~*~Chapter 5~*~
Aragorn sighed as he glanced around, the surroundings had gotten rather boring and he and Legolas had a small contest going on. They were both trying to find the weirdest thing they could by the time they reached Weathertop. So far the only thing the man had found was a rock that they all agreed looked quite a bit like a dwarf.
Even the horses looked bored as they plodded onward at a nice pace. The only one of them who seemed more than bored was the wizard. Although they had no idea why he seemed so happy.
They were, at the time, about three days into their journey.
The day before they reached Weathertop, Legolas spotted another odd thing. A tree that they decided looked remarkably like broccoli. This only proved how bored they really were.
The next night, they decided to stop at Weathertop for a break.
As soon as they stopped Aragorn jumped off the cart, ignoring the slight pull on his stitches and unhooked his horse who happily pranced around a bit before running up the side of the hill.
The three lifted their packs and walked up to get ready to bed down. They had already eaten on the way there.
That night, during Legolas's watch, Aragorn shot up into a sitting position and stayed that way.
Legolas blinked, "Strider? Are you okay?"
When he got no answer the elf glanced around them one more time before dropping soundlessly out of the tree and walking up to the man.
He dropped to his knees in front of him and frowned, he didn't look right, his eyes were dilated and glazed, unseeing. His posture was stiff and when Legolas shook him slightly he simply fell back, staring at the stars, though, that was not what he saw.
He saw his father and a group of men. Elrond, having no defence was taken down and knocked unconscious. The men picked him up and nearly threw him into the back of one of their wagons. There were six of the wagons, three men in each. Two horses in a line pulled them and only one man sat up front in the thin, odd-looking wagon while the other two would sit in the back. They immediately started an incredible pace in the direction they were heading.
Beginning to panic Legolas checked his heart rate and breathing. His breathing was shallow and his heart rate fast. The elf immediately ran over to where the wizard lay and shook him awake.
Said wizard grumbled as he sat up and looked at the elf. The worried look he wore caused the wizard to drop the glare he had fixed him with.
"What happened? What is wrong?"
Legolas glanced quickly towards the man, "I don't know what's wrong. That's the problem."
Gandalf stood swiftly and made his way over to where the man lay. He knelt down next to him and his gaze swept over him.
The wizard sat back, "We must wait it out."
Legolas glanced at him, "Wait what out?! What's happening?!"
"Our young friend is having a vision."
Legolas blinked at glanced back at the human, "He will be okay?"
"He should be."
"Should?" the elf asked worriedly.
"Everyone reacts to the visions differently. He is a strong man though, he will probably be fine."
Aragorn's vision went on, he watched helplessly as the vision sped forward and the group was now in a forest Aragorn recognized as the one surrounding The Shire. The men were beating the elf-lord tirelessly and Aragorn could catch words such as, break him, slaves… things such as those and the man knew they were some kind of slave traders.
With that the vision stopped without warning and the man gasped. His back arched and that, of course, caused him to pull his stitches, making him curl in with the pain. His eyes were burning from staying open for ten minutes without blinking and his lungs burned with the want for a better amount of air.
Upon seeing this, the elf immediately moved closer and laid his hand carefully on the man's shoulder, "Strider? Are you okay?"
The worry was evident in his voice and all the man could make out was his alias.
He groaned and turned slightly.
"Telcontar! Amba! Sii!" a gruff voice, but the Quenya was perfect. // Strider! Up! Now! //
Aragorn turned over and blinked slowly before sitting up, responding immediately to the language, "Ya marti?" // What happened? //
Legolas paused, "Oloth…" // Vision… //
Aragorn gave him a confused look, his Westron only just beginning to come back to him, "Man?" // What? //
Gandalf quickly explained what had happened. By the time he was finished Aragorn had remembered his other languages.
"I had a vision?" after a moment of silence the man's eyes widened, "I remember!"
"What happened?" Legolas asked quietly.
"We must hurry! The forest around The Shire! There's a group of men, slavers…" he gulped, "they have Elrond."
Legolas's eyes widened, "Oh no…" he glanced at the wizard.
Gandalf immediately went about packing his stuff. The other two were quick to follow his example.
"What if it was wrong? Like Galadriel says, visions can be simply what you fear. They may have not actually happened."
The wizard nodded, "Aye, but, 'tis better to be safe than sorry."
Aragorn nodded and pushed his stuff into the back of the cart before whistling shrilly.
Erethrintin came up the slope almost immediately and Aragorn quickly harnessed her up.
He quickly jumped up onto the seat and slumped against the back, thinking.
They pushed the horses faster than usual until they finally, after many days, reached Bree. At first they thought of passing right through it, but one look at their tired horses told them they needed to stay for the rest of the afternoon and night. They would leave early in the morning.
Aragorn stared at the gates for a moment, thinking, before pulling his extra cloak out of his pack and throwing it at the elf, "Put it on, they may not let you in if they know you're an elf."
Legolas was offended slightly but sighed, knowing it was probably true. He pulled on the cloak, careful to hide his hair and eyes, and nodded to the man.
Aragorn smiled his thanks before walking up to the gate and knocking loudly on it, seemingly abandoning his Elven ways.
The gatekeeper opened a slot on the door and glanced at him, his eyes widening slightly, "Strider," he was obviously not thrilled to see him, "what do you want?"
"A little rude aren't you," Aragorn stated flatly, then, continuing in his low voice said, "me and two others wish to head to the Prancing Pony for the night is all."
The gatekeeper nodded slightly, closed the slot and opened a door. He came out and walked up to the cart.
"I'll need to check your cart."
Aragorn shrugged, "Go right ahead."
The small man held up one of the fireworks, "What would this be?"
Aragorn immediately knew the man wouldn't believe him if he really told him, the other not knowing what fireworks were, "They are candles."
Gandalf nodded, knowing the same thing, "I sell them, not here though, just heading through."
The man narrowed his eyes slightly but nodded, "Whatever, I'll let you through."
He walked back through the door and closed it, only a second later pulling open the gate.
Aragorn walked in ahead of the cart, people parting ways in front of him, giving him nervous glances before going back to what they were doing.
Legolas watched this with a slight amount of amusement. It was obvious the people didn't like the man. The elf shook his head slightly, causing Gandalf to glance at him. Humans.
Aragorn trudged forward until he reached the Prancing Pony. He immediately caught sight of one of the hobbits that worked at the inn. He walked over to him and knelt down.
The hobbit looked at him wide eyed and gulped slightly, "Uh… w-what would ya' like Mr. Strider… sir?"
Aragorn sighed and gave the hobbit a small smile, more than he had given anyone here but he didn't want to scare the small being, "Could you tell old Butterbur that Strider will be needing a room for three, stabling for two and a cart hold?"
"Yes sir."
The hobbit turned and went as fast as his short legs would carry him towards the door of the inn. Aragorn smiled once he left and turned to the other two.
"Come then, let's get these two stabled."
They back the cart into a hold and undid the harnesses on the horses before leading them to two of the stalls.
Aragorn patted Erethrintin on the neck before looking up at the sound of the stable door creaking.
"Make sure the stable-boy knows not to touch my horse, she doesn't trust anyone but me."
The hobbit glanced at the silver horse who snorted at him before nodding and hobbling closer slowly, eyeing the horse.
Aragorn smiled slightly, "She will not hurt you with me here."
The hobbit nodded and handed the man a key, "secon' floor, thir' room on yer right."
"Thank you little master," he said bowing his head thankfully before striding out of the stable, leaving a stupefied hobbit standing in the middle of the isle. Although he didn't stay there as long as he would have since Erethrintin decided the hobbit was too close after Aragorn left.
The hobbit jumped away from her and scurried down the isle towards where he knew the stable boy was.
A/N
Elven Kitten: Okay, this came a far way in one chapter but I couldn't think of anything else to put in it. Sorry.
Elf Side: Mae govannen and on to the replies;
Gollum Side: *Poke*
SilverKnight7- E.K.: I'm glad u like our stories! Makes us happy! ^_^
elvendancer- E.K.: Thanx! It's a total relief u think my wizards okay…
E.S.: Hannon lle for your comments, greatly appreciated.
G.S.: Very much… yesss…
E.K.: Yes… very much… ^_^ Thanx again!
mascara freak- E.K.: To read 2 chapters is fun. That is the good part about missing one ^_^
E.S.: Aye, and we will try to put in more of Legolas.
G.S.: Wicked evil… bad elfsies…
E.S.: *Glare*
E.K.: Glad yur enjoyin' this! And glad yur not ill no more!
leggylover03- E.K.: *Absently* You know… if I looked back on all yur reviews… I'll bet every one of them has the word 'pain' in it…
E.S.: You know, I really wouldn't doubt it. So yes, we know you like the pain. ^_^
G.S.: Pain is fun if it doess not hurts me.
E.S.: *Rolls eyes* I'm also sure we will have some fluff moments too. ^_^
grumpy- E.K.: Glad u like my idea! I really had no intent of this happening but it just kind of did… ^_^ oh well, it turned out for the better! ^_^
E.S.: We figured it would be nice. We have wanted to write in some hobbits so this was the perfect opportunity.
E.K.: …what she said… ^_^ more come soon!
E.K.: Okay! We posted sooner this time because I decided to be nice and post a chapter early for my nice reviewers.
E.S.: She was bored and there was nothing else to do.
E.K.: Quiet! You'll spoil the effects!
G.S.: *Snoring*
E.S.: Interesting effects…
E.K.: Shut up.
Aragorn: Can we please get on with it? The sooner this is over the sooner I'm free.
E.K.: *Evil grin* No. The sooner you go back into the 3-D puzzle.
A: *Curses*
E.K.: *Pokes him* Bad.
Legolas: *Warily* 3-D puzzle?
E.K.: Aw! Elfy wants to live there too!
L: NO! I'm good living in Mirkwood.
E.K.: How are spiders and wargs better than the padded walls of my puzzle?
A: There is no escape from your padded puzzle. That's how it's better.
G.S.: *Snickers*
E.S.: Well, we'd better go before this gets ugly… namaarie!
~Elenmeoi