A/N: Thank you for all the helpful and kind reviews! The story becomes a little more difficult now, as I have entered the waters of undisputable canon, but I have tried to stay true to everything and yet give my Calenis a distinct character through it all. Any helpful criticism or other comments are welcome, of course.

DISCLAIMER: Thank you, oh Tolkien the Great, for giving us these wonderful stories to fuel our wild imaginations.

Chapter One: Black Riders and Elflings

29 September, 3018

It was late evening in Bree, and shadows were gathering on the empty lands that lay east of the town. The Prancing Pony, widely recognized as the best inn in the area, was, however, full of life. Folk were gathering from all over the area to drink and discuss the events the week had brought. A large company of men from the South had arrived the day before, and all wanted to hear their tidings. After all, they were glad for any excuse to come to the inn and enjoy themselves.

The Pony was busy and bustling with activity, but two of its guests had chosen to remain apart from the gathering crowd. They were seated at a table in the back, against the wall and partially hidden by flickering shadows. One of the figures had a large tankard set in front of him, and he wore worn but sturdy clothing. The other was clothed in a dark grey cloak that seemed almost black in the shadows, with the hood up and covering the forehead. None could hear their conversation, for they spoke in quiet tones.

"I do not like the feel of the air tonight," said the man. He was easily recognizable as a Ranger, one of the mysterious folk who wandered the lands around Bree. Most people in the town stayed as far away from them as they could, as none knew that the Rangers were greatly responsible for the peace and protection that lay on their area.

The other figure gave a light, wry laugh. "You are always full of worry, Aragorn. But you are right," the tone of the voice took on a more serious note. "There is something amiss here tonight. The hobbits should arrive at any moment, however, so perhaps it is nothing but our anxiety over them."

Aragorn shook his head, worry evident in his grey eyes. "We can hope, Calenis, but I doubt it greatly. I fear that more Black Riders are on their tail, perhaps the ones I saw speaking with Harry several nights ago."

The cloaked figure stiffened, and a look of distaste passed over her delicate features. She moved her dark hood a little lower down her forehead, and shook her head with worry. "You are probably right, but I cannot imagine what only the two of us can do about it. Where is Mithrandir? What could have caused his delay?" Calenis could not conceal the frustration in her voice.

"We can attempt to get the Ringbearer to Rivendell, as hastily and quietly as possible, and we can hope that the Nazgul will not be able to find us. As for Mithrandir, I do not know, but I am as worried about his absence as you."

Calenis nodded thoughtfully. "In any case, leaving without an idea of what is behind us is not a good one. You say that the hobbits will arrive tonight. I will go and see if there is any clearer explanation to be found in Bree to this tension in the air, for it seems to be more consuming that any I have seen before."

"The Black Riders are beyond any of us. Be careful."

"You know I will be. I shall be back as soon as I can."

With that she stood and passed, nearly unnoticed by the people in the inn, through the front door and into the cool air of the night. She stood just to the side of the door for several moments, attempting to figure out the source of her companion's restlessness. There was something foul in the air, a presence she could not will away. Calenis let a barely audible sigh escape her thin lips and, pulling her elvish cloak closer about her shoulder, set off slowly down the main road towards the eastern border of the town.

Scarcely ten minutes after she left, a group of four hobbits came to the door of the Prancing Pony.

- - -

Calenis walked slowly, attempting to concentrate and sharpen her senses in the hope that they would lead her to the source of the shadow on the air. She doubted many of the Bree-folk could feel it in as high a degree as her, Aragorn, or any of the Rangers, but she knew that the crowd in the Inn was somewhat more uneasy that usual.

The elleth was unsure of how long she had been walking and studying the road, but as she reached the point in the town where houses became scarcer and shabbier, Calenis had come to a definite conclusion.

The Nazgul were within the borders of Bree, hiding out in one of these very houses. She doubted they had all assembled, and fervently hoped that they would not have time to do so before the Ringbearer was out of their reach. Calenis could feel a very heavy darkness on the air here, one that was stifling and consuming. She was usually impulsive, and often somewhat rash, but now she did not dare venture closer to the source of the darkness. Instead she turned stealthily on her heels and backtracked down the road towards the Inn.

As she reached the door of the Pony, a sudden idea came to her mind. The Nazgul could not have entered the town so quietly, unless they had dealt accordingly with its guardsmen. She remembered Aragorn's mention of Harry's talk with some of the Black Riders, and passed the Inn quickly, heading towards the West-gate. Perhaps the guard could shed even more light on the situation.

Calenis saw him from far off and decided that sneaking up on the man would create even more suspicion and defensiveness on his side. She purposely began to shuffle her feet slightly against the road, and shook her hood a little further away from her face. He turned when she was quite close, and the elleth could see a shadow across his face, and a look of fear in his eyes. The Black Riders have been here already, she noted to herself, and approached him with what she hoped was an open expression.

"Good evening," she said, listing questions she could ask him in her mind.

"Good evening," he nodded, not looking pleased at her sudden appearance. He had seen her before, Calenis knew, both in the company of Aragorn and alone, leaving and entering Bree, and she did not even make an attempt to approach her questioning indirectly.

"It is quite an odd night. It feels almost wrong, if you know what I mean. Have you seen anything odd come past this gate tonight?"

To her surprise, he answered rather readily. "Odd? There's been nothing but odd today. Just an hour or so ago a party of hobbits came by, straight out of the Shire by the looks of them."

She may have been aware that he was trying to lead her away from the topic of the Black Riders at another time, but the news he had just given her made Calenis start.

"Hobbits?"

"Yes."

She nodded a swift goodbye, the indifferent expression on her face turning abruptly to worry as she did so, and set off back towards the Prancing Pony at a swift pace. Upon her arrival in the common room she found Aragorn missing and all of the folk worked up about an event that had seemingly just happened. 'Vanished, I tell you, just like that!' 'Aye, I saw it.''Strange things are afoot.' Making her way over to one of the hands Calenis tapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Several hobbits from the Shire came here not long ago. Where are their quarters?"

He frowned at her, as though trying to discern her purpose in asking, but after a moment shrugged and pointed her in the direction of the hobbit-sized rooms. She set off for them swiftly but paused before entering the door that led to their quarters. Voices could be heard through the doors, raised and agitated voices. Raising a clenched fist Calenis tapped loudly at the door.

She heard a lull in the conversation, and a moment or two later the door opened just a crack. She saw two bright brown eyes peering up at her, clearly belonging to a hobbit. The eyes were quite wary and distrustful.

"Who are you, and what do you want?"

Calenis suddenly realized she did not look very trustworthy with her dark, hooded cloak. Reaching up with her hand she pulled the hood back fully, exposing her slightly sunburnt face and silvery hair gathered into a quick bun. The hobbit started and stared at her openly, and at that moment she heard heavier footsteps behind him and the door opened all the way. Aragorn stood there, as she suspected he would be, and the worried look on his face changed to one of relief. He put a steady hand on the hobbit's shoulder and motioned her in.

There were four other hobbits in the room. One she recognized as Nob, one of Butterbur's servants. The one who had opened the door had closed it again, and was looking at her with confusion. He was slighlty shorter than the others, and had golden brown hair and a rounded face. One, with red-brown hair, stood right in front of her, and he looked out-of-breath and rather agitated. The other two, both dark haired, stood side-by-side in front of him. None of them looked familiar, though she thought she recognized a feature or two in the two dark-haired hobbits. Bilbo! she realized with a start, old Bilbo in Rivendell.

Meanwhile, Aragorn was explaining her presence to the hobbits. "She is the companion I mentioned before, travelling with me. She hails from Rivendell, one of Elrond's household..."

"Calenis," she cut in before he could continue, "I am Calenis, and I am indeed, from Rivendell."

Her friend looked at her with mild exasperation. "She clearly does not put much stock in my ability to introduce her properly. No matter. We will all be travelling together to Rivendell, as quickly and as quietly as possible." He turned directly to her and continued, "they are indeed the ones we were looking for. Frodo Baggins and his company. Now, what have you discovered?"

"Nazgul," she said, quickly recalling the purpose of her walk, "They are here, in Bree!"

The hobbits exchanged worried glances, but Aragorn nodded as though her words confirmed something. "Yes. I thought as much. Meriadoc here," he gestured to the auburn-haired hobbit, "ran almost directly into them on his walk around the town."

Calenis looked down at the hobbit with a puzzled frown. She knew many a stout warrior who were left weak and disoriented after a close encounter with any of the Nine, and yet here was a simple hobbit straight out of the Shire with no seeming injury but a quickly disappearing flush across his cheeks.

"They are not all gathered here, not yet. The ones that are hide in one of the last houses towards the East-gate. I am sure they are aware of your presence here," she spoke directly to the hobbits.

Aragorn nodded again, and told the hobbits they would be sleeping right in the parlour on this night.

"Stay here with them," he told her before gesturing for Nob to follow him to their rooms.

She was quickly left alone with the four hobbits. One of the dark-haired ones looked to be younger than all the rest, indeed not quite an adult. He looked at her with interest and unmasked curiosity. "I am Peregrin Took. Mostly everyone calls me Pippin. This is Frodo Baggins... Underhill!" He pointed to the other dark-haired hobbit. Calenis looked at him with interest. He was the Ringbearer. The one that held all of their fates in his very hand. He returned her glance with a shadow of a smile and clear, blue eyes.

"That is Sam, Sam Gamgee," Peregrin gestured to the first of the hobbits, the brown-eyes one. "And this is Meriadoc Brandybuck." Each nodded at her, still looking with interest. A few moments passed and Calenis sensed that they were all quite unsure of what to do with her. She suspected Strider had been quite intimidating- indeed, he still intimidated her on a regular basis- and had probably not offered any clear explanation in who she was. Before she could say anything the golden-haired hobbit, Sam, finally spoke.

"Begging your pardon, but are you an... elf?" The abruptness of the question startled her somewhat, but she quickly recalled a conversation- rather, a playful exchange of subtle insults- she'd had with her older cousin in her youth.

"You just lack... something, Calenis. Something." The young ellon was attempting to make his tone of voice similar to his father's. " You are missing a significant amount of grace, and you most certainly do not glow."

The elfing was not happy with her cousin's words. "Grace! Grace! Elrohir, you have as much grace as a dancing mumak! Even less! I saw you fall of your horse just two days ago!"

"No such thing! That was all in the past!"

There was an amount of truth in his words, Calenis had realized later. Her strong human bloodline must have diminished some of the natural poise and elegance granted to elves, and though she could usually outmatch any given Dunadan in stealth and grace, she could not do so with most of the elves she spent her time with.

"An elf? Yes, I am an elf, though a half-elf is more accurate. My father was an elf. My mother was one of the Dunedain... the humans," she decided to keep her explanation as simple as possible, for Calenis herself often got tangled in the webs of family history.

Frodo was looking at her with increased interest. "And you are from Rivendell?"

"I am from Lothlorien, but I have lived in Rivendell for several years now. Many were sent to try and find you, and guide you on your mission, and I was placed with Aragorn- or Strider- though whether I am fortunate or not because of that, I have not yet decided," she smiled slightly. The hobbits seemed to accept her explanation, though she could still sense Pippin's clear interest and a touch of wonder from Sam.

She began to start moving some of the furniture to either side of the room to clear a space in the middle for their blankets and bags. Sam set to helping her while Frodo and Pippin related the events of the evening to Merry, to which she listened with one ear. A feeling of urgency and slight fear settled onto a part of her mind, and as Calenis was dragging one of the small tables to the wall, she realized that the cause for it was Gandalf's unexplained absence.

"Mithrandir. What could have delayed you?" She muttered quietly to herself, but Frodo, who had just given Merry the letter, caught her words and looked up at her, meeting her eyes with a look filled with the same worry she was feeling.

Aragorn and Nob soon returned, creating a laugh or two with their account of the disguises they had placed on the beds. There was unmistakable worry in the air, however, as the group contemplated what the morning would bring.

Calenis could hear the hobbits talking as she settled down to sleep herself, placing her blanket further away from the fire and closer to the door and Aragorn's chair. Exhaustion settled over her mind, perhaps caused by her walk to the far end of Bree and closer to the Nazgul, but she remained alert and looked at Aragorn, who showed no signs of going to sleep.

"You will keep watch?" she asked quietly.

"I will."

Calenis felt as though she ought to keep him company, but all thoughts of that dispelled as she drifted into a dreamless sleep, facing the direction of the door as her green eyes closed. It was another fact her twin cousins had found supremely amusing- Calenis could sleep with her eyes open but always, from her days as an elfling, she had found it more comfortable to sleep with them closed.