Chapter 15 - New friends

                                    

                                          
Avadis spent the rest of the day and most of that evening helping her new hobbit friends. She found that they were a very chatty bunch, which was a nice change to the slow-paced conversations she would have with the Ents. They told her all about the fellowship, in much more detail than Gandalf had bothered to. They told her about the shire, about the food and the pipeweed and the hobbit holes nestled in the hills. And in turn, she told them her own stories, although they were more sad compared to theirs, but they didn't seem to mind. 
"May we see some of your paintings?" Pippin asked her from the other side of the fire where he was eating his meal. "If you would like, of course!" Avadis stood and went into her house, returning with her most recent project. "That is Lothlorien! We have been there with the fellowship not long after Gandalf was lost" Avadis smiled, "I'm glad it is recognisable, it is not finished yet. I still need to add the lanterns"
"It is beautiful Avadis, you really should get it framed" Merry said, talking while pointing the edge of a carrot in her direction. "Perhaps one day I will, but I am afriad I do not have many places where it can hang"
"Not yet, but... we will bring you with us when we go fight Sauron and your people will be restored with the people of Middle Earth, then you shall have the grandest house available for all of your painting!" Merry stood and raised the carrot higher in the air, "and the world will go back to normal!"
"That is quite the war cry you have there" Avadis chuckled, setting her painting down again. 
"Do you think that Treebeard will help us?" Pippin asked. Avadis shook her head slightly, "I cannot make promises. Ents are very slow creatures, they don't like to make any decisions in a hurry. If you want an answer, you will have to have patience."
"We cannot wait for much longer though, the enemy is right at our doorstep. Think of Frodo." Merry said, looking at Pippin who looked down to the ground. 
"I wish I could make that decision for you Merry, but I am no Ent. I am not welcomed at Entmoot. We will just have to watch and wait."
...
The Entmoot was called for 2 days time. Avadis could see that the hobbits were growing restless, and she could understand why. Merry especially had a strong and stubborn heart, he wanted to fight. To try and pass the time, she set up a small archery course for the hobbits to practice. They enjoyed a good competition. 
She taught them to use small slingshots and pebbles to fire at clay pots she had placed high up in the trees. "Aim like this" she showed Pippin, kneeling down and stretching the slingshot back, taking a moment to line up the center point before knocking down one of the clay pots. Passing it to Pippin, she took a step back and watched him do the same. After a couple tries, he was able to knock all but one of the pots from the trees. "That was good! Well done" she encouraged him, "Merry would you like your turn?" she asked, turning to look over at him. Merry was sitting on the other side of the clearing, a frown on his face, looking over to where some of the Ents had begun to gather. "He is not normally like this" Pippin said quietly, "he is worried for our friends, we both are. If you ask me, I don't think hobbits were made to fit in with how big this world is." His eyes looked down to the ground.
"I understand" Avadis said, laying a hand on Pippin's shoulder and kneeling down to look him in the eye, "really I do. There are things in this world that feel so big, so mighty, that it is hard to believe you alone could make any difference at all. But you must remember that no one is alone. We all have hope, and we all have love for the good things of this earth. Your friends, your shire. That Pippin, is what we fight for, no matter how powerful you alone may be."
Avadis watched as Pippin's shoulders rose a little higher. She could see he understood. "I will fight for the shire" he said, "and when we are done I will go home."
"There won't be a home if these trees don't hurry up" Merry yelled from further away. Avadis looked over at him with a sympathetic smile. "Alright then, why don't we take a walk down to where the Ents are meeting. Then we can see what they will do about this war."