Alright, shorter chapters from now on! Thank you for all those who are reading! I seriously love writing this.


Chapter 3: Away from Home

"Hurry, hurry!" Gandalf urged the three hobbits on.

Leading the way out of the Shire, pulling his horse along, Gandalf was followed by Frodo, Holly, and Sam. Once they were far enough, Gandalf stopped and turned towards the three Halflings. The sun was starting to rise.

"This is where we part ways for now," he said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible, "go to the village of Bree like I told you."

"Where are you going?" Frodo asked worriedly.

"I must seek council with my superior. Trust me, he's a wise man. He'll certainly know what to do."

Gandalf then kneels to be at the same eye-level as Frodo.

"Is it safe?" Frodo clutched the clothes at his chest, where he had put the ring on a chain around his neck.

The wizard nodded, satisfied. "Never put it on, do you hear me Frodo? The Ring wants to be returned to its master. It wants to be found. Sauron's spies are everywhere."

Frodo repeatedly nodded, trying to realize the gravity of the situation. Holly was trying to control her anxiousness, and Sam gulped in an attempt to push down his rising panic.

After Gandalf parted with them, they kept walking further and further away from their home. They went through a wheat field, shining golden in the morning sun. They kept going until they reached the end of the field. Sam paused for a bit, but, seeing Holly and Frodo walk on without hesitation, he decided to put away his fears of being so far from his home for the first time and followed suit.

They reached the forest by nightfall. The hobbits decided to set camp until the next morning.

"I'd kill for a puff of pipe-weed right about now," Sam said as he sat down in a bed of leaves.

"What kind do you want?" Holly asked him as she reached for the numerous pouches attached to her belt.

Sam's eyes lit up instantly.

"Bless you, Holly Hornblower!" His over-enthusiasm caused Holly and Frodo to chuckled.

While smoking the Old Toby that Holly gave him, Sam started cooking some meat in a pan on the fire. Frodo and Holly tried their best to gather up enough leaves to make a comfortable enough bedding for the night. While occupied with their tasks, beautiful singing reached their ears. Frodo, first to notice, called out to his companions. They all went up to see what the source of the enchanting melody was from. As it got increasingly louder, the hobbits found to whom it belonged to.

"Wood Elves!" Frodo whispered in awe.

"They are so beautiful," Holly stared in wonder.

Elves were the only race that never bought the Hornblowers' worldly renown pipe-weed. Holly always wondered why that was. Consequently, she had never interacted with Elves before.

"They're going to the harbour beyond the white towers," Frodo said in no little that a whisper. "To the Grey Havens…"

Frodo was also very fascinated by Elves. A lot of the books he read featured them, where he got his knowledge on the race. He would always share his knowledge with Holly wether she asked for it or not.

"They're leaving Middle Earth…" Sam added.

"Never to return," Frodo finished Sam's sentence.

"I don't know why," Sam sighed, "but it makes me sad."

After the passing of the Wood Elves, the group of Hobbits went back to the camp where they fell asleep until the next day.

When morning came, the three lazily stretched to soothe their aching bones from sleeping on such rough ground. The leaves didn't help much, either.

Back on their way, they reached a corn field. Considering their small stature, the corn plants were almost twice their height. Sticking close as to not lose sight of one another, they make their way through. Suddenly, a rustling sound coming from next to the three hobbits alerted them, causing them to come to a halt.

Before any of them could react, two figures pinned Sam and Frodo to the ground. Holly let out a short scream before she realized who the figures belonged to. She exhaled in relief and put her hands on her hips.

"Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took…" Holly mumbled.

"Frodo!" Pippin exclaimed as he saw who was under him. "Merry! It's Frodo Baggins!"

"Get off of them, you two!" Holly commanded.

Sam pushed Merry away and shoved Pippin off of Frodo.

"Mr. Frodo! Are you alright?" Sam said as he pulled him up.

"What are you two doing here?" Frodo asked as he dusted off his clothes.

"No time! Hold these!" Merry threw some cabbages and carrots at Sam, who reflexively caught them.

That was when realization dawned on him.

"You've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!" Sam retorted, scandalized at their actions.

A bark then sounded in the distance.

"We can't stay here!" Holly panicked.

Sam dropped the crops and they all started running away.

"Hoi! You get back here! Wait till I get this through you! Get out of my fields! You'll know the devil if I catch up with you!" the farmer angrily shouted.

They ran and ran, not noticing the approaching cliff. All of them run into each other and fall off screaming.

"Ow…" Holly groaned, finding herself under both Frodo and Sam.

"Sorry about that, Holly!" Sam fumbled up on his feet.

Frodo also got up and helped her to her feet. Merry and Pippin giggled in triumph as they looked up at the cliff.

"Holly! Holly!" Pippin went up to her. "I was just about to come get me some pipe-weed from your place."

"Well, you'll have to see with my parents for that now," Holly looked down, knowing that they were probably furious and worried sick from not knowing where she was.

While they started having a conversation about pipe-weed, Frodo felt an unsettling presence. Feeling that it was dangerous to stay on the road, he hesitantly told his companions to get off the road. They, however, did not hear him.

"Get off the road!" He said with more urgency in his voice.

Everyone followed him and hid under a large tree root. Seeing how terrified Frodo was, they started feeling a bit of his fear as well. They all stayed quiet. Horse hooves started getting close to where they were hiding. Holly's heart almost leapt out of her chest. She was fearing that it was the black rider that she saw back at the Shire. As to confirm her suspicions, the hooded menacing figure peeked over the tree root. Everyone held their breath. Frodo was starting to feel dizzy. The Ring was being called by the rider and was also calling them. As if hypnotized, Frodo started bringing the ring to his finger. Noticing that, Sam held Frodo's hand, waking him from his trance. The rider, not sensing them, turned away and left. The group exhaled in relief.

"They're still following us…" Holly muttered.

"What was that?!" Merry exclaims in a low voice.

Frodo was sweating profusely, his hands trembling. He was scared. He was terrified. He didn't know what fate had in store for him. Holly, noticing her friend in such a state, gave him a comforting hug, promising him that she'd always be there for him whenever he needed her.


Thank you for reading! I haven't had a single review on this, but I wish I will soon XD Other than that, I'm grateful that you actually continued reading up to here. :D