One Ring to troll them all

An Un(Expected) Journey

I stood in front of Bag End and took it in with a relieved sigh. After six months away, I was finally home.

It was hard to believe that I now considered Bag End my home, ever since the day I first arrived in Middle Earth again and found myself in the company of Bilbo Baggins.

Adjusting wasn't easy at first.

Don't get me wrong, Bilbo was an extraordinary person and a gracious host, but it didn't sit well with me to let him take care of all my expenses. I wasn't a freeloader, after all, even though there were times when my friends paid for me when we went out to eat.

I dared you to say no to free food, especially when it was delicious!

Bilbo almost threw a fit when I told him I couldn't stay at his home without paying him anything, though, but in the end we were able to reach a compromise.

He agreed to accept no more than one silver penny per month from me, although I felt I should have been paying him at least ten times that amount. After all, I was intruding on his home!

But the stubborn hobbit wouldn't have it any other way, so I reluctantly accepted the deal. I didn't really have any other, better options to choose from anyway.

I would have attracted too much attention staying in Bree, especially the meddlesome wizardry kind, and I wanted to avoid any unnecessary scrutiny.

Surprisingly, Bilbo didn't push for my life story. I had expected him to be more curious about me, considering I appeared out of nowhere in the Shire, but he respected my privacy and didn't pry, for which I was grateful.

The only thing he knew about me was the name I chose to go by, Kael, which was derived from my real name, Michael - although he was unaware of that fact - and that I was merely wandering around when I found myself in Hobbiton, which was also true, from a certain point of view.

It had already been three long years since then, and time seemed to fly by.

I had learned so much since my arrival, and yet there was still a part of me that craved more.

Perhaps it was my adventurous nature or my constant desire for adrenaline.

Who was I kidding? It was definitely that.

I adjusted my backpack and climbed the stairs to knock on the familiar door.

Quick footsteps could be heard from inside, and a second later, Bilbo opened the door with a smile on his face. "Kael! You have finally returned! Had I known you were coming today; I would have prepared a feast to celebrate your arrival!"

I chuckled and embraced him. "Hello, Bilbo. I finished my training sooner than expected, so I decided to surprise you."

"And surprise me, you did!" Bilbo laughed joyfully, quickly ushering me inside while trying to take my backpack, to which I gave him an exasperated but fond look.

Heaven forbade I did any actual work in this house.

Sometimes I wondered if Bilbo had been a house-elf in another life, given all the housekeeping he did every day of the week.

Anyway, regarding the training I mentioned, between the odd jobs I found in Bree, which was the only place near Hobbiton where I could find well-paying work, I managed to come across a retired Gondorian swordsman who agreed to train me.

This swordsman, Amarion, had lost a foot in battle and had since then been using a wooden substitute.

He had been released from the Gondorian guard since he couldn't run well with it, though, so he now resided in Bree.