We have gotten deeper anddeeper into the story. :) I hope you guys enjoyed the little mystery at the end of the last chapter. :) It'll be a pretty fun journey to figure out who this masked figure is. :) Now we come into Chapter 11. :) Enjoy everyone. :) As usual, ignore any typos.

Chapter 11: The Black Rider

The group had travelled far within the last couple ofdays. The nights were nowhere near pleasant, but the daytime was rather enjoyable. Kanan couldn't deny that the landscape of Middle Earth was very remarkable. As they were getting closer to the
end of the Shire, things were starting to look bigger to the Jedi. There were bigger hills, bigger trees, and even bigger crops.

The hobbits and the crew of the Ghost found themselves going through yet another corn field. This time though, it was fully grown. Zeb, as expected, was more than happy to pick a couple for tonight's dinner, but Hera told him tonot even think
about it. Kanan just smirked at the Lasat and patted him on the shoulder.

He had to confess that so far, the journey wasn't that bad. Kanan had half expected to come across something unnatural or even evil, but so far they had seen nothing. That was good news to the Jedi indeed, because he most definitely did not want
to put his crew and Frodo indanger. Kanan hoped deep down that this would stay the same all the way to Bree.

According to Rex, Bree was only one more day away, much to the relief of everyone. Nobody would admit it, but their feet were getting pretty bruised. Even Frodo and Sam's feet weren't feeling all that great, and hobbits were supposed to handle journeys
like these.

Kanan couldn't believe that for the past four days, this ring of Sauron's hadn't left Frodo's front coat pocket. A couple of the crew, specifically Zeb and Ezra, had hoped to get just a glimpse of it. Kanan couldn't deny that he was as curious, but there
was something about that ring that he didn't like. The Force seemed to move darkly around it. No, it wasn't the Dark Side. It felt...worse.

Kanan thought it best to not see it. Plus, Gandalf had suggested to him that they shouldn't even look at it. Not now anyways. Honestly, the Jedi was ready to get this thing to Bree and hand it off to the wizard. But then what? Kanan had no idea where
they would go from there. No doubt Gandalf would do his own thing with it and he and his crew could be on their way.

Kanan refused to believe that Middle Earth had no parts. There had to be something on this little planet that nobody knew about. It was quite obvious to the Jedi that Commander Sato and the rebel fleet weren't coming, otherwise they'd be here by now.
They were basically on their own.

Kanan glanced behind him and frowned. Ezra was falling behind...again. For the past couple days, his padawan had been at the rear of the group, and he knew why. He had in fact seen Ezra get up during the night when he 'thought' everybody had been sound
asleep. Kanan couldn't deny that he was very worried about his pupil. And thus he came to a decision that he didn't wish to do.

It was time to talk about the dream.

As everybody else continued down the cornfield, Kanan stopped Ezra and stood in front of him, his arms crossed over his chest.

Ezra looked at him confused, "Kanan, what're we doing? They're still walking."

Kanan shrugged, "Somebody will call us if they need us." He then frowned at him, "But for now, it's time for us to have that talk."

Ezra slightly paled, although he tried to act innocent. "Talk about what?"

"You know what!" Kanan snapped, "That dream you had."

Ezra looked at him, expressionless, and finally shook his head, "I really don't want to talk about that right now, Kanan."

He made a move to pass his master, but Kanan held his hand up and stopped him.

"When do you want to talk about it?" the Jedi demanded, "When you're half dead?!" He pointed back the way they came, "You haven't been doing that good of a job keeping your sleeping problem a secret! I've seen you up and about the last few nights."

"Because I couldn't sleep!" Ezra argued.

"Because you didn't want to sleep!"Kanan snapped back. He then rose a concerned brow, "You're afraid to go to sleep, aren't you?! It's because of thatdream, isn't it?!"

Ezra didn't respond and just looked down at the ground. Kanan knew right then and there that he was right. And he was starting to suspect that this dream of his apprentice's was more than just a dream.

"Isn't it?!" Kanan demanded.

"Yes!" Ezra snapped, "Okay?! Yes, I can't sleep because of it! I'm afraid that I might have it again! You happy?!"

It was then that Kanan saw just how afraid his pupil seemed. He was more than just afraid of the dream. He was terrified. What had he seen? Kanan felt sorry for Ezra when he saw just how troubled he was. He couldn't imagine what his apprentice did to
keep himself awake, and he honestly didn't want to find out.

However, Kanan could also see that the effect of not sleeping was taking its toe on Ezra. The padawan had dark circles under his eyes, and the Jedi Knight could see his hands slightly shaking from the lack of sleep. Ezra had tried to call upon much of
the Force as possible to conceal his weariness, but it was starting to not work.

Kanan placed a hand on his apprentices shoulder and spoke calmly. "Ezra, how can you expect me to help you if you don't tell me what this dream of yours is about?"

Ezra shook his head, "I don't need help, Kanan."

The Jedi rose a brow, "I think you do. Because judging by how much it's bugging you, I'm beginning to think that this dream is actually a vision."

Ezra looked up at him, surprised, "How did you-?"

"You can't hide stuff from me, Ezra," Kanan said with a small smile, "no matter how deep you try to bury it."

Ezra was about to say something else, but then he stopped when he heard someone yelling.

"Mr. Frodo?!"

It was Sam. Kanan and Ezra looked at each other and then ran down the path to catch up with the others. As much as Kanan didn't want to, he'd have to wait yet again to discuss the dream with his apprentice. What could've possibly happened to Frodo anyways?!

Kanan and Ezra turned the corner and saw Sam and the rest of the crewrunning down the path.

"Frodo?!" Sam called, "Frodo?!"

Just then, Frodo showed up from a nearby corner, much to the relief of everyone. Sam sighed and leaned against his walking stick.

"I thought I lost you," he sighed.

Frodo rose a brow, "What're you talking about?"

Sam shrugged as he walked up to him, "It's just something Gandalf said."

"What did he say?" Frodo asked.

"'Don't you lose him, Samwise Gamgee'," the hobbit replied, "And I don't mean to."

Zeb smirked, "Yeah, that definitely sounds like someone the old guy would say."

Without warning, the Lasat pulled off a piece of corn from a nearby plant and started to shuck it.

"Zeb, that's not yours!" Hera snapped at him.

Zeb just rolled his eyes, "Oh come on, Hera. It's just one little corn. The farmer's not even gonna notice it's missing." He then held it up and took a bite out of it.

Sabine looked at him digested, "Gross, Zeb! That corn's not even cooked!"

He chuckled, "I know. But it still tastes good."

Frodo just grinned and shook his head before looking back at Sam. "Sam, we're still in the Shire. What could possibly happen?"

They found out sooner than expected. Suddenly, without warning, something ran into both Zeb and Frodo, causing them to crash hard against the ground. The Lasat got his big head stuck in between a couplestalksand was wiggling around to brake
himself free.

As for Frodo, the hobbit looked up to find the grinning face of Pippin staring down at him.

"Frodo!" the hobbit exclaimed happily, "Merry, it's Frodo Baggins!"

Sure enough, on top of Zeb was Merry. The hobbit stood up and grinned as well.

"Hello, Frodo!" he said.

Sam angrily marched over to Pippin and pulled him off his friend, "Get off him!"

Sabine looked at the two hobbits in bewilderment, "Um, where in the world did you two come from?!"

"That way," Merry replied, pointing back into the cornfield.

That wasn't exactly the answer to the Mandalorian's question, but she didn't even bother to say anything else and just rolled her eyes. Sam grabbed Frodo by the hand and helped him up. Frodo then looked over at his two kin and placed his hands on his
hips.

"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.

Without answering, Merry walked up to Sam and handed him some veggietables, "Here Sam, can you hold these?"

Just then, Zeb furiously broke his head free of the corn stalks and sat up. The moment he saw Merry and Pippin, a scowl immediately appeared on his face and he clenched his fists.

"You two again?!" he growled.

Ezra placed a hand on his forehead and groaned. "Oh no."

Both hobbits immediately went wide eyed. Merry grabbed Pippin and pulled him into the cornfield as the Lasat stood up.

"Run, Pip! He's gonna end us!" he shouted as they went off running.

"You're darn right I will!" Zeb called after them as he gave pursuit, "Come here, you littlerunts!"

Kanan placed his hand on his forehead as well. And here he thought it'd be smooth sailing. He felt bad for both Merry and Pippin and Zeb. Because whenever they were together, they seemed to be bad luck for each other.

Sam looked down at the veggietables that Merry had handled them. He could've sworn that he had seen these before. But where? The hobbit thought for a couple seconds, and then his eyes went wide.

"They've been into Farmer Maggot's crop!" he exclaimed.

Hera tilted her head questionably, "Who's Farmer Maggot?"

No sooner had the Twi'lek asked that question, then everybody heard the barking of dogs and someone yelling. Kanan looked above the stalks to see some sort of stick with a sharp edge on it moving its way through the field. And it was heading straight
towards them!

"You come back here!" a gruff voice shouted, "Get out of my field! Just wait until I catch up with you!"

Kanan looked back at everybody else and gave a nervous grin. "I think that's Farmer Maggot. And he doesn't sound too happy."

Apparently Frodo and Sam had some past experience with them, because as soon as they had heard that, they went pale. Sam immediately dropped the veggietables.

"Everybody run!" Frodo yelled, running into the cornfield after Merry, Pippin, and Zeb.

The crew of the Ghost didn't have to be told twice. They immediately ran after the hobbit, not really wanting to meet this Farmer Maggot face to face. They were running through the field fast, and that resulted in a couple of the leaves smacking
into their faces.

Rex wasn't very happy about that andended up smacking every single leaf in his path.

"Now we're being chased by farmers," the clone grumbled, "What could happen next?!"

Meanwhile, Merry and Pippin were a good ways ahead of the group. They were hoping to have lost Zeb, but the Lasat seemed even more angrier and desperate than the last time. They would be lucky if they made it out alive. Neither hobbits even bothered to
worry about the veggietables. In their minds, Zeb was far worsethan Farmer Maggot.

However, the hobbits unexpectedly found themselves out of the cornfield and stopping in front of a stone edge that went down to a road. They were going to go another way, but it was too late. Zeb charged out ofthe field and accidentally ran into
the two hobbits. All three of them ended up rolling down the steep hill until they finally stopped on the road.

As for everybody else, they too ended up on the edge, but were also ran into by the others and were rolling down the hill. Before Zeb, Merry, and Pippin knew it, the rest of the group landed on top of them. Rex looked like he was going to go insane. Sabine
had the dirtiest look on her face, considering that she got the paint job on her armor wet. Hera, Kanan, and Ezra looked completely ticked. And Chopper came down the hill, laughing at him.

Everybody glared at the astromech before slowly getting up.

"Oh, that was close," Pippin commented, considering his head was only a couple inches away from a pile of manure.

Merry sat up and groaned, "I think I've broken something." He then pulled out from under him a broken carrot.

Zeb growled andpushed the hobbit off him abruptly. "Oh, you're gonna breaksomething, alright." He showed Merry his fist, "Your face is gonna be broken after I'm through with it!"

"Oh yes, please do it!" Sam grumbled in agreement as he heaved himself up, "Trust a Brandybuck and a Took."

"What?" Merry asked in defense, "It was just a detour. A shortcut."

Hera looked at him, completely annoyed. "A shortcut to what, exactly?"

Pippin's eyes suddenly went wide as he was staring at something sticking up along the road.

"Mushrooms!" he exclaimed, getting up and running towards the plants.

Both Zeb, Merry, and Sam'sheadspopped up at the mention of that. All three of them got up and ran after Pippin, knealing down and looking at the plants in admiration. Boy, would this be a good meal tonight!

"On second thought," Zeb chuckled as he grabbedsome, "all is forgiven."

Rex walked up and watched them, shaking his head. He held his helmet at his side.

"What is it with hobbits andmushrooms?" he asked, looking at Kanan.

The Jedi shrugged, not really knowing the right answer. Honestly, he could ask the same thing about Lasats. The bright side was that they had an addition to their meal for the night. Well, that was unless the three hobbits and the Lasat ate them up first.

As the others were distracted with the mushroom picking, Kanan rose a brow when he noticed Frodo just staring down the road. The Jedi stared down the road too, but saw nothing. Yet, he sensed deep worry in Frodo, and he wasn't sure why. Did the hobbit
see someone coming? Was he just shaken up by the unexpected fall? He couldn't tell.

Kanan walked up to Frodo, "Everything okay?"

"I think we should get off the road," the hobbit replied, not even looking up at him.

Once again, Kanan looked up at the path, but still saw nothing. He was kind of confused with why Frodo wanted to get off.

"Why?" he asked, "I don't see anything coming."

No sooner had Kanan said that, then he suddenly felt a great disturbance in the Force. The wind all around them had suddenly picked up at a most rapid speed and there was a strange chill in the air. Kanan could sense something coming down the path. Apparently
Frodo did too because his face looked terrified.

"Get off the road!" the hobbit yelled to the others, "Quick!"

Zeb looked up at him confused, "Right now? But we're still picking."

Kanan twirled around, "Do as he says, Zeb! There's something coming!"

Hera looked at him, both comfused and worried, "Kanan? What is it?"

The Jedi shook his head, "I don't know. But I've got a very bad feeling." He looked at the rest of the group, "Everyone, off the road now!"

Zeb and the hobbits shot him a look of disappointment before gathering the bags of mushrooms they had and got off the road. Everybody else immediately followed. Frodo saw a little hiding place below the road and pointed to it. The crew of the Ghost crawled
in first, and then the hobbits sat on their laps. Sam sat on Hera's. Merry and Pippin sat on Zeb, which the Lasat wasn't too happy about. And Frodo sat on Kanan.

For a couple of seconds, everybody was starting to become annoyed and wondered why they were in this ridiculous position. However, their question was answered most unpleasantly. Up on the road, they heard hooves slowly walking their way. Kanan had become
familiar with the hooves of a horse during their stay in the Shire. However, the closer this horse got, the more dread the Jedi suddenly felt in his heart.

Everybody else had the exact same feeling and had fallen silent. They looked up above them nervously. There was a strange chill in the air, and nearly every one of them developed goosebumps. Some of the crew weren't even breathing and were praying that
whoever was on the road would simply pass by. Unfortunatly, that was not the case.

The horse stopped right above them. Kanan noticed a small gap where he could see a bit of the road. He could make out two black hooves that seemed to be covered in what looked like blood. The Jedi thought he could even see a nail poking out from one of
the hooves.

Suddenly, a pair of metalbooted feet dropped to the ground, and Kanan immediately turned his head. Nobody even breathed as they heard the feet slowly walking above them. They didn't even want to look up because they were so terrified. Even Hera
looked paler than usual. Kanan decided to risk a look. He looked up to see a figure in a black cloak crouched over the side, swaying his head left and right.

Kanan thought he could hear the cloaked figure sniffing, as if he was some sort of dog on a hunt. Everybody else looked up too and immediately regretted it. Their hearts were pounding so hard that they thought they'd explode. There was something about
this figure that made them feel...afraid.

They were so distracted that they didn't even see Frodo take the ring out of his pocket. Immediately the figure turned his head in the direction of the hobbit and the horse began to whine loudly. However, Sam noticed what Frodo was about to do, and placed
a hand on him to stop. That broke the whole entire Ghost crew out of their trance and back to reality. Frodo buried the ring in his fist and the figure began swaying again.

Then, without warning, Merry seized the bag of mushrooms and threw them to a faraway tree. Immediately, the cloaked figure let out a terrifying screech as it went after the bag. That gave the whole group a chance to make a run for it. They went deep down
into the forest until they were for sure that they were far away from the cloaked person.

Immediately, everybody, except for Frodo, dropped to the ground, both exhausted and scared out of their minds.

"What was that?!" Merry exclaimed.

Nobody answered the hobbit's question. All Frodo did was look down at his hand and then put the ring back into his front coat pocket, without anybody seeing.

Sabine shook her head, panting, "I don't know what that was. But I don't want to see it again!"

"That makes two of us," Zeb commented, his eyes wider than usual.

Kanan frowned, stroking his chin with his hand, "I don't think we really have a choice in the matter. That rider was...strange." He looked at the others, "He'll be back. I'm certain of it."

That didn't make anybody feel better in the slightest. All the hobbits had a look of dread on their face. Even the crew didn't look that happy.

Hera sighed, trying to shake the fear off her, "Then it's essential that we get away from hereas soon as possible."

Kanan nodded, "Agreed."

Without another word, they were off. This time, they checked the road several times, expecting to see the black rider riding down it. Merry, Pippin, and Sam were confused as to what the rider was and what he was doing in the Shire. Kanan, however, knew
what the rider was. Gandalf had warned him about it back in Bag End.

Sauron had unleashed the 'worst.'