"Come along! We're going to be late!" Merry shoved Sam and Pippin out the door. Silver sighed in amusement and slipped on her shoes.
Somone knocked on the side of her open door. She turned to see Frodo standing there, smiling. "You ready?" he asked. "Yeah, if I wasn't, Merry would explode from the lack of snacks." She laughed.
A great gathering had surged around the fairgrounds. Music played, hobbits danced and laughed...also drank... and ate... A lot.
Silver had sat down on a stool, favoring her shoulder and knee. "Silver! tell us about one of your adventures!" the small children Hobbits sat down in front of her, eagerly shaking with excitement.
"Which one do you want to hear about?" Silver asked. A small boy pointed to the dragon scale on her necklace. "I wanna hear how you got that!" He exclaimed. Silver nodded and held the scale in her hand.
"Not long ago, I was passing through Mirkwood, on my way to Lake Town. I had gotten lost in the maze of trees and brush." Silver paused, passing the scale to the closest child, who passed it to the next.
"I came across a clearing in the woods, in which there was a large cavern that stretched far down into the earth. I tossed a pebble down to see how far down it was, but it hit something." Merry and Pippin had joined the circle to hear the story. "What did it hit?" Pippin wondered anxiously.
"The pebble had hit the leathery tough hide of a Dragon!" Silver replied. The group gasped, Merry crunched into an apple. "A great Red Dragon! It arose from the depths of the cave and snarled at me, burning me with it's amber stare. The enormous beast flung it's self at me, clawing and biting. I drew my sword and stabbed it's foot, but that only enraged the Dragon even more! He flicked me at a tree and I crippled to the ground."
"What did you do next?" A little girl handed Silver the Dragon scale necklace back. "Gandalf once told me 'If you're ever in a dangerous situation, list the things that you love and say them out loud. It will fill you with more courage and strength than a great mountain lion.'. And that is exactly what I did. I stood and lashed out at the monster, calling out the names of the people I had met, the friends I had made, and the home I missed. The Dragon was furious and confused at how I was regaining my strength, he batted my sword away and crushed me under his foot, with his claws digging into me." Silver stopped for a moment, and gently held her hand on her shoulder, grimacing.
"Come on! Tell us, did the Dragon eat you?" Pippin said. Merry knocked him across the head with a carrot and shook his head in amusement. Silver looked up and continued her story. "I wiggled my dagger out of my belt and stabbed the beast's hand. He flew at me again, and while his claws were stuck in the bark of an oak, I climbed onto it's back, ready to decapitate it, but I had caught onto something. Pain shot through me as I looked down. This scale was stuck in my arm." Silver pointed to the blade like scale. "I unhinged the scale and slew the Dragon. I fainted from blood loss, I lay, wounded and unconscious on the ground. Elves came to my aid and took me in. They healed my wounds and allowed me to leave, after I had a few words with their leader Thranduil." Silver finished.
"You got to meet Thranduil?" Bilbo chuckled. "Yes, he wasn't the most modest king, but he was kind." Silver admitted. "He held the Dwarfs captive during the Smaug adventure." Bilbo mumbled.
"Do you have any scars?" Merry asked. "Yeah, quite a few actually." Silver rolled her sleeve up to show two scars on each side of her arm. "Woah, is that from the scale?" Merry looked down at the scratch. Silver nodded.