[Child of the 7th Age]

After many rounds of music and much dancing and mirth, Cami rememembered her own unfinished business. She still needed to approach Lorien and persuade him to reveal some answers to her questions, for however full of merriment Goldberry had been, Cami had not understood her words and even found them a bit unsettling. With this plan in mind, she began to search for Lorien. Yet, she could find no glimpse of him, and was beginning to worry he had left the party without even speaking to her.

It was when Fatty approached her, asking for a dance, that she decided to pull him quietly aside and put an end to their misunderstanding. Cami spoke gently to Fatty and revealed as much of her situation as she could, even describing Maura, but without any specific names or dates or places. She went on to say how a cataclysm of war had torn the hobbit from her side, and there was little chance she would ever see him again. Yet, she refused to give up hope and there was still some possibility that Lorien knew where he was, and could help her find him.

"Fatty, I need your assistance." Cami went on to beg. You're my closest friend from Buckland and the East Farthing, and the only one who knows my secret. I need to get hold of Lorien and persuade him to talk to me, but I don't even know where he is."

Fatty scratched his head and looked intently at the woman in the green and yellow gown who had captured his heart. Such a strange, sad tale. It reinforced his belief that folk were better off staying safely within the Shire and not running away on adventures where bad things were bound to happen. Whether it was the gentle urgency of Cami's words, the soft haze left by the honeyed mead, or just the goodness of Fatty's heart, the hobbit resolved to aid her. In any case, if Cami spoke with Lorien and finally realized her situation was hopeless, perhaps she'd come to her senses and look for a good mate close to home.

"You're quite sure about this, Cami? This fellow knows something that can help you."

"Fatty, I'm not sure of anything. But he did say he had a message for me, before he was pulled away by Tom. I looked everywhere in the party room, and couldn't find him."

Cami offered to look through the back of the Inn, while Fatty checked the stables and the other areas outside and hunted for any clues on the location of their missing guest. Fatty stopped long enough to enlist his friend Merry, but was careful not to reveal any of the particulars. The two went outside and begin their search of the stables.

It did not take long to locate the missing guest. Merry was the first to hear the loud caterwauling noises coming from the garden that stood directly behind the Inn. Creeping back inside and slipping out the kitchen door, they found Lorien atop the picnic table, staring up at the skies, and singing to the moon. Beside him on the table was the great dog Fang, lending his support with a well-placed howl or two at strategic points in the verse.

'I want fire and gold and songs of old and red wine flowing free!'....

For hunger or drouth naught passed his mouth till he gave both crown and cloak;
And all that he got, in an earthen pot broken and black with smoke,
Was porridge cold and two days old to eat with a wooden spoon.
For puddings of Yule with plums, poor fool, he arrived so much too soon:
An unwary guest on a lunatic quest from the Mountains of the Moon.

Fatty raised one eyebrow and looked over at Merry. This did not sound encouraging to either of them. The hobbits had spent too many long evenings in the Green Dragon Inn in their youth and could clearly see what was going on. The part about the lunatic quest was particularly disturbing to Fatty. How could Cami think that this fellow could possibly help her?

Merry immediately echoed his own doubts out loud, "How's he gonna' talk with her? I mean...."

"I have no idea. But that's her problem. Let's jut drag him inside and she'll figure it out."

"He's awfully big to drag. Maybe we should get the others to help."

"No," hissed Fatty. "We can do this ourselves. I promised Cami."

At that point their conversation was interrupted by the gentleman sitting on the table, "Ah, hobbit lads. You didn't happen to bring another pitcher of that good honeyed mead, now? I finished the last spot from....ah, now when was that we were drinking in the garden? Anyways, I finished the last little nip from the flask out here and need a bit more to chase it down."

His speech was surprisingly articulate to Merry, considering how much he'd just finished drinking. But his eyes were glassy and rolled about in his head. "This fellow must have an amazing capacity," muttered Fatty. "Just look at all those cups."

There were indeed ten empty flagons lined up neatly beside Fang.

"Maybe the dog?"

"Nah," countered Fatty. "The beast has too much sense for that."

Lorien turned away and was about to resume his crooning when Fatty went up to him and boldly interrupted. "Your pardon, sir, but Cami has a nice table set up inside with a large pitcher of honeyed mead and was hopin' you'd share it with her."

A grin broke out on Lorien's face. "There's a good hobbit lass! Always thinkin' of 'er friends and such." He tumbled off the table, but managed to stagger up, and leaning first in one direction and then in the other, made his way back towards the Inn, supported on the shoulders of two sturdy hobbits.

"Miss Cami, sir, says you're supposed to tell her something important." Fatty looked up at the wobbly visitor with expectation in his eyes, mixed with a healthy measure of skepticism.

"Er....I believe so." And Lorien tried very hard to remember what that something was, but every time he came close to getting it, the idea slipped away. What was that now? Something about another hobbit lad that the girl was soft on... Was it this lad standing beside him? Lorien wasn't sure.

So Fatty came triumphantly up to Cami, leading his gift of love, and unceremoniously dumped the missing visitor near the table she'd set up, just under the open window in the Common Room. Cami heaved a sigh of relief, although she too could see the state Lorien was in. Still, it was worth a try.

Then, without warning something happened, that no one in the room expected, or, more precisely, no one in the room except for Tom and Piosenniel.

[ March 02, 2003: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]