Sorry it's taken me so long to update folks. Hope you enjoy.
Elvish
: Mind speech :
Chapter 14
"Well at least we have some breathing room." Natasha muttered.
Quickly crossing the River, Natasha ushered her four companions into the trees along the opposite bank just as thunder cracked above their heads and the skies opened up. Through the woods, Natasha could see the torches of Bree's western gate flickering defiantly in the downpour but even over the short distance m she knew they'd be near soaked by the time they reached the town's safety.
"Murphy's Law." Natasha grumbled, wrapping her cloak more tightly around her s she set of towards the gate.
The hobbits stayed close to her, fearful eyes darting this way and that in search of any possible danger. Natasha could almost feel how frightened they were and clamped down all the harder on her own. She stopped at the edge of the wood, casting her senses down the road briefly in each direction and then darted across to pound on the gate, her friends scurrying to catch up. She crowded them close to the door as first on then another peephole opened and shut in rapid succession before finally the door opened up to reveal a surprised older man, his wet hair clinging to his face beneath his hood.
"Hobbits! Four hobbits!" he exclaimed, raising his lantern to better see them. "What business brings you to Bree?"
"We've come to stay at the in. Our business is our own." Frodo replied, rather defensively before Natasha could speak.
"All right young sir, I meant no offence." the gatekeeper hastily soothed, stepping aside to let them pass. "It's my job to be asking questions after nightfall. There's talk of strange folk abroad. Hey now! When'd you turn up?" she started when Natasha stepped through the gate. "Was you there the whole time?"
Nodding silently, Natasha then took the lead, heading for the Prancing Pony. Inside, warmth and enticing smells enveloped them in welcome. Each of the hobbit threw back their hoods, looking around in curiousity. Feeling uncomfortable, Natasha leaned back against the wall in the shadows, leaving her hood up, while Frodo asked for the innkeeper.
"Hello little masters, and kind sir." he added hastily to Natasha as she stepped forward with the group, though making sure to keep her face hidden. "If you're seeking accommodation, we have some nice cozy hobbit sized rooms available, Mr…uh?"
"U-Underhill. My name is Underhill." Frodo stuttered.
Natasha lost interest in the conversation and cast her mind through the inn, looking for her mentor.
: Gandalf:
No laughing greeting returned her call and Natasha began to worry. Her fears were confirmed with the innkeeper's announcement of not seeing Gandalf in several months.
'Where is he?' Natasha wondered, as they found a table and waited for their meal. 'And who the hell is watching me?'
Ever since they'd come through the door, she'd felt a pair of eyes watching their every move. Now, casting her gaze about the room, she found several people who could have been their watcher, but something told her none of them were. Not until her gaze came to rest on a cloaked figure hidden in the back of the inn, his lit pipe the only illumination his features received, and even then only his eyes shone out of his hood when he inhaled.
'What is it with this world and smoking themselves into an early grave?' Natasha thought in disgust, her gaze never leaving the shadowy figure. 'It's got to be him watching us. Why does he seem so familiar? We didn't stop long enough here last time for me to know anyone here. Who could he be?'
Puzzled, Natasha noted that Sam too had seen their watcher, fidgeting in his seat as he ate. Frodo seemed to mistake it for worry for Gandalf, telling Sam not to worry. Natasha met the gardener's worried eyes, nodding slightly to say she knew why he was nervous before turning her attention back to he strange in the back. His gaze still hadn't left them. Natasha listened as Frodo asked Butterburr the innkeeper about the stranger, and her heart almost stopped.
"He's one of them Rangers. No one rightly knows his name, but round here we call him Strider."
There was such fear and disgust in the innkeeper's voice that confused Natasha. What reason did this man have for hating Strider? Could she have been wrong about him, or maybe it was the innkeeper? And if Strider was here, where was Legolas? Unless there were two Striders, which she highly doubted. However, she wasn't given much time to ponder the mysterious reappearance of her friend as a commotion over towards the bar drew her attention.
Frodo was hurrying over to where Pippin was chatting with a bunch of Big Folk, wrenching the younger hobbit away from the conversation, slipping on a bit of wet floor. The next couple of moments were all a blur, one moment Frodo was in plain sight and the next, splitting pain shot through Natasha's skull and she could feel her skin burning. A thundering voice boomed through her head and Frodo all of a sudden stood in front of a fiery eye. In the distance she could hear screeches of rage but all her attention was focused on keeping the pain down and getting to Frodo. The hobbit backed away from the apparition, desperately trying to pull at something on his finger.
Suddenly, the booming voice was gone and Natasha breathed a sigh of relief when she found Frodo hiding on the opposite side of the room. She was just about to go to him, to give him a piece of her mind, when he was grabbed by Strider and flung up the stairs. Natasha raced to catch up, taking the steps two at a time and squeezing into the room before the door closed, tackling Strider to the floor.
"Frodo, get in a corner!" she managed before Stirder flipped her off.
However, he stopped stunned as her hood fell back, giving her an opening and the half elf found himself once again on the bottom with Natasha's raised fist ready to strike, burning with the anger that also showed in her eyes.
"What the hell is your problem?" she spat. "Attacking a defenceless hobbit?"
"He draws far too much attention to himself." the ranger spat back.
"Kind of hard not to, being a new face in such a small town! And, you had no right to scare him to death. What did Gandalf tell you the last time you did that?"
"Last I looked he was still alive." Strider snorted, though the effect was ruined by the grimace on his handsome features. Natasha had accidentally blasted him into a wall when he had pulled a similar stunt back in Mirkwood, while she was practicing. Gandalf had taken him into another room afterwards, and kept him in there for almost half an hour, the ranger emerging much chagrined and with true fear in his eyes. Apparently the threat of impotence for a year worked on just about all males.
Rolling her eyes, Natasha allowed the fire in her hand to ebb slowly back into her reserves and standing.
"Are you all right, Frodo?"
Frodo was beside the hearth, eyes wide with fear but he nodded, swallowing a couple times before he could speak.
"Who is he? What does he want?"
"Are you frightened?" Strider sneered earning a glare from Natasha.
"Yes." Frodo swallowed again.
"Not nearly frightened enough. I know what hunts you." Strider said, snuffing out the candles and sending the room into darkness.
"As do I." Natasha snapped. "We're doing our best to avoid them."
Strider met her gaze steadily and nodded without a word. Silence reigned in the room until a scurrying of feet in the hall caught their attention. Strider's sword was unsheathed in a spinning turn as Natasha dove in front of Frodo, pulling the fire from the hearth in a protective circle around them. The door burst inwards to reveal a very angry Sam, fists raised, followed a more fearful but nonetheless determined Merry and Pippin.
"You let him go, or I'll have you Longshanks!"
Seeing who it was, Natasha sighed and released the circle, the flames dancing happily back into the fireplace as Strider sheathed his sword. The hobbits gathered around Frodo, each inspecting him in turn for the slightest injury, ignoring Natasha and Strider.
"You can no longer wait for the Wizard." Strider said to Natasha though the hobbits could hear it very well. "They are coming."