went on his grand adventure!"… "Oh..."

"Is he a king too?"

Gimli looked quite pleased by the attention, and was just as fascinated by hobbit children as they were of dwarves with big bushy beards. Gandalf gestured to the last companion. "And Legolas son of Thranduil, of Mirkwood," the wizard grinned. "Who I think is old enough to not to have to go by his father's name," he added.

The little hobbits exchanged glances and chattered amongst themselves.

"Who's Franduil?" Daisy wanted to know.

"It's THranduil," Hugo said with an exasperated sigh.

"That's what I said," came the reply, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"He's an elf!" hissed Lilly.

"Can't be," remarked Hugo.

"Is Legolas a king as well?" wondered Marigold, who was totally convinced that everybody was a king of some far off country.

"I always thought that there were spiders in Mirkwood," chimed in Lilly.

"Only because all you know of Mirkwood is what you read in Mr Bilbo's book." Remarked Hugo. "And you didn't even read it, Pippin read it to you instead!"

"You can't read that well either," snapped Lilly, talking to her brother crossly.

"I thought the only people who lived in Mirkwood were elves," said Toby softly, choosing to ignore Lilly and Hugo's banter. "Is he an elf?" he nodded to Legolas.

"I think he is," remarked Lilly.

Legolas and Aragorn exchanged amused glances and decided to let the hobbits work it out for themselves, or at least pluck up the courage to ask.

"Why don't you ask?" Goldie said to Toby.

Toby shook his head wildly. "No! I don't want to be rude."

"There is nothing rude about asking questions little one," said Gandalf, cutting in on the little hobbits' conversation, currently being reminded just how much he adored hobbits.

Toby looked shy, but his friends gave him a nudge. The curly haired hobbit looked bashfully up at Legolas. "Um." He began awkwardly. "Scuse me mr Legolas sir, but are you an elf?" he asked quietly, afraid that he might be being rude. After another nudge from Hugo, he added: "are you?"

Legolas looked down at the hobbit and smiled, touched by just how innocent and adorable these little ones were. "Yes I am." He replied simply, smiling faintly at the 'I told you so' that came from Lilly. "Are you a hobbit?" enquired the elf, raising one eyebrow.

"Yessir." Toby said proudly, beaming, before turning back to his friends. They whispered amongst themselves excitedly, giggling and glancing up to look at the golden haired elf from time to time.

"What brings you to the shire?" Merry enquired, ignoring the children's' giggles and whispers.

The wizard took a sip of his tea, and after deciding that it needed one more sugar, replied. "We are here to see how a particular knight of Rohan and Citadel Guard are getting on." He smiled, eyes twinkling.

"We are getting along quite well, thankyou very much," Merry replied cheerfully, pouring a cup of tea for his other guests. "Nothing has changed." He added with a lopsided smile.

"Not too much mischief I hope," said Aragorn, sparks of hidden laughter dancing in the depths of his blue grey eyes.

"Of course not," Pippin answered indignantly. A grin spread across his face. "Well, not too much mischief." He nodded to the little hobbits, who had realised that there was food on the table and were all helping themselves to biscuits. "Not much compared to some of the things they get up to."

The adults laughed. Daisy raised one eyebrow. "What?" she asked, wondering what everyone was laughing at. Deciding that she wasn't going to get an answer she satisfied herself with another biscuit.

Merry was the one to introduce the children to Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. The wizard had met them all before, but the other three had not, and in truth, they were as fascinated about hobbit children as the hobbit children were about them. "That's Lilly and Hugo," Merry said, nodding to the pair. Lilly and Hugo were brother and sister, with curly faun hair and blue eyes. "Toby," Merry gestured to the younger hobbit lad, who had light brown hair and grass stains on his trousers. "Marigold," the wizard nodded to the hobbit in question, and she waved shyly. The nickname 'Goldie' was particularly suitable in her case as her hair was blonde and fell in ringlets over down her back, tied away from her face with a red ribbon. "And Daisy I believe," Gandalf finished, introducing his three companions to the remaining hobbit, who was Marigold's little sister, with darker blonde hair and green eyes.

"Now, down to business I'm afraid," The wizard remarked after he had finished his cup of tea and helped himself to a piece of cake.

Merry chuckled. "I knew you weren't just coming to visit," he said good-naturedly.

Mirth twinkled in the Istari's eyes and he laughed. "Master Merriadoc, you shall now be hailed as the most perceptive of hobbits."

Daisy, who didn't know what perceptive meant, thought that Merry was being insulted. She scowled at Gandalf and loudly proclaimed that her dear uncle was NOT perceptive. This comment just made everyone laugh, which in turn made the little hobbit lass rather embarrassed and she made her exit, deciding that it was about time that she went for a walk with her imaginary friend, for they had very important matters to discuss. And imaginary friends didn't laugh at you either… Goldie, Hugo and Toby also decided that they'd had enough of sitting around talking, and resumed their game, each taking a couple of biscuits and stuffing them into their pockets for later. Lilly stayed sitting with Merry and Pippin and their guests.

She really was quite fascinated by the wizard and the three strangers, in particular the one called Legolas.

"You are very pretty sir," she told her golden haired guest, much to the amusement of the dwarf called Gimli. Aragorn too, seemed to find it rather funny that Legolas was being flattered by a little hobbit. Legolas seemed to take it in good grace though, and politely thanked the hobbit for the compliment. "You're welcome," she said brightly, "and very tall." Lilly added.

Gandalf could not help but smile at the little hobbit's antics. He chuckled softly before turning back to Merry and Pippin, letting Lilly banter on in the background, ignoring Gimli's snickers.

"There is to be a meeting in Imladaris, to make alliances between races and realms," explained the wizard in between bites of a particularly delicious piece of cheesecake. "And I do believe that Master Elrond has requested that members of all races be present." He smiled fondly. "And obviously that includes hobbits."

Lilly, overhearing what had been said, beamed and her eyes lit up. "You mean we're going to Rivendell!" she exclaimed happily.

Merry and Pippin exchanged glances with Gandalf; all three of them aware that what Lilly had assumed wasn't exactly what had been meant. Obviously Elrond didn't particularly want hobbit children running around Imladaris when serious alliance matters were being discussed. Merry opened his mouth to tell Lilly that only he and Pippin would be going to Rivendell, but the tall dark haired man Aragorn cut him off.

"Elrond would not mind." He said to the wizard. "It has been a very long time since there were children in Imladaris,"

He was interrupted by Legolas. "Not since you were a child Estel," he said, a small smile lingering on his lips.

Merry turned to Lilly. "I am sorry little one, but you are not coming to Rivendell," he told her, and she frowned and looked deflated. "I don't think you're quite old enough to go gallivanting off to Rivendell. Your mother wouldn't be very happy about it, maybe another time," Merry added, "sorry little one," he said, before Lilly wandered off to join her friends, leaving the adults to talk, muttering to herself that she was NOT little.

"Where's Gimli?" Pippin suddenly asked, noticing that their dwarven friend was not there, having made his exit a few moments ago. All eyes turned to where the little hobbits were.

Gandalf laughed and nodded to where the dwarf was playing pirates and knights with the children. It seemed that he had tired of conversation and had decided that giggles and games were much more to his liking.

It appeared that he was playing the part of a knight, quite a comical sight. Gimli may have been a warrior, a very good one, but he hadn't quite got the hang of defending a basket of apples with two little hobbits at his side.

"Seems to me," began Gandalf, watching the proceedings. "That our dear dwarf is in need of a bow, an imaginary one at least." He said, watching and chuckling as all the hobbits turned on Gimli, attacking him with their pretend swords. "I think it would be easier to shoot hobbits than to try and chop them to pieces, they are too nimble."

"A bow you say?" Aragorn remarked, glancing over at the elf.

"I am not shooting hobbits Estel…" Legolas said flatly, realising what his companion was suggesting.

"Would it be too much trouble to ask you when exactly we are needed in Rivendell?" asked Merry, changing the subject from hobbit and dwarf wars back to the council to he held in Imladaris.

"Of course not my dear hobbit," replied Gandalf, taking out his pipe. "We were hoping to leave in two days time, but we could leave later, providing we travel fairly quickly and make up the time." He glanced back over at the little hobbits. "They were so desperate to come, weren't they," he remarked thoughtfully, filling his pipe and lighting it.

"Can you blame them?" Pippin said. "A trip out of the shire, it's an adventure!" he smiled. "For these little ones anyway." The hobbit added.

"Three of them ARE Tooks, after all." Merry commented with a grin.

"Are you suggesting we bring five little hobbits to Rivendell?" asked Gandalf, raising bushy eyebrows. "They are adorable, but it has been a long time since there were children in Rivendell, and I do not know whether Lord Elrond would really appreciate five children running around and making a mess, no matter how sweet and innocent they might be."

"It is there," began Aragorn. "That I think you are wrong."

Merry and Pippin raised their eyebrows in surprise and exchanged glances. It was very rare for a wizard to be wrong, but then again, also equally rare for Aragorn to be wrong…

"The journey from here to Rivendell is not short," pointed out Legolas. "And isn't exactly a relaxing stroll,"

Gandalf agreed, but Aragorn, yet again, spoke up. "It is not perilous either." He replied. "Middle Earth is peaceful at the moment."

"Why are you so eager to have them come along?" Merry asked the ranger.

Aragorn shrugged. "Because every child needs an adventure every once in a while," he said. "Let them see how people outside of their country live, it will be good for them."

"I know that," Gandalf said. "I am just worried that they would make a nuisance of themselves." He turned to Merry and Pippin and smiled. "No offence meant my friends, but there are many in Rivendell who have little patience for children."

"And Elrond is not one of those people," Aragorn said. "People who do not like children, do not generally have them." He smirked. "Elrohir and Elladan have been known to act like six year olds some of the time, so Elrond is no stranger to short attention spans, childish arguments and silly games."

Gandalf heaved a sigh and puffed on his pipe in silence for a moment. He turned to Merry and Pippin. "What do you think of this?" he asked them. "And what will their mothers think of this," he added, nodding to the little hobbits.

Merry and Pippin exchanged glances again. Merry spoke: "I have mixed feelings about it," he replied, deciding that it was a good time to offer everyone more biscuits. "I see what Aragorn means about how the little ones would enjoy the experience and how it would be good for them, but at the same time, I'm not really sure that many elegant, floaty, regal elves would be very well disposed towards little muddy footprints all over their floors and cubby houses made out of chairs and blankets in the hall of fire."

It was the comment about chair and blanket cubby houses that made Legolas laugh. Everyone turned towards him, wondering what he had found so amusing. The elf smiled. "The elves of Imladaris have seen that before." He said, a small smile tugging on the corners of his mouth. "Decades ago now, there was another child with muddy footprints who liked to build castles and fortresses out of cushions and blankets in the hall of fire." He smirked. "I don't think he's grown out of it entirely either."

Aragorn snorted. "Says the elf who was quite happy to play silly games alongside a six year old all those years ago." He said to Legolas. "And you were no child then!"

"It was your idea though," pointed out Legolas.

Aragorn opened his mouth to reply but he was cut off by Gandalf. "That's quite enough," he said, trying to keep a vaguely straight face. "We are not discussing what you two did on rainy days when you were younger, I do believe we are discussing hobbits and whether it would be appropriate to let them come along to Rivendell."

"You know my thoughts on the matter." Said Aragorn simply. "I think children present in Rivendell would bring smiles to everyone's faces."

Gandalf sighed, yet again. "I am not sure that I agree entirely Aragorn," he replied. "But perhaps you're right." He looked to Merry and Pippin. "Is two days enough to get everything sorted?" he wondered. "I refuse to drag along children who do not have their mothers' permission."

Merry and Pippin exchanged glances. Pippin spoke: "understandable," he said.

Merry chimed in. "are you certain that this will be all right?"

Gandalf smiled. "No one can be certain of anything, but I think it is fairly safe to assume that the little ones will enjoy the experience." He answered cheerfully, before he turned to the dark haired King of Gondor. "Well done Aragorn, you have persuaded me."

TO BE CONTINUED.

AN/ well there we go, the re-write of chapter one is finished! I am quite satisfied with it, especially compared to the old version. I know a lot has changed, but I felt it was necessary to do it this way.

Am hoping for reviews of course, every fanfic writer absolutely adores them, and I am no different.

…and Rose, I hope you approve of this. :)

chapter two, coming right up.