Next chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, except Alice.

Grabbing a nearby butcher's knife that Butterbur had left out, Alice takes off up the stairs after the three short boys. The blonde has nothing; Pippin has some kind of table, and the third one with lit candlesticks. She doesn't know why she's following them, other than that she suspects that Mr. Frodo Baggins is about to be in a lot of trouble. The strange man in black had grabbed him and taken him up the stairs after he'd reappeared several minutes after he'd disappeared. She wasn't sure how, but even when Frodo had disappeared… it was like she could still see him. But in her mind.

Shrugging off the memory, she kicks the door open, and the blonde boy charges into the room ahead of her.

"Let him go!" He shouts angrily, "Or I'll have you, Longshanks!" She looks at him, bewildered. "Weirdest insult I've ever heard." She sees the man in black ("What is this, some kind of movie? Is he secretly Will Smith?") sheath a long sword, and is glad for it, since she had no idea how to fight off such a weapon with a flimsy butcher's knife.
"You have a stout heart, little Hobbit, but that will not save you. You can no longer wait for the wizard, Frodo. They're coming." "This is getting weirder and weirder." Alice thinks to herself as she looks the strange man in the eye. He looks up at her, and gives a small bow. The others look at her curiously.
"Who are you?" Asks the blonde, and Pippin turns to tell him.
"She's the barmaid! She gave me my pint… Though I have no idea why she followed us up here." He looks up at her, his curious look coming back. 'Longshanks' quirks an eyebrow.
"What is your name, Miss?"
"Alice Dawntreader." She said, remembering that in old stories like this, sometimes people would have a type of nickname for a last name because of something they did. "I could ask the same of you."
"They call me Strider," the pain returns as does the familiarity, "I was told to keep my eyes open for a woman who would go by Dawntreader. You must be of some importance." He casts a wary eye over her dress, "Though of what kind escapes me. You know half the Hobbits, I assume, since you were at the bar." The two she doesn't know quickly supply their names as Sam and Merry. Again, pain courses through her brain, and for some reason, she feels very stupid for not already knowing their names.

Strider instructs the Hobbits to get some sleep, and invites Alice to stay in his room as well. Part of her says that she won't be getting any sleep, since the four Hobbits took up the whole bed by themselves, and Strider was just sitting down in the only chair in the room. But part of her says that she needs to be here, but it was the same part that said before to go into this inn, and to follow the Hobbits up the stairs. She tries option C.

"I haven't finished working downstairs. I have an agreement with Butterbur to let me stay here for free. I'm supposed to be manning the bar right now." Strider looks up at her from underneath an eyebrow.
"You won't need the room if you stay here. I'll get an extra chair from downstairs for you." The part of her that says to stay is now screaming at her to do as he says that she can trust him. She realizes that when her decision making sways from that path, the headache she's been suffering from returns, and fearing that it may become greater that she can handle, she agrees. Strider leaves for a moment to go fetch her chair, and Alice goes to stand at the window. Merry gets a thoughtful look.
"Did you bring anything else with you, Miss?" She suddenly remembers.
"My guitar! I left in my room." Merry gets up from the bed.
"I'll go get it for you." Thanking him, Alice tells him where her room is from where they are, and what it looks like. He leaves to get it, and Frodo looks up at her suspiciously from where he sits on the edge of the bed.
"Where are you from, Miss Dawntreader?"
"And where did you get a name like 'Dawntreader'?" Pippin asks before Sam can stop him. She looks Frodo in the eye, hoping that her lying abilities are up to par.
"I don't remember. I only woke up in the last hour or so, and I only remember my name. I don't remember how I got it. And it's just Alice, Mr. Frodo." He seems to buy it, and none of them really seem to notice how foreign her accent sounds. She decides to make an effort to not use it, when at all possible. Merry comes back at that moment, guitar in hand.
"Will you play somethin' for us, Miss Dawntreader?" She smiles, taking it from him.
"It's Alice, and… sure, I guess." The Hobbits cheered a little, and she sat on the end of the bed, across from Frodo. She strums a few times, thinking. It's out of tune, so strumming on a G chord, she quickly corrects it.

"I took my love, and I took it down, Climbed a mountain and I turned around

And I saw my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide brought me down

Oh, mirror in the sky, what is love?
Can the child within my heart rise above?
Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?
Uh oh, uh oh

Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Even children get older and I'm getting older too
Well"

She pauses here, and does a small guitar solo, having to use her fingernails as she had forgotten to get her pick out of her pants pocket before changing into the dress.

"Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you
But time makes you bolder
Children get older and I'm getting older too

Well, I'm getting older too

So, take this love, and take it down
Yeah, if you climb a mountain and turn around
And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, the landslide brought it down

And if you see my reflection in the snow covered hills
Well, maybe
Well, maybe
Well, maybe
The landslide will bring you down."

She hadn't dared to look up from her guitar the entire performance, afraid they wouldn't like it. But as she sings the last note, she looks up at the Hobbit's faces. They're all bearing small smiles, having enjoyed the song they'd never heard.

"That was beautiful." She hears a voice from behind her say, and she spins around quickly. She hadn't heard Strider come back in the room, so he surprised her when he spoke. She gives him a quick smile, before looking down at her hands.
"Thank you." She mutters softly.
"Did you write that?" Pippin asks her, also speaking quietly.
"No, I'm afraid not." She responds with a chuckle.
"Oh, well it was really good." He says, giving her a big grin and the other three quickly give their assent.

Strider takes control again, by asserting that the Hobbits need sleep. Alice slips her guitar over her head, leans it against a nearby wall, and takes her seat next to Strider. She realizes why it took him so long to get up here; he had to haul a large rocking chair up the stairs. When she glances back at the Hobbits, Sam, Merry, and Pippin are asleep, and Frodo has elected to stay awake, seeing as he "isn't tired".

Its hours before anyone talks again, aside from Alice awkwardly thanking Strider again for bringing up the chair. He waves her off, and stares out the window. At first, Alice thinks that he's avoiding her, but then she realizes that he's actually intentionally looking for something… or someone. She doesn't notice how he goes stiff before a loud, piercing, almost agonizing scream fills the air. The Hobbits sit straight up, all awakened by the sound. Alice grips the arm rests of her chair, scared stiff by the sound.

"What are they?" Frodo asks almost immediately, having watched them stab the beds in the Hobbit's room across the way with Strider. The formidable man looks across at Frodo, a strange look on his face. "They were once men." "No man I know could make that kind of noise… at least, not on a whim." "Great kings of men. Then Sauron the Deceiver gave to them nine Rings of Power. Blinded by their greed, they took them without question. One by one falling into darkness." The pain returns, taking Alice by surprise as she had already forgotten about it. She finds herself suddenly finishing Strider's thought in her mind, fighting herself so she doesn't say it out loud. "Now they are slaves to his will. They are the Nazgûl, Ringwraiths, neither living nor dead. At all times they feel the presence of the Ring, drawn to the power of the One. They will never stop hunting you." "I am so not getting any sleep tonight."

The next morning…

Alice tries very hard to not complain as they walk across the back country. Her legs are already getting sore, unaccustomed to such walking. Sam notices her exhaustion, but doesn't say very much, focusing on leading Bill, the pony. "Where are you taking us?" Frodo asks after they've walked off the path for while. "Into the wild." Strider says, with a hint of passion. "How do we know this Strider is a friend of Gandalf's?" Merry asks quietly, hoping to not be heard. "I think a servant of the Enemy would look fairer and feel fouler." Frodo responds, equally as quiet. "He's foul enough!" Merry responds. "But where is he leading us?" Sam asks, loud enough for the Hobbits and Alice to hear. "To Rivendell, Master Gamgee. To the House of Elrond." Sam looks up at Alice with a huge grin. "Did you hear that? Rivendell!" The pain is fiercer this time than any other, all of this is so familiar it's hurting her. She looks at Sam, hoping that maybe he'll explain what Rivendell is, and he finishes his sentence without further request. "We're going to see the Elves!" "Oh, well that expl… wait, ELVES?"

After a few more miles, and Alice's heading receding to a dull throb, the Hobbits stopped and started to pull out things to make food. Not really caring about what they were doing, Alice sits down on a patch of un-snowed-on grass to let her legs have a break. Strider turns, having noticed that the Hobbits had stopped.

"Gentlemen, we do not stop 'till nightfall." He says to them, having not yet noticed Alice.
"What about breakfast?" Pippin asks.
"We've already had it."
"We've had one, yes. What about second breakfast?" Strider walks away, and Alice covers her laughter with a hand.
"Don't think he knows about second breakfast Pip." Merry says, and Pippin looks worried.
"What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them doesn't he?" He asks in rapid fire.
"I wouldn't count on it." Merry catches a piece of fruit as it comes flying out of the air in the direction of his head. He hands it cheerfully to Pippin before clapping him on the back and walking away. Sam goes to put up the last few things he'd gotten out, when he notices that Alice has yet to move.
"Are you alright?" He asks her quietly, still a bit timid. She looks up at him with a small smile.
"I'm not used to walking cross country like this, I'm really tired. I've been trying hard to not complain, though, since I figured you guys were all used to it." Sam looks up at Bill thoughtfully, before taking a few things back down, and attaching them to his own pack.
"You can ride on Bill until you get your strength back." Alice opened her mouth to argue, but Sam cut her off, "Just until you think you can walk some more, and then you can go until you're exhausted again. It'll get your stamina up. In a few days, you won't need to ride on Bill anymore." She nods, knowing she can't win this argument, and climbs on top of the pony, glad for her new pants that Strider loaned her. A long pause follows this as Sam continues to guide Bill.

"So…" Alice starts, trying to get the conversation going again, "Sam, what's the Shire like?"

Even though she only asked one of them, all four Hobbits began to tell her, rather ecstatically, about the Shire. From what little she understood, it was like the British Isles. What most people consider being 'the simple life'. They talk for hours, telling her all about their lives, their families, the drama they left behind, and what the Shire looks like. Eventually, Sam retrieves a map to help her keep up with what they're talking about. Alice gets the feeling that Strider would like them to be quiet and walk a bit faster, but he knows as well as she does that talking about the Shire is keeping the Hobbit's spirits up, so he doesn't say anything.

When they get to the marshlands with mosquitoes that eat them alive is when Alice decides it'd be easier on Bill to not have to worry about her while they cross over. She tries not to laugh when Merry asks about what the mosquitoes eat when they can't have Hobbit, and helps Pippin out when he falls into the mire. She would carry him on her back, except she's not that much bigger than he is, and is afraid he'd topple her.

They stop for the night inside the marshlands. Strider leaves for a while, and comes back with a dead deer to make rations. Alice tries not to breathe as he cuts up the beast, as the putrefying smell makes her want to barf.

The Hobbits go to sleep, but Alice stays awake, lying in the blanket they brought from the Inn. Her mind is flying through the possibilities of where she knows these strange people from. Why are their names so familiar? Where does she know them from? And why does she get a headache whenever something strikes her as familiar? She almost doesn't notice Strider's soft singing, but when she does, she quiets her thoughts to listen. The tune is sweet, but the words are foreign. She wishes she could reach her guitar, which is lying down near her feet. She decides to ask Strider about the song when they get to wherever they're going. Riverden, or something. She falls asleep listening to Strider's voice.

Song: Landslide by Glee Cast.