DISCLAIMER: You all know the drill. Now, repeat: I do not own Lord of the Rings. I own Gwen, her horse Niral, and the drunk man at the bar. Nobody touch the drunk!
" My faith in the Angmar Elves is fading" Elrond said to Gandalf. " Almost all the other council members have arrived and Frodo is recovering. I cannot put off the council much longer." Wait another three days," replied Gandalf, " I have faith that one will come." That one was on her way that very moment.
Gwen rode along the East road, taking in the pleasant scenery. She was nearing the Brandywine Bridge when she heard dogs barking. She spoke softly to Niral in elvish, telling her not to be afraid. Niral didn't listen. Three very large dogs ripped around the bend, running straight for Gwen. Niral reared up, throwing Gwen to the ground. She quickly leaped to her feet, knowing that if she remained on the ground the dogs would be upon her. She heard a man's voice and yelled, " I am a friend of Master Gamgee! Call off your dogs!" A hobbit appeared and yelled at the dogs to heel. Gwen breathed a sigh of relief. " I am sorry, one can't be to careful. Who ARE you?" asked the man that Gwen presumed was Farmer Maggot. " I am Gwen. I was just trying to find the Brandywine Bridge so I could reach Bree when your dogs rushed up and frightened my horse" she said, glaring at Niral. " My name is Farmer Maggot. The bridge is just down this road. Good luck on your journey," he said, looking the girl up and down. " Thank you!" Gwen replied as she mounted Niral. As she rode down the lane, Farmer Maggot stood in the middle of the road, wondering what she was doing in the Shire and planning a visit to Master Gamgee.
Gwen had no trouble reaching Bree or finding an inn. She entered the Prancing Pony and asked the fat hobbit behind the counter for a room and a place to stable her horse. He was a jolly man who went by the name of Butterbur. After she went up to see her room and check on Niral, she sat down at a table in the common room to eat dinner. This place is very different from Hobbiton, she thought, why does that man keep looking at me strangely? As she was thinking this, the man walked over and sat down at her table. He smelled like beer. " Have a drink with me, sweetheart?" he said, staring at her intently. Gwen saw that many of his friends had come to join him, so she decided that it would be wise to avoid trouble. " No thank you" she replied. " Oh, come on now. I won't take no for an answer!"
" No is the only answer you will ever get, so leave!" Gwen retorted angrily. She was getting rather annoyed. " Oh, we got us a mean one, eh boys?! Maybe she needs a little convincing!" he said, drawing a small knife out of his belt and smiling wickedly. Gwen just looked at it and smirked. " You're going to need a bigger knife" she coolly replied, pulling one of her daggers from where she had hidden it under the table. Gwen's blade was a foot long, and she knew that it would get her point across. She was right. The men disappeared as soon as they had appeared. All except for the man who had sat down. He pulled a long rapier from behind his back, saying, " I told ye, I don't take no for an answer!" Oh, great. I knew that I should have brought my sword down! She thought in alarm. He came towards her and took a swing at her. His anger was fueled because he had been humiliated in front of his friends by a woman! Gwen gracefully parried the blow with her knife and threw a punch into his stomach, doubling him over. She then struck a swift blow to the back of his head with the hilt of her blade. He tumbled over, unconscious. Gwen quickly ran up to her room and locked the door. She could hear people yelling downstairs. " Well, that was a lovely dinner!" she said, frustrated with herself. I could have handled that a bit more coolly. It is obvious that me being a woman makes me seem more vulnerable and susceptible. How could I defend myself if a group of men attacked me on the road with the same intentions? She looked in the mirror. She was tall and slender, but her figure was partly hidden by the small men's tunic that she wore and her cloak. From a distance, I could almost be taken as a boy, were it not for my hair. Then a thought hit her. Acting quickly, she pulled out one of her daggers. Grabbing a chunk of her blonde hair, she said aloud, " You will have to go!" With that, she cut it off. She continued working around her head, hacking at chunks. When she was done, her hair was a little above her shoulders. " I never liked my hair anyway!" she said to the empty room as she got ready for bed.
Gwen left Bree without event. She gazed back over her shoulder at her last glimpse of the Shire. Such a lovely and peaceful place she thought as she sighed wistfully. She sighed sadly, then headed on down the road towards Rivendell, letting her thoughts wander back to the day she had spent with the Gamgees. It made her forget how alone she was in the world.