Taking a stroll (OPEN)

[samwise]

It was Sam’s day off. No gardening on that day, no digging in the earth, no planting, no watering, no cutting off withered leaves or trimming the lawn in Master Bilbo's garden. It was on days like these that Sam came to ponder on what else there was in this world besides gardening. Plants owned such a large piece of his heart and took up most of his time that – once he had time to spare – most of his thoughts circled around plants. Plants, and his family. And Rosie, of course. He never could forget about dearest Rosie Cotton. And of course, there also were the hobbits he considered as friends: Frodo, Pippin, and Merry.

But what Sam was pondering about today was something a little different than to take notes in his mind as to which plants to take care of the next day, or to think about upcoming birthdays and what kinds of gifts he ought to purchase, or which kind of pipe he’d like to smoke later on. No, today his thoughts circled about something that lay outside of the Shire: Exotic plants, magical flowers, radiant in colour and smell. What plants where there that did not grow in the Shire? That grew in different climates? In his mind, Sam painted the most peregrine kinds of blossoms in the most daring colours.

Of course, were Sam a little more courageous, he’d pack his bag and take a small trip to explore the meadows and forests and riversides outside of the Shire, across the border to Wilderland, to explore new plants. But he was not very venturesome. Yes, he liked to dream about such adventures, and about different plants and different people – especially about Elves. But he would never dare to actually go any further than dreaming.

So, that day Sam found himself taking a stroll across the soft green hills of the Shire, softly humming a tune while being deep in thoughts. He prodded his hiking stick into the ground according to the rhythm of his humming. Images of elflike creatures – how Sam imagined the Elves to look like, without ever having seen one – passed his mind, and of huge plants with enormous blooms, and mountains as high as towers, and eagles just like old Master Bilbo had described them to him.

[PEREGRIN TOOK]

It was a beautiful day for a stroll. Pippin was tired of lying in the grass like he had done the last few days, so perhaps he should do something more productive… A stroll would be a great way to occupy him – perhaps not the way his mother had meant it when she had sent her young son outside to do something. Pippin had his usually happy smile on his lips as he walked down the small road from his house to the main road that led to Hobbiton. Perhaps he should pay Frodo a visit – he would probably not mind having a little chat with the younger hobbit. In his head Pippin planned out his trip and figured that he had not brought any food with him, just the usual Old Toby tobacco, which was in many ways better than food. The young hobbit stopped. No, those two things could not be compared.

He sat down on a milestone and found a long pipe in the inner pocket of his small vest. He placed it between his lips and found some tobacco which he put into the round hole of the pipe. After this he lit it and soon smoke came out from his mouth. Pippin coughed a few times till the smoke cleaned up and took another deep drag. Oh, Old Toby. The best tobacco ever made. As he started to lazily blow rings of smoke in front of him, he crossed one leg over the other and decided to stay here for a while. The stone was warm and he enjoyed the sound from buzzing insects on the field behind him.

That sound got soon interrupted by the familiar sound of bare hobbit feet against the ground. And Pippin looked up to see who was coming in his direction – perhaps a traveller with a good story to tell. But his eyes fell upon a familiar (round) shape that was nothing like the traveller he had imagined in his mind. The hobbit’s name was Samwise Gamgee and he was a bit older than him, but he was one of the many young hobbits he could call a friend and a warm welcoming smile formed on his lips. He raised a hand in a wave. “Ahoy Sam. Are you enjoying the good weather today? I am surprised that it doesn't rain! My old grandpa says that everytime his legs hurt, a storm is approaching... His legs were hurting this morning, but I don't see any heavy clouds!” He blabbed.

((I HAVE MISSED SAM AND PIP))

[samwise]

Old Toby - what a wonderful thing! How grateful Sam was for good old Tobold Hornblower to invent this tobacco type! The young gardener allowed himself to smoke some, mostly at leisure time, at the Green Dragon. He was the proud owner of a little wooden pipe, made out of light coloured wood carved into a very simple pipe shape, which he had bought from some of the first money his job as gardener had brought him, and for his visits at the Green Dragon he would always bring along his pipe and the pipeweed. Now, however, on his walk, he did not bring along either of those. No, he did not intend to smoke. Instead, he had packed a few ripe, very red apples into his worn leather backpack. He planned on finding himself a nice comfortable place to sit down, enjoy the sun, flowers, birds' chirping, and then bite into one of those juicy sweet apples.

With his hands on the belts of his backpack to hold it in place, a merry hobbit tune about marching and hiking, Sam strolled along his path. It first led him up a hill, bringing the dear hobbit quite out of breath - he possessed patience and endurance, and could hike up the hills all day long, but his lungs often thought differently and laboured his breathing. Thus, he was especially relieved to finally reach the hill's top. He stopped just for a little while to catch his breath and enjoy the view. Little hobbit streets, hobbit holes, hobbit houses, and hobbits themselves he could see. He sighed happily, and continued down the hill again, following the path further.

A familiar voice roused Sam from his thoughts. "Master Pippin!" Sam exclaimed happily as soon as his eyes fell on the younger hobbit. "Nice one you've got there!" He told, pointing at one of Pippin's smoke rings while he travelled closer to Pippin. One he reached him, he let his backpack drop onto the grass beside the road. "A fine weather, Master Pippin! Very fine... Perhaps your old grandpa is right and it will be a storm tomorrow! There always follows bad weather on good, and good on bad!" Sam told with his down-to-earth wisdom, nodding solemnly. He hoped that Pippin's grandpa was alright with his leg. Perhaps he had bumped into somewhere with it, and that was why it hurt. But Sam was not pessimistic. He liked to think positive.


((I MISSED THEM TOO!))

[PEREGRIN TOOK]

The young curly haired hobbit exhaled some more smoke as he chuckled happily back up at Samwise Gamgee who was looking down at him with his hands in his belt. “It is a wonderful spring weather we have indeed. I bet that you feel a bit warmer when you stand up as you are closer to the sun…” he grinned and chewed a bit on the end of the wooden pipe. He moved a bit and patted a spot for Sam on the milestone next to him and let out a deep and satisfied sigh. “Why don’t you take a seat next to me? I have some Old Toby with me we can share…” He said before continuing, “The best weed in the entire Shire. I cannot live without it.” He young hobbit waved absentmindedly away a wasp that seemed to be interested in buzzing around his right ear. Pippin was not afraid of small stinging creatures like that. He was not allergic and he knew that they only stung if you happened to bother them somehow. Just like dog usually only attacked if they felt threatened by you – however those were a completely different matter. They could almost eat the little hobbit in one mouth full, so Pippin often avoided them.

Pippin thought of the many times him and Merry had been chased by Farmer Maggot’s dogs when he had caught them stealing his vegetables. But they could not help it. He had so many of them, and they were so big and good and juicy! Why couldn’t he just spare a couple of vegetables? Pippin wondered before turning back to Sam. “I was actually thinking about visiting Frodo Baggins in Hobbiton, but I changed my mind, so now I am just sitting and relaxing here.” He gave him a friendly smile. “My mum wanted me to do something productive and that is what I am doing.” The young hobbit joked.

“You are right though about the weather!” Sam was always right. Him and Frodo were considered the smart ones of their group. Frodo was perhaps more the philosophical type of hobbit, while Sam had his feet solidly planted on the ground and was very thoughtful and logical. Or well, he was at least in Pippin’s mind. Merry and Pippin were completely different. They liked pranks and were always on the move. They were of course a couple of years younger than the two other hobbits and were therefore more like small kids. Pippin was however considered the clumsiest one of the four friends. But he could not help it. He just happened to put himself into those bad situations…

[samwise]

"Oh, fine!" Samwise exclaimed happily when Pippin offered him to sit beside him - an offer Sam would not turn down! He placed himself on the milestone next to Pippin and enjoyed the view from this new angle, inhaling the light smoke coming from the glowering Old Toby. "Thanks, Master Pippin! Thanks a lot! Nothing's finer than good Old Toby. But, you see, I don't have me pipe with me!" As if to prove that he truly had no pipe stored anywhere in his backpack, he lifted it now and opened it and showed its content to Pippin. "Just a few apples and a leather flask of water. Do you want an apple, Pippin?" He asked. Sam himself did not feel hungry just yet. He had not been wandering for long now, perhaps for half on hour, or perhaps for one whole hour. He couldn't tell. But, he did fetch the water flask out of the backpack, opened it carefully and took a large gulp from it before storing it back to where it had been.

Dear goodhearted Sam was not afraid of many creatures. Or, at least he had not met a beast yet of which he was truly scared. Perhaps a dog had given him a little fright at some point, all of a sudden barking at him, or a cow, chasing toward him. Well, yes, in certain situations some animals could give him a fright. But in general, Sam was not afraid of any animal he knew, not even of spiders, nor of wasps.

Sam was a tremendously honest hobbit. He could fullheartedly announce that he had never before stolen anything. He was far too righteous, and far too slow at running away, and he also was no talented liar. So, even if he did find himself stealing something, there was little chance of him getting away with it. It was no use. Also, although Sam did not come from a rich hobbit family, nor had a job which brought him the most of money, there was no need for him to steal - a good thing, because his poor nerves would be far too stressed during such an adventure.

"Productive, eh?" Sam repeated with a grin on his lips, glancing sidewards at Pippin. To him, productive looked differently than staring up into the sky, pipe in the mouth. But, he was glad when Pippin was, so he did not mind. He merely found it amusing. "So what are you productively doing right now, Master Pippin? Testing the weed's quality?" He teased, with his grin growing broader. He was not the best at jokes, but he liked them nonetheless.