Hm. Didn't expect quite such a good review. THANKYOU!!!!! And here you go.

~^~

"So…Sirrah…what now?"

"I dunno…Walk?"

"I guess…wait a sec…did *you* suggest that?'

"Yup. Aren't you proud of me?"

"Amazing."

"I know. I'm stunned too."

"Well," she said getting up, "Lets go."

Kat picked a direction, and they began to walk. After three hours and one break, they reached a small village. They drank from the public fountain, found an orchard and ate the apples in reach from that tree. It was early morning, and people were beginning to wake up. They bustled around, casting strange looks to the two girls, who were now trying to figure out where they were.

"Um, excuse me but could you…"

The person Kat was trying to talk too hurried away.

"Excuse me madame, but could you…"

Again the lady that she was attempting to adress walked away. Kat finally got very annoyed and grabbed a young man by the arm.

"Pardon me good sir, but since the rest of the people in your village are incessant boars, Could you possibly tell me the location in which we are in?"

The man looked at her for a moment then raised his eyebrows.

"You are in the village of Westemnet."

Kat breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, someone that speaks to us!"

'Hey he's rather cute isn't he sirrah?'

Sirrah glared at her as Kat smiled.

'Stop doing that! Its disturbing!'

'Its fun!'

'Well…'

'Come on, admit it.'

Sirrah gave in.

'ok, so its really quite cool…'

'haha!'

'shut up.'

Now the man was staring at them, looking rather scared. Kat realized it, then snapped back to reality.

"Thankyou sir, could you points us the direction of Helms Deep?"

The man started.

"Why…yes, take the Road of the Mountains, Helms Deep lies three days walk to the west."

Kat smiled.

"Thanks a bunch!"

She had switched from her diplomatic voice to her regular voice so quickly that it took even sirrah by surprise.

"Come on Sirrah, lets see if we can find some food and a water bottle before we go."

Sirrah, being the one that hadn't said a word the whole time, waved shyly to the man, then walked after her friend, who was now skipping. The man, who had not been adressed by a woman in two years, due to his reputation, looked after them a moment, then followed.

~^~

"Barluga."

"Longstride."

"Two women will be along in a moment, both auburn haired and tall. They will be looking for supplies," he slid a few coins across the table to the man, "This should cover what they need. If it does not, I shall return." He was about to walk out, when he thought of something and turned around. "Do not think to cheat me sir."

Barluga nodded, try to cheat a ranger? Did the man think he was mad?

"I shant sir, I mean it!"

Sure enough, five minutes later, two young women came in, both with auburn hair. One had more red in hers than the other, but Barluga was sure that it was them. Eager to try to make money, though it be from the hands of a ranger, he stood up and welcomed them warmly.

"Good morning Ladys! Come in!"

Sirrah stepped through the door after Kat, who had ran right in.

"Hello sir, we are about to embark on a rather long quest," Seeing the questioning look, she quickly said, "Or buisness is our own, and we wish to inquire after supplies."

Barluga spread his arms and indicated the entire shack.

"Anything here is yours. I have supplies for all lengths and types of Journey!"

Kat looked at him hard and long, judging the truth in his words. Suddenly she smiled.

"Thankyou. Do you have waterskins? And food cakes? Cram perhaps?"

The man nodded, recgonizing a person who knew what she was doing, though in truth, she was making it up as she went along. Barluga pushed full waterskins, food cakes, two packs, and cloaks across the table to them. Kat looked at it all.

'erm…Kat, how are we going to pay for this?'

'I dunno…'

'Figure it out quick…'

'ok, ok!'

"Thank you sir for your help, but I am afraid that we cannot pay for this."

Kat expected a sharp word and the objects being taken back, but the man held up a hand.

"It's been paid for," he said.

Kat and Sirrah looked at each other and then back at Barluga.

"By whom?"

"His business is his own, but he has agreed to pay for these travel supplies."

"His?" Kat asked.

"Is he hot?" Sirrah wanted to know.

"A more important question," Kat stated, "Is he eligible?"

Barluga looked at them, stunned.

Kat shrugged and walked out. Sirrah looked around, realizing that her friend had gone, grabbed the supplies and left after her.

~^~

"KAT! If you make me a pack animal, I swear I'll kill you!"

Kat looked back, then put her hand to her mouth.

"Oh my…ooops! Sorry!"

Sirrah snorted and handed Kat's half of the stuff to her. Kat looked at it, then looked around.

"Lets go over there and sort this out." She pointed to a tree off the road a bit.

Sirrah nodded, went to it and sat down. Kat sat down next to her and looked around again.

"Lets get this over with, the people around here keep giving us dirty looks."

Sirrah nodded.

"Probly not a travelers town."

"You are correct."

Both girls jumped a foot in the air. Kat turned around, hand on the nape of her neck, where her necklace was. Sirrah was in same position. Longstride cooly noted that their Necklaces were nearly the same. Then he smiled.

"Do not be afraid, I shan't hurt you."

Kat stood up. Though she was tall, she still had to tilt her head to look the man in the eye. Sirrah stood up, behind Kat.

"This I know, the people here wouldn't take to that, but how are we to that you are not here to rob us?"

Longstride raised his eyebrows.

"The young lady has pluck. No, I am not here to rob you either," he decided to omit the fact that he had been the one to get their gear in the first place. "I simply saw that you were packing to leave. I believe that we met earlier in the day?"

Kat studied him a moment, then turned to look at sirrah.

'What do ya think?'

'Well, he's definatly the same guy.'

Kat glared.

'No kidding. I *knew* that.'

Sirrah smiled.

'Yeah, I think he's ok, he looks a bit like Aragorn. The cloths too.'

Kat thought of something.

'Does he have any jewelry?'

'Um…I think he has a ring…'

Kat gasped again and whirled.

"Are you a ranger?"

This took longstride by surprise. He did not show it, though Sirrah and Kat could see it. Instead he bowed.

"I am Analgon, known as Longstride in these parts. And yes, I am a ranger, though how you could have known is a mystery to me."

Sirrah smacked her forehead.

"I knew there was something about you…"

"You mean besides the striking resembalance…"

Kat trailed off at the death glare she received from Sirrah. Analgon looked at both girls closely, still slightly stunned at their vibrance. Kat gave a sly grin and turned back to the ranger.

"You're going to rivendell, I know that, but why do you want us? We aren't headed to the elf haven…yet."

Now Analgon let his mouth hang open. His destination was rivendell, to report to Elrond on the status of the Border between Gondor and Mordor. But how could they have known that?

"I am going to Rivendell," He paused, what exactly did he want? He had been curious, that was it, two human women, alone in Middle Earth, of course he had been. "But I wished to know why you were going to Helms Deep, and why you were here. This is seldom a travelers wayside, as your friend here said."

He nodded to Sirrah, who blushed. Kat covered a snicker, then smiled.

"Tell ya what, I'll make you a deal. You get us to Helms deep, and on the way we'll tell you the whole story."

Analgon started. He hadn't expected such a response.

"How do you know that you can trust me?"

Kat smiled.

"Easy, the line of the kings of humans is quite honest."

Sirrah rolled her eyes as Analgon spluttered.

"Way to go Kat, you've made his brain explode."

"Well its true, though, on earth it usually isnt, the rangers are the good guys."

Sirrah snorted.

"I thought Aragorn hated his bloodline!"

"He does, but isliadors bane doesn't stick around much longer here, and he eventually takes pride in it."

Sirrah rolled her eyes.

"Kat, its Isildor!"

"Oh, blast, I can never remember that."

"No kidding, I noticed."

They turned back to the ranger, who was openly staring. Kat giggled at his open-mouthed stare, comparing it to a cow's. Sirrah laughed at her friend's comparison, and the look on his face.

"Oh…oh dear….Sirrah…"

The ranger had collapsed against the tree in shock. They had just talked, as if it were the weather, of his kindred and the thing that could be the end of all. For one thing, many normal humans did not know of the rangers existance at all. The learned or lucky knew of them, and only the elite and scholarly knew of their true purpose.

"Analgon? Hey, sit down, here." He felt a waterskin pressed to his lips. He took a drink, then grabbed the skin and the hand that was around it. The hands rather, because Sirrah and Kat were holding it to his mouth. They both stared at him, just as he stared at them. Kat suddenly snickered.

"You know, there's been an awful lot of that lately."

"Awful lot of what?" He asked airily.

"Confusion, especially from your side of the water."

He looked to Sirrah, to Kat, and back to Sirrah. Then he stood up and grabbed the waterskin.

"I do not know how you know all that you do, but I beg with you not to tell all, to me or otherwise."

Kat smiled.

"No prob. Now. Do you have a map?"

Analgon shook his head and dug a map out of his belt. He did not need it, and gave it to them freely. They thanked him and set off, having packed while he recovered from his shock. As he watched them go, Kat turned and ran back. He was afraid that she was going to tell him something strange that she shouldn't have known again, but instead she stuck a hand out.

"Thanks for the stuff, we'll see you later."

They then left, leaving a sorely confused ranger behind them, trying to work out how it was that they had known nearly everything about him.

~^~

"How did you know it was him?" Whispered Sirrah.

"Lucky guess. I seem to be getting better at them."

"No kidding, it's the whole middle earht thing probably."

"Yeah, probably."

Sirrah shook her head.

"I think we scared him."

"No really? If someone had come up to you and told you that the taliban would be dispatched after a king reclaimed his throne that everyone thought was lost, wouldn't you be just a titch surprised?"

"No. I'd tell them that they were mad."

Kat sighed.

"True. I guess there's no comparing the worlds. That sucks."

"No it doesn't, means its better."

Kat nodded.

"I guess." She consulted the map. "Well, we just follow this road till we hit Helms Deep, it's a travelers road, so it'll stay obvious."

Sirrah shook her head.

"Whatever."

~^~

As Analgon had said, it was a three day hike to Helms Deep. Sirrah and Kat saw it on the horizon in the early morning light, but didn't reach it until late afternoon. Both were constantly thankful that #1 they had been wearing jeans and t-shirts when they had come, and #2 that the weather was always cool and clear. Both were in love with their cloaks, though Kats was a bit short. They walked into Helms Deep with mouths wide open, to the amusment of passerby.

"Wow."

Sirrah nodded.

"Yep."

Kat suddenly snickered.

"OoO Heey what? Its like wwwwwwwoooooooooooooowwwwwwww!"

Sirrah stared and then began to laugh. It was then that they began to gain the queer looks of the people of Helms Deep.

"So. Now what?"

"Hm. I have no Idea. Money would be nice, but we don't have any."

Sirrah sighed, "Well, at least we still have some cram."

Kat nodded. "Yeah, and I think I have an Idea…I wonder if there's a market around here."

Sirrah raised an eyebrow. "Why am I suddenly scared?"

Kat grinned. "Because you should be, come on, we're going back out."

Sirrah's jaw dropped. "Out?"

Kat nodded. "We have to figure out an act for the street."

Sirrah stared. "Street performers?"

"Yep. Got a better Idea?"

Sirrah shook her head. "Lets go."

~^~

Ten minutes later, Kat and Sirrah had figured out a wonderful act for themselves. It was cheating, but as they had agreed, money was money. It involved Kat dareing the audience that she could identify an object of any sort without looking. Sirrah, in the audience, would then tell her, by way of mind, what it was. Kat was pretty sure that they would at least get a small coin for it. Sirrah looked at her and told her she was mental. Kat just laughed at the double meaning. Rolling her eyes, Sirrah agreed to the plan.

~^~

"Ladies and Gentleman boys and girls! I tempt you to tarry a moment, let yourself be amazed!"

This was the beginning of the speech that Kat had worked out, with Sirrah's help. They performed the trick multiple times, to much hemming, hahing and applause. Various people tried their luck, to no avail. Everything that was held up was named. People tied scarves and hankies around her eyes, even used their hands. Sirrah always was able to figure out what it was, and tell her. Finally Kat bowed and said,

"Since I have baffled and amazed the twisted halls of your minds, I shall tell you that I am headed for the white city soon. I ask that if you wish to see this performer again, that you lighten your pockets of loose change and let a talented mind charmer have it. With that last thought, I bid you Adieu."

As her small cup (a paper contraption that was more of a cone) filled up, Sirrah casually came up to her.

'Not bad. Not bad at all.'

The people had drifted off by now, Sirrah had made sure of that. All except for a withered old man on a horse. Or was it a withered old man?

"Sirrah," whispered Kat, "look, to your right, that guy is staring at us."

Sirrah gasped.

"Kat, it's Gandalf!"

"What?" She said it a bit too loud.

"Shut up! Its Gandalf!"

"As in the grey?"

"Yes! Look at his staff! And the…" she giggled "The pointy hat!"

Kat looked over again, and giggled. "It is him!"

The man took a last look, seeming to look straight through them, and finally flipped them a small coin. Kat caught it and bowed.

"Thankyou Gandalf, greatest of the Istari, your kindess shall be noted."

Gandalf did not look surprised, just amused. They were certainly the last Angmars, they always knew whom they were talking to, and rarely traveled, or worked, alone. That they had adressed him as the greatest of the greatest of the Istari had been surprising, and he dared not think of it, the gods did not relish too much pride in one of their own.. He noted their faces so that he might find them at a later time, when he could study them at his leisure. Kicking Shadowfax, he set off for the Shire.

Kat watched Gandalf go in admiration.

"That must be shadowfax. Wow. The books didn't do him justice."

Sirrah shook her head.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again, whatever."

Kat nodded.

"Yep, you've said it before, You've said it again, and there is much time to say it more. Come on, lets get out of the crowd and count how much we got."

~^~

It turned out that they either had enough to buy two cheap horses or a night at an inn. Both opted for the horses, though Sirrah couldn't ride and it had been years since Kat had ridden decently. They bought the horses and some food, then walked them out of the city. Tack had come with them, and thankfully Kat remebered how to use it. Both of the horses were rather sweet mares, underfed but not sick. Kat guessed that the owner had recently come on bad times. Neither Sirrah nor Kat had much trouble with them, it was mostly people who yelled prices at them that was bothersome. When they were far enough from the city to safely pitch camp, they found a stream and spread out their cloaks, tying the horses to a tree. After walking all day, they were both exhausted and therefore, fell fast asleep.

~^~

Kat woke to some whiffleing and snuffleing near her ear. Her first thought was her dog, but then she remebered that she was in middle earth, she didn't have a dog. She opened her eyes, and had to bite her lip to keep from screaming. The horses had gotten loose during the night, and were now snuffling around their new master's heads for food. Deciding that it was safer to let her sleep, Kat left Sirrah alone, instead filling the water bottles, and inspecting the horses. They had not been abused, but, as she had observed yesterday were underfed. Well, at least the seller wasn't a Bill Ferney, she thought. Now that she was thoughrly bored, she woke Sirrah up.

"Sirrah, come on, we have about a week to get to Rivendell."

"Mmmm lemme alone."

Kat smirked.

"Sirrah, don't make me set the horses on you."

"What?"

"I said, don't make me set the giant man eating spiders on you."

"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT, I'M UP!"

Kat snickered, Sirrah was a raging arachnaphobic. It was actually quite amusing.

Sirrah grumbled a bit, and slugged Kat in the arm for scaring her, but otherwise was in good humor. Soon they were off, well, sort of. The first problem was that Sirrah couldn't mount her horse. Kat helped her up, then got on herself. The second obstacle was that neither was very good at riding. Kat could at least stay ahorse though.

"K-K-Kat…"

And with that Sirrah slipped off and hit the ground. Kat, against her will, began to laugh, though she felt sorry for her friend. The horse stopped, looked back, and reluctantly turned around. This time, Sirrah managed to mount on her own, and they went again. One and a half falls later, one by sirrah and the half by Kat, they had gotten the hang of it, and had managed to get up to trotting. Kat had always had problems with trotting, and was soon bored.

"Sirrah! I'm going to try to gallop, you could try if you want!"

"No thankssssss! AHHHHHH!!!!!"

As Kat's horse set off, Sirrah's followed, and off they went through the country side, until the horses had spent their pent-up energy. Sirrah stopped her horse fully, dismounted, and, to Kat's amusement, kissed the ground.

"Oh I am so glad to be on stable ground."

Kat just laughed.

"Come on, get back on, we have to ride until at least dusk!"

"Why?"

"Remember? We have something like a week until they reach weathertop! That's the most obvious place, and if we get there soon enough, we might even be able to help Gandalf."

"Gandalf was at weathertop?"

"Yeah, I don't remember why, but he left his mark there and Aragorn and the hobbits found it." Sirrah snickered. Kat looked around.

"Whats so funny?"

"Aragorn and the hobbits, it sounds like a band name!"

Kat grinned.

"Lucius and the Death eaters!"

Their laughter blended into the landscape as they rode along.

~^~

Twenty minutes later, they stopped at a large canyon.

"Ohmigod! Ohmigod! Ohmigod! Sirrah! It's the gap of rohan!"

Sirrah looked at it and began to laugh. Kat was too amazed. She had chills up and down her back.

"Sirrah, this is *so* weird. I still cant believe we're here. In middle earth! Are you sure it's not a dream?"

Sirrah shook her head.

"Nope, I ran into a tree earlier, and it was painful. Oh yeah, plus my bruises are beginning to hurt."

Kat just laughed.

"Well sirrah! The gap of rohan is open, let us go in!"

"Yes indeed! Hopefully they'll have some nice cloths!"

"In purple!"

"Oh no, Elrond would never get purple, Saroun was right, it isn't his color."

"Ohmigod! We'll have to remind his of that small mistake!"

As they went across, Kat made the mistake of looking down.

"Ugh. Not cool."

~^~

Four gallop sessions later, (along with a good many bruises and sore muscles) they stopped. Kat consulted the map and was glad to see that they were nearly halfway to the shire, they could see the river that intersected the road. They opted to cross the next day, so that they could see better. They tramped a ways off the road and found a grassy spot to let their horses eat at. Kat tried tying them up again, but they got free in ten minutes, while the two girls were eating.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to trust them." Said Kat as she let them loose. "They came back yesterday."

Sirrah nodded.

"Yeah, I guess."

Kat yawned.

"I am going to bed."

And she did, with Sirrah falling asleep while looking at the river.

~^~

"Sirrah?"

"Hm?"

"What are we gonna do about swords?"

Sirrah sat up.

"Well…there is a town and a guards station a little ways from here, I guess we could get some there…"

Kat sighed. It was unlikely that the guards would just give them something.

"Wait a sec…sirrah, do you think its been a while since the guards have seen a lady?"

Sirrah began to smile.

"Possibly. What exactly did you have in mind?"

"You should be able to guess that one."

Kat got up, letting Sirrah work it out, though she knew that she already had. She looked around for the horses, but they weren't in sight.

"Oh dear…I guess I cant just call them horse can I?"

Sirrah looked around herself and shrugged.
"Try whistling."

"Um…o…k…"

She put her fingers to her lips and gave a loud whislte. She heard them come through the underbrush, looking a lot better than they had when they had first gotten them.

"Sirrah, how'd you know that?"

Sirrah shrugged, "I dreamed it again, its really quite freaky."

Kat shook her head.

"I don't know that I'd like it, to much thinking about how it'll change what'll happen in the distant future."

Sirrah nodded.

"Cause and effect."

"Yep. Well, now that we have them, where're the guards?"

"This away."

~^~

They voted for the damsel in distress thing. They both struck up a story and an english accent, then limped up to the guards.

"Sir! Sir! Please help a good lady in distress! My husband has beaten my friend and I and left us to die!"

'Interesting, I guess the bruises from horse riding will cover that.'

'I hope so.'

And with that she burst into a sobbing fit, only to be comforted by the guards, who were looking around, wondering what to do.

Sirrah, who had been very quiet the whole time, slipped into the back room to try and find some swords and maybe armor. Suddenly, a touch on her shoulder made her stop.

"Where do you think you are going pretty lady?"

Sirrah gaped. The man was hitting on her! I am really going to like it here, she thought, he's even kinda cute! She looked down.

"I was only seeking privacy to…to…"

She decided that since she couldn't think up an ending, she should try crying. She sniffed and delicatly rubbed her eyes.

"Oh It's so horrible! Her husband was awful! I have bruises all over!"

May my horse forgive me, she thought, for not giving her credit. She had decided that her horse like to dump her. The man, not being used to a crying lady in his guardroom, tried to comfort her, but failed, as sirrah hadn't been distraught in the first place. Kat, meanwhile, was having difficulties making ends meet. Her goal was to keep the guards occupied while Sirrah grabbed the swords, and she was succeding, if only because of her loud outbursts. Between the tears, which were really water, she peeked through her hands to see Sirrah and another man walk out of the armory, the man's arm around Sirrah's waist.

'Sirrah! What the HELL are you doing??'

Sirrah smiled as Kat burst into crocidile tears again.

'I have *ahem* charmed this man into giving us some weponry.'

Kat was amazed.

'I hope you didn't kill anyone for it!'

'nope, just a little charm.'

'riiiiight. Whatever. When?'

'later tonight.'

'Why do I have a sinking feeling in my gizzard?'

'Because you should.'

'Shut up Sirrah.'

~^~

Late at night, they rode up to the town on their horses, trying to find their benefactor. They soon did, as Sirrah called his name and jumped from her horse, hugging him. He grinned and handed her two swords.

"Oh thankyou thankyou so much!"

She tossed one to Kat, who caught it easily, noting that it was exactly the kind of sword that she had wanted, as was Sirrah's. Decieding to study it later, she strapped it tightly to her horse. Sirrah thanked the guard again, and kissed him on the cheek for good measure. She mounted her horse, and all hell broke loose. Ten men oozed onto the street, giving them menacing grins. One of them had a couple of mean looking dogs on a leash. Sirrah's horse balked, turned and fled, as did Kat's. This would have been fine, had they not gone into two different directions. As Kat rode away against her will, she could hear a high pitched scream in the backround, and figured that it was sirrah.

"AAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

~^~

Kat, who had finally gotten control of her horse, decided that the best thing to do was to find the road again. She found the river, and walked against the current, hoping that she was going the right way. She was fairly certain that she was. She walked and walked and walked, got on her horse and walked some more. Finnally, she came to the road.

"Phew. Ok Tiro, lets go." She mounted and rode on till morning, hoping that Sirrah would find her sometime. She had just figured out the name for her horse, meaning look in elvish. She just liked the word. While she went, she made up various spells in verse form. When she finally stopped, at a river somewhere, she unrolled her cloak, let Tiro go, and slept like a baby till noon.

~^~

"AAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Sirrah yelled at the top of her lungs as she went barreling across the landscape. She tired to hang on, but sadly for her, it didn't work. Finally, she just fell off. The horse, which she had suddenly decided to name Chaos, stopped, turned around and looked at her pointedly. If, she thought, a horse could look at *anyone* pointedly. She sat up, groaned and glared at Chaos. She realized that the horse was red-haired, just like her namesake.

"Great, she's probly got the same tempermant as well. Just my luck."

Getting up, she cracked her back in a total of seven places. I didn't even know that was possible, she thought. Glaring once again at Chaos, she took her by the reigns, and walked, not knowing, or caring, where exactly she was going. Suddenly she stopped.

"Oh…hell. Where's Kat?"

She shook her head and kept walking, trusting what instincts she had amidst the void land that she called her brain. It was dark, and she couldn't walk well, but stubbornly refused to get onto the horse. Finally, she couldn't stand it anymore, and sat down to figure out how to find some light.

"Lumos."

To her complete and utter surprise, a small amount of light gathered at her hand. It was rather like holding a small bluish flashlight. She shrugged and kept walking.

~^~

By morning, Sirrah was worn out. She knew that she eventually have to get on her horse. It stopped, turned around and looked at her.

"Allright, if that's the way you want it…" She was talking to the fates more than her horse, sure that they were enjoying this joke. With that, she cautiously mounted…only to dumped five minutes later. She lay on the ground a moment, listening to the pounding in her head.

"Ow."

She sat up, layed down again, and finally sat up for good. Or for worse, whatever it was, it didn't feel wonderful. Finally she stood up and mounted again. She lightly tapped the horse and began to walk, feeling every jolt that the horse gave.

"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. Oh this is ridiculos."

She kicked the horse to find a smoother ride. It didn't work.

"OW. OW. OW."

Finally, she left her caution to the wind and kicked the horse into a gallop. Much smoother, but unfourtanatly, faster. She could only stay on for ten minutes at a time, as she found out the hard way. When she fell off three times, while tring to stop her horse, she finally devised a plan. She got on, walked for ten minutes, then let the horse run for ten minutes, walked, ran walked ran. It worked out well for both of them, though Sirrah had to ignore the fact that her whole body was one big ache. When she came to a stream, she got off, let the horse loose, and fell promptly to sleep for the rest of the day.

~^~

Kat woke up, turned over, and was surprised to find that she was not in the clearing that she had fallen asleep in. Or was she? The greens that she had fallen asleep amoung were replaced by browns, but the sun still shone above her. That was when she realized that she was surronded by many fat men.

"Oh god. Um, excuse me, but who are you?"

One of the men, who was very short, turned and punched the one next to him.

"I told you you'd wake her up! Now look what you've gone and done!"

She sat up, to the little men's chagrin. Looking around, she found that none of them were taller that her by more than six inches. Finally, she realized what was going on.

"Your hobbits aren't you?"

Three of the hobbits slunk away, muttering about Brandybucks and Sackvillebagginses. Kat's ears perked up, recognizing the names.

"Do you know Frodo Baggins?"

Both started, but recovered quickly, the smaller of the two nodded.

"Yes I do madame, mother says he's a bad sort, but I rather like him."

Kat laughed, and it occurred to her that these hobbits were rather young.

"Well, isn't that a miracle, a SackvilleBaggins that likes Frodo!"

Now the hobbits stared.

"How did you…but…"

Kat smiled.

"No need to worry about that master brandybuck, it is something that you will not understand, even when you are older!"

The hobbit crossed his arms.

"I'm in my tweens! I'm not that young!"

The other slugged him.

"You have just had your twentieth birthday, you are barely a tween!"

"More so than you!"

"I act as one, Rosie told me so the other day!"

Kat gasped in her effort not to laugh. The hobbits stopped arguing and turned around, to find Kat with her hand over her mouth, shaking with laughter. She got it under control and then began to laugh at them staring at her.

"Oh! I-I'm sorry!" She stood up and was unnerved to see to people, older than her by about five years, looking *up* at her. She shook her head and sat again.

"Sorry, its just to weird to look down and talk to you."

They nodded.

"Just as strange as it is to look up and talk to you, we've never seen a big person before!"

She frowned.

"Here? Wait a sec, where is here? And what are your names for heavens sake!"

They looked at each other, confused.

"This is the Brandy wine, I'm Frogo Brandybuck, and this is Luther Sackville-baggins."

She bowed from her sitting position, pulling it off quite well, seeing as she was on the ground.

"Thank you much good hobbits, I am Kat, of…oh never mind, just call me Kat. This is the Brandywine? And Im the first big person you've seen? Where's Bree? You'd think your people would see us all the time!"

They shook their heads.

"Bree's about a day's ride north of here on the roads. If you were heading there, you came to far on the North south road."

"Crap, and no wonder, my friend has the map."

Thankfully, seeing as she'll probly never find weathertop with or without it, she thought sullenly. She sighed.

"All right, can you give me directions?"

They nodded quickly.

~^~

It turned out that she was only a bit off of her course. As she stood up and bowed in thanks for their help, one of them asked.

"But where's your horse?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Now then master Brandybuck, how do you know that I have one?"

They scuffed the ground with their feet, looking guilty.

"We…we kind of spooked it when we found you."

She grinned and chuckled.

"No need to worry! Tiro knows me, she'll come back."

And with that she put her fingers to her lips and whistled two short notes. Tiro came crashing through the underbrush, making the hobbits squeak and jump behind her. She laughed as she sniffed them delicately, nearly giving them both heart attacks.

"Tiro, leave them be!"

The horse whuffled in their faces one last time, then brought her head up. Kat laughed and praised her, then mounted.

"Thankyou little ones, I hope to see you again!"

She began to ride off, when one of them called out,

"Wait!"

She pulled up, and turned around.

"Yes?"

"Are…Are you an elf?"

She shook her head, smiling bemusedly.

"Nay," she pushed the hair back from her ears, "I am human, though probably the strangest one you shall ever meet, with the exception of my friend of course. I must be off now! And thanks again!"

Then she rode away, shaking her head in amazement, which coincedentally, was exactly what the hobbits were doing.

~^~