Disclaimer: I do not own lord of the rings though I do own my oc's and if you whant to post it on another sight plz just ask via message or comment and I will get back to you asap

A/N I did this for a class in 7th grade so plz only constructive crit.

To The Shire

By Nicholas Reed

We started our journey three days and twelve leagues ago. We are returning from "The Cracks of Doom", where Frodo had to destroy the master ring in the volcano Orodruin. We are tired, hot, and hungry. Our feet hurt, and our tempers are as short as we are. After all, four leagues a day, is a long way for a dwarf, a hobbit, and an elf to travel. We've been through snow in the mountains, rain on the flatlands, and now we're in the scorching heat of a desert valley. There is not a tree in sight to give us shade. All around us is flat black stone. Everything looks as if it's dead. I can't help but wonder how any creature can live here - it is dreary and depressing. At night, the only light we have is from the stars and the moon. The thought of the lush green hills and cool air of the Shire, helps keep us going. Frodo is especially anxious to get there because it is his home. We're hoping to get there before Harvestmath¸ the hobbit's celebration of the fall harvest. There is always good food, good drink, and great music. We still have about 41 more leagues to go. We are estimating it will take us about ten or eleven more days.

Before I start telling you about our trip to the Shire, I want to tell you a little more about who we are. I am Stadrune, son of Tolkien, a dwarf rune keeper. I have many trades including cook, tailor, and farmer. I am from Erebor, in the Lonely Mounain. Like most dwarves, I am short, only four foot and three inches tall. I am a little on the porky side, but so are all dwarves. I am the leader among our group. I have a natural sense of direction, which has come in very handy during our adventure. I am known for many battles, but there is one that sticks out the most, the battle for my home. Goblins were besieging us and I had to fight to the death. That is the battle where I lost both my father and my mother.

My travel companions are Frodo Baggins, a hobbit. He is the only son of Drodo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck. He was raised by his uncle Bilbo Baggins after his parents were killed. Frodo never has much to say and usually likes to keep to himself. He is very strong, both morally and physically. He is actually tall for a hobbit, three feet and six inches tall. Like all hobbits he has furry feet. I wouldn't say he is fat, he is kind of on the thin side. Frodo's distinctive mark is the scar on his left hand which he got from fighting King Nazgul. Also, he is missing one of his fingers, which was bitten off by Gollum on the slopes of Orodruin.

Stadlen, son of Reuel, is an elf and a lore master. His trades are farmer, forester, and woodworker. He is the oldest of our group and by far the tallest, about six feet. One of his distinctive features is a long thin scar right down the middle of his face from the wrong side of a goblin's blade. He wears an emerald green cloak, a gift from his wife, Drusellda, who was killed by the very same goblin who gave him the scar. You definitely don't want to get on his bad side. I am told his robes are made from a troll who crossed him. It's not that he isn't a good guy; he just has a little bit of a temper. Wherever Stadlen is, his bear companion, Stella, isn't too far behind. Stella is a polar bear. She looks fierce, but is gentle as a teddy bear. Don't let her fool you, if she is threatened or if you threaten or try to hurt Stadlen, she can be as fierce as a hungry lion. How the troll got on Stadlen's bad side, was by messing with Stella.

Out of all the hobbits and elves I could have had with me, I am glad I have Stadlen and Frodo. Our journey to the Shire is long. We are bound to run into trouble and when we do I have no doubt we will be able to handle it. After what I saw of Stadlen and Frodo at "The Cracks of Doom", I have no doubt we can conquer anything. After all, it's not like any of us are a stranger to adventure or danger. Even though Frodo doesn't say much, he makes up for it in his determination and will. I would go into any fight with him. It seems as though his strength is that of someone much bigger than he is. And Stadlen, his magical powers are a plus in any situation. As I look at them I can't help but think, I am proud to be their friends. Even that goofy bear Stella.

I look behind me and Stadlen is playing with Stella, again. "Let's get going! We want to get back to the Shire before Harvestmath, don't we?" I yelled "STADLEN! Leave- the- bear- ALONE!" I snapped. Sigh I thought to myself, why does he always have to play with Stella? Frodo isn't a stranger to walking, but he doesn't wear shoes and about two leagues back he stepped on a spiky root and cut his foot. Unfortunately, cuts from spiky roots can't be easily healed with magic. Fortunately, I being a tailor, always have scraps of cloth with me. We were able to use them as bandages. Stadlen soaked them in cilrag slime and rapped Frodo's feet in them. Frodo isn't usually one to complain, he is often known to take long walks and be gone for hours or even days. So it's not the walking that is getting him out of sorts, I think the spiky root is affecting his disposition. However, this trip is wearing on us all. He has started whining, which is very uncharacteristic of him. I'm trying not to get annoyed, but it's hard.

"Can you please make a Rune of Restoration?" Frodo whined. A Rune of restoration is a pyramid shaped rock with glowing runic letters on it. You can tell by the rock's obvious perfect right angles, it is not something made in nature. It is a healing rune often used to restore morale.

"No, Frodo. I just made one a league ago." I said.

"Whyyyyy nooooootttt?" Whined Frodo. I'm beginning to lose my patience with him. "We don't want a balrog following us do we?" I asked with an annoyed tone. Balrogs are tall and menacing, demonic creatures, with the ability to shroud themselves in fire, darkness, and shadow.

"No, but my feet hurt" he continued to whine. He was clearly losing all his common sense. I know he didn't want to spook a balrog or any other creature for that matter, but the intense heat and lack of water can make a hobbit lose his mind out here. I know we are going to have to find a place to stop soon. I was hoping to find some place where we could get some shelter. Maybe then I can make some shoes for him out of the old leather I have in my pack. I was saving it for something, but I can't seem to think of what it is. My sanity and Frodo's feet are more important right now.

A thought finally occurred to me; "Ask Stadlen if you can ride Stella. She can hold up to a ton can't she?" Usually bear companions don't like to be ridden, but perhaps she will make an exception this one time. "Hey, Stadlen, can Frodo ride Stella? He's driving me insane with his whining." Stadlen whose actually been keeping his temper for change, nods his head and holds his staff in one hand and then puts his other hand in the air.

Stadlen looks at Stella and says," Sit, be gentle, good bear" then pats her on the head. Frodo climbs on her back. Her white fur stands out like a sore thumb against the black rock. Stella looks at Frodo then shoots an annoyed look at Stadlen.

Stella asks "Do I really have to?"

"Sorry Stella, I really need you to do this. No biting or snarling. Just do it for me. If you don't we will have to listen to him whining the rest of the way. Anyways, it is just until we can get the next town. We'll get him some new shoes there." Stadlen always has a way of putting things into perspective.

I turn to Frodo and Stadlen. "Everyone happy now? Good now let's keep going." We march on for another league or two when all of the sudden, I hear Stadlen screaming and then shoots past me like a rocket.

"Run! Balrog!" If you have never seen an elf and a hobbit run, it can be a funny sight, except right now was not a time to laugh, not when we have a balrog chasing us. I am so tired after all the walking we have done, I don't know how much farther I can run with my already tired legs. I wonder how fast one of those things can run anyways. However fast it is, I don't want to find out. Thankfully, Frodo spots a cave.

"Quick, into that cave! The balrog won't fit in it, but we will." Frodo yelled. We began running towards the entrance of the cave, hoping we could all stay far enough ahead to get to safety. The cave was very dark. There are no stars or moon to light the way like there was in the valley. Now there is only darkness and quiet, like a big void. Stella was cowering off at another part of the cave. I'm trying to listen for the balrog's footsteps, but all I can hear is our heavy breathing. I start feeling around; trying to find some kind of bearing on where we are in the cave and what else is in here. I stumble on something big.

"Stella, is that you? I thought Stella was hiding back there" I asked Stadlen.

Stadlen whispers "She is."

I try to remain calm and feel around again to see what it is that I stumbled onto. It feels soft like it has fur and a snout like Stella.

"I can feel something that feels an awful lot like a bear. If it isn't Stella, then that means this bear I'm petting is a real bear and probably isn't friendly. He's also probably not very happy we are in his cave." I could hear the trembling in my voice. If it's true that bears can sense fear, then we're in big trouble.

"No! That's a wild bear! Run!" Stadlen yelled. Everyone began pushing trying to find their way out of the cave.

In our panic, I hear Frodo ask "What about the balrog? If it's a choice between the bear and the balrog, I'd rather take my chances with the bear. At least it would be more of fair fight."

I tried to regain my composure so I could think. I listened carefully to see if I could hear the balrog.

"He should be gone by now. I don't hear his footsteps any more. Stadlen, stick your head out of the entrance and see if you can see him."

Stadlen asked "Why me?"

"Because you're the tallest" I answered.

Stadlen walked along the wall feeling his way to the front of the cave. His voice echoed in the cave.

"All clear, it's safe and sound. Let's get outta here!" Frodo ad I follow the sound of his voice. The noise we made woke the bear. We started to run, but Frodo's feet weren't making it easy for him. Just before the grizzly bear was going to reach us, Stella comes running and leaps onto the bear. She manages to do some damage to the bear and let it know that it better leave us alone. The bear turned and headed back into the cave.

The sky has darkened and I look up to see if I can figure out what time it is. According to the position of the moon and stars, I decide its dinner time. I think we all worked up an appetite after all that running.

"I know it seems like we keep stopping and starting but I think we should take a break and have some dinner before we look for a place to stay for the night" I suggest.

"I'm all for the break and food, but do you really think it's wise to camp here with the balrog lurking around?"

Stadlen has never been one to turn down food. We find some nearby rocks to sit down on. As I'm feeling in the sack for the rations I notice my fingers poking out of the bottom of the bag.

"Oh no!" I said.

"What's wrong?" asked Stadlen.

"Now I remember what I was going to use that old piece of leather for. The bag with all our rations has a hole in it! I was planning on using the old piece of leather in my sack to make a patch for it, but I forgot!"

We spend the next hour looking around for a place to stay for the night. With the lack of trees, it's hard to find any place that will keep us well hidden. We certainly weren't going to try our chances with the bear in the cave again. Fortunately for me hobbits and elves are very handy. Frodo and Stadlen get a whole bunch of rocks and manage to make a shelter with them. It's hot enough that we don't really need a fire. With a fully belly, I feel myself drifting asleep. We are taking turns staying up and watching for any unwanted company. Stadlen has the first watch.

It's finally morning. I don't think I slept more than an hour all night. Between Frodo's snoring, the growling in my stomach, and worrying about getting to the Shire, I just couldn't sleep. Fortunately the night was uneventful. I get up and I can see Stadlen doing something in the distance. I walk over to Frodo and give him a little kick to wake him up.

"Frodo, get up, its morning." Frodo rolls over and looks at me in a groggy kind of way.

"Already, I just fell asleep. I had the last watch."

I laugh. "You've been snoring all night."

Stadlen walks over to us.

"I have been looking around. The tracks of the balrog go north. We need to head south, so we should be ok. There has to be some food around here somewhere for that bear and anything else that lives around here to eat. Let's pack up and start walking. Keep your eyes peeled for some food."

Just as we get done packing up I see something out of the corner of my eye. It's the balrog!

"Stadlen, Frodo, grab our stuff and run! It's the balrog!

With renewed energy we start running like our pants are on fire. Frodo comes up with a good idea.

"Zig, zag! It's hard for a balrog to run with his short legs, so making turns is difficult for them. Also, because their eyes are on the sides of their heads they can't see us when we keep changing directions" said Frodo.

We run back and forth like we are playing some kind of game of tag, but this time we aren't doing it for fun, we are doing it to save our lives. I look back and the distance between us and the balrog is getting bigger. However, you can see it is getting madder. He roars and flames shoot out of his mouth. Some of them hit Frodo's legs.

"Frodo, drop to the ground and roll!" I yell.

Just then Stadlen turns with his staff and shoots out a bolt of lightning and hits the balrog square between the eyes. It stuns him long enough for Frodo to get the flames out. He goes to get up and he struggles. On top of his already injured foot, both his feet are now burnt.

"Stadlen! Summon Stella to carry Frodo again, his feet are burnt and he can't walk or run."

Stadlen glances over at me and nods his head. Then he holds his staff in one hand and then puts his other hand in the air. All of the sudden he is surrounded by a florescent purple and white light. He is glowing and the next thing I know, there is Stella. Stadlen picks up Frodo like he is a sack of carrots and throws him onto Stella's back. She groans. We continue to run. Stadlen shoots him with more light bursts, then while he is blinded, Stadlen takes his staff and slams into the ground. Out shoots a tower of water which shoots the balrog right in the face. Shrouded in fire, it puts the fire out and the balrog fades away, defeated.

I'm glad Stadlen is with us. He is good about keeping his head and staying focused. He really saved our lives. I think he is just as determined as any of us to reach the Shire, sooner rather than later.

"We should get going. We need to make some headway before we have to stop again. All these distractions are getting in our way" says Stadlen.

We continue walking for another couple of hours. We haven't eaten yet and it's getting hot and we are running out of water. Frodo managed to find some prickly pears, a desert fruit. It would have gone perfectly with our bread, if we still had it. Instead Stella caught a desert claw. I killed it with my axe and Stadlen cooked it with his burning embers. It should keep us going for a few more days. We come across an area that looks like it could be over an aquifer. The ground appears to be a little less dry than the surrounding areas. Stadlen lifts his staff into the air. It begins to glow a reddish color, then he circles the staff around in the air and then all of the sudden slams it down onto the ground. There is a loud crackling sound, the ground starts to shake and tremor. We look down at the ground and it is cracked. Next we hear a roaring sound as water starts to shoot out of the ground. We all start dancing around in the water. It's cool and refreshing. We are dancing with our mouths wide open filling them with the sweet water. Even Stella is lapping up as much water as she can. As a polar bear, the heat is extremely grueling for her. Finally, with full bellies and our thirst quenched, we continue our journey. We travel another league or so when we think we see a mirage. As we walk closer, it becomes clearer, it's a town! We start yelling in unison. Even Stella appeared to be celebrating. She was roaring loudly. We pick up our pace.

The town was lush and green. It was an oasis in the middle of the desert. We were confused. Are we dreaming or is this real?

"Stadlen, pinch me so I know it's real" I said.

We come across a little hut. Frodo knocks on the door and Strider answers the door. We are shocked to see him.

"Strider!" We all say, stunned. "What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?"

"I came to help some of Arwen's family. I was going to be leaving soon. It looks like you three might need some help though. Why don't you tell me what brings YOU here" he questioned.

Before we begin our tale, he welcomes us in and gives us some food and a place to sit. We tell him about our journey through the desert and our run in with the balrog. We were so happy to see a friendly face, everything we had overcome didn't seem to matter.

Strider gave us goats to ride and we replenish our supplies with water, food, weapons, and a few other things that may come in handy. Strider is filled with so much knowledge. He is a pathfinder and healer. He is priceless to have on a journey, especially one that is long and dangerous. His healing abilities alone make him worth bringing along. He was able to heal Frodo using special athelas leaves. Just the way he did the last time he saved Frodo's life. He even has a pair of shoes for Frodo, made out of troll skin. Hopefully they will keep him from getting his feet hurt again.

As we are getting ready to leave Strider says "hold on! Harrrleeyyy!"

The next thing we know a balrog is running towards us! Stadlen, Frodo, and I, start to scramble for a place to hide, but then Strider stops us.

"Wait! This is Harley, he's the friendly balrog who saved me."

We cautiously crawl out form our hiding places. Now that we have Strider, our time should pass a lot faster. Having the goats to ride and Harley to carry our entire load will quicken things as well.

We arrive to the Shire in half the time we expected. It is lusher and greener than I ever dreamed. It is more beautiful than I could have imagined. All the hobbits are busy and carefree as usual. I see the Took's are harvesting their pumpkins. Others are making fireworks for the festival. Everyone is so busy at work, no one notices us entering the town. Then all of the sudden, our friend Sam-wise, looks up from the paper lanterns he is making and can't believe his eyes. He drops everything and runs over to us and grabs Frodo to give him a big hug. Then all of the sudden everyone sees Harley and starts running away. After all, it's not every day you see a balrog in the Shire. Once everyone calms down and we explain he is friendly, they go back about their business like nothing has happened. You would think after all we have been through, we would get a little nicer greeting. The only reason why anyone noticed us was because of Harley.

We all want to go take a nice long nap in a nice warm bed, but instead we help get ready for Harvestmath. It feels so good to finally be here. I can't wait until our next adventure.

"Hey Stadlen! When can we head back?"

Both Stadlen and Frodo throw me a dirty look and say "No!"