What Happened Thereafter {A LotR Fanfiction}

Prologue

[I dedicate this chapter to rclark4197 because not only is she a friend in real life, but she's a friend on Wattpad now as well. She deserves every inch of this dedication, and I don't know if you'll ever read this, but remember, rclark4197--you are loved.]

The Green Dragon was insanely crowded, and Thorn was not overly pleased about it. Usually, she would have more room to herself and could easily reserve one-fourth of the room for her three friends to drop by. Not today. Today, it was uncannily busy and the noise levels were outrageous. However, because it was her job and because she loved to sing, it didn't bother her nearly as much as it would bother, say, her friend Ivy Appleberry. Thorn skipped to a table cleverly holding three cups of bone broth and a pint of ale in her two hands, singing cheerfully all the way.

"Ho! Ho! Ho! to the bottle I go
To heal my heart and drown my woe.
Rain may fall and wind may blow,
And many miles be still to go,
But under a tall tree I will lie,
And let the clouds go sailing by."

She didn't see him until he crashed right into her. (Well, technically it was she who clumsily tripped over her own feet and stumbled on top of him...and he had been singing such a funny little song and dancing such a cute little dance with his friend!) She was mortified to see that all of the refreshments had splashed out of their vessels, and both she and the other hobbit were covered in the sticky, smelly mess. Instead of getting up at once, Thorn had to think for a moment about what to say to him, because this time she hadn't meant to do it.

"Oy! Are you alright, Miss?" His friend ran over to her and helped her to her feet before going to help his friend. Thorn didn't even blush because she was used to this. Soon, everyone was going to start laughing at her "prank" and joking about how clumsy she was even though she was obviously not being very careful to begin with. Even though she didn't even do anything this time to warrant their cheers, Thorn knew that their laughter would bring her joy, and the that next time something crazy happened it would be her fault.

"I'm alright. Thank you, though," she said, frowning at the mess she'd have to clean up. She then turned to the hobbit she'd run down. "I'm really very sorry about that."

He smiled and for some reason that made her blush and twist her feet around one another before looking down at the ground. It was something she always did when she was embarrassed or ashamed of something she'd done.

"It's okay, I don't mind. Besides, broth and ale together make a wonderful combo!" he said, smiling. "I'm Peregrin Took by the way, and this is my friend Meriadoc Brandybuck, but don't call us by those names because they're way to long and are awfully silly. Call me Pippin, instead."

"And call me, Merry!" the other one chimed in. Thorn nodded, and noticed her friends entering the Green Dragon from the corner of her eye.

"Well, I'm sorry about this, but my friends just walked in, and--" she was surprised when Pippin cut her off.

"You came with friends, too?" He smiled and looked over at Daffodil, Nettle, and Ivy. "We should all introduce each other! My cousin, Frodo, and his friend, Sam, are around here somewhere..."

He craned his neck to search the bar, and was soon able to pinpoint his two friends who were both looking down into their mugs sadly. Pippin waved them over and pretty soon all eight of the hobbits were standing near each other, introducing one another and saying polite "hello's" and "good afternoon's." None of them cared, or even thought about the adventures that lay ahead of them....