Anastasia and the plot are the only part of this which belongs to me. Everything else belongs to their respective owners; namely J.R.R. Tolkien.

Italics – Thoughts/Thinking

One person has finally managed to figure out what Ana is. Congratulations! You know who you are.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Chapter 10: Unrelenting Dreams and Clawless Tracks

Anastasia

Strider froze, his emotions going crazy as his face shut down and became blank. "You were following me," he said in a whisper that only he should have heard. I shrugged my shoulders as I gave him a sheepish smile.

The hobbits found this whole situation hilarious and were laughing so hard they were crying.

"You were following Stride!" Pippin cried out as he doubled over. Even Nob, who was forgotten for a while, was laughing; although he was trying to be more discreet about it.

Strider shot me a look proving he was not pleased.

Opps.

Frodo

'Good night to you,' said Nob, and went off to take his part in the watch on the doors.

Their bags and gear they piled on the parlour-floor. They pushed a low chair against the door and shut the window. Peering out, Frodo saw that the night was still clear. The Sickle* was swinging bright above the shoulders of Bree-hill. He closed and barred the heavy inside shutters and drew the curtains together. Strider built up the fire and blew out all the candles.

The hobbits lay down on their blankets with their feet towards the hearth; but Strider settled himself in the chair against the door. They talked for a little, for Merry still had several questions to ask.

'Jumped over the Moon!' chuckled Merry as he rolled himself in his blankets. 'Very ridiculous of you, Frodo! But I wish I had been there to see. The worthies of Bree will be discussing it a hundred years hence.'1

*The Hobbits' name for the Plough or Great Bear.

Aragorn

'I hope so,' I said. Then they all fell silent, and one by one the hobbits dropped off to sleep. Ana was curled up in the chair, silently watching the flames dance. I'm going to pay better attention to my surrounding from now on. Who knows how long she was watching me for. Maybe she isn't after the hobbits, maybe she's after me. She could then still be a servant of Sauron. She cannot know that I am Isildur's heir; I rejected that path in life a long time ago. . . . I'm going to have to keep an eye on her, so. I guess Ana travels with us.

Aragorn

I had gotten up before the hobbits and went to check the surroundings of the camp. Once again there were footprints of a large creature circling the camp, but remaining far enough away to stay out of sight. And once again I didn't hear anything, he angrily thought to himself.

This beast had been following them since they left Bree, every night circling the camp and every dawn disappearing into the wild. The tracks left behind were approximately the size of my hand but, curiously enough, there were no claw marks, which most creature footprints had.

Hopefully the creature does not attack. So far it had not, but it may gain more courage and go after the hobbits for an easy snack.

When I slept the 'dream' continued to plague me; the same reoccurring dream with Ana and the strange creature. But, there was a difference in the dream since we first left Bree and I saw the paw prints. When the strange creature disappears into the bushes, the outlandish, clawless tracks are there begging me to follow, but I cannot. Not yet at least.

There was also the matter of Ana. She disappeared before the night was over; vanished into thin air. She must be able to use magic. I checked, and the windows and doors were still locked, but she was still gone. She would have had to go out the window, I spent the night in front of the door and awake. How did she sneak out under my nose?

It was time to get the hobbits up. We need to get the Rivendell.

Frodo

Whether because of Strider's skill or for some other reason, they saw no sign and heard no sound of any other living thing all that day: neither two-footed, except birds; nor four-footed, except one fox and a few squirrels. The next day they began to steer a steady course eastwards; and still all was quiet and peaceful. On the third day out from Bree they came out of the Chetwood. The land had been falling steadily, ever since they turned aside from the Road, and they now entered a wide flat expanse of country, much more difficult to manage. They were far beyond the borders on the Bree-land, out in the pathless wilderness, and drawing near to the Midgewater Marshes.2

Aragorn's dream can be found in Chapter 7: The Unknowing Caravan.

Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. London: Allen & Unwin, 1954. Print.

The quotes came from the chapters called Stride (1) and A knife in the Dark2

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