Sailing Away RPG

[Firefoot]

Sondo frowned at Reggie jumping up and down on the raft. He wouldn’t sink it, that was for certain - but that wasn’t the problem. He waved the slightly younger hobbit over to him, saying, “Come here for a second.” The excited hobbit hurried over and stood in front of Sondo. Bingo was frowning in the background. Sondo had always maintained a tenuous relationship with the brothers as far as plans for activities and mischief were concerned, sometimes involving Reggie and sometimes not. In truth, he had no problems with the younger brother accompanying them; Reggie was friendly and Sondo liked him. What Sondo really wanted to know was a very petty concern that Reggie’s remark had raised: who was smaller? Sondo took great pride in his short stature and did not desire to be taller than anyone. He looked Reggie over critically as if wondering whether he was fit for the expedition. He felt a wash of relief at finding Reggie to be just slightly taller and gave a decisive nod.

“So I can go?” Reggie asked, taking the nod for approval.

Sondo decided to risk the annoyance of Bingo. After all, he was the leader and the whole adventure was his idea, so he said, “If you really want to, it’s fine with me - but do you even know where we’re going?”

“Well, obviously you’re going to take the raft and sail away, right?” answered Reggie. Sondo nodded, “Basically, yes - we are going to have an adventure down the Brandywine” and left it at that. He hoped that Bingo would not be mad at him, but if he was Sondo figured Bingo would forgive him. If he didn’t... mutiny would not be tolerated. Sondo chuckled inwardly at his own joke.

Sondo turned around to see if anyone was missing. Someone was; Sondo mentally check-listed all present and discovered it was Falco. Sondo’s brow creased worriedly. He wasn’t always sure whether Falco heard or listened all the plans he made and was concerned that he had forgotten. They would have to be going soon because if they weren’t far enough away by the time they were discovered to be missing, all of his plans would be in shambles. Sondo did not want to leave anyone behind, but time was valuable... Just then, Falco sprinted into their midst looking rather out of breath.

“Am I late?” he panted.

Grinning, Sondo shook his head. “Just on time,” he said, and then louder, “Hey, we’re all here now! We’re ready to sail!” A small cheer broke out as they began to load onto the raft. Everyone was ready to go after all their preparation. Last-minute supplies which the lads had thought to pile on board were all heaped together on top of the other covered supplies. Soon everyone was balanced aboard the raft save Sondo, who boarded last after carefully untying the rope anchoring the raft to shore. He tossed the rope onto the raft and leapt aboard, shoving the craft out away from shore.

Seeing the open, murky waters of the Brandywine laid out before him, Sondo felt a rush of exhilaration. He was actually going to have his adventure! Once they were past the borders of Buckland, which was not far, no one would be able to stop them. He let out a whoop. He was off to tame the Brandywine, and maybe even come back famous and rich. Why not? Anything was possible.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bingo stretched out on his stomach and sprawled at the back of the little craft while he stared fixedly at the Brandywine, or the Baranduin as his father had usually called it. He wiggled his body forward another inch or two, hanging his head and arms over the edge and slipping his fingers into the muddy waters. Steady rain had fallen for the past two days so the level of the river was higher than usual for this particular time of year. Surprized by the strength of the rushing current that flowed through his splayed fingers, he wondered if the boat was strong enough to survive the long trip that lay ahead of them.

Bingo had no real sense of where they were going, but he was sure it was very far away and that they would have a wonderful time. For one moment, the young lad considered what would happen when they finally got to the point far down the Baranduin that Sondo had picked out as their destination. Since the river's current ran in only one direction, how did Sondo think they would return home? He was quite sure the other lad had a plan. Maybe there would be fine ponies waiting there. They would climb on their backs and return north in a triumphant procession. Bingo imagined arriving back in Buckland with a pony of his own, sporting many souvernirs of his journey and with stories to tell everyone. Master Saradoc and the other residents of Brandy Hall would be so proud of the lads' bravery and resourcefulness that they would never dare say a cross word.

Noticing that his brother was fidgetting about and having trouble getting settled on the far side of the raft, Bingo yanked himself out of this pleasant daydream of cheering Hobbits and focused his thoughts on their real dilemma. Reggie had appeared out of nowhere. He loved his brother dearly. If truth be told, Bingo felt responsible for keeping Reggie out of trouble in the same way that their own father would have done. But he had hoped for a few days on his own when he wouldn't need to carry that heavy burden. Now all that was spoiled. Worse yet, Cousin Melitot would realize something was amiss when Reggie did not show up at the burrow as he had promised. And who knows what she would do after that? Still, Bingo vowed to stand up for his brother whatever happened and make sure the two of them came safely home to Brandy Hall. At the back of his mind was the distant image of his mother and father who had gone off on a voyage and never returned.

Lost in these ponderous thoughts, Bingo did not notice that he had wriggled sideways and, by so doing, accidentally gave Samuel a hearty poke in the ribs with his elbow......

[Crystal Heart]

Sam had been sitting peacefully, looking at the river until Bingo decided to poke him, which in his opinion was ENTIRELY uncalled for.

"Why in the heck are you poking me you little orphan?" Sam asked him angrily, his eyes turning dark. He never could understand stupid children's nonsense. In fact he had never really understood any one else in the Shire ever. He couldn't stand their stupid habits, their dumb words, and anything else about them. If he wasn't a hobbit he would have run away years ago to a place that had no hobbits only himself. And perhaps a maid to cook for him. And perhaps another maid to clean up..... He shook his thoughts away and returned to being thoroughly mad at the young hobbit lad before him. He wasn't sure if Bingo had even said anything. He was sure he probably did.

"Blah blah blah, all your darn excuses. Get away from you!" He roared, totally prepared for a fist fight. A good long fist fight would make him happy and hungry and then he could eat some food and be happy. Yes, a good fist fight was just what he wanted. Particularly with this snot nosed little hobbit lad that had ticked him off by being so entirely stupid by deciding to poke him. Wasn't it enough that he had even agreed to go on this stupid idiotic adventure? Besides everything else didn't Bingo know who he was? He was Samuel Brandybuck for goodness sakes and no one and he meant no one should ever disturb him when he is actually in a good mood. For he was always in a good mood except for the times when others decided to make him angry then he was in a horrible, rotten mood where he just wanted to hurt others and eat.

The thought of food made Sam's stomach grumble in protest.

"SEE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?! NOW I'M HUNGRY AGAIN!" Sam bellowed as he got up and went over to his large pack to get some food.

[Boromir88]

Rory was in a cheerful conversation with Marroc and Reggie. They were sharing their stories of how they made their escape. Rory was of course exaggerating.
"I told my Ma, I was going, whether she objected to it or not."

"What did she say?" asked Reggie.

"She said not after the stunts I pulled. But I didn't care. I'm here aren't I?" The two hobbits nodded their head in approval. Rory told them about the tea and the broom. Reggie and Marroc listened intently. Reggie began to tell his story about Aunt Hilda, and saying they were going to their cousins, when some spiteful words broke out on the other side of the raft.

Sam and Bingo were engaged in a bitter debate and were on the verge of exchanging fists. Sondo was desperately trying to calm the situation, but it wasn't helping much. "Watch out" Rory shouted, "you don't want make the boat unbalanced! Stop this foolishness!" They didn't heed any of Rory's pleads. Sam stood up, about ready to jump on Bingo, when he did the raft tipped to one side. Soon all the hobbits found themselves sprawled into the water, some drastically whipping their arms and legs, because they didn't know how to swim. Someone had to catch the raft, before it floated away....

[Child of the 7th Age]

For the moment, Bingo could do little but concentrate on the immediate problem at hand. He'd had no intention of getting in a fight with Samuel. His natural inclination was to avoid a fistfight at all costs. Usually, that meant slinking off with his brother to some secluded niche where they could commiserate. But there were no secluded spots on a raft, and Bingo felt he couldn't just sit still, waiting to be bashed over the head.

The water at this point in the river was definitely over their heads. Some of the lads looked to be in trouble. While frantically treading water and trying to decide what to do, Bingo spied an old tree stump that had a few live branches protruding out of it, growing in the middle of the river. It was a good thing he had spent so much time playing near and in the water. Collaring the nearest floundering hobbit, he scooped him up by the collar and swam over to the stump, dragging the lad behind him and shoving his body up onto a low-hanging tree branch. "Wait here!" he bellowed, as he swam off to retrieve one more hobbit who appeared to be having serious troubles.

The current was swift and even Bingo could not fight against it forever. If he had been on his own, he could have made it down to the raft or swum over to the side and scrambled out on the bank. But, relectant to leave the other lads alone, Bingo swam back to the sheltered stump and clung, panting, to its lower branches as he pondered what to do. All the while, their raft was floating further down the river. A few of the other lads had taken off to try and retrieve it. How they were going to get it back against the current, Bingo had no idea. Or maybe they could steer it over to the bank, while he and the other two hobbits in the tree carefully made their way downstream by wading through the muddy waters and reeds that ran near the shore. He looked downstream to see what was happening.

[Firefoot]

Sondo was absolutely furious. How much thought did it take to realize that you couldn’t have a fistfight on a raft? Now, everyone was in the water and the raft with all remaining supplies was floating away. Sondo could hardly be called a good swimmer, but the concept was not unknown to him and he could at least stay afloat without difficulty. With shaky strokes he took off toward the raft after only a moment’s hesitation. Without looking closely he saw that there was another hobbit swimming just behind him, also intent on the raft. Slowly the pair gained on it, and they ended up quite a way down stream before actually catching it. Fortunately, it had tipped but not flipped, and the supplies which had been secured to the raft had not been lost.

Upon catching the raft, Sondo knew that the next step had to be turning it to shore so that they could go back and rescue the other hobbits. Now that he had leisure to look, he saw that the hobbit who had joined him was Reggie.

“Reggie,” he said, “go to the other side of the raft. We need to get up at the same time so it won’t tip.” Sondo was out of breath from the swim but his voice still conveyed a no-nonsense tone. Reggie obeyed without question and the pair was able to simultaneously hoist themselves up onto the raft. Sondo was now thankful that they were about the same size and weight. He looked despairingly back up stream. Though peaceful seeming, the Brandywine’s current was strong, and the hobbits stuck in the river were dwindling.

“Now, we need to get the raft to shore and hurry back to help the others,” instructed Sondo. Reggie was one step ahead and held up the rope which had previously been used to tie the raft to the stream. Reggie had tied a loop in the end so that they could hopefully hook something on shore. He asked, “How about this?” and gave an experimental throw towards shore. The loop caught on a piece of driftwood, but as soon as tension was applied the log snapped.

“Try again,” encouraged Sondo. Reggie tossed the rope, and this time it caught a peculiarly shaped stone sticking up on shore. They held their breaths, and fortunately, the rope held. They swung around to the bank as the rope tightened, and soon they were able to hop onto dry ground. Sondo hurried upstream to unhook the rope from the rock, retrieved it, and sprinted back to where Reggie was holding the raft by the shore. Sondo took the rope, saying, “Go on ahead - see if you can help. I’ll follow soon.” Reggie nodded and hurried off as fast as he could. Sondo deftly tied the rope around a tree so that it ran from tree to mast, suitably securing the raft. He gave a quick tug to make sure the knot would hold and hurried after Reggie. He was already weary from the strenuous swim to catch the raft and his run from raft to rock and back, and now he was slowed by the need to take care not to stumble over a tree root in his fatigue. This was not how adventuring was supposed to go! He was already imagining the things he would say to Sam and Bingo. They had not even left the Shire yet, and already they were having difficulties! He hoped that things would be under control at the scene of the spill. Haste was needed, and so he dug in for a last spurt before finally arriving.

[Kitanna]

Marroc had been sitting on one side of the raft with Rory and Reggie. Rory was talking about he escape from his family. "I told my Ma, I was going, whether she objected to it or not." Rory stated proudly.

Clearly he was exaggerating, but Marroc wasn't going to say anything about it. "So you let all that tea go to waste?" Marroc was not the kind of Hobbit who would let any amount of tea or food to go to waste.

Rory smiled and laughed when Marroc made his comment. He just nodded. It was now Reggie's turn to tell his tale, but a fight seemed to be breaking out on the other side of the raft. Sam was yelling at Bingo for what seemed to be some sort of misunderstanding.

Sondo was trying to break Sam and Bingo up. Rory shouted a warning about tipping the raft, but no one listened. The next thing Marroc knew was that he was bobbing in the water and the raft was floating away.

Panic filled the young Hobbit. He was a terrible swimmer. "Help!" He desperately tried to keep himself afloat. Someone grabbed him by the collar, helping him toward safety.

It was Bingo. He pushed Marroc to a low-hanging branch. Marroc grabbed hold and gasped for air. "Wait here!" He instructed as he swam after another one of the Hobbits. Marroc just clung to the branch for dear life.

Now that he was safe Marroc's thoughts turned to the raft. What would happen to them if it was lost on the river along with all their food?