The story of the Lord of the Rings was created by the genius J.R.R. Tolkien.
Chapter 15: Spending the Night with a Ranger
Frodo had disappeared in a blink of an eye. And even when I had expected it to happen seeing it done right before my eyes was amazing.
Although the bar was still slightly buzzing with talk most of it had gone quiet after he disappeared. I looked up from the ground where Frodo had stood to the shocked faces of everyone who was gathered around Pippin. This is a lot worse than anything Pippin could have said. I started to move around slowly just in case I bumped into Frodo. I stopped walking for a moment to looked over at Strider and I noticed that he was now completely on his feet and his impassiveness was gone, his mouth was now agape in surprise below the shadow of his hood and the pipe that he had smoked was in his hand.
Sparkle had stood behind the table the entire time but now rushed over to me when the when Sam and Merry got up from their seats, the scrapping sound of the wooden chair legs against the floor most likely scared her away. She stood next to me as I gently patted the ground in different places with my foot trying to locate where Frodo was. He may be invisible but I think I can touch him.
Most of the men in the bar had gone back to their drinking but now they were discussing what Frodo Baggins just did. Thank you Pippin for giving out personal information, you're so helpful.
"Frodo..." I whispered with my hand covering the side of my face and then I looked over my shoulder to see Strider still looking at the floor before me.
"Ah!" I heard a small voice say from near by. I looked over near the staircase and saw Frodo gasping for air and leaning against the rundown wooded railing." What happened to him? Frodo looked really frightened and out of breath as he leaned against the wall. He was also holding his back with his hand, most because of the fall that he had just taken a minute before.
Right after I had taken my first step towards him the quick long legs of Strider were already heading for him. His long black coat flying as he went and grabbed him by arm and Frodo didn't even have time to react as Aragorn swiftly took him up stairs.
"Frodo!" Sam called coming up from behind me. I looked away from the stairs and picked Sparkle up off the ground because I knew that we would of course have to go after our friend. Even though a big part of me knew that Frodo was okay the other part of me was still worried because of how aggressive Strider had just been...Was I wrong about him? I went into my memory and saw him leading the hobbits through the forest. No,no I am sure that he is the one was supposed to help us.
"We have to go after em' There's no telling what that ranger will do to Frodo!" Merry hissed next to Sam.
"Then let's go." I said firmly. As we started going up the stairs Merry took one last look back before running up with Sam and I.
"Come on Pippin!" He said then he turned around and Pippin hopped off of his stool at the bar after taking one last swig of his ale.
"Ay! Wait for me!" He yelled following after us.
When we entered the wooden hallway we came by a pile forgotten supplies pushed to the side of the wall. The pile consisted of rusty candle holders and a few fireplace shears. Sam turned to us.
"I don't think that we could save Frodo empty-handed, so pick up something." Sam said whispered.
"Good thinking Sam!" Merry whispered before Pippin and him reached down and armed themselves. Sam took out a pan and held it in a swinging position.
"Those are your weapons..." I whispered with a 'are you serious' face. Think goodness Strider was not going to hurt us. Sam slanted his head and gazed up at me with a firm look.
"Well they're better than nothing..." He said and I twisted my mouth. "Let's go!"We started to run down he hall but then after several doors and to intercepting hallways we slowed down.
"Which way did they go?" Pippin asked while looking around like the rest of us but then we heard a yell at the end of the hallway. Sam turned his head away from the surrounding doors and looked down at the furthest one.
"He's in there!" Sam said then he ran ahead towards the last door in the hall and the rest of us followed his lead. As soon as we got there we burst through the door and it flew open. Now Strider had his sword drawn towards us and a helpless and surprised looking Frodo was on the floor in our view.
Strider came into sight and what was an obvious difference is that now his hood was down and I was able to see his face. He was very handsome and looked similar the the actor that played him but he differed and many ways. His face looked just as strong but paler, he was a lot taller and his shoulders were very broad. And his hair had sliver strands in it but it looked very dirty and messy...
Is it strange that I'm kind of attracted him? A question that I answered myself, so yes and no. I don't know why but for some reason I was always attracted to older men. Maybe it had something to do with my father not being there enough...or Aragorn's features are just simply desirable. I mean I have never seen eyes as gray as his.
Legolas's eyes popped into my mind like a hot flash and I looked away from Aragorn. I felt more pleased with just a memory of Legolas than a real man standing in front of me. No one could compare to him regardless if I do find other men attractive.
"Get off of him! Or i'll have you longshanks!" Sam yelled with a pan in his hand ready to swing. He was very loud for someone so small, he even made my eardrum vibrate a little with his voice. I looked away from Sam and back to Strider once again and I saw that a hint of gentleness came from his eyes.
"You have a strong heart master hobbit, but that will not save you." Strider told Sam before sheathing his sword and then turning towards Frodo. "You can not stay here and wait for the wizard Frodo. They are coming." We all stared at him as the memories of the riders we had faced just before we had made it to Buckleberry Ferry. None of us wanted to face that again and if it wasn't that fear that swayed the hobbits to listen it had to be what I could hear in his voice. It was something trustworthy.
I glanced at Frodo just in time to see him look away from us and give Strider a reluctant nod. Well that's settled, what to do now? I thought as I leaned my back against the side of the door after I sat Sparkle onto the floor. After a short quiet moment I noticed that Strider had looked directly at me but when I turned my head in his direction he already had looked away and was talking to Frodo once again.
"Please stay for the night. Those who hunt you will no doubt come for you in the room you're staying in." He said.
"But how would they know which room we would be staying in?" Frodo asked him.
"Their are some in Bree who are very willing to sell you out when it comes to money." He said meeting their worried gazes. "Worry not I will throw them off." Then he looked at me. " Miss Jones?" He said as he came to stand in front of me and I turned my head quickly in his direction.
My heart squeezed in surprised when he unexpectedly spoke to me directly. Shake it off Jess, I told myself and my anxious feelings eased up enough for me to look him directly in the eye.
"Yes?" I answered him curious about why he came to me.
"Will you come with me please?" He said. How curious... I nodded and he walked out of the door, as I turned to follow him Frodo called me after me.
"Jessica?" He said concerned and I turned back around and gave him a small smile and a trustful look in my eyes.
"I'll be alright Frodo." I said and before I turned around he gave me a small nod but with an unchanged expression on his face.
"Stay." I told Sparkle who looked ready to follow me." Then I walked out into the hallway with Aragorn and he closed the door to his room behind us before he took the lead in front of me. As we walked down the hallway my feelings circled around being nervous and curious. What did he want me for? Was he going to send me back to the Shireor leave me here? My mind was brought back from its contemplative state by the sound of his deep voice.
"Gandalf spoke briefly about a maiden accompanying two hobbits." He said and I leaned my head to the side as we passed a hallway with Butterbur coming down it and his eyes went wide when he looked from me to Aragorn. My mouth fell open a little as if I was going to explain but I just kept waking and then I just shut my mouth.
"Yes." I finally said confused when I caught up with what he just said and then he looked back at me a little.
"Usually young maidens are not involved in ventures such as these, I didn't expect Gandalf to let something like this happen. You're so young. How do you really fare my lady, you seem to be less troubled than the hobbits do." He said. For some reason this sounded like more of conversation than him acting as a polite man asking someone how they were. Shouldn't he be acting a little more mysterious instead of practically saying 'i'm actually a pretty cool guy'?. I then looked at his head as if to figure him out. Well he does look dirty and wild so I guess image doesn't really concern him much. But either way genuine concern or simple conversation I answered truthfully about the way I felt.
"If I am suffering it is not needlessly." I said seriously and the air around us changed at my admission. I could tell that he was beginning to think more of me by the way he slightly turned his head back as to listen more. I spoke again before we rounded a corner. "They are my friends and I chose will stick with them at least until Gandalf finds us again." I said. Aragorn stopped walking and turned towards a specific door but his eyes were on me. His gaze was firm but without judgement and it was as though he could see through me. I gave him a firm look as well.
"I can keep up." I said. He nodded his head at me before opening the door and heading inside the room.
"I never said you couldn't." He murmured. I peered inside and saw that it had four small beds and one normal sized one, it was the room we had rented for the night. How did he know that we were staying here?
"Why are we here?" I asked him. Aragorn looked around the room before his gazes quickly landed on the biggest bed. Then he turned back to me.
"I want you to put a pillow underneath each hobbit bed sheet. I'll go get an extra pillow for yours." He said before leaving the room quickly and closing the door behind him. I turned my eyes away from the door to the only source of light in the silent room, the window. The moonlight that shone through it created an outline of sliver and I could see the dimly lit shops and inns of Bree. I will feel better when we are far from here. I looked towards the first hobbit bed and went over to it to start laying each pillow underneath each sheet as I was told.
It was a minute after when I was on my last bed did Aragorn come back with an extra pillow. After he stuffed my bed we headed back to his room to join the others. When the door was in our sights I saw that Pippins head was peaking outside of the door.
"Oh yes I set all this up to steal you away." Aragorn jested and I laughed. From what I saw I think that Pippin had put his head back in to tell the others about our return.
When we walked into the room I saw that they were all anxious to have me back.
"Where'd you go?" Merry asked me and Aragorn walked near the windows to sit in the chair.
"We went to the room that Frodo had rented and stuffed the beds with pillows." I said.
"Oh, that's good. Very misleadin'." Pippin said.
"I think you all should be heading to bed now. We have an early start tomorrow. You all can have my bed." Aragorn said with his gaze still on the window. I turned towards the queen sized dark wooden bed that looked very comfortable. It has been a long trip and being in this warm inn just made me more than ready for a soft bed.
"We all can't fit on that." Sam said and then Pippin looked over at me.
"I don't mind sleeping on the floor for a lady." He said with a smile. How sweet.
"Thanks Pippin but you don't have to do that." I said before I looked down at Sam. "We can all fit on it. It just takes a little creative thinking." I said and Pippin spoke up again.
"I don't mind laying really close to you Jessica." He said and Merry smacked him."Ow! What did I do?"
"You keep opening that thing underneath your nose." Merry said.
"Thank you Pipp, but I actually thinking that we could be more organized. You all could sleep at the headboard and I can sleep horizontally at the footboard." I said and they agreed but before they took off their coats they looked over at me.
"What?" I ask.
"We're getting undressed..." Pippin said. I found that so ridiculous that I laughed a little, it's just their coats and their sweater vests coming off.
"Could you turn around?" Merry said. And then it hit me I was still facing them and I quickly turned around.
"Sorry guys." I said still smiling. After I stopped hearing the sheets move around I turned towards the bed and saw that they were all underneath the covers and ready for bed. Then I walked towards it and sat Sparkle on the bed, but before I laid down myself I took off my coat. I slid into bed and laid my arms underneath my head and Sparkle laid on my side. The feet of the hobbits were half of a foot away from touching me so I had a bit of room to lay in a lazy fetus position so that my feet were not hanging off the bed.
I didn't feel that I needed any blankets tonight because the room was warm enough, or maybe it was just me? The hobbits looked as though it was more than welcomed. Yet still we were all the more comfortable we had been in days. My arms have never felt so soft below my head and I sat there listening to my breathing and the crackle of the fire that burned in the fireplace, and my body felt heavier...and more relaxed.
It was then that Aragorn started to hum a soft tune and his deep tones carried over to the bed we laid on and I could feel myself getting warmer. You would think my top and lower eyelids were meeting for the first time and fell for each other because they did not part after my last blink. I only recall feeling like this several other times in my life, and all of them I remember were in my own home. I never thought that I would feel this comfortable somewhere else.
Hello my amazing and patient readers! Sorry it took so long to get this next chapter up I was typing it for a long time. I not only kept procrastinating but I also kept typing up only half a paragraph and then I would stop. I'm glad I finally finished it! I feel like typing again now I can type up a new chapter for my other stories that were waiting behind this one. I really wanted to put this one first though. Hopefully I will feel this good about typing for at least the next month because the next chapter is an explanatory on some things that might've been questioned and others that might be questioned in the future. So it's very long!
Oh yes I was also just thinking to myself about a scene I saw in Lord of the Rings with Aragorn and Arwen and the idea just came to me on how the first meeting of Jessica and Legolas be written(Don't worry it will not be similar to the film at all). It's so beautiful and I was so excited after I had written it. Now I just have to write the chapters that will lead up to it... Well anyway I hope that you guys have enjoyed this chapter! Please Review and tell me what you think about! I started reading the first of the Lord of the Rings books and the way that I feel about the story might have changed so maybe my writing about it has as well. If it hasn't that's okay, I just really want to know what's going on in those heads of yours! Review! Review! Review! Please! Please! Please!