[*Varda*]

Erendal strode off, Penny scurrying to catch up with him, and they were soon in conversation. The others followed at a considerably slower pace, talking amongst themselves. They were still dressed in the clothes from the Barrow, their own seeming to have disappeared. Whispering amongst themselves, they kept an eye on the ranger ahead.

“Olo…do you think we should trust him?” Ama whispered to him..

“What choice do we have?” the younger hobbit replied. “We’re completely lost! We’d never make it home alone.” Olo sighed sadly. “It’s all my fault for getting us into this mess in the first place.”

“I suppose we must just trust him,” Ama said thoughtfully, ignoring Olo’s last comment. After walking steadily for an hour, they saw the trees of the Old Forest coming up before them. Olo gulped nervously. His thirst for adventure that was previously so strong had been slowly disappearing as they tried to make their way home. The trees loomed starkly before them, some of them twisted and grotesque, their branches reaching out to the hobbits, calling them in. Here, Erendal paused as the hobbits gathered together.

“Whatever you do when we’re in here, stick together. It’s all too easy to get lost amidst the trees of the forest…” Turning, he brushed past a branch and entered the thickness of the trees, following a small path, not much used. The eight hobbits, glancing around nervously, followed after into the growing darkness, where it seemed hard to tell the difference between night and day.