Chapter 20 – When in Bree

G must have run faster than Rainbow Dash could ever hope to fly in Nyx's opinion, her eyes were still spinning when G finally came to a stop after running for what felt like a mile whilst carrying her .

"Are they still behind us?" she asked dizzily.

After taking a whiff of the air G quickly answered with a heavy sigh.

"No," he replied, finally setting the filly down. "I think we lost them."

At those words, both G and Nyx sighed in relief, finally able to take a moment to relax.

"Good," Nyx said, before putting on a sly look upon her face. "So… who's the girl?"

Needless to say G was taken aback by that, just a few minutes ago Nyx was panicking for both their lives and now she was mocking him!? This filly must have been tougher than she looked.

"Uh… well I…" G stuttered, not really sure as to what he should say.

"And what's this about you being her… oh what was it again? Her MAN?"

"That's all her idea!" G snapped, not liking the fact that Nyx had brought up the figure of his nightmares, mere minutes after escaping from her. "Look we met once in the Digital World, we had a few drinks, next thing I know I'm tied up and locked inside like I was her personal pet. Seriously, the girl does not take no for an answer! It took my three days to chew through that rope, and I couldn't burn it either since she basically lives underwater."

However the only response G got from saying that was a few stifled giggles, however Nyx couldn't hold it in any longer and found herself laughing out loud, much to G's dismay.

"Please stop laughing," G begged with a deadpanned look.

"I'm… I'm sorry," G giggled. "I just never seen you act so wimpy… and over a girl!"

A girl!? That's rich, given how Nyx was reacting to the very same "girl" earlier, for a moment G had wanted to scold the kid for being so arrogant. However he took a deep cleansing breath and calmed down instantly, perhaps he was rubbing off on Nyx more than he first expected, it was as though she was becoming as cocky as he usually was.

"Hey don't worry, I get it," Nyx continued, finally stopping her laughter. "Look G, I may be a kid so obviously I don't know much about adult relationships, but believe me, everyone has their… unwanted admirers. My Auntie Applejack went through the same thing."

"Yeah but I doubt Applejack had to deal with the bondage I went through," G retorted, giving off a small shudder as he recalled those specific events.

Suddenly the whole forest echoed with a series of loud, terrifying howls, howls that can only come from a pack of Wargs hot on the trail of their prey.

"I thought you said we lost them!" Nyx squealed.

"Bebop must have caught our scent!" G responded, sharing in Nyx's fear. "Never mind the stupid questions now, RUN!"

Not needing to be told twice, Nyx wasted no time in running alongside G as they bolted away through the trees, hoping to get as far away from the persuading villains as they possibly could. However there was only so much speed that Nyx's little legs could take her, so eventually G once again had to scoop her up in his arms and carry her, all the while the orcs, as well as all the villains drew ever closer whilst riding their Wargs.

"Ready or not, here we come!" Bebop called out, sniffing the air and locking onto G's scent as he led the charge with Scanty.

"Don't let them escape!" Scanty screamed. "Do what you have to!"

The chase continued on for several minutes, with the ferocious beast getting ever closer and closer towards their prey, and with G quickly beginning to run out of breath the odds of survival were quickly beginning to diminish. Normally such as chase wouldn't be much of an issue for G, but for some reason he seemed to be growing tired quicker than he had expected, perhaps it was because his mind had become a little clouded when he encountered Ranamon after so long? Either way things were beginning to take a turn for the worse. Before long G found himself leaning up against one of the trees, gasping for air.

"G, are you okay!?" Nyx gasped, seeing his condition.

"I… I don't know how much longer I can run," G admitted. "If we don't find an escape route soon we… LOOK OUT!"

Both G and Nyx only had a mere second to dodge the Warg that had snapped its jaws at them, thankfully all that the Warg was tasting at that moment was bark from the tree. As it turned out at least one of the beasts was faster than the others and now it and its orc rider were now edging its way towards the pair. G would have attempted to shoot with his cybernetic arm, or at the very least run again, however after narrowly dodging the last attack, he found himself stumbling and collapsing to the ground with Nyx still in his arms, and now with it drawing closer there was no time to make any movements. It was at that moment both Nyx and G clenched their eyes shut with terror and hugged each other tight, in all honesty G never would have thought he would go out like this, but now he he was mere seconds away from being dogfood. But then, just when Nyx and G could practically feel the hot, rancid breath of the Warg's maw, for some reason the bite never came, instead they heard a loud clang and a loud yelp that seemed to be getting further away from G and Nyx. Daring to open an eye to see what was happening, both of them gasped with delight upon gazing at the object of their rescue… their van!

"Someone need a ride?" Goggles asked smugly as he opened the side door.

"Get in!" Lug yelled, as he ushered the two of them inside.

As it turned out, mere seconds before the Warg had taken its bite, the rest of the group had arrived just in the nick of time to ram the savage beast with the van, sending it and it's rider a few yards away in an agonising heap. Before long both G and Nyx were quickly climbing into the van, shutting the door behind them and allowing themselves to catch their breath as the van sped off, away from the oncoming pursuers.

"That was way too close," G gasped, desperately panting for air.

Suddenly G noticed something, specifically who was sitting around him and Nyx, since Lug, Mossy, Spud and Goggles are in the back…

"Wait, who the hell's driving!?" he yelled.

It was then that Laura took a quick glance over her shoulder, keeping her hands on the steering wheel as she continued to speed up the van.

"Hello," he said shyly, quickly turning her head back to face the front.

"Since when do you know how to drive!?" G gasped, not being able to absorb the fact that a Keidran, a creature who lives in a world of horse and carriages, was behind the wheel of a van.

"She was the only one with hands who can actually reach the pedals," Goggles quickly explained, after which he shifted his eyes towards the others. "Uh… no offence guys."

"None taken," they all responded simultaneously.

"I've been learning through the manual," Laura quickly added, quickly nodding towards what appeared to be a teenager's notes on Drivers' Ed, most likely another object the previous owner left behind when G stole the van.

As much as G was confused at this point, he had to admit that whatever the case may be he was glad to have the van shielding him and Nyx from the dangers outside. Furthermore, the patchwork repairs that have been made seemed to be holding up quite nicely, even the shredded tire seemed to have a decent patch job, compliments of Goggles' genius no doubt. Suddenly G was snapped back into reality, when an orc arrow shot passed the passenger window of the van and shattered its mirror.

"Whatever, just step on it!" G yelled fearfully in response.

Giving a nod in understanding, Laura pressed harder on the gas, pedal desperately trying to make the van go faster. However even as the van sped up, the Wargs were still getting closer, what's more their riders had already began to fire whatever weapons they had. With Scanty using her revolvers, Bebop, his lasers and the orcs, their crossbows, it was only fortunate enough that nothing seemed to be doing any real damage as of yet. What made things worse was when Ranamon decided to jump off her Warg and start surfing over a wave of water like she did whilst she was fighting Scanty.

"Oh no you don't, lover boy!" She yelled. "AQUA NEEDLE!"

Upon that command a series of water spike shot out of the wave Ranamon was riding on directly at the van, thankfully no tires were hit but one of the spikes did manage to piece the back door like a nail through paper.

"HOLY SCRAP!" Goggles squealed, jumping with terror.

Seeing that the danger had increased immensely, and that the group was becoming more scared because of it, G narrowed his eyes with fury and opened the side door.

"What are you doing!?" Nyx yelled, confused as to what was going through G's head.

"Providing cover-fire!" G responded, quickly exiting the van and climbing up onto its roof while it was still in motion.

Clicking his heels together G then created a series of small spikes that burst out of the soles of his shoes that easily allowed him to pierce the roof in order to create an anchor for himself which was also provided extra support with the spikes on his tail. Satisfied that he wasn't going anywhere, G then shifted his cybernetic arm into its laser-mode and took aim.

"Eat this, you Half-breed wannabes!" he screamed, before firing a series of green lasers directly at the Warg riders.

Since only a few of the orcs had actually seen this weapon in action, only a few were smart enough to begin scattering in different directions upon seeing the weapon, however everyone else wasn't so lucky. Granted G wasn't trying to fatally harm anyone given the rules he had to follow whilst in any form of creation, but he did manage to land a few hits that at least incapacitated them so they couldn't give chase anymore, to be more specific he was focusing all of his efforts in shooting the Wargs in their legs, which in turn caused them to flip over in pain and toss their riders off them, all the while making them unable to run, and to an extent unsuitable for riding anymore. While the chase continued on for several minutes, G's focus remained on the pursuers behind the van, had he bothered to turn his head towards the front, he would have spotted a sheer drop directly ahead in a clearing beyond the treeline, one that spread at least ten miles lengthwise on either side and gapped for at least fifty feet. And while Keidran eyesight was extremely sharp, even at night, it still didn't stop Laura from failing to notice it.

"Oh no," she squeaked, realising her mistake.

Since her focus was more on avoiding the trees and the Wargs, Laura had no idea that the drop was even there until it was too late. With no time to hit the breaks or even turn, the van sped up a small mound in the ground and shot directly over the ravine, all everyone could do now was scream.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

It was at that moment that time felt like it was slowing down, as everyone's life flashed before their eyes, they all believed that this was the end. Even the villains felt the need to stop upon seeing the van fly over the large gap in the ground. The only one who didn't seem to be screaming was G, who at this point felt like doing a small pose like he was riding a surfboard. Suddenly before anyone knew it, the van landed safely on the other side, much to everyone's shock.

"What the…!?" Scanty screamed, not believing her eyes.

However Ranamon wasn't gonna be taken out of focus so easily, after all she still had a certain Living Genre to catch.

"You are not getting away!" she screamed.

At that point Ranamon used her power to take a running start with the wave of water she was riding on, in a manner of speaking that is, once she was a good enough distance away, she forced the wave forward at great speed, hoping to follow the van over the ravine. Seeing this from the other side, G couldn't help but scream with terror, knowing full well that if anyone could follow the van over it was Ranamon, if he didn't do something soon then not only will the others be in danger again but he was going to end up being Ranamon's bitch for the rest of his life. Suddenly an idea popped into his head, he didn't want to do it, but he had no other choice. Taking one fearful gulp, G then did what he had to do by putting his cybernetic hand to his mouth, and blowing Ranamon a kiss. As G had expected, Ranamon spotted the kiss blowing instantly and as a result blushed immensely and clutched her heart with a goofy look on her face, which evidently was enough to distract her from her jump and end up crashing into a nearby tree instead. Seeing this display the other villains couldn't help but smack their heads with embarrassment as Ranamon slid down the tree and onto the ground.

"What a MAN!" she giggled goofily as she continued to clutch her heart, hearts literally pumping through her eyes.

"Dammit, you're useless!" Scanty screamed, whilst making one last attempt to shoot over the ravine with her guns.

But it was too late, as soon as Laura recovered from the jump, she once again stepped on the gas pedal and the van was gone.

#

After finally escaping from the villains, the group finally felt relaxed, so much so that they all ended up cheering while the van kept driving.

"HA! We bloody pulled it off!" Spud laughed, while G once again opened the side door and climbed inside while the van was still moving.

"Everyone okay?" he asked, earning a few yeses from everyone else. "Good, now can someone please tell me what the hell you all are doing here!?"

As much as G had appreciated the rescue, it still didn't excuse the fact the danger they were just in was exactly why he left the rest of the group behind in the first place. However the rest of the group wasn't simply going to take a scolding just like that.

"Saving your sorry hides, that's what!" Lug snapped.

"Besides we couldn't let you go by yourselves," Edward added.

"Yeah, I mean we've been on the road for two days now, and what do we find when we finally catch up with you?" Goggles lectured.

"You and the wee lass running for your lives!" Lug finished.

As much as G hated to admit it, they did bring up a good point, if it weren't for the rest of the group showing up in the van then he and Nyx would be a Warg's dinner by now. Needless to say Nyx could tell when he had been beaten in the conversation.

"See?" she said smugly. "You need other people around you, just like I said."

Seeing that there was no further point in arguing, G let out a heavy sigh as well as put on a small smile. No matter how much he tried to deny it, these characters are going to do whatever the hell they want whether he tries to push them away or not. Still at least in these circumstance, the characters are doing such things for the benefit of their fellow group members.

"Okay, you got me there," G finally admitted. "I suppose there are some benefits to having friends on your travels."

It wasn't much of a response but regardless the group took it to heart and each gave G a gentle smile.

"So where are we heading?" Laura asked, hoping to change the subject. "I can't exactly drive without know where we're supposed to be going."

It was then that G's smile widened into a toothy grin and he rested an elbow onto the driver's seat, next to Laura's shoulder.

"Well that little jump across the ravine cut our traveling time in half," he answered. "So we should be arriving in a few hours."

Everyone raised an eyebrow at that.

"Arriving where?" Goggles asked curiously.

#

A few hours later, Goggles got his answer. Parking in the thick of a forest just a few yards away, the group sat in the van and stared at a large wooden gate in the centre of a stone wall which judging by the tops of houses that poked out from the other side, was surrounding some kind of village. Had the group taken the long way round the ravine, then it would have taken at least another day or two just to get back on course towards this place, thankfully thanks to the van and the shortcut they took whist escaping the villains, the group had arrived here in far less time. At this point it was well into the night, the darkness only expanded by the amount of dark clouds in the sky, blocking the moonlight and showering everything in a heavy rain, the only lights that could be seen was from the lanterns by the gate. At first Laura wanted to turn on the headlights, but G advised against in order to keep the van hidden from any prying eyes.

"It just had to start raining now, didn't it?" Lug complained, not being paid the least bit of attention from anyone else.

"You sure this is the place?" Nyx asked G curiously.

"Positive," G replied with a confident nod. "The place reeks with foreign smells."

Laura smiled at that.

"Okay then, let's go," she said, turning her attention towards the ignition.

However before her hand could reach the keys, G quickly put his own skeletal hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop in her tracks and blush slightly.

"Hold up, we can't just go barging in, especially in this van," he said cautiously. "Keep in mind that it's not exactly a technical world we're in at the moment."

Hearing this everyone agreed that G brought up an excellent point, if they just went charging into the village with the van then they would more than likely cause more panic than necessary, meaning that they needed a different method of entering.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Goggles asked, hoping that G had something in mind.

As it turned out G DID have something in mind, thanks to a few supplies that the group had packed up in Rivendell, which included a few elven cloaks that were a courtesy of Elrond himself, everyone was now donning a fitting disguise to hide their features. For Laura this was nothing new, in fact she felt somewhat nostalgic for her home dimension upon covering her head in her hood, plus Lug, Mossy and Spud weren't that unfamiliar with such a getup since it was basically what they were all the time anyway. Even Edward seemed fine with the disguise since the cloak we was wearing did a very good job at hiding his scissor hands. As for Goggles and Nyx, since they were too small for the disguise to work, they both had no choice but to hide in the inner pockets of both Laura and G's cloaks, with Goggles in Laura's and Nyx in G's. G himself of course didn't need any of the cloaks the others brought since his magic basically changed his entire body aside from his right eye, along with his ears, both of with he easily hid under the hood of his cloak. Once everyone was disguised, they all left the van where it was and proceeded on foot, towards the large gate, once there, Lug gave a few heavy knocks. After a few seconds a small window was opened in the gate and an elderly human man's face appeared through it.

"Who goes there?" the old man demanded, causing everyone to be taken aback a bit.

Following G's instructions from earlier, Lug did his best to give the gatekeeper a convincible answer.

"Forgive us lad," he said. "We are merely travellers looking to seek shelter for the night."

It was then that the gatekeeper closed the window and opened up a side door, allowing everyone to see him fully from his cloak to his long silvery hair.

"What manner of creatures are you then?" he asked, holding up a lantern to get a better look at the group. "And what's more, what business brings you to Bree?"

"We are from across the sea good sir," Lug answered, speaking for everyone. "My companions and I are but simple merchants looking to see Middle-Earth and all its wonders."

At first it didn't look like the gatekeeper was buying Lug's lie for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he looked over each and every member of the group, but thankfully his gaze softened almost as quickly.

"Eh… alright come in," he finally said, stepping out of the way and letting the group through the door. "Forgive me if I offended you or anything, there's talk of strange folk about, you see?"

Lug smiled at that as he led the rest of the group inside.

"We understand completely, thank you lad," he said as the gatekeeper shut the door behind them.

After that, the group made their way past a paddock full of steers and into the village, now known as Bree. As the rain continued to pour on top of them, the group trudged their way through the soggy mud, with G once again taking up the lead with his nose in the air. Granted the rain certainly didn't make catching a scent easy but thankfully it was strong enough to pinpoint now that the group was so close to who they were looking for.

"So where to now, G?" Laura asked curiously, graciously stepping to the side to avoid an oncoming bystander chomping down on a carrot.

At first G continued to say nothing and kept his nose in the air, however suddenly his eyes went wide and he pointed towards a certain direction.

"There!" he declared.

At that point G then rushed towards one of the buildings, an inn by the looks of it, upon reaching the entrance everyone then quickly took notice of the sign that hung above the door.

"The Prancing Pony?" Goggles read aloud. "Seems rather fitting, eh Nyx?"

At those words Nyx couldn't help giggle, however jokes aside the group had a job to do, and whoever needed help was just beyond the other side of the door ahead of them. Taking one heavy breath, G then pushed the door open and led everyone inside. Upon entering the group was met with swarms of people of many different species, mostly there were mortal men but G also spotted the occasional hobbit and dwarf here and there, all of whom seem to be having a merry time and downing their food and drink, however for the moment there didn't seemed to be anyone out of the ordinary. Realising that they simply couldn't just start asking questions without arising suspicion, G then ushered the group towards an empty table by the window, after which he then went up to the bar and got everyone a round of drinks, water for Laura, Edward, Nyx and goggles, and a schooner of ale for himself as well as Lug, Mossy and Spud. For the innkeeper, a man named Barliman Butterbur, it was odd that he ordered water for half his group, however G quickly explained that half couldn't handle alcohol very well, which was no less far from the truth so the issue was quickly dropped. As the group took in their drinks, they each gazed around the room to see if there was anyone who stuck out, all the while keeping their hoods up to avoid any more prying eyes that needed to be.

"See anyone?" Lug asked curiously.

At first G couldn't give a straight answer, however upon taking another look at the bar, a small smirk appeared across his face.

"Oh yeah," he said, pointing a finger towards the bar.

As the group looked towards where G was pointing, only Nyx and Goggles were able to see what he meant. To most of the bystanders, and some members of the group, all they saw was a simple human girl dress in a simple Middle-Earth maid's uniform being yelled at by her boss, however G, Goggles and Nyx were the only ones who can see that the girl in question was the only on in the room who had pale-blue skin, along with a darker shade of blue hair with navy streaks, captivating her violet eyes, without a single doubt that this girl had come from some version of Equestria, the human version from what Nyx could tell. What's more, while nobody else could tell the person who was yelling at her was from another world too, specifically the same one Ezekiel came from judging from the look and smell of him. He was a large, muscular, dark-skinned man with a gap between his front teeth, a bald head, and a small black moustache, and his attire consisted of a chef's hat and an apron over his baggy clothes. As the group continued to watch them, they couldn't help but feel intimidated by the man as her yelled at the blue-skinned girl, even if his yelling wasn't directed at them.

"Damn it Sonata, how many times are you gonna get the order wrong!?" the man yelled, causing the girl to whimper.

"I'm sorry Chef!" The girl, now known as Sonata squealed, her eye almost on the brink of tears.

"Sorry ain't good enough little girl!" Chef retorted, not dropping his fury for a second. "How many times do I gotta to say it? Write the order, serve the food, and remember the dang person who ordered it!"

It was then that another pair of girls of Sonata's same age and getup had entered the conversation, both of which G, Goggles and Nyx recognised to be from the same realm judging from their looks, one was violet-skinned with deep purple and green hair tied up into two pigtails, and the other had yellow skin, large curly orange hair with golden streaks and purple eyes that came with a glare that would make babies cry. Both of whom seem to be rolling their eyes at Sonata's predicament.

"Told you she was the worst," the violet skinned girl snidely commented.

It was then that Sonata's crying turned into a fierce glare as she looked back at the girl who spoke.

"Shut up Aria!" she snapped, wiping a tear. "YOU'RE the worst!"

"No, you…" Aria tried to snap back, only to receive a smack across the back of her head along with Sonata by the third girl.

"Quit it! You wanna get us all fired!?" she snapped, causing both Aria and Sonata to quickly shake their heads. "Then shut up and get back to work!"

At those words, Sonata and Aria then nodded their heads and proceeded to walk back into the crowd to take food order, leaving both Chef and the orange-haired girl at the bar to let out a heavy sigh.

"You sure you related to those two Adagio?" Chef asked coldly. "Cause you seem to be the only competent one out of the three."

It was at those words that the girl, now known as Adagio let out another sigh.

"Unfortunately yes, but you can't choose your sisters right?" she replied, before taking out a scrap of paper from her pocket. "So I got another order for the lamb stew, think we got any left?"

"I'll check the kitchen," Chef answered, before walking into the back room, which could only be the kitchen.

Watching all of this from their table, the group wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation, however there were some that knew exactly who those girls were, true they had never met before but of course G would know them anyway, and Goggles and Nyx had already heard plenty of stories about those girls from their own dimensions.

"Are they…" Nyx tried to ask, though finding it difficult to find the right words.

"Yep," G answered, scratching his chin with thought. "Turns out Ranamon isn't the ONLY bad girl who ended up here."

To say that was surely an understatement, granted he was prepared for anything, but how exactly was G supposed to handle a situation involving someone as devious as the Dazzlings?

#

Author's Notes:

The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:

The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:

The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman: