Chapter 17 – Unexpected Company

When the Morning sun began to shine over Rivendell, Laura couldn't help but fell refreshed. Not only was she sleeping on such a comfortable bed, but the elvish medicine was doing wonders for her injured arm, in fact Lord Elrond said that she would no longer need any bandages at this point. She may have known that her recent wound would most likely leave a scar but she didn't mind as long as something like this doesn't happen again any time soon. In fact for some reason the memory of the whole event seemed to spark up something else, she couldn't remember what exactly but being in a situation of pain seemed to be stirring up something in the corner of her mind, something important that she just couldn't seem to grasp. However she decided to brush it off for now and made her way down to the dining chamber, the elves may have been mostly vegetarian by they were still kind enough to give her some rare meat, being a Keidran, she couldn't very well eat much else, less risk being sick. As she ate he breakfast, Laura quietly observed her surroundings with a gentle smile upon her face, seeing the faces of her new friends peacefully enjoying their morning. However that was when she noticed that a certain face wasn't amongst them. As soon as she finished eating, Laura wasted no time in catching up with a small group consisting of Lug, Mossy, Spud and Goggles, the latter looking as though he didn't get much sleep the previous night.

"You okay, Goggles?" she asked concernedly, noticing the dark rings under the Gizmonk's eyes.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine," Goggles yawned said reassuringly. "Just been doing a bit of tinkering most of the night is all."

Laura rolled her eyes at that, if Goggles kept doing stuff like this then he's gonna push himself too far one of these days. It didn't matter how good he was at inventing, he didn't need to lose sleep every time a new idea pops into his head, but in any case Laura made a mental note to ask Goggles about what he came up with later.

"Hey have you guys seen G?" she asked. "He wasn't at breakfast this morning."

"Sorry lass," Lug responded with a shrug. "Haven't seen him."

"But now that you mention it, I haven't seen Nyx this morning either," Goggles added, scratching his own head with confusion.

That was when Laura quickly began to grow worried, she may not have known G for very long but from what she could tell it's not like him to disappear without so much as letting someone know that he was going somewhere. And Nyx wouldn't just wonder off either given the circumstances, something was definitely up. Luckily someone who DID know G better soon came walking by, not so much as turning his head towards the rest of the group.

"Hey Edward do you know where Nyx and G are?" Goggles called out trying to get the scissor-handed man's attention.

However when Edward finally responded, a look of fear quickly spread across his face and he continued to walk away, only this time at a much quicker pace, much to everyone else's confusion.

"Why is he walking away like that?" Spud asked, scratching his head with worry.

That was indeed a good question, sure enough Edward was the most secluded member of the group but even he wasn't this bad when it came to his friends, and at the very moment Edward looked like he was trying to avoid everyone who came near. Being the smartest member of the group, Goggles figured out an explanation rather quickly.

"It's because he knows he can't lie to our faces," he said, quickly reading Edward's expression just before he turned away.

Narrowing his eyes with determination, Goggles then gave the rest of the group a confident nod. Having a rough idea of what was going on through the Gizmonk's head, everyone else then returned the nod and followed him as he chased after Edward. After a series of narrow escapes from his pursuers, Edward eventually found himself cornered, literally backed up against a wall he found a certain Gizmonk giving him a stern glare.

"Alright Edward, what do you know?" he demanded.

However the only response he got was a quick shake of the head, it was clear that whatever Edward knew he was not going to give up the secret so easily. At first Lug was going to be the next to speak, but just then Laura placed a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to stop before she spoke to Edward herself.

"Edward," she said gently, giving him the most pleading look she could muster. "Please,"

At those words Edward sighed, granted he didn't really want to say anything, but G never actually said that his departure had to have been kept a secret, after all his absence was obviously noticeable. Putting on a brave face and answered.

"G left Rivendell last night," he said, much to everyone's surprise.

"He left?" Mossy repeated, not fully understanding the situation they found themselves in. "Why?"

#

"I tell you why!" G yelled as he continued to ride through the wilderness. "It's because those damn idiots running my home have obviously got some kind of superiority complex that make them think that they can just take what they like!"

This has been but a sample of the many rants G's poor horse had to listen to, after riding all night through the wilderness of Middle-Earth, G quickly began to feel board with the silence. Normally he would simply pass the time by stopping every so often to fool around with his powers, however since time is of the essence, G's only way of letting out his frustration was to talk to his horse… a lot. If the horse had been able to speak like Nyx then she probably would have told him to shut up by now but unfortunately, G was stuck with mere silence, the only other sounds being passing birds and the horse's neighs. After taking a break from his rant to check the map he had in his pocket, G's frustration only began to grow as he came to realise that he had absolutely no idea how to navigate these lands expect to go down the same direction his nose was pointing, however since the closest lost character was Weathertop, he was a little hesitant to use that method. At the moment he found himself riding the horse across an open forest with trees reaching as high as fifty feet high, causing a few shadows to form and giving G some trouble with the map.

"Stupid map!" scrunching up the parchment with irritation before looking back down at his horse. "I tell you Myrtle, the people of this world really should learn how to modernise into road maps. I mean we're wandering about in the middle of the wilderness, and here I am talking to an equine that can't talk back. At least Nyx was someone I could talk to, you might as well be a plank of wood."

"That's not very nice," another voice said in response.

"I know I'm sorry I…" G replied, stopping mid-sentence upon realising that someone had just spoke back to him. "Wait a minute."

Obviously it wasn't the horse who spoke, especially since the voice G heard was coming from his saddlebag and had a very distinct familiarity that G recognised in an instant. "Quickly opening up his saddlebag he was shocked to find a certain Alicorn filly looking back up at him with a sheepish smile.

"NYX!?" he snapped, his eyes widened with surprised. "Why are you in my saddlebag? HOW are you in my saddlebag!?"

"I was sitting on the stable roof last night looking at the moon, when you walked in," Nyx explained as she climbed out of the saddlebag and used her little wings to hover by G's head. "I overheard everything and snuck into your saddlebag while Edward was keeping you distracted."

As much as G was impressed of how sneaky Nyx was in managing to stow away in his saddlebag without him even noticing she was there all night, that didn't stop the fact that he was seriously upset by this. The whole purpose of leaving Rivendell by himself was to make sure that the others were kept safe, and now Nyx was pulling the same stunt she did when the orcs attacked, if that sort of thing happened again G couldn't live with himself if she was hurt.

"You shouldn't be here," he said sternly, not one ounce of his usual humour in his tone.

However Nyx wasn't going to be spoken to like that without some form of retort.

"I can't let you go off by yourself!" she said, standing her ground.

"That's how I always used to live my life before any of you guys came along!" G argued, his gaze hardening with every syllable.

"And look where it got you!" Nyx snapped in response.

G was quickly taken aback by that statement for it was certainly below the belt, if there was once thing G hated more than to be mocked for his height, it was a reminder for his failures, mainly because it never happened that often. It was then that Nyx had realised what she had just said, and tried to calm the situation down, giving off a light sigh she spoke again.

"Look, I know you feel like you're putting us in danger by being around us," she said gently. "But we're in this together now G. It doesn't matter how we got here, the point is that as long as we are here then we ALL have to play our part. You can't just abandon us like that, that's not what friends do!"

As much as G hated to admit it, Nyx certainly was trying to make a strong point, and even though this could easily be brushed off as simply the pleas of a child desperate to keep close to someone, G wasn't going to just send her back to Rivendell, and he certainly couldn't take her back himself if he wanted to make good time before the villains actually tack him down. In any case, Nyx had put him in a seriously awkward situation.

"You really are as stubborn as your mother sometimes," he finally said, a small smile etching its way across his face. "You know that?"

Nyx's eyes widened at that, causing G to chuckle slightly.

"You know my mom?" she asked, not fully understanding what G meant by that last sentence.

"Not personally but I was at her coronation," G answered, quickly returning to the subject at hand. "Alright fine, you can come. But only if you promise to follow my rules okay?"

As much as she was happy that G was seeing things her way, Nyx still raised an eyebrow at that.

"Since when do YOU have rules?" she asked sceptically.

"I have rules!" G snapped, playfully acting offended. "I just… bend them once or twice!"

At those words, Nyx couldn't help but giggle.

"Try ALL the time," she laughed.

"You are SO close to flying back to Rivendell young lady!" G playfully chuckled, allowing the filly to take a seat in front of him on the saddle, as he once again snapped at the horse's reins, though gently as to show yx that he wasn't being cruel to the poor animal.

"Come on Myrtle!" he called out.

With that the horse once again trotting through the forest at a steady pace, for the next half hour, Nyx couldn't help but stare at the animal providing their means of transport.

"So this is what a Middle-Earth Pony is like?" she finally asked, "Kinda weird seeing a pony that couldn't talk back."

Of course G knew this sort of question was coming, after all it's not like any Equestrian would feel comfortable seeing a member of their own species reduced to a simple means of travel for another species, in retrospect it would be like a pony version of "Planet of the Apes".

"Well if you're traveling with me then you'll be seeing a lot of strange things like that kiddo," G explained, much to the filly's interest. "Some more bizarre than the last."

Nyx nodded her head at that, granted it seemed demeaning from her point of view to see the horse like this, but given the kind way G was handling her Nyx seemed a bit more relaxed about the matter. Soon enough she quickly tried to change the subject.

"So where exactly are we heading?" she asked.

"We're continuing westward," G explained pointing straight ahead. "Whatever lost souls are out there, they are all in that direction. But what we do when we encounter them is beyond me at this point."

Hearing this Nyx quickly shrunk back into the saddle, a shimmer of fear quickly beginning to creep down the base of her neck as she continued to stay on the horse. As much as she was glad to be keeping G company, she had to admit to herself that she didn't really think her plan all the way through. With everything that had happened during the last week, she should have at least been terrified of what else was out there, with the villains chasing G across the multiverse and creatures like the orcs inhabiting this world, who knows what else could be out there? Still she had already made her decision and now there was no going back, but still her curiosity wouldn't allow her to let the subject go.

"Do you think they'll be like that Ezekiel guy?" she asked, almost terrified of the answer.

G sighed at that.

"I certainly hope not." He answered.

#

While Nyx fearfully wondered what sort of horror's awaited her and G, another set of traveling companions began making their way east from Weathertop. After arriving at an abandoned camp at the top of the ruins, a group of villains consisting of Scanty, Porche, Hamburg, Rahzar, Bebop and Rocksteady were now trudging through the soggy fields, the ground still soaked from the constant rain that had only just now stopped. Needless to say Porche wasn't happy with the fact that she was now ankle-deep in mud, taking a few seconds per step just to pull each foot out as if she were trying to escape a tiny pit of quicksand.

"I still don't see why WE have to come along," she complained, not even being allowed to ride of Hamburg's back like she normally would.

"Foxy may be untrustworthy but it's still good strategy to keep you two around," Scanty explained, not even feeling the slightest bit guilty as she sat upon Rocksteady's shoulder to keep out of the mud. "Not only does Foxy feel a bit more compliant given the fact that two of his cohorts are out of his reach, but we also have your additional talents to add to our hunt."

"Makes sense to me," Hamburg replied with a small shrug.

However Scanty was certainly getting no respect from Porche, not only has she and her sister been treating her, Hamburg and her Captain like garbage ever since they met, but now she was sitting upon a rhino-mutant's shoulder like some kind of queen while the rest of the group were forced to trudge through what she could only describe as field-slop. After about an hour of walking, the group finally came to a stop and Scanty brandished on of her revolvers.

"Alright Pig," pointing the gun at Bebop's head. "Smell him out!"

At those words Bebop grumbled to himself, unhappy with the fact that he was no reduced to nothing more than a beast that farmers usually use to sniff out truffles.

"I still don't see why we couldn't bring a mini tracker, yo!" he said, feeling no guilt whatsoever about complaining as he began sniffing thee air.

But Scanty merely rolled her eyes at that.

"My sister already told you!" she replied. "For some reason the realm were residing in simply refused to give us such a device. We can bring weapons and food but somehow a tracking device seems out of the question."

However that explanation only seemed to tick Bebop off even more, in fact several members of the hunting party seemed to groan with irritation.

"What a bunch of hogwash," Rahzar moaned, furious with the fact that his quest for blood is now supposedly harder than it needs to be.

"What can I say? That world remains confusing even now," Scanty retorted with a casual shrug. "Either way we will have to make due with Bebop's nose and our communication with those back at home base."

"How is that working, by the way?" Porche asked, once again struggling to pull her feet out of the mud. "I know you said we could use pig-boy's headpiece, but that's no guarantee what about the other ones you brought,"

"They seem to be working fine," Scanty scoffed, insulted but the group's lack of confidence in her decisions. "Like I said, the tracking system seems to be the ONLY thing we couldn't bring with us."

"Maybe it's the realm trying to fight back for its master," "Rocksteady joked, much to everyone's chagrin.

"That's just stupid even for you!" Rahzar snapped.

Even Scanty was annoyed by the rhino's comment, so much so that she wasted no time in giving him a smack across the back of his head with her gun for saying it. And thus the journey east continued on like that for several hours, after trekking through several terrains, all the while being led by Bebop's powerful sense of smell, the group finally came to a stop at the base of a rocky set of hills. Needless to say everyone was seriously agitated by the whole trip.

"We ain't going no further till we've had a breather!" Bebop snapped as he took a seat on one of the nearby rocks.

"Da, this is ridiculous!" Rocksteady added as he shoved Scanty off his shoulder. "We walk all day while you ride piggy back on Rocksteady's shoulder, is not fair!"

"Alright fine!" Scanty snapped as she picked herself up and dusted off her clothes. "Someone get a fire going, it'll be dark soon."

This was indeed true, for the villains had been walking for so long that the sun had begun to set over the horizon, they didn't know how long this hunt was going to take but neither one of them had wanted to stay in this particular dimension for long. However the one who seemed to be the most agitated was Rahzar, who at this point was snarling like the mad dog he was.

"Set your own fires!" he snapped, turning away. "I'm going on ahead!"

And just like that, before anyone could protest, Rahzar had got on all fours and continued east at a rapid speed, disappearing from sight as he clambered over the rocks.

"Well that's just great yo!" Bebop snapped, pointing an accusing finger at Scanty. "You see what y'all did? You pissed him right off! Now we gotta find HIM too!"

"Oh don't get your luminous pants in a twist," Scanty retorted. "He'll be back, the dog probably just wants to let off some steam for a bit."

Porche narrowed her eyes ate that, her anger building up with every second.

"How can you be so calm about all of this!?" she snapped.

"I may be prone to bursts of rage from time to time, but even I know when to keep a cool head when something doesn't matter," Scanty retorted taking a seat next to another boulder and leaning back into it. "Now is suggest you get that fire started, we don't want to be cold when…"

Suddenly a loud howl echoed through the air, catching the attention of everyone in the group.

"See?" Scanty chuckled. "That mutt only needed to let off some steam."

"Naw man, that ain't Rahzar's howl," Bebop gulped in fear.

"Niet," Rocksteady added. "That howl came from something else."

At those words everyone quickly began to feel uneasy.

"W… was it wolves?" Porche whimpered, quickly clutching on to Hamburg for support.

Quickly taking another sniff of the air, Bebop desperately tried to find the direction of Rahzar's scent, he may be a hard-case but he was still a member of the group, suddenly another scent entered his nostrils from the easy, something… foul.

"We ain't alone, yo," he said solemnly.

#

Author's Notes:

The Character Nyx belongs to Pen Stroke / :iconPenstrokepony:

The Character Laura belongs to :icontwokinds:

The Characters Chi and Mimi belong to :iconbleedman: