Hope ↠ LOTR

II. Song

They set off at the first signs of daylight, being forced to buy a pony from the dreadful Bill Ferny once finding out that the horses in the stables had fled. Her favourite part about the exchange was when Sam threw an apple in his face as they left.

"Where are you taking us?" Frodo asked as they pushed themselves through a forest.

"Into the wild," he replied just as vaguely as Athena had done the night before, one of his hands holding onto Bill's reins and leading him along with them—Bill the pony, if that wasn't already clear.

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They continued to meander their way through the towering forest, their eyes peeled for any signs of a threat on their journey. Bill had returned to the back to walk alongside Sam who he had taken a particular liking to. The trees had begun to grow thicker the further they ventured into the forest, blocking out the rays of the sun and causing a gentle darkness to overcome them.

"How do we know this Strider and Shadow are friends of Gandalf?" Merry asked in a whisper, but he wasn't as quiet as he thought he was being.

"I think a servant of the enemy would look fairer and feel fouler," Frodo attempted to reassure.

"They're foul enough."

Aragorn and Athena both shared a look of annoyance and discouragement at the comment of Merry, but otherwise remained silent at the jab he sent their way.

"If you remember me telling you, Athena apparently also knows my uncle. Regardless, we have no choice but to trust them."

"But where are they leading us?" Sam then asked from where he walked behind them.

"To Rivendell, Master Gamgee. To the house of Elrond," Aragorn responded to his quiet question.

At knowing they could hear them the Hobbits looked up with matching expressions of shock, Athena turning to raise an eyebrow at Merry from over her shoulder. He avoided eye contact with a look of guilt crossing over his face, she decided to put him out of his misery and return to facing the front of where they were walking again.

"Did you hear that Bill? Rivendell! We're going to see the Elves," Sam spoke excitedly to his pony, being filled with awe at the promise of seeing the Elves that he loved so much.

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The two Rangers stood ahead of the group, looking at the surroundings in front of them before turning back to the Hobbits when figuring that it was safe for them to continue that way. Her eyebrows rose in shock when she saw that they had begun to settle on the snow-caked grass, beginning to make a pit for a fire and pulling out pots and pans from the sacks they carried on their backs.

"Gentlemen," Aragorn called with bewilderment in his tone, the Hobbits pausing their actions to look up at him, "we do not stop until nightfall."

"What about breakfast?" Pippin asked him.

"We've already had it."

"We've had one, yes. What about second breakfast?"

"You're going to have to do without second breakfast and many other things until we get to our destination," she responded before they turned their backs on the hungry Hobbits and continued to walk forwards.

When they were out of sight of the Hobbits Aragorn pulled an apple from the pack on his back before throwing it backwards and to Merry, who deftly caught it in his hands, pulling another out of his bag and throwing it to where Pippin was, except it barrelled against his head instead of into his hands.