lady_branwyn

The official "Six Days of Spooky" over at

spooky_arda is on hiatus this year, so this is an unofficial effort.

Title: No title yet
Rating: G
Source: LOTR
Characters: OCs (hobbits and Men)

Brandin picked this town as clean as an old bone. From hole to hole, he went, stripping the cupboards and walls. His Men hauled away sacks of silver spoons and gleaming heaps of copper pans.

“Orders from the boss. These will be shared for the common good,” Brandin told the Halflings as he took their gold rings and pocket watches.

Most had stared in wide-eyed silence, and the few who protested were quickly put in their place. Brandin had never seen the like in all his years as a bandit. Such gutless folk deserved to be robbed.

In the parlour at Bag End, Sharkey counted the silver spoons, gloating over his hoard like Smaug the Worm. “When their houses and fields are bare, we will strip the fat from their very bones! Double rations of ale for these Men!”

Brandin went back to work, but now the easy pickings were gone. Each day, he had to drive farther and farther along the muddy lanes and often came away with no more than a patched tin bucket.

“Curse these Halfings to death and darkness,” he muttered as rain dripped from his hat and ran down the back of his neck. The last time he returned with a half-empty wagon, Sharkey had reminded him that he needed to earn his keep. “A gold watch or two would satisfy old Smaug,” Brandin told himself, but he had searched every hole in this town and robbed every last Halfling.

Then he suddenly realized that, no, he hadn’t.