After their "incident," as it was kindly called, with the trolls, the rest of their journey was surprisingly uneventful. They crossed through the mountains and Aragorn made a few grumbles about "skipping Imladris" due to the multiple setbacks that they had, but they continued on. It was a lot of walking and riding across open planes and hills with Remus' werewolf stamina becoming an obvious advantage.
Something that Cassidy couldn't help but notice however, was the Aragorn never seemed to tire. Now she knew that he was obviously a warrior, a "Ranger" as he called himself, but the amount of stamina that he exhorted seemed extreme no matter what training he had. There were a good few night when supplies ran a bit low and he slipped some of his portion to Remus and herself when he though that they weren't paying attention and he always took the longest watch shifts. Cassidy generally relied on the protective charms that she established around the camp and thus was comfortable taking a sip of Dreamless Sleep at night, but he was ever cautious.
Deciding that these were worthwhile things to take note of, and being the curious and slightly meticulous individual that she was, Cassidy began to write the observations down. She trusted Aragorn, mostly. She trusted him in the way that she trusted Moody, he would have her back in a fight and she never suspected that he would turn his weapon on her, but he certainly had a past that he wasn't ready to share. There was something lurking under the surface of that man and Cassidy was determined to find out what.
"In a few nights, we should make Bree," Aragorn broke the usual silence that they traveled in. Cassidy had quickly learned that the further they were from the elves, and the closer they were to other men, the more silent Aragorn became.
"Is it pretty abandoned out here?" Cassidy asked casually, her eyes straying towards Remus.
"For today, and possibly tomorrow," Aragorn's eyes were scanning the horizon. "After that we'll start to run into other travelers... and it's probably best to not be waving your wand about then."
"I see..." Cassidy not saw Remus' eyes on her and she chewed her lip for a bit as she thought of how to phrase her next words. "Perhaps we can pause here for a night... or two."
"And why would we do that?" Aragorn has a hint of a bemused smile on his lips. Cassidy had a feeling that he thought her tired and was mocking her.
"Because I'd rather not transform into a beast and terrorize an entire town," Remus stepped into the conversation. "The full moon is tonight."
"Ah, my apologies," all hints of mirth were gone from Aragorn's eyes.
Cassidy and Remus had worked out a pretty solid plan over the past few days of travel, mostly discussion whilst Aragon was off hunting or scouting ahead.
"You can go on ahead. We'll move a ways off the road and make camp. We'll catch up to you tomorrow afternoon... evening depending on how the night goes," Remus explained.
"I'll stay with you," Aragorn replied. "These roads aren't safe and I don't want you two getting lost."
"If anyone is going to be in danger tonight, it's you," Cassidy snapped.
"I know that you have your magic but-"
"Aragorn," Remus' eyes were weary as he spoke. "I understand, and I appreciate your concern, but you should not stay. When the transformation takes over, I can't control myself. It is not me, but a beast that will kill anyone who stands in its way."
"And it's my duty to see that the people who live near these parts are safe," Aragorn seemed to end the conversation at that, leading them off the path.
The meaning of Aragorn's words hit Cassidy and a rush of fury surged through her. She couldn't believe what he was insinuating.
"How dare you-"
"Cassidy," Remus held out his hand to stop her. "It's fine, and he's right. I'm lucky the elves ever let me leave when they learned how dangerous I am."
"Remus! You can't mean-"
"It's fine," he gave her a reassuring smile and followed Aragorn. Cassidy would never be able to understand how easily Remus seemed to take prejudice against his condition. The man seemed to not only accept it, but expect it and always acquiesce to any demands.
The evening turned out to be easier than expected. After a bit of discussion with Remus, Cassidy created a deep pit with steep walls. She lowered Remus into it and cast a few shielding charms over the pit. Aragorn set up a sparse camp, not daring to light a fire as they really didn't need any more attention on them that night. He also stayed awake, one hand near the hilt of his sword as they listened to the terrible cries and howling from the pit. Cassidy spent most of the night at the edge of the enclosure, conjuring illusions of prey animals for the werewolf to chase and attack, hopefully to keep him from tearing himself.
The next morning, Cassidy helped Remus with his wounds and insisted that he ride Gwedel as the transformation was always draining. She then did her best to keep up with Aragorn's long strides, but she was exhausted due to a combination of their long journey and her staying up all night previously. Aragorn once again amazed her by being seemingly unaffected by his night on guard. Perhaps Cassidy drank a bit too much from her flask, but Remus was far too tired and distracted to notice.
After another few nights, they came upon a set of dilapidated wood fencing which surrounded a town. It was funny how familiar and yet foreign the sight of those buildings were. Most wizarding houses tended to look somewhat like a gale had attempted to destroy it. Aside from the wealthy pureblood, most wizards relied on heavy-handed spells to prop up their collapsing buildings and had the crumbling wood together. The homes often looked so much like those half collapsed buildings in the town ahead, but Cassidy knew that there was no magic propping them up, that they were all one heavy storm away from collapsing. There were no gleefully cast glamour charms to paint the walls, just the muted browns and grays, colors earned with time and weathering.
"Welcome to Bree," Aragorn muttered under his breath. "Around these parts, I'm known as Strider."
Cassidy and Remus nodded in understanding as the man pulled his hood over his head. Cassidy and Remus followed suit, Remus with his Mirkwood cloak and Cassidy with her black, spelled hood. They passed the suspicious gatekeeper who took one look at "Strider" and allowed him entrance without question. Cassidy dismounted and handed off Gwedel's reigns to Aragorn so she could flit back and forth, exploring everything in the town. She hadn't come across many towns on her travels, a few villages and small communities, but nothing of the size of Bree. It was clear that Bree was a unique hub of activity. Merchants hawked "exotic" goods whilst craftsmen advertised their unique wares. The scent of baked goods wafted from windows and tempted Cassidy further.
One particular window proved to be too tempting, and thus she found herself rushing into the shop and darting back out, a delectable smelling meat pie in hand. She dodged around a cart with a creaky wheel and lept back towards her group, taking a large bite as she did.
"Remus! You've got to try this! I swear it might even beat the Hogwarts pasties," she explained as she thrust the flakey pastry into Remus' hands.
"Where... where did you get this?" He asked, looking at the pie that he had just been handed.
"Arwen was pretty generous when she outfitted Gwedel's saddlebags. I found a pouch of their currency in it."
Cassidy swore that she heard a "hmm" sound from Aragorn, but she was quickly distracted by Remus hesitantly tasting the pie. He smiled and Cassidy pushed it into his hand to finish as she'd already purchased a second one. They continued to make their way down the streets for a while longer when Cassidy couldn't help but notice how everyone shirked away from them. Quite a few would take one look at the, admittedly quit raggedly looking, trio and immediately avert their eyes, stepping quickly out of the way.
Cassidy looked over herself and while her trousers and black cloak might not have been the most typical attire, it didn't explain the wary looks. Remus still looked like he had just been dragged behind a horse, but so did several fo the people in the town. That of course left Aragorn as the only sense of their discomfort, but he didn't look too different from anyone else.
"Uh, Strider," Cassidy used the fake name he had instructed them on. "Is there a reason why the people seem to act as if you're going to carry away their children in the night?"
Aragorn snorted, but didn't reply. Cassidy's eyebrows rose higher at the non answer despite the sharp glare that Remus sent her way which clearly said "drop it." But of course, if Cassidy were to type to be so easily deterred she would've never learned half the spells in her repertoire.
After she witnessed the third window being snapped shut at their passing, Cassidy pushed further.
"So... why are we here? Any particular reason for Bree?"
"I'm on an errand." He paused, tilting his head as if listening for something that Cassidy couldn't hear. "For Gandalf."
The spring in Cassidy's step faltered slightly at the mention of the wizard, but she was quick to cover it. That wizard was steeped in the war and the last thing that Cassidy needed was to get involved. Still she couldn't help her curiosity.
"What kind of errand?"
"I'm to meet someone and bring them to Imladris... an elven realm."
"Ah yes, I've heard."
"If you desire, we may part here," there was a note of hesitation in Aragorn's voice. "However, Imladris is home to Lord Elrond. I understand that you are in a... difficult situation. But, aside from Lady Galadriel, he is the most likely to bear answers for you."
Cassidy contemplated his words for a few minutes, looking to Remus who had a wary grin. It seemed that they were alike in thinking that perhaps this Imladris would be the best idea. Sure, they would have to accompany Aragorn on his errand for Gandalf... but its was just one errand... it didn't meant where involved.
They reached an inn with a large sign declaring it to be "The Prancing Pony," a name which Cassidy wasn't sure if it was annoying or amusing. But, nonetheless the innkeeper seemed as close to friendly as anyone had been towards Aragorn all day as he rented a room. To save money, all three of them were going to be packing into one and Cassidy didn't really mind. They stabled Gwedel and Aragorn noticeably kept everything packed as he tucked their bags into a corner of the room whilst Cassidy and Remus scrubbed the dirt of travel from their faces.
"So then... Strider," the name sounded ridiculous in Cassidy's mind and she couldn't help the way it rolled out off her tongue. "Anything we should know as we wait for this friend of yours? Will the patrons of the inn be as cheerfully welcoming as the rest of Bree?"
"She means to ask if there's anything that we should know to ensure safety," Remus corrected.
"Oh you're no fun," she used her wand to flick a slim leather tie at Remus's head. He batted the object away with a repressed smile of exasperation.
"Don't be throwing your magic around," Aragorn was frowning at Cassidy's wand which she quickly tucked into her sleeve. "And we should be concerned... there's been... talk about strange things in town. People around these parts are suspicious of Rangers in general, but they're on high alert for anything strange." He made a pointed look to the sleeve where Cassidy's wand had disappeared and she nodded in understanding.
"Understood," she wiggled her fingers to show that she wasn't holding her want. "No magic."
Aragorn nodded and soon, all three headed downstairs. Aragorn immediately made his way to a corner table where he sat facing the entire room, his hood pulled down low over his head. Like before, Cassidy and Remus followed his example. They ate, drank, and returned to their room. For several nights the cycle repeated.
Then, one night, after Remus had gone to bed early complaining about the noise of the tavern, a group of four small individuals marched through the door. Cassidy was pleasantly surprised to be seeing a new species. Over their nights in the inn, she had met many men and several Dwarves who reminded her a but of the Goblin bankers back home, but never anyone like these. They were slightly shorter than the Dwarves and less burley. It took Cassidy a moment to realize that none wore shoes on their large, hairy feet. And, despite all four looking ragged and exhausted, it didn't take long for them to tuck into massive portions of food and likely more ale than their bodies could physically hold.
"They're Hobbits," Aragorn's voice was so low that Cassidy almost didn't hear it. "One should be going by the name Mr. Underhill... he's the one we're looking for."
"You're not..." the word kidnapping sprang to mind as her eyes flickered between the nervous but sweet looking little men and Aragorn's shadow clad form.
"I have no intention of harming them," Aragorn lifted his pint to his lips to mask the way they moved. "All of them, but one in particular, are in grave danger. I'm taking them to Imladris where they'll be safe."
Cassidy nodded in understanding, watching in amusement as two of them climbed atop a table and began to sing and dance. The commotion continued until one, the most nervous looking one, rose up through the crowd shouting about something.
Then, he vanished.
Gone.
There was a moment of shocked silence before the crowd began to roar. Some in fear, some in confusion, but it was utter chaos. Aragorn cursed something under his breath and Cassidy discreetly sipped her wand out, casting a revelio charm in the general direction that the Hobbit had disappeared in.
It was a powerful charm, but it didn't quite work. There was a flash, a slight glimmer outlining a crouched form that quickly vanished. But, it was enough for Aragorn who swept forward and grasped the still invisible figure by the back of his cloak, hauling him up the stairs and behind the backs of the still confused patrons.
Cassidy followed suit, her wand in hand and hidden by the folds of her cloak.
Something told her that this wasn't part of the plan.