Sailing Away RPG

[Kitanna]

Marroc was happy. All the Hobbits were together again. Reggie had returned first and now Falco. Marroc sincerly hoped they could all get along this time.

"Glad you came around, Falco." Marroc said patting him on the back. When Falco first left Marroc was annoyed at his arrogance, but seeing Falco standing there, looking tired and hungry, he thought how humbled the young hobbit looked.

It seemed Marroc was not the only one happy to see Falco. Bingo and Sam had greeted him with warm smiles. It was Sassy who was the most annoyed with Falco's return. She probably still saw him as a traitor. She had every right to, but Marroc hoped that her mistrust subsided soon.

Sassy had been pulled aside by Sondo. He was giving her a little talk, no doubt about her attitude toward Falco.

Marroc looked away from the brother and sister and back to Falco. "You should rest a bit Falco, you look too tired to stand."

[Crystal Heart]

Sam smiled, but he could see that Falco was not his regular self. He placed a hand upon the young hobbit's arm and looked at him concerned.

"You should really rest. You do not look well, Falco. Are you alright?" Sam asked concerned.

Sam's mind whirled with memories. He was unsure if everything had truly had, but he realized that this journey had changed him. Changed him in such a way that he would never be the same again. He owed everything to this journey and he was truly, deeply thankful that he had taken this journey with these hobbits. To him they would always be his closest friends, united through this journey's bond. Sam had never felt a feeling like it in all of his life.

[Firefoot]

Sondo ground his jaw in irritation. He should have expected that she might try to bargain with him. He knew she had a point though; there really wasn’t anything in it for her. He did need her, however, so he nodded in resignation to her request.

“Deal,” he agreed. “But hang on, Sassy, I’m supposed to be scolding you here.” He winked. “Try to act like I told you to be nice to Falco, whether you would listen to that advice or not...” He sighed. She could be so difficult. “And I can’t exactly help you look for stones right now - it would look pretty bad if I yelled at you and then helped you.” He expected her to see the sense in that. She was young, but smart enough. Too smart for her own good. My own good, he thought ruefully.

He took a step to go after her back to the others when he halted abruptly, frowning. He heard voices, and not hobbit voices either, or he was a Dwarf. He glanced over his shoulder uneasily. The people the voices belonged to were hidden by a broadly sloping hill. He was thankful for that. It meant they couldn’t see the hobbits either. He would bet that they had heard them though, and they didn’t sound like nice voices.

“Sassy,” he whispered urgently, “go tell the others to be quiet." He would have told them to hide, too, except there wasn’t anywhere to hide, unless he counted the occasional hill or the distant tree cover. “I hear someone, over behind that hill. I’m going to find out what’s going on.” He hurried off toward the slope, keeping low as he ascended. He lay flat upon reaching the top, poking his head up so he could see. What he saw worried him.

There were four of the Big Folk down there. No, five, Sondo corrected himself as he saw another approaching from the left. Had he not been so concerned, he might have been fascinated - he had never seen any Big Folk before. The shortest of them was probably twice his own height, and all of them were burly and rather muscular looking. Their hair was dark, their skin tan. But their looks were not what caught Sondo’s immediate attention. They had supplies! Currently, they seemed to have stopped for lunch, same as the hobbits had been about to do. The difference was that they actually had food (they seemed to be cooking a stew of some kind) - and plenty of it, judging by the lumpy saddlebags on their horses, which seemed quite large to Sondo, being used to short, sturdy ponies as he was. His stomach rumbled at the thought of a square meal, and he began to wonder if there wasn’t some way to filch some food off of them, be it steal or otherwise.

“They should prove easy to catch,” the approaching one was saying. “They look young, and mostly unarmed. There’s somewhere between five and ten of ’em.” Sondo winced. They had been not only heard but also seen by these horrible Big Folk! How had they been so careless as not to know of them before? What was more, these men seemed intent on capturing them! Just why, Sondo was unable to figure out, and once the fifth man got close enough to the others, their voices got quieter and Sondo couldn’t discern the words. Hastily, he edged away from the top of the hill and upon reaching the bottom he sprinted off toward the others. What could they do? They would not get very far if they tried to run, because of the men’s horses. The men knew they were there; where could they go? Besides... he wanted some of their food.

Despite the situation, Sondo could not be more happy with the challenge. These were the type of problems he was deft at figuring out, the types of plans he might cook up at home. By the time he had reached the group, he had a sketchy plan worked out. Most of them would stay up here and act as the ‘bait’ for the men. Sondo never even considered that some of them might be caught; the men were bigger, but Big Folk were just that: big and clumsy and probably not so smart. A few, however, would sneak down there, and when the Big Folk came after the ones left, those couple would get into their supplies and take what they needed. Then they would just have to escape. He grinned wickedly to himself. This was what adventurers were supposed to do! (Though perhaps they usually went after gold and not food, he amended to himself, and banished the thought.)

Upon reaching the group, he quickly explained the problem, telling them about the Big Folk and their supplies and horses, and how they wanted to capture them. He did not, however, explain his plan, or even say that he had one. He wanted to hear their ideas first, then spring his idea, because otherwise he might risk the whole of them going against him. With Falco recently returned, he wanted that not at all. “The biggest problem,” he finished, “is that they know we’re here, and our situation. If we try to run away, they’d probably find us pretty quick on their horses. And there really isn’t much place to hide around here. So now we have to figure out what to do.”

[Primrose Bolger]

All thoughts of getting the best of the deal with Sondo flew from Sassy’s mind.

They looked like giants to her. Following after Sondo despite his telling her to go back to the others with his message, she’d only had a quick peek before Sondo sent her off again, and already her imagination had them tall as the trolls her Granny had told her stories of. Not bedtime stories, which would have scared her half to death – her and Granny both! No, these tales had always been told in the bright sun, while they shelled peas or fixed the snap beans. It was sunny now, but still Sassy shivered at the images of those tall, rough looking creatures.

She ran as quickly as her little legs would carry her back to where the others were talking and joking and laughing. ‘Shhh!’ she whispered, as loudly as she dared. They looked at her, some with dismissal in their faces. But before any could say, ‘Oh, it’s only Sassy . . .’ she motioned for them to gather near her.

In a low voice and as hurriedly as she could manage, she told them what Sondo had spied. He’d be back soon him she told them to let them know what to do, but until then he wanted them just to keep very quiet.

-o-o-o-

In short time, Sondo had returned and laid out his plan to the others. Sassy could see the boys nodding their heads. And then some began to speak up with additional ideas. But Sassy was scared. She was not as big as any of the boys. The giants would probably boil her up for stew with taters and carrots! Her imagination ran away with her completely and she began to panic.

Edging away from the boys and Sondo, she hurried to a little place she’d noted earlier. Two thick bushes grew near a small boulder. She was just small enough to wriggle in beneath the tangle of roots and thick limbs. Through the thick leaves she could just barely see out, enough to know when to close her eyes and quiet her breathing if one of the Big Folk got near. Sassy settled her back against the rock. She drew her knees tight up against her chest, her arms wrapped round them. Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears and she hoped the giants wouldn’t hear it.

[Child of the 7th Age]

Bingo sat off on his own a considerable distance from the rest of the group watching as his friends merrily put forward ideas for squelching the Big Folk. One lad boasted that he was a sure match for any big bully and would be glad to offer himself as bait. Bingo wondered if he really believed that or just wanted to impress the others. For the first time since the fight with Falco, Sondo looked happy and confident, revelling in the possibility of pulling off a trick that would humiliate the stupid lugs and guarantee his own position as leader. For most of the hobbits, their return to Buckland no longer seemed a dull and hungry trek northward, but part of a real adventure.

Unfortunately, Bingo was not so happy. He did not want to be thought of as a coward, and he liked the idea of finding some food, but he was also worried about what might happen. Since his own mother hailed from Bree, he had had dealings with the Big Folk, unlike the other hobbits in their group. Even as a youngster, Bingo had journeyed to his grandparents and had visited a number of their larger neighbors. He had liked some of these Big Folk and disliked others, really not too different from how he felt about some hobbits he knew. But he would never think of a big person as automatically stupid. Bingo had met a dumb Man or two, but he had also encountered some very clever fellows, both good and bad, whom he would not care to anger.

Influencing his feelings was the stark fact that ruffians had killed his parents. All his parents’ sharp wits and speed hadn’t prevented them from being slain on the road back from Bree to Brandy Hall. And the kind of Big Folk that Sondo was describing sounded just like the bad ‘uns who had accosted his parents on their journey home. Bingo wanted nothing to do with such miserable and threatening fellows. Immediate flight seemed like the better choice. Perhaps they could shrink into the thick bushes and nettles where the Men’s horses would be hard pressed to follow. He wondered what Reggie was thinking, but his brother had been quite small when their parents had been killed. Maybe he saw it differently and was not so afraid.

Bingo knew he should raise his voice and say something to Sondo, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The others would probably laugh and call him a coward. Overwhelmed with his inability to do anything helpful, Bingo restlessly sprang up, tromped further away, and plopped down in frustration on a small protruding boulder. Suddenly, he felt a tiny tapping on his foot. Squatting down and peering between the bushes, he caught a glimpse of two frightened eyes staring out at him. He bent down lower and looked inside. There was Sassy curled up like a badger inside a hedge. Even this close, he could barely see her.

“Sassy, is that you? It’s Bingo. Me….. Not one of the bad ‘uns. Stick your head out and talk. I don’t like this any better than you. My ma and da were killed by ugly folk like these, and I don’t relish fighting them. I don’t mean to cause trouble. I’m sure Sondo is doing his best. But I’m mighty afraid we’re about to make a very big mistake….”

[Primrose Bolger]

‘Bingo?’ she whispered. ‘Are the Big Folk near our camp yet?’ When he shook his head no, Sassy poked her face out just a bit. ‘They’ll be here real soon,’ she said, her eyes wide. ‘You better hide, too. Those fellows are awfully big!’

When Bingo made no move to crawl in with her, Sassy peeked out her whole head and took a look about. Seeing no giants lurking in the vicinity, she inched out and sat huddled near Bingo. ‘Sondo thinks he can trick them, you know,’ she continued. ‘But I saw them! They’re lots of them and they’re so big.’ She sidled up very close to him. ‘Do you suppose they have fangs?’ she whispered, shivering.

**********************

Child's post:

Despite his worry, Bingo could not help but smile at Sassy's image of the Big Folk. "Well, they're bad," he agreed, "but not as bad as that. No fangs or horns or anything odd. Just a bigger version of a hobbit. They can be strong but often they're slower than we are. We do have soemthing else going in our favor. Sometimes, when the Big Folk see us, they get so wrapped up thinking how big they are that they can get careless and let down their guard. Let's hope that's so, and that your brother's plan will fool them."

As Bingo talked, he actually felt a bit more optomistic. Perhaps Sondo was right about these srangers and the chances of taking them in with a ruse. "Anyways," he added, "I don't think either of us want to let your brother down. Let's go have a look and see if we can help."