The Ring Appears

Arthas and Gandalf entered the party, their moods clearly good as apparent by their cheerful expressions, the Hobbits cheered for them as the two began enjoying themselves.

Arthas immediately attacked all the food he saw and began devouring them as gracefully as he could, alas it wasn't that graceful since he resembled a wolf more than a man. Gandalf who saw that shook his head in exasperation, "What kind of a king are you?".

Arthas didn't even turn to look at him as he answered, "A hungry one, now go away and let me eat in peace. We haven't had a good meal like this since we began journeying here!".

"yes yes..." Gandalf said with a sigh and parted leaving the wolf-like Arthas, alone with the food. He saw the fireworks and headed there with a smile.

On one side, the young hobbits gathered around Bilbo as he told them of his adventures melodramatically, "So, there I was...at the mercy of three monstrous trolls...Have you ever heard of a troll? Do you know what a Troll is? Great big nasty twenty-foot high smelly things..and they're arguing...arguing about how they were going to cook us!".

The eyes of the little Hobbits grew larger and larger as he continued, "Whether it be turned on a spit or minced in a pie or whether they were going to sit on us one by one and squash us into jelly! Suddenly, A Ranger that traveled with us attacked them and cut the arm of one Troll and killed it swiftly after! He jumped back as another one punched but the other troll only managed to wound his fallen friend even more as this Ranger had jumped back! Right before this Ranger turned to take care of the other one, The sun rose and turned them into stone!". The young ones let out stunned gasps.

A little Hobbit girl asked with wonder, "Who was the Ranger?". Bilbo smiled and at the edge of his vision, he saw Arthas leaving behind empty plates and mugs as he moved around, hunting food, his smile turned mischievous, "He is among us!". This got the attention of some older Hobbits as they paid attention, the younger ones stood up and began looking around. "where?!" asked the hobbit girl.

Bilbo pointed at Arthas, "There!". Everyone turned to look at him in awe.

Arthas who was eating and drinking to his heart's content suddenly felt strange. He looked around and saw everyone's gaze was on him and his hand that held a big chunk of food. He lightly coughed and put the food down, a handkerchief appeared magically in his hand and wiped his mouth. "Hello." he waved at them.

Gandalf suddenly broke out in laughter and all the Hobbits joined him. The little hobbits all ran toward him and surrounded him, bombarding him with questions. He saw Bilbo smirk in a friendly way and walk away.

Suddenly, A dragon appeared and everyone began running away in fear, it turned a summersault and exploded over the Hills with a deafening bang. Everyone cheered bar Arthas who was still somehow surrounded by little Hobbits and realized he couldn't run away anytime soon. He moved some strands of hair out of his face and thought, 'Yare Yare Daze...'.

On the other side, the clothes and hair of Merry and Pippin were smoking, however, their expressions were of excitement and approval. It didn't last long as large hands clamped down on their ears; they turned to look up and saw Gandalf looking at them sternly, they grinned.

Arthas answered the endless onslaught of questions from the little ones as much as he could until Bilbo climbed over a stage and began giving a speech, the children hurried to their parents despite being unwilling, the stern looks were enough.

Bilbo cleared his throat and began his speech...

"My dear Bagginses, and Boffins, Tooks and Brandybucks...Grubbs, Chubbs, Hornblowers, Bolgers, Bracegirdles, and Proudfoots..."

A Hobbit with particularly big feet shouted to correct him, "Proudfeet!".

"Today is my one hundred and eleventh birthday. Yes, and alas...Eleventy- one years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable Hobbits!" A Tremendous outburst of approval followed his words.

"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you as well as you deserve." May guests were unsure if it was a compliment or not, in any case, scattered clappings could be heard.

"I have..things to do and I have put this off for far too long..."

"I regret to announce, this is the end. I am going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell!!" he looked at Frodo with hesitation, "Goodbye.".

He suddenly vanished. The crowd exploded into an uproar and rose to their feet. Meanwhile, Arthas was laughing, 'Who gives a speech like that at their birthday party and vanishes?!'. Frodo stared at the empty stool in disbelief.

Arthas noticed Gandalf going somewhere so he stood up and followed him. He followed him through the moonlit lane to the front door of Bag End and entred behind Gandalf silently. He saw Bilbo, apparently ready to travel, and Gandalf looming over him. He approached them and heard, "... their faces?".

Gandalf turned to see Arthas looking at him with a smile, the old wizard said, "We need to discuss something....". Arthas's smile vanished as he nodded and waited beside him.

Gandalf said, "There are many magic rings in the world, Bilbo Baggins, and none of them should be used lightly.".

Bilbo replied, "It was just a bit of fun. Oh, you're probably right as usual.".

"You will keep an eye on Frodo, won't you?"

"Two eyes, as often as I can stand..." Said the grey-robed wizard.

Bilbo lifted a book as he said, "I am leaving everything to him!".

Gandalf asked inquiringly, "What about this ring of yours? Is that staying too?".

Bilbo gave Gandalf a look and nodded toward the mantelpiece, "Yes, yes, it's in an envelope...over there on the mantelpiece." Gandalf frowned at the empty mantelpiece that Arthas had picked up while shaking his head...Bilbo suddenly felt his waistcoat with a look of guilty surprise.

Arthas frowned when he saw Bilbo looking at the Ring in his hand with such intensity and smile in a creepy manner. "No, wait. It's here in my pocket. Isn't that...isn't' that odd now? Yet, after all, why not? Why shouldn't I keep it?"

Arthas stepped in, "I am not clear what you are talking about but I think its best if you leave it behind for Frodo; Since you seem to be leaving for a long journey, it could get lost!".

Bilbo looked at Arthas with vigilance, " I don't feel like parting with it. It's mine. I found it. It came to me!". Arthas stepped back in surprise seeing the Little Hobbit's sudden outburst. He wondered, 'Is It really that corrupting? It shouldn't be worse than Frostmourne...'

Gandalf's looked at Bilbo with rising concern, "There's no need to get angry. He is trying to help...". Bilbo thought otherwise, "Well, if I'm angry, it's his fault! It's mine. My own, my precious.". Arthas saw Bilbo's expression and he frowned and grew serious. 'Maybe I should stay away from it? I mean I have a ring to resist it but Celembior warned me to not underestimate it...'

"Precious? It's been called that before, but not by you," said Gandalf. "So? What business is it of yours what I do with my own things?" Bilbo's voice, shape, and manner changed strangely.

He looked on with slight concern as it got more heated and eventually, Gandalf had enough. The old wizard rose to his full height, his eyes flashed as his shadow seemed to fill the room. "Bilbo Baggins do not take me for some conjurer of cheap tricks!"

"I think you've had that ring quite long enough."

"You want it for yourself!"

Bilbo became frightened as he cowered. Gandalf's expression softened, "I am not trying to rob you. I am trying to help you.". The two hugged and Arthas still felt slightly creeped out by the things happening previously. Maybe it was because he knew Bilbo closely or some other reason, but his hair stood on end when he saw the corruption up close. He didn't feel fear or anything of the sort, he merely felt a sinister vibe from the ring that he disliked.

Bilbo left for the door and after Gandalf's reminder, pulled the ring out. Bilbo stared at the ring and mustered all his willpower to slowly let it fall to the floor. The tiny plain gold ring landed on the wooden floor with a heavy thud. Arthas's eyes were glued to the ring, he felt Frostmourn grow colder. The Sword had reacted to something after decades.

Arthas had never seen it personally, the ring was close to him many times but this was the first time he saw it.

Bilbo looked at Arthas and put on a smile, "Old friend, Forgive me; I have a new journey ahead of me. I hope we meet again.". Arthas turned his attention toward him and smiled, "I am sure we will. All is forgiven, Take care.". The two shared a friendly hug and the Hobbit left, Gandalf followed behind him but Arthas ignored that as he approached the Ring glinting on the floor.

He felt a strange impulse as he extended his hand toward the Ring...