The Falling Rain (Lord Of The Rings Fanfic)

6

THE Prancing Pony Inn was full of people from different races. There were mostly the race of men, eating, drinking and enjoying the company of their comrades after a long day of work. There were some merchants off traveling somewhere to different parts of Middle Earth. There were a few Hobbits around already including Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin and little to no elves.

The place reeked of clothes damp from the heavy pouring rain outside, the smoke from cigarettes, aroma of food and the scent of alcohol. Many men have given the company of Felina, Lou, and the Hobbits queer looks. It made the Hobbits a bit conscious as it was their first time away from home and being a stranger in a strange land. As for Felina and Lou, they were used to it. They were also a bit anxious since Gandalf said he would meet them here and he hasn't been there for six months.

But all that had to be done to keep the Hobbits from worrying was to give them good ale and hot food in their bellies. Merry rushes over to their table with a big pint of ale. Pippin turns his head from his much smaller drink and looks at the pint in amazement.

"What is that?" He asks Merry.

"This my friend, is a pint" the Hobbit happily answers.

"It comes in pints? I'm getting one" Pippin said before standing up and rushing off to get one.

Sam calls after him in alarm. "You've had a whole half of it already!"

Lou gives an unladylike snort and said "Don't worry Sam. Let him do what he wants" before taking a sip of her bottle of beer.

Felina gives her a questioning look. "And how many have you had already Lou?"

Lou looks up as if giving it a thought. She hummed while trying to remember. "Eh about five bottles. This beer ain't so bad"

Felina gives her a look if disapproval saying "You shouldn't drink too much. I don't want to have to deal with your sloppy drunken ass"

"Please, us Stark's can take a whole bottle of vodka and still be fine" the proud to be Stark replies scoffing.

Felina rolled her eyes. "Right. Your family and their drinking issues"

Suddenly Sam speaks up. He whispers loud enough for the whole table to hear. "Mr Frodo. Lou. That fellow has done nothing but stare at you two since we first arrived"

They turned to see a mysterious man sitting at a dark corner. He had a hood over his head, laid his feet out onto a chair, and smoked a pipe. They could barely see his face and he sat alone. Even when they found him staring his eyes didn't shy away. He just kept staring on. Lou voices out her thoughts.

"Creep" Then she chugged down the rest of her bottle before slamming it onto the table and taking into her hands another one. Felina looked at him suspiciously analyzing whatever she could about him. She wanted to read his mind but didn't want to just be invading someone's privacy without any hard evidence that they were a threat. Maybe he was just a little more curious than others.

Frodo stops the innkeeper as he passes by. "Excuse me? The man in the corner, who is he?"

He glances to where Frodo was looking, widens his eyes and quickly turns away his gaze. He spoke in soft voice. "He's one of them Rangers. Dangerous folk they are, running around in the wild. What his real name is, I never heard but around here he's known as Strider". With that he nods his head and leaves.

Strider. Strider. Strider.

The name repeated itself in a whisper in the back of the women's minds.

Felina and Lou shared a look of curiousity. "Haven't we heard that name before?" Lou asked Felina.

"It was mentioned about only once or twice to us in Lothorien and a few times when we visited in Rivendelle" Felina whispered back to Lou in a hushed tone. Lou looked queerly at the stranger with narrowed eyes. There was something about him.