A prehistoric grey squirrel and a prehistoric red fox squirrel from the animated film series "Ice Age" makes an appearance.
Also, here is where a new villain OC makes her debut appearance. When it comes to her, feel free to play "Dark Ritual" by Adrian von Ziegler. This may be her theme music.
Chapter Two:
Escape
For a grey squirrel, Scrat did not know how long he had been at the limbo world. He was relieved he had his acorn, which he still needed to bury. He was also relieved that the red fox squirrel Scratte hadn't followed him this far. He had just crossed the mountains and reached a long wooden bridge. Scrat tested the weight of the wood, moments before hearing a crack. He quickly hopped across the bridge until he came to a weak spot. The second he hit the wood, Scrat fell through the hole. The acorn stayed on the bridge, where it was picked up by Scratte. Scratte waved to Scrat before flying away. As for Scrat, he hit a wooden roof, fell down two stories, toppled over a dock, and fell into the water. Scrat managed to climb up onto a stone surface, where he shook himself off.
Ronnie lost track of how long they traveled. So far, all Ronnie could see after leaving the portal was a barren landscape with little vegetation. Hook jerked at the rope, forcing Ronnie forward.
"Keep moving!" called Hook.
"Aye cap'n. Come now," said Mr. Smee, tugging at the rope that bound the other nobodies.
After a time, Ronnie could see in the near distance a huge black tower with spikes. Beside the tower was an underground cave, where could be seen a number of barred cells. Hook led the group straight for this tower. Walking down the obsidian stairs were two feminine figures. One was a witch named Maleficent. The other was a dark-haired feminine beauty wearing a red-and-black dress. Her facial expressions seemed menacing. The two approached a group of orcs, who dragged a scarred lion by a rope. After the woman sent the scarred lion into the caves, she was approached by Hook.
"Well, well Captain Hook, what do we have here?" asked the woman, intrigued.
"Just a little parting gift. We found them on the limbo world Terranus. There may be more Nobodies there, but they refuse to tell us anything." Hook jerked the rope that bound Ronnie. "This one was this group's leader."
"I see," said the woman. She faced Ronnie, asking him, "And what is your name, Nobody? You know, he does remind me of the hobbit Frodo Baggins. You look an awful lot like him."
"That's what people keep telling me," said Ronnie, glowering. "Who are you?"
"You can call me Evil," said the woman, introducing herself. "Now, what were you doing with Nobodies? Are you a Nobody yourself?"
"I don't have to answer to you," said Ronnie.
"Why? You don't trust me?" asked Evil, playfully.
"I don't deal with villains," said Ronnie, serious. "Let alone talk to them."
Evil sneered. She told one of the orcs, "Put him in the same cell as that scarred lion Tack is put. That should teach both of them a lesson. Who knows? Tack may have his snack after all."
"And what of the others?" asked Hook.
"Leave them for questioning…" Evil's voice faded as Ronnie was led down the cavern.
Scrat wandered through the caverns. He had seen many cave drawings, but no sign of any acorn. So far, Scratte hadn't followed him, which relieved him to a great extent. She was good at times, but Scrat knew he cared more about the acorn than her.
After a tiresome walk through the many tunnels, Scrat rested in a well-lit tunnel. That was when he saw it: another acorn. He lit up upon seeing the nut. Then the acorn disappeared through a vacuum in the air. Scrat screeched, rushing towards the spot where the acorn had been present. He felt the vacuum air surround him. He grabbed onto a branch on the floor, but couldn't hold onto it for longer than five seconds. Scrat flew backwards into the air, careening straight into a portal.
Out from the portal, Scrat found he was inside a deep, dimly-lit cavernous room. The acorn was right next to him. Delighted, Scrat picked up the acorn and caressed it. When he heard footsteps, Scrat fled behind a wall. He held onto his acorn tightly, making sure no one else touched it.
The orcs dragged Ronnie deeper through the maze of tunnels. Eventually, they came into a deep dungeon. The orcs, after untying one of the ropes but not his bonds, threw Ronnie inside one of the cells. Ronnie ran back, moments into the orcs closing the barred door.
"Now you have nowhere to run, Halfling," said an orc, laughing.
Ronnie watched the orcs leave him in the cell. Now alone, or so he thought, Ronnie worked on his bonds. He stopped the moment he heard a growl. He looked behind him, seeing a scarred lion come out from the shadows.
Ronnie said, as he took a few steps back to the cell door, "You must be Tack." Cornered against the cell door, Ronnie saw the scarred lion approach him. The scarred lion sniffed him. Realizing he wasn't a threat, the scarred lion growled and clawed at the bonds. Ronnie looked at his hands and saw he was free. "Thank you…" His voice faltered as he watched the scarred lion sneer at him, before finding a spot over in a corner. Ronnie sat down on the floor, near the cell door. He waited for a rescue, but it didn't look like rescue was coming.
o-o-o
Hours passed. No one came. No voices, no sounds. Ronnie heard his stomach growl. Desperate and disappointed, Ronnie rested his head against the cell door. He heard the scarred lion laugh.
"You won't get food that way. They don't serve people or animals food as often, not even a drink. If you're lucky, they'll be friendly… I doubt it," said the scarred lion.
"What do you know of that?" asked Ronnie.
The scarred lion stood up. "I've seen a thing or two of villainous activity. They treat their prisoners poorly, as they would think we were heroes. We're the lowly sort that doesn't get looked upon," said the scarred lion.
"Are you Tack?" asked Ronnie. He heard his stomach growl again.
The scarred lion laughed. "That would be me, according to my new name. I used to go by a different name, but I like Tack better. It makes me fiercer."
"You're not going to eat me, are you?" asked Ronnie, nervous.
"I freed you from your bonds. Of course I'm not going to eat you," said Tack.
Ronnie listened, as he heard orc voices coming from the tunnel above.
Tack inquired, "If you want to get out of here, you'd better do better than how you got in here. Appeal to the villain's better nature. Don't act like me."
"Won't you escape? Come with me," said Ronnie.
Tack chuckled. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't get a mile without being seen by villains. The villains and I have a bad history, and I have even worse luck. No, I won't escape from here anytime soon."
"How did you end up in here?" asked Ronnie.
"I made my own escape attempt. It failed, as you can clearly see," said Tack.
"So you're just giving up," said Ronnie. It wasn't a question.
"Listen, you can't beat Maleficent. No one can against her. She'll find ways of returning," said Tack.
Ronnie paused to think. "You're wrong. There is a way."
"Yeah? Unless you're Frodo Baggins and all things change, that isn't going to happen," said Tack.
"Who knows? You might be right about him," said Ronnie. He heard footsteps. "We'll find a way to get you out of here. I promise."
"Who's we?" asked Tack, confused.
"The heroes," said Ronnie.
One of the orcs opened the cell door. Pushing Ronnie to his feet, the orc said, "It's your time. Maleficent's expecting you, as is the Dark Lord." He shoved Ronnie out the cell. The orc, after closing and locking the cell door, dragged Ronnie to his feet. "Little whelp."
Ronnie reached fast for the orc's knife. He pulled it out just as the orc shoved him forward. Ronnie turned around, just as the two orcs pulled out their swords. Ronnie dodged the first blow. He struck at the two orcs, parrying and slashing against the orcs' attacks. He managed to cut down one orc, before the second orc struck another blow, slashing Ronnie against his left side. Ronnie dodged a second blow, before cutting the second orc's kneecaps. The second orc fell, leaving Ronnie open. The hobbit jabbed the orc in the chest until he gave his last breath. Ronnie relaxed only for a few moments. He left the knife before hiding behind a wall. It was the same wall where a prehistoric grey squirrel stood. Ronnie shushed the squirrel as he complained.
Evil, after climbing down the tunnel, witnessed the two dead orc bodies. She saw Tack observe from his cage. Furious, seeing the hobbit wasn't in the cage, Evil called, "Find the hobbit! He must be here somewhere! Find him!" She charged back up the tunnel.
Ronnie clutched his left side, feeling a burning pain. He looked down and saw on the ground an athelas leaf. Sliding down against the wall, Ronnie pulled out the athelas leaf and applied it to the wound. He immediately felt pain, but the pain was lessened. He sighed in relief.
He heard somewhere in the tunnel above an orc call, "Come on, you sluggard!"
Ronnie peered past the wall. The knife rested where he jabbed the orc. The squirrel looked at Ronnie with a timid gaze. Ronnie's conscious told him to help the squirrel escape. He waited until the orcs were not paying attention, too interested in the fight against each other. Ronnie quickly crawled over to the second orc and pulled out the knife from its dead body. The squirrel looked from one direction to the next. Taking the acorn with him, the squirrel fled towards a dark tunnel. That was the last that Ronnie saw of the prehistoric grey squirrel, for a long time.
The ceiling above the darker tunnel collapsed, moments before Ronnie could reach it. Finding the passage blocked and the only way out was the stairs, Ronnie gathered his courage. As he climbed up the stairs, Ronnie fought off various orcs that careened his way. On his way up the stairs, Ronnie rested his back against the wall. The wound healed at an impressive rate, surprising even him. With the wound almost healed, Ronnie climbed up the last flight of stairs, before rushing down the hallway.
One of the orcs that had seen the hobbit nobody made his way inside an antechamber. There, Sauron was present, along with Maleficent and Jareth. Evil joined them shortly afterwards.
"What news?" asked Evil, speaking to the orc direct.
"The Halfling, he's escaped. He killed the battalion. There was nothing we could do," said the orc, nervous.
"There's always something to be done, orc," said Sauron. He asked, fuming, "Where is he?"
"I don't know. He could be on his way here. It's hard to say," said the orc. Unknown to him, Ronnie fled behind the wall.
"I don't want excuses," said Sauron. "Do I have to do everything myself?" In one swing, he killed the orc.
"Touching," said Evil, not in the least surprised. "What should we do if he comes this far? He could be Baggins' nobody, and that poses a threat to us."
"His will is strong. How else could his nobodies survive this long?" said Sauron. "Hunt them down, kill them. If we do that, we have a chance – I have a chance to defeat Frodo Baggins at long last."
"How do we do that? They could be anywhere," asked Evil, confused.
"You're smart. You have one. You managed to capture one," said Maleficent.
Appalled, Evil inquired, "I did not capture him. Sauron's orcs did that." She told Sauron direct, "You should have let me capture him. That whelp is smarter than you know. He's a burglar, isn't he?"
"When have you gone soft, Evil? You're going opposite your namesake," said Sauron.
"He has a point, Evil," said Jareth. His ears picked up the patter of feet, moving swiftly across the room. By the time he looked, he thought he saw someone. Figuring it was nothing, Jareth returned to the conversation at hand.
Sauron, on the other hand, was keeping his gaze fixed on Evil. "I assure you, if I were you Evil, I'd focus on finding Baggins and his nobodies, or you will pay the price. Aren't you a nobody? How did you end up serving the line of villains?"
Evil said, fuming, "That's none of your concern."
"Then you admit it…"
Ronnie, keeping to the shadows and relieved no one saw him, tore off down the next hallway. He moved in a quiet fashion, hoping he wouldn't get any unexpected wanderers. He was wrong, as an orc spotted him. Rushing towards him, the orc swung his sword in the air. The blow missed Ronnie by inches, but it barely gave him enough time to move his knife. Metal clanged against metal in swift movements. When the orc missed him, Ronnie struck down the orc. The orc's cries could be heard clear to the antechamber. The second Ronnie heard the villains' cry, he bolted down the hallway.
Ronnie came out into a large stone hall, filled with tall pillars. He stopped the second he saw orcs gathering on the ledges above. Several villains came out from the various tunnels. Ronnie looked over and saw perched on a branch a brown moth. As the villains made their way towards him, Ronnie approached the moth, telling it:
"Warn Radagast that I'm here. Tell him to send the eagles. Go." Ronnie watched as the moth took flight, straight towards the opening in the ceiling. He turned around and faced the villains, knife in hand.
"Well Ronnie Baggins, is it? No, that can't be right." Evil pretended to think. "You must be Ronnie Buckley. A close friend of Frodo's, aren't you? Too bad you won't be around long enough to see him."
Ronnie looked around as the orcs continued to multiply.
"This one won't be a threat to us," said Maleficent, convinced.
"You're making a terrible mistake. The eagles are coming, and I'm pretty sure they won't be happy to see you." Ronnie heard the villains cackle.
"You should be worried about yourself. What are you going to do if they don't come? Run away? It's what you're good at," said Evil, she listened as the villains cackled further.
"I don't run," said Ronnie, bravely.
"Your first mistake," said Evil.
"No." Ronnie looked up as the moth returned. "It's yours." He backed away as the giant eagles tore through the ceiling. In one swift movement after another, the eagles eventually careened into the hallway, throwing orcs here and there. One of the eagles landed on the stone floor. Ronnie ran towards the eagle and climbed on its back. The eagle then flew out of the hall through the opening in the ceiling. The other eagles followed at a great pace.
Ronnie heard Evil's threatening cry: "This isn't over, Buckley! I will find you and Baggins, too."
"I told you I would find him, first before you Evil!" called Sauron. "Let him go!" He said, lowering his voice, "We'll find another way. This I guarantee." As he returned to the hallway, Sauron told the villains, "Send word to Voldemort that I'm coming. He'll want to hear the news."
Scrat ran on as the tunnels collapsed. He was stopped before a wide chasm. Clutching his acorn, Scrat took a few steps back before jumping over the chasm. He found he could not reach the edge and fell for a few stories down. To his surprise, Scratte picked him up and carried him out through an opening in the ceiling several stories above. Just as Scrat clutched the acorn, Scratte noticed his movement. Scrat looked in terror the second he caught her gaze. Scratte attempted to pull the acorn away from Scrat but found he could not. The two fought as Scratte landed on the ground. They watched in alarm and amazement as the giant eagles flew out from a differing ceiling in the caves below. Scrat and Scratte continued their battle for the acorn.
The eagles flew clear to sundown. That's when they came across a wide valley, filled with greenery, tall trees, and even cherry trees. The eagle Ronnie was on landed with a soft thud. As Ronnie dismounted, he felt a twinge of pain in his left side. Somehow the wound hadn't entirely healed. After the eagles took flight, Ronnie walked down a stone path. There, he found the wizard Radagast the Brown talking to a few elves. Radagast turned to the hobbit, gazing down at him with serious eyes:
"And the villains?" asked Radagast.
"They have a tower and a lot of dungeon cells," said Ronnie. "I only managed to escape from them."
"This was dangerous, Ronnie," said Radagast. "I'm glad to see you're all right."
"And yourself," said Ronnie. "Can we send word to Frodo from here?"
Radagast nodded. "I think it's quite possible we can." He added, "Tell me everything."
Ronnie walked with Radagast for hours across the path. The two eventually came to a base, hidden from plain sight. There, Ronnie found messenger doves and owls. He chose a dove and, after writing the message, attached the note to the dove's foot. Finding an open window, Ronnie set the dove free. He watched the dove until it was out of sight, through a portal. He returned to the dining room, where Radagast was eating various fruits and vegetables. Ronnie joined him and dug into the first cooked meat he saw on one of the platters. He hoped Frodo would get the message soon.