The Last Mission
I arrived at the front door and decided to peek through one of the windows. Inside, I noticed the place was packed with oversized drunk men yelling and laughing. I also observed four shorter creatures, which I decided were the halflings. Turning my attention back outside, I tied my horse up to a horizontal pole next to the inn, and hesitantly walked inside.
Once in, I was immediately greeted by the loud sounds of drunken laughter. A short fat man with an oversized mustache greeted me instantly. "Good evening." He said while he dried off some glasses. "Need a room for a night? I have a lovely one available if you need it." I nodded my head.
"Wonderful!" Then man put a glass down, and hurriedly ran off towards the bar to tend to a customer. I decided to go there myself and find the four halflings. Finding an unoccupied dark corner, I slipped into the darkness and watched the halflings from afar. I noticed one of them, the fattest and most suspicious, kept glancing at what seemed to be my direction. He leaned towards one of his companions, a scrawny black haired one that looked terrified. He slowly turned his head in my direction, and must have noticed me.
He shrank back into his seat and reached inside his pocket. He must be the one I needed to bring back to Saruman. I waited for the appropriate moment to snatch him. I kept to my place and waited. One halfling, whom I assumed to be the youngest, was getting another drink. He sat down on a stool, and within minutes, he was talking loudly about his once-removed second cousin, Frodo Baggins. Baggins. The halfling that I needed.
I stood up quickly, and was about to grab Baggins, but he also ran up to stop his babbling cousin. I stopped and watched him. He grabbed his cousin, who I learned was named Pippin, but slipped and fell to the ground. I noticed a tiny glint of something fly out of his pocket and onto his finger. Instantly, he vanished.
The room filled with gasps at this amazing act. People began to mumble excessively, and walked out of the inn quickly. I saw the halfling reappear moments later, and ran towards him. I found him up against a wall, nearly out of breath, and grabbed onto his shoulder. But as soon as I did, another grabbed his shoulder.
I tightened my grip on Baggins, and hissed, "He's mine." My eyes squinted, and I looked up at my competitor. He was tall and dark, rather weather beaten and scruffy, his filthy hand on mine. My eyes met his blue eyes, and we stared long and hard at eachother. "He's coming with me." I said once more, sounding harsher than last time.
The halfling stood in between us, staring wide-eyed, and not knowing whether to run, or to cry out to his friends. He quickly made a decision, and kicked the man on the shin. The man let go of Baggins, and reached for his shin, trying to conceal his whimper of pain. I found an opportunity, and grabbed the halfling.
Not having a clue what I was doing, I ran upstairs with the halfling in my arms. He was kicking and screaming to his companions the entire time, and they quickly followed. I cursed myself for not being quick enough, and that I was making a complete fool of myself.
I entered a room and put the halfling down. "What are you doing?!" He nearly shrieked. My eyes grew wide and my mouth opened to speak. But before I did, his three friends came bursting in with stools and candlesticks, apparently trying to defend themselves. "I… I need you to come with me, Baggins."
"How do you know my name? Who are you?" The halfling backed himself into a corner, and was obviously in a state of panic. "I am not going to hurt you. My name is Maiavel, I'm an elf." Baggins scrunched one eyebrow at me, and relaxed a little.
"What's an elf doing in Bree?" He asked doubtfully. "I am here to find you. And now that I have, you need to get out of here and follow me." I mentally breathed a sigh of relief for doing what I needed. "Your friends can come with you, if you like." I forcefully managed something that I've never done before. A smile.
The halflings stood there, looking at one another, I could tell there was mixed emotions. "Where… exactly would we be going?" The fat one asked. "There is no time for questions! Please follow me before-"
The door flew open, and standing before me was the same man I had met downstairs. He looked very angry, judging by the way his hand was gripping his sword. "Who are you!" He demanded to know. "My name is Maiavel. I've been sent to accompany these halflings. Who are you?"
The man loosened his grip on the sword, but kept his hard stare on me. "I am know as Strider around here, and I am to take these hobbits to Rivendell immediately." "Rivendell!" The fat halflings repeated. "Quiet, Sam." Baggins whispered. Sam looked downwards muttered, "Sorry Mister Frodo."
"Why were you sent to accompany these hobbits?" Strider asked, rather harshly. "I'd rather keep that to myself, if you don't mind." I tried my best to not reveal myself; I'm not the social type. "Why Rivendell?" I asked Strider. "Because that is where they need to be. And we need to leave now."
"May I accompany you, to carry out my part of duty then?" I raised my eyebrows, and played my innocent look, which didn't work out quite as well as I expected. But Strider fell for it anyway. He sighed deeply and let go of his sword. "If you must." He quietly replied.
I smirked and followed the others downstairs. I tried to be friendly and asked the other hobbits their names. One of them happily pointed out who were who, Pippin Took, Sam Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, and himself being Merry Brandybuck. I never planed on learning their names, that way it'd be less personal when I would kill them. But what could I expect if I were to befriend them?