The Start of the Mission
Richard couldn't believe his eyes. There they were the four Hobbits, Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin. This was real.
After he crossed that void, he found himself in a forest and because of that, he didn't know where he was in Middle Earth initially. It wasn't until he found the road and saw the four Hobbits tumbling down the hill that he knew where he was in context to Middle Earth and in the story.
After he had asked if they're okay, he saw that they all looked at him with a degree of hesitancy, which was understandable since they didn't know him and he was on the borders of the Shire.
"We're alright." Sam replied to Richard's question, groaning slightly and then Richard walked up to them and helped them on their feet, cleaning them slightly.
"Trust a Brandybuck and a Took." Sam then muttered in annoyance over what had just happened.
"What? That was just a detour, a shortcut." Merry retorted, acting as though it was all intentional, though it clearly wasn't.
"A shortcut to what?" Sam questioned as he brushed himself from any dirt on him.
"The mushrooms!" Pippin answered eagerly and he, Sam and Merry all ran over to where he saw said mushrooms. Richard, meanwhile, helped Frodo up on his feet and brushed him off.
"You okay?" He asked the Hobbit with kindness as he looked around.
"Yes, thank you…?" Frodo replied, open ended as he didn't know his name yet.
"Richard Evans." He introduced himself and Frodo nodded before he went back to looking around and seeing that they were on a road. As he did, the other Hobbits were busy examining the mushrooms and putting them into a bag.
"I think we should get off the road." Frodo told the others, remembering that Gandalf warned him to not stay on roads. They didn't listen and so he and Richard looked down the road in concern.
As they did, they heard a shrill cry in the wind. It sounded evil and cold, sending full body chills up Richard's body as he remembered that this is where the encounter with the Nazgul happened.
"Get off the road!" Frodo shouted to the others.
"Move!" Richard shouted as he led them with Frodo down into a spot under the roots of a tree. The space was big enough luckily for all of them to fit in.
While Frodo and Richard stayed absolutely quiet, the others didn't until they all heard the sound of hooves pattering on the ground above them. The Nazgul has come. Everyone was now scared as they didn't know what would happen if they were caught. Richard even closed his eyes tight to remain focused to keep quiet. Frodo then looked up through a gap in the roots to see the hooves on the ground as the horse made rather sickly and revolting sounds. He then saw the metal boots of the Nazgul land and he looked away as the others were terrified.
Then they heard the sound of the hooded and faceless figure leaning over and looking down. Frodo looked to see its metal gauntlets grab onto the roots as it started sniffing like an animal.
Then the Hobbits noticed insects reacting to the Nazgul's presence as Merry saw a spider crawl on his shoulder, Richard looked up and saw a centipede crawl out of the root and Pippin saw worms squirm out of the ground. They all acted like they were trying to escape from the Nazgul.
As this happened, Richard felt a darkness radiating next to him and his eyes widened, looking over at Frodo, whose eyes were closed and he pulled the One Ring out, slowly directing it towards his left index finger as though something was possessing him to put it on. Richard was even able to faintly hear Black Speech from the Ring. Knowing that he needed to be snapped out of it, both Richard and Sam nudged him on the shoulders, which woke Frodo up and pulled the Ring away from his finger.
Merry then threw the bag of mushrooms, causing a sound that made the Nazgul above them go off and search elsewhere.
Now that it was gone, the five all ran out of the spot and kept going until they reached a secluded area where leaves and grass covered the ground. Richard had to take deep breaths to calm down as that had to be the most terrifying thing he had encountered to date.
"What was that?" Merry asked Frodo, though he didn't answer and just looked down at the Ring, confused and shocked that he nearly put it on against his will as he was warned by Gandalf to not put it on.
"Do you know what that was?" Merry then asked Richard, seeing if he knew what the Nazgul was.
"Yes. You do not want to be found by that rider." Richard grimly informed him and the Hobbit understood what he was saying.
"What do we do?" He then asked the Hobbits, who all looked at him, with hesitancy once again.
"How can we trust you?" Sam asked in a protective tone, which Richard understood.
"Because I happen to care for others and seeing that you need to go somewhere, I'd like to help you." Richard replied, speaking in such a way that they all knew that he was being truthful and that he can be trusted. With that, they nodded.
"In that case, we have to get to Bree and meet with Gandalf." Sam informed him. Richard nodded as he had to seem like he was someone from Middle Earth as he doesn't want people to know who he really was and that he knows what's going to happen.
"Okay, then. We'll have to be careful from this point on. Who knows what that rider can do." He told all the Hobbits with the utmost seriousness.
And so, all five made their way through the forest, quietly and stealthily all the way into the night as they made sure to avoid the Nazgul, which kept searching for them, every once in a while hearing its shrill shriek.
Both Merry and Frodo got up in front by some trees while Richard, Sam and Pippin stayed back.
"Anything?" Sam asked Frodo, who looked out to the left while Merry to the right.
"Nothing." Frodo informed them and they all grouped back up.
"What is going on?" Pippin questioned as he was tired from the running, panting heavily. Merry then walked over to Frodo, frowning as he was connecting the dots with why the Nazgul was searching for them.
"That Black Rider is looking for something, or someone." He accused, standing next to him.
"Frodo?" He asked for answers.
"Get down!" Sam whispered loudly and all of them got down and hid behind some bushes as they saw the Nazgul on its horse, highlighted by the moonlight. The eerie sight stayed there for several seconds until the horse sniffed and carried on away from the group.
"I have to leave the Shire. We must get to Bree." Frodo whispered to Merry, who was thinking of a way to get there.
"Right. Buckleberry Ferry. Follow me." He said and they all got and followed Merry through some other bushes when suddenly, a second Nazgul appeared on horseback, screeching as it blocked them.
"Run!" Pippin shouted as he and others all got around it, except for Frodo.
"This way, follow me!" Merry shouted and they all ran, Frodo being able to get around the Nazgul and ran to catch up with the others.
They made it to a fence and jumped over it before bolting right to the ferry at top speed.
"Get the ropes!"Richard shouted right as they got onto the ferry. Both Sam and Pippin undid them while both Richard and Merry grabbed the paddles.
"Frodo!" Sam shouted as they saw the remaining Hobbit run to them, being chased by the Nazgul.
"Come on, Frodo!" Richard shouted as well, being so in the moment that he grew concerned that he may not make it.
"Go!" Frodo shouted back as Sam kicked against the dock and the ferry drifted away.
"Frodo, come on!" Sam shouted again, along with Pippin.
"JUMP!" Richard bellowed out and Frodo practically leaped right into Sam, both falling onto their backs on the ferry. They all watched the Nazgul stop on the dock, knowing that it was too late to catch them as they were now too far away to get them. In defeat, it rode off and joined up with two others, riding down a path to the right.
"How far to the nearest crossing?" Frodo asked Merry as he and Richard started paddling the ferry.
"The Brandywine Bridge. 20 miles." Merry answered as Sam pulled Frodo up on his feet.
They were halfway through the lake when they had a chance to relax as the adrenaline wore off.
"That was too close." Richard noted as he and Merry paddled.
"Yeah. Let's hope we don't meet them again for some time." Sam agreed with him, though Richard knew that they would come sooner than he thought.
"Where are we supposed to meet Gandalf exactly?" He asked Frodo, keeping up his act that he's from Middle Earth and that he has heard of Gandalf, since the wizard has a reputation.
"At the Prancing Pony." The Hobbit revealed and Richard nodded.
Eventually, they reached the dock on the other side of the lake and once they docked the ferry, they trekked their way to Bree. During which, rain started pouring down and everyone pulled their hoods up with their cloaks.
After a while of walking through the woods, trudging through the wet and muddy ground, they found themselves seeing one of the gates leading into Bree. Richard stopped the Hobbits and looked up and down the road between them to see if anyone was approaching after a short bit, there wasn't anyone.
"Let's go." He told the Hobbits and they all walked up to the door on the gate and then he knocked on the door, the viewing window opening up to reveal a man who stood guard, looking right back at Richard with a piercing expression.
"What do you want?" He asked in a harsh tone.
"Me and some Hobbits need to head to the Prancing Pony." Richard replied, making the man shut the viewing window and then open the door with a lantern in his hand to look at the group.
"Four Hobbits? What business brings you to Bree?" The man asked, demanding an answer.
"We wish to stay at the inn. Our business is our own." Frodo answered this time, stressing that they're here for serious business.
"Alright, young sir, I meant no offense. It's my job to ask questions after nightfall. There's talk of strange folk abroad. Can't be too careful." The man explained to the group as he let them through and closed the door once they walked through.
They all walked past some horses that were kept by the gate and then they found themselves in the busy streets of the village, nearly being run over by a wagon being pulled by a horse. Luckily, Richard pulled Pippin back in time before that could happen.
They walked past a man that was munching on a carrot and then some other men that were so rude that one of them nearly made Richard trip over.
"Brutes." He cursed quietly as the Hobbits followed right behind him. After walking for a bit, Richard saw the sign of the Prancing Pony and led the Hobbits in, opening the door for them and closing it once they all entered.
Now that they were indoors, they pulled down their hoods and watched many patrons chatter and laugh as they ate and drank.
"Excuse me?" Richard asked as he walked up to the counter. The bartender that he saw in the film then walked up to him as the Hobbits all stood around Richard. The bartender had a mug in his hand that he was cleaning with a flannel.
"Good evening, masters. What can I do for you?" The bartender asked him.
"We're friends of Gandalf the Grey. Has he arrived here?" He asked the older man.
"Gandalf? Gandalf? Oh… yes, I remember. Elderly chap, big grey beard, pointy hat. Have not seen him for six months." The bartender replied, shocking the Hobbits, but not Richard. He now just remembered that at this point, he was just betrayed and imprisoned by Saruman at Isengard. He then looked down at the Hobbits.
"What do we do now?" Sam asked.
They ultimately decided to just sit and wait. And so they all gathered at a table and had some food and ale. Richard was munching on some bread with spread cheese on it and took a sip of surprisingly nice ale, which had a warm and fruity flavour to it.
"Sam, he'll be here. He'll come." Frodo said to his fellow Hobbit as he sat in between Richard and Sam. Richard himself saw that some of the patrons looked at the group with suspicion. He then saw Merry with a large pint of whatever drink he had and moved past a rude man before sitting down and looking at the pint with a level of excitement.
"What's that?" Pippin asked his friend in surprise.
"This, my friend, is a pint." Merry replied before he gulped some down.
"It comes in pints?" Pippin asked and Merry replied with a sound that sounded like he confirmed it.
"I'm getting one." Pippin then said with a look of determination before he walked over to the counter.
"You have a whole half already!" Sam tried reminding him as he, Frodo and Richard all looked on in astonishment. But his words fell on deaf ears as Pippin continued on.
"Those two have done nothing but stare since we've arrived." Sam whispered to Frodo and his words surprised Richard to the point that he stopped sipping his ale and frowned. Why would he say two? Shouldn't it just be Aragorn?
He looked over at the corner and of course, Aragorn was there, sitting with his hood covering the top half of his face as he smoked his pipe. But there was another person sitting with him. From this angle, Richard could see that it was a woman, but she too had her hood up, covering the top half of her face. She looked to be taller than Aragorn and was wearing a dark blue jacket and he can get a glimpse of a vest, but that's it. He needed to know it was.
"Excuse me." He called out to the bartender from before, who was carrying two mugs and a plate of food. The man stopped and leaned down a bit.
"Those two in the corner, who are they?" He asked the man, nodding to Aragorn and the mystery woman. Frodo leaned in, curious himself.
"One of them is a Ranger. Dangerous folk, they are. Roaming the wilds. The other is a woman, trained by the Elves and the Rangers. What their real names are, I've never heard, but around here, they're known as Strider and Storm." The bartender answered before continuing on. Upon hearing that the woman is referred to as Storm, it made Richard's eyes widen because that was what he'd nicknamed Marion when they did reenactments.
"Strider." Frodo whispered to himself.
They all sat in silence until Frodo started playing with the Ring and he started to close his eyes. Richard felt that same darkness radiating from the Ring as he heard Sauron's voice whisper 'Baggins' over and over again, the voice made Richard feel cold as it was full of malice and evil. But then to Richard's horror, he heard Sauron's voice whisper 'Evans' and this horrified him because Sauron now knows of him.
"Baggins? Sure I know a Baggins. He's over there, Frodo Baggins…" Richard then heard Pippin drunkenly say as he and Frodo, snapped out of his trance, looked over at the bar and saw him pointing at Frodo as he talked with some of the patrons.
Richard blocked everything out as Frodo got up to stop Pippin. Richard was starting to hyperventilate in shock from hearing Sauron speak his name. So much so that he blocked out Merry and Sam, who were asking what was wrong with him.
As this happened, Aragorn and Storm both leaned forward, seeing that something was wrong as Frodo grabbed Pippin and Frodo tripped, the Ring shooting out of his hand.
Richard turned, seeing this and got up to try and prevent the Ring from falling onto Frodo's finger. But he was too late as once it landed on Frodo's finger, not only did Frodo seem to have disappeared, but also Richard, shocking everyone, especially the Hobbits.