Author's Note: Thank-you for all of the reviews lately. Just want to thank cheeky-eyes and Isis the Sphinx. YAY! The "Prancing Pony"! I'll enjoy this. (Sighs) . . . But summer school starts tomorrow . . . I really don't want to go, but I brought this on myself. But by the time you probably read this, I'll have already gone. I'll have to upload the chapters later in the day, since school starts at 7:30. I have to get up at 6:00! No fair! Wish me luck! And for the story, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Lord of the Rings.
Chapter 13: The Prancing Pony
It was raining by the time the journeying hobbits reached the town of Bree. Outside of the town, a small forest with different varieties of trees grew. On the edge of this forest, four shadows moved along. The hobbits looked out at the wooden gate surrounding the town, then at the street passing by it. When they decided it was safe, Yugi nodded to the others.
"Come on," He waved his hand at them to follow as he ran across the road. All of their heads were hooded from the rain. When they all arrived, Yugi knocked on the door inserted in the gate. The peak-hole in the door opened, and an old man's face appeared. He looked out and didn't see anyone. Anyone at his height, that is.
"Down here," Hiroto told the man. The man closed the peak-hole and bent down to look out a lower one.
"What do you want?" He asked grumpily. He did not appreciate being disturbed from his nap.
"We're heading for the Prancing Pony," Yugi informed him. The man observed the group and then closed the peak-hole. A moment later, the door opened and the man came out with a lantern. The hobbits backed up a little bit.
"Hobbits? Four hobbits?" The man examined astonishingly. Otogi, who was behind the others, looked behind him cautiously. "What business brings you to Bree?"
"We wish to stay at the Inn. Our business is our own," Yugi replied anxiously. The old man nodded.
"All right, young fellow, I meant no offense. 'S my job to ask questions after nightfall." He then stepped aside to let the hobbits in. As they entered, the man continued to talk, "There's talk of strange folk abroad. Can't be too careful." He closed the door and went back to his station as the hobbits walked through the town.
It was difficult to get through it, with their size. Every road they crossed, someone with a carriage would almost run them over, donkeys and horses almost squished them, and no one seemed to acknowledge their presence. The hobbits walked all around town, searching for a sign that said "The Prancing Pony". At last, they saw the sign that had a horse rearing on its hind legs, and beneath it, the title. The hobbits quickly walked inside.
"The Prancing Pony" was a small Inn. In the middle of the room, a bar with many drunk men rested. Around it, tables and chairs were arranged so that people could enjoy their meals and drinks. On the far left, a fireplace was lit to keep the place warm. Right beside it, covering another table, a spiral stairway led up to the upstairs rooms.
The hobbits pulled off their hoods and observed the place. Yugi walked up to the bar, where the attendant sat, and cleared his throat.
"Excuse me?" Yugi asked. The attendant turned away from the bar and gave his attention to the four hobbits. At first sight, he looked pretty friendly.
"Good evening, little Masters. If you're seekin' accommodation, we've got some nice, cozy hobbit-sized rooms available, Mr . . . uh . . ." Yugi took this as his clue to give him his last name. He was about to say "Mutou" when he remembered Mahado telling him not to say that anymore. He quickly corrected himself.
"Underhill. My name's Underhill." The man nodded.
"Underhill . . ." He said thoughtfully.
"We're friends of Mahado, a High Priest of Egypt. Can you tell him we've arrived?" Yugi asked.
"Mahado?" The man paused for a moment, raking his brain for a memory of the name. Yugi's heart jumped at the man's pause. Suddenly, the man's eyes shined bright as he remembered Yugi's friend. "Oh yes! I remember! Nice fellow. Brown hair and eyes, covered in Egyptian gold, right?" Yugi smiled and nodded. The man's face then turned to confusion as he shook his head. "Not seen him for six months, I'm afraid." Yugi's face turned to shock, as did everyone else's. Yugi slowly turned back to his friends.
"What do we do now?" Anzu anxiously asked. Yugi sighed.
"We have to stay here. Let's wait and see if he shows up . . ." They signed up for a room, and then grabbed a table and ordered food and drinks. Yugi, Anzu, and Hiroto sat around the table, eating silently. Otogi was at the bar getting another drink. Anzu and Yugi held cups of juice in their hands, while Hiroto held a small cup of beer. Yugi then suddenly broke the silence.
"Anzu, he'll be here. He'll come." He reassured her. She nodded without giving a reply. Otogi dodged a couple of men that didn't notice him and were about to hit him, and then sat down next to Hiroto. In his hand was a much larger glass of beer. Hiroto looked at it in amazement.
"What's that?" He gasped.
"This, my friend, is a pint," Otogi replied before taking a huge sip out of the beer. Hiroto's eyes widened.
"It comes in pints?" He asked incredulously. Otogi grunted as he drank the beer. Hiroto then turned to Yugi and Anzu and said flatly, "I'm getting one." He then ran off to the bar without a second look back. Yugi seemed not to notice his departure, while Anzu rolled her eyes. Then Anzu looked into the corner and noticed something. She put her hand on Yugi's shoulder.
"That man hasn't looked away from you since we arrived," She said quietly. She nodded her head in the direction of the stairway. Yugi slowly followed Anzu's gaze to the table behind the staircase. He couldn't see the man's face. He was completely covered in shadow. All he could see was the reflection of the light on the man's eyes. As the attendant that greeted the hobbits walked by, Yugi stopped him.
"Excuse me?" The attendant stopped and bent down to Yugi's height. "That man in the corner . . ." The attendant nodded and looked at the corner table, "Who is he?" The attendant flinched, and then turned back to face Yugi.
"He's one o' them Rangers. Dangerous folk they are, wondering in the wild. His real name I've never heard, but here, he's known as Strider." The attendant then walked away to continue his duties. Yugi looked back at his food fearfully, afraid of what was chasing him this time.
". . . Strider . . ." Yugi looked back at the man. At that precise moment, the fire in the fireplace became brighter for a second, and Yugi caught the glare of cold blue eyes.
Yugi found his hand going to his chest pocket and pulling out the Ring. Underneath the table, he turned it in his fingers. As he touched it, he went into a trance. He closed his eyes, continuing to move the ring in his hands. He heard a faint whisper saying, "Mutou . . ." Then the whisper got louder, and the air around him started to become heavier, "Mutou . . ." The whispering continued to grow louder each time, "Mutou . . ." Soon it became a yell, yet a whisper, "MUTOU . . ."
"Mutou?" Someone said in real life. Yugi opened his eyes and looked around. His eyes fell on Hiroto at the bar. "Sure I know a Mutou!" Hiroto carelessly said. He turned around and pointed to the table Yugi was sitting at with his pint of beer, "He's over there! Yugi Mutou!" He then started to rant on about Yugi's identity as if he didn't care. Meanwhile, though, Yugi was panicking. "He's my second cousin, once removed on his mother's side, and my father . . ." On and on he went. Yugi stood up and tried to run to the bar to shut Hiroto up. He was bumped around by the men who could not see him. As he struggled to get through the crowd, the man in the corner sat up straight as he watched Yugi being thrashed in the crowd. Yugi finally reached Hiroto and pulled onto his arm.
"Hiroto!" He screamed. Hiroto did not expect the pull on his arm, and he dropped the beer on the floor, screaming, "Hey!" Yugi stepped on a man's foot behind him and lost his balance. Yugi fell backwards until he hit the floor. The collision made him open his hand, and the Ring flew into the air. The man in the corner suddenly stood up at the sight. The Ring gained all of its potential energy and started to fall back. As it fell, Yugi reached out his hand to catch it. All of the people in the bar had their attention on Yugi now. As it would turn out, Yugi did catch the Ring, but by it landing on his finger. As soon as the Ring touched his skin, Yugi disappeared entirely.
Everyone in the bar gasped and screamed at the sudden departure. They all continued to look in the same place that Yugi just was, but no one was there. Meanwhile, back at the hobbit's table, Anzu and Otogi looked at the place where Yugi had disappeared and then back at each other. Hiroto turned back to the bar in shock, afraid of what he had just seen.
The black riders suddenly felt a throbbing pain in their side. Shrieks mixed with grunts from their horses were heard for miles. The black riders all turned around sharply in one direction and ran their horses at full speed. Their destination was Bree.
Yugi didn't understand what was going on either. He looked up from the floor. He could still see everyone around him, but it looked like he was in a giant wind storm. Everything, even him, was blurry. It was as if wind was blowing 150 miles an hour. The wind roared in his ears as he looked around. He could see that people were scared of something, but he didn't know what. Yugi then heard someone talk to him, but he didn't know who. He turned around to find him, which he did. But it was too frightening to look at. The light from it was incredible. Yugi quickly covered his face from the sight and tried to back away on the floor. Before him was an eye covered in flame. It seemed to say "I see you . . ." Then it seemed to speak a foreign language. Yugi felt his skin start to burn. It hurt so badly. Yugi screamed in pain. He heard a menacing laugh in his ears as the flesh on his bones burned away. Yugi moved his left hand toward the finger with the Ring on it. With great effort, and with a loud cry, Yugi removed it.
He suddenly came back to the world. As the pain went away, Yugi sighed in relief, panting. Just when he let his guard down, a hand grabbed him by his clothes, and a deep voice said, "Come with me." Yugi was dragged to the wall next to the stairs and faced his "kidnapper". It was a man much taller than Yugi, about 6'1". He had dark brown hair, neatly combed, that went down to his neck. He wore a blue trench coat that strangely defied gravity about waist length. His collar was pushed up, as well. Under the coat, he had a black shirt on with dark blue pants. His shoes were brown. As Yugi looked into his blue eyes, he realized who it was: Strider.
"You draw far too much attention to yourself, Mr. Underhill," The man sarcastically said in that same deep voice. He then pushed Yugi up the stairs until they reached his Inn room. Strider pushed Yugi in hard, making him land on the floor awkwardly. Yugi stood up quickly to face the man.
"What do you want?" Yugi's voice shook. Strider closed the door and the faced him.
"A little more caution from you. That is no ordinary trinket you carry," He then started to move around the room and extinguish the lights. Yugi still wanted to keep the Ring a secret, even if it was obvious that he did have it.
"I carry nothing," He defiantly said.
"Indeed," Strider observed. Yugi was getting the feeling that this 'Strider' wasn't a friendly person. Strider went over to the windows where some candles were burning and put them out quickly with his fingers. "I can avoid being seen if I wish, but disappear entirely? Now that's something unnatural." Yugi was beginning to feel scared now.
"Who are you?" Yugi asked. He knew that Strider wasn't this man's real name, but he seemed to be hiding something else as well. Strider stared at Yugi for a moment.
"Are you frightened?" He sarcastically asked. Yugi looked down at the floor.
"Yes . . ."
"Not nearly frightened enough. I know what hunts you." He looked out the window for a moment, and then walked closer to Yugi. Just as he was about to speak again, the door to his room opened. Almost as quick as lightning, Strider drew out a hidden sword from under his trench coat. He thrust it through the air and pointed it at the attackers. It was Yugi's friends, Anzu, Hiroto, and Otogi. Otogi had come in with his fists up, Anzu came in with a candle stick, and Hiroto had an end table held up above his head.
"Let him go, or I'll have you beat to death!" Otogi threatened as he came in. When Strider saw who had come, he relaxed himself and lowered his sword. He put the weapon back into its sheath and glared at the hobbits, who were no a little higher than his knee.
"You don't seriously think you can hurt me with those weapons, do you?" The hobbits had lowered their weapons a little in doubt, "You can no longer wait for the wizard, Yugi," Strider walked over to Yugi, "They're coming."
I liked writing this chapter, though it was long. But now I have to go gather my stuff as I get ready for school. Back to the prison cell . . . R&R, but no flames please?
