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Gorluk ran faster. He began to make out what the voices were saying. "Sam, hurry up! Merry and I are starving!" he heard a young voice shout. "You'll get your food soon enough, Mr. Pippin!" An irritated voice snapped back.

Gorluk slowed down. He crept closer quietly and hid beneath a clump of bushes. And that was when he saw the strangest creatures he had ever seen. One of them was stooped over a fire, while two others sat nearby. What are they? He thought, completely puzzled. They weren't Orcs, that was obvious. But they definitely weren't Elves either, because of their short height. They seemed shorter than Gorluk himself! Gorluk thought harder. They didn't seem to be men. Are they children? No, they seemed full grown somehow. Are they Dwarves? Not that either, these creatures didn't have any facial hair. Wait… He started to remember something. Hadn't he once heard a story about…. Halflings! Gorluk thought. He always assumed that they were a myth, but these strange creatures seemed to fit the description: Two to four feet tall, wooly feet, with little to no magic about them….

Gorluk looked up startled as more people appeared. He saw two men walk into the clearing and sit down near the fire. Next, an old man with a staff walked by and sat down on a log. He took out a pipe and began to blow smoke rings. There was something strange about him, but Gorluk couldn't grasp what it was. Another 'Halfling' showed up and sat next to the old man. They talked together quietly, but Gorluk couldn't hear what they were saying.

Gorluk counted them all, starting with the Halflings. Four Halflings… Three men, including the old one… Seven. Could that be all of them? He hadn't seen this many people travel together for months (He hadn't seen anyone for months actually). They definitely seemed suspicious. He heard heavy footsteps approach. There's more of them?! But he was more surprised with what he saw next. A DWARF walked by, and seemed to pace back and forth around the camp. Gorluk glanced nervously at the axe hanging from his belt, and reminded himself to stay quiet, or else he'd end up with the axe swinging towards his neck.

"What would be the matter Master Dwarf?" The taller man asked the pacing Dwarf. The Dwarf looked up and growled. "I dislike this place! Not a creature to be seen, but everyday I feel like I'm being watched every second!" He scratched his beard. "There's bound to be some spies of Sauron lurking around!"

Gorluk nearly squeaked with fright, knowing that the Dwarf was indeed correct.

The Man seemed to agree with the Dwarf. "I have been in the country of Hollin in many seasons," the man said. "No folk dwell here now, but many other creatures live here at all times, especially birds. Yet now all things but you are silent. I can feel it too. There is no sound for miles about us, and your voices seem to make the ground echo. I do not understand it."

Gorluk suddenly heard a clear voice speak for the first time. "But what do you guess is the reason? Is there more in it than surprise at seeing four Hobbits, not to mention the rest of us, where people are so seldom seen or heard?"

Gorluk nearly froze. That voice came from none of the people that he could see, but the part that alarmed him the most was that the voice sounded familiar. He heard light footsteps, and a tall figure stepped into the clearing. Gorluk couldn't see his face through the bush he was hiding in, but he guessed that he was an Elf.

"I hope that is it," the man responded. "But I have a sense of watchfulness, and of fear, that I have never had here before."

The old man sitting on the log stopped smoking and looked up. "Then we must be more careful," he said. "If you bring a Ranger with you, it is well to pay attention to him, especially if the Ranger is Aragorn!"

Gorluk realized that this company was more on their guard then he realized. He had seen Rangers before, and knew that they wondered through the wild, fighting against the 'evils' that lurked about. He began to grow even more afraid. He knew that he needed to leave quickly, and quietly, as possible.

But Gorluk felt reluctant to do so just yet. He had been so lonely for months, and they were the only company that he had ever seen for so long. It's my duty to know what they're doing here anyway he thought.

And so Gorluk made up his mind, and decided to stay where he was until nightfall (the sun was already starting to set anyway). He watched the travelers and listened to them attentively, hoping that one of them would say another hint about their mission. But they didn't talk much amongst themselves much, except for the Halflings of course. The Halflings, or 'Hobbits' as the Elf had called them, talked to each other cheerfully, and laughed long and hard when one of them cracked a joke. Gorluk listened mostly to the Hobbits, but for a moment he glanced at the others to see what they were doing. He looked at the men, who mostly sat around smoking, and then he watched the Dwarf, who was still pacing about grumbling, and then he looked at the Elf. Gorluk was also able to see his face.

When he saw the Elf, his jaw dropped. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. He knew exactly who it was. It's him! He thought with fear. It was the one that he had seen on the border of Mirkwood! The one that shot his comrades! He started to panic. He had seen how dangerous that Elf was. Good or bad, he knew that the Elf could kill him more easily than any Dwarf or Ranger put together! But a thought suddenly dawned on him. He could have been the one that had shot the Captain before the Captain had chopped off his head. So did that mean that the Elf had non-intentionally saved Gorluk's life?

That seemed to calm him down a little. But Gorluk still didn't want to take any chances. Once it began to grow dark, Gorluk slunk away from underneath the bush, and crept away from the group as quickly as he could, until he could no longer see their fire.

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Ok….. So maybe that chapter didn't come as quickly as I had planned. I really appreciate the reviews! I'll stop begging for them too! :)

I guess some of you may have noticed the conversation with Aragorn and the others was taken out of the books. I will do that often, but I will change the quotes to make them more my-writing-style-ish. If some of you consider this stealing, then all that I can say is that what I'm creating is not a parody. It's the same story, but it's with a new character that has an adventure of his own, if you know what I mean.