OOC - This story takes place between the final chapter of The Call of the Forest and Adventure Awaits.
Bryony slowly made her way to her father's favourite fishing spot. It was quiet, rarely visited by other hobbits because of the bears that sometimes graced that area of the river. Bryony never understood fearing such creatures of the forest. Leaving them quite alone and not bothering them usually stopped any sensible hobbit from getting bitten.
She was whistling, a pep in her step, glad to finally have a day all to herself. She was stopped in her tracks by a strange sight before her. Sure, bears were quite common in this area, but a bear as large as that? It was huge, fur as black as midnight, every so often snagging a trout and gobbling it up in one swift gulp.
She stood for a moment in awe, watching the giant graceful creature, before deciding that she wasn't going to go back home empty handed, and she had fished next to bears before. Slowly and carefully, she made her way towards it, staying a good distance away, just enough to show that she meant no harm. She plopped herself down near the bank of the river, letting her feet dangle, sighing at the sweet coolness. She hooked a worm to her fishing pole and let her rod fly.
She kept an eye on the bear, who had definitely spotted her. It lifted its giant head, watching her with gleaming golden eyes. She saw its neck marred with an injury that surely should have killed it. Fidgeting with her rod, her mother's words echoed in her head. Try to stay out of trouble, at least for a week. But how could she stand by when it could be hurt? Setting down her pole, she slowly approached the bear before dropping to her knees a few feet away from it.
"Hello little one," she murmured. "Are you hurt? Do you need help?" Her voice was calm, not a quiver of fear shown. The bear's head snapped up. It seemed to look almost baffled by her speaking to it. It slowly lumbered towards her, the distance between them growing shorter. It lifted its head, showing that the injury was old, and completely scarred.
"Oh, you seemed to have been in quite a scuffle." She reached a hand out. "What horrible thing scarred you so?"
Then something happened. The bear's bones seemed to shift and change, its fur shrinking. Then, in front of her, stood a weather-beaten man, handsome, wild and rugged. He was dressed in dark traveling clothes trimmed with fur.
Bryony let out a scream, falling rather ungracefully on her back as she shifted her body away from him. "Oh! Well... You're not a sweet bear at all!" she stammered. Animals she could easily handle. An animal who changed into a man? This was new territory.
The man gestured to his throat and mouth, shaking his head. Bryony looked at him quizzically, and when he still did not speak to her, she realised that he simply could not. "Oh you cannot speak! And here I am yammering away calling you a sweet bear when you're not a sweet bear, that is to say, I'm sure you're very sweet! And-" She stopped herself, feeling her ears reddening. "Right. You can't answer me."
They stood watching each other in silence for a few moments, before Bryony's eyes widened. "Oh where are my manners! Are you hungry? My ma makes a mean pie! And a really nice omelette, or fried fish." She continued listing off all the different food stuffs they had in their pantry, stopping when she realised the man was laughing silently as he shook his head. She watched as he took the pack from his shoulders and showing her the front. Engraved on the front was the word 'Yorric'. He laid a palm on his heart, before motioning towards her.
"I'm Bryony Puddifoot!" she said with a smile, managing to get herself up from the grass and shooting her hand out. Her father always taught her to shake a new person's hand. The man - Yorric - took her hand, completely engulfing it in his own while bowing his head. He then motioned towards the Shire, tilting his head in question.
"I'm from Stock! Just over the river! Do you have a home to go to, mister Yorric?" He nodded, pointing eastward. He made a gesture to show her that it was very far away.
"So far? Well, we can't have you sleeping out here in the cold! You can rest at our house! Ma and da won't mind. I brought in worse things. I don't think they've recuperated from that rotten goose I tried to re-home. Nasty little things, geese. Pecked my little brother all the way to Hobbiton and back!" She took his hand once more, grabbing her bucket of worms and fishing pole and leading him back to her home.
Yorric let out a quiet chuckle at her story as he nodded in agreement. He pointed at a beehive in a nearby tree, then mimicked a goose's beak snapping. Bryony gasped.
"The wretched things eat your bees?? How horrible." Her face suddenly lit up. "Oh, you must have giant bees! We only have little ones in the Shire, little enough for us little folk!"
Giving his hand a squeeze, she continued telling him stories of all the creatures she had brought home, much to her parents' delight, and slight dismay at the goose incident. She warned him of her siblings, who would ask a million and one questions without letting him properly answer. She also told him of a lovely tavern she's taken to visiting, where anyone is welcome to enjoy the warmth and company. Yorric simply smiled and walked with her, a very queer friendship slowly forming between the two.
