LOTR: Shire Dragons - Pippin Took FF

Chapter 16

The next day began a little bit more awkward than usual, as both Mallyra and Pippin felt a little bit too embarrassed to bring up the fact he'd kissed her forehead the night before, and neither wanted the others to find out. After another three hours or so of riding, the party came to a large stone bridge, which caused the horses hooves to clang on the cobbles beneath their feet. Under the bridge, ran a crisp river, which curved around the hills and ditches of the surrounding area, before falling off a small cliff face and plummeting down into a cave below. The bridge finished before a large pine forest, with a worn down track which lead through the centre. They came to the mouth of the forest, and Lothiri pulled her horse to a halt and turned to face the rest of the party.

"We just need to go through this forest and then we will be at the gates of the city of Amros." she announced, brushing her hair from her face.

"Can't we just go around?" Mallyra hissed under her breath, not liking the thought of going into the dark when it was such a beautiful day. Not hearing what Mallyra had said, the party then continued onward in single file, With Aiwendil leading the way, the five hobbits in between and then Lothiri watching the rear. It took the group a good hour or so to get through the dense forest, as they kept getting stopped. One reason was a merchant trying to sell maps, which Merry claimed to be fake and so got into an argument with the old man. Another, was Frodo claiming to have dropped a relatives handkerchief and he needed to find it again, simply to find it in his pocket where he had left it. Mallyra had remained quiet through out their time in the forest, as what little amount of appreciation for dark places she had was now gone entirely.  

"Why? Why dark places? Why can't we go thought a bunch of happy mountains again where I can actually see the- EAK!" she squeaked in the middle of her sentence as a branch had snared her cloak and pulled her backwards sharply. Luckily, Sam was behind her, and managed to unhook the cloak before Mallyra was flung from her horse. 

"Don't bad mouth the forest Mallyra," she heard Merry chuckle from in front of her, "The trees can hear you, and don't like it when you say stuff like that!" Mallyra sat up on her horse, and her eyes darted around.

"they're.. alive?" she stuttered, sarcastically smiling and waving around as her horse trudged past a large oak. She heard Pippin laughing loudly in the distance, and a sigh from Lothiri behind her,

"No not that kind of alive, silly!" Pippin shouted back to her. Mallyra sunk back onto her horse, feeling rather embarrassed about how gullible she'd been. But to her surprise, Merry turned around and mouthed, "You're right to have believed me, because it's true!" Mallyra frowned and tilted her head to one side.

"But.." she whispered, only to watch Merry shake his hand and suggest that he explained later. They continued to ride onward through the forest, this time, Mallyra being a little more cautious of the surrounding trees.

It was around early evening when the broke through the edge of the pine forest, and the reddening sunlight poured over their faces once more. Aiwendil shielded his eyes from the light so he could see, and to his delight, the view in front of him was exactly how he'd remembered it to be. A large open plain of golden grass and shrubs, cold mountains looming in the distance, and nestled against a hillside, a large village which was just starting to glow in the evening light. the village was surrounded by large wooden fences and guard posts, each had a small lantern hung for when the men took their posts for the night.

"Behold. the village of Amros.." Lothiri breathed as she pulled her horse up next to Aiwendil's, for she also had fond memories of this village. The five hobbits were amazed by the view that met their eyes, as they hadn't seen civilization since they had left the shire, and they longed for the sound of other cultures, especially Merry. They changed their horses steady speed to a now light canter towards the village gates, each one letting their imaginations run wild when picturing the village nestled inside the walls. When they came to the gate, it was only the two elves that didn't open their mouths in awe.