You're My Light in the Dark

Chapter 2: An Odd Encounter

Eyes flying open, I sat up and quickly regretted it when my forehead came in contact with something hard. "Ow!" Once again sprawled out on my back, cursing at the budding headache, I rubbed at the sore spot and found myself face-to-face with a low hanging branch.

Wait... a branch?

I blinked several times, even tried rubbing my eyes to see if I was hallucinating. But I wasn't. I reached up and prodded the wood. Nope, the branch was very real… as was the bed of fallen leaves and dead pine needles I found myself lying in. Scooting over a bit so I could get up without incident, I found that I was sitting in the middle of a forest.

"I must be dreaming... " I commented aloud to myself. I tried getting to my feet but was quickly on my knees, clenching my jaw against the pain in my heels. "Okay, nope, not dreamin'," I hissed in pain.

Trees groaned around me. Birds chirped.

Great, I'm somewhere the middle of a damn forest, barefoot. Where the hell am I? What happened? I can't really seem to remember. Vague notions teased at the edge of my memory but nothing was falling into place. I still had my gym sweats on, but not my leotard, so I must've finished practice and gone home. Right? I must've just finished practice for my heels to hurt so badly. But how did I end up in a forest?

After waiting a few minutes for the ache in my feet to dull a bit, I stood back up, careful to stay up in relevé and not put any pressure on my heels. Although it still hurt, at least I was able to stand without collapsing. Glancing around again, I couldn't help but notice how the trees were turning autumn colors, with beautiful reds and golds overwhelming the green.

That's weird, I thought to myself. The trees already lost all of their leaves weeks ago, and seeing how it's almost Christmas, New England is sure to get hit with a foot of snow any day now. This fact only confused me more. And although I could have sworn I've never been here, wherever here is, a distinct feeling of déjà vu hit me. I need to find my way out of the forest and figure out what the hell is going on. I glanced around, feeling a bit hopeless, as I couldn't see a clear way out. There was just forest all around, for what looked like miles.

"Perfect," I muttered sarcastically.

It was an ordinary October afternoon for Frodo Baggins. After running errands for his Uncle – which included dropping off items to the Mathom House and mailing latest batch of letters to friends and family – Frodo found he had some time to himself. Book in hand, he wound his way far into the forest lands behind the Mill to avoid his cousins – who for the past few weeks have made a game of trying to find Frodo's reading spots to annoy him. Today he chose a tall tree, climbed his way up, and settled in to reread one of his uncle's Elvish texts. He'd been there for all of ten minutes when he was distracted by movement and a voice at the foot of his tree.

"Ah! Damn it!" a female voice bit out in aggravation.

He placed the book in his lap and glanced down toward the ground curiously to see a hobbit lass wearing strange clothing face down in the dirt. Hmm, she must have tripped over the tree roots, he supposed. She blew her bangs out of her eyes and yanked twigs out of her hair in irritation.

Frodo studied the strange lass. He didn't recognize her, which was enough of an oddity in the town of Hobbiton, but on top of that, she wasn't clad like any other lass he knew; wearing bright colored trousers and a rather large and baggy hooded shirt. The only reason he'd been able to tell she was a lass at first glance was by the distinct higher-pitched tone to her voice. He watched on as she continued to pick leaves and twigs out of her light brown hair. She glanced around, not noticing Frodo up in the tree, and let out a groan of frustration.

"Hello!" Frodo called down to her. Her head snapped up at the sound of his voice, and she looked around her, looking a bit sheepish at finding out she wasn't as alone as she had originally thought. Frodo tucked his book back in his bag and climbed out of the tree to greet the lass properly.

"Er... hi," she said a little awkwardly from her seat in the leaves. "You wouldn't happen to know where we are and how to get out of here, would you?" she asked, sounding hopeful, "I'm a bit lost."

He held out a hand, offering to help her up to her feet. It struck him then how small she was, the thinness of her face, the bony wrist as she grasped his offered hand – thinner than even himself, and he got prodded by his Aunt Esme to eat more as often as she could help it. Their eyes met, and he saw a nervousness in her he couldn't really understand.

Frodo gave a smile, hoping to alleviate her fears, whatever they may be. "I can show you the way to the town square, if you wish?"

Something about this guy seemed so familiar to me but I couldn't put my finger on it. His curly mop of dark brown hair ruffled in the wind, and I suddenly felt self-conscious as he studied me with bright blue eyes.

His choice of wardrobe was definitely... different as well. There was nothing wrong with it, mind you, but what he was wearing certainly wasn't the typical t-shirt and jeans. It was all sort of old-fashioned? He had on a pair of loose-fitting brown pants, the bottoms rolled up a bit, which were held up by suspenders. Honestly, who wore suspenders anymore? Underneath he wore a white button down shirt that looked to be made out of a lightweight material.

Strange outfit aside, he was nice enough to offer showing me the way out of the forest, and I'm extremely grateful for that. Who knows how long I was wandering about aimlessly before I happened to stumble upon him by chance?

"Are you new in town, then?" he asked. "I've never seen you around before."

I shrugged. "To be honest, I'm not sure where we are, exactly, so I couldn't tell you."

He was just a step ahead of me and he turned to give me a curious glance. I had to give the guy credit for his patience; it was obvious he was just as interested and confused about me as I was about the whole situation, yet he wasn't pressing me too hard for answers. Not to mention it was hard for me to keep up with him because of my injured feet, and he kept on having to backtrack every time he realized I started to lag too far behind.

"We're just north of Hobbiton," he explained.

I shook myself a bit. I must've hit my head on that branch harder than I thought. "Sorry, could you repeat that? I don't think I heard you right."

"Hobbiton is just up ahead," he said a little louder, and this time there was no mistaking what he had said. Realization hit me head on and I stopped dead in my tracks, not really believing what I heard; meanwhile, my guide was completely unaware of my dilemma and continued onward. "The direction you came from, you must be from the North Farthing, then."

"Oh my—"

"What's your name?"

My brain barely registered his question over the dull roar of my heart as it started to beat frantically, ringing in my ears. "What?" I asked absentmindedly. He glanced back at me again, raising his eyebrows at my confusion.

"What's your name? I don't believe I caught it."

"Kate. My name's Kate." I gulped nervously. "What's yours?"

He flashed me a smile. "Kate?" he said slowly, trying the name out. Only, it seemed like he was unfamiliar with it. It sounded foreign coming from him, mispronounced ever so slightly as he drew the long 'A' out too long. "Well, that's certainly a different name, perhaps you're not from the North Farthing, then... " he mused and stuck out a hand, "I'm Frodo. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kate."

Was this some sort of joke? But it couldn't be, no, not with that earnest face, that kind, carefree smile. Tearing my gaze away, I quickly glanced down at his feet. Large, bare, hairy feet. Good god, he's a hobbit. The hobbit.

I felt the blood leave my face. Breath caught in my throat, suddenly feeling very dizzy as the world seemed to spin around me. The last thing I saw was Frodo's startled face before everything went black… again.

Samwise Gamgee was having a very pleasant afternoon. He was doing what he did and loved best: his gardening. He was currently weeding a patch of his favorite yellow tulips at the front edge of Bag End's property. The sun beat down upon his back but a nice fall breeze was blowing about, making up for the heat of the sun's rays. He sat back on his heels and wiped the sweat that had started up on his brow, when he suddenly heard his master call for him.

"Sam!" A grunt. "Sam! Can you come and open the front door for me?"

Sam was somewhat surprised. Why was Frodo back so early? Whenever he went out with a book in hand, you could bet money that he wouldn't return until dusk for supper. After all, hadn't that been their plan… for them to meet at the Green Dragon for supper? Yet, ever the helper that he was, Sam brushed his dirt-covered hands on his trousers and went to the door. He was shocked when he saw his friend and employer at the door with a strangely dressed (and very unconscious) lass in his arms, Frodo looking a bit embarrassed at Sam's surprised and questioning glances.

"Mister Frodo?" Sam prompted.

"Can you just open the door and help me get her inside?" Frodo muttered, though not unkindly.

"Sure thing, Mister Frodo," Sam replied opening the round, green door to the hobbit hole then took hold of the lass' feet. "Where should we bring her?"

Frodo shifted the lass in his arms as they brought her into the entrance hall, nudging the front door shut with a foot. "I was planning on taking her to one of the guest rooms."

Sam raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. They went throughout the home until they came to the desired hall, going into the second bedroom on the right. They placed her on the bed and with their hands free Sam finally asked the question that had been bugging him the whole while. "Who is she?"

Frodo shifted from one foot to the other, looking very uncomfortable as he gave a slight shrug. "I'm not too sure. Her name's Kate, that's all I really know about her." Frodo ran a hand through his hair and slid out of the room and went down the hall to his own room to avoid any other awkward questions his friend might throw at him. The whole situation was odd enough as it was in his own mind, he didn't really feel like explaining his actions to Sam and make it sound even stranger than it was already.

He moved the strap of his bag up and over his head before dropping it to the floor beside his bed. He just brought a strange lass he barely knew into his home and his uncle was currently at Brandy Hall visiting family. Bag End was a much closer trek than to Healer Mayweather's home on the other side of town. What else could he have done?

A knock on the door cut through his thoughts. Frodo gave a sigh of defeat. "Come on in, Sam." Sam poked his sandy colored head into the room.

"What happened?" Sam asked. "Something must've happened."

Frodo breathed a sigh. "I was out in the woods behind the mill reading when I found her. She was wandering about lost. It seemed like she had been out there for some time. She stumbled upon me and asked my help on getting out." He started to make his way to the kitchen, Sam following close behind. Frodo filled the kettle with water and placed it over the fire, then got out two teacups. "Asked her for her name, then she asked for mine. That's when she fainted, you see. Told her my name and she went as white as a sheet then keeled right over."

"Odd," Sam commented again.

"Indeed," Frodo concurred.

"Well, at least you know you're still popular," Sam teased with a smile.

Frodo rolled his eyes at his friend then pulled the kettle off the fire, pouring the both of them some tea. "I wouldn't say 'popular' would be the right term. I'm more likely known as 'crack pot Baggins.'"

"No, that's your Uncle Bilbo, most definitely," Sam corrected, then elaborated when he saw Frodo's warning look. "I'm not saying it's right mind you, but you and I both know that your uncle isn't the most popular hobbit. Besides, yes, there are some rumors going around with you succeeding your uncle an' all, but you don't have the whole Shire muttering nutty things about you behind your back, at the least."

Frodo sighed, knowing Sam was right, sipping his tea in thought. Soon enough Sam was putting his cup in the sink, giving him a comforting pat on the shoulder, and heading back outside to finish up his gardening for the day.

After cleaning up the cups and putting them back up in the cupboards, Frodo wandered down toward the hall of guest rooms. He poked his head in the room Kate was in, noticing she was still unconscious. He'd give it a few more hours; if she doesn't come to in the next few hours, he'll call for the healer, he decided. Closing the door softly behind him, and after retrieving the book from his room, he made his way to the study to curl up in an armchair by the fire to read in the peace he had originally sought out.