(Untitled)

[ringwinner]

The terrible thing about getting ready to die, Bilbo thought, is that there is really no good way to go about it on short notice. It was all very well to prepare for it in old age, tucked up snug and safe in one's own hobbit hole, but it was quite another to be faced with death on a battlefield where even a magic ring is of little practical use

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[goingtodorking]

Karen and ShorHor stand and watch him from a safe distance. He's been lying there for a while and he's been wearing a helmet. She takes off her pink plastic sunglasses and squints at him, shading her eyes with one hand.

"You're not dead," she calls.
She's only trying to be helpful.

[ringwinner]

"Yes, thank you, I think I've managed to puzzle that out for mys..." Bilbo paused and gaped for rather longer than was really polite. It was one thing to suddenly go from the middle of a battle to a forest, but quite another to go from the middle of a battle to a forest and find a girl and a very small horse staring at you.

"You can see me?"

[goingtodorking]

"No," deadpans Karen, both eyebrows raised. "I'm talking to you even thought I don't know whether you're there or not." She wishes that Jack was here - he'd think this was really funny.

"ShorHor can see you too."

[ringwinner]

He was still wearing his ring, though he almost thought he wouldn't be until he looked down at it. It had never not worked before, and the fact that it wasn't working now did nothing but bewilder poor Bilbo. "I'm sorry, but what is a... a ShorHor?"

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine very nearly almost tramples the bloke in the middle of the road. He tugs on Esmeralda's reigns and pulls her backwards, a heavy 'whoa girl' announced, before he hops off, feet planted firmly to the ground as he comes around and starts to inspect who he's nearly killed. "All right, then?" he asks, head cocked fully to the side.

[ringwinner]

Well, perhaps everything was all right after all. He had been unconscious for a while, the sudden change of scenery could very well be explained away as a regrettable consequence of getting knocked on the head, and now one of Bard's men had finally come and found him. Although, there was still no explanation for why the man could see him. Bilbo looked down at his ring for a moment, half expecting to find that it had slipped off, but no, there it was still on his finger.

"Yes. Yes, I'm quite all right, thank you. Just a bit shaken, I'm afraid."

[likedtheodds]

Gwaine releases control of the horse, wandering closer and crouching down. The moment he sees the stature, he grows suspicious, his hand wavering protectively over the hilt of his sword as if worried it's going to become a flower again. "I nearly ran you over, I don't blame you for being shaken."

[ringwinner]

"Well, there's no harm done," Bilbo said cheerfully. The man was looking at him a bit oddly, though really, he could not blame him. Many of the Lake Men had heard of the Dwarves' halfling, but less of them had actually seen him, especially not in armor. "I don't suppose you could tell me whether we won the battle? Or where the armies have gone?"

[a_royal_bastard]

It's actually Duncan that comes across the man first, having gone ahead of Alistair a bit during their walk. The hound stopped upon seeing the stranger, and, sensing his confusion, sits down in front of him. His head tilted to the side a moment later, giving him a decidedly questioning look.

[ringwinner]

Bilbo, bewildered and bewuthered as he was, barely even noticed the dog at first. As soon as he did, the hobbit scuttled back as quickly as he could, his hands held out before him in what he sincerely hoped was a placating fashion. It may not have been a warg, but he was still only a little hobbit and that was quite a large dog.

[a_royal_bastard]

Duncan immediately seemed confused, and he let out a low whine, unsure of what to do. The sound was enough to alert Alistair, and at first he didn't think too much of it. That quickly changed when he spotted the startled man he was sitting in front of.

"Duncan!" he exclaimed, immediately going to the mabari's side. The hound's ears flattened back slightly, looking between his master and then back to the stranger. Assured that the hound understood to stay back, his attention turned to the man. He looked like a dwarf, if his size was any indication. "My apologies, I hope he didn't frighten you too badly. Are you injured?"

[ringwinner]

"Not at all! Not at all," Bilbo said cheerfully to the man, though he still kept a rather nervous eye on the hound. It seemed to follow the instructions of the man, but that was not necessarily a guarantee of anything. "Fortunately for me I had a strong helm and a hard head underneath it. And quite a bit of luck too."

[howmanylives]

"Hi," said a voice from a few feet to the left.

In terms of island discoveries, Jamie Madrox had thought upon almost stumbling over the prone form a few moments earlier, an unconscious hobbit sure as hell beat a dead dupe floating in the water, though it took him a few seconds to realize that that was what -- or who, rather, since hobbits were people, too, after a fashion, weren't they? -- he'd nearly run into as opposed to a child. The curly hair, pointy ears, and Robin Williams-hairy feet were all dead giveaways to anyone who'd read a fantasy novel in the past sixty years -- or, for that matter, been to a movie theater in the last ten.

Believe me, as someone who's seen things they'd have a hell of a time recreating over at Weta, there's a difference in seeing something on the big screen and seeing it person... No amount of forced perspective and face replacement CGI and prosthetic makeup can ever compare to seeing the real thing in the original 3D

[ringwinner]

"Pity. I was rather hoping I was," Bilbo remarked, still gingerly rubbing his head. It still hurt quite a bit, though he was beginning to suspect that part of that was due to his puzzlement over the predicament he now found himself in. At least the man next to him was being friendly enough. In fact, Bilbo was so pleased to find someone so calm after the chaos and confusion of the battle, that he almost didn't notice that he was very obviously visible.

"You can see me, can't you? Not my shadow or anything like that, but actually, truly see me?" He looked down at his ring suspiciously. Granted, it was still new to him, and there were most likely dozens of things he did not yet know about it and its ways, but it had never stopped working before.

[howmanylives]

I don't blame him. It's been over two years since I showed up here, and there are times still I wish I couldn't trust my eyes. This isn't necessarily one of them.

Like I said... It's a trip.

"'Fraid so," said Jamie, shoving his hands into the pockets of his favored trenchcoat -- he'd introduced some color into his wardrobe since his arrival, a little variety in the cuts he chose, but the coat was a mainstay, regardless of the weather -- and kicking up a little dirt as he scuffed the ground with his shoe. "Nice bit of jewelry you've got yourself there."

[ringwinner]

"I... Thank you. I won it from someone in a game." Bilbo quickly removed his ring and put it safely in his pocket. He had no reason to believe the man could have known anything about its true powers, but a part of still didn't entirely like the way that he had looked at it. And besides, if he was already visible than what was the purpose of wearing it at all?

"I beg your pardon, but do you know where we are?" Ring safely stowed he was now free to get down to more important matters, and his voice took on a more businesslike tone.

[spirited_lissie]

Felicity had been riding Penny. It had been one of those glorious runs that gave her the sensation of flying and left her hair flying every which way. It was even nicer than surfing (she'd come to the realization that she loved surfing as much as riding on horses).

But then a new person arrived and on the floor as well, and it was only by holding on even tighter to the reigns that she was able to keep from being tossed off, even as she shrieked along with her horse.

It took her a second to calm down herself and Penny before her eyes settled on the new person: with some curiousity. He looked like an adult, but even if she weren't on Penny's back, Felicity felt she could easily be a good two feet higher than him.

"I'm sorry." She quickly said as she caught her breath. "We didn't see you appear, and Penny gets over excited fairly easily."

[ringwinner]

Bilbo cowered down as the horse reared, seeking to make himself even smaller than he normally was in the hopes that both beast and rider would continue on without noticing or trampling him. Of course, he was invisible thanks to his ring, so he supposed the beast must have smelled him, or perhaps been startled by his shadow. Until the rider spoke. "There is no need to apologize, truly. After all, I was the one in the way." All the while, Bilbo backed warily away from the horse.

[spirited_lissie]

He wasn't the only one wary, as Penny still frettered a bit even as felicity tried again to calm her down.

"You just appeared." She said, though mostly to herself as she considered, before addressing him. "Oh, did you just arrive?"

[ringwinner]

"I don't know. I suppose I can't know if I have arrived somewhere until I know precisely where I am to begin with." The horse was still moving about and Bilbo moved even further to the side, just in case.