An Expected Travel: A Traveler's Tale

Sister's Skills

Darcy and I used to go on roadtrips.

Big ones, that would span distances from state-to-state or the rare coast-to-coast.

We'd climb in the seats of whatever car that we'd stolen that particular week, and drive.

Darcy would pack it up with junk food and soda that she'd bought (with stolen money, she wasn't a saint). I'd be building the device needed for our short bodies to drive properly. We were always too short for the pedals, or the wheel. The music would be an utter bloodbath to pick- as I liked playing CD's of show tunes and country, while Darcy wanted to play the absolute loudest rock music, or anything that would annoy me to death (example, the worst of the worst of pop music, damn me for introducing her to that garbage). There was a compromise though- we both loved comedy songs (she'll deny it, but she loved comedies and parodies as much as me).

Anyway, I digress.

The point was that Darcy and I would go on long trips, with just each other and the open road for whenever we felt like settling down again. Just us, music, and winding roads. Not to mention us constantly bantering about pretty much anything- Author we should've recorded it, we'd be famous comedians by now if we had.

This was different than traveling with the Company on horseback.

For one, they had no air conditioning. Now, while I knew multiple cooling charms that would chill both my clothes and my body. There were electronics that I could used on my clothing that would make them walking air conditioners. Throw a rock on Earth, and you'd hit a store that sold small handheld fans. Even a child could make a paper fan! Middle Earth had plenty of rocks to throw, and paper to fold, but the people were too smart to ignore my having metal contraptions.

Also there were no headphones- or even radios. Yeah I could sing a tune better than any iPod (your aunt will say this is me bragging, but she's just annoyed that I can sing her favorite songs better than her so tell her to shut up), but even I needed to rest my throat occasionally.

That's not to say the journey was silent. Far from it, rather. The Dwarves spent a lot of our journey talking, or joking. They told stories of their pasts. Filled with laughter and adventure aplenty. Darcy would throw in a few of our own, editing certain details out obviously. Bilbo had kept silent, though. Sometime during his agreeing and our stopping for camp at night, Bilbo realized he'd made a big decision.

Last bit- horses were not the tan leather seats of an 80's car. I'd been a horse, that didn't mean I liked riding one for ten hours a day! I barely liked being on my feet for ten hours a day. This was fucking murder.

Now as I had said, we'd made camp for the night. I had set up a small tent for Darcy and myself, equipped to be larger on the inside. A complete accident that had happened when I first built the tent back Home- another side effect of having a percentage of Time Lord in my brain.

Most of the Dwarves fell asleep not long after dinner was had.

Darcy was playing a game of jacks, only she was using a small dagger instead of a bouncing ball.

I sat with the ponies, having a conversation with Lewis and Thorin's horse about how life on Middle Earth was treating them. Both stallions had nice things to say.

Thorin's horse- who'd been named something Dwarfish that he couldn't pronounce, big surprise, and chose the name Brutus- said that Thorin was a better riding partner than the others. It's as I held back laughter at the remark that Bilbo walked up.

Daisy neighed in delight.

"Hello, girl. That's a good girl." Bilbo petted the pony on the mane. Daisy preened in delight. Brutus huffed at it, which made me snort at him. The Hobbit was slipping his horse an apple. "It's our little secret, Daisy; you must tell no one. sh, sh."