Title: Equine-nox

Author: StarWolf (elendraug )

Fandom: Lord of the Rings

Genre: Drabble, angst

Pairing: None

Warnings: None

Rating: G

Disclaimer: I don't own The Lord of the Rings or its characters. They're J.R.R. Tolkien's, and he should be canonised.

Distribution: Don't put it anywhere without asking me. In fact, just don't put it anywhere.

Summary: Gríma sees the muddy footprints on the cobblestone.

Authoress' Notes: Gríma needs love. 100 word drabble. Title is a play on the words "equine (horse)" and "nox (night/dark)." My, I'm clever.

Cloven hooves track mud onto the stone pathways. Dirty water trickles through gravel and clods of dead grass. In the midst of a once-quiet village, smoke billows from burning forests and brawny men snicker and jeer at the despairing halflings.

Gríma wants to laugh.

Trees collapse into smouldering heaps of ash and splinters. Clouds gather and block the feeble rays of sunlight that refuse to stop shining. Branches sway and dried leaves fall and crunch underfoot as the work continues.

Gríma wishes it would rain.

The sky is dark. The wind is chill. The ponies are tired.

Gríma remembers horses.