Chapter Text
The winds howled in the distance, causing bits of grass to lift into his eyes. Slowly, his eyes fluttered open. There was this persistent ringing noise that drilled into the back of his skull. His head throbbed like a bad hangover while his limps felt as heavy as rocks.
Stumbling Theo attempted to raise himself against the winds. Scowling, his hands felt bruised and roughed from the ground. The tree´s bent at an unnatural angle. He stumbled back as the limps of one tree extends towards him. Wanting to touch, soothe him. The forest around him felt alive,
Speaking of that, why in the hell was he in a forest? And suddenly the world stopped spinning and the noise bombarded his ears. The yelling, crying, everything was suddenly too much.
Go forward, penneth. He almost forgot that damn voice. Wish he had.
¨Ari?¨ He croaked, ¨Ari? Where are you?¨ But against all the noise, she wasn´t there.
It was as if the wind stole his breath. He couldn´t breathe. She wasn´t here. She wasn´t safe anymore.
¨Where the hell is she you bastard? I don´t care about this damn mission of yours! Where is she?¨ He cried; But again, there was silence.
Go forward, find the ranger. You will find solace in them.
¨Where? Who? You can´t just leave me like this!¨ She is well-guarded. She is alive and well.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and listened to the wind. Among the storm, he heard people. More than a group. A towns worth of screaming and yelling. There was life. Focusing past the noise. He heard water. The tree´s swaying. Horses storming in stables. Everything came to life.
He had to find shelter, he reasoned. With the way the storm was picking, it would be unsafe to stay there. He didn´t have to find food immediately, he could survive a couple days. But he needed at least water and a weapon. Looking to the horizon, he began to start running towards the noise. Left and right he began to run.
Where was he? New York didn´t have forests this thick. His eyes caught the surrounding background. Mountains. Fucking mountains. Look´s like he wasn´t in fucking Kansas anymore. He didn´t remember how he even got there. There was the crash then-He stopped. Like before, he stopped without control.
What the hell? Why´d you make me stop here?
Remain close to the trees. It is not safe here. Turn around. Head towards the mountains.
No way. I´m going to find someone to tell me where in the hell I am since you and your elusive puzzles won´t tell me shit.
You know where you are. You are home.
I need shelter. So where they´re are people, I will follow.
Stop.
Horse stomps closed in near him. The drums pounded against the ground. Every instinct in his body told him to hide. So without a thought, he ran into a near bush. A shrewd howl pierced his ears. His heart fluttered before he attempted to slow his heart rate.
What are they?
Agents of the Dark Lord Sauron, you must remember. This hunt was your life.
As Theo heard the horses stop, he could smell a foul stench. Similar to that cramped feeling of dust in your throat. It tasted like tar and all things foul. Griping onto the ground, his hands shook. The breathing was above him. The figure sniffed the air before the horse raised its legs and let out a howl before he heard the horse and its master gallop into the town. Great.
Leaving his hiding place, his gaze landed on the town not far from about a mile away. Bree , his mind supplied. It took him about twenty minutes to reach the entrance of the town. A large gate guarded the entrance with only a small lantern above the gate to illuminate the area.
¨Hello?¨ He yelled, ¨I plead entry!¨ Finally noticing the door knocker he brought it up and let it pound against the wooden doorway. Finally, a grubby man with a nasty scowl on his face opened a small door to reveal his face.
¨Wut´ you wan´?¨ The rain made it near impossible to hear.
¨I only ask for shelter for tonight. The rain´s been pouring hard and I don´t have a safe place to stay while the storm passes.¨ Wiping his face, he watched as the man studied him.
¨There´s great trouble around.¨ I totally didn´t know that Mr. NPC, thanks.
¨We folk don´t normally allow you elves to invade our spaces,¨ Looking at his clothing, his hands made to close the window.
¨No, wait! I´m not planning to stir up any trouble I promise! I just want somewhere to sleep for a bit and then continue on.¨
¨Are you with the Hobbits? Or the Ranger? Who sent you?¨ Find the Ranger. He will answer your questions.
¨The..the Ranger yes! I´m with him!¨ For one invisible voice, you were helpful. Congratulations.
Suddenly, the door creaked and moaned before a small slit of a passageway was allowed for him.
¨Go on then she-elf!¨ He barked, ¨Go find your Ranger, I won´t ask again.¨
Not wanting to face the rain again, he hurriedly entered through the door before a cranking noise was made to snap the door shut behind him. Taking a small look around, his face scrunched in slight pain as the sudden smell of booze and beer entered his nose. Smells just like home. Continuing he had that feeling of deja vu. Looking around the antique houses and pubs littering the corners, his eye was caught by a small pub.
Well, he supposed that nineteen wasn´t too early to start drinking. To hell with it, the place seemed nice. But the smell of fresh food was more enticing.
Slowly opening the door, he quickly made his way to the back of the pub. ¨She-elf¨, the hell? It wasn´t the fact that sleaze bag thought he was an elf that annoyed him. Elves were cool as shit, with their badass swords and slightly mysterious vibe. No, he wasn´t a ¨ she- elf¨. He was a manly man with totally manly long blonde hair that he liked to braid. He was fine.
It was natural to him to relax his posture. Slowly he allowed himself to lounge in the chair before he took note of the small pause of four child-sized people entering the pub. So were they just letting kids drink beer now? He supposed alcohol must´ve been the rage then. He observed though as a man a couple of seats away leaning forward in his seat. Everything about the man demanded respect.
He was quite literally a walking middle school edge lord´s dream. Long greasy hair, the mysterious energy surrounding him, and a rugged appearance.
Still, he observed as the man adjusted again and gave him a small glare. Jeez, dude. Harsh a bit.
The four folks seemed to start a storm as two copies went to the men and the others went to the bar. They danced and sang loudly before the one with a softer face pointed to one of the others with black hair.
¨- Baggins? I know a Baggins,¨ The curl-haired boy declared, Why he´s over there! Frodo come here!¨ The voices grew louder in the bar and the air became thick. He saw as the people stared at the boy, Frodo must´ve been his name by his companion's loud voice, running past the people then…he was gone. And that piercing noise bombarded his ears. Blinking he almost thought his eyes were just tired and he needed some rest before he saw the man cross the bar and close in on the small people, yanking them out.
Lifting himself from his seat, he unconsciously grabbed his hood and yanked it over his face. Time to see where Mr. Edgy Boi was going. Creeping up the stairs, he overheard a door open before a new voice was added to the mix.
¨You draw far too much attention to yourself, Mr. Underhill. You aught´ to be a bit more cautious. That is no trinket you carry.¨ He grunted,
¨I carry nothing.¨
Peering into the door crack he saw the man striding towards each candle, pinching them to darkness.
¨I can avoid being seen if I wish, but to avoid disappearing entirely, that is a gift.¨
¨Who are you?¨ The boy whispered,
¨Are you afraid?¨
¨Yes.¨ Same man, I don´t know whether you or I am going to die.
¨Not nearly enough, I know what hunts you.¨
Suddenly the door was shoved and Theo fell through the doorway ungracefully. Looking around him, the rest of Frodo´s companions were staring at him peculiarly. Sharply two of them raised their weapons toward my face. I was betting the shorty was going to die first, great.
¨Who are you, spy?¨ The man hissed,
¨´Spy´? I´m no spy. I was just curious!¨
Suddenly he noticed the other weapon carrier standing in shock. Theo took note of the backpack and more pudgy figure he had, differing from the identical twined red-heads that stood behind him.
¨You´re..you´re an elf.¨
¨No, I´m not. You´re a child.¨
The dark-haired man lowered his sword and swiftly turned to face the backpack boy.
¨You have a stout heart, but that will not save you,¨ Turning to the dark-haired boy he continued, ¨you can no longer wait for the wizard. They are coming.¨
¨Who?¨ He asked, ¨I don´t mean to invade on your pep-talk but it seems like there´s more than you´re letting on.¨
It seemed everyone had forgotten he was lying on the floor because they looked startled to receive a response.
¨Who are you?¨ The man repeated, ¨what business did you have to stalk my room?¨
¨I´m Theoden, well I prefer Theo but that isn´t important. He vanished in thin air,¨ Pointing to the boy he continued, ¨Before I arrived, I saw them. Those riders right? Under Bree´s cliff. Something inside me knew to follow you in here so here I am.¨
That was simpler than explaining that he´d followed a voice to him that he had no explanation as to why it was there. He watched as the crowd above him reacted. Seeing the Ranger tense, he went to balance himself on his arms sitting cross-legged on the ground. Making it clear that he had no weapon on his belt and in his hands.
¨This..is troubling. We must stay guarded tonight. We are no longer safe.¨
Quickly the man paced and grabbed several feathered pillows at the boys. They all gave each other a single glance before stuffing them in their beds. And here Theo thought they were about to be in a pillow fight.
¨Master Elf, will you join us?¨ One spoke,
¨Master?¨ Theo echoed,¨I´m no master of nothing. You don´t need to give me a title. I´m just Theo.¨
¨And where do you hail from?¨ The Ranger asked; Well that was harder to explain than the voice. Still, a small part of him panged as he opened his mouth to answer the question. It was like he was trying to recall a distant memory. Untouched.
¨I travel mostly,¨ That was the safest option, ¨my folks aren´t around so I travel mostly.¨
¨Will you be staying the night, Ma-um Mr. Theo Sir?¨ He looked unsurely towards the Ranger.
¨I don´t want to intrude. I just want you all to be safe tonight. I´ll just-¨ He fumbled with the door before the Ranger placed his hand on the door.
¨ Unfortunately you do not have a choice anymore after hearing our discussion. We will travel within the hour. If you have no place to go, you can wander by our friend's side as a protector.¨
¨If that´s what you want um- Frodo is it? I heard it across the bar. I´ll follow.¨
The boy, Frodo, took a large breath in before looking towards the backpack boy again.
¨Of course. Please, come if you wish.¨ A small smile lit up his face.
¨I suppose there´s a need for introductions. I´m Pippin Mr Theo.¨
¨He said just Theo Pippin! I´m Merry at yur´ service.¨
Slowly the backpack boy walked to Theo before grabbing his hand.
¨I´m Sam then Sir.¨
¨And you?¨ Theo turned to the Ranger, ¨Who are you?¨
The man seemed to debate before carefully choosing his words.
¨To you all, I am Strider.¨ The words almost felt foreign in his mouth, ¨Now then, we must make haste if we wish to survive the night. This is no ordinary travlor´s feet, this is a matter of survival now.¨ Pointly Strider turned to him.
¨I know my choice, Strider. Now let´s run before those bitches come here.¨
The words echoed back to him as he helped them all pack.
The choice is yours.
As they fled the town, he couldn´t help but feel it was familiar. A sharp pain entered his head.
¨How many times do I have to tell you to stay by my side!¨
¨Not enough. Come, brother.¨
The air was warm and clear.
¨Hurry on then! We can´t be late again!¨
He felt himself frown as hair stringed through the wind.
¨It was your fault!¨
¨It was your fault!¨
Then it was over.
What the hell was that?
Maybe he had hoped he´d get a response, still, he forced himself to continue walking. He had to keep going. He didn´t know why he had followed that smell or followed into that damn room but he made that choice. Now it was fate´s game to see what he had live with now.