AN: Before I begin this chapter I wanted to let anyone reading know I am choosing to follow more of the movie verse for this story, although I'm sure many of you purists have already figured that one out. While I think Tom Bombadill and the Barrows would be fun to include, I just don't think I know the story well enough to even attempt messing with it. On that note! Let the festivities begin!

Thank you to those who have reviewed and added me to their favorite stories list! I can't believe I haven't updated this story in so long! It's been a while since I've been working on this story. I'm have gone back and edited earlier chapters as well.

Your Nightmare's Nightmare: Thank You for reading and reviewing! It's nice to receive words of encouragement! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Lulalulale: Thank you! I will do just that!

Fireamber: Thank you for reviewing, I am taking her review more seriously and have edited chapters due to it.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the fabulous characters or places in this story…I only own Annanya, my own recreation of a character that's had her fair share of remakes on this website.

Annanya stood shivering in the doorway next to Mr. Burrows, his face was livid as he glared at her and continued to pound on the door of Bag End.

"I'm Coming! I'm Coming!" the two hobbits heard Bilbo shouting from within the hole " It was only due to their keen hobbit hearing that they could hear him muttering about the hour, and the rudeness of the people knocking. Annanya looked down, guilt and anxiety growing in the pit of her stomach as she heard Bilbo grow closer to the door, she was dreading seeing his face. Mr. Burrows kept a firm grip on her wrist. It rather hurt now, seeing as he had dragged her all the way from his hole further down the road, accompanied with berating her along the way. Annanya looked up as the round green door opened and Bilbo looked upon them.

"Nya?" he looked confused "what are you doing out here?" He gestured behind him with his thumb, as he had sent her to bed 4 hours ago. He frowned and looked at Mr. Burrows whose face was turning rather red. Annanya said nothing but simply looked at Bilbo with her eyes wide.

"Baggins" Mr. Burrows now barked. "If you can't keep this imp out of my garden then I'll see to it that the Sheriff hears about it!" He held Annanya's wrist up and shook for emphasis. "Maybe then he'll get someone to teach her some proper manners!" He let go of Annanya's wrist, causing her to loose her balance and tumble forward. Bilbo's eyebrows were furrowed at the man but he put his hands out to steady the girl, it was unnecessary as Annanya steadied herself, spinning around and delivering a swift kick to Mr. Burrow's shins. He swore and lunged at her, but she had already taken off inside the hole. Bilbo blocked Mr. Burrow's from entering his home

"Calm down now Thomas" He said. Bilbo could feel the headache forming as the night went on. "I'm not sure what has gotten into her…" He forced a smile on his face and went to shut the door on Mr. Burrow's ever reddening face. A hand went up to rub his temples as he leaned against the door. He gave himself a moment to breathe before setting off down the hallway.

"Annanya!" he shouted. He heard her door slam and sighed, Frodo had never been this much trouble, granted he had never been quite as temperamental as Annanya. Bilbo hadn't expected it to be this much trouble when adopting the two of them, it was really starting to wear on his nerves. It wasn't that he was regretting it, he did love the two of them dearly but he was getting older.

Taking a deep breath, Bilbo formed a fist and knocked on the door. 'Be stern' he told himself, thinking of how his father raised him. There was no response on the other side, so he knocked again harder this time "Annanya!" he grumbled.

"Go away!" she yelled from the other side. Bilbo steadied himself and turned the door handle meaning to open the door. It took quite a shove from Bilbo to get the door open. She had slammed it rather hard. He found her standing near her window, with a book in her hand, as if she had not just been caught sneaking about in the middle of the night.

"Annanya" Bilbo started grasping the door handle, he knew he had to be firm with her, but every inch of him wanted to shut the door and leave it till the morning. She continued to look at the book in her hands. Bilbo felt his temper rise at her deliberately defiant behavior "What prey tell where you doing in Mr. Burrows gardens in the middle of the night?" In response she merely shrugged her shoulders and still did not look at him. This infuriated Bilbo further, the normally calm hobbit suddenly stormed across the room and took the book from her hands. She jumped startled as if she hadn't expected him to do that. In his anger he tossed the book onto the floor making a loud crash. If Frodo wasn't awake before, he certainly would be now.

"Look at me when I speak to you! I want to know why you were in Mr. Burrows garden in the middle of the night!" Annanya looked shocked for a moment, she had never seen Bilbo this angry, it was terrifying really, she took a step back from him, her face was equally as red as his. She opened her mouth to reply but Bilbo interrupted her. "Tell the truth," he growled, as if he could see the lie forming between her aqua colored eyes. She scowled, it seemed they both had inherited the brandybuck temper.

"Fine" she spat "I was stealing Mushrooms" she crossed her arms across her chest "I was being teased me today saying I wasn't brave enough to do it, saying it was something only boys do, I wanted to show him I could"

Bilbo fought not to roll his eyes, it was such a childish story "Annanya, it does not matter what people tease you to do, it doesn't make you any less brave if you don't do it" he began, trying to ease this into a life lesson. "It makes you far wiser if..."

"Says you! People say your cracked! What about your stories! The dwarves teased you into..." Annanya began but Bilbo cut her off yelling loudly

"I AM A FULLY GROWN HOBBIT AND I..."

"YOU NEVER LET ME..!" the two continued to shout at each other, getting louder and less concise as they did, "ENOUGH!" Bilbo finally shouted so loudly that it was very probable he had now woken up the Gamgees. "You are not leaving this room until you straighten out your act!" he marched over to the door and slammed it shut, from behind it he heard Annanya throw something else heavy against the wall. Grumbling under his breath he made to storm down the hallway, to the kitchen eat something probably, he nearly ran into Frodo on his way.

"What's going on?" he asked looking concerned " is someone hurt?" Bilbo looked at him and struggled to calm himself enough to speak. He gestured a shaking hand in the direction of Annanya's room. "Your Sister... disobedient... little..." he was breathing rather heavily and couldn't seem to get the words out, he gave Frodo a look and then stomped down to the kitchen muttering.

…...…...…

"C'mon Nya!" grunted Pippin as the five hobbits hurriedly made their way through the pouring rain. Annanya snapped out of her thoughts of Bilbo and quickened her pace, she didn't know why this particular moment popped up in her mind as the traveled, perhaps it had more to do with the lecture she had received from her brother as he attempted to persuade her to stay behind. Much like that night Annanya had fought back venomously, demanding her right to remain with the group. Frodo finally conceded to let her stay, reasoning that their journey was only going to be to Bree, and leaving her alone would be far more dangerous.

"We're nearly there...it's just across this road" Frodo said leading the way through the brush. He gestured at the large dark looming shape a little ways ahead of them, which Annanya assumed must be the village of Bree. She exchanged a look with Pippin, a sort of half grin. The rain was pouring down upon them soaking them to the bone; their hooded cloaks did nothing to shield them from the weather, instead sticking to them like a second layer of skin. While the three elders in their group (Frodo, Sam and Merry) had worrisome looks on their faces and generally seemed panicked as they traveled, Annanya felt herself come alive with excitement, the feeling of adrenaline, long since forgotten was addictive to her, with the look Pippin gave her in return she knew he felt the same way.

"C'mon" Merry turned to bark at them as Frodo and Sam had began to run across the road. The three followed, leaving their cover of trees and huddling around the weather beaten gate blocking them from the village. Frodo reached a rain-drenched hand up and banged on the sodden wood. Annanya noticed how Merry was craning his head around to see if they were being followed, the rain was not loud enough to drown out a blood-curdling screech in the distance. The black riders were still-hunting them. A creak met their ears and they looked to see a small a man look out a peephole only to shut it abruptly and open a lower one.

"What do you want?" the man croaked, he looked as old and weathered as the gate he was guarding. It was Frodo who answered him.

"We're heading for the Prancing Pony" Frodo replied, his voice cracking, he tried to place as much authority behind it as he could manage. The man said nothing in reply but abruptly shut the slot. For a moment Frodo wondered if the man had thought him rude, it certainly wouldn't be an acceptable greeting in the Shire, before he could knock again however the gate swung open, revealing the old man standing behind it with a lamp in his hand.

"Hobbits! Five Hobbits!" he remarked seemingly shocked. "What's more out of the shire by your talk? What Business brings you to Bree?" he leered at them. Again it was Frodo who answered.

"Our Business is our own," he said curtly. The man stepped aside at this and quickly the hobbits ushered in. Condensing together into a small pack once on the other side of the fence. Each of them feeding off each other's uncertainty and anxiety resulting from their new surroundings.

"S'Alright young sirs I meant no offense, is our custom to ask questions after nightfall, there's talk of strange folk abroad" He swung the gate closed behind them with a resounding clunk. "Can't be too careful" Annanya turned to thank the man but one of the others had grabbed her arm pulling her along through the street. Bree was far from what Annanya had envisioned. Rain poured down upon slumping weather beaten two story buildings that stood more as dark looming shapes than actual dwelling places. The inhabitants of the town looked equally as foreboding. Men cast threatening looks as the passed in the streets, their greetings no more than grunts. This wasn't the world Uncle Bilbo had described to Annanya when she had eagerly asked to hear tales of his adventures. The hobbits moved through the rain, huddled together in no particular direction.

"There it is" she heard Frodo say, gesturing towards one of the pubs. It had a large hanging sign depicting a rather delighted looking horse. "The prancing pony" Annanya read the words beneath the sign, it didn't seem to match the large foreboding building it was paired to, but how bad could a place be if it had such a pleasant name.

Once inside the hobbits removed their soaking hoods from their heads and glanced around. Annanya couldn't see much being in the middle of the group and being shorter than all the males. Merry and Pippin looked rather pleased with what they could see, although they usually were whenever they were close to any form of ale. Sam was looking around cautiously and Frodo seemed very focused on getting the innkeepers attention.

"Excuse me" he cleared his throat and spoke a bit louder, just as he did a large bout of laughter erupted drowning him out. The innkeeper seemed to hear him however and looked down over the counter, his face was warm and friendly, framed by wispy auburn hair that accumulated around his ears as though it had fallen from his balding head. At his warm smile Annanya felt somewhat relaxed, this man was quite like a hobbit if he wasn't so large.

"Good Evening little masters!" He exclaimed looking at the group "and lady" he added hastily, having spotting Annanya. "If you're looking for accommodations, we have some nice cozy hobbit sized rooms available Mr. Ahh?" He trailed off gesturing for Frodo to tell him his last name.

"Underhill, my name's Underhill" Frodo said quickly.

"No it's not" Annanya began to say before Frodo stepped back on her foot. She winced and covered it up with a sneeze. Sam gave her dark look and she nodded. She looked to the man who seemed a bit confused and tried to pass it off as though she hadn't said anything.

"Underhill...hmmm" he repeated as if he was pondering the name. Frodo began to grow nervous; he had always been told he was a terrible liar, even as a child. There was far more than a spanking riding on this lie, their lives could be in danger. "We're friends of Gandalf the Grey" he said quickly "would you tell him we've arrived?" This seemed to distract the man, for which Frodo was thankful.

"Gandalf?" The man repeated, again he seemed to be trying to place the name. Annanya suspected his memory was not as good as it once was.

"Oh yes I remember!" The man suddenly exclaimed "grey beard, big pointy hat"

The hobbits all nodded in unison, that was the Gandalf they were looking for, Annanya felt relieved they'd soon be seeing their old friend, perhaps then she'd get answers about her brother's secret mission. Her hopes plummeted to her stomach when the man suddenly looked confused again.

"I've not seen him in six months"

At this Frodo was at a loss of what to say, the hobbits huddled together to whisper, Annanya observed the anxiety that was spread across her brother's face and began to feed off it, she bit her lip.

It was Sam who asked the question they were all thinking, "what do we do now?" they all exchanged glances. It was Merry who answered, the look on his face intense.

"Perhaps Gandalf has been delayed by the storm, why don't we stay and wait for him to arrive" he said and the others seemed to agree. Pippin looked elated, "excellent, how about that ale then" he grinned at Annanya nudging her. She scowled at him, "honestly Pippin, is that all you think about?" She turned to look at Frodo, the unspoken leader of the group. He looked exasperated but seemed to agree, "Yes, we'll stay the night" he turned to make arrangements with the barkeep.

...

A little while later the Hobbits sat at a table amid the raucous crowd in the inn. Merry and Pippin seemed to be in their natural element eating and drinking as if they're wasn't a single concern in their heads, although Annanya suspected due to the amount of ale they had ingested there weren't many coherent thoughts in their minds at the present time. She sat beside her brother who seemed to be trying to hold it together. She caught his eye and at the look she gave him, he sighed. "Nya, I can't discuss it here" he seemed to read her mind. She frowned at him

"Frodo, you know that keeping me in the dark is as dangerous as telling me whatever it is. How am I to know what not to say if I don't know the subject we are guarding?"

"Nya" He said exasperated, she held her place, stubborn as always. Frodo pondered for a moment how simple his life would be without a younger sister. (As Tolkien intended) He sighed again and rubbed his temples. Annanya grabbed his free hand and held it.

"Enough of that Frodo Baggins" she whispered "I'm not a child anymore, you have to stop trying to protect me" He leaned his head in close to hers, resigning to tell her their fate.

"Do you remember Uncle Bilbo's story, of what he found in Gollum's cave?" He whispered. Annanya nodded. Frodo patted his chest, and Annanya suddenly understood that the magic ring Bilbo had found now lay around her brother's neck.

"Is that why, those riders..." She whispered alluding to the black riders. Frodo nodded solemnly. "But...why" she began to continue but Frodo stopped her. "Nya that's all I can tell you here" he squeezed her hand a moment and turned away from her. Annanya sat for a moment, overwhelmed. Pippin had been oblivious to their whole exchange and was just emerging from his mug of ale, a dopey look on his face. Sam looked weary as he cast suspicious glances around the pub. He sighed anxiously. Frodo turned to him and whispered

"Sam, he'll be here, he'll come," he said reassuringly. Sam did not have time to reply as Merry returned with a large tankard of ale.

"What's that!?" Exclaimed Pippin in amazement. Annanya laughed despite herself, it was almost as if they were in the green dragon again.

"This my friend is a pint" Merry said nudging Nya to move over. He gave her a crazed sort of smile as she rolled her eyes, scooting to make room for him. He set the enormous tankard on the table and sipped at it.

"It comes in pints?" Pippin said exuberantly jumping up from his seat. "I'm getting one" he said with so much determination that you would have thought his mission was grander then Frodo's.

"You've had a whole half already!" Exclaimed Sam at his retreating form. Pippin payed him no notice as he sped off to the bar, taking his mug with him. Annanya didn't know how to react as she sat at the table, it seemed they were composed of polar opposites. Frodo and Sam sat quietly muddled in their thoughts. Their shoulders were hunched not aiming to draw any attention to themselves. Merry and Pippin on the other hand were in their natural element. She felt torn on how to behave; Frodo exuded a sense of anxiety that made her hands shake, while her cousins promised an entertaining evening of laughter and drinking. She could be dragged either way, often times when she felt torn between the two groups they'd be doing different things. Frodo and Sam reading...Merry and Pippin getting up to some sort of mischief. The decision was usually easy, but now it seemed that there was more at stake than a wasted afternoon.

She ran her hand through her hair, and sighed, anxiety overcoming her. Her thoughts were interrupted as Merry nudged her again.

"I suppose we aught to have kept some of Farmer Maggot's crops" he grinned. She laughed in spite of herself

"Yes I suppose we should have" she chuckled "I didn't expect we'd be coming all the way to Bree"

"Aye, none of us did. Well except Frodo and Sam" Merry gestured at the two who were whispering. They were looking over at a man in the corner who seemed to be watching them. The sight of him made Annanya uneasy, did he know what Frodo was carrying. She shook her head. No, only Gandalf knew of what Frodo was carrying...and the black riders. The thought of the riders made Annanya's blood run cold.

"Nya" Merry jabbed her again, causing her to snap out of her reverie.

"Hmm?" She said looking at him. "I apologize, I got distracted"

Merry began swatting at the air around her head. "Must have been a fairy," he said causing Annanya to laugh.

"Isn't that what Aunt Esmeralda used to say when we were children?" He nodded at her while taking a long drink from his tankard.

"Tis'" he paused " what do you mean when we were children Annanya, you're still a child"

She looked affronted "I am not"

"Ah but you are, young, underage, envious of the wisdom held by older hobbits such as myself" Merry said pompously, Age was something Annanya was constantly teased about, seeing was by far the youngest in the group.

"You seem to be describing Pippin, Meriadoc" Annanya used his full name for emphasis, she wasn't angry, more playfully irritated as she bantered with her cousin. "I on the other hand may be young, but I am far wiser than you. Remember the firework?" She said pointedly.

Merry ignored her "Where's Pip?" He asked turning his head to look at the bar, where Pippin sat drinking and chatting merrily with the big folk. Annanya followed Merry's gaze and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Honestly..." She said, "You'd think he'd exercise a little decorum in a foreign place"

"That may be too much to ask lady Underhill"

Annanya did not hear Merry call her the fake name, instead she heard from across the pub.

"Baggins!? Sure I know a Baggins! Frodo Baggins, and his sister too!" Pippin was proclaiming loudly at the bar, now gesturing at their table "they're over there!" He went on explaining their family connection.

"Idiot" Annanya snapped turning to look at her brother. He was already half way across the room, tearing through the crowd to get to Pippin. Annanya looked to Sam, all the color was gone from his face. Frodo reached Pippin and grabbed him; it was his first reaction to get him to stop talking.

"Steady on" they heard Pippin exclaim as he turned from the bar, the tankard still in his hand. Frodo lost his footing and fell backwards. Annanya grimaced as she watched her brother fall, but before his body made impact he disappeared. A collective gasp went through the pub, alerting the hobbits to how many were watching them; they had achieved making quite the scene. Annanya was stunned, she looked at Merry, Sam and Pippin from across the bar, bewildered, and panicked.

"He put on the ring" Sam hissed. Annanya looked at him and understood what he meant. Bilbo's ring, the one that made him invisible. She quickly now scanned the pub to see if Frodo had reappeared, he couldn't keep it on long right? Her heart nearly stopped as she saw him, a small figure by the stairs. The man they had seen in the corner was forcing him out of the room.

...

Thanks to all who read this chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. I should be posting a new one soon, I work on it during my commute! I suppose it's one perk to my long train ride!