686Chapter 11: The Ring Of Fire
The Ring Of Fire
"Alright, ready to give this a shot?" Hiccup asked.
Toothless only grumbled softly in reply.
"I'm sure it will work this time," Hiccup added.
"Just do not crash us!" Toothless growled and slapped Hiccup with an ear.
"Alright, if you would rather not crash, as fun as it is..."
Hiccup pulled a lever on the side of the saddle, which then locked the tailfin in place. Then he took his foot out of position and waited, silently preparing himself for this next attempt as Toothless took over.
"Ready?" Toothless warbled.
"Go for it, bud!"
They tilted to the side in a wide arc and then angled up into a loop. Finally, they went through a wobbly spin and leveled out into an unsteady glide.
"Thoughts, bud?"
Toothless flicked his ears and grumbled into the wind. Hiccup already knew what the Fury was thinking.
"That feels wrong. The not-tailfin does not move well."
"Yeah, I thought you'd say that. It felt unstable to me too. I'm not sure what else I can change about the design right now. Not without completely reworking it, anyway."
They then returned to the true, shared flying that was far more comforting and familiar. This was time just for the two of them to enjoy the simple and relaxing bonding of shared flight and occasional talks where no one else could interrupt.
They flew long until they eventually landed on a hill near the road. Toothless purred softly as he looked around at the clear night sky. The stars spun around in the highest heavens. Seeing that got him wondering.
"Hiccup, do you know what the stars are?"
"Nope. Why do you ask?"
"Because sometimes I think that they might be the soul-fires of the dragons who lived before. Think about it, they fly very high and look like they burn with fire."
"Maybe. Do you know about Valhalla?" Hiccup shrugged and gently patted Toothless's neck.
"No, what is that?"
"It is where the Vikings say that the dead who died well go. They live forever in a great mead hall in which they feast and battle for the fun of it. Only if they lived well and died honorably. At least, that is how I heard that it works."
Toothless gave a solemn warble.
"What is it?" Hiccup asked.
"I was thinking about what happens when a human dies. Where does the soul-fire go? What about me? Will I become a star and you... not?" he sadly whispered.
Hiccup reassuringly rubbed his neck.
"I hope that we can go to the same place. The gods can't hate you. They'd have to let a good dragon like you into Valhalla."
"How would Vikings know anything about that place?"
"The stories say so. The great Poetic Eddas say that... hey, do you see that?"
"What?" Toothless grumbled in confusion.
"Down on the road."
He looked down the ridge and saw something very strange. There was a four-leg, a horse, galloping along the path. A cloaked figure was on the horse.
"Who would be traveling now?" Hiccup wondered.
Toothless watched the unknown person as it advanced toward Hobbiton. He had little difficulty seeing well in the night's darkness, but he could barely make out one thing about the person.
"Is it normal for a human to have very long face-fur?"
"No, are you sure it is a human?"
"Yes, it is bigger than any Hobbit."
Hiccup thought for a moment and realized something wonderful.
"That must be Gandalf! We should go meet him!"
Toothless growled in agreement and jumped into a long glide. He angled to land in front of the person who was likely Gandalf.
There is much the Wizard needs to hear.
He threw wide his wings with a great stroke and gently touched down. He proudly strode into the middle of the road and then sat down.
The horse reared up and whinnied loudly when he touched down. However, the person on the horse immediately started calming the horse in a very familiar voice. He also had the same strange appearance that they both remembered. The staff in his hands was another certain indicator of who it was.
Toothless remembered that staff very well and did not particularly like it much, even though Gandalf had eventually accepted him.
"Gandalf! Good to see you again!" Hiccup cried as he dismounted and stood at Toothless's shoulder.
Gandalf finished soothing the horse, which was now completely unconcerned about the dragon sitting before it.
"My goodness, you two gave me quite a fright!" Gandalf exclaimed.
"What? Sorry about that. I know that I strike a very imposing image..." Hiccup chuckled and flexed his arms.
Toothless rolled his eyes and huffed in unamusement.
"A fierce dragon, indeed. Am I to suppose from your being here that you are both now living in the Shire?" Gandalf slightly smiled.
"We are," Hiccup answered.
"Oh, gracious me. I must hear more about how you convinced the Hobbits to let a friendly dragon live among them."
"It was easy. I flamed a not-dead thing and made it deader," Toothless smugly purred.
Gandalf's eyebrows took on a life of their own.
"They called it a wight in the Barrow-downs. We, or rather he, killed it for the Hobbits," Hiccup explained with a nod to Toothless.
That explanation clearly caught Gandalf by surprise.
"You killed a Barrow-wight!"
Toothless flashed his teeth and shot a small burst of fire into the sky, as if just to show that he could. Gandalf grumbled softly and stroked his beard.
"Impressive. Those relics of Angmar can still be found scattered through the world, and they are no simple matter to destroy, though light and fire usually does the trick."
"I have much fire."
"You certainly do."
Then the Wizard looked ahead along the road. He was clearly distracted by something.
"I am sorry that I must be on my way. I must see Frodo as soon as possible."
"Perfect. We were getting ready to head back to Bag-end ourselves," Hiccup offered.
"Then hurry up. I have a suspicion about which I dearly hope I am wrong," Gandalf added most cryptically.
Hiccup and Toothless were aloft in seconds, swiftly making their way back to Hobbiton while Gandalf followed below.
"What is twisting his tail?" Toothless asked.
"Not sure. Guess we will find out soon."
They arrived back at Bag-end well before Gandalf arrived on horseback.
"You go ahead, Hiccup. It was a long day, and I want to sleep," Toothless yawned and pawed at the ground.
"Alright, bro. I'll let you know in the morning what Gandalf is so excited about."
Toothless nodded in agreement and then strode inside the barn, pulling the door closed with his tail. Hiccup made his way up to Bag-end, knocked on the door, and entered. It was unlocked, as was usual. Almost no one ever locked doors in the Shire.
Frodo was sitting in his armchair and reading a book by the fireplace. The Hobbit had a warm cup of tea with him.
"Mister Haddock, how was the flight? You said that you were making some adjustments to the tailfin."
Hiccup frowned and collapsed in a chair of his own.
"They didn't work the best. Locking the tailfin in one position really limits how well he can fly. I mean, he can sort of fly but not well at all. Oh, Gandalf is back, by the way."
"Gandalf is here!" Frodo eagerly exclaimed.
"Yeah, he should be getting here any moment now."
"Perfect timing then. I just got back from the Green Dragon a few minutes ago myself. Sam and I were talking."
Sure enough, a dull rapping at the door followed shortly thereafter, and Frodo got up to answer the door.
"Frodo!" Gandalf cried out from beyond.
"Gandalf!" Frodo flung open the door.
The Wizard strode inside, apparently fully intending to get straight to whatever business had brought him back to the Shire.
Then he hit his forehead into a wooden beam.
"Ow!"
Both Frodo and Hiccup flinched at the terrible injury.
"I never learn..." Gandalf muttered while rubbing his forehead.
"Sorry about that..." Frodo wryly chuckled.
Gandalf waved away the words of pity.
"Oh, nevermind that. Frodo, do you remember what I said that you had to do? That special task I had for you."
"Yes."
"Well? Is it secret? Is it safe?" Gandalf desperately asked.
"Yes, no one else knows about it. Not even Mister Haddock."
What is going on? Are they keeping a secret?
"Where is it?" Gandalf continued.
"Excuse me, but do you want me to leave?" Hiccup asked.
"No, you can stay," Gandalf answered after a moment of thought.
Frodo then got up and briskly walked over to a chest in the living room. He retrieved an envelope and handed it to Gandalf.
Amazingly and in defiance of all common sense, Gandalf tossed the envelope into the lit fireplace without even opening the envelope. Then he retrieved a set of tongs.
"Huh? What are you doing?" Frodo exclaimed.
Hiccup shook his head at the complete strangeness of the Wizard's ways.
He arrives at night, departs whenever he wishes, has some power like magic, and just tossed an envelope into the fireplace. To be fair, Berk has its share of craziness also: Gobber claiming that trolls exist and that they steal left socks only. And his wild story about the Boneknapper; who would believe that?
Neither he nor Frodo said anything as they waited for whatever it was that Gandalf was doing. The Wizard finally decided that enough time had passed and retrieved something from the fireplace by using the tongs. Hiccup, interested in what was going on, got up and stood by the fireplace to get a better view.
"Hold out your hand," Gandalf instructed Frodo.
Frodo looked reasonably wary of holding whatever it was, which made a lot of sense given that the thing had been in the fireplace.
"It's quite cool," Gandalf reassured him.
Frodo held out his hand and received the thing even as Gandalf stood up and began to pace. Hiccup was finally able to see what it was that had caused all this activity late at night and which had apparently brought Gandalf with great haste from distant lands.
A plain, golden ring.
That's it? Yep, totally crazy!
"What can you see? Do you see anything?" Gandalf warily asked.
"Nothing. There's nothing," Frodo answered after a few seconds had passed.
Gandalf almost sighed with relief at that response.
Why would he be relieved that the ring is plain? Why did he throw it in the fire?
"Wait..." Frodo added in surprise.
Huh?
"There are markings. It is some form of Elvish, and I cannot read the fiery letters," Frodo lamented.
Gandalf definitely wilted at those words. He slowly spun in place and faced Frodo while leaning on his staff.
Hiccup also looked closely at the ring in Frodo's fingers. The plain ring indeed now had fine lines of red running along its inside and outside. The lines formed a script which was almost familiar to him, though he still could not read anything like it. The ring's letters glowed from within with a piercing light.
As if it was a ring of fire.
That is amazing. Is it heat activated or something like magic? Wow.
"There are few who can. The language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here," Gandalf wearily said.
Even Hiccup had heard whispers of such a name. They were mostly bad things and references in old stories. However, he didn't know as much about that name as he would have liked since Frodo had not shared much of what it meant.
"Mordor!" Frodo exclaimed.
"Mordor?" Hiccup added in confusion.
Gandalf reluctantly nodded.
"The land of Sauron, the Enemy of the free peoples of Middle-earth."
"So, this is his Ring..." Frodo gasped.
"In the Common Tongue it reads, 'One Ring to rule them all. One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them'."
"What does that mean? It doesn't sound good," Hiccup wondered.
Gandalf took a seat and glared at the Ring in Frodo's palm.
"There are, for lack of a better word, magic rings in this world. Three Rings for the Elven kings under the sky. Seven for the Dwarf lords in their halls of stone. Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die. One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne."
"But why does he want it?" Hiccup asked.
It was a magic ring, which made it a fascinating and precious thing, but he was uncertain of its importance.
"This is the One Ring that Sauron imbued with much of his power so that he could control all others. But he lost it many years ago, and he lost much of his power when he lost it. How it came to be here in the Shire, I have only guesses until Bilbo found it deep in the Misty Mountains," Gandalf explained.
Frodo leaned forward in his chair.
"That is how Bilbo escaped from Gollum's cave. The Ring made him invisible, unless I am very much mistaken."
Gandalf grimly nodded and leaned forward.
"Yes, I wondered how Bilbo made it through his adventure unscathed. He found this Ring in Gollumn's cave and used the Ring to hide when needed. For sixty years the Ring lay quiet in Bilbo's keeping, prolonging his life and delaying old age, but no longer. The Ring has awoken. It has heard its master's call," Gandalf ominously whispered.
Hiccup held up a hand, a question on his mind.
"Correct me if I am wrong, but so what if that Sauron person lost his Ring long ago? Why does it matter?"
"Yes, he was destroyed. Sauron was destroyed," Frodo added in agreement.
A very faint whisper, almost of disapproval, echoed in the living room upon those words being spoken. All three of them found their gazes drawn down to the Ring, which shone slightly brighter and more alluring than it had before. It felt like someone else was present with them.
Hiccup felt goosebumps at that moment as everything changed. He knew that this was no simple Ring, and that he had somehow wandered into very serious matters.
Oh my gods... what was that?
Gandalf slowly shook his head while glaring at the Ring.
"No, Frodo. Sauron was not destroyed. He lost his physical form, yes, but his life-force is bound to the Ring, and the Ring endures. Sauron endures as does much of his evil in Mordor. He may have retaken a physical form already. All of his thoughts are turned to finding this Ring. He must never find it!"
"What would happen if he does?" Hiccup warily asked, knowing that it could not be good.
"He would regain his lost power and would summon all evil to him. He would cover all the land in darkness and conquer all the free peoples of Middle-earth. His rule would be unbroken until the ending of the world itself."
Until Ragnarok? Gods...
Frodo realized something at those ominous words. He jumped to his feet as determination blazed in his eyes.
"Then we hide it! I can put it away in my cellar, and we never speak of it again! It will never be found here in the Shire. Who would think to look here? No one else knows that I have it."
Gandalf remained silent, and Frodo noticed.
"Do they, Gandalf?" Frodo whispered.
"There is one other who knew that Bilbo found the Ring, though that other did not know what it was. All this person knew is that Baggins of the Shire took his 'precious' from him."
"Gollum?" Frodo guessed.
"Yes, and I learned long ago that Gollum eventually left his lair in the Misty Mountains. He was captured by the Elves years ago, but they eventually released him out of pity. By some barren paths he made his way, whether out of spite or some other desperation, to the one place in Middle-earth where he could do the most damage. He went to Mordor."
The crackle of the fireplace was the only sound in the room.
"Okay, that is bad," Hiccup granted when he saw the obvious.
"We can only assume that he revealed the truth, whether willingly or not. The Ring cannot stay here in the Shire," Gandalf continued.
Frodo then stepped over to Gandalf and held out the Ring.
"Take it, Gandalf."
Gandalf's eyes went very wide in surprise and alarm.
"No, Frodo."
"You must take it!"
"Do not offer me this Ring!"
"I am giving it to you!"
"Don't tempt me, Frodo!" Gandalf frantically shouted in a voice almost of power.
"Okay, let's just calm down..." Hiccup addressed both of them.
"My apologies, but I dare not take it. Not even to keep it safe. The Ring... tempts anyone who has ambitions or great power. If I were to take it, claim it as mine even only to keep it safe... I would become as corrupt as Sauron."
"Gandalf! How can you think that?" Frodo was incredulous.
"Yeah, just use it for good only," Hiccup added.
Gandalf gave a very weary sigh.
"If only it were that easy. Remember that the Ring has a will of its own. Anything that one of us would do with it even with the best of intentions would always be twisted to its own goals. It cannot be used for good."
Frodo then put the Ring back in a pocket, and he sighed with resignation.
"What must I do?"
Gandalf thought for a moment. It became a very long moment in which the only sound was the crackling of the fire.
"The Ring cannot stay in the Shire. It must go to Rivendell for now," Gandalf eventually declared.
Frodo frowned.
"I will take it then. It is a long way, but I will make it. I will probably need to travel under another name."
"That would be best. Leave the name of Baggins behind you for now. Go to Bree first. I will have someone waiting for you there at the Inn of the Prancing Pony. He will be under the name of Strider."
"Who is it?" Frodo asked.
"He is a Ranger of the Dunedain. He will keep you safe in Bree or along the journey if need be."
"What about you, Gandalf? Where will you be? Aren't you coming with me?"
"I will see the head of my order. He is wise and powerful. He will know best what to do now," Gandalf gave them a reassuring smile.
Hiccup raised a hand and interjected.
"Excuse me, but I have an idea. Why not just have Toothless fly me and Frodo to this place? It would be much faster and safer."
Gandalf looked surprised and thoughtful.
"That is a good idea. We could make very good time and stay off all the roads," Frodo agreed.
"I suppose that you could, if you are comfortable with flying, Frodo. It would indeed be a way to avoid any servants of the Enemy along the road," the Wizard pondered.
Frodo nodded in agreement.
Then Hiccup got to his feet and started toward the door.
"Let's go talk to Toothless about it. I'm sure that he would be glad to help."
"Toothless," Hiccup cried out and opened the door of the den.
Toothless grumbled to himself and shifted in place, only reluctantly lifting his tailfin from his head, getting to his feet, and then sitting down on his rear.
Now what?
He yawned widely and watched as Hiccup, Frodo, and Gandalf walked inside. Frodo brought a torch to give them all some light, not that he himself needed much to see well.
They all looked nervous about something.
Something is twisting their tails...
His suspicion was only confirmed when Hiccup stepped up next to him and put a paw on his neck.
"Toothless, we need to talk," Hiccup very seriously said.
"About what? I was sleeping."
"We just found out that Frodo has to go somewhere. I suggested that we could fly him there to help keep him safe."
He blinked and looked over at Frodo.
"Why would you not be safe?" he asked.
"Because of the Enemy and his servants. They are looking for something we have," Gandalf answered.
Something about that did not make much sense at all. He had no idea what this Enemy was that Gandalf mentioned.
Who would want to hurt a Hobbit?
"What are they looking for?"
Frodo stepped closer and reached a paw into his furs. He pulled something out and held it up for him to see.
"They would be looking for this."
There in Frodo's paw was a small ring of gold.
A brightly-shining ring of gold.
It burned from inside with fire.
A gold ring.
Gold.
Fire.
Power.
A whispering, beckoning call.
Obey...
A flaming eye in his thoughts.
You are mine...
Submit to the will.
I see you...
Faintly familiar.
In the darkness bind them...
Almost known from somewhere.
The lidless eye, wreathed in flame, narrowed on him.
Defiance?
Impossible!
You will serve me...
Claws of shadow reaching out for him from afar...
Digging into his soul-fire and sparking to life...
"Toothless..."
You do not know...
"Bud..."
The truth...
He blinked and realized that he was snarling, breathless, and had backed himself up into the rear of the den. However, Hiccup still stood with him and was gently rubbing his neck.
"Toothless, are you okay?"
That was Hiccup's voice that broke through the whispering and brought him back to himself. Hiccup's desperate and fearful voice.
He breathed very deeply to catch his breath as that twisted whispering, that presence, faded into the shadows of feeling. But it was not wholly gone. It felt like he was prey with an unknown predator circling around him in the darkness.
Being prey was not something he liked at all.
"Put it away!" he snarled without looking at the gold ring.
Frodo did so and put the ring away into his furs.
The seconds passed in silence as he stared at the far wall of his den, slowly slowing his breathing while Hiccup reassuringly stayed at his side.
"What is that thing?" he growled.
Gandalf stepped forward and spoke up before Hiccup had a chance to answer. The tip of the Wizard's staff was shining slightly. That light was far brighter and more soul-fire warming than the fire ring's light had been.
"What do you think of it, Toothless?"
Again, he growled openly.
"It is very bad. It wanted to talk to me and... it feels like something else I once knew about..."
"What?" Gandalf asked.
Toothless hung his head and stared at his paws. Finally, he looked up at Gandalf and met the Wizard's eyes.
"A very bad Queen dragon that controlled many other dragons," he whined in response.
Gandalf considered this with a very way look in his eyes as he stroked his beard.
"How curious. The Enemy's influence goes far indeed. Did the Ring say anything to you?"
He only shook his head, not wanting to relate what he had truly felt.
"No, I did not talk to it, and I do not want to. It feels very dangerous."
Gandalf nodded in apparent approval.
"I am relieved that you think so. That, almost as much as your friendship with Hiccup, is proof to me and to any person of good will that you are not truly a creature of the Enemy. However, if I do not misunderstand you, it might not be a good idea to have you be near the Ring for long. This makes flying the Ring to its destination impossible, regrettably."
Toothless glared as he looked at the place where the Ring was hidden in Frodo's furs.
"Gandalf, is an eye of fire important?" he asked the Wizard.
"How do you know that?" Gandalf exclaimed.
"That is what I saw in my head. It was as if the ring was the fire-eye."
Gandalf started pacing, again deep in thought. The Wizard did that a lot.
"You see well. Better than with human eyes. I suspect that the eye of fire is the presence of Sauron. He can see into anyone's dreams and wishes, and his Ring would tempt them with what they want most."
"He cannot offer me anything that I want," he growled back with complete confidence.
"Do not be so sure of that, Toothless," Gandalf warned him.
"So, what did we decide?" Frodo warily asked.
"I do not think it would be good for me to carry you. That Ring is dangerous to me," Toothless answered.
Gandalf nodded his approval.
"I agree. You can feel Sauron's presence more clearly than we could. I will need to think about why that is the case."
Frodo frowned, clearly disappointed at that conclusion. Then he brightened with an idea.
"If you two are willing to go with me anyway, I would feel better with some company than if I had to travel on my own. It is a long way to Rivendell from here. That is where Bilbo went too, so you would both be able to properly meet him if you come with me. I know that Bilbo would definitely want to meet you, Toothless."
Toothless glanced at Hiccup. He knew that they needed to speak on their own before any such decision could be made.
That is a good idea. We could go with Frodo on the ground to keep him safe.
"Would you two let me and Hiccup speak alone for a moment?"
"Certainly. We will be up at Bag-end," Gandalf answered.
Gandalf and Frodo left the den a moment later.
Silence followed with just him and Hiccup in the den.
They both sighed as one, and he collapsed on his belly.
"What was that?" he whispered.
"Nothing good. That Sauron is a very bad person-Wizard-thing, not really sure which. Gandalf thought that Frodo might be in danger," Hiccup explained.
Toothless snarled at that.
"I would like us to protect him if we can, but doing that would mean leaving the Shire."
They both turned their thoughts to the surrounding land where they had lived in peace.
"Yeah, bud. It would mean leaving, but Frodo has been very good to us. He is the reason we are living here at all. We might also get more of a chance to explore the world, as we have wanted to do for a while now."
"True," Toothless sighed and looked away from him.
.
"Hiccup, I..."
"What is it, bud?"
.
"Toothless?"
Toothless spun in place and stared directly into Hiccup's kind green eyes. They were filled with worry and care.
"What happened to me? What did you see me do? Tell me the truth."
Hiccup stumbled with his words for a moment before answering.
"You didn't do anything, not really. You stared at the Ring, started growling, and it looked like you were hurting. Your eyes were slit and angry. I asked you if you were okay, and that is when you were... you again."
Hiccup was attentively watching Toothless's reaction as he explained what he saw. He noticed something very foreign in the Fury's eyes. There was a very faint hint of fear which had definitely not been present before.
"Toothless, what are you worried about?"
Toothless hesitated to look at him, so Hiccup stepped over to the Fury and gently held his head in his hands.
"Brother, you can tell me. Just between us," Hiccup whispered.
Toothless blinked once and then sighed.
"That Ring did speak to me. It said that I was his and that he could see me."
Hiccup leaned forward and rested his head against Toothless's muzzle.
"I don't believe it. You belong to no one else. You are a free dragon. Also, you are not like the dragons of Middle-earth."
"I hope not," Toothless whispered.
"I know you are not. Should we go tell Frodo and Gandalf that we are going with?"
"Yes, we should help Frodo," he agreed and got to his feet.
They walked together through the night up to Bag-end. It was the same quiet, calm night sky that they had been flying in earlier this evening. That was back when the greatest concern in life involved testing the adjustments to the tailfin.
But the night felt very different now, even after they arrived outside Bag-end.
"You go ahead. I will rest here," Toothless lay down in the front lawn.
Despite the seriousness of all that they had discussed, Hiccup saw a perfect opportunity.
"Are you sure you don't want to come inside?"
"Hiccup, you know I cannot fit in that den..."
Hiccup paused at the door and cheekily grinned.
"Right, you have had too many fish..."
"Hiccup!" Toothless barked.
Hiccup closed the door behind him.
"What did you two decide?" Frodo eagerly asked.
"We will come with you. Honestly, we have both wanted to see more of Middle-earth anyway. This is an opportunity to do that and help keep you safe."
"Well, I am glad to hear it!" Frodo sighed with relief.
Gandalf stepped over to Hiccup and put a hand on his shoulder.
"As am I. It is good that Frodo will not be journeying on his own. A friendly and protective dragon should certainly help to dissuade any vagabonds one may meet along the way."
"Yeah, Toothless can be very protective when he feels like it," Hiccup groaned.
"As I know very well," Gandalf chuckled.
"Am I missing something here?" Frodo asked.
"No." "Not really."
Frodo only shrugged.
"Keep your secrets then. I will start packing. We leave in the morning?"
Gandalf nodded.
"That would be best, yes. Travel by day as much as possible and stay off the roads."
Frodo grinned at that.
"I can cut across country, Gandalf."
The Hobbit then threw a long, solemn glance around Bag-end.
"I will miss home a lot. My books, the garden, Brandywine River, the strawberries and cream, Bag-end, the lights in the party tree, and everything else about the Shire. But I am going to see Rivendell and the Elves and Bilbo again! This will be my little adventure there and back again. I am excited for this!" Frodo finished with a determined nod.
Gandalf laughed a truly merry laugh.
"My dear Frodo, Hobbits truly are amazing creatures. They are so simple; everything about their ways can be learned in a month, and yet even after a hundred years, they still surprise and amaze me."
"Sam! I did not see you. What are you doing there?" Toothless shouted from outside Bag-end.
"Sam?" "Sam!" "Samwise Gamgee!"
Gandalf, Frodo, and Hiccup flew toward the door and filtered outside. Hiccup and Frodo pulled up in surprise as they saw Samwise Gamgee stumbling out of the shrubbery near the open window of Bag-end's study room.
Gandalf did not stop. Instead, he swiftly strode toward Sam with his cloak swaying behind him.
Toothless pranced over to Hiccup and Frodo.
"I hope I did not get him in trouble," Toothless whispered.
The Wizard stopped before Sam, towering over the small Hobbit.
"Confound you, Samwise Gamgee! Have you been eavesdropping?"
"I haven't been dropping no eaves, sir. Honest! I was just trimming the shrubbery outside the window there, if you follow me!"
"A little late for gardening, isn't it?"
"I heard raised voices!" Sam protested.
"What did you hear? Speak!" Gandalf exclaimed.
"Nnnnnnnnothing important... that is, I heard a good deal about Toothless, a Ring, a Dark Lord, and something about the end of the world!" Samwise Gamgee squeaked.
"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup sighed.
"I'm sorry, Mister Gandalf. Please don't hurt me. Don't turn me into anything... unnatural..." Sam pleaded.
Gandalf grumbled to himself and then slowly turned around to look at Frodo, Hiccup, and Toothless. The Wizard's eyes sparkled with mirth while the rest of his expression was most dour. Then he turned back to face Sam.
"No? Perhaps not," Gandalf gruffly muttered.
He leaned in to whisper to Sam while the Hobbit paled.
"I've thought of a better use for you. You are going to accompany Frodo on this mission."
Sam blinked in shock.
"Me?"
"No, the other Gamgee who was caught sticking his nose into a Wizard's business! Yes, you, Master Samwise!"
"Oh my, but if you are going to Rivendell, that means that I would get to see the Elves, yes?" Sam eagerly asked.
"Yes, Master Samwise. If you go to Rivendell there is a good chance that you might see Elves there," Gandalf blithely remarked.
"Well, it has always been a dream of mine to see them."
Sam then shyly looked at Frodo.
"Mister Frodo, I will keep you safe even if I have to carry you myself! I promise!"
Frodo chuckled and moved to embrace Sam, briefly hugging him and then stepping away.
"Oh Sam, I know you will, and I'm glad that you will be going with me. But I hope that this journey will not be too difficult. We are just going to Rivendell for a few weeks after all, there and back again. Think of this as a little vacation. We won't be away forever."
Hiccup almost felt tempted to say something, but instead he held his peace.
"We are leaving in the morning, yes?" Sam warily asked.
"At the first light of dawn," Gandalf answered.
"You might want to go and start packing, Sam. Oh, and tell Rosie's folks that you will be away for a while. She might want to know," Frodo advised.
Sam paled again.
"Hiccup? Can we talk?" Toothless whispered.
"I think we are right now."
"Hiccup..."
"Alright..."
They stepped aside down the path to Toothless's barn, and they walked until they were out of hearing of the others.
"What is it?" Hiccup asked.
"You need to get your traveling things, yes?"
"Yeah, that will not take long."
Toothless nodded.
"I wanted to ask you something else. Would you stay with me in my den tonight?"
"Sure, any reason why?"
A faint snarl followed.
"That Ring. It is very bad, and I hope that I do not have bad dreams about it."
"You really think that my being there can help you with a bad dream?" Hiccup kindly chuckled.
"Maybe, and maybe not. It felt not very different from that thought-control that I told you about. That does scare me. You might be able to help keep me safer from that."
"Wait, how could I do that?" Hiccup exclaimed in surprise.
Toothless grumbled, almost speaking but then pausing several times.
"I... do not know how to say it well. I think that you can help me, somehow, just by being there."
It was not lost on Hiccup that Toothless was basically asking for help or reassurance. That was very significant for the proud Fury to do.
"Always, bro."
They remained standing together outside under the stars even after Gandalf, Frodo, and Sam had all departed to attend to their preparations. It felt very relaxing to enjoy in peace what might be their last night in the Shire for a long time.
A song that Frodo had taken to humming in recent weeks and which Bilbo had apparently penned hovered in Hiccup's thoughts. It also felt very appropriate for the circumstances.
"The Road goes ever on and on... Down from the door where it began... Now far ahead the Road has gone... And I must follow, if I can... Pursuing it with eager feet... Until it joins some larger way... Where many paths and errands meet... And whither then? I cannot say."
"Nor I, but we will fly these winds together," Toothless whispered.
They stared up at the stars and the moon without saying anything else.