Waiting On The Edge Of Battle

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Merry, Pippin and Sam were all beside me, looks of bewilderment on their faces. "We need to find Frodo!" Sam ordered us, and I grabbed a enourmous mug from the table. "It's made of something heavy, it'll hurt if you get whacked on the head by it." I reasoned, after getting confused glances from the other hobbits.

"Good point." Merry replied, and grabbed a lit candlestick from a nearby table. "Let's go get Frodo!" Sam said, and he was the first to lead us through the crowds of The Prancing Pony. We hurried up a set of creaky stairs that led into a hallway.

Doors were on each side of the hallway, spreading all the way to the back. We opened the first door on the right first, weapons and fists ready - Empty room. Nonetheless, Sam kicked open the first door on the left, prepared to fight with his soft, untrained fists.

Behind that door, Frodo stood, looking up at the same cloaked man that had carried him away. "Let him go! Or I'll have you Longshanks!" Sam yelled, trying to be intimidating. Us hobbits believed we were, too.

The cloaked man sheathed a long sword he had pointed at us as we entered. "You have a stout heart little hobbit, but that will not save you. You can no longer wait for the wizard Frodo. They're coming."

Us hobbits followed him, Strider he was called, to another inn. There we settled in a cozy hobbit sized room, Strider watching the outside from the window. Rain pelted loudly on the roof and window, even that backround noise keeping me from sleep.

I tossed and turned in my bed, wanting desperately to fall asleep like the other hobbits seemed to be doing. But I couldn't, my mind was wandering to what horrid things those...Wraiths, might do to us if they found us.

Once more, I flipped over under my thin sheets, facing Pippin's bed on that side. His eyes were opened, barely visible in the darkness. "You can't sleep either?" I whispered to him, not wanting Strider to hear us, or to wake the other hobbits.

Pippin shook his head, looking at his hands idly. "I'm scared. I don't really understand what's happening, or what those black riders are." He whispered back, exhaustion clear in his small voice. I looked at him sleepily. "I'm scared too, Pip."

Terrible, ear-piercing shrieks interrupted our conversation, and awoke the rest of the hobbits. I sat straight up in my bed, as did the others. Strider still sat at the window, looking out upon Bree.

"What are they?" Frodo asked simply, sitting wide-eyed at the end of his bed. Strider stared at him for a moment before replying in grave words, words that would haunt me for the rest of my journey.

"They where once men. Great kings of men. Then Sauron the deceiver gave to them nine rings of power. Blinded by their greed, they took them without question. One by one falling into darkness."

Strider paused. "Now they are slaves to his will. They are the Nazgûl, Ringwraiths, neither living nor dead. At all times they feel the presence of the Ring. Drawn to the power of the One. They will never stop hunting you."

The following morning, after a long and restless night, Strider led us away from the town of Bree, with a newly aquired pony. Pippin and I travelled slightly behind the others, trying to make idle chat to take out minds off the never ending fear we carried with us.

"You know, it's probably good for us to get out of the Shire for a while. Get away from some of the grouchy hobbits back home, and even the nicer ones. Everyone needs a break once in a while, right Ash?" Pippin said as-matter-of-factly.

I pushed my lips to the side of my face before replying. "In a way. But I wouldn't call this a break, it's the most terrified I've been in my whole life." Pippin looked at me for a moment, as if deciding on what to say back.

Going along smoothly with his unbreakable cheerful, carefree personality, he said: "Are you sure you're a Brandybuck? You're acting like one of the more grumpy Baggins." He teased, smiling ever so slightly.

Frodo's voice from ahead of us distracted me. "Where are you taking us?" Which was a question I'd been asking myself as well. "Into the wild." Strider replied, the real answer still unrevealed.

Next I heard Merry questioning Frodo. "How do we know this Strider is a friend of Gandalf?" I somewhat agreed with Frodo's next answer, but was still skeptical. "I think a servant of the enemy would look fairer and feel fouler."

"He's foul enough!" Merry retorted, in an almost berating tone. "We have no choice but to trust him." Frodo said. "But where is he leading us?" Sam asked. Strider's voice was almost lost, but I just barely heard it over the wind and the sound of our journeying.

"To Rivendell, Master Gamgee. To the house of Elrond." He answered the question fully this time, drawing excitement from the other hobbits. I looked at Pippin with my mouth open slightly. "Elves!" I said, now much more upbeat.

By the sound of his voice, I could tell Sam was the most excited, and now much more willing to travel with Strider. "Did you hear that? Rivendell! We're going to see the elves!"