INVISIBLE SCARS

- Dis/Claimer -

. Chapter Twelve .
.. The Night ..

This was bad. Merry and Pippin had tied them together, about six inches between their faces. It was awkward for sure, especially since it felt as though Angie had just remembered that she sort of liked him. He could probably see her cheeks turning red in embarrassment, but the white cloth that gagged her covered them somewhat. Plus, it was dark. What was she thinking? And it was if they had put her there to be forced to be hypnotized by his wonderful eyes. Trapped by them with no escape.

She then drew in a deep breath, trying to calm down. This was serious. They were bound together in a hall, unable to scream for help, unable to move, and their captors were on the loose. They must die.

Angie looked up in Frodo's direction since she couldn't really see much but his silhouette and some facial features highlighted by the moonlight coming from her room. She was holding her breath as she thought and thought about what to do.

But suddenly, she let out a gasp as Frodo lunged forward at her face. For a brief, shining moment her mind was racing with shock and her heart was pounding. But the let down wasn't so bad; she thought about how stupid she was when he started tugging the cloth around her face and started getting at the knot he had brought forth with what his restraints allowed. After a few minutes, he had successfully undone the knot, and the cloth fell from Angie's mouth. She let out a deep breath and thanked Frodo who nodded in response.

Then she tried hard as she could to free herself from the rope. It wasn't all that difficult; thanks to Pippin's poor tying skills, her hands were right below the knot, and all she had to do was tug on it a couple of times until it was untied.

"Wriggle free," Angie whispered, shaking from side to side as Frodo followed suit. Once her hands were free, she tried to push the rest of the dress rope off of her as Frodo untied the cloth around his own mouth. Within a minute, both were free from the rope and immediately picked up an end each, trudging down the hall with revenge clearly in their minds.

"Which way did they head? Did you see?" Angie asked as they came to the big open lobby of the Hall.

"No, it was too dark," Frodo, said. "Maybe to the kitchens?"

"We could try, but it's rather dark still. Do you really think they could've gotten that far?" she asked. "I mean, I don't really know for a fact that either of them are afraid to go into the darkest places of the world. We sneak out at night all the time."

"I don't know," Frodo said. "Perhaps we should bunker out under the stairs or something and then catch them with a trap of some sort. So they can't get away like last time, of course."

Angie pondered a moment with Frodo. Thoughts came and went about whether they should proceed down more dark corridors or end their hunt for an attempt at an ambush. Or even setting a trap. Neither of them could really decide. It was a big dilemma. So many different ways that all sounded too tempting.

"I have an idea," Frodo said slowly with a smile after a few silent moments.

"Really?" Angie asked eagerly. "What is it?"

"It's... good. Very good. It's a very good idea," he said matter-of-factly. "And it's going to work like a charm."

x x x

Hours passed through the warm night air in Brandy Hall. Merry and Pippin were still running from Angie and Frodo as planned, but they were reaching their wits' end with more ideas of how to do so. They had been all over the Hall in the past six hours catching a few winks under the stairs, in closets, and in the hall of vacant rooms upstairs. The night wore on for them endlessly as they dragged themselves outside, sluggish from their lack of sleep. The sky was just starting to lighten on the other side of the Hall, and together Merry and Pippin groaned.

"Aw, Pip, this is too much," Merry said, pulling himself up onto a low wall in the garden. "I'm exhausted."

"Me, too," Pippin sighed, lying down on the ground beneath Merry. "It hasn't been but one night on the lamb and we're about to kill over. You think we should just go and let her at us?"

"No!" Merry said. "She'd beat us to a bloody pulp! We're tired, weak, and defenseless."

"Maybe she's tired, too! Then we can all have a nap and then run some more!" Pippin suggested. "If we can't keep this up for one night, how are we gonna do it for the rest of our lives? I planned to sleep when we were running from her, you know!"

"Calm down. We'll get some sleep. How about here? She and Frodo'll never think to look outside. Plus, I bet they're scared."

Pippin looked up at Merry with a doubtful expression. Merry just shrugged his shoulders. "Well they could be," he said, defending himself.

"The only way we survive is with help," Pippin said at long last. "Do you think you might have a loose cousin running around this early?"

"You're my cousin, Pip," Merry said, rolling his eyes.

"Besides me!"

"Sorry. Not unless your sisters would magically appear by some miracle."

"Oh, what I'd give to see Pearl right now..."

They laid there in a silent zone-out as they started at the sky and into the Hall, but Merry soon heard footsteps and the distinct voices of Angie and Frodo nearing and echoing off of the center of the vast Hall. His eyes widened, and Pippin lifted his head up to look, making sure that they weren't hearing things.

"Hide!" Merry whispered quickly as they jumped over the wall for refuge. Their voices got louder, and Merry and Pippin held their breath. They were yelling, but not for Merry and Pippin, but at one another. With curiosity, they discreetly peered up over the wall, staying as low as possible so that they could see Angie and Frodo. They had stopped right in the middle of Brandywine Hall and continued their tumult.

"So you admit it!" Angie shouted as Merry and Pippin watched on carefully. "It was all of your idea!"

"So what if it was," Frodo said right back in a dangerous voice. "And do you want to know what else?"

"What?"

"I've never liked you or your strawberries!"

At this, Merry and Pippin openly gasped.

"How could he say such a thing?" Pippin whispered with his mouth hanging open.

"That's just wrong," Merry agreed, his eyes now fixed on the two of them. Frodo and Angie's bickering persisted, however.

"Oh really?" Angie asked. "Well maybe I never wanted you to like them or me! I never thought a hobbit like you could stoop lower than his whack uncle. I guess all the riches and popularity have gone to your head and it's been a facade."

"There's no way she meant that," Merry said in disbelief. Pippin shook his head slightly, too immersed in the action to half pay attention to what Merry was saying.

"Well at least I have them," Frodo said hotly.

"I'd rather be dirt poor than a stuck up lout like yourself!"

It was silent then. Merry and Pippin were now waiting eagerly to see who would win the name-calling and insult battle, but it didn't pick up right away.

"Five carrots from Maggot's farm says Angie wins," Merry said.

"You're on."

"Stuck up lout?" Frodo asked sharply and suddenly as he laughed. "Is that honestly the best a mommy's little princess of loving good nature could come up with?"

Angie glared angrily at Frodo, and Merry and Pippin shrunk behind the wall a little more. Bad things were about to happen... bad things...

The argument continued with Angie raising her hand to strike Frodo to Merry and Pippin's horror, but Frodo grabbed her hand in mid-air and twisted it round until Angie fell to her knees. The two hobbits behind the wall were frozen with the sight unfolding on front of them. What was going on?

"Merry, what should we do?" Pippin asked blankly.

"Shh!"

Then Angie hit Frodo's shin somehow and ran towards the garden. Merry and Pippin hid behind the wall more, but popped back up when they heard Angie yelling again. Frodo had her cornered at the drop off to their right, and just before he overpowered her completely, Merry and Pippin ran out form behind the wall.

"Stop, Frodo!"

"You're going to hurt her!"

"Don't!"

Merry started pulling Frodo's shoulders and Pippin went for Angie's waist, but the two of them still tried to kill each other and rip each other's heads off to Merry and Pippin's horror. But then Angie ripped away from Pippin and jumped onto Frodo, knocking Merry off of him. Pippin ran over to Merry's side as they continued to watch. Just when it looked like Angie was going over the steep side, she somehow was able to overwhelm Frodo in one swift move and knock him over the edge, herself falling to the ground.

.. x x x ..

The five hobbits who stood before the darkly cloaked Strider needn't ask who 'they' were for they themselves knew all too well from the encounters on their journey to Bree who 'they' were.

"You know of the Riders?" Merry asked Strider cautiously. "And of Gandalf?"

"Yes," Strider replied. "I've befriended Gandalf for many a-year now. We have helped one another during the rising of Sauron's powers in the East. We, along with others, are trying to stop that which now spreads and threatens the whole of Middle Earth. Not much know of how great the dangers are for their number grows with every passing day. These perils are everywhere, including behind the cloaks of the Riders that seek what you carry."

It was a moment frozen in time for the small hobbits; Angie and Sam looked over at Frodo afraid that this Man knew of the Ring from his tellings, and Merry and Pippin were still very confused from their lack of knowledge. They held their breath, but Pippin found this as the perfect opportunity to find out what they wanted to know, considering this Strider character was 'supposedly' on the good side since he was friends with Gandalf and hadn't hurt Frodo. But that didn't mean anything...

"We don't have a thing!" Pippin said sharply and suddenly. "And even if we did, we ain't givin' it to you."

"There is not much I can do to prove myself a trustworthy person to you at the time being," Strider said in a quiet voice. "I must leave that to you and your sentiment on how much trust you place in me. But as a man of his word, I mean you all no harm and wish to help you. And I will not take anything from you that you will not willingly give me yourself."

Another hollow silence played on them as the hobbits looked at Strider with wonder and caution alike. It was a trying moment of silence, too. Their minds teetered back and forth as their eyes locked with his.

"I know what you hold, and I know why you're here," Strider said lowly as he walked towards the hobbits. They felt as if they should back up, but the hobbits stayed put. "Gandalf has not come for reasons unknown to you and I both, but because of your pursuers, we cannot stay in one place too long."

"Who are you?" Sam finally asked skeptically.

"I am hear to aid you for the final time in the event that Gandalf did not arrive promptly," said Strider impatiently. "We have no time to argue over this. I'd think it better for you all to stay with me tonight here, that is unless you wish to go back to your room and wait uneasily for morning."

A lump gathered in each of the hobbits' throats, but they knew he was right. It would be at their minds all night - a question of their safety, that is. Though he felt it not so comforting at the same time as he did, Frodo spoke up.

"We will return," he said a bit overwrought and unsure, "though our trust in you is very little."

"You will not be distressed," Strider replied as he sat in a chair next to the large window. Still hesitant but not, Frodo opened the door for his friends and allowed them to go out before him. "And be warned, Mr. Underhill," the ranger said loudly, catching his attention, "though you are staying here, you best fill your beds tonight."

x x x

"Frodo, I don't what to think of this Strider," Sam confided in his friend as they walked back to the ranger's room quietly. "He looks of evil purpose, but he's a man of character and honesty to my extent. But then again, if it's a trick..."

"Uncertainty holds me back, too, Sam," Frodo said. "But he's all we got since Gandalf has not yet arrived."

"But how do we know Gandalf sent him?"

"We don't, Sam. We have to trust Gandalf, however, on his judgment. I do not think he would lead us into the hands of an enemy, if he is how he says he is."

"I wish he was here instead," Sam said a bit sourly. "If you ask me, that Strider is either a darn good spy from Mordor or he's tellin' the truth. And if he is tellin' the truth about everything concernin' us this far, then he should dress differently so no one gets the wrong ideas."

Frodo managed to smile a little at as they reproached the tall door of the room. Strider welcomed them in at the late hour, and there was a small fire dying in the fireplace.

"You may make use of my bed for the night," he said, walking towards the chair next to the window again. "I will have no need for it."

"Oh good," Pippin said, heading right over to it. "I could use a rest! Besides, this is all a bit much, so I'll figure it out in the morning." Angie huffed as Merry and Sam climbed on the bed. "What?" Pippin asked her.

"Nothing," she said, looking over at Strider. "He's just confusing to me is all."

"Well for the record, you're no open book yourself," said Pippin as he jumped up and fell onto the bed with a happy sigh. Angie protested in her mind as she shook her head a bit, but in the end, she ended up curling up in the blankets between Merry and Pippin and falling into a disturbed slumber. She tossed and turned somewhat uncomfortably at first with the whole situation, but then a again, she felt much safer with this man protecting them inside than outside with nothing but chance to go by.

x x x

Later on in the night, Frodo laid on the foot of the bed thinking curiously. Questions were plaguing him and preventing his mind from letting him sleep. And he thought it so very convenient; the only night he'd probably get to stay at an inn with a nice bed until he got back to Hobbiton, and he can't sleep. Oh how he longed for the comforts of Bag End.

Then he stood up again, unable to stay still. He looked over at Strider who continued to look out the window. He missed Gandalf and wished over and over he knew what to do and where to go and who to trust without his guidance. And why he had not showed up here in the outlandish town of Bree. And-

Then, the familiar piercing shriek of the Riders surrounded them. Angie's eyes opened in realization of their presence as the others in the bed with her sat up and looked around in fear. She did not know how nearby they were, but they sounded terribly close.

"The Riders..." she whispered absentmindedly. Angie then sat up slowly and exchanged a quick glance with Pippin. She felt that she should be more afraid than he was, but Angie was rather calm compared to the fear Pippin wore on his face. But even though she wasn't wearing her terror on the outside, inside, she was screaming. Her heart quickened pace as Frodo sat on the edge of the bed now looking in Strider's direction.

"What are they?" Frodo asked.

"They were once Men. Great kings of Men," Strider said in whisper, turning his head towards the hobbits that sat frightened and rigid on his bed. "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. 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 comment was in no way meant to comfort the hobbits, and it didn't. Angie's throat tightened after she swallowed, and she looked over at Frodo who now mimicked Strider in staring intently out the window, only he looked more troubled than the ranger.

"We must leave as soon as the sun's light pales the sky," Strider said, finally moving from his chair and moving towards the door. "You are to stay here until I return in a few hours. I'll be preparing for our journey out. Get some rest, especially you, Mr. Underhill. You haven't slept at all."

With that, he left. The hobbits all looked around at each other, Frodo uncomfortable whenever he was called Mr. Underhill by Strider because they both knew it was a false title. Pippin, however, threw himself back into the comforts of the oversized pillow in the bed with a deep sigh. Sam shot him a look.

"Well he said to get some rest!" Pippin retorted. "He makes it sound like we'll be killing ourselves on this little venture tomorrow, so I'm catching a few, if you don't mind."

He threw the covers back over his head, and Sam sighed quietly as he now watched Frodo move behind the chair Strider had occupied for so long. Angie slid off of the bed with a similar look at him, walking up slowly behind him. She saw him grip the back of the chair loosely then let go as he started out towards the origin of the screeching Riders.

"You should really get some sleep, Frodo," Angie said. "Strider's right."

"I can't," he replied. "I am weary, but I am also worried. I hope I am right about Strider, and I have a feeling that I am, but Gandalf is still troubling me."

"He would be here if he could," she said. "You know how he is sometimes delayed."

"I would not think so for something this important."

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