A few of us have decided that poor ole Frodo Baggins needs a girl, and, Ruth Ann Underhill is my perception of the girl for Frodo. Out of complete respect for the Lord of the Rings storyline, I have written, and will continue to write fanfics of Ruth Ann Underhill and her role in the fellowship/the growing up she does in the fellowship.

Sit back...relax....enjoy....

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Ruth Ann patted down her dress as she strolled up the road to Bag End. She had gone through her routine of visiting the Old Took's place in order to change out from her adventuring outfit into pleasant hobbit attire, and, since the Tooks have some adventure spirit in them, they would think nothing of it. Or, better said, they would be more open to Ruth Ann Underhill, hobbit ranger, than most of the population of the Shire.

"What a sight for sore eyes," Bilbo laughed as he opened the door and saw Ruth Ann Underhill timidly smiling, "Come in. You have got to tell us all about it..."

Bilbo dribbled off in all of the expressions and words he could possibly remember from his trip out of the Shire, and he apparently expected Ruth Ann to pay attention. She only smiled, allowing the words to go in one ear and slip out of the other, and then politely told Bilbo that she would tell him everything that deemed appropriate.

Not totally fulfilled with the answer, but seeing that he was not going to get any other answer from Ruth Ann anytime soon, Bilbo joyfully motioned Ruth Ann to the kitchen where he francticly prepared a small snack for her to eat. "A growing girl needs to keep well-nurished," Bilbo chatted on, trying to give explantion to why he often fed her more than himself. Bilbo had always been like a third father to Ruth Ann once her own father passed away. It takes quite some time for Ruth Ann to speak of it, but, if one is truly curious, one could either sit next to her when she is in a daze and speaking of it to herself or grow a very close personal relationship with her and have Ruth Ann feel like she has the obligation to tell you. So far, there are only three people that know: Aragorn, Gandalf, and Bilbo Baggins.

Smiling from the simple thought of being loved and cared about, Ruth Ann did not to comment back on any of Bilbo's assumptions to why she looked too thin. Apparently, it was hard for any hobbit to come to the realization that other hobbits could just not eat as much as they did, even when it is logical that the other hobbit would not have the ability to eat as much from rationing their food in small portions for long journeys.

"Giving you the food lecture again?" Frodo asked Ruth Ann as he sat on the other side of the table, watching Ruth Ann's reaction, but hinting back at his uncle. Ruth Ann only smiled and nodded her head. Frodo had originally been sitting at the table for about three-fourths of the time Bilbo was preparing the meal. He managed to slip in unnoticed, but Ruth Ann and Frodo only just exchanged simple giggles, nods, and shaking of heads until Frodo then spoke. "Well, on a side note, where did you travel to?" Frodo asked Ruth Ann, seeing that she wasn't going to go any further in the food conversation.

"To Rivendell," Ruth Ann bluntly answered.

Frodo sighed, but continued to show his caring smile. Ruth Ann was in her sophisticated hobbit mode now. It was going to take more than just implying the question to truly know what Ruth Ann encountered out of the Shire, simply because Ruth Ann's mind was now engaged in a fashion that would only answer the least amount possible about the outside world. "And how was it?" he continued asking.

"Pretty much just like usual. It is beautiful, but I do perfer other more dangerous places."

Bilbo had finished with preparing the snack. It took him a little while longer when he realized that Frodo had joined the two of them. After placing the drinks and snacks on the table, Bilbo sat down next to Frodo and assured Ruth Ann, "You are with friends, Ruth Ann. You can answer with more than just a yes or no."

Ruth Ann smiled, "Alright, I promise I will answer more. What do you want to know?"

"Why were you in Rivendell?" Frodo jutted in.

Ruth Ann sighed and thought of how she was going to answer the question. She had been preparing the answer all of the way back from Rivendell because she knew that was going to be one of the questions, but, even with her preparation, Ruth Ann choked on not wanting to really admit anything about her intentions. "To gather information," she finally blurted out, "I went to Rivendell to find out more of what was going on in the world because, to my belief, the elves know everything."

"Well isn't that true?" Bilbo laughed alongside Ruth Ann, who was overly joyful that the conversation just might head another direction. "One thing I am wondering is how long you are going to be staying?"

Ruth Ann didn't really have an answer to that. The truth was she had not collected all of the information she thoroughly wanted to collect, but, on the other hand, she was unsure another trip to Rivendell so soon would even help. "I will be there for the party," Ruth Ann said, not wanting to promise any specific length of time.

"And that is all I care about," Bilbo smiled, "We have started to prepare haven't we?"

Frodo slightly nodded his head in such a way that if you hadn't looked directly at him, you would not have noticed a nod at all.

"We are sending out personal invitations," Bilbo continued to announce, "would you like yours now?"

"When is the party?" Ruth Ann questioned, trying to put some time span in her head in what to do.

"In a week," Bilbo answered.

"And you just started to prepare?" Ruth Ann questioned, astonished.

"No. No. No.." Bilbo assured her, "We started to prepare at least a month ago. I only told you that we already started."

Ruth Ann rested her heart in relief, but then established a crazy idea in her head, "Do you need to continue... now?"

"Why would you say that?"

Ruth Ann simply pointed to the window outside, and Bilbo immediately excused himsel from the table and headed to turn down all of the commotion.

"Want to get out of the house?" Frodo asked Ruth Ann once Bilbo was out of ear shot.

"Yes," Ruth Ann answered back as both of them stood up and walked out of the door. Frodo was dieing to know all about Ruth Ann's trip, but both Frodo and Ruth Ann remained in minor chit-chat until the woods mainly because Frodo knew Ruth Ann would not speak too heavily on the subject when so many other hobbits were around.

After about two minutes of walking into the woods, Frodo finally asked, "So, about your trip, what did you find out?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Curious."

"Curious?" Ruth Ann was taken back, "You seem quite curious for a Shire-folk, and not just this time. You have constantly asked me about my adventures out of the Shire, and I am sure you have asked Bilbo of his also. You continually want to know what it is like; it almost seems like... you want to go out of the Shire." Ruth Ann stopped her ramble to let Frodo respond. By the time he did respond, she was already leaning against the tree with an impressive smirk on her facing plastered with the fact that she figured out his secret.

"Is one not allowed to have interest without having a huge craving to actually experience the interest?"

"I am just saying that it seems abnormal. All other hobbits I speak with either shun the outside world or rarely speak of it. On the other hand, you seem to bring it up quite frequently."

Frodo stood biting his lip from slight embarrassment. He was curious about what was outside of the Shire, but he never intended on actually traveling out there. "If I ask you," he mentioned, "then I would not have to go out myself."

Frodo waited for a moment, and then proceeded to ask again, "What did you find out?"

"I found out a hint about what is going on in the world," Ruth Ann said, with no intention of actually telling him, "but it would be of no importance to you, Frodo Baggins, because the Shire should remain relatively unaffected, and it is not like you are going to be traveling out of the Shire anytime soon."

"With that news, I think I would rather not."[url][/url]

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Even though the party was only a week away, the anticaption of what was going to have to happen and the annoyance of her stepmother and father drove Ruth Ann out of the Shire once again. She was heading back towards Rivendell when she remembered that she promised she would be at the party. Now, Ruth Ann did not regret this, she only regretted having to run back into a few unnamed personnel. Although, if she was lucky, their encounter would be informal and short.

Running back through the forest, Ruth Ann stopped by the cottage of one of the hobbits on the outskirts of the Shire. She repeated what she had done every other time before with changing out of wilderness attire to Hobbiton attire. Although, the one different thing was Ruth Ann and the head Hobbit had an actual conversation besides, "Are you hungry?" and "You need to eat more. You look parched."

"You are heading back for the party aren't you?" the hobbit asked Ruth Ann with a smile on his face.

"Yes, I am. How late am I?"

"You didn't miss it, but you aren't going to be on time."

Ruth Ann sighed with relief. Breaking a promise to both Bilbo and Frodo would have killed her.

"I am guessing you won't be staying to eat something."

"No," Ruth Ann said, "but, don't worry. There will be plenty of food at the party for me. You know Bilbo."

With that, Ruth Ann left, leaving the hobbit laughing a deep-hearted laugh.

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It took quite some time for Ruth Ann to walk from the cottage back to Hobbiton, actually more run from the cottage to Hobbiton. It was a sort of talent she had, being able to travel twice as fast but still look like she was not in a hurry, a nice convience when you don't want the person you are traveling with to freak out that their are goblins or some other nasty creature that was coming to attack both of you, kill you, and eat you for dinner.

Shaking off, Ruth Ann paused for a moment. "Bag End," she congratulated herself, "I'm almost there."

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Ruth Ann reached Bilbo and Frodo's party somewhere right before the middle of it. She fought through the crowd, trying desperately to find Frodo or Bilbo, who would be worried sick about her for right now. While, on the other hand, she wanted desperately to be back in the wilderness working on fixing this problem.

"Woah," Ruth Ann droned in shock as she backed up from a hobbit who shoved a pint in her face, encouraging her to take a sip. "No thank you," she finally let out after the few seconds of overwhelming surprise, and walked away, not wanting to have the man chase after her.

Overall, Ruth Ann did not run into too many people, or, better phrased, too many people did not stop to say hi to her. Most that did, in their defense, did not recognize her and believed the tales of Ruth Ann Underhill to be ridiculous myths that should not be spread to better protect the young halflings.

It was in the middle of one such conversation with one such hobbit that a sudden scream was let out and expanded throughout the partygoers. Turning around, Ruth Ann saw the fire-blazing dragon soar through the sky. She frantacially looked around and then spotted what she was after. Scooping up the knife, Ruth Ann plunged it into the belly of the dragon to only disappointedly lower it and realize the figure was not a true dragon.

"You just can't get away from the outside world can you?" a friendly voice came from behind her.

Setting down her knife, Ruth Ann turned around to see Frodo walking towards her with both hands in his pockets. "How did you know I was here?"

"You were the only one standing when the dragon firework was flying. You pretty much stuck out like a sore thumb."

Ruth Ann smiled, immediately recognizing the truth in the statement expanded beyond the situation with the dragon, and waited for Frodo to comment on her leave of absence.

"Bilbo and I almost thought you weren't going to show up," Frodo added, tilting his head slightly for dramatic effect, "you went off to find out more about that thing you were worrying about earlier, didn't you?"

"The truth is," Ruth Ann opened herself up, "I was going to, but, when I was a little distance to Rivendell, I realized that your party was coming up soon, so I headed back immediately."

"And we are glad you did," Frodo smiled, not able to say much more from Bilbo running up to greet Ruth Ann.

"How are you doing, my dear?" Bilbo shouted to Ruth Ann as he scurried up to her, "You look like you are withering away. Let's go get you something to eat, and we can all talk about what is worrying you."

"Nothing is worrying me right now."

"Good, because this is a party. Any worry can wait for the morning, but, for now, we eat. Come on you two."

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Smiling, Ruth Ann followed both Bilbo and Frodo through the crowd of festive party-goers to a dining table that was enough distance that all three of them did not have to yell in order to be heard.

"Where did you go?" Bilbo started off the conversation after he ordered something for all three of them.

Ruth Ann knew, but loathed, the fact that this question was going to be asked, and, admittedly, she was not too prepared to answer it at that moment in time. So, the best she could possibly say was the truth. "I could not stand my stepparents anymore," she confessed, "I know you will take me into your house, but, unfortunately, they also know that. So, the only place I could escape was out of the Shire." Ruth Ann smiled, embarrased, and waited for Bilbo to answer.

Nodding his head, Bilbo came to the conclusion that Ruth Ann had a just arguement. She knew Ruth Ann's stepparents, and, if forced to live with them, he wouldn't have even come back for the party. "I know what you mean," Bilbo assured her, "those people will drive me insane also." Bilbo then, took a bite into his meal. Frodo had already started prior, and Ruith Ann had not touched her food. She, to Bilbo's dislike, was not hungry in the least. She continued to look and chat with both Bilbo and Frodo about the party and how their birthday was going while, in the back of her mind, she knew that she should eat.

Finally, seeing Bilbo's eyes staring at her plate, Ruth Ann forced herself to pick something up and eat it. This, in essence, felt like when someone if full, but is being forced to eat bite after bite.

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A little distance away, some group of hobbits began to start a fight over a pint of ale.

"Pardon me," Bilbo apologized, "but I must go," and he shortly took his leave.

After his uncle was a little distance away, Frodo pushed his plate over to Ruth Ann and kindly instructed her, "Put some of your food on my plate, so it looks like you ate more of it."

Ruth Ann obediently followed, but asked, "You don't think that it is weird that I eat so little?"

Frodo shrugged, "I am not sure whether or not to think it is weird, but, apparently unlike Bilbo, I understand why you don't eat as much as a normal hobbit would."

Ruth Ann smiled, flattered. In her mind, she knew Frodo would ask this way. He always had, but, just to fulfill what she knew was already going to happen was still flattering in it's own lovey-dovey kind of way.

"Now," Frodo started off a new conversation once he pulled the plate back, "We have a little while yet until Bilbo has to give his speech. So, I will present you with two choices."

Ruth Ann giggled, "Alright. You're the boss."

Stopping for a moment, Frodo soon continued, "You can either choose to tell me what in the world is causing you to be paranoid and then go over there," Frodo smirked while pointing over at the hobbits who were either playing music, clapping, or dancing, "or you can go over there and then tell me what is on your mind."

"Why do you want to go over there?"

"Because you need to get your mind off of the outside world, and that is the best way to do it.... which one?"

"Let's go over there first. I promise I will tell you what is going on after the party, to the extent that I know of."

Convinced, Frodo looked down at Ruth Ann's plate, "but you have to finish that first."

"Wow," Ruth Ann whole-heartedly laughed, "You are Bilbo's nephew."

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Frodo was completely right. Going over into the dancing area was just what Ruth Ann needed to lighten up. It took a little while for Ruth Ann to move totally into the dances, but, being a hobbit, she did pick them all up quite quickly.

Letting out a gentle laugh, Ruth Ann later turned her head to gaze over the entire party. Placing her hand over her chest in a gasp, Ruth Ann froze, shocked, and then ran over to Frodo, grabbing his arm, and telling them that they both had to leave...immediately.

Not having as much out of the Shire experience, Frodo was never going to be able to fight back to the extent of Ruth Ann's pull. "Where are we going?" he finally strained to ask, not liking being pulled away from the dancing.

"We're late." Ruth Ann pointed out, motioning to Bilbo's speech.

Not needing any other word, Frodo ran, with Ruth Ann right behind him, and they both sulked as throughly as they could into the seated group of partygoers.

"..Tooks..and Brandybucks.." Bilbo continued his speech.

"You told him not to say Underhill, right?" Ruth Ann whisphered over to Frodo, who simply nodded yes.

"Good," she heavily sighed.

Bilbo continued his speech, expressing such things as his age, those his liked, and the Sackville-Bagginses (indirectly).

Ruth Ann meerly held in her laughter and shook her head throughout the speech, immediately recognizing all of the indirect forms of slander.

Taking a deep breath, Ruth Ann calmed herself down for the end of the speech.

"...and I'll be going now. Good-bye." Bilbo addressed the audience, and disappeared. The hobbits rose in commotion, looking for Bilbo and placing blame on who might have made Bilbo disappear.

Ruth Ann, herself, dropped her mouth as she looked over at Gandalf. She very well knew that Gandalf caught a hold of what just happened.

"We've got a problem," Ruth Ann spoke into Frodo's ear.

"Yes," Frodo agreed, standing up to work on calming all of the party guests down. "You probably should go," he turned around at Ruth Ann, and then looked to see that Gandalf had already left.

"Why?" Ruth Ann questioned, "If you need someone to stop this, someone with knowledge in swordfighting and archery should be quite a jewel."

Frodo explained his thought, "First, they blamed Gandalf, and guess who would be next."

"Yeah. We do have another problem," Ruth Ann sighed, as she knodded to Frodo and scampered away to Bag End.

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As much as I hate to ruin posting streak, I just had to comment. This is pretty awesome, I rather like Ruth Ann. I think she could be good for Frodo. I especially love the part with the dragon firework.

I love comments in between posts.

It reminds me that people do read it.

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It did take Frodo quite some time to calm the party guests down, but, after ensuring a countless number of times that everything was alright and distributing plenty more pints, Frodo was able to sulk off to the house to find out exactly what was happening.

Walking through the door, Frodo came into the hobbit hill to find Gandalf sitting by the fire and Ruth Ann sitting across the room in a chair with her head sulked down in thought and sorrow. Frodo grasped the ring he had picked up earlier and dropped in it an envelope. Gandalf then sealed the envelope and handed it back to Frodo, jumping up to his feet a few moments afterward to head out and seek council.

"What did he tell you?" Ruth Ann asked, about a minute later, when Frodo strolled back into the room.

"To keep this hidden," Frodo answered, showing Ruth Ann the envelope.

"Probably a good idea," Ruth Ann smiled and spoke to herself.

Frodo glanced back at the door and then looked at Ruth Ann, "What is going on around here? Gandalf and now you seemed to be completely unnerved about something, and are leaving me out of it."

Calming down, Frodo sat across the table from Ruth Ann and placed the envelope beside him, "I need to know what is going on. You promised you would tell me."

"You're right," Ruth Ann reluctantly admitted, "I did promise."

Pausing for a moment, Ruth Ann did not know where to start and did not want to start, but she finally spoke up, "I don't know the entire story, and I don't even know if it is true, but there is talk circulating around the outside world of a dark power rising that seeks to conquer all of Middle Earth." She paused for a moment to look directly into Frodo's eyes to see whether or not she should continue. "And there is some item of value that this power needs in order to conquer all of Middle Earth....but there is no real reason to be concerned. It is only talk."

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Wow! This is really awesome! Ruth Ann sounds like a really cool hobbit!

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Married Artemis Fowl on July 16, 2007
[!+^$%=#?&]
The Seemingly Nice But Actually Really Nasty Nazgul
School ate my life. *sigh*

woah you updated it smeag!! oh I'm beginning to love this story
I can't wait to read moreee!!
and Ruth Ann is the coolest hobbit eveer!

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Thank you, both of you!

I will try to post some tonight, but I do not believe I will be able to before work.

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(I know it is short, but I couldn't go any further...you'll see.)

"It's only talk," Frodo tried to reassure himself later that night. It had been about an hour or two past when Ruth Ann told him, but she optimistic words were not reflected in her action. She drew very silent the whole time, in a mode of constant thought and wonder.

Frodo had gotten some tea, at one time, and, when he returned back, he found Ruth Ann standing next to the fire, eyes staring motionless into the flames.

Frodo, heavy hearted, then asked her, while placing both cups of tea on the table nearby, "Ruth, I need to know, do you believe this is only talk?"

Ruth Ann, caught off guard from words, woke up from her daze, shocked to be using her ears again. "No, I do not," Ruth Ann finally admitted, and turned around to slowly stroll towards Frodo, "but it is not something you need to worry about. You will be safe here in the Shire."

"Yeah," Frodo agreed, "but you won't be."

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Ruth Ann halted for a moment and then sighed, "You don't have to worry about me, Frodo. I know what I am doing out of the Shire."

"What's it like?" Frodo asked after a moment of silence when Ruth Ann gave herself permission to take a seat.

"What is what like?" Ruth Ann asked back with a tone of curiousity looming in her voice.

"Outside of the shire," Frodo explained, "Bilbo allows would talk about his adventure to the Misty Mountains. He would mention all of the danger and trials he went through, but, in the end, he always wanted to go back, and you. You go in and out of the Shire all of the time. I almost feel that.... there is something I am missing out on."

Ruth Ann gave a quick smirk at the ground and then looked up at Frodo. "Yes," she answered, "there is something you are missing out of. There is something all of the hobbits in the Shire are missing out of. I would say, outside of the Shire, it is a sense of freedom, of being cut loose. You see, Frodo, I go out of the Shire so often because I live on the sense of adventure and mindset of curiousity. I live for the next step further."

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Frodo stared at Ruth Ann for a moment. All through the years he had abstractly understood what Ruth Ann just said, but, for the first time, it finally made sense exactly why Ruth Ann was the way she was.

"You can go," Frodo reluctantly gave permission.

Ruth Ann tilted her head and then gave out a gentle laugh, "I am not leaving now. I am at least going to be in the Shire for a week or two longer. If you try, you may be able to convince me to stay for a month."

Ruth Ann smirked and poked Frodo's head up by the chin. "I know what I am doing," she told him, "do you trust me in that?"

Frodo simply looked back down on the ground unsure of what to say. He knew Ruth Ann knew what she was speaking of, and he trusted her, but he wasn't sure that he trusted everyone else.

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"I think he both need some fresh air," Ruth Ann proposed as she backed up towards the exit. Frodo unemotionally agreed, and they both walked out of Bag End to take a giant gulp of freedom from worry.

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The next few months continued about the same every single day for Frodo. Ruth Ann had left about a week after Gandalf, and, for some reason, he was happy she left, or content, at least. While Ruth Ann was at Bag End, all she could think about was what was going on with the world. So, even though she was there physically, Ruth Ann was off wandering Middle Earth. In Frodo's mind, Ruth Ann leaving the Shire gave her comfort and, thus, gave him a sense of comfort also.

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Ruth Ann left the Shire as quickly as she possibly could that day. The thoughts of the rumors of this ring flooded her mind, and she felt if she had stayed at Bag End for much longer, she would have poured out all of the secrets to the already torn Frodo Baggins.

Grasping ahold of a low branch, Ruth Ann leaned forward to peer into the woods. Her hand held up her weight so that her legs did not have to constrain as much.

"Here we go again," Ruth Ann muttered to herself as she thought of what the next best plan of attack was, "Now, where should I go? Who knows what I need to know?"

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(I will probably post more in this tonight... so people can get caught up before another section.)

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(I haven't continued this story in awhile. Would anyone like to read anymore?)

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