Hope - A Lord Of The Rings Chronicle

Just A Dream

"Get that for me, will you Pippin?" I grunt, struggling to hold the cub in place.

The hobbit picks them up.

Legolas works steadfastly, cleaning the wound as fast as he can, applying ointment (which almost causes us to lose the wolf) and finally bandaging up his leg.

Once he finishes, I release my grip and stoke the boy gently, who has finally stopped howling. Legolas removes the muzzle and the wolf relaxes on my lap, puckered out from his mini healing session.

"Good boy." I breathe

"Here are your glasses, Raina." Pippin hands them to me and my vision clears again when I put them on.

Sam comes up with the plate of sausages.

"Here you are lad."

He drops it by the cub, who responds by devouring every morsel. The fellowship and I look on eagerly in silence, watching the wolf limp around the camp once finished.

"He needs a name." I say, watching him ruffle through Sam's food supply bag. The hobbit goes to retrieve it.

"What can it be?" Pippin wonders "How about Silver."

I shake my head.

"Too common."

"Biter?" Merry adds

"No. Too...too violent."

I watch him trot around by Gandalf, sniffing on the grass for any more traces of sausage. He sniffs underneath the wizard's hat which lay on the ground beside him, and ended up with it on top of him, eyes constantly blocked by the falling rim.

With that hat on, he looked kinda like Gandalf's apprentice.

Like the wizard himself

I laughed, standing up to help.

"That's it! That's what we'll call him."

"What?" Merry asks

"Gandalf?" Frodo questions, and the wizard looks my way.

"Yes. Gandalf!" I laugh. "Gandalf II."

The hobbits share a laugh, and Gimli, Legolas, Boromir and Aragorn smirk at the wizard whose face mirrors storm clouds.

I hand the wizard back his hat, which he receives with a piercing look, and and I can't help but smirk at him.

"I think its time we move onward." He says

"Okay." I shrugg, and Pippin begins to walk forward, before beckoning the wolf over with his finger. "Come on Gandalf.."

We laugh. And that is not the only time we share a laugh. Or that the wizard launches a string of grumbles and complaints our way.

****

Although Gandalf seemed apprehensive at first about letting his apprentice-in-training, Gandalf II stay with us, he soon warmed up to the idea of having a pet travel with us. Sometimes I found him curled up under the wizard's cloak, hat on top to shield him, and other times, Gandalf would fees him little tidbits of meat that he no longer wanted. When he saw me looking once, he merely said:

"Waste not, want not."

I smirked to myself. Gandalf had grown fond of the wolf. We all had. Well, except Gimli, but considering the string of insults he dropped Gandalf II's way, I'm not surprised. When we had to release him back into the wild, his voice was the loudest in celebration

"Its about time that beast was on his way!"

Gandalf II had snarled at this, causing Gimli to recoil in fear with a murmur in Khudzul, and I stroked him, amused. Still, I could tell even the wizard was disappointed. Everyone was. Especially me.