An Adventure of Hobbit Proportions RPG

[Valier]

Bunny exited the out-house at the back of the Inn. She felt much better and thought she might have just one more pint before they left.
Such a shame that already the old Gaffer was showing signs of his age, she thought. She knew they should never have let him come. Now that he was needing assistence to even get around (which she was sure Rudy and Brown would grow tired of quick), thier trip would be alot less fun.

As Bunny rounded the corner to the front of the Inn, fully engrossed in her own thoughts, she was snapped back quick when she saw what was playing out before her. There on the ground lay the old Gaffer, Rudy stood pale as a ghost beside his cring sister and a symathetic Tansy and Peony.

Bunny's face blanched, she had indeed been thinking just moments before that they should leave Hugo behind. She had never wanted anything like this to happen and she felt ashamed at her thoughts.

"My goodness!" Bunny exclaimed as she hurried to the small huddled group. "What happened?"
Rudy cleared his throat, "He just well....died. He just fell over just like that and...." his voiced trailed off. Mira began to cry louder and Snatch began to howl.

Bunny was at a loss for words. She did not know what to do. Would they all want to go home now? Should they even continue? Was it right? She knew there would be a funeral, and that meant many, many Hobbits attending (as it was at most Hobbit passings)
She had no intentions of sticking around for that, she knew her Family would surely find out that their young daughter Bella had indeed been in Budgeford, when she was supposed to be in Buckland with Tansy. She was ashamed that that was the first thing that came to her mind. She felt very sorry for their loss and was saddened that she hadn't been nicer to the Gaffer. She did not want to seem uncaring but there was no way that she would stay here any longer then she needed. She would carry on even if she had to go alone.

Bunny noticed then, that Brown was not with them. He had probably gone back into the Inn, she thought maybe she should join him, seeing as she was not directly related to the mourning family.
But everyone seemed to not know what to do, so Bunny piped up slowly, "I think we should move his body. Then figure out what to do after we've done that. Tansy or Peony do think you could bring Mira inside and get her a drink? I'm sure the rest of us can move him."

[Gwathagor]

"As a matter of fact," said Brown cautiously, "It's not my decision. You'll want to talk to Bunny, who I suppose is more or less in charge right now - at any rate, this whole thing was her idea."

Brown wasn't sure what to make of this curious fellow, who looked as if he was asking to have his leg amputated: pale as a sheet and sweating bullets, he could hardly put two words together without sounding pained, much less even look Brown in the eye. Brown lost all idea of the hobbit being a rascal out to rob them or such mischief; he was far too...awkward. And frightened. That much was obvious.

"I may as well tell you," Brown continued in a concerned tone, trying to be forthright without sounding stuck-up, "That I know the North Moors as well as any hobbit who hasn't lived there. I'm - I'm not certain that we need any help finding our way..."

The hobbit's shoulders drooped visibly. Why did we want to come with them so badly? And why was he so afraid to ask? Brown was at a loss and he didn't want to be responsible for this.

"Why don't you go talk to Bunny? I think she's outside."

Brown pointed the hobbit toward the door.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Michael's mind was in such state that he could not even think about what the hobbit had told him. He was afraid, but after being sent to ask Bunny, he just nodded and, feeling the sweat all over himself, he more stumbled than walked towards the door.

Almost outside, finally the words of the hobbit caught up with his confused mind. "I may as well tell you that I know the North Moors as well as any hobbit who hasn't lived there. I'm not certain that we need any help finding our way..." Michael stopped.

I'm not certain that we need any help finding our way...

The thoughts came once again flowing through his head: They don't need any help. They can do well without me. Why should I go and ask that Bunny? What if she just says plain "no"? That would be even more embarassing than everything that already happened... Michael's teeth was rattling. Better not go there, he thought. Better just run away, quietly creep away, these people will forget me and I will never meet them again...

But at that moment another thought came to his mind. Never. That will mean losing the chance to go with them, and after all, this chance is close now... Are you really willing to throw it away? a quiet voice asked inside his head. Now that you have followed them all the way up here? And if you throw away your chance like that, how will you know if they wouldn't, after all, have taken you with them?

And then suddenly, from the knot of Michael's thoughts another one came up.

***

The day was cold and the autumn leaves were falling down, slowly, covering the road from Bywater to Frogmorton in a many-coloured carpet. Mist was climbing out of the fields on both sides of the road, and the silhouette of a round, long-legged hobbit treading the path was at times lost in the haze. The traveler was wrapped in a warm coat, but the feather behind his hat trembled in the chill air.

A young hobbit, also wrapped in a thick, bright yellow cloak, suddenly appeared out of the field at one side of the road and almost ran into the lone traveler. Only at the last moment he noticed somebody standing in front of him, gave out a loud shriek and stumbling, he fell on the ground. An empty basket flew from his hand and rolled away into the mist.

The long-legged hobbit stopped, and reaching his arm, he helped the youngster to get up. As he lifted him, suddenly a glimpse of smile appeared on what could have been seen of his face.
"Mishka! Good to see you, laddie."
The youngster's eyes widened, gazing at the long-legged hobbit. "U - uncle Richard! It's you?"
"No, I am the Mad Baggins coming to haunt you. Of course it is me. How did you end up here?"
Mishka cleared the dust and leaves off the front of his coat and looked over for his basket. "I was - um - going to visit grandpa, to Frogmorton."
"Ah, were you? I will be going there too. Even though I have also some official... hmm... business there."
"A Shiriff business?"
Uncle Richard smiled. "Yes, a Shiriff business," he said, looking directly into young Michael's eyes. "Look, Mishka, I don't know whether you look at me the same way your father does, but I am not ashamed to be a Shiriff. Now when I have finally become one, I am happy of it, because it is something I always wanted to do. I may have decided to back away from that when the family did not approve, but instead I went, and I do not pity it."

***

Michael took a deep breath, and picking all the courage he could find inside him, he stepped through the door. What he saw, however, was something he did not quite expect.

[Boromir88]

"You only must go home if you are truly needed there right now." She said this to Mira, resting her hand on the girl's shoulder, but she let her eyes travel to Rudy by the end of her sentence.

Rudy didn't have a response, he couldn't hold Tansy's gaze, and turned away. It wasn't because he was trying to be rude, he just didn't have an answer; he didn't have the slightest clue about what to do.

"I think we should move his body. Then figure out what to do after we've done that. Tansy or Peony do think you could bring Mira inside and get her a drink? I'm sure the rest of us can move him."

Rudy might have thought Bunny was queer for a hobbit, but at this moment that's not what he was thinking: Praise the Vala for this young hobbit. Rudy was quick to agree with Bunny's idea "Go inside with Tansy, Mira. I'll be in shortly." Mira and Tansy made there way back toward the inn. Rudy looked at Peony and Bunny, "Well, let's do it."

The three hobbits decided to lay Hugo back down on the ground. They did it with relatively little trouble, although Rudy let the Gaffer's head smack off the platform as they were lowering him. Bunny and Peony pretended they didn't notice. But, before long, Hugo was back down on the grass.

He thanked the other two hobbits for their help and said "Obviously, we can't leave him lie here, forever, but it will have to do until I figure out what I'm going to do."

Rudy wanted to get away from the Gaffer's body, and they all headed back towards the inn. Rudy didn't pay any heed to the hobbit, Michael, who was standing at the door; he went straight to the table Mira and Tansy were at. Mira's eyes were red, but she wasn't crying anymore. Tansy got up to leave, but Rudy said she didn't have to, and asked her to stay if she liked. He thought the more friends and family around the better. How was he going to break it to Mira that they couldn't continue the adventure? Lo and behold! to Rudy's surprise he didn't have to.

"I'm not in the mood for adventure anymore, Rudy. I want to go home."

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Shocked by the scene presented before him in the courtyard, Michael stopped at the door. The travelers were crowded around the motionless body of that old Hobbit, the one with the dog. The dog, however, did not seem to be happy and running around anymore. It was not clear to Michael what happened, but the outcome was obvious and the tweenager saw that this was not the best situation to go and ask Bunny about the journey. His newly found courage had faded again, and only a tiny spark of it remained in his heart. How came? Perplexed, he followed with his eyes the deed of moving the old Hobbit's body. Then, the travelers turned and headed inside. They passed him by, unattentive to his presence; one by one they were disappearing inside the inn. He stood motionless like a statue carved next to the doorway; until at the last moment a clash from the outside world roused his senses. Bunny, who was the last in the line, stumbled - who knows how she managed to do that on the flat ground - and she fell. Instinctively, Michael reached out his arms to catch her. Not fast enough, but he at least awoke from his frozen state and helped her to get up. Her friends have already disappeared inside.

"Thank you," she said. "Oh, this was so clumsy, sorry, I nearly crushed into you..."
Michael hesitated again. For a moment he had this uneasy feeling of talking to others, but then, pieces of recent events returned to his mind: his decision to go, and to ask Bunny... and now here she was, right in front of him.

"I - it's okay," he stammered, looking into her eyes. "Uh - erm - I am sorry whatever happened to your, err..." He stopped. He started to feel worse and worse. He had no idea what to say on such occassions, what worse, he had no idea what the dead Hobbit was in relation to Bunny. He was once again starting to sweat. Fortunately, Bunny finished for him.

"He is..." now she stopped for a while, too. An expression of something like a shock appeared on her face, as if she now realised the tiny difference of what she just said and what the truth was.

"He was my friends' grandfather," she corrected herself. "He was going with us..." and once again she stopped, too, apparently realising that she does not want to elaborate about her and her friends' plans to this stranger after all.

Now, said the strange voice in Michael's head.

"I - I was -" he started. Bunny gave him a puzzled look. "The... guy inside..." Michael continued, with not much better result. "He... he told me I should ask you if I could go with you," he finished in a trembling voice. "Erm... I mean, I told him... I know the North Moors... I have been to... There... If you needed any more... help..."

For who knows how many a time in the day, Michael Smallburrow felt like fainting in the next moment.

[Thinlómien]

"I'm not in the mood for adventure anymore, Rudy. I want to go home," Mira said. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her voice sounded nothing like it usually did.
"That's alright," Rudy said, patting her shoulder.
Tansy thought he sounded relieved.

She pursed up her lips and didn't say anything. Instead, she turned at the passing waiter.
"Would you bring us three beers?"
"Of course, miss", the young man replied cheerfully, flashing a grin.
Tansy winked at him, then turned back to Rudy and Mira.
"I'll pay," she added, smiling faintly at her friends. Neither of them returned the smile.

"I understand you want to go home," she said after a while. She stretched her legs under the table and took a deep breath. She wondered where she had put her pipe. "But from a totally selfish point of view, I will be sad to see you go. This adveture won't be the same without you." She made a small pause. She was aware of sounding stupid. How could an adventure so cruelly tainted with death ever be the same? She wondered how she had managed to say the right things before. "You must do what you think is right. And you think this is the best thing to do? Then you do it. Your family..."

She was interrupted by a broad-faced middle-aged Hobbit striding to their table. "Good heavens! Rudy? Is it you? And is this little Mira? She has grown so much! Now tell me, who's this friend of yours - have you finally found a girl, Rudy? - and what are you doing in Whitfurrows? You ought to have told me and Hyacinth you're coming! Why didn't you make a call on us earlier? Oh, silly me, you probably just arrived, that's why you're in an Inn, of course. But you do know you could have come straight to us, of course. But goodness, you do look pale. What has happened?"

[Valier]

The day had started out great. The weather was beginning to pick up and with a full stomach (mostly with ale) Bunny had thought that today was finally the day they would start out on their grand adventure. The Gaffer's sudden death, had soured that plan and darkened the day to almost unbearable levels.

Bunny didn't even give her offer to help Rudy move the Gaffer's body another thought until she had her hands on the dead Hobbit's feet. Bunny had never even seen a dead body let alone touched one (her Gaffer and Gammer had both passed when she was just a toddler) Her face paled as she felt the weight of the corpse as they hefted his body onto a newly sprouted patch of grass beside the Inn. After straightening is clothes and giving Snatch a few good scratches they headed back inside to the waiting grieving group of travellers.

As she followed Rudy, Bunny was in a state of shock. "Bunny Took" she thought to herself "You have just touched a dead body!". Never had she thought she would fathom doing anything of the sort, but being the one to volunteer for the job is what surprised her. Head down she plodded along not picking up her feet as she should. As she reached the steps Bunny stumbled and fell hard almost crushing someone who stood like a statue beside the door. That someone was now helping her up. She looked into the eyes of the strange Hobbit from inside.
[
I]"Thank you," [/I]she said. "Oh, this was so clumsy, sorry, I nearly crushed into you..."
"I - it's okay," he stammered, looking into her eyes. "Uh - erm - I am sorry whatever happened to your, err..." He stopped.

"He is..." Bunny started and then realized with horror what tense she had just used
."He was my friends' grandfather," she corrected herself. "He was going with us..." and once again she stopped, she was unsure how much of their plan to share with this stranger.

"I - I was -" he started. Bunny gave him a puzzled look. "The... guy inside..." Michael continued. "He... he told me I should ask you if I could go with you," he finished in a trembling voice. "Erm... I mean, I told him... I know the North Moors... I have been to... There... If you needed any more... help..."

Bunny started to feel worse and worse. Her knees were sore from falling and her head was already reeling from the situation she just went through, but this was just too much. Micheal looked about to faint and Bunny thought she might join him.
He was asking to go with them. But was there even a them anymore? Her head spun. She was almost sure that Brown would still continue, and she hoped that Tansy and Peopny still had the heart to go on. But what about Mira and Rudy? Maybe having another boy around to keep Brown company in case Rudy decided to go home, wasn't a bad idea. But they did not know this Hobbit and he seemed nervous. Was this just because he really wanted to go, as she did? or did he have other plans in mind?.

Bunny sat down upon the steps with a little thud.
"Well Mr....Micheal was it? Why don't you have a seat here beside me and lets chat you an' I." Bunny's eyes began to well up with tears no matter how hard she tried to not let them. This was all just to much for poor Bunny to handle. Her knees ached, her stomach was now in knots and there was a dead body not ten feet from where she now sat.
She laughed nervously as she wiped her eyes on her sleeve as Micheal sat down beside her. "So you have been to the North Moors before have you? Ever seen anything out of the ordinary?" She tried to not let her eyes wander to the still shape on the grass. Bunny looked into Micheals eyes to see if even a glint of hope was there, that perhaps her dreams were not so outlandish, that maybe, someone had seen or heard of the wives.