Frodo stared at the roaring fire in the house that had been prepared as an excuse to get him out of Hobbiton. It had been hours since the incident at the Ferry, but Frodo's heart was still full of fear. His friends stood at random around the room, having just decided that they would all be leaving for Rivendell.

The mysterious man who'd saved Frodo's life paced the floor with long, steady strides. Shadow had been this way since he'd awoken on the ferry boat a few moments after he'd passed out: alert and on edge, but never speaking. He only answered yes or no questions, and then only with a nod or shake of his hooded head. He had tried to get them to leave as soon as they'd filled up their packs with provisions by pointing toward the door, and even gently pushing Merry toward it at one point. When that hadn't worked, though, he'd begun the nervous pacing and hadn't stopped since. That had been hours ago.

Shadow's very presence unnerved the hobbits, who were still uncertain of the man's intentions. The figure in black had done nothing but help them up to now, and the elves trusted him enough to allow a place for him at their table. Still, though, Frodo was unsure. Who was this man? Where had he come from? Why did he hide his face? What was he gaining from assisting them? And why now was he seemingly refusing to speak?

Frodo was shaken from his thoughts when Shadow's pacing suddenly halted. He stood perfectly still, staring at a blank wall as though looking through a window. All at once he sprang into action. Silently, Shadow scooped up several of their bags which had been piled next to the door, and moved toward Frodo. With cries of protest from the frightened hobbits, he grabbed Frodo's arm and half tossed him toward the back door of the house, motioning for the rest of them to follow. This time, it seemed he wouldn't take no for an answer.

They were coming.

Once outside, the hobbits could clearly hear the distant screams of the Black Riders as Shadow continued to urge them toward the secret entrance to the Old Forrest. This was not a road they wished to take, but given the circumstances, the hobbits had no choice. The East Road would be watched, and this way would not be expected.

Just as they reached the entrance, Shadow stopped and turned. He held his hands out before him and took a deep breath before moving his hands out and to the sides. A strange, sharp wind rushed over the field between them and the house they had just exited, stirring the grass violently and then leaving it as though it had not been touched by their escape.

"That's a handy trick!" Pippin exclaimed, but he was silenced as Shadow scooped him up and ducked through the small opening to the tunnel leading into the Old Forest.

Inside the dense, foggy wood, Shadow knelt to feel the ground. The hobbits could hear a raspy sound halfway between a breath and a whisper coming from the man, but no one could understand what he said. The man in black stood and warily paced forward, motioning for the hobbits to follow.

Sam stuck close to Frodo. He could almost feel his heart beating up in his throat. He couldn't remember ever being as frightened as he had been for the last couple of days. Twice, he'd seen his master almost fall into the hands of those that pursued them. The last time, he'd been saved by a being only slightly less frightening than those who chased after them. Following his quiet life as a gardener back in Hobbiton, this was a lot to take in.

~#*ITS*#~

Hours had passed in the Old Forrest, and it seemed that the group was no closer to finding their way out than they had been when they first entered. It's a well, known fact that the trees in the forest would uproot themselves and move around, so finding any trail was impossible. Shadow seemed to know the direction in which he wanted to go despite how turned around the hobbits felt, but the trees wouldn't allow it. Every so often, the hobbits would hear a hiss that they could only interpret to be a curse from the man in black.

As the sun began to descend down below the canopy of trees above them, Shadow and the hobbits found themselves in a beautiful meadow with a pond and a large willow tree. Now, Shadow seemed more edgy than he had been through the entire wood.

Frodo and the others, happy to find a place to rest had begun to put down their packs. However, when Frodo moved toward the large willow tree in the middle of the meadow, Shadow placed a firm hand on his shoulder. The hobbit looked up at the dark man who shook his hooded head, still staring at the tree.

"Shadow," Frodo frowned, "What's wrong?" Shadow only shook his head, pointing to the ground next to him. "Alright, I'll stay here."

Shadow repeated this process with each of the hobbits that tried to move toward the tree. It seemed to their ears that a sweet music was emanating from that spot in the meadow, and they longed to get closer. Soon enough, though, the music grew louder, and one by one, the hobbits nodded off to sleep despite Shadow's silent urgings that they remain awake.

Suddenly, though, off to the left, Frodo began crying out. Instantly Sam was awake, and Shadow sprang into action. A tree root had come up out of the ground and was quickly dragging Frodo toward the pond. Shadow grabbed a metal cylinder from his belt and leaped into a summersault. When he came down, a green light was emanating from the metal in the form of a blade which he brought down on the tree root, slicing it cleanly from Frodo's leg. Sam clutched his master's wrists and pulled him back to where the other two hobbits remained sleeping.

The willow tree began to shiver and shake with pain and rage as its root was severed, and the hobbits were soon surrounded by the roots. Sam took out his frying pan and began beating back the pointed assailants as Shadow ran back to join them. At some on the right, the man waved his hand, bending and breaking the roots. The ones on the left were destroyed by the humming green light.

Suddenly, though, a massive root burst out of the ground behind Sam who continued to battle the smaller pests. Shadow was faster than the root, however, and leaped, pushing Sam toward Frodo and the others. The root then grabbed the cloaked man and wrapped him tightly, pinning down his arms and lifting him off the ground.

"Shadow!" Sam cried, rushing forward and beating the giant root with his frying pan. The hobbit felt his stomach turn when he heard the sickening crack of Shadow's ribs as the root tried to squeeze the life out of him. Shadow went limp, and Sam began beating ever harder trying to free their mysterious protector.

"What's all this now?" a new voice rang out behind the hobbit, and Sam turned, finding himself face to face with a strange little man. "Is Old Willow Man causing trouble for you fine lot?" The small man, only slightly bigger than the hobbits and wearing a bright blue outfit with yellow hat and boots, skipped forward singing a strange song. He went to the base of the massive tree and began singing into its trunk. The entire thing stopped moving, and drooped as though it had fallen asleep.

The large root released Shadow, who crashed to the ground and lay motionless.

"Mister Shadow?" Sam touched the man in black's shoulder apprehensively. He knew that Shadow had saved his life. Given what the tree had done to one as strong as Shadow, it would have ended Sam with little effort had the man not sacrificed himself for the hobbit. "M—Mister Shadow, please wake up!"

To Sam's delight, Shadow groaned and sat up, clutching his sides to support the broken ribs. He ruffled Sam's hair with a gloved hand in an endearing 'thank you'. The hooded man then stood shakily and moved toward the other three hobbits, which were now waking from Willow Man's spell. Shadow shook Frodo, and released a sigh of relief when the hobbit stirred and opened his eyes.

"Come, now, merry Doll!" The strange little man who had come to their rescue sang as he rejoined them happily. "Apologies for your trouble, Master Shadow! You know how Old Man Willow can get." Shadow nodded his hooded head, obviously knowing the odd little man. "Name's Tom Bombadil!" The man reached out his hand to Sam who shook it eagerly.

"Thank you for your help," Sam managed to say with a bow.

"Twas nothing, Lad," Bombadil sang, bouncing to where he could retrieve the water lilies he'd left sitting by the bank of the pond. "Now, though, we must be off! Goldberry is waiting!"

Shadow helped the sleepy hobbits gather their things quickly before shoving them gently to follow Tom Bombadil. The sun was setting, and they needed to get to shelter before night fell on this dangerous place.

Another hour passed from the time they'd set out again until the hobbits found themselves being led up a steep hill to a beautiful house. Golden light from inside poured out to the weary travelers as they stumbled up the hill.

Inside, the house was warm and bright. The hobbits were stunned to find the fairest woman any of them had laid eyes on. She sat in a chair by the fire with the water lilies circling her in small bowls of water on the floor. When they entered, she jumped up and ran to them, her golden hair flowing behind her as she did so. She shut the wooden door and put her back to it, smiling brightly.

"There now, let's shut out the night and the fears that it holds," She went to Shadow, "It's been a long time since you visited our home, dear friend! Come. Sit down and make yourselves comfortable."

"It would seem," Tom Bombadil bounced in from the other room carrying a mug of ale for each of the guests, "that our dear friend has lost his voice!"

Goldberry looked to Shadow in astonishment. The black hood bobbed up and down slowly in answer.

So that's why he wouldn't speak, Frodo thought, observing the exchange, Not because he didn't want to, but because he couldn't.

Goldberry skipped up to Shadow once more and placed a slender hand deep into the abyss of black mist that covered his face to where his throat would have been. A bright light flashed, and Shadow doubled over, coughing and holding his neck.

"Mister Shadow!" Sam jumped up and ran to him, to the surprise of his companions who'd been asleep during the battle against the roots.

"I'm alright, Sam," Shadow placed a hand on the hobbit's shoulder from where he sat on his knees now. His voice was different than the hobbits had imagined. It was soft and gentle, unlike the rough, commanding voice they'd all been expecting.

"You're far from alright, I'm afraid, my dear Shadow," Tom's tone was darker than they'd heard all night as he now sat in his chair beside the fire across from Goldberry. Shadow's hooded head turned to look at the strange little man.

"It's been a hard road," Shadow replied simply.

"Why don't you tell me about it?" Bombadil watched him with clear, knowing, blue eyes. "And your friends…as it appears they know not of your troubles."

Shadow looked, and sure enough, the hobbits were staring at him expectantly. He sighed heavily, still cradling his aching ribs and fighting to remain conscious.

"The Nazgul have been sent after the Ring," he said to Tom, who nodded with a deep frown. The hobbits looked at one another with confused expressions. Why was Shadow just giving this information freely to the odd little man? He spoke to Tom as though he was speaking to an old friend. "They have manifested themselves as riders in black, and they've been pursuing Frodo all the way from Hobbiton. I went with the hobbits on their journey, though they knew not of my presence. Along the East Road, Frodo and Sam were found out. I drew the riders away with a false sense of the Ring, however, and did battle with them. When I'd delayed them long enough, I sensed that one had doubled back to where Frodo Sam were hiding. I found Gildor Inglorion and told him to sing, because the battle with the Riders had taken too much out of me to allow me to make another stand against them."

Frodo and Sam looked to one another before turning back to the man in black in amazement.

"I fought them all along the way, and sustained various small injuries for my trouble, but the real danger came as Frodo and Sam drew near the Buckleberry Ferry. Five of the riders attacked at once, and they somehow knew Frodo had the Ring so there was no way for me to draw them off. I took the mount from under one of them, so his journeying will be all the more difficult, at least, but the battle was fierce."

Frodo's mind went back to the night of the attack. He remembered seeing the green light off in the trees and watching it as it took the legs off one of the horses. He shuddered.

"A blow to the throat with the hilt of one of their swords took my voice, so that made it impossible for me to prove to you my loyalties with speech. I am glad you at least trusted me enough to allow me to help as much as I could." He looked at Frodo with this statement. "My body is bruised and broken, but we have come this far with little incident given the circumstances. I thank you for your hospitality, Master Bombadil."

"There is always a place for you here, Friend, Shadow," he stood, looking over each of the hobbits with a bright smile, "Now. I believe the time has come to fill our bellies with wine and food and forget the worries of the outside." With that, he and Goldberry flitted off to the kitchen, leaving the hobbits alone with their protector once more.

Frodo looked to the man in black with a frown. His pain was obvious in the way he sat huddled over, trembling with the effort. His breath was shallow and ragged. There was so much the small hobbit wanted to ask him, but before he could, Goldberry returned, and motioned for Shadow to follow her upstairs.

"You have wounds that need tending," she said softly, helping him to his feet. He leaned on her slender form as the two of them made their way slowly up the stairs. It was about that time when Tom reappeared and brought the hobbits to a table laid with a feast very nearly as grand as what they'd had with the elves.

The hobbits filled their bellies, and then ate some more before joining Tom by the fire again. For long hours into the night, he told them stories of the world as it had been for centuries forgotten. One by one, they dropped off to sleep until only Frodo was left, listening to the stories and rolling over questions of their journey in his mind.

I wonder if Shadow will be alright.

A/N:

I know that was a long one, but I hope you enjoyed it! I was angry when I saw that the movie cut out the 100 some-odd pages concerning Tom Bombadil, so here he is! He's not an integral part of the story I want to convey to you, however, so I won't be doing him justice by spending a lot of time here. For that, I'm sorry. We're moving into a very exciting part of the story though, and I hope you're loving the ride as much as I am! Don't forget to review, and I'll see you all soon!